Prevalence of virological failure amongst WHO- defined immunological failure HIV patients on first line of highly active antiretroviral therapy in a tertiary care hospital in Haryana, India

Background: In resource limited settings in India, monitoring of treatment in HIV patients taking highly active antiretroviral therapy is done by six monthly CD4 count instead of highly sensitive plasma viral load. Patients are subjected to viral load only when their CD4 count is low for the last 12 months. This protocol has a huge disadvantage as treatment failure is detected much later than it has actually occurred and switch over to second line therapy gets delayed by approximately one year.Methods: Plasma viral load (pVL) of 50 WHO defined immunological failure cases was done using RT-PCR to detect virological failure (VF).Results: Out of 50 WHO defined immunological failure cases, 16 percent had developed virological failure.Conclusions: Nearly one-sixth of WHO defined immunological failure (IF) cases had developed virological failure. These patients required second line highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) therapy but due to following of current treatment monitoring protocol, treatment got delayed by one year. Thus, amendment in national policy for monitoring ART is required to diagnose treatment failure early so that there is no delay in switching to second line ART and morbidity and mortality in these patients can be reduced.

Synthesis and bioevaluation of 125 I-labeled gold nanorods

A novel technique is described for monitoring the in vivo behavior of gold nanorods (GNRs) using _-imaging. GNRs were radiolabeled using [ 125 I] sodium iodide in a simple and fast manner with high yield and without disturbing their optical properties. Radiolabeled GNRs were successfully visualized by radioisotope tagging, allowing longitudinal in vivo studies to be performed repeatedly in the same animal. The preliminary biodistribution study showed that PEGylated GNRs have much longer blood circulation times and clear out faster, while bare GNRs accumulate quickly in the liver after systematic administration. The highly efficient method reported here provides an extensively useful tool for guidance of the design and development of new gold nanoparticles as target-specific agents for both diagnostics and photothermal therapy.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/90787/1/0957-4484_22_13_135102.pd

Towards quantitative tissue absorption imaging by combining photoacoustics and acousto-optics

We propose a strategy for quantitative photoacoustic mapping of chromophore concentrations that can be performed purely experimentally. We exploit the possibility of acousto-optic modulation using focused ultrasound, and the principle that photons follow trajectories through a turbid medium in two directions with equal probability. A theory is presented that expresses the local absorption coefficient inside a medium in terms of noninvasively measured quantities and experimental parameters. Proof of the validity of the theory is given with Monte Carlo simulations.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figure

EKSTRAKSI MULTI TAHAP KURKUMIN DARI KUNYIT (Curcuma domestica Valet) MENGGUNAKAN PELARUT ETANOL

Curcumin is a pigment in Curcuma domestica Valet, which has an orange-yellow crystal appearance, and commonly being used as a colouring agent. Extraction method which is used in extracting curcumin from Curcuma domestica Valet is one stage extraction. This research studied a multi stages extraction of curcumin from Curcuma domestica Valet. The purposes of this research is to find the best condition in extracting curcumin using multi stages extraction method, to increase the efficiency rate in curcumin extraction. This research used ethanol as a solvent, and effect from variables such as extraction time, solvent concentration, and number of extraction stages are observed. Extraction times are 60 minutes, 120 minutes, and 180 minutes. Variations of ethanol concentration are 50%, 70%, and 96%. Stage numbers of extraction are two stages extraction and three stages extraction. Extracts of curcumin are examined with qualitative analysis and quantitative analysis. The best condition of multi stages curcumin extraction is determined based on yield and content of curcumin. The maximum yield obtained in this study was 12% with conditions 180 minutes extraction time, 96% ethanol concentration, and two stages extraction. The highest content of curcumin obtained is 16% with conditions 180 minutes extraction time, 96% ethanol concentration, and three stages extraction. Content means a fraction of yield. These results show that increase in extraction time, solvent concentration, and stage numbers of extraction  will increase the yield and content of curcumin extracted from Curcuma domestica Valet

The mosses of Mount Tambuyukon, Kinabalu Park, Malaysian Borneo

A total of 103 species, two subspecies and two varieties of mosses in 55 genera and 26 families were collected from Mount Tambuyukon in August 2008. This represents ca. 16.3% of the mosses reported from Sabah and ca. 13.9% of the mosses reported for Borneo. Amongst the 107 taxa, three species of mosses are new for Sabah, namely Acroporium aciphyllum Dixon, Garovaglia baeuerlenii (Geh.) Paris and Macromitrium angustifolium Dozy & Molk. The largest moss family collected here is Sematophyllaceae (13 taxa) followed by Leucobryaceae (11 taxa), and both Dicranaceae and Orthotrichaceae (10 taxa). In conclusion, Mount Tambuyukon sustains a rich and interesting moss flora, including several rare and endemic species

Corresponding States of Structural Glass Formers

The variation with respect to temperature T of transport properties of 58 fragile structural glass forming liquids (68 data sets in total) are analyzed and shown to exhibit a remarkable degree of universality. In particular, super-Arrhenius behaviors of all super-cooled liquids appear to collapse to one parabola for which there is no singular behavior at any finite temperature. This behavior is bounded by an onset temperature To above which liquid transport has a much weaker temperature dependence. A similar collapse is also demonstrated, over the smaller available range, for existing numerical simulation data.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures. Updated References, Table Values, Submitted for Publicatio

Sucrose diffusion in aqueous solution.

The diffusion of sugar in aqueous solution is important both in nature and in technological applications, yet measurements of diffusion coefficients at low water content are scarce. We report directly measured sucrose diffusion coefficients in aqueous solution. Our technique utilises a Raman isotope tracer method to monitor the diffusion of non-deuterated and deuterated sucrose across a boundary between the two aqueous solutions. At a water activity of 0.4 (equivalent to 90 wt% sucrose) at room temperature, the diffusion coefficient of sucrose was determined to be approximately four orders of magnitude smaller than that of water in the same material. Using literature viscosity data, we show that, although inappropriate for the prediction of water diffusion, the Stokes-Einstein equation works well for predicting sucrose diffusion under the conditions studied. As well as providing information of importance to the fundamental understanding of diffusion in binary solutions, these data have technological, pharmaceutical and medical implications, for example in cryopreservation. Moreover, in the atmosphere, slow organic diffusion may have important implications for aerosol growth, chemistry and evaporation, where processes may be limited by the inability of a molecule to diffuse between the bulk and the surface of a particle

On a product of positive semidefinite matrices

AbstractNecessary and sufficient conditions are given for the product of two positive semidefinite (psd) matrices to be EP. As a consequence, it is shown that the product of two psd matrices is psd if and only if the product is normal

Prevalence of virological failure amongst WHO- defined immunological failure HIV patients on first line of highly active antiretroviral therapy in a tertiary care hospital in Haryana, India

Background: In resource limited settings in India, monitoring of treatment in HIV patients taking highly active antiretroviral therapy is done by six monthly CD4 count instead of highly sensitive plasma viral load. Patients are subjected to viral load only when their CD4 count is low for the last 12 months. This protocol has a huge disadvantage as treatment failure is detected much later than it has actually occurred and switch over to second line therapy gets delayed by approximately one year.Methods: Plasma viral load (pVL) of 50 WHO defined immunological failure cases was done using RT-PCR to detect virological failure (VF).Results: Out of 50 WHO defined immunological failure cases, 16 percent had developed virological failure.Conclusions: Nearly one-sixth of WHO defined immunological failure (IF) cases had developed virological failure. These patients required second line highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) therapy but due to following of current treatment monitoring protocol, treatment got delayed by one year. Thus, amendment in national policy for monitoring ART is required to diagnose treatment failure early so that there is no delay in switching to second line ART and morbidity and mortality in these patients can be reduced.