Brain abscess following rituximab infusion in a patient with pemphigus vulgaris.

BackgroundImmunocompromised patients are at increased risk for developing meningitis or, rarely, brain abscess with opportunistic organisms like Listeria monocytogenes.Case reportA 52 year-old Saudi Arabian woman who was diagnosed with pemphigus vulgaris and diabetes and had been on prednisolone and azathioprine for about 4 years. She presented with headache, low-grade fever, and left-sided weakness 2 weeks after receiving the second dose of rituximab infusion. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed an enhanced space-occupying lesion with multiple small cyst-like structures and vasogenic edema in the right temporoparietal area. Her blood culture was positive for Listeria monocytogenes, and a brain biopsy showed necrotic tissues with pus and inflammatory cells. She recovered after a 6-week course of antibiotics with ampicillin and gentamycin.ConclusionsBrain abscess due to Listeria monocytogenes is a risk that should be considered when adding rituximab to the regimen of a patient who is already Immunocompromised

Dual-wave β-correction spectrophotometric determination of palladium ions using neothorin

AbstractA simple low cost method has been developed and validated for the determination of trace amounts of palladium (II) ions in water and fertilizer samples. The method is based on the reaction of palladium (II) ions with the reagent neothorin (2-(2-arsonophenylazo) chromotropic acid disodium salt). The complex formed exhibits an absorption maximum at 567nm (λmax) in Britton–Robinson (BR) buffer (pH=2). The corrected absorbance of the formed complex at λmax was obtained by employing a β-correction spectrophotometric method. The Beer–Lambert law and Ringbom's plots of the coloured palladium reagent complex were obeyed in the concentration ranges of 0.05–2.7 and 0.1–2μgmL−1 palladium (II) ions, respectively, with relative standard deviations in the range of ±1.3–2.1%. The limits of detection (LOD) and quantitation (LOQ) of the procedure were 0.011 and 0.04μgmL−1 palladium, respectively. The proposed method was applied for the analysis of palladium (II) ions in spiked tap, mineral and underground water samples. The results of the developed method were satisfactorily compared with the data obtained by the inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometric (ICP-MS) method. Statistical comparison of the results of the proposed method with those obtained by the standard method revealed no significant differences in accuracy and precision. The developed method offers a simple system coupled with good reproducibility, accuracy, ruggedness and cost effectiveness

Statistical Analysis of a Linear Multi-Step Numerical Treatment

The aim of this paper is to compare the relative accuracies between predictor-corrector methods, Adams-Bashforth method and Adams-Moulton method for solving initial value Differential Equations numerically to observe which methods tend to function well in which step-size brackets as well as which ones provide the minimum amount of error when compared to the true value. The statistical analysis shows that there is always a small amount of error present using Heun’s method; however, the error is rarely large enough unless the function is rapidly rising

Maximum Norm Analysis of a Nonmatching Grids Method for Nonlinear Elliptic PDES

We provide a maximum norm analysis of a finite element Schwarz alternating method for a nonlinear elliptic PDE on two overlapping subdomains with nonmatching grids. We consider a domain which is the union of two overlapping subdomains where each subdomain has its own independently generated grid. The two meshes being mutually independent on the overlap region, a triangle belonging to one triangulation does not necessarily belong to the other one. Under a Lipschitz asssumption on the nonlinearity, we establish, on each subdomain, an optimal L∞ error estimate between the discrete Schwarz sequence and the exact solution of the PDE

Human-Induced Geo-Hazards in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Distribution, Investigation, Causes and Impacts

Different types of geological hazards are induced by human activities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). These geological hazards include land subsidence and earth fissures, sinkholes, expansive soils, and flash floods. A wide variety of recent geological hazards have been reported in several areas, causing significant human and property losses. Human activities, most notably groundwater extraction, infrastructure development, and agricultural activities, have induced unstable conditions. This chapter provides an overview of the human-induced geological hazard in the KSA, mainly earth fissures and sinkhole, which represent a scarcely explored topic. This work identifies the main types of human-induced geological-hazard formations, distribution, causes, and impacts, illustrated through several case studies in the KSA

Digestive Malacoplakia in Children: Case Report

Malacoplakia is a form of chronic granulomatous inflammatory reaction that rarely affects the pediatric age group. The gastrointestinal system is the second most common site for the occurrence of malacoplakia. We report the case of a 9-year-old girl who was hospitalized for abdominal pain, chronic diarrhea, and rectal hemorrhage. The endoscopic examinations and histopathology confirmed the diagnosis of intestinal malacoplakia. We successfully treated her with oral levofloxacin. This disease does not have any specific clinical or biological signs, and the diagnosis is exclusively based on histology

On Estimating a Constant Stress Life Test Model Using Time-Censored Data from the Linear Failure Rate Distribution

In this paper, a constant stress partially accelerated life test model is considered and investigated using type-I censored data from the linear failure rate distribution. The maximum likelihood estimates (point and interval) of the distribution parameters and the acceleration factor are obtained. For accuracy reasons, the mean squared errors are calculated using different sizes of samples. For illustration, Monte Carlo simulation studies are presented.Предложена модель частично ускоренных испытаний на циклическую долговечность с постоянным напряжением с использованием данных, подвергнутых цензурированию типа I с линейным распределением скорости разрушения. Получены точечные и интервальные оценки максимального правдоподобия параметров распределения и коэффициента ускорения. С целью повышения точности прогнозов расчет среднеквадратических погрешностей осуществлялся для образцов разных размеров. Для иллюстрации работоспособности модели выполнено моделирование тестовых задач с использованием метода Монте-Карло.Запропоновано модель частково прискорених випробувань на циклічну довговічність з постійною напругою з використанням даних, які було піддано цензуруванню типу I із лінійним розподілом швидкості руйнування. Отримано точкові й інтервальні оцінки максимальної правдоподібності параметрів розподілу і коефіцієнта прискорення. Із метою підвищення точності прогнозів розрахунок середньоквадратичних похибок проводився для зразків різних розмірів. Для ілюстрації роботоздатності моделі виконано моделювання тестових задач із використанням методу Монте-Карло

The role of nicotinamide in acne treatment

Safe and effective treatment options for acne vulgaris are needed to address side effects and increasing rates of antibiotic resistance from current treatments. Nicotinamide is a vitamin with potent antiâ inflammatory properties that could offer a potential treatment option. We aim to summarize the relevant literature on the role of nicotinamide in acne vulgaris and discuss the next steps necessary to move this approach into clinical practice. We searched PubMed for clinical studies using nicotinamide for treatment of acne vulgaris. We summarized the 10 studies that met our search criteria. Six of eight studies using topical nicotinamide led to a significant reduction in acne compared with the patient’s baseline or performed similarly to another standardâ ofâ care acne treatment. Both studies using an oral supplement containing nicotinamide resulted in a significant reduction in acne compared with baseline. No major adverse side effects were noted. Our review suggests that topical and oral nicotinamide has an unclear effect on acne vulgaris due to the limited nature of the available literature. Additional studies are needed comparing nicotinamide to other firstâ line acne treatments and evaluating the efficacy and side effect profile of nicotinamide over an extended period of time.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/138875/1/dth12481_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/138875/2/dth12481.pd

A novel homozygous TPM1 mutation in familial pediatric hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and in silico screening of potential targeting drugs.

Familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is the most common genetic cardiac disease. While sarcomeric gene mutations explain many HCM cases, the genetic basis of about half of HCM cases remains elusive. Here we aimed to identify the gene causing HCM in a non-consanguineous Saudi Arabian family with affected family members and a history of sudden death. The impact of the identified mutation on protein structure and potential drug targets were evaluated in silico. Triplets (two HCM subjects and one patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) case) and unaffected parents were screened by targeted next-generation sequencing (NGS) for 181 candidate cardiomyopathy genes. In silico structural and functional analyses, including protein modeling, structure prediction, drug screening, drug binding, and dynamic simulations were performed to explore the potential pathogenicity of the variant and to identify candidate drugs. A homozygous missense mutation in exon 1 of TMP1 (assembly GRCh37-chr15: 63340781; G>A) was identified in the triplets [two HCM and one patent ductus arteriosus (PDA)] that substituted glycine for arginine at codon 3 (p.Gly3Arg). The parents were heterozygous for the variant. The mutation was predicted to cause a significant and deleterious change in the TPM1 protein structure that slightly affected drug binding, stability, and conformation. In addition, we identified several putative TPM1-targeting drugs through structure-based in silico screening. TPM1 mutations are a common cause of HCM and other congenital heart defects. To date, TPM1 has not been associated with isolated PDA; to our knowledge, this is the first report of the homozygous missense variation p.Gly3Arg in TPM1 associated with familial autosomal recessive pediatric HCM and PDA. The identified candidate TPM1 inhibitors warrant further prospective investigation.This research was supported by the Strategic Technologies Programs of the National Plan for Science, Technology and Innovation (MAARIFAH), Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Project No: 12-MED3174-05, through the Science and Technology Unit (STU), Taibah University, Al Madinah Al Munawwarah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia