The potential use of ozone as antifungal and antiaflatoxigenic agent in nuts and its effect on nutritional quality.

Ozone gas is considered as a safe antimicrobial agent in food industries. Here, we evaluated the antifungal and antiaflatoxigenic activities of ozone against fungal contamination in nuts. The most predominant fungal genera in nuts were Aspergillus, Penicillium, Fusarium, and Rhizopus. Ozone (4 ppm) significantly reduced the fungal sporulation of A. flavus and their aflatoxin production. Interestingly, ozone treatment of nuts reduced the total fungal count and increased aflatoxins degradation by approximately 95% and 85%, respectively. Ozone displayed high efficiency to increase the permeability of cell membrane and injury of cell wall of fungi. Increasing the exposure time of ozone in nuts up to 180 minutes showed to reduce the total lipid, carbohydrates, and protein by around 41.2%, 42.7% and 38.4% respectively, in pistachio, almond and peanuts. In conclusion, ozonation is a suitable decontaminating approach for reducing the microbial load in nuts, when used with suitable exposure time.

Improved apple latent spherical virus-induced gene silencing in multiple soybean genotypes through direct inoculation of agro-infiltrated Nicotiana benthamiana extract.

BACKGROUND: Virus induced gene silencing (VIGS) is a powerful genomics tool for interrogating the function of plant genes. Unfortunately, VIGS vectors often produce disease symptoms that interfere with the silencing phenotypes of target genes, or are frequently ineffective in certain plant genotypes or tissue types. This is especially true in crop plants like soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr]. To address these shortcomings, we modified the inoculation procedure of a VIGS vector based on Apple latent spherical virus (ALSV). The efficacy of this new procedure was assessed in 19 soybean genotypes using a soybean Phytoene desaturase (GmPDS1) gene as the VIGS target. Silencing of GmPDS1 was easily scored as photo-bleached leaves and/or stems. RESULTS: In this report, the ALSV VIGS vector was modified by mobilizing ALSV cDNAs into a binary vector compatible with Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated delivery, so that VIGS-triggering ALSV variants could be propagated in agro-infiltrated Nicotiana benthamiana leaves. Homogenate of these N. benthamiana leaves was then applied directly onto the unifoliate of young soybean seedlings to initiate systemic gene silencing. This rapid inoculation method bypassed the need for a particle bombardment apparatus. Among the 19 soybean genotypes evaluated with this new method, photo-bleaching indicative of GmPDS1 silencing was observed in nine, with two exhibiting photo-bleaching in 100% of the inoculated individuals. ALSV RNA was detected in pods, embryos, stems, leaves, and roots in symptomatic plants of four genotypes. CONCLUSIONS: This modified protocol allowed for inoculation of soybean plants via simple mechanical rubbing with the homogenate of N. benthamiana leaves agro-infiltrated with ALSV VIGS constructs. More importantly, inoculated plants showed no apparent virus disease symptoms which could otherwise interfere with VIGS phenotypes. This streamlined procedure expanded this functional genomics tool to nine soybean genotypes.

Assessment of the levels of awareness toward cardiopulmonary resuscitation: A community-based study in Northern Saudi Arabia.

BACKGROUND: Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is a procedure performed in an emergency when the heart stops. Early initiation of CPR can save many lives. Thus, the aim of the present study was to assess the level of awareness toward CPR in a community-based study in Northern Saudi Arabia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a cross-sectional survey conducted in the city of Hail, Northern Saudi Arabia. Data about CPR were obtained from 442 Saudi volunteers living in the city of Hail. RESULTS: A family history of ischemic heart disease was indicated in 148/442 (33.5%) of the participants. On asking the participants whether they have previous information about CPR, about 258/442 (58.4%) persons indicated "Yes," 118/442 (26.6%) replied "May be," and the remaining 66/442 (15%) replied "No." CONCLUSION: The study showed a high level of awareness about CPR, which might be attributed to the majority of highly educated participants. Effective and sustainable public CPR training programs are needed to be implemented to preserve better knowledge and awareness of CPR in the general population.

Parallel generation of digitally reconstructed radiographs on heterogeneous multi-GPU workstations.

The growing importance of three-dimensional radiotherapy treatment has been associated with the active presence of advanced computational workflows that can simulate conventional x-ray films from computed tomography (CT) volumetric data to create digitally reconstructed radiographs (DRR). These simulated x-ray images are used to continuously verify the patient alignment in image-guided therapies with 2D-3D image registration. The present DRR rendering pipelines are quite limited to handle huge imaging stacks generated by recent state-of-the-art CT imaging modalities. We present a high performance x-ray rendering pipeline that is capable of generating high quality DRRs from large scale CT volumes. The pipeline is designed to harness the immense computing power of all the heterogeneous computing platforms that are connected to the system relying on OpenCL. Load-balancing optimization is also addressed to equalize the rendering load across the entire system. The performance benchmarks demonstrate the capability of our pipeline to generate high quality DRRs from relatively large CT volumes at interactive frame rates using cost-effective multi-GPU workstations. A 5122 DRR frame can be rendered from 1024 × 2048 × 2048 CT volumes at 85 frames per second.

Effect of quinine therapy on plasma glucose and plasma insulin levels in pregnant women infected with Plasmodium falciparum malaria in Gezira state.

To determine if quinine has a metabolic effect during treatment of severe or complicated malaria, we studied its effects on plasma glucose and plasma insulin levels in 150 pregnant women with malaria referred to Madani maternity teaching hospital, Gezira state and 50 healthy pregnant controls. Levels were determined at baseline (day 0) before the start of quinine treatment, after 2 days of treatment (2 hours after the 4th dose) and after 7 days of treatment (day 8). There was a statistically significant increase in plasma insulin concentrations during the quinine infusion and fall in plasma glucose concentration (P < 0.001). Quinine administered at the recommended dose and rate can disrupt plasma glucose homeostasis although it is still the drug of choice for severe and complicated malaria in Sudan.

Effect of quinine therapy on plasma glucose and plasma insulin levels in pregnant women infected with Plasmodium falciparum malaria in Gezira state

To determine if quinine has a metabolic effect during treatment of severe or complicated malaria, we studied its effects on plasma glucose and plasma insulin levels in 150 pregnant women with malaria referred to Madani maternity teaching hospital, Gezira state and 50 healthy pregnant controls. Levels were determined at baseline [day 0] before the start of quinine treatment, after 2 days of treatment [2 hours after the 4th dose] and after 7 days of treatment [day 8]. There was a statistically significant increase in plasma insulin concentrations during the quinine infusion and fall in plasma glucose concentration [P<0.001]. Quinine administered at the recommended dose and rate can disrupt plasma glucose homeostasis although it is still the drug of choice for severe and complicated malaria in Sudan

Splenectomy results in patients with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura: 10 years of experience in Turgut Ozal Medical Center.

The standard treatment for immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) is corticosteroid therapy. In patients who are refractory to this treatment, splenectomy is the most usual therapy. Between 1993 and 2003, 125 patients were diagnosed with ITP in the Inonu University School of Medicine, Department of Haematology. Twenty-one of these patients who did not respond to steroids, underwent splenectomy. Of these 21 patients, 12 achieved complete and three achieved partial haematological responses, while the remaining six did not respond. Four of these six patients responded to drugs such as azathioprine and danazol, while the others were totally refractory. Only one of our patients showed fatal complications either during or after the surgery. Our results after 10 years experience demonstrate that splenectomy is an effective and safe treatment for ITP patients who are refractory to steroids.

Inhibition of methylnitrosourea (MNU) induced oxidative stress and carcinogenesis by orally administered bee honey and Nigella grains in Sprague Dawely rats.

We studied the protective effect of bee honey and Nigella grains as nutraceuticals on the oxidative stress and carcinogenesis induced by methylnitrosourea (MNU) in Sprague Dawely rats. Four groups of animals were used and fed ad-libitum. The first group was a control (n=8), the second (n=8), the third (n=15) and the fourth groups (n=12) were injected MNU (single i.v. dose 50 mg/kg body weight). After one week the third and fourth groups were given orally 0.2 g ground Nigella grains and 0.2 g Nigella with 5 g honey/rat/day, respectively. After six months all animals were sacrificed except two from the second group (MNU-injected rats) that died one-week before the end of the experiment. We observed that MNU injected in the second group produced a variety of oxidative stresses ranging from severe inflammatory reaction in lung and skin to colon adenocarcinoma in four out of six animals. There was an associated elevation of malondialdehyde (MDA) and nitric oxide (NO) in sera obtained from animals of this group compared to the control one. Nigella sativa grains given orally protected against MNU-induced oxidative stress and carcinogenesis by 80% (12/15) and combated this effect by lowering MDA and NO. Whereas honey from bees and Nigella sativa together protected 100% (12/12) against MNU-induced oxidative stress, carcinogenesis and abolished the NO and MDA elevations shown in sera of animals who did not receive these nutrients. These results showed that supplementation of diet with honey and Nigella sativa has a protective effect against MNU-induced oxidative stress, inflammatory response and carcinogenesis.

Otitis media in Sudanese children: presentation and bacteriology.

Two hundred Sudanese children (105 males, 95 females) with otitis media (OM) were studied. Their age range was from 3 months to 15 years, with 41.5% being below 2 years of age. The presenting symptoms included ear discharge in 96% and pyrexia in 26.5% of patients. Ear ache and itching were reported in 22.5% and 7.0% respectively and impaired hearing in 7.0%. Bacterial pathogens were isolated from 115 (70.1%) of 164 cultures from children with chronic discharging ears. Organisms isolated in order of frequency were: Proteus species, Klebsiella with other coliforms, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli. Sixty of 84 (71.4%) cultures from children with acute OM grew pathogenic bacteria. Staphylococcus aureus and Klebsiella with other coliforms were the commonest pathogens. Proteus species and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were less frequent but beta-haemolytic Streptococcus, Streptococcus pneumoniae and Escherichia coli were the least common. Antibiotic sensitivity results show that the majority of isolates from children with discharging ears were sensitive to Gentamicin, followed by Co-trimoxazole and Streptomycin. The majority of organisms showed poor sensitivity to Ampicillin and Penicillin. The results of this study show that cotrimoxazole is the drug of choice for treating children with OM.

PIP: 200 Sudanese children (105 males, 95 females) with otitis media (OM) were studied. They ranged in age from 3 months-15 years, with 41.5% under the age of 2. The presenting symptoms included ear discharge in 96% and pyrexia in 26.5%. Earache and itching were reported in 22.5% and 7.0%, respectively, and 7.0% experienced impaired hearing. Bacterial pathogens were isolated from 115 (70.1%) of 164 cultures from children with chronically discharging ears. Organisms isolated in order of frequency were: proteus species, Klebsiella with other coliforms, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli. 60 of 84 (71.4%) cultures from children with acute OM grew pathogenic bacteria. Staphylococcus aureus and Klebsiella with other coliforms were the most common pathogens. Proteus species and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were less frequent but beta-hemolytic Streptococcus, Streptococcus pneumoniae, and Escherichia coli were the least common. Antibiotic sensitivity results show that the majority of isolates from children with discharging ears were sensitive to Gentamicin, followed by cotrimoxazole and streptomycin. The majority of organisms showed poor sensitivity to ampicillin and penicillin. The results of this study show that cotrimoxazole is the drug of choice for the treatment of children with OM.

Assessment of oxidative metabolism in adults with hepatocellular carcinoma in the Sudan.

The hypothesis that an increased rate of oxidative metabolism may be an initiator or promoter of hepatocellular carcinoma was tested in vivo. Elimination of antipyrine (phenazone) was used as an index of the activity of microsomal mixed function oxidative enzymes. Plasma antipyrine kinetics were examined in 10 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and in 10 normal Sudanese adults. The half life, volume of distribution and clearance of antipyrine in patients were 18.8 +/- 7.9 hours (mean +/- SD), 33.8 +/- 7.7 litres and 23.7 +/- 10.1 ml/min, respectively; and in normal adults were 20.3 +/- 8.8 hours, 40.1 +/- 10.4 litres and 25.7 +/- 12.0 ml/min, respectively. These differences were not significant. Antipyrine plasma clearance when corrected for weight was similar in the two groups. This study suggests that in a population at risk for hepatocellular carcinoma, the overall activity of mixed function oxidative enzymes is not an important determinant in selectively increasing this risk.