Abstract
Human schistosomiasis is one of the most important neglected tropical diseases. Ongoing  control  measures  have  markedly  decreased  the  incidence  of  the  disease. This study determined  the
prevalence of Schistosoma hematobium and S. mansoni infection among school children and adults and  the snail  intermediate  hosts in  Aswan  Governorate.
A  cross-sectional  study  was  carried  out  in  four  villages,  El-Molcata,  Karor,  El-Mocla  and  Elkhatara.  Parasitological examination of 1200 inhabitants’ stool and urine samples was  examined 
using  direct stained smear and  Kato-Katz  concentration methods  as well as  urine sedimentation
technique. Snail vectors were collected from different water streams, identified, and examined 
for  schistosomes  infective  stages  by  shedding  and  crushing  methods.  Statistical  analysis  was 
conducted using SPSS, version 25.
The  results  showed that  S. hematobium  was 4.7% and  S. mansoni  was 1.25% among  school 
children  and adults ,  with risk  factors;   gender  and  exposure  to  canal water. Also,  the  freshwater  snails
were  Bulinus truncatus, Biomphalaria alexandrina,  Valvata  nilotica,  Physa acuta, &  Lymnaea 
truncatula.  B. truncatus  was  widely  distributed  but  did not show cercariae shedding. 
Keywords: Egypt, Aswan Governorate, Schistosoma mansoni, S. hematobium, Snails.

Background: Different lesions affecting the spinal cord can lead to myelopathy. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is widely used to predict the degree of spinal cord microstructure affection and to assess axonal integrity and diffusion directionality. We hypothesized that not all DTI parameters have the same affection with different spinal cord patholo‑ gies. The purpose of this study is to assess the value of the quantitative diffusion tensor imaging indices in different spinal cord lesions. Results: There is highly statistically significant difference of the fractional anisotropy (FA), relative anisotropy (RA), vol‑ ume ratio (VR) and secondary eigenvector values (E2 and E3) between various studied cord lesions and control levels. There is no statistically significant difference of the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and the primary eigenvector value (E1) (ANOVA test). The ROC curve analysis showed the higher sensitivity and accuracy were ‘88% and 62.5%, respectively,’ with FA cutoff value about 0.380. Conclusion: The resulted quantitative DTI indices ‘fractional anisotropy, relative anisotropy, volume ratio and second‑ ary eigenvalues’ work as a numerical in vivo marker of overall tissue injury in different pathologies affecting the spinal cord. Keywords: MRI, Diffusion tensor imaging, FA, ADC, VR, RA, Eigenvector values, Myelopathy

Background: Screening of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is challenged especially in patients with normal alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) levels. Aberrant p16 methylation has been implicated in HCC. Objectives and Aims: This study aimed to assess serum methylated p16 (MP16) expression levels and to evaluate MP16 diagnostic performance in HCC detection among HCVinfected Egyptian patients with normal AFP levels. Methods: MP16 levels were quantified using real-time PCR in 230 serum samples (30 healthy controls, 95 with HCV-HCC, 40 with chronic hepatitis C “CHC” and 65 with HCV cirrhosis). Diagnostic performance of MP16 for diagnosis of HCC was done using receiver operator characteristic curve analysis. Results: Serum MP16 levels were significantly higher in HCC than CHC, cirrhosis, and healthy subjects and significantly higher in HCC with normal AFP levels than those with higher AFP. ROC curves revealed promising diagnostic performance for MP16 in dis-criminating HCC with normal AFP levels from non-HCC cases. This predictive ability improved by combining MP16 and AFP (AUC of 0.872 with 100% sensitivity, 76.5% specificity, 79.1% positive predictive value, 100% negative predictive value, and 87.5% accuracy). Conclusion: MP16 can be a potential noninvasive molecular biomarker for HCC detection in patients with hepatic mass(es) and normal AFP levels especially in those where liver biopsy and radiological imaging cannot be done. Keywords: methylated p16, hepatitis C virus, hepatocellular carcinoma, alpha-fetoprotein, quantitative real-time PCR

Background: Cell therapy is a promising method for improving healing in chronic ulcers through delivery of isolated adipose-derived stromal vascular fraction. Objectives: This study investigates the autologous stem cell yield of adipose tissue and its efficacy in chronic ulcers compared with conventional methods. Methods: This study was a randomized controlled trial. After the study design and protocol were established and ethical committee approval was obtained, we enrolled 100 patients divided into study and control groups. In the study group, we performed debridement and autologous stem cell injection every 3 weeks. The control group was treated with debridement and conventional dressing. Assessments included clinical and histological parameters. Results: The study group showed improved healing. Conclusion: Using autologous adipose-derived stromal vascular fraction cells is an effective treatment method for chronic ulcers.

safia abdel hamid   masour ali moh sayed  hasanein   egyp  j anasthesia   vol  9  no 2    july  1993   supplement