Arab apostates in Byzantium: Evidence from Arabic sources

Το άρθρο πραγματεύεται το θέμα της παρουσίας Μουσουλμάνων Αράβων «αποστατών» στο Βυζάντιο βάσει των ιστοριογραφικών αραβικών πηγών και σε σύγκριση με τις βυζαντινές πηγές. Εξετάζει εξονυχιστικά εάν υπήρχε δυνατότητα παρουσίας μίας μόνιμης αραβικής μειονότητας, η οποία θα είχε τις προϋποθέσεις για ένταξη στη βυζαντινή κοινωνία. Ως εκ τούτου, η εν λόγω δημοσίευση επιδιώκει να αντιμετωπίσει πολλά θέματα όπως: οι συνοριακές κοινότητες ως ένα πρόσφορο περιβάλλον για την αποστασία, τα προσωπικά κίνητρα της αποστασίας, μέχρι ποιό βαθμό οι Βυζαντινοί αποδέχθηκαν αυτούς τους αποστάτες, είτε σε επίσημο είτε σε καθημερινό επίπεδο σχέσεων. Τέλος, αναλύει πώς καθορίστηκε ο βαθμός αφομοίωσής τους στην βυζαντινή κοινωνί

Arab apostates in Byzantium: Evidence from Arabic sources

Το άρθρο πραγματεύεται το θέμα της παρουσίας Μουσουλμάνων Αράβων «αποστατών» στο Βυζάντιο βάσει των ιστοριογραφικών αραβικών πηγών και σε σύγκριση με τις βυζαντινές πηγές. Εξετάζει εξονυχιστικά εάν υπήρχε δυνατότητα παρουσίας μίας μόνιμης αραβικής μειονότητας, η οποία θα είχε τις προϋποθέσεις για ένταξη στη βυζαντινή κοινωνία. Ως εκ τούτου, η εν λόγω δημοσίευση επιδιώκει να αντιμετωπίσει πολλά θέματα όπως: οι συνοριακές κοινότητες ως ένα πρόσφορο περιβάλλον για την αποστασία, τα προσωπικά κίνητρα της αποστασίας, μέχρι ποιό βαθμό οι Βυζαντινοί αποδέχθηκαν αυτούς τους αποστάτες, είτε σε επίσημο είτε σε καθημερινό επίπεδο σχέσεων. Τέλος, αναλύει πώς καθορίστηκε ο βαθμός αφομοίωσής τους στην βυζαντινή κοινωνί

Studies on the E2 ubiquitin conjugating enzymes and the RING-type E3 ubiquitin ligase enzymes of Arabidopsis using wheat germ cell-free system

甲理工博第419号Ehime University (愛媛大学)Doctral(includes post-doctral)博士(工学

PREVALENCE AND MOLECULAR CHARACTERIZATION OF EXTENDED SPECTRUM β-LACTAMASES IN KLEBSIELLA PNEUMONIAE ISOLATES FROM CANCER PATIENTS AND OTHERS

Objective: Klebsiella pneumoniae is highly prevalent in hospitals and causes many nosocomial infections. The study sought to determine prevalence rates of extended spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs) in clinical isolates of K. pneumoniae from Cairo, Egypt and to detect the ESBL-encoding genes in the isolates.Methods: K. pneumoniae isolates were collected through two-year period (2011-2012). Identification of K. pneumoniae was carried out using automated Microscan and standard biochemical tests. ESBL pattern and minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) were detected using Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute guidelines and confirmatory tests. Multiplex polymerase chain reaction for ESBL-encoding genes and plasmid profiling were performed.Results: In the present work; 112 isolates, 75 of them from cancer patients, were characterized. High proportion (52 of 112, 46 %â€) of ESBLs among the isolates were detected. Highest prevalence of ESBLs was seen among cancer patients, 39 isolates of 75 (52%). Plasmid profile for ESBL-producing K. pneumoniae isolates showed different sizes and numbers of plasmids in all isolates. MICs for all ESBL-producing isolates revealed high resistance rates with tetracycline (100%), cefepime (96%), gentamycin (90%) and ciprofloxacin (79%). Whereas, only two isolates (4%) were resistant to both carbapenem drugs tested, imipenem and meropenem. blaTEM, blaSHV, and bla CTX-M were performed for all ESBL-producing isolates. Five patterns of ESBL-encoding genes were detected. The most prevalent ESBL-encoding gene was blaTEM;alone in 40% and with other ESBL-encoding gene(s) in 48% of the isolates.Conclusion: High prevalence of ESBL (46%) in our isolates suggesting the need for continuous monitoring of emergence of this pattern in our region.Â

Hepatitis C Virus in Thalassemia

Prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is relatively low in children. However, seroprevalence rates of 10–20% have been reported among children who received repeated transfusion. The development and the severity of liver fibrosis are strongly related to the extent of the liver iron overload and to the presence of chronic hepatitis C (CHC). In CHC, liver iron overload has been suggested as a negative prognostic factor exacerbating inflammation with subsequent progression of liver fibrosis and decrease in antiviral therapy effectiveness. CHC may be suspected based on medical history or accidentally discovered abnormal liver functions. Hepatitis C is diagnosed by positive serology for viral antibodies and confirmed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to detect virus RNA. The treatment of HCV infection in children was difficult due to the limitations of pegylated interferon-α and ribavirin. In 2017, FDA approved the first direct-acting antiviral agents (DAAs) for children including ledipasvir/sofosbuvir in the adult dose, 90/400 mg, to treat HCV in children and adolescents aged 12 years and older or weighing at least 35 kg. Similarly, giving half the adult fixed-dose of ledipasvir/sofosbuvir, 45/200 mg, to children aged 6–11 years is still under clinical trials with promising results

Readmission after Open Heart Surgery: Study of Predictors and Frequency

Background: Hospital readmissions after cardiac procedures are believed to be associated with higher in-hospital mortality and may predict poor outcomes. In addition high rate of readmission following discharge is associated with increased cost of care. Therefore, awareness of factors that predict increased risk for hospital readmission after cardiac surgery may improve the ability to reduce early readmission rates among this category of patients. Aim of the study; to assess predictors for hospital readmission after cardiac surgery. Design: A descriptive exploratory design was utilized in the current study. Subjects: A sample of Convenience including 115 adult male & female patients who were admitted to the cardiothoracic surgery departments at Kasr Al-Aini Hospital, Cairo University over a period of six months were recruited. Tools of data collection: Four tools were utilized to collect data pertinent to the current study: Socio-demographic/medical data sheet; Perioperative open heart surgery assessment Sheet; Hospital readmission assessment sheet; and the LACE index Scale (Lengths of hospital stay in days; Acuity of illness at the time of admission; Carlson co-morbidity score; and Emergency department visits numbers during previous six months. Results: the current study revealed that the majority of the studied sample were males, married, having an elective admission with percentages of (67.8%), (86.1%) & (87%) respectively, and nearly half of them were between 40–59 years & came from rural area in percentages of (50%) & (52.2%) respectively. Out of the 115 patients who discharged from the hospital 18 % required a second hospital and ICU readmission. Main reasons for readmissions were wound problems (42.9%), congestive heart failure (14.3%), atrial fibrillation (9.5%), pleural effusion (9.5%), renal failure (9.5%) and respiratory failure (4.8%). Binary logistic regression analysis revealed that preoperative renal failure, delayed extubation (mechanical ventilation > 8 h), re-exploration for bleeding, perioperative use of intraaortic ballon pump (IABP), postoperative dysrhythmias, postoperative heart failure and postsurgical (ICU) length of stay (> 3 day) were independent predictors for readmission. Conclusion & Recommendations: Based on findings of the current study, it can be concluded that readmission following discharge is an important adverse outcome of cardiac surgery that needs continued attempts to explore and manage the risk factors of readmission. So the study recommends identification & close monitoring of those at risk for readmission; Establishment of hot line services for providing proper consultation after hospital discharge, especially for emergent cases; and provision of surveillance units for detection of high risk patients. Keywords: Open Heart Surgery- Hospital Readmission-Predictors- Frequency

Identification study of solar cell/module using recent optimization techniques

This paper proposes the application of a novel metaphor-free population optimization based on the mathematics of the Runge Kutta method (RUN) for parameter extraction of a double-diode model of the unknown solar cell and photovoltaic (PV) module parameters. The RUN optimizer is employed to determine the seven unknown parameters of the two-diode model. Fitting the experimental data is the main objective of the extracted unknown parameters to develop a generic PV model. Consequently, the root means squared error (RMSE) between the measured and estimated data is considered as the primary objective function. The suggested objective function achieves the closeness degree between the estimated and experimental data. For getting the generic model, applications of the proposed RUN are carried out on two different commercial PV cells. To assess the proposed algorithm, a comprehensive comparison study is employed and compared with several well-matured optimization algorithms reported in the literature. Numerical simulations prove the high precision and fast response of the proposed RUN algorithm for solving multiple PV models. Added to that, the RUN can be considered as a good alternative optimization method for solving power systems optimization problems

Polymorphism of growth hormone gene and its association with wool traits in Egyptian sheep breeds

Growth hormone (GH) gene has been described as a candidate gene for marker-assisted selection in different farm animals. The present study was designed to identify the polymorphism in GH gene and its association with variation of wool traits in Egyptian sheep breeds. Wool and blood samples were collected from 42 animals including two breeds (Barki and Rahmani) and one crossbred (Rahmani x Awase). Measurements of wool traits were analyzed and involved staple strength (Str), staple length (STL), fiber diameter (FD) and clean fleece yield (CFW). DNA was extracted from blood samples and a 365-bp fragment from exon V was amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Single strand conformation polymorphisim (SSCP) analysis showed two conformational patterns. The pattern I was recorded to be more frequent (83.3, 92.86 and 90%) than pattern II (16.7, 7.14 and 10%) in Barki, Rahmani and crossbred, respectively. The sequence analysis showed one single nucleotide polymorphism (C/T). The pattern I (allele T) has been found to affect CFW and FD than pattern II (allele C). Whereas, C allele was more pronounced for Str and STL. These traits are the most important parameters determining commercial values of wool that are preferred for clothing or carpets industry. The nucleotide sequences of C and T alleles were submitted to GenBank and have the accession numbers: KT250511 and KT250512, respectively. In conclusion, the present results provide evidence that there is a single nucleotide polymorphism within GH gene in Egyptian sheep breeds. This mutation was found to have some effects on wool traits. Therefore our data show interesting prospects in future selection programs for improving wool industry.Key words: Sheep, wool, growth hormone (GH) gene, polymorphism, single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP)