Surveillance for malaria outbreak on malaria-eliminating islands in Tafea Province, Vanuatu after Tropical Cyclone Pam in 2015.

The risk of malaria outbreak surfaced in Vanuatu after Tropical Cyclone (TC) Pam in March 2015. In June and July 2015 we conducted malariometric surveys on the islands of Tanna, Aneityum, and Erromango in Tafea Province, where malaria elimination had been targeted, to determine if malaria incidence had increased after TC Pam. No Plasmodium infection was detected by microscopy and PCR in 3009 survey participants. Only 6·3% (190/3007) of participants had fever. Spleen rates in children aged ⩽12 years from Aneityum and Tanna were low, at 3·6% (14/387) and 5·3% (27/510), respectively. Overall bed net use was high at 72·8% (2175/2986); however, a significantly higher (P < 0·001) proportion of participants from Aneityum (85·9%, 796/927) reported net use than those from Tanna (67·1%, 751/1119) and Erromango (66·8%, 628/940). A recent decrease in malaria incidence in Tafea Province through comprehensive intervention measures had reduced the indigenous parasite reservoir and limited the latter's potential to spur an outbreak after TC Pam. The path towards malaria elimination in Tafea Province was not adversely affected by TC Pam.

Capsule-supporting ring: a new device for resin embedding of glass-mounted specimens.

The goal of specimen preparation for transmission electron microscopy is to obtain high-quality ultra-thin sections with which we can correlate cellular structure to physiological function. In this study, we newly developed a capsule-supporting ring that can be useful for resin embedding of glass-mounted specimens. The present device allowed us to re-embed a semi-thin section on a microscope slide into a resin block not only for efficient ultra-thin sectioning but also for a correlative light and electron microscopy. Similar to epoxy resins for morphological observations, semi-thin sections of low-viscosity hydrophilic resins, such as Lowicryl series, can be re-embedded into the resin, which can be useful for cytochemical gold labelling. A further application of the present device improved flat embedding of cultured cells on glass cover slips for electron microscopy, preserving in situ sub-cellular structures close to their native state. We practically describe the use of capsule-supporting ring and demonstrate representative micrographs as results.

Brain imaging in childhood- and adolescence-onset schizophrenia associated with obsessive-compulsive symptoms.

OBJECTIVE: Childhood- and adolescence-onset schizophrenic patients with obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCS) constitute a specific subgroup of schizophrenia. We performed magnetic resonance imaging in this group seeking evidence of neurodevelopmental insults. METHOD: Thirty-two schizophrenic patients were compared with 19 controls. Schizophrenic subjects were divided into 15 patients with OCS (SOCS+ group; onset at 15.5 +/- 1.6 years) and 17 without OCS (SOCS- group; onset at 15.3 +/- 1.3 years). Areas of the hippocampus, frontal lobe, corpus callosum and putamen were analysed morphometrically. RESULTS: The left hippocampus was significantly smaller in the SOCS+ group than in the SOCS- and control groups. CONCLUSION: Reduced size of the left hippocampus in the SOCS+ group supports a neurodevelopmental etiology in this subgroup.

Clinical features of childhood-onset schizophrenia with obsessive-compulsive symptoms during the prodromal phase.

Thirty-nine patients with schizophrenia, diagnosed according to DSM-III-R, who were under 15 years of age, were studied in two groups; 16 subjects with obsessive-compulsive symptoms during the prodromal phase, and 23 with no obsessive-compulsive disorders. The group with obsessive-compulsive symptoms during the prodromal phase was characterized by a higher ratio of males, higher incidences of perinatal and brain computed tomography (CT) abnormalities, fewer hereditary factors, longer duration of the prodromal phase, and a higher incidence of insidious onset and negative symptoms compared with the group without such prodromal symptoms. Schizophrenic patients with obsessive-compulsive symptoms during the prodromal phase were clinically distinct from those without, which suggests the possibility of subtype categorization.