Motivated by preventative vaccination in a graph against the worst-case outbreak of an infectious disease, we propose new important graph cut problems. In the most basic problem Min-Max Component Size, we are given a capacity bound, and the goal is to remove a set of nodes (or edges) whose capacity does not exceed the bound, and minimizes the size of the largest resulting connected component. I...

In a Danish multicentre trial we compared the relapse preventing effects of olsalazine and sulphasalazine in patients with ulcerative colitis over a 12 month treatment period. Two hundred and twenty seven patients (118 men) with at least two previous attacks of ulcerative colitis were randomly allocated according to a prearranged treatment schedule to olsalazine 500 mg bd or sulphasalazine 1 g ...

The pharmacokinetics of the prophylactic dose of mefloquine (Lariam: 500 mg every 4 weeks, with a loading dose of 750 mg on the first week) was studied in six healthy Thai male volunteers. Mefloquine was well tolerated during the study period of 16 weeks. The only side-effects found were nausea and diarrhea in 2 volunteers after the first dose of mefloquine. The mean minimum concentration of me...

cutaneous malignancy is complex. Current models suggest, however, that ozone depletion may cause a more rapid increase in melanoma than in non-melanoma skin cancer.10 This is because short episodes of intense and burning ultraviolet exposure are linked to melanoma, whereas nonmelanoma skin cancer is associated with the lifetime build up of exposure to ultraviolet. To quantify changes in inciden...

The HPV L1 VLP vaccines are immensely important developments in public health and the benefits that they promise are immense, offering the opportunity to prevent, in the long term, 80% of cervical cancers, 60% of vulval cancers and 80% of anal cancers in women. In the short to medium term they will prevent at least 90% of genital warts and have a major impact on the incidence of high grade CIN,...

Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection causes virtually all cases of cervical cancer, the second most common cause of death from cancer among women worldwide. This Review examines prophylactic HPV subunit vaccines based on the ability of the viral L1 capsid protein to form virus-like particles (VLPs) that induce high levels of neutralizing antibodies. Following preclinical research by laboratorie...

Prophylactic treatment constitutes an important aspect of migraine management and includes avoidance of trigger factors and life style advice followed by consideration of medications. The drugs of first choice are beta-blockers, flunarizine, topiramate, valproate and amitriptyline. Drugs of second choice with less efficacy and evidence are venlafaxine, gabapentin, naproxen, butterbur root, ribo...

OBJECTIVE To review basic concepts, inhalation therapy, classification of asthma and peculiarities of asthma in developing countries. SOURCES Direct search in the Medline, HighWire and MD Consult databases. SUMMARY OF THE FINDINGS Inhaled corticosteroids are the drugs of choice for the treatment of asthma. Alternatively, other drugs, such as long-acting beta-agonists and antileukotrienes co...

Resveratrol (RSV), a polyphenolic compound and naturally occurring phytoalexin, has been reported to exert cardio-protective effects in several animal studies. However, the outcome of initial clinical trials with RSV was less effective compared to pre-clinical studies. Therefore, RSV treatment protocols need to be optimized. In this study we evaluated prophylactic versus therapeutic effect of r...