Assessment of Antimicrobial and Antioxidant Activity of methanolic extract from Arnebia decumbens aerial parts growing wild in Aja Mountain

Background: Many plants are a rich source of secondary metabolites with potential antimicrobial and antioxidant properties. Amongst the customary plant herbs used as a phytomedicine in Hail province, which has been selected for the current study, Kehail plant, Arnebia decumbens (A. decumbens). Therefore, this study sought to assess the antimicrobial and antioxidant activities against high-risk bacteria and yeasts.Methods: The cup plate agar diffusion methods and Microdilution assays were adopted with minor modifications to assess the antibacterial activity. The Qualitative and quantitative tests were employed to assess the Kehail antioxidant activities by determining its phytochemicals, 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), ABTS(2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid), and β-carotene in vitro assays.Results: The results indicated that methanolic Kehail extract (M.K.E.) exhibited antibacterial activity against pathogenic bacteria, including Staphylococcus epidermidis (M13), Enterobacter cloacae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli ATCC 10536 and Klebsiella pneumoniae, while the mean inhibition zone was 10.66 ± 0.57 mm, 10.77 ± 0.57735 mm, 10.33 ± 0.57 mm, and 9.55 ± 0.57 mm, respectively. Furthermore, the antimicrobial activity increased in a concentration-dependent manner. Indeed, E. cloacae were the plant extract most inhibited bacteria. The plant extract has vigorous antifungal activity against Candida albicans ATCC 10231 and C. tropicalis ATCC 9362, whereas the mean inhibition zone was 12.77 ± 0.57 and 13.11 ± 1.52 mm, respectively. The extract of A. decumbens plant was also proven to be efficient as a source of antioxidants saponins, terpenes, polyphenols, and flavonoids.Conclusion: The acquired outcomes uncover promising antioxidant activities of the tested Kehail methanolic extract. The study encourages the separation of active components and the development of new medications from the Kehail plant.Keywords: Arnebia decumbens; Methanolic extract; Disk diffusion assay; Microdilution assay; Antioxidant activities   

Impact of Moringa oleifera Leaf and Flaxseed on Lipid Oxidation and Microbiological Characteristics of Chicken Burger During Cold Storage

Background: Practice of making burgers out of chicken instead of red meat is gaining popularity. because of their high fat substance and on account of no social or strict limitations to the utilization of poultry. The present study aimed to assess effect of adding Moringa oleifera leaf and flaxseed combinations on lipid oxidation and microbiological traits of chicken burger during cold storage.Methods: In this study the pH, peroxide value, thiobarbituric acid (TBA) as well as microbiological characteristics of chicken burger formulated by various levels of Moringa oleifera leaf and flaxseed powder were evaluated. Samples were as follows: control=0%FS+0%MLP; T1=20%FS+0%MLP; T2=15%FS+5%MLP; T3=10%FS+10%MLP; T4=5%FS+15%MLP; andT5=0%FS+20%MLP.Results: The results showed that the pH value of burger samples supplemented with Moringa oleifera and flaxseed was decreased (P≤0.05) with an increasing period of storage and ranged between 3.5–5.1 and 3.3-4.9 when stored for 15 and 30 days, respectively.Conclusion: Peroxide values of T2, T3, T4 and T5 as well as the value of TBA within the MLP-treated and FS-treated samples (P 0.05) decreased with the progression of the storage period. Microbiological characteristics (P 0.05) were affected by the incorporation of MLP and FS in chicken burger treatments.Keywords: Burger; T.B.A.; Peroxide value; Contamination; Coliform bacteria;  E.coli; Moringa oleifera; Flaxseed   

Asymmetric volatility of the Thai stock market: evidence from high-frequency data

This study employs the daily data of the Stock Exchange of Thailand to test for the leverage and volatility feedback effects. The period of investigation is during January 4, 2005 to December 27, 2013, which includes the Subprime crisis period in the US that might affect the volatility of stock market return in emerging stock markets. The results from this study show that the US subprime crisis imposes a minimal positive impact on volatility. In addition, the estimations of the three parametric asymmetric volatility models give the results showing some evidence of the volatility feedback and leverage effects. The findings give implications for portfolio diversification and risk management

Exploitation of Tolerance of Wheat Kernel Weight and Shape-Related Traits from Aegilops tauschii under Heat and Combined Heat-Drought Stresses

Kernel weight and shape-related traits are inherited stably and increase wheat yield. Narrow genetic diversity limits the progress of wheat breeding. Here, we evaluated kernel weight and shape-related traits and applied genome-wide association analysis to a panel of wheat multiple synthetic derivative (MSD) lines. The MSD lines harbored genomic fragments from Aegilops tauschii. These materials were grown under optimum conditions in Japan, as well as under heat and combined heat–drought conditions in Sudan. We aimed to explore useful QTLs for kernel weight and shape-related traits under stress conditions. These can be useful for enhancing yield under stress conditions. MSD lines possessed remarkable genetic variation for all traits under all conditions, and some lines showed better performance than the background parent Norin 61. We identified 82 marker trait associations (MTAs) under the three conditions; most of them originated from the D genome. All of the favorable alleles originated from Ae. tauschii. For the first time, we identified markers on chromosome 5D associated with a candidate gene encoding a RING-type E3 ubiquitin–protein ligase and expected to have a role in regulating wheat seed size. Our study provides important knowledge for the improvement of wheat yield under optimum and stress conditions. The results emphasize the importance of Ae. tauschii as a gene reservoir for wheat breeding

Note: characterization of Vibrio cholerae O139 Bengal isolated from water in Malaysia

Four Vibrio cholerae O139 Bengal strains isolated from surface water were characterized by antibiotic resistance, plasmid profile, presence of cholera toxin gene and random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis. All four strains exhibit multiple resistance towards the antibiotics tested with a multiple antibiotic resistance index of 0·5–0·66, and harboured a 2·0 MDa non-conjugative plasmid. The Vibrio cholerae O139 Bengal were positive for the cholera toxin gene. Antibiotyping and random amplification of polymorphic DNA analysis with four primers proved to be useful in discriminating the isolates. RAPD proved to be more sensitive. These results reveal that there is significant genetic diversity among the Vibrio cholerae O139 Bengal strains studied

Application of Artificial Intelligence in Medical Education: Current Scenario and Future Perspectives

Introduction: Medical education is a lifetime learning process stretching from undergraduate to postgraduate, specialty training, and beyond. It also applies to various healthcare professionals, including doctors, nurses, and other allied healthcare professionals. Therefore, it is essential to acknowledge the immense role of artificial intelligence in medical education in the current era of rapidly growing technology.Methods: High-quality data that met the study objectives were included. In addition, comprehensive investigations on articles available in reputable databases such as PubMed, Research Gate, PubMed central, Web of Science, and Google Scholar were considered for literature review.Results: Artificial intelligence has fixed various issues in education during the last decade, including language processing,reasoning, planning, and cognitive modelling.Conclusion: It can be used in medical education in the following forms: Virtual Inquiry System, Medical Distance Learning and Management, and Recording teaching videos in medical schools. It can also enhance the value of the non-analytical humanistic aspects of medicine. The goal of this review article was to present the implications of AI in medical education, now and in the coming years

Frailty's influence on 30-day mortality in old critically ill ICU patients: a bayesian analysis evaluating the clinical frailty scale.

INTRODUCTION: Frailty is widely acknowledged as influencing health outcomes among critically ill old patients. Yet, the traditional understanding of its impact has predominantly been through frequentist statistics. We endeavored to explore this association using Bayesian statistics aiming to provide a more nuanced understanding of this multifaceted relationship. METHODS: Our analysis incorporated a cohort of 10,363 older (median age 82 years) patients from three international prospective studies, with 30-day all-cause mortality as the primary outcome. We defined frailty as Clinical Frailty Scale ≥ 5. A hierarchical Bayesian logistic regression model was employed, adjusting for covariables, using a range of priors. An international steering committee of registry members reached a consensus on a minimal clinically important difference (MCID). RESULTS: In our study, the 30-day mortality was 43%, with rates of 38% in non-frail and 51% in frail groups. Post-adjustment, the median odds ratio (OR) for frailty was 1.60 (95% CI 1.45-1.76). Frailty was invariably linked to adverse outcomes (OR > 1) with 100% probability and had a 90% chance of exceeding the minimal clinically important difference (MCID) (OR > 1.5). For the Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) as a continuous variable, the median OR was 1.19 (1.16-1.22), with over 99% probability of the effect being more significant than 1.5 times the MCID. Frailty remained outside the region of practical equivalence (ROPE) in all analyses, underscoring its clinical importance regardless of how it is measured. CONCLUSIONS: This research demonstrates the significant impact of frailty on short-term mortality in critically ill elderly patients, particularly when the Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) is used as a continuous measure. This approach, which views frailty as a spectrum, enables more effective, personalized care for this vulnerable group. Significantly, frailty was consistently outside the region of practical equivalence (ROPE) in our analysis, highlighting its clinical importance

Consent is a confounding factor in a prospective observational study of critically ill elderly patients.

During analysis of a prospective multinational observation study of critically ill patients ≥80 years of age, the VIP2 study, we also studied the effects of differences in country consent for study inclusion. This is a post hoc analysis where the ICUs were analyzed according to requirement for study consent. Group A: ICUs in countries with no requirement for consent at admission but with deferred consent in survivors. Group B: ICUs where some form of active consent at admission was necessary either from the patient or surrogates. Patients' characteristics, the severity of disease and outcome variables were compared. Totally 3098 patients were included from 21 countries. The median age was 84 years (IQR 81-87). England was not included because of changing criteria for consent during the study period. Group A (7 countries, 1200 patients), and group B (15 countries, 1898 patients) were comparable with age and gender distribution. Cognition was better preserved prior to admission in group B. Group A suffered from more organ dysfunction at admission compared to group B with Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score median 8 and 6 respectively. ICU survival was lower in group A, 66.2% compared to 78.4% in group B (p<0.001). We hence found profound effects on outcomes according to differences in obtaining consent for this study. It seems that the most severely ill elderly patients were less often recruited to the study in group B. Hence the outcome measured as survival was higher in this group. We therefore conclude that consent likely is an important confounding factor for outcome evaluation in international studies focusing on old patients

Reliability of the Clinical Frailty Scale in very elderly ICU patients: a prospective European study.

PURPOSE: Frailty is a valuable predictor for outcome in elderly ICU patients, and has been suggested to be used in various decision-making processes prior to and during an ICU admission. There are many instruments developed to assess frailty, but few of them can be used in emergency situations. In this setting the clinical frailty scale (CFS) is frequently used. The present study is a sub-study within a larger outcome study of elderly ICU patients in Europe (the VIP-2 study) in order to document the reliability of the CFS. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From the VIP-2 study, 129 ICUs in 20 countries participated in this sub-study. The patients were acute admissions ≥ 80 years of age and frailty was assessed at admission by two independent observers using the CFS. Information was obtained from the patient, if not feasible, from the family/caregivers or from hospital files. The profession of the rater and source of data were recorded along with the score. Interrater variability was calculated using linear weighted kappa analysis. RESULTS: 1923 pairs of assessors were included and background data of patients were similar to the whole cohort (n = 3920). We found a very high inter-rater agreement (weighted kappa 0.86), also in subgroup analyses. The agreement when comparing information from family or hospital records was better than using only direct patient information, and pairs of raters from same profession performed better than from different professions. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, we documented a high reliability using CFS in this setting. This frailty score could be used more frequently in elderly ICU patients in order to create a more holistic and realistic impression of the patient´s condition prior to ICU admission