Facial expressivity in dominant macaques is linked to group cohesion.

Social living affords primates (including humans) many benefits. Communication has been proposed to be the key mechanism used to bond social connections, which could explain why primates have evolved such expressive faces. We assessed whether the facial expressivity of the dominant male (quantified from the coding of anatomically based facial movement) was related to social network properties (based on social proximity and grooming) in nine groups of captive rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) housed in uniform physical and social environments. More facially expressive dominant male macaques were more socially connected and had more cohesive social groups. These findings show that inter-individual differences in facial expressivity are related to differential social outcomes at both an individual and group level. More expressive individuals occupy more beneficial social positions, which could help explain the selection for complex facial communication in primates.

Management Approaches in WHO Grade III Meningioma: A National Oncology Trainees' Collaborative for Healthcare Research (NOTCH) UK Multi-Centre Retrospective Study.

AIMS: WHO Grade 3 (G3) meningiomas are rare tumours with limited data to guide management. This retrospective study documents UK management approaches across 14 centres over 11 years. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients with WHO G3 meningioma between 01/01/2008 and 31/12/2018 were identified. Data were collected on demographics, management strategy, adjuvant radiotherapy, approach in recurrence setting and survival. RESULTS: 84 patients were identified. 21.4% transformed from lower-grade disease. 96.4% underwent primary surgical resection, with 20.8% having evidence of residual disease on their post-op MRI. 59.3% of patients underwent adjuvant radiotherapy (RT) following surgical resection. Overall median PFS and OS were 12.6 months and 28.2 months, respectively. Median OS in the group who underwent complete surgical resection was 34.9 months, compared to 27.5 months for those who had incomplete resection (HR 0.58, 95% CI 0.27-1.23, p = 0.15). Median OS was 33.1 months for those who underwent adjuvant RT and 14.0 months for those who did not (HR 0.48, 95% CI 0.27-0.84, p = 0.004). Median adjuvant RT dose delivered was 60Gy (range 12Gy-60Gy), 45.8% of adjuvant RT was delivered using IMRT. At disease relapse, 31% underwent salvage surgery and 29.3% underwent salvage RT. Of those treated with salvage RT, 64.7% were re-treats and all were treated with hypofractionated RT. CONCLUSION: Surgery continues to be the preferred primary management strategy. Post-operative MRI within 48 hours is indicated to assess presence of residual disease and guide further surgical options. Adjuvant radiotherapy plays an important part of the management paradigm in these patients with the data supporting an attached survival advantage. Further surgery and re-irradiation is an option in the disease recurrence setting with radiosurgery frequently utilised in this context.

Seroepidemiology of Helicobacter pylori infection in a Jamiaican community

We researched epidemiologic associations between environmental and demographic factors and prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection in a suburban Jamaican community. Using a clustered sampling technique, 22 domestic yards enclosing 60 separate households were randomly selected from a local community. All household members (n=346) were invited to participate following informed consent; the overall compliance rate was 58.9 percent. A commercial enzyme immunoassay (HM-CAP) was used to detect IgG antibodies raised against H. pylori. Environmental and demographic information was obtained by questionnaire. The seroprevalence of H. pylori was 69.9 percent (n=202). Analysis of the independent variables revealed three major components. Component 1 described, collectively, good personal hygiene and sanitation, indoor water supply and absence of straying animals in the peridomestic area; Component 2 included older age, good personal hygiene and large yard size; Component 3 the presence of domestic animals (cats and dogs) and, again large yard size. These three complexes explained 42.2 percent of the variability in the data set. Logistic regression showed that Components 2 and 3 were independently associated with H. pylori seropositivity, indicating that a combination of demographic environmental and zoonotic factors is involved in the spread of H. pylori infections at the tropical community level (AU)

Parasitic infections associated with HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean

This review article seeks to highlight the significance for the Caribbean of major parasitic infections associated with AIDS, encourage awareness of these opportunistic parasites, and promote familiarity with appropriate diagnostic techniques and their clinical relevance. Specific agents considered include Pneumocystis carinnii; Toxoplasma gondii; the enteric coccidians Cryptosporidium spp., Isospora belli, and Cyclospora cayetanensis; the hemoflagellates Leishmania spp. and Trypanosoma cruzi; the fungi Histoplasma capsulatum and Cryptococcus neoformans; the nematode Strongyloides stercoralis; and the mite Sarcoptes scabiei. These disease agents can be divided into two groups, the immune-regulated "endogenous" parasites (the protozoans P. carinii and T. gondii, and posibly the roundworm S. stercoralis) and intracellular parasites (including the enteric coccidia, hemoflagellates, and fungi). Both in the Caribbean and elsewhere, the endogenous parasites (particularly P. carinii and T. gondii) are the most troublesome for AIDS patients, partly because they are likely to be transmitted and establish a bening immunoregulated presence early in the subject's life. Indeed, health management programs for AIDS patients often routinely include P. carinii prophylaxis, since nearly all such patients who survive long enough are expected to experience an episode of acute P. carinii infection. In contrast, there is no known epidemiologic association between AIDS and strongyloidiasis in the Caribbean, and the prevalence there of potentially opportunistic hemoflagellates such as Leishmania spp. and Trypanosona cruzi is relatively low (AU)

Parasitic infections associated with HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean

This review article seeks to highlight the significance for the Caribbean of major parasitic infections associated with AIDS, encourage awareness of these opportunistic parasites, and promote familiarity with appropriate diagnostic techniques and their clinical relevance. Specific agents considered include Pneumocystis carinnii; Toxoplasma gondii; the enteric coccidians Cryptosporidium spp., Isospora belli, and Cyclospora cayetanensis; the hemoflagellates Leishmania spp. and Trypanosoma cruzi; the fungi Histoplasma capsulatum and Cryptococcus neoformans; the nematode Strongyloides stercoralis; and the mite Sarcoptes scabiei. These disease agents can be divided into two groups, the immune-regulated "endogenous" parasites (the protozoans P. carinii and T. gondii, and posibly the roundworm S. stercoralis) and intracellular parasites (including the enteric coccidia, hemoflagellates, and fungi). Both in the Caribbean and elsewhere, the endogenous parasites (particularly P. carinii and T. gondii) are the most troublesome for AIDS patients, partly because they are likely to be transmitted and establish a bening immunoregulated presence early in the subject's life. Indeed, health management programs for AIDS patients often routinely include P. carinii prophylaxis, since nearly all such patients who survive long enough are expected to experience an episode of acute P. carinii infection. In contrast, there is no known epidemiologic association between AIDS and strongyloidiasis in the Caribbean, and the prevalence there of potentially opportunistic hemoflagellates such as Leishmania spp. and Trypanosona cruzi is relatively low (AU)

Inactivation of strongyloides stercoralis filariform larvae in vitro by six Jamaican plant extracts and three commercial antihelmintics

In vitro bioassay of (a) aqueous methanol extracts (AME) of the green leaves of mimosa (Mimosa pudica), love weed (Cuscuta americana), vervine (Stachytarpheta jamaicensis), chicken weed (Salvia serotina) and breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis); (b) methanol-water fraction (MWF) of breadfruit leaves, and (c) commercially available drugs albendazole, thiabendazole and levamisole were assayed for nematode inactivating potential, using filariform larvae of Strongyloides stercoralis. Test larvae were obtained from a 10-day-old charcoal coproculture. Bioassays were conducted in Locke's solution, using 100 larvae in each of three replicates. Inactivation was recorded microscopically at 1, 2, 6 and 12 hours, then every 24 hours up to 5 days' incubation. It(50) (time for inactivation of 50%of larvae) values read: levamisole and mimosa extract < 1 hour; love weed extract, approximately 2 hours; breadfruit (MWF), 9.5 hours; chicken weed, 20 hours; albendazole, 35 hours; breadfruit (AME), 49 hours; thiabendazole, 74 hours and vervine extract, 81.5 hours. It(95) values followed a similar trend, and were approximately double the It(50) measures. A potential role for locally available natural products in the treatment of strongyloidiasis is highlighted