Relation of serum visfatin level and uterine artery Doppler to preeclampsia

Background: Preeclampsia (PE) is a significant cause of remarkable fetomaternal morbidity and mortality worldwide. Visfatin is 52 KDa novel adipokine, pre B cell colony enhancing factor (PBEF) which could be used as a biochemical marker predictor or a diagnostic tool for preeclampsia. Trans abdominal pulsed Doppler ultrasound (US) monitor the impedance to blood flow in the uterine arteries in pregnant females and those with preeclampsia. Visfatin has been implicated in the pathogenesis of preeclampsia with a limited contradictory. The aim of our study is to monitor the risky pregnant females through Visfatin level and transabdominal pulsed Doppler of the uterine artery.Methods: Assessment of the serum Visfatin levels in the maternal circulation of preeclamptic pregnant females wether mild or severe, and compared to those in the normal pregnant subjects as control through recruitment of cases of mild PE (n=40), severe PE (n=40), normal pregnant subjects (n=60) in a cross sectional study where the cases were of the patients hospitalized at El Shatby Hospital of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and the control subjects were of referrals to the outpatient departments. Fasting blood samples were drawn, kept at -20 degree centigrades , enzyme linked immune sorbant assay (ELISA) Test was performed on them to determine the Visfatin level and recorded the uterine arteries pulsatility index through transabdominal doppler ultrasound. Lastly, the data were analysed using (F test) ANOVA statistical method.Results: Amongst the groups, Serum visfatin level was significantly higher in the severe preeclamptic group rather than the normal pregnant group and those with mild preeclampsia (p<0.001). Uterine artery pulsatility index was significantly higher in the severe preeclamptic group rather than the normal pregnant group and those with mild preeclampsia (p<0.001).Conclusions: Severe preeclamptic pregnant females were shown to represent higher circulating visfatin levels as one of the most recent biochemical markers of preeclampsia, higher uterine artery pulsatility index compared to normal pregnant and those with mild preeclamptic groups of women

Laser and radiofrequency-induced hyperthermia treatment via gold-coated magnetic nanocomposites

Alsayed AM Elsherbini1, Mahmoud Saber2, Mohamed Aggag2, Ahmed El-Shahawy2, Hesham AA Shokier11National Institute of Laser Enhanced Science, 2Children&amp;#39;s Cancer Hospital, Cairo, EgyptIntroduction: The current radiofrequency ablation technique requires invasive needle placement. On the other hand, most of the common photothermal therapeutic methods are limited by lack of accuracy of targeting. Gold and magnetic nanoparticles offer the potential to heat tumor tissue selectively at the cellular level by noninvasive interaction with laser and radiofrequency.Methods: Gold nanospheres and gold-coated magnetic nanocomposites were used for inducing hyperthermia to treat subcutaneous Ehrlich carcinoma implanted in female mice.Results: In mice treated with gold nanospheres, tumors continued to grow but at a slow rate. In contrast, more than 50% of the tumors treated with gold-coated magnetic nanocomposites completely disappeared.Conclusion: This simple and noninvasive method shows great promise as a technique for selective magnetic photothermal treatment.Keywords: laser, hyperthermia, gold magnetic nanocomposites, Ehrlich carcinom

The gene expression of weaning age and its effect on productive performance of rabbits

[EN] Weaning age for mammals remains a topic of debate and an interesting subject of research. The literature data reflect opposite views on the recommended weaning age of rabbits. Thus, we determined the optimal weaning age for average commercial rabbit lines by studying one of these lines, the V-line. Gene expression of weaning age was studied in this research to reach the optimal weaning age for efficient rabbit growth and survival. The effect of weaning age on growth and mortality rates was investigated in young rabbits by comparing 3 groups (kits of 10 V-line does for each group), weaned at 23 (W23), 28 (W28) and 33 (W33) days of age. Rabbits weaned at 23 d of age had significantly (P<0.05) lower body weight at the age of 63 d (market age) than those weaned at 28 and 33 d of age. The weaning age also influenced survival; mortality rate was highest in rabbits weaned at 23 d of age, followed by those weaned at 28 and 33 d of age. Morphometric parameters reflect the integral effect of all factors influencing digestive tract growth and development. From the results, it seems that the small intestine length did not have a clear effect on different weaning ages. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis is an important tool to monitor changes in gene expression in animals such as rabbits. We used this approach to measure intestinal insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) mRNA level and observed that the expression levels of IGF-1Ea, IGF-1Eb and IGF-1R were nearly the same in W28 and W33 rabbits, while they were the lowest in W23 rabbits. Serum IGF-1 concentrations tended to present significant differences (P<0.05) with different weaning ages. We found that levels of IGF-1 in rabbits weaned at 28 and 33 d of age were convergent and higher than the IGF-1 levels in rabbits weaned at 23 d of age. Moreover, the early weaning of rabbits has a negative impact on growth. This therefore suggests that moderate weaning (28W) will be suitable for the farm economy and will improve rabbit production better than early or late weaning.El-Sabrout, K.; Aggag, S. (2017). The gene expression of weaning age and its effect on productive performance of rabbits. World Rabbit Science. 25(1):1-7. doi:10.4995/wrs.2017.4777.SWORD1725

An Investigation on the Techniques used in Force Calibration using Deadweights and Pressure Piston Gauge

537-543This paper presents two mechanisms for load cell calibrations. The first technique was to use deadweight to generate the required reference load (Applied load). The second method was to use a pressure piston gauge to generate the required calibration force. In both mechanisms, the setup and procedures are described. For verification the results of these methods were compared with international metrology institute calibration results. It was found that deadweight method is the most accurate and the piston gauge is the most realistic at high force values

An Investigation on the Techniques used in Force Calibration using Deadweights and Pressure Piston Gauge

This paper presents two mechanisms for load cell calibrations. The first technique was to use deadweight to generate the required reference load (Applied load). The second method was to use a pressure piston gauge to generate the required calibration force. In both mechanisms, the setup and procedures are described. For verification the results of these methods were compared with international metrology institute calibration results. It was found that deadweight method is the most accurate and the piston gauge is the most realistic at high force values

Application of direct bioautography and SPME-GC-MS for the study of antibacterial chamomile ingredients

The isolation and characterization of antibacterial chamomile components were performed by the use of direct bioautography and solid phase microextraction (SPME)-GC-MS. Four ingredients, active against Vibrio fischeri, were identified as the polyacetylene geometric isomers cis- and trans-spiroethers, the coumarin related herniarin, and the sesquiterpene alcohol (-)-alpha-bisabolol

Taxonomy, ecology and distribution of Juniperus Oxycedrus L. Group in the mediterranean basin using bioclimatic, phytochemical and morphometric approaches, with special reference to the Iberian Peninsula

Several studies have been conducted in the past to clarify various aspects of species in the genus Juniperus L. One critical group is Juniperus oxycedrus L., especially from the taxonomical point of view. For this reason, we have studied the ecology, taxonomy and distribution of the taxa in the J. oxycedrus group. From an ecological and distribution standpoint, in this work we use the ombroedaphoxeric index (Ioex) to explain the presence of Juniperus populations in ombrotypes that are not optimum for these taxa. The controversy over the taxonomy of J. oxycedrus subsp. badia (H. Gay) Debeaux and J. oxycedrus subsp. lagunae (Pau ex C. Vicioso) Rivas Mart. is clarified, and it is accepted as a valid name, J. oxycedrus subsp. badia. The phytochemical differences in essential oils (EO) are addressed and their similarities analyzed; greater similarities are observed between oxycedrus and badia, and between navicularis Gand. and macrocarpa (Sm.) Ball. species. The phytochemical, molecular and distribution differences allow J. oxycedrus subsp. macrocarpa (Sm.) Ball and J. navicularis Gand. to be maintained as species. The results obtained make it possible to establish the rank to which the taxa belong and allow clear discrimination between species in groups that are difficult to interpret. Ecological, bioclimatic, phytochemical and morphometric similarities allow us to subordinate the subsp. macrocarpa to the species J. navicularis.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Studies on a gram-positive hydrogen bacterium, <em>Nocardia opaca</em> strain 1b - I. Description and physiological characterization.

A new hydrogen bacterium has been isolated by enrichment culture on propane. It is a strictly aerobic, Gram-positive, non acid-fast bacterium, characterized by filamentous growth, and has been tentatively assigned to Nocardia opaca (strain 1 b). It grows heterotrophically, on many organic compounds (71 out of 138 tested substrates including organic acids and sugars), on hydrocarbons (C11-C18) as well as under autotrophic conditions (under an atmosphere of hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon dioxide=8:1:1) In the absence of a nitrogen source storage materials, mainly carbohydrates, are accumulated. Hydrogenase is an inducible enzyme. Under appropriate growth conditions the specific hydrogenase activity reaches high values: 2700 enzyme units/g cell protein. The formation of hydrogenase is repressed by fructose. With increasing oxygen concentrations during growth the specific hydrogenase activity decreases. In resting cell oxygen progressively inhibits the oxyhydrogen reaction. Cell-free extracts of autotrophically grown cells are able to reduce oxygen benzyl-and methyl viologen, dichlorphenolindophenol, methylene blue and nicotinamide adeninedinucleotide with hydrogen

Spatial Analysis of Soil Properties and Site-Specific Management Zone Delineation for the South Hail Region, Saudi Arabia

Sustainable soil management with the appropriate understanding of soil characteristics is vital in maintaining and improving agriculture soil management. The objectives of the present study are to characterize the spatial variability of soil using the GIS technique and used agglomerative hierarchical clustering (AHC) for the delineation of management zones (MZs) for precision agriculture. A total of 111 soil samples were collected from 37 soil profiles in systematic depths (0–50, 50–100, and 100–150 cm) from the South Hail region, KSA. Samples were analyzed for pH, ECe, CaCO3, available macro and micronutrients, and hydrological properties. The best fit models, using ArcGIS software, were J-Bessel for pH, Clay, bulk density (BD), and available water (AW); K-Bessel for EC and available N; Stable for CaCO3, P, K, Fe, Zn, Sand, field capacity (FC) and saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks); Spherical for Mn and Cu; Gaussian for saturation percentage (SP); whereas exponential for permanent wilting point (PWP). The principal component analysis (PCA) resulted in six principal components (PCs) explaining 79.75% of the total variance of soil properties. The PC1 was strongly influenced by soil BD, FC, clay, PWP, Ks, and sand. PC2 was dominated by N, ECe, and CaCO3; PC3 was dominated by pH; PC4 was dominated primarily by K and P, PC5 was mainly dominated by Fe; Mn, and Cu, and PC6 was mainly dominated by SP and Zn. Based on AHC, four soil management zones (MZs) cover 77.94, 14.10, 7.11 and 0.85% of the studied area. Management zone 1 (MZ1) and Management zone 3 (MZ3) are classified as moderately saline while Management zone 2 (MZ2) is classified as highly saline soils, greater than the limiting critical value for the sensitive crops. The potential solutions to reduce salinization in the area include: reducing irrigation, moving to salt-tolerant crops or applying humic acids to fix anions and cations and eliminate them from the root zone of the plants. Treating the area with diluted sulfuric acid to remove salts and reduce ECe to less than 2 dSm−1, to get maximum productivity. This finding is diagnostic for determining the amount of fertilizer and irrigation water to be applied to soils in different management zones. Its emphasis’s the importance of site-specific management for long-term crop productivity and, as a result, reducing environmental hazards caused by uneven fertilizers and water applications