Neuroprotective and neuroproliferative activities of NeuroAid (MLC601, MLC901), a Chinese medicine, in vitro and in vivo.

Although stroke remains a leading cause of death and adult disability, numerous recent failures in clinical stroke trials have led to some pessimism in the field. Interestingly, NeuroAid (MLC601), a traditional medicine, particularly used in China, South East Asia and Middle East has been reported to have beneficial effects in patients, particularly in post-stroke complications. Here, we demonstrate in a rodent model of focal ischemia that NeuroAid II (MLC901) pre- and post-treatments up to 3 h after stroke improve survival, protect the brain from the ischemic injury and drastically decrease functional deficits. MLC601 and MLC901 also prevent neuronal death in an in vitro model of excitotoxicity using primary cultures of cortical neurons exposed to glutamate. In addition, MLC601/MLC901 treatments were shown to induce neurogenesis in rodent and human cells, promote cell proliferation as well as neurite outgrowth and stimulate the development of a dense axonal and dendritic network. MLC601 and MLC901 clearly represent a very interesting strategy for stroke treatment at different stages of the disease.

A quasi-dense approach to surface reconstruction from uncalibrated images.

This paper proposes a quasi-dense approach to 3D surface model acquisition from uncalibrated images. First, correspondence information and geometry are computed based on new quasi-dense point features that are resampled subpixel points from a disparity map. The quasi-dense approach gives more robust and accurate geometry estimations than the standard sparse approach. The robustness is measured as the success rate of full automatic geometry estimation with all involved parameters fixed. The accuracy is measured by a fast gauge-free uncertainty estimation algorithm. The quasi-dense approach also works for more largely separated images than the sparse approach, therefore, it requires fewer images for modeling. More importantly, the quasidense approach delivers a high density of reconstructed 3D points on which a surface representation can be reconstructed. This fills the gap of insufficiency of the sparse approach for surface reconstruction, essential for modeling and visualization applications. Second, surface reconstruction methods from the given quasi-dense geometry are also developed. The algorithm optimizes new unified functionals integrating both 3D quasi-dense points and 2D image information, including silhouettes. Combining both 3D data and 2D images is more robust than the existing methods using only 2D information or only 3D data. An efficient bounded regularization method is proposed to implement the surface evolution by level-set methods. Its properties are discussed and proven for some cases. As a whole, a complete automatic and practical system of 3D modeling from raw images captured by hand-held cameras to surface representation is proposed. Extensive experiments demonstrate the superior performance of the quasi-dense approach with respect to the standard sparse approach in robustness, accuracy, and applicability.

[Yellow fever virus, dengue 2 and other arboviruses isolated from mosquitos, in Burkina Faso, from 1983 to 1986. Entomological and epidemiological considerations]. / Virus amaril, dengue 2 et autres arbovirus isolés de moustiques, au Burkina Faso, de 1983 a 1986. Considérations entomologiques et épidémiologiques.

An arbovirus surveillance was carried out in Burkina Faso from 1983 to 1986. It was based on crepuscular catches of mosquitoes on human bait in some wooded areas and in one town. The total collection was 228 catches with an average of 8 men per catch. The total number of mosquitoes caught was 44,956 among which 32,010 potential vector of yellow fever; all these mosquitoes were analysed for arbovirology. In the south-western part of the country (region of Bobo-Dioulasso), surveillance was conducted each year from August to November, whilst the circulation of Aedes-borne arboviruses is well known to be favoured. In 1983, 1984 and 1986, seven strains of yellow fever virus were isolated in circumstances remarkably similar. They came from selvatic areas and never from the town. They concerned only Aedes (Stegomyia) luteocephalus which is the very predominant potential vector of yellow fever in the region. They were obtained in low figure, between 1 and 4 per year. They occurred from 27th of October to 21th of November. These observations confirm that the southern portion of the Sudan savanna zone of West Africa is the setting of a customary circulation of yellow fever virus and therefore belongs to the endemic emergence zone. In 1986, two strains of dengue 2 virus were isolated. One concerned Ae. luteocephalus from the selvatic area, the other Ae. (St.) aegypti from the heart of town. These data suggest two distinct cycles for dengue 2 virus, one urban and one selvatic, which could coexist simultaneously in the same region. In the south-eastern part of the country (region of Fada-N'Gourma) a yellow fever epidemic occurred between September and December 1983; its study has enable to precise their entomological aspects. The entomological inoculation rate of yellow fever virus has been evaluated to 22 infected bites per man during the month of october, for a man living close to forest gallery. 25 strains of yellow fever virus strains was isolated from Ae. (Diceromyia) furcifer which is the potential vector the most abundant in this region: the main role of this species in an epidemic was confirmed. An investigation in September 1984 had not permitted isolation of the virus therefore it is suspected that the large epizootic circulation of virus in 1983 has not been renewed the year after. In total 59 viral strains belonging to 10 different viruses were isolated from 9 species of mosquitoes.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

[The transmission of maternal measles antibodies to newborn infants in the Ivory Coast]. / Transmission des anticorps maternels antirougeoleux au nouveau-ne Ivoirien.

Authors studied the disappearance of mothers measles antibodies among 286 babies from Ivory Coast 250 of which were living in Adzopé, a town with 30,000 inhabitants at 100 km up North from Abidjan and the 36 other babies in Abidjan. The study of antibodies by IHA showed a higher serum incidence rate of mother antibodies among 4 months aged babies in Abidjan. The more sensitive study of antibodies by the Mann serum neutralisation, shows that when 6 months aged, 60% babies from Adzope still have antibodies and when 10 months aged, none of the babies is positive. Serum negativation is late compared to Brazzaville when antibodies level is lower.

Study of combined vaccination against yellow fever and measles in infants from six to nine months.

A study has been carried out in the Ivory Coast to assess the efficacy of a combined vaccine against yellow fever and measles relative to that of each vaccine administered separately. Healthy children aged six to nine months were recruited and divided into two age groups: less than seven months (group I) and more than eight months (group II). In each group, they were randomly assigned to receive either yellow fever vaccine only (A), measles vaccine only (B), or the combined vaccine (C). The serological responses to measles and yellow fever were assessed in 219 initially seronegative children 45 days after immunization. More than 90% of the children developed yellow fever haemagglutination inhibiting antibodies. Neither age nor combination with measles vaccine influenced the responses to yellow fever vaccine. Measles haemagglutinational inhibiting antibodies were found in 97% of the children and the seroconversion rate was influenced neither by age nor by combination with yellow fever vaccine. Younger infants had lower titres of measles antibody. No particular adverse reactions were notified during the follow up. This study shows that combined yellow fever and measles vaccines are immunogenic in infants from the age of six months. Controlling yellow fever in endemic areas and the prevention of measles in young infants may greatly benefit by this combination.

[A rural epidemic of Igbo Ora virus (with interhuman transmission) in the Ivory Coast 1984-1985]. / Epidémie rurale a virus "Igbo Ora" (avec transmission inter-humaine) en Cote-d'Ivoire en 1984-1985.

The first outbreak caused by Igbo Ora virus is described. Virus circulation has been demonstrated up on thirty-three sick persons in Yamoussoukro area (Ivory Coast).

Prevalence of human T-lymphotropic retroviruses type III (HIV) and type IV in Ivory Coast.

Serological investigations in the Ivory Coast indicate that, despite the rarity of overt acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is widely prevalent. So also is human T-lymphotropic virus type IV (HTLV-IV). The highest rates of HIV and HTLV-IV seropositivity were observed in female prostitutes. These findings suggest that, like HIV, HTLV-IV can be transmitted by heterosexual contact, and that the mobility of prostitutes may be an important factor in spread of the retroviruses in Africa. The incidence of HIV-associated AIDS in the Ivory Coast is likely to rise sharply in the next few years.

[Use of stabilized yellow fever vaccine 17D at the time of the yellow fever epidemic in Burkina Faso in 1983]. / Emploi d'un vaccin antiamaril 17D stabilisé lors de l'épidémie de fièvre jaune au Burkina Faso en 1983.

During the 1983 yellow fever epidemic in Burkina Faso, vaccinations were performed with a stabilized yellow fever 17D vaccine. Samples of vaccine were collected in different places during the vaccination campaigns. The virus titers of these samples were compared with those of vaccine samples of the same batches stored at--20 degree C in the Institut Pasteur in Dakar. There was no significant decrease of the titer when the vaccine had been stored in the conditions recommended by the expanded programme on immunization. The results confirm the experimental data on the stability of this vaccine. A serological survey carried out in young children showed that about 90% have hemagglutination inhibition antibodies following the vaccination.

[Epidemic of yellow fever in the southeastern region of Upper Volta (October-December, 1983). Epidemiological study. Preliminary results]. / L'épidémie de fièvre jaune du sud-est de la Haute-Volta (octobre-décembre 1983). Etude épidémiologique. Résultats préliminaires.

An epidemic of yellow fever raged during the last three months of 1983 in South East of Upper Volta. It spread on about ten thousand square kilometers, in a bushy savanna area, affecting only populations living in contact with forest galleries, belonging especially to the peul ethnical group. The transmission of the virus was effected by sylvatic vectors, essentially Aedes furcifer. Serological tests showed that about 50 % of the population living in contact with forest galleries was affected, that is to say 15.000 to 17.500 people. The average death rate on the whole area was 4 % (800 to 1.700 deaths); the lethality rate was estimated between 6 and 10 % of affected people. On the whole, 54 strains of yellow fever virus were isolated from human blood samples, and 26 strains from batches of mosquitoes. We called this epidemic "intermediate sylvatic epidemic". The epidemic quickly decreased in the sylvatic area, owing to climatic conditions. A mass campaign of vaccinations prevented it from spreading to near urban centres. On this particular case, the thermostability on field of the vaccine 17D provided by the Institute Pasteur of Dakar was proved to be effective.