Reaching the unreached with polio vaccine and other child survival interventions through partnership with military in Angola

BackgroundGrowing conflict and insecurity played a major role in precipitating polio outbreaks in the Horn of Africa and the Middle East. In Angola, the early post-conflict situation was characterized by the presence of many inaccessible zones and districts due to insecurity and poor infrastructure. Partnership with the Angolan Army health service (AAHS) was one of the innovative strategies that the Polio Eradication Initiative (PEI) introduced into the country to support the polio vaccination campaigns in insecure and hard to reach zones.MethodsBefore embarking on creating a partnership with Angolan military it was essential to make high-level advocacy with top military decision makers to engage the leadership in the process for better and sustainable support to the strategy. The principal supports provided by the AAHS were the administration of oral polio vaccine, vitamin A, deworming agents, social mobilization, monitoring campaign quality, and surveillance. Distribution of logistics using military vehicles and helicopters to hard to reach and insecure zones was also part of the support.ResultsUsing this partnership it was possible to reach a significant number of children in insecure and hard to reach areas with polio vaccine and other child survival interventions. The military partnership also contributed in increasing the demand and addressing rejection for the polio vaccine.ConclusionMilitary is a potentially productive force that can be used for any development activities in any country. The Angolan experience has demonstrated that it is possible to form a partnership with the military for basic health intervention activities with little training and investment.     

In vitro and in vivo correlation for lipid-based formulations: Current status and future perspectives

Lipid-based formulations (LBFs) have demonstrated a great potential in enhancing the oral absorption of poorly water-soluble drugs. However, construction of in vitro and in vivo correlations (IVIVCs) for LBFs is quite challenging, owing to a complex in vivo processing of these formulations. In this paper, we start with a brief introduction on the gastrointestinal digestion of lipid/LBFs and its relation to enhanced oral drug absorption; based on the concept of IVIVCs, the current status of in vitro models to establish IVIVCs for LBFs is reviewed, while future perspectives in this field are discussed. In vitro tests, which facilitate the understanding and prediction of the in vivo performance of solid dosage forms, frequently fail to mimic the in vivo processing of LBFs, leading to inconsistent results. In vitro digestion models, which more closely simulate gastrointestinal physiology, are a more promising option. Despite some successes in IVIVC modeling, the accuracy and consistency of these models are yet to be validated, particularly for human data. A reliable IVIVC model can not only reduce the risk, time, and cost of formulation development but can also contribute to the formulation design and optimization, thus promoting the clinical translation of LBFs.     

Gastrointestinal stromal tumour of the rectum： Report of a case and review of literature

Gastrointestinal stromal tumour （GIST） is a rare tumour of the gastrointestinal tract which does not generally originate in the rectum. The authors describe a case of a 70-year-old man who underwent an anterior resection of the rectum for a low-risk GIST. The patient was not given adjuvant chemotherapy with imatinib and is still disease-free 30 mo after surgery. The authors conclude that although rectal GIST is extremely uncommon, it should be included in differential diagnosis when a tumour in the rectum is detected. Biopsy of the tumour is essential, since this makes it possible to reach a sure preoperative diagnosis based on the immunohistological features of the CDl17 and CD34. Although complete surgical resection with negative tumour margins is the principal curative procedure for primary and nonmetastatic tumours, further studies are still needed for the determination of the most effective treatment strategy for patients with rectal GIST.     

A national survey of UK final year students’ opinion of undergraduate oral surgery teaching

Background: A national survey was undertaken to establish a baseline of our final year students’ perception of how their undergraduate oral surgery education has equipped them for key areas of general dental practice. Materials and Methods: Questionnaires were distributed to the 13 UK schools with final year students, towards the end of the academic year in 2009. The questionnaires were completed anonymously and were optically scanned. Results: In total, 632 questionnaires were returned, which represents 66% of the students of the graduating year. The majority (83%) of the respondents perceived that the teaching in oral surgery had given them sufficient knowledge to undertake independent practise. Most respondents (99%) felt confident to perform forceps exodontia, but confidence in the various aspects of surgical exodontia was lower. A majority (83%) had experience of an outreach scheme performing forceps exodontia (75%) and surgical exodontia (16%) in this environment. Twenty per cent indicated a desire to undertake a career in oral surgery, 6% in oral and maxillofacial surgery and 35% in another speciality. Conclusion: This survey suggests that the majority of the students perceive that the oral surgery education has prepared them well for key areas of general practice. It also suggests that there is, however, a need to provide further improvement in the delivery of surgical skills and knowledge.     

Neural coding of action in three dimensions: Task- and time-invariant reference frames for visuospatial and motor-related activity in parietal area V6A

Goal-directed movements involve a series of neural computations that compare the sensory representations of goal location and effector position, and transform these into motor commands. Neurons in posterior parietal cortex (PPC) control several effectors (e.g., eye, hand, foot) and encode goal location in a variety of spatial coordinate systems, including those anchored to gaze direction, and to the positions of the head, shoulder, or hand. However, there is little evidence on whether reference frames depend also on the effector and/or type of motor response. We addressed this issue in macaque PPC area V6A, where previous reports using a fixate-to-reach in depth task, from different starting arm positions, indicated that most units use mixed body/hand-centered coordinates. Here, we applied singular value decomposition and gradient analyses to characterize the reference frames in V6A while the animals, instead of arm reaching, performed a nonspatial motor response (hand lift). We found that most neurons used mixed body/hand coordinates, instead of “pure” body-, or hand-centered coordinates. During the task progress the effect of hand position on activity became stronger compared to target location. Activity consistent with body-centered coding was present only in a subset of neurons active early in the task. Applying the same analyses to a population of V6A neurons recorded during the fixate-to-reach task yielded similar results. These findings suggest that V6A neurons use consistent reference frames between spatial and nonspatial motor responses, a functional property that may allow the integration of spatial awareness and movement control.     

额尔齐斯河下游北湾地区人房和猪舍内蚊虫季节消长观察

目的研究蚊虫危害十分严重的新疆额尔齐斯河下游的北湾地区,蚊虫在人房和猪舍内的季节消长。方法用诱蚊灯诱蚊1夜调查人房内的蚊虫密度,用电动吸蚊器吸捕15m in调查猪舍内蚊虫密度,从4月开始,每月上、中、下旬三次直至蚊虫活动消失。结果人房内蚊虫从4月中旬出现,米赛按蚊(45%),刺扰伊蚊(54%)为优势蚊种,蚊虫季节分布为三峰型,7月上旬为活动最高峰,9月上旬蚊虫消失;猪舍蚊虫出现较晚,5月上旬出现,刺扰伊蚊(90.7%)为优势蚊种,季节分布呈双峰型,7月为活动最高峰,9月上旬消失。结论6~7月是北湾地区人房及猪舍内的蚊虫活动高峰。     

安徽、江西及江苏3省血吸虫病患者与钉螺分布的空间自相关分析

目的　通过地理信息系统 (GIS)分析江苏、安徽、江西 3省血吸虫病疫情空间分布规律。　方法　收集 3省近 2 0年的血吸虫病流行病学数据 ,建立 GIS空间数据库。在 Arc View3.x,S- PL U S及 Spatial Statistics软件 (模块 )支持下对建立的血吸虫病 GIS数据库进行空间自相关性分析。　结果　安徽及江西省血吸虫病患者总数及钉螺总面积不同代表年份中 ,均具有不同程度的空间自相关性。总体上钉螺分布的相关系数 (Moran′I )大于患者的相关系数 ,并具有非常显著性差异。江苏省钉螺总面积具有一定的空间自相关性 ,其空间聚集性显著高于血吸虫病患者数 ,两者间缺乏空间聚集性。　结论　空间自相关分析可用于血吸虫病患者、钉螺分布的地域聚集性的研究 ,以揭示该病的分布规律和流行态势     

中药百合的本草考证

对中药百合进行了本草考证,结合药理实验和资源考查,认为卷丹是首选药。     

Robot-Assisted Reach Training With an Active Assistant Protocol for Long-Term Upper Extremity Impairment Poststroke: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Objective

To assess whether robot-assisted reach training (RART) with an active assistant protocol can improve upper extremity function and kinematic performance in chronic stroke survivors.