Normative Data for the 12 Item WHO Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0

Background: The World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS 2.0) measures disability due to health conditions including diseases, illnesses, injuries, mental or emotional problems, and problems with alcohol or drugs. Method: The 12 Item WHODAS 2.0 was used in the second Australian Survey of Mental Health and Well-being. We report the overall factor structure and the distribution of scores and normative data (means and SDs) for people with any physical disorder, any mental disorder and for people with neither. Findings: A single second order factor justifies the use of the scale as a measure of global disability. People with mental disorders had high scores (mean 6.3, SD 7.1), people with physical disorders had lower scores (mean 4.3, SD 6.1). People with no disorder covered by the survey had low scores (mean 1.4, SD 3.6). Interpretation: The provision of normative data from a population sample of adults will facilitate use of the WHODAS 2.0 12 item scale in clinical and epidemiological research

Improving Phrap-Based Assembly of the Rat Using “Reliable” Overlaps

The assembly methods used for whole-genome shotgun (WGS) data have a major impact on the quality of resulting draft genomes. We present a novel algorithm to generate a set of “reliable” overlaps based on identifying repeat k-mers. To demonstrate the benefits of using reliable overlaps, we have created a version of the Phrap assembly program that uses only overlaps from a specific list. We call this version PhrapUMD. Integrating PhrapUMD and our “reliable-overlap” algorithm with the Baylor College of Medicine assembler, Atlas, we assemble the BACs from the Rattus norvegicus genome project. Starting with the same data as the Nov. 2002 Atlas assembly, we compare our results and the Atlas assembly to the 4.3 Mb of rat sequence in the 21 BACs that have been finished. Our version of the draft assembly of the 21 BACs increases the coverage of finished sequence from 93.4% to 96.3%, while simultaneously reducing the base error rate from 4.5 to 1.1 errors per 10,000 bases. There are a number of ways of assessing the relative merits of assemblies when the finished sequence is available. If one views the overall quality of an assembly as proportional to the inverse of the product of the error rate and sequence missed, then the assembly presented here is seven times better. The UMD Overlapper with options for reliable overlaps is available from the authors at http://www.genome.umd.edu. We also provide the changes to the Phrap source code enabling it to use only the reliable overlaps

Peptide nanofibers for controlled growth factor release

[No abstract available

Group matrix ring codes and constructions of self-dual codes

From Springer Nature via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: received 2021-01-30, rev-recd 2021-03-13, accepted 2021-03-19, registration 2021-03-20, pub-electronic 2021-04-02, online 2021-04-02, pub-print 2023-03Publication status: PublishedIn this work, we study codes generated by elements that come from group matrix rings. We present a matrix construction which we use to generate codes in two different ambient spaces: the matrix ring Mk(R) and the ring R, where R is the commutative Frobenius ring. We show that codes over the ring Mk(R) are one sided ideals in the group matrix ring Mk(R)G and the corresponding codes over the ring R are Gk-codes of length kn. Additionally, we give a generator matrix for self-dual codes, which consist of the mentioned above matrix construction. We employ this generator matrix to search for binary self-dual codes with parameters [72, 36, 12] and find new singly-even and doubly-even codes of this type. In particular, we construct 16 new Type I and 4 new Type II binary [72, 36, 12] self-dual codes

A PRACTICAL REAL-TIME POWER QUALITY EVENT MONITORING APPLICATIONS USING DISCRETE WAVELET TRANSFORM AND ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORK

Determining the events that affect Power Quality (PQ) disturbances is remarkable for consumers. The most important aspects in the assessment of PQ disturbances are real-time monitoring of PQ disturbances and their fast interpretation. In this study, Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) was used as a classifier benefiting from estimated parameters in PQ disturbances based on Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) on the real-time environment for determining the disturbances in power systems. Voltage signals (sag, swell, interruption, transient, harmonic and normal) used in this study were recorded from real grids. DWT was used for featuring the extraction and calculation of the wavelet coefficients, and subsequently, calculated energy levels were used as an input to ANN. The results revealed analyzing the real data processed with DWT and ANN with 100% accuracy proved the superiority of this study. Based on the results of this study, identification of real-time PQ disturbances provided an important advantage for the firms and industry. Particularly, the reasons for the failures in the system related to PQ disturbances were simultaneously diagnosed, as well

Growth and differentiation of prechondrogenic cells on bioactive self-assembled peptide nanofibers

Restoration of cartilage defect remains a challenge, as the current treatments are ineffective to return tissue to its health. Thus, developing therapies for treatment of cartilage tissue damage caused by common joint diseases including osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and accidents is crucial. Sulfated glycosaminoglycan molecules are vital constituents of both developing and mature cartilage extracellular matrix. The interplay between regulator proteins and glycosaminoglycan molecules has an essential role in coordinating differentiation, expansion, and patterning during cartilage development. In this study, we exploited the functional role of an extracellular matrix on chondrogenic differentiation by imitating extracellular matrix both chemically by imparting functional groups of native glycosaminoglycans and structurally through peptide nanofiber network. For this purpose, sulfonate, carboxylate, and hydroxyl groups were incorporated on self-assembled peptide nanofibers. We observed that when ATDC5 cells were cultured on functional peptide nanofibers, they rapidly aggregated in insulin-free medium and formed cartilage-like nodules and deposited sulfated glycosaminoglycans shown by Safranin-O staining. Moreover, collagen II and aggrecan gene expressions revealed by qRT-PCR were significantly enhanced, which indicated the remarkable bioactive role of this nanofiber system on chondrogenic differentiation. Overall, these results show that glycosaminoglycan mimetic peptide nanofiber system provides a promising platform for cartilage regeneration. © 2012 American Chemical Society