Health-related quality of life, adiposity, and sedentary behavior in patients with early schizophrenia: Preliminary study

Objective: To examine adiposity and sedentary behavior in relation to health-related quality of life (QoL) in patients with early schizophrenia. Methods: A cross-sectional study was used to assess adiposity by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scans, habitual physical activity and idle sitting time by the Short Form International Physical Activity Questionnaire, and health-related QoL by the RAND Medical Outcomes Study SF-36. QoL scores were compared with age-adjusted Canadian normative population data. Results: There were 36 participants with early schizophrenia, average age 25.1 (±3.6). Twenty-nine (72.5%) were males. Mean illness duration was 30 (±18) months, and mean body mass index was 28.3 (±5). Females had higher body fat content than males (30.8±6.9 vs 24.7±10.6; t=-2.6, df=34; P=0.015). Total body fat (F=14; P=0.001), lean body mass (F=10.2; P=0.001), and sedentary behavior (F=5; P=0.013) significantly increased across body mass index categories. Total body fat was correlated with sedentary behavior (r=0.62; P=0.001), and total lean body mass was negatively correlated with sedentary behavior (r=0.39; P=0.03). Based on SF-36scores, participants had significantly lower physical functioning (P=0.0034), role physical (P=0.0003), general health (P,0.0001), vitality (P=0.03), and physical component scores (P=0.003) than Canadian population comparisons. Habitual sedentary behavior, more than activity or adiposity levels, was associated with health-related QoL in early schizophrenia. Conclusion: Health-related QoL is lower in early schizophrenia and is predominantly experienced in the physical domain. QoL in early schizophrenia relates to sedentary behavior more than to activity and adiposity levels. © 2012 Strassnig etal, publisher and licensee Dove Medical Press Ltd

New shield for gamma-ray spectrometry

Gamma-ray shield that can be evacuated, refilled with a clean gas, and pressurized for exclusion of airborne radioactive contaminants effectively lowers background noise. Under working conditions, repeated evacuation and filling procedures have not adversely affected the sensitivity and resolution of the crystal detector

Effect of different potato varieties and tuber sizes on physiological changes under ambient storage performance

The storability and sprouting behavior of three grades (small, medium and large tubers) from four Indian potato cultivars was studied under ambient conditions to assess the quality changes due to physiological losses and sprouting bhaviour of potato tubers. It was found that physiological loss in weight (%), decay loss on number and weight basis (%), sprout loss on number and weight basis (%), total loss (%), general appearance, presence of black or hollow heart were affected significantly by the different varieties as well as by the size. The loss in weight of tubers due to physiological activities, decaying and sprouting increased with the increased in storage period and the loss was more in larger than smaller and medium tubers. Kufri Badshah showed the best control over sprouting, whereas, 100% sprouting was observed in Kufri Bahar with all possible combinations during storage. The maximum value for cumulative physiological loss in weight was observed in variety Kufri Bahar (12.07%), whereas, minimum was in Kufri Pushkar (7.44%). The maximum decay loss was observed in variety Kufri Pushkar (7.89 and 8.72%) and minimum in Kufri Bahar (0.00 and 4.58%) on 80th and 90th day of storage period. Black or hollow heart was absent completely in all the possible treatments. So far general appearance of the tubers was concerned, the larger tubers shrivelled more and earlier than the medium and small sized tubers. Different varieties behaved differently during the entire storage period

InAs-AlSb quantum wells in tilted magnetic fields

InAs-AlSb quantum wells are investigated by transport experiments in magnetic fields tilted with respect to the sample normal. Using the coincidence method we find for magnetic fields up to 28 T that the spin splitting can be as large as 5 times the Landau splitting. We find a value of the g-factor of about 13. For small even-integer filling factors the corresponding minima in the Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations cannot be tuned into maxima for arbitrary tilt angles. This indicates the anti-crossing of neighboring Landau and spin levels. Furthermore we find for particular tilt angles a crossover from even-integer dominated Shubnikov-de Haas minima to odd-integer minima as a function of magnetic field

Deep sequencing of PRRSV isolates: rapid and large-scale characterization of viral genomes

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) is a single stranded, positive sense RNA virus with a genome size of approximately 15 kb. Much of the genetic characterization or viral genotyping of PRRSV isolates is limited to one or two viral genes only (ORF5 and/or ORF7) for a number of reasons, for example: (1) characterizing one or two ORFs is sufficient for diagnostics; (2) genome characterization is laborious because traditional (Sanger) sequencing yields only a single sequence of 800-1000 bases per reaction; (3) large-scale genome characterization is time-consuming and costly. Collectively, this hinders the study of PRRSV genomic evolution at different levels (host, regional, and global). We demonstrate here the use of 454 technology to rapidly sequence PRRSV genomic nucleic acid from different sources (cell culture and swine tissue), genotypes (type 1 and type 2), and genome structure (non-deletion vs. deletion variants). Samples (n=16) were multiplexed to bring down cost per genome sequence. Assembly of sample specific reads resulted in a single contig in almost all instances (15 out of 16). Average genome coverage was 96.7% with reference to prototype isolates (Lelystad virus for type 1 and ATCC VR2332 for type 2). Average sequence depth was 405 reads per nucleotide position. This high sequence depth allowed characterization of variants from quasispecies that occurred at frequencies even lower than 1%. In summary, next generation sequencing technology offers unparalleled opportunity to quickly and efficiently characterize near complete length PRRSV genomes in an economical manner. This allows experiments to be designed with considerations to viral genomic evolution rather than those with limited insights from select viral genes only.postprin

Density-Functional Theory of Graphene Sheets

We outline a Kohn-Sham-Dirac density-functional-theory (DFT) scheme for graphene sheets that treats slowly-varying inhomogeneous external potentials and electron-electron interactions on an equal footing. The theory is able to account for the the unusual property that the exchange-correlation contribution to chemical potential increases with carrier density in graphene. Consequences of this property, and advantages and disadvantages of using the DFT approach to describe it, are discussed. The approach is illustrated by solving the Kohn-Sham-Dirac equations self-consistently for a model random potential describing charged point-like impurities located close to the graphene plane. The influence of electron-electron interactions on these non-linear screening calculations is discussed at length, in the light of recent experiments reporting evidence for the presence of electron-hole puddles in nearly-neutral graphene sheets.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figures, submitted. High-quality figures can be requested to the author

Assessment of genomic relationship between Oryza sativa and Oryza australinesis

The genomic relationship between Oryza sativa (2n = 24 AA) and Oryza australinesis (2n = 24 EE) has not been established. Genomic relationship between these two species was assessed by using three strategies: genomic in situ hybridization (GISH), meiotic chromosome pairing, pollen and spikelet sterility. The hybrid was produced between these two species at the International Rice Research Institute using embryo rescue technique. The chromosome pairing was examined in pollen mother cellsof O. australinesis, O. sativa and the hybrid between O. sativa and O. australinesis. The hybrid was highly sterile with pollen stain ability being 0.05%. Both parents showed regular meiosis with normal chromosome pairing. The F1 hybrid exhibited limited chromosome pairing. On an average, 0 - 4 bivalents and 16 - 24 univalents were recorded at metaphase-1. The most frequent configuration was two bivalent and twenty univalent. The chromosomes of O. australiensis appeared larger and darkly stained. For genomic in situ hybridization, genomic DNA from O. australiensis was used as probe for the mitotic and meiotic chromosomes of the hybrid between O. sativa and O. australiensis. GISH revealed unequivocal discrimination of O. australiensis chromosomes that appeared yellow due to hybridization signal from O. sativa chromosomes that fluoresced red due to counterstaining with propidium iodide (PI). No cross hybridization was examined between the labeled genomic DNA of O.australiensis and the chromosomes of O. sativa. The paired chromosomes were discriminated as autosyndetic and allosyndetic pairing. Meiotic and mitotic chromosomes of the O. australiensis and O. sativa, in the hybrid were discriminated by GISH for the first time. Results showed that both genomes were highly divergent

Effect of Thidiazuron and Benzylaminopurine on In Vitro Shoot Proliferation of Carnation (Dianthus caryophyllus L.)

Carnations (Dianthus caryophyllus L.) are among the most widely used cut flowers in the world. Tissue culture techniques offer an efficient method for the micropropagation of carnations. This study was conducted to test the effect of thidiazuron (TDZ) and benzylaminopurine (BAP), artificial cytokinins, on shoot multiplication of two carnation cultivars, Barlo II Nora and Raggio di Sole. Isolated axillary buds were cultured on Gamborg\u27s (B-5) basal medium supplemented with 30 g/L sucrose and 8 g/L agar. The cultures were maintained at a 10-h photoperiod (40 (mu-Em2s-1) and 23°C±2C°. Number of multiple shoots produced was dependent upon the genotype and was also influenced by the cytokinin type and concentration. Barlo II Nora produced the highest shoot number with 14 shoots per explant on a medium containing 20 mg/L BAP. The cultivar Raggio di Sole cultured on BAP-containing media produced a maximum of 4 shoots per explant. Barlo II Nora cultured on TDZ-containing media produced a maximum of 8 shoots per explant, however, large amounts of calli were associated with these shoots. Increasing the concentration of cytokinin was associated with an increase in shoot number and a decrease inshoot height. Shoots were rooted on Gamborg\u27s medium containing 2 mg/L of 3-indole-butyric acid (IBA) and then transferred to pots. Once acclimatized the carnations were transferred to a greenhouse where they exhibited normal growth. This method could be useful for the rapid propagation of carnations in commercial production

Experimental Demonstration of >230{\deg} Phase Modulation in Gate-Tunable Graphene-Gold Reconfigurable Mid-Infrared Metasurfaces

Metasurfaces offer significant potential to control far-field light propagation through the engineering of amplitude, polarization, and phase at an interface. We report here phase modulation of an electronically reconfigurable metasurface and demonstrate its utility for mid-infrared beam steering. Using a gate-tunable graphene-gold resonator geometry, we demonstrate highly tunable reflected phase at multiple wavelengths and show up to 237{\deg} phase modulation range at an operating wavelength of 8.50 {\mu}m. We observe a smooth monotonic modulation of phase with applied voltage from 0{\deg} to 206{\deg} at a wavelength of 8.70 {\mu}m. Based on these experimental data, we demonstrate with antenna array calculations an average beam steering efficiency of 50% for reflected light for angles up to 30{\deg}, relative to an ideal metasurface, confirming the suitability of this geometry for reconfigurable mid-infrared beam steering devices

Exploiting multi-verse optimization and sine-cosine algorithms for energy management in smart cities

[EN] Due to the rapid increase in human population, the use of energy in daily life is increasing day by day. One solution is to increase the power generation in the same ratio as the human population increase. However, that is usually not possible practically. Thus, in order to use the existing resources of energy efficiently, smart grids play a significant role. They minimize electricity consumption and their resultant cost through demand side management (DSM). Universities and similar organizations consume a significant portion of the total generated energy; therefore, in this work, using DSM, we scheduled different appliances of a university campus to reduce the consumed energy cost and the probable peak to average power ratio. We have proposed two nature-inspired algorithms, namely, the multi-verse optimization (MVO) algorithm and the sine-cosine algorithm (SCA), to solve the energy optimization problem. The proposed schemes are implemented on a university campus load, which is divided into two portions, morning session and evening session. Both sessions contain different shiftable and non-shiftable appliances. After scheduling of shiftable appliances using both MVO and SCA techniques, the simulations showed very useful results in terms of energy cost and peak to average ratio reduction, maintaining the desired threshold level between electricity cost and user waiting timeUllah, B.; Hussain, I.; Uthansakul, P.; Riaz, M.; Khan, MN.; Lloret, J. (2020). Exploiting multi-verse optimization and sine-cosine algorithms for energy management in smart cities. Applied Sciences. 10(6):1-21. https://doi.org/10.3390/app1006209512110