Scorpions in ancient Egypt

The ancient Egyptians knew the scorpion and its toxicity, and venerated it since pre-dynastic era. They used the scorpion as a king\u27s name, a name of a nome (county), and a symbol to their goddess, Serqet, that protects the body and the viscera of the dead, and that accompanies them in their journey to the afterlife. They had medical prescriptions and magical spells to heal the stings. Since the 5th dynasty, the title of a “Follower of Serket” was given to clever physicians. Scorpions are most famously depicted on Horus Cippus, a talisman featuring Horus the Child holding in his hands figures of serpents, scorpions, and dangerous animals. A drawing of a scorpion with two metasomas was found in the tomb of the pharaoh Seti I (1290–1279 BC), probably the first record of this abnormality, more than 13 centuries before Pliny the Elder

Was Pre-war Nazi Germany a Society Built on Consent or Terror?

In reference to Nazi Germany and Hitler’s rise to power, there is a tendency to believe the public were forced and terrorised into complying with the Nazi order. However, when analyzing the occurrence of events, it is quite obvious that the public gave their consent when it came to the rise of the Nazi power. This paper will discuss how Hitler was able to use the failure of the Weimar government to attract the public, how he built the “People’s Community” with the approval of all the sections included within the community, and finally how the documentary film Triumph of the Will shows the support the Germans had for Hitler and the Nazi regime

Approximate electromagnetic cloaking of a conducting cylinder using homogeneous isotropic multi-layered materials

AbstractCloaking refers to hiding a body from detection by surrounding it with a coating consisting of an unusual anisotropic nonhomogeneous material. Its function is to deflect the rays that would have struck the object, guide them around the object, and return them to their original trajectory, thus no waves are scattered from the body. The permittivity and permeability of such a cloak are determined by the coordinate transformation of compressing a hidden body into a point or a line. Some components of the electrical parameters of the cloaking material (ɛ, μ) are required to have infinite or zero value at the boundary of the hidden object. Approximate cloaking can be achieved by transforming the cylindrical body (dielectric and conducting) virtually into a small cylinder rather than a line, which eliminates the zero or infinite values of the electrical parameters. The radially-dependent cylindrical cloaking shell can be approximately discretized into many homogeneous anisotropic layers; each anisotropic layer can be replaced by a pair of equivalent isotropic sub-layers, where the effective medium approximation is used to find the parameters of these two equivalent sub-layers. In this work, the scattering properties of cloaked perfectly conducting cylinder is investigated using a combination of approximate cloaking, together with discretizing the cloaking material using pairs of homogeneous isotropic sub-layers. The solution is obtained by rigorously solving Maxwell equations using angular harmonics expansion. The scattering pattern, and the back scattering cross section against the frequency are studied for both transverse magnetic (TMz) and transverse electric (TEz) polarizations of the incident plane wave for different transformed body radii

Pediatric Chronic Liver Diseases: A Clinicopathological Study from a Tertiary Care Center

Background Chronic liver diseases (CLD) in children represent a growing health problem with significant morbidity and mortality. This study aimed to define the clinicopathological pattern of pediatric CLD in Sohag University Hospital, Sohag,Upper Egypt. Materials and Methods A total of 151children with CLD were included in a prospective hospital-based study from June 2014 to May 2018. Cases of acute liver illness or hepatic focal lesions were excluded. All patients were subjected to detailed history and thorough physical examination. Abdominal ultrasonography, CBC, liver function tests, viral serology, evaluation of autoantibodies for autoimmune hepatitis, and liver core biopsies were performed for all children. Results Pediatric CLD comprised 1.6% of total admissions in pediatric department. Neonatal cholestasis disorders (NCD), and metabolic liver disorders (MLD) were the leading causes of CLD (41.05% and 35.1%, respectively). NCD comprised neonatal hepatitis (25.1%), extrahepatic biliary atresia (13.2%), and paucity of interlobular bile ducts (2.7%). MLD included glycogen storage disease (26.5%), undetermined inborn error of metabolism (5.3%), Gaucher's disease (2.0%), and Niemann Pick disease (1.3%). Other causes of CLD comprised autoimmune hepatitis (8.6%), congenital hepatic fibrosis (5.9%), non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (4.0%), chronic hepatitis C infection (2.7%), and Budd Chiari disease (0.6%). On follow-up of 89 cases, stationary clinical course, clinical improvement, and clinical deterioration were seen in 52.8%, 34.8%, and 12.3% of them, respectively. Conclusion The rate of CLD is growing in Upper Egypt and is mainly caused by neonatal cholestasis and metabolic liver disorders. In general, the outcome of children is favorable and comparable to other countries

Non-Invasive Diagnostic Methods for Differentiation of Biliary Atresia from Neonatal Hepatitis in Upper Egypt

Background Cholestatic jaundice in infancy is always pathologic and mainly caused by biliary atresia (BA), and neonatal hepatitis (NH). The early discrimination of both conditions is critical for the outcome of BA. We aimed to assess different non-invasive diagnostic tools in differentiating BA from NH. Materials and Methods Forty infants (25 boys, 15 girls) with cholestatic jaundice and final diagnosis of BA (n=17), and NH (n=23) were studied retrospectively from January 2015 to December 2017. All patients were subjected to thorough history and complete physical examination. Liver function tests, abdominal ultrasonography, hepatobiliary scintigraphy using (hepatobiliary iminodiacetic acid [HIDA]), and percutaneous liver biopsy were performed for all patients. Finally the accuracy of HIDA scan and liver function tests for differentiating BA from NH, in comparison with histopathological diagnosis, was evaluated. Results Acholic stool, absence of gall bladder visualization by ultrasonography and high level of serum gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT), and positive HIDA scan findings were strong indicators of BA. The accuracy of GGT > 250 IU/L for diagnosis of BA was 92.7 % and that of positive HIDA scan findings was 82.7 %. The diagnostic accuracy for using both parameters was 98.1% (95% CI: 94.9 - 100.0%, p 250 IU/L and positive HIDA scan had high accuracy to differentiate BA from NH and combination of both parameters has increased the accuracy to 98.1%

Invasive Versus Conservative Strategy in Elderly Patients With Non–ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction: A Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Background: Management of non–ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) has evolved over the years, but most published data are from younger patients. Data on the NSTEMI management in elderly patients remains limited. Methods: We performed a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to evaluate the long-term outcomes of invasive vs conservative strategies in elderly patients with NSTEMI. Results: Of 1,550 reports searched, 4 RCTs (1,126 patients) were included in the analysis with a median follow-up of 1.25 years (range: 1 to 2.5 years). The median age of included patients was 83.6 (IQR 2.8 years). The invasive strategy was associated with significantly lower risk of major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular event (MACCE) [OR 0.60 (95% CI 0.40-0.91); I2 =54%; 3 trials] and unplanned revascularization [OR 0.31 (95% CI 0.15-0.64); I2 = 1.7%; 3 trials] compared with the conservative strategy. There was no difference in all-cause mortality [OR= 0.88 (95% CI 0.65-1.18); I2 = 0%; 4 trials], myocardial infarction (MI) [OR= 0.70 (95% CI 0.42-1.19); I2 = 54.7%; 4 trials], or bleeding [OR= 0.87 (95% C: 0.39-1.93); I2 = 0%; 3 trials] between both strategies. Conclusion: The use of initial invasive strategy in elderly patients presenting with NSTEMI was associated with a significantly lower risk of MACCE and unplanned revascularization compared with the initial conservative strategy without increased bleeding. Categories: CORONARY: Acute Coronary Syndrome

Workplace-Related Traumatic Injuries: Insights from a Rapidly Developing Middle Eastern Country

Traumatic workplace-related injuries (WRIs) carry a substantial negative impact on the public health worldwide. We aimed to study the incidence and outcomes of WRIs in Qatar. We conducted occupational injury surveillance for all WRI patients between 2010 and 2012. A total of 5152 patients were admitted to the level 1 trauma unit in Qatar, of which 1496 (29%) sustained WRI with a mean age of 34.3±10.3. Fall from height (FFH) (51%) followed by being struck by heavy objects (FHO) (18%) and motor vehicle crashes (MVC) (17%) was the commonest mechanism of injury (MOI). WRI patients were mainly laborers involved in industrial work (43%), transportation (18%), installation/repair (12%), carpentry (9%), and housekeeping (3%). Use of protective device was not observed in 64% of cases. The mean ISS was 11.7±8.9, median ICU stay was 3 days (1–64), and total hospital stay was 6 days (1–192). The overall case fatality was 3.7%. Although the incidence of WRI in Qatar is quite substantial, its mortality rate is relatively low in comparison to other countries of similar socioeconomic status. Prolonged hospital stay and treatment exert a significant socioeconomic burden on the nation’s and families’ resources. Focused and efficient injury prevention strategies are mandatory to prevent future WRI

The global spread of misinformation on spiders

In the internet era, the digital architecture that keeps us connected and informed may also amplify the spread of misinformation. This problem is gaining global attention, as evidence accumulates that misinformation may interfere with democratic processes and undermine collective responses to environmental and health crises1,2. In an increasingly polluted information ecosystem, understanding the factors underlying the generation and spread of misinformation is becoming a pressing scientific and societal challenge3. Here, we studied the global spread of (mis-)information on spiders using a high-resolution global database of online newspaper articles on spider–human interactions, covering stories of spider–human encounters and biting events published from 2010–20204. We found that 47% of articles contained errors and 43% were sensationalist. Moreover, we show that the flow of spider-related news occurs within a highly interconnected global network and provide evidence that sensationalism is a key factor underlying the spread of misinformation