Background: The occurrence of seizures in bacterial meningitis is important, as it has been reported to increase the risk of complications; however, its frequency and predictors are not well studied yet. Objective: To assess the frequency, clinical, and biochemical predictors of seizures in children with acute bacterial meningitis. Method: A cross-sectional study recruited confirmed acute bacterial meningitis cases based on positive CSF culture and sensitivity among children aged 2 months to 15 years admitted to the Central Child Teaching Hospital emergency department in Iraq. Patients were divided into two groups based on seizure at presentation time. Demographic characteristics [age, gender, residence, duration of fever and disease, presenting complaints and antibiotic intake]; hematological [WBC, neutrophils] Lymphocyte, N/L ratio, packed cell volume, platelets, blood sugar, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) indices were compared between groups. Results: Seizures had a frequency of 18% among the 122 children and were significantly higher in younger cases with female predominance. By multivariate analysis and odds ratio (OR), predictors for seizure were as follows: CSF lymphocytes (OR=0.25, 95%CI=0.08–0.26), lethargy (OR=8.15, 95%CI=1.03-68.65), headache (OR=0.09, 95%CI=0.02-0.45), neck stiffness (OR=0.07, 95% CI=0.01-0.61) and poor feeding (OR=4.8, 95%CI=1.21–18.97). Conclusions: CSF lymphocytes reliably predicted seizure with good sensitivity and specificity of 75% and 73%. Lethargy and poor feeding had the highest odds as clinical predictors of seizures. Together, those results can help with risk stratification and allocate resources for high-risk cases to improve patient outcomes
Contemporary life is racing against time in its temptations and variables, and it has become shaped and changed in an amazing way in its various aspects and fields. This was facilitated by intellectual and scientific communication between civilizations, and the rapid progression in successive inventions and discoveries in the fields of science and arts of knowledge. This contributed to a great economic and commercial renaissance. Then, these economic developments entered the world into a very strong competition, which forced producers to calculate all production costs, to reach the highest profits by reducing the price of the produced commodity on the one hand, and achieving quality in appearance (especially) on the other hand. Since the ma
... Show MoreNearly a century and a half has passed since Sarah Orne Jewett published her much anthologized short story “A White Heron” (1886), but commentators on the tale missed one of the most important points in the text. It is the story’s similarity to the traditional Euro-centric fairy tale of “Little Red Riding Hood”. As an author, writing at the end of the ninetieth century, a time that witnessed the demise of the Romantic movement in America and the beginning of the age of Realism, Jewett did not romanticize her characters, despite the idyllic landscape in which “A White Heron” is set. Her story can be analyzed as a text that aims at disseminating ecological awareness among her young readers. This study focuses on Jewett
... Show MoreThe effect of metal nanoparticles on the anaerobic digestion of sludge and the sludge bacterial community are still not well-understood, and both improvements and inhibitions have been reported. This study investigated the impact of 2, 10, and 30 mg/g TS silver and copper oxide nanoparticles (AgNPs and CuONPs) on the mesophilic anaerobic digestion of sludge and the bacterial community structure. The reactors were monitored for changes in tCOD, sCOD, TS, VS, biogas generation, and cell viability. Also, the relative abundance and taxonomic distribution of the bacterial communities were analyzed at the phylum and genus levels, including the genera involved in anaerobic digestion. Both AgNPs and CuONPs exhibited some inhibition on anaer
... Show MoreBackground: Saliva is a specific bio-fluid with important biomarkers. Analyzing any alternation in these markers could give valuable information, in relation to oral health status parameters. The aim of this study was to investigate the level of α -amylase in unstimulated whole saliva of healthy, primary school children in relation to some oral health parameters. Materials and Methods: A questionnaires consisted of demography and medical histories of participants were filled by children families. Saliva samples were collected for 5- minutes between 9:00 -11:00 AM from 114 healthy students aged 6-13 years, divided into four age groups. Flow- rate, Plaque and Gingival Index were assessed and dentition status was investigated by DMFT/dmft
... Show MoreThe conjunctive ''and'' and its Arabic counterpart ''و'' are discourse markers that express certain meanings and presuppose the presence of other elements in discourse. They are indispensable aids to both the text writers and readers. The present study aims to show that such cohesive ties help the writer to organize his main argument and communicate his ideas vividly and smoothly. They also serve as explicit signals that help readers unfold text and follow its threads as realized in the progression of context. The researcher has utilized the Quirk Model of Semantic Implication for data analysis. A total of 42 (22 for English and 20 for Arabic) political texts selected from different elite newspapers in both Arabic and English for the analy
... Show MoreBackground: Consanguineous marriage is a relationship between biologically related individuals. Genetic factors have a role in gene environment interactions that takes the center stage. The evidence of oral disease (gingivitis and periodontitis) may depend on genetic syndromes, inherited diseases, familial studies etc. The present study aims at assessing dental plaque and gingival health condition in children of inbreeding parents compared with children of outbreeding parents among primary schools in Al-Qasem city/ Babylon governorate in Iraq. Materials and methods: this comparative study included three hundred ninety eight (398) students, 6-12 years old, from 4 primary schools; 199 children had their parents of inbreeding marriage with
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