Validation of a method for measuring sperm quality and quantity in reproductive toxicity tests with pair-breeding male fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas)

This article originally appeared in the ILAR e-Journal. It is reprinted with permission from the ILAR Journal, Institute for Laboratory Animal Research, National Research Council, Washington DC (www.nationalacademies.org/ilar).The fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas) is an OECD-proposed test species routinely used in reproductive toxicity trials with suspected endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs). The basic fecundity, endocrinology, and histopathology of reproductively active male and female fathead minnows has been well characterized, but there are few studies of the utility of male sperm concentration and motility as endpoints for use in reproductive trials. The purpose of this study was to (1) characterize the baseline sperm concentration and motility of pair-breeding male fathead minnows over their spawning cycle and (2) determine whether a repeated and nondestructive sperm sampling protocol would influence the baseline fecundity of the fish. Pair-breeding male fathead minnows that underwent sampling for milt three times a week for 4 weeks exhibited no significant changes in milt volume, sperm concentration, or motility parameters up to 6 days after each spawning event. The repeated sperm sampling procedure did, however, cause a significant lowering of spawning frequencies, although this decline did not correlate with effects on fecundity as there were no significant changes in the mean total numbers of eggs laid, fertilization, and hatching successes. This study confirmed the presence of a stable background of sperm concentration and motility parameters of pair-breeding male fathead minnows under reference conditions. The absence of any inherent “cycling” in the magnitude of these parameters over the spawning period suggests that sperm concentration and motility could be useful measures of male reproductive toxicity at the termination of tests in which pair-breeding males are at varying days post spawn.The research described was funded by the EU project Comparative Research on Endocrine Disrupters (COMPRENDO) Institute of Zoology Regents Park, London, contract No. EVK1-CT-2002-00129E

Legal capacities required for prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases

Law lies at the centre of successful national strategies for prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases. By law we mean international agreements, national and subnational legislation, regulations and other executive instruments, and decisions of courts and tribunals. However, the vital role of law in global health development is often poorly understood, and eclipsed by other disciplines such as medicine, public health and economics. This paper identifies key areas of intersection between law and noncommunicable diseases, beginning with the role of law as a tool for implementing policies for prevention and control of leading risk factors. We identify actions that the World Health Organization and its partners could take to mobilize the legal workforce, strengthen legal capacity and support effective use of law at the national level. Legal and regulatory actions must move to the centre of national noncommunicable disease action plans. This requires high-level leadership from global and national leaders, enacting evidence-based legislation and building legal capacities

Design, Development, and Validation of an Augmented Reality-Enabled Production Strategy Process

The Production Strategy Process (PSP) is an integral part of production planning and control as it defines how production processes are structured and designed and outlines how production will be executed. PSP involves massive information transfer and communication among project participants. While BIM can improve the flow of information, the paradox of designing 3D models in 2D space remains. This paradox indicates that new visualization technologies are needed to leverage the use of information in the PSP. As Industry 4.0, the fourth industrial revolution, continues to evolve, it is imperative that construction firms seek, find, and adopt new technologies. This research employed Augmented Reality (AR) as a new user interface in the PSP. The current state of practice of PSP was investigated and current challenges are identified. The opportunities to integrate AR were defined, and an AR-enabled future state was proposed. Next, an AR-enabled PSP prototype using the Microsoft HoloLens was implemented and validated on a real-world healthcare project. Usability testing was then conducted using a one-on-one protocol to validate the prototype with 20 participants. Surveys were the deployed to qualitatively assess the impact of integrating AR into PSP. The difference between the traditional PSP and the AR-enabled PSP was tested through a series of hypotheses comparing both processes. The results demonstrate that the AR-enabled PSP offers significant benefits over the Traditional PSP: improved collaboration, reduced miscommunication, increased quality and detection of errors, enhanced decision-making, better documentation, better information access, improved information flow, increased input accuracy, and increased integration of safety considerations. Additionally, the technology, software, and hardware were also evaluated, and, on average, the findings demonstrated the potential of AR in production planning

Effectiveness of an Educational Program on University Collegians’ Perceptions of Healthy Exercise pattern

To find out the effectiveness of an educational program on university students' perceptions of a healthy exercise pattern. A quasi-experimental study to find out the exercise pattern of Mosul University students for the period from 9th November 2022 to 2nd January 2023, the sample of (60) students. The questionnaire consists of two parts: a part that measures social and demographic information and includes (6) items, and a part that measures healthy lifestyle data with regard to exercise pattern and includes (10) items. Determine the validity of the content of the questionnaire by presenting it to experts and using the half-division technique and calculating the Pearson correlation coefficient to determine the validity. The results of the data showed that all (60) students in the study sample did not have an adequate level of perception of the healthy physical activity pattern in the pre-test, while the results of the post-test after implementing the program were high, which shows that there is an improvement in their perceptions of the healthy physical activity pattern.The study showed that there was an improvement in perceptions of a healthy lifestyle related to exercise pattern in the study group compared to those in the control group.The study recommended the need to develop educational programs, lectures, courses and seminars on the benefits of a healthy exercise pattern that university students must follow to increase their perceptions that lead to changing their lifestyle and getting rid of wrong behaviors and habits

Effect of Nano Silica De-agglomeration, and Methods of Adding Super-plasticizer on the Compressive Strength, and Workability of Nano Silica Concrete

Nowadays, nano silica appears to be one of the attractive cement substitution alternatives for researchers. Several authors have studied the physical effects of its incorporation on cement, despite of significant inconsistencies in reported results, specially workability and compressive strength of resulting concrete. This paper presents a thorough experimental investigation testing more than 16 concrete mixtures, which covers some of the main reasons of these inconsistencies. One of these problems is the method of applying the nano particles, as they are highly agglomerated, and if applied directly in a bulk composite, they often lose their high-surface area due to grain growth or unavailability of the high surface area where it matters. The presented research investigated how agglomeration can affect the compressive strength, and workability of normal strength concrete. Different methods of de-agglomeration were tested, as sonication, homogenization, and stirring. Besides, optimization of the super plasticizer's addition timing to concrete incorporating nano silica (NS) is elaborately investigated by adding the superplasticizer in different timings of addition; starting by adding NS to superplasticizer and water then applying de-agglomeration method, ending with de-agglomeration of NS alone with portion of water, then adding SP to the other portion of water before application them to the dry components. Results showed that sonication proved to be the most significant de-agglomeration method as it enhanced the gain in compressive strength of concrete by 23% by using only 1% nano silica as cement substitution. Sonication of NS also helped increasing the concrete workability significantly as a result of better dispersion of NS. As for the superplasticizer addition time, sonication of NS alone with portion of water, then adding SP to the other portion of water before application them to the concrete dry components showed a significant performance as compared to the other timings, as the compressive strength reached an increase of 26% compared to the control specimens. Keywords: Nano silica, concrete, plasticizers, agglomeration, workability, strength

Evaluation of Maternal Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Status and Its Association with Birth Outcomes

The present study examines the potential role of the Maternal Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid profile in fetal growth by investigating the association between maternal concentrations of these fatty acids in the gestation stage and birth outcome measures (birth weight, birth length, and head circumference at birth). The study covered (255) women with a mean age of 29.22 ± 5.29 years. Half of them had a Bachelor’s degree or higher, and most of them were unemployed. The author used a questionnaire for data collection. The level of fatty acids was not correlated with pregnancy outcomes such as weight, height, and head circumference. A significant positive correlation between total MUFAs and gestational age was established. There was a positive correlation between the level of total n-3 PUFA and gestational weight gain. There was also a positive correlation between nutritional knowledge and the amount of fish consumed during pregnancy. However, no correlation was found between the consumption of fish and pregnancy outcomes. This study has demonstrated preliminary results regarding the level of polyunsaturated fatty acids in pregnant women and pregnancy outcomes that can help evaluate the current or future pregnancy preventative programs when planning reproductive health programs

Expression of Vimentin, α-SMA and TGF-β in Different Grades of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Abstract Background: Oral Squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is typically discovered at an early stage; nevertheless, regional lymph node metastases are prevalent; therefore, surgical excision of the primary tumor is commonly coupled with neck dissection and radiotherapy. Cancer cells become invasive by acquiring a mesenchymal phenotype, a process known as the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition. Vimentin, α-SMA and TGF-β expressions are believed to take part in EMT and tumor progression. Aim: this work aimed to evaluate the expression of Vimentin, α-SMA and TGF-β on OSCC progression and hence propose potential role as potential prognostic markers or therapeutic targets. Materials and methods: twenty-four specimens of different OSCC grades were divided according to Broader`s classification into three groups I, II and III. Mean area fraction of immunopositivity for Vimentin, α-SMA and TGF-β expressions as well as clinical lymph-node involvement was evaluated for each group. Results: α-SMA and TGF-β were significantly upregulated in poorly differentiated OSCC and α-SMA expression correlated with lymph node involvement. Vimentin expression was highest in moderately differentiated OSCC and didn’t correlate with lymph-node involvement. Conclusion: α-SMA is suggested to be a better prognostic factor than vimentin for OSCC progression

Stem Cells for Bone Regeneration: Role of Trophic Factors

Stem cells play a critical role in tissue regeneration and repair, maintenance and turnover and the control of haematopoiesis in the various tissues. These cells have an incredible ability to differentiate into specific cell types like osteoblasts, chondrocytes or myocytes and to develop bone, cartilage or muscle tissues. Now it is believed that the cells do not differentiate by themselves but rather the secretion of the bioactive (trophic) factors which are responsible for the functional outcome of the tissue. Stem cells reside in complicated and dynamic three-dimensional (3D) microenvironments in vivo known as stem cell niches. The niches are composed of extracellular matrix (ECM), soluble and tethered proteins and supporting cells, which have a profound influence on the functionality of the cells, including differentiation and trophic factor release. In this chapter, we review and emphasize the influence of stem cell microenvironment on the secretion of trophic factors and their perspective application for bone regeneration

Representations of Arab Women in Hollywood Pre- and Post- 9/11

Many scholars argue that the image of Arabs in Hollywood has always been tainted by prejudice and stereotyping. However, little attention is paid to women\u27s representation in general or the influence of 9/11 on that representation. This paper compares portrayals of Arab women in popular Hollywood films before and after 9/11. A purposive sample of 76 Arab female characters from 40 popular Hollywood films is used to conduct a content analysis, comparing portrayals in films released before and after 9/11. Popular Hollywood films are defined as films with at least 50,000 reviews that score seven or more on the International Movie Database (IMDB). The results show that Arab women’s representation lacks diversity and Arab women remain unidentified in Hollywood films. Arab women’s portrayal shifts from one of the magical or sexualized characters to one of the violent terrorists. Despite the overall increase in the amount of violence depicted after 9/11, there is a shift in favor of the portrayal of Arab women, with more depicted as good or pure after 9/11. Finally, the results show that the morality of Arab female characters improves, with more characters depicted as evaluating options and making their own decisions

A novel scalable representative-based forecasting approach of service quality

© 2020, Springer-Verlag GmbH Austria, part of Springer Nature. Several approaches to forecast the service quality based on its quality of service (QoS) properties are reported in the literature. However, their main disadvantage resides in their limited scalability. In fact, they elaborate a forecasting model for each quality attribute per service, which cannot scale well for large or even medium size datasets of services. Accordingly, we propose a novel scalable representative-based forecasting approach of QoS. The QoS is modeled as a multivariate time series in which the values of service attributes are evaluated at each time instant and forecasted based on three stages. First, a data aggregation function is applied to the multivariate time series data. Then, principal component analysis (PCA) is applied to the quality attributes to determine the most relevant ones. The reduced data is then clustered, so that, a representative for each cluster is computed. Finally, a forecasting model is built for each cluster representative for the sake of deriving other services’ forecasting models. A set of extensive experiments are carried out to assess the efficiency and accuracy of the proposed approach on a dataset of real services. The experimental results show that the proposed approach is up to 75% more efficient than direct forecasting approaches using time measurements while increasing the number of forecasted services and that the elaborated forecasting models enjoy insignificant forecasting errors