Long term visual outcomes in laser treated threshold retinopathy of prematurity in Central Saudi Arabia

AbstractPurposeTo assess the long term visual outcomes and refractive status of patients who underwent diode laser for threshold retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) and to investigate the risk factors leading to poor visual outcomes.MethodsFifty-seven patients (114 eyes) with threshold ROP who underwent laser therapy were contacted for reassessment. A chart review was performed for all patients to collect data on visual acuity, retinal status and strabismus. A favorable visual outcome was defined as ⩾20/160 (Snellen acuity) for young adults (cooperative patients), and ⩾CSM for children (uncooperative patients) while unfavorable visual outcome was defined as <20/160 or <CSM. Vision in uncooperative children was graded as central, steady, maintain. Descriptive and inferential analyses were conducted. Chi2 and odds ratios were calculated whenever appropriate. A P value <0.05 was considered as statistically significant.ResultsThe mean age at reassessment was 5.2±2.5years (range, 1–10years) where 36 (63.2%) patients were males and 21 (36.8%) were females. Out Of the 114 laser treated eyes, 73 (64%) were myopic, with mean spherical equivalent (SE) of −6.69 (5.9), range (−0.25 to −21) diaopters, 8 (7%) were emmetrope, while other 33 (29%) were hyperopic with mean SE of +2.43 (3.04), range (+0.25 to +17) diaopters. Strabismus was present in 31 patients (54.4%) of whom 81% (25/31) were esotropic. Retina was found to be normal in 77.1% of the examined eyes, while the remaining eyes had either macular dragging or retinal detachment. Almost 70% of the eyes with a normal retinal examination had favorable visual outcome. Thirteen (11.4%) eyes had zone 1 retinopathy, 83 (72.8%) eyes had zone 2 retinopathy and 2 (1.8%) eyes had zone 3 retinopathy. Vitreous hemorrhage was present in 7 (6.1%) eyes prior to laser treatment. The relationship between final retinal status and visual outcome was statistically significant (P<0.0001). There was no statistically significant correlation between visual outcome and the zone of the retinopathy (P=0.448).ConclusionThe majority of patients who underwent diode laser therapy for threshold ROP had favorable anatomical and visual outcomes. However, high refractive error and strabismus may be clinically the pertinent causes of visual impairment

Investigating droplet separation efficiency in wire-mesh mist eliminators in bubble column

AbstractEffects of design parameters on performance of wire-mesh mist eliminators were experimentally investigated in 15cm bubble column. The demisters performances were evaluated by droplet collection efficiency as a function of wide ranges of operating and design parameters. These parameters include: droplet size exiting the demister (250–380μm), specific surface area (236–868m2/m3), void fraction (97–98.3%), wire diameter (0.14–0.28mm), packing density (130–240kg/m3), and superficial gas velocity (0.109–0.118m/s. All demisters were 15cm in diameter with 10cm pad thickness, made from 316L stainless steel layered type demister pad wires. Experiments were carried out using air–water system at ambient temperature and atmospheric pressure. The experimental data on the droplet removal efficiency were obtained using Malvern Laser Droplet Sizer. The removal efficiency was found to increase with the increasing the demister specific surface area, packing density, and superficial gas velocity. In contrast, the removal efficiency was found to increase with decreasing the demister void fraction and wire diameter. The separation efficiency is correlated empirically as a function of the design parameters. A good agreement was obtained between the measured values and the correlation predictions with ±5% accuracy

EFFECT OF SEED SIZE AND SEEDING RATES ON YIELD ATTRIBUTES OF TRITICALE Var. ADMIRAL

A factorial in randomized complete block design (RCBD), with three replicates, including three seeding rates (200,250, and300seeds.m-2), and three grain size grades of Admiral variety of triticale whole (ungraded), thousand seed weight (TSW) 47.32g, heavy seeds 54.04g and light seeds 40.18g; for two successive growing seasons 2019-2020 and 2020-2021. The results revealed that spike length resembled number of spikelets per spike, grain density and number of grain per spike as seeding rate 200 with whole seeds attained highest value. Great differences between the two seasons were obvious, which was attributed to shortage in rainfall in the second season(407.1mm and 165.4mm). The interaction of seeding rate 200 with heavy size seeds resulted in maximum biological yield (6233 kg.ha-1). The interaction of target seed rate 200 with heavy seeds resulted in maximum grain yield(2895 kg.ha-1). Harvest index was highest value for interaction of seed rate 300 with light seed size which was(4.8). Thousand kernels weight give superior weight for the interaction of rate 200 seeds with heavy grade size(52.02g), the second season was clearly obvious as heavy grade resulted in heavier seeds significantly(14.88g) although it was very small atrophic seeds due to shortage of rainfall. Protein content as percentage was significantly affected by seeding rate, seed grade and their interaction for the first season protein% at 200 seeding rate surpassed other rates(12.04%). Seed grade of whole ungraded seeds resulted in higher protein(12.25%). With respect of the interaction, the highest values was (13.03%) for whole seeds with target rate 200 seeds.m-2

Diagnostic importance of platelet parameters in patients with acute coronary syndrome admitted to a tertiary care hospital in southwest region, Saudi Arabia

AbstractObjectiveIdentifying risk factors for acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is important for both diagnostic and prognostic purposes. Abnormal platelet parameters, mainly platelet count (PC), mean platelet volume (MPV) and platelet distribution width (PDW) are thought to be among these risk factors. In this study, the associations between PC, MPV and PDW and ACS were investigated in patients admitted to the tertiary care hospital in the south west region of Saudi Arabia.Materials and methodsA retrospective cohort of 212 patients with the diagnosis of ACS admitted to Aseer Central Hospital during the period extending from February 1, 2008 to October 31, 2008 were included. The control group consisted of 49 matched subjects who were admitted for chest pain investigation and subsequently found to be non-cardiac chest pain after performing relevant investigations. Blood samples were taken at the time of admission for platelet parameters. Statistical analysis was made using SPSS software and P-values were considered significant if <0.05.ResultsA total of 212 patients with acute coronary syndrome (80 patients with MI and 132 patients with UA) and 49 matched controls were studied. The PC was not statistically different among the three groups (283.3±94.8×109L−1 for MI cases, 262±60.8×109L−1 for UA cases and 275.8±58.9×109L−1 for controls). The MPV was significantly larger in MI cases compared to controls (8.99±1.5fl vs. 8.38±0.51fl, respectively, P<0.009), similarly, the MPV was significantly larger in UA cases compared to controls (9.23±1.19fl vs. 8.38±0.51fl, respectively, P<0.001). The PDW was significantly higher in MI cases compared to controls (15.88±1.5fl vs. 11.96±1.8fl, respectively, P<0.001), similarly, the PDW as also significantly larger in UA cases compared to controls (18.1±18fl vs. 11.96±1.8fl, respectively, P<0.019).ConclusionPlatelet parameters mainly MPV and PDW are readily available and relatively simple and inexpensive laboratory tests which we detected to be significantly raised in patients who have suffered an acute coronary syndrome compared with controls

GEANT4 Simulation for Radioactive Particle Tracking (RPT) Technique

In the past two decades, the radioactive particle tracking (RPT) measurement technique has been proven to visualize flow fields of most multiphase flow systems of industrial interest. The accuracy of RPT, and hence the data obtained, depend largely on the calibration process, which stands here as a basis for two subsequent processes: tracking and reconstruction. However, limitations in the RPT calibration process can be found in different experimental constrains and in assumptions made in the classical Monte Carlo approach used to simulate number of counts received by the detectors. Therefore, in this work, we applied a GEANT4-based Monte Carlo code to simulate the RPT calibration process for an investigated multiphase flow system (i.e., gas–liquid bubble column). The GEANT4 code was performed to simulate the number of counts received by 28 scintillation detectors for 931 known tracer positions while capturing all the types of photon interaction and overcoming solids\u27 angle limitations in classical approaches. The results of the simulation were validated against experimental data obtained using an automated RPT calibration device. The results showed a good agreement between the simulated and experimental counts, where the maximum absolute average relative deviation detected was about 5%. The GEANT4 model typically predicted the number of counts received by all the detectors; however, it over-estimated the counts when the number of primary events applied in the model was not the optimal

Dermatological Lesions of Cholesterol Embolization Syndrome and Kaposi Sarcoma Mimic Primary Systemic Vasculitis: Case Report Study

Primary systemic vasculitis can present with a wide spectrum of manifestations ranging from systemic non-specific features such as fever, malaise, arthralgia, and myalgia to specific organ damage. We describe two cases of cholesterol embolization syndrome and Kaposi sarcoma mimicking primary systemic vasculitis, both of which were characterized by features such as livedo reticularis, blue toe syndrome, a brown, purpuric skin rash, and positive p-ANCA associated with Kaposi sarcoma. Establishing the right diagnosis was&nbsp;challenging, and thus we&nbsp;aim in this study to highlight the possible ways to distinguish them from&nbsp;primary systemic vasculitis. Keywords: Dermatological lesions, Cholesterol embolization syndrome, Kaposi sarcoma, vasculitis mimic

Evaluation of the advantages of orphenadrine in anaesthesia caused by ketamine in mice

Mice are laboratory models used for evaluating anesthetic drugs; the combination of more than one drug to achieve general anesthesia was very common; orphenadrine considered as a special remedy because of its multiple pharmacodynamics properties in variant pathways and is use mainly as a muscle relaxant to treat muscle pain and muscle spasm. The purpose of our research was to appraise the effect of concomitant administration of orphenadrine and ketamine on the quality of general anesthesia in male albino mice. Male mice were used to assess the combination of orphenadrine and ketamine at the onset of anesthesia, duration, and recovery, as well as the presence or absence of notable reflex responses and the analgesic action of a mixture of ketamine and orphenadrine was evaluated by determining the median effective dose by using the up and down method in the tail immersion test. The combination of orphenadrine and ketamine formed a significant decrease in the onset of anesthesia compared with ketamine alone, a significant rise in the duration of anesthesia, and a significant decrease in the recovery time compared with ketamine alone; this mixture led to the disappearance of almost all reflex responses, which that presence in mice anesthetized, with ketamine alone. Our results showed a synergistic analgesic effect when orphenadrine and ketamine were administered together, depending on the calculated value of Y. We demonstrated the possibility of using orphenadrine as an alternative to xylazine when administered with ketamine to induce general anesthesia, and the analgesic action was synergistic when a combination of ketamine and orphenadrine was administered. Therefore, these results open new horizons for the use of orphenadrine in the field of anesthesia. Therefore, we recommended conducting more studies on this topic

Coverage and Capacity Planning of LTE Network for-Taizz City

This paper is based on the newly advanced cellular technology called Long Term Evolution (LTE). It is intended to give a good understanding of Radio Network planning of LTE and perform a case study onTaizz City, one of the highest populated cities in Yemen with a selected area of about 118.09km2. The LTE Radio network planning involves coverage estimation, capacity evaluation. In this paper the coverage estimation is done with regards to the real environment dataat its nominal stage to obtain better estimations. Propagation modeling is done using COST HATA W/I model with inclusion of additional parameters obtained from the real environment/terrain what improves the coverage estimation.This in turn, results in a wide coverage, introducing high quality services and excellent mobility support. The simulation is performed using Atoll program to evaluate the traffic demand for all services and to calculate the average throughput of each service

Use of Wireless Sensor and Microcontroller to Develop Water-level Monitoring System

This paper presents the design and development process of Wireless Data Acquisition System (WiDAS) which is a multi-sensor system for water level monitoring. It also consists of a microcontroller (ATMega8L), a data display device and an ultrasonic distance sensor (Parallax Ping). This wireless based acquisition system can communicate through RF module (Tx-Rx) from the measurement sources, such as sensors and devices as digital or analog values over a period of time. The developed system has the option to store the data in the computer memory. It was tested in real time and showed continuous and correct data. The developed system is consisting of a number of features, such as low energy consumption, easy to operate and well-built invulnerability, which cangive successful results to measure the water level. Finally, its flexibility facilitates an extensive application span for self-directed data collection with trustworthy transmission in few sparse points over huge areas

Sickle Cell Illness Awareness among the General Public

Background: Lifelong ickle cell disease (SCD), a group of inherited blood disorders, afflicts millions of individuals. Sickle cell disease (SCD), with a global prevalence of 112 cases per 100,000 individuals, frequently gives rise to this condition. Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) exhibits a high prevalence in various regions, including Sub-Saharan Africa, Saudi Arabia, India, South and Central America, as well as the Mediterranean. We conducted a study in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia to assess the level of public knowledge and awareness of Sickle Cell Disease (SCD). Methods: The present study employed a cross-sectional observational design, encompassing a sample of 386 individuals residing in Tabuk, who were over the age of 18 and represented both genders and various nationalities. Demographic data and sickle cell disease awareness were obtained through the utilization of a structured questionnaire that was developed from previous research. Results: The present study included a total of 386 adults residing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, who satisfied the predetermined inclusion criteria. Among the participants, 47.4% fell between the age range of 18 to 25 years. The majority of participants had a satisfactory level of knowledge, with 24.1% of individuals aged 18-25, 10.1% of those aged 26-35, 7.3% and 6.55% of individuals aged 36-45, and a significant proportion of participants aged over 45. Conclusion: The survey participants demonstrated a satisfactory degree of understanding on the prevalence of sickle cell disease (SCD) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).&nbsp