PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS OF NANODOSIMETRY IN MEDICINE

The grandiose promises made decades ago of cost reduction, miracle cures for cancers and universal availability of nanomedicine are still a far cry. Even we do not have any viable model to exploit nanotechnology in medicine. The most important arena of the nanotechnology is the development of nanoscale drugs for routine clinical practice. The current chemo protocols are based on maximum tolerable dose philosophy. Such a dose, when translated into active nanoscale clusters, quantitatively outnumbers the cells in an average human body. These nanoscale drug issues are discussed in this paper. A theoretical framework for commonly used drug aspirin has been considered as an example. The possible quantum physical effects have also been theoretically evaluated. Further, the amount of drug molecules in a standardized aspirin dose of 100 milligram has been computed into nanoclusters. The calculations show that the processing of nanoscale drug is a monumental task which requires new types of manufacturing facilities. Also there is a need to develop new protocols which will help realize the practical implementation of nanodosimetry in day to day drug administrations. These protocols will need to examine the implications of dose-responses such as necrosis, apoptosis and hormesis in medicine for routine clinical practice

Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera English Websites: Agenda-Setting as a Means to Comparatively Analyze Online News Stories

This study seeks to investigate similarities or differences in the content of news stories published on Al Jazeera Arabic (AJA) and Al Jazeera English (AJE) websites. Guided by agenda-setting theory 2,400 online news stories were analyzed. Findings indicate that on fewer than 8% of the time do AJA and AJE display the same news story on their websites. Since Al Jazeera’s target audience differs depending on the language, the study argues that AJA and AJE set the agenda for two sets of news consumers. This is fairly significant as Al Jazeera seeks to play a greater role in news dissemination to a global audience. Al Jazeera deliberately seeks to highlight a certain news item, such as the almost daily coverage of the crisis between Qatar and four other Arab countries in the summer of 2017, thereby actively engaging in agenda-setting. Findings also indicate that AJA publishes more news stories pertaining to the Arab world than AJE. AJA’s coverage of the African and South American continents is relatively low compared to the Arab region, thereby directing audience’s attention to events and issues closer to Al Jazeera’s home base of Qatar. The study also argues that news consumers play a significant role in determining the news items displayed by news outlets

Primary nocturnal enuresis in children presenting to the outpatient Department of Khartoum ENT Teaching Hospital with adenotonsillar hypertrophy

ABSTRACT Background: Primary Nocturnal Enuresis (PNE) is a common health problem seen in childhood. It has many risk factors that can play a role in its etiology including an untreated adenotonsillar hypertrophy (ATH) which is the most common etiology of obstructed sleep apnea (OSA). Objective: This study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of PNE in children with adenotonsillar hypertrophy (ATH) and to reveal the relation of PNE with severity of ATH in Sudanese children. Material and Methods: A total of two hundreds and ninety patients diagnosed with ATH were recruited in this prospective study with age ranging from 5 to 15 years. The study was conducted in Khartoum ENT teaching hospital from Jan. to May 2012. Results: From 290 patients with adenotonsillar hypertrophy, 114 (39.3%) were proved to have primary nocturnal enuresis. From these 114 children, 86 (75.4%) were wetting their beds at least once a week. Almost half of the study population had grade 3 adenotonsillar hypertrophy. However, no statistically significant relationship was found between frequency of primary nocturnal enuresis and grading of adenotonsillar hypertrophy. Conclusion: Prevalence of primary nocturnal enuresis in children with adenotonsillar hypertrophy was high (40%). Children presenting with nocturnal enuresis should be evaluated for adenotonsillar hypertrophy. There is no association between primary nocturnal enuresis and severity of upper airway obstruction caused by adenotonsillar hypertrophy

Platelet - Rich Fibrin (PRF) - The effect of storage time on platelet concentration

The aim of this study was to determine whether storage time had a significant effect on the platelet concentration of platelet-rich fibrin (PRF). Three blood samples were drawn from each participant into a sterile blood sampling tube. Two of the blood samples were centrifuged to form PRF. The third non-centrifuged sample was used to measure the baseline blood platelet concentration. After PRF had formed, it was removed from the respective test tubes at different time intervals i.e. immediately after centrifugation (Group A) and after 60 min of storage time in the blood collecting tube (Group B). The residual blood from each group was tested for platelet concentration and compared with the baseline reading (as an indirect measure of the platelet concentrate of PRF). The PRF produced in Group A (PRF A) had a mean platelet concentration of 274 + - 57.8 X 109/L, whereas the PRF of Group B (PRF B) was 278 + - 58.2 X 109/L. A statistically significant difference was seen between the groups (p < 0.001).DHE