Background
There is increasing concern about the quality, integrity, and accessibility to research published in the developing world. This study explores the editorial practices and editors' ...perspectives to gain insight into the standard of scholarly publishing in Libya.
Methods
Between 21
st January and 12
th February, 2022, the editors-in-chief (EC) of Libyan academic journals were invited to complete a questionnaire on editorial practices, degree of satisfaction with submitted and published manuscripts, review processes, and journal performance, as well as challenges facing the journals. Journal websites were examined for quality, and indexation coverage and citations were assessed. We examined the number of citations in Google Scholar for all 2019 articles published in each journal. Descriptive statistics were used to quantitatively summarize the data and thematic analysis was used for the narrative text.
Results
48 EC completed the questionnaire. The EC was affiliated with the institution that owns the journal in 92% of cases. Most EC (83%) were satisfied with the peer-review quality, 69% believed that most of their published papers add new ideas or findings, and 96% were satisfied with their journal's performance. However, despite the high degree of satisfaction, only one journal was indexed in Web of Science or Scopus and only 17% of the journals were indexed in Google Scholar. A qualitative assessment of journal websites revealed shortcomings in publishing practices in a large proportion of the journals.
Conclusions
The discordance between the satisfaction of the journal editors and the journal quality indicators points to a break in the quality system of Libyan academic publishing. Similar expedient publishing practices might exist in other countries as well. A comprehensive action plan led by academic institutions to enforce high standards for scholarly publishing is needed to advance research and high-quality scholarly publications in developing countries.
COVID-19 epidemic in Libya Bredan, Amin; Bakoush, Omran
Libyan journal of medicine,
01/2021, Letnik:
16, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
The first case of COVID-19 was identified in Libya on 24/3/2020, and about 2 months later, the number of reported COVID-19 cases started to increase notably. The outbreak was first prominent in the ...southern region (Sabha) and then spread to the western and eastern parts of Libya. By 24/12/2020, the reported total number of deaths from COVID-19 reached 1415. There seems to be no published data on the size of the epidemic in Libya. Here, we estimated the number of Libyans exposed to COVID-19 by using a COVID-19 mortality adjusted mathematical model for the spread of infectious diseases. We estimated that 14-20% of the Libyan population have been exposed to the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, the risk of spread of COVID-19 infections during the coming months is high, and a considerable number of Libyans, particularly the elderly and people with chronic diseases, should be protected against COVID-19 infection. This is particularly urgent in the light of unofficial reports that the relevant healthcare facilities are under extreme stress.
Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), which is up regulated in kidney diseases, is considered a marker of kidney inflammation. We examined the value of urine MCP-1 in predicting the outcome in ...idiopathic glomerulonephritis.
Between 1993 and 2004, 165 patients (68 females) diagnosed with idiopathic proteinuric glomerulopathy and with serum creatinine <150 µmol/L at diagnosis were selected for the study. Urine concentrations of MCP-1 were analyzed by ELISA in early morning spot urine samples collected on the day of the diagnostic kidney biopsy. The patients were followed until 2009. The progression rate to end-stage kidney disease was calculated using Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. End-stage kidney disease (ESKD) was defined as the start of kidney replacement therapy during the study follow-up time.
Patients with proliferative glomerulonephritis had significantly higher urinary MCP-1 excretion levels than those with non-proliferative glomerulonephritis (p<0.001). The percentage of patients whose kidney function deteriorated significantly was 39.0% in the high MCP-1 excretion group and 29.9% in the low MCP-1 excretion group. However, after adjustment for confounding variables such as glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and proteinuria, there was no significant association between urine MCP-1 concentration and progression to ESKD, (HR=1.75, 95% CI=0.64-4.75, p=0.27).
Our findings indicate that progression to end-stage kidney disease in patients with idiopathic glomerulopathies is not associated with urine MCP-1 concentrations at the time of diagnosis.
Analysis of biomedical research and publications in a country or group of countries is used to monitor research progress and trends. This study aims to assess the performance of biomedical research ...in the Arab world during 2001-2005 and to compare it with other Middle Eastern non-Arab countries.
PubMed and Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-expanded) were searched systematically for the original biomedical research publications and their citation frequencies of 16 Arab nations and three non-Arab Middle Eastern countries (Iran, Israel and Turkey), all of which are classified as middle or high income countries.
The 16 Arab countries together have 5775 and 14,374 original research articles listed by PubMed and SCI-expanded, respectively, significantly less (p < 0.001) than the other three Middle Eastern countries (25,643 and 49,110). The Arab countries also scored less when the data were normalized to population, gross domestic product (GDP), and GDP/capita. The publications from the Arab countries also have a significantly lower (p < 0.001) citation frequency.
The Arab world is producing fewer biomedical publications of lower quality than other Middle Eastern countries. Studies are needed to clarify the causes and to propose strategies to improve the biomedical research status in Arab countries.
Increased urinary excretion of IgM and low-grade albuminuria are associated with increased risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. The objective of this study was to investigate the ...association between urinary IgM, albuminuria, and vascular parameters reflecting arterial structure and function.
Subjects of the present study were from the Malmö Offspring study (MOS) cohort, and included 1531 offspring (children and grand-children) to first-generation subjects that participated in the Malmö Diet Cancer-Cardiovascular Arm study cohort. At baseline, technical measurements of arterial stiffness (carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity; c-f PWV), carotid arterial morphology, 24-h ambulatory blood pressure recordings, ankle-brachial-index (ABI), and evaluation of endothelial function (reactive hyperemia index, RHI) were performed. Urinary (U) IgM, U-albumin, and U-creatinine were measured. Multivariate adjusted logistic regression was used to test whether U-IgM excretion and increasing urinary albumin excretion were related to vascular parameters.
Detectable U-IgM was independently associated with higher systolic blood pressure, odds ratio (OR) 1.021, 95% confidence interval (CI, 1.003-1.039), p = 0.025 and lower ABI; ABI dx: OR 0.026, 95% CI (0.002-0.381), p = 0.008, ABI sin: OR 0.040, 95% CI (0.003-0.496), p = 0.012. Low-grade albuminuria was independently associated with systolic and diastolic blood pressure, aortic blood pressure, the c-f PWV and the number of carotid intima plaques (p < 0.05).
In young to middle-aged, mostly healthy individuals, increased U-IgM excretion and low-grade albuminuria are associated with adverse vascular parameters. Increased U-IgM excretion may reflect subclinical peripheral atherosclerosis, whereas increased U-albumin excretion is associated with a wide range of cardiovascular abnormalities. This may reflect different pathophysiological mechanisms.
Background
Following reversal of short periods of ureteral obstruction (UO), glomerular and tubular renal dysfunction recovers with time. Diabetes mellitus (DM) affects glomerular function; thus, the ...ability of diabetic kidneys to recover from UO may be impaired. This study investigated the effects of long‐term DM on the recovery of glomerular and tubular function, as well as permeability of the glomerular filtration barrier (GFB), after unilateral UO (UUO) reversal.
Methods
Diabetes mellitus was induced in Wistar rats by intraperitoneal streptozotocin. All diabetic and age‐matched control rats underwent reversible 24‐hour left UUO. The renal function of both kidneys was measured using clearance techniques 3 hours and 7 and 30 days after UUO reversal. Glomerular permeability was assessed by measuring the glomerular sieving coefficients for fluorescein isothiocyanate‐conjugated Ficoll (molecular radius: 20‐90 Å).
Results
Unilateral UO induced transient changes in the size selectivity of GFB small pores. However, the size selectivity function of large pores had not returned to baseline even 30 days after UUO reversal. Diabetes mellitus caused exaggerated early alterations in glomerular hemodynamic and tubular function, as well as size selectivity dysfunction of both small and large pores. At 30 days after UUO reversal, despite glomerular hemodynamic and tubular function and the size selectivity of small pores returning to normal in both diabetic and non‐diabetic rats, the residual size selectivity dysfunction of large pores was more severe in diabetic rats.
Conclusion
Unilateral UO caused long‐term dysfunction in the size selectivity of large pores of the GFB. In addition, DM significantly exaggerated this dysfunction, indicating a more ominous outcome in diabetic kidneys following UUO.
摘要
背景
在短期输尿管梗阻(ureteral obstruction，UO)得到治愈后，肾小球与肾小管功能障碍会随着时间的推移而逐渐恢复。糖尿病(DM)可以影响肾小球功能；因此，糖尿病肾脏从UO中恢复的能力可能会受损。这项研究在单侧UO(unilateral UO，UUO)得到治愈后，探究了长期DM对肾小球与肾小管功能恢复、以及肾小球滤过屏障(glomerular filtration barrier，GFB)通透性的影响。
方法
Wistar大鼠腹腔注射链脲佐菌素后诱发糖尿病。所有的糖尿病大鼠以及年龄匹配的对照组大鼠都要进行可逆性的24小时左侧UUO手术。在UUO逆转后的第3小时、7天以及30天，通过测定清除率的方法，测量双侧肾脏的肾功能。通过测定荧光素‐异硫氰酸盐‐共轭聚蔗糖(分子半径:20‐90Å)的肾小球滤过系数评估肾小球通透性。
结果
单侧UO可以导致GFB小孔的尺寸选择性出现短暂的变化。然而，即使UUO逆转30天后大孔的尺寸选择性功能仍然没有能够恢复到基线水平。糖尿病可加剧肾小球血流动力学以及肾小管功能的早期改变，除此之外还会导致大孔和小孔的尺寸选择性功能都出现障碍。UUO逆转后第30天，尽管在糖尿病大鼠与非糖尿病大鼠中肾小球血流动力学与肾小管功能以及小孔的尺寸选择性功能都恢复正常，但是在糖尿病大鼠中，大孔的尺寸选择性功能仍然有较严重的障碍。
结论
单侧UO可导致GFB大孔的尺寸选择性出现长期功能障碍。另外，DM可导致这种功能障碍显著加重，这表明UUO后糖尿病肾脏的预后更差。
Highlights
Following reversal of ureteral obstruction, diabetes mellitus results in exaggerated early alterations in glomerular hemodynamic and tubular function, as well as in size selectivity dysfunction of both small and large pores of the glomerular filtration barrier.
This was accompanied by a more severe residual dysfunction of large pores, indicating a more ominous outcome in diabetic kidneys following ureteral obstruction.
This study was conducted to develop, validate, and compare prediction models for severe disease and critical illness among symptomatic patients with confirmed COVID-19.
For development cohort, 433 ...symptomatic patients diagnosed with COVID-19 between April 15th 2020 and June 30th, 2020 presented to Tawam Public Hospital, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates were included in this study. Our cohort included both severe and non-severe patients as all cases were admitted for purpose of isolation as per hospital policy. We examined 19 potential predictors of severe disease and critical illness that were recorded at the time of initial assessment. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to construct predictive models. Discrimination was assessed by the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). Calibration and goodness of fit of the models were assessed. A cohort of 213 patients assessed at another public hospital in the country during the same period was used to validate the models.
One hundred and eighty-six patients were classified as severe while the remaining 247 were categorized as non-severe. For prediction of progression to severe disease, the three independent predictive factors were age, serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and serum albumin (ALA model). For progression to critical illness, the four independent predictive factors were age, serum LDH, kidney function (eGFR), and serum albumin (ALKA model). The AUC for the ALA and ALKA models were 0.88 (95% CI, 0.86-0.89) and 0.85 (95% CI, 0.83-0.86), respectively. Calibration of the two models showed good fit and the validation cohort showed excellent discrimination, with an AUC of 0.91 (95% CI, 0.83-0.99) for the ALA model and 0.89 (95% CI, 0.80-0.99) for the ALKA model. A free web-based risk calculator was developed.
The ALA and ALKA predictive models were developed and validated based on simple, readily available clinical and laboratory tests assessed at presentation. These models may help frontline clinicians to triage patients for admission or discharge, as well as for early identification of patients at risk of developing critical illness.
Kin marriages are often arranged in societies with many kinship groups and this is believed to be related to poverty and associated lack of education and security. We examined (i) whether choice of ...kin for spouse was affected by the improved socioeconomic and security conditions, and (ii) compare relative importance of family reputation vs. family wealth and social status and physical appearance in selection of future spouse.
In an electronic survey, 268 Emirati medical students were asked to provide information about their families, biological relation to preferred future spouse and rank the importance of family reputation, family wealth, family social status, and physical appearance in selecting a future spouse. Frequency of kin marriages in two generations was examined within the context of socioeconomic development of the nation.
Kin marriage rate among parents (36.4%, 79/217) and likely future rate among their children (31.4%, 37/118) were similar (p=0.35). Awareness of harms of inbreeding had a small but statistically significant deterring effect on selecting kin for spouse. The respondents ranked family reputation (72.2%) as most important in comparison to that for the family wealth (5.6%) and social status (9.2%) and spouse physical attractiveness (13.0%). However, family reputation was equally important for the participants with different preferences of kin and non-kin for spouse (p=0.57).
The frequency of kin marriages in studied population did not change significantly in the last generation. Knowledge of biological harm of inbreeding has only a small inhibitory effect on choice of kin for spouse. Family reputation was far more important in selection of spouse than family wealth, social status and beauty of spouse, but reputation was uncorrelated with choice of kin for spouse.
Patients with end stage kidney disease (ESKD) with severely impaired cognitive function have no survival benefit from dialysis. We therefore undertook a survey to explore the renal physicians' ...practices of withholding and withdrawal of dialysis treatment in vegetative state patients in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). A cross sectional survey of 29 nephrology practices in UAE exploring physicians' practices in making decisions of withholding and withdrawal of dialysis treatment during provision end-of-life care for patients in persistent vegetative state (PVS).The majority of participants practice in governmental non-for-profit dialysis units (79%), and think they are well prepared to make decision with patients and family on issues of dialysis withdrawal and withholding (69%). If a chronic dialysis patient became permanently unconscious only few respondents (17%) indicated probability of stopping dialysis. On the other hand, more respondents (48%) reported that dialysis is likely to be withheld in PVS patients who develop kidney failure. In high risk or poor prognosis ESKD patients and given how likely they would consider each option independently, respondents reported they are likely to consider time-limited dialysis in 78% of the time followed by stopping (46%) or forgoing (27%) dialysis. Majority of the participants perceived that their decisions in providing renal care for PVS patients in UAE were influenced by the family sociocultural beliefs (76% of participants), the current hospital policies (72% of participants), and by Islamic beliefs (66% of participants). Only few perceived access to palliative care (30%) and treatment cost (17%) to have an impact on their decision making.Decisions of initiation and continuation of dialysis treatment to ESKD patients in PVS are prevalent among nephrology practices in UAE. Development of local guidelines based on the societal values along with early integration of palliative kidney failure management care would be required to improve the quality of provision of end-of-life renal care in UAE.
Abbreviations: ESKD: stage kidney disease; UAE: United Arab Emirates; PVS: persistent vegetative state; RPA: Renal Physicians Association; ASN: American Society of Nephrology; EMAN: Emirates Medical Association Nephrology Society; CPR: cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
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