Fungal treatment for liquid waste containing U(VI) and Th(IV).

Four fungal and one bacterial isolates were isolated from a liquid waste sample of Nuclear Material Authority. Those dried biomasses were screened for uranium (U) and thorium (Th) adsorption efficiency where the most potent isolate was identified according to sequence similarities and phylogenetic analysis as Aspergillus niger LBM 134. Using U or Th synthetic solutions many factors were investigated for controlling the biosorption process to conduct the optimum process conditions (the solution pH, contact time, elemental initial concentration, biomass dosage, and sorption temperature). A. niger LBM 134 dried biomass was examined ESEM-EDX and the FTIR techniques before and after the sorption process, also the data were handled by different kinetics and isothermal models. Application on the real liquid waste revealed that the bio-uptake capacities were 18.5 and 11.1 mg/g for U and Th respectively.

RETRACTED: Nicorandil vs nifedipine for the treatment of preterm labour: a randomized clinical trial.

This article has been retracted: please see Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal (http://www.elsevier.com/locate/withdrawalpolicy). This article has been retracted at the request of the Editor-in-Chief. The editors were alerted to the following concerning features of this trial: The submission date is impossible. Patients were recruited at 24 to 34 weeks (mean 31 w). 18% of participants delivered after 37 weeks. Average recruitment 26 per month. Recruitment ended September 2014 but the paper was received by journal on 23 October 2014. The second author, Sayyed T, is co-author of related retracted papers in BJOG. In view of these concerns we wrote to Dr Rezk who had no satisfactory explanation and declined to share the data. We have therefore decided to retract.

Prevalence and risk factors of iron-deficiency anaemia among pregnant women in rural districts of Menoufia governorate, Egypt.

This cross-sectional community-based study with analytic component was conducted among Egyptian pregnant women in rural districts during January to December 2013. A total of 2470 pregnant women were enrolled for laboratory tests for iron- deficiency anaemia (IDA). The prevalence of IDA was 51.3% (1267 of 2470); IDA affects about one in every two pregnant women in rural districts in Egypt. Women who are older than 30 years (Odds ratio [OR], 0.73) had more than three children (OR, 0.73), with body mass index less than 20 (OR, 1.57), shorter birth spacing less than 2 years (OR, 0.68), lack of antenatal care visits (OR, 1.25), low intake of foods of animal origin (OR, 1.57), vegetables and fruits (OR, 1.29) and having intestinal parasites (OR, 0.74) were positively associated with anaemia [at confidence interval 95%]. In addition to nutritional deficiency, multiparity and increasing maternal age are the main causes of IDA.

Perimenopausal bleeding: Patterns, pathology, response to progestins and clinical outcome.

This prospective observational study was done on 400 perimenopausal patients who presented with abnormal uterine bleeding with selective endometrial lesions diagnosed on histopathology. Patients were followed to determine their response to progestin therapy and their final clinical outcome. The commonest bleeding pattern was menorrhagia (67.5%), the commonest pathology was simple endometrial hyperplasia without atypia (31%). 142 cases with non- atypical endometrial hyperplasia received progestin therapy with follow up, 100 cases (70.4%) experienced lesion regression, 38 cases (26.7%) experienced persistence and four cases (2.9%) experienced progression to atypia. Low dose progestin therapy (< 20 mg/day) was more effective when used for 4-5 months. Hysterectomy was done for 44 cases, due to atypical endometrial hyperplasia, persistence and progression of non atypical hyperplasia. Perimenopausal bleeding is mostly dysfunctional in origin but organic lesions remained a major concern which requires endometrial sampling with proper interpretation to achieve better clinical outcome.

The safety and acceptability of intravenous fentanyl versus intramuscular pethidine for pain relief during labour.

OBJECTIVES: This trial aimed to ascertain the relative efficacy, adverse effects, and acceptability of fentanyl versus pethidine for pain relief during labour. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Parturients (n=80) in the active phase who requested analgesia were randomly assigned to receive either intravenous fentanyl (n=40) or intramuscular pethidine (n=40). Pain scores hourly, maternal and fetal adverse effects, neonatal outcome, and maternal acceptability were assessed. RESULTS: Pain scores decreased in both groups, the decrease varying from mild to moderate, average pain scores remaining above 3.5 in both groups. Pain scores returned towards baseline over time; three hours after the initiation of treatment in the fentanyl group. Pethidine was associated with more maternal nausea and vomiting (p < 0.05) while fentanyl was associated with more neonates with low Apgar scores at one minute and more need for neonatal resuscitation and naloxone administration when compared to pethidine (p < 0.05). Both drugs were acceptable for pain relief during labour. CONCLUSION: Fentanyl is comparable to pethidine for pain relief during labour regarding efficacy and acceptability, but with more neonates with low Apgar scores at one minute and higher need for neonatal resuscitation and naloxone administration. Further larger trials are needed to confirm its safety.

Study of plasma albumin, transferrin, and fibronectin in children with mild to moderate protein-energy malnutrition.

With the increasing awareness of incipient and subclinical malnutrition in children several nutritional indices have been suggested for the early recognition of protein-energy malnutrition (PEM). We evaluated plasma albumin, transferrin, and fibronectin levels in 15 children with PEM and compared them with those of 10 well-nourished children. The results demonstrated that plasma albumin is a poor indicator of mild to moderate PEM. On the other hand, plasma transferrin and fibronectin are sensitive indicators of PEM as they were significantly decreased in our mild to moderately malnourished children whereas albumin was unchanged. Furthermore, malnourished children showed iron deficiency anaemia, which may interfere with the results of plasma transferrin determinations. Fibronectin is believed to have a functional role in coagulation, host immune defence, and wound healing. We suggest that the assay of fibronectin may provide a biochemical functional index of mild to moderate nutritional deficiency before overall depletion has occurred.