Iowa Department of Transportation Major Items - Preliminary Quantity Report, February 17, 2015; With Addendums

Weekly letting report.

Genital Chlamydia trachomatis: understanding the roles of innate and adaptive immunity in vaccine research.

Chlamydia trachomatis is the leading cause of bacterial sexually transmitted disease worldwide, and despite significant advances in chlamydial research, a prophylactic vaccine has yet to be developed. This Gram-negative obligate intracellular bacterium, which often causes asymptomatic infection, may cause pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), ectopic pregnancies, scarring of the fallopian tubes, miscarriage, and infertility when left untreated. In the genital tract, Chlamydia trachomatis infects primarily epithelial cells and requires Th1 immunity for optimal clearance. This review first focuses on the immune cells important in a chlamydial infection. Second, we summarize the research and challenges associated with developing a chlamydial vaccine that elicits a protective Th1-mediated immune response without inducing adverse immunopathologies.

Verkkopankkitoiminnan oikeudellinen sääntely

English summary: Judicial regulation of Internet banking (s. 346-347.)

Effects of an early intervention on maternal post-traumatic stress symptoms and the quality of mother-infant interaction: The case of preterm birth

Preterm birth may represent a traumatic situation for both parents and a stressful situation for the infant, potentially leading to difficulties in mother-infant relationships. This study aimed to investigate the impact of an early intervention on maternal posttraumatic stress symptoms, and on the quality of mother-infant interactions, in a sample of very preterm infants and their mothers. Half of the very preterm infants involved in the study (n=26) were randomly assigned to a 3-step early intervention program (at 33 and 42 weeks after conception and at 4 months' corrected age). Both groups of preterm infants (with and without intervention) were compared to a group of full-term infants. The impact of the intervention on maternal posttraumatic stress symptoms was assessed 42 weeks after conception and when the infants were 4 and 12 months of age. The impact of the intervention on the quality of mother-infant interactions was assessed when the infants were 4 months old. Results showed a lowering of mothers' posttraumatic stress symptoms between 42 weeks and 12 months in the group of preterm infants who received the intervention. Moreover, an enhancement in maternal sensitivity and infant cooperation during interactions was found at 4 months in the group with intervention. In the case of a preterm birth, an early intervention aimed at enhancing the quality of the mother-infant relationship can help to alleviate maternal post-traumatic stress symptoms and may have a positive impact on the quality of mother-infant interactions.

L'hygiène des maladies de la femme / par A. Siredey,...

Collection : Bibliothèque d'hygiène thérapeutique ; 16

Polyhydroxyalknoate synthesis in plants as a tool for biotechnology and basic studies of lipid metabolism.

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are polyesters of hydroxyacids naturally synthesized in bacteria as a carbon reserve. PHAs have properties of biodegradable thermoplastics and elastomers and their synthesis in crop plants is seen as an attractive system for the sustained production of large amounts of polymers at low cost. A variety of PHAs having different physical properties have now been synthesized in a number of transgenic plants, including Arabidopsis thaliana, rape and corn. This has been accomplished through the creation of novel metabolic pathways either in the cytoplasm, plastid or peroxisome of plant cells. Beyond its impact in biotechnology, PHA production in plants can also be used to study some fundamental aspects of plant metabolism. Synthesis of PHA can be used both as an indicator and a modulator of the carbon flux to pathways competing for common substrates, such as acetyl-coenzyme A in fatty acid biosynthesis or 3-hydroxyacyl-coenzyme A in fatty acid degradation. Synthesis of PHAs in plant peroxisome has been used to demonstrate changes in the flux of fatty acids to the beta-oxidation cycle in transgenic plants and mutants affected in lipid biosynthesis, as well as to study the pathway of degradation of unusual fatty acids.

Steady State Concentrations of the Enantiomers of Mianserin and Desmethylmianserin in Poor and in Homozygous and Heterozygous Extensive Metabolizers of Debrisoquine.

AB Summary: Steady state concentrations of (S)- and (R)-mianserin and desmethylmianserin were measured in 21 homozygous extensive metabolizers (as determined by genotyping for mutations 3 [or A] and 4 [or B]), in seven heterozygous extensive metabolizers and in one poor metabolizer of debrisoquine, as well as in one patient receiving very high doses of mianserin (360 mg/day) and fluoxetine (160 mg/day), a strong cytochrome P450IID6 inhibitor. The mean dose of mianserin was (mean +/- SD, range: 67 +/- 63, 10 to 360 mg/day). High dispersions of the (S)/(R)-mianserin and desmethylmianserin ratios were observed (mean +/- SD, range: 2.10+/- 1.01, 0.64 to 4.76, and 0.29 +/- 0.14, 0.08 to 0.57, respectively). The highest (S)/(R)-mianserin ratio was calculated for the poor metabolizer (4.76) agreeing with those results of a single-dose study with poor and extensive metabolizers of debrisoquine, in that the cytochrome P450IID6 is probably involved in the metabolism of mianserin with an enantioselectivity for the (S)-enantiomer. Nevertheless, the mean concentration-to-dose ratios for (S)- or (R)-mianserin or desmethylmianserin were not significantly different between homozygous and heterozygous extensive metabolizers, and no particular values were measured in the poor metabolizer nor in the patient receiving fluoxetine. Furthermore, the(S)/(R)-mianserin ratio measured in the PM was only slightly higher than the second highest ratio (3.85) of an homozygous extensive metabolizer, whereas no particular value (2.92) was calculated for the patient taking fluoxetine. Finally, no significant differences in (S)/(R)-mianserin or(S)/(R)-desmethylmianserin were calculated between homozygous and heterozygous extensive metabolizers. Although the number of patients included in this study is too low to allow definite conclusions, the results suggest that the debrisoquine genotype has only a moderate influence on the steady state concentrations of the enantiomers of mianserin and desmethylmianserin. (C) Lippincott-Raven Publishers

Anévrismes complexes de l'aorte abdominale: la chirurgie ouverte est-elle obsolète [The complex aortic abdominal aneurysm: is open surgery old fashion?].

Open surgery is still the main treatment of complex abdominal aortic aneurysm. Nevertheless, this approach is associated with major complications and high mortality rate. Therefore the fenestrated endograft has been used to treat the juxtarenal aneurysms. Unfortunately, no randomised controlled study is available to assess the efficacy of such devices. Moreover, the costs are still prohibitive to generalise this approach. Alternative treatments such as chimney or sandwich technique are being evaluated in order to avoid theses disadvantages. The aim of this paper is to present the endovascular approach to treat juxtarenal aneurysm and to emphasize that this option should be used only by highly specialized vascular centres.

Iowa Department of Transportation Major Items - Preliminary Quantity Report, January 20, 2016; With Addendums

Weekly letting report

Predictive accuracy of original and recalibrated Framingham risk score in the Swiss population.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the predictive accuracy of the original and recalibrated Framingham risk function on current morbidity from coronary heart disease (CHD) and mortality data from the Swiss population. METHODS: Data from the CoLaus study, a cross-sectional, population-based study conducted between 2003 and 2006 on 5,773 participants aged 35-74 without CHD were used to recalibrate the Framingham risk function. The predicted number of events from each risk function were compared with those issued from local MONICA incidence rates and official mortality data from Switzerland. RESULTS: With the original risk function, 57.3%, 21.2%, 16.4% and 5.1% of men and 94.9%, 3.8%, 1.2% and 0.1% of women were at very low (<6%), low (6-10%), intermediate (10-20%) and high (>20%) risk, respectively. With the recalibrated risk function, the corresponding values were 84.7%, 10.3%, 4.3% and 0.6% in men and 99.5%, 0.4%, 0.0% and 0.1% in women, respectively. The number of CHD events over 10 years predicted by the original Framingham risk function was 2-3 fold higher than predicted by mortality+case fatality or by MONICA incidence rates (men: 191 vs. 92 and 51 events, respectively). The recalibrated risk function provided more reasonable estimates, albeit slightly overestimated (92 events, 5-95th percentile: 26-223 events); sensitivity analyses showed that the magnitude of the overestimation was between 0.4 and 2.2 in men, and 0.7 and 3.3 in women. CONCLUSION: The recalibrated Framingham risk function provides a reasonable alternative to assess CHD risk in men, but not in women.