The Frequency of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus among Diabetic Children in El Minia Governorate, Egypt

Objectives: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in children and adolescents is becoming an increasingly important public health concern throughout the world. This study aimed to estimate the frequency of T2DM among diabetic young people in El-Minia Governorate, Egypt, and to detect its risk factors. Methods: A total of 210 diabetic patients under 18 years old in Minia Governorate were included in the study and underwent a thorough history-taking, a physical examination and laboratory investigations. Results: T2DM was present in 28 patients (13.3%); it was significantly present in 18 females (64.3%) and 20 (71.4%) of them had a positive family history of DM. T2DM patients had significantly higher BMI and waist circumference centiles for age and sex than those with T1DM. Also, haemoglobin A1c %, serum C-peptide and cholesterol levels were significantly higher in T2DM than T1DM patients. Finally, there were weak significant positive correlations between C-peptide level and both BMI and waist circumference. Conclusion: T2DM is no longer a disease of adults but can also occur in children and adolescents. The results suggested that obesity, female gender and a positive family history of DM are risk factors for T2DM. Also, patients with T2DM had poorer glycaemic control and hypercholesterolemia than those with other types of diabetes

FACTORS INFLUENCING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF TELEVISION COMMERCIALS IN URBAN AREA IN EGYPT

Purpose: This research examined the effects of television-advertising viewing on the perceived wealth in society and the materialistic value orientations among adolescents in urban Egypt. Methodology: A survey on two hundred (200) adolescents aged eleven (11) to seventeen (17) was conducted in 2013. The urban sub-sample consisted of one hundred (100) respondents studying in Grade 7 and Grade 8 from a secondary school in Cairo city. The rural sub-sample consisted of one hundred (100) respondents studying in Grade 7 and Grade 8 from two (2) rural secondary schools in Alexandria. Main Findings: In the survey among urban (Cairo) adolescent respondents, it was found that there were higher estimates among adolescents whose family-owned five (5) modern-day products namely desktop computers, cameras, air conditioners and motorcars. This finding is not surprising as urban dwellers have a higher income than rural folks which translated into the higher purchasing power of buying modern-day products. Urban adolescents’ families owned more than rural adolescents’ families in terms of modern-day products namely desktop computers, cameras, air-conditioners and motorcars except for handphones as there was almost no difference in terms of owning handphones for urban or rural adolescents’ families. Implications: In addition, marketers are advised to consider placing advertisements on national television in their quest to reach out and promote their products and services to adolescents living in urban areas, as frequent watching of advertisements on television by adolescents in urban areas has a positive correlation with greater materialistic value. Novelty: The importance of this study is that it has managed to present empirical evidence that television advertising has an influence on materialism and perceived level of wealth among adolescents in urban areas of Egypt

Low cost options of carbon sources, gelling agents and supporting materials used for micropropagation of shoot tips of banana cultivar Grand Nain

The high cost of materials used for media preparation is chiefly constituted by gelling agents and sucrose. The objective of this study was to develop efficient micropropagation techniques for the newly released banana cultivar Grand Nain at a low cost by testing different alternatives of carbon sources (sucrose),gelling agents and supporting materials. Three experiments were conducted to test different carbon sources, gelling agents and support matrices.  In the first experiment, different carbon sources were tested. These included the refined imported sugar special for tissue culture from Sigma Company, Kenana (refined local sugar), Alguneid (brown local sugar) and beet crystal imported sugar from the local market. Results showed that all sources of sucrose resulted in the highest number of explants with shoots, however, Alguneid sugar induced significantly higher number of shoots per explants. There was 99.4% reduction in the medium cost compared to the standard medium of Sigma sugar. The second experiment was conducted to test different gelling agents such as corn starch at 50.0g/l plus agar at 3.0 and 4.0 g/l, corn starch at 50.0g/l plus phytagel at 1.25 and 1.5 g/l, respectively. Phytagel at 2.5 g/l and agar at 9 g/l were used as control. Gelling agents did not differ in the percentage of explants with shoots. However, corn starch at 50.0g/l and phytagel at 1.5 g/l resulted in the highest number of shoots which reduced the medium cost by 30.7%. In the third experiment, different supporting materials were used as low cost options including stone matrices, glass beads, cotton fiber and filter paper. Rock stones were the best supporting material in liquid medium for propagation of banana cv. Grand Nain. It resulted in significantly higher percentage of explants with shoots, number of shoots per explant and plant height.   ارتفاع كلفة الزراعة النسيجية النباتية هو السبب في عدم تطبيقها علي نطاق واسع. إن تكلفة المواد الجيلاتينية (الآجار والفايتاجل) والسكر تمثل أكبر تكلفة بين العناصر المكونة للوسط الغذائي. الهدف من هذه الدراسة هو تطوير خيارات اقتصادية لتقنية زراعة الأنسجة للإكثار الدقيق للموز الصنف قراند نين المجاز حديثاً وذلك باختبار بدائل للسكر والمواد الجلاتينية وايجاد مواد داعمة للزراعات النسيجية في الأوساط الغذائية السائلة. أجريت الاختبارات في هذه الدراسة بإستخدام النظام العشوائي الكامل في خمس مكررات وأربع قمم نامية في كل مكرر. تم تنفيذ ثلاث تجارب بهدف خفض تكلفة الاكثار الدقيق للموز الصنف قراندنين. فى التجربة الأولى تم اختبار أربعة مصادر الكربون وهى: سيقما (سكر نقى مستورد خاص بزراعة الأنسجة من شركة سيقما), كنانة (سكر نقى منتج محلياً من شركة سكر كنانة), الجنيد   ( سكر بنى منتج محلياً من مصنع الجنيد) والبنجر( سكر بلورى مستورد). لا توجد فروقات معنوية بين أنواع السكر التي تم اختبارها في النسبة المئوية للقمم النامية للموز التي تم تحفيز نموات جديدة منها وعدد النموات الجديدة (السيقان)، لكن عدد السيقان النامية من كل قمة نامية علي سكر الجنيد أعلي معنويا من أنواع السكر الأخرى. باستخدام هذه البدائل تم تخفيض 99.4% من تكلفة السكر في الوسط الغذائي. أجريت التجربة الثانية لاختبار مواد جلاتينية مختلفة وهى: 50.0 جرام/لتر من نشا الذرة الشامية مع3.0  جرام/لتر و4.0 جرام/لتر اجار,50.0 جرام/لتر من النشأ مع1.25  جرام/لتر و1.5 جرام/لتر فايتاجل, 2.5 جرام/لتر فايتاجل و9 جرام/لتر اجار كشواهد. أوضحت النتائج أن الاحلال الجزئي للمواد الجلاتينية (الفايتاجل والاجار) بمقدار 50.0 جرام/لتر من نشا الذرة الشامية يمكن استخدامه للإكثار الدقيق للموز صنف قراندنين، حيث لا توجد فروقات معنوية بين كل المعاملات في النسبة المئوية لأجزاء الموز التي تم تحفيز نموات جديدة منها وعدد السيقان مع تخفيض 40.7-30.7 %و65.8-54.7 % في كلفة الآجار والفايتاجل علي التوالي. فى التجربة الثالثة تمت زراعة القمم النامية فى وسط غذائي سائل باستخدام دعامات مختلفة وهى: مصفوفات من الحصى, البلى, ألياف قطنية و أوراق الترشيح. أثبتت النتائج أن مصفوفات الحصى هى أفضل الدعامات المختبرة فى الوسط الغذائي السائل.   &nbsp

A Study of Adiponectin in Children with Diabetes Mellitus

Objectives: Adiponectin is a hormone produced by adipose tissue. It is secreted exclusively by adipocytes and appears to play a role in the pathophysiology of obesity, diabetes mellitus (DM), and its comorbidities. The aim of this study was to assess adiponectin levels in diabetic children with type 1 DM (T1DM) and type 2 DM (T2DM), and to detect its prognostic role in them. Methods: This study was undertaken from April to July 2011 at Minia University Children’s Hospital, Egypt, and included 314 children aged 2–18 years divided into two patient groups. Group I consisted of 164 pre-diagnosed diabetic patients, further subdivided into Group Ia which included 142 patients with T1DM and Group Ib, 22 patients with T2DM; Group 2 included 150 apparently healthy children as a controls; they were age- and sex-matched to the diseased group. Patients were subjected to a thorough history taking, clinical examination, and laboratory investigations including assessment of HbA1c percentages, fasting C-peptide levels, lipid profiles and fasting serum adiponectin levels. Results: Adiponectin levels did not differ significantly between patients with T1DM and T2DM, but it was significantly higher in diabetic patients than in the controls. In T1DM, adiponectin had positive significant correlations with the duration of the disease and waist circumference, while in T2DM, it had a positive significant correlation with the dose of insulin given and negative significant associations with diastolic blood pressure, cholesterol, and C-peptide levels. Conclusion: The results of the study suggest that adiponectin can play a protective role against the metabolic complications of DM

Tackling Fluid Overload in a High-transporter Diabetic Patient on Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis

Introduction: Diabetic patients on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) are more prone to fluid overload than non-diabetic patients, but the use of hypertonic glucose solutions to improve their ultrafiltration (UF) may hamper their glycemic control. Maintaining euvolemia in such patients may be tricky and needs special care. Case report: A 72 year old diabetic and hypertensive patient presented with severe fluid overload shortly after initiation of CAPD despite producing more than one liter of urine per day. He only achieved modest ultrafiltration (UF) during the day, and had a negative UF during the long hypertonic night dwell. Peritoneal equilibration tests (PET) confirmed that he was a high transporter, and his weekly Kt/V was found to be 1.36. Since automated peritoneal dialysis (APD) is not yet available in Sudan, the PD prescription was modified to comprise five short cycles during the day, including two short hypertonic daytime dwells, and a dry abdomen at night. This approach succeeded in improving his fluid status, but required the addition of intra-peritoneal soluble insulin to his regular subcutaneous insulin in order to achieve acceptable blood sugar control. After 8 months his residual renal function (RRF) had declined remarkably and he began to suffer from intermittent fluid overload of variable degrees. Nevertheless, we managed to maintain him satisfactorily on CAPD for 14 months. Conclusion: Simple measures such as omitting the night dwell and using five short cycles during the day, including two short hypertonic dwells, can be effective in controlling fluid overload in diabetic patients who have a high transporter status. Key words: CAPD, diabetes mellitus, fluid overload, residual renal Functio

Effect of police training during the confinement period on some cardiopulmonary and hematological parameters in Khartoum, Sudan

Background: Pulmonary function tests (PFT) serve as a tool of health assessment and as a predictor of occupational fitness. Police officers must develop and maintain high levels of physical fitness for physical demanding tasks they perform. The training program starts with confinement of five to eight weeks according to the trainee. Previously it has been shown that the police students have better lung functions values compared to their civilian colleagues. In this study the effect of the confinement training on pulmonary function tests was investigated.Methods: Eighty one policemen trainee were randomly selected from a new batch in the faculty of police sciences and Law, the National Ribat University, Khartoum, Sudan at their starting confinement period. Subjects were medically fit with no history of Diabetes, Hypertension, Asthma or use of any long term medications. Pulmonary function tests (FVC, FEV1 and PEFR) were performed using a micro-plus spirometer. Blood pressure, pulse rate, and hemoglobin were measured. All these were repeated at the end of the confinement.Results: The age of participants ranged from 24 to 26 years. FVC, FEV1 and PEFR significantly increased after the confinement period. The blood pressure and the pulse significantly decreased. The weight of the participants decreased after the confinement but Hb significantly slightly increased.Conclusions: Regular police training during the confinement improved the pulmonary and cardiovascular reserve function

The spectrum of MEFV gene mutations and genotype-phenotype correlation in Egyptian patients with familial Mediterranean fever

Background: Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is an autosomal recessive disease mainly affecting subjects of the Mediterranean origin. It is an auto-inflammatory periodic disorder that is caused by mutations in the Mediterranean fever gene (MEFV) located on chromosome 16.Methods: The current study was designed to assess the prevalence and frequency of different MEFV gene mutations among 104 FMF clinically diagnosed Egyptian patients and to evaluate the change extent in the values of some biochemical markers (ESR, CRP, Fibrinogen-C, SAA and IL1) in different participants with different FMF severity scores.Results: According to allele status 28 patients (27%) were homozygous mutation carriers, 38 (36.5%) were with compound heterozygous mutations and 38 (36.5%) were identified as heterozygous for one of the studied mutations. Of the studied mutations, M694I, E148Q, V726A, M680I, and M694V accounted for 28.1%, 26.8%, 16.9%, and 11.3% of mutations respectively. The R761H and P369S mutations were rarely encountered mutations (1.4%). The clinical features with M694I were associated with more severe clinical course. There is a drastic elevation in the levels of estimated parameters as their levels were increased as long as the severity of the disease increased.Conclusions: The diagnosis of FMF cannot be performed on the basis of genetic testing or clinical criteria alone. So, we recommended the combination between clinical and molecular profiling for FMF diagnosis and scoring