Multistep microsatellite mutation in the maternally transmitted locus D13S317: a case of maternal allele mismatch in the child

Examination of a case of a paternity dispute with 17 autosomal short tandem repeats (STR) loci revealed a mismatch of the maternally transmitted allele at the locus D13S317 in the questioned child. The composition of the alleles of this locus in the mother, questioned child and suspected father was 8/8, 11/11 and 8/11, respectively. The sequence analysis of the regions flanking the locus D13S317 and peak height measurements of the paternal, maternal and child alleles at this locus excluded the possibility of null allele as a cause of the allelic mismatch inherited by the child. The results suggested expansion of the microsatellite repeat motif, TATC by three repeat units as a probable cause for the allelic mismatch in the child. This is a rare case of maternally transmitted multistep microsatellite mutation reported for the first time for this locus in the forensic DNA analysis. The mutation rate at D13S317 locus in maternal and paternal meiosis was 0.04 and 0.14%, respectively, and overall mutation rate was 0.15%. The probability of maternity and paternity were 0.999999 and 0.999999, respectively, for all the 17 autosomal STR loci analyzed. Furthermore, the sequence of two hypervariable regions of mitochondrial DNA, HV1 and HV2 and the maternal alleles of six X chromosome STR loci in the questioned child matched completely with the mother. These results conclusively proved that the mother and suspected father are the biological parents of the questioned child

Lower k-record values from unit-Gompertz distribution and associated inference

Mazucheli et al. (2019) introduced the unit-Gompertz (UG) distribution and studied some of its properties. More specifically, they considered the random variable X =exp(-Y), where Y has the Gompertz distribution. In this paper, we consider the lower k-record values from this distribution. We obtain exact explicit expressions as well as several recurrence relations for the single and product moments of lower k-record values and then we use these results to compute the means, variances and the covariances of the lower k-record values. We make use of these calculated moments to find the best linear unbiased estimators (BLUEs) of the location and scale parameters of the UG distribution. Applying the relation between the BLUE and the best linear invariant estimator (BLIE), we obtain the BLIEs of the location and scale parameters, as well. In addition, based on the observed k-records, we investigate how to obtain the best linear unbiased predictor (BLUP) and best linear invariant predictor (BLIP) for a future k-record value. Confidence intervals for the unknown parameters and prediction intervals for future k-records are also discussed. A simulation study is performed to assess the point and interval estimators and predictors proposed in the paper. The results show that the BLIE and BLIP outperform the BLUE and BLIP, in the sense of mean squared error criterion, respectively. Finally, a real data set pertaining to COVID-19 2-records is analyzed

A Comprehensive Characterization of Simple Sequence Repeats in the Sequenced Trichoderma Genomes Provides Valuable Resources for Marker Development

Members of genus Trichoderma are known worldwide for mycoparasitism. To gain a better insight into the organization and evolution of their genomes, we used an in-silico approach to compare the occurrence, relative abundance and density of SSRs in T.atroviride, T. harzianum, T. reesei, and T. virens. Our analysis revealed that in all the four genome sequences studied, the occurrence, relative abundance, and density of microsatellites varied and was not influenced by genome sizes. The relative abundance and density of SSRs positively correlated with the G+C content of their genomes. The maximum frequency of SSRs was observed in the smallest genome of T. reesei whereas it was least in second smallest genome of T. atroviride. Among different classes of repeats, the tri-nucleotide repeats were abundant in all the genomes and accounts for ~38%, whereas hexa-nuceotide repeats were the least (~10.2%). Further evaluation of the conservation of motifs in the transcript sequences shows a 49.5% conservation among all the motifs. In order to study polymorphism in Trichoderma isolates, 12 polymorphic SSR markers were developed. Of the 12 markers, 6 markers are from T. atroviride and remaining 6 belong to T. harzianum. SSR markers were found to be more polymorphic from T. atroviride with an average polymorphism information content value of 0.745 in comparison with T. harzianum (0.615). Twelve polymorphic markers obtained in this study clearly demonstrate the utility of newly developed SSR markers in establishing genetic relationships among different isolates of Trichoderma

Knowledge generation process: A measurement approach

The key objective of this research paper is to develop an understanding on the knowledge generation aspect through process development and attempted for its measurement in the context of knowledge management in high performance organizations. A survey is carried out at all the levels of the managers in a high performance organization to measure the knowledge generation efforts that can contribute to estimate the outcome dimensions as competitive advantage.The results indicate that the measurement of knowledge generation can be attempted with antecedents and outcomes of the knowledge generation process.The correlation analysis indicates a positive association among the variables.The regression model is developed to know the awareness about the dependency and linearity between the Knowledge Generation and Outcome dimensions. Finally, some efforts are made in this research work to achieve more clarity through measurement on the knowledge generation process that can contribute to knowledge management area of the management science

Current Management Strategies in Breast Cancer by Targeting Key Altered Molecular Players

Breast Cancer is second largest disease affecting women worldwide. It remains the most frequently reported and leading cause of death among women in both developed and developing countries. Chemoprevention is one the promising approaches which reduces breast cancer. Tamoxifen and raloxifene are commonly used for treatment of breast cancer in women with high risk, although resistance occurs by tamoxifen after five years of therapy and both drugs cause uterine cancer and thromboembolic events. Aromatase inhibitors are coming up as potential option for prevention in treatment with adjuvant trials in practice. The combination of aromatase inhibitors along with tamoxifen can also be beneficial. For this, clinical trials based on large number of patients with optimal dose and lesser side effects have to be more in practice. Despite the clinical trials going on, there is need of better molecular models which can identify high risk population and new agents with better benefit having less side effects and improved biomarkers for treating breast cancer

A Logical Framework for the Representation and Verification of Context-aware Agents

© 2014, Springer Science+Business Media New York. We propose a logical framework for modelling and verifying context-aware multi-agent systems. We extend CTL∗ with belief and communication modalities, and the resulting logic 𝓛OCRS allows us to describe a set of rule-based reasoning agents with bound on time, memory and communication. The set of rules which are used to model a desired systems is derived from OWL 2 RL ontologies. We provide an axiomatization of the logic and prove it is sound and complete. We show how Maude rewriting system can be used to encode and verify interesting properties of 𝓛OCRS models using existing model checking techniques

Multi National Survey of the Advice Given to Muslim Kidney Graft Recipients by Muslim Nephrologists about Lifestyle and Religious Rituals with Potential Medical Risk

Muslim renal transplant recipients often ask their physicians if performing certain lifestyles or religious obligations may be harmful to their health. Permissibility as advised by an expert Muslim physician is considered as being religiously accepted. A cross-sectional, survey-based study was conducted enquiring what nephrologists would advise their transplant recipients to do, about some lifestyles and religious duties. Fifty-eight nephrologists responded to the survey. Of these, 77% routinely follow-up post-transplant patients; 34% were from Saudi Arabia, 18% from the USA, and 20% from Pakistan. Fifty-four percent of the respondents would let patients with stable graft function fast during Ramadan, while 20% would not recommend fasting at any time following transplantation. This response did not change much if the patient was diabetic although in these patients, not recommending fasting at any time increased to 32%. For kidney donors, fasting would be allowed by 58% of the respondents once the kidney function stabilizes. About 50% would let their patients perform Omrah or obligatory Hajj any time after 12 months following transplantation, and only about 3% would not recommend that at any time after transplantation. For nonobligatory Hajj, 37% and 22%, respectively, would allow. Sixty-one percent would delay the pregnancy in nullipara with stable renal function, and none of the nephrologists would deny the opportunity to pregnancy at any time. In multiparous transplant recipients, the respective frequencies would be 45% and 20%. To our knowledge, this the first study exploring the consensus among Muslim nephrologists regarding the advice they would give on performance of potentially risky lifestyles and religious rituals by Muslim posttransplant patients

Evolution of a Novel Appendage Ground Plan in Water Striders Is Driven by Changes in the Hox Gene Ultrabithorax

Water striders, a group of semi-aquatic bugs adapted to life on the water surface, have evolved mid-legs (L2) that are long relative to their hind-legs (L3). This novel appendage ground plan is a derived feature among insects, where L2 function as oars and L3 as rudders. The Hox gene Ultrabithorax (Ubx) is known to increase appendage size in a variety of insects. Using gene expression and RNAi analysis, we discovered that Ubx is expressed in both L2 and L3, but Ubx functions to elongate L2 and to shorten L3 in the water strider Gerris buenoi. Therefore, within hemimetabolous insects, Ubx has evolved a new expression domain but maintained its ancestral elongating function in L2, whereas Ubx has maintained its ancestral expression domain but evolved a new shortening function in L3. These changes in Ubx expression and function may have been a key event in the evolution of the distinct appendage ground plan in water striders

Islamic legal methodologies and Shariah screening standards: application in the Indonesian stock market

This article provides a framework for applying the principles of Islamic legal methodology to determine the optimal Shariah screening standards for Islamic equity markets. It is argued that using maslahah mursalah (unrestricted benefit) is an appropriate method for identifying appropriate financial standards and its principles stipulate that the benchmark that yields the best economic returns to investors should be chosen. The methodological framework is applied to the Indonesia equity market where the economic implications of the Islamic stock screening standards of the Indonesian Islamic Shariah Stock Index and four global indices are assessed. Portfolios are constructed by applying Islamic stock screening standards for each of the indices by using data on 377 stocks listed in the Indonesian stock market for 5 years. The performances measured by the Sharpe ratio, Treynor index, and Jensen alpha reveal that the Dow Jones Islamic Index screening criteria performs the best. Based on the method of maslahah mursalah, the article recommends using the screening standard of this index in the Indonesian stock market to maximize benefits to investors. While the approach used in this article is applied to Islamic equity markets, the methodological framework can also be used for other similar cases in Islamic finance

The Love of Money and Pay Level Satisfaction: Measurement and Functional Equivalence in 29 Geopolitical Entities around the World

Demonstrating the equivalence of constructs is a key requirement for cross-cultural empirical research. The major purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how to assess measurement and functional equivalence or invariance using the 9-item, 3-factor Love of Money Scale (LOMS, a second-order factor model) and the 4-item, 1-factor Pay Level Satisfaction Scale (PLSS, a first-order factor model) across 29 samples in six continents (N = 5973). In step 1, we tested the configural, metric and scalar invariance of the LOMS and 17 samples achieved measurement invariance. In step 2, we applied the same procedures to the PLSS and nine samples achieved measurement invariance. Five samples (Brazil, China, South Africa, Spain and the USA) passed the measurement invariance criteria for both measures. In step 3, we found that for these two measures, common method variance was non-significant. In step 4, we tested the functional equivalence between the Love of Money Scale and Pay Level Satisfaction Scale. We achieved functional equivalence for these two scales in all five samples. The results of this study suggest the critical importance of evaluating and establishing measurement equivalence in cross-cultural studies. Suggestions for remedying measurement non-equivalence are offered