Use of remote sensing, spatial and geophysical modeling, and real recharging capabilities to identify suitable areas for groundwater exploitation in dry coastal areas.

Accurate identification of groundwater potential areas in arid regions is an important task for groundwater management and sustainability. As a result, this study used the innovative integration of remote sensing (RS), geographic information system (GIS), watershed modeling system (WMS), geophysical survey, and water mass balance equation to identify potential groundwater areas in the W. Dara, Eastern Desert, Egypt. A weighted spatial probability model (WSPM) of groundwater potential based on eight regulatory factors was implemented within ArcGIS software. Drainage density (DD), precipitation (P), net groundwater recharge (NGR), terrain slope (TS), lineament density (LD), lithologic group (LG), water quality (TDS), and depth to groundwater level (DGW) are the aspects considered. The Analytical hierarchy process (AHP) method was used to assign weights to these parameters, and their accuracy was estimated using the consistency ratio (CR). The resulting groundwater potential map classified W. Dara study area into five categories, ranging from very low to very high potential. A geophysical survey, in the form of Vertical Electrical Sounding (VES) and Transient Electromagnetic (TEM), was conducted along W. Dara to validate the results of the WSPM, which identified areas of high groundwater potential. The 1D inversion of VES/TEM shows that the central and western parts of W. Dara are considered the most promising areas for groundwater occurrence, and are located in areas of high and very high potential classes derived from WSPM. Moreover, the results of VES and TEM surveys showed that the proposed aquifers (Nubian Sandstone, Miocene, and Quaternary) in the study area are horizontally and vertically connected through a set of normal faults traversing NW-SE. Ten sites have been proposed for drilling additional exploitative wells in W. Dara area based on the WSPM and geophysical survey with the aim of sustainable development. Thus, the integrated techniques applied in this study proved effective in accurately determining the development strategy for arid and semi-arid coastal areas, especially those that suffer from scarcity of rainfall and increased agricultural reclamation requirements in remote areas.

Quercetin mitigates doxorubicin-induced neurodegenerative changes in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus of rats; insights to DNA damage, inflammation, synaptic plasticity.

BACKGROUND: Doxorubicin (Dox) is one of the most effective anti-neoplastic agents. Quercetin (QE) exhibits antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. AIM: To detect neuroprotective properties of quercetin in rats exposed to doxorubicin-induced brain injury. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 48 rats were allocated equally into four groups: control group: (given normal saline), QE group: (given 80 mg/kg of QE orally daily for 2 weeks), Dox group: (received 2.5 mg/kg of Dox every other day for a total of seven intraperitoneal injections), and Dox+QE group: (received 2.5 mg/kg of Dox every other day for a total of seven intraperitoneal injections and 80 mg/kg of QE orally daily for 2 weeks). Subsequently, biochemical analyses were carried out along with histopathological (light and electron microscopic) and immunohistochemical examinations of the cerebral cortex and hippocampus. RESULTS: The Dox group revealed a decline in the activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase, along with an increase in malondialdehyde and an increase in DNA damage. Furthermore, sections of the cerebral cortex and hippocampus revealed neurodegenerative changes, decreased synaptophysin, and increased Interleukin-1 beta expressions. Biochemical and histopathological results were markedly improved by QE administration. CONCLUSIONS: It can be concluded that QE induces protective effects against Dox-induced neurotoxicity.

Anosmia in COVID-19 Patients: Can We Predict the Severity of Chest Manifestations?

Abstract Introduction Anosmia is one of the common symptoms of COVID-19, the link between severity of chest infection and anosmia was investigated by few studies. Objectives To find an association between anosmia and severity of chest infection. Methods An analysis of patients admitted to isolation hospital of our university with confirmed polymerase chain reaction positive testing for COVID-19, between March 2021 until September 2021. We called all patients who reported anosmia during their time of illness and asked them about anosmia. We examined their chest CT. A statistical analysis was done. Results A total of 140 patients completed the study; 65% were female and 56.4% had complete anosmia. Anosmia was significantly associated with loss of taste. Smell returned in 92.5% of anosmic patients. Duration of smell loss was ~ 2 weeks in 40.5%. The most common symptoms associated with anosmia were running nose, sore throat, fever, and cough. Loss of smell was significantly associated with mild chest disease. 73.4% of anosmic patients had mild chest infection, 21.5% of them had moderate infection, and 5.1% had severe chest infection. Conclusion The pattern of anosmia in COVID-19 patients has some common similarities in general; the way it starts, the associated symptoms, the time until smell returns and, the most important, the severity of chest infection. As anosmia is significantly associated with mild chest infection. the presence of anosmia could be an independent predictor of good COVID-19 outcome as reflected by a lower disease severity and less frequent ICU admissions.

Anosmia in COVID-19 Patients: Can We Predict the Severity of Chest Manifestations?

Introduction Anosmia is one of the common symptoms of COVID-19, the link between severity of chest infection and anosmia was investigated by few studies. Objectives To find an association between anosmia and severity of chest infection. Methods An analysis of patients admitted to isolation hospital of our university with confirmed polymerase chain reaction positive testing for COVID-19, between March 2021 until September 2021. We called all patients who reported anosmia during their time of illness and asked them about anosmia. We examined their chest CT. A statistical analysis was done. Results A total of 140 patients completed the study; 65% were female and 56.4% had complete anosmia. Anosmia was significantly associated with loss of taste. Smell returned in 92.5% of anosmic patients. Duration of smell loss was ∼ 2 weeks in 40.5%. The most common symptoms associated with anosmia were running nose, sore throat, fever, and cough. Loss of smell was significantly associated with mild chest disease. 73.4% of anosmic patients had mild chest infection, 21.5% of them had moderate infection, and 5.1% had severe chest infection. Conclusion The pattern of anosmia in COVID-19 patients has some common similarities in general; the way it starts, the associated symptoms, the time until smell returns and, the most important, the severity of chest infection. As anosmia is significantly associated with mild chest infection. the presence of anosmia could be an independent predictor of good COVID-19 outcome as reflected by a lower disease severity and less frequent ICU admissions.

Precision gynecologic oncology: circulating cell free DNA epigenomic analysis, artificial intelligence and the accurate detection of ovarian cancer.

Ovarian cancer (OC) is the most lethal gynecologic cancer due primarily to its asymptomatic nature and late stage at diagnosis. The development of non-invasive markers is an urgent priority. We report the accurate detection of epithelial OC using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and genome-wide epigenetic analysis of circulating cell free tumor DNA (cfTDNA). In a prospective study, we performed genome-wide DNA methylation profiling of cytosine (CpG) markers. Both conventional logistic regression and six AI platforms were used for OC detection. Further, we performed Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) analysis to elucidate the molecular pathogenesis of OC. A total of 179,238 CpGs were significantly differentially methylated (FDR p-value < 0.05) genome-wide in OC. High OC diagnostic accuracies were achieved. Conventional logistic regression achieved an area under the ROC curve (AUC) [95% CI] 0.99 [± 0.1] with 95% sensitivity and 100% specificity. Multiple AI platforms each achieved high diagnostic accuracies (AUC = 0.99-1.00). For example, for Deep Learning (DL)/AI AUC = 1.00, sensitivity = 100% and 88% specificity. In terms of OC pathogenesis: GSEA analysis identified 'Adipogenesis' and 'retinoblastoma gene in cancer' as the top perturbed molecular pathway in OC. This finding of epigenomic dysregulation of molecular pathways that have been previously linked to cancer adds biological plausibility to our results.

Once a cesarean, always a cesarean? Obstetricians' approach to counseling for trial of labor after cesarean.

BACKGROUND: Despite no observed increase in obstetrical complication rates, cesarean delivery rates are increasing worldwide. A significant proportion of planned cesarean deliveries are performed for patients with 1 previous cesarean delivery who opt for an elective repeat cesarean delivery rather than a trial of labor after cesarean delivery. The facilitation of informed decision-making by healthcare professionals may influence patient choices and could affect the trial of labor after cesarean delivery uptake rates. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess how obstetricians in the Middle Eastern region approach counseling of patients with a previous cesarean delivery concerning birth choices in the current pregnancy. STUDY DESIGN: This was a prospective survey-based study. An online survey of obstetricians in the 2 largest state maternity hospitals in Doha, Qatar, was conducted with participation offered voluntarily. The survey gathered background demographic data and investigated the obstetrician's awareness of factors that could influence the success of the trial of labor after cesarean delivery and the obstetrician's approach to counseling women. The data collected were transferred to SPSS (version 23.0; IBM Corp, Armonk, NY) for analysis. Descriptive statistics were performed, and nonparametric analysis of continuous variables and chi-squared analysis of discrete variables were cross-referenced with gender, length of time of specialist qualification, and personal family experience of cesarean delivery. RESULTS: Most respondents had training in the Middle East and generally practiced obstetrics in this region, and >80% of the respondents had more than 5 years of experience in the specialty. The obstetrician's gender or length of experience did not significantly influence the attitude to the assessment of risks and benefits. Furthermore, there was little consensus among the group about factors that were the most and the least important for the success of the trial of labor after cesarean delivery. The group emphasized the importance of the patient's wishes in choosing the mode of birth. If a relative contraindication to the trial of labor after cesarean delivery was present, half of the obstetricians would emphasize the various negatives of the approach to the patient during counseling. Most participants favored a dedicated trial of labor after cesarean delivery clinic to reduce cesarean delivery rates. The participants did not feel that supporting the trial of labor after cesarean delivery would be improved with legal department support. CONCLUSION: Obstetricians had different approaches in the counseling for trial of labor after cesarean delivery, and this can influence the patients' acceptance of the trial of labor after cesarean delivery, thereby affecting cesarean delivery rates.

The Ifng antisense RNA 1 (IFNG-AS1) and growth arrest-specific transcript 5 (GAS5) are novel diagnostic and prognostic markers involved in childhood ITP.

Background/aim: IFNG-AS1 is a long noncoding RNA that works as an enhancer for the Interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) transcript. GAS5 (growth arrest-specific 5) is a lncRNA that is associated with glucocorticoid resistance. Aberrant expressions of IFNG-AS1 and GAS5 are directly linked to numerous autoimmune disorders but their levels in childhood ITP are still obscure. This study aims to elucidate expressions of target lncRNAs in childhood ITP and their association with pathophysiology and clinical features of the disease as well as their association with types and treatment responses. Method: The fold changes of target lncRNAs in blood samples from children with ITP and healthy controls were analyzed using quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). Results: There were overexpressed lncRNAs IFNG-AS1 and GAS5 in serum of childhood ITP patients [(median (IQR) = 3.08 (0.2-22.39) and 4.19 (0.9-16.91) respectively, Also, significant higher IFNG-AS1 and GAS5 (p < 0.05) were present in persistent ITP (3-12 months) [ median (IQR) = 4.58 (0.31-22.39) and 3.77 (0.87-12.36) respectively] or chronic ITP (>12 months) [ median (IQR) = 5.6 (0.25-12.59) and 5.61 (1.15-16.91) respectively] when compared to newly diagnosed <3 months patients [IFNG-AS1 median (IQR) = 1.21 (0.2-8.95), and GAS5 median (IQR) = 1.07 (0.09-3.55)]. Also, significant higher lncRNAs IFNG-AS1 and GAS5 were present in patients with partial response to treatment [IFNG-AS1 median (IQR) = 4.15 (0.94-19.25), and GAS5 (median (IQR) = 4.25 (0.81-16.91)] or non-response [IFNG-AS1 median (IQR) = 4.19 (1.25-22.39) and GAS5 median (IQR) = 5.11 (2.34-15.27)] when compared to patients who completely responded to treatment (IFNG-AS1 median (IQR) = 2.09 (0.2-14.58) and GAS5 (median (IQR) = 2.51 (0.09-10.33). In addition, following therapy, the expressions of IFNG-AS1 and GAS5 are significantly negatively correlated with platelet count. Conclusion: Findings suggest that lncRNAs IFNG-AS1 and GAS5 are novel diagnostic and prognostic genetic markers for childhood ITP that can aid in a precise prediction of the disease's progress at the time of diagnosis and could be a useful tool for treatment planning.

Metformin-treated-GDM has lower risk of macrosomia compared to diet-treated GDM- a retrospective cohort study.

Background: The diagnosis of gestational diabetes (GDM) has undergone several revisions. The broad adoption of the 2013 WHO criteria for hyperglycemia in pregnancy has increased the prevalence of GDM with no apparent benefit on pregnancy outcomes. The study aims to investigate the pregnancy outcomes in women with GDM diagnosed based on the WHO criteria compared to a control group; the impact of other confounders; and the difference in outcomes between GDM women who needed pharmacotherapy (GDM-T) and those who did not (GDM-D).Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study that included GDM women compared to normoglycemic controls between March 2015 and December 2016 in the Women's Hospital, Qatar.Results: The study included 2221 women; of which 1420 were normoglycemic, and 801 were GDM (358 GDM-D and 443 GDM-T). At conception, GDM women were older (mean age 32.5 ± 5.4 versus 29.6 ± 5.6 years, p<.001) and had higher prepregnancy BMI (mean BMI 32.2 ± 6.2 versus 28.2 ± 6.1 kg/m2, p<.01) compared to the controls, respectively. After correction for age, prepregnancy weight, and gestational weight gain (GWG); women with GDM had a higher risk of preterm labor (OR: 1.72; 95% CI: 1.32-2.23), large for gestational age (GA) (OR: 1.67; 95% CI: 1.22-2.29), neonatal ICU admission (OR: 1.57; 95% CI: 1.15-2.13), and neonatal hypoglycemia (OR: 3.22; 95% CI: 2.06-5.03). At conception, GDM-T women were older (mean age 33.3 ± 5.0 versus 31.5 ± 5.7 years, p<.001) and had higher BMI (mean BMI 32.9 ± 6.3 versus 231.2 ± 6.0 kg/m2, p=.01) compared to GDM-D, respectively. Metformin was used in 90.7% of the GDM-T women. Women in the GDM-T group had lower GWG/week compared to GDM-D (-0.01 ± 0.7 versus 0.21 ± 0.5 kg/week; p<.001). After correcting for age, prepregnancy weight and GWG; GDM-T had a higher risk of preterm labor (OR: 1.66; 95% CI: 1.20-2.22), and C-section (OR: 1.37, 95% CI: 1.02-1.85) and reduced risk of macrosomia (OR: 0.56; 95% CI: 0.32-0.96) and neonatal hypoglycemia (OR: 0.49; 95% CI: 0.28-0.82).Conclusion: In addition to hyperglycemia, the adverse effects of GDM on pregnancy outcomes are multifactorial and includes maternal age, maternal obesity, and gestational weight gain. Treatment with metformin reduces maternal weight gain, the risk of macrosomia and neonatal hypoglycemia compared to diet alone.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus in pregnancy: The impact of maternal weight and early glycaemic control on outcomes.

OBJECTIVES: To study the pregnancy outcomes in women with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and to relate these to maternal risk factors. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective study of 419 women with T2DM (index group)- who attended our diabetes in pregnancy clinic at the Hamad Women's Hospital, Doha, between March 2015 and December 2016 -and 1419 normoglycaemic women (control group). RESULTS: Compared with the controls, T2DM women were older (mean age 34.7 ± 6.9 vs 29.6 ± 5.5 years; p < 0.001) and had a higher BMI (34.5 ± 6.7 vs 28.8 ± 6.1 kg/m2; p < 0.001). The incidence of macrosomia, shoulder dystocia and stillbirth were similar in the two groups, while that of pre-term labour, pre-eclampsia, caesarean section (CS), large for gestational age (LGA), neonatal ICU (NICU) admission, and neonatal hypoglycaemia were significantly higher in the T2DM compared to the control group (p < 0.05). Multivariate regression analysis showed that first trimester HbA1C was associated with an increased risk of LGA (OR 1.17; 95% CI [1.01-1.36]), pre-eclampsia (OR 1.26; 95% CI [1.02-1.54]), neonatal hypoglycaemia (OR 1.32; 95% CI 1.10-1.60) and NICU admission (OR 1.32; 95% CI 1.10-1.60). Pre-pregnancy BMI was associated with increased risk of LGA (OR 1.04; 95%CI [1.00-1.08]), macrosomia (OR 1.06; 95%CI [1.00-1.12]) and CS (OR 1.05; 95% CI [1.01-1.09]). Last trimester HbA1c was associated with an increased risk of LGA [OR 1.53, 95% CI [1.13-2.10)] and CS (OR 1.37, 95% CI [1.01-1.87]). CONCLUSION: T2DM is associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes compared to the normal control in Qatar. Maternal obesity and glycaemic control before and during pregnancy are the main determinants of pregnancy outcomes in women with T2DM.

76-year-old gentlemen with primary cardiac lymphoma presenting as acute coronary syndrome and atrioventricular block.

We report the case of an immunocompetent patient who presented with symptoms suggestive of acute coronary syndrome and was found to be in complete heart block. He re-presented within 2 months with worsening breathlessness and investigations confirmed infiltrative cardiac disease. We describe here an uncommon presentation of primary cardiac lymphoma as acute coronary syndrome and atrioventricular block.

Ataxia caused by amiodarone in older people.

Amiodarone is recommended for the cardioversion of atrial fibrillation and prevention of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation in patients with structural heart disease, coronary artery disease or left ventricular dysfunction. It has well-recognised side-effects on the skin, lungs, liver, thyroid and eyes. Neurological side-effects, including ataxia and neuropathy, also occur, and may be more prevalent in older patients. These side-effects are reversible after cessation of amiodarone. Monitoring of amiodarone therapy should include assessment of the central and peripheral nervous system especially in older patients.

Photochromism of novel molybdate/alkylamine composite thin films.

Novel inorganic/organic composite films of molybdates with photochromic properties have been prepared by self-assembly using alkylammonium ions as a supramolecular template. Both 1-hexadecylammonium/polyoxomolybdate (C16-Mo) and 1-octadecylammonium/polyoxomolybdate (C18-Mo) composite films have been successfully fabricated. The elemental analysis and thermal gravimetric analysis show that the main product in the C16-Mo film was (C16H33NH3)4Mo8O26. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) results indicate that the composite films were lamellar in nature. The IR, Raman and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results show that the polyoxomolybdate anions present as MoO6 octahedra and that the Mo species exists as Mo6+ in the freshly prepared films. The alkyl chains in the 1-hexadecylammonium chains were linear and the alkyl groups are an all-trans configuration. Upon UV irradiation of the C16-Mo films, some Mo6+ was reduced to Mo5+, some -NH3+ became -NH2 with a concomitant increase in the concentration of -OH groups on the molybdate moieties, and the films were colored. Thus, the photochromism of the films involves the reduction of Mo6+ to Mo5+, coupled with a proton transfer from 1-hexadecylammonium ions to an oxygen atom at the Mo site. In contrast to thin films of transition-metal oxides, which all show photochromism in the blue region of the electromagnetic spectrum, these composite films show photochromism in the violet region with the greatest absorbance change at 472 nm.