Prevalence of functional bowel disorders and faecal incontinence: an Australian primary care survey

Accepted Article online 30 October 2014. The copyright line for this article was changed on 14 February, 2017 after original online publication.Aim: Interest in functional bowel disorders (FBDs) and faecal incontinence (FI) has increased amongst coloproctologists. The study aimed to assess the prevalence of FBDs and FI (including its severity) among Australian primary healthcare seekers using objective criteria. Method: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in a primary care setting in Sydney, Australia. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect demographic information and diagnose FBDs (irritable bowel syndrome, constipation, functional bloating and functional diarrhoea) based on Rome III criteria. The severity of FI was determined using the Vaizey incontinence score. Associations with medical/surgical history and healthcare utilization were assessed. Results: Of 596 subjects approached, 396 (66.4%) agreed to participate. Overall, 33% had FBD and/or FI. Irritable bowel syndrome was present in 11.1% and these participants were more likely to report anxiety/depression (P 8). Participants with FI were more likely to have irritable bowel syndrome, urinary incontinence and previous anal surgery (P < 0.01). Conclusion: FBDs and FI are prevalent conditions amongst primary healthcare seekers and the needs of those affected appear to be complex given their coexisting symptoms and conditions. Currently, the majority do not reach colorectal services, although increased awareness by primary care providers could lead to sufferers being referred for specialist management.K.-S. Ng, N. Nassar, K. Hamd, A. Nagarajah and M. A. Gladma

Impact of irrigation regimes on productivity and profitability of maize + peanut intercropping system in Upper Egypt

Good management of soil and water use is one of the most important factors in agricultural sustainability, and intercropping systems are an important component of good agricultural practices. Thus, a field experiment was conducted at the Experimental Farm of Arab Al-Awamer Research Station, Assiut Governorate, Agriculture Research Center, Egypt, during the summer seasons of 2021 and 2022 to investigate the effect of maize (M) + peanut (P) intercropping system on productivity, water use efficiency, and profitability at varying irrigation regimes. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design using a split-plot arrangement with three replicates. Irrigation regimes (120, 100 and 80% ETc) were assigned to the main plots, while the intercropping systems (100% P + 25% M, 100% P + 33% M and 100% P + 50% M) were allocated to the sub-plots. The results showed that most traits of peanut and maize decreased substantially under the 80% ETc irrigation regime. While the largest values of traits were associated with the 120 % ETc. Averaged across the two seasons, the highest values of net return (1,441 US$/ha) were obtained when 100% peanut plants were intercropped with 25% maize at 120% ETc irrigation regime. Therefore, we recommend intercrop maize (25%) with peanut (100%) irrigated with 120% ETc to achieve higher yields and net return. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1041338

A comparison of characteristics of periodic surface micro/nano structures generated via single laser beam direct writing and particle lens array parallel beam processing

Abstract Changing material surface micro/nanostructures using laser beam texturing is a valuable approach in wide applications such as control of cell/bacterial adhesion and proliferation, solar cells and optical metamaterials. Here, we report a comparison of the characteristics of surface micro/nanostructures produced using single beam laser direct writing and particle lens array parallel laser beam patterning. A Nd:YVO4 nanosecond pulsed laser at the wavelength of 532 nm was used in the laser direct writing method to texture the stainless steel surface submerged in water and in air with different scanning patterns. Changes in surface morphology, wettability, surface chemistry, and optical reflectivity were analyzed. In the particle lens array method, an excimer nanosecond laser at 248 nm wavelength was adopted to produce surface patterns on GeSbTe (GST) film coated on a polycarbonate substrate by splitting and focusing a single laser beam into millions of parallel breams. Single beam laser direct writing shows that the surface of high roughness and oxygen percentage content presented high wettability and low reflectivity characteristics. However, the controllability of the type of surface micro/nanopatterns is limited. The parallel laser beam processing using particle lens array allows rapid production of user designed periodic surface patterns at nanoscale overcoming the optical diffraction limit with a high degree of controllability. Controlling the uniformity of the particle lens array is a challenge

Partial discharge detection using low cost RTL-SDR model for wideband spectrum sensing

Partial discharge (PD) is one of the predominant factors to be controlled to ensure reliability and undisrupted functions of power generators, motors, Gas Insulated Switchgear (GIS) and grid connected power distribution equipment, especially in the future smart grid. The emergence of wireless technology has provided numerous opportunities to optimise remote monitoring and control facilities that can play a significant role in ensuring swift control and restoration of HV plant equipment. In order to monitor PD, several approaches have been employed, however, the existing schemes do not provide an optimal approach for PD signal analysis, and are very costly. In this paper an RTL-SDR (Software Defined Radio) based spectrum analyser has been proposed in order to provide a potentially low cost solution for PD detection and monitoring. Initially, a portable spectrum analyser has been used for PD detection that was later replaced by an RTL-SDR device. The proposed schemes exhibit promising results for spectral detection within the VHF and UHF band

Some A Survey Study On The Role of Women in Controlling Parasites Contaminated with Vegetables.

Three hundred samples of washing water of vegetables were collected from women aged ( 15- 6o) years from different area in Baghdad governorate and its suburbs include two rural area ( Jaddria in Baghdad university and Al –Wagif in Rashdia) and two urbane area (Mansoure and Escan) . The samples were examined by precipitation method and then by staining method ( Lugols –Iodine stain) . The percentage of infection of intestinal parasites 36.3% include 15.3% for urban area and 57.3% in rural area and a significant difference was found between those groups . .The results showed also increased in the prevalence of parasitic infection in group age (15 -30) year .Also the results showed only 109 sample infected with eight species of enteric parasites fife of them are protozoa (Entamoeba histolytica ,Giardia lamblia ,Entamoeba coli, Chilomastix mesnili and Iodamoeba butschlii) and three eggs of helminthes (Taenia saginata) and Nematoda( Ascaris lumbricoides , Trichuris trichura )Also a significant difference was found between prevalence of infection and education state

Patterns of violent deaths associated with positive ethanol finding in Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia

Background: The analysis of alcohol exemplifies the principal aim of forensic toxicology worldwide. Detection of ethanol in post-mortem cases is getting more important nowadays due to the upsurge in the number of ethanol related fatalities all over the world. Toxicological analysis is mandatory to diagnose, and interpret the presence and levels of alcohol in different post mortem samples. The difficulties in the interpretation of blood alcohol concentration (BAC) are more profound when the body shows signs of putrefaction and the measured BAC is low as sometimes it is false positive due to decomposition. Objective: To investigate ethanol related violent deaths, whether suicidal, homicidal or accidental fatalities with positive analytical results regarding ethanol since start of January 2012, till end of December 2014 in Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. Methods: Ethanol related violent deaths whether suicidal, homicidal or, accidental fatalities over the period from the start of January 2012, till end of December 2014 in the Eastern region, Saudi Arabia were retrospectively investigated. Results: From a total 1376 cases examined in the Forensic Medical Authority, Eastern Province over the assigned three year period, only 94 ethanol positive fatalities were detected and were investigated retrospectively. Cases with positive ethanol results, were chiefly males between 21 and 30 years of age (28.8%). Accidental causes significantly predominated (47.9%) over suicidal and homicidal causes (28.8%, and 23.3%, respectively). Most of the cases were non-Saudi (73.3%), with prevalence of Indian nationality (47.8%). Conclusion: The precise statistical mortality database for ethanol related violent deaths may provide an enormous support for the effect of alcohol on aggressive behavior, human health and mortality. In the current study, ethanol positive deaths were 94 in total, with predominance of non-Saudi Indian males. Majority of the studied cases were between 21 and 30 years of age. Further international studies are recommended

Application of quality-by-design for adopting an environmentally green fluorogenic determination of benoxinate hydrochloride in eye drops and artificial aqueous humour

Abstract Herein, a sensitive and selective spectrofluorimetric method has been developed for the determination of the ocular local anesthetic benoxinate hydrochloride (BEN-HCl) in eye drops and artificial aqueous humour. The proposed method is based on the interaction of fluorescamine with the primary amino group of BEN-HCl at room temperature. Following the excitation of the reaction product at 393 nm, the emitted relative fluorescence intensity (RFI) was measured at 483 nm. The key experimental parameters were carefully examined and optimized by adopting an analytical quality-by-design approach. The method used a two-level full factorial design (24 FFD) to obtain the optimum RFI of the reaction product. The calibration curve was linear at the range of 0.10–1.0 μg/mL of BEN-HCl with sensitivity down to 0.015 μg/mL. The method was applied for analyzing the BEN-HCl eye drops and could also assess its spiked levels in artificial aqueous humour with high % recoveries (98.74–101.37%) and low SD values (≤ 1.11). To investigate the green profile of the proposed method, a greenness assessment was performed with the aid of the Analytical Eco-Scale Assessment (ESA) and GAPI. The developed method obtained a very high ESA rating score in addition to being sensitive, affordable, and environmentally sustainable. The proposed method was validated according to ICH guidelines

Polyaniline/Glauconite Nanocomposite Adsorbent for Congo Red Dye from Textile Wastewater

Glauconite (Gl), a naturally occurring clay material, was utilized as an affordable and ecologically friendly adsorbent to explore its capturing capacity towards Congo red (CR) dye from textile industrial waste effluent. To improve adsorption and removal effectiveness, a modification technique utilizing polyaniline (PAN) was investigated. An X-ray diffractometer (XRD), a scanning electron microscope (SEM), and Fourier transformer infrared (FTI-R) were applied as strong familiar characterization techniques for all used adsorbents. The effects of starting concentration, contact duration, adsorbent dose, pH, and temperature on the adsorption process were also studied. The reusability of the adsorbent was studied over four adsorption cycles. The results show that PAN modification of Gl enhances the effectiveness of CR elimination. The clearance efficiency of raw and modified glauconite at 25 °C and pH 7 was 77% and 91%, respectively. The kinetics and isotherms of Congo red dye adsorption were investigated using batch studies to determine the impacts of various experimental conditions. The maximum adsorption capacity of the glauconite/polyaniline (Gl/PAN) nanocomposite rose from 11.9 mg/g for Gl to 14.1 mg/g in accordance with the isotherm analysis, which shows that the Langmuir isotherm properly characterizes the experimental data. The pseudo-second-order model (R2 = 0.998) properly expresses the experimental data. The reusability research proved that the adsorbents may be reused effectively. The overall results suggest that the modified Gl by PAN might be used as a low-cost, natural adsorbent for eliminating CR color from textile effluent