IT development prospects in the Republic of Belarus within the global innovation market

In this article, the author makes review for the current situation of IT development in the Republic of Belarus. There are analyzed the Global Innovation Index, organizations and program documents that regulate the activities of the IT sector in the Republic of Belaru

IT development prospects in the Republic of Belarus within the global innovation market

In this article, the author makes review for the current situation of IT development in the Republic of Belarus. There are analyzed the Global Innovation Index, organizations and program documents that regulate the activities of the IT sector in the Republic of Belaru

Financial Planning as a Tool for Economic Development of Domestic Enterprises

One of the most effective ways to support small and medium-sized businesses to update the production capacity and solving their problems is leasing. The access of the large companies to a wide range of tools to attract funding - from loans and bonds to the IPO - raises a number of leasing as one of the many tools available to large companies, while for the small and medium business financing options are very limited

Financial Planning as a Tool for Economic Development of Domestic Enterprises

One of the most effective ways to support small and medium-sized businesses to update the production capacity and solving their problems is leasing. The access of the large companies to a wide range of tools to attract funding - from loans and bonds to the IPO - raises a number of leasing as one of the many tools available to large companies, while for the small and medium business financing options are very limited

Perceptions of Safety Climate in Construction Projects between Workers and Managers/Supervisors in the Developing Country of Iran

What are the different perceptions on safety climate (SC) by workers and managers/supervisors engaged in the construction industry of developing countries? Reconciling these two differing views is pivotal for mitigating and avoiding both the injured and fatal accidents in the construction industry, especially in those developing countries where safety conditions are poor and unpredictable, and safety measures are inadequate in most cases. To answer this research question, the collective perceptions of 118 construction workers and 123 managers/supervisors on the SC in construction projects in Iran were gleaned and investigated. In particular, these perceptions were initially collected by two different empirical surveys validated by a sample of university professors and construction managers and then analyzed through the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) test and Bartlett’s test of sphericity under factor analysis, together with a one-sample t-test. Results indicated that “workers’ attitudes and perceptions”, “safety knowledge and training”, “working relationships and roles of colleagues”, and “workers’ risk perceptions” are important categories of SC factors perceived by construction workers, whereas “safety rules and management practices” is the essential category of SC factors discerned by managers/supervisors. The difference in perceptions between workers and managers/supervisors is considered to be beneficial for an overall understanding of SC in general and for developing countries in particular. Moreover, a series of effective suggestions for improving SC in the construction industry of developing countries are provided with reference to each category. The views of SC factors are reinforced as a social process combining the synergies of workers and managers/supervisors, as well as proper safety training to be pushed forward as an essential activity that should be incorporated in human resources development of construction organizations so as to improve the existing level of SC, leading to fewer accidents at the industry level

The significance of lipid profile and positive troponin-I in predicting cardiac event

Background: Diagnosis of acute cardiac event in the early stage of its onset is important in the treatment process. The development of highly sensitive and specific immunoassays for myocardial proteins such as cardiac troponin-I had made it possible. However troponin indicates cardiac events only after its onset or after cardiac tissue necrosis. Traditionally such high risk subjects were identified using lipid profiles. The identification of subjects with high risk of developing cardiac event in the future is more significant as it will provide time to prevent such incidents.Methods: In this retrospective study data of the 250 patients presented to the emergency department with symptoms of cardiac ischemia who underwent both troponin-I and lipid profiles tests were compared with the lipid profiles of 100 normal healthy subjects (controls). The troponin-I was detected quantitatively when a specimen contains troponin-I above the 99th percentile (TnI >0.3 ng/ml). The total cholesterol, high density lipoproteins cholesterol, very low density lipoproteins cholesterol and triacylglycerol levels were also analyzed and low density lipoprotein cholesterol level was calculated using Friedewald’s formula.Results: Patients with chest pain and positive troponin-I test (with confirmed cardiac event) were found to have significantly elevated levels of total cholesterol, triacylglycerols, low density lipoprotein cholesterol level and significantly reduced high density lipoproteins cholesterol levels when compared to the patients who experienced only chest pain with (negative troponin-I) and healthy controls.Conclusions: An acute cardiac event is best diagnosed by highly sensitive and specific positive troponin-I test (by quantitative method). However, traditional lipid profile levels still can be used in screening the populations to identify those subjects with high risk of developing cardiac event, in those centres where troponin-I test facility is unavailable.

Epigenetics in Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer (PC) is the most commonly diagnosed nonskin malignancy and the second most common cause of cancer death among men in the United States. Epigenetics is the study of heritable changes in gene expression caused by mechanisms other than changes in the underlying DNA sequences. Two common epigenetic mechanisms, DNA methylation and histone modification, have demonstrated critical roles in prostate cancer growth and metastasis. DNA hypermethylation of cytosine-guanine (CpG) rich sequence islands within gene promoter regions is widespread during neoplastic transformation of prostate cells, suggesting that treatment-induced restoration of a “normal” epigenome could be clinically beneficial. Histone modification leads to altered tumor gene function by changing chromosome structure and the level of gene transcription. The reversibility of epigenetic aberrations and restoration of tumor suppression gene function have made them attractive targets for prostate cancer treatment with modulators that demethylate DNA and inhibit histone deacetylases

Systemic and stratum corneum biomarkers of severity in infant atopic dermatitis include markers of innate and T helper cell-related immunity and angiogenesis

BACKGROUND: Biomarkers of atopic dermatitis (AD) are largely lacking, especially in infant AD. Those that have been examined to date have focused mostly on serum cytokines with few on non-invasive biomarkers in the skin. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to explore biomarkers obtainable from non-invasive sampling of infant skin. We compared these to plasma biomarkers and structural and functional measures of the skin barrier. METHODS: We recruited 100 infants at first presentation with AD, who were treatment naïve to topical or systemic anti-inflammatory therapies and 20 healthy children. We sampled clinically unaffected skin by tape stripping the stratum corneum (SC). Multiple cytokines and chemokines and natural moisturizing factors (NMF) were measured in the SC and plasma. We recorded disease severity and skin barrier function. RESULTS: 19 SC and 12 plasma biomarkers showed significant difference between healthy and AD skin. Some biomarkers were common to both the SC and plasma, and others were compartment-specific. Identified biomarkers of AD severity included Th2 skewed markers (IL-13, CCL17, CCL22, IL-5), markers of innate activation (IL-18, Il-1α, IL1β, CXCL8), angiogenesis (Flt-1, VEGF) and others (sICAM-1, vCAM-1, IL-16, IL-17A). CONCLUSIONS: We identified clinically relevant biomarkers of AD, including novel markers, easily sampled and typed in infants. These markers may provide objective assessment of disease severity and suggest new therapeutic targets, or response measurement targets for AD. Future studies will be required to determine if these biomarkers, seen in very early AD, can predict disease outcomes or comorbidities

Flexible strain sensors based on electrostatically actuated graphene flakes

In this paper we present flexible strain sensors made of graphene flakes fabricated, characterized, and analyzed for the electrical actuation and readout of their mechanical vibratory response in strain-sensing applications. For a typical suspended graphene membrane fabricated with an approximate length of 10 μm, a mechanical resonance frequency around 136 MHz with a quality factor (Q) of ∼60 in air under ambient conditions was observed. The applied strain can shift the resonance frequency substantially, which is found to be related to the alteration of physical dimension and the built-in strain in the graphene flake. Strain sensing was performed using both planar and nonplanar surfaces (bending with different radii of curvature) as well as by stretching with different elongations. © 2015 IOP Publishing Ltd