Which Breast is the Best?:Patient reported quality of life, satisfaction, and outcomes, after autologous versus alloplastic breast reconstruction

This thesis “Which Breast is the Best” aims to contribute to our understanding of which Breast reconstruction (BR) technique (alloplastic or autologous), results in the highest quality of life (QoL) and satisfaction. The first section of this introduction will cover breast cancer and its treatment briefly, while the second section will discuss the history and summary of the BR techniques. And the third will assess the quality of life in addition to the breast-Q description. The assessment of aesthetical outcome will be covered, using the Strasser score. Finally the aim of this thesis and its outline will be given. Autologous BR is the unequivocal answer to the main question in this thesis that asks: “which breast is the best?

Seropositivity of Hepatitis B virus and Hepatitis C virus dual Infection among blood donors in Nyala Teaching Hospital

The aim of this study was to determine the seropositivity of Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and Hepatitis C virus (HCV) dual infection among blood donors in Nyala Teaching Hospital, which is the biggest (400 beds) hospital in great Dar Fur of Western Sudan. 400 blood donors were tested serologically for the detection of HBsAg and anti-HCV antibodies. Only one (0.25%) out of the 400 examined blood donors was detected reactive for both HBsAg and anti-HCV antibodies. The study concluded that the seropositivity of HBV and HCV dual infection among population studied is uncommon

Analysis of chicken anemia virus genome: evidence of intersubtype recombination

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Chicken anemia virus (CAV) is the causative agent of chicken infectious anemia. CAV putative intergenotypic recombinants have been reported previously. This fact is based on the previous classification of CAV sequences into three genotypes. However, it is unknown whether intersubtype recombination occurs between the recently reported four CAV genotypes and five subtypes of genome sequences.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Phylogenetic analysis, together with a variety of computational recombination detection algorithms, was used to investigate CAV approximately full genomes. Statistically significant evidence of intersubtype recombination was detected in the parent-like and two putative CAV recombinant sequences. This event was shown to occur between CAV subgroup A1 and A2 sequences in the phylogenetic trees.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We revealed that intersubtype recombination in CAV genome sequences played a role in generating genetic diversity within the natural population of CAV.</p

Seroprevalence of Hepatitis B virus and Hepatitis C virus among blood donors in Nyala, South Dar Fur, Sudan

The objective of this study was to determine the seroprevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections and the possible risk factors among blood donors in Nyala, South Dar Fur State of western Sudan, which has never been studied before. A total of 400 male blood donors were tested for the detection of HBsAg and anti-HCV antibodies, (6.25%) were found reactive for HBsAg and (0.65%) were reactive for anti-HCV antibodies. The highest seroprevalence (30.8%) was found in those between 19-24 and 37-42 years for HBsAg, whereas it was (50%) in those between 31-36 years for anti-HCV antibodies. Unprotected sexual activities (20%) was the most apparent predisposing risk factor for both HBV and HCV seroreactors, followed by razor sharing (13.3%), parenteral drug injections (10%), history of migration to Egypt and alcoholism (6.6%) for each, tattooing and surgical procedures (3.3%) for each and (36.6%) were not aware for their condition. Serum alanine aminotansferase (ALT) was elevated in (30.7%) of HBV seroreactors and in (50%) of HCV seroreactors. Serum albumin was reduced in (23.1%) HBV and in (50%) HCV seroreactors. The study concluded that the seroprevalence of HBV and HCV was in an intermediate and low rates respectively and unprotected sexual activities was the major risk factor for infection in the population studied

Molecular epidemiology of chicken anemia virus in commercial farms in China

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Chicken anemia virus (CAV) is the causative agent of chicken infectious anemia (CIA). A high prevalence of CAV has been reported in China. However, VP1 sequences of Chinese isolates show no clear genotype clustering or correlation with geographic origin. Therefore, the present study aimed to detect and characterize CAV isolates from China based on sequence and phylogenetic analysis of the VP1, VP2 and VP3 genes.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of 460 spleen samples tested by PCR, 47 (10.22%) were found to be positive for CAV. A total of 25 CAV, approximately full genomes, from different commercial farms were characterized. Phylogenetic analysis of the Chinese CAV sequences together with strains from different countries resulted in four distinct groups (A-D) with significant high bootstrap values. The Chinese viral sequences were located as four different clusters within groups A and D. All the Chinese CAV genomes characterized in this study had glutamine (Q) at amino acid position 394, which indicated that all are highly pathogenic. Mutations associated with attenuation and weaker reactivity with monoclonal antibody 2A9 were absent in the Chinese sequences.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We revealed that CAV prevalence was lower than that reported previously in commercial farms in China. We also showed four distinct sequence groups (A-D), and genetic variability in local CAV sequences that could be divided into four groups based on phylogenetic analysis.</p

Urethral Stricture; Etiology, Presentation, Complications, and Outcome of Management at Gezira State, Central Sudan

Objectives: The objective is to evaluate urethral strictures in term of etiological factors, presentations and management at GHRDS, Gezira State, Central Sudan. Patients and Methods: One hundred sixty patients, who were diagnosed as urethral stricture, were enrolled in this study. All patients were dealt with through a scientific stratum of a thorough work up and managed according to the EAU guidelines. The bio-data, etiological factors of strictures, presenting symptoms and signs, the pathological types and modalities of treatment were recorded and analyzed. Results: The total number of patients was 160, only two females and the rest were males. The mean age was 46.2 ±2 years. The etiological factors were: post-surgical in 67 patients (41.9%), gonococcal urethritis in 48 patients (30%) followed by post traumatic stricture in 28 patients (17.5%). Concerning the sites 41 (25.6%) patients had bulbar urethral stricture and 24 (15%) with membranous urethra strictures. One hundred forty two (88.8%) patients were treated with visual internal urethrotomy (VIU) and the outcome of treatment was comparable to the literature Conclusion: The commonest etiological factors for urethral strictures in GHRDS were post-surgery followed by gonococcal urethritis. The outcome of management was comparable

Study of the Rheological Behavior of Polyamide 5,6 (PA5,6

The rheological behavior of polymer melts and polymer solutions are of great importance in polymer processing, particularly for the analysis and design of processing operations as well as understanding the relationship between structures and properties of the final-products. The objective of the present work was to investigate the rheological behavior of polyamide 5,6 &nbsp;(PA5,6) to obtain information on the effect of temperature on the melt behavior of polyamide 5,6 compared to that of polyamide 6. The rheological properties of polyamide 5,6 (PA5,6) have been studied by means of a Haake&nbsp; rheometer. The effect of temperature on the storage modulus, loss modulus, and complex viscosity was studied. The obtained results showed that the complex viscosity, storage modulus, and loss modulus of PA5,6 and PA6 decrease with increase of the temperature. It is worth noting that the complex viscosity of PA5,6 remains almost constant showing a Newtonian behavior, on the other hand, the complex viscosity of PA6 slightly decreases with the increase of shear rate exhibits a much nearly Newtonian behavior. Similar behavior was observed for other polyamides such as polyamide 6.6 and polyamide 6.,1

Outcome of Quality of Life for Women Undergoing Autologous versus Alloplastic Breast Reconstruction following Mastectomy:A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: This review aimed to meta-analyze the quality of life of alloplastic versus autologous breast reconstruction, when measured with the BREAST-Q. Methods: An electronic PubMed and EMBASE search was designed to find articles that compared alloplastic versus autologous breast reconstruction using the BREAST-Q. Studies that failed to present BREAST-Q scores and studies that did not compare alloplastic versus autologous breast reconstruction were excluded. Two authors independently extracted data from the included studies. A standardized data collection form was used. Quality was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. The mean difference and 95 percent confidence intervals between breast reconstruction means were estimated for each BREAST-Q subscale. Forest plots and the I2statistic were used to assess heterogeneity and funnel plot publication bias. The Z test was used to assess overall effects. Results: Two hundred eighty abstracts were found; 10 articles were included. Autologous breast reconstruction scored significantly higher in the five subscales than alloplastic breast reconstruction. The Satisfaction with Breasts subscale indicated the greatest difference, with a mean difference of 6.41 (95 percent CI, 3.58 to 9.24; I2= 70 percent). The Satisfaction with Results subscale displayed a mean difference of 5.52. The Sexual Well-Being subscale displayed a mean difference of 3.85. The Psychosocial Well-Being subscale displayed a mean difference of 2.64. The overall difference in physical well-being was significant, with high heterogeneity (mean difference, 3.33; 95 percent CI, 0.18 to 6.48; I2= 85). Conclusion: Autologous breast reconstruction had superior outcomes compared with alloplastic breast reconstruction as measured by the BREAST-Q

Mycobacterium tuberculosis Complex Lineage 3 as Causative Agent of Pulmonary Tuberculosis, Eastern Sudan1.

Pathogen-based factors associated with tuberculosis (TB) in eastern Sudan are not well defined. We investigated genetic diversity, drug resistance, and possible transmission clusters of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) strains by using a genomic epidemiology approach. We collected 383 sputum specimens at 3 hospitals in 2014 and 2016 from patients with symptoms suggestive of TB; of these, 171 grew MTBC strains. Whole-genome sequencing could be performed on 166 MTBC strains; phylogenetic classification revealed that most (73.4%; n = 122) belonged to lineage 3 (L3). Genome-based cluster analysis showed that 76 strains (45.9%) were grouped into 29 molecular clusters, comprising 2-8 strains/patients. Of the strains investigated, 9.0% (15/166) were multidrug resistant (MDR); 10 MDR MTBC strains were linked to 1 large MDR transmission network. Our findings indicate that L3 strains are the main causative agent of TB in eastern Sudan; MDR TB is caused mainly by transmission of MDR L3 strains