Impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular testing in the United States versus the rest of the world

Objectives: This study sought to quantify and compare the decline in volumes of cardiovascular procedures between the United States and non-US institutions during the early phase of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the care of many non-COVID-19 illnesses. Reductions in diagnostic cardiovascular testing around the world have led to concerns over the implications of reduced testing for cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. Methods: Data were submitted to the INCAPS-COVID (International Atomic Energy Agency Non-Invasive Cardiology Protocols Study of COVID-19), a multinational registry comprising 909 institutions in 108 countries (including 155 facilities in 40 U.S. states), assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on volumes of diagnostic cardiovascular procedures. Data were obtained for April 2020 and compared with volumes of baseline procedures from March 2019. We compared laboratory characteristics, practices, and procedure volumes between U.S. and non-U.S. facilities and between U.S. geographic regions and identified factors associated with volume reduction in the United States. Results: Reductions in the volumes of procedures in the United States were similar to those in non-U.S. facilities (68% vs. 63%, respectively; p = 0.237), although U.S. facilities reported greater reductions in invasive coronary angiography (69% vs. 53%, respectively; p < 0.001). Significantly more U.S. facilities reported increased use of telehealth and patient screening measures than non-U.S. facilities, such as temperature checks, symptom screenings, and COVID-19 testing. Reductions in volumes of procedures differed between U.S. regions, with larger declines observed in the Northeast (76%) and Midwest (74%) than in the South (62%) and West (44%). Prevalence of COVID-19, staff redeployments, outpatient centers, and urban centers were associated with greater reductions in volume in U.S. facilities in a multivariable analysis. Conclusions: We observed marked reductions in U.S. cardiovascular testing in the early phase of the pandemic and significant variability between U.S. regions. The association between reductions of volumes and COVID-19 prevalence in the United States highlighted the need for proactive efforts to maintain access to cardiovascular testing in areas most affected by outbreaks of COVID-19 infection

The Influence of Diets Containing Phenols and Condensed Tannins on Protein Picture, Clinical Profile and Rumen Characteristics in Omani Sheep

A study was carried out to investigate the effects of feeding low quality non-conventional feeds (NCF) containing phenols and condensed tannins on health and performance characteristics in Omani sheep. Twelve Omani sheep were fed one of two base roughages, urea-treated palm frond (UTPF) or Rhodesgrass hay, (RGH) plus a commercial concentrate for 63 days. Haematological, serum biochemical and urine analyses were used to assess sheep health. Serum protein fractions were measured using electrophoresis. Urea-treated palm frond contained higher levels of polyphenols and condensed tannins and fiber than Rhodesgrass hay or concentrate feed. Animals fed UTPF had lower feed intake (P<0.05) and lower body gain (P<0.001) than those fed RGH. Rumen liquor of UTPF-fed animals had higher pH, ammonia-nitrogen and butyric fatty acid but lower acetic fatty acid (P<0.05). Animals fed UTPF had  higher neutrophil (P<0.05) but lower lymphocyte (P<0.05) and monocyte (P<0.001) counts by the end of the trial than those fed RGH. There were no effects of diet on serum albumin or globulin fraction levels or albumin:globulin ratio. There were no major effects on urine analysis but there was a trend by control animals to have higher protein and specific gravity than treated ones. This study indicated that feeding low quality non-conventional feeds containing polyphenols or tannins would reduce body gain and may produce some effects on clinical parameters. Although tannins are known to influence protein digestion and absorption in ruminants, it did not significantly affect the serum protein picture in sheep

A novel missense mutation in the C2C domain of otoferlin causes profound hearing impairment in an Omani family with auditory neuropathy

Objectives: To identify genetic defects in an Omani family diagnosed with deafness. Methods: A cross-sectional association study was conducted at the Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University, Al-Khoud, Oman and the Centre of Medical Genetics, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium between August 2010 and September 2014. Microsatellites markers for nine non-syndromic genes were used to genotype the defective locus using the extracted DNA from family members. Sanger sequencing method was used to identify the disease causative mutation. Eazy linkage 5.05 was used to calculate the logarithm of odds score. Lasergene suite was used to detect the mutation position, and Phyre2, SMART, Rasmol, and GOR IV were used to predict the effects of the defect on protein structure and function. Results: The disease was linked to markers located on chromosome-2 and covering the OTOF (DFNB9) gene. A novel missense mutation that changed nucleotide C to G at position c.1469 and consequently the amino acid Proline to Arginine (P490R) on exon 15 was detected. Protein modeling analysis revealed the impact of the mutation on protein structure and the relevant C2C domain. The mutation seems to create a new protein isoform homologous to the complement component C1q. Conclusion: These findings suggest that the mutation found in C2C domain of the OTOF gene is likely to cause deafness in the studied family reflecting the importance of C2 domains of otoferlin in hearing loss

Heritability of Determinants of the Metabolic Syndrome among Healthy Arabs of the Oman Family Study

The metabolic syndrome, as defined by the International Diabetes Federation, was investigated in five large, extended, highly consanguineous, healthy Omani Arab families of a total of 1277 individuals. Heritability (h2) of the phenotypic abnormalities that make up the syndrome and other related traits was estimated by variance decomposition method using SOLAR software. The overall prevalence of the syndrome was 23%. The prevalence of abnormalities making the syndrome in a descending order were: obligatory waist circumference, hypertension, raised fasting blood glucose, low serum high-density lipoprotein (HDL), and raised serum triglycerides (TGs). Highly significant, but widely spread, h2 values were obtained for: height (0.68), weight (0.68), BMI (0.68), serum HDL (0.63), serum leptin (0.55), percentage body fat (0.53), total serum cholesterol (0.53), fasting serum insulin (0.51), homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance index (0.48), serum TG (0.43), waist circumference (0.40), diastolic blood pressure (0.38), and 2-hour glucose level (0.17), whereas for the metabolic syndrome itself, h2 was 0.38. The wide spread of h2 results (0.07 to 0.68) indicates that some determinants, such as weight, BMI, and HDL level, are under significant genetic influence among the Omani Arabs. Other determinants such as insulin resistance, abdominal obesity, diastolic blood pressure, and TG levels seem to be more environmentally driven

The data file consists of microsatellite allele lengths for 11 high informative microsatellites loci described in the paper

A data set based on 11 high informative microsatellites loci genotypes from nine populations was used to estimate the population genetic parameters. The first column is the data file of each individuals organized in rows, whereas the abbreviation name of the goat populations in the second column. The subsequent columns correspond to microsatellite data (two columns per locus). The markers in color were excluded from further analysis. Missing data are coded by zero. Abbreviations for the names of the goat populations as follows: Jabal Akhdar (JKH), Batinah (BTN), Dhofar (DHR), Ash Sharqiyah (SHR), Musandam (MSN), Somalia (SOM), Iran (IRN), Pakistan (PAK) and India (IND)