Simulating Correlated Multivariate Pseudorandom Numbers

A modification of the Kaiser and Dichman (1962) procedure of generating multivariate random numbers with specified intercorrelation is proposed. The procedure works with positive and non-positive definite population correlation matrix. A SAS module is also provided to run the procedure.

Molecular aspects of MERS-CoV

This article is made available for unrestricted research re-use and secondary analysis in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for the duration of the World Health Organization (WHO) declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic.Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is a betacoronavirus which can cause acute respiratory distress in humans and is associated with a relatively high mortality rate. Since it was first identified in a patient who died in a Jeddah hospital in 2012, the World Health Organization has been notified of 1735 laboratory-confirmed cases from 27 countries, including 628 deaths. Most cases have occurred in Saudi Arabia. MERS-CoVancestors may be found in OldWorld bats of the Vespertilionidae family. After a proposed bat to camel switching event, transmission of MERS-CoV to humans is likely to have been the result of multiple zoonotic transfers from dromedary camels. Human-to-human transmission appears to require close contact with infected persons, with outbreaks mainly occurring in hospital environments. Outbreaks have been associated with inadequate infection prevention and control implementation, resulting in recommendations on basic and more advanced infection prevention and control measures by the World Health Organization, and issuing of government guidelines based on these recommendations in affected countries including Saudi Arabia. Evolutionary changes in the virus, particularly in the viral spike protein which mediates virus-host cell contact may potentially increase transmission of this virus. Efforts are on-going to identify specific evidence-based therapies or vaccines. The broad-spectrum antiviral nitazoxanide has been shown to have in vitro activity against MERS-CoV. Synthetic peptides and candidate vaccines based on regions of the spike protein have shown promise in rodent and non-human primate models. GLS-5300, a prophylactic DNA-plasmid vaccine encoding S protein, is the first MERS-CoV vaccine to be tested in humans, while monoclonal antibody, m336 has given promising results in animal models and has potential for use in outbreak situations

Variable Selection in Multivariable Regression Using SAS/IML

This paper introduces a SAS/IML program to select among the multivariate model candidates based on a few well-known multivariate model selection criteria. Stepwise regression and all-possible-regression are considered. The program is user friendly and requires the user to paste or read the data at the beginning of the module, include the names of the dependent and independent variables (the y's and the x's), and then run the module. The program produces the multivariate candidate models based on the following criteria: Forward Selection, Forward Stepwise Regression, Backward Elimination, Mean Square Error, Coefficient of Multiple Determination, Adjusted Coefficient of Multiple Determination, Akaike's Information Criterion, the Corrected Form of Akaike's Information Criterion, Hannan and Quinn Information Criterion, the Corrected Form of Hannan and Quinn (HQc) Information Criterion, Schwarz's Criterion, and Mallow's PC. The output also constitutes detailed as well as summarized results.

Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus: current situation and travel-associated concerns

This article is made available for unrestricted research re-use and secondary analysis in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for the duration of the World Health Organization (WHO) declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic.The emergence of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in 2012 brought back memories of the occurrence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) in 2002. More than 1500 MERS-CoV cases were recorded in 42 months with a case fatality rate (CFR) of 40%. Meanwhile, 8000 cases of SARS-CoV were confirmed in six months with a CFR of 10%. The clinical presentation of MERS-CoV ranges from mild and non-specific presentation to progressive and severe pneumonia. No predictive signs or symptoms exist to differentiate MERS-CoV from community-acquired pneumonia in hospitalized patients. An apparent heterogeneity was observed in transmission. Most MERS-CoV cases were secondary to large outbreaks in healthcare settings. These cases were secondary to community-acquired cases, which may also cause family outbreaks. Travel-associated MERS infection remains low. However, the virus exhibited a clear tendency to cause large outbreaks outside the Arabian Peninsula as exemplified by the outbreak in the Republic of Korea. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge about MERS-CoV and highlight travel-related issues

A Study of the Morphological and Histological Structure of the Caudal Fin of the Female Swordtail Fish Xiphophorus helleri and the Effect of Hydrocortisone on it

The caudal fin is one of the most important types of fins used in the movement of fish and is important in studying the effect of various factors on bone, especially medicines and drugs. The females of the Xiphophorus helleri were obtained from aquarium fish shops. The mature females were divided into two groups, each containing 14 fish, placed in 60 liter glass aquarium, the first group treated as control group, while the second group was treated with Hydrocortisone Sodium Succinate (Roxcortisone) with a concentration of 2.5 mg/1. After a month of experimentation, the samples were fixed by a Formalin 10% in order to prepare them for the whole-mount loading method and the normal tissue sections. The results of the phenotypic study of the caudal fins of female X. helleri showed that they consist of three types of fin rays, which are unsegmented and unbranched, segmented and unbranched,  and segmented and branched. These three types differ in terms of shape and structure , as histological structures showed that the first type rays, i.e.  unsegmented and unbranched, and the first ray of the second type, i.e. segmented and unbranched, have pear shaped. The cavity between the two halves of rays is filled with connective and neural tissue, while the other rays of second type have a heart shape and  filled with  muscle tissue. The shape of the  third type, i.e. segmented and branched, varies depending on their location in the fin. The results of the study of  morphological of the caudal fin of females treated with hydrocortisone showed that there was an irregularity in the fin rays in general, which led to a difference in the branching positions of the branched rays compared to the control group. It was also noticed that there was a fusion in the rays composing the fin and another fusion of internodes composing the one fin in comparison to control group. Keywords: Xiphophorus helleri, caudal fin ,fin rays ,hydrocortisone hormone DOI: 10.7176/JNSR/9-4-0

Evaluation of ADA, IL-6 and TNF-alpha level in type 2 diabetes mellitus: with -and without hypoglycemic drugs.

Diabetes mellitus(DM) is a major worldwide  health problem leading to markedly increase mortality and serious morbidity. Immunological disturbances involving the cell mediated immune system and improper T-lymphocyte function also contribute to the path physiology of type 2 DM.It has been reported that ADA,IL-6,and TNF-α levels  were a good marker for immunological disturbance in type 2 DM  patients.This study aims to assess and compare the level of serum ADA, IL-6 ,and TNF-α in patient of type 2 DM with and without oral hypoglycamic drugs.The study population consist of 150 subjects divided in to 3 groups:group I (50normal health controls),group II (45 type 2 DM patients with no on hypoglycemic drugs),and group Ш (55 type 2 DM patients on hypoglycemic drugs).There were a significant(p<0.001) tremendous increase in ADA,IL-6,and TNF-α levels (47.32 U/L ,29.04 pg/ml ,and 98.23 pg/ml, respectively ) in group II  than group I and group Ш. also, ADA,IL-6,and TNF-α levels were significantly(p<0.001) higher in group Ш than group I.As conclusion ,the increase in ADA,IL-6,and TNF-α levels  is a good glycemic  markers associated with type 2 DM .The intake of hypoglycaemic drugs  decrease the levels of these markers. Key words: ADA activity , IL-6 , TNF-α , type 2 diabetes mellitus

A Systematic Review of therapeutic agents for the treatment of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV)

Background The Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) was first described in 2012 and attracted a great international attention due to multiple healthcare associated outbreaks. The disease carries a high case fatality rate of 34.5%, and there is no internationally or nationally recommended therapy. Method We searched MEDLINE, Science Direct, Embase and Scopus databases for relevant papers published till March 2019 describing in vitro, in vivo or human therapy of MERS. Results Initial search identified 62 articles: 52 articles were from Medline, 6 from Embase, and 4 from Science Direct. Based on the inclusions and exclusions criteria, 30 articles were included in the final review and comprised: 22 in vitro studies, 8 studies utilizing animal models, 13 studies in humans, and one study included both in vitro and animal model. There are a few promising therapeutic agents on the horizon. The combination of lopinavir/ritonavir and interferon-beta- 1b showed excellent results in common marmosets and currently is in a randomized control trial. Ribavirin and interferon were the most widely used combination and experience comes from a number of observational studies. Although, the data are heterogenous, this combination might be of potential benefit and deserve further investigation. There were no randomized clinical trials to recommend specific therapy for the treatment of MERS-CoV infection. Only one such study is planned for randomization and is pending completion. The study is based on a combination of lopinavir/ritonavir and interferon-beta- 1b. A fully human polyclonal IgG antibody (SAB-301) was safe and well tolerated in healthy individuals and this agent may deserve further testing for efficacy. Conclusion Despite multiple studies in humans there is no consensus on the optimal therapy for MERS-CoV. Randomized clinical trials are needed and potential therapies should be evaluated only in such clinical trials. In order to further enhance the therapeutic aroma for MERS-CoV infection, repurposing old drugs against MERS-CoV is an interesting strategy and deserves further consideration and use in clinical settings

Evaluation study of IEEE 1609.4 performance for safety and non-safety messages dissemination

The IEEE 1609.4 was developed to support multi-channel operation and channel switching procedure in order to provide both safety and non-safety vehicular applications. However, this protocol has some drawback because it does not make efficient usage of channel bandwidth resources for single radio WAVE devices and suffer from high bounded delay and lost packet especially for large-scale networks in terms of the number of active nodes. This paper evaluates IEEE 1609.4 multi-channel protocol performance for safety and non-safety application and compare it with the IEEE 802.11p single channel protocol. Multi-channel and single channel protocols are analyzed in different environments to investigate their performance. By relying on a realistic dataset and using OMNeT++ simulation tool as network simulator, SUMO as traffic simulator and coupling them by employing Veins framework. Performance evaluation results show that the delay of single channel protocol IEEE 802.11p has been degraded 36% compared with multi-channel protocol