Planning, conduct and evaluation of controlled clinical trials

The controlled clinical trial is now a well-accepted method of measuring the relative efficacies of different therapeutic regimens for many diseases. Although its usefulness is widely appreciated, there is an insufficient awareness of the rationale and the methodology of the controlled clinical trial - that is, the reasons underlying it and the procedures involved in the execution. By taking examples from the field of pulmonary tuberculosis, the issues involved can be clearly set out

Modeling charge transport in Swept Charge Devices for X-ray spectroscopy

We present the formulation of an analytical model which simulates charge transport in Swept Charge Devices (SCDs) to understand the nature of the spectral redistribution function (SRF). We attempt to construct the energy-dependent and position dependent SRF by modeling the photon interaction, charge cloud generation and various loss mechanisms viz., recombination, partial charge collection and split events. The model will help in optimizing event selection, maximize event recovery and improve spectral modeling for Chandrayaan-2 (slated for launch in 2014). A proto-type physical model is developed and the algorithm along with its results are discussed in this paper.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures, Proc. SPIE 8453, High Energy, Optical, and Infrared Detectors for Astronomy

Examination of smears for tubercle bacilli by Fluorescence Microscopy

IN underdeveloped countries, laboratory facilities for the bacteriological diagnosis of tuberculosis are at present, very limited. Cultural methods are unlikely to be used on a large scale for many years to come. It is, therefore, important to investigate the most economical method of examining smears for tubercle bacilli. Fluorescence microscopy was introduced by Hagemann (1937) and has since been described by many authors, including Tanner (1941, 1948), Lind and Shaughnessy (1941), Lempert (1944), Norman and Jelks (1945), Clegg and Foster-Carter (1946), Wilson (1952), Von Haebler and Murray (1954), and Needham (1957). The great advantage claimed for this method is that stained bacilli can be detected using a much lower magnification than with the usual Ziehl-Neelsen method. Considerable time is saved in examining smears and larger areas can be searched. The method has not been widely employed for two reasons. In the first place, the light source must be very bright and many of the optical systems described previously have only supplied sufficient light if the equipment was used in a darkened room. Secondly, some workers (Ritterhoff and Bowman, 1945; Kuster, 1939; Holm and Plum, 1943) consider that false positive results can be obtained, since some smears may contain small naturally fluorescent particles which can be confused with bacilli. Equipment for fluorescence microscopy that can be used in normal daylight has been in use at the Tuberculosis Chemotherapy Centre, Madras, for over two years. When it was first introduced, a comparison between this method and the conventional Ziehl-Neelsen method was undertaken to test their relative sensitivities, and to see whether fluorescence microscopy yielded false positive results. The results of this comparison are described

A qualitative test for the determination of isoniazid acetylator phenotype

A qualitative test procedure for phenotyping isoniazid acetylators is described. It is based on a colour reaction which depends on the free sulphadimidine content in the total urine excreted over any one-hour period between 21 and 26 hours following a dose of sulphadimidine 1.0 or 1.5 g. depending on body-weight. The test correctly classified 96 per cent of 109 slow and 96 per cent of 68 rapid inactivators. Storage of urine samples at room-temperature up to 14 days did not affect the accuracy of the results

Unusually heavy catches of ribbon fish close to the shore at Visakhapatnam

Very heavy catches of ribbonfish were observed quite close to the shore at Visakhapatnam for a very short duration. Observations were made on this fishery and certain important biological aspects Ribbonfish do not generally come very close to the shore. As such they are vei7 rarely caught in the shore-seines. They are normally caught in boatseines operating 3-4 km away from the shore and in trawl nets. It is possible that the ribbon fish shoal after spawning hit the shore chasing their food consisting of Stolephorus sp, Leiognathus sp. Etc. Which might have been moving closer to the Shore to avoid the cold upwelled water

Tunneling and Non-Universality in Continuum Percolation Systems

The values obtained experimentally for the conductivity critical exponent in numerous percolation systems, in which the interparticle conduction is by tunnelling, were found to be in the range of $t_0$ and about $t_0+10$, where $t_0$ is the universal conductivity exponent. These latter values are however considerably smaller than those predicted by the available ``one dimensional"-like theory of tunneling-percolation. In this letter we show that this long-standing discrepancy can be resolved by considering the more realistic "three dimensional" model and the limited proximity to the percolation threshold in all the many available experimental studiesComment: 4 pages, 2 figure

Classification of Subjects as Slow or Rapid Inactivators of Isoniazid Oral Administration of a Slow-release. Preparation of Isoniazid and Determination of the Ratio of Acetyisoniazid to Isoniazid in Urine

A simple method for classifying subjects as slow or rapid inactivators of isoniazid has beenevaluated on large numbers of patients. The method consists of determining the ratio of acetylisoniazid to isoniazid in a 24-26 h. urine collection following the oral administration of a slow-release preparation of isoniazid 30 mg./kg. body-weight. In a group of 101 patients, there was 100 per cent agreement between the classification based on this method and that based on a standard method, consisting of estimation of the serum isoniazid concentration, 4½ h. after an intramuscular dose of ordinary isoniazid 3 mg./kg. body-weight. Subsequent studies in other patients have confirmed that the method is efficient, and demonstrated that the classification is highly reproducible

Determination of Acetylator Phenotype Based on the Ratio of Acetylisoniazid to Isoniazid in Urine Following an Oral Dose of Ordinary Isoniazid

A simple method for classifying subjects as slow or rapid inactivators of isoniazid has been described. A uniform dose of 300 mg. of ordinary isoniazid was administered orally to 150 patients with pulmonary tuberculosis. The ratio of acetylisoniazid to isoniazid was determined in urine collected at hourly intervals from 4 to 8 h. At each hour the distribution of the ratios was clearly bimodal. The test based on the 5-6 h. urine collection is recommended for its convenience and excellent discrimination between slow and rapid inactivators. The agreement between this method and a ‘standard method was of the order of 97 per cent

Inactivators of Isoniazid, Based on The Ratio of The Urinary Excretion of Acetylisoniazid To Isoniazid

Following an intramuscular injection of isoniazid 3 mg/kg body-weight, the urinary excretion of isoniazid and acetylisoniazid during the periods 0-1, 1-2, 2-3 and 3-4 h was determined for 124 patients with pulmonary tuberculosis. On the same occasion, the serum isoniazid concentration at 4½ h was determined by microbiologic assay. The ratios of acetylisoniazid to isoniazid in the urine collections at 2, 3 and 4 h. were bimodally distributed. Rules were derived from these. ratios for classifying subjects as slow or rapid inactivators of isoniazid. There was 100% agreement between the classification based on each of these ratios and that based on the serum isoniazid concentration at 4½ h