Assessing Variability in End-of-Life Intensity of Care After Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest

Out of hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) affects over 300,000 Americans per year.1 Many factors affect the outcomes and overall OHCA survival in a community; some of these include an individual’s characteristics such as age, co-morbid conditions, availability of an AED on scene, time to CPR, and the characteristics of the hospital they are treated at.1,2 Directly following resuscitation from cardiac arrest, the individual is at risk of developing numerous problems caused by sequelae of ischemic injury sustained during the arrest. The national average rate of survival to discharge is only 10%.2,3 Many of these factors are modifiable and provide an opportunity to improve outcomes. In our project, we focus on lifesustaining procedures administered by hospitals upon receiving and admitting individuals experiencing OHCA. We used previously validated measures as defined by Barnato et al as “life sustaining end of life (EOL) measures”:4 • Intubation and mechanical ventilation • Tracheostomy • Gastrostomy tube insertion • Hemodialysis • Enteral/parenteral nutrition • CPRhttps://jdc.jefferson.edu/cwicposters/1035/thumbnail.jp

Seroprevalence of cytomegalovirus Antibodies among pregnant women and it’s correlation with spontaneous abortion in Khartoum state

Background: Cytomegalovirus is a common virus that infects most people at some time during their lives. It becomes dormant for a while and may reactivate later. In pregnant women, intrauterine infection may be  associated with congenital abnormalities, intrauterine growth retardation and intrauterine death of the fetus as well as late sequelae such as  developmental delay, blindness and congenital deafness.Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the seroprevalence of CMV infection among women presenting with spontaneous abortion to major hospitals in Khartoum State and to find out the correlation between CMV infection and spontaneous abortion in the group under study.Methodology: In this study a total of 180 spontaneously aborted females, and 80 normally delivered females (control) were included. Three mls of venous blood were collected from each subject under study in a plain  container allowed to clot and after clot retraction centrifuged at 4000rpm. The sera were then separated and stored at -20c0 in a deep freezer. The stored sera were tested for CMV IgG and IgM antibodies using Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (BIOTECH –ENGLAND).Results: In the case group, 176 (97.8%) women were positive for Anti-CMV IgG and 69 (38.3%) for Anti-CMV IgM. The CMV antibodies significantly co related with increasing age (P-value = -0.0185), the number of abortion (P-value = -0.0177) and congenital malformation in children (P value= 0.037).Conclusion: Seroprevalence of CMV antibodies was found to be 97.8% and 38.3% for IgG & IgM respectively. There was significant association  between CMV infection and frequency of abortion, age and congenital  malformation in children.Key words: CMV, seroprevalnce, pregnancy, spontaneous abortion, Suda

Anti-Inflammatory Activity of Crude Saponin Extracts from Five Nigerian Medicinal Plants

Crude saponin extracts of five medicinal plants used in the treatment of inflammatory diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, gout and haemorrhoids were screened for anti-inflammatory activity using carrageenan-induced rat paw oedema test. These plants were the whole plant of Schwenkia americana Linn (WSA), the rhizomes of Asparagus africanus Lam (RAA), the leaves of Dichrostachys cinerea Linn (LDC), the stem bark of Ficus iteophylla Miq (BFI) and the leaves of Indigofera pulchra Willd (LIP). A modify traditional method of crude saponins extraction was used to give the following percentage yields: WSA-2.74%, RAA-3.59%, LDC-1.62%, BFI-0.81% and LIP-1.57% respectively. Thin-layer chromatography was used to identify the type of saponins present in the extracts. The acute toxicity study of the crude saponin extracts in mice gave the following intraperitoneal LD50: WSA-471.2mg/kg, RAA- 1264.9mg/kg, LDC-1264.9mg/kg, BFI-118.3mg/kg and LIP-1264.9mg/kg respectively.  The antiinflammatory study of the extracts showed statistically significant (P<0.05) decreases in the rat paw-oedema as compared to the control. The percentage inhibitions of the extracts after four hours were as follow: WSA-61%, RAA-55%, LDC-72%, BFI-66% and LIP-40% respectively. These values were found to be comparable to that of ketoprofen-63%. The study showed that the antiinflammatory properties attributable to these plants may be due to their saponins contents.Keywords: - Asparagus africanus, Dichrostachys cinerea, Ficus iteophylla, Indigofera pulchra, Schwenkia americana, Saponin,Anti-inflammatory activity, Carrageenan, TLC

An Anti-Human ICAM-1 Antibody Inhibits Rhinovirus-Induced Exacerbations of Lung Inflammation

Human rhinoviruses (HRV) cause the majority of common colds and acute exacerbations of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Effective therapies are urgently needed, but no licensed treatments or vaccines currently exist. Of the 100 identified serotypes, ∼90% bind domain 1 of human intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) as their cellular receptor, making this an attractive target for development of therapies; however, ICAM-1 domain 1 is also required for host defence and regulation of cell trafficking, principally via its major ligand LFA-1. Using a mouse anti-human ICAM-1 antibody (14C11) that specifically binds domain 1 of human ICAM-1, we show that 14C11 administered topically or systemically prevented entry of two major groups of rhinoviruses, HRV16 and HRV14, and reduced cellular inflammation, pro-inflammatory cytokine induction and virus load in vivo. 14C11 also reduced cellular inflammation and Th2 cytokine/chemokine production in a model of major group HRV-induced asthma exacerbation. Interestingly, 14C11 did not prevent cell adhesion via human ICAM-1/LFA-1 interactions in vitro, suggesting the epitope targeted by 14C11 was specific for viral entry. Thus a human ICAM-1 domain-1-specific antibody can prevent major group HRV entry and induction of airway inflammation in vivo

Pewarnaan Ulang Citra Menggunakan Segmentasi Berbasis Algoritma K-means Clustering Sebagai Alat Bantu untuk Orang Buta Warna Parsial

Buta warna merupakan salah satu anomali mata yang tidak dapat membedakan satu warna dengan warna lainnya. Oleh karena itu, informasi yang ada pada citra atau gambar bisa saja hilang dilihat oleh penderita buta warna. Untuk mengurangi kemungkinan penderita buta warna kehilangan informasi yang terdapat pada citra, dibangunlah sebuah sistem yang berupa pewarnaan ulang pada citra yang didasarkan pada kemampuan penderita buta warna dalam membedakan warna. Kemampuan ini diukur berdasarkan RGB cluster yang dimiliki berbeda-beda oleh setiap orang. Penelitian ini memanfaatkan segmentasi berdasarkan warna dalam proses pewarnaan ulang. Segmentasi menggunakan K-means clustering diplih karena waktu pemrosesan yang singkat dengan hasil yang cukup optimal. Sebanyak 15 citra tanpa proses pewarnaan ulang diuji kepada subjek buta warna. Hasilnya adalah hanya 20% citra yang dapat dilihat informasinya oleh subjek buta warna. Keluaran dari penelitian ini adalah citra yang telah diwarnai ulang. Adapun hasil dari penelitian ini adalah 53% citra dapat dilihat informasinya oleh subjek buta warna dengan menggunakan segmentasi berdasarkan warna pada setiap citra, 60% citra dapat dilihat informasinya oleh subjek buta warna dengan segmentasi berdasarkan warna pada semua citra, dan waktu pemrosesan yang lebih singkat dibandingkan penelitian sebelumnya

Vaccination with newcastle disease vaccines strain i2 and lasota in commercial and local chickens in Plateau State Nigeria

Vaccination trials and comparative immunogenicity study using Newcastle disease vaccine strain I2 (NDVI2) and NDV La Sota administered to commercial and local chickens through intraocular (i/o), intramuscular (i/m), drinking water (dw), untreated sorghum, parboiled sorghum, sorghum coated with gum Arabic or commercial chick mash feed as vaccine carriers was conducted. Newcastle disease vaccine strain I2 and NDV La Sota vaccines provided protection to commercial and local chickens vaccinated through i/o, i/m or dw. No significant difference (P.0.05) was observed in the antibody titre of commercial or local chickens vaccinated with either NDVI2 or NDV La Sota vaccines administered via commercial feed, parboiled sorghum, parboiled sorghum coated with gum Arabic and untreated sorghum. NDVI2 or NDV La Sota vaccines administered through commercial feed, parboiled sorghum, parboiled sorghum coated with gum Arabic and untreated sorghum gave no or limited protection (0-22%) to the birds when challenged with a local strain of velogenic viscerotropic Newcastle disease virus Kudu 113 strain. It was concluded that the vaccine carriers used in this study were not suitable for delivery of NDVI2 or NDVS La Sota vaccines to local or commercial chickens

Effective Rheology of Bubbles Moving in a Capillary Tube

We calculate the average volumetric flux versus pressure drop of bubbles moving in a single capillary tube with varying diameter, finding a square-root relation from mapping the flow equations onto that of a driven overdamped pendulum. The calculation is based on a derivation of the equation of motion of a bubble train from considering the capillary forces and the entropy production associated with the viscous flow. We also calculate the configurational probability of the positions of the bubbles.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur

Incidental finding of dextrocardia with situs inversus totalis in a day old neonate: Case report and review of the literature

Dextrocardia with situs inversus are rare congenital anomalies which can be asymptomatic and compatible with normal life. They are characterized by mirror images of all intra-thoracic and intra-abdominal viscera. Our aim isto report an incidental finding of dextrocardia with situs inversus in a neonate with neonatal sepsis. A day-old male term neonate presented with features of infection. Physical examination revealed cardiac apex on the 4th right   intercostal space, along the mid-clavicular line. Chest radiograph and  abdominal ultrasound confirmed the diagnosis of dextrocardia with situs inversus. Bilateral cervical ribs were also seen on chest radiograph. He was managed with antibiotics  and  discharged . Newborn babies should have a thorough physical examination after delivery before discharge to enable early diagnosis of congenital anomalies for appropriate referral.Key words: Dextrocardia, neonate, neonatal sepsis

Phytochemical and Antimicrobial Properties of Commiphora Pedunculata (ENGL) Stem Extracts

The extracts from the stem bark of Commiphora pedunculata, a plant used in Northern Nigeria for the treatment of infectious diseases, were subjected to phytochemical as well as antimicrobial screening using standard procedures. The antimicrobial activity against S. aureus, B. cereus, S. typhii, E. coli and C. albicans was carried out using the disc diffusion and broth micro dilution methods as outlined by the NCCLS. Preliminary phytochemical screening of the petroleum ether, ethyl acetate and methanol extracts revealed the presence of cardiac glycosides, anthraquinones, saponins, triterpenes, steroids, flavonoids, tannins and alkaloids. The results of the antimicrobial activity as indicated by the zone of inhibition of growth of the test microorganisms ranged from 17 to 28 mm, the MIC results ranged from 3.125 to 12.5 mg/mL and the MBC results ranged from 6.25 to 25.0 mg/mL for the petroleum ether, ethyl acetate and methanol extracts. The MIC of 12.50 mg/mL exhibited by the petroleum ether extract against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria indicates broad spectrum activity of Commiphora pedunculata. The results from this study showed that the extracts from the stem bark of the plant contain antimicrobial components worthy of further investigation and lends credence to the use of the plant for the treatment of infectious diseases.Keywords: Phytochemistry, Commiphora pedunculata extracts, antibacterial activity, MIC, MBC