Visibility has become an important environmental issue receiving great attention from both the scientific community and the public. Using hourly long term meteorological data for Abu Dhabi International Airport from the U.S. National Climatic Data Center, to analyze long-term seasonal and daily temporal changes in horizontal surface visibility from 1982 to 2015. The months were stratified based on visibility range to hazy and non-hazy seasons, and to three classes per day (morning, noon and afternoon). Seasonally, the analysis showed that the averaged range of monthly visibility was the lowest in the autumn and summer, with 875m visibility range difference between hazy and non-hazy seasons. Low visibility occurred in the morning and the maximum visibility occurred in the afternoon period. Visibility range enhanced during the day by 2.6% in hazy-seasons, and by 3.6% in non-hazy seasons.
Sustainable development of arid regions is interlocked with global water availability and distribution. High growth rate coupled with climate dynamics will affect water availability and consumption which is an already stressed resource. Virtual Water Trade Network (VWTN) has been proposed as a means of reallocating water resources. Water-Food-Energy nexus implies the availability of low cost food for water-scarce regions. VWTN evolution connected with trade policies, socioeconomic constraints and agriculture efficiency has been studied by many authors. However a systematic analysis of the structure and dynamics of the VWTN conditional to aridity, climatic forcing and energy availability is still missing. This study analyzes the role of arid and hyper-arid regions within the VWTN under diverse climatic, demographic and energy constraints contributing to the ongoing Water-Food-Energy nexus discussion. Particular emphasis on hyper-arid lands of the Arabian Peninsula, their role and assessment of their specific criticalities, as reflected in the VWTN resilience.
This study analyzes the characteristics of extreme temperature events in the Arabian Gulf region during 1948-2014. Trends in the occurrences of heat spells and the diurnal temperature range (DTR) are studied. Using Humidex could better estimate the effect of heat to the human. Type-A and Type-B heat spells are defined respectively by daily maximum and minimum temperatures (Humidex). Type-C heat spells are defined as the joint occurrence of the Type-A and Type-B. In the region, the occurrences of temperature Type-B and Type-C heat spells have obviously increased. For Humidex, coherently increased activities of all types heat spells are observed. Major locations in the region show significantly negative DTR trends in the summer, but positive in the winter. In the UAE, the warming is stronger in minimum temperatures than in maximum temperatures. The UAE has not become hotter, but it has become less cold during 1948-2014.
Oil content (lipids) and Ash of Hibiscus Sabdariffa Linn., Pithecellobium Dulce, Prosopis Cineraria, Azadirachta Indica, and Moringa Oleifera seeds were determined and Analyzed using GCMS. The oil content in the milled seeds (25.08% ? 2.23%, 12.74% ? 0.96%, 2.98% ? 0.67%, 28.96% ? 2.11%, and 36.15% ? 0.85%) respectively, was determined using n-hexane as a solvent in Soxhlet Apparatus. The Ash content (4.22% ? 0.12%, 2.62% ? 0.32%, 3.15% ? 0.18%, 3.82% ? 0.07%, and 2.23% ? 0.99%) was determined following AOAC official method 942.05.
Background and Purpose: Because of Limited studies on NAT-2 polymorphisms among Emiratis, this study is to determine NAT2 phenotyping and genotyping of Emiratis. Methods: Five hundred subjects were asked to consume 300ml of a caffeinated soft drink and provide a buccal swab and a spot urine sample. PCR-RFLP and HPLC analysis were performed to determine the genotype and phenotype status, respectively. Results: We found that 82.2, 16.4 & 1.4% of the subjects were slow, intermediate and fast acetylators, respectively, 78.2, 17.6 & 4.2% were heterozygote for 2 mutant alleles genotyping, and heterozygote and homozygous for the wild type genotyping, respectively. There is a significant correlation between phenotypes and genotypes with 0.103 value (P value = 0.022; 95% CI of differences using Spearman's statistical test). Conclusions: There is a high percentage of slow acetylators among Emiratis which is directly related to the presence of mutant alleles in NAT2 gene.
The majority of diabetics develop neuropathy yet the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms are poorly understood. Previous studies show glutamate, the most common excitatory neurotransmitter, plays a role in the pathogenesis of diabetic neuropathy. The study's aim was to identify changes in expression of genes and their protein products that are involved in glutamate signalling in diabetes. In diabetic rats, there were marked changes in expression in the dorsal root and sympathetic ganglia. The most prominent changes included marked upregulation of Gria4 (ionotropic AMPA receptor), downregulation of Grik3 and Grik4 (both ionotropic, kainite receptors) and Grin1 and Grin2A (both ionotropic, NMDA receptors), activation of all of which has been shown to induce hyperalgesia. In light of these results, it is possible that changes in glutamate signalling can contribute to these other mechanisms and possibly unify the different theories surrounding diabetic neuropathy. This can pave the way for future therapeutic intervention.
Rho family of GTPases is a family of Ras superfamily that comprises over a hundred proteins with diverse and important physiological functions. Physiologically, Rho proteins have been demonstrated to be involved in cellular polarity, transport, mobility, vesicular trafficking, wound healing, phagocytosis, cell cycle and division. Pathologically, impaired Rho proteins and/or their signaling are implicated in neurological diseases and human cancers. Functioning as a molecular switch, Rho proteins control multiple aspects of intracellular cytoskeleton dynamics, in particular those of actin. To understand their molecular functions, structural analyses are essential. In this study, we focus on two members of Rho family: RhoA and Rac1. We hypothesize that both RhoA and Rac1 have similar biochemical properties and structures, at primary, secondary and tertiary levels. Using various bioinformatics tools, we studied these Rho proteins to examine their evolutionary conservation using multiple sequence alignment, to analyze their biochemical features, and 3-dimensional structures for functional clues.
This study determined the prevalence of MetS in Emirati females aged 17-25 years and its relation to overweight and obesity. We enrolled 555 Emirati female college students in a cross-sectional study. Anthropometric, blood pressure, and biochemical measurements were completed. Of the 555 participants enrolled, 10.4% were classified as obese. The overall prevalence of MetS was 6.8%. MetS prevalence was highest among obese participants (34.5%). MetS was significantly associated with overweight (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 3.8, 95% confidence interval [CI]; 1.15-12.52) and obesity (aOR = 11.2, 95% CI; 3.1-40.9), as compared with normal weight.The odds of MetS were significantly higher in participants with glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) ???? 6.5% (aOR = 22.5, 95% CI; 6.37-79.42) or 5.6%-6.4% (aOR = 8.9, 95% CI; 3.4-23.5), as compared with HbA1c <5.6%.The prevalence of MetS among Emirati female students is highly prevalent, therefore, urgent intervention programs are needed.
Oxidative stress has been reported to be a possible molecular mechanism of kainic acid (KA)-induced neurotoxicity and it is associated with hippocampal cell death. Here, we study the impact of Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) on oxidative stress and growth factors levels at several time points in KA-induced neurotoxicity. KA (40 mg/kg body weight) was given intranasally to TNF-alpha knockout (KO) mice and wild-type (Wt) mice. Insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) and nerve growth factor (NGF) and markers of oxidative stress including Malondialdehyde (MDA) and glutathione (GSH) were measured in the hippocampus. TNF-alpha KO-mice showed significantly higher levels of MDA and lower levels of GSH compared with Wt-mice. Hippocampal IGF-I levels were significantly reduced while the levels of NGF were enhanced in TNF-alpha KO-mice compared with Wt-mice. These data suggest that deficiency of TNF-alpha worsens KA-induced neurotoxicity resulting in uncontrolled oxidative stress and consequent neuronal death.
The variable gain instrumentation amplifier (IA) for EEG portable detection system is presented. The proposed IA is designed using two digitally programmable operational transconductance amplifiers (DPOTAs) and an operational amplifier (op amp). The results are based on 0.25?m CMOS process with +/-0.8V. This IA gives gain from 40.053dB to 63.196dB, 1.387?V/sqrt(Hz )input referred noise, 0.52% total harmonic distortion, and 40.457dB third-order intermodulation.
