Experience with NESTROFT for screening for thalassemia trait/ minor: evaluation against CBC and HPLC in a high prevalence region in Saurashtra, Gujarat, India

Background: Hemoglobinopathies pose a significant health burden in India. Prevention programmes can significantly reduce this burden. Although sophisticated methods of screening for β thalassemia trait are available, a cheap and simple method is beneficial for population screening. Although the Naked Eye Single Tube Red Cell Osmotic Fragility Test (NESTROFT) has been evaluated in many studies, sample sizes were small in some and many earlier studies have not done complete blood count (CBC) and High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) in all the cases. We evaluate the suitability of NESTROFT for detection of β-thalassemia trait in a high prevalence region in Saurashtra, Gujarat.Methods: Here, 1000 unrelated individuals were studied. NESTROFT, CBC and estimation of HbA2 and HbF or other hemoglobin variants were done by HPLC.Results: Prevalence of β thalassemia trait was 7.8% in this population. NESTROFT showed an overall sensitivity and specificity of 94.87 and 85.38 respectively for the detection of β thalassaemia trait. Using red cell indices (MCH <27 pg and MCV <80 fl), One β thalassemia trait with normal indices would have been missed. Among twelve individuals with other hemoglobinopathies (HbS, HbD, HbE, δβ thalassemia trait or HPFH), seven had a positive NESTROFT while three had normal MCV & MCH values.Conclusions: NESTROFT is a cost-effective sensitive test which does not require any equipment and can be done in remote areas. It remains a useful first line screening test when large populations have to be screened.

Putting into Question the Imaginary of Recovery: A Dialectical Reading of the Global Financial Crisis and its Aftermath

In this article we put into question the discourses that emerged during the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) and that coalesced around a particular socio-economic imaginary of ?recovery? over the period 2009-2012. Our reading of these discourses is very much guided by the notion of the dialectic as developed by Fredric Jameson, and as such this paper can be read as attempt to put his theoretical ideas to work. Through our dialectical reading we aim to create a certain estrangement effect that makes the imaginary of recovery seem very odd and unnatural. In order to achieve such an effect we postulate four theses which are deliberately antagonistic: first, that there has been no ?crisis of capitalism?; second, that we must change the valence of the GFC from negative to positive; third, that the relationship between finance capitalism and ?free markets? is deeply contradictory; and fourth, that we must resist the regulation discourse

Halloween, Organization, and the Ethics of Uncanny Celebration

This article examines the relationship between organizational ethics, the uncanny, and the annual celebration of Halloween. We begin by exploring the traditional and contemporary organizational function of Halloween as ‘tension-management ritual’ (Etzioni, Sociol Theory 18(1):44–59, 2000) through which collective fears, anxieties, and fantasies are played out and given material expression. Combining the uncanny with the folkloric concept of ostension, we then examine an incident in which UK supermarket retailers made national news headlines for selling offensive Halloween costumes depicting ‘escaped mental patients’. Rather than treating this incident as a problem of moral hygiene—in which products are removed, apologies made, and lessons learned—we consider the value of Halloween as a unique and disruptive ethical encounter with the uncanny Other. Looking beyond its commercial appeal and controversy, we reflect on the creative, generous, and disruptive potential of Halloween as both tension-management ritual and unique organizational space of hospitality through which to receive and embrace alterity and so discover the homely within the unheimlich

Reassembling difference? Rethinking inclusion through/as embodied ethics

This paper considers inclusion through the lens of embodied ethics. It does so by connecting feminist writing on recognition, ethics and embodiment to recent examples of political activism as instances of recognition-based organizing. In making these connections, the paper draws on insights from Judith Butler’s recent writing on the ethics and politics of assembly in order to re-think how inclusion might be understood and practiced. The paper has three inter-related aims: (i) to emphasize the importance of a critical reconsideration of the ethics and politics of inclusion given, on the one hand, its positioning as an organizational ‘good’ and on the other, the conditions attached to it; (ii) to develop a critique of inclusion, drawing on insights from recent feminist thinking on relational ethics, and (iii) to connect this theoretical critique of inclusion, re-considered here through the lens of embodied ethics, to assembly as a form of feminist activism. Each of these aims underpins the theoretical and empirical discussion developed in the paper, specifically its focus on the relationship between embodied ethics, the interplay between theory and practice, and a politics of assembly as the basis for a critical reconsideration of inclusion

Clinical Considerations for Routine Auditory and Vestibular Monitoring in Patients with Cystic Fibrosis

Purpose Specific classes of antibiotics, such as aminoglycosides, have well-established adverse events producing permanent hearing loss, tinnitus, and balance and/or vestibular problems (i.e., ototoxicity). Although these antibiotics are frequently used to treat pseudomonas and other bacterial infections in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF), there are no formalized recommendations describing approaches to implementation of guideline adherent ototoxicity monitoring as part of CF clinical care. Method This consensus statement was developed by the International Ototoxicity Management Working Group (IOMG) Ad Hoc Committee on Aminoglycoside Antibiotics to address the clinical need for ototoxicity management in CF patients treated with known ototoxic medications. These clinical protocol considerations were created using consensus opinion from a community of international experts and available evidence specific to patients with CF, as well as published national and international guidelines on ototoxicity monitoring. Results The IOMG advocates four clinical recommendations for implementing routine and guideline adherent ototoxicity management in patients with CF. These are (a) including questions about hearing, tinnitus, and balance/vestibular problems as part of the routine CF case history for all patients; (b) utilizing timely point-of-care measures; (c) establishing a baseline and conducting posttreatment evaluations for each course of intravenous ototoxic drug treatment; and (d) repeating annual hearing and vestibular evaluations for all patients with a history of ototoxic antibiotic exposure. Conclusion Increased efforts for implementation of an ototoxicity management program in the CF care team model will improve identification of ototoxicity signs and symptoms, allow for timely therapeutic follow-up, and provide the clinician and patient an opportunity to make an informed decision about potential treatment modifications to minimize adverse events

Analiza FPGA implementacije bilateralnih algoritama upravljanja za dodirnu teleoperaciju

This paper presents the FPGA implementation of sliding mode control algorithm for bilateral teleoperation, such that, the problem of haptic teleoperation is addressed. The presented study improves haptic fidelity by widening the control bandwidth. For wide control bandwidth, short control periods as well as short sampling periods are required that was achieved by the FPGA. The presented FPGA design methodology applies basic optimization methods in order to meet the required control period as well as the required hardware resource consumption. The circuit specification was performed by the high-level programing language LabVIEW using the fixed-point data type. Hence, short design times for producing the FPGA logic circuit can be achieved. The proposed FPGA-based bilateral teleoperation was validated by master-slave experimental device.Ovaj rad opisuje FPGA implementaciju algoritama upravljanja kliznim režimima za bilateralnu teleoperaciju, pri čemu je opisan problem haptičke teleoperacije. Prikazano istraživanje poboljšava dodirnu pouzdanost proširenjem upravljačkog propusnog pojasa. Za široki propusni pojas, potrebni su kratki upravljački periodi i brzo vrijeme uzorkovanja, što je postignuto primjenom FPGA sklopovlja. Prikazana metodologija za projektiranje FPGA sklopovlja koristi osnovne optimizacijske metode s ciljem postizanja potrebnih upravljačkih perioda i zahtijevane fizičke iskorištenosti sklopovlja. Specifikacije sklopovlja su provedene programskim jezikom visoke razine LabVIEW uz korištenje podataka s nepomičnim decimalnim zarezom. Stoga je moguće implementirati traženu logiku na FPGA sklopovlje u kratkom vremenu. Opisana bilateralna teleoperacija temeljena na FPGA slopovlju je testirana na eksperimentalnom postavu s nadre.enim i podre.enim čvorom