The role of nurses and midwives in polio eradication and measles control activities: a survey in Sudan and Zambia

Background  

Nurses and midwives are the key providers of nursing and midwifery services; in many countries, they form the major category of frontline workers who provide both preventive and curative services in the community. When the skills and experience of nursing and midwifery personnel are maximized, they can contribute significantly to positive health outcomes. We conducted a survey among nurses and midwives working at district level in Sudan and Zambia to determine their roles and functions in polio eradication and measles elimination programmes.     

Spontaneous Cerebral Air Embolism Associated with Remote Lung Surgery

Introduction  Airembolism without obvious trauma or surgery is rare. Methods  Case report. Results  Four years after resection of a non-small cell lung cancer, a 57-year-old man presented with recurrent episodes of sudden onset neurological deficits. Head computer tomographic (CT) scans suggested air embolism, and further investigations showed a potential anastomosis between a pulmonary air cavity and a pulmonary vein. He was treated surgically by debridement of the bronchovascular bundles surrounding the air cavity. The patient had no further neurologic deficits during 10 months of post-surgical follow-up. Conclusion  In the absence of trauma, sinus disease, recent surgery, or vascular procedures, the presence of air in the brain is unusual, and pulmonary sources of air embolism should be considered.     

Breast reconstruction by local flaps after conserving surgery for breast cancer: an added asset to oncoplastic techniques

Abstract:  This study describes and evaluates the results of a proposed simple technique of volume replacement by local flaps to reconstruct the breast after conserving surgery for breast cancer. Twenty-five patients with breast cancer were enrolled in the study between 1998 and 2004. All patients were surgically treated by wide local excision and axillary dissection of level I & II. The primary closure was not feasible because of resulting large defect in proportion to the breast size. The defect was constructed by local flap raised from adjacent skin and subcutaneous tissue with or without glandular breast tissue. Data analyzed includes: age, tumor location, tumor size, histopathology results, operative techniques, complications, long-term oncological events, and cosmetic outcome. The mean follow-up was 48 months. The mean age was 45.3 years. The mean tumor size was 3.1 cm. All tumors had upper outer or upper central location. Fourteen tumors were in left breast. Histopathological analysis had revealed 84% infiltrating ductal carcinoma of no otherwise specified type, 12% medullary type, and 4% tubulo-lobular carcinoma. Additional ductal carcinoma in situ was found in three patients. One patient had focally positive deep margin. One hematoma and one fat necrosis during radiotherapy were documented. During follow-up, one patient developed local recurrence after 4 years and required mastectomy, another patient developed concomitant local recurrence and distant metastasis in the lung and brain after 18 months of the primary treatment and died 1 year later. In this study, 84% of women were satisfied with their cosmetic outcome. This study demonstrated the value of local flaps to reconstruct breast defects after wide local excision of tumors in upper outer or upper central location as simple alternative to latissimus dorsi flap and other volume displacement techniques.     

The need for culture sensitive diagnostic procedures

Objective

We examine the procedural validity of a standardized instrument for the diagnosis of psychotic disorders in Morocco.

Method

Twenty-nine patients from Casablanca, Morocco, with a psychotic or mood disorder were examined using the Comprehensive Assessment of Symptoms and History (CASH) an adapted version using cultural formulation to make the instrument more culturally sensitive (CASH-CS). Chance corrected agreement was calculated between diagnoses based on these two versions of CASH and independent clinical diagnoses according to local psychiatrists.

Results

Agreement for traditional CASH versus clinical diagnosis and for CASH versus CASH-CS was low (kappa = ?0.19; SD 0.16 and kappa = 0.21; SD 0.16, respectively). De CASH-CS, showed good agreement with clinical diagnosis (kappa = 0.79; SD 0.11).

Conclusion

Standardized instruments for the assessment of psychosis such as the CASH may be liable to cultural misinterpretations. This may be relevant to the interpretation of the high incidence rates of schizophrenia among immigrants.

Significant outcomes

Agreement between a culturally naïve version of a standardized diagnostic instrument for the assessment of psychosis and clinical diagnosis by Moroccan psychiatrists is poor. Adding additional probes and decision rules based on cultural formulation improves agreement with clinical diagnosis significantly.

Limitations

The study was conducted in a small sample. Both versions of CASH were administered by the same interviewer in a single interview session.     

Selective synthesis of alpha monoglycerides by a clean method: Techno-economic and environmental assessment

This work proposes an alternative green and selective biocatalytic route for Glycerin Monostearate (α-monostearin) production. The conventional method of production uses an elevated temperature. Apart from the high energy consumption, such high temperatures darken the final product's color, lead to random reactions, and produce high orders of diglycerides and triglycerides instead of monoglycerides. The proposed production process was performed by esterifying stearic acid with glycerin in an organic medium using Candida antarctica lipase (Novozym 435) at a mild temperature. The reaction conditions were optimized using the response surface methodology (RSM): optimum conditions were a temperature of 60 °C, glycerin to stearic acid molar ratio of 8:1, and Novozym 435 amount of 6% w/w. The solvent addition remarkably improved the α-monostearin yield to nearly 80% without the need for the energy-intensive distillation step. The conventional autocatalytic esterification (AUT) process was also performed to investigate the comparative monoglyceride yield, and it was found to be 22.5%. Proton nuclear magnetic resonance and gas-chromatography confirmed that α-monostearin could be produced with the highest purity using the proposed enzymatic method (ENZ). Economic and environmental analyses were also conducted for the proposed ENZ process, and the results were compared with those of the AUT process. The total capital investment of α-monostearin production, considering a projected capacity of 4950 t year^?1 and 11% interest for the proposed ENZ process, was favorably 2.5 times lower than that of the AUT process, suggesting a promising investment opportunity. However, the total production costs showed unfavorable negative net present value (NPV) and return on investment (ROI) for the ENZ process and favorable positive NPV and ROI for the AUT process, indicating that the proposed venture is not profitable for α-monostearin production. However, the process can be profitable at improved operational stability of Novozym 435 up to 1 kg per 3-ton product. The carbon footprint was calculated on the basis of the given capacity and conditions of 50 and 656 t CO₂ eq./year for the ENZ and AUT processes, respectively. The synthesis of α-monostearin using the proposed route can be considered a building block toward a cleaner large-scale production of α-monoglycerides.     

Limb shaking transient ischemic attack--an unusual presentation of carotid occlusive disease. A case report and review of the literature

Limb shaking transient ischemic attack (TIA) is an uncommon presentation of carotid occlusive disease. This unusual form of TIA is not well recognized and may be mistaken for focal epilepsy, delaying proper diagnosis and treatment. In this communication, we present such a case, together with a review of the literature, a brief account of pathophysiology and an outline of appropriate clinical management.     

The use of the inferior epigastric artery for accessory lower polar artery revascularization in live donor renal transplantation

Purpose This study describes the surgical technique and outcomes of live donor renal allografts with multiple arteries in which the lower polar artery was anastomosed to the inferior epigastric artery after declamping. Materials and methods Between 1988 and 2004, 477 consecutive live donor renal transplants were performed, including 429 with single and 48 with multiple arteries. Anastomosis of the lower polar artery to the inferior epigastric artery was used for 15 grafts with multiple arteries. Results Successful revascularization of all areas of the transplanted graft was confirmed by Doppler ultrasonography in most patients and radionuclide renal scanning ± MRA in some patients. Conclusions In live donor renal transplantation with multiple arteries, the anastomosis of the lower polar artery to the inferior epigastric artery after declamping avoids prolongation of the ischemia time that occurs with other surgical and microsurgical techniques of intracorporeal and ex vivo surgeries.     

Three-dimensional ultrasound (3D US) methods in the evaluation of calcular and non-calcular ureteric obstructive uropathy

PURPOSE: To prospectively assess ureteric obstructive uropathy using three-dimensional ultrasound (3D US) methods when the etiology of ureteral obstruction was proved difficult to evaluate with two-dimensional ultrasound (2D US) and plain radiography. METHODS: The study had the local Ethics Committee approval. All patients gave informed consent. 318 patients: 219 men and 99 women (including 16 pregnant women) were selected within a 3-year period for 3D US based on clinical presentation, two dimensional ultrasound (2D US) results and preliminary plain radiography except for pregnant women. 3D US was performed on all patients. 301 patients had further excretory urogram before intervention decisions. RESULTS: The study showed a high accuracy of detection of different levels of ureteric calcular obstruction; 99.1% in men and 96.7% in women. 3D XI technology proved more efficient in stone count (88.9%) than sectional planes and rendering method altogether (55.6%). The success rate of identifying obstructive uropathy due to inflammatory variants showed a perfect diagnostic value of 100%. Similar percentages could be obtained in cases secondary to neoplastic infiltration or permeation of the ureters. Cases compared with excretory urography revealed close correlation with 3D US and superiority of the latter when renal function physiologically altered in some cases of calcular obstructive uropathy. CONCLUSIONS: The 3D US methods in case of obstructive uropathy have proved to be useful as an easy, mobile and non-invasive diagnostic tool, improving 2D US diagnostic utility.