Human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome knowledge and risk factors in Ethiopian military personnel

Human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS)-related knowledge and behaviors were assessed in face-to-face structured interviews with 314 Ethiopian military personnel. A significant finding of this research was the association between HIV/AIDS knowledge and risky sexual behavior. That is, military personnel who had inaccurate knowledge about HIV/AIDS transmission and prevention were 3.4 times as likely to engage in combined sexual risk behaviors compared with personnel with accurate knowledge, after controlling for age, military rank, and marital status (odds ratio, 3.4; 95% confidence interval, 1.86-6.22). This finding highlights the potential value of educational programs in slowing the spread of HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa.     

Photodynamic therapy of subfoveal choroidal neovascularization in high myopia in a clinical setting: visual outcome in relation to age at treatment

PURPOSE: To evaluate the visual outcome of patients with myopic subfoveal choroidal neovascularization (CNV) given photodynamic therapy (PDT) in a clinical setting, and to identify potential relation between the visual outcome and the age at treatment. DESIGN: Interventional case series. METHODS: Retrospective comparative study. SETTING: Outpatient ophthalmology clinic. PATIENTS: Twenty-nine consecutive patients (30 eyes) with subfoveal CNV caused by pathologic myopia who were treated with verteporfin PDT from January 2000 to May 2003. INTERVENTION: All the patients received verteporfin PDT and were followed clinically and with fluorescein angiography (FA). Review of the medical records and angiograms was performed. Patients were divided into two groups by age, using the median age (60 years) as the cutoff. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Visual acuity (VA) at the end of follow-up in the older-patient group compared with the younger-patient group. RESULTS: The mean age was 63.1 years. Mean follow-up was 11.5 months. Patients received a mean of 3.48 treatments. Mean VA improved in the younger group from 0.63 to 0.39 logMAR (P = .02, paired t test) and deteriorated in the older group from 0.71 to 0.99 logMAR (P = .03, paired t test). In the whole cohort, 33% of eyes lost 3 or more lines of Snellen best-corrected VA; in the older age group, 50% of eyes lost 3 or more lines, whereas in the younger age group, only 8% of eyes did so (P = .024, Fisher's exact test). CONCLUSIONS: In our consecutive case series, visual prognosis of myopic CNV after PDT was found to be influenced by age at treatment.     

Modifiable predictors of bone loss in older men: a prospective study

BACKGROUND: The determinants of change in bone mineral density (BMD) have been well characterized in women but not in men. This prospective study describes the patterns of BMD change at the hip and spine, incidence of osteoporosis, and modifiable predictors of bone loss in 507 ambulatory community-dwelling men aged 45 to 92 years. METHODS: Bone mineral density was assessed at the hip and lumbar spine by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) between 1988 and 1992 and again 4 years later. BMD change was examined both as a continuous and a dichotomous (BMD loss vs no change/gain) variable. Incidence of osteoporosis was evaluated based on t -scores. Data were analyzed in 2002. RESULTS: Annual BMD loss averaged 0.47% at the total hip and 0.34% at the femoral neck with an annual average of 0.22% gain at the spine. The rate of BMD loss at the hip and incidence of osteoporosis increased significantly with age. The main predictors of BMD loss were age >/=75 years, baseline BMI <24 kg/m(2), 4-year weight loss of >/=5%, current smoking, and physical inactivity. Moderate alcohol consumption showed some bone-sparing effect. Diuretic and calcium supplement use were not associated with bone loss. CONCLUSIONS: Relatively healthy community-dwelling men lose bone with age, and men aged >/=75 years are particularly vulnerable. Potentially modifiable characteristics such as low body mass, weight loss, smoking, and physical inactivity were important predictors of bone loss and should be considered for the prevention of osteoporosis in men.     

Chromosomal abnormalities in inflammatory pseudotumor of the urinary bladder

Inflammatory pseudotumors of the urinary bladder are rare, benign, nonepithelial tumors. Fewer than 30 have been reported, and no data are available on their karyotypic characteristics and/or the molecular mechanisms of pathogenesis. We performed short-term culturing and cytogenetic analysis of an inflammatory pseudotumor of the bladder, finding a der(20)t(12;20)(q13 approximately q15;q13) as the only cytogenetic aberration. The detection of a 12q13 approximately q15 rearrangement in the inflammatory pseudotumor indicates that this lesion is pathogenetically related to other benign mesenchymal tumors displaying, for example, lipogenic or leiomyomatous differentiation, something that is in sharp contrast to the karyotypic profile of epithelial tumors of the urinary bladder mucosa.     

Cytogenetic abnormalities in a hemangiopericytoma of the spleen

To date, only 16 cytogenetically abnormal hemangiopericytomas (HP) have been reported. Despite this low number, some characteristic karyotypic features have already emerged: most HP are near-diploid and breakpoints in 12q13, 12q24, and 19q13 seem to be common, with t(12;19)(q13;q13) being a recurrent translocation. Here, we report the first case of a probably benign splenic HP with chromosomal abnormalities. The abnormal karyotype was 47,XX,t(5;22;11)(q31;q11;q13),+10. None of these abnormalities have previously been reported in HP, suggesting that the karyotypic pattern of splenic HP may differ from soft tissue HP.     

Quality problems in quantitative determination of hemoglobin in blood

Sources of errors in determination of hemoglobin were found out. The results were demonstrated to have comparison hemoglobin determination by hemiglobincyanide and hemichrome methods; this or that set of agents is of no significant advantage; to properly determine hemoglobin in the blood it is important to have calibration specimens and high quality control hemoglobin solutions; the equipment in use should be checked and calibrated; calibration hemiglobincyanide specimens produced at SPA "Renam". "Bak. preparations" and hemichrome specimens produced at JSC "Vector-Best" provide high precision of hemoglobin determination; the results of hemoglobin determination in control solutions obtained in autoanalyzers and manually, are comparable.     

A conformational epitope which detects autoantibodies from schizophrenic patients

We previously found autoantibodies against platelets in schizophrenic patients. One of the platelet proteins that bind these antibodies is enolase. Here, we describe the isolation and sequencing of an immunoreactive peptide after enzymatic digestion of enolase. The 3-D structure of enolase indicates that, unexpectedly, this peptide is buried inside the protein. However, 3-D surface analysis leads to the identification of a conformational epitope that resembles the binding peptide and might constitute a specific binder of the autoantibodies. In a screening of antibody binding with the peptide LVVGLCK, we found in 50 serum samples of controls a mean of O.D.=0.46; s= +/- 0.21 relative enzyme immunoassay units, while in sera of 39 schizophrenic patients, we found a mean of O.D.=1.47; s= +/- 0.65; P<0.0001. Furthermore, an inverse correlation was observed between duration of schizophrenia and the level of the detected autoantibodies. A screening of autoantibodies in sera of various mental disorders with this peptide is currently in progress.     

Mycalosides B-I,eight new spermostatic steroid oligoglycosides from the sponge Mycale laxissima

New steroidal oligoglycosides mycalosides B-I (2-9) have been isolated from the polar extract of the Caribbean sponge Mycale laxissima, and their structures have been elucidated by 1D and 2D NMR ((1)H, (13)C, DEPT, COSY-45, COSY-RCT, HSQC, HMBC, and NOESY spectra) and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. Mycalosides B (2) and C (3) were shown to be 27- and 28-nor derivatives of the previously known tetraoside mycaloside A (1). Mycaloside D (4) differs from 1 only in the presence of an additional acetyl group in the carbohydrate moiety. Mycaloside E (5) was structurally identified as a 28-nor-4-dehydroxy derivative of 1. Mycalosides F-H (6-8), differing from each other by the structures of their side chains and nonacetylated (7, 8) or acetylated (6) tetrasaccharide carbohydrate moieties, have new 5(6)-unsaturated 3 beta,4 beta,21-trihydroxy-15-keto-steroidal aglycons. Mycaloside I (9) is a tetraoside of a new 7,24(28)-diunsaturated 3beta,15 beta,29-trihydroxystigmastane aglycon. It was established that the total fraction of the mycalosides as well as mycalosides A (1) and G (7) inhibit the fertilization of eggs by sperm of the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus nudus preincubated with these compounds.