The timing of death in patients with tuberculosis who die during anti-tuberculosis treatment in Andhra Pradesh, South India

Background: India has 2.0 million estimated tuberculosis (TB) cases per annum with an estimated 280,000 TBrelated deaths per year. Understanding when in the course of TB treatment patients die is important for determining the type of intervention to be offered and crucially when this intervention should be given. The objectives of the current study were to determine in a large cohort of TB patients in India:- i) treatment outcomes including the number who died while on treatment, ii) the month of death and iii) characteristics associated with “early” death, occurring in the initial 8 weeks of treatment. Methods: This was a retrospective study in 16 selected Designated Microscopy Centres (DMCs) in Hyderabad, Krishna and Adilabad districts of Andhra Pradesh, South India. A review was performed of treatment cards and medical records of all TB patients (adults and children) registered and placed on standardized anti-tuberculosis treatment from January 2005 to September 2009. Results: There were 8,240 TB patients (5183 males) of whom 492 (6%) were known to have died during treatment. Case-fatality was higher in those previously treated (12%) and lower in those with extra-pulmonary TB (2%). There was an even distribution of deaths during anti-tuberculosis treatment, with 28% of all patients dying in the first 8 weeks of treatment. Increasing age and new as compared to recurrent TB disease were significantly associated with “early death”. Conclusion: In this large cohort of TB patients, deaths occurred with an even frequency throughout anti-TB treatment. Reasons may relate to i) the treatment of the disease itself, raising concerns about drug adherence, quality of anti-tuberculosis drugs or the presence of undetected drug resistance and ii) co-morbidities, such as HIV/ AIDS and diabetes mellitus, which are known to influence mortality. More research in this area from prospective and retrospective studies is needed

Superior Neuroprotective Efficacy of LAU-0901, a Novel Platelet-Activating Factor Antagonist, in Experimental Stroke

Platelet-activating factor (PAF) accumulates during cerebral ischemia, and inhibition of this process plays a critical role in neuronal survival. Recently, we demonstrated that LAU-0901, a novel PAF receptor antagonist, is neuroprotective in experimental stroke. We used magnetic resonance imaging in conjunction with behavior and immunohistopathology to expand our understanding of this novel therapeutic approach. Sprague–Dawley rats received 2 h middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAo) and were treated with LAU-0901 (60 mg/kg) or vehicle 2 h from MCAo onset. Behavioral function, T2-weighted imaging (T2WI), and apparent diffusion coefficients were performed on days 1, 3, and 7 after MCAo. Infarct volume and number of GFAP, ED-1, and NeuN-positive cells were conducted on day 7. Behavioral deficit was significantly improved by LAU-0901 treatment compared to vehicle on days 1, 3, and 7. Total lesion volumes computed from T2WI were significantly reduced by LAU-0901 on days 1, 3, and 7 (by 83%, 90%, and 96%, respectively), which was consistent with decreased edema formation. Histopathology revealed that LAU-0901 treatment resulted in significant reduction of cortical and subcortical infarct volumes, attenuated microglial infiltration, and promoted astrocytic and neuronal survival. These findings suggest LAU-0901 is a promising neuroprotectant and provide the basis for future therapeutics in patients suffering ischemic stroke

Metal-ceramic composites: a study of small metal particles (divided metals)

Metal particles in Pt/1bAl<SUB>2</SUB>O<SUB>3</SUB> and Ni/1bAl<SUB>2</SUB>O<SUB>3</SUB> composites prepared by the reduction of the xerogels have been investigated by high resolution electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The alumina phase is essentially amorphous while the metal particles are crystalline. The average size of the metal particles increases with the metal content in the composites. Pt atoms exhibit a greater tendency to form metal clusters than the Ni atoms. At low metal concentrations (&#x2272;0.25 wt%), the number of atoms in the metal particles is in the range 100-400. Lattice resolution of the metal particles has been observed in HREM images. The cubic phase of ZrO<SUB>2</SUB> is stabilized in Ni/1bZrO<SUB>2</SUB> composites, the stability increasing with the Ni content

Ln<SUB>2</SUB> Ti<SUB>2</SUB>O<SUB>7</SUB> (Ln = La, Nd, Sm, Gd): a novel series of defective Ruddlesden-Popper phases formed by topotactic dehydration of HLnTiO<SUB>4</SUB><SUP>+</SUP>

Topotactic dehydration of HLnTiO4 (Ln = La, Nd, Sm or Gd) around 480-500 ° C yields a new series of metastable layered perovskite oxides, Ln2 Ti2O7, that possess a defective Sr3Ti2O7 structure, where the cubooctahedral sites within the double-perovskite layers are most likely vacant

Synthesis, structure and IR absorption studies of LnBaCuCoO<SUB>5</SUB> (Ln=rare earth) oxides

A series of oxides LnBaCuCoO5 (Ln=Pr, Nd, Sm, Dy, Gd, Ho and Er) have been synthesized by ceramic method. The oxides crystallize in a tetragonal structure, isostructural to YBaCuCoO5. All the oxides in the series are semiconducting. IR spectra of these oxides show distinct absorption bands at 630 cm-1, 550 cm-1 and 330 cm-1 which are assigned to E, A2 and A1 modes respectively. Doping of holes in these oxides, by calcium substitution in Er1-xCax BaCuCoO5-x (up to x &#8776; 0.3) was done but, these oxides did not show metallic behaviour

An electron microscopic study of quasicrystals in a quaternary alloy : Mg<SUB>32</SUB>(Al, Zn, Cu)<SUB>49</SUB>

This article does not have an abstract

Electron microscopy of quasicrystals in rapidly solidified Al-14% Mn alloys

Recently Shechtman et al. (1) have reported a new phase in rapidly solidified Al-14at% Mn alloys. The diffraction patterns from this phase correspond to an icosahedral point group symmetry which is inconsistent with lattice translation, The observation is consistent with a long range icosahedral orientational order (termed quasi-crystal) modelled by using Penrose lattice (2,3). A second model proposed by 5achdev and Nelson (4) postulates a superposition of density waves with an icosahedral symmetry. These investigators considered stars composed of 12 vertices, 30 edges or 20 faces of a regular lcosahedron with the basis vectors comprising the stars being incommensurate in nature, Using Landau theory, they developed the hierarchy of spots in reciprocal space for vertex, edge and face models. These models are the counter part of simple cubic, f.c.c, and b.c.c, phases in normal crystals derived from an octahedron" These three types of quasi-crystals cannot be distinguished in three and five fold symmetry positions. However, the two fold symmetry shows a marked difference and hence a particular model can be identified. Additionally as pointed out by Levine and Steinhardt (3), the concept of quasi crystals can also be extended to irregular polyhedra