Role of delay in the mechanism of cluster formation

We study the role of delay in phase synchronization and phenomena responsible for cluster formation in delayed coupled maps on various networks. Using numerical simulations, we demonstrate that the presence of delay may change the mechanism of unit to unit interaction. At weak coupling values, same parity delays are associated with the same phenomenon of cluster formation and exhibit similar dynamical evolution. Intermediate coupling values yield rich delay-induced driven cluster patterns. A Lyapunov function analysis sheds light on the robustness of the driven clusters observed for delayed bipartite networks. Our results reveal that delay may lead to a completely different relation, between dynamical and structural clusters, than observed for the undelayed case.Comment: 4+ pages, 4 figues, PRE Rapid Communication (in press

Occupational health status among women workers: a study in food industry

The launch of 'Make in India' and 'Skill India' initiatives envisages establishment of high-class manufacturing facilities and enhancement of skills. Although this will lead to improved manufacturing production, human resources could also be covered by enhancing the occupational health scenario. The present study was conducted to know the level of awareness about occupational health and hygiene among employees and to ascertain impact of occupational health and hygiene on productivity of women employees. Since the study was descriptive in nature hence descriptive research design was adopted to describe the occupational health Status of women employees. 40 samples were drawn from 350 women employees of Neo Foods Private Limited, Tumkur by adopting simple random sampling technique (Lottery method). From this study it was found that, occupational health and hygiene of working women was deteriorated due to not following proper measures in the industry

The Burden and Risk Factors of Reproductive Tract Infections among Married Women Aged 15-49 Years in Urban Slum of Agra Uttar Pradesh

Introduction: In developing countries, reproductive tract infection among women commonly goes undiagnosed and their sequel causes various complications. Objectives: To find out the prevalence of RTI/STI through a syndromic case approach and its correlates among women of reproductive age group. Material and Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was carried out among 500 eligible married women residing in urban slums of Agra by using WHO Syndromic case approch for diagnosis of RTIs/STIs. Results: The overall prevalence of RTI/STD was found to be 32.80% where vaginal discharge (22.60%) and lower abdominal pain (8.20%) were the most common syndromes. On multivariate analysis, religion, caste, type of absorbent used during menses, and history of IUD use were found to be significantly significant. Conclusion: The result of this study highlights the high prevalence and potential risk factors that contribute to the occurrence of RTI. It also emphasizes the need of training and education session of the participants to identify the early symptoms of RTI

Caspase-3, myogenic transcription factors and cell cycle inhibitors are regulated by leukemia inhibitory factor to mediate inhibition of myogenic differentiation

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) is known to inhibit myogenic differentiation as well as to inhibit apoptosis and caspase-3 activation in non-differentiating myoblasts. In addition caspase-3 activity is required for myogenic differentiation. Therefore the aim of this study was to further investigate mechanisms of the differentiation suppressing effect of LIF in particular the possibility of a caspase-3 mediated inhibition of differentiation.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>LIF dependent inhibition of differentiation appeared to involve several mechanisms. Differentiating myoblasts that were exposed to LIF displayed increased transcripts for c-fos. Transcripts for the cell cycle inhibitor p21 as well as muscle regulatory factors myoD and myogenin were decreased with LIF exposure. However, LIF did not directly induce a proliferative effect under differentiation conditions, but did prevent the proportion of myoblasts that were proliferating from decreasing as differentiation proceeded. LIF stimulation decreased the percentage of cells positive for active caspase-3 occurring during differentiation. Both the effect of LIF inhibiting caspase-3 activation and differentiation appeared dependent on mitogen activated protein kinase and extracellular signal regulated kinase kinase (MEK) signalling. The role of LIF in myogenic differentiation was further refined to demonstrate that myoblasts are unlikely to secrete LIF endogenously.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Altogether this study provides a more comprehensive view of the role of LIF in myogenic differentiation including LIF and receptor regulation in myoblasts and myotubes, mechanisms of inhibition of differentiation and the link between caspase-3 activation, apoptosis and myogenic differentiation.</p

The relation of serum GGT level in patients with non valvular atrial fibrillation and normal sinus rhythm

Background: The primary objective of the study was to assess and compare the relation of serum GGT level in patients with non valvular atrial fibrillation and normal sinus rhythm. The fundamental mechanisms underlying AF remains poorly understood. Oxidative stress is hypothesized to induce and maintain nonvalvular atrial fibrillation particularly in elderly patients. GGT levels are increased in patients with chronic inflammation. Increased serum levels of GGT are found in chronic nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (AF) patients as compared with patients in sinus rhythm.Methods: We included 75 patients of nonvalvular atrial fibrillation and 75 patients of sinus rhythm after applying exclusion criteria. Serum level of gamma glutamyl transrerase (GGT) of both the groups was compared.Results: Presence of coronary artery disease, hypertension, gender, hyperlipidemia, diabetes mellitus and smoking status were comparable between the 2 groups (P > 0.05 for all). Serum gamma glutamyl transferase activity in 75 cases was 71.45±26.21 with maximum being 147 IU/L more than the normal range for age, whereas in controls it was 19.68±5.53 i.e. much within the normal range for age.Conclusions: At the end of the study we concluded that serum GGT levels were significantly higher in patients with chronic nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (AF) patients as compared with patients in sinus rhythm

The effect of mindfulness-based interventions on reducing stress in future health professionals:A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Students in health professions often face high levels of stress due to demanding academic schedules, heavy workloads, disrupted work–life balance, and sleep deprivation. Addressing stress during their education can prevent negative consequences for their mental health and the well-being of their future patients. Previous reviews on the effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) focused on working health professionals or included a wide range of intervention types and durations. This study aims to investigate the effect of 6- to 12-week MBIs with 1- to 2-h weekly sessions on stress in future health professionals. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials published in English by searching Embase, Medline, Web of Science, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and PsycINFO. We used post-intervention stress levels and standard deviations to assess the ability of MBIs to reduce stress, summarized by the standardized mean difference (SMD). This review is reported according to the PRISMA checklist (2020). We identified 2932 studies, of which 11 were included in the systematic review and 10 had sufficient data for inclusion in the meta-analysis. The overall effect of MBIs on reducing stress was a SMD of 0.60 (95% CI [0.27, 0.94]). Our study provides evidence that MBIs have a moderate reducing effect on stress in students in health professions; however, given the high risk of bias, these findings should be interpreted with caution, and further high-quality studies are needed.</p

Mitigation of off-target toxicity in CRISPR-Cas9 screens for essential non-coding elements.

Pooled CRISPR-Cas9 screens are a powerful method for functionally characterizing regulatory elements in the non-coding genome, but off-target effects in these experiments have not been systematically evaluated. Here, we investigate Cas9, dCas9, and CRISPRi/a off-target activity in screens for essential regulatory elements. The sgRNAs with the largest effects in genome-scale screens for essential CTCF loop anchors in K562 cells were not single guide RNAs (sgRNAs) that disrupted gene expression near the on-target CTCF anchor. Rather, these sgRNAs had high off-target activity that, while only weakly correlated with absolute off-target site number, could be predicted by the recently developed GuideScan specificity score. Screens conducted in parallel with CRISPRi/a, which do not induce double-stranded DNA breaks, revealed that a distinct set of off-targets also cause strong confounding fitness effects with these epigenome-editing tools. Promisingly, filtering of CRISPRi libraries using GuideScan specificity scores removed these confounded sgRNAs and enabled identification of essential regulatory elements

Aprenentatge 2.0

[p.4] Escola 2.0[p.8] Aprenentatge digital: oportunitats i conflictes[p.14] La cara oculta de la tecnologia[p.16] La Fortuna dels Commons[p.22] "El Coneixement us farà lliures"[p.28] Salvant la Terra amb el teclat[p.34] De l’educació a l’aprenentatgePeer Reviewe

Making Drug Approval Decisions in the Face of Uncertainty:Cumulative Evidence versus Value of Information

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the criticality and complexity of decision making for novel treatment approval and further research. Our study aims to assess potential decision-making methodologies, an evaluation vital for refining future public health crisis responses. Methods: We compared 4 decision-making approaches to drug approval and research: the Food and Drug Administration’s policy decisions, cumulative meta-analysis, a prospective value-of-information (VOI) approach (using information available at the time of decision), and a reference standard (retrospective VOI analysis using information available in hindsight). Possible decisions were to reject, accept, provide emergency use authorization, or allow access to new therapies only in research settings. We used monoclonal antibodies provided to hospitalized COVID-19 patients as a case study, examining the evidence from September 2020 to December 2021 and focusing on each method’s capacity to optimize health outcomes and resource allocation. Results: Our findings indicate a notable discrepancy between policy decisions and the reference standard retrospective VOI approach with expected losses up to $269 billion USD, suggesting suboptimal resource use during the wait for emergency use authorization. Relying solely on cumulative meta-analysis for decision making results in the largest expected loss, while the policy approach showed a loss up to$16 billion and the prospective VOI approach presented the least loss (up to $2 billion). Conclusion: Our research suggests that incorporating VOI analysis may be particularly useful for research prioritization and treatment implementation decisions during pandemics. While the prospective VOI approach was favored in this case study, further studies should validate the ideal decision-making method across various contexts. This study’s findings not only enhance our understanding of decision-making strategies during a health crisis but also provide a potential framework for future pandemic responses. This study reviews discrepancies between a reference standard (retrospective VOI, using hindsight information) and 3 conceivable real-time approaches to research-treatment decisions during a pandemic, suggesting suboptimal use of resources. Of all prospective decision-making approaches considered, VOI closely mirrored the reference standard, yielding the least expected value loss across our study timeline. This study illustrates the possible benefit of VOI results and the need for evidence accumulation accompanied by modeling in health technology assessment for emerging therapies.</p