Effectiveness of community based physical activity on step count and sedentary behaviour in people with rheumatoid arthritis within the first five years of diagnosis

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Assimilation in the phonology of a Libyan Arabic dialect :a constraint-based approach

PhD ThesisThis study uses a constraint-based framework to investigate some assimilatory processes in one variety of Libyan Arabic. This is the variety spoken by the inhabitants of the city of Misrata, henceforth referred to as Misrata Libyan Arabic (MLA). Some of the assimilatory processes are so closely related that they can be accounted for using similar constraints. In this respect, the OCP is shown to play an important role in some of the processes. For example, assimilations of /l/ of the definite article prefix and the detransitivising prefix /t-/ are triggered by an OCP violation on the coronal tier. The OCP may have blocking or triggering effects; the two assimilatory processes just referred to are instances of the OCP triggering effects. On the other hand, a blocking effect not involving the OCP involves guttural consonants, which block voicing assimilation of the imperfective prefix /t-/. This blocking of voicing assimilation will be shown to provide support to some researchers’ proposal to classify gutturals as sonorant segments. Despite this blocking effect, some guttural segments devoice before suffixes that begin with /h/ and simultaneously cause this /h/ to agree with them in place of articulation. Lateral assimilation has been claimed to be restricted solely to /l/ of the definite article /ʔil-/. However, some of the forms introduced in chapter (3) demonstrate that /l/ in the homophonous morpheme /ʔil-/ ‘for/to’ may assimilate totally to a following coronal sonorant. The alveolar nasal /n/ assimilates partially (in place) to the obstruents /b/, /k/, /g/ and /f/. The segment /n/ assimilates totally to the sonorant consonants it immediately precedes. Partial assimilation takes place both within the same phonological word and across a word boundary. Total assimilation, by contrast, occurs only when two words ii are involved. This is because /n/ cannot be followed by a sonorant consonant word-internally

A Study of Risk Factors for Breast Cancer in a Primary Oncology Clinic in Benghazi-Libya

Introduction: Libya is a North African country classified under the Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office. In response to the general paucity of literature regarding cancer in Libya, this study aims to analyze various risk factors for breast cancer among patients in Benghazi, Libya. Material and Methods: Using records from a major primary oncology clinic, data was gathered from breast cancer patients. A total of 301 patients were diagnosed with breast cancer in the study period. For the purpose of risk factor determination, this hospital-based case control study consisted of 212 recently diagnosed cases of breast cancer attending the oncology clinic at Al-Jamhouria hospital in Benghazi. Age matched controls (n=219) were randomly enrolled from other medical departments of Al-Jamhouria hospital and the general population visiting the hospital. Chi square was used to assess significance of the risk factors and the corresponding odds ratio (O.R.) and 95% CI were calculated to assess the magnitude of associations. Results: A total of 1478 cases presented to the gynecological oncology clinic at Al-Jamhouria hospital during the period of 2007-2008. Of these cases, around 20% (n=301) were breast cancer patients. The average age of presentation was 49 years + S.D 13 years, with most of the cases (61%, n=184) being premenopausal. Over 90% (n=273) of breast cancer patients are diagnosed at stage II or later. More than 16% of cases seek medical attention when the malignancy has already reached stage IV. Diabetes, hypertension and family history of other malignancies were found to significantly increase the risk of developing breast cancer. Discussions: A range of socioeconomic risk factors were also analyzed (i.e. parity, breastfeeding etc...) and some were found to be protective. Libyan breast cancer cases are slightly older compared to the rest of the Arab world, but are younger than their counterparts in the West. The major issue in the Libyan scenario is delayed presentation which significantly worsens the prognosis. Hence, all the recommendations focus on increased awareness, the implementation of a national cancer control plan and a national screening program and training healthcare professions in palliative care

Prevalence of Gall Bladder Stones among Type 2 Diabetic Patients in Benghazi Libya: A Case-control Study

Background: Diabetes mellitus and gall bladder stones are both common and costly diseases. Increasing age, female gender, overweight, familial history of the disease and type 2 diabetes mellitus is all associated with an increased risk of gallstones. Several studies from around the world reported an increased prevalence of gall bladder stones in patients with diabetes mellitus. Aims and objectives: The aim of this study was to define the frequency of gall bladder stones among Libyan diabetics and to evaluate the possible associated risk factors in these patients. Patients and methods: A case-control study was performed during 2007 at Benghazi Diabetes and endocrinology Center. The study involved 161 randomly selected type-2 diabetic patients under regular follow up at the center, and 166 age and sex matched non-diabetic outpatients at the 7th of October teaching hospital. Real-time abdominal ultrasound was performed by two radiologists to examine the abdomen after an overnight fast. Results: About 40% of the diabetic cohort had gall bladder stones as compared to 17.5% of non-diabetic patients. Females were significantly more affected than males. Patients with gall bladder stones were significantly older and had a significantly higher body mass index than those without stones. Conclusion: The prevalence of gallstones in Libyan diabetic patients is higher than the rates reported in other parts of the world. Libyan diabetic patients with gallstones tend to be older and more obese than those without gallstones. Duration of diabetes mellitus and type of treatment does not seem to influence the frequency of gall bladder stones among Libyan diabetics

Assembly of a heptameric STRIPAK complex is required for coordination of light-dependent multicellular fungal development with secondary metabolism in Aspergillus nidulans

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.Eukaryotic striatin forms striatin-interacting phosphatase and kinase (STRIPAK) complexes that control many cellular processes including development, cellular transport, signal transduction, stem cell differentiation and cardiac functions. However, detailed knowledge of complex assembly and its roles in stress responses are currently poorly understood. Here, we discovered six striatin (StrA) interacting proteins (Sips), which form a heptameric complex in the filamentous fungus Aspergillus nidulans. The complex consists of the striatin scaffold StrA, the Mob3-type kinase coactivator SipA, the SIKE-like protein SipB, the STRIP1/2 homolog SipC, the SLMAP-related protein SipD and the catalytic and regulatory phosphatase 2A subunits SipE (PpgA), and SipF, respectively. Single and double deletions of the complex components result in loss of multicellular light-dependent fungal development, secondary metabolite production (e.g. mycotoxin Sterigmatocystin) and reduced stress responses. sipA (Mob3) deletion is epistatic to strA deletion by supressing all the defects caused by the lack of striatin. The STRIPAK complex, which is established during vegetative growth and maintained during the early hours of light and dark development, is mainly formed on the nuclear envelope in the presence of the scaffold StrA. The loss of the scaffold revealed three STRIPAK subcomplexes: (I) SipA only interacts with StrA, (II) SipB-SipD is found as a heterodimer, (III) SipC, SipE and SipF exist as a heterotrimeric complex. The STRIPAK complex is required for proper expression of the heterotrimeric VeA-VelB-LaeA complex which coordinates fungal development and secondary metabolism. Furthermore, the STRIPAK complex modulates two important MAPK pathways by promoting phosphorylation of MpkB and restricting nuclear shuttling of MpkC in the absence of stress conditions. SipB in A. nidulans is similar to human suppressor of IKK-ε(SIKE) protein which supresses antiviral responses in mammals, while velvet family proteins show strong similarity to mammalian proinflammatory NF-KB proteins. The presence of these proteins in A. nidulans further strengthens the hypothesis that mammals and fungi use similar proteins for their immune response and secondary metabolite production, respectively

Role of Striatin Complexes in the Control of Development and Secondary Metabolism of the Filamentous Fungus Aspergillus nidulans

Striatin is a highly conserved eukaryotic protein first discovered in neuron cells of mammals. It is involved in many molecular processes, including cellular signaling, cell division and development. It has been shown in several fungi that striating complexes are important for development. Fungal development and secondary metabolism (SM) requires regulatory complexes which are under control of the environmental signals such as light, CO2 and pH . Aspergillus nidulans is a model for eukaryotic systems as well as fungal development and SM. It produces more than forty identified compounds with potent biological activities. Function of the striatin gene, strA was previously shown to influence development in A. nidulans. However, detailed molecular function of StrA in fungal development as well as SM production is still unknown. This study focuses on the interactome of striatin protein by using tandem affinity purification (TAP) and green fluorescent protein (GFP) tags in A. nidulans. Five proteins interacting or associated with StrA protein were identified TAP and GFP-TRAP by using mass spectrometry (MS). They were named as StrA interacting proteins (Sips), SipA, SipB, SipC, SipD and SipE. The single and double deletion combinations of all sipA, sipB, sipC, sipD and sipE genes led to serious developmental as well as SM defects in A. nidulans. Localization and pull-down experiments suggest that StrA is required for the full assembly of the functional STRIPAK complex at the nuclear envelope. Furthermore, assembly dynamics of the STRIPAK complex was also determined. StrA interacts with SipA constantly during all developmental stages. However, SipB-SipD and SipC-SipE are found as heterodimers, which later assemble to StrA-SipA core heterodimer, which constitute the hexameric STRIPAK complex. This study determines the presence of STRIPAK complex by biochemical, genetic and cell biological methods, which is required for light responses, fungal fruit body formation, asexual conidiation and secondary metabolite SM production

Role of Striatin Complexes in the Control of Development and Secondary Metabolism of the Filamentous Fungus Aspergillus nidulans

Striatin is a highly conserved eukaryotic protein first discovered in neuron cells of mammals. It is involved in many molecular processes, including cellular signaling, cell division and development. It has been shown in several fungi that striating complexes are important for development. Fungal development and secondary metabolism (SM) requires regulatory complexes which are under control of the environmental signals such as light, CO2 and pH . Aspergillus nidulans is a model for eukaryotic systems as well as fungal development and SM. It produces more than forty identified compounds with potent biological activities. Function of the striatin gene, strA was previously shown to influence development in A. nidulans. However, detailed molecular function of StrA in fungal development as well as SM production is still unknown. This study focuses on the interactome of striatin protein by using tandem affinity purification (TAP) and green fluorescent protein (GFP) tags in A. nidulans. Five proteins interacting or associated with StrA protein were identified TAP and GFP-TRAP by using mass spectrometry (MS). They were named as StrA interacting proteins (Sips), SipA, SipB, SipC, SipD and SipE. The single and double deletion combinations of all sipA, sipB, sipC, sipD and sipE genes led to serious developmental as well as SM defects in A. nidulans. Localization and pull-down experiments suggest that StrA is required for the full assembly of the functional STRIPAK complex at the nuclear envelope. Furthermore, assembly dynamics of the STRIPAK complex was also determined. StrA interacts with SipA constantly during all developmental stages. However, SipB-SipD and SipC-SipE are found as heterodimers, which later assemble to StrA-SipA core heterodimer, which constitute the hexameric STRIPAK complex. This study determines the presence of STRIPAK complex by biochemical, genetic and cell biological methods, which is required for light responses, fungal fruit body formation, asexual conidiation and secondary metabolite SM production

ClinTranslOrthop_2017_2_4_160_219378.pdf

literature review regarding Rheumatoid arthritis and exercise interventio