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CaiB is a DR cluster actinobacteriophage that was isolated from soil in Florida using Gordonia rubripertincta NRRL B-16540 as the host. The genome is 61,620 bp, has a GC content of 68.6%, and contains 85 predicted protein coding genes. CaiB has several putative operons and has repeated intergenic regions that may be involved in gene regulation.

Study Design: Prospective case series, therapeutic Level IV. Objectives: Functional and radiographic outcome evaluation of patients with spondylolysis treated with pars interarticularis defect repair with iliac bone grafting and application of a construct consisting of a pair of polyaxial pedicle screws connected by a U-shaped rod passing beneath the spinous process. Methods: Twenty-five patients (27 operated lumbar levels) with an average of 20 months of follow-up (range 12–24 m) with spondylolysis who met our inclusion criteria were treated with the above-mentioned technique. Functional assessment was by the Visual Analog Score (VAS) for low back pain (LBP) and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI). Fusion was confirmed with plain x-rays and when indicated with computed tomography scan. Return to activities of daily living (ADL) was also assessed. Results: There were 16 males (64%) and 9 females (36%), with a mean age of 18 ± 3 years at surgery, with a mean operating time of 79 ± 13 min and a mean blood loss of 186 ± 57 ml. ODI significantly improved from a mean of 63 ± 7 preoperatively to 10 ± 4 at 12 months postoperatively (P < 0.001). The mean preoperative LBP VAS score 8 ± 1 showed also a statistically significant decrease of values to 1 ± 1 at 12 months, (P < 0.001). At 12 m, all patients returned to unrestricted ADL. Pars healing was present in 19 patients (76%) at 6 months and in all patients at 12 months. Conclusions: Polyaxial pedicular screws with a U-shaped rod offer an effective and reproducible treatment for spondylolysis with an appropriate fusion rate, predictable return to daily activities, and good pain relief in young adults.

Neutron transmutation doping (NTD) is one of the several techniques used for n-type doping with good homogeneity. NTD performances were investigated in this work within a project funded by the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology (ASRT), Egypt, for the “production of doped Silicon Wafers for Solar Panels and Basic Electronics,” 2015–2018. The Egypt second research reactor (ETRR-2) has two irradiation positions for silicon doping using NTD. The two positions can accommodate silicon ingots with large diameters up to six inches. One crucial parameter that affects the quality of the product is the distribution of the dopant in the irradiated ingot. The irradiation facility provides the option of rotating the sample during irradiation for flattening the radial distribution of the dopant. Since the neutron flux is not flat along the irradiation position due to leakage and the effect of control rods, the generated dopant will be not flat along the axial direction. To overcome this problem, this paper proposed an irradiation procedure to smooth the dopant distribution along the axial direction. Such procedure can be applied for NTD facilities that has not an acceptable axial neutron flux distribution in silicon doping process. The procedure is based on loading the irradiation position by two ingots staked end to end and, at the middle of the irradiation duration, the two ingots swap their places. This strategy was verified by MCNP5 calculations and experimentally.

Turkey reoviruses have been implicated in multiple disease syndromes resulting in significant economic losses to the turkey industry. It has been known for decades that turkey enteric reovirus (TERV) is involved in poult enteritis complex, but turkey arthritis reovirus (TARV), the causative agent of tenosynovitis in turkeys, emerged in 2011. In 2019, we isolated reovirus from several cases of hepatitis in turkeys and tentatively named it turkey hepatitis reovirus (THRV). The comparative pathogenesis of these viruses, and correlation with their genetic make-up (if any), is not known. In this study, we inoculated nine groups of 1-week-old turkey poults with two THRV, five TARV and two TERV via oral route. A tenth group served as a negative control. A subset of birds from each group was euthanised at 3, 5, 7, 14, 21, and 28 days post-inoculation (dpi). Tissues were collected for histology and real-time RT-PCR. All nine viruses were found to be enterotropic; the virus gene copy number in the intestine reached a peak at 5 dpi followed by a sharp decline at 7 dpi. All viruses caused a significant decline in body weight gain of birds as compared to the negative control group. Both TARV and THRV strains replicated in tendons and produced histologic lesions consistent with tenosynovitis. Hepatic lesions were produced by THRV only and the virus was re-isolated from liver and spleen of inoculated birds fulfilling Koch's postulates. The results of this study should be helpful in facilitating diagnosis and designing future mitigation plans.

The aim of this study is to investigate the protective effects of Quercetin (QCT) on Hydroxychloquine (HCQ)-induced myocardial affection in rats. HCQ has been found to produce toxic effects including cardiac manifestation. Adding QCT to HCQ ameliorates its effects and prevents cardiac manifestations. For this purpose, eighty adult male rats were divided into four groups (n = 20). Group 1 (control) and group 2 (QCT-treated). Group 3 (HCQ treated) received 20 mg/kg of HCQ and group 4 (QCT + HCQ treated) received quercetin (50 mg/kg; orally) combined with HCQ for 4 weeks. Cardiac troponin-I and oxidative markers (Malondialdehyde (MDA), and total serum antioxidant) were estimated in serum. In addition, histopathological and morphometric changes of the rat heart were assessed. The HCQ treated group showed increased serum levels of cardiac troponin-I, MDA and decreased serum levels of total antioxidant. Pathological picture of myocardial hypertrophy and degeneration together with depleted cardiac tissue expression of troponin T were also observed. The characteristic features were presence of whorled myelin bodies and curvilinear bodies by EM examination. These parameters improved better in the group receiving combination of QCT together with HCQ. So, Adding QCT to HCQ could be prophylactic measure against its cardiotoxic effect compared with HCQ treatment alone.

The worldwide pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus has resulted in over 84,407,000 cases, with over 1,800,000 deaths when this paper was submitted, with comorbidities such as gender, race, age, body mass, diabetes, and hypertension greatly exacerbating mortality. This review will analyze the rapidly increasing knowledge of COVID-19-induced lung pathophysiology. Although controversial, the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) associated with COVID-19 (CARDS) seems to present as two distinct phenotypes: type L and type H. The “L” refers to low elastance, ventilation/perfusion ratio, lung weight, and recruitability, and the “H” refers to high pulmonary elastance, shunt, edema, and recruitability. However, the LUNG-SAFE (Large Observational Study to Understand the Global Impact of Severe Acute Respiratory Failure) and ESICM (European Society of Intensive Care Medicine) Trials Groups have shown that ∼13% of the mechanically ventilated non-COVID-19 ARDS patients have the type-L phenotype. Other studies have shown that CARDS and ARDS respiratory mechanics overlap and that standard ventilation strategies apply to these patients. The mechanisms causing alterations in pulmonary perfusion could be caused by some combination of 1) renin-angiotensin system dysregulation, 2) thrombosis caused by loss of endothelial barrier, 3) endothelial dysfunction causing loss of hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction perfusion control, and 4) hyperperfusion of collapsed lung tissue that has been directly measured and supported by a computational model. A flowchart has been constructed highlighting the need for personalized and adaptive ventilation strategies, such as the time-controlled adaptive ventilation method, to set and adjust the airway pressure release ventilation mode, which recently was shown to be effective at improving oxygenation and reducing inspiratory fraction of oxygen, vasopressors, and sedation in patients with COVID-19.

The present work was planned to evaluate the reactor production of 47Sc from calcium and titanium targets at Egyptian Second Research Reactor (ETRR-2) based on 46Ca (n, γ) 47Ca $$\mathop{\longrightarrow}\limits^{\beta - }$$ 47Sc and 47Ti (n, p) 47Sc nuclear ractions, respectively. A comparison between the two routs in terms of specific activity of 47Sc and co-produced radioimpurities was carried out. The MCNPX2.7.0 code was used to estimate the levels of all radionuclides produced throughout as well as after the irradiation of 46CaCO3, natTiO2 and 47TiO2 targets. The computational results were verified by experimental measurements, and a good aggrement was found between both. Additionally, our results showed that 47Sc production is greatly preferred from titanium route rather than calcium route.