Screening for Lynch Syndrome in Young Colorectal Cancer Patients from Saudi Arabia Using Microsatellite Instability as the Initial Test

Alqahtani, Masood,Grieu, Fabienne,Carrello, Amerigo,Amanuel, Benhur,Mashour, Miral,Alattas, Rabab,Al-Saleh, Khalid,Alsheikh, Abdulmalik,Alqahtani, Sarah,Iacopetta, Barry Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2016 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.17 No.4

Background: Lynch Syndrome (LS) is a familial cancer condition caused by germline mutations in DNA mismatch repair genes. Individuals with LS have a greatly increased risk of developing colorectal cancer (CRC) and it is therefore important to identify mutation carriers so they can undergo regular surveillance. Tumor DNA from LS patients characteristically shows microsatellite instability (MSI). Our aim here was to screen young CRC patients for MSI as a first step in the identification of unrecognized cases of LS in the Saudi population. Materials and Methods: Archival tumor tissue was obtained from 284 CRC patients treated at 4 institutes in Dammam and Riyadh between 2006 and 2015 and aged less than 60 years at diagnosis. MSI screening was performed using the BAT-26 microsatellite marker and positive cases confirmed using the pentaplex MSI analysis system. Positive cases were screened for BRAF mutations to exclude sporadic CRC and were evaluated for loss of expression of 4 DNA mismatch repair proteins using immunohistochemistry. Results: MSI was found in 33/284 (11.6%) cases, of which only one showed a BRAF mutation. Saudi MSI cases showed similar instability in the BAT-26 and BAT-25 markers to Australian MSI cases, but significantly lower frequencies of instability in 3 other microsatellite markers. Conclusions: MSI screening of young Saudi CRC patients reveals that approximately 1 in 9 are candidates for LS. Patients with MSI are strongly recommended to undergo genetic counselling and germline mutation testing for LS. Other affected family members can then be identified and offered regular surveillance for early detection of LS-associated cancers.

Jumpstarting the Digital Revolution: Exploring Smart City Architecture and Themes

Maha Alqahtani,Kholod M. Alqahtani International Journal of Computer ScienceNetwork S 2023 International journal of computer science and netw Vol.23 No.3

Over the last few decades, various innovative technologies have emerged that have significantly contributed to making life easier for humans. Various information and communication technologies (ITCs) have emerged as a result of the global technological revolution, including big data, IoT, 4G and 5G networks, cloud computing, mobile computing, and artificial intelligence. These technologies have been adopted in urban planning and development, which gave rise to the concept of smart cities in the 1990s. A smart city is a type of city that uses ITCs to exchange and share information to enhance the quality of services for its citizens. With the global population increasing at unprecedented levels, cities are overwhelmed with a myriad of challenges, such as the energy crisis, environmental pollution, sanitation and sewage challenges, and water quality issues, and therefore, have become a convergence point of economic, social, and environmental risks. The concept of a smart city is a multidisciplinary, unified approach that has been adopted by governments and municipalities worldwide to overcome these challenges. Though challenging, this transformation is essential for cities with differing technological and social features, which all have the potential to determine the success or failure of the digital transformation of cities into smart cities. In recent years, researchers, businesses, and the government have all turned their attention to the emerging field of smart cities. Accordingly, this paper aims to represent a thorough understanding of the movement toward smart cities. The key themes identified are smart city definitions and concepts, smart city dimensions, and smart city architecture of different layers. Furthermore, this article discusses the challenges and some examples of smart cities.

Colorectal Cancer Screening Program: a Needed Intervention in Saudi Arabia

Alqahtani, Shareef,Khoja, Abdullah Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2015 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.16 No.16

Obesity Level Prediction Based on Data Mining Techniques

Alqahtani, Asma,Albuainin, Fatima,Alrayes, Rana,Al muhanna, Noura,Alyahyan, Eyman,Aldahasi, Ezaz International Journal of Computer ScienceNetwork S 2021 International journal of computer science and netw Vol.21 No.3

Obesity affects individuals of all gender and ages worldwide; consequently, several studies have performed great works to define factors causing it. This study develops an effective method to trace obesity levels based on supervised data mining techniques such as Random Forest and Multi-Layer Perception (MLP), so as to tackle this universal epidemic. Notably, the dataset was from countries like Mexico, Peru, and Colombia in the 14- 61year age group, with varying eating habits and physical conditions. The data includes 2111 instances and 17 attributes labelled using NObesity, which facilitates categorization of data using Overweight Levels l I and II, Insufficient Weight, Normal Weight, as well as Obesity Type I to III. This study found that the highest accuracy was achieved by Random Forest algorithm in comparison to the MLP algorithm, with an overall classification rate of 96.7%.

The Role of Endoscopic Ultrasound in Hepatology

Alqahtani Saleh A.,Ausloos Floriane,Park Ji Seok,Jang Sunguk 거트앤리버 소화기연관학회협의회 2023 Gut and Liver Vol.17 No.2

Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) has been an indispensable and widely used diagnostic tool in several medical fields, including gastroenterology, cardiology, and urology, due to its diverse therapeutic and diagnostic applications. Many studies show that it is effective and safe in patients with liver conditions where conventional endoscopy or cross-sectional imaging are inefficient or when surgical interventions pose high risks. In this article, we present a review of the current literature for the different diagnostic and therapeutic applications of EUS in liver diseases and their complications and discuss the potential future application of artificial intelligence analysis of EUS.

Investigating Predictive Features for Authorship Verification of Arabic Tweets

Alqahtani, Fatimah,Dohler, Mischa International Journal of Computer ScienceNetwork S 2022 International journal of computer science and netw Vol.22 No.6

The goal of this research is to look into different techniques to solve the problem of authorship verification for Arabic short writings. Despite the widespread usage of Twitter among Arabs, short text research has so far focused on authorship verification in languages other than Arabic, such as English, Spanish, and Greek. To the best of the researcher's knowledge, no study has looked into the task of verifying Arabic-language Twitter texts. The impact of Stylometric and TF-IDF features of very brief texts (Arabic Twitter postings) on user verification was explored in this study. In addition, an analytical analysis was done to see how meta-data from Twitter tweets, such as time and source, can help to verify users perform better. This research is significant on the subject of cyber security in Arabic countries.

Planar organic spin valves using nanostructured Ni₈₀Fe₂₀ magnetic contacts

AlQahtani, H.,Bryan, M.T.,Hayward, T.J.,Hodges, M.P.,Im, M.Y.,Fischer, P.,Grell, M.,Allwood, D.A. Elsevier Science 2014 Organic Electronics Vol.15 No.1

Planar organic spin valves were fabricated by evaporating organic semiconductor PTCDI-C<SUB>13</SUB> onto pairs of patterned Ni<SUB>80</SUB>Fe<SUB>20</SUB> magnetic nanowires separated by 120nm. Control over the relative alignment of magnetisation in the nanowires was achieved by including a domain wall 'nucleation pad' at the end of one of the wires to ensure a large separation in magnetic switching fields. Switching behaviour was investigated by optical and X-ray magnetic imaging. Room temperature organic magnetoresistance of -0.35% was observed, which is large compared to that achieved in vertical spin valves with similar materials. We attribute the enhanced performance of the planar geometry to the deposition of the semiconductor on top of the metal, which improves the quality of metal-semiconductor interfaces compared to the metal-on-semiconductor interfaces in vertical spin valves.

The Role of Technology in Facilitating, Connecting, and Ending CYBERCRIME, Drug Trafficking, and Money Laundering

Mohammed AlQahtani,Raymond Doug Partin,Back Sin-chul,Jo Sung-gu J-INSTITUTE 2019 International Journal of Terrorism & National Secu Vol.4 No.2

This research investigates and shows how technology helped to facilitate and to connect three types of trans-national crimes. More specifically, cybercrimes, drug trafficking, and money laundering. Moreover, technology has helped to facilitate cybercrimes by basically giving birth to them; without the evolution of technology, we would not have had cybercrimes. When ICTs(Information and communication technology) showed up, people all over the world can now have access to the internet which can make some of them vulnerable to cybercriminals. Examples of cybercrimes can include hacking, Ransomware, Identity theft, phishing emails, Internet Crime Against Children(ICAC), industrial espionage, and fraud. As for drug trafficking, technology has helped to facilitate this type of cybercrime by basically giving dealers and consumers a safe atmosphere where they can make deals and payments from anywhere in the world without the need of physical appearance which makes them less exposed to getting arrested. Examples of electronic drug trading are the hidden market places in the darknet. As for money laundering, technology has provided money launderers the ability to establish online offshore companies and banks that have fewer restrictions on money laundering; this method helps criminals to wash their money in countries with no or few laws that prohibit and investigate unknown income sources. Furthermore, technology has provided online banking which gives people the ability to make online transactions; cybercrimi-nals can easily blend their illicit transactions with the illicit ones with less chance of getting noticed. Other than facilitating those crimes, technology has also helped to connect those three types of crimes. Cy-bercriminals help drug dealers with coding and providing cyberspace, both cybercriminals and drug traffickers launder their money to have legit unquestionable income. As for recommended policy implications, nations should keep updating their laws in order to properly prose-cute those types of crimes, more education for law enforcement agencies should by implied as well along with more awareness to the public to avoid victimization.

On-line measurement and simulation of the in-core gamma energy deposition in the McMaster nuclear reactor

Mohammed Alqahtani 한국원자력학회 2022 Nuclear Engineering and Technology Vol.54 No.1

In a nuclear reactor, gamma radiation is the dominant energy deposition in non-fuel regions. Heat is generated upon gamma deposition and consequently affects the mechanical and thermal structure of the material. Therefore, the safety of samples should be carefully considered so that their integrity and quality can be retained. To evaluate relevant parameters, an in-core gamma thermometer (GT) was used to measure gamma heating (GH) throughout the operation of the McMaster nuclear reactor (MNR) at four irradiation sites. Additionally, a Monte Carlo reactor physics code (Serpent-2) was utilized to model the MNR with the GT located in the same irradiation sites used in the measurement to verify its predictions against measured GH. This research aids in the development of modeling, calculation, and prediction of the GH utilizing Serpent-2 as well as implementing a new GH measurement at the MNR core. After all uncertainties were quantified for both approaches, comparable GH profiles were observed between the measurements and calculations. In addition, the GH values found in the four sites represent a strong level of radiation based on the distance of the sample from the core. In this study, the maximum and minimum GH values were found at 0.32 ± 0.05 W/g and 0.15 ± 0.02 W/g, respectively, corresponding to 320 Sv/s and 150 Sv/s. These values are crucial to be considered whenever sample is planned to be irradiated inside the MNR core.

Assessment of Sustainable Green Lightweight Concrete Incorporated in New Construction Technologies

Fahad K. Alqahtani,Mohamed A. Sherif,Amr M. Ghanem,Ibrahim S. Abotaleb 대한토목학회 2022 KSCE JOURNAL OF CIVIL ENGINEERING Vol.26 No.12

Recent studies have led to the development of approaches for recycling plastic waste and using it as an alternative for natural aggregates in concrete. The studies mainly focused on the material properties and sustainability aspects of such implementation, with little focus on the financial implications and the technical feasibility. The purpose of this research is to investigate the different lifecycle costs associated with the use of green recycled plastic lightweight aggregates (GLACs) in concrete construction in different structural systems. For that purpose, the authors evaluated a concrete structure with several variable design systems and conducted structural design once using conventional concrete and once using concrete with recycled plastic aggregates, resulting in a total of 36 distinct scenarios. The lifetime cost analysis was performed on such scenarios. Finally, a sensitivity analysis was carried out to determine how structural characteristics and critical element costs influence cost-effectiveness. According to the findings, this approach can save up to 6% in life-cycle expenses. The findings of this research will contribute to the upcoming paradigm shift of using recycled plastic in concrete, which will reduce the environmental impacts of both the concrete and plastic industries while also assisting developers in lowering their life cycle costs.