Database independent Migration of Objects into an Object-Relational Database

This paper reports on the CERN-based WISDOM project which is studying the serialisation and deserialisation of data to/from an object database (objectivity) and ORACLE 9i.Comment: 26 pages, 18 figures; CMS CERN Conference Report cr02_01

Prevalence of Muscle Dysmorphia and Associated Health Activities in Male Medical Students in Karachi, Pakistan

Background: Muscle Dysmorphia (MD) is a subtype of body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) and is currently classified under anxiety disorders (subheading: Obsessive-compulsive disorder) in DSM 5. MD is hypothesized to affect the self-esteem and social outlook of the younger generation. MD shows a higher rate in males and may influence their self-confidence rendering them more prone towards using steroids, supplementary proteins and other drugs to alter their physical outlooks as shown in previous studies. This problem has been on the rise lately due to revolutionary advancement in the media and film industry and the abrupt changes about the standards of physical good looks and body shapes. With the lack of studies done in our population, our study will be helpful to consider the prevalence of the disease in our setting and increase awareness in the general public and clinicians. We hope to help clinicians/ therapists find better options in managing the disease. Materials: We performed a cross-sectional study with a sample size of 246 medical school students in Karachi to collect data through self-administered questionnaires. We used the DSM 5 criteria for the diagnosis of BDD and additional questions on the presence of MD. Nutritional habits, exercise routines, use of supplements and drugs were also obtained for exploratory analysis. Results: Our study predicted the prevalence of MD to be 25%. Other main findings included statistical significant associations between MD and the thoughts and practice of steroid use for muscularity. Conclusion: MD is an underdiagnosed and often unrecognized disease that we believe has significant consequences for the young male population. Further work is needed on this in our part of the world. Our research, we believe, can be a stepping stone for further studies that would incorporate wider populations

Cloning and expression of Toxoplasma gondii tachyzoite P22 protein

Delay in diagnosis of Toxoplasma gondii infection in pregnant women who have been infected during the first trimester of gestation can lead to death of her fetus. Serological tests based on recombinant proteins are the main diagnosis methods for the detection of anti Toxoplasma antibody in serum samples. The aim of this study was to clone and express a gene encoding a P22 protein of T. gondii tachyzoite as using antigen for ELISA serology method. DNA was extracted from T. gondii (RH-strain) tachyzoites and PCR reaction was done using corresponding primers. The PCR product was purified, ligated to PTZ57R plasmid via T/A cloning method and subcloned into SacI and BamHI digested pET32a expression vector. Recombinant plasmid was transformed in E. coli (Bl21 DE3) and induced by 1 mM IPTG and analyzed by 12% SDS-PAGE. Expressd protein was purified by affinity chromatography and confirmed by western blot analysis. We successfully cloned and expressed T. gondii P22 protein.Key words: Toxoplasma gondii, cloning, recombinant P22

Fecundity and egg size of grey-eel catfish Plotosus canius (Hamilton, 1822) from the coastal waters of Kampong Telok, Negeri Sembilan, Peninsular Malaysia

Despite the vast researches on catfish species in Malaysia, Plotosus canius, the grey- eel catfish which is primarily found throughout the coastal seas of Malaysia has been neglected. No single published work on aspects of biology, especially its reproductive biology is available. In this study, fecundity and egg size of P. canius from coastal waters of Kampong Telok, Malaysia were studied. A total of 32 gravid females were used in the study. The mean fecundity of the female having a length of 50.28 cm and a wet body weight of 680 g was estimated to be 865 eggs. Fecundity was found to show positive relationship with total length (r = 0.379), body weight (r = 0.494) and gonad weight(r = 0.336) but the values were not statistically significant (p>0.05). Egg diameter (mm) among the various length groups showed a polymodal distribution but the differences were statistically significant (p>0.05). This study being the first attempt to gather information of P. canius in Malaysia would form a basis for future works of this catfish

Effects of mannan-oligosaccharides’ supplementation on hatching characteristics of four close-bred flocks of Japanese quail breeders

The present study was conducted to evaluate the effects of mannan-oligosaccharides’ (MOS) supplementation on hatching characteristics of four close-bred flocks (CBFs) of Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) breeders. A total of 960 Japanese quail breeders, aged 12 weeks old, were randomly selected and divided into four groups (n = 240) with twelve replicates (n = 20) in a completely randomized design (15 ♂ : 5 ♀). The birds were a fed corn-based basal diet (group D) or basal diet supplemented with MOS at the levels of 0.25 % (group A), 0.5 % (group B) and 1.0 % (group C) for 15 weeks. The collected data were analyzed by two-way ANOVA techniques using Statistical Analysis System. The fertility and hatchability of 0.50 % MOS-supplemented group was significantly higher than other treatment groups. Similarly, fertility and hatchability percent of fertile eggs of Kaleem flock was significantly higher than other flocks, while dead in-shells were significantly lower in Sadat flock. Conclusively, MOS supplementation positively influences the fertility and hatchability of quail breeders.Keywords: Fertility, hatchability, Japanese quail breeders, mannan-oligosaccharides, poultry biotechnolog

Structural and magnetic properties of co-nd substituted znfe2o4 ferrites synthesized by co-precipitation technique

A series of Zn1-xCoxNdyFe2-yO4 spinel ferrites (x=0,0-0.5, y=0.00-0.10) was synthesized using the co-precipitation method sintered at 1000oC. Synthesized Ferrites were characterized by x-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and vibrating sample magnetometery (VSM). The diffraction patterns show the formation of the spinel phase along with some traces of second phase Nd2O3. The lattice constant decreases with increasing Co-Nd ions because of the solubility of Nd3+ into the spinel lattice. SEM shows the decrease of the grain size with the increase of Co-Nd contents due to the fact that the second phase inhibits the growth of grain. VSM results show increasing trends of remanence and saturation magnetization due to the strengthening of the A-B sublattice interactions. The coercivity shows an increasing behaviour with the increase of co-substitutent contents