Qatar Foundation Annual Research Forum Volume 2013 Issue 1

It is not clear if HIV-1 variants lose the ability to prime naïve CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) during progressive, untreated infection. Answering this question is important for developing immunotherapeutic approaches for enhanced control of residual HIV-1 infection in persons on combination antiretroviral therapy (cART). We therefore conducted a comprehensive longitudinal analysis of viral evolution and its impact on primary Read More

Background: Anemia of chronic disease (ACD) is highly prevalent among subjects with chronic kidney disease (CKD), rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes mellitus, and cancer as well as in elderly subjects. ACD is also highly associated with infections, severe trauma and critical illness. Anemia of chronic disease is immune driven and is associated with decreased quality of life, and increased mortality. Iron is an essential nutrient for erythr Read More

Introduction: Similar to many countries in the world, breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in the State of Qatar and the incidence rate is rising. Previous findings indicate women in Qatar are often diagnosed with breast cancer at advanced stages and their awareness of breast cancer screening (BCS) services and participation rates in screening activities are low. Previous studies indicate the need to un Read More

Background and objectives: Cerebral auto-regulation is an intrinsic protective mechanism guaranteeing hemodynamic integrity of cerebral circulation. It modulates cerebral blood flow (CBF) in order to meet regional perfusion demands despite variations in arterial blood pressure. Impaired cerebral auto-regulation is associated with poor functional and prognostic outcomes in patients with ischemic stroke. The aims Read More

Blood stream infections due to Candida species cause significant morbidity and mortality in health care settings. This surveillance analysis describes the epidemiology, trend in species distribution and outcomes of candidemia in patients at Hamad hospital, Doha, Qatar. From January 2004 to December 2010, a total of 187 patients with 201 episodes of candidemia were identified. C. albicans was the most common species isol Read More

Background Osteoporosis is a common skeletal disorder characterized by low bone mass and microarchetectual deterioration of bone tissue with increased susceptibility to fractures. Osteoporosis is considered a multifactorial polygenic disease. The prevalence of postmenopausal osteoporosis in Palestine, based on of BMD at femoral neck, total hip and spine was 24%, 14% and 29.7% respectively. Previous studies on the effect Read More

Absorbed Dose Distributions In Lineal Energy For Neutrons And Gamma Rays Were Measured Using Both A Tissue-Equivalent Walled Counter (Tepc) And A Graphite-Walled Low Pressure Proportional Counter (Gpc) In The Am-Be Neutron Source Facility At Uoit. A Series Of Measurements Were Performed With The Counters Filled With Propane-Based Te Gas (55.1% C3H8, 39.5% Co2 And 5.4% N2) At Operating Gas Pressures Corr Read More

Monitoring of respiratory rate and amplitudes of a human being has important medical applications such as in health monitoring as well as in diagnosis of respiratory illnesses and disorders such as the sleep apnea disorder. Currently used techniques for respiratory monitoring require patients to wear sensors and electrodes across the chest to measure the respiratory effort. Such techniques not only cause discomfort t Read More

Background: Children with cancer who are treated with intensive myelosuppressive chemotherapy or radiation therapy and develop neutropenia are at risk of developing life-threatening infections. In adult cancer patients with febrile neutropenia, some evidence suggests that there is no difference in efficacy between monotherapy and combination gram negative empiric antibiotic regimens. Outcomes of these different a Read More

Background Many diabetes patients choose to participate in the Ramadan fast despite medical and religious advice to the contrary. Pharmacists, especially in ambulatory care, are considered the most easily and readily accessible health care providers whose guidance can help ensure safe fasting for these patients. Objective The aim of this novel study is to describe Qatar pharmacists' current practice, knowledge, and attitu Read More

Comparison of different assays to measure antioxidant capacity in Qatari grown food

IgE-mediated mast-cell renin release

Epidemiological study of patients presenting with the first seizure in Qatar.

Patient-Specific Anatomy and Tissue Texture Models for Surgical Simulations

Non-motor manifestations in Parkinson's disease: The link between Sense of smell, subjective visual vertical (SVV) perception and micrographia

SANAD: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Smart Mobile Diabetes Management System Embedding Social Networking Platform

A Novel Bace-1 Inhibitor, F70Hab16 Reduces Oxidative Stress In Brain Tissues Of Scopolamine-Induced Amnesia In Mice

Background: patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) are subjected to reduction in the quality and oxidative capacity of muscles. The effect of duration of diabetes on the muscle endurance response is not clear and strength as well .The aim of this study was the assessment of strength and endurance of knee extensor and flexor in the patients with T2DM<10 and T2DM>10 years in comparison with age, sex, BMI, ABI and PAI Read More

Development and characterization of poly (diol-co-tricarballylate) biodegradable matrices for implantable controlled drug delivery, tissue engineering and other biomedical applications

Development, Implementation, and Evaluation of a Novel Medication Safety Health Promotion Program for Schoolchildren in Qatar

Associations of single nucleotide polymorphisms(rs2383207) on chromosome 9p21 with coronary artery diseases in Qatar

Assessment of Parylene C Thin Films for Heart Valve Tissue Engineering

The idea of deploying multiple wireless sensors around the human body to enable ubiquitous healthcare by measuring continuously all the physiological data of interest has received considerable attention. Ultra-wideband (UWB) is a promising communication technology for short-range communication scenarios like body-centric wireless network (BCWN) (i.e, in the area of medical healthcare). UWB is characterized by lo Read More

Whole genome sequencing provides a rich and unprecedented collection of the existing genetic variation in a genome. The development of next generation sequencing (NGS) technologies has enabled a rapid and relatively inexpensive method for whole genome sequencing. The current archive of genetic variations in the horse is mostly based on the Thoroughbred mare used to generate the reference sequence (EquCab Read More

Investigating the Function and Substrate Specificity of Histone Deacetylase Enzymes:New Synthetic Tools to Investigate the Role of HDACs in Cancer

Adult neurogenesis exists in two brain regions: the subventricular zone (SVZ) and the hippocampal dentate gyrus. In schizophrenia, hippocampal neurogenesis has been widely characterized, however no evidence exists for whether SVZ neurogenesis might be involved in the disease. This is particularly interesting since antipsychotic drugs were already shown to increase SVZ neurogenesis in rats [1, 2]. Here, I have investigat Read More

The purpose of this project was to further investigate the characteristic properties of an inorganic-organic hybrid material with respect to its potential application in the field of tissue engineering. The organic component chosen for this project was a co-polymer 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) and 3-trimethoxysilyl propylmethacrylate (TMSPMA), able to crosslink the polymer to the silica network via hydroly Read More

Engineered wetland (EWL) is a land treatment system that utilizes natural processes to improve water quality. The EWL system consists of vegetation, aquatic organisms, soils and the associated microbes designed to assist in improving water quality through phytoremediation. Engineered wetlands are commonly utilized to improve municipal wastewater quality however, such technology is not common in treati Read More

The huge economic impact of the corrosion of metallic structures is a very important issue for all modern societies. Reports on the corrosion failures of bridges, buildings, aircrafts, automobiles, and gas and oil pipelines are not unusual. It is estimated that corrosion and its consequences cost developed nations between 3% and 5% of their gross domestic product. The process involving hexavalent chromates is the most ef Read More

The ultimate composition of the CO2 stream captured from fossil fuel power plants or other CO2 intensive industries and transported to a storage site using high pressure pipelines will be governed by safety, environmental and economic considerations. So far, most of the studies performed on this topic have been limited in scope, primarily focusing on investigating the impact of the CO2 stream impurities on each part of the Ca Read More

Growing concern about anthropogenic influence on the climate system due to emissions of greenhouses gases into the atmosphere causes governments everywhere around the world to adopt fossil fuel use reduction policies. However, to test if various government-launched measures and incentives really are effective, the fossil fuel based CO2 emissions into the atmosphere should be independently verified. To date, in Read More

The case for CO2-based fuels Coal and natural gas are still the main fuels for electricity generation. Traditional power plants have many advantages: they are very reliable and can relatively easily be ramped up and down to follow the electricity demand. However, their one disadvantage, their huge CO2 emission, is so big that they are replaced by alternatives. These alternative electricity generation sources, Read More

Nematodes cause billions of dollars of damage each year to agricultural crops worldwide. Nematicides are costly and environmentally detrimental. Crop rotation does not eliminate nematodes, but merely decreases crop damage. For successful engineering of transgenic plants for nematodes resistance, it is important to regulate plant resistance through promoters that over-express resistance genes or produce RNAi in the cor Read More

The spatial distribution of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs)was investigated in sediments from 16 sites from the east coast of the Arabian Gulf of Qatar. Sixteen US-EPA priority PAHs and their alkylated homolog were determined. The highest PAHs concentrations were found in sediments inside fishing Harbors as well as at offshore locations close to an oil fields. Most inshore coastal locations showed low PAHs co Read More

Red palm weevil-RPW (Rhynchophorus ferrugienus Olive, Coleoptera, Curculionidae) was first observed in India in 1917 as a serious pest on date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.). It was introduced in Arabian Gulf countries in the mid-1980s and now considered to be one of the most destructive insects on date palm. The larvae are responsible for damaging and they cause the death of palm tree. There is no data available about t Read More

Human biomonitoring (HBM) is an emerging risk assessment tool that can be used to decipher the exposure and possible health effects of environmental chemicals. This report presents the results of a pilot HBM study involving 239 farmers in Qatar exposed to chemical fertilizers and pesticides as well as other environmental contaminants associated with the rapidly growing energy industry in the country. This cross-se Read More

Improved productivity requires informed decisions on a number of issues including crop, water, soil and financial risk management. In this paper, we use some case-study examples to illustrate how crop simulation models can be used to analyze the threats and opportunities arising from climate variability, climate change, and market variation for a focus crop at selected locations. We then demonstrate how this analysis c Read More

The three dimensional hydrodynamic pollutant transport model IDOR3D was used to simulate the nearshore current structure and pollutant dispersion from various sources. These sources can be municipal or industrial discharges and if are not properly designed will eventually cause environmental problems in the coastal areas. The inflows from sewage treatment plants and creeks affect the current structure within a Read More

A module for Digital Elevation Model (DEM) extraction from Very High Resolution (VHR) satellite stereo-pair imagery is developed and used for a flood plain mapping applications at an ungauged basin. A procedure for parallel processing of cascading image tiles is used for handling the large datasets requirements of VHR satellite imagery. The Scale-Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT) algorithm is used to detect potentially ho Read More

Objective: This paper describes a new pyrolysis instrument (LIPS: "Laser Induced Pyrolysis System") performing high resolution (centimetric or less) logs of organic carbon on ancient sediment cores . Stakes: the usual methods for determining the quantity of carbon in sediment samples (Rock-Eval, Leco, analysis of thin sections, etc.) are quite expensive, provide low resolution results (typically: one sample every 30cm to 2m) an Read More

Intelligent building envelopes can significantly reduce the environmental impact of our buildings during their whole life cycle. Intelligent means that user comfort is reached through subtle use of devices to manage indoor climate (temperature, air quality, humidity and light) in the most energy-efficient way while involving outdoor conditions as suitable. A promising methodology consists in keeping the building services as basic a Read More

Marine Environmental Legislation in Qatar: Current Mechanism and Future Challenges Max-Planck Foundation, Heidelberg,Germany Omar Mohammed-Faraj, LL.M. Research Fellow The state of Qatar witnessed rapid developments in the last decade, booming economy and solid steps towards the building of a prosper state. These changes in economy and the market demands for Qatari gas and oil put the country's ma Read More

Emissions of long-lived greenhouse gases are believed to be a major driver of climate change. Carbon dioxide is the most important greenhouse gas[1] and one of the most prominent strategies to lower its emissions is carbon capture and sequestration (CCS)[2]. CO2 can be stored in geological repositories, in which sodium chloride (NaCl) is the most common dissolved salt. For the optimum design of any CCS process, Read More

Hydrates are non-stoichiometric inclusion compounds that mainly consist of water molecules that form three dimensional cavities that are stabilized by entrapped guest molecules. Hydrates have been under investigation for many years due to their wide variety of applications in engineering and scientific problems. In particular, their characteristic to encage selectively large amounts of gas into the crystalline stru Read More

Identifying fugitive emissions from large scale LNG and gas processing and handling facilities is a difficult time and resource intensive process. Because of the limitations of hand held gas detection devices, and the sheer size and complexity of these facilities, smaller leaks may go undetected for extended periods of time and unintended releases may occur when plant personnel are not present or the area monitor Read More

Worldwide, the current energy system increasingly shows economic, social and environmental drawbacks and it does not appear to be sustainable. Among the most pressing problems are climate change due to CO2 emissions, the depletion of fossil resources, the security of energy supply, and threats to economic development. These problems can be addressed by moving towards energy systems that increasingly rely on rene Read More

Increasing development along the coastline and offshore Qatar results in continuous interaction between industrial activities and the biodiverse Qatar Marine Zone. Enhancing the understanding of this environment and the potential for impacts is essential to Qatar. The ExxonMobil Research Qatar (EMRQ) Environmental Management Research Program is working with local and international partners to develop the scientific k Read More

An increasing number of firms are integrating carbon emission concerns into their operational decision-making. Some of these actions are motivated by individual initiatives towards corporate environmentalism. While some other are driven by environmental regulation pressures. Policies such as carbon caps under the Kyoto Protocol and carbon tax have been introduced in many countries as mechanisms to induce Read More

Considerable interest has been directed in recent years toward the use of self-healing materials in concrete. The concept of microcapsule healing is based on a healing agent being encapsulated and embedded in the concrete. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of preparation parameters, namely, temperature, agitation rate, and pH on the shell thickness and size (diameter) of the microcapsules; as well as to e Read More

The increasing price of conventional fossil fuel and the need to reduce green-house gas emissions have prompted the adoption of clean electrical energy generation sources. The abundance of renewable energy, particularly solar and wind, over the world combined with increasing efficiency of the Photovoltaic (PV) cells has led to reducing cost per kWh of generated green electricity and created potential for establishing high po Read More