Evaluation of chronic gastritis with Helicobacter pylori using updated Sydney system

Background: Helicobacter pylori has been established as a major etiological factor in the pathogenesis of chronic gastritis. The aim of the study was to interpret the histopathological changes in chronic gastritis using updated Sydney system and the association with H. pylori infection.Methods: This was a 3 years study in which 62 gastric endoscopic mucosal biopsies taken from patients presenting with dyspepsia were included. Slides were stained with routine H and E and Giemsa for H. pylori detection in chronic gastritis cases. Grading of the variables were done with reference to Sydney system of classification.Results: Out of 62 gastric biopsy specimens, 55 cases (88.7%) were histopathological diagnosed as chronic gastritis. Among chronic gastritis, 21 (38%) cases showed H. pylori and majority of these being moderately (2+) positive. 27 (49%) cases showed neutrophilic activity with most of them showed mild (1+) activity. Chronic inflammation was seen 52 (94.5%) with majority of these graded as moderate (2+). Intestinal metaplasia was seen in 8 (14.5%) of cases with majority being mild (1+). Atrophy was seen only in 3 (5.4%) of cases with majority being mild (1+). Significant statistical association was found between H. pylori and neutrophilic activity (p<0.001).Conclusions: Histological evaluation of chronic gastritis using updated Sydney system of classification helps in detection of H. pylori infection and prevents further progression of the disease.

Characteristics of Indoor Flood Fatalities: Evidence from Greece

Despite the important advances in flood forecasting and protection, floods remain one of the most lethal types of natural hazards. Previous works have explored several factors influencing the risks of flooding to human life and health. However, there is limited research and understanding on indoor flood fatalities and the circumstances under which they occur. This study explores victim-, building-, and situation-related characteristics in order to provide a better understanding of the conditions that lead to flood-related indoor deaths, exploiting a fatality database developed for Greece (1960–2020). The correlation analysis showed that indoor victims, compared with outdoor ones, tend to be older individuals, with high percentages of disabilities. A significant statistical association of the building material, roof type, and distance from the river with the building collapse was also found. The profile of the buildings in which flood fatality occurred was further compared with that of neighboring non-fatal buildings that were inhabited during the flood events. The statistical results indicated that the buildings with a fatality occurrence are mostly single-storey structures, made from masonry as the main building material. The findings have practical implications in risk communication and mitigation in terms of identifying the specific populations, circumstances, settings, and mechanisms that lead to dangerous indoor situations during flooding events.

Ozone Therapy in the Prevention of Dental Plaque Formation in Dogs

This study aims to assess ozonized mineral oil ointment application as an antiplaque therapy for dogs. Domestic healthy dogs received dental scaling and polishing under general anesthesia. Under standard feeding and homecare during 7 days, 20 dogs were randomly placed into 2 different groups for dental treatment. The control group (CG) was given a single placebo application and the ozone group (O3G) received daily ozonized ointment application. The average age (CG = 4.4; O3G = 5.7 years old), body weight (CG = 15.7; O3G = 15.3 kg) and the gingivitis index obtained on the first day (D0) allowed initial homogeneity between the groups. The dental plaque index, including clinical and computerized analysis on the seventh day, was obtained from the buccal aspect of specific dental locations. Both analyses revealed significant statistical association between daily application of ozone and antiplaque effect. There was no evidence of toxicity during the study. These results suggest that ozone therapy may be an efficient adjuvant to conventional periodontal treatment in decreasing initial dental plaque formation.

Seroprevalence of Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 and Human Herpesvirus Type 8 among Prostate Cancer Patients Compared to Cancer-Free Men

Background: As one of the most prevalent cancers in men, prostate cancer is a condition with multiple causes. Viral infections have been identified as one of the major sources of elevated incidence of prostate cancer. Objectives: The purpose of this research was to assess the association of the risk of prostate cancer and its aggressiveness with seropositivity of herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV-2) and/or human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8). Methods: Totally, 103 men with prostate cancer as cases and 81 healthy individuals as controls were included in this case-control analysis and provided a serum sample. The specific IgG antibodies against HSV-2 and HHV-8 were screened by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). To determine the association between HSV-2, HHV-8, prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level, and demographic variables with incidence of prostate cancer, univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were applied. Results: The results of the univariate logistic regression model showed a statistically significant association between HSV-2 and HHV-8 seropositivity, PSA level, age, and smoking with prostate cancer incidence (P ≤ 0.20). The multivariate logistic regression model results after adjusting for the potential confounding variables showed a significant statistical association between the mean of PSA level [adjusted odds ratio (OR): 3.44; 95% CI: 2.15 - 5.51; P < 0.001) and incidence of prostate cancer. Moreover, the results of univariate and multivariate logistic regression model showed a significant statistical association between age [adjusted OR: 0.88; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.81 - 0.95; P = 0.001] and HSV-2 and also significant statistical association was found between PSA (adjusted OR: 1.02; 95% CI: 1.005 - 1.03; P = 0.006) and HHV-8. Conclusions: Although the seroprevalence of HSV-2 and HHV-8 was higher in patients with prostate cancer than in the control group, it cannot be concluded that there is a significant association between the seropositivity of these viruses and prostate cancer incidence. However, the findings showed a significant statistical association between age and seropositivity of HSV-2 and also a significant statistical association between PSA levels and seropositivity of HHV-8.

Study of clinical management and outcome of gastric cancer patients at a tertiary care hospital

Background: Gastric Cancer is the second most common cancer worldwide surpassed only by lung cancer as the leading cause of cancer deaths. Early disease has minimal, non-specific or no symptoms. Therefore prognosis for gastric cancer patients remain poor as most patients are diagnosed in advanced stages. Present study was thus undertaken to study various etiological risk factors, clinical presentations and associated complications in cases of Carcinoma stomach. Material and Methods: Present study was a hospital based prospective observational study conducted in diagnosed cases of gastric carcinoma underwent surgery at our tertiary hospital. Results: In present study total 25 patients were studied. Majority of the study participants were in the age group of 61-65 years (40 %), and male (64%) were more than female (36%), male: female ratio was 1.8:1. There was no statistical association between TNM staging and outcome (p=0.4401). 36 % of the study subjects were found to have tumour in the body of stomach and underwent subtotal gastrectomy. Whereas 64 % of the participant had tumour in the pylorus and underwent distal gastrectomy and palliative gastro jejunostomy. There is no statistical association between type of surgery and outcome. 16% of the total study participants developed ARDS. The most common complication encountered was pneumonia in 20% of the subjects. 44 % did not develop any complications after surgery. Significant statistical association between complications and outcome (p=0.003). 100% of the participants who underwent distal gastrectomy had ICU stay less than 10 days, 45.45% of the participants who underwent palliative gastro jejunostomy and 44.44% of the subjects who underwent sub-total gastrectomy had ICU stay less than 10 days. Conclusion: 36% had tumor in the body of stomach and underwent subtotal gastrectomy, 64% had tumor in the pylorus and underwent distal gastrectomy and palliative gastro jejunostomy. Highly significant statistical association was noted between ICU stay/ complications and outcome of surgery.

Drug use Pattern and Antenatal Care Utilization Among Pregnant Women in Ethiopia

Background: Taking medications during pregnancy can harm both the mother and fetus. However, avoiding drug utilization is a difficult due chance to occur maternal complications. The irrational use of medicine remains to worsen in developing countries. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the medication use pattern and its determinants among pregnant women in Ethiopia. Methods: This study used the national representative secondary data obtained from the 2016 Ethiopian Demographic health survey (DHSprogram.com/Data). Simple descriptive statistics were used to present the socio-economic characteristics of the respondents. Bivariate and multivariate regression models were performed consecutively to examine the significant statistical association between medication use and independent variables. Variables p < 0.25 during bivariate analysis were further analyzed with a multivariate regression model. A significant statistical association was detected if p < 0.05 at 95% confidence interval (CI). The 95% CIs and Odds ratios (OR) were also calculated for significant variables in bivariate regression. Stata/SE 14.2 statistical software was used to analyze the data.Results: About 10,29 (91.8%) of surveyed pregnant had taken at least one prescription drug. Thus, supplementary drugs were dominant (34% of iron folate). The prevalence of non supplementary drugs such as anthelmintic (15.3%), antibiotics (6%) followed by antimalarial (1.7%) drugs. Less than half 380 (34%) pregnant had received antenatal care (ANC) during their pregnancy. Thus, the majority of 364 (96%) of them received the ANC service at public health sectors. Most pregnant were in the second trimester when they started ANC. Pregnant aged from 35-49 years used drugs less likely by 65% (OR = 0.35, 95% CI =0.069-1.772) compared to younger pregnant. Poorer mothers were more likely to take medications by 53% (OR=0.47, 95% CI = 0.218-1.628) than middle income. The majority of pregnant were used medication during the second trimester (39.3%) followed by the third trimester (38.5%). Conclusion: The utilization of ANC was lower among pregnant women. Hence, increasing the coverage and utilization of ANC services is needed to improve the consumption of supplements and other preventive chemotherapy. Likewise, to expand the ANC service channel is important to monitor the irrational drug use of pregnant.

Immunoexpression of P16 and Ki 67 in oral squamous cell carcinoma: Association with clinicopathological parameters.

Background and Objectives: Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is considered as a major health problem worldwide and has been associated with high recurrence rate and poor progno-sis. Advances in understanding of OSCC have not improved the outcome in their management significantly. Many studies have focused on the roles of biomolecular markers in OSCC. The use of p16 and Ki67 as biomarkers of biological behavior of oral squamous cell carcinoma is contro-versial. This study aimed to determine immunoexpression of P16 and Ki67 in oral squamous cell carcinoma and to evaluate their association with various clinicopathological parameters. Materials and Methods: Fifty cases of squamous cell carcinoma from different locations in the oral cavity were included in this cross sectional study. The cases were collected from Rizgary Teaching Hospital and Private Laboratories in Erbil city during a period of eight months from October 2018 to May 2019. The expression of p16 and Ki 67 were evaluated immunohistochem-ically; the findings were correlated with the age of the patients, gender, site of the tumor and grade of the tumor. Result: A total of 50 patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma were enrolled in this study the age ranged from 33 to 89 years, with a mean age ± SD of (64.24 ±12.01) years and more than half (52.0%) of them were males. Lower lip was the most common site of the tumor followed by upper lip and tongue (42.0%, 26.0% and 18.0%, respectively). Histopathological findings of the tumor showed that (54.0%) of the patients had moderately differentiated squamous cell carci-noma. However, (84.0%) of the patients showed negative expression of P 16, while Ki 67 ex-pression was positive among (76.0%) of them. No significant statistical association were found between immunoexpression of p16 and age, sex of patient, site of the tumor and grade of the tumor (P=0.67, P=0,095, P=0.696, P=0.454 respectively). No significant statistical association were found between immunoexpression of Ki67 and age, sex of patient, site of the tumor and grade of the tumor (P=0.637, P=0,411, P=0.353, P=1.00 respectively). Conclusion: in relation to the results obtained in this study no significant association were found between P16 and Ki 67 immunoexpression in oral squamous cell carcinoma with clinicopatho-logical parameters. Further researches have to be designed to better understand the role of p16 and Ki 67 in OSCC. Keywords: oral squamous cell carcinoma, immunoexpression, P16, Ki67.

The Association between Material Deprivation and Avoidable Mortality in Lisbon, Portugal

There is considerable evidence pointing to the existence of a socioeconomic gradient in mortality, which tends to be steeper in urban areas. Similar to other European cities, Lisbon is far from homogeneous since considerable geographical inequalities exist between the more advantaged and the more deprived neighborhoods. The main goals of this study are to describe the geographical pattern of premature deaths (before 65 years old), avoidable deaths (preventable and amenable to healthcare) and cause-specific mortality (HIV/AIDS and suicide) in Lisbon, at the lower administrative level (civil parish, in Portuguese: Freguesia), and analyze the statistical association between mortality risk and deprivation, before (1999–2003) and during the economic crisis (2008–2012). Smoothed Standardized Mortality Ratios (sSMR) and Relative Risk (RR) with 95% credible intervals were calculated to identify the association between mortality and deprivation. The analysis of the geographical distribution of cause-specific mortality reveals that civil parishes with high sSMR in the first period continued to present higher mortality rates in the second. Moreover, a significant statistical association was found between all the causes of death and deprivation, except suicide. These findings contribute to understanding how social conditions influence health outcomes and can offer insights about potential policy directions for local government.

Prevalence of Linguatula sp., a food-borne zoonotic aberrant arthropod, in river buffaloes slaughtered at Tabriz slaughterhouse, Iran

Background Canids and herbivores are the definitive and intermediate hosts of Linguatula sp., respectively. Methods Mesenteric lymph nodes (n=32 525) were randomly collected from 7585 buffaloes from July 2016 to July 2019 and examined macroscopically. Results Results showed that 388 (5.11%) buffaloes were infected. The intensity of infection was determined to be 3.07±0.07. Significant statistical association was identified between infection rate and age and sex. Although there were no significant differences in the infection rate over different seasons, the highest infection rate was observed in autumn. Conclusions These data highlight the importance of inspection at slaughter.

DPP6 gene in European American Alzheimer’s Disease

DPP6 encodes a transmembrane protein that expresses highly in the hippocampal regions of the brain and regulates dendritic excitability. Recently, rare and loss of function variants were reported in DPP6 and further demonstrated to be associated with early onset Alzheimer Disease (AD) and frontotemporal dementia. We performed single variant and gene-based analyses in three non-Hispanic white cohorts: a familial late onset AD (cases=1212, controls=341), an unrelated early onset AD (cases=1385, controls=3864) and in the unrelated Alzheimer disease sequencing project (ADSP, cases=5679, controls=4601). Neither single variant or gene-based analysis revealed any significant statistical association of DPP6 variants with the risk for AD in the cohorts examined.