IN VITRO CYTOTOXICITY ACTIVITY OF HYDROALCOHOLIC EXTRACT OF POLYHERBAL CHURNAM (COFRI) IN NORMAL LIVER AND KIDNEY CELL LINES

Objective: The objective of the study was to investigate the cytotoxic activity of hydroalcoholic extract of a polyherbal powder on Vero (normal kidney) and Chang (normal liver) cell lines. Methods: The cytotoxic effect was evaluated by 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide assay. It is commonly used colorimetric assay for assessing cell metabolic activity under specific conditions, indicates the number of viable cells. Results: According to the experimental results, the hydroalcoholic extract does not cause any toxicity on normal liver and kidney cell lines and LC50 values are ca lculated using LDP line software and found 776.73 μg/ml and 686.58 μg/ml. Conclusion: The hydroalcoholic extract of polyherbal churnam exhibited cell viability at higher concentrations. The results indicates investigated formulation does not causes any toxicity to the normal liver and kidney cells and found to be safe for human consumption. Further, toxicological and pharmacological evaluation is required to prove its safety and efficacy

Exploring water adsorption on isoelectronically doped graphene using alchemical derivatives

The design and production of novel 2-dimensional materials has seen great progress in the last decade, prompting further exploration of the chemistry of such materials. Doping and hydrogenating graphene is an experimentally realised method of changing its surface chemistry, but there is still a great deal to be understood on how doping impacts on the adsorption of molecules. Developing this understanding is key to unlocking the potential applications of these materials. High throughput screening methods can provide particularly effective ways to explore vast chemical compositions of materials. Here, alchemical derivatives are used as a method to screen the dissociative adsorption energy of water molecules on various BN doped topologies of hydrogenated graphene. The predictions from alchemical derivatives are assessed by comparison to density functional theory. This screening method is found to predict dissociative adsorption energies that span a range of more than 2 eV, with a mean absolute error $<0.1$ eV. In addition, we show that the quality of such predictions can be readily assessed by examination of the Kohn-Sham highest occupied molecular orbital in the initial states. In this way, the root mean square error in the dissociative adsorption energies of water is reduced by almost an order of magnitude (down to $\sim0.02$ eV) after filtering out poor predictions. The findings point the way towards a reliable use of first order alchemical derivatives for efficient screening procedures

Student Observations of Postsecondary Classroom Instruction: Accessibility Challenges and Collaborative Feedback.

For deaf students, accessible classroom design is often provided through external services such as interpreters or speech-to-text providers. An approach based in Universal Design for Learning (UDL), though, seeks to engage students in learning by creating classroom spaces with accessibility integrated into the pedagogical approach. Realizing these goals requires participation from one of the most valuable, yet underused, resources: the students themselves. To that end, this paper examines a student-faculty collaborative approach to increasing accessibility for deaf students in postsecondary classrooms. Results of this study suggest that student observers are able to provide concrete and constructive feedback on strategies to increase classroom accessibility

Prospects for searches of b → sν ν ¯ decays at FCC-ee

We investigate the physics reach and potential for the study of various decays involving a b→sνν¯ transition at the Future Circular Collider running electron-positron collisions at the Z-pole (FCC-ee). Signal and background candidates, which involve inclusive Z contributions from bb¯, cc¯ and uds final states, are simulated for a proposed multi-purpose detector. Signal candidates are selected using two Boosted Decision Tree algorithms. We determine expected relative sensitivities of 0.53%, 1.20%, 3.37% and 9.86% for the branching fractions of the B0→K∗0νν¯, Bs0→ϕνν¯, B0→KS0νν¯ and Λb0→Λνν¯ decays, respectively. In addition, we investigate the impact of detector design choices related to particle-identification and vertex resolution. The phenomenological impact of such measurements on the extraction of Standard Model and new physics parameters is also studied

Prospects for searches of b→sννˉb \to s \nu \bar{\nu} decays at FCC-ee

We investigate the physics reach and potential for the study of various decays involving a $b \to s \nu \bar{\nu}$ transition at the Future Circular Collider running electron-positron collisions at the $Z$-pole (FCC-ee). Signal and background candidates, which involve inclusive $Z$ contributions from $b\bar{b}$, $c\bar{c}$ and $uds$ final states, are simulated for a proposed multi-purpose detector. Signal candidates are selected using two Boosted Decision Tree algorithms. We determine expected relative sensitivities of $0.53\%$, $1.20\%$, $3.37\%$ and $9.86\%$ for the branching fractions of the $B^{0} \to K^{*0} \nu \bar{\nu}$, $B^{0}_{s} \to \phi \nu \bar{\nu}$, $B^{0} \to K^{0}_{S} \nu \bar{\nu}$ and $\Lambda_{b}^{0} \to \Lambda^{0} \nu \bar{\nu}$ decays, respectively. In addition, we investigate the impact of detector design choices related to particle-identification and vertex resolution. The phenomenological impact of such measurements on the extraction of Standard Model and new physics parameters is also studied

The Impact of Stonewall and the Journey towards Gay Pride

The month of June is nationally recognized as gay pride month in order to honor the men, women, and non-binary people who were involved in historic events such as the Stonewall riots. The Stonewall riots started on June 28, 1969 inside a gay bar that police often raided in Greenwich Village, New York. That night, patrons in the bar decided to fight back after multiple encounters with police harassment. These riots would later be described as one of the first major steps towards LGBTQ equality. This paper will examine the impact of the Stonewall riots as well as individuals such as Harvey Milk, one of the first openly gay politicians, and Gilbert Baker, who designed the Gay Pride flag, in order to create a timeline of LGBTQ civil rights actions. The paper will discuss the advance of LGBTQ rights as well as setbacks such as President Clinton’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy and the Defense Against Marriage Act. The conclusion of this paper will focus on how, while facing deadly attacks and continued political and social discrimination, the LGBTQ community has persevered, grown, and advanced their civil rights in the United States

Coronavirus Disease 2019: Knowledge, Attitude, Practice, and Perceived Barriers among Health care Workers at Cairo University Children Hospital, Egypt

BACKGROUND: Insufficient knowledge and negative attitude toward coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) among health care workers (HCWs) could lead to faulty practices resulting in delayed diagnosis and spread of the disease. AIM: this study was conducted to assess the knowledge, attitude, practice, and perceived barriers to infection control toward COVID-19 among Egyptian HCWs. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Cairo University Children Hospital, with 537 HCWs (doctors and nurses) enrolled. RESULTS: HCWs had an overall good knowledge level about COVID-19 where 61% had a knowledge score of ≥18 points (out of 23). Doctors were more knowledgeable than nurses. About 64% of HCWs were considered as having positive attitude (scored ≥10 out of 13 points), with a significantly higher positive attitude among nurses. The mean practice score of HCWs was 1.0 ± 2.0 with a significantly higher good practice among nurses. Younger age, being a doctor, and higher qualification were the significant positive predictors of acquiring knowledge about the disease. The most commonly perceived barriers for applying infection control measures in hospitals were overcrowdings in health-care facilities (78.2%) and insufficient infection control policies (62.6%). CONCLUSION: HCWs in general expressed good knowledge, positive attitude, and good practice toward COVID-19 despite some gaps that were detected in specific items. Proper planning of educational programs that are directed according to the needs of different groups of HCWs is crucial. Effective policies should be established to overcome the barriers for applying infection control in health facilities

Lacking Copyright: A Policy Brief on the Prohibition on the Public Education Sector of the Philippines to Own Copyright and Its Consequences

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about numerous consequences upon the global community, whether socially or economically. The education sector has not been isolated from the effects of the pandemic, having to largely suspend face-to-face classes, its traditional approach to learning, in favor of alternative modalities in teaching. To ensure learning continuity despite the difficulties caused by the pandemic, the Department of Education - Philippines promulgated a series of DepEd Orders directing public and private schools to adopt alternative methods of learning such as online distance learning and the preparation of Self Learning Modules. The resort to the different learning modalities brings about untold possible issues and consequences faced by the basic education sector primarily the inability of the government to assert copyright over its work. The lack of copyright over its own works means that the government will be at a disadvantage when it comes to ensuring that government works, specifically self-learning modules and other educational materials, will not be the subject of alteration, modification, and/or appropriation by third parties and individuals that may possibly deviate from the standard set by the government. This paper seeks to suggest a change in policy on the current intellectual property laws in the Philippines in light of the identified issue. It proposes a change in what is covered by works of government and the application of the Sweat of the Brow Doctrine to protect works that are not laws or edicts of Government

A comparison of video-based interventions to Ttach data entry to adults with intellectual disabilities : a replication and extension

Researchers have demonstrated that video-based interventions are effective at teaching a variety of skills to individuals with intellectual disabilities. To replicate and extend this line of research, we initially planned to compare the effects of video modeling and video prompting on the acquisition of a novel work skill (i.e., data entry) in two adults with moderate intellectual disabilities using an alternating treatment design. When both interventions failed to improve performance, the instructors sequentially introduced a least-to-most instructor-delivered prompting procedure. The results indicated that the introduction of instructor prompts considerably increased correct responding in one participant during video modeling and in both participants during video prompting. Overall, the study suggests that practitioners should consider incorporating instructor-delivered prompts from the onset, or at least when no improvements in performance are observed, when using video-based interventions to teach new work skills to individuals with intellectual disabilities