Electrical performance study of a large area multicrystalline silicon solar cell using a current shunt and a micropotentiometer

In this paper, a new technique using a Current Shunt and a Micropotentiometer has been used to study the electrical performance of a large area multicrystalline silicon solar cell at outdoor conditions. The electrical performance is mainly described by measuring both cell short circuit current and open circuit voltage. The measurements of this cell by using multimeters suffer from some problems because the cell has high current intensity with low output voltage. So, the solar cell short circuit current values are obtained by measuring the voltage developed across a known resistance Current Shunt. Samples of the obtained current values are accurately calibrated by using a Micropotentiometer (μpot) thermal element (TE) to validate this new measuring technique. Moreover, the solar cell open circuit voltage has been measured. Besides, the cell output power has been calculated and can be correlated with the measured incident radiation

Effect of Nutritional Formula on Fatigue Among Patients With Advanced Lung Cancer at a University Hospital-Egypt.

Background: Lung cancer is the most common cancer and cause of death worldwide. Almost 50 percent of lung cancer cases are found in the developing countries. The estimated numbers of new lung cancer cases in the Arab world show a gradual increase every year. Cancer lung and its treatment modalities increase incidence of fatigue. Many studied documented that patients with cancer related fatigue described it as more distressing than other cancer-related symptoms such as pain, depression, and nausea. Correction of anemia, exercises, dietary supplements rich in vitamins specially beta-carotene, yoga, complementary and alternative medicine have been suggested as strategies/ guidelines of managing fatigue. Natural nutritional supplementations were recommended by oncologists, nurse specialists, as well authors in the field of applied nutrition and they recommend juicing fruits and vegetables. One of the recommended formulas for fighting fatigue consisted of carrot, beetroot, mixed with celery juice (energy juice). Carrot juice is known as a miracle juice as it removes bacterial infection, beetroot act as anti cancer factor as well as powerful blood detoxifying agent and celery juice is a source of folic acid, vitamin B1&6. Aim of the Study: Was to identify the effect of the nutritional formula on fatigue among lung cancer patients at a University Hospital-Egypt. Design: Time series longitudinal comparative study. Research questions: 1-a-What is the effect of the nutritional formula on fatigue among patients with advanced lung cancer before and after receiving chemotherapy? 1-b- Is there a difference between fatigue scores on the start of using the formula and at the end of rehydration period among patients with advanced cancer lung receiving chemotherapy? 2-a-Is there a relation between fatigue score prior and after taking the nutritional formula and the selected medical outcome (duration of illness, hemoglobin, WBCs)? 2-b-Is there a relation between fatigue score prior and after taking the nutritional formula and patients' age, metastasis occurrence and chemotherapy medication? Sample: A convenient sample of thirty patients with advanced lung cancer receiving chemotherapy was collected over a year. Two tools were used to collect data; Demographic & Medical data assessment sheet and the Revised Piper Fatigue Scale (PFS-R13).  Data were collected before receiving chemotherapy (on admission), one day after receiving chemotherapy (beginning of using the nutritional formula), after rehydration period (one week later), two weeks later & before discharge). Results: Fatigue scores increased after receiving chemotherapy and began to decrease gradually after rehydration period, so there was a significant statistical difference between fatigue scores measured before and after the use of the nutritional formula. And there is a statistical significant difference over the four readings of fatigue scores reading and the selected medical responses (duration of illness Hgb 1st reading & 2nd reading, WBCs 1st reading), age. Conclusion: The suggested nutritional formula helped in decreasing fatigue among lung cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. Key words: Fatigue, cancer lung, chemotherapy, nutritional values (Carrots, celery, parsley)

Comparative Study between the Performances of Nile Tilapia Oreochromisniloticus during and Out of the Normal Spawning Season

During the production season (2010-2011), this work was carried out at a commercial tilapia hatchery in Motobas, Kafr El-Sheikh Governorate- Egypt. Two experiments were managed using the same design to make a comparison between spawning of Nile tilapia Oreochromisniloticusbroodstock off-season (the winter) and on-season (the summer). The two experiments were tested by studying the effects of using feed additive (Nuvisol hatch P® 0.1%), different broodstocksizes (350, 200, 150 and mixed up to 250 g/fish) and stocking densities (50, 55, 60 female/pond-24m2) on growth performance, feed utilization, reproductive performance and economical profitability parameters of Nile tilapia, O.niloticus spawned in the summer and in the winter. Comparing the results of the economic analysis of the two experiments showed that the total production of Nile tilapia fry per each spawning pond, 24 square meters, is 28,090 within the natural spawning season, an increase of 2.23% from that was spawning outside the normal season (27478 fry). Though total revenue and net income under hatchery conditions in the out off-season (February 2010) much higher than that in natural spawning season (April 2011) by 22.01%. This is of course due to the price of tilapia fry in the winter months is higher than the summer to supply shortages in winter and increased demand at the same time. This is due to the farmers need to start the growing season early, March/April, in order to harvest their fish before temperatures drop in the next winter, which adversely affect the life of the fish

A PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION OF HTR1A GENE EXPRESSION LEVELS IN AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDERS

Objective: This study was conducted to explore the expression levels of HTR1A gene in a sample of Egyptian autistic children. Methods: Thirty autistic patients (18 boys, 12 girls) and 20 controls were enrolled in the study. From each child, we isolated RNA samples from whole blood. Quantitative Real-Time PCR (qRT-PCR) was used to measure the gene expressions of HTR1A and normalized to the house keeping gene, beta-actin. Results: The HTR1A gene expression of healthy controls and ASD subjects were varied significantly (p =0.0062). As compared to control healthy subjects, the HTR1A expressions were greatly reduced in samples of ASD. Conclusion: HTR1A gene expression level is a candidate gene for further studies to explore its potential roles in ASD related pathways

Health-related quality of life assessment in a group of children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis

Background: JIA is known to affect the physical and social wellbeing and impact scholastic achievement of children. Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is an important outcome measure in understanding the impact of chronic illness. Objective: We sought to evaluate the HRQOL of a group of children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) to uncover their main problems that might prevent them from leading a normal life . Methods: We consecutively enrolled 119 JIA patients who were classified according to the ILAR criteria into 16 cases with oligoarticular (13.4%), 36 with polyarticular (30.3%) and 67 with systemic JIA (56.3%). They were 62 (52.1%) males and 57 (47.9%) females with a mean age of 7.7 years. Patients were evaluated by the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory TM Version 4.0 (PedsQLTM) questionnaire. Results: Physical and feeling problem scores were negatively correlated to age, age at onset, diagnostic lag and diseases duration. The learning problem score showed negative correlation with age, age at onset and receival of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) pointing to the favorable effect of pain control on the quality of life. Also, learning and social problem scores were positively correlated to the diagnostic lag. Total scores showed negative correlation with age and age at onset. Conclusion: JIA has an important impact on the HRQOL and normal development. Pain control is mandatory for reduction of learning problems via the judicious use of NSAIDs and the delay in diagnosis was associated with unfavorable learning and social outcome

Health-related quality of life assessment using EQ-5D-Y questionnaire in a group of Egyptian asthmatic children

Background: Asthma, as a common chronic illness, negatively influences children's quality of life. We sought to investigate the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in a sample of Egyptian asthmatic children. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the Pediatric Allergy and Immunology Unit of Ain Shams University, including three groups of age and gender-matched children, aged 6-12 years; an asthma group (n=100), non-asthmatic group with respiratory tract infections (n=114), and a healthy control group (n=100). The EQ-5D-Y questionnaire was used to evaluate the HRQoL in each study group. This questionnaire also comprises a visual analogue scale (VAS) which is scored from zero (worst) to 100 (best) as judged by the patient. Results: HRQoL assessment revealed that 86% of the asthmatic children faced problems with their daily activities, 43 % had worries, sadness and unhappiness and 22% had mobility problems (walking around). Thirteen percent of the cases expressed some pain or discomfort due to their disease, while self-care was the least affected (6%). Parameters of mobility, doing usual activities, feeling worried or sad were more frequently affected among the asthmatics in comparison to the other two groups (X2 = 37.02, 46.38, 22.90, respectively with p <0.001). Enrolled asthmatic children showed the lowest values of visual analogue scale (VAS) scores (mean ± SD: 72.2 ± 24.6) in comparison to the infection and healthy control groups (mean ± SD: 84.6 ± 12, 92.8 ± 9.6, respectively; f = 39.03; p value = 0.001). Conclusion:Asthma has a significant adverse impact on HRQoL of children and the EQ-5D-Y questionnaire could be an applicable instrument to measure their quality of life

Heme oxygenase effect on mesenchymal stem cells action on experimental Alzheimer's disease

The objective is to evaluate the effect of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) enzyme inducer and inhibitor on Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs) in Alzheimer disease. Materials and Methods: 70 female albino rats were divided equally into 7 groups as follows: group 1: healthy control; group 2: Aluminium chloride induced Alzheimer disease; group 3: induced Alzheimer rats that received intravenous injection of MSCs; group 4: induced Alzheimer rats that received MSCs and HO inducer cobalt protoporphyrin; group 5: induced Alzheimer rats that received MSCs and HO inhibitor zinc protoporphyrin; group 6: induced Alzheimer rats that received HO inducer; group7: induced Alzheimer rats that received HO inhibitor. Brain tissue was collected for HO-1, seladin-1 gene expression by real time polymerase chain reaction, heme oxygenase activity, cholesterol estimation and histopathological examination. Results: MSCs decreased the plaque lesions, heme oxygenase induction with stem cells also decreased plaque lesions however there was hemorrhage in the brain. Both heme oxygenase inducer alone or with stem cells increased seladin-1 expression and decreased cholesterol level. Conclusion: MSCs alone or with HO-1 induction exert a therapeutic effect against the brain lesion in Alzheimer’s disease possibly through decreasing the brain cholesterol level and increasing seladin-1 gene expression

Comparative Study between the Performances of Nile Tilapia Oreochromisniloticus during and Out of the Normal Spawning Season

During the production season (2010-2011), this work was carried out at a commercial tilapia hatchery in Motobas, Kafr El-Sheikh Governorate- Egypt. Two experiments were managed using the same design to make a comparison between spawning of Nile tilapia Oreochromisniloticus broodstock off-season (the winter) and on-season (the summer). The two experiments were tested by studying the effects of using feed additive (Nuvisol hatch P® 0.1%), different broodstock sizes (350, 200, 150 and mixed up to 250 g/fish) and stocking densities (50, 55, 60 female/pond-24m2) on growth performance, feed utilization, reproductive performance and economical profitability parameters of Nile tilapia, O.niloticus spawned in the summer and in the winter. Comparing the results of the economic analysis of the two experiments showed that the total production of Nile tilapia fry per each spawning pond, 24 square meters, is 28,090 within the natural spawning season, an increase of 2.23% from that was spawning outside the normal season (27478 fry). Though total revenue and net income under hatchery conditions in the out off-season (February 2010) much higher than that in natural spawning season (April 2011) by 22.01%. This is of course due to the price of tilapia fry in the winter months is higher than the summer to supply shortages in winter and increased demand at the same time. This is due to the farmers need to start the growing season early, March/April, in order to harvest their fish before temperatures drop in the next winter, which adversely affect the life of the fish