Detection of Antibiotic Resistance Loci in Wastewater and Fresh Water Samples

Proper treatment of municipal wastewater is important not only for prevention of eutrophication but also for public health concerns. One consideration for wastewater treatment is the presence of organisms carrying antibiotic resistance genes. If these organisms survive the wastewater treatment process and are released into the streams, they can pose significant risks to public health. In addition, their presence also raises concerns for lateral gene transfer events at the wastewater plant. The spread of antibiotic loci has a major impact in public health and clinical therapy because resistant organisms render conventional treatments of important illnesses difficult. Beta-lactam drugs are known to be the most prescribed antibiotics in United State for bacterial infections. However, their effectiveness is threatened by the spread of beta-lactamases, which produce products that destroy beta-lactam drugs. In this study, wastewater samples were taken at two stages — prior to primary treatment and right before release into the environment — for examination of the presence of 4 common variants of beta-lactamase using polymerase chain reactions. For comparison, freshwater samples from the stream both upstream and downstream of the wastewater efflux site were also collected and analyzed. Various DNA extraction methods were performed and compared for efficiency and quality. When combined with 16S rDNA control results, our data revealed that 3 of the 4 loci assayed were present in the influx wastewater sample but absent in both the efflux and stream water samples. This shows that for the sample we collected, the wastewater treatment process in the city of Charleston has reduced these antibiotic resistance loci to undetectable levels during the treatment process. Our data also showed that these resistant loci did not occur in untreated stream water

Exploring the use of online reflective journals as a way of enhancing reflection whilst learning in the field : the experience of teachers in Saudi Arabia

PhD ThesisGlobally, reflective thinking is considered a vital aspect of ongoing learning and professional development in the teaching profession. While engaging with reflection particularly for trainee teachers who do not have relevant experience can be challenging, this could be significantly more challenging within an education system that lacks support for the development of metacognitive skills. The utilization of technology-focused reflective tools has been shown in literature to enhance trainee teachers’ reflective capacities. Thus, adopting technology could facilitate and motivate pre-service teachers to engage with reflection in challenging contexts. This study explores such a context and aims to understand Saudi pre-service teachers’ experiences and their supervisors’ perspectives when the former engages with reflection via the use of technology as a means to foster reflection to help the preservice teachers develop professionally and personally during their school placement journey. Due to the complexity of the teaching and uncommon use of the reflection concept within the Saudi context, a combination of action research framework design and narrative analysis was adopted in this research of twelve elementary pre-service teachers and three supervisors at the IAU in eastern Saudi Arabia to understand their experience through their stories. Furthermore, the technology adopted in the reflective journals used novel forms of graphic representation to aid understanding and development of complex reflective concepts and their stages within the group of trainee teachers. The findings indicate that there were some impediments that had arisen during this study related to reflective thinking skills such as difficulty in identifying and assessing certain issues at the beginning of the study and difficulties in speculating the future action as well as some writing challenges noticed among some participants. Moreover, this research found that some contextual factors contributed to hinder participants from reflecting at a deeper level in some of their journals. Individual differences appear among the participants in which their ability to reflect was dependent on their willingness and their initial attitudes articulated by the Deweyan theory. Nonetheless, the majority of Saudi pre-service teachers in this study were able to shift their paradigm to openly express their thoughts and acknowledge their weaknesses as well as to adopt a more active role and actively take responsibility for their learning and teaching. Furthermore, the narrative interviews revealed a developing sense of moral and ethical consideration among participants as a result of engaging with reflection. The study provides evidence that when fostering reflective thinking in a supportive environment, a positive attitude and a sense of pride were apparent among trainee teachers by the end of the research. The combination of technology and the reflection process was found to motivate the participants to engage in reflection. This research found some consistencies between main objectives that motivated bloggers in general to engage with blogging and some of the initial orientations expressed by the participants in the present study, including airing their voice to influence and benefit others and seeking some support and feedback from the audience. Visualising and modelling the reflection concepts by using infographics and exemplars as online scaffolding tools embedded in the main blog helped the participants to understand the meaning of reflection and how to start reflecting on their practice, especially at the beginning of the study. Continuous online feedback from professionals was also found to be crucial to fostering reflection within many of the pre-service teachers when writing their reflective journals. This research has implications for developing teachers' training programs in countries worldwide

The Impact of Contrast Media on Image Quality in MRI: Simple Review Article

Contrast media (CM) are employed in imaging modalities to amplify the distinctions between bodily tissues in pictures. An optimal contrast agent should attain a remarkably high level of concentration in the tissues while avoiding any detrimental consequences. Regrettably, doing this has thus far proven unattainable, and all current CM options have negative consequences. The growing utilization of CM is expected to result in various challenges, such as ensuring compliance and appropriateness of CM usage, selecting the most suitable contrast agent, addressing off-label use, assessing specific patient populations, and possessing the necessary skills to handle emergency situations that may arise after CM administration. An even more significant and potentially crucial matter is the issue of informed consent. This entails the responsibility to provide patients awaiting the administration of CM with detailed information about the procedure itself, any alternative procedures available, the extent of the risks associated with using CM, and the risks associated with refusing the procedure. This review mainly discusses image quality in MRI, MRI contrast agents complexes, and effect on image

Geometrical Dynamics by the Schrödinger Equation and Coherent States Transform

This thesis is concerned with a concept of geometrising time evolution of quantum systems. This concept is inspired by the fact that the Legendre transform expresses dynamics of a classical system through first-order Hamiltonian equations. We consider, in this thesis, coherent state transforms with a similar effect in quantum mechanics: they reduce certain quantum Hamiltonians to first-order partial differential operators. Therefore, the respective dynamics can be explicitly solved through a flow of points in extensions of the phase space. This, in particular, generalises the geometric dynamics of a harmonic oscillator in the Fock-Segal-Bargmann (FSB) space. We describe all Hamiltonians which are geometrised (in the above sense) by Gaussian and Airy beams and exhibit explicit solutions for such system

Experiences and perspectives of adults on using opioids for pain management in the postoperative period : A scoping review protocol.

Funding The main reviewer (DA) is funded by Prince Sultan Military College of Health Sciences, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia and the Saudi Arabian Cultural Bureau in London, UK. This review will be part of DA’s PhD study at the University of Aberdeen.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Toll-Like Receptors Gene Polymorphism and Susceptibility to Cancer Development

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) play an important role in immune-surveillance and responses towards pathogenic and non-pathogenic microorganisms. They act as innate immune sensors against endogenous and exogenous danger signals by recognizing the pattern recognition molecules (DAMPs and PAMPs) and drive an adaptive immune response through their signaling pathways, which leads to NF-κB and IRF3 transactivation and induces different inflammatory cytokine genes. TLRs polymorphisms were investigated in various cancer types studies. However, precious studies have reported that the Polymorphisms on TLR1-TLR10 cluster have been associated with increased risk of prostate cancer. However, it has known that TLRs genetic variation is associated with increased the susceptibility to gastric cancer. A same synthetically meta- analysis also confirmed the association of TLRs with increased the gastrointestinal cancer but with decreased prostate cancer risk. Our previous studies have demonstrated a strong link between TLRs polymorphisms and colon cancer and breast cancer in Saudi Arabia population. Similar studies were analyzed with Korean patients with papillary thyroid cancer and their clinic-pathologic features in age matched controls by using direct sequencing. The general objective of this chapter was to investigate the role of different TLRs (i.e., TLR2, TLR4, and TLR6) polymorphisms and their association with cancer development

Anti-diabetic potential of Plectranthus lanuginosus in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats

Purpose: To determine the antidiabetic effect of methanol extract of Plectranthus lanuginosus leaves in streptozotocin-induced hyperglycemic (HGD) rats. Methods: P. lanuginosus leaves were collected from Saad Medhas, Al Baha, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. After defatting with n-hexane, they were extracted in vacuo at 40 oC with 75 % methanol. Streptozotocin (50 mgkg−1, i.p.) was used to induce hyperglycemia (diabetes) in the rats. The HGD rats received either standard drug (glibenclamide, 10 mgkg−1, p.o.) or Plectranthus lanuginosus leaf methanol leaf extract (PLLM) at doses of 200 and 400 mgkg−1/day, p.o. for 21 consecutive days. Blood samples were taken from the rat tails 2 h after dosing, and at 7-day intervals (i.e., 0, 7th, 14th and 21st days). The blood samples were used for measurement of fasting blood glucose (FBS), using a glucometer. On the 21st day, the rats were sacrificed via cardiac puncture. The activities of liver marker enzymes (SGPT and SGOT), and serum lipid profile (cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL and LDL) were determined using a hemolyzer. Results: Streptozotocin treatment produced significant hyperglycemia in the rats (348.9 ± 5.6) when compared to control (79.2 ± 1.3). However, PLLM (200 and 400 mg kg−1) produced significant and dose-dependent anti-diabetic (166.4 ± 5.6 and 123.86 ± 6.8 respectively) and antihyperlipidemic effects in HGD rats, at levels similar to those produced by the standard drug, glibenclamide (120.6 ± 6.4). Conclusion: P. lanuginosus leaf extract possesses pronounced anti-diabetic and anti-hyperlipidemic properties which may be due to the presence of phenolic and flavonoid constituents in the plant. Therefore, the plant extract can be further developed for the management of diabete

Arabian Partridge Abundance and Limiting Factors at the Northern Boundary of Its Range

The Arabian Partridge (Alectoris melanocephala), is an endemic bird species of the Arabian Desert that lives in groups and inhabits rocky hillsides with patchy vegetation. Throughout their range, Arabian Partridges contend with hunting and habitat destruction, factors that may limit their distribution and abundance. Although the abundance of this species has been assumed to be stable, no actual estimate of its population size has been undertaken. We assessed the distribution and estimated the abundance of the Arabian Partridge at the northern boundary of its range in Saudi Arabia. The estimated density and abundance of the Arabian Partridge in Harrat Uwayrid Biosphere Reserve was 25.6 (6.16 SE) birds/km2 and ~118 individuals, respectively, with higher numbers of individuals in less disturbed sites and near rocky outcrops and hillsides. In sites where hunting occurred, as indicated by the presence of hunting shelters, partridge numbers were extremely low or absent. Our study provides the first quantitative assessment of the Arabian Partridge at the northern limit of its range and highlights the need to reduce threats from hunting, livestock grazing, and feral donkeys and to undertake conservation measures to mitigate factors associated with partridge decline

The pattern of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus in Saudi Arabia: a descriptive epidemiological analysis of data from the Saudi Ministry of Health

Purpose: This study describes the epidemiology of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in Saudi Arabia. Patients and methods: Epidemiological analysis was performed on data from all MERS-CoV cases recorded by the Saudi Ministry of Health between June 6, 2013 and May 14, 2014. The frequency of cases and deaths was calculated and adjusted by month, sex, age group, and region. The average monthly temperature and humidity of infected regions throughout the year was also calculated. Results: A total of 425 cases were recorded over the study period. The highest number of cases and deaths occurred between April and May 2014. Disease occurrence among men (260 cases [62%]) was higher than in women (162 cases [38%]), and the case fatality rate was higher for men (52%) than for women (23%). In addition, those in the 45–59 years and ≥60 years age groups were most likely to be infected, and the case fatality rate for these people was higher than for other groups. The highest number of cases and deaths were reported in Riyadh (169 cases; 43 deaths), followed by Jeddah (156 cases; 36 deaths) and the Eastern Region (24 cases; 22 deaths). The highest case fatality rate was in the Eastern Region (92%), followed by Medinah (36%) and Najran (33%). MERS-CoV infection actively causes disease in environments with low relative humidity (<20%) and high temperature (15°C–35°C). Conclusion: MERS-CoV is considered an epidemic in Saudi Arabia. The frequency of cases and deaths is higher among men than women, and those above 45 years of age are most affected. Low relative humidity and high temperature can enhance the spread of this disease in the entire population. Further analytical studies are required to determine the source and mode of infection in Saudi Arabia