PPAR Ligands Induce Antiviral Effects Targeting Perturbed Lipid Metabolism during SARS-CoV-2, HCV, and HCMV Infection

The manipulation of host metabolisms by viral infections has been demonstrated by several studies, with a marked influence on the synthesis and utilization of glucose, nucleotides, fatty acids, and amino acids. The ability of virus to perturb the metabolic status of the infected organism is directly linked to the outcome of the viral infection. A great deal of research in recent years has been focusing on these metabolic aspects, pointing at modifications induced by virus, and suggesting novel strategies to counteract the perturbed host metabolism. In this review, our attention is turned on PPARs, nuclear receptors controlling multiple metabolic actions, and on the effects played by PPAR ligands during viral infections. The role of PPAR agonists and antagonists during SARS-CoV-2, HCV, and HCMV infections will be analyzed.

Ghana

This chapter investigates the politics of parliamentary debates in Ghana, a country that combines a hybrid presidential regime with a candidate-centered electoral system. Although these features place Ghana as a typical case in which parliamentary rules grant more leeway to individual MPs, our analysis reveals a more complex scenario that defies conventional wisdom. The partial linkage between the legislative and parliamentary branches gives the executive strong agenda-setting powers; moreover, party leadership’s marked influence in the way business in the House unfolds means that there is a skewed playing field, which curtails individual MPs’ access to the floor. The empirical section draws on an original dataset of legislative debates from 2005 through 2019 to examine the determinants of floor access in the Ghanaian parliament. Three findings merit highlighting. First, female MPs are less likely to be selected to speak, and their speeches are significantly shorter when compared to those of male MPs. Second, seniority and exposure to parliament increase the chances of participating in a debate. Third, party leaders have most access to the floor, followed by committee chairs and ministers. However, female MPs who are members of the party leadership speak significantly less than their male counterparts.

Majority and popularity effects on norm formation in adolescence

Personal norms consist of individuals’ attitudes about the appropriateness of behaviour. These norms guide adolescents’ behaviour in countless domains that are fundamental for their social functioning and well-being. Peers are known to have a marked influence on adolescent risk-taking and prosocial behaviour, but little is known about how peers shape personal norms underlying those behaviours. Here we show that adolescents’ personal norms are decisively moulded by the norms of the majority and popular peers in their social network. Our experiment indicates that observing peer norms substantially impacts adolescents’ normative evaluation of risk-taking and prosocial behaviours. The majority norm had a stronger impact than the norm of a single popular peer, and norm adjustments were largest when adolescents observed strong disapproval of risk-taking or strong approval of prosocial behaviour. Our study suggests that learning about peer norms likely promotes adolescents to hold views and values supporting socially desirable behaviour.

Introduction

This chapter reviews the rise and fall of Wu and Yue, two rival states located in southeastern China during the late Spring and Autumn period from 771 to 475 BCE. It draws inspiration from several poems, vernacular stories, and dramas that marked influence on Chinese literature. It also contains a mixture of historical accounts and fictional tales focusing on anomalies and supernatural events that are subjects of criticism in the Analects and often celebrate revenge and intrigues. The chapter looks at materials that are unredacted reflections of the thoughts and intellectual interests of the Eastern Han. It explains the dynamic period of the Eastern Han when jinwen, guwen, chenwei, apocryphal doctrines, and other religions and philosophies vied for dominance in the marketplace of ideas.

Leibniz and Wolf: critical foundations of the idea of scientific revolution in philosophy

This article reveals the critical content of the idea of scientific revolution in Wolff's philosophy and shows Leibniz's contribution to its formation. Although Wolff's goal was to reform the method of philosophizing on the model of Euclid's geometry, which was based on the Cartesian idea of achieving certainty by clarifying concepts, this clarification Wolff in the sense of Leibniz sees in such an analysis of concepts that would accurately establish a connection between them and show the possibility of the object that expresses this concept. Wolff sees the critical meaning of his method in the fact that by analyzing the concepts to link all concepts and statements into a single system, which was based on consistent grounds and would not contain unproven propositions. This would, according to Wolf, remove from philosophy all the concepts, the objects of which were not possible, and statements that could not be proved. Leibniz's idea of concept analysis also formed the basis of his notion of philosophy as the science of the possible. The critical meaning of this concept of philosophy in Wolff, as in Leibniz, was to limit the subject of philosophy only to the realm of the possible. Although the main critical ideas underlying Wolff's philosophical system were formulated by Leibniz, Wolf's system was still the fruit of his genius. Many of his critical ideas were groundbreaking and had a marked influence on the further development of philosophy. These include, first of all, the requirement to preface the construction of a system of philosophy with research the cognitive abilities of the human mind. However, his attempts to build a universal system of knowledge led to the leveling of the critical content of some of Leibniz's demands, which led to the accusation of him and Leibniz of atheism and fatalism.

Conducting a medical examination in the COVID-19 era: an Egyptian experience

Background On 12 December 2019, a severe respiratory disease was recently reported in Wuhan, known as COVID-19 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The coronavirus crisis has unequivocally had a marked influence on medical education, particularly in terms of the delivery of assessment. Institutions were forced to implement several changes to medical exam due to COVID-19 pandemic. Written exams were carried out online. Clinical exams were repeatedly canceled or postponed this year. Some institutions carried out clinical exams using remote OSCE stations or without patients. We present our experience in conducting the medical exam in the COVID-19 era. Main body Medical exam of the Egyptian Fellowship was canceled in 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic. The candidates were disappointed and increasingly anxious. After 1 year delay, the internal medicine board decided to carry out the exam after implementing several changes. Changes included the written and clinical exams. The medical exam was successfully conduced in the COVID-19 era. Conclusion Conducting a medical exam in the COVID-19 era carries a great challenge for the institutions. Institutions should allow for some degree of flexibility when carrying out exams to prevent suffering of the candidates from the difficult circumstances.

EVALUATION OF THE REPRODUCTIVE PROBLEMS OF FRIESIANS, BUNAJI AND CROSSED COWS IN A SUBTROPICAL ENVIRONMENT

Herd health fertility records of 248 cows comprising 103 Friesians, 84 Bunaji and 61 Crossbreeds in Vom from 1992-1999 were utilized to study the incidence of reproductive problems. The overall incidence of various reproductive problems was 54.4% and this was more frequent (P<0.001) in crossbred cows (72.6%) than in Friesians, (59.9%) and in Bunaji (32.7%). Second Calvers (67.1%) were more susceptible (P<0.01) to reproductive problems than heifers (56.0%) and mature cows (45.3%). The incidence of still birth (8.10%) and relative infertility (8.2%), were influenced by genotype (P<0.05); similarly genotypic differences (P<0.001) were observed in the incidence of retained placenta (7.4%). Abortion (5.6%), dystocia (12.2%) and repeat breeding (12.5%) were uniformly distributed among genotypes. Parity of dams had marked influence (P<0.001) on dystocia, still birth and retained placenta. Significant differences (P<0.0l) were also observed on the incidence of relative infertility, but the rate of dystocia (P<0.01), abortion and repeat breeding (P<0.001) varied with the years. The results emphasize the need for greater management intervention to reduce the incidence of reproductive problems in sub tropical cattle herds.

Salamanca 25 Years Later: A Commentary on Residual Dialogues of Disability and Diversity

The concepts, premises, and promises of inclusive schooling as a global movement crystallized atUNESCO’s 1994 World Conference on Special Needs Education in Salamanca. Despite their marked influence over the past 25 years, the Salamanca documents also ushered in a set of continuing challenges. Using the documents as a departure point, this paper addresses three main areas: UNESCO’s role in erecting an architecture for inclusive schooling; core issues that arose in the Salamanca documents, particularly relating to contentious debates about the audience for inclusive schooling; and continuing issues in interpreting the Salamanca directions.

Nightmare Distress, Beliefs about Nightmares, and Personality

A variety of factors contribute to nightmare distress; in addition to nightmare frequency also beliefs about nightmares can be associated with heightened nightmare distress. The study investigated the personality correlates of beliefs about nightmares and whether these beliefs mediate the relationship between gender, neuroticism, and nightmare distress. Overall, 1214 persons (716 women, 498 men) completed the dream questions and the Big Five Personality Inventory online. The beliefs about nightmares scale was related to neuroticism and openness to experience. However, the regression analysis indicated that a variety of factors like beliefs about nightmares, gender, neuroticism, and agreeableness contributed to nightmare distress independently from nightmare frequency. Given the marked influence of beliefs about nightmares on nightmare distress, it would be very interesting to study the effect of psycho-education presenting modern etiological models of nightmares on nightmare distress.

PENGARUH JUMLAH SMU, JUMLAH GURU DAN JUMLAH RUANG KELAS TERHADAP JUMLAH MURID YANG TERDAPAT DI PROVINSI LAMPUNG

This study aims to determine whether there is influence that signikan between Number of High School , Number of Teachers and the number of students who are in the province of Lampung. This study uses a quantitative study using SPSS software to get results afterwards analysis. Data get from the Central Statistics Agency website Lampung Province. The result showed a marked influence between variables Number of Pupils with Variable Number of High School, Total Number of Classroom and number of Teachers and either partially or collectively – together. Abstrak Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui apakah ada pengaruh yang signikan antara Jumlah SMU, Jumlah Guru dan Jumlah murid yang terdapat di provinsi Lampung. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode penelitian kuantitatif dengan menggunakan program SPSS untuk mendapatkan hasilnya setelah itu baru dilakukan analisis. Data di dapatkan dari website Badan Pusat Statistik Provinsi Lampung. Hasilnya menunjukan adanya pengaruh yang nyata antara variabel Jumlah Murid dengan Variabel Jumlah SMU, Jumlah Guru dan Jumlah Ruang Kelas baik itu secara parsial ataupun secara bersama – sama. Kata Kunci : Jumlah Murid, Jumlah SMU, Jumlah Guru, Jumlah Ruang Kelas