Effect of Non-Hormonal Treatment Options On Reducing Vasomotor Symptoms Among Menopausal Women

Menopause is the point in a woman's life when she has not had a menstrual period for one year. The primary symptom of peri-menopause is the vasomotor symptoms (VMS). Many postmenopausal women have hot flashes and night sweats. Lifestyle changes are effective and safe options for management of hot flashes. Also marjoram can reduce the negative effects of menopause. Aim of the study: To reduce the intensity and frequency of VMS among menopausal women. Subjects and Methods: A quasi experimental design with pre and post-test was used. Setting: This study was carried out at the primary health care center in Al- Ghory village at Menoufiya Governorate, Egypt. Subjects: a total of 100 menopausal women participated in the study. Data collection tools included structured interviewing questionnaire and VMS assessment questionnaire. Results: near to three quadrants of the women were aged from 45-50 years old. Regarding to drinking tea and coffee, there were statistical significant differences (P<0.001*) between pre and post-test. Also there were big changes in the methods of dealing with VMS such as using cotton bed linens and using well-ventilated bed room (85%) in the post test. In addition, the intensity and frequency of VMS and the time of its occurrence decreased from 78.0% to 57.9%. Conclusion: non-hormonal treatment options (lifestyle changes and marjoram) are viable for the treatment of VMS in menopausal women. It can reduce the intensity and frequency of VMS. Recommendations: encouraging a healthy lifestyle, eating a healthy diet and avoiding dietary triggers such as spicy, hot foods, pickles and caffeine to reduce the intensity and frequency of the VMS. Key words: Menopause, Vasomotor Symptoms (VMS), Hot Flashes, Lifestyle, Marjoram.

Effect of Prophylactic Physical Activities on Reducing Lymphedema among Women Post Mastectomy

Background: Lymphedema is the build-up of lymph fluid in the tissues just under the skin. Lymphedema following mastectomy as a treatment for breast cancer is a major concern for most women who experience it. Physical activities are very helpful for lymphede­ma control. Aim: To evaluate the effect of prophylactic physical activities on reducing lymphedema among women post-mastectomy. Subjects & Method: Design: A Quasi-experimental design was utilized. Setting: This study was carried out in Minia oncology center- outpatient and inpatient surgical department. Affiliated by Secretariat of Specialized Medical Centres, at Minia Governorate, Egypt. Subjects: Included a total of 200 women have had a mastectomy. Tools: Five tools were used. 1) structured questionnaire; 2) scale for pitting edema measurement; 3) scale for lymphedema stage assessment; 4) international physical activity Questionnaire; 5) observational checklist for Physical Activities performance. Results: The mean age of the sample was 58.9 years old and 52.5% of them were elderly women. During the first assessment, more than eighty percent of the sample complained from a stage1 lymphedema. However, there was a significant reduction in this percentage among the study group during post-test. Likewise, there was a statistically significant difference between the groups regarding the lymphedema time and stage of development during the first assessment, after 6 weeks and 16 weeks (P<0.001*). Moreover, 49.0% of the study group compared to 29.0% of the control group had a moderate level of physical activity during the post-test. This indicated an increase in the level of a total pattern of physical activity between the two groups during the post-test. Conclusion: Prophylactic physical activities can reduce lymphedema associated symptoms. Also, the study group had a better level of physical activities than the control group. Recommendations: Early detection and nursing interventions have been gradually advocated to prevent lymphedema progression. So, the prophylactic physical activities are essential measures post-mastectomy to reduce lymphedema. Keywords: Lymphedema, Prophylactic, Physical activities, Mastectomy. DOI: 10.7176/JHMN/61-10 Publication date: April 30th 201

Rearing broiler chickens under monochromatic blue light improve performance and reduce fear and stress during pre-slaughter handling and transportation

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of monochromatic light on broiler performance, fear and stress response during pre-slaughter handling and transportation. Two thousand unsexed one-day old Cobb broiler chicks were used. At day 34, two hundreds broilers of similar live body weight were selected and divided into two equal groups (2 group x 5 replicates). Broilers were reared under white light (WL) from 0-34 day. From 35 to 49 day, the first group was reared under WL and the second group under blue light (BL). Final body weight (FBW), tonic immobility reactions (TI), respiratory rate (RR), heterophils to lymphocytes (H/L) ratio and interlukien-1β (IL-1β) were estimated at day 49 before and after transportation. After transportation, weight of internal organs (liver, spleen, heart and bursa of fabricius) as a percentage of FBW was calculated. Results showed that there was a significant (P < 0.05) increase in FBW and reduced weight loss due to transportation in broilers reared under BL. In broilers reared under BL: TI duration, RR, H/L ratio, IL-1β and weight of internal organs (except the heart) were significantly (P < 0.05) lower. The interaction effect of light and transportation on TI duration, RR, lymphocytes, H/L ratio and IL-1β were significant (P < 0.05). Therefore, it is suggested that BL may be a good tool for improving welfare and mitigating stress not only in pre-slaughter handling but also during transportation of broilers

Mohamed El Saidy Oral History

Mohamed El Saidy was Controller at the American University in Cairo from 1981 to 2008. El Saidy discusses his family’s livelihood and challenges posed in Egypt by their Syrian origins, and sketches his education and banking and business career before being hired by AUC in 1981. El Saidy provides a detailed account of his time as AUC’s Controller, describing the office when he arrived in the 1980s. Changes in the structure of AUC’s finance area and the creation of new units (like the Budget Office) are outlined, and he offers portraits of leading staff members and longtime Vice President for Finance Andrew Snaith; an assessment of the impact of Presidents on the university’s finances is also given. El Saidy recounts changes he introduced at AUC like new payroll and student payment procedures, the Internal Auditor position, and reforms to purchasing systems. Issues like AUC’s relationship with banks, accounting practices and the role of auditors, taxation, and the challenges of working under a two-currency system are addressed, as well as the financing of building projects like AUC’s new campus. He speaks about the financial computer systems used by AUC over the years, giving an account of the adoption and implementation challenges of the SAP business management software in the 2000s

Artificial neural network approach for prediction of AuNPs biosynthesis by Streptomyces flavolimosus, characterization, antitumor potency in-vitro and in-vivo against Ehrlich ascites carcinoma

Abstract Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have emerged as promising and versatile nanoparticles for cancer therapy and are widely used in drug and gene delivery, biomedical imaging, diagnosis, and biosensors. The current study describes a biological-based strategy for AuNPs biosynthesis using the cell-free supernatant of Streptomyces flavolimosus. The biosynthesized AuNPs have an absorption peak at 530–535 nm. The TEM images indicate that AuNPs were spherical and ranged in size from 4 to 20 nm. The surface capping molecules of AuNPs are negatively charged, having a Zeta potential of − 10.9 mV. FTIR analysis revealed that the AuNPs surface composition contains a variety of functional groups as –OH, C–H, N–, C=O, NH3 +, amine hydrochloride, amide group of proteins, C–C and C–N. The bioprocess variables affecting AuNPs biosynthesis were optimized by using the central composite design (CCD) in order to maximize the AuNPs biosynthesis. The maximum yield of AuNPs (866.29 µg AuNPs/mL) was obtained using temperature (35 °C), incubation period (4 days), HAuCl4 concentration (1000 µg/mL) and initial pH level 6. Comparison was made between the fitness of CCD versus Artificial neural network (ANN) approach based on their prediction and the corresponding experimental results. AuNPs biosynthesis values predicted by ANN exhibit a more reasonable agreement with the experimental result. The anticancer activities of AuNPs were assessed under both in vitro and in vivo conditions. The results revealed a significant inhibitory effect on the proliferation of the MCF-7 and Hela carcinoma cell lines treated with AuNPs with IC50 value of 13.4 ± 0.44 μg/mL and 13.8 ± 0.45 μg/mL for MCF-7 and Hela cells; respectively. Further, AuNPs showed potential inhibitory effect against tumor growth in tumor-bearing mice models. AuNPs significantly reduced the tumor volume, tumor weight, and decreased number of viable tumor cells in EAC bearing mice

Process optimization for gold nanoparticles biosynthesis by Streptomyces albogriseolus using artificial neural network, characterization and antitumor activities

Abstract Gold nanoparticles (GNPs) are highly promising in cancer therapy, wound healing, drug delivery, biosensing, and biomedical imaging. Furthermore, GNPs have anti-inflammatory, anti-angiogenic, antioxidants, anti-proliferative and anti-diabetic effects. The present study presents an eco-friendly approach for GNPs biosynthesis using the cell-free supernatant of Streptomyces albogriseolus as a reducing and stabilizing agent. The biosynthesized GNPs have a maximum absorption peak at 540 nm. The TEM images showed that GNPs ranged in size from 5.42 to 13.34 nm and had a spherical shape. GNPs have a negatively charged surface with a Zeta potential of − 24.8 mV. FTIR analysis identified several functional groups including C–H, –OH, C–N, amines and amide groups. The crystalline structure of GNPs was verified by X-ray diffraction and the well-defined and distinct diffraction rings observed by the selected area electron diffraction analysis. To optimize the biosynthesis of GNPs using the cell-free supernatant of S. albogriseolus, 30 experimental runs were conducted using central composite design (CCD). The artificial neural network (ANN) was employed to analyze, validate, and predict GNPs biosynthesis compared to CCD. The maximum experimental yield of GNPs (778.74 μg/mL) was obtained with a cell-free supernatant concentration of 70%, a HAuCl4 concentration of 800 μg/mL, an initial pH of 7, and a 96-h incubation time. The theoretically predicted yields of GNPs by CCD and ANN were 809.89 and 777.32 μg/mL, respectively, which indicates that ANN has stronger prediction potential compared to the CCD. The anticancer activity of GNPs was compared to that of doxorubicin (Dox) in vitro against the HeP-G2 human cancer cell line. The IC50 values of Dox and GNPs-based treatments were 7.26 ± 0.4 and 22.13 ± 1.3 µg/mL, respectively. Interestingly, treatments combining Dox and GNPs together showed an IC50 value of 3.52 ± 0.1 µg/mL, indicating that they targeted cancer cells more efficiently