Visual Function and Brief Cognitive Assessment for Multiple Sclerosis (BICAMS) in Optic Neuritis Clinically Isolated Syndrome Patients

BACKGROUND: In this study, we hypothesized that clinically isolated syndrome–optic neuritis patients may have disturbances in neuropsychological functions related to visual processes. METHODS: Forty-two patients with optic neuritis within 3 months from onset and 13 healthy controls were assessed at baseline and 6 months with MRI (brain volumes, lesion load, and optic radiation lesion volume) and optical coherence tomography (OCT) (peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer [RNFL], ganglion cell and inner plexiform layers [GCIPLs], and inner nuclear layer). Patients underwent the brief cognitive assessment for multiple sclerosis, high-contrast and low-contrast letter acuity, and color vision. RESULTS: At baseline, patients had impaired visual function, had GCIPL thinning in both eyes, and performed below the normative average in the visual-related tests: Symbol Digit Modalities Test and Brief Visuospatial Memory Test-Revised (BVMT-R). Over time, improvement in visual function in the affected eye was predicted by baseline GCIPL (P = 0.015), RNFL decreased, and the BVMT-R improved (P = 0.001). Improvement in BVMT-R was associated with improvement in the high-contrast letter acuity of the affected eye (P = 0.03), independently of OCT and MRI metrics. CONCLUSION: Cognitive testing, assessed binocularly, of visuospatial processing is affected after unilateral optic neuritis and improves over time with visual recovery. This is not related to structural markers of the visual or central nervous system

Biomechanics of the clean and jerk in weightlifting national Jordanian team

Seven elite national Jordanian weightlifters were videoed at 50 fields per second from the sagittal plane during the execution of the clean and jerk (C&J) on an AMTI force platform with 3 weights of submaximal lifts; low medium and high weights (35%, 65%, 85%) of their maximum. Linear and angular kinematics of the barbell with the ground reaction forces histories of the lower body were analysed using Kinova & APAS. A significant decrease was found in the maximum vertical velocity of the barbell during the second pull of the heaviest lift (p < 0.05). Maximum extension velocity of the hip joint significantly increased during the first pull of the heaviest lift (p < 0.05). Vertical velocity and maximum bar height decreased during the second pull, especially at 85%. Angle-angle diagrams of the knee and hip profile showed major differences among participants, especially at the 85% lift of their maximum

Nutritional Practices of Athletes in Oman: A Descriptive Study

Objective: Adequate dietary intake is crucial for optimum training and performance of athletes. There is almost no available information related to dietary practices among Omani athletes, especially during the competition. This study aimed to assess the nutritional practices (nutritional knowledge, eating habits and daily nutrients intake) among Omani male handball athletes in Muscat city, Oman.Methods: This is a cross sectional study including 35 male handball athletes involved in serious training for no less than three years. Data collection was done through personal interviews using a study questionnaire which enlisted questions relating to socio-demographic information, anthropometric measurements and nutritional practices. All the study participants declared no intake of anabolic steroids.Results: The mean age of the study participants was 27 ± 3 years. Their anthropometric assessment revealed that their mean height was 166 ± 12 cm, mean weight was 75 ± 10 kg, and body mass index was 27 ± 3. Nutritional knowledge analysis revealed that 80% had no nutritional supervision by a nutritionist/dietitian. Their knowledge of nutritional requirements was only 23% correct for total energy intake, 63% for protein intake, 46% for carbohydrate intake, 11% for fat intake and 83% for water intake. Eating habits indicated that 55% had <3 meals/day, 51% had lunch as the principal meal, 51% always added extra salt to their food, 28% took protein supplements on a daily basis, and 51% used pre-competition glycogen load diet. However, none consumed vitamins or mineral supplements. The mean daily caloric intake was 3674 ± 265 kcal/day, which was roughly comprised of 596 ± 66 g carbohydrates, 147 ± 28 g of protein and 78 ± 20 g of total fat.Conclusion: Professional nutritional supervision is needed in order to improve the nutritional knowledge and eating habits of Omani athletes, and therefore improve their athletic performance

Dizajniranje i sinteza novih derivata tiofenkarbohidrazida, tienopirazola i tienopirimidina s antioksidativnim i antitumorskim djelovanjem

2-Amino-5-acetyl-4-methyl-thiophene-3-carboxylic acid ethyl ester (1) and 5-acetyl-2-amino-4-methylthiophene-3-carbohydrazide (2) were synthesized and used as starting materials for the synthesis of new series of 1-(5-amino-4-(3,5-dimethyl-1H-pyrazole-1-carbonyl)-3-methylthiophen-2-yl) ethanone (3a), 1-(5-amino-4-(4-chloro-3,5-dimethyl-1H-pyrazole-1-carbonyl)-3-methylthiophen-2-yl) ethanone (3b), 1-(4-methyl-2-amino-5-acetylthiophene-3-carbonyl) pyrazolidine-3,5-dione (4), (Z)-N\u27-(4-methyl-2-amino-5-acetylthiophene-3-carbonyl) formohydrazonic acid (5a), (Z)-ethyl-N\u27-(4-methyl-2-amino-5-acetylthiophene-3-carbonylformo hydrazonate (5b), 6-acetyl-3-amino-2,5-dimethylthieno2,3-dpyrimidin-4(3H)-one (8), 5-methyl-3-amino-2-mercapto-6-acetylthieno2,3-dpyrimidin-4(3H)-one (10) and 5-methyl-6-acetyl-2-thioxo-2,3-dihydrothieno2,3-dpyrimidin-4(1H)-one (12) as potential antioxidant and antitumor agents. Pharmacological results showed that compounds 6a, 6b, 8, 10 and 12 exhibited promising antitumor and antioxidant activity.Etilni ester 2-amino-5-acetil-4-metil-tiofen-3-karboksilne kiseline (1) i 5-acetil-2-amino-4-metiltiofen-3-karbohidrazid (2) sintetizirani su i upotrebljeni kao reaktanti u sintezi novih spojeva 1-(5-amino-4-(3,5-dimetil-1H-pirazol-1-karbonil)-3-metiltiofen-2-il) etanona (3a), 1-(5-amino-4-(4-klor-3,5-dimetil-1H-pirazol-1-karbonil)-3-metiltiofen-2-il) etanona (3b), 1-(4-metil-2-amino-5-acetiltiofen-3-karbonil) pirazolidin-3,5-diona (4), (Z)-N\u27-(4-metil-2-amino-5-acetiltiofen-3-karbonil) formohidrazonske kiseline (5a), (Z)-etil-N\u27-(4-metil-2-amino-5-acetiltiofen-3-karbonilformo hidrazonata (5b), 6-acetil-3-amino-2,5-dimetiltieno2,3-dpirimidin-4(3H)-one (8), 5-metil-3-amino-2-merkapto-6-acetiltieno2,3-dpirimidin-4(3H)-ona (10) i 5-metil-6-acetil-2-tiokso-2,3-dihidrotieno2,3-dpirimidin-4(1H)-ona (12) kao potencijalnih antioksidansa i citostatika. Farmakološka ispitivanja ukazuju na to da spojevi 6a, 6b, 8, 10 i 12 imaju značajno antitumorsko i antioksidativno djelovanje

Synthesis and antimicrobial activity of some penicillin and cephalosporin derivatives

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A founder CEP120 mutation in Jeune asphyxiating thoracic dystrophy expands the role of centriolar proteins in skeletal ciliopathies.

Jeune asphyxiating thoracic dystrophy (JATD) is a skeletal dysplasia characterized by a small thoracic cage and a range of skeletal and extra-skeletal anomalies. JATD is genetically heterogeneous with at least nine genes identified, all encoding ciliary proteins, hence the classification of JATD as a skeletal ciliopathy. Consistent with the observation that the heterogeneous molecular basis of JATD has not been fully determined yet, we have identified two consanguineous Saudi families segregating JATD who share a single identical ancestral homozygous haplotype among the affected members. Whole-exome sequencing revealed a single novel variant within the disease haplotype in CEP120, which encodes a core centriolar protein. Subsequent targeted sequencing of CEP120 in Saudi and European JATD cohorts identified two additional families with the same missense mutation. Combining the four families in linkage analysis confirmed a significant genome-wide linkage signal at the CEP120 locus. This missense change alters a highly conserved amino acid within CEP120 (p.Ala199Pro). In addition, we show marked reduction of cilia and abnormal number of centrioles in fibroblasts from one affected individual. Inhibition of the CEP120 ortholog in zebrafish produced pleiotropic phenotypes characteristic of cilia defects including abnormal body curvature, hydrocephalus, otolith defects and abnormal renal, head and craniofacial development. We also demonstrate that in CEP120 morphants, cilia are shortened in the neural tube and disorganized in the pronephros. These results are consistent with aberrant CEP120 being implicated in the pathogenesis of JATD and expand the role of centriolar proteins in skeletal ciliopathies

Effects of pre- and post-operative resistance exercise interventions on recovery of physical function in patients undergoing abdominal surgery for cancer: A systematic review of randomised controlled trials

Objective: To systematically review the effects of pre- and post-operative resistance exercise training on the recovery of physical function in patients undergoing abdominal surgery for cancer. Data sources: A systematic review of English articles using Medline, PEDro, Cinahl and The Cochrane Library electronic databases was undertaken. Eligibility criteria for selecting studies: Studies were included if they used a randomised, quasi-randomised, or controlled trial study design and compared the effects of a muscle-strengthening exercise intervention (+/- other therapy) with a comparative non-exercise group; involved adult participants (≥18 years) who had elected to undergo abdominal surgery for cancer; and used muscle strength, physical function, self-reported functional ability, range of motion and/or a performance-based test as an outcome measure. Results: Following screening of titles and abstracts of the 588 publications retrieved from the initial search, 24 studies met the inclusion criteria and were accessed for review of the full-text version of the article and 2 eligible met the inclusion criteria and were included in the review. One exercise programme was undertaken pre-operatively and the other post-operatively, until discharge from hospital. There were no differences between groups in either study. Conclusion: The only two studies designed to determine whether pre- or post-operative resistance muscle-strengthening exercise programmes improved or negatively affected physical function outcomes in patients undergoing abdominal surgery for cancer provide inconclusive results. The exercise interventions of the included studies were performed for 5 and 8 session respectively

Joint Associations of Activity Energy Expenditure and Sedentary Behaviors with Adolescent's Obesity and Dietary Habits

PURPOSE: Physical inactivity and sedentary behaviors are thought to be independent entities and differently associate with adverse health outcomes. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the joint associations of physical activity and sedentary behaviors with obesity indices and dietary habits among adolescents from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. METHODS: Data were from the Arab Teens Lifestyle Study (ATLS), a school based, cross-sectional lifestyle study. The present analysis included 6279 adolescents (49.4% males) aged 14-20 years, randomly selected from eight major cities in the GCC countries, using a multistage stratified cluster sampling technique. Anthropometric and self-reported lifestyle data were obtained from participants. Adolescents were classified into four categories: high active & low sedentary (HA-LS), high active & high sedentary (HA- HS), low active & low sedentary (LA-LS) and low active & high sedentary (LA-HS), based on cut off scores of total activity energy expenditure and daily screen time above and below 1680 METs-min/week and above or below 3 hours/day, respectively. RESULTS: Results of MANCOVA tests controlling for age revealed that compared with those with LA-HS, adolescents with HA-LS had signifi cantly (<0.001) lower mean (SD) values for BMI (22.6 (5.5) vs 23.7 (6.2)), waist to height ratio (0.45 (.07) vs 0.48 (.08)), and less frequent intakes of sugar-sweetened drinks (3.7 (2.5) vs 4.5 (2.3)), fast foods (2.2 (1.9) vs 2.9 (1.9)), French fries/potato chips (2.1 (2.0) vs 2.9 (2.1)), cakes/donuts (2.4 (2.1) vs 2.7 (2.1)) and sweets (2.5 (2.1)) vs 3.8 (2.3) but more frequent intakes of breakfast (3.9 (2.7) vs 3.3 (2.6)), vegetables (4.4 (2.3) vs 3.5 (2.4)), fruits (4.2 (2.3) vs 2.8 (2.2)) and milk (4.3 (2.5) vs 3.6 (2.5)). CONCLUSIONS: Adolescents with combined high activity energy expenditure and low sedentary behaviors tend to have lower risk of obesity and have more favorable (healthy) dietary habits. These findings carry important implications for adolescent’s health promotion and obesity prevention.American College of Sports Medicin

Pairwise tests of purchasing power parity

Given nominal exchange rates and price data on N + 1 countries indexed by i = 0,1,2,…, N, the standard procedure for testing purchasing power parity (PPP) is to apply unit root or stationarity tests to N real exchange rates all measured relative to a base country, 0, often taken to be the U.S. Such a procedure is sensitive to the choice of base country, ignores the information in all the other cross-rates and is subject to a high degree of cross-section dependence which has adverse effects on estimation and inference. In this article, we conduct a variety of unit root tests on all possible N(N + 1)/2 real rates between pairs of the N + 1 countries and estimate the proportion of the pairs that are stationary. This proportion can be consistently estimated even in the presence of cross-section dependence. We estimate this proportion using quarterly data on the real exchange rate for 50 countries over the period 1957-2001. The main substantive conclusion is that to reject the null of no adjustment to PPP requires sufficiently large disequilibria to move the real rate out of the band of inaction set by trade costs. In such cases, one can reject the null of no adjustment to PPP up to 90% of the time as compared to around 40% in the whole sample using a linear alternative and almost 60% using a nonlinear alternative

Excitons and cavity polaritons for ultracold atoms in an optical lattice

We study the resonant electronic excitation dynamics for ultracold atoms trapped in a deep optical lattice prepared in a Mott insulator state. Excitons in these artificial crystals are similar to Frenkel excitons in Noble atom or molecular crystals. They appear when the atomic excited state line width is smaller than the exciton band width generated by dipole-dipole coupling. When the atoms are placed within a cavity the electronic excitations and the quantized cavity mode get coupled. In the collective strong coupling regime excitations form two branches of cavity polaritons with Rabi splitting larger than the atomic and the cavity line width. To demonstrate their properties we calculate the transmission, reflection, and absorption spectra for an incident weak probe field, which show resonances at the polariton frequencies.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figure