bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A cross-sectional study on morbidity status among school going adolescents in Thiruvallur district, Tamil Nadu
Authors: Dev D. Sathish , Valli M. Sugantha , Sezhian M. Gnana , E. Suganya
Published: November 2019

Background: Adolescents represent about 21.8 percent of India’s population. Various health risks with potentially life-threatening consequences become prominent in this age group. This study was undertaken with the objective to determine the morbidity profile of school going adolescents in Tamil Nadu.Methods: This descriptive, cross sectional study was planned and conducted from January 2016 to August 2017. The study population included 987 adolescent boys and girls aged between 10 to 19 years studying in high and higher secondary Government schools of Thiruvallur district of Tamil Nadu. Semi-structured questionnaire was used as data collection tool.Results: The mean age groups of this school going adolescent are 14.2 yrs. In the present study 583 (59%) of the study participants were affected by one or more morbidity condition. Among them, 395 (67.7%) were in the age group 10-14 years and 188 (32.2%) in the age group 15-19 years. 122 (21%) and 461 (79.1%) of male and female were affected respectively. In the present study, fever (21%) was the commonest reported morbidity followed by acute respiratory infection (15.7%) and acute gastrointestinal disease (13. 4%).Conclusions: This study shows that adolescents are prone to a wide range of morbidity conditions. Apart from respiratory and gastro intestinal diseases, reproductive tract infections and sexual health problems are important morbidities affecting this age group. There is strong need to sensitize health care practitioners at all levels, in both government and private sectors towards health problems in adolescent age groups.
Awareness about disaster management among accredited social health activists in field practice area of a medical college in Mysuru
Authors: Thomas Jose Jom , H. Chandana , Kulkarni Praveen , B. Prakash , M. R. Narayana Murthy
Published: November 2019

Background: The changing global climate due to human influences is leading to a greater incidence of extreme weather events and natural disasters. The natural and man-made disasters have a great impact on physical and mental health and health system. Disaster preparedness is therefore important at all levels of the health system. Being the first contact of the health system to the communities, accredited social health workers have a great role in managing the disasters at the village level. This study attempts to assess the awareness regarding disaster management among accredited social health activists (ASHAs) in the field practice area of J.S.S. Medical College in Mysuru, Karnataka.Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted for one month in July 2019. A total of 40 ASHAs were assessed by direct interview method using a pre-structured, validated questionnaire. The data were entered into the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and analyzed using SPPS version 22.Results: The median years of experience of ASHAs were 10 years (interquartile range: 5.75-10) with a minimum and maximum experience of 2 and 10 years respectively. None of the study participants had received any trainings or mock drills for disaster management/ preparedness. The awareness about disaster management was low among the ASHAs assessed. Most of the ASHAs (92.5%) had average knowledge about disaster management while 7.5% had only poor knowledge.Conclusions: The awareness about disaster management among ASHAs is very poor. We recommend training programs and mock drills for the frontline health workers to improve awareness and disaster preparedness.
Barriers to dengue preventive activities in rural Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu: a study using health belief model
Authors: J. Sahithyaa , A. Suguna , A. Surekha , S. Ankitha
Published: November 2019

Background: Mosquito control is the cornerstone in the prevention of dengue. There is a need for active community participation in the control of the disease. However, there have been various barriers in preventive activities. Understanding the barriers to the preventive activities would help in designing appropriate intervention/awareness program.Methods: A community based descriptive cross-sectional study was done in the villages of Kudikadu and Echangadu. House-to-house visit was done and persons above 15 years of age, present at the time of visit were included in the study. The data was captured using ‘Epicollect 5’, a mobile application for data collection based on the constructs of health belief model.Results: A total of 155 individuals were interviewed, whose mean age was 41.3 (±13.8). A majority of them were females (71.3%), had no formal education (27.5%) and belonged to socio-economic class 5. Majority of households 140 (87.5%) responded they have mosquito problem in the house and 103 (64.3%) of them perceived that there were barriers for carrying out dengue preventive activities. The barriers reported by the participants were lack of awareness (30%), poor government support (25%), financial issues (16.9%) and lack of motivation (7.5%). There was a significant association of socioeconomic class with lack of motivation and financial issues, with a high number of participants belonging to socioeconomic class IV and V reporting lack of motivation (p=0.028) and financial issue (p=0.025).Conclusions:Health providers have to find an appropriate and effective strategy to create awareness among people about the simple ways to prevent mosquito breeding.
Assessment of risk scoring of non-communicable diseases among doctors in a medical college of Navi Mumbai: a cross sectional study
Authors: Ramaswamy Sudarshan , Joshi Sumedha M. , Velankar Deepa H. , Gosavi Jayesh D.
Published: November 2019

Background: Doctors are supposed to lead healthier lifestyles and are usually assumed to have lower morbidity and mortality rates than general population due to their medical knowledge. However, recently a study conducted by the research cell of Indian Medical Association (IMA) concluded that doctors die younger and mostly due to cardiovascular diseases.Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among 100 doctors in a medical college for duration of 3 months. Questionnaires were distributed, they were personally interviewed and required clinical examination was done. Data obtained was tabulated in MS Excel and analyzed using SPSS software. Risk of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, stroke and obesity was estimated and its association with various determinants was seen.Results: Odds of having central obesity increases 10 times with BMI ≥25 kg/m2 as compared to <25 kg/m2. With risk ratio of 1.96, doctors are twice at risk of having BMI ≥25 as compared to general population. Number of people with higher risk of CVD increased after 45 years of age. People with at least one NCD outnumbered the people without any NCD, in the age group of 45-54 years and above. Insufficient physical activity is prevalent among 37% in this age group.Conclusions: This study gives an idea on impact of medical profession on lifestyle, outlook and attitude towards personal health among professional doctors. Initiatives must be taken to identify the causes of professional stress among doctors and measures must be taken to prevent them.
A study on prevalence of cardiovascular disease related risk factors among tribal population in a block of West Bengal
Authors: Santra Sutanuka , Shrivastava Prabha
Published: November 2019

Background: Non communicable diseases (NCDs) refer to chronic diseases of long duration and generally with slow progression. NCDs are affecting Indian population, both in urban and rural areas. Cardiovascular disease (CVD), one of the major NCDs is the leading cause of death worldwide. The rising prevalence of behavioral and anthropometric risk factors for these lifestyle diseases is postulated to be the cause for the alarming increase of NCDs including CVD. Prevalence of cardiovascular diseases is also increasing in tribal population. Objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of risk factors associated with cardiovascular diseases among the tribal population aged 18 years and above.Methods: A community based, observational, descriptive study was conducted at Kharagpur-II block of Paschim Medinipur district, West Bengal from August 2013 to July 2014 among 540 tribal population aged 18 years and above selected by cluster random sampling method.Results: About 64% individuals were addicted to tobacco product.  Prevalence of current smoking and tobacco chewing was 9.1% and 60.2% respectively. Prevalence of current alcohol consumption was 48.9%. About 91% individuals took extra salt with meal. Prevalence of overweight and obesity was 7.8% and 3.5% only according to WHO recommended classification for Asian population. However, higher level of physical activity was found among the study population.Conclusions: The study revealed high prevalence of extra salt intake, tobacco and alcohol consumption among the study population which may endanger their life by increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease.
A study of impairment and disability among elderly and its effect on health-related quality of life
Authors: Kamat Apurva , Shah Hemangini K.
Published: November 2019

Background: Ageing is generally defined as a process of deterioration in the functional capacity of an individual that results from structural changes, with increasing age. Although old age is not a disease in itself; the elderly are vulnerable to chronic diseases like cardiovascular illnesses, cancers, diabetes etc. leading to impairment and disabilities affecting the health related quality of life of the elderly (HRQOL), which has become an increasingly important outcome in public health research. The main aim is to estimate the common impairments and disabilities among elderly and its effect on their health-related quality of life.Methods: In the community based cross-sectional study, among 171 elderly (more than or equal to sixty years of age) selected from the field practice area of Urban Health Centre of a tertiary care center, Goa, through simple random sampling technique, the data was collected using a pre designed structured questionnaire eliciting previously diagnosed health related conditions, SF-36 HRQOL questionnaire and a detailed general examination. Data was analysed using Epi Info version 7.00 statistical package and various tests of significance were used.Results: Of total of 171 elderly, 56.14% were impaired. The HRQOL and domain scores decreased with increasing age with lower mean scores in females than males (p=0.039). Age, marital status, three generation families, absence of co-morbidities, impairment and disability, education, occupation were significant favorable influences on the HRQOL in (total and domain scores), role of physical domain being the most commonly affected.Conclusions: The increasing population of elderly more so the female elderly population, the emergence of double burden of communicable and non-communicable diseases, presence of impairments and disabilities severely affects their HRQOL.
What do mothers of urban slum know about worm infestation? Does literacy play a role?
Authors: Makwana Bharati L. , Shringarpure Kalpita S. , Shihora Samarth A.
Published: November 2019

Background: In India, intestinal parasitic infestation is the most important problem of public health concern. Parasitic worm infestation among children is one of causes of undernourishment. The high prevalence may be due to poor sanitation, lack of awareness regarding transmission and treatment of disease and poor hygiene.Methods: This was a cross-sectional study, conducted during the month of December 2016. All women having at-least one child below six years of age residing in the field practice area attached to urban health training centre of our medical college were interviewed. Data collected were entered in Microsoft Office Excel 2007.Results: A total of 361 mothers were interviewed of whom, 81% were aware of the disease. Those mothers who had ever heard of the disease were further interviewed. Of these, 54% of them were literate and 46% were illiterate. Comparing the literacy status, 26% literate mothers and 36% of the illiterate gave correct answers. Twelve percent of the literate mothers had correct attitude toward prevention of worm infestation. Almost three-fourths (71%) of the women had incorrect attitude for prevention of the disease. Eighty eight percent mothers consulted doctors.Conclusions: Majority of the mothers was aware about occurrence of intestinal worm infestations but they had incorrect knowledge about its causes, symptoms, preventive measures and treatment. The literacy status of mothers does not make any difference in knowledge and practice regarding worm infestation.
Potent future antimalarials from Indian indigenous plants: a systematic review
Authors: Krishnaswamy Savitha
Published: November 2019

Malaria has a global impact due to development of resistance against the frontline anti-malarial drugs which include artemisinin and its derivatives. According to the ancient Indian system of medicine, the Ayurveda, several Indian indigenous plants have been used for treating various ailments. The use of Indian indigenous plants for treatment of malaria is proving to be quite effective and also offers as a cheaper alternative. The purpose of this review is to obtain knowledge about the different Indian indigenous plants that have antimalarial and antiplasmodial biological activities. Literature suggests that many indigenous Indian plants have shown good antiplasmodial and antimalarial activity with effects like decrease in anaemia, weight loss and pyrexia. Hence the Indian indigenous plants have a vast scope to be used as potent future antimalarials.
Understanding the metrics used to assess the quality of journals
Authors: Pathak Vineet Kumar , M. Mohan Kumar
Published: November 2019

Various databases offer access to thousands of academic journals. A miscellaneous picture with respect to quality, scientific influence and prestige is presented by umpteen numbers of journals present. Authors wishing to publish their research aim to publish in journals with the highest ratings and are ultimately in no man’s land.
A prospective study on outcome of function after proximal row carpectomy
Authors: Gadi Chaitanya , Venugopal S. M. , Kumar Bhaskaranand , Gudaru Karthik
Published: November 2019

Background: Proximal row carpectomy (PRC) is a procedure with varied indications. The purpose of this study was to evaluate functional outcomes with PRC in wrist flexion deformities, neuromuscular disorders and also post-traumatic wrist arthritis.

Methods: A prospective study was performed on all patients who underwent PRC between April 2015 and December 2017, in BIRRD (T) hospital, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh with a minimum follow up of 6 months. Outcome was assessed in terms of range of motion (ROM), grip strength, quick disabilities of the arm, shoulder, and hand (QDASH) score and pain score. Data was analyzed using the Student t-test.

Results: Thirty-two patients underwent PRC of which 12 are neuromuscular disorders, 10 are wrist flexion deformities, 10 are post-traumatic wrist arthritis. On the final follow-up, significant improvement in ROM was observed in wrist flexion deformities and neuromuscular disorders, whereas grip strength and QDASH scores showed a significant difference in post-traumatic wrist arthritis. Pain was studied only in post-traumatic wrist arthritis, all were very much pleased with pain reduction.

Conclusions: PRC is fairly a reliable procedure for all the indications in our study. We consider that PRC is a promising procedure in correcting wrist flexion deformities. Though there has been significant improvement in all the parameters for all the cases, we consider this procedure is best suited for post-traumatic arthritis group.
Cervantes, Wieland y la transición hacia un nuevo modelo de lectura en la Alemania dieciochesca.
Authors: Moro-Martín Alfredo
Published: November 2019

El siglo XVIII constituye un momento de transición en la historia de la narrativa en lengua alemana. De unos modelos literarios fundamentalmente idealizantes, que demandaban una lectura inmersiva por parte del lector, paulatinamente se irá efectuando una transición a una narrativa más realista y con un cierto carácter autoconsciente, que exigirá un tipo de lector más distanciado y activo respecto a su propio proceso de lectura. Este artículo analiza el papel jugado por la primera novela de C.M. Wieland, Die Abenteuer des Don Sylvio von Rosalva (1764) en este proceso de formación de este nuevo tipo de lector, así como el importantísimo rol que ejerce Cervantes en la configuración autorreferencial de la novela. A través de la dramatización de varios procesos de lectura, Wieland articulará una novela en la que las distintas posibilidades de recepción lectorial están muy presentes, ejerciendo de este modo una pedagogía lectorial que trata de fomentar la emergencia de un nuevo tipo de lector dispuesto a comprender y a disfrutar del puro deleite estético de la lectura.
Adaptation of the mathematical apparatus of the Markov chain theory for the probabilistic analysis of recurrent estimation of image inter-frame geometric deformations
Authors:   National Research Moscow State University of Civil Engineering, Yaroslavskoe Shosse, 26, Moscow, Russia, 129337, Safina Galina , Tashlinskii Alexander ,   Ulyanovsk State Technical University, Severnii Venetz, 32, Ulyanovsk, Russia, 432027, Tsaryov Mikhail ,   Ulyanovsk State Technical University, Severnii Venetz, 32, Ulyanovsk, Russia, 432027
Published: November 2019

The paper is devoted to the analysis of the possibilities of using Markov chains for analyzing the accuracy of stochastic gradient relay estimation of image geometric deformations. One of the ways to reduce computational costs is to discretize the domain of studied parameters. This approach allows to choose the dimension of transition probabilities matrix a priori. However, such a matrix has a rather complicated structure. It does not significantly reduce the number of computations. A modification of the transition probabilities matrix is proposed, it’s dimension does not depend on the dimension of estimated parameters vector. In this case, the obtained relations determine a recurrent algorithm for calculating the matrix at the estimation iterations. For the one-step transitions matrix, the calculated expressions for the probabilities of image deformation parameters estimates drift are given.
Development of the technique for automatic highlighting ranges of interest in lungs x-ray images
Authors:   Image Processing Systems Institute of RAS - Branch of the FSRC ", Ilyasova Natalya ,   Crystallography and Photonics",   RAS, Molodogvardejskaya street 151, Samara, Russia, 443001,   Samara National Research University, Moskovskoe Shosse 34А, Samara, Russia, 443086, Chesnokova Taisia ,   Samara National Research University, Moskovskoe Shosse 34А, Samara, Russia, 443086
Published: November 2019

In this paper, information technology has been developed for highlighting ranges of interest in lung x-ray images, based on the calculation of textural properties and classification of k-means. In some cases, the highlighted objects can describe not only the current patient’s condition but also specific characteristics regarding age, gender, constitution, etc. While using the k-means method, the relationship between the segmentation error and fragmentation window size was revealed. Within the study, both a visual criterion for evaluating the quality of the segmentation result and a criterion based on calculating the clustering error on a large set of fragmented images were implemented. The study also included image pre-processing techniques. Thus, the study showed that the technology provided key objects highlighting error at 26%. However, the equalizing procedure has lessened this error to 14%. X-ray image clustering errors for fragmentation windows of 12x12, 24x24 and 36x36 were presented.
Method for reconstructing the real coordinates of an object from its plane image
Authors:   JSC «Samara Electromechanical Plant», Stepan Razin street, 16, Samara, Russia, 443099, Nesterov Vladimir ,   Samara National Research University, Moskovskoe shosse, 34А, Samara, Russia, 443086, Mukhin Vasily ,   JSC «Samara Electromechanical Plant», Stepan Razin street, 16, Samara, Russia, 443099, Nesterov Dmitry ,   JSC «Samara Electromechanical Plant», Stepan Razin street, 16, Samara, Russia, 443099
Published: November 2019

Original method of reconstructing the real coordinates of moving objects from their plane images is presented. The method uses multidimensional test objects whose parameters are measures and which are known with high accuracy. In order to ensure the process of measuring movements in real space a test object must be connected with a real object and mathematical models of images of multicomponent movements of a test object must be formed. The parameters of test objects that are used in the named mathematical models are vectors. Such models are used in the construction of systems of measurement equations the solution of which gives the desired components movements of a moving object in 3D space. The method was experimentally tested on specially created stand.
Selection in a 3D microtomographic image the region with the highest quality
Authors:   Schlumberger Moscow Research, Pudovkina 13, Moscow, Russia, 119285, Kornilov Anton ,   National Research Nuclear University MEPhI, Kashirskoe shosse 31, Moscow, Russia, 115409, Safonov Ilia ,   Schlumberger Moscow Research, Pudovkina 13, Moscow, Russia, 119285, Goncharova Alena ,   National Research Nuclear University MEPhI, Kashirskoe shosse 31, Moscow, Russia, 115409, Yakimchuk Ivan ,   Schlumberger Moscow Research, Pudovkina 13, Moscow, Russia, 119285
Published: November 2019

We present an algorithm for processing of X-ray microtomographic (micro-CT) images that allows automatic selection of a sub-volume having the best visual quality for further mathematical simulation, for example, flow simulation. Frequently, an investigated sample occupies only a part of a volumetric image or the sample can be into a holder; a part of the image can be cropped. For each 2D slice across the Z-axis of an image, the proposed method locates a region corresponding to the sample. We explored applications of several existing blind quality measures for an estimation of the visual quality of a micro-CT image slice. Some of these metrics can be applied to ranking the image regions according to their quality. Our method searches for a cubic area located inside regions belonging to the sample and providing the maximal sum of the quality measures of slices crossing the cube across the Z-axis. The proposed technique was tested on synthetic and real micro-CT images of rocks.
Parameter space dimension reduction of an adaptive interpolator during multidimensional signal differential compression
Authors:   Samara National Research University, Moskovskoe Shosse 34А, Samara, Russia, 443086, Maksimov Aleksey , Gashnikov Mikhail ,   Samara National Research University, Moskovskoe Shosse 34А, Samara, Russia, 443086,   Image Processing Systems Institute of RAS - Branch of the FSRC "Crystallography and Photonics" RAS, Molodogvardejskaya street 151, Samara, Russia, 443001
Published: November 2019

We propose a new adaptive multidimensional signal interpolator for differential compression tasks. To increase the efficiency of interpolation, we optimize its parameters space by the minimum absolute interpolation error criterion. To reduce the complexity of interpolation optimization, we reduce the dimension of its parameter range. The correspondence between signal samples in a local neighbourhood is parameterized. Besides, we compare several methods for such parameterization. The developed adaptive interpolator is embedded in the differential compression method. Computational experiments on real multidimensional signals confirm that the use of the proposed interpolator can increase the compression ratio
Interpolation of multidimensional signals using the reduction of the dimension of parametric spaces of decision rules
Authors:   Samara National Research University, Moskovskoe Shosse 34А, Samara, Russia, 443086, Gashnikov Mikhail ,   Image Processing Systems Institute of RAS - Branch of the FSRC "Crystallography and Photonics" RAS, Molodogvardejskaya street 151, Samara, Russia, 443001
Published: November 2019

In this paper, we consider the interpolation of multidimensional signals problem. We develop adaptive interpolators that select the most appropriate interpolating function at each signal point. Parameterized decision rule selects the interpolating function based on local features at each signal point. We optimize the adaptive interpolator in the parameter space of this decision rule. For solving this optimization problem, we reduce the dimension of the parametric space of the decision rule. Dimension reduction is based on the parameterization of the ratio between local differences at each signal point. Then we optimize the adaptive interpolator in parametric space of reduced dimension. Computational experiments to investigate the effectiveness of an adaptive interpolator are conducted using real-world multidimensional signals. The proposed adaptive interpolator used as a part of the hierarchical compression method showed a gain of up to 51% in the size of the archive file compared to the smoothing interpolator.
Public transport route planning in the stochastic network based on the user individual preferences
Authors:   Samara National Research University, Moskovskoe Shosse 34А, Samara, Russia, 443086, Borodinov Aleksandr , Yumaganov Alexander ,   Samara National Research University, Moskovskoe Shosse 34А, Samara, Russia, 443086, Agafonov Anton ,   Samara National Research University, Moskovskoe Shosse 34А, Samara, Russia, 443086
Published: November 2019

Nowadays transport systems becomes more and more complex. Therefore, passengers have difficulty with route planning due to the variety of possible ways to get from the starting point to the destination one. Since the travel time often not considered as single and main criteria by passengers, it is important to ake into account their own preferences which may be very different. In this paper, we proposed a stochastic route planning algorithm, which considers the user individual preferences. This method is based on the modified Dijkstra’s algorithm. The proposed algorithm is tested using real public transport dataset obtained from the transportation network of Samara, Russia.
A new real-time method for finding temporary and permanent road marking and its applications
Authors:   Keldysh Institute of Applied Mathematics of RAS, Miusskaya square 4, Moscow, Russia, 145047, Dosaev Roman , Kiy Konstantin ,   Keldysh Institute of Applied Mathematics of RAS, Miusskaya square 4, Moscow, Russia, 145047
Published: November 2019

In this paper, a new real-time method for finding temporary and permanent road marking is proposed. The method is based on the geometrized histograms method for segmenting and describing color images. This method is able to deal with both rectilinear and curvilinear marking, as well as with color temporary and permanent road marking. It also makes it possible to distinguish temporary road marking from white permanent road marking. The developed method is stable under illumination and is able to work even for partially disappearing road marking, typical for late winter and early spring. In contrast to many other methods, this method does not require any information about camera parameters and calibration and is able to find road marking in images taken under unknown conditions. The proposed method has been implemented by a program written in C++, operating under Windows and Linux. The program operation has been tested on video records shot on typical Russian roads during different seasons and under diverse whether and illumination conditions. The processing speed is about 20 fps for a standard modern computer. Using parallel computing, this speed is reduced considerably. The results of program operation are presented and discussed. The developed program is a part of the computer vision component of the control system of the AvtoNiva pilotless vehicle.
The Cultural Significance in Greeting Practices in Belo Dialect of the Bima Language
Authors: Alek Alek
Published: November 2019

Indonesia is the home to a vast array of cultures and many unique languages that are the mother tongues of these various islands and cultural groups. One of these is Bima language. Greeting systems and the address of personal names has long been a question of great interest in linguistic fields, especially sociolinguistic study. The main objective of the recent study was to answer some of the main issues as follows: (1) What are name variations in the greeting practices using in the Bima language? (2) How are the name variations applied in daily interactions of the Bima language? (3) Which syllables which are dominantly chosen in greeting terms? The results of my research will present the variations in the greeting system and address of personal names and their variety. Those variations are either at the beginning, the middle or the end of the syllables. However, none of the Bima people’s names begin with a consonant: “C, P, V, and X” as well as the vowel O.” it will also show that the variation of greeting practices and address of names applied in the daily interactions of the Bima language are different for men and women. The effort of maintaining the local style is essential to preserving and investigating as part of the national language because the position and function of the local languages are significant to the contribution and the progress and standardization of the national language. Keywords: Greeting practices, Bima language, and cultural significance
The Global local planes of English needs in Indonesian contexts
Authors: Manara Christine
Published: November 2019

ABSTRACTThis article reports one part of a larger study, exploring the global and local English needs in nine secondary level schools in several Indonesian contexts (i.e. Sumatera, Sulawesi, and East Nusa Tenggara). The study investigates: 1) teachers and students perceived understanding of the existence of English in their local contexts; 2) opinions of their current local and global needs of English in today’s globalized era; and 3) their opinion on the teaching and learning of English. Data were collected from questionnaires and interviews. The results show that students in different contexts have slightly different views and perceptions of English use and how it needs to be learned and taught for their current and future needs of English. Although slightly different in their perceptions of needs, there seems to be a coordinated understanding of English needs between the students and teachers. The findings also indicate that there is a growing awareness of the need to teach the communicative aspects of English in relation to students’ activities online. Therefore, the teaching of English needs to be conducted by providing more English exposure, integrating blended learning, adopting English for Specific Purposes approach, and teaching pragmatics knowledge and intercultural skills.
Rapid and simple screening of transgenic mice: novel extraction-free, filter-based PCR genotyping from blood samples.
Authors: Suematsu Naoya , Isohashi Fumihide
Published: November 2019

We evaluated the effectiveness of using Flinders Technology Associates (FTA) filter paper for the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) genotyping of transgenic mice. Tail prick blood sample dried on an FTA filter disc was processed for genomic PCR. It is easy and rapid to prepare DNA templates because the protocol is extraction-free and only requires minimal handling of wash briefly bloodstained FTA filter discs. Progeny of a transgene-positive founder mated with wild-type mice was screened for the presence of the transgene by the filter-based PCR using transgene-specific primers. The resulting amplicons with expected sizes of 3134 bp, 1152 bp, 877 bp and 688 bp were robust and reproducible, allowing a distinction between transgenic (n=44) and wild-type (n=47) mice showing no signal. The filter-based PCR screening took only half a day. The present study confirmed the validity and usefulness of the novel rapid extraction-free genotyping method.
Tandemly repeated trinucleotides - comparative analysis.
Authors: Piwowar Monika , Meus Jan , Piwowar Piotr , Wiśniowski Zdzisław , Stefaniak Justyna , Roterman Irena
Published: November 2019

Characteristics of 64 possible tandem trinucleotide repeats (TSSR) from Homo sapiens (hs), Mus musculus (mm) and Rattus norvegicus (rn) genomes are presented. Comparative analysis of TSSR frequency depending on their repetitiveness and similarity of the TSSR length distributions is shown. Comparative analysis of TSSR sequence motifs and association between type of motif and its length (n) using rho-coefficient method (quantitatively measuring the association between variables in contingency tables) is presented. These analyses were carried out in the context of neurodegenerative diseases based on trinucleotide tandems. The length of these tandems and their relation to other TSSR is estimated. It was found that the higher repetitiveness (n) the lower frequency of trinucleotides tandems. Differences between genomes under consideration, especially in longer than n=9 TSSR were discussed. A significantly higher frequency off A- and T-rich tandems is observed in the human genome (as well as in human mRNA). This observation also applies to mm and rn, although lower abundant in proportion to human genomes was found. The origin of elongation (or shortening) of TSSR seems to be neither frequency nor length dependent. The results of TSSR analysis presented in this work suggest that neurodegenerative disease-related microsatellites do not differ versus the other except the lower frequency versus the other TSSR. CAG occurs with relatively high frequency in human mRNA, although there are other TSSR with higher frequency that do not cause comparable disease disorders. It suggests that the mechanism of TSSR instability is not the only origin of neurodegenerative diseases.
An approach for the identification of microRNA with an application to Anopheles gambiae.
Authors: Chatterjee Raghunath , Chaudhuri Keya
Published: November 2019

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are an abundant class of 20-27 nt long noncoding RNAs, involved in post-transcriptional regulation of genes in eukaryotes. These miRNAs are usually highly conserved between the genomes of related organisms and their pre-miRNA transcript, about 60-120 nt long, forms extended stem-loop structure. Keeping these facts in mind miRsearch is developed which relies on searching the homologues of all known miRNAs of one organism in the genome of a related organism allowing few mismatches depending on the phylogenetic distance between them, followed by assessing for the capability of formation of stem-loop structure. The precursor sequences so obtained were then screened through the RNA folding program MFOLD selecting the cut-off values on the basis of known Drosophila melanogaster pre-miRNAs. With this approach, about 91 probable candidate miRNAs along with pre-miRNAs were identified in Anopheles gambiae using known D. melanogaster miRNAs. Out of these, 41 probable miRNAs have 100% similarity with already known D. melanogaster miRNAs and others were found to be at least 85% similar to the miRNAs of various other organisms.
Evaluation of DNA damage in white blood cells of healthy human volunteers using the alkaline comet assay and the chromosome aberration test.
Authors: Kopjar Nevenka , Zeljezić Davor , Garaj-Vrhovac Verica
Published: November 2019

The present study was undertaken to contribute to the characterization of the degree of variability in baseline damage in white blood cells from control population, and to investigate how this variability is associated with external and internal factors. Altogether 170 healthy volunteers, randomly selected from the general population of the Republic of Croatia, participated in the study. Two sensitive tests: the alkaline comet assay and the chromosome aberration test were applied to study the background levels of DNA damage in their white blood cells. The results point to inter-individual differences, indicating different genome sensitivity. As revealed by both assays, the background levels of DNA damage were mostly influenced by smoking habit as well as medical exposure (especially to diagnostic X-rays). Sex and age of subjects did not significantly influence the values of DNA damage recorded in the white blood cells. Although higher levels of DNA damage were recorded in blood samples collected during winter and autumn, they were mostly influenced by medicinal exposure and smoking habit. Statistical evaluation of the data confirmed that a positive correlation exists between DNA migration and the number of long-tailed nuclei found with the comet assay and the total number of chromosome aberrations. The data obtained can serve as control values in forthcoming biomonitoring studies.
PrP(d) accumulation in organs of ARQ/ARQ sheep experimentally infected with BSE by peripheral routes.
Authors: Lezmi Stéphane , Ronzon Frédéric , Bencsik Anna , Bedin Alexandre , Calavas Didier , Richard Yves , Simon Stéphanie , Grassi Jacques , Baron Thierry
Published: November 2019

To study the pathogenesis of bovine spongiform encephalopathy infection in small ruminants, two Lacaune sheep with the AA136RR154QQ171 and one with the AA136RR154RR171 genotype for the prion protein, were inoculated with a brain homogenate from a French cattle BSE case by peripheral routes. Sheep with the ARQ/ARQ genotype are considered as susceptible to prion diseases contrary to those with the ARR/ARR genotype. The accumulation of disease-associated prion protein (PrP(d)) was analysed by biochemical and immunohistochemical methods. No PrP(d) accumulation was detected in samples from the ARR/ARR sheep 2 years post inoculation. In the two ARQ/ARQ sheep that had scrapie-like clinical symptoms, PrP(d) was found in the central, sympathetic and enteric nervous systems and in lymphoid organs. Remarkably, PrP(d) was also detected in some muscle types as well as in all peripheral nerves that had not been reported previously thus revealing a widespread distribution of BSE-associated PrP(d) in sheep tissues.
Contribution of the intra- and intermolecular routes in autocatalytic zymogen activation: application to pepsinogen activation.
Authors: Varón Ramón , Fuentes Matilde E , García-Moreno Manuela , Garcìa-Sevilla Francisco , Arias Enrique , Valero Edelmira , Arribas Enrique
Published: November 2019

Taking as the starting point a recently suggested reaction scheme for zymogen activation involving intra- and intermolecular routes and the enzyme-zymogen complex, we carry out a complete analysis of the relative contribution of both routes in the process. This analysis suggests the definition of new dimensionless parameters allowing the elaboration, from the values of the rate constants and initial conditions, of the time course of the contribution of the two routes. The procedure mentioned above related to a concrete reaction scheme is extrapolated to any other model of autocatalytic zymogen activation involving intra- and intermolecular routes. Finally, we discuss the contribution of both of the activating routes in pepsinogen activation into pepsin using the values of the kinetic parameters given in the literature.
UNDERSTANDING OF SYARIAH PRACTITIONERS IN MALAYSIA ON DOCUMENT FORGERY
Authors: Abdul Fattah Wan Ismail Wan , Syukran Baharuddin Ahmad , Abdul Mutalib Lukman , Syahirah Saharudin Nurul
Published: November 2019

Purpose of the study: This article focuses on a few issues namely the most common form of forgery that occurred especially in Syariah Court Islamic judicial institutions (or better known as Syariah courts) in Malaysia and the extent of respondents’ knowledge on the method used in verifying the authenticity of document that meets the Syariah requirement.

Methodology: Research information has been obtained through the quantitative method and from respondents consists of 78 lecturers of Syariah law and 103 practitioners who involve directly in the legislation of Syariah Court in Federal Territories (Putrajaya, Kuala Lumpur and Labuan), Selangor and Negeri Sembilan.

Main Findings: The result shows that the forms of forgery are changing in accordance with time and facilities. Based on the respondents’ perception, the most common form of document falsification is a forgery of a medical certificate and the least is a forgery of the grant of ownership (property/transportation). Besides, the knowledge of Syariah law practitioners on fraud in a document is at a moderate level.

Applications of this study: This study is significant to understand the issue of fraud in documents and eventually suggests the relevant ways to counter the matters in the future. The ability of Islamic judicial institutions to be adaptive for such challenges is essential to reduce the disorderly pile of cases involving fraud, especially in the Syariah courts.

Novelty/Originality of this study: The research found that it is crucial for the Syariah law practitioners to raise and upgrade their ability to deal with fraud cases in the document to increase the public confidence towards the Syariah judiciary.
Las convenciones sobre los derechos del niño y sobre los derechos de las personas con discapacidad y sus proyecciones en relación con la regulación civil de la capacidad de ejercicio. Reflexiones a partir del derecho argentino
Authors: Lafferriere Jorge Nicolás
Published: November 2019

La regulación civil de la capacidad de ejercicio se ha visto transformada por las convenciones sobre los derechos del niño y sobre los derechos de las personas con discapacidad. En este trabajo se indagan las proyecciones de dichos cambios en tres aspectos: la tensión entre autonomía y protección, las transformaciones en relación con los representantes y apoyos, y el desborde de la noción civilista de capacidad de ejercicio asociada a los actos jurídicos. Se toma como ejemplo para el análisis el ordenamiento jurídico argentino y se formulan conclusiones referidas a la posibilidad de una regulación común.
Surgimiento de las ICOS: implicaciones para el caso colombiano
Authors: Echavarría Wartenberg Daniel
Published: November 2019

El surgimiento a nivel mundial de las ofertas de monedas virtuales (Initial Coin Offerings, ICOS), como una alternativa al mercado de valores, crea nuevos retos para los reguladores financieros. En este ensayo se estudia la problemática de la regulación de estas ofertas a la luz del ordenamiento jurídico colombiano, analizando alternativas de política pública para prevenir que los riesgos asociados a esta innovación se materialicen.
¿Por qué el poseedor pierde la buena fe desde la contestación de la demanda y no desde la notificación legal de la misma en el caso de las prestaciones mutuas?
Authors: Pinochet Olave Ruperto
Published: November 2019

En la regulación de la acción reivindicatoria, el derecho civil colombiano, argentino y chileno utilizan distintos momentos procesales para la determinación del momento de pérdida de la buena fe y del derecho a percibir los frutos de la cosa reivindicada. La práctica de intentar asimilar el momento procesal del emplazamiento a la litiscontestatio no tiene asidero en la historia del derecho, pues el emplazamiento no requiere la colaboración del demandado. Así, la solución adoptada por Bello es mejor que aquella que fija el momento en la notificación de la demanda, pues en esa instancia procesal, la de la notificación, el demandado no podrá saber si oponerse o allanarse a la demanda. Solo al haber examinado los títulos que exhibe el demandante y los suyos propios podrá adoptar una actitud procesal fundada, que suponga, en caso de oposición, la pérdida de la buena fe en materia posesoria. El transcurso del tiempo que supone el término de emplazamiento es indispensable para el estudio de temas tan complejos como lo son el dominio y la posesión.
Análisis crítico de las facultades probatorias de las partes en segunda instancia en el proceso civil chileno
Authors: Núñez Ojeda Raúl , Carrasco Delgado Nicolás , Rojas Olivares Gerardo
Published: November 2019

El presente artículo realiza un análisis crítico de la regulación contemplada en el código de procedimiento civil de los medios probatorios cuya iniciativa corresponde a las partes durante la segunda instancia. El evaluador de dicha regulación será la carga de prueba objetiva, la que comprende ciertos objetivos de buena fe procesal. Se sostiene que la posibilidad de rendir prueba en segunda instancia permite comportamientos estratégicos y una divergencia entre los intereses públicos y privados. Por tanto, la presentación de prueba en esa instancia debe limitarse a la existencia de hechos nuevos. Esto último es más acorde con la finalidad revisora del recurso de apelación.
Evaluation of etiology, clinical and laboratory data of childhood arthritis
Authors: DEDEOĞLU Özge , SARI Eyüp , ŞENEL Saliha , KARACAN Can Demir
Published: November 2019

Aim: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the etiologies, diagnostic approach, clinical and laboratory data of patients with arthritis in a Turkish tertiary care hospital in children.Patients and Methods: 306 hospitalized children aged between 7
months-18 years, diagnosed with arthritis were included in the study between 2008 – 2013. The medical records of patients were reviewed retrospectively.Results: Of
the patients, 51.6% were female, 48.4% were male. The average age was 118 months.
Arthritis was symmetrical type in 29.4% of patients and asymmetrical type in 70.6%.
The diagnoses of patients were Acute Rheumatic Fever/Poststreptococcal reactive
arthritis (ARF/PSRA) (39.2%), Collagen Tissue Disorders (CTD) (29%), Brucellar
arthritis (13.4%), reactive arthritis (12.5%), septic arthritis (5.2%) and arthritis
secondary to malignancy (0.7%), respectively. Of the patients with CTD; Juvenil
idiopathic arthritis (JIA) was the most common in frequency (66.3%). Patellar
joint involvement was the most common in frequency (62.4%). The mean ASO levels was significantly higher in
patients with ARF/PSRA group [p=0.000]. Average leucocyte count of ARF/PSRA group
was significantly higher than CTD group [p=0.000]. Average neutrophil
percentage was significantly higher in ARF/PSRA group than brucellar arthritis
group [p=0.000]. The mean duration of diagnosis and therapy was found to be
significantly longer in patients with CTD [p=0.000]. All patients were cured
except one patient with brucellar arthritis. Conclusion:

Arthritis can
be a manifestation of multiple disease processes in children. Therefore, the
clinician must consider a broad differential diagnosis. Detail history and physical examination with a clinical follow-up in
addition to useful laboratory testing may help
to establish the cause of arthritis in children.