A review of diabetic patients’ knowledge in a high prevalent European country : Malta

Education is the first milestone in the care pathway of all diabetic patients. The aim of this study was to assess the educational knowledge and awareness among a diabetic patient cohort and compare this knowledge to a previously conducted study. Acquiring information on diabetes knowledge is essential for both clinicians and policy makers. Interviews using validated questionnaires covering various aspects of diabetes knowledge were conducted among a diabetic cohort between August and September of 2014 at the state hospital in Malta. The majority exhibited correct knowledge on diabetes and related complications. Knowledge levels appeared to have improved and were influenced by gender, type of diabetes and length of diabetes awareness. We conclude that educational approaches should be targeted towards every diabetic individual and should start immediately after diagnosis. This would lead to improved self-care, with a reduction in diabetic complications and a decrease in health-care expenditure.peer-reviewe

Under Pressure: Quenching Star Formation in Low-Mass Satellite Galaxies via Stripping

Recent studies of galaxies in the local Universe, including those in the Local Group, find that the efficiency of environmental (or satellite) quenching increases dramatically at satellite stellar masses below ~ $10^8\ {\rm M}_{\odot}$. This suggests a physical scale where quenching transitions from a slow "starvation" mode to a rapid "stripping" mode at low masses. We investigate the plausibility of this scenario using observed HI surface density profiles for a sample of 66 nearby galaxies as inputs to analytic calculations of ram-pressure and viscous stripping. Across a broad range of host properties, we find that stripping becomes increasingly effective at $M_{*} < 10^{8-9}\ {\rm M}_{\odot}$, reproducing the critical mass scale observed. However, for canonical values of the circumgalactic medium density ($n_{\rm halo} < 10^{-3.5}$${\rm cm}^{-3}$), we find that stripping is not fully effective; infalling satellites are, on average, stripped of < 40 - 70% of their cold gas reservoir, which is insufficient to match observations. By including a host halo gas distribution that is clumpy and therefore contains regions of higher density, we are able to reproduce the observed HI gas fractions (and thus the high quenched fraction and short quenching timescale) of Local Group satellites, suggesting that a host halo with clumpy gas may be crucial for quenching low-mass systems in Local Group-like (and more massive) host halos.Comment: updated version after review, now accepted to MNRAS; Accepted 2016 August 22. Received 2016 August 18; in original form 2016 June 2

Introduction to Human Development (GHC)

This Grants Collection for Introduction to Human Development was created under a Round Nine ALG Textbook Transformation Grant. Affordable Learning Georgia Grants Collections are intended to provide faculty with the frameworks to quickly implement or revise the same materials as a Textbook Transformation Grants team, along with the aims and lessons learned from project teams during the implementation process. Documents are in .pdf format, with a separate .docx (Word) version available for download. Each collection contains the following materials: Linked Syllabus Initial Proposal Final Reporthttps://oer.galileo.usg.edu/psychology-collections/1023/thumbnail.jp

International cooperation for Mars exploration and sample return

The National Research Council's Space Studies Board has previously recommended that the next major phase of Mars exploration for the United States involve detailed in situ investigations of the surface of Mars and the return to earth for laboratory analysis of selected Martian surface samples. More recently, the European space science community has expressed general interest in the concept of cooperative Mars exploration and sample return. The USSR has now announced plans for a program of Mars exploration incorporating international cooperation. If the opportunity becomes available to participate in Mars exploration, interest is likely to emerge on the part of a number of other countries, such as Japan and Canada. The Space Studies Board's Committee on Cooperative Mars Exploration and Sample Return was asked by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to examine and report on the question of how Mars sample return missions might best be structured for effective implementation by NASA along with international partners. The committee examined alternatives ranging from scientific missions in which the United States would take a substantial lead, with international participation playing only an ancillary role, to missions in which international cooperation would be a basic part of the approach, with the international partners taking on comparably large mission responsibilities. On the basis of scientific strategies developed earlier by the Space Studies Board, the committee considered the scientific and technical basis of such collaboration and the most mutually beneficial arrangements for constructing successful cooperative missions, particularly with the USSR

Conversion between Triplet Pair States Is Controlled by Molecular Coupling in Pentadithiophene Thin Films

In singlet fission (SF) the initially formed correlated triplet pair state, 1(TT), may evolve toward independent triplet excitons or higher spin states of the (TT) species. The latter result is often considered undesirable from a light harvesting perspective but may be attractive for quantum information sciences (QIS) applications, as the final exciton pair can be spin-entangled and magnetically active with relatively long room temperature decoherence times. In this study we use ultrafast transient absorption (TA) and time-resolved electron paramagnetic resonance (TR-EPR) spectroscopy to monitor SF and triplet pair evolution in a series of alkyl silyl-functionalized pentadithiophene (PDT) thin films designed with systematically varying pairwise and long-range molecular interactions between PDT chromophores. The lifetime of the (TT) species varies from 40 ns to 1.5 μs, the latter of which is associated with extremely weak intermolecular coupling, sharp optical spectroscopic features, and complex TR-EPR spectra that are composed of a mixture of triplet and quintet-like features. On the other hand, more tightly coupled films produce broader transient optical spectra but simpler TR-EPR spectra consistent with significant population in 5(TT)0. These distinctions are rationalized through the role of exciton diffusion and predictions of TT state mixing with low exchange coupling J versus pure spin substate population with larger J. The connection between population evolution using electronic and spin spectroscopies enables assignments that provide a more detailed picture of triplet pair evolution than previously presented and provides critical guidance for designing molecular QIS systems based on light-induced spin coherence

Electrochemical Characterization of Escherichia coli Adaptive Response Protein AidB

When exposed to known DNA-damaging alkylating agents, Escherichia coli cells increase production of four DNA repair enzymes: Ada, AlkA, AlkB, and AidB. The role of three enzymes (Ada, AlkA, and AlkB) in repairing DNA lesions has been well characterized, while the function of AidB is poorly understood. AidB has a distinct cofactor that is potentially related to the elusive role of AidB in adaptive response: a redox active flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD). In this study, we report the thermodynamic redox properties of the AidB flavin for the first time, both for free protein and in the presence of potential substrates. We find that the midpoint reduction potential of the AidB flavin is within a biologically relevant window for redox chemistry at −181 mV, that AidB significantly stabilizes the flavin semiquinone, and that small molecule binding perturbs the observed reduction potential. Our electrochemical results combined with structural analysis allow for fresh comparisons between AidB and the homologous acyl-coenzyme A dehydrogenase (ACAD) family of enzymes. AidB exhibits several discrepancies from ACADs that suggest a novel catalytic mechanism distinct from that of the ACAD family enzymes.National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant P30-ES002109)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant R01-GM69857)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant MCB-0543833

A National Strategy to Develop Pragmatic Clinical Trials Infrastructure

An important challenge in comparative effectiveness research is the lack of infrastructure to support pragmatic clinical trials, which compare interventions in usual practice settings and subjects. These trials present challenges that differ from those of classical efficacy trials, which are conducted under ideal circumstances, in patients selected for their suitability, and with highly controlled protocols

Global agricultural intensification during climate change: a role for genomics

Agriculture is now facing the ‘perfect storm’ of climate change, increasing costs of fertilizer and rising food demands from a larger and wealthier human population. These factors point to a global food deficit unless the efficiency and resilience of crop production is increased. The intensification of agriculture has focused on improving production under optimized conditions, with significant agronomic inputs. Furthermore, the intensive cultivation of a limited number of crops has drastically narrowed the number of plant species humans rely on. A new agricultural paradigm is required, reducing dependence on high inputs and increasing crop diversity, yield stability and environmental resilience. Genomics offers unprecedented opportunities to increase crop yield, quality and stability of production through advanced breeding strategies, enhancing the resilience of major crops to climate variability, and increasing the productivity and range of minor crops to diversify the food supply. Here we review the state of the art of genomic-assisted breeding for the most important staples that feed the world, and how to use and adapt such genomic tools to accelerate development of both major and minor crops with desired traits that enhance adaptation to, or mitigate the effects of climate change

Application of genomics-assisted breeding for generation of climate resilient crops: Progress and prospects

Climate change affects agricultural productivity worldwide. Increased prices of food commodities are the initial indication of drastic edible yield loss, which is expected to increase further due to global warming. This situation has compelled plant scientists to develop climate change-resilient crops, which can withstand broad-spectrum stresses such as drought, heat, cold, salinity, flood, submergence and pests, thus helping to deliver increased productivity. Genomics appears to be a promising tool for deciphering the stress responsiveness of crop species with adaptation traits or in wild relatives toward identifying underlying genes, alleles or quantitative trait loci. Molecular breeding approaches have proven helpful in enhancing the stress adaptation of crop plants, and recent advances in high-throughput sequencing and phenotyping platforms have transformed molecular breeding to genomics-assisted breeding (GAB). In view of this, the present review elaborates the progress and prospects of GAB for improving climate change resilience in crops, which is likely to play an ever increasing role in the effort to ensure global food security

Efficient pairwise RNA structure prediction and alignment using sequence alignment constraints

BACKGROUND: We are interested in the problem of predicting secondary structure for small sets of homologous RNAs, by incorporating limited comparative sequence information into an RNA folding model. The Sankoff algorithm for simultaneous RNA folding and alignment is a basis for approaches to this problem. There are two open problems in applying a Sankoff algorithm: development of a good unified scoring system for alignment and folding and development of practical heuristics for dealing with the computational complexity of the algorithm. RESULTS: We use probabilistic models (pair stochastic context-free grammars, pairSCFGs) as a unifying framework for scoring pairwise alignment and folding. A constrained version of the pairSCFG structural alignment algorithm was developed which assumes knowledge of a few confidently aligned positions (pins). These pins are selected based on the posterior probabilities of a probabilistic pairwise sequence alignment. CONCLUSION: Pairwise RNA structural alignment improves on structure prediction accuracy relative to single sequence folding. Constraining on alignment is a straightforward method of reducing the runtime and memory requirements of the algorithm. Five practical implementations of the pairwise Sankoff algorithm – this work (Consan), David Mathews' Dynalign, Ian Holmes' Stemloc, Ivo Hofacker's PMcomp, and Jan Gorodkin's FOLDALIGN – have comparable overall performance with different strengths and weaknesses