Operational effectiveness of single-dose nevirapine in preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV.

Objective: To determine the operational effectiveness of the South African programme for preventing mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV in reducing rates of early transmission of infection.

Methods: Participants were mother-infant pairs who participated in the South African PMTCT programme between October 2002 and November 2004. This was a prospective cohort study.

High levels of risk behavior among people living with HIV Initiating and waiting to start antiretroviral therapy in Cape Town South Africa.

Baseline data were collected in Cape Town during 2006 to study if patients on combination antiretroviral therapy (ART) experience decreased inhibition to avoid risky sexual behavior. A total of 924 HIV-positive individuals were recruited; 520 who initiated ART within 3 months and 404 waiting for ART. Nearly half of men (40.

Distinct cardiodynamic and molecular characteristics during early and late stages of sepsis-induced myocardial dysfunction.

We hypothesized that progressive decline in myocardial performance would correlate with upregulation of markers for apoptotic mechanisms following increased duration of polymicrobial sepsis in the rat. Male Sprague-Dawley rats (350-400 g) were randomized into sham, 1-, 3- and 7-day sepsis groups. Each septic rat received 200 mg/kg cecal inoculum intraperitoneally (i.

Community-based situation analysis of maternal and neonatal care in South Africa to explore factors that impact utilization of maternal health services.

This community situational analysis determined factors impacting the utilization of maternal health services in South Africa. Quantitative and qualitative research methods were used, including semistructured household interviews, case studies of women with no antenatal care and/or home birth, and verbal/social autopsies of maternal and infant deaths, conducted in three diverse sites across the country. Data analysis used quantitative statistics for the semistructured interviews and a qualitative thematic content approach for the case studies and verbal/social autopsies.

Apoptotic cardiomyocyte hypertrophy during sepsis and septic shock results from prolonged exposure to endothelin precursor.

Septic shock is a complex cardiovascular dysfunction which leads to regional circulatory alterations and multi-organ dysfunction in humans and animal models. To elucidate the role of stress-activated signaling molecules in the regulation of myocardial dysfunction, we have developed and standardized isolated ventricular myocyte techniques. These techniques allow the assessment of cardiodynamics at cellular (ventricular myocyte) level.

The effects of dietary lycopene supplementation on human seminal plasma.

Objective: To investigate whether lycopene levels in blood and seminal plasma increase after dietary supplementation with a natural source of the compound, and whether any potential increase of lycopene levels in semen translates into increased free-radical trapping capacity in the seminal plasma.

Methods: Reactive oxygen species are detrimental to the health and function of spermatozoa. Semen contains enzymatic and non-enzymatic defence mechanisms to combat such species, and lycopene, a dietary antioxidant, forms part of the non-enzymatic arm.

Tc-99m ciprofloxacin scans for detection of tubercular bone infection.

Tc-99m MDP and Tc-99m ciprofloxacin scans were performed in 14 patients with suspected tubercular bone disease and in 2 cases of nontubercular bone infection. In 5 patients the findings were true negative. There were no false positives and 1 was false negative.

Operational effectiveness and 36 week HIV-free survival in the South African programme to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV-1.

Objective: Previous studies on the operational effectiveness of programmes to reduce transmission of HIV from mother-to-child (PMTCT) in Africa have generally been hospital-based pilot studies with short follow-up periods.

Method: Prospective cohort study to evaluate the routine operational effectiveness of the South African National PMTCT Programme, primarily measured by HIV-free survival at 36 weeks post-delivery. Three of eighteen pilot sites participating in the programme were selected as they reflected differences in circumstances, such as HIV prevalence, socioeconomic status and rural-urban location.

The course of bipolar disorder in rural India.

Aim: To examine the naturalistic course of bipolar disorder in a rural, community-based, partially treated cohort.

Methods: All patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder during an epidemiological survey (n=34) in a rural area in India were followed longitudinally using standardized instruments, and the life-chart method used to examine their course.

Results: Seven (26%) of the 27 patients evaluated directly had not received any treatment whatsoever.

"Nothing new": responses to the introduction of antiretroviral drugs in South Africa.

Interviews conducted in South Africa found that awareness of antiretroviral therapy was generally poor. Antiretroviral drugs were not perceived as new, but one of many alternative therapies for HIV/AIDS. Respondents had more detailed knowledge of indications, effects and how to access alternative treatments, which is bolstered by the active promotion and legitimization of alternative treatments.

Prostate cells exposed to lycopene in vitro liberate lycopene-enriched exosomes.

Objectives: To investigate whether cellular exosomes liberated by prostatic cell lines in culture might be acting as the transport vehicles for the dietary antioxidant lycopene, known to be sequestered in the prostate gland and to reduce the risk of developing benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and prostate cancer; its subsequent secretion into seminal plasma also confers protection to spermatozoa against oxidative free-radical damage.

Materials And Methods: Using benign and malignant human prostatic cell culture models, we assessed the role that their exosomes (the putative in vitro analogues of prostasomes) might have in the transport of lycopene.

Results: Cells exposed to lycopene in vitro accumulated the molecule and secrete lycopene-enriched exosomes.

Responding to the crisis in sub-Saharan Africa: the role of nutrition.

In the chapter dealing with education and health, the report of the influential Commission for Africa prioritises basic health systems, HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. In contrast, nutrition is given less than half a page and is reduced to parasite control and micronutrient support. Such neglect of nutrition is hard to understand in the context of increasing hunger and malnutrition across the continent.

A longitudinal qualitative study of infant-feeding decision making and practices among HIV-positive women in South Africa.

This study examined the challenges that HIV-positive women face at different stages of early infant feeding using a longitudinal, qualitative design. The study explored factors influencing infant-feeding decision-making and behavior of HIV-positive mothers and identified characteristics of women and their environments that contributed to success in maintaining exclusivity of their infant feeding practices. The study was undertaken at 3 sites in South Africa.

WHO guidelines for severe malnutrition: are they feasible in rural African hospitals?

Aims: To assess the feasibility of implementing and sustaining the WHO guidelines for inpatient management of severe malnutrition in under-resourced rural South African hospitals, and to identify any constraints.

Intervention: Three 2-day training workshops were held in 1998, followed by monthly 1-day visits for 5 months, ending in March 1999, in two rural district hospitals with limited resources in Eastern Cape Province, South Africa.

Methods: A 12-month observational study was conducted from April 2000 to April 2001 in Mary Theresa and Sipetu hospitals (Eastern Cape Province, South Africa), including 1011 child-hours of observation on the wards, medical record reviews, interviews with carers and staff, and inventories of essential supplies.

Order-parameter-based Monte Carlo simulation of crystallization.

A Monte Carlo simulation method is presented for simulation of phase transitions, with emphasis on the study of crystallization. The method relies on a random walk in order parameter Phi(q(N)) space to calculate a free energy profile between the two coexisting phases. The energy and volume data generated over the course of the simulation are subsequently reweighed to identify the precise conditions for phase coexistence.

Improved density of states Monte Carlo method based on recycling of rejected states.

In this paper a new algorithm is presented that improves the efficiency of Wang and Landau algorithm or density of states (DOS) Monte Carlo simulations by employing rejected states. The algorithm is shown to have a performance superior to that of the original Wang-Landau [F. Wang and D.

Can lycopene be delivered into semen via prostasomes? In vitro incorporation and retention studies.

Lycopene (C(40) H(56)) is a highly lipophilic antioxidant found in human semen in nanomolar concentrations. It has been shown to be one of the most potent carotenoid antioxidant in various human studies. Prostasomes are organelles secreted by glandular prostatic epithelial cells and are known to play an important role in fertility and prostate cancer.

Effect of the HIV epidemic on infant feeding in South Africa: "When they see me coming with the tins they laugh at me".

Objective: To explore how the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic has affected the infant-feeding experiences of HIV-positive mothers in South Africa.

Methods: This was a qualitative interview study within a prospective cohort study. We purposively selected a subsample of 40 women from a larger cohort of 650 HIV-positive mothers for in-depth interviews.

Flow-cytometric analysis of reactive oxygen species in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of patients with thyroid dysfunction.

Background: Thyroid hormones are major regulators of energy metabolism and increased levels of the hormones (hyperthyroidism) results in an increase in the metabolic rate. Thyroid dysfunction causing alteration in hormone secretion leads to perturbations in the metabolic status. The hypermetabolic state may cause increased generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), leading to oxidative stress in these patients.

Key challenges to achieving health for all in an inequitable society: the case of South Africa.

The health inequalities in South Africa are rapidly worsening. Since 1994, the new democratic government has initiated a number of large-scale policies and programs with explicit pro-equity objectives that have improved access to health care and other social resources. However, these policies and programs have been constrained by macroeconomic policies that dictate fiscal restraint and give priority to technical rather than developmental considerations.