Genetic Polymorphism of Angiotensin II Type 1 Receptors and Their Effect on the Clinical Outcome of Captopril Treatment in Arab Iraqi Patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome (Mid Euphrates)

Genetic variation in the angiotensin II type 1 receptor (AT1R) has an important effect on the outcome of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) initiated treatment with captopril. This study aims to investigate the impact of genetic polymorphism of AT1R (rs5186 and rs275651) on the ACS outcome in Iraqi patients treated with captopril. A total of 250 Iraqi individuals with ACS were included in this case—control study and they were divided into two study groups; Study group 1 included 125 participants who were prescribed captopril, 25 mg twice daily and study group 2 included 125 participants who received no captopril as part of their ACS treatment (control study). The AT1R gene (rs5186) CC genotype was found to be associated with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) (Odd’s ratio (O.R) = 1.2, P = 0.7), while AC was associated with Non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) and unstable angina (UA) (O.R = 1.2, P = 0.8). AC genotype is more prone to have Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) after ACS attack (O.R = 1.2, P = 0.6). CC genotype had a risk to get less improvement (O.R = 1.6, P = 0.5), so might require higher doses of captopril during acute coronary insult. The AT1R gene (rs275651) AA genotype was associated with UA (O.R = 1.3, P = 0.9). AA and AT genotypes were more prone to have PCI after ACS attack (O.R = 3.9 P = 0.2, O.R = 3.5, P = 0.3 respectively) and thus requiring higher doses of captopril. We conclude that the AT1R rs5186, rs275651 genetic polymorphisms might partially affect the clinical outcome of ACS patients treated with captopril and might have captopril resistance which requires higher doses.     

An analysis of review content and reviewer variables that contribute to review helpfulness

Review helpfulness is attracting increasing attention of practitioners and academics. It helps in reducing risks and uncertainty faced by users in online shopping. This study examines uninvestigated variables by looking at not only the review characteristics but also important indicators of reviewers. Several significant review content and two reviewer variables are proposed and an effective review helpfulness prediction model is built using stochastic gradient boosting learning method. This study derived a mechanism to extract novel review content variables from review text. Six popular machine learning models and three real-life Amazon review data sets are used for analysis. Our results are robust to several product categories and along three Amazon review data sets. The results show that review content variables deliver the best performance as compared to the reviewer and state-of-the-art baseline as a standalone model. This study finds that reviewer helpfulness per day and syllables in review text strongly relates to review helpfulness. Moreover, the number of space, aux verb, drives words in review text and productivity score of a reviewer are also effective predictors of review helpfulness. The findings will help customers to write better reviews, help retailers to manage their websites intelligently and aid customers in their product purchasing decisions.     

Food (in)security communication: a Journal of Applied Communication Research forum addressing current challenges and future possibilities

ABSTRACT

This forum brings together food, (in)security, and communication. The authors participating in this forum center communication as both process and tool for understanding, mitigating, and making meaning of food (in)security. The nine authors together discuss the role of communication in food (in)security, the central challenges for scholars and practitioners working on food (in)security, and the creative possibilities and impacts influencing the future of food (in)security. The forum produces a call for applied scholars to re-imagine communication frameworks in order to make meaningful differences in their communities.     

Accurate assessment of the brake torque on a rope-braked cycle ergometer

Sports Engineering - A Monark cycle ergometer is a device globally used in physiological studies to measure the work and energy levels of exercising humans. In this paper a rope-braked cycle...     

RESEARCH SECTION: Examining the nature and perceived causes of indiscipline in Zimbabwean secondary schools

The problem of student indiscipline is an issue of concern for teachers and parents around the world. Teachers need to maintain student discipline and for them to do so it is important that they also understand the nature of discipline problems. This study, by Lawrence Kofi Ametepee, who is studying for a PhD in special education, Morgan Chitiyo, board certified behaviour analyst and Assistant Professor of Special Education, both at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, USA, and Susan Abu, who is currently a graduate student in the Department of Women's Studies at Texas Women's University, was designed to examine the nature and perceived causes of student indiscipline in Zimbabwean secondary schools. The authors anticipate that such an examination will promote teachers’, parents’ and policy makers’ understanding of student indiscipline, which will, in turn, enhance disciplinary policies and practices, making schools safer for all students and more effective in their role as educational and socialising agents.