scholarly journals Indoor Fungal Concentration in the Homes of Allergic/Asthmatic Children in Delhi, India

2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. ar.2011.2.0005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rashmi Sharma ◽  
Ravi Deval ◽  
Vikash Priyadarshi ◽  
Shailendra N. Gaur ◽  
Ved P. Singh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Airborne Fungi ◽  
Air Samples ◽  
Asthmatic Children ◽  
Fungal Exposure ◽  
Air Sampler ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Different Seasons ◽  
Substantial Concentration ◽  
The Difference ◽  
And Control

Allergy to fungi has been linked to a wide range of illnesses, including rhinitis and asthma. Therefore, exposure to fungi in home environment is an important factor for fungal allergy. The present study was aimed to investigate types of airborne fungi inside and outside the homes of asthmatic children and control subjects (nonasthmatic children). The dominant fungi were evaluated for their quantitative distribution and seasonal variation. The air samples were collected from indoors and immediate outdoors of 77 selected homes of children suffering from bronchial asthma/allergic rhinitis using Andersen volumetric air sampler. The isolated fungal genera/species were identified using reference literature, and statistical analysis of the dominant fungi was performed to study the difference in fungal concentration between indoor and immediate outdoor sites as well as in between different seasons. A total of 4423 air samples were collected from two indoor and immediate outdoor sites in a 1-year survey of 77 homes. This resulted in the isolation of an average of 110,091 and 107,070 fungal colonies per metric cube of air from indoor and outdoor sites, respectively. A total of 68 different molds were identified. Different species of Aspergillus, Alternaria, Cladosporium, and Penicillium were found to be the most prevalent fungi in Delhi homes, which constituted 88.6% of the total colonies indoors. Highest concentration was registered in autumn and winter months. Total as well as dominant fungi displayed statistically significant differences among the four seasons (p < 0.001). The largest number of isolations were the species of Aspergillus ( >40% to total colony-forming units in indoors as well as outdoors) followed by Cladosporium spp. Annual concentration of Aspergillus spp. was significantly higher (p < 0.05) inside the homes when compared with outdoors. Most of the fungi also occurred at a significantly higher (p < 0.001) rate inside the homes when compared with immediate outdoors. Asthmatic children in Delhi are exposed to a substantial concentration of mold inside their homes as well as immediate outdoor air. The considerable seasonal distributions of fungi provide valuable data for investigation of the role of fungal exposure as a risk for respiratory disorders among patients suffering from allergy or asthma in Delhi.

scholarly journals Recovery of Fungal Cells from Air Samples: a Tale of Loss and Gain

2019 ◽  
Vol 85 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamza Mbareche ◽  
Marc Veillette ◽  
Wieke Teertstra ◽  
Willem Kegel ◽  
Guillaume J. Bilodeau ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dna Extraction ◽  
Fungal Diversity ◽  
Fungal Spores ◽  
Cell Loss ◽  
Airborne Fungi ◽  
Culture Methods ◽  
Fungal Cell ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Air Samples ◽  
Fungal Exposure

ABSTRACTThere are limitations in establishing a direct link between fungal exposure and health effects due to the methodology used, among other reasons. Culture methods ignore the nonviable/uncultivable fraction of airborne fungi. Molecular methods allow for a better understanding of the environmental health impacts of microbial communities. However, there are challenges when applying these techniques to bioaerosols, particularly to fungal cells. This study reveals that there is a loss of fungal cells when samples are recovered from air using wet samplers and aimed to create and test an improved protocol for concentrating mold spores via filtration prior to DNA extraction. Results obtained using the new technique showed that up to 3 orders of magnitude more fungal DNA was retrieved from the samples using quantitative PCR. A sequencing approach with MiSeq revealed a different diversity profile depending on the methodology used. Specifically, 8 fungal families out of 19 families tested were highlighted to be differentially abundant in centrifuged and filtered samples. An experiment using laboratory settings showed the same spore loss during centrifugation forAspergillus nigerandPenicillium roquefortiistrains. We believe that this work helped identify and address fungal cell loss during processing of air samples, including centrifugation steps, and propose an alternative method for a more accurate evaluation of fungal exposure and diversity.IMPORTANCEThis work shed light on a significant issue regarding the loss of fungal spores when recovered from air samples using liquid medium and centrifugation to concentrate air particles before DNA extraction. We provide proof that the loss affects the overall fungal diversity of aerosols and that some taxa are differentially more affected than others. Furthermore, a laboratory experiment confirmed the environmental results obtained during field sampling. The filtration protocol described in this work offers a better description of the fungal diversity of aerosols and should be used in fungal aerosol studies.

Abnormalities in taste preference in hypothyroid rats.

1977 ◽  
Vol 232 (1) ◽  
pp. E80
Author(s):  
R S Rivlin ◽  
M Osnos ◽  
S Rosenthal ◽  
R I Henkin
Keyword(s):  
Radioactive Iodine ◽  
Taste Preference ◽  
Test Solution ◽  
Quinine Sulfate ◽  
Taste Preferences ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Ad Libitum ◽  
The Difference ◽  
And Control

Rats made hypothyroid by administration of radioactive iodine and age-matched controls were individually caged and offered a choice between either water or varying concentraions of sweet (sucrose), bitter (quinine sulfate), salty (NaCl) or sour HCl solutions to drink ad libitum for 48 h periods. Comparative measurements were made of the volume of test solution consumed to that of total volume consumed and were expressed as taste preferences. Throughout a wide range of concentrations, taste preferences for sucrose were significantly lower (P less than 0.001) and those for quinine sulfate and NaCl significantly higher (P less than 0.001) in hypothyroid animals than in controls. Taste preferences for HCl were generally similar in both groups. Daily intraperitoneal injections of thyroxine, 10 mug/100 g body wt. to hypothyroid rats for 18-24 days eliminated completely the difference between hypothyroid and control rats in taste preference for quinine sulfate. These studies show that significant and reversible changes in taste preferences occur in rats rendered hypothyroid with radioactive iodine.

Comparative Effects of High-Tech Visual Scene Displays and Low-Tech Isolated Picture Symbols on Engagement From Students With Multiple Disabilities

2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 693-702 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Holyfield ◽  
Sydney Brooks ◽  
Allison Schluterman
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Augmentative And Alternative Communication ◽  
Visual Analysis ◽  
Multiple Disabilities ◽  
Visual Scene ◽  
Future Research ◽  
High Tech ◽  
Single Subject ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Difference

Purpose Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) is an intervention approach that can promote communication and language in children with multiple disabilities who are beginning communicators. While a wide range of AAC technologies are available, little is known about the comparative effects of specific technology options. Given that engagement can be low for beginning communicators with multiple disabilities, the current study provides initial information about the comparative effects of 2 AAC technology options—high-tech visual scene displays (VSDs) and low-tech isolated picture symbols—on engagement. Method Three elementary-age beginning communicators with multiple disabilities participated. The study used a single-subject, alternating treatment design with each technology serving as a condition. Participants interacted with their school speech-language pathologists using each of the 2 technologies across 5 sessions in a block randomized order. Results According to visual analysis and nonoverlap of all pairs calculations, all 3 participants demonstrated more engagement with the high-tech VSDs than the low-tech isolated picture symbols as measured by their seconds of gaze toward each technology option. Despite the difference in engagement observed, there was no clear difference across the 2 conditions in engagement toward the communication partner or use of the AAC. Conclusions Clinicians can consider measuring engagement when evaluating AAC technology options for children with multiple disabilities and should consider evaluating high-tech VSDs as 1 technology option for them. Future research must explore the extent to which differences in engagement to particular AAC technologies result in differences in communication and language learning over time as might be expected.

COMBINATORIAL POLYNOMIALLY COMPUTABLE CHARACTERISTICS OF SUBSTITUTIONS AND THEIR PROPERTIES

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 34-41
Author(s):  
VLADIMIR NIKONOV ◽  
◽  
ANTON ZOBOV ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Mathematical Expectation ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Small Range ◽  
Computational Point ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Bijective Function ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Element Base ◽  
Selection Of

The construction and selection of a suitable bijective function, that is, substitution, is now becoming an important applied task, particularly for building block encryption systems. Many articles have suggested using different approaches to determining the quality of substitution, but most of them are highly computationally complex. The solution of this problem will significantly expand the range of methods for constructing and analyzing scheme in information protection systems. The purpose of research is to find easily measurable characteristics of substitutions, allowing to evaluate their quality, and also measures of the proximity of a particular substitutions to a random one, or its distance from it. For this purpose, several characteristics were proposed in this work: difference and polynomial, and their mathematical expectation was found, as well as variance for the difference characteristic. This allows us to make a conclusion about its quality by comparing the result of calculating the characteristic for a particular substitution with the calculated mathematical expectation. From a computational point of view, the thesises of the article are of exceptional interest due to the simplicity of the algorithm for quantifying the quality of bijective function substitutions. By its nature, the operation of calculating the difference characteristic carries out a simple summation of integer terms in a fixed and small range. Such an operation, both in the modern and in the prospective element base, is embedded in the logic of a wide range of functional elements, especially when implementing computational actions in the optical range, or on other carriers related to the field of nanotechnology.

Analysis of the horizontal structure of a measurement and control geodetic network based on entropy

2013 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Mrówczyńska
Keyword(s):  
Geodetic Network ◽  
The State ◽  
Observation System ◽  
Optimum Number ◽  
Optimum Structure ◽  
Horizontal Structure ◽  
The Difference ◽  
And Control ◽  
Measurement And Control ◽  
Horizontal Displacements

Abstract The paper attempts to determine an optimum structure of a directional measurement and control network intended for investigating horizontal displacements. For this purpose it uses the notion of entropy as a logarithmical measure of probability of the state of a particular observation system. An optimum number of observations results from the difference of the entropy of the vector of parameters ΔHX̂ (x)corresponding to one extra observation. An increment of entropy interpreted as an increment of the amount of information about the state of the system determines the adoption or rejection of another extra observation to be carried out.

Generalized Heterodyne Configurations for Photo-induced Force Microscopy

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Le Wang ◽  
Devon Jakob ◽  
Haomin Wang ◽  
Alexis Apostolos ◽  
Marcos M. Pires ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Resolution ◽  
Repetition Rate ◽  
Modulation Frequency ◽  
High Harmonic ◽  
Chemical Imaging ◽  
Heterodyne Detection ◽  
Force Microscopy ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Afm Cantilever

<div>Infrared chemical microscopy through mechanical probing of light-matter interactions by atomic force microscopy (AFM) bypasses the diffraction limit. One increasingly popular technique is photo-induced force microscopy (PiFM), which utilizes the mechanical heterodyne signal detection between cantilever mechanical resonant oscillations and the photo induced force from light-matter interaction. So far, photo induced force microscopy has been operated in only one heterodyne configuration. In this article, we generalize heterodyne configurations of photoinduced force microscopy by introducing two new schemes: harmonic heterodyne detection and sequential heterodyne detection. In harmonic heterodyne detection, the laser repetition rate matches integer fractions of the difference between the two mechanical resonant modes of the AFM cantilever. The high harmonic of the beating from the photothermal expansion mixes with the AFM cantilever oscillation to provide PiFM signal. In sequential heterodyne detection, the combination of the repetition rate of laser pulses and polarization modulation frequency matches the difference between two AFM mechanical modes, leading to detectable PiFM signals. These two generalized heterodyne configurations for photo induced force microscopy deliver new avenues for chemical imaging and broadband spectroscopy at ~10 nm spatial resolution. They are suitable for a wide range of heterogeneous materials across various disciplines: from structured polymer film, polaritonic boron nitride materials, to isolated bacterial peptidoglycan cell walls. The generalized heterodyne configurations introduce flexibility for the implementation of PiFM and related tapping mode AFM-IR, and provide possibilities for additional modulation channel in PiFM for targeted signal extraction with nanoscale spatial resolution.</div>

PENINGKATAN KEMANDIRIAN BELAJAR SISWA SMP MELALUI PEMBELAJARAN BERBASIS MASALAH

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tanti Jumaisyaroh Siregar
Keyword(s):  
Problem Based Learning ◽  
Mathematic Teacher ◽  
Self Regulated Learning ◽  
Regulated Learning ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
Independent Variable ◽  
Direct Learning ◽  
The Difference ◽  
And Control ◽  
Learning Data

The purposes of this research were to know: the difference of improvement in self-regulated learning of students that given problem-based learning with students that given  direct learning. The type of this research is a quasi-experimental research by taking samples from the existing population. The variable of this research consist of independent variable that is problem based learning model while the dependent variable isself regulated learning of student.The population of this research is all students of SMP Swasta Ar-rahman Percut and the sample of this research is grade eight with taken sample two classes (experiment and control)  with total 60 students. The instrument of this research were: scale of self-regulated learning. Data that have been collected then analyzed and performed hypothesis testing by using T-test. Based of the results analysis, it showed that: improvment  of the students’ self-regulated learning that given problem-based learning was higher than the students’ ability that given direct learning His then, suggested that problem-based learning be used as an alternative for mathematic teacher to improved students’ ability in mathematical critical thinking and self-regulated learning.

FINANCIAL CONTROLLING IN THE SYSTEM OF FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 137-141
Author(s):  
Petya Yordanova – Dinova
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Financial Management ◽  
Financial Stability ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Innovative Approach ◽  
Financial Sustainability ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Effective Use ◽  
And Control

This paper explores the comparative analysis of the financial controlling, who is a result from the common controlling concept and the financial management. In the specialized literature, financial controlling is seen as an innovative approach to financial management. It is often presented as the most promising instrument of financial diagnostics. Generally speaking, financial controlling is seen as a process of managing the company`s assets which are valued in monetary measures. The difference between the financial management and the financial controlling is that the second covers all functions of management, analysis and control of finances, aiming at maximizing their effective use and increasing the value of the enterprise. Financial controlling is often seen as a function of the common practice of financial management. Its objective is to preserve the financial stability and financial sustainability of enterprises operating in a highly aggressive business environment.

THE SOME QUESTIONS OF AUTONOMOUS MOTION AND MANAGEMENT OF LAND-MOBILE ROBOTIC COMPLEXES FOR UKRAINIAN GROUND FORCESE

2019 ◽  
pp. 53-58
Author(s):  
О. Кravchuk ◽  
V. Symonenkov ◽  
I. Symonenkova ◽  
O. Hryhorev
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Distributed Information ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Highly Effective ◽  
Information Management Systems ◽  
Robotic Devices ◽  
Principles And Standards ◽  
And Control ◽  
The Eu

Today, more than forty countries of the world are engaged in the development of military-purpose robots. A number of unique mobile robots with a wide range of capabilities are already being used by combat and intelligence units of the Armed forces of the developed world countries to conduct battlefield intelligence and support tactical groups. At present, the issue of using the latest information technology in the field of military robotics is thoroughly investigated, and the creation of highly effective information management systems in the land-mobile robotic complexes has acquired a new phase associated with the use of distributed information and sensory systems and consists in the transition from application of separate sensors and devices to the construction of modular information subsystems, which provide the availability of various data sources and complex methods of information processing. The purpose of the article is to investigate the ways to increase the autonomy of the land-mobile robotic complexes using in a non-deterministic conditions of modern combat. Relevance of researches is connected with the necessity of creation of highly effective information and control systems in the perspective robotic means for the needs of Land Forces of Ukraine. The development of the Armed Forces of Ukraine management system based on the criteria adopted by the EU and NATO member states is one of the main directions of increasing the effectiveness of the use of forces (forces), which involves achieving the principles and standards necessary for Ukraine to become a member of the EU and NATO. The inherent features of achieving these criteria will be the transition to a reduction of tasks of the combined-arms units and the large-scale use of high-precision weapons and land remote-controlled robotic devices. According to the views of the leading specialists in the field of robotics, the automation of information subsystems and components of the land-mobile robotic complexes can increase safety, reliability, error-tolerance and the effectiveness of the use of robotic means by standardizing the necessary actions with minimal human intervention, that is, a significant increase in the autonomy of the land-mobile robotic complexes for the needs of Land Forces of Ukraine.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document