Professional identity of future financiers as the basis of professional culture

Розкрито суть професійної ідентичності як складного, багатофункціонального явища, яке тісно пов’язано з професійним самовизначенням і формується в процесі професійної підготовки майбутніх фінансистів. З'ясовано, що за своєю суттю професійна ідентичність має тісний взаємозв’язок із загальною культурою, системою цінностей, професіоналізмом і компетентностями фахівця, пов’язана зі змінами в структурі особистості. Автор вважає, що цілком ймовірно розглядати її як основу формування професійної культури майбутніх молодших фахівців з фінансів і кредиту.The essence of professional identity as a complex, multifunctional phenomenon, which is closely connected with professional self-determination and is formed in the process of professional training of future financiers, is disclosed. It has been found out that, in essence, professional identity has a close relationship with the general culture, system of values, professionalism and competence of a specialist associated with changes in the structure of the individual. The author believes that it is quite possible to consider it as the basis for the formation of a professional culture of future junior specialists in finance and credit

Structural characterization of linear isomalto-/malto-oligomer products synthesized by the novel GTFB 4,6-α-glucanotransferase enzyme from Lactobacillus reuteri 121

Recently, a novel glucansucrase (GS)-like gene (gtfB) was isolated from the probiotic bacterium Lactobacillus reuteri 121 and expressed in Escherichia coli. The purified recombinant GTFB enzyme was characterized and turned out to be inactive with sucrose, the natural GS substrate. Instead, GTFB acted on malto-oligosaccharides (MOSs), thereby yielding elongated gluco-oligomers/polymers containing besides (α1→4) also (α1→6) glycosidic linkages, and it was classified as a 4,6-α-glucanotransferase. To gain more insight into its reaction specificity, incubations of the GTFB enzyme with a series of MOSs and their corresponding alditols [degree of polymerization, DP2(-ol)–DP7 (-ol)] were carried out, and (purified) products were structurally analyzed with matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry and one-/two-dimensional 1H and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. With each of the tested malto-oligomers, the GTFB enzyme yielded series of novel linear isomalto-/malto-oligomers, in the case of DP7 up to DP >35.

The Dutch version of the Juvenile Arthritis Multidimensional Assessment Report (JAMAR)

The Juvenile Arthritis Multidimensional Assessment Report (JAMAR) is a new parent/patient reported outcome measure that enables a thorough assessment of the disease status in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). We report the results of the cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the parent and patient versions of the JAMAR in the Dutch language. The reading comprehension of the questionnaire was tested in ten JIA parents and patients. Each participating centre was asked to collect demographic, clinical data and the JAMAR in 100 consecutive JIA patients or all consecutive patients seen in a 6-month period and to administer the JAMAR to 100 healthy children and their parents. The statistical validation phase explored descriptive statistics and the psychometric issues of the JAMAR: the three Likert assumptions, floor/ceiling effects, internal consistency, Cronbach\u2019s alpha, interscale correlations, test\u2013retest reliability, and construct validity (convergent and discriminant validity). A total of 209 JIA patients (14.3% systemic, 39.7% oligoarticular, 25.8% RF negative polyarthritis, 20.2% other categories) and 107 healthy children were enrolled in two centres. The JAMAR components discriminated well healthy subjects from JIA patients. All JAMAR components revealed good psychometric performances. In conclusion, the Dutch version of the JAMAR is a valid tool for the assessment of children with JIA and is suitable for use both in routine clinical practice and clinical research

Interferon-β attenuates lung inflammation following experimental subarachnoid hemorrhage

INTRODUCTION: Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) affects relatively young people and carries a poor prognosis with a case fatality rate of 35%. One of the major systemic complications associated with SAH is acute lung injury (ALI) which occurs in up to one-third of the patients and is associated with poor outcome. ALI in SAH may be predisposed by neurogenic pulmonary edema (NPE) and inflammatory mediators. The objective of this study was to assess the immunomodulatory effects of interferon-β (IFN-β) on inflammatory mediators in the lung after experimental SAH. METHODS: Male Wistar rats were subjected to the induction of SAH by means of the endovascular filament method. Sham-animals underwent sham-surgery. Rats received IFN-β for four consecutive days starting at two hours after SAH induction. After seven days, lungs were analyzed for the expression of inflammatory markers. RESULTS: SAH induced the influx of neutrophils into the lung, and enhanced expression of the pulmonary adhesion molecules E-selectin, inter-cellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1, and vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM)-1 compared to sham-animals. In addition, SAH increased the expression of the chemokines macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-1α, MIP-2, and cytokine-induced neutrophil chemoattractant (CINC)-1 in the lung. Finally, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) was significantly increased in lungs from SAH-animals compared to sham-animals. IFN-β effectively abolished the SAH-induced expression of all pro-inflammatory mediators in the lung. CONCLUSIONS: IFN-β strongly reduces lung inflammation after experimental SAH and may therefore be an effective drug to prevent SAH-mediated lung injury

An image-based kinematic model of the tibiotalar and subtalar joints and its application to gait analysis in children with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis

In vivo estimates of tibiotalar and the subtalar joint kinematics can unveil unique information about gait biomechanics, especially in the presence of musculoskeletal disorders affecting the foot and ankle complex. Previous literature investigated the ankle kinematics on ex vivo data sets, but little has been reported for natural walking, and even less for pathological and juvenile populations. This paper proposes an MRI-based morphological fitting methodology for the personalised definition of the tibiotalar and the subtalar joint axes during gait, and investigated its application to characterise the ankle kinematics in twenty patients affected by Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA). The estimated joint axes were in line with in vivo and ex vivo literature data and joint kinematics variation subsequent to inter-operator variability was in the order of 1°. The model allowed to investigate, for the first time in patients with JIA, the functional response to joint impairment. The joint kinematics highlighted changes over time that were consistent with changes in the patient’s clinical pattern and notably varied from patient to patient. The heterogeneous and patient-specific nature of the effects of JIA was confirmed by the absence of a correlation between a semi-quantitative MRI-based impairment score and a variety of investigated joint kinematics indexes. In conclusion, this study showed the feasibility of using MRI and morphological fitting to identify the tibiotalar and subtalar joint axes in a non-invasive patient-specific manner. The proposed methodology represents an innovative and reliable approach to the analysis of the ankle joint kinematics in pathological juvenile populations

Definition and Validation of the American College of Rheumatology 2021 Juvenile Arthritis Disease Activity Score Cutoffs for Disease Activity States in Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis

Export Date: 16 February 2023; Cited By: 10Peer reviewe

A Patient-Specific Foot Model for the Estimate of Ankle Joint Forces in Patients with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis

Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is the leading cause of childhood disability from a musculoskeletal disorder. It generally affects large joints such as the knee and the ankle, often causing structural damage. Different factors contribute to the damage onset, including altered joint loading and other mechanical factors, associated with pain and inflammation. The prediction of patients' joint loading can hence be a valuable tool in understanding the disease mechanisms involved in structural damage progression. A number of lower-limb musculoskeletal models have been proposed to analyse the hip and knee joints, but juvenile models of the foot are still lacking. This paper presents a modelling pipeline that allows the creation of juvenile patient-specific models starting from lower limb kinematics and foot and ankle MRI data. This pipeline has been applied to data from three children with JIA and the importance of patient-specific parameters and modelling assumptions has been tested in a sensitivity analysis focused on the variation of the joint reaction forces. This analysis highlighted the criticality of patient-specific definition of the ankle joint axes and location of the Achilles tendon insertions. Patient-specific detection of the Tibialis Anterior, Tibialis Posterior, and Peroneus Longus origins and insertions were also shown to be important