Pre-eclampsia toxaemia

A 33 year old primagravida rhesus positive woman was referred to the Emergency Department by her family doctor at 27 weeks gestation. At 25 weeks of gestation, she had been diagnosed with hypertension and was started on labetalol therapy. At 27 weeks of gestation she was admitted in view of persistently raised blood pressure which was not being controlled with Labetalol, generalised (facial, hands and lower limbs) oedema and frequent frontal headaches. The patient also complained of photophobia. Following examination it was found that the patient was suffering from pre-eclampsia toxaemia. Delivery was expedited in view of the developing complications. Pre-eclampsia toxaemia is a multi-system disorder which manifests as hypertension and proteinuria after 20 weeks of gestation. The disease originates from the placenta and is cured by delivery. There is blood vessel endothelial damage with a maternal inflammatory response which leads to vasospasm, increased capillary permeability and clotting dysfunction which account for hypertension, proteinuria, reduced placental blood flow and reduced cerebral perfusion resulting in eclampsia.peer-reviewe

Speech and language skills of Maltese children with bilateral cochlear implants : three case studies

The purpose of this study was to document the speech and language skills of three Maltese children with bilateral cochlear implants. One child was simultaneously implanted and had a hearing age (HA) of 2;10 years at the time of testing, another was sequentially implanted and had a HA of 3;06 years, while the third child was sequentially implanted and had a HA of 5;03 years. Maltese standardised speech and language assessments were used to gather information on the children’s speech and language skills, with data being collected during their speech and language therapy sessions. Following data transcription and analysis, the participants’ speech and language abilities were compared to those of their HA- and chronological age (CA)-matched peers using available norms for Maltese children. Additional information regarding the children’s speech and language history prior to and post-implantation was also collected, providing a holistic overview of the participants’ speech and language development. Results indicated that the children presented with speech and language delay when compared to their CA-matched peers. Variations across the participants were found in specific language skills. Similarities in language patterns were also noted, including expressive abilities in advance of receptive skills. These findings extend the limited data on the speech and language skills of Maltese children with cochlear implants, with comparison to norms for typically-developing children being a novel approach to research in this area.peer-reviewe

THE USE OF CT ANALYSIS TO ASSESS THE AGES OF A MODERN HUMAN TOOTH SAMPLE: A COMPARISION WITH DENTAL ATTRITION AND THE LAMENDIN METHOD

An analysis of 81 contemporary adult human teeth was conducted in order to determine which of three methods best determines age at death. The teeth were loaned from the University of Tennessee body farm to the University of Michigan’s Biomedical Research Laboratory and were comprised of central incisors, lateral incisors and canines. Each tooth was of known age and most were also associated with sex and ancestry. Three observers used Lovejoy’s (1985) method of dental attrition, the Lamendin et al. (1992) periodontosis method and micro computed tomography to determine how accurately each method was able to assess the ages at death. Spearman’s rank correlation was performed in SPSS version 19 and linear regression analyses were conducted in Microsoft Excel. Categories for the analysis in SPSS were broken down based on age, sex, ancestry and tooth position in addition to conducting a broad analysis using all 81 samples. Overall computed tomography and the Lamendin et al. (1992) methods display the most statistically significant (p\u3c.001) relationship when used to predict age. The pulp chamber volumes generated using computed tomography are slightly more highly correlated (-.781) with the actual ages than the Lamendin et al. (1992) method (.723). This correlation is negative which means that as the volume of the pulp chamber decreases as the age of the individual increases. The Lovejoy (1985) method displayed a statistically significant (p=.016) relationship with age but was only weakly correlated (.268). The linear regression analyses also suggest that computed tomography is the best of the three methods followed by the Lamendin et al. (1992) method and the Lovejoy (1985) method for predicting the actual age of an unknown contemporary tooth. The formula: y=67.835 – 1.267(pulp chamber volume) was formulated based on the results of the regression analysis. Based on the results of this analysis it is suggested that computed tomography be used to assess the ages at death of a modern human tooth sample when the needed resources are available

Determination of serum zinc levels in normal Maltese adults by atomic absorption spectrophotometry

The importance of zinc as one of the essential trace elements in the living organisms is becoming increasingly recognised. In the process of carrying out measurements to establish normal reference values for our laboratory, it was noticed that the values being obtained, generally appeared to be higher than those published in the literature where similar techniques had been employed. It is important to gain further understanding of this metal in both health and disease as it appears that zinc is essential to an important variety of metabolic processes in man. We are unable to offer a satisfactory explanation for the difference in serum zinc levels in the two groups reported in this paper. Local water does not appear to have high zinc content and Maltese soil is known to be zinc deficient. It is known however that local farmers use a zinc containing fungicide (Zineb) on a large scale.peer-reviewe

Zinc deficiency negatively affects alkaline phosphatase and the concentration of Ca, Mg and P in rats

Zn is an essential nutrient that is required in humans and animals for many physiological functions, including immune and antioxidant function, growth, and reproduction. The present study evaluated whether Zn deficiency would negatively affect bone-related enzyme, ALP, and other bone-related minerals (Ca, P and Mg) in rats. Thirty Sprague Dawley rats were assigned to one of the three different Zn dietary groups, such as Zn adequate (ZA, 35 mg/kg), pair fed (PF, 35 mg/kg), Zn deficient (ZD, 1 mg/kg) diet, and fed for 10 weeks. Food intake and body weight were measured daily and weekly, respectively. ALP was measured by spectrophotometry and mineral contents were measured by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrophotometer (ICP-MS). Zn deficient rats showed decreased food intake and body weight compared with Zn adequate rats (p<0.05). Zn deficiency reduced ALP activity in blood (RBC, plasma) and the tissues (liver, kidney and small intestine) (p<0.05). Also, Zn deficiency reduced mineral concentrations in rat tissues (Ca for muscle and liver, and Mg for muscle and liver) (p<0.05). The study results imply the requirement of proper Zn nurture for maintaining bone growth and formation

Bronchial hyper-responsiveness in preterm-born subjects: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background Preterm‐born survivors have increased respiratory symptoms and decreased lung function, but the nature of bronchial hyper‐responsiveness (BHR) is unclear. We conducted a systematic review and meta‐analysis for BHR in preterm‐born survivors including those with and without chronic lung disease in infancy (CLD) comparing results to term‐born subjects. Methods We searched eight databases up to December 2016. Included articles compared BHR in preterm‐born and term‐born subjects. Studies reporting BHR as decreases in forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) after provocation stimuli were included. The analysis used Review Manager V5.3. Results From 10 638 titles, 265 full articles were screened, and 28 included in a descriptive analysis. Eighteen articles were included in a meta‐analysis as they reported the proportion of subjects who had BHR. Pooled odds ratio (OR) estimates (95% confidence interval) for BHR comparing the preterm and term‐born groups was 1.88 (1.32, 2.66). The majority of the studies reported BHR after a methacholine challenge or an exercise test. Odds ratio was 1.89 (1.12, 3.19) after methacholine challenge and 2.59 (1.50, 4.50) after an exercise test. Nine of fifteen articles reporting BHR in CLD subjects were included in a meta‐analysis. Differences for BHR including for methacholine (OR 4.35; 2.36, 8.03) and exercise (OR 5.13; 1.82, 14.47) were greater in the CLD group compared to the term group. Conclusions Preterm‐born subjects especially those who had CLD had increased rates of BHR to direct (methacholine) and indirect (exercise) stimuli compared to term‐born subjects suggesting subgroups might benefit from anti‐inflammatory or bronchodilator therapies

Étude microcalorimétrique de toxicité comparative pour une boue de procédé d'épuration biologique et deux souches pures

Notre travail a consisté à mieux cerner les conditions opératoires du microcalorimètre dynamique et à effectuer une étude toxicologique de divers composés sur des cultures homogènes et sur une culture hétérogène. Dans un premier temps, nous avons tenté de contrôler deux paramètres opérationnels: l'état physiologique bactérien (par la détermination des thermogrammes) et le pH du milieu ambiant. Notre étude toxicologique a porté sur quelques métaux lourds, cations et anions simples et quelques anions complexes. Nous avons aussi tenté d'analyser quelques cas d'interaction chimique et de vérifier la toxicité d'alcools et de détergents simples

Étude microcalorimétrique de toxicité comparative pour une boue de procédé d'épuration biologique et deux souches pures

Notre travail a consisté à mieux cerner les conditions opératoires du microcalorimètre dynamique et à effectuer une étude toxicologique de divers composés sur des cultures homogènes et sur une culture hétérogène. Dans un premier temps, nous avons tenté de contrôler deux paramètres opérationnels: l'état physiologique bactérien (par la détermination des thermogrammes) et le pH du milieu ambiant. Notre étude toxicologique a porté sur quelques métaux lourds, cations et anions simples et quelques anions complexes. Nous avons aussi tenté d'analyser quelques cas d'interaction chimique et de vérifier la toxicité d'alcools et de détergents simples