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Climate change is a global problem, which affects the various geographical regions at different levels. It is also associated with a wide range of human health problems, which pose a burden to health systems, especially in regions such as Africa. Indeed, across the African continent public health systems are under severe pressure, partly due to their fragile socioeconomic conditions. This paper reports on a cross-sectional study in six African countries (Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Namibia, Ethiopia, and Kenya) aimed at assessing their vulnerabilities to climate change, focusing on its impacts on human health. The study evaluated the levels of information, knowledge, and perceptions of public health professionals. It also examined the health systems’ preparedness to cope with these health hazards, the available resources, and those needed to build resilience to the country’s vulnerable population, as perceived by health professionals. The results revealed that 63.1% of the total respondents reported that climate change had been extensively experienced in the past years, while 32% claimed that the sampled countries had experienced them to some extent. Nigerian respondents recorded the highest levels (67.7%), followed by Kenya with 66.6%. South Africa had the lowest level of impact as perceived by the respondents (50.0%) when compared with the other sampled countries. All respondents from Ghana and Namibia reported that health problems caused by climate change are common in the two countries. As perceived by the health professionals, the inadequate resources reiterate the need for infrastructural resources, medical equipment, emergency response resources, and technical support. The study’s recommendations include the need to improve current policies at all levels (i.e., national, regional, and local) on climate change and public health and to strengthen health professionals’ skills. Improving the basic knowledge of health institutions to better respond to a changing climate is also recommended. The study provides valuable insights which may be helpful to other nations in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The association between alcohol and blood glucose levels, and whether it is modified by other variables, was examined in a cross-sectional survey of 5518 staff aged 40-65 years at worksites in Auckland and Tokoroa, New Zealand. Diabetes was determined by oral glucose-tolerance tests using 1999 WHO criteria. Usual alcohol intake in the previous 3 months, measured by food frequency questionnaire, was related positively with fasting triglycerides and high-density-lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol, and unrelated with fasting glucose, but had an approximate U-shaped relationship with 2-h glucose, which varied from an adjusted mean (S.E.) of 5.62 (0.08) mmol/l in non-drinkers, down to 5.34 (0.08) mmol/l in light alcohol drinkers (alcohol or =20 g per day). Adjusting further for triglycerides increased the mean difference in 2-h glucose for all drinking categories compared with non-drinkers, particularly for heavy drinkers (> or =20 g per day), from -0.22 (S.E. = 0.10) to -0.37 (0.10) mmol/l. The confounding effect of triglycerides suggests alcohol may affect the diabetes risk by a mechanism related to the triglyceride metabolism, which in heavy drinkers may counteract the protective effect of improved insulin sensitivity, resulting in the U-shaped relationship between alcohol and diabetes described in previous studies.

This experiment examined and compared the effects of pre-test administration of morphine, naloxone and ethanol, at doses in the range of milligram/kg to those of nanogram/kg, on morphine state-dependent learning in a step-down passive avoidance task in mice. Morphine (5 mg/kg) administered before training impaired retention tested 24 hours later, but when the same dose of morphine was also administered before the test, the retention was significantly restored. Pre-training administration of 10 or 20 ng/kg (i.p.) of morphine had no effect, but when co-administered with the same drug at 5 mg/kg (s.c.), it prevented significantly the memory recall improvement after the administration of morphine (5 mg/kg, s.c.) alone. In a parallel experiment, naloxone (5 mg/kg) prevented the memory recall improvement by morphine. However, the effects of naloxone at doses in the range of ng/kg were opposite to those of milligram doses of the same drug. Pre-test administration of ethanol (1 mg/kg) improved memory recall and mimicked the effects of pre-test morphine administration. At doses in the nanogram range, the effects of ethanol were opposite those of mg/kg of the drug. A review of the literature indicates that, for several drugs and chemicals, the effects of nanogram doses are the opposite of the effects of milligrams, because different doses have different sites as well as mechanisms of actions. In conclusion, from the above results one may suggest that, in determination of the dose-response of at least some drugs, the study of the effects of doses much lower than two orders of magnitude of the minimum effective dose are warranted.

The contribution of classical conditioning to tolerance to the hypothermic effect of ethanol was examined. During the tolerance acquisition phase, rats were exposed at 4-day intervals to a distinctive set of environmental cues paired with injections of ethanol (1.4 g/kg, ip). Interspersed between these drug trials were exposures to an alternate set of cues paired with injections of saline. In addition, three groups experienced different amounts of stimulation and activity during drug exposure in order to determine whether "behavioral augmentation" of tolerance would occur. In subsequent tests, the rats were tolerant only in the presence of cues previously paired with ethanol. Moreover, this environmentally specific tolerance was associated with a conditioned hyperthermic response to placebo (saline) injections in the drug environment. An extinction procedure designed to weaken tolerance mediated by classical conditioning was also found to be effective. Evidence for conditioned tolerance was weakest in animals experiencing low levels of activity during the initial drug exposure periods.

To evaluate the effect of the alcohol wet-bonding technique on bond performance of the adhesive interface produced by two-step etch-and-rinse adhesive systems.Composite buildups were bonded to sectioned human third molars using Adper Single Bond 2 (SB) bonded to acid-etched dentin saturated with water (control) or ethanol, or XP Bond (XP) bonded to acid-etched dentin saturated with water (control) or tert-butanol. A simplified dentin dehydration protocol was performed using 100% ethanol or 99.5% tert-butanol directly applied to dentin for 60 s. Specimens were cut into nontrimming dentin-composite beams that were divided equally in two subgroups: immediately tested and after immersion in 10% NaOCl solution for 1 h. Specimens were tested in tension at a crosshead speed of 1 mm/ min until failure, and the failure mode was evaluated. Data were statistically analyzed with three-way ANOVA and Tukey's test (α = 0.05). Additional dentin disks were bonded using the same groups tested and examined for leakage under light microscopy after immersion in ammoniacal silver nitrate solution.The SB control group showed significantly higher bond strength values than did SB used on ethanol saturated dentin (p 0.05) or silver nitrate penetration. NaOCl solution significantly reduced the bond strength of all groups tested (p < 0.05) and also increased the interfacial silver nitrate penetration.The simplified alcohol wet-bonding technique used in the present study was not able to improve resin/dentin bond performance for simplified etch-and-rinse adhesive systems.

Abstract The effects of ethanol and pentobarbital on flurothyl seizure susceptibility were studied in two lines of mice that were derived by selective breeding with respect to ethanol sleep time. Short-sleep mice (SS) were more susceptible than long-sleep mice (LS) to flurothyl-induced myoclonus, but there was no line difference in susceptibility to clonus. Low doses of ethanol or pentobarbital increased seizure latencies in both populations, and there was no difference between the lines in the effect of these drugs. The lack of difference in response to ethanol in the two populations indicates that the genetic mechanisms which determine sensitivity to ethanol's anticonvulsant action are not identical with those which determine sensitivity to its depressant action.

The effect of delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (delta 9-THC) and alcohol, singly and in combination, on divided attention performance was investigated in cannabis users and non-users who were matched for alcohol use. Both cannabis and alcohol produced decrements in central and peripheral signal detections. Drug and alcohol effects were greater for signal presentations in the periphery. Cannabis users were less impaired in peripheral signal detection than non-users while intoxicated by cannabis and/or alcohol. These findings suggest the development of tolerance and cross-tolerance in regular cannabis users and/or the ability to compensate for intoxication effects.

Nowadays, the issues related with environment preservation assume an increasing importance. Progressively, more sustainable solutions/techniques are being developed to combat environmental destruction. The decision to include themes related to the environment in the curriculum of technological courses in higher education aims to promote more sustainable behaviors and in an indirect way, increase the environmental literacy of the population. Thus, this study aims to evaluate the environmental literacy focusing on four topics, i.e., air pollution, water pollution, global warming, and energy resources. For this purpose, a questionnaire was developed and applied to a convenience sample, formed by individuals of both genders, aged between 20 and 81 years old. The questionnaire intended to collect data to characterize the sample and assess the literacy regarding environmental issues. In order to carry out the environmental literacy assessment, the respondents were asked to express their degree of agreement with some statements related with the environmental themes mentioned above. The data collected was analyzed using data mining tools. The results suggest that the population’s literacy is satisfactory in relation to some issues, but insufficient in relation to others, equally important, but less disseminated.