31 research outputs found
Seroprevalence of contagious caprine pleuropneumonia in Kefta Humera, Alamata (Tigray) and Aba-‘ala (Afar), Northern Ethiopia
No full textA cross sectional study was conducted to determine the sero-prevalence of contagious caprine pleuroneumonia in three districts of Tigray and Afar regions of Ethiopia namely; Kefta Humera, Alamata and Aba-‘alla. Proportions and chi-square test statistics were used to analyze the data. From a total of 863 goats and 137 sheep tested, 282 (32.68%) and 25 (18.25%) were positive for antibodies of Mycoplasma capricolum subsp. capripneumoniae respectively using complement fixation test (CFT). The seroprevalence of CCPP in goats among the three districts was statistically significant (x2 = 76.00, p < 0.001). In this study there was no statistical significant variation in the seroprevalence of CCPP in both sexes (x2 = 3.619, p = 0.0571) and age (x2 = 0.990, p = 0.095) groups. The finding of high seroprevalence of CCPP in sheep (18.25%) could indicate that sheep are potential carriers of Mccp.Ethiopian Science and Technology Agency (ESTA
Knowledge, attitude and perceived barriers toward research among undergraduate medical students
No full textObjective: To evaluate the knowledge, attitude and perceived barriers toward research among undergraduate medical students. Materials and Methods: A cross sectional institution based study was conducted from April to June, 2014 on 3rd year MBBS students at Bahria University Medical and Dental College, Karachi, after approval by ERC-BUMDC. Data was collected by administering specially designed questionnaire, filled on one to one basis, after taking verbal consent. Analysis was done by using SPSS version 18. Results: Out of total 104 students of 3rdyear MBBS at Bahria University Medical and Dental College, 96 students participated in the study. Response rate was 93%. The score on knowledge regarding basic concepts of research was found to be on the lower side (3.1+1.4 out of 10 questions).Overall, the students showed positive attitude toward research as majority of students agreed on positive statements toward research. Students highlighted many perceived barriers such as lack of time (92%), ‘lack of rewarding and motivational system (86%) followed by inadequate funding and monetary system (79%) for undergraduate research. Conclusion: This study showed low knowledge score coupled with a positive attitude toward research among undergraduate medical students. This could be related to various perceived barriers for undergraduate research identified by students. These barriers need to be addressed to ensure an improvement in the undergraduate medical researc
Mitochondrial genome dataset of Drosophila melanogaster Meigen, 1830 (fruit fly) from Pakistan
No full textTrying to make sense of the chaos: Clinical psychologists' experiences and perceptions of clients with borderline personality disorder'
No full textBackground Evidence of negative perceptions of clients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) in mental health professionals has been well documented. However, few researchers have focused upon perspectives of clinical psychologists on this client group. The aim of the present research was to explore clinical psychologists' experiences and perceptions of clients with BPD. Method Sixteen female clinical psychologists (including trainees and qualified staff) participated in focus groups, 12 of whom had direct clinical experience with this client group. All four groups' audio recordings were transcribed verbatim and analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis (Smith, 1996). Results The following eight superordinate themes emerged from the analysis: negative perceptions of the client, undesirable feelings in the psychologist, positive perceptions of the client, desirable feelings in the psychologist, awareness of negativity, trying to make sense of the chaos, working in contrast to the system and improving our role. Discussion Implications include concerns regarding negativity, yet also the suggestion of hope and optimism in working with this client group. Copyright (C) 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.</p
Contrasting aerosol optical and radiative properties between dust and urban haze episodes in megacities of Pakistan
No full textToxic Effects Of Corn Oil On Liver Histology In Albino Rats
No full textObjective: To evaluate whether high quantities of unsaturated fats such as corn oil can produce fatty liver in albino rats. Materials and Methods: This experimental study was carried out at BMSI, JPMC after obtaining ethical approval, from October to November 2008. Forty adult albino rats, weighing 200 to 240 grams were divided into 2 groups according to dietary regimen. Group A received control diet and Group B received high-corn oil diet (20 ml corn oil in 100 gm of diet).The groups were further divided into A1, A2 and B1, B2 on the basis of duration of treatment, that is 4 weeks and 8 weeks respectively. The rats were sacrificed, liver removed and processed for haematoxylin and eosin staining. Results: Haematoxylin and eosin stained sections revealed swollen hepatocytes having vesicular appearance with absent or pyknotic nuclei in high-corn oil group as compared to control animals. Conclusion: This study has proved that use of high quantities of unsaturated fats, such as corn oil can lead to fatty liver.
HCV genotype-specific correlation with serum markers: Higher predictability for genotype 4a
No full textSeveral factors have been proposed to assess the clinical outcome of HCV infection. The correlation of HCV genotypes to possible serum markers in clinical prediction is still controversial. The main objective of this study was to determine the existence of any correlation between HCV genotypes to viral load and different clinical serum markers.We performed a prospective cross-sectional and observational study. About 3160 serum HCV RNA positive patients were chosen from 4020 randomly selected anti-HCV positive patients. Statistical analysis was performed using the SPSS 16 software package. ROC (receiver operating characteristics) curves were used to compare diagnostic values of serum markers to predict genotypes.The most prevalent genotype was 3a (73.9%) followed by 1a (10.7%), 4a (6.4%) and 3b (6.1%) in Pakistani population. No correlation was found between viral load and serum markers for genotype 3a in a large no. of sample (n = 2336). While significant correlation was observed between viral load and AST in genotype 3b, ALP with viral load and ALT for genotype 1a. Patients with genotype 4a showed a significant inverse correlation with viral load and Hb level and AST with ALP. For genotype 4a, AUC (area under the curve) of ALT, ALP, AST, bilirubin, Hb level and viral load was 0.790, 0.763, 0.454, 0.664, 0.458 and 0.872 respectively.In conclusion, there was a significant variable response of HCV genotypes with serum markers. Severity of disease is independent of serum marker level in genotype 3a, while the liver damage in genotype 4a may associate with viral cytopathic effect as well as the immune-mediated process. An index using six serum markers may correctly predict genotype 4a in patients with ≥ 75% accuracy
Sesame Plant Disease Classification Using Deep Convolution Neural Networks
No full textMonitoring sesame plant health and detecting disease early are essential to reducing disease spread and facilitate effective management practices. In this research, we developed an image classification model to detect bacterial blight-infected, phyllody-infected, and healthy sesame crops. Since images were necessary to carry out this study, we collected 2300 images at the Gondar and Humera Agriculture Research Centers and directly from the field in Metema. Since the collected images were limited, to increase the number of images in the dataset, we used image augmentation with different variations. In the image preprocessing step, we used a median filter for noise filtering, and contrast stretching techniques were used for image contrast and brightness enhancement. SegNet semantic segmentation, which is deep convolution neural network-based architecture, was used to segment the leaf part of the image from the background. In the feature extraction and classification steps, a deep convolutional neural network was used. Finally, we evaluated the proposed model and compared it with two recent deep convolution neural network models, namely, Xception and InceptionV3. The proposed model for the classification of sesame diseases achieved better accuracy, with 96.67% testing accuracy, 97.78% validation accuracy, and 98% training accuracy
Claudin-1 required for HCV virus entry has high potential for phosphorylation and <it>O</it>-glycosylation
No full textAbstract HCV is a leading cause of hepatocellular carcinoma and cirrhosis all over the world. Claudins belong to family of tight junction's proteins that are responsible for establishing barriers for controlling the flow of molecules around cells. For therapeutic strategies, regulation of viral entry into the host cells holds a lot of promise. During HCV infection claudin-1 is highly expressed in liver and believed to be associated with HCV virus entry after HCV binding with or without co-receptor CD81. The claudin-1 assembly with tight junctions is regulated by post translational modifications. During claudins assembly and disassembly with tight junctions, phosphorylation is required at C-terminal tail. In cellular proteins, interplay between phosphorylation and O-β-GlcNAc modification is believed to be functional switch, but it is very difficult to monitor these functional and vibrant changes in vivo. Netphos 2.0 and Disphos 1.3 programs were used for potential phosphorylation; NetPhosK 1.0 and KinasePhos for kinase prediction; and YinOYang 1.2 and OGPET to predict possible O-glycosylation sites. We also identified Yin Yang sites that may have potential for O-β-GlcNAc and phosphorylation interplay at same Ser/Thr residues. We for the first time proposed that alternate phosphorylation and O-β-GlcNAc modification on Ser 192, Ser 205, Ser 206; and Thr 191 may provide an on/off switch to regulate assembly of claudin-1 at tight junctions. In addition these phosphorylation sites may be targeted by novel chemotherapeutic agents to prevent phosphorylation lead by HCV viral entry complex.</p
