Risk factors of falls among elderly living in Urban Suez - Egypt

Introduction: Falling is one of the most common geriatric syndromes threatening the independence of older persons. Falls result from a complex and interactive mix of biological or medical, behavioral and environmental factors, many of which are preventable. Studying these diverse risk factors would aid early detection and management of them at the primary care level. Methods: This is a cross sectional study about risk factors of falls was conducted to 340 elders in Urban Suez. Those are all patients over 60 who attended two family practice centers in Urban Suez. Results: When asked about falling during the past 12 months, 205 elders recalled at least one incident of falling. Of them, 36% had their falls outdoors and 24% mentioned that stairs was the most prevalent site for indoor falls. Falls were also reported more among dependant than independent elderly. Using univariate regression analysis, almost all tested risk factors were significantly associated with falls in the studied population. These risk factors include: living alone, having chronic diseases, using medications, having a physical deficit, being in active, and having a high nutritional risk. However, the multivariate regression analysis proved that the strongest risk factors are low level of physical activity with OR 0.6 and P value 0.03, using a cane or walker (OR 1.69 and P value 0.001) and Impairment of daily living activities (OR 1.7 and P value 0.001). Conclusion: Although falls is a serious problem among elderly with many consequences, it has many preventable risk factors. Health care providers should advice people to remain active and more research is needed in such an important area of Family Practice.Pan African Medical Journal 2013; 14:2

Improvement to an existing multi-level capacitated lot sizing problem considering setup carryover, backlogging, and emission control

This paper presents a multi-level, multi-item, multi-period capacitated lot-sizing problem. The lot-sizing problem studies can obtain production quantities, setup decisions and inventory levels in each period fulfilling the demand requirements with limited capacity resources, considering the Bill of Material (BOM) structure while simultaneously minimizing the production, inventory, and machine setup costs. The paper proposes an exact solution to Chowdhury et al. (2018)\u27s[1] developed model, which considers the backlogging cost, setup carryover & greenhouse gas emission control to its model complexity. The problem contemplates the Dantzig-Wolfe (D.W.) decomposition to decompose the multi-level capacitated problem into a single-item uncapacitated lot-sizing sub-problem. To avoid the infeasibilities of the weighted problem (WP), an artificial variable is introduced, and the Big-M method is employed in the D.W. decomposition to produce an always feasible master problem. In addition, Wagner & Whitin\u27s[2] forward recursion algorithm is also incorporated in the solution approach for both end and component items to provide the minimum cost production plan. Introducing artificial variables in the D.W. decomposition method is a novel approach to solving the MLCLSP model. A better performance was achieved regarding reduced computational time (reduced by 50%) and optimality gap (reduced by 97.3%) in comparison to Chowdhury et al. (2018)\u27s[1] developed model

A comparative study of microcystin-LR degradation by UV-a, solar and visible light irradiation using bare and C/N/S-modified titania

In an endeavor to tackle environmental problems, the photodegradation of microcystin- LR (MC-LR), one of the most common and toxic cyanotoxins, produced by the cyanobacteria blooms, was examined using nanostructured TiO2 photocatalysts (anatase, brookite, anatase- brookite, and C/N/S co-modified anatase-brookite) under UV-A, solar and visible light irradiation. The tailoring of TiO2 properties to hinder the electron-hole recombination and improve MC-LR adsorption on TiO2 surface was achieved by altering the preparation pH value. The highest photocatalytic efficiency was 97% and 99% with degradation rate of 0.002 mmol L-1 min-1 and 0.0007 mmol L-1 min-1 under UV and solar irradiation, respectively, using a bare TiO2 photocatalyst prepared at pH 10 with anatase to brookite ratio of ca. 1:2.5. However, the bare TiO2 samples were hardly active under visible light irradiation (<25%) due to a large band gap. Upon UV, solar and vis irradiation, the complete MC-LR degradation (100%) was obtained in the presence of C/N/S comodified TiO2 with a degradation rate constant of 0.26 min-1, 0.11 min-1 and 0.04 min-1, respectively. It was proposed that the remarkable activity of co-modified TiO2 might originate from its mixedphase composition, mesoporous structure, and non-metal co-modification

Serum magnesium levels and acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a retrospective study

A decrease in serum Mg+ 2 is associated with airway hyper-reactivity and impaired pulmonary function. The purpose of this study was to determine if decreased serum Mg+ 2 levels in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are associated with acute exacerbations. In a retrospective study, the charted serum Mg+ 2 levels in 100 COPD patients were examined. These included 50 patients who presented with an acute exacerbation of COPD and 50 stable patients. Chart review was sequential within both groups. Serum Mg 2+ levels in the stable COPD patients averaged 0.91±0.10 mmol/L (mean±SD) with a 95% CI of 0.88–0.94 mmol/L. Patients undergoing an exacerbation had significantly lower serum Mg+ 2 levels (0.77±0.10 mmol/L; CI, 0.74–0.79; p< 0.0001). Logistic regression of the dichotomous outcomes as a function of serum Mg+ 2 concentration demonstrated a highly significant

Immunosuppressive Effects of Thallium Toxicity in Nile Tilapia Fingerlings: Elucidating the Rescue Role of Astragalus membranaceus Polysaccharides

This study evaluated the immunotoxic effects of thallium (Tl) in Nile tilapia fingerlings and the recovery role of dietary Astragalus membranaceus polysaccharides (ASs). An 8-week experiment was designed where 180 fishes were randomly and equally assigned in triplicates into the six groups: the control group (CNT) was reared in unpolluted water and fed a commercial diet, two groups were fed a well-balanced commercial diet plus 1.5 and 3.0 g AS/kg diet (AS0.15 and AS0.30), respectively, the fourth group was exposed to a sublethal dose of Tl (41.9 μg l−1) [equal to 1/10 of 96-h lethal concentration 50 (LC50)], and the last two groups were fed 0.15 and 0.3% AS, respectively, and concurrently exposed to Tl (41.9 μg l−1) (AS0.15+Tl and AS0.30+Tl). Fish hematobiochemical parameters, serum immunity [nitric oxide, total immunoglobulin M (IgM) levels, and lysozyme activity], transcription of hepatic interferon-g (IFN-g), interleukin-1b (IL-1b), and tumor necrosis factor-a (TNF-a), and resistance to Aeromonas hydrophila (A. hydrophila) were assessed. Hematobiochemical parameters and serum immune indices were significantly decreased in the fish group exposed to sublethal Tl concentration compared to the CNT group. Furthermore, Tl exposure significantly induced overexpression of IL-1b, TNF-a, and IFN-g genes (4.22-, 5.45-, and 4.57-fold higher, respectively) compared to CNT values. Tl exposure also increased the cumulative mortality (%) in Nile tilapia challenged with A. hydrophila. Remarkably, the groups fed AS0.15+Tl and AS0.30+Tl significantly ameliorated all the aforementioned parameters, but did not reach CNT values. Our findings suggest the possible immunomodulating roles of dietary AS in recovering the immunotoxic effects of Tl in Nile tilapia. We can conclude that dietary AS would be useful for maintaining the immunity of Nile tilapia fingerlings

Xeno-free trans-differentiation of adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells into glial and neuronal cells.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are undifferentiated cells that have the ability of self-renewal and trans-differentiation into other cell types. They hold out hope for finding a cure for many diseases. Nevertheless, there are still some obstacles that limit their clinical transplantation. One of these obstacles are the xenogeneic substances added in either proliferation or differentiation media with subsequent immunogenic and infectious transmission problems. In this study, we aimed to replace fetal bovine serum (FBS), the main nutrient source for MSC proliferation with xeno-free blood derivatives. We tested the effect of human activated pure platelet-rich plasma (P-PRP) and advanced platelet-rich fibrin (A-PRF) on the proliferation of human adipose derived-MSCs (AD-MSCs) at different concentrations. For the induction of MSC neural differentiation, we used human cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) at different concentrations in combination with P-PRP to effect xeno-free/species-specific neuronal/glial differentiation and we found that media with 10% CSF and 10% PRP promoted glial differentiation, while media with only 10% PRP induced a neuron-like phenotype

DNA binding Test, x-ray crystal structure, spectral studies, TG-DTA, and electrochemistry of [CoX2 (dmdphphen)] (dmdphphen is 2,9-dimethyl-4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline,x = Cl, and NCS) complexes

Two new neutral mixed-ligand cobalt(II) complexes, CoCl2(dmdphphen) 1 and Co(NCS)dmdphphen) 2, where dmdphphen is 2,9-dimethyl-4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline, were synthesized and characterized by an elemental analysis, UV-Vis, IR, TG/DTA, cyclic voltammetry CV, and single X-ray diffraction. Complex 2 crystallized as monoclinic with a space group P21/c. Co(II) ions are located in a distorted tetrahedral environment. TG/DTA result shows that these complexes are very stable and decomposed through one-step reaction. The two complexes exhibit a quasireversible one-electron response at -550 and 580 mV versus Cp2Fe/Cp2Fe+, which has been assigned to Co(I)/Co(II) and Co(II)/Co(III) couples. Absorption spectral studies reveal that such complexes exhibit hypochromicity during their interaction with CT-DNA. © 2014 Mousa Al-Noaimi et al

The environmental profile of a community’s health: a cross-sectional study on tobacco marketing in 16 countries.

OBJECTIVE: To examine and compare tobacco marketing in 16 countries while the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control requires parties to implement a comprehensive ban on such marketing. METHODS: Between 2009 and 2012, a kilometre-long walk was completed by trained investigators in 462 communities across 16 countries to collect data on tobacco marketing. We interviewed community members about their exposure to traditional and non-traditional marketing in the previous six months. To examine differences in marketing between urban and rural communities and between high-, middle- and low-income countries, we used multilevel regression models controlling for potential confounders. FINDINGS: Compared with high-income countries, the number of tobacco advertisements observed was 81 times higher in low-income countries (incidence rate ratio, IRR: 80.98; 95% confidence interval, CI: 4.15-1578.42) and the number of tobacco outlets was 2.5 times higher in both low- and lower-middle-income countries (IRR: 2.58; 95% CI: 1.17-5.67 and IRR: 2.52; CI: 1.23-5.17, respectively). Of the 11,842 interviewees, 1184 (10%) reported seeing at least five types of tobacco marketing. Self-reported exposure to at least one type of traditional marketing was 10 times higher in low-income countries than in high-income countries (odds ratio, OR: 9.77; 95% CI: 1.24-76.77). For almost all measures, marketing exposure was significantly lower in the rural communities than in the urban communities. CONCLUSION: Despite global legislation to limit tobacco marketing, it appears ubiquitous. The frequency and type of tobacco marketing varies on the national level by income group and by community type, appearing to be greatest in low-income countries and urban communities

The environmental profile of a community's health: a cross-sectional study on tobacco marketing in 16 countries.

OBJECTIVE: To examine and compare tobacco marketing in 16 countries while the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control requires parties to implement a comprehensive ban on such marketing. METHODS: Between 2009 and 2012, a kilometre-long walk was completed by trained investigators in 462 communities across 16 countries to collect data on tobacco marketing. We interviewed community members about their exposure to traditional and non-traditional marketing in the previous six months. To examine differences in marketing between urban and rural communities and between high-, middle- and low-income countries, we used multilevel regression models controlling for potential confounders. FINDINGS: Compared with high-income countries, the number of tobacco advertisements observed was 81 times higher in low-income countries (incidence rate ratio, IRR: 80.98; 95% confidence interval, CI: 4.15-1578.42) and the number of tobacco outlets was 2.5 times higher in both low- and lower-middle-income countries (IRR: 2.58; 95% CI: 1.17-5.67 and IRR: 2.52; CI: 1.23-5.17, respectively). Of the 11,842 interviewees, 1184 (10%) reported seeing at least five types of tobacco marketing. Self-reported exposure to at least one type of traditional marketing was 10 times higher in low-income countries than in high-income countries (odds ratio, OR: 9.77; 95% CI: 1.24-76.77). For almost all measures, marketing exposure was significantly lower in the rural communities than in the urban communities. CONCLUSION: Despite global legislation to limit tobacco marketing, it appears ubiquitous. The frequency and type of tobacco marketing varies on the national level by income group and by community type, appearing to be greatest in low-income countries and urban communities