Placental Morphology of Pregnant Iraqi Women with Rheumatic Heart Disease

Background: Placental morphology and cellular arrangement can be altered in maternal diseases. Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) is a chronic heart condition that can lead to death in pregnant women. The aim of this study is to determine the histological changes of the placenta in pregnant women suffering from RHD. Methods: Placentae were collected from 10 healthy pregnant women, and 31 pregnant women with heart conditions (26 with RHD and 5 with NRHD) who had been admitted to the Baghdad Teaching Hospital. Placental tissues were fixed in 10% formal-saline and were processed for light microscopy. Measurements including the placental weight and diameter of the chorionic villi capillaries were recorded. Results: The results indicate that there are many histological changes in pregnant women with RHD such as hyalinisation, fibrosis of the chorionic villi, proliferation of trophoblastic cells, and thickening of its membrane. Additionally, expectant mothers with RHD experience a reduction in capillary diameter and thickening of the capillary walls, and decreased size and weight of their placenta when compared with the control. Conclusions: Heart diseases, especially RHD, are associated with developmental damage of the placenta in pregnant women by injuring the endothelial cells of the placentas capillaries

Mining question-answer pairs from web forum: a survey of challenges and resolutions

Internet forums, which are also known as discussion boards, are popular web applications. Members of the board discuss issues and share ideas to form a community within the board, and as a result generate huge amount of content on different topics on daily basis. Interest in information extraction and knowledge discovery from such sources has been on the increase in the research community. A number of factors are limiting the potentiality of mining knowledge from forums. Lexical chasm or lexical gap that renders some Natural Language Processing techniques (NLP) less effective, Informal tone that creates noisy data, drifting of discussion topic that prevents focused mining and asynchronous issue that makes it difficult to establish post-reply relationship are some of the problems that need to be addressed. This survey introduces these challenges within the framework of question answering. The survey provides description of the problems; cites and explores useful publications to the reader for further examination; provides an overview of resolution strategies and findings relevant to the challenges

Shepherd Leadership: A Review and Future Research Directions

This chapter is important because Shepherd leadership is not much taught in popular business or leadership textbooks. There is inadequate understanding and practice of compassionate care-Shepherd leadership quality-in sectors such as education and healthcare. Education is an important sector as it impacts students’ learning. Teachers with Shepherd leadership qualities motivate students to outperform, and be creative and work persistently to improve themselves, their communities and society. Healthcare is an important sector because providing healthcare has significant impact on personal and public health, development and economic growth to attain major employment. Additionally, research reveals that caring and compassionate leadership is lacking in organizations because it forms resilience, nurtures a team spirit, enhances engagement, and may reduce employee turnover. This chapter sheds light on the importance of compassionate and caring leaders in religious and educational organizations, healthcare, the army, and business organizations. This chapter will discuss mainly Shepherd leadership and aims to define it and will explore where it is mostly utilized and in what type of organizations has this leadership been applied and successful. This chapter also compares Shepherd leadership with Servant leadership, a closely related leadership, and other popular leadership styles in today’s organizations. Lastly, this chapter will touch on the challenges of Shepherd leadership

INTRODUCTION OF THE LATEST DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES IN THE BANKING SECTOR: FOREIGN EXPERIENCE AND RUSSIAN PRACTICE

Purpose: The article is devoted to topical issues of strategic development of commercial banks in the context of digitalization of the economy, requiring the introduction of new financial technologies in the financial and credit sphere. The paper describes a number of new digital technologies based on artificial intelligence; open API, biometric identification system, Big Data, Blockchain, cloud technologies, as well as how these technologies are used in the Bank's work with customers. Methodology: The study of the chosen topic is based on the methods of generalization and comparison, analysis and synthesis, the method of groupings, as well as models of banking management used in practice by modern domestic and foreign banks. Result: The article analyzes the experience of foreign countries in the use of these technologies in the banking sector and substantiates the need for an early transition of the Russian banking sector to a more innovative model of functioning. In conclusion, the paper identifies opportunities and ways for the further development of digital technologies in the banking sector. Applications: This research can be used for universities, teachers, and students. Novelty/Originality: In this research, the model of Introduction of the Latest Digital Technologies in the Banking Sector: Foreign Experience and Russian Practice is presented in a comprehensive and complete manner

Effect of Various Local Anthropogenic Impacts on the Diversity of Coral Mucus-Associated Bacterial Communities

The global continued decline in coral reefs is intensifying the need to understand the response of corals to local environmental stressors. Coral-associated bacterial communities have been suggested to have a swift response to environmental pollutants. This study aims to determine the variation in the bacterial communities associated with the mucus of two coral species, Pocillopora damicornis (Linnaeus, 1758) and Stylophora pistillata (Esper, 1792), and the coral-surrounding seawater from three areas exposed to contamination at the Jordanian coast of the Gulf of Aqaba (Red Sea), and also explores the antibacterial activity of these bacteria. Corals were collected from three contaminated zones along the coast, and the bacteria were quantified and identified by conventional morphological and biochemical tests, as well as 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The average number of bacteria significantly varied among the coral mucus from the sampling zones and between the coral mucus and the surrounding seawater. The P. damicornis mucus-associated bacterial community was dominated by members of the classes Gammaproteobacteria, Cytophagia, and Actinomycetia, while the mucus of S. pistillata represented higher bacterial diversity, with the dominance of the bacterial classes Gammaproteobacteria, Actinomycetia, Alphaproteobacteria, and Bacilli. The effects of local anthropogenic impacts on coral mucus bacterial communities were represented in the increased abundance of bacterial species related to coral diseases. Furthermore, the results demonstrated the existence of bacterial isolates with antibacterial activity that possibly acted as a first line of defense to protect and maintain the coral host against pathogens. Indeed, the dynamics of coral-associated microbial communities highlight the importance of holistic studies that focus on microbial interactions across the coral reef ecosystem

Bone Marrow Fibrosis in Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and other Myeloproliferative Disorders Evaluated by Using Special Histochemical Stains for Collagen.

Background: It is still difficult to give a final diagnosis in chronic myeloproliferative disorders (CMPDs) because of the overlap of the common pathological and clinical features of these disorders like bone marrow fibrosis which is considered important because it affects the normal function of the bone marrow. The collagen fibers are of different types, but in the bone marrow, the two main types are: collagen I, which is the most abundant type and collagen III (reticular) which is often associated with type I. Objectives:To study bone marrow fibrosis (BMF) in samples of bone marrow biopsies (BMB) of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and other chronic myeloproliferative disorders using histochemical stains to establish the grade of fibrosis and enabling a correct differentiation between chronic myeloid leukemia, essential thrombocythemia (ET), polycythemia rubra vera (PRV), and idiopathic marrow fibrosis (IMF) as subtypes of myeloproliferative disorders. Patients and methods: This retrospective study included collection of previously preserved formalin fixed- paraffin embedded bone marrow trephine biopsies of patients with chronic myeloproliferative disorders from January 2003 through December 2008 .The relevant clinical data of patients were retrieved from the stored case sheets. Applied histochemical stains (Reticulin stain, Van Gieson stain, and trichrome stain) with Haematoxylin and Eosin (H&E) stain on sections from these specimens. These stains were used to detect the presence and the degree of pathological marrow fibrosis by the most recent grading system, the European Consensus 2005(EC2005) originally described by Thiele at 2003. Using Trichrome stain for collagen type I and reticulin stain for reticulin fibers (collagen type III) and by using a special marrow fibrosis grading system as a routine work with H&E is valuable in determining the degree of marrow fibrosis on bone marrow biopsy examination and simplifies the diagnosis. Results: Sixty eight percent of chronic myeloproliferative disorders patients had no marrow fibrosis when diagnosed by H&E, while only 30% of chronic myeloproliferative disorders patients had no marrow fibrosis when the diagnosis was made by special stains and marrow fibrosis grading system. There is rare marrow fibrosis in essential thrombocythemia, polycythemia rubra vera, but present in chronic myeloid leukemia and almost always in marrow fibrosis. Some patients really have myelofibrosis of different grades and the histological findings by using histochemical stains are crucial to distinguish between myeloproliferative diseases Conclusion: Patients with chronic myeloid leukemia and other chronic myeloproliferative disorders had marrow fibrosis of different grades, which is confirmed by using histochemical stains for different collagen fibers and special grading system for marrow fibrosis (EC2005) that has to be applied. It can be used routinely to avoid misdiagnosis of the primary disease or its conversion and transition to another chronic myeloproliferative disorders type, in which the clinical and laboratory features overlap, but the prognosis and therapeutic implications are significantly different

Socioeconomics determinants of household carbon footprint in Iskandar Malaysia

Understanding the complex links between socioeconomic variables and carbon emissions can reveal household spending and lifestyle patterns. This study oversees those issues and examines consumption patterns and their related variables such as climate change understanding, attitudes, and knowledge, in order to better comprehend the complicated linkages. This study revealed that eight socioeconomic elements influence a household’s carbon footprint: (i) household income (β = 0.476, p < 0.05), (ii) green attitudes (β = − 0.196, p < 0.05), (iii) residential space (β = 0.157, p < 0.05), (iv), education levels (β = 0.131, p < 0.05), (v) household’s tenure status by ownership (β = 0.130, p < 0.05), (vi) household’s age (β = 0.112, p < 0.05), (vii) size of household (β = 0.101, p < 0.05), and, (viii) female-headed household (β = − 0.077, p < 0.05). Approximately 83.6% of respondents are mindful of climate change, but only 2.6% correctly define it as a long-term shift in weather patterns. The study found that 82% of households are willing to change their consumption habits and lifestyle to reduce their household’s carbon footprint. In order to achieve a low carbon society, our research advocate a multipronged approach and policy action is crucial based on the results. Further, robust climate change educational and awareness programmes is decisive at the multilevel and scale in Malaysia to achieve its carbon emissions reduction target by 2050

Development of a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire for use in United Arab Emirates and Kuwait based on local foods

BACKGROUND: The Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) is one of the most commonly used tools in epidemiologic studies to assess long-term nutritional exposure. The purpose of this study is to describe the development of a culture specific FFQ for Arab populations in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Kuwait. METHODS: We interviewed samples of Arab populations over 18 years old in UAE and Kuwait assessing their dietary intakes using 24-hour dietary recall. Based on the most commonly reported foods and portion sizes, we constructed a food list with the units of measurement. The food list was converted to a Semi-Quantitative Food Frequency Questionnaire (SFFQ) format following the basic pattern of SFFQ using usual reported portions. The long SFFQ was field-tested, shortened and developed into the final SFFQ. To estimate nutrients from mixed dishes we collected recipes of those mixed dishes that were commonly eaten, and estimated their nutritional content by using nutrient values of the ingredients that took into account method of preparation from the US Department of Agriculture's Food Composition Database. RESULTS: The SFFQs consist of 153 and 152 items for UAE and Kuwait, respectively. The participants reported average intakes over the past year. On average the participants reported eating 3.4 servings/d of fruits and 3.1 servings/d of vegetables in UAE versus 2.8 servings/d of fruits and 3.2 servings/d of vegetables in Kuwait. Participants reported eating cereals 4.8 times/d in UAE and 5.3 times/d in Kuwait. The mean intake of dairy products was 2.2/d in UAE and 3.4 among Kuwaiti. CONCLUSION: We have developed SFFQs to measure diet in UAE and Kuwait that will serve the needs of public health researchers and clinicians and are currently validating those instruments

Exploring the molecular mechanisms of MSC-derived exosomes in Alzheimer's disease : Autophagy, insulin and the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway

The authors thank you for acknowledging technical and financial support from the Ministry of Education and the University of Hafr Al Batin, Saudi Arabia. The authors gratefully acknowledge all mothers’ volunteers in the community around the Faculty of Agriculture, Benha University, for their cooperationPeer reviewe