The influence of pairing correlations on the isospin symmetry breaking corrections of superallowed Fermi beta decays

Within the framework of quasi-particle random phase approximation, the isospin breaking correction of superallowed 0 + ? 0 + beta decay and unitarity of Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa mixing matrix have been investigated. The broken isotopic symmetry of nuclear part of Hamiltonian has been restored by Pyatov's method. The isospin symmetry breaking correction with pairing correlations has been compared with the previous results without pairing. The effect of pairing interactions has been examined for nine superallowed Fermi beta decays; their parent nuclei are 26 Al, 34 Cl, 38 K, 42 Sc, 46 V, 50 Mn, 54 Co, 62 Ga, 74 Rb. © 2013 Pleiades Publishing, Ltd

Protein-based complex medium design for recombinant serine alkaline protease production

This work reports on the design of a complex medium based on simple and complex carbon sources, i.e. glucose, sucrose, molasses, and defatted-soybean, and simple and complex nitrogen sources, i.e. (NH4)(2)HPO4, casein, and defatted-soybean, for serine alkaline protease (SAP) production by recombinant Bacillus subtilis carrying pHV1431::subC gene. SAP activity was obtained as 3050 U cm(-3) with the initial defatted-soybean concentration C-soybean(o) = 20 kg m(-3) and initial glucose concentration C-G(o) = 8 kg m(-3); whereas, addition of the inorganic nitrogen source (NH4)(2)HPO4 decreased SAP production considerably. Further increase in SAP production (3850 U cm(-3)) was obtained when sucrose was replaced with glucose at C-sucrose(o) = 15 kg m(-3) and C-soybean(o) = 20 kg m(-3). Nevertheless, when molasses was replaced with sucrose, the maximum activity was obtained with molasses having 10 kg m(-3) initial sucrose concentration and C-soybean(o) = 15 kg m(-3) as soybean 2130 U cm(-3); moreover, when casein was replaced with defatted-soybean SAP production decreased considerably (ca. 250 U cm(-3)). Thereafter. the effects of inorganic ionic compounds were investigated; and except phosphate, inorganic compounds supplied from defatted-soybean were found to be sufficient for the bioprocess. The highest SAP activity was obtained as 5350 U cm(-3) in the medium that contained (kg m(-3)): C-soybean(o) = 20, C-sucrose(o) = 15, C-Na2HPO4(o) = 0.021, and C-NaH2PO4(o) = 2.82 that was 6.5-fold higher than that of the SAP produced in the defined medium. By using the designed complex medium, oxygen transfer characteristics of the bioprocess were investigated; and, Damkohler number that is the oxygen transfer limitation increases with the cultivation time until t = 14 h; and, at t > 20 h both mass transfer and biochemical reaction resistances were effective. Overall oxygen transfer coefficient varied between 0.010 and 0.044 s(-1); volumetric oxygen uptake rate varied between 0.001 and 0.006 mol m(-3) s(-1); and specific oxygen uptake rate varied between 0.0001 and 0.0022 mol kg(-1) DW s(-1) throughout the bioprocess

The efficacy of clinical Pilates exercises in children and adolescents with juvenile idiopathic arthritis: A pilot study

Objectives: Our study was planned to investigate the effect of Clinical Pilates exercises in children and adolescents with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA). Methods: Fifteen participants diagnosed with JIA (mean age = 12.00 ± 3.40 years) were included. The participants were randomly divided into two groups as Clinical Pilates exercise group (n = 6), and home exercise group (n = 9). Clinical Juvenile Arthritis Disease Activity Score (cJADAS), Wong Baker Face Scale, Brunininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency Second Edition Short Form (BOT-2 SF), Juvenile Arthritis Biopsychosocial Scale (JAB-Q scale), and Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) 3.0 Arthritis Module was used for evaluation before and after treatment. Exercises were performed by both groups 3 times a week for 6 weeks. Results: In the analysis of the before and after treatment results, a significant difference was observed in cJADAS (p = .027), manual dexterity (p = .020), running speed and agility (p = .027) subtests of BOT-2 SF, total score of BOT-2 SF (p = .042) and daily activity (p = .043) subtests of PedsQL child form in the Clinical Pilates exercise group. While there was statistically significant differences in manual dexterity (p = .024), running speed and agility (p = .041) and upper limb coordination (p = .034) subtests of BOT-2, and parent form of JAB-Q (p = .041) in home exercise group. When the delta values were compared, the difference was significant in the upper limb coordination subtest of BOT-2 SF (p = .008), and daily activities subtest of PedsQL child form (p = .003) in favour of the Clinical Pilates exercise group. Conclusions: Clinical Pilates exercises are a safe and useful method for children/adolescent with JIA. © 2020 Asociación Colombiana de Reumatologí

Improved Cryptanalysis of Skein

The hash function Skein is the submission of Ferguson et al. to the NIST Hash Competition, and is arguably a serious candidate for selection as SHA-3. This paper presents the first third-party analysis of Skein, with an extensive study of its main component: the block cipher Threefish. We notably investigate near collisions, distinguishers, impossible differentials, key recovery using related-key differential and boomerang attacks. In particular, we present near collisions on up to 17 rounds, an impossible differential on 21 rounds, a related-key boomerang distinguisher on 34 rounds, a known-related-key boomerang distinguisher on 35 rounds, and key recovery attacks on up to 32 rounds, out of 72 in total for Threefish-512. None of our attacks directly extends to the full Skein hash. However, the pseudorandomness of Threefish is required to validate the security proofs on Skein, and our results conclude that at least 36 rounds of Threefish seem required for optimal security guarantees

Turkish validation of the user version of the mobile application rating scale

Objective: As the number of mobile health applications increases, quality assessment becomes a capital feature of any mobile application design. Besides the professional evaluation conducted before marketing the app, the perceptions of the subjects to whom is intended will determine the successful widespread dissemination. Hence, the implementation of a given app may be impaired by the lack of a validated translation and cross-cultural adaptation. We aimed to validate in the Turkish language the User Version of the Mobile Application Rating Scale, an English original scale designed to assess the quality of mobile health applications. Materials and methods: A well-established and predefined process of cross-cultural adaptation and translation to Turkish of the User Version of the Mobile Application Rating Scale according to the World Health Organization guidelines was performed using a common, readily available, free-of-charge application. Internal consistency and reliability were tested in a population sample by Cronbach’s α and rWG index, respectively. Results: The total User Version of the Mobile Application Rating Scale score had good internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = 0.87). Internal consistencies of its subscales were also acceptable: with Cronbach’s α of 0.71, 0.78, 0.71, and 0.73 for engagement, functionality, aesthetics, and information, respectively. Cronbach’s α of the satisfaction subscale was 0.46. The User Version of the Mobile Application Rating Scale total and sub-scales scores had a strong within-group agreement, all of them with rwg indexes between 0.78 and 0.87 over baseline to 1 month. Conclusion: The Turkish version of the User Version of the Mobile Application Rating Scale is consistent with the English original version and is a reliable and valid tool to assess the quality of mobile applications by Turkish users