Tuberculosis in HIV positive patients in south africa: A comparative radiological study with HIV negative patients

The radiological appearances of active tuberculosis in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) positive patients was reviewed. A study group of 61 Black HIV positive patients and a control group of 50 Black HIV negative patients were analysed. The chest radiographs of the HIV seropositive group showed a significantly higher percentage of lymphadenopathy (50%), pleural effusions (38%) and miliary (8%) or interstitial patterns (11%), as compared with those in the seronegative group (8%, 20%, 0% and 4% respectively). Cavitation (38%) and atelectasis (31%) were less common in the seropositive group than in the seronegative group (82% in each category). Thus in an endemic TB environment an awareness of this difference in appearances will allow the radiologist to alert the referring clinician to the possibility of concomitant HIV seropositivity.     

Autologous splenic implantation in pigs. A comparison of two methods

Two methods of autologous splenic implantation, with sliced or with minced splenic tissue, were compared in six pigs. The two procedures were carried out simultaneously in each pig and the splenic remnants were surgically removed three months later. These remnants were histomorphometrically quantified by point counting. Statistical analysis showed the mincing procedure to be significantly superior, since 33% of the originally implanted tissue remained, in contrast to 21% of sliced, implanted tissue. At microscopy the tissue remaining after both procedures was in all cases indistinguishable from normal pig spleen. No necrotic splenic tissue was found. The authors conclude that minced tissue and omental pouch technique are preferable for autologous splenic implantation.     

Biological activity of catecholamines covalently linked to synthetic polymers: proof of immobilized drug theory.

l-Isoproterenol was covalently coupled via an azo linkage to soluble copolypeptides of molecular weight 1500 and 10,000 containing an aromatic amine. The polymeric azo-isoproterenol derivatives were purified by gel chromatography which reduced contamination by the parent isoproterenol to undetectable levels (i.e., less than 0.01%) and by 6-aminoisoproterenol to less than 0.4%. Both polymeric isoproterenol derivatives were found to elicit positive chronotropic responses in isolated perfused guinea pig hearts. The mean effective doses (ED50S) for the 1500 and 10,000 molecular weight derivatives were within 1.3 and 2.0 orders of magnitude, respectively, of the ED50 of l-isoproterenol. The responses cannot be attributed to free isoproterenol because this drug could not be detected in our preparations. Neither can the observed biological activity be attributed to 6-aminoisoproterenol, since this compound's dose-response is shifted 3 orders of magnitude to the right of l-isoproterenol and 1-2 orders of magnitude to the right of the polymeric derivatives. Inotropic response decay times in isolated cat papillary muscles following washouts indicate that the polymer-bound drug does not diffuse into the muscle tissues. We feel that our findings demonstrate that under controlled conditions the catecholamines can retain biological activity while covalently bound to a polymeric support.     

Informal caregivers’ experiences of caring for persons with dementia in Estonia: A narrative study

This paper presents the results of a qualitative study aimed at exploring the experiences and needs of informal caregivers of persons with dementia and identifying caregiver expectations for support. The research was based on phenomenological and social constructionist approaches; it also took experience‐centred and culturally oriented approaches to narratives. It was conducted in Estonia in 2017 by means of unstructured in‐depth interviews with 16 informal caregivers who had relatives with dementia. The narrative approach used in this study proved to be an appropriate and valuable method to understand the situations of the caregivers of the people with dementia, in identifying their needs and expectations, and in developing social understanding for caregivers. The results are divided under four thematic headings: awareness of dementia; process of caregiving and different caregiving roles; influence of caregiving on personal life; and expectations of empowerment. We found that it is necessary to raise public awareness of dementia and develop person‐centred support services for the people living with dementia.     

Relationships between pre-ischemic ATP and glycogen content and post-ischemic recovery of rat heart

The effect of depletion of energy stores of rat hearts on their resistance to a total of 25 min ischemia was investigated by using a 31P-NMR method. Three experimental groups were compared: (1) pyruvate-perfused hearts depleted of adenine nucleotides (35% of normal) by 2-deoxyglucose (DG) treatment and containing deoxyglucose-6-phosphate (c. 40 mumol/g dry wt); (2) hearts partially depleted of glycogen stores (40 to 50% of initial) by long-term (2h) perfusion with pyruvate; (3) glucose perfused (11 nM) hearts with normal ATP and glycogen contents. By the end of ischemia the intracellular pH was decreased by 0.33, 0.90 and 1.40 units, respectively. Time to peak of ischemic contracture increased in this series from 3 to 18 and 24 min, respectively. At the peak of ischemic contracture ATP content was c. 30 to 40% (6 to 8 mumol/g dry wt) of normal value in all three groups. Reperfusion of hearts resulted in development of significant reperfusion contracture in glucose-perfused hearts and minor contracture in other series. Recovery of high energy phosphates and cardiac work index in DG-treated, glycogen-depleted and glucose-perfused hearts were: for phosphocreatine (PCr), 72, 102 and 83%; for ATP, 29, 47 and 56% and for cardiac work, 66, 78 and 24%, respectively. Recovery of cardiac work did not correlate linearly with tissue ATP. These data demonstrate that post-ischemic recovery of the contractile function of isovolumic heart may be dissociated from pre-ischemic myocardial ATP and glycogen contents. This dissociation can be explained by the two major factors: (1) the contribution of ischemic acidosis and catabolites accumulation to the cell damage and (2) by ATP compartmentation.