Hypoxic Culture Conditions as a Solution for Mesenchymal Stem Cell Based Regenerative Therapy

Cell-based regenerative therapies, based on in vitro propagation of stem cells, offer tremendous hope to many individuals suffering from degenerative diseases that were previously deemed untreatable. Due to the self-renewal capacity, multilineage potential, and immunosuppressive property, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are considered as an attractive source of stem cells for regenerative therapies. However, poor growth kinetics, early senescence, and genetic instability during in vitro expansion and poor engraftment after transplantation are considered to be among the major disadvantages of MSC-based regenerative therapies. A number of complex inter-and intracellular interactive signaling systems control growth, multiplication, and differentiation of MSCs in their niche. Common laboratory conditions for stem cell culture involve ambient O-2 concentration (20%) in contrast to their niche where they usually reside in 2-9% O-2. Notably, O-2 plays an important role in maintaining stem cell fate in terms of proliferation and differentiation, by regulating hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) mediated expression of different genes. This paper aims to describe and compare the role of normoxia (20% O-2) and hypoxia (2-9% O-2) on the biology of MSCs. Finally it is concluded that a hypoxic environment can greatly improve growth kinetics, genetic stability, and expression of chemokine receptors during in vitro expansion and eventually can increase efficiency of MSC-based regenerative therapies.Article Link: http://www.hindawi.com/journals/tswj/2013/632972

A Framework of Privacy Assessment for Smart Airport Passenger Interaction Architecture

University of Technology Sydney. Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology.Privacy of information has become a critical concern in the contemporary complex digital ecosystems or environments. Smart airport is an example of a digital ecosystem or environment, in which its digitally interconnected systems play a key role in facilitating and improving the quality of service provided to passengers. In smart airport, actors interact with technologies to handle several types of personal passenger information at each stage of their interaction journey. However, passengers’ information in smart airport may result in passengers suffering from serious privacy risks that may compromise their information and affect their privacy. This research conducted a comprehensive review that revealed a lack of common understanding and assessment of privacy risks associated with passenger information in the context of smart airport. Thus, this thesis aims to address this important research gap by proposing an Interaction Journey Architecture and Privacy Risk Assessment (IJAPRA) framework. The proposed framework provides new knowledge and understanding of privacy risks linked to the personal information of passengers in smart airports and assists in assessing privacy risks relevant to passenger information in smart airport. This research applied a well-known design science research (DSR) method for developing and evaluating the IJAPRA framework in short increments. The proposed IJAPRA framework consists of the following 2 main components: (1) Interaction Journey and Privacy Risk Assessment (IJPRA) ontology, and (2) IJPRA architecture. The IJPRA ontology is developed to conceptualise and capture the knowledge of the complex passenger interaction journey and associated privacy risks in the smart airport. The IJPRA architecture comprises the Interaction Journey (IJ) and Privacy Risk (PR) layers, which are designed based on the IJPRA ontology concepts. The IJPRA architecture offers a set of elements and their relationships involved in the passenger interaction journey. This will facilitate the identification, understanding and assessment of privacy risks arising during the passenger journey. The evaluation of the proposed framework is conducted using two DSR evaluation methods: illustrative scenarios and expert evaluation via field survey through three iterations where each iteration resulted in an updated version of the IJAPRA framework based on the evaluation results. The results of this thesis indicate that the proposed IJAPRA framework is applicable and appropriate to capture the knowledge relevant to the domain of passenger interaction journey and associated privacy risks in smart airport. In conclusion, overall results indicate that the proposed framework addressed the identified research question and gap in hand

Integrated Interaction Journey and Privacy Risk Assessment: A Graph Model

Smart airports involve several applications and stakeholders to facilitate passenger journey. Passengers interact with those stakeholders and share their personal information using the smart airport applications. While the use of smart airport applications offers several benefits, it also puts passengers' personal information at risk. This draws our attention to the need for identifying and understanding privacy risks with a view to protect passenger information at smart airports. Our earlier systematic literature review study revealed a gap in modelling passenger information privacy risks in the context of smart airports. This paper aims to address this gap by developing an ontology for interaction journey and privacy risk assessment modeling. The contribution of the proposed ontology is to bring new knowledge and understanding of privacy risks in the contemporary smart airport context. The development and evaluation of the proposed framework follows the Design Science Research (DSR) method along with the ontology development techniques. The proposed ontology aims to assist privacy experts in modelling and analyzing privacy risks relevant to passenger information in the smart airport context

Prevalence of anelloviruses (TTV, TTMDV, and TTMV) in healthy blood donors and in patients infected with HBV or HCV in Qatar

Background Anelloviruses (TTV, TTMV, and TTMDV) have been associated with non A-G hepatitis. The goal of the current study was to estimate the prevalence of these anelloviruses in Qatar. Methods A total of 607 blood samples (500 healthy donors, and 53 HBV-and 54 HCV-positive patients) representing different nationalities were tested for the presence of TTV, TTMV, and TTMDV DNA by nested PCR. Results Prevalence rates for the three viruses were high in all studied groups, and exceeding 95% in the HBV group (for TTV and TTMDV). Infection with more than one type of viruses was common and significant in most of the positive patients (p  0.05) albeit the detection of higher infection rates among females and Qatari subjects. Conclusion This was the first published study to look at prevalence of Anellowviruses in the Middle East. High prevalence rates of the three viruses in all studied groups was noted. Further studies are needed to explore and compare the different genotypes of these viruses in the region.This work was made possible by UREP grant # (UREP 15-015-3-006) from the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of Qatar Foundation)

Toxicological Features of Catha edulis (Khat) on Livers and Kidneys of Male and Female Sprague-Dawley Rats: A Subchronic Study

Hepato- and nephrotoxicity of Khat consumption (Catha edulis Forskal) have been evoked. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate such possible hepatorenal toxicity in female and male Sprague-Dawley rats (SD rats) focusing primarily on liver and kidney. In addition, female and male rats were investigated separately. Accordingly, forty-eight SD-rats (100-120 g) were distributed randomly into four groups of males and female (n = 12). Normal controls (NCs) received distilled water, whereas test groups received 500 mg/kg (low dose (LD)), 1000 mg/kg (medium dose (MD)), or 2000 mg/kg (high dose (HD)) of crude extract of Catha edulis orally for 4 weeks. Then, physical, biochemical, hematological, and histological parameters were analyzed. Results in Khat-fed rats showed hepatic enlargement, abnormal findings in serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) of male and female SD-rats and serum albumin (A) and serum creatinine (Cr) of female as compared to controls. In addition, histopathological abnormalities confirmed hepatic and renal toxicities of Khat that were related to heavy Khat consumption. In summary, Khat could be associated with hepatic hypertrophy and hepatotoxicity in male and female SD-rats and nephrotoxicity only in female SD-rats. This record was migrated from the OpenDepot repository service in June, 2017 before shutting down

Bilateral Primary Pleural Lymphoma: A Case Report

Primary pleural lymphoma is a very rare entity and usually caused by either HIV or pyothorax. In this case report, we describe a 72-year-old who was presented with a history of chronic cough and weight loss with a CT chest finding of bilateral pleural effusion, and who underwent thoracocentesis and cytology that showed large B cell lymphoma. The case report underscores this rare location of primary lymphoma with an aim to raise the awareness of physicians.

Knowledge, Attitude and Training Physiotherapist Palliative Care - Gaza Strip

Background: Palliative care encompasses holistic management of patients and families facing life-threatening and life-limiting conditions. There is currently little known about Gaza strip physiotherapists’ palliative care knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, experience and training needs. Objectives: Palliative care rehabilitation has been positively associated with a high and prolonged level of independent function, which also reduces the burden on care providers(1,2). This study aimed to investigate the existing knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, training and experience of palliative care by physiotherapists working in Gaza strip. Methodology: A quantitative cross-sectional descriptive study using a face to face questionnaire included sociodemographic data, physiotherapist’s knowledge, attitude experience and training (modified PTiPC-KABE Scale)(3), the study includes eight major hospitals in the Gaza-Strip. The sample size was 120 participants, 110 were included. SPSS (version 22 for Windows) for descriptive statistics, Chi-Square, Student's t and compare mean -tests were used for the statistical analysis. Results: The total number of respondents was 110(93.3%); male 45%,and females 55%.Years of experience Palliative care intends to hasten death was significant in (p = 0.017), Palliative care does not enhance quality of life (p = 0.117), I feel a sense of personal failure when a patient dies(p=0.035), Palliative care considers dying as a complicated process (p =0.026), Caring for dying patients is traumatic for me(p = 0.004), The provision of palliative care requires emotional detachment(p = 0.009), The physical environment of my workplace is ideal for providing palliative care and rehabilitation(p = 0.026), I am often exposed to death in my workplace(p = 0.034), Conclusions: Many of Gaza's physiotherapists perform in palliative care despite inadequate training and limited knowledge in this area. Further learning and training opportunities for graduates and postgraduate students are required for physiotherapists in palliative care