Mathematical Research in Digital Age

The time when someone can do real, publishable mathematics completely without the aid of a computer is coming to a close; the use of computers in mathematical research is both widespread and under-acknowledged. Mathematicians use computers in a number of ways. This paper highlights the importance of mathematics and digital age in today2019;s technological advancement; it also explains the influence of digital age on Mathematics research. Key areas where Information and Communication Technology can be applied to Mathematical research are discussed. To demonstrate the use of computer program on Mathematical analysis, some problems were solved analytically and were also solved using computer programs (Mathlab and Python). These two procedures are compared and it is clearly shown that using computer packages to solve Mathematical problems are more efficient, easier and accurate

Identifying genomic and metabolic features that can underlie early successional and opportunistic lifestyles of human gut symbionts

We lack a deep understanding of genetic and metabolic attributes specializing in microbial consortia for initial and subsequent waves of colonization of our body habitats. Here we show that phylogenetically interspersed bacteria in Clostridium cluster XIVa, an abundant group of bacteria in the adult human gut also known as the Clostridium coccoides or Eubacterium rectale group, contains species that have evolved distribution patterns consistent with either early successional or stable gut communities. The species that specialize to the infant gut are more likely to associate with systemic infections and can reach high abundances in individuals with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), indicating that a subset of the microbiota that have adapted to pioneer/opportunistic lifestyles may do well in both early development and with disease. We identified genes likely selected during adaptation to pioneer/opportunistic lifestyles as those for which early succession association and not phylogenetic relationships explain genomic abundance. These genes reveal potential mechanisms by which opportunistic gut bacteria tolerate osmotic and oxidative stress and potentially important aspects of their metabolism. These genes may not only be biomarkers of properties associated with adaptation to early succession and disturbance, but also leads for developing therapies aimed at promoting reestablishment of stable gut communities following physiologic or pathologic disturbances

EGenBio : a data management system for evolutionary genomics and biodiversity

From The Third Annual Conference of the MidSouth Computational Biology and Bioinformatics Society Baton Rouge, Louisiana. 2–4 March, 2006.© 2006 Nahum et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.EGenBio is a system for manipulation and filtering of large numbers of sequences, integrating curated sequence alignments and phylogenetic trees, managing evolutionary analyses, and visualizing their output. EGenBio is organized into three conceptual divisions, Evolution, Genomics, and Biodiversity. The Genomics division includes tools for selecting pre-aligned sequences from different genes and species, and for modifying and filtering these alignments for further analysis. Species searches are handled through queries that can be modified based on a tree-based navigation system and saved. The Biodiversity division contains tools for analyzing individual sequences or sequence alignments, whereas the Evolution division contains tools involving phylogenetic trees. Alignments are annotated with analytical results and modification history using our PRAED format. A miscellaneous Tools section and Help framework are also available. EGenBio was developed around our comparative genomic research and a prototype database of mtDNA genomes. It utilizes MySQL-relational databases and dynamic page generation, and calls numerous custom programs.This work was partly funded by the National Institutes of Health (R22/R33 Innovation and Development grant to David Pollock), the National Science Foundation (CBM2/EPSCOR), and the State of Louisiana (Biological Computation and Visualization Center, Governor's iotechnology Initiative, and startup funds to David Pollock)

Heavy metals, biomarkers of oxidative stress and changes in sperm function: A case-control study

Background: Heavy metal-induced oxidative stress has been implicated in abnormal sperm functions and male infertility. Objective: Serum and seminal levels of heavy metals and biomarkers of oxidative stress were compared in fertile and infertile men. Materials and Methods: A total of 130 men aged 20–60 yr comprising 30 azoospermic, 50 oligozoospermic, and 50 normozoospermic men were studied. Semen analysis was done by world health organization guidelines, biomarkers of oxidative stress (total antioxidant capacity (TAC), total plasma peroxidase (TPP), oxidative stress index (OSI), vitamin C (vit C) and nitric oxide (NO)) and fructose by colorimetry and serum and seminal heavy metals (zinc (Zn), selenium (Se), cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb)) by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Results: Azoospermic and oligozoospermic men had higher serum and seminal peroxides (TPP, p = 0.00), higher serum heavy metals (Zn, Se, Pb, and Cd (p = 0.01)) and lower sperm concentration, %motility, serum and seminal antioxidants (vit C, TAC, NO, GSH (p = 0.01)) compared to normozoospermic men. Higher seminal peroxides (TPP, p = 0.001), heavy metals (Pb and Cd (p = 0.03)) and lower sperm concentration, %motility, and seminal antioxidants (TAC and NO (p = 0.00)) were also observed in azoospermic men compared to oligozoospermic men. Negative correlations were observed between seminal fructose and seminal vit C (r = -0.535, p = 0.015), GSH (r =-0.734, p = 0.000), NO (r = -0.714, p = 0.000), Zn (r = -0.774, p = 0.000) and Se (r = -0.719, p = 0.000) only in azoospermic men. Conclusion: Elevated heavy metal levels, increased lipid peroxidation and antioxidant depletion is associated with abnormal sperm functions in men studied. Key words: Heavy metals, Antioxidants, Lipid peroxidation, Oxidative stress, Sperm function

Promoting Respectful Maternity Care: A training guide for facility-based workshops—Participant\u27s guide

This guide was produced as part of the Respectful Maternity Care (RMC) Resource Package. The Resource Package was designed to support health facility managers, health care providers, and communities in confronting disrespect and abuse (D&A) during facility-based childbirth and to promote respectful maternity care. The Resource Package includes a facilitator’s guide (facility-based workshops), facilitator’s guide (community-based workshops), participant’s guide, community flipchart, tools, and program briefs. Workshop objectives outlined in the Participant’s Guide: Outline current status of maternal and neonatal health in relation to respectful care. Discuss key RMC concepts, terminology, legal and rights-based approaches related to respectful maternity care and the RMC Resource Package. Demonstrate knowledge and use of VCAT theory and practice. Discuss selected evidence-based strategies that reduce D&A. Discuss participants’ role in promoting RMC. Develop action plans to support the implementation of RMC interventions at various levels of health (e.g., policy, program, regional/county, subcounty, facility, and community)

Promoting Respectful Maternity Care: A training guide for community-based workshops—Community facilitator\u27s guide

This guide was produced as part of the Respectful Maternity Care (RMC) Resource Package. The Resource Package was designed to support health facility managers, health care providers, and communities in confronting disrespect and abuse (D&A) during facility-based childbirth and to promote respectful maternity care. The Resource Package includes a facilitator’s guide (facility-based workshops), facilitator’s guide (community-based workshops), participant’s guide, community flipchart, tools, and program briefs. The Community Facilitator’s Guide, designed to be used by facilitators to promote respectful maternity care at the community level, can be adapted to educate a variety of stakeholders in community settings (i.e., Community Health Extension Workers, Community Health Workers, society leaders, legal aid officers). The Guide highlights key practical points to enable participants to act as resource persons regarding the rights and obligations of childbearing women, and as advocates of respectful maternity care including how to conduct an Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanism

Identifying genomic and metabolic features that can underlie early successional and opportunistic lifestyles of human gut symbionts

We lack a deep understanding of genetic and metabolic attributes specializing in microbial consortia for initial and subsequent waves of colonization of our body habitats. Here we show that phylogenetically interspersed bacteria in Clostridium cluster XIVa, an abundant group of bacteria in the adult human gut also known as the Clostridium coccoides or Eubacterium rectale group, contains species that have evolved distribution patterns consistent with either early successional or stable gut communities. The species that specialize to the infant gut are more likely to associate with systemic infections and can reach high abundances in individuals with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), indicating that a subset of the microbiota that have adapted to pioneer/opportunistic lifestyles may do well in both early development and with disease. We identified genes likely selected during adaptation to pioneer/opportunistic lifestyles as those for which early succession association and not phylogenetic relationships explain genomic abundance. These genes reveal potential mechanisms by which opportunistic gut bacteria tolerate osmotic and oxidative stress and potentially important aspects of their metabolism. These genes may not only be biomarkers of properties associated with adaptation to early succession and disturbance, but also leads for developing therapies aimed at promoting reestablishment of stable gut communities following physiologic or pathologic disturbances.Keywords: Acetate utilization, Antibiotic associated diarrhea, P type atpase, Butyrate producing bacteria, Microbial community, Bowel syndrome, Sequence data, Ecology, Global network, Fecal microbiot

Respectful Maternity Care Resource Package

The Respectful Maternity Care Resource Package is a set of manuals, tools, and resources to ensure high-quality, respectful maternal and newborn health services. The resources help program managers, health workers, and technical advisors set up workshops and trainings for facility-based providers and community health workers. The workshops provide practical, low-cost, and easily adaptable strategies to improve respectful care. The Respectful Maternity Care Resource Package was developed by the Heshima project as part of the USAID Translating Research into Action (TRAction) project. ------ Training facility-based health providers Facilitator’s guide Orientation slide deck Participant’s guide Training community health workers Facilitator’s guide Orientation slide deck Flip chart Additional resources Implementing respectful maternity care in Kenya Debriefing sessions: Caring for the carers Alternative dispute resolution: Resolving incidents of disrespect and abuse Maternity open days: Clarifying misconceptions about facility-based birt