Steady pressure measurements in the strap-on booster interference Region of 1/20 scale aslv configuration

Wind tunnel studies were carried out to obtain pressure distribution in the strap-on booster interference region of 1/20th scale Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle model configuration. Tests were done in the 1 .2m tunnel at NAL in the Mach number range of 0 .5 to 2.5 for the clean configuration as well as with spring housing attachments on the strap-on boosters. Both the model configurations with the boosters strapped on to the core vehicle in the horizontal plane (pitch) and in the vertical plane (yaw) were tested for incidences at 0, 4 and -4 deg. In addition pressure measurements were also done on the core vehicle alone at Mach numbers 2.1, 2.5 and 3.0 for 0, +4 degree incidences. The test Reynolds number was varied from 0.7 to 1.3 millions based on the maximum diameter of the model. The pressure distribution showed significant interference effects of boosters on the core vehicle. It is observed that the positive pressure peak associated with flow compression at the flare junction increases with increase in Mach number. In the pitch plane the normal force distribution remains positive along the core vehicle whereas in the yaw plane it is of less magnitude

Tapping for pneumoperitoneum in neonates and infants

Purpose The aim of this study was to shed some light on the presence of pneumoperitoneum in neonates and infants and to present and evaluate our method for its treatment.Materials and methods This study included 33 patients diagnosed with pneumoperitoneum during 2004–2011, of whom 19 were girls and 14 were boys, and their ages ranged from 1 week to 5 months; 21 patients were neonates and seven of them were premature; two were aged less than 32 weeks and had mild pneumoperitoneum, which could be treated conservatively and five were aged between 32 and 34 weeks. Tapping was performed for all patients. Tapping can help in selection of patients with necrotizing enterocolitis needing exploration when the aspirate is bilious or feculent. Tapping could be performed as a temporary measure before exploration to decrease respiratory distress and the occurrence of abdominal compartment syndrome and also as a routine procedure in patients with pneumoperitoneum. Tapping is an easy procedure and can be performed with the patient in bed or in the incubator. Pneumoperitoneum is not an absolute indication for surgical exploration and a small subset of patients should be managed by laparotomy. Each patient with pneumoperitoneum should be assessed and categorized for tapping, placement of a tube drain, or surgical exploration. Pneumoperitoneum occurs in neonates more frequently than in infants, and most cases are idiopathic.Results A total of 29 patients were treated by tapping alone (in nine patients, tapping was performed once; in 13, it was performed twice, and in the other seven, it was performed three to four times). Rapid improvement in the general condition and respiratory distress occurred in most patients. Six patients (five neonates and one infant) were explored because of: (a) aspiration of a bile-stained or feculent fluid in two patients and (b) failure of conservative treatment in four patients.Conclusion Pneumoperitoneum occurs in neonates more than infants and most cases are idiopathic. Each case of pneumoperitoneum should be assessed and categorized for tapping, placement of a tube drain or surgical exploration. Pneumoperitoneum is not an absolute indication for surgical exploration and small subset of patients should be managed by laparotomy. Tapping is an easy job and can be done with the patient in bed or in the incubator. Tapping could be performed as a routine in cases of pneumoperitoneum. Tapping could be done as a temporary measure before exploration to decrease respiratory distress and abdominal compartment syndrome

Ever-increasing Caesarean section and its economic burden in Bangladesh

BACKGROUND: Cesarean Section (CS) delivery has been increasing rapidly worldwide and Bangladesh is no exception. In Bangladesh, the CS rate has increased from about 3% in 2000 to about 24% in 2014. This study examines trend in CS in Bangladesh over the last fifteen years and implications of this increasing CS rates on health care expenditures. METHODS: Birth data from Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS) for the years 2000–2014 have been used for the trend analysis and 2010 Bangladesh Maternal Mortality Survey (BMMS) data were used for estimating health care expenditure associated with CS. RESULTS: Although the share of institutional deliveries increased four times over the years 2000 to 2014, the CS deliveries increased eightfold. In 2000, only 33% of institutional deliveries were conducted through CS and the rate increased to 63% in 2014. Average medical care expenditure for a CS delivery in Bangladesh was about BDT 22,085 (USD 276) in 2010 while the cost of a normal delivery was BDT 3,565 (USD 45). Health care expenditure due to CS deliveries accounted for about 66.5% of total expenditure on all deliveries in Bangladesh in 2010. About 10.3% of Total Health Expenditure (THE) in 2010 was due to delivery costs, while CS costs contribute to 6.9% of THE and rapid increase in CS deliveries will mean that delivering babies will represent even a higher proportion of THE in the future despite declining crude birth rate. CONCLUSION: High CS delivery rate and the negative health outcomes associated with the procedure on mothers and child births incur huge economic burden on the families. This is creating inappropriate allocation of scarce resources in the poor economy like Bangladesh. Therefore it is important to control this unnecessary CS practices by the health providers by introducing litigation and special guidelines in the health policy

Relationship between age, radiographic normal heart size and cardio-thoracic ratio in a Nigerian population

Background: Cardio-vascular disease (CVD) is now on the increase. The precise diagnosis of CVD is of immense clinical importance to the cardiac surgeons, pathologist and also for cardiologists. However, information on normal values for various cardio-vascular structures in Nigeria, a country with the highest population of blacks in the world is sparse. In this regard the age-related radiographic sizes of a Nigerian cohort of patients with non-cardiogenic complaints or consultations were therefore assessed.Objectives: To evaluate the limits of normal cardiac size in our environment , determine if there was a relationship between the age and size of the heart and to evaluate the relationship between sex and cardiac size and cardio-thoracic ratio.Design: A cross-sectional study.Setting: The Radiology department of University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Ilorin, North Central Nigeria between January to June 2012.Subjects: One Hundred patients were consecutively recruited and their chest radiographs examined after fulfilling the inclusion criteria.Results: Males accounted for 55% of the study population. The age range was 1 month to 73 years, (Mean = 29.3, SD =2.41668). The mean cardiac size was 11.7cm. The average cardiac size for adult males and females, were 11.6cm and 11.5cm respectively while that of thoracic size was 29.0cm and 26.8cm respectively. Correlation between age and cardiac size was 0.66; age and thoracic size was 0.64 and between cardiac size and thoracic size was 0.89. The paired sample t-test for age and cardiac size was less than 0.05 (p value <0.05).Conclusion: knowing the average values of cardiac size for adult males and females (11.6cm and 11.5cm) and thoracic size (29.0cm and 26.8cm) respectively from this study presents a base line for early detection of variation from normal cardiac measurements in this environment

Traditional Underground Grain Storage in Clay Soils in Sudan Improved by Recent Innovations

In the central clay plain of the Sudan, traditional subsistence farmers and small farmers that also produce for local markets want to keep the region near food self-sufficiency. They combine annual production of sorghum with underground pit storage of part of the harvest. With increasing climate variability this food security is coming more and more under pressure. Farmers recently experimented with pit innovations that would allow storage for more than one season. These innovations were quantified and further improvements were suggested. It was found that in the most abundantly occurring cracking clay soils, wide shallow pits, using thick chaff linings, with wider above ground soil caps, are most suitable for longer term storage

Cancer management in Sudan: Current status and future perspectives

Introduction: Sudan is one of the developing countries that face a great challenge with cancer management. About 5700 cases had been seen during year 2007 in Radiation and Isotope Center- Khartoum (RICK) and Institute of Nuclear medicine, Molecular biology, and Oncology (INMO) Wadmedani which are the only cancer centers in Sudan.Purpose: Aim of this work is to highlight the difficulties of cancer management in Sudan and to propose possible solutions.Methods: This paper evaluates the current situation of cancer management in Sudan through reviewing of data available in cancer centers and reports from the Sudan national bureau of statistic. Suggestions are also made for cancer control plan in Sudan having the current situation in mind and guided by the published international data on cancer control.Results: The preliminary analysis of the available data reveals that Sudan has very limited resources available to deal with cancer and the service provided is not evenly distributed.Conclusion: Establishment of new centers is extremely needed with special attention to good distribution of services. To achieve such a goal training of more staff and upgrading of the existing centers is mandatory to manage all types of cancer. Cancer registry is the right way to plan for cancer control in Sudan.Keywords: Nuclear medicine, radiation, oncologis

The Potent G-Quadruplex-Binding Compound QN-302 Downregulates S100P Gene Expression in Cells and in an In Vivo Model of Pancreatic Cancer

The naphthalene diimide compound QN-302, designed to bind to G-quadruplex DNA sequences within the promoter regions of cancer-related genes, has high anti-proliferative activity in pancreatic cancer cell lines and anti-tumor activity in several experimental models for the disease. We show here that QN-302 also causes downregulation of the expression of the S100P gene and the S100P protein in cells and in vivo. This protein is well established as being involved in key proliferation and motility pathways in several human cancers and has been identified as a potential biomarker in pancreatic cancer. The S100P gene contains 60 putative quadruplex-forming sequences, one of which is in the promoter region, 48 nucleotides upstream from the transcription start site. We report biophysical and molecular modeling studies showing that this sequence forms a highly stable G-quadruplex in vitro, which is further stabilized by QN-302. We also report transcriptome analyses showing that S100P expression is highly upregulated in tissues from human pancreatic cancer tumors, compared to normal pancreas material. The extent of upregulation is dependent on the degree of differentiation of tumor cells, with the most poorly differentiated, from more advanced disease, having the highest level of S100P expression. The experimental drug QN-302 is currently in pre-IND development (as of Q1 2023), and its ability to downregulate S100P protein expression supports a role for this protein as a marker of therapeutic response in pancreatic cancer. These results are also consistent with the hypothesis that the S100P promoter G-quadruplex is a potential therapeutic target in pancreatic cancer at the transcriptional level for QN-302

Female Genital Tuberculosis Among Infertile Women and Its Contributions to Primary and Secondary Infertility: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Female genital tuberculosis (FGTB) is an infectious widespread disease among young women. This meta-analysis study aimed to investigate the prevalence of Female Genital Tuberculosis among infertile women and its contribution to primary and secondary infertility. A PubMed, MEDLINE, world cat log, Lens.org, direct Google search, Google Scholar, and Researchgate, from 1971 to July 17, 2021, were searched using the keywords; prevalence, epidemiology, urogenital tuberculosis, FGTB, infertile women, infertility complaints, and FGTB testing methods. Data extracted and meta-analysis was performed. 42 studies were selected with a total of 30918 infertile women. Of these, the pooled prevalence of FGTB was 20% (15-25%; 95%CI; I2 99.94%), and the prevalence of overall infertility, primary infertility, and secondary infertility among FGTB-population were 88%, 66% and 34%, respectively. The proportion of FGTB is remarkable among infertile women globally. The biggest burden of the disease is presented in the low-income countries followed by the lower middle-income, and upper-middle-income countries

Development of new all-optical signal regeneration technique

All-optical signal regeneration have been the active research area since last decade due to evolution of nonlinear optical signal processing. Existing all-optical signal regeneration techniques are agitated in producing low Bit Error Rate (BER) of 10-10 at below than -10 dBm power received. In this paper, a new all-optical signal regeneration technique is developed by using phase sensitive amplification and designed optical phase locked signal mechanism. The developed all-optical signal regeneration technique is tested for different 10 Gb/s Differential Phase Shift Keying degraded signals. It is determined that the designed all-optical signal regeneration technique is able to provide signal regeneration with noise mitigation for degraded signals. It is analyzed that overall, for all degraded test signals, average BER of 10-13 is achieved at received power of -14 dBm. The designed technique will be helpful to enhance the performance of existing signal regeneration systems in the presence of severe noise by providing minimum BER at low received power