Indications for intravitreal anti vascular endothelial growth factor in Kano, North Western, Nigeria

Background: To review the common indications for intravitreal anti vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) medications given at the retinal unit of Makkah Specialist Eye Hospital, Kano, Nigeria from January 2014 to December 2015.Methods: The case records of all patients given intravitreal anti VEGF medications were reviewed and age, diagnosis and indication for injection were recorded. Results were analyzed using the PAWS statistics version 18.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL).Results: A total of 174 injections consisting of 170 bevacizumab and 4 ranibizumab injections were given in the study period. The common indications for intravitreal injections were diabetic macula edema (42.5%), retinal vein occlusion (25.9%) and vitreous heamorrhage (9.8%).Conclusions: Diabetic macula edema and retinal vein occlusions are the major indications for intravitreal anti VEGF injections in Kano

Workplace bullying in Malaysia: an exploratory study

This paper aims at investigating the prevalence of workplace bullying and the frequency of its negative acts in Malaysia. Bullying in the workplace was measured using the Negative Acts Questionnaire (NAQ-R) developed by Einarsen et al (2003). A sample of 231 randomly selected respondents participated in the study. They represented both the public and private sectors, and several industry and job levels. The frequency of the negative acts (now and then, monthly, weekly, daily), excluding never, revealed shocking numbers. Among the different forms of bullying, the results indicated that 81.4% were being bullied by someone withholding information that affected their performance, 82.2% were being bullied by someone spreading gossip about them, and 82.3% were being bullied by being given tasks with unreasonable deadlines

Multicriteria Decision Making for Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Emission Reduction

The fast industrial revolution all over the world has increased emission of carbon dioxide (CO2), which has badly affected the atmosphere. Main sources of CO2 emission include vehicles and factories, which use oil, gas, and coal. Similarly, due to the increased mobility of automobiles, CO2 emission increases day-by-day. Roughly, 40% of the world’s total CO2 emission is due to the use of personal cars on busy and congested roads, which burn more fuel. In addition to this, the unavailability of parking in all parts of the cities and the use of conventional methods for searching parking areas have added more to this problem. To solve the problem of reducing CO2 emission, a novel cloud-based smart parking methodology is proposed. This methodology enables drivers to automatically search for nearest parking(s) and recommend the most preferred ones that have empty lots. For determining preferences, the methodology uses the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) of multicriteria decision-making methods. For aggregating the decisions, the weighted sum model (WSM) is adopted. The methods of sorting, multilevel multifeatures filtering, exploratory data analysis (EDA), and weighted sum model (WSM) are used for ranking parking areas and recommending top-k parking to the drivers for parking their cars. To implement the methodology, a scenario comprising cars, smart parkings are considered. To use EDA, a freely available dataset “2020testcar-2020-03-03” is used for the estimation of CO2 emitted by cars. For evaluation purpose, the results obtained are compared with the results of traditional approach. The comparison results show that the proposed methodology outperforms the traditional approach

Konsep Kendiri dan Gaya Pembelajaran terhadap Motivasi Akademik dalam kalangan Mahasiswa

Kepercayaan terhadap diri sendiri adalah sangat penting untuk memastikan individu sentiasa berfikiran positif dan terus semangat dalam menjalani kehidupan seharian sebagai seorang pelajar. Gaya pembelajaran yang betul juga adalah penting untuk pastikan seseorang itu terus cemerlang dan yakin dalam urusan akademik. Statistik dunia menunjukkan bahawa seramai 11.5% pelajar Korea Selatan bunuh diri akibat tertekan dengan ujian sekolah. Terdapat kes di Malaysia di mana pelajar cemerlang SPM bunuh diri akibat tidak mempunyai keyakinan dalam pelajaran. Objektif kajian ini bertujuan untuk mengkaji tahap, perhubungan dan perbezaan antara konsep kendiri, gaya pembelajaran dengan motivasi akademik. Kajian ini dilakukan di Universiti Putra Malaysia dalam kalangan mahasiswa tahun pertama sesi 2019/2020. Seramai 251 responden libatkan diri dalam kajian ini. Kajian ini adalah berbentuk kuantitatif dan responden dipilih melalui persampelan bertujuan mudah. Seterusnya, melalui persampelan rawak berstrata, 234 mahasiswa perempuan dan 117 mahasiswa lelaki telah dibahagikan. Instrumen kajian menggunakan borang soal selidik yang terdiri dari empat bahagian iaitu Bahagian A (latar belakang responden), Bahagian B (konsep kendiri), Bahagian C (gaya pembelajaran) dan Bahagian D (motivasi akademik). Hasil kajian dianalisis menggunakan analisis deskriptif, korelasi pearson dan ujian-T. Hasil kajian menunjukkan bahawa mahasiswa tahun pertama di Universiti Putra Malaysia memiliki tahap konsep kendiri, motivasi akademik intrinsik dan motivasi akademik ekstrinsik yang tinggi. Responden juga didapati lebih cenderung dengan gaya pembelajaran visual dan kinestetik berbanding gaya pembelajaran auditori. Bagi perkaitan antara konsep kendiri dan motivasi akademik, didapati terdapat perhubungan yang positif di mana dilihat konsep kendiri mempengaruhi motivasi akademik. Dapatan kajian juga menunjukkan bahawa gaya pembelajaran visual dan kinestetik mempengaruhi motivasi akademik responden. Hasil kajian mendapati bahawa terdapat perbezaan yang signifikan antara konsep kendiri, gaya pembelajaran visual dan motivasi akademik dengan jantina. Berdasarkan skor min dapat dilihat perempuan mendapat skor min yang lebih tinggi berbanding lelaki. Secara keseluruhan, kajian ini telah berjaya mencapai objektif yang telah dinyatakan. Ibu bapa, guru dan pelajar itu sendiri haruslah memainkan peranan yang penting untuk memastikan motivasi akademik sentiasa berada di tahap yang tinggi

Field and Satellite Images-Based Investigation of Rivers Morphological Aspects

Worldwide and especially in less developed regions, process-based evaluations and/or geomorphological information on large-scale rivers are still scarce. Such investigation become of ‎urgent ‎need due to the climate change and expected occurrence of extreme floods and drought which ‎may ‎threaten the safety of nearby and downstream cities, especially in regions that are highly sensitive and ‎affected by climatic changes. The Tigris River, in Iraq, is one such river that has undergone significant alteration to its flow and morphologic aspects due to climate change and the construction of many dams. However, morphology and its change for many reaches of this river are still uninvestigated. To this end, field and satellite-based investigations into the morphology of a reach located between Makhool District and Tikrit City have been conducted. In addition to the cross-sectional survey-based determination of the reach geometrical aspects, a sinuosity indices-based evaluation of the reach planform was implemented, utilizing a satellite indices-based approach. Furthermore, the characteristics of bed material were identified through field sampling. Investigation results show that the reach has a steep bed slope and many islands of low altitude with an elongated shape. The reach has a mild sinuosity with alternating bars. The dominant particle sizes of the bed material are coarse and medium gravel with a dominant particle shape of disc particles. Moreover, the satellite-based change detection indicated the fading out and disappearance of some secondary channels, the growth of many islands, and the movement of some bends downstream. The percentage of changing parts for the period 1975–2021 is 14%. Most of this change, 11%, occurred after the construction of the Mosul Dam. This reveals the sensitivity of reach morphology to flow change due to the construction of dams. The conducted fieldwork and the applied methodology contribute to supporting efforts to add knowledge worldwide about uninvestigated rivers. Doi: 10.28991/CEJ-2022-08-07-03 Full Text: PD

Ghrelin and Leptin and Their Relations with Insulin Resistance in Diabetes Mellitus Type 2 Patients

إن مرض السكري من النوع الثاني هو ناتج عن خلل في إفراز هرمون الأنسولين، ومقاومة الأنسولين. الهدف من الدراسة هو قياس تركيزالجريلين واللبتين في الدم وتحديد طبيعة العلاقة الموجودة بين هذه الهرمونات كمتغيرات تابعة مع بعض القياسات البيوكيميائية والسريرية في مرضى السكري من النوع الثاني. شملت الدراسة واحد و أربعين مريضآ بداء السكري من النوع الثاني و ثلاثة و أربعين شخصآ أصحاء كمجموعة ضابطة ، تتراوح أعمارهم بين 40-60 سنة و ضمن الوزن الطبيعي. وتم قياس نسبة هرمون الغريلين و اللبتين باستخدام تقنية الفحص المناعي المرتبط بالإنزيم (إلاليزا). أظهرت النتائج إن نسبة الغريلين اعلى واللبتين أقل معنويآ في مصل مرضى السكري من النوع الثاني مقارنة بالجموعة الضابطة. وتبين ان غريلين ترتبط إيجابيا مع، نسبة السكر في الدم و مقاومة الأنسولين  ومن ناحية اخرى ترتبط عكسيآ بحساسية الأنسولين. أماعلاقة اللبتين مع سكر الدم، الهيموجلوبين الجلوكوزيلاتي، مقاومة الأنسولين والبروتين الدهني المنخفض الكثافة، أكسيد النيتريك وأنزيم الكبد (ألانين أماينوترانسفيريز) هي علاقة عكسية. و ترتبط اللبتين خطيآ بمعدل ضغط الدم، حساسية الأنسولين و نوع الجنس. وفقًا لاختبارات التشخيص بأستعمال منحنى الخاصية العملياتية للمستقبلية أعتبرت هرمون الغريلين واللبتين علامات حيوية لداء السكري من النوع  الثاني. استنتجت هذه الدراسة أن الغريلين واللبتين يمكن إستخدامهم كأدوات تنبؤية للأصابة بمرض السكري من النوع الثاني، نظرآ لعلاقتهما المعنوية بمقاومة وحساسية الأنسولين، الشوارد الحرة و مستوى الدهون.Ghrelin and leptin are hunger hormones related to type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and the pathogenesis of T2DM is the abnormality in insulin secretion and insulin resistance (IR). The aim of this study is to evaluate ghrelin and leptin concentrations in blood and to specify the relationship of these hormones as dependent variables with some biochemical and clinical measurements in T2DM patients. In this study, forty one T2DM and forty three non-diabetes mellitus (non-DM) subjects, aged between 40-60 years and with normal weight, were enrolled. Fasting serum ghrelin and leptin were estimated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). In our results ghrelin was significantly increased, and leptin was significantly decreased, in T2DM patients compared with non-DM subjects. Ghrelin was positively correlated with the fasting blood glucose (FBG) and IR, but inversely related to the insulin sensitivity (IS). Leptin was negatively correlated with mean arterial pressure (MAP), FBG, glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), IR, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, nitric oxide (NO), and alanine aminotransferase (ALT), as well as showed a linear correlation with IS and a strong dependence on sex. The area under the curve (AUC) value shows ghrelin and leptin as biomarkers for T2DM. In conclusion ghrelin and leptin hormones have predictive ability to predict T2DM, as they are significantly associated with IR, IS, free radicals, and lipid profile

A mini review on the antimicrobial treatment, mechanisms and patterns of resistance among clinical, veterinary and environmental isolates of Burkholderia pseudomallei

The causative agent of human and animal melioidosis, Burkholderia pseudomallei is a saprophytic organism that is widely distributed in various environmental niches such as soil and water in endemic regions. Infection results from exposure to environments containing B. pseudomallei through direct skin inoculation or contamination of wounds, and inhalation of aerosolised bacteria. The infection is usually treatable with antibiotics but the treatments are becoming difficult, because these bacteria demonstrate a high level of intrinsic resistance against most common clinically relevant antibiotics. There are various mechanisms involved in B. pseudomallei antimicrobial resistance, four among which have been established; expression of multiple drug efflux pumps of the resistance-nodulation-cell division (RND) superfamily, production of hydrolytic enzymes, β-lactamases, deletion of antibiotic target and reduced drug uptake due to outer membrane protein (Omp), BpsOmp38. Most of these mechanisms were established among clinical strains of B. pseudomallei such information among the veterinary and environmental isolates is limited. However there appears to be no distinction between antimicrobial susceptibility and resistance pattern amongst the strains isolated from human and those isolated from animal or environmental sources. The emergence of resistance particularly to ceftazidime, carbapenems, Trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole and amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, has serious clinical implications, for therapeutic efficacy of both initial and eradication phase drugs are compromised. There is need for more investigation into clinical, veterinary and environmental isolates of B. pseudomallei to determine the antibiotic susceptibility and resistance pattern and characterization of the various antimicrobial resistance genes recognized in the B. pseudomallei genome to elucidate their role in conferring resistance to antimicrobial agents. The information about the resistance mechanisms is imperative in future efforts in design of antimicrobial agents targeting these mechanisms