Evaluation of Listening Skills According to Different Variables in the Individuals Occupying with Mountaineering Sports

There is an association between the listening skills of individuals occupying with mountaineering and their high solidarity and cooperation characteristics. This study is aimed to determine variables to be effective on listening skills levels. The study was conducted over totally 157 individuals (47 females) performing mountaineering activities in different parts of Turkey. Listening Skills Scale which was developed by Cihangir and Çankaya (2012)was used to gather data and frequency distribution, t test and ANOVA variance analysis were employed for statistical evaluation. Differences between the views of the groups were commented by taking the significance level of P:0.05 into consideration.It was found from the results of the study that there is no statistically significant difference between mean scores of the groups for gender, age, family structure and the reason for the preference of mountaineering sports while differences are statistically significant for education level and length of the time spent for sports. High school graduate individuals occupying with sports for 5 to 7 years exhibited lower listening skills than primary school and university graduate people occupying for more and less than 5 to 7 years. High accident risk makes listening important in mountaineering sports. It was suggested that individuals occupying with mountaineering should be told the importance of listening and need for improving listening skills. Keywords: Listening, listening skills, sports, mountaineering sports

Inverted Oscillator

The inverted harmonic oscillator problem is investigated quantum mechanically. The exact wave function for the confined inverted oscillator is obtained and it is shown that the associated energy eigenvalues are discrete and it is given as a linear function of the quantum number $n$.Comment: 4 page

Early extubation and weaning with bilevel positive airway pressure ventilation after cardiac surgery (Weaning with BiPAP ventilation after cardiac surgery)

Objective(s): To evaluate the use of bilevel positive airway pressure (BiPAP) ventilation in early extubation after fast-track cardiac surgery.Design: Prospective observational study.Setting: Postoperative intensive care.Patients: Sixty consecutive patients eligible for early extubation after cardiac surgery. Patients were predominantly male (42 men [70%]) and middle aged (54.62 ± 10.66 years).Interventions: Patients were randomly assigned to continuous pressure or BiPAP (Group I or Group II, respectively) and were extubated as soon as possible.Measurements: Blood gases and haemodynamics were determined on arrival in the ICU (baseline, or T0) and 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 12 hours later. All data were expressed as (±SD) and analysed using the Student t-test and Mann-Whitney test (continuous data) or χ2 test (categorical data). P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.Main results: PaCO2 levels were statistically significantly higher in Group II than in Group I at 2, 4, 6, 8, and 12 hours (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). Within each group, PaCO2 levels were statistically significantly higher at 4, 6, 8, and 12 hours than at baseline (P < 0.01 ).Extubation time was significantly longer in Group I than in Group II 7.90 (7.90 [2.13] vs 3.83 [1.20], P=0.001). Respiratory rates were significantly higher in Group II than in Group I after 2, 4, and 6 hours (P < 0.01). Pmax was higher in Group I than in Group II after 1 hour but similar up to 4 hours.Conclusions: Early extubation and weaning to BiPAP ventilation after cardiac surgery is safe and effective

Evaluation of in Vitro Antioxidative, Cytotoxic and Apoptotic Activities of Rheum ribes Ethyl Acetate Extracts

Abstract: Rheum species are medicinally important plants due to the presence of anthracene derivatives. This study was designed to determine the antioxidative, cytotoxic and apoptotic properties of Rheum ribes shoot and root ethyl acetate extracts using human promyelocytic leukemia (HL-60) cell line as a model system. R. ribes shoot and root dry powder samples were prepared and extracted with ethyl acetate. The extracts were revealed to be a potential scavenger of DPPH radicals (IC 50 value of 206.28 µg/ml for shoot and 10.92 µg/ml for root) and the chemical composition of the extracts was quantified by colorimetric determination of total phenol (GAE) and flavonoid (CAE) contents. HL-60 cells were cultured in the presence of various concentrations of extracts up to 72 h. R. ribes inhibited the survival of HL-60 cells in a concentration-and timedependent manner, shown by XTT assay. R. ribes caused HL-60 cells apoptosis via formation of phosphatidylserine externalization, as evidenced by flow cytometry. Exposure of HL-60 cells to higher concentrations of extracts for 72 h resulted in a shift of 87% of the cell population from normal to the early/late apoptotic stage. These findings suggest that Rheum ribes ethyl acetate root extracts exhibits potential antioxidant and cytotoxic properties against HL-60 cells better than shoot extracts and exert their toxicity via induction of apoptosis

Exhaustion of bacteria-specific CD4 T cells and microbial translocation in common variable immunodeficiency disorders.

In the present study, we have investigated the functional profile of CD4 T cells from patients with common variable immunodeficiency (CVID), including production of cytokines and proliferation in response to bacteria and virus-derived antigens. We show that the functional impairment of CD4 T cells, including the reduced capacity to proliferate and to produce IFN-γ and IL-2, was restricted to bacteria-specific and not virus-specific CD4 T cells. High levels of endotoxins were found in the plasma of patients with CVID, suggesting that CD4 T cell dysfunction might be caused by bacterial translocation. Of note, endotoxemia was associated with significantly higher expression of programmed death 1 (PD-1) on CD4 T cells. The blockade of the PD-1-PD-L1/2 axis in vitro restored CD4 T cell proliferation capacity, thus indicating that PD-1 signaling negatively regulates CD4 T cell functions. Finally, we showed that intravenous immunoglobulin G (IVIG) treatment significantly reduced endotoxemia and the percentage of PD-1(+) CD4 T cells, and restored bacteria-specific CD4 T cell cytokine production and proliferation. In conclusion, the present study demonstrates that the CD4 T cell exhaustion and functional impairment observed in CVID patients is associated with bacterial translocation and that IVIG treatment resolves bacterial translocation and restores CD4 T cell functions

Mechanistic and evolutionary questions about epigenetic conflicts between transposable elements and their plant hosts

Transposable elements (TEs) constitute the majority of plant genomes, but most are epigenetically inactivated by their host. Research over the last decade has elucidated many of the molecular components that are required for TE silencing. In contrast, the evolutionary dynamics between TEs and silencing pathways are less clear. Here, we discuss current information about these dynamics from both mechanistic and evolutionary perspectives. We highlight new evidence that palindromic sequences within TEs may act as signals for host recognition and that cis-regulatory regions of TEs may be sites of ongoing arms races with host defenses. We also discuss patterns of TE aging after they are silenced; while there is not yet a consensus, it appears that TEs are removed more rapidly near genes, such that older TE insertions tend to be farther from genes. We conclude by discussing the energetic costs for maintaining silencing pathways, which appear to be substantive. The maintenance of silencing pathways across many species suggests that epigenetic emergencies are frequent