Erythrocyte potassium and glutathione polymorphism determination in Saanen x Malta crossbred goats

This research is aimed at determining the erythrocyte potassium and glutathione polymorphisms and also to identify the relationship among the various blood parameters in  Saanen x Malta crossbred goat raised in Turkey. The allele gene frequencies of KH and KL associated with the potassium concentration were calculated as 0.94 and 0.06, respectively. The differences between the mean values of low and high potassium concentrations in erythrocyte were statistically significant (P < 0.01). In addition, there were some significant relationships between erythrocyte potassium types and some blood parameters such as whole blood sodium and potassium concentrations, erythrocyte sodium and potassium concentrations and total monovalent cation concentration in erythrocyte (P < 0.05). The allele gene frequencies of GSHH and GSHh related with the glutathione concentration were calculated as 0.43 and 0.57, respectively. The difference between the mean values of low and high glutathione erythrocyte concentrations were also statistically significant (P < 0.01). Finally, the significant correlation coefficient between erythrocyte sodium and potassium concentrations was observed in this study (P < 0.05).Key words: Erythrocyte potassium, glutathione, blood polymorphism, Saanen, Malta goat

D-brane orbiting NS5-branes

We study real time dynamics of a Dp-brane orbiting a stack of NS5-branes. It is generally known that a BPS D-brane moving in the vicinity of NS5-branes becomes unstable due to the presence of tachyonic degree of freedom induced on the D-brane. Indeed, the D-brane necessarily falls into the fivebranes due to gravitational attraction and eventually collapses into a pressureless fluid. Such a decay of the D-brane is known to be closely related to the rolling tachyon problem. In this paper we show that in special cases the decay of D-brane caused by gravitational attraction can be avoided. Namely for certain values of energy and angular momentum the D-brane orbits around the fivebranes, maintaining certain distance from the fivebranes all the time, and the process of tachyon condensation is suppressed. We show that the tachyonic degree of freedom induced on such a D-brane really disappears and the brane returns to a stable D-brane.Comment: 12 pages, latex, added referenc

Do women empowerment indicators predict receipt of quality antenatal care in Cameroon? Evidence from a nationwide survey.

BACKGROUND: World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends quality antenatal care (ANC) for all pregnant women, as one of the strategies for achieving targets 3.1 and 3.2 of the sustainable development goals. Maternal mortality ratio remains high in Cameroon (782 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births). Extant literature suggest a positive association between women empowerment indicators and maternal healthcare utilisation in general. In Cameroon, this association has not received scholarly attention. To fill this knowledge gap, we investigated the association between women empowerment indicators and quality ANC in Cameroon. METHODS: Data of 4615 women of reproductive age were analysed from the women's file of the 2018 Cameroon Demographic and Health Survey. Quality ANC (measured by six indicators) was the outcome of interest. Binary Logistic Regression was conducted. All results of the Binary Logistic Regression analysis were presented as adjusted odds ratios (aORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). All analyses were done using Stata version 14. RESULTS: In all, 13.5% of the respondents received quality ANC. Women with low knowledge level (aOR = 0.66, CI 0.45, 0.98) had a lesser likelihood of receiving quality ANC compared to those with medium knowledge level. Women who highly approved wife beating (aOR = 0.54, CI 0.35, 0.83) had lesser odds of receiving quality ANC compared to those with low approval of wife beating. CONCLUSION: The study has pointed to the need for multifaceted approaches aimed at enhancing the knowledge base of women. The Ministry of Public Health should collaborate and intensify female's reproductive health education. The study suggests that women advocacy and maternal healthcare interventions in Cameroon must strive to identify women who approve of wife beating and motivate them to disapprove all forms of violence

A comparison of the effects of Methylprednisolone Acetate, Sodium Hyaluronate and Tenoxicam in the treatment of non-reducing disc displacement of the temporomandibular joint

This clinical study aimed to radiologically and clinically compare the effect of intra-articular injection of methylprednisolone, sodium hyaluronate or tenoxicam following arthrocentesis with that of arthrocentesis alone in patients with non-reducing disc displacement. A total of 44 patients radiographically diagnosed with non-reducing disc displacement of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) were randomly divided into four treatment groups, as follows: Group 1, arthrocentesis alone; Group 2, arthrocentesis plus methylprednisolone acetate; Group 3, arthrocentesis plus sodium hyaluronate; Group 4, arthrocentesis plus tenoxicam. Maximum mouth opening (MMO), lateral movement, pain severity and tenderness of TMJ and muscles of mastication on palpation were measured before treatment and at 1 week and 1, 3 and 6 months after treatment. Disc position, presence or absence of disc reduction, level of effusion, joint movement and joint space were also evaluated using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) before treatment and 6 months after treatment. No significant differences in treatment success were found among the four groups. MRI findings did not vary significantly among the groups, but pre- and post-operative MRI findings varied significantly within all four groups (p<0.001). According to the data from this study, it may be concluded that either arthrocentesis alone or arthrocentesis with methylprednisolone acetate or sodium hyaluronate or tenoxicam intra-articular injections are similarly effective and promising methods in the treatment of TMJ with non-reducing disc displacement

Resistivity due to low-symmetrical defects in metals

The impurity resistivity, also known as the residual resistivity, is calculated ab initio using multiple-scattering theory. The mean-free path is calculated by solving the Boltzmann equation iteratively. The resistivity due to low-symmetrical defects, such as an impurity-vacancy pair, is calculated for the FCC host metals Al and Ag and the BCC transition metal V. Commonly, 1/f noise is attributed to the motion of such defects in a diffusion process.Comment: 24 pages in REVTEX-preprint format, 10 Postscript figures. Phys. Rev. B, vol. 57 (1998), accepted for publicatio

Mass hierarchy, 2-3 mixing and CP-phase with Huge Atmospheric Neutrino Detectors

We explore the physics potential of multi-megaton scale ice or water Cherenkov detectors with low ($\sim 1$ GeV) threshold. Using some proposed characteristics of the PINGU detector setup we compute the distributions of events versus neutrino energy $E_\nu$ and zenith angle $\theta_z$, and study their dependence on yet unknown neutrino parameters. The $(E_\nu - \theta_z)$ regions are identified where the distributions have the highest sensitivity to the neutrino mass hierarchy, to the deviation of the 2-3 mixing from the maximal one and to the CP-phase. We evaluate significance of the measurements of the neutrino parameters and explore dependence of this significance on the accuracy of reconstruction of the neutrino energy and direction. The effect of degeneracy of the parameters on the sensitivities is also discussed. We estimate the characteristics of future detectors (energy and angle resolution, volume, etc.) required for establishing the neutrino mass hierarchy with high confidence level. We find that the hierarchy can be identified at $3\sigma$ -- $10\sigma$ level (depending on the reconstruction accuracies) after 5 years of PINGU operation.Comment: 39 pages, 21 figures. Description of Fig.3 correcte

Entanglement generation in continuously coupled parametric generators

We investigate a compact source of entanglement. This device is composed of a pair of linearly coupled nonlinear waveguides operating by means of degenerate parametric downconversion. For the vacuum state at the input the generalized squeeze variance and logarithmic negativity are used to quantify the amount of nonclassicality and entanglement of output beams. Squeezing and entanglement generation for various dynamical regimes of the device are discussed.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figure

Dietary intakes and iron status of vegetarian and non-vegetarian children in selected communities in Accra and cape coast, Ghana

There is a scarcity of information on dietary intake and iron status of Ghanaian children raised on vegetarian diets. A cross-sectional study design was used to compare the diets and iron status of vegetarian children between the ages of 9 months and 11 years (n= 26) with matched controls, non-vegetarian children (n=26) of similar ages and same sex and living within the same communities in Accra and Cape Coast, Ghana. Dietary information was collected using 24-hr food recall and 12-hr home observation. Haemoglobin, plasma ferritin, C-reactive protein, and Transferrin Receptor (TfR) concentrations were determined on finger prick (haemoglobin) and venous blood samples collected during the study. Based on the 24-hr food recall, vegetarian children&rsquo;s diets were devoid of vitamin B12whereas non-vegetarian children&rsquo;s diets were not (0.0 &plusmn; 0.0 mg vs. 1.5 &plusmn; 1.8 mg, p&lt;0.001). The dietary intake based on 12-hr home observation showed similar results. However, vegetarians had significantly higher intake of dietary fibre (17.1 &plusmn; 11.9 g vs. 8.4 &plusmn; 6.2 g, p= 0.002), thiamine (1.1 &plusmn; 0.8 mg vs. 0.5 &plusmn; 0.3 mg, p= 0.001) and vitamin A (1702 &plusmn; 1887 Retinol Equivalent (RE)vs. 671 &plusmn; 691 RE, p= 0.010) than non-vegetarian children. Dietary diversity based on nine food groups was similar between groups (5.8 &plusmn;1.0score). Plasma ferritin was higher for non-vegetarian children compared to the vegetarians (59.2&plusmn; 48.2 ng/mL vs. 34.1&plusmn; 25.8ng/ml, p= 0.012) but there was no group difference in plasma TfR. The prevalence of anaemia was about 25% in both groups. Typical diets of Ghanaian children lack variety and both vegetarian and nonvegetarian diets are insufficient to support adequate iron status. Iron-rich foods such as meat or supplements are needed. There is urgent need for immediate vitamin B12 supplementation for all vegetarian children and a general need for nutrition education to diversify all children&rsquo;s diets

Recherche de polluants inorganiques sur un ancien site de décharge d’ordures ménagères érigé en aire de jeux : Cas de Bè-Aveto à Lomé au Togo

Les déchets ménagers des pays en développement ne connaissent pas en général des tris. Les poubelles des ménages reçoivent les déchets de tout genre et il en est de même des décharges publiques qui sont par voie de conséquence potentiellement polluées et polluantes. Ce travail porte sur l’évaluation du degré de pollution de l’ancien site de décharge des ordures ménagères de Bè-Aveto à Lomé (Togo) actuellement érigé en une airede jeux, en recherchant les teneurs des polluants chimiques. Ainsi, après avoir réalisé un zonage de l’aire de jeux, des échantillons représentatifs de sable ont été prélevés et analysés. Les résultats des analyses montrentque, l’actuelle aire de jeux renferme des éléments traces métalliques (ETM) tels que le plomb, le cadmium, l’arsenic, le mercure, de même que les nitrates et les phosphates dont les teneurs sont parfois plus de deux fois supérieures aux normes. Le taux de certains métaux comme le plomb laisse penser à d’autres sources telles que les pratiques cérémoniales au cours desquelles ce métal est souvent utilisé. En effet, le site ayant été auparavant une forêt sacrée, a pu recevoir des balles en plomb pour  célébrer les dieux de la chasse. Toutefois, le taux de matière organique a été évalué afin de pouvoir postuler sur le potentiel de rétention des  polluants organiques par ladite matière organique. Cette aire de jeux est donc polluée et nécessite des actions de dépollution. En marge des  approches de dépollution chimiques proposées, il est aussi possible de garnir le site en gazon afin de réduire les risques de contamination.Mots clés : Déchet, décharge, jeux, polluant, contamination, site pollué, ETM