Recrystallisation rims in zircon (Valle d'Arbedo, Switzerland): an integrated cathodoluminescence, LA-ICP-MS, SHRIMP, and TEM study

Recrystallization rims are a common feature of zircon crystals that underwent metamorphism. We present a microstructural and microchemical study of partially recrystallized zircon grains collected in polymetamorphic migmatites (Valle d'Arbedo, Ticino, Switzerland). The rims are bright in cathodo-luminescence (CL), with sharp and convex contacts characterized by inward-penetrating embayments transgressing igneous zircon cores. Laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) data and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) imaging indicate that the rims are chemically and microstructurally different from the cores. The rims are strongly depleted in REE, with concentrations up to two orders of magnitude lower than in the cores, indicating a significant loss of REE during zircon recrystallization. Enrichment in non-formula elements, such as Ca, has not been observed in the rims. The microstructure of zircon cores shows a dappled intensity at and below the 100 nm scale, possibly due to radiation damage. Other defects such as pores and dislocations are absent in the core except at healed cracks. Zircon rims are mostly dapple-free, but contain nanoscale pores and strain centers, interpreted as fluid inclusions and chemical residues, respectively. Sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe (SHRIMP) U-Pb ages show that the recrystallization of the rims took place >200 Ma ago when the parent igneous zircon was not metamict. The chemical composition and the low-Ti content of the rims indicate that they form at sub-solidus temperatures (550-650 degrees C). Recrystallization rims in Valle d'Arbedo zircon are interpreted as the result of the migration of chemical reaction fronts in which fluid triggered in situ and contemporaneous interface-coupled dissolution-reprecipitation mechanisms. This study indicates that strong lattice strain resulting from the incorporation of a large amount of impurities and structural defects is not a necessary condition for zircon to recrystallize. Our observations suggest that the early formation of recrystallization rims played a major role in preserving zircon from the more recent Alpine metamorphic overprint.

Surgical indication in Schistosomiasis mansoni portal hypertension: follow-up from 1985 to 2001

The study had the objective to evaluate the benefits of surgical indication for portal hypertension in schistosomiasis patients followed from 1985 to 2001. Schistosoma mansoni eggs were confirmed by at least six stool examinations or rectal biopsy. Clinical examination, abdominal ultrasonography, and digestive endoscopy confirmed the diagnosis of esophageal varices. A hundred and two patients, 61.3% male (14-53 years old) were studied. Digestive hemorrhage, hypersplenism, left hypochondrial pain, abdominal discomfort, and hypogonadism were, in a decreasing order, the major signs and symptoms determining surgical indication. Among the surgical techniques employed, either splenectomy associated to splenorenal anastomosis or azigoportal desvascularization, esophageal gastric descompression and esophageal sclerosis were used. Follow-up of patients revealed that, independent on the technique utilized, a 9.9% of death occurred, caused mainly by digestive hemorrhage due to the persistence of post-treatment varices. The authors emphasize the benefits of elective surgical indication allowing a normal active life.

Growing Up in Ireland: National Longitudinal Study of Children. The Infants And Their Families - Infant CohortOther Relevant Documents

Growing Up in Ireland: National Longitudinal Study of Children. The Infants And Their Families – Infant Cohort Click here to download PDF 9.46MB   Click here to download the document summary 2.84MB

All Ireland Traveller Health Study: Our Geels - The Birth Cohort Study Follow Up

The birth cohort study was a one year follow-up of all Traveller babies born on the island of Ireland between 14th October 2008 and 13th October 2009. The mother had to self-identify as an Irish Traveller. The aim of study was to assess the health status of Traveller infants and their mothers, quantify health service use, conditions needing health services and to examine why Traveller infants die. Click here to download PDF 7.72MB See all reports here

Laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass: initial 2-year experience.

BACKGROUND: Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGBP)-essentially a restrictive bariatric procedure-is currently considered the gold standard for the surgical treatment of morbid obesity. Open surgery in obese patients is associated with a high risk of cardiopulmonary complications, wound infection, and late incisional hernia. Laparoscopic surgery has been shown to reduce perioperative morbidity and to improve postoperative recovery for various procedures. Herein we present our results with laparoscopic RYGBP after an initial 2-year experience. METHODS: A prospective database was created in our department beginning without the first laparoscopic bariatric procedure. To provide a complete follow-up of 6 months, the results of all patients operated on between June 1999 and August 2001 were reviewed. Early surgical results, weight loss, correction of comorbidities, and improvement of quality of life were evaluated. RESULTS: A total of 107 patients were included. There were 82 women and 25 men, with a mean age of 39.7 years (range, 19-58). RYGBP was a primary procedure in 80 cases (49 morbidly obese and 31 superobese patients) and a reoperation after failure or complication of another bariatric operation in 27 cases. Mean duration of surgery was 168 min for morbidly obese patients, 196 min for surperobese patients, and 205 min for reoperated patients (p <0.01). Conversion to open surgery was necessary in two cases. A total of 22 patients (20.5%) developed complication. Nine of them (8.4%) required reoperation for leak (five cases, or 4.6%), bowel occlusion (three cases, or 2.8%), or subphrenic abscess (one case, or 0.9%). mortality was 0.9%. Major morbidity decreased over time (first two-thirds, 12.5%, last third, 2.7%). major morbidity decreased over time (first two-thirds, 12.5%; last third, 2.7%). Excess weight loss of -50% was achieved in >80% of the patients, corresponding to a loss of 15 body mass index (BMI) units in morbidly obese patients and 20 BMI units in superobese patients. In the vast majority of patients, comorbidities improved or disappeared over time and quality of life improved. CONCLUSIONS: Laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass is feasible, but it is a very complex operation. Indeed, it is associated with a long and steep learning curve, as reflected in the high number of major complications among our first 70 patients. The learning curve probably includes between 100 and 150 patients. With increasing experience, the morbidity rate becomes more acceptable and comparable to that of open RYGBP. The results in terms of weight loss and correction of comorbidities are similar to those obtained after open surgery, at least in the short term. However, only surgeons with extensive experience in advanced laparoscopic as well as bariatric surgery should attempt this procedure.

Long-term follow-up of patients with follicular lymphoma receiving single-agent rituximab at two different schedules in trial SAKK 35/98.

PURPOSE: We report the long-term results of a randomized clinical trial comparing induction therapy with once per week for 4 weeks single-agent rituximab alone versus induction followed by 4 cycles of maintenance therapy every 2 months in patients with follicular lymphoma. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients (prior chemotherapy 138; chemotherapy-naive 64) received single-agent rituximab and if nonprogressive, were randomly assigned to no further treatment (observation) or four additional doses of rituximab given at 2-month intervals (prolonged exposure). RESULTS: At a median follow-up of 9.5 years and with all living patients having been observed for at least 5 years, the median event-free survival (EFS) was 13 months for the observation and 24 months for the prolonged exposure arm (P < .001). In the observation arm, patients without events at 8 years were 5%, while in the prolonged exposure arm they were 27%. Of previously untreated patients receiving prolonged treatment after responding to rituximab induction, at 8 years 45% were still without event. The only favorable prognostic factor for EFS in a multivariate Cox regression was the prolonged rituximab schedule (hazard ratio, 0.59; 95% CI, 0.39 to 0.88; P = .009), whereas being chemotherapy naive, presenting with stage lower than IV, and showing a VV phenotype at position 158 of the Fc-gamma RIIIA receptor were not of independent prognostic value. No long-term toxicity potentially due to rituximab was observed. CONCLUSION: An important proportion of patients experienced long-term remission after prolonged exposure to rituximab, particularly if they had no prior treatment and responded to rituximab induction.

Don't cover up your problems

This pocket-sized leaflet advises young men not to cover up their problems and on the steps they can take to promote good mental health, such as keeping active, talking through problems and taking time to relax.

Schistosomiasis mansoni: follow-up of control program based on parasitologic and serologic methods in a Brazilian community of low endemicity

A field survey on schistosomiais was carried out in 1998, in the municipality of Pedro de Toledo, a low endemic area in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. According to the parasitologic Kato-Katz method, the prevalence rate was 1.6%, with an infection intensity of 40.9 eggs per gram of stool. By the immunofluorescence test (IFT) for detection of IgG and IgM antibodies in the serum, IgG-IFT and IgM-IFT, respectively, prevalence indices of 33.2% and 33.5% were observed. To assess the impact of the schistosomiasis control program in the area, parasitologic and serologic data obtained in 1998, analyzed according to the age, sex, and residence zone, were compared to previous data obtained in a epidemiologic study carried out in 1980, when prevalence indices were of 22.8% and 55.5%, respectively by Kato-Katz and IgG-IFT. A significant fall of the prevalence was observed, indicating that the control measures were effective. Nonetheless, residual transmission was observed, demonstrating the need for a joint effort to include new approaches for better understanding the real situation and improving the control of the disease in low endemic areas.

Immunisation for babies up to 13 months of age (English and 10 translations)

This booklet provides information on the routine immunisations that are given to babies to protect them from serious childhood diseases.

Biased gene conversion and GC-content evolution in the coding sequences of reptiles and vertebrates.

Mammalian and avian genomes are characterized by a substantial spatial heterogeneity of GC-content, which is often interpreted as reflecting the effect of local GC-biased gene conversion (gBGC), a meiotic repair bias that favors G and C over A and T alleles in high-recombining genomic regions. Surprisingly, the first fully sequenced nonavian sauropsid (i.e., reptile), the green anole Anolis carolinensis, revealed a highly homogeneous genomic GC-content landscape, suggesting the possibility that gBGC might not be at work in this lineage. Here, we analyze GC-content evolution at third-codon positions (GC3) in 44 vertebrates species, including eight newly sequenced transcriptomes, with a specific focus on nonavian sauropsids. We report that reptiles, including the green anole, have a genome-wide distribution of GC3 similar to that of mammals and birds, and we infer a strong GC3-heterogeneity to be already present in the tetrapod ancestor. We further show that the dynamic of coding sequence GC-content is largely governed by karyotypic features in vertebrates, notably in the green anole, in agreement with the gBGC hypothesis. The discrepancy between third-codon positions and noncoding DNA regarding GC-content dynamics in the green anole could not be explained by the activity of transposable elements or selection on codon usage. This analysis highlights the unique value of third-codon positions as an insertion/deletion-free marker of nucleotide substitution biases that ultimately affect the evolution of proteins.

Immunisation for babies up to a year old (Eglish and translations)

This booklet provides information on the routine immunisations that are given to babies up to a year oldto protect them from serious childhood diseases.

Loss to follow-up of HIV-infected women after delivery : The Swiss HIV Cohort Study and the Swiss Mother and Child HIV Cohort Study

INTRODUCTION: HIV-infected pregnant women are very likely to engage in HIV medical care to prevent transmission of HIV to their newborn. After delivery, however, childcare and competing commitments might lead to disengagement from HIV care. The aim of this study was to quantify loss to follow-up (LTFU) from HIV care after delivery and to identify risk factors for LTFU. METHODS: We used data on 719 pregnancies within the Swiss HIV Cohort Study from 1996 to 2012 and with information on follow-up visits available. Two LTFU events were defined: no clinical visit for >180 days and no visit for >360 days in the year after delivery. Logistic regression analysis was used to identify risk factors for a LTFU event after delivery. RESULTS: Median maternal age at delivery was 32 years (IQR 28-36), 357 (49%) women were black, 280 (39%) white, 56 (8%) Asian and 4% other ethnicities. One hundred and seven (15%) women reported any history of IDU. The majority (524, 73%) of women received their HIV diagnosis before pregnancy, most of those (413, 79%) had lived with diagnosed HIV longer than three years and two-thirds (342, 65%) were already on antiretroviral therapy (ART) at time of conception. Of the 181 women diagnosed during pregnancy by a screening test, 80 (44%) were diagnosed in the first trimester, 67 (37%) in the second and 34 (19%) in the third trimester. Of 357 (69%) women who had been seen in HIV medical care during three months before conception, 93% achieved an undetectable HIV viral load (VL) at delivery. Of 62 (12%) women with the last medical visit more than six months before conception, only 72% achieved an undetectable VL (p=0.001). Overall, 247 (34%) women were LTFU over 180 days in the year after delivery and 86 (12%) women were LTFU over 360 days with 43 (50%) of those women returning. Being LTFU for 180 days was significantly associated with history of intravenous drug use (aOR 1.73, 95% CI 1.09-2.77, p=0.021) and not achieving an undetectable VL at delivery (aOR 1.79, 95% CI 1.03-3.11, p=0.040) after adjusting for maternal age, ethnicity, time of HIV diagnosis and being on ART at conception. CONCLUSIONS: Women with a history of IDU and women with a detectable VL at delivery were more likely to be LTFU after delivery. This is of concern regarding their own health, as well as risk for sexual partners and subsequent pregnancies. Further strategies should be developed to enhance retention in medical care beyond pregnancy.

How they measure up: A simple guide to food labelling

The aim of this leaflet is to help you pick out the information you need when you're trying to choose between food products. Labels may appear to be very different in shape and size, colour and design and in what they tell us about the food or drink inside.

Get up and Go

Aims and objectives of intervention: - Stabilising of BMI or a 3% reduction in BMI at each follow up - Reduction in waist circumference - Reduction in overall weight - Improvement in 'nutrition score' and adverse behaviour change index based on self reported confidence and food frequency questionnai