Retrospective serosurvey of leptospirosis among patients with acute febrile illness and hepatitis in Egypt.

The epidemiologic status of leptospirosis in Egypt has not been well defined because of difficulties in disease diagnosis. A retrospective study was conducted to detect leptospiral antibodies among undiagnosed acute febrile illness (AFI) and hepatitis cases. Approximately 16% of both AFI (141/886) and acute hepatitis (63/392) cases showed seroreactivity to Leptospira IgM by ELISA and microscopic agglutination test (MAT).

STM, QCM, and the windshield wiper effect: a joint theoretical-experimental study of adsorbate mobility and lubrication at high sliding rates.

We have observed that when mobile adsorbed films of benzene, tricresyl phosphate, and tertiary-butyl phenyl phosphate are present on the surface electrode of a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM), oscillation of the QCM produces clearer scanning tunneling microscope (STM) images of the electrode surface. This is in contrast to an immobile overlayer of iodobenzene, where oscillation of the QCM does not affect image quality. This observation is attributed to a "windshield wiper effect", where at MHz frequencies the tip motion maintains a region of the surface where the absorbate concentration is reduced, which leads to a clearer image.

The complex role of triglycerides in cardiovascular disease.

The objectives of the present work were to obtain a summary estimate of the magnitude of association between triglycerides and cardiovascular disease in the general population based on currently available data. Our goal was to determine whether this relationship is independent of other risk factors, particularly high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), using semi-quantitative meta-analysis. We only included studies reporting the association between fasting triglyceride levels and incident cardiovascular disease endpoints.

Antimicrobial susceptibility and serotype distribution of Streptococcus pneumoniae causing meningitis in Egypt, 1998-2003.

Objectives: To determine the antimicrobial susceptibility and serotype distribution of 205 isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae, collected from the CSF of meningitis patients identified between 1998-2003, during sentinel meningitis surveillance in Egypt.

Methods: Antimicrobial susceptibility was evaluated against six antibiotics using disc diffusion and Etest methods. Serotyping was performed by latex agglutination and the Quellung test.

Bridging the gap between macro- and nanotribology: a quartz crystal microbalance study of tricresylphosphate uptake on metal and oxide surfaces.

We report a quartz crystal microbalance study of the nanodynamical properties of tricresylphosphate (TCP) reaction films formed on high purity Fe, Cr, Fe oxide, and Cr oxide surfaces at elevated temperatures. The data reveal trace levels of interfacial slippage, potentially in conjunction with viscoelastic effects, for reaction films characterized by very low macroscopic friction coefficients. In contrast, rigidly attached TCP reaction films are observed in systems characterized by high macroscopic friction coefficients.

Sulfamethazine advances puberty in male chicks by effecting a rapid increase in gonadotropins.

A sulfonamide, sulfamethazine (SMZ) has been shown to have a robust, progonadal effect. The mechanism of action of SMZ, however, is unknown. Our hypothesis is that the compound may act centrally and/or at the level of the pituitary.