NU Research Week - 2018
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Item Open Access Periostin in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) development and synergistic effects mediated via CCL5(Nazarbayev University, 2018-10-18) Riethmacher, Eva; Vangelista, Luca; Mukanova, Saida; Riethmacher, DieterThe incidence of IBD is rising all over the world and is affecting 1 in 4000 people in Europe and 1 in 16.000 in Asia. [1] Welldocumented, reliable numbers for Kazakhstan are currently not available but observations from local physicians (personal communication) suggest that numbers might be significantly higher than suggested by the literature. The matricellular protein Periostin has recently been shown to be involved in IBD [2] (and our own unpublished data). In a chemically induced murine model (dextrane sulfate sodium DSS) it mediates intestinal inflammation through the activation of NF-κB signaling, which suggests that periostin is a potential therapeutic target for inflammatory bowel disease [2]. CCL5, also know as RANTES, is a chemokine shown to be interacting with the G protein-coupled receptors CCR1, CCR3 and CCR5 [3]. In a recent study it could be shown that CCR5 expression correlates with the infiltration of inflammatory cells into the lamina propria of IBD patients [4]. Periostin is a matricellular protein originally isolated from osteoblasts and found to be preferentially expressed in the periosteum [5, 6]. Periostin contains an N-terminal secretory signal peptide, followed by a cysteine-rich domain, four internal homologous repeats, and a C-terminal hydrophilic domain. The four internal repeats exhibit homology to the axon guidance protein fasciclin I that is involved in the development of nervous system in invertebrates and were thus named fasciclin domains.Item Open Access Assessment of unmet needs and barriers to end-of-life care provision in Kazakhstan(Nazarbayev University, 2018-10-18) Toleubekova, Lyazzat; Crape, Byron; Dauyey, Kaisar; Argandykov, Dias; Bekenova, Aigerim; Madikenova, MeruyertPalliative care, a holistic multidisciplinary approach for those persons with terminal diseases, providing relief for physical, emotional, psychosocial and spiritual suffering of both the patients and their families and to support the dignity of all involved in the process of dying¹. Palliative care has developed recently, and an understanding of unmet needs and barriers, especially in Kazakhstan, can be addressed through innovative rigorous qualitative research methods covering all the stakeholders involved. Palliative care is an integral Nazarbayev University’s commitment to improving health services in Kazakhstan. The published literature shows a lack of palliative care providers in Kazakhstan and the few existing services are underdeveloped2,3. Our current will substantially characterize more in-depth and more broadly on opportunities and barriers for national expansion of quality palliative care in Kazakhstan.Item Open Access Influence of CYP2C9 and VKORC1 gene variants on warfarin response in Kazakhstani patients with left ventricular assist devices(Nazarbayev University, 2018-10-18) Akilzhanova, А.; Rakhimova, S.; Andosova, S.; Kalkamanova, Inkar; Tokanova, Aruzhan; Zhumadilov, Zh.; Bekbossynova, M.Heart failure is a worldwide epidemic affecting approximately 23 million people globally and is a major burden for the healthcare system [1,2]. Despite advances in medical therapy, the disease is progressive and a significant proportion of patients will need advanced heart replacement therapy. Left ventricular assist devices (LVAD) are an invaluable part of the therapeutic measures for patients suffering from advanced heart failure. When used either as a bridge to transplant, to promote myocardial recovery, or as lifetime use, LVADs have proven to prolong survival and improve quality of life [1-3]. In spite of their success in improving mortality and quality of life, thrombotic and bleeding events remain significant complications [1]. Achieving therapeutic anticoagulation efficiently with warfarin is important to reduce thrombotic and bleeding risks and is influenced by genotype. Warfarin has a narrow therapeutic index and displays marked person-to-person variation in dose requirement. Functional polymorphisms at candidate genes can therefore offer utility as biomarkers to individualize warfarin treatment.Item Open Access Whole genome sequencing of m. Tuberculosis strains in kazakhstan reveal genomic variants in genes coding pe/ppe protein family specific for mdr/xdr isolates(Nazarbayev University, 2018-10-18) Kozhamkulov, U.; Kairov, U.; Molkenov, A.; Steins, M.; Akhmetova, А.; Akilzhanova, AWorldwide in 2016, around 10.4 million people were diagnosed with TB among which 1.7 million died [1]. Despite the progress in decreasing the global incidence of drug-susceptible TB, multidrug-resistant (MDR) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR) tuberculosis in the past decade led to decreased efficiency of chemotherapy. However, the rate of drug-resistant TB increases annually, especially multidrug-resistant TB (MDR TB) [1].Item Open Access De Novo Assembly And Bioinformatics Analysis Of M.Tuberculosis Mdr Strains Sequenced On Next-Generation Sequencing Platform(Nazarbayev University, 2018-10-18) Daniyarov, A.; Kairov, U.; Molkenov, A.; Kozhamkulov, U.; Akhmetova, A.; Akilzhanova, A; Zhumadilov, Zh.Tuberculosis remains one of the major problems in public health (1). During the last 10 years the tuberculosis incidence and mortality rate in Kazakhstan decreased by 2.4 times and 6 times, respectively. Despite the decreasing rate of incidences in Kazakhstan last years, the rate of multidrug-resistant (MDR) forms is increasing.Item Open Access Genotyping Of M. Tuberculosis Clinical Isolates From New Cases Of Tuberculosis In Kazakhstan(Nazarbayev University, 2018-10-18) Akhmetova, А.; Akilzhanova, A.; Assatova, B.; Moldakhmetova, N.; Toksanbaeva, B.; Bismilda, V.; Chingissova, L.; Kozhamkulov, U.Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major health problem in Kazakhstan. Despite of that the rates of TB disease and mortality decreased from 58,5/100000 and 4,1/100000 in 2015 to 52,7/100000 and 3,4/100000 in 2016 respectively, the rate of multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) increased from 12,2/100000 in 2014 to 13,5/100000 in 2015 [1]; MDR strains associated with resistance to the main two first line anti-TB drugs – isoniazid and rifampicin are the most dangerous. 27 countries relate to high MDR-TB burden countries, 15 of them in the European region, including Kazakhstan [2]; Methods of genotyping of M. tuberculosis play important role in TB infection control. There are more than 10 methods of genotyping, MIRU-VNTR is one of the widely used method in the world.Item Open Access Tracking the use of libguides: a content and usage study applying return on investment(Nazarbayev University, 2018-10-18) Yap, Joseph M.Introduction Library collections and information products are valuable assets that need to be assessed based on their usage and effectiveness. The services rendered of a library which can be expressed by acquiring numerous materials and tools that support studying, teaching, and research has its own accounting value that needs to be measured based on its return on investment (ROI). A LibGuide is a powerful tool that complements the learning of students through a guide that functions as an electronic instructional material. This study considers the return on investment by calculating the cost per view of published LibGuides from 2017 to early 2018. Methods The study used the limited built-in tracking tool of the Springshare’s LibGuides platform to determine the monthly view statistics of the published guides. Due to its limitations, the increase of usage of every LibGuide was calculated based on the number of views for the first six months of 2018. The ROI was measured by calculating the current valuation of the content management system over the total number of published guides for 2017. The quotient will be divided from the total number of views per day and it will result to the cost per view. Only the top ten most viewed were considered. Results The cost per view based on the top most accessed LibGuide is 6.15 USD. Based on a total of more than 19, 900 views with 56 guides published in 2017, only two LibGuides received more than six usage views a day and the rest is below four. Most LibGuides from 2017 generated more than 50% increase usage considering that it is only half of 2018. Based on a quick survey conducted during the summer months, most students are unaware of the published guides. Conclusions It is worth noting that LibGuide utilization is low but is expected to rise up in the next years to come. It will take more time to receive the ROI. Students are unaware of the existence of the guides. Subject Librarians have to exert extra effort to keep on reminding the students about the LibGuides and that more marketing plans and collaboration from the faculty members should be developed to maximize the full potential of the LibGuide as an e-learning tool.