Genomic epidemiology of the first epidemic wave of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in Palestine.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the novel coronavirus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, continues to cause a significant public-health burden and disruption globally. Genomic epidemiology approaches point to most countries in the world having experienced many independent introductions of SARS-CoV-2 during the early stages of the pandemic. However, this situation may change with local lockdown policies and restrictions on travel, leading to the emergence of more geographically structured viral populations and lineages transmitting locally. Here, we report the first SARS-CoV-2 genomes from Palestine sampled from early March 2020, when the first cases were observed, through to August of 2020. SARS-CoV-2 genomes from Palestine fall across the diversity of the global phylogeny, consistent with at least nine independent introductions into the region. We identify one locally predominant lineage in circulation represented by 50 Palestinian SARS-CoV-2, grouping with genomes generated from Israel and the UK. We estimate the age of introduction of this lineage to 05/02/2020 (16/01/2020-19/02/2020), suggesting SARS-CoV-2 was already in circulation in Palestine predating its first detection in Bethlehem in early March. Our work highlights the value of ongoing genomic surveillance and monitoring to reconstruct the epidemiology of COVID-19 at both local and global scales

High Performance Liquid Chromatographic Method for Quantitative Determination of Emodin in Rumex Cyprius Marb, Spectrophotometric Studies

A quantitative method is used for determination of emodin in Rumex cyprius Marb., using high performance liquid chromatography. The plant parts: roots, stems, and leaves, were soaked in 95% methanol solution for 48 hours. Plant parts and standard emodin were eluted from C18 column with a mobile phase consisting of methanol: water (80%:20%volume/volume) at a flow rate of (2.0 milliliter / minute). The effluent was monitored with ultraviolet detector set at 258 nm. Standard curve for emodin was linear in the range of concentration 1.35- 45.0 ppm .The method was applied for determination of emodin in roots, stems and leaves of R. cyprius Marb. The results showed that the concentration of emodin in roots, stems, and leaves were 0.16%, 0.04%, and 0.30% respectively in dried plant sample. On the other hand the results obtained showed that emodin exhibits two absorption maxima at 410nm and at 510nm. The absorption peak at 410nm was found to decrease gradually by increasing pH, while the absorption peak at 510nm was found to increase gradually by increasing the pH