C677T MTHFR Gene Polymorphism is Contributing Factor in Development of Renal Impairment in Young Hypertensive Patients

Homocysteine concentration affected by the activities of the enzymes methylene tetra-hyrdofolate reductase (MTHFR). Polymorphisms in MTHFR gene associated with an impairment of MTHFR activity. Hyperhomocysteinemia is a result of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in MTHFR 677 C>T that can cause homocysteine levels in the blood to increase. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationships between MTHFR C677T (rs1801133) gene polymorphism, changes in homocysteine concentrations and progress of renal impairment in young adult hypertensive patients. Two hundred young hypertensive patients (age 21–24 years) were involved in this study; they were classified into patients with and without renal impairment in addition to 200 age and sex matched healthy controls. All participants were submitted to laboratory investigations as assay of MTHFR gene polymorphism C677T (rs1801133) by PCR/RFLP, determination of lipid profile, homocysteine and folic acid concentrations in addition to urinary albumin creatinine ratio (UACR). The levels of both homocysteine and UACR in the TT genotype patients were higher than those in the CC genotype group. Individuals who carry the T allele were more risky to hypertension and progress to early renal impairment in young age compared with those carrying the C allele [OR 2.02 (1.33–3.08), P < 0.001]. Genetic variants of C677T MTHFR gene and hyperhomocysteinemia may be responsible for rapid progress of renal impairment in Egyptian young age hypertensive patients. TT genotype or T allele may be considered as a predisposing factor for both elevated Hcy levels and the development of renal impairment. This study believed that lowering of homocysteine level can reduce renal impairment of hypertensive patients.     

Teaching customer-centric operations management – evidence from an experiential learning-oriented mass customisation class

The increase of individualised customer demands and tough competition in the manufacturing sector gave rise to more customer-centric operations management such as products and services (mass) customisation. Mass customisation (MC), which inherits the ‘economy of scale’ from mass production (MP), aims to meet specific customer demands with near MP efficiency. Such an overarching concept has multiple impacts on operations management. This requires highly qualified and multi-skilled engineers who are well prepared for managing MC. Therefore, this concept should be properly addressed by engineering education curricula which needs to keep up with the emerging business trends. This paper introduces a novel course about MC and variety in operations management which recalls several Experiential Learning (EL) practices consistently with the principle of an active learning. The paper aims to analyse to which extent EL can improve the efficiency of the teaching methods and the retention rate in the context of operations management. The proposed course is given to engineering students whose’ perceptions are collected using semi-structured questionnaires and analysed quantitatively and qualitatively. The paper highlights the relevance (i) of teaching MC, and (ii) of active learning in engineering education, through the specific application in the domain of MC.     

Occurrences and quality of teacher and student strategies for self-regulated learning in hands-on simulations

For many decades, teacher-structured hands-on simulations have been used in education mainly for developing procedural and technical skills. Stimulating contemporary learning outcomes suggests more constructivist approaches. The aim of this study is to examine how self-regulated learning (SRL), an important constructivist learning environment characteristic, is expressed in hands-on simulations. Via structured observations of teachers’ SRL promoting strategies and students’ SRL strategies in eight hands-on simulations, along the three phases of SRL, this study is the first to expose whether students and teachers use SRL in hands-on simulations, what these strategies look like and what their quality is. The results show that both students and teachers demonstrate SRL behaviour in the forethought, performance and reflection phase to some extent, but that they vary considerably in their occurrences, form and quality and provide opportunities for improvement. For example, teacher strategies ‘modelling’ and ‘scaffolding’ were often used, while ‘giving attribution feedback’ and ‘evaluation’ were lacking. The student strategy ‘proposing methods for task performance’ was used regularly, while ‘goal-setting’ and ‘self-monitoring’ were often absent. An overview shows exemplary teacher and student behaviours in the SRL phases with lower, medium and higher quality in hands-on simulations.     

Recognition of handwritten Arabic alphabet via hand motion tracking

This paper proposes an online video-based approach to handwritten Arabic alphabet recognition. Various temporal and spatial feature extraction techniques are introduced. The motion information of the hand movement is projected onto two static accumulated difference images according to the motion directionality. The temporal analysis is followed by two-dimensional discrete cosine transform and Zonal coding or Radon transformation and low pass filtering. The resulting feature vectors are time-independent thus can be classified by a simple classification technique such as K Nearest Neighbor (KNN). The solution is further enhanced by introducing the notion of superclasses where similar classes are grouped together for the purpose of multiresolutional classification. Experimental results indicate an impressive 99% recognition rate on user-dependant mode. To validate the proposed technique, we have conducted a series of experiments using Hidden Markov models (HMM), which is the classical way of classifying data with temporal dependencies. Experimental results revealed that the proposed feature extraction scheme combined with simple KNN yields superior results to those obtained by the classical HMM-based scheme.     

Web-based learning interaction and learning styles

This paper reports a study exploring the learning styles and perceptions of a group of undergraduate and postgraduate learners in a university in the UK in relation to using the web for learning. In particular, we explore the sequential/global learning style dimension (which is concerned with the progress of understanding) in relation to three categories of web‐based interaction: learner‐tutor, learner‐learner, and learner‐information. An Index of Learning Styles is used as the tool to explore this dimension. The findings are presented with regard to the learning preferences of a group of learners towards these three categories of interaction. We conclude with a discussion of these findings in relation to Interactive Learning Systems (ILSs) design.     

Effect of green tea extract and vitamin C on oxidant or antioxidant status of rheumatoid arthritis rat model

Elevated free radical generation in inflamed joints and impaired antioxidant system has been implicated in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Green tea extracts (GTE) have been shown to reduce inflammation in inflammatory arthritis murine model. This study investigates possible mechanisms by which vitamin C and GTE protect joints in RA rat model. This study included forty adult male rats that were divided into four groups (10 rats each); control group, collagen II induced RA group (CII), CII treated with vitamin C (CII + Vit C) and CII treated with GTE (CII + GTE) in physiology laboratory, Assiut University, Egypt. After 45 days of treatment, plasma levels of lipid peroxides (LPO), nitric oxide (NO), ceruloplasmin (CP), superoxide dismutase (SOD), uric acid (UA) and glutathione (GSH) were detected using colorimetric methods, PGE₂ using ELISA and copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) using spectrometer. In CII group, levels of LPO, NO, PGE₂, UA, CP, Cu were higher while SOD, GSH, Zn were lower than controls. In groups treated with vitamin C and GTE, levels of SOD, GSH were increased while levels of LPO, NO, PGE₂, Cu, CP were decreased compared with CII group. Levels of UA were decreased and Zn increased in GTE treated group compared with CII group. GTE treated group showed higher Zn and low Cu levels compared with vitamin C treated group. This study suggests proper GTE and vitamin C intake may effectively normalize the impaired oxidant/antioxidant system and delaying complication of RA.     

Kinematic analysis of the shot-put: A method of assessing the mechanical work of the hand action force

The aims of this study were to (1) propose a method for evaluating shot-putters mechanical power, (2) investigate the relationship between mechanical work of hand action force (W_HAF), peak power output (PPO) of different limbs and shot-put performance and (3) show which of these two parameters (W_HAF, PPO) were the most appropriate to characterize the explosive abilities of the shot-putter. Twelve junior right-handed shot-putters, practised glide technique shot-put throwers (personal best?=?13.57 ± 1.72 m), participated in this study. Arm and leg force-velocity tests were performed to measure PPO. Kinematic analysis was conducted during a shot-putting event in regular conditions to quantify the W_HAF at the release moment and shot-put performance. Significant correlations were found between absolute arm and leg PPO with upper and lower muscle volumes (r?=?.67; p?=?.03; r?=?.76; p?=?.01; r?=?.74, p?=?.01; r?=?.65, p?=?.04). Positive relationships were recorded between absolute arm and leg PPO and shot-put performance (r?=?.67, p?=?.02; r?=?.81, p?=?.004, respectively). Shot-put performance was also closely related to the W_HAF (r?=?.93, p?=?.0001) and release velocity parameter (r?=?.86, p?=?.001). The present results confirm that force-velocity test and W_HAF constitute useful tools for assessing mechanical power in throwing. The W_HAF could be considered as more suitable than force-velocity test.     

Information Needs: Developing Personas of Humanities Scholars

A persona represents a group of target users that share common behavioural characteristics. The personas method, an approach to systems design, has been receiving significant attention from practitioners. However, only anecdotal evidence currently exists for the effectiveness of personas and there have been criticisms about its validity as a scientific approach to research. This paper attempts to demonstrate how incorporating personas may lead to better understand the information needs of humanities scholars. Humanities scholars in an advanced ICT environment in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan are sampled as a case. Previous studies show that the humanities scholars have a significant negative relation with ICT use; they are using it less than scientists and social scientists, and they demonstrate a significantly higher use of library facilities than other academics. There is also a lack of up-to-date international research on the humanities scholars' information needs that takes into account recent rapid increases in the availability of ICT infrastructure, especially the Internet. As such, the objective of this study is to understand the information needs of humanities scholars and the effect of the electronic environment on their information seeking behaviour using personas. This study is conducted within a conceptual framework based on an integration of existing models of information-seeking behaviour, along with additional new elements representing the information context environment, such as languages, decision to seek and format of information resources. The four personas that were uncovered in this study may be able to effectively communicate the actual information needs of the humanities scholars through the personal narrative, name, and face, which continuously will remind the academic library of what their users really want and need from their services. This study also lays the foundation for future research by identifying variables of interest, and building construct validity through the themes of information needs that emerged.     

The Perceptions of New Orleans Educators on the Process of Rebuilding the New Orleans School System after Katrina

This exploratory study seeks to understand the perceptions of New Orleans educators on the process of rebuilding the school system destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in August, 2005. Interviews with 10 educators and extensive document analysis allowed for an exploration of the phenomenology of this unique case of school reform in response to a natural disaster. Using the theoretical framework of chaos theory, the data reveal that this instance of school reform is influenced heavily by the uncertainties of life in post-Katrina New Orleans and that the presence of both hope and pessimism for positive change indicate a slower, less dramatic change in the New Orleans Public Schools (NOPS) than some had predicted.