Interaction between prey and mutually interfering predator in prey reserve habitat: Pattern formation and the Turing–Hopf bifurcation

In this paper, we propose a diffusive prey-predator system with mutually interfering predator (Crowley–Martin functional response) and prey reserve. In particular, we develop and analyze both spatially homogeneous model based on ordinary differential equations and reaction-diffusion model. We mainly investigate the global existence and boundedness of positive solution, stability properties of homogeneous steady state, non-existence of non-constant positive steady state, conditions for Turing instability and Hopf bifurcation of the diffusive system analytically. Conventional stability properties of the non-spatial counterpart of the system are also studied. The analysis ensures that the prey reserve leaves stabilizing effect on the stability of temporal system. The prey reserve and diffusive parameters leave parallel impact on the stability of the spatio-temporal system. Furthermore, we illustrate the spatial patterns via numerical simulations, which show that the model dynamics exhibits diffusion controlled pattern formation by different interesting patterns.     

Detection of non-deletional type of hereditary persistence of fetal hemoglobin (HPFH) condition associated with 619 bp β°-thalassemia deletion

DNA samples from a family (parents and a son) with hereditary persistence of fetal hemoglobin (HPFH) condition were subjected to amplification of a 1.214 kbp DNA fragment from β-globin gene using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The aim of this study was to identify the type of HPFH i.e. deletional or non deletional. Non deletional type of HPFH was identified in two samples and moreover, these samples were found to be associated with 619bp β^°-thalassemia deletion. This is the first report on the association of non deletional HPFH with 619bp β^°-thalassemia deletion.     

A simple and inexpensive enteric-coated capsule for delivery of acid-labile macromolecules to the small intestine

Understanding the ecology of the gastrointestinal tract and the impact of the contents on the host mucosa is emerging as an important area for defining both wellness and susceptibility to disease. Targeted delivery of drugs to treat specific small intestinal disorders such as small bowel bacterial overgrowth and targeting molecules to interrogate or to deliver vaccines to the remote regions of the small intestine has proven difficult. There is an unmet need for methodologies to release probes/drugs to remote regions of the gastrointestinal tract in furthering our understanding of gut health and pathogenesis. In order to address this concern, we need to know how the regional delivery of a surrogate labeled test compound is handled and in turn, if delivered locally as a liquid or powder, the dynamics of its subsequent handling and metabolism. In the studies we report on in this paper, we chose ¹³C sodium acetate (¹³C-acetate), which is a stable isotope probe that once absorbed in the small intestine can be readily measured non-invasively by collection and analysis of ¹³CO₂ in the breath. This would provide information of gastric emptying rates and an indication of the site of release and absorptive capacity. In a series of in vitro and in vivo pig experiments, we assessed the enteric-protective properties of a commercially available polymer EUDRAGIT®L100-55 on gelatin capsules and also on DRcaps®. Test results demonstrated that DRcaps®coated with EUDRAGIT®L100-55 possessed enhanced enteric-protective properties, particularly in vivo. These studies add to the body of knowledge regarding gastric emptying in pigs and also begin the process of gathering specifications for the design of a simple and cost-effective enteric-coated capsule for delivery of acid-labile macromolecules to the small intestine.     

Improved protocol for plasma microRNA extraction and comparison of commercial kits

IntroductionMicroRNAs are small, non-coding RNA molecules that are becoming popular biomarkers in several diseases. However, their low abundance in serum/plasma poses a challenge in exploiting their potential in clinics. Several commercial kits are available for rapid isolation of microRNA from plasma. However, reports guiding the selection of appropriate kits to study downstream assays are scarce. Hence, we compared four commercial kits to evaluate microRNA-extraction from plasma and provided a modified protocol that further improved the superior kit’s performance.Materials and methodsWe compared four kits (miRNeasy Serum/Plasma, miRNeasy Mini Kit from Qiagen; RNA-isolation, and Absolutely-RNA MicroRNA Kit from Agilent technologies) for quality and quantity of microRNA isolated, extraction efficiency, and cost-effectiveness. Bioanalyzer-based Agilent Small RNA kit was used to evaluate quality and quantity of microRNA. Extraction efficiency was evaluated by detection of four endogenous control microRNA using real-time-PCR. Further, we modified the manufacturer’s protocol for miRNeasy Serum/Plasma kit to improve yield.ResultsmiRNeasy Serum/Plasma kit outperformed the other three kits in microRNA-quality (P < 0.005) and yielded maximum microRNA-quantity. Recovery of endogenous control microRNA i.e. hsa-miR-24-3p, hsa-miR-191-5p, hsa-miR-423-5p and hsa-miR-484 was higher as well. Modification with the inclusion of a double elution step enhanced yield of microRNA extracted with miRNeasy Serum/Plasma kit significantly (P < 0.001).ConclusionWe demonstrated that miRNeasy Serum/Plasma kit outperforms other kits and can be reliably used with a limited plasma quantity. We have provided a modified microRNA-extraction protocol with improved microRNA output for downstream analyses.     

The changing faces of politics and repression in Malaysia

Abstract

For a long time popular music and aesthetics have been considered as mutually exclusive categories within the musicological discourse. Based on the predominance of idealistic autonomy aesthetics, the concept of the (musical) ‘work of art’, at its core, legitimised the exclusion of popular music from the realm of aesthetics. Since the concept of autonomy constituted the beauty of art as a sphere free from social functions and independent from interests of the culture industries, two antithetical strategies in researching pop music have recently emerged: on the one hand pop music has been described as art, on the other hand it has been considered as a cultural phenomenon solely explored through sociological approaches. This paper looks for an alternative way in order to overcome the dualisms of art and everyday life, aesthetics and society, without neglecting the inherent aesthetic dimension of popular music cultures or the processes of identity‐making of the involved people. For this purpose, concepts developed in theatre and ritual studies seem to be fruitful for describing pop music as ritual in social space (musicking), and in terms of an aesthetic of the performative. Based on participant observations and interviews, the paper discusses a rock concert that the Yoon Band from South Korea held in Germany. In view of the event character and of liminal and transformative processes within the performance, it gives an example of how Korean people in Germany negotiate their identities and draw national boundaries through actively participating in and through music. Thereby, the way popular music constitutes the diasporic community can be detected in the underlying social, symbolic, and sound patterns of the performance.     

Textual keyword extraction and summarization: State-of-the-art

With the advent of Web 2.0, there exist many online platforms that results in massive textual data production such as social networks, online blogs, magazines etc. This textual data carries information that can be used for betterment of humanity. Hence, there is a dire need to extract potential information out of it. This study aims to present an overview of approaches that can be applied to extract and later present these valuable information nuggets residing within text in brief, clear and concise way. In this regard, two major tasks of automatic keyword extraction and text summarization are being reviewed. To compile the literature, scientific articles were collected using major digital computing research repositories. In the light of acquired literature, survey study covers early approaches up to all the way till recent advancements using machine learning solutions. Survey findings conclude that annotated benchmark datasets for various textual data-generators such as twitter and social forms are not available. This scarcity of dataset has resulted into relatively less progress in many domains. Also, applications of deep learning techniques for the task of automatic keyword extraction are relatively unaddressed. Hence, impact of various deep architectures stands as an open research direction. For text summarization task, deep learning techniques are applied after advent of word vectors, and are currently governing state-of-the-art for abstractive summarization. Currently, one of the major challenges in these tasks is semantic aware evaluation of generated results.     

A structured career intervention program for academically challenged students

A study was carried out to test the effects of a 2-week structured intervention program on academically challenged students’ career development. A quasi-experimental study was designed using pre-tests, post-tests, and a control group approach to examine the effects of the intervention program. Data were collected from both the experimental and control groups. The test was carried out on eight schools in the state of Kedah in Malaysia. Eight school counselors were trained to facilitate the assignment to the experimental groups and to collect data. A total number of 335 students with low academic achievement participated in this study. This number included male (43.6 %) and female (56.4 %) students who were aged 15–16 and a half. Modes of measurement used consisted of a career planning inventory (measuring career planning skills), an academic learning motivation scale (measuring attitude toward academic learning), and an academic study skills test (measuring academic study competencies). Analysis was performed using t-tests and the multivariate analysis of variance to examine the differences in the mean scores. The results show that the sample’s career academic score improved significantly from the pre-test to the post-test. A simple regression analysis was also performed to see the effect of the intervention program on the three dependent variables, which revealed that the career intervention program has positive and significant effects on the three variables. However, further studies on the career program for academically challenged students are highly recommended to support the present study.     

Individual differences in preferences for matched-ethnic mentors among high-achieving ethnically diverse adolescents in STEM

This short-term longitudinal study examined (a) adolescents' contact with mentors who share their background in relation to the importance they place on having such mentors, and (b) the associations of these perceptions with self-efficacy, identity, and commitment to a science career. Participants were 265 ethnically diverse adolescents (M age = 15.82) attending a 4-week science education program. Cluster analyses indicated that at Time 1, underrepresented ethnic minorities were more often in the cluster defined by feelings of importance of having a matched-background mentor but not having much contact. Perceptions of contact increased over time for these students and were associated with increased feelings of identity as a science student. The results suggest the need for attending to individual differences in students' preferences for matched-background mentors.     

Measuring attitude towards learning science in Malaysian secondary school context: implications for teaching

ABSTRACT

The aim of education is to ensure a holistic development towards knowledge and well-being. Despite exhaustive effort on embedding twenty-first century skills in science teaching, students show lack of interest to learn and pursue their science careers. This present study has attempted to develop an instrument for measuring attitude towards science learning. The purpose was to ensure valid items were identified to measure all aspects of attitude namely affect, behaviour and cognitive. The study of attitude in science will determine the direction on how teaching strategies can be successful in promoting interest in learning. The study has been underpinned from the theories related to Theory of Reasoned Action, Constructivist learning and Connectivism. Samples from three secondary schools were selected based on proportionate stratified random sampling. 350 samples were targeted to respond to self-constructed questionnaires. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was employed to prove the hypothesised 5-factor measurement model. The results have supported a model fit with positive interactions between the factors are evident. The study has proven the theoretical contributions which embark on holistic development of an individual to ensure attitude is moulded. The emotional and spiritual aspects of learning are needed to ensure positive contribution to the social dynamic. In this paper, the discussions are elaborated from the standpoints of theories and practical importance. The results have contributed to a theoretical model of science teaching method.     

Entrepreneurship education in Malaysian universities

Entrepreneurship education in the strongly emerging market of Malaysia was examined throughout the country’s 20 public universities. A broad based interview process amongst multiple stakeholders profiled educational policies as well as revealing shortcomings in practice. Observers noted that students showed a preference for salaried jobs after graduation rather than setting up their own businesses, despite participation in entrepreneurship classes and programmes. Policymakers indicated that curricula had deficiencies despite their hype. Passive lectures were far more common than more interactive methods. It is suggested that if Malaysian universities are to promote entrepreneurship education in an effective way, they must address these issues.