Editorial on Diarrhea in Children
Ali M*, Ahmed I, Yusha’u M and Shehu AA
January 24, 2024
Editorial
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Haqua Revitalize® Therapy (HART) has significant effects on the psychological processes of the human body, enhancing emotional well-being. Here are some keyways in which HART influences psychological processes:
Emotional health, one of the Five Aspects of Health (FAH), plays a crucial role in our overall well-being. It revolves around how individuals manage and cope with their emotions in response to the incidents and challenges they face in daily life. Emotional well-being, also referred to as emotional health or wellness, is a key component of our overall health and quality of life [23].
The main advantage of systematic review (SR) over other review types, such as narrative review, is its transparent and rigorous approach to minimize bias and ensure future replicability. Reproducibility, comprehensiveness, and transparency are the 3 keys to minimize bias. Reproducibility and transparency are deemed more important than comprehensiveness as missing literature may be identifiable from a reproducible and transparent SR lacking comprehensiveness but missing literature cannot be identified from a comprehensive SR lacking reproducibility and/or transparency. Hence, a SR lacking reproducibility and/or transparency is a narrative review. Several studies on published SRs report poor reproducibility and transparency. Here, we examine a sample of 100 SRs published in 2023 and indexed within PubMed for reproducibility and transparency on 10 criteria - 7 for reproducibility and 3 for transparency. In terms of reproducibility, our results show that only 31 SRs gave sufficient information for reconstructed searches in PubMed to yield search results within 10% of the hits reported. In terms of transparency, none of the SRs provided the full list of search results and only 5 SRs provided sufficient information to determine which study is excluded by which exclusion criterion. Hence, our results support previous studies reporting poor reproducibility and transparency in SRs. We propose that search URLs should be given whenever possible, and the full list of search results with inclusion / exclusion analysis should be given in all cases.
Background: Cancer is commonly associated with depression and depressive symptoms. Depressive disorders often worsen over the course of cancer treatment, persist after cancer therapy, recur with the recurrence of cancer and impact on function and medical outcomes. We aimed at assessing whether depression management could happen at the cancer center without referral to the mental health clinic.
Methods and materials: We conducted a quasi-experimental study for screening and treatment of depressive symptoms among patients living with cancer, who were attending oncology services at Kamuzu Central Hospital between May, 2021 and August, 2022. The intervention arm had screen and treat for depressive symptoms as an integrated approach to cancer care within the study site while the comparison arm had screen and refer patients diagnosed with depressive symptoms to usual mental health clinic. Patients were followed-up for six months and health related quality of life was measured using Euroqol-5 dimession-3 levels tool during each visit. Depressive symptoms were evaluated using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9.
Results: There were 214 participants in the study; 112 in the comparison and 102 in the intervention group. The majority (65%) were females and at least 36% of the participants were in the middle age group (26-45 years); 29% of the participants had unknown HIV status. Participants of high socio-economic status were twice more likely to report poor quality of life than those with lower socio-economic status 1.99 (95% CI: 1-12-3.53, p<0.02). Employed participants were less likely to report poor quality of life 0.62 (95% CI: 0.42-0.90, p<0.01). Poor quality of life was steadily declining with each successive clinic visit, 0.07 (95% CI: 0.05-0.10, p< 0.001) and there were similar patterns of improvement in quality of life between study arms, 1.06 (95% CI:0.73-1.54, p<0.77).
Conclusion: Depression screening and treatment could be integrated within the cancer care for improved quality of life in Malawi. While persons accessing care within hospital can benefit from HIV testing and referral for treatment if found HIV positive, Malawian cancer patients at Kamuzu Central Hospital might not have benefitted from these services as a handful of participants in our study had not been tested.
Keywords: Quality of life; Cancer; Depression
Background: Depression is one of the most common mental health disorders in patients living with cancer worldwide. An understanding of the prevalence of depressive disorders among this sub-group of patients should inform both its prevention and management. There is currently little evidence on correlates of depressive disorders amongst the persons living with cancer in Malawi. Therefore, we conducted this study to estimate prevalence and correlates of probable major depressive disorder among patients living with cancer at a National Cancer Center based at Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH), Lilongwe in Malawi.
Methods: We utilized a cross-sectional design nested in a larger quasi-experimental study which was evaluating the effect of integrating depression screening and management on clinical outcomes among patients living with cancer who were attending oncology services at Kamuzu Central Hospital in Lilongwe. A validated PHQ-9 tool was used to estimate prevalence and correlates of probable major depressive disorder. A total of 399 consented participants were enrolled from August to December, 2021.
Results: The study comprised more females (64%). Cervical cancer (33%), Kaposi’s Sarcoma (16%), breast cancer (9%) and esophageal cancer (4%) were the top four common malignancies in the study. At least 55% of the study participants had depressive symptoms. The prevalence of probable major depressive disorders was 11.5 %; most (52%) of whom had moderate depressive symptoms on PHQ-9 scale. Patients supported by palliative care were associated with reduced odds of major depressive disorders 0.36 (95% CI: 0.14-0.94).
Conclusion: A high proportion of patients living with cancer had probable major depressive disorder. Patients supported by palliative care had reduced odds of probable major depressive disorder. There was need to integrate screening and management of depressive disorder as well as palliative care services among patients during routine cancer care in Malawi.
Keywords: cancer; prevalence; depression; Patient Health Questionnaire
Introduction: Neonatal meningitis is a medical emergency having consistently high rate of mortality and morbidity in spite of leveled up vaccination, increased institutional deliveries with intrapartum prophylactic antibiotics and asepsis, and good hospital practices.
Material and Methods: Total 718 neonates were enrolled. CSF samples were cultured and read at 24, 48 and 72 hours. WBC Count of CSF of 30 / mm3 was considered cutoff to rule out possible contamination. Culture positive isolates were identified by MALDI-TOF VITEK MS. Antimicrobial susceptibility pattern was noted. PCR was done for atr gene of Streptococcus agalactiae of all culture negative samples.
Result: Out of 718 neonates enrolled 73 CSF were culture positive and 645 cultures were sterile. 5 isolates were probable contamination. Total 68 samples were positive with 63 bacterial isolates and 5 Candida species. Most commonly isolated bacteria were Acinetobacter spp (42%). and Klebsiella pneumoniae (15.9%). Among fungal isolates Candida albicans (4.4%) and Candida parapsilosis (2.9%) were isolated. PCR detected 2 cases of Streptococcus agalactiae causing meningitis.
Conclusion: Percentage positivity of bacterial and fungal meningitis was found to be 9.1 % and 0.7% respectively. Out of 68 samples, 51 had Gram negative and 12 had Gram positive bacteria on culture. Fungal isolates grew in 5 samples. Rare organism like Elizabethkingia anophelis (2.9 %), Chryseobacterium indologenes (2.9 %) Aerococcus viridians (1.4%) were isolated. PCR detected 2 cases of Streptococcus agalactiae (atr gene) of bacterial meningitis. Streptococcus agalactiae being a common etiology, had not been isolated in our cultures.
Keywords: Neonatal meningitis; Etiology; Antimicrobial Susceptibility Pattern; Risk Factors
It was the middle of August 2023, a fine Sunday afternoon in Brooklyn. Running around with my fellow international medical students in Dr. Hameed’s office, taking history, participating in patient care, and trying to soak up the essence of the American healthcare model, we were waiting for Dr. Moskowitz to come to the office for our research undertakings.
Over the last decade, green synthesis methods for biochar-supported metallic nanoparticles have gained popularity due to their versatile applications in technology. Addressing concerns about microorganism contamination in wastewater, nano zero-valent iron (nZVI) within biochar (BC) inhibits bacteria through reactive oxygen species and interacting with bacterial membranes. This study examines two distinct materials: rice husk (RH) and lignin (Lig), for the synthesis of nZVI. RH was explored via two routes: (1) Synchronous route where iron salt was loaded into raw RH feedstock, followed by pyrolysis at 300 °C and subsequent carbothermal reduction (CR) of iron at 900 °C (BM-nZVI), and (2) Asynchronous, involving iron salt loading onto pre-pyrolyzed RH-BC with subsequent CR (BC-nZVI). For Lig, the study examined: (1) Synchronous route with nZVI deposition on pre-pyrolyzed (1000 °C) Lig-BC, creating surface-deposited nZVI (Lig-s-nZVI), and (2) Asynchronous route by mixing iron salt with dissolved feedstock to embedded nZVI in a carbonaceous carrier, resulting in engraved nZVI (Lig-eG-nZVI). The characterization of synthesized nZVI particles was obtained by SEM analysis. This study shows to comparatively evaluate the biological responses of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) to four variations of BC-supported nZVI materials including the pristine BC of each material serving as the control. Initially, pure bacterial cultures were employed to measure inhibition zones using the well diffusion method, revealing prominent inhibition zones for RH-nZVI, while no significant inhibition was observed for Lig-nZVI and pristine BC. The minimum inhibitory concentration of RH-nZVI against S. aureus was determined to be 0.02 g mL-1, and optical density at 600 nm (OD600) was assessed. By contrast, BC-nZVI reached higher levels of microbe inactivation than BM-nZVI due to the FeC4 layers surrounding nZVI particles, potentially hindering BM-nZVI's reactivity. Testing was conducted on hospital and farm wastewater. Gel electrophoresis, Gram's staining, and catalase test were used to identify microbes in wastewater.
Keywords: Antimicrobial activity; wastewater; lignin biochar supported nZVI; rice husk biochar supported nZVI; Staphylococcus aureus
The article dedicated to finding measure of compactness of normalized dataset, and analyze dataset with using compactness. For finding measure of compactness, we search for hidden regularities from “jaw” database. In this way we need consider n-p full task and it will be 2n combinations. To solve this task, we use heuristic way with using binary matrix. In the article, we use various methods which find normalization of dataset. Our experiments were taken from “jaw” and we obtained a result from this dataset.
Keywords: object; set; class; feature; nominal; quantitative; space; similarity matrix
In the last two or three years, farmers have faced extremely challenging circumstances, particularly in the mango industry. This is because of climate change, specifically storms or cyclones, which have severely damaged mango crops during the pea-sized fruiting and flowering stages in Gujarat. As a result, farmers have lost a significant amount of mango yield and their financial worth. Mango cultivation entails several challenges, as evidenced by the fact that nearly every variation exists. Mango production is eventually losing money for farmers owing to factors such as alternate bearer, limited shelf life, major or minor diseases, and lack of resistance to climate change. For over two or three years, the sonpari variety of mango has gained widespread popularity among consumers because of its outstanding flavour, resistance to disease, pests, and disorders, and ability to withstand harsh weather conditions.
This research includes the effects of preharvest 1-Methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) (Harvista) treatments on fruit drop, fruit quality and harvest maturity of ‘Pink Lady- Cripps Pink’ apple cultivar. The research had materialized in 2016 and 2017. For this purpose, preharvest 1-Methylcyclopropene treatments at doses of 50, 100, 150 and 200 g ha-1 were applied to ‘Cripps pink’ apple cultivar in Çanakkale, Lapseki region, Turkey. Samplings collected from trees at application day and 7, 14, 21 and 28 days after applications respectively. Fruit drop rate, flesh firmness, soluble solids content, starch degradation, titratable acidity, skin color, and ethylene production were evaluated after each sampling date. Furthermore, fruits were kept at 20-22°C temperature and 50-60% relative humidity conditions for 7 and 14 days as shelf life to determine the changes in quality assessments. According to the results, Harvista applications with 150 and 200 g ha-1 doses were found out as the most positive applications because of preventing fruit drop and minimizing the changes of quality parameters. Harvest maturity could be prolonged for 21 days with these application doses.
Keywords: Cripps pink; 1-Methylcyclopropene; fruit drop; quality parameters; shelf life
When considering the entire history of science, DNA sequencing is still a relatively new process. Here, we take a quick look at its potential in a few current and developing fields.
Developmental biology
Each of us begins as a single cell and grows into a highly ordered mass of billions of cells. But our knowledge of development is still incomplete. Sequencing-based, scalable single-cell profiling is made possible by recent technology. While ex vivo methods, such as single-cell RNA-seq, are widely used, one unconventional method involves performing RNA or protein sequencing in situ, which preserves the spatial context. Other cutting-edge techniques utilize transport barcodes to catalogue neural connections or in vivo editing of the genome to monitor cell-lineage associations. DNA editing may be used to document biological events more broadly, such as tracking calcium levels or gene expression.
Chemical-enhanced oil recovery (EOR) represents a pivotal technology in the petroleum industry, aimed at maximizing the extraction of hydrocarbons from reservoirs. Traditional oil recovery methods typically leave a substantial portion of the oil in the reservoir, making EOR techniques crucial for boosting extraction efficiency. Among the various chemical EOR methods, polymer flooding stands out due to its ability to improve the viscosity of the displacing fluid, thus enhancing the sweep efficiency and reducing the mobility ratio. This manuscript explores the application of polymeric composites in chemical EOR, highlighting their formulation, mechanisms, advantages, challenges, and recent advancements.
World Health Organization defines diarrhea as “the passage of three or more loose or liquid stools per day or more frequent passage than is normal for the individual”. Diarrhea is a form of gastrointestinal infection caused by a variety of bacterial, viral and parasitic organisms or through contaminated food or drinking water, or from person to person as a result of poor hygienic practices. It remains a major cause of mortality among under-age children (mostly under 5years) around the world, especially in developing world. Diarrheal disease is the third leading cause of infant and child mortality in developing countries and about 1.8 million children die per annum from this disease [1]. The number of diarrheal deaths is ridiculously on the high side despite a fall in childhood diarrheal diseases from 4.6 million to 0.8 million over the last three decades [2]. Diarrhea is a leading killer of children, accounting approximately 9% of all death among children under age 5 worldwide in 2019. This translates to over 1,300 young children dying each day, or about 484,000 children a year, despite the availability of a simple treatment. According to UNICEF [3], the death caused by diarrhea among children under-5 are highest in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. In Nigeria, the percentage death caused by diarrhea in children was 16%. The overall prevalence of diarrhea as of 2021 was 12.9% [4]. In 2023, according to World Health Organization, diarrhea disease death in Nigeria among children reached 144,724 or 9.77% of total death [5].
As we usher in the new year with the first issue of 2024, it is my pleasure to contribute to the discourse within the esteemed pages of Medicon Dental Sciences. This editorial aims to shed light on the transformative landscape of dentistry, particularly the paradigm shift brought about by advancements in minimally invasive dentistry (MID).
Traditionally, dental interventions often involved invasive procedures, causing discomfort and anxiety among patients. However, the field has witnessed remarkable progress in recent years, emphasizing a more patient-centered and conservative approach.
To live a healthy life style and be free from diseases, fruits must be incorporated in one’s daily food. Fruits are of high nutritional value and provide the body with the required daily allowance. They are highly perishable, but can be made into different products to make them available all year round. They can be processed into products which includes; fruit juice, jellies, marmalades, candies, fruit bars and jams. This study analyses jam produced using date powder and compared it with commercial jam produced using table sugar. The percentage compositions of the blends considered were 50%:50%; 70%:30%; 30%:70% of orange and apple pulps respectively with constant amount of date powder (50%). In addition to the pulp blends, 2.9% commercial pectin was added together with citric acid, and date powder. The entire mixture was heated at 120°C for 25 mins to enhance the viscosity of the blends. Proximate, microbial, physico-chemical analyses, sensory evaluation and Vitamin constituents of the experimental samples and the commercial jam were evaluated. The commercial jam was found best having higher scores in all the sensory parameters. However, in respect to proximate composition, the experimental samples had the highest in protein, ash, moisture, and fibre while the commercial jam only scored high in fat, carbohydrate. In respect to microbial count minimum fungal and bacterial growth, 1.00 cfu X 103 g-1 and 1.00 cfu X 105 g-1 respectively were recorded in the experimental samples at 3 weeks after production. The control sample had the highest value in vitamin A content (130.35mg/100g) and the least in vitamin C content (1.64mg/100g).The nutritional analysis and sensory evaluation obtained proved that the orange and apple jam samples made with date powder is a promising functional product which can be consumed by both young and adults.
Keywords: Orange; Apple; Date; Jam; Composite; Nutritional properties; Sensory analysis
Gene therapy is a fantastic new technology that has opened up a plethora of options to treat or prevent previously untreatable diseases. Gene therapy is the use of nucleic acids (either DNA or RNA) is used to manipulate the genetic information of a patient’s cells. This is particularly helpful for diseases like Cystic Fibrosis where the ability to add a gene that makes the protein product the patient lacks or to just the gene itself is ideal. The addition of CRISPR-Cas for easier and more streamlined gene editing has also been a boon. However, the unfortunate truth is that despite decades of research, only a few gene therapies have made it to market. One of those reasons is the problems with carriers of gene therapy. For over three decades viral vectors were considered the go to for gene therapy carriers however they aggravate the immune system and can cause unwanted genotoxicity. This compromises their usefulness as a therapeutic treatment or preventative. So other methods of gene therapy carriers have been considered. Nanotech deliverers such as exosomes, gold nanoparticles, and others have shown great promise of being able to transport gene therapy with mitigated or no toxicity to the patient. This review will briefly go over both viral vector and nanotech non-viral vector alternatives to delivery of gene therapy.
Keywords: Gene therapy; nanotechnology; gene delivery; CRISPR; exosomes; viruses; magnetosomes
Transdermal drug delivery refers to the drug administration route through the skin that achieves the local or systemic treatment approved for clinical use. It is the third-largest drug delivery system after oral administration and injection. The advantages of the transdermal route are that the administration route of the drug is convenient and could reduce the fluctuation of blood drug concentration and toxic side effects. What is more, the drug could bypass the first-pass side-effect of the liver to prevent the drug from being destroyed in the gastrointestinal tract. Invasomes are new modified liposomes that differ from the liposomal vesicles in that they contain essential volatile oils, which are called terpenes. Also, ethanol in a low percentage is present in the vesicle either in the phospholipid layer or in the hydrous core. These modified newly discovered vesicles are intended to be used for topical and transdermal drug delivery due to their permeation effect and high deformability as compared to transferosomes.
Keywords: Invasomes; Transdermal drug delivery; phospholipids; terpenes; deformable vesicles
Design and use of enzyme inhibitors against viral enzymes is one of the new and effective ways to control viruses and treat viral infections, Enzyme inhibitors inactivate these enzymes by binding to the nucleotides functional groups of the virus vital enzymes, thus can directly disrupt the virus replication cycle and indirectly prevent the spread of viral infections by reducing and controlling the population and number of viruses, these inhibitors, on the one hand, inhibit the virus by filling and Occupying the active sites of the enzyme and on the other hand, they change the stereochemistry of the enzyme by binding to the structure of the enzyme, for this reasons, they are used as an effective and complementary drug in the treatment of infections and viral diseases. Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is a retrovirus because it has the reverse transcriptase enzyme. Non-Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors (NNRTIs) are a class of Antiretroviral HIV drugs. Non- ucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors (NNRTIs) block HIV reverse transcriptase enzymes by connecting to it. Tetrazole derivatives have strong antiviral activity against efavirenz and nevirapine-resistance viruses that have different genetic mutations. In this research, we study NNRTIs function and overview synthesis of 5-aryloxy- etrazole derivatives in the development path of NNRTIs.
Keywords: Anti-HIV Drugs; NNRTIs; Tetrazole; HAART; Retrovirus; Reverse Transcriptase Enzyme
Therapeutic bioengineering is a rapidly growing discipline in medical science that combines biology and medicine with engineering principles to create products and methods that can tackle the widest range of a variety of medical and health-related issues in today’s society