An assessment of sphere drag coefficient data

Wind tunnel test data for falling sphere drag coefficient determinatio

The value of the sacrament of the sick for mentally retarded persons

The purpose of this paper was to review research and current literature concerning the value of the sacrament of the sick for mentally retarded persons. Its specific threefold purpose was to explore the following questions: 1. Who is eligible for the anointing? 2. Why should the mentally retarded person be anointed? 3· How will the sacrament be administered most effectively

An exploration of the role of the school secretary/administrator in the city of Dublin vocational education committee (CDVEC)

The objective of this study is to examine the role of the school secretary/administrator in CDVEC and to make recommendations that will improve the understanding of the role and performance for the benefit of all stakeholders. In completing the study the researcher consulted with stakeholder representatives as to their understanding of the importance of the role. CDVEC is the largest VEC in the Republic of Ireland. It delivers a broad range of educational courses and provides a wide variety of complementary and supplementary services. The focus of this study is on the school secretaries/administrators who work in the twenty- two schools and colleges. The conceptual framework in which the investigative component of the research was carried out was based on a critical theory approach. It focused on best practices in school administration and research carried out in New York and London which was included in the research analysis and served to enrich perspectives and findings. The study was completed in the context of huge change in education and education administration. Many of the legislative and curriculum changes that have taken place over the past decade has impacted heavily on the role and responsibility of the secretary/administrator. Very little research has been carried out on this subject in Ireland to date. As a result very little discussion and change has occurred on how secretaries/ administrators can be upskilled to help them with the many changes implemented and with many more to come. The research findings identified a range of key issues that if addressed would be of benefit to the students and other key stakeholders. Many aspects of the role are clarified and recommendations are made as to how it can support and influence future improvements in CDVEC education

Measuring Multidimensional Poverty and Inequality in Pakistan

The key development objective of Pakistan, since its existence, has been to reduce poverty, inequality and to improve the condition of its people. While this goal seems very important in itself yet is also necessary for the eradication of other social, political and economic problems. The objective to eradicate poverty has remained same but methodology to analysing this has changed. It can be said that failure of most of the poverty strategies is due to lack of clear choice of poverty definition. A sound development policy including poverty alleviation hinges upon accurate and well-defined measurements of multidimensional socio-economic characteristics which reflect the ground realities confronting the poor and down trodden rather than using some abstract/income based criteria for poverty measurement. Conventionally welfare has generally been measured using income or expenditures criteria. Similarly, in Pakistan poverty has been measured mostly in uni-dimension, income or expenditures variables. However, recent literature on poverty has pointed out some drawbacks in measuring uni-dimensional poverty in terms of money. It is argued that uni-dimensional poverty measures are insufficient to understand the wellbeing of individuals. Poverty is a multidimensional concept rather than a unidimensional. Uni-dimensional poverty is unable to capture a true picture of poverty because poverty is more than income deprivatio

Supplemental fish oil decreases urinary excretion of a marker of bone resorption in healthy adults

Background: Incorporation of fish oil (FO) into the diet of rodents has been shown to result in positive changes in bone health. Currently it is poorly understood if FO has the same effects on bone health in humans. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of supplemental FO on levels of urinary N-terminal cross-linked telopeptide (NTx), which is a marker of bone breakdown, and how this is related to the morning levels of salivary cortisol and urinary excretion of interleukin 6 (IL-6). Methods: A total of twenty-eight females and twelve males(35 ± 13yrs; 69.1 ± 14.1kg; 29.4 ± 9.2% body fat; mean ± SD) participated in this study. All testing was conducted in the morning following an overnight fast. Baseline measurements of salivary cortisol were collected via passive drool and baseline measurements of urinary NTxand IL- 6 were collected from the second void of the day and corrected for creatinine excretion. After baseline testing, subjects were assigned randomly in a double blind manner to one of two groups: 4 g/d of Safflower Oil (SO) or 4 g/d of FO supplying 1,600 mg/d eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and 800 mg/d docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). All tests were repeated following 6wk of treatment. A treatment by time, repeated measures ANOVA was used to evaluate differences between groups over time, and a standard Pearson’s r was used to evaluate correlations. Additionally, within group pre-post differences were evaluated using a repeated measures t-test. For all analysis, the alpha level was set at p\u3c0.05. Results: Compared to the SO group, there was a significant decrease in urinary creatinine corrected NTx excretion following FO treatment (SO = 17.5 ± 42.9 BCE/mM; FO = -11.3 ± 27.7 BCE/mM; p=0.02). There was also a tendency for urinary creatinine corrected IL-6 excretion (SO = -0.08 ± 1.18pg/mg; FO = -1.8 ± 3.8 pg/mg; p=0.08), and salivary cortisol (SO = 0.029±0.283 μg/dL; FO = -0.069 ± 0.144 μg/dL; p=0.13) to decrease following FO treatment.When analyzed independently, however, there was a significant pre-post reduction for salivary cortisol in the FO group (p=0.04), with no change in the SO group (p=0.68), as well as a significant reduction pre-post for urinary IL-6 in the FO group (p=0.05), with no change in the SO group (p=0.78). However, the change in urinary NTx concentrationwas not related to the change insalivary cortisol concentration( r=-0.017, p=0.9), or the change in urinary IL-6 concentration (r=-0.323, p=0.26). Conclusions: Six weeks of supplementation with FO in adults significantly decreased urinary NTx excretion, but this change was not related to changes in cortisol or IL-6

Is Congress\u27 Latest Effort to De-Juice Professional Sports Unconstitutional?

xxxi+804 hal.; 28 c

[Accepted Manuscript] Galleria mellonella is low cost and suitable surrogate host for studying virulence of human pathogenic Vibrio cholerae.

Vibrio cholerae causes a severe diarrheal disease affecting millions of people worldwide, particularly in low income countries. V. cholerae successfully persist in aquatic environment and its pathogenic strains results in sever enteric disease in humans. This dual life style contributes towards its better survival and persistence inside host gut and in the environment. Alternative animal replacement models are of great value in studying host-pathogen interaction and for quick screening of various pathogenic strains. One such model is Galleria mellonella, a wax worm which has a complex innate immune system and here we investigate its suitability as a model for clinical human isolates of O1 El TOR, Ogawa serotype belonging to two genetically distinct subclades found in Pakistan (PSC-1 and PSC-2). We demonstrate that the PSC-2 strain D59 frequently isolated from inland areas, was more virulent than PSC-1 strain K7 mainly isolated from coastal areas (p=0.0001). In addition, we compared the relative biofilm capability of the representative strains as indicators of their survival and persistence in the environment and K7 showed enhanced biofilm forming capabilities (p=0.004). Finally we present the annotated genomes of the strains D59 and K7, and compared them with the reference strain N16961

Metal sources of world-class polymetallic W–Sn Skarns in the Nanling Range, South China: Granites versus sedimentary rocks?

Widespread, large-scale polymetallic W–Sn mineralization occurs throughout the Nanling Range (South China) dated 160–150Ma, and related to widely developed coeval granitic magmatism. Although intense research has been carried out on these deposits, the relative contribution of ore-forming elements either from granites or from surrounding strata is still debated. In addition, the factors controlling the primary metallogenic element in any given skarn deposit (e.g., W-dominated or Sn-dominated) are still unclear. Here, we select three of the most significant skarn-deposits (i.e., Huangshaping W–Mo–Sn, Shizhuyuan W–Sn–Mo–Bi and Xianghualing Sn), and compare their whole-rock geochemistry with the composition of associated granites and strata. The contents of Si, Al and most trace elements in skarns are controlled by the parent granite, whereas their Fe, Ca, Mg, Mn, Ti, Sr and REE patterns are strongly influenced by the wall rock. Samples from the Huangshaping skarn vary substantially in elemental composition, probably indicating their varied protoliths. Strata at the Shizhuyuan deposit exerted a strong control during metasomatism, whereas this occurred to a lesser degree at Huangshaping and Xianghualing. This correlates with increasing magma differentiation and increasing reduction state of granitic magmas, which along with the degree of stratigraphic fluid circulation, exert the primary control on dominant metallogenic species. We propose that wall rock sediments played an important role in the formation of W–Sn polymetallic mineralization in South China

Antifungal activity of redox-active benzaldehydes that target cellular antioxidation

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Disruption of cellular antioxidation systems should be an effective method for control of fungal pathogens. Such disruption can be achieved with redox-active compounds. Natural phenolic compounds can serve as potent redox cyclers that inhibit microbial growth through destabilization of cellular redox homeostasis and/or antioxidation systems. The aim of this study was to identify benzaldehydes that disrupt the fungal antioxidation system. These compounds could then function as chemosensitizing agents in concert with conventional drugs or fungicides to improve antifungal efficacy.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Benzaldehydes were tested as natural antifungal agents against strains of <it>Aspergillus fumigatus</it>, <it>A. flavus</it>, <it>A. terreus </it>and <it>Penicillium expansum</it>, fungi that are causative agents of human invasive aspergillosis and/or are mycotoxigenic. The yeast <it>Saccharomyces cerevisiae </it>was also used as a model system for identifying gene targets of benzaldehydes. The efficacy of screened compounds as effective chemosensitizers or as antifungal agents in formulations was tested with methods outlined by the Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Several benzaldehydes are identified having potent antifungal activity. Structure-activity analysis reveals that antifungal activity increases by the presence of an <it>ortho</it>-hydroxyl group in the aromatic ring. Use of deletion mutants in the oxidative stress-response pathway of <it>S. cerevisiae </it>(<it>sod1</it>Δ, <it>sod2</it>Δ, <it>glr1</it>Δ) and two mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) mutants of <it>A. fumigatus </it>(<it>sakA</it>Δ, <it>mpkC</it>Δ), indicates antifungal activity of the benzaldehydes is through disruption of cellular antioxidation. Certain benzaldehydes, in combination with phenylpyrroles, overcome tolerance of <it>A. fumigatus </it>MAPK mutants to this agent and/or increase sensitivity of fungal pathogens to mitochondrial respiration inhibitory agents. Synergistic chemosensitization greatly lowers minimum inhibitory (MIC) or fungicidal (MFC) concentrations. Effective inhibition of fungal growth can also be achieved using combinations of these benzaldehydes.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Natural benzaldehydes targeting cellular antioxidation components of fungi, such as superoxide dismutases, glutathione reductase, <it>etc</it>., effectively inhibit fungal growth. They possess antifungal or chemosensitizing capacity to enhance efficacy of conventional antifungal agents. Chemosensitization can reduce costs, abate resistance, and alleviate negative side effects associated with current antifungal treatments.</p