Mohamed Said Abdelsalam

Utility of 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-p-benzoquinone in assay of codeine, emetine and pilocarpine

A simple and sensitive spectrophotometric method for the assay of codeine, emetine and pilocarpine is described, based on the interaction of these drugs (as n-electron donors) with 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-p-benzoquinone (as pi -acceptor) to give a highly coloured radical anion which exhibits maximum absorption at 460 nm. Formation of the radical anion has been established by electron spin resonance measurements. Beers law is obeyed for the alkaloids investigated. The assay results are in accord with pharmacopoeial assay results. The procedure is sufficiently sensitive to permit unit dose assay of the individual alkaloids in pharmaceutical formulations.

Transplant tourism outcome: a single center experience.

Background. Transplant tourism is the term used for patients who travel abroad for transplantation. Transplant tourism has always been surrounded with controversy regarding how these organs were obtained, the donors care after transplantation, and the recipient outcome. Many authors have found that the outcome of the recipients in transplant tourism is inferior to those transplanted in their own countries. However, most these studies were small, with the latest one including only 33 patients. Here, we describe the outcome of 93 patients who were transplanted abroad compared with local transplantation. Material and Methods. All transplant patients who were followed up at our Nephrology Clinic from 1998 until 2008 were identified using our data base system. We selected patients transplanted from 2003 and forward because the computerized system for laboratory and electronic records began operation that year. Results. A total of 165 patients were identified (93 in the tourist group and 72 in the local one). Transplant tourists had a higher rate of acute rejection in the first year compared with local transplantation (27.9% vs. 9.9, P=0.005), higher mean creatinine at 6 months and 1 year (120 vs. 101 &mgr;mol/L, P=0.0007, 113 vs. 98 &mgr;mol/L, P=0.008). There was no statistical difference in graft or patient survival in 1 or 2 years after transplantation. However, transplant tourist had a higher rate of cytomegalovirus infection (15.1% vs. 5.6%, P=0.05) and hepatitis C seroconversion (7.5% vs. 0%, P=0.02). Conclusion. Transplant tourists had a more complex posttransplantation course with higher incidence of acute rejection and infectious complications.

Proteomic analysis of Class IV lupus nephritis

BACKGROUND There have been several attempts to standardize the definition and increase reproducibility in classifying lupus nephritis (LN). The last was made by the International Society of Nephrology and Renal Pathology Society in 2003 where the introduction of Class IV subcategories (global and segmental) was introduced. METHODS We investigated whether this subdivision is important using a proteomics approach. All patients with renal biopsies along with their clinical outcome of LN were identified and regrouped according to the above 2003 classifications. Fresh-frozen renal biopsies of Class IV LN (global and segmental), antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis and normal tissue were analyzed using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) and mass spectrometry. Differentially expressed proteins were identified and subjected to principal component analysis (PCA), and post hoc analysis for the four sample groups. RESULTS PCA of 72 differentially expressed spots separated Class IV global and Class IV segmental from both normal and antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis (ANCA). The 28 identified proteins were used in a post hoc analysis, and showed that IV-global and IV-segmental differ in several protein expression when compared with normal and ANCA. To confirm the proteomic results, a total of 78 patients (50 Class IV-Global and 28 Class IV-Segmental) were re-classified according to 2003 classification. There was no difference in therapy between the groups. The renal survival and patient survivals were similar in both groups. CONCLUSIONS There is no strong evidence to support a different outcome between the two subcategories of Class-IV LN and, they should thus be treated the same until further studies indicate otherwise.

Designing high speed monohull small crafts (HSMSC) using neural networks guided CFD based optimization

A new optimal design strategy for monohull vessels is proposed. The goal of the proposed procedure is to make monohulls competitive with their multihull counterparts. The resulting designs, thus, would combine the advantages of high speed vessels with those of simpler monohull vessels. The proposed strategy proposes a new re-formulation of hull optimization problem objective and uses a new class of Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) to achieve it. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation is used to provide the necessary data for ANN training. The advantage of the used ANN over classical ones is that it adopts a one-shot lagrangian-like training procedure. The proposed design strategy is proven to be effective through several CFD-validated design examples.

A new intelligent strategy for optimal design of high dimensional systems

The present paper proposes a new intelligent strategy that is suitable for optimal design of large scale complex systems such as ships and aircrafts. The strategy relies on three key aspects. The first is choosing a suitable compact compressed invertible representation for the high dimensional design variables vector. The second is defining a goal-focused problem-specific objective function. The third is seeking the global optimal of this objective function using a gradual non-greedy optimization procedure. The effectiveness of the proposed case study is demonstrated through a ship design case study. Starting from an initial far from optimal design, the strategy successfully converged to a greatly improved design in only three iterations.

Brevibacterium casei isolated as a cause of relapsing peritonitis

We report a case of relapsing peritonitis in a 33-year-old woman on automated peritoneal dialysis. End-stage renal disease was secondary to systemic lupus erythematosus complicated with lupus nephritis. The organism isolated was Brevibacterium casei that was not readily identified, delaying appropriate management with an extended antibiotic course. Definite management of B casei peritonitis was peritoneal dialysis catheter removal.

Chromophobe renal cell carcinoma occurring in the renal allograft of a transplant recipient presenting with weight loss

The incidence of renal cell carcinomas (RCCs) in renal transplant recipients is reported as 1.1-1.5% in the native kidneys and 0.22-0.25% in the renal allograft. There are no data to support routine surveillance for tumors in transplant recipients. Most reported cases of RCCs occurring in renal allografts were incidental findings in asymptomatic patients. Herein, we report the second case of lone chromophobe RCC (ChRCC) of the renal allograft presenting with weight loss. Loss of weight is a presenting symptom in one-third of ChRCCs occurring in the native kidneys in the general population. Based on the age of the patient, R.E.N.A.L nephrometry score of the tumor and the lack of data on the prognosis of this histological subtype in a climate of long-term immunosuppression, we elected for radical nephrectomy. We suggest that RCCs should be considered in the differential diagnosis of a transplant recipient presenting with weight loss even in the absence of localizing symptoms or signs.

Computational fluid dynamics-based system identification of marine vehicles

In this paper, a new computational fluid dynamics-based system identification for marine vehicles (such as ships and underwater vehicles) is proposed. The procedure has the advantage of being quite intuitive due to its clear similarity with conventional practical system identification experiments. This helps the user to quickly setup reliable simulation experiments and eliminates lengthy abstraction/ modeling that is often needed to perform a practical experiment in simulation. The simulation times are quite reasonable and can be performed using opensource software, thus eliminating the high cost and “time-consuming”ness typically associated with conventional practical experiments-based system identification. Two case studies are used to demonstrate the procedure as well as a discussion of candidate applications where it may prove to be useful.

Acute hepatitis C infection in a renal transplant recipient: primacy of the liver or kidney?

We present a case where a renal transplant recipient contracted chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection post-transplantation. The disease progressed and deteriorated leading to fibrosing cholestatic hepatitis that mandated treatment. Treatment with pegylated interferon α-2a and ribavirin was successful in salvaging the liver and eradicating the virus but as a consequence lead to treatment-resistant acute rejection and loss of the renal allograft.

Emphysematous pyelonephritis and cystitis in a renal transplant recipient

A 71-year-old man underwent living non-related renal transplantation 5 months prior to presentation. His family brought him to the emergency room with an altered level of consciousness, high-grade fever, vomiting and lower abdominal pain over a period of 8 days. The cause of end-stage renal disease was unknown and he had been on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis prior to the transplantation. His medical history was significant for hypertension, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and coronary artery disease. He did not have a history of diabetes mellitus nor did he develop post-transplant diabetes mellitus. Immunosuppressive regimen included mycofenolate mofetil, tacrolimus and prednisone but antibody induction therapy was not employed. He underwent transurethral resection of the prostate 2 months earlier for symptomatic benign prostatic hypertrophy. A surveillance urine culture within 2 weeks of the procedure was negative. He was on prophylactic trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and had monthly follow-up appointments in the post-transplant clinic where screening urine cultures are performed every …