The WHO definition of trachomatous trichiasis (TT) is "at least one eyelash touching the globe, or evidence of recent epilation of in-turned eyelashes", reflecting the fact that epilation is used as ...a self-management tool for TT. In Fiji's Western Division, a high TT prevalence (8.7% in those aged ≥15 years) was reported in a 2012 survey, yet a 2013 survey found no TT and Fijian ophthalmologists rarely see TT cases. Local anecdote suggests that eyelash epilation is a common behaviour, even in the absence of trichiasis. Epilators may have been identified as TT cases in previous surveys.
We used a preliminary focus group to design an interview questionnaire, and subsequently conducted a population-based prevalence survey to estimate the prevalence of epilation in the absence of trichiasis, and factors associated with this behaviour, in the Western Division of Fiji.
We sampled 695 individuals aged ≥15 years from a total of 457 households in 23 villages. 125 participants (18%) reported epilating their eyelashes at least once within the past year. Photographs were obtained of the eyes of 121/125 (97%) individuals who epilated, and subsequent analysis by an experienced trachoma grader found no cases of trachomatous conjunctival scarring or trichiasis. The age- and sex- adjusted prevalence of epilation in those aged ≥15 years was 8.6% (95% CI 5.7-11.3%). iTaukei ethnicity, female gender, and a higher frequency of drinking kava root were independently associated with epilation.
Epilation occurs in this population in the absence of trichiasis, with sufficient frequency to have markedly inflated previous estimates of local TT prevalence. Individuals with epilated eyelashes should be confirmed as having epilated in-turned eyelashes in an eye with scarring of the conjunctiva before being counted as cases of TT.
The role of the arylbromine-halide ion (C−Br···X-) synthons in the development of the supramolecular frameworks is explored in a set of six bromopyridinium tetrahalocuprate(II) salts. The compounds ...belong to the series (nBP)2CuX4, where nBP+ denotes the n-bromopyridinium cation and n = 2, 3, or 4 and X = Cl- or Br- and include (2BP)2CuBr4, (3BP)2CuBr4, (4BP)2CuBr4, (2BP)2CuCl4, (3BP)2CuCl4, and (4BP)2CuCl4. The structures all consist of isolated pyridinium cations and flattened tetrahedral CuX4 2- anions. The supramolecular assembly of these ionic species is dominated by the novel C−Br···X- synthon and the more traditional N−H···X- synthon. The C−Br···X- synthon is invariably characterized by essentially linear C−Br···X- angles with Br···X- contacts 0.3−0.4 Å less than the sum of the van der Waals radii. In contrast, the N−H···X- synthons show a variety of geometries: linear, symmetric bifurcated, and asymmetric bifurcated. In all cases, low dimensional supramolecular networks are developed based on combinations of the C−Br···X- and N−H···X- synthons. These include chain networks in (3BP)2CuCl4, (4BP)2CuBr4, and the (4BP)2CuX4 salts. A double chain network exists in (3BP)2CuBr4, while the structure of (4BP)2CuCl4 contains a two-dimensional network. A common feature in all six networks is the existence of bibridged CuX4 2- − (nBP+)2 − CuX4 2- units, while the more complex double chain and layer networks also contain monobridged CuX4 2- − (nBP+) − CuX4 2- units. These units then aggregate into the final crystal structures generally with coplanar stacking of the substituted pyridinium cations. The stacking interactions between cations include both π−π and π−Br interactions. In general, the π−π stacking is not optimal and, in some cases, it is nonexistent. Comparison with other previous studies show the competitive nature of the C−Br···X- and N−H···X- synthons in halocuprate(II) structures.
Background:
The low population prevalence of trachomatous trichiasis and high prevalence of trachomatous inflammation–follicular (TF) provide contradictory estimates of the magnitude of the public ...health threat from trachoma in the Solomon Islands. Improved characterisation of the biology of trachoma in the region may support policy makers as they decide what interventions are required. Here, age-specific profiles of anti-Pgp3 antibodies and conjunctival scarring were examined to determine whether there is evidence of ongoing transmission and pathology from ocular
Chlamydia trachomatis
(
Ct
)
infection.
Methods:
A total of 1511 individuals aged ≥1 year were enrolled from randomly selected households in 13 villages in which >10% of children aged 1–9 years had TF prior to a single round of azithromycin mass drug administration undertaken six months previously. Blood was collected to be screened for antibodies to the
Ct
antigen Pgp3. Tarsal conjunctival photographs were collected for analysis of scarring severity.
Results:
Anti-Pgp3 seropositivity was 18% in 1–9 year olds, sharply increasing around the age of sexual debut to reach 69% in those over 25 years. Anti-Pgp3 seropositivity did not increase significantly between the ages of 1–9 years and was not associated with TF (p=0.581) or scarring in children (p=0.472). Conjunctival scars were visible in 13.1% of photographs. Mild (p<0.0001) but not severe (p=0.149) scars increased in prevalence with age.
Conclusions:
Neither conjunctival scars nor lymphoid follicles were associated with antibodies to
Ct,
suggesting that they are unlikely to be a direct result of ocular
Ct
infection
.
Clinical signs of trachoma were prevalent in this population but were not indicative of the underlying rates of
Ct
infection. The current World Health Organization guidelines for trachoma elimination indicated that this population should receive intervention with mass distribution of antibiotics, but the data presented here suggest that this may not have been appropriate.
The low population-prevalence of trachomatous trichiasis and high prevalence of trachomatous inflammation-follicular (TF) provide contradictory estimates of the magnitude of the public health threat ...from trachoma in the Solomon Islands. Improved characterisation of the biology of trachoma in the region may support policy makers as they decide what interventions are required. Here, age-specific profiles of anti-Pgp3 antibodies and conjunctival scarring were examined to determine whether there is evidence of ongoing transmission and pathology from ocular
infection.
A total of 1511 individuals aged ≥1 year were enrolled from randomly selected households in 13 villages in which >10% of children aged 1-9 years had TF prior to a single round of azithromycin mass drug administration undertaken six months previously. Blood was collected to be screened for antibodies to the
antigen Pgp3. Tarsal conjunctival photographs were collected for analysis of scarring severity.
Anti-Pgp3 seropositivity was 18% in 1-9 year olds, sharply increasing around the age of sexual debut to reach 69% in those over 25 years. Anti-Pgp3 seropositivity did not increase significantly between the ages of 1-9 years and was not associated with TF (p=0.581) or scarring in children (p=0.472). Conjunctival scars were visible in 13.1% of photographs. Mild (p<0.0001) but not severe (p=0.149) scars increased in prevalence with age.
Neither conjunctival scars nor lymphoid follicles were associated with antibodies to
suggesting that they are unlikely to be a direct result of ocular
infection
Clinical signs of trachoma were prevalent in this population but were not indicative of the underlying rates of
infection. The current World Health Organization guidelines for trachoma elimination indicated that this population should receive intervention with mass distribution of antibiotics, but the data presented here suggest that this may not have been appropriate.
We report a limit on the fractional temporal variation of the proton-to-electron mass ratio as 1/(m(P)/m(e)) partial differential/partial differential(t)(m(P)/m(e))=(-3.8+/-5.6) x 10(-14) yr(-1), ...obtained by comparing the frequency of a rovibrational transition in SF6 with the fundamental hyperfine transition in Cs. The SF6 transition was accessed using a CO2 laser to interrogate spatial 2-photon Ramsey fringes. The atomic transition was accessed using a primary standard controlled with a Cs fountain. This result is direct and model-free.
Wolbachia is a genus of α-proteobacteria found in obligate intracellular association with a wide variety of arthropods, including an estimated 10–20% of all insect species 1. Wolbachia represents one ...of a number of recently identified ‘reproductive parasites’ 2 which manipulate the reproduction of their hosts in ways that enhance their own transmission 3–9. The influence of Wolbachia infection on the dynamics of host populations has focused considerable interest on its possible role in speciation through reproductive isolation 3,10,11 and as an agent of biological control 2,12,13. Although Wolbachia normally undergoes vertical transmission through the maternal line of its host population 14, there is compelling evidence from molecular phylogenies that extensive horizontal (intertaxon) transmission must have occurred 1,9,15–17. Some of the best candidate vectors for the horizontal transmission of Wolbachia are insect parasitoids 15, which comprise around 25% of all insect species and attack arthropods from an enormous range of taxa 18. In this study, we used both fluorescence microscopy and PCR amplification with Wolbachia-specific primers to show that Wolbachia can be transmitted to a parasitic wasp (Leptopilina boulardi) from its infected host (Drosophila simulans) and subsequently undergo diminishing vertical transmission in this novel host species. These results are, to our knowledge, the first to reveal a natural horizontal transfer route for Wolbachia between phylogenetically distant insect species.
This timely publication gives a detailed background to the new British TUPE regulations, the impact on business transfers, employees’ contracts, pensions, and a host of other important changes and ...legislative updates.
New Diagnostics for Yaws Kositz, Christian; Butcher, Robert; Marks, Michael
The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene,
01/2017, Letnik:
96, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Abstract
Background
In the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, the sign trachomatous inflammation—follicular (TF) is common, but ocular infection with Chlamydia trachomatis is not. It is therefore debatable ...whether azithromycin mass drug administration (MDA), the recommended antibiotic treatment strategy for trachoma’s elimination as a public health problem, is necessary in this setting. We set out to estimate what proportion of adolescents were at risk of progression of trachomatous scarring.
Methods
A cross-sectional survey was undertaken of all children aged 10–14 years resident in communities identified as high-TF clusters during previous population-based mapping. Graders examined children for clinical evidence of trachomatous scarring, pannus, and Herbert’s pits (HPs) or limbal follicles in both eyes. A dried blood spot was collected from each child and tested for antibodies to C. trachomatis.
Results
A total of 492 children in 24 villages of the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu were examined. In total, 35/492 (7%) of children had limbal signs (pannus and/or HPs) plus any conjunctival scarring. And 9/492 (2%) had limbal signs and moderate or severe conjunctival scarring; 22% of children were anti-Pgp3 seropositive.
Conclusions
Few adolescents here are at risk of future complications from trachoma, supporting the conclusion that further antibiotic MDA is not currently required for trachoma elimination purposes in these settings.
In Solomon Islands and Vanuatu communities in which active trachoma prevalence in children was previously high, prevalence of Herbert’s pits or pannus plus conjunctival scarring in 10–14-year-olds is low, suggesting risk of future trachomatous blindness here is also low.
Abstract
Background
In Melanesia, the prevalence of trachomatous inflammation–follicular (TF) suggests that public health–level interventions against active trachoma are needed. However, the ...prevalence of trachomatous trichiasis is below the threshold for elimination as a public health problem and evidence of conjunctival infection with trachoma’s causative organism (Chlamydia trachomatis CT) is rare. Here, we examine the prevalence of ocular infection with CT and previous exposure to CT in three evaluation units (EUs) of Papua New Guinea.
Methods
All individuals aged 1–9 years who were examined for clinical signs of trachoma in 3 Global Trachoma Mapping Project EUs were eligible to take part in this study (N = 3181). Conjunctival swabs were collected from 349 children with TF and tested by polymerase chain reaction to assess for ocular CT infection. Dried blood spots were collected from 2572 children and tested for anti-Pgp3 antibodies using a multiplex assay.
Results
The proportion of children with TF who had CT infection was low across all 3 EUs (overall 2%). Anti-Pgp3 seroprevalence was 5.2% overall and there was no association between anti-Pgp3 antibody level and presence of TF. In 2 EUs, age-specific seroprevalence did not increase significantly with increasing age in the 1- to 9-year-old population. In the third EU, there was a statistically significant change with age but the overall seroprevalence and peak age-specific seroprevalence was very low.
Conclusions
Based on these results, together with similar findings from the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, the use of TF to guide antibiotic mass drug administration decisions in Melanesia should be reviewed.
In Papua New Guinea (PNG), prevalence of trachomatous trichiasis is very low. This study demonstrates that prevalence and transmission of ocular Chlamydia trachomatis, a driver of progressive trachomatous disease, is much lower in PNG than in other settings with similar active trachoma prevalence.
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