One hundred and fifty random samples of soft cheeses represented by Domiati, Kareish and Tallaga (50 samples each) were collected from different local retails, dairy shops and street vendors in Assiut city, Egypt, for microbiological evaluation. Aerobic bacteria were enumerated with average count values of 4.2×10 4 , 2.6×10 5 and 6.1×10 4 cfu/g in Domiati, Kareish and Tallaga cheese, respectively. Coliforms were detected with average count values of 8.5X10 2 , 3.3X10 3 and 2.0X10 3 cfu/g in Domiati, Kareish and Tallaga cheese, respectively. Fecal coliforms were detected with average count values of 5.3x10 2 , 9.7x10 2 and 8.4x10 2 cfu/g in Domiati, Kareish and Tallaga cheese, respectively. Isolation of E. coli in 32, 50 and 42 % samples that were examined with average count values of 3.0X10 2 , 4.0X10 2 and 4.4X10 2 cfu/g in Domiati, Kareish and Tallaga cheese, respectively. Isolation of Staph. aureus in 74, 72 and 64 % samples that were examined with average count values of 1.8x10 3 , 1.7x10 3 and 8.7x10 2 cfu/g in Domiati, Kareish and Tallaga cheese, respectively. Anaerobic bacteria were found in 46, 66 and 54% in Domiati, Kareish and Tallaga cheese samples, respectively. Yeasts and molds were present with average count values of 2.3x10 2 , 5.4x10 2 and 8.2x10 2 cfu/g and 3.8x10 2 , 4.1x10 2 and 3.9x10 2 cfu/g in Domiati, Kareish and Tallaga cheese, respectively. The results reflect the poor general hygiene conditions during production and storage which call for more restriction and preventive measures in milk herds, milk production and dairy factories in respect to quality control, sanitation and health care.

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Background: It is of utmost importance for the elements that influence public compliance with vaccination against COVID-19 to be assessed, including misconceptions, rumors, and conspiracy theories. Hence, in this study, we aimed to estimate the distribution of the most common misconceptions regarding COVID-19 vaccines and their predictors in Saudi Arabia.   Methods: We distributed an online questionnaire to participants aged 18 years or older. The survey included two sections. The first section comprised questions related to participants’ demographic characteristics, level of education, and their sources of information about COVID-19. The second section assessed participants' perceptions regarding 11 of the most common misconceptions regarding COVID-19 vaccines, rated using a 5-point Likert scale. Using ordinal logistic regression, we conducted an evaluation of the relationships among different predictors including age, sex, educational level, and sources of information, as well as acceptance of misconceptions about vaccination.   Results: The most widely accepted misconception was that the COVID-19 vaccine had severe side effects, with 34.8% of participants believing this misinformation. Factors that were significantly associated with acceptance or non- acceptance of misconceptions were: 1) sex, with female respondents in this survey accepting rumors significantly more often than male respondents (p<0.001); 2) educational level, especially secondary school, was associated with a significantly lower acceptance of misconceptions (p=0.001). In total, 60.5% of participants used social media as their primary source of information, which was also a significant positive predictor of acceptance of misconceptions (p=0.034).   Conclusion: It is of critical importance to increase assurance regarding the safety of COVID-19 vaccines, the issue most likely to involve misconceptions, and to address the elements that affect belief in rumors among the population.

Background Several studies have shown that autoimmune diseases are associated with psychiatric diseases like depression and psychosis. Genetic evidence supports this association. The aim of this study was to investigate if genetic variants predisposing to autoimmune diseases and psychiatric disorders are genetically linked, constructing the common haplotypes. Methods All registered single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the Genome‐wide association studies (“GWAS catalog”) having been associated with autoimmune rheumatic and endocrine diseases were investigated for being in linkage disequilibrium with any psychiatric disorders’ associated SNPs. Analysis was performed by the LDtrait and LDhap bioinformatics tools. Results Multiple chromosomal regions have been detected containing rheumatic/endocrine diseases’ predisposing SNPs and psychiatric disorders’ predisposing SNPs. The genetic haplotypes have been constructed for some of these genetic regions. Six of the autoimmune rheumatic and endocrine diseases examined here share a common haplotype with psychiatric diseases at the HLA locus 6p21‐22. Conclusion Our study shows that autoimmune diseases and psychiatric diseases are genetically linked. Genetic haplotypes have been constructed, showing in detail this genetic linkage.