Bilateral Striatal Necrosis after Sydenham's Chorea in a 7-Year-Old Boy: A 2-Year Follow-Up.

Child bilateral striatal necrosis (BSN) is a rare and etiologically heterogeneous condition. An association with group A streptococcus (GAS) infection was previously reported in two cases of BSN in infancy and early childhood. We here report on a 7-year-old boy who developed chorea and dystonia 20 days after symptomatic recovery from Sydenham's chorea. Repeated brain magnetic resonance imaging scans, obtained before, soon after the onset of the post-Sydenham symptoms, and 1 year later were consistent with an evolution from bilateral striatal microbleeding to necrosis, and consequently reduced basal ganglia volume and enlargement of the frontal horns. No support was found for other possible autoimmune, infectious, metabolic, toxic or genetic etiologies for BSN. Prednisone treatment was instituted and continued for 1 year. Two years after the onset of the post-Sydenham symptoms, the child, although much improved, still has generalized dystonic-choreic movements. This case confirms and extends into school age, the link between GAS and BSN.

Leprosy situation in Uttar Pradesh.

Present paper describes the leprosy scenario in the state of Uttar Pradesh using data for last 15 years. Available data reveals that the leprosy control activities in UP are going on well. All the leprosy indicators have suggested significant progress towards achieving elimination.

Seasonal evolution of heavy metal concentrations in the surface sediments of two Mediterranean Zostera marina L. beds at Thau lagoon (France) and Venice lagoon (Italy).

The concentrations and the seasonal changes of heavy metals and organic carbon in the sediments underlying a Zostera marina L. bed were measured monthly during one year, in two Mediterranean lagoons: Thau (France) and Venice (Italy). While at Thau sediments showed Cu (18.7+/-3.9 microg g-1) and Pb (13.8+/-3.8 microg g-1) average concentrations twofold higher than at Venice (Cu: 8.4+/-4.8 microg g-1; Pb: 6.1+/-0.70 microg g-1), the Italian site exhibited average concentrations of Fe (13383+/-955 microg g-1 versus 6098+/-1089 microg g-1 at Thau), Mn (339+/-12 microg g-1 versus 190+/-23 microg g-1 at Thau), Zn (61.6+/-12.7 microgg -1 versus 36.1+/-7.4 microg g-1 at Thau), Cr (47.3+/-7.3 microg g-1 versus 21.8+/-8.0 microg g-1 at Thau) and Ni (12.7+/-1.7 microg g-1 versus 8.9+/-3.1 microg g-1 at Thau) approximately 1.5-2 times as high as the French site. The organic carbon concentration was systematically higher at Thau (1.0+/-0.3) than at Venice (0.7+/-0.2). A significant seasonal fluctuation was found for Zn, Cu, Ni, Cr in both lagoons while no significant variations were recorded for Pb at Venice and for Cd at Thau. Some of those changes appeared to be significantly correlated with the biomass of Zostera at Thau and the concentration of organic carbon at Venice.

Growth rate of Ulva rigida in different Mediterranean eutrophicated sites.

The growth of juvenile populations of Ulva rigida C. Agardh was measured by means of immersion in in situ cages against environmental parameters (temperature, incident light, salinity, dissolved inorganic nitrogen and dissolved reactive phosphorus) in four different eutrophicated southern sites: Channel of the Thau lagoon (France), Lido, Sacca Sessola and Fusina stations (Venice lagoon, Italy). The growth curves as a function of temperature showed that, in all cases, the maximal temperature for Ulva growth was 17 degrees C (limitation in growth below 7 degrees C and above around 25 degrees C). The growth analysis of these four sites showed seasonal differences. In the least eutrophicated and calmest Lido station, grazing and dissolved reactive phosphorus (seven times lower at Lido than at Thau) played a key role. At Thau and Fusina, which are eutrophicated and turbid environments, the incident light had a strong impact on growth. Sacca Sessola, with an intermediate position between the above two mentioned situations, showed the highest growth rate. The values and relative growth rate (RGR) curves of the Mediterranean and open-sea northern sites are discussed. In particular, the temperature defines the type of growth curve (unimodal or bimodal) and the incident light is responsible for the low Mediterranean RGR values (<10% day(-1)).