scholarly journals Molecular evidence ofBurkholderia pseudomalleigenotypes based on geographical distribution

PeerJ ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. e1802 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noorfatin Jihan Zulkefli ◽  
Vanitha Mariappan ◽  
Kumutha Malar Vellasamy ◽  
Chun Wie Chong ◽  
Kwai Lin Thong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sequence Analysis ◽  
Genetic Relatedness ◽  
The Other ◽  
Molecular Evidence ◽  
Asian Countries ◽  
Unifrac Distance ◽  
Environmental Perturbations ◽  
Soil Isolate ◽  
Geographical Regions ◽  
A Cell

Background.Central intermediary metabolism (CIM) in bacteria is defined as a set of metabolic biochemical reactions within a cell, which is essential for the cell to survive and respond to environmental perturbations. The genes associated with CIM are commonly found in both pathogenic and non-pathogenic strains. As these genes are involved in vital metabolic processes of bacteria, we explored the efficiency of the genes in genotypic characterization ofBurkholderia pseudomalleiisolates, compared with the established pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and multilocus sequence typing (MLST) schemes.Methods.Nine previously sequencedB. pseudomalleiisolates from Malaysia were characterized by PFGE, MLST and CIM genes. The isolates were later compared to the other 39B. pseudomalleistrains, retrieved from GenBank using both MLST and sequence analysis of CIM genes. UniFrac and hierachical clustering analyses were performed using the results generated by both MLST and sequence analysis of CIM genes.Results.Genetic relatedness of nine MalaysianB. pseudomalleiisolates and the other 39 strains was investigated. The nine Malaysian isolates were subtyped into six PFGE profiles, four MLST profiles and five sequence types based on CIM genes alignment. All methods demonstrated the clonality of OB and CB as well as CMS and THE. However, PFGE showed less than 70% similarity between a pair of morphology variants, OS and OB. In contrast, OS was identical to the soil isolate, MARAN. To have a better understanding of the genetic diversity ofB. pseudomalleiworldwide, we further aligned the sequences of genes used in MLST and genes associated with CIM for the nine Malaysian isolates and 39B. pseudomalleistrains from NCBI database. Overall, based on the CIM genes, the strains were subtyped into 33 profiles where majority of the strains from Asian countries were clustered together. On the other hand, MLST resolved the isolates into 31 profiles which formed three clusters. Hierarchical clustering using UniFrac distance suggested that the isolates from Australia were genetically distinct from the Asian isolates. Nevertheless, statistical significant differences were detected between isolates from Malaysia, Thailand and Australia.Discussion.Overall, PFGE showed higher discriminative power in clustering the nine MalaysianB. pseudomalleiisolates and indicated its suitability for localized epidemiological study. Compared to MLST, CIM genes showed higher resolution in distinguishing those non-related strains and better clustering of strains from different geographical regions. A closer genetic relatedness of Malaysian isolates with all Asian strains in comparison to Australian strains was observed. This finding was supported by UniFrac analysis which resulted in geographical segregation between Australia and the Asian countries.

scholarly journals Teaching innovations in Asian higher education: perspectives of educators

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 179-190 ◽  
Author(s):  
T.M. Wong
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
The Other ◽  
Asian Countries ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Advanced Technologies ◽  
The Many

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify the teaching innovations that have been implemented in higher education institutions in Asia and the perspectives of educators on them. Design/methodology/approach Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 28 educators who were affiliated with 23 higher education institutions in ten Asian countries/regions. The interviews covered information about the teaching innovations of the participants’ institutions, the characteristics of the innovative practices and the participants’ views on them. The relationships between the characteristics of institutions and their teaching innovations were also examined. Findings The results showed that the teaching innovations included two main categories, namely, those which involved the use of advanced technologies and those which did not. The innovations that involved the use of advanced technologies were mainly from larger institutions, while the other category was mainly from smaller ones and had been practised for less than 1.5 years. Differences were also identified between the two categories in terms of the aims and importance of innovations, innovative features, the evaluation of innovations and improvements needed for them. Originality/value The results highlighted that technology is only one of the many aspects of teaching innovations, which is different from the view prevailing in the literature. They also suggested that differences in the scale of institutions (in terms of number of students) possibly influences the kind of teaching innovations adopted.

scholarly journals MICRURGICAL STUDIES IN CELL PHYSIOLOGY

1926 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Reznikoff
Keyword(s):  
Heavy Metals ◽  
Metal Cation ◽  
Surface Membrane ◽  
The Other ◽  
Contractile Vacuole ◽  
Toxic Action ◽  
Cell Physiology ◽  
Relative Toxicity ◽  
A Cell

I. Plasmalemma. 1. The order of toxicity of the salts used in these experiments on the surface membrane of a cell, taking as a criterion viability of amebæ immersed in solutions for 1 day, is HgCl2, FeCl3> AlCl3> CuCl2> PbCl2> FeCl2. Using viability for 5 days as a criterion, the order of toxicity is PbCl2> CuCl2> HgCl2> AlCl3> FeCl3> FeCl2. 2. The rate of toxicity is in the order FeCl3> HgCl2> AlCl3> FeCl2> CuCl2> PbCl2. 3. The ability of amebæ to recover from a marked tear of the plasmalemma in the solutions of the salts occurred in the following order: AlCl3> PbCl2> FeCl2> CuCl2> FeCl3> HgCl2. II. Internal Protoplasm. 4. The relative toxicity of the salts on the internal protoplasm, judged by the recovery of the amebæ from large injections and the range over which these salts can cause coagulation of the internal protoplasm, is in the following order: PbCl2> CuCl2> FeCl3> HgCl2> FeCl2> AlCl3. 5. AlCl3 in concentrations between M/32 and M/250 causes a marked temporary enlargement of the contractile vacuole. FeCl2, FeCl3, and CuCl3 produce a slight enlargement of the vacuole. 6. PbCl2, in concentrations used in these experiments, appears to form a different type of combination with the internal protoplasm than do the other salts. III. Permeability. 7. Using the similarity in appearance of the internal protoplasm after injection and after immersion to indicate that the surface is permeable to a substance in which the ameba is immersed, it is concluded that AlCl3 can easily penetrate the intact plasmalemma. CuCl2 also seems to have some penetrating power. None of the other salts studied give visible internal evidence of penetrability into the ameba. IV. Toxicity. 8. The toxic action of the chlorides of the heavy metals used in these experiments, and of aluminum, is exerted principally upon the surface of the cell and is due not only to the action of the metal cation but also to acid which is produced by hydrolysis.

scholarly journals The Interiority of Proximity Between Nature and Architecture in Contemporary and Tropically Context with Cases Studies

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-144
Author(s):  
Budi Pradono
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Temperature Difference ◽  
Air Conditioning ◽  
The Other ◽  
Asian Countries ◽  
Tropical Countries ◽  
Large Cities ◽  
Tropical Climates ◽  
The Relationship

The interiority of buildings in tropical countries requires specific characteristics unlike those in countries with four distinct seasons. Buildings in non-tropical climates must protect their inhabitants from extreme weather, meaning that the architecture’s connection with nature is necessarily limited by a boundary which can withstand extreme climatic differences. In tropical countries, on the other hand, the temperature does not fluctuate much throughout the year, so the temperature difference between seasons is not extreme. This characteristic is reflected in traditional Nusantara architecture, which incorporates a breathable wall so that free winds come in, reducing heat. The roof is tilted or saddled-shaped to keep rain water away from the building. The architecture uses organic materials and includes terraces for dialogue with nature. Modern Indonesian architecture, however, particularly in large cities, is mostly closed off, severely limiting the interaction with nature. Since the advent of air conditioning (AC) technology during the 1980’s, architecture has changed to seal the boundaries of the building. Advances in information technology such as Internet and smartphones have made for further changes to architecture in the area; some functional spaces are being discarded, while others are expanded. The relationship between architecture and nature is now constrained by impenetrable materials such as brick, concrete and glass, as opposed to the more traditional, permeable boundary. In contrast to this trend, modern Indonesian society is tempted to form a closer relationship with nature. This paper examines how a relationship between nature and the interior of buildings may be accommodated again, presenting some existing projects by several architects from Europe and Asian countries—including the authors’ own work—as case studies.

scholarly journals Intercultural practicum: Perceptual learning through video in the pandemic context

Teachers Work ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (1and2) ◽  
pp. 56-72
Author(s):  
Dawn Joseph ◽  
Richard Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Perceptual Learning ◽  
International Student ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
The Other ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Cultural Environment ◽  
Asian Countries ◽  
The Social ◽  
Travel Restrictions

In our work with Australian initial teacher education (ITE) students our emphasis is on encouraging students to understand different cultural practices. Drawing on narrative reflection, we discuss intercultural and pedagogical concerns in which ITE students undertake international practicums. We recognise these students have a predominantly Western lens when undertaking practicums in Asian countries. To address this issue a video A Day in the Life… of Tamil School Children (https://youtu.be/vPdiogRR-Ig) in India was produced to change, improve and help students learn about the social and cultural environment of the ‘international student’. Students who took part in previous international practicums agreed that the video was an effective tool for cultural familiarisation. During this time of COVID-19 with travel restrictions abroad, the video resource serves as an effective visual pedagogy to build cultural understanding, embrace diversity, enable perceptual learning and empowering students to cultivate intercultural understandings of ‘the other’.

scholarly journals Numerical Simulation of a Textured and Untextured Photovoltaic Solar Cell: Comparative study

2021 ◽  
Vol 03 (01) ◽  
pp. 104-114
Author(s):  
Karim Salim ◽  
◽  
M.N Amroun ◽  
K Sahraoui ◽  
W Azzoui ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Simulation ◽  
Solar Cells ◽  
Solar Cell ◽  
Comparative Study ◽  
Silicon Solar Cell ◽  
The Other ◽  
Surface Parameters ◽  
Cell Efficiency ◽  
Photovoltaic Solar Cell ◽  
A Cell

Increasing the efficiency of solar cells relies on the surface of the solar cell. In this work, we simulated a textured silicon solar cell. This simulation allowed us to predict the values of the surface parameters such as the angle and depth between the pyramids for an optimal photovoltaic conversion where we found the Icc: 1.783 (A) and Vco: 0.551 (V) with a cell efficiency of about 13.56%. On the other hand, we performed another simulation of a non-textured solar cell to compare our values and found Icc: 1.623 (A) and Vco: 0.556 (V) with an efficiency of about 12.76%.

scholarly journals Corruption and Government Intervention on Bank Risk-Taking: Cases of Asian Countries

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 228-237
Author(s):  
Rizky Maulana Nurhidayat ◽  
Rofikoh Rokhim
Keyword(s):  
South Korea ◽  
Risk Taking ◽  
Government Intervention ◽  
The Other ◽  
Bank Risk ◽  
Asian Countries ◽  
Dummy Variables ◽  
Macroeconomic Variables ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Impact

This paper aims to addresses the impact of corruption, anti-corruption commission, and government intervention on bank’s risk-taking using banks in Asian Countries such as  Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and South of Korea during the period 1995-2016. This paper uses corruption variable, bank-specific variables, macroeconomic variables, dummy variables and interaction variable to estimate bank’s risk-taking variable. Using data from 76 banks in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and South Korea over 21 years, this research finds consistent evidence that higher level of corruption and government intervention in crisis-situation will increase the risk-taking behaviour of banks. In the other hand, bank risk-taking behaviour minimized by the existence of anti-corruption commission. In addition, this paper also finds that government intervention amplifies corruption’s effect on bank’s risk-taking behaviour because of strong signs of moral hazard and weaknesses in the governance and supervision.

Tandem Conveyor Queues

1989 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 517-536
Author(s):  
F. Baccelli ◽  
E.G. Coffman ◽  
E.N. Gilbert
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Value Problem ◽  
Joint Distribution ◽  
Queueing System ◽  
The Other ◽  
Riemann Boundary Value Problem ◽  
Riemann Boundary ◽  
Special Cases ◽  
A Cell ◽  
Service Times ◽  
Input Position

This paper analyzes a queueing system in which a constant-speed conveyor brings new items for service and carries away served items. The conveyor is a sequence of cells each able to hold at most one item. At each integer time, a new cell appears at the queue's input position. This cell holds an item requiring service with probability a, holds a passerby requiring no service with probability b, and is empty with probability (1– a – b). Service times are integers synchronized with the arrival of cells at the input, and they are geometrically distributed with parameter μ. Items requiring service are placed in an unbounded queue to await service. Served items are put in a second unbounded queue to await replacement on the conveyor in cells at the input position. Two models are considered. In one, a served item can only be placed into a cell that was empty on arrival; in the other, the served item can be placed into a cell that was either empty or contained an item requiring service (in the latter case unloading and loading at the input position can take place in the same time unit). The stationary joint distribution of the numbers of items in the two queues is studied for both models. It is verified that, in general, this distribution does not have a product form. Explicit results are worked out for special cases, e.g., when b = 0, and when all service times are one time unit (μ = 1). It is shown how the analysis of the general problem can be reduced to the solution of a Riemann boundary-value problem.

Protozapotecia acaxetlensis and Protozapotecia oyametlensis, two new earthworm species (Crassiclitellata: Acanthodrilidae) from Mexican central mountains

Zootaxa ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 4496 (1) ◽  
pp. 431 ◽  
Author(s):  
GABRIELA CERVANTES ◽  
CARLOS FRAGOSO
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Morphological Characteristic ◽  
The Other ◽  
Molecular Evidence ◽  
Central Mexico ◽  
Earthworm Species ◽  
Two New Species ◽  
Membranous Septum

Two earthworm species from central Mexico are described: Protozapotecia acaxetlensis sp. nov. and Protozapotecia oya-metlensis sp. nov. Delimitation of species was supported by morphological and molecular evidence. The two new species differ from the other species of Protozapotecia by the position of the prostates in segments 18 and 20. This morphological characteristic relates them to the genus Diplocardia, from which they differ by the presence of two gizzards separated by a muscular septum (Protozapotecia), instead of two gizzards fused as one, separated by a thin membranous septum in intersegment 5/6 (Diplocardia).

Analyse de la morphogenèse du pied des Oiseaux à l'aide de mélanges cellulaires interspécifiques

Development ◽  
1973 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 175-196
Author(s):  
Par Marie-Paule Pautou
Keyword(s):  
Cell Suspension ◽  
The Other ◽  
Composite Type ◽  
A Cell ◽  
Species Specific ◽  
Host Embryo

Morphogenesis of the feet of birds, studied in limbs developed from reaggregated heterospecific mesoderm Experiments were undertaken to determine whether species-specific characters of chick and duck mesodermal leg-bud cells are retained after dissociation and reaggregation in homoand heterospecific mixtures. Prospective zeugopod and autopod mesoderm from chick and/or duck leg buds were isolated, dissociated into a cell suspension and pelleted by centrifugation. The reaggregated mesoderm was packed into a leg-bud ectodermal jacket; the recombined leg bud was then grafted on the wing stump of a host embryo. Recombinants whose mesoderm was a homospecific reaggregate developed into typical chick or duck leg parts according to the specific origin of the mesodermal component; the feet of nearly all these legs lacked antero-posterior polarity. Recombinants containing heterospecific reaggregates were also capable of forming reasonably organized leg structures. The foot was not, as a rule, of the specific type expected of the majority component. In a mixture of 75% chick mesoderm cells and 25% duck mesoderm cells, the feet which developed were either of chick type or of composite chick/duck type, where typical chick areas were next to typical or aberrant (steganoid) duck areas. When the ratio was reversed (25% chick, 75% duck), the majority of the feet were again of chick type or of composite chick/duck type, the typical duck phenotype being exceptional. Even in a mixture of 10% chick cells and 90% duck cells, duck-type feet were not obtained. They were all of composite type: half of their interdigital zones were of chick type, the other half were occupied, in most cases, by underdeveloped, indented webbing or by one or several discrete flaps, and, in a few cases, by normal webbing. The vast majority of the feet developed from heterospecific mesoderm were characterized by the profusion of the toes, which were not polarized along the a–p axis.

Establishment of gut fate in the E lineage of C. elegans: the roles of lineage-dependent mechanisms and cell interactions

Development ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 118 (4) ◽  
pp. 1267-1277 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Goldstein
Keyword(s):  
Cell Interactions ◽  
The Other ◽  
Cell Contact ◽  
Cell Stage ◽  
C Elegans ◽  
Daughter Cells ◽  
Intact Embryo ◽  
A Cell ◽  
Random Position ◽  
Recombination Experiments

The gut of C. elegans derives from all the progeny of the E blastomere, a cell of the eight cell stage. Previous work has shown that gut specification requires an induction during the four cell stage (Goldstein, B. (1992) Nature 357, 255–257). Blastomere isolation and recombination experiments were done to determine which parts of the embryo can respond to gut induction. Normally only the posterior side of the EMS blastomere contacts the inducing cell, P2. When P2 was instead placed in a random position on an isolated EMS, gut consistently differentiated from the daughter of EMS contacting P2, indicating that any side of EMS can respond to gut induction. Additionally, moving P2 around to the opposite side of EMS in an otherwise intact embryo caused EMS's two daughter cells to switch lineage timings, and gut to differentiate from the descendents of what normally would be the MS blastomere. The other cells of the four cell stage, ABa, ABp, and P2, did not form gut when placed in contact with the inducer. To determine whether any other inductions are involved in gut specification, timed blastomere isolations were done at the two and eight cell stages. In the absence of cell contact at the two cell stage, segregation of gut fate proceeded normally at both the two and four cell stages. Gut fate also segregated properly in the absence of cell contact at the eight cell stage. A model is presented for the roles of lineage-dependent mechanisms and cell interactions in establishing gut fate in the E lineage.

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