Prevalence of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus in Dromedary Camels,Tunisia

Free-roaming camels, especially those crossing national borders, pose a high risk for spreading Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV). To prevent outbreaks, active surveillance is necessary. We found that a high percentage of dromedaries in Tunisia are MERS-CoV seropositive (80.4%) or actively infected (19.8%), indicating extensive MERS-CoV circulation in Northern Africa.     

PCA-based selection of distinctive stability criteria and classification of post-stroke pathological postural behaviour

In this paper, we study the postural behaviour of two categories of people: Post-CVA subjects suffering from cerebrovascular accident syndromes and healthy individuals under several levels of anterior–posterior and medial–lateral sinusoidal disturbances (0.1–0.5 Hz). These perturbations were produced from an omnidirectional platform called Isiskate. Afterwards, we have quantified seventy postural parameters, they were combined of linear stabilometric parameters and non-linear time dependent stochastic parameters using stabilogram diffusion analysis and some spectral attributes using power spectral density. The aim of our analysis is to reduce data dimensionality using principal component analysis (PCA). Furthermore, we proposed a new PCA-related criterion named: criterion of contribution in order to evaluate the contribution of every variable in the resulted system structure, and thus to eliminate the redundant postural characteristics. Afterwards, we highlighted some interesting distinctive parameters. The selected parameters were used thereafter in comparison between the studied groups. Finally, we created a classification model using support vector machines to distinguish stroke patients. Our proposed techniques help in understanding the human postural dynamics and facilitate the diagnosis of pathologies related to equilibrium which can be used to improve the rehabilitation services.     

Cluster Randomized Trial of Text Message Reminders to Retail Staff in Tanzanian Drug Shops Dispensing Artemether-Lumefantrine: Effect on Dispenser Knowledge and Patient Adherence

Artemisinin combination therapies are available in private outlets, but patient adherence might be compromised by poor advice from dispensers. In this cluster randomized trial in drug shops in Tanzania, 42 of 82 selected shops were randomized to receive text message reminders about what advice to provide when dispensing artemether-lumefantrine (AL). Eligible patients purchasing AL at shops in both arms were followed up at home and questioned about each dose taken. Dispensers were interviewed regarding knowledge of AL dispensing practices and receipt of the malaria-related text messages. We interviewed 904 patients and 110 dispensers from 77 shops. Although there was some improvement in dispenser knowledge, there was no difference between arms in adherence measured as completion of all doses (intervention 68.3%, control 69.8%, p [adjusted] = 0.6), or as completion of each dose at the correct time (intervention 33.1%, control 32.6%, p [adjusted] = 0.9). Further studies on the potential of text messages to improve adherence are needed.     

Fetal pathology aspects of 97 cases of anencephaly. CMNR Tunisian study

So, the epidemiologic study done for 8 years at CMNR Tunis has shown that the incidence is 1.15@1000 births (between 0.52 and 1.66@1000 per year). This anomaly is more frequent in female sex (sex linked = 0.59). The antenatal echographic diagnosis is efficient in 90.5%. This anomaly is more shown at low socio-economic group. The improvement of the socio-economic level and specially the daily uptake of acid folic in periconceptionnel time decrease the frequency of this congenital malformation.     

Bioclinical correlations in bony metastases. Results of a prospective study. 60 cases

Our objective is to compare clinical and biological presentation of patients with bone metastatic disease. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We collected prospectively 60 patients (adults and children) with proven bone metastasis. Tumors are mainly breast cancer (25/60) or nasopharyngeal carcinoma (8/60). All 8 children presented all with abdominal neuroblastoma. Bone lesions are lytic in 85% of cases. ALP and LDH seem to be sensitive markers for bone mestatasis with 75% and 80% pathologic rates. The highest rates have been observed in patients with multiple bones lesions (> 8) and painful metastases (more than 7 in the VAS). The median survival was 8 months (3 to 54). CONCLUSION: Even conventional, some biochemical markers as ALP and LDH remain useful in the diagnosis and prognosis in patients with proven bone metastasis.     

Vitamin A effects on morphometric adaptation after extensive small bowel resection in the rat

This work was conceived to study, in the rat short bowel syndrome, the effect of precocious administration of retinoic acid on morphometric adaptation in the remnant intestine. Mitotic index, villous height, crypt depth and mucosal aspect were determined in 2 groups of rats (n=12) after 60% small bowel resection. 100 microg of retinoic acid were perfused immediately after resection in the first group. Control group rats received placebo. Two similar groups (n=12) underwent intestinal transection with or without retinoic acid perfusion. Our results show that retinoic acid induced precocious and significant enhancement of all morphometric parameters when compared to placebo.     

The ratio of single- to double-strand DNA breaks and their absolute values determine cell death pathway

Bleomycin is a cytotoxic antibiotic that generates DNA double-strand breaks (DSB) and DNA single-strand breaks (SSB). It is possible to introduce known quantities of bleomycin molecules into cells. Low amounts kill the cells by a slow process termed mitotic cell death, while high amounts produce a fast process that has been termed pseudoapoptosis. We previously showed that these types of cell death are a direct consequence of the DSB generated by bleomycin. Here, we use deglyco-bleomycin, a bleomycin derivative lacking the carbohydrate moiety. Although this molecule performs the same nucleophilic attacks on DNA as bleomycin, we show that deglyco-bleomycin is at least 100 times less toxic to Chinese hamster fibroblasts than bleomycin. In fact, deglyco-bleomycin treatment results in apoptosis induction. In contrast, however, deglyco-bleomycin was found to generate almost exclusively SSB. Our results suggest that more than 150 000 SSB per cell are required to trigger apoptosis in Chinese hamster fibroblasts and that SSB are 300 times less toxic than DSB. Taken together with previous studies on bleomycin, our data demonstrates that cells can die by apoptosis, mitotic cell death, or pseudoapoptosis, depending on the number of DNA breaks and on the ratio of SSB to DSB.