Perspective on Employment Opportunities of People with Disabilities in San Gabriel, La Union

For PWDs, employment is not only a way to gain income; it also gives a chance to showcase untapped skills, provide opportunities and allow social inclusion. However, PWDs still experience common patterns of discrimination and suffer high unemployment rates. In spite of several promotions worldwide, the employment rate is considerably lower for PWDs than for people without disabilities. This study sought to know the status of inclusion of PWDs in employment in San Gabriel, La Union, the opportunities present, and the interventions to address them. The descriptive qualitative design was utilized in this study. A semi-structured interview was conducted with the PWDs. Thematization was used to analyze the responses. Results revealed that the respondents face difficulties in finding a job before the pandemic because of the limited number of jobs available and became even more challenging during the pandemic due to imposed restrictions. Although they find it difficult because of limitations, results showed that they are not discriminated against in the workplace. Moreover, the available employment opportunities for PWDs are classified under blue-collar jobs. Additionally, respondents recommend giving attention to PWDs in order to address the employment opportunities through interventions. The researchers concluded that the status of inclusion of PWDs in employment is considerably low because of the limited jobs available. Similarly, work opportunities are also insufficient. Interventions to address the employment opportunities include facilitating programs and skills training for PWDs and opening simple job positions in the municipality or barangays

A JWST Survey of the Supernova Remnant Cassiopeia A

We present initial results from a James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) survey of the youngest Galactic core-collapse supernova remnant, Cassiopeia A (Cas A), made up of NIRCam and MIRI imaging mosaics that map emission from the main shell, interior, and surrounding circumstellar/interstellar material (CSM/ISM). We also present four exploratory positions of MIRI Medium Resolution Spectrograph integral field unit spectroscopy that sample ejecta, CSM, and associated dust from representative shocked and unshocked regions. Surprising discoveries include (1) a weblike network of unshocked ejecta filaments resolved to ∼0.01 pc scales exhibiting an overall morphology consistent with turbulent mixing of cool, low-entropy matter from the progenitor’s oxygen layer with hot, high-entropy matter heated by neutrino interactions and radioactivity; (2) a thick sheet of dust-dominated emission from shocked CSM seen in projection toward the remnant’s interior pockmarked with small (∼1″) round holes formed by ≲0.″1 knots of high-velocity ejecta that have pierced through the CSM and driven expanding tangential shocks; and (3) dozens of light echoes with angular sizes between ∼0.″1 and 1′ reflecting previously unseen fine-scale structure in the ISM. NIRCam observations place new upper limits on infrared emission (≲20 nJy at 3 μm) from the neutron star in Cas A’s center and tightly constrain scenarios involving a possible fallback disk. These JWST survey data and initial findings help address unresolved questions about massive star explosions that have broad implications for the formation and evolution of stellar populations, the metal and dust enrichment of galaxies, and the origin of compact remnant objects

The genomic landscape of balanced cytogenetic abnormalities associated with human congenital anomalies

Despite the clinical significance of balanced chromosomal abnormalities (BCAs), their characterization has largely been restricted to cytogenetic resolution. We explored the landscape of BCAs at nucleotide resolution in 273 subjects with a spectrum of congenital anomalies. Whole-genome sequencing revised 93% of karyotypes and demonstrated complexity that was cryptic to karyotyping in 21% of BCAs, highlighting the limitations of conventional cytogenetic approaches. At least 33.9% of BCAs resulted in gene disruption that likely contributed to the developmental phenotype, 5.2% were associated with pathogenic genomic imbalances, and 7.3% disrupted topologically associated domains (TADs) encompassing known syndromic loci. Remarkably, BCA breakpoints in eight subjects altered a single TAD encompassing MEF2C, a known driver of 5q14.3 microdeletion syndrome, resulting in decreased MEF2C expression. We propose that sequence-level resolution dramatically improves prediction of clinical outcomes for balanced rearrangements and provides insight into new pathogenic mechanisms, such as altered regulation due to changes in chromosome topology

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

A JWST survey of the supernova remnant Cassiopeia A

We present initial results from a James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) survey of the youngest Galactic core-collapse supernova remnant, Cassiopeia A (Cas A), made up of NIRCam and MIRI imaging mosaics that map emission from the main shell, interior, and surrounding circumstellar/interstellar material (CSM/ISM). We also present four exploratory positions of MIRI Medium Resolution Spectrograph integral field unit spectroscopy that sample ejecta, CSM, and associated dust from representative shocked and unshocked regions. Surprising discoveries include (1) a weblike network of unshocked ejecta filaments resolved to ∼0.01 pc scales exhibiting an overall morphology consistent with turbulent mixing of cool, low-entropy matter from the progenitor’s oxygen layer with hot, high-entropy matter heated by neutrino interactions and radioactivity; (2) a thick sheet of dust-dominated emission from shocked CSM seen in projection toward the remnant’s interior pockmarked with small (∼1″) round holes formed by ≲0.″1 knots of high-velocity ejecta that have pierced through the CSM and driven expanding tangential shocks; and (3) dozens of light echoes with angular sizes between ∼0.″1 and 1′ reflecting previously unseen fine-scale structure in the ISM. NIRCam observations place new upper limits on infrared emission (≲20 nJy at 3 μm) from the neutron star in Cas A’s center and tightly constrain scenarios involving a possible fallback disk. These JWST survey data and initial findings help address unresolved questions about massive star explosions that have broad implications for the formation and evolution of stellar populations, the metal and dust enrichment of galaxies, and the origin of compact remnant objects

La dépression du post-partum: Corrélats et facteurs prédictifs

Post-partum depression (PPD) belongs to the depressive spectrum consecutive to a pregnancy. It is important to detect it as soon as possible to avoid non-negligible consequences for the mother, the new born and close relatives. It some cases, PPD may give way to post-partum psychosis, a psychiatric emergency. The present study splits 88 women in two groups, within days of delivery, as a function of their score at the Edinburgh postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), an internationally validated scale which predicts future episodes of PPD. The two groups are then compared to a series of open items, obtained by personal interview, with the objective to better differentiate psychological and historical data giving way to this condition. Among the women, 27.3 % had a score on the EPDS ≥ 12, which is higher than what is generally encountered in the literature. The main results of this study are: 1) the higher percentage in the at risk group of women living with a significant other; 2) the presence of psychic or somatic issues during the pregnancy; 3) the feelings of negligence by the immediate environment; 4) auto-depreciative tendency, the ill-fulfilling of maternal function. These items are easily detectable if a little more attention was dedicated to young mothers soon after delivery.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Engineering a Virus-like Particle to Display Peptide Insertions Using an Apparent Fitness Landscape

Peptide insertions in the primary sequence of proteins expand functionality by introducing new binding sequences, chemical handles, or membrane disrupting motifs. With these properties, proteins can be engineered as scaffolds for vaccines or targeted drug delivery vehicles. Virus-like particles (VLPs) are promising platforms for these applications since they are genetically simple, mimic viral structure for cell uptake, and can deliver multiple copies of a therapeutic agent to a given cell. Peptide insertions in the coat protein of VLPs can increase VLP uptake in cells by increasing cell binding, but it is difficult to predict how an insertion affects monomer folding and higher order assembly. To this end, we have engineered the MS2 VLP using a high-throughput technique, called Systematic Mutagenesis and Assembled Particle Selection (SyMAPS). In this work, we applied SyMAPS to investigate a highly mutable loop in the MS2 coat protein to display 9,261 non-native tripeptide insertions. This library generates a discrete map of three amino acid insertions permitted at this location, validates the FG loop as a valuable position for peptide insertion, and illuminates how properties such as charge, flexibility, and hydrogen bonding can interact to preserve or disrupt capsid assembly. Taken together, the results highlight the potential to engineer VLPs in a systematic manner, paving the way to exploring the applications of peptide insertions in biomedically relevant settings