Comparison of blood RNA isolation methods from samples stabilized in Tempus tubes and stored at a large human biobank

Additional file 3. Evaluation of reference gene stability. The non-normalized raw Cq-values of reference small ncRNAs for adult (n=12 Tempus tubes) and cord blood (n=3 Tempus tubes) samples collected in the Tempus tubes of the blood-RNA samples isolated using the three RNA isolation protocols

Molecular level structure of biodegradable poly(delta-valerolactone) obtained in the presence of boric acid

In this study, low molecular weight poly(δ-valerolactone) (PVL) was synthesized through bulk-ring openings polymerization of δ-valerolactone with boric acid (B(OH)₃) as a catalyst and benzyl alcohol (BnOH) as an initiator. The resulting homopolymer was characterized with the aid of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and mass spectrometry (MS) techniques to gain further understanding of its molecular structure. The electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) spectra of poly(δ-valerolactone) showed the presence of two types of homopolyester chains-one terminated by benzyl ester and hydroxyl end groups and one with carboxyl and hydroxyl end groups. Additionally, a small amount of cyclic PVL oligomers was identified. To confirm the structure of PVL oligomers obtained, fragmentation of sodium adducts of individual polyester molecules terminated by various end groups was explored in ESI-MSn by using collision induced dissociation (CID) techniques. The ESI-MSn analyses were conducted both in positive- and negative ion mode. The comparison of the fragmentation spectra obtained with proposed respective theoretical fragmentation pathways allowed the structure of the obtained oligomers to be established at the molecular level. Additionally, using matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS), it was proven that regardless of the degree of oligomerization, the resulting PVL samples were a mixture of two types of linear PVL oligomers differing in end groups and containing just a small amount of cyclic oligomers that tended to be not visible at higher molar masses

Forensic engineering of advanced polymeric materials—part V: Prediction studies of aliphatic–aromatic copolyester and polylactide commercial blends in view of potential applications as compostable cosmetic packages

The main aim of the present study was to determine the behavior of the specimens from Ecovio, in the form of dumbbell-shaped samples and films, during degradation in selected cosmetic ingredients such as water and paraffin. The (bio)degradation test of the prototype cosmetic package (sachet) made from a PBAT (poly[(1,4-butylene adipate)-co-(1,4-butylene terephthalate)]) and PLA (polylactide) blend was investigated under industrial composting conditions, and compared with the sample behavior during incubation in cosmetic media at 70 °C. During the degradation tests, the changes of the samples were evaluated using optical microscopy, 1H NMR (proton nuclear magnetic resonance) and GPC (gel permeation chromatography) techniques. The structures of the degradation products were investigated using ESI-MSn (mass spectrometry with electrospray ionization on positive and negative ions) analysis. The thermal properties of selected materials were determined by DSC (differential scanning calorimetry) and TGA (thermogravimetric analysis) analysis. It was concluded that the PBAT and PLA blend studied had a good stability during aging in cosmetic media, and could be recommended for long-shelf-life compostable packaging of cosmetics, especially with oily ingredients.National Science Centre, Poland (grant numbers 2016/21/D/ST8/01993, 2013/11/B/ST5/02222), University of Wolverhampto

Therapeutic efficacy of chloroquine and sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine against Plasmodium falciparum infection in Somalia

Study on the therapeutic efficacy of treatments based on chloroquine and sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine in cases of malaria (Plasmodium falciparum) in Merka and Gabiley, Somalia.Daraasaad ku saabsan waxtarka ku daaweynta chloroquine iyo sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine cudurka duumada, degaannada soomaaliyeed ee Marka iyo Gabiley.Studio sull'efficacia terapeutica di trattamenti a base di clorochina e sulfadossina/pirimetamina nei casi di malaria (Plasmodium falciparum) a Merka e Gabiley, Somalia

Best Practice in Working with the Somali Population

Since the early 1990s, the state of Minnesota has had an unprecedented increase in refugees from Somalia. These individuals have emigrated from a war-zone country and arrived in the United States with a range of trauma-related injuries and mental health issues. As a result, Somali individuals and families who have migrated to the United States will require physical and mental health support. There is, however, a lack of research on effective interventions with Somali individuals and families. With the stigma that surrounds mental health and negative cultural views of mental health in the Somali population, practitioners at Comunidades Latinas Unidas En Servicio (CLUES) are interested in identifying best practices in working with the Somali population. The main purpose of this project is to gain knowledge about best practices in working with Somali individuals and families to address their mental health issues. The result will help fill the gap in the literature on how to overcome the cultural barriers and serve the mental health needs of Somali individuals and their families. Research Question: The purpose of this project is to identify evidence-based practices in working with Somali individuals and families requiring mental health interventions and services. Best Practices in working with the Somali Population

An integrated search-based approach for automatic testing from extended finite state machine (EFSM) models

This is the post-print version of the Article - Copyright @ 2011 ElsevierThe extended finite state machine (EFSM) is a modelling approach that has been used to represent a wide range of systems. When testing from an EFSM, it is normal to use a test criterion such as transition coverage. Such test criteria are often expressed in terms of transition paths (TPs) through an EFSM. Despite the popularity of EFSMs, testing from an EFSM is difficult for two main reasons: path feasibility and path input sequence generation. The path feasibility problem concerns generating paths that are feasible whereas the path input sequence generation problem is to find an input sequence that can traverse a feasible path. While search-based approaches have been used in test automation, there has been relatively little work that uses them when testing from an EFSM. In this paper, we propose an integrated search-based approach to automate testing from an EFSM. The approach has two phases, the aim of the first phase being to produce a feasible TP (FTP) while the second phase searches for an input sequence to trigger this TP. The first phase uses a Genetic Algorithm whose fitness function is a TP feasibility metric based on dataflow dependence. The second phase uses a Genetic Algorithm whose fitness function is based on a combination of a branch distance function and approach level. Experimental results using five EFSMs found the first phase to be effective in generating FTPs with a success rate of approximately 96.6%. Furthermore, the proposed input sequence generator could trigger all the generated feasible TPs (success rate = 100%). The results derived from the experiment demonstrate that the proposed approach is effective in automating testing from an EFSM

Estimating the feasibility of transition paths in extended finite state machines

There has been significant interest in automating testing on the basis of an extended finite state machine (EFSM) model of the required behaviour of the implementation under test (IUT). Many test criteria require that certain parts of the EFSM are executed. For example, we may want to execute every transition of the EFSM. In order to find a test suite (set of input sequences) that achieves this we might first derive a set of paths through the EFSM that satisfy the criterion using, for example, algorithms from graph theory. We then attempt to produce input sequences that trigger these paths. Unfortunately, however, the EFSM might have infeasible paths and the problem of determining whether a path is feasible is generally undecidable. This paper describes an approach in which a fitness function is used to estimate how easy it is to find an input sequence to trigger a given path through an EFSM. Such a fitness function could be used in a search-based approach in which we search for a path with good fitness that achieves a test objective, such as executing a particular transition, and then search for an input sequence that triggers the path. If this second search fails then we search for another path with good fitness and repeat the process. We give a computationally inexpensive approach (fitness function) that estimates the feasibility of a path. In order to evaluate this fitness function we compared the fitness of a path with the ease with which an input sequence can be produced using search to trigger the path and we used random sampling in order to estimate this. The empirical evidence suggests that a reasonably good correlation (0.72 and 0.62) exists between the fitness of a path, produced using the proposed fitness function, and an estimate of the ease with which we can randomly generate an input sequence to trigger the path

Generating a checking sequence with a minimum number of reset transitions

Given a finite state machine M, a checking sequence is an input sequence that is guaranteed to lead to a failure if the implementation under test is faulty and has no more states than M. There has been much interest in the automated generation of a short checking sequence from a finite state machine. However, such sequences can contain reset transitions whose use can adversely affect both the cost of applying the checking sequence and the effectiveness of the checking sequence. Thus, we sometimes want a checking sequence with a minimum number of reset transitions rather than a shortest checking sequence. This paper describes a new algorithm for generating a checking sequence, based on a distinguishing sequence, that minimises the number of reset transitions used.This work was supported in part by Leverhulme Trust grant number F/00275/D, Testing State Based Systems, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada grant number RGPIN 976, and Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council grant number GR/R43150, Formal Methods and Testing (FORTEST)

Using genetic algorithms to generate test sequences for complex timed systems

The generation of test data for state based specifications is a computationally expensive process. This problem is magnified if we consider that time con- straints have to be taken into account to govern the transitions of the studied system. The main goal of this paper is to introduce a complete methodology, sup- ported by tools, that addresses this issue by represent- ing the test data generation problem as an optimisa- tion problem. We use heuristics to generate test cases. In order to assess the suitability of our approach we consider two different case studies: a communication protocol and the scientific application BIPS3D. We give details concerning how the test case generation problem can be presented as a search problem and automated. Genetic algorithms (GAs) and random search are used to generate test data and evaluate the approach. GAs outperform random search and seem to scale well as the problem size increases. It is worth to mention that we use a very simple fitness function that can be eas- ily adapted to be used with other evolutionary search techniques