Engaging a Multi-Disciplinary Literature Review in the Development of a Framework to Assess Construction Collaboration

Collaboration is essential in the construction industry for successful project delivery. There are various factors that impact collaboration and it is essential to understand and implement these key factors within the project team. Several individuals and firms assist in measuring collaboration among the team members in construction industry. However, the effectiveness of these collaboration measurement tools, developed and used in their management practices needs to be validated, to ensure comprehensiveness of the tool. This can aid in enhancing the quality of the measurement tools and authenticating it. Extensive research has been done to discover factors that impact collaboration in a specific field. This research aims at discovering factors that impact construction collaboration through a multi-disciplinary study and developing a Pareto chart and consolidated graph that can aid individuals and firms to identify the key factors. Firms assisting the industry can incorporate the factors identified through this research in their collaboration measurement tools. As a result of this research, the five key factors that impact collaboration are found to be information or knowledge sharing, trust, open communication among the members, joint decision making abilities and a good team composition with diversity among members

Awareness and perception of contact lens usage and refractive surgery among first year undergraduate medical students

Background: Refractive error occurs when the parallel rays of light coming from infinity are focused either in front or behind the retina, in one or both the meridians resulting in blurred image. The purpose of this study is to assess the level of awareness and perception of contact lens usage and refractive surgery among first year undergraduate medical students.Methods: A cross sectional, observational questionnaire-based study was done on students studying in Saveetha medical college near Sriperumbudur between February 2021 to April 2021 to assess student’s awareness and perception of contact lens usage and refractive surgery.Results: Totally 250 students were studied, of which 39.76% were under 20 years, 61.85% are not contact lens users, 51.41% think that appropriate time of wearing contact lens was 8 hours per day, 64.66% think that soft contact lens should be used, 70.28% think that contact lens should be renewed every 3 months, 38.96%  are not aware of refractive surgery, 54.62% think that dry eye is the complication of long term usage of contact lens, 44.18% think that contact lens are required even after surgery, 38.55% think that there will be complications even after refractive error surgery. Conclusions: The awareness of knowledge, attitude and practice regarding contact lenses usage and refractive surgery was evaluated among the participants to identify the points of weakness and construct a proper health education among the students

AN EFFECTIVE NEAREST METHOD TO REDUCE THE INTER-OBJECT'S DISTANCE

A fascinating problem referred to as Nearest Key phrases search would be to query objects, known as keyword cover, which together cover some query key phrases and also have the minimum inter-objects distance. Recently, we take notice of the growing availability and need for keyword rating in object evaluation for that better making decisions. It's quite common the objects inside a spatial database (e.g., restaurants/hotels) are connected with keyword(s) to point their companies/services/features. This motivates us to research a normal form of Nearest Key phrases search known as Best Keyword Cover which views inter-objects distance along with the keyword rating of objects. The baseline formula is inspired through the techniques of Nearest Key phrases search which is dependent on exhaustively mixing objects from various query key phrases to create candidate keyword covers. The in-depth analysis and extensive experiments on real data sets have justified the brilliance in our keyword-NNE formula. When the amount of query key phrases increases, the performance from the baseline formula drops significantly because of massive candidate keyword covers produced. To fight this drawback, the work proposes an infinitely more scalable formula known as keyword nearest neighbor expansion (keyword-NNE). In comparison towards the baseline formula, keyword-NNE formula considerably reduces the amount of candidate keyword covers produced

Harnessing the physicochemical properties of DNA as a multifunctional biomaterial for biomedical and other applications

The biological purpose of DNA is to store, replicate, and convey genetic information in cells. Progress in molecular genetics have led to its widespread applications in gene editing, gene therapy, and forensic science. However, in addition to its role as a genetic material, DNA has also emerged as a nongenetic, generic material for diverse biomedical applications. DNA is essentially a natural biopolymer that can be precisely programed by simple chemical modifications to construct materials with desired mechanical, biological, and structural properties. This review critically deciphers the chemical tools and strategies that are currently being employed to harness the nongenetic functions of DNA. Here, the primary product of interest has been crosslinked, hydrated polymers, or hydrogels. State-of-the-art applications of macroscopic, DNA-based hydrogels in the fields of environment, electrochemistry, biologics delivery, and regenerative therapy have been extensively reviewed. Additionally, the review encompasses the status of DNA as a clinically and commercially viable material and provides insight into future possibilities

Leveraging the advancements in functional biomaterials and scaffold fabrication technologies for chronic wound healing applications

Exploring new avenues for clinical management of chronic wounds holds the key to eliminating socioeconomic burdens and health-related concerns associated with this silent killer. Engineered biomaterials offer great promise for repair and regeneration of chronic wounds because of their ability to deliver therapeutics, protect the wound environment, and support the skin matrices to facilitate tissue growth. This mini review presents recent advances in biomaterial functionalities for enhancing wound healing and demonstrates a move from sub-optimal methods to multi-functionalized treatment approaches. In this context, we discuss the recently reported biomaterial characteristics such as bioadhesiveness, antimicrobial properties, proangiogenic attributes, and anti-inflammatory properties that promote chronic wound healing. In addition, we highlight the necessary mechanical and mass transport properties of such biomaterials. Then, we discuss the characteristic properties of various biomaterial templates, including hydrogels, cryogels, nanomaterials, and biomolecule-functionalized materials. These biomaterials can be microfabricated into various structures, including smart patches, microneedles, electrospun scaffolds, and 3D-bioprinted structures, to advance the field of biomaterial scaffolds for effective wound healing. Finally, we provide an outlook on the future while emphasizing the need for their detailed functional behaviour and inflammatory response studies in a complex in vivo environment for superior clinical outcomes and reduced regulatory hurdles

Differential Regulation of Syngap1 Translation by FMRP Modulates eEF2 Mediated Response on NMDAR Activity

SYNGAP1, a Synaptic Ras-GTPase activating protein, regulates synapse maturation during a critical developmental window. Heterozygous mutation in SYNGAP1 (SYNGAP1-/+) has been shown to cause Intellectual Disability (ID) in children. Recent studies have provided evidence for altered neuronal protein synthesis in a mouse model of Syngap1-/+. However, the molecular mechanism behind the same is unclear. Here, we report the reduced expression of a known translation regulator, FMRP, during a specific developmental period in Syngap1-/+ mice. Our results demonstrate that FMRP interacts with and regulates the translation of Syngap1 mRNA. We further show reduced Fmr1 translation leads to decreased FMRP level during development in Syngap1-/+ which results in an increase in Syngap1 translation. These developmental changes are reflected in the altered response of eEF2 phosphorylation downstream of NMDA Receptor (NMDAR)-mediated signaling. In this study, we propose a cross-talk between FMRP and SYNGAP1 mediated signaling which can also explain the compensatory effect of impaired signaling observed in Syngap1-/+ mice

Health Effects of Psidium guajava L. Leaves: An Overview of the Last Decade

Today, there is increasing interest in discovering new bioactive compounds derived from ethnomedicine. Preparations of guava (Psidium guajava L.) leaves have traditionally been used to manage several diseases. The pharmacological research in vitro as well as in vivo has been widely used to demonstrate the potential of the extracts from the leaves for the co-treatment of different ailments with high prevalence worldwide, upholding the traditional medicine in cases such as diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and parasitic infections. Moreover, the biological activity has been attributed to the bioactive composition of the leaves, to some specific phytochemical subclasses, or even to individual compounds. Phenolic compounds in guava leaves have been credited with regulating blood-glucose levels. Thus, the aim of the present review was to compile results from in vitro and in vivo studies carried out with guava leaves over the last decade, relating the effects to their clinical applications in order to focus further research for finding individual bioactive compounds. Some food applications (guava tea and supplementary feed for aquaculture) and some clinical, in vitro, and in vivo outcomes are also included.The author Vito Verardo thanks the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) for “Ramón y Cajal” post-doctoral contract

Are early social communication skills a harbinger for language development in infants later diagnosed autistic?—A longitudinal study using a standardized social communication assessment

The early emergence of social communication challenges and their impact on language in infants later diagnosed with autism has sparked many early intervention programs that target social communication skills. While research has consistently shown lower scores on social communication assessments in the first year of life, there is limited research at 12-months exploring associations between different dimensions of social communication and later language. Understanding associations between early social communication skills and language would enhance our ability to choose high priority intervention goals that will impact downstream language skills. The current study used a standardized assessment to profile social communication skills across 516 infants with a high (HL) or low likelihood (LL-Neg) for autism (84% White, 60% Male), based on the presence of a sibling with autism in the family. The primary aim of the study was to profile social communication skill development in the second year of life and to evaluate associations between social communication skills and later language. HL infants who met criteria for autism (HL-ASD, N = 81) demonstrated widespread reductions in social communication skills at 12-months compared to HL infants who did not meet criteria for autism (HL-Neg, N = 277) and LL-Neg (N = 158) infants. Across all infants in the study, those with better social communication skills at 12-months had better language at 24-months. However, within group analyses indicated that infants who met criteria for autism did not show this developmental coupling until 24-months-of-age at which point social communication was positively associated with downstream language skills. The cascading pattern of reduced social communication skills as well as overall significant positive associations with later language provide further evidence for the need to support developing social communication skills prior to formal autism diagnosis, a goal that could possibly be reached through pre-emptive interventions

Investigation of Cell Derived Nanoparticles for Drug Delivery and Osteogenic Differentiation of Human Stem/Stromal Cells

The successful repair of bone defects and injuries is enhanced by the delivery of osteoinductive factors, such as drugs, growth factors, and genetic material that can promote the osteogenic differentiation of stem/stromal cells into osteoblasts. Nanoparticle delivery systems are being studied to enable the sustained release of these factors but suffer from limitations such as cytotoxicity issues, poor loading capacity, and poor cellular uptake. In this project, we developed cell-derived nanoparticles (CDNs), a biomimetic nanoparticle delivery system with high drug loading efficiency, to deliver a glucocorticoid drug, dexamethasone (Dex), to promote the osteogenic differentiation of stem/stromal cells. The synthesized Dex-loaded CDNs had a consistent size range of 30-920 nm, spherical shape, high drug loading efficiency, good cytocompatibility, and were internalized by human adipose-derived stem/stromal cells (hADSCs). Drug-loaded CDNs were able to induce the osteogenic differentiation of hADSCs in vitro, indicating their potential as an efficient drug delivery vehicle for bone regeneration and other applications

Studies on post-mating physiology in closely related species of the Drosophila nasuta subgroup

Isozyme variation at six enzyme loci has been studied involving nine members of Drosophila nasuta subgroup, by employing polyacrylamide gel electrophoretic technique. Alleles at three loci namely Acph, Aph and tx-Est are found to be highly polymorphic; whereas at ~-Est locus the alleles are less variable while at a-Gpdh and To loci, the alleles are found to be least variable. Null alleles are encountered in low frequencies at rz-Est, ~-Est and c-Gpdh enzyme loci. The allelie frequencies obtained at the six enzyme loci have been utilised as a yardstick to measure the extent of genetic relationship between the species studied. The genetic identity and genetic distance between these closely-related species have been estimated by adopting the Nei's formula. These findings have been discussed with reference to earlier cytogenetic and hybridisation studies made on this subgroup