Audit of laparoscopic cholecystectomy Omdurman teaching hospital

Objectives: To review and audit our experience in laparoscopic cholecystectomy [LC] at Omdurman Teaching Hospital, Sudan. Methods: A prospective study for patients who underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy in the period, from January 2006 to October 2007. Demographic data, indications for surgery, rate of conversion to open cholecystectomy, morbidity, and mortality rates were noted. Results: A total of 114 patients underwent LC in 21 months, They were female 100 patients and 14 males, age range from 25 to70 years, mean age 44 years. Indications for surgery were biliary colic 65.8%, fatty dyspepsia 37.7%, and acute cholecystitis 3.5%. The range of operative time was 25-90 minutes. Conversion rate was (7.9%). The reasons for conversions were bleeding, extensive dense adhesions, severe inflammation. Conclusion: Our findings were consistent with the literature, demonstrating that LC is a safe minimal invasive technique Keywords: Laparoscopic, cholecystectomy, minimal invasive surgery, surgical audit, Sudan.Sudan Journal of Medical Sciences Vol. 3 (1) 2008: pp. 21-2

Fertility rate of epileptic women at Kenyatta National Hospital

Background: Reproductive health issues of women with epilepsy (WWE ) are complex and multifaceted, and both epilepsy and antiepileptic drug (AE Ds) use may alter fertility and pregnancy outcomes in these women. Objective: To determine the fertility rate of women with epilepsy at Kenyatta National ospital (KNH). Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Neurology clinic, KNH, Nairobi, Kenya, between October 2006 and March 2007. Subjects: A total of 191 women with epilepsy (aged 15-49 years) who had been epileptic for at least one year were interviewed regarding their pregnancy and birth histories, and the information validated with medical records where available. Results: The general fertility rate (GFR) for reproductive-aged epileptic women for the three-year period (2003-2006) preceding the study was 46 livebirths per 1000 women-years (95% CI 35.13- 63.59). Conclusion: Fertility rate in epileptic women is decreased by two thirds (compared to that of general population of women in Kenya). Reasons for this are probably miltifactorial. East African Medical Journal Vol. 85 (7) 2008: pp. 341-34

Hysteroscopy in Libyan women with Recurrent Pregnancy Loss

Background: Hysteroscopy is an efficient procedure of management in many gynecologic conditions. There are few published data on hysteroscopy and recurrent pregnancy loss especially in developing countries.Objectives: To assess hysteroscopic findings in patients with consecutive miscarriages, and to compare the prevalence of uterine abnormalities between women with two and three or more miscarriages.Methods: Three hundred and twenty four women with two or more consecutive miscarriages were enrolled in the study. All participants underwent a diagnostic hysteroscopy. Congenital (arcuate uterus, septate uterus, unicornuate uterus) and acquired uterine abnormalities (intrauterine adhesions, polyp and submucous myoma) were documented. The findings were compared between the groups of women with two miscarriages and women who had three or more miscarriages.Results: Out of a total of 324 women [their mean (SD) of the age and gravidity was 28.3 (6.5) years and 5.1(1.5), respectively] 135 (41.7%) and 189 (58.3%) had two consecutive miscarriages and three or more consecutive miscarriages, respectively. While 194 (59.9%) women had no pathological findings on hysteroscopy, 130 (40.1%) women were found to have uterine anomalies. The congenital anomalies were found in 79 (24.4%) and the acquired were in 51 (15.7%) women. In comparison with women who had three or more miscarriages, women who had two miscarriages had significantly higher number of congenital anomalies, 53/135 (39.2%) vs. 26/189 (13.8%), P < 0.001. However there was no significant difference in the acquired anomalies between women who had two miscarriages and women who had three or more miscarriages.Conclusions: Patients who had two consecutive miscarriages were found to have a higher prevalence of congenital anatomical abnormalities. Diagnostic hysteroscopy should be carried out after two such miscarriages.Keywords: Hysteroscope, Recurrent Pregnancy Loss, miscarriage, Libya

Search for Low-Scale Technicolor in ATLAS

The low scale technicolor is an appealing scenario of strong ewsb. It has a rich phenomenology which can be tested at the LHC. A very characteristic signal would involve the observation of a technipion in resonance with a Standard Model gauge boson. A fast simulation analysis of the process $p p \to \rho_{T}^{\pm} \to \pi_{T}^{\pm} Z \to bj \ell\ell$ and $p p \to a_{T}^{\pm} \to \pi_{T}^\pm Z \to bj \ell\ell$ for three representative sets of masses for the new particles suggests that the technirho and technipion could be observed with $\sim 15$ fb$^{-1}$, and that the $a_{T}$ could be observed simultaneously with the $\rho_{T}$ and $\pi_{T}$ within a year or more of running at the LHC

Cure of post Kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis with paromomycin/sodium stibogluconate combination: a proof of concept

Background: Post kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis (PKDL) is  a  recognized  dermatologic  complication  of  successfully  treated  visceral  leishmaniasis  (VL). PKDL lesions are suspected to be important reservoirs for VL transmission in Sudan. Prolonged treatment schedules, feeling of general well-being and the social stigmata of PKDL prevent most patients seeking treatment. The mainstay of treatment is cardiotoxic sodium stibogluconate (SSG) for 60-120 days. Recently, liposomal amphotericin B (Ambisome®) and immunochemotherapy gave promising results. Ambisome® is expensive and difficult to prepare under field conditions. Paromomycin/SSG combination has been shown to be safe, efficacious and can save time in VL treatment. This study aims to prove that Paromomycin/SSG combination can cure and reduce PKDL treatment duration.Methods:We are reporting nine cases of patients with PKDL lesions of ≥6 months duration who were diagnosed by clinical signs, histopathological/immunohistochemical and PCR.Results: Patients’ mean age was 11.7 ± 4.3 years. A third of the patients (3/9; 33.3%) who failed previous SSG treatment of 2-3 months duration responded completely to 40 days of paromomycin/SSG combination. The majority of patients (5/9; 55.6%) responded completely to 30 days of the combination. One patient (1/9; 11.1%) relapsed following 30 days paromomycin/SSG combination.Conclusion:It was concluded that paromomycin/SSG combination for 30 days is time-saving, safe and efficacious for PKDL treatment.

Psychological type and attitude towards Celtic Christianity among committed Churchgoers in the United Kingdom: an empirical study

This article takes the burgeoning interest in Celtic Christianity as a key example of the way in which churches may be responding to the changing spiritual and religious landscape in the United Kingdom today and examines the power of psychological type theory to account for variation in the attitude of committed churchgoers to this innovation. Data provided by a sample of 248 Anglican clergy and lay church officers (who completed the Francis Psychological Type Scales together with the Attitude toward Celtic Christianity Scale) demonstrated that intuitive types, feeling types, and perceiving types reported a more positive attitude towards Celtic Christianity than sensing types, thinking types, and judging types. These findings are interpreted to analyse the appeal of Celtic Christianity and to suggest why some committed churchgoers may find this innovation less attractive

Literature-based discovery of diabetes- and ROS-related targets

Abstract Background Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are known mediators of cellular damage in multiple diseases including diabetic complications. Despite its importance, no comprehensive database is currently available for the genes associated with ROS. Methods We present ROS- and diabetes-related targets (genes/proteins) collected from the biomedical literature through a text mining technology. A web-based literature mining tool, SciMiner, was applied to 1,154 biomedical papers indexed with diabetes and ROS by PubMed to identify relevant targets. Over-represented targets in the ROS-diabetes literature were obtained through comparisons against randomly selected literature. The expression levels of nine genes, selected from the top ranked ROS-diabetes set, were measured in the dorsal root ganglia (DRG) of diabetic and non-diabetic DBA/2J mice in order to evaluate the biological relevance of literature-derived targets in the pathogenesis of diabetic neuropathy. Results SciMiner identified 1,026 ROS- and diabetes-related targets from the 1,154 biomedical papers (http://jdrf.neurology.med.umich.edu/ROSDiabetes/). Fifty-three targets were significantly over-represented in the ROS-diabetes literature compared to randomly selected literature. These over-represented targets included well-known members of the oxidative stress response including catalase, the NADPH oxidase family, and the superoxide dismutase family of proteins. Eight of the nine selected genes exhibited significant differential expression between diabetic and non-diabetic mice. For six genes, the direction of expression change in diabetes paralleled enhanced oxidative stress in the DRG. Conclusions Literature mining compiled ROS-diabetes related targets from the biomedical literature and led us to evaluate the biological relevance of selected targets in the pathogenesis of diabetic neuropathy.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78315/1/1755-8794-3-49.xmlhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78315/2/1755-8794-3-49-S7.XLShttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78315/3/1755-8794-3-49-S10.XLShttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78315/4/1755-8794-3-49-S8.XLShttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78315/5/1755-8794-3-49-S3.XLShttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78315/6/1755-8794-3-49-S1.XLShttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78315/7/1755-8794-3-49-S4.XLShttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78315/8/1755-8794-3-49-S2.XLShttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78315/9/1755-8794-3-49-S12.XLShttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78315/10/1755-8794-3-49-S11.XLShttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78315/11/1755-8794-3-49-S9.XLShttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78315/12/1755-8794-3-49-S5.XLShttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78315/13/1755-8794-3-49-S6.XLShttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78315/14/1755-8794-3-49.pdfPeer Reviewe