Patient-reported outcomes using PROMIS after tarsal tunnel release surgery.

Tarsal tunnel syndrome is an entrapment neuropathy of the tibial nerve and its branches in the tarsal tunnel. The literature on surgical release of the tarsal tunnel shows variable outcomes with no studies reporting validated patient reported outcomes. We aim to determine clinical response after tarsal tunnel release using the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS).

Characteristics of medically attended influenza infection across age groups before the COVID-19 pandemic in Lebanon.

Background: Influenza represents a significant global health burden for individuals and society. This study assessed the burden of medically attended influenza at a tertiary medical center in Lebanon to describe the demographics, risk factors, and outcomes prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: This was a retrospective review of patients who tested positive for the influenza virus during three seasons between July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2019, at the American University of Beirut Medical Center.

Value of Acid-Fast Bacilli and Fungal Cultures in Foot and Ankle Surgery in a US Hospital System.

Background: Acid-fast bacilli(AFB) and fungi are generally slow-growing, difficult to culture, and rarely the cause of infection. The goal of this study was to evaluate the value of routinely obtaining AFB and fungal cultures in foot and ankle surgery at a US hospital.

Methods: A retrospective review was conducted to determine the number of positive AFB and fungal cultures out of the total number of foot and ankle samples tested.

Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) and "Near MIS-C": A continuum?

Introduction: Reports of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), following severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, have been increasing worldwide, with an incidence varying significantly across studies based on the definition used for the diagnosis. At our tertiary medical center in Lebanon, we encountered several cases that presented a diagnostic challenge because they mimicked MIS-C but did not meet the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) definition. We decided to review these cases and describe their features in comparison with cases that met the CDC criteria of MIS-C and those that had an alternative diagnosis.

Assessing Taper Geometry, Head Size, Head Material, and Their Interactions in Taper Fretting Corrosion of Retrieved Total Hip Arthroplasty Implants.

Background: Decreased fretting and corrosion damage at the taper interface of retrieved ceramic-on-polyethylene total hip arthroplasty (THA) implants has been consistently reported; however, resultant fretting corrosion as a function of femoral head size and taper geometry has not been definitively explained.

Methods: Eight cohorts were defined from 157 retrieved THA implants based on femoral head composition (n = 95, zirconia-toughened alumina, ZTA vs n = 62, cobalt-chromium alloy, CoCr), head size (n = 56, 32mm vs n = 101, 36mm), and taper geometry (n = 84, 12/14 vs n = 73, V40). THA implants were evaluated and graded for taper fretting and corrosion.

An Arabidopsis Prolyl 4 Hydroxylase Is Involved in the Low Oxygen Response.

Plant responses to flooding, submergence and waterlogging are important for adaptation to climate change environments. Therefore, the characterization of the molecular mechanisms activated under hypoxic and anoxic conditions might lead to low oxygen resilient crops. Although in mammalian systems prolyl 4 hydroxylases (P4Hs) are involved in the oxygen sensing pathway, their role in plants under low oxygen has not been extensively investigated.

Epidemiology and clinical characteristics of viral infections in hospitalized children and adolescents with cancer in Lebanon.

Background: Viral infections in children and adolescents with malignancy are commonly encountered and have a significant impact on morbidity and mortality. Studies and epidemiological data regarding viral infections in children with cancer in developing countries are lacking. This retrospective cohort study aims to assess the burden of viral infections in children and adolescents with cancer, by assessing prevalence, risk factors, as well as morbidity and mortality of common viruses over a period of 8 years.

The potential of SNP-based PCR-RFLP capillary electrophoresis analysis to authenticate and detect admixtures of Mediterranean olive oils.

Authentication and traceability of extra virgin olive oil is a challenging research task due to the complexity of fraudulent practices. In this context, the monovarietal olive oils of Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) and Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) require new tests and cutting edge analytical technologies to detect mislabeling and misleading origin. Toward this direction, DNA-based technologies could serve as a complementary to the analytical techniques assay.

Assessing the Lebanese population for their knowledge, attitudes and practices of antibiotic usage.

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria has become a global phenomenon, mainly due to the inappropriate use of antibiotics. There are no studies in Lebanon to assess the public's knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of antibiotic usage. A cross-sectional study was carried out using a self-administered questionnaire completed by a random convenience sample of 500 people.

[Challenges in building a surgical obesity center].

Background: It is estimated that approximately 1 million adults in Germany suffer from grade III obesity. The aim of this article is to describe the challenges faced when constructing an operative obesity center.

Methods: The inflow of patients as well as personnel and infrastructure of the interdisciplinary Diabetes and Obesity Center in Heidelberg were analyzed.

Abortion at Gondar College Hospital, Ethiopia.

Objective: To review the pattern and magnitude of abortion in order to establish baseline facts and data for future studies.

Design: A descriptive cross-sectional study.

Setting: Gondar College of Medical Sciences Hospital, Gondar, Ethiopia.

[Transrenal endopyelotomy is an alternative to surgical pyeloplasty].

Over the period 1990-1992, a total of 372 patients with hydronephrosis undergo treatment in the Clinical Center of Urology at the Faculty Alexander Hospital--Sofia Twelve of them are treated after the method of Davis, and 12 patients treated by endopyelotomy are subjected to follow-up study in collaboration with the Department of Urology and Nephrology-Higher Medical Institute, Sofia. As the result of 24 operative interventions the underlying cause of the condition is eliminated, and urinary drainage successfully restored. According to literature data the contraindications for operation include: very broad kidney pelvis and long strictures of the pyeloureteral segment; in the authors' opinion the presence of aberrant blood vessels should be also considered as a contraindication because in such cases the underlying cause cannot be removed.

[The causes of urodynamic disorders of the urinary tract leading to hydronephrotic transformation].

Experience had with the treatment of 372 patients, admitted to the Clinical Center of Urology--Sofia, and 16 patients--to the Clinic of Urology of the Military Medical Academy, over the period 1990 through 1992, shows that the causes leading to hydronephrotic transformation comprise diseases of congenital and acquired nature involving upper and lower urinary tracts. Congenital disorders affect men and women at an equal male-to-female ratio--1:1, while acquired ones--at 1.8:1 male-to-female ratio; causes located in both upper and lower urinary tract are recorded at a 6.

[The indications and choice for open surgical intervention in hydronephrotic transformation].

Out of the total of 372 patients treated for congenital and acquired hydronephrotic transformations over a three-year period (1990 through 1992), seventeen cases are subjected to treatment with antibiotics and antispasmodics followed by observation, and in 124 cases various types of open pyeloplastic procedures are performed. The indications for operative management of hydronephrotic transformation depends on the results of objective and laboratory studies, and subjective complaints. Accidentally discovered hydronephrotic transformations, I-II degree, may be subjected to conservative management followed by an observation period with good results.

[Drainage (prosthesis) of the pyelocaliceal system].

Of 372 patients, treated in the Clinical Center of Urology-Sofia, and sixteen patients treated in the urological clinic at the Military Medical Academy-Sofia, in 241 cases various types of polyethylene drainage systems and prostheses are used, classified into two basic groups: intraoperative prosthetic replacement, and therapeutic prosthetic replacement. Intraoperative prosthetic replacement of the pyelocaliceal system reduces intrarenal pressure, promotes uneventful operative wound healing, precludes obstruction due to the so-called sterile edema at the site of operation, and serves as a drainage and splint; nephrostoma is indicated in selected cases against the background of additional complications, whereas prosthetic replacement during endourologic manipulations is mandatory. The complications associated with prosthetic replacement of the pyelocaliceal system are rare, and lend themselves readily to nonoperative treatment, but in isolated cases surgical intervention is necessitated.

The morphology of O. volvulus microfilaria in the northwestern onchocerciasis endemic foci, Ethiopia.

Microfilariae obtained by corneoscleral biopsy machines from persons in the Humera area along the Sudan boarder in Northwestern Ethiopia were stained using hematoxylin. Morphological measurements were made using a microscope fitted with micrometer and camera, as well as map curvimeter. The mean size of microfilariae was 189 microns by 5.

Haematocrit levels and anaemia in Ethiopian children.

The paucity of data on the haematological profile of Ethiopian children prompted this survey. In October and November, 1987, a survey of haematocrit levels utilizing capillary blood and morphological studies on blood films by means of the Wright stain was conducted in the peri-urban community of Koladiba in Northwestern Ethiopia. All but 21 children (0.

Lathyrism in rural northwestern Ethiopia: a highly prevalent neurotoxic disorder.

Lathyrism is a disorder of the central motor system, induced by heavy consumption of the grass-pea, Lathyrus sativus an environmentally tolerant legume containing the neurotoxic excitatory amino acid beta-N-oxalylamino-L-alanine (BOAA). A complete door-to-door resurvey of the Dembia and Fogera regions of northwestern Ethiopia, areas endemic for lathyrism, revealed an estimated mean disease prevalence of 0.6%-2.

An appraisal of the epidemiologic situation of onchocerciasis in Ethiopia.

The existence of onchocerciasis in Ethiopia has been known since 1939 as a result of investigation by Italians in south-western Ethiopia. In the last fifty years onchocerciasis has been spreading to previously non-endemic regions of Ethiopia. Although comprehensive epidemiological surveys are lacking, it is estimated that 7.

Gene frequency and type of colour blindness in Ethiopians.

All 954 boys and 1064 girls attending two schools in north-western Ethiopia were tested in February 1988 for colour blindness using the Ishihara plates. A total of 40 colour blinds (4.2%) were found among males and 2 (0.

Spontaneous reduction in Schistosoma mansoni infection in endemic communities of the lake Tana basin, north-western Ethiopia.

The prevalence and intensity of Schistosoma mansoni infections were studied in 3 endemic communities in north-western Ethiopia using the Kato-Katz stool examination technique to determine changes in the epidemiology of schistosomiasis in the absence of control programmes. The prevalence declined in Chwahit community by 21.6%, and in the villages of Jenda and Guramba by 43.

Comparison between the efficacy of oxamniquine and praziquantel in the treatment of Schistosoma mansoni infections on a sugar estate in Ethiopia.

The efficacy of the antischistosomal drugs praziquantel and oxamniquine was tested on four groups of Ethiopian sugar estate workers. The cure rates, determined by the absence of eggs in stools, were 96, 93 and 74% at one, three and six months post-treatment for patients receiving a single dose (40 mg kg-1 body weight) of praziquantel, and 82, 78 and 78% for patients on a single dose (15 mg kg-1 body weight) of oxamniquine. When split doses of these drugs were used, praziquantel achieved cure rates of 96, 95 and 89%, while the corresponding cure rates for oxamniquine were 98, 96 and 88% at one, three and six months post-treatment.

Polydrug abuse among Ethiopian university students with particular reference to khat (Catha edulis).

The pattern of use of khat (Catha edulis Forsk), alcohol, cigarettes and tranquillizers among 479 medical and paramedical students in a boarding college in northwestern Ethiopia was studied by an anonymous self-administered questionnaire. The survey coverage rate was 98.8%.