A randomized comparison of branded sodium stibogluconate and generic sodium stibogluconate for the treatment of visceral leishmaniasis under field conditions in Sudan.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the outcome of treatment of Sudanese kala-azar patients treated under field conditions with either branded sodium stibogluconate (SSG) (Pentostam GlaxoWellcome) or generic SSG (Albert David Ltd, Calcutta, supplied by International Dispensary Association, Amsterdam). METHOD: Randomised comparison. 271 patients were treated with Pentostam and 245 with generic SSG. RESULTS: No statistically significant differences in cure rate or mortality were detected between Pentostam and generic SSG. No differences in side-effects between the two drugs were noted. The initial cure rate at the time of discharge was 93.7 and 97.6%, respectively; the death rate during treatment 5.9 and 2.4%. Six months follow up was achieved in 88.5% of the discharged patients. Two patients had died in the Pentostam group and two had died in the generic SSG group, giving a final death rate of 7.5 and 3.7%. The number of relapses in the Pentostam and generic SSG groups were 3 and 1, respectively. The final cure rates, calculated at 6 months after discharge, were 91.3% and 95.9%. CONCLUSION: No difference was observed in the performance of generic SSG compared to Pentostam for the treatment of visceral leishmaniasis in Sudan. Generic SSG can be routinely and safely used for the treatment of kala-azar. Generic SSG costs only 1/14 of the price of Pentostam. The use of generic SSG may make treatment of kala-azar affordable for national governments in Africa

Scotland, Catalonia and the “right” to self-determination: a comment suggested by Kathryn Crameri’s “Do Catalans Have the Right to Decide?

No abstract available

Collisional decay of a strongly driven Bose-Einstein condensate

We study the collisional decay of a strongly driven Bose-Einstein condensate oscillating between two momentum modes. The resulting products of the decay are found to strongly deviate from the usual s-wave halo. Using a stochastically seeded classical field method we simulate the collisional manifold. These results are also explained by a model of colliding Bloch states.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Storing images in warm atomic vapor

Reversible and coherent storage of light in atomic medium is a key-stone of future quantum information applications. In this work, arbitrary two-dimensional images are slowed and stored in warm atomic vapor for up to 30 $\mu$s, utilizing electromagnetically induced transparency. Both the intensity and the phase patterns of the optical field are maintained. The main limitation on the storage resolution and duration is found to be the diffusion of atoms. A techniqueanalogous to phase-shift lithography is employed to diminish the effect of diffusion on the visibility of the reconstructed image