Search results for: targeted nanomedicine

Authors: T. D. Tran, H. Schlegel, R. Neugebauer

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Ball screws are an important component in machine tools. In mechatronic systems and machine tools, a ball screw has to work usually at a high speed. Otherwise the axial compliance of the ball screw, in combination with the inertia of the slide, the motor, the coupling and the screw, will cause an oscillation resonance, which limits the systems bandwidth and consequently influences performance of the motion controller. In this paper, the modal analysis method by measuring and analysing the vibrating parameters of the ball screw system to determine the dynamic characteristic of existing structures is used. On the one hand, the results of this study were obtained by the theoretical analysis and the modal testing of a ball screw system test station with the help of an impact hammer, respectively using excitation by motor. The experimental study showed oscillating forms of the ball screw for each frequency and obtained eigenfrequencies of the ball screw system. On the other hand, in this research a simulation with the help of the numerical modal analysis in order to analyse the oscillation and to find the eigenfrequencies of the ball screw system is used. Furthermore, the model order reduction by modal reduction and also according to Guyan is carried out. On the basis of these results a secure and also rapid commissioning of the control loops with regard to operating in their optimal function is targeted.

Keywords: modal analysis, ball screw, controller system, machine tools

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Authors: Muhammad Saad Shoaib Khan, Rasbin Basnet, Qingyao Shu

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Phospholipids are one of the major classes of lipid comprising 10% of total grain lipid in rice. Phospholipids are the main phosphorus containing lipid in the rice endosperm, contributing to rice palatability and seed storage property. However, in the rice grain, the majority of phosphorus occur in the form of phytic acid and are highly abundant in the bran. Phytic acid, also known as hexaphosphorylated inositol (IP6), are strong chelating agents which reduces the bioavailability of essential dietary nutrients and are therefore less desirable by rice breeders. We used the CRISPR/Cas9 system to generate mutants of a phospholipase D gene (PLDα1), which is responsible for the degradation of phospholipids into phosphatidic acid (PA). In the mutants, we found a significant reduction in the concentration of phytic acid in the grain as compared to the wild-type. The biochemical analysis of the PLDα1 mutants showed that the decrease in production of phosphatidic acid is due to reduced accumulation of CDP-diacylglycerolderived phosphatidylinositol (PI), ultimately leading to lower accumulation of phytic acid in mutants. These results showed that loss of function of PLD in rice leads to lower production of phytic acid, suggesting the potential application of Ospldα1 in breeding rice with less phytic acid.

Keywords: CRISPR/Cas9, phospholipase D, phytic acid, rice

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Authors: Sathiya Susuman Appunni

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Background: This article reviews the self-reported pregnancies among teenage girls currently attending secondary school in South Africa. The study aim is to examine the demographic and socio-economic factors associated with self-reported pregnancies among teenage girls currently attending secondary school in the study area. Data and Methods: Secondary data drawn from the General Household Surveys 2016 and Community Survey 2016 as well as 10 % sample data from the 2011 South African census were used. Bivariate, and Multivariate analyses were carried in order to meet the aims of the study. Results: The independent variable identified was the number of economically active people in the household, which indicated 3.3% in 2011 and 3.6% in 2016 for the household with no economically active member. Among the provinces, Limpopo has been leading by 5.2% of self-reported pregnancies among the girls currently attending secondary school in South Africa. Conclusion: It is recommended that the needs to be special health policies and strategies in place to address this epidemic and such policies need to be targeted to the different needs of teenagers in the different demarcations of the country.

Keywords: pregnancy prevalence, demographic, household, teenage girls, socio-economic

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Authors: Arpita Roy, Navneeta Bharadvaja

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Cancer is an uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells in the body. It is one of the most serious diseases on which extensive research work has been going on all over the world. Structure-based drug designing is a computational approach which helps in the identification of potential leads that can be used for the development of a drug. Plumbagin is a naphthoquinone derivative from Plumbago zeylanica roots and belongs to one of the largest and diverse groups of plant metabolites. Anticancer and antiproliferative activities of plumbagin have been observed in animal models as well as in cell cultures. Plumbagin shows inhibitory effects on multiple cancer-signaling proteins; however, the binding mode and the molecular interactions have not yet been elucidated for most of these protein targets. In this investigation, an attempt to provide structural insights into the binding mode of plumbagin against four cancer receptors using molecular docking was performed. Plumbagin showed minimal energy against targeted cancer receptors, therefore suggested its stability and potential towards different cancers. The least binding energies of plumbagin with COX-2, TACE, and CDK6 are -5.39, -4.93, -and 4.81 kcal/mol, respectively. Comparison studies of plumbagin with different receptors showed that it is a promising compound for cancer treatment. It was also found that plumbagin obeys the Lipinski’s Rule of 5 and computed ADMET properties which showed drug likeliness and improved bioavailability. Since plumbagin is from a natural source, it has reduced side effects, and these results would be useful for cancer treatment.

Keywords: cancer, receptor, plumbagin, docking

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Authors: Jun-Ho Park, Kwang-Woo Nam, Seung-Mo Hong, Tae-Heon Moon, Sang-Ho Lee, Youn-Taik Leem

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The aim of this study was to build ‘Ubi-Net’, a decision-making support system for systematic establishment in U-City planning. We have experienced various urban problems caused by high-density development and population concentrations in established urban areas. To address these problems, a U-Service contributes to the alleviation of urban problems by providing real-time information to citizens through network connections and related information. However, technology, devices, and information for consumers are required for systematic U-Service planning in towns and cities where there are many difficulties in this regard, and a lack of reference systems. Thus, this study suggests methods to support the establishment of sustainable planning by providing comprehensive information including IT technology, devices, news, and social networking services(SNS) to U-City planners through intelligent searches. In this study, we targeted Smart U-Parking Planning to solve parking problems in an ‘old’ city. Through this study, we sought to contribute to supporting advances in U-Space and the alleviation of urban problems.

Keywords: desigin and decision support system, smart u-parking planning, social network analysis, urban engineering

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Authors: Maha Awad M. Almuttairi

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This research aimed to measure the impact of the use of a mobile learning (iTunes U) app for the development of metacognition skills delivered in the enrichment program offered to gifted students at the secondary level in Jeddah. The author targeted a group of students on an experimental scale to evaluate the achievement. The research sample consisted of a group of 38 gifted female students. The scale of evaluation of the metacognition skills used to measure the performance of students in the enrichment program was as follows: Satisfaction scale for the assessment of the technique used and the final product form after completion of the program. Appropriate statistical treatment used includes Paired Samples T-Test Cronbach’s alpha formula and eta squared formula. It was concluded in the results the difference of α≤ 0.05, which means the performance of students in the skills of metacognition in favor of using iTunes U. In light of the conclusion of the experiment, a number of recommendations and suggestions were present; the most important benefit of mobile learning applications is to provide enrichment programs for gifted students in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as well as conducting further research on mobile learning and gifted student teaching.

Keywords: enrichment program, gifted students, metacognition skills, mobile learning

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Authors: Myriam Ferreira

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Websites and social networks allow museums to divulge their works by new and attractive means. Besides, these technologies provide tools to generate a new history of art’s contents and promote visits to their installations. At the same time, museums are proposing more and more activities to families, children and young people. However, these activities usually take place in the museum’s physical installations, while websites and social networks seem to be mainly targeted to adults. The problem is that being children and young people digital natives, they feel apart from museums, so they need a presence of museums in digital means to feel attracted to them. Some institutions are making efforts to fill this vacuum. In this paper, resources designed specifically for children and teenagers have been selected from websites and social networks of five Spanish Museums: Prado Museum, Thyssen Museum, Guggenheim Museum, America Museum and Cerralbo Museum. After that, we have carried out an investigation in a school with children and teenagers between 11 and 15 years old. Those young people have been asked about their valuation of those web pages and social networks, with quantitative-qualitative questions. The results show that the least rated resources were videos and social networks because they were considered ‘too serious’, while the most rated were games and augmented reality. These ratings confirm theoretical papers that affirm that the future of technologies applied to museums is edutainment and interaction.

Keywords: children, museums, social networks, teenagers, websites

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Authors: M. Sneha, N. Meenakshi Sundaram

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In recent times, magnetic hyperthermia is used for cancer treatment as a tool for active targeting of delivering drugs to the targeted site. It has a potential advantage over other heat treatment because there is no systemic buildup in organs and large doses are possible. The aim of this study is to develop a suitable magnetic biomaterial that can destroy the cancer cells as well as induce bone regeneration. In this work, the composite material was synthesized in two-steps. First, porous iron oxide nano needles were synthesized by hydrothermal process. Second, the hydroxyapatite, were synthesized from natural calcium (i.e., egg shell) and inorganic phosphorous source using wet chemical method. The crystalline nature is confirmed by powder X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD). Thermal analysis and the surface area of the material is studied by Thermo Gravimetric Analysis (TGA), Brunauer-Emmett and Teller (BET) technique. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images show that the particles have nanoneedle-like morphology. The magnetic property is studied by vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) technique which confirms the superparamagnetic behavior. This paper presents a simple and easy method for synthesis of magnetite/hydroxyapatite composites materials.

Keywords: iron oxide nano needles, hydroxyapatite, superparamagnetic, hyperthermia

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Authors: V. Balamuralidhara

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The aim of the present work was to develop Paclitaxel loaded polyacrylamide grafted guar gum nanoparticles as pH responsive nanoparticle systems for targeting colon. The pH sensitive nanoparticles were prepared by modified ionotropic gelation technique. The prepared nanoparticles showed mean diameters in the range of 264±0.676 nm to 726±0.671nm, and a negative net charge 10.8 mV to 35.4mV. Fourier Transformed Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) studies suggested that there was no chemical interaction between drug and polymers. The encapsulation efficiency of the drug was found to be 40.92% to 48.14%. The suitability of the polyacrylamide grafted guar gum ERN’s for the release of Paclitaxel was studied by in vitro release at pH 1.2 and 7.4. It was observed that, there was no significant amount of drug release at gastric pH and 97.63% of drug release at pH 7.4 was obtained for optimized formulation F3 at the end of 12 hrs. In vivo drug targeting performance for the prepared optimized formulation (F3) and pure drug Paclitaxel was evaluated by HPLC. It was observed that the polyacrylamide grafted guar gum can be used to prepare nanoparticles for targeting the drug to the colon. The release performance was greatly affected by the materials used in ERN’s preparation, which allows maximum release at colon’s pH. It may be concluded that polyacrylamide grafted guar gum nanoparticles loaded with paclitaxel have desirable release responsive to specific pH. Hence it is a unique approach for colonic delivery of drug having appropriate site specificity and feasibility and controlled release of drug.

Keywords: colon targeting, polyacrylamide grafted guar gum nanoparticles, paclitaxel, nanoparticles

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Authors: Lavinia Ruta, Ileana Farcasanu

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The yeast surface display (YSD) technique enables the expression of proteins on yeast cell surfaces, facilitating the identification and isolation of proteins with targeted binding properties, such as nanobodies. Nanobodies, derived from camelid species, are single-domain antibody fragments renowned for their high affinity and specificity towards target proteins, making them valuable in research and potentially in therapeutics. Their advantages include a compact size (~15 kDa), robust stability, and the ability to target challenging epitopes. The project endeavors to establish and validate a platform for producing Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) and mCherry nanobodies using the yeast surface display method. mCherry, a prevalent red fluorescent protein sourced from coral species, is commonly utilized as a genetic marker in biological studies due to its vibrant red fluorescence. The GFP-nanobody, a single variable domain of heavy-chain antibodies (VHH), exhibits specific binding to GFP, offering a potent means for isolating and engineering fluorescent protein fusions across various biological research domains. Both GFP and mCherry nanobodies find specific utility in cellular imaging and protein analysis applications.

Keywords: YSD, nanobodies, GFP, Saccharomyces cerevisiae

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Authors: Francis Gbogbo, Angelica Ama Essandoh, Wendy Teresa Baffoe, Henry Groos, Charles Mario Boateng, Emmanuel Robert Blankson

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Baseline data on plastic landing by fishers and monitoring of this is important in evaluating the success of plastic waste management efforts. This study investigated plastic and fish landed by beach seine fishers in Ghana, together with the rate of plastic deposition on an adjoining beach. Plastic constituted 31.6% of the total catch, and 41.7% of the fish landed by weight. There were significant differences between the average weight of fish (139.58±53.6kg) and plastic (65.73±14.6kg) landed per fishing session and the catch per unit effort of fish (183.4±76.7 kg/day) and plastic (88.4±35.2 kg/day). The mean weight of plastic landed per fishing session was higher than the mean weight of each of the 26 species of fisheries. The rate of plastic deposition on the beach was 8.1±2.5 plastic items per m2 per tidal cycle or 0.35±0.11kg plastic per m2 per tidal cycle, with food packs and tableware dominating the deposited plastic. The results suggested that ongoing water sachets and plastic bottle recycling in Ghana are yielding results and calls for targeted efforts in plastic food packs and tableware management.

Keywords: fishig, landing, plastic waste, intertidal area, fishing effort

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Authors: Howard Gomwe, Eunice Seekoe

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There is arguably dearth of literature regarding body physical fitness and body composition amongst primary schools in South Africa. For this reason, the study is aimed at investigating and accessing how body composition relates to physical fitness amongst learners between 9 – 14 years of age in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. In order to achieve this, a school-based cross-sectional survey was carried out among 876 primary school learners aged 9 to14 years. Body composition indicators were measured and/or calculated, whilst physical fitness was evaluated by a 20 m shuttle run, push-ups, sit and reach as well as sit-ups, according to the EUROFIT fitness standards. Out of 876 participants, a total of 870 were retained. Of these, 351 (40.34%) were boys and 519 (59.66%) were girls. The average age of learners was 11.04 ± 1.50 years, with boys having a importantly (p = 0.002) higher average age (M = 11.24; SD = 1.51 years) as compared to that of girls (M = 10.91; SD = 1.48 years). The non-parametric Spearman Rho correlation coefficients revealed several significant and negative relationships between body composition measurements with physical fitness characteristics, which were stronger in girls than in boys. The findings advocate for policy makers and responsible authorities to initiate the development of policies and interventions targeted at encouraging physical activity and healthy promotion among primary school learners in South Africa, especially in girls.

Keywords: BMI, body composition, physical fitness, children

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Authors: Thang Minh Le, Hadi Khabbaz

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The coefficient of consolidation is a parameter governing the rate at which saturated soil particularly clay undergoes consolidation when subjected to an increase in pressure. The rate and amount of compression in soil varies with the rate that pore water is lost; and hence depends on soil permeability. Over many years, various methods have been proposed to determine the coefficient of consolidation, cv, which is an indication of the rate of foundation settlement on soft ground. However, defining this parameter is often problematic and heavily relies on graphical techniques, which are subject to some uncertainties. This paper initially presents an overview of many well-established methods to determine the vertical coefficient of consolidation from the incremental loading consolidation tests. An array of consolidation tests was conducted on the undisturbed clay samples, collected at various depths from a site in Nakdong river delta, Busan, South Korea. The consolidation test results on these soft sensitive clay samples were employed to evaluate the targeted methods to predict the settlement rate of Busan clay. In relationship of time-displacement-velocity, a total of 3 method groups from 10 common procedures were classified and compared together. Discussions on study results will be also provided.

Keywords: Busan clay, coefficient of consolidation, constant rate of strain, incremental loading

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Authors: Wen-Chao Tang, Tang-Yi Liu, Ming Gao, Gang Xu, Hua-Yuan Yang

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This study developed a method for teaching acupuncture manipulation in small groups optimized with the theory of motor learning. Sixty acupuncture students and their teacher participated in our research. Motion videos were recorded of their manipulations using the lifting-thrusting method. These videos were analyzed using Simi Motion software to acquire the movement parameters of the thumb tip. The parameter velocity curves along Y axis was used to generate small teaching groups clustered by a self-organized map (SOM) and K-means. Ten groups were generated. All the targeted instruction based on the comparative results groups as well as the videos of teacher and student was provided to the members of each group respectively. According to the theory and research of motor learning, the factors or technologies such as video instruction, observational learning, external focus and summary feedback were integrated into this teaching method. Such efforts were desired to improve and enhance the effectiveness of current acupuncture teaching methods in limited classroom teaching time and extracurricular training.

Keywords: acupuncture, group teaching, video instruction, observational learning, external focus, summary feedback

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Authors: Shazmeen Maroof

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The study is motivated by a desire to investigate whether there is substance to claims that, relative to traditional donors, China disregards human rights considerations when allocating overseas aid. While the stated policy of the U.S. is that consideration of potential aid recipients’ respect for human rights is mandatory, some quantitative studies have cast doubt on whether this is reflected in actual allocations. There is a lack of academic literature that formally assesses the extent to which the two countries' aid allocations differ; which is essential to test whether the criticisms of China's aid policy in comparison to that of the U.S. are justified. Using data on two standard human rights measures, 'Political Terror Scale' and 'Civil Liberties', the study analyse the two donors’ aid allocations among 125 countries over the period 2000 to 2014. The bivariate analysis demonstrated that a significant share of China’s aid flow to countries with poor human rights record. At the same time, the U.S. seems little different in providing aid to these countries. The empirical results obtained from the Fractional Logit model also provided some support to the general pessimism regarding China’s provision of aid to countries with poor human rights record, yet challenge the optimists expecting better targeted aid from the U.S. These findings are consistent with the split between humanitarian and non-humanitarian aid and in the sample of countries whose human rights record is below some threshold level.

Keywords: China's aid policy, foreign aid allocation, human rights, United States Foreign Assistance Act

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Authors: Jingyuan Hu, Zhandong Liu

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CRISPR genome editing technology has transformed molecular biology by accurately targeting and altering an organism’s DNA. Despite the state-of-art precision of CRISPR genome editing, the imprecise mutation outcome and off-target effects present considerable risk, potentially leading to unintended genetic changes. Targeted deep sequencing, combined with bioinformatics sequence alignment, can detect such unwanted mutations. Nevertheless, the classical method, Needleman-Wunsch (NW) algorithm may produce false alignment outcomes, resulting in inaccurate mutation identification. The key to precisely identifying CRISPR-induced mutations lies in determining optimal parameters for the sequence alignment algorithm. Hidden Markov models (HMM) are ideally suited for this task, offering flexibility across CRISPR systems by leveraging forward-backward algorithms for parameter estimation. In this study, we introduce CRISPR-HMM, a statistical software to precisely call CRISPR-induced mutations. We demonstrate that the software significantly improves precision in identifying CRISPR-induced mutations compared to NW-based alignment, thereby enhancing the overall understanding of the CRISPR gene-editing process.

Keywords: CRISPR, HMM, sequence alignment, gene editing

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Authors: Mihai Liviu Despa

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The paper tackles the topic of determining the cost of innovation in software development projects. Innovation can be achieved either in a planned or unplanned manner. The paper approaches the scenarios were innovation is planned for. As a starting point an innovative software development project is analyzed. The project is depicted step by step as it was implemented, from inception to delivery. Costs that are proprietary to innovation in software development are isolated based on the author’s personal experience in managing the above mentioned project. Innovation costs components identified by the author are then validated using open discussions with software development professionals and projects managers on LinkedIn groups. In order to receive relevant feedback only groups that focus on software development and innovation management are targeted. Additional innovation cost components suggested by software development professionals and projects managers are also considered. Based on the identified cost components an indicator is built. The indicator is meant to formalize the process of determining the cost of innovation in a software development project. The indicator aggregates all the innovation cost components that are identified in the research process. The process of calculating each cost component is also described. Conclusions are formulated and new related research topics are submitted for debate.

Keywords: innovation cost, IT project management, software development, innovation management

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Authors: Sheila Santharamohana, Susan Bennett

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Historically, the attrition rates in secondary schools of Indigenous people or Orang Asli of Malaysia have been a cause for nationwide concern. Efforts to increase student engagement focusing on curriculum re-design and aid have not had the targeted impact. The scope of the research explored a change model incorporating project-based learning and wrap-around support through school-community partnerships to increase Orang Asli engagement, student outcomes and improve cultural connectedness. The evaluation methodology was mixed-method comprising a student questionnaire, interviews, and document analysis. Data and evidence were gathered from school staff, community, the Orang Asli governmental authority (JAKOA) and external agencies. Findings from the year-long research suggests shared values and goals in school-community partnerships foster responsive leadership and is key to safeguarding vulnerable Orang Asli, resulting in improved student outcomes. The research highlighted the barriers to the recognition and distinct needs and unique values of the Orang Asli that impact their educational equity and outcomes.

Keywords: Indigenous Education, Cultural Connectedness, School-Community Partnership, Student Outcomes

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Authors: Rizalyn Gonzales, Harold Monteclaro

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This study determined the effects of net height on the capture performance of crab entangling nets. Fishing trials were conducted using nets with the following net heights: 1) 12 meshes down (MD), 2) 24 MD and 3) 50 MD. A total of 1,290 individuals comprising of 87 species belonging to 53 families were caught. One-way ANOVA showed that net height significantly affects various catch parameters such as catch per unit effort (CPUE) of the total and target catch, amount of non-target catch, sizes and species richness. The use of appropriate net height is a potential technical measure for a selective but still efficient crab entangling net fishery. Lower net height significantly reduced non-target catch up to 70%. While lower nets decreased the CPUE of target catch such as blue swimming crab Portunus pelagicus and christian crab Charybdis feriatus up to 65% in 12 MD, catch in 24 MD was not significantly different with that in 50 MD. The use of 24 MD also resulted in capturing larger-sized Portunus pelagicus. Catch species richness decreased up to 58% in lower nets. These results are useful to fisheries managers and government institutions to develop or improve existing regulations towards a sustainable crab fishery particularly blue swimming crabs.

Keywords: blue swimming crabs, catch per unit effort, crab entangling nets, net height

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Authors: Niki K. Burns, James R. Pearson, Paul G. Stevenson, Xavier A. Conlan

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In Australian state Victoria, synthetic cannabinoids have recently been made illegal under an amendment to the drugs, poisons and controlled substances act 1981. Identification of synthetic cannabinoids in popular brands of ‘incense’ and ‘potpourri’ has been a difficult and challenging task due to the sample complexity and changes observed in the chemical composition of the cannabinoids of interest. This study has developed analytical methodology for the targeted extraction and determination of synthetic cannabinoids available pre-ban. A simple solvent extraction and solid phase extraction methodology was developed that selectively extracted the cannabinoid of interest. High performance liquid chromatography coupled with UV‐visible and chemiluminescence detection (acidic potassium permanganate and tris (2,2‐bipyridine) ruthenium(III)) were used to interrogate the synthetic cannabinoid products. Mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy were used for structural elucidation of the synthetic cannabinoids. The tris(2,2‐bipyridine)ruthenium(III) detection was found to offer better sensitivity than the permanganate based reagents. In twelve different brands of herbal incense, cannabinoids were extracted and identified including UR‐144, XLR 11, AM2201, 5‐F‐AKB48 and A796‐260.

Keywords: electrospray mass spectrometry, high performance liquid chromatography, solid phase extraction, synthetic cannabinoids

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Authors: Gagan Dhawan

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Mycobacterium tuberculosis was described as ‘captain of death’ with an inherent property of multiple drug resistance majorly caused by the competent mechanism of efflux pumps. In this study, various open source tools combining chemo-informatics with bioinformatics were used for efficient in-silico drug designing. The efflux pump, Rv1218c, belonging to the ABC transporter superfamily, which is predicted to be a tetronasin-transporter in M. tuberculosis was targeted. Recent studies have shown that Rv1218c forms a complex with two more efflux pumps (Rv1219c and Rv1217c) to provide multidrug resistance to the bacterium. The 3D structure of the protein was modeled (as the structure was unavailable in the previously collected databases on this gene). The TMHMM analysis of this protein in TubercuList has shown that this protein is present in the outer membrane of the bacterium. Virtual screening of compounds from various publically available chemical libraries was performed on the M. tuberculosis protein using various open source tools. These ligands were further assessed where various physicochemical properties were evaluated and analyzed. On comparison of different physicochemical properties, toxicity and docking, the ligand 2-(hydroxymethyl)-6-[4, 5, 6-trihydroxy-2-(hydroxymethyl) tetrahydropyran-3-yl] oxy-tetrahydropyran-3, 4, 5-triol was found to be best suited for further studies.

Keywords: drug resistance, efflux pump, molecular docking, virtual screening

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Authors: Daniel Nieto, Ramiro Couceiro

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Microfluidic chips have demonstrated their significant application potentials in microbiological processing and chemical reactions, with the goal of developing monolithic and compact chip-sized multifunctional systems. Heat generation and thermal control are critical in some of the biochemical processes. The paper presents a laser direct-write technique for rapid prototyping and manufacturing of microheater chips and its applicability for perfusion cell culture outside a cell incubator. The aim of the microheater is to take the role of conventional incubators for cell culture for facilitating microscopic observation or other online monitoring activities during cell culture and provides portability of cell culture operation. Microheaters (5 mm × 5 mm) have been successfully fabricated on soda-lime glass substrates covered with aluminum layer of thickness 120 nm. Experimental results show that the microheaters exhibit good performance in temperature rise and decay characteristics, with localized heating at targeted spatial domains. These microheaters were suitable for a maximum long-term operation temperature of 120ºC and validated for long-time operation at 37ºC. for 24 hours. Results demonstrated that the physiology of the cultured SW480 adenocarcinoma of the colon cell line on the developed microheater chip was consistent with that of an incubator.

Keywords: laser microfabrication, microheater, bioengineering, cell culture

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Authors: Mohammed Bakhit Kashoob, Mohammed Salim Al-Maashani, Ahmed Abdullah Al-Marhoon

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The use of Geographic Information System (GIS) tools in the analysis of traffic crash data can help to identify locations or hotspots with high instances or risk of traffic crashes. The identification of traffic crash hotspots can effectively improve road safety measures. Mapping of road traffic crash hotspots can help the concerned authorities to give priority and take targeted measures and improvements to the road structure at these locations to reduce traffic crashes and fatalities. In Oman, there are countless rural roads that have more risks for traveling vehicles compared to urban roads. The likelihood of traffic crashes as well as fatality rate may increase with the presence of risks that are associated with the rural type of community. In this paper, the traffic crash hotspots on rural roads in Oman are specified using spatial analysis methods in GIS and traffic crash data. These hotspots are ranked based on the frequency of traffic crash occurrence (i.e., number of traffic crashes) and the rate of fatalities. The result of this study presents a map visualization of locations on rural roads with high traffic crashes and high fatalities rates.

Keywords: road safety, rural roads, traffic crash, GIS tools

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Authors: Elizabeth R. LaFave, Grayson Sink, Anna Vassallo, Samantha Mills, Eli G. Hvastkovs

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Throughout history and into modern times, the continuation of male influence over female healthcare has created inadequacies in availability and access to treatments, often further limited in rural communities. The historical plight of women in healthcare can be understood by studying the advancements made by women in the field, both through their career arcs and by delving into the treatments they offer. An early example is the case of Martha Ballard (1735-1812), a midwife in New York who practiced when female practitioners were dismissed in favor of less educated male physicians, which was a well-accepted practice into the twentieth century. In order to overcome these setbacks, a strategy used by some female practitioners was to develop and market their own remedies in an attempt to better serve female patients. By highlighting the compromises and social manipulation of female entrepreneurs, in comparison with the medicines they developed and used, we can map their ability to carve a specific niche for themselves and their targeted customers. The application of modern chemical approaches in a historical context serves to enhance a variety of perspectives within the museum sphere necessary for the comprehension and understanding of the female plight in both medical care and service. In order to further examine the overall bias and scrutiny for women in the medical field, specifically those undertaking entrepreneurial roles, examples of alternative remedies from female founders will be analyzed utilizing these approaches. Modern analytical chemistry techniques, specifically mass spectrometry (MS), have been successful in offering compositional analyses for both labeled and unlabeled ingredients in old medicines. Previously, we have analyzed two forms of alternative treatment options created by male medical professionals to address lingering historical questions of purity and validity. Although primarily sugar based, both Humphreys’ Specifics and Boericke & Tafel remedies also contained unique ingredients, albeit in small quantities, with medicinal properties. Here, we applied the same methodology to study another highly politicized 19th-century debate surrounding the contribution and role of women in the medical profession through analyzing three remedies, each from a different female-led manufacturing company; Mrs. Joe Persons, Lydia Pinkham, and Winslow’s Syrups. Following MS analyses for both labeled and unlabeled ingredients, both Winslow’s and Pinkham’s remedies were similar to their male counterparts in advertisement strategy, targeted customer base, and overall composition of remedy (primarily sugar-based with small amounts of unique ingredients). In effect, these unbiased chemical assessments are used to dissect the rationality of both market and physician criticism for each individual manufacturer through assessment of authenticity, benefaction, and comparison among female entrepreneurs and their aims to enter the medical community (i.e., geographic location, market size). Our work aims to increase collaboration between STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics)-based fields and historical museum studies on a larger scale while also answering questions of potential bias towards females in the medical community as means of comparison to their male counterparts and in-depth historical analyses to unravel individual strategies to overcome the setback.

Keywords: nineteenth-century medicine, alternative remedies, female healthcare, chemical analyses, mass spectrometry

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Authors: Jiying Han

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Teaching is widely known to be an emotional endeavor, and teachers’ ability to regulate their emotions is important for their well-being and the effectiveness of their classroom management. Considering that teachers’ emotion regulation is an underexplored issue in the field of educational research, some studies have attempted to explore the role of emotion regulation in teachers’ work and to explore the links between teachers’ emotion regulation, job characteristics, and well-being, based on the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model. However, those studies targeted primary or secondary teachers. So far, very little is known about the relationships between university teachers’ emotion regulation and its antecedents and effects on teacher well-being. Based on the job demands-resources model and emotion regulation theory, this study examined the relationships between job characteristics of university teaching (i.e., emotional job demands and teaching support), emotion regulation strategies (i.e., reappraisal and suppression), and university teachers’ well-being. Data collected from a questionnaire survey of 643 university teachers in China were analysed. The results indicated that (1) both emotional job demands and teaching support had desirable effects on university teachers’ well-being; (2) both emotional job demands and teaching support facilitated university teachers’ use of reappraisal strategies; and (3) reappraisal was beneficial to university teachers’ well-being, whereas suppression was harmful. These findings support the applicability of the job demands-resources model to the contexts of higher education and highlight the mediating role of emotion regulation.

Keywords: emotional job demands, teaching support, emotion regulation strategies, the job demands-resources model

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Authors: Bandar Alahmadi, Lethia Jackson

Abstract:

Machine Learning model is used today in many real-life applications. The safety and security of such model is important, so the results of the model are as accurate as possible. One challenge of machine learning model security is the adversarial examples attack. Adversarial examples are designed by the attacker to cause the machine learning model to misclassify the input. We propose a method to generate adversarial examples to attack image classifiers. We are modifying the successfully classified images, so a classifier misclassifies them after the modification. In our method, we do not update the whole image, but instead we detect the important region, modify it, place it back to the original image, and then run it through a classifier. The algorithm modifies the detected region using two methods. First, it will add abstract image matrix on back of the detected image matrix. Then, it will perform a rotation attack to rotate the detected region around its axes, and embed the trace of image in image background. Finally, the attacked region is placed in its original position, from where it was removed, and a smoothing filter is applied to smooth the background with foreground. We test our method in cascade classifier, and the algorithm is efficient, the classifier confident has dropped to almost zero. We also try it in CNN (Convolutional neural network) with higher setting and the algorithm was successfully worked.

Keywords: adversarial examples, attack, computer vision, image processing

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Authors: Amna Batool

Abstract:

Agile methodology is the current most popular technique in software development projects. Agile methods in software development bring optimistic impact on software performances, quality and customer satisfaction. There are some organizations and small-medium enterprises adopting agile into their local software development projects as well as in distributed software development projects. Adopting agile methods in local software development projects is valuable. However, agile global software deployment needs an attention. There are different key challenges in agile global software development that need to resolve and enhance the global software development cycles. The proposed systematic literature review investigates all key challenges of agile in global software development. Moreover, a quantitative methodology (an actual survey) targeted to present a real case scenario of these particular key challenges faced by one of the software houses that is BestWeb Malaysia. The outcomes of systematic literature and the results of quantitative methodology are compared with each other to evaluate if the key challenges pointed out in systematic review still exist. The proposed research and its exploratory results can assist small medium enterprises to avoid these challenges by adopting the best practices in their global software development projects. Moreover, it is helpful for novice researchers to get valuable information altogether.

Keywords: agile software development, ASD challenges, agile global software development, challenges in agile global software development

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Authors: Swapneel U. Naphade, Dushyant A. Patil, Satyabodh M. Kulkarni

Abstract:

In this work, we propose the concept and geometrical design of a soil moisture control system (SMCS) module by following the product development approach to develop an inexpensive, easy to use and quick to install product targeted towards agriculture practitioners. The module delivers water to the agricultural land efficiently by sensing the soil moisture and activating the delivery valve. We start with identifying the general needs of the potential customer. Then, based on customer needs we establish product specifications and identify important measuring quantities to evaluate our product. Keeping in mind the specifications, we develop various conceptual solutions of the product and select the best solution through concept screening and selection matrices. Then, we develop the product architecture by integrating the systems into the final product. In the end, the geometric design is done using human factors engineering concepts like heuristic analysis, task analysis, and human error reduction analysis. The result of human factors analysis reveals the remedies which should be applied while designing the geometry and software components of the product. We find that to design the best grip in terms of comfort and applied force, for a power-type grip, a grip-diameter of 35 mm is the most ideal.

Keywords: agriculture, human factors, product design, soil moisture control

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Authors: Madhu Gupta, G. P. Agrawa, Suresh P. Vyas

Abstract:

Certain tumor cells overexpress a membrane-spanning molecule aminopeptidase N (CD13) isoform, which is the receptor for peptides containing the NGR motif. NGR-modified Docetaxel (DTX)-loaded PEG-b-PLGA polymeric nanoparticles (cNGR-DNB-NPs) were developed and evaluated for their in vitro potential in HT-1080 cell line. The cNGR-DNB-NPs containing particles were about 148 nm in diameter with spherical shape and high encapsulation efficiency. Cellular uptake was confirmed both qualitatively and quantitatively by Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy (CLSM) and flow cytometry. Both quantitatively and qualitatively results confirmed the NGR conjugated nanoparticles revealed the higher uptake of nanoparticles by CD13-overexpressed tumor cells. Free NGR inhibited the cellular uptake of cNGR-DNB-NPs, revealing the mechanism of receptor mediated endocytosis. In vitro cytotoxicity studies demonstrated that cNGR-DNB-NPs, formulation was more cytotoxic than unconjugated one, which were consistent well with the observation of cellular uptake. Hence, the selective delivery of cNGR-DNB-NPs formulation in CD13-overexpressing tumors represents a potential approach for the design of nanocarrier-based dual targeted delivery systems for targeting the tumor cells and vasculature.

Keywords: solid Tumor, docetaxel, targeting, NGR ligand

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Authors: Ahmad Daryani, Yousef Dadimoghaddam, Mehdi Sharif, Ehsan Ahmadpour, Shahabeddin Sarvi, Baghar Hashemi

Abstract:

Background: Excretory-secretory antigens (ESAs) of Toxoplasma gondii are one of the candidates for immunization against toxoplasmosis. For evaluation of immunization, we determined the kinetics of the distribution of Toxoplasma and parasite load in different tissues of mice immunized by ESAs. Methods: In this experimental study, 36 mice in case (n= 18) and control (n= 18) groups were immunized with ESAs and PBS, respectively. After 2 weeks, mice were challenged intraperitoneally with Toxoplasma virulent RH strain. Blood and different tissues (brain, spleen, liver, heart, kidney, and muscle) were collected daily after challenge (1, 2, 3 and last day before death). Parasite load was calculated using Real time QPCR targeted at the B1 gene. Results: ESAs as vaccine in different tissues showed various effects. However, infected mice which received the vaccine in comparison with control group, displayed a drastically decreasing in parasite burden, in their blood and tissues (P= 0.000). Conclusion: These results indicated that ESAs with reduction of parasite load in different tissues of host could be evaluable candidate for the development of immunization strategies against toxoplasmosis.

Keywords: parasitic load, murine toxoplasmosis, immunization, excretory-secretory antigens, real time QPCR

Procedia PDF Downloads 422