Hypercalcemia in patients with newly diagnosed tuberculosis in Abuja, Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of hypercalcemia has not previously been determined in newly diagnosed tuberculosis (TB) patients in Nigeria. OBJECTIVE: To determine the incidence of hypercalcemia in Nigerian patients with newly diagnosed TB before the commencement of anti-TB treatment. METHODS: The present study is a prospective examination of consecutive patients with newly diagnosed TB confirmed by bacteriological and/or histological methods at the National Hospital (Abuja, Nigeria) from January 2004 to December 2004. RESULTS: Of 120 patients (70 males and 50 females), 70 had pulmonary TB, 10 had pulmonary and pleural TB, 20 had pleural TB without radiographic evidence of lung involvement, 18 had various other forms of extrapulmonary TB and two had disseminated TB. The mean age of the patients was 38.3+/-12.0 years. The mean albumin-adjusted serum calcium concentration was 2.53+/-0.22 mmol/L. Hypercalcemia was present in 27.5% of the patients, but only 12% of these patients showed symptoms of hypercalcemia. The type of TB and, in the case of pulmonary TB, the extent of lung involvement, had no effect on the serum calcium concentration. CONCLUSION: Hypercalcemia is not uncommon among Nigerian patients with newly diagnosed TB, but it is rarely symptomatic.

Optimal generation scheduling based on AHP/ANP.

This paper proposes an application of the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and analytic network process (ANP) for enhancing the selection of generating power units for appropriate price allocation in a competitive power environment. The scheme addresses adequate ranking, prioritizing, and scheduling of units before optimizing the pricing of generation units to meet a given demand. In the deregulated environment, the classical optimization techniques will be insufficient for the above-mentioned purpose. Hence, by incorporating the interaction of factors such as load demand, generating cost curve, bid/sale price, unit up/down cost, and the relative importance of different generation units, the scheme can be implemented to address the technical and nontechnical constraints in unit commitment problems. This information is easily augmented with the optimization scheme for an effective optimal decision. The scheme proposed is tested using the IEEE 39-bus test system.

Double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomised cross-over clinical trial of NIPRISAN in patients with Sickle Cell Disorder.

The study was undertaken to determine the safety and efficacy of NIPRISAN, a phytomedicine, developed for the management of patients with Sickle Cell Disorder (SCD). The study design is a placebo-controlled double blind cross-over trial. Eighty-two (82) patients with SCD were recruited and randomised into two groups. An initial 4 month pre-trial study was undertaken to determine the similarity of the groups. The main study was conducted over a twelve-month period with crossover at six months. Safety of the drug was assessed clinically and biochemically. NIPRISAN significantly (P < 0.01) reduced the frequency of SCD crisis associated with severe pains. Acute toxicity to the liver assessed by the activities of liver enzymes, indicate that NIPRISAN is safe. Renal function assessed by the serum levels of creatinine and blood urea nitrogen remained normal. Both the clinical and laboratory results of the present phase IIB (pivot) clinical study suggest that NIPRISAN is a safe and efficacious phytomedicine for the management of patients with Sickle Cell Disorder.