Reduction of hospitalizations with diarrhea among children aged 0–5 years in Nouakchott,Mauritania, following the introduction of rotavirus vaccine

Introduction

Rotavirus vaccine was introduced in Mauritania in December 2014. We investigated hospitalizations with diarrhea during pre and post-vaccination periods among children aged 0–5?years in Nouakchott, the capital of Mauritania.

Racial Disparity,Depression, and Birth Outcomes Among Pregnant Teens

Objectives To examine the risk of premature delivery (PD) and small for gestational age (SGA) among pregnant teens with depressive disorders (DD), and the impact of race/ethnicity on these birth outcomes. Design/Methods We examined the hospital discharge records of pregnant mothers between the age of 13–18 year old who gave birth in the years 1994, 2000, 2006, and 2012 in the National Inpatient Sample database. We calculated the risk for PD and SGA among pregnant teens with and without DD in the overall population and within each race/ethnicity. Results Weighted sample included 1,023,586 pregnant teenage women. Prevalence of DD among teens was 0.93%, with a significantly increasing trend from 0.29% in 1994 to 2.01% in 2012 (p?<?0.001). Declining trend was observed in the proportion of pregnant younger teens from 1994 to 2012. Prevalence of depression among teenage mothers was highest among Caucasians compared to other races. Prevalence of SGA among pregnant teens was 2.23% that significantly increased from 1.63% in 1994 to 3.44% in 2012 (p?<?0.001). African American teens with DD had decreased risk for PD compared to AA without DD (OR 0.70; CI 0.57???0.387, p?<?0.001). Hispanic teens with DD had increased risk for SGA compared to Hispanics without DD (adjusted OR 1.53; CI 1.10–2.13, p?<?0.001). Conclusions for Practice There is an increasing trend for diagnosing DD among pregnant teens. Less young teenage girls are giving birth in recent years. The impact of DD on PD and SGA differs according to race. More studies are warranted to examine underlining factors responsible for these findings.     

Genome analysis linking recent European and African influenza (H5N1) viruses

To better understand the ecology and epidemiology of the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus in its transcontinental spread, we sequenced and analyzed the complete genomes of 36 recent influenza A (H5N1) viruses collected from birds in Europe, northern Africa, and southeastern Asia. These sequences, among the first complete genomes of influenza (H5N1) viruses outside Asia, clearly depict the lineages now infecting wild and domestic birds in Europe and Africa and show the relationships among these isolates and other strains affecting both birds and humans. The isolates fall into 3 distinct lineages, 1 of which contains all known non-Asian isolates. This new Euro-African lineage, which was the cause of several recent (2006) fatal human infections in Egypt and Iraq, has been introduced at least 3 times into the European-African region and has split into 3 distinct, independently evolving sublineages. One isolate provides evidence that 2 of these sublineages have recently reassorted.     

Why Poor Vision Despite an Attached Retina following Primary Vitrectomy in Egyptian Patients?

Objective: To correlate findings on spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) and best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) following primary vitrectomy for rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD). Methods: In this prospective, interventional, non-randomized case series, 71 eyes with RRD of intermediate severity underwent primary vitrectomy followed by SD-OCT one month later. Main outcome measures were inner segment/outer segment (IS/OS) junction line and external limiting membrane (ELM) disruption. Results: All patients achieved reattachment with mean BCVA of 0.77 ± 0.36 logMAR. There was statistically significant correlation between each length of IS/OS and ELM defect on the one hand, and BCVA on the other hand. Conclusion: The extent of IS/OS and ELM disruption explains the poor visual outcome in successful RD surgery with an otherwise normal foveal contour.     

Determination of meloxicam in bulk and pharmaceutical formulations

Three sensitive and reproducible methods for quantitative determination of meloxicam (mel) in pure form and in pharmaceutical formulations are presented. The first method is high performance liquid chromatography by which the drug is determined in the presence of its degradation products over concentration range 100–500 μg ml⁻¹ with mean percentage accuracy 100.13±0.53. The second method is based on measuring the absorbance of the formed neutral complex between basic methylene blue and mel in phosphate buffer (pH 8) at λ=653.5 nm over concentration range 1–5 μg ml⁻¹ with mean percentage accuracy 99.12±1.18. The third method is based on reaction between 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-p-benzoquinone resulting in the formation of an intense orange red coloured product after heating in a boiling water bath for 5 min. The coloured product exhibits an absorption maximum at 455 nm, over concentration range 40–160 μg ml⁻¹ with mean percentage accuracy 100.53±1.04.     

Thieno[2,3‐d]pyrimidines in the Synthesis of Antitumor and Antioxidant Agents

Dimethyl acetylenedicarboxylate, ethyl propiolate, and E‐dibenzoylethylene react with thienopyrimidines (cyclo‐pentyl, ‐hexyl, and ‐heptyl) derivatives to form thiazolo[3,2‐a]thieno‐[2,3‐d]pyrimidin‐2‐ylidene) acetates, thieno[2,3‐d]pyrimidin‐2‐ylthioacrylates, and thieno[2′,3′:4,5]pyrimido[2,1‐b][1,3]thiazin‐6‐ones, respectively. Reactions proceed via cyclization and thio‐addition processes. Some derivatives of thienopyrimidines showed high inhibition of Hep‐G2 cell growth compared with the growth of untreated control cells. However, the fused heptyl of thienopyrimidothiazines indicates a promising specific antitumor agent against Hep‐G2 cells with IC₅₀ < 20 μM.     

Mineral content and microbiological examination of some white cheese in Jeddah,Saudi Arabia during summer 2008

Different local and exported white cheese samples were collected from different markets in Jeddah during September 2008. Trace and heavy metals including Pb, Zn, Mn, Cu, Fe and Cd were analyzed using atomic absorption spectrometry. The concentration of the tested metals was in the range, Fe⁺⁺ > Zn⁺⁺⁺ > Mn⁺⁺ > Pb⁺⁺ > Cu⁺⁺ > Cd⁺⁺. The mean concentration of 7.63, 7.19, 0.5, 0.47, 0.16 and 0.14 μg/g was recorded for Fe, Zn, Mn, Pb, Cu and Cd, respectively. The concentration of iron ranged from 3.5 to 11.9 μg/g, zinc from 3.4 to 10.5, manganese from 0.12 to 1.0, lead from 0.14 to 1.14, and copper from 0.09 to 0.22. Yeasts and fungi were counted on Sabouraud and Potato Dextrose media and incubation was carried out at 25 °C for 7 and 5 days, respectively. Yeast count and fungi count of cheese were ranged from 0.1 to 0.44 CFU/g and from 0.123 to 1.11 CFU/g, respectively. Three out of 20 samples of cheese were contaminated with toxigenic fungi with 5% contamination level. Aflatoxin G1 was recorded in three samples using immunoadsorbent column chromatography with a range from 7 to 13 ppm.     

Extruded and protruded lumbar discs: combined clinical, histopathological, histochemical, immunopathological, histochemical, immunopathological and ultrastructural studies.

A total number of selected 252 patients with prolapsed lumbar intervertebral discs (92 extruded and 160 protruded) were operated upon in Neurosurgery Department Zagazig University Hospital during the period extended from January, 1988, to October 1990. In this study we reviewed their clinical and operative data. Surgical biopsies were taken from randomly selected 120 patients of them (50 extruded and 70 protruded discs) and were subjected to histopathological, histochemical and immunopathological studies. Ultrastructural study was performed for randomly selected 14 cases (7 extruded and 7 protruded discs). The results were compared with 7 normal intervertebral discs obtained from these studies showed that there were no differences between extruded and protruded discs at the histochemical level. Cell mediated immunity could be added as a factor in the pathogenesis of the degenerative process that lead to disc prolapse (in 20% of cases with extruded discs and 57.1% of cases with protruded discs). At the ultrastructural level 85.3% of extruded discs were prolapsed nucleus pulposus while 14.7% were prolapsed annulus fibrosus alone or with nucleus pulposus. All protruded discs were prolapsed annulus fibrosus with nucleus pulposus. These findings may have an impact on the management of this common problem.     

Hypercalcaemia: a clue to Mycobacterium avium intracellulare infection in a patient with AIDS

Hypercalcaemia is uncommon in HIV-infected patients and should suggest a different priority for differential diagnosis than would be considered in other settings. Although hypercalcaemia has long been associated with granulomatous diseases including tuberculosis, it has only recently been recognised that patients with illness due to Mycobacterium avium intracellulare (MAI) may develop it. We report a patient with AIDS in whom unexplained hypercalcaemia was the harbinger of clinically significant MAI infection. Patients with AIDS who develop hypercalcaemia should be closely evaluated for underlying MAI infection.