Search results for: autosomal recessive genetic disorder (ARGD)

Authors: Zhang Zhenzhen

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Valproate (VPA) is commonly used in the treatment of bipolar disorder and epilepsy. The mechanism is complicated, including its ability to inhibit histone deacetylases (HDACs). Here, we show that VPA attenuated VEGF gene expression and the morphological changes in choroidal neovascularization (CNV) induced by photocoagulation in retina. C57BL/6 mice were injected subcutaneously at 300mg/kg twice daily with VPA before insult. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-A and VEGF-B were examined in the eyes of VPA-treated mice and in human retinal pigment epithelial cell lines (ARPE-19) exposed to VPA. In addition, CNV was induced by photocoagulation in mice injected with VPA, and the volume of CNV was compared by fluorescence-labeled choroidal flat mount. Morphological changes were analyzed on stained histological sections. Western blot analysis was used to determine protein levels of VEGF-A and VEGF-B, and acetylation of histone H3 in each group. VPA injected intraperitoneally attenuated the VEGF-A and VEGF-B expression in the retina, accompanied by the hyperacetylation of retina tissue, indicating that VPA acts directly on retina tissues through acetylation to reduce the expression of VEGF. VPA also attenuated the VEGF-A mRNA expression in the retinal pigment epithelium showed by immunohistochemistry. Moreover, the administration of VPA significantly attenuated photocoagulation-induced CNV in mice. These results demonstrate that VPA attenuated VEGF production in retina associated with choroidal neovascularization possibly via the HDAC inhibition.

Keywords: retina, acetylation, chorodial neovascularization, vascular endothelial growth factor

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Authors: Jae Woong Sull, Sun Ha Jee

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High-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels are associated with decreased risk of coronary artery disease. Several genome-wide association studies (GWAS) for HDL cholesterol levels have implicated cholesterol ester transfer protein (CETP) as possibly causal. We tested for the association between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in CETP gene and HDL cholesterol levels in Korean population. Subjects were selected from the Korean Metabolic Syndrome Research Initiative study in the Bundang-Gu area. A total of 2,304 individuals from Bundang-Gu were recruited in 2008. Other subjects were selected from the Severance Hospital (N=4,294). SNP rs6499861 in the CETP gene was associated with mean HDL cholesterol levels (effect per allele -2.044 mg/dL, p=7.23×10-7). Subjects with the CG/GG genotype had a 1.46 -fold (range 1.24–1.72-fold) higher risk of having abnormal HDL cholesterol levels (<40 mg/dL) than subjects with the CC genotype. When analyzed by gender, the association of CETP was stronger in women than in men. When analyzed by physical activity behavior, the association with CETP was much stronger in male subjects with low physical activity (OR=1.54, 95% CI: 1.23-1.92, P=0.0001) than in male subjects with high physical activity. This study clearly demonstrates that genetic variants in CETP influence HDL cholesterol levels in Korean adults.

Keywords: CETP, HDL cholesterol, physical activity, polymorphisms

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Authors: Abdelhadi Adel, Kadri Ouahab

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This paper proposes a hybrid algorithm for the integration of systematic preventive maintenance policies in hybrid flow shop scheduling to minimize makespan. We have implemented a problem-solving approach for optimizing the processing time, methods based on metaheuristics. The proposed approach is inspired by the behavior of the human body. This hybridization is between a multi-agent system and inspirations of the human body, especially genetics. The effectiveness of our approach has been demonstrated repeatedly in this paper. To solve such a complex problem, we proposed an approach which we have used advanced operators such as uniform crossover set and single point mutation. The proposed approach is applied to three preventive maintenance policies. These policies are intended to maximize the availability or to maintain a minimum level of reliability during the production chain. The results show that our algorithm outperforms existing algorithms. We assumed that the machines might be unavailable periodically during the production scheduling.

Keywords: multi-agent systems, emergence, genetic algorithm, makespan, systematic maintenance, scheduling, hybrid flow shop scheduling

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Authors: Ilaria Manca, Ilaria Manca, Francesca Pettinau, Ignazia Mocci, Elisabetta M. Usai, Barbara Pittau

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Lamotrigine is a phenyltriazine used in the treatment of epilepsy and bipolar disorder type I. The purpose of this study was to test and compare various solid forms of immediate release (IR) lamotrigine products, at different strenghts, in order to study their disaggregation and dissolution behavior. IR products are designed to release their active substance promptly after administration. Concentration of hydrochloric acid in gastric juice is about 0.1-0.001 M, so FDA (Food and Drug Administration) recommends, for lamotrigine regular tablets, dissolution tests in HCl 0.1 M.Toinvestigate the pH dependency of drug release in the entire gastrointestinal tract, we worked at two additional media with different pH values (4.5 and 6.8), that reflect conditions in it. To afford acceptable dissolution rates, tablets must disintegrate. Disaggregation of constituent particles increases the surface area and substantially increases the dissolution rate. For this reason availability of an active substance from tablets depends on its ability to disintegrate fast in dissolution media. pH of gastrointestinal fluid affects drug absorption by conditioning its solubility and dissolution, but also tablet disintegration may be influenced by it. To obtain information about the quantitative relationship between different mixture components, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy was used. We also investigate tablet hardness. The investigation carried out confirms pH 1.2 as the ideal environment for the immediate availability of the active substance.

Keywords: dissolution, disaggregation, Lamotrigine, bioequivalence

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Authors: Nicolas Lopez-Villalobos, Dorian J. Garrick, Hugh T. Blair

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Many dairy goat farmers of New Zealand milk herds of mixed breed does. Simultaneous evaluation of sires and does across breed is required to select the best animals for breeding on a common basis. Across-breed estimated breeding values (EBV) and estimated producing values for 208-day lactation yields of milk (MY), fat (FY), protein (PY) and somatic cell score (SCS; LOG2(SCC) of Saanen, Nubian, Alpine, Toggenburg and crossbred dairy goats from 75 herds were estimated using a test day model. Evaluations were based on 248,734 herd-test records representing 125,374 lactations from 65,514 does sired by 930 sires over 9 generations. Averages of MY, FY and PY were 642 kg, 21.6 kg and 19.8 kg, respectively. Average SCC and SCS were 936,518 cells/ml milk and 9.12. Pure-bred Saanen does out-produced other breeds in MY, FY and PY. Average EBV for MY, FY and PY compared to a Saanen base were Nubian -98 kg, 0.1 kg and -1.2 kg; Alpine -64 kg, -1.0 kg and -1.7 kg; and Toggenburg -42 kg, -1.0 kg and -0.5 kg. First-cross heterosis estimates were 29 kg MY, 1.1 kg FY and 1.2 kg PY. Average EBV for SCS compared to a Saanen base were Nubian 0.041, Alpine -0.083 and Toggenburg 0.094. Heterosis for SCS was 0.03. Breeding values are combined with respective economic values to calculate an economic index used for ranking sires and does to reflect farm profit.

Keywords: breed effects, dairy goats, milk traits, test-day model

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Authors: V. Verma, Hazi Raja

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Conventionally, morphological descriptors are routinely used for establishing the identity of varieties. But these morphological descriptors suffer from many drawbacks such as influence of environment on trait expression, epistatic interactions, pleiotrophic effects etc. Furthermore, the paucity of a sufficient number of these descriptors for unequivocal identification of increasing number of reference collection varieties enforces to look for alternatives. Therefore, DNA based finger-print based techniques were selected to define the systematic position of the selected medicinal plants like Plumbago zeylanica, Desmodium gangeticum, Uraria picta. DNA fingerprinting of herbal plants can be useful in authenticating the various claims of medical uses related to the plants, in germplasm characterization and conservation. In plants it has not only helped in identifying species but also in defining a new realm in plant genomics, plant breeding and in conserving the biodiversity. With world paving way for developments in biotechnology, DNA fingerprinting promises a very powerful tool in our future endeavors. Data will be presented on the development of microsatellite markers (SSR) used to fingerprint, characterize, and assess genetic diversity among 12 accessions of both Plumbago zeylanica, 4 accessions of Desmodium gengaticum, 4 accessions of Uraria Picta.

Keywords: Plumbago zeylanica, Desmodium gangeticum, Uraria picta, microsaetllite markers

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Authors: Anat Yaron Antar, Tomer Einat

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This study explores the effects of the imprisonment of women together with females with mental disorders on the well-being of the former both during imprisonment and after their release from prison. Based on in-depth interviews with 22 women ex-prisoners who had been imprisoned for a period of at least two years in the single Israeli female correctional facility, Neve Tirza Prison, and released one to three months before the initiation of the study to a community-based agency managed by the Israeli Prisoner Rehabilitation Authority, and based on a qualitative, constructive strategy. We found that: (i) mentally ill prisoners’ conduct creates severe feelings of stress and discomfort among many of the prisoners without a mental disorder prisoners; (ii) The intimate and often long-term encounters with prisoners with a mental illness lead to increased feelings of distress, helplessness, fear, and frustration among many of the women prisoners; (iii) the damaging encounters between women prisoners and mentally-ill prisoners harmed the reintegration of the formers into society after release, and (iv) The women ex-prisoners lacked the basic mental, cognitive, and social tools necessary for dealing with female inmates with a mental illness and had received no psychological or emotional support from the prison personnel. Consequently, they suffered – and still suffer – from traumatic and upsetting memories Our findings led us to conclude that women prisoners should be imprisoned separately from female prisoners with mental disorders or be offered a wide range of psychological and emotional coping tools as well as various rehabilitative treatment programs.

Keywords: women, prisoners, mentally ill, health

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Authors: B. Kodedova, E. Filova, M. Kralovic, E. Amler

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Vitiligo is the most common depigmentation disorder of the skin characterized by loss of melanocyte in the epidermis that leads to white lesions. One of the possible treatments is autologous transplantation of melanocytes. Biodegradable electrospun polymeric nanofibers provide good mechanical properties and could serve as suitable scaffold for epithelial cells cultivation and follow up transplantation. Moreover the microarchitecture of nanofibers mimics the structure of extracellular matrix and its porosity allows nutrients and waste exchange. The aim of this work was to develop biocompatible and biodegradable polymeric scaffolds suitable for autologous melanocytes transplantation. Electrospun polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) nanofibers were modified by cold methane plasma to lower their hydrofility and to achieve better adhesion, proliferation and viability of the murine melanocyte (Melan-a). Cells were seeded on the modified scaffolds and their adhesion, metabolic activity, proliferation and melanin synthesis was evaluated and compared to non-modified scaffolds. Results clearly indicate that cold methane plasma modified PVA nanofibers are suitable for melanocyte cultivation and may be future candidate for vitiligo treatment. Furthermore, the nanofibers can be functionalized with various bioactive substances, for enhancement of the melanocyte proliferation, melanogenesis or healing and regenerative processes. The project was supported by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports NPU I: LO1309 and by Grant Agency of Charles University (grant No. 1228214).

Keywords: melanocyte, nanofibers, polyvinyl alcohol, plasma modification

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Authors: Harun Aydilek, Asiye Aydilek, Ali Allahverdi

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Our objective is to minimize the total tardiness in an m-machine two-stage assembly flowshop scheduling problem. The objective is an important performance measure because of the fact that the fulfillment of due dates of customers has to be taken into account while making scheduling decisions. In the literature, the problem is considered with zero setup times which may not be realistic and appropriate for some scheduling environments. Considering separate setup times from processing times increases machine utilization by decreasing the idle time and reduces total tardiness. We propose two new algorithms and adapt four existing algorithms in the literature which are different versions of simulated annealing and genetic algorithms. Moreover, a dominance relation is developed based on the mathematical formulation of the problem. The developed dominance relation is incorporated in our proposed algorithms. Computational experiments are conducted to investigate the performance of the newly proposed algorithms. We find that one of the proposed algorithms performs significantly better than the others, i.e., the error of the best algorithm is less than those of the other algorithms by minimum 50%. The newly proposed algorithm is also efficient for the case of zero setup times and performs better than the best existing algorithm in the literature.

Keywords: algorithm, assembly flowshop, scheduling, simulation, total tardiness

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Authors: Varun Singh, Mainak Bandyopadhyay, Maharana Pratap Singh

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The shortest path (SP) problem concerns with finding the shortest path from a specific origin to a specified destination in a given network while minimizing the total cost associated with the path. This problem has widespread applications. Important applications of the SP problem include vehicle routing in transportation systems particularly in the field of in-vehicle Route Guidance System (RGS) and traffic assignment problem (in transportation planning). Well known applications of evolutionary methods like Genetic Algorithms (GA), Ant Colony Optimization, Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) have come up to solve complex optimization problems to overcome the shortcomings of existing shortest path analysis methods. It has been reported by various researchers that PSO performs better than other evolutionary optimization algorithms in terms of success rate and solution quality. Further Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have emerged as key information systems for geospatial data analysis and visualization. This research paper is focused towards the application of PSO for solving the shortest path problem between multiple points of interest (POI) based on spatial data of Allahabad City and traffic speed data collected using GPS. Geovisualization of results of analysis is carried out in GIS.

Keywords: particle swarm optimization, GIS, traffic data, outliers

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Authors: Orathai Srithongtham, Ubonsri Thabuddha

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The youth with HIV positive is not difference from the general youth in term of sexual needs. Sexual health is crucial the most to support the youth with HIV positive to be sexual well-being. This study aims to elucidate the sexual health on protection from STDs (Sexual Transmitted Diseases) and HIV transmission and to explain sexual risk behavior of the youth with HIV positive. The target group was the youth with HIV positive about 23 cases from two provinces in northeastern part of Thailand. Qualitative method was applied for collecting data by in-depth interview. Content analysis was use for data analysis. The youth with HIV positive was protection from STDs and HIV transmission by using the condom during sexual activity. The reason to deny the condom use were ashamed, condom is not a part of life, no have fit size, and the youth fear to stigmatized as a mental disorder and fear to stigmatized as going to fuck someone. The youth who trust with nurse in clinic was dare to request the condom by face. Sexual activity without condom use is sexual risk behavior. The major causes were couple trust and the sexual enjoyment first and sexual active competition with friend without condom use. The concern on HIV was the boyfriend or girlfriend not accepts the HIV positive people, worry about the HIV transmutation, and finally not compliance to ARV drug. The youth with HIV positive was lacking of the knowledge on sexual health on the issues of access to condom and the concern to keep on relationship with the boyfriend or girlfriend. This concern issues was led to the non-adherence of ARV drug and HIV distribution. To provide the sexual health service is more essential to the youth with HIV positive.

Keywords: sexual health, sexual risk behavior, youth, HIV

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Authors: Mile Vuković, Lana Jerkić Rajić

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Introduction: Broca's aphasia is a non-fluent type of aphasic syndrome, which is primarily manifested by impairment of language production. In connected speech, patients with this type of aphasia produce short sentences in which they often omit function words and morphemes or choose inadequate forms. Aim: This research was conducted to examine the morphosyntactic abilities of people with Broca's aphasia, comparing them with neurologically healthy subjects without a language disorder. Method: The sample included 15 patients with Broca's post-stroke aphasia, who had the relatively intact ability of auditory comprehension. The diagnosis of aphasia was based on the Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination. The control group comprised 16 neurologically healthy subjects without data on the presence of disorders in speech and language development. The patients' mother tongue was Serbian. The new Serbian Morphosyntactic Abilities Test (SMAT) was used. Descriptive (frequency, percentage, mean, SD, min, max) and inferential (Mann-Whitney U-test) statistics were used in data processing. Results: We noticed statistically significant differences between people with Broca's aphasia and neurotypical subjects on the SMAT (U = 1.500, z = -4.982, p = 0.000). The results showed that people with Broca's aphasia had achieved low scores on the SMAT, regardless of age (ρ = -0.045, p = 0.873) and time post onset (ρ = 0.330, p = 0.229). Conclusion: Preliminary results show that the SMAT has the potential to detect morphosyntactic deficits in Serbian speakers with Broca's aphasia.

Keywords: Broca’s aphasia, morphosyntactic abilities, agrammatism, Serbian language

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Authors: Mohsen S. Sajadieha, Danyar Molavia

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In this paper, a truck scheduling problem is investigated at a two-touch cross-docking center with due dates for outbound trucks as a hard constraint. The objective is to minimize the total cost comprising penalty and delivery cost of delayed shipments. The sequence of unloading shipments is considered and is assumed that shipments are sent to shipping dock doors immediately after unloading and a First-In-First-Out (FIFO) policy is considered for loading the shipments. A mixed integer programming model is developed for the proposed model. Two meta-heuristic algorithms including genetic algorithm (GA) and variable neighborhood search (VNS) are developed to solve the problem in medium and large sized scales. The numerical results show that increase in due dates for outbound trucks has a crucial impact on the reduction of penalty costs of delayed shipments. In addition, by increase the due dates, the improvement in the objective function arises on average in comparison with the situation that the cross-dock is multi-touch and shipments are sent to shipping dock doors only after unloading the whole inbound truck.

Keywords: cross-docking, truck scheduling, fixed due date, door assignment

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Authors: Mohammed Sghir Taleb

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Located at the northwest corner of the African continent between 21 ° and 36 ° north latitude and between the 1st and the 17th degree of west longitude, Morocco, with a total area of 715,000 km², enjoys a privileged position with a coastline of 3 446 km long opening to the Mediterranean and the Atlantic Ocean. Its privileged location with a double coastline and its diverse mountain with four major mountain ranges: the Rif, Middle Atlas, High Atlas, and Anti Atlas, with altitudes exceeding 2000 m in the Rif, 3000 m in the Middle Atlas, and 4000 m in the High Atlas. Morocco is characterized by an important forest genetic diversity represented by a rich and varied flora and many ecosystems: forest, preforest, presteppe, steppe, Sahara that spans a range of bioclimatic zones: arid, semiarid, subhumid, and humid. The vascular flora of Morocco is rich and highly diversified, with a very significant degree of endemism. Natural flora and ecosystems provide important services to populations represented by grazing, timber harvest, harvesting of medicinal and aromatic plants. This work will be focused on the Moroccan biodiversity and natural ecosystem services and on the interaction between local populations and ecosystems

Keywords: biodiversity, forest, ecosystem, services, Morocco

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Authors: Nazmul Haque, Syeda Tasnuva Maria

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Sheehan's Syndrome (SS), also known as postpartum hypopituitarism, is a rare but potentially serious condition resulting from ischemic necrosis of the pituitary gland, often occurring during or after childbirth. This syndrome is characterized by hypopituitarism, leading to deficiencies in various hormones produced by the pituitary gland. The primary cause is typically severe postpartum hemorrhage, leading to inadequate blood supply and subsequent necrosis of the pituitary tissue. This chronic hypopituitarism sometimes plays the role of premature atherosclerosis, which may lead to cardiovascular disease. This abstract provides a comprehensive overview of Sheehan's Syndrome with ischaemic heart disease, encompassing its pathophysiology, clinical manifestations, and current management strategies. The disorder presents a wide spectrum of symptoms, including chest pain, fatigue, amenorrhea, lactation failure, hypothyroidism, and adrenal insufficiency. Timely diagnosis is crucial, as delayed recognition can lead to complications and long-term health consequences. We herein report a patient complaining of chronic fatigue symptoms, aggressiveness, chest pain, and breathlessness with repeated LOC that were diagnosed with SS with IHD. The patient was treated with antiplatelet, antianginal, steroids, and hormone replacement with marked improvement in his overall condition.

Keywords: ischaemic heart disease, Sheehan's syndrome, post-partum haemorrhage, pituitary gland

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Authors: Ayse Ozge Demir, Nihat Mert

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This study has been carried out in order to determine the polymorphic traits of various biochemical parameters in goat breeds which are native to Turkey. For this purpose, Angora and Hair goats breeds were chosen as live materials. Two different herds for each breed were selected from Ankara and Antalya, respectively. Blood samples were taken from a total of 120 goats aged between 2 and 4 which was made up of 60 Angora goats and 60 Hair goats. All which derived equally from 4 lots of herds. Analyses were performed for the polymorphic determination of the Haemoglobin (Hb), Transferrine (Tf), Ceruloplasmin (Cp) and Glutathione (GSH). Hb types were determined by starch gel electrophoresis and Tf types were detected by SDS-PAGE electrophoresis. Furthermore, Cp and GSH analyses were performed by spectrophotometrically. Following the analysis, Hb types were found as 3 genotypes (AA, AB, BB) controlled by 2 allel genes. Tf types were found as 6 genotypes (AA, AB, AC, BB, BC, CC) controlled by 3 allele genes. Findings for Hb was in line with the Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium (HWE) in Angora goats while the Hair goat was not found to be in line. Moreover, Tf was found in line with the HWE for 2 separate goat breeds. The levels of Cp and GSH of two breeds were significantly different from other (P<0.0001). The findings are recorded as a source of reference for prospective polymorphism studies.

Keywords: electrophoresis, genetic resources, goats, spectrophotometer

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Authors: Andrew Anis Fakhrey Mosaad

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Introduction: Sports- and physical activity-related injuries may be more likely if there is a genetic predisposition, improper coaching and/or training, and no follow-up care from sports medicine. Goal: To evaluate the frequency of injuries among athletes receiving care at a sportsfocused physical therapy clinic. Methods: The survey of injuries in athletes' treatment records over a period of eight years of activity was done to obtain data. The data collected included: the patient's features, the sport, the type of injury, the injury's characteristics, and the body portion injured. Results: The athletes were drawn from 1090 patient/athlete records, had an average age of 25, participated in 44 different sports, and were 75% men on average. Joint injuries were the most frequent type of injury, then damage to the muscles and bones. The most prevalent type of injury was chronic (47%), while the knee, ankle, and shoulder were the most frequently damaged body parts. The most injured athletes were seen in soccer, futsal, and track and field, respectively, out of all the sports. Conclusion: The most popular sport among injured players was soccer, and the most common injury type was joint damage, with the knee being the most often damaged body area. The majority of the injuries were chronic.

Keywords: sports injuries, athletes, joint injuries, injured players

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Authors: Novi Prasanty, Mustafa Ma, Elmeida Effendy

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Background: Schizophrenia is a psychotic disorder that most often encountered. Nearly 1% of the world population suffers from schizophrenia during their lifetime. Schizophrenia is a severe form of psychotic disorders, and tend to be chronic. Vitamin D plays crucial roles in neuroprotection and neurodevelopment, and low levels are commonly associated with schizophrenia. Lower vitamin D levels were correlated with more severe positive, negative, and overall symptoms in schizophrenia patient men and women. Methods: 54 schizophrenic patients, male and female, who are diagnosed with semistructured MINI ICD-X. A symptom of schizophrenia was measured by using positive and negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Examination of serum vitamin D using ELFA. Analysis to compare the serum levels of vitamin D male and female with Independent T-test, and the relationship between serum level of vitamin D and symptom with correlation. Results: In this study serum levels in male schizophrenic patients 22.12 (4.16), and 16.54 (2.88) in female schizophrenic patients. There are differences in male schizophrenic patients and women (p < 0.001). The negative correlation between serum levels of vitamin D in the PANSS total score in patients with schizophrenic male with r -0.58, p (0,016), and the female schizophrenic patients with r -0.69, p (0.031). Conclusion and Suggestion: There is a negative correlation between serum levels of vitamin D with a total score of PANSS, the lower the serum levels of vitamin D, the higher the total score of the PANSS.

Keywords: PANSS, schizophrenia, serum levels of vitamin D, severity illness

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Authors: Nadir Sidiqi

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Biodiversity conservation is humanity’s building block to sustain lives - ultimately allowing all living and nonliving creatures to interact in a balanced proportion. Humanity’s challenge in the 21st century is to maintain biodiversity without harming the natural habitat of plants, animals and beneficial microorganisms. There are many good reasons to consider why biodiversity is important to every nation around the world, especially for a nation like Afghanistan. One of the major values of biodiversity is its economic value: biodiversity provides goods and services to the Afghan nation directly through links and components such as the maintenance of traditional crops, medicine, fruits, animals, grazing, fuel, timber, harvesting, fishing, hunting and related supplies. Biodiversity is the variety of the living components, such as humans, plants, animals, and microorganisms, and nonliving components interaction, including air, water, sunlight, soil, humidity and environmental factors in an area. There are many ways of gauging the value of biodiversity. As an ecosystem, biodiversity includes such benefits as soil fertility, erosion control, crop pollination, crop rotation, and pest control. The conservation of biodiversity is crucial for these benefits, which would be impossible to replace. Biodiversity conservation also has heritage values; this wealth of genetic diversity provides backup to rural people living close together.

Keywords: Afghanistan, biodiversity, conservation, economy, environment

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Authors: Kuan-Han Lin, Kuan-Yin Lin, Ka-Chun Siu

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The purpose of this systematic review was to determine the impact of post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD) symptom or depressive symptoms on return to work (RTW) after occupational injury. The original articles of clinical trials and observational studies from PubMed, MEDLINE, and PsycINFO between January 1980 and November 2016 were retrieved. Two reviewers evaluated the abstracts identified by the search criteria for full-text review. To be included in the final analysis, studies were required to use either intervention or observational study design to examine the association between psychiatric symptoms and RTW. A modified checklist designed by Downs & Black and Crombie was used to assess the methodological quality of included study. A total of 58 articles were identified from the electronic databases after duplicate removed. Seven studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were critically reviewed. The rates of RTW in the included studies were reported to be 6% to 63.6% among workers after occupational injuries. This review found that post-traumatic stress symptom and depressive symptoms were negatively associated with RTW. Although the impact of psychiatric symptoms on RTW after occupational injury remains poorly understood, this review brought up the important information that injured workers with psychiatric symptoms had poor RTW outcome. Future work should address the effective management of psychiatric factors affecting RTW among workers.

Keywords: depressive symptom, occupational injury, post-traumatic stress disorder, return to work

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Authors: Muhammad Fiaz, Muhammad Saqlain, Bernard M. Y. Cheung, S. M. Saqlan Naqvi, Ghazala Kaukab Raja

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Background: Association of C allele of rs662799 SNP of APOA5 gene with metabolic syndrome (MetS) has been reported in different populations around the world. A case control study was conducted to explore the relationship of rs662799 variants (T/C) with the MetS and the associated risk phenotypes in a population of Pakistani origin. Methods: MetS was defined according to the IDF criteria. Blood samples were collected from the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Islamabad, Pakistan for biochemical profiling and DNA extraction. Genotyping of rs662799 was performed using mass ARRAY, iPEX Gold technology. A total of 712 unrelated case and control subjects were genotyped. Data were analyzed using Plink software and SPSS 16.0. Results: The risk allele C of rs662799 showed highly significant association with MetS (OR=1.5, Ρ=0.002). Among risk phenotypes, dyslipidemia, and obesity showed strong association with SNP (OR=1.49, p=0.03; OR =1.46, p=0.01) respectively in models adjusted for age and gender. Conclusion: The rs662799C allele is a significant risk marker for MetS in the local Pakistani population studied. The effect of the SNP is more on dyslipidemia than the other components of the MetS.

Keywords: metabolic syndrome, APOA5, rs662799, dyslipidemia, obesity

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Authors: A. S. Haruna, M. L. Mayanchi

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Pre Nigeria Certificate in Education otherwise called Pre-NCE is an intensive two semester course designed to assist candidates who could not meet the requirements for admission into NCE programme. The task of coping with the stressors in the course can interfere with the students’ ability to regulate attention skills and stay organized. The main objectives of the study were to find out the prevalence of stress; determine the association between stress and ADD and reveal gender difference in the prevalence of ADD among stressed pre-NCE students. Cross–Sectional Correlation Design was employed in which 333 (Male=65%; Female=35%) students were proportionately sampled and administered Stress Assessment Scale [SAS r=0.74) and those identified with stress were thereafter rated with Cognitive Processing Inventory [CPI]. Data collected was used to analyze the three null hypotheses through One-sample Kolmogorov-Smirnov (K-S) Z-score, Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficients (PPMCC) and t-test statistics respectively at 0.05 confidence level. Results revealed significant prevalence of stress [Z-calculated =2.24; Z-critical = ±1.96], and a positive relationship between Stress and ADD among Pre-NCE students [r-calculated =0.450; r-critical =0.138]. However, there was no gender difference in the prevalence of ADD among stressed Pre-NCE students in the college [t-calculated =1.49; t-critical =1.645]. The study concludes that while stress and ADD prevail among pre-NCE students, there was no gender difference in the prevalence of ADD. Recommendations offered suggest the use of Learners Assistance Programs (LAP) for stress management, and Teacher-Students ratio of 1:25 be adopted in order to cater for stressed pre-NCE students with ADD.

Keywords: attention deficit disorder, pre-NCE students, stress, Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficients (PPMCC)

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Authors: Seema Vaidya

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Mining association rule is a key issue in data mining. In any case, the standard models ignore the distinction among the exchanges, and the weighted association rule mining does not transform on databases with just binary attributes. This paper proposes a novel continuous example and executes a tree (FP-tree) structure, which is an increased prefix-tree structure for securing compacted, discriminating data about examples, and makes a fit FP-tree-based mining system, FP enhanced capacity algorithm is used, for mining the complete game plan of examples by illustration incessant development. Here, this paper handles the motivation behind making remarkable and weighted item sets, i.e. rare weighted item set mining issue. The two novel brightness measures are proposed for figuring the infrequent weighted item set mining issue. Also, the algorithm are handled which perform IWI which is more insignificant IWI mining. Moreover we utilized the rare item set for choice based structure. The general issue of the start of reliable definite rules is troublesome for the grounds that hypothetically no inciting technique with no other person can promise the rightness of influenced theories. In this way, this framework expects the disorder with the uncommon signs. Usage study demonstrates that proposed algorithm upgrades the structure which is successful and versatile for mining both long and short diagnostics rules. Structure upgrades aftereffects of foreseeing rare diseases of patient.

Keywords: association rule, data mining, IWI mining, infrequent item set, frequent pattern growth

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Authors: L. Paulino Ferreira, M. Gomes Neto, M. Duarte, S. Serra

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Objectives: COVID-19 pandemic has caused older adults to experience a degree of social isolation and loneliness that is unprecedented. Our aim is to review state of the art regarding the consequences of social isolation due to COVID-19 in elderly people. Methods: The authors conducted a search on Medscape and PubMed with the keywords mentioned below, and the most relevant articles were selected. Results: Social isolation leads many elderlies to experience loneliness, anxiety, depression, alcohol abuse, and feelings of abandonment with a perception of being a burden on society. Thus, social isolation has increased the risk for suicide in older people. It is also noteworthy that the exacerbation of psychiatric disorders (such as depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder) without correct treatment and follow-up also increases suicide risk. Loneliness is also associated with accelerated cognitive deterioration and dementia. Besides that, during social isolation, it could be more difficult for older people to get medication as well as proper health care. It is also noticed an increase in the risk of falls, poor nutrition, and lack of exercise. All this contributes to weakening elderlies’ immune systems leading to a higher risk of developing infections, cardiovascular events, and cancer, increasing hospitalization and morbimortality. Conclusion: Social isolation in the elderly has a significant impact on physical and mental health, as well as morbimortality and hospitalizations due to non-COVID causes. Nevertheless, further studies will be needed to assess the real dimension of the effects of social isolation due to COVID-19.

Keywords: social isolation, COVID-19, elderly, mental health

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Authors: Lal Hussain, Wajid Aziz, Sajjad Ahmed Nadeem, Saeed Arif Shah, Abdul Majid

Abstract:

Brain electrical activity as reflected in Electroencephalography (EEG) have been analyzed and diagnosed using various techniques. Among them, complexity measure, nonlinearity, disorder, and unpredictability play vital role due to the nonlinear interconnection between functional and anatomical subsystem emerged in brain in healthy state and during various diseases. There are many social and economical issues of alcoholic abuse as memory weakness, decision making, impairments, and concentrations etc. Alcoholism not only defect the brains but also associated with emotional, behavior, and cognitive impairments damaging the white and gray brain matters. A recently developed signal analysis method i.e. Multiscale Permutation Entropy (MPE) is proposed to estimate the complexity of long-range temporal correlation time series EEG of Alcoholic and Control subjects acquired from University of California Machine Learning repository and results are compared with MSE. Using MPE, coarsed grained series is first generated and the PE is computed for each coarsed grained time series against the electrodes O1, O2, C3, C4, F2, F3, F4, F7, F8, Fp1, Fp2, P3, P4, T7, and T8. The results computed against each electrode using MPE gives higher significant values as compared to MSE as well as mean rank differences accordingly. Likewise, ROC and Area under the ROC also gives higher separation against each electrode using MPE in comparison to MSE.

Keywords: electroencephalogram (EEG), multiscale permutation entropy (MPE), multiscale sample entropy (MSE), permutation entropy (PE), mann whitney test (MMT), receiver operator curve (ROC), complexity measure

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Authors: Ying Qi Chan, Chunyu Li, Xu Rou Yoyo Ma, Yaya Li, Saber Khederzadeh

Abstract:

In the ever-evolving landscape of genome extraction protocols, the existing methodologies grapple with issues ranging from sub-optimal yields and compromised quality to time-intensive procedures and reliance on hazardous reagents, often necessitating substantial tissue quantities. This predicament is particularly challenging for scientists in developing countries, where resources are limited. Our investigation presents a protocol for the efficient extraction of high-yield RNA from various tissues such as muscle, insect, and plant samples. Noteworthy for its advantages, our protocol stands out as the safest, swiftest (completed in just 38 minutes), most cost-effective (coming in at a mere US$0.017), and highly efficient method in comparison to existing protocols. Notably, our method avoids the use of hazardous or toxic chemicals such as chloroform and phenol and enzymatic agents like RNase and Proteinase K. Our RNA extraction protocol has demonstrated clear advantages over other methods, including commercial kits, in terms of yield. This nucleic acid extraction protocol is more environmentally and research-friendly, suitable for a range of tissues, even in tiny volumes, hence facilitating various genetic diagnosis and researches across the globe.

Keywords: RNA extraction, rapid protocol, universal method, diverse tissues

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Authors: Naso Isaiah Thanavisuth, Patompong Satapornpong

Abstract:

Introduction: Covid-19 has been a global pandemic for some time now, causing severe symptoms to patients that received the virus. However, there has been no report on this gene in the Thai population. Objective: Our aim in this study is to explore and compare the frequency of HLA-C allele that is associated with severe COVID-19 symptoms in Thais and other populations. Method: 200 general Thai population were enrolled in this study. The genotyping of HLA -C alleles were determined by the polymerase chain reaction with sequence-specific oligonucleotide probes (PCR-SSOP) and Luminex®IS 100 system (Luminex Corporation, Austin, Texas, USA). Results: We found that the frequency of alleles HLA-C* 01:02 (16.00%), HLA-C* 08:01(10.50%), HLA-C* 03:04 (10.25%),HLA-C* 07:02 (10.00%), HLA-C* 03:02 (9.25%), HLA-C* 07:01 (6.75%), HLA-C* 04:01 (5.00%), HLA-C* 06:02 (4.00%), HLA-C* 04:03 (4.00%), and HLA-C* 07:04 (3.75%) were more common in the Thai population. HLA-C* 01:02 (16.00%) allele was the highest frequency in the North, Center, and North East groups in Thailand, but there was the South region that was not significantly different when compared with the other groups of the region. Additionally, HLA-C∗14:02 allele was similarly distributed in Thais (3.00%), African Americans (1.98%), Caucasians (2.08%), Hispanics (1.71%), North American Natives (1.34%) and Asians (5.01%) by p-value = 0.6506, 0.6506, 0.6506, 0.6135 and 0.7182, respectively. Conclusion: Genetic variation database is important to identify HLA can be a risk factor for severe COVID-19 in many populations. In this study, we will support the research of the HLA markers for screening severe COVID-19 in many populations.

Keywords: HLA-C * 14:02, COVID-19, allele frequency, Thailand

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Authors: Anna Ouskova Leonteva, Michel Risser, Anne Jeannin-Girardon, Pierre Parrend, Pierre Collet

Abstract:

This paper proposes an efficient optimization tool for an active magnetic regenerator (AMR) model, operating in two modes: magnetic refrigeration system (MRS) and thermo-magnetic generator (TMG). The aim of this optimizer is to improve the design of the AMR by applying a multi-physics multi-scales numerical model as a core of evaluation functions to achieve industrial requirements for refrigeration and energy conservation systems. Based on the multi-objective non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm 3 (NSGA3), it maximizes four different objectives: efficiency and power density for MRS and TMG. The main contribution of this work is in the simultaneously application of a CPU-parallel NSGA3 version to the AMR model in both modes for studying impact of control and design parameters on the performance. The parametric study of the optimization results are presented. The main conclusion is that the common (for TMG and MRS modes) optimal parameters can be found by the proposed tool.

Keywords: ecological refrigeration systems, active magnetic regenerator, thermo-magnetic generator, multi-objective evolutionary optimization, industrial optimization problem, real-world application

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Authors: Nasir Khalid, S. Thirumalaichelvam

Abstract:

In most buildings, according to US Department of Energy Data Book, the electrical consumption attributable to centralized heating and ventilation of air- condition (HVAC) component can be as high as 40-60% of the total electricity consumption for an entire building. To provide efficient energy management for the market today, researchers are finding new ways to develop a system that can save electrical consumption of buildings even more. In this concept paper, a system known as Intelligent Chiller Energy Efficiency (iCEE) System is being developed that is capable of saving up to 25% from the chiller’s existing electrical energy consumption. In variable frequency drives (VFDs), research has found significant savings up to 30% of electrical energy consumption. Together with the VFDs at specific Air Handling Unit (AHU) of HVAC component, this system will save even more electrical energy consumption. The iCEE System is compatible with any make, model or age of centrifugal, rotary or reciprocating chiller air-conditioning systems which are electrically driven. The iCEE system uses engineering principles of efficiency analysis, enthalpy analysis, heat transfer, mathematical prediction, modified genetic algorithm, psychometrics analysis, and optimization formulation to achieve true and tangible energy savings for consumers.

Keywords: variable frequency drives, adjustable speed drives, ac drives, chiller energy system

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Authors: Olusola Akintunde Adediran

Abstract:

This study examined differential effect of Gender difference in social interaction skill of pupils with autism using token economy and video modeling as intervention strategies. A pretest, posttest, control group, quasi-experimental research design was adopted in the study. 17 participants (11 males and 6 females) were selected purposively from 5 centres in Ibadan and randomized into three groups (token economy, video modeling and control groups). Two instruments were used in the study; Autism Spectrum Rating Scale (ASRS) for 299.00 Autistic Disorder (r = 0.82) and Children’s Self-report Social Skill Scale (CS4) (r= 0.93). A descriptive statistics was used to analyse the participants social interaction data based on intervention and gender, while inferential statistics of analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and scheffe post-hoc measure was used to anlayse three null hypotheses tested at 0.05 level of significance. The results obtained indicated that there was a significant main effect of treatment on social interaction of participants, but there was no significant of main effect of gender on the social interaction of participants, hence, (F(2,14) = .741; p > .05, eta = .050). Lastly, there was no significant interaction effect of treatment and gender of the participants, hence (F(2,10) = 2.177; p > .05, eta 2 = 202). The study has contributed to the frontiers of knowledge by establishing that social interaction of autism is attainable when token economy and video modelling are used as treatment intervention, hence, they should be adopted by the teachers, curriculum planners and other stakeholders.

Keywords: social interaction, token economy, video modelling, autism, gender

Procedia PDF Downloads 138