Epidemiology and outcomes of pediatric autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease in the Middle East and North Africa

The incidence of rare diseases is expected to be comparatively higher in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region than in other parts of the world, attributed to the high prevalence of consanguinity. Most MENA countries share social and economic statuses, cultural relativism, religious beliefs, and healthcare policies. Polycystic kidney diseases (PKDs) are the most common genetic causes of kidney failure, accounting for nearly 8.0% of dialysis cases. The development of PKDs is linked to variants in several genes, including PKD1, PKD2, PKHD1, DZIP1L, and CYS1. Autosomal recessive PKD (ARPKD) is the less common yet aggressive form of PKD. ARPKD has an estimated incidence between 1:10,000 and 1:40,000. Most patients with ARPKD require kidney replacement therapy earlier than patients with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD), often in their early years of life. This review gathered data from published research studies and reviews of ARPKD, highlighting the epidemiology, phenotypic presentation, investigations, genetic analysis, outcomes, and management. Although limited data are available, the published literature suggests that the incidence of ARPKD may be higher in the MENA region due to consanguineous marriages. Patients with ARPKD from the MENA region usually present at a later disease stage and have a relatively short time to progress to kidney failure. Limited data are available regarding the management practice in the region, which warrants further investigations

The impacts of geopolitical risks on the energy sector: Micro-level operative analysis in the European Union

Energy prices play a crucial role in combating geopolitical risks, especially for the major suppliers of energy resources. However, energy prices display a bilateral relationship with geopolitical risks in any economy. Any hike in the price of energy stimulates geopolitical risk factors and visa-versa. The consequences adversely impact economies and bring forth international tensions. This paper bridges a gap between the influence of geopolitical risks relating to energy and international tensions by analyzing micro-level operational measures. We deploy an empirical model to predict the energy sector and possible risk factors incorporating Eurostat data on twenty-seven states, from 2011 to 2020. This study collected a different energy variable to support the multiple regression model constructed by the “blocks” (hierarchical linear regression) method. The results suggest that geopolitical risks cause adverse effects on both the energy and other corporate sectors. The future direction of this research is to estimate how statistical model relationships may assist the corporate sector, and investors, in adopting mitigating measures to control upcoming geopolitical risks due to energy risks caused by geopolitical unrest.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Curvas dadas por la intersección transversal de dos superficies en el espacio tridimesional de Minkowski

In this paper, we study the differential geometry of the transversal intersection curve of two surfaces in Minkowski 3-space, where each pair satisfies the following types spacelike-lightlike, timelike-lightlike and lightlike-lightlike. Surfaces are generally give by their parametric or implicit equations, then the surfacesurface intersection problem appear commonly as parametric-parametric, parametric-implicit and implicitimplicit.We derive the Frenet frame, Darboux frame, curvature, torsion, normal curvature and geodesic curvatures of transversal intersections for all types of intersection problems. We show the intersection curve may be spacelike (timelike, lightlike or pseudo null) curve. Finally, we show our methods by given several examples.En este artículo, estudiamos la geometría diferencial de la curva dada por la intersección transversal de dos superficies en el espacio tridimensional de Minkowski donde cada par satisface los siguientes tipos de superficies; tipo espacio - tipo luz, tipo tiempo - tipo luz y tipo luz - tipo luz. Generalmente, las superficies están dadas por sus ecuaciones paramétricas o implícitas, entonces el problema de intersección superficie superficie aparece comunmente como paramétrico-paramétrico, paramétrico-implícito e implícito-implícito. Obtenemos el Referencial de Frenet, el Referencial de Darboux, la curvatura, la torsión, la curvatura normal y las curvaturas geodésicas de las intersecciones transversales para todos los tipos de problemas de intersección. Mostramos que la curva de intersección puede ser una curva similar a una curva tipo espacio (tipo tiempo, tipo luz o pseudo nula). Finalmente, mostramos nuestros métodos por varios ejemplos

Garay’s Condition of Deformed Cylindrical and Translation Surfaces in E3

The motivation of the present work is to develop the finiteness property in our work [1, 2, 3, 4] by using Garay’s condition [5]. The mean curvature flow and the finiteness property of the cylindrical surfaces in E3 are investigated. Additionally, the linear deformation of such surfaces is studied. Finally, the translation surfaces are discussed

An inverted virtual faculty development program for remote teaching: pilot for replication

Background: Due to the COVID 19 pandemic, all the universities worldwide are experiencing a paradigm shift to online learning. Baby boomers and Generation X need to cope with the challenging transformation, so an emerging need for a faculty development program was needed towards achieving the goal of that transformation. Objectives: To describe and assess an inverted virtual faculty development program (VFDP) that was designed and implemented for the first time in the school to equip educators with the necessary technology competencies for remote online learning. Methods: An interventional prospective study held in a university setting post need analysis conduction to prioritize the required technological skills for faculty members. The program was designed to integrate five essential skills needed to by faculty members to teach remotely. The intervention comprised attending five virtual sessions after watching a pre-distributed material, then evaluated using the Kirkpatrick model.Results: Almost 81% of faculty members completed the program and 80 % of participants were satisfied with the content of the program. There was a statistically significant difference between the perceived ability of the participants to share and record video lectures before and after the VFDP (p value <0.001). The percentage of the departments that applied the program components showed that 96% of them were able to record lectures. In addition, 80% of them were able to develop online quizzes. Conclusion: The inverted virtual faculty development program (VFDP) has supported the participating faculty in developing their needed technological competencies required to bridge the gap of remote teaching/learning

Influence of Reaction Time, Reducing Agent and Zinc Precursors on the Morphological Structures of Zinc Oxide

ZnO either nanoparticles or nanorods were synthesized via sol-gel technique. Many factors were studied and optimized in order to obtain different morphological structures of nano-ZnO. Effect of reaction time (3, 6, 12, 24 and 48 hours) has been studied to optimize the best preparation condition. Reducing agent (NH3, NaOH and KOH) is one of the factors affect on morphological structures, which has been studied in this work. Other effect has been studied in this work is zinc precursors such as Zn(NO3)2, ZnAc2, ZnCl2, and ZnBr2. The morphological structures of prepared ZnO were revealed using scanning electron microscope (SEM) and the aspect ratios were calculated. x-ray diffraction (XRD) patternsexposed a highly crystallized wurtzite structure and used for identifying phase structure and chemical state of ZnO under different preparation conditions.Keywords: sol-gel, morphological structures, reducing agent, SEM, preparation conditions

FBPP: Software To Design PCR Primers and Probes for Nucleic Acid Base Detection of Foodborne Pathogens

Foodborne pathogens can be found in various foods, and it is important to detect foodborne pathogens to provide a safe food supply and to prevent foodborne diseases. The nucleic acid base detection method is one of the most rapid and widely used methods in the detection of foodborne pathogens; it depends on hybridizing the target nucleic acid sequence to a synthetic oligonucleotide (probes or primers) that is complementary to the target sequence. Designing primers and probes for this method is a preliminary and critical step. However, new bioinformatics tools are needed to automate, specific and improve the design sets to be used in the nucleic acid‒base method. Thus, we developed foodborne pathogen primer probe design (FBPP), an open-source, user-friendly graphical interface Python-based application supported by the SQL database for foodborne pathogen virulence factors, for (i) designing primers/probes for detection purposes, (ii) PCR and gel electrophoresis photo simulation, and (iii) checking the specificity of primers/probes

THE EFFECT OF PLANT GROWTH REGULATORS ON SHOOT FORMATION FROM CORM EXPLANT OF HEDYCHIUM CORONARIUM

This study was conducted for a micropropagation of Hedychium coronarium,an important medicinal herb, through sprouted rhizome buds. Rhizome buds were cultured on two different media; Murashige and Skoog medium (MS) and Gamborg medium (B5) without any growth regulators during the establishment stage. B5 medium gave a higher percentage of shoot formation 97.30% corresponding in shoot number and length comparing with MS medium. For shoot proliferation the micro shoots were placed on the B5 medium with two different cytokinins, kinitein (kin) and benzyl adenine (BA) at the concentrations of 0.0, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0 and 4.0 mg/l. Four mg/l of BA led to obtain high value of shoot production. For root formation, the produced shoots were placed on B5 medium plus different concentrations of two types of auxins IBA and IAA at the concentrations of 0.5, 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 mg/l for each to study the best auxin and concentration which encouraged root formation (number and length). IBA proved a significantly efficient than IAA and encouraged root formation for both root number and root length. IBA at 3.0 mg/l gave the highest average of root number and length. All good rooted plants were cultured into pots containing vermiculite + peatmoss (1:1) in greenhouse, with 82% of survival percentage

Nano-Yttrium Titanate Coated 304 Stainless Steel: Preparation, Characterization and Corrosion Protection Application

A protective coating of nano-yttrium titanate was developed for 304 stainless steel under acidic conditions (1.0 M HCl). The nano-yttrium titanate (Y2Ti2O7) was thoroughly characterized using various surface analysis tools, such as X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDS). In addition, electrochemical techniques, including Tafel polarization (dc), electrochemical frequency modulation (EFM), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) were employed. The findings demonstrate that the nano-yttrium titanate coating significantly improves the protection efficiency of 304 stainless steel by enhancing its hydrophobic propertie