Transferable skills of undergraduates of sciences and arts at Taibah University, El-Ula Branch, Saudi Arabia

Transferable skills constitute a principle element in the curriculum of all educational programmes. Some human skills are transferred with birth in genetic factors, but these skills need to be discovered and developed: university teaching programmes are the main source to teach and develop these skills. This study is designed to explore the skills abilities of undergraduates as they see themselves and their abilities. Students showed great variation in skills abilities in the seven studied skills; they showed high ability for teamwork, communication, personal and development skills. Second-year students seemed more skilful than those of the first year. Women were highly skilled relative to men, the difference mostly being how wide the gap is between women and men in the seven categories of skills. When we compared Arts and Science students in these skills, there were significant differences between them, mainly in that science students were more skilful in information technology and numerical skills. These data reflect the impact of social traditions on skill development rather than as a part of the teaching process, which means that effort should be put into creating courses which will develop the skills of students.Keywords: Education, skill classification, gender, grade, curriculu

Preterm infants have significantly longer telomeres than their term born counterparts

There are well-established morbidities associated with preterm birth including respiratory, neurocognitive and developmental disorders. However several others have recently emerged that characterise an `aged' phenotype in the preterm infant by term-equivalent age. These include hypertension, insulin resistance and altered body fat distribution. Evidence shows that these morbidities persist into adult life, posing a significant public health concern. In this study, we measured relative telomere length in leukocytes as an indicator of biological ageing in 25 preterm infants at term equivalent age. Comparing our measurements with those from 22 preterm infants sampled at birth and from 31 term-born infants, we tested the hypothesis that by term equivalent age, preterm infants have significantly shorter telomeres (thus suggesting that they are prematurely aged). Our results demonstrate that relative telomere length is highly variable in newborn infants and is significantly negatively correlated with gestational age and birth weight in preterm infants. Further, longitudinal assessment in preterm infants who had telomere length measurements available at both birth and term age (n = 5) suggests that telomere attrition rate is negatively correlated with increasing gestational age. Contrary to our initial hypothesis however, relative telomere length was significantly shortest in the term born control group compared to both preterm groups and longest in the preterm at birth group. In addition, telomere lengths were not significantly different between preterm infants sampled at birth and those sampled at term equivalent age. These results indicate that other, as yet undetermined, factors may influence telomere length in the preterm born infant and raise the intriguing hypothesis that as preterm gestation declines, telomere attrition rate increases

Rift Valley Fever Virus NSs Protein Promotes Post-Transcriptional Downregulation of Protein Kinase PKR and Inhibits eIF2α Phosphorylation

Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) (genus Phlebovirus, family Bunyaviridae) is a negative-stranded RNA virus with a tripartite genome. RVFV is transmitted by mosquitoes and causes fever and severe hemorrhagic illness among humans, and fever and high rates of abortions in livestock. A nonstructural RVFV NSs protein inhibits the transcription of host mRNAs, including interferon-β mRNA, and is a major virulence factor. The present study explored a novel function of the RVFV NSs protein by testing the replication of RVFV lacking the NSs gene in the presence of actinomycin D (ActD) or α-amanitin, both of which served as a surrogate of the host mRNA synthesis suppression function of the NSs. In the presence of the host-transcriptional inhibitors, the replication of RVFV lacking the NSs protein, but not that carrying NSs, induced double-stranded RNA-dependent protein kinase (PKR)–mediated eukaryotic initiation factor (eIF)2α phosphorylation, leading to the suppression of host and viral protein translation. RVFV NSs promoted post-transcriptional downregulation of PKR early in the course of the infection and suppressed the phosphorylated eIF2α accumulation. These data suggested that a combination of RVFV replication and NSs-induced host transcriptional suppression induces PKR-mediated eIF2α phosphorylation, while the NSs facilitates efficient viral translation by downregulating PKR and inhibiting PKR-mediated eIF2α phosphorylation. Thus, the two distinct functions of the NSs, i.e., the suppression of host transcription, including that of type I interferon mRNAs, and the downregulation of PKR, work together to prevent host innate antiviral functions, allowing efficient replication and survival of RVFV in infected mammalian hosts

A Review of Surgical Informed Consent: Past, Present, and Future. A Quest to Help Patients Make Better Decisions

Contains fulltext : 87422.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access)BACKGROUND: Informed consent (IC) is a process requiring a competent doctor, adequate transfer of information, and consent of the patient. It is not just a signature on a piece of paper. Current consent processes in surgery are probably outdated and may require major changes to adjust them to modern day legislation. A literature search may provide an opportunity for enhancing the quality of the surgical IC (SIC) process. METHODS: Relevant English literature obtained from PubMed, Picarta, PsycINFO, and Google between 1993 and 2009 was reviewed. RESULTS: The body of literature with respect to SIC is slim and of moderate quality. The SIC process is an underestimated part of surgery and neither surgeons nor patients sufficiently realize its importance. Surgeons are not specifically trained and lack the competence to guide patients through a legally correct SIC process. Computerized programs can support the SIC process significantly but are rarely used for this purpose. CONCLUSIONS: IC should be integrated into our surgical practice. Unfortunately, a big gap exists between the theoretical/legal best practice and the daily practice of IC. An optimally informed patient will have more realistic expectations regarding a surgical procedure and its associated risks. Well-informed patients will be more satisfied and file fewer legal claims. The use of interactive computer-based programs provides opportunities to improve the SIC process.1 juli 201

Randomized controlled field trial to assess the immunogenicity and safety of rift valley fever clone 13 vaccine in livestock

BACKGROUND:Although livestock vaccination is effective in preventing Rift Valley fever (RVF) epidemics, there are concerns about safety and effectiveness of the only commercially available RVF Smithburn vaccine. We conducted a randomized controlled field trial to evaluate the immunogenicity and safety of the new RVF Clone 13 vaccine, recently registered in South Africa. METHODS:In a blinded randomized controlled field trial, 404 animals (85 cattle, 168 sheep, and 151 goats) in three farms in Kenya were divided into three groups. Group A included males and non-pregnant females that were randomized and assigned to two groups; one vaccinated with RVF Clone 13 and the other given placebo. Groups B included animals in 1st half of pregnancy, and group C animals in 2nd half of pregnancy, which were also randomized and either vaccinated and given placebo. Animals were monitored for one year and virus antibodies titers assessed on days 14, 28, 56, 183 and 365. RESULTS:In vaccinated goats (N = 72), 72% developed anti-RVF virus IgM antibodies and 97% neutralizing IgG antibodies. In vaccinated sheep (N = 77), 84% developed IgM and 91% neutralizing IgG antibodies. Vaccinated cattle (N = 42) did not develop IgM antibodies but 67% developed neutralizing IgG antibodies. At day 14 post-vaccination, the odds of being seropositive for IgG in the vaccine group was 3.6 (95% CI, 1.5 - 9.2) in cattle, 90.0 (95% CI, 25.1 - 579.2) in goats, and 40.0 (95% CI, 16.5 - 110.5) in sheep. Abortion was observed in one vaccinated goat but histopathologic analysis did not indicate RVF virus infection. There was no evidence of teratogenicity in vaccinated or placebo animals. CONCLUSIONS:The results suggest RVF Clone 13 vaccine is safe to use and has high (>90%) immunogenicity in sheep and goats but moderate (> 65%) immunogenicity in cattle

Protein patterns of wheat grains with phylogenetic inferences

A comparative study of total grain protein was carried out by sodium dodecyle sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) to characterise the differences between and within two species of wheat (Triticum aestivum and Triticum durum) represented by 12 cultivars. The densitometric profile data of the polypeptides showed an obvious variation in the number and position of bands from one cultivar to another. There were some bands in common between both species (103, 85, 70, 50, 46.9, 45, 40, 38, 34.1, 33, 31, 29, 28, 21, 20, 18, 14KD), while there were also some bands which characterise each species. Cladistic analysis showed that the four cultivars belonging to species T. aestivum/I> separated earlier in evolutionary history, and can be recognized from the rest of the cultivars which belong to species T. durum. KEY WORDS: Triticum aestivum,Triticum durum, protein polymorphism, electrophoresis, SDS-PAGE, cladistic analysis Egyptian Journal of Biology Vol.4 2002: 31-3

Variation of seed protein of Alkanna orientalis subpopulations in relation to geographical isolation in St Katherine Protectorate, Sinai, Egypt

Alkanna orientalis was surveyed from four wadi systems (El-Arbaein, El-Tofaha, El-Dir and Abu Seila), and two open flat sites (beginning of wadi El-Sheikh and El-Rasis) in the St. Katherine Protectorate to look at the variation within and among individuals in these sites using total seed storage proteins. A total of 55 clearly distinguishable polymorphic bands were observed from 78 individual plants collected from these six sites. Some bands were found to be common to all subpopulations, but each subpopulation was characterized by its own band(s). Shannon's diversity index was calculated for each subpopulation showing that subpopulations contain different levels of diversity with an overall average of Hs = 2.97. The level of variation was very low within populations as compared with the very high difference detected among them. The six subpopulations were found to contain different levels of protein diversity (as measured by Shannon's index of diversity): wadi El-Tofaha, Abu Seila, El-Arbaein and El-Dir contained the lowest diversity, while El-Rasis and El-Sheikh subpopulations contained the greatest diversity. Geographically, the first four sites are closed wadi systems (narrow wadi beds bounded by high mountains) and hence probably having very restricted gene flow with each other, while the last two sites (El-Rasis and El-Sheikh) are open flat areas expected to be subjected to occasional gene flow via seed transport from the other four wadis. KEY WORDS: Boraginaceae, protein pattern, diversity index, dendrogram, arid environment Egyptian Journal of Botany Vol.5 2003: 27-3

Population substructure in Alkanna orientalis L. Boiss. (Boraginaceae) in the Sinai desert, in relation to pollinator behaviour

Subpopulation genetic structure was studied in a population of the short-lived perennial plant Alkanna orientalis from the Sinai Desert, Egypt. The population investigated was subdivided for sampling into four subpopulations, which were located within three steep-sided wadis and a central plain area. Results from previous studies suggested that bee pollinator behaviour was Likely to cause Limited gene dispersal within the population and that subpopulations might have diverged from each other genetically. Seven RAPD primers were used to detect polymorphisms in the population. Differences between subpopulations in fragment frequency were found for several of the 45 polymorphic RAPD fragments scored. Population subdivision was evident from cluster analysis, and an analysis of genetic distances showed that there was significant genetic differentiation between all subpopulations. Nevertheless, more extensive gene flow appears to take place within the population than was expected, as demonstrated by a higher level of genetic similarity between subpopulations from two of the narrow wadis and the interconnecting plain. It is suggested that seed transport mediated by periodic flash floods is responsible for this pattern.</p