Antidyslipidemic Effect of Ocimum sanctum Leaf Extract in Streptozotocin Induced Diabetic Rats

The antidyslipidemic activity of Ocimum sanctum leaf extract was studied in streptozotocin induced diabetic rats. In this model, there was significant increase in plasma markers of diabetic-dyslipidemia following diminution of lipid metabolizing enzymes. Oral administration of leaf extract (500 mg/kg b.w.p.o.) for 15 days resulted in significant decrease in diabetogenic and dyslipidemia parameters; namely blood glucose, glycosylated hemoglobin, lipid peroxide, free fatty acids, small dense low density lipoprotein, lipid and protein components of plasma lipoproteins, adipose and liver. The regulation of lipids was accompanied by stimulation of postheparin lipolytic activity, reactivation of lecithin cholesterol acyl transferase and hepatic lipoprotein lipase enzymes. The results of the present study demonstrated antidyslipidemic and antioxidant activities in leaf extract of O. sanctum which could be used in prevention of diabetic-dyslipidemia and related complications.     

A Comparison of Two Procedures for Computing IRT Equating Coefficients

In order to equate tests under Item Response Theory (IRT), one must obtain the slope and intercept coefficients of the appropriate linear transformation. This article compares two methods for computing such equating coefficients–Loyd and Hoover (1980) and Stocking and Lord (1983). The former is based upon summary statistics of the test calibrations; the latter is based upon matching test characteristic curves by minimizing a quadratic loss function. Three types of equating situations: horizontal, vertical, and that inherent in IRT parameter recovery studies–were investigated. The results showed that the two computing procedures generally yielded similar equating coefficients in all three situations. In addition, two sets of SAT data were equated via the two procedures, and little difference in the obtained results was observed. Overall, the results suggest that the Loyd and Hoover procedure usually yields acceptable equating coefficients. The Stocking and Lord procedure improves upon the Loyd and Hoover values and appears to be less sensitive to atypical test characteristics. When the user has reason to suspect that the test calibrations may be associated with data sets that are typically troublesome to calibrate, the Stocking and Lord procedure is to be preferred.     

Measuring Science Teachers’ Stress Level Triggered by Multiple Stressful Conditions

The complexity of science teaching requires science teachers to encounter a range of tasks. Some tasks are perceived as stressful while others are not. This study aims to investigate the extent to which different teaching situations lead to different stress levels. It also aims to identify the easiest and most difficult conditions to be regarded as stressful conditions by science teachers. An occupational stress inventory of 25 items developed by Okebukola (1988) validation of the occupational stress inventory for science teachers. Science Teacher, was used to measure the science teachers’ stress level in science teaching. A four point Likert scale ranging from 1 – ‘no stress at all’ to 4 – ‘extreme stress’ was used. Fifty-eight Malaysian secondary science teachers participated in the survey in which six volunteered to participate in the interview study. The data was then analyzed using the Rasch model to measure the level of stress caused by different kinds of stressful conditions. Even though ‘overloaded science syllabus’ was identified to be the basis of multiple stressful conditions, it was, however, difficult for the respondents to regard it as a stressful condition. On the other hand, the respondents found that ‘having to teach difficult science topics’ is easiest to be regarded as a stressful condition. It was shown that even though ‘overloaded science syllabus’ is the starting point for stress caused by multiple conditions, due to the availability of coping strategies which can be employed by the respondents, the stressor is minor in causing stress among teachers. On the other hand, when teachers lack the availability of coping strategies dealing with teaching difficult science topics, they easily feel stressful. One of the main recommendations to overcome stressful conditions is to provide the science teachers ‘topic specific pedagogy’ during in-service training.     

塔克拉玛干沙漠北缘地表反照率特征及参数化研究

利用塔克拉玛干沙漠北缘肖塘站观测资料,分析了地表反照率变化特征及影响因子,找出了土壤湿度临界点,分别拟合出地表反照率与太阳高度角、2.5cm土壤湿度经验公式,讨论了地表反照率参数化方案,运用CoLM陆面过程模式进行了Off-line试验,并与观测数据进行了对比。结果表明,肖塘地区地表反照率冬季大、夏季小,年平均值为0.27。太阳高度角≥15°时地表反照率趋于一个常数,且与太阳高度角满足指数函数关系。不同天气下地表反照率不同,雨天减小,雪天增大。晴空指数≤0.3时,地表反照率波动很大。肖塘地区地表反照率与太阳高度角和土壤湿度拟合效果不好;随2m气温和地表温度升高基本呈减小趋势,但不明显。土壤湿度对肖塘地区地表反照率年内变化没有影响,只对日变化有影响,且地表反照率对0.097~0.13范围内的浅层土壤湿度响应敏感。CoLM原模式模拟的净辐射、感热通量和地表温度平均日变化与观测数据有较好的一致性。地表反照率参数化方案改为0.27后,CoLM模式对净辐射平均日变化正午前后的模拟与观测基本一致;对地表温度平均日变化模拟得到改善,平均峰值低估0.51℃;地表反照率参数化后CoLM模式对感热通量平均日变化模拟能力没有提高。     

Microbial control of diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella L.(Lepidoptera: Yponomeutidae) using bacteria (Xenorhabdus nematophila) and its metabolites from the entomopathogenic nematode Steinernema carpocapsae

Cells and cell-free solutions of the culture filtrate of the bacterial symbiont, Xenorhabdus nematophila taken from the entomopathogenic nematode Steinernema carpocapsae in aqueous broth suspensions were lethal to larvae of the diamondback moth Plutella xylostella. Their application on leaves of Chinese cabbage indicated that the cells can penetrate into the insects in the absence of the nematode vector. Cell-free solutions containing metabolites were also proved as effective as bacterial cells suspension. The application of aqueous suspensions of cells of X. nematophila or solutions containing its toxic metabolites to the leaves represents a possible new strategy for controlling insect pests on foliage.     

The impact of deep learning on document classification using semantically rich representations

This paper presents a semantically rich document representation model for automatically classifying financial documents into predefined categories utilizing deep learning. The model architecture consists of two main modules including document representation and document classification. In the first module, a document is enriched with semantics using background knowledge provided by an ontology and through the acquisition of its relevant terminology. Acquisition of terminology integrated to the ontology extends the capabilities of semantically rich document representations with an in depth-coverage of concepts, thereby capturing the whole conceptualization involved in documents. Semantically rich representations obtained from the first module will serve as input to the document classification module which aims at finding the most appropriate category for that document through deep learning. Three different deep learning networks each belonging to a different category of machine learning techniques for ontological document classification using a real-life ontology are used.Multiple simulations are carried out with various deep neural networks configurations, and our findings reveal that a three hidden layer feedforward network with 1024 neurons obtain the highest document classification performance on the INFUSE dataset. The performance in terms of F1 score is further increased by almost five percentage points to 78.10% for the same network configuration when the relevant terminology integrated to the ontology is applied to enrich document representation. Furthermore, we conducted a comparative performance evaluation using various state-of-the-art document representation approaches and classification techniques including shallow and conventional machine learning classifiers.     

Use of technology-assisted techniques of mind mapping and concept mapping in science education: a constructivist study

The study aims to investigate the effects of using mind maps and concept maps on students' learning of concepts in science courses. A total of 51 students participated in this study which used a quasi-experimental research design with pre-test/post-test control groups. The constructivist-inspired study was carried out in the sixth-grade science course unit of ‘Light and Sound’ in a primary school with two experimental groups and one control group. The intervention was held in the experimental group 1 by using technology-assisted technique of mind mapping, in the experimental group 2 by using technology-assisted technique of concept mapping, and in the control group by means of traditional classroom instruction. After the intervention in the experimental groups, concept tests and open-ended questions related to the unit were used as post-tests. According to the data obtained from concept tests, it was found out that all groups' understanding of concepts was equivalent. Significantly, students in the experimental group 2 reported positive opinions, stating that learning through concept maps was useful and engaging.     

Oxidatively Damaged DNA: A Possible Antigenic Stimulus for Cancer Autoantibodies

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are cytotoxic at higher concentration resulting in cell death, mutations, chromosomal aberrations or carcinogenesis. In this study DNA was modified by singlet oxygen and superoxide anion radicals generated by illumination of riboflavin under 365 nm UV-light. The modified DNA induced high titre antibodies in experimental animals. In enzyme immunoassay, serum antibodies from cancer patients (n = 34) showed a higher recognition of the modified DNA, as compared to the native form. This was further confirmed by the gel-shift assay. Immune IgG were used as a probe to detect oxidative lesions in the DNA of cancer patients. DNA isolated from lymphocytes of cancer patients proved to be an appreciable inhibitor of the experimentally induced antibodies against the ROS-DNA. This indicates the presence of oxidative lesions in the DNA obtained from cancer patients. The results show that ROS induced oxidative damage to DNA in cancer patients generate neo-epitopes that are alien for the immune system, resulting in autoantibody formation.     

Lack of Circadian Pattern of Serum TNF-α and IL-6 in Patients with Fibromyalgia Syndrome

The present study was designed to test the hypothesis of a circadian variation in circulating levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in women with fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS). Serum levels of IL-6 and TNF-α were measured at 4 h intervals of the day in 50 women with FMS satisfying American College of Rheumatology criteria for FMS (age 36.68 ± 9.89) as well as 50 healthy control women (age 32.82 ± 10.53). Serum TNF-α levels were substantially increased in patients with FMS but showed no circadian variation. In contrast, no difference in the levels of IL-6 was found. Moreover, there was also no circadian variation in both the groups of patients and controls. We conclude that no circadian pattern exists in the circulating levels of serum IL-6 and TNF-α in patients with FMS, although TNF-α levels are found raised in patients with FMS.