Hybrid Majority Voting: Prediction and Classification Model for Obesity.

Because it is associated with most multifactorial inherited diseases like heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, and other serious medical conditions, obesity is a major global health concern. Obesity is caused by hereditary, physiological, and environmental factors, as well as poor nutrition and a lack of exercise. Weight loss can be difficult for various reasons, and it is diagnosed via BMI, which is used to estimate body fat for most people. Muscular athletes, for example, may have a BMI in the obesity range even when they are not obese. Researchers from a variety of backgrounds and institutions devised different hypotheses and models for the prediction and classification of obesity using different approaches and various machine learning techniques. In this study, a majority voting-based hybrid modeling approach using a gradient boosting classifier, extreme gradient boosting, and a multilayer perceptron was developed. Seven distinct machine learning algorithms were used on open datasets from the UCI machine learning repository, and their respective accuracy levels were compared before the combined approaches were chosen. The proposed majority voting-based hybrid model for prediction and classification of obesity that was achieved has an accuracy of 97.16%, which is greater than both the individual models and the other hybrid models that have been developed.

Pathological, microscopic, and molecular diagnosis of paratuberculosis/John's disease in naturally infected dromedary camel (Camelus dromedarius).

Background and Aim: Paratuberculosis (PTB) or John's disease is a chronic disease of ruminants impeding the reproduction and productivity of the livestock sector worldwide. Since there is a lack of pathological studies explaining the nature and development of the disease in camels, this study aimed to highlight the anatomopathological changes of PTB in camels, which may help in verifying and validating some diagnostic tests used to detect the etiology of the disease in camel tissues. Materials and Methods: In August 2017, at Alselaa border's Veterinary Clinic of Al Dhafra Region, Western Abu Dhabi, UAE, one imported culled she-camel of 2 years old was subjected to clinical, microscopic, and anatomopathological investigations along with real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (q-PCR) to confirm the infection and correlate between clinical signs and pathological lesions of the PTB in dromedary camels. Results: Clinically, typical clinical signs compliant with the pathognomonic gross and histologic lesions of PTB were seen in naturally infected dromedary camel. As presumptive diagnosis microscopically, acid-fast coccobacillus bacterium clumps were demonstrated in direct fecal smears as well as in scraped mucosal and crushed mesenteric lymph node films, and in histopathological sections prepared from a necropsied animal and stained by Ziehl-Neelsen stain. Free and intracellular acid-fast clump phagosomes were further confirmed as Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis by q-PCR. Conclusion: Clinical signs and pathological lesions of paratuberculosis in a dromedary camel were found to be similar to those of the other susceptible hosts.

Evaluation of the Effect of Surgical Repair on Lip-Nose Morphometric Parameters of Patients with Unilateral Cleft Lip using Two-Dimensional Photogrammetry: A Comparative Study between the Cleft and the Non-Cleft Side.

Background: This prospective, comparative study was carried out to evaluate the effect of cleft lip repair on lip-nose morphometric characteristics of subjects with complete unilateral cleft lip/palate at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, Borno State, Nigeria. Materials and Methods: The study population consisted of a total of 29 subjects. Lip repair was done using Millard's rotation advancement technique by a single consultant. Standardised photographs were taken; preoperatively and during different postoperative periods; immediately, 1 week, 3, and 6 months. Indirect measurements of eight linear distances were carried out using Rulerswift software application. For all statistical analyses of mean difference, a P-value of less than 0.05 was accepted as being statistically significant. Results: A total of 52% were women, whereas 44% were men. There are considerable disparities between the cleft and non-cleft sides of complete unilateral cleft patients before surgery; statistically significant differences of 1.4 mm, 6.3 mm, and -17.6 mm in vertical lip height, philtral height, and nasal width respectively. Six months after repair, statistically significant differences in lip height between the cleft and the non-cleft side were observed in vertical lip height, nasal width, and philtral height (mean difference of -1.28 ± 0.78, 2.02 ± 2.86, 1.22 ± 1.83 mm; P < 0.001, P = 0.016, P = 0.022, respectively). Horizontal lip height was maintained with no statistically significant difference (mean difference of -0.12 ± 2.19 mm). Conclusion: Following cleft repair, using Millard's rotation advancement technique, differences in lip-nose morphometric parameters were found to be reduced, however, not always eliminated by treatment.

Thrombocytopenia a predictor of malaria: how far?

Malaria is an acute febrile illness. It is a dangerous disease that contributes to millions of hospital visits and hundreds of thousands of deaths, especially in children residing in sub-Saharan Africa. In a non-immune individual, symptoms usually appear 10-15 days after the infective mosquito bite. The first symptoms-fever, headache, and chills-may be mild and difficult to recognize as malaria. If not treated within 24 h, P. falciparum malaria can progress to severe illness, often leading to death. Children with severe malaria frequently develop one or more of the following symptoms: severe anaemia, respiratory distress in relation to metabolic acidosis, or cerebral malaria. In adults, multi-organ involvement is also frequent. In malaria endemic areas, people may develop partial immunity, allowing asymptomatic infections to occur. Haematological changes are well-recognised with malarial infection however background haemoglobinopathy, nutritional status, demographic factors and malaria immunity play a major role in specific changes in that geographical region. Artemisinin derivatives are new generation antimalarial drugs they are used in the treatment of acute attacks of severe malaria including cerebral malaria. Information on the safety of these new antimalarial drugs on body function is still scanty. Haematological parameters are well studied in P. falciparum infection, but now recent studies have indicated that these changes do occur in P. vivax infection also. Hematological profile together with microscopy will enable rapid diagnosis, prompt treatment and further complications can be avoided. This current review is aimed at providing an up-to-date information on the role of malaria and anti-malarial drugs on haematological parameters especially thrombocytopenia.

Simultaneous Expression of Chicken Granulocyte Monocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor and the Hemagglutinin-Neuraminidase Epitope of the Virulent Newcastle Disease Virus Genotype VII C22 Strain in a Functional Synthetic Recombinant Adenovirus as a Genotype-Matched Vaccine with Potential Antiviral Activity.

When it comes to the prevention of clinical signs and mortality associated with infection of the Newcastle disease virus (NDV), vaccination has been very effective. However, recent evidence has proven that more highly virulent strains are emerging that bypass existing immune protection and pose a serious threat to the global poultry industry. Here, a novel rescued adenovirus 5-coexpressed chicken granulocyte monocyte colony-stimulating factor (ChGM-CSF) bio-adjuvant and C22-hemagglutinin-neuraminidase (HN) boosted chickens' immunological genetic resistance and thus improved the immunological effectiveness of the critical new-generation vaccine in vitro and in vivo. Accordingly, the hemagglutination inhibition (HI) titers (log2) of the recombinant adenovirus (rAdv)-ChGM-CSF-HN-immunized chickens had greater, more persistent, and longer-lasting NDV-specific antibodies than the La Sota and rAdv-HN-inoculated birds. Moreover, humoral and adaptive immunological conditions were shown to be in harmony after rAdv-ChGM-CSF-HN inoculation and uniformly enhanced the expression of alpha interferon (IFN-α), IFN-ß, IFN-γ, interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß), IL-2, IL-16, IL-18, and IL-22. Postchallenge, the control challenge (CC), wild-type adenovirus (wtAdv), and rAdv-ChGM-CSF groups developed unique NDV clinical manifestations, significant viral shedding, high tissue viral loads, gross and microscopic lesions, and 100% mortality within 7 days. The La Sota, rAdv-HN, and rAdv-ChGM-CSF-HN groups were healthy and had 100% survival rates. The rAdv-ChGM-CSF-HN group swiftly regulated and stopped viral shedding and had lower tissue viral loads than all groups at 5 days postchallenge (dpc). Thus, the antiviral activity of ChGM-CSF offered robust immune protection in the face of challenge and reduced viral replication convincingly. Our advance innovation concepts, combining ChGM-CSF with a field-circulating strain epitope, could lead to the development of a safe, genotype-matched, universal transgenic vaccine that could eradicate the disease globally, reducing poverty and food insecurity. IMPORTANCE We studied the biological characterization of the developed functional synthetic recombinant adenoviruses, which showed a high degree of safety, thermostability, and genetic stability for up to 20 passages. It was demonstrated through both in vitro and in vivo testing that the immunogenicity of the proposed vaccine, which uses the T2A peptide from the Thosea asigna virus capsid protein supported by glycine and serine, helps with efficiency to generate a multicistronic vector, enables expression of two functional proteins in rAdv-ChGM-CSF-HN, and is superior to that of comparable vaccines. Additionally, adenovirus can be used to produce vaccines matching the virulent field-circulating strain epitope. Because there is no preexisting human adenoviral immunity detected in animals, the potency of adenoviral vaccines looks promising. Also, it ensures that the living vector does not carry the resistance gene that codes for the kanamycin antibiotic. Accordingly, a human recombinant adenoviral vaccine that has undergone biological improvements is beneficial and important.

Periodontitis treatment (surgical and nonsurgical) effects on glycemic control: A review and meta-analysis.

Background: Periodontitis is the sixth most prevalent chronic disease. Literature suggests a relationship between diabetes and periodontitis and when coexist may aggravate each other deleterious consequences. Therefore, we aimed to assess the effects of periodontitis treatment on glycemic control. Materials and Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted in PubMed, Cochrane Library, and the first 100 articles in Google Scholar from January 2011 to October 2021. The terms periodontitis, periodontal treatment, diabetes mellitus, nonsurgical treatment, glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) were used, with the Protean "AND" and "OR." The titles, abstracts, and references of the included studies were screened. Any discrepancy was solved by an agreement between researchers. Out of 1059 studies retrieved, 320 stands after the removal of duplication, from them, 31 full texts were screened and only 11 studies were included in the final meta-analysis. Results: In the present meta-analysis, 11 studies (1469 patients included) were pooled, and the overall effect showed that periodontitis treatment improved the HbA1c, odd ratio, -0.024, 95% confidence interval, -0.42-.06, P value, 0.009, Chi-square, 52.99. However, substantial heterogeneity was observed, P value, < 0.001, I2 for heterogeneity 81%. Conclusion: Periodontitis treatment improved the HbA1c among patients with diabetes and poor glycemic control. Screening of this common disease is important in diabetes holistic care.

Résumé Contexte: La parodontite est la sixième maladie chronique la plus répandue. La littérature suggère une relation entre le diabète et la parodontite et lorsqu'ils coexistent peuvent aggraver les uns les autres des conséquences délétères. Par conséquent, nous avons cherché à évaluer les effets du traitement de la parodontite sur le contrôle glycémique. Matériels et méthodes: Une recherche documentaire systématique a été menée dans PubMed, Cochrane Library et les 100 premières articles dans Google Scholar de janvier 2011 à octobre 2021. Les termes parodontite, traitement parodontal, diabète sucré, non chirurgical traitement, l'hémoglobine glyquée (HbA1c) a été utilisée. Avec le protéiforme " ET " et " OU ". Les titres, résumés et références des documents inclus études ont été passées au crible. Toute divergence a été résolue par un accord entre les chercheurs. Sur 1059 études récupérées, 320 stands après la suppression des doublons, parmi eux, 31 textes intégraux ont été passés au crible et seules 11 études ont été incluses dans la méta-analyse finale. Résultats: Dans le présente méta-analyse, 11 études (1469 patients inclus) ont été regroupées et l'effet global a montré que le traitement de la parodontite améliorait l'HbA1c, rapport des cotes, −0,024, intervalle de confiance à 95 %, −0,42−0,06, valeur P, 0,009, Chi-carré, 52,99. Cependant, une grande hétérogénéité a été observé, valeur P, < 0,001, I2 pour l'hétérogénéité 81%. Conclusion: Le traitement de la parodontite a amélioré l'HbA1c chez les patients diabétiques et un mauvais contrôle glycémique. Le dépistage de cette maladie courante est important dans les soins holistiques du diabète. Mots-clés: Diabète sucré, contrôle glycémique, parodontite.

A Clinical, Pathological, Epidemiological and Molecular Investigation of Recent Outbreaks of Peste des Petits Ruminants Virus in Domestic and Wild Small Ruminants in the Abu Dhabi Emirate, United Arab Emirates.

(1) Background: Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) is a highly contagious animal disease affecting small ruminants, leading to significant economic losses. There has been little published data on PPR virus (PPRV) infection in the United Arab Emirates (UAE); (2) Methods: four outbreaks reported in goats and Dama gazelle in 2021 were investigated using pathological and molecular testing; (3) Results: The infected animals showed symptoms of dyspnea, oculo-nasal secretions, cough, and diarrhea. Necropsy findings were almost similar in all examined animals and compliant to the classical forms of the disease. Phylogenetic analysis based on N gene and F gene partial sequences revealed a circulation of PPRV Asian lineage IV in the UAE, and these sequences clustered close to the sequences of PPRV from United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Iran; (4) Conclusions: PPRV Asian lineage IV is currently circulating in the UAE. To the best of our knowledge, this is a first study describing PPRV in domestic small ruminant in the UAE.

Statistical Investigation of High Culture Contamination Rates in Mycobacteriology Laboratory.

Background: Culture of Mycobacterium tuberculosis remains the gold standard in mycobacteriology laboratories, constrained by the very high risk of contamination; therefore, contamination rate is an important key performance indicator (KPI) for laboratory monitoring and evaluation processes. Aim: This study aimed to investigate the factors that contribute to elevated contamination rates in the Sudan National Tuberculosis Reference Laboratory. Method: A laboratory-based retrospective study was applied; a TB culture register-book was carefully reviewed and data from 2 January 2019 to 31 December 2019 were entered, cleaned, and analyzed using IBM SPSS 20. A multivariate logistic regression model was performed to examine two dependent variables, the massive contamination, and the single tube contamination against predictors of reason for cultivation, type of specimen, experiment team, and the quarter of cultivation. Results: It has been found that in 2019 contamination rates were frequently higher; the highest rates were recorded in January and November, 28.2 and 25.2%, respectively. August is an exception with an accepted contamination rate of 4.6%. Of 1,149 specimens requested for culture, 945 (82.2%) samples were eligible to be included in multivariate logistic regression analysis. The team conducting the experiment was significantly associated with a high single tube contamination p value 0.007; adjusted odds ratio AOR 3.570 (1.415-9.005). The correlation between the single tube contamination and the massive contamination is significant; p value 0.01. Conclusion: The study concludes that high culture contamination is the greatest risk to the quality of laboratory service and can end in either the loss of specimens or delay in the decisions of initiating patient treatment. In addition, the low quality or incompleteness of data increases the uncertainty and undermines the measurement of key performance indicators.

Pathology and Molecular Epidemiology of Fowl Adenovirus Serotype 4 Outbreaks in Broiler Chicken in Abu Dhabi Emirate, UAE.

BACKGROUND: Fowl adenovirus serotype 4 (FAdV-4), causing inclusion body hepatitis (IBH) and hydropericardium hepatitis syndrome (HPS), is responsible for the significant economic losses in poultry industry worldwide. This study describes FAdV disease and molecular characteristics of the virus as the first report in UAE. METHODOLOGY: Clinical, necropsy, histopathology, qPCR and phylogenetic analysis of hexon gene were used to diagnose and characterize the virus. RESULTS: The age of the infected broiler chicken was 2-4 weeks. The morbidity and mortality rates ranged between 50 and 100% and 44 and 100%, respectively. Clinically, sudden onset, diarrhea, anemia and general weakness were recorded. At necropsy, acute necrotic hepatitis, with swollen, yellowish discoloration, enlarged and friable liver; hydropericarditis with hydropericardium effusions; and enlarged mottled spleen were observed. Histopathology examination revealed degeneration and necrosis, lymphocytic infiltration and inclusion bodies. The qPCR analysis detected the virus in all samples tested. Hexon gene sequence analysis identified FAdV serotype 4, species C as the major cause of FAdV infections in UAE in 2020, and this strain was closely related to FAdV-4 circulating in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Nepal and China. CONCLUSION: The serotype 4, species C, was the common FAdV strain causing IBH and HPS episodes in the region. This result may help design effective vaccination programs that rely on field serotypes.

An Application for Measuring and Analyzing the Level of Performance Accuracy for Health Services Quality Indicators by Using Six-Sigma: A Study Case of Government Hospitals in Khartoum State.

The study aimed at acknowledging the Six Sigma methodology and the existence of the essential components for the application, as well as reducing the time for completing the operations, reducing the error rate to the lowest possible level, and improving the quality of operations. For this objective, the analytical descriptive methodology was used on a sample consisted of 300 administrative and medical staff from Khartoum State Hospitals (Khartoum, Omdurman, Bahri). To this end, a questionnaire was used for collecting data and for analyzing it and achieving the results of the study by using the statistical analysis package (SPSS). The study deduced a number of results, the most important of which are that the items of commitment and supreme command support for the senior leadership and the methods of abundant human resources on quality control, and the application of the Six Sigma methodology in government hospitals in Khartoum state achieved a satisfactory level, while continuous improvement paragraphs, processes, and systems on quality control and the application of Six Sigma methodology achieved high quality. There is a significant effect on the extent of commitment and support of the higher leadership on quality control and the application of the Six Sigma methodology. Similarly, there is a statistically significant effect on the application of continuous improvement methods on quality control and Six Sigma methodology. Also, there is a statistically significant effect on the application of the abundance of human resources methods variable on quality control and the application of Six Sigma methodology in governmental hospitals in Khartoum state. The study recommended to take interest in the Six Sigma methodology and assure the possibility of using it in Khartoum State's hospitals because of its scientific and practical importance in improving the quality of services and provided processes, and the need to provide qualified financial and human resources for using and developing Six Sigma methodology in hospitals, as well as great attention in training and providing departments heads with full knowledge of Six Sigma methodology and the fundamentals on which Six Sigma methodology, is based on its importance for hospitals. The study also recommended associating the promotions system in government hospitals in Khartoum state with the quality control program.

Pathology, bacteriology and molecular studies on caseous lymphadenitis in Camelus dromedarius in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, UAE, 2015-2020.

Caseous lymphadenitis (CLA) or pseudotuberculosis is a chronic zoonotic bacterial disease caused by Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis, which affects livestock and humans. This study aimed to describe the pathology, bacteriology and confirm the identity of the pathogen by 16S rRNA gene sequencing in Camelus dromedarius. A total of 12 camels with suspected CLA in three regions of Abu Dhabi Emirate (Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and Al Dhafra), United Arab Emirate (UAE) were subjected to clinical and postmortem examinations from January 2015 to December 2020. Clinically, camels were emaciated and showed the presence of external caseous abscesses suggestive of CLA. Postmortem examination showed multiple abscesses of variable sizes with caseous material encapsulated by fibrous tissue in the liver, lungs, muscle, and lymph nodes. Following clinical and postmortem examination, blood, pus and different tissue samples were collected for subsequent analysis. Histopathological examination of all organs stained with Hematoxylin and Eosin (H&E) indicated a central caseo-necrotic core that was admixed with bacterial colonies and infiltration of chronic inflammatory cells, surrounded by a pyogenic membrane, and an outer fibrous connective tissue capsule. Bacterial culture identified the isolates of Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis biotype ovis strain, and these isolates were shown to be sensitive to all antibiotics tested (penicillin, ampicillin, Co-trimoxazole, enrofloxacin and tetracycline). Moreover, the identity of the isolates was confirmed by partial sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene which showed a 100% identity to Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequence clearly differentiates Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis from other species of Corynebacterium. Briefly, this study provided the basic information for infection of Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis in Camels and will help in controlling of this pathogen in the region.

Molecular determination of van genes among clinical isolates of enterococci at a hospital setting.

Vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) poses a formidable challenge to public health due to its inherent resistance to multiple antibiotics coupled with the ability to transfer genetic determinants to dangerous pathogens like Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The purpose of this study was to investigate the incidence of vancomycin resistance in enterococci among clinical isolates at a tertiary care military hospital in the eastern region of Saudi Arabia and to detect van genes using multiplex-PCR. Overall, 246 isolates of enterococci were collected from various clinical specimens. The isolates were identified, and antimicrobial susceptibility testing was done using the Vitek 2 system. Multiplex PCR was performed on the VRE isolates, thus identified to determine the van genes harbored. A total of 15 VRE were identified, of which 14 (93.3%) were Enterococcus faecium, and 1(6.7%) was Enterococcus casseliflavus with intrinsic vanC resistance. Of the 14 vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium, 8 (57.1%) harbored vanB genes, while 6 (42.8%) harbored vanA genes. All the VRE were susceptible to linezolid and tigecycline. Our study detected a low prevalence (6.1%) of VRE among clinical isolates of enterococci and that the vanB gene predominates in such strains. Susceptibility profiles indicated that linezolid and tigecycline are still effective against these multidrug-resistant pathogens. Pus specimens yielded the highest percentage (53.3%) of isolates from which VRE was obtained, and this finding is novel among studies done in Saudi Arabia.

Oral Habits in Children With Orofacial Clefts: A Comparative Study.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Children with cleft lip and palate present with a wide range of dental and occlusal anomalies as a result of the cleft defect. These patients also present with oral habits which may affect their quality of life. The aim of this study was to compare the prevalence of oral habits in these children, with children without orofacial clefts. METHODOLOGY: This was a cross-sectional comparative study comparing children with repaired cleft lip and/or palate aged 3 to 12 years, with children without orofacial clefts. Ethical approval for the study was obtained from the institutional review boards of both centers. Data collection was via interviewer administered questionnaires given to the parents/guardians of the children in each group. Data analysis was carried out using SPSS version 23. The level of significance was set at P < .05. RESULTS: A total of 107 respondents participated in the study, comprising 53 children with repaired cleft lip and/or palate 54 children without orofacial clefts. The mean age for the children with Cleft lip and/or palate/ was 6.81 (standard deviation [SD] 1.898) years, while that for the control group was 7.78 (SD 1.68) years. Two oral habits recorded a significantly higher prevalence (P < .05) in the children with repaired clefts as compared to controls and these were lip sucking and bruxism. No significant difference in prevalence was recorded for all the other oral habits surveyed. CONCLUSION: A significantly higher prevalence (P < .05) was observed in lip sucking and bruxism among children with cleft lip and palate, as compared to the children without orofacial clefts.

Genetic Characterization of Piroplasms in Donkeys and Horses from Nigeria.

Equine piroplasmosis (EP) is a tick-borne disease of equids, caused by the two haemoprotozoal parasites: Theileria equi and Babesia caballi. Nigeria constitutes a major crossroads of animal transport in West Africa and may serve as a factor in EP dissemination in the region. The study aim was to characterize EP parasites in donkeys and horses in northern Nigeria using a molecular approach. Blood was collected from 57 donkeys and 47 horses. EP infection was detected and characterized by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Twenty five donkeys (43.8%) were infected with T. equi, five (8.8%) with B. caballi, three (5.3%) with dual infections. Four horses (8.5%) were infected by T. equi and none by B. caballi. Four of the five known T. equi 18S rRNA genotypes (A, B, C and D) were identified. Theileria equi ema-1 and ema-2 genes were amplified in only 2 and 10 samples, respectively, showing no genetic variation. All B. caballi isolates were classified as rap-1 genotype A1. Twenty-two (42.3%) of the donkeys were positive for anti-T. equi antibodies and 29 (55.8%) were positive for anti-B. caballi antibodies, using immunofluorescence antibody test (IFAT). The study results demonstrate high genetic variation within T. equi parasites, suggesting that donkeys may be reservoirs of EP parasites in West Africa.

The relationship between coffee intake, obstructive sleep apnea risk, and type 2 diabetes glycemic control, in Tabuk City, The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: a case-control study.

OBJECTIVES: The study aimed to assess the relationship between coffee intake, obstructive sleep apnea risk (OSA), and glycemic control among patients with diabetes mellitus. RESULTS: There were 110 patients with diabetes and 96 healthy control subjects (matched for age and sex) attending a diabetes center زinTabuk, Saudi Arabia during the period from June 2018-October 2019. Stop-Bang questionnaire was used to assess OSA risk, and Epworth Sleepiness Scale to investigate daytime sleepiness. OSA risk and daytime sleepiness were higher among patients with diabetes compared to controls (4.34 ± 1.61 vs. 2.86 ± 1.24, and 8.31 ± 4.40 vs. 6.39 ± 3.70 respectively, P < 0.5), while coffee consumption was not (4.64 ± 3.95 vs. 3.45 ± 3.06, P > 0.05). Women with diabetes were younger with short duration since the diagnosis of diabetes and consumed less coffee compared to men, P < 0.5. A negative correlation was found between coffee consumption and the duration of diabetes, while no correlation was found between coffee intake, the glycated hemoglobin, OSA risk, sex, and daytime sleepiness. Daytime sleepiness and OSA risk were commoners among patients with diabetes, they were not correlated with coffee consumption which was negatively correlated with the duration since diabetes diagnosis. Further larger multi-center studies investigating coffee intake among patients newly diagnosed with diabetes are recommended.

A Deep Learning-Based End-to-End Composite System for Hand Detection and Gesture Recognition.

Recent research on hand detection and gesture recognition has attracted increasing interest due to its broad range of potential applications, such as human-computer interaction, sign language recognition, hand action analysis, driver hand behavior monitoring, and virtual reality. In recent years, several approaches have been proposed with the aim of developing a robust algorithm which functions in complex and cluttered environments. Although several researchers have addressed this challenging problem, a robust system is still elusive. Therefore, we propose a deep learning-based architecture to jointly detect and classify hand gestures. In the proposed architecture, the whole image is passed through a one-stage dense object detector to extract hand regions, which, in turn, pass through a lightweight convolutional neural network (CNN) for hand gesture recognition. To evaluate our approach, we conducted extensive experiments on four publicly available datasets for hand detection, including the Oxford, 5-signers, EgoHands, and Indian classical dance (ICD) datasets, along with two hand gesture datasets with different gesture vocabularies for hand gesture recognition, namely, the LaRED and TinyHands datasets. Here, experimental results demonstrate that the proposed architecture is efficient and robust. In addition, it outperforms other approaches in both the hand detection and gesture classification tasks.

The perceived stress and approach to learning effects on academic performance among Sudanese medical students.

BACKGROUND: There is an increasing awareness of the perceived stress and approach to learning effects on academic achievement. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess the educational environment and approach to learning in clinical phase medical students. METHODS: This comparative cross-sectional study was conducted among fifty-nine clinical stage medical students at Omdurman Islamic University (Khartoum, Sudan) during the period from June to August 2016. All the participants signed a written informed consent, then responded to a structured questionnaire to collect demographic data, the two process study questionnaires and the perceived stress questionnaire. The ethical committee of Omdurman Islamic University approved the research, and the Statistical Package for Social Sciences was used to compare the students based on sex, class, and their grades. Data were analyzed by SPSS version 22, using descriptive statistics and t-test. RESULTS: There were fifty-nine medical students, of whom 41.5% were males with a mean age of 22.62±1.84 years. Stress was evident in the majority of medical students (88.1%). The students are using the deep approach to learning more than the superficial approach (The total score was 29.49±6.39 for the deep approach, while it was 20.81±6.94 for the superficial approach). In the current study, no differences were found regarding sex, class, or grades apart from the superficial approach which was used less among women. CONCLUSION: The perceived stress was prevalent among medical students in Omdurman Islamic University, Sudan, the students used the deep approach to learning more than the superficial, no differences were evident in the perceived stress and the learning approach in relation to sex, class level or grades apart from less superficial approach among women.

A Single Lineage of Hepatitis E Virus Causes Both Outbreaks and Sporadic Hepatitis in Sudan.

Few studies have reported sporadic hepatitis E virus (HEV) infections during non-outbreak periods in Africa. In this study, the prevalence of HEV infection in Sudan was investigated in 432 patients with acute hepatitis from 12 localities in North Kordofan, and from 152 patients involved in smaller outbreaks of hepatitis in the neighbouring Darfur. HEV infection was diagnosed in 147 (25%) patients: 98 from Kordofan and 49 from Darfur. The mortality was 10%; six of the patients who died from the infection were pregnant women. HEV RNA was detected by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) in 38 (26%) patients: 22 from Kordofan and 16 from Darfur. Partial open reading frame (ORF) 1 and ORF2 were sequenced from HEV from nine and three patients, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the Sudanese strains belonged to genotype 1 (HEV1), and confirmed the segregation of African HEV1 strains into one branch divergent from Asian HEV1. It also revealed that the Sudanese strains from this study and from an outbreak in 2004 formed a separate clade with a common ancestor, distinct from strains from the neighbouring Chad and Egypt. This HEV strain has thus spread in a large area of Sudan, where it has caused both sporadic hepatitis E and outbreaks from at least 2004 and onwards. These data demonstrate that hepatitis E is a constant, on-going public health problem in Sudan and that there is a need for hepatitis E surveillance, outbreak preparedness, and general improvements of the sanitation in these remote areas of the country.

Thermal and single frequency counter-current ultrasound pretreatments of sodium caseinate: enzymolysis kinetics and thermodynamics, amino acids composition, molecular weight distribution and antioxidant peptides.

BACKGROUND: Due to the disadvantages of traditional enzymolysis, pretreatments are crucial to enhance protein enzymolysis. Enzymolysis kinetics and thermodynamics, amino acids composition, molecular weight distribution, fluorescence spectroscopy and antioxidant activity of thermal (HT) and single frequency counter-current ultrasound (SCFU) pretreated sodium caseinate (NaCas) were studied. RESULTS: Enzymolysis of untreated NaCas (control) improved significantly (P < 0.05) by SFCU and followed by HT. Values of the Michaelis-Menten constant (KM ) of SFCU and HT were 0.0212 and 0.0250, respectively. HT and SFCU increased (P < 0.05) the reaction rate constant (k) by 38.64 and 90.91%, respectively at 298 K. k values decreased with increasing temperature. The initial activation energy (46.39 kJ mol-1 ) reduced (P < 0.05) by HT (39.66 kJ mol-1 ) and further by SFCU (33.42 kJ mol-1 ). SFCU-pretreated NaCas hydrolysates had the highest contents of hydrophobic, aromatic, positively and negatively charged amino acids. Medium-sized peptides (5000-1000 Da) are higher in SFCU (78.11%) than HT and the control. SFCU induced molecular unfolding of NaCas proteins. Accordingly, SFCU-pretreated NaCas hydrolysate exhibited the highest scavenging activity on DPPH and hydroxyl radicals, reducing power, and iron chelating ability. CONCLUSION: SFCU pretreatment would be a useful tool for production of bioactive peptides from NaCas hydrolysate. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.