341 research outputs found
A Comparison of the Results of Bacteriological Examination of a Sputum Collection and a Pair of Laryngeal Swab Specimens in Patients Receiving Chemotherapy for Pulmonary Tuberculosis
pulmonary tuberculosis is of prime importance. The most valuable assessment of a
treatment is its effect on the bacterial population of the sputum. A reduction in the
number of organisms being excreted, or their complete elimination, is the best evidence
that the patient is responding to treatment, and bacteriological negativity is the crucial
desideratum of the quiescence of the disease (American Trudeau Society, 1959; Devadatta
et al., 1961). In a previous report from this Centre (Andrews and Radhakrishna,
1959) a comparison was made of the results of smear and culture examinations of
specimens of sputum obtained in 2 different ways from patients receiving chemotherapy.
It was found that “spot” specimens, that is, specimens produced in the Centre within
the course of a few minutes were less frequently positive than “collection” specimens,
that is, specimens produced overnight in the home.
During treatment and usually within a few months of the start of effective chemotherapy,
the majority of patients find it difficult to expectorate and it, therefore, becomes
of interest to study the relative usefulness of collection specimens of sputum and laryngeal
swabs in detecting the presence of tubercle bacilli. This report presents the results
of a comparison of an overnight collection specimen of sputum (referred to as sputum
specimen in the rest of the report) with a pair of laryngeal swabs (considered as a
single specimen in the laboratory) taken from patients during the third to twelfth
month of anti-tuberculosis chemotherapy
The Susceptibility to Hydrogen Peroxide of Indian and British Isoniazid-Sensitive and Isoniazid- Resistant Tubercle Bacilli
The present work describes an attempt to modify the method of Kreis and Le
Joubioux (1957a) so that it would accurately estimate the relative proportions of
catalase-positive and catalase-negative organisms in strains containing mixtures of
the two types. A bactericidal test was chosen in preference to a bacteriostatic test,
since it is difficult to obtain quantitative measurement with the latter technique. In
performing a bactericidal test residual peroxide must be inactivated or removed
by dilution so that it does not inhibit the growth of surviving organisms. Knox,
Meadow and Worssam (1956) removed peroxide by centrifugation and washing,
but this method was considered impracticable if this test were to be used on a large scale, and likely to produce inaccurate counts on the surviving organisms. In the
present work the method of removal of peroxide was studied as well as the determination
of the optimal peroxide concentration and period of exposure which would kill
all catalase-negative organisms, but would leave catalase-positive organisms
unaffected. In addition, the method of Kreis & Le Joubioux (1957a) was modified
by reducing the inoculum of organisms exposed to peroxide so that catalase-positive
bacilli would not be able to destroy peroxide during the test itself. The standardised
bactericidal test was then employed in comparing the susceptibility to peroxide of
isoniazid-sensitive strains from British and Indian patients, and in investigating
the relationship between the peroxide susceptibility and the catalase activity of their
isoniazid-resistant mutant strains
A simple paper test for isoniazid in urine
Tests for the presence of chemotherapeutic
drugs or their metabolites in urine play an
important part in the management of the
treatment of tuberculosis (Dixon et al., 1957;
Fox, 1958). A previous report from this
Centre (Gangadharam et al., 1958) presented a
comparison of a number of methods for detecting
isoniazid in urine including the direct
naphthoquinone-mercuric chloride (N-M) test
(Short and Case, 1957), and also a modification
of this test which employed alkaline hydrolysis
to liberate isoniazid from its conjugated forms.
The direct-and hydrolysis N-M tests have been
employed in this Centre for the past four years
to control the self-administration of isoniazid
used in the domiciliary treatment of pulmonary
tuberculosis. The effect of irregularity in
taking isoniazid as detected by these tests on
the response to treatment has been reported
elsewhere (Tuberculosis Chemotherapy Centre,
1960). Since this method has the disadvantage
that it requires a certain amount of equipment
and trained personnel, it is not suitable for
routine use in all chest clinics or under field
conditions.
An attempt was therefore made in this
Centre to simplify the direct N-M test by
incorporating the reagents in absorbent papers;
Though impregnation of the paper with the
pHl0 buffer and naphthoquinone reagent was
successful, impregnation with the aqueous
solution of the mercuric chloride was unsatisfactory.
In 1960, Cattaneo, Fantoli and Belasio
published details of a paper test modification
of the N-M test in which this difficulty was
overcome by impregnating absorbent papers
with a solution of mercuric chloride in ether.
Since then this modification has been adopted
for the preparation of the test-paper developed
in this Centre.
Since a lower concentration of the naphthoquinone
reagent and a shorter period of exposure
was used in the preparation of the testpaper
developed in this Centre than described by Cattaneo et al. (1960), both the paper tests
have been compared with the direct and combined
N-M tests described previously (Gangadharam
et al., 1958). This paper presents the
results of the comparison and of an
of the specificity of the paper test
Ionic mass transfer at point electrodes located at cathode support plate in an electrorefining cell in presence of rectangular turbulent promoters
Current density plays a major role in deciding the plant size, current efficiency, and energy consumption in electrorefining cells. In general, operating current density will be 40% of the limiting current density. Forced circulation of the electrolyte in the presence of promoters improves the mass transfer coefficient. In the present study, rectangular turbulence promoters are fitted at the bottom side of the cell to improve the mass transfer coefficient at the cathode support plate. The limiting current density technique is used to measure the mass transfer coefficient. The variables covered in the present study are the effects of flow rate, promoter height, and spacing among the promoters. The electrolyte consists of copper sulfate and sulphuric acid. At a regulated flow rate, the electrolyte is pumped from the recirculation tank to the cell through an intermediate overhead tank. The limiting current density increased with an increasing flow rate in the presence of promoters, and thus the overall mass transfer coefficient on the cathode support plate also improved. With an increase in the flow rate of the electrolyte from 6.67 × 10−6 to 153.33 m3/s, limiting current density increased from 356.8 to 488.8 A/m2 for spacing of 0.30 m, with a promoter height of 0.01 m. However, it is noteworthy that when the promoter height is increased from 0.01 to 0.07 m, the overall mass transfer coefficient is found to increase up to 60%, but with the further increase in the promoter height to 0.30 m the mass transfer coefficient starts to decrease. Therefore, the optimized cell parameters are established in this work. The current sustainable concept of employing rectangular turbulence promoters will bring benefits to any precious metal refining or electrowinning tank house electrolytes
Synthesis and characterisation of double-layered octahedral coordination polymers built up from divalent metal ions, mixed carboxylate anions, and ethyl carbazate ligands
Supplementary data related to this article can be found at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molstruc.2018.12.076.Peer reviewedPostprin
Identification of Tubercle Bacilli from Indian Patients with Pulmonary Tuberculosis
Pretreatment cultures of bacilli from Indian patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis
admitted to a controlled domiciliary chemotherapy study by the Tuberculosis Chemotherapy
Centre, Madras, were subjected to a series of in vitro tests designed to identify the
bacilli as human or bovine tubercle bacilli, or as anonymous mycobacteria. For the purposes
of comparison, pretreatment cultures from British patients with pulmonary tuberculosis were
examined by the same series of identification tests.
Cultures identifiable as mammalian tubercle bacilli were obtained from all the 341
Indian patients admitted to the chemotherapy study. Tests for niacin production were
carried out on the cultures from 277 of these patients ; all gave positive results, indicating
that the bacilli in question were Mycobacterium tuberculosis var. hominis. The culture
from the Indian patients yielded results similar to those of the cultures from the British
patients in all the in vitro tests except the thiacetazone-sensitivity test. In this test the
Indian cultures differed from the British cultures, being on the average less sensitive and
showing greater variation in sensitivity among themselves
Dual effect of anionic surfactants in the electrodeposited MnO2 trafficking redox ions for energy storage
The dual effect of in-situ addition of anionic surfactants, sodium octyl sulfate (SOS), sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and sodium tetradecyl sulfate (STS) on the microstructure and electrochemical properties of electrolytic manganese dioxide (EMD) produced from waste low grade manganese residue is discussed. X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), BET-surface area studies, thermogravimetry-differential thermal analysis (TG-DTA) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) were used to determine the structure and chemistry of the EMD. All EMD samples were found to contain predominantly gamma-phase MnO2, which is electrochemically active for energy storage applications. FESEM images showed that needle, rod and flower shaped nano-particles with a porous surface and platy nano-particles were obtained in the case of EMD deposited with and without surfactant respectively. Thermal studies showed loss of structural water and formation of lower manganese oxides indicating high stability of the EMD samples. The cyclic voltammetry and charge - discharge characteristics implied the presence of surfactants enhances the energy storage within the MnO2 structure. Addition of the surfactant at its optimum concentration greatly increased the EMD surface area, which in turn improved the cycle life of the EMD cathode. EMD obtained in the presence of 25, 50, 25 ppm of SOS, SDS, and STS respectively showed an improved cycle life relative to the EMD obtained in the absence of surfactant. EMD obtained without surfactant showed a capacity fade of 20 mAh g(-1) within 15 discharge-charge cycles, while surfactant modified samples showed stable cyclic behavior of capacity 95 mAh g(-1) even after 15 cycles
Tris(ethyl carbazate-κ2 N,O)nickel(II) dinitrate
The asymmetric unit of the title compound, [Ni(C3H8N2O2)3](NO3)2, contains two independent cations, each built up around a fac-NiN3O3 octahedron, and four nitrate anions. Numerous cation-to-anion N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds, some of which are bifurcated, help to establish the packing
Design of e-shoe for Visually Impaired by Using RFID Technology
It is a known fact that blind people find it extremely difficult to detect their way through obstacles and stairs. Using a white stick to detect the obstacles had been an age old method, which cannot provide complete solution. In order to overcome this problem, an obstacle detecting shoe is developed. It senses the obstacle through ultrasonic sensors and alerts the user through the message. The ultrasonic waves transmitted are reflected by the obstacles and echo is received by the ultrasonic receiver, where the distance is calculated by using a microprocessor. The RFID system is used to assist the blind people. When the reader located on the shoe moves on to a specific tag, unique tag ID is sent to the reader. While in the case of walking in traffic, RF Link Transmitter/receiver is used for traffic signal detection and for passing instructions to the user through voice messages. A timer is used to detect the wet areas and helps the blind to avoid slippery.
The Virulence in the Guinea-pig of Tubercle Bacilli Isolated before Treatment from South Indian Patients with Pulmonary Tuberculosis: 1. Homogeneity of the Investigation and a Critique of the Virulence Test
A series of studies on the virulence in the guinea-pig of tubercle bacilli isolated before
treatment from Indian tuberculous patients admitted to a controlled comparison of different
regimens of domiciliary chemotherapy has recently been undertaken by the Tuberculosis
Chemotherapy Centre, Madras. The main object of these studies was to determine whether
the differences in virulence of the tubercle bacilli obtained from Indian patients before the
start of chemotherapy were related to the severtiy or type of the patients’ disease at that
time and to the subsequent response to treatment. Before these relationships could be‘
investigated, however, it was necessary to find out whether the results of the virulence tests,
which were carried out over a period of two-and-a-half years at the Centre and at the
Microbiological Research Establishment, Porton, England, could be considered as a unified
whole-that, is, as if they had all been done on the same day in the same laboratory.
A proportion of the cultures was stored at – 20°C for 44-78 weeks, but this did not
affect their virulence. Inter-experimental variation was found to be small in the Porton
series of tests and undetectable in the Madras series, and the results in the latter series could
be successfully adjusted to those in the former by allowing for differences in the means and
standard deviations of the distributions for the two series. The measure of virulence used
was found to be reasonably acceptable for the analysis of variance technique. Suggestions
are made as to ways of improving the efficiency of the experimental design in future studies
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