Search results for: lung cancer trends

Authors: Ziyad S. Haidar

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Background: Saliva plays a major role in maintaining oral, dental, and general health and well-being; where it normally bathes the oral cavity acting as a clearing agent. This becomes more apparent when the amount and quality of saliva are significantly reduced due to medications, salivary gland neoplasms, disorders such as Sjögren’s syndrome, and especially ionizing radiation therapy for tumors of the head and neck, the 5th most common malignancy worldwide, during which the salivary glands are included within the radiation field/zone. Clinically, patients affected by salivary gland dysfunction often opt to terminate their radiotherapy course prematurely as they become malnourished and experience a significant decrease in their QoL. Accordingly, the formulation of a radio-protection/-prevention modality and development of an alternative Rx to restore damaged salivary gland tissue is eagerly awaited and highly desirable. Objectives: Assess the pre-clinical radio-protective effect and reparative/regenerative potential of layer-by-layer self-assembled lipid-polymer-based core-shell nanocapsules designed and fine-tuned for the sequential (ordered) release of dual cytokines, following a single local administration (direct injection) into a murine sub-mandibular salivary gland model of irradiation. Methods: The formulated core-shell nanocapsules were characterized by physical-chemical-mechanically pre-/post-loading with the drugs, followed by optimizing the pharmaco-kinetic profile. Then, nanosuspensions were administered directly into the salivary glands, 24hrs pre-irradiation (PBS, un-loaded nanocapsules, and individual and combined vehicle-free cytokines were injected into the control glands for an in-depth comparative analysis). External irradiation at an elevated dose of 18Gy was exposed to the head-and-neck region of C57BL/6 mice. Salivary flow rate (un-stimulated) and salivary protein content/excretion were regularly assessed using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (3-month period). Histological and histomorphometric evaluation and apoptosis/proliferation analysis followed by local versus systemic bio-distribution and immuno-histochemical assays were then performed on all harvested major organs (at the distinct experimental end-points). Results: Monodisperse, stable, and cytocompatible nanocapsules capable of maintaining the bioactivity of the encapsulant within the different compartments with the core and shell and with controlled/customizable pharmaco-kinetics, resulted, as is illustrated in the graphical abstract (Figure) below. The experimental animals demonstrated a significant increase in salivary flow rates when compared to the controls. Herein, salivary protein content was comparable to the pre-irradiation (baseline) level. Histomorphometry further confirmed the biocompatibility and localization of the nanocapsules, in vivo, into the site of injection. Acinar cells showed fewer vacuoles and nuclear aberration in the experimental group, while the amount of mucin was higher in controls. Overall, fewer apoptotic activities were detected by a Terminal deoxynucleotidyl Transferase (TdT) dUTP Nick-End Labeling (TUNEL) assay and proliferative rates were similar to the controls, suggesting an interesting reparative and regenerative potential of irradiation-damaged/-dysfunctional salivary glands. The Figure below exemplifies some of these findings. Conclusions: Biocompatible, reproducible, and customizable self-assembling layer-by-layer core-shell delivery system is formulated and presented. Our findings suggest that localized sequential bioactive delivery of dual cytokines (in specific dose and order) can prevent irradiation-induced damage via reducing apoptosis and also has the potential to promote in situ proliferation of salivary gland cells; maxSALIVA is scalable (Good Manufacturing Practice or GMP production for human clinical trials) and patent-pending.

Keywords: cancer, head and neck, oncology, drug development, drug delivery systems, nanotechnology, nanoncology

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Authors: Muhammad Atif Randhawa, Adnan Amjad, Muhammad Nadeem

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Potato (Solanum tuberosum) popularly known as ‘the king of vegetables’, has emerged as fourth most important food crop after rice, wheat and maize. Potato contains carbohydrates, minerals, vitamins and antioxidants. The antioxidants of potatoes especially vitamin C helps in reducing cancer, cardiovascular diseases and high blood pressure by binding free radicals. Physical characteristics and some major chemical properties of potato tubers at fresh and stored stages were investigated. Two varieties of potatoes, Sante (V1) having white colour and Lal moti (V2) with red colour were stored for 3 months and analysis were performed after each month interval. Physical and chemical attributes including weight loss, sprouting, specific gravity, pH, total sugars (reducing and non-reducing sugars) and vitamin C were analyzed before and after storage. Value of weight loss at zero day was null but it increased to 6.45% after 90 days on average in both cultivars and sprouting increased gradually at the end of 90 days. Moreover total sugars were 3.10% at zero day but increased to 9.30% after 90 days. Ascorbic acid was decreased during storage from 17.49(mg/100g) to 3.79. Both varieties of potato were stored at 60C and 120C temperatures with 85% relative humidity in order to prolong their acceptability in the market. The storage conditions influence the potatoes quality and consequently their acceptability to consumer. The data was analyzed statistically and clarifies that total sugars, weight loss, sprouting and specific gravity increase during the storage period while ascorbic acid (Vit-C) and pH decreased. Among both varieties that were stored at 60C and 120C, Sante (V1) was better than Lal moti (V2) due to less physicochemical and quality changes at 60C as compared to store at 120C.

Keywords: physicochemical, potato, quality attributes, storage

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Authors: Sylwia K. Naliwajko, Justyna Moskwa, Patryk Nowakowski, Renata Markiewicz-Zukowska, Krystyna Gromkowska-Kepka, Anna Puscion-Jakubik, Maria H. Borawska

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Amygdalin is found in many fruit seeds, including apricot, peach, quince, apples, and almonds. Amygdalin (also named vitamin B17), as well as its sources, are commonly used as an alternative therapy or prevention of cancer. The potential activity of amygdalin is related to its enzymatic degradation to the hydrogen cyanide. Hydrogen cyanide is a toxic substance that causes liver and nerves damage, fever, coma or even death. Amygdalin is much better tolerated after intravenous than oral administration. The aim of this study was to examine the influence of amygdalin on glioblastoma multiforme cell lines. Three glioblastoma multiforme cell lines – U87MG, T98, LN18 were incubated (48 h) with amygdalin in concentrations 100, 250, 500, 1000 and 2000 µg/mL. The MTT (Thiazolyl Blue Tetrazolium Bromide) test and DNA binding test by [3H]-thymidine incorporation were used to determine the anti-proliferative activity of amygdalin. The secretion of metalloproteinases (MMP2 and MMP-9) from U87MG cells was estimated by gelatin zymography. The statistical analysis was performed using Statistica v. 13.0 software. The data was presented as a % of control. Amygdalin did not show significant inhibition of viability of all the glioblastoma cells in concentrations 100, 250, 500, 1000 µg/mL. In 2000 µg/mL there were significant differences compared to the control, but inhibition of viability was less than 20% (more than 80% of control). The average viability of U87MG cells was 92,0±4%, T98G: 85,8±3% and LN18: 94,7±2% of the control. There was no dose-response viability, and IC50 value was not recognized. DNA binding in U87MG cells was not inhibited (109,0±3 % of control). After treatment with amygdalin, we observed significantly increased secretion of MMP2 and MMP9 in U87MG cells (130,3±14% and 112,0±5% of control, respectively). Our results suggest that amygdalin has no anticancer activity in glioblastoma cell lines.

Keywords: amygdalin, anticancer, cell line, glioblastoma

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Authors: Amber Shahi, Ayesha Tazeen, Abdus Samad, Shama Parveen

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Nanoparticles (NPs) are tiny particles. According to the International Organization for Standardization, the size range of NPs is in the nanometer range (1-100 nm). They show distinct properties that are not shown by larger particles of the same material. NPs are currently being used in different fields due to their unique physicochemical nature. NPs are a boon for medical sciences, environmental sciences, electronics, and textile industries. However, there is growing concern about their potential adverse effects on human health. This poster presents a comprehensive review of the current literature on the pros and cons of NPs on human health. The poster will discuss the various types of interactions of NPs with biological systems. There are a number of beneficial uses of NPs in the field of health and environmental welfare. NPs are very useful in disease diagnosis, antimicrobial action, and the treatment of diseases like Alzheimer’s. They can also cross the blood-brain barrier, making them capable of treating brain diseases. Additionally, NPs can target specific tumors and be used for cancer treatment. To treat environmental health, NPs also act as catalytic converters to reduce pollution from the environment. On the other hand, NPs also have some negative impacts on the human body, such as being cytotoxic and genotoxic. They can also affect the reproductive system, such as the testis and ovary, and sexual behavior. The poster will further discuss the routes of exposure of NPs. The poster will conclude with a discussion of the current regulations and guidelines on the use of NPs in various applications. It will highlight the need for further research and the development of standardized toxicity testing methods to ensure the safe use of NPs in various applications. When using NPs in diagnosis and treatment, we should also take into consideration their safe concentration in the body. Overall, this poster aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the pros and cons of NPs on human health and to promote awareness and understanding of the potential risks and benefits associated with their use.

Keywords: disease diagnosis, human health, nanoparticles, toxicity testing

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Authors: D. F. Zeynalov, T. V. Kartseva, O. V. Sorokin

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Currently, approaches to assess cardiointervalography are based on the calculation of data variance intervals RR. However, they do not allow the evaluation of features related to a period of the cardiac cycle, so how electromechanical phenomena during cardiac subphase are characterized by differently directed changes. Therefore, we have proposed a method of subphase analysis of the cardiac cycle, developed in the department of hominal physiology Novosibirsk State Medical University to identify the features of the dispersion subphase of the cardiac cycle. In the present paper we have examined the 5-minute intervals cardiointervalography (CIG) to isolate RR-, QT-, ST-ranges in healthy children and children with acute respiratory diseases (ARD) in comparison. It is known that primary school-aged children suffer at ARD 5-7 times per year. Consequently, it is one of the most relevant problems in pediatrics. It is known that the spectral indices and indices of temporal analysis of heart rate variability are highly sensitive to the degree of intoxication during immunological process. We believe that the use of subphase analysis of heart rate will allow more thoroughly evaluate responsiveness of the child organism during the course of ARD. The study involved 60 primary school-aged children (30 boys and 30 girls). In order to assess heart rhythm regulation, the record CIG was used on the "VNS-Micro" device of Neurosoft Company (Ivanovo) for 5 minutes in the supine position and 5 minutes during active orthostatic test. Subphase analysis of variance QT-interval and ST-segment was performed on the "KardioBOS" software Biokvant Company (Novosibirsk). In assessing the CIG in the supine position and in during orthostasis of children with acute respiratory diseases only RR-intervals are observed typical trend of general biological reactions through pressosensitive compensation mechanisms to lower blood pressure, but compared with healthy children the severity of the changes is different, of sick children are more pronounced indicators of heart rate regulation. But analysis CIG RR-intervals and analysis subphase ST-segment have yielded conflicting trends, which may be explained by the different nature of the intra- and extracardiac influences on regulatory mechanisms that implement the various phases of the cardiac cycle.

Keywords: acute respiratory diseases, cardiointervalography, subphase analysis, cardiac cycle

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Authors: C. Bejrananda, Y. Lee, T. Khamkaew

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With the rise of the importance of air transportation in the 21st century, the role of economics in airport planning and decision-making has become more important to the urban structure and land value around it. Therefore, this research aims to examine the relationship between an airport and its impacts on the distribution of urban land uses and land values by applying the Alonso’s bid rent model. The New Bangkok International Airport (Suvarnabhumi International Airport) was taken as a case study. The analysis was made over three different time periods of airport development (after the airport site was proposed, during airport construction, and after the opening of the airport). The statistical results confirm that Alonso’s model can be used to explain the impacts of the new airport only for the northeast quadrant of the airport, while proximity to the airport showed the inverse relationship with the land value of all six types of land use activities through three periods of time. It indicates that the land value for commercial land use is the most sensitive to the location of the airport or has the strongest requirement for accessibility to the airport compared to the residential and manufacturing land use. Also, the bid-rent gradients of the six types of land use activities have declined dramatically through the three time periods because of the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997. Therefore, the lesson learned from this research concerns about the reliability of the data used. The major concern involves the use of different areal units for assessing land value for different time periods between zone block (1995) and grid block (2002, 2009). As a result, this affect the investigation of the overall trends of land value assessment, which are not readily apparent. In addition, the next concern is the availability of the historical data. With the lack of collecting historical data for land value assessment by the government, some of data of land values and aerial photos are not available to cover the entire study area. Finally, the different formats of using aerial photos between hard-copy (1995) and digital photo (2002, 2009) made difficult for measuring distances. Therefore, these problems also affect the accuracy of the results of the statistical analyses.

Keywords: airport development area, economic rents, spatial pattern, suvarnabhumi international airport

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Authors: Oliveira M., Gonçalves L., Francisco I., Caramelo F., Vale F., Sanz D., Domingues M., Lopes M., Moreia D., Lopes T., Santos T., Cardoso H.

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The ARTHUR project consists of a platform that allows the virtual performance of maxillofacial surgeries, offering, in a photorealistic concept, the possibility for the patient to have an idea of the surgical changes before they are performed on their face. For this, the system brings together several image formats, dicoms and objs that, after loading, will generate the bone volume, soft tissues and hard tissues. The system also incorporates the patient's stereophotogrammetry, in addition to their data and clinical history. After loading and inserting data, the clinician can virtually perform the surgical operation and present the final result to the patient, generating a new facial surface that contemplates the changes made in the bone and tissues of the maxillary area. This tool acts in different situations that require facial reconstruction, however this project focuses specifically on two types of use cases: bone congenital disfigurement and acquired disfiguration such as oral cancer with bone attainment. Being developed a cloud based solution, with mobile support, the tool aims to reduce the decision time window of patient. Because the current simulations are not realistic or, if realistic, need time due to the need of building plaster models, patient rates on decision, rely on a long time window (1,2 months), because they don’t identify themselves with the presented surgical outcome. On the other hand, this planning was performed time based on average estimated values of the position of the maxilla and mandible. The team was based on averages of the facial measurements of the population, without specifying racial variability, so the proposed solution was not adjusted to the real individual physiognomic needs.

Keywords: 3D computing, image processing, image registry, image reconstruction

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Authors: Chutamas Thepmalee, Aussara Panya, Mutita Junking, Jatuporn Sujjitjoon, Nunghathai Sawasdee, Pa-Thai Yenchitsomanus

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Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is an aggressive malignancy of bile duct epithelial cells in which the standard treatments, including surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and targeted therapy are partially effective. Many solid tumors including CCA escape host immune responses by creating tumor microenvironment and generating immunosuppressive cytokines such as interleukin-10 (IL-10) and transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β). These cytokines can inhibit dendritic cell (DC) differentiation and function, leading to decreased activation and response of effector CD4+ and CD8+ T cells for cancer cell elimination. To overcome the effects of these immunosuppressive cytokines and to increase ability of DC to activate effector CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, we generated self-differentiated DCs (SD-DCs) with down-regulation of IL-10 and TGF-β receptors for activation of effector CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. Human peripheral blood monocytes were initially transduced with lentiviral particles containing the genes encoding GM-CSF and IL-4 and then secondly transduced with lentiviral particles containing short-hairpin RNAs (shRNAs) to knock-down mRNAs of IL-10 and TGF-β receptors. The generated SD-DCs showed up-regulation of MHC class II (HLA-DR) and co-stimulatory molecules (CD40 and CD86), comparable to those of DCs generated by convention method. Suppression of IL-10 and TGF-β receptors on SD-DCs by specific shRNAs significantly increased levels of IFN-γ and also increased cytolytic activity of DC-activated effector T cells against CCA cell lines (KKU-213 and KKU-100), but it had little effect to immortalized cholangiocytes (MMNK-1). Thus, SD-DCs with down-regulation of IL-10 and TGF-β receptors increased activation of effector T cells, which is a recommended method to improve DC function for the preparation of DC-activated effector T cells for adoptive T-cell therapy.

Keywords: cholangiocarcinoma, IL-10 receptor, self-differentiated dendritic cells, TGF-β receptor

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Authors: Yi-Lin Chen, Sheng-Jou Hung, Tsunglin Liu

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Adaptive immune system recognizes a wide range of antigens via expressing a large number of structurally distinct T cell and B cell receptor genes. The distinct receptor genes arise from complex rearrangements called V(D)J recombination, and constitute the immune repertoire. A common method of profiling immune repertoire is via amplifying recombined receptor genes using multiple primers and high-throughput sequencing. This multiplex-PCR approach is efficient; however, the resulting repertoire can be distorted because of primer bias. To eliminate primer bias, 5’ RACE is an alternative amplification approach. However, the application of RACE approach is limited by its low efficiency (i.e., the majority of data are non-regular receptor sequences, e.g., containing intronic segments) and lack of the convenient tool for analysis. We propose a computational tool that can correctly identify non-regular receptor sequences in RACE data via aligning receptor sequences against the whole gene instead of only the exon regions as done in all other tools. Using our tool, the remaining regular data allow for an accurate profiling of immune repertoire. In addition, a RACE approach is improved to yield a higher fraction of regular T-cell receptor sequences. Finally, we quantify the degree of primer bias of a multiplex-PCR approach via comparing it to the RACE approach. The results reveal significant differences in frequency of VJ combination by the two approaches. Together, we provide a new experimental and computation pipeline for an unbiased profiling of immune repertoire. As immune repertoire profiling has many applications, e.g., tracing bacterial and viral infection, detection of T cell lymphoma and minimal residual disease, monitoring cancer immunotherapy, etc., our work should benefit scientists who are interested in the applications.

Keywords: immune repertoire, T-cell receptor, 5' RACE, high-throughput sequencing, sequence alignment

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Authors: Mlondi Ndovela

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Globally, the manufacturing employment has been declining and the South African manufacturing sector experiences the very same trend. Despite the commonality between the global and South African manufacturing trend, there is an understanding that local areas provide distinct contributions to the provincial/national economy. Therefore, the growth/decline of a particular manufacturing division in one local area may not be evident in another area since economic performances vary from region to region. In view of the above, the study employed the Esteban-Marquillas model of shift-share analysis (SSA) to conduct an empirical analysis of manufacturing employment performance at uMhlathuze Local Municipality in the KwaZulu-Natal province. The study set out two objectives; those are, to quantify uMhlathuze manufacturing jobs that are attributed to the provincial manufacturing employment trends and identify manufacturing divisions are growing/declining in terms of employment. To achieve these objectives, the study sampled manufacturing employment data from 2010 to 2017 and this data was categorised into ten manufacturing divisions. Furthermore, the Esteban-Marquillas model calculated manufacturing employment in terms of two effects, namely; provincial growth effect (PGE) and industrial mix effect (IME). The results show that even though uMhlathuze manufacturing sector has a positive PGE (+230), the municipality performed poorly in terms of IME (-291). A further analysis included other economic sectors of the municipality to draw employment performance comparison and the study found that agriculture; construction; trade, catering and accommodation; and transport, storage and communication, performed well above manufacturing sector in terms of PGE (+826) and IME (+532). This suggests that uMhlathuze manufacturing sector is not necessarily declining; however, other economic sectors are growing faster and bigger than it is, therefore, reducing the employment share of the manufacturing sector. To promote manufacturing growth from a policy standpoint, the government could create favourable macroeconomic policies such as import substitution policies and support labour-intensive manufacturing divisions. As a result, these macroeconomic policies can help to protect local manufacturing firms and stimulate the growth of manufacturing employment.

Keywords: allocation effect, Esteban-Marquillas model, manufacturing employment, regional competitive effect, shift-share analysis

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Authors: Kruti Jaruriya

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Distribution of arsenic (As) and its compound and related toxicology are serious concerns. This is particularly so since millions worldwide are suffering from toxicity due to drinking of As-contaminated groundwater. The Bengal delta plain, formed by the Ganga– Padma–Meghna–Brahmaputra river basin, covering several districts of West Bengal, India and Bangladesh is considered as the worst As affected alluvial basin. However, some equally affected, if not more, areas are emerging in upper Brahmaputra plains. The present study was carried out to examine As contamination trends in the worst affected part of Assam, India. Arsenic (As) mobilization to the groundwater of Brahmaputra floodplains was investigated in Titabor, Jorhat District, located in the North Eastern part of India. The groundwater and the aquifer geochemistry were characterized. The groundwater is characterized by high dissolved Fe, Mn, and HCO-3 and low concentrations of NO-3 and SO2-4 indicating anoxic conditions prevailing in the groundwater. Fifty groundwater samples collected from shallow and deep tubewells of Titabor, Jorhat district (Assam) were examined. Along with total As, examination of concentration levels of other key parameters, viz., pH, EC, Fe, Mn , Mg2+, Ca2+, Na+, K+, PO43- , HCO-3 , NO3- ,Cl - and SO42- was also carried out. In respect to the permissible guideline of World Health Organization (WHO: As 0.01 ppm, Fe 1.0 ppm, and Mn 0.3 ppm for potable water), the range of As concentration in the groundwater varied from 0.014 to 0.604 mg/L with mean concentration 0.184 mg/L. The present study showed that out of the 50 groundwater samples,100%, 54%, and 42% were found contaminated with higher metal contents (for total As, Fe, and Mn, respectively). The results of hydrogeochemical study revealed that the reductive dissolution of MnOOH and FeOOH represents an important mechanism of arsenic release in the study area along with major cations playing an important role in leaching of As into the groundwater. Arsenic released by oxidation of pyrite, as water levels are drawn down and air enters the aquifer, contributes negligibly to the problem of As pollution. Identification of the mechanism of As release to groundwater helps to provide a framework to guide the placement of new water wells so that they will have acceptable concentrations of As.

Keywords: arsenic, assam, brahmaputra floodplain, groundwater, hydrogeochemistry

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Authors: M. Shaheed Hartley

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There has been increasing pressure on education researchers and practitioners at higher education institutions to focus on the development of South Africa’s rural and peri-urban communities and improving their quality of life. Many tertiary institutions are obliged to review their outreach interventions in schools. To ensure that the support provided to schools is still relevant, a systemic evaluation of science educator needs is central to this process. These prioritised needs will serve as guide not only for the outreach projects of tertiary institutions, but also to service providers in general so that the process of addressing educators needs become coordinated, organised and delivered in a systemic manner. This paper describes one area of a broader needs assessment exercise to collect data regarding the needs of educators in a district of 45 secondary schools in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. This research focuses on the needs and challenges faced by science educators at these schools as articulated by the relevant stakeholders. The objectives of this investigation are two-fold: (1) to create a data base that will capture the needs and challenges identified by science educators of the selected secondary schools; and (2) to develop a needs profile for each of the participating secondary schools that will serve as a strategic asset to be shared with the various service providers as part of a community of practice whose core business is to support science educators and science education at large. The data was collected by a means of a needs assessment questionnaire (NAQ) which was developed in both actual and preferred versions. An open-ended questionnaire was also administered which allowed teachers to express their views. The categories of the questionnaire were predetermined by participating researchers, educators and education department officials. Group interviews were also held with the science teachers at each of the schools. An analysis of the data revealed important trends in terms of science educator needs and identified schools that can be clustered around priority needs, logistic reasoning and educator profiles. The needs database also provides opportunity for the community of practice to strategise and coordinate their interventions.

Keywords: needs assessment, science and mathematics education, evaluation, teaching and learning, South Africa

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Authors: Oktay Celenk, Ugur Karanfil, Iskender Demir, Samir Lamrini, Jorg Neumann, Arif Demir

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Due to its favourable material characteristics, fiber reinforced plastics are amongst the main topics of all actual lightweight construction megatrends. Especially in transportation trends ranging from aeronautics over the automotive industry to naval transportation (yachts, cruise liners) the expected economic and environmental impact is huge. In naval transportation components like yacht bodies, antenna masts, decorative structures like deck lamps, light houses and pool areas represent cheap and robust solutions. Commercially available laser tools like carbon dioxide gas lasers (CO₂), frequency tripled solid state UV lasers, and Neodymium-YAG (Nd:YAG) lasers can be used. These tools have emission wavelengths of 10 µm, 0.355 µm, and 1.064 µm, respectively. The scientific goal is first of all the generation of a parameter matrix for laser processing of each used material for a Tm-fiber laser system (wavelength 2 µm). These parameters are the heat affected zone, process gas pressure, work piece feed velocity, intensity, irradiation time etc. The results are compared with results obtained with well-known material processing lasers, such as a Yb-fiber lasers (wavelength 1 µm). Compared to the CO₂-laser, the Tm-laser offers essential advantages for future laser processes like cutting, welding, ablating for repair and drilling in composite part manufacturing (components of cruise liners, marine pipelines). Some of these are the possibility of beam delivery in a standard fused silica fiber which enables hand guided processing, eye safety which results from the wavelength, excellent beam quality and brilliance due to the fiber nature. There is one more feature that is economically absolutely important for boat, automotive and military projects manufacturing that the wavelength of 2 µm is highly absorbed by the plastic matrix and thus enables selective removal of it for repair procedures.

Keywords: Thulium (Tm) fiber laser, laser processing of fiber-reinforced plastics (FRP), composite, heat affected zone

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Authors: Sadaf Kalhori

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Introduction: Doxorubicin (DOX)-induced cardiotoxicity is widely known as the most severe complication of anthracycline-based chemotherapy in patients with cancer. It is unknown whether Deferiprone (DFP), could reduce the severity of DOX-induced cardiotoxicity by inhibiting free radical reactions. Thus, this study was performed to assess the protective effect of Deferiprone on DOX-induced cardiotoxicity in a rat model. Methods: The rats were divided into five groups. Group one was a control group. Group 2 was DOX (2 mg/kg/day, every other day for 12 days), and Group three to five which receiving DOX as in group 2 and DFP 75,100 and 150 mg/kg/day, for 19 days, respectively. DFP was starting 5 days prior to the first DOX injection and two days after the last DOX injection throughout the study. Electrocardiographic and hemodynamic studies, along with histopathological examination, were conducted. In addition, serum sample was taken and total cholesterol, Malone dialdehyde, triglyceride, albumin, AST, ALT, total protein, lactate dehydrogenase, total anti-oxidant and creatine kinase were assessed. Result: Our results showed the normal structure of endocardial, myocardial and pericardial in the control group. Pathologic data such as edema, hyperemia, bleeding, endocarditis, myocarditis and pericarditis, hyaline degeneration, cardiomyocyte necrosis, myofilament degeneration and nuclear chromatin changes were assessed in all groups. In the DOX group, all pathologic data was seen with mean grade of 2±1.25. In the DFP group with a dose of 75 and 100 mg, the mean grade was 1.41± 0.31 and 1±.23, respectively. In DFP group with a dose of 150, the pathologic data showed a milder change in comparison with other groups with e mean grade of 0.45 ±0.19. Most pathologic data in DFP groups showed significant changes in comparison with the DOX group (p < 0.001). Discussion: The results also showed that DFP treatment significantly improved DOX-induced heart damage, structural changes in the myocardium, and ventricular function. Our data confirm that DFP is protective against cardiovascular-related disorders induced by DOX. Clinical studies are needed to be involved to examine these findings in humans.

Keywords: cardiomyopathy, deferiprone, doxorubicin, rat

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Authors: Farideh Tabatabaee Yazdi, Fereshteh Falah, Alireza Vasiee

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Introduction: Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is a non-protein amino acid that is widely present in organisms. GABA is a kind of pharmacological and biological component and its application is wide and useful. Several important physiological functions of GABA have been characterized, such as neurotransmission and induction of hypotension. GABA is also a strong secretagogue of insulin from the pancreas and effectively inhibits small airway-derived lung adenocarcinoma and tranquilizer. Many microorganisms can produce GABA, and lactic acid bacteria have been a focus of research in recent years because lactic acid bacteria possess special physiological activities and are generally regarded as safe. Among them, the Lb. Brevis produced the highest amount of GABA. The major factors affecting GABA production have been characterized, including carbon sources and glutamate concentration. The use of food industry waste to produce valuable products such as amino acids seems to be a good way to reduce production costs and prevent the waste of food resources. In a dairy factory, a high volume of sludge is produced from a separator that contains useful compounds such as growth factors, carbon, nitrogen, and organic matter that can be used by different microorganisms such as Lb.brevis as carbon and nitrogen sources. Therefore, it is a good source of GABA production. GABA is primarily formed by the irreversible α-decarboxylation reaction of L-glutamic acid or its salts, catalysed by the GAD enzyme. In the present study, this aim was achieved for the fast-growing of Lb.brevis and producing GABA, using the dairy industry sludge as a suitable growth medium. Lactobacillus Brevis strains obtained from Microbial Type Culture Collection (MTCC) were used as model strains. In order to prepare dairy sludge as a medium, sterilization should be done at 121 ° C for 15 minutes. Lb. Brevis was inoculated to the sludge media at pH=6 and incubated for 120 hours at 30 ° C. After fermentation, the supernatant solution is centrifuged and then, the GABA produced was analyzed by the Thin Layer chromatography (TLC) method qualitatively and by the high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method quantitatively. By increasing the percentage of dairy sludge in the culture medium, the amount of GABA increased. Also, evaluated the growth of bacteria in this medium showed the positive effect of dairy sludge on the growth of Lb.brevis, which resulted in the production of more GABA. GABA-producing LAB offers the opportunity of developing naturally fermented health-oriented products. Although some GABA-producing LAB has been isolated to find strains suitable for different fermentations, further screening of various GABA-producing strains from LAB, especially high-yielding strains, is necessary. The production of lactic acid, bacterial gamma-aminobutyric acid, is safe and eco-friendly. The use of dairy industry waste causes enhanced environmental safety. Also provides the possibility of producing valuable compounds such as GABA. In general, dairy sludge is a suitable medium for the growth of Lactic Acid Bacteria and produce this amino acid that can reduce the final cost of it by providing carbon and nitrogen source.

Keywords: GABA, Lactobacillus, HPLC, dairy sludge

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Authors: Dimitrios Dimitriou, Maria Sartzetaki

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In the early days of the of civil aviation, airports are totally state-owned companies under the control of national authorities or regional governmental bodies. From that time the picture has totally changed and airports privatisation and airport business commercialisation are key success factors to stimulate air transport demand, generate revenues and attract investors, linked to reliable and resilience of air transport system. Nowadays, airport's corporate strategy deals with policies and actions, affecting essential the business plans, the financial targets and the economic footprint in a regional economy they serving. Therefore, exploring airport corporate strategy is essential to support the decision in business planning, management efficiency, sustainable development and investment attractiveness on one hand; and define policies towards traffic development, revenues generation, capacity expansion, cost efficiency and corporate social responsibility. This paper explores key outputs in airport corporate strategy for different ownership schemes. The airport corporations are grouped in three major schemes: (a) Public, in which the public airport operator acts as part of the government administration or as a corporised public operator; (b) Mixed scheme, in which the majority of the shares and the corporate strategy is driven by the private or the public sector; and (c) Private, in which the airport strategy is driven by the key aspects of globalisation and liberalisation of the aviation sector. By a systemic approach, the key drivers in corporate strategy for modern airport business structures are defined. Key objectives are to define the key strategic opportunities and challenges and assess the corporate goals and risks towards sustainable business development for each scheme. The analysis based on an extensive cross-sectional dataset for a sample of busy European airports providing results on corporate strategy key priorities, risks and business models. The conventional wisdom is to highlight key messages to authorities, institutes and professionals on airport corporate strategy trends and directions.

Keywords: airport corporate strategy, airport ownership, airports business models, corporate risks

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Authors: Assia Galleze, Abdurrahim Kocyigit, Nacira Cherif, Nidel Benhalilou, Nabila Attal, Chafia Touil Boukkoffa, Rachida Raache

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Introduction and aims: Chemotherapeutic agents used to inhibit cell division and reduce tumor growth, increase reactive oxygen species levels, which contributes to their genotoxicity [1]. The comet assay is an inexpensive and rapid method to detect the damage at cellular levels and has been used in various cancer populations undergoing chemotherapy [2,3]. The present study aim to assess the oxidative stress and the genotoxicity induced by chemotherapy by the determination of plasma malondialdehyde (MDA) level, protein carbonyl (PC) content, superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and lymphocyte DNA damage in Algerian children with lymphoma. Materials and Methods: For our study, we selected thirty children with lymphoma treated in university hospital of Beni Messous, Algeria, and fifty unrelated subjects as controls, after obtaining the informed consent in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki (1964). Plasma levels of MDA, PC and SOD activity were spectrophotometrically measured, while DNA damage was assessed by alkaline comet assay in peripheral blood leukocytes. Results and Discussion: Plasma MDA, PC levels and lymphocyte DNA damage, were found to be significantly higher in lymphoma patients than in controls (p < 0.001). Whereas, SOD activity in lymphoma patients was significantly lower than in healthy controls (p < 0.001). There were significant positive correlations between DNA damage, MDA and PC in patients (r = 0.96, p < 0.001, r = 0.97, p < 0.001, respectively), and negative correlation with SOD (r = 0.87, p < 0.01). Conclusion and Perspective: Our results indicated that, leukocytes DNA damage and oxidative stress were significantly higher in lymphoma patients, suggesting that the direct effect of chemotherapy and the alteration of the redox balance may influence oxidative/antioxidative status.

Keywords: chemotherapy, comet assay, DNA damage, lymphoma

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Authors: K. Hariohm, V. Prakash, J. Saravana Kumar

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Introduction and Rationale: Increased scope of Physiotherapy (PT) practice also has contributed to research in the field of PT. It is essential to determine the production and quality of the clinical trials from India since, it may reflect the scientific growth of the profession. These trends can be taken as a baseline to measure our performance and also can be used as a guideline for the future trials. Objective: To quantify and analyze qualitatively the RCT’s from India from the period 2000-2013’ May, and classify data for the information process. Methods: Studies were searched in the Medline database using the key terms “India”, “Indian”, “Physiotherapy”. Clinical trials only with PT authors were included. Trials out of scope of PT practice and on animals were excluded. Retrieved valid articles were analyzed for published year, type of participants, area of study, PEDro score, outcome measure domains of impairment, activity, participation; ‘a priori’ sample size calculation, region, and explanation of the intervention. Result: 45 valid articles were retrieved from the year 2000-2013’ May. The majority of articles were done on symptomatic participants (81%). The frequencies of conditions repeated more were low back pain (n-7) and diabetes (n-4). PEDro score with mode 5 and upper limit of 8 and lower limit 4 was found. 97.2% of studies measure the outcome at the impairment level, 34% in activity level, and 27.8% in participation level. 29.7% of studies did ‘a priori’ sample size calculation. Correlation of year trend and PEDro score found to be not significant (p>.05). Individual PEDro item analysis showed, randomization (100%), concealment (33%) baseline (76%), blinding-subject, therapist, assessor (9.1%, 0%, 10%), follow-up (89%) ITT (15%), statistics between groups (100%), measures of variance (88 %). Conclusion: The trend shows an upward slope in terms of RCTs published from India which is a good indicator. The qualitative analysis showed some gaps in the clinical trial design, which can be expected to be, fulfilled by the future researchers.

Keywords: RCT, PEDro, physical therapy, rehabilitation

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Authors: J. Fryt, K. Pietras, T. Smolen

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Intergenerational similarities in values may be effect of value transmission within families or socio-cultural trends prevailing at a specific point in time. According to salience hypothesis, salient family values may be transmitted more frequently. On the other hand, many value studies reveal that generational shift from social values (conservation and self-transcendence) to more individualistic values (openness to change and self-enhancement) suggest that value transmission and value change are two different processes. The first aim of our study was to describe similarities and differences in values of young women and their parents. The second aim was to determine which value similarities may be due to transmission within families. Ninety seven Polish women aged 19-25 and both their mothers and fathers filled in the Portrait Value Questionaire. Intergenerational similarities in values between women were found in strong preference for benevolence, universalism and self-direction as well as low preference for power. Similarities between younger women and older men were found in strong preference for universalism and hedonism as well as lower preference for security and tradition. Young women differed from older generation in strong preference for stimulation and achievement as well as low preference for conformity. To identify the origin of intergenerational similarities (whether they are the effect of value transmission within families or not), we used the comparison between correlations of values in family dyads (mother-daughter, father-daughter) and distribution of correlations in random intergenerational dyads (random mother-daughter, random father-daughter) as well as peer dyads (random daughter-daughter). Values representing conservation (security, tradition and conformity) as well as benevolence and power were transmitted in families between women. Achievement, power and security were transmitted between fathers and daughters. Similarities in openness to change (self-direction, stimulation and hedonism) and universalism were not stronger within families than in random intergenerational and peer dyads. Taken together, our findings suggest that despite noticeable generation shift from social to more individualistic values, we can observe transmission of parents’ salient values such as security, tradition, benevolence and achievement.

Keywords: value transmission, value change, intergenerational similarities, differences in values

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Authors: Yogita Patil-Sen

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Magnetic nanoparticles such as those made of iron oxide have been widely explored as biocatalysts, contrast agents, and drug delivery systems. However, some of the challenges associated with these particles are agglomeration and biocompatibility, which lead to concern of toxicity of the particles, especially for drug delivery applications. Coating the particles with biocompatible materials such as lipids and peptides have shown to improve the mentioned issues. Thus, these core-shell type nanoparticles are emerging as the new class of nanomaterials for targeted drug delivery applications. In this study, various types of core-shell magnetic nanoparticles are prepared and characterized using techniques, such as Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Vibrating Sample Magnetometer (VSM) and Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA). The heating ability of nanoparticles is tested under oscillating magnetic field. The efficacy of the nanoparticles as drug carrier is also investigated. The loading of an anticancer drug, Doxorubicin at 18 °C is measured up to 48 hours using UV-visible spectrophotometer. The drug release profile is obtained under thermal incubation condition at 37 °C and compared with that under the influence of oscillating field. The results suggest that the core-shell nanoparticles exhibit superparamagnetic behaviour, although, coating reduces the magnetic properties of the particles. Both the uncoated and coated particles show good heating ability, again it is observed that coating decreases the heating behaviour of the particles. However, coated particles show higher drug loading efficiency than the uncoated particles and the drug release is much more controlled under the oscillating magnetic field. Thus, the results strongly indicate the suitability of the prepared core-shell type nanoparticles as drug delivery vehicles and their potential in magnetic hyperthermia applications and for hyperthermia cancer therapy.

Keywords: core-shell, hyperthermia, magnetic nanoparticles, targeted drug delivery

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Authors: Addin Osman, Anwar Ali Yahya, Mohammed Basit Kamal

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Datasets or collections are becoming important assets by themselves and now they can be accepted as a primary intellectual output of a research. The quality and usage of the datasets depend mainly on the context under which they have been collected, processed, analyzed, validated, and interpreted. This paper aims to present a collection of program educational objectives mapped to student’s outcomes collected from self-study reports prepared by 32 engineering programs accredited by ABET. The manual mapping (classification) of this data is a notoriously tedious, time consuming process. In addition, it requires experts in the area, which are mostly not available. It has been shown the operational settings under which the collection has been produced. The collection has been cleansed, preprocessed, some features have been selected and preliminary exploratory data analysis has been performed so as to illustrate the properties and usefulness of the collection. At the end, the collection has been benchmarked using nine of the most widely used supervised multiclass classification techniques (Binary Relevance, Label Powerset, Classifier Chains, Pruned Sets, Random k-label sets, Ensemble of Classifier Chains, Ensemble of Pruned Sets, Multi-Label k-Nearest Neighbors and Back-Propagation Multi-Label Learning). The techniques have been compared to each other using five well-known measurements (Accuracy, Hamming Loss, Micro-F, Macro-F, and Macro-F). The Ensemble of Classifier Chains and Ensemble of Pruned Sets have achieved encouraging performance compared to other experimented multi-label classification methods. The Classifier Chains method has shown the worst performance. To recap, the benchmark has achieved promising results by utilizing preliminary exploratory data analysis performed on the collection, proposing new trends for research and providing a baseline for future studies.

Keywords: ABET, accreditation, benchmark collection, machine learning, program educational objectives, student outcomes, supervised multi-class classification, text mining

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Authors: Jovian Cheung, Thomas Kwok, Victor Wong

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Buildings are entwined with smart city developments. Building performance relies heavily on electrical and mechanical (E&M) systems and services accounting for about 40 percent of global energy use. By cohering the advancement of technology as well as energy and operation-efficient initiatives into the buildings, people are enabled to raise building performance and enhance the sustainability of the built environment in their daily lives. Digital transformation in the buildings is the profound development of the city to leverage the changes and opportunities of digital technologies To optimize the building performance, intelligent power quality and energy management system is developed for transforming data into actions. The system is formed by interfacing and integrating legacy metering and internet of things technologies in the building and applying big data techniques. It provides operation and energy profile and actionable insights of a building, which enables to optimize the building performance through raising people awareness on E&M services and energy consumption, predicting the operation of E&M systems, benchmarking the building performance, and prioritizing assets and energy management opportunities. The intelligent power quality and energy management system comprises four elements, namely the Integrated Building Performance Map, Building Performance Dashboard, Power Quality Analysis, and Energy Performance Analysis. It provides predictive operation sequence of E&M systems response to the built environment and building activities. The system collects the live operating conditions of E&M systems over time to identify abnormal system performance, predict failure trends and alert users before anticipating system failure. The actionable insights collected can also be used for system design enhancement in future. This paper will illustrate how intelligent power quality and energy management system provides operation and energy profile to optimize the building performance and actionable insights to revitalize an existing building into a smart building. The system is driving building performance optimization and supporting in developing Hong Kong into a suitable smart city to be admired.

Keywords: intelligent buildings, internet of things technologies, big data analytics, predictive operation and maintenance, building performance

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Authors: M. S. Hasni, J. Guan, K. Yakimchuk, M. Berglund, B. Sander, G. Enblad, R. M. Amini, S. Okret

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Lymphomas are generally not considered as endocrine-related cancers. However, most lymphoid malignancies show gender differences in incidence and show prognosis with males being more affected. Furthermore, some epidemiological data indicate a protective role of estrogens against Non-Hodgkin lymphomas. Recent studies have demonstrated estrogen receptor β (ERβ) to be the major ER expressed in normal and malignant cells of lymphoid origin. We have analyzed the effects of estradiol and selective ERα and ERβ agonists on lymphoma growth in culture and in vivo. Treating lymphoma cells with estradiol or ERα selective agonist had minor or no effect on cell growth while selective ERβ agonist treatment showed an antiproliferative effect. When grafting mice with murine T lymphoma cells, male mice developed larger tumors compared to female mice, a difference that was abolished following ovariectomy, demonstrating estrogen-dependent growth in vivo. When subcutaneously grafting lymphoma cells to mice, so far growth of all tested human B lymphoma tumors (Raji and Ramos Burkitt lymphoma, SU.DHL4 (GC) and U2932 (ABC) DLBCL, Granta-519, Maver1 and Z138 MCL cells), were reduced following treatment with ERβ selective agonist (ref. 2 and unpublished). Moreover, the number and size of liver foci of disseminating Raji cells was reduced. We have identified target genes and mechanism that could explain the above effects of ERβ agonists. This included effects on angio and lymphangiogenesis. Now we have further analyzed effects of ERβ agonists on Ibrutinib-sensitive and -insensitive MCL cells in xenograft experiments as well as ERβ expression in primary lymphoma material (DLBCL). Preliminary statistical analysis has been done correlating ERβ expression to other biomarkers and clinical data.

Keywords: lymphomas, estrogen receptors, cancer, liver foci

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Authors: S. B. Mayil Vealan, C. Sekar

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Bisphenol A (BIS A) and 4 Nitrophenol (4N) are the most prevalent environmental endocrine-disrupting chemicals which mimic hormones and have a direct relationship to the development and growth of animal and human reproductive systems. Moreover, intensive exposure to the compound is related to prostate and breast cancer, infertility, obesity, and diabetes. Hence, accurate and reliable determination techniques are crucial for preventing human exposure to these harmful chemicals. Lanthanum Copper Oxide (La₂Cu₂O₅) nanoparticles were synthesized and investigated through various techniques such as scanning electron microscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Cyclic voltammetry and square wave voltammetry techniques are employed to evaluate the electrochemical behavior of as-synthesized samples toward the electrochemical detection of Bisphenol A and 4-Nitrophenol. Under the optimal conditions, the oxidation current increased linearly with increasing the concentration of BIS A and 4-N in the range of 0.01 to 600 μM with a detection limit of 2.44 nM and 3.8 nM. These are the lowest limits of detection and the widest linear ranges in the literature for this determination. The method was applied to the simultaneous determination of BIS A and 4-N in real samples (food packing materials and river water) with excellent recovery values ranging from 95% to 99%. Better stability, sensitivity, selectivity and reproducibility, fast response, and ease of preparation made the sensor well-suitable for the simultaneous determination of bisphenol and 4 Nitrophenol. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report in which La₂Cu₂O₅ nano particles were used as efficient electron mediators for the fabrication of endocrine disruptor (BIS A and 4N) chemical sensors.

Keywords: endocrine disruptors, electrochemical sensor, Food contacting materials, lanthanum cuprates, nanomaterials

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Authors: Chao-Yang Huang, Rwey-Hua Cherng, Chung-Lin Fu, Yuan-Lung Lo

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Solar energy is one of the replaceable choices to reduce the CO2 emission produced by conventional power plants in the modern society. As an island which is frequently visited by strong typhoons and earthquakes, it is an urgent issue for Taiwan to make an effort in revising the local regulations to strengthen the safety design of photovoltaic systems. Currently, the Taiwanese code for wind resistant design of structures does not have a clear explanation on photovoltaic systems, especially when the systems are arranged in arrayed format. Furthermore, when the arrayed photovoltaic system is mounted on the rooftop, the approaching flow is significantly altered by the building and led to different pressure pattern in the different area of the photovoltaic system. In this study, L-shape arrayed photovoltaic system is mounted on the ground of the wind tunnel and then mounted on the building rooftop. The system is consisted of 60 PV models. Each panel model is equivalent to a full size of 3.0 m in depth and 10.0 m in length. Six pressure taps are installed on the upper surface of the panel model and the other six are on the bottom surface to measure the net pressures. Wind attack angle is varied from 0° to 360° in a 10° interval for the worst concern due to wind direction. The sampling rate of the pressure scanning system is set as high enough to precisely estimate the peak pressure and at least 20 samples are recorded for good ensemble average stability. Each sample is equivalent to 10-minute time length in full scale. All the scale factors, including timescale, length scale, and velocity scale, are properly verified by similarity rules in low wind speed wind tunnel environment. The purpose of L-shape arrayed system is for the understanding the pressure characteristics at the corner area. Extreme value analysis is applied to obtain the design pressure coefficient for each net pressure. The commonly utilized Cook-and-Mayne coefficient, 78%, is set to the target non-exceedance probability for design pressure coefficients under Gumbel distribution. Best linear unbiased estimator method is utilized for the Gumbel parameter identification. Careful time moving averaging method is also concerned in data processing. Results show that when the arrayed photovoltaic system is mounted on the ground, the first row of the panels reveals stronger positive pressure than that mounted on the rooftop. Due to the flow separation occurring at the building edge, the first row of the panels on the rooftop is most in negative pressures; the last row, on the other hand, shows positive pressures because of the flow reattachment. Different areas also have different pressure patterns, which corresponds well to the regulations in ASCE7-16 describing the area division for design values. Several minor observations are found according to parametric studies, such as rooftop edge effect, parapet effect, building aspect effect, row interval effect, and so on. General comments are then made for the proposal of regulation revision in Taiwanese code.

Keywords: aerodynamic force coefficient, ground-mounted, roof-mounted, wind tunnel test, photovoltaic

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Authors: Alok Nahata

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Introduction: Nowadays, androgen-mediated diseases such as prostate cancer, hirsutism, acne, androgenic alopecia and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) have become serious problems. The aim of the present study was to find out whether Ganoderma lucidum (GL) can be used as a clinically effective medicine for the management of prostatic hyperplasia. Methodology: In vitro studies were conducted to assess the 5α-reductase inhibitory potential of GL. Testosterone (3 mg/kg s.c.) was administered to the rats along with the test extracts (10, 20 and 50 mg/kg p.o for a period of 28 days. Finasteride was used as a positive control (1 mg/kg p.o.). Major Findings: GL extracts attenuated the increase in the prostate/body weight ratio (P/BW) induced by testosterone. Most of the values were significant when compared to testosterone-treated group and finasteride treated groups. Petroleum ether extract (50 mg/kg p.o.) exhibited the best activity (P < 0.01). Ethanolic extract (20 and 50 mg/kg p.o.) also exhibited significant activity (P < 0.01). The urine output also improved significantly (P < 0.01 in all groups as compared to standard finasteride), which emphasize the clinical implications of the study. Testosterone levels measured weekly and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels measured at the end of the study also support the findings. Histological studies suggested improvement in prostatic histoarchitecture in extract-treated groups as compared to the testosterone-treated group. Conclusion: Study clearly reflects the utility of extracts in BPH. Because of conversion of testosterone to dihydrotestosterone, the prostate size is increased, thereby causing obstruction in urinary output. The observed effect that extracts do not allow the increase as reflected by urinary output, P/BW ratios and histoarchitecture showed that activity of administered testosterone was blocked by the extract and resulted in recovery.

Keywords: benign prostatic hyperplasia, Ganoderma lucidum, prostate-specific antigen, 5α-reductase, testosterone

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Authors: Elham Sharif, Nasser Rizk, Sirin Abu Aqel, Ofelia Masoud

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Background: Previous studies have investigated the association of rs1544410, rs7975232 and rs731236 polymorphisms in vitamin D receptor gene and its impact on diseases such as cancer, diabetes and hypertension in different ethnic backgrounds. Aim: The aim of this study is to investigate the association between VDR polymorphisms using three SNP’s (rs1544410, rs7975232 and rs731236) and the severity of the significant lesion in coronary arteries among angiographically diagnosed CAD. Methods: A prospective-retrospective study was conducted on 192 CAD patients enrolled from the cardiology department-Heart Hospital HMC, grouped in 96 subjects with significant stenosis and 96 with non-significant stenosis with a mean age between 30 and 75 years old. Genotyping was performed for the following SNPs rs1544410, rs7975232 and rs731236 using TaqMan assay by the Real Time PCR, ABI 7500 in Health Sciences Labs at Qatar University Biomedical Research Center. Results: The results showed that both groups have matched age and gender distribution but patients with the significant stenosis have significantly higher; BMI (p=0.047); smoking status (p=0.039); FBS (p= 0.031); CK-MB (p=0.025) and Troponin (p=0.002) than the patients with non–significant lesion. Among the traditional risk factors, smoking increases the odds of the severe stenotic lesion in CAD patients by 1.984, with 95% CI between 1.024 – 7.063, with p= 0.042.HWE showed deviations of the rs1544410 and rs731236 among the study subjects. The most frequent genotype in distribution of rs7975232 is the AA among the significant stenosis patients, while the heterozygous AC was the frequent genotype in distribution among the non-significant stenosis group. The carriers of CC genotype in rs7975232 increased the risk of having significant coronary arteries stenotic lesion by 1.83 with 95% CI (1.020 – 3.280), p=0.043. No association was found between the rs7975232 with vitamin D and VDBP. Conclusion: There is a significant association between rs7975232 and the severity of CAD lesion. The carrier of CC genotype in rs7975232 increased the risk of having significant coronary arteries atherosclerotic lesion especially in patients with smoking history independent of vitamin D.

Keywords: vitamin D, vitamin D receptor, polymorphism, coronary harat disease

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Authors: Peli̇n Yilmaz, Gi̇zemnur Yildiz Uysal, Emi̇ne Bi̇rci̇, Berk Özcan, Burak Koca, Ehsan Tuzcuoğlu, Fati̇h Kasap

Abstract:

Development of Energy Efficient Programs (EEP) is one of the most significant trends in the wet appliance industry of the recent years. Thanks to the EEP, the energy consumption of a washing machine as one of the most energy-consuming home appliances can shrink considerably, while its washing performance and the textile hygiene should remain almost unchanged. Here in, the goal of the present study is to achieve an optimum EEP algorithm providing excellent textile hygiene results as well as cleaning performance in a domestic washing machine. In this regard, steam-pretreated cold wash approach with a combination of innovative algorithm solution in a relatively short washing cycle duration was implemented. For the parametric study, steam exposure time, washing load, total water consumption, main-washing time, and spinning rpm as the significant parameters affecting the textile hygiene and cleaning performance were investigated within a Design of Experiment study using Minitab 2021 statistical program. For the textile hygiene studies, specific loads containing the contaminated cotton carriers with Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria were washed. Then, the microbial removal performance of the designed programs was expressed as log reduction calculated as a difference of microbial count per ml of the liquids in which the cotton carriers before and after washing. For the cleaning performance studies, tests were carried out with various types of detergents and EMPA Standard Stain Strip. According to the results, the optimum EEP program provided an excellent hygiene performance of more than 2 log reduction of microorganism and a perfect Washing Efficiency Index (Iw) of 1.035, which is greater than the value specified by EU ecodesign regulation 2019/2023.

Keywords: washing machine, energy efficient programs, hygiene, washing efficiency index, microorganism, escherichia coli, staphylococcus aureus, pseudomonas aeruginosa, laundry

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Authors: Joelle Fong

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Older persons are at greatest risk of becoming frail. As survival to the age of 80 and beyond continues to increase, the health and frailty of older Americans has garnered much recent attention among policy makers and healthcare administrators. This paper examines patterns in old-age frailty within a multistate actuarial model that characterizes the stochastic process of biological ageing. Using aggregate population-level U.S. mortality data, we implement a stochastic aging model to examine cohort trends and gender differences in frailty distributions for older Americans born 1865 – 1894. The stochastic ageing model, which draws from the fields of actuarial science and gerontology, is well-established in the literature. The implications for public health insurance programs are also discussed. Our results suggest that, on average, women tend to be frailer than men at older ages and reveal useful insights about the magnitude of the male-female differential at critical age points. Specifically, we note that the frailty statuses of males and females are actually quite comparable from ages 65 to 80. Beyond age 80, however, the frailty levels start to diverge considerably implying that women are moving quicker into worse states of health than men. Tracking average frailty by gender over 30 successive birth cohorts, we also find that frailty levels for both genders follow a distinct peak-and-trough pattern. For instance, frailty among 85-year old American survivors increased in years 1954-1963, decreased in years 1964-1971, and again started to increase in years 1972-1979. A number of factors may have accounted for these cohort differences including differences in cohort life histories, differences in disease prevalence, differences in lifestyle and behavior, differential access to medical advances, as well as changes in environmental risk factors over time. We conclude with a discussion on the implications of our findings on spending for long-term care programs within the broader health insurance system.

Keywords: actuarial modeling, cohort analysis, frail elderly, health

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Authors: Medina Kadiri

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Blue-green otherwise called cyanobacteria, produce an array of biotoxins grouped into five categories notably hapatotoxins, neurotoxins, cytotoxins, dermatotoxins, and irritant toxins. Microcystins which are examples of hepatotoxins produced by blue-green algae Microcystins comprise the most common group of the cyanobacterial toxins. Blue-green algae flourish in aquatic environments, whether marine, brackish or freshwater, producing blooms in different forms such as microscopic, mats, or unsightly odoriferous scums. Microcystins biotoxins cause a plethora of animal and human hazards such as liver damage/cirrhosis and cancer, kidney damage, dermatitis, tinnitus, gastroenteritis, sore throat, nausea, myalgia, neurological problems, respiratory irritation and death. Water samples were collected from coastal regions of Nigeria in March 2014, June 2014, October 2014 and January 2015 and analyzed with Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) kits. Microcystin biotoxin was recorded in all sites both during dry and wet seasons. The range of microcystins found was 0.000041-There was a seasonal trend of increasing microcystin concentrations from March till Octobers and a decrease thereafter. Generally in the oceanic waters, microcystin levels were highest at Cross Rivers in March and January, Barbeach in June and Lekki in October. In the adjoining riverine ecosystems, on the other hand, the highest concentrations of microcystin were observed at Akwa Ibom in March, June and October and in Bayelsa in January. Continuous monitoring and screening of coastal water bodies is suggested to minimize the health risks of cyanobacterial biotoxins to coastal communities of Nigeria.

Keywords: biotoxins, harmful algae, marine, microcystin, Nigeria

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