Serological prevalence of leptospiral infection in wild rats at the National Service Training Centres in Kelantan and Terengganu

One hundred and sixty eight rats were trapped from the National Service Training Centres (NSTC) in Kelantan and Terengganu from October 2008 to May 2009. Microscopic agglutination test (MAT) was performed to detect the presence of agglutinating antibodies to Leptospira among the rats caught. All the MAT positive rats were identified as Rattus tiomanicus. In Kelantan, 17.3% (14/81) of the rats had leptospiral antibodies to serovars Icterohaemorrhagiae (12.3%), Canicola (2.5%), Ballum (1.2%), and Pyrogenes (1.2%). In Terengganu, 18.4% (16/87) of the rats had antibodies to serovars Icterohaemorrhagiae (15%), Canicola (1.1%), Pyrogenes (1.1%) and Hebdomadis (1.1%). This study indicated that Leptospira serovars were prevalent in the rat population in the study areas and could be a source of infection to humans. Therefore, control of the rat population in all NSTC is critical to prevent outbreaks of leptospirosis amongst the NSTC trainees

Zinc intake during the pregnancy increases the proliferation at ventricular zone of the newborn brain

Neurogenesis involves cell proliferation, cell cycle arrest, differentiation, migration and the natural developmental death of the neural precursors. These processes are highly co-ordinated and governed by cell-cycle genes and neural transcription factors. Zn plays a crucial role as a functional and structural component of enzymes and transcription factors and components of the intracellular signaling pathway associated with the regulation of cell proliferation. The influence of additional Zn intake during pregnancy on the neuronal proliferation at ventricular zone of the developing fetus has been studied. Pups delivered by the group of mice provided with drinking water with 4.0 mM Zn supplement throughout pregnancy contained an increased number of proliferating neurons in the ventricular zone at P0 compared to those delivered by the mice provided with drinking water without any Zn supplement. This finding provides direct evidence to support the notion that maternal Zn levels influence the development of the nervous system of the offspring

Anorectal manometry in children with defecation disorders BSPGHAN Motility Working Group consensus statement

Defecatory disorders in children, including chronic constipation (CC) and fecal incontinence (FI), are common conditions worldwide and have a significant impact on children, their families, and the healthcare system. Anorectal manometry (ARM) and high‐resolution anorectal manometry (HRAM) are relatively novel tools for the assessment of anal sphincter function and rectal sensation and have contributed significantly to improving the understanding of the anorectum as a functional unit. ARM has been recognized as the investigation of choice for adults with symptoms of defecation disorders, including fecal incontinence (FI), evacuation difficulties, and constipation. Although it is the gold standard tool in adults, it has yet to be formally accepted as a standardized diagnostic tool in the pediatric age, with limited knowledge regarding indications, protocol, and normal values. ARM/HRAM is slowly becoming recognized among pediatricians, but given that there are currently no agreed guidelines there is a risk that will lead to diversity in practice. The British Society of Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (BSPGHAN)—Motility Working Group (MWG) therefore has taken the opportunity to provide guidance on the use of ARM/HRAM in children with CC and/or FI

Pediatric Esophageal Dilatations: A Cross-Specialty Experience

AIM OF THE STUDY: Esophageal dilatations are commonly performed in pediatric patients who have undergone an esophageal atresia/tracheoesophageal fistula (EA/TEF) repair or following caustic injury. We sought to compare the practice of esophageal dilatation across different specialties. METHODS: We analyzed all patients who had an esophageal dilatation at our center between April 2014 and December 2018. Patients were identified via prospectively maintained databases and clinical coding records. Patients had a combination of dilatations under each specialty: interventional radiology (IR), surgery, and gastroenterology. RESULTS: Thirty-five individual patients underwent 226 dilatations, median dilatations per patient was 3 (1–40). The median age at first dilatation was 18 months (1–194 months). Sixty-eight percent of patients had a previous EA/TEF repair. IR performed 59% of dilatations, surgeons 26%, and 15% by gastroenterologists. Surgeons more frequently were performing initial dilatations (P < .05) and performed more dilatations in EA/TEF patients (P < .0001). There was a significant difference between the time from a surgical dilatation until the next dilatation, 3.7 months, compared with an IR dilatation, 1.8 months (ANOVA, P < .05). Surgeons more frequently increased the size of balloon used (57% versus 33% versus 39%, P < .01). There was no significant difference in balloon size between specialties or in the incremental increase in size between subsequent dilatations. There was one postprocedure perforation, managed conservatively (complication rate = 0.4%). CONCLUSIONS: We have demonstrated that on average, patients wait longer after a surgical dilatation until their next procedure, and surgical teams are more likely to increase the size of the dilating balloon. Surgeons tend to be more involved in their postoperative patients in the initial phases of stricture management. Our results suggest the feasibility and safety of a multispecialty approach for these patients

Antibiotic resistance and molecular typing among cockle (Anadara granosa) strains of Vibrio parahaemolyticus by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based analysis

Genomic DNA of Vibrio parahaemolyticus were characterized by antibiotic resistance, enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus-polymerase chain reaction (ERIC-PCR) and random amplified polymorphic DNA-polymerase chain reaction (RAPD-PCR) analysis. These isolates originated from 3 distantly locations of Selangor, Negeri Sembilan and Melaka (East coastal areas), Malaysia. A total of 44 (n = 44) of tentatively V. parahaemolyticus were also examined for the presence of toxR, tdh and trh gene. Of 44 isolates, 37 were positive towards toxR gene; while, none were positive to tdh and trh gene. Antibiotic resistance analysis showed the V. parahaemolyticus isolates were highly resistant to bacitracin (92 %, 34/37) and penicillin (89 %, 33/37) followed by resistance towards ampicillin (68 %, 25/37), cefuroxime (38 %, 14/37), amikacin (6 %, 2/37) and ceftazidime (14 %, 5/37). None of the V. parahaemolyticus isolates were resistant towards chloramphenicol, ciprofloxacin, ceftriaxone, enrofloxacin, norfloxacin, streptomycin and vancomycin. Antibiogram patterns exhibited, 9 patterns and phenotypically less heterogenous when compared to PCR-based techniques using ERIC- and RAPD-PCR. The results of the ERIC- and RAPD-PCR were analyzed using GelCompare software. ERIC-PCR with primers ERIC1R and ERIC2 discriminated the V. parahaemolyticus isolates into 6 clusters and 21 single isolates at a similarity level of 80 %. While, RAPD-PCR with primer Gen8 discriminated the V. parahaemolyticus isolates into 11 clusters and 10 single isolates and Gen9 into 8 clusters and 16 single isolates at the same similarity level examined. Results in the presence study demonstrated combination of phenotypically and genotypically methods show a wide heterogeneity among cockle isolates of V. parahaemolyticus

Pembuatan Nanopartikelmagnetik Berlapis Polimer Biodegrable dengan Metode Sonokimia

PEMBUATAN NANOPARTIKELMAGNETIK BERLAPIS POLIMER BIODEGRABLE DENGAN METODE SONOKIMIA. Telah dilakukan pembuatan nanopartikel magnetik berbasis partikel magnetik Fe3O4 dan polimer biodegrable polilaktat (PLA) dengan metode mikroemulsi menggunakan alat ultrasonik Ukuran partikel, kestabilan dispersi dalam air, keberadaan bahan magnetik dan sifat kemagnetannya telah dipelajari. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa serbuk magnetik berlapis polimer biodegrable PLA yang dihasilkan berukuran rata-rata 800 nm dan terdispersi stabil membentuk sistem koloid dalam air selama lebih dari 21 hari. Keberadaan Fe3O4 dalam sistem koloid dapat dipastikan dari pola difraksi XRD. Nilai magnetisasi jenuh Fe3O4 berlapis PLA yang dibuat dalam penelitian ini adalah 5 emu/g-sampel atau menunjukkan faktor pengisian 40%

Fragmentation of Nimotuzumab for Preparation of 125I-F(ab’)2-Nimotuzumab as a Precursor for Preparing 125I-F(ab’)2-Nimotuzumab-NLS Radiopharmaceutical for Cancer Therapy

Nimotuzumab is an anticancer agent which belongs to the inhibitor group of Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR). Thismonoclonal antibody has a relatively high molecular weight which slowspenetration on tumor cells, making it less attractive in imaging kinetics and potentially elicits antibodies responses. Therefore, in this study nimotuzumab was fragmented to form a bivalent antibody [F(ab’)2] and then labeled with 125I to form 125I-F(ab’)2-nimotuzumab which can be used further as a precursor for preparing 125I-F(ab’)2-nimotuzumab-NLS(NLS = nuclear localization sequence) radiopharmaceuticalfor radioimmunotherapy. The aims of this study was to obtain  characteristics of 125I-F(ab’)2-nimotuzumab by comparing with the 125I labeled-intact nimotuzumab (125I-nimotuzumab). This study was initiated by purifying nimotuzumab by mean of dialysis. The purified nimotuzumab was then fragmented by using pepsin. The F(ab')2-nimotuzumab formed was then purified from its by-products which formed in fragmentation process by using a PD-10 column (consisted Sephadex G25). The intact nimotuzumab and its F(ab’)2 fragment were then labeled with the 125I to form 125I-nimotuzumab and 125I-F(ab’)2-nimotuzumab. The radiochemical purity are 98.27 % and 93.24 %, respectively. Stability test results show that, both 125I-nimotuzumab and 125I-F(ab’)2-nimotuzumab are more stable at 4 °C than at room temperature storage and 37 °C.Received: 24 May 2013; Revised: 21 February 2014; Accepted: 28 February 201