Consulting firms in the Middle East are likely to take a hit in 2020 due to the coronavirus, after two strong years.

The pandemic is likely to hit the Middle East’s more fragile countries hardest.

Investment into the Middle East region by US-based companies showed a notable increase between the beginning fo 2016 and the end of 2018. 

Dubai outstrips other Middle East cities as top destination for office openings.

The UAE remained the Middle East's most popular destination for foreign manufacturing investments in 2018.

Amendments to the recently passed draft PPP law have been approved by Jordan's Lower House Investment Committee (the “Committee”). The Committee has amended articles in the draft PPP law by removing the obligation on the Governme...

By Chimaobi Nwaiwu – Nnewi The Anambra State Commissioner for Transport, Dr. Christian Madubuko has warned Commercial Tricycle Owners and Riders Welfare Association of Anambra State, CTORWAAS, and their alleged paid agents to desist from peddling false allegations against his Ministry or face the wrath of the law. Dr. Madubuko also warned CTORWAAS, its Chairman,
Read More

The post Anambra Commissioner warns tricycle operators against peddling falsehood appeared first on Vanguard News.

Kali Little was already extra grateful for her mom and grandmother this Mother's Day. Then her 3-year-old was diagnosed with COVID-19. ......

Decisions taken by Middle Eastern governments in their fight against the coronavirus reflect differences in administrative capacities, infrastructures and specific national political preferences.

The low reporting in some countries and civil conflicts across the region mean that the number of cases is continually undercounted.

Turkey’s official coronavirus infections rose to more than 86,000 with 2,000 deaths on Monday.

The layoffs come amid global cuts as the coronavirus pandemic sees revenues drop.

PESHAWAR: On the directives of Inspector General of Police Sanaullah Abbasi, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police have intensified actions against drug peddlers and arrested 10,741 in the last four months.Besides, the force has eradicated poppy crop on 104 acres, says a press release. During the special...

Kate Middleton, with home-schooling her three children, is doing royal duties via video calls

The profile photo on the Kensington Royal Twitter and Instagram pages was changed to an image of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their children

Samsung chief Lee Jae-yong apologized on Wednesday for a massive fiddle that allowed him to take over leadership of the publicly traded conglomerate from his ailing father.Without offering to surrender his own position, Lee promised to end the hereditary transfer of leadership at some point in the f...

The Collatz conjecture is simple to state but has baffled mathematicians for 80 years. But a man dubbed the 'Mozart of maths' has now almost proved it

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair argued that the two major UK parties, Conservative and Labour, are 'peddling fantasies' ahead of the upcoming election.

Title: Middle Ear Infection (Otitis Media)
Category: Diseases and Conditions
Created: 12/31/1997 12:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 10/22/2019 12:00:00 AM

Title: 1 in 4 Toddlers Improperly Vaccinated
Category: Health News
Created: 4/30/2008 12:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 4/30/2008 12:00:00 AM

Title: Overly Long Pregnancies Linked to Behavioral Problems in Toddlers
Category: Health News
Created: 5/3/2012 10:05:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 5/3/2012 12:00:00 AM

Title: Blind Cords Pose Danger to Toddlers, Doctors Warn
Category: Health News
Created: 4/30/2013 10:35:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 4/30/2013 12:00:00 AM

Title: Steep Rise in Suicides Among Middle-Aged Americans, CDC Says
Category: Health News
Created: 5/2/2013 12:35:00 PM
Last Editorial Review: 5/3/2013 12:00:00 AM

Title: Poor Fitness in Middle Age Tied to Early Death Risk in Study
Category: Health News
Created: 4/30/2014 9:35:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 4/30/2014 12:00:00 AM

Title: U.S. Toddlers Eat More French Fries Than Vegetables
Category: Health News
Created: 5/1/2017 12:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 5/1/2017 12:00:00 AM

Title: Healthy Heart in Middle Age Delivers Big Dividends
Category: Health News
Created: 5/1/2017 12:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 5/2/2017 12:00:00 AM

Title: A Toddler's Screen Time Tied to Speech Delay
Category: Health News
Created: 5/4/2017 12:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 5/4/2017 12:00:00 AM

Title: Simple Drug Packaging Change Could Save Toddlers' Lives
Category: Health News
Created: 5/3/2018 12:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 5/3/2018 12:00:00 AM

Before the COVID-19 pandemic upended people's lives, Americans were already feeling more stressed than they did a generation ago. Now, new research finds that no group is feeling the impact of additional stress more than middle-aged people.

Title: Middle Age More Stressful Now Than in 1990s: Study
Category: Health News
Created: 5/7/2020 12:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 5/8/2020 12:00:00 AM

Title: Cuddling Brings Two Minds Together, MRI Study Reveals
Category: Health News
Created: 5/4/2020 12:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 5/4/2020 12:00:00 AM

The invertebrate trace fossils Selenichnites rossendalensis and Crescentichnus tesiltus are recorded and described from the Middle Jurassic Gristhorpe Member of the Cloughton Formation of the Cleveland Basin. This is the first record of these ichnospecies from the basin and now completes the occurrence of these and other traces assumed to have been made by limulids from all three non-marine formations of the Ravenscar Group.

ABSTRACT

Viral diseases cause significant losses in aquaculture. Prophylactic measures, such as immune priming, are promising control strategies. Treatment of the Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas) with the double-stranded RNA analog poly(I·C) confers long-term protection against infection with ostreid herpesvirus 1, the causative agent of Pacific oyster mortality syndrome. In a recent article in mBio, Lafont and coauthors (M. Lafont, A. Vergnes, J. Vidal-Dupiol, J. de Lorgeril, et al., mBio 11:e02777-19, 2020, https://doi.org/10.1128/mBio.02777-19) characterized the transcriptome of oysters treated with poly(I·C). This immune stimulator induced genes related to the interferon and apoptosis pathways. This response overlaps the response to viral infection, and high expression levels of potential effector genes are maintained for up to 4 months. This work opens the door to characterization of the phenomena of immune priming in a poorly studied invertebrate model. It also highlights the importance of interferon-like responses for invertebrate antiviral immunity.

ABSTRACT

Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) can cause severe and fatal acute respiratory disease in humans and remains endemic in the Middle East since first being identified in 2012. There are currently no approved vaccines or therapies available for MERS-CoV. In this study, we evaluated parainfluenza virus 5 (PIV5)-based vaccine expressing the MERS-CoV envelope spike protein (PIV5/MERS-S) in a human DPP4 knockin C57BL/6 congenic mouse model (hDPP4 KI). Following a single-dose intranasal immunization, PIV5-MERS-S induced neutralizing antibody and robust T cell responses in hDPP4 KI mice. A single intranasal administration of 10⁴ PFU PIV5-MERS-S provided complete protection against a lethal challenge with mouse-adapted MERS-CoV (MERS_MA6.1.2) and improved virus clearance in the lung. In comparison, single-dose intramuscular immunization with 10⁶ PFU UV-inactivated MERS_MA6.1.2 mixed with Imject alum provided protection to only 25% of immunized mice. Intriguingly, an influx of eosinophils was observed only in the lungs of mice immunized with inactivated MERS-CoV, suggestive of a hypersensitivity-type response. Overall, our study indicated that PIV5-MERS-S is a promising effective vaccine candidate against MERS-CoV infection.

IMPORTANCE MERS-CoV causes lethal infection in humans, and there is no vaccine. Our work demonstrates that PIV5 is a promising vector for developing a MERS vaccine. Furthermore, success of PIV5-based MERS vaccine can be employed to develop a vaccine for emerging CoVs such as SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19.

A number of partial articulated specimens of Cheiracanthus peachi nov. sp. have been collected from the Mey Flagstone Formation and Rousay Flagstone Formation within the Orcadian Basin of northern Scotland. The new, robust-bodied species is mainly distinguished by the scale ornament of radiating grooves rather than ridges. Compared to other Cheiracanthus species in the Orcadian Basin, C. peachi nov. sp. has quite a short range making it a useful zone fossil. As well as describing the general morphology of the specimens, we have also described and figured SEM images of scales and histological sections of all elements, enabling identification of other, isolated remains. Of particular biological interest is the identification of relatively robust, tooth-like gill rakers. Finally, the species has also been identified from isolated scales in Belarus, where it appears earlier and has a longer stratigraphical range, implying the species evolved in the marine deposits of the east and migrated west into the Orcadian Basin via the river systems.

The Lower and Middle Ordovician of the Yangtze Platform, China, is characterized by a sedimentary succession dominated by carbonate rocks. Three sections spanning the Nantsinkuan/Lunshan, Fenhsiang, Hunghuayuan, and Dawan/Zitai formations, corresponding to the Tremadocian–Dapingian in age, have been sampled for high-resolution ¹³C chemostratigraphy (542 samples in total). Our new ¹³C data reveal five tie-points with the potential for global correlation: (1) a positive ¹³C excursion in the lower Nantsinkuan Formation within the Tremadocian Rossodus manitouensis Zone; (2) an excursion with two peaks roughly within the late Tremadocian Paltodus ‘deltifer’ Zone; (3) a positive ¹³C shift in the lower Hunghuayuan Formation, within the early Floian Serratognathus diversus Zone; (4) a gradual positive ¹³C shift in the late Floian, ranging from the uppermost S. diversus Zone to the basal Oepikodus evae Zone; (5) a minor negative shift in the lower Dawan/Zitai Formation, within the early Dapingian Baltoniodus triangularis Zone. These excursions are herein used for correlation of the Yangtze Platform strata with successions from South China, North China, the Argentine Precordillera, North America and Baltica. From a palaeogeographical perspective the Gudongkou, Xiangshuidong and Daling sections represent depositional environments along an inner to outer ramp profile. ¹³C data from these sections show successively heavier (higher) ¹³C values with increasing depositional depth. This is interpreted as due to remineralization of organic carbon within the carbonate rocks.

Supplementary material: Carbon and oxygen isotope data are available at: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.4767080

An aberrant bi-apical Follicucullus specimen (Albaillellaria, Radiolaria) has been discovered from an upper Guadalupian (Middle Permian) chert block of the Kamiaso Unit of the Mino terrane, central Japan. If this specimen was formed with double malformation, it would be the oldest record of this phenomenon in radiolarians and the first record of its kind in Albaillellaria.

Ancestors is the latest attempt to gamify millions of years of evolution but doesn't have the excitement gene, says Jacob Aron

It's Extra Life 2018. As Chris repeatedly dies in Dark Souls III, we discuss Blizzcon and the first wave of upcoming November releases.

This week, Alex and Anna Marie can talk about their embargoed games, Peter finishes a game, and Chris worries about his cats. Kelley’s question of the week leads us down rabbit holes we probably shouldn’t have explored, but we’re doing it live and that’s how we roll.

Parents should not feel pressured to make their young children undertake structured learning or achieve specific tasks, particularly during lockdown. A new study of children under the age of two has found that parents who take a more flexible approach to their child's learning can - for children who were easy babies - minimize behavioral problems during toddlerhood.

A new study found that life may be more stressful now than it was in the 1990s, especially for people between the ages of 45 and 64.

Thousands of babies were born with severe brain damage after the 2015 Zika outbreak. New findings could tell us which therapies could help them most

Follow our live coronavirus updates HERE Coronavirus: The symptoms

A one-year-old girl with chronic lung disease and a heart defect has become one of the UK's youngest coronavirus survivors.

Two young children have been stabbed to death at a property in east London.

A mother ran into the street screaming "help me…it's my children" after a baby and a toddler suffered fatal knife wounds at the family home, neighbours said today.

Two young children who were stabbed to death in an attack at their home in east London have been named by police.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have marked their ninth wedding anniversary with a throwback photo of their glittering wedding day.