When Shall Coronavirus Disease-19 Stop? Review of Literature

In December 2019, a new coronavirus, now labeled as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, induced an episode of acute atypical respiratory illness started in Wuhan, Province of Hubei, China. The illness triggered by this virus was called coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19). The infection is spread within humans and has triggered a global pandemic. The amount of death tolls continues to increase and a growing number of countries have been driven to create social barriers and lock-ups. The shortage of tailored counseling remains an issue. Epidemiological researches have shown that elderly patients are more vulnerable to serious diseases, while children tend to have milder symptoms. Here, we checked the latest understanding of this disease and found a possible explanation of the potential sequel and the expectations for the future

Ancient Pastoral Settlement in The Dhofar Mountains: Archaeological Excavations at Shakil and Halqoot

For much of Dhofar’s history and prehistory, most of its population has been mobile in search of wild game and with herded domesticated animals, which need new grass and browse. While few archaeological sites in the southern region of Oman suggest permanent or even semi-permanent occupations, there is now clear evidence of a distinct and perhaps unique episode of well-constructed, semi-permanent settlements in the Jebel Qāra, Dhofar. In 2012 and 2017, archaeological teams established a chronology, occupation history, and pastoralisthunter lifestyle of these settlements’ occupants, raising new questions about episodes of pastoralist settlement in long-term context. This paper documents the archaeological sites, their architectural details and layout, associated finds, and preliminary assessments of their faunal and vegetative components

Pre-aspirated sonorants in Shehret, a Modern South Arabian language

This paper examines pre-aspirated sonorants in the Central and Eastern varieties of Shehret, an endangered Modern South Arabian language (MSAL) spoken by c. 50,000 speakers in Dhofar, southern Oman. We assume pre-aspirated sonorants fall in the class of breathy sonorants, acknowledged to be typologically rare [1], [2], and phonotactically tightly restricted [3]. Shehret pre-aspirated sonorants are restricted to the offset of stressed word-final syllables in a closed set of words [4]; they contrast both with non-pre-aspirated sonorants and with strings of /h/ followed by a sonorant (/hS/ realised as [həS] with epenthesis), giving a /hS/ versus /hS/ phonological sequence contrast; pre-aspiration also characterises voiceless obstruents in the language. Western Shehret apparently lacks pre-aspirated sonorants [6]. While related Soqotri exhibits a post-aspirated palatal glide [7], pre-aspirated sonorants appear not to be attested elsewhere within the Semitic language family

Terrestrial exposure of a fresh Martian meteorite causes rapid changes in hydrogen isotopes and water concentrations

Determining the hydrogen isotopic compositions and H2O contents of meteorites and their components is important for addressing key cosmochemical questions about the abundance and source(s) of water in planetary bodies. However, deconvolving the effects of terrestrial contamination from the indigenous hydrogen isotopic compositions of these extraterrestrial materials is not trivial, because chondrites and some achondrites show only small deviations from terrestrial values such that even minor contamination can mask the indigenous values. Here we assess the effects of terrestrial weathering and contamination on the hydrogen isotope ratios and H2O contents of meteoritic minerals through monitored terrestrial weathering of Tissint, a recent Martian fall. Our findings reveal the rapidity with which this weathering affects nominally anhydrous phases in extraterrestrial materials, which illustrates the necessity of sampling the interiors of even relatively fresh meteorite falls and underlines the importance of sample return missions

The pathways to psychiatric care: a cross-cultural study

This paper describes the referral pathways taken by 1554 patients newly referred to the mental health services in 11 countries, and documents factors associated with delays in referral. The pathways in centres relatively well provided with psychiatric staff were dominated by general practitioners and to a lesser extent hospital doctors: the relatively less well resourced centres showed a variety of pathways with native healers often playing an important part. Delays were remarkably short in all centres regardless of psychiatric resources, but in some centres we found longer delays on pathways involving native healers. Somatic problems were a common presentation in all centres, and in some centres there was a tendency for patients presenting with somatic problems to have longer delays than those with symptoms of depression or anxiety. The implications of these findings are discussed in the context of an ongoing programme of WHO research activities aimed at improving the quality of mental illness care available in community setting

Photo(geno)toxicity changes associated with hydroxylation of the aromatic chromophores during diclofenac metabolism

[EN] Diclofenac (DCF) can cause adverse reactions such as gastrointestinal, renal and cardiovascular disorders; therefore, topical administration may be an attractive alternative to the management of local pain in order to avoid these side effects. However, previous studies have shown that DCF, in combination with sunlight, displays capability to induce photosensitivity disorders. In humans, DCF is biotransformed into hydroxylated metabolites at positions 4¿ and 5 (4¿OH-DCF and 5OH-DCF), and this chemical change produces non negligible alterations of the drug chromophore, resulting in a significant modification of its light-absorbing properties. In the present work, 5OH-DCF exhibited higher photo(geno)toxic potential than the parent drug, as shown by several in vitro assays (3T3 NRU phototoxicity, DNA ssb gel electrophoresis and COMET), whereas 4¿OH-DCF did not display significant photo(geno)toxicity. This could be associated, at least partially with their more efficient UV-light absorption by 5OH-DCF metabolite and with a higher photoreactivity. Interestingly, most of the cellular DNA damage photosensitized by DCF and 5OH-DCF was repaired by the cells after several hours, although this effect was not complete in the case of 5OH-DCF.This work was supported by the Carlos III Institute of Health (Grants: RD16/0006/0030, PI16/01877), by the MINECO (Grants: CTQ2013-47872, CTQ2016-78875), and by the Generalitat Valenciana (Prometeo 2017/075).García -Laínez, G.; Ana M Marínez-Reig; Limones Herrero, D.; Jiménez Molero, MC.; Miranda Alonso, MÁ.; Andreu Ros, MI. (2018). Photo(geno)toxicity changes associated with hydroxylation of the aromatic chromophores during diclofenac metabolism. Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology. 341:51-55. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.taap.2018.01.005S515534

Analysis of Textbook Characteristics Realized in "World History: the Human Experience"

The goal of this study was to give a clear view about the general characteristics of textbook implemented in the "World History" textbook that can be also implemented in all textbooks regardless the subject matters. The study used the content analysis technique as a research method to examine the organization of the textbook, its units, chapters, and sections. The results showed that the textbook has a lot of advantages in terms of its design, organization, and use of computer technology and Internet. One hundred and eighteen items of the characteristics were utilized in the World History textbook: 41 items were related to textbook design, 22 items were related to units design, 31 items were related to chapters design, and 24 items were related to sections design. The study recommended this textbook as a practical model for designing and developing textbooks

Analysis of Textbook Characteristics Realized in "World History: the Human Experience" Saud Nasser A. Al-Kathiri

The goal of this study was to give a clear view about the general characteristics of textbook implemented in the "World History" textbook that can be also implemented in all textbooks regardless the subject matters. The study used the content analysis technique as a research method to examine the organization of the textbook, its units, chapters, and sections. The results showed that the textbook has a lot of advantages in terms of its design, organization, and use of computer technology and Internet. One hundred and eighteen items of the characteristics were utilized in the World History textbook: 41 items were related to textbook design, 22 items were related to units design, 31 items were related to chapters design, and 24 items were related to sections design. The study recommended this textbook as a practical model for designing and developing textbooks