Chromosome aberrations in bone marrow cells of rats treated with MTBE

In the present study, genotoxic effect of methyl tert butyl ether MTBE was analyzed by measuring chromosomal aberrations [CAs] in bone marrow cells of rats. Rats administered MTBE orally at 800, 1600mg/kg/day in corn oil for 14 and 28 consecutive days. Control rats received injection of distilled water. An additional two groups of rats received corn oil and served as vehicle controls. Treatment of corn oil for 14 and 28 days failed to induce chromosomal aberrations. The highest percentage of chromosomal aberrations was produced by the two tested dose 14 days after treatment. The most structural aberrations were Robertsonion translocations, deletion, dicentric, end to end association while, ring, acentric fragment and gaps were rare. The present results indicate that MTBE is harmful to mammalian genetic material

effect of ivermectin on secondary spermatocytes and serum total proteins

Ivermectin, a broad-spectrum anti-parasitic agent first used in veterinary medicine, is active against numerous species of helminths and arthropods. In this study, we aimed to demonstrate the effects of administration of ivermectin on secondary meiotic division and serum total proteins. Male mice treated with single injections of 200ug/kg b.w. IVM. Meiotic chromosomes were prepared after 6 hours, 2, 5, 10 and 12 days to cover the different phases of meiotic division. Blood samples were collected after 1, 7 and 14 days of the last injection to determine total protein content. Euploidy [haploid no which equal 20 chromosomes] was recorded in 8.6 of the scored cells of secondary spermatocytes. Hyperhaploid [metaphases that include more than 20 and less than 23 chromosomes] was also considered. A total of 46 hyperhaploid metaphases were registered for 2100 examined cells. The hyper-haploidy index was 2.49% versus 0.8% for the control. Acentric fragments were occasionally occurred. After 1 and 7 days, single injections of IVM led to elevate the total protein content than that resulted after double treatment. However, the data obtained after 14 days were closed together. In conclusion, IVM is produced a considerable signs of chromosomal damage to germ cells. So, the cytogenetic studies revealed high clastogenicity of the drug. On the other hand, the differences in total protein concentration obtained between treated and control samples indicate genotoxic potential for IVM

Behavioral problems of mentally handicapped children encountered by their mothers

Many mentally handicapped children exhibit a wide range of problematic behaviors. These behaviors need to be reduced as it creates difficulties for the person showing it, their parents and other people. Therefore, identification of these problems among these children will help recognizing and enhancing parents' abilities to meet their children's need, solve these problems and mobilize the necessary resources in order to improve the quality of their lives. This study was carried out to identify different problematic behaviors of mentally handicapped children encountered by their mothers and to assess their mother's coping patterns. For achieving these aims, the cross-sectional approach was adopted where the target population was mothers of educable group of mentally handicapped children [IQ=50-70]. Sidi Beshr and Alexandria Special care centers were chosen as setting for data collection. The sample comprised all mothers of mentally handicapped children attending the index centers. A total of 128 mothers out of 143 responded and completed the interview with a response rate of 89.5%. Data were collected using a specially designed interview questionnaire during the period from the beginning of February 2002 till the end of April 2002. The interview questionnaire consisted of three parts. The first part was related to socio-demographic data about the child and his parents. The second part included data about the problems of mentally handicapped children encountered by their mothers. The third part was a modified coping scale based on Jalowiec and Powers coping scale used to assess coping patterns of mothers. The collected data was processed using SPSS program version 9. For each individual, the total score for each group of coping method was calculated. Then, the score for each group was expressed as a percentage of the maximum possible score. The age of the children attending the included Special Care Centers ranged from 4 to 20 years with a mean of 9.82 +/- 5.410 years. Female sex constituted more than half of the enrolled mentally handicapped children [54.7%]. The handicapped child was the first in his family for 45.3% of the sample. The great majority of parents completed either university level of education and higher [50.0% for fathers and 44.5% for mothers] or secondary level of education and diploma [30.5% for fathers and 40.6% for mothers]. Nearly half of the fathers [49.2%] were professionals while 32.0% of them were semiprofessionals. Meanwhile more than half [55.5%] of the mothers were unemployed. As regard the eating pattern, more than half [51.6%] of the mentally handicapped children were self-dependent and 42.9% were partially dependent as they need some assistance from the mother during eating. In addition 45.3% of the children had poor hygienic feeding practice. Concerning the bowel and bladder control, the results showed that more than half [53.1%] of the mentally handicapped children didn't have controlled bowel practices; 34.3% were partially controlled and 18.8% were not yet controlled. Inadequate bladder control was encountered among 78.9% of the children where 55.5% were partially controlled and 23.4% were not yet controlled. All mentally handicapped children had behavioral, emotional and speech and language problems. Impulsivity topped the list of behavioral problems either within or outside families [55.5% and 59.4% respectively]. Hyperactivity and rebellions ranked the second [49.4%] and the third [36.7%] behavioral problems within the family. As regard emotional problems, the majority of children [79.7%] suffered from nervousness while shyness was less frequent emotional problem [19.5%]. Speech and language problems were also common. About half [49.2%] of mentally handicapped children had manifested stuttering and more than one quarter [28.9%] presented with unclear speech. On the other hand, 60.2% of mentally handicapped children suffered sleeping problems. Night waking was the most frequent complaint of mothers [55.5%]. However, social problems facing children's mothers, arise from poor dealing with people outside the family, were the least frequent where 56.3% of studied mothers suffered socially. Rejection of the affected child was the most embarrassing problem facing the mothers. The five most-used coping methods were "hope that things will be better", "pray; trust in God", accept the situation as it is", "worry" and" do anything just to do something" coping methods. The mean score for use of problem oriented coping method [66.23% +/- 16.672%] was higher than that for use of affective-oriented coping method [65.18% +/- 15.058%]

Assessment of unmet need for family planning among women in Alexandria city

Despite the Family Planning Program's success, many married women in the reproductive age are defined as having an unmet need for family planning. The concept of unmet need points to the gap between women's reproductive intentions and their contraceptive behavior. This study was carried out to estimate the level of unmet need for family planning among currently married women in Alexandria. Moreover, it aimed at providing the profile of women with unmet need for family planning [FP] and to find out the various reasons why women who would prefer to avoid pregnancy do not use contraception. For achieving these aims, the cross sectional approach was used as a research methodology where the target population was the currently married fecund women in the reproductive period [15-49 years]. The cluster sampling technique was used and a sample size of 840 currently married women were selected from 30 clusters, i.e., 28 women within each cluster. Data were collected using a specially designed interview questionnaire during the period from beginning of February 2000 till the end of July 2001. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 9. The results of this study revealed that women with unmet need for family planning services constituted 24.3% of the studied women. About half of this unmet need [11.9%] represents a desire to space the next birth, and the remaining 12.4% represents an interest in limiting births. However, need for better contraception was encountered among 2.3% of the studied women; they experience pregnancy while using contraceptive method, i.e., method failure. On the other hand, women in need for FP services, however met, constituted 62.1% of all studied women [49.5% for limiting their family size and 12.6% for spacing]. Therefore, at the time of the study, the total demand for FP comprised 88.7% of the studied women and 70.0% of the total demand for FP services was satisfied. The highest percept of total unmet need for FP services [38.8%] was encountered among women aged 25-29 years that declined thereafter to reach 7.7% among the eldest studied women aged 45-49 years. The reverse holds true regarding the total met need. When the purpose of need for FP services was considered, the youngest women had the highest percent of need for spacing births whether met [43.3%] or unmet [26.9%]. Unmet need for limiting births was highly presented among women aged 30-34 years [18.9%]. An inverse relationship was observed between number of children the women had and the percent of unmet need whether for spacing births, limiting births, or altogether. Health concerns were the most commonly given reasons for unmet need [53.9%]. Little perceived risk of pregnancy ranked the second reason [29.9%]. Opposition to use of contraceptives due to either the woman's own attitude or that of her husband, was the reason cited by 16.2% of women with unmet need for family planning. From the present study, the followings are recommended: improvement of the family planning concept, improving the existing family planning services to minimize the negative attitude towards contraception and motivate women to put their fertility desire into action, and strengthening the Information Education Communication [IEC] activities. Mass media play an important role in combating circulating rumors in the community. Personal communication and counseling are important for changing attitude towards contraception that will have a substantial impact on both initial and continual acceptability of contraceptive methods

Prevalence rate of bronchial asthma in school children aged 6-14 years in Alexandria

Bronchial asthma [BA] is a leading cause of chronic illness in childhood. It is considered the most prevalent chronic condition in children responsible for a significant proportion of both acute and chronic illness and also school absenteeism. The aim of the present work was to determine the prevalence of BA in school children aged 6-14 years in Alexandria, and to reveal some epidemiological features. A representative sample of children [2336] of the target population was surveyed by using stratified random sampling technique. Data were collected using pre-designed questionnaire to be fulfilled by the parents of the child. All asthmatic children detected were included in the study and subjected to thorough history, and clinical examination, x-ray chest, pulmonary function test and samples of them were subjected to bronchial challenge testing. The prevalence rate of asthmatic children aged 6-14 years in Alexandria was 18% in scholastic year 2001-2002. The prevalence rate for males and females were 9.6% and 8.4% respectively, which was not statistically significant [P=0.936]. There was a decrease of asthma incidence and severity with increasing age but this was not statistically significant [P=0.707]. Also, socioeconomic status did not influence the prevalence rate of asthma in the present work. Most children have their asthma exacerbations during cold weather [P=0.047]. The prevalence of asthma was not influenced be the district. Although severe persistent asthma increased in low socioeconomic districts [Borg EI-Arab, and El-Gomrok] but this was not statistically significant

Conclusion: The prevalence rate of BA among school children aged 6-14 years in Alexandria has increased dramatically during the last 25 years to reach 18% in the scholastic year 2001-2002. Asthma exacerbations increased significantly during cold weather. Although severe persistent asthma increased in EI-Gomrok and Borg AI-Arab districts, but this was not statistically significant. Sixty percent of cases of asthmatic children in this study were cases of persistent asthma which are in need for maintenance therapy. Twenty eight percent of cases are under diagnosed due to lack of knowledge about this disease. Asthma in not influenced by sex or age but affect both sex and all age

Assessment of job satisfaction among primary health care providers in Alexandria, Egypt

This study was carried out on a sample of 538 health care providers. One quarter of the studied health care providers were physicians, more than half of them were nursing staff, while paramedical personnel constituted 20.2%. Generally, job dissatisfaction was highly prevalent among the studied sample with a median job satisfaction score [JSS] of -42. Dissatisfaction was high for external dimension compared with the internal one. Moreover, overt dissatisfaction was highly prevalent regarding the 18 dimensions of job satisfaction, where the percentage of dissatisfaction ranged from 47.2% to 77.3% of the sample. Moreover, primary health care [PHC] providers were least satisfied with the available facilities, morality, financial advantages, work environment and work regulation systems. On the other hand, PHC workers were most satisfied with gratitude and esteem, autonomy, social advantages, self-expression, work style and work group. Exploring the relation between the demographic and job characteristics separately with job satisfaction revealed that the older health workers, males, physicians and senior workers had significantly a higher median JSS compared with their counterparts. Multiple logistic regression results and stepwise models revealed that being male was a predictor for being a satisfied physician; having bachelor certificates and the increasing age were predictors for being a satisfied nurse as well as increasing age, decreasing duration of work and having certificate less than bachelor degree were predictors for being a satisfied paramedical personnel. It was recommended that workload should be reduced through reforming the primary health care system and PHC workers should be provided by in-service vocational training, adequate salaries and incentives as well as adequate administrative support