Pattern of dyslipidaemia in human immunodeficiency virus infected patients- a study from rural tertiary care hospital in central India

Background: HIV/AIDS is a major health problem affecting the whole globe. With introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy longevity of HIV patient have increased and they are subjected to high cardiovascular risk as age increases due to various risk factors. Of these dyslipidaemia is one of important risk factor and HIV patients have different degree of deranged lipid profile. Various studies have shown different lipid derangement in these patients but most of them were conducted in urban areas, so this study was conducted to look for lipid profile in HIV patients who are resident of rural areas. Methods: This study was conducted on 66 HIV infected or AIDS cases. Each case was subjected to history taking, through clinical examination and fasting lipid levels. Dyslipidaemia was a classified using NCEP/ATP III guideline.Results: Of total 66 cases, there were 39 male and 27 female with average age of 37 years. Hypercholesterolemia was present in 50% of patients, hypertriglyceridemia in 36.4%. LDL and VLDL were raised in 37.9% and 36.4% respectably while HDL was found below 40 mg/dl in 37.9% of the patients. S. total cholesterol, HDL and LDL was found to have positive correlation while S. TG and VLDL have no significant correlation with CD4 count.Conclusions: Present studies have shown high prevalence of dyslipidaemia in different WHO clinical stage with variable correlation with CD4 count

Characterization of carbon monoxide, methane and nonmethane hydrocarbons in emerging cities of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan and in Singapore

We investigate the composition of 63 C2-C10 nonmethane hydrocarbons (NMHCs), methane (CH4) and carbon monoxide (CO), in Jeddah, Mecca, and Madina (Saudi Arabia), in Lahore, (Pakistan), and in Singapore. We established a database with which to compare and contrast NMHCs in regions where ambient levels and emissions are poorly characterized, but where conditions are favorable to the formation of tropospheric ozone, and where measurements are essential for improving emission inventories and modeling. This dataset will also serve as a base for further analysis of air pollution in Western Saudi Arabia including, but not limited to, the estimation of urban emissions and long range pollution transport from these regions. The measured species showed enhanced levels in all Saudi Arabian cities compared to the local background but were generally much lower than in Lahore. In Madina, vehicle exhaust was the dominant NMHC source, as indicated by enhanced levels of combustion products and by the good correlation between NMHCs and CO, while in Jeddah and Mecca a combination of sources needs to be considered. Very high NMHC levels were measured in Lahore, and elevated levels of CH4 in Lahore were attributed to natural gas. When we compared our results with 2010 emissions from the MACCity global inventory, we found discrepancies in the relative contribution of NMHCs between the measurements and the inventory. In all cities, alkenes (especially ethene and propene) dominated the hydroxyl radical (OH) reactivity (kOH) because of their great abundance and their relatively fast reaction rates with OH

Immunophenotypic analysis of cell cycle status in acute myeloid leukaemia: relationship to cytogenetics, genotype and clinical outcome

Cell cycle status may play an important role in directing patient therapy. We therefore determined the cell cycle status of leukaemic cells by immunophenotypic analysis of bone marrow trephine biopsies from 181 patients with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) and correlated the results with biological features and clinical outcome. There was considerable heterogeneity between patients. The presenting white cell count significantly correlated with the proportion of non-quiescent cells (P < 0·0001), of cycling cells beyond G1 (P < 0·0001) and the speed of cycling (P < 0·0001). Profiles in acute promyelocytic leukaemia (APL) differed from non-APL and were consistent with more differentiated cells with reduced proliferative potential, but no significant differences were observed between non-APL cytogenetic risk groups. NPM1 mutations but not FLT3 internal tandem duplication (FLT3ITD ) were significantly associated with a higher proportion of cells beyond G1 (P = 0·002) and faster speed of cycling (P = 0·003). Resistance to standard cytosine arabinoside and daunorubicin induction chemotherapy was significantly related to a slower speed of cycling (P = 0·0002), as was a higher relapse rate (P = 0·05), but not with the proportion of non-quiescent cells or actively cycling cells. These results show a link between the cycling speed of AML cells and the response to chemotherapy, and help to identify a group with a very poor prognosis

Posterior Mediastinal Hematoma after a Fall from Standing Height: A Case Report

Posterior Mediastinal Hematomas (PMHs) secondary to a fall from standing height are uncommon, with only one previous case reported in the literature. We describe a case of a 78-year-old male with multiple medical comorbidities, who was transferred to Montreal General Hospital (MGH) with a posterior mediastinal hematoma (PMH) after sustaining a fall from standing height. On initial assessment, the patient was hemodynamically stable and complained of mild chest pain, dyspnea, fatigue, and diaphoresis. The patient's airway was secured via endotracheal intubation fearing impending respiratory compromise secondary to an enlarging PMH. The patient was admitted to ICU where over the next 3 days he was managed conservatively via careful monitoring of his hemodynamic and hematologic indices. Repeat CT scanning indicated reduction in size of the PMH. The patient was discharged on hospital day eight. This case describes the assessment, evaluation, and conservative management of PMH in a complicated patient receiving prior anticoagulation. A review of the literature regarding the epidemiology of PMH and the management of both unstable and stable PMHs is also presented

The effect of N-acetyl-aspartyl-glutamate and N-acetyl-aspartate on white matter oligodendrocytes

Elevations of the levels of N-acetyl-aspartyl-glutamate (NAAG) and N-acetyl-aspartate (NAA) are associated with myelin loss in the leucodystrophies Canavan's disease and Pelizaeus-Merzbacher-like disease. NAAG and NAA can activate and antagonize neuronal N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors, and also act on group II metabotropic glutamate receptors. Oligodendrocytes and their precursors have recently been shown to express NMDA receptors, and activation of these receptors in ischaemia leads to the death of oligodendrocyte precursors and the loss of myelin. This raises the possibility that the failure to develop myelin, or demyelination, occurring in the leucodystrophies could reflect an action of NAAG or NAA on oligodendrocyte NMDA receptors. However, since the putative subunit composition of NMDA receptors on oligodendrocytes differs from that of neuronal NMDA receptors, the effects of NAAG and NAA on them are unknown. We show that NAAG, but not NAA, evokes an inward membrane current in cerebellar white matter oligodendrocytes, which is reduced by NMDA receptor block (but not by block of metabotropic glutamate receptors). The size of the current evoked by NAAG, relative to that evoked by NMDA, was much smaller in oligodendrocytes than in neurons, and NAAG induced a rise in [Ca^{2+}]i in neurons but not in oligodendrocytes. These differences in the effect of NAAG on oligodendrocytes and neurons may reflect the aforementioned difference in receptor subunit composition. In addition, as a major part of the response in oligodendrocytes was blocked by tetrodotoxin (TTX), much of the NAAG-evoked current in oligodendrocytes is a secondary consequence of activating neuronal NMDA receptors. Six hours exposure to 1 mM NAAG did not lead to the death of cells in the white matter. We conclude that an action of NAAG on oligodendrocyte NMDA receptors is unlikely to be a major contributor to white matter damage in the leucodystrophies

Artificially Intelligent Technology for the Margins: A Multidisciplinary Design Agenda

There has been increasing interest in socially just use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) in the development of technology that may be extended to marginalized people. However, the exploration of such technologies entails the development of an understanding of how they may increase and/or counter marginalization. The use of AI/ML algorithms can lead to several challenges, such as privacy and security concerns, biases, unfairness, and lack of cultural awareness, which especially affect marginalized people. This workshop will provide a forum to share experiences and challenges of developing AI/ML health and social wellbeing technologies with/for marginalized people and will work towards developing design methods to engage in the re-envisioning of AI/ML technologies for and with marginalized people. In doing so we will create cross-research area dialogues and collaborations. These discussions build a basis to (1) explore potential tools to support designing AI/ML systems with marginalized people, and (2) develop a design agenda for future research and AI/ML technology for and with marginalized people