scholarly journals Biochemical response of Sonneratia alba Sm. branches infested by a wood boring moth (Gazi Bay, Kenya)

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (11) ◽  
pp. e0259261
Author(s):  
Elisha Mrabu Jenoh ◽  
Mohamed Traoré ◽  
Charles Kosore ◽  
Nico Koedam

Infestation by a moth woodborer species is causing mortality of Sonneratia alba Sm. mangrove by tunneling through the inner bark, cambium and conductive tissue. Infestation leads to death of some infested branches, whereas in other cases infested branches have been observed to recover from infestation. We have used Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) to investigate the differences in macromolecule (polysaccharide and lignin) content present in branches that died (D) of the infestation, those that recovered (R) from the infestation and control branches (C) that were not subject to any infestation. Wood samples were taken from four sampling plots (A, B, C and D) in Gazi Bay (Kenya). From each of the four plots, 15 S. alba branches were taken from five trees, from which 1 cm thick discs were cut from each of these branches to be used as samples. To identify the most characteristic FTIR bands for the three groups of samples, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was applied on the transposed data matrix. Furthermore, canonical discriminant analysis was applied on the data considering the main FTIR band that would be identified through the PCA factors. Finally, One-way ANOVA and post hoc test were used to verify the significance of the observed trends. Branches that recovered from infestation had higher relative abundance of lignified cells. We conclude that insect-infested S. alba undergo changes related to the lignocellulosic contents. The infestation induces a decrease of the proportion of the polysaccharide content and an increase of the proportion of the lignin contents.

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 71-77
Author(s):  
MENTARI A. JELITA ◽  
JULIA R. TANJUNG ◽  
IGNATIO R. HARYONO ◽  
NAWANTO A. PRASTOWO

Background: There is increasing evidence that practicing tai chi or yoga can improve the elderly’s physical performance. This study aimed to compare the effects of tai chi and yoga on balance and leg muscle strength in the elderly. Material & Methods: This cross-sectional study involved 90 elderly persons who practice tai chi (n = 36), yoga (n = 23), and a control group (n = 31). The balance function was assessed using the single-leg stance (SLS) test, while leg muscle strength (LMS) was assessed using a leg-back dynamometer. A Chi-square, Spearman rank test, one-way ANOVA with LSD post hoc were applied. The significance was set at p<0.05. Results: One-way ANOVA showed a difference in LMS and SLS between groups (p<0.01). LSD post hoc analysis found the difference in LMS between tai chi and yoga (64.3 vs. 41.5, p<0.01) and tai chi and control (64.3 vs. 30.4, p<0.01). The difference was also found in SLS between tai chi and control (36.7 vs. 6.2, p<0.01) and between yoga and control (41.4 vs. 6.2, p<0.01). Conclusion: Elderly persons who participated in tai chi and yoga demonstrated higher LMS and SLS performance than the sedentary participants. The tai chi group showed better muscle strength than the yoga group.


2013 ◽  
Vol 804 ◽  
pp. 141-145
Author(s):  
Xiu Lan Chen ◽  
Huang Qin Chen

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of liquid polishing system (BisCover) on color stability of the bleached enamel upon exposure to a staining agent-red wine. Forty specimens were prepared. They were divided into 2 groups and different procedures, including only bleaching with Opalescence PF (PF) or Opalescence regular (R) gels, and application of BisCover after blaeching (PF-B, R-B) were used. Unbleached specimens were served as control groups (control-1 and control-2). The specimens were stored for 48 h in red wine. The color of all specimens was measured before and after exposure with a spectrophotometer, and total color change (ΔE*) were calculated. The data were analyzed with a one-way ANOVA and the means were compared by Tukeys post hoc analysis (α=0.05). PF-B and R-B groups demonstrated significantly less color change than PF and R groups. the control-1 and control-2 groups had the least color change. No significant difference were observed between PF and R group. BisCover improved the color stability of bleached enamel in red wine.


2020 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasemin Taşcı ◽  
Rahime Bedir Fındık ◽  
Meryem Kuru Pekcan ◽  
Ozan Kaplan ◽  
Mustafa Çelebier

Background: Metabolomics is one of the main areas to understand cellular process at molecular level by analyzing metabolites. In recent years metabolomics has been emerged as key tool to understand molecular basis of disease, find diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers, and develop new treatment opportunities and drug molecules. Objective: In this study, an untargeted metabolite and lipid analysis were performed to identify potential biomarkers on premature ovarian insufficiency plasma samples. 43 POI subject plasma samples were compared with 32 healthy subject plasma samples. Methods: Plasma samples were pooled and extracted using chloroform:methanol:water (3:3:1 v/v/v) mixture. Agilent 6530 LC/MS Q-TOF instrument equipped with ESI source was used for analysis. A C18 column (Agilent Zorbax 1.8 μM, 50 x 2.1 mm) was used for separation of metabolites and lipids. XCMS, an “R software” based freeware program, was used for peak picking, grouping and comparing the findings. Isotopologue Parameter Optimization (IPO) software was used in order to optimize XCMS parameters. The analytical methodology and data mining process were validated according to the literature. Results: 83 metabolite peaks and 213 lipid peaks were found to be in semi-quantitatively and statistically different (fold change >1.5, p <0.05) between the POI plasma samples and control subjects. Conclusion: According to the results, two groups were successfully separated through principal component analysis. Among the peaks, phenyl alanine, decanoyl-L-carnitine, 1-palmitoyllysophosphatidylcholine and PC(O-16:0/2:0) were identified through auto MS/MS and matched with human metabolome database and proposed as plasma biomarker for POI and monitoring the patients in treatment period.


1990 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Drahomír Hnyk

The principal component analysis has been applied to a data matrix formed by 7 usual substituent constants for 38 substituents. Three factors are able to explain 99.4% cumulative proportion of total variance. Several rotations have been carried out for the first two factors in order to obtain their physical meaning. The first factor is related to the resonance effect, whereas the second one expresses the inductive effect, and both together describe 97.5% cumulative proportion of total variance. Their mutual orthogonality does not directly follow from the rotations carried out. With the help of these factors the substituents are divided into four main classes, and some of them assume a special position.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. e000648
Author(s):  
Swetha Bindu Velaga ◽  
Muneeswar Gupta Nittala ◽  
Michael S Ip ◽  
Luc Duchateau ◽  
SriniVas R Sadda

Background/aimsOASIS is a Phase IIIb trial (NCT01429441) assessing long-term outcomes in subjects with symptomatic vitreomacular adhesion (VMA). The purpose of this study is to report on the frequency, severity, location and time course of ellipsoid zone (EZ) alterations in ocriplasmin-treated and sham control eyes in the OASIS study.Methods220 patients (146 ocriplasmin, 74 sham) subjects with VMA were enrolled in this masked post hoc analysis phase IIIb, randomised, sham-controlled double-masked multicentre clinical trial. A masked post hoc analysis of OCT images was performed at the Doheny Image Reading Center from subjects enrolled in the OASIS trial. The status of the EZ band was assessed in three different macular regions: the central subfield (CS) (≤1 mm diameter), the parafoveal area (PAA) (>1 to ≤3 mm) and the perifoveal area (PEA) (>3 to ≤6 mm). The EZ band was rated as normal/intact, full thickness macular hole (FTMH), abnormal but continuous, discontinuous/disrupted or absent at visits from baseline (pretreatment) to week 1 (day 7), month 1 (day 28), month 3, month 6, month 12 and the final follow-up at month 24. EZ band status was compared in both study and control eyes.ResultsA total of 208 patients (138 ocriplasmin, 70 sham) were included in this analysis. At baseline, FTMH was present in 48.6%, 8.0%, 0% and 52.8%, 2.9%, 0% in the CS, PAA and PEA of the ocriplasmin and sham groups, respectively. The EZ was graded to be abnormal but continuous, discontinuous/disrupted or absent at Baseline in 21.0%, 4.3%, 2.8% in the CS, PAA and PEA, respectively, of the ocriplasmin group; and 12.9%, 10.0%, 4.3% in the CS, PAA and PEA of the sham group. For the ocriplasmin group in the PAA, this frequency increased to 6.6% at week 1, was 9.8% at month 1, but improved to 3.8% at month 3, and remained stable to 1.6% at month 24. These differences, however, were not statistically significant.ConclusionsOcriplasmin treatment for symptomatic VMA was associated with EZ abnormalities in a small percentage of patients that was best assessed in regions (PEA) relatively unaffected by the VM interface disease at baseline. The EZ abnormalities were apparent by week 1, persisted at month 1, and appeared to resolve in the majority of cases by month 3.Trial registration numberNCT01429441


Algorithms ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 174
Author(s):  
Wenxiao Zhao

The stochastic approximation algorithm (SAA), starting from the pioneer work by Robbins and Monro in 1950s, has been successfully applied in systems and control, statistics, machine learning, and so forth. In this paper, we will review the development of SAA in China, to be specific, the stochastic approximation algorithm with expanding truncations (SAAWET) developed by Han-Fu Chen and his colleagues during the past 35 years. We first review the historical development for the centralized algorithm including the probabilistic method (PM) and the ordinary differential equation (ODE) method for SAA and the trajectory-subsequence method for SAAWET. Then, we will give an application example of SAAWET to the recursive principal component analysis. We will also introduce the recent progress on SAAWET in a networked and distributed setting, named the distributed SAAWET (DSAAWET).


2019 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 210-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
GC Lopes ◽  
J Perdigão ◽  
D Baptista ◽  
A Ballarin

SUMMARY Objective: To compare the effect of hydrofluoric acid (HF) vs self-etching ceramic primer on resin cement microshear bond strength (μSBS) and ultramorphology of lithium disilicate (LD) ceramic. Methods and Materials: LD (IPS e.max CAD, Ivoclar Vivadent) blocks (14×4×2 mm3) were polished to 1200 grit and assigned to nine groups (n=5): CON: control, no LD surface treatment; IVO: 5.0% HF (IPS Ceramic Etching Gel, Ivoclar Vivadent); VIT: 5.0% HF (Vita Ceramics Etch, VITA Zahnfabrik); FGM: 5.0% HF (Condac Porcelana, FGM); ULT: 9.0% HF (Porcelain Etch, Ultradent); PRM: 9.6% HF (Premier Porcelain Etch Gel, Premier); BIS: 9.5% HF (Porcelain Etchant, Bisco Inc); DEN: 10.0% HF (Condicionador de Porcelanas, Dentsply Brazil); and MEP: self-etching ceramic primer (Monobond Etch & Prime, Ivoclar Vivadent). For all HF groups and control, an MDP-containing silane solution (MB+, Monobond Plus, Ivoclar Vivadent) was applied on rinsing the HF gel and air drying. Three transparent matrices for each specimen were filled with light-cured resin cement (Variolink Veneer, Ivoclar Vivadent). After storage in water for 48 hours at 37°C, specimens were tested in shear mode to measure μSBS. Mode of failure was analyzed at 50×. Statistical analysis included one-way analysis of variance and the Duncan post hoc test (α=0.05). Thirty-six additional LD specimens were assigned to the same experimental groups (n=4) and observed under a field-emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) at magnifications ranging from 10,000× to 100,000×. Results: IVO resulted in statistically higher mean μSBS than all the other groups. MEP resulted in statistically lower μSBS than all HF groups. The failure mode for MEP was predominantly adhesive. The most frequent failure mode for the HF groups was mixed. CON resulted in 100% pretesting failures. For FESEM, no retentive pattern was observed for CON specimens. MEP resulted in the least pronounced etching pattern, few areas around crystals exhibited a slight increase in retention pattern compared to the control group. All HF gels created microporosities on the LD surface with distinct etching patterns. VIT and DEN resulted in an LD ultramorphology that suggested overetching. Conclusions: HF etching followed by a silane solution resulted in higher bond strengths than a self-etching ceramic primer. Some HF gels may cause overetching of the LD intaglio surface.


2021 ◽  
pp. 108286
Author(s):  
Stefania Colonnese ◽  
Panos P. Markopoulos ◽  
Gaetano Scarano ◽  
Dimitris A. Pados

2020 ◽  
pp. 209653112093024
Author(s):  
Hengjun Tang ◽  
Wee Tiong Seah ◽  
Qiaoping Zhang ◽  
Weizhong Zhang

Purpose: Research has confirmed that students’ mathematics values significantly affect their mathematics learning. Accordingly, understanding how students’ values form and change, especially during different learning stages, is an important topic. Design/Approach/Methods: This study administered a questionnaire to investigate the values of primary, junior high, and senior high school students in Eastern China. A principal component analysis was conducted to investigate the factor structure of the students’ learning values. Then, paired sample t-tests were used to examine the differences in the two continuous categories ranking of each group, and a one-way analysis of variance with a Brown–Forsythe test was used to test the differences in the ranking of each dimension by the different grade-level groups. Findings: We found that students’ mathematics learning values consist of seven elements: culture, memorization, technology, objectism, practice, understanding, and control. Students placed different degrees of importance on these seven elements at different learning stages. Additionally, we found that junior high school is a critical period of change in students’ values. Originality/Value: These findings will be invaluable to teachers and educators as they reflect on their teaching approaches. Moreover, the findings that students’ values undergo changes in the course of their schooling are important information for educators seeking to foster students’ learning.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucy S. Martin ◽  
Stanislav Jelavić ◽  
Simon M. Cragg ◽  
Lisbeth G. Thygesen

We fed furfurylated and control wood to gribble. Our results imply that furfurylation of wood protects against degradation by gribble without the reliance on broad spectrum biocides and can reduce costs associated with damaged wooden structures.


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