Health students' knowledge of sexually transmitted infections and risky behaviors before participation to the health promotion program.

OBJECTIVES: We aimed to evaluate knowledge of health students (HS) enrolled in a health promotion program about sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and the frequency of risky behaviors. METHODS: HS answered two anonymous questionnaires, a mandatory one about knowledge of STIs and STI prevention and an optional one about behaviors. RESULTS: Two-hundred and sixteen HS answered the first questionnaire and 183 answered the second one. Eighty-three percent of HS had a good knowledge of HIV transmission, but half of them were aware of pre-exposure and post-exposure prophylaxes for HIV. The role of HPV infection in genital warts and anal cancer was respectively known by 33 (15.3%) and 10 (4.6%) HS. Thirty-six HS (19.7%) reported having unprotected sex in the previous 12 months. CONCLUSION: French HS had a poor knowledge of STIs and STI prevention, and risky behaviors. It is necessary to provide good training on STIs to HS.

Phosphorus-Containing Bis-allenes: Synthesis and Heterocyclization Reactions Mediated by Iodine or Copper Dibromide.

Bisphosphorylallenes were easily obtained in multigram scale from the Wittig-type rearrangement of bispropargyl alcohols. Unlike other conjugated bis-allenes, these reagents underwent a double cyclization mediated by iodine or copper dibromide leading to the formation of bis-1,2-oxaphospholenes.

Performances and mechanistic investigations of a triphosphine trioxide/ionic liquid system for rare earth extraction.

The extraction of rare earth elements (REEs) from nitric acid solution with a triphosphine trioxide (TPO) is presented. Performances of such a ligand in ionic liquids vs. a classical solvent (benzyl ether) are compared. TPO seems to be 10 to 100 times more efficient when it is dissolved in ionic media whatever the concentration of nitric acid involved. Mechanistic investigations reveal that cation exchange classically observed in ionic liquids is not consistent with the experimental data. Moreover, clear differences in the TPO/Ln complexes between classical and ionic media are highlighted. A stable complex of 1 lanthanide for 3 TPO is formed in an ionic liquid whereas a complex of 1 lanthanide for 6 to 9 TPO is formed in benzyl ether. Back extraction is also studied and good recovery of REEs could be obtained. The TPO/ionic liquid system shows remarkable performances i.e. efficiency and selectivity towards lanthanides in a simulated leaching solution of a Nd/Fe/B/Dy magnet.

A novel biocompatible hyaluronic acid-chitosan hybrid hydrogel for osteoarthrosis therapy.

A conventional therapy for the treatment of osteoarthrosis is intra-articular injection of hyaluronic acid, which requires repeated, frequent injections. To extend the viscosupplementation effect of hyaluronic acid, we propose to associate it with another biopolymer in the form of a hybrid hydrogel. Chitosan was chosen because of its structural similarity to synovial glycosaminoglycans, its anti-inflammatory effects and its ability to promote cartilage growth. To avoid polyelectrolyte aggregation and obtain transparent, homogeneous gels, chitosan was reacetylated to a 50% degree, and different salts and formulation buffers were investigated. The biocompatibility of the hybrid gels was tested in vitro on human arthrosic synoviocytes, and in vivo assessments were made 1 week after subcutaneous injection in rats and 1 month after intra-articular injection in rabbits. Hyaluronic acid-chitosan polyelectrolyte complexes were prevented by cationic complexation of the negative charges of hyaluronic acid. The different salts tested were found to alter the viscosity and thermal degradation of the gels. Good biocompatibility was observed in rats, although the calcium-containing formulation induced calcium deposits after 1 week. The sodium chloride formulation was further tested in rabbits and did not show acute clinical signs of pain or inflammation. Hybrid HA-Cs hydrogels may be a valuable alternative viscosupplementation agent.

A novel oxido-viscosifying Hyaluronic Acid-antioxidant conjugate for osteoarthritis therapy: biocompatibility assessments.

To overcome the problem of fast degradation of Hyaluronic Acid (HA) in the treatment of osteoarthritis (OA), HA was protected against the oxidative stress generated by the pathology. Antioxidant conjugated HAs were synthesized and tested in vitro for their resistance in an oxidative environment mimicking OA. HA-4-aminoresorcinol (HA-4AR) displayed the interesting property of increasing in viscosity under oxidative conditions because of crosslinking induced by electron transfer. The novel HA polymer conjugate was shown to be biocompatible in vitro on fibroblast-like synoviocytes extracted from an arthritic patient. This HA conjugate was also assessed in vivo by intra-articular injection in healthy rabbits and was found to be comparable to the native polymer in terms of biocompatibility. This study suggests that HA-4AR is a promising candidate for a next generation viscosupplementation formulation.

Structure-directing weak phosphoryl XH...O=P (X = C, N) hydrogen bonds in cyclic oxazaphospholidines and oxazaphosphinanes.

The structures of six cyclic oxazaphospholidines and three cyclic oxazaphosphinanes have been determined and their supramolecular structures have been compared. The molecules differ with respect to the functional groups attached to the central five- or six-membered rings, but have one phosphoryl group in common. The predominant feature in the supramolecular structures is the existence of relatively weak intermolecular phosphoryl XH...O=P (X = C, N) hydrogen bonds, creating in nearly all cases linear zigzag or double molecular chains. The molecular chains are in general linked to each other via very weak CH...pi or usual hydrogen-bond interactions. A survey of the Cambridge Structural Database on similar XH...O=P interactions shows a very large flexibility of the XH...O angle, which is in agreement with the DFT calculation reported elsewhere. The strength of the XH...O=P interaction can therefore be considered as relatively weak to moderately strong, and is expected to play at least a role in the formation of secondary substructures.

Comparison of three diagnostic detection methods for tuberculosis in French cattle.

Three additional techniques (Ziehl-Neelsen, auramine O/rhodamine and immunostaining using polyclonal anti-Mycobacterium bovis) to hematoxylin-eosin histopathology were evaluated for bovine tuberculosis diagnosis on 39 samples from several slaughterhouses. The immunohistochemichal technique was more sensitive and could detect a greater number of positive cattle. It has about the same sensibility as the bacteriology but it was faster.

Chronic eosinophilic dermatitis in the scrotal area associated with stephanofilariasis infestation of charolais bull in France.

A species of stephanofilaria is recorded as the cause of chronic eosinophilic dermatitis in the scrotal area of one charolais bull in France. Macroscopical and histopathological description of the lesion are given with a brief description of the parasite.

1H and 13C NMR identification of unexpected 3,4-dihydroquinoxalines in the syntheses of 1,5-benzodiazepine derivatives.

The reaction between o-phenylenediamines, dehydroacetic acid and aromatic aldehydes is shown to give not only the expected 1,5-benzodiazepine derivative but also a 3,4-dihydroquinoxaline, the structure of which was determined by its 1H and 13C 1D and 2D NMR spectra.