The effects of cigarette smoking on intraocular pressure and arterial blood pressure of normotensive young Nigerian male adults

This study was designed to determine the effects of cigarette Smoking on intra ocular pressure and arterial blood pressure of normotensive young male adults. Fifty male students (who met the screening conditions and devoid of obvious ocular pathology and systemic diseases and nonsmokers) had their intra ocular pressure (IOP) measured with a schiotz tonometer and blood pressure(BP) measured with standard syphgmomanometer respectively prior to smoking of two sticks of cigarette each day for one month and thereafter. The result showed a significant (P< 0.01] effect on the intra ocular pressure with a mean control of 37.760.98 for both eyes and test of 41.930.98.Cigarette smoking increased the blood pressure from mean control of 197.240.88 to 208.460.82. The increase of both intra ocular pressure and arterial blood pressure was due to nicotine, the principalconstituent of cigarette. It is recommended that health care workers should check regularly the IOP and BP of their cigarette smoking patients for early diagnoses of ocular hypertension (glaucoma) andhypertension

Prevalence of Ocular Trauma among Paediatrics and Geriatrics: A Hospital based Study in Abia State Nigeria

Ocular trauma, one of the leading causes of monocular loss of visions especially in children and the elderly, poses a significant public health challenge. This study found the epidemiological characteristics of patients hospitalized in a private eye clinic and a tertiary eye centre in Umuahia, Abia State through a hospital based survey. The study reviewed over 172 injured eyes from 172 patients over a period of 5 years from January 2010 to December 2015. Of the 172 cases of trauma reviewed, 77 (44.8%) closed globe, 39 (19.8%) open globe, 50 (29.1%) lacerations, 5 (2.9%) chemical injuries, 6 (3.5%) thermal injuries were seen. The mean ages of the paediatric and geriatric patients were 9±4.15 and 72±4.27 respectively. The most frequent types of injuries were school-related in paediatrics and domestic-related in geriatrics. The majority (55 cases) of injuries in males and females occurred in the age group of 6-12 in paediatrics and (23 cases) 71-75 in geriatrics respectively. The relationship between final visual acuity (VA) and initial VA was tested using Chi-square test at 5% level of significance (α = 0.05), and there was no significant difference in the initial VA and final visual outcome after trauma since (X2cal = 137.96) is greater than (X2 tab = 28.85). The study reveals the need for adopting proper prevention measures especially for the age group that is mostly affected by ocular trauma. Also more studies are needed to further investigate the effectiveness of the current ocular trauma prevenve or management strategies.Keywords : Paediatrics, Geriatrics, Trauma, injurie

Positive priming of terrestrially derived dissolved organic matter in a freshwater microcosm system

© 2015. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved. The role of priming processes in the remineralization of terrestrially derived dissolved organic carbon (TDOC) in aquatic systems has been overlooked. We provide evidence for TDOC priming using a lab-based microcosm experiment in which TDOC was primed by the addition of 13C-labeled algal dissolved organic carbon (ADOC) or a 13C-labeled disaccharide (trehalose). The rate of TDOC remineralization to carbon dioxide (CO2) occurred 4.1±0.9 and 1.5±0.3 times more rapidly with the addition of trehalose and ADOC, respectively, relative to experiments with TDOC as the sole carbon source over the course of a 301h incubation period. Results from these controlled experiments provide fundamental evidence for the occurrence of priming of TDOC by ADOC and a simple disaccharide. We suggest that priming effects on TDOC should be considered in carbon budgets for large-river deltas, estuaries, lakes, hydroelectric reservoirs, and continental shelves. Key Points Priming of organic matter exists in aquatic systems Ramifications of this work have major implications on greenhouse gas emissions First evidence for lab conditions of priming setting stage for more fieldwork

Simulating maize yield in sub-tropical conditions of southern Brazil using Glam model

The objective of this work was to evaluate the feasibility of simulating maize yield in a sub‑tropical region of southern Brazil using the general large area model (Glam). A 16‑year time series of daily weather data were used. The model was adjusted and tested as an alternative for simulating maize yield at small and large spatial scales. Simulated and observed grain yields were highly correlated (r above 0.8; p<0.01) at large scales (greater than 100,000 km2), with variable and mostly lower correlations (r from 0.65 to 0.87; p<0.1) at small spatial scales (lower than 10,000 km2). Large area models can contribute to monitoring or forecasting regional patterns of variability in maize production in the region, providing a basis for agricultural decision making, and Glam‑Maize is one of the alternatives

The Molecular Genetic Architecture of Self-Employment

Economic variables such as income, education, and occupation are known to affect mortality and morbidity, such as cardiovascular disease, and have also been shown to be partly heritable. However, very little is known about which genes influence economic variables, although these genes may have both a direct and an indirect effect on health. We report results from the first large-scale collaboration that studies the molecular genetic architecture of an economic variable-entrepreneurship-that was operationalized using self-employment, a widely-available proxy. Our results suggest that common SNPs when considered jointly explain about half of the narrow-sense heritability of self-employment estimated in twin data (σg2/σP2= 25%, h2= 55%). However, a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies across sixteen studies comprising 50,627 participants did not identify genome-wide significant SNPs. 58 SNPs with p<10-5were tested in a replication sample (n = 3,271), but none replicated. Furthermore, a gene-based test shows that none of the genes that were previously suggested in the literature to influence entrepreneurship reveal significant associations. Finally, SNP-based genetic scores that use results from the meta-analysis capture less than 0.2% of the variance in self-employment in an independent sample (p≥0.039). Our results are consistent with a highly polygenic molecular genetic architecture of self-employment, with many genetic variants of small effect. Although self-employment is a multi-faceted, heavily environmentally influenced, and biologically distal trait, our results are similar to those for other genetically complex and biologically more proximate outcomes, such as height, intelligence, personality, and several diseases

Long-term influence of season of grazing and rainfall on vegetation in the eastern Karoo, South Africa

In the Nama-Karoo, South Africa, rainfall and grazing by livestock are two important drivers of botanical composition. Summer rains are&nbsp; advantageous particularly to the grass layer, whereas the characteristic dwarf shrubs survive better than grasses during drought, and benefit from rainfall during cool months. Heavy grazing by livestock during summer reduces the abundance of grasses, whereas winter grazing increases it. This study examined the influences of season of grazing (summer vs winter) and rainfall on botanical composition at two long-term grazing trials at Grootfontein in the eastern Karoo from 1949 to 1967. Severe summer grazing strongly reduced grass abundance and slightly increased the abundance of both palatable and unpalatable dwarf shrubs. High previous-season rainfall strongly promoted short-lived grasses. Dwarf shrubs and grasses declined in response to a decline in annual rainfall over the study period, except for the creeping grass Tragus koelerioides that increased in abundance, possibly in response to decreased competition and an increase in available gaps in the vegetation layer. Results indicate that grazing systems that exclude repeated summer-only grazing maintain ecological health, and that rainfall is the main driver of composition unless extreme grazing systems are employed. Keywords: basal cover, drought, dwarf shrubs, grass, Nama Karo

Physicochemical changes in phosphorylase kinase associated with its activation

Phosphorylase kinase (PhK) regulates glycogenolysis through its Ca2+-dependent phosphorylation and activation of glycogen phosphorylase. The activity of PhK increases dramatically as the pH is raised from 6.8 to 8.2 (denoted as ↑pH), but Ca2+ dependence is retained. Little is known about the structural changes associated with PhK's activation by ↑pH and Ca2+, but activation by both mechanisms is mediated through regulatory subunits of the (αβγδ)4 PhK complex. In this study, changes in the structure of PhK induced by ↑pH and Ca2+ were investigated using second derivative UV absorption, synchronous fluorescence, circular dichroism spectroscopy, and zeta potential analyses. The joint effects of Ca2+ and ↑pH on the physicochemical properties of PhK were found to be interdependent, with their effects showing a strong inflection point at pH ∼7.6. Comparing the properties of the conformers of PhK present under the condition where it would be least active (pH 6.8 − Ca2+) versus that where it would be most active (pH 8.2 + Ca2+), the joint activation by ↑pH and Ca2+ is characterized by a relatively large increase in the content of sheet structure, a decrease in interactions between helix and sheet structures, and a dramatically less negative electrostatic surface charge. A model is presented that accounts for the interdependent activating effects of ↑pH and Ca2+ in terms of the overall physicochemical properties of the four PhK conformers described herein, and published data corroborating the transitions between these conformers are tabulated

Regulation of Androgen Receptor Activity by Tyrosine Phosphorylation

The androgen receptor (AR) is essential for the growth of prostate cancer cells. Here, we report that tyrosine phosphorylation of AR is induced by growth factors and elevated in hormone-refractory prostate tumors. Mutation of the major tyrosine phosphorylation site in AR significantly inhibits the growth of prostate cancer cells under androgen-depleted conditions. The Src tyrosine kinase appears to be responsible for phosphorylating AR, and there is a positive correlation of AR tyrosine phosphorylation with Src tyrosine kinase activity in human prostate tumors. Our data collectively suggest that growth factors and their downstream tyrosine kinases, which are elevated during hormone-ablation therapy, can induce tyrosine phosphorylation of AR and such modification may be important for prostate tumor growth under androgen-depleted conditions