Multiple micronutrient supplementation improves vitamin B12 and folate concentrations of HIV infected children in Uganda: a randomized controlled trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The effect of multiple micronutrient supplementation on vitamin B₁₂and folate has hither to not been reported in African HIV infected children. This paper describes vitamin B₁₂and folate status of Ugandan HIV infected children aged 1-5 years and reports the effect of multiple micronutrient supplementation on serum vitamin B₁₂and folate concentrations.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Of 847 children who participated in a multiple micronutrient supplementation trial, 214 were assessed for vitamin B₁₂and folate concentrations pre and post supplementation. One hundred and four children were randomised to two times the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) of a 14 multiple micronutrient supplement (MMS) and 114 to a 'standard of care' supplement of 6 multivitamins (MV). Serum vitamin B₁₂was measured by an electrochemiluminescence immunoassay and folate by a competitive protein-binding assay using Modular E (Roche) automatic analyzer. Vitamin B₁₂concentrations were considered low if less than 221picomoles per litre (pmol/L) and folate if < 13.4 nanomoles per litre (nmol/L). The Wilcoxon Signed Ranks test was used to measure the difference between pre and post supplementation concentrations.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Vitamin B₁₂was low in 60/214 (28%) and folate in 62/214 (29.0%) children. In the MMS group, the median concentration (IQR) of vitamin B₁₂at 6 months was 401.5 (264.3 - 518.8) pmol/L compared to the baseline of 285.5 (216.5 - 371.8) pmol/L, p < 0.001. The median (IQR) folate concentrations increased from 17.3 (13.5 - 26.6) nmol/L to 27.7 (21.1 - 33.4) nmol/L, p < 0.001. In the 'standard of care' MV supplemented group, the median concentration (IQR) of vitamin B₁₂at 6 months was 288.5 (198.8 - 391.0) pmol/L compared to the baseline of 280.0 (211.5 - 386.3) pmol/L while the median (IQR) folate concentrations at 6 months were 16.5 (11.7 - 22.1) nmol/L compared to 15.7 (11.9 - 22.1) nmol/L at baseline. There was a significant difference in the MMS group in both vitamin B₁₂and folate concentrations but no difference in the MV group.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Almost a third of the HIV infected Ugandan children aged 1-5 years had low serum concentrations of vitamin B₁₂and folate. Multiple micronutrient supplementation compared to the 'standard of care' supplement of 6 multivitamins improved the vitamin B₁₂and folate status of HIV infected children in Uganda.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p><url>http://ClinicalTrials.gov</url><a href="http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00122941">NCT00122941</a>)</p

Cisplatin plus oral etoposide (EoP) combination is more effective than paclitaxel in patients with advanced breast cancer pretreated with anthracyclines: a randomised phase III trial of Turkish Oncology Group

Our objective was to determine whether oral etoposide and cisplatin combination (EoP) is superior to paclitaxel in the treatment of advanced breast cancer (ABC) patients pretreated with anthracyclines. From December 1997 to August 2003, 201 patients were randomised, 100 to EoP and 101 to paclitaxel arms. Four patients in each arm were ineligible. The doses of etoposide and cisplatin were 50 mg p.o. twice a day for 7 days and 70 mg m−2 intravenously (i.v.) on day 1, respectively, and it was 175 mg m−2 on day 1 for paclitaxel. Both treatments were repeated every 3 weeks. A median of four cycles of study treatment was given in both arms. The response rate obtained in the EoP arm was significantly higher (36.3 vs 22.2%; P=0.038). Median response duration was longer for the EoP arm (7 vs 4 months) (P=0.132). Also, time to progression was significantly in favour of the EoP arm (5.5 vs 3.9 months; P=0.003). Median overall survival was again significantly longer in the EoP arm (14 vs 9.5 months; P=0.039). Toxicity profile of both groups was similar. Two patients in each arm were lost due to febrile neutropenia. The observed activity and acceptable toxicity of EoP endorses the employment of this combination in the treatment of ABC following anthracyclines

Optical Coherence Tomography in the UK Biobank Study – Rapid Automated Analysis of Retinal Thickness for Large Population-Based Studies

Purpose: To describe an approach to the use of optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging in large, population-based studies, including methods for OCT image acquisition, storage, and the remote, rapid, automated analysis of retinal thickness. Methods: In UK Biobank, OCT images were acquired between 2009 and 2010 using a commercially available “spectral domain” OCT device (3D OCT-1000, Topcon). Images were obtained using a raster scan protocol, 6 mm x 6 mm in area, and consisting of 128 B-scans. OCT image sets were stored on UK Biobank servers in a central repository, adjacent to high performance computers. Rapid, automated analysis of retinal thickness was performed using custom image segmentation software developed by the Topcon Advanced Biomedical Imaging Laboratory (TABIL). This software employs dual-scale gradient information to allow for automated segmentation of nine intraretinal boundaries in a rapid fashion. Results: 67,321 participants (134,642 eyes) in UK Biobank underwent OCT imaging of both eyes as part of the ocular module. 134,611 images were successfully processed with 31 images failing segmentation analysis due to corrupted OCT files or withdrawal of subject consent for UKBB study participation. Average time taken to call up an image from the database and complete segmentation analysis was approximately 120 seconds per data set per login, and analysis of the entire dataset was completed in approximately 28 days. Conclusions: We report an approach to the rapid, automated measurement of retinal thickness from nearly 140,000 OCT image sets from the UK Biobank. In the near future, these measurements will be publically available for utilization by researchers around the world, and thus for correlation with the wealth of other data collected in UK Biobank. The automated analysis approaches we describe may be of utility for future large population-based epidemiological studies, clinical trials, and screening programs that employ OCT imaging

Polaritonic molecular clock for all-optical ultrafast imaging of wavepacket dynamics without probe pulses

Conventional approaches to probing ultrafast molecular dynamics rely on the use of synchronized laser pulses with a well-defined time delay. Typically, a pump pulse excites a molecular wavepacket. A subsequent probe pulse can then dissociate or ionize the molecule, and measurement of the molecular fragments provides information about where the wavepacket was for each time delay. Here, we propose to exploit the ultrafast nuclear-position-dependent emission obtained due to large light–matter coupling in plasmonic nanocavities to image wavepacket dynamics using only a single pump pulse. We show that the time-resolved emission from the cavity provides information about when the wavepacket passes a given region in nuclear configuration space. This approach can image both cavity-modified dynamics on polaritonic (hybrid light–matter) potentials in the strong light–matter coupling regime and bare-molecule dynamics in the intermediate coupling regime of large Purcell enhancements, and provides a route towards ultrafast molecular spectroscopy with plasmonic nanocavitiesThis work has been funded by the European Research Council grant ERC-2016-STG-714870 and the Spanish Ministry for Science, Innovation, and Universities—AEI grants RTI2018-099737-B-I00, PCI2018-093145 (through the QuantERA program of the European Commission), and CEX2018-000805-M (through the María de Maeztu program for Units of Excellence in R&D

Crystal structure of 1-[N-(4-Fluorophenyl)]naphthaldimine

Unver, Huseyin/0000-0003-3968-4385WOS: 000170499900023PubMed: 11708092

Intramolecular hydrogen bonding and tautomerism in 1-[N-(4-bromophenyl)]aminomethylidene-2(1H) naphthalenone

Unver, Huseyin/0000-0003-3968-4385WOS: 0001686141000111-[N-(4-bromophenyl)]aminomethylidene-2(1H)naphthalenone (C17H12NOBr) (1) was synthesized and its crystal structure was determined. Compound (1) is monoclinic, space group P2(1)/n with a = 4.808(1) Angstrom, b = 20.617(1) Angstrom, c = 13.750(1) Angstrom, beta = 93.004(1)degrees, = 1361.11(3) Angstrom (3), Z = 4, D-c = 1.592 g.cm(-3), mu (Mo K-alpha) = 3.014 mm(-1), R = 0.051 for 1013 reflections [I > 2 sigma (I)]. There is a strong intramolecular hydrogen bond of distance 2.544(2) Angstrom between the hydroxyl oxygen atom and imine nitrogen atom, the hydrogen atom essentially being bonded to the nitrogen atom, The title molecule is not planar. X-ray crystal structure determination reveals the existence of the keto (or predominantly keto) tautomer in (1). Spectra of compound (1) were observed by IR and NMR, and UV-visible spectra of (1) were studied in different solvents and acidic media

Synthesis and crystal structure of bis[N-(2-fluoro-3-methoxy)-salicylideneaminato]copper(II)

Unver, Huseyin/0000-0003-3968-4385WOS: 000183045200005The title compound, bis[N-(2-fluoro-3-methoxy)-salicylideneaminato] copper(II) [Cu(C14H12O2FN)(2)] was synthesized and its crystal structure was determined. The title compound is triclinic, space group P (1) over bar with a = 8.552(1), b = 9.645(1), c = 7.871(1) Angstrom, alpha = 108.708(1), beta = 93.769(1), gamma = 79.429(1)degrees, V = 1208.98(1) Angstrom(3), Z = 2, D-c = 1.696 g.cm(-3), mu(Mo Kalpha) = 1.815 mm(-1), R = 0.0369 for 2963 reflections [I > 2sigma(I)]. The title compound has crystallographic inversion symmetry with two bidentate Schiff base ligand coordinated to the Cu atom in a square-planar arrangement. The Cu-N1 and Cu-O2 distances are 1.995(1) and 1.885(1) Angstrom, respectively

The energy distribution of the interface state density of Pb/p-Si Schottky contacts exposed to clean room air

WOS: 000181571500023Pb/p-Si Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) with and without thin native oxide layer have been fabricated. The previously polished p-Si wafer has been cleaned by using a traditional RCA clean with the final dip in diluted HF for 30 s. The ohmic contact on the back surface of the wafer was made by evaporation of Aluminium metal and then the wafer was cut into pieces of 5 mm x 5 mm. Other than the sample PbD1, before Schottky contact formation, these pieces with ohmic contact were exposed to clean room air for 1, 5, 10, 15, 30, 45 and 60 days at room temperature to obtain the samples with the native oxide layer on the clean Si surface. The value of the barrier height (BH), Phi(b) first increases with the increasing exposure time to air and then tends to that of the initial sample PbD1. Furthermore, the energy distribution curves of the interface states localized at the native oxide layer-semiconductor interface were determined from the forward bias current-voltage (I-V) characteristics by taking into account the bias dependence of the barrier height. It was seen that the density value of the interface states for the samples with the native oxide layer at all energy positions is lower than that for the initial sample. This is attributed to the passivation of the cleaned Si surface due to the formed native oxide layer. (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Science B.V

Crystal structure and tautomerism of 1-[N-(4-iodophenyl)]aminomethylidene-2(1H)naphthalenone

Unver, Huseyin/0000-0003-3968-4385WOS: 0001723233000071-[N-(4-Iodophenyl)]aminomethylidene-2(1H)naphthalenone (1) (C17H12NOI) has been studied by X-ray analysis, IR, H-1 NMR, UV and AM1 semi-empirical quantum mechanical methods. It crystallises in the monoclinic space group P2(1)/n with a=4.844(3), b=21.428(2), C=13.726(2) Angstrom, beta =93.07(2)degrees (R1=0.032 for 4132 reflections [I>2 sigma (I)]). The title compound is not planar and an intramolecular hydrogen bond connects O1 and N1 [2.530(4) Angstrom]. Complementary IR, H-1 NMR and UV measurements in the solution and solid states were carried out. Tautomerism and conformations of the title compound were also investigated by AM1 semi-empirical quantum mechanical calculations and the results are compared with the X-ray data