Search

The research aims to study the current and targeted situation for the production and export of garlic in Egypt in order to achieve economic stability in the production and export of garlic. The most important results were the following: By studying the productive and economic variables of the garlic crop in Egypt, it was found that the area, production, and costs increased a statistically significant annual increase estimated at about 0.939 thousand feddans, 8.11 thousand tons, and 34.2 pounds/feddan, respectively, during the study period (2001–2019). It was found that the productivity hectares, real farm price, and net acre yield are characterised by the relative stability of the non-significance of the regression coefficient. It was found that the instability in the area planted with garlic leads to instability in its local production, as the instability coefficient in the area planted with garlic explained about 83% of the changes in the instability factor in the local production of garlic. The local production of garlic is expected to increase from about 338.13 thousand tonnes in 2021 to about 370.9 thousand tonnes in 2025, with an annual average of about 354.57 thousand tons. It was also shown that the quantity, value, and price of Egyptian garlic exportsincreased by a statistically significant amount, amounting to about 0.894 thousand tons, 1.41 million dollars, and 51.3 dollars/tonne for each of them, respectively. It was found that the export price of garlic is more stable than the value and quantity of exports due to the low coefficient of instability of the export price, where the geometric mean of the instability coefficients was about 25.5, 52.8, and 60.8 for each of them, respectively. It was found that the actual level of garlic exports is close to its target during the period (2015–2019), and the actual level of garlic exports represents about 88.8% of the target level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Patients with high cardiovascular risk are usually cared for in primary care settings. Assessment of the effectiveness of long-time care was a subject of many European studies in the last two decades. This paper aims to present two Hungarian primary care cross sectional surveys and to compare their results to the primary care arms of the European Action on Secondary and Primary Prevention by Intervention to Reduce Events (EUROASPIRE) III. and IV. studies. Methods: Between 2010 and 2011, 679 patients with high cardiovascular risk were recruited in 20 Hungarian primary care practices and 628 patients were selected in 40 practices between 2015 and 2016. The actual national recommendations were used for classification, all based on European guidelines. Achievements of target levels for blood pressure, total-, LDL-and HDL-cholesterols, triglyceride, and HbA1c (in diabetics) were recorded and analyzed. Further cardiovascular risk factors, such as smoking, BMI, waist-circumference were also evaluated. Results: There was a statistically significant improvement in the management of blood-pressure and plasma LDL-cholesterol levels among high risk patients, while there was no change in the plasma triglyceride values. The effectiveness of diabetes care deteriorated. In international relation, the management of blood pressure and plasma LDL-cholesterol values were better in Hungary when compared to the results of EUROASPIRE III-IV. studies, while the previous advantage in diabetes care disappeared. A higher proportion of diabetic patients was above the target values in Hungary than the means of the European surveys. There was a higher proportion of smokers in the Hungarian samples, while the proportion of obese and overweight patients was similar to the European sample. Conclusions: Primary care has a unique role in cardiovascular prevention. Although many of the patients are managed appropriately, there is a need to improve primary care services in Hungary, giving more competences to GPs in prescription and introducing structural changes in the healthcare system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cyclosporine ( Cs A) is the most widely used immunosuppressive agent for the prevention of acute graft-versus-host disease ( GVHD). In a previous report, the incidence of acute GVHD was decreased by increasing the target blood concentration of Cs A during a continuous infusion from 300 to 500 ng/mL without excessive toxicities. To confirm these results, we retrospectively analyzed 69 patients who received a continuous infusion of Cs A at a higher target Cs A level between 450 and 550 ng/mL ( Cs A500 group) and compared the clinical outcome with 29 patients who received Cs A with a lower target concentration between 250 and 350 ng/mL ( Cs A300 group). The target concentration was determined based on the status of background diseases. Multivariate analysis revealed that the incidence of grade III-IV acute GVHD was significantly lower in the Cs A500 group, although the incidence of grade II-IV acute GVHD was not different. Toxicities were equivalently observed between the two groups. Concomitant administration of voriconazole or itraconazole and higher hematocrit were identified as independent significant factors for higher concentration/dose ratio of Cs A. The average dose of Cs A to maintain Cs A level around 500 ng/mL was higher compared with the previous study (3.4 mg/kg vs. 2.7 mg/kg at three wk), probably due to the difference in measuring method of Cs A concentration. We conclude that continuous infusion of Cs A with a target level between 450 and 550 ng/mL is a feasible and effective GVHD prophylaxis, but caution should be paid for the difference in measuring method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Background: Guidelines recommend that LDL-C level should be <100mg/dl among diabetes mellitus (DM) and coronary heart disease (CHD) patients. Objective: To evaluate how patients with DM and CHD differ in attaining the target level and to examine the association between goal achievement, demographic and clinical parameters. Methods: The study was conducted in Maccabi Healthcare Services, the second largest health maintenance organization in Israel. All patients with DM (n=54,261), CHD (n=24,083) or DM and CHD (n=15,370) who were listed in the computerized database and had at least one LDL-C level measurement between January 1, 2007 and July 15, 2008 were eligible. The percentage of patients who attained LDL-C level <100mg/dl and its association with demographic and clinical parameters were analyzed. Results: The rate of reaching the LDL-C target level was higher among the CHD and CHD and DM patients than DM ones (67% vs. 57% vs. 50%, p <0.001, respectively). Male gender; 5th socioeconomic status quintile; underlying disease i.e. CHD, CHD and DM; high statins compliance; and revascularization by percutaneous coronary intervention predicted for reaching target level. DM; absence of renal function evaluation; hospitalizations; HbA1C>7% or missing its measurements had a negative predictive value. Conclusions: The rate of reaching LDL-C target level should be increased in all high risk patients, mainly diabetic ones. Efforts should include educational programs to physicians and patients regarding the importance, the need to adhere and to intensify the cholesterol lowering treatment. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]