Synthesis of Quinazoline and Quinazolinone Derivatives

Active heterocyclic compounds are one of the main topics of interest for the medicinal chemists as they display a number of pharmacological activities. Nitrogen, sulfur, and oxygen containing five- and six-membered heterocyclic compounds have occupied enormous significance in the field of medicinal chemistry. The most important six-membered heterocyclic compounds are quinazoline and quinazolinone derivatives for their biological activities. The current chapter outlined the different methods for synthesis of quinazoline and quinazolinone derivatives that possess broad spectrum of biological activities

A non-invasive method for measuring blood flow rate in superficial veins from a single thermal image.

Computer vision is a field that includes methods for processing, analyzing, acquiring and understanding images to produce numerical or symbolic information to develop methodologies and solutions for many problems in many fields. Here the concept of computer vision is being used for understanding certain human physiology and behaviors using thermal imaging alone or in conjunction with other imaging modalities. The applications of this work span a wide range of studies in human-machine interfacing vis-à-vis feedback controls that can be used to remotely determine whether a patient is in need of medical assistance or to help integrate young children with learning challenges into a public classroom setting that can require monitoring vital signs and physiological cues without the need for contact-based sensors such as electrocardiogram (ECG) or electroencephalogram (EEG), which limit a subject’s physical capabilities during operational scenarios. In this thesis, a general framework is proposed to find an easy way to measure the blood flow using thermal camera to help detecting cots and vascular diseases (Venous disease, Arterial disease). In this thesis, a general framework is proposed to use a thermal image based measurement technique for the volumetric flow rate of a liquid inside a thin tube. This technique makes use of the convection heat transfer dependency between the flow rate and the temperature of the flowing liquid along the tube. The proposed method can be applied to diagnose superficial venous disease non-invasively by measuring the volumetric blood flow rate from a FLIR LWIR single thermal image (Mahmoud et al., 13)

Urban Metabolism and Quality of Life in Informal Areas

The 21st century is known as the century of urbanization. Numerous debates are currently taking place to definecities and what they should aspire to be. A number of terms have appeared in this arena,such as sustainable city, eco-city and green city to name a few. However, the main question remains how to measure the performance of a city in regards tothese aims. In addition, it is vital to note that major urbanization activities take part in cities of the developing world, where informalization is synonym to urbanization, thus necessitating a profound study of informal areas and their potential role in achieving sustainable cities. This paper studies how acity performs in terms of consuming and producing resources and how they flow through its various systems, described as urban metabolism. The paper particularly discusses how informal areas perform regarding their metabolism, focusing on water flow through these areas as a priority identified by the residents. Imbaba district, one of the largest informal areas in Cairo, is investigated as a case study to determine the actual quality of life of local residents and their ecological footprint and to providepractical insights. The whole process depends on a multidisciplinary participatory research where the citizens and local community based organization are the focal point. In addition, the process depends on open source data and data sharing as a way to empower local communities to identify their needs and issues and hence their appropriate interventions. This is conducted through questionnaires and interviews to identify what the current conditions and processes in informal areas provide for the residents. The paper concludes with identifying points of leakages in the resources flows and the possible interventions to improve the quality of life in the area while maintaining an efficient use of local resources and minimizing the impact of urbanization of the ecological footprint of cities. This will assist cities to become more resilient in the face of water scarcity, and provide a more vibrant life for its residents

The effect of oil price shocks on the Saudi manufacturing sector

This paper aims to examine the effects of oil price shocks on the manufacturing sector in Saudi Arabia during the period 2002 – 2014, using quarterly data. A unit root test was conducted, in which the data were shown to be non-stationary in the level, and they became stationary in the first difference for all variables. The co-integration model was applied, and the results indicated that no co-integrating equation exists, which means that there is no long run effect of oil price shocks on the manufacturing sector. So, we estimate a Vector Auto Regressive model, the results of which implied that oil price shocks do not affect in the manufacturing sector in the short run, and it may have an effect on the manufacturing sector after 10 quarter according to the impulse response function

THE EFFECT OF THE EXOGENOUS GIBBERELLIC ACID ON TWO SALT STRESSED BARLEY CULTIVARS

An alternative strategy to ameliorate salt stress could be to use exogenous application of plant growth regulators. The present investigation was carried out to study the effect of exogenous application of GA3 on germination, some growth parameters, protein banding pattern, nucleic acids content and some minerals of salt stressed two cultivars of barley. The grains of both cultivars Giza 126 and 123 were individually pre emergence treated with different concentrations of NaCl or mixture of NaCl and GA3 for 7 days. The results of germination percentage revealed that cv. Giza 123 had higher response to the interaction between salinity and GA3 than cv. Giza 126. The morphological characters revealed inhibition in all plant growth parameters by salinity stress and this inhibition was significantly alleviated after treatment with GA3. The protein electrophoresis of seedlings of cv. Giza 123 induced formation of unique newly protein bands including certain units may acting as protein receptors for gibberellins (M.W. 71.41 kDa). In addition, the DNA and RNA content of cv. Giza 123 showed its priority to the interaction between salinity and GA3. Regarding to minerals the data showed that cv. Giza 123 had the ability to discard salts and prevent the accumulation of them in its tissues especially Na+, k+ and Ca+2 elements. cv. Giza 123 seedlings could overcome the inimical effects of salt stress whereas cv. Giza 126 seedlings appeared to have an attenuated potential to do so resulting in an efficient tolerance of cv. Giza 123 seedlings

The role of sildenafil citrate in the treatment of fetal growth restriction: a randomized controlled trial

Background: This study was aimed to evaluate the effect of sildenafil citrate on Doppler velocity indices in patients with fetal growth restriction (FGR) associated with impaired placental circulation.Methods: A double-blinded, parallel group randomized clinical trial (clinicaltrials.gov NCT02590536) was conducted in Ain Shams Maternity Hospital, in the period between October 2015 and June 2017. Ninety pregnant women with documented intrauterine growth retardation at 24-37 weeks of gestation were randomized to either sildenafil citrate 25 mg orally every 8 hours or placebo visually-identical placebo tablets with the same regimen. The primary outcome of the study was the change in umbilical artery and fetal middle cerebral artery indices.Results: There was a significant improvement in umbilical and middle cerebral artery indices after sildenafil administration p<0.001. Present study observed that, sildenafil group, in comparison to placebo, has a significantly higher mean neonatal birth weight. 1783±241g vs 1570±455g (p<0.001). There was a significantly higher mean gestational age at delivery in women in sildenafil group 35.3±1.67 weeks, whereas it was lower in the placebo group 33.5±1.7 weeks. The side effects as headache, palpitation and facial flushing were significantly higher in sildenafil group compared to placebo group.Conclusions: The use sildenafil citrate in pregnancies with fetal growth restriction (FGR) improved the feto-placental Doppler indices (pulsatility index of umbilical artery and middle cerebral artery) and improved neonatal outcomes

Impact of metformin on feeding, behavior, and metabolism in Drosophila melanogaster.

Metformin is a first-line drug used in the treatment of type II diabetes mellitus and is the 4th-most prescribed drug in the United States. It functions in lowering blood glucose levels and increasing insulin sensitivity. Despite its wide scale use, the degree to which it affects aspects of behavior and metabolism unrelated to diabetes is not fully understood. Recent studies have attempted to fill this gap, particularly in the context of metformin’s impact on lifespan. We decided to extend this research by focusing on measurable behaviors as well as traits related to metabolism and physiology. Using the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster as a model organism, we investigated metformin’s impacts on food consumption, body weight, starvation resistance, and sleep. We observed preliminary evidence of increased feeding in Drosophila when given a metformin-supplemented diet. The same diet had an effect on body weight while making the flies less vulnerable to starvation stress. Metformin did not appear to have a significant impact on sleep patterns, except at low concentrations. These data show that metformin does cause multiple levels of side effects in the whole organism level. Given that the molecular pathways of metformin action are conserved between Drosophila and humans, similar effects on food consumption and weight may be found in human subjects treated with metformin. Future study should include an analysis of the molecular, genetic, and neuronal mechanisms of the above physiological and metabolic changes

The neurotoxic effects of Methotrexate (MTX) on rat hippocampus and to explore the neuroprotective role of Alpha Lipoic Acid (ALA): Review article

Background: The hippocampus is a major component of the mammalian brains and the brains of other vertebrates. It belongs to the limbic system and plays important roles in memory consolidation. Methotrexate (MTX) belongs to the antimetabolite group, which is an antineoplastic group of drugs. MTX has a wide range of therapeutic effects: e.g. at high doses in many malignancies and at low doses in autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis, due to its anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive effects. The therapeutic actions of Alpha Lipoic Acid (ALA) is based on its antioxidant properties including its capacity in regenerating endogenous antioxidants, its metal chelating abilities, its action as a scavenger of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and its capability to repair oxidative damage.Objective: This work aimed to study the neurotoxic effects of methotrxate (MTX) on rat hippocampus and to explore the neuroprotective role of alpha lipoic acid (ALA).Methods: The databases were searched for articles published in English in 4 data bases [PubMed – Google scholar- Science direct and Egyptian bank of knowledge] and Boolean operators (and, or, not) had been used such as neurotoxic effects of methotrxate and rat hippocampus OR alpha lipoic acid and in reviewed articles.Conclusion: So, from this review article, it can be concluded that, alpha lipoic acid administration along with methotrxate therapy can ameliorate the harmfull effects of methotrxate on hippocampus

Real-World Evidence Analysis of a Hybrid Closed-Loop System.

BACKGROUND We analyzed real-world evidence to assess the performance of the mylife CamAPS FX hybrid closed-loop system. METHODS Users from 15 countries across different age groups who used the system between May 9, 2022, and December 3, 2022, and who had ≥30 days of continuous glucose monitor data, and ≥30% of closed-loop usage were included in the current analysis (N = 1805). RESULTS Time in range (3.9-10 mmol/L) was 72.6 ± 11.5% (mean ± SD) for all users and increased by age from 66.9 ± 11.7% for users ≤6 years old to 81.8 ± 8.7% for users ≥65 years. Time spent in hypoglycemia (<3.9 mmol/L) was 2.3% [1.3, 3.6] (median [interquartile range]). Mean glucose and glucose management indicator were 8.4 ± 1.1 mmol/L and 6.9%, respectively. Time using closed-loop was high at 94.7% [90.0, 96.9]. CONCLUSIONS Glycemic outcomes from the present real-world evidence are comparable to results obtained from previous randomized controlled studies and confirm the efficacy of this hybrid closed-loop system in real-world settings