ApolipoproteinA1-75 G/A (M1-) polymorphism and Lipoprotein(a); Anti- vs. Pro-Atherogenic properties

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The Role of Parenting in the Prediction of Criminal Involvement: Findings From a Nationally Representative Sample of Youth and a Sample of Adopted Youth

The role of parenting in the development of criminal behavior has been the source of a vast amount of research, with the majority of studies detecting statistically significant associations between dimensions of parenting and measures of criminal involvement. An emerging group of scholars, however, has drawn attention to the methodological limitations—mainly genetic confounding—of the parental socialization literature. The current study addressed this limitation by analyzing a sample of adoptees to assess the association between 8 parenting measures and 4 criminal justice outcome measures. The results revealed very little evidence of parental socialization effects on criminal behavior before controlling for genetic confounding and no evidence of parental socialization effects on criminal involvement after controlling for genetic confounding

A 600-Million-Year Carbonate Clumped-Isotope Record from the Sultanate of Oman

Carbonate clumped-isotope thermometry is a promising technique that has the potential to help decode the significance of the variability of both physical and geochemical compositions of ancient carbonate rocks. This study utilizes a 600-million-year record of marine carbonate rocks from the subsurface and surface of the Sultanate of Oman to explore how burial and exhumation affected the carbonate clumped-isotope thermometer. Samples span 6 km of burial depth, and include calcite and dolomite mineralogies and a range of carbonate rock textures. We find evidence for two broad patterns in the physical and geochemical behavior of carbonate rocks during burial. The first group of carbonates yield water δ^(18)O_(VSMOW) compositions slightly enriched or equal to an expected “ice-free” seawater composition of –1.2‰ and display good to fair textural preservation suggesting that cementation and lithification occurred within tens of meters of the sediment–water interface. Temperatures from the second group sit on the present-day geotherm, yield highly enriched water δ^(18)O_(VSMOW) compositions, and display fair to poor textural preservation. We find no evidence for solid-state reordering in paired analyses of calcites and dolomites. Our results contribute to a growing body of work that indicates that the seawater δ^(18)O_(VSMOW) composition has not changed significantly over 600 Myr and was not –6‰ in the Ediacaran

A 600-Million-Year Carbonate Clumped-Isotope Record from the Sultanate of Oman

Carbonate clumped-isotope thermometry is a promising technique that has the potential to help decode the significance of the variability of both physical and geochemical compositions of ancient carbonate rocks. This study utilizes a 600-million-year record of marine carbonate rocks from the subsurface and surface of the Sultanate of Oman to explore how burial and exhumation affected the carbonate clumped-isotope thermometer. Samples span 6 km of burial depth, and include calcite and dolomite mineralogies and a range of carbonate rock textures. We find evidence for two broad patterns in the physical and geochemical behavior of carbonate rocks during burial. The first group of carbonates yield water δ^(18)O_(VSMOW) compositions slightly enriched or equal to an expected “ice-free” seawater composition of –1.2‰ and display good to fair textural preservation suggesting that cementation and lithification occurred within tens of meters of the sediment–water interface. Temperatures from the second group sit on the present-day geotherm, yield highly enriched water δ^(18)O_(VSMOW) compositions, and display fair to poor textural preservation. We find no evidence for solid-state reordering in paired analyses of calcites and dolomites. Our results contribute to a growing body of work that indicates that the seawater δ^(18)O_(VSMOW) composition has not changed significantly over 600 Myr and was not –6‰ in the Ediacaran

Spatial distribution of organic carbon contents of Langkawi island coastal waters, Malaysia

The distribution of total organic carbon content (TOC) in surface sediments of 5 zones in the area of Langkawi Island coastal waters were analysed by using wet oxidation dichromate method. A total of 51 samples were obtained using Ekman Grab from Kuah coastal area (Zone A), Cenang coastal area (Zone B), Datai River (Zone E), Kilim River (Zone D) and Pulau Tuba waters (Zone E). In this study, the highest mean of organic carbon was found in zone A (2.27±0.59), followed by zone C (2.09±0.14), zone D (2.01±0.15), zone E (1.89±0.28) and the lowest is in zone B (1.72±0.38). A relatively weak positive relationship was also found between the organic carbon content and the sediments grain size

Lameness detection in sheep via multi-data analysis of a wearable sensor

Lameness is one of the significant concerns in the sheep industry in the UK. The prior detection of the lame sheep will be expected to decrease the prevalence of lameness, eliminate the annual loss of the individual sheep, and increase the overall farm productivity. The movement measurements for an individual sheep was retrieved from a mounted sensor on its neck. The sensor readings will be analysed according to data mining algorithms to predict lameness in its early stage. This study aims to build an automatic model to enable the shepherd to react quickly to the better treatment for the lame sheep

Clinical Pathways for Non-ST Elevation Acute Coronary Syndrome in Oman: An Oman Heart Association Protocol for Hospital Quality Improvement Initiative

In 2012, Oman Heart Association (OHA) published its own guidelines for the management of patients with unstable angina/non–ST-elevation myocardial infarction, the aim was not to be comprehensive but rather simplified and practical in order to reduce the gap between the long comprehensive guidelines and our actual practice. However, we still feel that the busy registrars and residents need simpler and direct clinical pathways or protocol to be used in the emergency departments, coronary care units and in the wards. Clinical pathways are now one of the main tools used to manage the quality in healthcare concerning the standardization of care processes. It has been shown that their implementation reduces the variability in clinical practice and improves outcomes in acute care

Microstructural, Mechanical and Physical Assessment of Portland Cement Concrete Pavement Modified by Sodium Acetate under Various Curing Conditions

Portland Cement Concrete (PCC) pavement was studied with incorporation of an environmentally friendly eco-additive, sodium acetate (C2H3NaO2). This additive was added to PCC pavement in three different percentages of 2%, 4% and 6% of binder weight. For a comprehensive elucidation of the eco-additive incorporation on the performance of PCC pavement, casted samples were cured in three different environments, namely: water, outdoors and pond water. Water absorption tests, flexural and compressive strength tests after 7 and 28 days of curing were conducted and results compared with the control samples without any addition of sodium acetate. Results demonstrated a significant improvement in the impermeability, compressive strength and flexural strength of PCC pavement when sodium acetate concrete is cured in a water bath and outdoors. However, no/little improvement in the impermeability, compressive strength and flexural strength was observed in sodium acetate samples that were cured in pond water. Microstructural analysis of treated samples by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) illustrated the strengthening effect that sodium acetate provides to the pore structure of concrete pavement

The sample of choice for detecting Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus in asymptomatic dromedary camels using real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction

The newly identified Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), which causes severe respiratory disease, particularly in people with comorbidities, requires further investigation. Studies in Qatar and elsewhere have provided evidence that dromedary camels are a reservoir for the virus, but the exact modes of transmission of MERS-CoV to humans remain unclear. In February 2014, an assessment was made of the suitability and sensitivity of different types of sample for the detection of MERS-CoV by real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for three gene targets: UpE (upstream of the E gene), the N (nucleocapsid) gene and open reading frame (ORF) 1a. Fifty-three animals presented for slaughter were sampled. A high percentage of the sampled camels (79% [95% confidence interval 66.9-91.5%, standard error 0.0625]; 42 out of 53) were shown to be shedding MERS-CoV at the time of slaughter, yet all the animals were apparently healthy. Among the virus-positive animals, nasal swabs were most often positive (97.6%). Oral swabs were the second most frequently positive (35.7%), followed by rectal swabs (28.5%). In addition, the highest viral load, expressed as a cycle threshold (Ct) value of 11.27, was obtained from a nasal swab. These findings lead to the conclusion that nasal swabs are the candidate sample of choice for detecting MERS-CoV using RT-PCR technology in apparently healthy camels