What do medical students in Alexandria know about female genital mutilation?

We explored the knowledge, beliefs and attitudes of 330 5th year medical students in Alexandria University towards female genital mutilation [FGM]. The students' basic knowledge about the practice of FGM was unsatisfactory. Students were unaware of the prevalence of FGM in Egypt and the practices and procedures of FGM. They were also poorly informed about the complications of FGM, and the ethical and legal aspects of FGM in the country. As a result, 52.0% of the students supported the continuation of the practice and 73.2% were in favour of its "medicalization" as a strategy for reducing the risks of FGM. Most students [86.9%] thought that the issue of FGM should be incorporated into the undergraduate medical curriculum

Chromosomal analysis, Y-microdeletion detection, and their implications on subfertile ICSI men candidates

One hundred and thirty two subfertile candidate men for ICSI treatment were subjected to chromosomal analysis and Y chromosomal microdeletion detection prior to ICSI. Sex chromosome aberrations in pure and mosaic form were diagnosed in 6 cases. Y-microdeletion in the AZFc region were detected in 3/126 cases, fertilization and implantation rates were significantly reduced in subfertile men with AZFc microdeletion when compared with those with no deletion. As Y-deletion is genetically transmitted from subfertile men to their male offspring via ICSI, genetic counseling and reproductive options have to be offered to those men before ICSI treatment. Pre implantation genetic diagnosis and female sex selection may present another strategy for infertile men with Y-microdeletion to avoid fathering a son with the same fertility problem

Formulation and evaluation of piroxicam gels

The release of piroxicam from different gel bases viz., Pluronic F127, methyl cellulose [MC], Carbopol 934, hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose [HPMC], Eudispert [medium viscosity [mv]] was determined and compared with its release organogel bases which are mixtures of Eudragit L 100 or S100 with glycerol or propylene glycol. Results showed that Pluronic F127 and HPMC gels were the most efficient bases, while MC and organogel of Eudragit showed the least results. The effect of different enhancers viz., polysorbate 80, dimethylformamide [DMF] and lecithin on the release pattern of the drug from Eudispert [mv], Carbopol 934 and MC gel bases was also studied using different concentrations of the enhancers. It was found that polysorbate 80 was the most efficient enhancer at concentration 5% w/w of the base. The prepared piroxicam gel which showed the highest amount of drug released were applied on the rat hind paw previously injected with carrageenan and compared with oral and intraperitoneally [i.p.] formulae. It was found that there was a significant inhibition in edema volume in all groups of the dosed rates

Availability of piprofen from tropical vehicles

Films of ethyl cellulose [EC], hydroxy propyl methyl cellulose [HPMC] and mixture of them were investigated as a transdermal delivery system for pirprofen in comparison with Pluronic F 127 and carboxy methyl cellulose [CMC] gels. The results were given in details