Pair Group Research Articles

Timing of the repeat thyroid fine-needle aspiration biopsy: does early repeat biopsy change the rate of nondiagnostic or atypia of undetermined significance cytology result?

To determine whether early repeat fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNA) has an effect on adequate or atypia of undetermined significance (AUS) cytology rates in thyroid nodules with inadequate or AUS result in the first FNA. Nodules of patients who underwent repeat biopsy due to insufficient or AUS cytology between 2019-2022 were included. Data of the patients and ultrasonographic, cytological and histopathological results of the nodules were recorded. Additionally, the time between the two biopsies was noted. The first was called "initial" and the second was called "rebiopsy". Five different paired groups were formed according to the time between two consecutive biopsies; before and after 1 month, 45 days, 2 months, 3 months, and 6 months. The groups were compared in terms of adequate and AUS cytological results. We evaluated 1129 patients with 2187 nodules undergoing FNAB. After excluding nodules with one FNA result and/or missing data, 966 nodules of 628 patients who underwent FNA at least twice were included. Initial cytology was nondiagnostic (ND) in 665 (30.4%) and AUS in 301 (13.8%) nodules. The mean age of the patients was 52.0 ± 11.9 years, and the female sex ratio was 78.8% (n = 495). There were no differences in adequate or AUS rebiopsy results according to the different time interval groups (p > 0.05 for all). AUS result was statistically insignificantly more frequent in nodules with initially AUS nodules when rebiopsy was performed before 1 month in comparison to after 1 month (53.8%, 27.1%; p = 0.054). Accuracy of rebiopsy was also similar in the time intervals groups (p > 0.05 for all). In patients with inadequate or AUS initial biopsy, the rate of adequate or AUS cytology results at rebiopsy did not vary with the timing of repeat biopsy indicating that there may be no need to wait 1 month for a repeat biopsy. In patients with suspicious nodules, biopsy might be repeated before 1 month.

PHYLOGENETIC STUDY OF TEN SPECIES FROM CENTAUREA (ASTERACEAE) IN DUHOK CITY, KURDISTAN REGION-IRAQ

The current research aimed to estimate the evolutionary relationships of ten Centaurea L. species growing naturally in the Duhok City, Kurdistan region of Iraq. The combing Start Codon Targeted (SCoT) markers with Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) gene region barcode were performed. To detect the DNA sequence variations and phylogenetic tree reconstruction, the Dice similarity matrix, the unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA) clustering and Maximum Likelihood (ML) methods were applied. 104 polymorphic bands were scored with an average of 10.4. The Polymorphic Information Content (PIC) and Resolving Power (Rp) values ranged between (0.24 to 0.36) and 3.4 in primer (SCoT1) to 12 in primer (SCoT53) with an average of 0.319 and 5.74 respectively. The lowest similarity value was 0.52 between C. behen L. and C. solstitialis L., while the highest was 0.82 between C. balsamita and C. rigida. The reconstructed polytomous dendrogram was as follows: clade one; C. solstitialis L.; clade 2, C. balsamita Lam. and C. virgata Lam.; clade three subdivide into two subclades: C. iberica Trev. ex Spreng., C. hayalolepis Boiss., C. brugueriana (DC) Hand. Mazz. and C. gigantea Sch. Bip. Ex Boiss., C. regia Boiss., C. rigida Banks & Sol., C. behen Lam. Furthermore, C. brugueriana (DC) Hand. Mazz., C. iberica Trev. ex Spreng, C. behen L., C. solstiotialis L. and C. balsamita Lam. were nested with National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). In contrast, the remaining taxa were mixed with other closely related species. Thus, ScoT markers and ITS DNA barcode were considerably effective for investigating the evolutionary relationships of Centaurea taxa.

Impact of diet change on the gut microbiome of common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus).

Appropriate diet and health of the common marmoset in captivity are essential both for the welfare of the animal and to improve experimental outcomes. Our study shows that a gel diet compared to a biscuit diet improves the health of a marmoset colony, is linked to increases in Bifidobacterium species, and increases the removal of molecules associated with disease. The diet transition had an influence on the molecular changes at both the pair and time point group levels, but only at the pair level for the microbial changes. It appears to be more important which genes and functions present changed rather than specific microbes. Further studies are needed to identify specific components that should be considered when choosing an appropriate diet and additional supplementary foods, as well as to validate the benefits of providing probiotics. Probiotics containing Bifidobacterium species appear to be useful as probiotic supplements to the laboratory marmoset diet, but additional work is needed to validate these findings.

Combining untargeted and targeted metabolomics to reveal the mechanisms of herb pair Anemarrhena asphodeloides Bunge and Phellodendron chinense C. K. Schneid on benign prostatic hyperplasia

Ethnopharmacological relevanceAnemarrhena asphodeloides Bunge (Ane) and Phellodendron chinense C. K. Schneid (Phe) is classical herb pair in traditional Chinese medicine, commonly used to ameliorate the symptoms of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH). However, the mechanisms underlying this effect are remained indistinct. Aim of the studyThis study aimed to clarify potential therapeutic mechanisms of herb pair on BPH from a metabolic perspective. Materials and methodsTestosterone propionate-induced BPH rat model was established, prostatic parameters, histopathology and the levels of serum dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and testosterone (T) were used to evaluate the pharmacological effect of the herb pair on BPH. Subsequently, untargeted metabolomics of prostate tissues samples was performed by UHPLC-Q-Exactive-Orbitrap-MS, followed by multivariate statistical analysis. Targeted metabolomics by UHPLC-QQQ-MS was further utilized to verify and supplement the results of lipids and amino acids found by untargeted metabolomics, clarifying the relationship between disease, herbal pair and metabolism pathway. ResultsThe study found that Ane-Phe could relieve the progression of BPH and regulate metabolic imbalances. The levels of 13 metabolites decreased and 11 increased in prostatic tissues including glycerolphospholipid, arachidonic acid, citric acid and so on, these altered metabolites were primarily associated with TCA cycle, arachidonic acid metabolism, lipid metabolism and amino acid metabolism. Furthermore, targeted metabolomics was fulfilled to further analyze the lipid metabolism disorders, the levels of 5 lipids in serum and 21 in prostatic tissues were changed in the herb pair group compared to the model group, which closely related to glycerophospholipid, sphingolipid and glycerolipid metabolism. Besides, amino acid metabolism may be regulated by activating arginine metabolism pathway. ConclusionsIn this study, the combination of untargeted metabolomics and targeted metabolomics was applied to explore therapeutic mechanisms of Ane-Phe on BPH. In summary, Ane-Phe could improve the levels of endogenous metabolites by regulating multiple metabolic pathways and plays a role in energy supply, anti-inflammation and oxidative stress in BPH treatment.

Assessment of Agronomic Traits and Essential Oil Yield in Various Local Mint (Mentha piperita L.) Genotypes

Objective: Mentha piperita L. has long been used in medicine, pharmaceutical industry, food and cosmetic industries due to the bioactive compounds it contains. This study was carried out to determine some agronomic characteristics and essential oil yield of mint genotypes collected from different regions of Ordu province. Materials and Methods: A total of 44 different genotypes collected from 16 different districts of Ordu province were used in the study. Rooted mint cuttings were grown in unheated plastic greenhouse in balcony type plastic pots. Mint plants were harvested in 3 different periods and shoot length, leaf width, leaf length, colour characteristics, leaf chlorophyll index, total yield and essential oil yield were determined. Principal component analyses were performed using the data obtained from these traits. Unweighted pair group method algorithm (UPGMA) clustering analysis was performed using Euclidean similarity distance and dendrograms of genotypes were formed. Results: At the end of the study, plant length was 12.2-60.6 cm, leaf width 0.8-4.3 cm, leaf length 1.2-9.8 cm, leaf chlorophyll index 4.75-47.8 cci (SPAD), essential oil yield 0.45-2.9% and total yield 0.1-4.2 t da-1 in mint genotypes. As a result of the principal component analysis, the eigenvalues of the first 4 principal component axes were found to be greater than 1. The first 3 axes have high variation percentage compared to other axes. Mint genotypes were divided into 2 main groups and 4 subgroups in the UPGMA dendrogram. While G12 and G33 were the closest mint genotypes, G10 and G11 were found to be genetically distant genotypes. Conclusion: In the study, genotypes that exhibit potential in terms of total yield and essential oil yield have been identified. As a result of the research, agronomic characteristics and essential oil ratios of different mint genotypes were determined and qualified genotypes that can be material for future breeding studies were determined.

Biometric variability of inflorescence and flower traits among ex situ accessions of the neotropical oilseed palm Acrocomia Mart.

The oilseed palm genus Acrocomia is suitable for sustainable oil production in South America. The high phenotypic diversity of wild populations poses a challenge for the delimitation of the genus. Comparing the inflorescence architecture, a first-order panicle, and staminate and pistillate flower traits could be a valuable tool in resolving the taxonomic disarray. Thus, this study aims to characterize the differences in the inflorescence architecture and floral structures of three common and economically significant Acrocomia species: A. aculeata, A. totai, and A. intumescens. Biometric traits of the inflorescence architecture and floral structures of various Acrocomia accessions in an ex situ germplasm collection in Brazil were assessed. The unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA) cluster analysis based on the Gower distance was used to measure dissimilarities between the individual plants of the accessions. To our best knowledge, this study provides the first evidence of the presence of second-order rachillae in the genus Acrocomia. Evaluated traits showed a high level of variation within and between accessions, emphasizing the phenotypic diversity of the genus. The accessions of A. totai were distinguishable from those of the other two species by their inflorescence architecture and flower traits. The dissimilarities between A. aculeata and A. intumescens were not sufficient to differentiate both. In conclusion, the quantitative assessment of inflorescence and floral traits is a valuable tool for taxonomic resolution of the genus.

Morphological diversity of local sorghum cultivars (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) from Gunungkidul, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Abstract Sorghum is potential to develop on marginal lands in Indonesia, including Gunungkidul, Yogyakarta, despite very limited information on sorghum diversity in this area. This study aimed to describe morphological variation and assess the value of genetic diversity based on morphological characteristics of local sorghum cultivars in Gunungkidul compared with new superior varieties. Exploration and sampling were conducted in Wareng Village, Gunungkidul, Yogyakarta. Observations of morphological characters were made based on sorghum descriptors. Similarity of morphological characters was analyzed using Simple Matching (SM) coefficient, and dendrograms were made using Unweighted Pair Group Method with Arithmetic Average (UPGMA) method. Results showed three local sorghum accessions in Gunungkidul with variations in 44 morphological characters. Genotypes S1 (Bioguma) with S4 (Samurai) and S3 (Plonco) with S4 (Samurai) had highest SMC coefficient (0.82), indicating that both genotypes were similar in 82% of their attributes. Whereas, genotypes S6 and V3 had lowest SMC coefficient (0.36), indicating that both genotypes were similar in 36% of their attributes, while dendrogram results showed two major groupings based on vegetative and generative characters observed. This study provides the first complete information on sorghum diversity in Gunungkidul, useful to be basic information for future sorghum development in this area.

Investigation of the Effect of Sports Participation Motivations of Students of Faculty of Sports Sciences on Their Leadership Orientations

In this study, it was aimed to determine the relationship between motivation to participate in sports and leadership orientations of students of the faculty of sports sciences. A relational survey model was used in this study. The study group consisted of students studying in the Faculty of Sports Sciences. The questionnaire part of the study consists of three parts. Firstly, includes demographic information. Secondly, the “Leadership Orientations Questionnaire”, which was developed by Bolman and Deal (1990) and adapted into Turkish by Dereli (2003), is explored. Thirdly, consists of the Participation Motivation Questionnaire, which was developed by Gill et al. (1983) and adapted into Turkish by Oyar et al. (2001). For the determine normality assumption skewness and kurtosis values was used. Skewness and kurtosis values were found to be between ±2 and it was determined that the data had a normal distribution (George and Malley, 2003). Afterward, an Independent samples t-test was used between paired groups, and a one-way analysis of variance was used for paired variables. Moreover, reliability coefficient, frequency and percentage and mean and standard deviation calculations were conducted. Simple regression analysis was used to determine the effect between the dependent and independent variables. The findings, a statistically significant difference was found in the variables of leadership orientation and age, income level, and frequency of weekly sports participation in sports participation motivation. As a result, it was determined that there was a low-level significant and negative relationship between the participants' motivation to participate in sports and their leadership orientations.Keywords: Leadership, Motivation, Sports.

The Sportsman Ship Orientation of Generation Z

In the research, it is purposed to analyze the sportsmanship orientation of the Z generation individuals born between 2000-2004 in terms of some variables. This research is a study that aims to examine some demographic characteristics (gender, age, sports club membership, regular exercise) and sportsmanship orientation of the Z generation individuals born between 2000-2004. The sample of the study consists of 233 Z generation individuals, 115 female and 118 men. As it is a means of collected information in the research; Developed by Vallerand, Briere, Blanchart and Provencher (1997), the original Development and Validation of the Multidimensional Sportspersonship Orientations Scale (MSOS) and the Turkish adaptation of Gülfem Sezen Balçıkanlı (2010) was applied. The obtained data were examined by using the SPSS 22 package program. Percentage, frequency and mean values were used in the descriptive analyzes of the demographic characteristics of the participants in our study. “T-Test” was used for samples in the analysis of paired groups, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests were used in the comparative analysis of three or more groups, and Post-Hoc tests were used to determine which groups the differences originated from. As a result of the tests, it was seen that the sportsmanship orientation of the Z generation individuals born between the years 2000-2004 was at the "Medium" (79,36) level. In the base dimensions of "conforming to social norms, obedience to rules and management and showing respect for the other competitors", "Medium" sportsmanship orientations of the Z generation individuals were observed, and "High" level of sportsmanship orientation was observed in the "responsibility in sports" sub-dimension.

An algorithm for decoy-free false discovery rate estimation in XL-MS/MS proteomics.

Cross-linking tandem mass spectrometry (XL-MS/MS) is an established analytical platform used to determine distance constraints between residues within a protein or from physically interacting proteins, thus improving our understanding of protein structure and function. To aid biological discovery with XL-MS/MS, it is essential that pairs of chemically linked peptides be accurately identified, a process that requires: (i) database search, that creates a ranked list of candidate peptide pairs for each experimental spectrum and (ii) false discovery rate (FDR) estimation, that determines the probability of a false match in a group of top-ranked peptide pairs with scores above a given threshold. Currently, the only available FDR estimation mechanism in XL-MS/MS is the target-decoy approach (TDA). However, despite its simplicity, TDA has both theoretical and practical limitations that impact the estimation accuracy and increase run time over potential decoy-free approaches (DFAs). We introduce a novel decoy-free framework for FDR estimation in XL-MS/MS. Our approach relies on multi-sample mixtures of skew normal distributions, where the latent components correspond to the scores of correct peptide pairs (both peptides identified correctly), partially incorrect peptide pairs (one peptide identified correctly, the other incorrectly), and incorrect peptide pairs (both peptides identified incorrectly). To learn these components, we exploit the score distributions of first- and second-ranked peptide-spectrum matches for each experimental spectrum and subsequently estimate FDR using a novel expectation-maximization algorithm with constraints. We evaluate the method on ten datasets and provide evidence that the proposed DFA is theoretically sound and a viable alternative to TDA owing to its good performance in terms of accuracy, variance of estimation, and run time. https://github.com/shawn-peng/xlms.

Biomarker identification by interpretable maximum mean discrepancy.

In many biomedical applications, we are confronted with paired groups of samples, such as treated versus control. The aim is to detect discriminating features, i.e. biomarkers, based on high-dimensional (omics-) data. This problem can be phrased more generally as a two-sample problem requiring statistical significance testing to establish differences, and interpretations to identify distinguishing features. The multivariate maximum mean discrepancy (MMD) test quantifies group-level differences, whereas statistically significantly associated features are usually found by univariate feature selection. Currently, few general-purpose methods simultaneously perform multivariate feature selection and two-sample testing. We introduce a sparse, interpretable, and optimized MMD test (SpInOpt-MMD) that enables two-sample testing and feature selection in the same experiment. SpInOpt-MMD is a versatile method and we demonstrate its application to a variety of synthetic and real-world data types including images, gene expression measurements, and text data. SpInOpt-MMD is effective in identifying relevant features in small sample sizes and outperforms other feature selection methods such as SHapley Additive exPlanations and univariate association analysis in several experiments. The code and links to our public data are available at https://github.com/BorgwardtLab/spinoptmmd.

The Relationship of Smartphone Addiction with Motivation to Participate in Physical Activity: A Study in Sports Sciences Faculty Students

In this study, it was aimed to examine the relationship between smartphone addiction and motivation to participate in physical activity within the scope of students studying at the Faculty of Sport Sciences. In addition to the relationship between students' smartphone addiction and motivation to participate in physical activity, it was also examined whether the related characteristics differed according to their age, gender, departments they studied, and whether they were doing licensed sports. In this study, which was conducted in the relational survey model, the Smartphone Addiction Scale and the Motivation to Participate in Physical Activity Scale were applied to 461 volunteer students. In the analyses, independent sample t-test for paired groups, one-way analysis of variance for multiple groups and Pearson correlation coefficient were calculated. According to the results obtained, it was determined that all participants had high motivation to participate in sports, when examined in terms of demographic variables; smartphone addiction was higher in 18-21 years old participants than 22-25 years old participants, motivation to participate in physical activity was higher in female participants than male participants according to gender variable, when examined according to the variable of doing licensed sports, it was determined that licensed sportsmen had higher smartphone addiction and participation in physical activity than non-licensed sportsmen, and there was a negative relationship between smartphone addiction and motivation to participate in physical activity.

Traumatic Cervical Spinal Cord Injury and Income and Employment Status

Spinal cord injury (SCI) causes drastic changes to an individual's physical health that may be associated with the ability to work. To estimate the association of SCI with individual earnings and employment status using national administrative health databases linked to income tax data. This was a retrospective, national, population-based cohort study of adults who were hospitalized with cervical SCI in Canada between January 2005 and December 2017. All acute care hospitalizations for SCI of adults ages 18 to 64 years were included. A comparison group was constructed by sampling from individuals in the injured cohort. Fiscal information from their preinjury years was used for comparison. The injured cohort was matched with the comparison group based on age, sex, marital status, province of residence, self-employment status, earnings, and employment status in the year prior to injury. Data were analyzed from August 2022 to January 2023. The first outcome was the change in individual annual earnings up to 5 years after injury. The change in mean yearly earnings was assessed using a linear mixed-effects differences-in-differences regression. Income values are reported in 2022 Canadian dollars (CAD $1.00 = US $0.73). The second outcome was the change in employment status up to 5 years after injury. A multivariable probit regression model was used to compare proportions of individuals employed among those who had experienced SCI and the paired comparison group of participants. A total of 1630 patients with SCI (mean [SD] age, 47 [13] years; 1304 male [80.0%]) were matched to patients in a preinjury comparison group (resampled from the same 1630 patients in the SCI group). The mean (SD) of preinjury wage earnings was CAD $46 000 ($48 252). The annual decline in individual earnings was CAD $20 275 (95% CI, -$24 455 to -$16 095) in the first year after injury and CAD $20 348 (95% CI, -$24 710 to -$15 985) in the fifth year after injury. At 5 years after injury, 52% of individuals who had an injury were working compared with 79% individuals in the preinjury comparison group. SCI survivors had a decrease in employment of 17.1 percentage points (95% CI, 14.5 to 19.7 percentage points) in the first year after injury and 17.8 percentage points (14.5 to 21.1 percentage points) in the fifth year after injury. In this study, SCI was associated with a decline in earnings and employment up to 5 years after injury for adults aged 18 to 64 years in Canada.

Implication of genotypes for prognosis of Candida glabrata bloodstream infections.

Genotyping isolates of a specific pathogen may demonstrate unique patterns of antimicrobial resistance, virulence or outcomes. However, evidence for genotype-outcome association in Candida glabrata is scarce. We aimed to characterize the mycological and clinical relevance of genotypes on C. glabrata bloodstream infections (BSIs). Non-duplicated C. glabrata blood isolates from hospitalized adults were genotyped by MLST, and further clustered by the unweighted pair group method with arithmetic averages (UPGMA). A clonal complex (CC) was defined by UPGMA similarities of >90%. Antifungal susceptibility testing was performed by a colorimetric microdilution method and interpreted following CLSI criteria. Of 48 blood isolates evaluated, 13 STs were identified. CC7 was the leading CC (n = 14; 29.2%), including 13 ST7. The overall fluconazole and echinocandin resistance rates were 6.6% and 0%, respectively. No specific resistance patterns were associated with CC7 or other CCs. Charlson comorbidity index (adjusted OR, 1.49; 95% CI, 1.05-3.11) was the only predictor for CC7. By multivariable Cox regression analyses, CC7 was independently associated with 28 day mortality [adjusted HR (aHR), 3.28; 95% CI, 1.31-8.23], even after considering potential interaction with neutropenia (aHR, 3.41; 95% CI, 1.23-9.42; P for interaction, 0.24) or limited to 34 patients with monomicrobial BSIs (aHR, 2.85; 95% CI, 1.15-7.08). Also, the Kaplan-Meier estimate showed greater mortality with CC7 (P = 0.003). Fluconazole resistance or echinocandin therapy had no significant impact on mortality. Our data suggested comorbid patients were at risk of developing CC7 BSIs. Further, CC7 was independently associated with worse outcomes.

Exploring Preservation Modalities in a Split Human Pancreas Model to Investigate the Effect on the Islet Isolation Outcomes.

In islet transplantation, the use of dynamic hypothermic preservation techniques is a current challenge. This study compares the efficacy of 3 pancreas preservation methods: static cold storage, hypothermic machine perfusion (HMP), and oxygenated HMP. A standardized human pancreas split model was employed using discarded organs from both donation after brain death (n = 15) and donation after circulatory death (DCD) (n = 9) donors. The pancreas head was preserved using static cold storage (control group), whereas the tail was preserved using the 3 different methods (study group). Data on donor characteristics, pancreas histology, isolation outcomes, and functional tests of isolated islets were collected. Insulin secretory function evaluated by calculating stimulation indices and total amount of secreted insulin during high glucose stimulation (area under the curve) through dynamic perifusion experiments was similar across all paired groups from both DCD and donation after brain death donors. In our hands, islet yield (IEQ/g) from the pancreas tails used as study groups was higher than that of the pancreas heads as expected although this difference did not always reach statistical significance because of great variability probably due to suboptimal quality of organs released for research purposes. Moreover, islets from DCD organs had greater purity than controls (P ≤ 0.01) in the HMP study group. Furthermore, our investigation revealed no significant differences in pancreas histology, oxidative stress markers, and apoptosis indicators. For the first time, a comparative analysis was conducted, using a split model, to assess the effects of various preservation methods on islets derived from pancreas donors. Nevertheless, no discernible variances were observed in terms of islet functionality, histological attributes, or isolation efficacy. Further investigations are needed to validate these findings for clinical application.

A combined phylogenetic and numerical taxonomic study of Matthiola montana and M. anchoniifolia (Brassicaceae)

Matthiola montana and M. anchoniifolia are endemic to Türkiye and can be distinguished from each other by morphological features including siliques, leaves, petals, and hairs. Although these two taxa have traditionally been treated as separate species in all taxeonomic accounts, field and herbarium studies together with findings in the literature suggest that they should be considered at the subspecies level at the very least due to transitions in the aforementioned characters. To test this hypothesis, we evaluated all available herbarium specimens and specimens from field collections, conducting numerical and phylogenetic analyses based on the ITS region of the nuclear DNA. Our analyses, including the unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA) and principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) as well as phylogenetic methods, consistently indicated that the two species did not form separate clusters. Therefore, our careful examination of the material, along with morphological and phylogenetic analyses, strongly supports the conclusion that M. anchoniifolia is not distinct from M. montana and should be a synonym of the latter.

Use of Sodium-Glucose Co-Transporter 2 Inhibitors in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes and the Incidence of Retinal Vein Occlusion in Taiwan.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the risk of newly diagnosed retinal vein occlusion (RVO) in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) using sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT-2i) compared to dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors (DPP-4i). Claims data from the National Health Insurance Research Database of Taiwan were used in this nationwide retrospective cohort study. A target trial emulation framework was applied. Patients with T2D with no prior diagnosis of RVO who had newly commenced treatment with SGLT-2i or DPP-4i between May 1, 2016, and December 31, 2020, were included. Potential systematic differences in baseline characteristics between the paired groups were controlled using stabilized inverse probability of treatment weighting. The outcome of interest was incident RVO. The hazard ratio (HR) for SGLT-2i compared with that of DPP-4i was estimated using a Cox regression model. Data from 123,567 and 578,665 patients receiving SGLT-2i and DPP-4i, respectively, were analyzed. The incidence of RVO was lower in patients newly receiving SGLT-2i (0.59 events per 1000 person-years) compared to those receiving DPP-4i (0.77 events per 1000 person-years) over a mean follow-up of 1.61years. SGLT-2i users had a significantly lower risk of developing RVO compared with DPP-4i users (HR = 0.76, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.59-0.98). In the individual outcome analysis, SGLT-2i use was significantly associated with a lower risk of branch RVO (HR = 0.71, 95% CI = 0.52-0.96), but not central RVO (HR = 0.84, 95% CI = 0.57-1.24). The risk of developing RVO was lower in patients with T2D receiving SGLT-2i compared with that in those receiving DPP-4i.

Teacher Perspectives on Breakout Rooms in Online Education in a K-12 Bilingual School in China

One key problem when teaching online, is the lack of access to group work and collaboration. This study used two main methods of research, a survey including 4 questions and a 5-point Likert scale with 4 statements, and an interview with a Head of Educational Technology. This was done in a large K-12 bilingual school in Shanghai, China. Some key findings included: 92% of teachers knew what breakout rooms are; almost 3 times the percentage of teachers agreed (59%) that breakout rooms are viable in online learning as opposed to disagreed (17%); double the percentage of teachers disagreed (24%) that breakout rooms are too problematic to use as opposed to agreed (48%); 81% of teachers agreed that they need to know more activities for use with breakout rooms; and 79% of teachers agreed they needed to know how to better expose students to breakout rooms. There was a significant correlation between the Primary and Secondary phases; the interview responses backed up this data and the correlation. The four main fed back methods of using breakout rooms were: Group presentations, Group and pair discussions, Differentiated learning and Group research.

Genetic diversity of the Turkish accessions of two progenitor species, Triticum baeoticum Boiss. and Triticum urartu Thum. ex Gandil., using DArTSeq markers

AbstractThe aim of this study was to reveal the intra and interspecies differences between Triticum baeoticum and Triticum urartu using Diversity Arrays Technology sequencing (DArTseq) on 94 accessions representing Turkish populations. Seeds were gathered from the US Department of Agriculture, and from the Turkish Seed Gene Bank. Isolated and purified DNA samples were sent to Diversity Arrays Technologies for DArTseq. After the necessary quality filtering, a total of 16,898 and 100,103 loci were obtained respectively from the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and SilicoDArT datasets. ADMIXTURE software was used to reveal the intra and interspecies population structures. Analysis of molecular variance was carried out to reveal the variance between the populations of the T. urartu and T. baeoticum species. Principal coordinate analysis was conducted to visualize the main sources of variation between the populations on a 2-dimensional plane. To reveal the evolutionary relationship, SNP dataset was used to reconstruct the phylogenetic dendrograms by using the maximum likelihood statistical method and the unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean clustering algorithm. As a result of this study, the accessions of T. urartu and T. baeoticum species formed separate clusters and revealed as two different species. In line with the results obtained, it is obvious that the identification of some accessions should be re-evaluated. The results demonstrated that DArTseq, is a fast, low-cost, and high-accuracy method that can be used in species and population discrimination and an effective tool for Gene Bank management.

Study of the Floristic, Morphological, and Genetic (atpF-atpH, Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS), matK, psbK-psbI, rbcL, and trnH-psbA) Differences in Crataegus ambigua Populations in Mangistau (Kazakhstan).

This article studies the morphological parameters of vegetative and generative organs of different age groups of Crataegus ambigua from four populations in Western Karatau (Mangistau region, Kazakhstan). In this study, we examined four populations: Sultan Epe, Karakozaiym, Emdikorgan, and Samal, all located in various gorges of Western Karatau. Several phylogenetic inference methods were applied, using six genetic markers to reconstruct the evolutionary relationships between these populations: atpF-atpH, internal transcribed spacer (ITS), matK, psbK-psbI, rbcL, and trnH-psbA. We also used a statistical analysis of plants' vegetative and generative organs for three age groups (virgin, young, and adult generative). According to the age structure, Samal has a high concentration of young generative plants (42.3%) and adult generative plants (30.9%). Morphological analysis showed the significance of the parameters of the generative organs and separated the Samal population into a separate group according to the primary principal component analysis (PCoA) coordinates. The results of the floristic analysis showed that the Samal populations have a high concentration of species diversity. Comparative dendrograms using UPGMA (unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean) showed that information gleaned from genetic markers and the psbK-psbI region can be used to determine the difference between the fourth Samal population and the other three.