Frequency of cryptosporidium infection in children under five years of age having diarrhea in the North West of Pakistan

Cryptosporidium species are minute, coccidian protozoan parasites that have been associated withenterocolitis. It has worldwide distribution and has emerged as an important cause of diarrhea,particularly in children less than 5 years of age and in immunocompromised individuals. Waterbornetransmission is particularly troublesome because Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts are not eliminatedby chlorination or domestic disinfectants. In the present study, single stool specimens from youngchildren (< 5 years) presented with diarrhea were collected in Khyber teaching hospital, Peshawar,Pakistan. Wet mount preparation and modified Ziehl-Neelsen staining were used for identification ofoocysts in stool specimens. Cryptosporidium oocysts were found in 18 (9.0%) out of 200 childrensuffering from diarrhea. Infection was common in children between 1 - 24 months of age and associatedwith abdominal cramps (50%), vomiting (61.1%) and prolonged duration of diarrhea (88.9%). Direct andindirect contact with animals was present in most of C. parvum infected children (83.3%). Most of C.parvum infected children were consumers of well water (77.8%). Cryptosporidium spp. are highlyinfectious causes of diarrheal illness around the world. It is an important cause of diarrhea in children.Clinician and laboratories should be encouraged to include C. parvum diagnostic techniques whiledealing with diarrheal stool samples of young children

Spectroscopy Characterization of Ethylene Vinyl Acetate Degradation by Different Kinds of Accelerated Aging

يقدم البحث رؤية حول التشوه الحاصل في التركيب الكيمياوي للبوليمر المشترك المتحلل  اثلين فنيل الخلات EVA وذلك بحسب تغير نسبة قيم ثوابت المعدل المستحصلة من منحنيات الحركية الطيفية للعينات المتحللة. اذ تم تحديد  تضبيط رسم منحنيات الحركية الطيفية للفلورة ولمجالين مميزين من الاطوال الموجية لشدات الفلورة. حيث أظهرت الاطوال الموجية القصيرة (320-400 nm) تداخلا في الاطياف, بينما عند الاطوال الموجية الطويلة (400-800 nm) بدت الاطياف منتظمة وحسب أزمنة التعتيق المعجل. أن النسبة لثابت معدل سرعة التفاعل  عند الاطوال الموجية الطويلة الى ثابت معدل سرعة التفاعل للاطوال الموجية القصيرة هو المعيار لدرجة التشوه في البنية الكيمياوية. حيث يعتمد المعامل المولاري الخارجي على البنية الكيمياوية. من خلال قياس الامتصاصية, تم تصنيف نماذج EVA الى مجموعتين. اذ ان وجود اضافات Cyasorb هي النقطة الرئيسية في التصنيف. تم دراسة تأثير الأنواع المختلفة للتعتيق المعجل وهي, تسخين جاف عند 115 ℃و تسخين رطب عند رطوبة نسبية مقدارها 85% ودرجة حرارة 85 ℃ وتعتيق التشعيع بالاشعة فوق البنفسجية عند درجة حرارة 65 ℃ وعند ازمنة تعتيق مختلفة لكل مجموعة. وقد تم مناقشة نتائج اطياف الامتصاص والفلورة للعينات. اجمالا, فان اضافة Cyasorb تسبب تشوه اعلى في التركيب الكيمياوي عند تحلل. EVA  أن العامل الاكثر تأثيرا هو التعتيق الرطب بينما الاقل يحصل بواسطة التشعيع بالاشعة فوق البنفسجية. بينما تغير التركيب الكيمياوي الاكبر يحدث للعينة الخالية من اضافة Cyasorb , حيث ينتج من التعتيق الرطب أما التغير الاقل فينتج بواسطة التسخين الجاف.            This paper presents a sight about the chemical structure deformation of poly (ethylene-co-vinyl acetate) (EVA) samples according to the change ratio of rate constant values. Spectroscopy kinetics fluorescence curves are fitted for two characteristic wavelength domains of fluorescent intensities. The short wavelengths (320-400 nm) domain show spectra overlapping, while at long wavelengths (400-800 nm) domain spectra are arranged in regular for each specific accelerated aging time. The ratio of kinetics rate constant at long wavelengths to kinetics rate constant of short wavelengths is the criterion of the degree chemical structure deformation. Molar extrinsic coefficient relies on the chemical structure change. Through absorbance measurement, EVA samples have been classified into two groups. Presence of Cyasorb additive is the key point of the ranking. The effect of three different accelerated aging of dry (115 oC), damp (85% moisture, 85 oC), and irradiated (UV, 65 oC) aging have been considered for two samples of each group over different aging time. Spectroscopy of absorbance and fluorescent for aged samples have been discussed. In general, Cyasorb adding causes higher chemical structure deformation for the EVA sample. The most effective factor is the damp aging and the less one is the UV irradiation aging, while the biggest chemical structure change of Cyasorb-free sample is produced by damp aging and the less by dry heat.  &nbsp

Stability Analysis for the Phytoplankton-Zooplankton Model with Depletion of Dissolved Oxygen and Strong Allee Effects

Availability of data and materials: Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no data-sets were generated or analyzed during this study.MSC 2020: 34D05, 34D20, 34D23, 34D45, 92D40, 92D25.The photosynthetic activity of phytoplankton in the seas is responsible for an estimated 50-80% of the world's oxygen generation. Both phytoplankton and zooplankton require some of this synthesized oxygen for cellular respiration. This study aims to better understand how the oxygen-phytoplankton dynamics are altered due to the Allee effect in phytoplankton development, particularly when considering the time-dependent oxygen generation rate. The dynamic analysis of the model is dedicated to finding the possible equilibrium points. The analysis reveals that three equilibrium points can be obtained. The stability study demonstrates that one of the equilibrium points is always stable. The remaining equilibrium points are stable under specific conditions. We also identify bifurcations originating from these equilibrium points, including transcritical, pitchfork, and Hopf bifurcation. We derive conditions for stable limit cycles (supercritical Hopf bifurcation) and, in some cases, establish the non-existence of solutions. Numerical simulations are performed to validate our theoretical findings. Furthermore, it is noted that the Allee threshold for the phytoplankton population ( significantly influences the overall dynamics of the system. When , the population of plankton is at risk of extinction. On the other hand, when , the population of zooplankton is at risk of extinction. When , the solution reaches a stable condition of coexistence. Conversely, when , the solution exhibits periodic attractor behavior...

Modulating Mathematical Function to be used in Electron Objective Lens

A theoretical study has been carried out on the magnetic field resulting from a modulating mathematical function to produce a magnetic pole to be used for designing the objective magnetic lens in the electron optical devices. This function has only one effective optimization parameter (a) which is named half of the half-width of the magnetic field that can affect on the design and focal properties of the magnetic lens. At first we will be seen the peak of the magnetic field shifted out of a symmetry point (z=0) by a distance approximately equals to the half half-width of the magnetic field. Therefore, some axial transformations have been carried out to make this peak symmetric around the symmetry axis. The present work has shown the possibly of obtaining a magnetic pole of the magnetic field in which the peak shifted off symmetry point. Keywords: Electron optics, Objective Magnetic Lenses, Aberration

Effect of Addition Different Levels of Dried Kefir Milk to the Ration in Some Ratio of Serum Proteins to Broiler Chicks Ross 308

This study was conducted at Poultry Farm of Animal Resources Dept., College of Agriculture, University of AL-Qasim Green to investigate Study the effect of addition different levels of dried Kefir milk to the ration in some ratio of serum proteins to broiler chicks Ross 308 .Use the 240 broiler chicks Ross 308 day-old were randomly assigned to four treatments by 60 chicks per treatment by 4 replicates per treatment (15 chicks per replicate), and treatments were as follows : Treatment for the first (control) without adding dried Kefir Milk into the ration, the second treatment: Add dried Kefir Milk by 0.2 % , third-treatment: Add dried Kefir Milk by 0.4 % and treatment fourth : Add dried Kefir Milk by 0.6 % . The experiment included a study of the following characteristics : Pre-albumin , Albumin , Post-albumin , a-Glob , b-Glob and g-Glob . The results indicated that the addition of dried Kefir Milk by 0.4 and 0.6 % to broiler diet led to a significant improvement ) p<0.05( in Albumin , Post-albumin and g-Glob.It concluded from this experience, that the addition of dried Kefir Milk by 0.4 and 0.6 % feed to the ration can lead to improve in some ratio of serum proteins to broiler chicks . Keywords: dried Kefir milk , serum proteins , broiler chick

An Epidemiological and Multidrug Resistance Study for E. coli Isolated from Urinary Tract Infection (Three Years of Study)

ان الاصابة بجراثيم الايشيريشيا القولونية (E. coli) هي احد المشاكل الرئيسة التي تؤدي الى اصابة الجهاز البولي في العالم. هذه البكتريا بامكانها من تطوير المقاومة ضد مجموعة واسعة من مضادات البكتريا. ان التقصي ونظام المراقبة والاستتراتيجية الفعالة سوف يسهل بشكل كبير من اختيار العلاج المناسب للسيطرة على انتشار البكتريا. تهدف الدراسة الحالية الى الكشف عن وبائية الاصابة والعوامل الخطرة المتعلقة ببكتريا الايشيريشيا القولونية الممرضة للجهاز البولي وانماط المقاومة للمضادات الحيوية.  تم جمع عينات من الادرار (من دفعة الادرار الوسطية) من 1585 مريض لديهم علامات سريرية للاصابة بالجهاز البولي (225 ذكور و 1360 اناث)  دخلوا الى مستشفى زاخو للطوارئ في مدينة زاخو في اقليم كردستان العراق من تاريخ كانون الثاني 2016 ولغاية كانون الاول 2018. تم زرع العينات في اكار الدم والماكونكي وتم حضن اللاطباق المزروعة بدرجة حرارة  37  °م لمدة 24 ساعة. ان تشخيص جراثيم الايشيريشيا القولونية تم بناءا على تفاعل التصبيغ بصبغة كرام والخصائص المستعمرية والفحوصات الكيميائية الحيوية وفقا للمعايير والتوجيهات المتبعة. تم فحص جميع العزلات لنمط المضادات الحيوية باستخدام طريقة نشر القرص بناء على إلارشادات والمعايير المختبرية والسريرية. بينت النتائج انه من بين 1585 عينة كانت 1026 عينة (64.7 %) ايجابية لاصابة جرثومية للجهاز البولي, وكانت باعلى مستوى خلال عام 2016 (83.6 %) (P< 0.0001). كما كان معدل الاصابة في الاناث بالايشيريشيا القولونية  اعلى معنويا من الذكور (P< 0.0001) . وبشكل عام, كانت نسبة الاصابة بالايشيريشيا القولونية بمعدل 21.1% من مجموع الاصابات ونسبتها كانت اعلى خلال عام 2016 (22.9%). كما بينت الدراسة ان نسبة اصابة الاناث كانت اعلى (21.4%) مقارنة بالذكور (18.5%) (P=0.4946). بالاضافة الى ذلك ,خلال ثلاث سنوات من الدراسة (2016, 2017 و 2018), فأن معدل الاصابة بالايشيريشيا القولونية كانت عند اعلى مستوى في الصيف (أيار) وكانت في اعلى مستوى في شهري شباط وايار من العام 2016, كما ان المجموعة العمرية من 20 الى 39 سنة كانت الاكثر اصابة لدى النساء بمعدل (46%)  من مجمل اصابات الاناث, بينما كانت الفئة العمرية من 70 – 74 سنة هي الاقل بمعدل الاصابة (1%) لدى الذكور والاناث. لقد كشفت الدراسة ان نسبة عالية (80.56 %) من الايشيريشيا القولونية المقاومة لمضادات حيوية متعددة وبنسبة عالية لمجاميع المضادات الحيوية البيتا لاكتامز والماكروليدات. كانت نسبة حساسية عالية للمضادين الحيويين اميبنم و ميروبينم. في الختام, ان الاستخدام الخاطئ والمفرط للمضادات الحيوية ستزيد من معدل المقاومة لبكتريا الايشيريشيا القولونية, ولهذا السبب من الضروري الاستخدام الصحيح للمضادات الحيوية المتوفرة. كما أن البرامج التعليمية والمراقبة الدورية لحساسية المضادات الحيوية ضرورية لتقليل نسبة مقاومة المضادات الحيويةUropathogenic E. coli (UPEC) is problematic and still the leading cause of urinary tract infections worldwide. It is developed resistance against most antibiotics. The investigation, surveillance system, and efficient strategy will facilitate selecting an appropriate treatment that could control the bacterial distribution. The present study aims to investigate the epidemiology and associated risk factors of uropathogenic E. coli and to study their antibiotic resistance patterns. 1585 midstream urine specimens were collected from symptomatic urinary tract infections (UTI) patients (225 males and 1360 females) admitted to Zakho emergency hospital, Zakho, Kurdistan Region, Iraq from January 2016 until the end of December 2018. Specimens were inoculated on blood and MacConkey plates and incubated at 37оC for 24 hours. Uropathogenic E. coli was diagnosed based on gram staining, colony characteristics, and standard biochemical tests in accordance with local standards and guidelines. All isolates were screened for their antibiogram pattern using the disk diffusion method based on the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute guidelines. The results showed that out of 1585 urine specimens, 1026 (64.7%) were UTIs positive with a statistically higher rate in 2016 (83.6%) (P< 0.0001). The UTIs frequency in females was significantly higher than males (P< 0.0001). Generally, the uropathogenic E. coli represented 21.1% with the highest level in 2016 (22.9%). The uropathogenic E. coli rate was higher, statistically not significant, in females (21.4%) than males (18.5%) (P=0.4946). Additionally, through the three years of study, uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC) was in high frequency in February and May 2016. The female’s age group from 20 to 39 years was the most vulnerable (46%) form total infected females, while those from 70-74 years (1%) were the least susceptible in males and females. A high percentage (80.56 %) of multidrug resistance E. coli isolates was observed with high resistance against -lactamase and macrolides antibiotics. However, higher sensitivity was towards imipenem and meropenem. In conclusion, the wrong and overuse of antibiotics will increase the resistance rate of E. coli. For this reason, proper use of available antibiotics is necessary. Also, the educational programs and periodic monitoring of antimicrobial suscep­tibility are essential for reducing the antibiotic resistance rate

AdaDiffGrad: An Adaptive Batch Size Implementation Technique for DiffGrad Optimization Method.

Stochastic Gradient Descent is a major contributor to the success of the deep neural networks. The gradient provides basic knowledge about the function direction and its rate of change. However, SGD changes the step size equally for all parameters irrespective of their gradient behavior. Recently, several efforts have been made to improve the SGD method, such as AdaGrad, RMSprop, Adam, and diffGrad. The diffGrad is an appropriate and enhanced technique that uses fraction constant based on previous gradient information for gradient calculation. This fraction constant decreases the momentum resulting in slow convergence towards an optimal solution. This paper addresses the slow convergence problem of the diffGrad algorithm and proposed a new adaDiffGrad algorithm. In adaDiffGrad an adoptive batch size is implemented for the diffGrad to overcome the problem of slow convergence. The proposed model is experimented for image categorization and classification over CIFAR10, CIFAR100, and FakeImage dataset. The results are compared with the state of art models, such as Adam, AdaGrad, DiffGrad, RMSprop, and, SGD. The results show that adaDiffGrad outperforms other optimizers and improves the accuracy of the diffGrad

Frequency and Anatomical Distribution of Pulmonary Embolism on CT Pulmonary Angiography

Background: Pulmonary embolism, with its growing prevalence, has become a potentially life-threatening medical condition with crucial symptoms. However, prognosis is good if timely diagnosis is made and to the level of segmental and sub segmental arteries as well. Standard computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA) is thus used to diagnose acute pulmonary embolism. Objective: The primary objective of the current study was to determine and investigate the anatomical distribution frequency of pulmonary emboli, where segmental, sub segmental, and lobar arteries on CT pulmonary angiography are included. Methodology: In a descriptive cross-sectional study, single-centered studies and CTPA scans of 98 patients were included. Data was obtained from Shalimar Hospital and University of Lahore – Teaching Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan. Sample size included patients of all age groups with suspected pulmonary embolism, with no differentiation of male or female samples. Results: According to statistics and analysis, the current study results indicated the presence of pulmonary embolism in 36 patients and its absence in 62 patients. Results indicated that amongst the 98 patients scanned, the highest frequency of pulmonary emboli was found in the pulmonary trunk and lobar artery in 8 patients (8.2%). Furthermore, CTPA of the participants detected pulmonary emboli in segmental and sub-segmental arteries of 5 patients (5.1%), with another 2 patients showing pulmonary emboli in only the sub-segmental artery (2.0%). Another 2-2 patients showed pulmonary emboli in lobar and segmental artery and lobar, segmental and sub-segmental artery respectively (2.0%, 2.0%). Conclusion: The largest number of pulmonary emboli were found in the pulmonary trunk, followed by emboli of segmental and lobar arteries in patients. It is concluded that CTPA evaluates pulmonary embolism with great precision and anatomical distribution localized main trunk, and pulmonary artery emboli along with lobar, segmental and sub-segmental artery emboli. Keywords: Computed Tomography Pulmonary Angiography (CTPA), pulmonary emboli, segmental artery, sub segmental artery, lobar arteries DOI: 10.7176/JHMN/100-02 Publication date:May 31st 202

Results of treatment of 20 Iraqi Patients with Newly Diagnosed High and Intermediate grade Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma with VACOP-B

Background: CHOP regimen was the standard treatment for patients with diffuse large and mixed cells Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) even in comparison with second and third generation regimen. Recently Rituximab –CHOP is considered the standard treatment for aggressive B-cell NHL while CHOP (alone) is so for aggressive T-cell NHL, yet more than one study investigates another regimen which is VACOP-B and some showed its superiority over CHOP. Prior to the introduction of Rituximab, we used VACOP-B in the treatment of high &intermediate grade NHL in adult Iraqi patients as an alternative to CHOP. Patients and Methods:We performed a prospective analysis of 20 adult patients who, between April 2000 and October2005, received VACOP-B chemotherapy for high and intermediate grade NHL. The weekly regimen consisted of: doxorubicin50 mg/m2 i.v. weeks 1,3,5,7,9,11; cyclophosphamide350 mg/m2 i.v. weeks 1, 5, 9; etoposide 100mg/m2iv, weeks 3,7,11; vincristine1.4 mg/m2 i.v. (2 mg max.) weeks 2, 4, 6, 8, 10;bleomycin 10 mg/m2 i.v.(max. 15 mg) weeks 2,4, 6,8, 10; methotrexate12.5 mg intratheical was given in selected patients.; prednisolone 60mg p.o.daily for 2 weeks, reduced to 60 mg every other day for 10weeks.The patients treated were aged 25-50 years, 8(40%) had high grade (Working Formulation )NHL; 12 (60%) had intermediate grade NHL;seventeen patients(85%) had Stage III/IV disease; and 3 (15%) had stage II,bone marrow involvement seen in 3(15%)patients .patients distribution regarding age adjusted international prognostic index(aaIPI)was 8(40%)with aaIPI 0,1and 12(60%)with 2,3. Follow-up time from completion of VACOP-B chemotherapy ranged from 6 months to 40 months (median 22). Results: VACOP-B induced a complete response (CR) and partial response (PR) in 70% and 15% respectively, whilst one patient had no response to treatment and died due to progression of the disease, 2 patients died due to treatment related toxicity. The three year disease free survival (DFS) was 78%, where 4 patients relapsed, one of them in the central nervous system. This study showed 3-year overall survival (OS) 100% for those with a IPI 0-1and 48% for those with aa IPI 2-3. Tolerance to treatment was measured by WHO toxicity scores. The hemoglobin (Hb) toxicity median score for all patients was grade 1 (Hb 9.5-10.9 g/dl), and the white cell count (WCC), toxicity score was grade 2(WCC 2.0-2.9 x 109/1). No platelet toxicity was observed. Ten per cent of patients suffered grade 3 severity infections requiring antibiotics and there was two treatment related death. Conclusions: VACOP-B chemotherapy is an effective regimen for high and intermediate grade NHL, with an encouraging result in patients with aaIPI 0, 1. although chemotherapy was given weekly, the tolerance to treatment was acceptable. Studies comparing VACOP-B vs. CHOP chemotherapy to decide the exact role of the first in treating high grade &intermediate grade NHL, in the absence of Rituximab, are still needed

Short cephalomedullary nail toggle: a closer examination

Objectives: In patients with wide femoral canals, an undersized short nail may not provide adequate stability, leading to toggling of the nail around the distal interlocking screw and subsequent loss of reduction. The purpose of this study was to identify risk factors associated with nail toggle and to examine whether increased nail toggle is associated with increased varus collapse. Design: Retrospective cohort study. Setting: Level 1 and level 3 trauma center. Patients/Participants: Seventy-one patients with intertrochanteric femur fractures treated with short cephalomedullary nails (CMN) from October 2013 to December 2017. Intervention: Short CMN. Main Outcome Measurements: Nail toggle and varus collapse were measured on intraoperative and final follow-up radiographs. Risk factors for nail toggle including demographics, fracture classification, quality of reduction, Dorr type, nail/canal diameter ratio, lag screw engaging the lateral cortex, and tip-apex distance (TAD) were recorded. Results: On multivariate regression analysis, shorter TAD (P = .005) and smaller nail/canal ratio (P \u3c .001) were associated with increased nail toggle. Seven patients (10%) sustained nail toggle \u3e4 degrees. They had a smaller nail/canal ratio (0.54 vs 0.74, P \u3c .001), more commonly Dorr C (57% vs 14%, P = .025), lower incidence of lag screw engaging the lateral cortex (29% vs 73%, P = .026), shorter TAD (13.4 mm vs 18.5 mm, P = .042), and greater varus collapse (6.2 degrees vs 1.3 degrees, P \u3c .001) compared to patients with nail toggle \u3c 4 degrees. Conclusions: Lower percentage nail fill of the canal and shorter TAD are risk factors for increased nail toggle in short CMNs. Increased nail toggle is associated with increased varus collapse