A preliminary study on whether HbA1c levels can predict visual dependence for spatial orientation in asymptomatic Type 2 diabetic patients

Introduction: Diabetes-induced vestibular dysfunction has been commonly reported, and asymptomatic patients with type 2 diabetes display higher degrees of perceptual visual dependence for spatial orientation than healthy controls. This study aims to assess whether HbA1c can predict such visual dependence in the diabetic patients. Methods and Materials: Diabetic patients were divided into 2 groups: 22 subjects with “good” (HbA1c < 7%) and 25 with “poor” (HbA1c ≥ 7%) glycemic control. Otolithic vestibular function was tested using the computerized rod-and-frame test (CRFT) and results for the two diabetic groups were compared to 29 healthy controls. Results: When the frame was tilted, the diabetic group with “good” glycemic control had largest positioning errors, with a significant difference only in comparison to the control group. The “good” glycemic group exhibited larger degree of asymmetry under titled frame condition. Although HbA1c was not associated with vestibular asymmetry in any diabetic group, it was significantly associated with visual dependence in the “good” glycemic group. During frame tilts, 10 diabetic patients had positioning errors above the reference range of 3.3°, 8 of which belonged to the “good” glycemic diabetic group. Conclusions: Diabetes disease processes may affect vestibular symmetry during visuo-vestibular conflicts, even in asymptomatic diabetics within the recommended glycemic range. The weak correlations between HbA1c and CRFT parameters may indicate that HbA1c cannot fully predict visual dependence or asymmetry on the CRFT in patients with diabetes, and different glycemic disorders may affect vestibular dependent spatial orientation in diabetic patients

Whole-genome sequencing reveals host factors underlying critical COVID-19

Critical COVID-19 is caused by immune-mediated inflammatory lung injury. Host genetic variation influences the development of illness requiring critical care1 or hospitalization2,3,4 after infection with SARS-CoV-2. The GenOMICC (Genetics of Mortality in Critical Care) study enables the comparison of genomes from individuals who are critically ill with those of population controls to find underlying disease mechanisms. Here we use whole-genome sequencing in 7,491 critically ill individuals compared with 48,400 controls to discover and replicate 23 independent variants that significantly predispose to critical COVID-19. We identify 16 new independent associations, including variants within genes that are involved in interferon signalling (IL10RB and PLSCR1), leucocyte differentiation (BCL11A) and blood-type antigen secretor status (FUT2). Using transcriptome-wide association and colocalization to infer the effect of gene expression on disease severity, we find evidence that implicates multiple genes—including reduced expression of a membrane flippase (ATP11A), and increased expression of a mucin (MUC1)—in critical disease. Mendelian randomization provides evidence in support of causal roles for myeloid cell adhesion molecules (SELE, ICAM5 and CD209) and the coagulation factor F8, all of which are potentially druggable targets. Our results are broadly consistent with a multi-component model of COVID-19 pathophysiology, in which at least two distinct mechanisms can predispose to life-threatening disease: failure to control viral replication; or an enhanced tendency towards pulmonary inflammation and intravascular coagulation. We show that comparison between cases of critical illness and population controls is highly efficient for the detection of therapeutically relevant mechanisms of disease

Predictors of motivation among opiate addicts seeking methadone treatment

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Enhanced Photocatalytic and Antibacterial Ability of Cu-Doped Anatase TiO2 Thin Films: Theory and Experiment

Multifunctional thin films which can display both photocatalytic and antibacterial activity are of great interest industrially. Here, for the first time, we have used aerosol-assisted chemical vapor deposition to deposit highly photoactive thin films of Cu-doped anatase TiO2 on glass substrates. The films displayed much enhanced photocatalytic activity relative to pure anatase and showed excellent antibacterial (vs Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli) ability. Using a combination of transient absorption spectroscopy, photoluminescence measurements, and hybrid density functional theory calculations, we have gained nanoscopic insights into the improved properties of the Cu-doped TiO2 films. Our analysis has highlighted that the interactions between substitutional and interstitial Cu in the anatase lattice can explain the extended exciton lifetimes observed in the doped samples and the enhanced UV photoactivities observed

On novel application of piece-wise fractional operators for a predator–prey model

Humans have observed complex behaviors presented by nature. They have observed behaviors resembling power-law, to model these problems; they have used fractional differential operators with a power-law kernel. They have observed behaviors resembling a declining process, to model these problems; they used fractional differential operators based on exponential decay kernel. They have observed crossover behaviors from fading process to power-law, to model these problems; they used fractional derivatives based on the generalized Mittag-Leffler function. However, they have also observed a passage from randomness to power-law or vice-versa, or even from deterministic to randomness, these behaviors could not be depicted using above mentioned operators. To overcome these problems, the concepts of piece-wise differential and integral calculus have been introduced. In this paper, we adopt such a concept to model the dynamical interaction of predator–prey, several scenarios are considered and simulations are provided for each case. According to the results, it seems that the idea of using piece-wise operators seems provides a better understanding of the behavior of dynamic systems

Effect of clay mineral content on soil strength parameters

The impact of clay mineralogy on engineering properties relevant to road design, such as the strength and stiffness of road materials, has recently been the subject of intensive investigations, aiming at providing indirect measures of soil performance out of mineralogical data. This study deals with the effects of clay minerals on soil strength, expressed in terms of California Bearing Ratio (CBR) and Unconfined Compressive Strength (UCS), and stiffness, represented by the constrained modulus, which are commonly used as engineering properties for pavement materials. The study is performed on six clayey soils (S1-S6) of different geographic origins. Five of the six soils are highly plastic, potentially swelling, and one is kaolinitic soil. The mineralogical characteristics of the samples were analyzed through X-ray diffraction (XRD). The testing program included Atterberg limits, sieve analysis, CBR, UCS, and consolidation tests. The measured properties of the samples were compared in light of the mineralogical composition of the soils. The investigation showed that the kaolinite mineral is significantly more effective than the montmorillonite in reducing the plasticity of the clays. Higher strength indicators (CBR and UCS) were observed for samples with high kaolinite content (S4, S5, and S6). Moreover, the kaolinitic soil samples are characterized by a larger constrained modulus (Ec) than the other samples

Effect of bi-functionalization of algal/polyethyleneimine composite beads on the enhancement of tungstate sorption: Application to metal recovery from ore leachate

International audienceAlgal/polyethyleneimine composite beads (ALPEI) have been successfully functionalized by grafting phosphonate (ALPEI-P), quaternary ammonium groups (ALPEI-Q), and by dual moieties (ALPEI-PQ). The materials are characterized by a wide diversity of analytical methods: SEM and SEM-EDX, TGA, BET, FTIR and XPS, elemental analysis and titration (detailed discussion in Supplementary Information). FTIR and XPS analyses show contributions of quaternary ammonium, hydroxyl, and phosphonate groups in tungstate binding (which may involve polynuclear species, depending on the pH). The synergistic effects of phosphonate and quaternary ammonium moieties contribute to strongly increase W(VI) sorption capacity up to 1.8 mmol W g−1 (i.e., 4-times compared with pristine beads), at pH 5. The strong increase of sorption properties with temperature (2.45 mmol W g−1 at T: 50 °C) demonstrates the endothermic nature of metal binding, which is spontaneous (and characterized by positive entropy change). The Langmuir Dual Site equation successfully fits sorption isotherm for functionalized sorbents (bearing phosphonate and phosphonate/quaternary ammonium groups in addition to proper reactive groups of pristine beads) contrary to the isotherms for raw beads (fitted by Langmuir equation). The pseudo-first order rate equation fits kinetics (equilibrium reached within ≈60 min). The bi-functional sorbent shows marked preference for W(VI) against base and alkali-earth metals (especially at pH close to 3.5). These properties are confirmed in the treatment of raffinate solutions (after ore leaching and solvent extraction): despite the complexity of the effluent, ALPEI-PQ reveals highly efficient for W(VI) recovery and separation. The sorbent can be used as a polishing treatment for enhancing the recovery of strategic metals. Sorbed tungstate is readily desorbed from the sorbent using 0.2 M NH4Cl solution. The sorbent is efficiently recycled for at least 5 cycles (complete desorption, loss in sorption performance less than 4% at the fifth cycle)

Prevalence study of acute tonsillitis among pediatrics age groups

Tonsils and adenoids are the body’s first line of defense at the oropharyngeal pathway. They “sample” bacteria and viruses that enter the body through the mouth or nose.Tonsillitis is inflammation of tonsils, a common clinical condition often encountered in Pediatrics and E.N.T. practice. The management of this condition is often empirical with the choice of antibiotics not based on any culture reports. The increasing incidence of resistance in many organisms is due to β-lactamase production and resistance transfer factors that leads to unsuccessful medical therapy which results in recurrent or chronic forms of tonsillitis. The present study was conducted to identify the prevalent bacterial pathogens and their antibiotic sensitivity that would indicate the optimum line of treatment and prevent the complications of acute tonsillitis and avoids unnecessary surgical treatment. Study Design: The clinical and laboratory (culture and sensitivity) study on acute tonsillitis was carried in the family medicine, pediatric and ENT outpatient clinic of Al-Raed Health Center in Riyadh K.S.A., The laboratory studies was carried out in the Department of Microbiology. 100 cases of acute tonsillitis were selected 58 males and 42 females aged from 4-18 years at random from the patients attending the outpatient Department of family medicine, pediatrics and ENT durng a period of one year from July 2017 to August 2018; each selected case has been studied as per the standard procedures. The chosen patients were not given antibiotics for one week prior to the study

<em>Adenium obesum</em> flowers extract mitigates testicular injury and oxidative stress in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats.

Background and Objective: Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a major healthcare problem worldwide and considerable evidence proved its negative impact on the male reproductive system. Adenium obesum is an interesting medicinal plant with a wide range of bioactivities. The current study examined the protective effects of A. obesum flower extract (AOE) on testicular injury in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced type I diabetic rats. Materials and Methods: Diabetes was induced by a single injection of 50 mg kg(-1) STZ. Diabetic rats received 250 and 500 mg kg(-1) AOE for 21 days and samples were collected for analysis. Results: As compared to the diabetic control rats, treatment with AOE increased serum testosterone, Follicle-Stimulating Hormone (FSH) and Luteinizing Hormone (LH) levels, decreased testicular thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) content, effectively enhanced reduced glutathione (GSH) content and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity. Additionally, AGE effectively inhibited diabetes-induced testicular tissue injuryand prevented inflammatoryand apoptotic responses manifested by decreased TNF-alpha, IL-6 and Bax and increased Bcl-2. Conclusion: These results demonstrated that AGE mitigates testicular injury, oxidative stress, inflammatory response and apoptotic cell death in STZ-induced diabetic rats