Natural spawning of four Epinephelus species in the laboratory

Natural spawnings of four Epinephelus species reared in the laboratory were observed from 1987 to 1992. These species are: E. summana, E. caeruleopunctatus, E. macrospilus and E. fuscoguttatus. Spawning was serial, usually occurring at night, on or 1-6 days after the new moon. Egg characteristics of these four species were compared. Fertilized egg and early larval development of E. summana and E. fuscoguttatus are discussed

Attitudes and Advocacy: Understanding Faculty Views on Racial/Ethnic Diversity

Diversity has been a hot-button issue in higher education for the past several decades (Chang, Witt, Jones & Hakuta, 2003). A significant portion of research has been dedicated to how students experience the campus racial climate (Hurtado, Milem, Clayton- Pederson, & Allen, 1998; Rankin & Reason, 2005), their views on policies such as affirmative action (Sax & Arredondo, 1999), and how they participate in diversity-related activism (Rhoads, 1998). However, less is known about how faculty feel about diversity policies on their campuses, how important they think diversity is to undergraduates, and their own commitments to fostering a diverse environment (Flores & Rodriguez, 2006; American Council on Education, 2000). Faculty play a critical role in the life of the university. They design and teach the curriculum, conduct research that advances the existing knowledge base, and set guidelines that determine many of the standards for their campuses. They make up the body from which department heads, deans, and college presidents come from. Trustees may serveterms, students cycle in and out, but once tenured, faculty are there to stay. Because faculty play such a sustaining role in the life of the university, it is essential to better understand their attitudes towards diversity, especially in a time period where policies geared towards increasing access to higher education for students of color continue to be challenged (Chang, et al., 2003). In order to better understand faculty attitudes towards diversity, specifically racial/ethnic diversity, we created a composite variable that taps into a variety of faculty attitudes towards diversity including their commitments to promoting racial understanding and their views on the role of diversity in undergraduate education. We refer to this variable throughout the study as à à à ¢ Diversity Advocacy.à à à ¢ The purpose of the study is to examine how Diversity Advocacy varies within subsets of faculty, as well as to identify predictors of faculty attitudes regarding diversity

Characterizing attention deficit hyperactivity disorder with the slip induction task

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is marked by increased distractibility and inhibitory deficits. This study sought to understand how individuals diagnosed with ADHD respond when required to inhibit a routine in response to unexpected stimuli. Ten young adults diagnosed with adult ADHD and ten controls completed the Slip Induction Task (SIT), a measure of attention and inhibition during a routine. The SIT involves participants repeatedly responding to a series of arrow cues, and then later adjusting their routine in response to unexpected stimuli. The findings of this study suggest that those with ADHD do not respond less accurately to novel stimuli within a routine. The data also indicate that when adults diagnosed with ADHD do respond correctly to novel stimuli, they do so more quickly than controls. This could imply that those with adult ADHD may be able to more quickly disengage a usual response pattern i f a novel stimulus requires attention

Evidence-based understanding of introductions of research articles

Achieving publications in high-impact journals is a major cornerstone for academic careers in the US and elsewhere in the world. However, apart from novel insights and relevant contributions to the field, there are expectations of editors and reviewers regarding the structure and language of manuscripts that prospective contributors have to adhere to. As these expectations are mostly communicated using best-practice examples, especially international researchers might often wonder how to implement them in their manuscripts. Applying an applied linguistics model to 60 papers that were published in US-based and Indian management journals we derive evidence-based advice for the writing of introductions

Frequency And Determinants Of Chronic Lower Back Pain Among Patients Presenting To Primary Care Clinics In Pakistan: A Cross-Sectional Analysis

Objective: To ascertain the determinants of chronic lower back pain among patients presenting in primary care clinics. Methods: 300 participants from 18 to 75 years of age were enrolled from Primary Care Clinics, Primary Health Center, Sikanderabad and Family Medicine Health Center, Clifton, for a Cross-sectional study that was done from December 1, 2020, to June 30, 2021. Consultant family physicians took informed consent and then asked relevant history questions and performed a relevant physical examination, such as a straight leg raise on the patients. Results: The frequency of chronic lower back pain came out to be 16.7%(50). The median age was 31.99+15.7 years. For those who had chronic back pain, the majority were regularly taking Cholecalciferol supplements ( 20.8% p-value 0.05). The effect of depression increases the chances (0.688) of chronic lower back pain. (p-value 0.006) Conclusion: In our study, we concluded that lower back pain, especially chronic in duration, is very rampant in the community with male predominance. The majority reported a dull type of pain. Depressed people are more vulnerable to developing chronic back pain

Recent Developments in Speeding up Prostate MRI

The increasing incidence of prostate cancer cases worldwide has led to a tremendous demand for multiparametric MRI (mpMRI). In order to relieve the pressure on healthcare, reducing mpMRI scan time is necessary. This review focuses on recent techniques proposed for faster mpMRI acquisition, specifically shortening T2W and DWI sequences while adhering to the PI-RADS (Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System) guidelines. Speeding up techniques in the reviewed studies rely on more efficient sampling of data, ranging from the acquisition of fewer averages or b-values to adjustment of the pulse sequence. Novel acquisition methods based on undersampling techniques are often followed by suitable reconstruction methods typically incorporating synthetic priori information. These reconstruction methods often use artificial intelligence for various tasks such as denoising, artifact correction, improvement of image quality, and in the case of DWI, for the generation of synthetic high b-value images or apparent diffusion coefficient maps. Reduction of mpMRI scan time is possible, but it is crucial to maintain diagnostic quality, confirmed through radiological evaluation, to integrate the proposed methods into the standard mpMRI protocol. Additionally, before clinical integration, prospective studies are recommended to validate undersampling techniques to avoid potentially inaccurate results demonstrated by retrospective analysis. This review provides an overview of recently proposed techniques, discussing their implementation, advantages, disadvantages, and diagnostic performance according to PI-RADS guidelines compared to conventional methods. Level of Evidence: 3. Technical Efficacy: Stage 3.</p

Isolation and Characterization of Alkalophilic Xylanase Producing Bacteria MS-2-1 from Marine Water Sample

A novel marine bacterium was isolated from Pichavaram mangrove forest located near Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu and designated as MS-2-1. Morphological, cultural, physiological characteristics as well as 16S rRNA gene sequence based phylogenetic analysis confirmed taxonomic affiliation of MS 2 as Marinobacter aquaeolei. The optimum pH and temperature for maximum production of xylanase was observed at pH 8.0 and 30ºC

Quantifying the effect of interpregnancy maternal weight and smoking status changes on childhood overweight and obesity in a UK population-based cohort

Background: Maternal preconception and pregnancy exposures have been linked to offspring adiposity. We aimed to quantify the effect of changes in maternal weight and smoking status between pregnancies on childhood overweight/obesity (≥ 85th centile) and obesity (≥ 95th centile) rates in second children. Methods: Records for 5612 women were drawn from a population-based cohort of routinely collected antenatal healthcare records (2003–2014) linked to measured child body mass index (BMI) age 4–5 years. We applied the parametric G-formula to estimate the effect of hypothetical changes between pregnancy-1 and pregnancy-2 compared to the natural course scenario (without change) on child-2 BMI. Results: Observed overweight/obesity and obesity in child-2 at age 4–5 years were 22.2% and 8·5%, respectively. We estimated that if all mothers started pregnancy-2 with BMI 18·5–24·9 kg/m² and all smokers stopped smoking, then child-2 overweight/obesity and obesity natural course estimates of 22.3% (95% CI 21.2–23.5) and 8·3% (7·6–9·1), would be reduced to 18.5% (17.4–19.9) and 6.2% (5.5–7.0), respectively. For mothers who started pregnancy-1 with BMI 18·5–24·9 kg/m², if all smokers stopped smoking, child-2 overweight/obesity and obesity natural course estimates of 17.3% (16.0–18.6) and 5·9% (5·0–6·7) would be reduced to 16.0% (14.6–17.3) and 4·9% (4·1–5·7), respectively. For mothers who started pregnancy-1 with BMI ≥30 kg/m², if BMI was 18·5–24·9 kg/m² prior to pregnancy-2, child-2 overweight/obesity and obesity natural course estimates of 38.6% (34.7–42.3) and 17·7% (15·1–20·9) would be reduced to 31.3% (23.8–40.0) and 12.5 (8.3–17.4), respectively. If BMI was 25.0–29.9 kg/m² prior to pregnancy-2, these estimates would be 34.5% (29.4–40.4) and 14.6% (11.2–17.8), respectively. Conclusion: Interventions supporting women to lose/maintain weight and quit smoking between pregnancies could help reduce rates of overweight/obesity and obesity in second children. The most effective interventions may vary by maternal BMI prior to the first pregnancy

From Cellular Characteristics to Disease Diagnosis: Uncovering Phenotypes with Supercells

Cell heterogeneity and the inherent complexity due to the interplay of multiple molecular processes within the cell pose difficult challenges for current single-cell biology. We introduce an approach that identifies a disease phenotype from multiparameter single-cell measurements, which is based on the concept of ‘‘supercell statistics’’, a single-cell-based averaging procedure followed by a machine learning classification scheme. We are able to assess the optimal tradeoff between the number of single cells averaged and the number of measurements needed to capture phenotypic differences between healthy and diseased patients, as well as between different diseases that are difficult to diagnose otherwise. We apply our approach to two kinds of single-cell datasets, addressing the diagnosis of a premature aging disorder using images of cell nuclei, as well as the phenotypes of two non-infectious uveitides (the ocular manifestations of Behc¸et’s disease and sarcoidosis) based on multicolor flow cytometry. In the former case, one nuclear shape measurement taken over a group of 30 cells is sufficient to classify samples as healthy or diseased, in agreement with usual laboratory practice. In the latter, our method is able to identify a minimal set of 5 markers that accurately predict Behc¸et’s disease and sarcoidosis. This is the first time that a quantitative phenotypic distinction between these two diseases has been achieved. To obtain this clear phenotypic signature, about one hundred CD8+ T cells need to be measured. Although the molecular markers identified have been reported to be important players in autoimmune disorders, this is the first report pointing out that CD8+ T cells can be used to distinguish two systemic inflammatory diseases. Beyond these specific cases, the approach proposed here is applicable to datasets generated by other kinds of state-of-the-art and forthcoming single-cell technologies, such as multidimensional mass cytometry, single-cell gene expression, and single-cell full genome sequencing techniques.Fil: Candia, Julian Marcelo. University of Maryland; Estados Unidos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Física de Líquidos y Sistemas Biológicos. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Instituto de Física de Líquidos y Sistemas Biológicos; ArgentinaFil: Maunu, Ryan. University of Maryland; Estados UnidosFil: Driscoll, Meghan. University of Maryland; Estados UnidosFil: Biancotto, Angélique. National Institutes of Health; Estados UnidosFil: Dagur, Pradeep. National Institutes of Health; Estados UnidosFil: McCoy Jr., J Philip. National Institutes of Health; Estados UnidosFil: Nida Sen, H.. National Institutes of Health; Estados UnidosFil: Wei, Lai. National Institutes of Health; Estados UnidosFil: Maritan, Amos. Università di Padova; ItaliaFil: Cao, Kan. University of Maryland; Estados UnidosFil: Nussenblatt, Robert B. National Institutes of Health; Estados UnidosFil: Banavar, Jayanth R.. University of Maryland; Estados UnidosFil: Losert, Wolfgang. University of Maryland; Estados Unido