#FeesMustFall2016: Perceived and measured effect on clinical medical students

Background. Medical students are under immense academic stress. Campus unrest can contribute to stress and influence academic performance, social behaviour, emotional stability and financial expenses.Objectives. To investigate the effects of #FeesMustFall2016 (#FMF2016) on the 2016 3rd-year (semester 6) clinical medical students at the University of the Free State (UFS), Bloemfontein, South Africa.Methods. In phase 1 of the project, anonymous questionnaires were completed by the clinical students who experienced physical test disruption during #FMF2016. Opinions regarding academic performance, financial expenses, behaviour changes and stress levels were gathered. The students also completed a formal post-traumatic stress screening assessment. In phase 2 of the project, the academic performance of these students was compared with that of students not affected by #FMF2016.Results. Of the target population of 138 students, 87.0% completed the questionnaires. Three-quarters of the respondents reported a negative effect on academic performance, and most did not believe that the delivering of lectures on Blackboard was a good way of training. Alcohol consumption increased in 31.9% of the students. Criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were met in 12.7% of students. Compared with previous and later cohorts of students there were no clear differences regarding marks, but there was a tendency towards poorer performance and more failures the next year.Conclusions. Semester 6 medical students at UFS reported that the #FMF2016 protests had a negative effect on academic, social, financial and stress aspects. PTSD was present in 12.7% of students compared with 7.8% in similar populations.

Biological peculiarities of a rare medicinal mushroom Fomitopsis officinalis (Fomitopsidaceae, Polyporales) on agar media and plant substrates

Fomitopsis officinalis (Vill.) Bondartsev & Singer is a rare and endangered medicinal mushroom, known in medical practice as agarikon. Strain 5004 of F. officinalis from the IBK Mushroom Culture Collection of M. G. Kholodny Institute of Botany was verified using morphological and molecular genetic techniques. DNA analysis shows 99% identity of the investigated strain to other F. officinalis sequences deposited in NCBI databases. The results of the study of the biological characteristics of F. officinalis 5004 on agar nutrient media and plant substrates of various compositions are presented. We observed the microstructures of F. officinalis culture using light and scanning electron microscopy. The hyphae have regular unilateral clamp connections of two types: without a slit and rare medallion-type clamps, some anastomoses and mycelial cords as well as blastoconidia after prolonged cultivation (more than 30 days). The incrustation of the hyphae in the form of thin villi is revealed for the first time. The morphology of the mycelial colonies of F. officinalis depended on the composition of the nutrient medium. According to the radial growth rate the culture of investigated species belongs to the fungi growing very slowly within 0.4–1.9 mm/day. The fastest growth of F. officinalis 5004 was observed on malt agar with the addition of larch sawdust: 1.8 ± 0.1 mm/day. The critical temperature for mycelial growth was 41 ± 0.1 ºC. We tried three variants of plant substrates for fructification: sunflower husk, larch sawdust and larch chips. The substrate composition influenced the vegetative growth and the formation of teleomorph stage. The sunflower husk was the most favorable substrate for the growth of vegetative mycelium. The mycelium had completely colonized this substrate by the 30th day, in contrast to the larch chips, which were only partially colonized (ca. 50%) on 30–40th days of experiment. The fungus developed fruit bodies on both substrates: the sunflower husk and larch chips. The least suitable substrate for vegetative growth of this species was the larch sawdust. After two months of incubation, the mycelium covered only 27% of the visible surface of substrate blocks, with no primordia and fruiting bodies forming. Thus, the obtained mycelium growth parameters on nutrient media, micro- and macromorphological characteristics can be used as additional taxonomic characteristics of F. officinalis culture in the vegetative stage of growth. The strain ІBK 5004 may become a potential producer for new fungal biotechnologies in Ukraine in the near future

A Genetic Basis of Susceptibility to Acute Pyelonephritis

For unknown reasons, urinary tract infections (UTIs) are clustered in certain individuals. Here we propose a novel, genetically determined cause of susceptibility to acute pyelonephritis, which is the most severe form of UTI. The IL-8 receptor, CXCR1, was identified as a candidate gene when mIL-8Rh mutant mice developed acute pyelonephritis (APN) with severe tissue damage.We have obtained CXCR1 sequences from two, highly selected APN prone patient groups, and detected three unique mutations and two known polymorphisms with a genotype frequency of 23% and 25% compared to 7% in controls (p<0.001 and p<0.0001, respectively). When reflux was excluded, 54% of the patients had CXCR1 sequence variants. The UTI prone children expressed less CXCR1 protein than the pediatric controls (p<0.0001) and two sequence variants were shown to impair transcription.The results identify a genetic innate immune deficiency, with a strong link to APN and renal scarring

Depauperate Avifauna in Plantations Compared to Forests and Exurban Areas

Native forests are shrinking worldwide, causing a loss of biological diversity. Our ability to prioritize forest conservation actions is hampered by a lack of information about the relative impacts of different types of forest loss on biodiversity. In particular, we lack rigorous comparisons of the effects of clearing forests for tree plantations and for human settlements, two leading causes of deforestation worldwide. We compared avian diversity in forests, plantations and exurban areas on the Cumberland Plateau, USA, an area of global importance for biodiversity. By combining field surveys with digital habitat databases, and then analyzing diversity at multiple scales, we found that plantations had lower diversity and fewer conservation priority species than did other habitats. Exurban areas had higher diversity than did native forests, but native forests outscored exurban areas for some measures of conservation priority. Overall therefore, pine plantations had impoverished avian communities relative to both native forests and to exurban areas. Thus, reports on the status of forests give misleading signals about biological diversity when they include plantations in their estimates of forest cover but exclude forested areas in which humans live. Likewise, forest conservation programs should downgrade incentives for plantations and should include settled areas within their purview

Formal and Informal Financing Decisions of Small Businesses

This study investigates small businesses’ financing decisions. Drawing upon asymmetric information theory, institutional theory and relevant literature on cognitive financial constraints, human capital and social capital, we propose a theoretical framework in which financing determinants come from three dimensions: entrepreneurs’ individual factors, organisational (firm-level) factors and contextual (institutional) factors. We employ this model to distinguish four types of firms: (1) firms that use no external finance, (2) firms that use informal finance only, (3) firms that use formal finance only and (4) firms that use both formal and informal finance. An empirical test on Vietnamese small businesses shows that factors from all three dimensions are important in understanding small businesses’ financing decisions