Use of Intraoperative Ultrasound (IOUS) in Liver Surgery

Over the last many years, diagnostic imaging has grown from a state of infancy to a high level of maturity. The various imaging modalities were developed over the last 50 years. Ultrasonography is one of the valuable tools in diagnosis of many diseases for a long time. It replaced X-ray in the diagnosis of many different diseases. It is noninvasive and has no complications if used many times in the day even if it is safe during pregnancy. The use of ultrasonography was spread over the years in all branches of medicine. It is promptly used in emergency medicine. Its use was introduced during operations. It showed excellent results when used for the assessment of liver tumors either primary or secondary liver tumors during open surgery and laparoscopy. The use of high-frequency ultrasound probe intraoperatively will nullify the abdominal wall and bowel gas effects on the result

Damage Control in Liver Surgery

Damage control surgery is an old type of surgery practiced for many years to save the lives of badly injured patients. Damage control was first practiced in the American navy where a damaged vessel would receive minimal repair to keep it afloat. This translates to the field of medicine where minimal surgery is performed to save the life of a patient, and minimal action is taken to avoid major ailments, including hypothermia, acidosis, and coagulation defects during major trauma. Before World War II damage control surgery was popular, but later this type of surgery was abandoned. However, with a better understanding of the physiology of trauma and a revision of the outcome of badly injured patients, surgeons have reverted to damage control surgery, for example the packing of bleeding organs such as the liver and the controlling of sepsis, rather than taking patients to intensive care for further assessment. Damage control surgery has many benefits for badly injured patients and improves their chances of survival

Financial Performance Comparison of Islamic and conventional banks in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)

This paper examines the financial performance of Islamic and commercial banks in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The paper gives an empirical insights and comparisons between the performance of Islamic and conventional banking sectors.  The sample of the study consists of 5 fully-fledged Islamic banks and 14 conventional banks working in the UAE under the period 2011-2014. The study uses descriptive analysis, correlation, independent sample t test and multiple regression analysis to assess the performance and to compare between both types of banks. The Return on Assets (ROA) is used as proxy for profitability for both types of banks while bank size (log A), liquidity, capital adequacy, financial risk and operating efficiency as proxies for financial performance for both types of banks. The results showed that there is no significant difference between Islamic banks and conventional banks in terms of profitability (ROA) while there is a significant difference between Islamic and conventional banks in terms of liquidity, operation efficiency, capital adequacy, and financial risk. Further, the results indicated that the Islamic banks have higher operating efficiency, bank size and more liquidity than their counterparts of UAE. However, conventional banks are found to have better capital adequacy ratio than Islamic banks. In terms of financial risk, Islamic banks are found to have higher five times than conventional banks which may reflect challenges in the area of risk management in Islamic banks. Keywords: Financial performance, Islamic banks, Conventional banks, ROA, UAE. JEL Classification: A10, E60, G2

The impact of political instability, macroeconomic and bank-specific factors on the profitability of Islamic banks: an empirical evidence

This study investigates the impact of political instability, macroeconomic and bank-specific factors on the profitability of Islamic banks in the context of Yemen. The study used two common measures of profitability, namely, Return on Assets (ROA) and Return on Equity (ROE) as dependent variables. Seven key independent (internal and external) variables are also used. There are five fully-fledged Islamic banks (IBs) working in Yemen. The study selected only three out of five IBs due to the availability of data for the period ranging from 2010 to 2014. The descriptive and multiple regression analyses were done. The results of the study indicate that operating efficiency and financial risk have negative and significant relationships with ROA and ROE. The findings also show that capital adequacy has a negative and insignificant relationship with ROA and ROE. Furthermore, the study reveals that assets size (LogA), assets management, liquidity and deposits have a significant and positive impact on banks’ profitability. GDP, Inflation rate (IR) and Political instability have positive and significant impact on Yemeni banks’ profitability. Based on the best knowledge of the authors, this study is considered one of the first and pioneering studies that determine the factors affecting the profitability of Islamic banks of Yemen. Therefore, the study gives good insights for the policy makers, regulators and interested parties for enhancing the profitability of Islamic banks in Yemen

Prosopis juliflora leave extracts induce cell death of MCF-7, HepG2, and LS-174T cancer cell lines

Prosopis juliflora (P. juliflora) is a widespread phreatophytic tree, which belongs to the Fabaceae family. The goal of the present study is to investigate the potential anti-cancer effect of P. juliflora leave extracts and to identify its chemical composition. For this purpose, MCF-7 (breast), HepG2 (liver), and LS-174T (colorectal) cancer cell lines were cultivated and incubated with various concentrations of P. juliflora leave extracts, and its impact on cell viability, proliferation, and cell cycle stages was investigated. P. juliflora leave extracts induced concentration-dependent cytotoxicity against all tested cancer cell lines. The calculated IC50 was 18.17, 33.1 and 41.9 μg/ml for MCF-7, HePG2 and LS-174T, respectively. Detailed analysis revealed that the cytotoxic action of P. juliflora extracts was mainly via necrosis but not apoptosis. Moreover, DNA content flow cytometry analysis showed cell-specific anti-proliferative action and cell cycle stages arrest. In order to identify the anti-cancer constituents of P. juliflora, the ethyl extracts were analyzed by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. The major constituents identified in the ethyl extracts of P. juliflora leaves were hydroxymethyl-pyridine, nicotinamide, adenine, and poly-(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA). In conclusion, P. juliflora ethyl acetate extracts have a potential anti-cancer effect against breast adenocarcinoma, hepatocellular carcinoma, and colorectal adenocarcinoma, and is enriched with anti-cancer constituents

Interdisciplinary Cooperation Between Medical Secretary Technicians and Pharmacist

An evaluation was conducted to determine whether or not a pharmacy technician is capable of providing assistance with the functions of a pharmacist-driven osteoporosis management service that are linked to patient screening and documentation. Evidence suggests that a healthcare provider and pharmacy technician are able to accurately identify whether or not a patient is a candidate for intervention by a pharmacist and collect clinical information to aid the establishment of a care plan. The involvement of pharmacists and medical secretaries in patient care has been shown to improve results, including a reduction in adverse drug events and medication errors, an increase in the appropriateness of prescription use, and an improvement in patient understanding of their drugs

Design of a novel passive Binary-Controlled Variable Stiffness Joint (BpVSJ) towards passive haptic interface application

In this paper we present the design, development and experimental validation of a novel Binary-Controlled Variable Stiffness Joint (BpVSJ) towards haptic teleoperation and human interaction manipulators applications. The proposed actuator is a proof of concept of a passive revolute joint, where the working principle is based on the recruitment of series-parallel elastic elements. The novelty of the system lies in its design topology, including the capability to involve an (n) number of series-parallel elastic elements to achieve (2n) levels of stiffness, as compared to current approaches. Accordingly, the level of stiffness can be altered at any position without the need to revert to the initial equilibrium position. The BpVSJ has low energy consumption and short switching time, and is able to rotate freely at zero stiffness without limitations. Further smart features include scalability and relative compactness. This paper details the mathematical stiffness modeling of the proposed actuator mechanism, as well as the experimentally measured performance characteristics. The experimental results matched well with the physical-based modeling in terms of stiffness variation levels. Moreover, Psychophysical experiments were also conducted using (20) healthy subjects in order to evaluate the capability of the BpVSJ to display three different levels of stiffness that are cognitively realized by the users. The participants performed two tasks: a relative cognitive task and an absolute cognitive task. The results show that the BpVSJ is capable of rendering stiffness with high average relative accuracy (Relative Cognitive Task relative accuracy is 97.3%, and Absolute Cognitive Task relative accuracy is 83%)

Overview on Juvenile Primary Fibromyalgia Syndrome

JPFS (juvenile primary fibromyalgia syndrome) is a musculoskeletal pain illness that affects children and adolescents. The intricacy of the clinical picture in JPFS has not been adequately characterized in the literature. JFMS symptoms are sometimes difficult to compare to adult fibromyalgia syndrome since many of them are "medically unexplained" and frequently overlap with other medical disorders.  The etiology of the illness is multifaceted, with impaired central pain processing being a significant contributor. Musculoskeletal pain that is severe and pervasive is the defining symptom. Other signs and symptoms include headaches, stiffness, subjective joint swelling, sleep and mood disorders, and headaches. Multiple sensitive spots might be found during a physical examination. The diagnosis has certain criteria and is clinical. Early detection and treatment are crucial. The gold standard of care combines a variety of modalities, but most significantly, exercise and cognitive behavioral therapy. The outlook varies, and symptoms might last well into adulthood. Discussing the epidemiology, etiology, pathophysiology, clinical symptoms, diagnosis, and management of JPFS is the goal of the review

Assessment and Management of Scabies in Primary Care Settings

Scabies is an overlooked tropical illness that yet has significant worldwide effects and lasting health repercussions. The condition is caused by the mite Sarcoptes scabei var. hominis, which is a parasitic organism that dwells on the outer layer of the human skin. Scabies is prevalent in impoverished neighborhoods as a result of the high population density in locations such as nursing homes, correctional facilities, and among homeless and displaced children. Nevertheless, modern nations are also prone to scabies infestations, particularly in cases of institutional outbreaks or mini epidemics occurring after conflict or natural calamities. Scabies diagnosis can be aided by both invasive and noninvasive techniques. This paper reviews assessment diagnosis, and management of scabies in primary health care settings