Evaluation of Podocalyxin level in pre-eclampsia with severe features' patients: a cross-sectional study

Background: This study aims to evaluate the level of podocalyxin (PCX) in preeclampsia with severe features patients and correlate it with the results of laboratory tests.Methods: The current study was a cross-sectional study conducted in Assiut Women Health Hospital between April and October 2018.  The study included 60 patients divided into two groups; Group (A): 30 patients diagnosed to have preeclampsia with severe features and Group (B): 30 patients as normal control group. Complete laboratory investigations with measurements of the PCX level was performed for all study participants.Results: No statistically significant difference between the study group and control group according to blood urea (p= 0.339) and serum creatinine (p= 0.801).There was statistically significant difference between the study group and control group according to PCX level (p= 0.001); the mean PCX was 3340.0 ± 2394.6 in the study group versus 1083.5±1400.2 in the control group. Univariate analysis revealed podocalyxin was not correlated with clinical data or laboratory investigations.Conclusions: Podocalyxin levels were significantly elevated in preeclampsia

The mental health disaster in conflict settings: Can scientific research help?

Neuner F, Elbert T. The mental health disaster in conflict settings: Can scientific research help? BMC Public Health. 2007;7(1): 275

The Use of Probiotics to Enhance Immunity of Broiler Chicken Against Some Intestinal Infection Pathogens

This study was conducted on120 one day old broiler chicks which were divided into six groups, 20 birds each. Group 1 (control), group 2 (supplemented with probiotic), group 3 (challenged with Salmonella and receive no probiotic), group 4 (challenged with E coli and receive no probiotic), group 5 (challenged with Salmonella and supplemented with probiotic), group 6 (challenged with E coli and supplemented with probiotic). The experiment extended for 30 days starting from one-day-old chicks. Body weights, clinical symptoms, haematological analysis and postmortem lesions were demonstrated on 8th, 15th and 30th day of the experiment. Also, histopathological studies of the intestinal mucosa, liver, spleen, thymus and bursa of Fabricius, as well as immunostaining of surface antigens (CD3A in the thymus and CD79A in the spleen and bursae of Fabricius), were also investigated. The current study revealed that supplementation of probiotic alone obviously improved weight gains as compared to the control group. Furthermore, probiotic supplementation decreased the colony forming a unit (CFU) of Salmonella enteritidis and E. coli (strain O2: H45) in the intestinal mucosa. Histopathologically, the intestinal mucosa showed an improvement which indicated by hyperplasia of the lining epithelium and abundance of goblet cells, but this local effect did not extend to other organs in the body that demonstrated mild to severe histopathological changes in challenged groups. The haematological analysis also verified that treatment with probiotics had no significant effect on most blood values (RBCs, WBCs and Hb). However, the differential leucocytic counts were significantly influenced by dietary treatment with probiotics which caused a highly significant decrease in lymphocyte percentage. In conclusion, probiotics obviously improved the growth performance and local immune response in the intestine, however no clear evidence of improvement of the general immune status of the experimental birds

Experimental Comparative Study on the Performance of Single and Multi-Stage Dry Air Filters

An experimental study on the effect of filter types, relative humidity and using two stage filters on the weight efficiency and pressure drop across the filter was carried out, to complete the study a test rig is designed and built, the rig consist of three sections air duct, of 30 cm ×30 cm cross sectional area, with overall length of 220 cm. Six types of air filters are used in a single stage filters; namely spongy, polyester, synthetic one and two layer aluminum filters. A molten Aluminum powder dust (Type Aluxite No. 25, 98% less than 35 microns and 2% less than 10 microns) is used. In two stage filters study the bag filter is used as a secondary filter while the primary can be any type of the five filters mentioned above. The study shows that the spongy filters gives a maximum efficiency when is used as a single stage filter as compared with the other filters type. Increasing of working environment relative humidity improves the weight efficiency for both single and two stage filters. Two stage filters can improved the filtration process, it is found that the combination of spongy filter and bag filters give a maximum of weight efficiency of about 92% when the relative humidity equals to 90% . Space distance between two stage filters affect the weight efficiency, it is found that the best distance between the spongy filter and bag filter is between 15 to 20 cm

Efficiency Evaluation of a wastewater Treatment Plant by Activated Sludge

Abstract: Performance of El-Agamyeen Plant for wastewater treatment (WWTP) by activated sludge was studied over a period of 20 weeks. Results showed that chemical oxygen demand; COD, biochemical oxygen demand; BOD, total suspended solids; TSS and ammonia decreased through stages of treatment process. The percentage removal of these parameters during studied period ranged 86-95, 91-96, 90-94 and 71-85 % respectively. Dissolved oxygen; DO in aeration tank was not less than 1.2 mg/L during study. Of microfauna, amoebae and flagellates appeared at low DO and high organic load, dominancy of crawling and stalked ciliates affected efficiency of treatment. Rotifers count ranged from 1.3x10 3 to 9x10 4 indicating good sludge quality.High toxicity could be obtained with the inlet wastewater and decreased with mixed liquor; the outlet water has been shown the least average toxic effects (<10% mortality) on the test organism. The results indicated that wastewater treatment in this Plant during the study period reduced pollution significantly and effluent water can be left for discharge into water bodies

First report of mobile colistin resistance gene mcr-1 in avian pathogenic Escherichia coli isolated from turkeys in the Gaza Strip, Palestine

Background and Aim: Colistin is used to treat avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC), a microorganism that affects turkey meat production in the Gaza Strip and worldwide. However, the recent emergence of plasmid-borne mobile colistin resistance (mcr) genes in pathogenic E. coli strains is a serious antimicrobial resistance (AMR) challenge for both human and animal health. In December 2018, colistin was banned as a veterinary antimicrobial in the Gaza Strip. This study aimed to detect and track the prevalence of colistin-resistant APEC isolated from turkey flocks in the Gaza Strip. Materials and Methods: This study investigated 239 APEC isolates from turkey flocks in the Gaza Strip between October 2018 and December 2021 (at 6-month intervals). The colistin-resistant APEC strains were detected using the broth microdilution method. The mcr-1 gene was identified using a polymerase chain reaction. Results: The overall colistin resistance among the isolated APECs was 32.2% during the study period. The average resistance in the first interval was 37.5%, which significantly decreased to 9.3% in the last interval. Among the 77 phenotypically resistant isolates, 32.4% were positive for mcr-1. The average abundance of mcr-1 in the first interval was 66.6%, which decreased to 25% in the last interval. Conclusion: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study reporting the presence of the mcr-1 gene among the APEC isolates from turkeys in the Gaza Strip. Banned veterinary use of colistin significantly decreased the percentage of resistant APEC isolates from turkeys in Gaza Strip. Further studies are needed to investigate other colistin resistance genes and track the emergence of AMR