Objectives:To evaluate antifouling property of extracts from Red Sea soft corals against primary biofilm and biofouling.Methods:Seven species of soft corals Sarcophyton glaucum (a),Sinularia compressa,Sinularia cruciata (a),Heteroxenia fuscescens (a),Sarcophyton glaucum (b),Heteroxenia fuscescens (b) and Sinularia cruciata (b) were chosen to test their extracts as antibacterial and antifouling agents in Eastern Harbour of Alexandria,Mediterranean Sea.Bioactive compounds of soft corals were extracted by using methanol and concentrated under vacuum.The residues of extracts were mixed in formulation of inert paint which consisted of rosin,chlorinated robber and ferrous oxide against micro and macro fouling organisms.The formulated paints were then applied on PVC panels twice by brush,hanged in a steel frame and immersed in Eastern Harbour of Alexandria Mediterranean Sea followed by visual inspection and photographic recordings.Results:After 185 days of immersion in seawater,the antifouling results agreed with the antibactedal results where extracts of Sinularia compressa and Heteroxenia fuscescens (b) gave the best activity against marine fouling tubeworms and barnacles.The inhibition activity was correlated with the major functional groups (hydroxyl,amino,carbonyl,aliphatic (fatty acids),C=C of alkene or aromatic rings and C—Cl of aryl halites) of the extracts.Conclusions:The strong antifouling activity makes them promising candidates for new antifouling additives.After the screening and application of natural organic compounds from soft corals,marine organisms show activity against micro and macro fouling organisms.

Back ground: Immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) is a hemorrhagic diathesis, characterized by platelets destruction alongside impaired production. Patients from Asian regions often exhibit distinctive characteristics in comparison to the western patients. We accomplished this study to evaluate the prevalence of primary versus secondary ITP along with the comparative analysis between them. The secondary objective was to determine the etiological spectrum of secondary ITP. Methods: We illustrate the results of a large cohort of newly diagnosed adults ITP from southern Pakistan. The study extended from January 2009-December 2013. Complete blood counts, HbsAg, Anti-HCV, ANA, stool for Helicobacterpylori were done on all. HIV, TSH, anti-dsDNA, RA factor, APLA and direct coombs test were evaluated in cases where indicated. Results: A total of 417 patients were included with a mean age of 40.95±14.82 years. Primarily disease was observed in the 3rd decade of life. Male to female ratio was 1:1.5. Mean platelets count was 46.21±27.45x109 /l. At diagnosis 43.16% (n=180) patients had hemorrhagic manifestations whilst 56.8% (n=237) were asymptomatic. None of the patient presented with visceral, retropharyngeal or intracranial bleed. The prevalence of secondary ITP was substantially higher (64.8%) as compared to primary ITP (35.2%). Secondary ITP was predominantly seen in HCV reactive patients (24.4%) followed by helicobacter-pylori infection (11%). Nevertheless 16.4% patients had underlying autoimmune disorders. Providentially no study subject was found to be HIV reactive. Conclusions: Our study revealed predominance of secondary ITP. However bleeding manifestations and degree of thrombocytopenia were high in primary-ITP. Infectious etiology followed by autoimmune disorders is mainly implicated for secondary ITP in our setting.

Lack of knowledge and inappropriate attitude towards electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) treatment may affect the outcome of psychiatric’s morbidity and mortality. However, less systematic studies have been done on this area. This study aimed to assess the patients’ and relatives’ perspectives, i.e. knowledge, attitude and compliance on ECT in Khartoum State, Sudan. This was an observational hospital-based study conducted among 103 psychiatric patients and their relatives respectively who visited the Taha Basher and Eltigani Elmahi psychiatric hospitals during 2016. Both the patients and their relative inquired about different criteria of knowledge and attitude towards ECT. The percentage of score was calculated based on their positive answers by selecting the most appropriate answer or by calculating the mean of many positive answers. All the data were collected through a pre-designed questionnaire, and further analyzed statistically. Male was represented 61 (59.2%) and the commonest age group of patients was 16-30 years. The overall score of knowledge towards ECT among patients and their relative was 54.9% and 59.4%, respectively. Acceptance on the use of ECT were agreed by 43.7% of patients and more than 70% of patients and their relatives believed giving ECT for emergency psychiatric cases. Psychiatrist was the most frequent source of information reported by both patients (73.8%) and relatives (67%). Male relatives showed significantly higher attitude of recommending ECT treatment (p=0.004) for other patients. Patients and their relatives were reported to have moderate and better knowledge and attitude towards the use of ECT, respectively.

Purpose:During fracture fixation,the size of tibial nail is a vital factor affecting the outcomes and thus preoperative estimation of tibial nail length is very important.This study aims to find out whether "olecranon to 5th metacarpal head" (O-MH) measurement can be used to reliably predict the tibial nail length.Methods:This was a cross sectional study involving 100 volunteers.Measurements were done and recorded by two observers on two separate occasions.Tibial nail length estimation measurement was done from highest point of tibial tuberosity to the tip of the medial malleolus (TT-MM).O-MH measurement was taken from tip of olecranon to the tip of 5th metacarpal head with wrist in neutral position and hand clenched.Statistical analysis was done to find out correlation between two measurements and influence of age,gender and body mass index on them.Results:Paired t-test showed no systematic error between the readings.Intraclass correlation coefficient showed strong agreement in inter and intra observer settings.Strong correlation was found between the TT-MM & O-MH measurements using Pearson's correlation coefficient test (r =0.966).Hierarchical regression analysis showed age,gender and BMI have no statistically significant bearings on these measurements and their correlations.Conclusion:O-MH measurement is a useful and accurate means of estimating tibial nail length preoperatively.

Objective: To assess the ameliorative properties of Iranian Trigonella foenum-graecum L. (T. foenum-graecum) seeds and Punica granatum L. (P. granatum) peel extracts against streptozotocin-induced diabetes in male guinea pigs. Methods: Sixty guinea pigs were divided into six groups (10 guinea pigs per group). Group 1 consisted of normal animals. Groups 2 and 3 were treated with Iranian T. foenum-graecum seeds and P. granatum peel extract alone, respectively. Group 4 was treated with streptozotocin only; whereas Groups 5 and 6 receiving streptozotocin were treated with Iranian T. foenum-graecum seeds and P. granatum peel extract, respectively. All animals were treated for 30 days, and the body weight, blood and liver biochemical parameters were measured. Results: Guinea pigs exposed to streptozotocin showed an alteration in body weight gain, fasting glucose level, kidney function parameters (blood urea nitrogen and creati-nine) as well as decreased serum and hepatic total protein level. In addition, it increased the cholesterol and triglyceride level, while decreasing the hepatic glucose-6 phosphate dehydrogenase activity, glycogen, glutathione content and hepatic catalase activity. Oral treatment with T. foenum-graecum seeds and P. granatum peel extracts revealed sig-nificant protective properties with respect to body weight gain and other biochemical parameters studied. Conclusions: The Iranian T. foenum-graecum seeds and P. granatum peel extracts are significantly potent in ameliorating diabetic condition induced by streptozotocin and improving various biochemical parameters in serum and liver of guinea pigs.

Purpose:Sepsis is a common acute life-threatening condition that emergency physicians routinely face.Diagnostic options within the Emergency Department (ED) are limited due to lack of infrastructure,consequently limiting the use of invasive hemodynamic monitoring or imaging tests.The mortality rate due to sepsis can be assessed via multiple scoring systems,for example,mortality in emergency department sepsis (MEDS) score and sepsis patient evaluation in the emergency department (SPEED) score,both of which quantify the variation of mortality rates according to clinical findings,laboratory data,or therapeutic interventions.This study aims to improve the management processes of sepsis patients by comparing SPEED score and MEDS score for predicting the 28-day mortality in cases of emergency sepsis.Methods:The study is a cross-sectional,prospective study including 61 sepsis patients in ED in Suez Canal University Hospital,Egypt,from August 2017 to June 2018.Patients were selected by two steps:(1) suspected septic patients presenting with at least one of the following abnormal clinical findings:(a) body temperature higher than 38℃ or lower than 36℃,(b) heart rate higher than 90 beats/min,(c) hyperventilation evidenced by respiratory rate higher than 20 breaths/min or PaCO2 lower than 32 mmHg,and (d) white blood cell count higher than 12,000/μL or lower than 4000/μL;(2) confirmed septic patients with at least a 2-point increase from the baseline total sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score following infection.Other inclusion criteria included adult patients with an age ≥18 years regardless of gender and those who had either systemic inflammatory response syndrome or suspected/confirmed infection.Patients were shortly follow-up for the 28-day mortality.Each patient was subject to SPEED score and MEDS score and then the results were compared to detect which of them was more effective in predicting outcome.The receiver operating characteristic curves were also done for MEDS and SPEED scores.Results:Among the 61 patients,41 died with the mortality rate of 67.2％.The mortality rate increased with a higher SPEED and MEDS scores.Both SPEED and MEDS scores revealed significant difference between the survivors and nonsurvivors (p =0.004 and p ＜ 0.001,respectively),indicating that both the two systems are effective in predicting the 28-day mortality of sepsis patients.Thereafter,the receiver operating characteristic curves were plotted,which showed that SPEED was better than the MEDS score when applied to the complete study population with an area under the curve being 0.87 (0.788-0.963) as compared with 0.75 (0.634-0.876) for MEDS.Logistic regression analysis revealed that the best fitting predictor of 28-day mortality for sepsis patients was the SPEED scoring system.For every one unit increase in SPEED score,the odds of 28-day mortality increased by 37％.Conclusion:SPEED score is more useful and accurate than MEDS score in predicting the 28-day mortality among sepsis patients.Therefore SPEED rather than MEDS should be more widely used in the ED for sepsis patients.

The purpose of the study was to determine the level of knowledge and beliefs about female breast cancer among male students. A cross-sectional study involving 460 male students of a private university selected by convenient sampling was conducted using self-administered questionnaires that consists of socio-demographic details as well as knowledge and beliefs about female breast cancer. The prevalence of good knowledge was only 45.2%, there was a significant association between level of knowledge and age, course of study (p=0.02 and < 0.001, respectively). The prevalence of poor belief was 72.6% and the main source of information was the media (84.1 %). There was no significant association between beliefs about female breast cancer and family income, mother’s education and race. However, there was a significant association between beliefs about female breast cancer and age, course of study and father’s education. As a conclusion, the knowledge and beliefs about female breast cancer among the male students was very poor. More education and awareness need to be emphasized; especially the media was the most common source of information in our study.

Nonunion of the humerus in a severely osteoporotic bone is a likely event especially if the fracture is transverse. The management of such a combination is a challenge. Most of the conventional fixation methods are unlikely to succeed as the bone failure precedes implant failure in osteoporosis. The challenge is further compounded in severe osteoporosis when the cortical thickness is affected more severely. We used a combination of an intramedullary fibula with a locking plate in 5 cases. The results show that it may be a good combination in such situations as the bone strength is augmented and the plate pullout is less likely.
Aged ; Bone Plates ; Female ; Fibula ; transplantation ; Fracture Fixation, Intramedullary ; methods ; Fractures, Ununited ; surgery ; Humans ; Humeral Fractures ; surgery ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Osteoporosis ; complications

STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective study. PURPOSE: To evaluate the efficacy and the safety of craniocervical and upper cervical stabilization by using C2 pars/pedicle screw fixations. OVERVIEW OF LITERATURE: The management of craniocervical and upper cervical instability has progressed over the past two decades due to good achievements in the instrumentation and the increased awareness on spinal anatomy and biomechanics. However, there is insufficient studies or solid conclusions on this topic, thus, we tried to investigate and present our findings. METHODS: Twenty-two patients were operated upon and were followed up from March 2008 to October 2010. One patient had craniocervical instability (post-surgical), 15 patients had atlantoaxial instability of different etiologies (trauma, tumors, inflammatory and degenerative) and 6 patients had hangman fractures. Patients' ages ranged from 18 to 52 years old. with 5 female patients and 17 male patients. RESULTS: Radiological follow ups performed immediately post-operation showed good screw positioning and complete reductions in nearly all the cases. All patients were followed up for more than one year. Sound fusions were observed among all patients. CONCLUSIONS: The use of pars/pedicle screws is a very effective, sound, safe and easy surgical modality for treating craniocervical, atlantoaxial and upper cervical instabilities. Increasing studies for the biomechanics of this important region and longer periods of follow-ups are necessary to document the usefulness of this modality when treating such patients.
Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies

Malaria remains a major public health problem causing mortality and morbidity in tropical and subtropical countries. A cross-sectional study was carried out to determine malaria prevalence and its clinical pattern during malaria season in Yemen. Blood samples were collected from 511 patients with fever who voluntary participated in this study, of them 268 were males and 242 females. Malaria was screened using Giemsa-stained thick and thin blood films. Clinical profile was recorded through physical and laboratory examinations and biodata were collected by pre-tested standard questionnaire. The overall prevalence was 15.3%. Three malaria species (Plasmodium falciparum, Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium malarae) were detected with the predominance of P. falciparum (83.33%). People living in the rural areas had higher infection rate compared to urban areas (p<0.005). Children were at higher risk of developing severe malaria compared to adults (p<0.05). Severe anaemia, respiratory distress, jaundice, convulsion and bleeding were more apparent among younger age groups of malaria cases compared to older children. The study indicates that malaria is still a public health problem with children being at high risk of developing severe malaria which may lead to death.