Alloying of Pd thin films with Nb(001)

Annealing at elevated temperatures (1000–1600 K) of at least 10 ML thick Pd films deposited on Nb(0 0 1) has been found to result in a substrate capped by a pseudomorphic monolayer of Pd. This 1 ML thick Pd cap layer was characterised with a combination of UPS and DFT-calculations. UPS, RHEED and AES show that this cap layer protects the Nb(0 0 1) surface against (oxygen) contamination, which is a well known problem of Nb substrates. AES sputter profiling indicates that a major part of the Pd material in excess of the pseudomorphic monolayer is dissolved in the Nb lattice just below the surface. XPD shows that these dissolved Pd atoms occupy substitutional sites in the substrate. The analysis of the XPS-anisotropy also provides some information about the concentration and positions of the Pd and Nb atoms in the alloyed samples

Stavudine dosage reduction: Effect on symptomatic hyperlactataemia and lactic acidosis in patients at Dr George Mukhari Hospital, Pretoria

A range of studies have demonstrated that symptomatic hyperlactataemia and lactic acidosis are associated with antiretroviral combinations containing stavudine. Following a meta-analysis showing that lower doses of stavudine are safer and as effective, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a statement that only a low dose of stavudine (30 mg) should be used. We performed a retrospective review of the records of 86 patients (aged 27 - 59 years) initiated on 30 mg or 40 mg stavudine-containing antiretroviral therapy regimens between 2004 and 2006 at the adult HIV clinic at Dr George Mukhari Hospital, Pretoria, South Africa. Our analysis demonstrated that stavudine dose reduction increased the odds of patients being more stable on treatment with fewer reported side-effects. Stavudine-containing regimens should be avoided in obese female patients. Low-dose stavudine (20 mg) may offer alternative solutions in poor or resource-limited settings, with a lower associated risk of toxicity and side-effects; however, virological non-inferiority to the first-line treatment option should be established

Commercial herbal medicines used as African traditional medicines: Ngoma Herbal Tonic Immune Booster interferes with a rapid urine drug screening test

Background. The prevalent use of African traditional medicine by the general public has been reported. With commercialisation and marketing, some of the herbal medicines (HMs) used are readily available over the counter, most of them promoted as immune boosters. These commercial HMs have not been taken through clinical trials and other tests that would validate their composition and safety, and other properties such as their effect on laboratory diagnostic tests.Objective. To investigate the cross-reactivity of selected HMs with commonly tested drugs of abuse (DoA) using a qualitative rapid urinalysis assay.Methods. The six HMs selected were bought from local pharmacies. A rapid urinalysis screening test was performed with the Instant View Multi-Drug of Abuse Test kit from Labstix Diagnostics. Drug-free urine (DFU) was pooled from samples donated by healthy volunteers. Urine samples that had tested positive for DoA were obtained from a pharmacology laboratory. Aliquots of the urine samples were spiked with the HMs in neat and diluted form, and tested at various time intervals.Results. The results for the DFU samples spiked with the HMs remained negative. There were no significant changes in pH or specific gravity of the samples. The results of samples that had tested positive for tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) were not altered by five of the HMs when spiked at 40% v/v. The HM Ngoma Herbal Tonic Immune Booster caused false-negative results for the THC test.Conclusion. An important finding is that the herbal mixture Ngoma Herbal Tonic Immune Booster caused false-negative results for the cannabinoid screening test. It adds to the list of substances that may be potential adulterants of urine for screening tests

Scientific Letter: Stavudine dosage reduction: Effect on symptomatic hyperlactataemia and lactic acidosis in patients at Dr George Mukhari Hospital, Pretoria

Scientific Letter: No Abstrac

Speed dependent polarization correlations in QED and entanglement

Exact computations of polarizations correlations probabilities are carried out in QED, to the leading order, for initially polarized as well as unpolarized particles. Quite generally they are found to be speed dependent and are in clear violation of Bells inequality of Local Hidden Variables (LHV) theories. This dynamical analysis shows how speed dependent entangled states are generated. These computations, based on QED are expected to lead to new experiments on polarization correlations monitoring speed in the light of Bells theorem. The paper provides a full QED treatment of the dynamics of entanglement.Comment: LaTeX, 14 pages, 2 figures, Corrected typo

Safety of Oral Paracetamol – Analysis of Data from a Spontaneous Reporting System in Poland

Purpose: To determine the safety of oral coated paracetamol tablets 500 mg and oral suspension 120 mg/5 mL produced by Hasco-Lek Poland.Methods: We analyzed sales volume and data obtained from the  monitoring of spontaneous reports on the adverse effects of paracetamol collected in the period between November 2000 and June 2012.Results: A total of 45,694 units of coated paracetamol tablets (500 mg) and 6,048,289 units of paracetamol oral suspension (120 mg/5 mL) were marketed during that period. There were 4 spontaneous reports of adverse effects.Conclusion: Oral paracetamol is a safe medication rarely causing adverse effects but it is possible that the existing spontaneous monitoring system for adverse effects in Poland is not sensitive enough to detect all adverse effects, and needs improvement.Keywords: Adverse reaction, NSAIDs, Pharmacovigillance,  Pharmoepidemiolog

Process evaluation of an early-intervention program for mood and anxiety disorders among older adolescents and young adults

Objective: Research to determine the best approach for providing early intervention for mood and anxiety disorders is imperative. The authors describe a process evaluation of an early-intervention program for transition-age youths with mood or anxiety disorders. Methods: Causal and logic models for pathways to care for the program, as well as descriptive data from 548 participating youths, are presented. Follow-up measures of functional improvement are reported. Results: Diagnostic characterization, symptom severity, and functional impairment of participants indicated that the model selected an appropriate catchment population without creating excessive overinclusion. Self-referred youths reported greater anxiety and substance use. Acceptance by the program was predictive of greater follow-through with treatment. Several variables, including frequent lifetimemarijuana use, predicted loss to follow-up. At follow-up, youths were significantly functionally improved. Conclusions: This process evaluation indicated that the model provided appropriate early intervention for youths with mood or anxiety disorders without causing excessive overinclusion