Total Blindness Following Anaphylactic Shock due to Co-Amoxiclav Treatment

Anaphylactic shock is a rare but severe allergic reaction most often caused by an allergy to food, insect bites, or certain medications. Co-amoxiclav is an antibiotic medication used to treat many bacterial infections. In the present work, the authors report an 82-year-old female patient suffering from total blindness after anaphylactic shock after taking the first dose of co-amoxiclav

Reliability of the Thickness Measurement and Histogram of Elbow Flexors by Ultrasonography in Patients with Fascioscapulohumoral Dystrophy and Healthy Subjects

Introduction: Ultrasonography is a non-invasive and available technique used to assess normal and pathological tissue in people with neuromuscular diseases. The aim of this study was to determine relative and absolute reliability of ultrasonography in evaluation of thickness and histogram of elbow flexor muscles in patients with facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD and healthy subjects. Materials and Methods: The present study was carried out on an experimental group of six patients with FSHD and a control group comprising 6 healthy individuals. The thickness and histogram of elbow flexors were evaluated while subjects were in sitting position with knees bent, arms at 90 degrees abduction, elbows at 90 degrees flexion and forearms in neutral position. The probe was placed on the anterior surface of arm at 2/3 distance between the lateral tip of acromion and the lateral epicondyle of the humerus. Standard deviation of echogenicity based on histogram curve was also used to estimate the echogenic uniformity of muscle tissue (STDE), subsequently two parameters including L-mean and STDE were recorded. The intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC), standard error measurement (SEM) and minimal detectable changes (MDC) tests were applied to measure relative and absolute reliability and to estimate the measurement errors. Results: The values of the reliability of muscle thickness measurement were ICC=0.95, SEM=2.14 and MDC=5.94 and ICC=0.95, SEM=1.34 and MDC=3.72 in the experimental group and the control group respectively. Additionally, for L-mean measurements it appeared to be ICC=0.89, SEM=1.75 and MDC=4.86 among patients and ICC=0.66, SEM=1.04 and MDC=2.89 in healthy subjects. Finally, the reliability of STDE measurement was revealed to be ICC=0.98, SEM=0.18 and MDC=0.51 and (ICC=0.75, SEM=0.63 and MDC=1.74) among the participants of the experimental and the control groups. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that ultrasonography method used in this study had a high level of accuracy to measure the thickness and histogram of elbow flexors in both healthy subjects and patients with FSHD. The method can be recommended to compare or determine the effectiveness of different treatment methods in patients with FSHD.Key words: Elbow Flexors, Fascioscapulohumoral Dystrophy Histogram, Reliability; Thickness, Ultrasonograph

Topical Licorice for Aphthous: A Systematic Review of Clinical Trials

Background: Recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS) is the most common ulcerative disease that affects oral mucosa. The coating agents, topical analgesics, and topical steroids are usually used as treatment methods. Glycyrrhiza glabra has been used for RAS treatment based on its anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and immunomodulatory properties. In this study, a systemic review on the therapeutic effect of topical licorice on RAS management was performed. Methods: Science Direct, Scopus, Cochrane databases, PubMed Google Scholar, and ResearchGate were searched up to September 2021 to find all English randomized clinical trials studying the effect of G. glabra, or its compositions on RAS. Meta-analysis was not conducted because of data heterogeneity. Articles were reviewed qualitatively, and only those with a Jadad score ≥3 were included. Animal studies, in vitro, review papers, non-English papers, and case reports were excluded.Results: Six studies with 314 subjects were included after screening. The result showed licorice has significant effects on RAS pain reduction, ulcer size, and healing time. Its effectiveness is related to its dose-dependent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects through several mechanisms. It also has antibacterial effects against Streptococci mutans and Porphyromonas gingivalis as another mechanism of action in RAS treatment. In addition, licorice can elevate the epidermal growth factor (EGF) level compared to the control group, which has an essential role in oral mucosal tissue integrity. Conclusion: Licorice extract has been used in different dosage forms, including paste, patch, and mouthwash with concentrations of 1% or 5%. The healing time after licorice therapy is expected to be within 4-8 days. Licorice did not show any adverse effect in the intervention groups, indicating its effectiveness and safety in RAS treatment

Treatment of synthetic urban runoff using manganese oxide-coated sand in the presence of magnetic field

Aims: The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficiency of manganese oxide‑coated sand in the presence of magnetic field to treat urban runoff. Materials and Methods: A flow‑through column having a diameter of 50 mm was filled with coated sand and used to conduct the experiments in this study. Atomic absorption, turbidimeter, pH meter, and spectrophotometer DR5000 were used to measure heavy metals, turbidity, pH, phosphate, and nitrate, respectively. The surface of coated sand was assessed by SEM. Energy dispersive X‑ray analysis (EDAX) analysis was used to determine percentage of sand components. Results: SEM and EDAX analyses confirmed that the sand has been coated with manganese oxide successfully. Results indicated that turbidity, Pb, Zn, and PO4 removal efficiency by the coated sand in the presence of magnetic field were 89.6%, 65.9%, 81.1% and 67%, respectively. The results indicated that the coated sand is not able to remove NO3. Conclusion: Manganese oxide‑coated sand filter in the presence of magnetic field improve the quality of urban runoff significantly. Authors believe that this approach is simple, economical and efficient as in comparison to other existing methods. This could be a promising treatment technology that can enhance quality of urban runoff and industrial wastewater

Determination of the Removal Efficiency of Linear Alkyl Benzene Sulphonate Acids (LAS) in Fixed Bed Aeration Tank and Conventional Activated Sludge

Linear Alkyl Benzene Sulphonate Acids (LAS) are one of the anionic surfactants that are produced and used in large quantities in different countries and find their way into the natural environment through sewer systems. These compounds may potentially cause environmental hazards in such surface waters as rivers. It is, therefore, necessary to remove as much of these compounds as possible by biological processes in wastewater treatment plants. For this purpose, four parallel biological reactors were constructed that used the conventional activated sludge and aeration tanks with fixed bed on the bench scale in order to evaluate the removal efficiency of LAS. The reactors were operated under conditions similar to domestic wastewater treatment plants. Parameters of interest were measured according to standard methods and ANOVA and T-test were used for the statistical analysis of the data. The results showed that aeration tanks with fixed beds yielded higher values of LAS and COD removal and air consumption compared to the conventional activated sludge system. It was shown that the two systems studied achieved LAS removal efficiencies of 96% and 94% for an influent LAS concentration of 5 mg/L. Further, it was found that the effluents from both systems satisfied water quality standards for discharge into surface waters