Factors affecting the sticking of insects on modified aircraft wings

Past studies have shown that the surface energy of a polymer coating has an important effect on the sticking of insects to the surface. However, mechanical properties of polymer coatings such as elasticity may also be important. A further study is suggested using polymer coatings of known surface energy and modulus so that a better understanding of the mechanism of the sticking of insects to surfaces can be achieved. As the first step for the study, surface analysis and road tests were performed using elastomers having different energies and different moduli. The number of insects sticking to each elastomer was counted and compared from sample to sample and with a control (aluminum). An average height moment was also calculated and comparisons made between samples

Factors affecting the sticking of insects on modified aircraft wings

Previous work showed that the total number of insects sticking to an aluminum surface was reduced by coating the aluminum surface with elastomers. Due to a large number of possible experimental errors, no correlation between the modulus of elasticity, the elastomer, and the total number of insects sticking to a given elastomer was obtained. One of the errors assumed to be introduced during the road test is a variable insect flux so the number of insects striking one surface might be different from that striking another sample. To eliminate this source of error, the road test used to collect insects was simulated in a laboratory by development of an insect impacting technique using a pipe and high pressure compressed air. The insects are accelerated by a compressed air gun to high velocities and are then impacted with a stationary target on which the sample is mounted. The velocity of an object exiting from the pipe was determined and further improvement of the technique was achieved to obtain a uniform air velocity distribution

Integrating Mathematics and Educational Robotics: Simple Motion Planning

This paper shows how students can be guided to integrate elementary mathematical analyses with motion planning for typical educational robots. Rather than using calculus as in comprehensive works on motion planning, we show students can achieve interesting results using just simple linear regression tools and trigonometric analyses. Experiments with one robotics platform show that use of these tools can lead to passable navigation through dead reckoning even if students have limited experience with use of sensors, programming, and mathematics

Investigating the Expression of EGFR And FGFR4 Genes in Patients with Lung Cancer

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Lung cancer is a disorder that is caused by genetic and epigenetic changes and activates oncogenes and inactivates tumor suppressor genes. The aim of this study is to quantitative evaluation of EGFR and FGFR4 genes expression level in blood samples of lung cancer in compare with normal people to investigate the role of these two genes as biomarkers during lung cancer diagnosis and screening. METHODS: This case-control study was performed on 50 blood samples of lung cancer patients compared with 50 normal controls.. Total RNA from Blood samples were extracted and cDNA is synthesized. The specific primers for detection of markers are designed and expression level of BRIP1, PALB2 in presence of gene GAPDH by using Real Time PCR method was quantitatively studied. FINDINGS: Significant increase was observed in the expression of target biomarkers in cancer patients compared to control population. Results showed quantitative increase of FGFR4 and EGFR genes with 4.46 and 3.03 fold respectively for lung cancer in compare with normal samples (p=0.003). Also, there was a significant relationship between grade of the disease and biomarkers expression level, so that with increasing the stage and degree of severity of cancer, the expression of biomarkers increased (p=0.003). CONSLUSION: Based on this study results we could predict the expression level of (EGFR, FGFR4) gens in suffered patients quantitatively which could use as biomarker indicator during screening of lung cancer samples

Target prediction and a statistical sampling algorithm for RNA-RNA interaction

It has been proven that the accessibility of the target sites has a critical influence for miRNA and siRNA. In this paper, we present a program, rip2.0, not only the energetically most favorable targets site based on the hybrid-probability, but also a statistical sampling structure to illustrate the statistical characterization and representation of the Boltzmann ensemble of RNA-RNA interaction structures. The outputs are retrieved via backtracing an improved dynamic programming solution for the partition function based on the approach of Huang et al. (Bioinformatics). The $O(N^6)$ time and $O(N^4)$ space algorithm is implemented in C (available from \url{http://www.combinatorics.cn/cbpc/rip2.html})Comment: 7 pages, 10 figure

Effect of dietary synbiotics on growth, immune response and body composition of Caspian roach (Rutilus rutilus)

Effects of dietary synbiotics on growth performance, survival, stress resistance, body composition and immune response in the Caspian roach (Rutilus rutilus) were evaluated. Fish with an initial average weight of 4.14±0.25 g were randomly distributed into tanks (50 fish per tank) and triplicate groups were fed a control diet or diets containing 1 g kg^-1 and 2 g kg^-1 synbiotics. After an 8-week feeding period, a general enhanced growth performance and feed efficiency were observed in fish fed on the diet containing 2 g kg^-1 synbiotics (p<0.05). Subsequently, immune responses (Ig levels, lysozyme activity and ACH50) were significantly higher in 2 g kg^-1 synbiotics fed fish (p<0.05). Although all levels of dietary synbiotics significantly increased resistance to a salinity stress challenge (p<0.05), the highest survival rate was observed in this group. The intestinal tract of the fish with synbiotic diet supplementation had higher concentrations of lactic acid bacteria (7.13±0.32 log CFU g^-1). The protein and lipid contents in the whole body increased in the 2 g kg^-1 synbiotics fed group. At the end of experiment the fish fed synbiotics had the highest survival index after 40 hours exposure to salinity stress (13.8 ppt). Results showed that the addition of synbiotics to the diet of Roach (Rutilus rutilus) stimulates the beneficial intestinal microbiota and alters their immune defense system

The effects of online social networks on the quantitative academic performance of secondary high school girls' students in Tehran

Background and Objectives: One of the important indicators in measuring the quality of education is the academic performance of students, which is important from a scientific and practical point of view. Extensive studies have been conducted worldwide on how social networks affect the quantitative academic performance of their students. Many studies on the denial of social media have concluded that these networks have a negative impact on the younger generation and students. These researchers believe that virtual social networks have an effect on students' annual grade point average, drop in academic grades, writing style and spelling, decrease in English language standards, etc., and have measured these variables separately with the use of social networks among students. At the same time, others believe that the emergence of social media has a positive trend on students' performance and their achievement of high grades. These studies have also found that these students spend most of their time doing their homework and research in this way. Therefore, in the review of previous studies, both approaches are discussed separately. The main purpose of this study is to be aware of the impact of virtual social networks on the quantitative academic performance of female high school students. Sub-objectives are to examine the extent of students 'dependence on virtual social networks and awareness of the impact of using virtual social networks on students' quantitative academic performance. Methods: In this research, a survey method has been used and the sample population includes 855 female students of high schools in Tehran. The data gathering instrument is Jeffrey Single's Social Media Dependency Questionnaire, including academic quantitative performance, social networks addiction, educational use, and grammar, writing, reading, and course questions. In this study, descriptive tests (percentage, mean, and analytical tests (chi-square, Pearson correlation coefficient and t-test) were used. Findings: The findings show that there is no relationship between the students' last year GPA and their academic quantitative performance and their use of the online social network; but there is a relationship between their GPAs and their scientific information exchange (test questions) and with their use of online social networks. The findings show that there is no relationship between last year's students' grade point average and their poor academic performance using a virtual social network. There is only a relationship between their grade point average and the exchange of scientific information (exam questions) through social networks. There is also a link between social media use and poor academic performance, social media addiction, learning and receiving questions and course questions. However, the effect of social networks on the quantitative performance of students is moderate and its effect on other educational activities of students is low. Conclusion: Online social networks can be used as an appropriate way of interaction between students, as well as between teachers and students to convey scientific content, share questions and problem-solving skills, and help each other understand the correct path to problem solving. Although in this study, the use of virtual social networks does not have a negative effect on students' quantitative academic performance, but it should be noted that membership in these networks as a group and as a channel if it creates dependency and students spend a lot of time in their school hours. Can affect the quantitative academic performance of students. ===================================================================================== COPYRIGHTS  ©2020 The author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, as long as the original authors and source are cited. No permission is required from the authors or the publishers.  ====================================================================================

Relative reliability, standard error of measurement and minimal detected change of transabdominal ultrasound during pelvic floor muscles contraction, Valsalva maneuver, and abdominal curl in healthy women

Introduction: Trans-abdominal ultrasound is a non-invasive and easy method that can assess the function of pelvic floor muscles by observing the movement of the base of the bladder. Although reproducibility studies have examined this method during pelvic floor contraction, there are few findings during the Valsalva maneuver and abdominal curl. The aim of this study was to evaluate the reproducibility, standard error of measurement and the least detectable change in the method of trans-abdominal ultrasound assessment of pelvic floor muscle activity during contraction, Valsalva maneuver and abdominal curl in healthy women.Methods: This methodological study was performed in 1397 in Kashani Hospital of Isfahan on 15 female volunteers aged 20-45 years who had no difficulty in controlling urination. The degree of displacement of the bladder base (as a consequence of pelvic floor muscle activity) in millimeters was assessed by trans-abdominal ultrasonography during pelvic floor contraction, Valsalva maneuver and abdominal curl twice, with an interval of one week. Correlation coefficient and standard error of measurement were used to calculate the reproducibility, standard error of measurement and the least detectable change. P value less than 0.05 was considered significant. Results: The reproducibility of trans-abdominal ultrasonography to assess the displacement of the bladder base during pelvic floor muscle contraction was 0.88, in Valsalva maneuver 0.95 and in abdominal curl 0.83. The lowest detectable change during pelvic floor contraction was 2.27 mm, in the Valsalva maneuver was> 15.7 "< and in the abdominal curl was < 5.65" mm. Conclusion: The repeatability of trans-abdominal ultrasound ultrasound in assessing pelvic floor muscle activity during contraction, valvular maneuvers and abdominal curl is good to excellent. © 2020 Mashhad University of Medical Sciences

IDBA-tran: a more robust de novo de Bruijn graph assembler for transcriptomes with uneven expression levels

published_or_final_versio

Genotypic determinants of fluoroquinolone and macrolide resistance in Neisseria gonorrhoeae.

Background:High rates of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in Neisseria gonorrhoeae hinder effective treatment, but molecular AMR diagnostics may help address the challenge. This study aimed to appraise the literature for resistance-associated genotypic markers linked to fluoroquinolones and macrolides, to identify and review their use in diagnostics. Methods: Medline and EMBASE databases were searched and data pooled to evaluate associations between genotype and phenotypic resistance. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) cut-offs were ≤ 0.06 mg L-1 for non-resistance to ciprofloxacin and ≤ 0.5 mg L-1 for non-resistance to azithromycin. Results: Diagnostic accuracy estimates were limited by data availability and reporting. It was found that: 1) S91 and D95 mutations in the GyrA protein independently predicted ciprofloxacin resistance and, used together, gave 98.6% (95% confidence interval (CI) 98.0-99.0%) sensitivity and 91.4% (95%CI 88.6-93.7%) specificity; 2) the number of 23S rRNA gene alleles with C2611T or A2059G mutations was highly correlated with azithromycin resistance, with mutation in any allele giving a sensitivity and specificity of 66.1% (95%CI 62.1-70.0%) and 98.9% (95%CI 97.5-99.5%) respectively. Estimated negative (NPV) and positive predictive values (PPV) for a 23S rRNA diagnostic were 98.6% (95%CI 96.8-99.4%) and 71.5% (95%CI 68.0-74.8%) respectively; 3) mutation at amino acid position G45 in the MtrR protein independently predicted azithromycin resistance; however, when combined with 23S rRNA, did not improve the PPV or NPV. Conclusions: Viable candidates for markers of resistance detection for incorporation into diagnostics were demonstrated. Such tests may enhance antibiotic stewardship and treatment options