Concentrations and sources of pesticides and PCBs in surficial sediments of the Red Sea coast, Egypt

AbstractSixteen surface sediments from the Egyptian coast of the Red Sea were collected and studied for organochlorine contamination. This research was endeavored to study sources, concentrations and risk factors of pesticides and PCBs in the surficial sediments collected from the studied locations. The sediments in the studied areas are predominantly sand. The most abundant PCB congeners detected in the investigated sediment samples of the Red Sea proper were a total of PCB 52 and a total of PCB 138 (225 and 465ngkg−1drywt., respectively). Meanwhile, in the Aqaba Gulf the most abundant PCB congener was a total of PCB 138 (226ngkg−1drywt.). At the Suez Gulf, the most abundant PCB congeners were a total of PCB 180 and 153 (127 and 103ngkg−1drywt., respectively). The input of direct industrial and domestic discharge in most of the contaminated zones of the studied area resulted in a larger concentration of total PCB 52, 138, 153 and 180. The results obtained showed fairly low levels of pesticide residues. The most dominant pollutants were the HCHs and DDTs, high proportions of α-HCH over γ-HCH isomer indicated less recent input of lindane. The α-HCH/γ-HCH ratios in most of the studied locations are slightly less than those in technical-grade HCH mixture (66.5% α isomer, 11.4% β isomer, 15.2% γ isomer (lindane), 6.4% δ isomer, and 0.5% other isomers) indicating that there was less input of lindane in the past several years. This study clearly indicates that PCB concentrations, DDTs, cyclodienes, HCHs were much lower than those recorded by the international organization

Techno-Economic Analysis of ZnO Nanoparticles Pretreatments for Biogas Production from Barley Straw

The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of ZnO nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) on the biogas production from mechanically treated barley straw and to perform a techno-economic analysis based on the costs assessment and on the results of biogas production. The structural changes of mechanically pretreated barley straw were observed using FTIR, XRD, TGA, and SEM. Additionally, both green ZnO NPs prepared from red alga (Antithamnion plumula) extract and chemically prepared ZnO NPs were characterized by FTIR, XRD, SEM, and TEM, surface area, and EDX. The results revealed that the biogas production was slightly improved by 14.9 and 13.2% when the barley straw of 0.4 mm was mechanically pretreated with 10 mg/L of both green and chemical ZnO NPs and produced 390.5 mL biogas/g VS and 385 mL biogas/g VS, respectively. On the other hand, the higher concentrations of ZnO NPs equal to 20 mg/L had an inhibitory effect on biogas production and decreased the biogas yield to 173 mL biogas/g VS, which was less than the half of previous values. It was also clear that the mechanically treated barley straw of 0.4 mm size presented a higher biogas yield of about 340 mL/g VS, in comparison to 279 mL biogas/g VS of untreated biomass. The kinetic study showed that the first order, modified Gompertz and logistic function models had the best fit with the experimental data. The results showed that the nanoparticles (NPs) of the mechanically treated barely straw are a suitable source of biomass for biogas production, and its yields are higher than the untreated barley straw. The results of the cost-benefit analysis showed that the average levelized cost of energy (LCOE), adopting the best treatments (0.4 mm + 10 mg/L ZnO), is 0.21 €/kWh, which is not competitive with the other renewable energy systems in the Egyptian energy market

Fetuin-A and Ghrelin Levels in Children with End Stage Renal Disease and the Effect of a Single Hemodialysis Session on Them

BACKGROUND: Fetuin-A and ghrelin have been implicated in cardiovascular diseases and mortality among end stage renal disease patients. The exact mechanisms have not been fully elucidated. There is robust data supporting an association between ghrelin and various cardiovascular conditions, and some common processes such as inflammation, oxidative stress, and endoplasmic reticulum stress have been implicated.AIM: This study was conducted to assay serum fetuin-A and ghrelin in chronic renal failure pediatric patients and to study changes in their level that may occur after a single hemodialysis.MATERIAL AND METHODS: Forty nine pediatric patients suffering from ESRD on maintenance hemodialysis (HD), 20 patients with chronic renal failure (CRF) not on dialysis and 35 healthy subjects as control group were included. The mean age of the study population was 10.58 ± 3.94, 10.62 ± 3.24 and 10.61 ± 3.97 years respectively. Serum fetuin-A and plasma acyl ghrelin levels were measured by using ELISA method.RESULTS: The present study revealed that predialysis serum fetuin-A level was significantly increased in pediatric HD patients compared with the normal population, while ghrelin levels were significantly reduced. Furthermore, serum levels of fetuin-A decreased significantly after a single HD session.CONCLUSION: Our study concluded that fetuin-A and acyl ghrelin may play a role in inflammatory process among HD pediatric patients which may account for cardiovascular insults and mortality but their use as biochemical markers among ESRD pediatric patients have limitations due to wide fluctuations

Assessment of Mothers’ Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices Regarding Care of their Infants with Hydrocephalus

Background: Hydrocephalus considered a long- term condition normally identified in early childhood. Aim: This study aimed to assess mothers’ knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding care of their infants with hydrocephalus. Design: A descriptive research design was utilized in this study. Setting: This study was conducted at Outpatient Clinic and Inpatient Neurosurgery unit at Abo El rish- El Monira affiliated to Cairo University Hospitals and Mustafa Hassan Pediatric Hospital affiliated to Fayoum University Hospitals. Subject: A purposive sample that composed of (90) mothers accompanying their infants with hydrocephalus. Tools: Two tools were used to collect data, 1st tool : a structured interviewing questionnaire to assess knowledge of studied mothers and 2nd tool : observational checklist to assess actual reported practices of studied mothers regarding care of their infants with hydrocephalus Results: more than half of studied mothers can’t read and write and residence of them were urban areas, majority of them were house wife and married, and there was statistical significant positive correlation between total knowledge and practice scores. Conclusion: it can be concluded that more than half of the studied mothers had unsatisfactory knowledge, more than one third of them had mild burden and moderated burden and while more than two third of studied mothers had inadequate practices regarding care of their infants with hydrocephalus. There was a statistically significant relation between mothers' total level of knowledge and their educational level, more over there was a statistically significant relation between mothers' total level of attitudes and their occupation and there was a statistically significant relation between mothers' total level of reported practices and their age and educational level. Recommendations: Continuous educational program for mothers having infants with hydrocephalus to increase their knowledge and practices regarding care of their infants.  &nbsp

The effect of kangaroo care educational program for mother on weight gain of premature infants in neonatal intensive care units

Background: Kangaroo care is one of the nursing practices with medical provision that can meet the important physical and emotional needs of the preterm such as warmth, stimulation, parental attachment, breast-feeding and safety. This study aimed to: assess the mothers' knowledge and practices about kangaroo mother care on weight gain of premature neonates in neonatal intensive care units. Research design: A quasi-experimental design was utilized in the current study. Setting: This study was conducted at neonatal intensive care unit in Beni Suef University Hospital. Subjects: A purposive sample of 50 mothers accompanying their premature infants. Tools of data collection: Three tools were used: tool (1) interviewing questionnaire: (pre, post and follow-up), tool (2) checklist of reported practices: (pre, post and follow-up), tool (3) knowledge of the mother about kangaroo care technique: (pre, post and follow-up). Results: More than three quarters of the studied mothers had unsatisfied knowledge about Kangaroo Mother Care in the pre educational program implementation while nearly all of them had satisfactory level of knowledge in the post educational program implementation...

Influence of polymorphisms in candidate genes on carcass and meat quality traits in rabbits.

Candidate gene is a powerful approach to study gene-trait association and offers valuable information for genetic improvement using marker-assisted selection. The current work aimed to study the polymorphisms of four single nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs) at located growth hormone (GH), insulin-like growth factor-II (IGF-II), fat mass and obesity-associated (FTO), and insulin receptor substrate-1 (IRS-1) genes, and their association with the carcass, and meat quality traits in rabbits. The SNPs were genotyped using RFLP-PCR in New Zealand White and local Baladi rabbits. The results revealed that the heterozygous genotype was the most frequent in all cases, except for the FTO SNP in LB rabbits. There was a significant effect for GH genotypes on meat lightness after slaughter and hind-part weight. While, IGF-II mutation significantly affected slaughter, hot carcass, commercial carcass, and hind-part weights. The FTO SNP was associated with cooking loss and intramuscular fat weight, and the IRS-1 SNP was significantly associated with drip loss and intramuscular fat. Specific-breed effects were obtained for IGF-II SNP on cooking loss, and for the intramuscular fat. Although the results suggested that these mutations are useful candidate genes for selection, more research for detecting more variants associated with carcass and meat quality traits in rabbits are recommended

The Efficiency Of Thyme-Celery Mixture (TCM) In Reducing Physiological Stress Of Pregnant Ewes Under Two Different Housing Systems

This study set out to look at the efficacy of using thyme - celery mixture (TCM) supplementation in mitigating stress and improving the performance and behavior of pregnant ewes housed under two different conditions. Forty (40) pregnant ewes were randomly distributed into four groups; two groups were housed in the semi-shaded house (SS), including one group that was provided with TCM supplemented in diet (SST), and the other received no supplementation (SSNT). Similar to the first two groups were housed in a fully shaded house (FS), including one group that was provided with the same TCM supplementation (FST) and the other that received no supplementation (FSNT). Ewe's performance including weekly feed intake was monitored during the late stage of pregnancy, stress indicators were measured in blood. Besides, feeding behavior was recorded. As a result full shaded houses succeed to protect pregnant ewes from environmental changes despite the decreased feed intake. TCM supplementation didn’t achieve success in mitigating the physiological stress of pregnancy in both housing conditions but resulted in a significant increase in the feed intake of semi-shaded housed ewes

Comparison between Two Low Doses of Amitriptyline in the Management of Chronic Neck Pain: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Comparative Study

Chronic neck pain (CNP) is a major concern for pain therapists. Many drugs including antidepressants such as amitriptyline have been used in the management of CNP. This study compared the efficacy and safety of 2 different doses of amitriptyline (5 mg and 10 mg at bedtime) in patients with CNP. A total of 80 patients of both sexes with idiopathic CNP, ranging in age from 18 to 75 years, were divided into 2 groups that received 5 or 10 mg oral amitriptyline at bedtime for 120 days. The primary outcome measure was neck pain disability index (NPDI). Neck pain intensity, Athens Insomnia Scale score, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), side effects of the drug, and patient satisfaction were secondary outcome measures. NPDI decreased by 71.9% ± 13.4% in the 10 mg group compared to 47.3% ± 17.3% in the 5 mg group, representing a statistically significant difference (95% confidence interval: 27.3–12.6). Additionally, the 10 mg group showed greater mean reductions in pain score and HADS scores (both the anxiety and depression subscales), as well as improvement in sleep disturbance compared to the 5 mg group. A higher dose (10 mg) of amitriptyline at bedtime significantly reduced neck pain intensity, sleep disturbance, and anxiety and depression compared to a lower dose (5 mg) in patients with idiopathic and nontraumatic CNP after 120 days of treatment, with no significant difference between groups in the rate of side effects