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Age-associations inside English national politics: Ramifications for the sociology of aging.
The mean number of mumps cases was 30.4 cases/year in the less then  4 year age group and 53.8 cases/year in the 10-19 years age group. During the study period, every spike in measles cases was followed by a similar spike in mumps. 9.66% of measles cases occurred in individuals who received at least 2 doses of the vaccine, 52.26% in the unvaccinated, and 38% in those whose vaccination status was undetermined. selleck chemicals CONCLUSIONS Measles in Lebanon is a disease of the pediatric population, but adults remain at risk. Outbreaks of mumps followed those of measles and were mainly among adolescents. Presence of a large number of Syrian refugees in the country may further complicate the situation. Vaccination activities need to be intensified.BACKGROUND More and more family physicians (FPs) are using point-of-care ultrasonography (POCUS) in Europe. Still, there is no general consensus about the specific knowledge and skills that a FP should acquire in order to effectively perform POCUS. The objective of this study was to identify indications for the use of POCUS among FPs, explore the barriers of its use and provide an expert opinion of FPs on knowledge and skills required to effectively implement POCUS in family practice. METHODS A modified two-round Delphi study was carried out among FPs using POCUS in Slovenia. RESULTS 21 FPs were invited to participate in the study. A total of 13 FPs (62%) responded the round-one questionnaire and 10 (48%) completed the round-two questionnaire. Results show a large variability of indications for the use of POCUS in family practice, the most common being acute abdominal conditions, lung ultrasonography and eyeballing echocardiography. In contrast, the results show little variability in barriers for the use of POCUS, the most common being lack of time, inaccessibility of specific training programmes and financial issues. There is a strong consensus on the knowledge and skills needed to perform POCUS. Panellists agreed on a learning medical knowledge, technical skills and expressed a need for individual consultations and tutorship options. CONCLUSION This study proves that although POCUS is used in family practice for a wide variety of indications with a significant number of barriers, there is a strong consensus on what a FP needs to know to effectively perform POCUS.BACKGROUND Understanding factors driving virological failure, including the contribution of HIV drug resistance mutations (DRM), is critical to ensuring HIV treatment remains effective. We examine the contribution of drug resistance mutations for low viral suppression in HIV-positive participants in a population-based sero-prevalence survey in rural South Africa. METHODS We conducted HIV drug resistance genotyping and ART analyte testing on dried blood spots (DBS) from HIV-positive adults participating in a 2014 survey in North West Province. Among those with virologic failure (> 5000 copies/mL), we describe frequency of DRM to protease inhibitors (PI), nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTI), and non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTI), report association of resistance with antiretroviral therapy (ART) status, and assess resistance to first and second line therapy. Analyses are weighted to account for sampling design. RESULTS Overall 170 DBS samples were assayed for viral load and ART analytes; 78.4% of men and 50.0% of women had evidence of virologic failure and were assessed for drug resistance, with successful sequencing of 76/107 samples. We found ≥1 DRM in 22% of participants; 47% were from samples with detectable analyte (efavirenz, nevirapine or lopinavir). Of those with DRM and detectable analyte, 60% showed high-level resistance and reduced predicted virologic response to ≥1 NRTI/NNRTI typically used in first and second-line regimens. CONCLUSIONS DRM and predicted reduced susceptibility to first and second-line regimens were common among adults with ART exposure in a rural South African population-based sample. Results underscore the importance of ongoing virologic monitoring, regimen optimization and adherence counseling to optimize durable virologic suppression.BACKGROUND SNF-related Kinase 1 (SnRK1) is a key component of the cell signaling network. SnRK1 is known to respond to a wide variety of stresses, but its exact role in salt stress response and tolerance is still largely unknown. RESULTS In this study, we reported that overexpression of the gene encoding the α subunit of Prunus persica SnRK1 (PpSnRK1α) in tomato could improve salt stress tolerance. The increase in salt stress tolerance in PpSnRK1α-overexpressing plants was found to correlate with increased PpSnRK1α expression level and SnRK1 kinase activity. And PpSnRK1α overexpression lines exhibited a lower level of leaf damage as well as increased proline content and reduced malondialdehyde (MDA) compared with wild-type (WT) lines under salt stress. Furthermore, PpSnRK1α enhanced reactive oxygen species (ROS) metabolism by increasing the expression level of antioxidase genes and antioxidant enzyme activities. We further sequenced the transcriptomes of the WT and three PpSnRK1α overexpression lines using RNato through genetic engineering and other related strategies.BACKGROUND Throat pain is a common complaint in the ambulatory setting. Diagnosis of group A Streptococcus is made with a culture, molecular test or a rapid antigen detection test from the tonsils or the posterior pharyngeal wall, while other areas of the oral cavity are considered unacceptable. The purpose of the study is to compare cultures from the tonsils or posterior pharyngeal wall (throat) with cultures from the oral cavity (mouth). METHODS A prospective study conducted in ambulatory care. Eleven family physicians collected 2 swabs (throat and mouth) from 200 consecutive patients who complaint about throat pain. Inclusion criteria were throat pain and Centor Criteria > 2. Exclusion criteria were tonsillectomy and age ( 65 years old). Participants were later divided into two groups - pediatrics (3-18 years old) and adults (19-65 year old). Sensitivity and specificity of mouth culture were calculated, with throat culture considered the reference gold standard. RESULTS Between November 2017 and March 2019, 200 swabs were collected (101 adults and 99 children).
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