Reforming the Death Penalty in Egypt: An Islamic Law Perspective

The main goal of this thesis is to reform the imposition of the death penalty in the Egyptian legal system through the tools and theories of Islamic law. This subject will be discussed in three main chapters: The first chapter will be a survey of the current application of the death penalty in the Egyptian legal system, including the death penalty’s history, laws, courts, appeals, legal procedures, and general comments on the current application of the penalty. The second chapter will be about the death penalty in Islamic law – including the sources of Islamic law, the crimes that merit the death penalty, the procedural rules of the death penalty, the blood money right, the victim’s family’s right, and the maxim of legal doubt. The third chapter concerns the rules of Islamic law – which Egyptian law is supposed to follow – that should work to reform and restrict the application of the death penalty in Egypt. Finally, the last section includes recommendations for reforming the application of the death penalty in the Egyptian legal system through the tools and theories of Islamic law

Molecular aspects of resistance to late blight disease in potato (solanum tuberosum L.)

Diseases caused by micro-organisms are still a major threat to the agro-industry worldwide. Diseases not only have negative effects on crop yields, but also they can affect the quality of crops post-harvest. Genetic engineering is one of several strategies that have been developed to control plant diseases and to enhance plant disease resistance to pathogens. Although some genetic strategies have provided plants with enhanced disease resistance, some pathogens can easily overcome this resistance by rapid evolution resulting in a lack of durability in the field. The oomycete Phytophthora infestans, the causal pathogen of late blight disease of potato, is an example of a crop pathogen that causes a major problem in one of the most important crops worldwide. Many efforts have been made trying to control this pathogen including chemical controls and genetic engineering, but unfortunately it remains a severe problem and the control measures are rarely very successful. Due to the complexity of this pathogen, and to limit the need for chemical control, breeding programmes to incorporate durable forms of genetic resistance are crucially needed. Although, this type of resistance is believed to be effective against all known races of P. infestans and provide in additional some level of general resistance, until now the genetic bases of this type of resistance is still unknown and the molecular mechanisms poorly understood. This project set out to isolate and identify gene sequences that are induced during the compatible interaction between cultured potato plants and P. infestans, specifically those leading to the establishment of durable resistance. It was demonstrated that the potato variety Stirling is capable of developing this type of resistance as judged by the development of resistant shoots during the interaction with Phytophthora. These shoots showed very strong resistance not only to Phytophthora but also to other potato pathogens (R. solani and F. sulphureum) even after two generations of culturing the plants in the absence of the pathogen. The fast production of ROS and the tight deposition of callose surrounding the hypersensitive cells, which deprive the pathogen of nutrients and limit pathogen growth to a small region of the plant, may be important factors in the success of the durable plants in defending themselves against the pathogen attack

Added value of graded compression ultrasound to the Alvarado score in cases of right iliac fossa pain

IntroductionAcute appendicitis is one of the most common emergencies treated by the general surgeon. Simple appendicitis can progress to perforation, which is associated with a much higher morbidity and mortality, and surgeons have therefore been inclined to operate when the diagnosis is probable rather than wait until it is certain. The aim of this study was to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of the Alvarado score combined with ultrasounds of the abdomen and pelvis in cases of right iliac fossa pain with suspected acute appendicitis.Methods100 patients admitted to the Department of Surgery at Alexandria Main University Hospital in 2013 complaining of right iliac fossa pain with suspected acute appendicitis were studied prospectively. The demographic information, histopathology, physical examination, laboratory data, Alvarado score, sonography report and histopathological reports of these patients were gathered. The treating surgeon made decisions for surgery or conservative management without any intervention from the research team.ResultsA combination of methods showed that Alvarado alone was 100% sensitive in excluding appendicitis at scores below five and was highly specific at scores above eight (91.9%) with no added value when combining it with ultrasound in those scores. On the other hand, ultrasound was beneficial only in patients with Alvarado scores between five and eight for detecting appendicitis and not excluding it (increasing specificity to 100% and not affecting sensitivity).ConclusionUltrasound is a good adjuvant examination in cases with Alvarado scores between five and eight in order to diagnose appendicitis. Negative ultrasound results do not exclude appendicitis and further assessment by other modalities should be performed

Intravitreal injection with anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) in diabetic macular edema (DME) versus vitrectomy with internal limiting membrane (ILM) peeling with anti-VEGF as an adjuvant

Summary Background: Diabetic macular edema (DME) is a globally growing health problem and considered the most common form of sight-threatening retinopathy in diabetic patients. Although focal or grid laser photocoagulation was the mainstay of treatment, anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) agents are now the standard of care. However, these therapies are expensive and some patients show inadequate response. Purpose: To determine the effect of pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) for DME with preoperative intravitreal bevacizumab (IVB) compared to anti-VEGF only. Methods: This was a retrospective study between 2011 and 2016 of 260 eyes of 130 patients who had vitrectomy for DME (n=130, PPV group, single surgeon AV) and patients who had IVI of anti-VEGF only (n=130, IVI group) were followed for at least 12 month. Charts were reviewed for best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), central macular thickness (CMT) measured by optical coherence tomography (OCT). Results: The mean BCVA in LogMAR improved from 1.08 ± 0.64 at baseline to 0.71 ± 0.55 at 12-month in the PPV group (P < 0.0001) and in the IVI group, from baseline 0.49 ± 0.39 to 0.42 ± 0.36 at 12-month (P < 0.029). The mean CMT improved from 442 ± 200 μm at baseline to 348 ±149 μm at 12-month in the PPV group (P < 0.001). The mean CMT improved from 439 ± 166 μm at baseline to 368 ± 144 μm μm at 12-month in the IVI group (P < 0.001). Preoperative IVB, compared to without IVB, leads to reduction in intraoperative (6 cases vs. 10 cases) and postoperative bleeding (3 cases vs. 13 cases). Conclusion: Vitrectomy with internal limiting membrane peeling is a cost-effective procedure which consistently results in central macular thickness reduction and leads to clinically significant improvement in BCVA comparable to serial intravitreal injection of anti-VEGF. Careful patient selection and meticulous preoperative OCT assessment are critical steps in the decision-making process. Preoperative intravitreal bevacizumab was associated with reduced intraocular bleeding intra- and postoperatively. The complication rate of vitrectomy is low and similar to what has been reported for this procedure. A large, comparative, prospective, randomized clinical trial of these two treatments is needed to determine which therapy is more effective

Ventricular Myocyte Contraction, Calcium Transport and Expression of Genes Encoding Cardiac Muscle Proteins in Type 2 Diabetic Rats Fed a Sucrose-Enriched Diet

Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is currently the fastest growing disease in the world. The prevalence of DM has increased worldwide and is expected to double within 20 years. The UAE is ranked 15th worldwide, with 18.98% of the UAE population living with diabetes. Six Middle East North Africa (MENA) region countries – Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates (UAE) - are among the world’s 10 highest for prevalence of diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance. This represents a huge cost to society in terms of morbidity and mortality, and economically through lost productivity and cost burden on the healthcare system. In 2009 mortality linked to DM constituted 75% percent of the deaths among UAE nationals and 31% among non-nationals. The Goto-Kakizaki (GK) rat is one of the best characterized genetic animal models of T2DM. A variety of contractile dysfunctions, associated with alterations in intracellular Ca2+, have been demonstrated in GK rat heart. The consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages has been linked to the rising rates of obesity which in turn is a risk factor for development of T2DM. In these experiments, GK and Control rats received either normal drinking water or drinking water containing sucrose (100-400Mm) for either 6 or 8 months. After 6 months of dietary intervention the amplitude of ventricular myocytes shortening and Ca2+ transient were not significantly altered in either GK or control rats. After 8 months, amplitude of shortening was decreased in Control/Sucrose and in GK/Sucrose rats compared to Control and GK rats respectively. Interestingly, the amplitude of the Ca2+ transient was increased in myocytes from Control/Sucrose and decreased in GK/Sucrose compared to Control and GK rats. Expression of genes encoding a range of ventricular muscle proteins were also investigated in ventricular tissue after 8 months of dietary intervention. Genes encoding cardiac muscle proteins (Myh7, Mybpc3, My11, My13, My1pf), intercellular proteins (Gja4), cell membrane transport (Atp1b1), calcium channels (Cacna1c, Cacnc1g, Cacnb1), potassium channels (Kcnj11) were upregulated in GK compared to control rats. Genes encoding potassium channels (Kcnb1) were decreased in GK compared to Control rats. Genes encoding cardiac muscle proteins (Myh6, Mybpc3, Tnn2), intercellular proteins (Gja1, Gja4), intracellular Ca2+ transport (Atp2a1, Ryr2), cell membrane transport (Atp1a2, Atp1b1), potassium channel (Kcnj2, Kcnj8) proteins were upregulated in Control/Sucrose compared to control rats. Genes encoding cardiac muscle proteins (Myh7) were downregulated in Control/Sucrose compared to Control rats. Genes encoding cardiac muscle protein (Myh7), potassium channel (Kenj11) proteins were downregulated in GK/Sucrose compared to Control rats. In conclusion, sucrose-enriched diets altered dietary habits in GK and control rats and exacerbated diabetic status in GK rats. Subtle changes in expression of genes encoding a variety of ventricular muscle proteins are associated with changes in ventricular myocyte shortening and intracellularCa2+ transport in ventricular myocytes from GK T2DM and Control rats fed a sucrose-enriched diet