The Effect of Vitamin E, Selenomethionine and Sodium Selenite Supplementation in Laying Hens

In trial 1, 3 levels of dl-α-tocopheryl acetate (0, 50, 100 IU/kg), and 3 levels of supplemental sodium selenite (SS) (0, 0.25, 0.50 ppm), were added to a corn-soybean meal basal diet to evaluate their effects on egg quality variables, and deposition in egg yolk. Adding 50 IU/kg dl- α-tocopheryl acetate in the diet lowered aged yolk pH. Alpha-tocopherol in yolks increased with increasing vitamin E. As Se level increased in the diet, yolk Se content increased. There was a vitamin E by Se interaction affecting yolk Se content, but the highest level of Se in the yolk achieved when using 0.5 ppm Se from either source with no vitamin E. Trial 2 was conducted to investigate the effects of using organic vs. inorganic Se on egg quality, egg yolk vitelline membrane strength, and glutathione peroxidase activity in the liver and shell gland of hens. Hens were fed a corn-soybean meal basal diet supplemented with 0, 0.2 ppm selenomethionine (SM), 0.2 ppm SS, 0.4 SM, or 0.4 ppm SS. Supplementing SS at 0.2 ppm or SM at 0.4 ppm had the same effect to improve the VMS. In trial 3, hens were fed the same dietary treatments as in the second trial and added to a semi-purified corn starch-soybean meal basal diet. Yolk Se content was higher in all treatments supplemented with Se from either source than the control diet. There was an interaction effect of Se source and level on albumen Se content; albumen Se content increased when SM levels in the diet increased, whereas when SS levels increased in the diet, there was no increase in egg albumen Se content. In summary, our results indicate that vitamin E and Se supplementation from the organic and inorganic sources can be a good practice to increase some of the egg quality parameters, but more research need to be conducted when the basal levels of Se are low. Advisor: Sheila E. Scheidele

CADASIL subcortical dementia – A case report

Cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy, or CADASIL, is a genetic disease that eventually results in early-onset strokes and dementia. It is one of the most common hereditary causes of strokes and vascular dementia. The mutation involves the NOTCH3 gene, a gene implicated in small vessel proliferation and remodeling. Interestingly, the majority of the small vessel pathology occurs in the vasculature of the subcortical regions of the brain. This is a case of a female with a typical presentation of the disease, presenting with late stage subcortical dementia. Collaborative history from her children revealed a characteristic progression of the disease. The study of her case will help illustrate the distinctive manifestations of the condition often associated with the condition. Information regarding the natural history, diagnosis, and management will also be discussed. CADASIL is assumed to be massively under-diagnosed, and is believed to underlie a much larger proportion of stroke and dementia cases than previously thought.https://scholarlycommons.henryford.com/merf2019caserpt/1039/thumbnail.jp

Magic Polymer Gel Dosimetry Using X-Ray Computed Tomography : A Feasibility Study [RC78.7.T6 A414 2008 f rb].

Projek ini bertujuan mengkaji kebolehlaksanaan pembangunan sistem dosimetri gel polimer MAGIC (“Methacrylic and Ascorbic acid in Gelatin Initiated by Copper”) menggunakan “helical multislice” tomografi berkomputer sinar-X di HUSM untuk menentukan taburan dos. Gel MAGIC disediakan mengikut formula yang telah dicadangkan oleh Fong et al. (2001) dengan sedikit perubahan. The aim of this project is to carry out the feasibility study of developing MAGIC (Methacrylic and Ascorbic acid in Gelatin Initiated by Copper) polymer gel dosimetry system by utilising helical multislice X-ray computed tomography (CT) available in HUSM to determine dose

SYNTHESIS AND ANTITUBERCULAR ACTIVITY OF PIPERIDINE AND MORPHOLINE 1, 8 NAPHTHYRIDINE ANALOGUES

Objective: The search for new, potentially useful antimycobacterial agents. In continuation with our previous screening for the discovery of novel drugs for tuberculosis, a new series of 1,8-naphthyridines derivatives were synthesized and evaluated in vitro for antimycobacterial activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv.Methods: Several 4-morpholinomethyl-1.8-naphthyridine derivatives have been synthesized in excellent yields. The synthesized compounds were characterized by spectroscopic methods as well as elemental analyses. They were screened for their antimycobacterial activity. The growth was monitored radiometrically in 7H12 broth with the BACTEC 460 TB system. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined for compounds that demonstrated ≥ 90% growth inhibition in the primary screening.Results: The obtained data suggested that all compounds showed significant activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv compared to the standard reference drug. Analogues (6-11) having heterocyclic groups in position 7 were the most potent of those we tested.Conclusion: These findings clearly identify the 1,8-naphthyridine analogue (10) with a 6-amino-2-(4'-methoxy benzylamine-4-morpholinomethyl-7-morpholino-substituent as promising anti-tubercular agents possessing significant activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37R

Insulin Induced Edema: A Rare Effect of a Common Medication

A 75 year old female with type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and chronic kidney disease presented to the clinic for generalized edema. She endorsed associated nausea, but denied chest pain, shortness of breath, and orthopnea. It began after the initiation of insulin glargine for uncontrolled hyperglycemia. Initially, she developed profound swelling in her legs to the thighs, which progressed in two months to involve her upper extremities and torso. She gained 29 pounds in this time. Notably, her previously uncontrolled hypertension improved, allowing discontinuation of many of her anti-hypertensives. Venous duplex ultrasound of her upper and lower extremities showed no superficial or deep vein thrombosis. Computed tomography of the pancreas was unremarkable. Renal and liver function testing was normal aside from stable chronic kidney disease and hypoalbuminemia with an albumin of 2. Urine studies showed normal albumin to creatinine ratio with slight proteinuria with urinary protein excretion of 187mg over 24 hours. She had elevated thyroid stimulating hormone of 10.58 but normal free levels, and normal cortisol levels. BNP was normal at 41. She underwent a trans-thoracic echocardiogram which showed an ejection fraction of 67%, with normal diastolic function, high-normal pulmonary artery pressure of 36, and small pericardial and pleural effusions. She was given escalating doses of furosemide therapy, without improvement in her edema. Her blood sugar improved with dietary restriction, and her insulin requirements gradually decreased and was discontinued. One month later, her edema had resolved. She lost 26 pounds and became increasingly hypertensive, necessitating up-titration of therapy. She was diagnosed with insulin-induced edema. Insulin Edema is often overlooked in the setting of edema in patients new to insulin, with only a few cases reported in the literature. The pathologic mechanism is unclear. Insulin has been posited to reduce renal sodium excretion and increase albumin excretion. However, our patient showed no hyponatremia and had no evidence of excessive urinary albumin or protein excretion. Commonly treated with diuresis, insulin edema usually resolves with time. Our patient did not respond to diuretic therapy. Interestingly, her uncontrolled hypertension resolved with insulin and immediately returned on stopping therapy. Insulin-induced edema is under recognized, and may occur more frequently than is reported. Diagnosis of insulin edema should be one of exclusion, with other causes of generalized edema, including renal, liver, and cardiac disease ruled out. The timing of insulin initiation and resolution of edema on insulin cessation supports the diagnosis. Most patients respond to diuretic therapy, but some do not, as illustrated in this case. Blood pressure improvement with insulin initiation is another interesting phenomenon observed in our patient, and may suggest the pathophysiology underlying insulin edema.https://scholarlycommons.henryford.com/merf2020caserpt/1064/thumbnail.jp

Evaluation of piezotome corticotomies on cranial bone biology

AIM & HYPOTHESIS: We hypothesized that the piezoelectric knife increases bone remodeling. The effect of a piezotome 2 prototype with different puissance and modulation settings on bone biology was compared under different bone resorption and/or bone formation conditions using an ex-vivo live bone organ culture MATERIALS & METHODS: We utilized an ex-vivo mouse calvarial bone culture system a n d piezocision surgical techniques with variable puissance and modulation settings under conditions of static versus dynamic, and formation versus resorption in order to decipher cellular, molecular, biological and genetic perturbations induced by piezocision surgery. In addition, we tested its impact on calvarial bone organ cultures in the presence of drugs such as bisphosphonate (zolendronic acid, ZOL) and insulin or its impact on bone healing with bone graft material such as Enamel matrix derivative (Emdogain). RESULTS: The impact of the piezoelectric knife extends beyond the immediate site of mineralized bone defect/damage. The impact is ~6 times greater than the apparent initial mineralized bone injury, 1.6 mm2, and extends to immediate surrounding local periosteal and endosteal cell layers, 11 mm2, leaving the mineralized bone layer intact. There were also major differences between the static and dynamic model systems in bone defect viii healing, resorption and new bone formation. There are also differences between the piezoelectric knife and bur in bone resorption and formation models and in both treated before or at the same time of the injury with bisphosphonate. In the calvarial defect repair model the defect closed much faster with the piezoelectric knife than with the bur. In a comparative study with controls versus piezotome or bur, and piezotome versus bur complete genomic analysis of changes revealed a large number of major differences in genomic expression levels. CONCLUSION: The extended effect of piezocision on the surrounding bone lining cells of the bone defect including de-vitalization of the proximal osteocytes within the intact mineralized bone matrix thet primes the bone to undergo rapid turnover. Piezocision incorporates high-frequency vibrational energy that can be transmitted a significant distance within the mineral phase and exploits the inherent bone cellular response mechanism(s) as defined by the global genearray analysis.2020-06-13T00:00:00

Solute channels of the outer membrane: from bacteria to chloroplasts

Chloroplasts, unique organelles of plants, originated from endosymbiosis of an ancestor of today's cyanobacteria with a mitochondria-containing host cell. It is assumed that the outer envelope membrane, which delimits the chloroplast from the surrounding cytosol, was thus inherited from its Gram-negative bacterial ancestor. This plastid-specific membrane is thus equipped with elements of prokaryotic and eukaryotic origin. In particular, the membrane-intrinsic outer envelope proteins (OEPs) form solute channels with properties reminiscent of porins and channels in the bacterial outer membrane. OEP channels are characterised by distinct specificities for metabolites and a quite peculiar expression pattern in specialised plant organs and plastids, thus disproving the assumption that the outer envelope is a non-specific molecular sieve. The same is true for the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria, which functions as a permeability barrier in addition to the cytoplasmic membrane, and embeds different classes of channel pores. The channels of these prokaryotic prototype proteins, ranging from unspecific porins to specific channels to ligand-gated receptors, are exclusively built of P-barrels. Although most of the OEP channels are formed by P-strands as well, phylogeny based on sequence homology alone is not feasible. Thus, the comparison of structural and functional properties of chloroplast outer envelope and bacterial outer membrane channels is required to pinpoint the ancestral OEP `portrait gallery'

The Level of Organizational Justice and its Relation to Achieving Institutional Excellence from the Point of View of Workers in the Directorates of Education. In the Province of Al-Khalil

هدفت الدراسة التعرف إلى مستوى العدالة التنظيمية وعلاقتها في تحقيق التميز المؤسسي من وجهة نظر العاملين في مديريات التربية والتعليم في محافظة الخليل، وفقاً لمتغيرات:(النوع الاجتماعي والعمر والمؤهل العلمي والمسمى الوظيفي وسنوات الخدمة والمديرية).  ولتحقيق أهداف الدراسة استعمل الباحث المنهج الوصفي التحليلي. وتكونت عينة الدراسة من (103) موظفين، تم توزيع استبانة مكونة من(57) فقرة، بواقع (33) فقرة لقياس العدالة التنظيمية و(24) فقرة لقياس التميز المؤسسي. وأشارت نتائج الدراسة أنّ مستوى العدالة التنظيمية ومستوى التميز المؤسسي في مديريات التربية والتعليم في محافظة الخليل كان متوسطاً بشكل عام. وجاءت مجالات العدالة التنظيمية على الترتيب:(العدالة التفاعلية، العدالة التوزيعية، العدالة التقييمية، العدالة الإجرائية)، في حين جاءت مجالات التميز المؤسسي على الترتيب:(التميز القيادي، التميز في تقديم الخدمة، التميز البشري). وأظهرت النتائج عدم وجود فروق ذات دلالة إحصائية في مستوى العدالة التنظيمية ودورها في تحقيق التميز المؤسسي على متغيرات:(العمر، والمؤهل العلمي، والمسمى الوظيفي، والمديرية)، في حين تبين وجود فروق على متغيري النوع الاجتماعي وسنوات الخدمة، وبينت الدراسة وجود ارتباط دال إحصائياً  وذي دلالة معنوية بين العدالة التنظيمية والتميز المؤسسي. وخرجت الدراسة بتوصيات عدة أهمها:(تعديل الإجراءات والقوانين السائدة من أجل رفع مستوى العدالة التنظيمية، والعمل على إعداد نظام فعال للحوافز، وضرورة مكافأة العاملين المتميزين في الأداء.The study aimed to identify the level of organizational justice and its relation to achieving institutional excellence from the point of view of workers in the directorates of education in Hebron, according to the variables:(gender, age, scientific qualification, job title, years of service and Directorate). To achieve the objectives of the study, the researcher used the descriptive approach. The sample consisted (103) employees, distributed a questionnaire consisting(57) paragraphs, (33) paragraphs to measure organizational justice and (24) to measure the measure of institutional excellence. The results of the study indicated that the level of organizational justice and the level of institutional excellence in the directorates of education in Hebron governorate was average in general. The areas of organizational justice were respectively: (interactive justice, distributive justice, evaluative justice, procedural justice), while the areas of institutional excellence were respectively: (leadership excellence, excellence in service delivery, human excellence). The results showed that there were no statistically significant differences in the level of organizational justice and its role in achieving institutional excellence according to the variables (age, scientific qualification, job title, and Directorate), while differences were found according to gender variables and years of service. Moral significance between organizational justice and institutional excellence. The study issued several recommendations, the most important of which are:(Modifying the prevailing procedures and laws in order to raise the level of organizational justice and work on developing an effective system of incentives and the need to reward outstanding employees)

Building information modelling adoption in Jordanian architectural practice

Building information modeling (BIM) has been a global evolution of building technology due to its advantages and performance in the architecture industry. BIM can assist in achieving performance optimization: improving quality, saving time and cost, as well as sustaining architecture projects. In Jordan, in line with the industry‘s initiatives and requirements to deal with sustainability and performance, architectural firms in Jordan need to adopt innovative methods of design, cooperation, and documentation. Particularly, with the use of BIM and sustainable design tools, these firms can perform better and thus gain more credibility in the industry. However, BIM is a recent and newly emerging technology in Jordan, whereby very few studies on its adoption are available and the factors affecting this adoption by architects have not yet been explored. Investigating the current status, acceptance, and aptitude for BIM adoption in architectural firms is critical to effective implementation. An essential step is undertaken towards the effective use of BIM and facilitating its implementation, with the aim of studying the current status and the prospects for using BIM technology and its integration with sustainability in the architectural community in Jordan. Ultimately, this leads to the research objective of providing recommendations to boost BIM intake into the Jordanian architecture industry. To this end, this study used a quantitative approach for data collection technique and analysis procedure. A structured questionnaire survey was conducted targeting architects in Amman, the capital of Jordan. A web-based questionnaire was distributed by emails to a total of 249 registered Jordanian engineering and consulting enterprises. Then, an empirical statistics and analyses with a comparison between BIM users and non-BIM users were applied. Results showed that firms are progressing slightly in adopting the BIM system with a slow pace spreading. About 52% of respondents knew and used BIM software for at least some of their projects. However, only 14% of enterprises were familiar with BIM and used it in a large number of their projects. There is no resistance on the part of users. Four factors control the widespread of BIM in architectural firms in Jordan, and they were discussed sufficiently in the study. The users‘ attitude lies largely in three factors; drivers, i.e. personal and external motivation, management support, and BIM capability. The research also concluded that there are many barriers to the adoption of BIM among design firms, i.e. a lack of knowledge about the utility and sustainable integration of BIM, firms‘ preparedness, BIM promotions, management support, and resistance to change. Subsequently, the study identified the most prominent obstacles to integrating BIM and sustainability, and the results suggested improvements to their integration. It is also deduced that there is a critical relationship between sustainability and BIM, i.e. Green BIM practitioners use BIM in their projects more than non-Green BIM firms, so the strong growth of the green building market can boost BIM adoption. Finally, the research suggested some recommended strategies to enhance BIM adoption in Jordan. This examination is expected to give a more solidified status of BIM among architects in Jordan, to enable and motivate stakeholders to focus on addressing the critical barriers investigated in this study and to reach to a more effective BIM implementation