Virtual Explorer: a Path Prediction Algorithm for Intelligent Transport Systems

Mobile user tracking is an important issue in wireless Network. Spatial data is used for location based services and to support traffic management. Traffic management is an important problem faced by the local authorities where they try to manage efficiently all the information gathered for traffic control. For that location and movement determination are important. This paper proposes Virtual Explorer system that detects the movement of mobile user, analyses the information collected about him and predicts his destination only by measuring the signal received from his mobile phone. If some interruption is presented in the path to the destination a notification message is sent to him to inform him about that or to propose an alternative path. This paper proposesa-path prediction algorithm that predicts the future location of the mobile user based on the user's history movement. We expect that our system help in reducing congestion on the principal roads and help in reducing the number of cars that reach certain point in the case of accident. In addition, our system can help the police to keep track the pedestrian only by collecting information from his mobile phone. Keywords: traffic management, path prediction, location based detection, received signal strengt

Benefits of Bioenergy for the Sustainable Development of Sudan

This poster discusses bioenergy and its potential benefits for Sudan’s Sustainable Development

Asthma and Metabolic Syndrome - Where is the Link?

Asthma is a major burden on global health care system which is encumbering all regions in the world. Several risk factors can induce and exacerbate asthma. Recent compelling evidences have associated metabolic syndrome with the incidence of asthma. The abdominal obesity, hypertension and insulin resistance are metabolic syndrome criteria which are substantially involved in inducing and exacerbating asthma. Several mechanisms are involved in the association between metabolic syndrome and asthma. It could be due to mechanical reason, genetic factors, inflammatory effect, hormonal effect, insulin resistance and the effect of other co-morbidities associated with obesity

Acyclovir Induced Acute Kidney Injury In Acute Meningitis Patient: A Case Report Highlights the Concurrence Of AKI Risk Factors And The Neutropenic Effect Of Ticlopidine

Nephrotoxicity is one of the challenging side effects of acyclovir use in clinical practice. The Concomitant use of other nephrotoxic antibiotics, in addition to patient's risk factors, can trigger acyclovir induced acute kidney injury (AKI). We described a case of acute meningitis in 68 year old female patient with underlying history of ischemic heart disease managed by ticlopidine. The gram stain, culture and PCR of the CSF did not show any positive growth of bacterial infection or HSV. However, the negative CSF gram stain and culture caused a confusion of the diagnosis of bacterial meningitis with viral meningitis. The patient had AKI induced by the treatment with acyclovir for 16 consecutive days and possibly triggered by other AKI risk factors. Hemodialysis and hydration did not reverse the kidney function to normal. However, it was reversed to its normal status only after the discontinuation of acyclovir. The neutropenic effect of ticlopidine can be a risk to the patient that could lead to fatal infection. In this case report we reviewed the literature on the nephrotoxicity of acyclovir, the neutropenia of ticlopidine and a proposed role of granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF)

Phytochemicals and in silico investigations of Sudanese roselle

We analysed four different Sudanese roselle samples for their potential as novel xanthine oxidase (XO) inhibitors. Phytochemical screening showed the presence of polyphenols, flavonoids, organic acids, saponins and sterols in all samples. Liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was used to identify and characterise five anthocyanins in all samples: cyanidin-3-glucoside (cy-3-glu), delphinidin-3-sambubioside (dp-3-sam), cyanidin-3-rhamnoside (cy-3-rhm), delphinidin3‑rhamnoside (dp-3-rhm) and pelargonidin-3-glucoside (pg-3-glu). Identification of cy-3-rhm, dp-3-rhm and pg-3-glu confirmed the selectivity and sensitivity of LC-MS as a powerful technique for identifying anthocyanins. In silico studies of the identified anthocyanins were performed to explore their promising inhibitory activity toward XO. Interactions between the ligand and the enzyme were via the H-bond, and hydrophobic (π-alkyl, π-sigma and alkyl) and/or electrostatic (π-cation) bonds. Inhibition of the anthocyanins was compared with that of topiroxostat, a commercial drug for hyperuricaemia. Dp-3-rhm was the most active inhibitor with a binding energy of ca. -10.90 kcal/mol compared to topiroxostat’s binding energy of ca. -8.60 kcal/mol. The good inhibition results obtained from anthocyanins toward XO suggest their application as a drug candidate to treat gout and other diseases related to the activity of XO. Significance:• Sudanese roselle is rich in phytochemicals, particularly polyphenols and anthocyanins. The isolated a thocyanins in this study were explored as novel potential XO inhibitors. Further pharmacological and clinical studies are necessary for the development of new potential anthocyanin drugs to treat gout and other diseases related to XO increased activity such as hypertension

Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy based metabolomics to identify novel biomarkers of alcohol-dependence

Alcohol misuse is a ravaging public health and social problem. Its harm can affect the drinkers and the whole society. Alcohol-dependence is a phase of alcohol misuse in which the drinker consumes excessive amounts of alcohol and has a continuous urge to consume alcohol. Current methods of alcohol dependence diagnoses are questionnaires and some biomarkers. However, both methods lack specificity and sensitivity. Metabolomics is a scientific field which deals with the identification and the quantification of the metabolites present in the metabolome using spectroscopic techniques such as nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Metabolomics helps to indicate the perturbation in the levels of metabolites in cells and tissues due to diseases or ingestion of any substances. NMR is one of the most widely used spectroscopic techniques in metabolomics because of its reproducibility and speed. Some recent metabolomics studies were conducted on alcohol consumption and alcohol misuse in animals and humans. However, few focused on identifying alcohol dependence novel biomarkers. A sensitive and specific technique such as NMR based metabolomics applied to find novel biomarkers in plasma and urine can be useful to diagnose alcohol-dependence

Eco-Physiological Study of the Effect of P Levels and Coated P Fertilizers on the Wheat Grain Yield (Triticum aestivum L.), Dirab, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

The soils in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia suffer from severe P deficiency. This is attributed to the high soil pH due to the presence of calcium carbonate. Under such conditions, the utilization of fertilizer P by plants is generally very low due to sorption of P by soils. The objectives of this study were to assess the suitability of coating of P fertilizer along with soil P application on available soil P content and wheat yield in calcareous soil. Soil application rates of P (0, 150, 300 and 450 kg ha-1) as di-Ammonium phosphate (DAP) applied just before sowing. Coating types included (No coated, humic acid with different %, bitumen emulsion and bitumen emulsion+ 5% clay). The results indicated that, application of different rates of soil P has a significant effect on the available P soil content. The available P reached 18.9, 31.0, 36.0 mg kg-1 under application of 150, 300 and 450 kg DAP ha-1, respectively. The results showed addition of 300 kg DAP ha-1 resulted in high content of available soil P and no need for further application of P fertilizer. The coated DAP fertilizer with HA, bitumen emulsion and bitumen emulsion+ clay did not increases the available P in soil compared with no coated. Under current experiment, coating of P fertilizer by HA, bitumen emulsion and bitumen emulsion+5% clay along with medium rates of soil P fertilizer may contribute to improve P fertilizer efficiency and increase wheat grain yield cultivated in calcareous soil

Identification of Alcohol-Dependence Biomarkers in plasma by using Metabolomics Analysis

The main clinical methods to diagnose Alcohol-dependence (AD) in clinical practice currently depend on AD assessment questionnaires and some biomarkers such as Carbohydrate-Deficient Transferrin (CDT), Gamma Glutamyl Transferase (GGT) and Phosphatidylethanol (PEth). These two methods have been shown to have lack of specificity and sensitivity. Metabolomics technique by using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) of plasma can help us to identify novel biomarkers which could help in the more accurate diagnosis of AD

Genotyping of Hepatitis C Virus Isolates from Iraqi Hemodialysis Patients by Reverse Transcription-PCR and One Step Nested RT-PCR

Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a major health problem among dialysis patients in developing countries. Geographical distribution of various genotypes of HCV is useful for understanding the epidemiological status, detection of mode and source of infection, designing the program of control, evaluating the response to treatment and development of diagnostic methods and vaccine production. Aim: To investigate the prevalence of HCV genotypes and subtypes (1a, 1b, 2a, 2b, 3a, 3b, 4, 5a & 6a) among hemodialysis patients. Materials and Methods: The prevalence of anti-HCV antibody was determined by Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Then, HCV specific RNA was detected in those anti-HCV seropositive and seronegative dialysis patients, utilizing reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction technique (RT-PCR), Furthermore, Genotyping the HCV-RNA positive samples by one step nested RT-PCR technique. Results: Genotyping analysis was performed in 29 HCV-RNA positive patients. Genotypes 1a, 1b, 3a and 4 were found in (34.48%), (13.79%), (3.45%) and (41.38%) patients, respectively. In addition, two patients (6.90%) had mixed infected with both 4 and 1b. Conclusion: The genotype distribution in our study is comparable to that for non haemodialysis patients. Further analyze relatedness of HCV isolates by sequence analysis are required to trace the source of infection