Determination of metals as bio indicators in some selected bee pollen samples from Jordan.

This study was done to determine the degree of metals and heavy metals in some bee pollen sample as biological indicator for environmental pollution. Sample were collected from industrial, urban and agricultural areas of Jordan in year 2017. Eight metals (As, Cd, Cu, Mg, Pb, Ni, Se, and Zn) continents analyzed by using Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrum, (ICP-OES). Results were statistically interpreted by using ANOVA analysis. Metals content in bee pollen from Jordan and China were determined within the following ranges (minimum-maximum mg/kg); Cu (copper): 11.338-0.032, Zn (Zinc): 77.022-25.24, Ni (Nickel): 2.839 to <0.01, Se (Selenium): 3.03 to <0.04, Mg (Magnesium): 1575.19-641.388, Pb (Lead): 2.567 to <0.03, Cd (Cadmium): <0.005, As (Arsenic): <0.02. The results showed that there were no statistically significant differences among metals in the bee pollen. It has also found that bee pollen produced in Jordan may be a good source of some trace elements like Se and Mg and can be used as an environmental indicator and for quality control.

Early Disruption of Extracellular Pleiotrophin Distribution Alters Cerebellar Neuronal Circuit Development and Function.

The cerebellum is a structure of the central nervous system involved in balance, motor coordination, and voluntary movements. The elementary circuit implicated in the control of locomotion involves Purkinje cells, which receive excitatory inputs from parallel and climbing fibers, and are regulated by cerebellar interneurons. In mice as in human, the cerebellar cortex completes its development mainly after birth with the migration, differentiation, and synaptogenesis of granule cells. These cellular events are under the control of numerous extracellular matrix molecules including pleiotrophin (PTN). This cytokine has been shown to regulate the morphogenesis of Purkinje cells ex vivo and in vivo via its receptor PTPζ. Since Purkinje cells are the unique output of the cerebellar cortex, we explored the consequences of their PTN-induced atrophy on the function of the cerebellar neuronal circuit in mice. Behavioral experiments revealed that, despite a normal overall development, PTN-treated mice present a delay in the maturation of their flexion reflex. Moreover, patch clamp recording of Purkinje cells revealed a significant increase in the frequency of spontaneous excitatory postsynaptic currents in PTN-treated mice, associated with a decrease of climbing fiber innervations and an abnormal perisomatic localization of the parallel fiber contacts. At adulthood, PTN-treated mice exhibit coordination impairment on the rotarod test associated with an alteration of the synchronization gait. Altogether these histological, electrophysiological, and behavior data reveal that an early ECM disruption of PTN composition induces short- and long-term defaults in the establishment of proper functional cerebellar circuit.

Effect of Suction/Injection on Unsteady Hydromagnetic Convective Flow of Reactive Viscous Fluid between Vertical Porous Plates with Thermal Diffusion.

An investigation is performed to study the effect of suction/injection on unsteady hydromagnetic natural convection flow of viscous reactive fluid between two vertical porous plates in the presence of thermal diffusion. The partial differential equations governing the flow have been solved numerically using semi-implicit finite-difference scheme. For steady case, analytical solutions have been derived using perturbation series method. Suction/injection is used to control the fluid flow in the channel, and an exothermic chemical reaction of Arrhenius kinetic is considered. Numerical results are presented graphically and discussed quantitatively with respect to various parameters embedded in the problem.

The prevalence of portal hypertensive gastropathy and duodenopathy in some Egyptian cirrhotic patients.

Portal hypertensive gastropathy (PHG) and duodenopathy (PHD) are frequent in patients with cirrhosis, both are a dynamic condition that can progress from mild to severe and vice versa or even disappear completely. This study included 300 individuals classified into three groups. G I included 116 patients with mixed liver pathology (post-viral cirrhosis and post-Bilharzial fibrosis). G II included 84 patients with pure post hepatitic viral cirrhosis. Hundred healthy individual of comparable age and sex serving as control group. Upper endoscopic examination was done for all groups; gastric varices, gastric congestion and duodenal congestion were detected in 12%, 19.5% and 14.5%, respectively in Gs I & II with statistically significant difference when they were compared to controls (P- < 0.01). In conclusion, high prevalence of PHG and PHD in cirrhotic patients was either due to post-viral cirrhosis or mixed pathology.

Evaluation of a new enzyme immunoassay for the detection of Helicobacter pylori in stool specimens.

H. pylori infects the gastric mucosa and causes many digestive disorders such as peptic ulcer, chronic gastritis and gastric cancer. H. pylori infection relates neither to functional health status, nor to intensity of dyspepsia. There is evidence that in most patients with H. pylori positive functional dyspepsia do not improve with eradication of the organism.This study evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of HpSA by determining the sensitivity and specificity of the stool antigen test in predicting successful eradication during and after anti microbial therapy. The work was conducted on patients who underwent upper gastrointestinal endoscopy at Al-Azhar University hospitals. Fifty patients (34 male & 16 female) with dyspepsia were selected, the exclusion criteria included use of antibiotics and proton pump inhibitors up to one month before the study. All cases were submitted to, full history, general and local examination and upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. Biopsies were taken from the antrum and body of the stomach for rapid urease test and histopathology. Stool samples were taken to detect H. pylori stool antigen. Positive patients received eradication treatment for one month and H. pylori status was re-determined by rapid urease test, histological examination and HpSA test one month later. H. pylori was detected by rapid urease test in 29 (58%) dyspeptic patient by histology in 26(52%) dyspeptic patient, while H. pylori was detected by HpSA immunoassay in 16 (32%) dyspeptic patient. The sensitivity and specificity of HpSA were 57.7% and 95.8% respectively. After successful eradication of H. pylori, reassessment by rapid urease test and histology revealed curative rate of 86.2% and 84.6% respectively, while HpSA immunoassay revealed curative rate 75%. Based on these results, the HpSA immunoassay gave sensitivity (75%) and specificity (100%). The H. pylori stool test represents an accurate and novel non-invasive concept for diagnosis of infection and can be used for daily routine in clinical practice. HpSA is a promising non-invasive test for diagnosis of H. pylori infection but may be hampered by low patient acceptability. So, HpSA is a valuable test in the pre-and post eradication assessment of infection. HpSA can be profitably employed in the primary diagnosis of H. pylori infection. This non invasive test could be very useful in investigating dyspeptic young patients. Also, it could be used profitably in epidemiological studies to determine the prevalence of H. pylori infection in the asymptomatic subjects in different communities.