Search results for: germinal center cells

Authors: Ruchi Yadav, Shivani Pandey, Prachi Srivastava

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Microarrays provide a rich source of data on the molecular working of cells. Each microarray reports on the abundance of tens of thousands of mRNAs. Virtually every human disease is being studied using microarrays with the hope of finding the molecular mechanisms of disease. Bioinformatics analysis plays an important part of processing the information embedded in large-scale expression profiling studies and for laying the foundation for biological interpretation. A basic, yet challenging task in the analysis of microarray gene expression data is the identification of changes in gene expression that are associated with particular biological conditions. Careful statistical design and analysis are essential to improve the efficiency and reliability of microarray experiments throughout the data acquisition and analysis process. One of the most popular platforms for microarray analysis is Bioconductor, an open source and open development software project based on the R programming language. This paper describes specific procedures for conducting quality assessment, visualization and preprocessing of Affymetrix Gene Chip and also details the different bioconductor packages used to analyze affymetrix microarray data and describe the analysis and outcome of each plots.

Keywords: microarray analysis, R language, affymetrix visualization, bioconductor

Procedia PDF Downloads 480

Authors: Humberto Foyaca Sibat, Lourdes de Fátima Ibañez Valdés

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Background Cysticercosis (Ct) is a preventable and eradicable zoonotic parasitic disease secondary to a cestode infection by the larva form of pig tapeworm Taenia solium (Ts), mainly seen in people living in developing countries. When the cysticercus is in the brain parenchymal, intraventricular system, subarachnoid space (SAS), cerebellum, brainstem, optic nerve, or spinal cord, then it has named neurocysticercosis (NCC), and the often-clinical manifestations are headache and epileptic seizures/epilepsy among other less frequent symptoms and signs. In this study, we look for a manuscript related to the role played by oligodendrocytes in the pathogenesis of NCC. We review this issue and formulate some hypotheses regarding its role and the role played in the pathogenesis of calcified NCC and epileptic seizures, and secondary epilepsy. Method: We searched the medical literature comprehensively, looking for published medical subject heading (MeSH) terms like "neurocysticercosis", "pathogenesis of neurocysticercosis", "comorbidity in NCC"; OR "oligodendrocytes"; OR "oligodendrocyte precursor cells(OPC/NG2)"; OR "epileptic seizures(ES)/Epilepsy(Ep)/NCC" OR "oligodendrocytes(OLG)/ES/Ep”; OR "calcified NCC/OLG"; OR “OLG Ca2+.” Results: All selected manuscripts were peer-reviewed, and we did not find publications related to OLG/NCC.

Keywords: oligodendrocytes, neurocysticercosis, oligodendrocytes, oligodendrocyte precursor cell, KG2, calcified neurocysticercosis, cellular calcium influx.

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Authors: B. Kahouadji, L. Guerbous, L. Lamiri, A. Mendoud

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Recently, nanomaterials are developed in the form of nano-films, nano-crystals and nano-pores. Lanthanide phosphates as a material find extensive application as laser, ceramic, sensor, phosphor, and also in optoelectronics, medical and biological labels, solar cells and light sources. Among the different kinds of rare-earth orthophosphates, yttrium orthophosphate has been shown to be an efficient host lattice for rare earth activator ions, which have become a research focus because of their important role in the field of light display systems, lasers, and optoelectronic devices. It is in this context that the 4fn- « 4fn-1 5d transitions of rare earth in insulating materials, lying in the UV and VUV, are the aim of large number of studies .Though there has been a few reports on Eu3+, Nd3+, Pr3+,Er3+, Ce3+, Tm3+ doped YPO4. The 4fn- « 4fn-1 5d transitions of the rare earth dependent to the host-matrix, several matrices ions were used to study these transitions, in this work we are suggesting to study on a very specific class of inorganic material that are orthophosphate doped with rare earth ions. This study focused on the effect of Ce3+ concentration on the structural and optical properties of Ce3+ doped YPO4 yttrium orthophosphate with powder form prepared by the Sol Gel method.

Keywords: YPO4, Ce3+, 4fn- <->4fn-1 5d transitions, scintillator

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Authors: Hayati Sari Hasibuan, Tresna P. Soemardi, Raldi H. Koestoer, Setyo S. Moersidik

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Facing the severe transportation system in daily basis, the government of Indonesia were searching an alternative solution to combat the acute traffic jam and the socio-economic negative effects and pollutions resulted. Transit-oriented development as a strategy in reformulating and restructuring of the urban land uses as well as the transport system will be implemented in many urban areas in Indonesia, especially in Jabodetabek. Jabodetabek is the greatest metropolitan area in Indonesia with 27.9 million inhabitants. The Jabodetabek is also the center of economic activity with gross domestic product around 22 percent of gross national product. This study aims to assess the potential of economic development and community change effects with implementing the transit oriented development. This study found that using transit oriented development as an alternative approach in reconstructing of urban land uses in metropolitan region will effect to the behaviour of urban mobilities, the housing choices, and the cost of transportation. The sustainable of socio-economic aspects resulting from the transit oriented development is the main focus of this paper. The challenge here is to explore the characteristics of transit oriented development that suitable for metropolitan region in developing country,which considering the uniqueness of nature and socio-cultural that shapes this urban.

Keywords: economic development, community change, restructuring, land use, transportation, environment

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Authors: Rachid Zentar, Mokrane Bala, Pascal Boustingorry

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The prediction of the rheological behavior of concrete is at the center of current concerns of the concrete industry for different reasons. The shortage of good quality standard materials combined with variable properties of available materials imposes to improve existing models to take into account these variations at the design stage of concrete. The main reasons for improving the predictive models are, of course, saving time and cost at the design stage as well as to optimize concrete performances. In this study, we will highlight the different properties of the granular mixtures that affect the rheological properties of concrete. Our objective is to identify the intrinsic parameters of the aggregates which make it possible to predict the yield stress of concrete. The work was done using two typologies of grains: crushed and rolled aggregates. The experimental results have shown that the rheology of concrete is improved by increasing the packing density of the granular mixture using rolled aggregates. The experimental program realized allowed to model the yield stress of concrete by a modified model of Chateau et al. through a dimensionless parameter following Krieger-Dougherty law. The modelling confirms that the yield stress of concrete depends not only on the properties of cement paste but also on the packing density of the granular skeleton and the shape of grains.

Keywords: crushed aggregates, intrinsic viscosity, packing density, rolled aggregates, slump, yield stress of concrete

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Authors: Khadra Ahmed, Khaled Kheireldin

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In this paper, we present a pedestrian detection descriptor called Fused Structure and Texture (FST) features based on the combination of the local phase information with the texture features. Since the phase of the signal conveys more structural information than the magnitude, the phase congruency concept is used to capture the structural features. On the other hand, the Center-Symmetric Local Binary Pattern (CSLBP) approach is used to capture the texture information of the image. The dimension less quantity of the phase congruency and the robustness of the CSLBP operator on the flat images, as well as the blur and illumination changes, lead the proposed descriptor to be more robust and less sensitive to the light variations. The proposed descriptor can be formed by extracting the phase congruency and the CSLBP values of each pixel of the image with respect to its neighborhood. The histogram of the oriented phase and the histogram of the CSLBP values for the local regions in the image are computed and concatenated to construct the FST descriptor. Several experiments were conducted on INRIA and the low resolution DaimlerChrysler datasets to evaluate the detection performance of the pedestrian detection system that is based on the FST descriptor. A linear Support Vector Machine (SVM) is used to train the pedestrian classifier. These experiments showed that the proposed FST descriptor has better detection performance over a set of state of the art feature extraction methodologies.

Keywords: planktons, diversity indices, water quality index, water ways

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Authors: C. A. Anser Pasha

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In this paper, a new Vehicular Speed Detection Camera System that is applicable as an alternative to traditional radars with the same accuracy or even better is presented. The real-time measurement and analysis of various traffic parameters such as speed and number of vehicles are increasingly required in traffic control and management. Image processing techniques are now considered as an attractive and flexible method for automatic analysis and data collections in traffic engineering. Various algorithms based on image processing techniques have been applied to detect multiple vehicles and track them. The SDCS processes can be divided into three successive phases; the first phase is Objects detection phase, which uses a hybrid algorithm based on combining an adaptive background subtraction technique with a three-frame differencing algorithm which ratifies the major drawback of using only adaptive background subtraction. The second phase is Objects tracking, which consists of three successive operations - object segmentation, object labeling, and object center extraction. Objects tracking operation takes into consideration the different possible scenarios of the moving object like simple tracking, the object has left the scene, the object has entered the scene, object crossed by another object, and object leaves and another one enters the scene. The third phase is speed calculation phase, which is calculated from the number of frames consumed by the object to pass by the scene.

Keywords: radar, image processing, detection, tracking, segmentation

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Authors: Nasiruddin Khan

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The action of (-)-epicatechin, a cocoa (Theobroma cacao) flavanol that modulates redox/oxidative stress are contributed mainly to their antioxidant properties. The present study investigates the concentration and time dependent effect of (-)-epicatechin metabolites 3MeEc, 4MeEc, and 4SulEc on the production of ROS on BAEC using L-012, Lucigenin as chemiluminescence dye and XO/HX system. Our result demonstrates that 3MeEc shows significant (P <0.05) lowering effect of ROS production in BAEC with increasing concentration of metabolite while L-012 was used as chemiluminescence dye but not in the case of Lucigenin. In XO/HX system, using L-012 as chemiluminescence dye, 3MeEc and 4MeEc showed significant lowering effect on ROS production with increasing concentration from 100-500nM as compared to the positive control (SOD). When Lucigenin was used as chemiluminescence dye, 3MeEc exerted significant lowering effect with increasing concentration when compared to the positive control (SOD) whereas 4MeEc showed significant lowering effect in ROS production from 250 nM on as compared to positive control. For 4SulEc, a significant lowering effect of ROS production was only observed at 100 and 250 nM. Overall, although each metabolite shows considerable effect, 3MeEc exhibited more pronounced effect on decreasing the production of ROS as compared to other two metabolites.

Keywords: epicatechin metabolites, HO-1, Nrf2, ROS

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Authors: Nendouvhada Livhuwani Portia, Nicole Sibuyi, Kwazikwakhe Gabuza, Adewale Fadaka

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Metabolic dysfunction-associated liver disease (MASLD) is a chronic condition characterized by excessive fat accumulation in the liver, distinct from conditions caused by alcohol, viral hepatitis, or medications. MASLD is often linked with metabolic syndrome, including obesity, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and hypertriglyceridemia. This disease can progress to metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), marked by liver inflammation and scarring, potentially leading to cirrhosis. However, only 43-44% of patients with steatosis develop MASH, and 7-30% of those with MASH progress to cirrhosis. The exact mechanisms underlying MASLD and its progression remain unclear, and there are currently no specific therapeutic strategies for MASLD/MASH. While anti-obesity and anti-diabetic medications can reduce progression, they do not fully treat or reverse the disease. As an alternative, green-synthesized metal nanoparticles (MNPs) are emerging as potential treatments for liver diseases due to their anti-diabetic, anti-inflammatory, and anti-obesity properties with minimal side effects. MNPs like gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have been shown to improve metabolic processes by lowering blood glucose, body fat, and inflammation. The study aimed to explore the effects of green-synthesized MNPs on gene expression in an in vitro model of MASH using C3A/HepG2 liver cells. The MASH model was created by exposing these cells to free fatty acids (FFAs) followed by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to induce inflammation. Cell viability was assessed with the Water-Soluble Tetrazolium (WST)-1 assay, and lipid accumulation was measured using the Oil Red O (ORO) assay. Additionally, mitochondrial membrane potential was assessed by the tetramethyl rhodamine, methyl ester (TMRE) assay, and inflammation was measured with an Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). The study synthesized AuNPs from Carpobrotus edulis fruit (CeF) and avocado seed (AvoSE) and AgNPs from Salvia africana-lutea (SAL) using optimized conditions. The MNPs were characterized by UV-Vis spectrophotometry and Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS). The nanoparticles were tested at various concentrations for their impact on the C3A/HepG2-induced MASH model. Among the MNPs tested, AvoSE-AuNPs showed the most promise. They reduced cell proliferation and intracellular lipid content more effectively than CeFE-AuNPs and SAL-AgNPs. Molecular analysis using real-time polymerase chain reaction revealed that AvoSE-AuNPs could potentially reverse MASH effects by reducing the expression of key pro-inflammatory and metabolic genes, including tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), Fas cell surface death receptor (FAS), Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)-α, PPAR-γ, and Sterol regulatory element-binding protein (SREBPF)-1. Further research is needed to confirm the molecular mechanisms behind the effects of these MNPs and to identify the specific phytochemicals responsible for their synthesis and bioactivities.

Keywords: gold nanoparticles, green nanotechnology, metal nanoparticles, obesity

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Authors: Kuangyou B. Cheng

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Tennis is among the most popular sports worldwide. During ball-racket impact, substantial vibration transmitted to the hand/arm may be the cause of “tennis elbow”. Although it is common for athletes to attach a “vibration damper” to the spring-bed, the effect remains unclear. To avoid subjective factors and errors in data recording, the effect of damper attachment on racket handle end vibration was investigated with computer simulation. The tennis racket was modeled as a beam with free-free ends (similar to loosely holding the racket). Finite difference method with 40 segments was used to simulate ball-racket impact response. The effect of attaching a damper was modeled as having a segment with increased mass. It was found that the damper has the largest effect when installed at the spring-bed center. However, this is not a practical location due to interference with ball-racket impact. Vibration amplitude changed very slightly when the damper was near the top or bottom of the spring-bed. The damper works only slightly better at the bottom than at the top of the spring-bed. In addition, heavier dampers work better than lighter ones. These simulation results were comparable with experimental recordings in which the selection of damper locations was restricted by ball impact locations. It was concluded that mathematical model simulations were able to objectively investigate the effect of damper attachment on racket vibration. In addition, with very slight difference in grip end vibration amplitude when the damper was attached at the top or bottom of the spring-bed, whether the effect can really be felt by athletes is questionable.

Keywords: finite difference, impact, modeling, vibration amplitude

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Authors: Junwon Seo, Bipin Adhikari, Euiseok Jeong

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This paper is intended to evaluate the structural performance of welded electronic road signs under various damage scenarios (DSs) using a finite element (FE) model calibrated with full-scale ultimate load testing results. The tested electronic road sign specimen was built with a back skin made of 5052 aluminum and two channels and a frame made of 6061 aluminum, where the back skin was connected to the frame by welding. The size of the tested specimen was 1.52 m long, 1.43 m wide, and 0.28 m deep. An actuator applied vertical loads at the center of the back skin of the specimen, resulting in a displacement of 158.7 mm and an ultimate load of 153.46 kN. Using these testing data, generation and calibration of a FE model of the tested specimen were executed in ABAQUS, indicating that the difference in the ultimate load between the calibrated model simulation and full-scale testing was only 3.32%. Then, six different DSs were simulated where the areas of the welded connection in the calibrated model were diminished for the DSs. It was found that the corners at the back skin-frame joint were prone to connection failure for all the DSs, and failure of the back skin-frame connection occurred remarkably from the distant edges.

Keywords: computational analysis, damage scenarios, electronic road signs, finite element, welded connections

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Authors: Cara Williams

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This paper considers the media’s role in formulating a dominant social deviance paradigm and medicalised portrayal of disabled people and examines how those representations of impairment reinforce the personal tragedy view that underpins the social value given to the category of disability. According to a materialist perspective, the personal tragedy medical model approach condemns disabled people to live an inferior 'life apart', socially excluded and prevented from living as fully participating citizens on an equal basis to non-disabled people. Commonly, disabled people are portrayed as a person who needs to be cured in order to achieve a better 'quality of life'; otherwise stories center on deviance, criminality or scrounger. Media representations have consistently used negative language and images that reinforce the personal tragedy 'deficient' view of disability. The systematic misrepresentation within film, literature, TV and other art forms have validated a process about what it means to be 'normal' and how 'difference' and 'identity' are interpreted. The impact of these stereotyped disabling images for disabled people is a barrier not experienced by many other oppressed minority groups. Applying a materialist analysis, this paper contends that the impact on audience’s perceptions of impaired bodies and minds, and the harmful effects on disabled people can be linked with agenda setting theory - the relationship between the media and the political agenda.

Keywords: media, disabled people, political agenda, personal tragedy

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Authors: Kayijuka Idrissa

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This work investigates a mathematical study for traffic flow and traffic density in Kigali city roads and the data collected from the national police of Rwanda in 2012. While working on this topic, some mathematical models were used in order to analyze and compare traffic variables. This work has been carried out on Kigali roads specifically at roundabouts from Kigali Business Center (KBC) to Prince House as our study sites. In this project, we used some mathematical tools to analyze the data collected and to understand the relationship between traffic variables. We applied the Poisson distribution method to analyze and to know the number of accidents occurred in this section of the road which is from KBC to Prince House. The results show that the accidents that occurred in 2012 were at very high rates due to the fact that this section has a very narrow single lane on each side which leads to high congestion of vehicles, and consequently, accidents occur very frequently. Using the data of speeds and densities collected from this section of road, we found that the increment of the density results in a decrement of the speed of the vehicle. At the point where the density is equal to the jam density the speed becomes zero. The approach is promising in capturing sudden changes on flow patterns and is open to be utilized in a series of intelligent management strategies and especially in noncurrent congestion effect detection and control.

Keywords: statistical methods, traffic flow, Poisson distribution, car moving technics

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Authors: Osama Shakeel

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The objective of the paper is to study the clinic-pathological factors, survival analyses, recurrence rate, metastatic rate, risk factors and the management of cutaneous malignant melanoma at Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Center. Methodology: From 2014 to 2017, all patients with a diagnosis of cutaneous malignant melanoma (CMM) were included in the study. Demographic variables were collected. Short and long term oncological outcomes were recorded. All data were entered and analyzed in SPSS version 21. Results: A total of 28 patients were included in the study. Median age was 46.5 +/-15.9 years. There were 16 male and 12 female patients. The family history of melanoma was present in 7.1% (n=2) of the patients. All patients had a mean survival of 13.43+/- 9.09 months. Lower limb was the commonest site among all which constitutes 46.4%(n=13). On histopathological analyses, ulceration was seen in 53.6% (n=15) patients. Unclassified tumor type was present in 75%(n=21) of the patients followed by nodular 21.4% (n=6) and superficial spreading 3.5%(n=1). Clark level IV was the commonest presentation constituting 46.4%(n=13). Metastases were seen in 50%(n=14) of the patients. Local recurrence was observed in 60.7%(n=17). 64.3%(n=18) lived after one year of treatment. Conclusion: CMM is a fatal disease. Although its disease of fair skin individuals, however, the incidence of CMM is also rising in this part of the world. Management includes early diagnoses and prompt management. However, mortality associated with this disease is still not favorable.

Keywords: malignant cancer of skin, cutaneous malignant melanoma, skin cancer, survival analyses

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Authors: Attapon Kamlangdee, Brock Kingstad-Bakke, Tavis K. Anderson, Tony L. Goldberg, Jorge E. Osorio

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A critical failure in our preparedness for an influenza pandemic is the lack of a universal vaccine. Influenza virus strains diverge by 1 to 2% per year, and commercially available vaccines often do not elicit protection from one year to the next, necessitating frequent formulation changes. This represents a major challenge to the development of a cross-protective vaccine that can protect against circulating viral antigenic diversity. We have constructed a recombinant modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA) that expresses an H5N1 mosaic hemagglutinin (H5M) (MVA-H5M). This mosaic was generated in silico using 2,145 field-sourced H5N1 isolates. A single dose of MVA-H5M provided 100% protection in mice against clade 0, 1, and 2 avian influenza viruses and also protected against seasonal H1N1 virus (A/Puerto Rico/8/34). It also provided short-term (10 days) and long-term (6 months) protection post vaccination. Both neutralizing antibodies and antigen-specific CD4+and CD8+ T cells were still detected at 5 months post vaccination, suggesting that MVA-H5M provides long-lasting immunity.

Keywords: modified vaccinia Ankara, MVA, H5N1, hemagglutinin, influenza vaccine

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Authors: T. Sattarpour, D. Nazarpour

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This paper investigates the effect of simultaneous placement of DGs and smart meters (SMs), on voltage profile improvement in active distribution networks (ADNs). A substantial center of attention has recently been on responsive loads initiated in power system problem studies such as distributed generations (DGs). Existence of responsive loads in active distribution networks (ADNs) would have undeniable effect on sizing and siting of DGs. For this reason, an optimal framework is proposed for sizing and siting of DGs and SMs in ADNs. SMs are taken into consideration for the sake of successful implementing of demand response programs (DRPs) such as direct load control (DLC) with end-side consumers. Looking for voltage profile improvement, the optimization procedure is solved by genetic algorithm (GA) and tested on IEEE 33-bus distribution test system. Different scenarios with variations in the number of DG units, individual or simultaneous placing of DGs and SMs, and adaptive power factor (APF) mode for DGs to support reactive power have been established. The obtained results confirm the significant effect of DRPs and APF mode in determining the optimal size and site of DGs to be connected in ADN resulting to the improvement of voltage profile as well.

Keywords: active distribution network (ADN), distributed generations (DGs), smart meters (SMs), demand response programs (DRPs), adaptive power factor (APF)

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Authors: Juliana Sagretti, Susy Sabato

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Despite the poverty in the world, a third of all food produced in the world is wasted. FAO, the United Nations Organization of Agriculture and Food, points out the need to combine actions and new technologies to combat hunger and waste in contrast to the high production of food in the world. The energy of ionizing radiation in food brought many positive results, such as increased validity and insect infestation control. The food banks are organizations that act at various points of food chain to collect and distribute food to the needy. So, the aim of this study was to initiate a partnership between irradiation and the food bank through the development of a questionnaire to evaluate and disseminate the knowledge and acceptance of individuals in the food bank in Brazil. In addition, this study aimed to standardize a basis questionnaire for future research assessment of irradiated foods. For the construction of the questionnaire as a measuring instrument, a comprehensive and rigorous literature review was made. Its covered qualitative research, questionnaires, sensory evaluation and food irradiated. Three stages of pre - tests were necessary and related fields of experts were consulted. As a result, the questionnaire has three parts, personal issues, assertive issues and questions of multiple choices and finally an informative question. The questionnaire was applied in Ceagesp food bank in the biggest center of food in Brazil (data not shown).

Keywords: food bank, food irradiation, food waste, sustainability

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Authors: Minas Balyan

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In the third-order nonlinear Takagi’s equations for monochromatic waves and in the third-order nonlinear time-dependent dynamical diffraction equations for X-ray pulses for forbidden reflections the Fourier-coefficients of the linear and the third order nonlinear susceptibilities are zero. The dynamical diffraction in the nonlinear case is related to the presence in the nonlinear equations the terms proportional to the zero order and the second order nonzero Fourier coefficients of the third order nonlinear susceptibility. Thus in the third order nonlinear Bragg diffraction case a nonlinear analogue of the well known Renninger effect takes place. In this work, the ‘third order nonlinear Renninger effect’ is considered theoretically and numerically. If the reflection exactly is forbidden the diffracted wave’s amplitude is zero both in Laue and Bragg cases since the boundary conditions and dynamical diffraction equations are compatible with zero solution. But in real crystals due to some percent of dislocations and other localized defects, the atoms are displaced with respect to their equilibrium positions. Thus in real crystals susceptibilities of forbidden reflection are by some order small than for usual not forbidden reflections but are not exactly equal to zero. The numerical calculations for susceptibilities two order less than for not forbidden reflection show that in Bragg geometry case the nonlinear reflection curve’s behavior is the same as for not forbidden reflection, but for forbidden reflection the rocking curves’ width, center and boundaries are two order sensitive on the input intensity value. This gives an opportunity to investigate third order nonlinear X-ray dynamical diffraction for not intense beams – 0.001 in the units of critical intensity.

Keywords: third order nonlinearity, Bragg diffraction, nonlinear Renninger effect, rocking curves

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Authors: Fereshteh Pourmohammad, Mehdi Zare

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The city of Karaj, having a population of 2.2 millions (est. 2022) is located in the South West of Alborz Mountain Belt in Northern Iran. The region is known to be a highly active seismic zone. This study is focused on the geological and seismological analyses within a radius of 200 km from the center of Karaj. There are identified five seismic zones and seven linear seismic sources. The maximum magnitude was calculated for the seismic zones. Scine tghe seismicity catalog is incomplete, we have used a parametric-historic algorithm and the Kijko and Sellevoll (1992) method was used to calculate seismicity parameters, and the return periods and the probability frequency of recurrence of the earthquake magnitude in each zone obtained for 475-years return period. According to the calculations, the highest and lowest earthquake magnitudes of 7.6 and 6.2 were respectively obtained in Zones 1 and 4. This result is a new and extremely important in view point of earthquake risk in a densely population city. The maximum strong horizontal ground motion for the 475-years return period 0.42g and for 2475-year return period 0.70g also the maximum strong vertical ground motion for 475-years return period 0.25g and 2475-years return period 0.44g was calculated using attenuation relationships. These acceleration levels are new, and are obtained to be about 25% higher than presented values in the Iranian building code.

Keywords: seismic zones, ground motion, return period, hazard analysis

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Authors: Nasir Sulman

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In Pakistan, the inclusion of persons with disabilities in higher education institutions has significantly been increased with every passing year and anyone can observe a sizeable number of these students in each faculty. The study executes to conduct a baseline survey for measuring faculty understanding about the special needs, experiences of students with disabilities and support provided by university administration in order to teach these students effectively. The researcher has used mixed methods and the University of Karachi was selected through non-probability-based sampling method. This university is one of the largest universities in Pakistan where more than 40,000 students have been enrolled. Data was gathered through a questionnaire and focused group discussion from three stakeholders including students with disabilities, faculty members and members of the university administration. The key findings show that students with disabilities experience a number of problems related to accommodating their special needs. However, the most encouraging factors identified are the attitude, support, and motivation they received from various faculty members and university administration. On the basis of the findings of the study the researcher has prepared a faculty guidebook and established a ‘Model Learning Assistance Centre for Students with Disabilities’ in the Department of Special Education, University of Karachi. Both these efforts will be helpful for improving the support services for students with disabilities to strengthen the existing laws, policies, and practices in institutions of higher education.

Keywords: persons with disabilities, higher education, learning assistance center, faculty guidebook

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Authors: Marcin Kruszewski, Barbara Sochanowicz, Sylwia Męczyńska-Wielgosz, Maria Wojewódzka, Lucyna Kapka-Skrzypczak

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Metallic NPs are widely used in a number of applications in industry, science and medicine. Among metallic NPs foreseen to be widely used in medicine are gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) due to their low toxicity, and silver NPs (AgNPs) due to their strong antimicrobial activity. In this study, we compared an effect of AgNPs and gold NPs (AuNPs) on the formation of DNA damage and global DNA methylation and in A2780 and 4T1 cell lines, widely used models of human ovarian carcinoma and murine mammary carcinoma, respectively. The cells were treated with AgNPs coated with citrate (AgNPs(cit) or PEG (AgNPs(PEG), or AuNPs. A global DNA methylation was investigated with ELISA, whereas the formation of DNA damage was investigated by a comet +/- FPG. AgNPs decreased global DNA methylation and increased the formation of DNA lesions in both cell lines. The effect was dependent on the type of NPs used, it's coating, and cell line used. In conclusion, the epigenetic and genotoxic effects of NPs strongly depends on NP nature and cellular context. Epigenetic changes observed upon the action of AgNPs may play a crucial role in NPs-induced changes in protein expression.

Keywords: DNA damage, gold nanoparticles, methylation, silver nanoparticles

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Authors: Sahar Heidary

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Breast cancer is a main public common obstacle global. Additionally, it is the second top reason for tumor death across women. Considering breast cancer cure choices can aid private doctors in precaution for their patients through future cancer treatment. This article reviews usual management centered on stage, histology, and biomarkers. The growth of breast cancer is a multi-stage procedure including numerous cell kinds and its inhibition residues stimulating in the universe. Timely identification of breast cancer is one of the finest methods to stop this illness. Entirely chief therapeutic administrations mention screening mammography for women aged 40 years and older. Breast cancer metastasis interpretations for the mainstream of deaths from breast cancer. The discovery of breast cancer metastasis at the initial step is essential for managing and estimate of breast cancer development. Developing methods consuming the exploration of flowing cancer cells illustrate talented outcomes in forecasting and classifying the initial steps of breast cancer metastasis in patients. In public, mammography residues are the key screening implement though the efficiency of medical breast checks and self-checkup is less. Innovative screening methods are doubtful to exchange mammography in the close upcoming for screening the overall people.

Keywords: breast cancer, screening, metastasis, methods

Procedia PDF Downloads 167

Authors: Xing Wang, Lin Feng, Lingling E., Hongchen Liu

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In patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) there is poorer quality osseointegration than in non-diabetic (n-DM) patients, and the success of dental implants is less. Recent studies have demonstrated that insulin could stimulate bone cells to produce and accelerate implant osseointegration in DM patients.This raised the question whether insulin could provide local bone anabolic effects in non-diabetic patients. In this study,48 SD rats were divided into four groups randomly: DM group, DM+insulin group, n-DM group, n-DM + insulin group. All rats were implanted the titanium implant near the epiphyseal end of tibia, then the DM + insulin and n-DM + insulin group received twice-daily subcutaneous injections of insulin (10U/day).Two,four and eight weeks after implantation, rats were killed in batches. Histomorphometry and immunohistochemistry were used to evaluate bone formation and osseointegration. The amount of newly formed bone, Implant–bone contact and the expression of OCN,RUNX2 in the DM+insulin, n-DM and n-DM+insulin group were significantly more than in the DM group (p<0.05). Compared with the n-DM group,the Implant–bone contact and expression of OCN,RUNX2 were significantly increased in n-DM+insulin group (p< 0.05). Taken together,these observations provide evidence that insulin has the potential to increase bone formation and osseointegration around implant not only in diabetic subjects but also in non-diabetic subject.

Keywords: insulin, diabetes mellitus, osseointegration, dental implants

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Authors: Shao-Hsuan Chien, Ju-Hui Fu

Abstract:

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that is characterized by progressive loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta and motor impairment. Aggregation of α-synuclein in neuronal cells plays a key role in this disease. At present, therapeutics for PD provides moderate symptomatic benefit but is not able to delay the development of this disease. Current efforts for the treatment of PD are to identify new drugs that show slow or arrest progressive course of PD by interfering with a disease-specific pathogenetic process in PD patients. Maackiain is a bioactive compound isolated from the roots of the Chinese herb Sophora flavescens. The purpose of the present study was to assess the potential for maackiain to ameliorate PD in Caenorhabditis elegans models. Our data reveal that maackiain prevents α-synuclein accumulation in the transgenic Caenorhabditis elegans model and also improves dopaminergic neuron degeneration, food-sensing behavior, and life-span in 6-hydroxydopamine-induced Caenorhabditis elegans model, thus indicating its potential as a candidate antiparkinsonian drug.

Keywords: maackiain, Parkinson’s disease, dopaminergic neurons, α-Synuclein

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Authors: Naum Simanovsky MD, Michael Zaidman MD, Vladimir Goldman MD.

Abstract:

105 plain AP radiographs of normal adult pelvises (210 hips) were evaluated. Different measurements of normal and dysplastic hip joints in 45 patients were analyzed. Attempt was made to establish reproducible, easy applicable in practice approach for evaluation and follow up of patients with hip dysplasia. The youngest of our patients was 11 years and the oldest was 47 years. Only one of our patients needed conversion to total hip replacement (THR) during ten years of follow-up. It was emphasized that selected set of measurements was built for purpose to serve, especially those who’s scheduled or undergone PAO. This approach was based on concept of acetabulum-femoral head complex and importance of reliable reference points of measurements. Comparative analysis of measured parameters between normal and dysplastic hips was performed. Among 10 selected parameters, we use already well established such as lateral center edge angle and head extrusion index, but to serve specific group of patients with PAO, new parameters were considered such as complex lateralization and complex proximal migration. By our opinion proposed approach is easy applicable in busy clinical practice, satisfactorily delineate hip pathology and give to surgeon who’s going to perform PAO guidelines in condensed form. It is also useful tools for postoperative follow up after PAO.

Keywords: periacetabular osteotomy, plain radiograph’s measurements, adolescents, adult

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Authors: Nurgul Senol, Melda Azman

Abstract:

In this study, the rate of release of gastrointestinal peptides heavy metal compounds applied to a certain extent (gastrin/CCK) on immunohistochemical aimed to determine the effect. This study was supported by TÜBİTAK. Subjects were randomly grouped into three. Group I; iron (Fe), Group II; zinc (Zn), Group III; control; gavage technique was applied to each group once a day throughout 30 days. At the end of the experiment, rats were decapitated and their stomach-intestine tissues removed, Peroxidase anti peroxidase method was applied following the routine histological follow-ups. According to the control group, in the stomach, had more positive cell density of gastrin in Fe groups, it was observed that group followed by Zn. It was found between the groups in the stomach and intestinal gastrin, gastrin-positive cell density decreases towards the intestines from the stomach. Although CCK differences in staining were observed in the control group, the intensity of staining intensity between the two groups in positive cells was determined to be more than the stomach. The group in the intestines, there is no change in terms of positivity CCK. Consequently, there is no significant effect on gastrointestinal peptides in Zn application. It has been identified Fe application has a significant effect on the releasing of CCK/gastrin peptides.

Keywords: alimentary canal, CCK, iron, gastrin, zinc

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Authors: Flavia Laffleur, Andreas Bernkop-Schnürch

Abstract:

Purpose: This study was aimed to investigate preactivated thiomers for their mucoadhesive potential. Methods: Accordingly, chitosan-thioglycolic-mercaptonicotinamide conjugates (chitosan-TGA-MNA) were synthesized by the oxidative S-S coupling of chitosan-thioglycolic acid (chitosan-TGA) with 6-mercaptonicotin amide (MNA). Unmodified chitosan, chitosan-TGA (thiomers) and chitosan-TGA-MNA conjugates were compressed into test discs to investigate cohesive properties, cytotoxicity assays and mucoadhesion studies. Results: Due to the immobilization of MNA, the chitosan-TGA-MNA conjugates exhibit comparatively higher swelling properties and cohesive properties corresponding unmodified chitosan. On the rotating cylinder, discs based on chitosan-TGA-MNA conjugates displayed 3.1-fold improved mucoadhesion time compared to thiolated polymers. Tensile study results were found in good agreement with rotating cylinder results. Moreover, preactivated thiomers showed higher stability. All polymers were found non-toxic over Caco-2 cells. Conclusion: On the basis of achieved results the pre activated thiomeric therapeutic agent seems to represent a promising generation of mucoadhesive polymers which are safe to use for a prolonged residence time to target the mucosa.

Keywords: biomedical application, drug delivery, polymer, thiomer

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Authors: S. H. Allehyani, H. S. Ibrahim, F. M. Ali, E. Sayd, T. Abou Aiad

Abstract:

The present study aimed to analyse the radiation risk associated with the exposure of haemoglobin (Hb) of rat red blood cells (rbcs) exposed to a 50-Hz 6-kV/m electric field, a fast neutron dose of 1 mSv, and mixed radiation from fast neutrons and an electric field distributed over a period of three weeks at a rate of 5 days/week and 8 hours/day. The dielectric measurements and the absorption spectra for the haemoglobin molecule in the frequency range of 1 kHz to 5 MHz were measured for all of the samples. The dielectric relaxation results demonstrated an increase in the dielectric increment (∆ε) for the rbcs from all of the irradiated animals, which indicates an increase in the electric dipole. Moreover, the results revealed a decrease in the relaxation time (τ) and the molecular radius (r) of the irradiated molecules, which indicates that the increase in ∆ε is mainly due to a pronounced increase in the centre of mass of the charge on the electric dipole of the Hb molecule. The results from the absorption spectra indicate that the ratio of met-haemoglobin to oxy-haemoglobin is altered by irradiation. Moreover, the results from the delayed effect studies show that the structure and function of the newly generated Hb molecules are altered and dissimilar to that of healthy Hb.

Keywords: rat red blood cell haemoglobin, dielectric properties, absorption spectra, biochemical analysis

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Authors: Jiun-De Lin

Abstract:

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the empowerment effect of the older people through a structured reminiscence play therapeutic group program in Changhua county of Taiwan. This program was used Taiwanese traditional culture as the main concept based on the topic of reminiscence. In order to assimilate into the process for older people, thematic group activities were easy to operate. During the reminiscence play activities, they would improve their personal control and competence, the same as empowerment. A counselor who acted as a group leader led 10 elderly people participated in this reminiscence group play therapy. The participants of the study were 10 older people consisting of 7 males and 3 females who lived in a rehabilitation center in Changhua county of Taiwan. The participants’ average age was 72.5 years old. The study adopted the methods of survey research and the instruments in this study included subjects’ demographic information and the empowerment inventory for adults. A one-group pretest-posttest design was adopted by researchers to test the study hypothesis. The collected data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, and Wilcoxon matched paired signed-ranks test. The main finding of this study was that the reminiscence group play therapy had a significant effect (Z= 2.382, p < .05) to promote the state of empowerment of older people participated in this group play therapy. Based on the conclusion of this study, the suggestions and implications were proposed for the practices and future research.

Keywords: empowerment, group play therapy, older people, reminiscence

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Authors: Lucyna Kapka-Skrzypczak, Barbara Sochanowicz, Magdalena Matysiak-Kucharek, Magdalena Czajka, Krzysztof Sawicki, Marcin Kruszewski

Abstract:

Due to the strong antimicrobial activity silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are widely used in various medical and general applications, among others, in cosmetics, odour resistant textiles, etc. The aim of this study was to compare effect of AgNPs and gold NPs (AuNPs) on histones posttranslational modifications. Histone molecule posttranscriptional modifications are responsible for chromatin compaction and repackaging. In this study, BALB/c mice were inoculated with murine mammary carcinoma 4T1 cells and treated with AgNPs coated with citrate (AgNPs(cit) or PEG (AgNPs(PEG), or AuNPs. Thereafter the histone H3 acetylation on Lys9 and H3 methylation on Lys4, Lys9, Lys29 was investigated. All NPs tested decreased H3 methylation, while no effect was observed for H3 acetylation. Modification of histone H3 methylation dependent on type of NPs used its coating, site of methylation and treatment used. Conclusion, epigenetic effects of nanomaterials depend on nanomaterial composition, its coating, and way of application. This work was supported by National Science Centre grant No. 2014/15/B/NZ7/01036 (MK, LKS, MMK, MC, KS), statutory funding for INTC (BS).

Keywords: gold nanoparticles, histone, methylation, silver nanoparticles

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