The body mass index and reflex reaction connection: insights into upper limb reflexes in young adults

Background: Reflexes are automatic responses to stimuli, enabling quick reactions through reflex arcs. Body Mass Index (BMI) influences various physical and cognitive functions, and deviations from optimal BMI may impact reflex reactions. This study aimed to investigate the correlation between BMI and upper limb reflex reaction in young adults aged 18-25 years, emphasizing the importance of maintaining a healthy BMI. Methods: This observational, cross-sectional study involved 51 participants (14 females, 37 males) from an institution in Mangalore. Data such as height, weight, and reflex reaction time were collected. BMI was calculated using the WHO classification (2004), and upper limb reflex time was assessed using the Ruler Drop Test. Each participant underwent three trials, and the average distance was analyzed. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 21.0, applying Pearson correlation to evaluate relationships between BMI and reflex reaction (p<0.05). Results: The study revealed a moderate negative correlation between BMI and upper limb reflex reaction time (r = -0.437). Participants with higher or lower BMI beyond the optimal range showed slower reflex responses. Males exhibited slightly quicker reflexes (28.25±6.18 cm) compared to females (30.25±7.20 cm). Conclusions: Deviations in BMI negatively impact upper limb reflex response in young adults, highlighting the need for maintaining an optimal BMI for efficient neuromuscular functioning

Elucidation of Verifiable Secret Sharing Schemes for Images

Abstract: Images proved to be better medium for sharing sensitive data. Earlier secret sharing schemes were based on numbers and further were also applied on images. Most of the existing schemes proposed do not have the capability of verification of the shares and hence are prone to cheating either by the original secret holder or the participants. Some of these schemes provided security but required additional computation in the form of certificate vectors or error correction codes The intent of this paper is to discuss the verifiable secret sharing schemes. The paper analyses these schemes and presents a comparative study of the same. The parameters used for comparative study are threshold, cheater identification, techniques used for verification, need secure channel, etc. This paper will support in choosing the verifiable secret sharing scheme for specific applications

Biosynthesis of the 15-membered ring depsipeptide neoantimycin

Antimycins are a family of natural products possessing outstanding biological activities and unique structures, which have intrigued chemists for over a half century. Of particular interest are the ring-expanded antimycins that show promising anti-cancer potential and whose biosynthesis remains uncharacterized. Specifically, neoantimycin and its analogs have been shown to be effective regulators of the oncogenic proteins GRP78/BiP and K-Ras. The neoantimycin structural skeleton is built on a 15-membered tetralactone ring containing one methyl, one hydroxy, one benzyl and three alkylmoieties, as well as an amide linkage to a conserved 3-formamidosalicylic acid moiety. Although the biosynthetic gene cluster for neoantimycins was recently identified, the enzymatic logic that governs the synthesis of neoantimycins has not yet been revealed. In this work, the neoantimycin gene cluster is identified and an updated sequence and annotation is provided delineating a non-ribosomal peptide synthetase/polyketide synthase (NRPS/PKS) hybrid scaffold. Using cosmid expression and CRISPR/Cas-based genome editing, several heterologous expression strains for neoantimycin production are constructed in two separate Streptomyces species. A combination of in vivo and in vitro analysis is further used to completely characterize the biosynthesis of neoantimycins including the megasynthases and trans-acting domains. This work establishes a set of highly tractable hosts for producing and engineering neoantimycins and their C11 oxidized analogs, paving the way for neoantimycin-based drug discovery and development

Juxtacellular recording/labeling analysis of physiological and anatomical characteristics of rat intergeniculate leaflet neurons

No abstract available

Opinion Classification of Product Reviews Using Naïve Bayes, Logistic Regression and Sentiwordnet: Challenges and Survey

Abstract In recent years, automated opinion classification has evolved as one of the most demanding area in natural language processing. Many such systems have been implemented and developed for the summarization and classification of text and reviews of online products. There are many data sources and domains which sells the online products, such as Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal etc. In the same direction, this paper is intended to present a detailed review and comparative analysis of various existing sentiment analysis algorithms especially for the Amazon products, which have worked upon the supervised learning techniques called Naïve Bayes, logistic regression and SentiWordNet. Various key parameters and aspects of such a comparative tour are the use of feature reduction method, sentiment polarity, dataset domain and sources, product name, data set size and classifier. Further this paper includes the discussion on their accuracy results; additional results including important findings; and needs, challenges and limitations. Lastly, the performance of these algorithms is evaluated by comparing the % usage of the key parameters.</jats:p

Differential responses of brain stem neurons during spontaneous and stimulation-induced desynchronization of the cortical eeg in freely moving cats

The EEG is desynchronized during wakefulness and REM sleep. There are awake and REM sleep-related neurons in the brain stem. This study was carried out to investigate if the same neuron in the brain stem reticular formation may be responsible for EEG desynchronization during wakefulness and REM sleep. Single neuronal activity was recorded in chronically prepared freely moving normal cats and their activities were correlated with EEG desynchronization during spontaneous wakefulness, REM sleep, and during wakefulness induced by stimulation of the brain stem reticular formation. A majority of the neurons showed an increased firing associated with spontaneous EEG desynchronization during wakefulness and REM sleep, however, about 55% of them showed a similar behavior during stimulation-induced desynchronization. It was found that responses of a majority of the neurons during stimulation-induced desynchronization were similar to that of their firing rate during EEG desynchronization associated with spontaneous wakefulness irrespective of their behavior during REM sleep; the REM-ON neurons were not affected by the stimulation-induced desynchronization. A majority of the neurons which showed an increased firing during spontaneous and stimulation-induced EEG desynchronization received an excitatory input from the brain stem reticular formation. The results of this study suggest that although some neurons may be common, there is a strong possibility that the same neuron in the brain stem reticular formation is not involved in EEG desynchronization during wakefulness and REM sleep

The prevalence of anemia and iron deficiency is more common in breastfed infants than their mothers in Bhaktapur, Nepal

Background/Objectives: Iron deficiency anemia is a widespread public health problem, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Maternal iron status around and during pregnancy may influence infant iron status. We examined multiple biomarkers to determine the prevalence of iron deficiency and anemia among breastfed infants and explored its relationship with maternal and infant characteristics in Bhaktapur, Nepal. Subjects/Methods: In a cross-sectional survey, we randomly selected 500 mother–infant pairs from Bhaktapur municipality. Blood was analyzed for hemoglobin, ferritin, total iron-binding capacity, transferrin receptors and C-reactive protein. Results: The altitude-adjusted prevalence of anemia was 49% among infants 2–6-month-old (hemaglobin (Hb) <10.8 g/dl) and 72% among infants 7–12-month-old (Hb <11.3 g/dl). Iron deficiency anemia, defined as anemia and serum ferritin <20 or <12 μg/l, affected 9 and 26% of infants of these same age groups. Twenty percent of mothers had anemia (Hb <12.3 g/dl), but only one-fifth was explained by depletion of iron stores. Significant predictors of infant iron status and anemia were infant age, sex and duration of exclusive breastfeeding and maternal ferritin concentrations. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that iron supplementation in pregnancy is likely to have resulted in a low prevalence of postpartum anemia. The higher prevalence of anemia and iron deficiency among breastfed infants compared with their mothers suggests calls for intervention targeting newborns and infants