Antiretroviral treatment outcomes in patients who received rifampicin together with nevirapine or efavirenz.

Cape Town TB Conferenc

The prevalence of hepatitis B infection in a rural South African HIV clinic

The prevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in 1 765 HIVpositive patients in rural Eastern Cape was 7.1%. This is lower than the previously reported rural prevalence and is similar to urban prevalence. Male sex and baseline alanine aminotransferase (ALT) were significant predictors of HBV status. Most HBV-positive patients had normal baseline ALT, making ALT an insensitive screening test for HBV status

Knowledge Management Strategy and Service Firm Performance: A Comparison of Firms Competing on Low-Cost versus High-Quality

This study contributes to the knowledge management literature by comparing the effects of four knowledge strategy configurations on the performance of service firms competing on low-cost versus high-quality. Data was collected from 107 hospitality establishments operating in South Africa. Firms competing on low-cost and high-quality were classified into one of four groups based on their approach to knowledge management and were then compared on two dimensions of service firm performance. Results suggest that information (IT) based approaches to knowledge management are associated with high performance amongst hospitality services firms competing on low-cost whilst human capital based approaches are associated with high performance amongst firms competing on quality. Implications for knowledge management are discussed

The Self-Cultivation Model of Lifelong Learning: Toward Post-Egoic Development

This chapter takes the prevailing anti-aging sentiment and cultural practice as the starting point of a critical analysis and shows that the modernist worldview of materialistic individualism is at their foundation. Exposing and critiquing the limiting deficit understanding of human aging and human development in this worldview, the authors propose a developmental model that moves beyond materialistic individualism and egoic development and sees human beings becoming progressively integrated into larger and larger circles of being that include not only human others but also non-human others such as Nature and Cosmos. This wider and holistic vision of human development is influenced by classical Asian philosophies that posit post-egoic notions of human being. Using biographical materials to identify the themes relevant to post-egoic development, the authors sketch a model of lifelong learning and growth with what they see as essential elements of such growth: secure bonding and connection, nurturance and nourishing, spirituality, self-cultivation and inner work, community development, virtue cultivation, healing, meditation, and contemplative practices

The Signature Center Initiative for the Cure of Glioblastoma

poster abstractGlioblastoma multiforme (GBM, World Health Organization/WHO grade IV) is the most common form of brain cancer in the central nervous system. Although conventional treatment-surgery, radiation, and temozolomide-is somewhat effective in adults, overall survival is still < 15 months. In pediatric patients, morbidity due to GBM is the highest among all pediatric cancers. In the context of brain cancers, new and existing therapeutics typically fail due to heterogeneity of genetic mutations within tumors, and because biologically effective doses of drug cannot be delivered to the primary site and invasive perimeter of the tumor due to the blood brain barrier. The Signature Center Initiative to Cure GBM is a funding mechanism that supports a research portal to foster investigations of the Brain Tumor Working Group for development of effective treatments for the eradication of GBM. The overall mission of the Signature Center Initiative is to: 1. Interrogate the molecular mechanisms of GBM biology and develop interventions that result in improved duration and quality of life for our patients. 2. Stimulate consistent and productive exchange of ideas between clinicians and basic scientists while employing bench-to-bedside and bedside-to-bench strategies to generate and prioritize scientific questions. 3. Provide infrastructure and mentorship needed to successfully compete for external funding. 4. Engage the community through patient advocacy to positively impact brain cancer patient outcomes and enhance philanthropic initiatives. The Brain Tumor Working Group brings together scientists committed to engaging in a team-based approach to study GBM biology. Infrastructure required to advance in vivo humanized intracranial tumor models, drug delivery, target validation, and development of new therapeutic strategies are in place. Additionally a patient sample pipeline to obtain, analyze, and distribute primary patient GBM specimens from the operating room to the research laboratory has been established. In year one of funding, over $70,000 in pilot project funding derived from the Signature Center Initiative and private donations has been distributed to the membership. The Brain Tumor Working Group meets in both small and large group formats to strategize experimental design and grant submissions. A network of basic scientists and clinicians has been developed that provides an effective forum for addressing clinically relevant questions related to GBM. A team-based approach, scientific expertise, and continued development of infrastructure provide our membership with a critical foundation to obtain new knowledge related to understanding how GBM cells evade therapy. In the future, this information can be applied to development of effective treatments that will cure GBM

Phase-matched four wave mixing and quantum beam splitting of matter waves in a periodic potential

We show that the dispersion properties imposed by an external periodic potential ensure both energy and quasi-momentum conservation such that correlated pairs of atoms can be generated by four wave mixing from a Bose-Einstein condensate moving in an optical lattice potential. In our numerical solution of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation, a condensate with initial quasi-momentum k_0 is transferred almost completely (>95%) into a pair of correlated atomic components with quasi-momenta k_1 and k_2, if the system is seeded with a smaller number of atoms with the appropriate quasi-momentum k_1.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, version accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. A, Rapid Communication

Systematic review of antiretroviral-associated lipodystrophy: lipoatrophy, but not central fat gain, is an antiretroviral adverse drug reaction

BACKGROUND: Lipoatrophy and/or central fat gain are observed frequently in patients on antiretroviral therapy (ART). Both are assumed to be antiretroviral adverse drug reactions. METHODS: We conducted a systematic review to determine whether fat loss or gain was more common in HIV-infected patients on ART than in uninfected controls; was associated with specific antiretrovirals; and would reverse after switching antiretrovirals. RESULTS: Twenty-seven studies met our inclusion criteria. One cohort study reported more lipoatrophy, less subcutaneous fat gain, but no difference in central fat gain in HIV-infected patients on ART than in controls. Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) showed more limb fat loss (or less fat gain) with the following regimens: stavudine (versus other nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs)); efavirenz (versus protease inhibitors (PIs)); and NRTI-containing (versus NRTI-sparing). RCTs showed increased subcutaneous fat after switching to NRTI-sparing regimens or from stavudine/zidovudine to abacavir/tenofovir. There were no significant between-group differences in trunk and/or visceral fat gain in RCTs of various regimens, but results from efavirenz versus PI regimens were inconsistent. There was no significant between-group differences in central fat gain in RCTs switched to NRTI-sparing regimens, or from PI-containing regimens. CONCLUSIONS: There is clear evidence of a causal relationship between NRTIs (especially thymidine analogues) and lipoatrophy, with concomitant PIs possibly having an ameliorating effect or efavirenz causing additive toxicity. By contrast, central fat gain appears to be a consequence of treating HIV infection, because it is not different from controls, is not linked to any antiretroviral class, and doesn't improve on switching