COVID-19 knowledge and perception among healthcare professionals in two Arabian Gulf countries

Introduction: The WHO announced on 30 January 2020 the respiratory tract infection outbreak caused by Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) that was first recognized in China to be a global public health emergency. Objective: To investigate healthcare professional's knowledge and awareness about COVID-19. Methods: The study was conducted across four hospitals in Saudi Arabia and two hospitals in Kuwait. The questionnaire was completed between 18th May and the end of June 2020. Results: A total of 460 healthcare professionals completed the questionnaire, 37.8%(n=174) were males. The age of the participants ranged from 18 to 64 and 80.4% (n=370) of the participants were aged 34 or below. Official government websites 54.8% (n=252) and social media 43.3% (n=199) were the major reliable information sources related to COVID-19. only 37% (n=170) mentioned that the coronavirus disease could transmit through contact. In addition, only 42% (n=191) of the study participants had the correct knowledge about the incubation period of the disease. Moreover, 43.5% (n=200) of the participants were able to identify the symptoms of COVID-19. Conclusion: The study recommended the need to focus more on educational and awareness programs targeting all healthcare professionals to ensure the best practice and provide the optimal care

Differential gene expression Analyses in HBE/BETA thalassaemia patients and their relationship to disease severity

Haemoglobin E-beta thalassaemia (Hb E/β-thalassaemia) is a common inherited genetic disorder. It is responsible for approximately half of all severe betathalassaemia cases globally. In the state of Kelantan, 50.93% of thalassaemic patients have Hb E/β-thalassaemia, and most of the cases are commonly seen in Malay compared to Chinese and Indian. Clinical heterogeneity is the most outstanding criteria among these patients ranging from mild to severe clinical courses that need a regular blood transfusion. There are many modifiers found to affect the disease presentation. However, the exact reasons behind this heterogeneity are not fully understood. This research aimed to study the differential gene expression and their possible role in the disease presentation and complications development in both transfusion-dependent (TDT) and non-transfusion dependent (NTDT) HbE/β-thalassaemia patients. It was conducted with the aid of RT2 profiler PCR array and microarray that were used in gene expressional study in reticulocytes and erythroid progenitors, respectively. Three normal controls and a total of 20 patients were enrolled in this study; 10 (50%) were TDT, and 10 (50%) NTDT. The reticulocytes study showed the up-regulation of BAX and BAD genes in TDT patients, which have a role in apoptosis induction through the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway. Their up-regulation in TDT may play a role in the reticulocytes’ apoptosis, mature RBCs' short life span and eryptosis. Flow cytometry study showed higher apoptosis in the erythroid progenitors of TDT patients. The increased apoptosis in erythroid progenitors and the up-regulation of BAD and BAX of reticulocytes in TDT may be linked to the down-regulation of the genes involved in the PI3k/AKT pathway in the same patients’ group genes. Pathway and ontology analysis showed the involvement of osteoporosis and bone regulating factors related to the VDR pathway and the negative regulation of osteoclast differentiation in the TDT group. The genes involved can be therapeutic targets like SPP1 and MAFB. Their activation act to reduce the disease burden by reducing anaemia and alleviating bone marrow complications. In summary, our study showed the expression of interesting genes and pathways that may potentially modify the disease presentation and the development of the complications

Graded cellular structures for enhanced performance of additively manufactured orthopaedic implants

Hip implants face a significant challenge due to their limited lifespan, a concern amplified by the rising human life expectancy. Lattice structures have demonstrated the ability to provide precise control over geometry, thereby significantly enhancing implant performance. This paper introduces the development of graded additively manufactured Ti6Al4V lattice structures for orthopaedic implants. The objective focuses on developing a graded lattice unit cell design mirroring human bone properties, emphasising high surface curvature and design versatility to improve mechanical and biomedical properties, specifically osseointegration and stress shielding. The study involves modelling and grading simple cubic (SC) and body-centred cubic (BCC) lattice structures with various geometries and graded conditions and conducting compressive tests to identify the optimal configuration. The results showed that filleting was found to be the mechanical strength. On the other hand, BCC lattice structures demonstrated superior performance compared to SC structures. The optimised structure with a pore size of 400 µm provided an elastic modulus of 15.7 GPa, yield strength of 296 MPa and compressive strength of 530 MPa. This graded lattice design approach provides a promising technique for enhancing hip implant performance, offering potential improvements

Designing lightweight 3D-printable bioinspired structures for enhanced compression and energy absorption properties

Recent progress in additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing, has offered several benefits, including high geometrical freedom and the ability to create bioinspired structures with intricate details. Mantis shrimp can scrape the shells of prey molluscs with its hammer-shaped stick, while beetles have highly adapted forewings that are lightweight, tough, and strong. This paper introduces a design approach for bioinspired lattice structures by mimicking the internal microstructures of a beetle’s forewing, a mantis shrimp’s shell, and a mantis shrimp’s dactyl club, with improved mechanical properties. Finite element analysis (FEA) and experimental characterisation of 3D printed polylactic acid (PLA) samples with bioinspired structures were performed to determine their compression and impact properties. The results showed that designing a bioinspired lattice with unit cells parallel to the load direction improved quasi-static compressive performance, among other lattice structures. The gyroid honeycomb lattice design of the insect forewings and mantis shrimp dactyl clubs outperformed the gyroid honeycomb design of the mantis shrimp shell, with improvements in ultimate mechanical strength, Young’s modulus, and drop weight impact. On the other hand, hybrid designs created by merging two different designs reduced bending deformation to control collapse during drop weight impact. This work holds promise for the development of bioinspired lattices employing designs with improved properties, which can have potential implications for lightweight high-performance applications

Quranic Verses Semantic Relatedness Using AraBERT

Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers (BERT) has gained popularity in recent years producing state-of-the-art performances across Natural Language Processing tasks. In this paper, we used AraBERT language model to classify pairs of verses provided by the QurSim dataset to either be semantically related or not. We have pre-processed The QurSim dataset and formed three datasets for comparisons. Also, we have used both versions of AraBERT, which are AraBERTv02 and AraBERTv2, to recognise which version performs the best with the given datasets. The best results was AraBERTv02 with 92% accuracy score using a dataset comprised of label ‘2’ and label '-1’, the latter was generated outside of QurSim dataset

Hybrid finite element–smoothed particle hydrodynamics modelling for optimizing cutting parameters in CFRP composites

Carbon-fibre-reinforced plastic (CFRP) is increasingly being used in various applications including aerospace, automotive, wind energy, sports, and robotics, which makes the precision modelling of its machining operations a critical research area. However, the classic finite element modelling (FEM) approach has limitations in capturing the complexity of machining, particularly with regard to the interaction between the fibre–matrix interface and the cutting edge. To overcome this limitation, a hybrid approach that integrates smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPHs) with FEM was developed and tested in this study. The hybrid FEM-SPH approach was compared with the classic FEM approach and validated with experimental measurements that took into account the cutting tool’s round edge. The results showed that the hybrid FEM-SPH approach outperformed the classic FEM approach in predicting the thrust force and bounce back of CFRP machining due to the integrated cohesive model and the element conversion after failure in the developed approach. The accurate representation of the fibre–matrix interface in the FEM-SPH approach resulted in predicting precise chip formation in terms of direction and morphology. Nonetheless, the computing time of the FEM-SPH approach is higher than the classic FEM. The developed hybrid FEM-SPH model is promising for improving the accuracy of simulation in machining processes, combining the benefits of both techniques

Optimising surface roughness and density in titanium fabrication via laser powder bed fusion

The Ti6Al4V alloy has many advantages, such as being lightweight, formal, and resistant to corrosion. This makes it highly desirable for various applications, especially in the aerospace industry. Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) is a technique that allows for the production of detailed and unique parts with great flexibility in design. However, there are challenges when it comes to achieving high-quality surfaces and porosity formation in the material, which limits the wider use of LPBF. To tackle these challenges, this study uses statistical techniques called Design of Experiments (DoE) and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) to investigate and optimise the process parameters of LPBF for making Ti6Al4V components with improved density and surface finish. The parameters examined in this study are laser power, laser scan speed, and hatch space. The optimisation study results show that using specific laser settings, like a laser power of 175 W, a laser scan speed of 1914 mm/s, and a hatch space of 53 µm, produces Ti6Al4V parts with a high relative density of 99.54% and low top and side surface roughness of 2.6 µm and 4.3 µm, respectively. This promising outcome demonstrates the practicality of optimising Ti6Al4V and other metal materials for a wide range of applications, thereby overcoming existing limitations and further expanding the potential of LPBF while minimising inherent process issues