Passive Components for Ultra-Wide Band (UWB) Applications

UWB technology brings the convenience and mobility of wireless communications to very high-speed interconnects in the home and office due to the precision capabilities combined with the low power. This makes it ideal for certain radio frequency sensitive environments such as hospitals and healthcare as well as radars. UWB intrusion-detection radar is used for detecting through the wall and also used for security with fuse avoidance radar, precision locating and tracking (using distance measurements between radios), and precision time-of-arrival-based localization approaches. The FCC issued a ruling in 2002 that allowed intentional UWB emissions in the frequency range between 3.1 and 10.6 GHz, subject to certain restrictions for the emission power spectrum. Other definitions for ultra-wideband range of frequency are also used such as any device that has 500 MHz bandwidth or fractional bandwidth greater than 25% is considered an UWB enable high data rate to be transferred with a very low power that does not exceed −41.3 dBm

Infection Control Knowledge and Practices among Nurses in Intensive Care Units in Ibrahim Malik Teaching Hospital, Khartoum State, Sudan, 2018

الخلفية: تعد عدوى المستشفيات أو العدوى المكتسبة من المستشفيات من اكثر الإهتمامات الرئيسية للسلامة على مستوى العالم لكل من المرضى ولمقدمي الرعاية الصحية. يزداد عبء العدوى المرتبطة بالرعاية الصحية زيادة كبيرة في المرضى المعرضين للخطر مثل أولئك الذين يتم تنويمهم في وحدات العناية المركزة. حيث تحدث 5 حالات عدوى مستشفيات في حوالي 7-10 ٪ من المرضى في المستشفى وتمثل ما يقرب من 80،000 حالة وفاة سنويا في الولايات المتحدة. ايضا في الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية ، قدر معدل الإصابة بالعدوى في وحدات العناية المركزة بـ 13 لكل 1000 مريض بالنسبه لأيام المرض في عام 2002. (1) العدوى المكتسبة من المستشفيات تشكل عبء كبير في البلدان المتقدمة ، حيث يؤثر من 5 إلى 15 في المائة من المرضى في المستشفيات في العنابر العادية وما يصل إلى 50 في المائة أو أكثر من المرضى في وحدات العناية المركزة. في البلدان النامية ، لا يزال حجم المشكلة أقل من الواقع أو حتى غير معروف إلى حد كبير لأن تشخيص العدوى المكتسبة من المستشفيات معقد و أنشطة المراقبة لتوجيه التدخلات تتطلب خبرة وموارد. (2) الأهداف: : تقييم معرفة وممارسات مكافحة العدوى بين الممرضيين في وحدات الرعاية المكثفة والعناية الوسيطة في مستشفى إبراهيم مالك، الخرطوم ، السودان ،2018 الطرق: هذه الدراسة المستعرضة استهدفت معارف وممارسات الممرضيين في مستشفى إبراهيم مالك التعليمي في السودان. و تم استخدام نموذج جمع بيانات تم اختباره مسبقًا (اختبار تجريبي). واستُخدمت الإستفسارات المتعلقة بخصائص الممرضيين والمفاهيم العامة لمكافحة العدوى/ الجراثيم ، ونظافة اليدين ، ومعدات الوقاية الشخصية، والأدوات الحادة والتخلص منها ، ورعاية مقدمي الخدمات الصحية. تم جمع البيانات من خلال المقابلات وأدوات جمع البيانات كانت إستبيان, تم إدخال البيانات وتحليلها باستخدام برنامج التحليل الإحصائي ، حزمة إحصائية للنسخة 22 ، تم استخدامها في الدراسة في إدخال البيانات وتحليلها.. النتائج: من مجموع 72 إستبيان تم توزيعهم هناك 70 إستبيان اكتمل للتحليل حيث كانت درجات المعرفة والممارسات في جميع المجالات منخفضة إلى حد كبير ، وخلصت نتيجة هذه الدراسة إلى أن مستوى المعرفه بين الممرضين كانت متوسطة وتساوي 35.7 ٪ (ن = 25) والممارسات بمستوى منخفض يساوي 35.7 ٪ (ن = 25). كان متوسط المعرفة بين المشاركين (51.1) ٪) بإنحراف معياري (26.9 ٪) ، وكان متوسط الممارسة (50.9 ٪) بإنحراف معياري (22.9 ٪). الإستنتاج: كانت درجات المعرفة والممارسات العامة لمكافحة العدوى منخفضة خاصة في مجالات النظافة اليدوية (صحة الايدي) ، وإدارة الأدوات الحادة ، واحتياطات العزل, و معدات الحماية الشخصية التي تعكس عدم فعالية تعليمات برنامج مكافحة العدوى, أيضا عدم كفاية التثقيف الذي تلقاها الممرضين. مما يجعلهم عرضة للإصابة بالأمراض المرتبطة بعدوى المستشفيات. فمن الضروري وضع بروتوكولات تحكم أفضل في مكافحة العدوى وتنفيذ المعايير الوقائية في التثقيف والتدريب بطريقه مبتكرة لضمان معارف وممارسات سليمة. الكلمات المفتاحية: عدوى المستشفيات المكتسبة, عدوى المستشفيات, وحدة العناية المركزة, وحدة العناية الوسيطة, ممارسات مكافحة العدوى, المعرفة بمكافحة العدوى, الاحتياطات القياسية, التمريض، السودا

Non-Invasive Electromagnetic Biological Microwave Testing

Blood glucose monitoring is a primary tool for the care of diabetic patients. At present, there is no noninvasive monitoring technique of blood glucose concentration that is widely accepted in the medical industry. New noninvasive measurement techniques are being investigated. This work focuses on the possibility of a monitor that noninvasively measures blood glucose levels using electromagnetic waves. The technique is based on relating a monitoring antenna’s resonant frequency to the permittivity, and conductivity of skin, which in turn, is related to the glucose levels. This becomes a hot researched field in recent years. Different types of antennas (wideband and narrowband) have been designed, constructed, and tested in free space. An analytical model for the antenna has been developed, which has been validated with simulations. Microstrip antenna is one of the most common planar antenna structures used. Extensive research development aimed at exploiting its advantages such as lightweight, low cost, conformal configurations, and compatibility with integrated circuits have been carried out. Rectangular and circular patches are the basic shapes that are the most commonly used in microstrip antennas. Ideally, the dielectric constant εr, however, and other performance requirements may dictate the use of substrate whose dielectric constant can be greater. As in our prototype blood sensor, the miniaturized size is one of the main challenges

Epidemiology of bronchial asthma among preparatory school children in Assiut district

Background: The prevalence of asthma and allergies is increasing in both Western and developing countries. Few studies evaluated asthma prevalence in Egypt . Objectives: Determination of the prevalence and risk factors of asthma among preparatory school children in Assiut district, in Upper Egypt. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among preparatory school students in Assiut city and two rural areas in Assiut district in Upper Egypt. Twelve schools were selected randomly from different regions in Assiut city and two rural areas one to the North and the other to the South of Assiut city. The total coverage of the students included was 1048 (482 boys and 566 girls). Data were collected by self-administered questionnaire (in Arabic Language) which was filled by the participants. Results: Of the 1048 positively responding subjects, 65 fitted the diagnosis of asthma with over all prevalence of 6.2%. No significant difference was found between urban and rural areas (P = 0.075). Using logistic regression analysis: a positive family history of allergy and the presence of other one or more allergic diseases were significantly associated risk factors for asthma. Exposure to dust, cigarette smoke, playing and physical activity, common cold attacks, and special food or drinks were the most common triggering factors for asthma exacerbations . Conclusion: Bronchial asthma is a significant health problem among children and adolescents in Assiut district and needs special medical care. Wider scale multi-center studies in upper Egypt and other localities of Egypt are needed to outline the profile of bronchial asthma among children and adolescents in the whole country. Keywords: prevalence of asthma, preparatory school children, Assiut districtEgypt J Pediatr Allergy Immunol 2012;10(2):109-11

Bacteriophages to control multi-drug resistant enterococcus faecalis infection of dental root canals

© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Phage therapy is an alternative treatment to antibiotics that can overcome multi-drug resistant bacteria. In this study, we aimed to isolate and characterize lytic bacteriophages targeted against Enterococcus faecalis isolated from root canal infections obtained from clinics at the Faculty of Dentistry, Ismalia, Egypt. Bacteriophage, vB_ZEFP, was isolated from concentrated wastewater collected from hospital sewage. Morphological and genomic analysis revealed that the phage belongs to the Podoviridae family with a linear double-stranded DNA genome, consisting of 18,454, with a G + C content of 32.8%. Host range analysis revealed the phage could infect 10 of 13 E. faecalis isolates exhibiting a range of antibiotic resistances recovered from infected root canals with efficiency of plating values above 0.5. One-step growth curves of this phage showed that it has a burst size of 110 PFU per infected cell, with a latent period of 10 min. The lytic activity of this phage against E. faecalis biofilms showed that the phage was able to control the growth of E. faecalis in vitro. Phage vB_ZEFP could also prevent ex-vivo E. faecalis root canal infection. These results suggest that phage vB_ZEFP has potential for application in phage therapy and specifically in the prevention of infection after root canal treatment

Global Retinoblastoma Presentation and Analysis by National Income Level.

Importance: Early diagnosis of retinoblastoma, the most common intraocular cancer, can save both a child's life and vision. However, anecdotal evidence suggests that many children across the world are diagnosed late. To our knowledge, the clinical presentation of retinoblastoma has never been assessed on a global scale. Objectives: To report the retinoblastoma stage at diagnosis in patients across the world during a single year, to investigate associations between clinical variables and national income level, and to investigate risk factors for advanced disease at diagnosis. Design, Setting, and Participants: A total of 278 retinoblastoma treatment centers were recruited from June 2017 through December 2018 to participate in a cross-sectional analysis of treatment-naive patients with retinoblastoma who were diagnosed in 2017. Main Outcomes and Measures: Age at presentation, proportion of familial history of retinoblastoma, and tumor stage and metastasis. Results: The cohort included 4351 new patients from 153 countries; the median age at diagnosis was 30.5 (interquartile range, 18.3-45.9) months, and 1976 patients (45.4%) were female. Most patients (n = 3685 [84.7%]) were from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Globally, the most common indication for referral was leukocoria (n = 2638 [62.8%]), followed by strabismus (n = 429 [10.2%]) and proptosis (n = 309 [7.4%]). Patients from high-income countries (HICs) were diagnosed at a median age of 14.1 months, with 656 of 666 (98.5%) patients having intraocular retinoblastoma and 2 (0.3%) having metastasis. Patients from low-income countries were diagnosed at a median age of 30.5 months, with 256 of 521 (49.1%) having extraocular retinoblastoma and 94 of 498 (18.9%) having metastasis. Lower national income level was associated with older presentation age, higher proportion of locally advanced disease and distant metastasis, and smaller proportion of familial history of retinoblastoma. Advanced disease at diagnosis was more common in LMICs even after adjusting for age (odds ratio for low-income countries vs upper-middle-income countries and HICs, 17.92 [95% CI, 12.94-24.80], and for lower-middle-income countries vs upper-middle-income countries and HICs, 5.74 [95% CI, 4.30-7.68]). Conclusions and Relevance: This study is estimated to have included more than half of all new retinoblastoma cases worldwide in 2017. Children from LMICs, where the main global retinoblastoma burden lies, presented at an older age with more advanced disease and demonstrated a smaller proportion of familial history of retinoblastoma, likely because many do not reach a childbearing age. Given that retinoblastoma is curable, these data are concerning and mandate intervention at national and international levels. Further studies are needed to investigate factors, other than age at presentation, that may be associated with advanced disease in LMICs