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Objective: To develop and validate practical prognostic models for death at 14 days and for death or severe disability six months after traumatic brain injury. Design: Multivariable logistic regression to select variables that were independently associated with two patient outcomes. Two models designed: "basic" model (demographic and clinical variables only) and "CT" model (basic model plus results of computed tomography). The models were subsequently developed for high and low-middle income countries separately. Setting: Medical Research Council (MRC) CRASH Trial. Subjects: 10 008 patients with traumatic brain injury. Models externally validated in a cohort of 8509. Results: The basic model included four predictors: age, Glasgow coma scale, pupil reactivity, and the presence of major extracranial injury. The CT model also included the presence of petechial haemorrhages, obliteration of the third ventricle or basal cisterns, subarachnoid bleeding, midline shift, and non-evacuated haematoma. In the derivation sample the models showed excellent discrimination (C statistic above 0.80). The models showed good calibration graphically. The Hosmer-Lemeshow test also indicated good calibration, except for the CT model in low-middle income countries. External validation for unfavourable outcome at six months in high income countries showed that basic and CT models had good discrimination (C statistic 0.77 for both models) but poorer calibration. Conclusion: Simple prognostic models can be used to obtain valid predictions of relevant outcomes in patients with traumatic brain injury.

Objectives: To assess response and toxicity to Imatinib mesylate (Glivec) in Nigerian Patients with chronic myeloid leukemia. Methods: From August 2003 to August 2007, 98 consecutive, consenting patients, 56 (57%) males and 42 (43%) females, median age 36 years (range, 11-65 years) diagnosed with CML, irrespective of disease phase received Imatinib at a dose of 300-600mg/day at the OAU Teaching Hospitals, Nigeria. Response to therapy was assessed by clinical, haematological and cytogenetic parameters. Blood counts were checked every two weeks in the first three months of therapy. Chromosome analysis was repeated sixth monthly. Overall survival (OS) and frequency of complete or major cytogenetic remission (CCR/MCR) were evaluated. Results: Complete haematologic remission was achieved in 64% and 83% of patients at one and three months, respectively. With a median follow-up of 25 months, the rates of CCR and MCR were 59% and 35% respectively. At 12 months of follow-up, OS and progression- free survival (PFS) were 96% and 91%, respectively. Achievement of CR at six months was associated with significantly better survival (p = 0.043).Conclusions: Compared to treatment outcome with conventional chemotherapy and alpha interferon, as previously used in Nigeria, the results obtained with this regimen has established Imatinib as the first-line treatment strategy in patients with CML, as it is in other populations, with minimal morbidity.

We examined retrospectively 44 patients with refractory acute leukemia (acute myeloid leukemia (AML)/acute lymphoblastic leukemia=25/19) who underwent allogeneic transplantation at our center between 11/1990 and 04/2004. The median leukemic blasts was 25% and age 28 years (range, 3-56). Twenty-one patients had untreated relapse, 13 failed reinduction, eight in partial remission and two aplastic. Conditioning was myeloablative using cyclophosphamide, busulfan, total-body irradiation and etoposide (Bu/Cy/VP, n=22; TBI/Cy/VP, n=17; others, n=5) followed by marrow or peripheral blood transplant (n=23/21) from unrelated or related donors (n=28/16). All patients had graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis with cyclosporin and methotrexate. One patient experienced late graft failure. Severe acute-GVHD and chronic-GVHD appeared in eight and 14 patients, respectively. Thirteen patients (30%) remain alive after a median of 25.3 months (range, 2.4-134.1); with 31 deaths, mostly from relapse (n=15) and infections (n=12). Overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) at 5 years was 28 and 26%, respectively. OS and PFS were significantly better with blasts < or =20% and time to transplant < or =1 year while transplant-related mortality was less with the use of TBI. We conclude that patients with refractory leukemia can benefit from allogeneic BMT, especially with < or =20% marrow blast.

The growth in the use of World Wide Web (WWW) in the Internet has caused a significant
increase in the type and volume of network traffic. Presently, there is complete reliance on computer
networks by most enterprise, hence the importance of network traffic monitoring and analysis can
not be over emphasized. Most of the existing traffic monitoring and analysis tools are only capable
of measuring traffic loads on individual network segments and servers generating such traffic.
Nowadays, there is exponential increase in Intranet to Internet traffic due to www and other
applications, the need to determine which host or application is generating the most traffic is
crucial and important in managing limited network resources efficiently.This paper presents an
approach to monitoring Intranet to Internet traffic through the development of a non intrusive
network traffic monitoring and analysis system. The experimental aims include being able to monitor
live network traffic without adversely imparting on performance and also to identify and monitor
traffic patterns (both speed and volume) on the basis of host (IP address), protocol and time of the
day. This work builds on a previous work with a limitation to monitoring network traffic in a
switched environment.The setup presented in this paper meets with the above aims and has been in
use at the Obafemi Awolowo University, since April 2003. The monitoring interface was placed in
promiscuous mode, and a Perl wrapper script was used to start the IP Network Monitoring Software
(IPTraf) with suitable argument, to gather detailed interface statistics information and also produce
suitable log files used by Multi Router Traffic Grapher (MRTG) to generate graphical overview and
Webalizer to generate detailed analysis. Other scripts used are Run_mrtg, used to run MRTG via a
crontab. Mrtg_reader was used to read and clear the counter file. Run_webalizer was used to run
Webalizer via a crontab, and Webalizer_caller was used to Calls Webalizer to process the file, with
input file and output directory specified. The MRTG graph shows usage pattern, network downtime,
peak and saturation periods. While the Webalizer shows detailed statistical information about the
total packets and kilobytes transferred on an hourly, daily and monthly basis. The paper explains
how it has been implemented at the Obafemi Awolowo University campus network and the
requirements – software and hardware to install such a system on any network.

BACKGROUND: Poor graft function without rejection may occur after stem cell transplantation (SCT). CD34(+) stem cell boost (SCB) can restore marrow function but may induce or exacerbate GvHD. We therefore investigated the feasibility and efficacy of CD34(+)-selected SCB in some patients with poor graft function. We present the results for eight patients (median age 46 years) transplanted initially for myelofibrosis, acute leukemia, myeloma and NHL. Six patients had received HLA-matched and two mismatched grafts (PB, BM; n=5, 3). After a median of 128 days post-transplant, the median leukocyte and platelet counts were, respectively, 2.05/nL and 18/nL. None had achieved platelet counts >50/nL even though donor chimerism was >95% in seven recipients. METHODS: Positive selection of CD34(+) stem cells was performed on a CliniMACS device, observing GMP and achieving a median of 98.5% purity. The patients received a median of 1.7 x 10(6)/kg CD34(+) cells and 2.5 x 10(3)/kg CD3(+) T lymphocytes. RESULTS: Hemograms at days +30, +60 and +90, respectively, showed steadily increasing median leukocyte (2.55, 3.15 and 4.20/nL) and platelet (29, 39 and 95/nL) counts. After a median follow-up of 144 days, five patients remained alive. No patient had developed acute or chronic GvHD. One patient died of leukemic relapse and two others of systemic mycosis. DISCUSSION: These preliminary results point to the possibility of safely improving graft function using CD34(+) positively selected stem cells without necessarily increasing the incidence of GvHD in patients with poor graft function post-SCT. Experience with more patients and longer follow-up should clarify the optimal role for this procedure.

Background Corticosteroids have been used to treat head injuries for more than 30 years. In 1997, findings of a systematic review suggested that these drugs reduce risk of death by 1-2%. The CRASH trial—a multicentre international collaboration—aimed to confirm or refute such an effect by recruiting 20 000 patients. In May, 2004, the data monitoring committee disclosed the unmasked results to the steering committee, which stopped recruitment. Methods 10 008 adults with head injury and a Glasgow coma score (GCS) of 14 or less within 8 h of injury were randomly allocated 48 h infusion of corticosteroids (methylprednisolone) or placebo. Primary outcomes were death within 2 weeks of injury and death or disability at 6 months. Prespecified subgroup analyses were based on injury severity (GCS) at randomisation and on time from injury to randomisation. Analysis was by intention to treat. Effects on outcomes within 2 weeks of randomisation are presented in this report. This study is registered as an International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial, number ISRCTN74459797. Findings Compared with placebo, the risk of death from all causes within 2 weeks was higher in the group allocated corticosteroids (1052 [21·1%] vs 893 [17·9%] deaths; relative risk 1·18 [95% CI 1·09-1·27]; p=0·0001). The relative increase in deaths due to corticosteroids did not differ by injury severity (p=0·22) or time since injury (p=0·05). Interpretation Our results show there is no reduction in mortality with methylprednisolone in the 2 weeks after head injury. The cause of the rise in risk of death within 2 weeks is unclear.

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