Seroprevalence of cytomegalovirus Antibodies among pregnant women and it’s correlation with spontaneous abortion in Khartoum state

Background: Cytomegalovirus is a common virus that infects most people at some time during their lives. It becomes dormant for a while and may reactivate later. In pregnant women, intrauterine infection may be  associated with congenital abnormalities, intrauterine growth retardation and intrauterine death of the fetus as well as late sequelae such as  developmental delay, blindness and congenital deafness.Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the seroprevalence of CMV infection among women presenting with spontaneous abortion to major hospitals in Khartoum State and to find out the correlation between CMV infection and spontaneous abortion in the group under study.Methodology: In this study a total of 180 spontaneously aborted females, and 80 normally delivered females (control) were included. Three mls of venous blood were collected from each subject under study in a plain  container allowed to clot and after clot retraction centrifuged at 4000rpm. The sera were then separated and stored at -20c0 in a deep freezer. The stored sera were tested for CMV IgG and IgM antibodies using Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (BIOTECH –ENGLAND).Results: In the case group, 176 (97.8%) women were positive for Anti-CMV IgG and 69 (38.3%) for Anti-CMV IgM. The CMV antibodies significantly co related with increasing age (P-value = -0.0185), the number of abortion (P-value = -0.0177) and congenital malformation in children (P value= 0.037).Conclusion: Seroprevalence of CMV antibodies was found to be 97.8% and 38.3% for IgG & IgM respectively. There was significant association  between CMV infection and frequency of abortion, age and congenital  malformation in children.Key words: CMV, seroprevalnce, pregnancy, spontaneous abortion, Suda

A Survey Of Teacher and Student Beliefs in Singapore's Polytechnics

Abstract: Language teaching has been focused mainly on teachers' classroom actions and behaviours and their effects on learners. It is acknowledged that teacher knowledge and beliefs form the underlying framework guiding a teacher's classroom practices. However, not to be ignored are learners' beliefs about teaching and learning which influence how they approach learning. Thus, teachers need to be informed about learners' beliefs so that they can better understand and manage their teaching as well as their students learning. The purpose of this study is to investigate similarities and differences between teachers' and students' beliefs. Sixty-two English language teachers and 164 students from the four polytechnics in Singapore participated in the study. Data for this study came from these teachers' and students' responses to a survey questionnaire designed to elicit information about some aspects of their beliefs. In this paper, we will report on some pedagogically interesting differences in certain areas of teachers' and students' beliefs (e.g., What constitutes good teachers/learners, why learners fail to learn English). We will also discuss the implications of these differences for language teaching and learning.

Correlation between a single nucleotide polymorphism (G/T at nt –88) in the Mx1 gene promoter and the response to interferon therapy for hepatitis C virus in Egyptian patients

Interferon used in the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) patients stimulates the expression of a number of host genes encoding enzymes with antiviral activities, including myxovirus resistance gene- 1 (Mx1). Mx1 gene was found to have a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) at position -88 in the promotor region that affect the expression of Mx 1 protein and was suggested to be associated with the response of HCV. In this study, we assessed the relation between the SNP in the Mx1 gene and the responsiveness of Egyptian HCV patients to pegylated interferon and ribavirin treatment along with other host-related and virus-related predictors of treatment outcome. We genotyped the biallelic G/T SNP in the promoter region of Mx1 gene at position -88 from the transcription start site by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) in 42 interferon treatment-naïve Egyptian patients that were treated with pegylated interferon and ribavirin. We found that Mx1 nt-88 SNP is not significantly correlated to achieving sustained virological response (SVR) after pegylated interferon alpha and ribavirin combined treatment. We conclude that Mx1 gene polymorphism at codon nt-88 cannot be considered as biological marker to potentially identify responders and non-responders of HCV patients to achieve a sustained virological response to treatment with interferon (IFN) in combination with ribavirin.Key words: Hepatitis C virus (HCV), interferon (IFN), myxovirus resistance protein (Mx1 protein), myxovirus resistance gene-1 (Mx1 gene), single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)

Corn and potato starch as an agar alternative for Solanum tuberosum micropropagation

Potato single nodes were subcultured onto fresh MS medium gelled with 0, 1 and 2 g/l of agar + 40, 50 or 60 g/l of commercial corn and potato starch (CS or PS, respectively). After 4 weeks of culture, the pH of medium supplemented with 50 or 60 g/l of CS or 60 g/l of PS was significantly decreased to 3.91 - 4.00. This reduction coincided with a significant increment in electric conductivity (EC) which was 172 - 214 ìmhos/cm-1 for media containing 50 or 60 g/l of CS, or 60 g/l of PS. Corn and potato starch had no significant effect in plantlet height nevertheless, they significantly increased the number of shoots/explant over the control treatment (2.5) which had 7 g/l of agar. The highest number ofshoots/explant (6.8) was achieved in medium with 50 or 60 g/l of PS + 1 g/l of agar. Plantlets developed on media with 40 g/l of CS or PS had higher shoot fresh and dry weight (p < 0.5) compared to those in thecontrol one. Media with 50, 60 g/l of PS or 60 g/l of CS and 50 g/l of CS + agar at 1 g/l significantly enhanced the percentage of dry weight. Moreover, 92 - 98% of plantlets were acclimatized to the greenhouse conditions regardless the type of gelling agent. The results suggest that the combination of agar and PS or CS could offer a firm support for plant tissues and could be successfully used for potato micropropagation

Energy theft detection and controlling system model using wireless communication media

The proposed work in this paper aims on the design and implementation model of electrical energy theft detection aspect in Sri Lanka. A high percentage of electricity income is lost due to power theft and improper management. However a bulk of these losses are caused by electricity theft. The illegal usage of electricity must be solved by electronic means, without any human interaction.The purpose of this work is to provide an implementation methodology for electricity theft detection and controlling which allows violators to be detected at a remote location.This design integrates effective solutions for problems faced by Sri Lankan’s electricity distribution system such as power theft and transmission line fault. It includes micro controller based embedded technology and wireless communication method to find out the electric theft and transmission line fault.Moreover collecting the meter readings for billing processes from all consumers is a difficult and time consuming task which requires a great number of labours. In the proposed method a Global System for Mobile communication (GSM) based technology is used to transmit the meter reading and detection alert automatically to the authorized energy provider via an alert message which eliminates the various issues related to the meter reading and theft detection

Heavy metal speciation and their accumulation in sediments of Lake Burullus, Egypt

Several sediment samples in Lake Burullus have been affected by the discharges of heavy metals through different drains. The study aimed to analyze the chemical speciation of these metals. In particular, the chemical forms of Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb and Zn in sediments collected in spring season were studied using a sequential chemical extraction method. In general, all the elements recorded highest concentrations in the area near the discharge point. The data indicated that, the sediments were under a wide variety of environmental conditions ranging from oxic to fully anoxic conditions. Owing a wide variety of grain sizes and organic matter, these metals showed the order of abundance: Fe > Mn > Zn > Cu > Cd > Pb. Significant correlations between iron with clay, organic carbon and manganese concentrations were calculated as (r=0.685, 0.581 and 0.610, P= 0.05), respectively. This gives an idea about association of iron and manganese as main compositions of clays. In the mean time, it showed insignificant relation with total carbonate and all phosphorus forms. The metal speciation characterizes the degree to which they are potentially labile or bioavailability. It gives different fraction ratios depending on binding and sediment origin.Key words: Heavy metals, chemical speciation, sediments, Burullus, Lake

Four butyrolactones and diverse bioactive secondary metabolites from terrestrial Aspergillus flavipes MM2: isolation and structure determination

The chemical constituents and biological activities of the terrestrial Aspergillus flavipes MM2 isolated from Egyptian rice hulls are reported. Seven bioactive compounds were obtained, of which one sterol: ergosterol (1), four butyrolactones: butyrolactone I (2), aspulvinone H (3), butyrolactone-V (6) and 4,4'-diydroxypulvinone (7), along with 6-methylsalicylic acid (4) and the cyclopentenone analogue; terrien (5). Structures of the isolated compounds were deduced by intensive studies of their 1D & 2D NMR, MS data and comparison with related structures. The strain extract and the isolated compounds (1-7) were biologically studied against number of microbial strains, and brine shrimp for cytotoxicity. In this article, the taxonomical characterization of A. flavipes MM2 along with its upscale fermentation, isolation and structural assignment of the obtained bioactive metabolites, and evaluate their antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities were described

Pseudoxanthomaelasticum with congestive heart failure: A case report

Pseudoxanthomaelasticum (PXE) is a rare systemic disease of connective tissue primarily affecting the skin, retinae, and cardiovascular system. Clinically it has high hetrogenicity in age of onset, extent and severity of disease. Its cardiovascular effect has a wide clinical spectrum extending from mental fatigue to early death from myocardial infarction. Very rarely it may present with gastrointestinal haemorrhage. It has no specific treatment. However, adjustments of the life stile are important to reduce morbidity. Moreover, first degree relatives should be carefully examined for cutaneous and ophthalmic features of this disease. Here we describe one case of Pseudoxanthoma Elasticum. Sudan Journal of Medical Sciences Vol. 1(1) 2006: 62-6

A critical review on the contributions of chemical and physical factors toward the nucleation and growth of large-area graphene

Since the first isolation of graphene over a decade ago, research into graphene has exponentially increased due to its excellent electrical, optical, mechanical and chemical properties. Graphene has been shown to enhance the performance of various electronic devices. In addition, graphene can be simply produced through chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Although the synthesis of graphene has been widely researched, especially the CVD growth method, the lack of understanding of various synthetic parameters still limits the fabrication of large-area and defect-free graphene films. This report critically reviews various parameters affecting the quality of CVD grown graphene to understand the relationship between these parameters and thechoice of metal substrates and to provide a point of reference for future studies of large-area, CVD-grown graphene