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Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical

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2013

Teenage pregnancies in the European Union in the context of legislation and youth sexual and reproductive health services

To study cross-country and regional variations and trends in reported teenage pregnancies in the context of legislation and youth sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services in Europe.
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Treatment of plasmodium chabaudi parasites with curcumin in combination with antimalarial drugs: Drug interactions and implications on the ubiquitin/proteasome system

Antimalarial drug resistance remains a major obstacle in malaria control. Evidence from Southeast Asia shows that resistance to artemisinin combination therapy (ACT) is inevitable. Ethnopharmacological studies have confirmed the efficacy of curcumin against Plasmodium spp.
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Analysis of HIV/AIDS DRG in Portugal: a Hierarchical Finite Mixture Model

Inpatient length of stay (LOS) is an important measure of hospital activity, but its empirical distribution is often positively skewed, representing a challenge for statistical analysis. Taking this feature into account, we seek to identify factors that are associated with HIV/AIDS through a hierarchical finite mixture model. A mixture of normal components is applied to adult HIV/AIDS diagnosis-related group data (DRG) from 2008.
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Gender differences in HIV disease progression and treatment outcomes among HIV patients one year after starting antiretroviral treatment (ART) in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

We investigated gender differences in treatment outcome during first line antiretroviral treatment (ART) in a hospital setting in Tanzania, assessing clinical, social demographic, virological and immunological factors.
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Trypanosoma cruzi I and IV Stocks from Brazilian Amazon Are Divergent in Terms of Biological and Medical Properties in Mice

In the Brazilian Amazon, clinical and epidemiological frameworks of Chagas disease are very dissimilar in relation to the endemic classical areas of transmission, possibly due to genetic and biological characteristics of the circulating Trypanosoma cruzi stocks. Twenty six T. cruzi stocks from Western Amazon Region attributed to the TcI and TcIV DTUs were comparatively studied in Swiss mice to test the hypothesis that T. cruzi clonal structure has a major impact on its biological and medical properties.
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Identification and functional characterization of CRK12:CYC9, a novel cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK)-cyclin complex in Trypanosoma brucei

The protozoan parasite, Trypanosoma brucei, is spread by the tsetse fly and causes trypanosomiasis in humans and animals. Both the life cycle and cell cycle of the parasite are complex. Trypanosomes have eleven cdc2-related kinases (CRKs) and ten cyclins, an unusually large number for a single celled organism. To date, relatively little is known about the function of many of the CRKs and cyclins, and only CRK3 has previously been shown to be cyclin-dependent in vivo.
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Vaccination with proteins involved in tick-pathogen interactions reduces vector infestations and pathogen infection

Tick-borne pathogens cause diseases that greatly impact animal health and production worldwide. The ultimate goal of tick vaccines is to protect against tick-borne diseases through the control of vector infestations and reducing pathogen infection and transmission. Tick genetic traits are involved in vector-pathogen interactions and some of these molecules such as Subolesin (SUB) have been shown to protect against vector infestations and pathogen infection.
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Proteomic changes in HEK-293 cells induced by hepatitis delta virus replication

Hepatitis delta virus (HDV) infection greatly increases the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma in hepatitis B virus chronically infected patients. HDV is highly dependent on host factors for accomplishment of the replication cycle. However, these factors are largely unknown and the mechanisms involved in the pathogenicity of the virus still remain elusive.
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Genetic diversity and signatures of selection of drug resistance in Plasmodium populations from both human and mosquito hosts in continental Equatorial Guinea

In Plasmodium, the high level of genetic diversity and the interactions established by co-infecting parasite populations within the same host may be a source of selection on pathogen virulence and drug resistance. As different patterns have already been described in humans and mosquitoes, parasite diversity and population structure should be studied in both hosts to properly assess their effects on infection and transmission dynamics. This study aimed to characterize the circulating populations of Plasmodium spp and Plasmodium falciparum from a combined set of human blood and mosquito samples gathered in mainland Equatorial Guinea. Further, the origin and evolution of anti-malarial resistance in this area, where malaria remains a major public health problem were traced.
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Prevalence and level of antibodies anti-plasmodium spp. in travellers with clinical history of imported malaria

In this study, we show that 40.29% of travellers with a possible history of malaria exposure were positive for anti-Plasmodium spp. antibodies, while these individuals were negative by microscopy. The antibody test described here is useful to elucidate malaria exposure in microscopy-negative travellers from endemic countries.
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