Survival Outcomes and Effect of Early vs. Deferred cART Among HIV-Infected Patients Diagnosed at the Time of an AIDS-Defining Event: A Cohort Analysis

Objectives: We analyzed clinical progression among persons diagnosed with HIV at the time of an AIDS-defining event, and assessed the impact on outcome of timing of combined antiretroviral treatment (cART).Methods: Retrospective, European and Canadian multicohort study.. Patients were diagnosed with HIV from 1997-2004 and had clinical AIDS from 30 days before to 14 days after diagnosis. Clinical progression (new AIDS event, death) was described using Kaplan-Meier analysis stratifying by type of AIDS event. Factors associated with progression were identified with multivariable Cox regression. Progression rates were compared between those starting early (<30 days after AIDS event) or deferred (30-270 days after AIDS event) cART.Results: The median (interquartile range) CD4 count and viral load (VL) at diagnosis of the 584 patients were 42 (16, 119) cells/mu L and 5.2 (4.5, 5.7) log(10) copies/mL. Clinical progression was observed in 165 (28.3%) patients. Older age, a higher VL at diagnosis, and a diagnosis of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) (vs. other AIDS events) were independently associated with disease progression. Of 366 patients with an opportunistic infection, 178 (48.6%) received early cART. There was no significant difference in clinical progression between those initiating cART early and those deferring treatment (adjusted hazard ratio 1.32 [95% confidence interval 0.87, 2.00], p = 0.20).Conclusions: Older patients and patients with high VL or NHL at diagnosis had a worse outcome. Our data suggest that earlier initiation of cART may be beneficial among HIV-infected patients diagnosed with clinical AIDS in our setting

Factors associated with Exclusive Breast Feeding(EBF) and Complementary Feeding in an Indian Urban Community: A Cross Sectional Study

Context: Inappropriate feeding practices are very much prevalent in India in areas where there is a high cultural influence on dietary habits, which starts right from the birth and remains throughout the life.Aims: To study the infant and young feeding practices and factors affecting the exclusive breast feeding in children aged 6-23m.Methods and Material:A community based cross sectional study was conducted during the period Jan2008-Dec 2008 in Mehrauli(New Delhi).Feeding practices in the community was assessed using a semistructured questionnaire from the mother/guardian of 309 children in the age group of 6-23m.Results: Breast feeding was initiated within an hour of the birth in only 10.7%(33) of children. Around half(153) of the children were fed with prelacteals and colostrum was discarded in two-thirds (208) of the total. Exclusive breast feeding was dismally low with only 6.8%(21) mothers having practiced it. EBF was found more in institutional delivered and normal birth weight babies in comparison to domiciliary delivered and low birth weight babies respectively(p<0.05). Only 31.7%(98) children were given complementary feeding at the appropriate age, and feeding in terms of calories was inadequate in three-fourth(232) of the total subjects. Knowledge assessed about IYCF(Infant and Young child Feeding) was seemingly pooramongst the mothers in the community.Conclusions: Feeding practices are considerably errant in the community due to the widely prevalent myths and rituals. There is a need of consistent re-enforcement of IEC regarding IYCF by the health workers and AWWs to dispel the misconception from the community to improve the health status of the children

Star image, celebrity reality television and the fame cycle

In this article, I discuss the phenomenon of celebrity reality television and explore its function for those participating in it. Drawing on the success of their non-celebrity counterparts, programmes such as Celebrity Big Brother, I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here and Dancing With the Stars have become popular globally and, although arguably no longer at their peak, continue to attract large audiences and significant amounts of publicity. In the article I discuss the role these shows can serve for celebrities at different levels of their careers. I argue that reality television appeals in different ways to celebrities at different points in the fame ‘cycle’: ‘ordinary’ people or ‘pre-celebrities’ seeking to become known through it; proto-celebrities who wish to expand their fame; celebrities engaged in the work of promotion for their other endeavours; celebrities who wish to remake their existing star image through using reality television as a rehabilitative strategy or an opportunity to develop new skills; and those whose careers are in a period of ‘post-celebrity’ who seek to renew their fame. I explore how a successful reality show cast is one that combines celebrities who are at a range of points in the fame cycle as the interactions between the cast members and their debates about fame and hierarchy prove a key attraction for audiences

Albert Pierrepoint and the cultural persona of the twentieth-century hangman

Albert Pierrepoint was Britain’s most famous 20th-century hangman. This article utilises diverse sources in order to chart his public representation, or cultural persona, as hangman from his rise to prominence in the mid-1940s to his portrayal in the biopic Pierrepoint(2005). It argues that Pierrepoint exercised agency in shaping this persona through publishing his autobiography and engagement with the media, although there were also representations that he did not influence. In particular, it explores three iterations of his cultural persona – the Professional Hangman, the Reformed Hangman and the Haunted Hangman. Each of these built on and reworked historical antecedents and also communicated wider understandings and contested meanings in relation to capital punishment. As a hangman who remained in the public eye after the death penalty in Britain was abolished, Pierrepoint was an important, authentic link to the practice of execution and a symbolic figure in debates over reintroduction. In the 21st century, he was portrayed as a victim of the ‘secondary trauma’ of the death penalty, which resonated with worldwide campaigns for abolition

A-MAPS: Augmented MAPS Dataset with Rhythm and Key Annotations

The MAPS dataset is the most used benchmark dataset for automatic music transcription (AMT). We propose here an updated version of the ground truth, containing precise beat, time signature, and key signature annotations