ASSESSMENT OF CLINICAL INDICATORS FOR ANAEMIA IN THE ALGORITHM FOR INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT OF CHILDHOOD ILLNESS (IMCI), WAD MEDANI PAEDIATRICS HOSPITAL, SUDAN 2001-2002

The object of this study was to assess IMCI clinical indicators used for the assessment and classification of anaemia in underfines. A total of 500 children (aged 2-59 month)were selected by systematic random method from sick children attending to the outpatient department of the paediatrics hospital in Wad Medani, Sudan. The study doctors obtained a standardized history and carried out IMCI standard case management. Heamoglobin concentration and blood smear for malaria parasites were then performed for every enrolled child. Using the WHO Hb levels to diagnose anaemia, the sensitivity and specificity of IMCI guidelines to classify anaemia were examined. The sensitivity and specificity of “ no palmar pallor” as a predictor of no anaemia were 60% and 50% respectively; and of  “some pallor” as predictor of mild-moderate anaemia were 44%, 60%; whereas  “severe pallor” showed a sensitivity of 52% and a very high specificity for 90% on detecting children with severe anaemia. Palmar pallor was not significantly associated with the presence of malaria as detected by a positive blood film for plasmodium falciparum. The study thus provides technical validation of IMCI algorithm for the assessment of anaemia. However, it did not provide proof of a significant association between palmar pallor and malaria, in the presence of fever

The impact of Digital Breast Tomosynthesis on BIRADS categorization of mammographic non-mass findings

Introduction: Mammography is the most used breast screening tool and was proven to reduce breast-cancer-associated mortality. The estimated sensitivity of mammography varies between 77% and 95%; however, sensitivity could be 26% lower in dense breasts than in entirely fatty breasts. The ability to represent the complex 3D breast architecture and early changes in anatomical structures in a 2D view is the biggest challenge for mammography. In Digital Breast Tomosynthesis (DBT), tomographic images are reconstructed from multiple projections acquired from different angles. This technique allows the generation of 3D data, reduction of tissue overlap and allows better evaluation of masses, architectural distortion, and asymmetries compared with conventional two-dimensional mammographic images.Objective: To evaluate the impact of Digital Breast Tomosynthesis on BIRADS categorization of mammographic non-mass findings.Methods: Prospective cohort for 180 women with mammographic non-mass findings who presented to Alexandria University Radio diagnosis Department either for screening or diagnostic purposes between July 2019 and August 2020 with mean age 51.44 ± 10.67 . Digital breast tomosynthesis and ultrasound was done for all patients. Lesions were evaluated on DM; DBT alone then combined DBT & DM. Comparison of results according to changes in BIRADS, diagnostic performance using histopathology as gold standard.Results: 208 non-mass findings were detected by conventional mammography (104 asymmetry, 35 architectural distortion, 69 micro calcifications), Tomosynthesis reduced the BIRADS 3 count by 32%, upgraded the count of BIRADS 4 lesions by 11.4% while upgraded the BIRADS 2 by 18.9% with consequent improvement of sensitivity and specificity, PPV, NPV and accuracy to 96%, 95%, 94%,97%, and 95.6%.Conclusion: Combined FFDM and DBT improved the diagnostic performance in evaluation of non-mass findings and proper BIRADS categorization

فاعلية Earth Google وMaps Google في تنمية دافعية طلبة الصف السابع األساسي نحو مادة الجغرافيا في األردن

هدف المقال استقصاء فاعلية Earth Google وGoogle Maps في تنمية دافعية طلبة الصف السابع األساسي نحو مادة الجغرافيا في العاصمة ع ّمان/ األردن، ولتحقيق هدف الدراسة تم استخدام المنهج التجريبي ذو التصميم شبه التجريبي، وبعد تطوير مقياسي للدافعية وايجاد صدقهما والتأكد من ثباتهما طبقتا على أفراد الدراسة التي تكونت من )50( طالبا من طلبة الصف السابع ً األساسي في مدرسة االحتراف الدولية والمقسمة على مجموعتين المجموعة األولى )25( طالبا وطالبة تم تدريسها مادة الجغرافيا ً ب Maps Google والمجموعة الثانية )25( طالباً وطالبة تم تدريسها بـ Earth Google، وذلك خالل الفصل الثاني من العام الدراسي ،2022-2021 واعتمادا على اإلحصاء الوصفي ً وبعد إيجاد المتوسطات الحسابية كان حجم األثر )%38( من التباين المفسر في مقياس الدافعية بين المجموعتين األولى والثانية يعود إلى استخدام طريقة Earth Google في تدريس الجغرافيا، وتوصلت الدراسة إلى وجود فاعلية Google Earth وفاعليةMaps Google في تنمية دافعية طلبة الصف السابع األساسي في مادة الجغرافيا، وإلى تفوق افراد دراسة Maps Google على Earth Google في تنمية دافعية طلبة الصف السابع األساسي في مادة الجغرافيا، وعليه؛ توصي الدراسة بتحفيز المعلمين والمعلمات في المدارس األساسية على اإلستفادة من امكانيات توظيف Earth Google وGoogle Maps في تدريس مادة الجغرافيا لما لها من أثر ايجابي في زيادة الدافعية، وعمل دليل إلكتروني ُمصّغر يوضح طريقة استخدامEarth Google وMaps Google وتوزيعه عن .QR Code طري

Machine Learning Techniques for Credit Card Fraud Detection

The term “fraud”, it always concerned about credit card fraud in our minds. And after the significant increase in the transactions of credit card, the fraud of credit card increased extremely in last years. So the fraud detection should include surveillance of the spending attitude for the person/customer to the determination, avoidance, and detection of unwanted behavior. Because the credit card is the most payment predominant way for the online and regular purchasing, the credit card fraud raises highly. The Fraud detection is not only concerned with capturing of the fraudulent practices, but also, discover it as fast as they can, because the fraud costs millions of dollar business loss and it is rising over time, and that affects greatly the worldwide economy. . In this paper we introduce 14 different techniques of how data mining techniques can be successfully combined to obtain a high fraud coverage with a high or low false rate, the Advantage and The Disadvantages of every technique, and The Data Sets used in the researches by researcher

Association of lipoprotein lipase gene with coronary heart disease in Sudanese population

AbstractCardiovascular disease is stabilizing in high-income countries and has continued to rise in low-to-middle-income countries. Association of lipid profile with lipoprotein lipase gene was studied in case and control subject. The family history, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, smoking and alcohol consumption were the most risk factors for early-onset of coronary heart disease (CHD). Sudanese patients had significantly (P<0.05) lower TC and LDL-C levels compared to controls. Allele frequency of LPL D9N, N291S and S447X carrier genotype was 4.2%, 30.7% and 7.1%, respectively. We conclude that lipoprotein lipase polymorphism was not associated with the incidence of CHD in Sudan

FPGA-Based Hardware Implementation of Computationally Efficient Multi-Source DOA Estimation Algorithms

ABSTRACT Hardware implementation of proposed direction of arrival (DOA) estimation algorithms based on Cholesky and LDL decomposition is presented in this paper. The proposed algorithms are implemented for execution on an FPGA (field programmable gate array) as well as a PC (running LabVIEW) for multiple non-coherent sources located in the far-field region of a uniform linear array (ULA). Prototype testbeds built using National Instruments (NI) Universal Software Radio Peripheral (USRP) software defined radio (SDR) platform and Xilinx Virtex-5 FPGA are originally constructed for the experimental validation of the proposed algorithms. Results from LabVIEW simulations and real-time hardware experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms. Specifically, the implementation of proposed algorithms on a Xilinx Virtex-5 FPGA using LabVIEW software clarifies their efficiency in terms of computation time and resource utilization, which make them suitable for real-time practical applications. Moreover, performance comparison with QR decomposition-based DOA algorithms as well as similar FPGA-based implementations reported in the literature is conducted in terms of estimation accuracy, computation speed, and FPGA resources consumed

Molecular diagnosis in recessive pediatric neurogenetic disease can help reduce disease recurrence in families.

BackgroundThe causes for thousands of individually rare recessive diseases have been discovered since the adoption of next generation sequencing (NGS). Following the molecular diagnosis in older children in a family, parents could use this information to opt for fetal genotyping in subsequent pregnancies, which could inform decisions about elective termination of pregnancy. The use of NGS diagnostic sequencing in families has not been demonstrated to yield benefit in subsequent pregnancies to reduce recurrence. Here we evaluated whether genetic diagnosis in older children in families supports reduction in recurrence of recessive neurogenetic disease.MethodsRetrospective study involving families with a child with a recessive pediatric brain disease (rPBD) that underwent NGS-based molecular diagnosis. Prenatal molecular testing was offered to couples in which a molecular diagnosis was made, to help couples seeking to prevent recurrence. With this information, families made decisions about elective termination. Pregnancies that were carried to term were assessed for the health of child and mother, and compared with historic recurrence risk of recessive disease.ResultsBetween 2010 and 2016, 1172 families presented with a child a likely rPBD, 526 families received a molecular diagnosis, 91 families returned to the clinic with 101 subsequent pregnancies, and 84 opted for fetal genotyping. Sixty tested negative for recurrence for the biallelic mutation in the fetus, and all, except for one spontaneous abortion, carried to term, and were unaffected at follow-up. Of 24 that genotyped positive for the biallelic mutation, 16 were electively terminated, and 8 were carried to term and showed features of disease similar to that of the older affected sibling(s). Among the 101 pregnancies, disease recurrence in living offspring deviated from the expected 25% to the observed 12% ([95% CI 0·04 to 0·20], p = 0·011).ConclusionsMolecular diagnosis in an older child, coupled with prenatal fetal genotyping in subsequent pregnancies and genetic counselling, allows families to make informed decisions to reduce recessive neurogenetic disease recurrence

Invasive Malaria Vector Anopheles stephensi Mosquitoes in Sudan, 2016–2018

Anopheles stephensi mosquitoes are urban malaria vectors in Asia that have recently invaded the Horn of Africa. We detected emergence of An. stephensi mosquitoes in 2 noncontiguous states of eastern Sudan. Results of mitochondrial DNA sequencing suggest the possibility of distinct invasions, potentially from a neighboring country

Liver Enzymes in Children with beta-Thalassemia Major: Correlation with Iron Overload and Viral Hepatitis

BACKGROUND: Beta Thalassemia is the most common chronic hemolytic anemia in Egypt (85.1%) with an estimated carrier rate of 9-10.2%. Injury to the liver, whether acute or chronic, eventually results in an increase in serum concentrations of Alanine transaminase (ALT) and Aspartate transaminase (AST).AIM: Evaluating the potentiating effect of iron overload &amp; viral hepatitis infection on the liver enzymes.PATIENTS AND METHODS: Eighty (80) thalassemia major patients were studied with respect to liver enzymes, ferritin, transferrin saturation, HBsAg, anti-HCV antibody and HCV-PCR for anti-HCV positive patients.RESULTS: Fifty % of the patients were anti-HCV positive and 55% of them were HCV-PCR positive. Patients with elevated ALT and AST levels had significantly higher mean serum ferritin than those with normal levels. Anti-HCV positive patients had higher mean serum ferritin, serum ALT, AST and GGT levels and higher age and duration of blood transfusion than the negative group. HCV-PCR positive patients had higher mean serum ferritin and serum ALT and also higher age and duration of blood transfusion than the negative group.CONCLUSION: Iron overload is a main leading cause of elevated liver enzymes, and presence of HCV infection is significantly related to the increased iron overload

Longitudinal changes in peri-papillary retinal nerve fiber layer thickness in patients with unilateral branch retinal vein occlusion

Background: Associations between retinal venous occlusion (RVO), elevated intraocular pressure, and glaucoma have been reported. Further investigations into structural alterations in the fellow eyes of individuals with unilateral RVO have revealed that the peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer is thinner than in healthy eyes, suggesting that there may be systemic risk factors common to both RVO and glaucoma. We aimed to evaluate changes in peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (pRNFLT) among individuals with unilateral branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO). Methods: This prospective observational study recruited 30 individuals (60 eyes) with newly diagnosed unilateral BRVO and macular edema, and a control group of 30 healthy individuals (30 eyes) with no abnormalities on fundus examination or concurrent systemic comorbidities. After baseline measurements, the participants were reassessed at 6, 12, and 24 months by measuring global and sectoral pRNFLT using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography. Results: The mean age and sex distributions were comparable between the patient and control groups (both P &gt; 0.05). When compared to fellow eyes, global and sectoral pRNFLT in eyes with BRVO were significantly higher at baseline (all P &lt; 0.05). Over time, pRNFLT decreased dramatically, and by the conclusion of the two-year follow-up, there was a significant reduction from baseline in the affected eyes (all P &lt; 0.05). Likewise, affected eyes experienced a significant improvement in best-corrected distance visual acuity and central macular thickness over the two-year follow-up (both P Less than or equal to 0.001). Comparing the global and all-sector pRNFLT of fellow eyes in the patient group with those of normal eyes in the control group, there were no significant differences at any visit, except in the temporal sector, which revealed a significant reduction in pRNFLT at 24 months in the fellow eyes of patients with unilateral BRVO (P = 0.02).&nbsp;&nbsp; Conclusions: Patients with unilateral BRVO experienced a significant reduction in pRNFLT in the affected eyes and, to a lesser extent, in the fellow eyes, compared with that of the control arm, suggesting that they are prone to retinal nerve fiber layer damage. The reduction in pRNFLT in the normal fellow eyes of patients with BRVO may be attributed to age or concurrent systemic comorbidities. Further studies with long follow-up periods are required to shed light on the etiology of functional and structural changes in both the retinal nerve fiber layer and ganglion cell complex in the normal and affected eyes of patients with unilateral BRVO