Nesting behaviour influences species-specific gas exchange across avian eggshells

Carefully controlled gas exchange across the eggshell is essential for the development of the avian embryo. Water vapour conductance (GH2O) across the shell, typically measured as mass loss during incubation, has been demonstrated to optimally ensure the healthy development of the embryo while avoiding desiccation. Accordingly, eggs exposed to sub-optimal gas exchange have reduced hatching success. We tested the association between eggshell GH2O and putative life-history correlates of adult birds, ecological nest parameters and physical characteristics of the egg itself to investigate how variation in GH2O has evolved to maintain optimal water loss across a diverse set of nest environments. We measured gas exchange through eggshell fragments in 151 British breeding bird species and fitted phylogenetically controlled, general linear models to test the relationship between GH2O and potential predictor parameters of each species. Of our 17 life-history traits, only two were retained in the final model: wet-incubating parent and nest type. Eggs of species where the parent habitually returned to the nest with wet plumage had significantly higher GH2O than those of parents that returned to the nest with dry plumage. Eggs of species nesting in ground burrows, cliffs and arboreal cups had significantly higher GH2O than those of species nesting on the ground in open nests or cups, in tree cavities and in shallow arboreal nests. Phylogenetic signal (measured as Pagel's λ) was intermediate in magnitude, suggesting that differences observed in the GH2O are dependent upon a combination of shared ancestry and species-specific life history and ecological traits. Although these data are correlational by nature, they are consistent with the hypothesis that parents constrained to return to the nest with wet plumage will increase the humidity of the nest environment, and the eggs of these species have evolved a higher GH2O to overcome this constraint and still achieve optimal water loss during incubation. We also suggest that eggs laid in cup nests and burrows may require a higher GH2O to overcome the increased humidity as a result from the confined nest microclimate lacking air movements through the nest. Taken together, these comparative data imply that species-specific levels of gas exchange across avian eggshells are variable and evolve in response to ecological and physical variation resulting from parental and nesting behaviours

Relationship between C677T Methylenetetrahydrofolate Reductase Gene Polymorphism and Homocysteine in Cerebral Palsy

Objective: To observe the relationship between methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) C677T gene polymorphism and homocysteine levels in cerebral palsy (CP) children. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in several hospitals, school for children with special needs, and rehabilitation centers in Bandung from March to November 2014, on children with CP aged 4–14 years who met the inclusion criteria. Genotyping was performed using polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and direct sequencing. Homocysteine serum level was measured using chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay (CMIA) method. Statistical analysis was conducted using t test. Results: In this study, 150 CP children had MTHFR C677T gene polymorphism with a frequency of 18%, consisting of TT homozygotes (4%), CT heterozygotes (14%), and T allele (11%. The mean serum level of homocysteine in CP with C677T MTHFR gene polymorphism was 8.22 (±1.89) µmol/L, higher than those without polymorphism (p=0.046). Conclusions: A relationship between MTHFR C677T gene polymorphism and homocysteine level in children with cerebral palsy is found in this study. Keywords: Cerebral palsy, homocysteine, methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase polymorphism DOI: 10.15850/ijihs.v4n1.68

DEMONSTRASI KESADARAN LINGKUNGAN BAGI PELAJAR MELALUI PROGRAM PWP (PURE WATER FOR PEMALUAN) DI KAWASAN IKN NUSANTARA

Abstrak: Perpindahan Ibukota Nusantara (IKN) di Kecamatan Sepaku, Penajam Paser Utara, Kalimantan Timur terkhususnya di Kelurahan Pemaluan menghadapi masalah lingkungan hidup berupa water insecurity. Ketidakamanan air merupakan salah satu dimensi dari krisis lingkungan hidup yang cukup serius. Masyarakat sangat bergantung pada air sumur dan air hujan yang tidak menentu, kurang sehat dan tidak bersih untuk kebutuhan sehari-hari. Masyarakat menghadapi krisis lingkungan terhadap keterbatasaan mengakses air bersih karena sanitasi yang kurang. Dengan kondisi tersebut dibutuhkan solusi alternatif agar masyarakat mendapatkan edukasi soal menjaga kebersihan air untuk kebutuhannnya. Tim pengabdi melakukan edukasi menghindari krisis lingkungan khususnya minimnya air bersih, melalui program PWP (Pure Water for Pemaluan). Tujuan kegiatan ini untuk mengurangi dampak buruk dari penggunaan air tadah hujan dengan menanamkan kesadaran sejak dini terkait air bersih. Kegiatan ini menggunakan beberapa metode: (1) ceramah sebagai edukasi mengenai air bersih kepada siswa-siswi; dan (2) melakukan demonstrasi pengelolaan air bersih dengan pemberian bubuk abate sebagai upaya memberantas jentik nyamuk. Target kegiatan ini fokus pada 33 siswa SDN 014 Sepaku karena mereka kelompok rawan terjangkit masalah kesehatan air. Evaluasi dilakukan dengan cara tes tertulis dengan hasil 80% mengindikasikan tingginya pemahaman siswa-siswi untuk mengetahui materi edukasi dan meningkatkan pemahaman mereka mengenai cara mengelola dan menggunakan air bersih.Abstract: The transfer of the capital of Nusantara (IKN) in Sepaku District, North Penajam Paser, East Kalimantan, especially in Pemaluan village, faces environmental problems in the form of water insecurity. Water insecurity is one dimension of a serious environmental crisis. The communities depend heavily on well water but unsanitary well also use rainwater for their daily. Communities are facing an environmental crisis of limited access to clean water due to lack of sanitation. With these conditions, alternative solutions are needed so that people get education about maintaining clean water for their needs. The service team conducts education to avoid environmental crises, especially the lack of clean water, through the PWP (Pure Water for Pemaluan) program. The purpose of this activity is to reduce the adverse effects of rainwater use by instilling awareness early on related to clean water. This activity uses several methods: (1) tell a story as education about clean water to students; and (2) conduct a demonstration of clean water management by administering abate powder as an effort to eradicate mosquito larvae. The Target of this activity is to focus on the 33 students of SDN 014 Sepaku because they are prone to water health problems. The evaluation was conducted by means of a written test with 80% results indicating a high understanding of students to find out educational materials and improve their understanding of how to manage and use clean water.

PROGRAM TRIPLE C (CLIMATE CHANGE CLASS) UNTUK PENINGKATAN KESADARAN LINGKUNGAN BAGI ANAK

Abstrak: Perubahan iklim masih menjadi pembicaraan secara global. Perpindahan Ibu Kota Nusantara (IKN) Indonesia membawa perubahan bagi berbagai sektor terutama Perubahan iklim di Kelurahan Pemaluan, Kecamatan Sepaku, PPU, Kalimantan Timur. Sebagai generasi yang paling rentan terhadap dampak perubahan iklim, sekaligus penerus pembangunan bangsa ini, sudah seharusnya anak-anak memiliki kesadaran lingkungan untuk mengantisipasi perubahan iklim yang dapat berdampak kepada masyarakat dan lingkungan mereka berada. Disitulah dibutuhkan peran edukasi dan literasi lingkungan mempersiapkan masa depan anak-anak untuk menghadapi perubahan iklim. Program kerja Triple C (Climate Change Class) bertujuan untuk menanamkan kesadaran dan pengetahuan melalui kelas peduli perubahan iklim untuk memberikan pendidikan sejak dini mengenai dampak-dampak perubahan iklim. Metode pembelajaran yang dilakukan ialah ceramah, penampilan vidio, dan diskusi bebas dengan sasaran pelajar kelas VI di SDN 014 Sepaku yang berada di ring 1 kawasan Nol Kilometer IKN Nusantara, selain itu, dilakukan juga review time sebagai metode evaluasi. Dalam kegiatan pengabdian ini, program Triple C berjalan dengan sukses dan berhasil dalam meningkatkan pengetahuan anak-anak mengenai perubahan iklim sebesar 78.5% yang dilihat melalui hasil review time yang dilakukan pada agenda akhir.Abstract: Climate change is still a global conversation. The transfer of the capital city to Ibu Kota Nusantara (IKN) brings changes to various sectors, especially climate change in Pemaluan village, Sepaku district, PPU, East Kalimantan. As the generation that is most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, as well as the successor of this nation's Development, children should have environmental awareness to anticipate climate change that can have an impact on society and the environment they are in. That's where the role of environmental education and literacy is needed to prepare children's future to face climate change. The Triple C (Climate Change Class) work program aims to instill awareness and knowledge through climate change care classes to provide early education about the impacts of climate change. The learning methods used are lectures, video performances, and free discussion with the target of class VI students at SDN 014 Sepaku which is in ring 1 of the Zero Kilometer IKN Nusantara area, besides that, review time is also carried out as an evaluation method. In this community service activity, the Triple C program ran successfully and was successful in increasing children's knowledge about climate change by 78.5% as seen through the results of the review time conducted at the final agenda

Inovasi Digitalisasi UMKM Perempuan untuk Pengurangan Dampak Lingkungan di Balikpapan sebagai Wilayah Penyangga IKN Nusantara

Financial bookkeeping is one of the most important things in business and personal activities. However, in practice there are still many parties who have not done financial bookkeeping or are still doing the bookkeeping manually. Therefore, the DIGIKAS & IBUK Dual Program was carried out so that the target financial accounting process could run more easily, be more environmentally friendly (Paperless), and reduce the impact on the environment. The dual program was aimed to 60 UMKM in the Water Settlement Area, 70 participants consisting of Ibu PKK and RT Cadre in Kelurahan Marga Sari. The method used in the IBUK & DIGIKAS dual program are interview, socialization and practice (real action). The results of the activity are that UMKM in Marga Sari Village receive additional information and knowledge about the importance of financial bookkeeping, know the digital financial bookkeeping application, "BukuKas" and know how to use the application that can facilitate financial bookkeeping activities and environmentally friendly (Paperless

Translational and Regulatory Challenges for Exon Skipping Therapies

Several translational challenges are currently impeding the therapeutic development of antisense-mediated exon skipping approaches for rare diseases. Some of these are inherent to developing therapies for rare diseases, such as small patient numbers and limited information on natural history and interpretation of appropriate clinical outcome measures. Others are inherent to the antisense oligonucleotide (AON)-mediated exon skipping approach, which employs small modified DNA or RNA molecules to manipulate the splicing process. This is a new approach and only limited information is available on long-term safety and toxicity for most AON chemistries. Furthermore, AONs often act in a mutation-specific manner, in which case multiple AONs have to be developed for a single disease. A workshop focusing on preclinical development, trial design, outcome measures, and different forms of marketing authorization was organized by the regulatory models and biochemical outcome measures working groups of Cooperation of Science and Technology Action: "Networking towards clinical application of antisense-mediated exon skipping for rare diseases." The workshop included participants from patient organizations, academia, and members of staff from the European Medicine Agency and Medicine Evaluation Board (the Netherlands). This statement article contains the key outcomes of this meeting.status: publishe

In-ovo feeding with creatine monohydrate: implications for chicken energy reserves and breast muscle development during the pre-post hatching period

The most dynamic period throughout the lifespan of broiler chickens is the pre-post-hatching period, entailing profound effects on their energy status, survival rate, body weight, and muscle growth. Given the significance of this pivotal period, we evaluated the effect of in-ovo feeding (IOF) with creatine monohydrate on late-term embryos’ and hatchlings’ energy reserves and post-hatch breast muscle development. The results demonstrate that IOF with creatine elevates the levels of high-energy-value molecules (creatine and glycogen) in the liver, breast muscle and yolk sac tissues 48 h post IOF, on embryonic day 19 (p < 0.03). Despite this evidence, using a novel automated image analysis tool on day 14 post-hatch, we found a significantly higher number of myofibers with lower diameter and area in the IOF creatine group compared to the control and IOF NaCl groups (p < 0.004). Gene expression analysis, at hatch, revealed that IOF creatine group had significantly higher expression levels of myogenin (MYOG) and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1), related to differentiation of myogenic cells (p < 0.01), and lower expression of myogenic differentiation protein 1 (MyoD), related to their proliferation (p < 0.04). These results imply a possible effect of IOF with creatine on breast muscle development through differential expression of genes involved in myogenic proliferation and differentiation. The findings provide valuable insights into the potential of pre-hatch enrichment with creatine in modulating post-hatch muscle growth and development