Impacts of the Cairo Metro

The Cairo Metro the first in Africa and the Middle East is a two-line system, heavily-used. Data from the operator and a direct passenger survey are used to illustrate patterns of use and draw policy implications for other systems. While current revenue exceeds operating costs, cross-subsidies may exist between different passenger groups as a result of highly-discounted student season tickets. A fare increase in 1996 is used to estimate short-run elasticity of demand with respect to price, approximately 0.2, a similar figure to other metro systems. Substantial use is made of motorised feeder modes, notably shared taxis (paratransit minibuses). The high level of use occurs despite a substantial premium over other public transport fares, and lack of integrated ticketing. A likely explanation is that the fares are reasonable compared with incomes, and that the price differential is offset for many users by the time savings vis a vis congested traffic conditions.Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies. Faculty of Economics and Business. The University of Sydne

Prevalence of Staphylococcus aureus in Atopic Dermatitis (Eczema) cases in Al- Najaf City/Iraq

ABSTRACTObjectives: This study was planned to evaluate the prevalence of Staphylococcus aureus in cases of atopic dermatitis (AD) in Najaf city.A total of 100 skin swabs were obtained from the effected skin areas of patients who were attending to AL-Sader Teaching Hospital in AL-Najaf city during the period from May to October 2014.with (AD), along with 50 skin swabs that were obtained from a comparable skin area of 50 persons who were regarded as a control group and comparable in ages and genders with the patient group. All the skin swabs (patients and control) were then immediately streaked on the surface of selective media for isolation and identification of S. aureus preliminary. Then the suspected isolates were confirmed by specific biochemical and enzymatic confirmative tests. The incidence of Staphylococcal isolates was detected according to the age, gender, duration, severity and also according to the family history.Results: From the 100 swab samples of patients, there were 54/100 (54%) showed positive isolation of S. aureus, while only 10/50 (20%) swab samples of the control group showed positive S. aureus isolation. The difference between the two groups was statistically significant (P˂ 0.05). The prevalence of moderate AD cases was higher than that of mild and severe (55.56%> 20.37%˂ 24.07%) respectively. Thirty seven patients (68.52%) were categorized with family history inheritance of AD (Results were statistically significant (P˂ 0.05), with male to female ratio was 1.25:1. Seventeen patients (31.5%) were categorized as acute AD, while 37 patients (68.5%) were diagnosed as chronic.Conclusions: Staphylococcus aureus infection is positively correlated with AD cases, and genetic factors may play an important role in increasing the frequency of AD cases.Recommendations: We recommended to use genetic studies for the monitoring of Staphylococcus aureus virulence factors correlated with AD.Key words: Staphylococcus aureus, atopic dermatitis, SCORAD index

Feasibility study of achieving reliable electricity supply using hybrid power system for rural primary schools in Iraq: a case study with umm qasr primary school

Electrical power is considered as a significant part of contemporary life, and an essential element for development. Fossil fuels have been utilized since the beginning of the twentieth century for electricity generation. However, fossil fuels depletion at the escalating pace as well as their formidable negative implications upon ecosystem contributed to increasing interest in harnessing renewable energy sources for producing electric power to meet the growing demand worldwide. In Iraq, the electrical supply is not sufficient to supply 12 hours a day of electricity. Many rural areas, particularly their schools are suffering from the electricity shortage such as Umm Qasr Primary School that located 20 km away from the city centre of Karbala city in the middle of Iraq. In order to overcome this issue, this paper proposes a hybrid system which relies on renewable resources and the local grid to electrify Umm Qasr Primary School. Various combinations of energy resources have been analysed by using HOMER software to estimate an optimum hybrid system. The analysis illustrates that the optimal configuration of the projected system is composed of 22.4 kW PV modules, 59 batteries, and 5738kWh purchased from the local grid which has reduced the net present cost(NPC)from US$163791 the current situation to US$60,420 for the proposed system. The simulation findings also demonstrate that detrimental emissions have been reduced significantly

Dynamic Container-based Resource Management Framework of Spark Ecosystem

© 2019 Global IT Research Institute (GIRI). Apache Spark is known for its robustness in processing large-scale datasets in a distributed computing environment. This form of efficiency is highly observing because of the direct use of Random-Access Memory (RAM) in processing its resilient distributed datasets across the ecosystem. Recently, it is observed that, the memory utilization in computing spark jobs is mainly dependent on job containers, which are closely associated to persistent storage media components. Thus, spark jobs processing relevancy is tightly coupled to the type of storage container and in case of any dynamic resource allocation, the job loses its ratio of resource computation in existing container and increases a functional issue of processing large-scale datasets in spark ecosystem. In this paper, we propose dynamic container-based resource management framework, that shifts coupled associations of job profiles to dynamically available resource containers. Also, it relieves static container allocations and presumes them as a fresh piece of resource allocation for new job profile. The experimental evaluation shows that the proposed dynamic framework reduces wastage of resource allocations and increase ecosystem performance than default job profile in spark ecosystem

Granular cell tumors of the urinary bladder

BACKGROUND: Granular cell tumors (GCTs) are extremely rare lesions of the urinary bladder with only nine cases being reported in world literature of which one was malignant. Generally believed to be of neural origin based on histochemical, immunohistochemical, and ultrastructural studies; they mostly follow a clinically benign course but are commonly mistaken for malignant tumors since they are solid looking, ulcerated tumors with ill-defined margins. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We herein report two cases of GCTs, one benign and one malignant, presenting with gross hematuria in a 14- and a 47-year-old female, respectively. RESULTS: Histopathology revealed characteristic GCTs with positive immunostaining for neural marker (S-100) and negative immunostaining for epithelial (cytokeratin, Cam 5.2, AE/A13), neuroendocrine (neuron specific enolase, chromogranin A, and synaptophysin) and sarcoma (desmin, vimentin) markers. The benign tumor was successfully managed conservatively with transurethral resection alone while for the malignant tumor, radical cystectomy, hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, anterior vaginectomy, plus lymph node dissection was done. Both cases show long-term disease free survival. CONCLUSION: We recommend careful pathologic assessment for establishing the appropriate diagnosis and either a conservative or aggressive surgical treatment for benign or localized malignant GCT of the urinary bladder, respectively

Poultry red mite (Dermanyssus gallinae) infestation:A broad impact parasitological disease that still remains a significant challenge for the egg-laying industry in Europe

Abstract The poultry red mite, Dermanyssus gallinae, has been described for decades as a threat to the egg production industry, posing serious animal health and welfare concerns, adversely affecting productivity, and impacting public health. Research activities dedicated to controlling this parasite have increased significantly. Their veterinary and human medical impact, more particularly their role as a disease vector, is better understood. Nevertheless, red mite infestation remains a serious concern, particularly in Europe, where the prevalence of red mites is expected to increase, as a result of recent hen husbandry legislation changes, increased acaricide resistance, climate warming, and the lack of a sustainable approach to control infestations. The main objective of the current work was to review the factors contributing to this growing threat and to discuss their recent development in Europe. We conclude that effective and sustainable treatment approach to control poultry red mite infestation is urgently required, included integrated pest management

Postulated Vasoactive Neuropeptide Autoimmunity in Fatigue-Related Conditions: A Brief Review and Hypothesis

Disorders such as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and gulf war syndrome (GWS) are characterised by prolonged fatigue and a range of debilitating symptoms of pain, intellectual and emotional impairment, chemical sensitivities and immunological dysfunction. Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) surprisingly may have certain features in common with these conditions. Post-infection sequelae may be possible contributing factors although ongoing infection is unproven. Immunological aberration may prove to be associated with certain vasoactive neuropeptides (VN) in the context of molecular mimicry, inappropriate immunological memory and autoimmunity

Attitudes and Acceptance of Oral and Parenteral HIV Preexposure Prophylaxis among Potential User Groups: A Multinational Study

BACKGROUND: The use of antiviral medications by HIV negative people to prevent acquisition of HIV or pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) has shown promising results in recent trials. To understand the potential impact of PrEP for HIV prevention, in addition to efficacy data, we need to understand both the acceptability of PrEP among members of potential user groups and the factors likely to determine uptake. METHODS AND FINDINGS: Surveys of willingness to use PrEP products were conducted with 1,790 members of potential user groups (FSWs, MSM, IDUs, SDCs and young women) in seven countries: Peru, Ukraine, India, Kenya, Botswana, Uganda and South Africa. Analyses of variance were used to assess levels of acceptance across different user groups and countries. Conjoint analysis was used to examine the attitudes and preferences towards hypothetical and known attributes of PrEP programs and medications. Overall, members of potential user groups were willing to consider taking PrEP (61% reported that they would definitely use PrEP). Current results demonstrate that key user groups in different countries perceived PrEP as giving them new possibilities in their lives and would consider using it as soon as it becomes available. These results were maintained when subjects were reminded of potential side effects, the need to combine condom use with PrEP, and for regular HIV testing. Across populations, route of administration was considered the most important attribute of the presented alternatives. CONCLUSIONS: Despite multiple conceivable barriers, there was a general willingness to adopt PrEP in key populations, which suggests that if efficacious and affordable, it could be a useful tool in HIV prevention. There would be a willingness to experience inconvenience and expense at the levels included in the survey. The results suggest that delivery in a long lasting injection would be a good target in drug development

New genetic loci implicated in fasting glucose homeostasis and their impact on type 2 diabetes risk.

Levels of circulating glucose are tightly regulated. To identify new loci influencing glycemic traits, we performed meta-analyses of 21 genome-wide association studies informative for fasting glucose, fasting insulin and indices of beta-cell function (HOMA-B) and insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) in up to 46,186 nondiabetic participants. Follow-up of 25 loci in up to 76,558 additional subjects identified 16 loci associated with fasting glucose and HOMA-B and two loci associated with fasting insulin and HOMA-IR. These include nine loci newly associated with fasting glucose (in or near ADCY5, MADD, ADRA2A, CRY2, FADS1, GLIS3, SLC2A2, PROX1 and C2CD4B) and one influencing fasting insulin and HOMA-IR (near IGF1). We also demonstrated association of ADCY5, PROX1, GCK, GCKR and DGKB-TMEM195 with type 2 diabetes. Within these loci, likely biological candidate genes influence signal transduction, cell proliferation, development, glucose-sensing and circadian regulation. Our results demonstrate that genetic studies of glycemic traits can identify type 2 diabetes risk loci, as well as loci containing gene variants that are associated with a modest elevation in glucose levels but are not associated with overt diabetes

Exploring evidence-policy linkages in health research plans: A case study from six countries

The complex evidence-policy interface in low and middle income country settings is receiving increasing attention. Future Health Systems (FHS): Innovations for Equity, is a research consortium conducting health systems explorations in six Asian and African countries: Bangladesh, India, China, Afghanistan, Uganda, and Nigeria. The cross-country research consortium provides a unique opportunity to explore the research-policy interface. Three key activities were undertaken during the initial phase of this five-year project. First, key considerations in strengthening evidence-policy linkages in health system research were developed by FHS researchers through workshops and electronic communications. Four key considerations in strengthening evidence-policy linkages are postulated: development context; research characteristics; decision-making processes; and stakeholder engagement. Second, these four considerations were applied to research proposals in each of the six countries to highlight features in the research plans that potentially strengthen the research-policy interface and opportunities for improvement. Finally, the utility of the approach for setting research priorities in health policy and systems research was reflected upon. These three activities yielded interesting findings. First, developmental consideration with four dimensions – poverty, vulnerabilities, capabilities, and health shocks – provides an entry point in examining research-policy interfaces in the six settings. Second, research plans focused upon on the ground realities in specific countries strengthens the interface. Third, focusing on research prioritized by decision-makers, within a politicized health arena, enhances chances of research influencing action. Lastly, early and continued engagement of multiple stakeholders, from local to national levels, is conducive to enhanced communication at the interface. The approach described has four main utilities: first, systematic analyses of research proposals using key considerations ensure such issues are incorporated into research proposals; second, the exact meaning, significance, and inter-relatedness of these considerations can be explored within the research itself; third, cross-country learning can be enhanced; and finally, translation of evidence into action may be facilitated. Health systems research proposals in low and middle income countries should include reflection on transferring research findings into policy. Such deliberations may be informed by employing the four key considerations suggested in this paper in analyzing research proposals