Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal [EMHJ]: a 20-year overview [1995-2014]

The EMHJ was established in 1995 to provide a peer-reviewed platform for health professionals to share their research with the scientific community. The objective of this review was to examine EMR public health research trends, as reflected by EMHJ publications in 20 years [1995-2014], through secondary data analysis. Published articles were categorized according to EMR strategic priority areas [93%], i.e. health systems strengthening [25%]; reproductive and child health [22%]; communicable diseases [26%]; noncommunicable diseases [25%]; emergency preparedness [1.5%]. Most papers were original research articles [85 %], published in English [94 %], but just over half [52 %] mentioned obtaining a form of ethical clearance in the text. Six countries had each over 100 papers published during the study period, i.e. Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iraq, Pakistan. Half EMHJ publications during this period came from 4 countries only [Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan], which calls for further study to evaluate why other EMR nations are less well represented and how to encourage greater contribution from them over the coming years

Compliance with haemodialysis practice guidelines in Egypt

Evidence- and consensus-based clinical practice guidelines for haemodialysis have recently been developed in Egypt. This study aimed to measure compliance with the guidelines in a sample of 16 government hospitals in Cairo and Giza governorates. Each haemodialysis unit was visited to assess the haemodialysis unit and patient care practices for all patients under dialysis at the time of the visit. The mean percentage compliance with haemodialysis guidelines among all study hospitals was 59.3% [SD 11.2%] overall. Within the 5 separate domains, compliance was: 58.8% [SD 12.4%] for personnel, 68.5% [SD 16.0%] for patient care practices, 61.3% [SD 15.4%] for infection prevention and control, 51.5% [SD 18.2%] for the facility and 56.5% [SD 7.1%] for documentation/ records. There were no statistically significant differences between Cairo and Giza governorates except for facility measures which were slightly better in Giza. Overall, compliance with the developed practice guidelines for haemodialysis in Egypt was not satisfactory and was not uniform across facilities

Effect of Sm[3+] ions on the transport and sublattice magnetization of perovskite system

PEROVSKITE compounds [La[1-x] Sm[x]] 0.7 Ca[0.3] MnO[3] ]

Platelet aggregation and physiological anticoagulants in sickle-cell disease

During the period January 2002- December 2004, we assessed 30 sickle- cell anaemia patients admitted to hospital in Al Khobar with vaso- occlusive crisis for levels of antithrombin [AT] III, protein C [PC] and protein S [PS]. We also did platelet aggregation studies. Steady state levels were assessed during follow- up and compared with 36 adult controls. Levels of PC, PS and AT III in the group were significantly higher than in those in vaso- occlusive crisis and those in steady state control [P < 0.001]. There was a statistically significant difference between controls and patients for all platelet factors except adrenaline. There was no significant difference between the levels of PC, PS, aggregation AT III and platelet aggregation variables in patients in the steady state and in vaso- occlusive crisi

Screening of antimicrobial activities of medicinally important orchid bulbophyllum lilacinum RidL

The organic solvent extracts were obtained from whole plant of Bulbophyllum lilacinum Ridl. to screen antibacterial activities and test was carried out against five human pathogenic bacteria namely, Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Shigella dysenteriae, Salmonella typhi, INABA-ET [Vibrio]. Water extracts obtained from whole plant were also screened for their antifungal activities against six phytopathogenic fungi including, Alternaria alttrnata, Botryodiplodia theobromae, Curvularia lunata, Colletotrichwn corchori, Fusarium equiseti, Macrophomina phaseolina. Both organic solvent and water extracts were found to be active against all the microbes tested and significant inhibition of microbial growth was also observed

Prevalence of genital mucoplasmas among patients with discharge in Gesira Provice

This study was carried out during the period August, 1995 to July, 1996 in Wad Medani Teaching hospital department of dermatology and Venereology to assess the prevalence of genital mycoplasma among patients with urethral or vaginal discharge. The risk factors involved in the infection and the association of mycoplasma with other sexually transmitted infections. Eighty adult patients 40 males and 40 females with urethral or vaginal discharge were included in the study. Mycoplasma infection was confirmed in 19 patients [16 females and 3 males] giving a% of 24. The highest prevalence was amongst female prostitutes [42%] followed by monogamous females [39%] with the least prevalence amongst males [8%]. Mycoplasma was found to be more prevalent amongst young adults [20- 24 years of age], married, nonemployed and non educated. The main complaint was whitish mucoid urethral or vaginal discharge without other significant symptoms or signs. Amongst patients with Mycoplasma infection, gonorrhoea was detected in 3 patients, syphilis in 3 and trichomonas vaginalis in one patient. No association with yeast infection or HIV was detected

Cutaneous leishmaniasis in Sudan: an update

Cutaneous leishmaniasis due to L.major is now endemic in many parts of the northern Sudan. In this up-date we discuss the clinical manifestations of cutaneous leishmaniasis, its diagnosis and treatment. The most common clinical forms are nodular, noduloulcerative and ulcerative lesions. Less common forms are sporotrichoid lesions, leishmanial dactylitis, leishmanial cheilitis, mycetoma- and residivans-like types. In a suspected case the diagnosis is made by demonstration of leishmania parasites in slit smears or biopsy, isolation of the parasite by culture in appropriate media and by the polymerase chain reaction [PCR] using specific primers. The majority of lesions heal spontaneously. Criteria for local or systemic treatment are given

FTIR spectroscopic study of some lanthanide dithizone complexes

Infrared spectroscopy has been used to study the molecular structure of lanthanide dithizonate. By comparing the complex spectra with that of dithizone, it was found that, new bands appeared at about 3222, 446 and 247 cm' in the spectra of all samples except that of dysprosium dithizone. The first band was assigned as N-H stretching vibrations, the second and third bands are assigned as M-N and M-S stretching vibrations, respectively. The disappearance of NH band for dithizone excludes the tautomeric thione and thiol structures, and supports the open ring structure. The disappearance of this band in dysprosium dithizone indicates that an ionic redistribution reaction takes place giving a mixture during crystallization process. Also, the appearance of NH stretching vibration for dithizone complexes indicates that the complex form is primary one. The second and third bands approve that, the lanthanide cation coordinated with the nitrogen and sulfur atoms. A considerable frequency shift and splitting were observed for some of the vibrational bands as a result of complex formation. The effect of complex formation upon wavenumber and intensity were studied in details for [NH], [MN] and [MS]. The wavenumber increases with increasing the number of electron in 4f orbital and atomic weight while it decreases with increasing ionic radius of the lanthanide cations. The gadolinium complex has abnormal behaviour; this may be due to the highly electrostatic nature of its cation

Irradiation and post irradiation storage of chicken: effects on fat and proteins.

Chicken were subjected to gamma irradiation doses of 2.5, 5.0, 7.5 and 10.0 kGy and post-irradiation storage of 21 days at 4 +/- 2C. The effects on fat and protein of chicken were studied. The rate of formation of total volatile basic-nitrogen was less in irradiated samples, particularly in samples treated with 5.0 kGy during the entire storage. Fatty acid profiles of chicken lipids were not significantly affected by irradiation, especially at doses of 5.0 kGy. However, irradiation caused a large increase in thiobarbituric acid [TBA] values, which increased gradually during storage. Changes in amino acids were minimal. Irradiated and non- irradiated samples showed the appearance of protein subunits with molecular weights in the range of 10.0 to 88.0 and 10.0 to 67.0 kD, respectively. No changes were observed in the sacroplasmic protein, but the intensity of bands in all irradiated samples decreased after 21 days of storage

In-vitro and in-vivo evaluation of formulated lidocaine dental gels and ointments

In this research, lidocaine HCl and lidocaine were formulated on different gel and ointment bases. Eight formulations of lidocaine and lidocaine HCl ointment and gel [four as 2% gel, one as 5% gel and three as 5% ointment] were prepared and tested for their release in Sorensen's phosphate buffer pH 7.4 using USP dissolution test apparatus at 37C +/- 0.5C and compared with four commercially available products; namely, xylocaine 2% jelly, xylonor 5% gel, xylocaine 5% ointment [Astra, Sweden] and xylocaine 5% ointment [Astra, Cid]. In vitro results showed that formula I [lidocaine HCl 2.0 g in carbopol gel base] and formula IV [lidocaine HCl 2.0 g in carboxymethyl cellulose gel base] gave the highest extent of release of the prepared gel formulae. Formula VII [lidocaine 5 g in emulsifying ointment base containing liquid paraffin and bees wax] gave the highest extent of release among all the prepared ointment formulae. The local anesthetic effect of the prepared lidocaine gel and ointment was evaluated in vivo using albino mice

potential cardiovascular toxic effects of astemizole and its interaction with amiodarone in rats

This study dealt with the possible cardiovascular toxic effects of non-sedating antithistamine [astemizole] and assess the potential arrythmic effect of amiodarone [antiarrythmic agent] when used concomitantly with astemizole. The experiments were performed on adult albino rats and astemizole was injected intraperitoneally in geometrical cumulative doses of 0.005, 0.05, 0.5, 5 and 50 mg/kg. Five cardiovascular parameters were recorded [systolic and diastolic blood pressure, heart rate, RR and corrected QT [QTc] intervals]. The results revealed that astemizole produced a significant decrease in the blood pressure and heart rate in a doses more than the effective therapeutic dose [ED50] in rats, doses below the ED50 did not produce significant changes. Meanwhile, astemizole produced a significant prolongation of the RR and corrected QT [QTc] intervals with doses less than the effective therapeutic dose in rats. Amiodarone injected intravenously [5 mg/kg] 30 minutes before astemizole produced a significant potentiation of the effects of astemizole on all the above forementioned cardiovascular parameters

Pharmacological study on second generation antidepressant amoxapine

This study dealt with the possible mechanism of action of amoxapine [second generation antidepressant] and its interaction with dexamphelamine [sympathomimetic stimulant used as antidepressant]. Amoxapine administered at increasing doses [1-8 mg/kg, PO] in mice, induced a dose-dependent hyperactivity measured in classical activity cases which persisted for about 8 hours at 4 mg/kg. In conclusion, the main results of this study are consistent with hypothesis that amoxapine stimulates dopamine receptors indirectly by inhibiting the uptake of the dopamine released, at least in part, from the vesicular stores of dopaminergic neurons. This mechanism, clearly different from that of dexamphetamine, likely underlies the antidepressant activity of amoxapine

Dielectric properties and microhardness of some commercial types of dental glass ionomer cements

This study deals with four different dental glass ionomer cements. The aim of this present work was to study the electrical properties and microhardness for these materials, to show the correlation between these properties and to reach the most suitable one as regard tested properties. The results showed that the microhardness is inversely proportional to dielectric loss and the dielectric is proportional to AC conductivity indicating that the mechanism of dielectric polarization is similar to that of conduction. The results indicated that the dielectric and conductivity decreased with increasing temperature for all samples except for [Granitec Ionomer I] which gave a relatively constant values of epsilon[-] = 10[-5] and delta = beta x 10[-6] Ohm[-1] Cm[-1] and it can be concluded that this cement is the best one as regard electrical and hardness properties with respect to others under investigation