Inscriptions on Fatimid lustre ware

This thesis looks at inscriptions on lustre painted vessels in the Fatimid period as a dating criterion. Consideration is given to developments in calligraphy and its layout on vessels relative to painting. Five groups are classified each containing two or three examples, one of which simultaneously constitutes a link to the previous group and a development towards a new style. The vessels examined belong chiefly to the schools of the potters Muslim and Sa\u27d. To further fine tune classification, potters\u27 signatures and inscription content on vessels are also examined, as are trademarks, painting styles and subject matter. Lastly, an attempt is made to check whether vessels are assigned to their right groups by making sure their styles of calligraphy correspond to their styles of painting and subject matter. 77razbands of the period whose inscriptions, more than those on any other media, are comparable to pottery serve as points of reference in this exercise. In my conclusion, I attempt to show calligraphic and motival affinities between vessels of Muslim and Sa\u27d and between tiraz bands from the reign of al Mustansir(1035-1094) which appear to indicate that both may have been contemporaneous at the beginning of that reign

Toxicology and Applied Pharmacolog

Carbonic anhydrase inhibitors have emerged in the past few years as an interesting candidate for the development of novel unconventional strategies. Despite their effect in tumor regression via inhibition of tumor acidification, their potential role is not yet fully elucidated. Herein, we investigated whether Acetazolamide (AZ) could modulate Imatinib (IM) anticancer activity, both in breast cancer cells (T47D) and in isolated tumor specimens of Ehrlich ascites carcinoma (EAC). The impact of this combination on angiogenesis was evidenced by decreasing PDGF-A expression and enhancing that of TSP-1. In the meantime, AZ significantly suppressed IM-induced attenuation of VEGF secretion in T47D cells, most probably due to NO inhibition. The combination also dramatically decreased the metastatic activity of T47D cells by mitigating the protein levels of MMP-2, -9 and phosphorylation of p38 MAPK, while increasing the expression of TIMP-1 and -2. In addition, a strong proapoptotic effect was observed in T47D cells after combining AZ and IM in terms of increased caspase-9 and - 3 activities. Interestingly, these results were confirmed by the reduction in the isolated tumor volume, MVD, Ki-67 and VEGF expression. Eventually, the study provides a new therapeutic strategy for treating cancer

Micro-RNA in a sample of Egyptian patients with incidental cerebral small vessel disease

Abstract Background Despite being the cause of morbidity and mortality in many patients, little is known about the pathophysiology of cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD). Identifying new biomarkers is mandatory for early diagnosis and proper management. The aim of this study is to investigate the role of micro-RNA as a biomarker for incidental cerebral small vessel disease (iCSVD) and its clinic-radiological correlates in a sample of Egyptian patients. Results The median age of patients, gender and risk factors did not differ from controls. However, patients were more significantly impaired than controls on cognitive, gait and sphincteric scales. MiRNA-451a was upregulated in cases with a median fold change of 3.4, while miRNA-409-3p, 486-5p, 502-3p, were significantly downregulated in comparison to healthy controls. Conclusion Dysregulation of the studied microRNA may play a role in pathogenesis of incidental cerebral small vessel disease and warrants further studies

HCC-Check: A Novel Diagnostic Tool for Early Detection of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Based on Cytokeratin-1 and Epithelial Membrane Antigen: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma is frequently diagnosed in advanced stages, leading to a poorer prognosis. Therefore, early diagnosis and identification of biomarkers may significantly improve outcomes. Methods: This cross-sectional study enrolled 486 participants distributed among 3 groups: F1 to F3 = 184, F4 = 183, and hepatocellular carcinoma = 119. Liver fibrosis staging was performed using FibroScan, while imaging features were used for hepatocellular carcinoma detection. Epithelial membrane antigen and cytokeratin-1 levels in serum were quantified through Western blot and ELISA, respectively. Results: Patients diagnosed with hepatocellular carcinoma exhibited significantly elevated levels of epithelial membrane antigen and cytokeratin-1 compared to non-hepatocellular carcinoma patients, with a highly significant statistical difference ( P  < .0001). Epithelial membrane antigen demonstrated diagnostic performance with an area under the curve of 0.75, a sensitivity of 69.0%, and a specificity of 68.5%. Cytokeratin-1 for the identification of hepatocellular carcinoma showed a sensitivity of 79.0% and a specificity of 81.4%, resulting in an area under the curve of 0.87. The developed HCC-Check, which incorporates epithelial membrane antigen, cytokeratin-1, albumin, and alpha-fetoprotein, displayed a higher area under the curve of 0.95 to identify hepatocellular carcinoma, with a sensitivity of 89.8% and a specificity of 83.9%. Notably, HCC-Check values exceeding 2.57 substantially increased the likelihood of hepatocellular carcinoma, with an estimated odds ratio of 50.65, indicating a higher susceptibility to hepatocellular carcinoma development than those with lower values. The HCC-Check diagnostic test exhibited high precision in identifying patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, particularly those with small tumor sizes (<5 cm) and a single nodule, as reflected in area under the curve values of 0.92 and 0.85, respectively. HCC-Check was then applied to the validation study to test its accuracy and reproducibility, showing superior area under the curves for identifying different stages of hepatocellular carcinoma. These outcomes underscore the effectiveness of the test in the early detection of hepatocellular carcinoma. Conclusion: The HCC-Check test presents a highly accurate diagnostic method for detecting hepatocellular carcinoma in its early stages

Differences in characteristics between patients from Egypt and Germany presenting with lacunar stroke

Abstract Despite the enormous health burden of lacunar stroke, data from low- and middle-income countries on lacunar stroke characteristics and its comparison with that of high-income countries are scarce. Thus, we aimed to investigate and compare the variable characteristics and vascular status in patients from Egypt and Germany suffering lacunar stroke. Two cohorts of lacunar stroke patients from Ain Shams University Hospital, Egypt and Goethe University Hospital Frankfurt, Germany were retrospectively collected between January 2019 and December 2020 and analyzed for demographics, risk factors, mode of presentation, neuroimaging features, treatment protocols and outcomes. MRI showed a different distribution pattern of lacunar strokes between cohorts, detecting posterior circulation lacunar infarctions preponderantly in patients from Egypt and anterior circulation lacunar infarctions preponderantly in patients from Germany. Complementary MR/CT angiography revealed a significantly higher proportion of intracranial and combined intracranial and extracranial arterial stenosis in patients from Egypt than in patients from Germany, suggesting differences in pathological processes. Younger age, higher NIHSS on admission, and posterior circulation lacunar infarction were predictors of Egyptian origin, whereas hypertension was a predictor of German origin. Our results support the idea of clinical and neuroimaging phenotype variations in lacunar stroke, including different sources of lacunar stroke in patients of different populations and geographical regions. This implies that guidelines for management of lacunar stroke might be tailored to these differences accordingly

Whole exome sequencing in a sample of Egyptian patients with covert cerebral small vessel disease

Abstract Background Covert cerebral small vessel disease (cCSVD) is associated with many age-related morbidities with little available data regarding the pathophysiology and role of genetics in it. This study aims to investigate the genetic load in a sample of Egyptian patients with cCSVD. Results Thirty patients with cCSVD were recruited and underwent cognitive, gait, sphincter assessment, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain, and blood sampling for whole exome sequencing. The mean age for the patients was 65.93 ± 8.8 with male patients representing 63.33% of the studied sample. The major risk factor was hypertension followed by diabetes mellitus, dyslipidaemia, and smoking. The main presenting symptom was cognitive impairment, found in 60% of the patients and the mean duration of symptoms was 2.1 ± 1.12 years. Two out of thirty patients were positive for a known pathogenic gene (NOTCH3 and COL4A1) despite the absence of family history in one representing 6.7% of the entire studied sample. Meanwhile, three patients had variant genes not previously linked to cCSVD. Conclusions Whole exome sequencing and genetic studying of patients with cCSVD is of utmost importance as the genetic load is underestimated in the Egyptian population

Additional file 1 of Whole exome sequencing in a sample of Egyptian patients with covert cerebral small vessel disease

Additional file 1: Table S1. Seventeen patients with variants of uncertain significance (VUS) representing 56.6% out of the 30 studied cases