Principles of appropriate antibiotic use for treatment of uncomplicated acute bronchitis: background.

The following principles of appropriate antibiotic use for adults with acute bronchitis apply to immunocompetent adults without complicating comorbid conditions, such as chronic lung or heart disease. The evaluation of adults with an acute cough illness or a presumptive diagnosis of uncomplicated acute bronchitis should focus on ruling out serious illness, particularly pneumonia. In healthy, nonelderly adults, pneumonia is uncommon in the absence of vital sign abnormalities or asymmetrical lung sounds, and chest radiography is usually not indicated. In patients with cough lasting 3 weeks or longer, chest radiography may be warranted in the absence of other known causes. Routine antibiotic treatment of uncomplicated acute bronchitis is not recommended, regardless of duration of cough. If pertussis infection is suspected (an unusual circumstance), a diagnostic test should be performed and antimicrobial therapy initiated. Patient satisfaction with care for acute bronchitis depends most on physician--patient communication rather than on antibiotic treatment

Changes in chlamydia control activities in Europe between 2007 and 2012: a cross-national survey

BACKGROUND: In 2012, the levels of chlamydia control activities including primary prevention, effective case management with partner management and surveillance were assessed in 2012 across countries in the European Union and European Economic Area (EU/EEA), on initiative of the European Centre for Disease Control (ECDC) survey, and the findings were compared with those from a similar survey in 2007. METHODS: Experts in the 30 EU/EEA countries were invited to respond to an online questionnaire; 28 countries responded, of which 25 participated in both the 2007 and 2012 surveys. Analyses focused on 13 indicators of chlamydia prevention and control activities; countries were assigned to one of five categories of chlamydia control. RESULTS: In 2012, more countries than in 2007 reported availability of national chlamydia case management guidelines (80% vs. 68%), opportunistic chlamydia testing (68% vs. 44%) and consistent use of nucleic acid amplification tests (64% vs. 36%). The number of countries reporting having a national sexually transmitted infection control strategy or a surveillance system for chlamydia did not change notably. In 2012, most countries (18/25, 72%) had implemented primary prevention activities and case management guidelines addressing partner management, compared with 44% (11/25) of countries in 2007. CONCLUSION: Overall, chlamydia control activities in EU/EEA countries strengthened between 2007 and 2012. Several countries still need to develop essential chlamydia control activities, whereas others may strengthen implementation and monitoring of existing activities

Family history: an opportunity for early interventions and improved control of hypertension, obesity and diabetes.

OBJECTIVE: To examine whether a family history of high-risk groups for major noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) was a significant risk factor for these conditions among family members in a study population in the Gambia, where strong community and family coherence are important determinants that have to be taken into consideration in promoting lifestyle changes. METHODS: We questioned 5389 adults as to any first-degree family history of major noncommunicable diseases (hypertension, obesity, diabetes and stroke), and measured their blood pressure (BP) and body mass index (BMI). Total blood cholesterol, triglyceride, uric acid, and creatinine concentrations were measured in a stratified subsample, as well as blood glucose (2 hours after ingesting 75 g glucose) in persons aged > or = 35 years. FINDINGS: A significant number of subjects reported a family history of hypertension (8.0%), obesity (5.4%), diabetes (3.3%) and stroke (1.4%), with 14.6% of participants reporting any of these NCDs. Subjects with a family history of hypertension had a higher diastolic BP and BMI, higher cholesterol and uric acid concentrations, and an increased risk of obesity. Those with a family history of obesity had a higher BMI and were at increased risk of obesity. Individuals with a family history of diabetes had a higher BMI and higher concentrations of glucose, cholesterol, triglycerides and uric acid, and their risk of obesity and diabetes was increased. Subjects with a family history of stroke had a higher BMI, as well as higher cholesterol, triglyceride and uric acid concentrations. CONCLUSIONS: A family history of hypertension, obesity, diabetes, or stroke was a significant risk factor for obesity and hyperlipidaemia. With increase of age, more pathological manifestations can develop in this high-risk group. Health professionals should therefore utilize every opportunity to include direct family members in health education

A dynamical model for longitudinal wave functions in light-front holographic QCD

We construct a Schrodinger-like equation for the longitudinal wave function of a meson in the valence qq-bar sector, based on the 't Hooft model for large-N two-dimensional QCD, and combine this with the usual transverse equation from light-front holographic QCD, to obtain a model for mesons with massive quarks. The computed wave functions are compared with the wave function ansatz of Brodsky and De Teramond and used to compute decay constants and parton distribution functions. The basis functions used to solve the longitudinal equation may be useful for more general calculations of meson states in QCD.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figures, RevTeX 4.1; expanded discussion, with calculation details moved to appendice

A New Basis Function Approach to 't Hooft-Bergknoff-Eller Equations

We analytically and numerically investigate the 't Hooft-Bergknoff-Eller equations, the lowest order mesonic Light-Front Tamm-Dancoff equations for U(N_C) and SU(N_C) gauge theories. We find the wavefunction can be well approximated by new basis functions and obtain an analytic formula for the mass of the lightest bound state. Its value is consistent with the precedent results.Comment: 16 pages, 3 figure

ImageNet Large Scale Visual Recognition Challenge

The ImageNet Large Scale Visual Recognition Challenge is a benchmark in object category classification and detection on hundreds of object categories and millions of images. The challenge has been run annually from 2010 to present, attracting participation from more than fifty institutions. This paper describes the creation of this benchmark dataset and the advances in object recognition that have been possible as a result. We discuss the challenges of collecting large-scale ground truth annotation, highlight key breakthroughs in categorical object recognition, provide a detailed analysis of the current state of the field of large-scale image classification and object detection, and compare the state-of-the-art computer vision accuracy with human accuracy. We conclude with lessons learned in the five years of the challenge, and propose future directions and improvements.Comment: 43 pages, 16 figures. v3 includes additional comparisons with PASCAL VOC (per-category comparisons in Table 3, distribution of localization difficulty in Fig 16), a list of queries used for obtaining object detection images (Appendix C), and some additional reference

Gender-Related Differences in the Prevalence of Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors and their Correlates in Urban Tanzania.

\ud Urban areas in Africa suffer a serious problem with dual burden of infectious diseases and emerging chronic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and diabetes which pose a serious threat to population health and health care resources. However in East Africa, there is limited literature in this research area. The objective of this study was to examine the prevalence of cardiovascular disease risk factors and their correlates among adults in Temeke, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Results of this study will help inform future research and potential preventive and therapeutic interventions against such chronic diseases. The study design was a cross sectional epidemiological study. A total of 209 participants aged between 44 and 66 years were included in the study. A structured questionnaire was used to evaluate socioeconomic and lifestyle characteristics. Blood samples were collected and analyzed to measure lipid profile and fasting glucose levels. Cardiovascular risk factors were defined using World Health Organization criteria. The age-adjusted prevalence of obesity (BMI > or = 30) was 13% and 35%, among men and women (p = 0.0003), respectively. The prevalence of abdominal obesity was 11% and 58% (p < 0.0001), and high WHR (men: >0.9, women: >0.85) was 51% and 73% (p = 0.002) for men and women respectively. Women had 4.3 times greater odds of obesity (95% CI: 1.9-10.1), 14.2-fold increased odds for abdominal adiposity (95% CI: 5.8-34.6), and 2.8 times greater odds of high waist-hip-ratio (95% CI: 1.4-5.7), compared to men. Women had more than three-fold greater odds of having metabolic syndrome (p = 0.001) compared to male counterparts, including abdominal obesity, low HDL-cholesterol, and high fasting blood glucose components. In contrast, female participants had 50% lower odds of having hypertension, compared to men (95%CI: 0.3-1.0). Among men, BMI and waist circumference were significantly correlated with blood pressure, triglycerides, total, LDL-, and HDL-cholesterol (BMI only), and fasting glucose; in contrast, only blood pressure was positively associated with BMI and waist circumference in women. The prevalence of CVD risk factors was high in this population, particularly among women. Health promotion, primary prevention, and health screening strategies are needed to reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease in Tanzania.\u

Exploring a Therapeutic Gold Mine:The Antifungal Potential of the Gold-Based Antirheumatic Drug Auranofin

Human fungal infections comprise systemic mycoses as well as various skin diseases. Rising case numbers along with inefficient therapies and the appearance of drug-resistant strains unleashed a considerable health problem over the last years. Thus, the identification and development of new antifungal drugs is mandatory, which can include the design of new antifungals, or, more time saving, the repurposing of known drugs already applied for the therapy of other human diseases. The orally applicable gold-based drug auranofin has been used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis since the 1980s. However, auranofin also showed marked activity against various cancers, microbes, parasites, and viruses. Facing a pressing need to find new drug candidates against mycoses, especially against those listed in the WHO fungal pathogen priority list, we have summarized the eminent antifungal activities of auranofin in this review. Given its established safety profile and broad-spectrum activity, auranofin represents a promising candidate for repurposing in antifungal therapy. The mechanism of action of auranofin was correlated with thioredoxin reductase inhibition, but other modes of action such as interference with mitochondrial protein import and NADH kinase were also described and discussed. A selection of promising antifungal gold complexes was also provided. Pertinent literature is covered until 2025.</p

TRY plant trait database - enhanced coverage and open access

Plant traits-the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants-determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait-based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits-almost complete coverage for 'plant growth form'. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait-environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives

Antifungal Activity of Natural Naphthoquinones and Anthraquinones against Madurella mycetomatis

Eumycetoma, the fungal form of the neglected tropical disease mycetoma, is a crippling infectious disease with low response rates to currently available antifungal drugs. In this study, a series of natural naphthoquinones and anthraquinones was evaluated for their activity against Madurella mycetomatis, which is the most common causative agent of eumycetoma. The metabolic activity of Madurella mycetomatis as well as the viability of Galleria mellonella larvae upon treatment with quinones was investigated. Several hydroxy-substituted naphthoquinones exhibited activity against Madurella mycetomatis. In particular, naphthazarin (5,8-dihydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone) was identified as a considerably active antifungal compound against Madurella mycetomatis (IC50=1.4 μM), while it showed reduced toxicity to Galleria mellonella larvae, which is a well-established in vivo invertebrate model for mycetoma drug studies