Vessels in femoral triangle in a rare relationship

The femoral region of the thigh is utilised for various clinical procedures, both open and closed, particularly in respect to arterial and venous cannulations. A rare vascular pattern was observed during the dissection of the femoral region on both sides of the intact formaldehyde-preserved cadaver of a 42-year-old Indian man from West Bengal. The relationships and patterns found were contrary to the belief that the femoral vein is always medial to the artery, just below the inguinal ligament and the common femoral artery. The femoral artery crossed the vein just deep to the inguinal ligament so that the femoral vein was lying deep to the artery at the base of the femoral triangle. Just deep to the inguinal ligament, the profunda femoris artery (deep femoral artery) arose from the femoral artery, and the long saphenous vein drained into the femoral vein. The embryological and clinical correlations are discussed.

Median defect in the skull

A median defect in the region of the root of the nose, in between the two orbits, was discovered in the dried skull of a 44-year-old female cadaver, during routine undergraduate teaching. The two small nasal bones articulated with each other and the cribriform plate of the ethmoid. The lacrimal bones and frontal processes of the maxillary bones were also deformed. We propose that the median defect was due to abnormality at the fonticulus frontalis, the prenasal space and the interorbitonasal part of the nasal capsule, as well as defects in the ossification of the maxilla, lacrimal and frontal bones.

Sensitivity of a whole-blood interferon-gamma assay among patients with pulmonary tuberculosis and variations in T-cell responses during anti-tuberculosis treatment

BACKGROUND

Interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) assays are new tests for tuberculosis (TB) infection, and T-cell responses may be correlated with antigen burden. However, it is unclear if IFN-gamma assays can be used to monitor response to TB treatment.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We measured T-cell responses to TB specific antigens in 60 Indian patients with microbiologically confirmed active pulmonary tuberculosis, before, during, and after TB treatment. Most patients were hospitalized and had moderate to advanced disease. IFN-gamma responses were measured using the commercial whole-blood Quanti-FERON-TB Gold In Tube (QFT-G) assay at three time-points: at diagnosis (N = 60), after 2 months of intensive treatment (N = 47), and at 6 months (treatment completion) (N = 39).

RESULTS

At baseline, 44 of 60 (73%) patients were positive by QFT-G. At the second time-point, 38 of 47 (81%) patients were positive. At treatment completion, 31 of 39 (79%) patients were positive. Changes in IFN-gamma responses over time were highly inconsistent--some individuals showed increases, while others showed decreases or no changes. Although the average IFN-gamma levels decreased slightly during treatment (not significant), the QFT-G sensitivity remained mostly unchanged during therapy.

CONCLUSIONS

Our data suggest that the QFT-G assay has modest sensitivity in patients with moderate to advanced pulmonary disease, but our results do not show a clear correlation between antigen burden and T-cell responses. Further research is needed to understand the kinetics of T-cell responses during TB treatment.

A population based survey of the prevalence and types of glaucoma in rural West Bengal: the West Bengal Glaucoma Study

AIM

To determine (i) the prevalence of glaucoma in people aged > or =50 years, (ii) the proportions of different types of glaucoma, (iii) the distributions of intraocular pressure and vertical cup disc ratio.

METHOD

Population based prevalence survey in rural West Bengal. People aged > or =50 years in randomly selected villages in 24 Parganas South district. The main outcome measures were diagnosis of glaucoma, based on criteria described by the International Society for Geographic and Epidemiological Ophthalmology.

RESULTS

1594 people aged > or =50 years were enumerated in nine villages; 1324 (83.1%) were surveyed and 1269 people adequately examined. 42 definite cases of glaucoma were identified, with prevalence increasing from 2.7% (95% CI 1.7 to 3.7) in people aged 50-59 years to 6.5% (95% CI 0.0 to 14.1) in those aged > or =80 years. The age standardised estimate for the prevalence of all glaucoma in people aged > or =50 years was 3.4%. Only three cases of primary angle closure glaucoma (PACG) were identified, giving a crude ratio of primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) to PACG of more than 10:1. Three people with glaucoma were blind in one eye but none was blind in both eyes.

CONCLUSION

Compared to other surveys of glaucoma in India, the age standardised prevalence observed was less than in Hyderabad, but similar to Tamil Nadu and Dhaka. The ratio of POAG to PACG was much higher than found previously, suggesting that PACG may be less prevalent in Bengalis than in Indian populations living in south India. The authors conclude that ophthalmic services in West Bengal should focus on detecting POAG. Since there is still no satisfactory method of screening for POAG, there is no alternative to case detection (opportunistic screening) in eye clinics.

Reduction of Copper in Porous Matrixes. Stepwise and Autocatalytic Reduction Routes

The reduction of Cu(II) oxide species in siliceous matrixes of different porosity (MFI, FAU, MCM-48) and in alumosilicate MFI was studied by temperature-programmed reduction in hydrogen (TPR), by X-ray absorption fine structure (after stationary hydrogen treatments), and by transmission electron microscopy. It was found that the reduction may proceed in one or in two reduction steps. The two-step scheme known for zeolites was observed also for Cu(II) in siliceous microporous matrixes, with similar temperature of Cu(II) reduction onset as for the alumosilicate MFI. Therefore, the two-step scheme cannot be explained by the stabilization of Cu ions by intra-zeolite electrical fields. CuOx clusters in MCM-48 were reduced in a one-step scheme (similar to bulk CuO) at high Cu content (6 wt %) but in a two-step scheme at low Cu content (1 wt %). The two reduction steps observed with most samples cannot be identified with the transitions of all Cu(II) to Cu(I) and of Cu(I) to Cu(0). Instead, Cu(0) nuclei were observed already at low reduction temperatures and were found to coexist with Cu ions over temperature ranges of different extension. This coexistence range was narrow in materials that favor aggregation of the Cu nuclei into particles: Cu-MCM-48 of low Cu content and Cu-ZSM-5. In the latter, metal segregation from the pore system was found to be accompanied by an autocatalytic initiation of the second reduction step. In the siliceous microporous matrixes, the Cu(0) nuclei were observed to coexist with Cu ions over wide temperature ranges (100 K for MFI) at temperatures far above that of Cu reduction in the bulk oxide. These observations suggest that oligomeric Cu metal nuclei which may have been formed, e.g., at the intersections of the MFI channel system, may be unable to activate hydrogen, which would be required for rapid reduction of the coexisting Cu ions.

Iron store and free radicals in thalassemia

Hyper-ferrous state is the result of multiple transfusions, whereby the iron excess in such conditions may be toxic to the organism. Patients suffering from thalassemia receive multiple transfusions. In the eastern part of India, both β(0)-thalassemia and heterozygous Eβ-thalassemia occur. This paper expresses the hyper-ferrous state, leading to iron overload in these two conditions and also reports the increased generation of free radicals, consequent to the iron overload.

Leaching of As(III) and As(V) from exhausted calsico--a case study

Batch leaching experiments were conducted to estimate the leaching of As(III) and As(V) from exhausted CalSiCo. The leaching of As(III) and As(V) was found to be function of time and concentrations of anions such as Cl-, NO3-, SO4(2-) in extraction fluid. Extraction tests were carried out to determine the maximum leachable concentration under the chosen conditions of leaching medium and leaching time. It has been observed that the leaching of As(III) is more than As(v) in all the cases. Leaching of As(III) and As(v) from exhausted CalSiCo is also carried out in rainwater and in tap water. It is observed that leaching of As is more in rainwater than tap water. Further higher leaching is observed in case of fluids containing chloride compared to those containing nitrate and sulphate.

Women migrant workers' vulnerability to HIV infection in Hong Kong

Research on population mobility and HIV/AIDS risk among migrant populations is quite limited, and research on migrant women workers' vulnerability is further limited. Hong Kong, the Special Administrative Region of China, has currently about 200,000 women migrant workers working as domestic helps. This paper reports migrant women worker's access to AIDS-related health information and health care facilities, perceptions about vulnerability, and risk behaviour profile. Data was collected through a pre-tested questionnaire from a random sample of 2,010 women migrant workers. A majority of the migrant women workers (63.6%) have been living and working in Hong Kong for between 4-10 years. Fifty-four per cent of the respondents felt that being a female they were vulnerable to HIV infection. Overall, the knowledge regarding HIV/AIDS and its route of transmission is inadequate amongst the migrant women workers in Hong Kong. It appears that AIDS-related information education and communication needs of women migrants workers are not met by the current HIV prevention and care activities in Hong Kong. The study indicates that migrant women workers who experienced sexual violence (9%) in Hong Kong perceive themselves to be 'at risk' of HIV infection. Seventy per cent of the respondents reported that they have felt discriminated against in Hong Kong, of which 42% felt discriminated against in Hong Kong hospitals. Addressing discrimination in health care settings is an essential element of AIDS prevention. The discussion urges researchers and policy makers to pay more attention to the vulnerability of migrant women workers.

Purification of pulp and paper mill effluent using Eichornia crassipes

Konark Pulp and Paper Industries Private Limited is a medium size industry producing 1600 m3 of wastewater a day. The existing water treatment system of the industry was found to be ineffective both in performance and economy. In the present study, a new system of treatment has been developed using water hyacinth Eichornia crassipes, coagulation by lime and alum, followed by rapid sand filtration. The performance efficiency of each unit viz. Eichornia treatment; coagulation with lime, with alum, and with lime:alum combinations, and filtration was studied. Water quality parameters considered were Biological Oxygen Demand, Chemical Oxygen Demand, Dissolve Oxygen, Total Dissolved Solids, turbidity, percentage transmission, and water colour. Based on the individual performance of each unit, a continuous system has been designed and was tested. The new system of treatment could treat the wastewater to the discharge standards and also was found economically feasible. Testing culture of fish (tilapia) proved that the treated water could be safely discharged into natural waters. All fish tested, survived and remained healthy throughout the period of testing. Culture of fish further improved the water quality.

Anaerobic treatment of atrazine bearing wastewater

Performance of mixed microbial anaerobic culture in treating synthetic waste-water with high Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and varying atrazine concentration was studied. Performance of hybrid reactors with wood charcoal as adsorbent, with a dose of 10 g/l and 40 g/l, along with the microbial mass was also studied. All the reactors were operated in sequential mode with Hydraulic Retention Time (HRT) of 5 days. In all the cases, COD removal after 5 days was found to be above 81%. Initial COD was above 1,000 mg/l. From a hybrid reactor COD removal after 2 days was observed to be 90%. Atrazine reduction after 5 days by microbial mass alone was 43.8%, 40% and 33.2% with an initial concentration of 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 mg/l respectively. MLSS on all the cases were almost same. Increasing MLSS concentration by about 2 fold did not increase the atrazine removal efficiency significantly. Maximum atrazine removal was observed to be 64% from the hybrid reactor with 10 g/l of wood charcoal and 69.4% from the reactor with 40 g/l of wood charcoal. Atrazine removal from the hybrid reactors after 15 days were observed to be 35.7% and 38.7%, which showed that the higher dose of wood charcoal in hybrid reactor did not improve the atrazine removal efficiency significantly. Specific methanogenic activity test showed no inhibitory effect of atrazine on methane producing bacteria. The performance of anaerobic microorganisms in removing atrazine with no external carbon source and inorganic nitrogen source was studied in batch mode. With an initial concentration of 1.0 mg/l, reduction of atrazine by the anaerobic microorganisms in absence of external carbon source after 35 days was observed to be 61.8% where as in absence of external carbon and inorganic nitrogen source the reduction was only 44.2% after 150 days. Volatilization loss of atrazine was observed to be insignificant.