Search results for: insulin producing cells

Authors: Kolawole F. Farinloye, Samson O. Ojo

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Two Columbiformes species were recently introduced to the newly established Awba Dam Tourism Centre [ADTC], hence there is need to investigate the effect of seasonal variation on these species with respect to hematological composition. Blood samples were obtained from superficial ulna vein of the 128 apparently healthy C. livia and C. guinea into tubes containing EDTA as anticoagulant. Thin blood smears (TBS) were prepared, stained and viewed under microscope. Values of Red Blood Cell (RBC) count, White Blood Cell (WBC) count, cholesterol (CH), Uric Acid (UA), Protein (PR), Mean Corpuscular Volume (MCV), Haemoglobin Content (HB), Blood Volume (BV), Plasma Glucose (PG) and Length/Width (L/W) ratio of red blood cells were assessed. The procedure was carried out on a seasonal basis (wet and dry seasons of 2013-2014). Data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Lymphocyte count for C. livia was F3, 161 = 13.15, while for C. guinea was F3, 178 = 13.15. Heterophil, H/L ratio and Muscle score values for both species were (rs = -0.38, rs = -0.44), (rs = 0.51, rs = 0.31) (4, 3) respectively. Analyses also demonstrated a low WBC to RBC ratio (0.004: 25.3) in both species during the wet season compared to dry season, respectively. L/W varied significantly among sampling seasons i.e. wet (19.1% of BV, 12.6% of BV, 0.1% of BV) and dry (18.9% of BV, 12.7% of BV, 0.08% of BV). The level of HB in wet season (19.20±8.46108) is lower compared to dry season (19.70±8.48762). T-test also showed (wet=15.625, 0.111), (dry=12.125, 0.146) respectively, hence there is no association between species and haematological parameters. Species introduced were found to be haematologically stable. Although there were slight differences in seasonal composition, however this can be attributed to seasonal variation; suggesting little or no effect of seasons on their blood composition.

Keywords: seasonal variation, Columbiformes, Awba Dam tourism centre, University of Ibadan, Ibadan

Procedia PDF Downloads 319

Authors: Anjani Kumar Tiwari, Neelam Kumari, Anil Mishra

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The 18-kDa translocator protein (TSPO) previously called as peripheral benzodiazepine receptor, is proven biomarker for variety of neuroinflammation. TSPO is tryptophane rich five transmembranal protein found on outer mitochondrial membrane of steroid synthesising and immunomodulatory cells. In case of neuronal damage or inflammation the expression level of TSPO get upregulated as an immunomodulatory response. By utilizing Benzoxazolone as a basic scaffold, series of TSPO ligands have been designed followed by their screening through in silico studies. Synthesis has been planned by employing convergent methodology in six high yielding steps. For the synthesized ligands the ‘in vitro’ assay was performed to determine the binding affinity in term of Ki. On ischemic rat brain, autoradiography studies were also carried to check the specificity and affinity of the designed radiolabelled ligand for TSPO.Screening was performed on the basis of GScore of CADD based schrodinger software. All the modified and better prospective compound were successfully carried out and characterized by spectroscopic techniques (FTIR, NMR and HRMS). In vitro binding assay showed best binding affinity Ki = 6.1+ 0.3 for TSPO over central benzodiazepine receptor (CBR) Ki > 200. ARG studies indicated higher uptake of two analogues on the lesion side compared with that on the non-lesion side of ischemic rat brains. Displacement experiments with unlabelled ligand had minimized the difference in uptake between the two sides which indicates the specificity of the ligand towards TSPO receptor.

Keywords: TSPO, PET, imaging, Acetamidobenzoxazolone

Procedia PDF Downloads 132

Authors: Ricardo Hugo Gonzalez, Amanda Figueiredo Vasconcelos, Francisco Loureiro Neto Monteiro, Yara Luiza Freitas Silva, Ana Cristina Lindsay, Márcia Maria Tavares Machado

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The use of sport as an integration mean is a very important tool regarding the social involvement of children and teenagers in a vulnerability situation. This study aims to report the experiences of a multidisciplinary program that intends to improve the quality of life of children and teenagers in Fortaleza, in the Northeast of Brazil. More than 400 children and teenagers aging 11 and 16 years participated in this study. Poor communities experience many particular difficulties in the urban centers such as violence, poor housing conditions, unemployment, lack in health care and deficient physical education in school. Physical education, physiotherapy, odontology, medicine and pharmacy students are responsible for the activities in the project supervised by a general coordinator and a counselor teacher of each academic unit. There are classes about team sports like basketball and soccer. Lectures about sexual behavior and sexually transmitted diseases are ministered beside the ones about oral health education, basic life support education, first aids, use and care with pharmaceuticals and orientations about healthy nutrition. In order to get the children’s family closer, monthly informative lectures are ministered. There is also the concern about reflecting the actions and producing academic paperwork such as graduation final projects and books. The number of participants has oscillated lately, and one of the causes is the lack of practicing physical activities and sports regularly. However, 250 teenagers have participated regularly for at least two years. These teenagers have shown a healthier lifestyle and a better physical fitness profile. The resources for maintaining the project come from the Pro-Reitoria of Extension, Federal University of Ceara, as well as from the PROEXT/MEC, Federal Government. Actions of this nature need to be done thinking for long periods so the effects results can become effective. Public and private investments are needed due to low socioeconomic families who are most vulnerable and have fewer opportunities to enhance to health prevention services.

Keywords: children and teenagers, health, multidisciplinary program, quality of life

Procedia PDF Downloads 224

Authors: Sri Satya Antarlina, Elok Zubaidah, Teti Istiana, Harijono

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Sorghum bicolor (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) has the potential as a flour for gluten-free food products. Sorghum flour production needs grain soaking treatment. Soaking can reduce the tannin content which is an anti-nutrient, so it can increase the protein digestibility. Fine particle size decreases the yield of flour, so it is necessary to study various particle sizes to increase the yield. This study aims to determine the characteristics of sorghum flour in the treatment of soaking peeled grain and particle size. The material of white sorghum varieties KD-4 from farmers in East Java, Indonesia. Factorial randomized factorial design (two factors), repeated three times, factor I were the time of grain soaking (five levels) that were 0, 12, 24, 36, and 48 hours, factor II was the size of the starch particles sifted with a fineness level of 40, 60, 80, and 100 mesh. The method of making sorghum flour is grain peeling, soaking peeled grain, drying using the oven at 60ᵒC, milling, and sieving. Physico-chemical analysis of sorghum flour. The results show that there is an interaction between soaking time of grain with the size of sorghum flour particles. Interaction in yield of flour, L* color (brightness level), whiteness index, paste properties, amylose content, protein content, bulk density, and protein digestibility. The method of making sorghum flour through the soaking of peeled grain and the difference in particle size has an important role in producing the physicochemical properties of the specific flour. Based on the characteristics of sorghum flour produced, it is determined the method of making sorghum flour through sorghum grain soaking for 24 hours, the particle size of flour 80 mesh. The sorghum flour with characteristic were 24.88% yield of flour, 88.60 color L* (brightness level), 69.95 whiteness index, 3615 Cp viscosity, 584.10 g/l of bulk density, 24.27% db protein digestibility, 90.02% db starch content, 23.4% db amylose content, 67.45% db amylopectin content, 0.22% db crude fiber content, 0.037% db tannin content, 5.30% db protein content, ash content 0.18% db, carbohydrate content 92.88 % db, and 1.94% db fat content. The sorghum flour is recommended for cookies products.

Keywords: characteristic, sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) flour, grain soaking, particle size, physicochemical properties

Procedia PDF Downloads 148

Authors: Kaavya Rathnakumar

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Minimally processed fruits have the attributes of convenience and fresh like quality. In minimally processed products, the cells of the tissue are alive, and the essential nutrients and flavours are retained. Some of the procedures include washing, trimming, sorting, cutting, slicing and shredding. Fruits such as pineapple and guava were taken for the study of textural properties for a period of five days. After the performance of various unit operations 50g cubes of pineapple and guava has been weighed. For determining the textural properties, samples were taken in which set of 12 samples were treated by using 1% citric acid solution and dried for 5 minutes the remaining set of 12 samples were untreated. In set of treated samples 6 were vacuum packed and stored in the refrigerator, and the other sample was normally stored. For untreated samples was done in a similar way. In texture profile analysis the force required for 1cm penetration of 2mm cylindrical needle inside the fruits were recorded for all packages. It was observed that guava the fresh sample had a force of penetration of 3250mm and as the days increased the force decreased to 357.4 mm for vacuum packed refrigerated storage. In the case of pineapple, the force of penetration of the fresh sample was 2325mm which was decreased to 26.3mm on the fourth day and very low at the fifth day for vacuum packed refrigerated storage. But in case of untreated samples, the fruits were spoiled may be because of no pre-treatment and packaging. Comparatively, it was found that vacuum packed refrigerated samples had higher shelf life than normal packed samples in ambient conditions.

Keywords: 1% citric acid solution, normal packed, refrigerated storage, vacuum packed

Procedia PDF Downloads 184

Authors: Ganatsios Vassilios, Terpou Antonia, Maria Kanellaki, Bekatorou Argyro, Athanasios Koutinas

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In this study, a new fermentation technology is proposed with potential application in home wine-making. Delignified cellulosic material was used to preserve Tubular Cellulose (TC), an effective fermentation support material in high osmotic pressure, low temperature, and alcohol concentration. The psychrotolerant yeast strain Saccharomyces cerevisiae AXAZ-1 was immobilized on TC to preserve a novel home wine making biocatalyst (HWB) and the entrapment was examined by SEM. Various concentrations of HWB was added in high-density grape must and the mixture was dried immediately. The dried mixture was stored for various time intervals and its fermentation examined after addition of potable water. The percentage of added water was also examined to succeed high alcohol and residual sugar concentration. The effect of low temperature (1-10 oC) on fermentation kinetics was studied revealing the ability of HBW on low-temperature sweet wine making. Sweet wines SPME GC-MS analysis revealed the promotion effect of TC on volatile by-products formation in comparison with free cells. Kinetics results and aromatic profile of final product encouraged the efforts of high-quality sweet wine making in domestic refrigerator and potential marketable opportunities are also assessed and discussed.

Keywords: tubular cellulose, sweet wine, Saccharomyces cerevisiae AXAZ-1, residual sugar concentration

Procedia PDF Downloads 355

Authors: Swati Minz, Pradeep Munda, Ranchi Jharkhand

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Women of today’s era are well educated and they are best and proficient at their skills that are key to success anywhere. Government played a major role in uplifting women in Indian society. Through all these efforts Indian women decided to move forward and started choosing career path which was itself a challenge in their life. The people in the society had a very hatred feeling for the women who chose a career and moved forward. Women in today’s times have achieved a lot but in reality they have to still travel a long way. Women started leaving the secured domains of their home and moved out, but a harsh, cruel, exploitative world awaits them, where women have to prove their talent against the world who see women as merely vassals of producing children. In spite all modernisation, a woman has her limits and emerges to claim traditional male space, juggling with many family problems and multiple roles to excel at a level that would have been perceived as impossible a generation ago. Still a woman in India is storming traditional male fields. Even the occupation which had male monopoly life defense services, merchant navy, administrative or police services, these are the best examples for women now. If these women are taken under consideration they never had any issues while fighting a battle ,or trying to encroach into the men’s world ,but rather, they adopts themselves in the situation and are good ,trying to justify their roles and proving themselves. The last few decades there have been noticed an enormous growth in levels of education, confidence and the most importantly, ambition noticed towards in women, who all are striving their rights and claiming a dignified place in the society. Previously women were educated for the sake to get married and start new family but nowadays they utilize their skill productively. Since the time after independence, considering both women in India in general and women in Jharkhand in particular has played a very prominent role in all walks of life including the professions. Any success and achievement in any organisation depends on their contribution as well. Due to these consequences, there has always been a need to study and focus light on issues affecting women professionals, empowerment and their work life balance.

Keywords: women, work life balance, work empowerment, career, struggle, society, challenges, family, society, achievement

Procedia PDF Downloads 376

Authors: Amina M. Ibrahim, Ahmed A. Abdel-Haleem, Rania G. Taha

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Metal pollution results in many dangerous consequences to the environment and human health due to the bioaccumulation in their tissues. The present study aims to measure the bioaccumulation factor of the Manganese (Mn) heavy metal in Biomphlaria alexandrina snails' tissues and water samples. The present results showed the concentration of Mn heavy metal in water (87.5 mg/l) and its bioaccumulation factor in Helisoma duryi tissue was higher than that in tissues of Physa acuta and B. alexandrina snails. Results showed that 87.5 mg/l Mn concentration had miracidial and cercaricidal activities. Also, this concentration decreased the mean total number of the hemocytes after exposure for 24h or 48h, while increased both the mean mortality and phagocytic indices of the hemocytes of exposed snails. It caused alterations in the cytomorphology of the hemocytes of exposed snails after 24 or 48h, where, the granulocytes had irregular cell membrane, and forming pseudopodia. Besides, both levels of Testosterone (T) and Estradiol (E) were increased after exposure to 87.5mg/l Mn metal compared to the control group. Also, it increased MDA (Malonaldehyde) and TAC (Total antioxidant capacity) contents, while, decreased SOD (superoxide dismutase). Besides, it caused great histopathological damages in both hermaphrodite and digestive glands, represented in the degeneration of the gonadal, digestive, secretory cells and the connective tissues. Therefore, B. alexandrina might be used as sensitive bio-indicator of pollution with Mn heavy metal to avoid ethics rules; beside they are easily available and large in number.

Keywords: manganese metal, B. alexandrina, hormonal alterations, histopathology

Procedia PDF Downloads 46

Authors: Mateus L. O. Freitas, Flávia H. de M. Libório, Letycia L. Ricardo, Patrícia da C. Zonetti, Graciene de S. Bido

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Weeds compete with agricultural crops for resources such as light, water, and nutrients. This competition can cause significant damage to agricultural producers, and, currently, the use of agrochemicals is the most effective method for controlling these undesirable plants. Morning glory (Ipomoea grandifolia [Dammer] O'Donell) is an aggressive weed and significantly reduces agricultural productivity making harvesting difficult, especially mechanical harvesting. The biggest challenge in modern agriculture is to preserve high productivity reducing environmental damage and maintaining soil characteristics. No-till is a sustainable practice that can reduce the use of agrochemicals and environmental impacts due to the presence of plant residues in the soil, which release allelopathic compounds and reduce the incidence or alter the growth and development of crops and weeds. Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor [L.] Moench) is a forage with proven allelopathic activity, mainly for producing sorgholeone. In this context, this research aimed to evaluate the allelopathic action of sorghum fractions using hexane, dichloromethane, butanol, and ethyl acetate on the germination and initial growth of morning glory. The parameters analyzed were the percentage of germination, speed of germination, seedling length, and biomass weight (fresh and dry). The bioassays were performed in Petri dishes, kept in an incubation chamber for 7 days, at 25 °C, with a 12h photoperiod. The experimental design was completely randomized, with five replicates of each treatment. The data were evaluated by analysis of variance, and the averages between each treatment were compared using the Scott Knott test at a 5% significance level. The results indicated that the dichloromethane and ethyl acetate fractions showed bioherbicidal effects, promoting effective reductions on germination and initial growth of the morning glory. It was concluded that allelochemicals were probably extracted in these fractions. These secondary metabolites can reduce the use of agrochemicals and environmental impact, making agricultural production systems more sustainable.

Keywords: allelochemicals, secondary metabolism, sorgoleone, weeds

Procedia PDF Downloads 139

Authors: Aldona Kluczek

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Energy efficient process have become a pressing research field in manufacturing. The arguments for having an effective industrial energy efficiency processes are interacted with factors: economic and environmental impact, and energy security. Improvements in energy efficiency are most often achieved by implementation of more efficient technology or manufacturing process. Current processes of electricity production represents the biggest consumption of energy and the greatest amount of emissions to the environment. The goal of this study is to improve the potential energy-savings and reduce greenhouse emissions related to improvement scenarios for the treatment of hardwood lumber produced by an industrial plant operating in the U.S. through the application of green balancing procedure, in order to find the preferable efficient technology. The green procedure for energy is based on analysis of energy efficiency data. Three alternative scenarios of the cogeneration systems plant (CHP) construction are considered: generation of fresh steam, the purchase of a new boiler with the operating pressure 300 pounds per square inch gauge (PSIG), an installation of a new boiler with a 600 PSIG pressure. In this paper, the application of a bottom-down modelling for energy flow to devise a streamlined Energy and Emission Flow Analyze method for the technology of producing electricity is illustrated. It will identify efficiency or technology of a given process to be reached, through the effective use of energy, or energy management. Results have shown that the third scenario seem to be the efficient alternative scenario considered from the environmental and economic concerns for treating hardwood lumber. The energy conservation evaluation options could save an estimated 6,215.78 MMBtu/yr in each year, which represents 9.5% of the total annual energy usage. The total annual potential cost savings from all recommendations is $143,523/yr, which represents 30.1% of the total annual energy costs. Estimation have presented that energy cost savings are possible up to 43% (US$ 143,337.85), representing 18.6% of the total annual energy costs.

Keywords: alternative scenario improvements, cogeneration system, energy and emission flow analyze, energy balancing, green procedure, hardwood lumber manufacturing process

Procedia PDF Downloads 198

Authors: Shameel Pervez, Saad Aziz Durrani, Ibatsam Khokhar

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Pectinase is an enzyme that breaks down pectin, a compound responsible for structural integrity of the plant. Pectin is difficult to break down mechanically and the cost is very high, that is why many industries including food industries use pectinase enzyme produced by microbes for pectin breakdown. Apple (Malus domestica) is an important fruit in terms of market value. Every year, millions of apples are wasted due to post-harvest rot caused by fungi. Fungi are natural decomposers of our ecosystem and are infamous for post-harvest rot of apple fruit but at the same time they are prized for their high production of valuable extracellular enzymes such as pectinase. In this study, fungi belonging to different genus were isolated from rotten apples. Rotten samples of apple were picked from different markets of Lahore. After surface sterilization, the rotten parts were cut into small pieces and placed onto MEA media plates for three days. Afterwards, distinct colonies were picked and purified by sub-culturing. The isolates were identified to genus level through the study of basic colony morphology and microscopic features. The isolates were then subjected to screening for pectinase activity on MS media to compare pectinase production and were then subsequently tested for pathogenic activity through wound suspension method to evaluate the pathogenic activity of isolates in comparison with their pectinolytic activity. A total of twelve fungal strains were isolates from rotten apples. They were belonging to genus Penicillium, Alternaria, Paecilomyces and Rhizopus. Upon screening for pectinolytic activity, isolates Pen 1, Pen 4, and Rz showed high pectinolytic activity and were further subjected to DNA isolation and partial sequencing for species identification. The results of partial sequencing were combined with in-depth study of morphological features revealing Pen 1 as Penicillium janthinellum, Pen 4 as Penicillium griseofulvum, and Rz as Rhizopus microsporus. Pathogenic activity of all twelve isolates was evaluated. Penicillium spp. were highly pathogenic and destructive and same was the case with Paecilomyces sp. and Rhizopus sp. However, Alternaria spp. were found to be more consistent in their pathogenic activity, on all types of apples.

Keywords: apple, pectinase, fungal pathogens, penicillium, rhizopus

Procedia PDF Downloads 53

Authors: Rahul Shrivastava, Manish Tripathi, Mohmmad Yasir, Shailesh Singh

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Life style changes and depletion in atmospheric ozone layer in recent decades lead to increase in skin cancer including both melanoma and nonmelanomas. Natural products which were obtained from different plant species have the potential of anti skin cancer activity. In regard of this, present study focuses the potential effect of Glycosmis pentaphylla against anti skin cancer activity. Different Phytochemical constituents which were present in the roots of Glycosmis pentaphylla were identified and were used as ligands after sketching of their structures with the help of ACD/Chemsketch. These ligands are screened for their anticancer potential with proteins which are involved in skin cancer effects with the help of pyrx software. After performing docking studies, results reveal that Noracronycine secondary metabolite of Glycosmis pentaphylla shows strong affinity of their binding energy with Ribosomal S6 Kinase 2 (2QR8) protein. Ribosomal S6 Kinase 2 (2QR8) has an important role in the cell proliferation and transformation mediated through by N-terminal kinase domain and was induced by the tumour promoters such as epidermal growth factor. It also plays a key role in the neoplastic transformation of human skin cells and in skin cancer growth. Noracronycine interact with THR-493 and MET-496 residue of Ribosomal S6 Kinase 2 protein with binding energy ΔG = -8.68 kcal/mole. Thus on the basis of this study we can say that Noracronycine which present in roots of Glycosmis pentaphylla can be used as lead compound against skin cancer.

Keywords: glycosmis pentaphylla, pyrx, ribosomal s6 kinase, skin cancer

Procedia PDF Downloads 293

Authors: Charles Kwasi Antwi, Mohammad Naushad Emmambux, Natalia Rosa-Sibakov

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The consumption of high-fibre snacks is beneficial in reducing the prevalence of most non-communicable diseases and improving human health. However, using high-fibre flour to produce snacks by extrusion cooking reduces the expansion ratio of snacks, thereby decreasing sensory properties and consumer acceptability of the snack. The study determines the effects of adding Viscozyme®-treated sorghum bran on the properties of extruded sorghum snacks with the aim of producing high-fibre expanded snacks with acceptable quality. With a twin-screw extruder, sorghum endosperm flour [by decortication] with and without sorghum bran and with enzyme-treated sorghum bran was extruded at high shear rates with feed moisture of 20%, feed rate of 10 kg/hr, screw speed of 500 rpm, and temperature zones of 60°C, 70°C, 80°C, 140°C, and 140°C toward the die. The expanded snacks that resulted from this process were analysed in terms of their physical (expansion ratio, bulk density, colour profile), chemical (soluble and insoluble dietary fibre), and functional (water solubility index (WSI) and water absorption index (WAI)) characteristics. The expanded snacks produced from refined sorghum flour enriched with Viscozyme-treated bran had similar expansion ratios to refined sorghum flour extrudates, which were higher than those for untreated bran-sorghum extrudate. Sorghum extrudates without bran showed higher values of expansion ratio and low values of bulk density compared to the untreated bran extrudates. The enzyme-treated fibre increased the expansion ratio significantly with low bulk density values compared to untreated bran. Compared to untreated bran extrudates, WSI values in enzyme-treated samples increased, while WAI values decreased. Enzyme treatment of bran reduced particle size and increased soluble dietary fibre to increase expansion. Lower particle size suggests less interference with bubble formation at the die. Viscozyme-treated bran-sorghum composite flour could be used as raw material to produce high-fibre expanded snacks with improved physicochemical and functional properties.

Keywords: extrusion, sorghum bran, decortication, expanded snacks

Procedia PDF Downloads 78

Authors: Rachida Houssa, Hassan Rhinane, Fadoumo Ali Malouw, Amina Oulmaalem

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Since the early 70s, the Moroccan Atlantic sea was subjected to the pressure of the bottom trawling, one of the most destructive techniques seabed that cause havoc on fishing catch, nonselective, and responsible for more than half of all releases of fish around the world. The present paper aims to map and assess the impact of the activity of the bottom trawling of the Moroccan Atlantic coast. For this purpose, a dataset of thirty years, between 1962 and 1999, from foreign fishing vessels using bottom trawling, has been used and integrated in a GIS. To estimate the extent and the importance of the geographical distribution of the trawling effort, the Moroccan Atlantic area was divided into a grid of cells of 25 km2 (5x5 km). This grid was joined to the effort trawling data, creating a new entity with a table containing spatial overlay grid with the polygon of swept surfaces. This mapping model allowed to quantify the used fishing effort versus time and to generate the trace indicative of trawling efforts on the seabed. Indeed, for a given year, a grid cell may have a swept area equal to 0 (never been touched by the trawl) or 25 km2 (the trawled area is similar to the cell size) or may be 100 km2 indicating that for this year, the scanned surface is four times the cell area. The results show that the total cumulative sum of trawled area is approximately 28,738,326 km2, scattered throughout the Atlantic coast. 95% of the overall trawling effort is located in the southern zone, between 29°N and 20°30'N. Nearly 5% of the trawling effort is located in the northern coastal region, north of 33°N. The center area between 33°N and 29°N is the least swept by Russian commercial vessels because in this region the majority of the area is rocky, and non trawlable.

Keywords: GIS, Moroccan Atlantic Ocean, seabed, trawling

Procedia PDF Downloads 319

Authors: Abdelkader Elhanaoui, Mhamed Hadji, Rachid Skouri, Said Agounad

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The purpose of this paper is to study the phenomenon of acoustic scattering by using a new method. The signal processing (Fast Fourier Transform FFT Inverse Fast Fourier Transform iFFT and BESSEL functions) is widely applied to obtain information with high precision accuracy. Signal processing has a wider implementation in general-purpose pro-cessors. Our interest was focused on the use of FPGAs (Field-Programmable Gate Ar-rays) in order to minimize the computational complexity in single processor architecture, then be accelerated on FPGA and meet real-time and energy efficiency requirements. Gen-eral-purpose processors are not efficient for signal processing. We implemented the acous-tic backscattered signal processing model on the Altera DE-SOC board and compared it to Odroid xu4. By comparison, the computing latency of Odroid xu4 and FPGA is 60 sec-onds and 3 seconds, respectively. The detailed SoC FPGA-based system has shown that acoustic spectra are performed up to 20 times faster than the Odroid xu4 implementation. FPGA-based system of processing algorithms is realized with an absolute error of about 10⁻³. This study underlines the increasing importance of embedded systems in underwater acoustics, especially in non-destructive testing. It is possible to obtain information related to the detection and characterization of submerged cells. So we have achieved good exper-imental results in real-time and energy efficiency.

Keywords: DE1 FPGA, acoustic scattering, form function, signal processing, non-destructive testing

Procedia PDF Downloads 68

Authors: Malik Abid Hussain Khokhar, Muhammad Naveed Tahir, Muhammad Amin

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Energy demand has been increased manifold due to increasing population, urban sprawl and rapid socio-economic improvements. Low water capacity in dams for continuation of hydrological power, land cover and land use are the key parameters which are creating problems for more energy production. Overall installed hydropower capacity of Pakistan is more than 35000 MW whereas Pakistan is producing up to 17000 MW and the requirement is more than 22000 that is resulting shortfall of 5000 - 7000 MW. Therefore, there is a dire need to develop small hydropower to fulfill the up-coming requirements. In this regards, excessive rainfall, snow nurtured fast flowing perennial tributaries and streams in northern mountain regions of Pakistan offer a gigantic scope of hydropower potential throughout the year. Rivers flowing in KP (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) province, GB (Gilgit Baltistan) and AJK (Azad Jammu & Kashmir) possess sufficient water availability for rapid energy growth. In the backdrop of such scenario, small hydropower plants are believed very suitable measures for more green environment and power sustainable option for the development of such regions. Aim of this study is to estimate hydropower potential sites for small hydropower plants and stream distribution as per steam network available in the available basins in the study area. The proposed methodology will focus on features to meet the objectives i.e. site selection of maximum hydropower potential for hydroelectric generation using well emerging GIS tool SWAT as hydrological run-off model on the Neelum, Kunhar and the Dor Rivers’ basins. For validation of the results, NDWI will be computed to show water concentration in the study area while overlaying on geospatial enhanced DEM. This study will represent analysis of basins, watershed, stream links, and flow directions with slope elevation for hydropower potential to produce increasing demand of electricity by installing small hydropower stations. Later on, this study will be benefitted for other adjacent regions for further estimation of site selection for installation of such small power plants as well.

Keywords: energy, stream network, basins, SWAT, evapotranspiration

Procedia PDF Downloads 212

Authors: Harikrishna Yadav Nanganuru, Narasimhulu Korrapati

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The demand for the lead (Pb) in the battery industry has been growing for last twenty years. On an average about 2.35 million tons of lead is used in the battery industry. According to the survey of supply and demand battery industry is using 75% of lead produced every year. Due to the increase in battery scrap, secondary lead production has been increasing in this decade. Europe and USA together account for 75% of the world’s secondary lead production. The effluent from used battery scrap consists of high concentrations of lead. Unauthorized disposal of spent batteries, which contain intolerable concentration of lead, into landfills or municipal water canals causes release of Pb into the environment. Lead is one of the toxic heavy metals that have large damaging effects on the human health. Due to its persistence and toxicity, the presence of Pb in drinking water is considered as a special concern. Accumulation of Pb in the human body for long period of time can result in the malfunctioning of some organs. Many technologies have been developed for the removal of lead using microorganisms. In this paper, effluent was taken from the spent battery scrap and was characterized by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometer. Microorganisms play an important role in removal of lead from the contaminated sites. So, the bacteria were isolated from the effluent. Optimum conditions for the microbial growth and applied for the lead removal. These bacterial cells were immobilized and used for the removal of Pb from the known concentration of metal solution. Scanning electron microscopic (SEM) studies were shown that the Pb was efficiently adsorbed by the immobilized bacteria. From the results of Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS), 83.40 percentage of Pb was removed in a batch culture.

Keywords: adsorption, effluent, immobilization, lead (Pb)

Procedia PDF Downloads 444

Authors: Abdullah Abdu Qaseem Shamsan

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Background: Gliomas represent the most frequent, heterogeneous group of tumors arising from glial cells, characterized by difficult monitoring, poor prognosis, and fatality. Tissue biopsy is an established procedure for tumor cell sampling that aids diagnosis, tumor grading, and prediction of prognosis. We studied and compared the levels of liquid biopsy markers in patients with different grades of glioma. Also, it tried to establish the potential association between glioma and specific blood groups antigen. Result: 78 patients were identified, among whom maximum percentage with glioblastoma possessed blood group O+ (53.8%). The second highest frequency had blood group A+ (20.4%), followed by B+ (9.0%) and A- (5.1%), and least with O-. Liquid biopsy biomarkers comprised of ALT, LDH, lymphocytes, Urea, Alkaline phosphatase, AST Neutrophils, and CRP. The levels of all the components increased significantly with the severity of glioma, with maximum levels seen in glioblastoma (grade IV), followed by grade III and grade II respectively. Conclusion: Gliomas possess significant clinical challenges due to their progression with heterogeneous nature and aggressive behavior. Liquid biopsy is a non-invasive approach which aids to establish the status of the patient and determine the tumor grade, therefore may show diagnostic and prognostic utility. Additionally, our study provides evidence to demonstrate the role of ABO blood group antigens in the development of glioma. However, future clinical research on liquid biopsy will improve the sensitivity and specificity of these tests and validate their clinical usefulness to guide treatment approaches.

Keywords: GBM: glioblastoma multiforme, CT: computed tomography, MRI: magnetic resonance imaging, ctRNA: circulating tumor RNA

Procedia PDF Downloads 33

Authors: Yi-Hao Pai, Wen-Feng Chen

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The planting area of Pomelo in Hualien, Taiwan amounts to thousands of hectares. Especially in the blooming season of Pomelo, it is an important producing area for Pomelo honey, and it is also a good test field for promoting the "Under-forest Economy". However, in the current Pomelo garden planting and management operations, the large amount of agricultural waste generated by the pruning of the branches causes environmental sanitation concerns, which can lead to the hiding of pests or the infection of the Pomelo tree, and indirectly increase the health risks of bees. Therefore, how to deal with the pruning of the branches and avoid open burning is a topic of social concern in recent years. In this research, afeasibility study evaluating energy conversion efficiency through agricultural waste gasification from the Pomelo garden, Taiwan, is demonstrated. we used a high-temperature gasifier to convert the pruning of the branches into syngas and biochar. In terms of syngas composition and calorific value assessment, we use the biogas monitoring system for analysis. Then, we used Raman spectroscopy and electron microscopy (EM) to diagnose the microstructure and surface morphology of biochar. The results indicate that the 1 ton of pruning of the branches can produce 1797.03m3 of syngas, corresponding to a calorific value of 9.1MJ/m3. The main components of the gas include CH4, H2, CO, and CO2, and the corresponding gas composition ratio is 16.8%, 7.1%, 13.7%, and 24.5%. Through the biomass syngas generator with a conversion efficiency of 30% for power generation, a total of 1,358kWh can be obtained per ton of pruning of the branches. In the research of biochar, its main characteristics in Raman spectroscopy are G bands and D bands. The first-order G and D bands are at 1580 and 1350 cm⁻¹, respectively. The G bands originates from the in-plane tangential stretching of the C−C bonds in the graphitic structure, and theD band corresponds to scattering from local defects or disorders present in carbon. The area ratio of D and G peaks (D/G) increases with the decrease of reaction temperature. The larger the D/G, the higher the defect concentration and the higher the porosity. This result is consistent with the microstructure displayed by SEM. The study is expected to be able to reuse agricultural waste and promote the development of agricultural and green energy circular economy.

Keywords: agricultural waste, gasification, energy conversion, pomelo garden

Procedia PDF Downloads 133

Authors: Ijaz Ahamad Tatlah

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The justification of this study was to identify about physical facilities as encouragement to Quality Assurance Practices (QAP) in the Universities of Pakistan concerning the views of students, teachers and Directors of Quality Enhancement Cells’ (QEC’s) and to differentiate the views of students, teachers and Directors of QECs in relation to physical facilities about quality assurance practices in the universities of Pakistan. It was a quantitative and qualitative research study. This study was conducted on a sample of 28 universities (public and private sector) of Pakistan by using random and purposive sampling technique. Questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were planned to gather information from students, teachers and Directors of QECs in relation to physical facilities about quality assurance practices in the universities of Pakistan. The data was analyzed by using Descriptive, inferential statistics, and thematic coding. The study revealed that students, teachers and Directors of QEC’s faced a lot of problems and issues without physical facilities. Quality assurance Agency (QAA), Quality Assurance Department (QAD) and Higher Education commission (HEC) all are relevant Pakistani Agencies, which are working consistently of both sectors i.e. public and private to supervise, guide and facilitate the universities of Pakistan for developing quality assurance practices. Majority of the students teachers and Directors’ of QECs opined that books, research journals, manuals for use of science laboratories, equipment for experiments and update computers were available for teachers and students’ in the universities. It was suggested by the students teachers and Directors of QECs of universities that Quality Assurance Practices (QAP) can be accelerated by thinking the following steps: provision of sufficient resources, add the latest software for computers laboratories and new edition of books.

Keywords: physical facilities, quality assurance practices, library, laboratory

Procedia PDF Downloads 371

Authors: S. Bahrami, A. Rezaie, Z. Boroumand, S. Ghavami

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Neospora caninum is protozoan parasite which can cause a serious disease in dogs and cattle. It has been shown that birds may be a permissive intermediate host for N. caninum since parasite DNA has been detected in tissues from birds. It is showed that embryonated chicken egg can be used as an animal model for experimental infection. The aim of present study was to compare experimental infection of Neospora in chicken and pigeons embryonated eggs. An infection with N. caninum Nc1 isolate was conducted in chicken and pigeons embryonated eggs to evaluate LD50. After calculation of LD50, 2LD50 of tachyzoites were injected to eggs. Macroscopic changes of each embryo were noticed and to investigate the parasite distribution in tissues immunohistochemistry (IHC) and molecular methods were used. In the present study, histopathological changes were considered and sections to those used for histopathological examination including heart, liver, brain and chorioallantoic (CA) membrane were subjected to IHC, too. For PCR procedure, primer pair Np21/Np6 was used for amplification of the Nc5 gene. Pigeon's embryo showed more macroscopic changes than chicken embryo. A hemorrhage of the CA was the main grass lesion. All the infected tissues had histopathological changes. Microscopic examination of tissues revealed acute neosporosis due to hemorrhage, necrosis and infiltration of mononuclear inflammatory cells. Based on IHC and molecular results, the parasite aggregation in the heart was more predominant than in the other tissues. These results reinforce that there is genetic susceptibility to N. caninum in pigeons embryonated eggs like chickens embryonated eggs and provide new insights to research an inexpensive and available animal model for N. caninum.

Keywords: immunohistochemistry, Neospora caninum, PCR, pigeon embryonated egg

Procedia PDF Downloads 335

Authors: Kais Rtibi, Slimen Selmi, Jamel El-Benna, Lamjed Marzouki, Hichem Sebai

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Background: Myeloperoxidase (MPO) is a hemic enzyme found in high concentrations in the primary neutrophils granules. In addition to its peroxidase activity, it has a chlorination activity, using hydrogen peroxide and chloride ions to form hypochlorous acid, a strong oxidant, capable of chlorinating molecules. Bioactive compounds contained in medicinal plants could limit the action of this enzyme to reduce the reactive oxygen species production and its chlorination activity. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of the carob aqueous extract (CAE) on the release of MPO by human neutrophils in vitro and its activity following stimulation of these cells by PMA. Methods: Neutrophils were isolated by simple sedimentation using the Dextran/Ficoll method. After stimulation with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA), neutrophils release the MPO by degranulation. The effect of CAE on the release of MPO was analyzed by the Western blot technique, while, its activity was determined by biochemical method using the method of 3,3', 5,5'- Tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) and hydrogen peroxide. The data were expressed as mean ± SEM. Results: The carob aqueous extract causes a decrease in MPO quantity and activity in a concentration-dependent manner which leads to a reduction of the production of the ROS (reactive oxygen species) and the protection of the molecules against oxidation and chlorination mechanisms. Conclusion: Thanks to its richness in bioactive compounds, the aqueous extract of carob could limit the development of damages related to the uncontrolled activity of MPO.

Keywords: carob, MPO, myeloperoxidase, neutrophils, PMA, phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate

Procedia PDF Downloads 150

Authors: Yaara Oppenheimer-Shaanan, Nimrod Nachmias, Marina Campos Rocha, Neta Schlezinger, Noam Dotan, Asaf Levy

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Fusarium oxysporum, a fungus that attacks a broad range of plants and can cause infections in humans, operates across different kingdoms. This pathogen encounters varied conditions, such as temperature, pH, and nutrient availability, in plant and human hosts. The Fusarium oxysporum species complex, pervasive in soils globally, can affect numerous plants, including key crops like tomatoes and bananas. Controlling Fusarium infections can involve biocontrol agents that hinder the growth of harmful strains. Our research developed a computational method to identify toxin domains within a vast number of microbial genomes, leading to the discovery of nine distinct toxins capable of killing bacteria and fungi, including Fusarium. These toxins appear to function as enzymes, causing significant damage to cellular structures, membranes and DNA. We explored biological control using bacteria that produce polymorphic toxins, finding that certain bacteria, non-pathogenic to plants, offer a safe biological alternative for Fusarium management, as they did not harm macrophage cells or C. elegans. Additionally, we elucidated the 3D structures of two toxins with their protective immunity proteins, revealing their function as unique DNases. These potent toxins are likely instrumental in microbial competition within plant ecosystems and could serve as biocontrol agents to mitigate Fusarium wilt and related diseases.

Keywords: microbial toxins, antifungal, Fusarium oxysporum, bacterial-fungal intreactions

Procedia PDF Downloads 38

Authors: Nasrin Hosseinzad, Ramin Ghasemi Shayan

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Chemotherapy is the most common procedure in the treatment of advanced cancers but is justsoberlyoperativeand toxic. Nevertheless, the efficiency of chemotherapy is restrictedowing to multiple drug resistance(MDR). Lately, plentiful preclinical experiments have revealedthatPaclitaxel-Curcumin could be an ultimateapproach to converse MDR and synergistically increase their efficiency. The connotationsamongst B-cell-lymphoma2(BCL-2) and multi-drug-resistance-associated-P-glycoprotein(MDR1) consequence of patients forecast the efficiency of paclitaxel-built chemoradiotherapy. There are evidences of the efficacy of paclitaxel in the treatment of surface-transmission of bladder-cell-carcinoma by manipulating bio-adhesive microspheres accomplishedthroughout measured release of drug at urine epithelium. In Genetically-Modified method, muco-adhesive oily constructionoftricaprylin, Tween 80, and paclitaxel group showed slighter toxicity than control in therapeutic dose. Postoperative chemotherapy-Paclitaxel might be more advantageous for survival than adjuvant chemo-radio-therapy, and coulddiminish postoperative complications in cervical cancer patients underwent a radical hysterectomy.HA-Se-PTX(Hyaluronic acid, Selenium, Paclitaxel) nanoparticles could observablyconstrain the proliferation, transmission, and invasion of metastatic cells and apoptosis. Furthermore, they exhibitedvast in vivo anti-tumor effect. Additionally, HA-Se-PTX displayedminor toxicity on mice-chef-organs. Briefly, HA-Se-PTX mightprogress into a respectednano-scale agentinrespiratory cancers. To sum up, Paclitaxel is considered a profitable anti-cancer drug in the treatment and anti-progress symptoms in malignant cancers.

Keywords: cancer, paclitaxel, chemotherapy, tumor

Procedia PDF Downloads 121

Authors: Jose A. Aznar-Moreno, Xi Jiang, Stefan Burén, Luis M. Rubio

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Integration of prokaryotic nitrogen fixation (nif) genes into the plastid genome for expression of functional nitrogenase components could render plants capable of assimilating atmospheric N2 making their crops less dependent of nitrogen fertilizers. The nitrogenase Fe protein component (NifH) has been used as proxy for expression and targeting of Nif proteins within plant and yeast cells. Here we use tobacco plants with the Azotobacter vinelandii nifH and nifM genes integrated into the plastid genome. NifH and its maturase NifM were constitutively produced in leaves, but not roots, during light and dark periods. Nif protein expression in transplastomic plants was stable throughout development. Chloroplast NifH was soluble, but it only showed in vitro activity when isolated from leaves collected at the end of the dark period. Exposing the plant extracts to elevated temperatures precipitated NifM and apo-NifH protein devoid of [Fe4S4] clusters, dramatically increasing the specific activity of remaining NifH protein. Our data indicate that the chloroplast endogenous [Fe-S] cluster biosynthesis was insufficient for complete NifH maturation, albeit a negative effect on NifH maturation due to excess NifM in the chloroplast cannot be excluded. NifH and NifM constitutive expression in transplastomic plants did not affect any of the following traits: seed size, germination time, germination ratio, seedling growth, emergence of the cotyledon and first leaves, chlorophyll content and plant height throughout development.

Keywords: NifH, chloroplast, nitrogen fixation, crop improvement, transplastomic plants, fertilizer, biotechnology

Procedia PDF Downloads 146

Authors: Anahit Hakobjanyan, Zdenka Navratilova, Gabriela Strakova, Martin Petrek

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Aging has a suppressive influence on human immune cells. Apoptosis may play important role in age-dependent immunosuppression and lymphopenia. Prevention of apoptosis may be promoted by BCL2-dependent and BCL2-independent manner. BCL2 is an antiapoptotic factor that has an antioxidative role by locating the glutathione at mitochondria and repressing oxidative stress. STAT3 may suppress apoptosis in BCL2-independent manner and promote cell survival blocking cytochrome-c release and reducing ROS production. The aim of our study was to estimate the influence of aging on BCL2-dependent and BCL2-independent prevention of apoptosis via measurement of BCL2 and STAT3 mRNAs expressions. The study was done on Armenian population (2 groups: 37 healthy young (mean age±SE; min/max age, male/female: 37.6±1.1; 20/54, 15/22), 28 healthy aged (66.7±1.5; 57/85, 12/16)). mRNA expression in peripheral blood leukocytes (PBL) was determined by RT-PCR using PSMB2 as the reference gene. Statistical analysis was done with Graph-Pad Prism 5; P < 0.05 considered as significant. The expression of BCL2 mRNA was lower in aged group (0.199) compared with young ones (0.643)(p < 0.01). Decrease expression was also recorded for female and male subgroups (p < 0.01). The expression level of STAT3 mRNA was increased (young, 0.228; aged, 0.428) (p < 0.05) during aging (in the whole age group and male/female subgroups). Decreased level of BCL2 mRNA may indicate about the suppression of BCL2-dependent prevention of apoptosis during aging in peripheral blood leukocytes. At the same time increased the level of STAT3 may suggest about activation of BCL2-independent prevention of apoptosis during aging.

Keywords: BCL2, STAT3, aging, apoptosis

Procedia PDF Downloads 314

Authors: Mosabbir Pasha, Ijaj Mahmud Chowdhury, M. A. Afrahim Bhuiyann

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With the increasing population and intensive land use, huge traffic demand is generating worldwide both in developing and developed countries. As a developing country, Bangladesh is also facing the same problem in recent years by producing huge numbers of daily trips. As a matter of fact, extensive traffic demand is increasing day by day. Also, transport system in Dhaka is heterogeneous, reflecting the heterogeneity in the socio-economic and land use patterns. As a matter of fact, trips produced here are for different purposes such as work, business, educational etc. Due to the significant concentration of educational institutions a large share of the trips are generated by educational purpose. And one of the major percentages of educational trips is produced by university going students and most of them are travelled by car, bus, train, taxi, rickshaw etc. The aim of the study was to find out the university students’ perception on public transit ridership. A survey was conducted among 330 students from eight different universities. It was found out that 26% of the trips produced by university going students are travelled by public bus service and only 5% are by train. Percentage of car share is 16% and 12% of the trips are travelled by private taxi. From the study, it has been found that more than 42 percent student’s family resides outside of Dhaka, eventually they prefer bus instead of other options. Again those who chose to walk most of the time, of them, over 40 percent students’ family reside outside of Dhaka and of them over 85 percent students have a tendency to live in a mess. They generally choose a neighboring location to their respective university so that they can reach their destination by walk. On the other hand, those who travel by car 80 percent of their family reside inside Dhaka. The study also revealed that the most important reason that restricts students not to use public transit is poor service. Negative attitudes such as discomfort, uneasiness in using public transit also reduces the usage of public transit. The poor waiting area is another major cause of not using public transit. Insufficient security also plays a significant role in not using public transit. On the contrary, the fare is not a problem for students those who use public transit as a mode of transportation. Students also think stations are not far away from their home or institution and they do not need to wait long for the buses or trains. It was also found accessibility to public transit is moderate.

Keywords: traffic demand, fare, poor service, public transit ridership

Procedia PDF Downloads 254

Authors: Ghada E. Esheba, Ghadeer F. Alharthi, Duaa A. Alhejaili, Rawan E. Hudairy, Wafaa A. Altaezi, Raghad M. Alhejaili

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Background: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) consists of two specific gastrointestinal disorders: ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD). Despite their distinct natures, these two diseases share many similar etiologic, clinical and pathological features, as a result, their accurate differential diagnosis may sometimes be difficult. Correct diagnosis is important because surgical treatment and long-term prognosis differ from UC and CD. Aim: This study aims to study the characteristic clinicopathological features which help in the differential diagnosis between UC and CD, and assess the disease activity in ulcerative colitis. Materials and methods: This study was carried out on 50 selected cases. The cases included 27 cases of UC and 23 cases of CD. All the cases were examined using H& E and immunohistochemically for bcl-2 expression. Results: Characteristic features of UC include: decrease in mucous content, irregular or villous surface, crypt distortion, and cryptitis, whereas the main cardinal histopathological features seen in CD were: epitheloid granuloma, transmural chronic inflammation, absence of mucin depletion, irregular surface, or crypt distortion. 3 cases of UC were found to be associated with dysplasia. UC mucosa contains fewer Bcl-2+ cells compared with CD mucosa. Conclusion: This study using multiple parameters such clinicopathological features and Bcl-2 expression as studied by immunohistochemical stain, helped to gain an accurate differentiation between UC and CD. Furthermore, this work spotted the light on the activity and different grades of UC which could be important for the prediction of relapse.

Keywords: Crohn's disease, dysplasia, inflammatory bowel disease, ulcerative colitis

Procedia PDF Downloads 180

Authors: Elin Julianti, Marlia Singgih, Masayoshi Arai, Jianyu Lin, Masteria Yunovilsa Putra, Muhammad Azhari, Agnia S. Muharam

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The search for a source of new medicinal compounds with anticancer activity from natural products has become important to resolve the ineffectiveness problem of pancreatic cancer therapy. Fungal marine microorganisms are prolific sources of bioactive natural products. In this present study, the ethyl acetate extract of cultured broth of Trichoderma longibrachiatum marine sponge-derived fungi exhibited selective cytotoxicity against human pancreatic carcinoma PANC-1 cells cultured under glucose-deficient conditions (IC50 = 98,4 µg/mL). The T. longibrachiatum was fermented by the static method at room temperature for 60 days. The culture broth was extracted using ethyl acetate by liquid-liquid extraction method. The liquid-liquid extraction was conducted toward the ethyl extract by using 90% MeOH-H₂O and n-|Hexane as a solvent. The extract of 90% MeOH-H₂O was fractionated by liquid extraction using by C₁₈ reversed-phase vacuum flash chromatography using mixtures of MeOH-H₂O, from 50:50 to 100:0, and 1% TFA MeOH as the eluents to yield six fractions. The fraction 2 (MeOH-H2O, 70:30) and fraction 3 (MeOH-H2O, 80:20) showed moderate cytotoxicity with IC50 value of 119.3 and 274.7 µg/mL, respectively. Fraction 4 (MeOH-H₂O, 90:10) showed the highest cytotoxicity activity with IC₅₀value of < 10 µg/mL. The chemical compounds of the fractions that are responsible for cytotoxic activity are potent for further investigation.

Keywords: cytotoxic activity, trichoderma longibrachiatum, marine-derived fungi, PANC-1 cell line

Procedia PDF Downloads 280

Authors: Daral Maesincee, Jompol Thongpaen

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Thus far, most of the decisions made within the walls of Thai higher education (HE) institutions have primarily been supply-oriented. With the current supply-driven, itemized HE financing systems, the nation is struggling to systemically produce high-quality manpower that serves the market’s needs, often resulting in education mismatches and unemployment – particularly in science, technology, and innovation (STI)-related fields. With the COVID-19 pandemic challenges widening the education inequality (accessibility and quality) gap, HE becomes even more unobtainable for underprivileged students, permanently leaving some out of the system. Therefore, Thai HE needs a new financing system that produces the “right people” for the “right occupations” through the “right ways,” regardless of their socioeconomic backgrounds, and encourages the creation of non-degree courses to tackle these ongoing challenges. The “Demand-Side Financing for Thai Higher Education” policy aims to do so by offering a new paradigm of HE resource allocation via two main mechanisms: i) standardized formula-based unit-cost subsidizations that is specific to each study field and ii) student loan programs that respond to the “demand signals” from the labor market and the students, that are in line with the country’s priorities. Through in-dept reviews, extensive studies, and consultations with various experts, education committees, and related agencies, i) the method of demand signal analysis is identified, ii) the unit-cost of each student in the sample study fields is approximated, iii) the method of budget analysis is formulated, iv) the interagency workflows are established, and v) a supporting information database is created to suggest the number of graduates each HE institution can potentially produce, the study fields and skillsets that are needed by the labor market, the employers’ satisfaction with the graduates, and each study field’s employment rates. By responding to the needs of all stakeholders, this policy is expected to steer Thai HE toward producing more STI-related manpower in order to uplift Thai people’s quality of life and enhance the nation’s global competitiveness. This policy is currently in the process of being considered by the National Education Transformation Committee and the Higher Education Commission.

Keywords: demand-side financing, higher education resource, human capital, higher education

Procedia PDF Downloads 192