Frequency of HLA-B27 and its alleles in patients with Reiter syndrome: comparison with the frequency in other spondyloarthropathies and a healthy control population

This retrospective study analyzed the HLA-B*27 alleles in a group of 20 consecutive patients with the diagnosis of Reiter syndrome (RS) followed in a tertiary referral university hospital in Brazil, during the period 1990-2006, and compared the data with that observed in other patients with spondyloarthropathies followed at the same institution. Eight cases were associated to gastrointestinal infection, eight cases to previous urethritis, and four cases presented no established preceding infection. HLA-B*27 alleles were typed by polymerase chain reaction-amplified DNA hybridized with sequence-specific oligonucleotide probes (HLA-B*2701 to HLA-B*2721). They were compared to a group of 108 patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS), 40 with undifferentiated spondyloarthropathy (uSpA) and 111 healthy controls. Among the 20 patients, 17 were HLA-B*27 positive (85%). Two HLA-B*27 alleles were observed: HLA-B*2705 (65%) and HLA-B*2702 (35%). In the other spondyloarthropathies, the observed alleles were HLA-B*2705 (90% in AS and 92.5% in uSpA), HLA-B*2702 (8% in AS and 5% in uSpA), HLA-B*2704 (1% in AS and 2.5% in uSpA) and HLA-B*2713 (1% in AS). Among the 111 healthy controls, 80% presented HLA-B*2705, followed by HLA-B*2702 in 10%, HLA-B*2703 in 6%, HLA-B*2707 in 3% and HLA-B*2713 in 1%. Concluding, in the HLA-B*27 positive patients with RS in this study there was predominance of HLA-B*2705 allele, in a lower frequency than that observed in patients with other spondyloarthropathies and healthy controls.

Stigmatization of alcohol and other drug users by primary care providers in Southeast Brazil

This study reports on the views of Primary Health Care (PHC) providers in Southeast Brazil on the use of alcohol and other drugs which reflect stigma, moralization, or negative judgment. Six hundred nine PHC professionals from the Brazilian states of Sao Paulo and Minas Gerais took part in the study. The majority (86.5%) of these professionals were female. Attitudes toward the use of alcohol and other drugs were evaluated in comparison to Hansen`s disease, obesity, depression, schizophrenia. HIV/AIDS, and tobacco use. The use of tobacco, marijuana/cocaine, and alcohol were the most negatively judged behaviors (p < 0.05). Nursing assistants and community health care workers demonstrated the severest judgment of alcohol use. In addition, marijuana/cocaine addicts and alcoholics suffered the highest rate of rejection by professionals. The hypothesis that the use of alcohol and other drugs is a behavior stigmatized by health professionals being confirmed, it is important to develop strategies for changing provider attitudes in order to provide a higher quality of service to these patients. This study is important as a first study among PHC professionals about social stigma of alcohol and other drugs users. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Micro-Positron Emission Tomography in the Evaluation of Trypanosoma cruzi-Induced Heart Disease: Comparison with Other Modalities

Noninvasive assessment of cardiac structure and function is essential to understand the natural course of murine infection with Trypanosoma cruzi. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and echocardiography have been used to monitor anatomy and function; positron emission tomography (PET) is ideal for monitoring metabolic events in the myocardium. Mice infected with T. cruzi (Brazil strain) were imaged 15-100 days post infection (dpi). Quantitative (18)F-FDG microPET imaging, MRI and echocardiography were performed and compared. Tracer ((18)F-FDG) uptake was significantly higher in infected mice at all days of infection, from 15 to 100 dpi. Dilatation of the right ventricular chamber was observed by MRI from 30 to 100 dpi in infected mice. Echocardiography revealed significantly reduced ejection fraction by 60 dpi. Combination of these three complementary imaging modalities makes it possible to noninvasively quantify cardiovascular function, morphology, and metabolism from the earliest days of infection through the chronic phase.

Gender, marital status, farm size and other factors influencing the extent of cash cropping in Kenya: A case study

This article examines the effects of commercialisation of agriculture on land use and work patterns by means of a case study in the Nyeri district in Kenya. The study uses cross sectional data collected from small-scale farmers in this district. We find that good quality land is allocated to non-food cash crops, which may lead to a reduction in non-cash food crops and expose some households to greater risks of possible famine. Also the proportion of land allocated to food crops declines as the farm size increases while the proportion of land allocated to non-food cash crops rises as the size of farm increases. Cash crops are also not bringing in as much revenue commensurate with the amount of land allocated to them. With growing commercialisation, women still work more hours than men. They not only work on non-cash food crops but also on cash crops including non-food cash crops. Evidence indicates that women living with husbands work longer hours than those married but living alone, and also longer than the unmarried women. Married women seem to lose their decision-making ability with growth of commercialisation, as husbands make most decisions to do with cash crops. Furthermore husbands appropriate family cash income. Husbands are less likely to use such income for the welfare of the family compared to wives due to different expenditure patterns. Married women in Kenya also have little or no power to change the way land is allocated between food and non-food cash crops. Due to deteriorating terms of trade for non-food cash crops, men have started cultivation of food cash crops with the potential of crowding out women. It is found that both the area of non-cash crops tends to rise with farm size but also the proportion of the farm area cash cropped rises in Central Kenya.

Marital status, farm size and other influences on the extent of cash cropping in Kenya: A household case study

This article examines the effects of marital status, farm size and other factors on the extent of cash cropping (and allocation of land use) by means of a case study in the Nyeri district in Kenya. It was found that married women are involved in the production of a relatively greater amount of output of cash crops than unmarried women since husbands prefer to have more land under cash crops than food crops. Farmers with better quality land allocate a high proportion of it to non-food cash crops, which may expose some households to greater risks of possible famine. The proportion of land allocated to food crops declines as the farm size increases while the proportion of land allocated to non-food cash crops rises as the size of farm increases. Age is also inversely associated with subsistence. Education, though inversely associated with subsistence farming does not appear to be statistically very significant as an influence on the composition of land use and composition of farm output. With growing commercialisation, married women work more hours than unmarried ones, working not only on non-cash food crops but also on non-food cash crops. Married women seem to lose their decision-making ability with growth of agricultural commercialisation, as husbands make most decisions to do with cash crops. Married women in Kenya also have little or no power to change the way land is allocated between food and non-food cash crops.