The appropriateness of educational activities that are included in mathematics textbooks for primary pupils of different levels

The study aimed to identify the types of educational activities that are included in mathematics textbooks for fourth and fifth primary grades and its applications, as well as the suitability for various levels of students from the perspective of teachers. To achieve this objective researchers have been analyzed the content of the text books and classified the activities contained in them. In addition, a group of teachers have been asked to reflect their perspective about the appropriateness of these activities for the different levels of students. The results of the study showed that about (50%) of the educational activities directed to students Mediterranean levels, the content of these activities focus on the skill compared to other aspects of content, while about (4%) of the activities related to the mathematical relations. Almost all of those activities are individual activities, while about (22%) of the activities are group activities. (62%) of these activities are prepared to be carried out in the classroom. The highest percentage (61%) of these activities are conformation activities (check, make sure, the summarized work using the folded.... etc.), while (22%) of the activities are preliminary activities (ready activities)

Characterization of Environmental Effects on Flowering and Plant Architecture in an Everbearing Strawberry F1-Hybrid by Meristem Dissection and Gene Expression Analysis

Floral transition in the cultivated everbearing strawberry is a hot topic because these genotypes flower perpetually and are difficult to maintain in a non-flowering state. However, it has rarely been studied using morphogenetic and molecular analyses simultaneously. We therefore examined the morphogenetic effects and the activation of genes involved in floral induction and initiation in seedlings of an everbearing F1-hybrid. Seedlings were grown at 12, 19, and 26 degrees C under 10 h SD and 20 h LD conditions. We observed a strong environmental influence on meristem development and a FLOWERING LOCUS T1 (FaFT1)-SUPPRESSOR OF OVEREXPRESSION OF CONSTANS1 (FaSOC1) pathway similar to that in the everbearing woodland strawberry. The everbearing cultivar showed typical features of a quantitative LD plant, flowering earlier under LD than SD conditions at all temperatures. We also found that floral induction is facilitated by FaFT1 upregulation under LD conditions, while FaSOC1 upregulation in the apex leads to photoperiod-independent floral initiation. Moreover, we confirmed the strawberry meristem identity gene FaFUL can also be used as an early indicator of floral initiation in EB cultivars. This study also highlights the advantages of seed-propagated F1-hybrids in genetic studies, namely that they are genetically identical and not biased by a previous flowering history

The deleted in brachydactyly B domain of ROR2 is required for receptor activation by recruitment of Src

The transmembrane receptor 'ROR2' resembles members of the receptor tyrosine kinase family of signalling receptors in sequence but its' signal transduction mechanisms remain enigmatic. This problem has particular importance because mutations in ROR2 are associated with two human skeletal dysmorphology syndromes, recessive Robinow Syndrome (RS) and dominant acting Brachydactyly type B (BDB). Here we show, using a constitutive dimerisation approach, that ROR2 exhibits dimerisation-induced tyrosine kinase activity and the ROR2 C-terminal domain, which is deleted in BDB, is required for recruitment and activation of the non-receptor tyrosine kinase Src. Native ROR2 phosphorylation is induced by the ligand Wnt5a and is blocked by pharmacological inhibition of Src kinase activity. Eight sites of Src-mediated ROR2 phosphorylation have been identified by mass spectrometry. Activation via tyrosine phosphorylation of ROR2 receptor leads to its internalisation into Rab5 positive endosomes. These findings show that BDB mutant receptors are defective in kinase activation as a result of failure to recruit Src

ASSESSMENT OF DIVERSIFIED VEGETATION COMMUNITY IN ISLAMABAD VICINITY, PAKISTAN

Islamabad is rich in diversified flora. This study was conducted to assess the vegetation communities of Islamabad vicinity. In present study seven different sites were selected in the vicinity i.e. CDA Nursery, F9 Park, Faisal Mosque, Jasmine Garden, near Prime Minister House, near Quaid-e-Azam University and Rawal Lake. A total of 62 major plant species were found in the study area. The dominance of plant species was estimated on basis of importance value. Most dominating species was Brossonetia papyrifera with highest importance value (71.4+35.82). These selected sites were categories on the basis of specie richness indices and Shanen's diversity indices. Jinah Garden was rich in plant species on basis of specie richness

Predicting the risk to develop preeclampsia in the first trimester combining promoter variant -98A/C of LGALS13 (placental protein 13), Black ethnicity, previous preeclampsia, obesity, and maternal age

BACKGROUND: We studied LGALS13 [Placental Protein 13 (PP13)] promoter DNA polymorphisms in preeclampsia (PE) prediction, given PP13’s effects on hypotension, angiogenesis and immunotolerance. METHODS: We retrieved 67 PE (49 term, 18 preterm) cases and 196 matched controls from first trimester plasma samples prospectively collected at King's College Hospital, London. Cell-free DNA was extracted and the four LGALS13 exons were sequenced after PCR amplification. Expression of LGALS13 promoter reporter constructs were determined in BeWo trophoblast-like cells with luciferase assays. RESULTS: A/C genotype in –98 position was the lowest in term PE compared to controls (p<0.032), similar to a South African cohort. Control but not all PE allele frequencies were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (p=0.036). The Odds ratio for term PE calculated from prior risk, the A/A genotype and black ethnicity was 14 (p<0.001). In luciferase assays, the LGALS13 promoter “-98A" variant had 13% (p=0.04) and 26% (p<0.001) lower expression than the "-98C" variant in non-differentiated and differentiated BeWo cells, respectively. After 48-hour differentiation, there was 4.55- fold increase in expression of "-98C" variant versus 3.85-fold of "-98A" variant (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: Lower LGALS13 (PP13) expression by the "-98A/A" genotype appears to impose higher risk to develop PE and could aid in PE prediction

Dna-binding and cytotoxicity of copper(I) complexes containing functionalized dipyridylphenazine ligands

A set of copper(I) coordination compounds with general formula [CuBr(PPh3 )(dppz-R)] (dppz-R = dipyrido[3,2-a:2’,3’-c]phenazine (Cu-1), 11-nitrodipyrido[3,2-a:2’,3’-c]phenazine (Cu-2), 11-cyanodipyrido[3,2-a:2’,3’-c]phenazine (Cu-3), dipyrido[3,2-a:2’,3’-c]phenazine-11-phenone (Cu-4), 11,12-dimethyldipyrido[3,2-a:2’,3’-c]phenazine (Cu-5)) have been prepared and characterized by elemental analysis,1H-NMR and31P-NMR spectroscopies as well as mass spectrometry. The structure of Cu-1 was confirmed by X-ray crystallography. The effect of incorporating different functional groups on the dppz ligand on the binding into CT-DNA was evaluated by absorption spectroscopy, fluorescence quenching of EtBr-DNA adducts, and viscosity measurements. The functional groups affected the binding modes and hence the strength of binding affinities, as suggested by the changes in the relative viscosity. The differences in the quenching constants (Ksv) obtained from the fluorescence quenching assay highlight the importance of the functional groups in altering the binding sites on the DNA. The molecular docking data support the DNA-binding studies, with the sites and mode of interactions against B-DNA changing with the different functional groups. Evaluation of the anticancer activities of the five copper compounds against two different cancer cell lines (M-14 and MCF-7) indicated the importance of the functional groups on the dppz ligand on the anticancer activities. Among the five copper complexes, the cyano-containing complex (Cu-3) has the best anticancer activities.This project was funded by the Deanship of Scientific Research (DSR), King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia under grant no. (KEP-60-130-38)