Sarcophagidae (Insecta: Diptera) of Saudi Arabia: new records, an updated checklist and a new species.

As part of a study on the biodiversity of Diptera of south-western Saudi Arabia, a survey of the Diptera fauna of Jazan, Asir and Najran at 10 sites was performed between 20122015 mainly using Malaise traps, sweep nets and baited traps. A total of 21 species of Sarcophagidae are recorded and documented with photographs, seven of which represent new country records for Saudi Arabia. Including species with a reliable previous record from Saudi Arabia, the total number of species of Sarcophagidae known from Saudi Arabia now stands at 51. All species of Sarcophagidae recorded from Saudi Arabia are listed, including distributions and the source where species were first recorded. Material studied as part of the project resulted in 16 new country records for other countries. Alusomyia Villeneuve, 1933 is here synonymized with Hoplacephala Macquart, 1834, syn. nov., argued from the presence of four proclinate orbital bristles, the row of strong parafacial setae close to the anteroventral eye-margin, the large gena and the robust habitus compared to most other miltogrammines. The generic synonomy requires the new combinations Hoplacephala transfuga (Villeneuve, 1933), comb. nov. and Hoplacephala turana (Rohdendorf, 1975), comb. nov. Sarcophaga surcoufi Villeneuve, 1913 is synonymized with Engelisca adhamae Lehrer & Abou-Zied, 2008, syn. nov. An appendix authored by Dr J.C. Deeming contains the description of Sarcophaga dawahi Deeming, sp. nov.

Adverse Events of the Long-Term Use of Opioids for Chronic Non-cancer Pain: A Narrative Review.

BACKGROUND: The long-term use of opioids for chronic non-cancer pain (CNCP) has drawn more attention and debate. Although opioids are frequently used to treat chronic pain, their effectiveness and safety over extended periods are still unknown. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of what is currently known about the adverse events of long-term use of opioids in CNCP. It also delivers patient-centered strategies designed to mitigate these risks. METHODS: We conducted a literature search in PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Web of Science databases. Search terms included CNCP, pain pathophysiology, opioid pharmacodynamics, opioid prescribing trends, guidelines for opioid use, and opioid side effects.  Results: Our review highlights that while opioids may provide short-term relief from CNCP, their effectiveness diminishes over time due to the development of opioid tolerance. This tolerance often leads to increased dosages, which can subsequently result in opioid dependence. Additionally, long-term opioid therapy is associated with a spectrum of adverse effects, including constipation, drowsiness, respiratory depression, and potential for drug interactions. Furthermore, our review indicates that alternative pain management strategies play a crucial role in controlling CNCP. They offer significant benefits with fewer adverse events. These strategies include non-opioid medications, physical therapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), various interventional procedures, injection therapy, and acupuncture. CONCLUSION: Using opioids to manage CNCP presents several challenges. Given these challenges, alternative treatments are being considered as viable options. Moreover, it is crucial to customize treatment plans to align with the patients' specific health requirements, existing conditions, and potential risks to ensure the best possible outcomes.

Prevalence and Risk Factors of Renal Stones Among the Bisha Population, Saudi Arabia.

BACKGROUND: In urolithiasis, urinary calculi are formed in the urinary system. Stone development does not initially result in any symptoms, but later renal colic, flank pain, hematuria, obstruction of urine flow, and/or hydronephrosis may indicate renal stone disease. In addition to age, gender, ethnicity, and local climate, urolithiasis can be caused by several other factors. The prevalence and recurrence rate of kidney stone disease is rising globally, while few effective treatment options currently exist. METHODS: Between June and October 2022, a cross-sectional study was conducted. An electronic questionnaire subdivided into three categories was used to determine the prevalence and identify the factors that increase the likelihood of developing urolithiasis among the population in Bisha. The collected data were reviewed and analyzed via IBM Corp. Released 2012. IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 21.0. Armonk, NY: IBM Corp. RESULTS: A total of 1,002 participants filled out the questionnaire. The age of the participants ranged from 18 to over 60 years, with an average age of 26.1 ± 13.9 years. There were 451 female participants (45%), and 927 (92.5%) were Saudis. According to the participants' body mass index, 98 (9.8%) were underweight, 388 (38.7%) were normal weight, 300 (29.9%) were overweight, and 216 (21.6%) were obese. The total number of participants with urolithiasis was 161 (16.1%), and 420 (41.9%) had a family history of renal stones. Urolithiasis was found to be significantly associated with family history, smoking, diabetes, hypertension, hyperthyroidism, gout, and chronic kidney disease. Older age and female gender were also associated with the risk of having urolithiasis. CONCLUSION: This study found urolithiasis to be highly prevalent among the Bisha population. In terms of risk factors, body mass index, smoking, and diabetes were the most significant. Based on the findings of this study, the authors recommend more public education regarding urolithiasis and its risk factors, emphasizing the importance of preventing the disease and the ways of treating urolithiasis through medical campaigns and social media.

Work-related musculoskeletal symptoms among Saudi radiologists: a cross-sectional multi-centre study.

BACKGROUND: Musculoskeletal disorders are common health problems worldwide. Several factors cause these symptoms, including ergonomics and other individual considerations. Computer users are prone to repetitive strain injuries that increase the risk of developing musculoskeletal symptoms (MSS). Radiologists are susceptible to developing MSS because they work long hours analysing medical images on computers in an increasingly digitalised field. This study aimed to identify the prevalence of MSS among Saudi radiologists and the associated risk factors. METHODS: This study was a cross-sectional, non-interventional, self-administered online survey. The study was conducted on 814 Saudi radiologists from various regions in Saudi Arabia. The study's outcome was the presence of MSS in any body region that limited participation in routine activities over the previous 12 months. The results were descriptively examined using binary logistic regression analysis to estimate the odds ratio (OR) of participants who had disabling MSS in the previous 12 months. All university, public, and private radiologists received an online survey containing questions about work surroundings, workload (e.g., spent at a computer workstation), and demographic characteristics. RESULTS: The prevalence of MSS among the radiologists was 87.7%. Most of the participants (82%) were younger than 40 years of age. Radiography and computed tomography were the most common imaging modalities that caused MSS (53.4% and 26.8%, respectively). The most common symptoms were neck pain (59.3%) and lower back pain (57.1%). After adjustment, age, years of experience, and part-time employment were significantly associated with increased MSS (OR = .219, 95% CI = .057-.836; OR = .235, 95% CI = 087-.634; and OR = 2.673, 95% CI = 1.434-4.981, respectively). Women were more likely to report MSS than males (OR = 2.12, 95% CI = 1.327-3.377). CONCLUSIONS: MSS are common among Saudi radiologists, with neck pain and lower back pain being the most frequently reported symptoms. Gender, age, years of experience, type of imaging modality, and employment status were the most common associated risk factors for developing MSS. These findings are vital for the development of interventional plans to reduce the prevalence of musculoskeletal complaints in clinical radiologists.

Congenital Hypothyroidism in Two Sudanese Families Harboring a Novel Iodotyrosine Deiodinase Mutation (IYD R279C).

Background: Congenital hypothyroidism due to defects in iodotyrosine deiodinase has variable phenotypes and can present as hypothyroid or with normal thyroid testing. Methods: Whole exome sequencing was performed in individuals from two families originating from different regions of Sudan. Mass spectrometry of urine and serum iodotyrosines was performed on subjects from both families. Results: A novel iodotyrosine deiodinase (IYD) mutation (c.835C>T; R279C) was identified in individuals from two Sudanese families inherited as autosomal recessive. The mutation was identified by multiple in silica analyses to likely be detrimental. Serum and urine monoiodotyrosine (MIT) and diiodotyrosine (DIT) were markedly elevated in the homozygous subjects. Conclusion: Measurement of serum and urine DIT and MIT was more sensitive than that of urine iodine or serum thyroid function tests to determine the effect of the IYD mutation.

An overview of the mosquitoes of Saudi Arabia (Diptera: Culicidae), with updated keys to the adult females.

Despite the fact that mosquito-borne infections have considerable consequences for public health in Saudi Arabia, there is neither a thorough review of the species that occur in the country nor updated keys for the identification of the adult females. In this study, species accounts are given for 49 Saudi Arabian mosquito species, as well as Aedes albopictus (Skuse), which is not recorded in Saudi Arabia, but is medically important and is found in some countries of the Middle East and North Africa. Taxonomic notes provide additional information for certain taxa and/or aid their identification.

LBTS-Net: A fast and accurate CNN model for brain tumour segmentation.

An accurate tumour segmentation in brain images is a complicated task due to the complext structure and irregular shape of the tumour. In this letter, our contribution is twofold: (1) a lightweight brain tumour segmentation network (LBTS-Net) is proposed for a fast yet accurate brain tumour segmentation; (2) transfer learning is integrated within the LBTS-Net to fine-tune the network and achieve a robust tumour segmentation. To the best of knowledge, this work is amongst the first in the literature which proposes a lightweight and tailored convolution neural network for brain tumour segmentation. The proposed model is based on the VGG architecture in which the number of convolution filters is cut to half in the first layer and the depth-wise convolution is employed to lighten the VGG-16 and VGG-19 networks. Also, the original pixel-labels in the LBTS-Net are replaced by the new tumour labels in order to form the classification layer. Experimental results on the BRATS2015 database and comparisons with the state-of-the-art methods confirmed the robustness of the proposed method achieving a global accuracy and a Dice score of 98.11% and 91%, respectively, while being much more computationally efficient due to containing almost half the number of parameters as in the standard VGG network.

The Muscidae (Diptera) of Saudi Arabia, descriptions of two new species, new records and updated list of species.

Despite the economic and medical importance of many species of Muscidae knowledge of species occurring in Saudi Arabia is insufficient. As part of a study on the biodiversity of Diptera of south-western Saudi Arabia a survey of the Diptera fauna of Jazan, Asir and Najran was performed from 2010 to 2015 at 22 sites. Seventy one known taxa of Muscidae were identified and recorded, 29 of which were recorded for the first time from south-western Saudi Arabia and two new species; Atherigona (Acritochaeta) afrotropicalis Deeming sp. nov. and Helina ponti Deeming sp. nov. are here described. Thus, the total number of Muscidae species that has been recorded from Saudi Arabia (including previous records of 31 species) is 102 and two subspecies. A list of all species and subspecies of Muscidae recorded from Saudi Arabia is provided. The species of Muscidae listed are predominantly of Afrotropical distribution as compared to other regions. Images of 78 taxa are presented. In addition to the results of the identifications all available literature about Muscidae of Saudi Arabia is summarized. Biological information (where known) on the species recorded in this study and the Middle East distribution are included. By developing a research collection and a checklist of species of Muscidae we hope to provide the basis for systematic studies and biogeographical and faunistic analyses, and the necessary guidelines for management of these important flies. The need for further field and laboratory work and surveillance surveys is highlighted.

An overview of the Syrphidae (Diptera) of Saudi Arabia.

Despite the species richness of hoverflies (Diptera: Syrphidae) world-wide (about 6,200 species) and their role as agents for controlling plant pests, their significance as pollinators, and as bioindicators of site quality, hoverfly fauna of Saudi Arabia is poorly known. In exploring the biodiversity of Diptera in southwest Saudi Arabia a survey of the hoverfly fauna of Jazan, Asir, Najran and Al-Baha was performed mainly using Malaise traps, sweep nets and light traps from 2011 to 2014. Forty known species of Syrphidae were identified and recorded in this study, 19 of them new to Saudi Arabia. This makes the total number of Syrphidae species recorded in Saudi Arabia (including one species recorded by others) is 41. In addition, three taxa belonging to the genera Eumerus Meigen, Orthonevra Macquart, and Paragus Latreille that could not be identified safely to species level because there were no adequate identification keys or males were missing in the collected material. A key to the genera of Syrphidae occurring in Saudi Arabia is provided. The fauna of Syrphidae recorded in this study consists much more of Afrotropical zoogeographical elements than Palaearctic ones. A complete checklist of Syrphidae of Saudi Arabia is provided. Biological data, where known, and world-wide distribution of the studied taxa are provided. This paper is published with the purpose of assisting biogeographical, biological or ecological studies on syrphids in Saudi Arabia.

An overview of the Chloropidae (Diptera) of Saudi Arabia.

Chloropidae are of major economic importance, since the larvae of some species are pests of cereals and grasses, some are parasitoids and predators, and adults of some Hippelates spp. visit and transmit or are suspected of transmitting yaws sores in man and animals and by feeding around the eyes are vectors of Brazilian Purpuric Fever. Within the framework of the exploration of the biodiversity of Diptera in Southwest Saudi Arabia a survey of the grass flies fauna in 18 sites in Jazan, Asir, and Najran in south-western Saudi Arabia was performed mainly using Malaise traps and sweep nets from 2010- to 2016. Sixty six species of 43 genera and three subfamilies of Chloropidae were identified and are recorded from Saudi Arabia, 20 of them for the first time and three are described as new species: Elachiptera arabica Deeming sp. n.; Kwarea ismayi Deeming sp.n. and Tricimba turneri Deeming sp.n.. This makes the total number of Chloropidae species in Saudi Arabia 95 (including 29 species previously recorded). Seventy images are presented. The species of Chloropidae listed are predominantly of Afrotropical/ Palaearctic origin. An updated checklist of Chloropidae species of Saudi Arabia is presented.This study adds new records of Chloropidae to the Saudi Arabian Diptera fauna, which will become reference points for research detailing the systematic geographic distribution and for identifying other specimens submitted for identification. Further species will undoubtedly be discovered with more research involving collecting and rearing methods.

Multiplexed analysis of neural cytokine signaling by a novel neural cell-cell interaction microchip.

Multipotent neural stem cells (NSCs) are widely applied in pre-clinical and clinical trials as a cell source to promote tissue regeneration in neurodegenerative diseases. Frequently delivered as dissociated cells, aggregates or self-organized rosettes, it is unknown whether disruption of the NSC rosette morphology or method of formation affect signaling profiles of these cells that may impact uniformity of outcomes in cell therapies. Here we generate a neural cell-cell interaction microchip (NCCIM) as an in vitro platform to simultaneously track an informed panel of cytokines and co-evaluate cell morphology and biomarker expression coupled to a sandwich ELISA platform. We apply multiplex in situ tagging technology (MIST) to evaluate ten cytokines (PDGF-AA, GDNF, BDNF, IGF-1, FGF-2, IL-6, BMP-4, CNTF, ß-NGF, NT-3) on microchips for EB-derived rosettes, single cell dissociated rosettes and reformed rosette neurospheres. Of the cytokines evaluated, EB-derived rosettes secrete PDGF-AA, GDNF and FGF-2 prominently, whereas this profile is temporarily lost upon dissociation to single cells and in reformed neurospheres two additional cytokines, BDNF and ß-NGF, are also secreted. This study on NSC rosettes demonstrates the development, versatility and utility of the NCCIM as a sensitive multiplex detector of cytokine signaling in a high throughput and controlled microenvironment. The NCCIM is expected to provide important new information to refine cell source choices in therapies as well as to support development of informative 2D or 3D in vitro models including areas of neurodegeneration or neuroplasticity.

Fast Affinity Induced Reaction Sensor Based on a Fluorogenic Click Reaction for Quick Detection of Protein Biomarkers.

Despite numerous biosensors currently available, the routine biomarker detection still largely relies on traditional ELISA and Western blot. Those standard techniques are labor intensive and time-consuming. Herein we introduce a fast affinity induced reaction sensor (FAIRS) that overcomes a few limitations of traditional and emerging biosensors. FAIRS is a general, one-step method and is naturally specific in detection. FAIRS probes are composed of a sandwich ELISA antibody pair that is conjugated with two fluorogenic click chemicals. This technology leverages significant differences of antibody affinity and chemical reaction rate, which are characterized to guide probe design. The stability, sensitivity, detection range, and response time are fully characterized. Application to IL-6 detection using blood serum and cell culture medium demonstrates that FAIRS can quantify IL-6 with high sensitivity in one step. With the unique features, FAIRS probes may find broad applications in medical sciences and clinical diagnostics, where quick detection of biomarkers is demanded.

Ultrasimple Single-Cell Detection of Multiple Cytokines by a Nanowell Chip Integrated with Encoded Microarrays.

Cytokine production is often regarded as the marker of immune cells' activation status. The spectrum and temporal secretion of cytokines are dramatically varied between cell phenotypes and even within the same phenotype. Multiparameter analysis of individual immune cell's cytokine secretion has always been a challenging and complicated process that needs special facilities in a laboratory setting. Herein, we present an ultrasimple method with high sensitivity and high robustness to quantify cytokine expression at the single-cell resolution. A microchip is developed based on poly(dimethylsiloxane) nanowells on sticky tape, while each nanowell is integrated with a DNA-antibody convertible microarray. Only pipetting is needed for the whole single-cell analysis process. The sensitivity of the assay is evaluated by measuring various concentrations of six recombinant cytokine proteins, which was found comparable to conventional methods. Once single cells are loaded to nanowells and incubated there, a Fluorinert FC-40 is used to isolate nanowells; so, cytokines from those cells are captured by separate microarrays. The rest of the sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay detection process is also executed simply by pipetting of various reagents. This method is validated by measuring cytokine production from hundreds of single cells. It has simplified a typically sophisticated multiplex single-cell assay into an instrument-free, point-of-detection technology, and thus it may find a broad utility in clinical diagnostics.

An overview of the Ephydridae (Diptera) of Saudi Arabia.

Despite the species richness of Ephydridae world-wide (2000 species) and its prominent environmental roles as a minor pest and as a food for wildlife, only 13 species have been recorded from Saudi Arabia. Between 2012 and 2016, a biodiversity study of Diptera was conducted at Jazan, Asir, and Najran in south-western Saudi Arabia, at 22 sites, was performed mainly using Malaise traps and sweep nets. In this study, 43 known species of Ephydridae were identified, 37 of them for the first time from southwestern Saudi Arabia and 16 from Arabian Peninsula. This brings the total number of Ephydridae species in Saudi Arabia to 49 (including previous records). There were a further four species, which could not be identified authoritatively to species level. A list of all species of Ephydridae recorded from Saudi Arabia is appended. Images of thirty-two species are presented. The species recorded in this study are more Palaearctic in origin as compared to other regions. Biological information (where known) and world-wide distribution are included. This study has added new records to the Saudi Arabian checklist of Ephydridae, which will provide the basis for systematic studies and fauna analyses of future work on the family. The need for further field and laboratory work and surveillance is highlighted.

Quantitative CrAssphage real-time PCR assay derived from data of multiple geographically distant populations.

After its computational inference from human stool metagenomes, the CrAssphage has proven to be the most prevalent phage in the human gut, with presumably very wide geographic distribution. The currently available molecular assays do not sufficiently reflect the CrAssphage sequence variability. Here, we report a novel real-time PCR assay whose primers and probes are derived from data of multiple CrAssphage strains obtained from gut viral metagenomes of European, Asian, and African subjects. This assay can be useful in analyses of putative bacterial host co-occurence, and in association studies of non-infectious diseases where the phage may modify the content of gut bacteriomes.

Intra-articular dexmedetomidine with bupivacaine versus bupivacaine alone for postoperative analgesia after knee arthroscopy

Background: Optimal relief of pain after knee arthroscopy is essential for early rehabilitation and mobilisation and to minimise postoperative morbidity. This study's aim was to assess dexmedetomidine as an additive to intra-articular (IA) bupivacaine in terms of analgesic duration and postoperative rescue analgesic consumption following arthroscopic knee surgery. Methods: A total of 70 patients, ASA physical status I and II, undergoing knee arthroscopy under general anaesthesia were enrolled in this double-blinded randomised controlled study, after Pan African Clinical Trial Registry (PACTR201507001048242) approval was obtained. Patients were randomly assigned into two groups; the bupivacaine group (B) received IA 19 ml bupivacaine 0.5% + 1 ml normal saline, bupivacaine dexmedetomidine group (BD) received IA injection of 19 ml bupivacaine 0.5% + dexmedetomidine 100 µg (1 ml). Postoperative visual analogue pain score (VAS), duration of analgesia and postoperative analgesic requirement were assessed. Results: VAS scores at rest and on mobilisation were significantly lower in the BD group at 4 h, 6 h and 8 h postoperatively in comparison with group B (p < 0.05). VAS scores were comparable between studied groups during the first 2 h, and at 12 h and 24 h postoperatively. Duration of analgesia was significantly longer in group BD (458.9 ± 93.5 min) than in the B group (229.1 ± 83.7 min) (p < 0.05). Postoperative analgesic consumption was lowered in the BD group compared with the B group (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Adding dexmedetomidine to IA bupivacaine after knee arthroscopy prolongs analgesic duration and decreases postoperative analgesic requirement

Design, synthesis, molecular docking, anti-Proteus mirabilis and urease inhibition of new fluoroquinolone carboxylic acid derivatives.

New hydroxamic acid, hydrazide and amide derivatives of ciprofloxacin in addition to their analogues of levofloxacin were prepared and identified by different spectroscopic techniques. Some of the prepared compounds revealed good activity against the urease splitting bacteria, Proteus mirabilis. The urease inhibitory activity was investigated using indophenol method. Most of the tested compounds showed better activity than the reference acetohydroxamic acid (AHA). The ciprofloxacin hydrazide derivative 3a and levofloxacin hydroxamic acid 7 experienced the highest activity (IC50=1.22µM and 2.20µM, respectively). Molecular docking study revealed high spontaneous binding ability of the tested compounds to the active site of urease.

Synthesis and characterization of privileged monodentate phosphoramidite ligands and chiral Brønsted acids derived from d-mannitol.

The synthesis of several novel chiral phosphoramidite ligands (L1-L8) with C(2) symmetric, pseudo C(2) symmetric secondary amines and chiral Brønsted acids 1a,b has been achieved. These chiral auxiliaries were obtained from commercially available d-mannitol, and secondary amines in moderate to excellent yields. Excellent diastereoselectivites of ten chiral auxiliaries were obtained. The chiral phosphoramidite ligands and chiral Brønsted acids were fully characterized by spectroscopic methods.

Biological control of the red palm weevil, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Olivier) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) by the parasitoid mite, Rhynchopolipus rhynchophori (Ewing) (Acarina: Podapolipidae).

The parasitoid mite, Rhynchopolipus rhynchophori was released against the red palm weevil Rhynchophorus ferrugineus stages. Released of this mite applied at four levels of treatment, A (30 parasitic mites: 1 prey), B (60 parasitic mites: 1 prey), C (90 parasitic mites: 1 prey) and D (120 parasitic mites: 1 prey). The parasitoid mites successfully suppressed population density of the red palm weevil, R. ferrugineus stages within two weeks. The killing of different developmental stages of the red palm is due to sucking their body fluid by the parasitoid mite, Rh. rhynchphori. But, the pupal weight was significantly (P < 0.5) decreased by increasing numbers of parasitoid mites at the different treatment levels.

A case of methotrexate embryopathy with holoprosencephaly, expanding the phenotype.

BACKGROUND: Methotrexate (MTX) embryopathy was described nearly 50 years ago, when this agent began to be used as a cancer treatment and abortifacient. In this report we describe a case with typical features of MTX syndrome together with new features to expand the phenotype. CASE: A 29-year-old woman decided to terminate her unwanted pregnancy because of ill health, as she had conceived soon after her last delivery by cesarian section. At 6 weeks of gestation, she took 2.5 mg of MTX 3 times a day for 7 days. The pregnancy termination failed, and the pregnancy was carried to term. A female infant was delivered who was growth retarded and had characteristic features of MTX embryopathy in addition to holoprosencephaly and other brain malformations, facial hypertrichosis, and long eyelashes--features that have not hitherto been described. CONCLUSIONS: We report the first case of holoprosencephaly in association with MTX exposure during the first 6 weeks of gestation. Physicians and the public should be aware of the effects of MTX on the fetus during pregnancy.