MENGA: a new comprehensive tool for the integration of neuroimaging data and the Allen human brain transcriptome atlas

Brain-wide mRNA mappings offer a great potential for neuroscience research as they can provide information about system proteomics. In a previous work we have correlated mRNA maps with the binding patterns of radioligands targeting specific molecular systems and imaged with positron emission tomography (PET) in unrelated control groups. This approach is potentially applicable to any imaging modality as long as an efficient procedure of imaging-genomic matching is provided. In the original work we considered mRNA brain maps of the whole human genome derived from the Allen human brain database (ABA) and we performed the analysis with a specific region-based segmentation with a resolution that was limited by the PET data parcellation. There we identified the need for a platform for imaging-genomic integration that should be usable with any imaging modalities and fully exploit the high resolution mapping of ABA dataset.In this work we present MENGA (Multimodal Environment for Neuroimaging and Genomic Analysis), a software platform that allows the investigation of the correlation patterns between neuroimaging data of any sort (both functional and structural) with mRNA gene expression profiles derived from the ABA database at high resolution.We applied MENGA to six different imaging datasets from three modalities (PET, single photon emission tomography and magnetic resonance imaging) targeting the dopamine and serotonin receptor systems and the myelin molecular structure. We further investigated imaging-genomic correlations in the case of mismatch between selected proteins and imaging targets

On ‘A Piece for Two (Lovers)’ - an unrehearsed performance piece

This essay consists of three 15-minute audio files and a written essay. Audio files #1 and #2 are performance scores made by dance artists Antonio de la Fe and Robert Vesty for A Piece For Two (Lovers), a performance of which was realised on February 20, 2015 at Royal Holloway, University of London. # 3 is a conversation between de la Fe and Vesty recorded unrehearsed for this special issue of RiDE. Together, the essay draws attention to the way in which the performance piece theatricalised its inherent precariousness. De la Fe and Vesty have been in a romantic relationship since December 2012 and the piece draws on themes of volatility and strength. The essay then goes on to propose de la Fe’s notion of unrehearsed not just as a mode of making that can be seen as an ‘artrepreneurial’, (to use Jen Harvie’s term), disruption of conventional modes of making artistic work, but as way to simultaneously reclaim and denounce precarity by re-thinking unrehearsal as a vital choreographic process

A survey of manufacturing practices in Southeast Asia

This paper presents a study of the current manufacturing practices in Southeast Asia particularly Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. This region is regarded as the next region to watch in terms of economic performance and potential. A mail survey of manufacturing companies in these countries was performed in order to get the data. A six-page questionnaire was sent and covered the following areas: company profile, production control and management, quality management and automation and computerization. Majority of the respondents were medium- and large scale companies and carried a wide array of products. Most of the firms were labor intensive rather than capital intensive. This is due to the fact that high interest rates in the region prevails, which limits spending on capital investments. Thus, there is a low level of automation and computerization in the companies. This is particularly true on the shop floor. With regards to their production control and management, there are a lot of improvements needed. Judgmental techniques are predominantly used in forecasting. The average lead time for most firms is one week to one month. Also, most of them have an inventory turnover ratio of less than 10. In terms of quality management, the firms perceive quality to be important in order to stay in business. However, most of them still use sampling inspection, although some have been using more advance techniques to control quality. In conclusion, the region may have a lot of potential in terms of economic growth, however, there are still a lot of potholes that have to be straightened out. These include financial constraints (high interest rates), inadequate infrastructure and the need for more technically trained workforce

EDITORIAL: Tackling maternal mortality in Africa after 2015: What should the priorities be?

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Counselling for Facilitating Learning for the Attention – Deficit/Hyperactivity Disordered

The study investigated the extent of counsellor’s identification of thesymptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and the counselling strategies the counsellors use to facilitate learning for such learners. Two research questions and two hypotheses guided the study. The design of the study was survey. The area of the study is Anambra State. No sampling was done. 703 counsellors constitute the population of the study. The instrument for data collection was a questionnaire developed by the researchers. The instrument with two clusters was validated and reliability co-efficient of 0.86 and 0.92 were calculated using test re-test. Mean scores were used to answer the research questions while t-test was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05level of significance. The findings revealed that counsellors could not identify some of the symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and they do not use some counselling strategies for facilitating learning for the attention deficit/hyperactivity disordered. Also there was no significance different between the mean responses of male and female counsellors on the strategies for facilitating learning. Based on the findings, recommendations were made

Experiences of obesity among Saudi Arabian women contemplating bariatric surgery: An interpretative phenomenological analysis

This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final published article is available from the link below. Copyright @ 2013 The Authors.This study explored experiences of obesity, its perceived causes and motives for surgery, as described by seven Saudi women contemplating bariatric surgery. The women experienced cultural restrictions on their physical and social activities. Obesity embodied these restrictions, attracting stigma and moral failure. Traditional clothing, foods, hospitality norms and limited outdoor female activities were regarded as barriers to weight loss. Bariatric surgery was chosen to protect health and to access normative female roles. Some were encouraged by relatives who had undergone surgery. Opting for surgery reflected both participants’ sense of powerlessness to self-manage weight and the social acceptability, within their family context, of this biomedical approach

Role of live autochthonous fungi in removing toxic metals from tannery and textile effluents

Decontamination potential of two autochthonous fungi, Aspergillus niger and Fusarium oxysporum, was checked in tannery and textile effluents. The fungi grew well in both industrial effluents, A. niger showing a greater biomass than F. oxysporum in both effluents. A. niger showed less growth with increasing concentration of effluents while F. oxysporum showed increase in growth with increasing effluent concentration, with optimum mycelial biomass in 60% effluent concentration. A greater metal content was absorbed from higher concentration of effluents by both fungi. A significant amount of all metals was absorbed by both fungi, but a greater amount was absorbed from the tannery as compared to textile effluents. A greater reduction of heavy metals was observed in effluents by A. niger. Up to 75% reduction of Zn was caused in tannery effluents and 76% reduction of Cu in textile effluents by A. niger.Key words: Autochthonous fungi, bioremediation, toxic metals, tannery effluents, textile effluents

Cumulate causes for the low contents of sulfide-loving elements in the continental crust

Despite the economic importance of chalcophile (sulfide-loving) and siderophile (metal-loving) elements (CSEs), it is unclear how they become enriched or depleted in the continental crust, compared with the oceanic crust. This is due in part to our limited understanding of the partitioning behaviour of the CSEs. Here I compile compositional data for mid-ocean ridge basalts and subduction-related volcanic rocks. I show that the mantle-derived melts that contribute to oceanic and continental crust formation rarely avoid sulfide saturation during cooling in the crust and, on average, subduction-zone magmas fractionate sulfide at the base of the continental crust prior to ascent. Differentiation of mantle-derived melts enriches lower crustal sulfide- and silicate-bearing cumulates in some CSEs compared with the upper crust. This storage predisposes the cumulate-hosted compatible CSEs (such as Cu and Au) to be recycled back into the mantle during subduction and delamination, resulting in their low contents in the bulk continental crust and potentially contributing to the scarcity of ore deposits in the upper continental crust. By contrast, differentiation causes the upper oceanic and continental crust to become enriched in incompatible CSEs (such as W) compared with the lower oceanic and continental crust. Consequently, incompatible CSEs are predisposed to become enriched in subduction-zone magmas that contribute to continental crust formation and are less susceptible to removal from the continental crust via delamination compared with the compatible CSEs

Effects of position and phonation on oropharyngealview and correlation with laryngoscpic view

To evaluate the effects of phonation and various head and body positions on oropharyngeal view (Mallampati score), and the correlation of these with laryngoscopic view, using the Cormack and Lehane score. Four hundred (390) consecutive patients were evaluated in the wards during preoperativeanaesthetic review. During airway assessment, the patients were placed in various head and body positions to determine oropharyngeal structures visualized , with and without phonation, according to the Mallampati testscore. In the operating theatre, laryngoscopic view scores (according to Cormack and Lehane) were recorded, and the various scores analyzed.Phonation consistently improved the Mallampati scores in all the head and body positions. The scores were better in the supine position compared to the sitting position. The best correlation of the Mallampati scorewith the Cormack and Lehane score was in the siiting, head maximally extended position, without phonation. Extention of the head improved the score in the sitting position, but not in the supine position. Phonationreduced the correlation of the scores in all the positions. We conclude that the best position to conduct the Mallampati test is sitting, head maximallyextended, without phonation.This correlated best with laryngoscopic view score in our study