Search results for: cancer tissue classification

Authors: Anuj Tyagi, Balwinder Singh, Naveen Kumar B. T., Niraj K. Singh

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Characterization of diverse microbial communities in specific environment plays a crucial role in the better understanding of their functional relationship with the ecosystem. It is now well established that gut microbiome of fish is not the simple replication of microbiota of surrounding local habitat, and extensive species, dietary, physiological and metabolic variations in fishes may have a significant impact on its composition. Moreover, overuse of antibiotics in human, veterinary and aquaculture medicine has led to rapid emergence and propagation of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in the aquatic environment. Microbial communities harboring specific ARGs not only get a preferential edge during selective antibiotic exposure but also possess the significant risk of ARGs transfer to other non-resistance bacteria within the confined environments. This phenomenon may lead to the emergence of habitat-specific microbial resistomes and subsequent emergence of virulent antibiotic-resistant pathogens with severe fish and consumer health consequences. In this study, gut microbiota of freshwater carp (Labeo rohita) was investigated by shotgun metagenomics to understand its taxonomic composition and functional capabilities. Metagenomic DNA, extracted from the fish gut, was subjected to sequencing on Illumina NextSeq to generate paired-end (PE) 2 x 150 bp sequencing reads. After the QC of raw sequencing data by Trimmomatic, taxonomic analysis by Kraken2 taxonomic sequence classification system revealed the presence of 36 phyla, 326 families and 985 genera in the fish gut microbiome. At phylum level, Proteobacteria accounted for more than three-fourths of total bacterial populations followed by Actinobacteria (14%) and Cyanobacteria (3%). Commonly used probiotic bacteria (Bacillus, Lactobacillus, Streptococcus, and Lactococcus) were found to be very less prevalent in fish gut. After sequencing data assembly by MEGAHIT v1.1.2 assembler and PROKKA automated analysis pipeline, pathway analysis revealed the presence of 1,608 Metacyc pathways in the fish gut microbiome. Biosynthesis pathways were found to be the most dominant (51%) followed by degradation (39%), energy-metabolism (4%) and fermentation (2%). Almost one-third (33%) of biosynthesis pathways were involved in the synthesis of secondary metabolites. Metabolic pathways for the biosynthesis of 35 antibiotic types were also present, and these accounted for 5% of overall metabolic pathways in the fish gut microbiome. Fifty-one different types of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) belonging to 15 antimicrobial resistance (AMR) gene families and conferring resistance against 24 antibiotic types were detected in fish gut. More than 90% ARGs in fish gut microbiome were against beta-lactams (penicillins, cephalosporins, penems, and monobactams). Resistance against tetracycline, macrolides, fluoroquinolones, and phenicols ranged from 0.7% to 1.3%. Some of the ARGs for multi-drug resistance were also found to be located on sequences of plasmid origin. The presence of pathogenic bacteria and ARGs on plasmid sequences suggested the potential risk due to horizontal gene transfer in the confined gut environment.

Keywords: antibiotic resistance, fish gut, metabolic pathways, microbial diversity

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Authors: Yung-Chih Kuo, Che-Yu Lin, Jay-Shake Li, Yung-I Lou

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Curcumin (CRM) and nerve growth factor (NGF) were entrapped in liposomes (LIP) with cardiolipin (CL) to downregulate the phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinases for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) management. AD belongs to neurodegenerative disorder with a gradual loss of memory, yielding irreversible dementia. CL-conjugated LIP loaded with CRM (CRM-CL/LIP) and that with NGF (NGF-CL/LIP) were applied to AD models of SK-N-MC cells and Wistar rats with an insult of β-amyloid peptide (Aβ). Lipids comprising 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3- phosphocholine (Avanti Polar Lipids, Alabaster, AL), 1',3'-bis[1,2- dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phospho]-sn-glycerol (CL; Avanti Polar Lipids), 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine-N- [methoxy(polyethylene glycol)-2000] (Avanti Polar Lipids), 1,2-distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine-N-[carboxy(polyethylene glycol)-2000] (Avanti Polar Lipids) and CRM (Sigma–Aldrich, St. Louis, MO) were dissolved in chloroform (J. T. Baker, Phillipsburg, NJ) and condensed using a rotary evaporator (Panchum, Kaohsiung, Taiwan). Human β-NGF (Alomone Lab, Jerusalem, Israel) was added in the aqueous phase. Wheat germ agglutinin (WGA; Medicago AB, Uppsala, Sweden) was grafted on LIP loaded with CRM for (WGA-CRM-LIP) and CL-conjugated LIP loaded with CRM (WGA-CRM-CL/LIP) using 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide (Sigma–Aldrich) and N-hydroxysuccinimide (Alfa Aesar, Ward Hill, MA). The protein samples of SK-N-MC cells (American Type Tissue Collection, Rockville, MD) were used for sodium dodecyl sulfate (Sigma–Aldrich) polyacrylamide gel (Sigma–Aldrich) electrophoresis. In animal study, the LIP formulations were administered by intravenous injection via a tail vein of male Wistar rats (250–280 g, 8 weeks, BioLasco, Taipei, Taiwan), which were housed in the Animal Laboratory of National Chung Cheng University in accordance with the institutional guidelines and the guidelines of Animal Protection Committee under the Council of Agriculture of the Republic of China. We found that CRM-CL/LIP could inhibit the expressions of phosphorylated p38 (p-p38), p-Jun N-terminal kinase (p-JNK), and p-tau protein at serine 202 (p-Ser202) to retard the neuronal apoptosis. Free CRM and released CRM from CRM-LIP and CRM-CL/LIP were not in a straightforward manner to effectively inhibit the expression of p-p38 and p-JNK in the cytoplasm. In addition, NGF-CL/LIP enhanced the quantities of p-neurotrophic tyrosine kinase receptor type 1 (p-TrkA) and p-extracellular-signal-regulated kinase 5 (p-ERK5), preventing the Aβ-induced degeneration of neurons. The membrane fusion of NGF-LIP activated the ERK5 pathway and the targeting capacity of NGF-CL/LIP enhanced the possibility of released NGF to affect the TrkA level. Moreover, WGA-CRM-LIP improved the permeation of CRM across the blood–brain barrier (BBB) and significantly reduced the Aβ plaque deposition and malondialdehyde level and increased the percentage of normal neurons and cholinergic function in the hippocampus of AD rats. This was mainly because the encapsulated CRM was protected by LIP against a rapid degradation in the blood. Furthermore, WGA on LIP could target N-acetylglucosamine on endothelia and increased the quantity of CRM transported across the BBB. In addition, WGA-CRM-CL/LIP could be effective in suppressing the synthesis of acetylcholinesterase and reduced the decomposition of acetylcholine for better neurotransmission. Based on the in vitro and in vivo evidences, WGA-CRM-CL/LIP can rescue neurons from apoptosis in the brain and can be a promising drug delivery system for clinical AD therapy.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease, β-amyloid, liposome, mitogen-activated protein kinase

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Authors: Parisa Shirzadeh

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Drug delivery systems in which drugs are traditionally used, multi-stage and at specified intervals by patients, do not meet the needs of the world's up-to-date drug delivery. In today's world, we are dealing with a huge number of recombinant peptide and protean drugs and analogues of hormones in the body, most of which are made with genetic engineering techniques. Most of these drugs are used to treat critical diseases such as cancer. Due to the limitations of the traditional method, researchers sought to find ways to solve the problems of the traditional method to a large extent. Following these efforts, controlled drug release systems were introduced, which have many advantages. Using controlled release of the drug in the body, the concentration of the drug is kept at a certain level, and in a short time, it is done at a higher rate. Graphene is a natural material that is biodegradable, non-toxic, and natural compared to carbon nanotubes; its price is lower than carbon nanotubes and is cost-effective for industrialization. On the other hand, the presence of highly effective surfaces and wide surfaces of graphene plates makes it more effective to modify graphene than carbon nanotubes. Graphene oxide is often synthesized using concentrated oxidizers such as sulfuric acid, nitric acid, and potassium permanganate based on Hummer 1 method. In comparison with the initial graphene, the resulting graphene oxide is heavier and has carboxyl, hydroxyl, and epoxy groups. Therefore, graphene oxide is very hydrophilic and easily dissolves in water and creates a stable solution. On the other hand, because the hydroxyl, carboxyl, and epoxy groups created on the surface are highly reactive, they have the ability to work with other functional groups such as amines, esters, polymers, etc. Connect and bring new features to the surface of graphene. In fact, it can be concluded that the creation of hydroxyl groups, Carboxyl, and epoxy and in fact graphene oxidation is the first step and step in creating other functional groups on the surface of graphene. Chitosan is a natural polymer and does not cause toxicity in the body. Due to its chemical structure and having OH and NH groups, it is suitable for binding to graphene oxide and increasing its solubility in aqueous solutions. Graphene oxide (GO) has been modified by chitosan (CS) covalently, developed for control release of doxorubicin (DOX). In this study, GO is produced by the hummer method under acidic conditions. Then, it is chlorinated by oxalyl chloride to increase its reactivity against amine. After that, in the presence of chitosan, the amino reaction was performed to form amide transplantation, and the doxorubicin was connected to the carrier surface by π-π interaction in buffer phosphate. GO, GO-CS, and GO-CS-DOX characterized by FT-IR, RAMAN, TGA, and SEM. The ability to load and release is determined by UV-Visible spectroscopy. The loading result showed a high capacity of DOX absorption (99%) and pH dependence identified as a result of DOX release from GO-CS nanosheet at pH 5.3 and 7.4, which show a fast release rate in acidic conditions.

Keywords: graphene oxide, chitosan, nanosheet, controlled drug release, doxorubicin

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Authors: Nkeiruka Elsie Ezomike, Chinwe L. Onyekonwu, Anthony N. Ikefuna, Bede C. Ibe

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Superficial fungal infections (SFIs) are one of the common cutaneous infections that affect children worldwide. They may lead to school absenteeism or school drop-out and hence setback in the education of the child. Community-based studies in any locality are good reflections of the health conditions within that area. There is a dearth of information in the literature about SFI among primary school children in Enugu. This study aimed to determine the clinicomycological pattern of SFIs among primary school children in rural and urban communities in Enugu. This was a comparative descriptive cross-sectional study among primary school children in Awgu (rural) and Enugu North (urban) Local Government Areas (LGAs). Subjects' selection was made over 6 months using a multi-stage sampling method. Information such as age, sex, parental education, and occupation were collected using questionnaires. Socioeconomic classes of the children were determined using the classification proposed by Oyedeji et al. The samples were collected from subjects with SFIs. Potassium hydroxide tests were done on the samples. The samples that tested positive were cultured for SFI by inoculating onto Sabouraud's dextrose chloramphenicol actidione agar. The characteristics of the isolates were identified according to their morphological features using Mycology Online, Atlas 2000, and Mycology Review 2003. Equal numbers of children were recruited from the two LGAs. A total of 1662 pupils were studied. The mean ages of the study subjects were 9.03 ± 2.10years in rural and 10.46 ± 2.33years in urban communities. The male to female ratio was 1.6:1 in rural and 1:1.1 in urban communities. The personal hygiene of the children was significantly related to the presence of SFIs. The overall prevalence of SFIs among the study participants was 45%. In the rural, the prevalence was 29.6%, and in the urban prevalence was 60.4%. The types of SFIs were tinea capitis (the commonest), tinea corporis, pityriasis Versicolor, tinea unguium, and tinea manuum with prevalence rates lower in rural than urban communities. The clinical patterns were gray patch and black dot type of non-inflammatory tinea capitis, kerion, tinea corporis with trunk and limb distributions, and pityriasis Versicolor with face, trunk and limb distributions. Gray patch was the most frequent pattern of SFI seen in rural and urban communities. Black dot type was more frequent in rural than urban communities. SFIs were frequent among children aged 5 to 8years in rural and 9 to 12 years in urban communities. SFIs were commoner in males in the rural, whereas female dominance was observed in the urban. SFIs were more in children from low social class and those with poor hygiene. Trichophyton tonsurans and Trichophyton soudanese were the common mycological isolates in rural and urban communities, respectively. In conclusion, SFIs were less prevalent in rural than in urban communities. Trichophyton species were the most common fungal isolates in the communities. Health education of mothers and their children on SFI and good personal hygiene will reduce the incidence of SFIs.

Keywords: clinicomycological pattern, communities, primary school children, superficial fungal infections

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Authors: Monika Saha, A. T. M. Hasan Zobeyer, Nasreen Jahan

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El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is the interaction between atmosphere and ocean in tropical Pacific which causes inconsistent warm/cold weather in tropical central and eastern Pacific Ocean. Due to the impact of climate change, ENSO events are becoming stronger in recent times, and therefore it is very important to study the influence of ENSO in climate studies. Bangladesh, being in the low-lying deltaic floodplain, experiences the worst consequences due to flooding every year. To reduce the catastrophe of severe flooding events, non-structural measures such as flood forecasting can be helpful in taking adequate precautions and steps. Forecasting seasonal flood with a longer lead time of several months is a key component of flood damage control and water management. The objective of this research is to identify the possible strength of teleconnection between ENSO and river flow of Surma and examine the potential possibility of long lead flood forecasting in the wet season. Surma is one of the major rivers of Bangladesh and is a part of the Surma-Meghna river system. In this research, sea surface temperature (SST) has been considered as the ENSO index and the lead time is at least a few months which is greater than the basin response time. The teleconnection has been assessed by the correlation analysis between July-August-September (JAS) flow of Surma and SST of Nino 4 region of the corresponding months. Cumulative frequency distribution of standardized JAS flow of Surma has also been determined as part of assessing the possible teleconnection. Discharge data of Surma river from 1975 to 2015 is used in this analysis, and remarkable increased value of correlation coefficient between flow and ENSO has been observed from 1985. From the cumulative frequency distribution of the standardized JAS flow, it has been marked that in any year the JAS flow has approximately 50% probability of exceeding the long-term average JAS flow. During El Nino year (warm episode of ENSO) this probability of exceedance drops to 23% and while in La Nina year (cold episode of ENSO) it increases to 78%. Discriminant analysis which is known as 'Categoric Prediction' has been performed to identify the possibilities of long lead flood forecasting. It has helped to categorize the flow data (high, average and low) based on the classification of predicted SST (warm, normal and cold). From the discriminant analysis, it has been found that for Surma river, the probability of a high flood in the cold period is 75% and the probability of a low flood in the warm period is 33%. A synoptic parameter, forecasting index (FI) has also been calculated here to judge the forecast skill and to compare different forecasts. This study will help the concerned authorities and the stakeholders to take long-term water resources decisions and formulate policies on river basin management which will reduce possible damage of life, agriculture, and property.

Keywords: El Nino-Southern Oscillation, sea surface temperature, surma river, teleconnection, cumulative frequency distribution, discriminant analysis, forecasting index

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Authors: Alessandra Panico, Francesco Bagordo, Tiziana Grassi, Adele Idolo, Marcello Guido, Francesca Serio, Mattia De Giorgi, Antonella De Donno

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In the Province of Lecce (Southeastern Italy) an area with unusual high incidence of chronic respiratory diseases, including lung cancer, was recently identified. The causes of this health emergency are still not entirely clear. In order to determine the risk profile of children living in five municipalities included in this area an epidemiological-molecular study was performed in the years 2014-2016: the IMP.AIR. (Impact of air quality on health of residents in the Municipalities of Sternatia, Galatina, Cutrofiano, Sogliano Cavour and Soleto) study. 122 children aged 6-8 years attending primary school in the study area were enrolled to evaluate the frequency of micronuclei (MNs) in their buccal exfoliated cells. The samples were collected in May 2015 by rubbing the oral mucosa with a soft bristle disposable toothbrush. At the same time, a validated questionnaire was administered to parents to obtain information about health, lifestyle and eating habits of the children. In addition, information on airborne pollutants, routinely detected by the Regional Environmental Agency (ARPA Puglia) in the study area, was acquired. A multivariate analysis was performed to detect any significant association between frequency of MNs (dependent variable) and behavioral factors (independent variables). The presence of MNs was highlighted in the buccal exfoliated cells of about 42% of recruited children with a mean frequency of 0.49 MN/1000 cells, greater than in other areas of Salento. The survey on individual characteristics and lifestyles showed that one in three children was overweight and that most of them had unhealthy eating habits with frequent consumption of foods considered ‘risky’. Moreover many parents (40% of fathers and 12% of mothers) were smokers and about 20% of them admitted to smoking in the house where the children lived. Information regarding atmospheric contaminants was poor. Of the few substances routinely detected by the only one monitoring station located in the study area (PM2.5, SO2, NO2, CO, O3) only ozone showed high concentrations exceeding the limits set by the legislation for 67 times in the year 2015. The study showed that the level of early biological effect markers in children was not negligible. This critical condition could be related to some individual factors and lifestyles such as overweight, unhealthy eating habits and exposure to passive smoking. At present, no relationship with airborne pollutants can be established due to the lack of information on many substances. Therefore, it would be advisable to modify incorrect behaviors and to intensify the monitoring of airborne pollutants (e.g. including detection of PM10, heavy metals, aromatic polycyclic hydrocarbons, benzene) given the epidemiology of chronic respiratory diseases registered in this area.

Keywords: chronic respiratory diseases, environmental pollution, lifestyle, micronuclei

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Authors: Noura Al Akkari, Aurélie Foucquier, Sylvain Lespinats

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Load monitoring is a management process for energy consumption towards energy savings and energy efficiency. Non Intrusive Load Monitoring (NILM) is one method of load monitoring used for disaggregation purposes. NILM is a technique for identifying individual appliances based on the analysis of the whole residence data retrieved from the main power meter of the house. Our NILM framework starts with data acquisition, followed by data preprocessing, then event detection, feature extraction, then general appliance modeling and identification at the final stage. The event detection stage is a core component of NILM process since event detection techniques lead to the extraction of appliance features. Appliance features are required for the accurate identification of the household devices. In this research work, we aim at developing a new event detection methodology with accurate load disaggregation to extract appliance features. Time-domain features extracted are used for tuning general appliance models for appliance identification and classification steps. We use unsupervised algorithms such as Dynamic Time Warping (DTW). The proposed method relies on detecting areas of operation of each residential appliance based on the power demand. Then, detecting the time at which each selected appliance changes its states. In order to fit with practical existing smart meters capabilities, we work on low sampling data with a frequency of (1/60) Hz. The data is simulated on Load Profile Generator software (LPG), which was not previously taken into consideration for NILM purposes in the literature. LPG is a numerical software that uses behaviour simulation of people inside the house to generate residential energy consumption data. The proposed event detection method targets low consumption loads that are difficult to detect. Also, it facilitates the extraction of specific features used for general appliance modeling. In addition to this, the identification process includes unsupervised techniques such as DTW. To our best knowledge, there exist few unsupervised techniques employed with low sampling data in comparison to the many supervised techniques used for such cases. We extract a power interval at which falls the operation of the selected appliance along with a time vector for the values delimiting the state transitions of the appliance. After this, appliance signatures are formed from extracted power, geometrical and statistical features. Afterwards, those formed signatures are used to tune general model types for appliances identification using unsupervised algorithms. This method is evaluated using both simulated data on LPG and real-time Reference Energy Disaggregation Dataset (REDD). For that, we compute performance metrics using confusion matrix based metrics, considering accuracy, precision, recall and error-rate. The performance analysis of our methodology is then compared with other detection techniques previously used in the literature review, such as detection techniques based on statistical variations and abrupt changes (Variance Sliding Window and Cumulative Sum).

Keywords: general appliance model, non intrusive load monitoring, events detection, unsupervised techniques;

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Authors: Jana Chakrabarti, Madhushrita Das, Ankhi Haldar, Roshni Chatterjee, Tanmoy Dey, Pubali Dhar

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High incidences of Protein Energy Malnutrition as a consequence of low protein intake are quite prevalent among the children in developing countries. Thus prevention of under-nutrition has emerged as a critical challenge to India’s developmental Planners in recent times. Increase in population over the last decade has led to greater pressure on the existing animal protein sources. But these resources are currently declining due to persistent drought, diseases, natural disasters, high-cost of feed, and low productivity of local breeds and this decline in productivity is most evident in some developing countries. So the need of the hour is to search for efficient utilization of unconventional low-cost animal protein resources. Molluscs, as a group is regarded as under-exploited source of health-benefit molecules. Bivalve is the second largest class of phylum Mollusca. Annual harvests of bivalves for human consumption represent about 5% by weight of the total world harvest of aquatic resources. The freshwater mussel Lamellidens marginalis is widely distributed in ponds and large bodies of perennial waters in the Indian sub-continent and well accepted as food all over India. Moreover, ethno-medicinal uses of the flesh of Lamellidens among the rural people to treat hypertension have been documented. Present investigation thus attempts to evaluate the potential of Lamellidens marginalis as functional food. Mussels were collected from freshwater ponds and brought to the laboratory two days before experimentation for acclimatization in laboratory conditions. Shells were removed and fleshes were preserved at- 20oC until analysis. Tissue homogenate was prepared for proximate studies. Fatty acids and amino acids composition were analyzed. Vitamins, Minerals and Heavy metal contents were also studied. Mussel Protein hydrolysate was prepared using Alcalase 2.4 L and degree of hydrolysis was evaluated to analyze its Functional properties. Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power (FRAP) and DPPH Antioxidant assays were performed. Anti-hypertensive property was evaluated by measuring Angiotensin Converting Enzyme (ACE) inhibition assay. Proximate analysis indicates that mussel meat contains moderate amount of protein (8.30±0.67%), carbohydrate (8.01±0.38%) and reducing sugar (4.75±0.07%), but less amount of fat (1.02±0.20%). Moisture content is quite high but ash content is very low. Phospholipid content is significantly high (19.43 %). Lipid constitutes, substantial amount of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) which have proven prophylactic values. Trace elements are found present in substantial amount. Comparative study of proximate nutrients between Labeo rohita, Lamellidens and cow’s milk indicates that mussel meat can be used as complementary food source. Functionality analyses of protein hydrolysate show increase in Fat absorption, Emulsification, Foaming capacity and Protein solubility. Progressive anti-oxidant and anti-hypertensive properties have also been documented. Lamellidens marginalis can thus be regarded as a functional food source as this may combine effectively with other food components for providing essential elements to the body. Moreover, mussel protein hydrolysate provides opportunities for utilizing it in various food formulations and pharmaceuticals. The observations presented herein should be viewed as a prelude to what future holds.

Keywords: functional food, functional properties, Lamellidens marginalis, protein hydrolysate

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Authors: Nicholas Mavrogiannis, Francesca Crivellari, Zachary Gagnon

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Development of low-cost, rapid, sensitive and portable biosensing systems are important for the detection and prevention of disease in developing countries, biowarfare/antiterrorism applications, environmental monitoring, point-of-care diagnostic testing and for basic biological research. Currently, the most established commercially available and widespread assays for portable point of care detection and disease testing are paper-based dipstick and lateral flow test strips. These paper-based devices are often small, cheap and simple to operate. The last three decades in particular have seen an emergence in these assays in diagnostic settings for detection of pregnancy, HIV/AIDS, blood glucose, Influenza, urinary protein, cardiovascular disease, respiratory infections and blood chemistries. Such assays are widely available largely because they are inexpensive, lightweight, and portable, are simple to operate, and a few platforms are capable of multiplexed detection for a small number of sample targets. However, there is a critical need for sensitive, quantitative and multiplexed detection capabilities for point-of-care diagnostics and for the detection and prevention of disease in the developing world that cannot be satisfied by current state-of-the-art paper-based assays. For example, applications including the detection of cardiac and cancer biomarkers and biothreat applications require sensitive multiplexed detection of analytes in the nM and pM range, and cannot currently be satisfied with current inexpensive portable platforms due to their lack of sensitivity, quantitative capabilities and often unreliable performance. In this talk, inexpensive label-free biomolecular detection at liquid interfaces using a newly discovered electrokinetic phenomenon known as fluidic dielectrophoresis (fDEP) is demonstrated. The electrokinetic approach involves exploiting the electrical mismatches between two aqueous liquid streams forced to flow side-by-side in a microfluidic T-channel. In this system, one fluid stream is engineered to have a higher conductivity relative to its neighbor which has a higher permittivity. When a “low” frequency (< 1 MHz) alternating current (AC) electrical field is applied normal to this fluidic electrical interface the fluid stream with high conductivity displaces into the low conductive stream. Conversely, when a “high” frequency (20MHz) AC electric field is applied, the high permittivity stream deflects across the microfluidic channel. There is, however, a critical frequency sensitive to the electrical differences between each fluid phase – the fDEP crossover frequency – between these two events where no fluid deflection is observed, and the interface remains fixed when exposed to an external field. To perform biomolecular detection, two streams flow side-by-side in a microfluidic T-channel: one fluid stream with an analyte of choice and an adjacent stream with a specific receptor to the chosen target. The two fluid streams merge and the fDEP crossover frequency is measured at different axial positions down the resulting liquid

Keywords: biodetection, fluidic dielectrophoresis, interfacial polarization, liquid interface

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Authors: Michael J. Haslip

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Character strength application improves performance and well-being in adults across industries, but the potential impact of character strength training among early childhood educators is mostly unknown. To explore how character strengths are applied by early childhood educators at work, a qualitative study was completed alongside professional development provided to a group of in-service teachers of children ages 0-5 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Study participants (n=17) were all female. The majority of participants were non-white, in full-time lead or assistant teacher roles, had at least ten years of experience and a bachelor’s degree. Teachers were attending professional development weekly for 2 hours over a 10-week period on the topic of social and emotional learning and child guidance. Related to this training were modules and sessions on identifying a teacher’s character strength profile using the Values in Action classification of 24 strengths (e.g., humility, perseverance) that have a scientific basis. Teachers were then asked to apply their character strengths to help resolve current workplace challenges. This study identifies which character strengths the teachers reported using most frequently and the nature of the workplace challenges being resolved in this context. The study also reports how difficult these challenges were to the teachers and their success rate at resolving workplace challenges using a character strength application plan. The study also documents how teachers’ own use of character strengths relates to their modeling of these same traits (e.g., kindness, teamwork) for children, especially when the nature of the workplace challenge directly involves the children, such as when addressing issues of classroom management and behavior. Data were collected on action plans (reflective templates) which teachers wrote to explain the work challenge they were facing, the character strengths they used to address the challenge, their plan for applying strengths to the challenge, and subsequent results. Content analysis and thematic analysis were used to investigate the research questions using approaches that included classifying, connecting, describing, and interpreting data reported by educators. Findings reveal that teachers most frequently use kindness, leadership, fairness, hope, and love to address a range of workplace challenges, ranging from low to high difficulty, involving children, coworkers, parents, and for self-management. Teachers reported a 71% success rate at fully or mostly resolving workplace challenges using the action plan method introduced during professional development. Teachers matched character strengths to challenges in different ways, with certain strengths being used mostly when the challenge involved children (love, forgiveness), others mostly with adults (bravery, teamwork), and others universally (leadership, kindness). Furthermore, teacher’s application of character strengths at work involved directly modeling character for children in 31% of reported cases. The application of character strengths among early childhood educators may play a significant role in improving teacher well-being, reducing job stress, and improving efforts to model character for young children.

Keywords: character strengths, positive psychology, professional development, social-emotional learning

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Authors: Erfan Abdeldaim Mohamed Ahmed Abdalla

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The complexity of Arabic grammar poses challenges for learners, particularly in relation to its arrangement, classification, abundance, and bifurcation. The challenge at hand is a result of the contextual factors that gave rise to the grammatical rules in question, as well as the pedagogical approach employed at the time, which was tailored to the needs of learners during that particular historical period. Consequently, modern-day students encounter this same obstacle. This requires a thorough examination of the arrangement and categorization of Arabic grammatical rules based on particular criteria, as well as an assessment of their objectives. Additionally, it is necessary to identify the prevalent and renowned grammatical rules, as well as those that are infrequently encountered, obscure and disregarded. This paper presents a compilation of grammatical rules that require arrangement and categorization in accordance with the standards outlined in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). In addition to facilitating comprehension of the curriculum, accommodating learners' requirements, and establishing the fundamental competencies for achieving proficiency in Arabic, it is imperative to ascertain the conventions that language learners necessitate in alignment with explicitly delineated benchmarks such as the CEFR criteria. The aim of this study is to reduce the quantity of grammatical rules that are typically presented to non-native Arabic speakers in Arabic textbooks. This reduction is expected to enhance the motivation of learners to continue their Arabic language acquisition and to approach the level of proficiency of native speakers. The primary obstacle faced by learners is the intricate nature of Arabic grammar, which poses a significant challenge in the realm of study. The proliferation and complexity of regulations evident in Arabic language textbooks designed for individuals who are not native speakers is noteworthy. The inadequate organisation and delivery of the material create the impression that the grammar is being imparted to a student with the intention of memorising "Alfiyyat-Ibn-Malik." Consequently, the sequence of grammatical rules instruction was altered, with rules originally intended for later instruction being presented first and those intended for earlier instruction being presented subsequently. Students often focus on learning grammatical rules that are not necessarily required while neglecting the rules that are commonly used in everyday speech and writing. Non-Arab students are taught Arabic grammar chapters that are infrequently utilised in Arabic literature and may be a topic of debate among grammarians. The aforementioned findings are derived from the statistical analysis and investigations conducted by the researcher, which will be disclosed in due course of the research. To instruct non-Arabic speakers on grammatical rules, it is imperative to discern the most prevalent grammatical frameworks in grammar manuals and linguistic literature (study sample). The present proposal suggests the allocation of grammatical structures across linguistic levels, taking into account the guidelines of the CEFR, as well as the grammatical structures that are necessary for non-Arabic-speaking learners to generate a modern, cohesive, and comprehensible language.

Keywords: grammar, Arabic, functional, framework, problems, standards, statistical, popularity, analysis

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Authors: Olga Hernán-Vega, Patricia López-Rodríguez, David Escot-Bocanegra, Raúl Fernández-Recio, Ignacio Bravo

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Non-Cooperative Target Identification has become a key research domain in the Defense industry since it provides the ability to recognize targets at long distance and under any weather condition. High Resolution Range Profiles, one-dimensional radar images where the reflectivity of a target is projected onto the radar line of sight, are widely used for identification of flying targets. According to that, to face this problem, an approach to Non-Cooperative Target Identification based on the exploitation of Singular Value Decomposition to a matrix of range profiles is presented. Target Identification based on one-dimensional radar images compares a collection of profiles of a given target, namely test set, with the profiles included in a pre-loaded database, namely training set. The classification is improved by using Singular Value Decomposition since it allows to model each aircraft as a subspace and to accomplish recognition in a transformed domain where the main features are easier to extract hence, reducing unwanted information such as noise. Singular Value Decomposition permits to define a signal subspace which contain the highest percentage of the energy, and a noise subspace which will be discarded. This way, only the valuable information of each target is used in the recognition process. The identification algorithm is based on finding the target that minimizes the angle between subspaces and takes place in a transformed domain. Two metrics, F1 and F2, based on Singular Value Decomposition are accomplished in the identification process. In the case of F2, the angle is weighted, since the top vectors set the importance in the contribution to the formation of a target signal, on the contrary F1 simply shows the evolution of the unweighted angle. In order to have a wide database or radar signatures and evaluate the performance, range profiles are obtained through numerical simulation of seven civil aircraft at defined trajectories taken from an actual measurement. Taking into account the nature of the datasets, the main drawback of using simulated profiles instead of actual measured profiles is that the former implies an ideal identification scenario, since measured profiles suffer from noise, clutter and other unwanted information and simulated profiles don't. In this case, the test and training samples have similar nature and usually a similar high signal-to-noise ratio, so as to assess the feasibility of the approach, the addition of noise has been considered before the creation of the test set. The identification results applying the unweighted and weighted metrics are analysed for demonstrating which algorithm provides the best robustness against noise in an actual possible scenario. So as to confirm the validity of the methodology, identification experiments of profiles coming from electromagnetic simulations are conducted, revealing promising results. Considering the dissimilarities between the test and training sets when noise is added, the recognition performance has been improved when weighting is applied. Future experiments with larger sets are expected to be conducted with the aim of finally using actual profiles as test sets in a real hostile situation.

Keywords: HRRP, NCTI, simulated/synthetic database, SVD

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Authors: Naniek Widayati Priyomarsono

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Introduction: In beginning of Karaton formation, namely, era of Javanese kingdom town had the power region outside castle town (called as Mancanegara), settlement of karaton can function as “the space-between” and “space-defense”, besides it was one of components from governmental structure and karaton power at that time (internal servant/abdi dalem and sentana dalem). Upon the Independence of Indonesia in 1945 “Kingdom-City” converted its political status into part of democratic town managed by statutes based on the classification. The latter affects local culture hierarchy alteration due to the physical development and events. Dynamics of social economy activities in Kampung Karaton surrounded by buildings of Complex of Karaton Kasunanan ini, have impact on the urban system disturbed into the región. Also cultural region image fades away with the weak visual access from existant cultural artefacts. That development lacks of giving appreciation to the established region image providing identity of Karaton Kasunanan particularly and identity of Surakarta city in general. Method used is strategy of grounded theory research (research providing strong base of a theory). Research is focused on actors active and passive relevantly getting involved in change process of Karaton settlement. Data accumulated is “Investigation Focus” oriented on actors affecting that change either internal or external. Investigation results are coupled with field observation data, documentation, literature study, thus it takes accurate findings. Findings: Karaton village has potential products as attraction, possessing human resource support, strong motivation from society still living in that settlement, possessing facilities and means supports, tourism event-supporting facilities, cultural art institution, available fields or development area. Data analyzed: To get the expected result it takes restoration in social cultural development direction, and economy, with ways of: Doing social cultural development strategy, economy, and politics. To-do steps are program socialization of Karaton village as Tourism Village, economical development of local society, regeneration pattern, filtering, and selection of tourism development, integrated planning system development, development with persuasive approach, regulation, market mechanism, social cultural event sector development, political development for region activity sector. Summary: In case the restoration is done by getting society involved as subject of that settlement (active participation in the field), managed and packed interestingly and naturally with tourism-supporting facilities development, village of Karaton Kasunanan Surakarta is ready to receive visit of domestic and foreign tourists.

Keywords: karaton village, finding, restoration, economy, Indonesia

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Authors: Lucile Rapin, Cynthia El Hage, Rihab Gamaoun, Maria-Fernanda Arboleda, Erin Prosk

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Introduction: Sante Cannabis (SC), a Canadian group of clinics dedicated to medical cannabis, based in Montreal and in the province of Quebec, has served more than 8000 patients seeking cannabis-based treatment over the past five years. As randomized clinical trials with natural medical cannabis are scarce, real-world evidence offers the opportunity to fill research gaps between scientific evidence and clinical practice. Data on the use of medical cannabis products from SC patients were prospectively collected, leading to a large real-world database on the use of medical cannabis. The aim of this study was to report information on the profiles of both patients and prescribed medical cannabis products at SC clinics, and to assess the safety of medical cannabis among Canadian patients. Methods: This is an observational retrospective study of 1342 adult patients who were authorized with medical cannabis products between October 2017 and September 2019. Information regarding demographic characteristics, therapeutic indications for medical cannabis use, patterns in dosing and dosage form of medical cannabis and adverse effects over one-year follow-up (initial and 4 follow-up (FUP) visits) were collected. Results: 59% of SC patients were female, with a mean age of 56.7 (SD= 15.6, range= (19-97)). Cannabis products were authorized mainly for patients with a diagnosis of chronic pain (68.8% of patients), cancer (6.7%), neurological disorders (5.6%), and mood disorders (5.4 %). At initial visit, a large majority (70%) of patients were authorized exclusively medical cannabis products, 27% were authorized a combination of pharmaceutical cannabinoids and medical cannabis and 3% were prescribed only pharmaceutical cannabinoids. This pattern was recurrent over the one-year follow-up. Overall, oil was the preferred formulation (average over visits 72.5%) followed by a combination of oil and dry (average 19%), other routes of administration accounted for less than 4%. Patients were predominantly prescribed products with a balanced THC:CBD ratio (59%-75% across visits). 28% of patients reported at least one adverse effect (AE) at the 3-month follow-up visit and 12% at the six-month FUP visit. 84.8% of total AEs were mild and transient. No serious AE was reported. Overall, the most common side effects reported were dizziness (11.95% of total AEs), drowsiness (11.4%), dry mouth (5.5%), nausea (4.8%), headaches (4.6%), cough (4.4%), anxiety (4.1%) and euphoria (3.5%). Other adverse effects accounted for less than 3% of total AE. Conclusion: Our results confirm that the primary area of clinical use for medical cannabis is in pain management. Patients in this cohort are largely utilizing plant-based cannabis oil products with a balanced ratio of THC:CBD. Reported adverse effects were mild and included dizziness and drowsiness. This real-world data confirms the tolerable safety profile of medical cannabis and suggests medical indications not yet validated in controlled clinical trials. Such data offers an important opportunity for the investigation of the long-term effects of cannabinoid exposure in real-life conditions. Real-world evidence can be used to direct clinical trial research efforts on specific indications and dosing patterns for product development.

Keywords: medical cannabis, safety, real-world data, Canada

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Authors: Monika Soni, Shovonlal Bhowmick, Chandra Bhattacharya, Jitendra Sharma, Prafulla Dutta, Jagadish Mahanta

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Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus are considered as two major vectors to transmit dengue virus. In North-east India, two states viz. Assam and Arunachal Pradesh are known to be high endemic zone for dengue and Chikungunya viral infection. The taxonomical classification of medically important vectors are important for mapping of actual evolutionary trends and epidemiological studies. However, misidentification of mosquito species in field-collected mosquito specimens could have a negative impact which may affect vector-borne disease control policy. DNA barcoding is a prominent method to record available species, differentiate from new addition and change of population structure. In this study, a combined approach of a morphological and molecular technique of DNA barcoding was adopted to explore sequence variation in mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene within dengue vectors. The study has revealed the map distribution of the dengue vector from two states i.e. Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, India. Approximate five hundred mosquito specimens were collected from different parts of two states, and their morphological features were compared with the taxonomic keys. The analysis of detailed taxonomic study revealed identification of two species Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus. The species aegypti comprised of 66.6% of the specimen and represented as dominant dengue vector species. The sequences obtained through standard DNA barcoding protocol were compared with public databases, viz. GenBank and BOLD. The sequences of all Aedes albopictus have shown 100% similarity whereas sequence of Aedes aegypti has shown 99.77 - 100% similarity of COI gene with that of different geographically located same species based on BOLD database search. From dengue prevalent different geographical regions fifty-nine sequences were retrieved from NCBI and BOLD databases of the same and related taxa to determine the evolutionary distance model based on the phylogenetic analysis. Neighbor-Joining (NJ) and Maximum Likelihood (ML) phylogenetic tree was constructed in MEGA6.06 software with 1000 bootstrap replicates using Kimura-2-Parameter model. Data were analyzed for sequence divergence and found that intraspecific divergence ranged from 0.0 to 2.0% and interspecific divergence ranged from 11.0 to 12.0%. The transitional and transversional substitutions were tested individually. The sequences were deposited in NCBI: GenBank database. This observation claimed the first DNA barcoding analysis of Aedes mosquitoes from North-eastern states in India and also confirmed the range expansion of two important mosquito species. Overall, this study insight into the molecular ecology of the dengue vectors from North-eastern India which will enhance the understanding to improve the existing entomological surveillance and vector incrimination program.

Keywords: COI, dengue vectors, DNA barcoding, molecular identification, North-east India, phylogenetics

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Authors: Noelia L. Alchapar, Cláudia C. Pezzuto, Erica N. Correa

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Mitigating urban overheating is key to achieving the environmental and energy sustainability of cities. The management of the optical properties of the materials that make up the urban envelope -roofing, pavement, and facades- constitutes a profitable and effective tool to improve the urban microclimate and rehabilitate urban areas. Each material that makes up the urban envelope has a different capacity to reflect received solar radiation, which alters the fraction of solar radiation absorbed by the city. However, the paradigm of increasing solar reflectance in all areas of the city without distinguishing their relative position within the urban canyon can cause serious problems of overheating and discomfort among its inhabitants. The hypothesis that supports the research postulates that not all reflective technologies that contribute to urban radiative cooling favor the thermal comfort conditions of pedestrians to equal measure. The objective of this work is to determine to what degree the management of the optical properties of the facades modifies outdoor thermal comfort, given that the mitigation potential of materials with high reflectance in facades is strongly conditioned by geographical variables and by the geometric characteristics of the urban profile aspect ratio (H/W). This research was carried out under two climatic contexts, that of the city of Mendoza-Argentina and that of the city of Campinas-Brazil, according to the Köppen climate classification: BWk and Cwa, respectively. Two areas in two different climatic contexts (Mendoza - Argentina and Campinas - Brazil) were selected. Both areas have comparable urban morphology patterns. These areas are located in a region with low horizontal building density and residential zoning. The microclimatic conditions were monitored during the summer period with temperature and humidity fixed sensors inside vial channels. The microclimate model was simulated in ENVI-Met V5. A grid resolution of 3.5 x 3.5 x 3.5m was used for both cities, totaling an area of 145x145x30 grids. Based on the validated theoretical model, ten scenarios were simulated, modifying the height of buildings and the solar reflectivity of facades. The solar reflectivity façades ranges were: low (0.3) and high (0.75). The density scenarios range from 1th to the 5th level. The study scenarios' performance was assessed by comparing the air temperature, physiological equivalent temperature (PET), and thermal climate index (UTCI). As a result, it is observed that the behavior of the materials of the urban outdoor space depends on complex interactions. Many urban environmental factors influence including constructive characteristics, urban morphology, geographic locations, local climate, and so forth. The role of the vertical urban envelope is decisive for the reduction of urban overheating. One of the causes of thermal gain is the multiple reflections within the urban canyon, which affects not only the air temperature but also the pedestrian thermal comfort. One of the main findings of this work leads to the remarkable importance of considering both the urban warming and the thermal comfort aspects of pedestrians in urban mitigation strategies.

Keywords: materials facades, solar reflectivity, thermal comfort, urban cooling

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Authors: Tavee Cheausuwantavee

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: COVID-19 pandemic significantly has impacted everyone’s life. Persons with disabilities (PWDs) in Thailand have been also effected by COVID-19 situation in many aspects of their lives, while there have been no more appropriate services of the government and providers. Research projects had been only focused on health precaution and protection. Rapid need assessments on populations and vulnerable groups were limited and conducted via social media and an online survey. However, little is known about the real problems and needs of Thai PWDs during the COVID-19 pandemic for an effective plan and integral services for those PWDs. Therefore, this study aims to explore the diverse problems and needs of Thai PWDs in the COVID -19 pandemic. Results from the study can be used by the government and other stakeholders for further effective services. Methods: This study was used a mixed-method design that consisted of both quantitative and qualitative measures. In terms of the quantitative approach, there were 744 PWDs and caregivers of all types of PWDs selected by proportional multistage stratified random sampling according to their disability classification and geographic location. Questionnaires with 59 items regarding participant characteristics, problems, and needs in health, education, employment, and other social inclusion, were distributed to all participants and some caregivers completed questionnaires when PWDs were not able to due to limited communication and/or literacy skills. Completed questionnaires were analyzed by descriptive statistics. For qualitative design, 62 key informants who were PWDs or caregivers were selected by purposive sampling. Ten focus groups, each consisting of 5-6 participants and 7 in-depth interviews from all the groups identified above, were conducted by researchers across five regions. Focus group and in-depth interview guidelines with 6 items regarding problems and needs in health, education, employment, other social inclusion, and their coping during COVID -19 pandemic. Data were analyzed using a modification of thematic content analysis. Results: Both quantitative and qualitative studies showed that PWDs and their caregivers had significant problems and needs all aspects of their life, including income and employment opportunity, daily living and social inclusion, health, and education, respectively. These problems and needs were related to each other, forming a vicious cycle. Participants also learned from negative pandemic to more positive life aspects, including their health protection, financial plan, family cohesion, and virtual technology literacy and innovation. Conclusion and implications: There have been challenges facing all life aspects of PWDs in Thailand during the COVID -19 pandemic, particularly incomes and daily living. All challenges have been the vicious cycle and complicated. There have been also a positive lesson learned of participants from the pandemic. Recommendations for government and stakeholders in the COVID-19 pandemic for PWDs are the following. First, the health protection strategy and policy of PWDs should be promoted together with other quality of life development including income generation, education and social inclusion. Second, virtual technology and alternative innovation should be enhanced for proactive service providers. Third, accessible information during the pandemic for all PWDs must be concerned. Forth, lesson learned from the pandemic should be shared and disseminated for crisis preparation and a positive mindset in the disruptive world.

Keywords: challenge, COVID-19, disability, Thailand

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Authors: Mariyah Poonawala, Selvan Ravindran, Anuradha Vaidya

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Despite much progress in understanding the regulatory factors and cytokines that support the maturation of the various cell lineages of the hematopoietic system, factors that govern the self-renewal and proliferation of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) is still a grey area of research. Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) has evolved over the years and gained tremendous importance in the treatment of both malignant and non-malignant diseases. However, factors such as graft rejection and multiple organ failure have challenged HSCT from time to time, underscoring the urgent need for development of milder processes for successful hematopoietic transplantation. An emerging concept in the field of stem cell biology states that the interactions between the bone-marrow micro-environment and the hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells is essential for regulation, maintenance, commitment and proliferation of stem cells. Understanding the role of mesenchymal stromal cells in modulating the functionality of HSCs is, therefore, an important area of research. Trans-resveratrol has been extensively studied for its various properties to combat and prevent cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases etc. The aim of the present study was to understand the effect of trans-resveratrol on HSCs using single and co-culture systems. We have used KG1a cells since it is a well accepted hematopoietic stem cell model system. Our preliminary experiments showed that low concentrations of trans-resveratrol stimulated the HSCs to undergo proliferation whereas high concentrations of trans-resveratrol did not stimulate the cells to proliferate. We used a murine fibroblast cell line, M210B4, as a stromal feeder layer. On culturing the KG1a cells with M210B4 cells, we observed that the stimulatory as well as inhibitory effects of trans-resveratrol at low and high concentrations respectively, were enhanced. Our further experiments showed that low concentration of trans-resveratrol reduced the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and nitric oxide (NO) whereas high concentrations increased the oxidative stress in KG1a cells. We speculated that perhaps the oxidative stress was imposing inhibitory effects at high concentration and the same was confirmed by performing an apoptotic assay. Furthermore, cell cycle analysis and growth kinetic experiments provided evidence that low concentration of trans-resveratrol reduced the doubling time of the cells. Our hypothesis is that perhaps at low concentration of trans-resveratrol the cells get pushed into the G0/G1 phase and re-enter the cell cycle resulting in their proliferation, whereas at high concentration the cells are perhaps arrested at G2/M phase or at cytokinesis and therefore undergo apoptosis. Liquid Chromatography-Quantitative-Time of Flight–Mass Spectroscopy (LC-Q-TOF MS) analyses indicated the presence of trans-resveratrol and its metabolite(s) in the supernatant of the co-cultured cells incubated with high concentration of trans-resveratrol. We conjecture that perhaps the metabolites of trans-resveratrol are responsible for the apoptosis observed at the high concentration. Our findings may shed light on the unsolved problems in the in vitro expansion of stem cells and may have implications in the ex vivo manipulation of HSCs for therapeutic purposes.

Keywords: co-culture system, hematopoietic micro-environment, KG1a cell line, M210B4 cell line, trans-resveratrol

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Authors: Mohammadjavad Sotoudeheian, Navid Farahmandian

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Cardiac hypertrophy arises in response to persistent increases in hemodynamic loads. In comparison, diabetic cardiomyopathy is defined by an abnormal myocardial changes without other cardiac-related risk factors. Pathological cardiac hypertrophy and myocardial remodeling are hallmarks of cardiovascular diseases and are risk factors for heart failure. The transcription factor forkhead box class O (FOXOs) can protect heart tissue by hostile oxidative stress and stimulating apoptosis and autophagy. FOXO proteins, as sensitive elements and mediators in response to environmental changes, have been revealed to prevent and inverse cardiac hypertrophy. FOXOs are inhibited by insulin and are critical mediators of insulin action. Insulin deficiency and uncontrolled diabetes lead to a catabolic state. FOXO1 acts downstream of the insulin-dependent pathways, which are dysregulated in diabetes. It regulates cardiomyocyte hypertrophy downstream of IGF1R/PI3K/Akt activation, which are critical regulators of cardiac hypertrophy. The complex network of signaling pathways comprising insulin/IGF-1 signaling, AMPK, JNK, and Sirtuins regulate the development of cardiovascular dysfunction by modulating the activity of FOXOs. Insulin receptors and IGF1R act via the PI3k/Akt and the MAPK/ERK pathways. Activation of Akt in response to insulin or IGF-1 induces phosphorylation of FOXOs. Increased protein synthesis induced by activation of the IGF-I/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway leads to hypertrophy. This pathway and the myostatin/Smad pathway are potent negative muscle development regulators. In cardiac muscle, insulin receptor substrates (IRS)-1 or IRS-2 activates the Akt signaling pathway and inactivate FOXO1. Under metabolic stress, p38 MAPK promotes degradation of IRS-1 and IRS-2 in cardiac myocytes and activates FOXO1, leading to cardiomyopathy. Sirt1 and FOXO1 interaction play an essential role in starvation-induced autophagy in cardiac metabolism. Inhibition of Angiotensin-II induced cardiomyocyte hypertrophy is associated with reduced FOXO1 acetylation and activation of Sirt1. The NF-κB, ERK, and FOXOs are de-acetylated by SIRT1. De-acetylation of FOXO1 induces the expression of genes involved in autophagy and stimulates autophagy flux. Therefore, under metabolic stress, FOXO1 can cause diabetic cardiomyopathy. The overexpression of FOXO1 leads to decreased cardiomyocyte size and suppresses cardiac hypertrophy through inhibition of the calcineurin–NFAT pathway. Diabetes mellitus is associated with elevation of O-GlcNAcylation. Some of its binding partners regulate the substrate selectivity of O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT). O-GlcNAcylation of essential contractile proteins may inhibit protein-protein interactions, reduce calcium sensitivity, and modulate contractile function. Uridine diphosphate (UDP)-GlcNAc is the obligatory substrate of OGT, which catalyzes a reversible post-translational protein modification. The increase of O-GlcNAcylation is accompanied by impaired cardiac hypertrophy in diabetic hearts. Inhibition of O-GlcNAcylation blocks activation of ERK1/2 and hypertrophic growth. O-GlcNAc modification on NFAT is required for its translocation from the cytosol to the nucleus, where NFAT stimulates the transcription of various hypertrophic genes. Inhibition of O-GlcNAcylation dampens NFAT-induced cardiac hypertrophic growth. Transcriptional activity of FOXO1 is enriched by improved O-GlcNAcylation upon high glucose stimulation or OGT overexpression. In diabetic conditions, the modification of FOXO1 by O-GlcNAc is promoted in cardiac troponin I and myosin light chain 2. Therefore targeting O-GlcNAcylation represents a potential therapeutic option to prevent hypertrophy in the diabetic heart.

Keywords: diabetes, cardiac hypertrophy, O-GlcNAcylation, FOXO1, Akt, PI3K, AMPK, insulin

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Authors: Lucas Nascimento, Ana Rita, Margarida Soares, André Ribeiro, Zlatina Genisheva, Hugo Silva, Joana Carvalho

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The footwear industry is an essential fashion industry, focusing on producing various types of footwear, such as shoes, boots, sandals, sneakers, and slippers. Global footwear consumption has doubled every 20 years since the 1950s. It is estimated that in 1950, each person consumed one new pair of shoes yearly; by 2005, over 20 billion pairs of shoes were consumed. To meet global footwear demand, production reached $24.2 billion, equivalent to about $74 per person in the United States. This means three new pairs of shoes per person worldwide. The issue of footwear waste is related to the fact that shoe production can generate a large amount of waste, much of which is difficult to recycle or reuse. This waste includes scraps of leather, fabric, rubber, plastics, toxic chemicals, and other materials. The search for alternative solutions for waste treatment and valorization is increasingly relevant in the current context, mainly when focused on utilizing waste as a source of substitute materials. From the perspective of the new circular economy paradigm, this approach is of utmost importance as it aims to preserve natural resources and minimize the environmental impact associated with sending waste to landfills. In this sense, the incorporation of waste into industrial sectors that allow for the recovery of large volumes, such as road construction, becomes an urgent and necessary solution from an environmental standpoint. This study explores the use of plastic waste from the footwear industry as a substitute for virgin polymers in bitumen modification, a solution that presents a more sustainable future. Replacing conventional polymers with plastic waste in asphalt composition reduces the amount of waste sent to landfills and offers an opportunity to extend the lifespan of road infrastructures. By incorporating waste into construction materials, reducing the consumption of natural resources and the emission of pollutants is possible, promoting a more circular and efficient economy. In the initial phase of this study, waste materials from end-of-life footwear were selected, and plastic waste with the highest potential for application was separated. Based on a literature review, EVA (ethylene vinyl acetate) and PU (polyurethane) were identified as the polymers suitable for modifying 50/70 classification bitumen. Each polymer was analysed at concentrations of 3% and 5%. The production process involved the polymer's fragmentation to a size of 4 millimetres after heating the materials to 180 ºC and mixing for 10 minutes at low speed. After was mixed for 30 minutes in a high-speed mixer. The tests included penetration, softening point, viscosity, and rheological assessments. With the results obtained from the tests, the mixtures with EVA demonstrated better results than those with PU, as EVA had more resistance to temperature, a better viscosity curve and a greater elastic recovery in rheology.

Keywords: footwear waste, hot asphalt pavement, modified bitumen, polymers

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Authors: Masoud Fathi Kazerouni, Jens Schlemper, Klaus-Dieter Kuhnert

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Green planet is one of the Earth’s names which is known as a terrestrial planet and also can be named the fifth largest planet of the solar system as another scientific interpretation. Plants do not have a constant and steady distribution all around the world, and even plant species’ variations are not the same in one specific region. Presence of plants is not only limited to one field like botany; they exist in different fields such as literature and mythology and they hold useful and inestimable historical records. No one can imagine the world without oxygen which is produced mostly by plants. Their influences become more manifest since no other live species can exist on earth without plants as they form the basic food staples too. Regulation of water cycle and oxygen production are the other roles of plants. The roles affect environment and climate. Plants are the main components of agricultural activities. Many countries benefit from these activities. Therefore, plants have impacts on political and economic situations and future of countries. Due to importance of plants and their roles, study of plants is essential in various fields. Consideration of their different applications leads to focus on details of them too. Automatic recognition of plants is a novel field to contribute other researches and future of studies. Moreover, plants can survive their life in different places and regions by means of adaptations. Therefore, adaptations are their special factors to help them in hard life situations. Weather condition is one of the parameters which affect plants life and their existence in one area. Recognition of plants in different weather conditions is a new window of research in the field. Only natural images are usable to consider weather conditions as new factors. Thus, it will be a generalized and useful system. In order to have a general system, distance from the camera to plants is considered as another factor. The other considered factor is change of light intensity in environment as it changes during the day. Adding these factors leads to a huge challenge to invent an accurate and secure system. Development of an efficient plant recognition system is essential and effective. One important component of plant is leaf which can be used to implement automatic systems for plant recognition without any human interface and interaction. Due to the nature of used images, characteristic investigation of plants is done. Leaves of plants are the first characteristics to select as trusty parts. Four different plant species are specified for the goal to classify them with an accurate system. The current paper is devoted to principal directions of the proposed methods and implemented system, image dataset, and results. The procedure of algorithm and classification is explained in details. First steps, feature detection and description of visual information, are outperformed by using Scale invariant feature transform (SIFT), HARRIS-SIFT, and FAST-SIFT methods. The accuracy of the implemented methods is computed. In addition to comparison, robustness and efficiency of results in different conditions are investigated and explained.

Keywords: SIFT combination, feature extraction, feature detection, natural images, natural plant recognition, HARRIS-SIFT, FAST-SIFT

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Authors: Shrestha Sharma, Jasjeet K. Sahni, Javed Ali, Sanjula Baboota

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Introduction: Rutin is a naturally occurring strong antioxidant molecule belonging to bioflavonoid category. Due to its free radical scavenging properties, it has been found to be beneficial in the treatment of various diseases including inflammation, cancer, diabetes, allergy, cardiovascular disorders and various types of microbial infections. Despite its beneficial effects, it suffers from the problem of low aqueous solubility which is responsible for low oral bioavailability. The aim of our study was to optimize and characterize self-nanoemulsifying drug delivery system (SNEDDS) of rutin using Box-Behnken design (BBD) combined with a desirability function. Further various antioxidant, pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic studies were performed for the optimized rutin SNEDDS formulation. Methodologies: Selection of oil, surfactant and co-surfactant was done on the basis of solubility/miscibility studies. Sefsol+ Vitamin E, Solutol HS 15 and Transcutol P were selected as oil phase, surfactant and co-surfactant respectively. Optimization of SNEDDS formulations was done by a three-factor, three-level (33)BBD. The independent factors were Sefsol+ Vitamin E, Solutol HS15, and Transcutol P. The dependent variables were globule size, self emulsification time (SEF), % transmittance and cumulative percentage drug released. Various response surface graphs and contour plots were constructed to understand the effect of different factor, their levels and combinations on the responses. The optimized Rutin SNEDDS formulation was characterized for various parameters such as globule size, zeta potential, viscosity, refractive index , % Transmittance and in vitro drug release. Ex vivo permeation studies and pharmacokinetic studies were performed for optimized formulation. Antioxidant activity was determined by DPPH and reducing power assays. Anti-inflammatory activity was determined by using carrageenan induced rat paw oedema method. Permeation of rutin across small intestine was assessed using confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). Major findings:The optimized SNEDDS formulation consisting of Sefsol+ Vitamin E - Solutol HS15 -Transcutol HP at proportions of 25:35:17.5 (w/w) was prepared and a comparison of the predicted values and experimental values were found to be in close agreement. The globule size and PDI of optimized SNEDDS formulation was found to be 16.08 ± 0.02 nm and 0.124±0.01 respectively. Significant (p˂0.05) increase in percentage drug release was achieved in the case of optimized SNEDDS formulation (98.8 %) as compared to rutin suspension. Furthermore, pharmacokinetic study showed a 2.3-fold increase in relative oral bioavailability compared with that of the suspension. Antioxidant assay results indicated better efficacy of the developed formulation than the pure drug and it was found to be comparable with ascorbic acid. The results of anti-inflammatory studies showed 72.93 % inhibition for the SNEDDS formulation which was significantly higher than the drug suspension 46.56%. The results of CLSM indicated that the absorption of SNEDDS formulation was considerably higher than that from rutin suspension. Conclusion: Rutin SNEDDS have been successfully prepared and they can serve as an effective tool in enhancing oral bioavailability and efficacy of Rutin.

Keywords: rutin, oral bioavilability, pharamacokinetics, pharmacodynamics

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Authors: Iman Farasat, Howard M. Salis

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Engineered genetic circuits reprogram cellular behavior to act as living computers with applications in detecting cancer, creating self-controlling artificial tissues, and dynamically regulating metabolic pathways. Phenemenological models are often used to simulate and design genetic circuit behavior towards a desired behavior. While such models assume that each circuit component’s function is modular and independent, even small changes in a circuit (e.g. a new promoter, a change in transcription factor expression level, or even a new media) can have significant effects on the circuit’s function. Here, we use statistical thermodynamics to account for the several factors that control transcriptional regulation in bacteria, and experimentally demonstrate the model’s accuracy across 825 measurements in several genetic contexts and hosts. We then employ our first principles model to design, experimentally construct, and characterize a family of signal amplifying genetic circuits (genetic OpAmps) that expand the dynamic range of cell sensors. To develop these models, we needed a new approach to measuring the in vivo binding free energies of transcription factors (TFs), a key ingredient of statistical thermodynamic models of gene regulation. We developed a new high-throughput assay to measure RNA polymerase and TF binding free energies, requiring the construction and characterization of only a few constructs and data analysis (Figure 1A). We experimentally verified the assay on 6 TetR-homolog repressors and a CRISPR/dCas9 guide RNA. We found that our binding free energy measurements quantitatively explains why changing TF expression levels alters circuit function. Altogether, by combining these measurements with our biophysical model of translation (the RBS Calculator) as well as other measurements (Figure 1B), our model can account for changes in TF binding sites, TF expression levels, circuit copy number, host genome size, and host growth rate (Figure 1C). Model predictions correctly accounted for how these 8 factors control a promoter’s transcription rate (Figure 1D). Using the model, we developed a design framework for engineering multi-promoter genetic circuits that greatly reduces the number of degrees of freedom (8 factors per promoter) to a single dimensionless unit. We propose the Ptashne (Pt) number to encapsulate the 8 co-dependent factors that control transcriptional regulation into a single number. Therefore, a single number controls a promoter’s output rather than these 8 co-dependent factors, and designing a genetic circuit with N promoters requires specification of only N Pt numbers. We demonstrate how to design genetic circuits in Pt number space by constructing and characterizing 15 2-repressor OpAmp circuits that act as signal amplifiers when within an optimal Pt region. We experimentally show that OpAmp circuits using different TFs and TF expression levels will only amplify the dynamic range of input signals when their corresponding Pt numbers are within the optimal region. Thus, the use of the Pt number greatly simplifies the genetic circuit design, particularly important as circuits employ more TFs to perform increasingly complex functions.

Keywords: transcription factor, synthetic biology, genetic circuit, biophysical model, binding energy measurement

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Authors: Theophilus Asante, Comfort Nyarko, Daniel Antwi

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Drug-resistant tuberculosis, together with the associated comorbidities like pulmonary fibrosis and silicosis, has been one of the most serious global public health threats that requires immediate action to curb or mitigate it. This prolongs hospital stays, increases the cost of medication, and increases the death toll recorded annually. Crinum asiaticum bulb (CAE) and betulin (BET) are known for their biological and pharmacological effects. Pharmacological effects reported on CAE include antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, anti-pyretic, anti-analgesic, and anti-cancer effects. Betulin has exhibited a multitude of powerful pharmacological properties ranging from antitumor, anti-inflammatory, anti-parasitic, anti-microbial, and anti-viral activities. This work sought to investigate the anti-tuberculosis and resistant modulatory effects and also assess their effects on mitigating pulmonary fibrosis and silicosis. In the anti-tuberculosis and resistant modulatory effects, both CAE and BET showed strong antimicrobial activities (31.25 ≤ MIC ≤ 500) µg/ml against the studied microorganisms and also produced significant anti-efflux pump and biofilm inhibitory effects (ρ < 0.0001) as well as exhibiting resistance modulatory and synergistic effects when combined with standard antibiotics. Crinum asiaticum bulbs extract and betulin were shown to possess anti-pulmonary fibrosis effects. There was an increased survival rate in the CAE and BET treatment groups compared to the BLM-induced group. There was a marked decrease in the levels of hydroxyproline and collagen I and III in the CAE and BET treatment groups compared to the BLM-treated group. The treatment groups of CAE and BET significantly downregulated the levels of pro-fibrotic and pro-inflammatory cytokine concentrations such as TGF-β1, MMP9, IL-6, IL-1β and TNF-alpha compared to an increase in the BLM-treated groups. The histological findings of the lungs suggested the curative effects of CAE and BET following BLM-induced pulmonary fibrosis in mice. The study showed improved lung functions with a wide focal area of viable alveolar spaces and few collagen fibers deposition on the lungs of the treatment groups. In the anti-silicosis and pulmonoprotective effects of CAE and BET, the levels of NF-κB, TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6 and hydroxyproline, collagen types I and III were significantly reduced by CAE and BET (ρ < 0.0001). Both CAE and BET significantly (ρ < 0.0001) inhibited the levels of hydroxyproline, collagen I and III when compared with the negative control group. On BALF biomarkers such as macrophages, lymphocytes, monocytes, and neutrophils, CAE and BET were able to reduce their levels significantly (ρ < 0.0001). The CAE and BET were examined for anti-oxidant activity and shown to raise the levels of catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) while lowering the level of malondialdehyde (MDA). There was an improvement in lung function when lung tissues were examined histologically. Crinum asiaticum bulbs extract and betulin were discovered to exhibit anti-tubercular and resistance-modulatory properties, as well as the capacity to minimize TB comorbidities such as pulmonary fibrosis and silicosis. In addition, CAE and BET may act as protective mechanisms, facilitating the preservation of the lung's physiological integrity. The outcomes of this study might pave the way for the development of leads for producing single medications for the management of drug-resistant tuberculosis and its accompanying comorbidities.

Keywords: fibrosis, crinum, tuberculosis, antiinflammation, drug resistant

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Authors: U. S. Putro, L. Mayangsari, M. Siallagan, N. P. Tjahyani

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National Collective Management Institute (LKMN) in Indonesia stated that legal music products were about 77.552.008 unit while illegal music products were about 22.0688.225 unit in 1996 and this number keeps getting worse every year. Consequently, Indonesia named as one of the countries with high piracy levels in 2005. This study models people decision toward unlawful behavior, music content piracy in particular, using agent-based modeling and simulation (ABMS). The classification of actors in the model constructed in this study are legal consumer, illegal consumer, and neutral consumer. The decision toward piracy among the actors is a manifestation of the social norm which attributes are social pressure, peer pressure, social approval, and perceived prevalence of piracy. The influencing attributes fluctuate depending on the majority of surrounding behavior called social network. There are two main interventions undertaken in the model, campaign and peer influence, which leads to scenarios in the simulation: positively-framed descriptive norm message, negatively-framed descriptive norm message, positively-framed injunctive norm with benefits message, and negatively-framed injunctive norm with costs message. Using NetLogo, the model is simulated in 30 runs with 10.000 iteration for each run. The initial number of agent was set 100 proportion of 95:5 for illegal consumption. The assumption of proportion is based on the data stated that 95% sales of music industry are pirated. The finding of this study is that negatively-framed descriptive norm message has a worse reversed effect toward music piracy. The study discovers that selecting the context-based campaign is the key process to reduce the level of intention toward music piracy as unlawful behavior by increasing the compliance awareness. The context of Indonesia reveals that that majority of people has actively engaged in music piracy as unlawful behavior, so that people think that this illegal act is common behavior. Therefore, providing the information about how widespread and big this problem is could make people do the illegal consumption behavior instead. The positively-framed descriptive norm message scenario works best to reduce music piracy numbers as it focuses on supporting positive behavior and subject to the right perception on this phenomenon. Music piracy is not merely economical, but rather social phenomenon due to the underlying motivation of the actors which has shifted toward community sharing. The indication of misconception of value co-creation in the context of music piracy in Indonesia is also discussed. This study contributes theoretically that understanding how social norm configures the behavior of decision-making process is essential to breakdown the phenomenon of unlawful behavior in music industry. In practice, this study proposes that reward-based and context-based strategy is the most relevant strategy for stakeholders in music industry. Furthermore, this study provides an opportunity that findings may generalize well beyond music piracy context. As an emerging body of work that systematically constructs the backstage of law and social affect decision-making process, it is interesting to see how the model is implemented in other decision-behavior related situation.

Keywords: music piracy, social norm, behavioral decision-making, agent-based model, value co-creation

Procedia PDF Downloads 186

Authors: Pia Ulvenblad, Henrik Barth, Jennie Cederholm BjöRklund, Maya Hoveskog, Per-Ola Ulvenblad

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The importance of business model innovation (BMI) is widely recognized. This is also valid for firms in the agri-food industry, closely connected to global challenges. Worldwide food production will have to increase 70% by 2050 and the United Nations’ sustainable development goals prioritize research and innovation on food security and sustainable agriculture. The firms of the agri-food industry have opportunities to increase their competitive advantage through BMI. However, the process of BMI is complex and the implementation of new business models is associated with high degree of risk and failure. Thus, managers from all industries and scholars need to better understand how to address this complexity. Therefore, the research presented in this paper (i) explores different categories of barriers in research literature on business models in the agri-food industry, and (ii) illustrates categories of barriers with empirical cases. This study is addressing the rather limited understanding on barriers for BMI in the agri-food industry, through a systematic literature review (SLR) of 570 peer-reviewed journal articles that contained a combination of ‘BM’ or ‘BMI’ with agriculture-related and food-related terms (e.g. ‘agri-food sector’) published in the period 1990-2014. The study classifies the barriers in several categories and illustrates the identified barriers with ten empirical cases. Findings from the literature review show that barriers are mainly identified as outcomes. It can be assumed that a perceived barrier to growth can often be initially exaggerated or underestimated before being challenged by appropriate measures or courses of action. What may be considered by the public mind to be a barrier could in reality be very different from an actual barrier that needs to be challenged. One way of addressing barriers to growth is to define barriers according to their origin (internal/external) and nature (tangible/intangible). The framework encompasses barriers related to the firm (internal addressing in-house conditions) or to the industrial or national levels (external addressing environmental conditions). Tangible barriers can include asset shortages in the area of equipment or facilities, while human resources deficiencies or negative willingness towards growth are examples of intangible barriers. Our findings are consistent with previous research on barriers for BMI that has identified human factors barriers (individuals’ attitudes, histories, etc.); contextual barriers related to company and industry settings; and more abstract barriers (government regulations, value chain position, and weather). However, human factor barriers – and opportunities - related to family-owned businesses with idealistic values and attitudes and owning the real estate where the business is situated, are more frequent in the agri-food industry than other industries. This paper contributes by generating a classification of the barriers for BMI as well as illustrating them with empirical cases. We argue that internal barriers such as human factors barriers; values and attitudes are crucial to overcome in order to develop BMI. However, they can be as hard to overcome as for example institutional barriers such as governments’ regulations. Implications for research and practice are to focus on cognitive barriers and to develop the BMI capability of the owners and managers of agri-industry firms.

Keywords: agri-food, barriers, business model, innovation

Procedia PDF Downloads 232

Authors: O. O. Sufyani, M. E. Oraiby, S. A. Qumaiy, A. I. Alaamri, Z. M. Eisa, A. M. Hakami, M. A. Attafi, O. M. Alhassan, W. M. Elsideeg, E. M. Noureldin, Y. A. Hobani, Y. Q. Majrabi, I. A. Khardali, A. B. Maashi, A. A. Al Mane, A. H. Hakami, I. M. Alkhyat, A. A. Sahly, I. M. Attafi

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According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Pesticides Use Database, pesticide use in agriculture in Saudi Arabia has more than doubled from 4539 tons in 2009 to 10496 tons in 2019. Among pesticides, pyrethroids is commonly used in Saudi Arabia. Pesticides may increase susceptibility to a variety of diseases, particularly among pesticide workers, due to their extensive use, indiscriminate use, and long-term exposure. Therefore, analyzing blood chemo-profiles and evaluating the detected substances as biomarkers for pyrethroid pesticide exposure may assist to identify and predicting adverse effects of exposure, which may be used for both preventative and risk assessment purposes. The purpose of this study was to (a) analyze chemo-profiling by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis, (b) identify the most commonly detected chemicals in a time-exposure-dependent manner using a Venn diagram, and (c) identify their associated disease among pesticide workers using analyzer tools on the Comparative Toxicogenomics Database (CTD) website, (250 healthy male volunteers (20-60 years old) who deal with pesticides in the Jazan region of Saudi Arabia (exposure intervals: 1-2, 4-6, 6-8, more than 8 years) were included in the study. A questionnaire was used to collect demographic information, the duration of pesticide exposure, and the existence of chronic conditions. Blood samples were collected for biochemistry analysis and extracted by solid-phase extraction for gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. Biochemistry analysis reveals no significant changes in response to the exposure period; however, an inverse association between the albumin level and the exposure interval was observed. The blood chemo-profiling was differentially expressed in an exposure time-dependent manner. This analysis identified the common chemical set associated with each group and their associated significant occupational diseases. While some of these chemicals are associated with a variety of diseases, the distinguishing feature of these chemically associated disorders is their applicability for prevention measures. The most interesting finding was the identification of several chemicals; erucic acid, pelargonic acid, alpha-linolenic acid, dibutyl phthalate, diisobutyl phthalate, dodecanol, myristic Acid, pyrene, and 8,11,14-eicosatrienoic acid, associated with pneumoconiosis, asbestosis, asthma, silicosis and berylliosis. Chemical-disease association study also found that cancer, digestive system disease, nervous system disease, and metabolic disease were the most often recognized disease categories in the common chemical set. The hierarchical clustering approach was used to compare the expression patterns and exposure intervals of the chemicals found commonly. More study is needed to validate these chemicals as early markers of pyrethroid insecticide-related occupational disease, which might assist evaluate and reducing risk. The current study contributes valuable data and recommendations to public health.

Keywords: occupational, toxicology, chemo-profiling, pesticide, pyrethroid, GC-MS

Procedia PDF Downloads 101

Authors: Hongmei Wang, Ziyun Xiang, Ying liu, Li Yu, Dongsheng Yue

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Intro: The COVID-19 (Corona Virus Disease 2019) has greatly changed the global economic, political and financial ecology. The mutation of the coronavirus in the UK in December 2020 has brought new panic to the world. Deep learning was performed on Chest Computed tomography (CT) of COVID-19 and Influenza and describes their characteristics. The predominant features of COVID-19 pneumonia was ground-glass opacification, followed by consolidation. Lesion density: most lesions appear as ground-glass shadows, and some lesions coexist with solid lesions. Lesion distribution: the focus is mainly on the dorsal side of the periphery of the lung, with the lower lobe of the lungs as the focus, and it is often close to the pleura. Other features it has are grid-like shadows in ground glass lesions, thickening signs of diseased vessels, air bronchi signs and halo signs. The severe disease involves whole bilateral lungs, showing white lung signs, air bronchograms can be seen, and there can be a small amount of pleural effusion in the bilateral chest cavity. At the same time, this year's flu season could be near its peak after surging throughout the United States for months. Chest CT for Influenza infection is characterized by focal ground glass shadows in the lungs, with or without patchy consolidation, and bronchiole air bronchograms are visible in the concentration. There are patchy ground-glass shadows, consolidation, air bronchus signs, mosaic lung perfusion, etc. The lesions are mostly fused, which is prominent near the hilar and two lungs. Grid-like shadows and small patchy ground-glass shadows are visible. Deep neural networks have great potential in image analysis and diagnosis that traditional machine learning algorithms do not. Method: Aiming at the two major infectious diseases COVID-19 and influenza, which are currently circulating in the world, the chest CT of patients with two infectious diseases is classified and diagnosed using deep learning algorithms. The residual network is proposed to solve the problem of network degradation when there are too many hidden layers in a deep neural network (DNN). The proposed deep residual system (ResNet) is a milestone in the history of the Convolutional neural network (CNN) images, which solves the problem of difficult training of deep CNN models. Many visual tasks can get excellent results through fine-tuning ResNet. The pre-trained convolutional neural network ResNet is introduced as a feature extractor, eliminating the need to design complex models and time-consuming training. Fastai is based on Pytorch, packaging best practices for in-depth learning strategies, and finding the best way to handle diagnoses issues. Based on the one-cycle approach of the Fastai algorithm, the classification diagnosis of lung CT for two infectious diseases is realized, and a higher recognition rate is obtained. Results: A deep learning model was developed to efficiently identify the differences between COVID-19 and influenza using chest CT.

Keywords: COVID-19, Fastai, influenza, transfer network

Procedia PDF Downloads 142

Authors: V. Mantey, N. Findlay, I. Maddox

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The quality and quantity of global satellite data have been increasing exponentially in recent years as spaceborne systems become more affordable and the sensors themselves become more sophisticated. This is a valuable resource for many applications, including disaster management and relief. However, while more information can be valuable, the volume of data available is impossible to manually examine. Therefore, the question becomes how to extract as much information as possible from the data with limited manpower. Buildings are a key feature of interest in satellite imagery with applications including telecommunications, population models, and disaster relief. Machine learning tools are fast becoming one of the key resources to solve this problem, and models have been developed to detect buildings in optical satellite imagery. However, by and large, most models focus on affluent regions where buildings are generally larger and constructed further apart. This work is focused on the more difficult problem of detection in populated regions. The primary challenge with detecting small buildings in densely populated regions is both the spatial and spectral resolution of the optical sensor. Densely packed buildings with similar construction materials will be difficult to separate due to a similarity in color and because the physical separation between structures is either non-existent or smaller than the spatial resolution. This study finds that training models until they are overfitting the input sample can perform better in these areas than a more robust, generalized model. An overfitted model takes less time to fine-tune from a generalized pre-trained model and requires fewer input data. The model developed for this study has also been fine-tuned using existing, open-source, building vector datasets. This is particularly valuable in the context of disaster relief, where information is required in a very short time span. Leveraging existing datasets means that little to no manpower or time is required to collect data in the region of interest. The training period itself is also shorter for smaller datasets. Requiring less data means that only a few quality areas are necessary, and so any weaknesses or underpopulated regions in the data can be skipped over in favor of areas with higher quality vectors. In this study, a landcover classification model was developed in conjunction with the building detection tool to provide a secondary source to quality check the detected buildings. This has greatly reduced the false positive rate. The proposed methodologies have been implemented and integrated into a configurable production environment and have been employed for a number of large-scale commercial projects, including continent-wide DEM production, where the extracted building footprints are being used to enhance digital elevation models. Overfitted machine learning models are often considered too specific to have any predictive capacity. However, this study demonstrates that, in cases where input data is scarce, overfitted models can be judiciously applied to solve time-sensitive problems.

Keywords: building detection, disaster relief, mask-RCNN, satellite mapping

Procedia PDF Downloads 168

Authors: Tatjana Kadifkova Panovska, Svetlana Kulevanova, Blagica Jovanova

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Biological systems possess the ability to neutralize the excess of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and to protect cells from destructive alterations. However, many pathological conditions (cardiovascular diseases, autoimmune disorders, cancer) are associated with inflammatory processes that generate an excessive amount of reactive oxygen species (ROS) that shift the balance between endogenous antioxidant systems and free oxygen radicals in favor of the latter, leading to oxidative stress. Therefore, an additional source of natural compounds with antioxidant properties that will reduce the amount of ROS in cells is much needed despite their broad utilization; many plant species remain largely unexplored. Therefore, the purpose of the present study is to investigate the antioxidant activity of twenty-five selected medicinal and aromatic plant species. The antioxidant activity of the ethanol extracts was evaluated with in vitro assays: 2,2’-diphenyl-1-pycryl-hydrazyl (DPPH), ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), non-site-specific- (NSSOH) and site-specific hydroxyl radical-2-deoxy-D-ribose degradation (SSOH) assays. The Folin-Ciocalteu method and AlCl3 method were performed to determine total phenolic content (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC). All examined plant extracts manifested antioxidant activity to a different extent. Cinnamomum verum J.Presl bark and Ocimum basilicum L. Herba demonstrated strong radical scavenging activity and reducing power with the DPPH and FRAP assay, respectively. Additionally, significant hydroxyl scavenging potential and metal chelating properties were observed using the NSSOH and SSOH assays. Furthermore, significant variations were determined in the total polyphenolic content (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC), with Cinnamomum verum and Ocimum basilicum showing the highest amount of total polyphenols. The considerably strong radical scavenging activity, hydroxyl scavenging potential and reducing power for the species mentioned above suggest of a presence of highly bioactive phytochemical compounds, predominantly polyphenols. Since flavonoids are the most abundant group of polyphenols that possess a large number of available reactive OH groups in their structure, it is considered that they are the main contributors to the radical scavenging properties of the examined plant extracts. This observation is supported by the positive correlation between the radical scavenging activity and the total polyphenolic and flavonoid content obtained in the current research. The observations from the current research nominate Cinnamomum verum bark and Ocimum basilicum herba as potential sources of bioactive compounds that could be utilized as antioxidative additives in the food and pharmaceutical industries. Moreover, the present study will help the researchers as basic data for future research in exploiting the hidden potential of these important plants that have not been explored so far.

Keywords: ethanol extracts, radical scavenging activity, reducing power, total polyphenols.

Procedia PDF Downloads 197