Small and overlooked: Phylogeny of the genus Trigonodactylus (Squamata: Gekkonidae), with the first record of Trigonodactylus arabicus from Jordan

Geckos of the genus Trigonodactylus are widely distributed in the sand deserts of the Arabian Peninsula. Three species of this genus are currently recognized, with a fourth one, Stenodactylus pulcher, which placement within Trigonodactylus has been tentatively suggested, but not yet confirmed. We present a phylogenetic analysis of the genus Trigonodactylus with new specimens collected in central Saudi Arabia and southern Jordan. New genetic data has been generated from three mitochondrial markers to investigate the phylogenetic relationships of all species of the genus and to assess the putative generic assignment of S. pulcher. Our results confirm that S. pulcher indeed belongs within Trigonodactylus, branching as a sister lineage to all other species of the genus. The new samples cluster within Trigonodactylus arabicus, thus confirming the genetic homogeneity of the species across its large and seemingly inhospitable range. The new specimen collected in southern Jordan represents the first record for the country and a considerable range extension to the northwest from all previously reported localities. Our findings and discovery of a new species for Jordan highlight the need of more field surveys to be carried out in the underexplored parts of Jordan and northern Saudi Arabia, as these places still hold a potential for new discoveries and are crucial for understating the biogeography of the Arabian herpetofauna.     

Virological surveillance,molecular phylogeny,and evolutionary dynamics of hepatitis C virus subtypes 1a and 4a isolates in patients from Saudi Arabia

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) subtypes are pre-requisite to predict endemicity, epidemiology, clinical pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment of chronic hepatitis C infection. HCV genotypes 4 and 1 are the most prevalent in Saudi Arabia, however; less consensus data exist on circulating HCV subtypes in infected individuals. This study was aimed to demonstrate the virological surveillance, phylogenetic analysis, and evolutionary relationship of HCV genotypes 4 and 1 subtypes in the Saudi population with the rest of the world. Fifty-five clinical specimens from different parts of the country were analyzed based on 5′ untranslated region (5′ UTR) amplification, direct sequencing, and for molecular evolutionary genetic analysis. Pair-wise comparison and multiple sequence alignment were performed to determine the nucleotide conservation, nucleotide variation, and positional mutations within the sequenced isolates. The evolutionary relationship of sequenced HCV isolates with referenced HCV strains from the rest of the world was established by computing pairwise genetic distances and generating phylogenetic trees. Twelve new sequences were submitted to GenBank, NCBI database. The results revealed that HCV subtype 4a is more prevalent preceded by 1a in the Saudi population. Molecular phylogeny predicts the descendants’ relationship of subtype 4a isolates very close to Egyptian prototype HCV strains, while 1a isolates were homogeneous and clustering to the European and North American genetic lineages. The implications of this study highlight the importance of HCV subtyping as an indispensable tool to monitor the distribution of viral strains, to determine the risk factors of infection prevalence, and to investigate clinical differences of treatment outcomes among intergenotypic and intragenotypic isolates in the treated population.     

Mn3O4 nanoparticles: Synthesis,characterization and their antimicrobial and anticancer activity against A549 and MCF-7 cell lines

Due to their inexpensive and eco-friendly nature, and existence of manganese in various oxidation states and their natural abundance have attained significant attention for the formation of Mn₃O₄ nanoparticles (Mn₃O₄ NPs). Herein, we report the preparation of Mn₃O₄ nanoparticles using manganese nitrate as a precursor material by utilization of a precipitation technique. The as-prepared Mn₃O₄ nanoparticles (Mn₃O₄ NPs) were characterized by using X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), UV–Visible spectroscopy (UV–Vis), High-Resolution Transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), Thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The antimicrobial properties of the as-synthesized Mn₃O₄ nanoparticles were investigated against numerous bacterial and fungal strains including S. aureus, E. coli, B. subtilis, P. aeruginosa, A. flavus and C. albicans. The Mn₃O₄ NPs inhibited the growth of S. aureus with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 40 μg/ml and C. albicans with a MIC of 15 μg/ml. Furthermore, the Mn₃O₄ NPs anti-cancer activity was examined using MTT essay against A549 lung and MCF-7 breast cancer cell lines. The Mn₃O₄ NPs revealed significant activity against the examined cancer cell lines A549 and MCF-7. The IC₅₀ values of Mn₃O₄ NPs with A549 cell line was found at concentration of 98 µg/mL and MCF-7 cell line was found at concentration of 25 µg/mL.     

Development of unit cost for the health services offered at King FAHD Central hospital Jazan,Saudi Arabia

BackgroundEfficiency remains one of the most important drivers of decision making in health care system. Fund allocators need to receive structured information about the cost healthcare services from hospitals for better decisions related to resource allocation and budgeting. The objective of the study was to estimate the unit cost for health services offered to inpatients in King Fahd Central hospital (KFCH) Jazan during the financial year 2018.MethodsWe applied a retrospective approach using a top-down costing method to estimate the cost of health care services. Clinical and Administrative departments divided into cost centres, and the unit cost was calculated by dividing the total cost of final care cost centres into the total number of patients discharged in one year. The average cost of inpatient services was calculated based on the average cost of each ward and the number of patients treated.ResultsThe average cost per patient stayed in KFCH was SAR 19,034, with the highest cost of SAR 108,561 for patients in the Orthopedic ward. The average cost of the patient in the Surgery ward, Plastic surgery, Neurosurgery, Medical ward, Pediatric ward and Gynecology ward was SAR 33,033, SAR 29,425, SAR 23,444, SAR 20,450, SAR 9579 and SAR 8636 respectively.ConclusionThis study provides necessary information about the cost of health care services in a tertiary care setting. This information can be used as a primary tool and reference for further studies in other regions of the country. Hence, this data can help to provide a better understanding of tertiary hospital costing in the region to achieve the privatization objective.     

Envenomation and the bite rate by venomous snakes in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia over the period (2015–2018)

Snakebite being medical emergency and known cause for increased mortality needs assessment and treatment on high-priority bases, even in patients of snakebite who appear fine initially. The current retrospective study presents the snake bites in Saudi Arabia from 2015 to 2018 reported by General Administration of Statistics and Information, Ministry of Health, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The data presented in the current study, was extracted, analyzed, and reported after getting ethical approval from institutional committee. Totally, 14,679 cases of snakebites were reported during the four-year study period, with a higher prevalence in males (80%) in their productive age. Most patients were within the age group between 25 and 44 followed by 44 to 64 years. The majority of snakebite affected inhabitants were reported from farms of the rural areas, commonly during night hours of spring and summer seasons when snakes are very active. Only 36 (0.24%) patients out of 14,679 were reported dead and 14,643 (99.63%) were discharged after the treatment. Awareness among the general public should be encouraged and early diagnosis and usage of proper snake antivenoms could be life-saving. The delay in appropriate treatment can lead to significant morbidity and mortality.     

Foliar application of ascorbic acid enhances salinity stress tolerance in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) through modulation of morpho-physio-biochemical attributes,ions uptake,osmo-protectants and stress response genes expression

Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is a major cereal grain and is known as a halophyte (a halophyte is a salt-tolerant plant that grows in soil or waters of high salinity). We therefore conducted a pot experiment to explore plant growth and biomass, photosynthetic pigments, gas exchange attributes, stomatal properties, oxidative stress and antioxidant response and their associated gene expression and absorption of ions in H. Vulgare. The soil used for this analysis was artificially spiked at different salinity concentrations (0, 50, 100 and 150 mM) and different levels of ascorbic acid (AsA) were supplied to plants (0, 30 and 60 mM) shortly after germination of the seed. The results of the present study showed that plant growth and biomass, photosynthetic pigments, gas exchange parameters, stomatal properties and ion uptake were significantly (p < 0.05) reduced by salinity stress, whereas oxidative stress was induced in plants by generating the concentration of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in plant cells/tissues compared to plants grown in the control treatment. Initially, the activity of antioxidant enzymes and relative gene expression increased to a saline level of 100 mM, and then decreased significantly (P < 0.05) by increasing the saline level (150 mM) in the soil compared to plants grown at 0 mM of salinity. We also elucidated that negative impact of salt stress in H. vulgare plants can overcome by the exogenous application of AsA, which not only increased morpho-physiological traits but decreased oxidative stress in the plants by increasing activities of enzymatic antioxidants. We have also explained the negative effect of salt stress on H. vulgare can decrease by exogenous application of AsA, which not only improved morpho-physiological characteristics, ions accumulation in the roots and shoots of the plants, but decreased oxidative stress in plants by increasing antioxidant compounds (enzymatic and non-enzymatic). Taken together, recognizing AsA's role in nutrient uptake introduces new possibilities for agricultural use of this compound and provides a valuable basis for improving plant tolerance and adaptability to potential salinity stress adjustment.     

Polymorphism of Fecundity Genes (FecB,FecX, and FecG) in the Indian Bonpala Sheep

The 37-kDa laminin receptor precursor/67-kDa laminin receptor (LRP/LR, also known as ribosomal protein SA, RPSA) has been reported to be involved in cancer development and prion internalization. Previous studies have shown that the LRP/LR is expressed in a wide variety of tissues. In particular, expression of LRP/LR mRNA may be closely related to the degree of PrP^Sc propagation. This study presents a detailed investigation of the LRP/LR mRNA expression levels in eleven normal ovine tissues. Using real-time quantitative PCR, the highest LRP/LR expression was found in neocortex (p < 0.05). Slightly lower levels were found in the heart and obex. Intermediate levels were seen in hippocampus, cerebellum, spleen, thalamus, mesenteric lymph node, and the lowest levels were present in liver, kidney, and lung. In general, the LRP/LR mRNA levels were much higher in neuronal tissues than in peripheral tissues. The observation that differences in LRP/LR mRNA expression levels are consistent with the corresponding variation in PrP^Sc accumulation suggests that the 37-kDa/67-kDa laminin receptor may be involved in the regulation of PrP^Sc propagation.     

Characteristics of microbial fermentation and potential digestibility of fiber in the hindgut of dugongs (Dugong dugon)

The number of microorganisms in the hindgut of dugongs (Dugong dugon) were estimated and their in vitro volatile fatty acid (VFA) production and degradation of eelgrass measured. Scanning electron microscopy showed that some rod bacteria attached to the surface of plant tissue degraded and eroded the cell walls. Number of starch-, lactate-, cellobiose-, pectin-, xylan- and cellulose-utilizing bacteria, sulfate-reducing bacteria and methane-producing bacteria were estimated at 10⁹ ～ 10¹⁰ colony forming units g^?1. Microorganisms degraded the cellulose and noncellulolytic components of the eelgrass, and about 47.3% of dry matter was degraded after 36?h in vitro incubation. The total VFA concentration was 10.5?mmol?dL^?1 at 36?h incubation, which included 55.7?mol% acetate, 18.0?mol% n-butyrate and 15.1?mol% propionate. The gas composition of in vitro fermentation was 68.4% carbon dioxide, 22.2% methane and 9.4% hydrogen.