Indigenous knowledge management - multimedia capture of oral history (New lamps for old)

The history or origins of a village has always been transmitted through oral storytelling by the older generations who have lived in that village for a long time. In order to collect and preserve this tacit knowledge, Perbadanan Perpustakaan Awam Selangor (PPAS) the Selangor State Public Library, in collaboration with Discovery Research Consultant Management Sdn. Bhd and Unit Perancang Ekonomi Negeri Selangor (The Selangor Stae Ecomonic Unit) decided to collect oral histories of villages in Sabak Bernam, which is one of the districts in Selangor, a state in Peninsular Malaysia. With the realization that knowledge is a core resource, they captured and documented all the oral histories (tacit knowledge) into a book (explicit knowledge) called “KOLEKSI CERITA RAKYAT: DAERAH SABAK BERNAM”. Through the oral histories told to them by the older inhabitants, they managed to collect 53 stories of villages in Sabak Bernam. Though the PPAS initiatives were good, the book failed to catch the younger generation’s attention. Now in conjunction with the Faculty of Creative Multimedia, Multimedia University, they have taken one step further by converting the book into animation format

Development on Orthotics Insole for Flat Feet Focusing on Sport Usage Evaluated by Electromyography

Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans to move rapidly on foot, which related to the movement of lower limb. But for flat feet, running or walking for a long period will give them a high-risk associate with a foot pain. In order to reduce the foot pain, an arch orthotics insole is advised to be wore by the flat feet. This paper provides an extensive study on orthotics insole focusing on sport usage for flat feet. For this silicon rubber Orthotics Insole is designed with sufficient arch support, sufficient thickness, metatarsal pad, heel pad, heel cup and ergonomics dimension specification. The objectives of this research are to design and improve the efficiency of orthotics insole for flat feet focusing on sport usage. Both new orthotics insole and existing insole will be evaluated by using electromyography (EMG) that will record the electrical potential which generated by muscle cells. The output of time domain feature and frequency domain feature for both insoles will be analyzed and compared. This Orthotics Sport Insole ideal to be used by flat feet especially during their sport activity specifically running in order to reduce muscle pain to prevent injuries

Characterization of Anisotropic Damage Behaviour of Recycled Aluminium Alloys AA6061 Undergoing High Velocity Impact

It is impossible to ignore the realm of the topics related recycling aluminium scraps. The recycled form of this material can be a good replacement for the primary resources due to the economic and environmental benefits. Numerous investigation must be conducted to establish the mechanical behaviour before the specific applications can be identified. In this research, Taylor Cylinder Impact tests used to investigate anisotropic damage behaviour in recycled aluminium alloy is presented. To be specific, by performing Taylor Cylinder Impact test at velocities ranging from 190m/s to 300m/s, anisotropic and damage characteristics can be observed in the samples as a function of the large stress, strain, and strain-rate gradient. The application of Taylor Cylinder Impact test as a technique to validate both the constitutive and dynamic fracture responses in such materials is also discussed. The structure of recycled aluminium AA6061 including the damage initiation and evolution are observed under optical microscope (OM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The results revealed that the damage evolution of the material change with the increasing impact velocity. Further, the digitised footprint analysis showed a pronounced anisotropic characteristic of the recycled aluminium AA6061

Wellbeing, mental health knowledge and caregiving experiences of siblings of people with psychosis, compared to their peers and parents: An exploratory study

Purpose The wellbeing and caregiving experiences of family carers supporting people with psychosis has garnered increasing interest. Evidence indicates that the burden of caregiving can adversely impact on parents’ wellbeing, few studies have investigated whether this is also the case for siblings, who often take on caregiving responsibilities. This exploratory study investigated the wellbeing, mental health knowledge, and appraisals of caregiving in siblings of individuals with psychosis. Method Using a cross-sectional design, 90 siblings completed three validated questionnaires: Warwick–Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS), Mental Health Knowledge Schedule (MAKS), and Experience of Caregiving Inventory (ECI). Data obtained were compared to general population norms and parent-carers’ scores. Multi-variable regression analyses were conducted to examine relationships between questionnaire scores and demographic characteristics including age, sex, birth order, marital status, accommodation and educational level. Results Siblings, especially sisters, had significantly poorer mental wellbeing, compared to normative scores. Conversely, they had better mental health knowledge. Siblings and parent-carers had comparable high levels of negative appraisals of caregiving experiences, but siblings reported more satisfaction with personal experiences and relationships. Education level was a significant predictor for better mental health knowledge; there were no other relationships between siblings’ demographic factors and outcomes. Conclusion Study findings suggest that siblings have overlapping as well as distinct needs, compared to parent-carers. Further research is required to better understand siblings’ experiences so as to inform development of targeted interventions that enhance wellbeing and caregiving capacity

Antioxidants and antibacterial properties of extracts from leaves and stem of pink flower Impatiens walleriana

Impatiens walleriana is a vibrant and flowering plant sources cherished for its antioxidants and antimicrobial properties. This research aimed to evaluate the impact of three different drying treatments (microwave drying, oven drying, and air drying) on the antioxidant compounds of leaves and stems of pink flower I. walleriana. Besides, antibacterial efficacy of leaves extract against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria were also evaluated. Microwave-dried leaves extract exhibited high phenolic (6.358±0.18 mg GAE/100g), flavonoid (0.528±0.005 mg QAE/100g) and caffeoylquinic acid contents (0.988±0.012 mg CQCA/100g), followed by oven-dried and air dried. Stem extracts of I. walleriana showed relatively less phenolic compound as compared to leaves extract probably due to the plant’s defense strategy against environmental stress. Besides, the leaves extract was chosen for antibacterial activity using Kirby-Bauer disc-diffusion method. The results revealed that I. walleriana able to suppress growth of both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Nevertheless, I. walleriana had stronger inhibitory effect against Escherichia coli while least inhibitory effect against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, with inhibition zone of 6.6 mm and 1 mm, respectively. The antibacterial effect of I. walleriana also found superior to streptomycin especially against Gram-negative bacteria. The antibacterial effect of I. walleriana against E. coli was found to be two times stronger than the synthetic antibiotics. Hence, this indicates that I. walleriana had a good potential as an alternative source of antioxidant and antimicrobial and replacing the synthetic additives in current market

The feasibility study of non-invasive fetal trisomy 18 and 21 detection with semiconductor sequencing platform

Objective: Recent non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) technologies are based on next-generation sequencing (NGS). NGS allows rapid and effective clinical diagnoses to be determined with two common sequencing systems: Illumina and Ion Torrent platforms. The majority of NIPT technology is associated with Illumina platform. We investigated whether fetal trisomy 18 and 21 were sensitively and specifically detectable by semiconductor sequencer: Ion Proton. Methods: From March 2012 to October 2013, we enrolled 155 pregnant women with fetuses who were diagnosed as high risk of fetal defects at Xiamen Maternal & Child Health Care Hospital (Xiamen, Fujian, China). Adapter-ligated DNA libraries were analyzed by the Ion Proton??? System (Life Technologies, Grand Island, NY, USA) with an average 0.3 ?? sequencing coverage per nucleotide. Average total raw reads per sample was 6.5 million and mean rate of uniquely mapped reads was 59.0%. The results of this study were derived from BWA mapping. Z-score was used for fetal trisomy 18 and 21 detection. Results: Interactive dot diagrams showed the minimal z-score values to discriminate negative versus positive cases of fetal trisomy 18 and 21. For fetal trisomy 18, the minimal z-score value of 2.459 showed 100% positive predictive and negative predictive values. The minimal z-score of 2.566 was used to classify negative versus positive cases of fetal trisomy 21. Conclusion: These results provide the evidence that fetal trisomy 18 and 21 detection can be performed with semiconductor sequencer. Our data also suggest that a prospective study should be performed with a larger cohort of clinically diverse obstetrics patients.open2

Activation of Host Translational Control Pathways by a Viral Developmental Switch

In response to numerous signals, latent herpesvirus genomes abruptly switch their developmental program, aborting stable host–cell colonization in favor of productive viral replication that ultimately destroys the cell. To achieve a rapid gene expression transition, newly minted capped, polyadenylated viral mRNAs must engage and reprogram the cellular translational apparatus. While transcriptional responses of viral genomes undergoing lytic reactivation have been amply documented, roles for cellular translational control pathways in enabling the latent-lytic switch have not been described. Using PEL-derived B-cells naturally infected with KSHV as a model, we define efficient reactivation conditions and demonstrate that reactivation substantially changes the protein synthesis profile. New polypeptide synthesis correlates with 4E-BP1 translational repressor inactivation, nuclear PABP accumulation, eIF4F assembly, and phosphorylation of the cap-binding protein eIF4E by Mnk1. Significantly, inhibiting Mnk1 reduces accumulation of the critical viral transactivator RTA through a post-transcriptional mechanism, limiting downstream lytic protein production, and impairs reactivation efficiency. Thus, herpesvirus reactivation from latency activates the host cap-dependent translation machinery, illustrating the importance of translational regulation in implementing new developmental instructions that drastically alter cell fate

Dengue Virus Activates Polyreactive, Natural IgG B Cells after Primary and Secondary Infection

BACKGROUND: Dengue virus is transmitted by mosquitoes and has four serotypes. Cross-protection to other serotypes lasting for a few months is observed following infection with one serotype. There is evidence that low-affinity T and/or B cells from primary infections contribute to the severe syndromes often associated with secondary dengue infections. such pronounced immune-mediated enhancement suggests a dengue-specific pattern of immune cell activation. This study investigates the acute and early convalescent B cell response leading to the generation of cross-reactive and neutralizing antibodies following dengue infection. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We assayed blood samples taken from dengue patients with primary or secondary infection during acute disease and convalescence and compared them to samples from patients presenting with non-dengue related fever. Dengue induced massive early plasmablast formation, which correlated with the appearance of polyclonal, cross-reactive IgG for both primary and secondary infection. Surprisingly, the contribution of IgG to the neutralizing titer 4-7 days after fever onset was more than 50% even after primary infection. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Poly-reactive and virus serotype cross-reactive IgG are an important component of the innate response in humans during both primary and secondary dengue infection, and "innate specificities" seem to constitute part of the adaptive response in dengue. While of potential importance for protection during secondary infection, cross-reactive B cells will also compete with highly neutralizing B cells and possibly interfere with their development

A simulation model approach to analysis of the business case for eliminating health care disparities

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Purchasers can play an important role in eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health care. A need exists to develop a compelling "business case" from the employer perspective to put, and keep, the issue of racial/ethnic disparities in health care on the quality improvement agenda for health plans and providers.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>To illustrate a method for calculating an employer business case for disparity reduction and to compare the business case in two clinical areas, we conducted analyses of the direct (medical care costs paid by employers) and indirect (absenteeism, productivity) effects of eliminating known racial/ethnic disparities in mammography screening and appropriate medication use for patients with asthma. We used Markov simulation models to estimate the consequences, for defined populations of African-American employees or health plan members, of a 10% increase in HEDIS mammography rates or a 10% increase in appropriate medication use among either adults or children/adolescents with asthma.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The savings per employed African-American woman aged 50-65 associated with a 10% increase in HEDIS mammography rate, from direct medical expenses and indirect costs (absenteeism, productivity) combined, was $50. The findings for asthma were more favorable from an employer point of view at approximately$1,660 per person if raising medication adherence rates in African-American employees or dependents by 10%.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>For the employer business case, both clinical scenarios modeled showed positive results. There is a greater potential financial gain related to eliminating a disparity in asthma medications than there is for eliminating a disparity in mammography rates.</p