Acute kidney injury (AKI) post-mRNA SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in patients with cancer, treated with immune check point inhibitor (ICPi): An immune double whammy!

Background: Immune check point inhibitors (ICPi) have become the first line treatment for most of the cancers and have shown promising results. However, they can provoke reactions, the most feared being immune related adverse events (irAE). Case presentation: We present a series of three cases, of patients recieving ICPi. All three patients developed AKI after administration of SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine. Two patients had kidney-biopsy-proven acute interstitial nephritis (AIN) which responded to ICPi discontinuation and treatment with steroids. One had presumed AIN based on the high levels of CRP and urine retinol binding protein to creatinine ratio and responded to cessation of ICPi alone. Conclusion(s): These three cases demonstrate that a strong immune response from the SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine combined with an uninhibited immune system under influence of ICPi led to an amplification of autoimmunity leading to AKI presenting as AIN.Copyright © The Author(s) 2022.

The Attitudes of Al Ain University Students to the Challenges of Distance Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic

This study explored The Attitudes University Students to the Challenges of Distance Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic, Al Ain University as a case study. To address this goal, we administered an electronic questionnaire to gather data on the technical, pedagogical, and social and physical environment challenges faced by the students. A random sample of 200 members was selected from the online student community, representing 5% of the whole (with a 60/40% female/male split). An analytical descriptive approach was used to assess the results. The main findings were that numerous distractions at home reduced the students' concentration during distance learning, and most faced technical problems with taking electronic exams and studying the curriculum. Students also found that the teaching methods did not suit the process of distance learning. More positively, they also believed that distance learning increased their ability to interact and participate because the barrier of fear was eliminated. These findings suggest several courses of action for modifying course descriptions and curricula to make strategies of teaching and evaluation more suited to distance learning. Such descriptions were designed for face-to-face learning and therefore changes are needed to cope with the requirements of increased amounts of distance learning and teaching. © 2022 IEEE.

Acute kidney injury (AKI) post-mRNA SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in patients with cancer, treated with immune check point inhibitor (ICPi): An immune double whammy!

Background: Immune check point inhibitors (ICPi) have become the first line treatment for most of the cancers and have shown promising results. However, they can provoke reactions, the most feared being immune related adverse events (irAE). Case presentation: We present a series of three cases, of patients recieving ICPi. All three patients developed AKI after administration of SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine. Two patients had kidney-biopsy-proven acute interstitial nephritis (AIN) which responded to ICPi discontinuation and treatment with steroids. One had presumed AIN based on the high levels of CRP and urine retinol binding protein to creatinine ratio and responded to cessation of ICPi alone. Conclusion(s): These three cases demonstrate that a strong immune response from the SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine combined with an uninhibited immune system under influence of ICPi led to an amplification of autoimmunity leading to AKI presenting as AIN. Copyright © The Author(s) 2022.

A Rare Case of Granulomatous Interstitial Nephritis in a Patient With COVID-19.

Acute kidney injury (AKI) in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is common, especially among severely ill patients. While acute tubular necrosis (ATN) is one of the most common findings in published kidney biopsy series for patients with COVID-19 infections, a number of glomerular pathologies have been described as well. Among glomerular pathologies in COVID-19, COVID-19-Associated Collapsing Glomerulopathy (COVAN) remains the most common pattern of injury. Patients with 2 high-risk APOL1 alleles appear to be at increased risk for COVAN, similar to other forms of collapsing glomerulopathy such as HIV-Associated Nephropathy. Acute interstitial nephritis (AIN) is a less common finding in patients with COVID-19 and reported cases have been mild. Reports of a subtype of AIN, granulomatous interstitial nephritis (GIN), among COVID-19 patients are extremely rare and have not been reported in association with COVAN. Here, we report a case of COVAN associated with severe GIN.

Investigation of Social Sustainability Factors in the Public Market during the Pandemic;the Case of Al Ain Market, UAE

Public markets have always been essential elements of city dynamics. This remains crucial even during the recent COVID19 pandemic, where public markets continue to socioeconomically sustain cities. While the COVID19 crisis caused additional uncertainties to city public spaces in general, public markets were resilient and continued to offer some sort of social interactions that requires in-depth investigation. Following a pilot study analysis, this paper aims to evaluate the impact and relevance of social sustainability factors, and resilience of public market in Al Ain city, in the United Arab Emirates, mainly during the COVID 19 pandemic. The research adopted a mixed-method approach to evaluate social sustainability's physical and non-physical factors in the Al Ain public market. To investigate the correlation between public space and people perception, a conceptual framework has been developed based on theories of social sustainability, urban resilience, human behavior, and public space. Accordingly, multiple research tools have been applied to assess social sustainability factors, such as field observations, interviews, and surveys. The study results indicate that although Al Ain public market maybe physically not fully utilized as a public space, it offers high adaptability and multiple social conditions for multiple users. This includes social cohesion and a source of place attachment where people connect with memories, they collected over years of visiting the market. The research concludes that Al Ain public market has partially achieved social sustainability factors retrieved from previous literature. The preliminary findings revealed yet more about the market adaptability and social sustainability factors, thus further research is ongoing to support generalization of outcomes in the context of UAE. © 2021 by the authors. Submitted for possible open access publication under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Challenges During Review of COVID-19 Research Proposals: Experience of Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University Research Ethics Committee, Egypt.

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in an overwhelming increase in research studies submitted to research ethics committees (RECs) presenting many ethical challenges. This article aims to report the challenges encountered during review of COVID-19 research and the experience of the Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University Research Ethics Committee (FMASU REC). From April 10, 2020, until October 13, 2020, the FMASU REC reviewed 98 COVID-19 research protocols. This article addressed the question of how to face an overwhelming amount of research submitted to the REC while applying the required ethical principles. Ethical challenges included a new accelerated mode of review, online meetings, balance of risks vs. benefits, measures to mitigate risks, co-enrolment in different studies, protection of a vulnerable COVID-19 population, accelerated decisions, online research, how to handle informed consent during the pandemic, and justification of placebo arm.