Environmental hazard assessment for ground failure in Jeddah city, western Saudi Arabia, through cross-hole seismic testing

Diversity of dengue virus-3 genotype III in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is an emerging zoonotic viral pathogen and a serious public health concern. The virus was first reported in Saudi Arabia in 2012 and continues to be endemic in the region. Most of the initial MERS-CoV cases in 2012 and early 2013 were sporadic, and it remains unclear whether MERS-CoV was circulating before 2012 or not. Therefore, we tried here to find any molecular evidence of MERS-CoV circulation in humans before or during 2012 in the city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. We examined 349 archived respiratory samples collected between January 2010 and December 2012 from patients with acute respiratory illnesses from the city of Jeddah in Western Saudi Arabia. All samples were screened for MERS-CoV by real-time RT-PCR targeting the upstream E-gene (UpE) and the open reading frame 1 a (ORF1a). All tested samples which were originally found negative for influenza A H1N1 virus were also found to be negative for MERS-CoV. These results suggest that circulation of MERS-CoV was uncommon among patients with acute respiratory symptoms in Western Saudi Arabia between 2010 and 2012.

CONTEXT:Kell blood group system is considered as the third clinically significant blood group in blood transfusion due to the highly immunogenetic of their antigens. No data are available regarding the frequencies of the Kell blood group antigens in Jeddah city. Knowledge of the antigen and phenotype frequencies is crucial to assess the risk of alloimmunization and to guide the probability of finding antigen-negative donor blood, which can be useful when blood transfusion is required for a patient who has multiple red cell alloantibodies.AIMS:The aim of this study was to determine the distribution of Kell blood group: K, k, Kpa, and Kpb antigens and phenotypes among blood donors in Jeddah city, western Saudi Arabia, to improve the transfusion services in the area.SUBJECTS AND METHODS:Seven hundred and fifty-eight blood samples from blood donors were used in the study. The samples were collected from different national blood bank centers in Jeddah city hospitals. Kell antigens were typed through gel card method using commercial antisera.STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED:The gathered data were analyzed using the SPSS program. Frequency and crosstab tests were completed to achieve the objectives of the current study.RESULTS:The most frequent Kell phenotype in this study was Kp(a−b+), followed by K−k+, K+k+, and then Kp(a+b+), and the less frequent was K+k−. K−k− and Kp(a+b−) phenotypes were not observed in studied donors.CONCLUSIONS:This study is the first report to determine the frequency of Kell antigens and phenotypes among blood donors in Jeddah city. These results appear to be useful in providing better care for patients by implementing tests that should become a routine in blood banks. The Kell system is very important in transfusion medicine practice.

Aim: Zayandehrood River is an important drinking water source in Isfahan Province which has been exposed to contamination. The high variation of physical and chemical properties of water is an important factor influencing on the consumers' health and the recipient environment. This study aims to access the health and ecological hazards related to water quality-determining parameters. Materials and Methods: In present work, all the existing data on the physical and chemical quality of Zayandehrood water for two years (March 2013 to March 2015) were collected from Isfahan Province Regional Water Company. The collected data are including dissolved oxygen, turbidity, conductivity, nitrate, phosphate, ammonia, and heavy metals such as arsenic and cadmium. The environmental hazard were determined using the contamination indices such as heavy metal pollution index, positive index, and organic pollution index, and health hazards arising from the absorption of chemical parameters were assessed based on the Environmental Protection Agency model and the use of Rural Access Index. Results: The highest noncarcinogenic hazard due to the absorption of chemical parameters was for the children group, and the ratio of health hazard and the probability of exposure to each of the chemical compounds lies in the permissible limit. The hazard higher than 1 revealing the medium hazard was, however, found in the children age group. Assessment of environmental hazards accordingly shows that the quality of the water environment has low contamination. Conclusion: The contamination of Zayandehrood water with chemical compounds can play an important role in diseases due to the exposure of low-quality water. It is thus advised to properly treat water before drinking it, and in order to decrease the concentration of poisonous chemicals in Zayandehrood Lake water, appropriate actions should be taken to conserve it.

Helicobacter pylori are the type of Gram-negative bacteria which colonize the mucous lining of the human stomach. These bacteria have two major virulence factors: (vacuolating cytotoxin A gene) and (cytotoxin-associated A gene). This study aimed to provide data to determine the prevalent virulence factors (vacA and cagA genes) in Jeddah city, western Saudi Arabia, by sequence analysis. This study included 60 patients with symptoms similar to H. pylori infection. H. pylori were identified by using the 16s rRNA sequence. Then, the screening for specific genes in H. pylori (vacA and cagA) was done by using automated DNA sequencing analysis, and the DNA sequences were compared by BLAST and sequence alignment of the vacA nucleotides that are present in all H. pylori strains using those already reported in GeneBank from various studies. Results indicated that H. pylori infection was detected in 13.3%, while 86.7% were negative samples in our study patients. Interestingly, the vacA gene was found in 8.3%, while the cagA gene was not appear in patient. Also, the female prevalence rate was higher than males (11.7% female versus 1.7% males), and the highest infection was between age 40-49 by 6.7%. In conclusion, this study revealed that the vacA gene was spread in the patients infected with H. pylori in Jeddah, while the cagA gene was not appear in any isolate.

Seventy-five geotechnical boreholes were drilled in Jeddah city to identify the soil characteristics and calculate the shear wave velocity. The depth of boreholes extends up to 40 m in some sites, where the standard penetration test (SPT) was assigned at each 1.5 m depth interval. The groundwater table fluctuated between 0.5 and 9 m below the ground level. In addition, the multichannel analysis of surface waves (MASW) method was applied at the same borehole locations to estimate the shear wave velocity of the subsurface layers. 1D shear velocity profiles were processed using SeisImager software. The calculated shear wave velocity at the mid-point of each surveying line was compared with that of the borehole because the mid-point of the surveying line coincides with the borehole location. In addition, horizontal–vertical-spectral ratio inversion (INV_HVSR) of microtremor measurements recorded at the borehole locations represents a third method to estimate the shear wave velocity of subsurface layers. Results of these three methods are then compared and, finally, the average shear wave velocity values, up to a depth of 30 m, were assessed for Jeddah city. According to Vs (30) values, the soil classes for Jeddah city can be classified into three classes as “site class D,” “site class C,” and “site class B,” according to the National Earthquake Hazard Reduction Program (NEHRP). These results should be added to the Saudi Building Code (SBC) to improve the requirements for the design of earthquake-resistant structures in Jeddah city.

There was presented methodology of integrated assessment of environmental hazard, whose main elements are: identification of sources of environmental hazard; assessment of the degree of danger of existing environmental situation; analysis of environmental risks and the assessment of the potential environmental hazard; integrated assessment of existing and potential environmental hazard in a particular area. There was presented systematization of sources of environmental hazard and methods of identifying the existing and potential sources of environmental hazard. Hazard degree assessments of existing environmental situation include landscape identification of the territory, the definition of the total anthropogenic load, and integrated assessment of environment pollution. Environmental hazards in a particular area is determined by the combined action of existing and potential sources of environmental hazards, as well as a degree of danger of existing environmental situation. The presented method was tested in the evaluation of environmental hazards in the Stavropol Kray territory. The proposed method allows carrying out a qualitative assessment of environmental hazard of enterprises and territories, the results of which form the basis for developing measures to ensure environmental safety.

Influence of petrochemical installations upon PAH concentrations at sites in Western Saudi Arabia

Dengue infection in patients with febrile illness and its relationship to climate factors: A case study in the city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, for the period 2010–2014

Dust storm is a common phenomenonand, a severe environmental hazard in western Saudi Arabia. In this study, simultaneous measurement of PM_(10), PM_(2.5) and PM_(1.0) and elemental compositions analysis of PM_(2.5) in Jeddah city during springtime (March 2012) dust storm (DS) and non-dust storm (non-DS) periods were carried out to investigate the impact of DS on the levels, characterization and elemental compositions of atmospheric particles. Results indicate that PM fractions concentrations were higher in DS environment compared to non-DS. The diurnal variation of PM fractions concentrations was uni-modal in non-DS environment and bimodal in DS. PM_(1.0)/PM_(10), PM_(2.5)/PM_(10) and PM_(2.5)/PM_(2.5-10) ratios were relatively lower in DS, indicating that sand-dust events in spring carry much more coarse than fine particles to Jeddah. PM_(10), PM_(2.5) and PM_(1.0) in DS and PM_(10) and PM_(2.5) in non-DS might originate from similar sources. PM_(10), PM_(2.5), PM_(1.0) in DS and PM_(10) in non-DS were correlated negatively with relative humidity and positively with wind speed. PM_(2.5) and PM_(1.0) in non-DS were correlated positively with relative humidity and negatively with wind speed. The crustal elements accounted for 44.62 and 67.53% of the total concentrations of elements in non-DS and DS, respectively. The elements concentrations increased in DS, with highest DS/non-DS ratios for Ca, Si, Al and Fe. This indicates that the soil originating species contributed mainly in DS particles. The enrichment factors values and non-crustal fractions in both non-DS and DS indicate that the main sources of Na, Mg, Si, K, Ca, Ti, Cr, Mn, Fe, Rb and Sr are of a crustal type, whereas S, Cl, Co, Cu, Zn, Ga, As, Pb and Cd are anthropogenic. V and Ni in DS only are emitted from anthropogenic sources. The enrichment factors of these anthropogenic elements were lower in DS. They might originate mainly from local sources in Jeddah.

Congenital glucose–galactose malabsorption: A descriptive study of clinical characteristics and outcome from Western Saudi Arabia

On December 30, 2013, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) gave final approval to a Rule which allows for the use of the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) Practice for Environmental Site Assessments: Phase I Environmental Site Assessment Process (Standard E1527-13 or Standard) to satisfy the requirements for conducting All Appropriate Inquiries under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA). According to the EPA, 'All Appropriate Inquiries,' or AAI, is the process of evaluating a property's environmental conditions and assessing the likelihood of any contamination. Following the protocols in the revised Standard will satisfy the AAI requirement, which is crucial in establishing certain defenses to CERCLA liability associated with contaminated properties. Because ASTM Standard E1527-13 establishes a new baseline for completion of a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment, which is used to determine if any Recognized Environmental Condition exists on a property, it should become the focal point of the environmental due diligence process. Going forward, those seeking to acquire commercial real estate and those whose work includes corporate transactions that involve real estate would be wise to utilize the revised Standard when evaluating the environmental exposures associated with the subject property.

This article discusses a methodological approach to the comparative assessment of the regions of the state in terms of environmental safety. A system of indicators characterizing the state of environmental safety in the regional dimension is proposed. It is proved that environmental risk assessment is considered the most promising approach to determining the degree of environmental hazard of the territory. The concept of such assessment in almost all countries of the world and international organizations is regarded as the main mechanism for the development and adoption of management decisions on environmental protection. In the analysis of the existing methodological developments it is established that the environmental hazard assessment is based on several basic approaches. The most commonly used are the indicator based on the system of selected indicators (or indicative method). It is established that the level of environmental safety is quite broad, since it requires consideration of all the components of this process: from the calculation of the level of environmental safety to the assessment of management decisions to overcome environmental risks and prevention. An integral indicator of the level of environmental safety of the regions is proposed, which is based on taking into account the degree of risk of occurrence of environmental losses. The toolkit of existing theoretical and methodological approaches to hazard identification was tested. It has been instrumentally demonstrated that the assessment of the level of environmental and natural-anthropogenic hazards is quite complex as it involves many aspects. Effective comparison of the regions of Ukraine with such a large amount of information is possible only in some socio-economic studies, because because of the variability of different indicators of the level of environmental load it is difficult to determine the impact of which is decisive. An appropriate system of indicators was developed when designing an instrumental framework for determining the level of environmental hazard. It includes indicators of socio-ecological and economic development of regions of Ukraine in dynamics, grouped by function. The system of aggregation of indicators of ecological safety of the region and information matrix of analysis of natural and anthropogenic safety of the region have been developed.

Introduction: Various drug–food interactions exist that may hinder treatment and can sometimes be lethal. Our aim was to assess the level of public knowledge and awareness in Jeddah city, Western Saudi Arabia, about drug–food interactions, along with the effects of demographics on their knowledge. Methods: A survey questionnaire was administered in this cross-sectional study to participants spread across multiple locations in Jeddah, including in malls and public gatherings. Participants included both males and females. Sample size was calculated through Raosoft® software. Data analysis was executed using IBM Statistic SPSS and the level of statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. Results: A total of 410 people participated in the study and only 92.68% (380) of responses were enrolled in the study; 7.32% (30) were not enrolled due to the exclusion criteria. Surprisingly, only six out of eighteen questions regarding drug–food interactions in the administered questionnaire were correctly answered by 380 participants. Data indicated that the participants had a poor to intermediate level of both knowledge and awareness with respect to drug–food interactions. Furthermore, participants showed moderate to strong awareness of the effects of alcohol and tea generally, and their interaction with medication. Conclusion: Participants in our study showed inadequate knowledge of basic and fundamental information about drug–food interactions, which highlights the dire need to increase awareness.

Environmental hazard assessment and metal contamination in coastal sediments