Trace element differentiation in ferruginous accumulation soil patterns under tropical rainforest of southern Cameroon, the role of climatic change

Regions under tropical rainforest cover, such as central Africa and Brazil are characterised by degradation and dismantling of old ferricrete structures. In southern Cameroon, these processes are relayed by present-day ferruginous accumulation soil facies, situated on the middle and the lower part of hill slopes. These facies become progressively harder towards the surface, containing from bottom to top, mainly kaolinite, kaolinite-goethite and Al-rich goethite-hematite, and are discontinuous to the relictic hematite-dominated ferricrete that exist in the upper part of the hill slope. These features were investigated in terms of geochemical differentiation of trace elements. It appears that, in contrast to the old ferricrete facies, the current ferruginous accumulations are enriched in transitional trace elements (V, Cr, Co, Y, Sc) and Ph, while alkali-earth elements are less differentiated. This recent chemical accumulation is controlled both by intense weathering of the granodiorite bedrock and by mobilisation of elements previously accumulated in the old ferricrete. The observed processes are clearly linked to the present-day humid climate with rising groundwater tables. They slowly replace the old ferricretes formed during Cretaceous time under more seasonal climatic conditions, representing an instructive case of continuos global change. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Obesity increases your risk of developing diabetes

There are an estimated 69,000 adults and 1092 children living with diabetes in Northern Ireland in 2010. The number of adults with diabetes in Northern Ireland has increased by 34% since 2004. Many of these cases are preventable and related to obesity. With this in mind, during Diabetes Week (12 - 18 June 2011) the Public Health Agency is encouraging everyone across Northern Ireland to be aware of how diabetes can be prevented and what the signs and symptoms of diabetes are to ensure early diagnosis and good diabetic care.Type 1 diabetes cannot be prevented. It usually occurs in children and young adults. Type 2 diabetes typically occurs after the age of 40, but may occur at a younger age, and can often be prevented - mainly by keeping your weight within the normal range for your height. Dr Brid Farrell, Consultant in Public Health Medicine, PHA, said: "The increase of diabetes occurring in the population can be explained by rising levels of obesity, people living longer and improved detection and diagnosis of diabetes in primary care."The symptoms of diabetes can include increased thirst, passing urine more frequently (bedwetting in children), extreme tiredness, slow healing infections, blurred vision and significant or unexplained weight loss. Symptoms of diabetes can develop quickly over days or weeks, and sometimes with Type 2 diabetes, a person may have no symptoms. Early diagnosis is important. If you think you have diabetes speak to your GP or pharmacist.Dr Farrell continued: "Diabetes is a lifelong condition, but complications can be prevented or delayed by controlling your blood sugar, and treating high blood pressure and high cholesterol. If you have diabetes, a healthy diet and regular exercise is very important."Health Minister Edwin Poots said:"Diabetes is a serious condition, which affects many thousands of people across Northern Ireland. While not all diabetes is preventable, we all have a responsibility to look after our own health. "By making healthier lifestyle choices such as eating a healthy, well-balanced diet and taking regular exercise, we can reduce our risk of developing potentially life threatening conditions such as type 2 diabetes. I would urge everyone to take every possible step to improve their health and avoid developing preventable illnesses."Ends

Prevent type 2 diabetes by preventing obesity

In 2011 nearly 73,000 adults in Northern Ireland are registered as having diabetes. Many cases of diabetes are preventable and are the result of obesity. With this in mind, on World Diabetes Day, 14 November 2011, the Public Health Agency is encouraging everyone across Northern Ireland to be aware of how Type 2 diabetes can be prevented, the dangers it can cause to your health and what the signs and symptoms of diabetes are to ensure early diagnosis.The links between type 2 diabetes and obesity are firmly established. Without the intervention of a healthy diet and appropriate exercise, obesity may develop into diabetes over a relatively short period of time. According to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), worldwide 80 per cent of people with Type 2 diabetes are overweight or obese at the time of diagnosis.If you are overweight, or obese the key step to preventing or delaying the onset of Type 2 diabetes is to lose a small amount of weight by making healthy food choices and being physically active 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week.Diabetes, if left untreated can cause serious long term health complications such as heart disease, kidney damage, eye problems, which can affect vision, and foot problems leading to amputation.Dr Brid Farrell, Consultant in Public Health Medicine, PHA, said: "The increase of diabetes occurring in the population can be explained by rising levels of obesity, people living longer and improved detection and diagnosis of diabetes in primary care."Having a family history of Type 2 diabetes increases your chances of developing diabetes. Take the first step today toward lowering your risk for Type 2 diabetes and improving your health and the health of future generations." The symptoms of diabetes can include increased thirst, passing urine more, frequently (bedwetting in children), extreme tiredness, slow healing infections, blurred vision and significant or unexplained weight loss. Symptoms of diabetes can develop quickly over days or weeks, and sometimes with Type 2 diabetes, a person may have no symptoms. Early diagnosis is important. If you think you have diabetes speak to your GP or pharmacist.Dr Farrell continued: "Diabetes is a lifelong condition, but complications can be prevented or delayed by controlling your blood sugar, and treating high blood pressure and high cholesterol. If you have diabetes, a healthy diet and regular exercise is very important."Health Minister Edwin Poots said:"Diabetes is a serious condition, which affects many thousands of people across Northern Ireland. While not all diabetes is preventable, we all have a responsibility to look after our own health. "By making healthier lifestyle choices such as eating a healthy, well-balanced diet and taking regular exercise, we can reduce our risk of developing potentially life threatening conditions such as type 2 diabetes. I would urge everyone to take every possible step to improve their health and avoid developing preventable illnesses

Watching your Weight in Pregnancy

Pregnant women in the Southern Health and Social Care Trust area are learning how to manage their weight as a result of a project being funded by the Public Health Agency.The 'Watching your Weight in Pregnancy' project, being delivered by the Southern Health and Social Care Trust, got underway in December 2011 to address the rising levels of obesity across the southern area. It also aims to reduce the impact that obesity can have on the health of women and their unborn children during pregnancy and birth.Two pilot programmes are currently underway in the Kilkeel area teaching both antenatal and post natal women that feeling good about yourself and your baby is important during pregnancy.The programmes provide information about managing weight during and after pregnancy and include advice on good nutrition along with opportunities to take part in appropriate physical activities. As part of the project, there have also been training sessions for midwives in the Southern HSC Trust on healthier eating and physical activity during pregnancy.Patricia McStay, Southern Trust Head of Midwifery, explained why there was a need for this project: "Every woman wants a healthy baby and we are supporting the women to improve their own health and wellbeing. We have been seeing increasing numbers of women who are overweight or obese at their first contact with the midwife. We want to support these women to manage their weight gain in pregnancy to reduce the risk of experiencing health complications such as high blood pressure, and diabetes in pregnancy."Angela McComb, Health and Social Wellbeing Improvement Manager, for the PHA, said: "The southern office of the PHA recognised the many risks associated with obesity in pregnancy, both to the mother and her baby, and allocated funding for this pilot project to test out ways in which these health risks can be reduced. "We look forward to seeing the results of the evaluation which will inform the further development of effective approaches to support pregnant women to manage their weight both locally and across Northern Ireland."

Social Care and Obesity: A discussion paper

The number of obese people in England has been rising steadily for the best part of 20 years. Today one in four adults are obese, according to the Health Survey for England, compared to 15 per cent in 1993. Obesity is associated with a range of health problems including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer. The resulting NHS costs attributable to overweight and obesity are projected to reach £9.7 billion by 2050 [1], with wider costs to society estimated to reach £49.9 billion per year. These factors combine to make the prevention of obesity a major public health challenge. This discussion paper considers the impact that obesity has on social care and the challenges facing social care now and in the future.

Therapeutic Drug Monitoring of the new targeted anticancer agents imatinib, nilotinib, dasatinib, sunitinib, sorafenib and lapatinib by LC tandem mass spectrometry.

The treatment of some cancer patients has shifted from traditional, non-specific cytotoxic chemotherapy to chronic treatment with molecular targeted therapies. Imatinib mesylate, a selective inhibitor of tyrosine kinases (TKIs) is the most prominent example of this new era and has opened the way to the development of several additional TKIs, including sunitinib, nilotinib, dasatinib, sorafenib and lapatinib, in the treatment of various hematological malignancies and solid tumors. All these agents are characterized by an important inter-individual pharmacokinetic variability, are at risk for drug interactions, and are not devoid of toxicity. Additionally, they are administered for prolonged periods, anticipating the careful monitoring of their plasma exposure via Therapeutic Drug Monitoring (TDM) to be an important component of patients' follow-up. We have developed a liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method (LC-MS/MS) requiring 100 microL of plasma for the simultaneous determination of the six major TKIs currently in use. Plasma is purified by protein precipitation and the supernatant is diluted in ammonium formate 20 mM (pH 4.0) 1:2. Reverse-phase chromatographic separation of TKIs is obtained using a gradient elution of 20 mM ammonium formate pH 2.2 and acetonitrile containing 1% formic acid, followed by rinsing and re-equilibration to the initial solvent composition up to 20 min. Analyte quantification, using matrix-matched calibration samples, is performed by electro-spray ionization-triple quadrupole mass spectrometry by selected reaction monitoring detection using the positive mode. The method was validated according to FDA recommendations, including assessment of extraction yield, matrix effects variability (<9.6%), overall process efficiency (87.1-104.2%), as well as TKIs short- and long-term stability in plasma. The method is precise (inter-day CV%: 1.3-9.4%), accurate (-9.2 to +9.9%) and sensitive (lower limits of quantification comprised between 1 and 10 ng/mL). This is the first broad-range LC-MS/MS assay covering the major currently in-use TKIs. It is an improvement over previous methods in terms of convenience (a single extraction procedure for six major TKIs, reducing significantly the analytical time), sensitivity, selectivity and throughput. It may contribute to filling the current knowledge gaps in the pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics relationships of the latest TKIs developed after imatinib and better define their therapeutic ranges in different patient populations in order to evaluate whether a systematic TDM-guided dose adjustment of these anticancer drugs could contribute to minimize the risk of major adverse reactions and to increase the probability of efficient, long lasting, therapeutic response.

Trypanocidal activity of Meliaceae and Rutaceae plant extracts

The in vitro trypanocidal activity of 22 extracts and 43 fractions of plants belonging to the families Meliaceae and Rutaceae was evaluated. The extracts from leaves of Conchocarphus heterophyllus and branches of Trichilia ramalhoi were the most active. The trypanocidal activity seems to be increased by fractionation of the extracts. Fractions from C. heterophyllus and Galipea carinata were the most active and a 100% lysis of the parasites was observed for five fractions. From one of them were isolated two flavonoids: flavone and 7-methoxyflavone, which showed weak trypanocidal activity. The results obtained from the extracts and fractions revealed that the order Rutales is a promising source for the search of new drugs for Chagas disease. Phytochemical studies with the other active fractions are underway in order to isolate compounds, which could be associated with observed activities.

Enriched basaltic andesites from mid-crustal fractional crystallization, recharge, and assimilation (Pilavo Volcano, Western Cordillera of Ecuador)

The origin of andesite is an important issue in petrology because andesite is the main eruptive product at convergent margins, corresponds to the average crustal composition and is often associated with major Cu-Au mineralization. In this study we present petrographic, mineralogical, geochemical and isotopic data for basaltic andesites of the latest Pleistocene Pilavo volcano, one of the most frontal volcanoes of the Ecuadorian Quaternary arc, situated upon thick (30-50 km) mafic crust composed of accreted Cretaceous oceanic plateau rocks and overlying mafic to intermediate Late Cretaceous-Late Tertiary magmatic arcs. The Pilavo rocks are basaltic andesites (54-57 center dot 5 wt % SiO(2)) with a tholeiitic affinity as opposed to the typical calc-alkaline high-silica andesites and dacites (SiO(2) 59-66 wt %) of other frontal arc volcanoes of Ecuador (e.g. Pichincha, Pululahua). They have much higher incompatible element contents (e.g. Sr 650-1350 ppm, Ba 650-1800 ppm, Zr 100-225 ppm, Th 5-25 ppm, La 15-65 ppm) and Th/La ratios (0 center dot 28-0 center dot 36) than Pichincha and Pululahua, and more primitive Sr ((87)Sr/(86)Sr similar to 0 center dot 7038-0 center dot 7039) and Nd (epsilon(Nd) similar to +5 center dot 5 to +6 center dot 1) isotopic signatures. Pilavo andesites have geochemical affinities with modern and recent high-MgO andesites (e.g. low-silica adakites, Setouchi sanukites) and, especially, with Archean sanukitoids, for both of which incompatible element enrichments are believed to result from interactions of slab melts with peridotitic mantle. Petrographic, mineral chemistry, bulk-rock geochemical and isotopic data indicate that the Pilavo magmatic rocks have evolved through three main stages: (1) generation of a basaltic magma in the mantle wedge region by flux melting induced by slab-derived fluids (aqueous, supercritical or melts); (2) high-pressure differentiation of the basaltic melt (at the mantle-crust boundary or at lower crustal levels) through sustained fractionation of olivine and clinopyroxene, leading to hydrous, high-alumina basaltic andesite melts with a tholeiitic affinity, enriched in incompatible elements and strongly impoverished in Ni and Cr; (3) establishment of one or more mid-crustal magma storage reservoirs in which the magmas evolved through dominant amphibole and clinopyroxene (but no plagioclase) fractionation accompanied by assimilation of the modified plutonic roots of the arc and recharge by incoming batches of more primitive magma from depth. The latter process has resulted in strongly increasing incompatible element concentrations in the Pilavo basaltic andesites, coupled with slightly increasing crustal isotopic signatures and a shift towards a more calc-alkaline affinity. Our data show that, although ultimately originating from the slab, incompatible element abundances in arc andesites with primitive isotopic signatures can be significantly enhanced by intra-crustal processes within a thick juvenile mafic crust, thus providing an additional process for the generation of enriched andesites.

Enough is Enough - Food Poverty Scoping Exercise

In March 2015, over 80 people, representing food banks, churches, advice services, community organisations, statutory agencies and universities attended the ‘Enough is Enough’  launch event in City Church, Belfast to examine the rising demand for emergency food across the city.The ‘Enough is Enough’ project aims to harness the expertise of health and social care professionals, city councillors, advice workers, food banks, community and faith based organisations and strategic bodies across Belfast to collectively address the issue of food poverty. This scoping study lays the foundation for developing an action plan to tackle food poverty in Belfast in collaboration with the community, voluntary and statutory sectors.The Belfast Food Network (BFN) commissioned the project with funding from the Public Health Agency. The research was carried out by Jenny McCurry, who also wrote the report, on behalf of Advice NI.  The project was initiated and developed by Dr Elizabeth Mitchell, Institute of Public Health in Ireland, in her role as convener of the BFN Food Poverty Working Group (BFN/FPWG). Thanks are due to Kevin Higgins, Head of Policy, Advice NI, and Kerry Melville, Co-ordinator, BFN, for their involvement in the project.The BFN is a founding member of the pioneering Sustainable Food Cities Network (SFC). Therapidly growing BFN was established in March 2014 to work with partners to establish a successful Sustainable Food City in Belfast.ACCESS AUDIO AND VIDEO FROM THE EVENT

Real-time antifungal susceptibility testing of Mucor spp., Fusarium spp. and Scedosporium spp. by isothermal microcalorimetry

Objective: Aspergillus species are the main pathogens causing invasive fungal infections but the prevalence of other mould species is rising. Resistance to antifungals among these new emerging pathogens presents a challenge for managing of infections. Conventional susceptibility testing of non-Aspergillus species is laborious and often difficult to interpret. We evaluated a new method for real-time susceptibility testing of moulds based on their of growth-related heat production.Methods: Laboratory and clinical strains of Mucor spp. (n = 4), Scedoporium spp. (n = 4) and Fusarium spp. (n = 5) were used. Conventional MIC was determined by microbroth dilution. Isothermal microcalorimetry was performed at 37 C using Sabouraud dextrose broth (SDB) inoculated with 104 spores/ml (determined by microscopical enumeration). SDB without antifungals was used for evaluation of growth characteristics. Detection time was defined as heat flow exceeding 10 lW. For susceptibility testing serial dilutions of amphotericin B, voriconazole, posaconazole and caspofungin were used. The minimal heat inhibitory concentration (MHIC) was defined as the lowest antifungal concentration, inhbiting 50% of the heat produced by the growth control at 48 h or at 24 h for Mucor spp. Susceptibility tests were performed in duplicate.Results: Tested mould genera had distinctive heat flow profiles with a median detection time (range) of 3.4 h (1.9-4.1 h) for Mucor spp, 11.0 h (7.1-13.7 h) for Fusarium spp and 29.3 h (27.4-33.0 h) for Scedosporium spp. Graph shows heat flow (in duplicate) of one representative strain from each genus (dashed line marks detection limit). Species belonging to the same genus showed similar heat production profiles. Table shows MHIC and MIC ranges for tested moulds and antifungals.Conclusions: Microcalorimetry allowed rapid detection of growth of slow-growing species, such as Fusarium spp. and Scedosporium spp. Moreover, microcalorimetry offers a new approach for antifungal susceptibility testing of moulds, correlating with conventional MIC values. Interpretation of calorimetric susceptibility data is easy and real-time data on the effect of different antifungals on the growth of the moulds is additionally obtained. This method may be used for investigation of different mechanisms of action of antifungals, new substances and drug-drug combinations.

Growing up in Ireland. Key findings: infant cohort (at 3 years).

 The latest results from the study paint a picture of how these families are faring across a range of areas in their lives including their health, family life and financial and economic circumstances. In general the findings show that three-year-olds in Ireland are in good health with a few notable public health and related issues (including overweight and obesity), there is overall stability in family structures over the short term and that the recession has had a substantial effect on families with young children over the last number of years. These are the first longitudinal findings from the study. The first wave of fieldwork with the families of the Infant Cohort included approximately 11,100 nine-month-olds, their parents and carers. Interviews began in September 2008 and were completed in March 2009. Interviews for the second round of interviews with this cohort took place between January and August 2011. A total of 90% of the original sample of nine-month-olds were successfully re-interviewed. (A full download of the results released today, presented in three briefing documents can be found by clicking here. Key findings include: Health â?¢ Most of the children were described as being in good health; 75% were rated as very healthy and a further 23% were rated as healthy, but a few minor problems. Girls were more likely to be reported as very healthy (78%) compared with boys (72%). â?¢ One in four or almost one quarter of three-year-old children were overweight (19%) or obese (6%). â?¢ Childrenâ?Ts weight was related to household social class. 5% of children in families in the professional/managerial group were classified as obese at three years of age compared with 9% of those in the most disadvantaged social class group. However, at least one-fifth of children in every social class were overweight. â?¢ Childrens consumption of energy-dense foods such as crisps, sweets, chips, and non-diet fizzy drinks increased as parental education fell. 63% of children whose mother had a lower secondary education or less ate at least one portion of crisps compared with 36% of those from degree-level backgrounds, although consumption of biscuits/chocolates was over 70% for both groups of children. â?¢ Two-thirds (66%) of three-year-olds had received at least one course of antibiotics in the 12 months preceding the interview. Children with a full medical card (35% of the sample) or a GP-only medical card (5% of the sample) were more likely to have received a course of antibiotics than â?¢ Children with a full medical card received a higher number of antibiotic courses on average (2.6) compared with those without a medical card (2.1). â?¢ Just under 16% of three-year-old children were reported as having at least one longstanding illness, condition or disability. The most commonly reported illness types included Asthma (5.8%), Eczema/Skin allergies (3.9%) and Food/digestive allergies (1.2%) Family Life and Childcare â?¢ While the overall distribution of family structure was stable, there have been transitions from one-parent families to two-parent families and vice-versa over the 27 months between interview â?" approximately 2 to 3 percent in each direction. â?¢ 50% of three year olds were in some form of non-parental childcare for eight or more hours a week. The most common form used was centre-based childcare which almost tripled between nine months and three years, from 11% to 30%. â?¢ A similar percentage of grandparents were caring for children at both nine months and three years, 12% and 11% respectively. A total of 10% of three-year-olds were being minded by a childminder, an increase of 3 percentage points from when the children were nine months of age. â?¢ Children who were in some form of non-parental childcare were spending an average of 23 hours a week in their main type of childcare. â?¢ At time of interview the vast majority of mothers reported that they had regular contact with the Study Childâ?Ts grandparents (91%). In offering support to parents, grandparents were most likely to babysit (50%), and buy clothes (40%) at least on a monthly basis. One-parent families were more likely than two-parent families to receive financial support from grandparents with just under one-third (66%) of one-parent families receiving financial support from grandparents at least once every three months. â?¢ The most frequently used discipline technique was â?~discussing or explaining why the behaviour was wrongâ?T, with 63% of mothers saying they always did this. â?¢ 12% of mothers said they used â?~smackingâ?T as a form of discipline now and again and less than 1% used â?~smackingâ?T as a form of discipline more frequently. Over half reported that they never smacked the Study Child. Financial and Economic Circumstances â?¢ Just over half (53%) of mothers of three-year-olds worked outside the home, 38% said they were on home duties and 6% said they were unemployed. â?¢ The biggest change in terms of the work status of three-year-oldsâ?T parents was an increase in the percentage of unemployed fathers â?" 6% when the child was nine months rising to almost 14% when s/he was three years of age. â?¢ 61% of families of three-year-olds reported experiencing difficulties in making â?~ends meetâ?T. This was a substantial increase from 44% in the first round of interviews when the children were nine-months-old. â?¢ Almost two thirds (63%) of all families with three-year-olds reported that the recession had had a very significant or significant effect on them. â?¢ The most frequently recorded effects were: a reduction in wages (63%); canâ?Tt afford luxuries (54%), social welfare reduction (53%) and canâ?Tt afford/cut back on basics (32%). Growing Up in Ireland is a Government funded study tracking the development of two nationally representative cohorts of children: an Infant Cohort which was interviewed initially at nine months and subsequently at three years of age; and a Child Cohort which was interviewed initially at nine years and subsequently at 13 years of age. The study is being conducted by a consortium of researchers led by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) and Trinity College Dublin. For Further Information Please Contact: Jillian Heffernan Communications Officer, Growing Up in Ireland Tel: 01 896 3378 Mobile: 087 9016880This resource was contributed to our repository by the National Documentation Centre on Drug Use.

Interest of qualitative and quantitative profiling of endocannabinoids for evaluation of their implication in drug addiction process

Introduction: In the middle of the 90's, the discovery of endogenous ligands for cannabinoid receptors opened a new era in this research field. Amides and esters of arachidonic acid have been identified as these endogenous ligands. Arachidonoylethanolamide (anandamide or AEA) and 2-Arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG) seem to be the most important of these lipid messengers. In addition, virodhamine (VA), noladin ether (2-AGE), and N-arachidonoyl dopamine (NADA) have been shown to bind to CB receptors with varying affinities. During recent years, it has become more evident that the EC system is part of fundamental regulatory mechanisms in many physiological processes such as stress and anxiety responses, depression, anorexia and bulimia, schizophrenia disorders, neuroprotection, Parkinson disease, anti-proliferative effects on cancer cells, drug addiction, and atherosclerosis. Aims: This work presents the problematic of EC analysis and the input of Information Dependant Acquisition based on hybrid triple quadrupole linear ion trap (QqQLIT) system for the profiling of these lipid mediators. Methods: The method was developed on a LC Ultimate 3000 series (Dionex, Sunnyvale, CA, USA) coupled to a QTrap 4000 system (Applied biosystems, Concord, ON, Canada). The ECs were separated on an XTerra C18 MS column (50 × 3.0 mm i.d., 3.5 μm) with a 5 min gradient elution. For confirmatory analysis, an information-dependant acquisition experiment was performed with selected reaction monitoring (SRM) as survey scan and enhanced produced ion (EPI) as dependant scan. Results: The assay was found to be linear in the concentration range of 0.1-5 ng/mL for AEA, 0.3-5 ng/mL for VA, 2-AGE, and NADA and 1-20 ng/mL for 2-AG using 0.5 mL of plasma. Repeatability and intermediate precision were found less than 15% over the tested concentration ranges. Under non-pathophysiological conditions, only AEA and 2-AG were actually detected in plasma with concentration ranges going from 104 to 537 pg/mL and from 2160 to 3990 pg/mL respectively. We have particularly focused our scopes on the evaluation of EC level changes in biological matrices through drug addiction and atherosclerosis processes. We will present preliminary data obtained during pilot study after administration of cannabis on human patients. Conclusion: ECs have been shown to play a key role in regulation of many pathophysiological processes. Medical research in these different fields continues to growth in order to understand and to highlight the predominant role of EC in the CNS and peripheral tissues signalisation. The profiling of these lipids needs to develop rapid, highly sensitive and selective analytical methods.

Subcellular localization of an intracellular serine protease of 68 kDa in Leishmania (Leishmania) amazonensis promastigotes

Here we report the subcellular localization of an intracellular serine protease of 68 kDa in axenic promastigotes of Leishmania (Leishmania) amazonensis, using subcellular fractionation, enzymatic assays, immunoblotting, and immunocytochemistry. All fractions were evaluated by transmission electron microscopy and the serine protease activity was measured during the cell fractionation procedure using a-N-r-tosyl-L-arginine methyl ester (L-TAME) as substrate, phenylmethylsulphone fluoride (PMSF) and L-1-tosylamino-2-phenylethylchloromethylketone (TPCK) as specific inhibitors. The enzymatic activity was detected mainly in a membranous vesicular fraction (6.5-fold enrichment relative to the whole homogenate), but also in a crude plasma membrane fraction (2.0-fold). Analysis by SDS-PAGE gelatin under reducing conditions demonstrated that the major proteolytic activity was found in a 68 kDa protein in all fractions studied. A protein with identical molecular weight was also recognized in immunoblots by a polyclonal antibody against serine protease (anti-SP), with higher immunoreactivity in the vesicular fraction. Electron microscopic immunolocalization using the same polyclonal antibody showed the enzyme present at the cell surface, as well as in cytoplasmic membranous compartments of the parasite. Our findings indicate that the internal location of this serine protease in L. amazonensis is mainly restricted to the membranes of intracellular compartments resembling endocytic/exocytic elements.

World Alzheimer Report 2011 - The benefits of early diagnosis and intervention

Alzheimer's Disease International released the World Alzheimer Report 2011 - The benefits of early diagnosis and intervention on the 13th September 2011. Key Findings:As many as three-quarters of the estimated 36 million people worldwide living with dementia have not been diagnosed and hence cannot benefit from treatment, information and care. In high-income countries, only 20-50% of dementia cases are recognized and documented in primary care. In low- and middle-income countries, this proportion could be as low as 10%.Failure to diagnose often results from the false belief that dementia is a normal part of aging, and that nothing can be done to help. On the contrary, the new report finds that interventions can make a difference, even in the early stages of the illness.Drugs and psychological interventions for people with early-stage dementia can improve cognition, independence, and quality of life. Support and counseling for caregivers can improve mood, reduce strain and delay institutionalization of people with dementia.Governments, concerned about the rising costs of long-term care linked to dementia, should “spend now to save later.” Based on a review of economic analyses, the report estimates that earlier diagnosis could yield net savings of up to US$10,000 per patient in high-income countries.��World Alzheimer Report 2011 - Executive Summary (PDF, 36 pages, 1128KB)World Alzheimer Report 2011 (PDF, 72 pages, 1710KB)����

Unhealthy Consequences: Energy Costs and Child Health

Substantial and compelling medical and public health evidence indicated that non-medical factors, such as home energy costs, profoundly influence child health and well-being. Child Health Impact Assessment offered an evidence- and experience-based method through which to evaluate the implications of policy, regulations, and legislation for children's health and well-being. Our Child Health Impact Assessment of home energy costs revealed that unaffordable home energy has important and preventable adverse consequences for children's health. The available evidence showed that unaffordable home energy has preventable, potential consequences on the health and well-being of the more than 400,000 Massachusetts children living in low-income households. Low-income families are caught in the gap between rising energy prices and available energy assistance. Energy assistance falls far short of the need, especially when there is a spike in energy prices, such as following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. In addition to the exceedingly high housing costs in Massachusetts, our climate means low-income families spend more of their income on home energy (energy burden) to keep warm than families in other regions of the U.S.