Basic Science Sector

A case-control study aimed to determine the prevalence of C282Y, H63D and S65C mutations of the HFE gene in beta-thalassaemia carriers and investigate their influence on iron absorption. A total of 41 beta-thalassaemia carriers and 40 control subjects without haemoglobinopathies were screened for the C282Y, H63D and S65C mutations by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment-length polymorphism. The iron status in these subjects was studied and correlated with the HFE gene mutations. H63D, S65C and C282Y allele frequencies were 30.5%, 13.4% and 7.3% respectively in beta-thalassaemia carriers and 10.0%, 2.5% and 0.0% respectively in the control group. Compound heterozygosis was found in 10 carriers (24.4%). The transferrin saturation level was high in compound heterozygote cases. Our study has shown that the HFEgene mutations are common in Egypt among beta-thalassaemia carriers compared with normal controls.

Leptin is a hormone influencing food intake, energy expenditure and body weight. It is pro-duced by adipocytes, exerts its effects on brain, endocrine pancreas and other organs by acti-vating trans-membrane receptors and is cleared from plasma mainly by the kidneys. Several studies have suggested that leptin's effects on metabolism are mediated by the liver.

The corrosion behavior of a commercial Pb-1.7%Sb grid of lead-acid batteries under open circuit conditions in 5 M H2SO4 in the presence of phosphoric acid is studied by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry. Dependence of corrodibility of the alloy on H3PO4 concentration is weak up to 0.7M. After days of corrosion, the corrosion rate in the presence of H3PO4 is slightly higher than in its absence, due to retardation of the growth of an insulating PbSO4 layer that acts as an effective diffusion barrier of the corrosive species. The electronic and diffusion properties of the passive layer formed in the presence of H3PO4 are substantially inferior. Cyclic voltammetry indicates a decrease in amounts of PbSO4 and Sb2O3 formed in the presence of H3PO4 and with increasing its concentration. Also, the amount of PbO formed beneath the PbSO4 layer increases with increasing H3PO4 concentration on the expense of the amount of PbSO4.

Enterococci are part of the dominant microbiota of several dairy products, which can be used in thedairy industry as starter or probiotic cultures. However, they are also implicated in severe multi-resistantnosocomial human infections. In this study, phenotypic tests using API 20 S strip were used for speciesidentification of 60 and 55 enterococcal strains isolated from dairy products and clinical samples, respectively.

Water buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis) are intermediate hosts for 4 species of Sarcocystis, i.e., Sarcocystis fusiformis and Sarcocystis buffalonis with cats as definitive hosts; Sarcocystis levinei with dogs as definitive hosts; and Sarcocystis dubeyi with an unknown definitive host but thought to be zoonotic. Currently, the latter species has been identified with certainty only from Vietnam. In the present study, sarcocysts of S. dubeyi are reported in 11 (30%) of 35 Egyptian water buffaloes from which the esophageal muscles were examined histologically. Sarcocysts were microscopic, measuring 180-250 X 70-110 urn in size. Ultrastructurally, the sarcocyst wall was 3.5-6.5 urn thick and had palisade-like villar protrusions which give it a striated appearance. The villar protrusions contained micro tubules that were distributed along the whole villus. This is the first report of S. dubeyi from water buffaloes in Egypt.

The biological activity of the natural antioxidant vitamin C can be enhanced by the presence of some other active natural antioxidants, such as gallic and tannic acid. Since many of these natural antioxidants are consumed sometimes together in foods, the potency for synergistic interactions is high in the human diet.

The biological activity of the natural antioxidant vitamin C can be enhanced by the presence of some other active natural antioxidants, such as gallic and tannic acid. Since many of these natural antioxidants are consumed together in foods, the potency for synergistic interactions is high in the human diet. In the current study, the hepatoprotective activity of the natural antioxidants against CCl4- induced acute hepatic injury by using rats (male albino) was investigated.

In a screening program to study the antimicrobial activities of desert actinomycetes as potential producers of active metabolites, 75 actinomycete strains were isolated from the Egyptian desert habitats , and tested. Out of the isolated 75 organisms, 32 (42.67%) showed activity against the used test organisms. The antimicrobial activities of the active desert actinomycete strains were classified into four groups according to their spectrum of activity on different groups of test organisms and it was found that 43.75% of the active isolates have activity against Gram-positive bacteria only, 28.13% have activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, 15.63% have activity against Gram-positive bacteria and yeast, 12.50% have activity against Gram-positive, Gram-negative bacteria and yeast. The most potent actinomycete strain, designated D332, was selected for further studies including its identification and isolation of its active compound. Strain D332 was identified by studying its morphology, chemotaxonomy, biochemical characteristics and phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequence. All phenotypic and genotypic characteristics were consistent with the classification of strain D332 to genus Streptomyces where it formed a distinct phyletic line in the Streptomyces 16S rRNA gene tree. On the other hand, the culture broth of strain D332 was extracted with ethyl acetate after fermentation for the production of the active compound then, the crude extract was partially purified by thin layer chromatography using a solvent system composed of heptane: ethyl acetate (3:2). The results revealed that strain D332 produced one major compound active against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria and yeasts.

A search for three-jet hadronic resonance production in pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of7 TeV has been conducted by the CMS Collaboration at the LHC, using a data sample corresponding to anintegrated luminosity of 35 pb_1. Events with high jet multiplicity and a large scalar sum of jet transversemomenta are analyzed using a signature-based approach. The number of expected standard modelbackground events is found to be in good agreement with the observed events. Limits on the crosssection times branching ratio are set in a model of gluino pair production with an R-parity-violating decayto three quarks, and the data rule out such particles within the mass range of 200 to 280 GeV=c2.

This experiment was conducted during the four seasons: Spring, summer, autumn and winter of two successive annual cycles; 2008/2009 and 2009/2010 (starting from May 2008). Four Eucalyptus species were under investigation; Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehnh., Eucalyptus cinerea F. Muell. ex Bentham, Eucalyptus citriodora Hook. and Eucalyptus globulus Labill. Seasonal variations in the amount of fixed and volatile oils in Eucalyptus spp. matured leaves were investigated.

In this article, the homotopy analysis method (HAM) for obtaining semi analytical solutions of biharmonicequations is introduced. Series solutions of the problem under consideration are developed by meansof HAM and the recurrence relations are given explicitly. The initial approximation can be freely chosen withpossible unknown constants which can be determined by imposing the boundary and initial conditions. Thenumerical examples show the rapid convergence of the series constructed by this method to the exact solution.Moreover, this technique does not require any discretization, linearization or small perturbations. Test problemshave been considered to ensure that HAM is accurate and efficient compared with the variational iterationmethod (VIM).

Background: The statins (or HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors) formed a class of hypolipidemic drugs used to lower cholesterol levels in people with or at risk of cardiovascular disease. They lower cholesterol by inhibiting the enzyme HMG-CoA reductase, which is the rate-limiting enzyme of the mevalonate pathway of chloestrol synethesis. The context and purpose: Simple, sensitive and rapid extractive spectrophotometric method has been developed for the assay of statin drugs, simvastatin, pravastatin sodium and atorvastatin calcium, in pure form and in tablets. The method involves the formation of coloured ion-pairs between the drugs and the Mo(V)-thiocyanate

Toxoplasma gondii and Bartonella spp. are zoonotic pathogens of cats. Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) and feline leukemia virus (Fel.v) are related to human immunodeficiency virus and human leukemia virus, respectively, and these viruses are immunosuppressive. In the present study, the prevalence of antibodies to T. gondii, Bartonella spp., FIV, as well as Fel,v and Dirofilaria immitis antigens was determined in sera from feral cats tFelis catusi from Cairo, Egypt. Using a modified agglutination test, antibodies to T. gondii were found in 172 (95.5%) of the 180 cats with titers of]:5 in 9, 1:10 in 9, I :20 in 3, 1:40 in 5, ]:80 in 5, I: 160 in 15, I :320 in 22, and] :640 or higher in 104. Thus, 57.4% had high T. gondii titers. Antibodies to Bartonella spp. were found in 105 (59.6%) of 178, with titers of 1:64 in 45, 1:128 in 39,1:256 in 13, 1:512 in 3,1:1,024 in 4, and 1:2,048 in I cat. Antibodies to FIV were detected in 59 (33.9%) of 174 cats. Of 174 cats tested, antigens to FeLv, and D. immitis were detected in 8 (4.6%) and 6 (3.4%) cats, respectively. The results indicate a high prevalence of T. gondii, Bartonella spp .. and FlV infections in cats from Cairo, Egypt. This is the first report or Bartonella spp., and D. immitis infection in cats in Egypt.

Serum taurine levels were measured in fifty women selected from a wide number of patients presented with irregular uterine bleeding (IUB) to the outpatient clinic of the Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, Ain Shams University. No significant differences in age and menopausal status were found. The control group comprised ten healthy women that enrolled as volunteers. According to the findings observed after full clinical examination, ultrasonography, endometrial biopsy or fractional uterine curetting and tumor marker (CA-125) determination, 15 women were diagnosed with endometrial cancer (EC), 10 with cystic endometrial hyperplasia (CEH), 15 with fibromyoma, and 10 women were diagnosed as dysfunctional uterine bleeding (DUB). The results showed non-significant (P > 0.05) changes in the levels of CA-125 in all patients except in the cancer group where it exhibited a value nearly double that of normal (P < 0.01). Serum taurine levels exhibited values lower than control with 8 %, 14 %, 32 % and 56 % in the serum of patients diagnosed as DUB (P > 0.05), fibromyoma (P > 0.05), CEH (P < 0.01) and EC (P < 0.01) respectively.

The volume of shale calculation based on naturally occurring gamma ray frequently overestimates shale volume when radioactive material other than shale is present, for example where sand appears to be shale. In this situation, shale volume calculations from other methods are highly recommended in order to avoid overestimation or underestimation of shale volume.

Chitosan with different molecular masses was reacted with sodium tripolyphosphate (STPP) to prepare different size nanoparticles, in which vitamin C was encapsulated. The effect of molecular weight (Mw) on nanoparticles efficiency, nanoparticles yield, size, and zeta potential was investigated in detail.

Ethyl2-amino-4,5,6,7-tetrahydrobenzo [b] thiophene-3 carboxylate 1 was used as a starting material to synthesize 2a-c via coupling with acetyl acetone, ethylcyanoacetate or malononitrile,respectively.Heating under reflux in sodium ethoxide solution 2a-c gave 3a-c. When compounds 3a-c were heated under reflux in ethanol with hydrazine hydrate, thiourea or 1,2-diaminoethane and a catalytic amount of piperidine to produce the spiro compounds 4a-c, 5a-c and 6,respectively.

An improved green Knoevenagel condensation of various aromatic aldehydes with 4-thiazolidinones in thepresence of anhydrous ammonium acetate can be achieved by grinding at room temperature in the absence of solvents. This process is simple, efficient, economical, and environmentally benign compared to classicalreactions.

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