A STUDY OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TEACHERS' PERCEPTIONS TOWARDS ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT AND THEIR COMPETENCE AT NO.1 BASIC EDUCATION HIGH SCHOOL IN HPA-AN TOWNSHIP, KAREN STATE, MYANMAR

This study aimed to explore teachers’ administrative support perspectives and competence at No. (1) Basic Education High School in Hpa-an, Karen State, Myanmar. The study objectives were (1) To identify teachers’ perceptions towards administrative support, (2) To identify teachers’ perceptions towards their competence (3) To determine the significant relationship between teachers’ perceptions towards administrative support and their competence at the selected school. Two parts of the questionnaire were administrative support, adopted from Methers’ Administrative Support Survey (MASS), 2013, and teacher competence, adopted from Medley’s (1977). Seventy-five full-time teachers were surveyed in this study. The study data were analyzed by frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, and Pearson product-moment coefficient. The study findings showed that teachers’ perceptions of administrative support and competence were high. Moreover, the relationship between teachers’ perceptions of administrative support and competence was significant

An Analysis of Two Aged Patients with Pulmonary Tuberculosis

What methods would you choose apart from purified protein derivative (PPD) skin test and culture for acid-fasting bacilli (AFB) to make a clinical diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) in an aged patient with possible TB? These are two cases of pulmonary TB, that occurred with persistent low-grade fever, fatigue and anorexia due to a mild toxemia of tuberculosis. A final diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis was established on the basis of mild toxemia(low-grade fever), debilitation and characteristic pulmonary CT imaging, free of PPD and interferon-gamma release assay (T-spot). The authors realized that the dosage of anti-tuberculosis drugs should be carefully controlled and the improvement of their overall nutritional status to gain better efficacy is much more needed

Negligible effect of vitamin D supplementation on exacerbation in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: meta-analysis

IntroductionThe focus of this meta-analysis was how vitamin D supplementation influences exacerbations in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and vitamin D deficiency (VDD). Materials and methodsCochrane Library, Web of Science, Embase, and PubMed databases have been systematically searched in an attempt to collect randomized controlled trials related to vitamin D supplementation in COPD patients with VDD published in English available by July 2022. Primary outcome indicators included the mean number of exacerbation and rate of exacerbation. Secondary outcome indicators included forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1), FEV1/forced vital capacity (FVC) ratio, and serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentration. ResultsFive studies involving 522 COPD patients with VDD (defined as 25(OH)D < 50 nmol/L) were included, among them 61 were severely deficient in vitamin D (25(OH)D < 25 nmol/L). The results showed that vitamin D supplementation did not decrease the mean number of exacerbation (standardized mean difference (SMD): - 0.10, 95% CI: - 0.29 to 0.09) and the rate of exacerbation (relative risk (RR): 0.89, 95% CI: 0.76 to 1.04, P = 0.179). Also, its effect on FEV1 (SMD: - 0.06, 95% CI: - 0.30 to 0.17) and FEV1/FVC (SMD: -0.10, 95% CI: - 0.48 to 0.27) remained negligible. However, it could increase the serum 25(OH)D concentration (SMD: 2.44, 95 CI%: 2.20 to 2.68, P < 0.001). ConclusionsThe effects of vitamin D supplementation on decreasing exacerbation and improving pulmonary function were not significant

AKT Inhibition Overcomes Rapamycin Resistance by Enhancing the Repressive Function of PRAS40 on mTORC1/4E-BP1 Axis

The mTORC1 inhibitors, rapamycin and its analogs, are known to show only modest antitumor activity in clinic, but the underlying mechanisms remain largely elusive. Here, we found that activated AKT signaling is associated with rapamycin resistance in breast and colon cancers by sustained phosphorylation of the translational repressor 4E-BP1. Treatment of tumor cells with rapamycin or the AKT inhibitor MK2206 showed a limited activity in inhibiting 4E-BP1 phosphorylation, cap-dependent translation, cell growth and motility. However, treatment with both drugs resulted in profound effects in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistic investigation demonstrated that the combination treatment was required to effectively inhibit PRAS40 phosphorylation on both Ser183 and Thr246 mediated by mTORC1 and AKT respectively, and with the combined treatment, dephosphorylated PRAS40 binding to the raptor/mTOR complex was enhanced, leading to dramatic repression of mTORC1-regulated 4E-BP1 phosphorylation and translation. Knockdown of PRAS40 or 4E-BP1 expression markedly reduced the dependence of tumor cells on AKT/mTORC1 signaling for translation and survival. Together, these findings reveal a critical role of PRAS40 as an integrator of mTORC1 and AKT signaling for 4E-BP1-mediated translational regulation of tumor cell growth and motility, and highlight PRAS40 phosphorylation as a potential biomarker to evaluate the therapeutic response to mTOR/AKT inhibitors

The Effects of Urban Polycentricity on Particulate Matter Emissions From Vehicles: Evidence From 102 Chinese Cities

This article analyzes the impact of the level of urban polycentricity (UP) on particulate matter emissions from vehicles (PMV) across 102 prefecture-level cities in China between 2011 and 2015. We adopt a spatial panel modeling approach to our measures of UP and PMV, controlling for (possible) intervening effects such as population density and economic output. We observe an inverted U-shaped relationship between both measures: When UP is low, an increase in polycentricity is associated with higher levels of PMV; however, when UP reaches a certain threshold, the increase in polycentricity is associated with a reduction in PMV. We find a similar relationship between economic output and PMV and demonstrate how the effects of population density on PMV consist of two opposite processes that likely offset each other. Nonetheless, jointly, population density and UP have a significant effect on PMV. We use our results to discuss policy implications and identify avenues for further research

The Impacts of Swimming Exercise on Hippocampal Expression of Neurotrophic Factors in Rats Exposed to Chronic Unpredictable Mild Stress

Depression is associated with stress-induced neural atrophy in limbic brain regions, whereas exercise has antidepressant effects as well as increasing hippocampal synaptic plasticity by strengthening neurogenesis, metabolism, and vascular function. A key mechanism mediating these broad benefits of exercise on the brain is induction of neurotrophic factors, which instruct downstream structural and functional changes. To systematically evaluate the potential neurotrophic factors that were involved in the antidepressive effects of exercise, in this study, we assessed the effects of swimming exercise on hippocampal mRNA expression of several classes of the growth factors (BDNF, GDNF, NGF, NT-3, FGF2, VEGF, and IGF-1) and peptides (VGF and NPY) in rats exposed to chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS). Our study demonstrated that the swimming training paradigm significantly induced the expression of BDNF and BDNF-regulated peptides (VGF and NPY) and restored their stress-induced downregulation. Additionally, the exercise protocol also increased the antiapoptotic Bcl-xl expression and normalized the CUMS mediated induction of proapoptotic Bax mRNA level. Overall, our data suggest that swimming exercise has antidepressant effects, increasing the resistance to the neural damage caused by CUMS, and both BDNF and its downstream neurotrophic peptides may exert a major function in the exercise related adaptive processes to CUMS