Appraisal of surface-groundwater anthropogenic indicators and associated human health risk in El Sharqia Governorate, Egypt.

The aim of this study was to integrate hydrogeochemistry with a multivariate statistical approach to understand the various processes that control the evolution/contamination of water resources in El Sharqia Governorate, Egypt with a particular emphasis on direct/indirect risks to human health. To achieve this, a representative collection of 21 groundwater and 35 drainage samples was taken and examined for physical, chemical, and trace element measurements. Results indicated that in shallow groundwater and drainage water samples, the relative abundance of major cations is Na+ > Mg2+ > Ca2+ > K+, and for anions it is HCO3- > Cl- > SO42- (on a molar basis). Natural processes involving the dissolution/precipitation of some minerals and other processes including leaching of solid waste, overuse of agricultural fertilizers application, and high loads of discharged sewage water are responsible for the evolution of water resources in El Sharqia Governorate. Ammonia, nitrate, biological oxygen demand (BOD), phosphate, turbidity, iron, manganese, lead, and aluminum concentrations were found to be higher than the limits set by internatio2nal drinking water regulations. The health risk index (HRI) values for children were found to be higher than those for adults when the water resources are used for drinking purposes, which poses a risk to human health.

The relationship between coping and distress among faculty members and students during COVID-19 pandemic lockdown: The moderating effect of gender.

Objectives: Previous research has documented significant associations between the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, various mental health problems, and coping strategies. However, literature on the moderating role of gender on the relationship between distress and coping strategies during COVID-19 is almost nonexistent. Hence, the main objective of this study was two folds. To examine gender differences in distress and coping strategies, and to test the moderating effect of gender on the relationship between distress and coping among university faculty members and students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: A cross-sectional web-based study design was used to collect data from the participants. A sample of 649 participants (68.9% university students and 31.1% faculty members) was selected. The General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) and the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS) were used to collect data from the participants. The survey was sent out during the COVID-19 lockdown from May 12th to June 30th, 2020. Results: The results showed significant gender differences in distress and the three coping strategies. Women consistently scored higher on distress (p < 0.01), task-focused (p < 0.05), emotion-focused (p < 0.001), and avoidance coping (p < 0.01) compared to men. Gender moderated the relationship between emotion-focused coping and distress (p < 0.001) but not the relationship between distress and task-focused or avoidance coping. Conclusion: Increased emotion-focused coping is associated with decreased distress among women while the use of emotion-focused coping by men predicted more distress. Workshops and programs focused on providing skills and techniques on how to cope with stressful situations induced by the COVID-19 pandemic are recommended.

Endoscopic ultrasound-guided biliary drainage for distal malignant biliary obstruction: a prospective 3-year multicenter Egyptian study.

Background/Aim: Malignant biliary obstruction (MBO) is often diagnosed at late stages with mostly unresectable lesions. Recently, EUS-guided biliary drainage (EUS-BD) has gained wide acceptance and appears to be a feasible and safe backup option after ERCP failure in such patients. Herein, we aimed to represent a 3-year multi-center Egyptian experience in the application of this challenging procedure for distal MBO as a salvage technique after failed ERCP. Patients and methods: This was a prospective multi-center study of patients underwent EUS-BD for distal MBO in the duration between December 2018 and December 2021, after ERCP failure. Results: Ninety-one patients (59 males, median age: 61 years) were included in the study. EUS-guided extrahepatic approach including choledocho-duodenostomy (CDS) was done for 48 patients (52.8%), followed by choledecho-antrostomy (CAS) in 4 patients (4.4%). The intrahepatic approach included hepaticogastrostomy (HGS) for 35 patients (38.5%) and antegrade stenting (AG) stenting in 2 patients (2.2%), while Rendezvous (RV) approach was performed in 2 patients (2.2%). Technical and Clinical success were achieved in the majority of cases; 93.4% and 94.1% respectively. Adverse events occurred in 13.2% of patients which were mostly mild (8.2%) to moderate (2.4%). Only one patient died within 48h after the procedure with progression of preceding sepsis and organ failure. Conclusion: EUS-BD is a feasible option, even in developing countries, after a failed ERCP, and it is a relatively safe option in patients with MBO once experienced team and resources were present. Majority of cases in our study have achieved technical and clinical success with relatively low incidence of adverse events.

A new modality in targeted delivery of epirubicin for tumor theranosis based on PEGylated silver nanoparticles: Design, radiolabeling and bioevaluation.

This work highlights boosting the tumor targeting efficiency of epirubicin through loading on a new radionanosystem, based on the effective role of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). Accordingly, PEGylated silver nanoparticles (PEG/AgNPs) were prepared in a size of 20.2 ± 0.1 nm. Additionally, epirubicin was loaded on PEG/AgNPs with a loading efficiency of 63 ± 3 %. Furthermore, both of PEG/AgNPs and EPI/PEG/AgNPs were radiolabeled with 131I isotope with radiolabeling yields of 85 ± 0.2 % and 90.3 ± 1 %, respectively. The in-vivo distribution of 131I-PEG/AgNPs and 131I-EPI/PEG/AgNPs were examined in healthy and tumor bearing mice models. Excitingly, 131I-EPI/PEG/AgNPs revealed a reticuloendothelial system (RES) avoidance and prolonged circulating time. In addition, 131I-EPI/PEG/AgNPs showed fast targeting of tumor site by 25.1 ± 0.1 %ID/g within 0.5 h after intravenous injection. Subsequently, the outcomes provided 131I-EPI/PEG/AgNPs as a new potential system for enhancement of tumor targeting and theranosis (therapy and/or imaging).

Groundwater quality assessment using water quality index and multivariate statistical analysis case study: East Matrouh, Northwestern coast, Egypt.

Rapid urbanisation has had a significant negative influence on the water bodies that flow through and around urban areas. This study aims to evaluate the water quality and analyse the suitability for drinking and irrigation uses. This study envisaged assessing the water quality status of the groundwater using the pollution index of groundwater (PIG), ecological risk index (ERI) and multivariate statistical techniques, namely cluster analysis (CA) and principal component analysis (PCA), that were applied to differentiate the sources of water quality variation and determine the cause of pollution in the study area. Most groundwater is unsuitable for drinking and irrigation consumption, depending on analyses. PIG values indicated high pollution levels in the studied water body, rendering it unsuitable for any practical purpose. CA results showed the impact of surface water and treatment plant on groundwater. PCA was used to identify four important factors in the groundwater, including mineral and nutrient pollution, heavy metal pollution, organic pollution and faecal contamination. The deteriorating water quality of the groundwater was demonstrated to originate from vast sources of anthropogenic activities, especially municipal sewage discharge. Study wells had greater concentrations of Cl- and Na+ in their water because seawater flows into the aquifer system and mixes with the marine aquifer matrix. Thus, the current work reveals how to employ the PIG and multivariate statistical approaches to obtain more accessible and more meaningful information about the water quality of groundwater and to identify the sources of pollution.

The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on University Faculty, Staff, and Students and Coping Strategies Used During the Lockdown in the United Arab Emirates.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown instigated serious mental health conditions. So far, the UAE data on mental health problems due to this pandemic outbreak is still scarce. The objective of this study was to identify the prevalent psychological difficulties experienced by university students, faculty members, and staff during COVID-19 lockdown and the coping strategies used. Methods: A cross-sectional design was used to collect data from 737 participants using an online electronic survey. Participants included students, faculty members, and staff from universities in the UAE. The General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) was used to measure general distress, Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ-16) was used to measure worry, and the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS-48) was administered to measure coping strategies used by participants during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. Data were collected during May to June 2020. Results: The results indicated that 60.4% of students, 57.4% of the faculty members, and 52.3% of the staff experienced mild psychiatric problems. About 32.9% of students, 33.7% of the faculty members, and 25% of the staff experienced high levels of worry during the COVID-19 lockdown. Changes in eating patterns, worsening chronic health problems, change in sleep patterns, and concentration difficulties were reported. Furthermore, significant differences were observed in worry and coping strategies among participants. Women use more avoidance and emotion-focused coping compared to men. Conclusion: It was concluded that COVID-19 lockdown has negatively impacted university faculty, staff, and students in terms of health behavior, psychological and physical health.

Cognitive impairment in psychiatric patients in the United Arab Emirates.

Cognitive impairment is central to the discussion of most psychiatric disorders, because of the implications it has for diagnostic, therapeutic, and rehabilitative progression. In the present study, we compared the levels of cognitive impairment between psychiatric patients and a healthy control group. Thirty psychiatric patients and 30 matching healthy controls participated in this study. Their ages ranged from 17 to 55 years (Mage = 29.17; SD = 8.87). The Brief Neuropsychological Cognitive Examination (BNCE) was used to measure cognitive impairment in both groups. A t-test revealed significant differences between the two groups for all Part I subtests (except comprehension), all Part II subtests, and the BNCE total score, with the patients showing greater cognitive impairment. A Kruskal-Wallis H-test also revealed significant differences in the orientation, comprehension, constructive praxis, shifting sets, attention, Part I total, Part II total, and BNCE total scores within the psychiatric patients: patients with schizophrenia consistently displayed significantly greater cognitive impairment compared to patients with mood, anxiety, and substance use disorders. Results need to be investigated further to clarify the nature of the relationship between mood disorders and orientation. Psychiatric patients may exhibit similar types of cognitive impairments but with different severity.

The Pro12Ala polymorphism of the gene for peroxisome proliferator activated receptor-gamma is associated with a lower Global Acne Grading System score in patients with acne vulgaris.

BACKGROUND: Acne vulgaris is a multifactorial disease of the skin. Several studies have shown that sebocyte proliferation and/or lipogenesis, as well as inflammatory reactions, may be regulated by peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)γ-mediated pathways. AIM: To investigate whether the Pro12Ala polymorphism of the PPARγ gene might be associated with the risk of acne, and to assess the effect of this polymorphism on acne severity. METHODS: This case-control study enrolled 100 patients with acne and 100 apparently healthy subjects. The clinical grade of acne was assessed using the Global Acne Grading System. We used PCR to identify the presence of the Pro12Ala polymorphism in exon 2 of PPARγ. RESULTS: Our results revealed a statistically significant difference (P = 0.001) in the genotype distribution between patients and controls, with higher incidence of the Pro/Ala genotype in controls (51%) than in patients (28%). A statistically significant association (P < 0.001) between disease severity and genotype distribution was found, indicating that the Pro/Ala genotype is less prevalent in patients with severe acne. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that that the Ala allele might be a protective factor against acne development or may attenuate acne severity.

Membrane sensors for the selective determination of thiopental.

Novel miniaturized polyurethane (PU) membrane sensors in an all-solid state graphite support were developed, electrochemically evaluated and used for the assay of thiopental drug. The thiopental (T) sensors are based on the formation of ion-association complexes of thiopental with copper(II) and cobalt(II)-bathophenanthroline (bphen) counter anions as electroactive materials dispersed in a polyurethane matrix. The sensors show a linear response for thiopental over the range of 1 x 10(-1) - 5 x 10(-5) M thiopental at 25 degrees C over the pH range 6 - 11 with anionic slopes of -28.7 and -28.3 mV decade(-1) with Cu- and Co-bphen thiopental membrane sensors, respectively. These sensors exhibit a fast response time (25 - 45 s), a low detection limit (5 x 10(-6) M), a long lifetime (7 weeks) and good stability. The selectivity coefficients for thiopental sensors relative to the number of interfering anions, were investigated. These sensors were used for the direct potentiometry of thiopental in a pharmaceutical formulation and human serum. Results with mean accuracy of 99.8 +/- 0.5% of nominal were obtained, which compare well with data obtained using spectrophotometric (UV-Vis) and British Pharmacopoeia (BP) methods.

A rapid and sensitive high-performance liquid chromatographic method for the determination of diclofenac sodium in serum and its use in pharmacokinetic studies.

A rapid, and sensitive high-performance liquid chromatographic method has been developed for the determination of diclofenac sodium in serum using flufenamic acid as the internal standard. Serum protein was precipitated with acetonitrile. The drugs were eluted from a 5 microns C-8 reversed-phase column at ambient temperature with a mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile-water (50:50% v/v) adjusted to pH 3.3 with glacial acetic acid, at a flow rate of 2 mL min-1 with UV detection at 280 nm. Each analysis required no longer than 10 min. Quantitation was achieved by the measurement of the peak-height ratio and the relative and absolute recoveries varied from 90 to 98%. Detection limits for diclofenac sodium in serum is 25 ng mL-1. Intraday coefficients of variation (CV) ranged from 2.47 to 4.61% and interday CVs from 3.52 to 7% at three different concentrations. Preliminary stability tests showed that diclofenac sodium is stable for at least 2 weeks in serum after freezing. The method is applied for the determination of the pharmacokinetic parameters of diclofenac after administration of two formulations (enteric-coated tablet and slow-release tablet), to a healthy male volunteer.