Development and Application of an Automated Raman Sensor for Bioprocess Monitoring: From the Laboratory to an Algae Production Platform.

Microalgae provide valuable bio-components with economic and environmental benefits. The monitoring of microalgal production is mostly performed using different sensors and analytical methods that, although very powerful, are limited to qualified users. This study proposes an automated Raman spectroscopy-based sensor for the online monitoring of microalgal production. For this purpose, an in situ system with a sampling station was made of a light-tight optical chamber connected to a Raman probe. Microalgal cultures were routed to this chamber by pipes connected to pumps and valves controlled and programmed by a computer. The developed approach was evaluated on Parachlorella kessleri under different culture conditions at a laboratory and an industrial algal platform. As a result, more than 4000 Raman spectra were generated and analysed by statistical methods. These spectra reflected the physiological state of the cells and demonstrate the ability of the developed sensor to monitor the physiology of microalgal cells and their intracellular molecules of interest in a complex production environment.

Hand palm sparganosis: morphologically and genetically confirmed Spirometra erinaceieuropaei in a fourteen-year-old girl, Egypt.

Two spargana of 5 and 7 cm long were removed from the right-hand palm of 14-year-old girl at the General Hospital, Qalyubia, Egypt. Sparganum is the 2nd larval stage (pleurocercoid) of Diphyllobothrid cestode species develops in the vertebrate second intermediate host through ingestion of the crustacean first intermediate host.Dogs and cats are the final hosts get infected through predation of the second vertebrate host.Human attracts infection through drinking water contaminated with the infected crustacean host or consumption of the flesh of of vertebrate hosts such as frogs and reptilian species. The surgically removed specimens were parsitologically identified as a non-proliferative metacestodes of a spirometran species that then on molecular analysis proved to be Spirometra erinaceieuropaei. The present report has allocated Egypt on the world sparganosis map.Molecular characterization of 28 S rRNA of S. erinaceieuropae and correlation to other Spirometra spp. from the Nile countries, particularly Ethiopia and Lake Victoria countries where the Nile waters originate, and from China were dealt with. Drinking of contaminated fresh water is the only proposed mode of infection in Egypt.

Occurrence and genotyping of Theileria equi in dogs and associated ticks in Egypt.

Theileriosis is a tick-borne protozoal disease caused by a piroplasm of the genus Theileria. Hard ticks are obligate hematophagous ectoparasites that serve as vectors of Theileria spp. Studies of the presence of theileriosis in Egyptian dogs and associated ticks are scarce. This study was conducted to detect and identify Theileria spp. in dogs and Rhipicephalus sanguineus ticks and to monitor the epidemiological data of this disease. The prevalence rates of Theileria equi infection were 12.02%, 0.73%, 2.93%, and 1.83% by microscopic examination of dog blood, tick hemolymph, tick midgut, and tick salivary smears, respectively. Conversely, the T. equi prevalence in dog blood and associated ticks assessed by PCR was 25.81% and 10.42%, respectively. Epidemiological data about Theileria infection revealed a significant difference in the infection between different seasons and different dog breeds (p value <0.05), whereas host, sex, and age of dogs had no significant effect on the infection. Sequencing of PCR products showed that all PCR positive samples were infected with T. equi. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) described the different stages of Theileria in the midgut and salivary gland of infected ticks. The current study confirmed that T. equi is not specific to equine hosts, and confirmed that dogs are a susceptible host to T. equi.

Screening and phylogenetic characterization of tick-borne pathogens in a population of dogs and associated ticks in Egypt.

BACKGROUND: The incidence or recurrence of tick-borne diseases (TBDs) in animals and humans is increasing rapidly worldwide, but there is insufficient information about TBDs infecting dogs in Egypt. Thus, the present study was conducted to screen and genetically identify tick-borne pathogens (TBPs) in dogs and associated ticks by microscopic examination and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). METHODS: In Cairo and Giza governorates, 208 blood samples were collected from dogs of different breeds, ages, and sex. In addition, 1266 dog-associated ticks were collected (546 ticks were used to prepare hemolymph smears, and 720 ticks were kept in 70% ethanol until PCR analysis). PCR was applied to 124 dog blood samples and 144 tick pools prepared from 720 ticks. RESULTS: All ticks collected from dogs were Rhipicephalus sanguineus (s.l.). Microscopic examination revealed that TBP prevalence among dogs was 23.56% (49/208), including Anaplasma and Ehrlichia with 11.1% (23/208) and Babesia canis with 8.2% (17/208). Hepatozoon canis was not detected in blood smears. Co-infections with two pathogens were visible in 4.33% (9/208) of examined dogs. The prevalence of TBPs in hemolymph smears was 45.97% (251/546) including 35.89% (196/546) for H. canis, 8.1% (44/546) for B. canis, and 2.01% (11/546) for Anaplasmataceae (A. phagocytophilum, A. marginale, A. platys, and E. canis). The overall molecular prevalence rate of TBPs was 25.81% and 29.17% in the blood of examined dogs and in ticks, respectively. The molecular prevalence of Anaplasmataceae family, Babesia canis, and H. canis in dog blood samples was 19.35%, 6.45%, and 0.0%, respectively, while in ticks, it was 20.83%, 5.55%, and 2.8%, respectively. A sequential analysis identified six different species of TBPs, namely B. canis vogeli, Hepatozoon canis, A. phagocytophilum, A. marginale, A. platys, and E. canis. The obtained sequences were submitted to GenBank and assigned accession numbers. CONCLUSIONS: The present study detected a wide range of TBPs (B. canis, H. canis, A. platys, A. phagocytophilum, A. marginale, and E. canis) that are considered a threat to domestic animals and humans in Egypt. Hepatozoon canis and A. marginale were reported in dogs and associated ticks for the first time in Egypt.

Bacteria Isolated From Equine Uteri in The United Arab Emirates: A Retrospective Study.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) presents a unique environment in which to breed horses with a non-physiological breeding season coupled with high temperatures and humidity for much of the year. This study aimed to describe bacterial isolates from the uteri of mares in the UAE and compare them to those reported elsewhere in the world. Bacterial antibiotic resistance was also analyzed to give a starting point for future monitoring. A total of 2,022 swabs taken over five breeding seasons from the endometrium (n = 1,350) or from uterine lavages (n = 672) were submitted for microbiological culture and antibiotic sensitivity testing. At 48 hours post-inoculation 616 of 2,022 (30.5%) of cultures showed microbial growth from which 690 isolates were identified. Most positive plates (548 of 616; 89%) grew one isolate; 68 cultures had two (62 of 616; 10.1%) or three (6 of 616; 1%) isolates. The most frequently isolated bacteria were ß-hemolytic Streptococcus (36.5%; 252 of 690), E. coli (10.6%; 73 of 690), P. aeruginosa (10.1%; 70 of 690), K. pneumoniae (8.8%; 61 of 690) and Aeromonas hydrophila (4.1%; 28 of 690). The lowest level of antibiotic susceptibility for all isolates was shown by trimethoprim-sulphonamide (36.4%; 198 of 544), with amikacin showing the highest (76.1%; 271 of 356). A significant decrease in susceptibility to doxycycline, enrofloxacin, and erythromycin, but a significant increase for amoxicillin with clavulanic acid, was seen for ß-hemolytic Streptococcus. Decreasing susceptibility of trimethoprim-sulphonamide between two time periods was seen for E. coli. Compared to other studies UAE-based mares had a high incidence of P. aeruginosa and K. pneumoniae isolates, whereas E. coli was represented far less frequently as an isolate.

A new strain of Taylorella asinigenitalis shows differing pathogenicity in mares and Jenny donkeys.

BACKGROUND: Three horse mares inadvertently inseminated with semen from a Tayorella asinigenitalis-positive Jack donkey developed severe, purulent endometritis whereas two Jenny donkeys mated naturally to the same Jack donkey did not develop clinical signs of infection. OBJECTIVES: To isolate and identify the causative agent. STUDY DESIGN: Case report. METHODS: Endometrial swabs from the infected mares were cultured on selective and non-selective media under aerobic and microaerophilic conditions. Isolates were subjected to Gram staining, oxidase and catalase tests, the Monotayl Latex Agglutination test and PCR to test for both T. equigenitalis and T. asinigenitalis. In vitro antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed and the bacterial isolate was genotyped using MLST. RESULTS: A new sequence type of T. asinigenitalis was confirmed. MAIN LIMITATIONS: A limited numbers of mares and donkeys are described. CONCLUSIONS: This strain of T. asinigenitalis causes a severe venereal infection in mares but not in Jenny donkeys.

Reducing waiting time for remote patients in telemedicine with considering treated patients in emergency department based on body sensors technologies and hybrid computational algorithms: Toward scalable and efficient real time healthcare monitoring system.

BACKGROUND: Scalability challenge in real time healthcare monitoring system relates to several issues. One of the insistent issues is the increasing in the number of patients. Increasing in the patients' number causes long queue and increase the waiting time for the patients in their seeking for healthcare services. Thus, an ethical issue raises as the healthcare providers should provide fast services for all patients. Recent studies have proposed scalable models that are limited to (1) triaging remote patients for the optimal emergency level and (2) prioritizing remote patients with the highest triage level to receive immediate healthcare services. However, these studies have shown limitations, that is, (1) they have not addressed the waiting time for all patients with different triage levels in the same waiting queue; and (2) they have not considered Emergency Department EDs patients. Therefore, considering the remote patients with the treated patients in EDs in one healthcare system is a demand, to efficiently handle all the patients' requests and productively manage the medical resources. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to reduce the waiting time for the remote patients in telemedicine with considering treated patients in EDs. The study presents a scalable telemedicine model to improve the ability of real time healthcare monitoring system in accommodating the increasing number of patients with chronic heart disease by reducing their waiting time for healthcare services, prioritizing the patients who have the most emergency cases and provide all the patients by fast healthcare services. The proposed model called Triaging and Prioritizing Model "TPM". METHOD: The proposed model "TPM" considers triaging and prioritizing all patients (remote and EDs patients) as two sequential processes. The TPM was formulated to triage the patients based on hybrid algorithms which combine Evidence-Theory with Fuzzy Cluster Means (FCM) and then prioritize the patients based on dedicated computational algorithm. A simulation, on 580 chronic heart diseases patients, was implemented. The patients considered as they have different emergency levels based on four vital data acquisition tools: electrocardiogram sensor, blood pressure sensor, oxygen saturation sensor and a text input as non-sensory based acquisition tool. RESULTS: Computational results show the superiority of the proposed model (TPM) in accommodating large numbers of patients and reducing their waiting time for services compared with relevant benchmark studies. In 1,185 min, TPM managed the (580) patients' requests. By contrast, the benchmark managed only 256 patients at the same amount of time. In addition to that, TPM shows improvements in terms of waiting time and services provisioning rates compared with benchmark methods. CONCLUSION: All patients with the different emergency levels receive services with less waiting time compared with the relevant studies. The proposed model (TPM) model considers both of remote patients and treated patients in EDs efficiently. TPM improves response time for the medical services, reduces waiting time for all patients and consequently, saves more lives.

Relationship between self-care behaviors and quality of life in patients with heart failure.

BACKGROUND: It has been generally agreed that cardiac failure is one of the common and devastating diseases due to its morbidity, mortality and rates of disability. Moreover, it has negative impacts on quality of life among sufferers. Meanwhile, improving quality of life among heart failure patients is essential. It can be suggested that people with self-care ability have a better quality of life. However, this issue may be affected by some cultural issues. Regarding a paucity of information on this aspect in Iran, this study aims to explore the relationship between self-care behaviors and quality of life in patients with heart failure. METHODS: This study is carried out using a descriptive - analytical method. The sample size consists of 77 patients who consented to participate in the study and had ejection fraction <40%. The tools were demographic checklist, European heart failure self-care behavior scale, and SF-36 quality of life questionnaire. Data was gathered from the heart center of Imam Ali in Kermanshah-Iran. Data analysis was done using independent t-test, Mann Whitney, ANOVA, and Kruskal-Wallis tests by SPSS-24 software. FINDINGS: The study sample was 77 participants, of which 45 were female and 51 lived in an urban area. The mean of self-care score was 39.42 ± 7.04, and most of the patients (67.5%) were in moderate level. The mean and SD of quality of life was estimated as 38.45 ± 17.28. The spearman correlation test showed no correlation between self-care and quality of life. However there was a correlation between marital status and self-care ability, in which it shows the higher scores in unmarried people (K2 = 7.75, P = 0.021), and the results indicated better quality of life in male (t = 2.68, P = 0.009), educated patients at the level of university (F = 7.60, P < 0.001), free job (F = 6.21, P < 0.001) and lived in the urban area (Z = 2.05, P = 0.04). CONCLUSION: In this study, there is no correlation between self-care behaviors and quality of life in which, this may be attributed to Iranian cultures and perspectives such as valuing live with the children and importance of their attention to elderly patients, which demanded more studies.

Gigantobilharzia, possible cause of cercarial dermatitis: Case report.

Cercarial dermatitis (swimmer's itch) is a worldwide, often neglected parasitic skin disease characterized by strong maculopapular skin eruption accompanied by intensive itching. A fisherman suffered from forearm dermatitis. Clinical history associated with the recovery of the avian schistosome; Gigantobilharzia from little green bee-eater (Merops orientalis najdanus) and collected Lymnaea snails supported the authors' opinion that patient clinical signs are most likely due to the invasion of avian schistosome cercariae.

Are recommendations for psychological treatment of borderline personality disorder in current U.K. guidelines justified? Systematic review and subgroup analysis.

Current U.K. guidelines on the management of borderline personality disorder include specific recommendations about the duration of therapy and number of sessions per week that patients should be offered. However, very little research has been conducted to examine the impact of these aspects of treatment process on patient outcomes. We therefore undertook a systematic review to examine the impact of treatment duration, number of sessions per week and access group-based therapy on general mental health, depression, social functioning and deliberate self-harm. We identified 25 randomized trials for possible inclusion in the review. However, differences in outcome measures used meant that only 12 studies could be included in the analysis. Statistically significant reductions in self-harm and depression and improvement in social functioning were found for treatments that include more than one session per week and those that included group-based sessions but were not found for those that deliver in individual sessions or one or fewer sessions per week. Longer term outcomes of short-term interventions have not been examined. Further research is needed to examine the impact of shorter term interventions and to compare the effects of group-based versus individual therapies for people with borderline personality disorder.

Estimating the burden of road traffic injuries among children and adolescents in urban South Asia.

Over a million people died from road traffic injuries (RTI) globally in the year 2000 and as many as 50 million were injured. Yet there has been little work focused on the South Asia region, let alone the vulnerable segments of population such as children and adolescents. This study aims at measuring the burden of disease caused by urban road traffic injuries among children and adolescents in South Asia. This study selected 26 studies for review and data extraction out of 1505 published articles. Data from the studies were pooled to calculate the proportion and characteristics of child and adolescent RTI, regional RTI incidence and mortality rates, and an estimate of the burden of disease caused by these injuries through the use of the healthy life years lost (HeaLY) composite measure. Our findings showed that the majority of injuries occurred in males (67-80%) and the most frequent age group injured was between ages 0 and 9 representing 40% of cases. Children and adolescents represent an average of 22% of all those with RTI whom seek care. Children and adolescents represented an average of 13% of all RTI deaths. Regional RTI incidence rate was calculated at 880 per 100,000 urban persons aged 0-19. Mortality due to RTI was at 17 deaths per 100,000 urban persons aged 0-19 in South Asia. Burden of disease was calculated 16 HeaLYs per 1000 general population from road traffic mortality alone. With disability data added, then 27.7 HeaLYs per 1000 general population are lost from road traffic injuries in South Asia. The increasing burden of RTI in young persons in South Asia is a call for considering appropriate research and effective interventions. This relatively high loss of healthy life from RTI needs to be addressed by public health systems in South Asia.