Digital Mangatoon to Born Out New Peace in English Classroom

Digital comics are proven to be an effective learning tool for both teachers and students. At the university level, this study was set out to find the views of second-semester students on the use of Mangatoon digital comics in reading instruction. A quantitative study was performed, involving second-semester students at the Universitas of Al Asyariah Mandar (n=30). This study found, that on average, students find Mangatoon helpful in assisting them in reading since it has practical features preserving their motivation. Based on the student’s perception, the reading material presented in Mangatoon is easily understood, hence improvement in their reading skills can be maximised. Keywords: Digital Comic; Reading; ELT; and Pedagogical Innovation

Comparison of postural balance between subgroups of nonspecific low-back pain patients based on O'Sullivan classification system and normal subjects during lifting

Background: Balance disorder is one of the most-studied fields in low-back pain patients (LBP). However, there is insufficient information regarding the effect of LBP subgrouping on postural control. The purpose of the present study was to compare postural control between subgroups of chronic nonspecific LBP and healthy subjects during lifting. Methods: A total of 35 men with chronic LBP (19 active extension pattern AEP and 16 flexion pattern FP) and 15 healthy controls were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. Pooled LBP was subdivided based on the O'Sullivan's classification system (OCS). The participants were asked to lift a box from the ground to the waist level and hold it for 20 seconds. The load was 10% of the subject's weight. Force plate system was used to record balance parameters, including standard deviations (SDs) of center of pressure (COP) amplitude and COP velocity in anterior-posterior and medial-lateral directions and mean total velocity. The test was divided into two static and dynamic phases. Data were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance and independent t-test. Results: There were no significant differences between pooled LBP and control groups in any of the variables, except for the SD of the anterior-posterior direction velocity in the X-plane in the static phase (P=0.017). After classifying LBP, the results showed that the healthy and AEP groups were significantly different in SD of COP velocity in the frontal plane (P=0.021), mean total velocity (P=0.010), and SD of COP velocity in the sagittal plane (P=0.039). Conclusion: The present study showed that postural control was not different between the pooled LBP and normal groups. After classifying pooled LBP based on OCS, we found that the AEP showed different postural control as compared to healthy controls in the dynamic phase. The FP and AEP exhibited different postural control relative to the healthy controls in the static phase, and COP velocity was lower in those groups compared to the control group. The results of this study support the concept of LBP classification. © 2019 BY THE ARCHIVES OF BONE AND JOINT SURGERY

Phase 1 study of cardiac safety of TAS-102 in patients with advanced solid tumors

PURPOSE: TAS-102 is a novel oral agent combining the antineoplastic thymidine-based nucleoside analogue, trifluridine, and the thymidine phosphorylase inhibitor, tipiracil (molar ratio 1:0.5). TAS-102 has shown good activity in refractory metastatic colorectal cancer with acceptable safety. No QT prolongation was seen in clinical studies. This study aimed to investigate TAS-102 cardiac safety for regulatory requirements. METHODS: This was a phase 1, non-randomized study in adults with advanced solid tumors. Intensive QT assessments were conducted at baseline, placebo, and following single and multiple doses of TAS-102 during a 28-day cycle. RESULTS: Following single- and multiple-dose administration (N = 30), the upper bounds of the one-sided 95 % confidence intervals for the difference between TAS-102 and placebo in time-matched baseline-subtracted 12-lead Holter QT intervals did not exceed 20 ms at any prespecified time point. One patient had a change from baseline in QTcI interval ≥60 ms, and one patient had a QTcI interval >500 ms following multiple-dose TAS-102 administration. No patient had an uncorrected QT, QTcF, or QTcB interval >500 ms. Based on the exposure-response analysis between TAS-102 plasma concentrations and the placebo-adjusted QTc intervals, none of the upper bounds of the one-sided 95 % prediction intervals exceeded 20 ms. There were no significant morphological changes for T or U waves. No cardiovascular AEs were reported in cycle 1. Across all cycles, no patient experienced an AE of ventricular tachycardia, ventricular fibrillation, syncope, or seizure. CONCLUSIONS: There was no clinically relevant relationship between TAS-102 plasma concentrations and QTc interval; TAS-102 had no clinically relevant effects on cardiac repolarization

Submicron aerosol composition in the world's most polluted megacity: the Delhi Aerosol Supersite study

Delhi, India, routinely experiences some of the world's highest urban particulate matter concentrations. We established the Delhi Aerosol Supersite study to provide long-term characterization of the ambient submicron aerosol composition in Delhi. Here we report on 1.25 years of highly time-resolved speciated submicron particulate matter (PM1) data, including black carbon (BC) and nonrefractory PM1 (NR-PM1), which we combine to develop a composition-based estimate of PM1 (“C-PM1”&thinsp;=&thinsp;BC&thinsp;+&thinsp;NR-PM1) concentrations. We observed marked seasonal and diurnal variability in the concentration and composition of PM1 owing to the interactions of sources and atmospheric processes. Winter was the most polluted period of the year, with average C-PM1 mass concentrations of ∼210&thinsp;µg&thinsp;m−3. The monsoon was hot and rainy, consequently making it the least polluted (C-PM1 ∼50&thinsp;µg&thinsp;m−3) period. Organics constituted more than half of the C-PM1 for all seasons and times of day. While ammonium, chloride, and nitrate each were ∼10&thinsp;% of the C-PM1 for the cooler months, BC and sulfate contributed ∼5&thinsp;% each. For the warmer periods, the fractional contribution of BC and sulfate to C-PM1 increased, and the chloride contribution decreased to less than 2&thinsp;%. The seasonal and diurnal variation in absolute mass loadings were generally consistent with changes in ventilation coefficients, with higher concentrations for periods with unfavorable meteorology – low planetary boundary layer height and low wind speeds. However, the variation in C-PM1 composition was influenced by temporally varying sources, photochemistry, and gas–particle partitioning. During cool periods when wind was from the northwest, episodic hourly averaged chloride concentrations reached 50–100&thinsp;µg&thinsp;m−3, ranking among the highest chloride concentrations reported anywhere in the world. We estimated the contribution of primary emissions and secondary processes to Delhi's submicron aerosol. Secondary species contributed almost 50&thinsp;%–70&thinsp;% of Delhi's C-PM1 mass for the winter and spring months and up to 60&thinsp;%–80&thinsp;% for the warmer summer and monsoon months. For the cooler months that had the highest C-PM1 concentrations, the nighttime sources were skewed towards primary sources, while the daytime C-PM1 was dominated by secondary species. Overall, these findings point to the important effects of both primary emissions and more regional atmospheric chemistry on influencing the extreme particle concentrations that impact the Delhi megacity region. Future air quality strategies considering Delhi's situation in both a regional and local context will be more effective than policies targeting only local, primary air pollutants.</p

Characterizing the Saltol quantitative trait locus for salinity tolerance in rice

This study characterized Pokkali-derived quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for seedling stage salinity tolerance in preparation for use in marker-assisted breeding. An analysis of 100 SSR markers on 140 IR29/Pokkali recombinant inbred lines (RILs) confirmed the location of the Saltol QTL on chromosome 1 and identified additional QTLs associated with tolerance. Analysis of a series of backcross lines and near-isogenic lines (NILs) developed to better characterize the effect of the Saltol locus revealed that Saltol mainly acted to control shoot Na +/K + homeostasis. Multiple QTLs were required to acquire a high level of tolerance. Unexpectedly, multiple Pokkali alleles at Saltol were detected within the RIL population and between backcross lines, and representative lines were compared with seven Pokkali accessions to better characterize this allelic variation. Thus, while the Saltol locus presents a complex scenario, it provides an opportunity for markerassisted backcrossing to improve salt tolerance of popular varieties followed by targeting multiple loci through QTL pyramiding for areas with higher salt stress

Strolling along gauge theory vacua

We consider classical, pure Yang-Mills theory in a box. We show how a set of static electric fields that solve the theory in an adiabatic limit correspond to geodesic motion on the space of vacua, equipped with a particular Riemannian metric that we identify. The vacua are generated by spontaneously broken global gauge symmetries, leading to an infinite number of conserved momenta of the geodesic motion. We show that these correspond to the soft multipole charges of Yang-Mills theory.Comment: 46 pages, 1 figure, Published versio

Molecular biology of breast cancer metastasis: Genetic regulation of human breast carcinoma metastasis

The present is an overview of recent data that describes the genetic underpinnings of the suppression of cancer metastasis. Despite the explosion of new information about the genetics of cancer, only six human genes have thus far been shown to suppress metastasis functionally. Not all have been shown to be functional in breast carcinoma. Several additional genes inhibit various steps of the metastatic cascade, but do not necessarily block metastasis when tested using in vivo assays. The implications of this are discussed. Two recently discovered metastasis suppressor genes block proliferation of tumor cells at a secondary site, offering a new target for therapeutic intervention

Metastasis Suppressors and the Tumor Microenvironment

The most dangerous attribute of cancer cells is their ability to metastasize. Throughout the process of metastasis, tumor cells interact with other tumor cells, host cells and extracellular molecules. This brief review explores how a new class of molecules – metastasis suppressors – regulate tumor cell–microenvironmental interactions. Data are presented which demonstrate that metastasis suppressors act at multiple steps of the metastatic cascade. A brief discussion for how metastasis suppressor regulation of cellular interactions might be exploited is presented

Prognostic model to predict postoperative acute kidney injury in patients undergoing major gastrointestinal surgery based on a national prospective observational cohort study.

Background: Acute illness, existing co-morbidities and surgical stress response can all contribute to postoperative acute kidney injury (AKI) in patients undergoing major gastrointestinal surgery. The aim of this study was prospectively to develop a pragmatic prognostic model to stratify patients according to risk of developing AKI after major gastrointestinal surgery. Methods: This prospective multicentre cohort study included consecutive adults undergoing elective or emergency gastrointestinal resection, liver resection or stoma reversal in 2-week blocks over a continuous 3-month period. The primary outcome was the rate of AKI within 7 days of surgery. Bootstrap stability was used to select clinically plausible risk factors into the model. Internal model validation was carried out by bootstrap validation. Results: A total of 4544 patients were included across 173 centres in the UK and Ireland. The overall rate of AKI was 14·2 per cent (646 of 4544) and the 30-day mortality rate was 1·8 per cent (84 of 4544). Stage 1 AKI was significantly associated with 30-day mortality (unadjusted odds ratio 7·61, 95 per cent c.i. 4·49 to 12·90; P < 0·001), with increasing odds of death with each AKI stage. Six variables were selected for inclusion in the prognostic model: age, sex, ASA grade, preoperative estimated glomerular filtration rate, planned open surgery and preoperative use of either an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor or an angiotensin receptor blocker. Internal validation demonstrated good model discrimination (c-statistic 0·65). Discussion: Following major gastrointestinal surgery, AKI occurred in one in seven patients. This preoperative prognostic model identified patients at high risk of postoperative AKI. Validation in an independent data set is required to ensure generalizability