Cross-sectional associations between variations in ankle shape by statistical shape modeling, injury history, and race : the Johnston County Osteoarthritis Project

Rheumatology Research Foundation Medical Student Preceptorship Award (Lateef/Nelson), NIAMS K23 AR061406 (Nelson); NIH/NIAMS P60AR064166 and U01DP003206 (Jordan/Renner), NIH/NIAMS R01AR067743 (Golightly). The funders had no role in study design; collection, analysis, or interpretation of data; writing the manuscript or the decision to submit for publication.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

PENERAPAN MODEL PEMBELAJARAN TIPE PICTURE AND PICTURE DALAM MENINGKATKAN HASIL BELAJAR DI KELAS VIII SMP NEGERI 2 PEULIMBANG

Banda Ace

Towards Energy Efficient Relay Placement and Load Balancing in Future Wireless Networks

This paper presents an energy efficient relay deployment algorithm that determines the optimal location and number of relays for future wireless networks, including Long Term Evolution (LTE)-Advanced heterogeneous networks. We formulate an energy minimization problem for macro-relay heterogeneous networks as a Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) problem. The proposed algorithm not only optimally connects users to either relays or eNodeBs (eNBs), but also allows eNBs to switch into inactive mode. This is possible by enabling relay-to-relay communication which forms the basis for relays to act as donors for neighboring relays instead of eNBs. Moreover, it relaxes traffic load of some eNBs in order to allow them to enter the inactive mode. We characterize the optimal as well as provide an approximate solution, which, however, performs very closely to the optimum. Our performance evaluation shows that an optimal relay deployment with relays acting as donors can significantly improve system energy efficiency

In vitro antimicrobial activity of total sesquiterpene lactones and phenols isolated from some Iraqi plants

The antimicrobial potency of the crude ethanolic extracts from different Iraqi plants were evaluated . Further more, total sesquiterpene lactones and phenolic compounds were isolated and their antimicrobial activity attempted. The results indicated that crude extracts have no activity except that of Callistemon lanceolatus. Also, the sesquiterpene lactones and phenolic compounds isolated from Callistemon lanceolatus were the most significant antimicrobial active constituents of the studied plants

Developmental Diplomacy in a Globalised World: The Imperatives of Soft Power in Nigeria’s External Relations under the Transformation Agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan

The intricate link between the domestic context and Nigerian foreign policy making was central to the analyses made in this work. From the soft power perspective it was observed that the Transformation Agenda, of the present administration, could dramatically bolster Nigeria’s status in this era of Globalisation. Using a descriptive analysis and an eclectic framework, the study revealed that, if the growing rate of foreign investment is sustained, the foreign policy strategy of the government will effectively transform the country for good. In the end, it was recommended that the problems of insecurity and poor infrastructural facilities should be decisively tackled, to enhance the foreign policy capability of the country. Keywords: Globalisation, Development-Diplomacy, Foreign Policy, Soft-Power, and Transformation Agenda

From the polling booths to the courtrooms : challenges of strict application of time frame in judicial contestation of election disputes in Nigeria

After her longest military interregnum spanning almost two decades since 1984, Nigeria returned to a democratic system of government in May 1999. By May 2019, five presidential and other national and sub-national elections were held in the country. Virtually all of these elections were characterized by intense political strives and electoral malpractices of varying degrees, leading to the challenging of elections in the election petition tribunals and other courts, long after the conclusion of the polls. This challenge has heightened the spate of judicialization of politics-the practice of excessive utilization of the courts for adjudication of core political matters in the country. But a significant by-product of judicialization of politics in Nigeria is the apparent relegation of substantial justice and possible miscarriage of justice arising from a resort to a technicality in the strict interpretation and enforcement of time frame for such adjudications. This paper, using a doctrinal research methodology of relying on primary and secondary sources of information, shows that the current strict interpretation of the constitutional provisions on the time limit for adjudication of electoral disputes defeats the essence of substantial justice and impacts negatively on the role of the judiciary in social engineering. For comparative constitutional purposes, the paper also juxtaposes the practice in Kenya, another country in Africa with electoral disputation experiences, with the practice in Nigeria. The paper concludes that a review of the law is imperative and then makes somerecommendations

Rodent herpesvirus Peru encodes a secreted chemokine decoy receptor

Viruses have long been studied not only for their pathology and associated disease but also as model systems for understanding cellular and immunological processes. Rodent herpesvirus Peru (RHVP) is a recently characterized rhadinovirus related to murine gammaherpesvirus 68 (MHV68) and Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) that establishes acute and latent infection in laboratory mice. RHVP encodes numerous unique proteins that we hypothesize might facilitate host immune evasion during infection. We report here that open reading frame (ORF) R17 encodes a high-affinity chemokine binding protein that broadly recognizes human and murine CC and C chemokines. The interaction of R17 with chemokines is generally characterized by rapid association kinetics, and in the case of CCL3, CCL4, CCL5, CCL24, and XCL1, extremely stable complexes are formed. Functionally, R17 potently inhibited CCL2-driven chemotaxis of the human monocytic cell line THP-1, CCL3-driven chemotaxis of peripheral blood mononuclear cells, and CCL2-mediated calcium flux. Our studies also reveal that R17 binds to glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) in a process dependent upon two BBXB motifs and that chemokine and GAG binding can occur simultaneously at distinct sites. Collectively, these studies suggest that R17 may play a role in RHVP immune evasion through the targeted sabotage of chemokine-mediated immune surveillance

Molecular Identification and Diversity of Pestalotiopsis, Neopestalotiopsis and Pseudopestalotiopsis Species from Four Host Plants in Sarawak, Borneo Island (Malaysia)

Until recently, Pestalotiopsis species have been identified based on host relationship and conidial dimensions. Pestalotiopsis species occur as endophytes, saprobes and also pathogens of many plant hosts. This study used molecular phylogenetic relationships based on ITS sequence data to identify Pestalotiopsis, Neopestalotiopsis and Pseudopestalotiopsis species in addition to their conidial pigmentation from four host plants namely Macaranga triloba, Macaranga sp., Shorea macrophylla and Syzygium sp. Based on the molecular phylogenetic analysis of 18 Pestalotiopsis-like isolates from the four different host plants, the isolates clustered separately into three clades corresponding to their conidial morphology and conidial median cell pigmentation as Neopestalotiopsis, Pestalotiopsis, and Pseudopestalotiopsis irrespective of their host plant association. Among the four host plants studied, S. macrophylla hosts the highest diversity of Pestalotiopsis-like species while Syzygium sp. had the lowest diversity. This is the first report on the molecular phylogenetics and diversity of Pestalotiopsis, Neopestalotiopsis and Pseudopestalotiopsis species from Sarawak, Malaysia in line with recent re-classification in the genus. New records of Pestalotiopsis-like species were also recorded on new host plants