New Limited Molecular Weight Polymeric Dispersants Prepared by Melt Condensation Polymerization

In this work, poly(sebacic anhydride) was prepared in a new method of condensation polymerization of sebacic acid monomer and sebacoyl chloride monomer in presence of triethyl amine, this polymer was purified, characterized by infrared spectroscopy. Poly(sebacic anhydride) was used to prepare poly(ethylene glycol)-sebacic acid copolymers with carboxylic end groups and limited molecular weight using poly(ethylene glycol) having different chain length (400, 2000, 10000 and 20000 g/mole) by melt condensation polymerization. The copolymers were purified, characterized by infrared spectroscopy and end-group analysis of molecular weight determination technique. These polymers were tested as dispersants for ceramic alumina particles in ethanol as dispersion medium using centrifugation settlement method; High packing densities for alumina particles were obtained. It was found that the packing densities of alumina particles have been influenced by the polymer concentration and poly) ethylene glycol) chain length. Their adsorption isotherms were also determined, it was found that the adsorption is molecular weight dependent and linear relationship was obtained between the maximum adsorption of the polymers and their molecular weights. Keywords: melt condensation, poly(sebacic anhydride), poly(ethylene glycol)-sebacic acid, alumina, dispersants, isotherm adsorptio

Biodegradation Studies in Vitro of Novel Poly(adipic anhydride-co-mannitol)-N-maleoyl Chitosan Networks

In this work, novel copolymers of poly(adipic anhydride-co-mannitol) were synthesized by melting condensation polymerization of poly(adipic anhydride) with five percentages of mannitol sugar, 1 to 5 Wt.%. These copolymers were purified and then, characterized by FT-IR, which was proved that the cross-linking reaction was caused by nucleophilic attack of mannitol hydroxyl group to acidic anhydride groups of poly(adipic anhydride) backbone and new ester groups were formed and appeared. Also, modified organic-soluble chitosan, N-maleoyl-chitosan, were synthesized by grafting reaction of chitosan with maleic anhydride in DMF as solvent, and it was also purified and characterized by FT-IR. Biodegradation in vitro of the IPNs of poly(adipic anhydride-co-mannitol)-N-maleoyl chitosan networks were evaluated by hydrolytic degradation studies at three different media (PBS, SIF and SGF) for 18 weeks with 92% as maximum degradation and it was found that minimum weight loss of IPNs was noticeably shown in SIF. In addition, hydrolytic degradation percent was decreased with increasing mannitol proportions

Synthesis, Characterization and Thermal Behavior of Four Arms Poly(L-lactide) via Ring Opening Polymerization

Four (4-arms, polyL-Lactide) were prepared by having different repeating units (10, 25, 50 and 100) from Erythritols and L-Lactide. The polymers were characterized by several methods as FT-IR, 1HNMR, 13CNMR, Gel Permission Chromatography and Scanning Electron Microscopy and finally their thermal stability was evaluated. The all characterization methods were confirmed the expected structure of prepared polymers, on the other hand the prepared polymers have a thermal stabilizing above 175° C, therefore, it is expected to be suitable for use in tissue engineering and drug release applications.   Keywords: poly L-Lactide, four arms, ring-opening polymerization, thermal behavior.

Electronic and Optical Properties of 3,3´,3´´,3´´´- and 4,4´,4´´,4´´´-Tetraaminophthalocyantocopper(II) Grafted with Different Polymers

Phthalocyanines and other related compounds are an important class of macrocyclic with many commercial applications. Therefore, their electronic and optical properties of  3,3',3'',3'''-tetraaminophthalocyaninatocopper(II), and 4,4',4'',4'''-tetraaminophthalocyaninatocopper(II) compounds and their grafted polymers based on poly(ethylene glycol) with adipic acid or sebacic acid were studied. Their absorption spectra resulted from UV-Visible measurements showed the characteristic phthalocyanine peaks (Q and B bands). In general, the two bands exhibit blue shifts of both bands for polymers grafted-compounds in comparison with 3,3',3'',3'''- (NH2)4PcCu(II) and 4,4',4'',4'''-(NH2)4PcCu(II) alone. The energy gaps of tetraaminophthalocyaninatocopper(II)  compounds and with grafted polymers were calculated from optical measurements and showed an increasing in the energy gap due to grafted polymers in comparison with the ungrafted tetraaminophthalocyaninatocopper(II) and they were affected by their particle size. Keywords: electronic properties, optical properties, tetraaminophthalocyanine, grafting polymer, energy gap

Maternal mortality and morbidity burden in the Eastern Mediterranean region : findings from the Global Burden of Disease 2015 study

Assessing the burden of maternal mortality is important for tracking progress and identifying public health gaps. This paper provides an overview of the burden of maternal mortality in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) by underlying cause and age from 1990 to 2015. We used the results of the Global Burden of Disease 2015 study to explore maternal mortality in the EMR countries. The maternal mortality ratio in the EMR decreased 16.3% from 283 (241-328) maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in 1990 to 237 (188-293) in 2015. Maternal mortality ratio was strongly correlated with socio-demographic status, where the lowest-income countries contributed the most to the burden of maternal mortality in the region. Progress in reducing maternal mortality in the EMR has accelerated in the past 15 years, but the burden remains high. Coordinated and rigorous efforts are needed to make sure that adequate and timely services and interventions are available for women at each stage of reproductive life

Trends in HIV/AIDS morbidity and mortality in Eastern 3 Mediterranean countries, 1990–2015: findings from the Global 4 Burden of Disease 2015 study

Objectives We used the results of the Global Burden of Disease 2015 study to estimate trends of HIV/AIDS burden in Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) countries between 1990 and 2015. Methods Tailored estimation methods were used to produce final estimates of mortality. Years of life lost (YLLs) were calculated by multiplying the mortality rate by population by age-specific life expectancy. Years lived with disability (YLDs) were computed as the prevalence of a sequela multiplied by its disability weight. Results In 2015, the rate of HIV/AIDS deaths in the EMR was 1.8 (1.4–2.5) per 100,000 population, a 43% increase from 1990 (0.3; 0.2–0.8). Consequently, the rate of YLLs due to HIV/AIDS increased from 15.3 (7.6–36.2) per 100,000 in 1990 to 81.9 (65.3–114.4) in 2015. The rate of YLDs increased from 1.3 (0.6–3.1) in 1990 to 4.4 (2.7–6.6) in 2015. Conclusions HIV/AIDS morbidity and mortality increased in the EMR since 1990. To reverse this trend and achieve epidemic control, EMR countries should strengthen HIV surveillance,and scale up HIV antiretroviral therapy and comprehensive prevention services

Mapping 123 million neonatal, infant and child deaths between 2000 and 2017

Since 2000, many countries have achieved considerable success in improving child survival, but localized progress remains unclear. To inform efforts towards United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 3.2—to end preventable child deaths by 2030—we need consistently estimated data at the subnational level regarding child mortality rates and trends. Here we quantified, for the period 2000–2017, the subnational variation in mortality rates and number of deaths of neonates, infants and children under 5 years of age within 99 low- and middle-income countries using a geostatistical survival model. We estimated that 32% of children under 5 in these countries lived in districts that had attained rates of 25 or fewer child deaths per 1,000 live births by 2017, and that 58% of child deaths between 2000 and 2017 in these countries could have been averted in the absence of geographical inequality. This study enables the identification of high-mortality clusters, patterns of progress and geographical inequalities to inform appropriate investments and implementations that will help to improve the health of all populations

Estimating global injuries morbidity and mortality : methods and data used in the Global Burden of Disease 2017 study

Background: While there is a long history of measuring death and disability from injuries, modern research methods must account for the wide spectrum of disability that can occur in an injury, and must provide estimates with sufficient demographic, geographical and temporal detail to be useful for policy makers. The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2017 study used methods to provide highly detailed estimates of global injury burden that meet these criteria. Methods: In this study, we report and discuss the methods used in GBD 2017 for injury morbidity and mortality burden estimation. In summary, these methods included estimating cause-specific mortality for every cause of injury, and then estimating incidence for every cause of injury. Non-fatal disability for each cause is then calculated based on the probabilities of suffering from different types of bodily injury experienced. Results: GBD 2017 produced morbidity and mortality estimates for 38 causes of injury. Estimates were produced in terms of incidence, prevalence, years lived with disability, cause-specific mortality, years of life lost and disability-adjusted life-years for a 28-year period for 22 age groups, 195 countries and both sexes. Conclusions: GBD 2017 demonstrated a complex and sophisticated series of analytical steps using the largest known database of morbidity and mortality data on injuries. GBD 2017 results should be used to help inform injury prevention policy making and resource allocation. We also identify important avenues for improving injury burden estimation in the future

Global, regional, and national burden of colorectal cancer and its risk factors, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Funding: F Carvalho and E Fernandes acknowledge support from Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P. (FCT), in the scope of the project UIDP/04378/2020 and UIDB/04378/2020 of the Research Unit on Applied Molecular Biosciences UCIBIO and the project LA/P/0140/2020 of the Associate Laboratory Institute for Health and Bioeconomy i4HB; FCT/MCTES through the project UIDB/50006/2020. J Conde acknowledges the European Research Council Starting Grant (ERC-StG-2019-848325). V M Costa acknowledges the grant SFRH/BHD/110001/2015, received by Portuguese national funds through Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT), IP, under the Norma Transitória DL57/2016/CP1334/CT0006.proofepub_ahead_of_prin

Measuring routine childhood vaccination coverage in 204 countries and territories, 1980-2019 : a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2020, Release 1

Background Measuring routine childhood vaccination is crucial to inform global vaccine policies and programme implementation, and to track progress towards targets set by the Global Vaccine Action Plan (GVAP) and Immunization Agenda 2030. Robust estimates of routine vaccine coverage are needed to identify past successes and persistent vulnerabilities. Drawing from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2020, Release 1, we did a systematic analysis of global, regional, and national vaccine coverage trends using a statistical framework, by vaccine and over time. Methods For this analysis we collated 55 326 country-specific, cohort-specific, year-specific, vaccine-specific, and dosespecific observations of routine childhood vaccination coverage between 1980 and 2019. Using spatiotemporal Gaussian process regression, we produced location-specific and year-specific estimates of 11 routine childhood vaccine coverage indicators for 204 countries and territories from 1980 to 2019, adjusting for biases in countryreported data and reflecting reported stockouts and supply disruptions. We analysed global and regional trends in coverage and numbers of zero-dose children (defined as those who never received a diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis [DTP] vaccine dose), progress towards GVAP targets, and the relationship between vaccine coverage and sociodemographic development. Findings By 2019, global coverage of third-dose DTP (DTP3; 81.6% [95% uncertainty interval 80.4-82 .7]) more than doubled from levels estimated in 1980 (39.9% [37.5-42.1]), as did global coverage of the first-dose measles-containing vaccine (MCV1; from 38.5% [35.4-41.3] in 1980 to 83.6% [82.3-84.8] in 2019). Third- dose polio vaccine (Pol3) coverage also increased, from 42.6% (41.4-44.1) in 1980 to 79.8% (78.4-81.1) in 2019, and global coverage of newer vaccines increased rapidly between 2000 and 2019. The global number of zero-dose children fell by nearly 75% between 1980 and 2019, from 56.8 million (52.6-60. 9) to 14.5 million (13.4-15.9). However, over the past decade, global vaccine coverage broadly plateaued; 94 countries and territories recorded decreasing DTP3 coverage since 2010. Only 11 countries and territories were estimated to have reached the national GVAP target of at least 90% coverage for all assessed vaccines in 2019. Interpretation After achieving large gains in childhood vaccine coverage worldwide, in much of the world this progress was stalled or reversed from 2010 to 2019. These findings underscore the importance of revisiting routine immunisation strategies and programmatic approaches, recentring service delivery around equity and underserved populations. Strengthening vaccine data and monitoring systems is crucial to these pursuits, now and through to 2030, to ensure that all children have access to, and can benefit from, lifesaving vaccines. Copyright (C) 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.Peer reviewe