Search results for: automatic target recognition

Authors: Simona Pileviciene

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On 24th January 2014, Lithuania notified two primary cases of African swine fever (ASF) in wild boars. The animals were tested positive for ASF virus (ASFV) genome by real-time PCR at the National Reference Laboratory for ASF in Lithuania (NRL), results were confirmed by the European Union Reference Laboratory for African swine fever (CISA-INIA). Intensive wild and domestic animal monitoring program was started. During the period of 2014-2017 ASF was confirmed in two large commercial pig holding with the highest biosecurity. Pigs were killed and destroyed. Since 2014 ASF outbreak territory from east and south has expanded to the middle of Lithuania. Diagnosis by PCR is one of the highly recommended diagnostic methods by World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) for diagnosis of ASF. The aim of the present study was to compare singleplex real-time PCR assays to a duplex assay allowing the identification of ASF and internal control in a single PCR tube and to compare primers, that target the p72 gene (ASF 250 bp and ASF 75 bp) effectivity. Multiplex real-time PCR assays prove to be less time consuming and cost-efficient and therefore have a high potential to be applied in the routine analysis. It is important to have effective and fast method that allows virus detection at the beginning of disease for wild boar population and in outbreaks for domestic pigs. For experiments, we used reference samples (INIA, Spain), and positive samples from infected animals in Lithuania. Results show 100% sensitivity and specificity.

Keywords: African swine fewer, real-time PCR, wild boar, domestic pig

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Authors: Ahmad Ali Shahid, M Shakil Shaukat

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Agriculture is the backbone of economy of Pakistan and Cotton is the major agricultural export and supreme source of raw fiber for our textile industry. To combat against the developing resistance in the target insects and combating these challenges wholesomely, a novel combination of pyramided/stacked genes was conceptualized and later realized, through the means of biotechnology i.e., transformation of three genes namely, Cry1Ac, Cry2A, and EPSP synthase (glyphosate tolerant) genes in the locally cultivated cotton variety. The progenies of the transformed plants were successfully raised and screened under the tunnel conditions for two generations and the present study focused on the screening of plants which were confirmed for containing all of these three genes and their expressions. Initially, the screening was done through glyphosate spray assay and the plants which were healthy and showed no damage on leaves were selected after 07 days of spray. In the laboratory, the DNA of these plants were isolated and subjected to amplification of the three genes. Thus, seventeen out of twenty were confirmed positive for Cry1Ac gene and ten out of twenty were positive for Cry2A gene and all twenty were positive for presence of EPSP synthase gene. Then, the ten plant samples which were confirmed with presence of all three genes were subjected to expression analysis of these proteins through ELISA. The results showed that eight out of ten plants were actively expressing the three transgenes. Real-time PCR was also done to quantify the expression levels of the EPSP synthase gene. Finally, eight plants were confirmed for the presence and active expression of all three genes in T3 generation of the triple gene transformed cotton. These plants may be subjected to T4 generation to develop a new stable variety in due course of time.

Keywords: agriculture, cotton, transformation, cry genes, ELISA, PCR

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Authors: Hsiao-ting Lin

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This paper analyzes the history of Taiwan’s secret program to develop its nuclear weapons during the Cold War. In July 1971, US President Richard Nixon shocked the world when he announced that his national security adviser Henry Kissinger had made a secret trip to China and that he himself had accepted an invitation to travel to Beijing. This huge breakthrough in the US-PRC relationship was followed by Taipei’s loss of political legitimacy and international credibility as a result of its UN debacle in the fall that year. Confronted with the Nixon White House’s opening to the PRC, leaders in Taiwan felt being betrayed and abandoned, and they were obliged to take countermeasures for the sake of national interest and regime survival. Taipei’s endeavor to create an effective nuclear program, including the possible development of nuclear weapons capabilities, fully demonstrates the government’s resolution to pursue its own national policy, even if such a policy was guaranteed to undermine its relations with the United States. With hindsight, Taiwan’s attempt to develop its own nuclear weapons did not succeed in sabotaging the warming of US-PRC relations. Worse, it was forced to come to a full stop when, in early 1988, the US government pressured Taipei to close related facilities and programs on the island. However, Taiwan’s abortive attempt to develop its nuclear capability did influence Washington’s and Beijing’s handling of their new relationship. There did develop recognition of a common American and PRC interest in avoiding a nuclearized Taiwan. From this perspective, Beijing’s interests would best be served by allowing the island to remain under loose and relatively benign American influence. As for the top leaders on Taiwan, such a policy choice demonstrated how they perceived the shifting dynamics of international politics in the 1960s and 1970s and how they struggled to break free and pursue their own independent national policy within the rigid framework of the US-Taiwan alliance during the Cold War.

Keywords: taiwan, richard nixon, nuclear program, chiang Kai-shek, chiang ching-kuo

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Authors: Joseph Lillington, Tom Gout, Mike Harrison, Ian Farnan

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The vitrification of high-level nuclear waste within borosilicate glass and its incorporation within a multi-barrier repository deep underground is widely accepted as the preferred disposal method. However, for this to happen, any safety case will require validation that the initially localized radionuclides will not be considerably released into the near/far-field. Therefore, accurate mechanistic models are necessary to predict glass dissolution, and these should be robust to a variety of incorporated waste species and leaching test conditions, particularly given substantial variations across international waste-streams. Here, machine learning is used to predict glass material properties (viscosity, density) and glass leaching model parameters from large-scale industrial data. A variety of different machine learning algorithms have been compared to assess performance. Density was predicted solely from composition, whereas viscosity additionally considered temperature. To predict suitable glass leaching model parameters, a large simulated dataset was created by coupling MATLAB and the chemical reactive-transport code HYTEC, considering the state-of-the-art GRAAL model (glass reactivity in allowance of the alteration layer). The trained models were then subsequently applied to the large-scale industrial, experimental data to identify potentially appropriate model parameters. Results indicate that ensemble methods can accurately predict viscosity as a function of temperature and composition across all three industrial datasets. Glass density prediction shows reliable learning performance with predictions primarily being within the experimental uncertainty of the test data. Furthermore, machine learning can predict glass dissolution model parameters behavior, demonstrating potential value in GRAAL model development and in assessing suitable model parameters for large-scale industrial glass dissolution data.

Keywords: machine learning, predictive modelling, pattern recognition, radioactive waste glass

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Authors: Hannele Kuusisto, Paivi Makila, Ursula Hyrkkanen

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Introduction: There have been arguments about the skills university students should have when graduated. Current trends argue that as well as the specific job-related skills the graduated students need problem-solving, interaction and networking skills as well as self-management skills. Skills required in working life are also considered in the Finnish national project called VALTE (short for 'prepared for working life'). The project involves 11 Finnish school organizations. As one result of this project, a five-credit independent online course in study and job engagement as well as in study and job crafting was developed at Turku University of Applied Sciences. The aim of the oral or e-poster presentation is to present the online course developed in the project. The purpose of this abstract is to present the development work of the online course and the feedback received from the pilots. Method: As the University of Turku is the leading partner of the VALTE project, the collaborative education platform ViLLE (https://ville.utu.fi, developed by the University of Turku) was chosen as the online platform for the course. Various exercise types with automatic assessment were used; for example, quizzes, multiple-choice questions, classification exercises, gap filling exercises, model answer questions, self-assessment tasks, case tasks, and collaboration in Padlet. In addition, the free material and free platforms on the Internet were used (Youtube, Padlet, Todaysmeet, and Prezi) as well as the net-based questionnaires about the study engagement and study crafting (made with Webropol). Three teachers with long teaching experience (also with job crafting and online pedagogy) and three students working as trainees in the project developed the content of the course. The online course was piloted twice in 2017 as an elective course for the students at Turku University of Applied Sciences, a higher education institution of about 10 000 students. After both pilots, feedback from the students was gathered and the online course was developed. Results: As the result, the functional five-credit independent online course suitable for students of different educational institutions was developed. The student feedback shows that students themselves think that the developed online course really enhanced their job and study crafting skills. After the course, 91% of the students considered their knowledge in job and study engagement as well as in job and study crafting to be at a good or excellent level. About two-thirds of the students were going to exploit their knowledge significantly in the future. Students appreciated the variability and the game-like feeling of the exercises as well as the opportunity to study online at the time and place they chose themselves. On a five-point scale (1 being poor and 5 being excellent), the students graded the clarity of the ViLLE platform as 4.2, the functionality of the platform as 4.0 and the easiness of operating as 3.9.

Keywords: job crafting, job engagement, online course, study crafting, study engagement

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Authors: Harold Mauricio Díaz-Vargas, Cristian Alfonso Jimenez-Castaño, David Augusto Cárdenas-Peña, Guillermo Alberto Ortiz-Gómez, Alvaro Angel Orozco-Gutierrez

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Precise identification of the nerves is a crucial task performed by anesthesiologists for an effective Peripheral Nerve Blocking (PNB). Now, anesthesiologists use ultrasound imaging equipment to guide the PNB and detect nervous structures. However, visual identification of the nerves from ultrasound images is difficult, even for trained specialists, due to artifacts and low contrast. The recent advances in deep learning make neural networks a potential tool for accurate nerve segmentation systems, so addressing the above issues from raw data. The most widely spread U-Net network yields pixel-by-pixel segmentation by encoding the input image and decoding the attained feature vector into a semantic image. This work proposes a conditioning approach and encoder pre-training to enhance the nerve segmentation of traditional U-Nets. Conditioning is achieved by the one-hot encoding of the kind of target nerve a the network input, while the pre-training considers five well-known deep networks for image classification. The proposed approach is tested in a collection of 619 US images, where the best C-UNet architecture yields an 81% Dice coefficient, outperforming the 74% of the best traditional U-Net. Results prove that pre-trained models with the conditional approach outperform their equivalent baseline by supporting learning new features and enriching the discriminant capability of the tested networks.

Keywords: nerve segmentation, U-Net, deep learning, ultrasound imaging, peripheral nerve blocking

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Authors: Ibrahim Iddrisu, Joseph Ayariga, Junhuan Xu, Ayomide Adebanjo, Boakai K. Robertson, Michelle Samuel-Foo, Olufemi Ajayi

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The rise of antimicrobial resistance is a global public health crisis that threatens the effective control and prevention of infections. Due to the emergence of pan drug-resistant bacteria, most antibiotics have lost their efficacy. Bacteriophages or their components are known to target bacterial cell walls, cell membranes, and lipopolysaccharides (LPS) and hydrolyze them. Bacteriophages, being the natural predators of pathogenic bacteria, are inevitably categorized as ‘human friends’, thus fulfilling the adage that ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’. Leveraging on their lethal capabilities against pathogenic bacteria, researchers are searching for more ways to overcome the current antibiotic resistance challenge. In this study, we expressed and purified epsilon 34 phage tail spike protein (E34 TSP) from the E34 TSP gene, then assessed the ability of this bacteriophage protein in the killing of two CBD-resistant strains of Salmonella spp. We also assessed the ability of the tail spike protein to cause bacteria membrane disruption and dehydrogenase depletion. We observed that the combined treatment of CBD-resistant strains of Salmonella with CBD and E34 TSP showed poor killing ability, whereas the mono treatment with E34 TSP showed considerably higher killing efficiency. This study demonstrates that the inhibition of the bacteria by E34 TSP was due in part to membrane disruption and dehydrogenase inactivation by the protein. The results of this work provide an interesting background to highlight the crucial role phage proteins such as E34 TSP could play in pathogenic bacterial control.

Keywords: cannabidiol, resistance, Salmonella, antimicrobials, phages

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Authors: M. P. Dandekar, A. P. Bharne, P. T. Borkar, D. M. Kokare, N. K. Subhedar

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Ethanol ingestion by the mother ensue adverse consequences for her offspring. Herein, we examine the behavioral phenotype and neural substrate of the offspring of the mother on ethanol. Female rats were fed with ethanol-containing liquid diet from 8 days prior of conception and continued till 25 days post-parturition to coincide with weaning. Behavioral changes associated with anxiety, depression and learning and memory were assessed in the offspring, after they attained adulthood (day 85), using elevated plus maze (EPM), forced swim (FST) and novel object recognition tests (NORT), respectively. The offspring of the alcoholic mother, compared to those of the pair-fed mother, spent significantly more time in closed arms of EPM and showed more immobility time in FST. Offspring at the age of 25 and 85 days failed to discriminate between novel versus familiar object in NORT, thus reflecting anxiogenic, depressive and amnesic phenotypes. Neuropeptide cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript peptide (CART) is known to be involved in central effects of ethanol and hence selected for the current study. Twenty-five days old pups of the alcoholic mother showed significant augmentation in CART-immunoreactivity in the cells of Edinger-Westphal (EW) nucleus and lateral hypothalamus. However, a significant decrease in CART-immunoreactivity was seen in nucleus accumbens shell (AcbSh), lateral part of bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNSTl), locus coeruleus (LC), hippocampus (CA1, CA2 and CA3), and arcuate nucleus (ARC) of the pups and/or adults offspring. While no change in the CART-immunoreactive fibers of AcbSh and BNSTl, CA2 and CA3 was noticed in the 25 days old pups, the CART-immunoreactive cells in EW and paraventricular nucleus (PVN), and fibers in the central nucleus of amygdala of 85 days old offspring remained unaffected. We suggest that the endogenous CART system in these discrete areas, among other factors, may be a causal to the abnormalities in the next generation of an alcoholic mother.

Keywords: anxiety, depression, CART, ethanol, immunocytochemistry

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Authors: Eric D. Olson

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The lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender/queer/questioning tourist (LGBTQ+) travels more frequently, spends more money on travel, and is more likely to travel internationally compared to their straight/heterosexual counterparts. For Vietnam, this represents a huge opportunity to increase international tourism, considering social advancements and recognition of the LGBTQ+ have greatly increased in the past few years in Vietnam. For example, Vietnam’s Health Ministry confirmed in 2022 that same-sex attraction and being transgender is not a mental health condition. A robust hospitality ecosystem of LGBTQ+ tourism suppliers already exists in Vietnam catering to LGBTQ+ tourists (e.g., Gay Hanoi Tours, VietPride). Vietnam is a safe and welcoming destination with incredible nature, cosmopolitan cities, and friendly people; however, there is a dearth of academic and industry research that has examined how LGBTQ+ international tourists perceive Vietnam as an LGBTQ+ friendly destination. To rectify this gap, this research examines Vietnam as an LGBTQ+ destination in order to provide government officials, destination marketers, and industry practitioners with insight into this increasingly visible tourist market segment. A self-administered survey instrument was administered to n=375 international LGBTQ+ tourists to examine their perceptions of Vietnam. A factor analysis found three categories of LGBTQ+ factors of visitation to Vietnam: safety and security (Eigenvalue = 4.12, variance = 32.45, α = .82); LGBTQ+ attractions (Eigenvalue = 3.65 variance = 24.23, α = .75); and friendly interactions (Eigenvalue = 3.71, variance = 10.45, α = .96). Multiple regression was used to examine LGBTQ+ visitation factors and intention to visit Vietnam, F=12.20 (2, 127), p < .001, R2 = .56. Safety and security (β = 0.42, p < .001), LGBTQ+ attractions (β = 0.61, p < .001) and friendly interactions (β = 0.42, p < .001) are predictors to visit Vietnam. Results are consistent with previous research that highlight safety/security is of utmost importance to the community when traveling. Attractions, such as LGBTQ+ tours, suppliers, and festivals can also be used as a pull factor in encouraging tourism. Implications/limitations will be discussed.

Keywords: tourism, LGBTQ, vietnam, regression

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Authors: Helene Eller

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The aim of non-profit organizations (NPO) is to provide services and goods for its clientele, with profit being a minor objective. By having this definition as the basic purpose of doing business, it is obvious that the goal of an organisation is to serve several bottom lines and not only the financial one. This approach is underpinned by the non-distribution constraint which means that NPO are allowed to make profits to a certain extent, but not to distribute them. The advantage is that there are no single shareholders who might have an interest in the prosperity of the organisation: there is no pie to divide. The gained profits remain within the organisation and will be reinvested in purposeful projects. Good governance is mandatory to support the aim of NPOs. Looking for a measure of good governance the principals of corporate governance (CG) will come in mind. The purpose of CG is direction and control, and in the field of NPO, CG is enlarged to consider the relationship to all important stakeholders who have an impact on the organisation. The recognition of more relevant parties than the shareholder is the link to corporate social responsibility (CSR). It supports a broader view of the bottom line: It is no longer enough to know how profits are used but rather how they are made. Besides, CSR addresses the responsibility of organisations for their impact on society. When transferring the concept of CSR to the non-profit area it will become obvious that CSR with its distinctive features will match the aims of NPOs. As a consequence, NPOs who apply CG apply also CSR to a certain extent. The research is designed as a comprehensive theoretical and empirical analysis. First, the investigation focuses on the theoretical basis of both concepts. Second, the similarities and differences are outlined and as a result the interconnection of both concepts will show up. The contribution of this research is manifold: The interconnection of both concepts when applied to NPOs has not got any attention in science yet. CSR and governance as integrated concept provides a lot of advantages for NPOs compared to for-profit organisations which are in a steady justification to show the impact they might have on the society. NPOs, however, integrate economic and social aspects as starting point. For NPOs CG is not a mere concept of compliance but rather an enhanced concept integrating a lot of aspects of CSR. There is no “either-nor” between the concepts for NPOs.

Keywords: business ethics, corporate governance, corporate social responsibility, non-profit organisations

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Authors: Sara A. Ben Lashihar

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The heritage building information modelling (HBIM) of the historical masonry buildings has expanded lately to meet the urgent needs for conservation and structural analysis. The masonry structures are unique features for ancient building architectures worldwide that have special cultural, spiritual, and historical significance. However, there is a research gap regarding the reliability of the HBIM modeling process of these structures. The HBIM modeling process of the masonry structures faces significant challenges due to the inherent complexity and uniqueness of their structural systems. Most of these processes are based on tracing the point clouds and rarely follow documents, archival records, or direct observation. The results of these techniques are highly abstracted models where the accuracy does not exceed LOD 200. The masonry assemblages, especially curved elements such as arches, vaults, and domes, are generally modeled with standard BIM components or in-place models, and the brick textures are graphically input. Hence, future investigation is necessary to establish a methodology to generate automatically parametric masonry components. These components are developed algorithmically according to mathematical and geometric accuracy and the validity of the survey data. The main aim of this paper is to provide a comprehensive review of the state of the art of the existing researches and papers that have been conducted on the HBIM modeling of the masonry structural elements and the latest approaches to achieve parametric models that have both the visual fidelity and high geometric accuracy. The paper reviewed more than 800 articles, proceedings papers, and book chapters focused on "HBIM and Masonry" keywords from 2017 to 2021. The studies were downloaded from well-known, trusted bibliographic databases such as Web of Science, Scopus, Dimensions, and Lens. As a starting point, a scientometric analysis was carried out using VOSViewer software. This software extracts the main keywords in these studies to retrieve the relevant works. It also calculates the strength of the relationships between these keywords. Subsequently, an in-depth qualitative review followed the studies with the highest frequency of occurrence and the strongest links with the topic, according to the VOSViewer's results. The qualitative review focused on the latest approaches and the future suggestions proposed in these researches. The findings of this paper can serve as a valuable reference for researchers, and BIM specialists, to make more accurate and reliable HBIM models for historic masonry buildings.

Keywords: HBIM, masonry, structure, modeling, automatic, approach, parametric

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Authors: Sisay Tiroro Salato

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Background: Ethiopia has been implementing the maternal death surveillance and response system to provide real-time actionable information, including causes of death and contributing factors. Analysis of maternal mortality surveillance data was conducted to identify the causes and underlying factors in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Methods: We carried out a retrospective surveillance data analysis of 324 maternal deaths reported in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 2017 to 2021. The data were extracted from the national maternal death surveillance and response database, including information from case investigation, verbal autopsy, and facility extraction forms. The data were analyzed by computing frequency and presented in numbers, proportions, and ratios. Results: Of 324 maternal deaths, 92% died in the health facilities, 6.2% in transit, and 1.5% at home. The mean age at death was 28 years, ranging from 17 to 45. The maternal mortality ratio per 100,000 live births was 77for the five years, ranging from 126 in 2017 to 21 in 2021. The direct and indirect causes of death were responsible for 87% and 13%, respectively. The direct causes included obstetric haemorrhage, hypertensive disorders in pregnancy, puerperal sepsis, embolism, obstructed labour, and abortion. The third delay (delay in receiving care after reaching health facilities) accounted for 57% of deaths, while the first delay (delay in deciding to seek health care) and the second delay (delay in reaching health facilities) and accounted for 34% and 24%, respectively. Late arrival to the referral facility, delayed management after admission, andnon-recognition of danger signs were underlying factors. Conclusion: Over 86% of maternal deaths were attributed by avoidable direct causes. The majority of women do try to reach health services when an emergency occurs, but the third delays present a major problem. Improving the quality of care at the healthcare facility level will help to reduce maternal death.

Keywords: maternal death, surveillance, delays, factors

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Authors: El Harraj Abdeslam, Raissouni Naoufal

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The detection of moving objects from a video image sequences is very important for object tracking, activity recognition, and behavior understanding in video surveillance. The most used approach for moving objects detection / tracking is background subtraction algorithms. Many approaches have been suggested for background subtraction. But, these are illumination change sensitive and the solutions proposed to bypass this problem are time consuming. In this paper, we propose a robust yet computationally efficient background subtraction approach and, mainly, focus on the ability to detect moving objects on dynamic scenes, for possible applications in complex and restricted access areas monitoring, where moving and motionless persons must be reliably detected. It consists of three main phases, establishing illumination changes in variance, background/foreground modeling and morphological analysis for noise removing. We handle illumination changes using Contrast Limited Histogram Equalization (CLAHE), which limits the intensity of each pixel to user determined maximum. Thus, it mitigates the degradation due to scene illumination changes and improves the visibility of the video signal. Initially, the background and foreground images are extracted from the video sequence. Then, the background and foreground images are separately enhanced by applying CLAHE. In order to form multi-modal backgrounds we model each channel of a pixel as a mixture of K Gaussians (K=5) using Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM). Finally, we post process the resulting binary foreground mask using morphological erosion and dilation transformations to remove possible noise. For experimental test, we used a standard dataset to challenge the efficiency and accuracy of the proposed method on a diverse set of dynamic scenes.

Keywords: video surveillance, background subtraction, contrast limited histogram equalization, illumination invariance, object tracking, object detection, behavior understanding, dynamic scenes

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Authors: H. Aldewachi, M. Hines, M. McCulloch, N. Woodroofe, P. Gardiner

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DPP-IV is an enzyme whose expression is affected in a variety of diseases, therefore, has been identified as possible diagnostic or prognostic marker for various tumours, immunological, inflammatory, neuroendocrine, and viral diseases. Recently, DPP-IV enzyme has been identified as a novel target for type II diabetes treatment where the enzyme is involved. There is, therefore, a need to develop sensitive and specific methods that can be easily deployed for the screening of the enzyme either as a tool for drug screening or disease marker in biological samples. A variety of assays have been introduced for the determination of DPP-IV enzyme activity using chromogenic and fluorogenic substrates, nevertheless these assays either lack the required sensitivity especially in inhibited enzyme samples or displays low water solubility implying difficulty for use in vivo samples in addition to labour and time-consuming sample preparation. In this study, novel strategies based on exploiting the high extinction coefficient of gold nanoparticles (GNPs) are investigated in order to develop fast, specific and reliable enzymatic assay by investigating synthetic peptide sequences containing a DPP IV cleavage site and coupling them to GNPs. The DPP IV could be detected by colorimetric response of peptide capped GNPs (P-GNPS) that could be monitored by a UV-visible spectrophotometer or even naked eyes, and the detection limit could reach 0.01 unit/ml. The P-GNPs, when subjected to DPP IV, showed excellent selectivity compared to other proteins (thrombin and human serum albumin) , which led to prominent colour change. This provided a simple and effective colorimetric sensor for on-site and real-time detection of DPP IV.

Keywords: gold nanoparticles, synthetic peptides, colorimetric detection, DPP-IV enzyme

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Authors: Elaine Stavro

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In our present world where acts of incivility, intolerance and anger towards minority communities is on the rise, the ways museum practices cultivate ethical generosity is of interest. Democratic theorists differ as to how they believe respect can be generated through active participation. Allowing minority communities a role in determining what artifacts will be displayed and how they will be displayed has been an important step in generating respect. In addition, the rise of indigenous museums, slave museums and curators who represent these communities, contribute to the communication of their history of oppression. These institutional practices have been supplemented by the handling of objects, recognition stories and multisensory exhibitions. Psychoanalysis, object relations theorists believe that the handling of objects: amenable objects and responsive listeners will trigger the expression of anomie, alienation and traumatizing experiences. Not only memorializing but engaging with one’s lose in a very personal way can facilitate the process of mourning. Manchester Museum (UK) gathered together Somalian refugees, who in the process of handling their own objects and those offered at the museum, began to tell their stories. Democratic theorists (especially affect theorists or vital materialists or Actor Network theorists) believe that things can be social actants- material objects have agentic capacities that humans should align with. In doing so, they challenge social constructivism that attributes power to interpreted things, but like them they assume an openness or responsiveness to Otherness can be cultivated. Rich sensory experiences, corporeal engagement (devices that involve bodily movement or objects that involve handling) auditory experiences (songs) all contribute to improve one’s responsiveness and openness to Others. This paper will focus specifically on slave museums/ and exhibits in the U.K, the USA., South Africa to explore and evaluate their democratic strategies in cultivating tolerant practices via the various democratic avenues outlined above.

Keywords: democratic pedagogy, slave exhibitions, affect/emotion, object handling

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Authors: Martina Marinelli, Samanta Vellante, Francesco Pilotti, Daniele Di Valerio, Gaetanino Paolone

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Any development in web marketing technology requires changes in information engineering to identify instruments and techniques suitable for the production of software applications for informative marketing. Moreover, for large web solutions, designing an interface that enables human interactions is a complex process that must bridge between informative marketing requirements and the developed solution. A user-friendly interface in web marketing applications is crucial for a successful business. The paper introduces mkInfo - a software platform that implements informative marketing. Informative marketing is a new interpretation of marketing which places the information at the center of every marketing action. The creative team includes software engineering researchers who have recently authored an article on automatic code generation. The authors have created the mkInfo software platform to generate informative marketing web applications. For each web application, it is possible to automatically implement an opt in page, a landing page, a sales page, and a thank you page: one only needs to insert the content. mkInfo implements an autoresponder to send mail according to a predetermined schedule. The mkInfo platform also includes e-commerce for a product or service. The stakeholder can access any opt-in page and get basic information about a product or service. If he wants to know more, he will need to provide an e-mail address to access a landing page that will generate an e-mail sequence. It will provide him with complete information about the product or the service. From this point on, the stakeholder becomes a user and is now able to purchase the product or related services through the mkInfo platform. This paper suggests a possible definition for Informative Marketing, illustrates its basic principles, and finally details the mkInfo platform that implements it. This paper also offers some Informative Marketing models, which are implemented in the mkInfo platform. Informative marketing can be applied to products or services. It is necessary to realize a web application for each product or service. The mkInfo platform enables the product or the service producer to send information concerning a specific product or service to all stakeholders. In conclusion, the technical contributions of this paper are: a different interpretation of marketing based on information; a modular architecture for web applications, particularly for one with standard features such as information storage, exchange, and delivery; multiple models to implement informative marketing; a software platform enabling the implementation of such models in a web application. Future research aims to enable stakeholders to provide information about a product or a service so that the information gathered about a product or a service includes both the producer’s and the stakeholders' point of view. The purpose is to create an all-inclusive management system of the knowledge regarding a specific product or service: a system that includes everything about the product or service and is able to address even unexpected questions.

Keywords: informative marketing, opt in page, software platform, web application

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Authors: Atom Mkhitaryan, Astghik Avetisyan

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We analyze the developments of doctoral education in Armenia since 1990 and the management process. Education and training of highly qualified personnel are increasingly seen as a fundamental platform that ensures the development of the state. Reforming the national institute for doctoral studies (aspirantura) is aimed at improving the quality of human resources in science, optimizing research topics in accordance with the priority areas of development of science and technology, increasing publication and innovative activities, bringing national science and research closer to the world level and achieving international recognition. We present a number of defended dissertations in Armenia during the last 30 years, the dynamics and the main trends of the development of the academic degree awarding system. We discuss the possible impact of reforming the system of training and certification of highly qualified personnel on the organization of third–level doctoral education (doctoral schools) and specialized / dissertation councils in Armenia. The results of the SWOT analysis of doctoral education and academic degree awarding processes in Armenia are shown. The article presents the main activities and projects aimed at using the advantages and strong points of the National Academy network in order to improve the quality of doctoral education and training. The paper explores the mechanisms of organizational, methodological and infrastructural support for research and innovation activities of doctoral students and young scientists. There are also suggested approaches to the organization of strong networking between research institutes and foreign universities for training and certification of highly qualified personnel. The authors define the role of ISEC in the management of doctoral studies and the establishment of a competitive third-level education for the sphere of research and development in Armenia.

Keywords: doctoral studies, academic degree, PhD, certification, highly qualified personnel, dissertation, research and development, innovation, networking, management of doctoral school

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Authors: Cheng Sim Quah, Sandra Phek Lin Sim

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This study examined how individuals in their respective teams contributed to innovation performance besides defining the term of innovation in their own respective views. This study also identified factors that motivated University staff to contribute to the innovation products. In addition, it examined whether there is a significant relationship between professional training level and the length of service among university staff towards innovation and to what extent do the two variables contributed towards innovative products. The significance of this study is that it revealed the strengths and weaknesses of the university staff when contributing to innovation performance. Stratified-random sampling was employed to determine the samples representing the population of lecturers in the study, involving 123 lecturers in one of the local universities in Malaysia. The method employed to analyze the data is through categorizing into themes for the open-ended questions besides using descriptive and inferential statistics for the quantitative data. This study revealed that two types of definition for the term “innovation” exist among the university staff, namely, creation of new product or new approach to do things as well as value-added creative way to upgrade or improve existing process and service to be more efficient. This study found that the most prominent factor that propel them towards innovation is to improve the product in order to benefit users, followed by self-satisfaction and recognition. This implies that the staff in the organization viewed the creation of innovative products as a process of growth to fulfill the needs of others and also to realize their personal potential. This study also found that there was only a significant relationship between the professional training level and the length of service of 4-6 years among the university staff. The rest of the groups based on the length of service showed that there was no significant relationship with the professional training level towards innovation. Moreover, results of the study on directional measures depicted that the relationship for the length of service of 4 - 6 years with professional training level among the university staff is quite weak. This implies that good organization management lies on the shoulders of the key leaders who enlighten the path to be followed by the staff.

Keywords: innovation, length of service, performance, professional training level, motivation

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Authors: Rajandeep Kaur, Rajeev Gupta

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Background: Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is the most common leukaemia in India. The annual incidence of chronic myeloid leukemia in India was originally reported to be 0.8 to 2.2 per 1,00,000 population. CML is a clonal disorder that is usually easily diagnosed because the leukemic cells of more than 95% of patients have a distinctive cytogenetic abnormality, the Philadelphia chromosome (Ph1). The approval of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), which target BCR-ABL1 kinase activity, has significantly reduced the mortality rate associated with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and revolutionized treatment. Material and Methods: 80 diagnosed cases of CML were taken. Investigations were done. Bone marrow and molecular studies were also done and with EUTOS, patients were stratified into low and high-risk groups and then treatment with Imatinib was given to all patients and the molecular response was evaluated at 6 months and 12 months follow up with BCR-ABL by RT-PCR quantitative assay. Results: In the study population, out of 80 patients in the study population, 40 were females and 40 were males, with M: F is 1:1. Out of total 80 patients’ maximum patients (54) were in 31-60 years age group. Our study showed a most common symptom of presentation is abdominal discomfort followed by fever. Out of the total 80 patients, 25 (31.3%) patients had high EUTOS scores and 55 (68.8%) patients had low EUTOS scores. On 6 months follow up 36.3% of patients had Complete Molecular Response, 16.3% of patients had Major Molecular Response and 47.5% of patients had No Molecular Response but on 12 months follow up 71.3% of patients had Complete Molecular Response, 16.25% of patients had Major Molecular Response and 12.5% patients had No Molecular Response. Conclusion: In this study, we found a significant correlation between EUTOS score and Molecular response at 6 months and 12 months follow up after Imatinib therapy.

Keywords: chronic myeloid leukemia, European treatment and outcome study score, hematological response, molecular response, tyrosine kinase inhibitor

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Authors: Mattea Carmen Castrovilli, Antonella Cartoni

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Electrospray ionisation (ESI), a well-established technique widely used to produce ion beams of biomolecules in mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), can be used for ambient soft landing of enzymes on a specific substrate. In this work, we show how the ambient electrospray deposition (ESD) technique can be successfully exploited for manufacturing a promising, green-friendly electrochemical amperometric laccase-based biosensor with unprecedented reuse and storage performance. These biosensors have been manufactured by spraying a laccase solution of 2μg/μL at 20% of methanol on a commercial carbon screen printed electrode (C-SPE) using a custom ESD set-up. The laccase-based ESD biosensor has been tested against catechol compounds in the linear range 2-100 μM, with a limit of detection of 1.7 μM, without interference from cadmium, chrome, arsenic, and zinc and without any memory effects, but showing a matrix effect in lake and well water. The ESD biosensor shows enhanced performances compared to the ones fabricated with other immobilization methods, like drop-casting. Indeed, it retains 100% activity up to two months of storage at ambient conditions without any special care and working stability up to 63 measurements on the same electrode just prepared and 20 on a one-year-old electrode subjected to redeposition together with a 100% resistance to use of the same electrode in subsequent days. The ESD method is a one-step, environmentally friendly method that allows the deposition of the bio-recognition layer without using any additional chemicals. The promising results in terms of storage and working stability also obtained with the more fragile lactate oxidase enzyme suggest these improvements should be attributed to the ESD technique rather than to the bioreceptor, highlighting how the ESD could be useful in reducing pollution from disposable devices. Acknowledgment: The understanding at the molecular level of this promising biosensor by using different spectroscopies, microscopies and analytical techniques is the subject of our PRIN 2022 project ESILARANTE.

Keywords: reuse, storage performance, immobilization, electrospray deposition, biosensor, laccase, catechol detection, green chemistry

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Authors: Abdelsalam Gomaa, Mahjabeen Ramzan, Tooba Ali Akbar, Huma Nadeem

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The use of tobacco and the health risks linked to it are well known in this day and age due to the presence of easily available information through the internet. The media is a powerful platform that is used by many anti-smoking awareness campaigns to reach their target audience; yet, it has been found that adolescents are taking up smoking every passing day. Half of this smoking population of youngsters resides in Asia alone, which includes Qatar, the focus country of this study. As smoking happens to be one of the largest avoidable causes of serious diseases like cancers and heart problems, children are taking up smoking at an alarming rate everywhere including Qatar. Importance of the health of the citizens of Qatar is one of the pillars of the Qatar vision 2030, which is to ensure a healthy population, both physically and mentally. Since the youth makes up a significant percentage of the population and in order to achieve the health objectives of the Qatar vision 2030, it is essential to ensure the health and well-being of this part of the population of the country as they are the future of Qatar. Children, especially boys who tend to be more aggressive by nature, are highly likely to develop behavioral and health issues due to smoking at an early age. Research conducted around the world has also emphasized on this association between the smokers developing a bad behaviour as well as poor social communication skills. However, due to lack of research into this association, very little is known about the extent to which smoking impacts the children’s academics, health and behaviour. Moreover, a study of this nature has not yet been conducted in Qatar previously as most of the studies focus on adult smokers and ways to minimize the number of smoking habits in universities and workplaces. This study solely focuses on identifying a relationship between smoking and its impacts on the adolescents by conducting a research on different schools across Qatar.

Keywords: adolescents, modelling techniques, Qatar, smoking

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Authors: Yeo Ryeong Jeon, Pyong Kon Cho, Eun Ok Han, Hyon Chul Jang, Yong Min Kim

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This study surveyed on recognition related to radiation safety for radiation safety managers and workers those who have been worked in Republic of Korea education and research institution. At present, South Korea has no guideline and manual of radiation safety for education and research institution. Therefore, we tried to find an educational basis for development of radiation safety guideline and manual. To check the level of knowledge, attitude, and behavior about radiation safety, we used the questionnaire that consisted of 29 questions against knowledge, attitude and behavior, 4 questions against self-efficacy and expectation based on four factors (radiation source, human, organizational and physical environment) of the Haddon's matrix. Responses were collected between May 4 and June 30, 2015. We analyzed questionnaire by means of IBM SPSS/WIN 15 which well known as statistical package for social science. The data were compared with mean, standard deviation, Pearson's correlation, ANOVA (analysis of variance) and regression analysis. 180 copies of the questionnaire were returned from 60 workplaces. The overall mean results for behavior level was relatively lower than knowledge and attitude level. In particular, organizational environment factor on the radiation safety management indicated the lowest behavior level. Most of the factors were correlated in Pearson’s correlation analysis, especially between knowledge of human factors and behavior of human factors (Pearson’s correlation coefficient 0.809, P<.01). When analysis performed in line with the main radiation source type, institutions where have been used only opened RI (radioisotope) behavior level was the lowest among all subjects. Finally, knowledge of radiation source factor (β=0.556, P<.001) and human factor(β=0.376, P<.001) had the greatest impact in terms of behavior practice. Radiation safety managers and workers think positively about radiation safety management, but are poorly informed organizational environment of their institution. Thus, each institution need to efforts to settlement of radiation safety culture. Also, pedagogical interventions for improving knowledge on radiation safety needs in terms of safety accident prevention.

Keywords: radiation safety management, factor analysis, SPSS, republic of Korea

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Authors: Micheale Yifter Weldemichael, Hailay Mehari Gebremedhn, Teklehaimanot Hailesslasie

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The advancement of target-specific genome editing tools, including clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated protein9 (Cas9), mega-nucleases, base editing (BE), prime editing (PE), transcription activator-like endonucleases (TALENs), and zinc-finger nucleases (ZFNs), have paved the way for a modern era of gene editing. CRISPR/Cas9, as a versatile, simple, cost-effective and robust system for genome editing, has dominated the genome manipulation field over the last few years. The application of CRISPR/Cas9 in sorghum improvement is particularly vital in the context of ecological, environmental and agricultural challenges, as well as global climate change. In this context, gene editing using CRISPR/Cas9 can improve nutritional value, yield, resistance to pests and disease and tolerance to different abiotic stress. Moreover, CRISPR/Cas9 can potentially perform complex editing to reshape already available elite varieties and new genetic variations. However, existing research is targeted at improving even further the effectiveness of the CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing techniques to fruitfully edit endogenous sorghum genes. These findings suggest that genome editing is a feasible and successful venture in sorghum. Newer improvements and developments of CRISPR/Cas9 techniques have further qualified researchers to modify extra genes in sorghum with improved efficiency. The fruitful application and development of CRISPR techniques for genome editing in sorghum will not only help in gene discovery, creating new, improved traits in sorghum regulating gene expression sorghum functional genomics, but also in making site-specific integration events.

Keywords: CRISPR/Cas9, genome editing, quality, sorghum, stress, yield

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Authors: Manuel A. Alonso-Tarajano, Roberto Mosca, Patrick Aloy

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Protein kinases participate in a myriad of cellular processes of major biomedical interest. The in vivo substrate specificity of these enzymes is a process determined by several factors, and despite several years of research on the topic, is still far from being totally understood. In the present work, we have quantified the contributions to the kinase substrate specificity of i) the phosphorylation sites and their surrounding residues in the sequence and of ii) the association of kinases to adaptor or scaffold proteins. We have used position-specific scoring matrices (PSSMs), to represent the stretches of sequences phosphorylated by 93 families of kinases. We have found negative correlations between the number of sequences from which a PSSM is generated and the statistical significance and the performance of that PSSM. Using a subset of 22 statistically significant PSSMs, we have identified specificity determinant residues (SDRs) for 86% of the corresponding kinase families. Our results suggest that different SDRs can function as positive or negative elements of substrate recognition by the different families of kinases. Additionally, we have found that human proteins with known function as adaptors or scaffolds (kAS) tend to interact with a significantly large fraction of the substrates of the kinases to which they associate. Based on this characteristic we have identified a set of 279 potential adaptors/scaffolds (pAS) for human kinases, which is enriched in Pfam domains and functional terms tightly related to the proposed function. Moreover, our results show that for 74.6% of the kinase– pAS association found, the pAS colocalize with the substrates of the kinases they are associated to. Finally, we have found evidence suggesting that the association of kinases to adaptors and scaffolds, may contribute significantly to diminish the in vivo substrate crossed- specificity of protein kinases. In general, our results indicate the relevance of several SDRs for both the positive and negative selection of phosphorylation sites by kinase families and also suggest that the association of kinases to pAS proteins may be an important factor for the localization of the enzymes with their set of substrates.

Keywords: kinase, phosphorylation, substrate specificity, adaptors, scaffolds, cellular colocalization

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Authors: Yuan-Hao Lee, Chia-Wei Lee, Ming-Fang Lin, Tzu-Huei Wu, Chih-Hsiang Ko, Wing P. Chan

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Computed tomography (CT) scan of the head is a good method for investigating cranial lesions. However, radiation-induced oxidative stress can be accumulated in the eyes and promote carcinogenesis and cataract. In this regard, we aimed to protect the eyes with barium sulfate shield(s) during CT scans and investigate the resultant image quality and radiation dose to the eye. Patients who underwent health examinations were selectively enrolled in this study in compliance with the protocol approved by the Ethics Committee of the Joint Institutional Review Board at Taipei Medical University. Participants’ brains were scanned with a water-based marker simultaneously by a multislice CT scanner (SOMATON Definition Flash) under a fixed tube current-time setting or automatic tube current modulation (TCM). The lens dose was measured by Gafchromic films, whose dose response curve was previously fitted using thermoluminescent dosimeters, with or without barium sulfate or bismuth-antimony shield laid above. For the assessment of image quality CT images at slice planes that exhibit the interested regions on the zygomatic, orbital and nasal bones of the head phantom as well as the water-based marker were used for calculating the signal-to-noise and contrast-to-noise ratios. The application of barium sulfate and bismuth-antimony shields decreased 24% and 47% of the lens dose on average, respectively. Under topogram-based TCM, the dose saving power of bismuth-antimony shield was mitigated whereas that of barium sulfate shield was enhanced. On the other hand, the signal-to-noise and contrast-to-noise ratios of DSCT images were decreased separately by barium sulfate and bismuth-antimony shield, resulting in an overall reduction of the CNR. In contrast, the integration of topogram-based TCM elevated signal difference between the ROIs on the zygomatic bones and eyeballs while preferentially decreasing the signal-to-noise ratios upon the use of barium sulfate shield. The results of this study indicate that the balance between eye exposure and image quality can be optimized by combining eye shields with topogram-based TCM on the multislice scanner. Eye shielding could change the photon attenuation characteristics of tissues that are close to the shield. The application of both shields on eye protection hence is not recommended for seeking intraorbital lesions.

Keywords: computed tomography, barium sulfate shield, dose saving, image quality

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Authors: I. Hua Chu, Hsiang-Chi Yu, Hsuan Su

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Purpose: To examine the associations between self-determined motivation and physical activity in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) in a longitudinal study. Methods: Patients with CHD were recruited for this study. Their motivations for exercise were measured by the Behavioral Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire-2 (BREQ-2). Physical activity was assessed using the 7-day physical activity recall questionnaire. Duration and energy expenditure of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) were used in data analysis. All outcome measures were assessed at baseline and 12 months follow up. Data were analyzed using Pearson correlation analysis and regression analysis. Results: The results of the 45 participants (mean age 60.24 yr; 90.2% male) revealed that there were significant negative correlations between amotivation at baseline and duration (r=-.295, p=.049) and energy expenditure (r=-.300, p=.045) of MVPA at 12 months. In contrast, there were significant positive correlations between calculated relative autonomy index (RAI) at baseline and duration (r=.377, p=.011) and energy expenditure (r=.382, p=.010) of MVPA at 12 months. There was no significant correlation between other subscales of the BREQ-2 and duration or energy expenditure of MVPA. Regression analyses revealed that RAI was a significant predictor of duration (p=.011) and energy expenditure (p=.010) of MVPA at 12 months follow-up. Conclusions: These results suggest that the relative degree of self-determined motivation could predict long-term MVPA behaviors in CHD patients. Physical activity interventions are recommended to target enhancing one’s identified and intrinsic motivation to increase the likelihood of physical activity participation in this population.

Keywords: self-determined motivation, physical activity, coronary heart disease, relative autonomy index (RAI)

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Authors: Massimo Tadi, M. Hadi Mohammad Zadeh, Ozge Ogut

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Although how cities’ forms are structured is studied, more efforts are needed on systemic comprehensions and evaluations of the urban morphology through quantitative metrics that are able to describe the performance of a city in relation to its formal properties. More research is required in this direction in order to better describe the urban form characteristics and their impact on the environmental performance of cities and to increase their sustainability stewardship. With the aim of developing a better understanding of the built environment’s systemic structure, the intention of this paper is to present a holistic methodology for studying the behavior of the built environment and investigate the methods for measuring the effect of urban structure to the environmental performance. This goal will be pursued through an inquiry into the morphological components of the urban systems and the complex relationships between them. Particularly, this paper focuses on proximity, referring to the proximity of different land-uses, is a concept with which Integrated Modification Methodology (IMM) explains how land-use allocation might affect the choice of mobility in neighborhoods, and especially, encourage or discourage non-motived mobility. This paper uses proximity to demonstrate that the structure attributes can quantifiably relate to the performing behavior in the city. The target is to devise a mathematical pattern from the structural elements and correlate it directly with urban performance indicators concerned with environmental sustainability. The paper presents some results of this rigorous investigation of urban proximity and its correlation with performance indicators in four different areas in the city of Milan, each of them characterized by different morphological features.

Keywords: built environment, ecology, sustainable indicators, sustainability, urban morphology

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Authors: Ticijana Prijon, Branko Ermenc

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Background: Blunt aortic trauma (BAT) includes various morphological changes that occur during deceleration, acceleration and/or body compression in traffic accidents. The various forms of BAT, from limited laceration of the intima to complete transection of the aorta, depends on the force acting on the vessel wall and the tolerance of the aorta to injury. The force depends on the change in velocity, the dynamics of the accident and of the seating position in the car. Tolerance to aortic injury depends on the anatomy, histological structure and pathomorphological alterations due to aging or disease of the aortic wall.An overview of the literature and medical documentation reveals that different terms are used to describe certain forms of BAT, which can lead to misinterpretation of findings or diagnoses. We therefore, propose a classification that would enable uniform systematic screening of all forms of BAT. We have classified BAT into three morphologycal types: TYPE I (intramural), TYPE II (transmural) and TYPE III (multiple) aortic ruptures with appropriate subtypes. Methods: All car accident casualties examined at the Institute of Forensic Medicine from 2001 to 2009 were included in this retrospective study. Autopsy reports were used to determine the occurrence of each morphological type of BAT in deceased drivers, front seat passengers and other passengers in cars and to define the morphology of BAT in relation to the accident dynamics and the age of the fatalities. Results: A total of 391 fatalities in car accidents were included in the study. TYPE I, TYPE II and TYPE III BAT were observed in 10,9%, 55,6% and 33,5%, respectively. The incidence of BAT in drivers, front seat and other passengers was 36,7%, 43,1% and 28,6%, respectively. In frontal collisions, the incidence of BAT was 32,7%, in lateral collisions 54,2%, and in other traffic accidents 29,3%. The average age of fatalities with BAT was 42,8 years and of those without BAT 39,1 years. Conclusion: Identification and early recognition of the risk factors of BAT following a traffic accident is crucial for successful treatment of patients with BAT. Front seat passengers over 50 years of age who have been injured in a lateral collision are the most at risk of BAT.

Keywords: aorta, blunt trauma, car accidents, morphology, risk factors

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Authors: Nancy M. El-Baz, Laila Ziko, Rania Siam, Wael Mamdouh

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Cancer is one of the most devastating diseases, and has over than 10 million new cases annually worldwide. Despite the effectiveness of chemotherapeutic agents, their systemic toxicity and non-selective anticancer actions represent the main obstacles facing cancer curability. Due to the effective enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect of nanomaterials, nanoparticles (NPs) have been used as drug nanocarriers providing targeted cancer drug delivery systems. In addition, several inorganic nanoparticles such as silver (AgNPs) nanoparticles demonstrated a potent anticancer activity against different cancers. The present study aimed at formulating core-shell inorganic NPs-based combinatorial therapy based on combining the anticancer activity of AgNPs along with doxorubicin (DOX) and evaluating their cytotoxicity on MCF-7 breast cancer cells. These inorganic NPs-based combinatorial therapies were designed to (i) Target and kill cancer cells with high selectivity, (ii) Have an improved efficacy/toxicity balance, and (iii) Have an enhanced therapeutic index when compared to the original non-modified DOX with much lower dosage The in-vitro cytotoxicity studies demonstrated that the NPs-based combinatorial therapy achieved the same efficacy of non-modified DOX on breast cancer cell line, but with 96% reduced dose. Such reduction in DOX dose revealed that the combination between DOX and NPs possess a synergic anticancer activity against breast cancer. We believe that this is the first report on a synergic anticancer effect at very low dose of DOX against MCF-7 cells. Future studies on NPs-based combinatorial therapy may aid in formulating novel and significantly more effective cancer therapeutics.

Keywords: nanoparticles-based combinatorial therapy, silver nanoparticles, doxorubicin, breast cancer

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Authors: Yeaji Seok, Myung Kyung Lee

Abstract:

Background: Even if patients survive after a stroke, stroke patients may experience disability in mobility, sensation, cognition, and speech and language. Stroke patients require rehabilitation for functional recovery and daily life for a considerable time. During rehabilitation, the role of caregivers is important. However, the stroke patients’ quality of life may deteriorate due to family caregivers’ non-preparedness and increased role burden. Purpose: To investigate the prediction of caregivers' preparedness and role burden on stroke patients’ quality of life. Methods: The target population was stroke patients who were hospitalized for rehabilitation and their family care providers. A total of 153 patient-family caregiver dyads were recruited from June to August 2021. Data were collected from self-reported questionnaires and analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-tests, chi-squared test, one-way analysis of variance, Pearson’s correlation coefficients, and multiple regression with SPSS statistics 28 programs. Results: Family caregivers’ preparedness affected stroke patients’ mobility (β = .20, p < 0.05) and character (β = -.084, p < 0.05) and production activities (β = -.197, p < 0.05) in quality of life. The role burden of family caregivers affected language skills (β = .310, p<0.05), visual functions (β=-.357, p < 0.05), thinking skills (β = 0.443, p = 0.05), mood conditions (β = 0.565, p < 0.001), family roles (β = -0.361, p < 0.001), and social roles (β = -0.304, p < 0.001), while the caregivers’ burden of performing self-protection negatively affected patients’ social roles (β = .180, p=.048). In addition, caregivers’ role burden of personal life sacrifice affected patients’ mobility (β = .311, p < 0.05), self-care (β =.232, p < 0.05) and energy (β = .239, p < 0.05). Conclusion: This study indicated that family caregivers' preparedness and role burden affected stroke patients’ quality of life. The results of this study suggested that intervention to improve family caregivers’ preparedness and to reduce role burden should be required for quality of life in stroke patients.

Keywords: quality of life, preparedness, role burden, caregivers, stroke

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