Neonatal mortality in Sudan: analysis of the Sudan household survey, 2010

BACKGROUND: Sudan is classified as having insufficient progress in achieving the Millennium Development Goal (MDG-4), where the levels of child and infant mortality are among the highest in the region and the world. This study investigated factors associated with neonatal mortality in Sudan. Neonatal death is defined as death within the first 28 days of life. METHODS: This study analysed data from the Sudan Household Health Survey 2nd round, which was carried out in 2010. Total of 6,198 live-born infants delivered within the two years preceding the survey were included as the study population. Multivariate logistic regression was used to model neonatal mortality as a function of maternal health parameters, socioeconomic indicators and the sex of the child. RESULTS: There were 189 neonatal deaths out of 6,198 live births (3.0%). In the multiple logistic regression, the factors associated with neonatal mortality were advanced maternal age (≥ 40 years; OR = 2.4; 95% CI: 1.21, 4.78, p = 0.012), poor household wealth index (OR = 1.6; 95% CI: 1.18, 2.47, p = 0.005), male child (OR = 1.8; 95% CI: 1.31, 2.42, p < 0.001), delivery of baby by Caesarean section (OR = 1.6; 95% CI: 1.78, 2.42, p = 0.013) and delivery complications (OR = 1.4; 95% CI: 1.18, 2.15, p = 0.002). CONCLUSION: Public health interventions which target neonatal mortality reduction should adopt a risk-factor-based approach to detect pregnancy complications early and once identified, the health system should be strengthened so that these complications can be dealt with adequately

Shear Performance of GFRP Reinforced Concrete Beams with Seawater and Chopped Fiber

This paper reports an experimental study on the behavior and shear strength of concrete beams reinforced with longitudinal GFRP bars mixed with sea water. In order to evaluate how much concrete contributes to shear resistance, seven beams were tested in bending. Similar in size and concrete strength, the beams were longitudinally reinforced with glass fiber-reinforced polymer bars; however, they did not even have shear reinforcement. The beams, which measured 3,100 mm in length, 400 mm in depth, and 200 mm in width, were conducted and tested up to failure. The test variables were longitudinal reinforcement ratios (1.0, 1.4, and 2.0%), chopped fiber content (0, 0.5, 2, and 3 kg/m3), and mixing water type (freshwater and seawater). The test findings showed that increasing the reinforcement ratio increased the neutral-axis depth and allowed the formation of more closely spaced fractures while decreasing the loss of flexural stiffness after cracking. By increasing the area of concrete in compression, this in turn enhances the contribution of aggregate interlock as well as the contribution of uncracked concrete. Furthermore, increasing the reinforcement ratio improves the dowel action, which reduces the tensile stresses that are created in the concrete around it. Doi: 10.28991/CEJ-2023-09-04-05 Full Text: PD

Global Postural Exercise Program Versus Muscle Energy Technique on Management of Temporomandibular Joint Disorders

Objective: To compare between the effects of global postural exercise program against muscle energy technique on maximum pressure pain threshold, maximal mouth opening range of motion as well as quality of life on patients with temporomandibular joint disorders. Methods: 63 patients having temporomandibular disorders were randomized into three groups; Group (A) were given global postural exercise program in addition to conventional therapy (in the form of LASER and hot packs), Group (B) were given muscle energy technique as well as traditional therapy and the Group (C) control were given traditional therapy only. All patients were examined by the pressure algometer, paquimeter and Arabic version of Oral health impact profile 14 questionnaire as well as the duration of treatment were 6 weeks. Results: there were no significant statistical differences revealed&nbsp; pretreatment for all variables, Mmaximal mouth opening range of motion, quality of life scale, as well as pain) as in mouth opening (P=0.130), OHIP-14 (P=0.642), right temporalis muscles (P=0.384), left temporalis muscles (P=0.930), right masseter muscles (P=0.790), left masseter muscles (P=0.064), right trapezius muscle (P=0.403), and left trapezius muscle (P=0.058) among groups where (P&gt;0.05). While after-treatment and follow up , there were significant statistical differences were P value was (P&lt;0.05), in mouth opening (P=0.0001 and P=0.0001, respectively), OHIP-14 (P=0.0001 and P=0.0001, respectively), right temporalis muscles (P=0.035 and P=0.020, respectively), left temporalis muscles (P=0.0001 and P=0.0001, respectively), right masseter muscles (P=0.001 and P=0.0001, respectively), left masseter muscles (P=0.004 and P=0.035, respectively), right trapezius muscle (P=0.0001 and P=0.0001, respectively), and left trapezius muscle (P=0.031 and P=0.001, respectively) between groups. Conclusion: Both Muscle energy technique and global postural exercise program improved mouth opening, pressure pain threshold, as well as quality of life in temporomandibular joint disorders patients, with the superiority of muscle energy technique over global postural exercise program

Bioactive Metabolites from Propolis Inhibit Superoxide Anion Radical, Acetylcholinesterase and Phosphodiesterase (PDE4)

Cycloartane-triterpenes (cycloartenol, 3α-cycloartenol-26-oic acid and 3β-cycloartenol-26-oic acid) together with α-amyrin acetate and flavonoids (pinostrobin, tectochrysin and chrysin) were isolated from Egyptian propolis for the first time. Their antioxidant activity was evaluated with DPPH and superoxide anion radical (O2.-). All compounds possessed both (O2.-) scavenging as well as XOD inhibitory activity in the range of 50 – 75 %. With DPPH, only the flavonoids showed scavenging activity (48 – 83 %). Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and phosphodiesterase type 4 (PDE4) inhibitors are currently considered as intracellular targets for treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). 3β-cycloartenol-26-oic acid moderately inhibited AChE and PDE4 activities in vitro with IC50 values of 0.8±0.2 and 1.9±0.4 μM, respectively, while 3-cycloartenol-26-oic acid inhibited AChE activity with an IC50 value of 2.1±0.1 μM. The flavonoids pinostrobin and chrysin reduced PDE4 activity by 43 and 40 %, respectively (10 μM) as well as moderately inhibited the growth of the HepG2 cell line, whereas chrysin reduced proliferation of NIH-3T3 cells at 50 μM. Therefore, our results with 3β- and 3-cycloartenol-26-oic acids can contribute to further research on alternative drugs for the treatment of neurological and neurodegenerative diseases, as well as asthma and COPD

HEPATOPROTECTIVE ACTIVITY OF COSTUS SPECIOSUS (KOEN. EX. RETZ.) AGAINST PARACETAMOL-INDUCED LIVER INJURY IN MICE

Background: Liver diseases are a common cause of mortality and morbidity over the world. It is caused mainly by toxic chemicals and chemotherapeutic agents. Costus speciosus (Koen ex. Retz.) (Zingiberaceae) is widely employed in various traditional medicines for the prevention and treatment of different aliments. The purpose of this study is to assess the protective effect of C. speciosus rhizomes MeOH extract against the injury of the liver induced by paracetamol (PA) in mice. Material and Methods: The mice were pretreated for seven days with distilled H2O, silymarin 12 mg/kg or 100 and 200 mg/kg MeOH extract. Then, PA (750 mg/kg) was also intra-peritoneal administrated once a day. Animals were euthanatized 24 h after the damage inducement. The levels of the serum enzymes aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and aspartate aminotransferase, in addition to the tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), were determined. Moreover, the histopathological examination was carried out. Results: Administration of the MeOH extract (200 mg/kg) showed improvement in the toxic effects of PA through significant fall on the serum markers enzymes of liver damage: AST, ALT, and ALP, as well as TNF-α, compared to silymarin. In parallel, the histopathological profile in the mice` liver also proved that extract markedly minimized the PA toxicity and maintained the liver tissues` histoarchitecture to near the normal ones more than that achieved by silymarin. Conclusion: The findings suggested that C. speciosus extract acts as a potential hepatoprotective agent against PA-induced liver toxicity. This hepato-protection effect may be due to the existence of steroids, saponins, different glycosides, and phenolic compounds in C. speciosus

Evaluating the Feasibility of Pro-Neurotensin and 25-Hydroxyvitamin D3 as Possible Indicators for Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and Its Complications

(1) Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and metabolic syndrome are associated with decreased vitamin D. In contrast, high pro-neurotensin (pro-NT) levels are linked with an increased risk of T2DM and cardiovascular disease. We aimed to determine the validity of pro-NT and 25-dihydroxy vitamin D3 levels as predictors for T2DM complications; (2) Methods: One hundred T2DM, and one hundred healthy volunteers participated in this case-control study. Their Pro-NT and 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 levels were evaluated using the ELISA technique; (3) Results: Pro-NT and 25 (OH) vitamin D3 have significant validity and accuracy in T2DM prediction, 84.5%, and 90.5%, respectively (p = 0.001). At a value of \u3c29.5, 25-Hydroxy vitamin D3 showed 88% sensitivity and 93% specificity in predicting T2DM. At a value of \u3e124 Pmol/L, Pro-NT showed 81% sensitivity and 88% specificity in predicting T2DM. At a value of 16.5, 25-Hydroxy vitamin D3 had 78.4% sensitivity and 68.3% specificity in predicting T2DM complications. At a value of \u3e158 pmol/L, Pro-NT predicted T2DM complications with 67.6% sensitivity and 56.0% specificity; (4) Conclusions: 25 (OH) Vit D3 and Pro-NT could identify T2DM patients and predict T2DM complications. More extensive research is required to adequately validate this novel perspective with a large population study

Solubility enhancement of decitabine as anticancer drug via green chemistry solvent: Novel computational prediction and optimization

Nowadays, supercritical fluid technology (SFT) has been an interesting scientific subject in disparate industrial-based activities such as drug delivery, chromatography, and purification. In this technology, solubility plays an incontrovertible role. Therefore, achieving more knowledge about the development of promising numerical/computational methods of solubility prediction to validate the experimental data may be advantageous for increasing the quality of research and therefore, the efficacy of novel drugs. Decitabine with the chemical formula C₈H₁₂N₄O₄ is a chemotherapeutic agent applied for the treatment of disparate bone-marrow-related malignancies such as acute myeloid leukemia (AML) by preventing DNA methyltransferase and activation of silent genes. This study aims to predict the optimum value of decitabine solubility in CO₂SCF by employing different machine learning-based mathematical models. In this investigation, we used AdaBoost (Adaptive Boosting) to boost three base models including Linear Regression (LR), Decision Tree (DT), and GRNN. We used a dataset that has 32 sample points to make solubility models. One of the two input features is P (bar) and the other is T (k). ADA-DT (Adaboost Algorithm Decision Tree), ADA-LR (Adaboost Algorithm-Linear Regresion), and ADA-GRNN (Generative Regression Neural Network) models showed MAE of 6.54 ˣ 10ˉ⁵, 4.66 10 ˉ⁵, and 8.35 10 ˉ⁵, respectively. Also, in terms of R-squared score, these models have 0.986, 0.983, and 0.911 scores, respectively. ADA-LR was selected as the primary model according to numerical and visual analysis. Finally, the optimal values are (P = 400 bar, T = 3.38 K 102, Y = 1.064 10ˉ³ mol fraction) using this model

Muscle invasive bladder cancer in Upper Egypt: the shift in risk factors and tumor characteristics

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In Egypt, where bilharziasis is endemic, bladder cancer is the commonest cancer in males and the 2^ndin females; squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is the commonest type found, with a peculiar mode of presentation. The aim of this study is to identify and rank the risk factors of muscle invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) in Upper Egypt and describe its specific criteria of presentation and histopathology.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This is an analytical, hospital based, case controlled study conducted in south Egypt cancer institute through comparing MIBC cases (n = 130) with age, sex and residence matched controls (n = 260) for the presence of risk factors of MIBC. Data was collected by personal interview using a well designed questionnaire. Patients' records were reviewed for histopathology and Radiologic findings.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The risk factors of MIBC were positive family history [Adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 7.7], exposure to pesticides [AOR = 6.2], bladder stones [AOR = 5], consanguinity [AOR = 3.9], recurrent cystitis [AOR = 3.1], bilharziasis [odds ratio (OR) = 5.8] and smoking [OR = 5.3]. SCC represented 67.6% of cases with burning micturition being the presenting symptom in 73.8%.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>MIBC in Upper Egypt is usually of the SCC type (although its percentage is decreasing), occurs at a younger age and presents with burning micturition rather than hematuria. Unlike the common belief, positive family history, parents' consanguinity, exposure to pesticides and chronic cystitis seem to play now more important roles than bilharziasis and smoking in the development of this disease in this area.</p

Forecasting wind power based on an improved al-Biruni Earth radius metaheuristic optimization algorithm

Wind power forecasting is pivotal in optimizing renewable energy generation and grid stability. This paper presents a groundbreaking optimization algorithm to enhance wind power forecasting through an improved al-Biruni Earth radius (BER) metaheuristic optimization algorithm. The BER algorithm, based on stochastic fractal search (SFS) principles, has been refined and optimized to achieve superior accuracy in wind power prediction. The proposed algorithm is denoted by BERSFS and is used in an ensemble model’s feature selection and optimization to boost prediction accuracy. In the experiments, the first scenario covers the proposed binary BERSFS algorithm’s feature selection capabilities for the dataset under test, while the second scenario demonstrates the algorithm’s regression capabilities. The BERSFS algorithm is investigated and compared to state-of-the-art algorithms of BER, SFS, particle swarm optimization, gray wolf optimizer, and whale optimization algorithm. The proposed optimizing ensemble BERSFS-based model is also compared to the basic models of long short-term memory, bidirectional long short-term memory, gated recurrent unit, and the k-nearest neighbor ensemble model. The statistical investigation utilized Wilcoxon’s rank-sum and analysis of variance tests to investigate the robustness of the created BERSFS-based model. The achieved results and analysis confirm the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed approach in wind power forecasting

The outcome of ultrasound-guided insertion of central hemodialysis catheter

Objective: To point out our experience and assess the efficacy and safety of real-time ultrasound-guided central internal jugular vein (IJV) catheterization in the treatment of hemodialysis patients. Methods: This retrospective study comprised 150 patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) who had real-time ultrasonography (US)-guided IJV HD catheters placed in our hospital between March 2019 and March 2021. Patients were examined for their demographic data, etiology, site of catheter insertion, type (acute or chronic) of renal failure, technical success, operative time, number of needle punctures, and procedure-related complications. Patients who have had multiple catheter insertions, prior catheterization challenges, poor compliance, obesity, bony deformity, and coagulation disorders were considered at high-operative risk. Results: All patients experienced technical success. In terms of patient clinical features, an insignificant difference was observed between the normal and high-risk groups (p-value > 0.05). Of the 150 catheters, 62 (41.3%) were placed in high-risk patients. The first-attempt success rate was 89.8% for the normal group and 72.5% for the high-risk group (p = 0.006). IJV cannulation took less time in the normal-risk group compared to the highrisk group (21.2 ± 0.09) minutes vs (35.4 ± 0.11) minutes, (p < 0.001). There were no serious complications. During the placing of the catheter in the internal jugular vein, four patients (6.4%) experienced arterial puncture in the high-risk group. Two participants in each group got a small neck hematoma. One patient developed a pneumothorax in the high-risk group, which was managed with an intercostal chest tube insertion. Conclusions: Even in the high-risk group, the real-time US-guided placement of a central catheter into the IJV is associated with a low complication rate and a high success rate. Even under US guidance, experience lowers complication rates. Real-time USguided is recommended to be used routinely during central venous catheter insertion