No description available.

Background: At the end of 2019, a novel coronavirus denominated SARS-CoV-2 rapidly spread through the world causing the pandemic coronavirus disease known as COVID-19. The difference in the inflammatory response against SARS-CoV-2 infection among people living at different altitudes is a variable not yet studied. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was performed in two Peruvian cities at different altitudes for comparison: Lima and Huaraz. Five important proinflammatory cytokines were measured including: IL-6, IL-2, IL-10, IFN-γ and TNF-α using ELISA assays. Results: A total of 35 COVID-19 patients and 10 healthy subjects were recruited from each study site. The mean levels of IL-6 (p < 0.03) and TNF-α (p < 0.01) were significantly different among the study groups. In the case of IL-6, patients from Lima had a mean level of 16.2 pg/ml (healthy) and 48.3 pg/ml (COVID-19), meanwhile, patients from Huaraz had levels of 67.3 pg/ml (healthy) and 97.9 pg/ml (COVID-19). Regarding TNF-α, patients from Lima had a mean level of 25.9 pg/ml (healthy) and 61.6 pg/ml (COVID-19), meanwhile, patients from Huaraz had levels of 89.0 pg/ml (healthy) and 120.6 pg/ml (COVID-19). The levels of IL-2, IL-10 and IFN-γ were not significantly different in the study groups. Conclusion: Patients with COVID-19 residing at high-altitude tend to have higher levels of inflammatory cytokines compared to patients living at sea level, particularly IL-6 and TNF-α. A better understanding of the inflammatory response in different populations can contribute to the implementation of therapeutic and preventive approaches. Further studies evaluating more patients, a greater variety of cytokines and their clinical impact are required. / National Research Foundation of Korea / Revisión por pares

Background: Globalization has changed the market in ways of creating new opportunities as well as new challenges for organizations and has given rise to a global phenomenon called workforce diversity. The phenomenon appeared as a result from the constantly changing marketplace where people as part of a worldwide economy, live and work in foreign countries. Thus, as global markets emerge, and workforce demographics shift, workforce diversity inches closer to becoming a necessity instead of a banner that businesses wave to show their commitment to embracing differences and change.  Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to examine and to provide a better understanding of how diversity is managed through inclusive practices and policies, and how employees perceive these practices.  Method: The research is based on a qualitative case study. The primary data was collected through semi-structured interviews. The respondents of the interviews were both managers and employees in order to get the two different perspectives. Two managers and six employees were interviewed.  Findings: The empirical findings showed that managers’ perspective of inclusion practices differs much from how the employees perceive inclusion practices of a diverse workforce. The main findings were that the stated inclusion practices at The University are not perceived among the employees. One example was that some of the employees feel like they were excluded at The University. Moreover, some of the employees stated that people that are not ethical Swedes are not treated the same nor get the same opportunities. Another observable issue was that The University rarely speak English and all documented information is in Swedish, which mean that not all employees receive the information needed.

Remarriage has gained special attention in the past couple of decades from clinicians, researchers, and educators because of the unique issues faced by individuals entering such a relationship. Recognition of these issues increased marriage practitioners' hope that a shift in the social climate had led individuals to prepare for remarriage through various means. This study sought to, one, gain a current perspective on remarriage preparation; two, learn how individuals rate the helpfulness of preparation; and three, note any differences in remarital quality (remarital satisfaction and adjustment) and perceptions of preparedness between individuals who did or did not participate in preparation. Data were analyzed from the Utah Newlywed Study. Results showed that most individuals prepared by talking to others or read ing written information, and most individuals who participated in some form of preparation found it helpful. Despite a high number of participants who reported remarriage preparation as helpful, nonparticipants were more plentiful than participants. The majority of those who did not participate reported preparation as unnecessary. Remari tal quality varied based on the preparation form considered. Based on the resu lts, it was suggested that marriage practitioners should do more to increase individuals' views that preparation is valuable, as those who participated generally found it to be helpful.

Compliance with the strict dietary regimen for the dialysis patient can be very challenging. Many foods are limited from the diet of a renal patient because of the high potassium content. The physiological consequences of failure to follow a diet prescription can be fatal for the dialysis patient. In an effort to improve patient compliance with nutritional protocols, several potato cooking methods and centrifugation of tomato sauce were investigated for their effects in reducing potassium content. All methods with a 24-hour soak were found to be significant in reducing potassium content of potatoes (P<0.05). However, some of the methods in which the potatoes were not soaked were also found to be effective in reducing potassium content. Slice thickness and volume of cooking water used were found to be two important factors in determining potassium loss. The 4-mm sliced potatoes, which had a mean potassium value of 84 mg/100 g, lost more potassium than the 8-mm ·sliced potatoes with a mean potassium value of 182 mg/100 g (P<0.05). Furthermore, the potatoes cooked in 10 times the amount of water lost more potassium (124 mg/100 g) than those cooked in only 5 times the amount of water (148 mg/100 g) (P<0.05). Soaking in cold versus hot water, agitation of the soak water, or the addition of chemical chelators to the soak water were not shown to be any more effective in reducing the potassium content than the other methods. Sensory data indicated that participants did not have a strong taste preference for potatoes cooked by any one particular method (P<0.05). Centrifugation of tomato sauce, and retention of the solids were found to be effective methods for reducing the potassium content of tomato sauce. There was, however, a significant difference (P<0.05) in the participants' taste preference for the tomato sauce that was centrifuged one time versus the tomato sauce that had been centrifuged twice The results of this study are significant because they suggest that there are more effective, alternative methods for preparing potatoes and tomato sauce than those that are currently being used. This would suggest an increased likelihood for patient adherence to nutritional recommendations.

No description available.

Herpes simplex virus is man's oldest viral enemy. Infections result in symptoms ranging from mild skin lesions to deadly herpes simplex encephalitis, making HSV one of the most costly of viral diseases to treat. Thus the development of a vaccine is imperative. To this end, several vaccine strategies have been utilized to generate immunity to HSV in rodents. These include the use of recombinant DNA, recombinant adenoviruses, and dendritic cells transduced with either of the former and re-introduced to the host to induce immunity. In this study, different aspects of these vaccine types were examined. Antibody and cytotoxic T-cell (CTL) responses to a DNA vaccine encoding gB of HSV-1 (gB-DNA) were evaluated. This resulted in variable long lived antibody responses to a wide range of dosages and CTL responses which followed dose-response relationships. An adenovirus expressing gB of HSV -1 (AdgB) which is able to generate IgA responses (Gallichan et al., 1993) was utilized to determine the best method of mucosal administration to optimize these responses. It was suggested in a previous report that nasal associated lymphoid tissue (NALT) was the desired target for inducing lgA responses (Heritage et al., 1997). Accordingly, the hypothesis was formulated that NALT can produce IgA responses similar to those produced from a combination of inductive sites. To test this hypothesis, mice were immunized either awake or asleep with AdgB assuming that awake delivery restricts induction to the NALT, whereas asleep administration disseminates AdgB throughout the respiratory system. The results demonstrate participation of lower airways in the induction of immunity is desirable for generating IgA responses. Lastly, dendritic cells transduced with AdgB were assessed for their ability to generate systemic and mucosal antibody responses, resulting in the inability to generate IgA, but the ability to generate systemic antibody responses. / Thesis / Master of Science (MS)

Yes / The use of Reverse Osmosis (RO) process in seawater desalination to provide high-quality drinking water is progressively increased compared to thermal technologies. In this paper, multistage spiral wound RO desalination process is considered. Each stage consists of several pressure vessels (PVs) organised in parallel with membrane modules in each PV being organised in series. This allows disconnecting a set of PVs and membrane modules depending on the requirement of cleaning and maintenance. While this flexibility offers the opportunity of generating several RO configurations, we presented only four such configurations of the RO system and analysed them via simulation and optimisation. Production of different grades of water catering different needs of a city is also considered for each of these configurations. The optimisation has resulted in the optimal operating conditions, which maximises the water productivity and minimises the specific energy consumption of the proposed configurations for a given water grade in terms of salinity. For instance, the results indicate that the proposed RO networks can produce drinking water of 500 ppm salinity with a minimum specific energy consumption of 3.755 kWh/m3. The strategy offers the production of different grades of water without plant shutdown while maintaining the membrane modules throughout the year.

Increasing evidence suggests that overlapping genes is a common phenomenon in eukaryotic genomes too and are not restricted to prokaryotes alone. Here we determined overlapping genes in a set of orthologous genes in the genomes of human, chimp, mouse, rat, and dog and contrasted the patterns of overlapping between two principal types of overlapping genes, the same-strand-overlapping genes and different-strand-overlapping genes. The two types of overlapping genes are compared with respect to their frequencies, overlap lengths, region of overlap, and conservation of overlap in five species. Our results suggest the following: different-strand-overlaps are more common, both types show different patterns with respect to overlap lengths and regions of overlap, different-strand-overlapping genes are more evolutionarily conserved, and 3'-UTR evolution plays an important role in transitions between non-overlapping genes and overlapping genes. The thesis also presents a review of related work in terms of history, origin, types, biological significance of overlapping genes, human diseases associated with them, and their comparison in prokaryotes and eukaryotes. / Master of Science

Daugelis kačių veislių yra imlios įvairioms ligoms ir patologijoms. Kai kurios iš šių mutacijų nėra pavojingos kačių sveikatai, kitos sukelia sunkias ligas, trečios yra veislės požymis. Genetinės ligos ir ydos skirstomos į fenokopijas, dizgenetines anomalijas ir įgimtas ligas ir ydas. Dažniausiai paplitusios genetinės ligos tarp atskirų kačių veislių yra šios: hipertrofinė kardiomiopatija (HCM), inkstų policistozė (PKD), progresuojanti tinklainės atrofija (rdAc-PRA), gangliozidozė (GM1, GM2), piruvato kinazės trūkumas (PK), glikogeno kaupimosi liga IV tipo (GSD-IV), stuburo raumenų atrofija (SMA). Ydos: plokščios krūtinės kačiukų sindromas, bambinė išvarža, įgimta veido kaulų anomalija, Vandenburgo sindromas, polidaktilija, ektrodaktilija, sindaktilija, nesuaugęs kietasis gomurys, kriptorchizmas. Genetiniam tyrimui atlikti imamas mėginys iš katės skruosto vidinės pusės (reikalingos žando ląstelės) tamponėlio pagalba. Paėmus mėginį, tamponai įdedami į specialų voką su užpildytų blanku ir siunčiami paštu į laboratoriją. Laboratorijoje, atliekant genetinius tyrimus, naudojama DNR polimerazės grandinės reakcija bei genų sukibimo metodas. Genetinį tyrimą galima atlikti bet kurio amžiaus gyvūnui. Nustatėme, kad Lietuvoje per 2009-2013 metus mano tirtose veterinarijos klinikose daugiausia diagnozuota inkstų policistozės, kriptorchizmo, aklumo, bambinės išvaržos ir kurtumo atvejų. Iš kačių genetinių ligų Lietuvoje dažniausiai pasitaiko tik inkstų policistozė ir hipertrofinė... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Many cat breeds are susceptible to various diseases and pathologies. Some of these mutations are not dangerous to the health of cats, others cause severe diseases, third ones, are the feature of breed. Genetic diseases and vices are divided into phenocopies, dysgenetic anomalies, and congenital diseases and defects. Most prevalent genetic diseases among different cat breeds are: hipertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), polycystic kidney disease (PKD), progressive retinal atrophy (rdAc-PRA), gangliosidosis (GM1, GM2), pyruvatkinase deficiency (PK), glycogen storage disease IV type (GSD-IV), spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). Vices: flat chest kitten syndrome, umbilical hernia, congenital abnormality of the facial bones, Vandenburg‘s syndrome, polydactyly, ectrodactyly, syndactyly, cleft hard palate, cryptorchidism. Use brushes to collected cells from inside the cheek (buccal cells). Place all sample containing sample brushes and completed submission forms into a suitable envelope and male to laboratory. During the genetic research, laboratories are refering to the DNA polymerase chain reaction and gene bonding method. Genetic testing can be performed to the animal of any age. We found out, that in Lithuania in the years of 2009-2013, in veterinary clinics, where I did my research, the following diseases were diagnosed the most: kidney polycystosis, cryptorchidism, blindness, deafness and umbilical hernia. Among feline genetic diseases, only kidney polycystosis and hypertrophic... [to full text]