How benign is benign tertian malaria?

Objective: This retrospective study was conducted to determine the incidence of variouscomplications of Plasmodium vivax malaria based on review of case records.Methods: The case records of all confirmed cases of malaria over the period of one year (September2005–August 2006) were studied. Complete blood count, peripheral blood findings, liver and kidneyfunctions were reviewed. The results of rapid diagnostic test for malaria (OptiMAL test, DiamedAG, Switzerland) were correlated with the peripheral blood smear findings in the patients in whomit was requested. All abnormal results like a positive direct Coomb’s test were noted. Findingswere clinically correlated.Results: There were 265 confirmed cases by peripheral blood examination. Of these 221 were dueto Plasmodium vivax and 41 due to P. falciparum. Two cases had mixed infection and in one casethe species could not be identified as it showed only malarial pigment. The peak incidence ofmalaria was seen in September 2005 and August 2006. The complications in P. vivax werethrombocytopenia, biochemical evidence of hepatic dysfunction, renal damage, positive DCT anddeath due to ARDS. Thrombocytopenia was seen in 213 patients with counts < 20 x 103/μl in 13patients. Nine (4%) patients had serum bilirubin >3 mg/dl with normal liver enzymes. Liver enzymeswere elevated in 60 patients with seven patients showing liver enzymes level, three times the normal.Renal dysfunction was seen in 17 patients with serum creatinine ranging from 1.3–10.65 mg/dl.One patient went into acute renal failure following quinine therapy and showed red cell fragmentsin the peripheral blood. In two children DCT was positive with the peripheral smear showing RBCagglutinates around the parasitised RBC. There were three maternal deaths at about 32 weeksgestation due to ARDS. The peripheral blood smear in these patients showed WBC agglutinates.Conclusion: This paper is presented to highlight that P. vivax malaria though considered to be abenign entity can also have a severe and complicated course which is usually associated with P.falciparum malaria

Spaces of entire functions represented by vector valued Dirichlet series of two complex variables

Let Y be the space of all entire functions f : ℂ2 → E defined by the vector valued Dirichlet series, where E is a complex Banach algebra with the unit element. We study various topologies defined on the space Y and characterize continuous linear transformations on Y

Matrix-Isolation Study and Ab Initio Calculations of the Structure and Spectra of Hydroxyacetone

The structure of hydroxyacetone (HA) isolated in an argon matrix (at 12 K) and in a neat solid phase (at 12−175 K) was characterized by using infrared (IR) spectroscopy. The interpretation of the experimental results was supported by high-level quantum chemical calculations, undertaken by using both ab initio (MP2) and density functional theory methods. A potential-energy surface scan, carried out at the MP2/6-311++G(d,p) level of theory, predicted four nonequivalent minima, Cc, Tt, Tg, and Ct, all of them doubly degenerate by symmetry. The energy barriers for conversion between most of the symmetrically related structures and also between some of the nonequivalent minima (e.g., Tg → Tt and Ct → Tt) are very small and stay below the zero-point vibrational level associated with the isomerization coordinate in the higher-energy form in each pair. Therefore, only Cc and Tt conformers have physical significance, with populations of 99 and 1%, respectively, in gas phase at room temperature. For the matrix-isolated compound, only the most stable Cc conformer was observed. On the other hand, the polarizable continuum model calculations indicated that in water solution, the population of Tt and Ct conformers might be high enough (ca. 6 and 11%, respectively) to enable their experimental detection, thus supporting the conclusions of a previous IR spectroscopy study [Spectrochim. Acta A 2005, 61, 477] in which the presence of more than one HA conformer in aqueous solution was postulated. The signatures of these minor conformers, however, do not appear in the spectra of the neat HA crystal, and the crystal structure was rationalized in terms of centrosymmetric hydrogen-bonded dimers consisting of two Cc-like units. Finally, we calculated 1H, 13C, and 17O NMR chemical shifts at different levels of theory and found them to agree with available experimental data

A prospective study of immediate postpartum intra uterine device insertion in a tertiary level hospital

Background:In India there is an unmet need for contraception. Intrauterine device is a long acting reversible method. This study was done to determine the efficacy and safety of immediate Post-Partum Intrauterine Device (PPIUD) and to compare the outcome of PPIUD insertion after vaginal delivery and caesarean section.  Methods:A total of 113 women who underwent PPIUD insertion were followed up at 6 weeks and 6 months post-partum. Outcome in term of side effects, removal and expulsion was compared in vaginal delivery and caesarean section insertions.Results:In 61.45% women there was no complaint. Menstrual disturbances were found in 16.66% women and pelvic pain in 13.54% women. The expulsion rate was 5.20% and IUD removal was done in 13.54% women. Incidence of removal was more in vaginal insertions than in caesarean insertions and this difference was statistically significant. Continuation rate at 6 months was 81.25%.  Conclusion:Immediate postpartum IUD insertion is a safe, convenient and effective method

Prevalence of Oral Manifestations and Their Association with CD4/CD8 Ratio and HIV Viral Load in South India

The objective of the present research was to determine the prevalence of oral manifestations in an HIV infected population from south India and evaluate their association with HIV viral load and CD4/CD8 ratio. Intraoral examination of 103 patients, whose CD4/CD8 ratio was available, were conducted. HIV viral loads were available for thirty patients only. The prevalence of oral manifestations was 80.6% (83/103). The most common oromucosal lesion was erythematous candidiasis (EC) (38.8%) followed by melanotic hyperpigmentation (35.9%). Patients having any oral manifestation had a mean CD4/CD8 ratio of 0.24. EC had positive predictive value of 85.0% for CD4/CD8 ratio <0.30. The prevalence of oral manifestations in patients taking ART was lesser (78.6%) as compared to patients not taking ART (82%). Patients having any oral manifestation had a higher HIV viral load as compared to patients not having any oral manifestations (P < 0.05). Pseudomembranous candidiasis (PC) was significantly associated with higher HIV viral loads (>20,000 copies/mL) (P < 0.05). Patients having EC had 4 times greater chance of having CD4/CD8 ratio <0.30. PC can be considered as a marker of immune suppression (HIV viral load >20,000 copies/mL)

Mutations in the mitochondrial DNA D-loop region are frequent in cervical cancer

BACKGROUND: Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is known for high mutation rates caused by lack of protective histones, inefficient DNA repair systems, and continuous exposure to mutagenic effects of oxygen radicals. Alterations in the non-coding displacement (D) loop of mitochondrial DNA are present in many cancers. It has been suggested that the extent of mitochondrial DNA mutations might be useful in the prognosis of cancer outcome and/or the response to certain therapies. In order to investigate whether a high incidence of mutations exist in mitochondrial DNA of cervical cancer patients, we examined the frequency of mutations in the D-loop region in 19 patients of cervical cancer. RESULTS: Mutations, often multiple, were detected in 18 of 19 (95%) patients. The presence of mutations correlated with Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) infection in these patients. Mutations were also detected in normal samples and lymphocytes obtained from cervical cancer patients, but their frequency of occurrence was much lower as compared to the cervical cancer tissues. CONCLUSION: Our findings indicate that D-loop alterations are frequent in cervical cancers and are possibly caused by HPV infection. There was no association of mtDNA D-loop mutations with the histopathological grade and tumor staging

Oral manifestations of HIV/AIDS in Asia: systematic review and future research guidelines

Objectives: The authors have conducted a systematic review of oral manifestations of HIV from studies conducted in Asia to establish the characteristics and prevalence of individual oral manifestations in Asia, and to assess the direction of future research studies on oral manifestations of HIV in Asia. Material and Methods: The electronic retrieval systems and databases searched for relevant articles were PubMed [MEDLINE], EBSCO, and EMBASE. The search was for limited articles published in English or with an English abstract and articles published during the period January 1995 to August 2014. The authors reached a final overall sample of 39 studies that were conducted in Asia. Results: The median population size among all studies was 312.7 patients. Oral candidiasis [OC] was the most common oral manifestation [37.7%] in studies conducted in Asia. The overall prevalence of oral hairy leukoplakia and melanotic hyperpigmentation was computed to be 10.1% and 22.8% respectively. Thailand and India are primarily countries with maximum research on oral manifestations. Conclusions: The research on oral manifestations of HIV in Asia has to upgrade to more interventional and therapeutic studies rather than the contemporary cross- sectional epidemiological descriptive studies. The authors have given suggestions and future directions for the implementation of clinical research of oral manifestations in HIV patients

Thermal and Photoinduced Control of Relative Populations of 4-Methoxybenzaldehyde (p-Anisaldehyde) Conformers

Two almost isoenergetic conformers of 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (p-anisaldehyde), O-trans and O-cis, are nearly equally populated in gas phase at room temperature. The existence of these two conformers of similar energy makes p-anisaldehyde an attractive molecule for conformational investigations, in which the relative populations of the two forms might be subjected to optical control. In the present study, monomers of the compound were trapped from the room-temperature gas phase into cryogenic argon and xenon matrices. The initial relative amount of the two conformers present in the freshly deposited matrices is shifted slightly in favor of the O-trans conformer. The ratio of the two forms could be reversibly varied by irradiating the sample with UV light in different wavelength ranges or by using the temperature variation. Increasing the temperature of the xenon matrix up to ca. 57 K led to conversion of the less stable O-cis form into the O-trans conformer, shifting the O-cis/O-trans ratio to ca. 1:7. A series of UV irradiations with different long-pass cutoff filters was carried out. UV excitation induced transformation of O-cis and O-trans conformers into each other. These transformations were leading to the UV-wavelength-specific photostationary equilibria characterized by the O-cis/O-trans ratios of about 1:2.2, 1:1.4, 1:1.1, and 1:0.89 for λ > 328, 295, 288, and 234 nm cutoff filters, respectively. The isomerization processes were probed by infrared spectroscopy and supported by quantum chemical calculations. The absorption bands observed in the infrared spectra of p-anisaldehyde isolated in argon and xenon matrices were assigned to the theoretically predicted normal modes