A Review of COVID-19-Related Literature on Freight Transport: Impacts, Mitigation Strategies, Recovery Measures, and Future Research Directions.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant disruptions in the freight transport sector. The number of studies on the impact of COVID-19 on freight transport and possible mitigation strategies are growing. However, a systematic and comprehensive review highlighting the research themes, main findings, research methods, and future research directions of these studies remains scarce. Therefore, this study presents a mixed review comprising scientometric and systematic reviews to cover these research gaps. Results show that 68 studies have been published on this topic since the beginning of 2020 and that they cover three main themes: the impacts of COVID-19 on freight transport, mitigation strategies, and recovery during and after COVID-19. In addition, we describe the research methods, main findings, and possible research directions in each of them. Thus, the findings of our work present both theoretical and practical analyses of COVID-19-related research on freight transport and provide important future research directions in this domain.

Geospatial analysis of wetlands based on land use/land cover dynamics using remote sensing and GIS in Sindh, Pakistan.

In this study, the Land Use/Land Cover (LULC) change has been observed in wetlands comprises of Manchar Lake, Keenjhar Lake, and Chotiari Reservoir in Pakistan over the last four decades from 1972 to 2020. Each wetland has been categorized into four LULC classes; water, natural vegetation, agriculture land, and dry land. Multitemporal Landsat satellite data including; Multi-Spectral Scanner (MSS), Thematic Mapper (TM), and Operational Land Imager (OLI) images were used for LULC changes evaluation. The Supervised Maximum-likelihood classifier method is used to acquire satellite imagery for detecting the LULC changes during the whole study period. Soil adjusted vegetation index technique (SAVI) was also used to reduce the effects of soil brightness values for estimating the actual vegetation cover of each study site. Results have shown the significant impact of human activities on freshwater resources by changing the natural ecosystem of wetlands. Change detection analysis showed that the impacts on the land cover affect the landscape of the study area by about 40% from 1972 to 2020. The vegetation cover of Manchar Lake and Keenjhar Lake has been decreased by 6,337.17 and 558.18 ha, respectively. SAVI analysis showed that soil profile is continuously degrading which vigorously affects vegetation cover within the study area. The overall classification accuracy and Kappa statistics showed an accuracy of >90% for all LULC mapping studies. This work demonstrates the LULC changes as a critical monitoring basis for ongoing analyses of changes in land management to enable decision-makers to establish strategies for effectively using land resources.

Clinical Findings and Outcomes of Palatal Repair in 9 Patients With Van der Woude Syndrome.

INTRODUCTION: Van der Woude syndrome (VWS), an autosomal dominant condition associated with clefts of the lip and/or palate and lower lip pits, is caused by mutations in interferon regulatory factor 6 gene. It is reported to be the most common syndromic cleft worldwide. This case series presents the phenotypic characteristics and treatment outcomes in a group of 9 patients diagnosed with VWS. METHODS: A retrospective review was performed on records of patients given a diagnosis of VWS presenting to the Department of Plastic Surgery of Sohag University between July 2009 and November 2019. Data analyses included age and sex of affected patients, type of the cleft, associated anomalies, presence of lower lip pits, and history of lower lip pits/cleft in the family and treatment outcomes. RESULTS: The study identified 9 patients (male = 2, female = 7). Age at first presentation ranged between 1 week and 7 years (mean = 1.3 years). Four patients had bilateral cleft lip and palate and 1 patient had unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP), whereas 4 patients had isolated cleft palate. Bilateral lower lip pits were presented in 8 patients, whereas the ninth patient has unilateral pit. Family history was positive in 3 patients. Most patients in this study developed after palatal repair speech problems with an increased rate of secondary surgical procedures needed for correction of velopharyngeal insufficiency. CONCLUSIONS: All reviewed cases of VWS presented with lower lip pits and cleft palate with or without cleft lip. A positive family history of similar conditions was demonstrated in 33.3% of our patients. This study suggests an increased incidence of secondary palatal surgeries for velopharyngeal insufficiency in patients with VWS; this warrant further studies including control group of nonsyndromic cleft patients.

Perforator-Based Pedicled Cross-Leg Flaps in Pediatric Patients: A New Idea to Increase Flap Reach.

BACKGROUND: Distal lower limb reconstruction is one of the most difficult and challenging tasks in plastic surgery. Despite the continuous advances in microsurgical techniques, pedicled cross-leg flaps still have a major role particularly in pediatric patients. Many techniques have been described to maximize the potential of the cross-leg flaps. The introduction of fasciocutaneous flaps has provided more potentials and made lower leg reconstruction easier and more successful. The description of perforator system in the leg has also made a revolution in the regional reconstruction. In this report, we present a new modification that increases the reach and facilitates the inset of the flaps. METHODS: The flap is taken from the posteromedial skin of the middle third of the leg. The design is determined by the location, size, and shape of the defect. The base of the flap should contain at least 2 perforators located by Doppler device. After elevation of the fasciocutaneous flap, 2 back cuts are performed in the upper and lower edge of the flap base preserving the 2 previously located perforators. RESULTS: Fifty patients, 32 males and 18 females, were reviewed and presented. Age of the patients ranged from 4 to 13 years and the defect size ranged from 20 to 130 cm. All flaps survived with 3 flaps had mild marginal ischemia, 2 flaps had mild infection, and 1 flap had partial dehiscence. CONCLUSIONS: Back cuts made at the edges of the base of a cross-leg flap, preserving the feeding perforators, can increase the flap reach without jeopardizing its viability. It is also an easy to do technique and does not require any extra equipment or time.

GAD: A Python Script for Dividing Genome Annotation Files into Feature-Based Files.

Nowadays, the manipulation and analysis of genomic data stored in publicly accessible repositories have become a daily task in genomics and bioinformatics laboratories. Due to the enormous advancement in the field of genome sequencing and the emergence of many projects, bioinformaticians have pushed for the creation of a variety of programs and pipelines that will automatically analyze such big data, in particular the pipelines of gene annotation. Dealing with annotation files using easy and simple programs is very important, particularly for non-developers, enhancing the genomic data analysis acceleration. One of the first tasks required to work with genomic annotation files is to extract different features. In this regard, we have developed GAD ( https://github.com/bio-projects/GAD ) using Python to be a fast, easy, and controlled script that has a high ability to handle annotation files such as GFF3 and GTF. GAD is a cross-platform graphical interface tool used to extract genome features such as intergenic regions, upstream, and downstream genes. Besides, GAD finds all names of ambiguous sequence ontology, and either extracts them or considers them as genes or transcripts. The results are produced in a variety of file formats, such as BED, GTF, GFF3, and FASTA, supported by other bioinformatics programs. The GAD can handle large sizes of different genomes and an infinite number of files with minimal user effort. Therefore, our script could be integrated into various pipelines in all genomic laboratories to accelerate data analysis.

Synthesis and evaluation of some new 1,3,4-oxadiazoles bearing thiophene, thiazole, coumarin, pyridine and pyridazine derivatives as antiviral agents.

In an attempt to produce heterocyclic compounds based on 1,3,4-oxadiazole derivatives with potential antiviral activity, synthesis of compound 1 [2-(5-thioxo-4,5-dihydro-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-yl)acetonitrile] was performed through the reaction of cyanoacetic acid hydrazide with carbon disulfide in alcoholic potassium hydroxide. Compound 1 has an activating methylene group, so it was directed toward some specific reactions. Thus, aryldiazonium chlorides reacted with compound 1 affording hydrazono derivatives 2a-c. Also, aromatic aldehydes reacted with compound 1 to produce compounds 3a,b. Furthermore, cyclic ketones were subjected to the synthesis of fused thiophene derivatives 4a,b via reaction with compound 1 in the presence of elemental sulfur. In addition, 1,3,4-oxadiazole derivative 1, when reacted with isothiocyanates, salicylaldehyde or 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds, formed thiazole derivatives 5a,b, coumarin derivative 6 and alkenyl derivatives 7a,b resp. Compound 7b underwent cyclization to afford pyridine derivative 8. Arylhydrazono derivatives 9a,b were produced through the reaction of compound 7a with aryldiazonium chlorides. Products 9a,b underwent cyclization to produce pyridazine derivatives 10a,b. Finally, 1,3,4-oxadiazole derivative 1 was directed toward reaction with hydrazine derivatives, bromoacetophenone and ethylchloroacetate affording compounds 11a,b, 12 and 13, resp. Fused thiophene derivatives 14a,b were produced via reaction of compounds 4a,b with a mixture of malononitrile and ethylorthoformate. Antiviral activity of the synthesized products showed that 5-(4-amino-3-ethyl-2-thioxo-2,3-dihydrothiazol-5-yl)-1,3,4-oxadiazole-2(3H)-thione (5a) and 5-(4-amino-3-phenyl-2-thioxo-2,3-dihydrothiazol-5-yl)-1,3,4-oxadiazole-2(3H)-thione (5b) acted as the most active agents against Feline herpes virus, Feline corona virus, Herpes simplex virus-1 and Herpes simplex virus-2, whereas compound 2-(5-(2-phenylhydrazono)-4,5-dihydro-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-yl)acetonitrile (11b) was the most effective against Vaccinia virus, Herpes simplex virus (TK-KOS-ACVr), Coxsackie virus B4 and Vesicular stomatitis virus.

Synthesis of some novel pyrimidine, thiophene, coumarin, pyridine and pyrrole derivatives and their biological evaluation as analgesic, antipyretic and anti-inflammatory agents

Pyrimidine derivative 3 was afforded through the reaction of compound (1) with 5-ureidohydantion (2). Product 3 underwent a cyclization to produce fused pyrimidine derivative 7, although the latter product 7 was synthesized through one step via the reaction of compound (1) with 5-ureidohydantion (2) using another catalyst. Compound 3 was oriented to react with cyclic ketones 8a,b in the presence of elemental sulfur, salicylaldehyde (10), aryldiazonium chlorides 12a,b and ω-bromo-4-methoxy- acetophenone (14), which afforded, fused thiophene derivatives 9a,b, coumarin derivative 11, arylhdrazono derivatives 13a,b and 4-methoxyphenyl butenyl derivative 15, respectively. The latter product 15 was reacted with either potassium cyanide (16a) or potassium thiocyanide (16b) to form cyano and thiocyano derivatives 17a,b, respectively. Compound 17a underwent further cyclization to afford pyridopyrimidine derivative 19. Compound 15 was reacted with either hydrazine (20a) or phenylhydrazine (20b) to produce hydrazo derivatives 21a,b and these products were cyclize to produce pyrrole derivatives 23a,b. Finally, 5-ureidohydantion (2) was reacted with compounds 24a,b,c to afford pyrimidine derivatives 25a,b,c. The structures of the synthesized compounds were confirmed using IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR and mass spectrometry techniques. Compounds 11 and 19 have promising as analgesic and antipyretic activities

A genome-wide scan for loci predisposing to non-syndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate in two large Syrian families.

Non-syndromic cleft lip with/without cleft palate (CL/P) is a common, usually non-fatal birth defect of complex etiology. Several segregation analyses have demonstrated that genetic factors are important in the pathogenesis of CL/P, most likely through the interaction of several genes of modest effects. The aim of this study was to perform a genome-wide linkage analysis to identify/search for candidate gene loci for CL/P. We conducted a genome-wide search in two large, relatively isolated Syrian families, each one with a large number of cases with CL/P (18 in family 1 and 4 in family 2). A locus with a multipoint LOD score of 2.80 and a 2-point non-parametric MLS LOD of 3.0 was detected on 17p13.1. Other chromosomal regions with multipoint LOD scores > or = 1.2 (P < or = 0.01) included 3p21.2, 4q32.1, and 7q34. These data indicate the possible presence of several susceptibility loci for CL/P and identify a strong candidate locus for this common birth defect on chromosome 17p13.