Among honey's benefits are its anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial effects. Because gastroenteritis is an acute inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract that may be caused by a variety of microbes, the aim of the present study was to verify whether the addition of honey in oral rehydration solution (ORS) could affect the duration of symptoms of acute gastroenteritis in infants and children. One hundred infants and children with acute gastroenteritis were randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups, each consisting of 50 patients: Group I received ORS for rehydration (control), and Group II received ORS with honey. The mean ages of patients of Groups I and II were 1.5 +/- 1.2 and 1.1 +/- 0.8 years, respectively. In the honey-treated group the frequencies of vomiting and diarrhea were significantly reduced compared to the control group (P < .001 and P < .05, respectively). Also, the recovery time, defined as the number of hours from initiation of treatment to when normal soft stools are passed, with the patient showing normal hydration and satisfactory weight gain, was significantly shortened after honey ingestion (P < .001). In conclusion, honey added to ORS promoted rehydration of the body and sped recovery from vomiting and diarrhea.

In patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD), hemorrhagic complications are commonly encountered due to abnormalities in primary hemostasis, in particular, platelet (PLT) dysfunction and impaired PLT-vessel wall interaction. The pathogenesis of altered PLT function is considered multifactorial. Dialysis procedures had a favorable impact on bleeding complications in uremic patients. We aimed to evaluate the effect of hemodialysis on PLT function in patients with ESRD on a regular hemodialysis program. This study was carried on 40 ESRD Egyptian patients undergoing regular hemodialysis. Twenty healthy subjects were studied as a control group. Samples were assayed for PLT function by PLT function analyzer-100 (PFA-100) before and after the hemodialysis session. Prolonged closure time (CT) was found in 90% of patients before hemodialysis session and returned to normal ranges after hemodialysis session in 22% of those patients. The CT was longer among patients before and after hemodialysis session compared to controls (p < 0.01 and p = 0.02, respectively), while it was shorter among patients after hemodialysis session compared to before hemodialysis session (p = 0.004). Hemoglobin (Hb) level and hematocrit (Hct) values were higher in control group compared to patient group before hemodialysis session (p < 0.01 and p = 0.001, respectively), patients after hemodialysis session (p < 0.01 and p = 0.02, respectively) and also in patients after hemodialysis compared to before hemodialysis session (p = 0.001 and p < 0.01, respectively). The percentage change in PLT count was positively correlated with that of Hb (p = 0.01). We concluded that PLT dysfunction is encountered in ESRD Egyptian patients, and hemodialysis has the ability to correct some part of these hemostatic disturbances.

Introduction Focal adhesion kinase (FAK) is a nonreceptor tyrosine kinase protein frequently overexpressed in cancer and has been linked to an increase in the stem cell population of tumors, resistance to therapy, and metastatic spread. Pharmacological FAK inhibition in pancreatic cancer has received increased attention over the last few years, either alone or in combination with other therapeutics including chemotherapy and immunotherapy. However, its prognostic value and its role in radioresistance of pancreatic ducal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is unknown. Methods and materials Using the TCGA and GTEx databases, we investigated the genetic alterations and mRNA expression levels of PTK2 (the encoding-gene for FAK) in normal pancreatic tissue and pancreatic cancer and its impact on patient survival. Furthermore, we evaluated the expression of FAK and its tyrosine domain Ty-397 in three pancreatic cancer cell lines. We went further and evaluated the role of a commercial FAK tyrosine kinase inhibitor VS-4718 on the viability and radiosensitization of the pancreatic cell lines as well as its effect on the extracellular matrix (ECM) production from the pancreatic stellate cells. Furthermore, we tested the effect of combining radiation with VS-4718 in a three-dimensional (3D) multicellular pancreatic tumor spheroid model. Results A database analysis revealed a relevant increase in genetic alterations and mRNA expression of the PTK2 in PDAC, which were associated with lower progression-free survival. In vitro, there was only variation in the basal phosphorylation level of FAK in cell lines. VS-4718 radiosensitized pancreatic cell lines only in the presence of ECM-producing pancreatic stellate cells and markedly reduced the ECM production in the stromal cells. Finally, using a 3D multicellular tumor model, the combination of VS-4718 and radiotherapy significantly reduced the growth of tumor aggregates. Conclusion Pharmacological inhibition of FAK in pancreatic cancer could be a novel therapeutic strategy as our results show a radiosensitization effect of VS-4718 in vitro in a multicellular 2D-and in a 3D-model of pancreatic cancer.

During caesarean delivery i.v. tenoxicam causes a slight increase in bleeding time with no significant changes in platelet marker levels.

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AC133 antigen is expressed restrictively in the immature subset of the CD34 cells. Hence, it is expected to be a valuable prognostic marker in acute leukemia. Sixty Egyptian children with acute leukemia were enrolled into this prospective study divided into 2 groups: 30 acute myeloblastic leukemia (AML) and 30 acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) patients. Flow cytometric assessment of AC133 expression was performed on CD34 blast cells. AC133 was expressed in 66.7% and 40% of AML and ALL patients, respectively. AC133-positive expression was not associated with any of the studied standard prognostic factors. In AML, 80% of patients with poor clinical outcome (relapse or death) were positive for AC133 expression, whereas, all ALL patients who developed resistance as well as those who displayed poor clinical outcome had AC133-positive expression (P<0.05). Patients with positive AC133 expression had significantly shorter overall and disease-free survival times compared with AC133-negative patients in both ALL (P<0.001) and AML (P<0.05) groups. AC133 expression percentage was a reliable poor prognostic marker in ALL patients (P<0.0001). AC133-positive expression is an independent poor prognostic factor in childhood acute leukemia and could characterize a group of patients with resistance to standard chemotherapy, as well as high incidence of relapse and death.

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In this paper, we will investigate the influence of the microphysics schemes on the rainfall pattern of the extreme storm that impacted Egypt on 12 March 2020. The aim is to improve rainfall forecasting using the numerical Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model for an effective Early Warning System (EWS). The performance of six microphysics schemes were evaluated using the Model Object-based Evaluation analysis tool (MODE) forced by three selected satellite-based datasets (CMORPH, PERSIANN, PERSIANN-CCS, etc.) and one reanalysis dataset (ERA5). Six numerical simulations were performed using the WRF model, considering the following microphysics schemes: Lin, WSM6, Goddard, Thompson, Morrison, and NSSL2C. The models were evaluated using both conventional statistical indices and MODE, which is much more suitable in such studies. The results showed that the Lin scheme outperformed the other schemes such as WSM6, Goddard, Thompson, Morrison, and NSSL2C, in rainfall forecasting. The Thompson scheme was found to be the least reliable scheme. An extension for this study is recommended in other regions where the observational rain gauges data are available.