This study assessed the effects of the ongoing violence on the mental health of Palestinian and Israeli youths. Parallel instruments were developed and adapted, as part of a collaborative project, in order to assess, in each society: (1) differential rates of exposure to the conflict, (2) the association between exposure and the severity of posttraumatic symptoms (PTS), and (3) the inter-relationships among PTS, functional impairment, somatic complaints, and coping strategies. Participants were 1,016 Israeli and 1,235 Palestinian adolescents. A self-report questionnaire assessed exposure. PTS was measured using the UCLA PTSD Reaction Index, functional impairment and somatic complaints were measured with the DISC, and coping strategies were assessed with Brief Cope. In both societies, greater exposure to conflict-related violence was associated with more PTS and more somatic complaints, with girls reporting more distress than boys. A total of 6.8 per cent of the Israeli students and 37.2 per cent of the Palestinian students met criteria for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). In both societies, but more pronounced in the Palestinian Authority, adolescents reported significant levels of functional impairment,

The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of depression on pattern of substance use disorders (SUDs). Consecutive samples of (200) Egyptian male SUD inpatients were examined over 1-year period. Study and control samples were chosen. Study group consisted of 30 patients with comorbid substance dependence and depression. Control group consisted of 30 substance-dependent patients without depression. Semistructured interviews, Addiction Severity Index (ASI) and Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HDRS), were applied. Comparison between both groups showed significant differences for prescribed opioid use (100% versus 86%), polysubstance use (73% versus 43%), frequency of suicidal attempts (86% versus 43%), mean of admissions to substance use treatment (SUT) units (5 versus 2.2), mean of abstinence periods (3.8 versus 1.2); study group showed greater medical status impairment (P = .05), social and psychiatric impairment (P = .01). It was concluded that depression might affect SUD as regards type of substance used, pattern of use, suicide rate, duration of hospitalization, rate of rehospitalization, and finally medical, social, and psychiatric status impairment.

No abstract

<i>Bombax ceiba</i> is an important agroforestry tree species widely distributed throughout the world. It has been extensively grown and planted for eras in hot and dry regions and high humidity zones of southern Asia. The main objective of this research was to evaluate the growth response of <i>B. ceiba</i> in response to different compost treatments. Different morphological traits (plant height, stem height, root length) and biomass (shoot fresh weight, shoot dry weight, root fresh weight, root dry weight and root/shoot ratio) were measured. Two experiments (pot experiment = seedlings) and (field experiment = saplings) were conducted simultaneously. Different compost treatments: (T₀) = (Compost 0% + Soil 0%), (T₁) = (Compost 25% + Soil 75%), (T₂) = (Compost 50% + Soil 50%), (T₃) = (Compost 75% + Soil 25%), (T₄) = (Compost 100% + Soil 0%) were applied in the growing media. Results demonstrated that plant growth increased with the increment in compost application. In the pot experiment, <i>B. ceiba</i> exhibited its better growth under 75% of compost application, whereas in the field experiment, 100% compost was helpful for the best production of <i>B. ceiba</i>. Overall, positive effects of compost were observed for the growth of <i>B. ceiba</i>. The plant growth was increased greatly in response to the better content of organic fertilizer, and it was determined that compost enhances soil fertility. It should be implemented as organic fertilizer in agroforestry operations for optimizing plant growth and yield.

Domestic violence is one of the most pervasive of all social problems, Domestic violence for women is violence perpetrated within relationships; this violence is much serious than violence perpetrated by a stranger.The hypothesis of this work is that domestic violence is a general health problem and not present particularly in psychiatric patients, the study aims at studying domestic violence in married female psychiatric patients. Sixty Egyptian married females were included, 20 of them had the I.C.D.-10 diagnosis of bipolar affective disorder, 20 neurotic disorders and 20 control group. All groups were clinically and psychometrically assessed using clinical psychiatric sheet of Kasr El-Aini hospital. Those who reported history of domestic violence were subjected to: Zung self rating depression scale, locus of control, Esyenck Personality Questionnaire (E.P.Q) and a specially designed questionnaire to assess intimacy/abuse, and wives’ perception of husbands characters.The results reveal no statistically significant difference between the 3 groups concerning the domestic violence or the degree of abuse. A significant relation was found between domestic violence and history of child abuse. Battered women of patient group were more depressed than control group with no statistical significance, while neurotic patients were significantly more depressed (87%) than bipolar patients (50%) and control group (57.1%)((p < 0.05). Significant higher scores were found in neurotic patients on EPQ neuroticism scale.ConclusionDomestic violence occurring in female psychiatric patients is not higher than normal. In addition, despite abuse, Egyptian wives tend to see their husbands positively.