Determination of some soft drink constituents and contamination by some heavy metals in Nigeria

AbstractSoft drinks are consumed daily in Nigeria due to its affordability, characteristic taste, and thirst quenching potential. However, the high demand may compromise the quality of production with possible contamination of heavy metals which have shown to cause intoxication and death in humans. This study evaluated some constituents of twenty-six soft drinks in Nigeria and investigated the presence of some heavy metal contaminants. The soft drinks were screened for the presence of sugar, carbon dioxide, phosphate and alcohol as well as the pH and acidity determined. The level of cadmium, mercury and lead were determined using atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The study showed the presence of sugar, carbon dioxide, phosphate, and alcohol in the soft drinks. The soft drinks were acidic in nature, pH ranging from 3 to 5 with a mean of 3.6 and the acid concentration was relatively low between 3 and 12g/L with a mean of 8.1g/L. Lead was present in all the samples ranging from 0.17 to 3.39mg/L with a mean of 0.8, mercury was present in 22 samples ranging from 0.29 to 11.32mg/L with a mean of 2.08mg/L while cadmium was present only in one sample (0.149mg/L). When compared to EPA, WHO and NIS standards, the levels of the heavy metal contaminants were above the tolerated limits for good quality drinking water in most samples. These results suggest that soft drinks in Nigeria may be contaminated with heavy metals which constitute a major public health problem. Thus, quality control is recommended during the production process especially at the stages of sterilization and purification

Outcomes of MYC-associated lymphomas after R-CHOP with and without consolidative autologous stem cell transplant: subset analysis of randomized trial intergroup SWOG S9704

Double hit lymphoma (DHL) and double protein-expressing (MYC and BCL2) lymphomas (DPL) fare poorly with R-CHOP; consolidative autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT) may improve outcomes. S9704, a phase III randomized study of CHOP +/−R with or without ASCT allows evaluation of intensive consolidation. Immunohistochemical analysis identified 27 of 198 patients (13.6%) with MYC IHC overexpression and 20 (74%) harboring concurrent BCL2 overexpression. Four had DHL and 16 had DPL only. With median follow-up 127 months, there is a trend favoring outcomes after consolidative ASCT in DPL and MYC protein overexpressing patients, whereas all DHL patients have died irrespective of ASCT

Autologous Transplantation as Consolidation for Aggressive Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma

The efficacy of autologous stem-cell transplantation during the first remission in patients with diffuse, aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma classified as high-intermediate risk or high risk on the International Prognostic Index remains controversial and is untested in the rituximab era

Mad Men, Corporate Culture, and Violence against Women

Synthesizing Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of symbolic violence and Rosabeth Moss Kanter’s framework of corporate roles to examine Mad Men’s representation of women’s work, Tracy Lucht and Jane Marcellus investigate the show’s construction of the Secretary, Corporate Wife, and Token High-Level Woman in relation to symbolic violence, which looks beyond physical manifestations of violence to consider social relations that deny women’s subjectivity. Viewed through these paired theoretical lenses, the narrative arcs of women on Mad Men illustrate how work, appearance, social position, sexuality, and material property are appropriated and exchanged for male gain. Addressing the connections linking gender, status, capital, power, and social practice, Bourdieu’s notion of symbolic violence and Kanter’s corporate work roles serve to illuminate the oppression embedded in corporate practices on Mad Men.This accepted book chapter is published as Lucht T., Marcellus J. (2019) Mad Men, Corporate Culture, and Violence Against Women. In: McNally K., Marcellus J., Forde T., Fairclough K. (eds) The Legacy of Mad Men. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. Dec 1 2019, Section 2(chapter 4);115-129. Doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-31091-2_8. Posted with permission.</p

Prevalence of Crohnƒs Disease in Endoscopic Unit Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital

Background: The cumulative number of inflammatory bowel disease patients in Asia has raised three times since early 1990s, although Crohn’s disease is still less common than ulcerative colitis. The objective of this study was to provide clinical and demographic data of Crohn’s disease patients seen in Endoscopic Unit Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital and compare the Results with other Asian countries. Method: This study was done retrospectively cross-sectional descriptive from medical records of all patients underwent colonoscopy at Endoscopic Unit, Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital, and histological evaluation in the Department of Anatomical Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Indonesia, between 2007 and 2008. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 17. Results: Of 921 patients who underwent colonoscopy, 19 (2.1%) patients were diagnosed with Crohn’s disease. There was no sex preponderance. The mean age was 47.7 years with a peak age at presentation between 51 and 60 years. The main clinical complaints were diarrhea (42.1%), lower gastrointestinal bleeding (36.8%), abdominal pain (10.5%) and upper gastrointestinal bleeding (5.3%). Colonoscopic findings were hyperemia in 94.7%, edema in 57.9%, erosions in 63.2%, ulcerations in 89.5%, pseudopolyp in 31.6%, fragile lesion in 10.5%, stenosis, fistulation, and cobblestone appearance in 5.3%. Involvement of isolated left colon was 26.3%; other manifestations were isolated right colon (10.5%), pancolitis (57.9%), ileitis (5.3%), ileocolitis (36.8%) and skip lesion (5.3%). Conclusion: The prevalence of Crohn’s disease in this study was similar to the findings in previous studies in Asian countries, with diarrhea as the main clinical complaint, and pancolitis as the dominant finding in colonoscopy examination. Keywords: Crohn’s disease, prevalence, clinical complaints, colonoscopy descriptio

Autologous Transplantation as Consolidation for Aggressive Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma

BACKGROUND: The efficacy of autologous stem-cell transplantation during the first remission in patients with diffuse, aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma classified as high-intermediate risk or high risk on the International Prognostic Index remains controversial and is untested in the rituximab era. METHODS: We treated 397 patients who had disease with an age-adjusted classification of high risk or high-intermediate risk with five cycles of cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (CHOP) or CHOP plus rituximab. Patients with a response were randomly assigned to receive three additional cycles of induction chemotherapy (control group) or one additional cycle of induction chemotherapy followed by autologous stem-cell transplantation (transplantation group). The primary efficacy end points were 2-year progression-free survival and overall survival. RESULTS: Of 370 induction-eligible patients, 253 were randomly assigned to the transplantation group (125) or the control group (128). Forty-six patients in the transplantation group and 68 in the control group had disease progression or died, with 2-year progression-free survival rates of 69 and 55%, respectively (hazard ratio in the control group vs. the transplantation group, 1.72; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.18 to 2.51; P = 0.005). Thirty-seven patients in the transplantation group and 47 in the control group died, with 2-year overall survival rates of 74 and 71%, respectively (hazard ratio, 1.26; 95% CI, 0.82 to 1.94; P = 0.30). Exploratory analyses showed a differential treatment effect according to risk level for both progression-free survival (P = 0.04 for interaction) and overall survival (P = 0.01 for interaction). Among high-risk patients, the 2-year overall survival rate was 82% in the transplantation group and 64% in the control group. CONCLUSIONS: Early autologous stem-cell transplantation improved progression-free survival among patients with high-intermediate-risk or high-risk disease who had a response to induction therapy. Overall survival after transplantation was not improved, probably because of the effectiveness of salvage transplantation