Peertechz
Not a member yet
4919 research outputs found
Sort by
Oral and physiological benefits of cranberries
No full textCranberries are known to prevent urinary tract infection and it is also helpful in maintaining oral health. Cranberry juice is a widely consumed and recommended beverage for preventing urinary tract infections. Clinical studies in women have shown that cranberries help to stop the recurrence of infection, as the evidence showed the presence of various extracts of cranberries in the patients’ urinary tracts, proving the effectiveness and the mechanism. The primary compound involved in the fight against the infection is Proanthocyanidin A which is now the focus of studies to treat common diseases such as Helicobacter pylori-associated gastritis, as well as dental caries and periodontal disease, from which it is speculated the mechanism involves disrupting the bacterial adhesion. </p
Effects of early mobilization on patients in the intensive care unit: An integrative review
No full textIntroduction: The deleterious effects of immobility in the ICU can be minimized by having early mobilization within their strategies, which consists of an interprofessional plan that proposes the improvement of inactivity and which aims to reduce the problems caused by hospitalization with appropriate exercises for high-age individuals. Risk and its bed. Objective: To identify the effects of this physical therapy technique on patients hospitalized in this hospital sector. Methodology: This is an integrative review, with a survey in March 2020, in the Scientific Electronic Library Online (SCIELO), PubMed and Virtual Health Library (VHL) databases, with the inclusion criteria: experimental articles and clinical cases with purposes included in the study strategy, written in Portuguese and English, published between 2015 and 2020, available in full in the online collection and exclusion: articles referring to another area of health, incomplete and integrative, systematic reviews, bibliographic or meta-analysis, using the descriptors: “Efficacy”, “Early Mobilization” and “UCI”. Results: The findings from this research made it possible to identify that physiotherapy is effective in carrying out early mobilization protocols, providing important results, such as: length of stay, important gains in functionality, pain reduction, improvement in respiratory muscles and time reduction of mechanical ventilation. Conclusion: Physiotherapy is important in the process of hospitalization of ICU patients, especially in the use of early mobilization protocols, and these were effective in the studies selected for this research.</p
Porous carbon derived from <em>Zea mays</em> cobs as excellent electrodes for supercapacitor applications
No full textImproving the efficiency of the electrode materials is critical for achieving high performance in supercapacitors. Porous carbon with appropriate designs is dependable for better electrochemical capacitors. In this work, we improved Zea mays (maize) cobs as a potentially plentiful precursor for generating porous carbon supercapacitor applications. The physical and chemical properties of the synthesized materials were determined using several approaches, including structure, morphology, chemical composition, and electrochemical performance. The chemical analyses revealed an oxygen-based surface structure, while structural analysis revealed a BET-specific surface area of 1443.94 m3/g and a pore volume of 0.7915 cm3/g. Symmetric devices based on the materials generated had a specific capacitance of 358.7F/g, an energy density of 12.45 Wh/kg and a power density of 250 W/kg at 0.5A/g. The as-prepared electrodes demonstrated exceptional stability, with a capacitance retention of 99% at the maximum potential for a total of 130 hours of testing.</p
Sailing mega-solar rafts for huge renewable energy in the low-latitude Pacific Ocean
No full textAn innovative idea of exploiting huge solar energy in the low-latitude Pacific Ocean using wind-sailing mega-solar rafts is reviewed to emphasize its great potential for human renewable energy resources besides currently promoted offshore wind energy. The basic technologies including energy-transportation are already available but necessary to be developed commercially viable. It will also promote the peaceful use of open seas in the Pacific Ocean for a truly sustainable world instead of military confrontations. </p
Antimicrobial activities of untreated and grape vinegar treated selected vegetables against common food borne pathogens
No full textIn the post-Covid-19 era, plant-based diets and products have become more popular. Fruit vinegar is considered a healthy drink, rich in bioactive compounds like organic acids, polyphenols, flavonoids and alkaloids that provide several beneficial properties. Fruit vinegar also contains several beneficial nutrients like amino acids, sugars, vitamins and minerals. They provide energy, regulate cell metabolism, immunity, antioxidation, anticoagulation and help in the improvement of brain development. Vinegar is also known for its strong antimicrobial properties against foodborne pathogens. The aim of the present investigation was to find out the antimicrobial activities of grape vinegar against common food-borne pathogens and to see whether common vegetable lose their antimicrobial activities when soaked with grape vinegar or gain. The vegetables used in the present investigation were randomly collected from the local market. We have evaluated the antimicrobial properties of untreated and grape vinegar (GV) treated selected vegetables against Escherichia coli (ATCC8739), Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 6539), Shigella flexneri (ATCC 12022), Salmonella typhi (ATCC 14028), Cronobacter sakazakii (ATCC 29544), Vibrio parahaemolyticus (ATCC 17802), Vibrio cholera (ATCC 3906) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Based on the randomized survey, commonly used vegetable ginger (Zingiber officinale), garlic (Allium sativum), onion (Allium cepa), raw papaya (Carica papaya), white radish (Raphanus sativus) and green chilli (Capsicum annuum) were selected for the assessment of their antimicrobial activities. Different phytochemicals were found in water extract and grape vinegar-treated vegetables. Our results suggested that in general, grape vinegar-treated vegetables showed higher antimicrobial activities against all tested food-borne pathogens, but onion, garlic, green chillies and white radish revealed drastically higher activities. Hence, it is suggested that onion, garlic, green chillies and white radish should preferably be used after soaking with grape vinegar. All vegetables except garlic and white radish showed very little antimicrobial activity against B. subtilis. V. cholera was highly sensitive to grape vinegar-treated vegetables except for garlic. Similarly, V. parahaemolyticus was highly sensitive to grape vinegar-treated green chillies, white radish, raw papaya, and onion. Shigella flexneri also showed greater sensitivity to GV-treated green chillies and white radishes. Pseudomonas aeruginosa was sensitive to ginger and green chillies only. It may safely be concluded that grape vinegar-treated vegetables are beneficial to fight against food-borne infections. The vegetable when soaked with grape vinegar did not lose their antimicrobial activities rather they gained the antimicrobial components from grape vinegar. Our studies revealed that white radish, ginger, green chilies, and onion should be used after soaking in grape vinegar while garlic and raw papaya should be eaten without treatment with grape vinegar. </p
Abundance and diversity of waterbirds around the Begnas Lake of Pokhara Valley, Nepal
No full textWe studied the seasonal abundance and diversity of waterbirds around the Begnas lake of Pokhara Valley. The status of waterbirds in Begnas wetland is not documented so; we monitored the waterbirds using the point count method in 12 different plots around the lake and compared the seasonal abundance and diversity during the 2019 Summer and 2020 winter with 24 hours of observation in each plot. A total of 585 individuals of 25 waterbird species from 10 families were recorded during the study period. Among the recorded species two species were globally threatened and the remaining were the least concerned categories. The greater abundance of waterbirds was recorded during winter (t = -5.98, p < 0.001). The abundance of all feeding guilds was found higher during winter. Cattle egret was recorded with the greatest abundance (N = 85) and Relative abundance (RA = 14.52), it was followed by great cormorant (N = 57, RA = 9.74) and common pochard was the least abundant (N = 2, RA = 0.34). There was no seasonal variation in the Shannon Wiener index (H’) and species evenness however, the species richness was higher during winter (W = 16.5, p < 0.01). Distance to the forest, road, and settlement did not affect the abundance and diversity of waterbirds however, the abundance of insectivore birds was increased with the decrease of distance to croplands (t = -3.13, p < 0.05). The Begnas wetland was found with a lower abundance and diversity of waterbirds in comparison to the Phewa and other wetlands of the Terai region of Nepal. The lake water pollution, infrastructural development, anthropogenic activities, recreational activities, and infestation of invasive plants like water hyacinth were the main threats to the waterbirds around Begnas lake. An awareness program about the conservation of waterbirds and regular monitoring of waterbirds in Begnas was recommended.</p
The link between <em>s</em> and <em>d</em> components of electron boson coupling constants in one band d wave Eliashberg theory for high <em>T<sub>c</sub></em> superconductors
Get PDFThe phenomenology of overdoped high Tc uperconductors can be described by a one band d wave Eliashberg theory where the mechanism of superconducting coupling is mediated by antiferromagnetic spin fluctuations and whose characteristic energy Ω0 scales with Tc according to the empirical law Ω0 = 5.8 kBTc. This model presents universal characteristics that are independent of the critical temperature such as the link between the s and d components of electron boson coupling constants and the invariance of the ratio 2∆/kBTc. This situation arises from the particular structure of Eliashberg's equations which, despite being non-linear equations, present solutions with these simple properties. </p
Children explore to understand the physical world Research and practice in Early Childhood Education
Get PDFAll children are inquisitive and begin to make sense of the physical and natural world around them from the time they are born. Children use their senses to explore the surrounding environment. Early Childhood Centres (ECE) in New Zealand provide care and learning opportunities for children under the age of 5-years. Te Whāriki, our mandated curriculum guides teachers. In an exploratory case study, we investigated the science learning experiences provided by an ECE teacher and the children’s learning that ensued. The data were collected through case study teacher interviews, mentor notes, and 160 learning stories written by the teacher during the research over two years. We found that a teacher with little background in science was able to provide rich science learning experiences for the children. The teacher’s willingness to provide everyday science exploration opportunities and ask questions helped children to develop basic physics concepts. Current research suggests that science is often not taught due to the lack of teacher confidence to teach science because they are generalists and believe they do not have the requisite knowledge or training. Our findings have implications for science teaching and learning in early childhood and primary schools.</p
Modeling and analysis of the Haldane genetic model under Brownian motion using stochastic differential equation
Get PDFHeterozygote advantage as a natural consequence of adaptation in diploid organisms is an attractive mechanism by which two alleles are maintained in natural populations. It has significant effects on biodiversity conservation and plant and animal breeding programs. The mathematical modeling of this biological mechanism is important for eco-evolutionary dynamics studies and genetics investigations. In this paper, I aimed to formalize the changes of gene frequency in time v(t), and in time and space v(t,x) with additive effects in a birth and death process of the Haldane genetic model using Brownian motion under fluctuations of habitat. In addition, the gene-environment interactions were evaluated under the mechanism. The mathematical model was investigated in both deterministic and white noise forms. It was shown that if the environmental random processes in the Haldane genetic model changed quickly and smoothly, then the diffusion approximation of the allele frequencies could be modeled and analyzed by a stochastic partial differential equation. It was revealed that the mathematical model used in this paper belonged to a more general model. The mathematical model was analyzed and since the modeling by the Cauchy problem had not had a usual global solution, the qualitative behavior of the solutions was considered. Besides, the generalizations of ItÔ integral were defined as the integrals of Wick products of random parameters and noise components. It was found that if v(t,x) behaved like a super-Brownian motion and the fatal mutations took place, as a consequence a tiny group of alleles was quickly disappeared. The v(t,x) was unstable when it was close to one. The stationary phase appeared and v(t,x) tended to the stationary situation in the intermediate region under the stabilizing selection. This was a condition under additive gene effect, but with the presence of dominance gene effect, it might be ambidirectional without considering the epistatic effects. The emergence of the dominance and epistatic effects was due to the directional selection. Since Falconer and MacKay had already introduced a deterministic model to study the frequency of genes with no spatial spreading of the population and no stochastic processes, another model was explained to study their equation in the case of heterozygote intermediate for diffusion approximation of frequency of genes, including white noise. It was shown that if the rates of mutation and selection became very small, then the model would be more deterministic and predictable. On the other hand, if the rates of mutation and selection became large, then the model would be more stochastic, and more fluctuations occurred because of the strong effective noise strength. In this case, the stationary situation did not take place. The outlook can help to model the similar biological mechanisms in eco-evolutionary community genetics for studying the indirect genetic effects via the systems of stochastic partial differential equations, and white noise calculus. 2020 mathematics subject classification: Primary 92-XX; Secondary 92Dxx, 92D25.</p
The counterphobic matrix of cuckolding and troilism: The psychopathological origin of sexual sharing paraphilias
Get PDFBackground and aims: Based on the concept of “cuckolding” and “troilism”, it was hypothesized that underlying this paraphilia is a counterphobic attitude that positively reinforced produces the establishment of behavioural addiction. The purpose of this study is to confirm this hypothesis.Materials and methods: Clinical interview, based on narrative-anamnestic and documentary evidence and the basis of the Perrotta Human Emotions Model (PHEM) concerning their emotional and perceptual-reactive experience, and administration of the battery of psychometric tests published in international scientific journals by the author of this work: 1) Perrotta Integrative Clinical Interviews (PICI-2), to investigate functional and dysfunctional personality traits; 2) Perrotta Individual Sexual Matrix Questionnaire (PSM-Q), to investigate the individual sexual matrix; 3) Perrotta Affective Dependence Questionnaire (PAD-Q), to investigate the profiles of affective and relational dependence; 4) Perrotta Human Defense Mechanisms Questionnaire (PDM-Q), to investigate the defence mechanisms of the Ego. Results: In a population sample of 108 subjects (98 males and 10 females), the totality was found to exhibit at least 5 dysfunctional personality traits of the manic, borderline, narcissistic covert, masochistic, and dependent types, with secondary traits of the neurotic, bipolar, histrionic, and paranoid types. Always the totality of the sample shows the marked dysfunctionality of a sexual nature (especially in relational profiles) and the activation of defense mechanisms typical of psychopathological processes; in particular, at the PSM-Q the totality of the sample stated that the basis of their paraphilia is the establishment of a traumatic event of an affective, sentimental or sexual nature related to adolescence and adulthood that has generated in the person distrust in the relationship.Conclusions: At the origin of cuckolding and troilism, it is reasonable to deduce that there is a traumatic event of an affective, sentimental or sexual nature, occurring mainly in youth or early adulthood, which has negatively impacted the subject’s perception of the relational sphere. Such an event, capable of generating negative feelings of distressing origin, was then reworked and sublimated by the subject using a counterphobic attitude (the fear of being betrayed is replaced by the idea that granting the partner sexual freedom, after sharing, is sufficient to avoid the reoccurrence of the primary traumatizing event); the repetition of avoidant experiences of the danger of the primary phobia (betrayal) then generates in the subject the belief in the functioning of the mechanism, which therefore is repeated according to a cognitive-behavioural pattern of positive reinforcement, capable of establishing over time the behavioural dependence that underlies the paraphiliac disorder. Such a fear-prone psychopathological pattern, moreover, could be the same one that favours polygamous relational choice (at the expense of monogamous relational choice), net of environmental and social conditioning (e.g., Islamic contexts) that might naturally favour such choice. This counterphobic mechanism reinforced by positive reinforcement may underlie the onset of paraphilias and deserves further investigation.</p