The leishmaniases - survival and expansion in a changing world: a mini-review

The number of cases of visceral and cutaneous leishmaniasis is increasing globally at an alarming rate irrespective of the region and the leishmaniases are amongst the top emergent diseases in spite of control measures. In the present review attention is drawn to some of the reasons for this. The leishmaniases have expanded beyond their natural ecotopes due to the ecological chaos caused by man and this in turn affects the levels of his exposure to the vectors. Examples of how different phenomana (such as war, civilian migration, immuno-suppression caused by medication and viral infections, globalization of work and leisure and transmission outside endemic areas) contribute to the spread and increase of the disease are discussed.

Trypanosoma (Duttonella) vivax: its biology, epidemiology, pathogenesis, and introduction in the New World - a review

The biology, epidemiology, pathogenesis, diagnostic techniques, and history of the introduction of Trypanosoma (Duttonella) vivax in the New World are reviewed. The two main immunological responses of trypanosome-infected animals - antibody production and immunodepression - are discussed in the context of how these responses play a role in disease tolerance or susceptibility. Isolation and purification of T. vivax are briefly discussed. The recent reports of bovine trypanosomiasis diagnosed in cattle on farms located in the Pantanal region of the states of Mato Grosso do Sul and Mato Grosso, Brazil, are also discussed.

First isolation of Cryptococcus gattii molecular type VGII and Cryptococcus neoformans molecular type VNI from environmental sources in the city of Belém, Pará, Brazil

Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus gattii are important agents of meningoencephalitis in humans in the city of Belém. This clinical data suggests that the region may be a highly endemic area for the pathogenic Cryptococcus species within the state of Pará (PA), Northern Brazil. Preliminary analysis of 11 environmental samples from the city of Belém showed two positive locations, including a hollow of a kassod tree (Senna siamea) colonized simultaneously by C. gattii molecular type VGII and C. neoformans molecular type VNI, and a birdcage in a commercial aviary positive for C. neoformans, molecular type VNI. This is the first evidence of an environmental occurrence of molecular types VNI and VGII in PA.

Regulation of free corticosterone and CBG capacity under different environmental conditions in altricial nestlings.

The concentration of circulating glucocorticoids is regulated in response to environmental and endogenous conditions. Total circulating corticosterone, the main glucocorticoid in birds, consists of a fraction which is bound to corticosterone-binding globulins (CBG) and a free fraction. There is increasing evidence that the environment modulates free corticosterone levels through varying the concentration of CBG, but experimental evidence is lacking. To test the hypothesis that the regulation of chronic stress in response to endogenous and environmental conditions involves variation in both corticosterone release and CBG capacity, we performed an experiment with barn owl (Tyto alba) nestlings in two different years with pronounced differences in environmental conditions and in nestlings experimentally fed ad libitum. In half of the individuals we implanted a corticosterone-releasing pellet to artificially increase corticosterone levels and in the other half we implanted a placebo pellet. We then repeatedly collected blood samples to measure the change in total and free corticosterone levels as well as CBG capacity. The increase in circulating total corticosterone after artificial corticosterone administration varied with environmental conditions and with the food regime of the nestlings. The highest total corticosterone levels were found in nestlings growing up in poor environmental conditions and the lowest in ad libitum fed nestlings. CBG was highest in the year with poor environmental conditions, so that, contrary to total corticosterone, free corticosterone levels were low under poor environmental conditions. When nestlings were fed ad libitum total corticosterone, CBG and free corticosterone did not increase when administering corticosterone. These results suggest that depending on the individual history an animal experienced during development the HPA-axis is regulated differently.

Exploring the association between Trypanosoma cruzi infection in rural communities and environmental changes in the southern Gran Chaco

The association between land use and land cover changes between 1979-2004 in a 2.26-million-hectare area south of the Gran Chaco region and Trypanosoma cruzi infection in rural communities was analysed. The extent of cultural land, open and closed forests and shrubland up to 3,000 m around rural communities in the north, northwest and west of the province of Córdoba was estimated using Landsat satellite imagery. The T. cruzi prevalence was estimated with a cross-sectional serological survey conducted in the rural communities. The land cover showed the same patterns in the 1979, 1999 and 2004 satellite imagery in both the northwest and west regions, with shrinking regions of cultured land and expanding closed forests away from the community. The closed forests and agricultural land coverage in the north region showed the same trend as in the northwest and west regions in 1979 but not in 1999 or 2004. In the latter two years, the coverage remote from the communities was either constant or changed in opposite ways from that of the northwest and west regions. The changes in closed forests and cultured vegetation alone did not have a significant, direct relationship with the occurrence of rural communities with at least one person infected by T. cruzi. This study suggests that the overall decrease in the prevalence of T. cruzi is a consequence of a combined effect of vector control activities and changes in land use and land cover.

Incongruence between test statistics and P values in medical papers

Given an observed test statistic and its degrees of freedom, one may compute the observed P value with most statistical packages. It is unknown to what extent test statistics and P values are congruent in published medical papers. Methods:We checked the congruence of statistical results reported in all the papers of volumes 409–412 of Nature (2001) and a random sample of 63 results from volumes 322–323 of BMJ (2001). We also tested whether the frequencies of the last digit of a sample of 610 test statistics deviated from a uniform distribution (i.e., equally probable digits).Results: 11.6% (21 of 181) and 11.1% (7 of 63) of the statistical results published in Nature and BMJ respectively during 2001 were incongruent, probably mostly due to rounding, transcription, or type-setting errors. At least one such error appeared in 38% and 25% of the papers of Nature and BMJ, respectively. In 12% of the cases, the significance level might change one or more orders of magnitude. The frequencies of the last digit of statistics deviated from the uniform distribution and suggested digit preference in rounding and reporting.Conclusions: this incongruence of test statistics and P values is another example that statistical practice is generally poor, even in the most renowned scientific journals, and that quality of papers should be more controlled and valued

Late Pliensbachian-Early Toarcian (Early Jurassic) environmental changes in an epicontinental basin of NW Europe (Causses area, central France): A micropaleontological and geochemical approach

We present an integrated work based on calcareous nannofossil and benthic foraminiferal assemblages, and geochemical analyses of two Upper Pliensbachian-Lower Toarcian sections located in the central-South France. The studied sections, Tournadous and Saint-Paul-des-Fonts, represent the proximal and the distal part, respectively, of the Jurassic Causses Basin, one of the small, partly enclosed basins belonging to the epicontinental shelf of the NW Tethys. At the transition from Late Pliensbachian to Early Toarcian, the Causses Basin recorded an emersion in response to the global sea-level fall. Our data indicate severe environmental conditions of marine waters, including salinity decrease and anoxia development, occurring in the Early Toarcian. The acme of this deterioration coincides with the Early Toarcian Anoxic Event (T-OAE) but, due to the restricted nature of the basin. anoxia persisted until the end of the Early Toarcian. mainly in the deeper parts of the basin. The micronutrients and organic organic-matter fluxes were probably high during the entire studied time interval, as shown by nannofossil and foraminiferal assemblages. However, nannoplankton production drastically decreased during the T-OAE, as demonstrated by very low nannofossil fluxes, and only taxa tolerant to low-saline surface waters could thrive. At the same time, benthic foraminifers temporarily disappeared in response to sea-bottom anoxia. Our study demonstrates that environmental changes related to the T-OAE are well-recorded even in small, partly enclosed basins of NW Europe, like the Causses Basin. Within this area, the effects of global changes. like sea sea-level and temperature fluctuations, are modulated by local conditions mainly controlled by the morphology of the basin. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effects of victimization on the belief in a just world in four ex-Yugoslavian countries

Levels of support for just world beliefs among young adults (N = 598) from four ex-Yugoslavian countries-Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Slovenia-were compared, taking into account victimization experiences and the general belief in a just world. Being a victim affected an individual's belief in a just world in the two less economically favored contexts: Victims of exclusion in Macedonia and victims of war in Bosnia and Herzegovina were less likely to believe in a just world than non-victims. These victimization variables partly explained why the mean scores of these two countries were less than those of the two others. A deleterious effect of cumulative negative events on belief in a just world was identified, in parallel with a lower endorsement of the belief when the first victimization occurred more recently.

Disinfection with sodium hypochlorite in hospital environmental surfaces in the reduction of contamination and infection prevention: a systematic review

OBJECTIVETo search for evidence of the efficiency of sodium hypochlorite on environmental surfaces in reducing contamination and prevention of healthcare-associated infection HAIs.METHODSystematic review in accordance with the Cochrane Collaboration.RESULTSWe analyzed 14 studies, all controlled trials, published between 1989-2013. Most studies resulted in inhibition of microorganism growth. Some decreased infection, microorganism resistance and colonization, loss of efficiency in the presence of dirty and surface-dried viruses.CONCLUSIONThe hypochlorite is an effective disinfectant, however, the issue of the direct relation with the reduction of HAIs remains. The absence of control for confounding variables in the analyzed studies made the meta-analysis performance inadequate. The evaluation of internal validity using CONSORT and TREND was not possible because its contents were not appropriate to laboratory and microbiological studies. As a result, there is an urgent need for developing specific protocol for evaluating such studies.

The role of moral values in the economic analysis of crime: A general equilibrium approach

In this paper, we develop a general equilibrium model of crime and show thatlaw enforcement has different roles depending on the equilibrium characterization and the value of social norms. When an economy has a unique stable equilibrium where a fraction of the population is productive and the remaining predates, the government can choose an optimal law enforcement policy to maximize a welfare function evaluated at the steady state. If such steady state is not unique, law enforcement is still relevant but in a completely different way because the steady state that prevails depends on the initial proportions of productive and predator individuals in the economy. The relative importance of these proportions can be changed through law enforcement policy.

Economic growth and investment in the Arab world

This paper analyses the economic growth performance in the Arab world overthe last forty years. The Arab world has managed to reduce povertyperformance despite its relatively disappointing growth performance. Werelate this poor performance of both oil and non-oil producers toinvestment. Contrary to widespread belief, we do not find evidence that lowquantity of investment is the main of low growth. The decline in theinvestment rate followed rather than preceded the reduction in the aggregategrowth rate. We conclude that the low quality of investment projects is thekey determinant of growth. The excessive reliance on public investment, thelow quality of financial institutions, the bad business environment (due topolitical and social instability and to excessive public intervention andoverregulation) and the low quality of human capital are importantdeterminants of systematically unproductive investment decisions and, thus,low economic growth.

The adverse effects of environmental policy in green markets

We model green markets in which purchasers, either firms orconsumers, have higher willingness-to-pay for lesspolluting goods. The effectiveness of pollution reductionpolicies is examined in a duopoly setting. We show thatduopolists' strategic behaviour may increase pollutionlevels. Maximum emission standards, commonly used in greenmarkets, improve the environmental features of products.Nonetheless, overall pollution levels will rise becausegovernment regulation also affects market shares and bootsfirms' sales. Consequently, social welfare may be reduced.We also explore the effects of technological subsidies andproduct charges, including differentiation of charges.