Tuberculosis Trends in Saudis and Non-Saudis in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia – A 10 Year Retrospective Study (2000–2009)

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a public health problem in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), which has a very large labour force from high TB endemic countries. Understanding the epidemiological and clinical features of the TB problem, and the TB burden in the immigrant workforce, is necessary for improved planning and implementation of TB services and prevention measures

Radiative Width of the Hoyle State from γ-Ray Spectroscopy

The cascading 3.21 and 4.44 MeV electric quadrupole transitions have been observed from the Hoyle state at 7.65 MeV excitation energy in 12 C , excited by the 12 C ( p , p ′ ) reaction at 10.7 MeV proton energy. From the proton- γ − γ triple coincidence data, a value of Γ rad / Γ = 6.2 ( 6 ) x 10 − 4 was obtained for the radiative branching ratio. Using our results, together with Γ E 0 π / Γ from Eriksen et al. [Phys. Rev. C 102, 024320 (2020)] and the currently adopted Γ π ( E 0 ) values, the radiative width of the Hoyle state is determined as Γ rad = 5.1 ( 6 ) x 10 − 3 eV . This value is about 34% higher than the currently adopted value and will impact models of stellar evolution and nucleosynthesis.The project was supported by the Australian Research Council Discovery Grants No. DP140102986 and No. DP170101673 and by the Research Council of Norway, Grant No. 263030. T. K., B. A., and A. E. S. acknowledge the hospitality of the University Oslo during the experiments. A. C. L. gratefully acknowledges funding from ERC-STG-2014 under Grant Agreement No. 637686, and support from the “ChETEC” COST Action (CA16117), supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology)

Peranan Media Sparkol Videoscribe terhadap Hasil Belajar Kognitif Siswa Lintas Minat Biologi

Program lintas minat yang diterapkan dalam kurikulum 2013 pada Kenyataannya belum menghasilkan peningkatan dalam hasil belajar kognitif peserta didik. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui pengaruh media sparkol videoscribe terhadap hasil belajar peserta didik lintas minat pada materi sistem endokrin. Metode penelitian yang digunakan adalah quasi experiment. Populasi dalam penelitian ini adalah seluruh kelas XI IPS SMAS PGRI 43 Singaparna dengan jumlah peserta didik 42 orang. Sampel yang digunakan sebanyak 2 kelas yaitu kelas XI IPS 1 sebagai kelas eksperimen yang pembelajarannya menggunakan media sparkol videoscribe dan XI IPS 2 sebagai kelas kontrol yang pembelajarannya menggunakan media power point. Insrumen yang digunakan berupa tes pilihan ganda sebanyak 31 soal. Data hasil penelitian dianalisis dengan menggunakan uji ANCOVA dengan taraf signifikan 0,05%. Hasil penelitian diperoleh bahwa penggunaan media sparkol videoscribe mampu meningkatkan hasil belajar pesera didik. Dengan demikian, dapat disimpulkan bahwa ada pengaruh media sparkol videoscribe terhadap hasil belajar dan pada materi sistem endokrin

Spectroscopic study of the loading of cationic porphyrins by carbon nanohorns as high capacity carriers of photoactive molecules to cells

Carbon nanomaterials are attractive candidates for drug delivery due to their high surface area, ease of functionalisation and biocompatibility. This work describes the spectroscopic monitoring of the loading capacity of oxidised carbon nanohorns for two cationic porphyrins. Addition of the COOH functionalised carbon nanohorns to both meso-tetra(4-N-methylpyridyl) free base (H2TMPyP4) and platinum (PtTMPyP4) porphyrin in aqueous solution results in hypochromism of the Soret band and quenching of the porphyrin emission. These changes are used to monitor the non-covalent binding interactions with the nanohorn surface and determine the surface loading. The colloidal stability of the nanohorns to biologically relevant solution environments as a function of loading is also reported. Finally, we demonstrate photoactivated cell death upon uptake of a colloidally stable PtTMPyP4 CNH hybrid

Tricuspid annular plane of systolic excursion to prognosticate acute pulmonary symptomatic embolism (TAPSEPAPSE study).

IntroductionThe imaging standard for evaluation of acute pulmonary embolism (PE) includes a computed tomography pulmonary angiogram. Ultrasonography has shown promise in obtaining the tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE) measurements, which may be of clinical importance in patients with acute PE. The objective of this study is to evaluate the diagnostic capability of TAPSE measurements for patients with suspicion for acute PE.MethodsWe prospectively enrolled patients who came to the emergency department with suspicion of acute PE. Each patient underwent a point-of-care sonogram where a TAPSE measurement was obtained, followed by computed tomography pulmonary angiogram. Based on the computed tomography pulmonary angiogram findings, patients were grouped into 3 categories: no acute PE, clinically insignificant acute PE, or clinically significant acute PE.ResultsWe enrolled 87 patients in this study. Twenty-three (26.4%) of these patients were diagnosed with PE. Of patients with PE, 15 (65%) were found to have a clinically significant acute PE. Analysis of mean TAPSE measurements between patients with clinically significant acute PE and those with insignificant or no PE was 15.2 mm and 22.7 mm, respectively (P ≤ .0001). Following receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, optimum TAPSE measurement to identify clinically significant acute PE is 18.2 mm. A cutoff TAPSE measurement of 15.2 mm shows a sensitivity of 53.3% (95% confidence interval, 26.7%-80%) and a specificity of 100% (95% confidence interval, 100%-100%) for the diagnosis of a clinically significant PE.ConclusionsOur data suggest that TAPSE measurements less than 15.2 mm have a high specificity for identifying clinically significant acute PE