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Home health care is a rapidly growing health care sector. An increasing older population and the desire to reduce acute health care costs have contributed to its growth. Moreover, older persons and their family members do prefer home care. A prospective cohort study was implemented to determine the outcome of elderly patients enrolled inthe Home Health Care program affiliated to Al-Hada and Al-Tayef Military Hospitals program, KSA and investigate some factors associated with the outcome of those patients. A total of 131 elderly enrolled inthe program were included. Sociodemographic and medical history were obtained, medical records were reviewed and full clinical assessment was conducted. The study extended for 19 months. All elderly were followed-up until discharge from services, readmission to hospital, death, or end of the study. Results revealed that by the end of the study, 65.5% of the elderly were still in the service, 6.9% died, and 17.6% were readmitted to the hospital and didn’t’ return back. The factors significantly associated with death or readmission to the hospital were the principal diagnosis, higher number of comorbidities, presence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), atrial fibrillation (AF), presence of associated problems, and higher number and earlier timing for emergency visits to hospitals. The independent predictors for death and readmission to hospitals were altered consciousness on admission, presence of AF, COPD, and higher number of emergency visits to hospitals. Further studies including control groups receiving different modalities of care are required to assess the effectiveness of the program. Cost effective analysis of the service is recommended. Better selection of the patients for the service and assuring their stabilization before admission may improve the outcome of these patients and enhance the quality of care.

Background and aim Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the third cause of cancer-related mortality. α-fetoprotein (AFP) is not a highly sensitive marker for predicting HCC despite its high specificity. Serum Golgi protein-73 (sGP73) seems to be promising new marker. This study aimed at evaluating the role of sGP73 alone and in combination with AFP for diagnosing HCC. Patients and methods This study was conducted on 90 Egyptian patients who were equally divided into two groups. Group 1 included 45 patients with hepatitis C virus-related liver cirrhosis without clinical or radiological evidence of HCC, and group 2 included 45 patients diagnosed as having HCC by triphasic abdominal computed tomography. Serum AFP and GP73 were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results A cutoff value greater than or equal to 40 ng/ml for AFP had a sensitivity of 51.1%, specificity of 97.8%, and area under the curve (AUC) of 0.802. sGP73 with a cutoff value greater than or equal to 1.4 ng/ml yielded a sensitivity of 75.6%, specificity of 97.8%, diagnostic accuracy of 86.7%, and AUC of 0.908. The combined use of AFP and sGp73 led to an increase in sensitivity to 84.4%, specificity to 95.6%, diagnostic accuracy to 90%, and AUC to 0.947. Conclusion The combined use of AFP and sGp73 could increase the sensitivity and specificity for HCC diagnosis.

Background The process of fibrogenesis is associated with the development of disease-specific markers. The management of chronic hepatitis C (CHC) depends on the staging of liver fibrosis. Use of noninvasive methods is preferable in diagnosis and follow-up. Objective The aim of this study is to evaluate serum angiopoietin-2 (Ang-2) as a noninvasive marker in the diagnosis of different stages of liver fibrosis in CHC patients. Materials and methods A total of 90 individuals were included. They were divided into a patient group (75 patients) and a control group (15 normal individuals). Serum Ang-2 was measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Pretreatment liver biopsy was performed for the patients. The METAVIR score was used in the staging of liver fibrosis. A comparison of Ang-2 was performed between patients and controls, and between different stages of liver fibrosis. A receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was carried out to determine the best cutoff values of Ang-2 in the differentiation of different stages of fibrosis. Results Ang-2 serum levels were significantly higher in advanced stages of liver fibrosis. The cutoff points 869.3, 2226, and 7205 pg/ml were the best for differentiating fibrosis stages >F1; >F2; and >F3, respectively. Ang-2, international normalized ratio, α-fetoprotein, and albumin were found to be independent predictors of liver fibrosis using univariate analysis. Conclusion Ang-2 correlated significantly with liver fibrosis stage. It can aid noninvasive differentiation between different stages of liver fibrosis in patients with CHC.

Methyl red (MR) powder is polycrystalline structure as-purchased. The uniform, homogeneous and no cracks nano MR thin films are successfully prepared using thermal evaporation technique. The structural investigation for the pristine, annealed and UV irradiated MR films shows nanorods spread in amorphous medium. The part of as-prepared films exposed to UV light irradiation of wavelength 254 nm and intensity of 2000 µW/cm2 for 1 h, while the other part of films was treated by the annealing temperature at 178 °C for 1 h. The optical properties of MR thin films were investigated using spectrophotometric measurements of the transmittance and reflectance at normal incidence in the spectral range 200–2000 nm. The optical constants, dispersion parameters, and energy loss and dielectric functions of MR thin films were calculated and showed remarkable dependence on UV irradiation and annealing temperature upon the films of MR. The dependence of absorption coefficient on the photon energy were analyzed and the results showed that MR films undergo direct allowed optical transition for pristine, annealed and irradiated MR films. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The thin films of 5,10,15,20-tetraphenyl-21H,23H-porphyrin zinc, ZnTPP, were successfully prepared by the thermal evaporation technique. The structure formation and optical properties of ZnTPP thin films were studied. The surface morphology and structural characteristics of ZnTPP thin films were analyzed by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques, respectively. The optical constants of ZnTPP films were measured by spectrophotometer measurements of the transmittance and reflectance at a normal incidence of light in the spectral wavelength range from 200 to 2500 nm. The absorption spectrum of ZnTPP films showed four absorption bands, namely, the Q, B, N, and M bands. Anomalous dispersion was observed in the absorption region and normal dispersion occurred in the transparent region of the spectrum. We adopted the multi-oscillator and the single-oscillator models to interpret the results of anomalous and normal dispersion characteristics, respectively. The energy band gap of ZnTPP films was measured and the type of electron transition was determined to be the indirect allowed transition. The annealing process had an obvious effect on the morphology, structure, optical constants, and spectral dispersion parameters of ZnTPP thin films. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Chronic paediatric diseases, as bronchial asthma, affect the quality of life, which can be defined as the ability to preserve personal well-being despite sickness. These diseases have a huge impact on the quality of life of both the children, their parents and or caregivers. Methodology: A cross-sectional study using convenient sampling was conducted in the paediatric pulmonology clinics at Hamad General Hospital in Qatar aiming to evaluate the quality of life among caregivers of asthmatic children. The quality of life of caregivers was assessed using the standard Paediatric Asthma Caregiver Quality of Life questionnaire. Depression and asthma control were assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory; second edition and the Paediatric Asthma Control and Communication Instrument, respectively. Results: Total number of the caregivers was 330. Majority of the asthmatic children had controlled or partially controlled asthma (47% and 44%, respectively). Most of the caregivers had either very good or good quality of life (63% and 31%, respectively). Mean quality of life score was 5.55 ± 1.14. Males, married and father caregivers had significantly higher mean quality of life. In addition, gender, getting bothered about child’s asthma, asthma control score and depression score were significant predictors of quality of life among the caregivers. Conclusion: Most of the caregivers had either very good or good quality of life. Being a female, degree of asthma control and depression were important determinants of the quality of life of the caregivers. Provision of needed support to caregivers and effective approach to controlling asthma are recommended to improve the quality of life of caregivers.