Miniature distributed filters for software re-configurable radio applications

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The Digital Flynn Effect: Complexity of Posts on Social Media Increases over Time

Parents and teachers often express concern about the extensive use of social media by youngsters. Some of them see emoticons, undecipherable initialisms and loose grammar typical for social media as evidence of language degradation. In this paper, we use a simple measure of text complexity to investigate how the complexity of public posts on a popular social networking site changes over time. We analyze a unique dataset that contains texts posted by 942, 336 users from a large European city across nine years. We show that the chosen complexity measure is correlated with the academic performance of users: users from high-performing schools produce more complex texts than users from low-performing schools. We also find that complexity of posts increases with age. Finally, we demonstrate that overall language complexity of posts on the social networking site is constantly increasing. We call this phenomenon the digital Flynn effect. Our results may suggest that the worries about language degradation are not warranted

Antibiotic Prescribing Practices of Filipino Dentists

There are reports that dentists overprescribe antibiotics which may contribute to antibiotic resistance. This is an exploratory study on antibiotic prescribing practices of Filipino dentists using an online platform to form a basis for antimicrobial stewardship policy for dentists. A link to an online questionnaire using Survey Monkey was posted in a Closed Group Facebook account of Filipino dentists. Two hundred thirty (230) dentists participated. Data was analyzed by Survey Monkey. Amoxicillin is the first choice of antibiotics(71.18%), andclindamycin is the second (57.27%). Most respondents follow the indications for antibiotic therapy, however, some will prescribe antibiotics for conditions without indications. For dental procedures, 88.99% will prescribe for periodontal surgery, 75.45% for endodontic surgery, 68.3% for extraction of a tooth with chronic infection, 87.17% for third molar surgery, 26.7% for routine endodontics, and 23.56% for periodontal treatment without surgery. Not all of the respondents would prescribe for medical conditions that require antibiotic prophylaxis, while 60.36% will prescribe when in doubt in diagnosis, under time pressure (25.68%), and 48.67% considers patient preference. Only 10.48% of the respondents are very familiar with antimicrobial stewardship, while majority (69.74%) have not attended a lecture for antimicrobial stewardship for dentists.There is inappropriate antibiotic prescribing of participants on certain dental diseases, procedures, and medical conditions. Most respondents are not very familiar and have not attended a lecture on antimicrobial stewardship for specifically for dentists

An Evaluation of the Productivity of Alagba Series for Upland Crops Production in the Humid Agro Ecological Zone Of Nigeria

Studies were carried out on Alagba series in the humid agro ecolocological zone of Nigeria to evaluate their productivity on the basis of their physicochemical properties. Soil constraints inherent in the soils which negatively impact on their productivity were scientifically identified. Thereafter, appropriate measures to ameliorate the constraints were proffered in order to enhance the productivity of the soils. Among the constraints identified were soil acidification, low effective cation exchange capacity and susceptibility to erosion due to the clayey texture throughout the profile. This kind of texture not only made the soils less productive for deep rooted crops but also caused difficulties in harvesting. Liming and the use of acid-tolerant species were appropriate measures to ameliorate the acidity constraints, while incorporation of organic materials into the soils in combination with liming were the appropriate measures to enhance the effective cation exchange capacity. Erosion control and maintenance of surface cover were to be given high priority, while tillage should be limited to only when soil was drier than the plastic limit. Soil organic carbon should be maintained or increased due to its role in many important soil properties that have a bearing on soil productivity.Keywords: Productivity, inherent soil constraints, Alagba Series, humid agroecological zone, Nigeri

Highly heterogeneous Ty3/Gypsy-like retrotransposon sequences in the genome of cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz)

The use of PCR has enabled the survey of transposable elements in many plants; thereby making the study of their diversity and applications possible in species where the full genome sequence data are not yet available. In the present study, we used PCR primers anchored on the conserved domain of reverse transcriptase and endonuclease to amplify the Ty3/Gypsy-like polyprotein fragment from the genome of cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz). The PCR product was cloned and sequenced. Sequence analysis of individual clones clearly identified the conserved domain of the polyprotein enzymes and showed the cassava Ty3/Gypsy-like retrotransposon, Megyp (for Manihot esculenta gypsy-like), sequences to be highly heterogeneous. Some Megyps clustered with other plants’ Ty3/Gypsy-like retrotransposons, while some clustered with Gypsy of Drosophila melanogaster and Ty3-2 of Saccharomyces cerevisiae in the comparative multiple sequence analysis. This suggests that the later belong to the retrovirus lineage of this group of elements. Southern analysis showed that, the Megyps and analogues were highly repeated within the genomes of cassava cultivars.Key words: Cassava, transposable-elements, retrotransposons, retroviruses, Manihot esculenta, Ty3/Gypsy