Sidestep Training Model of a Rugby Game

This study aims to produce a sidestep training model by testing the effectiveness of sidestep enhancement in rugby athletes. This research uses research and development methods from Borg and Gall. The subjects of this study were athletes from the Jakarta State University Rugby club and the Sumedang City Rugby club. The research begins with needs data analysis, planning, product manufacturing, testing, revision and final product. The feasibility test of the model presented 3 experts consisting of 3 National rugby coaches and produced 20 sidestep training models. The effectiveness test model uses sidestep results. The improvement in shooting skills showed significant t-count= 15,138, df= 29 and p-value= 0.00<0.05 which means that there is a significant difference between before and after being given the training model treatment, the average pre-test is smaller than the average post-test of. It can be concluded that the developed sidestep training model of rugby games is quite effective for improving sidestep skills in rugby athletes

Assessment of Quality of Life among Beta-Thalassemia Major Patients Attending the Hematology Outpatient Clinics at Cairo University Hospital

AIM: This paper aimed at assessing the quality of life (QoL) among beta (β)-thalassemia major patients using the short-form-36questionnaire (SF-36) and determining the factors associated with it. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among β-thalassemia major patients who were attending the hematology outpatient clinic at Cairo University Hospital using the consecutive sampling technique. Data were collected between October 2016 and March 2017. The QoL was assessed for patients aged ≥17 years. During the study period, a total number of 112 patients were included for participation. RESULTS: The mean age of the studied group was 18.32 ± 1.33 years. Most of the included patients (93.63%) had 1 monthly blood transfusion. The mean total score of SF-36 was 44.90 ± 7.54. Among the QoL domains of the studied patients, the “general health perception” domain was the most affected one with a mean score of (add the value of the score here), while the “vitality” domain was the least affected one. No statistically significant difference was reported between males and females regarding different QoL domains except for the “vitality” domain which mean score was significantly higher in males compared to females (p = 0.05). The age at onset of the disease and at first blood transfusion was the most documented factors to be positively correlated with the QoL among the studied patients. CONCLUSION: This study revealed that the QoL in thalassemia major patients is compromised. QoL assessment should be performed for all thalassemia patients to determine and implement the necessary interventions that focus on the affected domains

Evaluation of the Potential Neurotoxicity of Gold Nanoparticles in the Different Rat Brain Regions

The present study aims to investigate the potential adverse effects of gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) in the cortex, hippocampus, striatum, midbrain, cerebellum and medulla of adult male Wistar rat through the estimation of some oxidative stress parameters and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity. Rats were divided into two main experimental groups. Animals of the 1st and 2nd groups were intraperitoneally injected with a single dose (10

Oral Focal Mucinosis: A case report

Oral focal mucinosis is a rare lesion with less than 60 cases reported in English literature so far, to the best of our knowledge. It is considered to be the oral counterpart of cutaneous focal mucinosis and/or cutaneous myxoid cyst. Histopathologically, Oral focal mucinosis is demonsterates a well-circumscribed area of myxomatous connective tissue containing mucinous material, surrounded by denser collagenous connective tissue. We present a case of Oral focal mucinosis occurring on the buccal gingiva of the lower jaw

Relation of Advanced Glycation End Products and Primary Open Angle Glaucoma Progression

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relation between oxidative stress and advanced glycation end products in patients suffering from different stages primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) and complications of glaucoma progression. Forty five patients suffering from POAG classified into three stages; mild, moderate and advanced as well as fifteen healthy "non- diabetic subjects" (age and sex matched healthy controls) were selected from the outpatient clinic in the Research Institute of Ophthalmology (RIO) Giza Egypt.nitric oxide (NO), malondialdehyde (MDA), ascorbic acid (vitamin C), α-tocopherol (vitamin E), catalase activity (CAT), reduced glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and advanced glycation end products (AGEs) were estimated in all studied groups. A significant increase in MDA, NO and AGEs levels was detected in mild, moderate and advanced glaucoma compared to control, also significant decreases in vitamin C, vitamin E, GSH, and SOD activities were found in mild, moderate and advanced glaucoma compared to control. No significant change was found in catalase activity in all groups compared to control. Statistical significant positive correlations were found between intra ocular pressure (IOP) and disease severity. this study clearly demonstrated increased accumulation of AGEs, lipid peroxidation products along with impairment of the antioxidant status in patients with primary open angle glaucoma.We suggest that AGEs measurement could be used as a diagnostic marker in primary screening programs for diagnosis and prediction of the development and progression of glaucoma

Global, regional, and national burden of disorders affecting the nervous system, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

BackgroundDisorders affecting the nervous system are diverse and include neurodevelopmental disorders, late-life neurodegeneration, and newly emergent conditions, such as cognitive impairment following COVID-19. Previous publications from the Global Burden of Disease, Injuries, and Risk Factor Study estimated the burden of 15 neurological conditions in 2015 and 2016, but these analyses did not include neurodevelopmental disorders, as defined by the International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-11, or a subset of cases of congenital, neonatal, and infectious conditions that cause neurological damage. Here, we estimate nervous system health loss caused by 37 unique conditions and their associated risk factors globally, regionally, and nationally from 1990 to 2021.MethodsWe estimated mortality, prevalence, years lived with disability (YLDs), years of life lost (YLLs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), with corresponding 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs), by age and sex in 204 countries and territories, from 1990 to 2021. We included morbidity and deaths due to neurological conditions, for which health loss is directly due to damage to the CNS or peripheral nervous system. We also isolated neurological health loss from conditions for which nervous system morbidity is a consequence, but not the primary feature, including a subset of congenital conditions (ie, chromosomal anomalies and congenital birth defects), neonatal conditions (ie, jaundice, preterm birth, and sepsis), infectious diseases (ie, COVID-19, cystic echinococcosis, malaria, syphilis, and Zika virus disease), and diabetic neuropathy. By conducting a sequela-level analysis of the health outcomes for these conditions, only cases where nervous system damage occurred were included, and YLDs were recalculated to isolate the non-fatal burden directly attributable to nervous system health loss. A comorbidity correction was used to calculate total prevalence of all conditions that affect the nervous system combined.FindingsGlobally, the 37 conditions affecting the nervous system were collectively ranked as the leading group cause of DALYs in 2021 (443 million, 95% UI 378–521), affecting 3·40 billion (3·20–3·62) individuals (43·1%, 40·5–45·9 of the global population); global DALY counts attributed to these conditions increased by 18·2% (8·7–26·7) between 1990 and 2021. Age-standardised rates of deaths per 100 000 people attributed to these conditions decreased from 1990 to 2021 by 33·6% (27·6–38·8), and age-standardised rates of DALYs attributed to these conditions decreased by 27·0% (21·5–32·4). Age-standardised prevalence was almost stable, with a change of 1·5% (0·7–2·4). The ten conditions with the highest age-standardised DALYs in 2021 were stroke, neonatal encephalopathy, migraine, Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, diabetic neuropathy, meningitis, epilepsy, neurological complications due to preterm birth, autism spectrum disorder, and nervous system cancer.InterpretationAs the leading cause of overall disease burden in the world, with increasing global DALY counts, effective prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation strategies for disorders affecting the nervous system are needed

Arabic consonant cluster acquisition

The purpose of this study is to test the hypothesis that American L2 learners of Arabic find consonant clusters of Arabic that are not permissible in their native language difficult to pronounce. The interlanguages of six adult native speakers of American English learning Arabic as a second language is investigated. Subjects are asked to read sentences containing words ending with consonant clusters. Subjects\u27 performance on clusters permissible in Arabic and English and clusters non-permissible in English is compared. The difference between subjects\u27 performance on clusters permissible in Arabic and English and clusters permissible in English only is found to be significant, a finding which confirms the hypothesis. Simplification strategies used by subjects when producing the difficult clusters are: (1) modification of syllable structure via schwa epenthesis between the two consonants of the cluster (in the case of clusters ending with /m n 1), (2) inserting a vowel at the end of the word (in the case of clusters ending with /w y/), (3) producing the final consonant as a syllabic consonant (in the case of clusters ending with Im n 1). Substitution of one of the cluster constituents also occur ( /u i/ for /w y/ ). These strategies are found to be due to Ll transfer processes, developmental processes, or universal processes. Other simplification strategies, such as schwa epenthesis and final-obstruent devoicing, also occur in subjects\u27 production of clusters permissible in their native languages. This provides evidence for the existence of developmental processes in the subjects\u27 interlanguages regardless of Ll transfer. In light of the findings of the study, a number of pronunciation teaching practices are proposed to deal with the problem of consonant clusters in class. These procedures range from dependent practice (imitative speech practice) to guided practice (rehearsed speech practice using fixed texts) and independent practice ( extemporaneous speech practice in partially planned or unplanned talks and panel discussion). A blend of the three types of practice is recommended

A Novel Reconfigurable MB-OFDM UWB LNA Using Programmable Current Reuse

This paper presents a design of a reconfigurable low noise amplifier (LNA) for multiband orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (MB-OFDM) ultra wideband (UWB) receivers. The proposed design is divided into three stages; the first one is a common gate (CG) topology to provide the input matching over a wideband. The second stage is a programmable circuit to control the mode of operation. The third stage is a current reuse topology to improve the gain, flatness and consume lower power. The proposed LNA is designed using 0.18 μm CMOS technology. This LNA has been designed to operate in two subbands of MB-OFDM UWB, UWB mode-1 and mode-3, as a single or concurrent mode. The simulation results exhibit the power gain up to 17.35, 18, and 11 dB for mode-1, mode-3, and concurrent mode, respectively. The NF is 3.5, 3.9, and 6.5 and the input return loss is better than −12, −13.57, and −11 dB over mode-1, mode-3, and concurrent mode, respectively. This design consumes 4 mW supplied from 1.2 V