Pregnancy in patients with cystic fibrosis

With increasing life span of patients with CF, more women with CF are becoming pregnant and others are seeking information about the risks involved during pregnancy and delivery. A striking limitation of the available information is the lack of large prospective studies of pregnant patients with CF matched for age and disease severity compared with their non-pregnant cohorts. A study investigating the effect of pregnancy on morbidity and mortality is being completed by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. We recommend that all women with CF be offered contraceptive measures and counseling on the maternal and fetal risks of pregnancy, including the genetic risks for the child. The issue of who will raise the child in the event of subsequent morbidity or maternal mortality should ideally be prospectively discussed.     

Pediatric tuberculosis: problems in diagnosis and issues in management

The diagnosis of infection and disease due to Mycobacterium tuberculosis in infants and children presents many clinical challenges. The distinction of infection from disease (tuberculosis) in children is often unclear. There is difficulty in obtaining positive microbiological confirmation of infection in sputum, gastric, tracheal, or bronchial aspirates and in other body fluids in infants and children. Isoniazid is effective in the treatment of infection and prevention of progression of infection to clinical disease. Approximately 50% of children with primary tuberculosis are asymptomatic and are diagnosed as a result of contact investigation. Children become infected from exposure to an adult or adolescent with contagious pulmonary tuberculosis. The results of drug susceptibility tests in the source case in contact with an exposed child can guide the antituberculous chemotherapy. Chemotherapy regimens for treatment of pediatric tuberculosis have become shorter and more intensive with a marked increase in directly observed therapy (DOT).     

Identification of common cystic fibrosis mutations in African-Americans with cystic fibrosis increases the detection rate to 75%

Cystic fibrosis (CF)--an autosomal recessive disorder caused by mutations in CF transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) and characterized by abnormal chloride conduction across epithelial membranes, leading to chronic lung and exocrine pancreatic disease--is less common in African-Americans than in Caucasians. No large-scale studies of mutation identification and screening in African-American CF patients have been reported, to date. In this study, the entire coding and flanking intronic sequence of the CFTR gene was analyzed by denaturing gradient-gel electrophoresis and sequencing in an index group of 82 African-American CF chromosomes to identify mutations. One novel mutation, 3120+1G-->A, occurred with a frequency of 12.3% and was also detected in a native African patient. To establish frequencies, an additional group of 66 African-American CF chromosomes were screened for mutations identified in two or more African-American patients. Screening for 16 "common Caucasian" mutations identified 52% of CF alleles in African-Americans, while screening for 8 "common African" mutations accounted for an additional 23%. The combined detection rate of 75% was comparable to the sensitivity of mutation analysis in Caucasian CF patients. These results indicate that African-Americans have their own set of "common" CF mutations that originate from the native African population. Inclusion of these "common" mutations substantially improves CF mutation detection rates in African-Americans.     

Transfer Learning of BCI Using CUR Algorithm

The brain computer interface (BCI) are used in many applications including medical, environment, education, economy, and social fields. In order to have a high performing BCI classification, the training set must contain variations of high quality subjects which are discriminative. Variations will also drive transferability of training data for generalization purposes. However, if the test subject is unique from the training set variations, BCI performance may suffer. Previously, this problem was solved by introducing transfer learning in the context of spatial filtering on small training set by creating high quality variations within training subjects. In this study however, it was discovered that transfer learning can also be used to compress the training data into an optimal compact size while improving training data performance. The transfer learning framework proposed was on motor imagery BCI-EEG using CUR matrix decomposition algorithm which decomposes data into two components; C and UR which is each subject’s EEG signal and common matrix derived from historical EEG data, respectively. The method is considered transfer learning process because it utilizes historical data as common matrix for the classification purposes. This framework is implemented in the BCI system along with Common Spatial Pattern (CSP) as features extractor and Extreme Learning Machine (ELM) as classifier and this combination exhibits an increase of accuracy to up to 26% with 83% training database compression.

     

Plasma Levels of lormetazepam after Sublingual and Oral Administration of 1 MG to Humans

A new galenical formulation containing 1 mg lormeta-zepam (LMZ) for sublingual administration (“sleeping wafer”, see Figure 1) has been developed. In an open-cross over design the plasma lormetazepam levels were monitored radioimmunologically in 16 volunteers. Subjects received the sublingual formulation and an oral tablet (Noctamid^R-1) in a randomized sequence at weekly intervals. After sublingual administration the mean plasma lormetazepam levels were significantly higher between 7.5 and 25 minutes than after administration of the tablet. The earlier rise in plasma LMZ levels is also reflected in partial areas under the plasma level curve up to 45 minutes. LMZ was completely absorbed from both formulations as shown in total AUCs.

It is anticipated that sublingual administration of the new formulation will lead to a 40 - 50 % reduction of sleep latency. Possibilities for therapeutic application of the new formulation are discussed.     

Fabrication of rubber gel as oil absorbent by using water as porosity agent for oil removal

Oil pollution is a crucial issue that has adversed impact not only on the environment but also human beings. As an alternative to all conventional approaches, a porous rubber gel based on liquid natural rubber (LNR) with excellent hydrophobic and wettability properties has been developed using a simple vulcanization reaction. To determine their sorption capability, LNR gel was employed for absorption of various types of oils such as Petrol A, Petrol B, kerosene, diesel, crude oil, and olive oil. The functionality of LNR gel was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and the morphology of LNR gel was observed using a scanning electron microscope. By combining wettability and hydrophobicity, the LNR gel exhibited high oil sorption capacity and selectivity for oil removal from water. The LNR gel was able to absorb oils, especially the low viscosity types. Besides, it can also be reused up to 20 cycles while maintaining its oil sorption performance. The selective absorbent shows the recovery of petrol in the range of 96–99% by squeezing the oil. Thus, LNR gel has great potential as green material for cleaning up oil contaminants on a large scale. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 136, 47749.     

Development of Data and Information Centre System to Improve Water Resources Management in Indonesia

Most provinces in Indonesia will be facing water scarcity problems in the next decades due to increasing water demands resulting from population growth, urbanization and economic and industrial developments. As a consequence, they will also be facing a number of problems with regards water resource management, such as a lack of data and information needed to evaluate the real status of water resources, the unsystematic development of relevant infrastructure and economic instruments, inadequate human resources for the operation and maintenance of water resources, and a lack of interest in improving research and development activities. This paper examines the application of data and information management for improved water resources management in Indonesia through “one door data service system” linked among the related institutions from different sectors and levels both at the central and regional government agencies. One of the key solutions to help solve water resource problems would therefore be to obtain supporting data and information by developing an information system and water resources data centre (WRDC). Rapid developments in information and communication technology (ICT) could be used to support data communication and management requests in order to build capacity of the water resources sector, and as a prerequisite for an integrated water resources management program. Improved efficiency and effectiveness could be achieved by making relevant data and information available, as well by establishing a communication system among related institutions. Further, provinces should also prioritize developing human and social capital through education, service delivery and career development, as well as training for water resources development and management. Data and information such as the hydrological and water quality data, information of water resources potential, irrigation areas, population and economic growth as well as the others related data need to store in both the tabular and spatial formats. The water resources data management and warehouse system is a web-enabled application that permits spatial data to be stored with tabular data in a standard database management system. This system permits a dynamic generation of output from the tabular and spatial data and enables users to generate answers to their queries online, rather than simply presenting static maps and tables from the database. The WRDC applications were developed and chosen by gathering the ideas suggested by users at the ministerial, provincial and river basin levels. Within the resulting inventory system, information was grouped into irrigation scheme system; water resources potential; natural disaster; hydrological data and station networks; and other information. For the users at the ministerial level access the system by using local area network (LAN) connections and other users at the provincial and river basin levels or elsewhere in the world can use the internet for connections and regular browser software for system operation.