Diabetes mellitus is a predominant cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide. One of its serious health problems is cardiovascular complications. Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) are a group of heterogeneous toxic oxidant compounds that are formed after a nonenzymatic reaction between monosaccharides and free amino groups of proteins, compound lipids, and nucleic acids. AGE interacts with various types of cells through a receptor for AGE (RAGE). The interaction between AGE and RAGE is responsible for a cascade of inflammation, oxidative stress, and disruption of calcium homeostasis in cardiac cells of diabetic patients. There is striking evidence that the AGE/RAGE axis with its consequences on inflammation and oxidative stress plays a major role in the development of cardiovascular complications. Therefore, considering AGE as a therapeutic target with foreseeable results would be a wise direction for future research. Interestingly, several studies on nutraceutical, pharmaceutical, and natural products have begun to reveal promising therapeutic results, and this could lead to better health outcomes for many diabetic patients worldwide. This article discusses the current literature addressing the connection between protein glycation and diabetes cardiovascular complications and suggests future avenues of research.

This paper reports the results of a brief anthropological field study, carried out in the summer 1993, on the organisation and progress of grass-roots peace initiatives in the Somaliland Republic. Fieldwork was supplemented by a literature survey and based on the joint authors' previous extensive research in Somalia. When President Siad's government was overthrown in Mogadishu, the Somaliland National movement, based on the Isaaq clans, set up an interim government in the North-West. This administration did not, however, have the authority or means to impose order amongst the country's unruly and abundantly armed clans. Starting in 1991, grass-roots peace initiatives gradually built up a national network of peace conferences. Using traditional institutions and diplomacy, they succeeded to a remarkable degree in restoring relative calm and normalising inter-clan relations on an impressively wide front. The results of this low budget, locally inspired process were much more impressive than those of the lavishly expensive high profile peace conferences engineered by foreign agencies in southern Somalia.

R-alpha-lipoic acid (R-ALA) has been known to protect protein oxidation and lessen the pathogenesis of oxidative-related multiple diseases; however, its dosing remains unresolved. This study aimed to examine whether in vitro R-ALA varying levels would have antioxidant or pro-oxidant impacts on biomarkers of myoglobin oxidation in terms of carbonyls and free thiols for myoglobin upon long-term incubation. Myoglobin (1mg/mL) was concentrated with 6 different concentrations of R-ALA: 50 µM, 100 µM, 500 µM, 1mM, 2mM and 4mM for 30 days at pH 6.6 and temperature 37 °C. Myoglobin oxidative modifications as protein carbonyls and its oxidative defense as free thiols were determined by standard procedures. Thirty-day coincubation of native myoglobin with R-ALA at 500 µM, 1mM, 2mM, and 4mM significantly (p<0.05) elevated carbonyls (2.51±0.19; 2.59±0.22; 2.71±0.32 and 2.79±0.39 nmol/ mg protein respectively) compared to their levels in native control myoglobin (1.67±0.43 nmol/ mg protein) and significantly (p<0.05) decreased free thiols (4.60±0.36; 4.49±0.46; 4.38±0.28 and 4.07±0.39 nmol/ mg protein respectively) against their levels in native control myoglobin (5.71±0.62 nmol/ mg protein). Conversely, coincubation of myoglobin with 50µM and 100µM R-ALA reduced carbonyls (1.02±0.29 and 0.9±0.19 nmol/ mg protein respectively) compared to the control levels (1.67±0.43 nmol/ mg protein) and elevated free thiols (6.1±0.28 and 6.83±0.28 nmol/ mg protein respectively) against control levels (5.71±0.62 nmol/ mg protein) levels; 100µM elicited significant (p<0.05) differences, but 50µM did not. Findings indicate that high levels of R-ALA (0.5-4mM) provoked myoglobin oxidative damage while moderate levels (50-100µM) protected protein upon any spontaneous oxidative damage during long-term coincubation. Thus, R-ALA concentrations, which set the balance between R-ALA pro- and antioxidants, dictate the primary impacts of R-ALA on myoglobin redox status. Additional in vivo investigations are needed to assess the therapeutic insights of current findings.

BackgroundHypertension is the leading cause of morbi-moratlity in low, middle as well as high incomes countries. Tunisia is a developing country with a high cardiovascular profile and the prevalence of hypertension has widely increased during the last decades. Thus, we conducted this national survey on hypertension to analyze the profile of the Tunisian hypertensive patient and to assess the level of blood pressure control. MethodsNature HTN is an observational multicentric survey, including hypertensive individuals and consulting their doctors during the period of the study. The primary endpoint of our study was uncontrolled hypertension defined by a systolic blood pressure ≥140 mmHg and/or diastolic blood pressure ≥90mmHg. Our objective is to assess the predictors of uncontrolled hypertension in our population. Results Three hundred twenty one investigators from all the Tunisian governorates participated in the study. We enrolled 25890 patients with a female predominance (Sex ratio 1.21) and an average age 64.4±12.2 year-old. Most of individuals were treated in the public sector (74%), 39.4% of patients were diabetic, 25.8% were obese, 44.6% were overweight and 14% were smokers. Hypertension was controlled in 51.7% of cases if we consider 140/90 as BP target and only in 18.6% if we consider 130/80 as a target. The independents predictors of uncontrolled blood pressure were male sex (OR=1.09, 95%CI [1.02-1.16]), age> 65 year-old (OR=1.07, 95% CI[1.01-1.13], diabetes (OR=1.18, 95% CI [1.11-1.25], Smoking (OR=1.15, 95% CI [1.05-1.25]), Obesity (OR=1.14, 95% CI[1.07-1.21]), management in public sector (OR=1.25, 95% CI [1.16-1.34]) and Heart rate >80bpm (OR=1.59, 95% CI [1.48-1.71]). Contrarily, high educational level (OR=0.9, 95% CI [0.84-0.97], absence of history of coronary disease (OR=0.86, 95% CI [0.8-0.93]), salt restriction (OR=0.48, 95% CI [0.45-0.51]), drug compliance (OR=0.57, 95% CI[0.52-0.61]) and regular physical activity (OR=0.77, 95% CI[0.71-0.84]) are strong predictors of blood pressure control. Conclusion Nature HTN showed a remarkable improvement of blood pressure control amongst Tunisian people. The control remains low in patients with high cardiovascular profile and those treated in the public sector. A national health program based on therapeutic education, regular control and continuous giving much support to the public institutions is needed to decrease the hypertension burden affection rate in our population.

We introduced some linear homogeneous ordinary differential equations which have both formal and finite distributional solutions at the same time, where the finite solution is a partial sum of the formal one. In the nonhomogeneous case and sometimes in the homogeneous case we found formal rational and rational solutions for such differential equations and similarly the rational solution is a partial sum of the formal one.