Recently Published Articles
Liver Disease: A Retrospective Hospital Based Study in Addis Ababa-Ethiopia
Abstract:
Liver disease has caused significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. Its epidemiologic and clinical pattern, however, is not well characterized in sub-Saharan countries. This study aimed to describe demographic, clinical characteristics, and patterns of liver disease in a community hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. A retrospective hospital-based study was conducted on patients with liver disease admitted at Ras Desta Damtew memorial hospital, in Addis Ababa-Ethiopia, from February 2015 to April 2020. Of the total 212 pat...
Response of Sugar Beet (Beta vulgaris L.) Growth, Yield and Yield Components to Compost and Phosphorus Fertilizers
Abstract:
Sugar beet is one of the sugar crops which widely grown in different regions of the world due to its advantages over Sugarcane. Several studies were conducted in Sudan to assess its adaptation and economic value. However, the aim of this experiment was to study the effect of application of compost and different levels of phosphorus fertilizer and their combination on Sugar beet (
Adolescent Girls in Guatemala: Can an Empowerment Program Change Perceptions of Gender Equity, Aspirations, and Communication?
Abstract:
While Guatemala has made great strides towards gender equality, it remains a country with vast disparities. Gender sensitization and empowerment programs during adolescence when gender attitudes are formed have the potential to diminish gender inequities. The Girl Rising Pilot Program (GR) is a 24-week curriculum designed for adolescent girls living in the Sololá region where 95% of the total population is indigenous and Mayan. The present pilot study evaluated outcomes of the GR Guatemala pilot program. Specifically, the evaluation examined whether there were differences between baseline and follow-up on perceptions of gender equity, aspirations, and communication for adolescent girls who participated in the GR program. A quasi-experimental study design with a one group pre- and post-test was implemented. The pilot evaluatio...
Prolonged Thrombin Time in Asymptomatic Patient with Hypo Dysfibrogememia Tucson
Abstract:
A 61 years female patient with known diagnosis of the breast cancer in remission for more than 10 years has Renaud’s disease. During her work up for lupus and lupus anticoagulant which both were negative a prolonged thrombin time was noted which was done by mistake. She has no history of bleeding or thrombosis and last recent surgery was 5 years ago for spinal stenosis and was uncomplicated. Her clinical examination is normal without evidence of any spontaneous bruises but colder hands. The thrombin time was greater than 125 seconds on two different occasions and correction of it by addition of normal plasma was down to 56 seconds and was thus incomplete. Her prothrombin time and PTT were normal and there was no evidence of FDP or D-Dimers. There was no evidence of circulating heparins. The fibrinogen level was normal. The para proteinmia was excluded by normal serum prote...
Photobiomodulation, Depression, Anxiety, and Cognition
Abstract:
Anxiety and depression are key barriers to healthy aging and greatly heighten the risk for many negative health issues that seriously impact life quality This mini review examines the potential of low level laser treatments or photobiomodulation therapy for ameliorating severe anxiety and depression in older adults. Articles that adressed the current topic of interest extracted from PUBMED and Google Scholar were carefully and presented in narrative form. Photobiomodulation therapy appears to be a safe efficacious moda...
A Missing Data on Covid-19 Forecasts
Abstract:
Mathematical and computational studies of Covid-19 have underestimated the influence that other countries have on their daily records. To visualize this, a Granger causality analysis was implemented in Python to determine if the cases registered in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and the USA have any effect on Venezuela, and between all of them. Finally, this paper highlights the need to incorporate causality analysis employing only the cases of Covid-19 to improve mid and long term forecasts.
Russian Cyber-Attacks on Estonia, Georgia, and Ukraine, Including Tactics, Techniques, Procedures, and Effects
Abstract:
The purpose of this essay is to compare and contrast the cyber-attacks on Estonia, Georgia, and Ukraine, including tactics, techniques, procedures, and effects. The paper states that none of the models will probably be repeated. The thesis is that cyber-attacks will change as technology changes. In other words, past cyber-attacks operations, particularly in Estonia, Georgia, and Ukraine, are not good predictors of future cyber-attack activity.
Antioxidative Protective Effect of Ozone Therapy on Isolated Mitochondria from Human Sperm
Abstract:
Oxidative stress is implicated in male infertility and significantly higher reactive oxygen Species (ROS) are detected in 25% of infertile males. We showed that Ozone oxygen therapy (O2/O3) induces protective effects for oxidative stress factors and its consequences on isolated mitochondria obtained sperm which may provide insight into the role of Ozone oxygen in human infertility. The present study was carried out to further characterize and compare protective effect of Ozone oxygen on isolated mitochondria obtained from sperm. Semen was collected from human normal donors. We gained human sperm mitochondria by differential centrifugation and isolated mitochondria incubated with different concentrations (5µg/ml, 30 µg/ml, 80 µg/ml) of O2/O3. O2/O3 prevent significant decrease in reactive oxygen speci...
SARS-Cov-2 Viral Kinetics in Mild COVID-19 Patients Treated with Chloroquine Regimens or Standard of Care
Abstract:
This study measures the impact of chloroquine (CQ) therapy in reducing SARS-CoV-2 viral load in infected individuals and hence its transmissibility by describing changes in nasopharyngeal SARS-CoV-2 RNA kinetics in patients receiving standard of care (SOC) or CQ +/- ritonavir-boosted lopinavir (LPV/r). The nasopharyngeal (NP) samples were collected from mild COVID-19 patients admitted at Bamrasnaradura Infectious Diseases Institute between March and April of 2020. These patients either received SOC, or a high dose of CQ with loading dose, or high dose of CQ plus LPV/r. The samples were tested at AFRIMS using a quantitative RT-PCR assay. Levels of CQ in the plasma were measured 6 days post initiation of their treatment. In some instances, vira...
The Evolution of the Enzyme Immunoassay/Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
Abstract:
50 years ago the Enzyme Immunoassay Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay, mostly known as ELISA was developed. This is a powerful but simple method that is very widely used in the diagnostic practice, as well as in biomedical research. During this time a number of ELISA modification were developed that significantly increased its properties, especially the senstivity, such as avidin-biotin assay, immuno-PCR, nano-ELISA and finally, the digital ELISA. This short review describes the principles of ELISA and the evolution from a conventional assay to the modern ultra-sensitive method. Most of the immunological methods have two components: antigen and antibody. The high specificity of their interaction gives a possibility to detect one of them if other one is included in the reaction as a specific partner. The simplest method for antigen detection in the presence of the antibody is immune diffusion (radial immune diffusion in that case), which pract...