Tangerine (Citrus reticulata L.) Wastes: Chemistry, Properties and Applications

Horticultural crops, especially fruits and vegetables, are highly consumed as food and food products. These items are consumed either uncooked, partially cooked, or fully cooked, according to their nature and the cooking process. A large amount of waste is generated from fruit-and vegetable-based industries and household kitchens. According to the FAO, waste generated from fruits and vegetable processing is estimated by 25–30% of the total product. This waste is rich in active compounds and has high nutritional content. Utilization of this waste into beneficial by-products could represent an essential strategy for reducing significant dietary and economic loss as well as the negative environmental impacts. The most common wastes include pomace, peels, rind, and seeds are fabulously rich in valuable bioactive compounds such as carotenoids, enzymes, phenolics, essential oils, vitamins, and many other compounds. These bioactive compounds show their application in various industries, including food industries to develop edible films, health industries for probiotics, and other industries for valuable and natural products. The utilization of these low-cost waste for producing the high value-added product is a novel step in its sustainable utilization. Tangerine is commonly produced and consumed as fresh or processed worldwide. The Mediterranean area produces the best and high-quality tangerine in the world. It is a high vitamin C source and rich in nutrients and provides many medicinal and health benefits. According to the new information released by the FAO, considering the influences of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), populations with extreme starvation in the world will perhaps increase. Consequently, countries should gain proficiencies and try to reduce trade-related costs, for example, by reducing food waste and losses. Therefore, the present chapter intends to summarize the different types of waste originating from Tangerine (Citrus reticula L.) and highlight their potential in developing edible films, probiotics, nanoparticles, carbon dots, microbial media, biochar, and biosorbents. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.

Adverse effects of COVID-19 Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in children aged 5-18 years in Saudi Arabia

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) can infect children of all ages. Despite the fact that children have a lower risk of exposure and are tested less frequently than adults, their incidence is similar to that of adults. The most effective way to prevent COVID-19 infection is by vaccination. The study's objective was to document vaccination side effects in children aged 5 to 18 years. This cross-sectional study had 303 participating kids between the ages of 5 and 18 in its sample. During the months of March and April 2022, a validated modified questionnaire was circulated as a Google form to KSA citizens via social networking sites. The questionnaire asked questions about the participant's background, socio-demographic information, vaccination history, the mild and major adverse effects of the Pfizer vaccine and how those symptoms affected the child's health and quality of life. There was a total of 303 responses;all of them received two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech covid-19 vaccine. They were 163 female children (54 %) and 140 males (46 %). The most frequently reported minor adverse effects were body tiredness (88.2%), moderate fever (76.5%), mild headache (72.3%) and discomfort, redness and swelling at the injection site (90.7%). The most reported severe side effects were severe headache (32.8%) and high fever (21.8%). Only five children (4.2%) required hospitalization for 1-3 days. The most common side effects for the Pfizer Covid-19 were the mild and moderate one including pain, redness and swelling at the injection site, fatigue, fever and headache. Most of the symptoms were not severe to need hospital admission.

The Relation Between Creative Leadership and Crisis Management Among Faculty Members at Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University in Light of the Corona Pandemic from the Perspective of Department Heads

The current study aimed to reveal the relation between the practice of creative leadership style and crisis management among faculty members at Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University (IAU), from the perspective of the heads of academic departments. A descriptive correlative approach was used by applying a questionnaire to a random sample of (100) Head of Department, during the second semester of the academic year 1442/1443. The findings revealed that faculty members practice both creative leadership and crisis management to a high degree. The study recommended holding training courses for faculty members, creating incentives systems and rewards, stimulating creative leadership among faculty members in universities, and spreading a culture of creativity. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Oil price shocks and exchange rate dynamics: Evidence from decomposed and partial connectedness measures for oil importing and exporting economies

This paper introduces a novel framework of partial connectedness measures to investigate contagion dynamics between different types of oil price shocks and exchange rates. Oil price shocks are persistent net transmitters of shocks within the network. It is found that the oil shock net spillovers made up most of the net connectedness values in most countries during the pre-COVID-19 period. Both oil exporters and oil importers, without any exception, were all net receivers of shocks. However, during the COVID-19 era, there were significant differences within the groups of countries. It is also observed that the oil-risk shock transmits to the other two types of oil shocks in the pre-COVID-19 and during the COVID-19 periods. The results may have potential implications for traders. © 2023 Elsevier B.V.

Asymmetric relationship between green bonds and Sukuk markets: The role of global risk factors

This study investigates the asymmetric connectedness and spillover effects between two ethical fixed-income assets (Sukuk and green bonds) with regard to global risk factors using a sample of 15 Sukuk markets and green bond indices. This complex network allows us to examine the extreme risk spillover and interlinkages across green bonds and Sukuk under different market conditions, captures sudden upward changes in the total and net spillover indices and hence, serves as an alerting system for any impending crisis in relation to global risk factors. Empirical results indicate a persistency feature in the connectedness between Hong Kong and Malaysian, and UK and Nigerian Sukuk markets under different market conditions. More importantly, Sukuk and green bond markets are not largely affected by global risk factors in the middle, upper and lower quantiles. Findings from the portfolio analysis show that Sukuk is effective in hedging the risks of green bonds and global factors. These results of potential diversification characteristics and risk reduction benefits are robust and hold during the Covid-19 pandemic period. Finally, our findings are of paramount importance for investors who are interested in ethical investments as well as policymakers in order to maintain a stable and sound financial system. © 2022 The Author(s)

Microfluidic device for detection of COVID-19 detection in hospitals and medical labs

Background: COVID-19 is the current most prominent global health problem. Rapid and accurate diagnosis of disease is one of the most important factors in eliminating the spread of the virus;developing countries are currently facing many problems related to the high cost of PCR tests for COVID-19. Purpose(s): To develop a fast, accurate and low-cost method for making a PCR test for COVID-19. Method(s): The method was based on the use of the RPA (Recombinase Polymerase Amplification) method. By making a microfluidic device including restored (RPA) Mixture and immobilised probes designed for the RPA reaction to take place inside. The experiments were conducted on 20 clinical samples, and conducted at the Faculty of Pharmacy, Tanta University. Result(s): The results were identical in approximately 90% of the samples used and results were available after 30 minutes at normal room temperature. The results were read by measuring the level of the precipitate of the RPA reaction products resulting from the interaction of the reaction mixture with the Viral RNA. Conclusion(s): This method is considered one of the fastest ways to detect COVID19 infection and it is the least expensive and can be used in developing countries and as point-of-care testing.

Toward the Discovery of SARS-CoV-2 Main Protease Inhibitors: Exploring Therapeutic Potentials of Evodiamine and Its Derivatives, Virtual Screening, Molecular Docking, and Molecular Dynamic Studies

Continuous scientific research is necessary to help in the discovery of new promising remedies for the treatment of COVID-19, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. This current research was aimed at identifying potential novel inhibitors of the SARS-CoV-2 main protease, which represents one of the most important targets in the viral life cycle. Protein data bank file ID: 7JQ2 was used containing the co-crystallized inhibitor MPI5 with the Main protease. A virtual screening process for natural evodiamine compounds was performed through absorption, distribution, metabolism, elimination, and toxicity studies, and the promising hits were docked into the binding site of the enzyme. 13-(4-Chlorobenzoyl)-10-hydroxy-14-methyl-8,13,13b,14-tetrahydroindolo[2',3':3,4]pyrido[2,1-b]-quinazolin-5(7H)-one (29) interacted favorably with the enzyme;it showed high similarity to MPI5. Molecular dynamic simulations for 29 proved the stability of its binding to SARS-CoV-2 protease over 100 ns;subsequent MMGBSA analysis also supported this principle. Furthermore, 29 elucidated higher limiting action on enzymatic behavior throughout the whole process when compared to MPI5. This provides sufficient evidence for the potential of evodiamine compounds in modern antiviral research, especially compound 29, against the modern COVID-19 pandemic. Copyright © The Author(s) 2022.

A Case Report of Electrical Storm Post-Covid-19 Vaccination

INTRODUCTION: Post-vaccination arrhythmia is reported as a possible cardiovascular side effect of COVID-19 vaccination. We present a case of ventricular tachycardia (VT) storm in a young healthy man following the 2nd dose of COVID-19 vaccination in the absence of underlying structural heart disease, myocarditis or arrhythmic syndromes. DESCRIPTION: A 38-year-old male with no medical history was admitted after an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and found to be in VT storm within 24 hours of receiving his 2nd dose of COVID-19 vaccination. He received 4 shocks en route and had another episode of pulseless VT on arrival where Amiodarone was initiated. Laboratory values showed elevated inflammatory markers, and COVID tests were negative. Troponin peaked at 1.5 ng/ml. Initial transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE) revealed normal left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) without regional wall motion abnormality. On Day 2, he developed VT storm and was given magnesium sulfate, lidocaine and an additional bolus of amiodarone. Repeat TTE revealed a significant decrease in EF. He became hypotensive requiring inotropes and was emergently taken to the cath lab where intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) and temporary transvenous pacing (TVP) were placed. Cardiac catheterization revealed normal coronary arteries, elevated left ventricular end diastolic pressure and mildly dilated LV with global hypokinesis and EF of 30%. His condition slowly improved without further occurrences of VT storm. Follow up TTE revealed normal LVEF, IABP and TVP were removed, and he was extubated. Cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging showed no evidence of myocarditis with normal LV size. An automatic implantable cardioverter-defibrillator was placed. Genetic testing for Brugada syndrome was negative. DISCUSSION: VT storm typically occurs with underlying structural heart disease, inherited arrhythmic syndromes or myocarditis, and is often difficult to identify a specific trigger. Although this is the first case report of VT storm occurring after the COVID-19 vaccine, it is important to note that the lack of a definitive test to diagnose myocarditis such as biopsy is a major limiting factor. This case report also supports the need for structured studies regarding a possible relationship between VT storm and COVID-19 vaccination.

COVID-19 Literature Knowledge Graph Construction and Drug Repurposing Report Generation

To combat COVID-19, both clinicians and scientists need to digest vast amounts of relevant biomedical knowledge in scientific literature to understand the disease mechanism and related biological functions. We have developed a novel and comprehensive knowledge discovery framework, COVID-KG to extract fine-grained multimedia knowledge elements (entities and their visual chemical structures, relations and events) from scientific literature. We then exploit the constructed multimedia knowledge graphs (KGs) for question answering and report generation, using drug repurposing as a case study. Our framework also provides detailed contextual sentences, subfigures, and knowledge subgraphs as evidence. All of the data, KGs, reports(1), resources, and shared services are publicly available(2).

International Collaboration for Thoracic Oncology Education

Introduction: The International Thoracic Oncology Nursing Forum (ITONF) is an international lung cancer nursing organization with a mission to educate nurses around the world about caring for patients with thoracic cancers. The mission of ITONF is accomplished through educational workshops, online educational modules and networking opportunities. Methods: During 2020-2021 ITONF had been collaborating with the Mersal Cancer Center in Egypt to provide an educational program to educate Egyptian oncology nurses on the latest treatments in thoracic cancers as well as nursing management strategies. This was based on a regional need’s assessment. Due to the COVID pandemic, as well as practical needs, a hybrid delivery was required. ITONF developed 5 learning modules to meet identified needs. Educational modules with detailed slides were pre-recorded and presented to the Egyptian nurses during an educational conference. Results: A total of 18 Egyptian nurses and social workers attended the conference. Participants viewed the 5 educational modules, each covering a different topic about lung cancer. On the final day of the conference, 3 ITONF presenters joined the conference via Zoom for a live question and answer session. One Egyptian nurse was present to translate questions and facilitate an interactive discussion. During the question and answer session, expert international thoracic oncology nurses from the United States and Australia were able to provide valuable nursing education and answer questions. The Egyptian nurses submitted feedback after the completion of the conference with positive results and constructive feedback. Also, several nurses joined the ITONF organization and have since attended ITONF virtual webinars. Conclusions: ITONF serves as a unified source of international thoracic oncology nurses eager to provide education to any country or organization using a robust educational program. The collaboration with the Mersal Cancer Center in Egypt was the first customized educational program to fit the needs of the Egyptian nurses. During the pandemic, when in person educational opportunities were limited, ITONF collaborated internationally to meet the needs of thoracic oncology nurses. Based on the positive feedback, ITONF feels that this effort can be replicated for other countries and cancer centers. A hybrid educational model of live meetings, recordings, and live-streaming education is a practical model for international oncology nursing education. [Formula presented] Keywords: ITONF, Mersal Cancer Center, Collaboration

The Increasing Prevalence of Diabetes Mellitus in COVID-19 Patients: Why?

Coronavirus infection disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by SARS COV-2 and it has been increasing continuously in a number of cases and mortalities. COVID-19 had caused more than 197 million infections and 4 million deaths. This study aimed to assess the prevalence, risk factors and outcome of Diabetes Meletus (DM) among COVID-19 patients. Prospective, cross-sectional, hospital-based study conducted in which 400 COVID-19 patients enrolled in COVID-19 isolation centers in North Sudan. In this study, we noticed that most of the participants were males and constituted 275 (68.9%) of the study participants, the majority of participants' ages ranged were between 40 to 60 years and was 150 (37.4%). The prevalence of DM was found to be 49.25% among the study participants. Diabetics were significantly more likely to have a respiratory rate higher than 30 (P=0.012), and oxygen saturation less than 93% (P<0.001), to develop shock (P=0.004), to require oxygen therapy (P<0.001), to be intubated (P<0.001), to develop respiratory failure and organ failure (P<0.001), and to have a poorer outcome (P<0.001). New-onset diabetes occurred in 20 (5%) participants and their mortality was higher compared to non-patients with diabetes (P=0.04). The total mortality of participants was 15.8%, factors associated with poorer outcomes were older age (P<0.001), and having type I diabetes (P=0.025). The prevalence of diabetes is very high among COVID-19 patients, and is associated with a more severe disease and a poorer outcome. New onset diabetes was associated with poorer outcomes compared to non-diabetics. More researches requested to discover more risk factors and complications associated with Covid-19.

The Increasing Prevalence of DM in COVID-19 Patients: Is it a Matter of Diabetogenicity?

Background: COVID-19 had made more than 197 million infections and 4 million deaths. Therefore, we need to assess the prevalence of DM among COVID-19 patients and its effect on the outcome. Objectives: We aim to assess the prevalence, risk factors and outcome of diabetes among COVID-19 patients. Methods: This was a prospective, cross-sectional, hospital-based study enrolled 400 COVID-19 patients and was conducted in COVID-19 isolation centers in North Sudan. Results: Males constituted 275 (68.9%) of the study participants, and the majority of participants were aged between 40 and 60 years 150(37.4%). The prevalence of DM was found to be 49.25% in the study participants. Diabetics were significantly more likely to have a respiratory rate higher than 30 (P=0.012), and oxygen saturation less than 93% (P<0.001), to develop shock (P=0.004), to require oxygen therapy (P<0.001), to be in tubated (P<0.001), to develop respiratory failure and organ failure (P<0.001), and to have a poorer outcome (P<0.001). New-onset diabetes occurred in 20 (5%) participants and their mortality was higher compared to non-patients with diabetes (P=0.04). The total mortality of participants was 15.8%. Factors associated with poorer outcome were older age (P<0.001), and having type I diabetes (P=0.025). Conclusion: The prevalence of diabetes is very high among COVID-19 patients, and is associated with a more severe disease and a poorer outcome. New onset diabetes was associated with poorer outcome compared to non-diabetics.

A COVID-19 Visual Diagnosis Model Based on Deep Learning and GradCAM

Recently, the whole world was hit by COVID-19 pandemic that led to health emergency everywhere. During the peak of the early waves of the pandemic, medical and healthcare departments were overwhelmed by the number of COVID-19 cases that exceeds their capacity. Therefore, new rules and techniques are urgently required to help in receiving, filtering and diagnosing patients. One of the decisive steps in the fight against COVID-19 is the ability to detect patients early enough and selectively put them under special care. Symptoms of this disease can be observed in chest X-rays. However, it is sometimes difficult and tricky to differentiate ?only? pneumonia patients from COVID-19 patients. Machine-learning can be very helpful in carrying out this task. In this paper, we tackle the problem of COVID-19 diagnostics following a data-centric approach. For this purpose, we construct a diversified dataset of chest X-ray images from publicly available datasets and by applying data augmentation techniques. Then, we employ a transfer learning approach based on a pre-trained convolutional neural network (DenseNet-169) to detect COVID-19 in chest X-ray images. In addition to that, we employ Gradient-weighted Class Activation Mapping (GradCAM) to provide visual inspection and explanation of the predictions made by our deep learning model. The results were evaluated against various metrics such as sensitivity, specificity, Positive Predictive Value (PPV), Negative Predictive Value (NPV) and the confusion matrix. The resulting models has achieved an average detection accuracy close to 98.82%. ? 2022 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.

Title Favipiravir for the Treatment of Coronavirus Disease 2019;A Propensity Score Matched Cohort Study

Background. We investigated clinical outcomes of favipiravir in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia. Methods. Patients who between 23 May 2020 and 18 July 2020 received ≥24 hours of favipiravir were assigned to the favipiravir group, while those who did not formed the non-favipiravir group. The primary outcome was 28-day clinical improvement, defined as two-category improvement from baseline on an 8-point ordinal scale. Propensity scores (PS) for favipiravir therapy were used for 1:1 matching. Cox regression was used to examine associations with the primary endpoint. Results. The unmatched cohort included 1,493 patients, of which 51.7% were in the favipiravir group, and 48.3% were not receiving supplemental oxygen at baseline (table 1). Favipiravir was started within a median of 5 days from symptoms onset. Significant baseline differences between the two unmatched groups existed, but not between the PSmatched groups (N = 774) (table 1). After PS-matching, there were no significant differences between the two groups in the proportion with 28-day clinical improvement (93.3% versus 92.8%, P 0.780), or 28-day all-cause mortality (2.1% versus 3.1%, P 0.360) (Table 2). Favipiravir was associated with more viral clearance by day 28 (79.8% versus 64.1%, P < 0.001) (table 2). In the adjusted Cox proportional hazards model, favipiravir therapy was not associated 28-day clinical improvement (adjusted hazard ratio 0.978, 95% confidence interval 0.862 -1.109, P 0.726) (Table 3). Conclusion. Favipiravir therapy for COVID-19 pneumonia is well tolerated but is not associated with an increased likelihood of clinical improvement or reduced allcause mortality by 28 days.

Cytokine profile in Egyptian children and adolescents with COVID-19 pneumonia: A multicenter study.

BACKGROUND: To date, the cytokine profile in children and adolescent with novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has not been reported. OBJECTIVES: We investigated serum levels of a panel of key cytokines in children and adolescent with COVID-19 pneumonia with a primary focus on "cytokine storm" cytokines such as interleukin (IL)-1ß, IL-6, IL-17, IL-2, IL-4, IL-10, interferon (IFN-γ), tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, and two chemokines interferon-inducible protein-10 (IP-10) and IL-8. We also studied whether these cytokines could be potential markers for illness severity in COVID-19 pneumonia. METHODS: Ninety-two symptomatic patients aged less than 18 years with confirmed COVID-19 pneumonia and 100 well-matched healthy controls were included in this multi-center study. For all patients, the presence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in respiratory fluid specimens was detected by real-time reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. We measured serum concentrations of studied cytokines by using flow cytometry. RESULTS: Patients with COVID-19 had significantly higher median IL-1ß, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-17, TNF-α, and IP-10 serum levels than did control children (all p < 0.01). Patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia had significantly higher median IL-1ß, IL-6, and IP-10 serum levels as compared with those with moderate COVID-19 pneumonia; all p < 0.01. ROC analysis revealed that three of the studied markers (IL-6, IL-1ß, and IP-10) could predict severe COVID-19 pneumonia cases with the largest AUC for IL-6 of 0.893 (95% confidence interval: 0.84-0.98; p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Our study shows that pediatric patients with COVID-19 pneumonia have markedly elevated serum IL-1ß, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-17, TNF-α, and IP-10 levels at the initial phase of the illness indicating a cytokine storm following SARS-CoV-2 infection. Moreover, serum IL-6, IL-1ß, and IP-10 concentrations were independent predictors for severe COVID-19 pneumonia.

Inspiratory muscle training for recovered COVID-19 patients after weaning from mechanical ventilation: A pilot control clinical study.

BACKGROUND: To the best of our knowledge, no studies have evaluated the effects of inspiratory muscle training (IMT) on recovered COVID-19 patients after weaning from mechanical ventilation. Therefore, this study assessed the efficacy of IMT on recovered COVID-19 patients following mechanical ventilation. METHODS: Forty-two recovered COVID-19 patients (33 men and 9 women) weaned from mechanical ventilation with a mean age of 48.05 ±â€Š8.85 years were enrolled in this pilot control clinical study. Twenty-one patients were equipped to 2-week IMT (IMT group) and 21 matched peers were recruited as a control (control group). Forced vital capacity (FVC%), forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1%), dyspnea severity index (DSI), quality of life (QOL), and six-minute walk test (6-MWT) were assessed initially before starting the study intervention and immediately after intervention. RESULTS: Significant interaction effects were observed in the IMT when compared to control group, FVC% (F = 5.31, P = .041, ηP2 = 0.13), FEV1% (F = 4.91, P = .043, ηP2 = 0.12), DSI (F = 4.56, P = .032, ηP2 = 0.15), QOL (F = 6.14, P = .021, ηP2 = 0.17), and 6-MWT (F = 9.34, P = .028, ηP2 = 0.16). Within-group analysis showed a significant improvement in the IMT group (FVC%, P = .047, FEV1%, P = .039, DSI, P = .001, QOL, P < .001, and 6-MWT, P < .001), whereas the control group displayed nonsignificant changes (P > .05). CONCLUSIONS: A 2-week IMT improves pulmonary functions, dyspnea, functional performance, and QOL in recovered intensive care unit (ICU) COVID-19 patients after consecutive weaning from mechanical ventilation. IMT program should be encouraged in the COVID-19 management protocol, specifically with ICU patients.

Effect of COVID-19 stressors on healthcare workers’ performance and attitude at Suez Canal university hospitals

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 is an emerging respiratory disease caused by a novel coronavirus effect on 10-20% of total healthcare workers and was first detected in December 2019 in Wuhan, China. This study was designed to assess effect of COVID-19 stressors on healthcare workers’ performance and attitude. A descriptive cross sectional research design was used. A convenient sample (all available healthcare workers) physicians “112,”, nurses “183,” pharmacists “31,” and laboratory technicians “38” was participated to conduct aim of the study. Utilize the study with two tools;online self-administrated questionnaire to assess level of knowledge, attitude, and infection control measures regarding coronavirus disease 2019 and COVID-19 stress scales to assess the varied stressors among healthcare workers. Results: More than three quarter of the studied participants had satisfactory level of knowledge and infection control measures. Approximately all of the studied participants had positive attitude regarding COVID-19. A total of 57.4% of the studied medical participants had moderate COVID-19 psychological stress levels, while 49.1% of the studied paramedical participants had moderate COVID-19 psychological stress levels. But less than one quarter had severe COVID-19 psychological stress levels. There is a significant correlation between COVID-19 psychological stressor levels and satisfactory level of knowledge among medical participants. Conclusion/implications for practice: Most of healthcare workers had satisfactory level of knowledge, infection control measures, and positive attitude regarding COVID-19. Most of them had moderate COVID-19 psychological stress levels. © 2021, The Author(s).