Evaluation of Oxidative Stress and Antioxidant Status in Diabetic and Hypertensive Women during Labor

Pregnancy in insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus is associated with a greater incidence of fetal abnormality. Animal studies suggested that increased free-radical production and antioxidant depletion may contribute to this risk. The objective of this work was to evaluate oxidative stress and antioxidant capacity in hypertensive, diabetics, and healthy control women during labor. Simultaneous determination of antioxidant enzymes activities, namely glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), glutathione reductase (GSH-red), superoxide dismutase (SOD), total antioxidant, and lipid peroxides measured as thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS) levels, were carried out in maternal plasma during labor. Plasma GSH-Px activity was found to be significantly increased as it doubled in hypertensive, and diabetic women when compared with healthy control women (P<0.05). In contrast, plasma SOD activity was significantly decreased in both groups when compared to the control group (P<0.05). No significant differences were detected in GSH-Red activity between diabetic, hypertensive and control groups. Alterations in antioxidant enzyme activities were accompanied by a significant increase in the levels of plasma lipid peroxides in hypertensive and diabetic women during labor. Plasma levels of total antioxidants were significantly increased in diabetic women as compared with the control group. Based on our results, it may be concluded that enhanced generation of oxidative stress causes alteration of antioxidant capacity in diabetic and hypertensive women during labor. Alterations in antioxidant and prooxidant components may result in various complications including peroxidation of vital body molecules which may be regarded as an increased risk factor for pregnant women as well as the fetus

Assessing the performance of insulating fluids via point of statistical inference view

In this paper, the statistical inference is used in order to study the performance or aging of the insulating fluids. Transformer oil is used as an example of insulating fluids. The insulation property of insulating oil or transformer oil is lost by consumption. Breakdown tests are performed to check oil’s efficiency, but the cost of these tests is not inexpensive. Hence this statistical study aims to reduce the cost of these tests by applying statistical inference approaches to censored data. The Type-II Gumbel distribution fits well real-life data which contains failure times to breakdown of an insulating fluid between electrodes. The Type-II hybrid censored scheme is proposed to assess the study and also to reduce the cost of breakdown tests in practical tests.Publisher's Versio

Antimicrobial activities of some Saudi Arabian herbal plants

Background: Several edible plants are used in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia since early time to control microbial infections. In the present study, twenty-four Saudi Arabian medicinal plants d according to traditionally used were select and investigated for the antimicrobial activitiesMaterials and Methods: This study was designed at evaluating the antimicrobial activities of the methanol extracts of twenty-four species of sixteen plant families used in the traditional medicine by Saudi Arabian people for the treatment of numerous ailments of the microbial and non-microbial origin against four Gram-positive, four Gram-negative bacteria and four fungi and yeast using the agar well diffusion method.Results: Of most of the plants tested were found to be active against two to eight organisms. Five plants were active against eight organisms. The data appeared that extracts of Echium arabicum (SY-176), Rhantarium epapposum (SY-180), Rumex vesicarus (SY-181), Ziziphus nummularia (SY-188), Caylusea hexagyna (SY-197) and Artemisia monosperma (SY-198) have anti-microbial activity against the most of tested bacteria, fungi and yeast. Whereas (SY-181), the extracts of Teucrium oliverianum (SY-175), Zilla spinosa (SY-187), and Rhazya stricta (SY-195) have poor action against the tested bacteria, fungi and yeast.Conclusion: The antimicrobial activity of plant extracts against bacteria was more effective than against fungiKeywords: Gram-positive bacteria, Gram-negative bacteria, fungi, yeast, medicinal plants, Saudi Arabi

Management of Chronic Myeloid Leukemia with Sever COVID 19: A Case Report

Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) is a pandemic viral disease that can cause devastating complications such as acute respiratory disease, especially in patients with comorbidities. We do not know yet full pictures of this disease, especially in hematological malignancies. Here, we present management of a 57-year-old male with chronic phase chronic myeloid leukemia, tested positive for COVID-19, then complicated with acute respiratory distress syndrome

Pharmacodynamics Drug Interactions of Metformin with Aspirin and Nifedipine

Metformin is now being recognized as the standard therapy in T2D patients who are overweight. Metformin has many drug-disease interactions that can increase the risk of metformin-associated lactic acidosis. Therefore this study was conducted to evaluate any possible pharmacodynamic interactions between metformin and drugs used to treat chronic diseases e.g. Hypertension. The rats were fasted overnight before inducing diabetes with streptozotocin. The rats were given an intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (50 mg kg−1) freshly prepared in 0.1M sodium citrate buffer. The diabetic state was confirmed 72 h after streptozotocin injection. Diabetic rats were grouped into seven groups each group of five rats and distributed among the normal control group diabetic control group and the treatment groups. The treatment continued for 10 days. Blood samples were taken before treatment and after 10 days and analyzed for serum glucose, cholesterol, HDL, LDL, and triglycerides. In the diabetic control group which was given STZ alone the blood glucose level decreased significantly (p &lt; 0.05) after 10 days but still above the hyperglycemic level (200mg/dl). The same was observed in the group treated with metformin. The group treated with nifedipine and aspirin showed significant reduction (p &lt; 0.01) in the glucose level below the hyperglycemic level (200mg/dl). While the groups treated with (Metformin + Nifedipine) and (Metformin +Aspirin) showed highly significant reduction (P&lt;0.001) in blood glucose level. These results conclude that the combination of (metformin +Nifedipine) and the combination of (Metformin + Aspirin) have highly significant hypoglycemic effect. It also showed that Nifedipine has promising role in reducing blood glucose level, lipid profile especially LDL-cholesterol, and body weight

Nature-inspired cellular structure design for electric vehicle battery compartment: Application to crashworthiness

This paper discusses the potential of using lightweight nature-inspired cellular structured designs as energy absorbers in crashworthiness applications for electric vehicles (EV). As EVs are becoming popular with their increased battery capacity, these lightweight cellular structures have regained research interest as they may increase mileage by reducing vehicle mass in addition to protecting the battery during collisions. In this paper, a novel lightweight cellular structure for EV battery protection and crashworthiness is designed and simulated. In designing the cellular structure, four different ways of applying the shell thickness have been considered that affects the collapse behavior and the crashworthiness. A numerical study was conducted on 45 samples with varying length, shell thicknesses, and thickness application methods. Four types of shell thickness application methods were investigated: Uniform thickness, strut-wall thickness, gradient thickness, and alternate thickness. Force-displacement curves, energy absorption, specific energy absorption, and collapse behaviors are some of the metrics used for evaluating the crashworthiness of the structures. Shell thickness is found to affect both the collapse behavior and energy absorption capabilities. Energy absorption results are similar to other studies on designed cellular structures. The highest performing cellular structure is reported to have a specific energy absorption of 35kJ/kg, which is comparable to cellular structures reported in the literature. 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Author Contributions: For this research article, M.Mu. (Mudassir) was the main author responsible for the original draft. He was also responsible for the analysis along with M.Ma. (Mansour). F.T. contributed to the and editing. F.T. was also responsible for the funding acquisition and supervision of the project. All authors have conceptualization and review and editing. F.T. was also responsible for the funding acquisition and supervision read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. of the project. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. Funding: This research was funded by the Qatar National Research Funding, grant number UREP17-151-2-044. TFhuensdtiantegm: Tehnitss rmesaedaerchhe rweians afurensdoelde lbyyththeereQspatoanrs Nibailtiitoynoafl tRheeseaaurtchho rFsu.nding, grant number UREP17-151-2-044. The statements made herein are solely the responsibility of the authors. Acknowledgments: The Qatar National Library is acknowledged for supporting part of the publication fee. The authors acknowledge the facilities, and the scientific and technical assistance, of the staff within the College of Engineering, Qatar University. authors acknowledge the facilities, and the scientific and technical assistance, of the staff within the College of Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.Scopu

Perceived causes of prescribing errors by physicians: A qualitative study

Purpose: To explore physicians’ perceived causes of prescribing errors in Saudi hospitals.Methods: This qualitative study was conducted in three tertiary hospitals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: two academic and one government military hospital. A total of 13 physicians from three hospitals participated in two focus groups. Discussions were audiotaped and transcribed verbatim. Transcripts were analysed using thematic content analysis and categorised into themes of error-producing conditions, latent conditions and both successful and unsuccessful defences, based on Reason’s Accident Causation Model.Results: Error-producing conditions included the prescriber, the work environment, the team, the task, the patient and the computer system. The most commonly cited category related to the prescriber’s skills and knowledge. The most important latent conditions reported were a shortage of clinical pharmacists followed by lack of computerised physician order entry. The major unsuccessful defences were appropriate references and internet facilities, which were often unavailable.Conclusion: Several causes of prescribing errors were identified. Lack of clinical pharmacists and lack of computerised prescribing systems are the key issues.Keywords: Prescribing errors, Qualitative study, Computerized prescribing system, Reason’s accident causation mode

ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITIES OF SOME SAUDI ARABIAN HERBAL PLANTS

Background: Several edible plants are used in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia since early time to control microbial infections. In the present study, twenty-four Saudi Arabian medicinal plants d according to traditionally used were select and investigated for the antimicrobial activities Materials and Methods: This study was designed at evaluating the antimicrobial activities of the methanol extracts of twenty-four species of sixteen plant families used in the traditional medicine by Saudi Arabian people for the treatment of numerous ailments of the microbial and non-microbial origin against four Gram-positive, four Gram-negative bacteria and four fungi and yeast using the agar well diffusion method. Results: Of most of the plants tested were found to be active against two to eight organisms. Five plants were active against eight organisms. The data appeared that extracts of Echium arabicum (SY-176), Rhantarium epapposum (SY- 180), Rumex vesicarus (SY-181), Ziziphus nummularia (SY-188), Caylusea hexagyna (SY-197) and Artemisia monosperma (SY-198) have anti-microbial activity against the most of tested bacteria, fungi and yeast. Whereas (SY- 181), the extracts of Teucrium oliverianum (SY-175), Zilla spinosa (SY-187), and Rhazya stricta (SY-195) have poor action against the tested bacteria, fungi and yeast. Conclusion: The antimicrobial activity of plant extracts against bacteria was more effective than against fung

Patient-specific air puff-induced loading using machine learning

Introduction: The air puff test is a contactless tonometry test used to measure the intraocular pressure and the cornea’s biomechanical properties. Limitations that most challenge the accuracy of the estimation of the corneal material and the intraocular pressure are the strong intercorrelation between the intraocular pressure and the corneal parameters, either the material properties that can change from one person to another because of age or the geometry parameters like central corneal thickness. This influence produces inaccuracies in the corneal deformation parameters while extracting the IOP parametric equation, which can be reduced through the consideration of the patient-specific air puff pressure distribution taking into account the changes in corneal parameters. This air puff pressure loading distribution can be determined precisely from the fluid-structure interaction (FSI) coupling between the air puff and the eye model. However, the computational fluid dynamics simulation of the air puff in the coupling algorithm is a time-consuming model that is impractical to use in clinical practice and large parametric studies. Methods: By using a supervised machine learning algorithm, we predict the time-dependent air puff pressure distribution for different corneal parameters via a parametric study of the corneal deformations and the gradient boosting algorithm. Results: The results confirmed that the algorithm gives the time-dependent air puff pressure distribution with an MAE of 0.0258, an RMSE of 0.0673, and an execution time of 93 s, which is then applied to the finite element model of the eye generating the corresponding corneal deformations taking into account the FSI influence. Using corneal deformations, the response parameters can be extracted and used to produce more accurate algorithms of the intraocular pressure and corneal material stress-strain index (SSI). Discussion: Estimating the distribution of air pressure on the cornea is essential to increase the accuracy of intraocular pressure (IOP) measurements, which serve as valuable indicator of corneal disease. We find that the air puff pressure loading is largely influenced by complex changes in corneal parameters unique to each patient case. With our innovative algorithm, we can preserve the same accuracy developed by the CFD-based FSI model, while reducing the computational time from approximately 101000 s (28 h) to 720 s (12 min), which is about 99.2% reduction in time. This huge improvement in computational cost will lead to significant improvement in the parametric equations for IOP and the Stress-Strain Index (SSI)

التركيب المحصولى المصرى فى ظل المخاطرة والمتغيرات المحلية والدولية

Cropping pattern refers to the percentage of acreage occupied by various crops within the crop rotation. It is determined through cultivated' area assigned to each crop according to the sequence system necessitated by crop rotation considerations. The optimum crop pattern is the one, which achieves the highest possible net return depending on input and output prices together with crop yields. It is a dynamic process as it changes from time to another based on farmers' needs and crops profitability in the previous year. It also may differ based on whether we are looking from the point of view individual farmer, trader, middleman, and exporter or from the point of view the society as a whole. Various crops are competing on the limited land within the agricultural season. So expanding the acreage of any crop would automatically entail contraction of another competitive crop, as total supply of land is almost fixed and limited. The major objective behind designing an indicative cropping pattern is the issue of food security. This issue is important both from strategic perspective, as well as in the context of poverty. While there is emerging consensus on the definition of food security as aiming to assure the country adequate access to food, both internally and externally generated, there is still reference to the need to grow certain strategic crops. Moreover, there is a desire to achieve a measure of stabilization in producer and consumer prices through the development of buffer stocks. There are various options available, each of which has costs and benefits related to them. One option would be a high level of risk aversion, which would entail a cropping pattern that centers on subsistence crops. Another option may pursue efficiency pricing and therefore would result in crops being growing in which the country has a comparative advantage. For example, self-sufficiency for wheat could be enhanced to 75% in an efficient manner. Meanwhile the domestic production of rice and sugar cane may expand to a frontier that misallocates resources of water and land. The agricultural production is very susceptible to risks originated from natural, economic or social fosters that are difficult to predict or control. In Egypt, cropping pattern, is influenced by local economic variables to up prices, i.e., cropped area is determined by farmer response to changes in absolute or relative prices of the preceding season, in addition to profitability of crops of the last season, where farmer can not change supply of labor, the elapse of period of time curding to the nature of the crops being produced. Egypt's cropping pattern is also affected by international variables related to transactions with international markets for food products and to transactions with international markets for food products and to problem related to world production of biological fuel, world financial crisis, world food crisis, and rules imposed by the international trade system. As a result, there is a deficit in the Egyptian balance of trade for food commodities amounting to L.E. 8 milliards on average for the last few years. The upsurge in demand for agricultural crops like wheat, maize, soybeans, vegetable, oils, and sugar crops for the use in producing biological fuel has resulted in a drastic increase in prices of food, during 2005-2007 the average rate of price increase of food commodities has been estimated at 83% which led to a high increase in import bill in developing -and poor countries among them Egypt which is a not food importer. For many reasons developing an increase in domestic agricultural production of strategic food crops, i.e., cereals legumes. Vegetable, oils, and sugar crops, is the best way to confront international variables, Either through vertical or horizontal expansion of those crops in addition to reducing the acreage of high water consuming scraps, which is the objective behind suggesting the cropping pattern in the short and long terms. Each of these objectives is direct by associated with the master end of ensuring food serenity. Indicative cropping pattern during last years varies considerably as compared to the actual cropping pattern experienced by farmers' decisions irrespective of the agricultural policy of the government Egypt. However, indicative or proposed cropping pattern could be put into action by introducing economic, institution and organization instruments. Those various instruments should be streamlined and harmonized together. Economic instruments advisable for execution of cropping pattern could include subsidizing production and inputs for strategic export and import crops that minimize consumption of irrigation water, introducing contractual agricultural production system, especially, in regard to cotton, sugar cane and sugar beet in addition to other industrial crops. It is advisable to establish agricultural stabilization funds to insure' farmers against various types of risks notably price risks. More over incentives either negative like taxes or positive like interest rate reduction, and rescheduling of debts could also be provided and operated. One major organizational instrument that has been successful recently introduced at a probation scale in three governorates is the national project for development of the field irrigation system in wade and delta. It is estimated that application of that project would save 15% of water consumed for irrigation. The saved water could be used for ameliorating and reclaiming an estimated acreage of 3 million feddans. In addition it is suggested that elimination of camels and messages on the fields would save and area of 0.5 million feddans to be put under cultivation. The study has estimated risk associated with Egyptian cropping pattern by application of linear and non-linear mathematical programming. Three models of minimization risk have been proposed and manipulated including: (1) Minimization Of Total Absolute Deviations: (MOTAD). (2) Risk Input-Output MOTAD. (3) Two Stage Stochastic Programming – (TSSP-RIO-MOTAD). In addition to the various scenarios cited above with their respective major objective functions, the models do comprise acreage, means of production in terms of cost of production, monthly year round irrigation water, and annual agricultural labor on monthly basis. Sensitivity analysis has been estimated for depicting the effect of changing prices of wheat and rice on cropping pattern disposition, by the application of TSSP-RIO-MOTAD model. Among the major results of these analyses are: 1- An increment of gross margin to farmers at L.E 3.8 milliard which deeps that suggested cropping has achieved the profit maximization goal which producers would aim at. 2- A huge amount of irrigation water has been saved estimated at 2.6 milliard cubic meters. A magnitude of water saved of this amount could be assigned for reclaiming new lands at about 0.7 million feddans. 3- Capital resources saved estimated at L.E. 985 million. 4- Augmenting acreage under wheat to reach as much as 3 million feddans, which help contributing positives to the nation's food security goal. 5- Reduction in rice acreage so as not to exceed one million feddan. Adding to the nations objectives of saving irrigation water to be used for reclamation of additional new lands. 6- Augmenting acreage cultivated to Soya beans, sunflower, maize, and summer sorghum at 84.9%, 69.5%, 41%, and 12.3% respectively, which, once again, contributes to the nation's objective related to enhancing food security. 7- Augmenting areas under lentil, lupine, chickpeas, broad bean, and fenugreek by 111%, 62.2%, 39.5%, 19.8%, and 8.6% respectively, which positively adds to food security objective. The proposed cropping pattern derived through sensitivity analysis and based on varying farm- prices for wheat and rice is heavily dependent on the effectiveness and synergy of mechanisms and instruments suggested for addressing and implementing of the indicative cropping pattern. Securing the accomplishment of maximization of farmer's profit margin are very major and essential objectives of the proposed cropping pattern