Khalifa University and the Environment Agency Abu Dhabi found that reduced human-caused air pollution during the Covid-19 lockdown was accompanied by increased surface-level winds, resulting in higher concentrations of dust and particulate matter. 

Research has shown that the global lockdowns seen during the start of the Covid-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the climate of several regions around the world by improving air quality. However, some regions actually saw increases in particulate matter in the atmosphere, as a result of a dustier than expected air. 

Dr. Diana Francis, Head of the Environmental and Geophysical Sciences Lab (ENGEOS), Dr. Ricardo Fonseca, Research Scientist, and Dr. Narendra Nelli, Postdoctoral Fellow, along with Oriol Teixido, Ruqaya Mohamed and Dr. Richard Perry from the Environment Agency Abu Dhabi, investigated the increased dust activity over the Arabian Peninsula in combination with an increase in wind speed during the Covid-19 lockdown period in 2020. They found that while anthropogenic emissions were reduced, particulate matter concentrations from natural sources increased. Their results were published in Aeolian Research. 

The main winds driving dust emissions over the Arabian Peninsula are known as Shamal winds. They result from an East-West pressure dipole with a low over the Indo-Pakistani subcontinent and a high over northern Africa. During the lockdown, emissions reduction over the Indian subcontinent resulted in a deeper low pressure, which caused an increase in Shamal winds over the Arabian Peninsula leading to more dust emissions and higher concentrations of particulate matter over the UAE and surrounding countries.

The policies aimed at restricting mobility and promoting social distancing in an attempt to control the spread of the virus also impacted atmospheric and oceanic conditions through changes in human-caused emissions of pollutants. The global Covid-19 lockdowns resulted in a reduction of transportation and  closure of industrial facilities closures during a two month period, which resulted in  a seven percent drop in global carbon dioxide emissions from human activity. 

At the lockdown peak in April 2020, regions responsible for around 90 percent of global CO2 emissions were under some level of confinement. The resultant drop in emissions led to a reduction of the mean sea surface temperatures (SSTs) of 0.5 degrees Celsius in most coastal areas, with the SSTs in the north Indian Ocean decreasing by about 5 percent. The cleaner air also led to lower night-time land surface and air temperatures, with urban areas experiencing a more pronounced reduction than rural ones. During the daytime, on the other hand, the surface and air above were warmer due to less scattering and absorption of the incoming UV radiation from the sun. 

In more polluted environments, like in the four major cities of India (Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai), the impact was even more dramatic with the monthly mean temperature dropping by up to 3 degrees Celsius. 

As temperatures varied, near-surface wind speeds were also affected, as winds are a response to local-scale pressure and temperature gradients. 

In the UAE, reduced emissions led to a 40 percent decrease in the concentration of pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide, sulfuric dioxide, and carbon monoxide, compared to pre-lockdown levels. However, the particulate matter concentrations increased by up to 45 percent. 

“This was unexpected,” Dr. Francis said. “Published works reported a general reduction in particulate matter during the lockdown period, owing to lower emissions and changes in precipitation. However, some cities in Europe and China saw an increase in particulate matter in the atmosphere due to long-range transport of dust. In fact, in Morocco, the decrease in local emissions was offset by long-range transported aerosols from non-local emissions. It is important to understand the impact of the large-scale circulation on dust activity over the Arabian Peninsula and its effects on air quality throughout the lockdown period given that the region is one of the largest sources of mineral dust on Earth with mineral dust potentially accounting for more than 40 percent of the particulate matter levels.”

The researchers found that while there was a reduction in anthropogenic, or human caused, emissions in the Arabian Peninsula during the lockdown period, the particulate matter concentrations actually increased due to higher dust loadings. This was due to the increased Shamal winds that caused more dust aerosols to be picked up from dust sources in the Arabian Peninsula and then transported across the region and beyond. 

Compared to the four years prior to 2020, the dust loading in 2020 was higher over the majority of the eastern Arabian Peninsula, with hotspots in Kuwait, Iraq, and neighboring Saudi Arabia.” Dr. Francis said.

Dust aerosols are the main contributor to particulate matter concentrations and long-range transport of aerosols can explain aerosol increases in regions further from loading areas. The peaks in dust loading go hand in hand with the peaks in particulate matter, according to the researchers, as the increased dust emission was driven by high near-surface winds in response to the change in temperature and pressure gradients.

“While the reduction in the concentration of pollutants, such as carbon monoxide, has been widely reported, in the vast majority of published studies the particulate matter in several regions around the world also decreased,” Dr. Francis said. 

“Over the eastern Arabian Peninsula, however, it actually increased due to more active wind flow. This ��ݮ��Ƶ the complex nature of dust emissions and its relationship to anthropogenic and natural effects. Having less man-made pollutants does not necessarily mean having a cleaner environment. It is essential that dust aerosols and their feedback on the regional climate should be considered when establishing national and regional strategies for anthropogenic emission reduction.”

Jade Sterling
Science Writer
26 April 2022

The post Why Reduced Emissions over the Arabian Peninsula Did Not Make the Air Any Cleaner during the Covid-19 Lockdown in 2020 appeared first on Khalifa University.

The takeAbreath facemask combines sophisticated machine learning with advanced sensors and gamification to address the stress and anxiety levels brought to the surface by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Not only does their facemask help monitor stress, it is linked to a smartphone app that offers breathing games to help reduce stress levels.

Dr. Anna-Maria Pappa, Assistant Professor, Dr. Sofia Dias, Research Scientist, and Prof. Leontios Hadjileontiadis, Biomedical Engineering Department Chair, collaborated with Dr. Sahika Inal, King Abdullaziz University of Science and Technology, to develop a smart mask that monitors stress and offers intervention techniques, including games and breathing exercises, to the user. Out of 314 applications from all over the world, the innovative mask won third place in the.

The Women to Impact Resilience Challenge, organized by the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), is aimed at individuals and teams from around the world with technology-based solutions that help local ecosystems build resilience to real-world challenges such as climate change, disasters, epidemics, food insecurity, and environmental degradation. The Khalifa University team entered the Health track which required their solution tackle ‘the prevention, detection and treatment of diseases and pandemics.’

The takeAbreath team received a prize of USD 5,000 for their solution in an award ceremony held on the 20th of January.

“Covid-19 exacerbated the psychosocial effects that put adults at high risk for chronic depression and anxiety,” Dr. Pappa explained. “The need for continuous stress monitoring and stress management is timelier than ever. But emotional expression is hampered by the face mask that became a necessary protective accessory during the pandemic. Our takeAbreath solution transforms a simple mask to a smart ‘Lab-on-Facemask’.”

Sensors in the facemask recognize physiological signals related to stress and anxiety, including breathing patterns and variations in the electrical conductance of the skin, known as electrodermal activity (EDA). Research shows that both breathing and EDA signals can be indicative of the intensity of our emotional state.

“When physiological signals are transferred to a smartphone app via Bluetooth, our algorithms perform deep data analysis using trained deep learning models to identify the stress or anxiety levels of the user,” Dr. Dias explained. “Once this has been determined, the app offers personalized breathing games and exercises to the user, controlled by the users’ breathing sounds.”

“Recent work published in the Lancet revealed that in 2020, cases of major depressive and anxiety disorders increased by 28 percent and 26 percent respectively, notably in countries with high Covid-19 infection rates,” Prof. Inal said. “With the social distancing requirements preventing traditional doctor’s office visits and diagnoses, we need technological advancements to help support mental health. Our smart facemask concept with its integrated real-time stress-sensing capabilities offers that support.”

Beyond the pandemic however, as facemasks seem likely to remain an accessory to everyday life, continuous monitoring of stress and anxiety can help users maintain better mental health throughout their lives.

“Overall, our approach builds on existing studies where respiratory patterns and electrodermal activity have been successfully employed, either separately or in combination, in assessing the mental state of individuals and proposing suitable intervention strategies,” Dr. Pappa said. “We incorporated a sensing framework into a wearable facemask linked to a smartphone for real-time continuous measurements and to provide stress management through breathing games and exercises.”

Breathing exercises have long been recommended for reducing stress levels as they increase oxygen exchange, which reduces blood pressure, slows the heart, and releases any tension held in the abdomen. These physical changes also benefit the mental state as focusing on breathing can bring patients back to the present and to a state of mindfulness. While breathing exercises may not be a full stress management technique, they are clinically proven to lessen the symptoms of stress and anxiety and can be employed whenever and wherever needed.

“takeAbreath showcases the skills of the KU Department of Biomedical Engineering faculty to approach health problems by normalizing the technology to the user’s everyday living customs and turning simple means, such as a mask, to a smart health monitoring sensor. This line of research, by involving gamified interventions, exemplifies to the young students the way they could think in order to provide innovative solutions to GLocal problems, such as stress, anxiety and Covid-19 pandemic” Prof. Hadjileontiadis, Chair of BME, ��ݮ��Ƶ.

Jade Sterling
Science Writer
6 April 2022

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The subdued transportation and industrial activity resulting from lockdowns during the pandemic generally reduced global pollution, but also created atmospheric conditions that whipped up unusually high levels of dust across the Arabian Peninsula.

Diana Francis, of Khalifa University of Science and Technology in the United Arab Emirates, was first alerted to this surprising effect while looking at research performed in early 2020 into changes in global emissions and pollution . That data showed clear evidence of reduced carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere and oceans, but also indicated that the impact of the lockdowns was not universally positive from an air quality perspective. “I looked at the satellite imagery and saw very active dust emissions, especially over Iraq, Kuwait and northeast Saudi Arabia,” she says. 

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When governments introduced stay-home measures in early 2020 in response to the , air pollution fell, in general, thanks to reduced traffic and the closure of industrial plants.

The UAE itself enjoyed a significant drop in  between February and April of that year, figures published by the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment showed, due to the scaled-down activities.

However, a new study by scientists in the Emirates has found that, against expectations, concentrations of tiny particulate matter in the air in eastern Arabia, including the UAE, increased during this time.

The study reports that from March to June 2020, the level of particulate matter (PM) in eastern Arabia was 30 per cent higher than the average seen from 2016 to 2019.

The increases in particulate matter were “indeed a surprising finding”, said the study’s first author, Dr Diana Francis, who heads the Environmental and Geophysical Sciences (ENGEOS) Laboratory at Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi.

The post Why Did ‘Particle Pollution’ Increase in UAE as Roads Emptied during Pandemic? appeared first on Khalifa University.

Digital mass testing for Covid-19 could soon be possible through smartphone applications and machine learning techniques to identify patterns in sounds made by simply breathing.

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The sound of a person’s breathing, cough or even their voice could all be used to help diagnose patients with Covid-19, as Khalifa University researchers design an app using artificial intelligence to detect the sounds of a coronavirus infection.

The standard methods to test for Covid-19 rely on polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technologies. While highly accurate, these tests are hindered by the time taken to get results. They also require trained personnel, properly equipped test sites, and robust operational and logistical supply chains. Not to mention, PCR testing is unpleasant for the patient which can deter them from testing regularly.

Finding promising alternatives that are simple, fast and cost-effective is the goal. Plus, since Covid-19 cases continue to increase around the world, a system capable of recognizing the disease in signals recorded by portable devices, such as smartphones, is essential.

Mohanad Alkhodari, Research Associate, and Dr. Ahsan Khandoker, Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering, investigated the use of breathing sounds and a deep learning framework to determine Covid-19 infections from healthy subjects, including asymptomatic cases. Their results were published in

“Recent studies have used new emerging algorithms in artificial intelligence to detect and classify Covid-19 infections in CT and X-ray images, averaging over 95 percent accuracy,” Alkhodari said. “While the imaging techniques aren’t feasible for frequent testing purposes, the machine learning techniques can be used in determining infection from biological respiratory signals, such as coughing and breathing sounds.”

The human body makes all sorts of noises and physicians have used them to diagnose disease—perhaps the most classic medical device is the stethoscope. Auscultation, the technique of listening to the body, can be challenging for humans to grasp accurately, but it’s a simple task for a machine. Artificial intelligence algorithms can identify features or patterns in sounds that the human ear cannot, and can also pick up noises that are beyond human hearing.

“Respiratory auscultation is a safe and non-invasive technique to diagnose the respiratory system and its associated organs,” Alkhodari said. “Clinicians can hear and record the air sound moving inside and outside the lungs while breathing or coughing, and then identify any abnormalities. This could serve as an early alert to a patient before they move on with further testing.”

Previous studies have investigated the information carried in respiratory sounds in patients who tested positive for Covid-19, forming the dataset necessary to train a machine learning algorithm. Additionally, the vocal patterns seen in patients with Covid-19 show indicative biomarkers for viral infection.

“Although the current gold standard, PCR testing has various limitations, including the high expenses involved in equipment and chemical agents, the need for experts for diagnosis, and the long wait needed for results,” Dr. Khandoker said. “A handheld deep learning model overcomes most of these limitations and allows for a better revival of the healthcare and economic sectors in several countries.”

The team focused on a dataset from India, using a total of 480 breathing sounds from a publicly available dataset. These sounds were recovered by an equal number of healthy and infected subjects using a smartphone microphone and fed into the deep learning framework.

“India is severely suffering from a new genomic variant of Covid-19,” Dr. Khandoker said. “This gives us an insight to the ability of the AI algorithms in detecting infection in patients carrying this new variant, as well as asymptomatic patients.”

The results obtained from testing the deep learning framework on the Indian dataset shows its potential for developing telemedicine and smartphone applications for Covid-19 that can provide real-time results in an efficient and timely manner. It could also be extended beyond Covid-19 to future pandemics or other respiratory diseases. For countries experiencing high infection rates, this technique would also mean isolation behaviors could be maintained, reducing further infection spread, but also provide a diagnostic test that is much cheaper for places struggling to implement the infrastructure needed for mass PCR testing.

“This study paves the way towards implementing deep learning in Covid-19 diagnostics,” Dr. Khandoker said. 

Jade Sterling
Science Writer
1 March 2022

The post New Artificial Intelligence Technique Could Tell if You Have Covid-19 from the Sound of Your Breathing appeared first on Khalifa University.

Researchers in the UAE have found that some bacteria in the gut may impact the severity of Covid-19 infections. Certain types of anti-inflammatory bacteria linked to fatty acids metabolism in the intestines strengthen the body’s immune response, indicating that the makeup of the gut microbiome may influence the severity of infection and susceptibility to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. 

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The human gut houses a complex community of microbes, a dynamic population of microorganisms that differs from one person to another and impacts the balance of the whole human body. Evidence suggests the human microbiome even modulates the systemic immune response: in some patients suffering from other respiratory illnesses, the gut microbiota affects the immunity and inflammation in the lungs. It’s possible that a similar link exists between Covid-19 and the body’s gut microbiome. A team of researchers explored the role of gut microbiome diversity and its potential as an intervention target in modifying Covid-19 outcomes.

Dr. Mohammad Al Bataineh, Assistant Professor of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Dr. Habiba Alsafar, Associate Professor of Molecular Biology and Genetics and Director of the Khalifa University Center for Biotechnology, and six other KU researchers collaborated with a team of researchers who make up the UAE Covid-19 Collaborative Partnership to investigate the microbiomes of patients presenting with Covid-19. Their results were published in

The gut microbiome exists in a symbiotic relationship with its host, facilitating digestion and aiding in the delivery of essential nutrients to the cells making up the gastrointestinal tract. It helps protect against pathogenic microbes and plays a role in preserving intestinal homeostasis by modulating local and systemic immune responses. It keeps the local immune system in a perpetual vigilant state and remains relatively stable throughout life.

Although most people with Covid-19 recover within weeks of infection, some experience symptoms long after testing negative. Studies show that up to 75 percent of patients hospitalized with Covid-19 described at least one symptom six months after discharge, including respiratory, gastrointestinal, and memory symptoms, as well as fatigue. Although the exact causes for this are unknown, there is increasing evidence that the gut is linked to the severity of infection and that changes to the microbiome persist after the disease passes.

“The role of the human gut microbiome in health and disease conditions is yet to be fully understood. The gastrointestinal symptoms have been linked to the dysbiosis of the intestinal microbiome, where the normal gut bacterial makeup is altered,” Dr. Al Bataineh said. “Invading viruses can alter our immune responses – responses that are usually regulated by the microbiota in the gut. The infections interrupt the normal programming, and create a microenvironment that helps allow these pathogens to proliferate. We think the Covid-19 virus works in this way, altering the regulatory functions of microorganisms in the GI tract. Patients with Covid-19 tend to have lower levels of the beneficial microbes. Whether this is an association or causation is yet to be established.”

“Alterations in the gut microbiome are quite common among people with infectious diseases,” Dr. Alsafar explained. “We weren’t surprised to see this association with Covid-19 too. A substantial portion of patients presented with gastrointestinal symptoms, and when we identified that Covid-19 patients shed viral RNA in their stool, this was another indication that the virus was getting into the gut.”

SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing Covid-19, enters the human body by binding to a protein called ACE2. ACE2 is present in all people, but the quantity of this protein can vary among individuals and in different tissues and cells throughout the body, including the lungs, small intestine and the nasal cavity.

“The most important connection between the gut microbiome and Covid-19 is the involvement of the ACE2 receptor,” Dr. Alsafar explained. “SARS-CoV-2 enters cells through ACE2 receptors, which regulate the gut microbiota, and when disturbed by infection, cause a dysregulation of the intestinal system.”

It is understandable, then, that higher ACE2 expression in the body is correlated with higher infectivity, suggesting that increased ACE2 levels may predispose individuals to Covid-19. In a healthy gut, bacteria called Bacteroidetes are known as ‘good’ bacteria and downregulate the expression of the ACE2 receptor; this has a protective role in Covid-19 infections as it minimizes the amount of ACE2 receptors on the cell surfaces, meaning there are fewer potential entry points for the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Unfortunately, patients with Covid-19 are more likely to present with lower levels of these commensal bacteria and higher levels of what are known as ‘opportunistic pathogens’. Together, the imbalance results in the gastrointestinal symptoms prevalent in Covid-19 patients, and these perturbations persist even after patients recover.

The data indicates a direct correlation between the composition of the gut microbiome and Covid-19 infection severity. Meaning, the microbial ecosystem before and during infection can help predict severity and mediate the immune response. However, since the gut microbiota were only sampled after they were infected with the virus, the research team was unable to determine whether pre-existing gut dysbiosis contributed to the severe symptoms, or whether the Covid-19 infection itself was the cause of the gut dysbiosis.

“This is very similar to the chicken and the egg question: which came first?” Dr. Alsafar said.

In addition, we know that dietary changes happen when patients fall ill: when people feel tired, diets often shift towards higher energy food in the hope it will help tackle their symptoms. These dietary changes also come with a change in the direct components of the microbiome, so it’s also possible this contributes to the changes in the gut. However, the participants in this study shared similar lifestyle and dietary habits, including dietary fiber intake.

The research team found that various differences in the microbiome could explain susceptibility and infection severity. Gender has been found to significantly correlate with overall microbiome variation, which may partially explain why men are more likely to contract Covid-19. At the same time, gut microbiota changes with age, with the elderly more likely to have lower levels of protective ‘good’ bacteria. One of these bacteria is Lachnospiraceae, which plays an essential role in gut barrier function and immune tolerance, especially among local inflammation. This commensal bacteria may be protecting the younger population from infection.

Lachnospiraceae also produce butyrate, a fatty acid that can strengthen immune response.

“Fatty acids play various critical cellular functions and are implicated in several stages of viral replication,” Dr. Alsafar explained. “They are directly linked to coronavirus spread and multiplication, and we found lower levels of the good bacteria that produce them in patients with Covid-19.”

Further longitudinal studies would be beneficial to understanding the relationship between Covid-19 susceptibility and changes in the gut microbiome, but this study represents the first to investigate a Middle Eastern cohort. The results show a significant compositional and functional shift in the gut microbiota of Covid-19 patients, suggesting interventions that target the gut could be used to mediate Covid-19 infection.

Jade Sterling
Science Writer
22 February 2022

The post Can You Stomach It? The Link between Covid-19 and the Gut Microbiome appeared first on Khalifa University.

Khalifa University’s Dr. Habiba Alsafar and a collaborative team of UAE researchers have identified eight host-specific genetic factors with a ‘highly plausible’ genetic association with hospitalized cases of Covid-19. The findings may be able to help researchers discover therapeutic approaches to combatting the virus responsible for an enormous health and economic burden worldwide. 

One of the great mysteries of the Covid-19 pandemic was why some people only contracted a mild disease, but for others it was a fatal infection. The variation in consequences range from asymptomatic to life-threatening, viral pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome. Although some factors correlating to disease severity have been established, these risk factors alone do not explain all of the variability seen.

A research team in the UAE has found that the genetic makeup of an individual contributes to the susceptibility and response to viral infection. Although environmental, clinical and social factors affect the chance of exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, host genetics seem to play a significant role in the severity of the disease. The research team involved consisted of Dr. Habiba AlSafar, Associate Professor and Director of the KU Center for Biotechnology (BTC), with Dr. Mira Mousa, and Research Associates Hema Vurivi and Hussein Kannout, all from the BTC. They collaborated with a team from Sheikh Khalifa Medical City, Dubai Health Authority, and the University of Western Australia and the work has been published in.

In a cross-sectional study, the research team looked at 646 patients who contracted Covid-19, 482 of whom were hospitalized with acute respiratory distress syndrome, pneumonia, severe complications, or who needed supplemental oxygen therapy. Upon examination of their genetic information, they identified eight genes expressed in the lungs are very likely to be associated with hospitalization in Covid-19 cases.

Risk factors, disease management and access to health systems do contribute to the wide variety in Covid-19 symptoms seen but multiple genome-wide association studies have demonstrated a link between the patient’s genetic makeup and their vulnerability to severe Covid-19 infection.

Previous work by Dr. AlSafar with researchers in the UAE found that infection with Covid-19 can affect the expression of various genes known to be associated with inflammatory and oxidation activities in the body. Genes that caused the production of reactive oxygen species – a type of unstable molecule that contains oxygen and that easily reacts with other molecules in a cell – were significantly upregulated, while genes that affected antioxidant production – molecules that fight free radicals in the body – were downregulated.

Now, a further eight genes have been discovered with a ‘highly plausible’ genetic association with hospitalization cases of Covid-19, thanks to the first genome-wide association study (GWAS) in the United Arab Emirates.

“Identifying genetic variants associated with Covid-19 severity may uncover novel biological insights into diseases pathogenesis and identify mechanistic targets for therapeutic and vaccine development,” Dr. AlSafar explained. “We can identify which individuals may have a greater risk of being hospitalized and improved treatments to target these patients specifically.”

The team designed their approach to uncover genetic variants shared across ancestry groups, discovering that while the eight genes were largely driven by effects in the populations with European ancestry, the effects were similar in multiple ancestral populations, demonstrating the chances of those variants modulating the risk of infection and severity in different populations.

The eight genes were all found in the lungs and are associated with tumor progression, emphysema and airway obstruction within the lung. In hospitalized Covid-19 patients, these genes were associated with respiratory failure that required invasive mechanical ventilation. Some of the genes were also found to be associated with inflammation in the lungs, further validating previous work that indicated inflammatory responses in the lungs influence Covid-19 susceptibility and severity.

While further studies are needed to fully establish the roles these eight genes play, these findings suggest that genetic diversity may be an important factor in determining why different people have different lung responses to SARS-CoV-2, and thus differing severity of Covid-19. Some of these associations could lead to therapeutic approaches, or therapies designed to improve overall health rather than merely treat symptoms, due to their expression in the lungs.

“The sample size for this study was small so caution should be exercised in translating the findings into genetic tests and clinical application,” Dr. AlSafar added. “However, based on our study, one gene, VWA8, has a 3-fold risk of being associated to hospitalized Covid-19 phenotypes. This gene is linked to types of emphysema and deformities in the lungs.

“We need to conduct further studies on worldwide population genetics to see if we can identify these genes in other populations. Then, we can begin to develop population-specific therapeutics to mitigate this worldwide challenge.”

Jade Sterling
Science Writer
24 January 2022

The post Eight Genes Found to Influence Covid-19 Severity appeared first on Khalifa University.

It takes guts – healthy guts – to fight Covid-19

With a week to go until the start of 2022 – and so much demand for a better year ahead than the one we are leaving behind – the time is ripe for making New Year’s resolutions. Few lists will be significantly different than those of years past. Every year, polling companies find the most popular resolutions to be the same the world over: eating better, exercising more and losing weight.

It is hardly a wonder why; the holiday season at the end of December is, in many wealthier countries, responsible for up to half of the average weight gained over the course of the year.

In a world ridden with Covid-19, old ambitions for a slimmer waistline have gained a new urgency. Diet, exercise and overall fitness are major factors in staying healthy during this pandemic. Maintaining a healthy diet is arguably the trickiest of these, particularly so soon after one has spent days feasting on Christmas dinners, Boxing Day lunches and New Year’s brunches.

According to a new study carried out in the UAE, however, diet may play an even larger role than was previously thought in maintaining the body’s defences against Covid-19. Scientists at the University of Sharjah and Khalifa University of Science and Technology, among others, found that the make-up of the body’s gut microbiome – the ecosystem of bacteria inhabiting our bellies – may influence the severity of a Covid-19 infection.

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The study shows that certain types of anti-inflammatory bacteria and fatty acids in the intestines strengthen the body’s immune response

Scientists in the UAE have found that some bacteria in the gut may reduce the severity of Covid-19 in infected people.

The study carried out by scientists at the University of Sharjah, Khalifa University of Science and Technology in Abu Dhabi, and other institutions, said the make-up of the gut microbiome may influence the severity of the disease and the body’s immune response.

The work is among the latest of many studies of the relationship between the gut microbiome and Covid-19, some of which have analysed how diet influences a person’s ability to fend off the coronavirus.

The study, published in Frontiers in Microbiology, looked at 86 infected people and another 57 without the disease.

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The body’s immune system has an incredible mechanism capable of responding to various pathogens, but it can go too far. New research from a team in the UAE has found that Covid-19 infections can affect the way the genes moderating this immune response are expressed, which may be why infections range from asymptomatic to severe.

When the body is confronted with an infection, an immune response is triggered, sending immune cells to the region to attack the virus. This causes localized inflammation that reduces once the body has treated the attack. Sometimes, however, this immune response can go into overdrive, resulting in hyper-inflammation. While this sounds fairly innocuous, this can seriously harm or even kill the person.

This is how contracting the flu can kill a patient. In the context of Covid-19,

Cytokines are small proteins released by many different cells in the body as an immune response and a cytokine storm is an overreaction from the body’s immune system.

Some cytokines trigger cell death to prevent a virus spreading to other cells, but when lots of cells do this, a lot of tissue can die. In Covid-19 patients, that tissue is mostly in the lungs. As the tissue breaks down, the tiny air sacs fill with fluid, causing pneumonia and starving the blood of oxygen. Respiratory distress syndrome follows, other organs start to fail, and the patient dies.

Now, , the biological mechanisms that cause oxidative stress and that are combated by antioxidants. While most well-known for their anti-ageing properties, antioxidants are the components that keep oxidative stress in check during an immune response, and in Covid-19 patients, this balance is disrupted, contributing to the cytokine storm.

Dr. Habiba Alsafar, Associate Professor and Director of the Khalifa University Center for Biotechnology, collaborated with Prof. Rabih Halwani, who is Principal Investigator on the project, along  Prof. Qutayba Hamid, Dr. Narjes Saheb Sharif-Askari, Dr. Fatemah Saheb Sharif-Askari, and Bushra Mdkhana, from Sharjah Institute of Medical Research and College of Medicine, University of Sharjah; Hawra Ali Hussain Alsayed from the Dubai Health Authority Pharmacy Department; and Dr. Zeyad Faoor Alrais from the Dubai Health Authority Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Unit. Their results were published in .

“When patients suffer high levels of oxidative stress while infected with a respiratory disease, their prognosis tends to not be very good,” Dr. Alsafar said. “We know that the virus causing Covid-19 enters the cells by binding to the host ACE2 receptors, and these receptors are found in abundance in the lungs. When this virus infects the cells, there is an extreme drop in ACE2 levels, and this is bad news because ACE2 plays a critical role in regulating the oxidative balance. A lack of ACE2 means the production of reactive oxygen species is stepped up. Moreover, activated inflammatory cells that infiltrate the infected lung tissue produce large amount of these oxygen species. Where a healthy cell would then activate an antioxidant response, this mechanism is suppressed in patients with a severe Covid-19 infection. There is evidence to suggest this is a targeted effect of the Covid-19 virus to enhance its survival in a patient.”

The UAE research team measured the gene expression levels of 125 genes known to be associated with inflammatory and oxidation activities in the body from Covid-19 patients and compared their levels with those seen in influenza (IAV) patients and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) patients. They also compared the severe Covid-19 infections against non-severe Covid-19 infections.

“We wanted to know how Covid-19 infection may affect the expression of these genes in patients and found that the genes that caused the production of reactive oxygen species were ‘significantly upregulated’ in patients with Covid-19,” Prof. Halwani said. “While the oxidative genes were upregulated, the antioxidant genes were found to be downregulated.”

In severe Covid-19 cases, the antioxidant resources were completely depleted in the infected cells, resulting in a further increase in reactive oxygen species products and a cytokine storm.

“Targeting one or more of these oxidative stress genes could be an effective therapeutic approach for treating Covid-19,” Dr. Alsafar said. “This could help prevent the progression of the disease to a cytokine storm, stopping an over-reactive immune response before it happens. We could also give patients direct doses of antioxidants to help combat the oxidative stress seen in infections.”

“Interestingly, three of the oxidative genes that were significantly upregulated in severe cases could be detected in saliva samples, suggesting that the saliva level of these genes could be used as non-invasive markers for Covid-19 disease severity,” Prof. Halwani said. While further studies are needed to confirm these findings, they represent a significant step towards understanding the Covid-19 disease mechanisms and a possible treatment plan. 

Jade Sterling
Science Writer
28 November 2021

The post Enhanced Oxidative Stress Aggravates Cytokine Storm and Lung Tissue Damage During Covid-19 Infection appeared first on Khalifa University.

By Shireena Al Nowais

Researchers in Abu Dhabi are developing a technology that could allow masks to filter out specific viruses such as Covid-19 and the flu.

Associate professor at Khalifa University Dr Ammar Nayfeh and a team of academics and doctors are working on creating this new face mask using nanotechnology.

“The idea is to create specific fibers with certain bonds that will filter out the virus,” said Dr Nayfeh.

Scientists across the world are using nanoparticles in mask designs due to their ability to slow or stop the spread of microorganisms.

‘Nano masks’ are actually already in use. Made with nanoparticle fabric they are widely available and most people have been wearing them since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, but the design has stayed the same despite the virus particle size changing.

Scientists at Khalifa University used silicon nanoparticles encapsulated in aerosol to resemble the covid virus during testing. It was then sprayed onto two different masks with different fibre densities to demonstrate what would happen upon contact.

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The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted everything from the largest societies on earth to the smallest microalgae in the sea.

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The oceans directly influence life on Earth, regulating the global climate, stimulating rainfall, and providing 50 to 80 percent of the Earth’s oxygen. Any change on the surface of the ocean has a direct effect on life on this planet. They also constitute the Earth’s largest source of food, with more than 40 percent of the world’s population relying on the oceans as their primary food source. As the pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus has shown a pronounced effect on the environment in general, recognizing its effect on the oceans is paramount.

Dr. Maryam R. Al Shehhi, Assistant Professor in the Khalifa University Department of Civil Infrastructure and Environmental Engineering, investigated the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the oceans with Dr. Yarjan Abdul Samad from the University of Cambridge. They published their findings recently in the journal .

“The global Covid-19 lockdowns resulted in the closure of the largest industries in the world for a period of two months,” explained Dr. Al Shehhi. “This was enough to cause a seven percent drop in anthropogenic carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. While there have already been investigations into the effect of the pandemic on the atmosphere, the question remains: what happened to the oceans?”

One way of determining the state of the oceans is to consider their productivity. Ocean productivity represents the health of the marine ecosystem and the carbon cycle and largely refers to the production of organic matter by phytoplankton suspended in the ocean. Phytoplankton harvest light to convert inorganic carbon to organic carbon and then supply this organic carbon to organisms that obtain their energy from the respiration of organic matter, such as zooplankton, fish, and marine mammals.

“Productivity is commonly estimated as the plant biomass in the ocean, and chlorophyll-a is one of the key metric indicators,” explained Dr. Al Shehhi. “Associated with ocean productivity are the sea temperature and the carbon cycle.

“Big industries, such as the automobile factories, textile and clothing factories, and maritime fishing and shipping operations, were on hold for a period of two months, with many fishing vehicles unable to leave port and a substantially reduced demand for many seafood products,” explained Dr. Al Shehhi. “These human stressors have been seriously affecting the ocean for several decades, causing a high sea surface temperature, ocean acidification, and increasing ultraviolet radiation. If these industries continue to operate as they have, the sea surface temperature is projected to rise by 2.8°C by 2100, which would have devastating effects on the planet.”

However, during the pandemic lockdowns, there was a seven percent reduction in global carbon dioxide emissions from cumulative human activity. The researchers considered how this reduction could have affected the oceans by examining the levels of chlorophyll-a (chl-a) before and during the pandemic using satellite images. Their results show a reduction in chl-a concentrations in the global oceans, particularly in the coastal regions.

Satellite images can be used to measure the concentration of chl-a, the pigment used by phytoplankton to photosynthesize. The levels of chl-a in the surface water are an indication of how much primary production is occurring in the surface of the ocean. Since phytoplankton need nutrients for photosynthesis and growth, chlorophyll concentrations are highest where nutrient concentrations are highest. Currents in the ocean can bring nutrient rich water from the deep up to the surface, which means there is a correlation between water temperature and chlorophyll concentration. Cold water generally has higher chl-a concentrations than warm water because it contains nutrients that have recently been carried up from the deep ocean. The cold, nutrient-rich waters of the North Atlantic are more productive than the warmer, tropical waters found around the equator.

Dr. Al Shehhi and Dr. Samad investigated the chl-a concentrations in eleven regions, selected for the presence of either high industrial activity or large population: Alaska, Northeast United States, Southeast USA, Pacific Ocean, Southeast America, China and South Korea, Middle East, North Europe, Northwest Africa, Southwest Africa, and Southeast Australia.

“We saw a prominent decrease off Alaska, Northern Europe, South China and the Southeast USA,” said Dr. Al Shehhi. “CO₂ emissions from South China dropped by 123 tonnes during the pandemic, and this resulted in a five percent drop in chl-a in the surrounding ocean. This drop in chl-a could be caused by the reduction of the CO2 emissions during the pandemic period because phytoplankton biomass takes up the atmospheric CO2 during photosynthesis.”

The reduction in atmospheric CO2 emissions has also affected the carbon cycle in the ocean. The ratio of inorganic carbon to organic carbon has decreased, indicating a reduction in CO2 uptake. In Europe, the reported reduction of atmospheric CO2 emissions by 24 percent may have caused a direct 75 percent decrease in the carbon ratio of the seas in northern Europe. The coastal areas off Alaska and in the North Indian Ocean and Eastern Pacific also saw a cooling response of 0.5°C following the reduction in CO2 emissions. As the water there had previously been warmed by global climate change, this cooling can be attributed to a reduction in emissions.

“A lower surface temperature can improve the uptake of atmospheric CO2 by the ocean and can enhance the productivity process,” explained Dr. Al Shehhi. “Therefore, the reduction in CO2 emissions doesn’t have a direct effect on chl-a and surface temperature, rather, it is related to both of them.”

The researchers explained that while carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is needed by phytoplankton to photosynthesize, during this process, the water in the oceans becomes warmer, more acidic, and less oxygenated.

“If anthropogenic pressures return to normal, CO2 emissions will return to normal,” said Dr. Al Shehhi. “This will continue to contribute to global warming and affect the oceans by causing acidification, stratification, increasing sea temperature and increasing productivity. Instead, maintaining global activities at the levels observed during the pandemic period could help to recover the oceans.”

Jade Sterling
Science Writer
18 May 2021

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