Occurrence of apical bud rot disease on ornamental palm [Pritchardia filifera] in Egypt and its control

Thirteen bacterial isolates were isolated from collected ornamental palm samples showing apical bud rot symptoms. Only three isolates were able to cause identical bacterial rot on palm leaf rachides tissues in vitro. These isolates were identified as Pseudomonas solanacearum. It is believed that the present study is the first report that P. solanacearum cause apical bud rot infection to the ornamental palm [Prichardia filifera] in Egypt. In vitro tests, Acetylsalicylic acid; Salicylic acid; Streptomycin sulphate; Copper sulphate and Kocide 101 showed high inhibitory effect on the growth of the highly patholggenic bacterial isolate. Moderate inhibitory effect on bacterial growth was observed with Tetracycline and phenicol, while Borax had no inhibiting effect. Mixing Aceplaslicylic acid with Stgreptomycin sulphate Strepto-Acetyle] inhibited bacterial rot developmentg on palm leaf rachides slices in vitro. Sterepto-Acetyle mixtures were more effective than each compound alone. In greenhouse experiment, application of these mixtures at the same time of bacterial inoculation gave complete reduction [100%] of rot development when compared with their application before [8%] and/or after [60%] bacterial inoculation. It is recommended that the application of Strepto-Acetyle mixture [800 ppm + 60 mM] at the appeaance of first sign of disease symptoms might be useful as control measure for apical bud rot of ornamental palm caused by P. solanacearum

role of hepatitis C virus in chronic hepatitis among children in Sharkia Governorate

To shed some light on the magnitude of HCV in causing chronic hepatitis and its relation to autoimmunity in children; this study was conducted on 45 children. They were divided into three groups. The first group included 15 children with chronic hepatitis who were exposed to repeated blood transfusion due to thalassemia [risky group]. The second group included 15 children with chronic hepatitis without exposure to repeated blood transfusion [non risky group]. The third group included 15 healthy children. All of the children are sex and age matched with ages ranging from 5 to 15 years [mean +/- SD 9.3 +/- 3.5] and they were of different residence and social standards in Sharkia Governorate, Egypt. All of the children were subjected to detailed history, full medical examination, liver function tests, abdominal sonography, direct Coomb's test, HbsAg, HCV 3[rd] generation ELISA and PCR in serum. Liver tissue PCR and pathology were studied in chronic hepatitis cases. Antinuclear antibody [ANA] and liver kidney microsomal antibody [LKM[1]] were done in HCV positive cases and in cases suspected to be autoimmune hepatitis. We have found that, 10 out of the 30 patients [33.3%] with chronic hepatitis had HCV infection. HCV positive cases were significantly higher in risky group [8/15] 53.3% than in non risky group [2/15] 13.3% [P<0.05], Twenty percent of HCV positive cases had ANA. However, these cases showed lower percentage of symptomatology and cirrhosis compared to autoimmune ANA positive hepatitis cases. In conclusion, HCV represents the most common cause of chronic hepatitis among children in Sharkia Governorate. HCV has the ability to produce ANA but this does not flare up the autoimmune disease. We recommend more meticulous mandatory blood screening for anti-HCV before transfusion. Also, we recommend routine regular screening for HCV infection in patients with repeated blood transfusion. Widely scaled studies are recommended to confirm our results

1-arylcycloalkyl [bis [2-chloromethyl]] amines: alkylating analogs of PCP as possible antineoplastic agents for brain tumors

Novel alkylating analogs of phencyclidine [PCP] have been synthesized in the hope of targeting brain tumors. The compounds were designed to fulfill the skeletal requirements of PCP and those of nitrogen mustard analogs. Chemically, the new compounds would be considered as 1-arylcycloalkyl [bis [2-chloroethyl]] amines