Complete Sequences of Organelle Genomes from the Medicinal Plant Rhazya Stricta (Apocynaceae) and Contrasting Patterns of Mitochondrial Genome Evolution Across Asterids

Rhazya stricta is native to arid regions in South Asia and the Middle East and is used extensively in folk medicine to treat a wide range of diseases. In addition to generating genomic resources for this medicinally important plant, analyses of the complete plastid and mitochondrial genomes and a nuclear transcriptome from Rhazya provide insights into inter-compartmental transfers between genomes and the patterns of evolution among eight asterid mitochondrial genomes. Results: The 154,841 bp plastid genome is highly conserved with gene content and order identical to the ancestral organization of angiosperms. The 548,608 bp mitochondrial genome exhibits a number of phenomena including the presence of recombinogenic repeats that generate a multipartite organization, transferred DNA from the plastid and nuclear genomes, and bidirectional DNA transfers between the mitochondrion and the nucleus. The mitochondrial genes sdh3 and rps14 have been transferred to the nucleus and have acquired targeting presequences. In the case of rps14, two copies are present in the nucleus; only one has a mitochondrial targeting presequence and may be functional. Phylogenetic analyses of both nuclear and mitochondrial copies of rps14 across angiosperms suggests Rhazya has experienced a single transfer of this gene to the nucleus, followed by a duplication event. Furthermore, the phylogenetic distribution of gene losses and the high level of sequence divergence in targeting presequences suggest multiple, independent transfers of both sdh3 and rps14 across asterids. Comparative analyses of mitochondrial genomes of eight sequenced asterids indicates a complicated evolutionary history in this large angiosperm clade with considerable diversity in genome organization and size, repeat, gene and intron content, and amount of foreign DNA from the plastid and nuclear genomes. Conclusions: Organelle genomes of Rhazya stricta provide valuable information for improving the understanding of mitochondrial genome evolution among angiosperms. The genomic data have enabled a rigorous examination of the gene transfer events. Rhazya is unique among the eight sequenced asterids in the types of events that have shaped the evolution of its mitochondrial genome. Furthermore, the organelle genomes of R. stricta provide valuable genomic resources for utilizing this important medicinal plant in biotechnology applications.King Abdulaziz UniversityIntegrative Biolog

قياس كفاية رأس المال وأثرها في الاستقرار المالي دراسة تحليلية لعدد من المصارف العراقية الخاصة

ركز البحث على دراسة درجة تأثير كفاية رأس المال كأحد مؤشرات المتانة والقوة المالية على الاستقرار المالي الخاص لعدد من المصارف التجارية الخاصة والمدرجة في سوق العراق للأوراق المالية وللمدة (2012-2021)، فهدف البحث إلى قياس أثر مؤشر كفاية رأس المال على الاستقرار المالي للمصارف، وانطلقت مشكلة البحث من تساؤل رئيسي هو: هل لكفاية رأس المال تأثير على الاستقرار المالي للمصارف المختارة عينة البحث؟، كما انطلق البحث بفرضية رئيسية واحدة مفادها وجود علاقة تأثير ذات دلالة معنوية بين كفاية رأس المال والاستقرار المالي، وتوصل الباحثان إلى جملة من الاستنتاجات كان أهمها وجود علاقة طردية ذات دلالة معنوية بين كفاية رأس المال كمتغير مستقل على مؤشر الاستقرار المالي (Z_SCORE) كمتغير تابع، وأوصى الباحثان بضرورة تخفيض كفاية رأس المال للمصارف عينة البحث والالتزام بالنسبة المعتمدة من قبل البنك المركزي العراقي البالغة %12,5 والنسب المعتمدة من قبل لجنة بازل III البالغة %8، وبالرغم من كونها عامل مهم للتحوط من المخاطر، إلا أنها تؤدي إلى تكدس الأموال في خزائن المصرف وحجبها عن الاستثمار والذي يؤدي بدوره إلى تدنية الربحية

Studying of heart diseases prevalence, distribution and cofactors in Sudanese population

Background: the following study aimed to reveals the heart diseases (HD) prevalence, distribution and co-factors in Sudanese population during June 2014-June 2015 and to answer the questions related to, in Sudan.Methods: The data collected from different hospitals as gender, age, body mass index BMI, smoking habits, residential states, Pathologies, cardiothoracic ratio CCT, symptoms and breathing rate.Results: showed that HD were predominant among male with 56% and peaked among 65-77 year old, most of sample were either obese or overweight   representing 57% or 35% respectively. The common cofactors for HD were the socio-economic, smoking, hypertension and obesity which representing 90%, 75%, 60% and 57% respectively. The heart diseases HD incidence in Khartoum, Aljazeera, White Nile, Red Sea, and West of Sudan was 40%, 25%, 20%, 10% and 5% respectively. The common type of HD was Coronary Arteries, Valves, Myocardial infarction, and Congestive Heart Failure representing 45%, 17%, 23%, and 15% respectively. And signs were Hypertension, Diabetes mellitus, High Cholesterol, breathing rate, edema, palpitation with relative frequencies 9%, 11%, 6%, 12%, 8% and 10% respectively. Patients’ cardiothoracic ratio CTR exceeding normal level (0.5), A significant relationship between CTR and Breathing rate (BR) (R2 = 0.8) fits in CTR=0.02BR+0.2 as well between age and BR (R2) fits in BR=0.21age + 12.84. And all patients had BR exceeding the adult normal range (12-20).Conclusions: HD could be as endemic to increase mortality following the uneasy avoidable cofactors in the nearest future.

Prophylactic use of carvedilol to prevent ventricular dysfunction in patients with cancer treated with doxorubicin

Objective: Deterioration in ventricular function is often observed in patients treated with anthracyclines for cancer. There is a paucity of evidence on interventions that might provide cardio-protection. We investigated whether prophylactic use of carvedilol can prevent doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity and whether any observed effect is dose related. Methods: A prospective, randomized, double-blind study in patients treated with doxorubicin, comparing placebo (n = 38) with different doses of carvedilol [6.25 mg/day (n = 41), 12.5 mg/day (n = 38) or 25 mg/day (n = 37)]. The primary endpoint was the measured change in left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) from baseline to 6 months. Results: LVEF decreased from 62 ± 5% at baseline to 58 ± 7% at 6-months (p = 0.002) in patients assigned to placebo but no statistically significant changes were observed in any of the 3 carvedilol groups. At 6 months, only one of 116 patients (1%) assigned to carvedilol had an LVEF < 50% compared to four of the 38 assigned to placebo (11%), (p = 0.013). No significant differences were noted between carvedilol and placebo in terms of the development of diastolic dysfunction, clinically overt heart failure or death. Conclusions: Carvedilol might prevent deterioration in LVEF in cancer patients treated with doxorubicin. This effect may not be dose related within the studied range

Renal hilar pheochromocytoma: a case report

Paraganglioma is a rare tumor arising from undifferentiated cells of the primitive neural crest. These tumors are most commonly found in the adrenal gland, other localisations are also possible. A 58-year-old woman who presented with history of left lumbar pain, headache, hypertension, palpitation and sweating was found to have a secreting left renal hilar pheochromocytoma. Radical excision of the tumor was therefore undertaken and her hypertension was controlled. From the case report and literature review, the authors suggest a diagnostic and therapeutic strategy for the management of ectopic localization of pheochromocytoma

Molecular epidemiology of clinical and carrier strains of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in the hospital settings of north India

BACKGROUND: The study was conducted between 2000 and 2003 on 750 human subjects, yielding 850 strains of staphylococci from clinical specimens (575), nasal cultures of hospitalized patients (100) and eye & nasal sources of hospital workers (50 & 125 respectively) in order to determine their epidemiology, acquisition and dissemination of resistance genes. METHODS: Organisms from clinical samples were isolated, cultured and identified as per the standard routine procedures. Susceptibility was measured by the agar diffusion method, as recommended by the Nat ional Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS). The modified method of Birnboin and Takahashi was used for isolation of plasmids from staphylococci. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) typing of clinical and carrier Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains isolated during our study was performed as described previously. RESULTS: It was shown that 35.1% of Staphylococcus aureus and 22.5% of coagulase-negative staphylococcal isolates were resistant to methicillin. Highest percentage of MRSA (35.5%) was found in pus specimens (n = 151). The multiple drug resistance of all MRSA (n = 180) and Methicillin resistant Coagulase-negative Staphylococcus aureus (MRCNS) (n = 76) isolates was detected. In case of both methicillin-resistant as well as methicillin-sensitive Saphylococcal isolates zero resistance was found to vancomycin where as highest resistance was found to penicillin G followed by ampicillin. It was shown that the major reservoir of methicillin resistant staphylococci in hospitals are colonized/infected inpatients and colonized hospital workers, with carriers at risk for developing endogenous infection or transmitting infection to health care workers and patients. The results were confirmed by molecular typing using PFGE by SmaI-digestion. It was shown that the resistant markers G and T got transferred from clinical S. aureus (JS-105) to carrier S. aureus (JN-49) and the ciprofloxacin (Cf) and erythromycin (E) resistance seemed to be chromosomal mediated. In one of the experiments, plasmid pJMR1O from Staphylococcus aureus coding for ampicillin (A), gentamicin (G) and amikacin (Ak) resistance was transformed into Escherichia coli. The minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) for A and G were lower in E. coli than in S. aureus. However, the MIC for Ak was higher in E. coli transformants than in S. aureus. CONCLUSION: There is a progressive increase in MRSA prevalence and multi-drug resistance in staphylococci. Vancomycin is still the drug of choice for MRSA infections. The major reservoir of methicillin resistant staphylococci in hospitals is colonized/infected inpatients and colonized hospital workers. Resistance transfer from staphylococci to E. coli as well as from clinical to carrier staphylococci due to antibiotic stress seemed to be an alarming threat to antimicrobial chemotherapy

Corrosion Protection of Carbon Steel Oil Pipelines by Unsaturated Polyester/Clay Composite coating

The EIS measurements for coated specimens after polarization show higher values of total impedance |Z|, polarization resistance (Rp) and low capacitance (C) in comparison with the un-coated carbon steel specimen. This indicates the stability of the surface protected film of these coated specimens and their resistance against dissolution.The aim of this paper is to prepare a protective coating on API 5L (carbon steel) alloy which is the widely used materials in oil industry and study its effect on the corrosion behavior of the carbon steel in crude oil environment. Unsaturated polyester (UP) and clay were used to prepare composite consist of 75% of polyester and 25% of clay. The coated specimen was investigated in comparison to uncoated and 100% polyester coated specimens. X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) were employed on the coated specimens to understand the phases formed on the modified surfaces. The corrosion behavior of the modified surface in comparison with untreated one was investigated by potentiodynamic cyclic polarization in 3.5 M of NaCl and crude oil solution using Solartron made electrochemical interface SI 1287 and Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) measurements at OCP condition using Solartron make 1255 HF frequency response analyzer (FRA). The results show improvement in the corrosion parameters predicted from the polarization test.

A cephalometric morphometric study of age- and gender-dependent shape patterns of the sella turcica

The sella turcica is an important anatomic and radiologic entity. The shape of the sella turcica varies among normal individuals and can be influenced by local factors. The normal shape of sella turcica has been categorized as circular, oval, and flat, and several variants have been described. The sella turcica increases in size with age, but there is no agreement upon significance of gender-related differences. The main objective of this study is to build up a normative database of the shape of the sella turcica in the Jordanian population with reference to age and gender. For this purpose 509 computed cephalograms: 252 males and 257 females, aged 10 to 40 years old healthy Jordanians were collected and divided into adolescent and adult age groups in both genders. Viewbox 3 software was used to determine width and height, and shape of the sella turcica was accordingly assessed. Variants of shape were also documented. Our results showed that females exhibit higher percentage of overall normal shape but lower relative percentages of oval and flat shapes, as compared with males. In contrast to males, females also show decreasing trend of normal shape as age advances. Females and males change obviously in favor of oval shape. In terms of variants, as individuals advance in age, bridging and irregular dorsum clearly predominate. In terms of width and height, significant differences were evident between adult male group on one hand and adolescent female group and adult female group on the other hand. Between age categories and within male and female groups, sella linear dimensions were significantly different between adolescent and adult age groups. The significant increase of linear parameters of sella turcica across age groups indicates that there is significant degree of growth in sella turcica across the studied age groups. However, this growth does not affect the shape of sella turcica as the shape seems to be preserved across the studied age groups. The obtained data are discussed in terms of age- and gender-related growth and degenerative bone changes

A cephalometric morphometric study of age- and gender-dependent shape patterns of the sella turcica

The sella turcica is an important anatomic and radiologic entity. The shape of the sella turcica varies among normal individuals and can be influenced by local factors. The normal shape of sella turcica has been categorized as circular, oval, and flat, and several variants have been described. The sella turcica increases in size with age, but there is no agreement upon significance of gender-related differences. The main objective of this study is to build up a normative database of the shape of the sella turcica in the Jordanian population with reference to age and gender. For this purpose 509 computed cephalograms: 252 males and 257 females, aged 10 to 40 years old healthy Jordanians were collected and divided into adolescent and adult age groups in both genders. Viewbox 3 software was used to determine width and height, and shape of the sella turcica was accordingly assessed. Variants of shape were also documented. Our results showed that females exhibit higher percentage of overall normal shape but lower relative percentages of oval and flat shapes, as compared with males. In contrast to males, females also show decreasing trend of normal shape as age advances. Females and males change obviously in favor of oval shape. In terms of variants, as individuals advance in age, bridging and irregular dorsum clearly predominate. In terms of width and height, significant differences were evident between adult male group on one hand and adolescent female group and adult female group on the other hand. Between age categories and within male and female groups, sella linear dimensions were significantly different between adolescent and adult age groups. The significant increase of linear parameters of sella turcica across age groups indicates that there is significant degree of growth in sella turcica across the studied age groups. However, this growth does not affect the shape of sella turcica as the shape seems to be preserved across the studied age groups. The obtained data are discussed in terms of age- and gender-related growth and degenerative bone changes.This work has been supported by Grant No: 89/2015 by the Faculty of Research at Jordan University of Science and TechnologyScopu