A New High Yielding and Long Staple Egyptian Cotton (Gossypium barbadense L.) Variety "Super Giza 94"

The Egyptian long staple cotton variety "Super Giza 94" was developed by Cotton Research Institute CRI, Giza, Egypt, which belongs to Gossypium barbadense L. Super Giza 94 is a novel plant structure improved seed cotton yield, lint percentage and fiber quality traits. Super Giza 94 was developed through one-way hybridization of elite parental cotton genotypes accompanied by pedigree selection method to incorporate the excellent combinations of higher yield potential, early maturity and fiber quality traits with resistance to Fusarium wilt. The superior plant combinations were selected in F2-F6 generations entirely based on phenotypic plant traits and progeny yield potential in the field conditions. The selected strains were evaluated in multilocations yield trials over three years and six locations in a randomized complete block design with six replications. The results of these trials exhibited that the new variety surpassed the three commercial varieties of these locations in most yield traits. Super Giza 94 is characterized by early maturity with high yield potential, fluffy opening and easy to pick, strong resistance to Fusarium wilt disease, high lint percentage (40.2%) with improved fiber traits including fiber length (34.1mm), fiber strength (43.4 g/tex), micronaire reading (4.2), uniformity ratio (86.9%), yellowness +b (8.3), brightness Rd (79.8%) and white lint color. Super Giza 94 can solve maximum challenges of better cotton production in the area and fulfill industrial requisitions. For that, recommended for general cultivation in the Delta region in the 2016 growing season

Impact of opioid-free analgesia on pain severity and patient satisfaction after discharge from surgery: multispecialty, prospective cohort study in 25 countries

Background: Balancing opioid stewardship and the need for adequate analgesia following discharge after surgery is challenging. This study aimed to compare the outcomes for patients discharged with opioid versus opioid-free analgesia after common surgical procedures.Methods: This international, multicentre, prospective cohort study collected data from patients undergoing common acute and elective general surgical, urological, gynaecological, and orthopaedic procedures. The primary outcomes were patient-reported time in severe pain measured on a numerical analogue scale from 0 to 100% and patient-reported satisfaction with pain relief during the first week following discharge. Data were collected by in-hospital chart review and patient telephone interview 1 week after discharge.Results: The study recruited 4273 patients from 144 centres in 25 countries; 1311 patients (30.7%) were prescribed opioid analgesia at discharge. Patients reported being in severe pain for 10 (i.q.r. 1-30)% of the first week after discharge and rated satisfaction with analgesia as 90 (i.q.r. 80-100) of 100. After adjustment for confounders, opioid analgesia on discharge was independently associated with increased pain severity (risk ratio 1.52, 95% c.i. 1.31 to 1.76; P < 0.001) and re-presentation to healthcare providers owing to side-effects of medication (OR 2.38, 95% c.i. 1.36 to 4.17; P = 0.004), but not with satisfaction with analgesia (beta coefficient 0.92, 95% c.i. -1.52 to 3.36; P = 0.468) compared with opioid-free analgesia. Although opioid prescribing varied greatly between high-income and low- and middle-income countries, patient-reported outcomes did not.Conclusion: Opioid analgesia prescription on surgical discharge is associated with a higher risk of re-presentation owing to side-effects of medication and increased patient-reported pain, but not with changes in patient-reported satisfaction. Opioid-free discharge analgesia should be adopted routinely

Burnout among surgeons before and during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: an international survey

Background: SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has had many significant impacts within the surgical realm, and surgeons have been obligated to reconsider almost every aspect of daily clinical practice. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study reported in compliance with the CHERRIES guidelines and conducted through an online platform from June 14th to July 15th, 2020. The primary outcome was the burden of burnout during the pandemic indicated by the validated Shirom-Melamed Burnout Measure. Results: Nine hundred fifty-four surgeons completed the survey. The median length of practice was 10 years; 78.2% included were male with a median age of 37 years old, 39.5% were consultants, 68.9% were general surgeons, and 55.7% were affiliated with an academic institution. Overall, there was a significant increase in the mean burnout score during the pandemic; longer years of practice and older age were significantly associated with less burnout. There were significant reductions in the median number of outpatient visits, operated cases, on-call hours, emergency visits, and research work, so, 48.2% of respondents felt that the training resources were insufficient. The majority (81.3%) of respondents reported that their hospitals were included in the management of COVID-19, 66.5% felt their roles had been minimized; 41% were asked to assist in non-surgical medical practices, and 37.6% of respondents were included in COVID-19 management. Conclusions: There was a significant burnout among trainees. Almost all aspects of clinical and research activities were affected with a significant reduction in the volume of research, outpatient clinic visits, surgical procedures, on-call hours, and emergency cases hindering the training. Trial registration: The study was registered on clicaltrials.gov "NCT04433286" on 16/06/2020

Three dimensional prostate cancer model systems

The prediction of drug efficacy is a major limitation in the cancer research field. This thesis was a step forward in developing an in vitro 3-dimensional prostate cancer model as a potential high throughput drug-screening platform. The merits of using a high throughput microwell platform to efficiently manufacture hundreds of multicellular spheroids were evaluated. The improved Microwell-mesh platform was evaluated as a drug-screening platform. A critical factor was the discovery of the cell-specific bioluminescence assay instability, which was promoter and/or cell line dependent. The first multicellular co-culture micro-tumour system as a potential drug-screening platform for bone metastatic prostate cancer was developed

CD226 and CD40 gene polymorphism in Egyptian juvenile idiopathic arthritis children: Relation to disease susceptibility and activity

Aim of the work: To study the association of CD226 rs763361 (C>T) and CD40 rs1883832 (C>T) gene polymorphism with the disease susceptibility and activity in Egyptian juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) children. Patients and methods: 150 JIA children and 194 age and sex matched controls were included. CD226 (C>T) polymorphism was assessed using the tetra amplification refractory mutation system-polymerase chain reaction assay (ARMS-PCR) and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) for CD40 (C>T). The juvenile arthritis disease activity score (JADAS-27) was used to measure the patients’ disease activity. Results: The mean age of the patients was 11.2 ± 1.7 years, female: male 4:1 and the disease duration was 4.8 ± 2.3 years. 16 were systemic onset, 69 polyarticular and 65 oligoarticular and their mean JADAS-27 was 5.7 ± 5.3. The CD226 TT genotype and T allele were significantly associated with JIA and more frequent than in control (p < 0.001). The CD226 T allele was significantly higher in patients with moderate and high activity compared to mild cases (p = 0.004 and p < 0.001, respectively). The frequency of CD40 C allele was significantly increased in patients with severe and moderate disease activity compared to those with mild (p < 0.001 and p = 0.02 respectively). Conclusion: There was a genetic association between the CD226 and CD40 gene polymorphism and JIA susceptibility with an impact on disease activity in an Egyptian cohort

3D cultures of prostate cancer cells cultured in a novel high-throughput culture platform are more resistant to chemotherapeutics compared to cells cultured in monolayer

Despite monolayer cultures being widely used for cancer drug development and testing, 2D cultures tend to be hypersensitive to chemotherapy and are relatively poor predictors of whether a drug will provide clinical benefit. Whilst generally more complicated, three dimensional (3D) culture systems often better recapitulate true cancer architecture and provide a more accurate drug response. As a step towards making 3D cancer cultures more accessible, we have developed a microwell platform and surface modification protocol to enable high throughput manufacture of 3D cancer aggregates. Herein we use this novel system to characterize prostate cancer cell microaggregates, including growth kinetics and drug sensitivity. Our results indicate that prostate cancer cells are viable in this system, however some non-cancerous prostate cell lines are not. This system allows us to consistently control for the presence or absence of an apoptotic core in the 3D cancer microaggregates. Similar to tumor tissues, the 3D microaggregates display poor polarity. Critically the response of 3D microaggregates to the chemotherapeutic drug, docetaxel, is more consistent with in vivo results than the equivalent 2D controls. Cumulatively, our results demonstrate that these prostate cancer microaggregates better recapitulate the morphology of prostate tumors compared to 2D and can be used for high-throughput drug testing

Using high throughput microtissue culture to study the difference in prostate cancer cell behavior and drug response in 2D and 3D co-cultures

Background: There is increasing appreciation that non-cancer cells within the tumour microenvironment influence cancer progression and anti-cancer drug efficacy. For metastatic prostate cancer (PCa), the bone marrow microenvironment influences metastasis, drug response, and possibly drug resistance. Methods: Using a novel microwell platform, the Microwell-mesh, we manufactured hundreds of 3D co-culture microtissues formed from PCa cells and bone marrow stromal cells. We used luciferase-expressing C42B PCa cells to enable quantification of the number of PCa cells in complex microtissue co-cultures. This strategy enabled us to quantify specific PCa cell growth and death in response to drug treatment, in different co-culture conditions. In parallel, we used Transwell migration assays to characterize PCa cell migration towards different 2D and 3D stromal cell populations. Results: Our results reveal that PCa cell migration varied depending on the relative aggressiveness of the PCa cell lines, the stromal cell composition, and stromal cell 2D or 3D geometry. We found that C42B cell sensitivity to Docetaxel varied depending on culture geometry, and the presence or absence of different stromal cell populations. By contrast, the C42B cell response to Abiraterone Acetate was dependent on geometry, but not on the presence or absence of stromal cells. Conclusion: In summary, stromal cell composition and geometry influences PCa cell migration, growth and drug response. The Microwell-mesh and microtissues are powerful tools to study these complex 3D interactions

Impact of leukocytospermia on sperm dynamic motility parameters, DNA and chromosomal integrity

Introduction To characterize sperm dynamic motility patterns and chromatin integrity in infertile men with leukocytospermia. Material and methods Fifty patients with primary infertility and oligoasthenoteratozoospermia included in this prospective, controlled, blind study. All patients underwent clinical evaluation, semen peroxidase stain, computer aided semen analysis (CASA), sperm DNA integrity evaluation with acridine orange test (AOT) and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis of 18, X and Y chromosomes. Pregnancy outcomes were documented following antibiotic treatment of patients with leukocytospermia. Results Infertile men with leukocytospermia had significantly lower progressive and total sperm motility percentages compared to the control group. Sperm dynamic motility parameters by CASA including curvilinear, straight line and average pathway velocities, straightness and amplitude of lateral head displacement were significantly lower in leukocytospermia. Sperm DNA fragmentation index was significantly higher in leukocytospermia. Percentages of sperm with disomy XY and 18 were significantly higher. These changes in sperm motility parameters and DNA integrity correlated with the number of peroxidase positive leukocytes. Follow-up of 23 of the 25 patients with leukocytospermia after antibiotic treatment revealed significantly higher pregnancy rates in cured patients than in those with persistent leukocytospermia. Conclusions Leukocytospermia has a significant impact on sperm dynamic motility patterns, DNA and chromosomal integrity in infertile men which can adversely affect the likelihood of a successful pregnancy

The Role(s) of Eicosanoids and Exosomes in Human Parturition

The roles that eicosanoids play during pregnancy and parturition are crucial to a successful outcome. A better understanding of the regulation of eicosanoid production and the roles played by the various end products during pregnancy and parturition has led to our view that accurate measurements of a panel of those end products has exciting potential as diagnostics and prognostics of preterm labor and delivery. Exosomes and their contents represent an exciting new area for research of movement of key biological factors circulating between tissues and organs akin to a parallel endocrine system but involving key intracellular mediators. Eicosanoids and enzymes regulating their biosynthesis and metabolism as well as regulatory microRNAs have been identified within exosomes. In this review, the regulation of eicosanoid production, abundance and actions during pregnancy will be explored. Additionally, the functional significance of placental exosomes will be discussed.</p