Basic Science Sector

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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In a continuation of our earlier work, a multiresidual analytical method using 48 frequently used neutral pesticides in a water matrix was developed and validated in this study. The samples were extracted with dichloromethane and the pesticides were analyzed via GC-NPD followed by confirmation with GC-MS. Good linearity was detected over a concentration range of 0.01-1.0 microg/mL with correlation coefficients (r(2) ) in excess of 0.982. The recoveries were measured between 70.7 and 111.4% for the majority of the targeted pesticides with relative standard deviations (RSDs) of less than 20%. The LODs and LOQs were in ranges of 0.1-2 and 0.33-6.6 microg/L, respectively. A total of 66 water samples were collected from different locations in Yeongsan and the Sumjin River, Republic of Korea, and were analyzed in accordance with the developed method. None of the water samples were determined to contain any of the targeted pesticides. The method has been shown to be simpler, faster, and more cost-effective than the method established by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

A simple, facile, efficient and one pot three-component procedure for the synthesis of pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidines, triazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidines and pyrimido[1,2-a]benzimidazoles ring systems incorporating phenylsulfonyl moiety was developed via the reaction of 1-aryl-2-(phenylsulfonyl) ethanone derivatives 1a-d with the appropriate heterocyclic amine and triethyl orthoformate and evaluated as Aurora-A kinase inhibitors. The cytotoxic activity of the newly synthesized compounds against HST116 colon tumor cell line was investigated.2,7-Diphenyl-6-(phenylsulfonyl)pyrazolo [1,5-a] pyrimidine (4b) and its p-methoxy analogue 4c were found to be equipotent to Doxorubicin as a reference drug. Molecular modeling study was carried out in order to rationalize the in vitro anti-tumor results.

In this work the retardation of Ehrlich tumor growth implanted in mice was studied by employing 4.5 Hz magnetic field. Eighty female Balb/c mice were used, twenty as normal group; the other sixty mice were inoculated with Ehrlich tumor, then they were divided equally into three groups namely A, B and C.Group A (control group) animals were not exposed to the magnetic field .The tumors in the thigh of the animals of group B were exposed to 4.5 Hz, 2 Gauss square wave magnetic field by using a small solenoid connected to a power square wave generator. Group C animals were whole body exposed inside a large solenoid to 4.5 Hz, 2 Gauss square wave magnetic field.Both groups B & C were exposed for a period of 2 weeks at a rate 2 hours per day. Tumor volume, survival period, histological examination and dielectric relaxation of the tumor were measured to investigate the activity of the tumor of the exposed and the unexposed animals. The results indicated that exposing the tumor tissue to 4.5 Hz square wave magnetic field for 2 weeks at a rate 2 hours/day inhibited tumor growth and increased the survival period of the animals. However, group B showed more improvements than did group C. This was attributed to some distortions in the square waveform in the large solenoid (group C). By comparing data from current and previous work, it was concluded that the use of magnetic waves showed better results over previously published work using amplitude modulated electromagnetic waves with the same frequency.

A total of 208 cattle were randomly selected among slaughter houses, household and livestock farms to determine the prevalence of fascioliasis. Epidemiological studies on fascioliasis of cattle were undertaken in such localities under different climatic conditions existing in Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir State. Infection rate was 51.42%, 27.69% and 21.91% in slaughtered, livestock farm and household cattle, respectively. Significant variations were observed in the prevalence with respect to various host factors and the climate of the study area. Overall, the highest seasonal prevalence (45.19%) in all types of cattle was recorded during wet season while as only (24.40%) was recorded during the dry season. It was noticed that a higher infection rate was recorded in young cattle ages (0- 2 years) (40.02%) than in adult ones (28.04%) (3- 8 years). Moreover, the prevalence of infection in females was more (38.07%) than males (29.09%). It was also observed that the infection rate was high in comparatively low land areas (37.14%) as compared to high altitudes (30.09%). This study will provide necessary information regarding fascioliasis in cattle of Ladakh for their effective control and hence for a better production which will be beneficial resource to poor people where live stock rearing is one of the important sources of livelihood.

Three new thiadiazole derivatives (TDADs), namely, (I) N-[4-phenyl-5-(p-tolylimino)-4,5-dihydro-1,3,4-thiadiazole-2-yl] benzamide, (II) 2-acetyl-4-phenyl-5-(p-tolylimino)-4,5-dihydro-1,3,4- thiadiazole, and (III) Ethyl-4-phenyl-5-(p-tolylimino)-4,5-dihydro-1,3,4-thiadiazole-2-carboxylate, have been synthesized and used as additives to protect grade 1018 carbon steel from corrosion in naturally aerated 0.5 M NaCl solution (  3% by wt.). The techniques adopted include open circuit potential (OCP), potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) complemented

Using SDSS-DR7, we construct a sample of 42 382 galaxies with redshifts in the region of 20galaxy clusters. Using two successive iterative methods, the adaptive kernel method and the spherical infall model, we obtained 3396 galaxies as members belonging to the studied sample. The 2D projected map for the distribution of the clusters members is introduced using the 2D adaptive kernel method to determine the cluster centres. The cumulative surface number density profile for each cluster is fitted well with the generalized King model. The core radii of the cluster samples are found to vary from 0.18 Mpc h−1 (A1459) to 0.47 Mpc h−1 (A2670) with a mean value of 0.295 Mpc h−1. The infall velocity profile is determined using two different models: Yahil approximation and Praton model. Yahil approximation is matched with the distribution of galaxies only on the outskirts (infall regions) of many clusters of the sample, while it is not matched with the distribution within the inner core of the clusters. Both Yahil approximation and Praton model are matched together in the infall region for about nine clusters in the sample but they are completely unmatched for the clusters characterized by a high central density. For these clusters, Yahil approximation is not matched with the distribution of galaxies, while Praton model can describe well the infall pattern of such clusters. The integrated velocity dispersion profile shows that there are different behaviours within the cluster’s virialized region, while it exhibits a flattened-out behaviour outside the virialized region up to the turnaround radius. Under the assumption that the mass follows galaxy distribution, we determine themass and mass profile by two independent mass estimators; projected mass and virial mass methods. The virial mass profile is corrected by applying the surface pressure term which reduces the virial mass by about 14 per cent. The projected mass profile is larger than the corrected virial mass profile for nearly all clusters by about 28 per cent. The virial mass agrees with the NFW mass and Praton mass at rv. The virial mass profile within 1.5 Mpc h−1 is fitted with the NFW mass profile. The concentration parameter ranges from 1.3 to 39.17, and has a mean value of 12.98.