Cytokines as Immunological Markers for Follow up of Disease Activity During the Treatment of Pulmonary Tuberculosis

Background: Cytokines play a major role in protection against Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection and regulate the immune responses at a cellular level. Cytokine profile determines clinical outcome of the disease and responses to treatment as well. A T helper 1 (Th1) cytokine interferon gamma (IFN-U) is one of the most important cytokines which activate the macrophages to produce tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-V). Excessive production of TNF-V have been implicated in immunopathogenesis of tuberculosis. A T helper 2 (Th2) response leads to release of IL-4, and IL-10 promoting an anti-inflammatory macrophage response. Interleukin-4(IL-4), has been implicated to down-regulate IFN-U, and thus has a harmful effect on TB patients. IL10 cytokine has thecapacity to inhibit Th1 activation and thus terminates cell mediated immune responses.Objective:The objective of the present study was to determine Th1 and Th2 cytokine profile in patients with tuberculosis to identify immunological marker for follow up of the disease activity, and to study the outcome of treatment.Methods: To examine this, blood samples were collected from newly diagnosed HIV negative pulmonary tuberculosis patients and from apparently healthy individuals as controls following an informed consent. Blood samples were as well collected at several intervals during the treatment with anti-tuberculosis drugs. Levels of IFN-U, TNF-V, IL-4 and IL-10 were measured pre and during treatment using commercial available enzyme-linked immune-sorbent assay (ELISA). Data were analyzed using SPSS 20. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) Curve analysis has beencarried out to assess their discriminative power and to determine cut-off values. Analysis has been carried out further by calculating other measures of diagnostic test accuracy.Results: The median serum level of IL-4 was 20 and 35 pg/ml higher in new cases (untreated patients) and in patients under treatment with oral anti-tuberculosis, respectively, compared with that of controls (p=001). Levels of TNF- were significantly increased in patients before and afterthe treatment than those in control (p=0.001). New cases had the highest median level (10pg/ml) followed by those under treatment group (6pg/ml). Levels for IFN-U were not statistically different between patients and controls (p=0.351). Median levels of IL10 were similar in both controls and new cases groups (35pg/ml), but lower in patients under treatment group (20pg/ml). Increase in levels of IL-4 during treatment showed that Th2 immune responses still present and may indicate active disease and thus IL4 cytokine may be a possible marker for the disease activity.Conclusion: serum levels of TNF- in TB patients is useful in the evaluation of the disease activity during therapy, not replacing clinical parameters of disease activity in TB. Similar to TNF-, IL-4 can also be used as marker for TB severity. On the other hand IL-4test can be used to diagnose TBin highly exposed suspects where a positive result is more likely to indicate TB.Keywords: Tuberculosis; Cytokines; Immunological markers

Analysis of Tooth Extraction Causes and Patterns

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the causes and patterns of extraction of permanent teeth in the targeted population. METHODS: The study was conducted for a period of 11 months. An especially designed form was used to record the causes for extraction of a permanent tooth. Further, it was analyzed for age, gender, education, occupation, smoking, tooth position, endodontic treatment, chewing, esthetics, needs replacement, type of existing prosthesis, and causes for extraction. The various causes which were considered to determine association with the tooth extraction were dental caries, periodontal problems, trauma, orthodontics, prosthodontic failures, endodontic failures, and others. RESULTS: The percentage of extractions was almost the same in males and females aged. Maximum extractions were noticed in 36–45 years of age group (32.5%). The presence of caries was observed to be the main reason for extraction (68.1%), followed by periodontal problems (17.6%) and orthodontic problems (4.8%). The most frequently extracted posterior teeth were first mandibular molar (22.2%), followed by the third maxillary molar (15.2%). CONCLUSION: Dental caries was found to be the most common reason for the extraction of teeth. Molar teeth were found to be the most frequently extracted, with an increased number of extracted first premolars as a result of orthodontic treatment. Maxillary teeth are extracted more than mandibular, mainly due to caries and periodontal problems

Evaluation of Immune Response to Hepatitis B Vaccine among Malnourished Children in Yemen

Objectives: To determine the coverage rate of hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccine and to evaluate the immune response to HBV vaccine by measuring hepatitis B surface antibody (anti-HBs) among malnourished under-five-year old children.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in two tertiary hospitals in Yemen; Al-Sabeen Maternity and Child Hospital in Sana’a and the Yemeni-Swedish Hospital in Taiz city in the period from March 2014 to Dec. 2014. The target population was malnourished children aged from 6 to 59 months old with a history of three HBV vaccine doses in infancy. According to the World Health Organization’s definition of malnutrition, 121 malnourished children were enrolled in the study. Data of malnourished children were collected using a pre-designed, pre-tested questionnaire. Two milliliters of venous blood were taken, and anti-HBs was then tested by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. An anti-HBs level of at least 10 IU/L was considered a successful response to the vaccine.Results: The coverage rate of HBV vaccine among malnourished children was 89.3%, being higher among girls (52.1%) than boys (37.2%). Response to HBV vaccine (≥10 IU/L) was observed in 72.2% (78/108) of children while 27.8% (30/108) of children failed to respond to the vaccine, with a statistically significant difference (p <0.001).Conclusions: A good HBV vaccine coverage rate was found among malnourished Yemeni children, with a moderate rate of protection. Therefore, re-vaccination or administration of booster doses to a substantial proportion of vaccinated children should be considered

Phenotypes in Sudanese Diabetic Patients

Abstract In this case -control study conducted during the period from February 2013 to January 2015, Haptoglobin phenotypes in diabetes patients has been investigated in 300 type 2 diabetic patients and 100 non diabetic healthy controls in Sudan. The samples were obtained from Elmotakmel diabetic center in Omdurman, Sudan and were categorized by their haptoglobin phenotypes using Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The result of the study showed no significant difference in the distribution of haptoglobin phenotypes. Diabetic patients with Hp 2-2 phenotype tend to had highest fasting blood glucose levels and lower hemoglobin levels

The Rise of Internet of Things and Big Data on the Cloud: Challenges and Future Trends

Huge growth in the scale of data generated through cloud computing has been led to Internet of Things (IoT). Fog computing has been recently adopted to improve some features of cloud computing and makes cloud computing more attractive to users. Furthermore, it comes to improve some parameters such as latency, security and load network. The combination of cloud and fog computing is seen a new progress in distributed computing and the appropriate platform for the data. Fog computing is defined as a new paradigm that works at the edge of the network to improve the quality of the network. In this paper, the use of fog computing in cloud computing is reviewed in this work. The characteristics, architectures and discussions and the relationship is further elaborated. Additionality, recommendation for further research is discussed

Evaluation of Antibacterial Activity of Pine Tar on Periodontal Pathogenic Bacteria: An In Vitro Study

BACKGROUND: Periodontal pathogens play an important role in etiology and pathogenesis of periodontitis. Microbiological examination of sub gingival plaque is used at the present time in etiological research as well as in clinical treatment of periodontitis to select the appropriate antibiotic agent if indicated. Pine tar has been used for the treatment of various skin diseases. So the study was done to evaluate the effect of Pine Tar oil on bacteria isolated from periodontitis patients.METHODS: Plaque samples from volunteer patients were collected using sterile paper points. Robertson's Cooked Meat (RCM) medium was used for the transportation and cultivation of aerobic, microaerophilic, and anaerobic microorganisms.RESULTS: The result suggests the use of Pine tar oil for topical application in periodontal diseases. Disc diffusion analysis was sufficient enough to illustrate that 75 μl tar oil solution produced growth inhibition of microbial strains.CONCLUSION: Pine tar oil has become one of the important areas of research both in pharmaceutical and periodontal research, hence in vivo studies has to be carried out with various form of pine tar.&nbsp

Efficacy of Pluronic F-127 gel containing green tea catechin extract on chronic periodontitis – A clinical study

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy of pluronic F-127 gel containing green tea catechin extract as a local drug delivery system in the treatment of chronic periodontitis. Methods: A total of 20 chronic periodontitis patients participated as per the set inclusion and exclusion criteria. Complete scaling and root planing (SRP) was done for all subjects and pluronic F-127 gel containing green tea catechin was applied on one site. The contralateral site received SRP alone. The plaque index (PI), gingival index (GI), and probing pocket depth (PPD) were recorded at baseline and on the 28th day. Results: At the 28th-day follow-up, green tea catechin tooth sites showed significantly lower mean scores (GI = 0.55, p = 0.30 and PPD = 3.35 mm) than the corresponding SRP tooth sites (GI = 1.25, PI = 1.15, and PPD = 4.40 mm) (p < 0.05). Conclusion: When compared to scaling and root planing alone, the local drug delivery gel containing green tea catechin as an adjuvant was more effective in reducing the clinical parameters of periodontitis. Keywords: Adjuvant therapy, Camellia sinensis, Local drug delivery, Periodontal pocke

The influence of different joining processes on mechanical performance of carbon fiber/polyamide (CF/PA6) composites

تستخدم المواد المركبة المصنوعة من مادة البولي أميد (PA6) المقوى بألياف الكربون (CF) على نطاق واسع كمواد هيكلية في صناعات السيارات والفضاء نظرًا لخصائصها المتميزة. ومع ذلك ، نظرًا لمتطلبات السلامة الهيكلية للمواد المركبة ، لا تزال هناك محدودية فيما يتعلق بالإنتاج الفعلي للمواد المركبة المكونة من (CF/ PA6). الروابط القوية لصفائح CF/PA6 مطلوبة بشدة  لعمل تصميم خفيف الوزن يستخدم في العديد من المجالات. بهدف إجراء مقارنات ، تم تدراسة مختلف طرق المعالجة مثل الربط بمواد لاصقة والربط الحراري لتشكيل روابط اللإلفة بين صفحتين مركبتين من (CF/PA6). كما تم دراسة تأثير الطرق المختلفة ومتغيرات المعالجة  المختلفة على مقاومة القص للروابط. أظهرت النتائج أنه من السهل جدًا التعامل مع الروابط اللاصقة التقليدية وقد تتشكل روابط  أقوى إلى حد ما. يمكن استخدام الروابط الحرارية القائمة على التوصيل الكهربائي عن طريق CF لتشكيل توصيلات متلدنة بالحرارة مع المرونة في التصميم. يمكن أن تزيد الروابط الحرارية عن طريق الضغط الساخن من قوة الاتصال؛ عندما تتشكل بالضغط الساخن في ظروف مثالية في درحة حرارة تبلغ 250 درجة مئوية وضغط 2.5 ميجا باسكال ، فإن قوة القص للمفصل 138.85 ميجا باسكال. وبالتالي تم التأكيد على أنه يمكن الحصول على روابط قوية لأجزاء الصفائح للمادة المركبة CF/PA6  عن طريق الالتصاق الحراري عبرعملية الضغط  الساخن.Carbon fiber (CF) reinforced polyamide (PA6) composite materials are broadly used as structural materials in the automotive and aerospace industries due to their distinguished properties. However, due to requirements for the structural integrity of composite materials, there are still limitations in connection of the actual production of CF/PA6 composite. Strong joints of CF/PA6 laminates are highly required for the lightweight design in many fields. Aiming at making comparisons, different processing methods such as adhesive bonding and thermal jointing to form single lap joints between the two CF/PA6 composite laminates are studied. The influences of different processing methods and parameters on the shear strength of joints were also studied. Results showed that conventional adhesive bonding is quite easy to handle and may form rather stronger connections. Thermal joining based on electrical conductors of CF can be used to form a thermoplastic flexible joint design. Thermal joints by hot pressing can further increase the connection strength; when formed by hot pressing under optimum conditions of 250 °C and 2.5MPa, the joint has a shearing strength of 138.85 MPa. It is consequently confirmed that a strong joint of CF/PA6 composite parts could be obtained by thermal joints via the hot pressing process

Debilitating floods in the Sahel are becoming frequent

Despite the long-lasting and widespread drought in the Sahel, flood events did punctuate in the past. The concern about floods remains dwarf on the international research and policy agenda compared to droughts. In this paper, we elucidate that floods in the Sahel are now becoming more frequent, widespread, and more devastating. We analyzed gridded daily rainfall data over the period 1981–2020, used photographs and satellite images to depict flood areas and threats, compiled and studied flood-related statistics over the past two decades, and supported the results with peer-reviewed literature. Our analysis revealed that the timing of the maximum daily rainfall occurs from the last week of July to mid-August in the Eastern Sahel, but from the last week of July to the end of August in the Western Sahel. In 2019 and 2020, flash and riverine floods took their toll in Sudan and elsewhere in the region in terms of the number of affected people, direct deaths, destroyed and damaged houses and croplands, contaminated water resources, and disease outbreaks and deaths. Changes in rainfall intensity, human interventions in the physical environment, and poor urban planning play a major role in driving catastrophic floods. Emphasis should be put on understanding flood causes and impacts on vulnerable societies, controlling water-borne diseases, and recognizing the importance of compiling relevant and reliable flood information. Extreme rainfall in this dry region could be an asset for attenuating the regional water scarcity status if well harvested and managed. We hope this paper will induce the hydroclimate scholars to carry out more flood studies for the Sahel. It is only then encumbered meaningful opportunities for flood risk management can start to unveil