Galarza and his friendship with some Egyptian intellectuals

Vicente Galarza y Pérez Castañeda (1878-1938), conocido en Egipto como Conde de Galarza, llegó a este país en 1905 y se dedicó primero a la arqueología, y luego a la enseñanza de la filosofía en la recién fundada Universidad Egipcia, entre los años 1915 y 1921, y en la Escuela Superior del Magisterio, entre 1921 y 1931. Durante estos años trabó amistad con figuras de la vida política e intelectual egipcia y el artículo proyecta luz sobre esta relación.Vicente Galarza y Pérez Castañeda (1878-1938), known in Egypt as the Count of Galarza, arrived in the country in 1905, he first engaged in archeological work and afterwards in teaching philosophy at the recently founded Egyptian University, for the years 1915-1921, and at the Higher School for Teachers Training, for the years 1921-1931. Through all these years he established friendship with personalities of the Egyptian political and intellectual life, and this article sheds light on the above mentioned relationship

Treatment of Molluscum Contagiosum with 10% Potassium Hydroxide Solution

Background: To determine the efficacy and safety of topical 10% potassium hydroxide solution in the treatment of molluscum contagiosum (MC) .Methods: An open, prospective, non-randomized study of one year duration was conducted using 10% KOH solution to treat MC. Twenty eight patients completed the study. A total of seven appointments were planned; one baseline and six follow-up visits. 10% KOH was applied to molluscum lesions daily till the lesions resolved or till 3 months had elapsed.Results: Twenty eight patients, among which 22 were children, completed the study. The mean age of patients was 10.6 years. The total lesion count in the patients varied from 5 – 94, with the mean lesion count of 22.14 SD +_ 18.32. There was complete resolution of lesions in 20 (71.4%) of patients , 4 (14.3) had a near complete, 2 (7.1%) had partial and 2 (7.1%) patients had no improvement. 82% patients tolerated the treatment well with no side effects.Conclusion:10% KOH solution is an effective and well tolerated treatment for MC. It is less painful and cost-effective as compared to many well-established therapeutic modalities. It has the advantage of ease of application at home making it an acceptable and feasible option for the treatment of MC

Cytotoxicity Effects of Amoora rohituka and chittagonga on Breast and Pancreatic Cancer Cells

Chemotherapeutic agents for cancer are highly toxic to healthy tissues and hence alternative medicine avenues are widely researched. Majority of the recent studies on alternative medicine suggested that Amoora rohituka possesses considerable antitumor and antibacterial properties. In this work, rohituka and chittagonga, fractionated with petroleum ether, dichloromethane, and ethanol, were explored for their anticancer potential against two breast cancer (MCF-7 and HTB-126) and three pancreatic cancer (Panc-1, Mia-Paca2, and Capan1). The human foreskin fibroblast, Hs68, was also included. Cytotoxicity of each extract was analyzed using the MTT assay and label-free photonic crystal biosensor assay. A concentration series of each extract was performed on the six cell lines. For MCF-7 cancer cells, the chittagonga (Pet-Ether and CH2Cl2) and rohituka (Pet-Ether) extracts induced cytotoxicity; the chittagonga (EtoAC) and rohituka (MeOH) extracts did not induce cytotoxicity. For HTB126, Panc-1, Mia-Paca2, and Capan-1 cancer cells, only the chittagonga CH2Cl2 extract showed a significant cytotoxic effect. The extracts were not cytotoxic to normal fibroblast Hs68 cells, which may be correlated to the specificity of Amoora extracts in targeting cancerous cells. Based on these results, further examination of the potential anticancer properties Amoora species and the identification of the active ingredients of these extracts is warranted

Prevalence of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) among Staphylococcus aureus collection at Sebha medical center

The prevalence of multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus has increased during the last few years in healthcare facilities, and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus (MRSA) in particular has emerged as a serious nosocomial pathogen because it is difficult to destroy and treat. Therefore, this study was carried on to find out the frequency of MRSA among S. aureus isolates as well as to study their susceptibility profile. In this study, 43 strains of S. aureus were recovered from different departments at Sebha medical center and their antibiotic resistance profile was studied using Kirby Bauer disc diffusion method. Out of all 43 isolates, 16% were detected as MRSA using cefoxitin disk test. The strains that are resistant to erythromycin were further tested for inducible clindamycin resistance (ICR) using D-test. In this study, two strains showed ICR phenotype. While all isolates were 100% sensitive to vancomycin, the majority of isolates were resistant to ß-lactam group antibiotics. We observed that 14% of all isolates were resistant to ß-lactamase inhibitor. The response of S. aureus isolates to other antibiotics e.g. quinolone, aminoglycosides, tetracycline and macrolides was variable. In our study, it seemed to be vancomycin is the only antibiotic that still keeping its potency and it can be used for treatment of infections caused by multidrug-resistant MRSA

Proton-Antiproton Annihilation and Meson Spectroscopy with the Crystal Barrel

This report reviews the achievements of the Crystal Barrel experiment at the Low Energy Antiproton Ring (LEAR) at CERN. During seven years of operation Crystal Barrel has collected very large statistical samples in pbarp annihilation, especially at rest and with emphasis on final states with high neutral multiplicity. The measured rates for annihilation into various two-body channels and for electromagnetic processes have been used to test simple models for the annihilation mechanism based on the quark internal structure of hadrons. From three-body annihilations three scalar mesons, a0(1450), f0(1370) and f0(1500) have been established in various decay modes. One of them, f0(1500), may be identified with the expected ground state scalar glueball.Comment: 64 pages, LATEX file, 36 figures are available as ps files at http://afuz01.cern.ch/claude/ Submitted to Reviews of Modern Physic

Diagnostic value of Tzanck smear in various erosive, vesicular, and bullous skin lesions

Background: Cutaneous cytology has long been shown to be useful in the diagnosis of several erosive, vesicular, and bullous skin lesions. The Tzanck smear although an old tool, still remains a simple, rapid, easily applied, and inexpensive test for these skin lesions. Aims and Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic value of Tzanck smear by determining its sensitivity and specificity in various erosive, vesicular, and bullous skin lesions. Materials and Methods: One hundred and forty-two patients with erosive, vesicular, and/or bullous skin lesions were included in the study. Four groups of disorders were identified: infections, immunologic disorders, genodermatosis, and spongiotic dermatitis. All the study cases were evaluated by Tzanck smear. Definitive diagnosis was established by standard diagnostic techniques (including when appropriate, viral serology, bacterial culture, histopathology, direct immunoflourescence). Results: The sensitivity and specificity of cytologic findings was respectively 86.36% and 91.30% for viral infections; for bacterial infections, it was 85.7% and 66.6%. The sensitivity and specificity of Tzanck smear was respectively 85.0% and 83.33% for pemphigus; for bullous pemhigoid it was 11.11% and 100.0%. Tzanck smear sensitivity in genodermatoses was 100%. The sensitivity and specificity of the test in spongiotic dermatitis could not be calculated due to an insufficient number of patients. Conclusion: The Tzanck smear is a quick and reliable tool for the evaluation of various erosive and vesiculobullous skin lesions

Changes in B-type natriuretic peptide and related hemodynamic parameters following a fluid challenge in critically ill patients with severe sepsis or septic shock

Severe sepsis or septic shock.The aim of this study is to examine the effect of a fluid challenge on the B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) and the hemodynamic state.This observational study was conducted in an intensivist-led academic, mixed medical-surgical Intensive Care Unit.Focused transthoracic echocardiogram, plasma BNP, and hemodynamic measurements were recorded at baseline and following a 500 ml fluid challenge in thirty patients. Independent predictors of the percentage (%) change in stroke volume (SV) were sought. Next, these independent predictors were assessed for a relationship with the percentage change in BNP.Multiple linear regressions, Wilcoxon rank-sum test, -test, and Pearson's correlation were used. Data analysis was carried out using SAS. The 5% significance level was used.Using a multiple regression models, the percentage increase in SV was independently predicted by the percentage increase in mean arterial pressure, left ventricular end-diastolic volume/dimension (LVEDV/LVEDd), ejection fraction, and a decrease in Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II score ( < 0.0001). Preload, measured using LVEDV1 (before the fluid challenge) was significantly larger in the fluid nonresponders (%SV increas