Search results for: platelet count

Authors: Thavasimuthu Citarasu, Mariavincent Michaelbabu, Vikram Vakharia

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The rhizome of Java grass, Cyperus rotundus was extracted different organic polar and non-polar solvents and performed the in vitro antiviral and immunostimulant activities against White Spot Syndrome Virus (WSSV) and Vibrio harveyi respectively. Based on the initial screening the ethyl acetate extract of C. rotundus was strong activities and further it was purified through silica column chromatography and the fractions were screened again for antiviral and immunostimulant activity. Among the different fractions screened against the WSSV and V. harveyi, the fractions, F-III to FV had strong activities. In order to study the in vivo influence of C. rotundus, the fractions (F-III to FV) were pooled and delivered to the F. indicus through artificial feed for 30 days. After the feeding trail the experimental and control diet fed F. indicus were challenged with virulent WSSV and studied the survival, molecular diagnosis, biochemical, haematological and immunological parameters. Surprisingly, the pooled fractions (F-III to FV) incorporated diets helped to significantly (P < 0.01) suppressed viral multiplication, showed significant (P < 0.01) differences in protein and glucose levels, improved total haemocyte count (THC), coagulase activity, significantly increased (P < =0.001) prophenol oxidase and intracellular superoxide anion production compared to the control shrimps. Based on the results, C. rotundus extracts effectively suppressed WSSV multiplication and improve the immune system in F. indicus against WSSV infection and this knowledge will helps to develop novel drugs from C. rotundus against WSSV.

Keywords: antiviral drugs, cyperus rotundus, fenneropenaeus indicus, WSSV

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Authors: Aniqa Jabeen

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The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of Tc-99m MIBI (Technetium 99-methoxy-iso-butyl-isonitrile) scintigraphy to differentiate malignancies from benign lesions, which were detected on planar bone scans. Materials and Methods: 59 patients with bone lesions were enrolled in the study. The scintigraphic findings were compared with the clinical, radiological and the histological findings. Each patient initially underwent a three-phase bone scan with Tc-99m MDP (Methylene Diphosphonate) and if evidence of lesion found, the patient then underwent a dynamic and static MIBI scintigraphy after three to four days. The MDP and MIBI scans were evaluated visually and quantitatively. For quantitative analysis count ratios of lesions and contralateral normal side (L/C) were taken by region of interests drawn on scans. The Student T test was applied to assess the significant difference between benign and malignant lesions p-value < 0.05 was considered significant. Result: The MDP scans showed the increase tracer uptake, but there was no significant difference between benign and malignant uptake of the radiotracer. However significant difference (p-value 0.015), in uptake was seen in malignant (L/C = 3.51 ± 1.02) and benign lesion (L/C = 2.50±0.42) on MIBI scan. Three of thirty benign lesions did not show significant MIBI uptake. Seven malignant appeared as false negatives. Specificity of the scan was 86.66%, and its Negative Predictive Value (NPV) was 81.25% whereas the sensitivity of scan was 79.31%. In excluding the axial metastasis from the lesions, the sensitivity of MIBI scan increased to 91.66% and the NPV also increased to 92.85%. Conclusion: MIBI scintigraphy provides its usefulness by distinguishing malignant from benign lesions. MIBI also correctly identifies metastatic lesions. The negative predictive value of the scan points towards its ability to accurately diagnose the normal (benign) cases. However, biopsy remains the gold standard and a definitive diagnostic modality in musculoskeletal tumors. MIBI scan provides useful information in preoperative assessment and in distinguishing between malignant and benign lesions.

Keywords: benign, malignancies, MDP bone scan, MIBI scintigraphy

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Authors: Ayse Gul Bilen

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Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are commonly prescribed antidepressants that are used clinically for the treatment of anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), panic disorders and eating disorders. The first SSRI, fluoxetine (sold under the brand names Prozac and Sarafem among others), had an adverse effect profile better than any other available antidepressant when it was introduced because of its selectivity for serotonin receptors. They have been considered almost free of side effects and have become widely prescribed, however questions about the safety and tolerability of SSRIs have emerged with their continued use. Most SSRI side effects are dose-related and can be attributed to serotonergic effects such as nausea. Continuous use might trigger adverse effects such as hyponatremia, tremor, nausea, weight gain, sleep disturbance and sexual dysfunction. Moderate toxicity can be safely observed in the hospital for 24 hours, and mild cases can be safely discharged (if asymptomatic) from the emergency department once cleared by Psychiatry in cases of intentional overdose and after 6 to 8 hours of observation. Although fluoxetine is relatively safe in terms of overdose, it might still be cardiotoxic and inhibit platelet secretion, aggregation, and plug formation. There have been reported clinical cases of seizures, cardiac conduction abnormalities, and even fatalities associated with fluoxetine ingestions. While the medical literature strongly suggests that most fluoxetine overdoses are benign, emergency physicians need to remain cognizant that intentional, high-dose fluoxetine ingestions may induce seizures and can even be fatal due to cardiac arrhythmia. Our case is a 35-year old female patient who was sent to ER with symptoms of confusion, amnesia and loss of orientation for time and location after being found wandering in the streets unconsciously by police forces that informed 112. Upon laboratory examination, no pathological symptom was found except sinus tachycardia in the EKG and high levels of aspartate transaminase (AST) and alanine transaminase (ALT). Diffusion MRI and computed tomography (CT) of the brain all looked normal. Upon physical and sexual examination, no signs of abuse or trauma were found. Test results for narcotics, stimulants and alcohol were negative as well. There was a presence of dysrhythmia which required admission to the intensive care unit (ICU). The patient gained back her conscience after 24 hours. It was discovered from her story afterward that she had been using fluoxetine due to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for 6 months and that she had attempted suicide after taking 3 boxes of fluoxetine due to the loss of a parent. She was then transferred to the psychiatric clinic. Our study aims to highlight the need to consider toxicologic drug use, in particular, the abuse of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), which have been widely prescribed due to presumed safety and tolerability, for diagnosis of patients applying to the emergency room (ER).

Keywords: abuse, amnesia, fluoxetine, intoxication, SSRI

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Authors: Danielle Shackley, Yetunde Folajimi

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As more people turn to the internet seeking health-related information, there is more risk of finding false, inaccurate, or dangerous information. Sentiment analysis is a natural language processing technique that assigns polarity scores to text, ranging from positive, neutral, and negative. In this research, we evaluate the weight of a sentiment analysis feature added to fake health news classification models. The dataset consists of existing reliably labeled health article headlines that were supplemented with health information collected about COVID-19 from social media sources. We started with data preprocessing and tested out various vectorization methods such as Count and TFIDF vectorization. We implemented 3 Naive Bayes classifier models, including Bernoulli, Multinomial, and Complement. To test the weight of the sentiment analysis feature on the dataset, we created benchmark Naive Bayes classification models without sentiment analysis, and those same models were reproduced, and the feature was added. We evaluated using the precision and accuracy scores. The Bernoulli initial model performed with 90% precision and 75.2% accuracy, while the model supplemented with sentiment labels performed with 90.4% precision and stayed constant at 75.2% accuracy. Our results show that the addition of sentiment analysis did not improve model precision by a wide margin; while there was no evidence of improvement in accuracy, we had a 1.9% improvement margin of the precision score with the Complement model. Future expansion of this work could include replicating the experiment process and substituting the Naive Bayes for a deep learning neural network model.

Keywords: sentiment analysis, Naive Bayes model, natural language processing, topic analysis, fake health news classification model

Procedia PDF Downloads 71

Authors: Nehal Adel Khalil, Amel Foad Ketat, Fairouz Elsayed Mohamed Ali, Nahla Abdelmoneim Hamid, Hazem Farag Manaa

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Background: Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) represents 15% of adult leukemias. Imatinib Mesylate (IM) is the gold standard treatment for new cases of CML. Treatment with IM results in improvement of the majority of cases. However, about 25% of cases may develop resistance. Sensitive and specific early predictors of IM resistance in CML patients have not been established to date. Aim: To investigate the value of miR-451 in CML as an early predictor for IM resistance in Egyptian CML patients. Methods: The study employed Real time Polymerase Reaction (qPCR) technique to investigate the leucocytic expression of miR-451 in fifteen newly diagnosed CML patients (group I), fifteen IM responder CML patients (group II), fifteen IM resistant CML patients (group III) and fifteen healthy subjects of matched age and sex as a control group (group IV). The response to IM was defined as < 10% BCR-ABL transcript level after 3 months of therapy. The following parameters were assessed in subjects of all the studied groups: 1- Complete blood count (CBC). 2- Measurement of plasma level of miRNA 451 using real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction (qPCR). 3- Detection of BCR-ABL gene mutation in CML using qPCR. Results: The present study revealed that miR-451 was significantly down-regulated in leucocytes of newly diagnosed CML patients as compared to healthy subjects. IM responder CML patients showed an up-regulation of miR- 451 compared with IM resistant CML patients. Conclusion: According to the data from the present study, it can be concluded that leucocytic miR- 451 expression is a useful additional follow-up marker for the response to IM and a promising prognostic biomarker for CML.

Keywords: chronic myeloid leukemia, imatinib resistance, microRNA 451, Polymerase Chain Reaction

Procedia PDF Downloads 275

Authors: Mahshid Hodjat, Maryam Baeeri, Mohammad Amin Rezvanfar, Mohammad Abdollahi

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Ethephon is one of the most widely used plant growth regulator in agriculture that its application has been increased in recent years. The toxicity of organophosphate compounds is mostly attributed to their potent inhibition of acetylcholinesterase and their involvement in neurodegenerative disease. Although there are few reports on butyrylcholinesterase inhibitory role of ethephon, still there is no evidence on neurotoxicity and genotoxicity of this compound. The aim of the current study is to assess the potential genotoxic effect of ethephon using two genotoxic endpoints; γH2AX expression and comet assay on embryonic murine fibroblast. γH2AX serves as an early and sensitive biomarker for evaluating the genotoxic effects of chemicals. Oxidative stress biomarkers, including intracellular reactive oxygen species, lipid peroxidation and antioxidant capacity were also examined. The results showed a significant increase in cell proliferation 24h post-treatment with 10, 40,160µg/ml ethephon. The γH2AX expression and γH2AX foci count per cell were increased at low concentration of ethephon that was concomitant with increased DNA damage break at 40 and 160 µg/ml as illustrated by increased comet tail moment. A significant increase in lipid peroxidation and ROS formation were observed at 160 µg/ml and higher doses. The results showed that low-dose of ethephon promoted cell proliferation while induce DNA damage, raising the possibility of ethephon mutagenicity. Ethephon-induced genotoxic effect of low dose might not related to oxidative damage. However, ethephon was found to increase oxidative stress at higher doses, lead to cellular cytotoxicity. Taken together, all data indicated that ethylene, deserves more attention as a plant regulator with potential genotoxicity for which appropriate control is needed to reduce its usage.

Keywords: ethephon, DNA damage, γH2AX, oxidative stress

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Authors: Abeer A. Aljohani

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COVID-19 virus spread has been one of the extreme pandemics across the globe. It is also referred to as coronavirus, which is a contagious disease that continuously mutates into numerous variants. Currently, the B.1.1.529 variant labeled as omicron is detected in South Africa. The huge spread of COVID-19 disease has affected several lives and has surged exceptional pressure on the healthcare systems worldwide. Also, everyday life and the global economy have been at stake. This research aims to predict COVID-19 disease in its initial stage to reduce the death count. Machine learning (ML) is nowadays used in almost every area. Numerous COVID-19 cases have produced a huge burden on the hospitals as well as health workers. To reduce this burden, this paper predicts COVID-19 disease is based on the symptoms and medical history of the patient. This research presents a unique architecture for COVID-19 detection using ML techniques integrated with feature dimensionality reduction. This paper uses a standard UCI dataset for predicting COVID-19 disease. This dataset comprises symptoms of 5434 patients. This paper also compares several supervised ML techniques to the presented architecture. The architecture has also utilized 10-fold cross validation process for generalization and the principal component analysis (PCA) technique for feature reduction. Standard parameters are used to evaluate the proposed architecture including F1-Score, precision, accuracy, recall, receiver operating characteristic (ROC), and area under curve (AUC). The results depict that decision tree, random forest, and neural networks outperform all other state-of-the-art ML techniques. This achieved result can help effectively in identifying COVID-19 infection cases.

Keywords: supervised machine learning, COVID-19 prediction, healthcare analytics, random forest, neural network

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Authors: Saroj Panthi, Sher Singh Thagunna

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Reliable and sufficient information regarding status, distribution and habitat preference of red panda (Ailurus fulgens fulgens) is lacking in Nepal. The research activities on red panda in the mid-western Nepal are very limited, so the status of red panda in the region is quite unknown. The study conducted during May, 2013 in three Village Development Committees (VDCs) namely Godhemahadev, Malikathata and Tamti of Jumla district was an important step for providing vital information including distribution and habitat preference of this species. The study included the reconnaissance, key informants survey, interviews, and consultation for the most potential area identification, opportunistic survey comprising the direct observation and indirect sign count method for the presence and distribution, habitat assessment consisting vegetation sampling and ocular estimation. The study revealed the presence of red panda in three forests namely Bahirepatan, Imilchadamar and Tyakot of Godhemahadev, Tamti and Malikathata VDCs respectively. The species was found distributed between 2880 and 3244 m with an average dropping encounter rate of 1.04 per hour of searching effort and 12 pellets per dropping. Red panda mostly preferred the habitat in the elevation range of 2900 - 3000 m with southwest facing steep slopes (36˚ - 45˚), associated with water sources at the distance of ≤100 m. Trees such as Acer spp., Betula utilis and Quercus semecarpifolia, shrub species of Elaeagnus parvifolia, Drepanostachyum spp. and Jasminum humile, and the herbs like Polygonatum cirrhifolium, Fragaria nubicola and Galium asperifolium were found to be the most preferred species by red panda. The red panda preferred the habitat with dense crown coverage ( >20% - 100%) and 31% - 50% ground cover. Fallen logs (39%) were the most preferred substrate used for defecation.

Keywords: distribution, habitat preference, jumla, red panda

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Authors: Noorulaine Maqsood, Saeed Khan

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Background: Concern regarding incident reporting and bio-safety training in clinical laboratories in Pakistan has increased remarkably in the last few years due to rapid increase in diagnosis and research on infectious organisms. In order to ensure the safety of employees, this issue needs to be addressed immediately. Bio-safety training sessions and lectures are necessary for the protection of laboratory workers in order to ensure safe practices and minimize the count of incident reporting in the lab. Objective: To carry out an inter-departmental survey in lab regarding the awareness of bio-safety practices among lab employees before and after conducting bio-safety training sessions. Methodology: We conducted a 30 questions survey of laboratory workers in June 2013 (before training session) to gather information related to bio-safety awareness. Afterwards, we conducted another survey after training sessions and workshops related to bio-safety. Result: The survey regarding bio-safety level showed that before the training session 32% of the participants were aware of bio-safety level being used in their lab whereas after the session this percentage increased to 72%. 48% of the participants had information about the proper usage of PPE which increased to 76%. Awareness regarding proper management of hazardous waste increased from 32% to 64%. The incident reporting practice, sample handling and hand hygiene awareness was previously reported to be 40%, 65%, and 52% that increased to 80%, 85% and 88% respectively after the training session was completed. Conclusion: The first survey results showed lack of awareness that suggest nearly all senior scientists, faculty, medical technologist, lab attendant and housekeeping staff working in laboratories are required to have bio-safety training, and required inspection at least twice a year by a bio-safety officer and also required to renew their bio-safety training. After the training session, significant changes in awareness level and attitude of the participants regarding biosafety practices were observed. Therefore, such bio-safety sessions should be carried out regularly in clinical laboratories.

Keywords: biosafety practices, clinical laboratory, Pakistan, survey

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Authors: Mulue Girmay Gebreslasie

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Entomopathogenic fungi are naturally safe and eco-friendly biological agents. Their potential of host specificity and ease handling made them appealing options to substitute synthetic pesticides in pest control programs. However, they are highly delicate and unstable under field conditions. Therefore, the current experiment was held to search out persistent fungal strains by defining the relationship between invitro heat tolerance and field persistence. Current results on leaf and soil persistence assay revealed that strains of Metarhizium species, M. pingshaense (F2685), M. pingshaense (MS2) and M. brunneum (F709) exhibit maximum cumulative CFUs count, relative survival rate and least percent of CFUs reductions showed significant difference at 7 days and 28 days post inoculations (dpi) in hot seasons from sampled soils and leaves and in cold season from soil samples. Whereas relative survival of B. brongniartii (TNO6) found significantly higher in cold weather leaf treatment application as compared to hot season and found as persistent as other fungal strains, while higher deterioration of fungal conidia seen with M. pingshaense (MS2). In the current study, strains of Beauveria brongniartii (TNO6) and Cordyceps javanica (Czy-LP) were relatively vulnerable in field condition with utmost colony forming units (CFUs) reduction and least survival rates. Further, the relationship of the two parameters (heat tolerance and field persistence) was seen with strong linear positive correlations elucidated that heat test could be used in selection of field persistent fungal strains for hot season applications.

Keywords: integrated pest management, biopesticides, Insect pathology and microbial control, entomology

Procedia PDF Downloads 61

Authors: Helen K. Buteme, Rebecca Axelsson-Robertson, Moses L. Joloba, Henry W. Boom, Gunilla Kallenius, Markus Maeurer

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Background: The Ugandan population is heavily affected by infectious diseases and Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) diversity plays a crucial role in the host-pathogen interaction and affects the rates of disease acquisition and outcome. The identification of HLA class 1 alleles and determining which alleles are associated with tuberculosis (TB) outcomes would help in screening individuals in TB endemic areas for susceptibility to TB and to predict resistance or progression to TB which would inevitably lead to better clinical management of TB. Aims: To be able to determine the HLA class 1 phenotype distribution in a Ugandan TB cohort and to establish the relationship between these phenotypes and active and latent TB. Methods: Blood samples were drawn from 32 HIV negative individuals with active TB and 45 HIV negative individuals with latent MTB infection. DNA was extracted from the blood samples and the DNA samples HLA typed by the polymerase chain reaction-sequence specific primer method. The allelic frequencies were determined by direct count. Results: HLA-A*02, A*01, A*74, A*30, B*15, B*58, C*07, C*03 and C*04 were the dominant phenotypes in this Ugandan cohort. There were differences in the distribution of HLA types between the individuals with active TB and the individuals with LTBI with only HLA-A*03 allele showing a statistically significant difference (p=0.0136). However, after FDR computation the corresponding q-value is above the expected proportion of false discoveries (q-value 0.2176). Key findings: We identified a number of HLA class I alleles in a population from Central Uganda which will enable us to carry out a functional characterization of CD8+ T-cell mediated immune responses to MTB. Our results also suggest that there may be a positive association between the HLA-A*03 allele and TB implying that individuals with the HLA-A*03 allele are at a higher risk of developing active TB.

Keywords: HLA, phenotype, tuberculosis, Uganda

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Authors: Olajumoke Temilola Fatimat, Fasasi Fausat Kikelomo, Ishola Ganiyat Folasayo, Omayeka Mary

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Psychoactive substances are chemical substances that affect the normal functioning of the brain and cause changes in behavior, mood, and consciousness. Psychoactive substance abuse constitutes one of the most important risk–taking behavior among adolescents and young adults in secondary schools. The study, therefore, assessed the factors influencing the use of psychoactive substances among senior secondary students in Ibadan South–West Local Government Area, Oyo State. A descriptive non-experimental design was adopted; purposive and simple random sampling techniques were used to select 330 respondents, while questionnaires were used for data collection. The descriptive statistics of frequency count, percentages, inferential statistics of chi-square, and analysis of variance were used for the analysis. The results revealed that the majority of the respondents had heard of the term substance abuse before 226 (75.3%); it was also revealed that the majority of the respondents had good knowledge of psychoactive substances, 67.8%. There was no significant relationship between age and knowledge of psychoactive substances among senior secondary students, with a p-value of 0.199. The outcome of this study indicates that drug abuse is increasing day by day among secondary school students and may have greatly contributed to poor performance in examinations as well as undermining academic ability and performance among students. It was recommended that efforts should be made by the school authorities of the secondary schools in Ibadan South–West Local Government Area, Oyo State, and in Oyo State generally in collaboration with health personnel to educate adolescents on psychoactive substance abuse. This is to ensure that adolescents are adequately educated and updated on knowledge of psychoactive substance abuse.

Keywords: factors, influence, psychoactive substance, secondary school

Procedia PDF Downloads 37

Authors: Anthony Oppong Kyekyeku, Sussana Antwi-Boasiako, Emmanuel De-Graft Johnson Owusu Ansah

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In this observational study, the performance of a known conventional storage system was tested and evaluated for fitness for its intended purpose. The system has a scope extended for the storage of dry cocoa beans. System sensitivity, reproducibility and uncertainties are not known in details. This study discusses the system performance in the context of existing literature on factors that influence the quality of cocoa beans during storage. Controlled conditions were defined precisely for the system to give reliable base line within specific established procedures. Minitab® 17 and R statistical software (R-3.3.1) were used for the statistical analyses. The approach to the storage system testing was to observe and compare through laboratory test methods the quality of the cocoa beans samples before and after storage. The samples were kept in Kilner jars and the temperature of the storage environment controlled and monitored over a period of 408 days. Standard test methods use in international trade of cocoa such as the cut test analysis, moisture determination with Aqua boy KAM III model and bean count determination were used for quality assessment. The data analysis assumed the entire population as a sample in order to establish a reliable baseline to the data collected. The study concluded a statistically significant mean value at 95% Confidence Interval (CI) for the performance data analysed before and after storage for all variables observed. Correlational graphs showed a strong positive correlation for all variables investigated with the exception of All Other Defect (AOD). The weak relationship between the before and after data for AOD had an explained variability of 51.8% with the unexplained variability attributable to the uncontrolled condition of hidden infestation before storage. The current study concluded with a high-performance criterion for the storage system.

Keywords: benchmarking performance data, cocoa beans, hidden infestation, storage system validation

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Authors: Dewan Hasin Mahtab, Farzana Sadia

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At present, wastewater treatment has become essential to maintain a constant supply of safe water as well as to protect the environment. Due to overpopulation and overconsumption, the water quality from various surface water sources is degrading every day. Being one of the megacities in the world, Dhaka City, is going through rapid industrialization and urbanization. The effluents from these industries and factories are mostly discharged directly into the rivers without any treatment. As such, the quality of water of Buriganga is being afflicted with a noisome problem of pollution. The water of the Buriganga River has become detrimental to humans, animals, and the environment. It has become crucial to conserve the environment so that we can save both ourselves and the environment. The first step towards it should be analyzing the wastewater to decide the further steps of the treatment process. Increased population and increased consumption both contribute to water pollution. Mohammadpur is a developing area of Dhaka City, and Kamrangirchar is one of the largest slum areas in Dhaka City. The total study area is 6.13 sq. Km of Dhaka city with a population of 4,73,310 people. Of them, 86.47% had their own latrine, 47% were directly connected to the drain, 55% had septic tanks, and 70.09% of them cleaned their septic tank once a year. The pH, Dissolved Oxygen, Chemical Oxygen Demand, Biochemical Oxygen Demand, Total Dissolved Solid, Total Suspended and total coliforms of wastewater from two samples of both Mohammadpur and Kamrangirchar was analyzed. The DO level from the water bodies of Kamrangirchar was found very low, making the water bodies inhabitable for aquatic plants and animals. The BOD and COD level was extremely high from samples collected from Mohammadpur. The total coliforms count was found too high during the wet season, making it a potential health concern in the wet season in these two areas.

Keywords: Dhaka, environmental conservation rule, sanitation, wastewater

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Authors: Sabo Elizabeth

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Electronic learning is increasingly popular learning approach in higher educational institutions due to vast growth of internet technology. This approach is important in human capital development. An investigation of open distance and e-learning facilities and information need by open and distance learning students was carried out in Jalingo, Nigeria. Structured questionnaires were administered to 70 registered ODL students of the NOUN. Information sourced from the respondents covered demographic, economic and institutional variables. Data collected for demographic variables were computed as frequency count and percentages. Assessment of the effectiveness of ODL facilities and information need among open and distance learning students was computed on a three or four point Likert Rating Scale. Findings indicated that there are more men compared to women. A large proportion of the respondents are married and there are more matured students in ODL compared to the youth. A high proportion of the ODL students obtained qualifications higher than the secondary school certificate. The proportion of computer literate ODL students was high, and large number of the students does not own a laptop computer. Inadequate e -books and reference materials, internet gadgets and inadequate books (hard copies) and reference material are factors that limit utilization of e-learning facilities in the study areas. Inadequate computer facilities and power back up caused inconveniences and delay in administering and use of e learning facilities. To a high extent, open and distance learning students needed information on university time table and schedule of activities, availability and access to books (hard and e-books) and reference materials. The respondents emphasized that contact with course coordinators via internet will provide a better learning and academic performance.

Keywords: open and distance learning, information required, electronic books, internet gadgets, Likert scale test

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Authors: Aniekan Peter, ECS Naidu, Edidiong Akang, U. Offor, R. Kalhapure, A. A. Chuturgoon, T. Govender, O. O. Azu

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Introduction: Nano-drugs are novel innovations in the management of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) pandemic, especially resistant strains of the virus in their sanctuary sites: testis and the brain. There are safety concerns to be addressed to achieve the full potential of this new drug delivery system. Aim of study: Our study was designed to investigate toxicity profile of Tenofovir Nanoparticle (TDF-N) synthesized by University of Kwazulu-Natal (UKZN) Nano-team for prevention and treatment of HIV infection. Methodology: Ten adult male Sprague-Dawley rats maintained at the Animal House of the Biomedical Resources Unit UKZN were used for the study. The animals were weighed and divided into two groups of 5 animal each. Control animals (A) were administered with normal saline. Therapeutic dose (4.3 mg/kg) of TDF-N was administered to group B. At the end of four weeks, animals were weighed and sacrificed. Liver and kidney were removed fixed in formal saline, processed and stained using H/E, PAS and MT stains for light microscopy. Serum was obtained for renal function test (RFT), liver function test (LFT) and full blood count (FBC) using appropriate analysers. Cellular measurements were done using ImageJ and Leica software 2.0. Data were analysed using graph pad 6, values < 0.05 were significant. Results: We reported no histological alterations in the liver, kidney, FBC, LFT and RFT between the TDF-N animals and saline control. There were no significant differences in weight, organo-somatic index and histological measurements in the treatment group when compared with saline control. Conclusion/recommendations: TDF-N is not toxic to the liver, kidney and blood cells in our study. More studies using human subjects is recommended.

Keywords: tenofovir nanoparticles, liver, kidney, blood cells

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Authors: Gaurav Bhanjana, Ganga Ram Chaudhary, Sandeep Kumar, Neeraj Dilbaghi

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Main sources of endocrine disrupting compounds in the ecosystem are hormones, pesticides, phthalates, flame retardants, dioxins, personal-care products, coplanar polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), bisphenol A, and parabens. These endocrine disrupting compounds are responsible for learning disabilities, brain development problems, deformations of the body, cancer, reproductive abnormalities in females and decreased sperm count in human males. Although discharge of these chemical compounds into the environment cannot be stopped, yet their amount can be retarded through proper evaluation and detection techniques. The available techniques for determination of these endocrine disrupting compounds mainly include high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), mass spectroscopy (MS) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC–MS). These techniques are accurate and reliable but have certain limitations like need of skilled personnel, time consuming, interference and requirement of pretreatment steps. Moreover, these techniques are laboratory bound and sample is required in large amount for analysis. In view of above facts, new methods for detection of endocrine disrupting compounds should be devised that promise high specificity, ultra sensitivity, cost effective, efficient and easy-to-operate procedure. Nowadays, electrochemical sensors/biosensors modified with nanomaterials are gaining high attention among researchers. Bioelement present in this system makes the developed sensors selective towards analyte of interest. Nanomaterials provide large surface area, high electron communication feature, enhanced catalytic activity and possibilities of chemical modifications. In most of the cases, nanomaterials also serve as an electron mediator or electrocatalyst for some analytes.

Keywords: electrochemical, endocrine disruptors, microscopy, nanoparticles, sensors

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Authors: Maryam Nazari

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COVID-19 is a respiratory disease triggered by the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, that has reached pandemic status today. Acute inflammation and immune cells infiltration into lung injuries result in multi-organ failure. The presence of other non-communicable diseases (NCDs) with systemic inflammation derived from COVID-19 may exacerbate the patient's situation and increase the risk for adverse effects and mortality. This pandemic is a novel situation and the scientific community at this time is looking for vaccines or drugs to treat the pathology. One of the biggest challenges is focused on reducing inflammation without compromising the correct immune response of the patient. In this regard, addressing the nutritional factors should not be overlooked not only as a matter of avoiding the presence of NCDs with severe infections but also as an adjunctive way to modulate the inflammatory status of the patients. Despite the pivotal role of nutrition in modifying immune response, due to the novelty of the COVID-19 disease, information about the effects of specific dietary agents is limited in this area. From the macronutrients point of view, protein deficiency (quantity or quality) has negative effects on the number of functional immunoglobulins and gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT). High biological value proteins or some amino acids like arginine and glutamine are well known for their ability to augment the immune system. Among lipids, fish oil has the ability to inactivate enveloped viruses, suppress pro-inflammatory prostaglandin production and block platelet-activating factors and their receptors. In addition, protectin D1, which is an Omega-3 PUFAs derivation, is a novel antiviral drug. So it seems that these fatty acids can reduce the severity and/or improve recovery of patients with COVID-19. Carbohydrates with lower glycemic index and fibers are associated with lower levels of inflammatory cytokines (CRP, TNF-α, and IL-6). Short-Chain Fatty acids not only exert a direct anti-inflammatory effect but also provide appropriate gut microbial, which is important in gastrointestinal issues related to COVID-19. From the micronutrients point of view, Vitamins A, C, D, E, iron, magnesium, zinc, selenium and copper play a vital role in the maintenance of immune function. Inadequate status in these nutrients may result in decreased resistance against COVID-19 infection. There are specific bioactive compounds in the diet that interact with the ACE2 receptor, which is the gateway for SARS and SARS-CoV-2, and thus controls the viral infection. Regarding this, the potential benefits of probiotics, resveratrol (a polyphenol found in grape), oleoylethanolamide (derived from oleic acid), and natural peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ agonists in foodstuffs (like curcumin, pomegranate, hot pepper) are suggested. Yet, it should be pointed out that most of these results have been reported in animal models and further human studies are needed to be verified.

Keywords: Covid-19, inflammation, nutrition, dietary agents

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Authors: Yu-Yao Wang, Xiao-Meng Hu, Joanne Yeung, Xiao-Yan Li

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The high private cost and unquantified external cost limit the development of reclaimed water. In this study, an integrated framework comprising life cycle assessment (LCA), quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA), and life cycle costing (LCC) was developed to evaluate both costs of reclaimed water supply in water systems of various scales. LCA assesses the environmental impacts, and QMRA estimates the associated pathogenic impacts. These impacts are monetized as external costs and analyzed with the private cost by LCC to count the total life cycle cost. The framework evaluated the Hong Kong urban water system in the baseline scenario (BS) and five wastewater reuse scenarios (RS). They are RSI: substituting freshwater for toilet flushing only, RSII: substituting both freshwater and seawater for toilet flushing, RSIII: using reclaimed water for all non-potable uses, RSIV: using reclaimed water for all non-potable uses and indirect potable uses, and RSV: non-potable use and indirect potable use by conveying 100% reclaimed water to recharge the reservoirs. The results show that substituting freshwater and seawater for toilet flushing has the least total life cycle cost, exhibiting that it is the most cost-effective option for Hong Kong. Meanwhile, the evaluation results show that the external cost of each scenario is comparable to the corresponding private cost, indicating the importance of the inclusion of comprehensive external cost evaluation in private cost assessment of water systems with reclaimed water supply.

Keywords: life cycle assessment, life cycle costing, quantitative microbial risk assessment, water reclamation, reclaimed water, alternative water resources

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Authors: Amani Jaber-Awida

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This study examines two bilingual phenomena in the narratives of Arabic Hebrew and Hebrew-English bilingual adults in Israel: CO memories and code-switching (CS). The study examined these phenomena in the context of autobiographical memory, using a cue word technique. Student experimenters held two sessions in the homes of the participants. In separate language sessions, the participant was asked to look first at each of 16 cue words and then to state a concrete memory. After stating the memory, participants reported whether their memories were in the same language of the experiment session or different. Memories were classified as ‘Crossovers’ (CO) or ‘Same Language’ (SL) according to participants' self-reports. Participants were also required to elaborate about the setting, interlocutors and other languages involved in the specific memory. Beyond replicating the procedure of cuing technique, one memory from a specific lifespan period was chosen per participant, and the participant was required to provide further details about it. For the more detailed memories, CS count was conducted. Both bilingual groups confirmed the Reminiscence Bump phenomenon, retrieving more memories in the 10-30 age period. CO memories prevailed in second language sessions (L2). Same language memories were more abundant in first language sessions (L1). Higher CS frequency was found in L2 sessions. Finally, as predicted, 'individual' CS was prevalent in L2 sessions, but 'community-based' CS was not higher in L1 sessions. The two bilingual measures in this study, crossovers, and CS came from different research traditions, the former from an experimental paradigm in the psychology of autobiographical memory based on self-reported judgments, the latter a behavioral measure from linguistics. This merger of approaches offers new insight into the field of bilingual autobiographical memory. In addition, the study attempted to shed light on the investigation of motivations for CS, beginning with Walters’ SPPL Model and concluding with a distinction between ‘community-based’ and individual motivations.

Keywords: bilinguals, code-switching, crossover memories, narratives

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Authors: Folajinmi Oluwasina, Greg Abiaziem, Moses Luke, Mobolaji Kolawole, Nancy Yibowei, Anne Taiwo

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Background: Occurrence of HIV infection has an adverse effect on the natural causes of Hepatitis B Viral (HBV) infection, faster progression of hepatic fibrosis demonstrated in patients with co-infection. This study was carried out to determine the incidence of HBV infection among HIV-positive patients, and to retrospectively evaluate laboratory characteristics of patients with HIV/HBV co-infection. Methods: A retrospective analysis of patient files for all HIV-infected cases followed-up and treated at 52 health facilities. Among HIV-infected cases, those with HBsAg positivity and HIV/Hepatitis B co-infection were determined. Socio demographic, alcohol or substance use, ART, CD4, Viral Load levels and treatment durations were retrospectively evaluated. Results: Of the 125 HIV-infected patients evaluated retrospectively, 17 (13.6%) had HBsAg positivity. Of these 17 cases were 11(64.7%) male and 6 (35.3%) female, with a mean age of 48.7 years. No patients had a history of alcohol or substance use. The mean duration of follow up was 28 months. 9 (52.9%) patients had negative HBV DNA at presentation while 8(47%) had positive HBV DNA, with normal ALT levels in all subjects. Among the 9 cases with negative HBV DNA who had no indication for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B. In five cases, treatment was commenced since HBV DNA was elevated in conjunction with low CD4. One patient in whom treatment was not indicated based on HBV DNA and CD4 levels in conjunction with the absence of AIDS defining clinical picture was currently being followed-up without treatment. Of the patients receiving HAART therapy, the average CD4 count at presentation was 278 cells/mm3 vs. 466 cells/mm3 at the end of 12 months. In three subjects with positive HBV DNA, a decrease in HBV DNA was noted after initiation of treatment. In four patients with negative DNA who received treatment, the HBV DNA negative status was found to remain, while one patient who did not receive treatment had elevated HBV DNA and decreased CD4 levels. Conclusion: It was shown that this group of patients with HIV/HBV co-infection, HAART was found to be associated with a decrease in HBV DNA in HBV DNA positive cases, absence of transition to positivity among those with negative HBV DNA, and with increased CD4 in all subjects.

Keywords: Hepatitis B, DNA, anti retroviral therapy, co-infection

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Authors: Samy S. Eleawa, Mahmoud A. Alkhateeb, Fahaid H. Alhashem, Ismaeel bin-Jaliah, Hussein F. Sakr, Hesham M. Elrefaey, Abbas O. Elkarib, Mohammad A. Haidara, Abdullah S. Shatoor, Mohammad A. Khalil

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This effect of Resveratrol (RES) against CdCl2- induced toxicity in the rat testes was investigated. Seven experimental groups of adult male rats were formulated as follows: A) Controls + NS, B) Control+ vehicle (saline solution of hydroxypropyl cyclodextrin), C) RES treated, D) CdCl2 +NS, E) CdCl2+ vehicle, F) RES followed by CdCl2 and M) CdCl2 followed by RES. At the end of the protocol, serum levels of FSH, LH, and testosterone were measured in all groups. Testicular levels of TBARS and Super Oxide Dismutase (SOD) activity were also measured. Epidydidimal semen analysis was performed and testicular expression of Bcl-2, p53 and Bax were assessed by RT-PCR. Also, histopathological changes of testes were examined microscopically and described. Pre and Post administration of RES in cadmium chloride-intoxicated rats improved semen parameters including count, motility, daily sperm production and morphology, increased serum concentrations of gonadotropins and testosterone, decreased testicular lipid peroxidation and increased SOD activity. Not only RES attenuated cadmium chloride induced testicular histopathology but was also able to protect against the onset of cadmium chloride testicular toxicity. Cadmium chloride downregulated the anti-apoptotic gene Bcl2 and upregulated the expression of both pro-apoptotic genes p53 and Bax. Resveratrol protected from and partially reversed cadmium chloride testicular via upregulation of Bcl2 and down regulation of p53 and Bax gene expression. Antioxidant activity of RES protects against cadmium chloride testicular toxicity and partially reverses its effect via upregulation of BCl2 and downregulation of p53 and Bax expression. These findings have far reaching implications on subfertility and impotency frequently seen in hypertensive as well as metabolic syndrome patients.

Keywords: resveratrol, cadmium, infertility, sperm, testis, metabolic syndrome

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Authors: Mohammad Aladwan, Adelia Skripova

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Bioremediation aspects of crude oil-polluted fields can be achieved by isolation and identification of bacterial species from oil-contaminated soil in order to choose the most active isolates and increase the strength of others. In this study, oil-degrading bacteria were isolated and identified from oil-contaminated soil samples in northeastern Jordan. The bacterial growth count (CFU/g) was between 1.06×10⁵ and 0.75×10⁹. Eighty-two bacterial isolates were characterized by their morphology and biochemical tests. The identified bacterial genera included: Klebsiella, Staphylococcus, Citrobacter, Lactobacillus, Alcaligenes, Pseudomonas, Hafnia, Micrococcus, Rhodococcus, Serratia, Enterobacter, Bacillus, Salmonella, Mycobacterium, Corynebacterium, and Acetobacter. Molecular identification of a universal primer 16S rDNA gene was used to identify four bacterial isolates: Microbacterium esteraromaticum strain L20, Pseudomonas stutzeri strain 13636M, Klebsilla pneumoniae, and uncultured Klebsilla sp., known as new strains. Our results indicate that their specific oil-degrading bacteria isolates might have a high strength of oil degradation from oil-contaminated sites. Staphylococcus intermedius (75%), Corynebacterium xerosis (75%), and Pseudomonas fluorescens (50%) showed a high growth rate on different types of hydrocarbons, such as crude oil, toluene, naphthalene, and hexane. In addition, monooxygenase and catechol 2,3-dioxygenase were detected in 17 bacterial isolates, indicating their superior hydrocarbon degradation potential. Total petroleum hydrocarbons were analyzed using gas chromatography for soil samples. Soil samples M5, M7, and M8 showed the highest levels (43,645, 47,805, and 45,991 ppm, respectively), and M4 had the lowest level (7,514 ppm). All soil samples were analyzed for heavy metal contamination (Cu, Cd, Mn, Zn, and Pb). Site M7 contains the highest levels of Cu, Mn, and Pb, while Site M8 contains the highest levels of Mn and Zn. In the future, these isolates of bacteria can be used for the cleanup of oil-contaminated soil.

Keywords: bioremediation, 16S rDNA gene, oil-degrading bacteria, hydrocarbons

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Authors: Sangita Pokhrel, Nalinda Somasiri, Rebecca Jeyavadhanam, Swathi Ganesan

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Tourism is a booming industry with huge future potential for global wealth and employment. There are countless data generated over social media sites every day, creating numerous opportunities to bring more insights to decision-makers. The integration of Big Data Technology into the tourism industry will allow companies to conclude where their customers have been and what they like. This information can then be used by businesses, such as those in charge of managing visitor centers or hotels, etc., and the tourist can get a clear idea of places before visiting. The technical perspective of natural language is processed by analysing the sentiment features of online reviews from tourists, and we then supply an enhanced long short-term memory (LSTM) framework for sentiment feature extraction of travel reviews. We have constructed a web review database using a crawler and web scraping technique for experimental validation to evaluate the effectiveness of our methodology. The text form of sentences was first classified through Vader and Roberta model to get the polarity of the reviews. In this paper, we have conducted study methods for feature extraction, such as Count Vectorization and TFIDF Vectorization, and implemented Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) classifier algorithm for the sentiment analysis to decide the tourist’s attitude towards the destinations is positive, negative, or simply neutral based on the review text that they posted online. The results demonstrated that from the CNN algorithm, after pre-processing and cleaning the dataset, we received an accuracy of 96.12% for the positive and negative sentiment analysis.

Keywords: counter vectorization, convolutional neural network, crawler, data technology, long short-term memory, web scraping, sentiment analysis

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Authors: George Obinna Akuaka

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Solid waste disposal techniques in Nigeria pose an environmental threat to the environment and to nearby resident. The presence of microbial physical and chemical concentration in boreholes samples nearby dumpsite implies that groundwater is normally contaminated by leachate infiltration from an open landfill dumpsite. In this study, the physicochemical and microbial analyses of water samples from hand dug well in the site and boreholes were carried out around the active landfill and from different distances (50 m to 200 m). leachate samples collected were used to ascertain the effect or extent of contamination on the groundwater quality. A total of 5 leachate samples and 5 samples of groundwater were collected, and all samples were analyzed for various physical and chemical parameters according to the standard methods. These include pH, Electrical conductivity, Total dissolved solid, BOD, OD, Temperature, major cations such as Mg²+ Ca²+, Fe²+ Cu²+, major anions NO³-, Cl-,SO⁴- PO⁴-, Zn, Ar, Cd, Cr, Hg, Pb, Ni are the heavy metals and metalloids. The mean values of the physical and chemical parameters obtained from both sites were compared with the established of the World Health Organization (WHO). The leachate samples were found to be higher in the concentration of the results obtained than that of the boreholes water, and the recorded mean values of heavy metals were above approved standard minimum limits. The results indicated that mercury and copper were not found in all the borehole water samples. Microbial analyses showed that total heterotrophic bacteria mean count ranged from 10.6 X10⁷ cfu/ml to 2.04x10⁷cfu/ml and 9.5 X 10⁷ cfu/ml to 18.9 X 10⁷ cfu/ml in leachate and borehole samples respectively. It also revealed that almost at the bacteria isolated in the leachate were also found in the water samples. This results indicated that heavy pollution in all the samples with most physicochemical parameters and microbes showed traceable pollution, which occurred as a result of leachate infiltration into the ground water.

Keywords: physicochemical, landfill dumpsite, microbial, leachate, groundwater

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Authors: Lahaina U. Dilangalen

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Using descriptive-experimental research methods, this study aimed to identify the main resources of water, assessed the water quality, sanitation and hygiene practices, and extent of implementation. Complete enumeration was done in 28 elementary public schools of Datu Odin Sinsuat Municipality. Questionnaires were given to the school advisers. Water samples were obtained from the same schools and were submitted to the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Region XII for microbial analysis, specifically the presence of fecal coliform bacteria. Four water resources such as hand pump, faucet, deep well and spring were found being used in the 28 schools. Of water resources, the only treated was from the faucet. Most of the schools used the water for drinking and washing. Two schools strongly agreed, nine schools agreed and seventeen schools disagreed that they implemented DepEd Order no.56 s. 2009. In addition, two schools strongly agreed and twenty six agreed that they implemented DepEd Order No. 65 s. 2009. Five schools had water supply that were safe to drink while sixteen schools had water supply that were not safe to drink due to high fecal coliform count and did not undergo chemical treatment. The only safe for drinking were water resources that came from faucet because they were chemically treated. Seven out of 28 schools did not have water supply due to their location in mountainous areas. More than half of the schools did not comply with the DepEd Order No. 56 s. 2009 due to the lack of funds and support from the PTA and LGU. It is recommended that the Department of Education must have an urgent assessment of implementing both DepEd Orders No.56 and 65, to assure that the schoolchildren be protected from water and sanitation related ailments. Also, all water resources that are not treated must be used for washing only. Ideally, all the water resources must be treated to assure the safety of all school constituents. Moreover, the school administrators and teachers in the municipality must be provided copies of the results of this study for reference in implementing the said programs.

Keywords: assessment, drinking water, fecal coliform, groundwater

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Authors: Alloysius C. Ogodo, Ositadinma C. Ugbogu, Uzochukwu G. Ekeleme

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Food poisoning and infection by bacteria are of public health significance to both developing and developed countries. Samples of ogi (akamu) prepared from white and yellow variety of maize sold in Uturu and Okigwe were analyzed together with the laboratory prepared ogi for microbial quality using the standard microbiological methods. The analyses showed that both white and yellow variety had total bacterial counts (cfu/g) of 4.0 ×107 and 3.9 x 107 for the laboratory prepared ogi while the commercial ogi had 5.2 x 107 and 4.9 x107, 4.9 x107 and 4.5 x107, 5.4 x107 and 5.0 x107 for Eke-Okigwe, Up-gate and Nkwo-Achara market respectively. The Staphylococcal counts ranged from 2.0 x 102 to 5.0 x102 and 1.0 x 102 to 4.0 x102 for the white and yellow variety from the different markets while Staphylococcal growth was not recorded on the laboratory prepared ogi. The laboratory prepared ogi had no Coliform growth while the commercially prepared ogi had counts of 0.5 x103 to 1.6 x 103 for white variety and 0.3 x 103 to 1.1 x103 for yellow variety respectively. The Lactic acid bacterial count of 3.5x106 and 3.0x106 was recorded for the laboratory ogi while the commercially prepared ogi ranged from 3.2x106 to 4.2x106 (white variety) and 3.0 x106 to 3.9 x106 (yellow). The presence of bacteria isolates from the commercial and laboratory fermented ogi showed that Lactobacillus sp, Leuconostoc sp and Citrobacter sp were present in all the samples, Micrococcus sp and Klebsiella sp were isolated from Eke-Okigwe and ABSU-up-gate markets varieties respectively, E. coli and Staphylococcus sp were present in Eke-Okigwe and Nkwo-Achara markets while Salmonella sp were isolated from the three markets. Hence, there are chances of contracting food borne diseases from commercially prepared ogi. Therefore, there is the need for sanitary measures in the production of fermented cereals so as to minimize the rate of food borne pathogens during processing and storage.

Keywords: ogi, fermentation, bacterial quality, lactic acid bacteria, maize

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Authors: Paula Buldres, Jorge Toledo

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Objectives: This study aimed to characterize potential probiotic strains isolated from canine breast milk for use in dogs with enteropathies. Methodology: Six canine breast milk strains, one canine colostrum strain, and one control porcine breast milk strain were characterized. According to its functional properties of resistance to acids, different concentrations of bile salts, and pancreatin, its presumptive properties of safety and inhibitory effect on pathogens, non-cytotoxic characteristics, and adhesion to the intestine. The immunomodulatory effect of formulations with better probiotic characterization in vitro and in vivo was also analyzed. Results: Two strains characterized as potential probiotics were obtained, which corresponded to the canine strains (TUCO-16 and TUCO-17), presenting resistance to acidic pH, bile salts, and pancreatin, as well as an inhibitory effect on pathogenic Escherichia coli, Salmonella sp., and Clostridium perfringens. Strains TUCO-16 and TUCO-17 induced a significant increase in the expression of TNF-α and IL-8 in canine macrophages, respectively. Expression analyses of pattern recognition receptors in DH82 cells suggest that TUCO-16 and TUCO-17 might increase the TLR2 expression marker, and porcine strain (TUCO-4) increases the NOD2 expression marker. Based on the count obtained and the encapsulation yield, the best formulations correspond to FOS-Inulin for the TUCO-17 and TUCO-4 strains; Maltodextrin-Inulin for TUCO-16. All the strains are non-cytotoxic. The strain that showed the highest adhesion to intestinal epithelial cells was TUCO-17 with the FOS-Inulin formulation. On the other hand, the probiotics decreased the expression of pro-inflammatory markers in vivo, both in the intestine and in the spleen of mice. Conclusion: The combination of these three strains under study (TUCO-16, TUCO-17, and TUCO-4) would cover the probiotic properties in formulation and immunomodulation of all the markers under study.

Keywords: probiotics, gastrointestinal infec, dog, probiotic formulation, immunomodulatory probiotics

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Authors: Marina S. Basta, Kirollos S. Basta

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Cosmetic dermatology procedures have witnessed exponential growth and diversification over the last 10 years. Thus, the purpose of this study was to collect data about the latest trends for cosmetic procedures reported by dermatologists during the year 2018. This study was performed by American Society for Dermatologic Surgery (ASDS) in 2018 through sending survey invitations to 3,358 practicing dermatologists in the U.S. containing streamline questions as well as statistical questions targeted to specific analysis of cosmetic dermatology trends. Out of the targeted physicians, only 596 dermatologists reply to the survey invitation (15% overall response rate). It was noted that data collected from that survey was generalized to represent all ASDS members. Results show that there is an increase in cosmetic dermatology procedures since 12.5 million procedures were reported for 2018 compared to only 7.8 million for 2012. Injectable neuromodulators and soft tissue fillers have topped the list with a 3.7 million procedure count. Body sculpting, chemical peeling, hair transplantation, and microneedling procedures were reported to be 1.57 million cases combined. Also, the top two procedures using laser were represented in wrinkle treatment as well as sun damage correction, while the lowest two trends for laser usage were for treatments of tattoos and birthmarks. Cryolipolysis was found to be at the head of body sculpting procedures with 287,435 cases, while tumescent liposuction was reported as the least performed body sculpting procedure (18,286 cases). In conclusion, comparing the procedural trends for the last 7 years has indicated that there has been a 78% increase in soft tissue filler treatment compared to 2012. In addition, it was further noted that laser procedures scored 74% increase in the last 7 years while body contouring procedures have had four folds increase in general compared to 2012.

Keywords: cosmetic dermatology, ASDS procedure survey, laser, body sculpting

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Authors: Wahiba Boudraa, Farah Chettibbi, Meriem Aberkane, Fatma Djamaa, Moussa Houhamdi

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The intensity of human activities in regions surrounding the Mediterranean Sea always has a strong long-term environmental impact resulting in coastal and marine degradation, as well as an aggravated risk of more serious damage. The available data on water quality show that most water resources in Algeria are polluted by uncontrolled discharges from municipal sewage and untreated industrial effluents. Annaba is a coastal town in Algeria; The Gulf of Annaba, responds to these changes as it receives the continental inputs and urban waste, industrial without prior treatment of a highly industrialized and urbanized city, subject to the same environmental problems that know the rest of the Algerian coast. In later year, the beaches of bacterial enumeration process waters showed relatively high levels of bacterial indicators of fecal contamination (group D streptococci, total and fecal coliforms), which reflect the risks to people attending these beaches. During the twelve months of our study, we isolated from three beaches in the city of Annaba (St. Cloud, El-Kettara, and Djenane El Bey) a number of pathogenic microorganisms considered, namely: Salmonella, Aeromonas, Citrobacter, Yersinia, Enterococcus, and E.coli. The microbial count revealed elevated levels of coliform bacteria, fecal coliforms and fecal streptococci quite high especially in urban beaches (St. Cloud and El-Kettara). They are widely popular during the summer by many vacationers. For the physico-chemical parameters, there exist some weak values which increase during the pluvial period, hivernal and festival saison. These values remain, nevertheless, weak to be able to cause an organic or metallic pollution.

Keywords: quality microbiology, pollution of water, fecal contamination, physico-chemistry, beaches of Annaba city, Algeria.

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