The acoustical design of the new lecture auditorium, Faculty of Law, Ain Shams University

AbstractThis work represents the main acoustical design phases for the new lecture auditorium in the Faculty of Law, Ain Shams University, Cairo/Egypt. The work also discusses some of the architectural details that were used and have a direct effect on the acoustical environment inside the auditorium. The work compares finally among field measurements (that were recorded after the construction in the unoccupied auditorium), the values expected during the acoustic design phase (utilizing ODEON ver. 4.2, assuming the occupied case), and the optimum values for speech intelligibility indicators that were considered in this work (T20, D50, STI, LAeq, and the background noise). Field measurements that were recorded utilizing MLSSA system showed that the finishing materials used successfully fulfilled a good level of speech intelligibility in the auditorium. The estimated reverberation timeT20-EOC for the occupied room (based on the measured unoccupiedT20-M) was close to the optimum especially in mid and high frequency bands. The measured D50 (unoccupied) was found to be within its acceptable range. The measured STI value (unoccupied) was “Fair, 0.49”. The measurements of LAeq indicated the uniformity of the acoustical field in the room. The noticed problem was a relatively high background noise (NC-40) due to the utilization of natural ventilation which directly contradicts the principles of room isolation

The evolving SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Africa: Insights from rapidly expanding genomic surveillance

INTRODUCTION Investment in Africa over the past year with regard to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) sequencing has led to a massive increase in the number of sequences, which, to date, exceeds 100,000 sequences generated to track the pandemic on the continent. These sequences have profoundly affected how public health officials in Africa have navigated the COVID-19 pandemic. RATIONALE We demonstrate how the first 100,000 SARS-CoV-2 sequences from Africa have helped monitor the epidemic on the continent, how genomic surveillance expanded over the course of the pandemic, and how we adapted our sequencing methods to deal with an evolving virus. Finally, we also examine how viral lineages have spread across the continent in a phylogeographic framework to gain insights into the underlying temporal and spatial transmission dynamics for several variants of concern (VOCs). RESULTS Our results indicate that the number of countries in Africa that can sequence the virus within their own borders is growing and that this is coupled with a shorter turnaround time from the time of sampling to sequence submission. Ongoing evolution necessitated the continual updating of primer sets, and, as a result, eight primer sets were designed in tandem with viral evolution and used to ensure effective sequencing of the virus. The pandemic unfolded through multiple waves of infection that were each driven by distinct genetic lineages, with B.1-like ancestral strains associated with the first pandemic wave of infections in 2020. Successive waves on the continent were fueled by different VOCs, with Alpha and Beta cocirculating in distinct spatial patterns during the second wave and Delta and Omicron affecting the whole continent during the third and fourth waves, respectively. Phylogeographic reconstruction points toward distinct differences in viral importation and exportation patterns associated with the Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants and subvariants, when considering both Africa versus the rest of the world and viral dissemination within the continent. Our epidemiological and phylogenetic inferences therefore underscore the heterogeneous nature of the pandemic on the continent and highlight key insights and challenges, for instance, recognizing the limitations of low testing proportions. We also highlight the early warning capacity that genomic surveillance in Africa has had for the rest of the world with the detection of new lineages and variants, the most recent being the characterization of various Omicron subvariants. CONCLUSION Sustained investment for diagnostics and genomic surveillance in Africa is needed as the virus continues to evolve. This is important not only to help combat SARS-CoV-2 on the continent but also because it can be used as a platform to help address the many emerging and reemerging infectious disease threats in Africa. In particular, capacity building for local sequencing within countries or within the continent should be prioritized because this is generally associated with shorter turnaround times, providing the most benefit to local public health authorities tasked with pandemic response and mitigation and allowing for the fastest reaction to localized outbreaks. These investments are crucial for pandemic preparedness and response and will serve the health of the continent well into the 21st century

LncRNAs NEAT1, HOTAIR, and GAS5 expression in hypertensive and non-hypertensive associated cerebrovascular stroke patients, and its link to clinical characteristics and severity score of the disease

Background: Cerebrovascular stroke (CVS) is a potentially fatal disease. The most common risk factor for CVS is hypertension. Aim: While most studies in the field have focused on the functional roles of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) NEAT1, GAS5, and HOTAIR in CVS, less attention has been paid to their clinical relevance to stroke incidence and prognosis. Also, a link has not yet been made between these lncRNAs and hypertension, our study aim was to investigate whether the expression of these lncRNAs differed between CVS with and without hypertension, as well as to compare each group to controls. Method: In total, 181 CVS patients were enrolled, including 91 chronic hypertensive patients with stroke, 90 stroke patients without hypertension, and 51 control subjects. blood samples were collected on the day of recruitment from patients with CVS and controls. Real-time qRT-PCR was used to detect the expression of target lncRNAs in serum. Results: When compared to controls, there was a statistically higher level of lncNEAT1 in each case group (median (IQR) = 3.68 (1.35–7.35) and 3.05 (0.95–6.45) for the hypertensive and non-hypertensive groups, respectively, with a significantly higher level in the hypertensive group (P = 0.04). When compared to controls, lncHOTAIR was significantly downregulated in all case groups (medians in hypertensive and non-hypertensive patients were 0.13, and 0.34, respectively), with a significantly lower level in the hypertensive group (P = 0.05). LncGAS5 levels in patients were significantly lower (median (IQR) = 0.16 (0.02–0.55) and 0.25 (0.03–0.99) for the hypertensive and non-hypertensive groups, respectively) compared to controls, with a significantly lower level in the hypertensive group (P = 0.02). There was a significant positive correlation between NEAT1 and GAS5, but a significant negative correlation between each with HOTAIR in both patients' groups. We also detected a significant negative correlation between each NEAT1 or GAS5 and NIHSS score while a significant positive correlation between HOTAIR and NIHSS. ROC curve analysis for GAS5 was able to differentiate patients with CVS hypertensive from patients with CVS non-hypertensive. Conclusion: Patients in each case group had statistically higher levels of NEAT1 and lower levels of HOTAIR and GAS5 compared to control levels, with higher significant NEAT1 but lower significant HOTAIR and GAS5 in the hypertensive group. Therefore, lncRNAs NEAT1, HOTAIR, and GAS5 could be used as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers of CVS that correlate with NIHSS score and could produce a novel target for CVS therapy

Polygamy and Risk of Coronary Artery Disease in Men Undergoing Angiography: An Observational Study

Epidemiologic evidence suggests a link between psychosocial risk factors such as marital status and coronary artery disease (CAD). Polygamy (multiple concurrent wives) is a distinct marital status practiced in many countries in Asia and the Middle East, but its association with CAD is not well defined. We conducted a multicenter, observational study of consecutive patients undergoing coronary angiography during the period from April 1, 2013, to March 30, 2014. Of 1,068 enrolled patients, 687 were married men. Polygamy was reported in 32% of married men (1 wife: 68%, 2 wives: 19%, 3 wives: 10%, and 4 wives: 3%). When stratified by number of wives, significant baseline differences were observed in age, type of community (rural versus urban), prior coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), and household income. After adjusting for baseline differences, there was a significant association between polygamy and CAD (adjusted OR 4.6 [95% CI 2.5, 8.3]), multivessel disease (MVD) (adjusted OR 2.6 [95% CI 1.8, 3.7]), and left main disease (LMD) (adjusted OR 3.5 [95% CI 2.1, 5.9]). Findings were consistent when the number of wives was analyzed as a continuous variable. In conclusion, among married men undergoing coronary angiography for clinical indications, polygamy is associated with the presence of significant CAD, MVD, and LMD

Polygamy and Risk of Coronary Artery Disease in Men Undergoing Angiography: An Observational Study

Epidemiologic evidence suggests a link between psychosocial risk factors such as marital status and coronary artery disease (CAD). Polygamy (multiple concurrent wives) is a distinct marital status practiced in many countries in Asia and the Middle East, but its association with CAD is not well defined. We conducted a multicenter, observational study of consecutive patients undergoing coronary angiography during the period from April 1, 2013, to March 30, 2014. Of 1,068 enrolled patients, 687 were married men. Polygamy was reported in 32% of married men (1 wife: 68%, 2 wives: 19%, 3 wives: 10%, and 4 wives: 3%). When stratified by number of wives, significant baseline differences were observed in age, type of community (rural versus urban), prior coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), and household income. After adjusting for baseline differences, there was a significant association between polygamy and CAD (adjusted OR 4.6 [95% CI 2.5, 8.3]), multivessel disease (MVD) (adjusted OR 2.6 [95% CI 1.8, 3.7]), and left main disease (LMD) (adjusted OR 3.5 [95% CI 2.1, 5.9]). Findings were consistent when the number of wives was analyzed as a continuous variable. In conclusion, among married men undergoing coronary angiography for clinical indications, polygamy is associated with the presence of significant CAD, MVD, and LMD

Systematic Review of Measles and Rubella Serology Studies

Serological tests provide information about individual immunity from historical infection or immunization. Cross-sectional serological studies provide data about the age- and sex-specific immunity levels for individuals in the studied population, and these data can provide a point of comparison for the results of transmission models. In the context of developing an integrated model for measles and rubella transmission, we reviewed the existing measles and rubella literature to identify the results of national serological studies that provided cross-sectional estimates of population immunity at the time of data collection. We systematically searched PubMed, the Science Citation Index, and references we identified from relevant articles published in English. We extracted serological data for comparison to transmission model outputs. For rubella, serological studies of women of child-bearing age provide information about the potential risks of infants born with congenital rubella syndrome. Serological studies also document the loss of maternal antibodies, which occurs at different rates for the different viruses and according to the nature of the induced immunity (i.e., infection or vaccine). The serological evidence remains limited for some areas, with studies from developed countries representing a disproportionate part of the evidence. The collection and review of serological evidence can help program managers identify immunity gaps in the population, which may help them better understand the characteristics of individuals within their populations who may participate in transmission and manage risks