Epidemiological study of risk factors in pediatric asthma

Background: Childhood asthma is a major public health problem in Egypt and worldwide. Epidemiologic, physiologic, and social factors appear to be associated with an increased risk of asthma. Objective: The aim of the study was to determine the most frequent risk factors of childhood asthma exacerbation and severity in our community. Methods: This cross sectional study involved 206 asthmatic children, 5 to 15 years old. They were enrolled from the School Students Health Insurance facility of El-Matareya Teaching Hospital and from the Pediatric Outpatient Clinic of Saint Mark Charity Hospital representing several social and residential classes. They were assessed clinically and by peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR). Parents of children were interviewed for symptoms and some demographic, social, environmental, housing and familial data as well as asthma triggers through a comprehensive detailed questionnaire. Results: Residential distribution and social status were significantly associated with asthma severity as most moderate persistent asthmatics lived in semi-urban areas (70.8%) and belonged to the low-level segment of social classification (47.9%). In the majority of the study population (69.9%), a family member or more had a positive history of bronchial asthma, and this was especially evident in moderate persistent cases (70.8%). Passive smoking and dust triggered exacerbations in 48.6% and 65% of the studied sample respectively and in most moderate persistent asthmatics (83.4% and 93.7%). Most houses of moderate asthmatics were infested with cockroaches (91.7%) and domestic animals were present in 56.2%. Recurrent chest infections and cold/flu attacks were strongly associated with asthma exacerbation and severity (93.8% and 93.7% of moderate persistent cases respectively). Most moderate persistent asthmatics (91.7%) reported exercise-induced asthma while 64.6% stated that emotional stress triggered their symptoms. Indoor pollutants such as insecticides, household chemicals and odors were strongly associated with asthma severity and exacerbation especially in moderate persistent cases (triggered symptoms in 66.7%, 52.1% and 58.3% of cases respectively). Conclusion: Smoking, emotional stress and dust were the most significant triggers of asthma exacerbation and severity in our series. Identification and avoidance of risk factors for persistent asthma, combined with early institution of pharmacologic and other intervention strategies, may lead to a better outcome.Keywords: asthma severity; asthma triggers; children; residence; risk factors; smoking; social statusEgypt J Pediatr Allergy Immunol 2007; 5(1): 11-1

Epidemiological study of school performance and asthma medications among asthmatic Egyptian school children

Background: Childhood asthma is a major health problem in Egypt and worldwide. Barriers to reducing the burden of asthma include symptom-based rather than disease-based approaches, tendency of care to be ‘‘acute’’ rather than “regular” and cultural attitudes towards drugs and drug delivery systems. Objective: To measure the disease effect on school performance and to map asthma medications with respect to types, routes and course of use. Methods: This cross sectional study involved 206 Cairene asthmatic school children, enrolled from the school students’ health insurance facility of El-Matareya Teaching Hospital and the pediatric outpatient clinic of Saint Mark Charity Hospital representing different social classes and residential locations. Their ages ranged between 5 and 15 years and they comprised 100 males and 106 females. They were assessed clinically and by peak expiratory flowmetry. Parents or caregivers were interviewed about disease symptoms, school achievement and attendance and medications used including relievers and controllers, route and course of use, whether continuously, intermittently and/or during attacks. Results: Asthma had a strong impact on school achievement and school absence; 77.3% of study population reported school absence due to asthma and 41.3% reported weak to average school achievement. School performance was associated with asthma severity; the majority of moderate asthmatics (64.6%) had average and weak school performance. Number of days of school absence demonstrated highly significant relation with asthma severity; 43.6% of moderate asthmatics had 5-6 absent days/month and 33.4% had 3-4 absent days/month. Combined β2-agonists and xanthines was the most commonly used (54.8%) reliever therapy followed by β2-agonists alone (44.2%) while corticosteroids were the most common controllers used (97.6%). Therapy was taken mainly by oral than inhalation route. Other medications like cromolyns, anti-histamines, anti-leukotrienes and anti-cholinergics were rarely used. Both rectal and injection routes were rarely used also. Conclusion: Asthma has a social burden on asthmatic children as it affects both school achievement and school attendance. Medical management of asthma in Egyptian children still lags behind available medical knowledge. Patients’ and health care givers’ education is a cornerstone in improving the current status of asthma management in Egypt.Keywords: asthma medications; asthma severity; children; school performanceEgypt J Pediatr Allergy Immunol 2009;7(1):23-3

Synthesis And Characterization Of PVP Based Catalysts For Selected Application In Catalysis

This research aims to study the catalyst activity in specific reactions and the characteristics of the catalyst in order to optimize its performance. This research investigates PVP based catalysts and their properties and applications. PVP was prepared in combination with different metal oxides in order to be tested for different catalytic applications including dye removal. Methyl orange was used as a dye and different concentrations were tested against different metallic ions in order to optimize the catalyst for being used in dye removal applications. Spectrophotometer was used to calculate the concentration of the dye before and after catalyst exposure and investigate the relation between contact time and concentrations. Applying different contact time to the same weight percent of PVP based catalyst with metallic ions revealed that increasing the contact time with a good shaking lead to decrease in the concentration of the dye mixed with the sample. The tests showed that the mixture between PVP and Nickel has the best dye removal within the other metal ions (copper and ferric) as well it showed that ferric has the least effect on dye removal. Wide angle x-ray diffraction (WA-XRD) was applied to different sample copper with PVP and ferric with PVP

Mechanical characteristics for different composite materials based on commercial epoxy resins and different fillers

In this research, different compositions of composite materials based on epoxy resin and four different fillers were prepared and all mechanical characteristics were investigated to reach a composite material having high resistance to impact by high kinetics energy projectiles which is required in the production of bulletproof jackets and also in cassette shields of explosive reactive armors to protect tanks. This composite material is usually applied as layers with other polymeric fibers such as carbon fibers and Kevlar (polyamide) sheets. The used epoxy consists of Epon as linear epoxy and tertiary amine as hardener. The used fillers are carbon black, magnesium carbonate, wood flour and sand. The pure thermoset epoxy (without filler) which gives the highest different mechanical properties is based on 10:5 by weight (linear Epon/Hardener). The composition which gave the highest resistance to impact by high kinetics energy projectiles was epoxy resin containing 15% by weight wood floor where the resistance to impact was increased by 32% when compared with the pure epoxy

Serum Osteopontin and its Relation to Colorectal Carcinoma in Egyptian Patient

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) incidence has increased worldwide recently, and the death rate from it has increased to reach 10% of cancer-related deaths. Many risk factors are expected to play a role in this high incidence such as the higher age, change in dietary habits, cigarette smoking, low physical exercise, and the increased prevalence of obesity of the populations worldwide. Objectives: To evaluate the role of serum level of osteopontin in prediction of colorectal carcinoma in correlation with tissue histopathology, which is the gold standard test. Patients and Methods: This study was conducted on 80 subjects referred for colonoscopy at the Endoscopic Unit of Ain Shams University Hospitals. Patients were divided into 2 groups: Group A included 40 patients diagnosed as colorectal carcinoma as a patient group and group B that included 40 individuals with age- and sex-matched who had normal colonoscopy and was used as control group. Results: The level of osteopontin was statistically significant higher in CRC patients than in subjects with normal colonoscopy. Also, the ROC curve for osteopontin in prediction of CRC showed the best cut of value of > 12 ng/ml with area under the curve (AUC) = 0.889, sensitivity = 85% and specificity = 77.5%. Conclusion: Serum Osteopontin (OPN) level was detected in our study to be high in patients with CRC in comparison to patients with normal colonoscopy. Therefore, it can be used as a biomarker in the diagnosis of CRC. Also, serum osteopontin level is significantly higher in cancer patients with metastasis according to TNM staging, thus it can be used in prognosis

Heteroaromatization with 4-phenyldiazenyl-1-naphthol. Part III: One-pot synthesis and DFT study of 4H-naphthopyran derivatives

A one pot three component reaction of 4-phenyldiazenyl-1-naphthol (1), p-chloro benzaldehyde (2) and malononitrile or ethyl cyanoacetate (3) in ethanol/piperidine under reflux afforded 2-amino-4-(p-chlorophenyl)-6-phenyldiazenyl-4H-naphtho[1,2-b]pyrano-3-carbonitrile (4a) and ethyl 2-amino-4-(p-chlorophenyl)-6-phenyldiazenyl-4H-naphtho[1,2-b]pyrano -3-carboxylate (4b). Structure of these compounds was established on the basis of IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, Mass and UV-Vis spectra. Molecular geometry of compounds 4a and b was obtained at B3LYP/6-31+G(d) level. Two tautomers and two conformers were geometrically optimized. The tautomers are separated by about 7.942 kcal/mol while rotational conformers are only separated by 0.511 kcal/mol. Molecular reactivity descriptors including global electrophilicity, hardness, softness and local condensed Fukui functions were computed and discussed. Frontier molecular orbitals (HOMO and LUMO) were also computed

Routine versus selective plasma exchange before thymectomy in myasthenia gravis

Background: Prethymectomy plasma exchange may improve the outcome of surgery; however, the technique is associated with an increased risk of complications. Therefore, the objective of this study was to compare selective versus routine plasma exchange before thymectomy in patients with myasthenia gravis. Method: We conducted a prospective multi-center cohort study to compare two protocols for plasma exchange before thymectomy. We compared the routine plasma exchange in all patients undergoing thymectomy for myasthenia gravis (group I; n= 30) versus selective exchange (Group II; n= 30). Endpoints were the duration of postoperative mechanical ventilation, plasma exchange, and operative complications. Results: There was no difference in age between both groups (30± 10.1 vs. 29± 9.2 years in Group I and II, respectively; p= 0.69). There were 17 females in Group I (56.67%) vs. 16 in group II (53.33%) (p= 0.8). Comorbidities are comparable between groups. All patients preoperative pyridostigmine, and 27 patients (90%) in Group I and 26 patients (87%) in Group II received glucocorticoids. There was no difference in pulmonary function tests between groups. Plasma exchange related complications were not different between groups. Immediate extubation was achieved in 29 patients (97%) in Group II, and after 6 hours in one patient (3.33%). In Group I, 28 patients (93%) extubated immediately, and two patients were ventilated for 7-12 hours. The mean ICU stay was 1.5 days in Group I and 1.4 days in group II (p= 0.615). The mean hospital stay was 8.5 days in Group I and 9.2 days in group II (p= 0.118). There was no significant difference in pathology between groups (p= 0.137). Conclusion: Selective plasma exchange is feasible before thymectomy for myasthenia gravis. Selective plasma exchange may decrease exchange related complications without affecting the operative outcomes

Water Absorption Enhancement Of Sodium Poly Acrylate And Poly(2-Acrylamido-2-Methylpropane Sulphonic Acid) Based Hydrogel Mixtures

Introduction: Hydrogels are hydrophilic polymers which are cross-linked to form three-dimensional structures, which can absorb, swell and retain huge amounts of water or aqueous fluids. Objective: This paper reports the preparation and characterization of Poly (2-Acrylamido-2-Methylpropane Sulphonic Acid) (PAMPS) hydrogel with different crosslinking intensities. Methodology: 2-Acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulfonic acid (AMPS) monomer was purchased from Alfa Aesar Company as reagent grade. It was used as received (\u3e98% purity) without any further purification. PAMPS hydrogel was prepared by free radical crosslinking solution polymerization of AMPS in water at room temperature under a nitrogen blanket in cylindrical glass tubes. The characteristics of the obtained PAMPS hydrogel were compared with those of commercial sodium polyacrylates hydrogel. Results: It was found that decreasing the crosslinker weight improved the absorbance capacity but to a limit. The suggested reasons were discussed. The mixture showed higher absorbance rate than PAMPS, and bigger absorbance capacity than sodium polyacrylates. Conclusion: This paper investigates the effect of crosslinker ratio on the swelling capacity of PAMPS. It was found that as the crosslinking ratio decreases, the porosity of the hydrogel increases, thus improving the swelling capacity

Microwave Assisted Synthesis Of Binary Metallic Oxides For Catalysis Applications

Herein, versatile, and reproducible method to prepare binary metal oxides via microwave assisted synthesis. Catalysts are substances that basically speeds up chemical reactions. Ideally, bonds are formed between the catalysts and the reactants. Also, catalysts permit formation of products from the reactants. These formed products, splits off the catalyst without affecting or changing it. Catalytic kinetics studies the correlate chemical reaction rate with some properties of reactants and/or products for instance, temperature, concentration and pressure. The aim of the project is to prepare pure and bi-metal iron-based catalyst by co-precipitation method and to characterize the prepared sample using X-ray diffraction. Metal oxides nanoparticles is a field of interest in catalysis, such that these oxides are used to oxidize carbon monoxide. The samples were prepared through co-precipitation method in laboratory scale. The metals used was copper, iron and cobalt. After preparing pure sample of each metal a mix of two metals were introduced in different ratios. The samples were characterized via X-ray diffraction (XRD) and then the results were compared to exist data introduced from others research, the prepared samples XRD was having a great matching with the data retrieved from internet and we found that the metal could exist in two form of oxides and even could exist as pure metal. Each peak in the XRD figure could indicate one or more phase of the metal