What's hot the other lot got

What's hot the other lot got.

AZITHROMYCIN MAINTENANCE TREATMENT REDUCES COPD EXACERBATIONS Macrolide maintenance therapy is increasingly being used in COPD. Uzun et al report the results of the COLUMBUS trial which investigates the use of azithromycin in COPD (Lancet Resp Med 2014;2:340– 241). A total of 92 patients with COPD suffering from three or more exacerbations per year were randomised to receive 500 mg azithromycin...

What's hot that the other lot got.

INTRAPLEURAL MINOCYCLINE FOR SPONTANEOUS PTX? Current initial treatment for primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PTx) has a substantial rate of recurrence. In this study (Lancet 2013;381:1277–82), investigators randomly assigned patients with a first episode of PTx to receive minocycline pleurodesis or simple aspiration and drainage. At 1 year, 29.2% patients in the minocycline group had a recurre...

The Rising Incumbent Reelection Rate: Whats Gerrymandering Got to Do With It?

The probability that an incumbent in the United States House of Representatives is reelected has risen dramatically over the last half-century; it now stands at more than 98%. A number of authors and commentators claim that this rise is due to an increase in bipartisan gerrymandering in favor of incumbents. Using a regression discontinuity approach, we …nd evidence of the opposite e¤ect. All el...

Rapid Survey of Wasting and Stunting in Children: Whats New, Whats Old and Whats the Buzz?

Nationwide Rapid Survey on Children (RSoC), conducted by the Ministry of Women and Child Development and UNICEF in 2013-14 showed a marked improvement in the status of the child malnutrition over the third National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3) that was conducted in 2005-06. Despite some impressive gains in the anthropometric indicators of malnutrition, the absolute levels remain high, and of c...

The Kyoto protocol: just a lot of hot air.