A rapid assay for tyrosinase activity

A rapid assay for tyrosinase activit

Knowledge and attitudes of men to prostate cancer

Objective: To ascertain the current level of understanding about prostate cancer (PCa), including treatment options and potential side effects of treatment, among older men. Design and Setting: Questionnaires administered by general practitioners (GPs) in 5 general practices in the Perth metropolitan and regional areas of Western Australia. Participants: Convenience sample of men aged 40-80 years (n=503) with or without prostate cancer presenting for routine consultations. Main outcome measures: Knowledge and attitudes of men to prostate cancer Results: Eighty percent of men did not know the function of the prostate and 48% failed to identify PCa as the most common internal cancer in men. Thirty-five percent had no knowledge of the treatments for PCa and 53% had no knowledge of the side effects of treatments. Asked how they would arrive at a decision about treatment, 70% stated they would ask the GP/specialist for all their options and then decide themselves. Conclusion: This study confirms a deficit in knowledge of the disease among men in the at risk age group. Lack of knowledge encompassed areas which could delay diagnosis and hence treatment. Overall the population preferred some GP/specialist involvement in treatment decision making

Development of cryopreservation for Loxocarya cinerea - an endemic Australian plant species important for post-mining restoration

We report the development of a cryopreservation protocol for the endemic Western Australian plant species Loxocarya cinerea (Restionaceae). Shoot tips from two genotypes, SXH404 and SXH804, were cryopreserved using the droplet-vitrification technique. Control explants, which were cryoprotected, but not cooled, showed regeneration for both genotypes (SXH404, 22.1 ± 5.9%; SXH804, 67.7 ± 9.6%). Extension of incubation in PVS2 from 30 to 60 min did not lead to survival after cryopreservation. Thermal analysis using differential scanning calorimetry confirmed the beneficial effect of a loading phase but also revealed no or very little ice formation after cryoprotection of shoot tips in other treatments. Regeneration following cryopreservation was obtained for genotype SXH804 (4.3 ± 2.1%) but not for SXH404. Regenerated explants of L. cinerea SXH804 were morphologically identical to tissue-cultured plants. As an alternative to shoot tips, callus tissues of clone SXH404 were successfully cryopreserved (>66.7% post LN survival) using the same protocol

Generation of versatile ss-dsDNA hybrid substrates for single-molecule analysis.

Here, we describe a rapid and versatile protocol to generate gapped DNA substrates for single-molecule (SM) analysis using optical tweezers via site-specific Cas9 nicking and force-induced melting. We provide examples of single-stranded (ss) DNA gaps of different length and position. We outline protocols to visualize these substrates by replication protein A-enhanced Green Fluorescent Protein (RPA-eGFP) and SYTOX Orange staining using commercially available optical tweezers (C-TRAP). Finally, we demonstrate the utility of these substrates for SM analysis of bidirectional growth of RAD-51-ssDNA filaments. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Belan et al. (2021)

Influence of fructose and fatty-rich diet combined with vanadium on bone marrow cells

The aim of the study is to investigate the influence of diet treatment on bone marrow cells. Normal male Wistar rats were divided into six groups (n = 6 per group): control with normal diet (C), increased fructose (31 % w/w in fodder) (Fr) and high fatty (30 % w/w of animal fat in fodder) diet (Fa), and the same diets with vanadium complex ([VO(4,4′ Me2-2,2′ Bpy)2]SO4) · H2O (CV, FrV and FaV). During 5 weeks, the animals had unlimited access to food and water. Immediately after anaesthetizing and sacrificing the animals, bone marrow smears were prepared from the femurs. Different types of cell lines in the animal smears were examined under the microscope: erythroid line, myeloid line, monocytic line, megakariocytic line and lymphoid line. Addition of fructose or animal fat had evident influence on the proportional composition of the bone marrow cells. In erythroid precursors, addition of both investigated products resulted in a statistically significant increase of percentage of this type of cells. A reverse effect was observed for the lymphoid cell line where addition of both tested diets decreased quantity of these cells in comparison to the control diet. In the same lines, addition of vanadium intensified the observed changes. In the case of other types of cell lines, statistically significant changes were not observed

Classification of Construction Projects

The final publication is available at World Academy of Science via https://waset.org/Publication/classification-of-construction-projects/10001697 © 2015, This unmodified version is made available under the CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/In order to address construction project requirements and specifications, scholars and practitioners need to establish taxonomy according to a scheme that best fits their need. While existing characterization methods are continuously being improved, new ones are devised to cover project properties which have not been previously addressed. One such method, the Project Definition Rating Index (PDRI), has received limited consideration strictly as a classification scheme. Developed by the Construction Industry Institute (CII) in 1996, the PDRI has been refined over the last two decades as a method for evaluating a project's scope definition completeness during front-end planning (FEP). The main contribution of this study is a review of practical project classification methods, and a discussion of how PDRI can be used to classify projects based on their readiness in the FEP phase. The proposed model has been applied to 59 construction projects in Ontario, and the results are discussed

Modelling of thermal behaviour of iron oxide layers on boiler tubes

Slender boiler tubes are subject to localised swelling when they are expose to excessive heat. The latter is due to the formation of an oxide layer, which acts as an insulation barrier. This excessive heat can lead to microstructural changes in the material that would reduce the mechanical strength and would eventually lead to critical and catastrophic failure. Detecting such creep damage remains a formidable challenge for boiler operators. It involves a costly process of shutting down the plant, performing electromagnetic and ultrasonic non-destructive inspection, repairing or replacing damaged tubes and finally restarting the plant to resume its service. This research explores through a model developed using a finite element computer simulation platform the thermal behaviour of slender tubes under constant temperature exceeding 723 \K. Our simulation results demonstrate that hematite layers up to 15 \μm thickness inside the tubes do not act as insulation. They clearly show the process of long term overheating on the outside of boiler tubes which in turn leads to initiation of flaws

The effect of time delay on control stability of an electromagnetic active tuned mass damper for vibration control

The aim of this paper is to investigate the effect of time delays on the stability of a zero-placement position and velocity feedback law for a vibratory system comprising harmonic excitation equipped with an electromagnetic active tuned mass damper (ATMD). The purpose of the active control is broadening the vibration attenuation envelope of a primary mass to a higher frequency region identified as from 50±0.5Hz with a passive tuned mass damper (TMD) to a wider range of 50±5Hz with an ATMD. Stability conditions of the closed-loop system are determined by studying the position of the system closed-loop poles after the introduction of time delays for different excitation frequencies. A computer simulation of the model predicted that the proposed control system is subject to instability after a critical time delay margin dependent upon the frequency of excitation and the finding were experimentally validated. Three solutions are derived and experimentally tested for minimising the effect of time delays on the stability of the control system. The first solution is associated with the introduction of more damping in the absorber system. The second incorporates using a time-delayed ATMD by tuning its original natural resonant frequency to beyond the nominal operational frequency range of the composite system. The third involves an online gain tuning of filter coefficients in a dual arrangement of low-pass and high-pass filters to eliminate the effect time delays by manipulating the signal phase shifts

Biomechanical comparison of two surgical methods for Hallux Valgus deformity: Exploring the use of artificial neural networks as a decision-making tool for orthopedists

Hallux Valgus foot deformity affects gait performance. Common treatment options include distal oblique metatarsal osteotomy and chevron osteotomy. Nonetheless, the current process of selecting the appropriate osteotomy method poses potential biases and risks, due to its reliance on subjective human judgment and interpretation. The inherent variability among clinicians, the potential influence of individual clinical experiences, or inherent measurement limitations may contribute to inconsistent evaluations. To address this, incorporating objective tools like neural networks, renowned for effective classification and decision-making support, holds promise in identifying optimal surgical approaches. The objective of this cross-sectional study was twofold. Firstly, it aimed to investigate the feasibility of classifying patients based on the type of surgery. Secondly, it sought to explore the development of a decision-making tool to assist orthopedists in selecting the optimal surgical approach. To achieve this, gait parameters of twenty-three women with moderate to severe Hallux Valgus were analyzed. These patients underwent either distal oblique metatarsal osteotomy or chevron osteotomy. The parameters exhibiting differences in preoperative and postoperative values were identified through various statistical tests such as normalization, Shapiro-Wilk, non-parametric Wilcoxon, Student t, and paired difference tests. Two artificial neural networks were constructed for patient classification based on the type of surgery and to simulate an optimal surgery type considering postoperative walking speed. The results of the analysis demonstrated a strong correlation between surgery type and postoperative gait parameters, with the first neural network achieving a remarkable 100% accuracy in classification. Additionally, cases were identified where there was a mismatch with the surgeon’s decision. Our findings highlight the potential of artificial neural networks as a complementary tool for surgeons in making informed decisions. Addressing the study’s limitations, future research may investigate a wider range of orthopedic procedures, examine additional gait parameters and use more diverse and extensive datasets to enhance statistical robustness

Inheritance of chromosome 7 is associated with a drug-resistant phenotype in somatic cell hybrids.

A major form of drug resistance in tumour cells known as classical multidrug resistance (MDR) is associated with the overexpression of the mdr1 gene product, the membrane protein P-glycoprotein (P-gp), which acts as an energy-dependent drug efflux pump. In this study the inheritance of P-gp expression was examined using hybrids formed after somatic cell fusion between a drug-sensitive human T-cell leukaemia cell line, CEM/CCRF, and a drug-resistant derivative, CEM/A7, which is characterized by a clonal chromosomal duplication dup(7)(q11.23q31.2). Fourteen hybrids, chosen at random, were analysed by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and by binding studies involving the monoclonal antibody MRK16, which recognises an external P-gp epitope. Only two hybrids were positive for both MRK16 antibody labelling and mdr1 mRNA. Partial karyotypic analysis of all hybrids revealed that only the MRK16-positive hybrids contained the duplication in chromosome 7 seen in the CEM/A7 parental MDR line. Therefore, P-gp overexpression in the MRK16-positive hybrids may be linked to the inheritance of chromosome 7 from CEM/A7 and possibly associated with the chromosome 7 abnormality