Effect of certain commercial compounds in controlling root-knot nematodes infected potato plants

To examine the effect of certain commercial compounds against root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne incognita) which infect potato plants (Solanum tuberosum L. var. sponta). Two experiments were carried out under laboratory and field conditions during 2012 and 2013 seasons. Eight nematicides were used as treatments i.e., Mocap, Super control, Dento, Nematex, Vertimyl, Oxamyle, Bionematone, and Bioxy+. The successful treatments were chosen due to their effectiveness on percentage reduction in nematode populations, maximize plant production. The chosen treatments applied in soil naturally infected with nematode in the experimental field in Nubaria, Behira Governorate, North Egypt. Results exhibited significantly reduction in all nematode developmental stages in plant and soil, ex. number of egg masses, galls and nematodes in 250 cm3 soil with all chemical compounds. The consequence of vegetative growth parameters and yield were increased significantly with tested treatments compared with control. Moreover, results of laboratory experiments recorded that 87 to 98% inhibition for egg-masses hatching and 85 to 98% mortality for juveniles, respectively, with 90% for the lethal concentration of Bioxy+, Oxamyl and Vertimyl

Improved pain and quality of life outcomes after percutaneous vertebroplasty for thoraco-lumbar non-osteoprotic compression fractures

Introduction: Vertebroplasty is a minimally invasive technique in which percutaneous injection of bone cement under fluoroscopic guidance Percutaneous vertebroplasty (PVP) has been widely and successfully accepted in the treatment of osteoporotic and neoplastic vertebral compression fractures to control pain refractory to medical treatment. However, using of vertebroplasty as primary line treatment for traumatic, non-osteoporotic compression fractures still not widely accepted and considered a debatable issue. Patients and methods: This prospective comparative study was conducted at Neurosurgery department, Mansoura university hospital and Mansoura emergency hospital through the period between January 2015 and March 2016. 20 patients complaining of back pain due to single level thoracolumbar vertebral compression non-osteoprotic fractures were admitted to the study. Patients were divided into two groups 10 patients each, PVP group and conservative group. Outcome were assessed as regard pain improvement using Visual analogue scale VAS and quality of life using short form 36 scale (SF36). Results: Ten patients in the PVP group received Vertebroplasty, eight males (80%) and two females (20%) the age ranged from 29 to 62 years with mean age of 44.2+8.3 (mean+SD) years. The conservative group included ten patients seven males (70%) and three females (30%) the age ranged from 31 to 64 years with mean age of 45.1+9.2 (mean+SD) years. The level of injury ranged from D6 to L4. VAS and SF36 results showed significant improvement in post injection results compared to preinjection and to the conservative group Conclusion: Percutaneous vertebroplasty is safe and effective procedure to improve pain and quality of life in non osteoprotic patients complaining of traumatic compression fractures of thoraco-lumar region it decreases pain, and provide early ambulation of patients which improve their quality of life without significant morbidity

Time varying rotating disk flow and heat transfer through a porous medium of a non-Newtonian fluid with suction and injection

The time varying flow of an incompressible viscous non-Newtonian fluid above an infinite rotating porous disk in a porous medium is studied with heat transfer. A uniform injection or suction is applied through the surface of the disk. Numerical solutions of the nonlinear partial differential equations which govern the hydrodynamics and energy transfer are obtained. The effect of the porosity of the medium, the characteristics of the non-Newtonian fluid and the suction or injection velocity on the velocity and temperature fields is considered

Prevalence of Elevated Blood Pressure and Association with Obesity in Egyptian School Adolescents

Aim. To investigate the relationship between high blood pressure (HBP) and obesity in Egyptian adolescents. Methods. A cross-sectional study of 1500 adolescents (11–19 years) in Alexandria, Egypt, was conducted. Resting BP was measured and measurements were categorized using the 2004 fourth report on blood pressure screening recommendations. Additional measures included height, weight, and waist and hip circumferences. Obesity was determined based on BMI, waist circumference (WC) and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) indicators. Crude and adjusted odds ratios were used as measures of association between BP and obesity. Results. Prevalence rates of prehypertension and hypertension were 5.7% and 4.0%, respectively. Obesity was seen in 34.6%, 16.1%, 4.5%, and 16.7% according to BMI, WHR, WC, and WHtR, respectively. Adjusting for confounders, HBP was significantly associated with overall obesity based on BMI (OR = 2.18, 95%, CI = 1.38-3.44) and central obesity based on WC (OR = 3.14, 95%, CI = 1.67-5.94). Conclusion. Both overall obesity and central obesity were significant predictors of HBP in Egyptian adolescents

Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Indole-2-Carboxamides with Potent Apoptotic Antiproliferative Activity as EGFR/CDK2 Dual Inhibitors

Funding Information: This work was funded by Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University Researchers Supporting Project Number (PNURSP2022R3), Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Diagnostic performance of alpha-fetoprotein, YKL40 and GP73 in hepatocellular carcinoma Egyptian patients

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a primary malignancy of the liver. It is responsible for a large proportion of cancer deaths worldwide. Diagnosis of HCC often requires more sophisticated modalities and represents a challenge for physician.  Methods: This study aimed to compare the diagnostic performance of AFP, YKL40 and GP73 in patients' serum with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in high-risk population in an attempt to justify the new, sensitive, specific and rapid measure for the diagnosis and detection of HCC. Serum YKL40, GP73 and alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) were compared in a total of 60 human subjects in this study, including 20 healthy adults, and 40 patients with HCC, The main outcome measures were the specificity and sensitivity of YKL40 and GP73 in patients at risk for the development of HCC.Results: Using 4.4 relative units as a cut-off value, the sensitivity and specificity of serum GP73 for HCC were 85% and 90% compared with 77% and 60% for YKL40 using 21.06 ng/ml as a cut-off value. On the same context, the sensitivity and specificity of serum AFP at 8.5ng/ml cut-off were 82% and 95%. While that for the AFP and GP73 combined detection was up to 92% and 96%, justifying that the combined detection could prevent the false negative diagnosis by any marker alone and significantly improve the detection rate of HCC.Conclusions: The current evidence indicates that serum GP73 has HCC diagnostic efficacy inferior to that of AFP and YKL40 and the clinical implementation of serum GP73 measurement as a standard test for HCC is recommended alone or in combination with AFP.

Sponge media drying using a swirling fluidized bed dryer

Surface preparation today has seen the introduction of sponge media as an alternative product against the traditionally used abrasive materials. Being soft and elastic, the sponge media reduces air borne emission significantly during surface preparation with capability to be re-used. However the environmental conditions limit the sponge media usage whereby wet surroundings prohibit the re-use of the sponge without being dried properly. This study proposes the swirling fluidized bed dryer as a novel drying technique for sponge media. Batch experiments were conducted to study the bed’s hydrodynamics followed by drying studies for three bed loadings of 0.5 kg, 0.75 kg and 1.0 kg at three drying temperatures of 80°C, 90°C and 100°C. It was found that, minimum fluidization velocities for the wet sponge particles were found to be 1.342, 1.361 and 1.382 m/s with minimum swirling velocities of 1.400, 1.469 and 1.526 m/s. Drying times were recorded between 6 to 16 minutes depending on bed loading and drying temperature. Smaller bed weights exhibits faster drying with constant-rate drying period while higher drying temperature and larger bed load resulted in falling-rate drying period. Thin layer modelling for the falling-rate region indicates that Verma et. al model provides the best fit for the present experimental data with coefficient of determination, R2 = 0.98773, root mean square error, RMSE = 0.05048, residuals = 0.3442 and reduced chi-square, χ2 = 0.00254. The effective diffusivity, Deff, for 0.5 kg bed load was found to be 3.454 x 10-9 m2/s and 1.751 x 10-9 m2/s for 0.75 kg bed load. In conclusion, SFBD was found to be a viable and efficient method in drying of sponge media for various industrial applications particularly surface preparation