Immune function of LRRK2:focus on mitochondrial metabolism

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the most common movement disorder affecting the elderly. The disease results from the death of neurons in the brain that secret dopamine leading to impaired movement. Although PD symptoms have been described for decades, no cure exists to prevent or stop the disease. Over the last two decades, several genes have been linked to PD. Among them, mutations in leucine-rich-repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) stand as the most common genetic cause. LRRK2 is a large multidomain protein with a double enzymatic function (kinase and GTPase). LRRK2 kinase activity is increased in PD patients. Although PD is considered as a brain disease, recent evidence showed that the immune system plays an important role in the development of PD. LRRK2 is highly expressed in immune cells and both the LRRK2 level and kinase activity are upregulated in PD patients’ immune cells. In addition, recent studies showed that mutations in LRRK2 resulted in defects in the function of mitochondria, the powerhouse of the cell. Yet, the exact mechanism by which LRRK2 regulates mitochondrial function in immune cells is unclear. In this thesis, we investigated LRRK2 regulation of mitochondrial function and energy production in immune cells. We proved that LRRK2 has a conserved role in mitochondrial energy generation. Mitochondrial defects could impair energy production resulting in cell death. Furthermore, we presented a better understanding of the influence of LRRK2 on stimulated immune cells. Additionally, we identified a novel protective effect of LRRK2 and its kinase function against the unique iron-dependent form of programmed cell death, ferroptosis, involved in PD development. Together these findings mean that LRRK2 contributes to the inflammatory process that may lead to the death of dopamine-secreting neurons

Development of an Expert System for Predicting the Effects of Economic Activities on Groundwater Quality

Presently, groundwater conservation has become a very important issue in the world. The attention has been given to groundwater pollution problems. The application of Information Technology (IT) in the form of an expert system namely GWPES (Groundwater Pollution Expert System) will be able to help in information retrieval and decision support when dealing with groundwater pollution and protection. The rule base and Graphic User Interface (GUI) of GWPES was developed using wxCLIPS version 1.62 for Personal Computer (PC), version 1.49 for Local Area Network (LAN) system and Authorware 3.5 for developing graphic presentation files. These application softwares also supported the GWPES for the interpretation of some knowledge data bases. The wxCLIPS expert system shell was originally designed by NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration). The rules were developed according to the comprehensive groundwater pollution information and Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) procedure. The main menu of GWPES consists of six main parts as follows; Introduction, EIA Procedure, Concept, Prediction, Mitigation and Monitoring. The first three parts help all interested people related to EIA to understand groundwater pollution information and EIA procedure. The next three main parts have been incorporated into an expert system to predict future situation of groundwater [Pollution Vulnerability, Nitrogen Fertiliser Impact and Project Activities Impact], and to propose possible mitigation measures as well as to approach groundwater quality-monitoring plan. Knowledge bases for GWPES have been elicited from domain experts (2 geologists, 1 hydrologist, 1 civil engineering majoring in groundwater, 2 soil scientists and 1 soil & water engineering expert) through interviews, existing established literature, EIA reports and field study. The GWPES has friendly graphical user interface that has been accepted satisfactorily by external domain experts and end-users

Job-queuing and Auto-scaling in Container-based Cloud Environments

Many applications process large quantities of data that takes significant time and requires big amount of compu- tational resources. Optimising the execution of such applications in a cloud computing environment by keeping costs at minimum but still completing the task by a set deadline has paramount importance. As container-based technologies are becoming more widespread, support for job-queuing and auto-scaling in such environments is becoming important. Current container tech- nologies, such as Docker or Kubernetes provide limited support in this area. This paper presents JQueuer and CAutoScaler, a couple of cloud-independent solutions that offer job-queuing and automated scalability at the level of containers. Applying these solutions leads to more cloud-aware applications providing transparent auto-scaling for end-users and optimising execution time and costs. Business and science gateways will benefit from using an orchestrator combined with JQueuer and CAutoScaler since it will provide the layers needed to auto-scale the containers and to batch/sweep the jobs from a queue depending on a user- defined policy

The degree of psychological security on the part of the faculty in some sports colleges of education in Jordanian universities in the Light of Arabic Spring Events

This study aimed to identify the degree of psychological security on the part of the faculty in some sports colleges of education in Jordanian universities, members, and the study population consisted of all faculty members in the colleges of physical education in the official Jordanian universities, has reached number (144) of the members of the Commission teaching, for the purposes of the study, the researcher using the questionnaire as the Chairperson of the data collection. Consisted of two parts: the first, and include personal information about the study sample, such as gender, grade and experience, and the second consists of 31 items distributed in three areas, namely: (relationship to work, and the relationship with colleagues, and the relationship with officials), and after data collection and discharge has processed using statistical methods and descriptive and analytical occasion. The study showed the following results: that the degree of availability of psychological security among faculty members in some sports colleges of education in Jordanian universities (high) with a mean (3.83: 5.00), and provide a degree of psychological security in terms of the relationship to work (medium) with a mean (3.49: 5:00), and in terms of the relationship with colleagues (high) with a mean (4.02: 5.00), either in terms of the relationship with officials came (high) with a mean (3.99: 5.00). It also revealed the existence of differences denote statistically attributable to variable experience for the class professor, and differences function attributed to variable experience for the benefit of less than five years category, and the lack of differences attributable to the variable gender, and in the light of the results of this study, the researcher recommended a number of recommendations. Keywords: psychological security, faculty members, Jordanian universities

Duties Related to the Performance of Physical Education Teacher to Execute Physical Education Textbook according to Total Quality Criteria

The purpose of this study is to identify the duties related to the performance of physical education teacher to execute physical education textbook according to total quality criteria. The sample of the study consisted of (95) male and female physical education teachers in North-east Badia District schools selected purposefully. To achieve the aim of this study the researcher used the questionnaire which consisted of (25) items describing the duties of the teacher. Data were analyzed through descriptive statistics such as means, standard deviations and Levene's Test for Equality of Variances. The findings of the study showed that the duties related to duties related to the performance of physical education teacher to execute physical education textbook according to total quality criteria were in an average level as the means of the samples’ responses were (2.64: 5.00) as the higher duties were the teacher, administration, assessment and the curriculum. There were no significant statistical differences attributed to gender and experience variables and on the tool as a whole. Based on the findings the researcher presented several recommendations. Keywords: Physical Education Teacher Performance. Total quality Management

Mean Reversion of Oil Prices

Managing natural resource projects requires that future costs and revenues be forecasted. Most commodity pricing models are fairly simple, involving a slow, steady increase in base prices while including volatility. When analyzing stock prices, this pattern is commonly referred to as the 'random walk'. Complicating the forecasting process is the fact that many commodities exhibit mean reverting tendencies, where prices may increase or decrease, but tend to revert to a long-term mean. Stock price volatility is measured using the standard deviation of the rate of return of a stock. Commodity price volatility is the same; however, when mean reversion exists, the normal standard deviation will overestimate true volatility. This complicates the pricing of many types of derivatives that are based on commodity prices. This work investigates the mean reversion tendency of oil prices. Specifically , a 25 year database of West Texas Intermediate daily oil prices is analyzed to determine price volatility, mean reversion speed, and the adjusted volatility that should be applied to today's oil-related projects

Structure Earthquake Analysis Program using Computer-Aided IT Sensor

The purpose of this study is to develop a complex test and analysis technique to improve the reliability of seismic performance evaluation of buildings, and to establish a seismic performance evaluation system using shear damper as an earthquake preparation technology. In this study, validated examples of viscoelasticity provided by OpenSees were selected for verification of hybrid experimental results data and compared with hybrid experimental techniques. By applying the analysis program and the developed Labplugin, the hybrid experimental system built through the connection between the equipment was verified. As a result, the behavior of the cyclic loading test showed the general behavior of the damper, but in the hybrid test, the behavior of the damper with respect to the ground acceleration and the decrease in stiffness caused by fracture were found. From the above comparison experiment, it can be seen that the hybrid technique developed in this study shows excellent seismic behavior compared to the cyclic loading experiment, dynamic experiment, and analytical technique. With the system built in this study, it is judged that it is possible to design a structure damper in the future. In addition hybrid experimental system will help to conduct more economical and reliable research on seismic control by applying partial experimental data to structures with nonlinear behavior in the future

Livestock marketing in the Jordanian Badia

The purpose of this study is to investigate and provide a better understanding of the processes of Bedu livestock marketing system in the Badia of Jordan, particularly farmers' market behaviour, linkages to markets and their decision-making process. A mixture of quantitative and qualitative research methodologies were utilised. A stratified random sample of 193 Bedu farmers, and interviews with traders were applied. The whole region of the Jordan Badia and Research Development Programme was covered. The questionnaires were distributed and every farmer was interviewed by the researcher in the period from July to November 1995.A broad conceptual framework was employed to investigate quantitatively the interactions and dependencies between household conditions, socio-economic characteristics and livestock sales. These factors, which are usually outside the livestock enterprise, are important in household marketing decision-making in relation to time and place of sale, and reasons for sale. The results of this study indicate: Regarding farmers' marketing behaviour, marketing decisions are related to a household's demand for cash, and environmental factors such as the high cost of production, disease, unstable government policy, household characteristics, and labour capacity. The most important of these factors is to generate cash to buy feed or to reduce costs and eliminate the risk of disease. Most households with fewer than 100 head of sheep were more restricted in their sales decisions than households with larger flocks

THE IMPACT OF THE CURRICULUM OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION ON THE PHYSICAL, KINETIC, PHYSIOLOGICAL, AND SKILLS VARIABLES AMONG THE NORTHERN BADIA EASTERN STUDENTS

The aim of this study is to assess the impact of the curriculum of physical education on the physical, kinetic, physiological, and skill variables of the Northern Badia Eastern students. A study of all the teachers of physical education at the basic stage of the Directorate of Education of the brigade Northern Badia East schools was carried out. Due to the small size of the study population, a total of 181 teachers who teaches physical education were used for the purpose of this study. The researcher uses a questionnaire for the purpose of data collection. The questionnaire consists of two parts. The first include personal information about the members of the study, such as gender, educational qualification, and experience. The second consists of 10 phrases. After data collection and discharged, it was processed using suitable descriptive statistical and analytical methods. The study showed the results to assess the impact of physical education curriculum on the physical and motor skills. In addition, the results show the physiological variables at the north-eastern desert students (medium), where the mean was the responses of the study sample (3.53: 5.00). The existence of differences is statistically attributed to the variable gender in favor of females. Also, the differences are attributable to the qualification variable in favor of less than BA category. Finally, the researcher recommended a number of recommendations due to the lack of differences attributable to variable experience, and in light of the results of this study