Nuevo puente sobre el río Ganges

Recientemente se ha puesto en servicio un nuevo puente sobre el río Ganges, a unos cinco kilómetros aguas abajo de la estación ferroviaria de Mokameh Ghat, del Estado de Bihar, en la India. La obra consta de 14 tramos principales, de unos 120 m, aproximadamente, de luz cada uno, y 4 tramos, dos en cada extremidad, de 30 m de luz, que constituyen un total de 1.820 m de longitud. El puente tiene dos tableros: el superior, de 7,30 m de anchura, destinado a un paso de carretera, y el inferior, convenientemente separado, para el paso de un ferrocarril. Entre la parte inferior del puente y el nivel de aguas se ha dejado una altura libre de 10,50 m para el paso de la navegación fluvial

La presa de Tungabhadra

Bajo el plan general de aprovechamientos de las aguas de los grandes ríos y sus afluentes en la India, se ha incluido en él la presa de Tungabhadra, situada en la península meridional del país, regada por el río Krishna y su afluente el Tungabhadra. En esta región el régimen de lluvias es muy irregular y de poca intensidad, y, por consiguiente, da lugar a grandes sequías y períodos de desolación. Por todos estos motivos, y el impulso económico que con tanto empeño muestra el país, se ha dado prioridad en el referido plan a la realización de este vasto proyecto. Este proyecto tiene su origen en 1861, pero su ejecución empezó en 1945. La presa se halla a unos 5 km de Hospet, en el distrito de Bellary. El río que se aprovecha tiene un curso de 640 km y una cuenca de gran extensión superficial

Las presas de Bhakra y Nangal

La presa Bhakra se halla situada en el paraje del mismo nombre, a unos 320 km al norte de Nueva Delhi (India), al pie de los montes del Himalaya y encajada en un angosto y escarpado paso del río Sutlej, que es el mayor tributario del río Indo. El proyecto general constituye la construcción de una presa de gravedad, de gran altura, en Bhakra, dos embalses de reserva, un canal de 64 millas de longitud, cuatro centrales generadoras y unos 5.000 km de canales de distribución de una amplia red de distribución de aguas para riego. A 29 km de la presa principal se construye la presa de Nangal, de menor altura y capacidad

Centro de conferencias en Nueva Delhi

Vigyan Bhavan, in New Delhi, is a centre specially built to hold in it national and international meetings and congresses. The north, east and west faces of the building follow closely the traditional local Indian style. The main frontage, to the south, has a simple but fine Buddhist arch in green marble and wide steps leading to it in white marble. This centre consists of three distinct, but well integrated, buildings. The main facilities of this project are: an auditorium with seating accommodation for 706 delegates, a public gallery, and two meeting rooms for 20 people each, on the first floor. A separate section houses 5 committee rooms, two rooms for other group meetings, and a cafeteria, on the lower floor. The offices and other administrative services have been placed in the east wing, which is three storeys high, and is separated from the rest of the centre by a paved patio. The peculiar beauty of this project and the surrounding landscape's picturesque charm induce a sense of relaxation that is indeed conducive to the better success of international meetings.El Vigyan Bhavan, de Nueva Delhi, constituye un Centro especialmente construido para la celebración de conferencias nacionales e internacionales. Sus alzados norte, este y oeste fueron concebidos siguiendo el estilo tradicional indio, y muestran interesantes efectos de claro-oscuro. La fachada principal —sur— presenta un sencillo pero distinguido arco budista en mármol verde, y una escalinata realizada con mármol blanco. Este conjunto está constituido por tres cuerpos diferenciados, pero conectado con fáciles comunicaciones. Como dependencias importantes del Centro figuran: un auditorio con capacidad para 706 delegados sentados, una galería para el público y dos salas de reunión para 20 personas en el primer piso. El cuerpo posterior del edificio, aislado del auditorio por un patio, contiene cinco salas de juntas y dos salas para comisiones; en la planta baja hay una cafetería. El bloque dedicado a oficinas y administración—ala este—, de tres plantas de altura, constituye una construcción anexa separada del resto de edificación por un patio pavimentado. Este edificio, con sus pintorescos alrededores y una belleza arquitectónica peculiar, inspira una atmósfera de calma y serenidad, esencial para el avance de los conocimientos y progresos humanos

Mechanism of Sperm Immobilization by Escherichia coli

Aim. To explore the influence of Escherichia coli on the motility of human spermatozoa and its possible mechanism. Methods. Highly motile preparations of spermatozoa from normozoospermic patients were coincubated with Escherichia coli for 4 hours. At 1, 2 and 4 hours of incubation, sperm motility was determined. The factor responsible for sperm immobilization without agglutination was isolated and purified from filtrates. Results. This report confirms the immobilization of spermatozoa by E. coli and demonstrates sperm immobilization factor (SIF) excreted by E. coli. Further this factor was purified by ammonium sulfate precipitation, gel permeation chromatography, and ion-exchange chromatography. Purified SIF (56 kDa) caused instant immobilization without agglutination of human spermatozoa at 800 μg/mL and death at 2.1 mg/mL. Spermatozoa incubated with SIF revealed multiple and profound alterations involving all superficial structures of spermatozoa as observed by scanning electron microscopy. Conclusion. In conclusion, these results have shown immobilization of spermatozoa by E. coli and demonstrate a factor (SIF) produced and secreted by E. coli which causes variable structural damage as probable morphological correlates of immobilization

Antilymphoid antibody preconditioning and tacrolimus monotherapy for pediatric kidney transplantation

Objective: Heavy post-transplant immunosuppression may contribute to long-term immunosuppression dependence by subverting tolerogenic mechanisms; thus, we sought to determine if this undesirable consequence could be mitigated by pretransplant lymphoid depletion and minimalistic post-transplant monotherapy. Study design: Lymphoid depletion in 17 unselected pediatric recipients of live (n = 14) or deceased donor kidneys (n = 3) was accomplished with antithymocyte globulin (ATG) (n = 8) or alemtuzumab (n = 9). Tacrolimus was begun post-transplantation with subsequent lengthening of intervals between doses (spaced weaning). Maintenance immunosuppression, morbidity, graft function, and patient/graft survival were collated. Results: Steroids were added temporarily to treat rejection in two patients (both ATG subgroup) or to treat hemolytic anemia in two others. After 16 to 31 months (mean 22), patient and graft survival was 100% and 94%, respectively. The only graft loss was in a nonweaned noncompliant recipient. In the other 16, serum creatinine was 0.85 ± 0.35 mg/dL and creatinine clearance was 90.8 ± 22.1 mL/1.73 m2. All 16 patients are on monotherapy (15 tacrolimus, one sirolimus), and 14 receive every other day or 3 times per week doses. There were no wound or other infections. Two patients developed insulin-dependent diabetes. Conclusion: The strategy of lymphoid depletion and minimum post-transplant immunosuppression appears safe and effective for pediatric kidney recipients. © 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

The kSORT Assay to Detect Renal Transplant Patients at High Risk for Acute Rejection: Results of the Multicenter AART Study

Development of noninvasive molecular assays to improve disease diagnosis and patient monitoring is a critical need. In renal transplantation, acute rejection (AR) increases the risk for chronic graft injury and failure. Noninvasive diagnostic assays to improve current late and nonspecific diagnosis of rejection are needed. We sought to develop a test using a simple blood gene expression assay to detect patients at high risk for AR. We developed a novel correlation-based algorithm by step-wise analysis of gene expression data in 558 blood samples from 436 renal transplant patients collected across eight transplant centers in the US, Mexico, and Spain between 5 February 2005 and 15 December 2012 in the Assessment of Acute Rejection in Renal Transplantation (AART) study. Gene expression was assessed by quantitative real-time PCR (QPCR) in one center. A 17-gene set—the Kidney Solid Organ Response Test (kSORT)—was selected in 143 samples for AR classification using discriminant analysis (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve [AUC] = 0.94; 95% CI 0.91–0.98), validated in 124 independent samples (AUC = 0.95; 95% CI 0.88–1.0) and evaluated for AR prediction in 191 serial samples, where it predicted AR up to 3 mo prior to detection by the current gold standard (biopsy). A novel reference-based algorithm (using 13 12-gene models) was developed in 100 independent samples to provide a numerical AR risk score, to classify patients as high risk versus low risk for AR. kSORT was able to detect AR in blood independent of age, time post-transplantation, and sample source without additional data normalization; AUC = 0.93 (95% CI 0.86–0.99). Further validation of kSORT is planned in prospective clinical observational and interventional trials. The kSORT blood QPCR assay is a noninvasive tool to detect high risk of AR of renal transplants

Lumbar hernia diagnosed after laparoscopic hiatal hernia surgery

The presence of a new lumbar swelling or pain in the postoperative period following laparoscopic surgery should raise the suspicion of a lumbar hernia. Cross‐sectional imaging can be used to establish an early diagnosis to enable successful management

Drug-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae in Michigan

The increasing prevalence of quinolone-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae (QRNG) in the United States is a cause for concern. Detecting resistance is complicated by the widespread use of molecular tests that do not provide isolates for susceptibility testing. The Michigan Department of Community Health developed a sentinel surveillance program to detect antimicrobial drug resistance in N. gonorrhoeae. Sentinel surveillance from 11 laboratories submitted 1,122 isolates for antimicrobial drug susceptibility testing and detected 2 clusters of QRNG from January 2003 to September 2004. These clusters were epidemiologically distinct: one involved young, heterosexual youth, and the other involved older men who have sex with men. This finding led to changes in local treatment recommendations that limited spread of resistant strains. Development of the sentinel program, collection of data, and epidemiologic analysis of the clusters are discussed