FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH HYPERTENSION PREVALENCE AND CONTROL AMONG LEBANESE TYPE 2 DIABETIC PATIENTS

Objective: The objectives of this study were to assess the prevalence of hypertension and the level of blood pressure (BP) control among a cohort of diabetic Lebanese patients on antihypertensive medications, as well as to identify factors associated with hypertension prevalence and uncontrolled BP.Methods: This cross-sectional retrospective study was conducted in a tertiary health care clinic that is specialized in the management and follow-up of diabetic outpatients.Results: Among the 700 type 2 diabetes mellitus patient files that were screened529 (75%) were found to have hypertension. Hypertension was more prevalent in women, patients aged ≥65-year-old, and those having a body mass index (BMI) of ≥30 (kg/m2) (p-value<0.05). Among the hypertensive cohort, 465 T2DM were on antihypertensive medications and were included in the hypertension control analysis. Ninety-three patients (20%) attained BP control (SBP<140 and DBP<90 mmHg). Multivariate analyses revealed three factors that were significantly associated with uncontrolled BP control: Age being ≥65 y (adjusted OR = 1.96 (95% CI: 1.07–3.61, p-value<0.05), male gender (adjusted OR = 2.57, 95% CI: 1.41–4.66, p-value<0.05) and uncontrolled HDL (adjusted OR = 1.58, 95% CI: 1.33–2.01, p-value = 0.05). Conclusion: Hypertension is prevalent among the study patients. However, attainment of BP control was poor among these patients. Therefore, there is a need for studies that determine reasons behind this low BP control rate in order to design interventions aiming at improving the standard of care for these patients

El problema ambiental del manejo de residuos sólidos en Talara, Piura: La evaluación de la responsabilidad penal de las autoridades municipales

Un aspecto en el ámbito teórico penal importante es el análisis de las responsabilidades que conllevan una acción penal por parte de las autoridades políticas en el país. Este es el caso en el cual se ubica la presente investigación, por cuanto considero que las autoridades del Consejo Municipal de Talara, en la Región de Piura, están ejecutando acciones dolosas (esto es, con conciencia y voluntad) en contra de la salud pública de la provincia, y porque no decirlo, también de la propia región de Piura, al incumplir los preceptos de la Ley No 27314, que dispone implementación de rellenos sanitarios en cada provincia del país. El caso omiso a esta disposición permite detallar que no existe ni una planificación debida a un problema ambiental objetivo y palpable en la propia ciudadanía, ni tampoco existe un nivel de vinculación sobre este problema por parte de las demás autoridades políticas, técnicas e institucionales de la región, con lo cual el problema ambiental que provoca el botadero municipal puede generar un impacto ambiental mucho más peligroso que lo que actualmente produce. El objetivo de esta investigación es Analizar el contexto problemático ambiental que genera el tratamiento de los residuos sólidos en Talara, Piura; así como, Evaluar el nivel de responsabilidad penal, administrativo y civil de las autoridades municipales respecto del incumplimiento de sus obligaciones en la esfera de tutela de derechos ambientales de los ciudadanos en donde ejercen funciones

Transurethral resection of ejaculatory ducts (TURED) for the management of ejaculatory duct obstruction: a Saudi cohort

This retrospective study aimed to investigate the clinical characteristics, changes in semen parameters, and outcomes of adult patients with ejaculatory duct obstruction (EDO) who underwent transurethral resection of ejaculatory ducts (TURED). The study included 25 patients diagnosed with EDO who underwent TURED at King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Center in Saudi Arabia between January 2015 and December 2021. The results showed that 68% of the patients had complete ED obstruction, while 32% had partial obstruction. Primary infertility was reported in 68% of the patients, with 4% experiencing secondary infertility. The analysis revealed a significant increase in semen volume greater than 0.6 after TURED, while there was a significant decrease in volumes ranging from 0.1 to 0.3 and from 0.4 to 0.6. Patients with partial ED obstruction demonstrated a significant improvement in semen parameters compared to those with complete ED obstruction. The findings suggest that TURED is a safe and effective treatment option for EDO, leading to significant improvements in semen parameters and potentially resulting in spontaneous pregnancy. However, further research is needed to identify specific patient subgroups that may benefit the most from TURED. While magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with an endorectal coil has been proposed for more detailed evaluation, transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) has been suggested as the standard examination technique

Changes in lipid levels after 48 weeks of dual versus triple therapy observed in the GARDEL study.

INTRODUCTION: Treatment with ritonavir-boosted protease inhibitors and nucleoside analogues frequently leads to rises in lipids, which might increase the cardiovascular risk. The aim of this study was to describe changes in lipid levels among HIV positive patients participating in the GARDEL study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The GARDEL study compared the efficacy and safety of a dual therapy (DT) combination of LPV/r 400/100 mg BID+3TC 150 mg BID to a triple therapy (TT) with LPV/r 400/100 mg BID+3TC or FTC and a third investigator-selected NRTI in fixed-dose combination among HIV+ treatment naïve patients. We compared changes in lipid levels from baseline to week 48 in both arms. RESULTS: Patient's characteristics were well balanced regarding mean baseline total cholesterol (157 mg/dL DT, 154 mg/dL TT), triglycerides (142 mg/dL DT, 139 mg/Dl TT), LDL-C (94 mg/dL DT, 91 mg/dL TT) and HDL-C (36 mg/dL DT, 35 mg/dL TT). Changes in total cholesterol, LDL-C and HDL-C were higher in DT arm, compared to TT (32% DT vs 26% TT for cholesterol; 25% DT vs 16% TT for LDL and 33% DT vs 28% TT for HDL). Increase in triglycerides was higher in TT compared to DT (55% DT vs 92% TT) (Table 1). In TT arm LDL-C and total cholesterol elevations were lower among patients receiving TDF compared to those treated with ZDV or ABC. CONCLUSION: Changes in lipid parameters were observed in both arms. Albeit the increase was numerically higher for cholesterol (total and LDL-C) in DT arm while TT arm had higher increases in TG; no difference was observed when week 48 values were compared with the NCEP ATP III goals for cardiovascular risk reduction (1). So, the DT strategy, even missing the lipid-lowering effect observed with tenofovir, does not seem to add significant risk to patients treated with this novel strategy

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Synthèse de nanomatériaux hybrides de ZnO et ZnAl2O4 utilisés comme supports de catalyseurs à base de cuivre pour l'hydrogénolyse du glycérol en 1,2 propanediol

This work focuses on the synthesis of novel hybrid ZnO and ZnAl2O4 NPs by sol-gel method as support for the copper based catalysts and the evaluation of their catalytic performance in the hydrogenolysis of glycerol into 1,2-propanediol in aqueous phase using batch reactor. The copper-based catalysts were prepared by deposition precipitation with urea (DPU method) and the commercial ZnO was used as benchmark to study the effect of the elaborated supports. The effect of the synthesis method was studied and a one pot method, similar to coprecipitation, was applied for the elaboration of these catalysts. The effects of the synthesis parameters were studied and the catalysts elaborated were robust and competitive in terms of conversion (96%) and selectivity (83%) comparing to the catalysts reported in the literature. Moreover, hybrid ZnO and ZnAl2O4 presented high specific surface area (in the range of 100 and 100 - 220 m².g-1), only few being reported in the literature with the sol-gel method, with nanoparticles self-assembled in 3D spherical shapes resistant to high calcination temperatures as shown by TEMCe travail de thèse porte sur le développement de nanomatériaux hybrides de ZnO et de ZnAl2O4 utilisés comme supports de catalyseurs à base de Cu° pour l'hydrogénolyse du glycérol en 1,2-propanediol dans un réacteur batch et en phase liquide. Plusieurs voies de synthèses ont été optimisées dont la méthode de dépôt précipitation en présence d'urée (DPU) et du ZnO commercial a été utilisé comme référence pour évaluer les caractéristiques des supports élaborés. Une méthode de dépôt innovante dite « one-pot », qui consiste à élaborer le support et le catalyseur dans le même réacteur, a été mise au point pour pallier des difficultés de reproductibilité par la méthode DPU. Cette voie de synthèse a permis d'élaborer des catalyseurs robustes et très compétitifs en terme de sélectivité (83%) et de conversion (96%) par rapport aux catalyseurs trouvés dans la littérature. Les supports et les catalyseurs élaborés ainsi présentent des caractéristiques physico-chimiques importantes surtout au niveau de leurs grandes surfaces spécifiques (de l'ordre de 100 - 220 m².g-1), peu courantes dans la littérature, permettant une dispersion importante des sites catalytique

Synthèse de nanomatériaux hybrides de ZnO et ZnAl2O4 utilisés comme supports de catalyseurs à base de cuivre pour l'hydrogénolyse du glycérol en 1,2 propanediol

This work focuses on the synthesis of novel hybrid ZnO and ZnAl2O4 NPs by sol-gel method as support for the copper based catalysts and the evaluation of their catalytic performance in the hydrogenolysis of glycerol into 1,2-propanediol in aqueous phase using batch reactor. The copper-based catalysts were prepared by deposition precipitation with urea (DPU method) and the commercial ZnO was used as benchmark to study the effect of the elaborated supports. The effect of the synthesis method was studied and a one pot method, similar to coprecipitation, was applied for the elaboration of these catalysts. The effects of the synthesis parameters were studied and the catalysts elaborated were robust and competitive in terms of conversion (96%) and selectivity (83%) comparing to the catalysts reported in the literature. Moreover, hybrid ZnO and ZnAl2O4 presented high specific surface area (in the range of 100 and 100 - 220 m².g-1), only few being reported in the literature with the sol-gel method, with nanoparticles self-assembled in 3D spherical shapes resistant to high calcination temperatures as shown by TEMCe travail de thèse porte sur le développement de nanomatériaux hybrides de ZnO et de ZnAl2O4 utilisés comme supports de catalyseurs à base de Cu° pour l'hydrogénolyse du glycérol en 1,2-propanediol dans un réacteur batch et en phase liquide. Plusieurs voies de synthèses ont été optimisées dont la méthode de dépôt précipitation en présence d'urée (DPU) et du ZnO commercial a été utilisé comme référence pour évaluer les caractéristiques des supports élaborés. Une méthode de dépôt innovante dite « one-pot », qui consiste à élaborer le support et le catalyseur dans le même réacteur, a été mise au point pour pallier des difficultés de reproductibilité par la méthode DPU. Cette voie de synthèse a permis d'élaborer des catalyseurs robustes et très compétitifs en terme de sélectivité (83%) et de conversion (96%) par rapport aux catalyseurs trouvés dans la littérature. Les supports et les catalyseurs élaborés ainsi présentent des caractéristiques physico-chimiques importantes surtout au niveau de leurs grandes surfaces spécifiques (de l'ordre de 100 - 220 m².g-1), peu courantes dans la littérature, permettant une dispersion importante des sites catalytique

Self-Assembled Hybrid ZnO Nanostructures as Supports for Copper-Based Catalysts in the Hydrogenolysis of Glycerol

This study describes the use of new ZnO/PAAH hybrid nanomaterials (PAAH = polyacrylic acid) as copper catalyst supports for the hydrogenolysis of glycerol. A study of the synthesis parameters (washing process, temperatures of synthesis and calcination) of these hybrid supports has allowed us to vary their morphology and specific surface area and ultimately the sizes and dispersion of the copper nanoparticles, and to perform a general analysis of their effects on the catalytic performance of the materials. All catalysts were synthesized by the urea deposition-precipitation method (DPU) and were fully characterized to establish a structure–activity relationship. Optimization of the synthesis and catalytic conditions allowed remarkable yields/conversions of the order of 70% for selectivities in 1,2 propanediol of 90%