The efficacy and safety of azithromycin and penicillin V in the treatment of acute streptococcal pharyngitis/tonsillitis in paediatric patients were compared in a double-blind, double-dummy prospective study. A total of 489 children (age range, 2-13 years) were randomized to receive treatment with penicillin V (125-250 mg 4 x daily for 10 days) or azithromycin in an oral suspension (10 or 20 mg/kg 1 x daily for 3 days). Only patients with baseline cultures positive for Streptococcus pyogenes and complete clinical and microbiological assessments at the end of the therapy and follow-up one month later were included in the efficacy analysis. A satisfactory clinical response (cure or improvement) was recorded in 99% of the 10 mg/kg azithromycin group, 100% of the 20 mg/kg azithromycin group, and 97% of the penicillin V group at the end of therapy (day 12-14). At the follow-up evaluation (day 28-30), relapse rates in patients cured or improved at the end of therapy were 6%, 5%, and 2%, respectively. Bacteriological eradication rates at the end of therapy were 98% in both azithromycin groups and 92% in patients who received penicillin V (p = 0.011); pathogen recurrence was recorded at follow-up in 4% of the 20 mg/kg azithromycin group and in 6% of both the 10 mg/kg azithromycin and penicillin V groups. Treatment-related adverse events, the majority of mild to moderate severity, occurred in 13% of patients in the 20 mg/kg azithromycin group, 9% in the 10 mg/kg azithromycin group, and 5% in the penicillin V group. Azithromycin in a dosage of 10 or 20 mg/kg/day one daily for three days was as safe and effective as penicillin V administered four times daily in the treatment of paediatric patients with acute pharyngitis/tonsillitis.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

Background: The level of ascitic fluid total protein (AFTP) is used to differentiate between transudative and exudative ascites. Ascites patients having portal hypertension are considered to be transudative in nature. The traditional transudate/exudate system of ascitic fluid classification based on ascitic fluid total protein concentration is sometimes misleading in patients of ascites with portal hypertension. Now a days SAAG (serum ascites albumin gradient) has become more acceptable in differentiating patients presenting with ascites due to portal hypertension. The objective of this prospective study was to correlate serum ascites albumin gradient with ascitic fluid total protein in patients of ascites having portal hypertension.Methods: 100 cases of ascites are selected randomly. All the provisional diagnosis are confirmed with the help of different biochemical, pathological and radiological investigations.Results: SAAG (≥1.1gm/dl) was more sensitive and specific (94% and 90% respectively) than ascitic fluid total protein concentration of <2.5 gm/dl (78% and 50% respectively) in detecting portal hypertension and had higher positive and negative predicative values (97% and 82% respectively) compared to AFTP concentration (85% and 38% respectively).Conclusions: Considering the advantages of measuring the serum-ascites albumin gradient in illuminating the pathogenesis of ascites and the ease with which this test can be done, it is suggested that this parameter should replace the traditional parameter of ascitic fluid total protein level in the routine analysis of ascites fluid and classification of ascites.

Phonosemantics is a school of thought which believes that each sound or phoneme carries a specific psychological impression allotted by nature. And these psychological impressions were used to evolve different languages. Work has been done on this ground, but there is still scope for further research into the subject. The paper presents a new hypothesis, explaining the psychological representations of all the important IPA alphabets. The paper proposes a model of psychological mind, on which all the basic phonemes are placed, enabling us to understand the basic relationship between psychological semantic values and their phonetic values. To prove the correctness of the allocation, the paper applies these semantic features to 245 words of different languages, along with some additional evidences. The paper resolves the confusion regarding the same name for different objects, different names for the same object, the question of arbitrariness, and other queries raised by modern linguists.

Background: Increased level of total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol disturbs the endothelial function that may cause various cardio vascular disease and coronary heart disease. In addition, it can be expected, that hypercholesterolemia may unfavourably influence the course of the acute myocardial infarction. The aim of the study was to check whether patients with lipid levels above normal first 24 hours of myocardial infarction have an unfavorable clinical outcome. Methods: Study was designed on 60 patients (46-men and14-women) of different age groups admitted with myocardial infarction within first 24 hours of onset of symptoms. 20 normal healthy individuals with normal ECG and no family history of coronary heart disease were selected as control. The clinical history and physical examination confirmed the AMI by the cardiac specific enzyme Creatine Kinase (CK) and Creatine Kinase myocardial b fraction (CK-MB), Troponin (T) and ECG. Blood samples were taken within 24 hours of acute myocardial infarction. Serum concentration of TC, TG, HDL-C were estimated by semi auto analyser. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by Tukey's post hoc test was done to evaluate the association between the mean values of serum samples and clinical outcome. A probability value p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.