Should we bother doing dengue vector surveillance, and if so, how should we do it?

@#There is an enduring disconnect between the routine surveillance of mosquitoes that transmit dengue viruses and control activities to limit disease spread. A great variety of methods used to collect vector surveillance data exists globally, with program design typically influenced by historical, socio-cultural and cost factors. Surveillance data can be expensive to collect, meaning that without demonstration of its usefulness in directing mosquito control it may be deprioritized or even abandoned. Given that universally prescribed surveillance methods are unlikely to be sustainable and successful, we propose that strategies be designed according to the local terroir of dengue transmission. Strategy design should consider not only costs, but the amenability of workers and the public to various methods, the utility of methods for directing control and reducing disease, and the underlying spatial structure of the vector populations locally. A process of evaluating each of these factors should precede strategy design and be part of on-going review processes. In the case that the usefulness of vector surveillance cannot be demonstrated, then it may be argued that resources could be allocated to other aspects of disease control.

Psychometric properties of the Brazilian-adapted version of Sport Imagery Questionnaire

Imagery can be defined as the ability to represent and rehearse in the mind behaviors related to a given situation. The Sport Imagery Questionnaire was developed to measure the frequency of imagery use among athletes. The present study aimed to adapt and to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Brazilian version of this instrument. Study 1 appraised content validity using five sport scientists as judges to quantify the quality of the adaptation for each item; then the Content Validity Coefficient was calculated. Study 2 had 260 athletes from six types of sport answer the Brazilian questionnaire. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to test factorial validity, Cronbach's alpha was calculated to assess reliability, and comparisons between groups were used as criterion validity. Study 1 results showed good quality of the adaptation according to the judges. Study 2 showed a 5-factor latent structure which corroborates with the literature. Reliability of the scale was high (α= .91), whereas separately subscales ranged between Motivational General: Arousal (α= .87) and Motivational Specific (α= .94). Regarding group differences, sex showed no significant difference between men and women (p= .55; d= .09) and neither did levels of practice between amateur, semi-professionals and professional athletes (p= .71; f= .07). Types of sports revealed moderate effect size and significantly less imagery practice among synchronized swimming, football and beach volleyball athletes, whereas mixed martial artists showed higher frequency of imagery (p< .05; f= .23). Factor structure, reliability and validity of mixed groups are evidence of a successful cross-cultural adaptation of the Sport Imagery Questionnaire to Brazil. (AU)

Chewing Lice of Swan Geese (Anser cygnoides): New Host-Parasite Associations

Chewing lice (Phthiraptera) that parasitize the globally threatened swan goose Anser cygnoides have been long recognized since the early 19th century, but those records were probably biased towards sampling of captive or domestic geese due to the small population size and limited distribution of its wild hosts. To better understand the lice species parasitizing swan geese that are endemic to East Asia, we collected chewing lice from 14 wild geese caught at 3 lakes in northeastern Mongolia. The lice were morphologically identified as 16 Trinoton anserinum (Fabricius, 1805), 11 Ornithobius domesticus Arnold, 2005, and 1 Anaticola anseris (Linnaeus, 1758). These species are known from other geese and swans, but all of them were new to the swan goose. This result also indicates no overlap in lice species between older records and our findings from wild birds. Thus, ectoparasites collected from domestic or captive animals may provide biased information on the occurrence, prevalence, host selection, and host-ectoparasite interactions from those on wild hosts.

Chewing Lice of Swan Geese (Anser cygnoides): New Host-Parasite Associations

Chewing lice (Phthiraptera) that parasitize the globally threatened swan goose Anser cygnoides have been long recognized since the early 19th century, but those records were probably biased towards sampling of captive or domestic geese due to the small population size and limited distribution of its wild hosts. To better understand the lice species parasitizing swan geese that are endemic to East Asia, we collected chewing lice from 14 wild geese caught at 3 lakes in northeastern Mongolia. The lice were morphologically identified as 16 Trinoton anserinum (Fabricius, 1805), 11 Ornithobius domesticus Arnold, 2005, and 1 Anaticola anseris (Linnaeus, 1758). These species are known from other geese and swans, but all of them were new to the swan goose. This result also indicates no overlap in lice species between older records and our findings from wild birds. Thus, ectoparasites collected from domestic or captive animals may provide biased information on the occurrence, prevalence, host selection, and host-ectoparasite interactions from those on wild hosts.

Fracture Patterns in Non-Accidentally Injured Children at the Red Cross Children's Hospital

Background: Unexplained fractures in infants and children often suggest abuse. The fracture patterns with high specificity for abuse are well documented; however; in practice these patterns occur infrequently and abused children may present with a wide spectrum of bony injuries. The Child Accident Prevention Foundation of South Africa (CAPFSA) keeps a database of children treated at the Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital (RXH) in Cape Town. Methods: The medical records of all children admitted between January 1991 and October 2005 were reviewed and children with fractures resulting from non-accidental injury (NAI) were included in the study. Results: During the 14-year study period; 99586 trauma patients were treated at RXH; of which 1037 (1.04) were diagnosed with non-accidental injury. The majority was male (64). An the average age was 44.8 months. Of the 1037 patients diagnosed with NAI; 121 (11.7) sustained a total of 149 fractures; 21 (17.3) with multiple fractures (16 had 2 fractures; 3 had 3 fractures and 2 had 4 fractures). The head and neck was the most frequently fractured anatomical area (53); followed by the upper limb (24) and lower limb (18). Only 7 fractures of the trunk were seen. Children sustaining fractures of the head and neck were significantly younger than those sustaining fractures to other areas. Discussion: Although the established consensus on fracture patterns in NAI is that long bone fractures are the most frequently experienced in clinical practice; the principal finding of our study was that skull fractures were considerably more common; nearly 40of all fractures were skull fractures. Skull fractures were associated with violent injury; approximately one-third were reported to have been inflicted with an implement/weapon and one-quarter of these children had multiple fractures at the time of presentation. This underlines the importance of local studies; as socio-cultural issues underpin many of the aetiological factors related to disease burden in general; and to child abuse in particular

Metodo para la determinación directa de la simetria rotacional de filamentos gruesos de musculo por procesamiento digital de imagenes / Method for direct determination of the rotational symmetry of muscle thick filaments by digital image processing

Presentamos un método, basado en técnicas de procesamiento digital de imágines, que permite determinar de manera directa la simetría rotacional de filamentos gruesos de músculo. Micrografías electrónicas de secciones transversales de músculos relajados congelados rápidamente contra un bloque de cobre enfriado con helio líquido fueron digitalizadas, alineándose los filamentos a máxima correlación cruzada y promediándolos luego. La imagen promedio final permite determinar de manera directa el número de proyecciones existentes en la superficie del esqueleto del filamento