Qatar Foundation Annual Research Forum Volume 2012 Issue 1

Background & Objectives: Both exercise and hypoxia acutely elicit changes in systemic growth factors and cytokines that mediate increases in erythropoiesis, angiogenesis and, perhaps, arteriogenesis. To what extent the down-stream responses to these interventions are inter-related is, as yet, unclear. A role for circulating micro RNAs (cmiRNAs) in the regulation of these processes is a novel prospect. Thus the aims of this s Read More

Introduction: Both insulin deficiency and insulin resistance are reported in patients with β thalassemia major (BTM). The use of CGMS among the different methods for early detection of glycaemic abnormalities has not been studied thorough. The aims of this study are: 1. to detect glycemic abnormalities in young adults with BTM using fasting blood glucose (FBG), (OGTT), 72-h continuous glucose concentration by CGMS, and Read More

Background & objectives: The prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS), including obesity, dyslipidemia, hyperglycemia and hypertension, associated with an increased predisposition to cardiovascular disease (CVD), is especially high in the Middle East, primarily amongst young Qataris. Both insulin resistance and endothelial dysfunction have been proposed to contribute to the pathogenesis of CVD in obese patients. Rec Read More

Background: Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) is one of the most common complications of diabetes that affects nerve functions and may occur in 25% of patients with 10 or more years of diabetes and up to 50% with 20 years of diabetes. Patients with DPN experience a high incidence of injuries while walking and have a low level of perceived safety. In certain cases the impaired judgment - mainly due to impaired propri Read More

Inflammation, in general, has been found to be associated with many human health complications. Postprandial inflammation, provoked soon after ingesting a meal, is transient in duration, but with dreadful consequences on human health over a period of time depending on the compositions of the meal. However, many populations, particularly in the Western countries, are in a constant postprandial state, which is likely to initiat Read More

Background: Mast cell proteases represent major protein components of secretory granules. The proteases are classified into a chymases, tryptases and carboxypeptidase (hMC-CPA). Little is known about the function of human lung carboxypeptidase A (hMC-CP) except for its ability to cleave angiotensin I. This suggests that the human mast cell carboxypeptidase A may play a role in the hypertension disease. Objectives Read More

Background: Traumatic chest injury (TCI) constitutes quarter of trauma-related deaths worldwide. Objective: To identify the pattern and outcome of TCI in Qatar in relation to age. Methods: Data were collected from all patients who sustained TCI between January 2008 and December 2010 in Qatar. Patients were classified and analyzed in 3 age groups (group 1 <18, group 2 between 18 and 45 and group 3 above 45 years). Th Read More

Background: In the State of Qatar, the majority of workers are expatriates from different ethnicity and culture. Most of them are liable to pedestrian motor vehicle crashes (MVC). We sought to understand the anatomy, time and date of injuries amongst expat workers in relation to their country of origin, culture and traditions. Methods: Retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data obtained from trauma registry Read More

To study the effects of VitalStim therapy coupled with conventional swallowing training on recovery of neurogenic dysphagia, a total of 30 dysphagia patients were randomly selected among subacute post-traumatic brain injury and cerebrovascular accident cases. The cases were evenly divided into two groups: neuromuscular electric stimulation (NMSE) group, and NMSE plus conventional swallowing therapy group Read More

Background and Objectives: Biobank Qatar is a research enabling infrastructure requiring members of the Qatari public to donate health and lifestyle information coupled to biological samples to enable research towards better prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases common in Qatar. Building a biobank depends on the willing participation of the public. Recruitment of participants requires insight into public knowl Read More

Background: Unwanted hair is one of the most common medical problems affecting women of reproductive age inducing a lot of psychological stress and threatening their femininity and self-esteem. Old methods of removing unwanted hair include shaving, waxing, chemical epilation, and electrolysis, all of which have temporary results. However laser-assisted hair removal is the most efficient method of long-term hair rem Read More

In this study, the high sensitive ICP-MS was employed to detect the contents of titanium and copper in liver, lung, spleen, kidney, heart, testis, brain and blood after administering an acute dose of different nano particle sizes of titanium and copper to rats by a syringe via gastrointestinal tract. In coupling with pathological examinations, the target organs of nano- and micro-copper were successfully determined. Biodistribution exp Read More

Background and Objectives: Obesity is associated with a state of chronic inflammation and increased cardiometabolic disease risk. The present study examined the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and cardiometabolic and inflammatory biomarkers among normal weight, overweight, and obese subjects. Methods: Subjects (n = 1,805, aged 18 to 79 years) from Canada were examined for associations betw Read More

Store-operated calcium entry (SOCE) is a ubiquitous Ca2+ influx pathway leading to a sustained, low amplitude Ca2+ signal that activates multiple physiological process including gene transcription and secretion, and contributes to store refilling. We here describe a novel mechanism, that we call "Ca2+ funneling", which allows efficient activation by SOCE of Calcium-activated chloride channels (CaCl2) in the xenopus oocyte to Read More

Background and Objective: Vascular aging is associated with changes in the structure and function of the vascular system and such changes contribute to the risk for the development of diabetes and associated cardiovascular diseases. Vascular senescence reflects the limited ability of vascular cells to divide and proliferate and is accompanied by specific phenotypic changes in morphology, gene expression and function Read More

Biobank Qatar aims to establish a large national bioresource that will support the development of cutting edge medical research during the next decades. While the design of Biobank Qatar has similarities with other large-scale population-based prospective cohort studies established in other parts of the world, it is unique in the region and excels for its highly innovative scientific and technological features. Biobank Qatar will in Read More

The olfactory receptors (ORs), which are G-protein coupled receptors, number more than 1,000 and comprise the largest gene family in the mammalian genome. ORs are expressed both monogenically and monoallelically in olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs) and the mechanism that controls their regulation is largely unknown. ORs reside in constitutive heterochromatin and selection of one OR and from one allele occ Read More

Background: For the past two decades, cationic lipids have remained one of the most widely used non-viral gene delivery vectors due in large to their safety and ease of use despite having low efficiency. We and others believe that the key to improving the effectiveness of non-viral agents is unlocking the still unsolved mechanism behind lipid gene delivery. Our objective is the rational design, synthesis and evaluation of the D Read More

Recently, the role of tumor microenvironment (niche) in regulating cancer progression has been indicated. Tumor microenvironments consists of tumor vasculature, bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells, immune cells and the components of the extracellular matrix. It is believed that the phenotypic advantages acquired by tumor cells are partly the outcome of their interaction with their niche. Endothelial cells are the buil Read More

Background & Objectives: Epigenetic changes include two types of changes DNA methylation and Histone modifications. These modifications are influenced by the change in various environmental factors resulting in a stable form of gene expression changes. Type II Diabetes incidence keeps rising with so little understanding of the actual cause at gene expression level despite the massive amount of research around the subje Read More

Calreticulin (CRT) is an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) Ca²+ binding chaperone, which regulates many of cellular processes. Previous work from our lab showed loss of CRT leads to increased resistance to apoptosis. We also showed loss of CRT leads to increased AKT phosphorylation and activation of the proteosome activity. Thus we hypothesized that in the absence of CRT function, NFκB signaling is activated leading to e Read More

Background and objectives: This study was conducted to understand the dimensions important for quality assurance in pediatric services of public and private hospitals in Qatar. Method: The study employed Fuzzy- Quality Function Development (Fuzzy-QFD) approach to translate the patients expectations into appropriate service specifications and to perform assessments of the existing processes. The importance of this tool li Read More

Background & Objectives: Muscle mass is a major determinant of power development during maximal sprinting. The ability to recover and subsequently reproduce high-intensity efforts (termed repeated-sprint ability, RSA) is closely related to match-performance in soccer. The aim of this study is to assess any relationship between anthropometric parameters and RSA performance in a national soccer team in the Middl Read More

Hypoxia has been shown to exacerbate the performance loss during Maximal Intensity Intermittent Exercise (MIIE). However, the effect of hypoxia on the development of central and peripheral mechanisms of fatigue during MIIE is unknown. The aim of the study is to explore the development of both central and peripheral fatigue during multiple bouts of MIIE under varying severity levels of hypoxia. On separate days, 14 healthy Read More