Double-stranded RNA elements associated with the MVX disease of Agaricus bisporus

Double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) has been isolated from Agaricus bisporus fruit bodies exhibiting a wide range of disease symptoms. The symptoms which occurred singularly or in combination included; bare cropping areas on commercial beds (primordia disruption), crop delay, premature veil opening, off- or brown-coloured mushrooms, sporophore malformations and loss of crop yield. All symptoms were associated with loss of yield and/or product quality. Collectively, these symptoms are described as mushroom virus X (MVX) disease. The dsRNA titre was much lower than that previously encountered with the La France viral disease of mushrooms and a modified cellulose CF11 protocol was used for their detection. A broad survey of cultivated mushrooms from the British industry identified dsRNA elements ranging between 640 bp and 20.2 kbp; the majority have not previously been described in A. bisporus. 26 dsRNA elements were identified with a maximum of 17, apparently non-encapsidated dsRNA elements, in any one sample. Three dsRNAs (16.2, 9.4 and 2.4 kbp) were routinely found in mushrooms asymptomatic for MVX. Previously, La France disease was effectively contained and controlled by minimising the on-farm production and spread of basidiospores. Our on-farm observations suggest that MVX could be spread by infected spores and/or mycelial fragments

Peranan Activity-based Costing System Dalam Perhitungan Harga Pokok Produksi Kain Yang Sebenarnya Untuk Penetapan Harga Jual

This study discusses the relationship between activity-based costing system as the dependent variable in the calculation of the actual cost of the fabric and setting the selling price as independent variables. The research method used is descriptive analytical research method, namely the research conducted by collecting data on the costs incurred in PT Panca Mitra Indah Clothing, served it so it gives an idea of the true state of PT Panca Mitra Indah Clothing, whether PT Panca Mitra Indah Clothing is properly classify expenses. It also carried the cost of analyzing data resulting in the calculation of cost price and selling price of a cloth fabric that is more appropriate. Then, from analyzing the drawn conclusions and suggestions. The results showed that PT Panca Mitra Indah Clothing does not classify the costs incurred by the right. In addition, PT Panca Mitra Indah Clothing does not calculate the cost of the product correctly because they do not charge the existing fee to each product. Miscalculated the cost of these products resulted in PT Panca Mitra Indah Clothing has the wrong base in the sale price. PT Panca Mitra Indah Clothing set the selling price by setting a mark-up is just enough to cover production costs. Determination of the selling price in this way lead to PT Panca Mitra Indah Clothing set the selling price too high on most products, and too low for a fraction of products although the cost of the product is still covered. The results of the discussion showed there were significant differences between the calculation of cost price and selling price of products made by companies with the calculation of the cost of products using activity-based costing system and to mark up prices accordingly. Calculations using the activity-based costing system can generate the cost of production is more precise so that it can be a good basis for determining the selling price of the product. To set the appropriate selling price, mark up the right to consider the competitive situation and the purchasing power of cutomers

Speeding disease gene discovery by sequence based candidate prioritization

BACKGROUND: Regions of interest identified through genetic linkage studies regularly exceed 30 centimorgans in size and can contain hundreds of genes. Traditionally this number is reduced by matching functional annotation to knowledge of the disease or phenotype in question. However, here we show that disease genes share patterns of sequence-based features that can provide a good basis for automatic prioritization of candidates by machine learning. RESULTS: We examined a variety of sequence-based features and found that for many of them there are significant differences between the sets of genes known to be involved in human hereditary disease and those not known to be involved in disease. We have created an automatic classifier called PROSPECTR based on those features using the alternating decision tree algorithm which ranks genes in the order of likelihood of involvement in disease. On average, PROSPECTR enriches lists for disease genes two-fold 77% of the time, five-fold 37% of the time and twenty-fold 11% of the time. CONCLUSION: PROSPECTR is a simple and effective way to identify genes involved in Mendelian and oligogenic disorders. It performs markedly better than the single existing sequence-based classifier on novel data. PROSPECTR could save investigators looking at large regions of interest time and effort by prioritizing positional candidate genes for mutation detection and case-control association studies

Pengalaman tahun pertama pelajar antarabangsa Universiti Malaysia Sabah

Tahun pertama di universiti adalah tempoh masa kritikal dalam kehidupan pelajar. Pelajar tidak hanya tertumpu dari segi intelek, malahan mereka juga turut mewujudkan dan mengekalkan hubungan peribadi, identiti, membuat keputusan mengenai kerjaya dan gaya hidup, kesihatan dan kesejahteraan diri, serta pembangunan terhadap falsafah kehidupan yang bersepadu. Institusi Pendidikan Tinggi di Malaysia berperanan sebagai medium dalam mewujudkan dan menyediakan persekitaran yang dapat membantu pelajar-pelajar antarabangsa merasai pengalaman tahun pertama yang bermakna di universiti tempatan.Kajian ini bertujuan untuk mendapatkan maklum balas daripada pelajar antarabangsa di Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) pengalaman tahun pertama mereka.Kajian ini memberikan pandangan yang berharga terhadap penyesuian pelajar antarabangsa mengenai pelarasan bukan sahaja dalam sistem pendidikan yang baharu tetapi juga terhadap faktor- faktor seperti budaya dan psikososial. Kajian ini membincangkan beberapa faktor yang memberi kesan kepada pelajar antarabangsa pada tahun pertama mereka di universiti dalam usaha untuk menjadikan pengalaman yang bermakna serta meningkatkan pencapaian akademik mereka. Melalui kaedah kualitatif menerusi kajian kes ke atas 20 orang pelajar antarabangsa di Universiti Malaysia Sabah yang terlibat secara sukarela untuk ditemubual dengan menggunakan kaedah temubual semi struktur, hasil kajian diperolehi. Hasil dapatan penyelidikan mendapati bahawa aspek penyesuaian pelarasan persekitaran, faktor psikososial dan budaya, bahasa, akademik dan juga masalah sosial adalah aspek utama yang dihadapi oleh pelajar antarabangsa. Perbincangan dalam kertas kerja ini turut menawarkan dengan beberapa cadangan berhubung Institusi Pengajian Tinggi Awam di Malaysia dalam mewujudkan pengalaman yang bermakna bagi pelajar tahun pertama pelajar antarabangsa

Statin intensity and risk for cardiovascular events after heart transplantation

AimsStatins improve survival and reduce rejection and cardiac allograft vasculopathy after heart transplantation (HT). The impact of different statin intensities on clinical outcomes has never been assessed. We set out to determine the impact of statin exposure on cardiovascular outcomes after HT.Methods and resultsWe performed a retrospective study of 346 adult patients who underwent HT from 2006 to 2018. Statin intensity was determined longitudinally after HT based on American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) guidelines. The primary outcome was the time to the first primary event defined as the composite of heart failure hospitalization, myocardial infarction, revascularization, and all‐cause mortality. Secondary outcomes included time to significant rejection and time to moderate–severe cardiac allograft vasculopathy. Adverse events were evaluated for subjects on high‐intensity statin therapy. A Cox proportional hazards model was used to evaluate the relationship between clinical variables, statin intensity, and outcomes. Most subjects were treated with low‐intensity statin therapy although this declined from 89.9% of the population at 1month after HT to 42.8% at 5years after HT. History of ischaemic cardiomyopathy, significant acute rejection, older donor age, and lesser statin intensity (p ≤ 0.001) were associated with reduced time to the primary outcome in a multivariable Cox model. Greater intensity of statin therapy was most beneficial early after HT. There were no statin‐related adverse events for the 14 subjects on high‐intensity statin therapy.ConclusionsGreater statin intensity was associated with a reduction in adverse cardiovascular outcomes after HT.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/162686/2/ehf212784.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/162686/1/ehf212784_am.pd

Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Related to Metabolic Syndrome: a Case-control Study

Background: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a benign condition, but it can go for years and progress to liver cirrhosis or eventually to liver cancer. Metabolic syndrome (MS) is a condition associated with NAFLD. This study was aimed to know the risk factors of NAFLD related to metabolic syndrome. Method: A case-control study was performed in NAFLD patients with or without MS and healthy individuals. All subjects were recruited from population that underwent routine medical check-up at Sardjito Hospital, Jogjakarta, during March 2007–August 2008. Diagnosis of NAFLD is defined based on clinical and liver ultrasound findings. Diagnosis of MS is defined by International Diabetes Federation on criteria for the diagnosis of MS. Data were analyzed by using T-test, ANOVA and linear regression. Odds ratio (OR) (95% CI and p < 0.05) was calculated by cross-tab analysis. Results: There were 84 patients enrolled in the study (group I = 30 NAFLD + MS subjects; group II = 26 NAFLD patients; group III = 28 healthy). The data showed statistically significant Results in waist circumference, systole blood pressure, fasting glucose, triglyceride, high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol level, homeostasis models assessment index ratio (HOMA-IR), free fatty acid (FFA), and adiponectin. The ANOVA and linear regression test among NAFLD groups showed significant difference only on HDL-cholesterol and FFA level. The lowest OR was 1.674 for HDL-cholesterol and highest OR was 13.571 for triglyceride. Conclusion: The independent factors of NAFLD related to metabolic syndrome are FFA and HDL- cholesterol level, even though a decreasing of HDL-cholesterol level has a lowest risk of NAFLD

Constraints of small-scale irrigated fodder production and nutrition assessment for livestock feed, a case study in Ethiopia

Livestock is an integral part of the agricultural system in sub-Saharan Africa, serving as a food source, income, fertilizer, and power for farming and transportation. However, the productivity of the livestock system has been hampered due to a lack of sufficient quantity and quality feed. This study evaluates the gaps and constraints of fodder and nutritional potential for livestock feed using small-scale irrigation (SSI). The study comprised of 30 randomly selected farmers from two different ecological zones in Ethiopia. Half of the farmers cultivated Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum) in the Robit watershed in northern Ethiopia, and the other half cultivated mixed vetch (Lathyrus cicera) and oats (Avena sativa) in Lemo watershed in southern Ethiopia. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) and Agricultural Policy Environmental eXtender (APEX) were applied in an integrated manner to assess the impacts of SSI at the watershed and field-scale levels, respectively. The watershed-scale analysis showed that there is a substantial amount of surface runoff and shallow groundwater recharge that could be used for dry season fodder production using irrigation. Field data calibrated APEX model indicated that Napier yield could be maximized with 550 mm of water in Robit watershed. While in the Lemo watershed, maximum vetch and oats yield may be achieved with 250 mm of water. The major constraints for Napier and oats production in the study sites were soil fertility, especially nitrogen and phosphorus, and vetch production was limited by high temperature. Fodder samples were collected at the time of harvest to evaluate feed quality. The nutritional analysis indicated that Napier grass has a higher dry matter and ash (mineral) content compared to oats and vetch. However, vetch has higher crude protein content (18%) compared to Napier (10%) and oats (6%). Overall the study indicated that cultivating vetch provided superior performance in terms of providing quality feed and environmental services