The oral microbiome and adverse pregnancy outcomes.

Significant evidence supports an association between periodontal pathogenic bacteria and preterm birth and preeclampsia. The virulence properties assigned to specific oral pathogenic bacteria, for example, Fusobacterium nucleatum, Porphyromonas gingivalis, Filifactor alocis, Campylobacter rectus, and others, render them as potential collaborators in adverse outcomes of pregnancy. Several pathways have been suggested for this association: 1) hematogenous spread (bacteremia) of periodontal pathogens; 2) hematogenous spread of multiple mediators of inflammation that are generated by the host and/or fetal immune response to pathogenic bacteria; and 3) the possibility of oral microbial pathogen transmission, with subsequent colonization, in the vaginal microbiome resulting from sexual practices. As periodontal disease is, for the most part, preventable, the medical and dental public health communities can address intervention strategies to control oral inflammatory disease, lessen the systemic inflammatory burden, and ultimately reduce the potential for adverse pregnancy outcomes. This article reviews the oral, vaginal, and placental microbiomes, considers their potential impact on preterm labor, and the future research needed to confirm or refute this relationship

Analysis of Unsteady Axisymmetric Squeezing Fluid Flow with Slip and No-Slip Boundaries Using OHAM

In this manuscript, An unsteady axisymmetric flow of nonconducting, Newtonian fluid squeezed between two circular plates is studied with slip and no-slip boundaries. Using similarity transformation, the system of nonlinear partial differential equations is reduced to a single fourth order ordinary differential equation. The resulting boundary value problems are solved by optimal homotopy asymptotic method (OHAM) and fourth order explicit Runge-Kutta method (RK4). It is observed that the results obtained from OHAM are in good agreement with numerical results by means of residuals. Furthermore, the effects of various dimensionless parameters on the velocity profiles are investigated graphically

Effectiveness of a “Whole of Chain” Approach in Linking Farmers to Market: A Case of Pakistan Mango Market

AbstractMango is the second major fruit crop in Pakistan. The domestic retail market for mango in Pakistan is dominated by small retail shops, street hawkers, and road side stalls. The fruit sold in these retail outlets is prescribed by the traditional quality standards of size, appearance and price. However the growth of superior outlets/supermarkets chain especially in the major cities are setting additional quality standards such as blemish free, improved packaging, prestige, convenience to deliver premium quality mangoes. Similarly the export market is mainly targeted to the expatriate Pakistani consumers rather than quality conscious foreign consumers. This is because of inadequate market information and understanding all along the chain. A whole of chain approach is undertaken to improve the market understanding in an ACIAR project. Since the approach is new, a conceptual framework is developed in order to asses the effectiveness of the approach. The results indicate that the participants all along the chain would change their practices if they find the compelling reason to change in their existing businesses

An agent based architecture for cognitive spectrum management

In the recent years, wireless technologies and devices have progressed dramatically that has augmented the demand for electromagnetic spectrum. Some research work showed that spectrum access and provision to user is not possible due to shortage of spectrum but federal communication commission refused to accept this theory and indicated that the spectrum is available since most of the frequency bands are underutilized. In order to allow the use of these frequency bands without interference, cognitive radio was proposed that characterizes the growing intelligence of radio systems can adapt to the radio environment, allowing opportunistic usage and sharing with the existing uses of spectrum. To take this concept a step further, we propose to use intelligent agent for spectrum management in the context of cognitive radio in this paper. In our proposed architecture, agents are embedded in the radio devices that coordinate their operations to benefit from network and avoid interference with the primary user. Agents carry a set of modules to gather information about the terminal status and the radio environment and act accordingly to the constraints of the user application

Non-Fatal limb injuries in motorbike accidents.

OBJECTIVE: To determine frequency and pattern of non-fatal limb injuries in motorbike accidents victims.STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional observational study.PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY: Study was conducted at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), Karachi, from October 2006 to March 2007.METHODOLOGY: Trained data collectors prospectively collected data from the emergency department of JPMC, Karachi using structured pre-tested questionnaires. All motorbike accident victims presented to Emergency department with single or multiple bone injury in body extremities were included. Head injury patients who had first presented to neuro-surgery department were excluded. Motorbike accident victims with soft tissue injuries were also excluded from this study. Chisquare test was applied to find out statistical significance at 95% confidence level. P-value \u3c 0.05 was considered as significant.RESULTS: A total of 137 (39%) patients presented with tibial injury among the study sample of 348 patients, which was significantly higher than the bone injuries of the body part (p60 years. Those with less than 15 years accounted for 12% of cases.CONCLUSION: Tibial bone is at the greatest risk in motorbike accidents probably due to its superficiality and exposed position while riding motorbike. Protective measures need to be taken for the prevention of disability associated with lower limb involvement in motorbike accidents

Side effect profile of hepatitis C treatment with peginterferon alpha-2b and ribavarin

Background: The major types of side effects include fatigue, influenza-like symptoms, gastrointestinal disturbances, neuropsychiatric symptoms and hematologic abnormalities. These side effects may be treatment limiting and require dose reduction or drug discontinuation objectives of the study was to assess the side effect profile of hepatitis C treatment (peginterferon alpha-2b and ribavarin) in Kashmiri patients attending the Department of Gastroenterology skims.Methods: In this study, all consecutive patients of hepatitis C infection on peginterfron and ribavarin treatment were enrolled after written consent. The patients underwent intervention treatment taking pegylated interferon α-2b (Viraferon, Schering Plough Corp., Kenilworth, NJ) and ribavirin in accordance with the standard protocol. Patients were monitored through weekly referrals while taking the medications. A detailed history was taken and complete physical examination done each time the patient presented to the hospital necessary blood sampling was taken.Results: During the study period of 2 years,105 Patients were enrolled 55 (52.4%) were males with a male:female ratio of 1.1:1.0. and mean age 37.6 years with a range of 13-75 years 7 patients (6.6) had a history of needle pricks, 4 patients (2.2%) of sharing same razors at barber’s shop. 4 (3.8%) patients of drug abuse; out of which 3 (2.8%) were intravenous drug abusers, Anemia occurred in 17 (16.2%) patients with requirement of dose modification w in 11 (10.4%) patients and dose stoppage in 1 (0.95%) patient in whom Hb dropped to less than 7, thrombocytopenia occurred in 27 (25.7%) patients with requirement of dose modification in 13 (12.3%) patients and dose stoppage in 1 (0.95%) patients due to platelet count decreasing to less than 30,000. Neutropenia as defined by ANC less than 1500 occurred in 22 (20.9%) patients.Conclusions: Dose modification was required in 48 (45.7%) patients, 30 (28.5%) patients required dose modifications due to labortory abnormalities and 18 (17.1%) due to other side effects. In 8 (7.6%) patients dose was discontinued due to adverse events (including psychosis in 1, severe flu like symptoms in 3, dermatitis in 1, depression in 3)

Economic Evaluations of Adult Male Circumcision for Prevention of Heterosexual Acquisition of HIV in Men in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Review

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Association between perioperative hypothermia and surgical site infection after elective abdominal surgery: A prospective cohort study

Introduction: Surgical site infections (SSIs) account for 14-16% of nosocomial infections and are one of the major causes of increased morbidity, hospital stay, cost of care, and even mortality. Hypothermia as a risk factor for SSI is debated but there is lack of conclusive evidence. The present study explores the association of hypothermia with SSI.Methodology: This is a prospective cohort study conducted on adult patients who underwent elective laparotomy. Patients were divided into two cohorts, the Hypothermia Cohort and the Normothermia Cohort, based upon episodes of hypothermia of \u3c360C in the perioperative period. SSI was diagnosed based upon criteria defined by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Postoperative follow-up to detect SSI was done until 30 days after the operation.Results: A total of 183 patients met the selection criteria and were included in the study. Ninety patients (49%) had perioperative hypothermia and were followed in the Hypothermia Cohort, while 93 patients (51%) who remained normothermic in the perioperative period were followed in the Normothermia Cohort. Mean age of the patients was 49.77 +/- 14.82 years. Almost two-thirds of the participants were females (63.9%). Patients who developed hypothermia were significantly older and had lower BMI. Also the proportion of female patients was significantly higher in the Normothermic Cohort.Rate of SSI was similar in both groups (10% versus 10.8%) with p-value of 0.867. Multivariable regression analysis also failed to show any significant association between hypothermia and SSI.Conclusion: Our study failed to show any statistically significant association between hypothermia and surgical site infection