The Social Dimension in Transportation Planning/ البعد الاجتماعي في نظام تخطيط النقل العام في مصر

Public transportation is a main player in Egyptians’ daily lives. It links production and consumption areas in many vital aspects, including economy, construction, and social development. Accordingly, the accessibility of citizens to public transportation and its services has been adopted as a social dimension for it in this paper, as it affects the lives of many segments of Egyptians

Phylogenetic characterization of two echinoid species of the southeastern Mediterranean, off Egypt

AbstractIn this study we investigated the phylogenetics of two sea urchin species, Arbacia lixula and Paracentrotus lividus from the Mediterranean Sea. Specimens were collected from the east coast of Alexandria City, Egypt. Pigmentation examination showed four sympatric color morphotypes (black, purple, reddish brown, and olive green). Mitochondrial DNA was extracted from specimens and mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) and 16S ribosomal RNA (16S) were sequenced. The results showed that all black specimens constituted the species A. lixula. All other colors belonged to P. lividus, with no apparent differentiation between color morphotypes. Moreover, P. lividus showed high haplotype diversity (COI; H=0.9500 and 16S; H=0.8580) and low values of nucleotide diversity (COI; π=0.0075 and 16S; π=0.0049), indicating a high degree of polymorphism within this species. This study represents the first attempt at DNA barcoding of echinoid species in the southeast Mediterranean off the Egyptian coast, and will provide a base for future phylogenetic analyses

Synergistic Factors Affecting Catalytic Performance of Fe(II) Phthalocyanine @ Titania-Pillared Bentonite Nanocomposites in Styrene Production

The hybrid nanocatalytic system under study consisted of iron (II) phthalocyanine complex (FePc) of 0.5 – ~10 wt % loading immobilized in the bentonite interlayers modified by pillaring with titania nanoparticles (88 nm). Various interactions facing FePc complex were discussed through the changes in different characteristics assessed by adopting XRD, FTIR, ICP-EDX, TGA-DrTGA, TEM, N2 adsorption-desorption and H2-chemisorption techniques. Intercalated FePc molecules could evolve excessive silanol and aluminol sites through interaction with various clay-interlayer sites and titania pillar. By applying this FePc @ Ti-PILB nanocomposite in oxidative dehydrogenation of ethyl benzene, synergistic combination of factors influencing selective production of styrene confirmed the optimum turnover frequency with maximum selectivity to styrene at 3.4 wt % FePc loading. Below this loading, redox pair factor linked with dispersion and orientation mode of FePc was predominating. In higher loaded samples of considerable silanol sites, clay acid-base pair balance became prevailing

Microbiologically-influenced corrosion of the electroless-deposited NiP-TiNi – Coating

In this study, we reveal the microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC) behavior of the new electroless NiP-TiNi nanocomposite coating in simulated seawater using the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) technique after different periods of incubation time (7, 10, 14, 21, 28 days) in a sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) medium. The biofilm formation and the corrosion products were characterized using the scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The EIS results revealed the carbon steel (CS)/NiP-TiNi and NiP-TiNi/SRB biofilm interfaces' characteristics after different incubation times in the SRB media. EIS measurements revealed that the NiP-TiNi nanocomposite coating's MIC resistances are superior relative to API X80 carbon steel and a TiNi-free NiP coating, with ∼93% of corrosion inhibition efficiency after 28 days of incubation

Impact of opioid-free analgesia on pain severity and patient satisfaction after discharge from surgery: multispecialty, prospective cohort study in 25 countries

Background: Balancing opioid stewardship and the need for adequate analgesia following discharge after surgery is challenging. This study aimed to compare the outcomes for patients discharged with opioid versus opioid-free analgesia after common surgical procedures.Methods: This international, multicentre, prospective cohort study collected data from patients undergoing common acute and elective general surgical, urological, gynaecological, and orthopaedic procedures. The primary outcomes were patient-reported time in severe pain measured on a numerical analogue scale from 0 to 100% and patient-reported satisfaction with pain relief during the first week following discharge. Data were collected by in-hospital chart review and patient telephone interview 1 week after discharge.Results: The study recruited 4273 patients from 144 centres in 25 countries; 1311 patients (30.7%) were prescribed opioid analgesia at discharge. Patients reported being in severe pain for 10 (i.q.r. 1-30)% of the first week after discharge and rated satisfaction with analgesia as 90 (i.q.r. 80-100) of 100. After adjustment for confounders, opioid analgesia on discharge was independently associated with increased pain severity (risk ratio 1.52, 95% c.i. 1.31 to 1.76; P < 0.001) and re-presentation to healthcare providers owing to side-effects of medication (OR 2.38, 95% c.i. 1.36 to 4.17; P = 0.004), but not with satisfaction with analgesia (beta coefficient 0.92, 95% c.i. -1.52 to 3.36; P = 0.468) compared with opioid-free analgesia. Although opioid prescribing varied greatly between high-income and low- and middle-income countries, patient-reported outcomes did not.Conclusion: Opioid analgesia prescription on surgical discharge is associated with a higher risk of re-presentation owing to side-effects of medication and increased patient-reported pain, but not with changes in patient-reported satisfaction. Opioid-free discharge analgesia should be adopted routinely

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

31st Annual Meeting and Associated Programs of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC 2016) : part two

Background The immunological escape of tumors represents one of the main ob- stacles to the treatment of malignancies. The blockade of PD-1 or CTLA-4 receptors represented a milestone in the history of immunotherapy. However, immune checkpoint inhibitors seem to be effective in specific cohorts of patients. It has been proposed that their efficacy relies on the presence of an immunological response. Thus, we hypothesized that disruption of the PD-L1/PD-1 axis would synergize with our oncolytic vaccine platform PeptiCRAd. Methods We used murine B16OVA in vivo tumor models and flow cytometry analysis to investigate the immunological background. Results First, we found that high-burden B16OVA tumors were refractory to combination immunotherapy. However, with a more aggressive schedule, tumors with a lower burden were more susceptible to the combination of PeptiCRAd and PD-L1 blockade. The therapy signifi- cantly increased the median survival of mice (Fig. 7). Interestingly, the reduced growth of contralaterally injected B16F10 cells sug- gested the presence of a long lasting immunological memory also against non-targeted antigens. Concerning the functional state of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), we found that all the immune therapies would enhance the percentage of activated (PD-1pos TIM- 3neg) T lymphocytes and reduce the amount of exhausted (PD-1pos TIM-3pos) cells compared to placebo. As expected, we found that PeptiCRAd monotherapy could increase the number of antigen spe- cific CD8+ T cells compared to other treatments. However, only the combination with PD-L1 blockade could significantly increase the ra- tio between activated and exhausted pentamer positive cells (p= 0.0058), suggesting that by disrupting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis we could decrease the amount of dysfunctional antigen specific T cells. We ob- served that the anatomical location deeply influenced the state of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes. In fact, TIM-3 expression was in- creased by 2 fold on TILs compared to splenic and lymphoid T cells. In the CD8+ compartment, the expression of PD-1 on the surface seemed to be restricted to the tumor micro-environment, while CD4 + T cells had a high expression of PD-1 also in lymphoid organs. Interestingly, we found that the levels of PD-1 were significantly higher on CD8+ T cells than on CD4+ T cells into the tumor micro- environment (p < 0.0001). Conclusions In conclusion, we demonstrated that the efficacy of immune check- point inhibitors might be strongly enhanced by their combination with cancer vaccines. PeptiCRAd was able to increase the number of antigen-specific T cells and PD-L1 blockade prevented their exhaus- tion, resulting in long-lasting immunological memory and increased median survival

Protective Role of Curcumin against Hematological Alterations and Hepatic Damage Induced by Gentamicin in Rats

Gentamicin (GEN) is considered an aminoglycoside antibiotic which is widely used to treat numerous bacterial infections. It has toxic effect on liver tissue. Curcumin (CMN) is a natural polyphenolic compound with antioxidant as well as anti-inflammatory potentials. The current study sought to investigate the effect of CMN in protecting against GEN-induced hematological alterations and hepatotoxicity. Rats were randomly assigned into 4 equal groups: Control, gentamicin group (100 mg/kg b.wt, i.p, daily for seven days), curcumin group (200 mg/kg b.wt, orally for 21 days) and curcumin plus gentamicin group. After 21 days, some hematological and serum biochemical parameters were measured. GEN-intoxicated group showed a marked decline in RBCs count, Hb concentration as well as PCV% with insignificant difference in MCV, MCH and MCHC. Moreover, there were leukopenia, lymphopenia and neutrophilia in GEN group. Concerning to the serum biochemical examination, a substantial increase in the serum activities of ALT, AST and ALP with a marked decline in the total protein, albumin and globulin serum levels were recorded following GEN injection. In addition, there was a marked increase in the cholesterol, triglycerides and glucose serum levels. Improvement in all tested parameters were noticed following concurrent CMN administration with GEN. Based on these results, CMN could be recommended as a treatment strategy for protection against GEN-induced hematological alterations and hepatic injury

Protective Role of Curcumin against Hematological Alterations and Hepatic Damage Induced by Gentamicin in Rats

Gentamicin (GEN) is considered an aminoglycoside antibiotic which is widely used to treat numerous bacterial infections. It has toxic effect on liver tissue. Curcumin (CMN) is a natural polyphenolic compound with antioxidant as well as anti-inflammatory potentials. The current study sought to investigate the effect of CMN in protecting against GEN-induced hematological alterations and hepatotoxicity. Rats were randomly assigned into 4 equal groups: Control, gentamicin group (100 mg/kg b.wt, i.p, daily for seven days), curcumin group (200 mg/kg b.wt, orally for 21 days) and curcumin plus gentamicin group. After 21 days, some hematological and serum biochemical parameters were measured. GEN-intoxicated group showed a marked decline in RBCs count, Hb concentration as well as PCV% with insignificant difference in MCV, MCH and MCHC. Moreover, there were leukopenia, lymphopenia and neutrophilia in GEN group. Concerning to the serum biochemical examination, a substantial increase in the serum activities of ALT, AST and ALP with a marked decline in the total protein, albumin and globulin serum levels were recorded following GEN injection. In addition, there was a marked increase in the cholesterol, triglycerides and glucose serum levels. Improvement in all tested parameters were noticed following concurrent CMN administration with GEN. Based on these results, CMN could be recommended as a treatment strategy for protection against GEN-induced hematological alterations and hepatic injury