750 research outputs found

    Patterns of Political Communication Between Government Institutions and Effect to the Trust of the Acehnese People

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    This study has described how the pattern of political communication between government institutions and its impact on public confidence in development in Aceh Province, Indonesia. This study focuses more on the analysis of communication patterns between the executive (ie: Governor of Aceh Province) and the legislative (DPR) in carrying out their respective duties and functions in the context of development in Aceh Province, Indonesia. This study uses a descriptive qualitative approach aimed at describing the pattern of political communication between government institutions and analyzing the level of trust of the Acehnese people. The benefit of this study is to provide a formula for good and effective political communication with elites at various levels of institutions from the executive to the legislature. Based on the results of the study, it can be concluded that the patterns of political communication between government institutions, namely the executive and legislative institutions, are personal communication patterns, informal communication patterns, family communication patterns, party or organizational communication patterns. All types of communication patterns are carried out between parties in carrying out interest lobbying and development policies in the Aceh Province, Indonesia. This type of communication pattern, based on the results of research, has been carried out by both parties in running government institutions in Aceh, namely the Aceh Government and the Aceh Legislature

    CMSSM Spectroscopy in light of PAMELA and ATIC

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    Dark matter neutralinos in the constrained minimal supersymmetric model (CMSSM) may account for the recent cosmic ray electron and positron observations reported by the PAMELA and ATIC experiments either through self annihilation or via decay. However, to achieve this, both scenarios require new physics beyond the 'standard' CMSSM, and a unified explanation of the two experiments suggests a neutralino mass of order 700 GeV - 2 TeV. A relatively light neutralino with mass around 100 GeV (300 GeV) can accomodate the PAMELA but not the ATIC observations based on a model of annihilating (decaying) neutralinos. We study the implications of these scenarios for Higgs and sparticle spectroscopy in the CMSSM and highlight some benchmark points. An estimate of neutrino flux expected from the annihilating and decaying neutralino scenarios is provided.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures, 2 tables; References added; color coding fixed in some figure

    Behaviour of non-donor specific antibodies during rapid re-synthesis of donor specific HLA antibodies after antibody incompatible renal transplantation

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    Background: HLA directed antibodies play an important role in acute and chronic allograft rejection. During viral infection of a patient with HLA antibodies, the HLA antibody levels may rise even though there is no new immunization with antigen. However it is not known whether the converse occurs, and whether changes on non-donor specific antibodies are associated with any outcomes following HLA antibody incompatible renal transplantation. Methods: 55 patients, 31 women and 24 men, who underwent HLAi renal transplant in our center from September 2005 to September 2010 were included in the studies. We analysed the data using two different approaches, based on; i) DSA levels and ii) rejection episode post transplant. HLA antibody levels were measured during the early post transplant period and corresponding CMV, VZV and Anti-HBs IgG antibody levels and blood group IgG, IgM and IgA antibodies were quantified. Results: Despite a significant DSA antibody rise no significant non-donor specific HLA antibody, viral or blood group antibody rise was found. In rejection episode analyses, multiple logistic regression modelling showed that change in the DSA was significantly associated with rejection (p = 0.002), even when adjusted for other antibody levels. No other antibody levels were predictive of rejection. Increase in DSA from pre treatment to a post transplant peak of 1000 was equivalent to an increased chance of rejection with an odds ratio of 1.47 (1.08, 2.00). Conclusion: In spite of increases or decreases in the DSA levels, there were no changes in the viral or the blood group antibodies in these patients. Thus the DSA rise is specific in contrast to the viral, blood group or third party antibodies post transplantation. Increases in the DSA post transplant in comparison to pre-treatment are strongly associated with occurrence of rejection

    Microbe-citric acid assisted phytoremediation of chromium by castor bean (Ricinus communis L.)

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    Chromium is one of the highly toxic heavy metals to plant growth and development especially hexavalent chromium (Cr+6) due to its readily available nature and mobility into the environment. The chelating agents and hyperaccumulator plant can contribute to remediating the heavy metals from the contaminated medium. This study was conducted to analyze the role of citric acid and chromium resistant bacteria in castor bean to remediate Cr+6 from the polluted soil. The soil was spiked with different levels of citric acid (0, 2.5, 5 mM) and chromium (0, 10, 20 mg kg−1). The ripened plants were harvested and analyzed for growth parameters, chlorophyll contents, gas exchange parameters, oxidative stress markers, antioxidant enzymes activities and chromium accumulation in different parts of plants. The high concentration of chromium 20 mg kg−1 drastically reduced the plant growth, decreased photosynthetic rate and increased oxidative stress. The application of CA improved the plant growth even at the highest concentration of chromium which was further boosted by the combined application of CA and chromium resistant bacteria. However, the performance of staphylococcus aureus was found significantly better than Bacillus subtilis due to its better ability to tolerate chromium toxicity even at high concentrations. The findings proved that castor bean has excellent potential to tolerate high chromium concentrations and can be effectively used to remediate metals contaminated soil. Further, CA and metal resistant bacteria can significantly enhance the phytoremediation potential of castor bean and other hyperaccumulator plants. The bacteria assisted phytoremediation coupled with the chelating agent can be a practical approach to remediate the metals contaminating soils

    Sleep deprivation and its associated factors among general ward patients at a tertiary care hospital in Pakistan

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    Objective: To estimate the occurrence rate of sleep deprivation and to identify the environmental, staff-related and patient-related factors associated with SD among general ward patients of a tertiary care hospital in Pakistan.Methods: In a cross-sectional study, a pre-tested questionnaire was administered to 108 patients admitted into the general medical and general surgical wards of Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi.Results: In all, 50 (46.3%) respondents felt deprived of adequate sleep in the hospital. Worry about illness disturbed the night-time sleep of 47 (43.5%) patients; most of these had SD (70%) (p \u3c 0.001). Other patients\u27 noise disturbed 31.5% of study subjects and a significant majority (68%) of these had SD (p = 0.003). Over 17% of study subjects reported cell phone\u27s ringing as a disturbing factor; more by those with SD (68%) compared to those with no SD (32%); again the difference was significant (p = 0.003). Physical discomfort and presence of cannula were reported as disturbing factors by 41.7% and 28.7% of the study subjects respectively but these were not significantly associated with SD.CONCLUSION: Our study revealed that sleep deprivation occurs commonly among general ward patients in tertiary care setting. Factors found to be associated with SD were amenable to modification to a greater extent

    Identification of fungal pathogens to control postharvest passion fruit (Passiflora edulis) decays and multi-omics comparative pathway analysis reveals purple is more resistant to pathogens than a yellow cultivar

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    Production of passion fruit (Passiflora edulis) is restricted by postharvest decay, which limits the storage period. We isolated, identified, and characterized fungal pathogens causing decay in two passion fruit cultivars during two fruit seasons in China. Morphological characteristics and nucleotide sequences of ITS-rDNA regions identified eighteen isolates, which were pathogenic on yellow and purple fruit. Fusarium kyushuense, Fusarium concentricum, Colletotrichum truncatum, and Alternaria alternata were the most aggressive species. Visible inspections and comparative analysis of the disease incidences demonstrated that wounded and non-wounded yellow fruit were more susceptible to the pathogens than the purple fruit. Purple cultivar showed higher expression levels of defense-related genes through expression and metabolic profiling, as well as significantly higher levels of their biosynthesis pathways. We also found fungi with potential beneficial features for the quality of fruits. Our transcriptomic and metabolomics data provide a basis to identify potential targets to improve the pathogen resistance of the susceptible yellow cultivar. The identified fungi and affected features of the fruit of both cultivars provide important information for the control of pathogens in passion fruit industry and postharvest storage

    Neuro-Urology: Call for Universal, Resource-Independent Guidance

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    Neurogenic lower urinary tract dysfunction (NLUTD), the abnormal function of the lower urinary tract in the context of neurological pathology, has been the subject of multiple efforts worldwide for the development of clinical practice guidelines. These guidelines are based on the same body of evidence, and are therefore subject to the same gaps. For example, sexual and bowel dysfunction in the context of NLUTD, optimal renal function assessment in those who are non-ambulatory or with low muscle mass, optimal upper tract surveillance timing, and modification of diagnostic and treatment modalities for low-resource nations and communities are inadequately addressed. In addition, many aspects of the conclusions and final recommendations of the guidelines are similar. This duplicative work represents a large expenditure of time and effort, which we believe could be focused instead on evidence gaps. Here, we call for a global unified approach to create a single, resource-independent, comprehensive guidance on NLUTD, neurogenic sexual, and neurogenic bowel dysfunction. Targeted research addressing the evidence gaps should be called for and pursued. This will allow for focus to shift to filling the gaps in the evidence for future guidelines
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