Vaping, Environmental Toxicants Exposure, and Lung Cancer Risk.

Lung cancer (LC) is the second-most prevalent tumor worldwide. According to the most recent GLOBOCAN data, over 2.2 million LC cases were reported in 2020, with an estimated new death incident of 1,796,144 lung cancer cases. Genetic, lifestyle, and environmental exposure play an important role as risk factors for LC. E-cigarette, or vaping, products (EVPs) use has been dramatically increasing world-wide. There is growing concern that EVPs consumption may increase the risk of LC because EVPs contain several proven carcinogenic compounds. However, the relationship between EVPs and LC is not well established. E-cigarette contains nicotine derivatives (e.g., nitrosnornicotine, nitrosamine ketone), heavy metals (including organometal compounds), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and flavorings (aldehydes and complex organics). Several environmental toxicants have been proven to contribute to LC. Proven and plausible environmental carcinogens could be physical (ionizing and non-ionizing radiation), chemicals (such as asbestos, formaldehyde, and dioxins), and heavy metals (such as cobalt, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, and nickel). Air pollution, especially particulate matter (PM) emitted from vehicles and industrial exhausts, is linked with LC. Although extensive environmental exposure prevention policies and smoking reduction strategies have been adopted globally, the dangers remain. Combined, both EVPs and toxic environmental exposures may demonstrate significant synergistic oncogenicity. This review aims to analyze the current publications on the importance of the relationship between EVPs consumption and environmental toxicants in the pathogenesis of LC.

Sexual Harassment: Knowledge, Prevalence, Pattern, and Impacts Among Egyptian Female College Students.

Sexual harassment (SH) is an uprising problem worldwide, especially in Egypt. This study aims to determine the magnitude, patterns, and circumstances of SH among female students at Suez Canal University. A cross-sectional study was conducted on a representative female student sample (N = 644) from all the faculties using a self-administered anonymous questionnaire. The high prevalence of SH among college students in this study could be a consequence of the absence of knowledge about the legal framework. It mostly happened at all times of the day and night in the streets, and the least amount happened on the campus. Most of the harassers were younger than 20 years old and strangers. The majority of harassed females and surrounding people displayed negative reactions. None of the harassed females notified the authorities. The majority blamed men, and half claimed the SH act was due to the absence of religious principles. Moreover, the ignorance of the majority is with Egyptian law against SH. Both psychological and social impacts are significantly experienced by the harassed females. Thus, it is urgent to establish an institutional program (e.g., psycho-educative sessions during classes and peer training) or national awareness campaigns. Such programs and trainings aim to increase the awareness of students about the SH legal framework and how to deal with such acts, either as a victim or a witness, and how to provide the needed psychological assistance.

Acute toxic effects of new synthetic cannabinoid on brain: Neurobehavioral and Histological: Preclinical studies.

The psychoactive effects of new synthetic cannabinoids (SCs), MDMB-4en-PINACA, are being marketed as a blend of herbs and spices. This study aims to determine the behavioral, neurochemical, histopathological, and immunohistochemical alterations associated with the acute toxicity of MDMB-4en-PINACA compounds. METHODS: Adult male albino rats were administered various toxic doses of the drug (1.5, 3, and 6 mg/kg), and behavioral studies were conducted 2 and 24 h later; animals were then sacrificed. Histopathological and neurochemical examinations were performed. Two hours after intraperitoneal. RESULTS: Intraperitoneal injection of MDMB-4en-PINACA, horizontal movement, the number of stops, and mobility ratio were significantly impaired, along with coordination and balance. In addition, it led to a decline in spatial learning and memory, and neurotransmitter concentrations decreased significantly in a dose-dependent manner. Further examination of the cerebral cortex and hippocampus histopathology revealed pathological degeneration of small pyramidal cells. CONCLUSION: Thus, these findings revealed that MDMB-4en-PINACA interferes with hippocampal function and impairs cognitive performance, highlighting the cognitive risk associated with SC abuse.

Medico-legal assessment of acid attack (Vitriolage) injuries in Egypt: Fate, outcomes and permanent infirmity.

BACKGROUND: Vitriolage is an aggressive criminal act that results in different degrees of burn injuries and serious health consequences. Vitriolage has been known as a popular method of assault in some developing countries. To our knowledge, this is the first study in Egypt to study the medicolegal aspects of vitriolage crime. PURPOSE: The current study was designed to study the pattern of vitriolage injuries and to evaluate the permanent infirmity of vitriolage reported cases in Egypt. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: All cases of acid burn medicolegal reports throughout three years from 2015 to 2017 were included. 31 victims were studied as regards the demographic, medico-legal data and permanent infirmity assessment done on the victims. RESULTS: The male: female ratio of caustic burn victims was 1:2.9. Females were being assaulted at a higher rate than males. Most of the victims were young working women aged 20-30 years old and most of them lived in urban areas. Regarding the gender of the offenders, 23 were males and 6 were females. Almost 90.3% of the offenders were known to their victims. Most attacks occurred in public 22 cases (70.9%). Revenge was the most mentioned motive for assault (58.1%, n = 18). Ocular damage and dermal disfigurement were the most frequent injuries. CONCLUSION: Ensuring efficient implementation of multilevel policies is required to help survivors attain medical, psychological and community support. Legal socio-cultural reform with permanent infirmity evaluation modification is recommended to combat vitriolage.

Histopathological differentiation of drowning in freshwater and saltwater in rats: forensic point of view / Diferenciación histopatológica de ahogamiento en agua dulce y agua salada en ratas: punto de vista forense

SUMMARY: The postmortem diagnosis of death by drowning is one of the most difficult issues in forensic pathology. We investigated possible evidence differentiating saltwater drowning from freshwater drowning by histopathological changes in brain, heart, lungs, liver, and kidneys tissues. A cross section descriptive study was carried out on eighteen 12-week-old male Wistar rats; they were divided equally into 3 groups. Group 1: control group; Group 2: death by drowning in freshwater; Group 3: death by drowning in saltwater. Immediately after death, all tested organs were removed and fixed for histopathological examination. The brain of freshwater group depicted degenerated neurocytes with dystrophic changes in the form of shrunken cell, pyknotic nuclei and deeply eosinophilic cytoplasm. The heart showed clear evidence of myocyte injuries in saltwater drowning compared to the control and freshwater groups. The kidneys of rats drown in saltwater revealed more glomerular destruction with no differences in tubulo-interstitial changes in comparison with those drown in freshwater. In the lungs, the changes in freshwater were restricted to the alveoli, and the bronchial changes were more distinctive in saltwater. No disturbed liver architecture was seen in both test groups, however hydropic degeneration, congested vessels, and sinusoids were more distinct in saltwater group. In conclusion, diagnostic differentiation between fresh and saltwater drowning was reliable in rats' lungs and heart with minimal differentiation in liver, kidneys, and brain. Further studies of drowning with different staining techniques will help to clarify the potential role of histopathological changes in body organs as indicator of drowning.

RESUMEN: El diagnóstico post mortem de muerte por ahogamiento es uno de los temas más difíciles de la patología forense. Investigamos la posible evidencia que diferencia el ahogamiento en agua salada del ahogamiento en agua dulce por cambios histopatológicos en los tejidos del cerebro, el corazón, los pulmones, el hígado y los riñones. Se realizó un estudio descriptivo de corte transversal en dieciocho ratas Wistar macho de 12 semanas de edad; se dividieron por igual en 3 grupos. Grupo 1: grupo control; Grupo 2: muerte por ahogamiento en agua dulce; Grupo 3: muerte por ahogamiento en agua salada. Inmediatamente después de la muerte, se extirparon todos los órganos analizados y se fijaron para el examen histopatológico. El cerebro del grupo de agua dulce mostró neurocitos degenerados con cambios distróficos en forma de células encogidas, núcleos picnóticos y citoplasma profundamente eosinofílico. El corazón mostró una clara evidencia de lesiones de miocitos en los ahogamientos en agua salada en comparación con los grupos de control y de agua dulce. Los riñones de ratas ahogadas en agua salada revelaron una mayor destrucción glomerular sin diferencias en los cambios túbulo-intersticiales en comparación con las ahogadas en agua dulce. En los pulmones, los cambios en agua dulce se restringieron a los alvéolos y los cambios bronquiales fueron más distintivos en agua salada. No se observó una arquitectura hepática alterada en ambos grupos de prueba, sin embargo, la degeneración hidrópica, los vasos congestionados y los sinusoides fueron más distintos en el grupo de agua salada. En conclusión, la diferenciación diagnóstica entre ahogamiento en agua dulce y salada fue confiable en los pulmones y el corazón de las ratas con una diferenciación mínima en el hígado, los riñones y el cerebro. Estudios adicionales de ahogamiento con diferentes técnicas de tinción ayudarán a aclarar el papel potencial de los cambios histopatológicos en los órganos del cuerpo como indicador de ahogamiento.

Assessment of potential risk factors for coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) among health care workers.

BACKGROUND: Understanding COVID-19 infection among health workers and the risk factors for adverse outcomes is important not only for characterizing virus transmission patterns and risk factors for infection, but also for preventing the future infection of health workers and other patients and reducing secondary COVID-19 transmission within health care settings. Our aim was to identify risk factors for infection among health care workers to limit adverse events in health care facilities. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A total of 336 HCWs from COVID-19 treatment hospitals took part in the study with varying COVID-19 exposure risk depending on job function and working site. All participants were asked about risk factors for COVID-19 infection. RESULTS: Among our participants, 42.6% were medical doctors, 28.6% nurses and 7.4% assistant nurses and 21.4% were others. Forty four percent of participants had work experience 5-10 years. More than half of participants received training in Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) (56.8%) about COVID 19; 91% have hand hygiene facilities and 69% admitted availability of PPE. More than half of participants admitted that they always follow IPC measures. Two thirds of participants (66.7%) had close contact with a patient since admission; 42.3% were present in aerosolizing procedures for patients. Forty two percent of participants had respiratory symptom; the most common was sore throat representing (32.4%). The highest frequency of respiratory symptoms was among of nurses and assistant nurses 51%. Frequency of respiratory symptoms was higher among those who contacted the patient directly or for prolonged period compared to those who do not admitted these contacts. CONCLUSIONS: Risk factors for COVID-19 represented by those who were smokers, nurses and assistant nurses were more liable to catch COVID-19 than doctors as they contacted the patient directly for prolonged period or his/her body fluids, materials or surfaces around him.

Mobile phones electromagnetic radiation and NAD+-dependent isocitrate dehydrogenase as a mitochondrial marker in asthenozoospermia.

NAD+-dependent Isocitrate Dehydrogenase (NAD+-IDH) could be one of the cell phone radiation targets. Enzyme activity alteration may lead to decline in sperm motility during radio-frequency electromagnetic waves (RF-EMW) exposure. The current case control study aimed to investigate the possible relationship between mitochondrial NAD+-IDH activity in human seminal plasma and sperm motility among asthenozoospermic cellular phone users. A total number of ninety idiopathic infertile males referred from the Department of Dermatology and Andrology, were enrolled in this study. NAD+-IDH activity was measured in human seminal plasma by spectrophotometer. Computer-aided sperm analysis (CASA) following WHO criteria has been used for semen analyses. The results showed that IDH activity was increased in patients with prolonged cell phone daily use ≥4 h/day. Its level, correlated negatively with either the motility ratio percentages (r = -0.46, p < 0.001) or the progressive motility percentages (r = -0.50, p < 0.001) in the study groups. The current study suggests that NAD+-IDH in human seminal plasma could be one of seminal plasma biomarkers reflecting the mitochondrial function of spermatozoa. Alteration of its level could reflect the defective motility of sperms among some cases of cellular phone users.

Physical fighting among Egyptian adolescents: social and demographic correlates among a nationally representative sample.

Introduction. Adolescent interpersonal violence is a global public health problem, yet gaps remain in the epidemiologic literature on adolescent violence in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). Prevalence rates and risk and protective factors reported in high-income countries may be different from those reported in LMICs. Culturally-relevant epidemiologic data is important in efforts aimed at addressing adolescent interpersonal violence in these countries. Methods. A cross-sectional study of Egyptian adolescent involvement in violent behavior was conducted. Data collected from a 2006 school-based survey initiative were used; participants were adolescents aged 11-17 (N = 5, 249). Some participants were excluded from the dataset due to incomplete data (N = 111) resulting in a final sample of 5,138. Bivariate and logistic regression analyses were run to determine demographic and social variables associated with participation in physical fighting. Results. Thirty-one percent of adolescents reported being involved in a physical fight. Previously reported risk factors for violent behavior among adolescents such as depressive symptoms (OR = 1.29; CI = 1.11-1.50) and bullying victimization (OR = 2.44; CI = 2.12-2.83) were positively associated with violent behavior in the present study, while the more novel factor of sedentary behavior was also observed as having a positive association with violent behavior (OR = 1.43; CI = 1.21-1.69). Known protective factors such as helpful peers (OR = 0.75; CI = 0.62-0.90) and understanding parents (OR = 0.67; CI = 0.56-0.81) were found to have negative associations with violent behavior in the present study, in addition to the counterintuitive protective effect of having fewer friends (OR = 0.75; CI = 0.60-0.92). Conclusions. Prevalence rates of adolescent interpersonal violence in Egypt are similar to rates in other LMICs. The high reported rates of depressive symptomatology and bully victimization along with their positive association with physical fighting suggest that interventions aimed at treating and preventing these problems may help mitigate the likelihood of adolescents engaging in violent behavior; involvement in appropriate physical activity in a safe environment may be beneficial as well. More research is needed to understand the observed protective factor of having fewer friends.