Baseline entomological data for a pilot malaria control program in Equatorial Guinea

Entomological studies conducted on the island of Bioko and the mainland province, Río Muni, in Equatorial Guinea provided baseline data for a pilot malaria control program. The main species collected resting in houses at low density were Anopheles gambiae s.l. Giles and Anopheles funestus Giles. An. gambiae s.l. density increased during the rainy season, whereas An. funestus populations remained stable during both dry and wet seasons. Both species tended to be endophilic and were not collected resting or biting outdoors. Overall, delayed sporozoite rates were about 10% for both species and were highest in the dry season. An. gambiae s.l. from the mainland showed resistance to 4% DDT, but the island population was still susceptible. All populations were completely susceptible to 5% malathion and 0.025% deltamethrin.

Uses of beta-galactosidase tag in on-line monitoring production of fusion proteins and gene expression in Escherichia coli

A simple method for monitoring and quantifying automatically the production by fermentation of beta-galactosidase fusion proteins, making use of the remaining activity of the beta-galactosidase part, is considered. A hybrid protein carrying the major antigenic domain of foot-and-mouth disease virus C1 joined at the N-terminus of beta-galactosidase has been expressed in Escherichia coli. The yield of the chimeric protein has been monitored by flow injection analysis (FIA) during batch fermentations at laboratory scale, and a high correlation between values of product concentration from FIA and from immunological quantizations has been obtained. Because of the possibility of employing FIA in large-scale experiments, and the high sampling frequency, versatility, and reproducibility offered by this method, we propose FIA as a general, simple, quick, flexible, and reliable instrument for both monitoring the yield of recombinant proteins produced industrially, and performing basic research at laboratory scale.

Mucocutaneous leishmaniasis due to Leishmania (Leishmania) infantum: biochemical characterization

A vegetative mass in the right nasal cavity of a 62-year-old man from Palma de Mallorca, Spain, was found to be due to Leishmania. The organism was isolated in culture and characterized by in situ hybridization, Southern blot hybridization, and isoenzyme analysis; it was thus demonstrated to be the most common enzyme variant 1 (MON 1) of Leishmania (Leishmania) infantum.

[Normal blood pressure values in Spanish children]

Authors study 2,953 children with a range of age between 2 and 14 years, of both sexes, from schools in Madrid, Zaragoza, Lugo, Andújar, Archena and in rural areas of Guadalajara and Segovia. Blood pressure was measures three times in every child according to recommendations of the Expert Committee of WHO in respect to the method. Results are expressed in percentiles according to age and sex. Their findings indicate that both diastolic and systolic blood pressures were lower than those reported by Task Force (USA), Cassimos (Greece) and Andre (France) (p less than 0.001) with higher differences being present in the diastolic blood pressure.