Teachers’ Conflict-Inducing Attitudes and Their Repercussions on Students’ Psychological Health and Learning Outcomes

This paper studied the causes and effects of negative teacher–student relationships on students’ psychological health and educational outcomes, primarily due to negative teacher–teacher interactions. Survey data were collected from 130 faculty members and 746 students of 10 higher educational institutions located in different cities of the Punjab province of Pakistan. Path analysis was used to estimate results. The findings revealed that incivility among faculty members and higher discontent with university resources generates a conflict-inducing attitude in faculty members, which subsequently creates negative behavior in teachers towards students. It was further observed that hostile attitudes of faculty members towards students adversely affects the psychological health and educational outcomes of students at universities. These findings suggest that students’ learning processes can be improved by controlling negative teacher–teacher interactions, which has important implications for institutions of higher learning

Effect of drought stress on growth, yield and seed quality of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum L.)

Plant growth is seriously affected by abiotic stresses such as drought, salinity or temperature. Drought is one of the most important limiting factors for agricultural crops and vegetable production in particular all around the world. Drought stress during vegetative or early reproductive growth usually reduces yield by reducing the number of seeds, seed size and seed quality. To assess the effect of drought stress on seed yield, seed quality and growth of tomato, the experiment was conducted in green house in plastic pots at Pen-y-Fridd field station, University of Wales, Bangor, U.K. during 2003-2004. Tomato cv. ‘Moneymaker’ was used as a test crop. There were four treatments i.e. early stress (when first truss has set the fruits), middle stress (when fruits in first truss were fully matured and started changing their colour), late stress (when fruits on first truss were ripened fully), whereas in control no stress was imposed. Analysis of data regarding various attributes (fruit weight and shoot dry weight per plant, number of seeds per fruit, total number of seeds and seed weight per plant and vigour of seed) showed that drought stress had non-significant effect on vigour, quality and yield of tomato seed. Plant height, number of leaves and number of fruits per plant showed significant results toward drought stress signifying drought effects on growth of tomato

Regulatory hypothesis and bank dividend payouts: Empirical evidence from Italian banking sector

This study examines the regulatory hypothesis for bank dividend payouts using a panel dataset of 229 Italian banks over the period 2005–2012. Regulatory hypothesis suggests that undercapitalized banks face more regulatory pressure for increasing capital levels by paying lower amount of dividends. Empirical results support the regulatory hypothesis by finding that the Italian banks having lower equity to total assets ratios or lower regulatory capital ratios retain more profits and pay lower amount of dividends. Results also suggest that dividend payer banks try to maintain dividends at previous level by not skipping or reducing dividends. Results further support that Fama and French (2001)'s three characteristics of dividend payers are also applicable to banks. That is, big-in-size, more profitable and low growth Italian banks pay higher amount of dividends. Findings of this study have important implications for recent regulatory proposals that suggest a direct regulation of dividends. A direct regulation of dividends, on one hand, and regulatory pressure on dividend payout decisions through capital requirements, on the other hand, may have unintended consequences for dividends as signaling and agency cost reducing tools

A systematic review of physiological signals based driver drowsiness detection systems.

Driving a vehicle is a complex, multidimensional, and potentially risky activity demanding full mobilization and utilization of physiological and cognitive abilities. Drowsiness, often caused by stress, fatigue, and illness declines cognitive capabilities that affect drivers' capability and cause many accidents. Drowsiness-related road accidents are associated with trauma, physical injuries, and fatalities, and often accompany economic loss. Drowsy-related crashes are most common in young people and night shift workers. Real-time and accurate driver drowsiness detection is necessary to bring down the drowsy driving accident rate. Many researchers endeavored for systems to detect drowsiness using different features related to vehicles, and drivers' behavior, as well as, physiological measures. Keeping in view the rising trend in the use of physiological measures, this study presents a comprehensive and systematic review of the recent techniques to detect driver drowsiness using physiological signals. Different sensors augmented with machine learning are utilized which subsequently yield better results. These techniques are analyzed with respect to several aspects such as data collection sensor, environment consideration like controlled or dynamic, experimental set up like real traffic or driving simulators, etc. Similarly, by investigating the type of sensors involved in experiments, this study discusses the advantages and disadvantages of existing studies and points out the research gaps. Perceptions and conceptions are made to provide future research directions for drowsiness detection techniques based on physiological signals. [Abstract copyright: © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V. 2022. Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Alkaloids as New Leads for Neurodegenerative Diseases

Conventionally, diseases involving the selective loss of neurons are referred to as neurodegenerative diseases. Traditional and more recent compounds have been explored, but they only provide symptomatic benefits and have a large number of negative effects. It will be regarded as a modern vision if stronger molecules are found that can stop the pathophysiology of these diseases. In order to replace existing medications, natural compounds are being developed from plants and other sources. Natural products, including alkaloids that originate from plants, have emerged as potential protective agents against neurodegenerative disorders (e.g., Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s), psychiatric conditions, and many more. They provided unique lead compounds for medicine. Alkaloids could be exploited as starting materials for novel drug synthesis or, to a lesser extent, used to manage neurodegenerative-related complications due to their diverse mechanistic effects. This chapter aims to highlight the importance of alkaloids as new leads for the development of potential clinical drug candidates for the management and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases

Effect of maternal yeast feeding on dam performance and serum health biomarkers of Beetal goat kids

Supplementation with dietary yeast has improved digestibility and productive performance in ruminants. In this research the primary objective was to appraise the effects of dietary yeast supplementation of female goats during the transition period on milk composition and yield and on production and serum health biomarkers of their kids. Twenty-four Beetal goats (4 ± 1.2 years) were randomly assigned to three groups, which received 0, 5, and 10 grams/animal/day of live dried yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae for 60 days (30 days pre- and post-partum). All goats were fed 500 grams of concentrate with water and green fodder ad libitum. Milk samples were collected at 7, 14, 21, and 28 days post kidding. Kids were weighed on days 0, 7, 15, 22, and 30, and blood samples were collected on days 15 and 30 for serum metabolites (glucose, urea, cholesterol, non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA), serum total proteins, albumin, globulin, albumin to globulin ratio, serum oxidant and antioxidant activity (malondialdehyde) (MDA) and catalase), and liver enzymes aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine transaminase (ALT) assessment. Milk yield was significantly (P =0.02) higher during the post-partum period in yeast-fed goats. Yeast-fed goats also produced milk containing more fat (P <0.001) and protein (P <0.001) compared with control goats. Birth weight, average daily gain, and serum health biomarkers of the kids were not influenced by the treatments. In conclusion, dietary yeast supplementation resulted in increased production performance of the dams without significant impact on their offspring.Keywords: average daily gain, catalase activity, hepatic enzymes, milk production, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, transition perio

Role of Roof plate-specific SPONDIN3 Mutation in the Determination of Obesity Phenotypes/Fat Distribution and Susceptibility to Cardiovascular disease in Sudanese Patients in Khartoum State

Background: Obesity is a major risk factor for the development of cardiovascular disease. A growing database of clinical evidence implicates intra-abdominal adiposity as a powerful driving force for elevated cardiometabolic risk (1). Addressing intra-abdominal adiposity should play a central role in future strategies aimed at improving cardiovascular outcomes in patients with abdominal obesity and its associated cardiometabolic risk in Sudan. Objectives: It is to find the mutation in R-SPONDIN3gene and its association to both of fat deposition around the abdomen and susceptibility to cardiovascular disease in Sudanese patients in Khartoum State. Material and methods: Conventional PCR was done to detect R- SPONDIN3 in 300 participants (males and females) classified into three groups. The first group will include one hundred participants with abdominal obesity, the second group will include one hundred participants already diagnosed with CVD entangled with obesity (positive control group), while the third group will include one hundred healthy lean volunteers (negative control group). Data was analyzed using SPSS Version 22 software. P value < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results: In this study, the results of Conventional PCR were significantly different in (P <0.001) in Heart group subjects as compared to healthy controls and obese group. Comparison between the different studied groups according to gene expression showed significant differences (P <0.001) mean value of gene expression in healthy group subjects was 1.0 ± 0.0, Obesity group was 2.44 ± 0.50 and heart group subjects was 4.54 ± 0.87 respectively . Conclusion: clinically, detect R- SPONDIN3 mutation in patients with diagnosed with CVD entangled with obesity and amount of the gene expressed cleared different between obese and CVD subjects entangled with obesity. Keywords: R-SPONDIN3 gene, abdominal Obesity, CVD

Relation of R-Spondin 3 Gene expression android obesity and Susceptibility to Cardiovascular disease in Sudanese Patients in Khartoum State.

Background: Obesity is a major risk factor for the development of cardiovascular disease. A growing database of clinical evidence implicates intra-abdominal adiposity as a powerful driving force for elevated cardiometabolic risk. Addressing intra-abdominal adiposity should play a central role in future strategies aimed at improving cardiovascular outcomes in patients with abdominal obesity and its associated cardiometabolic risk in Sudan. Several studies aimed to identify some factors controlling the size and function of different areas of fat. Our research is focusing on a particular gene called R-SPONDIN3, Objectives: It is to find the amount of R-Spondin3 Gene expression in Abdominal obesity and Susceptibility to Cardiovascular disease in Sudanese Patients in Khartoum State Material and methods: - The study was including 300 participants (156 males and 144 females) classified into three groups. The first group was including one hundred participants with abdominal obesity (obese), the second group was including one hundred participants already diagnosed with CVD entangled with obesity (Heart Group as positive control group), while the third group was include one hundred healthy lean volunteers (negative control group) Results: - The findings of this study showed Conventional PCR results were significantly different (P <0.001) in Heart group subjects as compared to healthy controls and obese group. Among heart group mutation was detected in some subjects (19%) and the rest without mutation (81%) but in obese group no mutation was detected. Comparison between the different studied groups according to gene expression showed significant differences (P <0.001) mean value of gene expression in healthy group subjects was 1.0 ± 0.0, Obesity group was 2.44 ± 0.50 and heart group subjects was 4.54 ± 0.87 respectively.  Conclusion: The amount of R-SPONDIN3 gene expression among the obese and CVD patients is show up significant different and the amount of gene expressing among the CVD patients is higher than obese which is suggested that the amount of gene expressed in obese patients with heart disease more than obese patients without cardiovascular complications &nbsp

L-isoleucine-supplemented Oral Rehydration Solution in the Treatment of Acute Diarrhoea in Children: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Antimicrobial peptides represent an important component of the innate immune defenses of living organisms, including humans. They are broad-spectrum surface-acting agents secreted by the epithelial cells of the body in response to infection. Recently, L-isoleucine and its analogues have been found to induce antimicrobial peptides. The objectives of the study were to examine if addition of L-isoleucine to oral rehydration salts (ORS) solution would reduce stool output and/or duration of acute diarrhoea in children and induce antimicrobial peptides in intestine. This double-blind randomized controlled trial was conducted at the Dhaka Hospital of ICDDR,B. Fifty male children, aged 6-36 months, with acute diarrhoea and some dehydration, attending the hospital, were included in the study. Twenty-five children received L-isoleucine (2 g/L)-added ORS (study), and 25 received ORS without L-isoleucine (control). Stool weight, ORS intake, and duration of diarrhoea were the primary outcomes. There was a trend in reduction in mean±standard deviation (SD) daily stool output (g) of children in the L-isoleucine group from day 2 but it was significant on day 3 (388±261 vs 653±446; the difference between mean [95% confidence interval (CI) (-)265 (−509, −20); p=0.035]. Although the cumulative stool output from day 1 to day 3 reduced by 26% in the isoleucine group, it was not significant. Also, there was a trend in reduction in the mean±SD intake of ORS solution (mL) in the L-isoleucine group but it was significant only on day 1 (410±169 vs 564±301), the difference between mean (95% CI) (-)154 (-288, −18); p=0.04. The duration (hours) of diarrhoea was similar in both the groups. A gradual increase in stool concentrations of ß-defensin 2 and 3 was noted but they were not significantly different between the groups. L-isoleucine-supplemented ORS might be beneficial in reducing stool output and ORS intake in children with acute watery diarrhoea. A further study is warranted to substantiate the therapeutic effect of L-isoleucine