Natural Family Research Articles

Cover Feature: Structure and Biosynthesis of Myxofacyclines: Unique Myxobacterial Polyketides Featuring Varing and Rare Heterocycles[] (Chem. Eur. J. 67/2021)

Myxobacteria are not only known for their complex “social behavior” including the formation of fruiting bodies, but also for being a prolific source of natural products. We describe the discovery and isolation of the myxofacycline natural product family, which feature either an isoxazole, a 4-pyrimidinole or a 1,2-dihydropyrrol-3-one heterocycle. Intriguingly, mutagenesis of the producer strain and heterologous expression of the identified biosynthetic genes revealed that all three heterocycles originate from the same biosynthetic pathway, thus suggesting an unique biochemistry to synthesize (secondary) metabolites with exceptional scaffolds and heterocycles. More information can be found in the Full Paper by R. Müller et al. (DOI: 10.1002/chem.202103095).

To Evaluate Knowledge, Attitude, Practice of Natural Family Planning Method and Associated Factors among Reproductive Age Group of Women’s at Jimma Town, Jimma Zone, South West Ethiopia

Background: The high fertility rate leading to the rapid growth of country’s population is a major hindrance towards the development of a nation. Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest fertility rate in the world, which is further promoted by the low utilization of contraceptive methods. Yet, many communities claim to have natural methods of family planning that pre-date the introduction of modern contraceptives, implying that contraception is a culturally acceptable norm.
 Objective: To Evaluate the Knowledge, Attitude and Practice towards Natural family planning among reproductive age women of Jimma town, Oromia, Ethiopia.
 Methods: Across sectional community based quantitative study was done in Jimma town, among reproductive age group women from February to March; 2020. A total of3 99 sample size is calculated using single population proportion formula with a proportion (P) of 50 %.Systematic random sampling technique issued to draw the study participants among the target population. The data was collected using structured questionnaire adapted from similar and the tools modified to fit the local context. The collected data was tallied and analyzed by using scientific calculator.
 Results: From the total of 399 respondents who responded the questionnaire Majority, 90% of women in Jimma town had a good level of knowledge of natural family planning methods. A positive attitude towards natural family planning methods was seen in (68%) of the respondents.
 Conclusion: A fair level of knowledge of natural family planning methods is seen among reproductive women in Jimma town, yet differences in knowledge of specific natural family planning methods exist. Therefore, physicians and other health care providers‟ limited knowledge of and experience with Natural family planning methods inhibits broader use as reproductive age women reported getting information about NFFP methods from health providers and friends, therefore, their level of knowledge will depend largely on the information received.

Structure and Biosynthesis of Myxofacyclines: Unique Myxobacterial Polyketides Featuring Varing and Rare Heterocycles[] *.

A metabolome‐guided screening approach in the novel myxobacterium Corallococcus sp. MCy9072 resulted in the isolation of the unprecedented natural product myxofacycline A, which features a rare isoxazole substructure. Identification and genomic investigation of additional producers alongside targeted gene inactivation experiments and heterologous expression of the corresponding biosynthetic gene cluster in the host Myxococcus xanthus DK1622 confirmed a noncanonical megaenzyme complex as the biosynthetic origin of myxofacycline A. Induced expression of the respective genes led to significantly increased production titers enabling the identification of six further members of the myxofacycline natural product family. Whereas myxofacyclines A–D display an isoxazole substructure, intriguingly myxofacyclines E and F were found to contain 4‐pyrimidinole, a heterocycle unprecedented in natural products. Lastly, myxofacycline G features another rare 1,2‐dihydropyrol‐3‐one moiety. In addition to a full structure elucidation, we report the underlying biosynthetic machinery and present a rationale for the formation of all myxofacyclines. Unexpectedly, an extraordinary polyketide synthase‐nonribosomal peptide synthetase hybrid was found to produce all three types of heterocycle in these natural products.

Holomorphic function spaces on the Hartogs triangle

AbstractThe definition of classical holomorphic function spaces such as the Hardy space or the Dirichlet space on the Hartogs triangle is not canonical. In this paper we introduce a natural family of holomorphic function spaces on the Hartogs triangle which includes some weighted Bergman spaces, a candidate Hardy space and a candidate Dirichlet space. For the weighted Bergman spaces and the Hardy space we study the mapping properties of Bergman and Szegő projection respectively, whereas for the Dirichlet space we prove it is isometric to the Dirichlet space on the bidisc.

Initial Contraceptive Choices of Women Enrolled in a Cluster-Randomized Trial in Southwest Trifinio, Guatemala.

The aim of this analysis is to present initial contraceptive choices of women offered postpartum contraception in rural Guatemala. We trained community nurses participating in the delivery of a home-based antepartum and postpartum care program in rural Guatemala in contraceptive implant placement and had them offer condoms, pills, an injection, or an implant at women's home-based 40-day postpartum visit in intervention clusters of a non-blinded, cluster-randomized trial. Women who had already started postpartum contraception or were over the age of 35 were excluded from participation. The primary outcome of the trial was contraceptive use at 3months postpartum, so this initial analysis describes immediate preferences in the population. Of 208 women enrolled in the study, 108 were in intervention clusters and 100 lived in control clusters. In the intervention group, 32 women declined contraception, 36 women received the injectable, 30 women had an implant placed, 5 women started pills, 2 women chose condoms, and data on 3 women were missing. In the control clusters, 43 women were planning on the injectable, 11 planned on the implant, 10 did not want to start a method, 5 planned on sterilization, 2 aimed for natural family planning, 2 wanted a copper IUD, 1 woman wanted condoms, 18 did not know, and data on 8 women were missing. The contraceptive implant, which was not previously available in this community, had high uptake at 27.8% in the intervention group. Clinicaltrials.gov, NCT04005391; Retrospectively Registered 7/2/2019, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04005391 Protocol: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-019-3735-3.

Implementing a Natural Family Planning Program: The Case of The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Cagayan De Oro

Implementing a Natural Family Planning Program: The Case of The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Cagayan De Oro

Private Enterprise Identity and Corporate Financialization

As an important part of China’s national economic development, the private economy has played a relatively important role in promoting high-quality economic development, promoting scientific and technological innovation, and increasing employment opportunities. However, while the private economy is developing steadily and well, it also faces many pain points that need to be solved urgently. The identity problem is an important problem that has been troubling some private entrepreneurs for a long time. The so-called “private enterprise identity” mainly refers to the state-owned private enterprises whose initial property rights are owned by the state or the collective, and then privatized by private entrepreneurs through various ways such as equity acquisition. Compared with the self-employed private enterprises established by private entrepreneurs from the ground up, due to the high political cost and the pressure of public opinion, there are certain obstacles to their self-identity. This paper focuses on the specific impact of private enterprise identity on their micro-financialization decisions. Intuitively, due to the high political cost and public opinion pressure of state-owned private enterprises, the future operation risks of enterprises are exacerbated to some extent. In order to appropriately transfer risks, these private entrepreneurs have the motivation to strengthen financial asset allocation and thus increase the financialization degree of state-owned private enterprises. At the same time, due to certain obstacles to their own identity, state-owned private enterprises are more inclined to increase investment in the financial sector to deal with adverse situations such as the decline in the performance of their main business, which will also aggravate their financialization degree. Based on the above considerations, this paper takes the Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share private companies whose actual controllers are natural persons or families during the period of 2007-2018 as the research sample, manually collects the initial property rights acquisition methods of private enterprises, and divides them into state-owned transformation private enterprises with serious identity problems and self-employed private enterprises without identity problems. It investigates the specific impact of private enterprise identity issues on their financial decision-making. The study finds that compared with self-employed private enterprises, state-owned transformation private enterprises with identity issues are more inclined to engage in financial behavior, which is reflected in a larger proportion of financial asset allocation and a higher proportion of financial investment income. Cross-sectional analysis shows that the positive impact of private enterprise identity issues on financial decision-making is more significant in the samples with poorer performance in the main business, greater operating risks, and lower degree of regional marketization. Further research finds that the financial behavior caused by private enterprise identity is mainly real estate investment, and also promotes the excessive financialization of enterprises. The research conclusion not only enriches the related literature on the influencing factors of corporate financialization and the economic consequences of private enterprise identity recognition, but also has certain reference significance for better exerting private entrepreneurship in the new era to promote the vigorous development of private economy. It also provides effective policy inspiration to properly manage and deal with the historical problems left over by some private enterprises in the process of property right transformation during the 14th Five-Year Plan period and the new normal stage of economy.

Natural higher-derivatives generalization for the Klein–Gordon equation

We propose a natural family of higher-order partial differential equations generalizing the second-order Klein–Gordon equation. We characterize the associated model by means of a generalized action for a scalar field, containing higher-derivative terms. The limit obtained by considering arbitrarily higher-order powers of the d’Alembertian operator leading to a formal infinite-order partial differential equation is discussed. The general model is constructed using the exponential of the d’Alembertian differential operator. The canonical energy–momentum tensor densities and field propagators are explicitly computed. We consider both homogeneous and non-homogeneous situations. The classical solutions are obtained for all cases.

Soft Candy as an Electronic Material Suitable for Salivary Conductivity-Based Medical Diagnostics in Resource-Scarce Clinical Settings.

Soft candy was discovered to be an excellent electronic material and was used to fabricate electrodes for salivary conductivity-based diagnostics. Using a simple molding process, a soft candy (Tootsie Roll) was made into 20 × 20 × 5 mm electrodes with a stable frequency response (0.1-100 kHz). The soft candy electrode-liquid interface circuit model was also developed for the first time. Using 0.01, 0.05, and 0.1 M phosphate-buffered saline and artificial saliva of varying conductivities, the performance of the soft candy (Tootsie Roll) electrode was evaluated. The electrode has a low temperature coefficient of ∼0.02 V/C, and the evaporation-induced mass change during measurement (<3 min) was negligible. Using a trenched surface, a limit of detection (LOD) of ∼1630 μS/cm was obtained and was lower than the saliva conductivity of a healthy adult at ∼3500 μS/cm. Thus, it is suitable for monitoring the ovulation cycle for natural family planning as well as chronic kidney disease diagnosis. Given the ubiquity of soft candy, the simplicity of the molding process, and the negligible medical waste stream, it is a more appropriate approach to diagnostics design for resource-scarce clinical settings, such as those in developing countries. The broader impact of this work will be the paradigm shift of soft candy from food to a new class of edible, moldable, high-resistivity, and stable electronic materials.

Feynman’s propagator in Schwinger’s picture of Quantum Mechanics

A novel derivation of Feynman’s sum-over-histories construction of the quantum propagator using the groupoidal description of Schwinger picture of Quantum Mechanics is presented. It is shown that such construction corresponds to the GNS representation of a natural family of states called Dirac–Feynman–Schwinger (DFS) states. Such states are obtained from a q-Lagrangian function [Formula: see text] on the groupoid of configurations of the system. The groupoid of histories of the system is constructed and the q-Lagrangian [Formula: see text] allows us to define a DFS state on the algebra of the groupoid. The particular instance of the groupoid of pairs of a Riemannian manifold serves to illustrate Feynman’s original derivation of the propagator for a point particle described by a classical Lagrangian L.

Duality for real and multivariate exponential families

Consider a measure μ on Rn generating a natural exponential family F(μ) with variance function VF(μ)(m) and Laplace transform exp(ℓμ(s))=∫Rnexp(−〈x,s〉μ(dx)).A dual measure μ∗ satisfies −ℓμ∗′(−ℓμ′(s))=s. Such a dual measure does not always exist. One important property is ℓμ∗′′(m)=(VF(μ)(m))−1, leading to the notion of duality among exponential families (or rather among the extended notion of T exponential families TF obtained by considering all translations of a given exponential family F).

Kuroda’s formula and arithmetic statistics

Kuroda's formula relates the class number of a multi-quadratic number field $K$ to the class numbers of its quadratic subfields $k_i$. A key component in this formula is the unit group index $Q(K) = [\mathcal{O}_{K}^{\times}: \prod_i\mathcal{O}_{k_i}^{\times}]$. We study how $Q(K)$ behaves on average in certain natural families of totally real biquadratic fields $K$ parametrized by prime numbers.

Expanding the Myxochelin Natural Product Family by Nicotinic Acid Containing Congeners.

Myxobacteria represent a viable source of chemically diverse and biologically active secondary metabolites. The myxochelins are a well-studied family of catecholate-type siderophores produced by various myxobacterial strains. Here, we report the discovery, isolation, and structure elucidation of three new myxochelins N1–N3 from the terrestrial myxobacterium Corallococcus sp. MCy9049, featuring an unusual nicotinic acid moiety. Precursor-directed biosynthesis (PDB) experiments and total synthesis were performed in order to confirm structures, improve access to pure compounds for bioactivity testing, and to devise a biosynthesis proposal. The combined evaluation of metabolome and genome data covering myxobacteria supports the notion that the new myxochelin congeners reported here are in fact frequent side products of the known myxochelin A biosynthetic pathway in myxobacteria.

Importance of plant diversity and structure for urban garden pest resistance

Urbanization is occurring at a dramatic rate, driving numerous unfavorable environmental effects. Urban designed ecosystems have been used to mitigate these impacts through the provisioning of ecosystem services. These services may be enhanced by manipulating the plant community composition and structure of designed ecosystems. Here we test this possibility by determining the degree to which plant diversity and structure in ornamental gardens are related to the ecosystem service of pest resistance, as inferred by the taxonomic richness (at the family level) and abundance of arthropod pests that harm plants and arthropod natural enemies that feed on pests. To do so, we quantified plant diversity and structure and collected arthropod pests and natural enemies in the winter and summer from 13 ornamental gardens nested within four residential communities in north-central Florida, United States. Pest abundance decreased exponentially as vegetation clumping and volume increased, but only in winter when pests were most abundant. Natural enemy abundance and family richness increased with the number of plant species present and spatial variability in plant species composition, again in the winter, but not summer. These relationships were likely driven by the direct effects of vegetation on arthropod habitat and not its indirect effects on temperature. Our results demonstrate the potential to enhance pest resistance in ornamental gardens by manipulating vegetation and reveal the need to expand these investigations into other designer ecosystems to enhance the ecosystem services they provide in urban landscapes.

Commutators, commensurators, and PSL2(Z)

Let $H<\mathrm{PSL}_2(\mathbb{Z})$ be a finite index normal subgroup which is contained in a principal congruence subgroup, and let $\Phi(H)\neq H$ denote a term of the lower central series or the derived series of $H$. In this paper, we prove that the commensurator of $\Phi(H)$ in $\mathrm{PSL}_2(\mathbb{R})$ is discrete. We thus obtain a natural family of thin subgroups of $\mathrm{PSL}_2(\mathbb{R})$ whose commensurators are discrete, establishing some cases of a conjecture of Shalom.

The Space of Traces in Symmetric Monoidal Infinity Categories

Abstract We define a tracelike transformation to be a natural family of conjugation invariant maps $T_{x,\mathtt{C}}:\hom_\mathtt{C}(x, x) \to \hom_\mathtt{C}(&amp;#x1D7D9;,&amp;#x1D7D9;)$ for all dualizable objects x in any symmetric monoidal $\infty$-category $\mathtt{C}$. This generalizes the trace from linear algebra that assigns a scalar $\operatorname{Tr}(\,f\,) \in k$ to any endomorphism f : V → V of a finite-dimensional k-vector space. Our main theorem computes the moduli space of tracelike transformations using the one-dimensional cobordism hypothesis with singularities. As a consequence, we show that the trace $\operatorname{Tr}$ can be uniquely extended to a tracelike transformation up to a contractible space of choices. This allows us to give several model-independent characterizations of the $\infty$-categorical trace. By restricting the aforementioned notion of tracelike transformations from endomorphisms to automorphisms one can in particular recover a theorem of Toën and Vezzosi. Other examples of tracelike transformations are for instance given by $f \mapsto \operatorname{Tr}(\,f^{\,n})$. Unlike for $\operatorname{Tr}$, the relevant connected component of the moduli space is not contractible, but rather equivalent to $B\mathbb{Z}/n\mathbb{Z}$ or BS1 for n = 0. As a result, we obtain a $\mathbb{Z}/n\mathbb{Z}$-action on $\operatorname{Tr}(\,f^{\,n})$ as well as a circle action on $\operatorname{Tr}(\operatorname{id}_x)$.

On the Notion of Reproducibility and Its Full Implementation to Natural Exponential Families

Let F=Fθ:θ∈Θ⊂R be a family of probability distributions indexed by a parameter θ and let X1,⋯,Xn be i.i.d. r.v.’s with L(X1)=Fθ∈F. Then, F is said to be reproducible if for all θ∈Θ and n∈N, there exists a sequence (αn)n≥1 and a mapping gn:Θ→Θ,θ⟼gn(θ) such that L(αn∑i=1nXi)=Fgn(θ)∈F. In this paper, we prove that a natural exponential family F is reproducible iff it possesses a variance function which is a power function of its mean. Such a result generalizes that of Bar-Lev and Enis (1986, The Annals of Statistics) who proved a similar but partial statement under the assumption that F is steep as and under rather restricted constraints on the forms of αn and gn(θ). We show that such restrictions are not required. In addition, we examine various aspects of reproducibility, both theoretically and practically, and discuss the relationship between reproducibility, convolution and infinite divisibility. We suggest new avenues for characterizing other classes of families of distributions with respect to their reproducibility and convolution properties .

On numerical bifurcation analysis of periodic motions of autonomous Hamiltonian systems with two degrees of freedom

In this work we consider bifurcation problem for natural families of periodic motions of autonomous Hamiltonian systems with two degrees of freedom. While there exists a well-developed analytical approach to this problem, it is limited to small neighborhoods of known equilibria and stationary solutions. To explore the bifurcations of periodic motions for all admissible values of the problem’s parameters it is necessary to employ numerical methods. We propose an approach combining analytical and numerical computation of the natural families with numerical bifurcation analysis. We obtain the so-called base solutions either analytically or numerically for particular values of the problem’s parameters and then employ a numerical method to continue the base solutions to the borders of their existence domains and to identify bifurcation points. Linear orbital stability domains are also obtained in course of the continuation. To illustrate the proposed approach we analyze bifurcation of periodic motions emanating from Cylindrical precession of a dynamically-symmetric satellite on a circular orbit.

Effectiveness of Virtual Learning Module on Knowledge and Attitude Regarding Standard Days Method among Public Health Workers

Standard Days Method (SDM) is an effective, inexpensive, natural, affordable, non-hormonal and modern family planning method that is easy to teach and use. The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge and attitude about SDM and preference of CycleBeads over CycleBead mobile application amongst accredited social health activist (ASHA) as a public health worker. A mixed-method study was conducted on 140 ASHA workers, allocated into two groups of 70 members each in experimental and control group. A simple random sampling technique was used for quantitative strand and purposive sampling for qualitative strand. A self-structured knowledge questionnaire, attitude scale and focus group discussion were used for data collection. Self-developed virtual learning module (VLM) on SDM with CycleBeads was used as an intervention. In the experimental group, there was a significant difference between pre-existing (5.74 ± 2.05) and post-test (14.64 ± 2.25) knowledge score, whereas the difference between the mean of pre-test (4.32 ± 0.67) and post-test (4.68 ± 0.46) attitude scores was not significant. There was no statistically significant difference in the knowledge and attitude scores in the control group. In the qualitative interview, participants expressed their preference for CycleBeads over CycleBead mobile application to teach women about SDM. VLM is useful in improving the knowledge regarding SDM of ASHAs as a public health worker. Public health workers (ASHA) preferred teaching SDM with CycleBeads in person instead of a mobile application for educating the beneficiaries.

Analisis Kualitas Pertanyaan Mahasiswa Calon Guru Rumpun Ilmu Pengetahuan Alam Ditinjau dari Pengalaman Belajar

The quality of the question can describe the development of a person's thinking level. The questioning activity is also an indication that a student is actively involved in the learning process. The purpose of this study was to describe the quality profile of the students' questions from a natural science family in terms of their learning experience. This study uses a descriptive method because it aims to describe the profile of research subjects. The research instrument was a learning experience questionnaire and a question matrix. Learning experience questionnaires are used to reveal a picture of student learning experiences during lectures. Meanwhile, the question matrix is used to measure the level of thinking on each question made by students. The population of this study were all students in the Mathematics and Natural Sciences Education Department who had attended Basic Biology courses. Data analysis using simple regression shows that student learning experience does not significantly influence the quality of student questions. Each study program has a t score of 0.120 (chemistry education); 1,341 (Physics education); and 0.578 (Biology education). The entire t score is less than the t table. This condition is strongly suspected because the core activity phase of the lecture process did not go well. Based on the data analysis, it was found that the core activity phase had the lowest score of 67.33 which was significant.