| 1. |
- el-Din, Sayed H. Seif, et al.
(författare)
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Potential effect of the medicinal plants Calotropis procera, Ficus elastica and Zingiber officinale against Schistosoma mansoni in mice
- 2014
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Ingår i: Pharmaceutical Biology. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1744-5116 .- 1388-0209. ; 52:2, s. 144-150
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Context: Calotropis procera (Ait.) R. Br. (Asclepiadaceae), Ficus elastica Roxb. (Moraceae) and Zingiber officinale Roscoe (Zingiberaceae) have been traditionally used to treat many diseases. Objective: The antischistosomal activity of these plant extracts was evaluated against Schistosoma mansoni. Materials and methods: Male mice exposed to 80 +/- 10 cercariae per mouse were divided into two batches. The first was divided into five groups: (I) infected untreated, while groups from (II-V) were treated orally (500 mg/kg for three consecutive days) by aqueous stem latex and flowers of C. procera, latex of F. elastica and ether extract of Z. officinale, respectively. The second batch was divided into four comparable groups (except Z. officinale-treated group) similarly treated as the first batch in addition to the antacid ranitidine (30 mg/kg) 1 h before extract administration. Safety, worm recovery, tissues egg load and oogram pattern were assessed. Results: Calotropis procera latex and flower extracts are toxic (50-70% mortality) even in a small dose (250 mg/kg) before washing off their toxic rubber. Zingiber officinale extract insignificantly decrease (7.26%) S. mansoni worms. When toxic rubber was washed off and ranitidine was used, C. procera (stem latex and flowers) and F. elastica extracts revealed significant S. mansoni worm reductions by 45.31, 53.7 and 16.71%, respectively. Moreover, C. procera extracts produced significant reductions in tissue egg load (similar to 34-38.5%) and positively affected oogram pattern. Conclusion: The present study may be useful to supplement information with regard to C. procera and F. elastica antischistosomal activity and provide a basis for further experimental trials.
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| 2. |
- El Malla, Hanan, et al.
(författare)
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Parental trust in health care : a prospective study from the Children's Cancer Hospital in Egypt
- 2013
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Ingår i: Psycho-Oncology. - : Wiley. - 1057-9249 .- 1099-1611. ; 22:3, s. 548-554
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVE: Patient-physician communication and patient satisfaction are important elements of cancer care. Trust is considered to be crucial for the patient-physician relationship, yet little is to be found in the literature regarding what factors may influence trust. METHODS: We assessed predictors of trust in health-care professionals and in the medical care by administering two questionnaires, one at start of chemotherapy treatment and one at the time of the third chemotherapy cycle, to 304 parents of children with newly diagnosed cancer at the Children's Cancer Hospital in Cairo, Egypt. RESULTS: Parents' trust in the medical care at the time of the child's third chemotherapy cycle was significantly associated with the following at the start of treatment: having received at least moderate information about the disease (relative risk (RR) 13.2; 95% CI 7.8-22.3) and the treatment (RR 17.2; 95% CI 9.5-31.4), having the opportunity to communicate with the child's physicians (RR 21.3; 95% CI 11.7-38.8), being satisfied with the physicians conversation style (RR 30.6; 95% CI 14.4-64.9), having the emotional needs met (RR 22.2; 95% CI 11.8-41.9), and being met with care by the child's physicians (RR 32.0; 95% CI 15.2-67.7). After multivariable model selection, the strongest predictor of trust at the time of the third chemotherapy cycle was to be met with care at the start of treatment. CONCLUSION: Parents being met with care by the child's physicians at the beginning of the child's chemotherapy treatment develop an increased trust in the medical care. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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| 3. |
- Hanan, El Malla, et al.
(författare)
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Adherence to medication : A nation-wide study from the Children's Cancer Hospital, Egypt
- 2013
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Ingår i: World journal of psychiatry. - : Baishideng Publishing Group Inc.. - 2220-3206. ; 22, s. 62-62
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- AIM: To investigate adherence to medical regimen and predictors for non-adherence among children with cancer in Egypt.METHODS: We administered two study specific questionnaires to 304 parents of children diagnosed with cancer at the Children's Cancer Hospital in Cairo, Egypt, one before the first chemotherapy treatment and the other before the third. The questionnaires were translated to colloquial Egyptian Arabic, and due, to the high illiteracy level in Egypt an interviewer read the questions in Arabic to each parent and registered the answers. Both questionnaires consisted of almost 90 questions each. In addition, a Case Report Form was filled in from the child's medical journal. The study period consisted of 7 mo (February until September 2008) and we had a participation rate of 97%. Descriptive statistics are presented and Fisher's exact test was used to check for possible differences between the adherent and non-adherent groups. A P-value below 0.05 was considered significant. Software used was SAS version 9.3 for Windows (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, United States).RESULTS: Two hundred and eighty-one (90%) parents answered the second questionnaire, regarding their child's adherence behaviour. Approximately two thirds of the children admitted to their third chemotherapy treatment had received medical recommendations upon discharge from the first or second chemotherapy treatment (181/281, 64%). Sixty-eight percent (123/181) of the parents who were given medical recommendations reported that their child did not follow the recommendations. Two main predictors were found for non-adherence: child resistance (111/123, 90%) and inadequate information (100/123, 81%). In the adherent group, 20% of the parents (n = 12/58) reported trust in their child's doctor while 14 percent 8/58 reported trust in the other health-care professionals. Corresponding numbers for the non-adherent group are 8/123 (7%) for both their child's doctor and other health-care professionals. Almost all of the parents expressed a lack of optimism towards the treatment (116/121, 96%), yet they reported an intention to continue with the treatment for two main reasons, for the sake of their child's life (70%) (P = 0.005) and worry that their child would die if they discontinued the treatment (81%) (P < 0.0001).CONCLUSION: Non-adherence to medical regimen is common among children diagnosed with cancer in Egypt, the main reasons being child resistance and inadequate information.
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| 4. |
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| 5. |
- Bhattacharya, Kunal, et al.
(författare)
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Enzymatic 'stripping' and degradation of PEGylated carbon nanotubes
- 2014
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Ingår i: Nanoscale. - : Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). - 2040-3364 .- 2040-3372. ; 6:24, s. 14686-14690
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) coated or functionalized with PEG chains of different molecular weight were assessed for their propensity to undergo biodegradation under in vitro conditions using recombinant myeloperoxidase (MPO) or ex vivo using freshly isolated primary human neutrophils. Our findings suggest that under natural conditions, a combined process of 'stripping' (i.e., defunctionalization) and biodegradation of PEG-SWCNTs might occur and that PEG-SWCNTs are a promising-and degradable-nanomedicine vector.
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
- Brown, Robert L., et al.
(författare)
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Attraction of the invasive social wasp, Vespula vulgaris, by volatiles from fermented brown sugar
- 2014
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Ingår i: Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata. - : Wiley. - 0013-8703 .- 1570-7458. ; 151:2, s. 182-190
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The introduction of invasive social wasp species of the genus Vespula (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) to New Zealand has caused a major ecological problem, particularly in the beech forests (Nothofagus spp.) of the South Island, where they have destabilized the native bird and invertebrate biodiversity. New attractants are under investigation as part of a search for pest management solutions. Fermenting brown sugar has been previously reported as a social wasp attractant. This work was undertaken to identify compounds from fermented brown sugar attractive to social wasps. Raw fermented brown sugar was confirmed to be attractive in a field trial and 10 chemical compounds present in the headspace were positively identified by coupled gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and synthetic references. During electroantennogram experiments, 3-methyl-1-butanol, 3-methylbutyl acetate, and ethyl hexanoate elicited high electrophysiological responses from Vespula vulgaris (L.) antennae. These compounds mediated attraction of V.vulgaris wasps in forest margins by trapping. A blend of these compounds could be used as a lure in a monitoring tool, or even a local suppression method if combined with a toxin.
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| 8. |
- Bruggmann, P., et al.
(författare)
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Historical epidemiology of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in selected countries
- 2014
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Ingår i: Journal of Viral Hepatitis. - Hoboken : Wiley-Blackwell. - 1352-0504 .- 1365-2893. ; 21, s. 5-33
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Chronic infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a leading indicator for liver disease. New treatment options are becoming available, and there is a need to characterize the epidemiology and disease burden of HCV. Data for prevalence, viremia, genotype, diagnosis and treatment were obtained through literature searches and expert consensus for 16 countries. For some countries, data from centralized registries were used to estimate diagnosis and treatment rates. Data for the number of liver transplants and the proportion attributable to HCV were obtained from centralized databases. Viremic prevalence estimates varied widely between countries, ranging from 0.3% in Austria, England and Germany to 8.5% in Egypt. The largest viremic populations were in Egypt, with 6358000 cases in 2008 and Brazil with 2106000 cases in 2007. The age distribution of cases differed between countries. In most countries, prevalence rates were higher among males, reflecting higher rates of injection drug use. Diagnosis, treatment and transplant levels also differed considerably between countries. Reliable estimates characterizing HCV-infected populations are critical for addressing HCV-related morbidity and mortality. There is a need to quantify the burden of chronic HCV infection at the national level.
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| 9. |
- Eita, Mohamed, et al.
(författare)
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Optical properties of thin films of zinc oxide quantum dots and polydimethylsiloxane : UV-blocking and the effect of cross-linking
- 2012
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Ingår i: Journal of Colloid and Interface Science. - : Elsevier BV. - 0021-9797 .- 1095-7103. ; 387, s. 135-140
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Thin films of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and ZnO quantum dots (QDs) were built up as multilayers by spin-coating. The films are characterized by a UV-blocking ability that increases with increasing number of bilayers. Photoluminescence (PL) emission spectra of the thin films occur at 522 nm, which is the PL wavelength of the ZnO QDs dispersion, but with a lower intensity and a quantum yield (QY) less than 1% that of the dispersion. Cross-linking has introduced new features to the absorption spectra in that the absorption peak was absent. These changes were attributed to the morphological and structural changes revealed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), respectively. TEM showed that the ZnO particle size in the film increased from 7 (+/- 2.7) nm to 16 (+/- 7.8) upon cross-linking. The FTIR spectra suggest that ZnO QDs are involved in the cross-linking of PDMS and that the surface of the ZnO QDs has been chemically modified.
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| 10. |
- El-Sayed, Ashraf, et al.
(författare)
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Chrysanthemyl 2-acetoxy-3-methylbutanoate : the sex pheromone of the citrophilous mealybug Pseudococcus calceolariae
- 2010
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Ingår i: Tetrahedron Letters. - : Elsevier BV. - 0040-4039 .- 1359-8562. ; 51:7, s. 1075-1078
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Headspace volatiles collected from virgin females of the citrophilous mealybug, Pseudococcus calceolariae, contain three Compounds not present in the headspace of control samples. The main female-specific compound is identified as[2,2-dimethyl-3-(2-methylprop-1-enyl)cyclopropyl]methyl 2-acetoxy-3-methylbutanoate (chrysanthemyl 2-acetoxy-3-methylbutanoate). The other two compounds are identified as [2,2-dimethyl-3-(2-methylprop-1-enyl)cyclopropyl]methanol (chrysanthemol) and [2,2-dimethyl-3-(2-methylprop-1-enyl)cyclopropyl]methyl 2-hydroxy-3-methylbutanoate (chrysanthemyl 2-hydroxy-3-methylbutanoate). Traps baited with 100 mu g and 1000 mu g of chrysanthemyl 2-acetoxy-3-methylbutanoate captured 4- and 20-fold more males than traps baited with virgin females.
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