Clinical experience with amikacin, a new aminoglycoside antibiotic

CITATION: Theron, F. P. & De Kock, M. A. 1977. Clinical experience with amikacin, a new aminoglycoside antibiotic. South African Medical Journal, 51(21):746-8.The original publication is available at http://www.samj.org.za[No abstract available]Publisher’s versio

Bosonization in d=2 from finite chiral determinants with a Gauss decomposition

We show how to bosonize two-dimensional non-abelian models using finite chiral determinants calculated from a Gauss decomposition. The calculation is quite straightforward and hardly more involved than for the abelian case. In particular, the counterterm $A\bar A$, which is normally motivated from gauge invariance and then added by hand, appears naturally in this approach.Comment: 4 pages, Revte

Conformal Points and Duality of Non-Abelian Thirring Models and Interacting WZNW Models

We show that the strong coupling phase of the non-Abelian Thirring model is dual to the weak-coupling phase of a system of two WZNW models coupled to each other through a current-current interaction. This latter system is integrable and is related to a perturbed conformal field theory which, in the large $|k|$ limit, has a nontrivial zero of the perturbation-parameter beta-function. The non-Abelian Thirring model reduces to a free fermion theory plus a topological field theory at this critical point, which should therefore be identified with the isoscalar Dashen-Frishman conformal point. The relationship with the Gross-Neveu model is discussed.Comment: This is a version which will appear in Nucl. Phys.

Humanities with a Black Focus: Margaret Walker Alexander and the Institute for the Study of the History, Life, and Culture of Black People, 1968-1979

In 1968, Dr. Margaret Walker Alexander, professor of English at Jackson State College, founded a Black Studies Institute in Jackson, Mississippi. This study is an intellectual, institutional and social movement history that utilizes archival research and textual analysis of Alexander’s writings, poetry, and work as teacher and director of the Institute in the context of the Black Campus Movement (BCM) and Black Freedom Struggle. It pushes the boundaries of historiographical scholarship on BCM that overshadows the epistemological and aesthetic politics of women faculty-activists who ushered forth racialized and gendered analysis as well as developed the foundations of Black Studies

Comparison of Quantitative Techniques including Xpert MTB/RIF to Evaluate Mycobacterial Burden

Introduction: Accurate quantification of mycobacterial load is important for the evaluation of patient infectiousness, disease severity and monitoring treatment response in human and in-vitro laboratory models of disease. We hypothesized that newer techniques would perform as well as solid media culture to quantify mycobacterial burden in laboratory specimens. Methods: We compared the turn-around-time, detection-threshold, dynamic range, reproducibility, relative discriminative ability, of 4 mycobacterial load determination techniques: automated liquid culture (BACTEC-MGIT-960), [3H]-uracil incorporation assays, luciferase-reporter construct bioluminescence, and quantitative PCR(Xpert -MTB/RIF) using serial dilutions of Mycobacterium bovis and Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37RV. Mycobacterial colony-forming-units(CFU) using 7H10-Middlebrook solid media served as the reference standard. Results: All 4 assays correlated well with the reference standard, however, bioluminescence and uracil assays had a detection threshold ≥1×103 organisms. By contrast, BACTEC-MGIT-960 liquid culture, although only providing results in days, was user-friendly, had the lowest detection threshold (<10 organisms), the greatest discriminative ability (1 vs. 10 organisms; p = 0.02), and the best reproducibility (coefficient of variance of 2% vs. 38% compared to uracil incorporation; p = 0.02). Xpert-MTB/RIF correlated well with mycobacterial load, had a rapid turn-around-time (<2 hours), was user friendly, but had a detection limit of ~100 organisms. Conclusions: Choosing a technique to quantify mycobacterial burden for laboratory or clinical research depends on availability of resources and the question being addressed. Automated liquid culture has good discriminative ability and low detection threshold but results are only obtained in days. Xpert MTB/RIF provides rapid quantification of mycobacterial burden, but has a poorer discrimination and detection threshold

Dynamic Impedance of Two-Dimensional Superconducting Films Near the Superconducting Transition

The sheet impedances, Z(w,T), of several superconducting a-Mo77Ge23 films and one In/InOx film have been measured in zero field using a two-coil mutual inductance technique at frequencies from 100 Hz to 100 kHz. Z(w,T) is found to have three contributions: the inductive superfluid, renormalized by nonvortex phase fluctuations; conventional vortex-antivortex pairs, whose contribution turns on very rapidly just below the usual Kosterlitz-Thouless-Berezinskii unbinding temperature; and an anomalous contribution. The latter is predominantly resistive, persists well below the KTB temperature, and is weakly dependent on frequency down to remarkably low frequencies, at least 100 Hz. It increases with T as e-U'(T)/kT, where the activation energy, U'(T), is about half the energy to create a vortex-antivortex pair, indicating that the frequency dependence is that of individual excitations, rather than critical behavior.Comment: 10 pages, 10 figs; subm PR

Obstetric anaesthesia at district and regional hospitals in KwaZulu-Natal: human resources, caseloads and the experience of doctors

Objectives: Suboptimal treatment as a result of lack of basic skills in anaesthesia and resuscitation contributes significantly to the continuing increase in anaesthetic-related maternal deaths in South Africa. This study aimed to determine the number of doctors providing obstetric anaesthesia at district and regional hospitals in KwaZulu-Natal, their level of experience and caseload, and to identify specific groups that could be targeted for support and training.Design: This was a prospective open cohort observational study of obstetric anaesthetic services in KwaZulu-Natal, which considered the human resources, caseloads and the experience of doctors.Setting and subjects: Two separate questionnaires, directed independently to medical managers and doctors providing operative obstetric services, were sent to 48 district and regional hospitals in KwaZulu-Natal. One third of the hospitals, selected by stratified randomisation, were visited to improve response rates.Outcome measures: Medical managers were asked for caseload and staffing data. Doctors were asked for details of their qualifications, experience and their current workload.Results: Thirty-eight (a 79% response rate) medical managers and 266 doctors (an estimated response rate of 65%) completed questionnaires. Community service medical officers (CSMOs) at rural district hospitals constituted 27% of fulltime staff. CSMOs at all responding district hospitals were expected to provide obstetric anaesthesia independently. Foreign medical graduates provided obstetric anaesthesia in 71% (27/38) of hospitals and constituted 27% of full-time staff at rural district hospitals. Twenty-four doctors (all foreign-trained) reported no anaesthesia training during their internship. District hospitals were more reliant on part-time (sessional) appointments. Fifty-eight per cent of all (22/38) hospitals reported that a number of sessional appointments provided obstetric anaesthesia. In October 2010, 58% (22/38 active during the month) of sessional appointments at district-level hospitals administered only one obstetric anaesthetic, whereas all 15 sessional appointments who were active at regional level administered two or more. Only 24% of responding doctors had more than five years’ experience in their current employment. Only 3% of responding doctors working in rural hospitals had a Diploma in Anaesthesia, compared to 26% in urban hospitals. Only one doctor with more than five years of employment history and a Diploma in Anaesthesia worked at district level.Conclusion: This study highlights the lack of training and experience of doctors in obstetric anaesthesia and documents workload patterns at district hospitals. It also identifies specific target groups for future support and training.Keywords: obstetric anaesthesia, human resources, caseloads, experience of doctorsSouth Afr J Anaesth Analg 2013;19(5):257-26

Maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality of Caesarean delivery in the late first stage and second stage of labour

Objective: To determine whether there is a higher maternal and perinatal morbidity in Caesarean deliveries performed in the late first stage and second stage of labour compared to Caesarean deliveries earlier in the first stage of labour.Design: A case control retrospective study.Setting: Tygerberg Academic Hospital, Cape Town (South Africa).Subject: A cohort of 85 cases and 86 controls was selected from labour ward birth registers and data were collected from patient files. Rates of predefined complications of caesarean sections and perinatal morbidity were analysed using SPSS version 15 (statistical Package for the Social Science).Results: There was no difference between cases and controls for the following variables: age, gravidity, parity, past obstetric history, gestational age, HIV status, cardiotocography (CTG) tracing, labour and anaesthesia. Intra-operative complications rates were higher in cases than control though not statistically significant. Maternal high care/ICU admission and neonatal complications rates were significantly higher in cases than controls.Conclusion: Caesarean deliveries which are performed in the late first stage and second stage of labour are not associated with more maternal intra-operative complications but with significantly higher maternal high care and ICU admissions as well as neonatal complications compared to Caesarean deliveries earlier in the first stage of labour