Clinical microbiology study of diabetic foot ulcer in Iran; pathogens and antibacterial susceptibility

The aim of this study was to investigate microbial pathogens and their antibiotic susceptibility profile in infected diabetic foot ulcers in Iranian patients. This was a one-year cross sectional study on diabetic patients with infected diabetic foot ulcer at Shariati Teaching Hospital, Tehran, Iran. Grade of ulcer was determined by Wagner's criteria. Specimens were obtained from the base of ulcer, deep part of the wound or aspiration and were tested with gram staining and antibacterial susceptibility was determined with both disk diffusion and E-Test methods. Total of 546 pathogens were isolated from 165 ulcers of 149 patients. Gram positive aerobes including Enterococcal species and methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) (21.4 and 19.4%, respectively) were identified as the most common pathogens followed by Gram negative isolates including Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas-aeruginosa (12.6 and 5.4%, respectively). The majority of wounds were classified as Wagner grades 2 and 3 (15.7 and 75.7%). Appropriate empiric treatment to cover both these Gram positive and Gram negative pathogens is crucially important

An efficient color image compression technique

We present a new image compression method to improve visual perception of the decompressed images and achieve higher image compression ratio. This method balances between the compression rate and image quality by compressing the essential parts of the image-edges. The key subject/edge is of more significance than background/non-edge image. Taking into consideration the value of image components and the effect of smoothness in image compression, this method classifies the image components as edge or non-edge. Low-quality lossy compression is applied to non-edge components whereas high-quality lossy compression is applied to edge components. Outcomes show that our suggested method is efficient in terms of compression ratio, bits per-pixel and peak signal to noise ratio

Solvent effect on 14N NMR shielding of glycine, serine, leucine, and threonine: comparison between chemical shifts and energy versus dielectric constant

The polarizable continuum model (PCM) is employed to describe the system in the condensed phase. The performance of DFT and PCM in describing high order nonlinear mixed electric and magnetic effects in condensed phase are described. In this paper we consider the effect of 10 solvents with a wide range of dielectric constants on 4 amino acids. NMR shielding values (ppm), isotropic and anisotropic effects, energy interaction between solute and solvent, and the effect of hydrogen bond on shielding are described. Direct and indirect solvent effects on shielding are also calculated. The observed solvent-induced shielding variation is more strongly related to the intensity of the solvent reaction field rather than on the change of molecular geometry induced by the solvent. KEY WORDS: Solvent effect, 14N NMR shielding, Solvent-induced shielding, Polarizable continuum model, Amino acids   Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2007, 21(1), 111-116

Developing Heat Mitigation Strategies in the Urban Environment of Sydney, Australia

Heat island effects raise the ambient air temperature in metropolitan areas by 4–5 degrees Celsius and can reach 10 degrees Celsius at their maximum. This phenomenon magnifies cities’ energy difficulties while reducing comfort. Mitigation strategies have been developed and recommended to deal with the issue. Methods to increase albedo and the utilisation of vegetation appear to be the most promising, with a reasonably high heat island reduction capacity. This paper examines the heat mitigation techniques and their effectiveness under Sydney’s climate conditions and compares strategies. We implement two perspectives, namely urban greening (green roofs, green pavements) and albedo (street, roof), and characterise urban surface structures, and Envi-met software is employed for our simulation method. Mitigation strategies show a cooling potential of 4.1 °C in temperature along this precinct during the heatwave period. Scenarios that increase high-albedo material on the road, pavements and rooftops and full mitigation show the maximum cooling potential. The mitigation strategies have higher predicted cooling potential on the peak ambient temperature, up to 1.18 °C, while having no or little impact on minimum ambient temperature. The outdoor thermal comfort based on PMV indices varies between a minimum of −0.33 in scenario seven in large layout areas to 3. However, the mitigation scenario presents more acceptable outdoor thermal comfort, but large layouts are predicted to have a hot condition

Diagnostic value of CD14+ CD16+ monocytes in neonatal sepsis

Background: The majority of monocytes (MO) are strongly positive for CD14 and negative for CD16. The phenotype and function of peripheral blood monocytes change after trauma and during sepsis. CD14+CD16+ monocytes, identified as a minor population of monocytes which constitute a potent phagocytosing and antigen-presenting monocyte subpopulation that expands during acute and chronic infections. Objective: To evaluate monocyte expression of CD14 and CD16 in preterm neonates and to assess it as a possible marker for early diagnosis of neonatal sepsis as the early clinical signs are often insidious and non-specific. Methods: This study was carried out on 45 preterm neonates (1-3 days old ) with a mean gestational age of 34.5 ± 1.03 weeks . They were classified into three groups. Group I included 15 neonates with proven sepsis. Group II included 15 neonates with possible or suspected infection. Group III (control group) included 15 healthy age and sex matched neonates. The neonates with possible infection were followed up. Nine of them developed sepsis later on (proved clinically and by laboratory) and they were considered as patients with early sepsis at the time of admission. History taking and clinical examination were performed as well as laboratory investigations including, complete blood count, blood culture and sensitivity (for patients only), measurement of C-reactive protein (CRP) and CD14 and CD16 expression on monocytes by flow cytometry. Results: The proportion of CD14+ CD16+ MO within all circulating monocytes was significantly higher in patients with proven (75.2±13.1%), early (63.9±17.9%) or possible sepsis (55.1±26.8%) than controls (3.86±2.53%) (p < 0.0001, p < 0.0001, p < 0.001, respecctively). It was higher in neonates with proven than possible sepsis (p > 0.05), whereas it was comparable in the groups of proven and early sepsis (p < 0.05). There was a significant positive correlation between mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) of CD16+ MO and CRP (p < 0.01) and a significant negative correlation between it and the platelet count (p < 0.05) among patients. When neonates with early sepsis were followed up after 48 hours a significant increase in CRP levels and MFI of CD16 expression on monocytes was noted (p < 0.01 for both). The sensitivity and negative predictive value of CD14+ CD16+ MO% and MFI of CD16+ MO were higher than that of CRP. Specificity and positive predictive value of CD14+CD16+ MO% were similar to those of CRP. The cut off point (obtained from the ROC curve) for CD14+ CD16+ MO% was 8.6% and that for MFI of CD16+ MO was 9. Conclusion: The measurement of the percentage of CD14+ CD16+ MO among circulating MO is a promising rapid and sensitive test for early diagnosis of neonatal sepsis and exclusion of infection in neonates with high risk to develop sepsis. NICU costs as well as unnecessary antibiotic use can be thus reduced.Keywords: CD14, CD16, monocyte, neonate, sepsisEgypt J Pediatr Allergy Immunol 2004; 2(1): 16-2

A Comparison between Recombinant Activated Factor VII (Aryoseven) and Novoseven in Patients with Congenital Factor VII Deficiency

In order to establish the efficacy and biosimilar nature of AryoSeven to NovoSeven in the treatment of congenital factor VII (FVII) deficiency, patients received either agent at 30 1/4g/kg, intravenously per week for 4 weeks, in a randomized fashion. The primary aim was to compare FVII:coagulation activity (FVII:C), 20 minutes after recombinant activated FVII (rFVIIa) injection, in the 2 groups. A secondary measure was self-reported bleeding. The median interquartile baseline range of the plasma level of activated FVII (FVIIa) activity in the 2 groups was 1.6 (1.1-14.0) IU/dL and 5.0 (1.1-25.5) IU/dL. All patients achieved levels of FVIIa (FVII:C) >30 IU/dL, 20 minutes after the injection of rFVIIa. Bleeding was similar between the 2 groups, with a comparable decrease in severity and frequency compared to the last month prior to treatment. AryoSeven is similar to NovoSeven in increasing postinjection FVIIa activity as well as in clinical safety and efficacy. © The Author(s) 2014