A Sorte Protege os Audazes

“Está tudo doido? Não. Está tudo cheio de medo. Porque nunca ninguém viu nada assim desde que existe democracia e Noronha do Nascimento e Pinto Monteiro preferiam manifestamente não ter sido eles a ver. Estas são circunstâncias absolutamente excepcionais e eu não sei se temos homens à altura destas circunstâncias. Parece-me muito sintomático que os dois mais altos magistrados do País se tenham refugiado em questões políticas (o segredo de justiça e a estrutura da investigação) no preciso momento em que aquilo que se lhes exige é clareza absoluta nas decisões judiciais. Pinto Monteiro, aliás, só emitiu um comunicado com alguns esclarecimentos depois de José Sócrates ter exigido publicamente que queria ser esclarecido.

Sejamos cristalinos: acreditar que Jesus Cristo andou sobre as águas exige menos fé do que acreditar que as conversas entre Sócrates e Vara têm a inocência de um episódio da Abelha Maia. Supondo que o juiz de instrução criminal de Aveiro não enlouqueceu, o simples facto de enviar certidões para o Supremo envolvendo Sócrates tem só por si um efeito devastador e que exige uma dupla resposta: jurídica (saber se as escutas são legais) mas também política. E, para a resposta política, a legalidade das escutas interessa pouco.

João Miguel Tavares no DN, imperdível.

Esta verdadeira “face oculta” do regime foi, por acaso, revelada aos pobres inocentes que somos todos nós e é tudo tão vergonhoso – a corrupção que é tão casual e barata; a Justiça que promove fugas em timings estratégicos para condenar quem não consegue condenar nos tribunais; a economia prisioneira desta teia de interesses e corrupção, empobrecendo a maioria que não tem cargos nem avenças nem amigos nas empresas e organismos públicos e que não vive do assistencialismo do Estado – que, realistas, só podemos desesperar. Começa a ser tempo de imaginar a desculpa que vou dar aos meus filhos quando, consientes da porcalhota que é este país, me pergutarem, e ao pai, porque não emigrámos. Desconfio que já nem o bom argumento de terem avós disponíveis e participativos e a possibilidade de gozarem de uma família alargada os vai convencer.

«Mas o Muro de Berlim é também o símbolo da acomodação ocidental, principalmente europeia, principalmente socialista, principalmente conservadora, que achava que a realidade da divisão era incontestável e tinha que se viver com isso. Foi preciso um Presidente americano, o actor burro da série B, um electricista polaco católico e anti comunista e provavelmente agente da CIA, e um Papa reaccionário, “mariano”, também ele polaco e anti comunista à antiga, para deitarem abaixo a coisa. Depois foi preciso um rotundo reaccionário alemão, a “couve”, para forçar a “reunificação”, contra tudo e contra todos, inclusive contra os brilhantes democratas do SPD, como Willy Brandt, autor da “Ost Politik” que caiu com o Muro.
(…)

Eu sei que agora toda a gente esteve contra o Muro, numa daquelas reconstruções da memória em que a comunicação social é fértil. Mas não é verdade.»

JPP

Um excelente discurso, o de Cavaco Silva ontem na tomada de posse do Governo, ofuscando o de Sócrates, que foi chocho, demasiado genérico e que mostrou como o Governo se prepara para nada fazer e culpar a oposição do facto. Cavaco, numa muito boa intervenção depois da incompetência do caso das escutas, começou por fazer o diagnóstico da situação económica do país (é melhor enviar um desenho explicativo ao PM, já que, pelo que se viu na campanha eleitoral e no discurso de tomada de posse, o senhor ainda não entendeu que há crise, e grave, em Portugal que vai além das consequências da crise internacional), afirmou-se como referencial de estabilidade, lembrou a sua (positiva) experiência como líder de um governo minoritário, apelou à responsabilidade, colocou o horizonte temporal do governo em quatro anos; um discurso leal com o governo eleito, mas também de responsabilização do mesmo. Mostrou que entende o que está em causa (melhor do que o PM) e que, na sequência da novela veraneja, também sabe do que é feito o PM (com as referências ao carácter e à fidelidade à palavra dada tanto em público como em privado).

Clinical Infectious Diseases  15 September 2009  V.49  N.6  p.841–849

Andrea K. Boggild,1,a Srivicha Krudsood,6,a Samir N. Patel,2,3 Lena Serghides,3,4 Noppadon Tangpukdee,6 Kevin Katz,5 Polrat Wilairatana,6 W. Conrad Liles,1,2,3,4 Sornchai Looareesuwan,6,b and Kevin C. Kain1,2,3,4

1Tropical Disease Unit, Toronto General Hospital of the University Health Network, 2Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology and 3Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, and 4McLaughlin‐Rotman Centre for Global Health, Toronto General Hospital, McLaughlin Centre for Molecular Medicine, University of Toronto, and 5North York General Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; 6Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand

Background.Despite the use of potent antimalarial drugs, the fatality rate associated with severe malaria remains high. Adjunctive therapies that target the immunopathological responses to infection may decrease mortality associated with severe malaria. We hypothesized that peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor γ agonists (eg, rosiglitazone) would modulate the host’s innate immune response to malaria and improve outcome.

Methods.In a randomized, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled, phase I/II trial of treatment for malaria acquired in Thailand, we investigated the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of rosiglitazone use for parasite clearance and for reducing malaria‐induced inflammation. Sequential patients with uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 groups: 70 patients received rosiglitazone 4 mg twice daily for 4 days, and 70 patients received a placebo twice daily for 4 days. Both groups also received standard antimalarial therapy (ie, a fixed combination of 1000 mg of atovaquone per day for 3 days and 400 mg of proguanil per day for 3 days). Primary efficacy outcomes were 50% and 90% parasite clearance times (PCTs). Secondary outcomes were fever clearance time, levels of inflammatory mediators, blood glucose measurements, aminotransferase levels, admission to intensive care, and subjective tolerability of study drug.

Results.For the 70 patients who received rosiglitazone, parasite clearance from peripheral blood was significantly enhanced, compared with the 70 patients who received a placebo (mean 50% PCT, 19.0 h vs. 24.6 h [ ]; mean 90% PCT, 30.9 h vs. 40.4 h [ ]). Also, the patients who received rosiglitazone had reduced inflammatory responses to infection, compared with the patients who received a placebo (ie, interleukin‐6 levels at 24 h [ ] and at 48 h [ ] and monocyte chemoattractant protein–1 level at 48 h [ ]). There were no significant differences between the 2 groups with regard to safety and tolerability of treatment, and there were no admissions the intensive care unit or deaths.

Conclusions.The use of rosiglitazone is a well‐tolerated adjunct to standard therapy for nonsevere P. falciparum malaria. Treatment with rosiglitazone increased parasite clearance and decreased inflammatory biomarkers associated with adverse malaria outcomes.

abstract

http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/605431

PDF

http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdf/10.1086/605431

Nota editorial

http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdf/10.1086/605432

Clinical Infectious Diseases  15 September 2009  V.49  N.6  p.878–884

Jeffrey L. Jones,1 Valerie Dargelas,2 Jacquelin Roberts,1 Cindy Press,2 Jack S. Remington,2,3 andJose G. Montoya2,3

1Division of Parasitic Diseases, National Center for Zoonotic, Vectorborne, and Enteric Diseases, Coordinating Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia; 2Palo Alto Medical Foundation, Toxoplasma Serology Laboratory, Palo Alto, and 3Division of Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine, Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California

Background.Toxoplasmosis can cause severe ocular and neurological disease. We sought to determine risk factors for Toxoplasma gondii infection in the United States.

Methods.We conducted a case‐control study of adults recently infected with T. gondii. Case patients were selected from the Palo Alto Medical Foundation Toxoplasma Serology Laboratory from August 2002 through May 2007; control patients were randomly selected from among T. gondii–seronegative persons. Data were obtained from serological testing and patient questionnaires.

Results.We evaluated 148 case patients with recent T. gondii infection and 413 control patients. In multivariate analysis, an elevated risk of recent T. gondii infection was associated with the following factors: eating raw ground beef (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 6.67; 95% confidence limits [CLs], 2.09, 21.24; attributable risk [AR], 7%); eating rare lamb (aOR, 8.39; 95% CLs, 3.68, 19.16; AR, 20%); eating locally produced cured, dried, or smoked meat (aOR, 1.97; 95% CLs, 1.18, 3.28; AR, 22%); working with meat (aOR, 3.15; 95% CLs, 1.09, 9.10; AR, 5%); drinking unpasteurized goat’s milk (aOR, 5.09; 95% CLs, 1.45, 17.80; AR, 4%); and having 3 or more kittens (aOR, 27.89; 95% CLs, 5.72, 135.86; AR, 10%). Eating raw oysters, clams, or mussels (aOR, 2.22; 95% CLs, 1.07, 4.61; AR, 16%) was significant in a separate model among persons asked this question. Subgroup results are also provided for women and for pregnant women.

Conclusions.In the United States, exposure to certain raw or undercooked foods and exposure to kittens are risk factors for T. gondii infection. Knowledge of these risk factors will help to target prevention efforts

abstract

http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/605433

Clinical Microbiology Reviews  1 July 2005  V.18  N.3  p.570-581

William E. Collins1* and Geoffrey M. Jeffery2

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Division of Parasitic Diseases, Malaria Branch, Chamblee, Georgia 30341,1 U.S. Public Health Service, Atlanta, Georgia2

Humans are infected by four recognized species of malaria parasites. The last of these to be recognized and described is Plasmodium ovale. Like the other malaria parasites of primates, this parasite is only transmitted via the bites of infected Anopheles mosquitoes. The prepatent period in the human ranges from 12 to 20 days. Some forms in the liver have delayed development, and relapse may occur after periods of up to 4 years after infection. The developmental cycle in the blood lasts approximately 49 h. An examination of records from induced infections indicated that there were an average of 10.3 fever episodes of 101°F and 4.5 fever episodes of 104°F. Mean maximum parasite levels were 6,944/µl for sporozoite-induced infections and 7,310/µl for trophozoite-induced infections. Exoerythrocytic stages have been demonstrated in the liver of humans, chimpanzees, and Saimiri monkeys following injection of sporozoites. Many different Anopheles species have been shown to be susceptible to infection with P. ovale, including A. gambiae, A. atroparvus, A. dirus, A. freeborni, A. albimanus, A. quadrimaculatus, A. stephensi, A. maculatus, A. subpictus, and A. farauti. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay has been developed to detect mosquitoes infected with P. ovale using a monoclonal antibody directed against the circumsporozoite protein. Plasmodium ovale is primarily distributed throughout sub-Saharan Africa. It has also been reported from numerous islands in the western Pacific. In more recent years, there have been reports of its distribution on the Asian mainland. Whether or not it will become a major public health problem there remains to be seen. The diagnosis of P. ovale is based primarily on the characteristics of the blood stages and its differentiation from P. vivax. The sometimes elliptical shape of the infected erythrocyte is often diagnostic when combined with other, subtler differences in morphology. The advent of molecular techniques, primarily PCR, has made diagnostic confirmation possible. The development of techniques for the long-term frozen preservation of malaria parasites has allowed the development diagnostic reference standards for P. ovale. Infections in chimpanzees are used to provide reference and diagnostic material for serologic and molecular studies because this parasite has not been shown to develop in other nonhuman primates, nor has it adapted to in vitro culture. There is no evidence to suggest that P. ovale is closely related phylogenetically to any other of the primate malaria parasites that have been examined.

abstract

http://cmr.asm.org/cgi/content/abstract/18/3/570?etoc

PDF

http://cmr.asm.org/cgi/reprint/18/3/570

Documento de la OPS

Profesor Eduardo Guarnera

Parasitología, INEI, ANLIS Dr Carlos G. Malbrán

Ministerio de Salud de la Nación Argentina

Carga de enfermedad

Full Text

http://publicaciones.ops.org.ar/publicaciones/otras%20pub/pubhidatidosis.pdf

Como há pessoas muito perigosas por esse mundo, capazes das maiores atrocidades sem qualquer remorso (aquilo que geralmente se designa como psicopata), com os quais as regras de civilidade normais não se aplicam sem perigar a segurança de muita gente, e como por muito odioso que seja – e é – sítios como Guantánamo podem prevenir males maiores do que os que produzem, o melhor é o público americano (e, já agora, mundial) não saber que houve boa gente liberta de Guantánamo que mais valia lá ter ficado.

“At 12:01 P.M. on January 20, 2009, minutes before Barack Obama was sworn in as president, the first post went up on the Obama White House website. It included a reiteration of a campaign promise Obama repeatedly made: “President Obama has committed to making his administration the most open and transparent in history.”Two days later, Obama ordered the detention facility at Guantánamo Bay closed. And two days after that, on January 24, Newsweek’s Michael Isikoff wrote about a Pentagon study that will provide an early test of this promise: “The report, which could be released within the next few days, will provide fresh details about 62 detainees who have been released from Guantánamo and are believed by U.S. intelligence officials to have returned to terrorist activities.”

The report was not, in fact, released within the next few days. On February 2, Commander Jeffrey Gordon, the Pentagon spokesman who handles inquiries about Guantánamo, told us that the report would likely be released later that day. We were told to consult the website–defenselink.mil–that afternoon. No report. When we asked where it was, Commander Gordon wrote: “Nothing today, please check back with me in a couple days.” We did. No report.

This pattern has repeated itself for a month.”

Second Thoughts
The ‘most transparent administration in history’ buries a Gitmo report. , The Weekly Standard

(A propósito, este meu post n´O Insurgente.)

“Crimes de corrupção e tráfico de influências podem ter prescritoOs alegados crimes de corrupção e tráfico de influências do caso Freeport podem já ter prescrito. Se a autorização para a construção do ‘outlet’ de Alcochete for considerada legal, mesmo com eventuais subornos, esses crimes já não podem ser julgados, o que constituirá um sério revés no processo.” SIC

Neurology 24 July 2001 V.57 N.2 p.177-183

Views & Reviews

O. H. Del Brutto, MD;, V. Rajshekhar, MCh;, A. C. White Jr., MD;, V. C. W. Tsang, PhD;, T. E. Nash, MD;, O. M. Takayanagui, MD;, P. M. Schantz, DVM, PhD;, C. A. W. Evans, MD;, A. Flisser, DSc;, D. Correa, DSc;, D. Botero, MD;, J. C. Allan, PhD;, E. Sarti, MD, DSc;, A. E. Gonzalez, DVM, PhD;, R. H. Gilman, MD; and H.H. García, MD

From the Department of Neurological Sciences (Dr. Del Brutto), Hospital–Clinica Kennedy, Guayaquil, Ecuador; the Department of Neurological Sciences (Dr. Rajshekhar), Christian Medical College and Hospital, Vellore, India; the Infectious Disease Section (Dr. White), Department of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX; the Division of Parasitic Diseases (Drs. Tsang and Schantz), National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta, GA; the Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases (Dr. Nash), National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD; the Department of Neurology (Dr. Takayanagui), Faculty of Medicine of Ribeirao Preto, University of Sao Paolo, Brazil; the University of Cambridge Clinical School (Dr. Evans), Cambridge, UK; the Instituto de Diagnóstico y Referencia Epidemiológicos (Drs. Flisser and Correa) and Dirección General de Epidemiología (Dr. Sarti), Secretaría de Salud, Mexico DF, Mexico; the Instituto Colombiano de Medicina Tropical (Dr. Botero), Medellín, Colombia; Pfizer Global Research and Development (Dr. Allan), Sandwich, UK; the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos de Lima (Dr. Gonzalez), Perú; the Asociación Benéfica, Proyectos en Informática, Salud, Medicina y Agricultura (Drs. Gonzalez, Gilman, and García), Lima, Perú; the Department of International Health (Dr. Gilman), The Johns Hopkins University, School of Hygiene and Public Health, Baltimore, MD; and the Cysticercosis Unit, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Neurológicas, and the Departments of Microbiology and Pathology, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia (Drs. Gilman and García), Lima, Perú.

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Oscar H. Del Brutto, Air Center 3542, PO Box 522970, Miami, FL 33152-2970; e-mail: odbrutto@telconet.net

Neurocysticercosis is the most common helminthic infection of the CNS but its diagnosis remains difficult. Clinical manifestations are nonspecific, most neuroimaging findings are not pathognomonic, and some serologic tests have low sensitivity and specificity. The authors provide diagnostic criteria for neurocysticercosis based on objective clinical, imaging, immunologic, and epidemiologic data. These include four categories of criteria stratified on the basis of their diagnostic strength, including the following: 1) absolute—histologic demonstration of the parasite from biopsy of a brain or spinal cord lesion, cystic lesions showing the scolex on CT or MRI, and direct visualization of subretinal parasites by funduscopic examination; 2) major—lesions highly suggestive of neurocysticercosis on neuroimaging studies, positive serum enzyme-linked immunoelectrotransfer blot for the detection of anticysticercal antibodies, resolution of intracranial cystic lesions after therapy with albendazole or praziquantel, and spontaneous resolution of small single enhancing lesions; 3) minor—lesions compatible with neurocysticercosis on neuroimaging studies, clinical manifestations suggestive of neurocysticercosis, positive CSF enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for detection of anticysticercal antibodies or cysticercal antigens, and cysticercosis outside the CNS; and 4) epidemiologic—evidence of a household contact with Taenia solium infection, individuals coming from or living in an area where cysticercosis is endemic, and history of frequent travel to disease-endemic areas. Interpretation of these criteria permits two degrees of diagnostic certainty: 1) definitive diagnosis, in patients who have one absolute criterion or in those who have two major plus one minor and one epidemiologic criterion; and 2) probable diagnosis, in patients who have one major plus two minor criteria, in those who have one major plus one minor and one epidemiologic criterion, and in those who have three minor plus one epidemiologic criterion.

abstract

http://www.neurology.org/cgi/content/abstract/57/2/177

Clinical Microbiology Reviews October 2002 V.15 N.14 p.747-756

Hector H. García,1,2* Carlton A. W. Evans,3,4 Theodore E. Nash,5 Osvaldo M. Takayanagui,6 A. Clinton White Jr.,7 David Botero,8 Vedantam Rajshekhar,9 Victor C. W. Tsang,10 Peter M. Schantz,10 James C. Allan,11 Ana Flisser,12 Dolores Correa,13 Elsa Sarti,14 Jon S. Friedland,4 S. Manuel Martinez,1 Armando E. Gonzalez,15 Robert H. Gilman,1,2,16 and Oscar H. Del Brutto17

Cysticercosis Unit, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Neurológicas,1 Departments of Microbiology and Pathology, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia,2 School of Veterinary Medicine, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, Peru,15 University of Cambridge Clinical School, Cambridge,3 Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine,4 Department of Biological Sciences, University of Salford, and Pfizer Inc., Sandwich, United Kingdom,11 Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda,5 Department of International Health, The Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland,16 Department of Neurology, School of Medicine of Ribeirao Preto, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil,6 Infectious Disease Section, Department of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas,7 Instituto Colombiano de Medicina Tropical, Medellín, Colombia,8 Department of Neurological Sciences, Christian Medical College and Hospital, Vellore, India,9 Division of Parasitic Diseases, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta, Georgia,10 School of Medicine, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico,12 Instituto Nacional de Pediatria, Secretaría de Salud,13 Instituto Nacional de Diagnóstico y Referencia Epidemiológicos, Secretaría de Salud, Mexico D.F., Mexico,14 Department of Neurological Sciences, Hospital-Clínica Kennedy, Guayaquil, Ecuador,17

Taenia solium neurocysticercosis is a common cause of epileptic seizures and other neurological morbidity in most developing countries. It is also an increasingly common diagnosis in industrialized countries because of immigration from areas where it is endemic. Its clinical manifestations are highly variable and depend on the number, stage, and size of the lesions and the host’s immune response. In part due to this variability, major discrepancies exist in the treatment of neurocysticercosis. A panel of experts in taeniasis/cysticercosis discussed the evidence on treatment of neurocysticercosis for each clinical presentation, and we present the panel’s consensus and areas of disagreement. Overall, four general recommendations were made: (i) individualize therapeutic decisions, including whether to use antiparasitic drugs, based on the number, location, and viability of the parasites within the nervous system; (ii) actively manage growing cysticerci either with antiparasitic drugs or surgical excision; (iii) prioritize the management of intracranial hypertension secondary to neurocysticercosis before considering any other form of therapy; and (iv) manage seizures as done for seizures due to other causes of secondary seizures (remote symptomatic seizures) because they are due to an organic focus that has been present for a long time.

abstract

http://cmr.asm.org/cgi/content/abstract/15/4/747

PDF

http://cmr.asm.org/cgi/reprint/15/4/747

* * *

Não são apenas os investigadores envolvidos no caso Freeport que revelam as mais variadas ligações ao PS ou até ao caso investigado – assegurando assim uma insusceptível de suspeita imparcialidade – como também é o PGR que vai inverigar o que correu mal nos organismos que dependem do PGR e pelos quais é responsável organica, operacional e institucionalmente – o que, claro, também nos garante um rigor justicialista de quem ninguém vai poder duvidar.  E espantamo-nos nós que o processo Freeport só se tenha mexido por pedidos ingleses. E, sobretudo, podemos estar muito sossegados com a qualidade dos resultados das investigações pelas instâncias portuguesas.

“As peripécias do caso Freeport estão a incendiar o Ministério Público, gerando um ambiente de revolta entre os magistrados contra Pinto Monteiro. E ninguém percebe que ele vá investigar a actuação de um departamento directamente dependente dele próprio – o DCIAP”, Sol

“Os Governos de António Guterres funcionaram como epicentro, mas não só. De algum modo, no processo Freeport, investigadores e investigados cruzaram-se ali. Um deles teria sido escolhido para substituir Souto de Moura. Amizades? Ressentimentos? Coincidências? Um retrato de um mundo pequeno, num pequeno país.”, Público

Como se percebe, eu não sou uma adepta do relativismo moral. Há coisas que são “mal” e são “mal” independentemente da cultura, da geografia, do grau de instrução, da religião, de todos os possíveis condicionamentos que limitem uma pessoa. E a forma como são negados direitos às mulheres nas sociedades islâmicas (em maior ou menor grau, conforme os países, mas sempre alguma coisa menores do que os dos homens) é sem dúvida um “mal”. E confesso que vejo como arrepiante pessoas que gozam de todos os direitos das sociedades ocidentais preferirem a defesa destes países com leis imorais à da sociedade mais democrática do mundo – refiro-me, claro, aos EUA, que mesmo nos piores momentos são radicalmente mais justos e morais do que qualquer destas sociedades islâmicas mesmo que esforçadas.

Vale a pena ler este texto do NY Times, para nos apercebermos como as mulheres islâmicas quando têm liberdade para isso querem gozar dos mesmos direitos das mulheres que tiveram a sorte de nascer em sociedades mais justas (isto porque há sempre luminárias que defendem que para as muçulmanas faz muito sentido viverem com direitos pela metade) e como no Irão ainda há tanto “mal” para purgar.

“In a year of marriage, Razieh Qassemi, 19, says she was beaten repeatedly by her husband and his father. Her husband, she says, is addicted to methamphetamine and has threatened to marry another woman to “torture” her.

Rather than endure the abuse, Ms. Qassemi took a step that might never have occurred to an earlier generation of Iranian women: she filed for divorce.

Women’s rights advocates say Iranian women are displaying a growing determination to achieve equal status in this conservative Muslim theocracy, where male supremacy is still enscribed in the legal code. One in five marriages now end in divorce, according to government data, a fourfold increase in the past 15 years.

(…)

Despite the gains they have made, women still face extraordinary obstacles. Girls can legally be forced into marriage at the age of 13. Men have the right to divorce their wives whenever they wish, and are granted custody of any children over the age of 7. Men can ban their wives from working outside the home, and can engage in polygamy.

 By law, women may inherit from their parents only half the shares of their brothers. Their court testimony is worth half that of a man. Although the state has taken steps to discourage stoning, it remains in the penal code as the punishment for women who commit adultery. A woman who refuses to cover her hair faces jail and up to 80 lashes.

Women also face fierce resistance when they organize to change the law. The Campaign for One Million Signatures was founded in 2005, inspired by a movement in Morocco that led to a loosening of misogynist laws. The idea was to collect one million signatures for a petition calling on authorities to give women more equal footing in the laws on marriage, divorce, adultery and poligamy.”

NY Times

“Nova baixa na equipa de Barack Obama
Judd Greg, o senador republicano que ia assumir o lugar de secretário do Comércio no governo de Obama, anunciou quinta-feira que não vai ocupar o cargo devido a «diferenças políticas». É a quarta baixa na equipa do Presidente dos EUA”, Sol

Além dos never-ending pacotes de estímulos que Obama pretende implementar e que teimam em não fazer sentir consequências além de descidas consecutivas dos índices bolsistas.

Ah, mas já me esquecia, o incompetente era o Bush. Obama, faça o que fizer, é “the special one” e mais infalível dos que os Papas quando se pronunciam sobre dogmas de fé (que é quando a infalibilidade se aplica, apesar de várias ignorâncias dos sítios do costume nos últimos dias).

Clinical Infectious Diseases  15 February 2009  V.48  N.4  e41–e46

Daniel M. Musher,1,2 Nancy Logan,1 Adam M. Bressler,3,4 David P. Johnson,5 and Jean-François Rossignol6,7

1Infectious Disease Section, The Medical Care Line, Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and 2Departments of Medicine and Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas; 3Infectious Diseases Specialists of Atlanta and 4Clinical Microbiology Laboratory, Dekalb Medical Center, Atlanta, Georgia; 5Division of Infectious Diseases, Bay Pines Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Bay Pines, and 6The Romark Institute for Medical Research, Tampa, Florida; and 7Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, California

Background.Vancomycin is the only US Food and Drug Administration–approved drug for treatment of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI). Metronidazole has been widely used for this purpose but may be inferior to vancomycin, especially for hospitalized patients with severe disease. We report a prospective, double-blind, randomized controlled trial comparing nitazoxanide with vancomycin for treatment of CDI.

Methods.Fifty patients with CDI were randomized to receive vancomycin or nitazoxanide for 10 days. An initial response was considered to be the absence of all CDI symptoms between days 11 and 13, and a final response was considered to be lack of symptom recurrence by day 31.

Results.One patient fulfilled an exclusion criterion and was removed from the study. Twenty-seven patients received vancomycin, and 23 received nitazoxanide; 23 and 18 patients, respectively, completed the full course of treatment. Initial responses occurred in 20 (74%) of 27 patients treated with vancomycin and in 17 (77%) of 22 patients treated with nitazoxanide (95% confidence interval, −24% to +28%). In those who completed therapy, response rates were 87% (20 of 23 patients) in the vancomycin group and 94% (17 of 18 patients) in the nitazoxanide group (95% confidence interval, −18% to +30%). Times to complete resolution of symptoms were similar in the 2 groups ( ). Two patients in the vancomycin group and 1 patient in the nitazoxanide group experienced relapse within 31 days after beginning treatment. Sustained response rates were 78% (18 of 23 patients) for the vancomycin group, and 89% (16 of 18 patients) for the nitazoxanide group (95% confidence interval, −18% to +35%).

Conclusions.The small sample precludes conclusions about noninferiority of nitazoxanide to vancomycin. Nevertheless, this is the first recent randomized controlled trial to compare any antimicrobial agent other than metronidazole with vancomycin. Results suggest that nitazoxanide may be as effective as vancomycin in treating CDI.

Trial registration.ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00384527.

abstract

http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/596552

PDF

http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdf/10.1086/596552

“A woman suspected of recruiting more than 80 female suicide bombers has been arrested, the Iraqi military claimed today, potentially dealing a blow to one of the deadliest forms of insurgent attack in Iraq.The woman, who was identified as Samira Ahmed Jassim and by her nickname Umm al-Mumineen, was shown confessing in a video at a press conference in Baghdad.

Dressed in a black Islamic robe, she described how she would persuade women to carry out suicide missions, escort them to an orchard for insurgent training, and finally pick them up and lead them to their targets”, no Telegraph.

Em Março do ano passado li num jornal americano uma peça onde se relatava que a grande preocupação dos pais iraquianos era com os filhos rapazes jovens, que eram os mais fáceis alvos de recrutamento pelos terroristas (anteriormente tinham-se preocupado sobretudo com as filhas, não fossem elas envolverem-se com os soldados americanos, e possivelmente lá se iria a virgindade e quem sabe viria um assassinato da rapariga para defesa da honra, ou o repúdio da família, ou outro bom costume islâmico). Será que os pais iraquianos se deveriam preocupar novamente com as suas filhas?

“Na edição de hoje, o “Sol” revela pela primeira vez que o ministro de Guterres referido numa conversa entre Charles Smith e um administrador do Freeport é José Sócrates. Nessa conversa, gravada pelo administrador com recurso a uma câmara oculta, Smith diz que gastou avultadas quantias em “pagamentos corruptos”, de acordo com o que ficou combinado numa reunião com Sócrates. Este vídeo fará parte do processo de investigação que corre no Reino Unido, onde estará igualmente um e-mail enviado para o Freeport a pedir uma recompensa pelo desbloqueamento do licenciamento.”, Público

“President Barack Obama on Friday struck down the Bush administration’s ban on giving federal money to international groups that perform abortions or provide abortion information — an inflammatory policy that has bounced in and out of law for the past quarter-century. Obama’s executive order, the latest in an aggressive first week reversing contentious Bush policies, was warmly welcomed by liberal groups and denounced by abortion rights foes.The ban has been a political football between Democratic and Republican administrations since GOP President Ronald Reagan first adopted it 1984. Democrat Bill Clinton ended the ban in 1993, but Republican George W. Bush re-instituted it in 2001 as one of his first acts in office.” NY Times.

Mais grave do que isto é a pretensão de Obama de tornar lei o Freedom Of Choice Act – como de resto prometeu – que retira todas as pequenas restrições que os republicanos conseguiram assegurar para os casos de aborto. Em suma, uma das leis mais iníquas que algum governante pode patrocinar. Perante isto, uns socos nuns terroristas são peanuts. Mas claro, Obama é um redentor e o tipo da esperança e o bonzinho que agora governa o mundo.

“Suspeitas de corrupção no licenciamento do “outlet” de Alcochete
Caso Freeport: polícia faz buscas a tio de Sócrates e ao advogado Vasco Vieira de Almeida”, Público

Clinical Infectious Diseases 15 December 2008 V.47 N.12 p. 1499–1506

Eyal Leshem,^1,2,3 Yasmin Maor,^2,3 Eyal Meltzer,^1,2,3 Marc Assous,⁴ and Eli Schwartz^1,3

¹The Center for Geographic Medicine and ²Infectious Diseases Unit, The Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, ³Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, and ⁴Central Laboratories, Ministry of Health, Jerusalem, Israel

Background. Acute schistosomiasis (AS) is a systemic hypersensitivity reaction that has been recognized mostly in nonimmune travelers. Although the condition is self-limited, it can be severe. We describe an outbreak of AS in a group of travelers returning from Tanzania and estimate the disease burden.

Methods. After we identified the index case, we initiated an epidemiological investigation of the entire group. Diagnosis was established on the basis of symptoms, serologic data, and ova detection. Relevant clinical information was documented with use of a structured questionnaire, and the patient’s economic burden was recorded. Health-related quality of life was assessed during the illness and 3 months later.

Results. Of 34 group members, 27 had a single exposure to a fresh water pond, 22 (81%) of whom were infected. AS developed in 19 (86%) of the 22 infected travelers. Cough (78% of patients), fever (68%), and fatigue (58%) were the most common symptoms, with mean durations (± standard deviation) of , , and days, respectively. The total number of medical encounters was 258 (mean no. of encounters per patient, 11), and 152 work and school days were missed (mean, 8 days per patient). During the acute phase of illness, there was a significant decline in health-related quality of life that returned to expected norms after 3 months.

Conclusions. A single, short exposure of travelers to an infected pond led to a high infection rate. The illness had a significant impact on the patients’ daily functions, and patients extensively used medical resources. Education to avoid exposure to fresh water remains the most effective method of schistosomiasis prevention.

abstract

http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/593191

N Engl J of Medicine September 30, 1993 V.329 N.14 p.995-1000

Benjamin J. Luft, Richard Hafner, Ann H. Korzun, Catherine Leport, Diana Antoniskis, Elizabeth M. Bosler, D. David Bourland, Raj Uttamchandani, Jack Fuhrer, Jeffrey Jacobson, Philippe Morlat, Jean-Louis Vilde, and Jack S. Remington

Background In patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), toxoplasmic encephalitis is usually a presumptive diagnosis based on the clinical manifestations, a positive antitoxoplasma-antibody titer, and characteristic neuroradiologic abnormalities. A response to specific therapy helps to confirm the diagnosis, but it is unclear how rapid the response should be. We studied the course of patients treated for acute toxoplasmic encephalitis and evaluated objective clinical criteria for this empirical diagnosis.

Methods A quantifiable neurologic assessment was used prospectively to evaluate the clinical outcome of patients with AIDS and toxoplasmic encephalitis who were treated with oral clindamycin (600 mg four times a day) and pyrimethamine (75 mg every day) for six weeks.

Results Thirty-five of 49 patients (71 percent) responded to therapy, and 30 of these (86 percent) had improvement by day 7. Thirty-two of those with a response (91 percent) improved with respect to at least half of their base-line abnormalities by day 14. Improvement in neurologic abnormalities within 7 to 14 days after the start of therapy was strongly associated with the neurologic response at 6 weeks. The four patients in whom treatment failed and the two patients with lymphoma had progressing neurologic abnormalities or new abnormalities during the first 12 days of therapy. Nonlocalizing abnormalities (headache and seizure) improved regardless of the clinical outcome.

Conclusions Oral clindamycin and pyrimethamine are an effective treatment for toxoplasmic encephalitis. Patients who have early neurologic deterioration despite treatment or who do not improve neurologically after 10 to 14 days of appropriate antitoxoplasma therapy should be considered candidates for brain biopsy.

abstract

http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/abstract/329/14/995

Full Text

http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/329/14/995

Current Opinion in Infectious Diseases December 2008 V.21 N.6 p. 659-667

Doenhoff, Michael J a; Cioli, Donato b; Utzinger, Jurg c

Abstract:
Purpose of review: Praziquantel (PZQ) is the only drug being used to treat human schistosomiasis on a large scale. This review focuses on current knowledge about the mechanisms of action of PZQ, prospects for PZQ resistance, possible future alternative drugs and on exhortations that control of schistosomiasis and other so-called neglected tropical diseases becomes more integrated.

Recent findings: Schistosome calcium ion (Ca2+) channels are the only moiety so far identified as the molecular target of PZQ, but the evidence remains indirect. In the presence of cytochalasin D worms survive high concentrations of PZQ and experiments with cytochalasin D also indicated that PZQ induced worm death and Ca2+ influx are not correlated. Despite PZQ being widely used, there is no clinically relevant evidence for resistance to date, but worryingly low-cure rates have been recorded in some studies in Africa. Artemisinins and the related 1,2,4-trioxolanes are new promising antischistosomal compounds, as are inhibitors of a schistosome-specific bifunctional enzyme, thioredoxin-glutathione reductase.

Summary: Use of PZQ will increase in the foreseeable future, whether given alone or coadministered with other anthelminthics in integrated control programmes. PZQ resistance remains a threat and its prevention requires adequate monitoring of current mass drug administration programmes and development of new schistosomicides.

abstract

http://www.co-infectiousdiseases.com/pt/re/coinfdis/abstract.00001432-200812000-00013.htm;jsessionid=J6CHvhGbvGlw5xp0nLHG5GK1ccjpTjgc1SbQLJyzcprP0BzG21YT!976670012!181195629!8091!-1

HIV in Site March 2006

Carlos S. Subauste, MD Case Western Reserve University

Full Text

http://www.hivinsite.com/InSite?page=kb-00&doc=kb-05-04-03

Nestas polémicas com a educação o que preocupa é que todas as partes são más. Os alunos querem balda, claro, mas faz parte da imaturidade expectável e não se lhes deve levar a mal por isso (já os pais que os deixam fazer manifestações a favor do laxismo mereceriam um correctivo). O Ministério da Educação é uma organização mastodôntica com o objectivo de gerir professores e equipamentos escolares e de dar guarida a uma troupe de pedagogos vanguardistas que a cada par de anos acham que devem reinventar o ensino (apesar de eu não ver nada de vicioso com a formação que terminei há 17 anos, do que oiço, agora os educandos têm disciplinas e anos totalmente diferentes); é demasiado grande, engana-se demasiadas vezes e tudo é sempre encoberto; o interesse dos alunos é a última das preocupações e, numa alínea deste item, a educação dos alunos é absolutamente irrelevante (interessa, sobretudo, manter os potenciais delinquentes dentro das escolas e não reprovar ninguém para não ficarmos mal nas estatísticas). Os professores (há, claro, excepções; e sim, são excepções; se fossem a maioria não seguiriam em bloco comportamentos profundamente lesivos para os alunos) protestam, mas depressa perdem a razão. A avaliação proposta pelo ME é, como se esperaria, mal feita e têm os professores razão para protestar e manifestarem-se – mas não me venham com a história de não estarem contra a avaliação, que os professores não são diferentes dos outros mortais e claro que um mau professor, preguiçoso e sem paciência para os alunos, está tão a favor da avaliação como eu da bomba nuclear no Irão. Contudo, qualquer professor que prejudique a aprendizagem e avaliação de alunos enquanto procura beneficiar a sua carreira não é digno da profissão que exerce e não merece a solidariedade da sociedade. As notícias de que os professores se preparam para não dar notas no fim do primeiro período são vergonhosas; os professores devem ter os alunos como prioridade, mesmo quando o ME não os tem.

Nesta notícia do DN, o PM mostra uma vez mais que governa sem sequer saber as leis que balizam o seu executivo. É por coisas destas que o caso dos cigarros no avião foi significativo.