Information Systems Undergraduate Degree Project: Gaining a Better Understanding of the Final Year Project Module

The place of an individual project in the final year of Information Systems (IS) undergraduate degrees at UK universities is well established. In this paper we compare the final year project modules at four UK universities: the University of Brighton, the University of South Wales, University of West London and the University of Westminster. We find that the aims of the projects are similar, emphasising the application of the knowledge and skills from the taught element of their course in a complex development project, often including interactions with a real client. Although we show in this analysis that projects serve a similar purpose in the IS degree courses, the associated learning outcomes and the assessment practice varies across the institutions. We identify some gaps in the skills and abilities that are not being assessed. In further work we are planning to consult final year students undertaking their projects and their supervisors, in order to gain an understanding of how project assessment criteria are actually put to use

GENETIC AND EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS OF COMPLEX REPRODUCTIVE DISORDERS

Common, complex disorders are polygenic and multifactorial traits representing interactions between environmental, genetic and epigenetic risk factors. More often than not, contributions of these risk factors have been studied individually and this is especially true for complex reproductive traits where application of genomic technologies has been challenging and slow to progress. This thesis explores the potential of genetic and epigenetic components contributing to a better understanding of the biological pathways underlying disease risk in two specific female complex reproductive traits - polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM). The PCOS projects focus on characterization of a gene, DENND1A, whose association to PCOS has been established by Genome Wide Association Studies (GWAS) and is known to contribute to PCOS steroidogenic phenotype. In addition, differential microRNAs expression contributing to DENND1A expression regulation in PCOS theca cells was identified. The studies on PPROM utilize a Whole Exome Sequencing approach to identify rare variants in fetal genes contributing to extracellular matrix composition and synthesis contributing to PPROM risk. The results suggest that fetal contribution to PPROM is polygenic and is driven by a significant genetic burden of potentially damaging rare variants in genes contributing to fetal membrane strength and integrity. Tissue and location specific expression patterns of the Chromosome 21 miRNA cluster (miR-99a, miR-125b, let-7c) in fetal membranes from term pregnancies with spontaneous rupture were investigated. The results suggest that these miRNAs play potential roles in fetal membrane rupture and fetal membrane defects associated with T21

Entanglement, non-Markovianity, and causal non-separability

Quantum mechanics, in principle, allows for processes with indefinite causal order. However, most of these causal anomalies have not yet been detected experimentally. We show that every such process can be simulated experimentally by means of non-Markovian dynamics with a measurement on additional degrees of freedom. Explicitly, we provide a constructive scheme to implement arbitrary acausal processes. Furthermore, we give necessary and sufficient conditions for open system dynamics with measurement to yield processes that respect causality locally, and find that tripartite entanglement and nonlocal unitary transformations are crucial requirements for the simulation of causally indefinite processes. These results show a direct connection between three counter-intuitive concepts: non-Markovianity, entanglement, and causal indefiniteness.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figure

Spin-chain model of a many-body quantum battery

Recently, it has been shown that energy can be deposited on a collection of quantum systems at a rate that scales super-extensively. Some of these schemes for `quantum batteries' rely on the use of global many-body interactions that take the batteries through a correlated short cut in state space. Here, we extend the notion of a quantum battery from a collection of a priori isolated systems to a many-body quantum system with intrinsic interactions. Specifically, we consider a one-dimensional spin chain with physically realistic two-body interactions. We find that the spin-spin interactions can yield an advantage in charging power over the non-interacting case, and we demonstrate that this advantage can grow super-extensively when the interactions are long ranged. However, we show that, unlike in previous work, this advantage is a mean-field interaction effect that does not involve correlations and that relies on the interactions being intrinsic to the battery.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figure

ANTIDIABETIC AND ANTIHYPERLIPIDAEMIC ACTIVITY OF NELUMBO NUCIFERA GAERTN ETHANOL SEED EXTRACT IN STREPTOZOTOCIN INDUCED DIABETIC RATS

Objective: The main objective of the study was to investigate the effect of ethanol seed extracts of Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn (Nymphaeaceae) as antihyperglycemic, anti-hyperlipidemic and antioxidant activity in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats.Methods: Diabetes was induced in wistar albino rats by administration of streptozotocin (single intraperitoneal dose of 60 mg/kg B. W). The ethanol extract of N. nucifera seed at a dose of 200 and 400 mg/kg body weight was administrated at a single dose per day to STZ induced diabetic rats for a period of 42 d. The different pharmacological parameters were evaluated. The effect of ethanol seed extract of N. nucifera on insulin, blood glucose, urea, creatinine, HbA1C, serum protein, albumin, globulin, serum enzymes, serum lipid profiles, lipid peroxides (LPO) and other antioxidant enzymes like catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and reduced glutathione (GSH) were measured in the diabetic rats.Results: In the acute toxicity study ethanol seed extract of Nelumbo nucifera were non-toxic at 2000 mg/kg in rats. The ethanol extract of Nelumbo nucifera seed showed significant reduction in blood glucose (p<0.05), serum enzymes (SGPT, SGOT, ALP) (p<0.05), lipid parameters (TC, TG, VLDL, LDL) (p<0.05) except HDL and significantly increased insulin (p<0.05), HDL (p<0.05), GPx, GSH, SOD and CAT (p<0.05) at the dose of 400 mg/kg when compared with the diabetic-induced control.Conclusion: The present study suggested that the NNSE has significant (p<0.05) antihyperglycemic, antihyperlipidemic and antioxidant activity in STZ induced diabetic rats. These results clearly indicate that Nelumbo nucifera is effective against free radical-mediated diseases, thus replacing the synthetic ones

Study of surgical site infection in patients undergoing caesarean section at tertiary care center, Gujarat

Background: Surgical site infection following cesarean delivery leads to increasing the duration of patient hospitalization, hospital costs and raise the burden on our healthcare system. The incidence of SSI after cesarean range from 3% to 5%. Objective of current investigation was to study the risk factor & microbial agents responsible for SSI in LSCS and impact of SSI on perinatal outcome.Methods: This prospective study was done among 324 pregnant women undergoing LSCS at department of obstetrics and Gynecology in GMERS medical college & hospital, Sola, Ahmedabad during April 2015 to April 2016. All patients were following up to 7thpostoperative day.SSI was defined by CDC criteria.Results: The incidence of SSI noted in present study was 8.02%. Almost 46.2% cases had BMI ≥25 kg/m2, 65.4% multipara, 34.6% resided in rural area of SSI group. PIH, PROM, LSCS in emergency, multiple vaginal examination (>3), perioperative blood glucose (≥110 mg/dl), duration of surgery (≥60 min), past H/O of LSCS noted in participants of SSI was 30.8%, 30.8%, 96.1, 19.3%, 84.6%, 23.1%), 73.1% respectively. Staphylococcus aureus was the most common microorganism identified and incidence of NICU admission was 11.5% in SSI group.Conclusions: Incidence of SSI in present is 8.02%. BMI, PIH, PROM, LSCS in emergency, multiple vaginal examination (>3), perioperative blood glucose (≥110 mg/dl), duration of surgery (≥60 min), Past H/O of LSCS were noted statistically significantly higher among the participants of SSI group. Staphylococcus aureus was the most common organism identified

A rare case of retroperitoneal leiomyosarcoma

Leiomyosarcoma, a rare malignancy of smooth muscle may arise from the retroperitoneum. They often reach a large size before diagnosis is made. Patient presents with vague symptoms, as such retroperitoneal malignancies are related to displacement of organs and obstructive phenomenon. The present paper is one of the very few case reports of retroperitoneal leiomyosarcoma which illustrates the presenting symptoms, gross and microscopic findings, treatment modalities and prognostic indicators of a 70 years old male seen at Government medical college, New Civil Hospital, Surat

Statistical Mechanics of DNA Rupture: Theory and Simulations

We study the effects of the shear force on the rupture mechanism on a double stranded DNA. Motivated by recent experiments, we perform the atomistic simulations with explicit solvent to obtain the distributions of extension in hydrogen and covalent bonds below the rupture force. We obtain a significant difference between the atomistic simulations and the existing results in the iterature based on the coarse-grained models (theory and simulations). We discuss the possible reasons and improve the coarse-grained model by incorporating the consequences of semi-microscopic details of the nucleotides in its description. The distributions obtained by the modified model (simulations and theoretical) are qualitatively similar to the one obtained using atomistic simulations.Comment: 18 pages, 9 figures. Accepted in J. Chem. Phys. (2013). arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1104.305

Routine versus selective use of episiotomy in primigravida: a prospective non-randomized case-control study

Background: Episiotomy is a surgically planned incision on the perineum and the posterior vaginal wall during second stage of labour. It is an inflicted second-degree perineal tear. Objective of this study was to determine the possible benefits and risks of the use of selective episiotomy versus routine episiotomy during delivery in primigravida.Methods: This is a prospective non-randomized case-control study designed to analyze and compare the maternal outcomes following routine versus selective use of episiotomy in primigravida. In control group, 122 patients were recruited and mediolateral episiotomy was given in all patients; while in study group, 61 patients were recruited, in whom episiotomy was given selectively.Results: In study group 61 patients were recruited, out of which episiotomy can be avoided in 23 (37.7%) of cases. There was no 3rd or 4th degree perineal tear found in any group. Perineal pain score on 3rd day postpartum was less in study group, as compared to control group on bed rest, sitting, walking and defecation.Conclusions: Selective use of episiotomy can improve maternal outcome by reducing perineal lacerations and those having intact perineum can have the best outcome when episiotomy is given selectively