Ethiopian university students' knowledge and perception towards cardiovascular disease risk factors: a cross sectional study.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the commonest cause of morbidity and mortality with an estimation of 17.9 million deaths worldwide annually. Knowledge about the disease and risk factors changes individuals' health attitudes, behaviors and lifestyle practices. We assessed the knowledge and perception of University students towards CVD risk factors. A cross-sectional survey was done on undergraduate students at University of Gondar, Ethiopia. We stratified sampled students based on their colleges and then used convenience sampling technique to pick up study participants from each college. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 20.0. Descriptive statistics were used to describe frequencies, percentages, mean and standard deviations of variables. Presence of association between independent and dependent variables was examined using logistic regression analysis. A P-value of < 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. Four hundred twenty-three students with a mean age of 22.07 ± 2.17 participated. Majority of them were male 279 (66.0%). Nearly one third (32.2%) of study subjects had good knowledge on CVD risk factors. More than 75% of study participants disagreed with ideas relating them to susceptibility towards CVD. Students from the college of medicine and health sciences were 2.6 times more knowledgeable about CVD risk factors than students from other colleges (P = 0.024). Similarly, students from college of medicine and health sciences perceived 2.3 times more positive towards severity of CVD than students from other colleges (P = 0.027). Students at University of Gondar were poorly knowledgeable about CVD risk factors and they perceive that they are not at risk of CVD. Educational intervention is needed to improve their knowledge.

Use of assisted reproductive techniques for treatment of ejaculatory disorders.

Ejaculatory disorders can interfere with the fertility of young adults who suffer from spinal cord injury, have type I diabetes mellitus or have undergone retroperitoneal or intrapelvic operations. Following an overview of causes and treatment of ejaculatory disorders, the data of our centre are presented. From a group of 37 patients with genuine loss of seminal emission, 15 men and their wives were offered a combined treatment of rectal probe electro-ejaculation and artificial reproductive techniques. No serious complications occurred. During 40 cycles with intracorporeal insemination and 11 cycles with extracorporeal fertilization techniques, seven pregnancies were achieved, representing a pregnancy rate of 46% per couple and 14% per cycle for all cycles. Five healthy children were born, all following extracorporeal insemination. The 'take-home baby rate' for this population and for this technique is 45%. In vitro fertilization (IVF) led to one birth, intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) achieved four live births out of three pregnancies, one being a twin gestation. Since our successes are due to the use of extracorporeal insemination techniques, these are now incorporated in a new, more rational treatment protocol.

[Ambulatory contrast hysterosonography as a possibility for assessing tubal patency]. / Die ambulante Hystero-Kontrast-Sonographie (HKSG) als Möglichkeit zur Kontrolle der Tubendurchgängigkeit.

For the diagnostic evaluation of infertility it is crucial to obtain information on potential abnormalities of the uterus or the fallopian tubes. At present, the following diagnostic methods are available: CO2-pertubation, hysteroscopy, hysterosalpingography (HSG) and chromolaparoscopy (CLP). For the latter procedure, general anaesthesia is required. In a clinical trial 103 patients from our infertility clinic were examined for fallopian tube patency using the contrast agent SH U 454 (Echovist). The new technique hystero-contrast sonography (Hy-Co-Sy) was carried out in an outpatient setting without requiring general anaesthesia. Informed consent was obtain from all patients. A Foley catheter was inserted into the uterine cavity, the balloon was inflated and the contrast medium injected. Distribution of the contrast agent as well as the uterine cavity, the fallopian tubes as well as in the pouch of Douglas was then observed by sonography. In addition to Hy-Co-Sy, 58 patients underwent HSG or CLP. Hy-Co-Sy findings could confirmed by HSG and CLP in 90.6% and 91.6%, respectively. Patients were asked to describe their discomfort on a scale of one to hundred. The average time required for the assessment to tubal patency was 9 minutes. Within 12 months of the Hy-Co-Sy study, 23 out of 60 patients (38.3%) became pregnant. Our study shows that Hy-Co-Sy is a valuable and reliable procedure to assess the uterine cavity and the fallopian tubes in patients undergoing treatment for infertility. The procedure can be performed safely in the office without the need for general anaesthesia.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Interaction of rat peritoneal macrophages with homologous, sialidase-treated lymphocytes in vitro.

The interaction in vitro between rat peritoneal macrophages and homologous, sialidase-treated lymphocytes was investigated. Lymphocytes were isolated from blood, thymus, and spleen on a density gradient. Total sialic acids obtained by acid hydrolysis were 10 nmol/10(8) lymphocytes, composed of 29% N-acetyl-neuraminic acid and 71% N-glycoloylneuraminic acid. Sialidase treatment released maximally 33% of membrane sialic acids. Lymphocytes were bound to peritoneal macrophages to an extent which increased in parallel with the amount of sialic acids released, whereas binding of untreated lymphocytes was not significant. This interaction was inhibited by free galactose and substances containing terminal galactose residues. Asialoorosomucoid with its oligoantennary sugar chains proved to be a 10(5) times more potent inhibitor of the interaction than lactose. The addition of homologous serum had no influence on binding. Electron microscopy revealed that vital lymphocytes were tightly bound to macrophages and only damaged lymphocytes appeared to be phagocytozed. The experiments demonstrate that the interaction between rat peritoneal macrophages and sialidase-treated lymphocytes is mediated by a macrophage receptor specific for galactose. This sugar is demasked on the surface of lymphocytes after the removal of terminal sialic acids. The role of this mechanism in cell recognition, elimination and homing of lymphocytes is discussed.