Damage index in childhood-onset systemic lupus erythematosus in Egypt

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>To investigate the prevalence of cumulative organ damage among Egyptian children with juvenile-onset systemic lupus erythematosus (jSLE) and the relationships between the organ damage and the demographic data, clinical variables, and disease activity.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A total of 148 patients with jSLE have been followed in the pediatric rheumatology clinic and section at Cairo University. These patients were evaluated by retrospective chart review. The organ system damage due to SLE was measured using the Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics/American College of Rheumatology Damage Index (SDI). Risk factors for damage were also studied including demographic criteria as well as clinical and laboratory manifestations.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Overall, 43.9% of the patients had damage within a mean of 6.57 ± 3.59 years of disease diagnosis. Neuropsychiatric (NPS-21%) and renal (16.9%) system involvement were observed most frequently, followed by cardiovascular (11.5%), skin (9.5%), pulmonary (6.1%), and ocular (4.8%), with a mean SDI score of 0.93 ± 1.37. In our study, the presence of neuropsychiatric manifestations at diagnosis showed the strongest association with the presence of later disease damage.</p> <p>The number of SLE diagnostic criteria at presentation was strongly associated with the total SDI score, and the renal damage was significantly more prevalent in patients with age at disease diagnosis below 10 years of age. A higher mean disease duration was found in patients with musculoskeletal damage.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We found that cumulative organ damage, as measured by the SDI, was present in 43.9% of Egyptian patients with juvenile-onset SLE. The damage was significantly more likely in patients who had more SLE diagnostic criteria at time of disease presentation and NPS manifestations at the time of diagnosis.</p

Levels of certain tumor markers as differential factors between bilharzial and non-biharzial bladder cancer among Egyptian patients

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background/Objective</p> <p>Bladder cancer is the commonest type of malignant tumors as a result of schistosomaisis which is a major healthy problem in many subtropical developing countries. The aim of this study is to comparatively elucidate the underlying biochemical tumor markers in schistosomal bladder cancer versus non-schistosomal bladder cancer when compared to normal healthy ones.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This work was performed on tissue specimens from total 25 patients and serum samples from total 30 patients versus ten healthy individuals served as control. The investigated parameters in serum are: xanthine oxidase (XO), fructosamine, lactate dehydrogense (LDH), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), total proteins, essential and non- essential amino acids profile, hydroxyproline, total immunoglobulin E (IgE) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-<it>α</it>). In addition, the current investigation also extended to study some markers in tumor bladder tissues including, pyruvate kinase enzyme (PK), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Results showed that biharzial bladder cancer patients recored more significant elevation in serum XO, fructosamine, LDH, AST, ALT, hydroxyproline, IgE and TNF-<it>α </it>than in bladder cancer patients when compared to control ones. While, in tissues there were significant increase in PK, LDH, AST & ALT activities of schistosomal bladder cancer than in bladder cancer as compared to control healthy patients.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>It could be concluded that, bilharzial and non-bilharzial bladder cancer showed distinct biochemical profile of tumor development and progression which can be taken into consideration in diagnosis of bladder cancer.</p

Frequency and severity of ketoacidosis at diagnosis among childhood type 1 diabetes in Khartoum state, Sudan

Background: Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is a potentially life threatening acute complication of Type I diabetes mellitus (T1DM). This study aimed to determine the frequency and clinical characteristics of pediatric DKA at diagnosis of new-onset T1DM in Khartoum during 2000- 2017 period. Methods: The study was retrospective and involved review of medical files of children (&lt;15 years) with T1DM in the city hospitals and diabetes centers. Results: The overall frequency of DKA among T1DM children at onset of disease diagnosis was 17.6% (173/982). The episodes of DKA increased from 26% in first 6- year period (2000-2005) to 46.3% in the last 6-year period (2011-2012; p&lt;0.001). No significant difference in the frequency of DKA was observed according to gender (p=0.9) and age (p=0.24). Compared to other age groups, the severity of DKA (pH&lt;7.1) was higher in pre-school children (p&lt;0.01). Approximately, 5% of patients were complicated with cerebral edema with a mortality rate of 1.7%. Conclusion: The DKA frequency at diagnosis of childhood T1DM in Khartoum was lower than previous reports. In addition, the severity of DKA was high among pre-school age children with a relatively high mortality rate when compared to the global rate

Digital Twins Approaches and Methods Review

© 2023 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works. This is the accepted manuscript version of a conference paper which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1109/ITC-Egypt58155.2023.10206196This paper investigates the recent advances in Digital Twin technologies. The aim is to compare the approaches, available open source and proprietary technologies and methods, their features, and their integration capabilities. The motivation is to enable better design decisions based on the available literature and case studies. Various tools for 3D reconstruction and visualisation, IoT and sensor integration, Physical simulations and other complete platforms provide complete solutions. A conclusion of current challenges and future work identified that the lack of standardisation and interoperability makes the lifetime of a digital twin short, with a high cost and time to build and rebuild if required

Cardiometabolic Risk Factors and Its Association with Hyperandrogenemia Among Sudanese Reproductive Women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

Background: Risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) are more common and frequently occur among PCOS women. The objective of this study was to evaluate atherogenic index of plasma (AIP) as a predictor of CVD and its association with hyperandrogenemia among PCOS women. Methods and Results: This hospital-based study, conducted in Khartoum (Sudan) from October 2020 to September 2021, used a case-control design. The patients (n=150) were women with diagnosed PCOS, according to Rotterdam criteria. The controls were 150 infertile women who did not have PCOS. An ELISA reader (ASYS Expert Plus Microplate, Austria) was used to quantify serum insulin, luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), and anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) by indirect methods and total testosterone (TT) by competitive method during the follicular phase of the menstrual cycle. Serum samples of total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and fasting plasma glucose (FPG) were assayed on the Cobas c311 system (Roche Diagnostics GmbH, Germany). The triglyceride–glucose index (TyGI) and TyGI-BMI, as a marker for insulin resistance (IR), were calculated. The logarithmically converted ratio of the molar concentrations of TG to HDL-C was used to determine the AIP. Low CVD risk was defined as 0.24. PCOS women had a significant increase in BMI, compared to non-PCOS (P0.1. PCOS women with hyperandrogenemia showed significantly increased AIP and decreased HDL-C. Additionally, about 73% of PCOS women with hyperandrogenemia had lower HDL-C, and 29.9% had a high risk of CVD (AIP>0.24). A Spearman correlation revealed that PCOS women’s TT correlates positively with TC, TG, TyGI, and AIP and inversely correlates with HDL-C. AIP positively correlates with TT, TC, TyGI, and TyGI-BMI index. Conclusion: Our data revealed a significant occurrence of hyperandrogenemia, dyslipidemia, AIP, and obesity, all of which are considered risk factors for CVD in PCOS women

Sufficiency and Efficiency of Field Training for Radiology Students During Internship Experience in Najran University, Saudi Arabia

Purpose: The study was design to evaluate the effectiveness and adequacy of the internship period employing quantitative study descriptive survey approach. &nbsp; Theoretical framework: Internship is requirement of every student of radiology program of Radiological Sciences patch for the award of bachelor's degree at Najran University, Saudi Arabia. The competency level would demonstrate influence the sufficiency and efficiency of clinical training during internship period which represent six months after completing nine levels of radiology program. &nbsp; Design\Methodology\Approach: The survey was distributed to the tow levels of the last year of radiological sciences which composed of 81 male and female students which gathered seventy-seven (77) participants. Data collected through a questionnaire and summarized as percentages, frequencies, means and standard deviations using SPSS version 20.0. &nbsp; Findings: The study revealed un adequacy of the internship period and showed low efficiency due to its short duration. &nbsp; Research, Practical, Social Implication:The research construct and variables are identified the effectiveness and adequacy of the internship period.this&nbsp; study will be the modele of internship with a new qualitative change related to a period of time acceptable to students, similar to other universities. &nbsp; Originality/Value:&nbsp;The originality and value in this study are the framework conceptance and questionnaire that prepared and proved for evaluating the effectiveness and adequacy of the internship period for student of radiology program. &nbsp; Conclusion: In general internship period must be efficient and adequate to enhance sufficiency and efficiency experience by intern trainees

Fundamental Role of Neurochemicals Aberration in the Pathogenesis of Autism Spectrum Disorders

AIM: The aim of this research was to establish the perturbation of reliable biomarkers implicated in the pathophysiology of autism to help in the early diagnosis and to be as targets in the treatment of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) in children and to spotlight into the complex crosstalk between these biomarkers. PATIENS AND METHODS: This study included 90 autistic children aged from 2 to 7 years old, who were classified into two groups, the atypical autism of 30 children and the childhood autism. The childhood autism group was further divided into mild-moderate autism group and severe autism group each of 30 children. The control group included 30 matched healthy children. All the participants were subjected to full psychiatric examinations, psychological investigations, and biochemical measurements, including gamma-aminobutaric acid (GABA), serotonin, dopamine (DA) in plasma, and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in serum. RESULTS: The autistic groups showed a highly significant increase in GABA, serotonin, DA, and BDNF levels compared to the control. Of note, the levels of GABA, DA, and BDNF were significantly increased with the increased disease severity. Furthermore, a significant positive correlation between BDNF levels and both GABA and DA levels in the childhood autism group has been recorded. CONCLUSION: The present clinical setting provides new insight into the fundamental role of BDNF in the brain of autistic children as any alterations of its level due to GABA increment cause change in serotonin and DA levels which have empirical evidence in the pathophysiology of ASD. The results received in this research, create a fertile base for the setup of particular targets in the intervention of this ailment

Wax co-cracking synergism of high density polyethylene to alternative fuels

AbstractAttempts have been made to understand the thermal degradation of high density polyethylene (HDPE) and their combined co-cracking using different ratios of HDPE and petroleum wax under nitrogen atmosphere. We have conducted the experiments using HDPE as the raw material and petroleum wax as co-feed by at 400 and 450°C reaction temperatures. The product distribution was noted along with reaction time of 0.5–3h for the degradation. Thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) technique was used to measure the weight change of the feedstock as a function of temperature and time. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was used to determine the degradation temperature. Products were characterized using gas chromatography (GC) and infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), some other standard physical methods were used to determine the main properties of the liquid products. Results show that the mixed plastic-wax samples could be converted into gases, gasoline, and middle distillate depending upon the composition of feed polymer/wax ratio. It was found that the products mostly consisted of paraffin and olefin compounds, with carbon numbers of C1–C4, C5–C9 and C10–C19 in the case of gases, gasoline and middle distillate respectively

DJELOVANJE UMJETNIH GNOJIVA NA KEMIJSKU ANALIZU I SASTAV AMINOKISELINA I MASNIH KISELINA SUDANSKOG GENOTIPA SOJE

The impact of fertilizer on chemical analysis, amino acid and fatty acid composition of soybean (Glycine max L merril) Sudanese local genotype was studied. A field experiment was conducted for two consecutive seasons (2009-2010 and 2010-2011) on the demonstration farm of the College of Agricultural studies, Sudan University of Science and Technology at Shambat. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with four replicates. The fertilizer treatments consisted of three types: Urea (180 kg/ha), NP (361kg/ha), compost (1904.76 kg/ha) and then control. The results showed that fertilizer treatments had no significant difference in proximate analysis of soybean seeds except in fibber. In fatty acid, control and nitrogen treatments gave the highest percentage of palmitic acid. NP and compost gave highest effect in linoleic acid and compost gave highest effect in polyunsaturated fatty acids. As general compost treatment gave the lowest effect in all amino acids and the highest effect in minerals. Control gave the highest effect in all amino acids. The application of nitrogen, NP and compost fertilizers for soybean significantly increased number of seeds/plant, weight of seedsplant and seeds yield. The results also showed that urea fertilizer increased protein and ash content, while NP increased oil and carbohydrate contents. Compost increased all the minerals, but there was no effect on fatty and amino acid composition.Istraživano je djelovanje umjetnog gnojiva na kemijsku analizu, sastav amino kiselina i masnih kiselina soje (Glycine max L.merril) lokalnog sudanskog genotipa. Proveden je terenski pokus tijekom dvije uzastopne sezone (2009. – 2010. i 2010. -2011.) na oglednoj farmi Visoke poljoprivredne škole Sudanskog Sveučilišta znanosti i tehnologije u Shambatu. Pokus je postavljen u slučajnom potpunom bloku u četiri ponavljanja. Tretmani s umjetnim gnojivom sastojali su se od tri tipa: Urea (180 kg/ha), NP (361 kg/ha) i kompost (1904,76 kg/ha) te kontrola. Rezultati su pokazali da se tretiranje umjetnim gnojivom nije značajno razlikovalo u neposrednoj analizi sjemena soje osim u vlaknu. U masnoj kiselini, kontroli i tretmanu s dušikom dobiven je najviši postotak palminske kiseline. NP i kompost imali su najveći učinak u polunezasićenim masnim kiselinama. Općenito, tretman s kompostom imao je najslabiji učinak u svim aminokiselinama, a najviši učinak u mineralima. Kontrola je pokazala najviši učinak u svim aminokiselinama. Primjena dušika, NP i komposta značajno je povećala broj sjemenki po biljci, težinu sjemenki po biljci i prinos sjemena. Rezultati su također pokazali da je urea kao gnojivo povećala sadržaj dušika i pepela dok je NP povećao sadržaj ulja i ugljikohidrata. Kompost je povećao sve minerale ali nije djelovao na sastav amino i masnih kiselina