Emergence and Distribution of Foot‐and‐Mouth Disease Virus Serotype A and O in Bangladesh

Foot‐and‐mouth disease (FMD) is endemic in Bangladesh and is predominantly due to FMDV serotype O. In 2012, FMD outbreaks were identified in five different districts of Bangladesh. Of 56 symptomatic cattle epithelial tissue samples, diagnostic PCR assay based on 5′‐URT detected 38 FMDV infections. Viral genotyping targeting VP1‐encoding region confirmed emergence of two distinct serotypes, A and O with an abundance of serotype A in Chittagong and Gazipur districts and serotype O in Pabna and Faridpur. Only single lineage of both A and O was retrieved from samples of five different regions. Sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of VP1 sequences revealed that serotype O sequences were closely related to the Ind 2001 sublineage of Middle East–South Asia (ME‐SA) topotype that was previously circulating in Bangladesh, and serotype A sequences belonging to the genotype VII that was dominant in India during the last decade. The results suggest that extensive cross‐border animal movement from neighbouring countries is the most likely source of FMDV serotypes in Bangladesh.     

Burning sensation in the feet and glycosylated haemoglobin levels in Swedish- and non–Swedish-born primary healthcare patients

BackgroundA painful burning sensation in the feet is a common problem. The most common cause is small fibre neuropathy, a type of peripheral neuropathy that is often a consequence of diabetes and prediabetes.AimTo examine the association between a self-reported burning sensation in the feet and HbA1c levels in primary healthcare patients.MethodsThis study used data from patients in the 4D diabetes project in Swedish primary healthcare. The study population included 824 patients. Logistic regression was performed to study the association between the outcome and explanatory variables.ResultsA total of 24% of patients reported a burning sensation in the feet. This sensation was not associated with HbA1c levels. However, the probability of reporting a burning sensation was two times higher in non-Swedish-born than Swedish-born patients (OR, 2.31; 95% CI, 1.55–3.44) and higher in smokers than those who had never smoked, regardless of region of birth (OR, 1.69; 95% CI, 1.07?2.65).ConclusionsOur results do not support the hypothesis that a self-reported burning sensation in the feet is associated with HbA1c levels. Rather, they indicate a strong relationship between a burning sensation and region of birth, as well as between a burning sensation and smoking.     

Estimating the incidence of typhoid fever and other febrile illnesses in developing countries

To measure the incidence of typhoid fever and other febrile illnesses in Bilbeis District, Egypt, we conducted a household survey to determine patterns of health seeking among persons with fever. Then we established surveillance for 4 months among a representative sample of health providers who saw febrile patients. Health providers collected epidemiologic information and blood (for culture and serologic testing) from eligible patients. After adjusting for the provider sampling scheme, test sensitivity, and seasonality, we estimated that the incidence of typhoid fever was 13/100,000 persons per year, and the incidence of brucellosis was 18/100,000 persons per year in the district. This surveillance tool could have wide applications for surveillance for febrile illness in developing countries.     

Intrapartum prediction of macrosomia: accuracy of abdominal circumference estimation

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the accuracy of abdominal circumference (AC) estimation of macrosomia early in labor and whether a cutoff value could be detected. DESIGN: A prospective clinical trial. SETTING: The Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Cairo University. PARTICIPANTS: One hundred pregnant females presenting in early labor with clinical impression of macrosomia were examined by ultrasound, and those babies with abdominal circumference more or equal to 35 cm were recruited for the study. INTERVENTIONS: Every woman was considered as her own control, and fetal weight was calculated using the formula of Shepard et al. The accuracy of abdominal circumference in prediction of macrosomia was evaluated using the Receiver operating characteristic curve. RESULTS: A cutoff value of AC > or =37 cm was found to have a sensitivity of 77%, a specificity of 75%, a positive likelihood ratio of 3.1 and a negative likelihood ratio of 0.3. CONCLUSION: Intrapartum ultrasonographic evaluation of abdominal circumference for suspected macrosomic babies in early labor is an easy, practical method that should be adopted in decision making.     

Extract from Ceratonia siliqua Exhibits Depigmentation Properties

Skin hyper‐pigmentation is a condition initiated by the overproduction of melanin existing in the melanocytes. Melanin pigment is responsible for the colour of skin in humans. It is formed through a series of oxidative reactions involving the amino acid tyrosine in the presence of the key enzyme tyrosinase. In continuation with our efforts to identify tyrosinase inhibitors from plants sources, the methanol extract from leaf, bark and fruit of Ceratonia siliqua were screened for tyrosinase inhibition and diphenolase activity. The bark extract exhibited significant inhibition on mushroom tyrosinase using L‐tyrosine as a substrate and showed diphenolase activity. The extract further significantly lowered tyrosinase mRNA levels in B16‐F10 mouse melanocytes. Bioassay‐guided fractionation led to the isolation of six compounds. Compounds (?)‐epicatechin‐3‐O‐gallate, 1,2,3,6‐tetra‐O‐galloyl‐ß‐D‐glucose and gallocatechin‐3‐O‐gallate showed tyrosinase inhibitions with the IC₅₀ values of 27.52, 83.30 and 28.30 µg/mL, respectively. These compounds also exhibited L‐DOPA activities with IC₅₀ values of >200, 150 and 200 µg/mL, respectively. A clinical study was conducted using 20 volunteers in a patch testing trial for irritancy potential and skin depigmentation. The clinical results showed the sample to be non‐irritant with irritancy potential of ?34.21 and depigmentation trial showed an improvement in the even skin tone of UV induced pigmentation at 3% after 28 days of application. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

13C NMR study of the tacticity of poly(propylene oxide)s prepared by polymerization with α,β,γ,δ-tetraphenylporphyrin/AlEt2Cl as initiator system: An example of first-order markovian statistics in ring-opening polymerization

Racemic and enantiomerically enriched poly(propylene oxide)s were prepared using α, β, γ, δ-tetraphenylporphyrin/AlEt₂Cl as initiator system. Triad tacticity of the polymers was analyzed by ¹³C NMR spectroscopy (62,89 MHz). A predominance of isotactic triads was observed in the case of the racemic polymer, corresponding to a non-random distribution of configurational units in the polymer chain. A model correlating tacticity with enantiomeric excess of starting monomer in the case of a first-order Markovian distribution was established. Good agreement between experimental results and calculated triad contents (according to the model previously described) was observed for enantiomerically enriched polymers. This indicates a steric control by the last unit of the growing chain end. The influence of the size of the substituent was examined for the case of poly(1,2-epoxybutane). The origin of the chain-end effect is discussed.