Logistics in Yemen: Identifying Demerits on Lack of Railways in Yemen

If one asks today whether Yemen can be extended by railway lines, it is natural to answer that the geographical nature of Yemen does not allow the extension of the railway line. It is surprising that the Ottoman Empire decided more than 100 years ago to complete this project, but the fall of the empire deprived Yemenis of this Great achievement. Under the title of establishing a modern network of railways for metals, goods and passengers, in recent years, practical steps have been taken to establish a railway network in Yemen and linking it to an international network of economic feasibility studies, but the railway project in Yemen is still just studies prepared by several companies. In 2013 there were talks between the Yemeni government and Russia, the outcome of the Yemeni-Russian talks committee was for the planning of the establishment of a local company in Yemen specializing in railways Under the supervision of the Russian leadership, a project that is the first of its kind as it aims to build an infrastructure. In this research paper the author attempt to use quantitative and qualitative research method, plan and execute fieldwork, collecting data from Competent ministerial bodies, ministry of transportation, Visit the specified area of the project) mineral wealth areas, coastal areas) etc. in Yemen, during fieldwork. Compile preliminary maps of the first alternative - Shahn / Aden and the second alternative - Muscat / Salalah / Sarfeet / Algheiza / Aden. During fieldwork and data collection, the author will visit ministry of transportation to meet the representative to get the requested data of the Proposed railway project along with Yemen land transportation affairs authority, then the author will visit designated area of the proposed project to meet the local authorities of each area to collect the data and discussing the main causes of the project's failure and delay along with that inspecting the security and services of the project’s designated area, although the government has conducted several studies on this project. After that the author will visit a the Minister of Transportation or a senior figure from the ministry for an interview to discuss the main challenges and constraints that causes the failure of the project and the delay to support the study, finally the author will visit Ministry of Public works and roads to collect preliminary maps of the International Coastal Railway (from Haradh to Shahn) and the economic feasibility study of the railway linking the mineral wealth areas (Al-Jouf and Marib Shabwa Balahaf). After analysing data and identifying findings that led to the projects failure, the author found three main challenges at present to build the railway project in Yemen are the absence of government economy, security and political stability

Breast cancer management pathways during the COVID-19 pandemic: outcomes from the UK ‘Alert Level 4’ phase of the B-MaP-C study

Abstract: Background: The B-MaP-C study aimed to determine alterations to breast cancer (BC) management during the peak transmission period of the UK COVID-19 pandemic and the potential impact of these treatment decisions. Methods: This was a national cohort study of patients with early BC undergoing multidisciplinary team (MDT)-guided treatment recommendations during the pandemic, designated ‘standard’ or ‘COVID-altered’, in the preoperative, operative and post-operative setting. Findings: Of 3776 patients (from 64 UK units) in the study, 2246 (59%) had ‘COVID-altered’ management. ‘Bridging’ endocrine therapy was used (n = 951) where theatre capacity was reduced. There was increasing access to COVID-19 low-risk theatres during the study period (59%). In line with national guidance, immediate breast reconstruction was avoided (n = 299). Where adjuvant chemotherapy was omitted (n = 81), the median benefit was only 3% (IQR 2–9%) using ‘NHS Predict’. There was the rapid adoption of new evidence-based hypofractionated radiotherapy (n = 781, from 46 units). Only 14 patients (1%) tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 during their treatment journey. Conclusions: The majority of ‘COVID-altered’ management decisions were largely in line with pre-COVID evidence-based guidelines, implying that breast cancer survival outcomes are unlikely to be negatively impacted by the pandemic. However, in this study, the potential impact of delays to BC presentation or diagnosis remains unknown

SIRT1 promotes lipid metabolism and mitochondrial biogenesis in adipocytes and coordinates adipogenesis by targeting key enzymatic pathways.

The NAD-dependent deacetylase SIRT1 controls key metabolic functions by deacetylating target proteins and strategies that promote SIRT1 function such as SIRT1 overexpression or NAD boosters alleviate metabolic complications. We previously reported that SIRT1-depletion in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes led to C-Myc activation, adipocyte hyperplasia, and dysregulated adipocyte metabolism. Here, we characterized SIRT1-depleted adipocytes by quantitative mass spectrometry-based proteomics, gene-expression and biochemical analyses, and mitochondrial studies. We found that SIRT1 promoted mitochondrial biogenesis and respiration in adipocytes and expression of molecules like leptin, adiponectin, matrix metalloproteinases, lipocalin 2, and thyroid responsive protein was SIRT1-dependent. Independent validation of the proteomics dataset uncovered SIRT1-dependence of SREBF1c and PPARα signaling in adipocytes. SIRT1 promoted nicotinamide mononucleotide acetyltransferase 2 (NMNAT2) expression during 3T3-L1 differentiation and constitutively repressed NMNAT1 and 3 levels. Supplementing preadipocytes with the NAD booster nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) during differentiation increased expression levels of leptin, SIRT1, and PGC-1α and its transcriptional targets, and reduced levels of pro-fibrotic collagens (Col6A1 and Col6A3) in a SIRT1-dependent manner. Investigating the metabolic impact of the functional interaction of SIRT1 with SREBF1c and PPARα and insights into how NAD metabolism modulates adipocyte function could potentially lead to new avenues in developing therapeutics for obesity complications