Correlation between hepatitis B G1896A precore mutations and HBeAg in chronic HBV patients

Background: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is an important health concern worldwide, with critical outcomes. Hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) negative chronic hepatitis B is frequently caused by a mutation (G1896A) in the hepatitis B virus (HBV) precore (PC) reading frame, which creates a stop codon, causing premature termination of the HBe protein. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the G1896A PC mutation and its effect on HBeAg detection in chronic HBV patients. Patients and Methods: In this study, 120 chronic HBV patients neither vaccinated or who had benefited from immunoglobulin therapy, were recruited. The HBV-DNA was extracted from plasma and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed. Positive PCR products were subjected to automated sequencing. The HBV serological markers hepatitis B s antigen (HBsAg), HBeAg were tested. Results: One hundred out of 120 (83.3%) patients were HBeAg negative and 100% were HBsAg positive. The comparison of nucleotide sequences with the reference sequence (Accession number: AB033559) in HBeAg negative patients showed that there was a high rate of mutations in G1896A (93.18%). Conclusions: This study indicates that the rate of G1896A mutation at the PC region among HBeAg negative patients, in the Golestan province of Iran, was similar to the average rate encountered in other parts of Iran. The PC stop codon mutation was detected in 93.18% of HBeAg negative patients. Further studies with larger sample sizes are required to elucidate the exact role of these mutations in the clinical course of chronic HBV infection. © 2015, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences

Textile wastewater treatment by advanced oxiidation process -fenton process

Textile wastewaters are emerging contaminants in the aquatic environment because of their adverse effects on aquatic life and human. The organic substances that may be resistant to biological degradation make it hard to treat

Beam Dynamics Issues in the CLIC Long Transfer Line

Both the main and the drive beam of the CLIC project must be transported from the central production site to the head of the main linacs over more than twenty kilometers. Over such distances chromatic error may be substantial. With long distances and large beam currents, ion-induced detuning and instabilities and multi-bunch resistive wall effects must also be considered. These effects are quantified and simulated. Based on these results, a baseline design has been established

Delayed Death Due to Methanol Poisoning: An Autopsy Case Report

Methanol is a non-drinking type of alcohol used for industrial and automotive purposes. Methanol itself is not dangerous, but its harmful metabolites may cause the accumulation of acid in the blood, leading to metabolic acidosis, permanent blindness, and death. In this case report study, the case was a 28-year-old Nepalese man who was admitted in a semi-unconscious state to the emergency department. A working diagnosis of methanol poisoning was made. After more than two weeks, he succumbed to death due to a worsening cerebral infarction. At autopsy, extensive hemorrhagic infarction was observed, involving bilateral cerebral hemispheres. Well-defined subcortical hemorrhages leading to laminar necrosis were seen at the frontoparietal lobes. Cystic or lacunar necrosis was present at the basal ganglia. The brainstem showed the presence of duret hemorrhage. The man died approximately three weeks after the methanol ingestion. This case highlights the important pathological changes and accumulating effects of methanol in the brain

Textile wastewater treatment by advanced oxiidation process -fenton process

Textile wastewaters are emerging contaminants in the aquatic environment because of their adverse effects on aquatic life and human. The organic substances that may be resistant to biological degradation make it hard to treat

Halo and tail simulations with applications to the CLIC drive beam

We report about generic halo and tail simulations and estimates. Previous studies weremainly focused on very high energies as relevant for the beam delivery systems of linear colliders. We have now studied, applied and extended these simulations to lower energies as relevant for the CLIC drive beam

Stability, seakeeping and safety assessment of small fishing boats operating in southern coast of Peninsular Malaysia

Most fishing boats in Malaysia are built traditionally, usually with no guidance and approval from naval architects. Thus, hydrodynamics performance, viewed in terms of stability and seakeeping as well as safety performance, has become a major concern in traditional fishing boat designs. This study mainly focused on the assessment of hydrodynamics performance and safety of small fishing boats. Two small boats, each from the East and West Coast of Peninsular Malaysia, were selected for measurement of their hulls. Maxsurf Ship Design software was used to assess the seakeeping and stability performance according to the respective requirements or standard criteria. The assessments showed that although both boats fulfill static stability requirements, one of the boats should only be allowed operating in restricted operational area with maximum sea state 2, while the other can be allowed to operate in operational area up to sea state 3. A survey on safety equipment showed that both boats lacked the necessary equipment stipulated by international guidelines for safety of small fishing boats

Do Stressed Women have Abnormal Glucose Level?

Stress is a physical, mental and emotional response to a challenging event and is a normal part of everyone's life.  It has been linked to suppression of the immune system and could increase the risk of getting ill or alter the course of existing illness.  Studies show that stress is associated with increased HBA1c, especially in females.  Therefore the purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of stress with abnormal glucose value among the women community.  A cross-sectional study was conducted among 168 residents of Mukim Sg. Pelek, Sepang, Selangor.  Participants were selected through a simple random sampling and were asked to answer questionnaires provided.  The Depression, Stress and Anxiety (DASS-21) scale was used to determine the prevalence of stress and random blood sugar (RBS) for measurement of the glucose level.  Data was analyzed using Statistical Package Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20 and Chi-square analyses for determining the association between variables.  The study found that 58.3% of the stressed women in the community have abnormal blood glucose level, which indicated that the risk of getting diabetes is slightly high.  This finding has important implication for designing strategic plans for intervention program on awareness towards coping with stress positively