Etiological Profile and Treatment Outcome of Epistaxis at a Tertiary Care Hospital in Northwestern Tanzania: A Prospective Review of 104 Cases.

Epistaxis is the commonest otolaryngological emergency affecting up to 60% of the population in their lifetime, with 6% requiring medical attention. There is paucity of published data regarding the management of epistaxis in Tanzania, especially the study area. This study was conducted to describe the etiological profile and treatment outcome of epistaxis at Bugando Medical Centre, a tertiary care hospital in Northwestern Tanzania. This was a prospective descriptive study of the cases of epistaxis managed at Bugando Medical Centre from January 2008 to December 2010. Data collected were analyzed using SPSS computer software version 15. A total of 104 patients with epistaxis were studied. Males were affected twice more than the females (2.7:1). Their mean age was 32.24 ± 12.54 years (range 4 to 82 years). The modal age group was 31-40 years. The commonest cause of epistaxis was trauma (30.8%) followed by idiopathic (26.9%) and hypertension (17.3%). Anterior nasal bleeding was noted in majority of the patients (88.7%). Non surgical measures such as observation alone (40.4%) and anterior nasal packing (38.5%) were the main intervention methods in 98.1% of cases. Surgical measures mainly intranasal tumor resection was carried out in 1.9% of cases. Arterial ligation and endovascular embolization were not performed. Complication rate was 3.8%. The overall mean of hospital stay was 7.2 ± 1.6 days (range 1 to 24 days). Five patients died giving a mortality rate of 4.8%. Trauma resulting from road traffic crush (RTC) remains the most common etiological factor for epistaxis in our setting. Most cases were successfully managed with conservative (non-surgical) treatment alone and surgical intervention with its potential complications may not be necessary in most cases and should be the last resort. Reducing the incidence of trauma from RTC will reduce the incidence of emergency epistaxis in our centre

Authoritarian Neoliberalism and Democratic Backsliding in Turkey: Beyond the Narratives of Progress

Unpacking the core themes that are discussed in this collection, this article both offers a research agenda to re-analyse Turkey’s ‘authoritarian turn’ and mounts a methodological challenge to the conceptual frameworks that reinforce a strict analytical separation between the ‘economic’ and the ‘political’ factors. The paper problematises the temporal break in scholarly analyses of the AKP period and rejects the argument that the party’s methods of governance have shifted from an earlier ‘democratic’ model – defined by ‘hegemony’ – to an emergent ‘authoritarian’ one. In contrast, by retracing the mechanisms of the state-led reproduction of neoliberalism since 2003, the paper demonstrates that the party’s earlier ‘hegemonic’ activities were also shaped by authoritarian tendencies which manifested at various levels of governance

Interaction of smoking and occupational noise exposure on hearing loss: a cross-sectional study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Noise is the most common hazardous agent at workplaces. Noise induced hearing loss (NIHL) has been known since the industrial revolution. Although NIHL is permanent, irreversible and frequent, it is preventable. The economic costs of NIHL have been estimated to be about billions of dollars. Besides, cigarette smoking is a common habit worldwide, and according to some recent studies smoking and noise may act in common causal pathways for hearing loss.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A cross-sectional study was designed to study the effect of smoking on NIHL in 206 male smoker workers and 206 male non-smoker workers in a large food-producing factory, in which workers were exposed to noise levels exceeding 85dBA. To determine noise exposure level, we used sound level measurements reported by industrial hygienists.</p> <p>A qualified audiologist assessed hearing acuity by using standardized audiometric procedures assuring at least 14 h of noise avoidance.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We observed that the percentage of workers with hearing threshold differences of greater than or equal to 30 dB between 4000 Hz and 1000 Hz in both ears were 49.5% and 11.2% in smoker and non smoker groups, respectively (Odds ratio = 7.8, 95% CI = 4.7 – 13), and the percentage of workers with a hearing threshold of greater than 25dB at 4000 Hz in the better ear were 63.6% and 18.4% in smoker and non smoker groups, respectively. This difference was statistically significant after adjustment for age and exposure duration.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>It can be concluded that smoking can accelerate noise induced hearing loss, but more research is needed to understand the underlying mechanisms. Accurate follow up of smoker workers who are exposed to noise levels exceeding 85 dBA is suggested. Smokers should periodically attend educational courses on "smoking cessation", especially in noisy workplaces.</p

Age- and region-specific hepatitis B prevalence in Turkey estimated using generalized linear mixed models: a systematic review

Toy M, Önder FO, Wörmann T, et al. Age- and region-specific hepatitis B prevalence in Turkey estimated using generalized linear mixed models: a systematic review. BMC infectious diseases. 2011;11(1): 337.BACKGROUND: To provide a clear picture of the current hepatitis B situation, the authors performed a systematic review to estimate the age- and region-specific prevalence of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) in Turkey. METHODS: A total of 339 studies with original data on the prevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) in Turkey and published between 1999 and 2009 were identified through a search of electronic databases, by reviewing citations, and by writing to authors. After a critical assessment, the authors included 129 studies, divided into categories: 'age-specific'; 'region-specific'; and 'specific population group'. To account for the differences among the studies, a generalized linear mixed model was used to estimate the overall prevalence across all age groups and regions. For specific population groups, the authors calculated the weighted mean prevalence. RESULTS: The estimated overall population prevalence was 4.57, 95% confidence interval (CI): 3.58, 5.76, and the estimated total number of CHB cases was about 3.3 million. The outcomes of the age-specific groups varied from 2.84, (95% CI: 2.60, 3.10) for the 0-14-year olds to 6.36 (95% CI: 5.83, 6.90) in the 25-34-year-old group. CONCLUSION: There are large age-group and regional differences in CHB prevalence in Turkey, where CHB remains a serious health problem

Renewable energy from Cyanobacteria: energy production optimization by metabolic pathway engineering

The need to develop and improve sustainable energy resources is of eminent importance due to the finite nature of our fossil fuels. This review paper deals with a third generation renewable energy resource which does not compete with our food resources, cyanobacteria. We discuss the current state of the art in developing different types of bioenergy (ethanol, biodiesel, hydrogen, etc.) from cyanobacteria. The major important biochemical pathways in cyanobacteria are highlighted, and the possibility to influence these pathways to improve the production of specific types of energy forms the major part of this review

Fungal Planet description sheets: 1478-1549

Novel species of fungi described in this study include those from various countries as follows: Australia, Aschersonia mackerrasiae on whitefly, Cladosporium corticola on bark of Melaleuca quinquenervia, Penicillium nudgee from soil under Melaleuca quinquenervia, Pseudocercospora blackwoodiae on leaf spot of Persoonia falcata, and Pseudocercospora dalyelliae on leaf spot of Senna alata. Bolivia, Aspicilia lutzoniana on fully submersed siliceous schist in high-mountain streams, and Niesslia parviseta on the lower part and apothecial discs of Erioderma barbellatum onatwig. Brazil, Cyathus bonsai on decaying wood, Geastrum albofibrosum from moist soil with leaf litter, Laetiporus pratigiensis on a trunk of a living unknown hardwood tree species, and Scytalidium synnematicum on dead twigs of unidentified plant. Bulgaria, Amanita abscondita on sandy soil in a plantation of Quercus suber. Canada, Penicillium acericola on dead bark of Acer saccharum, and Penicillium corticola on dead bark of Acer saccharum. China, Colletotrichum qingyuanense on fruit lesion of Capsicum annuum. Denmark, Helminthosphaeria leptospora on corticioid Neohypochnicium cremicolor. Ecuador (Galapagos), Phaeosphaeria scalesiae on Scalesia sp. Finland, Inocybe jacobssonii on calcareouss oils in dry forests and park habitats. France, Cortinarius rufomyrrheus on sandy soil under Pinus pinaster, and Periconia neominutissima on leaves of Poaceae. India, Coprinopsis fragilis on decaying bark of logs, Filoboletus keralensis on unidentified woody substrate, Penicillium sankaranii from soil, Physisporinus tamilnaduensis on the trunk of Azadirachta indica, and Poronia nagaraholensis on elephant dung. Iran, Neosetophoma fic on infected leaves of Ficus elastica. Israel, Cnidariophoma eilatica (incl. Cnidariophoma gen. nov.) from Stylophora pistillata. Italy, Lyophyllum obscurum on acidic soil. Namibia, Aureobasidium faidherbiae on dead leaf of Faidherbia albida, and Aureobasidium welwitschiae on dead leaves of Welwitschia mirabilis. Netherlands, Gaeumannomycella caricigena on dead culms of Carex elongata, Houtenomyces caricicola (incl. Houtenomyces gen. nov.) on culms of Carex disticha, Neodacampia ulmea (incl. Neodacampia gen. nov.) on branch of Ulmus laevis, Niesslia phragmiticola on dead standing culms of Phragmites australis, Pseudopyricularia caricicola on culms of Carex disticha, and Rhodoveronaea nieuwwulvenica on dead bamboo sticks. Norway, Arrhenia similis half-buried and moss-covered pieces of rotting wood in grass-grownpath. Pakistan, Mallocybe ahmadii on soil. Poland, Beskidomyces laricis (incl. Beskidomyces gen. nov.) from resin of Larix decidua ssp. polonica, Lapidomyces epipinicola from sooty mould community on Pinus nigra, and Leptographium granulatum from a gallery of Dendroctonus micans on Picea abies. Portugal, Geoglossum azoricum on mossy areas of laurel forest areas planted with Cryptomeria japonica, and Lunasporangiospora lusitanica from a biofilm covering a bio deteriorated limestone wall. Qatar, Alternaria halotolerans from hypersaline sea water, and Alternaria qatarensis from water sample collected from hypersaline lagoon. South Africa, Alfaria thamnochorti on culm of Thamnochortus fraternus, Knufia aloeicola on Aloe gariepensis, Muriseptatomyces restionacearum (incl.Muriseptatomyces gen. nov.) on culms of Restionaceae, Neocladosporium arctotis on nest of cases of bagworm moths(Lepidoptera, Psychidae) on Arctotis auriculata, Neodevriesia scadoxi on leaves of Scadoxus puniceus, Paraloratospora schoenoplecti on stems of Schoenoplectus lacustris, Tulasnella epidendrea from the roots of Epidendrum × obrienianum, and Xenoidriella cinnamomi (incl. Xenoidriella gen. nov.) on leaf of Cinnamomum camphora. South Korea, Lemonniera fraxinea on decaying leaves of Fraxinus sp. frompond. Spain, Atheniella lauri on the bark of fallen trees of Laurus nobilis, Halocryptovalsa endophytica from surface-sterilised, asymptomatic roots of Salicornia patula, Inocybe amygdaliolens on soil in mixed forest, Inocybe pityusarum on calcareous soil in mixed forest, Inocybe roseobulbipes on acidic soils, Neonectria borealis from roots of Vitis berlandieri × Vitis rupestris, Sympoventuria eucalyptorum on leaves of Eucalyptus sp., and Tuber conchae fromsoil. Sweden, Inocybe bidumensis on calcareous soil. Thailand, Cordyceps sandindaengensis on Lepidoptera pupa, buried in soil, Ophiocordyceps kuchinaraiensis on Coleoptera larva, buried in soil, and Samsoniella winandae on Lepidoptera pupa, buriedinsoil. Taiwan region (China), Neophaeosphaeria livistonae on dead leaf of Livistona rotundifolia. Türkiye, Melanogaster anatolicus on clay loamy soils. UK, Basingstokeomyces allii (incl. Basingstokeomyces gen. nov.) on leaves of Allium schoenoprasum. Ukraine, Xenosphaeropsis corni on recently dead stem of Cornus alba. USA, Nothotrichosporon aquaticum (incl. Nothotrichosporon gen. nov.) from water, and Periconia philadelphiana from swab of coil surface. Morphological and culture characteristics for these new taxa are supported by DNA barcodes.The work of P.W. Crous and colleagues benefitted from funding by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (RISE) under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 101008129, project acronym ‘Mycobiomics’, and the Dutch NWO Roadmap grant agreement No. 2020/ENW/00901156, project ‘Netherlands Infrastructure for Ecosystem and Biodiversity Analysis – Authoritative and Rapid Identification System for Essential biodiversity information’(acronym NIEBAARISE). G. Gulden, B. Rian and I. Saar thank K. Bendiksen at the fungarium and G. Marthinsen at NorBol, both Natural History Museum, University of Oslo for valuable help with the collections, and the sequencing of our finds of A. similis from 2022. Sincere thanks to A. Voitk for assistance with the colour plate and review of the manuscript. I. Saar was supported by the Estonian Research Council (grant PRG1170). P. Rodriguez-Flakus and co-authors are greatly indebted to their colleagues and all staff of the Herbario Nacional de Bolivia, Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Mayor de SanAndrés, La Paz, for their generous long-term cooperation. Their research was financially supported by the National Science Centre (NCN) in Poland (grants numbers 2018/02/X/NZ8/02362 and 2021/43/B/NZ8/02902). Y.P. Tan and colleagues thank M.K. Schutze (Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Queensland, Australia) for determining the identity of the insect hosts for Aschersonia mackerrasiae. The Australian Biological Resources Study funded the project that led to the discovery of Aschersonia mackerrasiae. K.G.G. Ganga acknowledges support from the University Grants Commission (UGC), India, in the form of a UGC research fellowship (Ref No. 20/12/2015(ii) EU-V), and the authorities of the University of Calicut for providing facilities to conduct this study. S. Mahadevakumar acknowledges the Director, KSCSTE - Kerala Forest Research Institute and Head of Office, Botanical Survey of India,Andaman and Nicobar Regional Centre, Port Blair for the necessary support and M. Madappa, Department of Studies in Botany, University of Mysore for technical assistance. A.R. Podile thanks the Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India for the JC Bose Fellowship (Grant No. JCB/2017/000053) & MoE and IOE-Directorate-UOH for project (Grant No.UOH-IOE-RC3-21-065). Financial support was provided to R. de L. Oliveira and K.D. Barbosa by the Coordenação deAperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - Brazil (CAPES) – Finance code 001, and to I.G. Baseia and M.P. Martín by the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) under CNPq-Universal 2016 (409960/2016-0) and CNPq-visiting researcher (407474/2013-7). E. Larsson acknowledges the Swedish Taxonomy Initiative, SLU Artdatabanken, Uppsala, Sweden. H.Y. Mun and J. Goh were supported by a grant from the Nakdonggang National Institute of Biological Resources (NNIBR), funded by the Ministry of Environment (MOE) of the Republic of Korea (NNIBR202301106). J. Trovão and colleagues were financed by FEDER - Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional funds through the COMPETE 2020 - Operational Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalisation (POCI), and by Portuguese funds through FCT- Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia in the framework of the project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-PTDC/EPH-PAT/3345/ 2014. Their research was carried out at the R & D Unit Centre for Functional Ecology – Science for People and the Planet (CFE), with reference UIDB/04004/2020, financed by FCT/MCTES through national funds (PIDDAC). João Trovão was supported by POCH - Programa Operacional Capital Humano (co-funding by the European Social Fund and national funding by MCTES), through a ‘FCT- Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia’ PhD research grant (SFRH/ BD/132523/2017). O. Kaygusuz and colleagues thank the Research Fund of the Isparta University ofApplied Sciences for their financial support under the project number 2021-ILK1-0155. They also thank N. Sánchez Biezma of the Department of Drawing and Scientific Photography at the Alcalá University for his help in the digital preparation of the photographs. The research of M. Spetik and co-authors was supported by project No. IGAZF/2021-SI1003. V. Darmostuk and colleagues acknowledge our colleagues and all staff of the Herbario Nacional de Bolivia, Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Mayor de San Andrés, La Paz, for their generous long-term cooperation. They would also like to thank the SERNAP (http://sernap.gob.bo), and all protected areas staff, for providing permits for scientific studies, as well as their assistance and logistical support during the field works. This research was financially supported by the National Science Centre (NCN) in Poland (grant number DEC-2013/11/D/NZ8/ 03274). M. Kaliyaperumal and co-authors thank the Centre of Advanced Studies in Botany, University of Madras for the laboratory facilities. M. Kaliyaperumal thanks the Extramural Research-SERB, DST (EMR/2016/003078), Government of India, for financial assistance. M. Kaliyaperumal and K. Kezo thanks RUSA 2.0 (Theme-1, Group-1/2021/49) for providing a grant. M. Shivannegowda and colleagues thank C.R. Santhosh, Department of Studies in Microbiology, University of Mysore, Manasagangotri, Mysuru for technical support. They also thank K.R. Sridhar, Mangalore University, Karnataka, India and S.S.N. Maharachchikumbura, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu for their support and helping with technical inputs. The study of G.G. Barreto and co-authors was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - Brazil (CAPES - Finance Code 001), and the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq - Proc. 131503/2019-7; Proc. 312984/2018-9); the authors also thank to Programa de Pós-Graduação em Botânica – PPGBOT. L.F.P. Gusmão thanks to Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) for a research grant. T. Nkomo and colleagues thank the National Research Foundation of SouthAfrica for funding this study, with additional funding from the Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute and the University of Pretoria. G. Delgado is grateful to W. Colbert and S. Ward (Eurofins Built Environment) for continual encouragement and provision of laboratory facilities. J.G. Maciá-Vicente acknowledges support from the Landes-Offensive zur Entwicklung Wissenschaftlich-ökonomischer Exzellenz (LOEWE) of the state of Hesse within the framework of the Cluster for Integrative Fungal Research (IPF) of Goethe University Frankfurt. F. Esteve-Raventós and colleagues acknowledge P. Juste and J.C. Campos for the loan of some collections for study and N. Subervielle and L. Hugot (Conservatoire Botanique National de Corse, Office de l’Environnement de la Corse, Corti) for their assistance. They also acknowledge the Balearic Mycology Group (FCB) for their permanent help in the search for collections in the Balearic Islands, and Y. Turégano for obtaining some of the sequences presented here, and L. Parra for his suggestions and help on nomenclatural issues. S. Mongkolsamrit and colleagues were financially supported by the Platform Technology Management Section, National Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC), Project Grant No. P19-50231. S. De la Peña-Lastra and colleagues thank the Atlantic Islands National Maritime-Terrestrial Park authorities and guards. A. Mateos and co-authors would like to thank Secretaria Regional doAmbiente eAlterações Climáticas Açores for the permission granted for the sampling (Licença nº 16/2021/ DRAAC). To the ECOTOX group for co-funding the trip. J. Mack & D.P. Overy were funded byAgriculture &Agri-Food Canada (Project ID#002272: Fungal and Bacterial Biosystematics-bridging taxonomy and “omics” technology in agricultural research and regulation) and are grateful for molecular sequencing support from the Molecular Technologies Laboratory (MTL) at the Ottawa Research & Development Centre of Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada. The study of P. Czachura was funded by the National Science Centre, Poland, under the project 2019/35/N/NZ9/04173. The study of M. Piątek and coauthors was funded by the National Science Centre, Poland, under the project 2017/27/B/NZ9/02902. O. Yarden and L. Granit were funded by the Israel Science Foundation (grant number 888/19). H. Taşkın and colleagues received support from the BulgarianAcademy of Sciences and the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (Bilateral grant agreement between BAS and TÜBİTAK, project number 118Z640). The authors would also like to thank S. Şahin (İzmir, Türkiye) for conveying one of the localities of A. abscondita. Andrew Miller would like to thank the Roy J. Carver Biotechnology Center at the University of Illinois for Sanger sequencing. E.R. Osieck thanks Staatsbosbeheer for permission to collect fungi in Nieuw Wulven, in the Netherlands. P. van ‘t Hof and co-authors thank the Galapagos Genetic Barcode project supported by UK Research and Innovation, Global Challenges Research Fund, Newton Fund, University of Exeter, Galapagos Science Center, Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Galapagos Conservation Trust, and Biosecurity Agency of Galapagos (ABG).Peer reviewe

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Objective. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of interferon-alpha to 2b and octreotide on the treatment of esophagus corrosive burns. Method: The experimental study was performed on 63 rabbits. Burn was obtained by treating a segment, isolated in cervical esophagus, with NAOH. The rabbits were allocated into three groups (control, interferon, and octreotide). On the fourth, eighth, and 20th days, 7 rabbits randomly selected from each group were killed. Comparisons among the groups were made by taking histopathologic findings, stenosis index, and hydroxyproline production into consideration. Cross-tabulation and analysis of variance tests were used for statistical analysis. Results: There were no statistically significant differences among the groups in terms of epithelial changes, extension of inflammation, and severity of fibrosis. In terms of severity of inflammation, there was a statistically Significant difference between the control and the other two groups. Also, a significant difference was found between the control group and the other two groups in terms of extension of fibrosis on the 20th day. The difference between the control and the two treatment groups was significant on the eighth day and the 20th day measurements. Comparison of the hydroxyproline values showed a statistically significant difference between the octreotide group and the other two groups on the eighth and 20th days. Conclusion: Histopathologic and biochemical findings indicate that, by hindering fibrosis progress, octreotide (and interferon) might be new and promising alternatives in the treatment of corrosive burns of the esophagus

Influences of halloysite nanotubes on crystallisation behaviour of polylactide

The aim of this study was to investigate influences of halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) on the (i) isothermal and (ii) non-isothermal crystallisation kinetics of polylactide (PLA) by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analyses, and (iii) crystallinity of injection moulded and then annealed specimens by DSC and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses. Nanocomposites were compounded using melt mixing technique via twin screw extrusion. Owing to basically very effective heterogeneous nucleation effect, addition of HNTs resulted in significant increases in the crystallinity of PLA under all three cases. Crystallisation time parameters and Avrami rate constants indicated that crystallisation rate increased under isothermal crystallisation, while it decreased under non-isothermal crystallisation due to the delayed conformational mobility of PLA chains by the physical barrier actions of HNTs. Avrami exponent also revealed that two-dimensional growth mechanism of crystallites transformed into three-dimensional growth during non-isothermal crystallisation, while there was no change during isothermal crystallisation. Crystallinity determinations of the injection moulded and then annealed specimens indicated that, the highest crystallinity degree of PLA, i. e. 47%, could be reached by the addition of only 1 wt-% HNT