Tuberculosis in Pregnancy: A Review

Tuberculosis (TB) was declared a public health emergency by WHO in 2005. The disease is a significant contributor to maternal mortality and is among the three leading causes of death among women aged 15–45 years in high burden areas. The exact incidence of tuberculosis in pregnancy, though not readily available, is expected to be as high as in the general population. Diagnosis of tuberculosis in pregnancy may be challenging, as the symptoms may initially be ascribed to the pregnancy, and the normal weight gain in pregnancy may temporarily mask the associated weight loss. Obstetric complications of TB include spontaneous abortion, small for date uterus, preterm labour, low birth weight, and increased neonatal mortality. Congenital TB though rare, is associated with high perinatal mortality. Rifampicin, INH and Ethambutol are the first line drugs while Pyrazinamide use in pregnancy is gaining popularity. Isoniazid preventive therapy is a WHO innovation aimed at reducing the infection in HIV positive pregnant women. Babies born to this mother should be commenced on INH prophylaxis for six months, after which they are vaccinated with BCG if they test negative. Successful control of TB demands improved living conditions, public enlightenment, primary prevention of HIV/AIDS and BCG vaccination

Challenges in the Management of Mucopolysaccharidosis Type II (Hunter’s Syndrome) in a Developing Country: a Case Report

BACKGROUND: Mucopolysaccharidosis type II (Hunter's syndrome) is an X-linked chromosomal storage disorder due to deficiency of the lysosomal enzyme iduronate-2-sulfatase with patients rarely living till adulthood. Failure to identify patients early could contribute to an increased morbidity as identified in this case report.CASE DETAILS: An eight year old patient with Hunter's syndrome identified five years after disease onset with severe cardiovascular complications exemplifies the challenges faced in resource-limited countries towards making diagnosis and treatment of rare conditions. Elevated urinary glycosaminoglycans levels or a strong clinical suspicion of Hunter's syndrome, as identified in the index case, is a prerequisite for enzyme activity testing. Urinary mucopolysaccharide(MPS) level was 69.6mg/mmol(normal range is 0.0 - 11.6mg/mmol), and the confirming MPS electrophoresis analysis showed elevated heparan sulphate in the urine sample. Enzyme activity testing, with absent or very low iduronate-2-sulfatase activity, is diagnostic. However, the scarce availability and high cost of these tests is another constraint in making a diagnosis.CONCLUSION: Identification and management of mucopolysaccharidosis type II pose a problem in resource-constrained countries due to late presentation, lack of facility for diagnosis and treatment, cost and expertise required for the management.KEYWORDS: Mucopolysaccharidosis, Hunter's syndrome, Mucopolysaccharid

Experimental Study About Effect Iron Slag on The Shear Strength of Reinforced Concrete Beams Without Shear Reinforcement

In the last decades, researchers have become more interested in the environmental aspect of investing materials harmful to the environment in various aspects of life, including construction. Slag is considered as one of the industrial wastes that are harmful to the environment. There are many studies on the use of slag as a substitute for building materials because it adds an excellent property to concrete. In this study, the iron slag was used as a partial replacement of coarse aggregate and fine aggregate in different proportions, the study conducts to know its effects on the shear strength of reinforced concrete beams. Ten R.C. beams without shear reinforcement (1100×100×200) mm were studied using iron slag as a coarse aggregate with a ratio of 10%, 20%, 30% and 40%, as a fine aggregate with a ratio of 10%, 20% and 30%, and partial substitute for coarse aggregate by 7.5% and partial substitute for fine aggregate by 7.5% in the same model, finally, partial substitute for coarse aggregate by 15% and partial substitute for fine aggregate by 15% in the same model. According to the test results, it was found that the optimal proportion of replacing slag with coarse aggregate is 20%, which resulted in a 24.58% increase in peak load. While the optimal proportion of replacing slag with fine aggregate by 20%, resulting in a 24.3% increase in peak load.

Motion Control of an Underactuated 2-DOF Robotic Manipulator

This paper deals with the motion control of the end effector of a 2-DOF linkage type underactuated robotic manipulator. A simulation procedure is implemented for the motion control in which actuation and braking actions were applied on the two joints of the manipulator subsequently,  hence moving the end effector in a point to point manner through the desired path. From the results obtained, it was found that the percentage error in trajectory mainly does not exceed (1%). In some specific points on the trajectory, error reached its maximum value which was found to be (3.64%). In general, these error values are almost acceptable, although an effort will be achieved in future work to reduce this error and improve the design. Keywords: Underactuated Manipulators, Motion Control, Simulation

Shooting Neural Networks Algorithm for Solving Boundary Value Problems in ODEs

The objective of this paper is to use Neural Networks for solving boundary value problems (BVPs) in Ordinary Differential Equations (ODEs). The Neural networks use the principle of Back propagation. Five examples are considered to show effectiveness of using the shooting techniques and neural network for solving the BVPs in ODEs. The convergence properties of the technique, which depend on the convergence of the integration technique and accuracy of the interpolation technique are considered

A Comparative Study of Soil Stabilization Effect and Concrete Strength Development on Rigid Pavement Thickness

تعتبر التربة الطبيعية هي الجزء السفلي الداعم للطريق الخرساني عند انتقال الأحمال المرورية المختلفة من سطح الطريق اليها فعندما تزيد قوة التربة فان قدرتها على استقبال الأحمال تزداد وبذلك تزيد من متانة الطريق الخرساني وديمومته وعدم التسبب بالمشاكل الإنشائية. اما إذا كانت التربة ضعيفة، فسوف يؤدي ذلك إلى نقصان في العمر الخدمي للطريق ويسبب أنواعًا متعددة من الفشل مثل تلف المفاصل وزيادة الاجهادات والانحراف والتصدع. بالإضافة إلى ذلك، فإن عملية تثبيت التربة تزيد من قوة التربة وتحملها للأحمال العالية، حيث أظهرت النتائج المختبرية أن استخدام 4٪ من المستحلب الأسفلتي أدى إلى تحسين خصائص التربة الجبسية وزيادة نسبة تحمل كاليفورنيا إلى 52٪. ان عملية تصميم الطريق الخرساني باستخدام طريقة تصميم AASHTO واعتمادًا على خصائص الخرسانة وخصائص التربة قبل التثبيت وبعده، وجد أنه أثناء الحسابات التصميمية عند تغير في قيمة CBR في حدود 27-52 ٪ وقوة انضغاط الخرسانة 30 ميجا باسكال نتجت في تقليل سمك الطريق بنسبة 7.5٪. لوحظ كذلك انخفاض بنسبة 7.8٪ في سمك الطرق عند تغيير قيمة CBR من نطاق 27-52٪ وقوة ضغط تبلغ 35 ميجا باسكال. لوحظ ايضاً انخفاض بنسبة 4.5٪ في سمك الطريق مع تباين في مقاومة الانضغاط من 30-35 ميجا باسكال وقيمة CBR تبلغ 27٪. بالإضافة الى انخفاض بنسبة 4.8٪ في السمك مع تباين في مقاومة الانضغاط من 30-35 ميجا باسكال وقيمة CBR تبلغ 52٪، لذلك نجد أن تأثير زيادة مقاومة التربة في تقليل سمك الطريق الخرساني أكبر من تأثير تغيير مقاومة الانضغاط للخرسانة.The subgrade soil is the supporting part of the concrete road for transferring the different traffic loads from the road surface. The strength of this soil increases its ability to receive loads, increases the durability of the concrete road, and does not cause structural failure problems. If the soil is weak, it will decrease pavement service life and cause multiple types of failure on the road such as damage to joints, an increase in stresses and deflection, and cracking. In addition, the soil stabilization process increases the soil's strength and its tolerance to high loads, so the laboratory results showed that the use of 4% of the asphalt emulsion led to improving the gypsum soil properties and increasing the California bearing ratio to 52%. In the process of designing rigid pavement using the AASHTO design method and depending on concrete properties and subgrade properties before and after stabilization, it was found that alterations in the CBR value within the range of 27-52% and a compressive strength of 30 MPa resulted in a reduction of 7.5% in slab thickness during the design calculations. A reduction of 7.8% in slab thickness was observed upon alteration of the CBR value from a range of 27-52% and a compressive strength of 35 MPa. A reduction of 4.5% in slab thickness was observed with a variation in compressive strength from 30-35 MPa and a CBR value of 27%. A reduction of 4.8% in slab thickness was found with a variation in compressive strength from 30-35 MPa and a CBR value of 52%. Therefore, it was found that the effect of increasing the soil strength on reducing the thickness of the concrete road is greater than the effect of changing the compressive strength of concrete

Hydrogeophysical and structural investigation using VES and TDEM data: A case study at El-Nubariya–Wadi El-Natrun area, west Nile Delta, Egypt

AbstractThe geoelectric survey includes 93 Vertical Electric Soundings (VES) and 26 TEM stations were conducted to delineate the subsurface structures and hydrogeological regime of El-Nubariya–Wadi El-Natrun area. The VESes AB/2 was varying from 1 up to 700m in successive steps, while TEM stations were measured using coincident loop of 50m side length.The interpretation of the geoelectrical data shows that the depth to the main aquifer ranges from 6m at the northern part near the Nubariya city to about 90m at the southern parts where it increases to the south and southeast directions. Generally the aquifer system in the area can be divided into Pleistocene and Pliocene aquifers. The Pleistocene aquifer is the shallower aquifer in the area and it consists almost of gravelly to clayey sand deposits. The Pliocene aquifer is the main aquifer where it is composed of sand to gravelly sand deposits.Depending on the results of the geoelectric prospecting represented by the true resistivity map, we can infer the quality of the groundwater. A brackish groundwater can be found at the northern and northeastern parts of the study area at shallow depths whereas relatively fresh water can be detected at the southern and southeastern parts around Wadi El Natrun city at deep depths.The area under consideration is affected by a group of normal faults that divided the investigated area into five main divisions, northern, eastern, western, southern and central divisions. The inferred faults from the geoelectric sections are traced and collected to construct a structure map. It is worth to mention that Wadi El Natrun and its lakes are structurally controlled by faulting systems trending NW direction