Epidemiological study of eclampsia in a referral teaching hospital

The present study is a retrospective analysis of 864 eclampsia patients managed at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata during the period January 1999 to December 2001. The incidence of eclampsia was seen in about 2.27% cases. Majority (51.97%) of eclampsia patients were between 20 and 29 years though 41.43% were below 20 years of age. They were mostly primigravida (88.19%) and Hindus (69.1%). About 44.56% were antepartum eclampsia patients. All the patients were treated with magnesium sulphate. Caesarean section rate is quite high (46.18%) in this present study. Maternal case fatality rate was 7.29%. Still birth rate was 9.92% with an early neonatal death rate of 14.15% resulting in a perinatal mortality of 24.07%. Ignorance regarding antenatal check-up, lack of transport and lack of early communication with tertiary hospital play an important role for high incidence of eclampsia in our developing country.     

N400-like magnetoencephalography responses modulated by semantic context,word frequency,and lexical class in sentences

Words have been found to elicit a negative potential at the scalp peaking at approximately 400 ms that is strongly modulated by semantic context. The current study used whole-head magnetoencephalography (MEG) as male subjects read sentences ending with semantically congruous or incongruous words. Compared with congruous words, sentence-terminal incongruous words consistently evoked a large magnetic field over the left hemisphere, peaking at approximately 450 ms. Source modeling at this latency with conventional equivalent current dipoles (ECDs) placed the N400 m generator in or near the left superior temporal sulcus. A distributed solution constrained to the cortical surface suggested a sequence of differential activation, beginning in Wernicke's area at approximately 250 ms, spreading to anterior temporal sites at approximately 270 ms, to Broca's area by approximately 300 ms, to dorsolateral prefrontal cortices by approximately 320 ms, and to anterior orbital and frontopolar cortices by approximately 370 ms. Differential activity was exclusively left-sided until >370 ms, and then involved right anterior temporal and orbital cortices. At the peak of the N400 m, activation in the left hemisphere was estimated to be widespread in the anterior temporal, perisylvian, orbital, frontopolar, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortices. In the right hemisphere, the orbital, as well as, weakly, the right anterior temporal cortices were activated. Similar but weaker field patterns were evoked by intermediate words in the sentences, especially to low-frequency words occurring in early sentence positions where there is little preceding context. The locations of the N400 m sources identified with the distributed solution correspond well with those previously demonstrated with direct intracranial recordings, and suggested by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). These results help identify a distributed cortical network that supports online semantic processing.     

Role of antibiotics for the prevention of cardiovascular disease

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the data regarding the use of antibiotic therapy for the prevention of cardiovascular events. DATA SOURCES: Pertinent literature was identified through a MEDLINE search (1966-September 2001) and through other secondary literature databases and/or bibliographies of pertinent articles. DATA SYNTHESIS: Cardiovascular disease is a common cause of morbidity and mortality among the general population, with well-defined risk factors (e.g., diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, cigarette smoking, genetic predisposition). Clinical data evaluating the association between the aforementioned risk factors and the development of atherosclerosis and subsequent cardiovascular disease are substantial; however, these risk factors may only partially explain the high prevalence of cardiovascular disease. The presence of Chlamydia pneumoniae within atherosclerotic lesions has been documented and may be an additional risk factor for the development and progression of cardiovascular disease. CONCLUSIONS: The results of primary and secondary prevention trials have shown conflicting evidence with regard to the beneficial effects of antibiotic therapy to reduce cardiovascular events. Currently, the lack of certainty in published data does not support the use of antibiotics for the prevention of cardiovascular disease. Clinicians should continue to emphasize interventions proven to reduce adverse cardiovascular events such as smoking cessation, reduction of hyperlipidemia, and control of hypertension.     

Prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV infection in Pacific countries

Introduction: A generalized epidemic of HIV infection has been evolving in Papua New Guinea over the last decade, whereas in other Pacific Island countries and territories (PICT) HIV transmission has generally been less widespread. Programmes to detect HIV infection in pregnant women and to prevent mother to child transmission (MTCT) during either delivery or breast‐feeding can decrease the incidence of infection in infants. The limited health infrastructure present in some PICT may delay the implementation of effective programmes to decrease MTCT of HIV. Methods: We used a standardized questionnaire to survey health‐care providers in 22 PICT for information on the epidemiology of HIV infection and strategies used during 2004 to prevent MTCT of HIV infection in their country. We supplemented these survey responses with data obtained from regional organizations supporting national responses to HIV. Results: We obtained responses from 21 PICT. The reported prevalence of known HIV infection was >150 per 100 000 persons in Papua New Guinea, approximately 100 per 100 000 persons in French Polynesia, Guam, New Caledonia and Tuvalu and <50 per 100 000 persons in the remaining 14 PICT. Other than in Papua New Guinea, where an estimated 500 pregnant women had HIV infection diagnosed in 2004, reported HIV infection among pregnant women was rare. Ten PICT reported that an HIV antibody test was offered as a routine component of antenatal care and 11 reported that antiretroviral medications were available for the prevention of MTCT of HIV infection. Conclusion: The prevalence of HIV infection differs greatly between PICT with a varying risk of MTCT of HIV infection. Successful prevention of MTCT of HIV infection throughout the PICT will require improved uptake of antenatal HIV antibody testing and better access to antiretroviral medications.     

Spatiotemporal mapping the neural correlates of acupuncture with MEG

Acupuncture is an ancient Eastern healing modality with putative therapeutic applications. Unfortunately, little is known about the central mechanisms by which acupuncture may exert its effects. In this study, 16 [corrected] healthy subjects were evaluated with magnetoencephalography (MEG) to map the location and timing of brain activity during low-frequency electroacupuncture (EA) and mechanical, noninsertive, sham acupuncture (SA) given at acupoint PC-6. Both EA and SA evoked brain responses that localized to contralateral primary somatosensory (SI) cortex. However, initial responses for EA peaked slightly earlier than those for SA and were located inferiorly within SI. Average equivalent current dipole strength was stronger (particularly at latencies >60 ms) for SA. These spatiotemporal differences between activations elicited by EA and SA are likely attributable to stimulus modality (electrical versus mechanical) and differences in the underlying somatosensory fibers transmitting these signals. The present data confirm that acupuncture modulates activity within somatosensory cortex, providing support for previous studies that suggest that the therapeutic effects of acupuncture are linked to SI modulation. Thus, MEG provides excellent spatiotemporal characterization of the somatosensory component of acupuncture, and future studies can contrast derived brain response parameters in healthy controls with those found in a diseased state.     

Arsenic Fractionation and Bioaccessibility in Two Alkaline Texas Soils Incubated with Sodium Arsenate

Elevated arsenic (As) concentrations in urban soils with prolonged arsenical pesticide application history have increased the risk associated with accidental hand-to-mouth soil ingestion by children. Earlier work by the authors suggested that the conservative statement of 100% As bioaccessibility in soils was not valid for a set of acidic soils incubated with sodium arsenate. In this study, two alkaline Texas soils incubated with a commonly used As pesticide (sodium arsenate) were evaluated for their potential in reducing soil As bioaccessibility. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of incubation time and As load on soil As fractionation and bioaccessibility. Soils were subjected to a sequential As fractionation scheme, and bioaccessible As was quantified using an in vitro stomach phase test. Results showed a reduction in the water-soluble As fraction with incubation time (after 4 months), which remained unchanged after 12 months. This reduction with time was accompanied by an increase in the NaOH- and H₂SO₄-extractable As fractions, suggesting As sorption by amorphous Fe/Al hydroxides and/or Ca/Mg compounds, respectively. Organic/sulfides-bound As increased with incubation time after 12 months but not after 4 months of incubation. The aging effect was also observed with the amount of bioaccessible As at all As loads, showing significant positive correlations with the water-extractable and exchangeable As fractions. Bioaccessible As concentrations even after 12 months of incubation were not significantly reduced, suggesting that natural attenuation might prove inadequate to control As bioaccessibility in these alkaline soils.     

Antagonistic Actinomycetes Mediated Resistance in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Solanum lycopersicon</Emphasis> Mill. Against <Emphasis Type="Italic">Rhizoctonia solani</Emphasis> Kühn

Actinomycetes are a major group of beneficial microbes, which can be explored as spanking alternative to chemical fungicides for providing defense against phytopathogens. Rhizoctonia solani is a major havoc causing severe loss to many crops. Biological measures for fungal disease management are desired over the available chemical/synthetic fungicides owing to their safety towards non-target organisms. In the present study, 34 actinomycetes were isolated from vermicompost. Out of them, twelve revealed antifungal activity related to Indole acetic acid (IAA) production, siderophores and plant growth promotion. Under greenhouse and field conditions, these potent strains remarkably enhanced yield attributes and disease diminution as compared to untreated control. A significant disease reduction of 47–63 % against R. solani was observed in tomato plants pretreated with actinomycetes. Furthermore, induction in defense related enzymes such as peroxidase, polyphenol oxidase, phenylalanine ammonia lyase, accumulation of phenolics and flavonoids were also observed in actinomycetes treated plants. Morphological and molecular characterization analysis identified these potent isolates as Streptomyces sp. NBM3, Streptomyces sp. NBM2, Streptomyces sp. NBM1, Streptomyces sp. NBM12 and Streptomyces sp. NBM8. The present findings suggest that these microbes can be utilized for significant enhancement of plant growth and augmentation of defense related enzymes in order to cope up with R. solani induced stress, thereby contributing to crop health.