[Morbidity and mortality in the pediatric service at Gabriel Toure's University Hospital in Mali]. / Morbidite et Mortalite dans le Service de Pediatrie du Chu Gabriel Toure au Mali.

The aim of this work was to study morbidity and mortality before implementing the setting up of the pediatric service of Bamako. Involved in the study were all the children hospitalized during 12 months that is a total of 2000 cases among which 57.3% boys and 42.8% girls. Our study indicated that only 25% of children (509/2000) were referred. The most encountered pathologies were : malaria 898 (44.9%), ARI 528 (26.4%), diarrhea 224 (11.2%), malnutrition 269 (13.4%) and anemia 239 (11.9%). Mortality rate in hospital was 7.1 % and the main causes of deaths were : malaria (23.9% of death cases), diarrhea (20.4%) and malnutrition (31.7%). Thus we have recorded 8.3% of deaths for a period of resort beyond 3 days, compare to 3.3 % for a resort of less than 24 hours. (x² = 8.10, p= 0.017 ). The pediatric service operated as a center for first contact. In the framework of the establishment of this project, organizational efforts should allow to receive only referred cases.

[Knowledge, attitudes, and practices of adolescents in an urban school environment in Bamako, Mali, around family planning, sexually transmitted infections, and AIDS]. / Connaissances et pratiques des eleves d'un lycee de Bamako en matiere de contraception et prevention des ist.

We undertook a study amongst adolescents from Mabile High School in Bamako, Mali. The goal of the study was to determine the knowledge, attitudes and practices of high school students around STI/AIDS and family planning. It was a transversal study using a stratified sampling method. A total of 322 students between ten and 19 years of age were included in the study (191 boys, 131 girls) This study demonstrates that high school students do not often family planning services (only 13.4% of those who knew of the existence of such used them). The method of contraception most often used is still the condom (92.5%). HIV is the most well know STI (97.5%) followed by gonorrhea (45%). An absence of communication between adolescents and their parents around family planning and STI/AIDS was apparent in that information was most often received on these topics through the media (96.3% for family planning, 97.5% for AIDS) followed by friends (72.4% for family planning and 81.7% for AIDS). 59.3% of the students are sexually active. Of sexually active students, 41.3% have had sexual relations with a casual partner and 75.9% with at last two partners. Given their high number of partners and a lack of systematic condom usage, it is apparent that sexually active high school students practice high risk sexual behaviors. It is therefore crucial to develop methods to lead to an improvement in behaviors amongst adolescents.

Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase activity in spinach as measured by image analysis: a new approach for plant enzyme histochemistry.

A relatively low-cost computer-assisted image analysis system is described. Software has been specifically written for the continuous monitoring of absorbance readings on cryostat sections of plant tissues incubated in media to reveal enzyme activities. The equipment was tested by quantifying glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase activity in cryostat sections from shoot apices of spinach plants. The reaction rate of the dehydrogenase activity was monitored at two incubation temperatures, 20 degrees C and 30 degrees C. Control incubations were performed in media lacking substrate. The specific test minus control reaction at 30 degrees C was twice that at 20 degrees C. Variation of the substrate concentration at 30 degrees C yielded a Km value of 0.37 mM. These preliminary results show that our image analysis system can be used for kinetic measurements of dehydrogenase activity in frozen tissue sections and constitute a new approach for enzyme histochemistry in the shoot apical meristem.

[Spontaneous and bilateral anterior luxation of the lens in a 5-year-old child]. / Luxation antérieure bilatérale et spontanée du cristallin chez un garçon de 5 ans.

The authors report a case of bilateral spontaneous dislocation of the lens in a five-year-old boy. This rare complication can be encountered in certain congenital abnormalities of the lens and zonule. The dislocation has been revealed by an acute glaucoma. The mains causes like Marfan's syndrome and homocystinuria were not found but due to their most severe prognosis. The patient must be followed carefully.