Linking Poor TB Patients to Government Welfare Schemes to Improve Treatment Adherence in West Bengal, India

Among new smear-positive TB patients in 2010, 7% in West Bengal did not complete treatment. Some patients may discontinue treatment because side-effects of the medicine prevented them from working in the context of financial strain. The objective of the study was to ascertain whether linking TB patients to government welfare schemes was associated with completing the full course of treatment and reducing death rate and default rate. In 2009, CARE India worked with the Ministry of Health and the national TB Control Program to link TB patients to already-existing welfare schemes. TB patients received cash, food and/or employment. The study area was in Murshidabad District in the state of West Bengal. The study period was July 2009 to December 2011. The intervention subjects are those TB patients who received aid through welfare schemes while undergoing DOTS treatment. The comparison subjects are those who received the same DOTS treatment, but did not receive any aid. Data was derived from India’s revised national TB Control Program. Data on the receipt of welfare benefit was ascertained directly by asking the patient. Effectiveness of the intervention was determined by comparing treatment success rate, default rate and death rate of both new and retreatment patients in the intervention and comparison groups. Treatment Success Rate among new patients was 92.2% for those who received welfare and 88.5% for non-recipients. Treatment Success Rate among retreatment patients was 83.4% in the intervention group and 72% in the comparison group. Among both new and retreatment patients, there is a statistically significant difference between the Treatment Success Rates of the comparison and intervention groups (p<0.01). Treatment Success Rate increased for both new and retreatment patients when linked to welfare. The effect is seen to be modest for new patients, largely due to the ‘ceiling effect’, but much more in retreatment cases

Influence of halloysite nanotubes on physical and mechanical properties of cellulose fibres reinforced vinyl ester composites

Natural fibres are generally added to polymer matrix composites to produce materials with the desirable mechanical properties of higher specific strength and higher specific modulus while at the same time to maintain a low density and low cost. The physical and mechanical properties of polymer composites can be enhanced through the addition of nanofillers such as halloysite nanotubes. This article describes the fabrication of vinyl ester eco-composites and eco-nanocomposites and characterizes these samples in terms of water absorption, mechanical and thermal properties. Weight gain test and Fourier transform infrared analysis indicated that 5% halloysite nanotube addition gave favourable reduction in the water absorption and increased the fibre–matrix adhesion leading to improved strength properties in the eco-nanocomposites. However, halloysite nanotube addition resulted in reduced toughness but improved thermal stability

Cell-derived extracellular vesicles can be used as a biomarker reservoir for glioblastoma tumor subtyping

Glioblastoma (GBM) is one of the most aggressive solid tumors for which treatment options and biomarkers are limited. Small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) produced by both GBM and stromal cells are central in the inter-cellular communication that is taking place in the tumor bulk. As tumor sEVs are accessible in biofluids, recent reports have suggested that sEVs contain valuable biomarkers for GBM patient diagnosis and follow-up. The aim of the current study was to describe the protein content of sEVs produced by different GBM cell lines and patient-derived stem cells. Our results reveal that the content of the sEVs mirrors the phenotypic signature of the respective GBM cells, leading to the description of potential informative sEV-associated biomarkers for GBM subtyping, such as CD44. Overall, these data could assist future GBM in vitro studies and provide insights for the development of new diagnostic and therapeutic methods as well as personalized treatment strategies

Pre-intercalation of long chain fatty acid in the interlayer space of layered silicates and preparation of montmorillonite/natural rubber nanocomposites

A series of long chain fatty acids was intercalated into the interlayer space of organo montmorillonite (OMt) and a gradual expansion of the interlayer space was observed as the chain length of the fatty acid increased. The fatty acid with 22 carbon atoms (docosanoic acid) was found to offer a highest interlayer space among the fatty acids under consideration. This fatty acid was selected further to modify OMt and subsequently utilized as reinforcing fillers in natural rubber (NR) matrix. Wide angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD). Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and contact angle measurement indicated successful intercalation of the fatty acid into the interlayer space of the clay minerals. The main objective of such intercalation is to make clay minerals suitable for the preparation of rubber nanocomposites. especially when using non-polar rubbers. Docosanoic acid intercalated Mt was successfully dispersed in NR matrix as confirmed by WAXD and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). As a result, the mechanical properties were found to be improved in a remarkable way. Improvement of similar to 114% in tensile strength and similar to 203% in modulus at 300% elongation was observed. These results were correlated with the morphological data obtained from WAXD and TEM. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved