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Background. The pattern of HIV-associated eye disease has changed with ongoing advancements in highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). HIV-infected individuals now live longer, enabling us to observe the long-term effects of HIV and HAART on the eye. There are few recent studies on HIV-related ocular disease in sub-Saharan Africa. Objectives. To describe the ocular manifestations of HIV in patients attending the Nthabiseng HIV clinic at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, Johannesburg, South Africa. Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2021 and 2022 using convenience sampling of patients at the HIV clinic. The participants’ clinical history was taken, their files were reviewed, and they underwent ocular examination. Correlation between eyes was managed by taking disease in one eye as the presence of disease in the participant. Descriptive statistics were used to summarise participant characteristics. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were used to assess the odds ratio (OR) of developing HIV-associated ocular diseases, and a p-value of

The corrosion inhibition of sodium deodecylbenzenesulfonate (SDBS) surfactant and ZnSO4 on mild steel in 0.05 M NaCl solution was conducted through the impedance spectroscopy and linear polarisation measurement. The inhibitors performance was measured separately and as a mixed composite of both at a ratio of 200:200 ppm. Results obtained from both these measurements indicate high corrosion inhibition of the mild steel substrates was achieved. Porosity calculation of the formed inhibition layer was done through the obtained linear polarisation data, and its dielectric properties were deduced from the impedance measurements. Two possible structures of the formed inhibitive layers are proposed. The first structure involved the formation of a stable but porous zinc oxide/hydroxide layer with the surfactant filling up the pores, thus forming a continuous inhibitive barrier film layer while the second, involved a formation of a continuous inhibitive barrier layer due to the chelation of the surfactant and ZnSO4 compounds. The results obtained also indicated that corrosion resistance induced by the inhibitive barrier layers is much more dependent on its charge transfer resistance properties rather than its dielectric properties and that the corrosion inhibition provided is not directly related to the double-layer capacitance values of the barrier layer.

The trial of the initial determination of Ramadhan, Shawwal and Zulhijjah is often a criticism for those who say the initial determination of Ramadhan is in line with the reckoning system, it does not need a congregation hearing that consumes state money, leave it to the community to join the organization it believes. This paper explains the position of the congregation of itsbat to determine the beginning of Ramadan in the perspective of maqashid sharia. By analyzing the practice of the congregation trial and the prevailing rules in Indonesia, it can be concluded that the practice of the trial of the congregation has been classified as perfect for the initial determination of the month of Ramadan. In maqashid syariah, the trial of the initial determination of Ramadhan is included in the category of dharuriyyat in particular and hajiyat in general. The congregation is needed by the Muslim community of Indonesia, considering that to increase the value of benefit and reject the harm which is the core of maqashid sharia is in the trial of itsbat. Therefore, adhering to the congregation of itsbat is to maintain benefit while rejecting harm.

This article presents the efforts of teacher in enhancing students’ achievement through the implementation of cooperative learning model: Gallery Walk and Simulation (GALSIM). This classroom action research aims to describe the improvement of students’ achievement of Fiqh subject matter. The data was collected by observation, actions, documents, and tests. This two-cycle research used four steps i.e. planning, action, observation and reflection in each cycle. The results show that the implementation of GALSIM could improve students’ activity along the learning process. Moreover, the implementation of this model could also improve students’ achievement at the end of their study on Fiqh. Tulisan ini mengetengahkan upaya guru dalam meningkatkan prestasi siswa melalui penerapan model pembelajaran kooperatif berupa Gallery Walk dan Simulation (GALSIM). Penelitian tindakan kelas ini bertujuan untuk mendeskripsikan kemajuan prestasi siswa pada pelajaran Fikih. Data penelitian terkumpul melalui pengamatan, tindakan, dokumentasi, dan tes. Penelitian dengan dua siklus ini memanfaatkan empat langkah berupa perencanaan, tindakan, pengamatan, dan refleksi dalam setiap siklusnya. Temuan riset ini menunjukkan bahwa penerapan GALSIM dapat meningkatkan keaktifan siswa selama pembelajaran. Di samping itu, penerapan model ini dapat pula meningkatkan prestasi siswa dalam mempelajari Fikih.

Background: Obesity has an adverse impact on metabolic parameters including CKD. Bariatric procedures produce significant weight loss compared to non-surgical means and have a positive effect on renal and non-renal parameters. The present study retrospectively evaluated the effect of bariatric procedures and weight loss on renal function, proteinuria, hypertension, lipid profile and diabetic status in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients in Queensland, Australia. Methods: Of the 880 patients who consented to the CKD Registry, data of patients who underwent bariatric procedures were analysed. Changes in anthropometric measures, renal functions, lipid profile, glycosylated haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) (%), proteinuria and requirement for blood pressure medications and insulin dose were noted during follow-up. Results: Eight patients (1%) (mean age 48 years: there were 5 men) underwent bariatric procedures (gastric banding - four, gastric sleeve - three and gastric bypass - one). Mean follow-up duration was 10 years. During follow-up a trend towards reduction was noted in weight (kg) (163 - 115 p = 0.01), proteinuria (g/mol) (381 - 65 p = 0.302), HbA1c (%) (8.1 to 6.7 p = 0.03) and total cholesterol (mmol/L) (4.7 to 4.0 p = 0.33). The estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) (mL/min/1.73m2) did not change significantly (58.1 - 54.1 p = 0.426). Reductions of anti-hypertensive medications (1.8 - 0.75, p = 0.08) and insulin dose (IU) (61.3 - 25 p = 0.37) were also noted. One patient developed complications requiring removal of the gastric band. One patient progressed to end-stage renal disease. Conclusions: There was significant weight loss leading to improvement in multiple metabolic parameters. There was a trend towards a slow progression of CKD post-bariatric surgery during the follow-up. Although the numbers are small bariatric procedures appears to have a significant role in the management of obesity associated with CKD and related metabolic conditions.

Doppler and recoil effects are an integral part of the photoemission process at the high kinetic energies reached in hard x-ray photo-electron spectroscopy (HAXPES) and have a major effect on the observed lineshape, resulting in broadening, energy losses and discrete excitations. These effects can be modeled with a high degree of detail for small systems like diatomic molecules, for larger systems such treatment is often superfluous as the fine spectral features are not observable. We present a united description of the Doppler and recoil effects for arbitrary polyatomic systems and offer an approximate description of the recoil- and Doppler-modified photoemission spectral lineshape as a practical tool in the analysis of HAXPES spectra of core-level photoemission. The approach is tested on the examples of carbon dioxide and pentane molecules. The C and O 1s photoelectron spectra of CO _2 in gas phase were also measured at 2.3 and 7.0 keV photon energy at Synchrotron SOLEIL and the spectra were analyzed using the model description. The limitations and applicability of the approach to adsorbates, interfaces and solids is briefly discussed.

INTRODUCTION: Ruqyah Shar'iyyah, one of the complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has shown therapeutic benefits in breast cancer by utilizing Quranic verses in reducing symptoms and enhancing their quality of life as a result of invasive standard therapies. However, scientific evidence is required to demonstrate Ruqyah Shar'iyyah's effectiveness on gene expression and molecular pathways in carcinogenesis. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of Ruqyah Shar'iyyah on breast cancer cell line on apoptosis and CCND1 expression in related signaling pathways. MATERIALS AND METHODS: MCF-7 cell lines were treated with direct recitation of several Quranic verses for 12 hours and 24 hours. Cell viability was observed using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. The expression of CCND1 was determined using RT-qPCR technique. The molecular mechanism and signalling pathways were evaluated using Reactome database for in silico analysis. RESULTS: Cell viability data showed 95.69% and 93.54% exhibiting slight reduction for 12-hour treatment in untreated and treated MCF-7, respectively. Meanwhile more reduction was observed in 24-hour treatment with 95.11% in untreated cell line as compared to 92.34% in treated cell line. The cell morphology also exhibited apoptotic activity in the treated group for both two time points. Gene expression analysis of CCNDI also demonstrated upregulation with 1.81-fold change. The data was supported by the in-silico analysis in which 25 relevant significant signalling pathways related to CCND1 highlighting the role of the gene in breast cancer development. CONCLUSION: CCND1 may have a function in signalling pathways that control the proliferation of mammary epithelial cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This study is aimed at testing Mechanical earth modeling (MEM) and Sand onset production prediction (SOP) models using well log and core data to estimate the mechanical properties of the rock, in-situ stresses and the critical conditions at which the rock failure may occur. New numerical models were developed to predict the onset of sand production for Well X. The outputs from MEM were coupled with the Mohr Coulomb failure criterion to calculate the critical wellbore pressure of the well and consequently the depth of the rock at which failure may occur. The results showed that at depth of 1061.68–1098.10 m, the calculated critical wellbore pressures were negatives, which reveal low possibility of sand production. However, at a depth of 1098.25–2230.89 m, the calculated critical wellbore pressures were positives. In this depth range, there was high possibility of rock failure. In conclusion, based on the findings, Well X may produce sand at depth deeper than 1100 m. Therefore, mitigation and preventive actions should be planned for Well X to handle and manage the possible sand production from the identified interval.

Abstract Hole cleaning is always a problem, particularly during drilling operations, and drilling fluid plays an important role in transporting drill cuttings through an annular section of wellbore to the surface. To transport the cuttings, a water-based mud with added polypropylene beads was selected since it is environmentally friendly and cost efficient. The polypropylene beads help to transport cuttings by providing an additional buoyancy force that lifts the cuttings to the surface via the influence of collision and drag forces. This experiment was performed using a 20 ft test section, 10 ppg drilling mud and 0.86 m/s annular velocity in a laboratory scale rig simulator, and the concentration of polypropylene beads was varied from 0 to 8 ppb. As the concentration of polypropylene increases, the cutting transport ratio also increases. It was observed that the fewest cuttings are lifted at a critical angle of 60°, followed by 45°, 30°, 90° and 0°. Additionally, cutting sizes had moderate effects on the cutting lifting efficiency, where smaller cutting sizes (0.5–1.0 mm) are easier to lift than larger cutting sizes (2.0–2.8 mm). Furthermore, a study of buoyancy force and impulsive force was conducted to investigate the cutting lifting efficiencies of various concentrations of polypropylene beads. This lifting capacity was also assisted by the presence of polyanionic cellulose (PAC), which increases the mud carrying capacity and is effective for smaller cuttings. The results show that in the presence of pipe rotation, the cutting lifting efficiency is slightly enhanced due to the orbital motion provided by the drill pipe for better hole cleaning. In conclusion, polypropylene beads combined with pipe rotation increase the cutting transport ratio in the wellbore.

Brucellosis is a highly contagious zoonosis that occurs worldwide. Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) has become a widely accepted molecular typing method for outbreak tracing and genomic epidemiology of brucellosis. Twenty-nine Brucella spp. (eight B. abortus biovar 1 and 21 B. melitensis biovar 3) were isolated from lymph nodes, milk, and fetal abomasal contents of infected cattle, buffaloes, sheep, and goats originating from nine districts in Egypt. The isolates were identified by microbiological methods and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). Differentiation and genotyping were confirmed using multiplex PCR. Illumina MiSeq® was used to sequence the 29 Brucella isolates. Using MLST typing, ST11 and ST1 were identified among B. melitensis and B. abortus, respectively. Brucella abortus and B. melitensis isolates were divided into two main clusters (clusters 1 and 2) containing two and nine distinct genotypes by core-genome SNP analysis, respectively. The genotypes were irregularly distributed over time and space in the study area. Both Egyptian B. abortus and B. melitensis isolates proved to be genomically unique upon comparison with publicly available sequencing from strains of neighboring Mediterranean, African, and Asian countries. The antimicrobial resistance mechanism caused by mutations in rpoB, gyrA, and gyrB genes associated with rifampicin and ciprofloxacin resistance were identified. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study investigating the epidemiology of Brucella isolates from livestock belonging to different localities in Egypt based on whole genome analysis.