Kontopantelis 2012 Kontopantelis E, Reeves D. Performance of statistical methods for meta-analysis when true study effects are nonnormally distributed: a simulation study. Statistical Methods in Medical Research 2012;21(4):409-26. Kontopantelis 2013 Kontopantelis E, Springate DA, Reeves D. A re-analysis of the Cochrane Library data: the dangers of unobserved heterogeneity in meta-analyses.
The prevalence of childhood asthma has increased recently. The aim of this study was to assess the epidemiology of asthma and risk factors for hospital admission among children attending the outpatient and emergency clinic in a university hospital in Sohag, Egypt. The prevalence of asthma over a 6-month period among children aged 3-12 years at this hospital was 1.4% (178/12 612). All the asthmatic children were enrolled in an observational, prospective questionnaire study. More of the asthmatics were males, living in rural areas, with recurrent upper respiratory tract infections, passive exposure to tobacco smoke and suffering attacks at night time; 38 children (21.3%) needed hospital admission for asthma. In multivariate regression analysis, significant risk factors for hospital admission were: both cough and dyspnoea as presenting symptoms; using prophylactic therapy; and complaining of continuous symptoms (during both day and night). Proper use of prophylactic therapies is recommended for better outcomes in our asthmatic children.
The objective of the present investigation was to estimate the prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii infection and co-infection with porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV), classical swine fever virus (CSFV) and porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV-2) in pigs in China. A total of 372 tissues or serum samples collected from pigs distributed in 9 provinces/ municipalities of China during the period from February 2011 to November 2012 were assayed for T. gondii antigens and antibodies using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique, while the PCR was designed for the detection of the PRRSV, CSFV and PCV-2, respectively. The total positive rate of T. gondii, PRSSV, CSFV and PCV-2 was 9.14% (34/372), 50.00% (186/372), 37.10% (138/372) and 3.23% (12/372), respectively. Among the 34 T. gondii positive samples, 26 samples were simultaneously infected with T. gondii and viruses, while the remaining eight samples were infected with T. gondii alone. In addition, the co-infection rate of T. gondii with PRSSV, T. gondii with PRSSV and CSFV, T. gondii with PRSSV and PCV-2, T. gondii with CSFV and PCV-2, T. gondii with PRSSV, CSFV and PCV-2 was 1.61% (6/372), 4.03% (15/372), 0.27% (1/372), 0.27% (1/372) and 0.81% (3/372), respectively. The results of the present survey revealed that PRRSV and CSFV were the common pathogens co-existing with porcine toxoplasmosis in China, and both of them could increase the chances of T. gondii infection in pig. This is the first report of T. gondii co-infections with viruses in pigs. It is very important to understand the interactions of parasite and virus, and can be used as reference data for the control and prevention of co-infections of T. gondii and viruses in pigs.
Phenotypic, andrologic, and cytogenetic investigations were performed on a 2.5 years old buffalo-bull that produced azoospermic semen from puberty. Also, ultrasonographic and histopathologic examinations were conducted on its testis. Phenotypic examinations showed atypical male features. Andrological investigations revealed small non-pendulous scrotum and reduced testicular size as indicated by lowered scrotal circumference measurement and ultrasound-detected testicular breadth. Both libido and serum testosterone concentration were greatly reduced. The sonographic examination of the test is revealed hypoechoic feature and reduced testicular breadth. Testicular hypoplasia was confirmed by the histopathological findings represented by a marked reduction in the number and diameter of seminiferous tubules and absence of mitotic or meiotic activities. Cytogenetic examination of peripheral leucocytes revealed the presence of trisomy-24.It could be concluded that identifying trisomy -24 as possible cause of testicular hypoplasia in buffalo bulls is being useful for earlier diagnosis of the affected cases before reaching the age of puberty when the condition could be diagnosed and thus reducing the costs of keeping them till puberty.
In this study, we evaluated the copper (Cu) levels in serum samples of patients infected by hepatitis C virus (HCV) at different stages and examined the changes in its content before and after interferon α (IFN-α) therapy with related to healthy subjects. The 199 HCV patients of both genders at different stages including (acute, fibrosis and cirrhosis) were enrolled in this study, who have completed IFN-α treatment and were followed for at least 1 year after the end the therapy. We have also evaluated the changes in biochemical parameters before and after treatment. Blood samples were collected from patients before and after treatment of IFN-α therapy. For comparative purposes healthy subjects of same age group (30-50) were also selected. The trace level of Cu in serum samples was determined by flame atomic absorption spectrometry after preconcentration by dual-cloud point extraction method. It was observed that after INF-α treatment the level of Cu in serum samples of HCV patients were reduced in decreasing order such as acute> fibrosis> cirrhosis.
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