Community chloroquine distribution for malaria control in Bushenyi district of Uganda.

OBJECTIVE: To document successful community chloroquine distribution for malaria control in Bushenyi district, southwestern Uganda. DESIGN: A cross sectional survey immediately after a four-month community chloroquine distribution exercise. One hundred sixty seven distributors in 140 out of 166 parishes in Bushenyi district did the chloroquine distribution during the 2001 malaria epidemic. PARTICIPANTS: A cluster random sample of 215 heads of households or their spouses were interviewed using a pre-tested questionnaire. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Socio-demographic characteristics, malaria/fever morbidity, health seeking behaviour in the previous four months, knowledge about chloroquine distribution, opinions about the chloroquine distribution exercise and whether the household had used the service of the chloroquine distributors. RESULTS: Thirty per cent of the people surveyed had suffered from malaria in the previous four months. Seventy per cent of the households were aware of the chloroquine distribution and 56% of the patients who had malaria in the previous four months accessed the services of chloroquine distributors. People who were aware of chloroquine distributors were less likely to use services where a fee is levied. The total cost of chloroquine distribution was about 20,000 United States dollars. CONCLUSIONS: Community chloroquine distribution can increase access to treatment and can be done in a short time at an affordable cost

R-matrix calculations of low-energy electron alkane collisions

Ab initio electron scattering calculations are presented for methane, ethane and propane with particular emphasis on elastic cross sections. Calculations are performed with the Quantemol-N expert system which runs the UK polyatomic R-matrix code. These calculations are presented which systematically increase the size of the coupled states expansion which is used to represent polarisation effects in the scattering wave function. Agreement with experimental measurements is obtained provided sufficient coupled states are included in the expansion. Whether these coupled states expansions really converge the polarisation potential and the prospects for further calculations are discussed. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Retinal Dysplasia Mimicking Retinoblastoma.

Retinal dysplasia represents a congenital disorder characterized by abnormal proliferation of retinal tissue causing leukocoria. We present a case of an infant with bilateral leukocoria, clinically diagnosed as retinoblastoma, followed by enucleation of the left eye. Microscopy however, demonstrated retinal dysplasia consisting of a disorderly proliferation of retinal tissue with formation of rosettes, mimicking retinoblastoma. Microscopic features that aid in differentiating this lesion from retinoblastoma are discussed

Lie algebra computations

In the context of prolongation theory, introduced by Wahlquist and Estabrook, computations of a lot of Jacobi identities in (infinite-dimensional) Lie algebras are necessary. These computations can be done (automatically) using ‘symbolic computations’. A package written in REDUCE is demonstrated to give an idea of the chosen approach

Incidence and mechanism of the pivot shift. An in vitro study.

Accepted versio

Statin intensity and postoperative mortality following open repair of intact abdominal aortic aneurysm.

BackgroundThere is a lack of evidence for the association between intensive statin therapy and outcomes following vascular surgery. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between perioperative statin intensity and in-hospital mortality following open abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) repair.MethodsPatients undergoing open AAA repair between 2009 and 2015 were identified from the Premier Healthcare Database. Statin use was classified into low, moderate and high intensity, based on American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association guidelines. Supratherapeutic intensity was defined as doses higher than the recommended guidelines. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were undertaken to assess the association between statin intensity and postoperative major adverse events and in-hospital mortality.ResultsOf 6497 patients undergoing open AAA repair, 3217 (49·5 per cent) received perioperative statin. Statin users were more likely to present with three or more co-morbidities than non-users (26·5 versus 21·8 per cent; P < 0·001). Unadjusted postoperative mortality was significantly lower in statin users (2·6 versus 6·3 per cent; P < 0·001); however, there was no difference in the risk of developing major adverse events. Multivariable analysis showed that statin use was associated with lower odds of death (odds ratio 0·41, 95 per cent c.i. 0·31 to 0·54). Moderate, high and supratherapeutic statin intensities were not associated with lower odds of death or major adverse events compared with low-intensity statin therapy.ConclusionStatin use is associated with lower odds of death in hospital following open AAA repair. High-intensity statins were not associated with lower morbidity or mortality

CROSS SECTIONS FOR SCATTERING OF ELECTRONS ON BF3

We calculate cross sections for elastic scattering and electronic excitation of BF3 molecules by low energy electrons. The R-Matrix code Quantemol-N has been used for calculations. The cross sections indicate the presence of a shape resonance of symmetry B-1 (A(2)'' in D-3h) at around 4.5 eV

On the convective overstability in protoplanetary discs

This paper explores the driving of low-level hydrodynamical activity in protoplanetary-disc dead zones. A small adverse radial entropy gradient, ordinarily stabilized by rotation, excites oscillatory convection (‘convective overstability’) when thermal diffusion, or cooling, is neither too strong nor too weak. I revisit the linear theory of the instability, discuss its prevalence in protoplanetary discs, and show that unstable modes are exact non-linear solutions in the local Boussinesq limit. Overstable modes cannot grow indefinitely, however, as they are subject to a secondary parametric instability that limits their amplitudes to relatively low levels. If parasites set the saturation level of the ensuing turbulence then the convective overstability is probably too weak to drive significant angular momentum transport or to generate vortices. But I also discuss an alternative, and far more vigorous, saturation route that generates radial ‘layers’ or ‘zonal flows’ (witnessed in semiconvection). Numerical simulations are required to determine which outcome is favoured in realistic discs, and consequently how important the instability is for disc dynamics.This research is partially funded by STFC grant ST/L000636/1.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Oxford University Press via http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stv244