Procjena anthelmintičke učinkovitosti pripravaka albendazola i ivermektina u magaraca u Darfuru u Sudanu

The therapeutic efficacies of albendazole and ivermectin drench formulation at the manufacturer’s recommended dose were evaluated in a controlled trial in Nyala town, South Darfur State, Sudan. The study involved 24 donkeys naturally infected with gastrointestinal nematodes; they were divided into four groups of equal size. Albendazole was administered orally once at a dose rate of 10 mg/kg body mass, or twice, 14 days apart at dose rate of 10 mg/kg body mass. Ivermectin was administered orally as a single dose at 200 μg/kg body mass. Treatment efficacy was based on the mean faecal egg count reduction 14 days post treatment. A faecal egg count reduction of 100% was found after treatment with albendazole and ivermectin. In addition efficacy percentages of albendazole and ivermectin against immature and adult nematodes were as follows: Trichostrongylus axei 67.09% and 100%, Parascaris equorum 100% and 100%, Oxyuris equi 100% and 100%, Strongylus sp. 98.4% and 100%; and small strongyles 100% and 100%. Albendazole single and twice and ivermectin with the single dose showed moderate efficacy (33%, 59.08% and 62.71%, respectively) against larvae found in the cranial mesenteric artery aneurisms. No adverse reactions were observed in treated donkeys during the experiment period.Učinkovitost pripravaka albendazola i ivermektina u preporučenoj dozi istražena je u kontroliranom pokusu provedenom na magarcima u gradu Nyala u južnom Darfuru u Sudanu. Istraživanje je obuhvatilo 24 magarca prirodno invadirana želučanocrijevnim oblićima. Magarci su bili ravnomjerno raspoređeni u četiri skupine te peroralno liječeni albendazolom u dozi od 10 mg/kg tjelesne mase jednokratno ili dvokratno u razmaku od dva tjedna. Ivermektinom su liječeni peroralno i to jednokratno u dozi od 200 mg/kg tjelesne mase. Ljekovit učinak bio je određen na temelju smanjenja broja jaja u izmetu dva tjedna nakon liječenja. Dokazano je bilo 100%-tno smanjenje broja jaja nakon liječenja obama pripravcima. Učinkovitost je bila dokazana i postmortalnom parazitološkom pretragom i to prebrojavanjem nezrelih i odraslih oblića. U liječenih životinja ustanovljeno je 67,9% manje nezrelih te 100% manje odraslih oblića Trichostrongylus axei. Stopostotna učinkovitost bila je dokazana za nezrele i za zrele obliće Parascaris equorum, Oxyuris equi te male strongilide. Nešto manja učinkovitost (98,4%) bila je dokazana za nezrele obliće Strongylus sp. Kombinacija jednokratnoga i dvokratnoga davanja albendazola s jednokratnim davanjem ivermektina pokazala je prosječno dobru učinkovitost (33%, 59,08% i 62,71%) protiv ličinki u aneurizmama na području kranijalne mezenterijske arterije. U magaraca nisu bile primijećene nikakve nuspojave nakon primjene lijekova

Procjena anthelmintičke učinkovitosti pripravaka albendazola i ivermektina u magaraca u Darfuru u Sudanu

The therapeutic efficacies of albendazole and ivermectin drench formulation at the manufacturer’s recommended dose were evaluated in a controlled trial in Nyala town, South Darfur State, Sudan. The study involved 24 donkeys naturally infected with gastrointestinal nematodes; they were divided into four groups of equal size. Albendazole was administered orally once at a dose rate of 10 mg/kg body mass, or twice, 14 days apart at dose rate of 10 mg/kg body mass. Ivermectin was administered orally as a single dose at 200 μg/kg body mass. Treatment efficacy was based on the mean faecal egg count reduction 14 days post treatment. A faecal egg count reduction of 100% was found after treatment with albendazole and ivermectin. In addition efficacy percentages of albendazole and ivermectin against immature and adult nematodes were as follows: Trichostrongylus axei 67.09% and 100%, Parascaris equorum 100% and 100%, Oxyuris equi 100% and 100%, Strongylus sp. 98.4% and 100%; and small strongyles 100% and 100%. Albendazole single and twice and ivermectin with the single dose showed moderate efficacy (33%, 59.08% and 62.71%, respectively) against larvae found in the cranial mesenteric artery aneurisms. No adverse reactions were observed in treated donkeys during the experiment period.Učinkovitost pripravaka albendazola i ivermektina u preporučenoj dozi istražena je u kontroliranom pokusu provedenom na magarcima u gradu Nyala u južnom Darfuru u Sudanu. Istraživanje je obuhvatilo 24 magarca prirodno invadirana želučanocrijevnim oblićima. Magarci su bili ravnomjerno raspoređeni u četiri skupine te peroralno liječeni albendazolom u dozi od 10 mg/kg tjelesne mase jednokratno ili dvokratno u razmaku od dva tjedna. Ivermektinom su liječeni peroralno i to jednokratno u dozi od 200 mg/kg tjelesne mase. Ljekovit učinak bio je određen na temelju smanjenja broja jaja u izmetu dva tjedna nakon liječenja. Dokazano je bilo 100%-tno smanjenje broja jaja nakon liječenja obama pripravcima. Učinkovitost je bila dokazana i postmortalnom parazitološkom pretragom i to prebrojavanjem nezrelih i odraslih oblića. U liječenih životinja ustanovljeno je 67,9% manje nezrelih te 100% manje odraslih oblića Trichostrongylus axei. Stopostotna učinkovitost bila je dokazana za nezrele i za zrele obliće Parascaris equorum, Oxyuris equi te male strongilide. Nešto manja učinkovitost (98,4%) bila je dokazana za nezrele obliće Strongylus sp. Kombinacija jednokratnoga i dvokratnoga davanja albendazola s jednokratnim davanjem ivermektina pokazala je prosječno dobru učinkovitost (33%, 59,08% i 62,71%) protiv ličinki u aneurizmama na području kranijalne mezenterijske arterije. U magaraca nisu bile primijećene nikakve nuspojave nakon primjene lijekova

Lean partially premixed turbulent flame equivalence ratio measurements using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.The creation of a more stable flame along with the extension of flammability limits under lean mixture combustion was the main motivation to develop a new burner design, which has been investigated in this research. The current burner configuration was utilized to create a wide range of higher turbulent intensities and to produce different degrees of mixture inhomogeneity, which acted to promote minimum pollution, highest performance and higher flame stability. The burner stability assessment was investigated using two types of fuel: natural gas (NG) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). They were tested under different degrees of partial premixing, and two turbulence generator disks for lean mixture at an equivalence ratio of φ = 0.8 were used. Following this, the Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) technique was utilized to characterize and quantify the impact of changing the disk slit diameter on the distributions profiles of equivalence ratio or mixture fraction for a NG/air partially premixed flame. A series of homogeneous NG/air mixtures with different equivalence ratios were used to obtain the correlations between the measured emission lines of LIBS spectra and the global flame equivalence ratio. Consequently, the emission spectral lines ratios of H/N, H/O and C/N + O were utilized to predict the equivalence ratio distributions. The results demonstrated that for all of the mixing lengths, NG/air mixture with larger disk generator diameter yielded the maximum burner stability, whilst the LPG/air mixture with a larger disk generator diameter resulted in the minimum burner stability. Furthermore, the flame associated with the larger disk slit diameter had a uniform local equivalence ratio distribution and lower RMS fluctuation profiles of equivalence ratio in comparison to the lower disk slit diameter

Global burden of 288 causes of death and life expectancy decomposition in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

BACKGROUND Regular, detailed reporting on population health by underlying cause of death is fundamental for public health decision making. Cause-specific estimates of mortality and the subsequent effects on life expectancy worldwide are valuable metrics to gauge progress in reducing mortality rates. These estimates are particularly important following large-scale mortality spikes, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. When systematically analysed, mortality rates and life expectancy allow comparisons of the consequences of causes of death globally and over time, providing a nuanced understanding of the effect of these causes on global populations. METHODS The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021 cause-of-death analysis estimated mortality and years of life lost (YLLs) from 288 causes of death by age-sex-location-year in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations for each year from 1990 until 2021. The analysis used 56 604 data sources, including data from vital registration and verbal autopsy as well as surveys, censuses, surveillance systems, and cancer registries, among others. As with previous GBD rounds, cause-specific death rates for most causes were estimated using the Cause of Death Ensemble model-a modelling tool developed for GBD to assess the out-of-sample predictive validity of different statistical models and covariate permutations and combine those results to produce cause-specific mortality estimates-with alternative strategies adapted to model causes with insufficient data, substantial changes in reporting over the study period, or unusual epidemiology. YLLs were computed as the product of the number of deaths for each cause-age-sex-location-year and the standard life expectancy at each age. As part of the modelling process, uncertainty intervals (UIs) were generated using the 2·5th and 97·5th percentiles from a 1000-draw distribution for each metric. We decomposed life expectancy by cause of death, location, and year to show cause-specific effects on life expectancy from 1990 to 2021. We also used the coefficient of variation and the fraction of population affected by 90% of deaths to highlight concentrations of mortality. Findings are reported in counts and age-standardised rates. Methodological improvements for cause-of-death estimates in GBD 2021 include the expansion of under-5-years age group to include four new age groups, enhanced methods to account for stochastic variation of sparse data, and the inclusion of COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality-which includes excess mortality associated with the pandemic, excluding COVID-19, lower respiratory infections, measles, malaria, and pertussis. For this analysis, 199 new country-years of vital registration cause-of-death data, 5 country-years of surveillance data, 21 country-years of verbal autopsy data, and 94 country-years of other data types were added to those used in previous GBD rounds. FINDINGS The leading causes of age-standardised deaths globally were the same in 2019 as they were in 1990; in descending order, these were, ischaemic heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lower respiratory infections. In 2021, however, COVID-19 replaced stroke as the second-leading age-standardised cause of death, with 94·0 deaths (95% UI 89·2-100·0) per 100 000 population. The COVID-19 pandemic shifted the rankings of the leading five causes, lowering stroke to the third-leading and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to the fourth-leading position. In 2021, the highest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 occurred in sub-Saharan Africa (271·0 deaths [250·1-290·7] per 100 000 population) and Latin America and the Caribbean (195·4 deaths [182·1-211·4] per 100 000 population). The lowest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 were in the high-income super-region (48·1 deaths [47·4-48·8] per 100 000 population) and southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania (23·2 deaths [16·3-37·2] per 100 000 population). Globally, life expectancy steadily improved between 1990 and 2019 for 18 of the 22 investigated causes. Decomposition of global and regional life expectancy showed the positive effect that reductions in deaths from enteric infections, lower respiratory infections, stroke, and neonatal deaths, among others have contributed to improved survival over the study period. However, a net reduction of 1·6 years occurred in global life expectancy between 2019 and 2021, primarily due to increased death rates from COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality. Life expectancy was highly variable between super-regions over the study period, with southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania gaining 8·3 years (6·7-9·9) overall, while having the smallest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 (0·4 years). The largest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 occurred in Latin America and the Caribbean (3·6 years). Additionally, 53 of the 288 causes of death were highly concentrated in locations with less than 50% of the global population as of 2021, and these causes of death became progressively more concentrated since 1990, when only 44 causes showed this pattern. The concentration phenomenon is discussed heuristically with respect to enteric and lower respiratory infections, malaria, HIV/AIDS, neonatal disorders, tuberculosis, and measles. INTERPRETATION Long-standing gains in life expectancy and reductions in many of the leading causes of death have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the adverse effects of which were spread unevenly among populations. Despite the pandemic, there has been continued progress in combatting several notable causes of death, leading to improved global life expectancy over the study period. Each of the seven GBD super-regions showed an overall improvement from 1990 and 2021, obscuring the negative effect in the years of the pandemic. Additionally, our findings regarding regional variation in causes of death driving increases in life expectancy hold clear policy utility. Analyses of shifting mortality trends reveal that several causes, once widespread globally, are now increasingly concentrated geographically. These changes in mortality concentration, alongside further investigation of changing risks, interventions, and relevant policy, present an important opportunity to deepen our understanding of mortality-reduction strategies. Examining patterns in mortality concentration might reveal areas where successful public health interventions have been implemented. Translating these successes to locations where certain causes of death remain entrenched can inform policies that work to improve life expectancy for people everywhere. FUNDING Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

EFFECT OF ALTERNATE PARTIAL ROOT ZONE DRIP IRRIGATION AND MULCHING ON ZUCCHINI

Innovative irrigation agricultural and irrigation strategies are desirable in the face of dwindling water resources and increasing demand for food, especially in arid and semi-arid areas. The presented work investigated the effect of both  Alternate Partial Root-Zone Drying (APRD), mulching and drip irrigation system type on yield productivity and water use efficiency of Zucchini. Field experiments were conducted at Testing and Research Station for Tractors and Farm Machinery, Alexandria Governorate. The experimental treatments were: two types of irrigation management (full and APRD), and two soil covering (plastic mulching and without plastic mulch) under both surface and subsurface drip irrigation systems. The soil electrical conductivity was 8.19 mmhos/cm, which classified as moderate saline soil. Results showed that the highest Zucchini yield was 6.15 (ton/fed), where the lowest yield was 4.3 (ton/fed) for (MCSS) and (WAS) treatments respectively. Alternate Partial Root-Zone Drying technique enabled a decrease in Zucchini yield with small percentage ranging from 12 to 17% because the plant exposed to a water stress 50% of the needed irrigation water requirements. Otherwise, applying both (APRD) technique and mulching under subsurface drip irrigation increased the water use efficiency (WUE). The highest (WUE) was 6.3 (kg/m3), where the lowest was 2.9 (kg/m3) for (MASS) and (WCS) treatments respectively. The statistical analysis was a highly significant effect for the irrigation treatments on Zucchini productivity, (WUE), and plant morphological characteristics. Thus, It is recommended to apply (APRD) technique with a water stress less than 50% of the needed irrigation water requirements

Dentinal Tubules Occlusion and Remineralization Potential of Seashell and Eggshell Nanoparticles as Monotherapy and In Combination with Nd: YAG Laser

Aim: This study compared the effects of eggshell and seashell nanoparticles individually or combined with ND:YAG laser on dentinal tubules occlusion and remineralization. Materials and Methods:   Fifty radicular dentin discs were prepared from freshly extracted human premolars. The smear layer created by cutting was removed using 37% phosphoric acid gel for 15 sec. Discs were randomly divided into five groups according to the applied treatment (n=10 each). Group (A1), received no surface treatment (control), group (A2):  Eggshell, group (A3), Seashell, group (A4); Eggshell+ Neodymium-doped Yttrium Aluminum Garnet Laser (Nd:YAG laser), group (A5); Seashell+Nd:YAG laser. Each specimen was evaluated for tubular patency and minerals content before and after each therapy using ESEM-EDXA energy dispersive spectroscopy for assessment of tubules occlusion and remineralization. Results: ESEM results revealed a statistical significant decrease in the mean percent changes of dentinal tubules number after treatment with the experimental groups compared to the control. The greatest percent decrease recorded with Eggshell combined with Nd:YAG laser group, followed with combined therapy of Seashell and Nd:YAG laser, then monotherapy of Seashell, while the least decrease recorded with Eggshell group. EDXA revealed that, the greatest percentage increase in Ca wt % and Ca/P % was recorded in Eggshell+ Nd:YAG laser, followed by Eggshell only, then Seashell only, then Seashell NPs+ Nd:YAG laser, while the lowest percent increase was recorded in the control. Conclusions: Both eggshell and seashell nanoparticles are effective in occluding and remineralization of dentinal tubules. The combined treatments with Nd:YAG laser had no benefits when compared to the effect of treatments alone. Keywords: Eggshell, SeaShell, Neodymium-doped Yttrium Aluminum Garnet Laser, Combined therapy, Dentinal tubules Occlusion

Validation of EGY-DRIP program Application in Determining the Optimum Lateral Length

In drip irrigation systems the lateral lines are the pipes on which the emitters are installed. The accurate design of drip irrigation laterals needs to determine the total energy losses that include the pipe friction losses along the lateral line and minor losses due to emitter connections. A friendly user interface computer application named EGY-DRIP had developed for drip irrigation system design. The program had written in Microsoft visual basic 2013 to carry out hydraulic calculations of drip irrigation sub-unit design. The hydraulic calculation based on inputs of water properties, quality, soil characteristics, reference evapotranspiration, crop factors, and irrigation system components (drippers, pipes, and fittings). The program supported with an upgradable Microsoft access database to facilitate data input by the user. The program application determines the optimum lateral length applying two mathematical models developed using dimensional analysis. An experimental drip irrigation sub-unit was used to make a field evaluation of EGY-DRIP to determine the optimum lateral length for built-in and on-line emitters. The lateral length was determined on the base on 10% variation in the emitters' discharge, 50 % friction head losses limit for manifold and 50 % for the laterals. There was a good agreement between the field measured and the calculated optimum lateral length using EGY-DRIP application. The average difference between the measured and the calculated length was 0.5 m for built-in emitters and 0.58 m for the on-line emitters

Reliability of multidetector CT in the diagnosis of cerebrospinal fluid rhinorrhea with operative correlation

Purpose: To evaluate the role of non-contrast multidetector CT (MDCT) reliability in localizing CSF leaks and skull base defects in correlation to operative findings. Materials and methods: Twenty patients clinically diagnosed to have CSF rhinorrhea; 8 spontaneous and 12 post-traumatic patients were evaluated using 64-rows MDCT with slice section 0.6 mm. CT is considered accurate if correctly determine the site and size of bony defect as matched with operative findings. Results: MDCT accurately detected the site of presumed CSF leak in 19 out of 20 cases with sensitivity 95%. Cribriform plate defect is the most common site of defect in 40% of cases with 75% of cases categorized as Keros type II. The consensus image with fair agreement (K = 0.38) shows that coronal reformat has the highest diagnostic performance in 75% of cases while the least diagnostic value is encountered with the axial plane in 15% of cases (p = 0.095). There is almost a perfect agreement (K = 0.810) between the MDCT measurements and operative size of bony defect with minimal difference in 10% of patients (P < 0.001). Conclusion: Non-contrast MDCT is an accurate reliable non-invasive imaging modality for preoperative evaluation of CSF rhinorrhea

New developed burner towards stable lean turbulent partially premixed flames

A new burner was developed in order to achieve very stable lean flames at lower equivalence ratio and higher level of turbulence intensity. The air-fuel mixing process of the current burner was controlled either by using different levels of partially premixed or by changing the turbulence generator disk slit diameter, ds. Initially, the distributions of turbulent intensity and air volume fraction inside the burner were numerically investigated using three-dimensional computational fluid dynamic (CFD) modelling. Then the lean flame stability limits corresponding to the lean natural gas (NG)/air mixture at an equivalence ratio of φ = 0.6, under five degrees of partially premixed and two turbulent generators disk slit diameters were delineated. Based on the stability limits map, laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) technique was employed for further quantitative measurements of the mixture fraction or the equivalence ratio distributions of NG/air mixture. The results indicated that the maximum burner stability for smaller ds was achieved at mixing length to diameter ratio (L/D) of 1:1, whilst for larger ds the maximum stability was achieved at L/D ratio of 2:1. Furthermore, the largest disk slit diameter yielded a homogeneous mixture fraction distribution and lower rms fluctuation, compared to that of lower disk slit diameter. Consequently, this improved the conduction effectiveness in preheating the unburned gases layers resulting in higher flame propagation speed

Reliability of multiparametric prostatic MRI quantitative data in the evaluation of prostate cancer aggressiveness

Purpose: To compare the quantitative data of multiparametric prostatic MRI with Gleason scores of histopathological analysis. Materials and methods: One hundred twenty-two patients performed Multiparametric MRI of the prostate. Functional MRI quantitative data (including diffusion with mean ADC value and spectroscopic metabolic ratio) where the DWI is employing b 50, 400, 800, 1000 and 2000 sec/mm2 and multivoxel MR spectroscopy compared with of Gleason scores of histopathological results. Malignant cases are classified into three groups according to their Gleason score as group I with Gleason score â¤6, group II Gleason score 7, while Gleason score 8â10 stratified as Group III. Results: The histopathological analysis reveals 78 malignant cases and 44 benign Cases. The significant statistical difference between group I and the other two groups (p < 0.001) regarding the quantitative mean ADC value and metabolic spectroscopic ratio. No significant statistical difference between group II and III with p = 0.2 for mean ADC difference and p = 0.8 for the metabolic spectroscopic ratio with a weak negative correlation between ADCand Gleason score [rs = â0.26] and significant positive correlation (p = 0.02) for MRSI metabolic ratio [rs = 0.2]. Conclusion: The quantitative data of functional imaging of the prostate is reliable in evaluating prostatic cancer aggressiveness and proper construction of therapeutic plan. Keywords: mpMRI prostate cancer aggressivenes