Cotrimoxazole prophylaxis is associated with reduced risk of incident tuberculosis in participants in the Swiss HIV Cohort Study

Cotrimoxazole reduces mortality in HIV-infected adults with tuberculosis (TB), and in vitro data suggest potential anti-mycobacterial activity of cotrimoxazole. We aimed to evaluate whether prophylaxis with cotrimoxazole is associated with a decreased risk of incident TB in SHCS participants. We determined the incidence of TB per 1000 person-years from January 1992 to December 2012. Rates were analyzed separately in participants with current or no previous antiretroviral treatment (ART) using Poisson regression adjusted for CD4 cell count, sex, region of origin, injecting drug use, and age. 13,431 cohort participants contributed 107,549 person-years follow-up; 182 patients had incident TB; 132 (73%) before and 50 (27%) after ART initiation. The multivariable incidence rate ratios for cumulative cotrimoxazole exposure per year for persons with no previous and current ART were 0.70 (95% CI 0.55-0.89) and 0.87 (0.74-1.0) respectively. Cotrimoxazole may prevent the development of TB among HIV-positive persons, especially among those with no previous ART.

Volumetric morphometrics

Geometric morphometrics (GMM) methods are very popular in physical anthropology. One disadvantage common to the existingGMM methods is that despite significant advancements in computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)technology, these methods still depend on landmarks or features that are either digitized directly from subject surface or extractedfrom surface models or outlines derived from a laser surface scan or from a CTor MRI scan. All the rest image contents contained ina CTor MRI scan are ignored by these methods. In this paper, we present a complementary solution called Volumetric Morphometrics(VMM). With VMM, we are aiming for a paradigm shift from landmarks and surfaces used in existing GMM approaches todisplacements and volumes in the new VMM approaches, taking the full advantage of modern CTand MRI technology. Preliminaryvalidation results on ancient human skulls are presented.

Die Wahrnehmung sozialer Prozesse im Unterricht

Lehrpersonen und ihre Schülerinnen und Schüler nehmen soziale Prozesse im Unterricht unterschiedlich wahr. Die Lehrperson ist während des Unterrichts mit vielfältigen Anforderungen konfrontiert und sollte gleichzeitig alle Schülerinnen und Schüler im Auge behalten. Die Schülerinnen und Schüler beobachten ihre Lehrperson aus einer weitgehend handlungsentlasteten Situation und nutzen diesen Beobachtungsvorteil teilweise auch, um für die Lehrperson unsichtbar zu werden oder aber um progressiv Grenzen auszutesten. In einer Forschungsübersicht wird aufgezeigt, worauf Lehrpersonen für die Gestaltung eines störungspräventiven Unterrichts besonders achten müssen.