The conservation history of the mausoleum of Shajarat al-Durr

This M.A. thesis aims to critically analyze the conservation history of the mausoleum of Shajarat al-Durr. Although Shajarat al-Durr’s biography is a well-published topic in the field of Islamic History, her only surviving architectural patronage lacks comprehensive documentation for its conservation schemes through history. The first chapter presents the biography of the sultāna in relation to the architectural analysis of the mausoleum. The second chapter investigates the theoretical concepts of conservation from an Islamic history point of view. Chapter three traces the conservation history of the mausoleum with a focus on the work of the Comité. The fourth chapter evaluates a more modern conservation practice with the theme of community participation that is currently taking place in al-Khalīfa under the name of Athar Lina project. The last chapter provides a summary of the research work identifying gaps in the study. It also discusses the accumulated challenges of conserving the mausoleum of Shajarat al-Durr as presented in history and identifies a number of related areas worthy of study. Documenting the conservation work in an accessible manner to the world of Islamic art and architecture is recommended to perceive monuments in a more authentic light. The Conservation History of the Mausoleum of Shajarat al-Durr serves as a research example highlighting the timeliness of monuments and how they evolve over time

The Consequences of COVID-19 Instigated Recommendations for Indoor Air Quality: A Literature Review

The spread of COVID-19, as an airborne virus, opened a vast set of investigations within the realm of indoor air quality (IAQ) management and control. These investigations resulted in the publication of a series of recommendations and addenda that complement currently active IAQ standards and guidelines to meet the growing health and safety concerns of building owners, operators, and users. The hypothesis stands that the airborne transmission of the COVID-19 virus implies that more stringent indoor air quality control measures should be applied. Through a systematic review of selected recently published academic journals, this article explores the intended and non-intended consequences of the indoor air quality recommendations, guidelines, and standards. Two main approaches of classifications are induced from the review. The first categorizes the consequences based on the intentionality (i.e., intended vs. unintended consequences) and temporal scope (i.e. short-term or long-term). The second categorizes consequences based on their area, namely, (1) spatial design, (2) occupants health, comfort and well-being (3) building performance and ventilation, (4) technology and energy efficiency (5) social equity, and (6) policy as well as building standards. This is one of the first reviews make explicit the consequences of COVID related of addenda and recommendations of IAQ standards and guidelines, providing new insights regarding the planned and unplanned consequences. The review also highlights some gaps in the available literature that researchers need to swiftly address before institutionalizing the current health recommendations in IAQ practices

A High-Resolution Enhancer Atlas of the Developing Telencephalon

The mammalian telencephalon plays critical roles in cognition, motor function, and emotion. While many of the genes required for its development have been identified, the distant-acting regulatory sequences orchestrating their in vivo expression are mostly unknown. Here we describe a digital atlas of in vivo enhancers active in subregions of the developing telencephalon. We identified over 4,600 candidate embryonic forebrain enhancers and studied the in vivo activity of 329 of these sequences in transgenic mouse embryos. We generated serial sets of histological brain sections for 145 reproducible forebrain enhancers, resulting in a publicly accessible web-based data collection comprising over 32,000 sections. We also used epigenomic analysis of human and mouse cortex tissue to directly compare the genome-wide enhancer architecture in these species. These data provide a primary resource for investigating gene regulatory mechanisms of telencephalon development and enable studies of the role of distant-acting enhancers in neurodevelopmental disorders

SARS-CoV-2 vaccination modelling for safe surgery to save lives: data from an international prospective cohort study

Background Preoperative SARS-CoV-2 vaccination could support safer elective surgery. Vaccine numbers are limited so this study aimed to inform their prioritization by modelling. Methods The primary outcome was the number needed to vaccinate (NNV) to prevent one COVID-19-related death in 1 year. NNVs were based on postoperative SARS-CoV-2 rates and mortality in an international cohort study (surgical patients), and community SARS-CoV-2 incidence and case fatality data (general population). NNV estimates were stratified by age (18-49, 50-69, 70 or more years) and type of surgery. Best- and worst-case scenarios were used to describe uncertainty. Results NNVs were more favourable in surgical patients than the general population. The most favourable NNVs were in patients aged 70 years or more needing cancer surgery (351; best case 196, worst case 816) or non-cancer surgery (733; best case 407, worst case 1664). Both exceeded the NNV in the general population (1840; best case 1196, worst case 3066). NNVs for surgical patients remained favourable at a range of SARS-CoV-2 incidence rates in sensitivity analysis modelling. Globally, prioritizing preoperative vaccination of patients needing elective surgery ahead of the general population could prevent an additional 58 687 (best case 115 007, worst case 20 177) COVID-19-related deaths in 1 year. Conclusion As global roll out of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination proceeds, patients needing elective surgery should be prioritized ahead of the general population.The aim of this study was to inform vaccination prioritization by modelling the impact of vaccination on elective inpatient surgery. The study found that patients aged at least 70 years needing elective surgery should be prioritized alongside other high-risk groups during early vaccination programmes. Once vaccines are rolled out to younger populations, prioritizing surgical patients is advantageous