Consanguinity and reproductive health among Arabs

Consanguineous marriages have been practiced since the early existence of modern humans. Until now consanguinity is widely practiced in several global communities with variable rates depending on religion, culture, and geography. Arab populations have a long tradition of consanguinity due to socio-cultural factors. Many Arab countries display some of the highest rates of consanguineous marriages in the world, and specifically first cousin marriages which may reach 25-30% of all marriages. In some countries like Qatar, Yemen, and UAE, consanguinity rates are increasing in the current generation. Research among Arabs and worldwide has indicated that consanguinity could have an effect on some reproductive health parameters such as postnatal mortality and rates of congenital malformations. The association of consanguinity with other reproductive health parameters, such as fertility and fetal wastage, is controversial. The main impact of consanguinity, however, is an increase in the rate of homozygotes for autosomal recessive genetic disorders. Worldwide, known dominant disorders are more numerous than known recessive disorders. However, data on genetic disorders in Arab populations as extracted from the Catalogue of Transmission Genetics in Arabs (CTGA) database indicate a relative abundance of recessive disorders in the region that is clearly associated with the practice of consanguinity

International nosocomial infection control consortium (INICC) report, data summary of 36 countries, for 2004-2009

The results of a surveillance study conducted by the International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC) from January 2004 through December 2009 in 422 intensive care units (ICUs) of 36 countries in Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Europe are reported. During the 6-year study period, using Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN; formerly the National Nosocomial Infection Surveillance system [NNIS]) definitions for device-associated health care-associated infections, we gathered prospective data from 313,008 patients hospitalized in the consortium's ICUs for an aggregate of 2,194,897 ICU bed-days. Despite the fact that the use of devices in the developing countries' ICUs was remarkably similar to that reported in US ICUs in the CDC's NHSN, rates of device-associated nosocomial infection were significantly higher in the ICUs of the INICC hospitals; the pooled rate of central line-associated bloodstream infection in the INICC ICUs of 6.8 per 1,000 central line-days was more than 3-fold higher than the 2.0 per 1,000 central line-days reported in comparable US ICUs. The overall rate of ventilator-associated pneumonia also was far higher (15.8 vs 3.3 per 1,000 ventilator-days), as was the rate of catheter-associated urinary tract infection (6.3 vs. 3.3 per 1,000 catheter-days). Notably, the frequencies of resistance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates to imipenem (47.2% vs 23.0%), Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates to ceftazidime (76.3% vs 27.1%), Escherichia coli isolates to ceftazidime (66.7% vs 8.1%), Staphylococcus aureus isolates to methicillin (84.4% vs 56.8%), were also higher in the consortium's ICUs, and the crude unadjusted excess mortalities of device-related infections ranged from 7.3% (for catheter-associated urinary tract infection) to 15.2% (for ventilator-associated pneumonia). Copyright © 2012 by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Field testing of RC slabs with openings strengthened with CFRP

Introducing openings in existing reinforced concrete (RC) slabs can severely weaken the slabs due to the cut out of both concrete and reinforcing steel. There are several traditional approaches to strengthen RC slabs with openings; however these approaches can be cumbersome, expensive, and may require significant usable floor area. This paper reports field tests on the use of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymers (CFRP) strengthening alternatives to restore the flexural capacity of the RC slab after having large openings cut out in the positive moment region. The uniqueness of this study is that the tests were performed on an existing multi-storey RC structure that was scheduled for demolition. Testing a real structure allowed incorporating factors and boundary conditions that typically cannot be simulated in the laboratory. Five tests on five different slabs were conducted to evaluate the ability of the CFRP strengthening alternatives to restore the flexural capacity of the slab after introducing the openings. Three different strengthening techniques were investigated to determine the most effective system for strengthening. The three different strengthening techniques are the use of externally bonded (EB) CFRP laminates, EB CFRP laminates with CFRP anchors, and Near Surface Mounted (NSM) CFRP strips. Test results showed that the three strengthening techniques enhanced the load-carrying capacities of the slabs with openings with the NSM technique more effective than the EB technique. Use of CFRP anchors with EB laminates prevented complete detachment, and hence enabled the slab to restore its full flexural capacity

Use of basalt fibers for concrete structures

This study investigated the use of basalt fiber bars as flexural reinforcement for concrete members and the use of chopped basalt fibers as an additive to enhance the mechanical properties of concrete. The material characteristics and development length of two commercially-available basalt fiber bars were evaluated. Test results indicate that flexural design of concrete members reinforced with basalt fiber bars should ensure compression failure and satisfying the serviceability requirements. ACI 440.1R-06 accurately predicts the flexural capacity of members reinforced with basalt bars, but it significantly underestimates the deflection at service load level. Use of chopped basalt fibers had little effect on the concrete compressive strength; however, significantly enhanced its flexural modulus

Application of Bacteriophages for Biocontrol of Extensively Drug Resistant Salmonella Serovars Isolated from Poultry Farms

Salmonella is one of the most common foodborne pathogens causing diseases in humans and animals. Increased resistance to antibiotics necessitates the need for an alternative control strategy. This study aimed to screen, isolate and evaluate the bacteriophage characteristics for biocontrol of pathogenic Salmonella serovars. Twelve Salmonella isolates, including different Salmonella enterica serovars, were obtained from different sources of poultry farms. All isolates were screened for antibiotic sensitivity and showed multiple antibiotic resistance. Two lytic bacteriophages, vB_SalSph_WW1, and vB_SalM_WW2, were isolated from the sewage and characterized against Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis. Morphological analysis by transmission electron microscopy revealed that the vB_SalSph_WW1 phage belonged to the family Siphoviridae while the vB_SalM_WW2 phage belonged to the family Myoviridae. Both phages showed a broad host range within the Salmonella genus. Phages vB_SalSph_WW1 and vB_SalM_WW2 had a lytic effect on 3 (25%) and 4 (33.3%) of the 12 Salmonella isolates, respectively. The lytic cycle of each phage was determined by a one-step growth curve and both phages had the same short latent period (15 min). WW1 phage gave a burst size of 90 PFU/infected cell, while the vB_SalM_WW2 phage gave a higher burst size of 150 PFU/infected cell. The stability test revealed that vB_SalSph_WW1 and vB_SalM_WW2 phages were stable at pH 4–9 and pH 4–10, respectively. Both Phages exhibited high degrees of thermal tolerance with active titer as high as 42◦C. However, they lost their stability and the titers declined when heated at 50◦C for 30 min. This study revealed that vB_SalSph_WW1 and vB_SalM_WW2 phages have the potency to be used as an alternative strategy to control the infection of Salmonella in poultry farms and to prevent transmission of Salmonella infection to humans and spread of the pathogen into environment

Evaluation of surface water quality and heavy metal indices of Ismailia Canal, Nile River, Egypt

Ismailia Canal is one of the most important branches of the Nile River in Egypt. It is the main source of drinking and irrigation water for many cities. Weighted arithmetic method of water quality index (WQI) was used to evaluate the water quality of Ismailia Canal according to drinking, irrigation and aquatic life water utilizations. The objective of the index is to transform complex water quality data into understandable and usable information by the public. The WQI values of Ismailia Canal are good to poor for drinking and aquatic life utilizations, and excellent for irrigation utilization. Metal index (MI) and pollution index (PI) were calculated to assess the contaminations of the canal water with the metals (Al+3, Cd+2. Cu+2, Fe+2, Mn+2, Ni+2, Pb+2 and Zn+2). MI and PI values denote the dangerous pollution of the canal water, which is described as seriously at most sites along, in particular for drinking and fisheries utilizations. It may be attributed to the effluents of different industrial wastes arriving at the canal water. Law 48/1982 for the protection of the Nile River and its waterways against pollution must be enforced to prevent the obvious deterioration of the canal water and to improve its quality