The impact of intra gastric balloon as a treatment of obesity on pre-diabetes in obese persons

Introduction: Obesity is arising health problem that is linked to many pathological conditions. Treatment of obesity has a beneficial effect on many health problems. Little data available about effect of weight loss on prediabetes.Object: To evaluate the effect of intra gastric balloon (IGB) as obesity treatment on prediabetes.Method: In a prospective study we have followed 42 obese prediabetic patients who used IGB as obesity treatment. All patients were evaluated for anthropometric measures, lipid profile, fasting blood glucose (FBG), postprandial blood glucose (PPBG) and glycosylated hemoglobin HbA1c before and 6 months after IGB insertion.Results: There was a significant reduction in body weight, waist–hip ratio and also body mass index (BMI), as by time of balloon removal mean body weight was 86.62 ± 7.84 Kg, and mean BMI at time of removal was 29.48 ± 2.31 kg/m2 compared to 99.10 ± 7.34 Kg and 33.61 ± 2.18 Kg/m2 before balloon insertion (p < 0.05). Also, significant improvement of FBG and PPBG with mean value of FBG 93.00 ± 9.12 mg% and mean level of PPBG 133.31 ± 11.68 mg% compared to FBG 110.71 ± 12.10 mg% and PPBG 166.81 ± 18.82 mg% before balloon insertion (p < 0.05), likewise there was a significant reduction in HbA1c as its mean value has become 5.48 ± 0.35 compared to 6.01 ± 0.21 before balloon insertion (p < 0.05).Conclusions: six months treatment with IGB for obesity improved the prediabetic condition that may prevent or at least delay type II diabetes mellitus, which needs longer follow-up

Evaluation of Helicobacter pylori infection as a potential risk factor of acute ischemic cerebrovascular stroke

Background: Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is a very common gastrointestinal infection that varies clinically from asymptomatic to overt peptic ulcer disease. Although H. pylori had been linked to ischemic heart disease, still scanty of data available about H. pylori link to ischemic cerebrovascular stroke.Object: Evaluation of H. pylori Infection as a Potential Risk Factor of Acute Ischemic Cerebrovascular stroke.Method: In a case control study, we recruited 150 ischemic stroke patients (group A) further subdivided into two subgroups atherosclerotic ischemic stroke (group A1) and cardioembolic stroke (group A2), also asymptomatic 95 patients recruited as non-ischemic control group (group B). All subjects were investigated for chronic H. pylori infection using both serum H. pylori IgG antibody test and urea breath test. Statistical analysis was done for obtained data.Results: Significant higher prevalence of H. pylori infection was found among atherosclerotic stroke group (group A1) 61.4% versus non atherosclerotic group (A2) 40% and control group (B) 35.8% (P value 0.003), furthermore, significant higher prevalence when comparing group A1 (atherosclerotic stroke) and control group B (P1 value 0.001), still non-significant higher prevalence when comparing group A2 (cardio embolic stroke group) and control group B (P2 value 0.618).Conclusion: Chronic H. pylori infection is a curable potential risk factor for ischemic atherosclerotic stroke. However, further studies needed to investigate the beneficial effect of H. pylori treatment on ischemic stroke

Distinct cytokine patterns in Occult Hepatitis C and Chronic Hepatitis C Virus Infection

Background & Aim: 
The immunopathogenesis of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a matter of great controversy. The imbalance of T-helper lymphocyte cell cytokine production was believed to play an important pathogenic role in chronic viral hepatitis. Occult hepatitis C infection is regarded as a new entity that should be considered when diagnosing patients with a liver disease of unknown origin. The aim of this study was to determine serum T-helper 1 and T-helper 2 cytokine production in patients with occult HCV infection and its role in pathogenesis versus chronic viral hepatitis C infection.

Methods: 
Serum levels of cytokines of T-helper 1 (IL-2, IFN-[gamma]) and T-helper 2 (IL-4) were measured in 27 patients with occult HCV infection and 50 patients with chronic hepatitis C infection.

Results: 
The levels of the T-helper 1 cytokines, IL-2 and IFN-[gamma], were highly and significantly increased in patients with chronic HCV infection as compared with occult HCV infection (p<0.001). The T-helper 2 cytokine IL-4 was highly and significantly increased in occult HCV infection as compared with chronic HCV infection (p<0.001). Necroinflammation (P<0.001) fibrosis (P<0.001) and cirrhosis (P =0.03) were significantly increased in chronic HCV than occult HCV. 

Conclusion: 
Patients with occult HCV infection exhibited distinct immunoregulatory cytokine patterns, favoring viral persistence in the liver in spite of its absence from peripheral blood and explaining the less aggressive course of this disease entity than chronic hepatitis C virus infection

A Comprehensive Review on Hybridization in Sustainable Desalination Systems

The contemporary era underscores the paramount significance of the water sector, largely due to dwindling resources and the exponential growth of the global population. Consequently, there is a pressing need to emphasis the vital role of desalination processes in addressing these challenges. In recent times, nations worldwide have shifted their focus towards optimizing treatment facilities. This optimization is pursued through the enhancement of plant efficiency and the amalgamation of diverse desalination technologies. The latter strategy has demonstrated its efficacy in augmenting on-ground productivity. Within this context, we embark on an exploration of the world\u27s foremost desalination facilities, delving into their production capacities and their hybridization status. Furthermore, we delve into the pivotal dimension of integrating renewable energy sources into these processes, acknowledging the substantial energy demands that desalination inherently entails. It is evident that countries in the Middle East have showcased a noteworthy inclination towards hybridization endeavors, which have yielded substantial improvements in station productivity. Notably, the RO-MSF hybrid system has emerged as a highly reliable choice among the various hybridization schemes employed in operational plants. The Middle East, in particular, has substantially bolstered its presence in the global landscape of operational hybrid plants, amassing a staggering total production capacity exceeding 17 million cubic meters per day. This attests to the region\u27s remarkable commitment to securing sustainable water resources through innovative desalination approaches

Performance of Biological Filters for Drinking Water Treatment and Their Use for High Pressure Membrane Biofouling Control

Biofiltration is a promising green drinking water treatment technology that can reduce the concentration of biodegradable organic matter (BOM) in water. Direct biofiltration or biofiltration without pretreatment (BFwp) limits the use of chemicals such as coagulants or ozone commonly employed with conventional biofiltration, making BFWP a more environmental friendly pre-treatment. BFWP was proven to be an efficient pretreatment to reduce fouling of low pressure membranes, and can also improve the biological stability of the final treated drinking water to limit bacterial regrowth in the distribution system. One major operational problem for high pressure membranes (i.e. nanofiltration and reverse osmosis membranes) is membrane biofouling due to biofilm growth inside the feed channel of the membrane module, resulting in higher energy requirements and more frequent membrane cleaning. BFWP can potentially be applied to reduce biofouling of nanofiltration membranes, which can reduce the energy requirements of high pressure membranes. Three pilot-scale parallel biologically active filters with different empty bed contact times, and bench-scale nanofiltration membrane fouling simulators, were designed and constructed in this study. A challenging surface water source (the Grand River in Kitchener, ON) was used as source water for the investigation. Initial work assessed the effect of biofiltration on the treated water quality and how the biofilter performance is affected by changes in water temperature. A protocol was developed to better characterize the biofilter attached biomass and extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), in order to understand their possible relationship to biofilter performance. Flow cytometry was applied to measure both planktonic cell concentrations in water and also to perform assimilable organic carbon (AOC) analysis using a natural microbial inoculum. BFWP was found to be an efficient pre-treatment for the removal of large molecular weight biopolymers and AOC over a wide range of water temperatures. Lower water temperatures had a significant impact on biopolymer removal, unlike AOC which was efficiently removed at lower water temperatures, and this proved the robustness of such a pre-treatment technology. Other fractions of the natural organic matter (NOM) such as humic substances, buildings blocks and low molecular weight organics were removed to a lower extent than biopolymers or AOC. Empty bed contact time (EBCT) as a design parameter had a limited effect on the biofilter performance. Most of the observed removal for BOM and total cell count happened at the shortest EBCT of 8 minutes, and increasing the EBCT up to 24 minutes had a significant but less proportional impact on biofilter performance. Regarding biofilter attached biomass, no direct linkage was found between biofilter performance and attached biofilter biomass characteristics using any of the commonly used analytical methods such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP) or biofilm cell count, however, cellular ATP content was found to be indicative of biofilm activity. Biofilm EPS composition was not related to biofilter performance but it was largely affected by the water temperature. Through community level physiological profiling (CLPP) analysis it was evident that the microbial community was changing due to a drop in water temperature, however, this was a minor effect and it is likely that the overall drop in biomass activity was the main reason behind the drop in biofilter performance. Finally, BFWP was tested as a potential pre-treatment technology to control high pressure membrane biofouling, which is a major operational problem. BFWP was able to reduce the amount of available nutrients measured as AOC, reduce the presence of conditioning molecules such as large molecular weight biopolymers, and modify the microbial community of the feed water. A 16 minute EBCT biofilter was able to extend the lifetime of nanofiltration membranes by more than 200% compared to the river water without biofiltration, both at low and high water temperature conditions. The 16 minute EBCT biofilter performance was also comparable to that of a full scale conventional biofilter with prior coagulation, sedimentation and ozonation. The biofiltration pre-treatment efficiently affected the amount of biomass present in the biofouling layer and affected the biofilm microbial community as determined using CLPP analysis. The findings of this study provide the basis upon which further and larger scale testing of the BFWP as a pre-treatment for membrane applications can be done. A sound technology could include a hybrid membrane system with a high pressure membrane proceeded with a low pressure membrane. BFWP can then be used at the start of the treatment train to limit both low pressure membrane fouling at the same time limit the biofouling of the pressure membrane. This treatment train can provide a high water quality with limited footprint compared to conventional treatment trains and long service time. Monitoring of the treatment unit performance can be efficiently done using some of the proposed analytical methods presented in the study, such as AOC monitoring and flow cytometry to study microbiological water quality and biofilter biomass. Fluorescence spectroscopy and size exclusion chromatography can also be used to monitor large molecular weight biopolymers, which are responsible for several operational problems in water treatment in general and specifically for membrane applications

A Comprehensive Review on Hybridization in Sustainable Desalination Systems

The contemporary era underscores the paramount significance of the water sector, largely due to dwindling resources and the exponential growth of the global population. Consequently, there is a pressing need to emphasis the vital role of desalination processes in addressing these challenges. In recent times, nations worldwide have shifted their focus towards optimizing treatment facilities. This optimization is pursued through the enhancement of plant efficiency and the amalgamation of diverse desalination technologies. The latter strategy has demonstrated its efficacy in augmenting on-ground productivity. Within this context, we embark on an exploration of the world\u27s foremost desalination facilities, delving into their production capacities and their hybridization status. Furthermore, we delve into the pivotal dimension of integrating renewable energy sources into these processes, acknowledging the substantial energy demands that desalination inherently entails. It is evident that countries in the Middle East have showcased a noteworthy inclination towards hybridization endeavors, which have yielded substantial improvements in station productivity. Notably, the RO-MSF hybrid system has emerged as a highly reliable choice among the various hybridization schemes employed in operational plants. The Middle East, in particular, has substantially bolstered its presence in the global landscape of operational hybrid plants, amassing a staggering total production capacity exceeding 17 million cubic meters per day. This attests to the region\u27s remarkable commitment to securing sustainable water resources through innovative desalination approaches

A PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION OF HTR1A GENE EXPRESSION LEVELS IN AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDERS

Objective: This study was conducted to explore the expression levels of HTR1A gene in a sample of Egyptian autistic children. Methods: Thirty autistic patients (18 boys, 12 girls) and 20 controls were enrolled in the study. From each child, we isolated RNA samples from whole blood. Quantitative Real-Time PCR (qRT-PCR) was used to measure the gene expressions of HTR1A and normalized to the house keeping gene, beta-actin. Results: The HTR1A gene expression of healthy controls and ASD subjects were varied significantly (p =0.0062). As compared to control healthy subjects, the HTR1A expressions were greatly reduced in samples of ASD. Conclusion: HTR1A gene expression level is a candidate gene for further studies to explore its potential roles in ASD related pathways

A Review of Hybrid Humidification and Dehumidification Desalination Systems

The escalating threat of water scarcity, coupled with the inclusion of numerous countries in the list of water-scarce nations, has elevated the issue of water availability to a paramount concern in today\u27s global landscape. Freshwater sources are becoming increasingly scarce, with their proportional decline steadily progressing. Consequently, a growing number of nations have resorted to the desalination of seawater as a viable solution. In response to this critical need, a surge of studies and research endeavors has been dedicated to the development and refinement of desalination processes. One of the most promising innovations in this field is Humidification-Dehumidification (HDH) desalination technology. This paper aims to delve into the potential of HDH desalination technology and its integration with another advanced desalination method known as a hybrid system. By combining these two distinct approaches, it becomes possible to not only enhance productivity but also address certain limitations inherent in each technology. In this paper, we provide an overview of various desalination processes, shedding light on their classifications and characteristics. Our primary focus, however, lies in exploring how HDH desalination technology can be effectively harmonized within a hybrid system to maximize efficiency and mitigate shortcomings observed in individual technologies. The integration of HDH with existing desalination methods has demonstrated notable success, as evidenced by numerous research studies in the field. This research underscores the significance of hybridization in advancing HDH sustainability practices within the desalination sector, ultimately contributing to the global effort to combat water scarcity