The improvement of care for paediatric and congenital cardiac disease across the World: a challenge for the World Society for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery

The diagnosis and treatment for paediatric and congenital cardiac disease has undergone remarkable progress over the last 60 years. Unfortunately, this progress has been largely limited to the developed world. Yet every year approximately 90% of the more than 1,000,000 children who are born with congenital cardiac disease across the world receive either suboptimal care or are totally denied care. While in the developed world the focus has changed from an effort to decrease post-operative mortality to now improving quality of life and decreasing morbidity, which the focus of this Supplement, the rest of the world still needs to develop basic access to congenital cardiac care. The World Society for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery [http://www.wspchs.org/] was established in 2006. The Vision of the World Society is that every child born anywhere in the world with a congenital heart defect should have access to appropriate medical and surgical care. The Mission of the World Society is to promote the highest quality comprehensive care to all patients with pediatric and/or congenital heart disease, from the fetus to the adult, regardless of the patient`s economic means, with emphasis on excellence in education, research and community service. We present in this article an overview of the epidemiology of congenital cardiac disease, the current and future challenges to improve care in the developed and developing world, the impact of the globalization of cardiac surgery, and the role that the World Society should play. The World Society for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery is in a unique position to influence and truly improve the global care of children and adults with congenital cardiac disease throughout the world [http://www.wspchs.org/].

Becoming culturally inclusive: A perspective on personnel preparation

It can be said that some of the topics and ideas that command our interest or attention are autobiographical in origin. This paper subscribes to this category. In this paper, I present a perspective on preparing professional personnel, namely, educators, practitioners, teachers, student teachers, and researchers, for cultural inclusion. This perspective is drawn from my experiences as a former postgraduate student from a culturally diverse background preparing for a career in severe disabilities and as a university educator who is interested in ways to encourage professionals in the field to be more cognizant of the influence of their cultural backgrounds and the value of becoming culturally inclusive.

A redescription of Homalometron senegalense Fischthal & Thomas, 1972 (Digenea : Apocreadiidae) from Synaptura kleinii (Teleostei) of the western Mediterranean

The apocreadiid digenean Homalometron senegalense is redescribed from the soleid fish Synaptura kleinii from off Corsica in the western Mediterranean. For the first time, lymphatic vessels are described for this species, and the implications of this in the systematics of the Apocreadiidae discussed. This species is considered closest to H. galaicus and H. wrightae, both also reported from soleid hosts. The concept of Apocreadiidae espoused is that most recently developed by Cribb & Bray (1999).

'The utility of human security': Which humans? What security? A reply to Thomas & Tow

Thomas & Tow's evaluation of the utility of human security is an important contribution to an ongoing debate about what security is and for whom security should be provided. In particular, the authors' engagement with the human security agenda is important given the centrality of this approach to recent attempts to rethink security. This article argues, however, that Thomas & Tow's approach to the human security agenda is problematic for two central reasons. First, their attempt to narrow security to make this approach amenable to state policymakers risks reifying the sources of insecurity for individuals everywhere. Second, the conception of human security they put forward appears largely inconsistent with the normative concerns inherent in the human security agenda.

Comparison of tafenoquine (WR238605) and primaquine in the post-exposure (terminal) prophylaxis of vivax malaria) in Australian Defence Force personnel

On return from duty in North Solomons Province (including Bougainville Island), Papua New Guinea, 586 Australian Defence Force personnel received either primaquine (14-d) or tafenoquine (3-d) post-exposure malaria prophylaxis. Within 12 months, 6 of the 214 volunteers receiving primaquine and 7 of 378 receiving tafenoquine had developed vivax malaria. Overall, volunteers preferred the shorter course of tafenoquine.

Variações nos níveis das células sangüíneas periféricas encontradas em Holochilus brasiliensis nanus Thomas, 1897, infectados com Schistosoma mansoni Sambon, 1907, próprio da Pré-Amazônia

Foram constituídos quatro grupos de roedores silvestres para a contagem de células sangüíneas periféricas, da seguinte forma: Grupo I - formado de animais normais, nascidos em biotério, com 30 dias de vida; Grupo II - formado de animais que foram capturados no campo e considerados não infectados com S. mansoni, após ovohelmintoscopia das fezes, realizada durante 30 dias de observação; Grupo III - animáis capturados no campo, nautralmente infectados com o esquistossomo, e o Grupo IV - de animais nascidos em biotério, com 30 dias de vida, e infectados com 150 cercárias de S. mansoni, oriundas da Região da Baixada Maranhense. Semanalmente, a partir da data da infecção, estes animais foram sangrados e tiveram suas células sangüíneas periféricas contadas global e especificamente. Os resultados mostraram que o número de hemácias e leucócitos por mm³ não variou nos animais normais, tanto de campo como de biotério. No grupo de animais experimentalmente infectados, foi observado decréscimo do número de hemácias à proporção que a infecção evoluia. Comportamento oposto foi verificado com os leucócitos. Elevados níveis de eosinófilos só foram observados nos animais com infecção natural. Estes resultados foram discutidos com dados da literatura e considerados importantes para complementar as informações sobre este hospedeiro natural do trematódeo, oferecido como modelo experimental do verme, e para sua própria história natural.