No abstract

he concentrations of some heavy metals in water of Bardawil Lagoon located in East northern Egypt, in relation with some abiotic variables were investigated in this study. The water quality characteristics over the sampling period and the levels of heavy metals from the Lagoon were evaluated from twelve stations covering the whole lagoon area through twelve successive cruises that commenced in January 2004 and ended in December 2004. The Lagoon water quality characteristics were mostly in the normal range for marine habitat and lied under the international permissible levels. The recorded levels of major cations and anions in the water lagoon were higher than the corresponding sea water levels and indicate its higher salinity level than sea water. In addition, the average values of nutrient salts and studied heavy metals (Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu and Pb) in the water samples were lorwer than the respective reference values for water. Based on this study, the human health risk for heavy metals in Bardawil Lagoon are still low at present.

The amounts and forms of potentially mobile phosphorus (P) in surface sediments of Qarun and Wadi El-Rayan lakes were evaluated during winter and summer using a sequential chemical extraction. Five sedimentary P fractions were separately quantified: loosely sorbed P (NH(4)Cl-P), iron-associated P (BD-P), calcium- bound P (HCl-P), metal oxide bound P (NaOH-P), and residual P (organic and refractory P). The results indicated that the fractional composition of the examined lakes was different while the total P concentrations were approached. The inorganic P in the surface sediment mainly consisted of Ca-P followed by Fe-P in Qarun Lake, while Al-P took the second order in Wadi El-Rayan lakes. The ranks order of the different P extracts were HCl-P > residual-P approximately NaOH-P > NH(4)Cl-P > BD-P and residual-P > NH(4)Cl-P > HCl-P > NaOH-P > BD-P for Qarun and Wadi El-Rayan lakes, respectively.

Human papilloma virus (HPV) related cervical cancer (CC) remains a significant cause of mortality, especially in developing nations. Practical, cheap, and responsive biomarkers are required to diagnose and prevent large-scale CCs and other cancers associated with HPV. This research aimed to investigate HPV-Human leukocyte Antigen-G (HLA-G) interaction with the cervical cancer immune modulation: Hypothesizing HPV-specific HLA markers might be accurate and costeffective preventive biomarkers. In addition to assessing the host immune response by immunophenotyping of CD57 natural killer T-cells. Forty-five DNA and serum samples of the patients were divided into two groups; twenty-three cases with HPV infection associated with cervical cancer and twenty-two controls with HPV infection without cervical cancer. Real-Time Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used for HLA-G messenger RNA expression. Immunophenotyping by flow cytometry was carried out using specific monoclonal antibodies against CD57 expressed on CD8+ T-cells. The results indicated that 69.6% of the cases showed HLA-G expression compared to only 22.7% of the controls, and the difference was statistically significant at p<0.01. Cases have eight times the risk of expression among controls since odd ratio (OR) =7.8. Also, 65.2% of the cases showed CD57 + expression compared to 36.4% of the controls, and the difference was marginally significantly different at p= 0.053. Cases have nearly three times the risk of expression among controls since OR=3.3. Although the lower limit of the 95% confidence interval is <1, indicating that in the population, this increase in risk may not be present. HPV-specific HLA-G marker test might be an accurate and cost-effective preventive biomarker with potential application for cervical cancer.