Heterobothrium lineatus (Monogenea: Diclidophoridae) is described from the gills of Tetraodon lineatus collected from the River Nile at Helwan governorate, Egypt as a new locality record. The ...morphology and morphometric characterization of the recovered worms were described by means of light and scanning electron microscopy. Twenty two out 35 with a percentage of 62.9% of the examined fish were infected with Heterobothrium sp. (the intensity of infection was about ten worms per fish in general). Most of the infected fish had very pale gills and showed symptoms of anemia. Morphologically, the adult worms were elongated with anterior pointed and posterior broad ends, it measured 1.15-1.76 (1.52 +/- 0.02) mm in length x 0.28-0.39 (0.29 +/- 0.02) mm in width. Two buccal organs situated anteriorly around mouth opening were shown by light and scanning electron microscopy. Haptor subdivided into four pairs of clamps without isthmus separating it from body. The recovered worm differed from the previously species in the same genus by small dimensions of the measurements and presence of a copulatory organ armed with 7-11 genital hooks. Also, it is distinguished from H. tetrodonis and H. okamotoi by absence of a distinct isthmus, and resembled H. lamothei from gills of Sphoeroides testodineus in Mexico and H. lineatus from T. lineatus in Egypt in general appearance and presence of rectangular haptor with the fourth pair of clamps smaller than the previous ones.
Improving breastfeeding practices does not always link to interventions relying only on improving nutrition awareness and education but needs cultural and behavioral insights .
This study aimed to ...evaluate the changes in core breastfeeding indicators as a result of the use of social marketing (SM) approach for improving breastfeeding practices of Egyptian women and the physical growth of infants aged 6 to 12 months. The core breastfeeding indicators were: Early initiation of breastfeeding within one hour of birth, Predominant and exclusive breastfeeding to 6 months (EBF), Bottle feeding with formula, continued breastfeeding to 1 and 2 years, and responsiveness to cues of hunger and satiety.
A quasi-experimental longitudinal study with a posttest-only control design was done over 3 years in three phases; the first was in-depth interviews and formative research followed by health education and counseling interventions and ended by measuring the outcome. Motivating mothers' voluntary behaviors toward breastfeeding promotion "feeding your baby like a baby" was done using SM principles: product, price, place, and promotion. The interventions targeted 646 pregnant women in their last trimester and delivered mothers and 1454 women in their childbearing period. The statistical analysis was done by using SPSS program, version 26.
Most mothers showed significantly increased awareness about the benefits of breastfeeding and became interested in breastfeeding their children outside the house using the breastfeeding cover (Gawn) (p < 0.05). Breastfeeding initiation, exclusive breastfeeding under 6 months, frequency of breastfeeding per day, and percentage of children who continued breastfeeding till 2 years, were significantly increased (from 30%, 23%, 56%, and 32% to 62%, 47.3%, 69%, and 43.5% respectively). The girls who recorded underweight results over boys during the first year of life were significantly improved (p < 0.01) after the intervention (from 52.1% to 18.8% respectively). At the same time, girls found to be obese before the intervention (15.6%) became no longer obese.
Improvement for the majority of the key breastfeeding indicators and physical growth of infants indicates that raising a healthy generation should start by promoting breastfeeding practices that are respectable to societal norms.
Background and objectives The X-linked bleeding disorder, hemophilia A, is caused by defective production of factor VIII (FVIII). Hemophilic patients require regular FVIII infusions. Recombinant ...factor replacement poses the safest line of therapy. However, its main drawbacks are high expenses and the higher liability for formation of inhibitors. Recent studies confirmed the ability of bone marrow-derived stem cells to secrete FVIII. This study aims to generate bioscaffold from decellularized liver and subsequently seed it with trans-differentiated human stem cells into hepatic-like cells. This scaffold can then be implanted intraperitoneally or subcutaneously to provide FVIII. Methods After generation of the bioscaffold, seeding of discoid scaffolds with trans-differentiated human hepatocyte-like cells was performed. Then, the generated organoid was implanted into peritoneal cavity or subcutaneous tissue of experimental rats. Results Serum human FVIII was significantly increased in rats subjected to subcutaneous implantation compared intraperitoneal implantation. Immunostaining for detecting Cytokeratin 19 and human anti-globulin confirmed the presence of mature human hepatocytes that were significantly increased in subcutaneous implanted scaffold compared to the intraperitoneal one. Conclusion Implantation of decellularized bioscaffold seeded with trans-differentiated stem cells in rats was successful to establish production of FVIII. Subcutaneous implantation showed higher FVIII levels than intraperitoneal implantation. Keywords: Hemophilia A, Bioscaffold, Stem cells, Factor VIII
Modulation of cytokine production using immunonutrition is a relatively novel concept to improve outcomes among patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection and is now hypothesized to help manage COVID-19, ...however, clinical evidence is lacking. This prospective, double-blinded, randomized parallel-controlled interventional clinical trial investigated the effect of antioxidant supplements on inflammatory cytokines and disease progression in non-critically ill patients. A total of 87 hospitalized COVID-19 patients were randomized using computer-generated-randomization into the supplement group (n = 18) and the placebo group (n = 16) for 10 days. Baseline and final nutritional screening via nutrition risk screening (NRS-2002) and subjective global assessment (SGA), as well as the recording of anthropometric, clinical, biochemical, and functional parameters, were done. Serum ferritin level, cytokine storm parameters such as interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), monocyte chemoattractant protein 1(MCP-1), C-reactive protein, total leukocyte count, lymphocytic count, and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio were measured. Anthropometric and clinical parameters showed nonsignificant differences between groups. The hematology profile showed improvement in lymphocyte count in the supplement group. However, levels of alkaline phosphatase, IL-6, TNF-α, and MCP-1 were significantly lower in the supplement group. In conclusion, antioxidant oral supplementation significantly reduced the cytokine storm and led to partial improvements in clinical parameters among patients with non-critical COVID-19.
ObjectivesThe aim of this study is a descriptive presentation of cases of acute watery diarrhoea (AWD) that were presented to Aleppo University Hospital (AUH) during the recent cholera outbreak in ...Syria.DesignProspective, observational, cohort study.Setting and participantsA total of 1061 patients with AWD were admitted to AUH during the timeframe of 20 September 2022 to 20 October 2022. The data collection was done through a structured questionnaire. This includes comprehensive clinical observation, laboratory analyses, therapeutic interventions and holistic case evaluations.ResultsThe analysis has revealed notable insights: a predominant proportion of patients (58.6%) were residents from urban areas and 40.3% were residents from rural areas. Intriguingly, a diverse range of potential infection sources emerged from patient data within our hospital, including uncontrolled well water, vegetables and faecal-oral transmission through contaminated street/fast food. At discharge, most patients were in good health (79.7%), followed by moderate health (17.6%) and poor health (2.3%), with a minimal percentage dying before discharge (0.4%). The most common complications reported at admission and during hospitalisation included electrolyte imbalance (28.2%), followed by severe dehydration (16.3%). In the follow-up period, the majority of patients exhibited good health (81.0%). Older patients (>60 years) had poorer outcomes, with 8.4% having poor health and 4.2% death rate.ConclusionsThe study found results consistent with previous AWD outbreaks in developing countries like Yemen, Nigeria and Lebanon. Preventative measures like improving water sanitation and hygiene practices are essential to prevent future outbreaks and ease the strain on healthcare systems. Therefore, future studies must investigate the risk factors that increase the spread and the severity of the disease and investigate the best management method.
L. (Fabaceae) is widely grown in Egypt. It has a great history of folkloric medicinal uses. All fractions of aerial parts of
L. showed significant antioxidant and immunostimulant activities and could ...strongly induce lymphoproliferation. However, the light petrol fraction had antifungal activity against
with IC
value (<8 µg/mL) and exhibited strongest in-vitro antiprotozoal activity against protozoan parasites belonging to the genera
with IC
value (0.98 µg/mL) and
(with 100% inhibition using a sample concentration of 15866.7 ng/mL). This is the first study of the immunostimulant and antiprotozoal activities of genus
. By this approach, it was possible to isolate eight compounds (-)-7,2'-dihydroxy-4'-methoxyisoflavan (vestitol) (
), kaempferol (
), kaempferol 3-O-α-L-rhamnoside (afzelin) (
), kaempferol 3, 7-O-α-L-dirhamnoside (kaempferitin) (
), kaempferol-3-O-β-D-xylopyranosyl (1″'→2″)-β-D-galactopyranoside (
), 3-O-β-D-glucuronopyranosyl soyasapogenol B (
), kaempferol-3-O-β-D-xylopyranosyl (1″'→2″)-β-D-galactopyranoside-7-O-α-L-rhamnopyranoside (
) and 3-O-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl (1″'→2″)-β-D-galactopyranosyl-(1″→2')-β-D-glucuronopyranosyl soyasapogenol B (soyasaponin І) (
).
Lotus corniculatus L. (Fabaceae) is widely grown in Egypt. It has a great history of folkloric medicinal uses. All fractions of aerial parts of L. corniculatus L. showed significant antioxidant and ...immunostimulant activities and could strongly induce lymphoproliferation. However, the light petrol fraction had antifungal activity against C. neoformans with IC
50
value (<8 µg/mL) and exhibited strongest in-vitro antiprotozoal activity against protozoan parasites belonging to the genera Trypanosoma with IC
50
value (0.98 µg/mL) and Plasmodium (with 100% inhibition using a sample concentration of 15866.7 ng/mL). This is the first study of the immunostimulant and antiprotozoal activities of genus Lotus. By this approach, it was possible to isolate eight compounds (-)-7,2'-dihydroxy-4'-methoxyisoflavan (vestitol) (1), kaempferol (2), kaempferol 3-O-α-L-rhamnoside (afzelin) (3), kaempferol 3, 7-O-α-L-dirhamnoside (kaempferitin) (4), kaempferol-3-O-β-D-xylopyranosyl (1″′→2″)-β-D-galactopyranoside (5), 3-O-β-D-glucuronopyranosyl soyasapogenol B (6), kaempferol-3-O-β-D-xylopyranosyl (1″′→2″)-β-D-galactopyranoside-7-O-α-L-rhamnopyranoside (7) and 3-O-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl (1″′→2″)-β-D-galactopyranosyl-(1″→2′)-β-D-glucuronopyranosyl soyasapogenol B (soyasaponin І) (8).
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