نظرة الكونفوشيوسية إلى الكون والإنسان

Confucius was born on September 28, 551BC. He was a teacher, writer, politician, philosopher and ideologue of the ancient China. The philosophy of Confucius emphasizes personal and governmental morality, correctness of social relationships, justice and sincerity. He championed strong family loyalty and ancestor worship. He also recommended family as a basis for an ideal government. His thoughts received official sanction and were further developed into a system known as Confucianism. Confucius' principles found the basis of the common Chinese traditions, beliefs and culture. Confucianism is often followed in a religious manner by the Chinese, but the arguments continue over whether it is a religion or not. The opponents argue that its values are secular, therefore, it is not a religion, while its supporters argue that despite the secular nature of Confucianism, it is based on a worldview that is religious, and, thus, can rightly be called a religion. Confucianism discusses elements of the afterlife and views concerning Heaven, but it is relatively unconcerned with some transcendental matters, often considered essential to a religious thought. This article provides an outlook of the Confucianism regarding the universe and the humanity and its comparison with the Islamic viewpoint of the same.

Prevalence of Urinary Tract Infections in Febrile Children and Role of Urine Interleukins in Diagnosis

Background: Urinary tract infections (UTI) are common in the paediatric age group and can contribute to permanent renal damage. Urine culture takes a minimum of 48 hours, thus delaying treatment in suspect cases. It is also expensive and requires training of laboratory technologists. Early diagnosis is important in prevention of serious sequelae such as hypertension and end stage renal disease. Determination of burden of the problem within a population allows appropriate allocation of diagnostic and management resources. Urine interleukins are postulated to be useful adjuncts in diagnosis of UTI. Objectives: The primary objective was to determine the prevalence of UTI in febrile children aged 12yrs and below, at theAga KhanUniversityHospital. The secondary objective was to determine the diagnostic utility of urine interleukin 8 (IL-8) and interleukin 6 (IL-6), in detection of UTI using urine culture as the gold standard. Methodology: This was a cross-sectional survey conducted at the Aga Khan University Hospital,Nairobi between March and August 2010. All patients ≤12 years of age with fever presenting at theAga KhanUniversityHospital were enrolled .The minimum sample size was 92. Consecutive sampling was carried out until sample size was achieved. Urine samples were collected as mid stream for toilet trained children and urethral catheterization for children ≤two years of age after consent was obtained. Prevalence of UTIs was determined and a 2 by 2 contingency table was used in the calculation of the diagnostic utility of urine IL-6 and IL-8.ROC curves were plotted to illustrate sensitivity and specificity of IL-6 & 8 cut offs. Results: A total of 98 patients were enrolled, 52% were male and the mean age of patients recruited was 57.6 months (range 0-144 months). Prevalence of UTI was 13.3% (95%CI 7.95-21.4) and 69% of patients with UTI were female. The sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values of IL-6 were 50% (18.7-81.3%), 69.2% (57.8-79.2%), 17.2% (5.85-35.8%) and 91.5% (81.3-97.2%) while for IL-8 they were 20% (2.52-55.6%), 98.7% (93.1-100%), 66.7% (9.43-99.2%) and 90.6% (82.3-95.8%) respectively. Likelihood ratio for urine IL-6 was 1.6 at >1.8pg/ml (.794-3.24) and 15.6 (1.55-157) for IL-8 at >200pg/ml. Confidence intervals (95%) are shown in brackets. Conclusion: The overall prevalence of UTI in febrile children at the Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi was noted to be similar to that reported in Kenya and higher than that in developed countries. The diagnostic utility of urine interleukins was found to be poor and unsuitable as screening tests but useful