A hidden cause of infertility in hypothyroid patients

Methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene mutations could be the cause of infertility in hypothyroid patients. Hence, it is worthy to screen for MTHFR gene mutations in infertile hypothyroid females and their partners if infertility persists after optimizing thyroid function

A proposed optimized equivalent circuit and performance analysis of dielectric barrier discharge ozone generator

Traditionally, low-frequency power supplies are used in dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) ozone generators. These generators require a very high output voltage. This may limit ozone production due to limitations imposed by the dielectric strength of the insulating material. Low-frequency generators also present low efficiency, large volumes, and difficulty in controlling ozone production. On the other hand, the advantages of high frequency DBD ozone generators are the increased power density applied to the chamber electrodes, and the voltage applied to the ozone chamber decreases, allowing for higher ozone production efficiency. From this point of view, in order to enhance and control the DBD ozone generator operating at high frequency, it is necessary to determine all parameter values and optimize the equivalent model for this type of generator. This work presents and proposes the practical methodologies used to extract all parameters of the high voltage high frequency (HVHF) transformer which can be used in these systems. Resonant frequency control techniques are presented in this paper. Elimination of the stray capacitance effect will also be implemented in this paper

Power Sharing Method Based on Droop Control for Three-Phase UPS Systems

The main objective of this paper is to improve the power sharing capability and to achieve synchronization between three-phase Uninterruptible power supply (UPS) units in the presence of load interruption. This paper presents a droop-controlled scheme in such a way that the computation of the instantaneous value of the active power and the reactive power are taken as feedback signals to the frequency and voltage restoration control system. The restored frequency and voltage are introduced to voltage controller circuit, which produces a suitable control signal to sinusoidal pulse width modulation circuit (SPWM). Thus producing a suitable trigger pulses to the inverter gate in order to guarantee synchronization between three-phase UPS units. Simulation of two UPS units with the same ratings (4 KW) are carried out using MATLAB. The results show the effectiveness of the proposed control system in achieving synchronization and improving the power sharing capability in the presence of load interruption. Keywords: Uninterruptible power supply; power sharing; parallel operation; droop control. DOI: 10.7176/JETP/9-4-02 Publication date: April 30th 201

Necessary Usage of Antibiotics in Animals

Animals could become sick at any time of their lives, just like all people exposed. Many of the antibiotics administered to animals are identical to or closely drugs used in human. All animal species in general and food-producing animals, in particular, are commonly exposed to antibiotics to treat and prevent infectious diseases or to promote growth. Antibiotics would not be necessary if animals were raised differently under good veterinary and husbandry practices that were less crowded and more sanitary. The proper and responsible use of antibiotics in veterinary medicine mandate an active cooperation between all the interested parties involved in livestock production cycles. All parties are invited to act together to ensure the ultimate goals of maintaining the efficacy and safety of veterinary antibiotics and complying the established maximum residue limits (MRLs) of the products of animal origin intended for human consumption. Antibiotics as hazardous substances should be applied and directed during the different steps starting from prescription until ensuring the withdrawal period under the supervision of professionals and veterinarians. Practices indicated that there is a need to improve sensitivity testing services and facilities before prescribing the proper antibiotic

ICI-project "Enhancing development of water use efficient crops and production methods to dry and saline conditions"

201

Detection of HER-2/neu, c-myc amplification and p53 inactivation by FISH in Egyptian patients with breast cancer

Breast cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related deaths in women worldwide. The clinical course of this disease is highly variable and clinicians continuously search for prognostic parameters that can accurately predict prognosis, and indicate a suitable adjuvant therapy for each patient. Amplification of the two oncogenes HER-2/neu and c-myc and inactivation of the tumor suppressor gene p53 are frequently encountered in breast carcinomas. The purpose of this study was to use the fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) for the assessment of HER-2/neu and c-myc amplification and p53 inactivation and to relate these molecular markers with the commonly used clinical and pathological factors. The study was conducted on 34 tissue samples obtained from 33 females and 1 male with breast carcinomas and 17 samples obtained from 16 females and 1 male with benign breast lesions. Results revealed that the level of HER-2/neu, c-myc and p53 in the malignant group was significantly increased as compared to the benign group. On relating the level of the molecular markers to clinicopathological factors, p53 was significantly associated with increased patient’s age. The sensitivity of the investigated markers significantly increased with larger tumor size. Concerning tumor grade, HER-2/neu and p53 showed a significant increase in low-grade tumors whereas c-myc showed a highly significant increase in high-grade tumors. With regard to disease staging, HER-2/neu and c-myc were the only markers that showed significant increase at late stages of disease. p53 and HER-2/neu were significantly associated with positive lymph nodal status. A significant correlation was obtained between the levels of the three biomarkers to each other. Conclusively, the combination of HER-2/neu, c-myc and p53 can stratify patients into different risk groups

ASSESSMENT EFFECT OF ALOE VERA, AZADIRACHTA INDICA AND MORINGA OLEIFERA AQUEOUS EXTRACTS ON CARBON TETRACHLORIDE-INDUCED HEPATOTOXICITY IN RATS

Objective: This experiment aims to investigate the hepatotherapeutic effect of Aloe vera (AV), Azadirachta indica (N), and Moringa oleifera (MO).Methods: Eighty albino rats have been divided into ten groups. The first group was fed on a basal diet while the second group was administered paraffin (10 ml/kg body weight) through gavage for four days. The third to the tenth groups received (5 ml/kg body weight) CCl4: liquid paraffin (2:1) for three days followed by (10 ml/kg body weight) CCl4: liquid paraffin (2:1) for one day through gavage. Group three kept without any treatment, other groups then received (AV) (60 mg/kg body weight), (MO) (200 mg/kg body weight), (N) (200 mg/kg body weight), bi-extract of (AV+N), bi-extracts of (AV+MO), bi-extract of (MO+N), and tri-extracts of (AV+N+MO) respectively for 36 d. The liver and blood were studied for hepatotoxicity and antioxidant indices.Results: Biochemical and histopathological analysis revealed that CCl4 elevated plasma liver enzymes (aspartate transaminase, alanine aminotransferase, and gamma glutamyl transferase). Carbon tetrachloride also caused an elevation in erythrocyte content of glutathione with a concomitant increase in the plasma malondialdehyde content, along with marked atrophy of hepatocytes. However, these effects were ameliorated by the treatment of rats with the different extracts.Conclusion: Results showed that administration of the aquatic extracts of Aloe vera, Neem, and Moringa (separately/mixedly) played a therapeutic role against CCl4-induced liver damage by improving liver enzyme activities, antioxidant blood parameters, and a liver histopathological picture of intoxicated rats.Keywords: Aloe vera, Azadirachta indica, Moringa oleifera, CCl4 hepatotoxicity, Antioxidant, Rat hepatocyte

Melittin Exerts Beneficial Effects on Paraquat-Induced Lung Injuries in Mice by Modifying Oxidative Stress and Apoptosis

Melittin (MEL) is a 26-amino acid peptide with numerous biological activities. Paraquat (PQ) is one of the most widely used herbicides, although it is extremely toxic to humans. To date, PQ poisoning has no effective treatment, and therefore the current study aimed to assess for the first time the possible effects of MEL on PQ-induced lung injuries in mice. Mice received a single intraperitoneal (IP) injection of PQ (30 mg/kg), followed by IP treatment with MEL (0.1 and 0.5 mg/kg) twice per week for four consecutive weeks. Histological alterations, oxidative stress, and apoptosis in the lungs were studied. Hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining indicated that MEL markedly reduced lung injuries induced by PQ. Furthermore, treatment with MEL increased superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity, and decreased malonaldehyde (MDA) and nitric oxide (NO) levels in lung tissue homogenates. Moreover, immunohistochemical staining showed that B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2) and survivin expressions were upregulated after MEL treatment, while Ki-67 expression was downregulated. The high dose of MEL was more effective than the low dose in all experiments. In summary, MEL efficiently reduced PQ-induced lung injuries in mice. Specific pharmacological examinations are required to determine the effectiveness of MEL in cases of human PQ poisoning

Four butyrolactones and diverse bioactive secondary metabolites from terrestrial Aspergillus flavipes MM2: isolation and structure determination

The chemical constituents and biological activities of the terrestrial Aspergillus flavipes MM2 isolated from Egyptian rice hulls are reported. Seven bioactive compounds were obtained, of which one sterol: ergosterol (1), four butyrolactones: butyrolactone I (2), aspulvinone H (3), butyrolactone-V (6) and 4,4'-diydroxypulvinone (7), along with 6-methylsalicylic acid (4) and the cyclopentenone analogue; terrien (5). Structures of the isolated compounds were deduced by intensive studies of their 1D & 2D NMR, MS data and comparison with related structures. The strain extract and the isolated compounds (1-7) were biologically studied against number of microbial strains, and brine shrimp for cytotoxicity. In this article, the taxonomical characterization of A. flavipes MM2 along with its upscale fermentation, isolation and structural assignment of the obtained bioactive metabolites, and evaluate their antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities were described

A secure key distribution protocol based on hash functions and a quantum-authenticated channel using 6DP (KDP-6DP)

Security is the most tedious problem in highly sensitive communications. Quantum security is the key issue in solving the problem. A key distribution protocol based on the use of hash functions is proposed. The essential part of the protocol depends on sending a string of random characters from sender to receiver. Then, a selected hash or a cascade of two hash functions and a long-term shared secret are used to construct the key. Consequently, the session key is generated on-site by independently applying a hash function on the random string at the sender and receiver sides. This protocol requires a reliable method of authentication. Therefore, it is further proposed to use an out-of-band authentication methodology based on the deterministic six-state quantum authentication protocol that is referred to as 6DP