Efficacy of permethrin-treated uniforms in combination with DEET topical repellent for protection of French military troops in Côte d'Ivoire

In 2000, 22,000 French military personnel were deployed overseas. The French military health service implemented a vector control strategy including personal protection by the use of permethrin preimpregnated battlefield uniforms (BFUs) and the application on the skin of a topical repellent (50% DEET). In 2000, French forces used an industrial process to impregnate cloth with permethrin by soaking it before cut-out of the BFU. A study was implemented in four experimental huts in C?te d'Ivoire to assess the field efficacy of the impregnated BFUs and their resistance to washing. Taking into account the systematic variations in each variable in the field and using a modeling based on logistic regression and discriminant analysis, this study showed that after 6 h without reapplication, the protective effects of the use of DEET as skin repellent was not significant, perhaps due to the high density of Anopheles mosquitoes during the night catching sessions and an average time of effective repellency of < 2 or 3 h in the field. The analysis also showed that the French process of industrial impregnation of permethrin of the BFU offered in 2000 some protection from mosquito bites but not enough to reduce significantly the incidence of malaria among nonimmune troops. No positive or negative interaction was noted when DEET and the impregnated BFUs were used together.     

Spectral discrimination of Cerenkov radiation in scintillating dosimeters

Radiation therapy accelerators require highly accurate dose deposition and the output must be monitored frequently and regularly. Ionization chambers are the primary tool for this control, but their size, their high voltage needed, and the correction needed for electrons make them unsuitable for use during patient treatment. We have developed a small (1-mm-diam and 1-mm-long active part), flexible, and water-equivalent dosimeter. It is suitable for photon and electron beams without corrections, and performs on line dose measurements. This detector is based on only one scintillating fiber and a CCD camera. A new signal processing is used to remove the effect of Cerenkov radiation background, which only requires a preliminary calibration. Central-axis depth-dose distribution comparisons have been achieved with standard ionization chambers, over a range from 8 to 25 MV photons and from 6 to 21 MeV electrons in order to validate this calibration. Results show a very good agreement, with less than 1% difference between the two detectors.     

Craniofacial morphology and tooth wear: a longitudinal study of orthodontic patients

Previous research has suggested that a relationship exists between craniofacial morphology and tooth wear. The primary objective of this study was to determine whether an individual's craniofacial morphology during childhood is related to the degree of tooth wear that occurs in that same individual's adult dentition. Pretreatment orthodontic records taken during the mixed dentition (T1) and follow-up records taken an average of 20 years later (T2) were available for 165 orthodontic patients. Incisal/occlusal tooth wear was measured on a tooth-by-tooth basis from T1 and T2 casts using a four-category scoring system. Measures of craniofacial morphology were made from the T1 lateral cephalometric radiograph. Multiple regression analysis indicated that adult wear was associated with the T1 cephalometric measures of ANB (p = 0.017) and the interaction between ramal height and sex (p = 0.039). These results suggest that the craniofacial morphology observed during childhood has a small but significant relationship to adult tooth wear.     

Laparoscopic splenectomy in patients with hematologic malignancies

BACKGROUND: Although laparoscopic splenectomy (LS) for benign hematologic disease is well accepted, its role in hematologic malignancies is not clearly defined. This study examined the efficacy and feasibility of LS for hematologic malignancies. METHODS: Records were reviewed from patients who underwent LS at two university hospitals. Charts from 77 open splenectomies for malignancy (OM) during the same period were also reviewed. RESULTS: Fifty-three patients underwent LS, 22 for hematologic malignancies (LM) and 31 for benign hematologic disorders (LB). Median splenic weight was greater in the LM group (930 g) than in the LB group (164 g, P = 0.001). LM was associated with longer operations and greater blood loss than was LB. LM had a 41% conversion rate. Morbidity, mortality, and transfusion rates were similar. Median hospital stay was shorter for LM (4 days) than for OM (6 days, P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: LS is feasible in hematologic malignancies but is associated with increased operative time and blood loss and a high conversion rate. Morbidity and mortality, however, was similar. Shorter hospital stays for LM compared with OM may translate into earlier recovery and initiation of antineoplastic therapy.     

Cross-sectional and 4-year longitudinal associations between brachial pulse pressure and common carotid intima-media thickness in a general population. The EVA study

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The cross-sectional and 4-year longitudinal associations between brachial pulse pressure (PP) and ultrasound measurements of common carotid intima-media thickness (CCA-IMT) were assessed. METHODS: A population of 957 volunteers aged 59 to 71 years was recruited from the electoral rolls of the city of Nantes (western France) and reexamined 4 years later. Longitudinal changes in PP and CCA-IMT were computed as the difference between 4-year follow-up and baseline values. RESULTS: Baseline CCA-IMT and PP were positively associated in both age- and sex-adjusted analysis (partial correlation coefficient=0.20, P<0.001) and in multivariate analysis adjusted for traditional cardiovascular risk factors and mean blood pressure (partial correlation coefficient=0.18, P<0.001). In longitudinal analysis, baseline PP was associated with the change in 4-year CCA-IMT (partial correlation coefficient=0.11, P<0.001), and baseline CCA-IMT was a predictor of the 4-year change in PP (partial correlation coefficient=0.10, 0.001相似文献   

Identification of multiple somatostatin receptors in the rat somatosensory cortex during development

The present study was aimed at identifying somatostatin receptor subtypes on the basis of their ligand-binding properties in the rat somatosensory cortex during fetal and postnatal development. Characterization of somatostatin-binding sites was performed in individual cortical layers by using three radioligands and eight competitors with known selectivities for the five somatostatin receptor subtypes. Binding sites sensitive to sst2-selective ligands were detected with high densities in the intermediate zone of the fetal cortex. From embryonic day 21 to 21 days postnatal (P21), mixed populations of receptors were detected in the cortical plate and emerging layers I-VI. Putative sst2 receptors were detected throughout the entire period but displayed different affinities for somatostatin and analogs, and a different sensitivity to GTP, depending on the developmental stage and the cortical layer considered. High densities of binding sites exhibiting characteristics of the sst1, sst3/5, and sst4 receptor subtypes were observed from P4 to P7, P7 to P14, and P7 to P21, respectively. In addition, each type of site exhibited a particular distribution pattern across the cortical layers that varied during the development. In the adult cortex, binding sites with sst1 and sst2 receptor characteristics were predominant. This study provides evidences of developmental expression windows of four sst receptor subtypes in selected areas of the rat cerebral cortex.