Assessment of Oxytocin Level in Patients with Manic Depressive Disorders

Background: Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a major health concern, with lifetime prevalence. In the United States estimated to be as high as 16.2%. Although, a number of pharmacological agents are available to treat, approximately 30–40% of patients do not respond to treatment. Therefore, a major emphasis in modern psychiatric research is to uncover the underlying etiology of mood disorders, and to develop novel efficacious antidepressant treatments. Oxytocinmay be of therapeutic benefit in these patients.Objective: To assess the level of oxytocin in patients with major depressive disorders.Patients and methods: A case-control study was conducted on sixty subjects above eighteen years old. They were classified into: 20 naïve patients during the manic attack of bipolar manic depressive disorder (group I), 20 naïve patients during the depressive attack of bipolar manic depressive disorder (group II) and 20 normal control subjects (group ІІІ). All participants were subjected to full history, clinical examination and laboratory measurement of oxytocin, AST, ALT, serum albumin, BUN & creatinine.Results: On comparing group I (bipolar patients with recent attack of mania) and group 3 (control) regarding serum oxytocin level, there was a significant difference in serum oxytocin being higher in patients with manic symptoms (p < 0.001) but with no significant difference between group 2 (bipolar patients with recent attack of depression) and group 3 (control).Conclusion: The significant difference in the level of oxytocin among the studied groups may suggest a possible role of oxytocin in management of patients with such psychiatric disorder

The Performance of Cold-Formed Steel Members with Stiffened Perforations

CFS sections are usually supplied with openings to adapt construction services. Nevertheless, the area lowering in the web influences their strengths. If stiffeners are provided near the web openings, the reduction in flexural capacity could be recovered. Therefore, this paper introduces a study on the CFS section with stiffened perforations. A finite element (FE) analysis was accomplished. The numerical model was verified versus experimental and numerical tests from prior research and then utilized in performing parametric studies. The influence of circular openings with various sizes and various stiffener lengths on the flexural capacity was examined in the nonlinear analysis. Depending on the findings of the study, it has been determined that the introduction of stiffened openings into the CFS members will result in the restoration of the original flexural capacity

Effect of cognitive multisensory rehabilitation on upper extremity function in stroke patients: A randomized controlled trial

The aim of this study was to examine the impact of upper extremity (UE) rehabilitation based on neurocognitive multisensory therapy in stroke patients, focusing on assessing its effects on the recovery of UE function and suggesting it as a post-stroke therapeutic method. The study was conducted as a randomized, prospective, controlled trial with a pre- and post-experimental design. Thirty stroke patients were equally divided into study and control groups and evaluated before and after treatment. Outcome measures included the Action Research Arm Test (ARAT), Manual Function Test (MFT), Motor Evaluation Scale for Upper Extremity in Stroke Patients (MESUPES), and Fugl Myer Assessment upper extremity (FMA-UE). Both groups received a specific physiotherapy program, while the study group also received Cognitive Multisensory Rehabilitation (CMR). All analyses were performed using SPSS (version 25). There were no significant differences between the groups in age, weight, height, BMI, duration of illness, MMSE, sex, or spasticity grade distribution (p > 0.05). Post-treatment comparison between both groups showed a statistically significant increase in the ARAT, MFT, MESUPES, and FMA-UE scores in the study group compared to the control group (p < 0.05). For stroke patients, CMR intervention is considered a beneficial neuro-rehabilitation strategy for enhancing upper extremity sensorimotor capabilities through physical therapy

Vaginal misoprostol versus vaginal surgical evacuation of first trimester incomplete abortion: Comparative study

Objectives: The aim of this study is to assess the effectiveness and acceptability of using vaginal misoprostol for management of first trimester spontaneous incomplete abortion as an alternative to direct vaginal surgical evacuation in our setting. Methods: This is a prospective comparative study performed on 147 patients with first trimester incomplete abortion between 8 and 12 weeks requesting medical management. They were divided into two groups according to patients’ choice; group (I) received misoprostol tablet 400 mcg (Cytotec, Serono) every 4 h for a maximum of three doses while group (II) underwent surgical vaginal evacuation directly under general anesthesia. Only 54 patients in group I and 51 patients in group II completed their follow up and included in the analysis. Results: Although vaginal surgical evacuation was successful in solving the problem in 100% of cases, misoprostol was successful in 79.6% (p = 0.0006). The overall satisfaction was slightly higher in the surgical group but almost equal percentage of both groups mentioned that they will recommend the method to a friend. No serious side effects or complications were reported in the misoprostol group. The incidence of excessive post-abortive bleeding was more in the misoprostol group than in the surgical evacuation group (p = 0.0336). Also endometrium using transvaginal ultrasonography was significantly thicker in the misoprostol group than in group II (p = 0.0071) but with no clinical importance as it was not associated with severe vaginal bleeding necessitating medical or surgical interventions. Conclusion: Although vaginal surgical evacuation is more effective than misoprostol in solving the problem still medical treatment is effective and acceptable especially when surgical management is not available or risky or patients refuse to do surgical management

Toward Maintaining the Identification and Architectural Heritage to Develop the Historical Areas in Ain Al-Sira

Despite the State’s exerted efforts in preserving Egyptian monuments as tourist destinations, Ain Al-Sira area has been suffering from multiple problems. The modern construction arts within the historical area and its architectural heritage have been ignored, as well as the construction of contemporary residential buildings not related to the historical area. The purpose of the research is to develop the architectural heritage of the residential neighborhoods in Ain Al-Sira in line with the architectural facades of the ancient historical monuments with a view to the restoration of these monuments, which have changed their faces and their architectural efficiency due to their obsolescence, weather and time factors and overcoming the scarcity of maintenance and restoration works. The new research includes the development of interim strategies in the implementation of the restoration and development of monuments and architectural style of residential neighborhoods in the area of Ain Al-Sira.The motive of the research was the existence of a problem in the current local architectural formations, which is the lack of integration and harmony of ancient monuments with new neighborhoods and the imbalance between them. The descriptive and analytical approach has been followed to clarify existing effects and what is required to be developed The research dealt with the analysis and presentation of the importance and the historical background of the area of Ain Al-Sira, with its ancient monuments, that we came to the current residential and architectural form between the shape of ancient monuments and modern dwellings, as well as the presentation of architectural problems in the region. To propose appropriate solutions for the development of the region in accordance with local and international standards and laws in order to find the most appropriate methods for architectural processing and the research will contain: On the proposals and plans necessary to develop the architectural style between the old and modern in the area of Ain El – Sira  

Toward Maintaining the Identification and Architectural Heritage to Develop the Historical Areas in Ain Al-Sira

Despite the State’s exerted efforts in preserving Egyptian monuments as tourist destinations, Ain Al-Sira area has been suffering from multiple problems. The modern construction arts within the historical area and its architectural heritage have been ignored, as well as the construction of contemporary residential buildings not related to the historical area. The purpose of the research is to develop the architectural heritage of the residential neighborhoods in Ain Al-Sira in line with the architectural facades of the ancient historical monuments with a view to the restoration of these monuments, which have changed their faces and their architectural efficiency due to their obsolescence, weather and time factors and overcoming the scarcity of maintenance and restoration works. The new research includes the development of interim strategies in the implementation of the restoration and development of monuments and architectural style of residential neighborhoods in the area of Ain Al-Sira.The motive of the research was the existence of a problem in the current local architectural formations, which is the lack of integration and harmony of ancient monuments with new neighborhoods and the imbalance between them. The descriptive and analytical approach has been followed to clarify existing effects and what is required to be developed The research dealt with the analysis and presentation of the importance and the historical background of the area of Ain Al-Sira, with its ancient monuments, that we came to the current residential and architectural form between the shape of ancient monuments and modern dwellings, as well as the presentation of architectural problems in the region. To propose appropriate solutions for the development of the region in accordance with local and international standards and laws in order to find the most appropriate methods for architectural processing and the research will contain: On the proposals and plans necessary to develop the architectural style between the old and modern in the area of Ain El – Sira  

Green Valorization of Waste Plastics to Graphene as an Upcycled Eco-Friendly Material for Advanced Gas Sensing

The valorization technique successfully transformed waste polyethylene terephthalate (PET) into valuable carbon nanomaterial (CN)/graphene, while doped and undoped ZnO nanopowders were synthesized via sol–gel methods. Utilizing XRD, BET, TEM, EDX, FTIR, and TGA analyses, the synthesis of sp2 2D sheet, pristine, and doped ZnO nanostructures was confirmed. Solid-state gas sensor devices, tested under 51% relative humidity (RH), 30 °C ambient temperature, and 0.2 flow rate, exhibited a 3.4% enhanced response to H2 gas compared to CO2 at 50 ppm concentrations over time. Notably, the ZnO/CN sensor surpassed CN and ZnO alone, attributed to CN dopant integration with decreasing order of response performance as ZnO/CN > CN > ZnO. This study underscores the efficacy of valorization techniques in generating high-value carbon nanomaterials and their efficacy in bolstering gas sensor performance, with ZnO/CN demonstrating superior response capabilities

A Superposition Procedure for Calculation of Effective Diffusion and Elastic Parameters of Sparsely Porous Materials

Effective material parameters for diffusion and elastic deformation are calculatedfor porous materials using a continuum theory-based superposition procedure. The theory that is limited to two-dimensional cases, requires that the pores are sufficiently sparse. The methodleads to simple manual calculations that can be performed by, e.g. hospital staff at clinicaldiagnoses of bone deceases that involve increasing levels of porosity. An advantage is that theresult relates to the bone material permeability and stiffness instead of merely pore densities.The procedure uses precalculated pore shape factors and exact size scaling. The remainingcalculations do not require any knowledge of the underlying field methods that are used tocompute the shape factors. The paper establishes the upper limit for the pore densities that aresufficiently sparse. A cross section of bovine bone is taken as an example. The superpositionprocedure is evaluated against a full scale finite element calculation. The study compares thepore induced change of the diffusion coefficient and elastic modulus. The predictions differbetween superposition and full scale calculations with 0.3% points when pore contributionto the diffusion constant is 3–7%, and 0.7% points when the pore contribution to the modulusof elasticity is 4.5–5%. It is uncertain if the error is in the superposition method, which isexact for small pore densities, while the full scale finite model is not

Thermal stability of Pd(1,4-bis(2-hydroxyethyl)piperazine)Cl₂ and its role in the catalysis of base hydrolysis of α-amino acid esters

<div><p>Pd(BHEP)Cl₂ was synthesized and characterized (BHEP = 1,4-bis(2-hydroxyethyl)piperazine). The complex decomposes in two steps, leaving a residue of palladium metal. Amino acid ester (L) reacts with [Pd(BHEP)(H₂O)₂]²⁺ (BHEP = 1,4-bis(2-hydroxyethyl)piperazine), giving mixed-ligand complexes, [Pd(BHEP)L]²⁺. The kinetics of hydrolysis of [Pd(BHEP)L]²⁺ have been studied by pH-stat technique, and rate constants were obtained. Rate acceleration observed for glycine methyl ester is high. The effect with methionine methyl ester is much less marked, as the mixed-ligand complexes with these ligands do not involve alkoxycarbonyl donors. Possible mechanisms for these reactions are considered.</p></div