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Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of Hyperpolarized Light on lower limb cellulitis with lymphatic disorders. Methods: Thirty patients with lower limb cellulitis with lymphatic disorders participated in the study and were divided randomly into two equal groups. Group (A) received Hyperpolarized Light and Traditional Skin Care; Group (B) received Traditional skin care only. Both groups were assessed before and after treatment by using ALT 70 diagnostic model. Results: Statistical tests for normality revealed that most of variables were non-normally distributed. So, nonparametric tests were used for within group differences (Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test) and between groups differences (Mann-Whitney U Test). Statistical test used revealed that there was statistically significant difference between groups with significant reduction in ALT posttest in favor of study group A or study group (P-value0.05). So, patients participated in the two groups were homogenous.

Objective: Exposure to Second Hand Smoke (SHS) has been associated with an increased risk of respiratory symptoms, upper and lower respiratory tract diseases and an increased risk of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The majority of cases of mortality and morbidity is attributable to exposure of adults to SHS and is related to cardiovascular diseases and lung cancer. In Egypt, comprehensive smoke-free laws exist, however, in many workplaces they are poorly enforced consequently exposing workers to the detrimental health hazards of SHS. We aimed at determination of workplace exposure to Second Hand Smoke (SHS) and its association with respiratory and sensory irritation symptoms in hospital workers in Port-said governorate in Egypt. Material and methods: A cross-sectional face to face survey was conducted by the use of a standardised questionnaire among 415 adult hospital workers; representing 50% of all employees (81% response rate); recruited from 4 randomly selected general hospitals in Port-said governorate in Egypt. Results: All hospitals employees reported exposure to SHS - on average 1.5 (SD = 2.5) hours of exposure per day. After controlling for potential confounders, exposure to SHS at work was significantly associated with an increased risk of wheezes (OR = 1.14, p < 0.01), shortness of breath (OR = 1.17, p < 0.01), phlegm (OR = 1.23, p < 0.01), running and irritated nose (OR = 1.14, p < 0.01) as well as a sore, scratchy throat (OR = 1.23). Conclusions: These findings point out that workplace exposure to SHS is evident in hospitals in Port-said governorate and that workers are adversely affected by exposure to it at work. This underlines the importance of rigorous enforcement of smoke-free policies to protect the workers' health in Egypt.

Plant-derived pharmaceuticals have become prominent in the market place, making it a favored healthcare choice. In this study, air dried samples of aerial parts of Pelargonium X fragrans Willd. and Pelargonium peltatum L’Hérit. were separately extracted using successive extraction with a soxhlet apparatus. Each extract was tested for its antimicrobial activity using two Gram-negative bacterial strains (Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli), two Gram-positive bacterial strains (Bacillus subtillus and Staphyllococcus aureus), and clinical fungal isolates (Aspergillus niger and Candida albicans). Also, their antioxidant activity was tested using a DPPH free radical assay. The ethyl acetate, n-Butanol and the total extracts showed moderate activity against the tested microorganisms with significant high activity against E. coli. The free radical scavenging property was found to be in a concentration dependent manner in all the tested fractions. The most effective antioxidant fractions in both spp. was the n-Butanol fraction (85% and 85.2%) at the concentration of 0.375µg/ml followed by the total ethanolic extracts (78.1% and 84.62%), respectively, with the same concentration compared to the standard reference ascorbic acid which showed a significant radicals scavenging potential (79.1%) in the concentration of 1µg/ml.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/icpj.v4i2.21481 International Current Pharmaceutical Journal, January 2015, 4(2): 340-342

Introduction: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a single strand RNA hepatotrophic virus infecting 170 millions around the world and 20% of Egyptian blood donors. Although there has been significant improvement in the enzyme immunoassays (EIAs) in population screening of HCV infection, the development of a low variability, easy to automate and inexpensive supplemental test to support the current immunoassays was of a major concern to several laboratories. Objectives: In the current study, we embarked on a systematic study to analyze by DNA sequencing several HCV isolates to identify conserved core protein sequences and perform explorative analysis of five synthetic peptides from the core/E1 region in anti-HCV antibody assays. Methods: We designed four synthetic-core specific peptides and an E1-specific peptide. These peptides were used to screen HCV antibodies in sera of 100 HCV positive patients and 100 HCV negative subjects and compared the results with those obtained by the commercial systems based on second and third generation enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Results: Our results showed that all peptides detect HCV antibodies in infected sera to varying degrees. The synthetic peptide (a.a. 21–40) of the core protein had 99% sensitivity, 100% specificity and was highly reproducible. Conclusion: The above findings make this core peptide a candidate product for developing a supplemental test for chronic HCV infection in the Egyptian population.