Comparing Echocardiograms of Haitian and non-Haitian Stroke Patients.

INTRODUCTION: Haitian stroke patients had higher diastolic and mean arterial blood pressures, compared with non-Haitian controls. Therefore, we hypothesized that Haitians would have a higher prevalence of left ventricular hypertrophy and decreased ejection fraction. METHODS: Using the Haitian Stroke Database, a cohort study was conducted. The following transthoracic echocardiographic parameters of 52 Haitians and 111 non-Haitians were compared: left ventricular hypertrophy; ejection fraction; right and left ventricular internal dimension at diastole; and left atrial size. RESULTS: Left ventricular hypertrophy and decreased ejection fraction were more prevalent among Haitians (78% vs. 63%; p=.062 and 21% vs. 13%; p=.173, respectively). Neither reached statistical significance. Left atrial enlargement was significantly more prevalent among non-Haitians (36% vs 15%; p=.007). CONCLUSIONS: Left ventricular hypertrophy and decreased ejection fraction were more prevalent in Haitians, but neither finding reached statistical significance. Larger samples are needed for further understanding of stroke comorbidities in Haitians.

Association between Knowledge of Zika Transmission and Preventative Measures among Latinas of Childbearing Age in Farm-Working Communities in South Florida.

Zika infection, an otherwise usually mild disease, is of serious public health concern due to the potential teratogenic effects of the virus. The incidence of Zika infection is difficult to document since it is mostly asymptomatic and detection of those carrying Zika is usually not possible. Currently, there is no vaccine for Zika; therefore, use of personal preventative measures is the only method of avoiding transmission. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between knowledge of Zika transmission and the use of preventive measures among Latinas of childbearing age who lived in or near farm-working communities in South Florida. A secondary data analysis was performed on a cross-sectional study, sampling 100 Latina women aged 18⁻50 years. Sixty-nine percent demonstrated a high degree of knowledge of Zika transmission, and 68% were categorized as taking good preventative measures. Women with high knowledge were 5.86 times more likely to take good preventative measures than those with no knowledge (p-value = 0.05). Knowledge was associated with more preventative measures. Therefore, it is essential to further investigate this relationship in order to develop effective public health interventions for this population.

Evolution of a Novel Antiviral Immune-Signaling Interaction by Partial-Gene Duplication.

The RIG-like receptors (RLRs) are related proteins that identify viral RNA in the cytoplasm and activate cellular immune responses, primarily through direct protein-protein interactions with the signal transducer, IPS1. Although it has been well established that the RLRs, RIG-I and MDA5, activate IPS1 through binding between the twin caspase activation and recruitment domains (CARDs) on the RLR and a homologous CARD on IPS1, it is less clear which specific RLR CARD(s) are required for this interaction, and almost nothing is known about how the RLR-IPS1 interaction evolved. In contrast to what has been observed in the presence of immune-modulating K63-linked polyubiquitin, here we show that-in the absence of ubiquitin-it is the first CARD domain of human RIG-I and MDA5 (CARD1) that binds directly to IPS1 CARD, and not the second (CARD2). Although the RLRs originated in the earliest animals, both the IPS1 gene and the twin-CARD domain architecture of RIG-I and MDA5 arose much later in the deuterostome lineage, probably through a series of tandem partial-gene duplication events facilitated by tight clustering of RLRs and IPS1 in the ancestral deuterostome genome. Functional differentiation of RIG-I CARD1 and CARD2 appears to have occurred early during this proliferation of RLR and related CARDs, potentially driven by adaptive coevolution between RIG-I CARD domains and IPS1 CARD. However, functional differentiation of MDA5 CARD1 and CARD2 occurred later. These results fit a general model in which duplications of protein-protein interaction domains into novel gene contexts could facilitate the expansion of signaling networks and suggest a potentially important role for functionally-linked gene clusters in generating novel immune-signaling pathways.