Examining the determinants of users' acceptance of IT in the Yemeni public sector: pilot study

This paper presents the results of a pilot study conducted to test a pre-proposed model. The model modified the technology acceptance model (TAM) by adding the constructs: Organizational culture, Individual factors, Gender, and Perceived Personal Benefit to the original version of TAM. Data was collected quantitatively from30 employees of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor (MoSAL) Yemen, whom their jobs involve using IT. SmartPLS software PLS-SEM method was used to test the reliability of measurement model, and to assess the structural model. The results confirmed the reliability of the research instrument, as the measures of internal consistency were mostly acceptable. The results also indicated the significance of the hypotheses that relates organizational culture with perceived usefulness and perceived personal benefit; the. Finally, the model showed a good predictive power since 47% of the focal factor, behavioral intention, was explained by its relationships with the other factors

Emergence of Colistin-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginasa in Sohag University Hospitals, Egypt

Background:  Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) is a globally recognized cause of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), the recent increase of the MDR and XDR P.  aeruginosa strains encouraged the use polymyxins as a treatment option, and thus the emergence of colistin-resistant strain is an alarming problem. Objectives: This study aimed to trace the emergence of colistin-resistance in P.  aeruginosa strains associated with HAIs in Sohag University Hospitals, to identify the genetic basis of colistin-resistance in these isolates. Methods: P. aeruginosa strains were isolated and identified phenotypically and genotypically, antibiotic susceptibility of the isolates was tested by disc-diffusion method. The MIC of colistin was measured by E test in colistin resistant isolates. Conventional PCR was used to detect plasmid genes responsible for colistin resistance among the isolates. Results: Seventy-six(76%) of P. aeruginosa isolates were resistant to colistin, the highest percentage of colistin resistant strains were isolated from patients admitted to General Surgery Department that was (50%), no colistin resistant strains were isolated from patients admitted to Vascular Surgery Department. Colistin-resistant isolates exhibited the highest resistance to polymyxin B, norfloxacin, ofloxacin and gatifloxacin by a percentage of (100%). mcr-1gene was detected in (44.4%) of colistin-resistant isolates and mcr-2 gene in (16.6%). Sensitivity of E-test in comparison with PCR was (100%) and specificity was (86.36%). Conclusion: The emergence of colistin resistance in P. aeruginosa in our health care setting is an alarming issue that needs strict adherence to the infection control guidelines specially plasmid mediated resistance as it usually associated with MDR and XDR patterns

Aged garlic extract potentiates doxorubicin cytotoxicity in human breast cancer cells

Purpose: To investigate the potential chemo-sensitizing effect of aged garlic extract (AGE) on doxorubicin (DOX) in breast cancer cells (MCF-7), and the possible underlying mechanisms.Methods: Human breast cancer cell line (MCF-7) was treated with AGE and DOX. The cytotoxic effects of AGE and DOX were investigated via cell cycle analysis and apoptosis induction, using flow cytometry. Mechanistic studies involved the determination of cellular uptake of DOX and  p-glycoprotein (P-gp) activity.Results: Combined treatment of MCF7 cells with AGE and DOX produced no significant effect at AGE dose of 10 mg/mL. However, co-treatment with AGE at doses of 50 and 93 mg/mL enhanced the cytotoxicity of DOX on MCF-7 cells, with IC50 values of 0.962 and 0.999 μM, respectively, whencompared with 1.85 μM DOX alone. Moreover, Annexin V-FITC and PI techniques showed that AGE significantly increased percentage of cells in late apoptosis. Besides, AGE-DOX treatment significantly increased cellular uptake of DOX and inhibited P-gp activity, when compared with DOX alone (p < 0.05).Conclusion: AGE enhances the cytotoxic effect of DOX on MCF-7 cells, most likely due to cell cycle distribution, stimulation of apoptosis, increased uptake of DOX by MCF7, and inhibition of P-gp activity. Keywords: Aged garlic extract, Doxorubicin, Breast cancer, MCF-7 cell line, P-glycoprotein, Apoptosis, Cell cycl

Effect of Cr2O3, ZrO2 and LiF on nucleation and crystallization of nepheline syenite-dolomite glass-ceramic compositions

Inexpensive nepheline-pyroxene glass-ceramics of superior mechanical, and thermal properties could be easily prepared from nepheline syenite and dolomite rock mixture by using the conventional glass preparation and heat treatment methods. The parent glass composition, to yield ≈35 % nepheline ss (solid solution) and 65 % diopside ss, was formulated by a modified chemico-mineralogical calculation method after CIPW norm. The effect of the nucleating agents Cr2O3, ZrO2 and LiF on the mechanisms of nucleation and crystallization of these phases were determined by DTA, XRD, as well as optical and electron microscopy. In the absence of these nueleators, crystallization was difficult and semi-crystalline coarse microstructure of diopsidic ss was obtained. LiF showed maximum effect on crystal growth rates, while sufficient nucleation density for glass-ceramic of good quality was achieved by adding Cr2O3 even in the amount as small as 0.5 wt%. Both Cr2O3- and ZrO2-containing samples hindered the crystallization of nepheline but greatly stimulated the epitactic formation of diopside ss of holocrystalline microstructures. LiF-containing samples stimulated the crystallization of the framework silicates, nepheline ss and carnegieite, which progressively increased with the LiF concentration. The thermal expansion coefficient and Vickers hardness of the obtained glass-ceramic reached values of 9.0 × 10^-6 K-1 (20 to 300 °C) and (950 × 10^7 ± 25) N/m2, respectively

Repressed induction of interferon-related microRNAs miR-146a and miR-155 in peripheral blood mononuclear cells infected with HCV genotype 4

AbstractMicroRNAs regulate the expression of many genes and subsequently control various cellular processes, such as the immune response to viral infections mediated by type I interferon (IFN). In this study, the expression pattern of two interferon-related microRNAs, miR-146a and miR-155, was examined in healthy and HCV-genotype-4-infected peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) using qRT-PCR. In contrast to other viral infections, the expression pattern was similar in both healthy and infected PBMCs. This could be attributed to attenuation of IFN pathway by HCV, which was assessed by investigating the expression of MxA, an interferon-stimulated gene, that showed lower expression in HCV-infected PBMCs. To determine the site of interference of HCV in the IFN pathway, expression of both microRNAs was examined following stimulation of PBMCs with IFN-α2a, an activator of the JAK/STAT pathway as well as with imiquimod, a toll-like receptor-7 (TLR-7) agonist that promotes interferon release. IFN stimulation induced the expression of miR-146a and miR-155 in HCV-infected and healthy PBMCs. Stimulation with imiquimod led to a down-regulation of both microRNAs in infected PBMCs, while it increased their expression in healthy PBMCs, indicating that HCV might interfere with miR-146a and miR-155 expression at sites upstream of interferon release, specifically in the TLR-7 pathway. The pattern of expression of both miR-146a and miR-155 was very similar with a strong positive correlation, but showed no correlation to the patients’ clinical or histopathological parameters or response to treatment. In conclusion, HCV infection might repress the induction of miR-146a and miR-155 by interfering with TLR-7 signaling

Concurrent Acquisition of a Single Nucleotide Polymorphism in Diverse Influenza H5N1 Clade 2.2 Sub-clades

Highly pathogenic Influenza A H5N1 was first identified in Guangdong Province in 1996, followed by human cases in Hong Kong in 1997 1,2. The number of confirmed human cases now exceeds 300 and the associated Case Fatality Rate exceeds 60% 3. The genetic diversity of the serotype continues to increase. Four distinct clades or sub-clades have been linked to human cases 4-7. The gradual genetic changes identified in the sub-clades have been attributed to copy errors by viral encoded polymerases that lack an editing function, thereby resulting in antigenic drift 8. We report here the concurrent acquisition of the same polymorphism by multiple, genetically distinct, clade 2.2 sub-clades in Egypt, Russia, Kuwait, and Ghana. These changes are not easily explained by the current theory of “random mutation” through copy error, and are more easily explained by recombination with a common source. The recombination role is further supported by the high fidelity replication in swine influenza 9 and aggregation of single nucleotide polymorphisms in H5N1 clade 2.2 hemagglutinin 10

Concurrent Acquisition of a Single Nucleotide Polymorphism in Diverse Influenza H5N1 Clade 2.2 Sub-clades

Highly pathogenic Influenza A H5N1 was first identified in Guangdong Province in 1996, followed by human cases in Hong Kong in 1997. The number of confirmed human cases now exceeds 300, and the associated Case Fatality Rate exceeds 60%. The genetic diversity of the serotype continues to increase. Four distinct clades or sub-clades have been linked to human cases. The gradual genetic changes identified in the sub-clades have been attributed to copy errors by viral encoded polymerases that lack an editing function, thereby resulting in antigenic drift. We report here the concurrent acquisition of the same polymorphism by multiple, genetically distinct, clade 2.2 sub-clades in Egypt, Russia, and Ghana. These changes are not easily explained by the current theory of “random mutation” through copy error, and are more easily explained by recombination with a common source. This conclusion is supported by additional polymorphisms shared by clade 2.2 isolates in Egypt and Germany

Epigenetic harnessing of HCV via modulating the lipid droplet-protein, TIP47, in HCV cell models

AbstractThis study aimed at identifying potential microRNAs that modulate hepatic lipid droplets (LD) through targeting the Tail interacting protein of 47kDa (TIP47) in HCV infection.Bioinformatics analysis revealed that miR-148a and miR-30a potentially target TIP47. Expression profiling showed that both microRNAs were downregulated, while TIP47 was upregulated in liver biopsies of HCV-infected patients. Forcing the expression of both microRNAs in JFH-I infected, oleic acid-treated Huh7 cells, significantly suppressed TIP47 expression and reduced cellular LDs with marked decrease in viral RNA. This study shows that miR-148a and miR-30a, regulate TIP47 expression and LDs in HCV infected cells