Search results for: Mansour F. Hussein

Authors: Marwan Ahmed Swileh, Amal Hussein Abuaffan

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Objective: This study aimed to explore the existence of golden proportion (GP) between the widths of maxillary anterior teeth and golden standard (GS) for width to height ratio of maxillary central incisor in individuals with attractive and non-attractive smiles. Materials and methods: A total of 82 females were recruited and divided into 2 groups: attractive smile (n= 41) and non-attractive smile (n= 41). Frontal photographs were taken, scanned, and saved on a personal computer. The apparent mesiodistal width of each anterior tooth was measured. The data were analyzed using the appropriate statistical tests at p-value < 0.05. Results: Frequency of GP was very low among the total sample, and most proportions were higher than GP. No significant differences were found between both groups in relation to central-to-lateral ratio while significant differences were found in relation to canine-to-lateral ratio. Similarly, most proportions of width to height ratio were higher than GS. Difference between groups was significant for left side and for both sides (p < 0.05) but was not for right side (p > 0.05). Conclusion: Frequency of golden proportion was very low among the study population. Smile attractiveness is not related that much to the proportions between the teeth.

Keywords: golden proportion, golden standard, attractive smile, esthetic, anterior teeth

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Authors: Ikram Mohamed Eltayeb Elsiddig, Abdel Khalig Muddather, Hiba Abdel Rahman Ali, Saad Mohamed Hussein Ayoub

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Anogeissusleiocarpus (Combretaceae) is well known for its medicinal uses in African traditional medicine, for treating many human diseases mainly skin diseases and infections.Mycetoma disease is a fungal and/ or bacterial skin infection, mainly cause by Madurella mycetomatis fungus.This study was carried out in vitro to investigate the antifungal activity of Anogeissusleiocarpus leaf extracts against the isolated pathogenicMadurellamycetomatis, by using the NCCLS modified method compared to Ketoconazole standard drug and MTT assay. The bioactive fraction was subjected to chemical analysis implementing different chromatographic analytical methods (TLC, HPLC, and LC-MS/MS). The results showed significance antifungal activity of A. leiocarpus leaf extractsagainst the isolated pathogenicM. mycetomatis, compared to negative and positive controls. The chloroform fraction showed the highest antifungal activity.The chromatographic analysis of the chloroform fraction with the highest activity showed the presence of important bioactive compounds such as ellagic and flavellagic acids derivatives, flavonoids and stilbenoid, which are well known for their antifungal activity.

Keywords: Anogeissus leiocarpus, crude extracts and fractions of Anogeissus leiocarpus, in vitrosusceptibility of Madurella mycetomatis, Madurella mycetomatis

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Authors: Islam Elsayed Hussein Ali, Stefan M. Wagner

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Smartphone and tablet computers, as well as other ultra portable devices, have already gained enough critical mass to be considered mainstream devices, being present in the daily lives of millions of higher education students. Many universities throughout the world have already adopted or are planning to adopt mobile technologies in many of their courses as a better way to connect students with the subjects they are studying. These new mobile platforms allow students to access content anywhere/anytime to immerse himself/herself into that content (alone or interacting with teachers or colleagues via web communication forms) and to interact with that content in ways that were not previously possible. This paper plans to provide a thorough overview of the possibilities and consequences of m-learning in higher education environments as a gateway to ubiquitous learning – perhaps the ultimate form of learner engagement, since it allows the student to learn, access and interact with important content in any way or at any time or place he might want so the objective of the study is to examine how the usage of mobile phones for m-learning differs between heavy and light mobile phone users at TU Braunschweig. Heavy mobile phone users are hypothesized to have access to/subscribe to one type of mobile content than light mobile phone users, to have less frequent access to, subscribe to or purchase mobile content within the last year than light mobile phone users, and to pay less money for mobile learning, its content and mobile games than light mobile phone users.

Keywords: mobile learning, technologies, applications, higher education

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Authors: Elham Kiyani, S. Mansour Vaezpour, Javad Tavakoli

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In this paper, we first introduce a new distance function in a linear space not necessarily endowed with a topology. The algebraic concepts of interior and closure are useful to study optimization problems without topology. So, we define Q-weak efficient solutions generated by the algebraic interior of a set Q, where Q is not necessarily convex. Studying nonconvex vector optimization is valuable since, for a convex cone K in topological spaces, we have int(K)=cor(K), which means that topological interior of a convex cone K is equal to the algebraic interior of K. Moreover, we used the scalarization technique including the distance function generated by the vectorial closure of a set to characterize these Q-weak efficient solutions. Scalarization is a useful approach for solving vector optimization problems. This technique reduces the optimization problem to a scalar problem which tends to be an optimization problem with a real-valued objective function. For instance, Q-weak efficient solutions of vector optimization problems can be characterized and computed as solutions of appropriate scalar optimization problems. In the convex case, linear functionals can be used as objective functionals of the scalar problems. But in the nonconvex case, we should present a suitable objective function. It is the aim of this paper to present a new distance function that be useful to obtain sufficient and necessary conditions for Q-weak efficient solutions of general optimization problems via scalarization.

Keywords: weak efficient, algebraic interior, vector closure, linear space

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Authors: Asma Ammar, Nabiha Bouafia , Asma BenCheikh, Mohamed Mahjoub, Olfa Ezzi, Wadiaa Bannour, Radhia Helali, Mansour Njah

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Background: The objective of the present study was to identify factors associated with vaccination against Hepatitis B virus (HBV) among healthcare workers (HWs) in the University Hospital Center (UHC) Farhat Hached Sousse, Tunisia. Methods: We conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study all licensed physicians (n= 206) and a representative sample of paramedical staff (n= 372) exercising at UHC Hached Sousse (Tunisia) during two months (January and February 2014). Data were collected using a self-administered and pre-tested questionnaire, which composed by 21 questions. In order to determinate factors associated with vaccination against hepatitis B among HWs, this questionnaire was based on the Health Belief Model, one of the most classical behavior theories. Logistic regression with the stepwise method of Hosmer and Lemeshow was used to identify the determinants of the use of vaccination against HBV. Results: The response rates were 79.8%. Fifty two percent believe that HBV is frequent in our healthcare units and 60.6% consider it a severe infection. The prevalence of HWs vaccination was 39%, 95% CI [34.49%; 43.5%]. In multivariate analysis, determinants of the use of vaccination against HBV among HWs were young age (p=10-4), male gender (p = 0. 006), high or very high importance accorded to health (p = 0.035), perception membership in a risk group for HBV infection (p = 0.038) and very favorable or favorable opinion about vaccination against HVB (p=10-4). Conclusion: The results of our study should be considered in any strategy for preventing VHB infection in HWs. In the mean time, coverage with standard vaccines should be improved also by supplying complete information on the risks of VHB infection and on the safety and efficacy of vaccination.

Keywords: Hepatitis B virus, healthcare workers, prevalence, vaccination

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Authors: Abass Braimah, Maha Hussein Abdallah

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The global ascendancy of terrorist attacks on building infrastructure with economic and heritage significance has increased awareness of the possibility of terrorism in Canada. Many structures in Canada that are at risk of terrorist attacks include government buildings, built many years ago of historic stone masonry construction. Although many researchers are investigating ways to retrofit masonry stone buildings to mitigate the effect of blast loadings, lack of knowledge on the dynamic behavior of historic stone masonry structures under blast loads makes it difficult to ascertain the effectiveness of the retrofitting techniques. This paper presents a review of open-source literature for the experimental and numerical stone masonry structures under blast loads. This review yielded very little information of the response of the historic stone masonry structures under blast loads. Thus, a comprehensive study is needed to understand the blast load effects on historic stone masonry buildings. The out-of-plane response of historic masonry structures to blast loads is investigated by using single-degree-of-freedom analysis. This approach presents equations that can be used effectively in the analysis of historic masonry walls to out-of-plane blast loading.

Keywords: blast loads, historical buildings, masonry structure, single-degree-of-freedom analysis

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Authors: Shefaa Mansour, Hassan Arafat, Shadi Hasan

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Management of reverse osmosis (RO) brine has become a major area of research due to the environmental concerns associated with it. This study worked on studying the feasibility of the direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) system in the treatment of this RO brine. The system displayed great potential in terms of its flux and salt rejection, where different operating conditions such as the feed temperature, feed salinity, feed and permeate flow rates were varied. The highest flux of 16.7 LMH was reported with a salt rejection of 99.5%. Although the DCMD has displayed potential of enhanced water recovery from highly saline solutions, one of the major drawbacks associated with the operation is the fouling of the membranes which impairs the system performance. An operational run of 77 hours for the treatment of RO brine of 56,500 ppm salinity was performed in order to investigate the impact of fouling of the membrane on the overall operation of the system over long time operations. Over this time period, the flux was observed to have reduced by four times its initial flux. The fouled membrane was characterized through different techniques for the identification of the organic and inorganic foulants that have deposited on the membrane surface. The Infrared Spectroscopy method (IR) was used to identify the organic foulants where SEM images displayed the surface characteristics of the membrane. As for the inorganic foulants, they were identified using X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Ion Chromatography (IC) and Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS). The major foulants found on the surface of the membrane were inorganic salts such as sodium chloride and calcium sulfate.

Keywords: brine treatment, membrane distillation, fouling, characterization

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Authors: Nasser Mansour, Ziad Said, Abdullah Abu-Tineh

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STEM teachers face the challenge of possessing expertise not only in their subject disciplines but also in the pedagogical knowledge required for integrated STEM lessons. However, research reveals a lack of pedagogical competencies related to project-based learning (PBL) in the STEM context. To bridge this gap, the study examines teachers' competencies and self-efficacy in TPACK (Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge) and its specific integration with PBL and STEM content. Data from 245 specialized science and math teachers were collected using a questionnaire. The study emphasizes the importance of addressing gender disparities, supporting formal teacher education, and recognizing the expertise and experiences of STEM teachers in effective technology integration. The findings indicate that gender plays a role in self-efficacy beliefs, with females exhibiting higher confidence in pedagogical knowledge and males demonstrating higher confidence in technological knowledge. Teaching experience and workload factors have a limited impact on teachers' Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK). These findings enhance our understanding of contextual factors impacting science and math teachers' self-efficacy in utilizing TPACK for STEM and PBL. They inform the development of targeted interventions, professional development programs, and support systems to enhance teachers' competencies and self-efficacy in TPACK for teaching science and Mathematics through STEM and PBL.

Keywords: technological pedagogical content knowledge, TPACK, STEM, project-based learning, PBL, self-efficacy, mathematics, science

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Authors: Hussein Moselhy, Islam Salam

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There have been some challenges and problems which hinder the implementation of the e-marketing systems such as the high cost of information systems infrastructure and maintenance as well as their unavailability within the institution. Also, there is no system which supports all programming languages and different platforms. Another problem is the lack of integration between these systems on one hand and the operating systems and different web browsers on the other hand. No system for customer relationship management is established which recognizes their desires and puts them in consideration while performing e-marketing functions is available. Therefore, the service-oriented architecture emerged as one of the most important techniques and methodologies to build systems that integrate with various operating systems and different platforms and other technologies. This technology allows realizing the data exchange among different applications. The service-oriented architecture represents distributed computing concepts to demonstrate its success in achieving the requirements of systems through web services. It also reflects the appropriate design for the services to use different web services in supporting the requirements of business processes and software users. In a service-oriented environment, web services are deployed on the web in the form of independent services to be accessed without knowledge of the nature of the programs and systems with in. This Paper presents a proposal for a new model which contributes to the application of methods and means of e-marketing with the integration of marketing mix elements to improve marketing efficiency (E-MSOA). And apply it in the educational city of one of the Egyptian sector.

Keywords: service-oriented architecture, electronic commerce, virtual retailing, unified modeling language

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Authors: Sobhy El-Sohaimy, Abduvali Toshev, Hanem Mansour

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(1) Objective: The main objective of the current study was to evaluate in an In Vitro and In Vivo, the potential activity of olive leaves extract (OLE) in the treatment and/or preventing the diabetes mellitus type II and related implications; (2) Methodology: Five groups of male rats were used in the current study: group (1)- negative control (normal); group (2)- positive control, streptozotocin (STZ) induced rats; group (3)-diabetic rats treated with metformin (200 mg/kg) plus OLE (200 mg/kg); group 4- diabetic rats treated with metformin (200 mg/kg); group 5- diabetic rats treated with OLE (200 mg/kg). A four-week regime of oral treatment was administered once daily; (3) Results: Diabetic rats treated with metformin + OLE clearly showed normal blood glucose level (121.67 ± 5.49 mg/dl), and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) (3.70 ± 0.10%). The combination of metformin + OLE obviously showed a superior improvement in the lipid profile (TG, TC, HDL and LDL) compared to both metformin and OLE individually. The histological examination revealed that the combination of metformin + Olive leaves extract successfully repaired of the liver, kidneys, and pancreatic tissues in diabetic rats to be near to the normal status; (4) Conclusion: Finally, it can be concluded that, the combination of metformin and OLE exhibited a superior improvement than metformin and OLE individually which emphasized the promising adjuvant role of the OLE in the treatment protocol of diabetes mellitus type II.

Keywords: olive (olea europaea) leaves extracts, hypoglycemic agents, cytotoxicity, nitic oxide scavenging activity, α-glucose oxidase inhibitor

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Authors: Iman M. Mansour, Rania A. Zayed, Fadwa S. Abdel-Azim, Lamyaa H. Abdel-Latif

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Background and Objectives: The microenvironment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is suppressive for immune cells. Regulatory T cells (Tregs) have been recognized to play a role in helping leukemic cells to evade immunesurveillance. The mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are essential contributors in immunomodulation of the microenvironment as they can promote differentiation of Tregs via the indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) pathway. The aim of the present work was to evaluate the expression of IDO in bone marrow derived MSCs and to study its correlation to percentage of Tregs. Methods: 37 adult bone marrow samples were cultured in appropriate culture medium to isolate MSCs. Successful harvest of MSCs was determined by plastic adherence, morphology and positive expression of CD271 and CD105; negative expression of CD34 and CD45 using flowcytometry. MSCs were examined for IDO expression by immunocytochemistry using anti-IDO monoclonal antibody. CD4+ CD25+ cells (Tregs) were measured in bone marrow samples by flowcytometry. Results: MSCs were successfully isolated from 20 of the 37 bone marrow samples cultured. MSCs showed higher expression of IDO and Tregs percentage was higher in AML patients compared to control subjects (p=0.002 and p<0.001 respectively). A positive correlation was found between IDO expression and Tregs percentage (p value=0.012, r=0.5). Conclusion: In this study, we revealed an association between high IDO expression in MSCs and elevated levels of Tregs which has an important role in the pathogenesis of AML, providing immunosuppressive microenvironment.

Keywords: acute myeloid leukemia, indoleamine 2, 3-dioxygenase, mesenchymal stem cells, T regulatory cells

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Authors: Hassan S. Hussein, Rania A. Abul Seoud, Amr M. Refaat

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Scientific researchers face in the analysis of very large data sets that is increasing noticeable rate in today’s and tomorrow’s technologies. Hadoop and Spark are types of software that developed frameworks. Hadoop framework is suitable for many Different hardware platforms. In this research, a scientific Linux cluster for Big Data analysis (SLBD) is presented. SLBD runs open source software with large computational capacity and high performance cluster infrastructure. SLBD composed of one cluster contains identical, commodity-grade computers interconnected via a small LAN. SLBD consists of a fast switch and Gigabit-Ethernet card which connect four (nodes). Cloudera Manager is used to configure and manage an Apache Hadoop stack. Hadoop is a framework allows storing and processing big data across the cluster by using MapReduce algorithm. MapReduce algorithm divides the task into smaller tasks which to be assigned to the network nodes. Algorithm then collects the results and form the final result dataset. SLBD clustering system allows fast and efficient processing of large amount of data resulting from different applications. SLBD also provides high performance, high throughput, high availability, expandability and cluster scalability.

Keywords: big data platforms, cloudera manager, Hadoop, MapReduce

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Authors: Maged A. Mogalli, Abdullah I. Al-Mansour, Seongkwan Mark Lee

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In the last decades, population growth has gradually exceeded transportation infrastructure growth, and today’s transportation professionals are facing challenge on how to meet the mobility needs of a rising population especially in the absence of adequate public transport, as is the case in Saudi Arabia. The traffic movement congestion can be decreased by carrying out some appropriate alternative designs of interchanges such as diverging diamond interchange (DDI) and single diamond interchange (SPDI). In this paper, evaluation of newly implemented DDIs at the interchange of Makkah road with Prince Turki road and the interchange of King Khaled road with Prince Saud Ibn Mohammed Ibn Mugrin road in Riyadh city was carried out. The comparison between the DDI and SPDI is conducted by evaluating different measures of effectiveness (MOE) such as stop delay, average queue length, and number of stops. In this connection, each interchange type was evaluated for traffic flow at peak hours using micro-simulation program namely 'Synchro/SimTarffic' to measure its effectiveness such as stop delay, average queue length, and number of stops. The results of this study show that DDI provides a better result when compared with SPDI in terms of stope delay, average queue length, and number of stops. The stop delay for the SPDI is greater than DDI by three times. Also, the average queue length is approximately twice that of the SPDI when compared to the DDI. Furthermore, the number of stops for the SPDI is about twice as the DDI.

Keywords: single point diamond interchange, diverging diamond interchange, measures of effectiveness, simulation

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Authors: Ibrahim Khalil Ibrahim, Enas Mohamed Shahine, Abeer Shawky El Hadedy, Emmanuel Kamal Aziz Saba, Ghada Salah Attia Hussein

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Osteoarthritis (OA) is a multifactorial disease characterized by a progressive degradation of articular cartilage and is the leading cause of disability in elderly persons. IL-18 contributes to the destruction of cartilage and bone in the disease process of arthritis. The aim of the study was to investigate the role of IL-18 in primary knee OA patients. Serum level of IL-18 was assessed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in 30 primary knee OA patients and compared to 20 age and gender-matched healthy volunteers as a control group. Radiographic severity of OA was assessed by Kellgren and Lawrence (KL) global scale. Pain, stiffness and functional assessment were done using Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC). OA patients had significantly higher serum IL-18 level than in control group (420.93 ± 345.4 versus 151.03 ± 144.16 pg/ml, P=0.001). Serum level of IL-18 was positively correlated with KL global scale (P=0.001). There were no statistically significant correlations between serum level of IL-18 and pain, stiffness, function subscales and total WOMAC index scores among the studied patients. In conclusions, IL-18 has a role in the pathogenesis of OA and it is positively correlated with the radiographic damage of OA.

Keywords: Interlukin-18, knee osteoarthritis, primary osteoarthritis, WOMAC scale

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Authors: Mahmoud Tarek, Alaa Obeida, Mai Magdy, Khalid Hussein, Aly Shalaby

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Background: More doctors are complaining of burnout than before, Burnout is a state of physical and mental exhaustion caused by the doctor’s lifestyle, unfortunately, Medical errors are also more likely in those suffering from burnout and these may result in malpractice suits. Methodology: It is a retrospective audit of burnout response on all neonatologists over a 9 months period. We gathered data using burnout questionnaire, it was obtained from 23 physicians, the physicians divided into 5 categories according to the final score of the 28 questions in the questionnaire. Category 1 with score from 28-38 with almost no work stress, category 2 with score (38-50) who express a low amount of job related stress, category 3 with score (51-70) with moderate amount of stress, category 4 with score (71-90) those express a high amount of job stress and begun to burnout, category 5 with score (91 and above) who are under a dangerous amount of stress and advanced stage of burnout. Results: 33 neonatologists have received the questionnaire, 23 responses were sent back with a response rate of 69.6%. The results showed that 61% of physicians fall in category 4, 31% of the physician in category 5, while 8% of physicians equally distributed between category 2 and 3 (4% each of them). On the other hand, there is no physician present in category 1. Conclusion: Burnout is prevalent in SNICUs, So interventions to minimize burnout prevalence may be of greater importance as this may be reflected indirectly on medical conditions of the patients and physicians, efforts should be done to decrease this high rate of burnout.

Keywords: Cairo, work overload, exhaustion, surgery, neonatal ICU

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Authors: Hussein Alahmer, Amr Ahmed

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Liver cancer is one of the common diseases that cause the death. Early detection is important to diagnose and reduce the incidence of death. Improvements in medical imaging and image processing techniques have significantly enhanced interpretation of medical images. Computer-Aided Diagnosis (CAD) systems based on these techniques play a vital role in the early detection of liver disease and hence reduce liver cancer death rate.  This paper presents an automated CAD system consists of three stages; firstly, automatic liver segmentation and lesion’s detection. Secondly, extracting features. Finally, classifying liver lesions into benign and malignant by using the novel contrasting feature-difference approach. Several types of intensity, texture features are extracted from both; the lesion area and its surrounding normal liver tissue. The difference between the features of both areas is then used as the new lesion descriptors. Machine learning classifiers are then trained on the new descriptors to automatically classify liver lesions into benign or malignant. The experimental results show promising improvements. Moreover, the proposed approach can overcome the problems of varying ranges of intensity and textures between patients, demographics, and imaging devices and settings.

Keywords: CAD system, difference of feature, fuzzy c means, lesion detection, liver segmentation

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Authors: Nadia Ezzat Al-Kirbasee, Ahlam Hussein Hassan, Shatha Raheem Helal Alhimidi, Doaa Ezzat Al-Kirbasee, Muhsen Abood Muhsen Al-Ibadi

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Through DFT/QTAIM calculations, we have provided new insights into the nature of the M-M, M-H, M-O, and M-C bonds of the (Cp*Ru)n(Cp*Os)3−n(μ3-O)2(μ-H)(Cp* = η5-C5Me5, n= 3,2,1,0). The topological analysis of the electron density reveals important details of the chemical bonding interactions in the clusters. Calculations confirm the absence of bond critical points (BCP) and the corresponding bond paths (BP) between Ru-Ru, Ru-Os, and Os-Os. The position of bridging hydrides and Oxo atoms coordinated to Ru-Ru, Ru-Os, and Os-Os determines the distribution of the electron densities and which strongly affects the formation of the bonds between these transition metal atoms. On the other hand, the results confirm that the four clusters contain a 6c–12e and 4c–2e bonding interaction delocalized over M3(μ-H)(μ-O)2 and M3(μ-H), respectively, as revealed by the non-negligible delocalization indexes calculations. The small values for electron density ρ(b) above zero, together with the small values, again above zero, for laplacian ∇2ρ(b) and the small negative values for total energy density H(b) are shown by the Ru-H, Os-H, Ru-O, and Os-O bonds in the four clusters are typical of open shell interactions. Also, the topological data for the bonds between Ru and Os atoms with the C atoms of the pentamethylcyclopentadienyl (Cp*) ring ligands are basically similar and show properties very consistent with open shell interactions in the QTAIM classification.

Keywords: metal-metal and metal-ligand interactions, organometallic complexes, topological analysis, DFT and QTAIM analyses

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Authors: Salah Mohammed Al-Eid, Siddig Hussein Hamad, Fahad Mohammed Aljassas

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The effects of high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) treatments on microbial contamination, chemical and physical properties of fresh dates (Rutab stage) were studied. Khalas, Barhi and Hilali cultivars were treated at 200, 250, 300 and 350 MPa using HHP research apparatus. The objective of such treatments was to preserve fresh dates without adversely affecting its properties. Treating fresh dates at 300 MPa for 5 minutes at 40°C reduced microbial contamination in about 2.5 log cycles. Applying 250 MPa was enough to control Rutab contamination with molds, yeasts, and coliforms. Both treatments were enough to reduce Rutab microbial contamination to acceptable levels. HHP caused no significant effect on Rutab chemical properties (moisture, sugars, protein, pectin and acidity). However, a slight decrease in moisture contents due to HHP was observed. Rutab lightness (L*) significantly decreased due to the application of HHP. Only Rutab treated at 300 MPs gave lower redness (a*) values compared with an untreated sample. The effect of 300 MPa on increasing yellowness (b*) was observed for Barhi and Hilali but decreasing for Khalas. The hardness of all Rutab cultivars significantly decreased as a result of HHP application. In fact, the pressure applied at 300 MPa had an adverse effect on texture, which may limit its suitability for use in Rutab preservation.

Keywords: high hydrostatic pressure, fresh dates (Rutab), microbial contamination, color, texture

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Authors: Tabitha D. Hussein, Arigu M. Sunday

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This paper is an attempt to gauge the conception and misconception of mental health in the Gwafan community, Jos North Plateau State, Nigeria (West Africa), to ascertain which side of the scale the pendulum swings. Mental health education and awareness are necessary for healthy community development. However, in a society such as ours in Nigeria (Africa) that is not knowledge-based, it is easy for people to embrace hearsay, speculations, superstition, and the supernatural. The objectives of this paper are two folds: first, to examine the level of awareness of the people on mental health, or the lack of it; second, to ascertain their access to mental health services and good practices. The methodology adopted is qualitative research, and the instrument used is T-test related. The findings include, first, the fact that a larger population has misconceptions about Mental Health. Second, this misconception is a result of a lack of basic knowledge of Mental Health. Based on the aforementioned, the paper recommends that there is a need for more Mental Health Education among the populace and access to Mental Health services and practices (Preventative and Curative). The paper concludes that in a society that is not knowledgebase, every attempt should be made to shift people’s mindset from superstitious knowledge to evidence-based knowledge, which can empower them to make informed decisions not only on mental Health but on associative Health issues that can aid their wellbeing, livelihood and sustainable development as a whole.

Keywords: conceptions, misconceptions, mental health, knowledge, superstition, service delivery

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Authors: Ahmed El-Sabbagh, Heba Mansour, Magdy El-Hedeny

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This study provided a taphonomic alteration and paleoecology of Cenomanian oysters from the Musabaa Salama area, south western Sinai, Egypt. Three oyster zones can be recognized in the studied area, a lower one of Amphidonte (Ceratostreon) flabellatum (lower-middle Cenomanian), a middle zone of Ilymatogyra (Afrogyra) africana (upper Cenomanian) and an upper one of Exogyra (Costagyra) olisiponensis (upper Cenomanian). Taphonomic features including disarticulation, fragmentation, encrustation and bioerosion were subjected to multivariate statistical analyses. The analyses showed that the distributions of the identified ichnospecies were greatly similar within the identified oyster zones in the Musabaa Salama section. With rare exceptions, Entobia cretacea, Gastrochaenolites torpedo and Maeandropolydora decipiens are considered as common to abundant ichnospecies within the three recorded oyster zones. In contrast, and with some exceptions, E. ovula, E. retiformis and Rogerella pattei are considered as frequent to common ichnospecies within the identified oyster zones. Other ichnospecies, including Caulostrepsis cretacea, G. orbicularis, Trypanites solitarius, E. geometrica and C. taeniola, are mostly recorded in rare to frequent occurrences. Careful investigation of these host shells and the preserved encrusters and/or bioerosion sculptures provided data concerning: 1) the substrate characteristics, 2) time of encrustation and bioerosion, 3) rate of sedimentation, 4) the planktonic productivity level, and 5) the general bathymetry and the rate of transgression across the substrate.

Keywords: oysters, Cenomanian, taphonomy, palaeoecology, Sinai, Egypt

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Authors: Essam Mansour

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The purpose of this study is to explore the potential role of South Valley University (SVU) libraries’ manpower, collections and services in the fight against terrorism in the Upper Egypt. A quantitative research methodology was used in the form of a survey sent to 127 library staff at the SVU. The survey was undertaken from June to July 2015 with a response rate 73.2%. Printed materials were the most adequate collections in the SVU libraries. Other materials, such as CDs/DVDs, audiovisual materials, microfilm and microfiche, online resources and electronic materials respectively were inadequate at SVU libraries. Few of the services provided by SVU libraries were characterized as adequate services, some are inadequate and other services do not exist. The average of the facilities provided by SVU libraries was somewhat adequate. Activities, such as holding social field trips, holding training workshops and holding academic field trip were, at least, somewhat adequate to SVU libraries. SVU libraries had no a significant role in fighting terrorism in the Upper Egypt. There is no a relationship between the SVU library staff’s professional characteristics and the potential role that their libraries may play in the fight against this phenomenon. As a result of the lack of SVU libraries’ collections, services, facilities and activities, this study concluded that that such role could not be achieved. Almost all the library staff admitted that this severe lack has affected the provision of library patrons and members of the library community to these collections and services, which help in countering the threat of terrorism. Despite the significance of all these problems faced by SVU libraries in the fight against terrorism, it was found that the inadequacy of the library opening hours is significantly correlated with the professional characteristics of the library staff, particularly their job title and work experience.

Keywords: terrorism, national security, university libraries, south valley university, Egypt, survey

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Authors: Rasha M. Hussein, Reem M. Hashem, Laila A. Rashed

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Alzheimer’s disease is the most common dementia disease in the elderly. It is characterized by the accumulation of extracellular amyloid β (Aβ) peptides and intracellular hyper-phosphorylated tau protein. In addition, recent evidence indicates that accumulation of intracellular amyloid β peptides may play a role in Alzheimer’s disease pathogenesis. This suggests that intracellular Heat Shock Proteins (HSP) that maintain the protein quality control in the cell might be potential candidates for disease amelioration. DNAJB6, a member of DNAJ family of HSP, effectively prevented the aggregation of poly glutamines stretches associated with Huntington’s disease both in vitro and in cells. In addition, DNAJB6 was found recently to delay the aggregation of Aβ42 peptides in vitro. In the present study, we investigated the ability of DNAJB6 to prevent the aggregation of both intracellular and extracellular Aβ peptides using transfection of HEK293 cells with Aβ-GFP and recombinant Aβ42 peptides respectively. We performed western blotting and immunofluorescence techniques. We found that DNAJB6 can prevent Aβ-GFP aggregation, but not the seeded aggregation initiated by extracellular Aβ peptides. Moreover, DNAJB6 required interaction with HSP70 to prevent the aggregation of Aβ-GFP protein and its J-domain was essential for this anti-aggregation activity. Interestingly, overexpression of other DNAJ proteins as well as HSPB1 suppressed Aβ-GFP aggregation efficiently. Our findings suggest that DNAJB6 is a promising candidate for the inhibition of Aβ-GFP mediated aggregation through a canonical HSP70 dependent mechanism.

Keywords: Aβ, Alzheimer’s disease, chaperone, DNAJB6, aggregation

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Authors: Mai M. Farid, Mona El-Shabrawy, Sameh R. Hussein, Ahmed Elkhateeb, El-Said S. Abdel-Hameed, Mona M. Marzouk

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Asphodelus aestivus Brot. Is a wild plant distributed in Egypt and is considered one of the five Asphodelus spp. from the family Asphodelaceae; it grows in dry grasslands and on rocky or sandy soil. The chemical components of A. aestivus flowers extract were analyzed using different chromatographic and spectral techniques and led to the isolation of two anthraquinones identified as emodin and emodin-O-glucoside. In addition to, five flavonoid compounds;kaempferol,Kaempferol-3-O-glucoside,Apigenin-6-C-glucoside-7-O-glucoside (Saponarine), luteolin 7-O-β-glucopyranoside, Isoorientin-O-malic acid which is a new compound in nature. The LC-ESI-MS/MS analysis of the flower extract of A. aestivus led to the identification of twenty- two compounds characterized by the presence of flavones, flavonols, and flavone C-glycosides. While GC/MS analysis led to the identification of 24 compounds comprising 98.32% of the oil, the major components of the oil were 9, 12, 15-Octadecatrieoic acid methyl ester 28.72%, and 9, 12-Octadecadieroic acid (Z, Z)-methyl ester 19.96%. In vitro cytotoxic activity of the aqueous methanol extract of A. aestivus flowers against HEPG2, HCT-116, MCF-7, and A549 culture was examined and showed moderate inhibition (62.3±1.1)% on HEPG2 cell line followed by (36.8±0.2)% inhibition on HCT-116 and a weak inhibition (5.7± 0.0.2) on MCF-7 cell line followed by (4.5± 0.4) % inhibition on A549 cell line and this is considered the first cytotoxic report of A. aestivus flowers.

Keywords: Anthraquinones, Asphodelus aestivus, Cytotoxic activity, Flavonoids, LC-ESI-MS/MS

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Authors: Emmanuel Kamal Aziz Saba, Gihan Abd El-Lateif Younis El-Tantawi, Mohammed Hamdy Zahran, Ibrahim Khalil Ibrahim, Mohammed Abd El-Salam Shehata, Hussein Al-Moghazy Sultan, Medhat Mohamed Anwar

Abstract:

Examination of the external anal sphincter muscle strength of voluntary contraction is essential in initial assessment and assessment of efficacy of rehabilitation of patients with faecal incontinence (FI) and obstructed defecation (OD). The present study was conducted to evaluate the digital assessment of the external anal sphincter muscle strength of voluntary contraction by using Modified Oxford Scale (MOS) in comparison to anal manometry squeeze pressure. The present cross-sectional study included 65 patients. There were 40 patients (61.5 %) with FI and 25 patients (38.5 %) with OD. All patients were subjected to history taking, clinical examination including assessment of the external anal sphincter muscle strength of voluntary contraction by using MOS and anal manometry (mean squeeze pressure and maximal squeeze pressure). There was a statistically significant positive correlation between MOS and anal manometry squeeze pressures including mean squeeze pressure and maximal squeeze pressure among FI group and OD group. In conclusion, assessment of the external anal sphincter muscle strength of voluntary contraction by using MOS is a valid method and can substitute anal manometry assessment.

Keywords: anal manometry, external anal sphincter muscle, Modified Oxford Scale, muscle strength

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Authors: Essam Mansour

Abstract:

This study purposes to explore the adoption and use of social media as a source of information by Egyptian government journalists. It applied a survey with a total of 386 journalists representing the three official newspapers of Egypt. Findings showed that 27.2% of journalists were found to not use social media, mainly males (69.7%), older than 40 years (77.7%) and mostly with a BA degree (80.4%). On the other hand, 72.8% of them were found to use these platforms who were also males (59.1%), younger than 40 years (65.9%) and mostly with a BA degree (93.2%). More than two-thirds (69.9%) were somewhat old users whose experience ranged from seven to ten years, and more than two-thirds (73.5%) have been heavily using these platforms (four to more than six hours a day. Such results confirm that a large number (95.7%) of users were found to be at least advanced users. Social media users’ home and work were the most significant places to access these platforms, which were found to be easy and useful to use. Most types of social media used were social news, media sharing and micro blogging, blogs comments and forums, social networking sites and bookmarking sites to perform tasks, such as finding information, making communication, keeping up to date, checking materials, sharing information and making discussions. A large number of users tend to accept these media platforms to be a source of information since they are accessible, linked references updated sources, accurate, promote current work, convenient, secured, credible, reliable, stabled, easily identified, copyrighted, build confident and contain filtered information. However, lack of know-how to cite sources, followed by lack of credibility of the source of news, lack of quality of information sources and lack of time were at least significant to journalists when using social media platforms.

Keywords: social media, social networking sites, newspapers, journalists, Egypt

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Authors: Mahmoud S Gewaily, Atif Hasan, Mohamed Kassab, Ali A. Mansour

Abstract:

The current study was carried out on the nose of seventeenth healthy adult camels. Specimens were collected from slaughter houses then fixed, dissected and photographed. For ultra structural studies, fresh samples were fixed in different fixatives and prepared for examination by light, scanning and electron microscopes. Grossly, nose of the camel had narrow nostrils, slit like in outline. In the nasal cavity, the nasal vestibule was narrow and has scanty dorsal and lateral cartilaginous support. The Nasal conchae (dorsal, middle and ventral) enclosed the dorsal, middle conchal sinuses and no ventral conchal sinus; instead there was recess and bull a. The ethmoidal conchae (8 in number) were noticeably fewer than in the other domestic animals like ox and horse. The olfactory mucosa was restricted to a small area covering the caudal parts of the ethmoidal conchae. The lining epithelium of the nasal cavity changes gradually from stratified squamous epithelium in the nasal vestibule to pseudo stratified columnar ciliated in the respiratory region and finally, olfactory epithelium covering the caudal parts of the ethmoidal conchae. In the dromedary camel, a special feature was the presence of dense and relatively long hair covering the nostrils and the rostral part of the nasal vestibule. In conclusion, the anatomical features of the nose of the dromedary camel, especially in its rostral parts enable this animal to breathe properly in the sandy dry weather.

Keywords: camel nose, anatomy, dromedary camel, nasal vestibule

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Authors: Vahid Mazloum, Mansour Sahebozamani, Amirhossein Barati, Nouzar Nakhaee, Pouya Rabiei

Abstract:

Non-specific chronic low back pain (NSCLBP) is a common condition with no exact diagnosis and mechanism for its occurrence. Recently, different therapeutic exercises have taken into account to manage NSCLBP. So, the aim of this study has mainly been placed on comparing the effects of Pilates and Mackenzie exercises on quality of life (QOL) lumbar spine position sense (LSPS) in patients with NSCLBP. In this randomized clinical trial, 47 patients with NSCLBP were voluntarily divided into three groups of Pilates (n=16) (with mean age 37.1 ± 9.5 years, height 168.9 ± 7.4 cm, body mass 76.1 ± 5.9 k), McKenzie (n=15) (with mean age 42.7 ± 8.1 years, height 165.7 ± 6.8, body mass 74.1 ± 4.8 kg) and control (n=16) (with mean age 39.3 ± 9.8 years, height 168.1 ± 8.1 cm, body mass 74.2 ± 5.8 kg). Primary outcome included QOL and secondary was LSPS. Both variables were assessed by the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaires and electrogoniameter, respectively. The measurements were performed at baseline, following a 6-week intervention, and after a 4-week follow-up. The ANCOVA test at P < 0.05 was administrated to analyze the collected data using SPSS software. There was a statistically significant difference between experimental groups and the control group to improve QOL. But, no difference was seen regarding the effects of two exercises on LSPS (p < 0.05). Both Pilates and Mackenzie exercises demonstrated improvement in QOL after 6-week intervention and a 4-week follow-up while none of them considerably affected LSPS. Further studies are required to establish a supporting evidence for the effectiveness of two exercises on NSCLBP.

Keywords: pilates, Mackenzie, preconception, low back pain, physical health

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Authors: Mansur Abdulrasheed, Hussein I. Ibrahim, Ahmed F. Umar

Abstract:

Nitrification, the microbial oxidation of ammonia to nitrate (NO3-) via nitrite (NO2-) is a vital process in the biogeochemical nitrogen cycle and is performed by two distinct functional groups; ammonia oxidisers (comprised of ammonia oxidising bacteria (AOB) and ammonia oxidising archaea (AOA)) and nitrite oxidising bacteria. Autotrophic nitrification is said to occur in acidic soils, even though most laboratory cultures of isolated ammonia and nitrite oxidising bacteria fail to grow below neutral pH. Published studies revealed that soil pH is a major driver for determining the distribution and abundance of AOB and AOA. To determine whether distinct populations of nitrite oxidising bacteria within the lineages of Nitrospira and Nitrobacter are adapted to a particular range of pH as observed in ammonia oxidising organisms, the community structure of Nitrospira-like and Nitrobacter-like NOB were examined across a pH gradient (4.5–7.5) by amplifying nitrite oxido-reductase (nxrA) and 16S rRNA genes followed by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). The community structure of both Nitrospira and Nitrobacter changed with soil pH, with distinct populations observed in acidic and neutral soils. The abundance of Nitrospira-like 16S rRNA and Nitrobacter-like nxrA gene copies contrasted across the pH gradient. Nitrobacter-like nxrA gene abundance decreased with increasing soil pH, whereas Nitrospira-like 16S rRNA gene abundance increased with increasing pH. Findings indicated that abundance and distributions of soil NOB is influence by soil pH.

Keywords: nitrospira, nitrobacter, nitrite-oxidizing bacteria, nitrification, pH, soil

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Authors: Parisa Mansour

Abstract:

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is one of the most common autosomal recessive diseases among whites. It mostly affects the lungs, causing infections and inflammation that account for 90% of deaths in CF patients. Because of this high variability in clinical presentation and organ involvement, investigating treatment responses and evaluating lung changes over time is critical to preventing CF progression. High-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) greatly facilitates the assessment of lung disease progression in CF patients. Recently, artificial intelligence was used to analyze chest CT scans of CF patients. In this paper, we propose a convolutional neural network (CNN) approach to classify CF lung patterns in HRCT images. The proposed network consists of two convolutional layers with 3 × 3 kernels and maximally connected in each layer, followed by two dense layers with 1024 and 10 neurons, respectively. The softmax layer prepares a predicted output probability distribution between classes. This layer has three exits corresponding to the categories of normal (healthy), bronchitis and inflammation. To train and evaluate the network, we constructed a patch-based dataset extracted from more than 1100 lung HRCT slices obtained from 45 CF patients. Comparative evaluation showed the effectiveness of the proposed CNN compared to its close peers. Classification accuracy, average sensitivity and specificity of 93.64%, 93.47% and 96.61% were achieved, indicating the potential of CNNs in analyzing lung CF patterns and monitoring lung health. In addition, the visual features extracted by our proposed method can be useful for automatic measurement and finally evaluation of the severity of CF patterns in lung HRCT images.

Keywords: HRCT, CF, cystic fibrosis, chest CT, artificial intelligence

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Authors: Abdalla Mansour, Dan Brown, Adel Helmy, Rikin Trivedi, Mathew Guilfoyle

Abstract:

Introduction: Diagnosing delayed cerebral ischaemia (DCI) following aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) can be challenging, particularly in poor-grade patients. Objectives: This study sought to assess the value of routine CTP in identifying (or excluding) DCI and in guiding management. Methods: Eight-year retrospective neuroimaging study at a large UK neurosurgical centre. Subjects included a random sample of adult patients with confirmed aneurysmal SAH that had a CTP scan during their inpatient stay, over a 8-year period (May 2014 - May 2022). Data collected through electronic patient record and PACS. Variables included age, WFNS scale, aneurysm site, treatment, the timing of CTP, radiologist report, and DCI management. Results: Over eight years, 916 patients were treated for aneurysmal SAH; this study focused on 466 patients that were randomly selected. Of this sample, 181 (38.84%) had one or more CTP scans following brain aneurysm treatment (Total 318). The first CTP scan in each patient was performed at 1-20 days following ictus (median 4 days). There was radiological evidence of DCI in 83, and no reversible ischaemia was found in 80. Findings were equivocal in the remaining 18. Of the 103 patients treated with clipping, 49 had DCI radiological evidence, in comparison to 31 of 69 patients treated with endovascular embolization. The remaining 9 patients are either unsecured aneurysms or non-aneurysmal SAH. Of the patients with radiological evidence of DCI, 65 had a treatment change following the CTP directed at improving cerebral perfusion. In contrast, treatment was not changed for (61) patients without radiological evidence of DCI. Conclusion: CTP is a useful adjunct to clinical assessment in the diagnosis of DCI and is helpful in identifying patients that may benefit from intensive therapy and those in whom it is unlikely to be effective.

Keywords: SAH, vasospasm, aneurysm, delayed cerebral ischemia

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