An extensive, although largely forgotten, literature addresses the utility of adjunctive corticosteroid therapy in the management of tuberculosis. Corticosteroid therapy probably improves neurological outcomes of, and decreases mortality due to, tuberculous meningitis of moderate severity. Although therapy for tuberculous pericarditis is simplified (with less need for operative intervention) by adjunctive corticosteroid administration and there are fewer deaths, the incidence of subsequent constriction is not changed. The signs and symptoms of typical reactivation tuberculous pneumonia, tuberculous pleurisy, and probably primary tuberculous disease (with lymphadenopathy) seem to decrease rapidly with corticosteroid therapy, although no differences in final outcomes have been observed. Corticosteroid regimens used in most studies varied greatly in duration and dosage and generally caused significant side effects. Corticosteroids do not appear to diminish the efficacy of adequate antimycobacterial therapy. Adjunctive corticosteroid therapy appears to offer significant short-term but (other than for tuberculous meningitis and effusive pericarditis) minimal long-term benefit for patients with tuberculosis.

TitleHeavy fragment production cross sections from 1.05 GeV/nucleon 56Fe in C, Al, Cu, Pb and CH2 targets GeV/nucleon Fe projectiles incident on H, C, Al, Cu, and Pb nuclei.The energy region covered by this experiment is critical for an understanding of galactic cosmic ray propagation and space radiation biophysics. Surviving primary beam particles and fragments with charges from 12 to 25 produced within a forward cone of half-angle 61 milliradians were detected using a silicon detector telescope to identify their charge, and the cross sections were calculated after correction of the measured yields for finite target thickness effects. The cross sections are compared to model calculations and to previous measurements. Cross sections for the production of fragments with even-numbered nuclear charges are seen to be enhanced in almost all cases.

This report provides the radiation dose assessments for the Department of Defense shore-based population of interest that was potentially exposed to radioactive fallout resulting from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station units' radiological releases that followed the earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011. The associated Department of Defense disaster relief operation to the citizens of Japan was entitled, "Operation Tomodachi." Finalized radiation dose assessments for the population of interest should be loaded into an Operation Tomodachi Registry by the end of 2012, which will support public inquiries.

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