Search results for: European Human Rights Court

Authors: Milu T. Cherian, Sergio C. Chai, Morgan A. Casal, Taosheng Chen

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This study aims to use CINPA1, a recently discovered small-molecule inhibitor of the xenobiotic receptor CAR (constitutive androstane receptor) for understanding the binding modes of CAR and to guide CAR-mediated gene expression profiling studies in human primary hepatocytes. CAR and PXR are xenobiotic sensors that respond to drugs and endobiotics by modulating the expression of metabolic genes that enhance detoxification and elimination. Elevated levels of drug metabolizing enzymes and efflux transporters resulting from CAR activation promote the elimination of chemotherapeutic agents leading to reduced therapeutic effectiveness. Multidrug resistance in tumors after chemotherapy could be associated with errant CAR activity, as shown in the case of neuroblastoma. CAR inhibitors used in combination with existing chemotherapeutics could be utilized to attenuate multidrug resistance and resensitize chemo-resistant cancer cells. CAR and PXR have many overlapping modulating ligands as well as many overlapping target genes which confounded attempts to understand and regulate receptor-specific activity. Through a directed screening approach we previously identified a new CAR inhibitor, CINPA1, which is novel in its ability to inhibit CAR function without activating PXR. The cellular mechanisms by which CINPA1 inhibits CAR function were also extensively examined along with its pharmacokinetic properties. CINPA1 binding was shown to change CAR-coregulator interactions as well as modify CAR recruitment at DNA response elements of regulated genes. CINPA1 was shown to be broken down in the liver to form two, mostly inactive, metabolites. The structure-activity differences of CINPA1 and its metabolites were used to guide computational modeling using the CAR-LBD structure. To rationalize how ligand binding may lead to different CAR pharmacology, an analysis of the docked poses of human CAR bound to CITCO (a CAR activator) vs. CINPA1 or the metabolites was conducted. From our modeling, strong hydrogen bonding of CINPA1 with N165 and H203 in the CAR-LBD was predicted. These residues were validated to be important for CINPA1 binding using single amino-acid CAR mutants in a CAR-mediated functional reporter assay. Also predicted were residues making key hydrophobic interactions with CINPA1 but not the inactive metabolites. Some of these hydrophobic amino acids were also identified and additionally, the differential coregulator interactions of these mutants were determined in mammalian two-hybrid systems. CINPA1 represents an excellent starting point for future optimization into highly relevant probe molecules to study the function of the CAR receptor in normal- and pathophysiology, and possible development of therapeutics (for e.g. use for resensitizing chemoresistant neuroblastoma cells).

Keywords: antagonist, chemoresistance, constitutive androstane receptor (CAR), multi-drug resistance, structure activity relationship (SAR), xenobiotic resistance

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Authors: Simona Dostalova, Pavel Kopel, Marketa Vaculovicova, Vojtech Adam, Rene Kizek

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Protein apoferritin seems to be a very promising structure for use as a nanocarrier. It is prepared from intracellular ferritin protein naturally found in most organisms. The role of ferritin proteins is to store and transport ferrous ions. Apoferritin is a hollow protein cage without ferrous ions that can be prepared from ferritin by reduction with thioglycolic acid or dithionite. The structure of apoferritin is composed of 24 protein subunits, creating a sphere with 12 nm in diameter. The inner cavity has a diameter of 8 nm. The drug encapsulation process is based on the response of apoferritin structure to the pH changes of surrounding solution. In low pH, apoferritin is disassembled into individual subunits and its structure is “opened”. It can then be mixed with any desired cytotoxic drug and after adjustment of pH back to neutral the subunits are reconnected again and the drug is encapsulated within the apoferritin particles. Excess drug molecules can be removed by dialysis. The receptors for apoferritin, SCARA5 and TfR1 can be found in the membrane of both healthy and cancer cells. To enhance the specific targeting of apoferritin nanocarrier, it is possible to modify its surface with targeting moieties, such as antibodies. To ensure sterically correct complex, we used a a peptide linker based on a protein G with N-terminus affinity towards Fc region of antibodies. To connect the peptide to the surface of apoferritin, the C-terminus of peptide was made of cysteine with affinity to gold. The surface of apoferritin with encapsulated doxorubicin (ApoDox) was coated either with gold nanoparticles (ApoDox-Nano) or gold (III) chloride hydrate reduced with sodium borohydride (ApoDox-HAu). The applied amount of gold in form of gold (III) chloride hydrate was 10 times higher than in the case of gold nanoparticles. However, after removal of the excess unbound ions by electrophoretic separation, the concentration of gold on the surface of apoferritin was only 6 times higher for ApoDox-HAu in comparison with ApoDox-Nano. Moreover, the reduction with sodium borohydride caused a loss of doxorubicin fluorescent properties (excitation maximum at 480 nm with emission maximum at 600 nm) and thus its biological activity. Fluorescent properties of ApoDox-Nano were similar to the unmodified ApoDox, therefore it was more suited for the intended use. To evaluate the specificity of apoferritin modified with antibodies, we used ELISA-like method with the surface of microtitration plate wells coated by the antigen (goat anti-human IgG antibodies). To these wells, we applied ApoDox without targeting antibodies and ApoDox-Nano modified with targeting antibodies (human IgG antibodies). The amount of unmodified ApoDox on antigen after incubation and subsequent rinsing with water was 5 times lower than in the case of ApoDox-Nano modified with targeting antibodies. The modification of non-gold ApoDox with antibodies caused no change in its targeting properties. It can therefore be concluded that the demonstrated procedure allows us to create nanocarrier with enhanced targeting properties, suitable for nanomedicine.

Keywords: apoferritin, doxorubicin, nanocarrier, targeting antibodies

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Authors: Amir Hossein Ashari, Sedighe Erfan Manesh

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One of the problems in developing countries is renovating the historical context and inducing behaviors appropriate to modern life to such a context. This study was conducted using field and library methods in 2012. Similar cases carried out in Iran and developing countries were compared to unveil the strengths and weaknesses of these projects. At present, in the historical context of Shiraz, the distance between two religious shrines of Shahcheragh (Ahmad ibn Musa) and Astaneh (Sayed Alaa al-Din Hossein), which are significant places in religious, cultural, social, and economic terms, is an area full of historic places called Bein Al-Haramein. Unfortunately, some of these places have been worn out and are not appropriate for common uses. The basic strategy of Bein Al-Haramein was to improve social development of Shiraz, to enhance the vitality and dynamism of the historical context of Bein Al-Haramein and to create tourist attractions in order to boost the city's economic and social stability. To this end, the project includes the huge Bein Al-Haramein Commercial Complex which is under construction now. To construct the complex, officials have decided to demolish places of historical value which can lead to irreparable consequences. Iranian urban design has always been based on three elements of bazaars, mosques and government facilities with bazaars being the organic connector of the other elements. Therefore, the best strategy in the above case is to provide for a commercial connection between the two poles. Although this strategy is included in the project, lack of attention to renovation principles in this area and complete destruction of the context will lead to its irreversible damage and will destroy its cultural and historical identity. In urban planning of this project, some important issues have been neglected including: preserving valuable buildings and special old features of the city, rebuilding worn buildings and context to attract trust and confidence of the people, developing new models according to changes, improving the structural position of old context with minimal degradation, attracting partnerships of residents and protecting their rights and finally using potential facilities of the old context. The best strategy for achieving sustainability in Bein Al-Haramein can be the one used in the distance between Santa Maria Novella and Santa Maria Del Fiore churches in historical context where while protecting the historic context and constructions, old buildings were renovated and given different commercial and service uses making them sustainable and dynamic places. Similarly, in Bein Al-Haramein, renovating old constructions and monuments and giving different commercial and other uses to them can help improve the economic and social sustainability of the area.

Keywords: Bein Al-Haramein, sustainability, historical context, historical context

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Authors: Elena Kokkoni, Prasanna Kannappan, Ashkan Zehfroosh, Effrosyni Mavroudi, Kristina Strother-Garcia, James C. Galloway, Jeffrey Heinz, Rene Vidal, Herbert G. Tanner

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Early immobility affects the motor, cognitive, and social development. Current pediatric rehabilitation lacks the technology that will provide the dosage needed to promote mobility for young children at risk. The addition of socially assistive robots in early interventions may help increase the mobility dosage. The aim of this study is to examine the feasibility of an early intervention paradigm where non-walking infants experience independent mobility while socially interacting with robots. A dynamic environment is developed where both the child and the robot interact and learn from each other. The environment involves: 1) a range of physical activities that are goal-oriented, age-appropriate, and ability-matched for the child to perform, 2) the automatic functions that perceive the child’s actions through novel activity recognition algorithms, and decide appropriate actions for the robot, and 3) a networked visual data acquisition system that enables real-time assessment and provides the means to connect child behavior with robot decision-making in real-time. The environment was tested by bringing a two-year old boy with Down syndrome for eight sessions. The child presented delays throughout his motor development with the current being on the acquisition of walking. During the sessions, the child performed physical activities that required complex motor actions (e.g. climbing an inclined platform and/or staircase). During these activities, a (wheeled or humanoid) robot was either performing the action or was at its end point 'signaling' for interaction. From these sessions, information was gathered to develop algorithms to automate the perception of activities which the robot bases its actions on. A Markov Decision Process (MDP) is used to model the intentions of the child. A 'smoothing' technique is used to help identify the model’s parameters which are a critical step when dealing with small data sets such in this paradigm. The child engaged in all activities and socially interacted with the robot across sessions. With time, the child’s mobility was increased, and the frequency and duration of complex and independent motor actions were also increased (e.g. taking independent steps). Simulation results on the combination of the MDP and smoothing support the use of this model in human-robot interaction. Smoothing facilitates learning MDP parameters from small data sets. This paradigm is feasible and provides an insight on how social interaction may elicit mobility actions suggesting a new early intervention paradigm for very young children with motor disabilities. Acknowledgment: This work has been supported by NIH under grant #5R01HD87133.

Keywords: activity recognition, human-robot interaction, machine learning, pediatric rehabilitation

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Authors: Cagri Baris Kasap

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In this study, how interface designers can be viewed as producers of culture in the current era will be interrogated from a critical theory perspective. Walter Benjamin was a German Jewish literary critical theorist who, during 1930s, was engaged in opposing and criticizing the Nazi use of art and media. ‘The Author as Producer’ is an essay that Benjamin has read at the Communist Institute for the Study of Fascism in Paris. In this article, Benjamin relates directly to the dialectics between base and superstructure and argues that authors, normally placed within the superstructure should consider how writing and publishing is production and directly related to the base. Through it, he discusses what it could mean to see author as producer of his own text, as a producer of writing, understood as an ideological construct that rests on the apparatus of production and distribution. So Benjamin concludes that the author must write in ways that relate to the conditions of production, he must do so in order to prepare his readers to become writers and even make this possible for them by engineering an ‘improved apparatus’ and must work toward turning consumers to producers and collaborators. In today’s world, it has become a leading business model within Web 2.0 services of multinational Internet technologies and culture industries like Amazon, Apple and Google, to transform readers, spectators, consumers or users into collaborators and co-producers through platforms such as Facebook, YouTube and Amazon’s CreateSpace Kindle Direct Publishing print-on-demand, e-book and publishing platforms. However, the way this transformation happens is tightly controlled and monitored by combinations of software and hardware. In these global-market monopolies, it has become increasingly difficult to get insight into how one’s writing and collaboration is used, captured, and capitalized as a user of Facebook or Google. In the lens of this study, it could be argued that this criticism could very well be considered by digital producers or even by the mass of collaborators in contemporary social networking software. How do software and design incorporate users and their collaboration? Are they truly empowered, are they put in a position where they are able to understand the apparatus and how their collaboration is part of it? Or has the apparatus become a means against the producers? Thus, when using corporate systems like Google and Facebook, iPhone and Kindle without any control over the means of production, which is closed off by opaque interfaces and licenses that limit our rights of use and ownership, we are already the collaborators that Benjamin calls for. For example, the iPhone and the Kindle combine a specific use of technology to distribute the relations between the ‘authors’ and the ‘prodUsers’ in ways that secure their monopolistic business models by limiting the potential of the technology.

Keywords: interface designer, cultural producer, Walter Benjamin, materialist aesthetics, dialectical thinking

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Authors: Sara R. Knigge, Sugat R. Tuladhar, Alexander Becker, Tobias Schilling, Birgit Glasmacher

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Commercially available mechanical or biological heart valve prostheses both tend to fail long-term due to thrombosis, calcific degeneration, infection, or immunogenic rejection. Moreover, these prostheses are non-viable and do not grow with the patients, which is a problem for young patients. As a result, patients often need to undergo redo-operations. Tissue-engineered (TE) heart valves based on degradable electrospun fiber scaffolds represent a promising approach to overcome these limitations. Such scaffolds need sufficient mechanical properties to withstand the hydrodynamic stress of intracardiac hemodynamics. Additionally, the scaffolds should be colonized by autologous or homologous cells to facilitate the in vivo remodeling of the scaffolds to a viable structure. This study investigates how process parameters of electrospinning and degradation affect the mechanical properties of electrospun scaffolds made of FDA-approved, biodegradable polymer polycaprolactone (PCL). Fiber mats were produced from a PCL/tetrafluoroethylene solution by electrospinning. The e-spinning process was varied in terms of scaffold thickness, fiber diameter, fiber orientation, and fiber interconnectivity. The morphology of the fiber mats was characterized with a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The mats were degraded in different solutions (cell culture media, SBF, PBS and 10 M NaOH-Solution). At different time points of degradation (2, 4 and 6 weeks), tensile and cyclic loading tests were performed. Fresh porcine pericardium and heart valves served as a control for the mechanical assessment. The progression of polymer degradation was quantified by SEM and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Primary Human aortic endothelial cells (HAECs) and Human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived endothelial cells (iPSC-ECs) were seeded on the fiber mats to investigate the cell colonization potential. The results showed that both the electrospinning parameters and the degradation significantly influenced the mechanical properties. Especially the fiber orientation has a considerable impact and leads to a pronounced anisotropic behavior of the scaffold. Preliminary results showed that the polymer became strongly more brittle over time. However, the embrittlement can initially only be detected in the mechanical test. In the SEM and DSC investigations, neither morphological nor thermodynamic changes are significantly detectable. Live/Dead staining and SEM imaging of the cell-seeded scaffolds showed that HAECs and iPSC-ECs were able to grow on the surface of the polymer. In summary, this study's results indicate a promising approach to the development of a TE aortic heart valve based on an electrospun scaffold.

Keywords: electrospun scaffolds, long-term polymer degradation, mechanical behavior of electrospun PCL, tissue engineered aortic heart valve

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Authors: Jana Ismail, Layla Fallatah, Maha Alshmaisi

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ChatGPT, a cutting-edge language model built on the GPT-3.5 architecture, has garnered attention for its profound natural language processing capabilities, holding promise for transformative applications in customer service and content creation. This study delves into ChatGPT's architecture, aiming to comprehensively understand its strengths and potential limitations. Through systematic experiments across diverse domains, such as general knowledge and creative writing, we evaluated the model's coherence, context retention, and task-specific accuracy. While ChatGPT excels in generating human-like responses and demonstrates adaptability, occasional inaccuracies and sensitivity to input phrasing were observed. The study emphasizes the impact of prompt design on output quality, providing valuable insights for the nuanced deployment of ChatGPT in conversational AI and contributing to the ongoing discourse on the evolving landscape of natural language processing in artificial intelligence.

Keywords: artificial Inelegance, chatGPT, open AI, NLP

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Authors: Sudhanshu Sharma

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Lisinopril, 1-[N-{(s)-I-carboxy-3 phenyl propyl}-L-proline dehydrate is a lysine analog of enalaprilat, the active metabolite of enalapril. It is long-acting, non-sulhydryl angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor that is used for the treatment of hypertension and congestive heart failure in daily dosage 10-80 mg. Pharmacological activity of lisinopril has been proved in various experimental and clinical studies. Owing to its importance and widespread use, efforts have been made towards the development of simple and reliable analytical methods. As per our literature survey, lisinopril in pharmaceutical formulations has been determined by various analytical methodologies like polaragraphy, potentiometry, and spectrophotometry, but most of these analytical methods are not too suitable for the Identification of lisinopril from clinical samples because of the interferences caused by the amino acids and amino groups containing metabolites present in biological samples. This report is an attempt in the direction of developing a simple and reliable method for on plate identification and quantification of lisinopril in pharmaceutical formulations as well as from human urine samples using silica gel H layers developed with a new mobile phase comprising of micellar solutions of N-cetyl-N, N, N-trimethylammonium bromide (CTAB). Micellar solutions have found numerous practical applications in many areas of separation science. Micellar liquid chromatography (MLC) has gained immense popularity and wider applicability due to operational simplicity, cost effectiveness, relatively non-toxicity and enhanced separation efficiency, low aggressiveness. Incorporation of aqueous micellar solutions as mobile phase was pioneered by Armstrong and Terrill as they accentuated the importance of TLC where simultaneous separation of ionic or non-ionic species in a variety of matrices is required. A peculiarity of the micellar mobile phases (MMPs) is that they have no macroscopic analogues, as a result the typical separations can be easily achieved by using MMPs than aqueous organic mobile phases. Previously MMPs were successfully employed in TLC based critical separations of aromatic hydrocarbons, nucleotides, vitamin K1 and K5, o-, m- and p- aminophenol, amino acids, separation of penicillins. The human urine analysis for identification of selected drugs and their metabolites has emerged as an important investigation tool in forensic drug analysis. Among all chromatographic methods available only thin layer chromatography (TLC) enables a simple fast and effective separation of the complex mixtures present in various biological samples and is recommended as an approved testing for forensic drug analysis by federal Law. TLC proved its applicability during successful separation of bio-active amines, carbohydrates, enzymes, porphyrins, and their precursors, alkaloid and drugs from urine samples.

Keywords: lisnopril, surfactant, chromatography, micellar solutions

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Authors: E. A. Mlybari, M. S. Elbisy, A. H. Alshahri, O. M. Albarakati

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Sea level rise threatens to increase the impact of future storms and hurricanes on coastal communities. Accurate sea level change prediction and supplement is an important task in determining constructions and human activities in coastal and oceanic areas. In this study, support vector machines (SVM) is proposed to predict daily tidal levels along the Jeddah Coast, Saudi Arabia. The optimal parameter values of kernel function are determined using a genetic algorithm. The SVM results are compared with the field data and with back propagation (BP). Among the models, the SVM is superior to BPNN and has better generalization performance.

Keywords: tides, prediction, support vector machines, genetic algorithm, back-propagation neural network, risk, hazards

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Authors: Vijay Kr. Yadav, Nilam Rathi

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Accurate prediction of glucose level for diabetes mellitus is required to avoid affecting the functioning of major organs of human body. This study describes the fundamental assumptions and two different methodologies of the Blood glucose prediction. First is based on the back-propagation algorithm of Artificial Neural Network (ANN), and second is based on the Neuro-Fuzzy technique, called Fuzzy Inference System (FIS). Errors between proposed methods further discussed through various statistical methods such as mean square error (MSE), normalised mean absolute error (NMAE). The main objective of present study is to develop mathematical model for blood glucose prediction before 12 hours advanced using data set of three patients for 60 days. The comparative studies of the accuracy with other existing models are also made with same data set.

Keywords: back-propagation, diabetes mellitus, fuzzy inference system, neuro-fuzzy

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Authors: Shinji Kawakura, Ryosuke Shibasaki

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We have been grouping and developing various kinds of practical, promising sensing applied systems concerning agricultural advancement and technical tradition (guidance). These include advanced devices to secure real-time data related to worker motion, and we analyze by methods of various advanced statistics and human dynamics (e.g. primary component analysis, Ward system based cluster analysis, and mapping). What is more, we have been considering worker daily health and safety issues. Targeted fields are mainly common farms, meadows, and gardens. After then, we observed and discussed time-line style, changing data. And, we made some suggestions. The entire plan makes it possible to improve both the aforementioned applied systems and farms.

Keywords: advanced statistical analysis, wearable sensing system, tradition of skill, supporting for workers, detecting crisis

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Authors: Luke Onyekakeyah, Cynthia Onyekakeyah

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The conflict in Northeastern Nigeria could mar local and international efforts to salvage the drying Lake Chad, which at present is merely 20 per cent of its original size. The conflict which began in 2009, assumed a monstrous dimension to the extent that any prospects of a redeeming action on the Lake is bleak. The concern of the authorities in the basin countries is how to bring the conflict to an end in the interest of the ecologically-dependent riparian population. Lake Chad is Africa’s fourth largest lake. From a previous 388,500 km2 some 600, 000 years ago, the Lake has shrunk to a maximum length of 25,000 km2. During the last four decades, the Lake has been susceptible to increasing variability and irregular rainfall. Dry spell, excessive evaporation and sandstorm have adversely affected the Lake, such that a 2001 estimate put the Lake to a meager 19,000 km2. Given the critical importance of the Lake as a source of livelihood for over 20 million people, there is mounting concern that an unprecedented human and ecological catastrophe is unfolding, should the Lake eventually dries up. The study evaluates the Lake Chad and how the conflict has adversely impacted it.

Keywords: lake chad, conflict, salvage, Nigeria

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Authors: Toan Vu Duc, Son Ha Viet

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This research presents the first comprehensive survey of congener profiles (7 indicator congeners) of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in sediment samples covering ten sites in CauBay River, Vietnam. Chemical analyses were carried out in gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) for tri- to hepta- brominated congeners. Results pointed out a non-homogenous contamination of the sediment with ∑7 PBDE values ranging from 8.93 to 25.64ng g−1, reflecting moderate to low contamination closely in conformity to other Asian aquatic environments. The general order of decreasing congener contribution to the total load was: BDE 47 > 99 > 100 > 154, similar to the distribution pattern worldwide. PBDEs had rare risks in the sediment of studied area. However, due to the propensity of PBDEs to accumulate in various compartments of wildlife and human food webs, evaluation of biological tissues should be undertaken as a high priority.

Keywords: residue, risk assessment, PBDEs, sediment

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Authors: Artur Willoński

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This research introduces the concept of Emotions Based Collaborative Prompting (EBCP) as a response to the need for a unified learning environment in the corporate workplace. The first section examines the key characteristics of workplace learning, presenting three core propositions: (1) workplace learning is both informal and diverse, requiring adaptable approaches; (2) corporate settings provide inherent structures that can be leveraged for collaborative learning; and (3) emotional engagement and human interaction play a central role in effective learning processes. The second section describes how EBCP framework creates an environment that helps identify emotions, assign emotions with parameters, and allows these parameters to be collected, analysed, and turned into a context-aware learning environment. It concludes that EBCP allows people who come from different social backgrounds, age groups, and positions in the organisation to collaborate and generate knowledge based on both formal and informal interactions.

Keywords: collaborative learning, self-regulated learning, emotions, AI

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Authors: Hafila Banu

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Minimalism is a postmodern style movement which emerged in the 50s of the twentieth century, but it was rapidly growing in the years of 60s and 70s. Minimalism is defined as the concept of minimizing distractions from what is truly valuable or essential. On the same grounds, works of minimalism offer a direct view at and raises questions about the true nature of the subject or object inviting the viewer to consider it for it for the real shape, a thought, a movement reminding us to focus on what is really important. The Architecture of Minimalism is characterized by an economy with materials , focusing on building quality with considerations for ‘essences’ as light, form, detail of material, texture, space and scale, place and human conditions . The research of this paper is mainly into the basis of designing a minimalistic mosque in India while analysing the parameters for the design from the matching characteristics of Islamic architecture in specific to a mosque and the minimalism. Therefore, the paper is about the mosque architecture and minimalism and of their underlying principles, matching characteristics and design goals.

Keywords: Islamic architecture, minimalism, minimalistic mosque, mosque in India

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Authors: Shuailin Li, Tanja Stachon, Fabian N. Fries, Zhen Li, Shanhe Liu, Shao-Lun Hsu, Berthold Seitz, Swarnali Kundu, Maryam Amini, Shweta Suiwal, Nóra Szentmáry

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Purpose: Aniridia associated keratopathy (AAK) is a progressive condition commonly observed in individuals with congenital aniridia, with PAX6 haploinsufficiency. AAK can lead to limbal stem cell deficiency and progressive ocular surface damage. The dysfunction of limbal epithelial and stromal cells (LECs and LSCs) potentially plays a key role in AAK pathogenesis. Travoprost, a prostaglandin analog, has been shown to influence cellular behavior in various cell types, but its effects on primary aniridia LECs and LSCs remain unclear. This study aims to evaluate the impact of travoprost on cell viability, proliferation, and migration in LECs, in the siRNA-based limbal epithelial cell model and in primary aniridia LSCs, in vitro. Methods: Primary human LECs were extracted from heathy donors, and siRNA treatment was used to mimic PAX6 haploinsufficiency in congenital aniridia. Primary human LSCs were extracted from heathy and aniridia donors (AN-LSCs). LECs, LSCs and AN-LSCs were treated with 0.039-40 μg/ml travoprost, for 20 minutes. The XTT and BrdU assays were used to evaluate the effect of travoprost on cell viability and proliferation (n=7). Cell migration assay was performed following siRNA-based PAX6 knockdown and subsequent 0.313 and 0.156 μg/ml travoprost treatment for 20 minutes (n=5). Results: LECs and LSCs viability decreased significantly from 0.156 μg/ml and ANLSCs viability decreased significantly from 0.078 μg/ml travoprost concentration (p=0.0279, p<0.0001, p=0.0002). In all cell types, there was a stepwise decrease in cell viability, as the travoprost concentration increased (p<0.0001). Travoprost treatment did not change cell proliferation in LSCs (p≥0.0892). In LECs, 20 and 40 μg/ml travoprost concentration, in AN-LSCs 40 μg/ml travoprost concentration exhibited reduced cell proliferation, compared to untreated controls (p=0.0291, p=0.0041, p=0.0011). PAX6-knockdown LECs exhibited lower migration rates at 6, 12, and 24 hours (p=0.0015, p=0.0471, p=0.0009) than control siRNA treated LECs, following travoprost treatment. In contrast, AN-LSCs demonstrated higher migration rates at the same 3 time points, than LSCs, after treatment (p=0.0225, p=0.0383, p=0.0155). In addition, among AN-LSCs, migration rate at of the 0.313 μg/ml travoprost treated group at 6 hours was significantly higher, than in the untreated control group. Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that travoprost may exert different effects on LECs, PAX6-knockdown LECs, LSCs, and AN-LSCs regarding cell viability, proliferation, and migration. AN-LSCs appear to exhibit greater sensitivity to travoprost treatment, than LSCs, therefore, topical antiglaucomatous treatment should be selected with caution for patients with congenital aniridia. Further in vivo measurements are necessary to evaluate the potential role of travoprost on AAK.

Keywords: congenital aniridia, travoprost, primary limbal epithelial cells, primary limbal stromal cells

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Authors: Shohel Ahmed, Md. Abdul Alim, Sumaiya Rahman

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Optimal control can be helpful to test and compare different vaccination strategies of a certain disease. The mathematical model of HIV we consider here is a set of ordinary differential equations (ODEs) describing the interactions of CD4+T cells of the immune system with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). As an early treatment setting, we investigate an optimal chemotherapy strategy where control represents the percentage of effect the chemotherapy has on the system. The aim is to obtain a new optimal chemotherapeutic strategy where an isoperimetric constraint on the chemotherapy supply plays a crucial role. We outline the steps in formulating an optimal control problem, derive optimality conditions and demonstrate numerical results of an optimal control for the model. Numerical results illustrate how such a constraint alters the optimal vaccination schedule and its effect on cell-virus interactions.

Keywords: chemotherapy of HIV, optimal control involving ODEs, optimality conditions, Pontryagin’s maximum principle

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Authors: Chantana Insra

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The research objective focuses on creating a prototype media of the tactile texture of muscles for educational institutes to help visually impaired students learn massage extra learning materials further than the ordinary curriculum. This media is designed as an extra learning material. The population in this study was 30 blinded students between 4th - 6th grades who were able to read Braille language. The research was conducted during the second semester in 2012 at The Bangkok School for the Blind. The method in choosing the population in the study was purposive sampling. The methodology of the research includes collecting data related to visually impaired people, the production of the tactile texture media, human anatomy and Thai traditional massage from literature reviews and field studies. This information was used for analyzing and designing 14 tactile texture pictures presented to experts to evaluate and test the media.

Keywords: blind, tactile texture, muscle, visual arts and design

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Authors: Navid Kaboudi, Ali Shayanfar

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Introduction: Feeding infants with safe milk from the beginning of their life is an important issue. Drugs which are used by mothers can affect the composition of milk in a way that is not only unsuitable, but also toxic for infants. Consuming permeable drugs during that sensitive period by mother could lead to serious side effects to the infant. Due to the ethical restrictions of drug testing on humans, especially women, during their lactation period, computational approaches based on structural parameters could be useful. The aim of this study is to develop mechanistic models to predict the M/P ratio of drugs during breastfeeding period based on their structural descriptors. Methods: Two hundred and nine different chemicals with their M/P ratio were used in this study. All drugs were categorized into two groups based on their M/P value as Malone classification: 1: Drugs with M/P>1, which are considered as high risk 2: Drugs with M/P>1, which are considered as low risk Thirty eight chemical descriptors were calculated by ACD/labs 6.00 and Data warrior software in order to assess the penetration during breastfeeding period. Later on, four specific models based on the number of hydrogen bond acceptors, polar surface area, total surface area, and number of acidic oxygen were established for the prediction. The mentioned descriptors can predict the penetration with an acceptable accuracy. For the remaining compounds (N= 147, 158, 160, and 174 for models 1 to 4, respectively) of each model binary regression with SPSS 21 was done in order to give us a model to predict the penetration ratio of compounds. Only structural descriptors with p-value<0.1 remained in the final model. Results and discussion: Four different models based on the number of hydrogen bond acceptors, polar surface area, and total surface area were obtained in order to predict the penetration of drugs into human milk during breastfeeding period About 3-4% of milk consists of lipids, and the amount of lipid after parturition increases. Lipid soluble drugs diffuse alongside with fats from plasma to mammary glands. lipophilicity plays a vital role in predicting the penetration class of drugs during lactation period. It was shown in the logistic regression models that compounds with number of hydrogen bond acceptors, PSA and TSA above 5, 90 and 25 respectively, are less permeable to milk because they are less soluble in the amount of fats in milk. The pH of milk is acidic and due to that, basic compounds tend to be concentrated in milk than plasma while acidic compounds may consist lower concentrations in milk than plasma. Conclusion: In this study, we developed four regression-based models to predict the penetration class of drugs during the lactation period. The obtained models can lead to a higher speed in drug development process, saving energy, and costs. Milk/plasma ratio assessment of drugs requires multiple steps of animal testing, which has its own ethical issues. QSAR modeling could help scientist to reduce the amount of animal testing, and our models are also eligible to do that.

Keywords: logistic regression, breastfeeding, descriptors, penetration

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Authors: Xinyi Gao, Xiaoyun Feng, Ruijie Liu, Yumin Xia, Min Shao, Xinqing Wang

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This paper outlines the travel challenges, the absence of society, and studies around disabled women and chooses the Chongqing area as a case study to explore how terrain characteristics and city construction influence our subject's travel choice. It also highlights future transport options and the necessity of addressing the difficult travel position of women with disabilities. This study focuses on the travel demands of women with disabilities, illustrating what their ideal method of travel would be. An analysis of related smart cities like Hong Kong illustrates the aspects to consider in the reconstruction of Chongqing. Finally, relying on current smart city modelling approaches, several design ideas for assistive tools are suggested for the safety of women with disabilities during travel.

Keywords: future smart city, disabled women, Chongqing, inclusive design, human-computer interaction

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Authors: Nikolaos Katsoulas, Sofia Faliagka, George Kountrias, Eleni Dimitriou, Eleftheria Pechlivani

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The challenges to feed the world in 2050 are becoming more and more apparent. This calls for producing more with fewer inputs (most of them under scarcity), higher resource efficiency, minimum or zero effect on the environment, and higher sustainability. Therefore, increasing the circularity of production systems is highly significant for their sustainability. Protected horticulture offers opportunities for maximum resource efficiency across various levels within and between farms and at the regional level), high-quality production, and contributes significantly to the nutrition security as part of the world food production. In greenhouses, closed soilless cultivation systems give the opportunity to increase the water and nutrient use efficiency and reduce the environmental impact of the cultivation system by the reuse of the drained water and nutrients. However, due to the low quality of the water used in the Mediterranean countries, a completely closed system is not feasible. Partial discharge of the drainage nutrient solution when the levels of electrical conductivity (EC) or of the toxic ions in the system are reached is still a necessity. Thus, in the frame of the circular economy concept, this work presents the utilisation of the drainage solution of soilless cultivation systems for microalgae and biofertilisers production. The system includes a greenhouse equipped with a soilless cultivation system, a drainage solution collection tank, a closed bioreactor for microalgae production, and a biocatalysis tank. The bioreactor tested in the frame of this work includes two closed tube loops of a capacity of 1000 L each where, after the initial inoculation, the microalgae is developed using as a growth medium the drainage solution collected from the greenhouse crops. The bioreactor includes light and temperature control while pH is still manually regulated. As soon as the microalgae culture reaches a certain density level, 20% of the culture is harvested, and the culture system is refiled by a drainage nutrient solution. The microalgae produced goes through a biocatalysis process, which leads to the production of a rich aminoacids (and nitrogen) biofertiliser. The produced biofertiliser is then used for the fertilisation of greenhouse crops. The complete production cycle along with the effects of the biofertiliser produced on crop growth and yield are presented and discussed in this manuscript. Acknowledgment: This work was carried out under the PestNu project that has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Green Deal grant agreement No. 101037128 — PestNu.

Keywords: soilless, water use efficiency, nutrients use efficiency, biostimulant

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Authors: Xing Feng, Yuanbin Li

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Oil spills at sea can cause severe marine environmental damage, including bringing huge hazards to living resources and human beings. In situ burning or chemical dispersant methods can be used to handle the oil spills sometimes, but these approaches will bring secondary pollution and fail in some situations. Oil recovery techniques have also been developed to recover oil using oil skimmer equipment installed on ships, while the hydrodynamic process of the oil flowing through the oil skimmer is very complicated and important for evaluating the recovery efficiency. Based on this, a two-dimensional numerical simulation platform for simulating the hydrodynamic process of the oil flowing through the oil skimmer is established based on the Navier-Stokes equations for viscous, incompressible fluid. Finally, the influence of the design of the flow channel in the curved plane oil skimmer on the hydrodynamic process of the oil flowing through the oil skimmer is investigated based on the established simulation platform.

Keywords: curved plane oil skimmer, flow channel, CFD, VOF

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Authors: Muhammad Younas, Sidra Sawati, M. Razzaq Athar

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Organizational development history reveals that it has ever been a challenge to identify and fathom the role of talent management, career development and compensation management towards employees’ retention and organizational performance. Organizations strive hard to measure the impact of all those factors which affect employee retention and organizational performance. Researchers have worked in great deal in order to know the relationship of independent variables i.e. Talent Management, Career Development and Compensation Management on dependent variables i.e. Employee Retention and Organizational Performance. Employees adorned with latest skills with long lasting loyalty play a significant role towards successful achievement of short term as well as long term goals of the organizations. Retention of valuable and resourceful employees for a longer time is equally essential for meeting the set goals. The organizations which spend reasonable chunk of their resources for taking such measures that help to retain their employees through talent management and satisfactory career development always enjoy a competitive edge over their competitors. Human resource is regarded as one of the most precious and difficult resource to management. It has its own needs and requirement. It becomes an easy prey to monotony when lacks career development. Wants and aspirations of this resource are seldom met completely but can be managed through career development and compensation management. In this era of competition, organizations have to take viable steps to management their resources especially human resource. Top management and Managers keep on working for an amenable solution in order to address the challenges relating career development and compensation management as their ultimate goal is to ensure the organizational performance on optimum level. The current study was conducted to examine the impact of Talent Management, Career Development and Compensation Management towards Employees Retention and Organizational Performance with mediating effect of Employees Motivation in Service Sector of Pakistan. The current study is based on Resource Based View (RBV) and Ability Motivation Opportunity (AMO) theories. It explains that by increasing internal resources we can manage employee talent, career development through compensation management and employee motivation more effectively. It will result in effective execution of HRM practices for employee retention enabling an organization to achieve and sustain competitive advantage through optimal performance. Data collection was made through a structured questionnaire which was based upon adopted instruments after testing reliability and validity. A total 300 employees of 30 firms in service sector of Pakistan were sampled through non-probability sampling technique. Regression analysis revealed that talent management, career development and compensation management have significant positive impact on employee retention and perceived organizational performance. The results further showed that employee motivation have a significant mediating effect on employee retention and organizational performance. The interpretation of the findings and limitations, theoretical and managerial implications are also discussed.

Keywords: career development, compensation management, employee retention, organizational performance, talent management

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Authors: Claire Norman-Maillet

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Insider fraud, including its various synonyms such as occupational, employee or internal fraud, is a major financial crime threat whereby an employee defrauds (or attempts to defraud) their current, prospective, or past employer. ‘Employee’ covers anyone employed by the company, including contractors, directors, and part time staff; they may be a solo bad actor or working in collusion with others, whether internal or external. Insider fraud is even more of a concern given the impacts of the Coronavirus pandemic, which has generated multiple opportunities to commit insider fraud. Insider fraud is something that is not necessarily thought of as a significant financial crime threat; the focus of most academics and practitioners has historically been on that of ‘external fraud’ against businesses or entities where an individual or group has no professional ties. Without the face-to-face, ‘over the shoulder’ capabilities of staff being able to keep an eye on their employees, there is a heightened reliance on trust and transparency. With this, naturally, comes an increased risk of insider fraud perpetration. The objective of the research is to better understand how companies are impacted by insider fraud, and therefore how to stop it. This research will make both an original contribution and stimulate debate within the financial crime field. The financial crime landscape is never static – criminals are always creating new ways to perpetrate financial crime, and new legislation and regulations are implemented as attempts to strengthen controls, in addition to businesses doing what they can internally to detect and prevent it. By focusing on insider fraud specifically, the research will be more specific and will be of greater use to those in the field. To achieve the aims of the research, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 22 individuals who either work in financial services and deal with insider fraud or work within insider fraud perpetration in a recruitment or advisory capacity. This was to enable the sourcing of information from a wide range of individuals in a setting where they were able to elaborate on their answers. The principal recruitment strategy was engaging with the researcher’s network on LinkedIn. The interviews were then transcribed and analysed thematically. Main findings in the research suggest that insider fraud has been ignored owing to the denial of accepting the possibility that colleagues would defraud their employer. Whilst Coronavirus has led to a significant rise in insider fraud, this type of crime has been a major risk to businesses since their inception, however have never been given the financial or strategic backing required to be mitigated, until it's too late. Furthermore, Coronavirus should have led to companies tightening their access rights, controls and policies to mitigate the insider fraud risk. However, in most cases this has not happened. The research concludes that insider fraud needs to be given a platform upon which to be recognised as a threat to any company and given the same level of weighting and attention by Executive Committees and Boards as other types of economic crime.

Keywords: fraud, insider fraud, economic crime, coronavirus, Covid-19

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Authors: Samart Porncharoen, Nisa Pakvilai

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The elevated levels of air pollutants in regional atmospheric environments is a significant problem that affects human health in Thailand, particularly in the Chao Phraya River Basin. Of concern are issues surrounding ambient air pollution such as particulate matter, gaseous pollutants and more specifically concerning air pollution along the river. Therefore, the spatio-temporal study of air pollution in this real environment can gain more accurate air quality data for making formalized environmental policy in river basins. In order to inform such a policy, a study was conducted over a period of January –December, 2015 to continually collect measurements of various pollutants in both urban and regional locations in the Chao Phraya River Basin. This study investigated the air pollutants in many diverse environments along the Chao Phraya River Basin, Thailand in 2015. Multivariate Analysis Techniques such as Principle Component Analysis (PCA) and Path analysis were utilised to classify air pollution in the surveyed location. Measurements were collected in both urban and rural areas to see if significant differences existed between the two locations in terms of air pollution levels. The meteorological parameters of various particulates were collected continually from a Thai pollution control department monitoring station over a period of January –December, 2015. Of interest to this study were the readings of SO2, CO, NOx, O3, and PM10. Results showed a daily arithmetic mean concentration of SO2, CO, NOx, O3, PM10 reading at 3±1 ppb, 0.5± 0.5 ppm, 30±21 ppb, 19±16 ppb, and 40±20 ug/m3 in urban locations (Bangkok). During the same time period, the readings for the same measurements in rural areas, Ayutthaya (were 1±0.5 ppb, 0.1± 0.05 ppm, 25±17 ppb, 30±21 ppb, and 35±10 ug/m3respectively. This show that Bangkok were located in highly polluted environments that are dominated source emitted from vehicles. Further, results were analysed to ascertain if significant seasonal variation existed in the measurements. It was found that levels of both gaseous pollutants and particle matter in dry season were higher than the wet season. More broadly, the results show that levels of pollutants were measured highest in locations along the Chao Phraya. River Basin known to have a large number of vehicles and biomass burning. This correlation suggests that the principle pollutants were from these anthropogenic sources. This study contributes to the body of knowledge surrounding ambient air pollution such as particulate matter, gaseous pollutants and more specifically concerning air pollution along the Chao Phraya River Basin. Further, this study is one of the first to utilise continuous mobile monitoring along a river in order to gain accurate measurements during a data collection period. Overall, the results of this study can be used for making formalized environmental policy in river basins in order to reduce the physical effects on human health.

Keywords: air pollution, Chao Phraya river basin, meteorology, seasonal variation, principal component analysis

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Authors: Deepika Bhaskar, Neena Wadehra, Megha Gulati, Aruna Narula, R. Vishnu, Gunjan Katyal

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With drug resistance becoming widespread in Plasmodium falciparum infections, development of the alternative drugs is the desired strategy for prevention and cure of malaria. Three drug targets were selected to screen promising drug molecules from the GSK library of around 14000 molecules. Using an in silico structure-based drug designing approach, the differences in binding energies of the substrate and inhibitor were exploited between target sites of parasite and human to design a drug molecule against Plasmodium. The docking studies have shown several promising molecules from GSK library with more effective binding as compared to the already known inhibitors for the drug targets. Though stronger interaction has been shown by several molecules as compare to reference, few molecules have shown the potential as drug candidates though in vitro studies are required to validate the results.

Keywords: plasmodium, malaria, drug targets, in silico studies

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Authors: Anurag Bhambhani, Jan Peter Van Der Hoek, Zoran Kapelan

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The food system depends on the availability of Phosphorus (P) and Nitrogen (N). Growing population, depleting Phosphorus reserves and energy-intensive industrial nitrogen fixation are threats to their future availability. Recovering P and N from domestic sewage water offers a solution. Recovered P and N can be applied to agricultural land, replacing virgin P and N. Thus, recovery from sewage water offers a solution befitting a circular economy. To ensure minimum waste and maximum resource efficiency a circularity assessment method is crucial to optimize nutrient flows and minimize losses. Material Circularity Indicator (MCI) is a useful method to quantify the circularity of materials. It was developed for materials that remain within the market and recently extended to include biotic materials that may be composted or used for energy recovery after end-of-use. However, MCI has not been used in the context of nutrient recovery. Besides, MCI is time-static, i.e., it cannot account for dynamic systems such as the terrestrial nutrient cycles. Nutrient application to agricultural land is a highly dynamic process wherein flows and stocks change with time. The rate of recycling of nutrients in nature can depend on numerous factors such as prevailing soil conditions, local hydrology, the presence of animals, etc. Therefore, a dynamic model of nutrient flows with indicators is needed for the circularity assessment. A simple substance flow model of P and N will be developed with the help of flow equations and transfer coefficients that incorporate the nutrient recovery step along with the agricultural application, the volatilization and leaching processes, plant uptake and subsequent animal and human uptake. The model is then used for calculating the proportions of linear and restorative flows (coming from reused/recycled sources). The model will simulate the adsorption process based on the quantity of adsorbent and nutrient concentration in the water. Thereafter, the application of the adsorbed nutrients to agricultural land will be simulated based on adsorbate release kinetics, local soil conditions, hydrology, vegetation, etc. Based on the model, the restorative nutrient flow (returning to the sewage plant following human consumption) will be calculated. The developed methodology will be applied to a case study of resource recovery from wastewater. In the aforementioned case study located in Italy, biochar or zeolite is to be used for recovery of P and N from domestic sewage through adsorption and thereafter, used as a slow-release fertilizer in agriculture. Using this model, information regarding the efficiency of nutrient recovery and application can be generated. This can help to optimize the recovery process and application of the nutrients. Consequently, this will help to optimize nutrient recovery and application and reduce the dependence of the food system on the virgin extraction of P and N.

Keywords: circular economy, dynamic substance flow, nutrient cycles, resource recovery from water

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Authors: Vandenbroucke Karel, Georges Annabel, Schuurman Dimitri

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In the past years, bundling of transport flows, whether or not implemented in an intermodal process, has popped up as a promising concept in the logistics sector. Bundling of transport flows is a process where two or more shippers decide to synergize their shipped goods over a common transport lane. Promoted by the European Commission, several programs have been set up and have shown their benefits. Bundling promises both shippers and logistics service providers economic, societal and ecological benefits. By bundling transport flows and thus reducing truck (or other carrier) capacity, the problems of driver shortage, increased fuel prices, mileage charges and restricted hours of service on the road are solved. In theory, the advantages of bundled transport exceed the drawbacks, however, in practice adoption among shippers remains low. In fact, bundling is mentioned as a disruptive process in the rather traditional logistics sector. In this context, a Belgian company asked iMinds Living Labs to set up a Living Lab research project with the goal to investigate how the uptake of bundling transport flows can be accelerated and to check whether an online data sharing platform can overcome the adoption barriers. The Living Lab research was conducted in 2016 and combined quantitative and qualitative end-user and market research. Concretely, extensive desk research was conducted and combined with insights from expert interviews with four consultants active in the Belgian logistics sector and in-depth interviews with logistics professionals working for shippers (N=10) and LSP’s (N=3). In the article, we present findings which show that there are several factors slowing down the uptake of bundling transport flows. Shippers are hesitant to change how they currently work and they are hesitant to work together with other shippers. Moreover, several practical challenges impede shippers to work together. We also present some opportunities that can accelerate the adoption of bundling of transport flows. First, it seems that there is not enough support coming from governmental and commercial organizations. Secondly, there is the chicken and the egg problem: too few interested parties will lead to no or very few matching lanes. Shippers are therefore reluctant to partake in these projects because the benefits have not yet been proven. Thirdly, the incentive is not big enough for shippers. Road transport organized by the shipper individually is still seen as the easiest and cheapest solution. A solution for the abovementioned challenges might be found in the online data sharing platform of the Belgian company. The added value of this platform is showing shippers possible matching lanes, without the shippers having to invest time in negotiating and networking with other shippers and running the risk of not finding a match. The interviewed shippers and experts indicated that the online data sharing platform is a very promising concept which could accelerate the uptake of bundling of transport flows.

Keywords: adoption barriers, bundling of transport, shippers, transport optimization

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Authors: Selin Top, Raul Marcos, M. Sinan Bilgili

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Although there have been several studies related to collection, temporary storage, handling and disposal of solid wastes generated by hospitals, there are only a few studies related to liquid wastes generated by hospitals or hospital wastewaters. There is an important amount of water consumptions in hospitals. While minimum domestic water consumption per person is 100 L/day, water consumption per bed in hospitals is generally ranged between 400-1200 L. This high amount of consumption causes high amount of wastewater. The quantity of wastewater produced in a hospital depends on different factors: bed numbers, hospital age, accessibility to water, general services present inside the structure (kitchen, laundry, laboratory, diagnosis, radiology, and air conditioning), number and type of wards and units, institution management policies and awareness in managing the structure in safeguarding the environment, climate and cultural and geographic factors. In our country, characterization of hospital wastewaters conducted by classical parameters in a very few studies. However, as mentioned above, this type of wastewaters may contain different compounds than domestic wastewaters. Hospital Wastewater (HWW) is wastewater generated from all activities of the hospital, medical and non medical. Nowadays, hospitals are considered as one of the biggest sources of wastewater along with urban sources, agricultural effluents and industrial sources. As a health-care waste, hospital wastewater has the same quality as municipal wastewater, but may also potentially contain various hazardous components due to using disinfectants, pharmaceuticals, radionuclides and solvents making not suitable the connection of hospital wastewater to the municipal sewage network. These characteristics may represent a serious health hazard and children, adults and animals all have the potential to come into contact with this water. Therefore, the treatment of hospital wastewater is an important current interest point to focus on. This paper aims to approach on the investigation of hospital wastewater treatment by membrane systems. This study aim is to determined hospital wastewater’s characterization and also evaluates the efficiency of hospital wastewater treatment by high pressure filtration systems such as ultrafiltration (UF). Hospital wastewater samples were taken directly from sewage system from Şişli Etfal Training and Research Hospital, located in the district of Şişli, in the European part of Istanbul. The hospital is a 784 bed tertiary care center with a daily outpatient department of 3850 patients. Ultrafiltration membrane is used as an experimental treatment and the influence of the pressure exerted on the membranes was examined, ranging from 1 to 3 bar. The permeate flux across the membrane was observed to define the flooding membrane points. The global COD and BOD5 removal efficiencies were 54% and 75% respectively for ultrafiltration, all the SST removal efficiencies were above 90% and a successful removal of the pathological bacteria measured was achieved.

Keywords: hospital wastewater, membrane, ultrafiltration, treatment

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Authors: M. A. Khanday, Aasma Rafiq, Khalid Nazir

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This paper is an attempt to establish the mathematical models to understand the distribution of drug administration in the human body through oral and intravenous routes. Three models were formulated based on diffusion process using Fick’s principle and the law of mass action. The rate constants governing the law of mass action were used on the basis of the drug efficacy at different interfaces. The Laplace transform and eigenvalue methods were used to obtain the solution of the ordinary differential equations concerning the rate of change of concentration in different compartments viz. blood and tissue medium. The drug concentration in the different compartments has been computed using numerical parameters. The results illustrate the variation of drug concentration with respect to time using MATLAB software. It has been observed from the results that the drug concentration decreases in the first compartment and gradually increases in other subsequent compartments.

Keywords: Laplace transform, diffusion, eigenvalue method, mathematical model

Procedia PDF Downloads 339