The relationship between knowledge management practices and staffs performance in CIMB principla asset management headquaters (HQ) / Farah Illyanie Omran

Knowledge Management Practice is the set of management activities conducted in a firm with the aim of improving the effectiveness and efficiency of organizational knowledge resources. This research discussed on the relationship between knowledge management practices and staff performance. This knowledge practices becomes productive when combined staff performance as dependent variable. Practically, this research describes implementation of KMP expertise in staff performance in CIMB Principal Asset Management Headquarters, using the scientific method of knowledge acquisition, knowledge dissemination and knowledge utilization. The questionnaire has been adjusted to match the environment of this research and it was applied to a sample of about 137 staffs in CIMB Principal Asset Management Headquarters. It was found that knowledge management practices namely knowledge acquisition, knowledge dissemination and knowledge utilization have positive and significant relationship with staff performanc

CYTOTOXIC ACTIVITY OF ALKALOID EXTRACTS OF DIFFERENT PLANTS AGAINST BREAST CANCER CELL LINE

Objectives: To study in vitro cytotoxic activity of total alkaloid extracts of Pinus sabiniana L., Phoenix dactylifera L. and Ferocactus sp. L. against breast cancer cell line Michigan Cancer Foundation-7 (MCF-7) and non-tumorigenic fetal hepatic cell line (WRL-68). Methods: Plant powder of each P. sabiniana L. leaves, P. dactylifera L. pollen grains, and Ferocactus sp. L. The leaves were extracted separately with 80% methanol, chloroform at pH 2 and pH 10 and the chloroform portion was dried to obtain the total alkaloid extracts. The total alkaloids were detected qualitatively by Mayer's, Dragendorff's and Hager's reagents and estimated quantitatively by bromocresol green spectrophotometry depending on the atropine calibration curve. The cytotoxic activity was evaluated by 3-[4, 5-dimethylthiazoyl]-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay. Results: The extract of P. sabiniana L. had highest total alkaloid content (164.62±2.8 mg/100 g dry weight of plant) than the other plants (P. dactylifera l., Ferocactus sp. L.), the total alkaloids of Ferocactus sp. L. and P. dactylifera L., reduced the cell viability of both cell lines, the highest reduction occurred in the concentration 400 μg/ml was 46±2.20% (MCF-7) and 56.2±2.2% (WRL-68) for Ferocactus sp. L., followed by 56.2±2.2% (MCF-7) and 57.5±3.2% (WRL-68) for P. dactylifera L. The alkaloids of P. sabiniana was very lower effects on both cell lines MCF-7, and WRL-68 was 89.3±3.44% and 90.16±2.7%, respectively, at the same concentration. Conclusion: Plant alkaloids had variable effects against cancer and normal cell lines depending on the type of alkaloid compounds and their concentration in the extract

Simple sequence repeat (SSR) and inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) analyses of genetic diversity in tissue culture regenerated plants of cotton

Cotton is one of the main economic crop plants of Iran cultivated under continuous artificial selection and cultivation which may lead to genetic erosion and possible loss of useful genetic loci resulting in vulnerability to pests and diseases. For this reason increasing and improving the amount of genetic diversity in cotton germplasm through tissue culture is important. The present report considers genetic diversity induced in tissue culture regenerated plants of three cotton cultivars namely Mehr, Sindose and their hybrid Mehr X Sindose. Surface of seeds were disinfected with 70% ethanol for 2 min and then treated with 5% hypochlorite solution for 20 min. Finally, they were washed 3 to 4 times with sterile distilled water and inoculated aseptically on Murashige and Skoog (MS) basal medium free hormones. Single nodes resulted from seedlings cultured as explants. Inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) and simple sequence repeat (SSR) primers used produced different number of bands in the genotypes studied showing different levels of molecular polymorphisms in each cultivar. Some common and few specific ISSR/SSR loci were indentified while some bands were present in all the genotypes except one indicating genetic changes in them. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) test showed significant difference (p < 0.05) for ISSR markers but not for SSR markers. Molecular trees obtained showed genetic variations among the regenerated plants of each cultivar due to tissue culture.Keywords: Cotton, genetic diversity, ISSR, RAP

Cardiovascular Biomarkers: Lessons of the Past and Prospects for the Future

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are a major healthcare burden on the population worldwide. Early detection of this disease is important in prevention and treatment to minimise morbidity and mortality. Biomarkers are a critical tool to either diagnose, screen, or provide prognostic information for pathological conditions. This review discusses the historical cardiac biomarkers used to detect these conditions, discussing their application and their limitations. Identification of new biomarkers have since replaced these and are now in use in routine clinical practice, but still do not detect all disease. Future cardiac biomarkers are showing promise in early studies, but further studies are required to show their value in improving detection of CVD above the current biomarkers. Additionally, the analytical platforms that would allow them to be adopted in healthcare are yet to be established. There is also the need to identify whether these biomarkers can be used for diagnostic, prognostic, or screening purposes, which will impact their implementation in routine clinical practice

Development of Scoliotic spine severity detection using deep learning Algorithms

According to research conducted by Johns Hopkins' Division of Pediatric Orthopedic Surgery, around three million new instances of Scoliosis are identified each year, with the majority of cases affecting children between the ages of 10 and 12. The current method of diagnosing and treating Scoliosis, which includes spinal injections, back braces, and a variety of other types of surgery, may have resulted in inconsistencies and ineffective treatment by professionals. Other scoliosis diagnosis methods have been developed since the technology's invention. Using Convolutional Neural Network (CNN), this research will integrate an artificial intelligence-assisted method for detecting and classifying Scoliosis illness types. The software model will include an initialization phase, preprocessing the dataset, segmentation of features, performance measurement, and severity classification. The neural network used in this study is U-Net, which was developed specifically for biomedical picture segmentation. It has demonstrated reliable and accurate results, with prediction accuracy reaching 94.42%. As a result, it has been established that employing an algorithm helped by artificial intelligence provides a higher level of accuracy in detecting Scoliosis than manual diagnosis by professionals

Cardiovascular Biomarkers: Lessons of the Past and Prospects for the Future

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are a major healthcare burden on the population worldwide. Early detection of this disease is important in prevention and treatment to minimise morbidity and mortality. Biomarkers are a critical tool to either diagnose, screen, or provide prognostic information for pathological conditions. This review discusses the historical cardiac biomarkers used to detect these conditions, discussing their application and their limitations. Identification of new biomarkers have since replaced these and are now in use in routine clinical practice, but still do not detect all disease. Future cardiac biomarkers are showing promise in early studies, but further studies are required to show their value in improving detection of CVD above the current biomarkers. Additionally, the analytical platforms that would allow them to be adopted in healthcare are yet to be established. There is also the need to identify whether these biomarkers can be used for diagnostic, prognostic, or screening purposes, which will impact their implementation in routine clinical practice

Pro-/anti-inflammatory signalling pathways in brown and white adipocytess

Brown adipose tissue (BAT) and beige adipocytes offer an appealing prospect to combat obesity and associated metabolic diseases through its thermogenic capacity. A state of low-grade chronic inflammation is described in obesity with increasing evidence that inflammation directly alters the thermogenic activity of BAT. As such, gut-derived lipopolysaccharide (LPS) could be among the triggers of proinflammatory status and may contribute to BAT dysfunction in obesity as it has been previously reported to be elevated in obesity. In contrast, Activation of GPR120, a G protein-coupled receptor, by TUG-891 or other agonists mediates anti-inflammatory actions and enhances the metabolic activity of BAT, representing a potential treatment to reduce adipocyte dysfunction in obesity. Therefore, the aims of this thesis were (1) to investigate the effects of LPS on brown adipocyte biology and secretory function, (2) to identify the impact of LPS on the induction of beige adipocytes, (3) to explore GPR120 activation via TUG-891 as therapeutic potential against brown adipocyte dysfunction. With the use of cutting-edge laboratory technology, the outcome of this study elucidated that LPS is a potent inhibitor of the brown phenotype, insulin sensitivity, mitochondrial function and the browning process in white adipocytes. Additionally, the analysis of a wide spectrum of LPS effects revealed that thermogenesis and extracellular matrix (ECM)-receptor interaction are among the top downregulated pathways as well as inflammatory microenvironment results from cytokine secretion from brown adipocytes themselves. BAFF, CXCL5, CXCL16 and MMP3 were identified as novel brown adipocyte-secreted cytokines and may target thermogenic potential of brown adipocytes. Finally, TUG-891, a GPR120 agonist, showed effectiveness in reversing LPS damaging actions. In conclusion, this study provides evidence that LPS-induced inflammation directly alters the thermogenic components of brown adipocytes at transcriptional and functional levels. Targeting GPR120 via TUG-891 offers a promising strategy to protect against the detrimental effects of LPS. Ultimately, combating the effects of inflammation in BAT could help in reducing obesity and its consequences

Correcting for Transitory Effects in RCTs: Application to the RAND Health Insurance Experiment

The long run price elasticity of healthcare spending is critically important to estimating the cost of provision. However, temporary randomized controlled trials may be confounded by transitory effects. This paper shows evidence of a 'deadline effect' – a spike in spending in the final year of the program – among participants of the RAND Health Insurance Experiment, long considered the definitive RCT in the field. The deadline effect is economically and statistically significant, with power to identify coming from random allocation to three- or five-year enrolment terms. The deadline effect interacts with the price elasticity: participants who face lower coinsurance rates show larger spending spikes. Crucially, controlling for the price-deadline interaction yields significantly smaller estimates of the price elasticity in non-deadline years, which we argue is a better approximation for the long run elasticity. This has important implications for public finance and the design of private/temporary subsidy programs