INDEPENDENT ORIGINATION OF FLORAL ZYGOMORPHY, A PREDICTED ADAPTIVE RESPONSE TO POLLINATORS: DEVELOPMENTAL AND GENETIC MECHANISMS

Observations of floral development indicate that floral organ initiation in pentapetalous flowers more commonly results in a medially positioned abaxial petal (MAB) than in a medially positioned adaxial petal (MAD), where the medial plane is defined by the stem and the bract during early floral development. It was proposed that the dominant MAB petal initiation might impose a developmental constraint that leads to the evolution of limited patterns of floral zygomorphy in Asteridae, a family in which the floral zygomorphy develops along the medial plane and results in a central ventral (CV) petal in mature flowers. Here, I investigate whether the pattern of floral organ initiation may limit patterns of floral zygomorphy to evolve in pentapetalous angiosperms. I analyzed floral diagrams representing 405 species in 330 genera of pentapetalous angiosperms to reconstruct the evolution of floral organ initiation and the evolution of developmental processes that give rise to floral zygomorphy on a phylogenetic framework. Results indicate that MAB petal initiation is the most common; it occupies 86.2% of diversity and represents the ancestral state of floral organ initiation in pentapetalous angiosperms. The MAD petal initiation evolved 28 times independently from the ancestral MAB petal initiation. Among the 34 independent originations of floral zygomorphy, 76.5% of these clades represent MAB petal initiation, among which only 47% of the clades result a CV petal in mature flowers. The discrepancy is explained by the existence of developmental processes that result in floral zygomorphy along oblique planes of floral symmetry in addition to along the medial plane. Findings suggest that although the early floral organ initiation plays a constraining role to the evolution of patterns of floral zygomorphy, the constraint diverges along phylogenetically distantly related groups that allow the independent originations of floral zygomorphy through distinct development processes in pentapetalous angiosperms. In additional study, the butterfly-like flowers of Schizanthus are adapted to pollination by bees, hummingbirds, and moths. I investigated the genetic basis of the zygomorphic corolla, for which development is key to the explosive pollen release mechanism found in the species of Schizanthus adapted to bee pollinators. I examined differential gene expression profiles across the zygomorphic corolla of Schizanthus pinnatus, a bee-pollinated species, by analyzing RNA transcriptome sequencing (RNA- seq). Data indicated that CYC2 is not expressed in the zygomorphic corolla of Sc. pinnatus, suggesting CYC2 is not involved in the development of floral zygomorphy in Schizanthus (Solanaceae). The data also indicated that a number of genes are differentially expressed across the corolla

Analytical and Comparative Study of Change in Functional Purpose of Some Archaeological and Historical Architectures in Cairo During the 19th and 20th Centuries

This research paper aims to discuss the nature of change in the functional purpose of some archaeological and historical buildings in Cairo during the 19th and 20th centuries along with a comparative study of some of the most important heritage constructions and evidences in the world, such as the British Museum in London, as well as the Historical Railway Station of Orsay in Paris. There are some practical attempts and technical procedures that have been carried out to achieve some functional purposes, differ from the original purposes of the archaeological and historical buildings in Cairo in particular. In a similar way, this has been applied to historical and heritage buildings around the world in general. The methodology of this study will be addressed through analytical and comparative study of the original idea or the original functional purpose of these archaeological and historical buildings.The outlines and features of change in the functional purpose of these archaeological and historical buildings are represented in some technical procedures like the technique of adaptive rehabilitation or rehabilitation in terms of adaptation, so there is a necessity for conformity and harmony between heritage buildings and modern functional purpose, and this should be done without any disagreement and repulsion with the original functional purpose. There is also a necessity to protect the original functional purpose, which should be adapted to the modern functional purpose in order to achieve compatibility between old and new integration processes

Evaluation of quality of service in fourth generation wireless and mobile networks

Communication networks extend network capacity and coverage by leveraging network and resource architecture in a dynamic way. However, because of the different communication technologies and quality of service (QoS, managing and monitoring these networks are too difficult. All communication technology has its own characteristics while the applications you use have their own QoS requirements. The methods are based on the QoS analysis for each application or access network separately. However, these methods do not combine all performance and wireless access networks while reporting QoS quality to the group Arrangement. Therefore, it is difficult to obtain any aggregate performance results using these methods. In this project, a methodical method is applied for the QoS analysis of these types of networks. The method uses a fuzzy logic (FL), artificial neural network (ANN) and Adaptive Neuro-fuzzy Interference System (ANFIS) to evaluate and predict the performance QoS of networks. The proposed methods consider the significance of QoS-related parameters, the available network-based applications, and the available Radio Access Networks (RANs) to characterize the network performance with a set of three integrated QoS metrics. The first metric denotes the performance of each available application on the network, the second one represents the performance of each active RAN on the network, and the third one characterizes the QoS level of the entire network configuration. The obtained predicting output were compared to the actual data and to each other to test which system the best for this study. The results ANN model were the closed to the real data than outcome ANFIS model

Awareness About Osteoporosis Among University Students in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Osteoporosis is a global public health problem. It is estimated that about 9.0 million osteoporotic fractures occurred in the year 2000 and that many were due to osteoporosis. Awareness about osteoporosis and factors contributing to it is of great benefit and is a major public health challenge. The objective of this study is the level of awareness about osteoporosis among university students in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Questionnaires were distributed among university students to assess their osteoporosis knowledge level. One hundred questionnaires were collected and the osteoporosis knowledge level was assessed. SPSS was used to analyze the data. Over three-quarters of participating students (77%) have a high level of knowledge about osteoporosis. There is a statistically significant positive correlation between the level of osteoporosis knowledge and the length of study at KAU and the marital status (p=<0.01). Furthermore, there is a statistically significant negative correlation between the level of osteoporosis knowledge and economic status. Raising knowledge about osteoporosis is an important and effective tool in preventing osteoporosis

A Comparison of False Positive Rates for Regadenoson and Treadmill Exercise in Myocardial Perfusion Imaging

poster abstractThe purpose of this research was to find if the pharmacologic stress agent, regadenoson, yields more false positive results than treadmill exercise when doing a myocardial perfusion stress testing. Methods: The subjects for this research were chosen retrospectively and included 34 patients that were stressed with treadmill exercise and the 34 patients that were stressed using regadenoson. All subjects had a positive myocardial perfusion study with either treadmill stress or regadenoson stress and had a subsequent cardiac catheterization procedure within six months of the positive MPI test. The false positive rate was measured for each stress method, using the catheterization results as the reference standard. Results: The false positive rate for patients who underwent treadmill exercise was 24% (8/34). The false positive rate for patients who underwent pharmacologic stress with regadenoson was 35% (12/34). Conculsion: Treadmill exercise for MPI should be utilized whenever possible to prohibit unnecessary cardiac catheterization procedures

Impact of vitamin D deficiency on maternal and birth outcomes in the Saudi population: a cross-sectional study

STROBE Statement. (DOC 92.5 kb

A Retrospective Study of Malaria and Its Effect on Hematological Indices in a Hospital in Jizan, Saudi Arabia

Malaria is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality with a major public health importance. Nearly half of the world population is at risk of malaria. In Saudi Arabia, a series of malaria outbreaks occurred in Jizan area and vigorous action was taken by the Saudi Ministry of Health to control malaria in this area. This study aimed at investigating the incidence of malaria Jizan area in 2014 and the effect of malarial infection on several hematological indices. Data were retrospectively collected for the year 2014 from Samtah General Hospital for all malaria positive cases. A total of 44 patients results were obtained for those who were diagnosed as positive for malaria together with their hematological indices and demographic data. A total of 3674 cases were suspected of malaria and only 44 cases were positive. The highest peaks of malaria cases were seen during the months of March and December. A statistically significant reduction in the WBC and Platelet count was observed in malaria positive cases. This study suggests that the malaria control in Jizan area be continued. Providing highly qualified lab personnel and microscopist in the area is very beneficial in order to achieve the malaria eradication goal