276 research outputs found
Machine learning methods to forecast temporal pattern of Aedes mosquito species using meteorological variables in Ontario, Canada
Modeling and Predicting the Invasive Mosquito Abundance in North-East Region of United States
Silver-Russell syndrome
Silver-Russell syndrome is clinically and genetically a heterogeneous disorder. In most of the cases, etiology is unknown, only in 10% cases defect in chromosome 7 is identified. It bas distinctive facial features and asymmetric limbs. Most predominant symptom is growth failure. A case of Silver-Russell syndrome reported here who presented with growth failure, hemihypertrophy ofleft side oftbe body, dysmorphic facial profile and difficulty in speech. Counseling was done with the parents regarding the etiology, progression and outcome of the disease
Quantifying recreational value and the functional relationship between travel cost and visiting national park
Abstract Estimation of recreational benefits is an important tool for both biodiversity conservation and ecotourism development in national parks and sanctuaries. The design of this work is to estimate the recreational value and to establish functional relationship between travel cost and visitation of Lawachara National Park (LNP) in Bangladesh. This study employed zonal approach of the travel cost method. The work is grounded on a sample of 422 visitors of the LNP. Results showed that the total value of environmental assets of the LNP is 55,694,173 Taka/Year. Moreover, our suggestion based on visitors' willingness to pay is that the park entrance fee of 25 Tk per person should be introduced that could generate revenue approximate 2.3 million Taka/ year, beneficial for the park management and conservation of biodiversity
A quantitative image analysis for the cellular cytoskeleton during in vitro tumor growth
The cellular cytoskeleton is a dynamic subcellular structure that can be a marker of key biological phenomena including cell division, organelle movement, shape changes and locomotion during the avascular tumor phase. Little attention is paid to quantify changes in the cytoskeleton while nuclei and cytoplasmic both are present in subcellular microscopic images. In this paper, we proposed a quantitative image analysis method to analyze subcellular cytoskeletal changes using a texture analysis method preceded by segmentation of nuclei, cytoplasm and ruffling regions (area except nuclei and cytoplasm). To test and validate this model we hypothesized that Mammary Serine Protease Inhibitor (maspin) acts as cytoskeleton regulator that mediates cell-extracellular matrix (ECM) adhesion in tumor. Maspin-a tumor suppressor gene shows multiple tumor suppressive properties such as increasing tumor cell apoptosis and reducing migration, proliferation, invasion, and overall tumor metastasis. The proposed method obtained separated ruffling regions from segmentation steps and then adopted gray–level histograms (GLH) and grey-level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) texture analysis techniques. In order to verify the reliability, the proposed texture analysis method was used to compare the control and maspin expressing cells grown on different ECM components: plastic, collagen I, fibronectin and laminin. The results show that the texture parameters extracted reflect the different cytoskeletal changes. These changes indicate that maspin acts as a regulator of the cell-ECM enhancement process, while it reduces the cell migration. Overall, this paper not only presents a quantitative image analysis approach to analyze subcellular cytoskeletal architectures but also provides a comprehensive tool for the biologist, pathologist, cancer specialist, and computer scientist to understand cellular and subcellular organization of cells. In long term, this method can be extended to be used in live cell tracking in vivo, image informatics based point-of-care expert system and quantification of various complex architectures in organisms
Sleep Problems in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Bangladesh: A Case–Control Study
Background: Sleep problems in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are highly
prevalent, but little information is available on this issue in low- to middle-income countries
(LMIC) such as Bangladesh. Therefore, the present study investigated the prevalence and
socio-demographic determinants of ASD sleep disturbances in a comparison with typically
developing children (TDC).
Methods: A cross-sectional interview study was carried out within a total of 446
Bangladeshi mothers, whose children’s mean age was 8.1±2.9 years (151 ASD [8.5±2.7
years] and 295 TDC [7.9±2.9 years]); in addition to socio-demographics, the Child Sleep
Habit Questionnaire (CSHQ) was used, and a cut-off score of 41 out of 93 points considered
as reflecting sleep problems.
Results: About 89.7% of the children reported having problems in sleep, with ASD
reporting higher frequency vs TDC (94.00% vs 87.50%; χ2=4.678, p=0.031). The overall
mean CSHQ score was 48.7±7.6 in total sample, whereas ASD children reported higher
scores compared to TDCs (50.9±8.1 vs 47.5±7.0, p<0.001). Similarly, subscales of CSHQ
such as sleep duration (4.23±1.56 vs 3.90±1.31, p=0.017), sleep anxiety (7.23±2.05 vs 6.45
±1.92, p<0.001), night waking (3.82±1.07 vs 3.17±1.89, p<0.001), parasomnias (8.86±2.06
vs 7.85±2.27, p<0.001), and sleep disordered breathing (4.02±2.92 vs 3.43±2.07, p=0.014)
were more problematic among ASD compared to TDC. Lastly, 28.5% of ASD reported
taking sleep-related medications vs 0.3% for TDC (n=1).
Conclusion: Bangladeshi ASD children are highly likely to manifest sleep disturbances,
which warrant urgent implementation of parental educational and support programs to
mitigate the impact of sleep problems in ASD families
Quantifying Recreational Value and the Functional Relationship Between Travel Cost and Visiting National Park
Abstract Estimation of recreational benefits is an important tool for both biodiversity conservation and ecotourism development in national parks and sanctuaries. The design of this work is to estimate the recreational value and to establish functional relationship between travel cost and visitation of Lawachara National Park (LNP) in Bangladesh. This study employed zonal approach of the travel cost method. The work is grounded on a sample of 422 visitors of the LNP. Results showed that the total value of environmental assets of the LNP is 55,694,173 Taka/Year. Moreover, our suggestion based on visitors' willingness to pay is that the park entrance fee of 25 Tk per person should be introduced that could generate revenue approximate 2.3 million Taka/ year, beneficial for the park management and conservation of biodiversity
Shared Multidrug Resistance Patterns in Chicken-Associated Escherichia coli Identified by Association Rule Mining
Using multiple antimicrobials in food animals may incubate genetically-linked multidrug-resistance (MDR) in enteric bacteria, which can contaminate meat at slaughter. The U.S. National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System tested 14,418 chicken-associated Escherichia coli between 2004 and 2012 for resistance to 15 antimicrobials, resulting in >32,000 possible MDR patterns. We analyzed MDR patterns in this dataset with association rule mining, also called market-basket analysis. The association rules were pruned with four quality measures resulting in a <1% false-discovery rate. MDR rules were more stable across consecutive years than between slaughter and retail. Rules were decomposed into networks with antimicrobials as nodes and rules as edges. A strong subnetwork of beta-lactam resistance existed in each year and the beta-lactam resistances also had strong associations with sulfisoxazole, gentamicin, streptomycin and tetracycline resistances. The association rules concur with previously identified E. coli resistance patterns but provide significant flexibility for studying MDR in large datasets
Prevalence and risk of hepatitis e virus infection in the HIV population of Nepal
Background: Infection with the hepatitis E virus (HEV) can cause acute hepatitis in endemic areas in immune-competent hosts, as well as chronic infection in immune-compromised subjects in non-endemic areas. Most studies assessing HEV infection in HIV-infected populations have been performed in developed countries that are usually affected by HEV genotype 3. The objective of this study is to measure the prevalence and risk of acquiring HEV among HIV-infected individuals in Nepal. Methods: We prospectively evaluated 459 Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)-positive individuals from Nepal, an endemic country for HEV, for seroprevalence of HEV and assessed risk factors associated with HEV infection. All individuals were on antiretroviral therapy and healthy blood donors were used as controls. Results: We found a high prevalence of HEV IgG (39.4%) and HEV IgM (15.3%) in HIV-positive subjects when compared to healthy HIV-negative controls: 9.5% and 4.4%, respectively (OR: 6.17, 95% CI 4.42-8.61, p < 0.001 and OR: 3.7, 95% CI 2.35-5.92, p < 0.001, respectively). Individuals residing in the Kathmandu area showed a significantly higher HEV IgG seroprevalance compared to individuals residing outside of Kathmandu (76.8% vs 11.1%, OR: 30.33, 95% CI 18.02-51.04, p = 0.001). Mean CD4 counts, HIV viral load and presence of hepatitis B surface antigen correlated with higher HEV IgM rate, while presence of hepatitis C antibody correlated with higher rate of HEV IgG in serum. Overall, individuals with HEV IgM positivity had higher levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) than IgM negative subjects, suggesting active acute infection. However, no specific symptoms for hepatitis were identified. Conclusions: HIV-positive subjects living in Kathmandu are at higher risk of acquiring HEV infection as compared to the general population and to HIV-positive subjects living outside Kathmandu
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