Search results for: data to action

Authors: Amanpreet Kaur, Ravinder Agarwal, Amod Kumar

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Surface electromyography is a strategy to measure the muscle activity of the skin. Sensors placed on the skin recognize the electrical current or signal generated by active muscles. A lot of the research has focussed on the detection of signal from upper limb amputee with activity of triceps and biceps muscles. The purpose of this study was to correlate phantom movement and sEMG activity in residual stump muscles of transhumeral amputee from the shoulder muscles. Eight non- amputee and seven right hand amputees were recruited for this study. sEMG data were collected for the trapezius, pectoralis and teres muscles for elevation, protraction and retraction of shoulder. Contrast between the amputees and non-amputees muscles action have been investigated. Subsequently, to investigate the impact of class separability for different motions of shoulder, analysis of variance for experimental recorded data was carried out. Results were analyzed to recognize different shoulder movements and represent a step towards the surface electromyography controlled system for amputees. Difference in F ratio (p < 0.05) values indicates the distinction in mean therefore these analysis helps to determine the independent motion. The identified signal would be used to design more accurate and efficient controllers for the upper-limb amputee for researchers.

Keywords: around shoulder amputation, surface electromyography, analysis of variance, features

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Authors: Blerim Olluri

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A forensic science laboratory in Kosovo has never been organized at the level of most modern forensic science laboratories. This was made possible after the war of 1999 with the help and support from the United States. The United States Government/ICITAP provided 9.5 million dollars to support this project, this support have greatly benefitted law enforcement in Kosovo. With the establishment of Operative Procedures of Work and the law for Kosovo Agency of Forensic, the accreditation with ISO/IEC 17025 of the KAF labs it becomes mandatory. Since 2012 Laboratory’s DNA/Serology and Narcotics has begun reviewing and harmonizing their procedures according to ISO/IEC 17025. The focus of this work was to create quality manuals, procedures, work instructions, quality documentation and quality records. Furthermore, during this time is done the validation of work methods from scientific qualified personnel of KAF, without any help from other foreign agencies or accreditation body.In October 2014 we had the first evaluation based on ISO 17025 standards. According to the initial report of this assessment we have non conformity in test and Calibration methods method’s, and accommodation and environmental conditions. We identified several issues that are of extreme importance to KAF. One the most important issue is to create a professional group with experts of KAF, which will work in all the obligations, requested from ISO/IEC 17025. As conclusions that we earn in this path of accreditation, are that laboratory’s need to take corrective action, and all nonconformance’s must be addressed and corrective action taken before accreditation can be granted.

Keywords: accreditation, assessment, narcotics, DNA

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Authors: Mitsuhiro Hirai, Satoshi Ajito, Nobutaka Shimizu, Noriyuki Igarashi, Hiroki Iwase, Shinichi Takata

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Sugars and polyols are known to be bioprotectants preventing such as protein denaturation and enzyme deactivation and widely used as a nontoxic additive in various industrial and medical products. The mechanism of their protective actions has been explained by specific bindings between biological components and additives, changes in solvent viscosities, and surface tension and free energy changes upon transfer of those components into additive solutions. On the other hand, some organisms having tolerances against extreme environment produce stress proteins and/or accumulate sugars in cells, which is called cryptobiosis. In particular, trehalose has been drawing attention relevant to cryptobiosis under external stress such as high or low temperature, drying, osmotic pressure, and so on. The function of cryptobiosis by trehalose has been explained relevant to the restriction of the intra-and/or-inter-molecular movement by vitrification or from the replacement of water molecule by trehalose. Previous results suggest that the structure and interaction between sugar and water are a key determinant for understanding cryptobiosis. Recently, we have shown direct evidence that the protein hydration (solvation) and structural stability against chemical and thermal denaturation significantly depend on sugar species and glycerol. Sugar and glycerol molecules tend to be preferentially or weakly excluded from the protein surface and preserved the native protein hydration shell. Due to the protective action of the protein hydration shell by those molecules, the protein structure is stabilized against chemical (guanidinium chloride) and thermal denaturation. The protective action depends on sugar species. To understand the above trend and difference in detail, it is essentially important to clarify the characteristics of solutions containing those additives. In this study, by using wide-angle X-ray scattering technique covering a wide spatial region (~3-120 Å), we have clarified structures of sugar solutions with the concentration from 5% w/w to 65% w/w. The sugars measured in the present study were monosaccharides (glucose, fructose, mannose) and disaccharides (sucrose, trehalose, maltose). Due to observed scattering data with a wide spatial resolution, we have succeeded in obtaining information on the internal structure of individual sugar molecules and on the correlation between them. Every sugar gradually shortened the average inter-molecular distance as the concentration increased. The inter-molecular interaction between sugar molecules was essentially showed an exclusive tendency for every sugar, which appeared as the presence of a repulsive correlation hole. This trend was more weakly seen for trehalose compared to other sugars. The intermolecular distance and spread of individual molecule clearly showed the dependence of sugar species. We will discuss the relation between the characteristic of sugar solution and its protective action of biological materials.

Keywords: hydration, protein, sugar, X-ray scattering

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Authors: Mahsa Moteshakeri

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Morinda citrifolia L., a miracle fruit with common name of Noni, has been widely used as food and traditional medicine in the Polynesians culture. Current scientific evidences have proved the therapeautical and nutritional properties of this fruit so that its extensive production in tropical regions in recent years has emerged a competitive global Noni market mainly as a dietary supplement in the form of juice or tablet. However, there is not much record on the processing method applied on fresh fruit postharvest or even its mechanism of action in controlling diseases. This review aimed to provide a comprehensive data on phytochemicals, technical, and nutritional advances on Noni fruit and recent patents published, as well as medicinal properties of the fruit in order to benefit future investigations on this precious fruit either in industrial or therapeautical section.

Keywords: noni fruit, phytochemicals, therapeautic properties of fruit, nutritional properties of fruit

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Authors: Suratno

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Metacognition thinking skills should be developed early on in learning. The aim of research builds metacognition thinking skills through collaborative learning with self-evaluation. Approach to action research study involving 32 middle school students in Jember Indonesia. Indicators metacognition skills consist of planning, information management strategies, comprehension monitoring, and debugging strategies. Data were analyzed by t test and analysis of instructional videos. Results of the study here were significant differences in metacognition skills before and after the implementation of collaborative learning with self-evaluation. Analysis instructional video showing the difference artifacts of student learning activities to learning before and after implementation of collaborative learning with self-evaluation. Self-evaluation makes students familiar practice thinking skills metacognition.

Keywords: metacognition, collaborative, evaluation, thinking skills

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Authors: lidija Vujičić, Akvilina Čamber Tambolas

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The increasinginterest of ECCE policyandpractice in the issue of children'sparticipation in theirownlivesis a consequence of the changingimage of the childand the shift in focus to thechild as anactive participant in socio-culturalrealityinstead of theearlierfocus on thechild'sindividual development.TheConvention on the Rights of theChild (1989) stronglysupportstheimage of thechild as a competent participant in education - capable of formingopinions, withtheright to expressthemselves on allmattersaffectingthe mand with the right to haveadultsaroundthemrespectthis. Notwithstandingthecontemporaryparadigm of ECCE, however, achievements in thisarea are still in theirinfancy. This is evident in thepractices of ECCE, whereearlyyearsandpre-schoolchildren are stillseen as users of systemsandservicesratherthanagents of change in theirsocialcommunities. Recent literature identifiestheneed for lifelong, continuouslearning of preschoolteachersthroughresearchintotheirownpedagogicalpractice as aneffectiveway of bridgingthegapbetweentheoryandpracticeandcontinuouslyimprovingthequality of ECCE institutions. Notwithstandingthecontemporaryparadigm of ECCE, however, achievements in thisarea are still in theirinfancy. Recent literature identifiestheneed for lifelong, continuouslearning of preschoolteachersthroughresearchintotheirownpedagogicalpractice as aneffectiveway bridgingthegapbetweentheoryandpracticeandcontinuouslyimprovingthequality of ECCE institutions. Thispaperpresentstheprocess of actionresearchaimed at increasingchildren'sparticipation in (co-)designingthekindergartencurriculumandparticipation in decision-making on issuesaffectingtheirstay in theinstitution. Thisactionresearchtook place in 2 facilities of theinstitution ECCE - DV Rijeka. In thisresearchparticipated 5 preschoolteachersworking in 4 pedagogicalgroups, where childrenfrom 2 to 7 yearsold are enrolled. Also, the process of development of reflexivepractice of preschoolteacherswhoparticipated in thisresearchispresented.

Keywords: action research, co-construction of curriculum, participation of children, reflexive practice

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Authors: Fiston Masudi Tambwe, Lwanga Charles, Arfang Badji, Unzimai Innocent

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The development of maize varieties combining Provitamin A (PVA), high yield, and Striga resistance is an effective and affordable strategy to contribute to food security in sub-Saharan Africa, where maize is a staple food crop. There has been limited research on introgressing PVA genes into Striga-resistant maize genotypes. The objectives of this study were to: i) determine the mode of gene action controlling PVA carotenoid accumulation in Striga-resistant maize, ii) identify Striga-resistant maize hybrids with high PVA content and stable yield, and iii) validate the presence of PVA functional markers in offspring. Six elite, Striga-resistant inbred females were crossed with six high-PVA inbred males in a North Carolina Design II and their offspring were evaluated in four environments, following a 5x8 alpha lattice design with four hybrid checks. Results revealed that both additive and non-additive gene action control carotenoid accumulation in the present study, with a predominance of non-additive gene effects for PVA. Hybrids STR1004xCLHP0352 and STR1004xCLHP0046 - identified as Striga-resistant because they supported fewer Striga plants – were the highest-yielding genotypes with a moderate PVA concentration of 5.48 and 5.77 µg/g, respectively. However, those two hybrids were not stable in terms of yield across all environments. Hybrid STR1007xCLHP0046, however, supported fewer Striga plants, had a yield of 4.52 T/ha, a PVA concentration of 4.52 µg/g, and was also stable. Gel-based marker systems of CrtRB1 and LCYE were used to screen the hybrids and favorable alleles of CrtRB1 primers were detected in 20 hybrids, confirming good levels of PVA carotenoids. Hybrids with favorable alleles of LCYE had the highest concentration of non-PVA carotenoids. These findings will contribute to the development of high-yielding PVA-rich maize varieties in Uganda.

Keywords: gene action, stability, striga resistance, provitamin A markers, beta-carotene hydroxylase 1, CrtRB1, beta-carotene, beta-cryptoxanthin, lycopene epsilon cyclase, LCYE

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Authors: N. A. P. Camaforte, P. M. P. Vareda, L. L. Saldanha, A. L. Dokkedal, J. M. Rezende-Neto, M. R. Senger, F. P. Silva-Jr, J. R. Bosqueiro

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Diabetes mellitus is a disease characterized by deficiency of insulin secretion and/or action which results in hyperglycemia. Nowadays, acarbose is a medicine used by diabetic people to inhibit alpha-glucosidases leading to the decreasing of post-feeding glycaemia, but with low effectiveness and many side effects. Medicinal plants have been used for the treatment of many diseases including diabetes and their action occurs through the modulation of insulin-depending processes, pancreas regeneration or inhibiting glucose absorption by the intestine. Previous studies in our laboratory showed that the treatment using two crude extracts of plants from Brazilian cerrado was able to decrease fasting blood glucose and improve glucose tolerance in streptozotocin-diabetic mice. Because of this and the importance of the search for new alternatives to decrease the hyperglycemia, we decided to evaluate the inhibitory action of two plants from Brazilian cerrado - B.H. and Myrcia bella. The enzymatic assay was performed in 50 µL of final volume using pancreatic α-amylase and maltase together with theirs commercial substrates. The inhibition potency (IC50) was determined by the incubation of eight different concentrations of both extracts and the enzymes for 5 minutes at 37ºC. After, the substrate was added to start the reaction. Glucosidases assay was evaluated measuring the quantity of p-nitrophenol in 405 nmin 384 wells automatic reader. The in vitro assay with the extracts of B.H. and M. bella showed an IC50 of 28,04µg/mL and 16,93 µg/mL for α-amilase, and 43,01µg/mL and 17 µg/mL for maltase, respectively. M. bella extract showed a higher inhibitory activity for those enzymes than B.H. extract. The crude extracts tested showed a higher inhibition rate to α-amylase, but were less effective against maltase in comparison to acarbose (IC50 36µg/mL and 9 µg/mL, respectively). In conclusion, the crude extract of B.H. and M. bella showed a potent inhibitory effect against α-amylase and showed promising results to the possible development of new medicines to treat diabetes with less or even without side effects.

Keywords: alfa-glucosidases, diabetes mellitus, glycaemia, medicinal plants

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Authors: Murat Mert, Yusuf Ozer, Fatih Kolay

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Behaviour of giving harm to the body in literature has been named as “self-injury”, “self-mutilation” ve “self-harm”. “Self-injury”, or “self-mutilation” is generally used for the same meaning and mentioned as an action which is committed to the body itself directly. As is seen that alcohol and drug users have injured their bodies because of deprivation, whereas behaviour of self-injury in some societies is accepted as religious and cultural, it has nevertheless been diagnosed in people who have a borderline personality disorder, histrionic personality disorder, psychotic personality disorder and mood disorder. There has not been any direct self-murder tendency in people having self-harmed. However, death cases can be seen together with loss of consciousness depending on loss of blood by exceeding the limit in the course of injury action. 34- year old – male person who was alcohol addicted, having had a psycological treatment beforehand, had mutilated his small intestine together with fatty tissue by cutting his body with a razor-blade at the thought of insects strolling around the body (delirium tremens) due to deprivation attack and had died in the result of various cuts. In this study, crime scene investigation and death mechanism of the person having had self-harmed in a result of abstinence syndrome will be explained. Relevant criteria which differentiate this case from homicide will be examined.

Keywords: self-injury, autopsy, abstinence syndrome, CSI

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Authors: Shizra Waris, Saleem Akhtar

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Big data is a research area receiving attention from academia and IT communities. In the digital world, the amounts of data produced and stored have within a short period of time. Consequently this fast increasing rate of data has created many challenges. In this paper, we use functionalism and structuralism paradigms to analyze the genesis of big data applications and its current trends. This paper presents a complete discussion on state-of-the-art big data technologies based on group and stream data processing. Moreover, strengths and weaknesses of these technologies are analyzed. This study also covers big data analytics techniques, processing methods, some reported case studies from different vendor, several open research challenges and the chances brought about by big data. The similarities and differences of these techniques and technologies based on important limitations are also investigated. Emerging technologies are suggested as a solution for big data problems.

Keywords: computer, it community, industry, big data

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Authors: Paschal Arsein Mugabe

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This paper examines sustainable development planning in the context of environmental concerns in rural areas of the Tanzania. It challenges mainstream approaches to development, focusing instead upon transformative action for environmental justice. The goal is to help shape future sustainable development agendas in local government, international agencies and civil society organisations. Research methods: The approach of the study is geographical, but also involves various Trans-disciplinary elements, particularly from development studies, sociology and anthropology, management, geography, agriculture and environmental science. The research methods included thematic and questionnaire interviews, participatory tools such as focus group discussion, participatory research appraisal and expert interviews for primary data. Secondary data were gathered through the analysis of land use/cover data and official documents on climate, agriculture, marketing and health. Also several earlier studies that were made in the area provided an important reference base. Findings: The findings show that, agricultural sustainability in Tanzania appears likely to deteriorate as a consequence of climate change. Noteworthy differences in impacts across households are also present both by district and by income category. Also food security cannot be explained by climate as the only influencing factor. A combination of economic, political and socio-cultural context of the community are crucial. Conclusively, it is worthy knowing that people understand their relationship between climate change and their livelihood.

Keywords: agriculture, climate change, environment, sustainable development

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Authors: Harika Atmaca, Emir Bozkurt, Latife Merve Oktay, Selim Uzunoglu, Ruchan Uslu, Burçak Karaca

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Microarrays have been developed for highly parallel enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) applications. The most common protein arrays are produced by using multiple monoclonal antibodies, since they are robust molecules which can be easily handled and immobilized by standard procedures without loss of activity. Protein expression profiling with protein array technology allows simultaneous analysis of the protein expression pattern of a large number of proteins. Trabectedin, a tetrahydroisoquinoline alkaloid derived from a Caribbean tunicate, Ecteinascidia turbinata, has been shown to have antitumor effects. Here, we used a novel proteomic approach to explore the mechanism of action of trabectedin in prostate cancer cell line PC-3 by apoptosis antibody microarray. XTT cell proliferation kit and Cell Death Detection Elisa Plus Kit (Roche) was used for measuring cytotoxicity and apoptosis. Human Apoptosis Protein Array (R&D Systems) which consists of 35 apoptosis related proteins was used to assess the omic protein expression pattern. Trabectedin induced cytotoxicity and apoptosis in prostate cancer cells in a time and concentration-dependent manner. The expression levels of the death receptor pathway molecules, TRAIL-R1/DR4, TRAIL R2/DR5, TNF R1/TNFRSF1A, FADD were significantly increased by 4.0-, 21.0-, 4.20- and 11.5-fold by trabectedin treatment in PC-3 cells. Moreover, mitochondrial pathway related pro-apoptotic proteins Bax, Bad, Cytochrome c, and Cleaved Caspase-3 expressions were induced by 2.68-, 2.07-, 2.8-, and 4.5-fold and the expression levels of anti-apoptotic proteins Bcl-2 and Bcl-XL were reduced by 3.5- and 5.2-fold in PC-3 cells. Proteomic (antibody microarray) analysis suggests that the mechanism of action of trabectedin may be exerted via the induction of both intrinsic and extrinsic apoptotic pathways. The antibody microarray platform can be utilised to explore the molecular mechanism of action of novel anticancer agents.

Keywords: trabectedin, prostate cancer, omic protein expression profile, apoptosis

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Authors: Branci Sarra, Branci Saadia

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Because of the multiplied data growth, many computer science tools have been developed to process and analyze these Big Data. High-performance computing architectures have been designed to meet the treatment needs of Big Data (view transaction processing standpoint, strategic, and tactical analytics). The purpose of this article is to provide a historical and global perspective on the recent trend of high-performance computing architectures especially what has a relation with Analytics and Data Mining.

Keywords: high performance computing, HPC, big data, data analysis

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Authors: Tianyue Wan

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Building a child-friendly city (CFC) contributes to improving the quality of urbanization. It also forms a local system committed to fulfilling children's rights and development. Yet, the work related to CFC is still at the initial stage in China. Therefore, taking Wuhan, the most populous city in central China, as the pilot city would offer some reference for other cities. Based on the analysis of theories and practice examples, this study puts forward the challenges of building a child-friendly city under the particularity of China's national conditions. To handle these challenges, this study uses four methods to collect status data: literature research, site observation, research inquiry, and semantic differential (SD). And it adopts three data analysis methods: case analysis, geographic information system (GIS) analysis, and analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method. Through data analysis, this study identifies the evaluation system and appraises the current situation of Wuhan. According to the status of Wuhan's child-friendly city, this study proposes three strategies: 1) construct the evaluation system; 2) establish a child-friendly space system integrating 'point-line-surface'; 3) build a digitalized service platform. At the same time, this study suggests building a long-term mechanism for children's participation and multi-subject supervision from laws, medical treatment, education, safety protection, social welfare, and other aspects. Finally, some conclusions of strategies about CFC are tried to be drawn to promote the highest quality of life for all citizens in Wuhan.

Keywords: action plan, child friendly city, construction strategy, urban space

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Authors: Hanna Gulema, Meaza Demissie, Alemayehu Worku, Tesfaye Assebe Yadeta, Yemane Berhane

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Background: In patriarchal societies, female caregivers decide on food allocation within a family based on prevailing gender and age norms, which may lead to inequality that does not favor young adolescent girls. This study evaluated the effect of a community-based social norm intervention involving female caregivers in West Hararghe, Ethiopia. The intervention was engaging female caregivers along with other adult influential community members to deliberate and act on food allocation social norms in a process referred to as Social Analysis and Action (SAA). Method: We used data from a large quasi-experimental study to compare family eating practices between those who participated in the Social Analyses and Action intervention and those who did not. The respondents were female caregivers in households with young adolescent girls (ages 13 and 14 years). The study’s outcome was the practice of family eating together from the same dish. The difference in difference (DID) analysis with the Mixed effect logistic regression model was used to examine the effect of the intervention. Result: The results showed improved family eating practices in both groups, but the improvement was greater in the intervention group. The DID analysis showed an 11.99 percentage points greater improvement in the intervention arm than in the control arm. The mixed-effect regression produced an adjusted odds ratio of 2.08 (95% CI [1.06–4.09]) after controlling selected covariates, p-value 0.033. Conclusions: The involvement of influential adult community members significantly improves the family practice of eating together in households where adolescent girls are present in our study. The intervention has great potential to minimize household food allocation inequalities and thus improve the nutritional status of young adolescents. Further studies are necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention in different social norm contexts to formulate policy and guidelines for scale-up.

Keywords: family eating practice, social norm intervention, adolescence girls, caregiver

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Authors: Ju Peng Poh, Jun Yu Charles Lee, Jonathan Chew Hoe Khoo

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The emergence of digital twin technology, a digital replica of physical world, has improved the real-time access to data from sensors about the performance of buildings. This digital transformation has opened up many opportunities to improve the management of the building by using the data collected to help monitor consumption patterns and energy leakages. One example is the integration of predictive models for anomaly detection. In this paper, we use the GAM (Generalised Additive Model) for the anomaly detection of Air Handling Units (AHU) power consumption pattern. There is ample research work on the use of GAM for the prediction of power consumption at the office building and nation-wide level. However, there is limited illustration of its anomaly detection capabilities, prescriptive analytics case study, and its integration with the latest development of digital twin technology. In this paper, we applied the general GAM modelling framework on the historical data of the AHU power consumption and cooling load of the building between Jan 2018 to Aug 2019 from an education campus in Singapore to train prediction models that, in turn, yield predicted values and ranges. The historical data are seamlessly extracted from the digital twin for modelling purposes. We enhanced the utility of the GAM model by using it to power a real-time anomaly detection system based on the forward predicted ranges. The magnitude of deviation from the upper and lower bounds of the uncertainty intervals is used to inform and identify anomalous data points, all based on historical data, without explicit intervention from domain experts. Notwithstanding, the domain expert fits in through an optional feedback loop through which iterative data cleansing is performed. After an anomalously high or low level of power consumption detected, a set of rule-based conditions are evaluated in real-time to help determine the next course of action for the facilities manager. The performance of GAM is then compared with other approaches to evaluate its effectiveness. Lastly, we discuss the successfully deployment of this approach for the detection of anomalous power consumption pattern and illustrated with real-world use cases.

Keywords: anomaly detection, digital twin, generalised additive model, GAM, power consumption, supervised learning

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Authors: Prashant Shrivastava

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The purpose of this study is to explore re3dat.org registry to identify research data repositories registration workflow process. Further objective is to depict a graph for present development of research data repositories in India. Preliminarily with an approach to understand re3data.org registry framework and schema design then further proceed to explore the status of research data repositories of India in re3data.org registry. Research data repositories are getting wider relevance due to e-research concepts. Now available registry re3data.org is a good tool for users and researchers to identify appropriate research data repositories as per their research requirements. In Indian environment, a compatible National Research Data Policy is the need of the time to boost the management of research data. Registry for Research Data Repositories is a crucial tool to discover specific information in specific domain. Also, Research Data Repositories in India have not been studied. Re3data.org registry and status of Indian research data repositories both discussed in this study.

Keywords: research data, research data repositories, research data registry, re3data.org

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Authors: Ilgin Gökaşar, Saman Ghaffarian

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The need for fast processed big data of transportation ridership (eg., smartcard data) and traffic operation (e.g., traffic detectors data) which requires a lot of computational power is incontrovertible in Intelligent Transportation Systems. Nowadays cloud computing is one of the important subjects and popular information technology solution for data processing. It enables users to process enormous measure of data without having their own particular computing power. Thus, it can also be a good selection for transportation big data processing as well. This paper intends to examine how the cloud computing can enhance transportation big data process with contrasting its advantages and disadvantages, and discussing cloud computing features.

Keywords: big data, cloud computing, Intelligent Transportation Systems, ITS, traffic data processing

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Authors: Ali Asheibi

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The rapid increase in the size of databases required to store power quality monitoring data has demanded new techniques for analysing and understanding the data. One suggested technique to assist in analysis is data mining. Preparing raw data to be ready for data mining exploration take up most of the effort and time spent in the whole data mining process. Clustering is an important technique in data mining and machine learning in which underlying and meaningful groups of data are discovered. Large amounts of harmonic data have been collected from an actual harmonic monitoring system in a distribution system in Australia for three years. This amount of acquired data makes it difficult to identify operational events that significantly impact the harmonics generated on the system. In this paper, harmonic data preparation processes to better understanding of the data have been presented. Underlying classes in this data has then been identified using clustering technique based on the Minimum Message Length (MML) method. The underlying operational information contained within the clusters can be rapidly visualised by the engineers. The C5.0 algorithm was used for classification and interpretation of the generated clusters.

Keywords: data mining, harmonic data, clustering, classification

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Authors: Pun Jankrajangjaeng

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Senna garrettiana is a climatic tropical plant in Southeast Asia. Senna garrettiana (Craib) is used as a medicinal plant in Thailand, in which the experiment reported that the plant contains triterpenoids, ligans, phenolics, and fungal metabolites. Thus, it is also reported that the plant possesses interesting biological activity such as antioxidant activity. Therefore, Senna garrettiana is selected to examine the antimicrobial activity. The purpose of this study is to examine the antimicrobial activity of Senna garrettiana (crab) extract against Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus and Gram-negative Salmonella typhi, and the fungus Candida albicans. This study performed the agar disk-diffusion method and broth microdilution by using five concentrations of plant extract to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of S. garrettiana extract. The result showed that S. garrettiana extract gave the maximum zone inhibition of 11.7 mm, 13.7 mm, and 14.0 mm against S. aureus, S. typhi, and C. albicans, respectively. The MIC value of S. garrettiana against S. aureus was 125 µg/mL while the MIC in S. typhi and C. albicans greater than 2000 µg/mL. To conclude, S. garrettiana extract showed higher sensitivity of antibacterial activity against gram-positive bacteria than gram-negative bacteria. In addition, the plant extracts also possessed antifungal activity. Therefore, further investigation to confirm the mechanism of action of antimicrobial activity in S. garrettiana extract should be performed to identify the target of the antimicrobial action.

Keywords: antimicrobial activity, Candida albicans, Salmonella typhi, Senna garrettiana, Staphylococcus aureus

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Authors: E. Y. Igde, S. Aydogan, F. E. Boran, D. Akay

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Patent data have an increasingly important role in economic growth, innovation, technical advantages and business strategies and even in countries competitions. Analyzing of patent data is crucial since patents cover large part of all technological information of the world. In this paper, we have used the linguistic summarization technique to prove the validity of the hypotheses related to patent data stated in the literature.

Keywords: data mining, fuzzy sets, linguistic summarization, patent data

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Authors: M. Kebisek, L. Spendla, M. Kopcek, T. Skulavik

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In our paper we describe the security capabilities of data collection. Data are collected with probes located in the near and distant surroundings of the company. Considering the numerous obstacles e.g. forests, hills, urban areas, the data collection is realized in several ways. The collection of data uses connection via wireless communication, LAN network, GSM network and in certain areas data are collected by using vehicles. In order to ensure the connection to the server most of the probes have ability to communicate in several ways. Collected data are archived and subsequently used in supervisory applications. To ensure the collection of the required data, it is necessary to propose algorithms that will allow the probes to select suitable communication channel.

Keywords: communication, computer network, data collection, probe

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Authors: Cassandra Maffei, Effie Pomaki, Salomé Deslauriers-Brouillard, Levana Dahan, Caroline Storr, Ramasubramanian Ponnusamy, Philippe S. Archambault

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Sexual health education following spinal cord injury (SCI) remains poorly integrated into the rehabilitation process, especially in low-income countries where the topics of disability and sexuality are stigmatized. This research aimed to evaluate a sexual health manual that was created and distributed amongst males with SCI who had received rehabilitation services at Amar Seva Sangam (ASSA), a rehabilitation center located in rural South India. A service evaluation was completed to collect data from a convenience sample of 37 males with spinal cord injuries. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and content analysis. The service evaluation showed that the manual was well received by the sample and had positive impacts on secondary outcome measures, including relationship dynamics and quality of life. It can thus be used as an effective adjunct tool to support the improvement of sexual health knowledge, attitudes, and practices of individuals with SCI.

Keywords: spinal cord injury, sexual health, rehabilitation, India, education, service evaluation

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Authors: Nasrin Hosseinzad

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Troxerutin, a trihydroxyethylated derived of rutin, is a flavonoid existing in tea, coffee, cereal grains, various fruits and vegetables have been conveyed to display radioprotective, antithrombotic, nephron-protective and hepato-protective possessions. Troxerutin, has been well-proved to utilize hepatoprotective assets. Troxerutin could upturn the resistance of hippocampal neurons alongside apoptosis by lessening the action of AChE and oxidative stress. Consequently, troxerutin may have advantageous properties in the administration of Alzheimer's disease and cancer. Troxerutin has been testified to have several welfares and medicinal stuffs. It could shelter the mouse kidney against d-gal-induced damage by refining renal utility, decreasing histopathologic changes, dropping ROS construction, reintroducing the activities of antioxidant enzymes and reducing DNA oxidative destruction. The DNA cleavage study clarifies that troxerutin showed DNA protection against hydroxyl radical persuaded DNA mutilation. Troxerutin uses anti-cancer effect in HuH-7 hepatocarcinoma cells conceivably through synchronized regulation of the molecular signalling pathways, Nrf2 and NF-κB. DNA binding at slight channel by troxerutin may have donated to feature breaks leading to improved radiation brought cell death. Furthermore, the mechanism principal the observed variance in the antioxidant activities of troxerutin and its esters was qualified to equally their free radical scavenging capabilities and dissemination on the cell membrane outward.

Keywords: troxerutin, DNA, oxidative stress, antioxidant, free radical

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Authors: Shierwin Agagen Cabunilas

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Countless Filipinos are reeling in dire economic inequality while many others are victims of human trafficking. Where there is extreme economic inequality, majority of the Filipinos are deprived of basic needs to have a good life, i.e., decent shelter, safe environment, food, quality education, social security, etc. The problem on human trafficking poses a scandal and threat in respect to human rights and dignity of a person on matters of sex, gender, ethnicity and race among others. The economic inequality and trafficking in persons are social pathologies that needed considerable amount of attention and visible solution both in the national and international level. However, the Philippine government seems falls short in terms of goals to lessen, if not altogether eradicate, the dire fate of many Filipinos. The lack of solidarity among Filipinos seems to further aggravate injustice and create hindrances to economic equity and protection of Filipinos from syndicated crimes, i.e., human trafficking. Indifference towards the welfare and well-being of the Filipino people trashes them into an unending cycle of marginalization and neglect. A transnational solidaristic action in response to these concerns is imperative. The subsequent sections will first discuss the notion of solidarity and the motivating factors for collective action. While solidarity has been previously thought of as stemming from and for one’s own community and people, it can be argued as a value that defies borders. Solidarity bridges peoples of diverse societies and cultures. Although there are limits to international interventions on another’s sovereignty, such as, internal political autonomy, transnational solidarity may not be an opposition to solidarity with people suffering injustices. Governments, nations and institutions can work together in securing justice. Solidarity thus is a positive political action that can best respond to issues of economic, class, racial and gender injustices. This is followed by a critical analysis of some data on Philippine economic inequality and human trafficking and link the place of transnational solidaristic arrangements. Here, the present work is interested on the normative aspect of the problem. It begins with the section on economic inequality and subsequently, human trafficking. It is argued that a transnational solidarity is vital in assisting the Philippine governing bodies and authorities to seriously execute innovative economic policies and developmental programs that are justice and egalitarian oriented. Transnational solidarity impacts a corrective measure in the economic practices, and activities of the Philippine government. Moreover, it is suggested that in order to mitigate Philippine economic inequality and human trafficking concerns it involves a (a) historical analysis of systems that brought about economic anomalies, (b) renewed and innovated economic policies, (c) mutual trust and relatively high transparency, and (d) grass-root and context-based approach. In conclusion, the findings are briefly sketched and integrated in an optimistic view that transnational solidarity is capable of influencing Philippine governing bodies towards socio-economic transformation and development of the lives of Filipinos.

Keywords: Philippines, Filipino, economic inequality, human trafficking, transnational solidarity

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Authors: Nasir Mehmood, Muhammad Yar Khan, Anam Javeed

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This study aims to scrutinize the dynamics which tend to impact customer’s purchasing intention of Islamic credit card and nexus of product’s knowledge and religiosity with the attitude of potential Islamic credit card’s customer. The theory of reasoned action strengthened the idea that intentions due to its proven predictive power are most likely to instigate intended consumer behavior. Particularly, the study examines the relationships of perceived financial cost (PFC), subjective norms (SN), and attitude (ATT) with the intention to purchase Islamic credit cards. Using a convenience sampling approach, data have been collected from 450 customers of banks located in Rawalpindi and Islamabad. A five-point Likert scale self-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data. The data were analyzed using the Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS) through the procedures of principal component and multiple regression analysis. The results suggested that customer’s religiosity and product knowledge are strong indicators of attitude towards buying Islamic credit cards. Likewise, subjective norms, attitude, and perceived financial cost have a significant positive impact on customers’ purchase intent of Islamic bank’s credit cards. This study models a useful path for future researchers to further investigate the underlined phenomenon along with a variety of psychodynamic factors which are still in its infancy, at least in the Pakistani banking sector. The study also provides an insight to the practitioners and Islamic bank managers for directing their efforts toward educating customers regarding the use of Islamic credit cards and other financial products.

Keywords: attitude, Islamic credit card, religiosity, subjective norms

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Authors: Maria Cristina Tommaso, Maria Das Graças L. Silva, Carlos Jose Pacheco

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Have the advances of the Brazilian legislation reflected or have been consonant with the inclusion of PwD in higher education? In 1990 the World Declaration on Education for All, a document organized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), stated that the basic learning needs of people with disabilities, as they were called, required special attention. Since then, legislation in signatory countries such as Brazil has made considerable progress in guaranteeing, in a gradual and increasing manner, the rights of persons with disabilities to education. Principles, policies, and practices of special educational needs were created and guided action at the regional, national and international levels on the structure of action in Special Education such as administration, recruitment of educators and community involvement. Brazilian Education Law No. 3.284 of 2003 ensures inclusion of people with disabilities in Brazilian higher education institutions and also in 2015 the Law 13,146/2015 - Brazilian Law on the Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities (Statute of the Person with Disabilities) regulates the inclusion of PwD by the guarantee of their rights. This study analyses data related to people with disability inclusion in High Education in the south region of Rio de Janeiro State - Brazil during the period between 2008 and 2018, based in its correlation with the changes in the Brazilian legislation in the last ten years that were subjected by PwD inclusion processes in the Brazilian High Education Systems. The region studied is composed by sixteen cities and this research refers to the largest one, Volta Redonda that represents 25 percent of the total regional population. The PwD reception process had the dicing data at the Volta Redonda University Center with 35 percent of high education students in this territorial area. The research methodology analyzed the changes occurring in the legislation about the inclusion of people with disability in High Education in the last ten years and its impacts on the samples of this study during the period between 2008 and 2018. It was verified an expressive increasing of the number of PwD students, from two in 2008 to 190 PwD students in 2018. The data conclusions are presented in quantitative terms and the aim of this study was to verify the effectiveness of the PwD inclusion in High Education, allowing visibility of this social group. This study verified that the fundamental human rights guarantees have a strong relation to the advances of legislation and the State as a guarantor instance of the rights of the people with disability and must be considered a mean of consolidation of their education opportunities isonomy. The recognition of full rights and the inclusion of people with disabilities requires the efforts of those who have decision-making power. This study aimed to demonstrate that legislative evolution is an effective instrument in the social integration of people with disabilities. The study confirms the fundamental role of the state in guaranteeing human rights and demonstrates that legislation not only protects the interests of vulnerable social groups, but can also, and this is perhaps its main mission, to change behavior patterns and provoke the social transformation necessary to the reduction of inequality of opportunity.

Keywords: high education, inclusion, legislation, people with disability

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Authors: Nay Myo Sandar

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With the growth of technologies and applications, a large amount of data has been producing at increasing rate from various resources such as social media networks, sensor devices, and other information serving devices. This large collection of massive, complex and exponential growth of dataset is called big data. The traditional database systems cannot store and process such data due to large and complexity. Consequently, cloud computing is a potential solution for data storage and processing since it can provide a pool of resources for servers and storage. However, moving large amount of data to and from is a challenging issue since it can encounter a high latency due to large data size. With respect to big data movement problem, this paper reviews the literature of previous works, discusses about research issues, finds out approaches for dealing with big data movement problem.

Keywords: Big Data, Cloud Computing, Big Data Movement, Network Techniques

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Authors: Ahmed Mateen, Zhu Qingsheng, Ahmad Bilal

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In the current age of technology, information is the most precious asset of a company. Today, companies have a large amount of data. As the data become larger, access to data for some particular information is becoming slower day by day. Faster data processing to shape it in the form of information is the biggest issue. The major problems in distributed databases are the efficiency of data distribution and response time of data distribution. The security of data distribution is also a big issue. For these problems, we proposed a strategy that can maximize the efficiency of data distribution and also increase its response time. This technique gives better results for secure data distribution from multiple heterogeneous sources. The newly proposed technique facilitates the companies for secure data sharing efficiently and quickly.

Keywords: ER-schema, electronic record, P2P framework, API, query formulation

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Authors: N. Uaphongsathorn, C. Worawong, S. Thaewpia

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Background and significance: The population is aging in Thai society, the elderly dependent is at great risk of various functional, psychological, and socio-economic problems as well as less access to health care. They may require long term care at home to maximize their functional abilities and activities of daily living and to improve their quality of life during their own age. Therefore, there is a need to develop a home-based long term care to meet the long term care needs of elders dependent. Methods: The research purpose was to develop long term care model among the elderly dependent in Chaiyaphum province in Northeast region of Thailand. Action Research which is composing of planning, action, observation, and reflection phases was used. Research was carried out for 12 months in all sub-districts of 6 districts in Chaiyaphum province. Participants (N = 1,010) participating in the processes of model development were comprised of 3 groups: a) a total of 110 health care professionals, b) a total of 600 health volunteers and family caregivers and c) a total of 300 the elderly dependent with chronically medical illnesses or disabilities. Descriptive statistics and content analysis were used to analyze data. Findings: Results have shown that the most common health problems among elders dependent with physical disabilities to function independently were cardiovascular disease, dementia, and traffic injuries. The development of home-based long term care model among elders dependent in Chaiyaphum province was composed of six key steps. They are: a) initiating policies supporting formal and informal caregivers for the elder dependent in all sub-districts, b) building network and multidisciplinary team, c) developing 3-day care manager training program and 3-day care provider training program d) training case managers and care providers for the elderly dependent through team and action learning, e) assessing, planning and providing care based on care individual’s needs of the elderly dependent, and f) sharing experiences for good practice and innovation for long term care at homes in district urban and rural areas. Among all care managers and care providers, the satisfaction level for training programs was high with a mean score of 3.98 out of 5. The elders dependent and family caregivers addressed that long term care at home could contribute to improving life’s daily activities, family relationship, health status, and quality of life. Family caregivers and volunteers have feeling a sense of personal satisfaction and experiencing providing meaningful care and support for elders dependent. Conclusion: In conclusion, a home-based long term care is important to Thai elders dependent. Care managers and care providers play a large role and responsibility to provide appropriate care to meet the elders’ needs in both urban and rural areas in Thai society. Further research could be rigorously studied with a larger group of populations in similar socio-economic and cultural contexts.

Keywords: elderly people, care manager, care provider, long term care

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