Galectins are a family of carbohydrate recognition proteins involved in, among other things, modulating cell signalling and cell-environment interactions, giving them roles in several pathologies like cancer and idiopathic lung fibrosis. Hence, developing new galectin inhibitors with high affinity and high selectivity is important to be able to target such diseases. Most existing galectin inhibito

Objective: To test the hypothesis that a combination of 6 posterior and 6 anterior cores detects more cancer than 12 posterior cores at a repeat transrectal prostate biopsy in men who have had one previous benign systematic biopsy. Patients and methods: Three hundred and forty men with persistently raised serum PSA were randomly allocated 1:1 to either a standard 12-core biopsy (12 cores from the

OBJECTIVES: One of the theories connecting enterovirus (EV) infection of human islets with type 1 diabetes (T1D) is the development of a fertile field in the islets. This implies induction of appropriate proteins for the viral replication such as the coxsackie-adenovirus receptor (CAR). The aim of this study was to investigate to what extent CAR is expressed in human islets of Langerhans, and what

Hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) is usually caused by coxsackievirus A16 or enterovirus 71 (EV71). Between 2011 and 2013, HFMD cases were reported from different Cuban provinces. A total of 42 clinical specimens were obtained from 23 patients. Detection, identification and phylogenetic analysis of enterovirus-associated HFMD were carried out by virus isolation, specific enterovirus PCR and part

A possible etiologic role of enteroviruses for type 1 diabetes has been researched for 40 years, but evidence to date is inconclusive. This article summarizes new evidence from Cuban research supporting a role for enteroviruses, both in preclinical stages of autoimmune reactions against pancreatic β cells and at clinical onset, in a population with low type 1 diabetes incidence. Possible pathogene

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) results from the interaction of genetic and environmental factors. Previous studies indicate an association between detection of Enterovirus (EV) genome in blood and the clinical onset of T1D. Insulin resistance can also represent a risk factor for progression to clinically overt T1D. This study aimed at evaluating whether there is association between both EV infection and in

BACKGROUND: To reduce the costs of maintaining a poliovirus immunization base in low-income areas, we assessed the extent of priming immune responses after the administration of inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV).METHODS: We compared the immunogenicity and reactogenicity of a fractional dose of IPV (one fifth of a full dose) administered intradermally with a full dose administered intramuscularl

Birds use spectral information for circadian control, magnetic orientation and phototaxis but most importantly for discriminating the colours of important objects such as food items or mates. Their tetrachromatic colour vision is based on four types of single cones expressing four opsin-based visual pigments and fine-tuned by the carotenoid composition in cone oil droplets. Bird colour vision is n

The public sector is showing increased interest in Mobility as a Service (MaaS), as its introduction and market penetration is proposed to potentially disrupt the personal transport system. However, involved public actors are approaching MaaS very differently. This paper applies a neo-institutional perspective to study the activities of public actors in the ongoing development of MaaS in Finland a

This study aims to explore a possible silent circulation of wild and vaccine-derived polioviruses in departments of Colombia with polio vaccination coverage of below 80%. The study collected 52 samples of wastewater concentrated as a result of precipitation with polyethylene glycol and sodium chloride. The viral detection was carried out through isolation and the identification through neutralizat

BACKGROUND: An outbreak of acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis occurred in Cuba in 2008 and 2009.OBJECTIVE: To determinate the etiological agent associated with the Cuban outbreaks of acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis during 2008 and 2009.STUDY DESIGN: Conjunctival swabs and/or faecal samples from 382 patients with clinical diagnosis suggestive of acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis were subject to viral

BACKGROUND: As part of an evaluation of strategies to make inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) affordable for developing countries, we conducted a clinical trial of fractional doses of IPV in Cuba.METHODS: We compared the immunogenicity and reactogenicity of fractional-dose IPV (0.1 mL, or 1/5 of a full dose) given intradermally using a needle-free jet injector device compared with full doses giv

Good alternatives to the Impact Factor (IF) algorithm are needed. The Thomson IF represents a limited measure of the importance of an individual article because 80% of a journal's IF is determined by only the 20% of the papers published. In the past few years, several new indexes has been created to provide alternatives to the IF algorithm. These include the removal of self citations from the calc

Adenoviruses are common pathogens that are responsible for a wide variety of infectious syndromes. The objectives of this study were to identify and characterize members of different adenovirus species at the molecular level and to describe the correlation between viruses and clinical syndromes during a period of 4 years. Between 2002 and 2006, 45 of 512 respiratory specimens (8%) from patients wi

Myocarditis is caused frequently by viral infections of the myocardium. In the past, enteroviruses (EV) were considered the most common cause of myocarditis in all age groups. Other viruses that cause myocarditis are adenovirus and influenza viruses. Parvovirus B19 infection is associated sometimes with myocarditis. Members of the Herpesviridae family, cytomegalovirus (CMV), and human herpesvirus

BACKGROUND: The penetrance of type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) in a genetically susceptible population is largely determined by environmental influences amongst which the human enteroviruses are prominent putative factors.AIM/HYPOTHESIS: The aim of this study was to determine the occurrence of enterovirus RNA in serum of children with type 1 diabetes at onset and ICA-positive subjects in a populati

Stool specimens collected from 1 515 healthy children following a mass vaccination campaign in Cuba were tested for poliovirus excretion using L20B cell lines. In spite of the selectivity of this cell line for polioviruses (117/129; 90.7%) some other nonpolio enteroviruses (12/129: 9.3%), such as coxsackie A virus types 4, 8 and 10, can grow in L20B cells.

OBJECTIVES: Implementing environmental surveillance for poliovirus circulating from wastewater.METHODS: Six wastewater samples were collected from each final site within a wastewater collection system in Armenia, Quindío. Virus was extracted and concentrated by a method using polyethylenglycol and sodium chloride as concentrating agent. Polioviruses were identified by polymerase chain reaction ass