A community based cross sectional study on feasibility of lay interviewers in ascertaining causes of adult deaths by using verbal autopsy in rural Wardha

Background & objectives: 1) To study the causes of adult (15 years and above) deaths using verbal autopsy (VA) and its socio-demographic characteristics. 2) To study the feasibility of use of the lay interviewer to ascertain causes of adult death using verbal autopsy and a simple algorithm. Methods: The present study was done in Wardha district, Maharashtra, India. Taking into account feasibility, out of 23 villages of Primary Health Centre, Anji, 15 villages were chosen having total population of 14,590. Out of 273 estimated adult deaths during the study period, 209 (77%) could be traced by house to house visit and a lay interviewer, interviewed the close caretakers of the deceased. Both lay interviewer and a physician individually derived their diagnosis using verbal autopsy report and a simplified algorithm. The data was entered and analyzed by using Epi_info 6.04. The inter-observer reliability between the lay interviewer and a physician for each possible diagnosis was assessed by using the Kappa statistics. Considering the diagnosis made by a physician as a gold standard, the diagnostic and predictive accuracy for each diagnosis made by the lay interviewer was calculated. Results: The communicable diseases accounted for 52 percent of the adult deaths while non-communicable for 32 percent and injuries for nine percent deaths. The overall agreement between the lay interviewer and a physician for communicable diseases was found to be good (k = 0.65 + 0.06) and for non-communicable diseases it was found to be excellent (k = 0.80 + 0.06). The lay interviewer using VA performed adequately for individual conditions of public health importance like acute febrile illness, diarrheal diseases, tuberculosis and injuries. Interpretation & conclusions: The present study has been successful to demonstrate feasibility of use of the lay interviewer to provide useful information on population-level estimation of broad causes of adult deaths and its socio-demographic characteristics that are reasonably reliable. The study suggests the possible utility of the method for rural India, where the majority of deaths occur at home. Further research work on development of sensitive and specific yet simple algorithms for lay interviewers to ascertain causes of adult deaths is required

Apoptotic and chemotherapeutic properties of iron(III)-salophene in an ovarian cancer animal model

The cytotoxicity of organometallic compounds iron(III)-, cobalt(III)-, manganese(II)-, and copper(II)-salophene (-SP) on platinum-resistant ovarian cancer cell lines was compared. Fe-SP displayed selective cytotoxicity (IC 50 at ∼1 μM) against SKOV-3 and OVCAR-3 cell lines while Co-SP caused cytotoxic effects only at higher concentrations (IC50 at 60 ?M) and Cu-SP effects were negligible. High cytotoxicity of Mn-SP (30-60 μM) appeared to be nonspecific because the Mn-chloride salt reduced cell viability similarly. The effect of Fe-SP at 1 μM proved to be ovarian cancer cell selective when compared to a panel of cell lines derived from different tumors. The first irreversible step in the induction of cell death by Fe-SP occurred after 3 hrs as indicated by the mitochondrial transmembrane potential (ΔΨm) and was mainly linked to apoptotic, not necrotic events. To evaluate the toxicity of Fe-SP in vivo we conducted an acute toxicity study in rats. The LD 50 of Fe-SP is >2000 mg/kg orally and >5.5 mg/kg body weight by intraperitoneal injection. An ovarian cancer animal model showed that the chemotherapeutic relevant dose of Fe-SP in rats is 0.5-1 mg/kg body weight. The present report suggests that Fe-SP is a potential therapeutic drug to treat ovarian cancer. © 2009 Lange et al, publisher and licensee Dove Medical Press Ltd

Topical Anesthetic Gel Interferes with Antibacterial Efficacy of Povidone-Iodine Both In Vitro and In Vivo

Purpose: To evaluate the effects of viscous lidocaine gel on the antimicrobial efficacy of povidone-iodine (PI) and their order of application in both in vitro and in vivo models. Methods: In vitro antibacterial effects were tested against Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) with disc diffusion methods for application of lidocaine alone, PI alone, PI before lidocaine, and lidocaine before PI. Zones of inhibition were measured after incubation at 37°C overnight. Mouse eyes were colonized with S. aureus for in vivo study to which PI and/or lidocaine were applied in various combinations. Eyes were then rinsed with saline, and the runoff fluid was collected, diluted, and plated on agar. Viable bacterial estimation was performed after incubation overnight at 37°C. Results: In vitro studies demonstrated a significantly smaller (PP\u3e0.05). In vivo studies showed that mouse eyes treated with lidocaine prior to PI had significantly more (PS. aureus growth compared to eyes that had PI applied prior to lidocaine. Conclusions: Both in vitro and in vivo studies demonstrated that lidocaine gel interfered with PI’s antiseptic properties when placed between the surface and PI. Our results are consistent with previous in vitro studies and provide greater evidence for applying PI before lidocaine gel if a viscous anesthetic agent is used

Influence of Cultivar and Sokoto Phosphate Rock Levels on the Yield and Yield Components of Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) in Dry Sub-Humid Sokoto Area, Nigeria

Locally and easily available rock phosphate could be a sustainable source of phosphorus for legumes production in this region, where, phosphorus deficiency is one of the major problems to crop production. As such, field experiments were conducted during 2007 and 2008 rainy seasons at the Dry land Teaching and Research Farm of Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto to study the effect of cultivar and Sokoto phosphate rock (SPR) on the performance of groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) in the semi-arid zone of Nigeria. Treatments consisted of factorial combination of two groundnut cultivars (Ex-Dakar and RMP-12) and four levels of Sokoto phosphate rock (0, 60, 120 and 180 kg ha-1) laid out in a randomized complete block design replicated three times. Results revealed that pods per plant, pod yield, kernel yield, shelling percentage and harvest index were higher in Ex-Dakar. Also, results obtained revealed no significant effect of SRP on the performance of the parameters observed. Thus, from the findings of this research it could be concluded that Ex-Dakar cultivar could be planted for increased groundnut production in the area. Groundnut cultivars under study did not respond to Sokoto rock phosphate application in the semi-arid zone

Validazione di Piani di Disaster Recovery mediante Simulatore

Contribution published online at: http://www.mimos.it/nuovo/contenuto_view.asp?check=10

Daily activity during stability and exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

BACKGROUND: During most COPD exacerbations, patients continue to live in the community but there is little information on changes in activity during exacerbations due to the difficulties of obtaining recent, prospective baseline data. METHODS: Patients recorded on daily diary cards any worsening in respiratory symptoms, peak expiratory flow (PEF) and the number of steps taken per day measured with a Yamax Digi-walker pedometer. Exacerbations were defined by increased respiratory symptoms and the number of exacerbations experienced in the 12 months preceding the recording of daily step count used to divide patients into frequent (> = 2/year) or infrequent exacerbators. RESULTS: The 73 COPD patients (88% male) had a mean (+/-SD) age 71(+/-8) years and FEV1 53(+/-16)% predicted. They recorded pedometer data on a median 198 days (IQR 134-353). At exacerbation onset, symptom count rose by 1.9(+/-1.3) and PEF fell by 7(+/-13) l/min. Mean daily step count fell from 4154(+/-2586) steps/day during a preceding baseline week to 3673(+/-2258) step/day during the initial 7 days of exacerbation (p = 0.045). Patients with larger falls in activity at exacerbation took longer to recover to stable level (rho = -0.56; p < 0.001). Recovery in daily step count was faster (median 3.5 days) than for exacerbation symptoms (median 11 days; p < 0.001). Recovery in step count was also faster in untreated compared to treated exacerbation (p = 0.030).Daily step count fell faster over time in the 40 frequent exacerbators, by 708 steps/year, compared to 338 steps/year in 33 infrequent exacerbators (p = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: COPD exacerbations reduced physical activity and frequent exacerbations accelerate decline in activity over time

Xanthine oxidase activity during transition period and its association with occurrence of postpartum infections in Murrah buffalo (Bubalus bubalis)

The aim of this study was to quantify xanthine oxidase (XO) levels during the transition period in Murrah buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) and determine its association with certain postpartum infections. For this, six healthy buffaloes were selected from the National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI) herd and managed under standard managemental practices as followed at the institute. Blood samples were drawn weekly from each buffalo from day -21 to +21 relative to parturition by jugular vein puncture. Additional blood samples were collected from buffaloes suffering from metritis (n=5), endometritis (n=6) and mastitis (n=8) on alternate days. XO activity followed a defined pattern with values gradually declining from day -21 up to the day of calving followed by an increase to day +21, but the difference was statistically not significant between pre- and post-partum stages. The activity significantly declined on the day of calving when compared to the pre-partum mean value (p&lt;0.05). The activity was significantly enhanced in buffaloes with bacterial infections, endometritis, and mastitis compared to healthy controls (p&lt;0.05). However, the levels were not significantly altered among buffalo with metritis. The results indicate that increased XO activity during the postpartum period was associated with some bacterial infections in buffaloes, which could be due to increased phagocytic activity as a part of the innate defense system.Keywords: Xanthine oxidase, transition periodAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(32), pp. 5101-510