The Socio-demography and Clinical Profile of Vitiligo in Sudan.

Introduction: Vitiligo is a chronic skin disease that causes loss of pigment, resulting in irregular pale patches of skin. The precise cause of vitiligo is complex and not fully understood. There is some evidence suggesting it is caused by a combination of auto-immune, genetic, and environmental factors. The population incidence worldwide is considered to be between 0.1% and 2%. The disease has different clinical types but generally, it consists of areas of macular depigmentation, commonly on extensor aspects of extremities, on the face or neck, and in skin folds. Age of onset is often in young adulthood and the condition tends to progress gradually with lesions enlarging and extending until a quiescent state is reached. Objective: To define the socio-demography and clinical profile of vitiligo in Sudan. Study design: This study is a cross-sectional, clinico-epidemiological and hospital-based study, done in Khartoum Dermatologic Hospital (KDH). The data were collected between June 2007 and November 2007. Results: The total number of patients with vitiligo in the study was 113. Male patients were 47 (42%). Children were 13 (11%), adults were 90 (80%) and elderlies were 10 (9%). The mean age of onset of the disease was found to be 11.5 yrs in 22.5% of the patients. Patients with acute (< 1 yr) disease were 6 (5.4 %), while those with chronic (b 1 yr) disease were 107 (94.6 %). The most commonly affected tribe was Algaa\'liyeen tribe (27 %). The commonest precipitating factor for vitiligo has been found to be emotional disturbances (in 27 % of patients). Commonest symptom of the disease was depigmented patch/es (64.8 %). Severe (b10 %) involvement of skin surface area was found in 59 % of patients, while mild

The psychological impact of vitiligo in adult Sudanese patients

Objective: Vitiligo is a chronic skin disease that causes loss of pigment, resulting in irregular pale patches of skin. The disease has profound psychological consequences. These effects range from mild embarrassment to a severe loss of self-confidence and social anxiety, especially for those who have lesions on exposed skin. The study sought to determine the psychological impact of vitiligo in Sudanese patients. Method: This study is a cross-sectional, clinical-epidemiological and hospital-based study, underatken in Khartoum Dermatologic Hospital (KDH). The data was collected between June 2007 and November 2007. 111 adult patients were enrolled sequentially during the study period and they were tested using the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). Results: Psychological disturbances as a consequence of vitiligo were found in 36 (31 %) adult patients. Patients with mild psychological disturbances were found in 20 of these patients and severe disturbances in 16. Conclusion: Psychological consequences are common in patients with vitiligo.Key words: Vitiligo; Stress; Psychological; Suda

A smart adaptive lighting system for a multifunctional room

Young professionals and millennials who live alone or are living in small groups and seek practicality, trigger the trend of smaller, modular and micro houses and apartments which are faster and cheaper to build. Multifunctional or flexible room is one of the important parts of the home. This particular room needs well-designed lighting for comfort. It should give an adequate illuminance for every activity and even pattern of light. This paper presents the factors for developing the smart adaptive lighting system which can provide lighting comfort for the occupants. The simulation is being done in 5 scenarios in the LJMU BRE 2010 house model using DIALux Software with the dimmable type of LED independent luminaire. The proposed system structure uses a wireless sensor network (WSN) and big data processing as the main components. The design employs an Artificial Intelligence (AI) sub-system which has the capability to predict and adaptively regulate the illumination level based on the occupant needs or routine. The simulation shows that this system is able to give even lighting pattern for luminance values 200, 250, 300, 500, and 750 lux which are needed by the occupants. With the possibility of user-defined lighting values, this system can be developed to accommodate the needs of special groups of occupants such as the elder or disabled groups. © 2019 IEEE

Optimisation of car crash box finite element model for crashworthiness analysis using model updating and factorial design method

Finite element modeling and analysis are widely used method for simulating the structural behaviour of a system in order to provide information of the structure under various loading conditions. However, the constructed model not always accurate due to several factors such as simplifications in modeling, material properties, or uncertainties in boundary conditions. The model updating method is an optimisation technique that aims to improve the accuracy of finite element models by incorporating dynamic response data obtained from experimental testing. In the field of crashworthiness, the complexity of modelling can lead to inaccuracies, particularly when incorporating structural enhancements. This study investigates the reliability of model updating methods in reducing inaccuracies in finite element models used for crashworthiness analysis. The primary objective of this research project is to assess the performance of updated finite element models in providing accurate crash data for a car crash box structure. The updated model was evaluated for crash analysis, and its accuracy was compared with experimental crash test data. For comparison, response optimisation using factorial design was also conducted to obtain an optimised model with minimal error in crashworthiness analysis. The results of this study show that the best initial correlation with the welded crash box structure was achieved using a one-dimensional bar element (CBAR) with an average error of 5.3%. For the bolted crash box, the best correlation was achieved using a joint model that combined the usage of CBAR and a rigid element (RBE), labeled as BOLTED2, with an average error of 4.9%. After applying model updating, the SOLID model showed the best correlation for the welded specimen with an average error of 4.5%, while the BOLTED2 model remained the best for bolted specimens with a reduced average error of 4.7%. However, the investigation of the updated model's performance did not show a significant improvement for crashworthiness analysis. The optimisation study yielded satisfactory results, with the crash output parameters showing closer values to the experimentally obtained data. The outcomes of this project will contribute to the field of automotive engineering and, in particular, to vehicle manufacturers' efforts to produce safer vehicles that meet consumers' demands. This study emphasizes the need to improve computational simulation and analysis methods to generate more accurate predictions and minimise the problem of model discrepancies that arise during computational analysis. In addition, the study on model updating methods for crashworthiness analysis of car crash box structures has several potential applications in the field of automotive engineering and safety

Antibiotic susceptibility of Staphylococcus epidermidis among undergraduate students in Malaysia Public University Health Campus

Staphylococcus epidermidis (S. epidermidis) has become one of the major concerns in the hospital setting due to its ability to cause hospital-acquired infection particularly from medical device contamination. The management of S. epidermidis infections become more challenging with the increase of antimicrobial resistance cases over the past years. Limited reports on S. epidermidis antibiotic resistance among healthy people leave uncertainty about the magnitude of antimicrobial resistance spreads among the community. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the antibiotic susceptibility pattern of S. epidermidis isolated from healthy undergraduate students in one of Malaysia public universities-health campuses. Ninety-six hand palm swab samples were collected and undergo several tests, including microscopic, biochemical identification tests and antibiotic susceptibility test for erythromycin, oxacillin, gentamicin, penicillin and tetracycline following Kirby-Bauer test. A total of 43 samples showed the presence of S. epidermidis (44.8%), where 72.1% of the isolates showed resistance towards at least one type of antibiotic. The highest and lowest resistance was observed for penicillin and gentamycin, respectively. Although there is no significant difference of antibiotic susceptibility pattern was observed between genders, the presence of high antibiotic resistance in S. epidermidis among these healthy communities should warrant further investigation since the spreading of the resistant strain could occur in the wider community population without notice

Universal statistics of epithelial tissue topology

Cells forming various epithelial tissues have a strikingly universal distribution for the number of their edges. It is generally assumed that this topological feature is predefined by the statistics of individual cell divisions in growing tissue but existing theoretical models are unable to predict the observed distribution. Here we show experimentally, as well as in simulations, that the probability of cellular division increases exponentially with the number of edges of the dividing cell and show analytically that this is responsible for the observed shape of cell-edge distribution

In vitro Anti-proliferative and Apoptotic Activities of Eurycoma longifolia Jack (Simaroubaceae) on HL-60 Cell Line

Purpose: To investigate the anti-proliferative, apoptotic and differentiating activities of Eurycoma longifolia root extracts on HL-60 leukemic cells.Methods: HL-60 cells were treated with different partially purified sub-fractions (F1 – F3) derived from the resin chromatography of the crude methanol root extract of E. longifolia roots, at different doses andtime points. The anti-proliferative activity of E. longifolia was assessed via cell counting and trypan blue exclusion. Apoptosis was evaluated via Annexin-V FITC/IP and Hoechst staining. Flow cytometry and Wright staining were used to assess its differentiation activities.Results: F1 showed unremarkable growth inhibition rate while F2 and F3 showed growth inhibitory effects with median inhibitory concentration (IC50) values of 15.2 and 28.6 ìg/ml, respectively. Treatment with F2 and F3 (100 ìg/ml) for 96 h increased cell death from 3.3 to 95.5 and 76.3 %,respectively. Treatment with F2 (50 ìg/ml) induced apoptosis by 14, 19.5 and 25 % after 24, 48 and 72 h, respectively. No differentiation activity was observed, as indicated by absence of myeloid maturation and a non-significant CD14 positivity (p &gt; 0.05).Conclusion: E. longifolia extract (F2) showed promising anti-leukemic activity and can be a candidate for the development of a drug for the treatment of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL).Keywords: Acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL), HL-60 cells, Eurycoma longifolia, Apoptosis, Antiproliferation, Differentiatio