The Changing Pattern of Hospital Admission to Medical Wards : Burden of non-communicable diseases at a hospital in a developing country

Objectives: This study aimed to determine the pattern of hospital admissions and patient outcomes in medical wards at Atbara Teaching Hospital in River Nile State, Sudan. Methods: This retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted from August 2013 to July 2014 and included all patients admitted to medical wards at the Atbara Teaching Hospital during the study period. Morbidity and mortality data was obtained from medical records. Diseases were categorised using the World Health Organization’s International Classification of Diseases (ICD) coding system. Results: A total of 2,614 patient records were analysed. The age group with the highest admissions was the 56‒65-year-old age group (19.4%) and the majority of patients were admitted for one week or less (86.4%). Non-communicable diseases constituted 71.8% of all cases. According to ICD classifications, patients were admitted most frequently due to infectious or parasitic diseases (19.7%), followed by diseases of the circulatory (16.4%), digestive (16.4%) and genito-urinary (13.8%) systems. The most common diseases were cardiovascular disease (16.4%), malaria (11.3%), gastritis/peptic ulcer disease (9.8%), urinary tract infections (7.2%) and diabetes mellitus (6.9%). The mortality rate was 4.7%. Conclusion: The burden of non-communicable diseases was found to exceed that of communicable diseases among patients admitted to medical wards at the Atbara Teaching Hospital

The Irrational Use of Antibiotics Among Doctors, Pharmacists and the Public in River Nile State, Sudan

Background: Inappropriate antibiotic prescription, dispensing and self-medication are alarmingly high worldwide. The problem is more so in developing countries, including Sudan, where resistance to life-saving drugs is emerging. Objective: to assess the prevalence of irrational use of antibiotics among doctors, pharmacists and the public in River Nile State (RNS), Sudan. Methodology: a descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted, in March 2014 through April 2014. The study population was 278 individuals, composed of 100 doctors, 78 pharmacists selected randomly from hospitals, pharmacies and health centers, besides 100 adults from the community. Three different interviewer-administered standardized pre-tested questionnaires were used for data collection. Results:antibiotic misuse is common practice among both medicals as well as the public in RNS. This was evidenced by the facts that 92% of doctors prescribed antibiotics without culture and sensitivity results, more than 93% of pharmacists dispensed antibiotics as over the counter medications and that 89% of participants used antibiotics without consulting a doctor. More than 90% of the misused antibiotics werebeta-lactams and macrolides and the most common indication for their use was cough and common cold. Conclusion: Irrational use of antibiotics is a widespread practice in RNS among all stakeholders. Therefore, health care policy makers and care providers should have antibiotic policy and clear to follow obligatory guidelines and to ensure that the public and every prescriber/dispenser conforms to that policy. Moreover, increasing awareness about the appropriate antibiotic use among all stakeholders is of paramount importance

Structure and vibrational features of the protic ionic liquid 1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]-undec-7-ene-8-ium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)amide, [DBUH][TFSI]

The Protic Ionic Liquid (PIL) formed by neutralization of the super-strong base 1,7-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-ene (DBU) with the super-strong acid bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)-imide (TFSI), indicated as [DBUH][TFSI], has been investigated. Its chemical physical properties and structural features have been explored using a synergy of experimental and computational tools. Molecular Dynamics-rationalised X-ray diffraction patterns highlight the major role played by hydrogen bonding (HB) in affecting morphology in this PIL. A comparison between HB features in this and in related PILs has been presented, on the base of far-IR experiments and DFT analysis. Indications of a weaker HB interaction in [DBUH][TFSI] in comparison with [DBUH][TfO], consistently with their ΔpKa difference, have been observed and rationalised in terms of geometrical properties of the main conformers contributing to the experimental spectra. In the liquid phase of [DBUH][TFSI] a particularly large conformational disorder is observed and the corresponding large dispersion of the frequencies of the HB stretching modes leads to a broad absorption band without a well defined peak. On the contrary, well detectable HB related absorptions are observable in the solid phase of [DBUH][TFSI] and at all temperatures in [DBU][TfO], where less configurational disorder occurs

Steady and Stable: Numerical Investigations of Nonlinear Partial Differential Equations

Excerpt: Mathematics is a language which can describe patterns in everyday life as well as abstract concepts existing only in our minds. Patterns exist in data, functions, and sets constructed around a common theme, but the most tangible patterns are visual. Visual demonstrations can help undergraduate students connect to abstract concepts in advanced mathematical courses. The study of partial differential equations, in particular, benefits from numerical analysis and simulation

The AMMA mulid network for aerosol characterization in West Africa

Three ground based portable low power consumption microlidars (MULID) have been built and deployed at three remote sites in Banizoumbou (Niger), Cinzana (Mali) and M'Bour (Senegal) in the framework of the African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analyses (AMMA) project for the characterization of aerosols optical properties. A description of the instrument and a discussion of the data inversion method, including a careful analysis of measurement uncertainties (systematic and statistical errors) are presented. Some case studies of typical lidar profiles observed over the Banizoumbou site during 2006 are shown and discussed with respect to the AERONET 7-day back-trajectories and the biomass burning emissions from the Combustion Emission database for the AMMA campaign

MesonNet 2013 International Workshop. Mini-proceedings

The mini-proceedings of the MesonNet 2013 International Workshop held in Prague from June 17th to 19th, 2013, are presented. MesonNet is a research network within EU HadronPhysics3 project (1/2012 -- 12/2014). The web page of the conference, which contains all talks, can be found at http://ipnp.mff.cuni.cz/mesonnet13Comment: 106 pages, 53 contributions. Mini-proceedings of the MesonNet 2013 International Workshop. Editors: K. Kampf, A. Kupsc, and P. Masjua

Precision measurement of σ(e+e−→π+π−γ)/σ(e+e−→μ+μ−γ)\sigma(e^+e^-\rightarrow\pi^+\pi^-\gamma)/\sigma(e^+e^-\rightarrow \mu^+\mu^-\gamma) and determination of the π+π−\pi^+\pi^- contribution to the muon anomaly with the KLOE detector

We have measured the ratio $\sigma(e^+e^-\rightarrow\pi^+\pi^-\gamma)/\sigma(e^+e^-\rightarrow \mu^+\mu^-\gamma)$, with the KLOE detector at DA$\Phi$NE for a total integrated luminosity of $\sim$ 240 pb$^{-1}$. From this ratio we obtain the cross section $\sigma(e^+e^-\rightarrow\pi^+\pi^-)$. From the cross section we determine the pion form factor $|F_\pi|^2$ and the two-pion contribution to the muon anomaly $a_\mu$ for $0.592<M_{\pi\pi}<0.975$ GeV, $\Delta^{\pi\pi} a_\mu$= $({\rm 385.1\pm1.1_{stat}\pm2.7_{sys+theo}})\times10^{-10}$. This result confirms the current discrepancy between the Standard Model calculation and the experimental measurement of the muon anomaly.Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures, minor text corrections, one table added, version to appear on Physics Letters