722 research outputs found
Recurrent postâpartum seizures after epidural blood patch
There are many causes for headaches after childbirth. Even though postdural puncture headache (PDPH) has to be considered in a woman with a history of difficult epidural anaesthesia, preâeclampsia should always be excluded as an important differential diagnosis. We report a case with signs of lateâonset preâeclampsia where administration of an epidural blood patch (EBP) was associated with eclampsia. A hypothetical causal relationship between the EBP and seizures was discarded on the basis of evidence presented in this report. Br J Anaesth 2003; 90: 247-5
Utilisation of outpatient services at Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital, Cape Town
The demand for outpatient services continues to grow at Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital (RCCH). To determine current utilisation patterns, we conducted a 2-week survey in the outpatient department (OPD). In addition, we reviewed the RCCH Annual Reports for the period 1961 - 1988. Annual outpatient attendances have increased from around 42000 in 1957 to their highest level ever; nearly 350000 in 1988. This steady rise in outpatient attendance was stemmed during the 1970s by the expansion of health services in the greater Cape Town area, in particular the introduction ofday hospitals. In general, blacks are utilising the OPD as a primary community hospital for the treatment of infectious and environmentally induced diseases. In contrast, the white outpatient profile is more characteristic of a tertiary referral centre, with a higher proportion of specialist clinic attendances. The utilisation patterns for coloured children are intermediate. Analysis of the residential address of patients and their presenting diagnoses indicates an urgent demand for primary health care services in the most recently settled and poorest suburbs of Cape Town, many of which are remote from the hospital
Exudative pharyngitis possibly due to Corynebacterium pseudodiphtheriticum, a new challenge in the differential diagnosis of diphtheria.
Corynebacterium pseudodiphtheriticum has rarely been reported to cause disease in humans, despite its common presence in the flora of the upper respiratory tract. We report here a case of exudative pharyngitis with pseudomembrane possibly caused by C. pseudodiphtheriticum in a 4-year-old girl. The case initially triggered clinical and laboratory suspicion of diphtheria. Because C. pseudodiphtheriticum can be easily confused with Corynebacterium diphtheriae in Gram stain, clarification of its role in the pathogenesis of exudative pharyngitis in otherwise healthy persons is of public health importance. Simple and rapid screening tests to differentiate C. pseudodiphtheriticum from C. diphtheriae should be performed to prevent unnecessary concern in the community and unnecessary outbreak control measures
Haemophilus influenzae invasive disease in the United States, 1994-1995: near disappearance of a vaccine-preventable childhood disease.
We analyzed national Haemophilus influenzae (Hi) surveillance data from 1994 and 1995 to describe the epidemiology of Hi invasive disease among persons of all ages. Serotype data were available for 376 (56%) of 669 reported Hi cases among children aged 4 years or younger; 184 (49%) were H. influenzae type b (Hib). Among children aged 4 or younger, incidence (per 100,000) of all Hi invasive disease was 1.8 in 1994 and 1.6 (p < 0.05) in 1995. Children aged 5 months or younger had the highest average annual incidence rate of Hib invasive disease (2.2 per 100,000); children aged 6 to 11 months had the next highest rate (1.2 per 100,000)(p < 0.05). Of 181 children with Hib invasive disease whose age in months was known, 85 (47%) were too young (aged 5 months or younger) to have completed a primary series with an Hib-containing vaccine. Of the 83 children with known vaccination status who were eligible to receive a primary series (aged 6 months or older), 52 (63%) were undervaccinated, and the remaining 31 (37%) had completed a primary series in which vaccine failed. Among persons aged 5 years or older with Hi invasive disease, the lowest average annual incidence was among those 20 to 39 years of age (0.15 per 100,000), and the highest was among those aged 80 years or older (2.26 per 100,000). Among persons aged 5 years or older, serotype data were available for 1,372 (71%) of the 1,940 Hi invasive disease cases; 159 (28%) of the 568 Hi cases with known serotype were due to Hib
Conformal dimension and random groups
We give a lower and an upper bound for the conformal dimension of the
boundaries of certain small cancellation groups. We apply these bounds to the
few relator and density models for random groups. This gives generic bounds of
the following form, where is the relator length, going to infinity.
(a) 1 + 1/C < \Cdim(\bdry G) < C l / \log(l), for the few relator model,
and
(b) 1 + l / (C\log(l)) < \Cdim(\bdry G) < C l, for the density model, at
densities .
In particular, for the density model at densities , as the relator
length goes to infinity, the random groups will pass through infinitely
many different quasi-isometry classes.Comment: 32 pages, 4 figures. v2: Final version. Main result improved to
density < 1/16. Many minor improvements. To appear in GAF
On field theory quantization around instantons
With the perspective of looking for experimentally detectable physical
applications of the so-called topological embedding, a procedure recently
proposed by the author for quantizing a field theory around a non-discrete
space of classical minima (instantons, for example), the physical implications
are discussed in a ``theoretical'' framework, the ideas are collected in a
simple logical scheme and the topological version of the Ginzburg-Landau theory
of superconductivity is solved in the intermediate situation between type I and
type II superconductors.Comment: 27 pages, 5 figures, LaTe
Boundary Conformal Field Theory and Ribbon Graphs: a tool for open/closed string dualities
We construct and fully characterize a scalar boundary conformal field theory
on a triangulated Riemann surface. The results are analyzed from a string
theory perspective as tools to deal with open/closed string dualities.Comment: 40 pages, 7 figures; typos correcte
The modular geometry of Random Regge Triangulations
We show that the introduction of triangulations with variable connectivity
and fluctuating egde-lengths (Random Regge Triangulations) allows for a
relatively simple and direct analyisis of the modular properties of 2
dimensional simplicial quantum gravity. In particular, we discuss in detail an
explicit bijection between the space of possible random Regge triangulations
(of given genus g and with N vertices) and a suitable decorated version of the
(compactified) moduli space of genus g Riemann surfaces with N punctures. Such
an analysis allows us to associate a Weil-Petersson metric with the set of
random Regge triangulations and prove that the corresponding volume provides
the dynamical triangulation partition function for pure gravity.Comment: 36 pages corrected typos, enhanced introductio
Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Semiflexible Polyampholyte Brushes - The Effect of Charged Monomers Sequence
Planar brushes formed by end-grafted semiflexible polyampholyte chains, each
chain containing equal number of positively and negatively charged monomers is
studied using molecular dynamics simulations. Keeping the length of the chains
fixed, dependence of the average brush thickness and equilibrium statistics of
the brush conformations on the grafting density and the salt concentration are
obtained with various sequences of charged monomers. When similarly charged
monomers of the chains are arranged in longer blocks, the average brush
thickness is smaller and dependence of brush properties on the grafting density
and the salt concentration is stronger. With such long blocks of similarly
charged monomers, the anchored chains bond to each other in the vicinity of the
grafting surface at low grafting densities and buckle toward the grafting
surface at high grafting densities.Comment: 8 pages,7 figure
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