There has been, and is still, concern about the high elastic modulus of Ti alloys compared to bone. Any reduction in the Young's modulus value of the implant is expected to enhance stress redistribution to the adjacent bone tissues, minimize stress shielding and eventually prolong device lifetime. Dynamic Monte Carlo simulation is used to predict the gradual reduction in Young's modulus values between the bulk of Ti alloys and the modified surface layers due to Ca ion implantation. The simulation can be used as a screening step when applying new alloys and/or coatings.
seconds ; Alloys ; Ions ; simulation ; Young

Background/Aims: Differential diagnosis between aggressive osteoblastoma and low grade osteosarcoma may be very diffi cult or even impossible on a small biopsy. This study was designed to assess the usefulness of immunoexpression of COX-2 and osteocalcin in the differential diagnosis of the two tumour types. Methods: Immunostaining of COX 2 and osteocalcin were studied in 9 osteoblastomas and 30 osteosarcomas. Results: All osteoblastomas and 11/20 (55%) high-grade osteosarcomas showed COX-2 immunoreactivity. All low grade osteosarcomas were COX-2 negative. COX-2 was signifi cantly higher (p<0.002) in osteoblastomas 9/9 (100%) than in osteosarcomas 13/30 (43%) and in aggressive osteoblastomas versus low grade osteosarcomas (p<0.01). Osteocalcin was found in tumour cells of all osteosarcomas and osteoblastomas and in the osteoid matrix of 84% of osteosarcomas and 78% of osteoblastomas. Strong osteocalcin was signifi cantly higher (p<0.02) in osteoblastomas (78%) than in osteosarcomas (27%). Conclusion: COX-2 is a valuable marker in distinction between osteosarcoma and osteoblastoma. Negative COX-2 could confi rm the diagnosis of low grade osteosarcoma versus aggressive osteoblastoma. Intensity and distribution of osteocalcin may indicate the degree of osteoblastic differentiation.

Vibrio cholerae infection is mainly caused acute diarrhoea disease. Bacteraemia due to non-O1 V. cholerae is rare and mainly reported in liver cirrhotic patients. We report one case of non-O1 V. cholerae bacteraemia in splenectomised thalassaemic patient who presented with septic shock secondary to abdominal sepsis. She had undergone emergency laporatomy and was managed in the intensive care unit for nine days. She was treated with meropenem and doxycyline and discharged well after fourteen days of admission. The V. cholerae was identified by API 20NE, serotype and polymerase chain reaction showed as non-O1, non-O139 strain. Besides known cholera-like toxin and El Tor hemolysin, with increasing reported cases of V. cholerae bacteraemia, there is possibility of other virulence factors that allow this organism to invade the bloodstream.

A semi laboratory experiment using 3 cohorts of Aedes albopictus adults was performed to obtain age-specific mortality and fecundity information and to derive statistical estimates of some population growth parameters. Life expectancy was calculated for both males and females. The following population parameters were estimated: intrinsic rate of increase (rm= 0.21), net reproductive (replacement) rate (Ro= 68.70), age at mean cohort reproduction (To=10.55 days), birth rate (B=0.23), death rate (D=0.02) and generation time (G=20.14 days). The high rm/B (0.91) and B/D (11.50) ratios indicated the high colonizing ability of Ae. albopictus in nature.
Upper case Bee ; Aedes albopictus ; Upper case dee ; Population ; Culicidae

Aims: Variation in the traditional growth medium conditions to enhance the production of lipids, carbohydrates, protein and the free amino acids content of three cyanobacterial species. Methodology and Results: Three species of cyanobacteria (Anabaena laxa, Anabaena fertilissima and Nostoc muscorum) were collected from the culture collection of Soils, Water and Environment Research Institute, Agriculture Research Center, Giza, Egypt, to investigate their biochemical composition under different growth conditions, using BG110 (nitrogen free) as growth medium. These conditions were represented by control medium, static glucose medium with (1%, w/v), aerated medium (aerated by bubbling technique depending on CO2 normally existed in air with a concentration of 0.03%), molasses medium (0.7%, v/v) and aerated medium enriched with glucose (1%, w/v). Lipid content, total carbohydrates, soluble proteins and free amino acids were determined at the previous conditions. Glucose at 0.7% (w/v) was the most favorable for lipid production in A. laxa, where it exhibited the highest lipid content (427 μg/g fresh wt.). Increasing molasses concentration up to 0.7% (v/v) produced an increase in lipid contents of the tested cyanobacterial strains. The highest lipid content of both N. muscorum (366.2 μg/g fresh wt.) and A. laxa (357.4 μg/g fresh wt.) were recorded at molasses concentrations of 0.1 and 0.7% (v/v), respectively. A. laxa expressed high significant values for both proteins (31.6 μg/mL) and free amino acids (40.5 mg/g dry wt.) after 6 days of incubation period under aerated enriched glucose condition (1%, w/v). Also, at the same growth conditions, A. fertilissima exhibited high significant values for carbohydrates at 4th day (876.8 mg/g dry wt.). Conclusion, significance and impact of study: Aerated enriched glucose medium (1%, w/v) was the best growth medium condition used in the present study.

Methods: We assessed 23 patients with a mean age of 57.3±15 years. According to the Japanese Orthopedic Association (JOA) scale; eight patients had grade 0, nine had grade I, and six had grade II. All patients underwent plain radiography and magnetic resonance imaging of the cervical spine. The foramen magnum was involved in 10 patients, C1–2 in seven, C2–3 in four, and C3–4 in two. All patients were operated via the far-lateral approach. Results: Gross total resection was achieved in 21 patients. Sixteen lesions were psammomatous, five were fibroblastic, and two were meningothelial meningiomas. The mean operative duration was 135±40 minutes, while the mean operative blood loss was 450±210 mL, and the mean hospital stay was 4.3±2.2 days. At the final follow-up that was conducted at 27.6±21 months and as per the JOA score; 16 patients were classified into grade 0 and 7 into grade II. The condition of none of our patients deteriorated postoperatively. There was no significant correlation of the clinical outcome with tumor level, pathological subtype of the tumor, symptom duration, age, and sex. There was no significant correlation of tumor resection completeness with tumor level, tumor pathological subtype, or tumor topography (ventral or ventrolateral). Conclusions The far-lateral approach is a safe and effective access for ventral and ventrolateral cervical meningiomas. It allows direct access to tumor with no spinal cord or nerve roots traction, and thus may yield a fairly better outcome than the standard posterior approach.

The study aimed to assess patient satisfaction withtheir orthodontic treatment outcome and type of casesaccepted for orthodontic treatment at the Faculty ofDentistry, University of Malaya (UM) and to audit thequality of treatment outcome. The standard set were100% patient should be satisfied with their treatmentoutcome and less than 5% of the proportion of casesshould fall in the “worse/no different’ category with amean reduction of Peer Assessment Rating (PAR) scorebeing greater than 70%. Records of cases that hadcompleted orthodontic treatment were traced. Surveyforms were sent to 150 patients that had met theinclusion and exclusion criteria. Their intact studymodels were assessed for the Index of OrthodonticTreatment Need (IOTN) and PAR. 21.3% responded tothe survey, of which 59.4% had treatment involvingfixed appliances and 37.6% had either removable orfunctional appliances or retainers. 93.8% respondentswere satisfied with their dental alignment and 87.5%with the overall treatment results. For the dental healthcomponent of the IOTN, 63.3% had ‘definite need’ and21.1% had ‘borderline need’ for treatment. For theaesthetic component of the IOTN, 24.2% had ‘definiteneed’ and 32.0% had‘borderline need’ for treatment.For the PAR, 8.0% had an outcome of “worst/nodifferent”. The mean PAR reduction score was 75.3%.In conclusion, although majority were satisfied withtheir treatment results, there is still a need to improveon the standard of care to address the issues of theminority who were not satisfied with the treatmentoutcome.

The mycobiota of 160 hair and nail samples collected from 4 different governorates in upper Egypt were estimated using soil plate method for isolating keratinophilic and dermatophytic fungi. Twenty- three fungi were recorded on both hair and nail samples collected from the four governorates. Highest fungal diversity (20) was collected from Red Sea samples followed by Qena (18) and Aswan (17) while lowest fungal diversity was recorded from Sohage samples. The common genera were Aphanoascus, Aspergillus, Penicillium, Paecilomyces and Chrysosporium. The most prevalent species belonging to these genera were: A. fulvescens, Aphanoascus sp. A. flavus link, A. flavus var. columnaris, P. chrysogenium. P. lilacinus and C. sulfureum. True dermatophytes such as Nannizzia fulva appeared in 20~30% of the male samples.
Arthrodermataceae ; Aspergillus ; Chrysosporium ; Egypt* ; Fungi* ; Hair* ; Humans* ; Indian Ocean ; Male ; Paecilomyces ; Penicillium ; Soil

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Cisplatin is a nephrotoxic chemotherapeutic agent. So, preventive measures worth to be evaluated. Human amniotic fluid stem cells (hAFSCs) in prevention or amelioration of cisplatin-induced acute kidney injury (AKI) in Sprague-Dawley rates have been tested. METHODS: 80 Sprague-Dawley rats (250~300 g) were used and divided into 4 major groups, 20 rats each. Group I: Saline-injected group. Group II: Cisplatin-injected group (5 mg/kg I.P). Group III: Cisplatin-injected and hAFSCs-treated group (5×106 hAFSCs I.V. one day after cisplatin administration). Group IV: Cisplatin-injected and culture media-treated group. Each major group was further divided into 4 equal subgroups according to the timing of sacrifice; 4, 7, 11 and 30 days post-cisplatin injection. Renal function tests were done. Kidney tissue homogenate oxidative stress parameters malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione (GSH) were determined. Histopathological scoring systems for active injury, regenerative and chronic changes were analyzed separately. RESULTS: hAFSCs characterization and differentiation was proved. Cisplatin injection resulted in a significant increase in serum creatinine and MDA and decrease in SOD, GSH and creatinine clearance. These changes were attenuated early by day 4 with the use of hAFSCs. Cisplatin injection induced tubular necrosis, atrophy, inflammatory cells infiltration and fibrosis. The use of hAFSCs was associated with significantly lowered injury score at day 4, 7, 11 and 30 with marked regenerative changes starting from day 4. CONCLUSION: hAFSCs have both a protective and regenerative activities largely through an antioxidant activity. This activity cut short the acuteness of cisplatin nephrotoxicity.
Acute Kidney Injury ; Amniotic Fluid ; Animals ; Atrophy ; Cisplatin ; Creatinine ; Female ; Fibrosis ; Glutathione ; Humans ; Kidney ; Malondialdehyde ; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells* ; Necrosis ; Oxidative Stress ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley* ; Stem Cells ; Superoxide Dismutase

PURPOSE: Acute gastroenteritis (AGE) is a major cause of morbidity and remains a major cause of hospitalization. Following the Syrian refugee crisis and insufficient clean water in the region, this study reviews the etiological and epidemiological data in Lebanon. METHODS: We prospectively analyzed demographic, clinical and routine laboratory data of 198 children from the age of 1 month to 10 years old who were admitted with the diagnosis of AGE to a private tertiary care hospital located in the district of Nabatieh in south Lebanon. RESULTS: Males had a higher incidence of AGE (57.1%). Pathogens were detected in 57.6% (n=114) of admitted patients, among them single pathogens were found in 51.0% (n=101) of cases that consisted of: Entamoeba histolytica 26.3% (n=52), rotavirus 18.7% (n=37), adenovirus 6.1% (n=12) and mixed co-pathogens found in 6.6% (n=13). Breast-fed children were significantly less prone to rotavirus (p=0.041). Moreover, children who had received the rotavirus vaccine were significantly less prone to rotavirus (p=0.032). CONCLUSION: Our findings highlight the high prevalence of E. histolytica infection as the major cause of pediatric gastroenteritis in hospitalized children, during the summer period likely reflecting the insanitary water supplies and lack of hygiene. Moreover the 42.4% of unidentified causative pathogens should prompt us to widen our diagnostic laboratory arsenal by adopting new diagnostic technologies.
Adenoviridae ; Amebiasis ; Child ; Child, Hospitalized* ; Diagnosis ; Diarrhea ; Entamoeba histolytica ; Gastroenteritis* ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Hygiene ; Incidence ; Lebanon* ; Male ; Prevalence ; Prospective Studies ; Refugees ; Rotavirus ; Tertiary Healthcare ; Water ; Water Supply