Identification of integrin drug targets for 17 solid tumor types.

Integrins are contributors to remodeling of the extracellular matrix and cell migration. Integrins participate in the assembly of the actin cytoskeleton, regulate growth factor signaling pathways, cell proliferation, and control cell motility. In solid tumors, integrins are involved in promoting metastasis to distant sites, and angiogenesis. Integrins are a key target in cancer therapy and imaging. Integrin antagonists have proven successful in halting invasion and migration of tumors. Overexpressed integrins are prime anti-cancer drug targets. To streamline the development of specific integrin cancer therapeutics, we curated data to predict which integrin heterodimers are pausible therapeutic targets against 17 different solid tumors. Computational analysis of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) gene expression data revealed a set of integrin targets that are differentially expressed in tumors. Filtered by FPKM (Fragments Per Kilobase of transcript per Million mapped reads) expression level, overexpressed subunits were paired into heterodimeric protein targets. By comparing the RNA-seq differential expression results with immunohistochemistry (IHC) data, overexpressed integrin subunits were validated. Biologics and small molecule drug compounds against these identified overexpressed subunits and heterodimeric receptors are potential therapeutics against these cancers. In addition, high-affinity and high-specificity ligands against these integrins can serve as efficient vehicles for delivery of cancer drugs, nanotherapeutics, or imaging probes against cancer

Community-level characteristics of high infant mortality: A tool to identify at-risk communities

Infant mortality (IM) rate is a key indicator of population health and has been gradually improving in the United States. However, it is still a public health problem among minority and low-income communities. Maternal factors explain some of the variation, but community-level factors may also be a contributor. This study examines measures to identify a set of indicators that explain variations in IM at the community-level. Data for 77 communities in a city were obtained from local health databases. We used multivariable linear regression models to examine the strength of the association between IM and maternal, population, community wealth, and social capital characteristics. Community-level IM rates ranged from 2.1 – 25.6 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2000-2002. The final model explained 75% of the variation in IM rates at the community-level (R2=0.75). The model included a high percentage of low birth weight babies, a decline in mothers who began prenatal care in the second trimester, an increase in the percentage of Hispanics, increased unemployment rates, an increase in the percentage of veterans, an increased rate of foreign-born residents, and smaller average family sizes. Social capital variables, homicide rate and vacant housing, were also significant in the final model. Identifying communities at risk for high IM rates is imperative to improve maternal and child health outcomes because of shortages in public health resources. The development of a parsimonious set of community-level indicators can assist public health practitioners in targeting their resources to prevent infant mortality in high-risk communities

A simple, rapid and efficient method of isolating DNA from Chokanan mango (Mangifera indica L.)

Total DNA of Chokanan mango (Mangifera indica L.) was extracted from the leaf for the construction of total genomic library. However, the quality of the extracted DNA was often compromised by the presence of secondary metabolites, thus interfering with the analytical applications. Improvement on the quality of the extracted DNA was achieved through the optimization of leaf harvesting stage and modification on the cetyl trimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) DNA extraction procedure. Fully expended, soften and purplish leaf was proved to yield good DNA quality while the addition of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and β-mercaptoethanol was effective in the removal of secondary metabolites, particularly polyphenolic compounds. The incorporation of high salt washing step was also efficient in removing polysaccharides. This simple, inexpensive and yet reliable method was proved to be successful in yielding sufficient quality and quantity of DNA for the construction of genomic library.Keywords: Mango, DNA isolation, genomic library, secondary metabolites, polyphenolic compoundsAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 9(36), pp. 5805-5808, 6 September, 201

When chiral photons meet chiral fermions - Photoinduced anomalous Hall effects in Weyl semimetals

The Weyl semimetal is characterized by three-dimensional linear band touching points called Weyl nodes. These nodes come in pairs with opposite chiralities. We show that the coupling of circularly polarized photons with these chiral electrons generates a Hall conductivity without any applied magnetic field in the plane orthogonal to the light propagation. This phenomenon comes about because with all three Pauli matrices exhausted to form the three-dimensional linear dispersion, the Weyl nodes cannot be gapped. Rather, the net influence of chiral photons is to shift the positions of the Weyl nodes. Interestingly, the momentum shift is tightly correlated with the chirality of the node to produce a net anomalous Hall signal. Application of our proposal to the recently discovered TaAs family of Weyl semimetals leads to an order-of-magnitude estimate of the photoinduced Hall conductivity which is within the experimentally accessible range.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure

Effectiveness of the Modified “Alpabasa”: A Game-Based Program in Teaching Reading among the Grades 3 and 4 Non-Readers

The National Association of Educational Progress (NAEP) report shows that 39 percent of fourth graders fall below a basic reading level; by twelfth grade that figure is still 23 percent. Accordingly, early intervention initiatives should impact those figures in the future to eliminate the segment of students who have significant difficulty acquiring basic reading skills, generally estimated at 20 percent. In response, Filipino innovators founded “Alpabasa”, a game-based program in teaching reading that aims to effectively teach kinder and elementary school children how to read in 18 days. The study made use of the quasi-experimental method, specifically, the pre-post test design to investigate the effectiveness of the modified “Alpabasa”: A game-based program in teaching reading among 60 grade 3 and 4 non-readers of St. Paul University Philippines by incorporating costumes, music, movement, games, theatrical presentations and supplemental activities in learning. Findings show that the exposure of non-readers to the Modified Alpabasa Reading Program resulted in better performance of the students in reading. Through action songs and movement-based activities, pupils are geared to play with language as learning situations are made concrete and realistic; thus, making reading more meaningful, interesting and engaging

Lived Experiences of Foreign Students towards the Development of a Language Adjustment Assessment Tool

As part of internationalization of higher education, student mobility has expanded over the past decade. Particularly, at St. Paul University Philippines, internationalization is established by hosting foreign students from Basic Education Unit to the Graduate School. Reviewed literature shows that foreign students across countries face a range of unique acculturation difficulties brought by language difference. However, none of these focused solely on language adjustment of foreign students. The researcher considered this particular space in sociolinguistics as a potential niche to occupy, with the aim of explicating the lived experiences of foreign students to develop a language adjustment assessment tool. This study used hermeneutical phenomenology in understanding the lived experiences of foreign students on language adjustment. Considering data saturation in the qualitative phase, the researcher involved 18 college foreign students using semi-structured one-on-one interview. The data were subjected to thematic structural analysis to find emerging themes. Based on such themes, the researcher developed a language adjustment assessment tool in the quantitative phase, which was pilot-tested to 76 medical foreign students and finally administered to 51 college foreign students using purposive-convenient sampling. Cohens Kappa was used to assess the instrument’s validity while Cronbach’s Alpha for reliability. Based on the findings of the study, more enablers affecting language adjustment of foreign students were identified than constraints. Moreover, four major themes emerged including Language-related General Living Adjustments, Language-related Academic Adjustments, Language-related Socio-Cultural Adjustments, and Language-related Psychological Adjustments. The developed language adjustment assessment tool was also evaluated to be fairly valid and reliable

Protein and Chemical Microarrays—Powerful Tools for Proteomics

In the last few years, protein and chemical microarrays have emerged as two important tools in the field of proteomics. Specific proteins, antibodies, small molecule compounds, peptides, and carbohydrates can now be immobilized on solid surfaces to form high-density microarrays. Depending on their chemical nature, immobilization of these molecules on solid support is accomplished by in situ synthesis, nonspecific adsorption, specific binding, nonspecific chemical ligation, or chemoselective ligation. These arrays of molecules can then be probed with complex analytes such as serum, total cell extracts, and whole blood. Interactions between the analytes and the immobilized array of molecules are evaluated with a number of different detection systems. In this paper, various components, methods, and applications of the protein and chemical microarray systems are reviewed

On cross-language communications management in international projects

This paper reviews the state of cross-language communications (CLC) management problem in international projects ted. The need for CLC management organization and the criticality of this issue are discussed. The results of bibliometric analysis and studies of world literature on project management are shown.В статье рассматривается степень изученности вопроса об управлении межъязыковыми коммуникациями (МК) в международных проектах. Обсуждается необходимость и значимость организации управления МК. Приведены результаты библиометрического анализа и изучения мировой литературы по управлению проектами

The Influence of the Phonological Neighborhood Clustering-Coefficient on Spoken Word Recognition

This article may not exactly replicate the final version published in the APA journal. It is not the copy of record.Clustering coefficient—a measure derived from the new science of networks—refers to the proportion of phonological neighbors of a target word that are also neighbors of each other. Consider the words bat, hat, and can, all of which are neighbors of the word cat; the words bat and hat are also neighbors of each other. In a perceptual identification task, words with a low clustering coefficient (i.e., few neighbors are neighbors of each other) were more accurately identified than words with a high clustering coefficient (i.e., many neighbors are neighbors of each other). In a lexical decision task, words with a low clustering coefficient were responded to more quickly than words with a high clustering coefficient. These findings suggest that the structure of the lexicon, that is the similarity relationships among neighbors of the target word measured by clustering coefficient, influences lexical access in spoken word recognition. Simulations of the TRACE and Shortlist models of spoken word recognition failed to account for the present findings. A framework for a new model of spoken word recognition is proposed

A new particle swarm optimization algorithm for neural network optimization

This paper presents a new particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm for tuning parameters (weights) of neural networks. The new PSO algorithm is called fuzzy logic-based particle swarm optimization with cross-mutated operation (FPSOCM), where the fuzzy inference system is applied to determine the inertia weight of PSO and the control parameter of the proposed cross-mutated operation by using human knowledge. By introducing the fuzzy system, the value of the inertia weight becomes variable. The cross-mutated operation is effectively force the solution to escape the local optimum. Tuning parameters (weights) of neural networks is presented using the FPSOCM. Numerical example of neural network is given to illustrate that the performance of the FPSOCM is good for tuning the parameters (weights) of neural networks