On modeling two immune effectors two strain antigen interaction

In this paper we consider the fractional order model with two immune effectors interacting with two strain antigen. The systems may explain the recurrence of some diseases e.g. tuberculosis (TB). The stability of equilibrium points are studied. Numerical solutions of this model are given. Using integer order system the system oscillates. Using fractional order system the system converges to a stable internal equilibrium. Ulam-Hyers stability of the system has been studied

Factors Influencing Consumer’s Behavioural Intention towards the Adoption of Mobile Payment in Kuala Lumpur

Purpose: The purpose of the research is to investigate the connection between the adoption of digital payments in Kuala Lumpur and the system's credibility in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The another goal of this study is to investigate the connection between social impact and mobile payment adoption in Kuala Lumpur. In Kuala Lumpur, study the relationship between effort expectation and mobile payment adoption. To determine the association between performance expectation and mobile payment adoption in KL.   Theoretical framework: One of the most well-known study models on customer adoption of new technological systems highlights how particular characteristics effect customer adoption. The idea takes into account things like social influences, credibility requirements, effort expectations, and performance requirements.   Design/methodology/approach: This is descriptive based study. In this research paper to accurately predict consumer behavioral intention to accept mobile payment in Kuala Lumpur, the study selects 100 students representative of the target population using probability-based random sampling.   Findings: Inability to collect information from all Malaysians is the primary justification for using a random sample. Mobile payment acceptance has a high link with expected effort, trustworthiness, and performance, demonstrating that these factors impact adoption. Because the majority of people consider a rapid and dependable mobile payment system to be essential.   Conclusion: Mobile payments are rapid. Their relocation is regular practice. Customers can complete the majority of transactions by just pressing their card to the screen

Risk factors for peritoneal dialysis catheter failure in children

Background Peritoneal dialysis catheter (PDC) failure still remains a common clinical problem in pediatric patients despite advancements in catheter placement and dialysis techniques. Our aim was to determine the risk factors that may lead to PDC failure, especially those factors that could be potentially modified to minimize PDC failures.Patients and methods This study was designed as a retrospective chart review of 31 patients less than 12 years of age who had end-stage renal disease (ESRD) on whom a total of 54 operative PDC placements were carried out at the tertiary Children’s Hospital, King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from January 2007 to December 2010. The data included patient demographics and perioperative and operative variables.Results Fifty-four PDCs were inserted in 31 pediatric patients with ESRD, of whom 17 (55%) were boys and 14 (45%) were girls. Young age showed a statistically significant effect on PDC failure [1.8 (± 5) vs. 5 (± 7.8), P = 0.007], whereas weight did not (P = 0.085). Five types of PDCs were used, which showed significant association with PDC failure (P =0.009). Supraumbilical paramedian abdominal entry incisions were used in 49 (90.7%) patients without peritoneal leakage in any case. Nonsimultaneous omentectomy and upward PDC exit site orientation showed significant association with PDC failure (Pr0.001). The causes of PDC failure included idiopathic peritonitis in 13 (56.5%), PDC occlusion by omentum in five (21.7%), PDC malposition in four (17.4%) patients, and PDC leakage in one (4.4%) patient. Peritonitis showed a high statistical significance in PDC failure with P value of less than 0.001. The serum albumin level at the time of PDC insertion was not statistically significant in terms of PDC failure (P = 0.40) but had a high association with idiopathic peritonitis.Conclusion Our study provides some recommendations to minimize PDC failures that include improvement of patients’ nutritional status, use of a swan-neck double-cuffed catheter, paramedian abdominal entry incision, simultaneous omentectomy, downward orientation of exit site, and use of an up-to-date technique by a dedicated team for proper use of PDC. However, prospective studies possibly on a multicentric basis are necessary to standardize the best PDC insertion and maintenance techniques to minimize PDC failures and improve the quality of life for children with ESRD. Keywords: end-stage renal disease, pediatric patients, peritoneal dialysis, tenckhoff cathete

Assessment of the drug therapy for sexually transmitted diseases in the White .ile State – Sudan

Back ground:Irrational drug prescribing is a global problem. It results in development of resistance to antimicrobials, ineffective treatment, adverse effects and economic burden on patient and society.Objectives: This study was carried out to assess the use of drugs for treatment of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and to determine their prevalence in the White Nile State-Sudan 2002-2003.Material and Methods: Twenty urban health centers were selected randomly, 30 prescriptions were collected from each health center and assessed against recommended standard therapy.Results: The appropriate drug therapy according to diagnosis was selected in only 10.6% of the collected prescriptions, only 42.2% of them were with appropriate doses and duration of therapy, poly pharmacy was detected in 28.8%, generic prescribing in 35.5% and possible drug- drug interactions in 17.3% of the total collected sample. The prevalence of STDs among total patients was 1.9%. 78.8% of the cases were females, 59.3% were 15-29 years old and Kenana Health Centers showed the highest prevalence of STDs 3.4%. (P<0.05)Conclusion: The results of the present study revealed that prescribing practices for the treatment of STDs were illogical; the reference chart prepared by federal ministry of health Sudan National HIV/AIDS/STD program must be reevaluated, because it is inappropriate and illogical. Continuous training courses are urgently needed locally and nationally to raise the updating levels of medical

Spray-Dried Proliposome Microparticles for High-Performance Aerosol Delivery Using a Monodose Powder Inhaler

Proliposome formulations containing salbutamol sulphate (SS) were developed using spray drying, and the effects of carrier type (lactose monohydrate (LMH) or mannitol) and lipid to carrier ratio were evaluated. The lipid phase comprised soy phosphatidylcholine (SPC) and cholesterol (1:1), and the ratios of lipid to carrier were 1:2, 1:4, 1:6, 1:8 or 1:10 w/w. X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) revealed an interaction between the components of the proliposome particles, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that mannitol-based proliposomes were uniformly sized and spherical, whilst LMH-based proliposomes were irregular and relatively large. Using a two-stage impinger (TSI), fine particle fraction (FPF) values of the proliposomes were higher for mannitol-based formulations, reaching 52.6%, which was attributed to the better flow properties when mannitol was used as carrier. Following hydration of proliposomes, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) demonstrated that vesicles generated from mannitol-based formulations were oligolamellar, whilst LMH-based proliposomes generated ‘worm-like’ structures and vesicle clusters. Vesicle size decreased upon increasing carrier to lipid ratio, and the zeta potential values were negative. Drug entrapment efficiency (EE) was higher for liposomes generated from LMH-based proliposomes, reaching 37.76% when 1:2 lipid to carrier ratio was used. The in vitro drug release profile was similar for both carriers when 1:6 lipid to carrier ratio was used. This study showed that spray drying can produce inhalable proliposome microparticles that can generate liposomes upon contact with an aqueous phase, and the FPF of proliposomes and the EE offered by liposomes were formulation-dependent

Biochemical Parameters in Relation to Tuberculosis in Sudanese Patients

Background: Malnutrition and wasting are associated with TB and HIV infection. Malnutrition and tuberculosis are both problems of considerable magnitude in most of the underdeveloped regions of the world. Nutritional status is significantly lower in patients with active tuberculosis compared with healthy controls. Both, protein-energy malnutrition and micronutrients deficiencies increase the risk of tuberculosis.Objectives: To investigate the concentration of serum albumin, total protein, glutamate oxalo acetate transaminase (GOT), glutamate pyruvate transaminase (GPT) and zinc in Sudanese tuberculosis patients (TB), attending the Tropical Diseases Teaching Hospital, Khartoum State.Materials and Methods: The study was performed on 60 tuberculosis patients, compared with 40 healthy individual age and sex matched used as control group .The study period was from April to August 2011. Serum albumin, total protein, GOT and GPT levels were determined by using clinical chemistry analyzer while zinc level was analyzed by atomic absorption spectro-photometers.Results: Among TB patients the mean ±SD of plasma albumin, total protein, GOT, GPT and zinc respectively were 3.29±0.91, 7.55±1.59, 21.24±8.33, 9.12±6.34 and 0.47±0.17. The mean ±SD of plasma albumin, total protein, GOT, GPT and zinc for control group respectively were 4.19±0.93, 8.0±0.98, 26.0±9.08, 13.3±8.15, and 0.55±0.14. Statistically significant association was observed in all parameters between the patients and control group (P<0.05).Conclusions: This study concluded that TB patients had significant decreased levels of all parameters; however albumin and GPT were more significant as compared to others.Keywords: Tuberculosis, Total protein, Albumin, Liver enzymes, Zinc

Development and assessment of cement and concrete made of the burning of quinary by-product

The aim of this study is to evaluate the usability of new cement (NC) made by the burning of quinary by-product to make commercial binders. Chemical analysis of the by-products and NC as well as X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis of NC, fineness, density, consistency, and setting time of NC paste, and slump in addition to compressive strength (CS) and splitting tensile strength (STS) of NC concrete (NCC) were conducted. The results suggested that chemical composition of by-products is suitable to make NC binder. The NC contains Ca3SiO5, Ca2SiO5, Ca3Al2O6, and Ca3Al2FeO10. The particles passing through the 200 um Sieve were 56% compared with 52% for Portland cement (PC). The density of the of NC was similar to that of PC. The NC needed 48% more water than PC for normal consistency. The initial and final setting-time of NC was 105 min and 225 min respectively which is much higher than that of PC (15 and 45 min). The slump, compressive strength and splitting tensile strength were slightly lower for concrete containing NC compared with that pf PC concrete. Although the CS and STS of NCC are the lowest, the rate of the CS and STS gain of NCC is greater than that of PCC. It was concluded that NC is a viable alternative to PC for the production of greener concrete