Scraping social media photos posted in Kenya and elsewhere to detect and analyze food types

Monitoring population-level changes in diet could be useful for education and for implementing interventions to improve health. Research has shown that data from social media sources can be used for monitoring dietary behavior. We propose a scrape-by-location methodology to create food image datasets from Instagram posts. We used it to collect 3.56 million images over a period of 20 days in March 2019. We also propose a scrape-by-keywords methodology and used it to scrape ∼30,000 images and their captions of 38 Kenyan food types. We publish two datasets of 104,000 and 8,174 image/caption pairs, respectively. With the first dataset, Kenya104K, we train a Kenyan Food Classifier, called KenyanFC, to distinguish Kenyan food from non-food images posted in Kenya. We used the second dataset, KenyanFood13, to train a classifier KenyanFTR, short for Kenyan Food Type Recognizer, to recognize 13 popular food types in Kenya. The KenyanFTR is a multimodal deep neural network that can identify 13 types of Kenyan foods using both images and their corresponding captions. Experiments show that the average top-1 accuracy of KenyanFC is 99% over 10,400 tested Instagram images and of KenyanFTR is 81% over 8,174 tested data points. Ablation studies show that three of the 13 food types are particularly difficult to categorize based on image content only and that adding analysis of captions to the image analysis yields a classifier that is 9 percent points more accurate than a classifier that relies only on images. Our food trend analysis revealed that cakes and roasted meats were the most popular foods in photographs on Instagram in Kenya in March 2019.Accepted manuscrip

Cytosolic phosphoenolpyruate carboxykinase (PEPCKC) gene polymorphism in three chicken breeds

Phosphoenolpyruate carboxykinase (PEPCK) gene is an enzyme which has a key role in gluconeogenesis. In the chicken genome, there are two different types of PEPCK gene: mitochondrial PEPCK (PEPCK-M) and cytosolic PEPCK (PEPCK-C). In this study, 150 random samples from two native populations in Sistan and Baluchistan Province, namely, Khazak and Dashtiari, and Ross chicken were analyzed. DNA was extracted from feather pulps and PCR was carried out using appropriate primers (F2R2), which amplifies a 1000 bp fragment from the chicken PEPCK-C gene. The fragment covers from promoter to exon 2 of the gene. PCR products were then digested by restriction enzymes BstEII and ACil. Allelic as well as genotypic frequencies were determined and analyzed by Popgene software. The allelic frequencies BstEII for Khazak sample were A = 0.975 and B = 0.025; for Dashtiari sample; A = 0.95 and B = 0.05 and for Ross samples, A = 0.94 and B = 0.06. The allelic frequencies digestion by ACil for Khazak sample were A = 0.86 and B = 0.14; for Dashtiari sample, A = 0.98 and B = 0.02 and for Ross samples, A = 0.95 and B = 0.05. Haplotype analysis of two single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) showed that there were four alleles and genotypes. The present results indicated that little polymorphism exists in the samples for this locus.Key words: Polymorphism, PEPCK gene, Sistan and Baluchistan native chicken, Khazak, Dashtiari

Small-Molecule Binding Sites to Explore New Targets in the Cancer Proteome

The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) offers an unprecedented opportunity to identify small-molecule binding sites on proteins with overexpressed mRNA levels that correlate with poor survival. Here, we analyze RNA-seq and clinical data for 10 tumor types to identify genes that are both overexpressed and correlate with patient survival. Protein products of these genes were scanned for binding sites that possess shape and physicochemical properties that can accommodate small-molecule probes or therapeutic agents (druggable). These binding sites were classified as enzyme active sites (ENZ), protein-protein interaction sites (PPI), or other sites whose function is unknown (OTH). Interestingly, the overwhelming majority of binding sites were classified as OTH. We find that ENZ, PPI, and OTH binding sites often occurred on the same structure suggesting that many of these OTH cavities can be used for allosteric modulation of enzyme activity or protein-protein interactions with small molecules. We discovered several ENZ (PYCR1, QPRT, and HSPA6) and PPI (CASC5, ZBTB32, and CSAD) binding sites on proteins that have been seldom explored in cancer. We also found proteins that have been extensively studied in cancer that have not been previously explored with small molecules that harbor ENZ (PKMYT1, STEAP3, and NNMT) and PPI (HNF4A, MEF2B, and CBX2) binding sites. All binding sites were classified by the signaling pathways to which the protein that harbors them belongs using KEGG. In addition, binding sites were mapped onto structural protein-protein interaction networks to identify promising sites for drug discovery. Finally, we identify pockets that harbor missense mutations previously identified from analysis of the TCGA data. The occurrence of mutations in these binding sites provides new opportunities to develop small-molecule probes to explore their function in cancer.

Haemato-biochemical Response to Lignocaine alone or in Combination with Xylazine for Epidural Analgesia in Cow Calves

The present study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of local analgesic (lignocaine) alone or in combination withalpha-2 adrenergic agonist (xylazine) on haemato-biochemical parameters. The study was conducted on 12 healthy male cowcalves, which were divided into two equal groups (group A and group B), and induced into two equal quantity of lignocainealone (group A) or in combination with xylazine (group B). Haematological and biochemical parameters were measued beforeand at 15, 30, 60, 90, 120, 240 minutes and 24 hours intervals after administration of drugs. No significant changes were observedin animals of the group A, except the significant increase (P <0.01) in serum glucose concentration from 30 to 120minutes intervals. In group B, a significant decrease in haemoglobin concentration and packed cell volume was observed after 30 minutes, which persisted up to 120 minutes interval as compared to base value. There was a significant decrease in total leucocytes count at 60 minutes interval and a significant increase in neutrophils percent and simultaneous decrease in lymphocytes percent between 60 to 120 minutes intervals. In addition, a significant (P <0.01) increase in serum glucose concentration from 30 to 240 minutes intervals was observed. The decrease in serum total proteins (P <0.05), and the increase in blood urea nitrogen and creatinine (P <0.05) levels, and in ALT and AST (P <0.01) activities were significant between 60 to 120 minutes intervals. The values were returned to normalcy by 24 hours in both groups. Thus, epidural xylazine along with local anaesthetic can be safely used in cow calves as it caused transient haemato-biochemical alterations

Conivaptan and its role in the treatment of hyponatremia

Hyponatremia is the most common electrolyte abnormality in hospitalized patients and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. The recognition of the central role that arginin vasopressin plays in the pathogenesis of hyponatremia and the discovery that its actions are mediated by stimulation of V1A and V2 receptors have led to the development of a new class of drugs, the arginin vasopressin antagonists. Conivaptan is a nonselective V1A and V2 receptors antagonist that was the first of this class to be approved by the FDA for the management of euvolemic and hypervolemic hyponatremia. Its short-term safety and efficacy for the correction of hyponatremia have been established by multiple double-blind, randomized, controlled studies. Blocking the effects of arginin vasopressin on V2 receptors produces aquaresis – the electrolyte-sparing excretion of water – an ideal approach to correct hypervolemic hyponatremia. The nonselectivity of conivaptan offers a theoretical advantage for its use in heart failure that may merit further exploration

A Hydrodynamic model for a dynamical jammed-to-flowing transition in gravity driven granular media

Granular material on an inclined plane will flow like a fluid if the angle $\theta$ the plane makes with the horizontal is large enough. We employ a modification of a hydrodynamic model introduced previously to describe Couette flow experiments to describe chute flow down a plane. In this geometry, our model predicts a jammed-to-flowing transition as $\theta$ is increased even though it does not include solid friction, which might seem necessary to stabilize a state without flow. The transition is driven by coupling between mean and fluctuating velocity. In agreement with experiments and simulations, it predicts flow for layers with a thickness H larger than a critical value $H_{\rm stop}(\theta)$ and absence of flow for $H<H_{\rm stop}(\theta)$

Perceptions of Assistant Principals’ and Principals’ of Bahrain Government Schools about the Impact of the Bahrain Teachers College Educational Leadership Program on Their Performance

This article examines the perceptions of school assistant principals and principals who completed the Bahrain Teachers College higher diploma of education leadership program about its impact on their performance. The study sample consisted of 141 program graduates from 9- cohorts. A multilevel concept in measuring the impact of the educational leadership program on the graduates’ performance was employed. The framework consisted of 4 levels: self-learning, changing others, embedding changes in school practices and sustainability of change and scaling up the school performance. The study questionnaire was designed on the basis of this framework. Results show that the Educational Leadership program positively affected its graduates’ performance in the 4 levels. The majority of the program graduates agreed that the program positively affected their personal qualities, leadership styles and practices to support school development, school staff, students’ performance and school ranking. The majority of the program graduates also agreed that the program positively affected their skills in dealing with curriculum innovations, professional development, research, strategic planning, staff appraisal, communication with community, using ICT, improving students’ learning and applying educational ethics. &nbsp; &nbsp; Keywords: Education Leadership, School Principals’ Performance, Leadership Styles, School Practices, Leadership Skill