Search results for: assembly inhibitors

Authors: Deepak Chaudhary

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The main objective of the study is to explore the genesis and achievements of the Madhesh movement. Madhesh Movement is a social movement that brought massive political changes and contributed a lot to the nation-building process in the modern history of Nepal. This movement erupted in January 2007 in the Tarai/Madhesh region following the promulgation of the Interim Constitution that left the incorporation of federalism and proportional representation in the Constitution. The most excluded community in Nepal- Madheshi community, seemed to have angered against state-sponsored discrimination and exclusion that have been occurred for centuries. Since Madheshis were treated as non-Nepali, though the history of Nepal’s Tarai/Madhesh has been ancient. In the beginning, this movement was against Maoist, but later, it went against the state's prejudices and discriminations. It extended across the Tarai/Madhesh region of Nepal for a month. The movement was spontaneous to a large extent. A researcher himself is a witness to the movement. Key Informant Interviews with participants, including politicians, journalists, and activists, have mainly carried out for the study. This movement ensured Madheshi identity first. Secondly, the number of electoral constituencies was increased as it reached 120 in Tarai/Madhesh while it was 80 only. As a result, Madheshi representation in the Constitution Assembly reached 35 %, while it was 20% only. The main thing that this movement played a major role in ensuring the federalism as a political system in Nepal.

Keywords: dignity, exclusion, federalism, inclusion, Madhesh movement, nation-building

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Authors: Prakash Thapa, Gye Choon Park, Sung Gi Kwon, Jin Lee

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The generation of electric power from a proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell is influenced by temperature, pressure, humidity, flow rate of reactant gaseous and partial flooding of membrane electrode assembly (MEA). Among these factors, temperature and cathode flooding are the most affecting parameters on the performance of fuel cell. This paper describes the detail design and effect of these parameters on PEM fuel cell. Performance of all parameters was monitored, analyzed and controlled by using 5KWatt PEM fuel cell. In the real-time data communication for remote monitoring and control of PEM fuel cell, a normalized least mean square algorithm in cognitive radio environment is used. By the use of this method, probability of energy signal detection will be maximum which solved the frequency shortage problem. So the monitoring system hanging out and slow speed problem will be solved. Also from the control unit, all parameters are controlled as per the system requirement. As a result, PEM fuel cell generates maximum electricity with better performance.

Keywords: proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell, pressure, temperature and humidity sensor (PTH), efficiency curve, cognitive radio network (CRN)

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Authors: Priyanka Sharma, Niti Puri

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Anemia develops when blood lacks enough healthy erythrocytes. Past studies indicated that anemia, inflammatory process, and oxidative stress are interconnected. Erythrocytes are continuously exposed to reactive oxygen species (ROS) during circulation, due to normal aerobic cellular metabolism and also pathology of inflammatory diseases. Systemic mastocytosis and genetic depletion of mast cells have been shown to affect anaemia. In the present study, we attempted to reveal whether mast cells have a direct role in clearance or erythrophagocytosis of normal or oxidatively damaged erythrocytes. Murine erythrocytes were treated with tert-butyl hydroperoxidase (t-BHP), an agent that induces oxidative damage and mimics in vivo oxidative stress. Normal and oxidatively damaged erythrocytes were labeled with carboxyfluorescein succinimidyl ester (CFSE) to track erythrophagocytosis. We show, for the first time, direct erythrophagocytosis of oxidatively damaged erythrocytes in vitro by RBL-2H3 mast cells as well as in vivo by murine peritoneal mast cells. Also, activated mast cells, as may be present in inflammatory conditions, showed a significant increase in the uptake of oxidatively damaged erythrocytes than resting mast cells. This suggests the involvement of mast cells in erythrocyte clearance during oxidative stress or inflammatory disorders. Partial inhibition of phagocytosis by various inhibitors indicated that this process may be controlled by several pathways. Hence, our study provides important evidence for involvement of mast cells in severe anemia due to inflammation and oxidative stress and might be helpful to circumvent the adverse anemic disorders.

Keywords: mast cells, anemia, erythrophagocytosis, oxidatively damaged erythrocytes

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Authors: Hatem Ashur Masoud Shreha

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Aromatase inhibitors administered before sexual differentiation of the gonads in chicken embryo can induce sex reversal in female layer chickens (phenotypic male). To analyze the process of sex reversal, we have followed for several months the changes induced by Fadrozole, a nonsteroidal aromatase inhibitor on morphology of female sex-reversed and female sex-reversed supplemented with L-tyrosine which was previously shown to stimulate release of Gn Rh. Fadrozole (1mg/egg) was injected into eggs on day four of incubation before sex differentiation. phenotypic males and phenotypic males treated with L-tyrosine and males hatched from eggs injected Fadrozole were sacrificed by slaughtering at 16 weeks old and the remaining chicks were sacrificed at 28 weeks old. Both sexes from control chickens were sacrificed at the same age (16 &28 weeks). Hatchability, behavior, body weight, shank length, comb weight, testes weight, blood cells count and wattle weight of sex reversal were tested at 16 and 28 weeks. The results showed that body weight, comb weight, wattles weight and shank length of sex-reversed females were significantly different from control female. Behavior of phenotypic males and phenotypic males fed on L-tyrosine showed aggressive sexual behavior like that of control males and absence of laying behavior. In conclusion our results confirm that Fadrazole injection in eggs before sex differentiation produce a male behavior and morphological index of male in female chicken.

Keywords: sex-reversal, fadrozole, phenotypic male, L-tyrosine

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Authors: M. F. Alrubaie, S. A. Salih, W. A. Abbas

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Slurry infiltrated fiber concrete (SIFCON) is considered as a special type of high strength high-performance fiber reinforced concrete, extremely strong, and ductile. The objective of this study is to investigate the durability of SIFCON to corrosion in chloride environments. Six different SIFCON mixes were made in addition to two refinance mixes with 0% and 1.5% steel fiber content. All mixes were exposed to 10% chloride solution for 180 days. Half of the specimens were partially immersed in chloride solution, and the others were exposed to weekly cycles of wetting and drying in 10% chloride solution. The effectiveness of using corrosion inhibitors, mineral admixture, and epoxy protective coating were also evaluated as protective measures to reduce the effect of chloride attack and to improve the corrosion resistance of SIFCON mixes. Corrosion rates, half-cell potential, electrical resistivity, total permeability tests had been monitored monthly. The results indicated a significant improvement in performance for SIFCON mixes exposed to chloride environment, when using corrosion inhibitor or epoxy protective coating, whereas SIFCON mix contained mineral admixture (metakaolin) did not improve the corrosion resistance at the same level. The cyclic wetting and drying exposure were more aggressive to the specimens than the partial immersion in chloride solution although the observed surface corrosion for the later was clearer.

Keywords: chloride attack, chloride environments, corrosion inhibitor, corrosion resistance, durability, SIFCON, slurry infiltrated fiber concrete

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Authors: Mohammad Vahed, Ana Sadeghitohidi, Majid Vahed, Hiroki Takahashi

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In the genomics field, the huge amounts of data have produced by the next-generation sequencers (NGS). Data volumes are very rapidly growing, as it is postulated that more than one billion bases will be produced per year in 2020. The growth rate of produced data is much faster than Moore's law in computer technology. This makes it more difficult to deal with genomics data, such as storing data, searching information, and finding the hidden information. It is required to develop the analysis platform for genomics big data. Cloud computing newly developed enables us to deal with big data more efficiently. Hadoop is one of the frameworks distributed computing and relies upon the core of a Big Data as a Service (BDaaS). Although many services have adopted this technology, e.g. amazon, there are a few applications in the biology field. Here, we propose a new algorithm to more efficiently deal with the genomics big data, e.g. sequencing data. Our algorithm consists of two parts: First is that BDaaS is applied for handling the data more efficiently. Second is that the hybrid method of MapReduce and Fuzzy logic is applied for data processing. This step can be parallelized in implementation. Our algorithm has great potential in computational analysis of genomics big data, e.g. de novo genome assembly and sequence similarity search. We will discuss our algorithm and its feasibility.

Keywords: big data, fuzzy logic, MapReduce, Hadoop, cloud computing

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Authors: Abeer Amayri, Akif A. Bulgak

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Due to today’s globalization as well as outsourcing practices of the companies, the Supply Chain (SC) performances have become more dependent on the efficient movement of material among places that are geographically dispersed, where there is more chance for disruptions. One such disruption is the quality and delivery uncertainties of outsourcing. These uncertainties could lead the products to be unsafe and, as is the case in a number of recent examples, companies may have to end up in recalling their products. As a result of these problems, there is a need to develop a methodology for selecting suppliers globally in view of risks associated with low quality and late delivery. Accordingly, we developed a two-stage stochastic model that captures the risks associated with uncertainty in quality and delivery as well as a solution procedure for the model. The stochastic model developed simultaneously optimizes supplier selection and purchase quantities under price discounts over a time horizon. In particular, our target is the study of global organizations with multiple sites and multiple overseas suppliers, where the pricing is offered in suppliers’ local currencies. Our proposed methodology is applied to a case study for a US automotive company having two assembly plants and four potential global suppliers to illustrate how the proposed model works in practice.

Keywords: global supply chains, quality, stochastic programming, supplier selection

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Authors: Kyoungok Jung, Chang Hong Bak, Gyeong Cheon Jo, Jin-Baek Kim

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Nanostructured arrays have drawn extensive attention because of their unique properties resulting from nanoscale features. However, it is difficult to achieve uniform and freestanding 1D nanostrcutures over a large area. Here, a simple and novel method was developed for fabrication of universal nanoporous templates for high-density nanostructure arrays, by combining self-assembly of a Si-containing block copolymer with a bilayer lithography system. We introduced a dually responsive photoresist bottom layer into which the nanopatterns of block copolymer are transferred by oxygen reactive ion etching. Because the dually responsive layer becomes cross-linked by heating, it can be used as a hard template during the etching process. It becomes soluble again by chain scission upon exposure to light. Therefore, it can be easily removed by the lift-off process. The template was applicable to the various conducting substrates due to the compatibility of the photoresist with a wide range of substrates and was used in electrodeposition for well-aligned and high-density inorganic and organic nanoarrays. We successfully obtained vertically aligned and highly ordered gold nanorods and polypyrrole dots on the substrate without aggregation, and these arrays did not collapse after removing the dually responsive templates by the simple lift-off process.

Keywords: block copolymer, dually responsive, nanostructure, photoresist

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Authors: Ihtasham Hamza

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In the contemporary world, where the West is afflicted by the diseases of excess nutrition, much of the rest globe suffers at the hands of hunger. A troubling constituent of hunger is micronutrient deficiency, also called hidden hunger. Major dependence on calorie-rich diets and low diet diversification are responsible for high malnutrition rates, especially in African and Asian countries. But the dilemma isn’t immune to solutions. Highlighting the substantial cause to be sole dependence on staples for food, biofortification has emerged as a novel tool to confront the widely distributed jeopardize of hidden hunger. Biofortification potentials the better nutritional approachability to commonalities overcoming various difficulties and reaching the doorstep. The crops associated with biofortification offer a rural-based involvement that, proposal, primarily reaches these more remote populations, which comprise a majority of the malnourished in many countries, and then penetrates to urban populations as assembly overages are marketed. Initial investments in agricultural research at a central location can generate high recurrent benefits at low cost as adapted biofortified cultivars become widely available in countries across time at low recurrent costs as opposed to supplementation which is comparatively expensive and requires continued financing over time, which may be imperilled by fluctuating political curiosity.

Keywords: biofortified crops, hunger, malnutrition, agricultural practices

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Authors: Qi Lu, Jian Deng, Daishun Huang, Chao Guo

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The lead cooled fast reactor is considered as one of the most potential Generation IV nuclear systems due to the low working pressure, the appreciable neutron economy, and the considerable passive characteristics. Meanwhile, the lead bismuth eutectic (LBE) has the related advantages of lead with the weaker corrosiveness, which has been paid much attention by recent decades. Moreover, the sub-channel code is a necessary analysis tool for the reactor thermal-hydraulic design and safety analysis, which has been developed combined with the accumulation of LBE experimental data and the understanding of physical phenomena. In this study, a sub-channel code available for LBE was developed, and the corresponding geometric characterization method of typical sub-channels was described in detail, especially for for the fuel assembly with wire spacer. As for this sub-channel code, the transversal thermal conduction through gap was taken into account. In addition, the physical properties, the heat transfer model, the flow resistance model and the turbulent mixing model were analyzed. Finally, the thermal-hydraulic experiments of LBE conducted on THEADES (THErmal-hydraulics and Ads DESign) were selected as the evaluation data of this sub-channel code, including 19 rods with wire spacer, and the calculated results were in good agreement with the experimental results.

Keywords: lead bismuth eutectic, sub-channel code, wire spacer, transversal thermal conduction

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Authors: Hongyu Ye, Hong Zhang, Minjie Sun, Hongfang Xu

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In the context of China's promotion of smart construction and building industrialization, there is a need for evaluation standards for the development of building industrialization based on assembly-type construction. However, the evaluation of smart construction remains a challenge in the industry's development process. This paper addresses this issue by proposing a calculation and evaluation method for the smartization rate of concrete structure building construction. The study focuses on examining the factors of smart equipment application and their impact on costs throughout the process of smart construction design, production, transfer, and construction. Based on this analysis, the paper presents an evaluation method for the smartization rate based on components. Furthermore, it introduces calculation methods for assessing the smartization rate of buildings. The paper also suggests a rapid calculation method for determining the smartization rate using Building Information Modeling (BIM) and information expression technology. The proposed research provides a foundation for the swift calculation of the smartization rate based on BIM and information technology. Ultimately, it aims to promote the development of smart construction and the construction of high-quality buildings in China.

Keywords: building industrialization, high quality building, smart construction, smartization rate, component

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Authors: Suwattana Visetnan, Premruethai Supungul, Sureerat Tang, Ikuo Hirono, Anchalee Tassanakajon, Vichien Rimphanitchayakit

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In animals, infection by Gram-negative bacteria and certain viruses activates the Imd signaling pathway wherein the a NF-κB transcription factor, Relish, is a key regulatory protein for the synthesis of antimicrobial proteins. Infection by yellow head virus (YHV) activates the Imd pathway. To investigate the expression of genes involved in YHV infection and under the influence of PmRelish regulation, RNA interference and suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) are employed. The genes in forward library expressed in shrimp after YHV infection and under the activity of PmRelish were obtained by subtracting the cDNAs from YHV-infected and PmRelish-knockdown shrimp with cDNAs from YHV-infected shrimp. Opposite subtraction gave a reverse library whereby an alternative set of genes under YHV infection and no PmRelish expression was obtained. Sequencing of 252 and 99 cDNA clones from the respective forward and reverse libraries were done and annotated through blast search against the GenBank sequences. Genes involved in defense and homeostasis were abundant in both libraries, 31% and 23% in the forward and reverse libraries, respectively. They were predominantly antimicrobial proteins, proteinases and proteinase inhibitors. The expression of antimicrobial protein genes, ALFPm3, crustinPm1, penaeidin3 and penaeidin5 were tested under PmRelish silencing and Gram-negative bacterium V. harveyi infection. Together with the results previously reported, the expression of penaeidin5 and also penaeidin3 but not ALFPm3 and crustinPm1 were under the regulation of PmRelish in the Imd pathway.

Keywords: relish, yellow head virus, penaeus monodon, antimicrobial proteins

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Authors: Hosein Ghahremani, MohammadReza Khoshchehre, Pejman Hakemi

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This study involves numerical simulations of a vertical plate-type photo-bioreactor to investigate the performance of Microalgae Spirulina and Control and optimization of parameters for the digital controller by Taguchi method that MATLAB software and Qualitek-4 has been made. Since the addition of parameters such as temperature, dissolved carbon dioxide, biomass, and ... Some new physical parameters such as light intensity and physiological conditions like photosynthetic efficiency and light inhibitors are involved in biological processes, control is facing many challenges. Not only facilitate the commercial production photo-bioreactor Microalgae as feed for aquaculture and food supplements are efficient systems but also as a possible platform for the production of active molecules such as antibiotics or innovative anti-tumor agents, carbon dioxide removal and removal of heavy metals from wastewater is used. Digital controller is designed for controlling the light bioreactor until Microalgae growth rate and carbon dioxide concentration inside the bioreactor is investigated. The optimal values of the controller parameters of the S/N and ANOVA analysis software Qualitek-4 obtained With Reaction curve, Cohen-Con and Ziegler-Nichols method were compared. The sum of the squared error obtained for each of the control methods mentioned, the Taguchi method as the best method for controlling the light intensity was selected photo-bioreactor. This method compared to control methods listed the higher stability and a shorter interval to be answered.

Keywords: photo-bioreactor, control and optimization, Light intensity, Taguchi method

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Authors: Yingjeng James Li, Chiao-Chih Hu

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Membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) for proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) applications were prepared by using 10 and 15 um PEMs. Except for different membrane thicknesses, these MEAs were prepared by the same conditions. They were prepared by using catalyst coated membrane (CCM) process. The catalyst employed is 40% Pt/C, and the Pt loading is 0.5mg/cm² for the sum of anode and cathode. Active area of the MEAs employed in this study is 5cm*5cm=25cm². In polarization measurements, the flow rates were always set at 1.2 stoic for anode and 3.0 stoic for cathode. The outlets were in open-end mode. The flow filed is tri-serpentine design. The cell temperatures and the humidification conditions were varied for the purpose of MEA performance observations. It was found that the performance of these two types of MEAs is about the same at fully or partially humidified operation conditions; however, 10um MEA exhibits higher current density in dry or low humidified conditions. For example, at 70C cell, 100% RH, and 0.6V condition, both MEAs have similar current density which is 1320 and 1342mA/cm² for 15um and 10um product, respectively. However, when in operation without external humidification, 10um MEA can produce 1085mA/cm²; whereas 15um MEA produces only 720mA/cm².

Keywords: fuel cell, membrane electrode assembly, PEFC, PEMFC, proton exchange membrane

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Authors: Małgorzata Drzewiecka, Tomasz Śliwiński, Maciej Radek

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The inhibition of histone deacetyles (HDACs) holds promise as a potential anti-cancer therapy because histone and non-histone protein acetylation is frequently disrupted in cancer, leading to cancer initiation and progression. Additionally, histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi) such as class I HDAC inhibitor - valproic acid (VPA) have been shown to enhance the effectiveness of DNA-damaging factors, such as cisplatin or radiation. In this study, we found that, using of VPA in combination with talazoparib (BMN-637 – PARP1 inhibitor – PARPi) and/or Dacarabazine (DTIC - alkylating agent) resulted in increased DNA double strand break (DSB) and reduced survival (while not affecting primary melanocytes )and proliferation of melanoma cells. Furthermore, pharmacologic inhibition of class I HDACs sensitizes melanoma cells to apoptosis following exposure to DTIC and BMN-637. In addition, inhibition of HDAC caused sensitization of melanoma cells to dacarbazine and BMN-637 in melanoma xenografts in vivo. At the mRNA and protein level histone deacetylase inhibitor downregulated RAD51 and FANCD2. This study provides that combining HDACi, alkylating agent and PARPi could potentially enhance the treatment of melanoma, which is known for being one of the most aggressive malignant tumors. The findings presented here point to a scenario in which HDAC via enhancing the HR-dependent repair of DSBs created during the processing of DNA lesions, are essential nodes in the resistance of malignant melanoma cells to methylating agent-based therapies.

Keywords: melanoma, hdac, parp inhibitor, valproic acid

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Authors: Arenca Trashani

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20 years after its first entrance in a General Assembly of the United Nation’s Resolution, human security has became a very important tool in a global debate affecting directly the whole main rules and regulations in international law and more closely in international human rights law. This paper will cover a very important issue of today at how the human security has its impact to the development of international human rights law, not as far as a challenge as it is seen up now but a tool of moving toward development and globalization. In order to analyze the impact of human security to the global agenda, we need to look to the main pillars of the international legal order which are affected by the human security in itself and its application in the policy making for this international legal order global and regional ones. This paper will focus, also, on human security, as a new and very important tool of measuring development, stability and the level of democratic consolidation and the respect for human rights especially in developing countries such as Albania. The states are no longer capable to monopolize the use of human security just within their boundaries and separated from the other principles of a functioning democracy. In this context, human security would be best guaranteed under the respect of the rule of law and democratization. During the last two decades the concept security has broadly developed, from a state-centric to a more human-centric approach: from state security to respect for human rights, to economic security, to environmental security as well. Last but not least we would see that human rights could be affected by human security not just at their promotion but also at their enforcement and mainly at the international institutions, which are entitled to promote and to protect human rights.

Keywords: human security, international human rights law, development, Albania, international law

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Authors: Franciele G. Esteves, Jose R. A. dos Santos-Pinto, Caroline L. de Souza, Mario S. Palma

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Orb-weaving spiders use a very strong, stickiness, and elastic web to catch the prey. These web properties would be enough for the entrapment of prey; however, these spiders may be hiding venomous secrets on the web, which are being revealed now. Here we provide strong proteome, peptidome, and transcriptomic evidence for the presence of toxic components on the web silk from Nephila clavipes. Our scientific outcomes revealed, both in the web silk and in the silk-producing glands, a wide diversity of toxins/neurotoxins, defensins, and proteolytic enzymes. These toxins/neurotoxins are similar to toxins isolated from animal venoms, such as Sphigomyelinase D, Latrotoxins, Zodatoxins, Ctenitoxin Pn and Pk, Agatoxins and Theraphotoxin. Moreover, the insect-toxicity results with the web silk crude extract demonstrated that these toxic components can be lethal and/or cause paralytic effects to the prey. Therefore, through OMICs approaches, the results presented until now may contribute to a better understanding of the chemical and ecological interaction of these compounds in insect-prey capture by spider web N. clavipes, demonstrating that the web is not only a simple mechanical tool but has a chemical-active involvement in prey capture. Moreover, the results can also contribute to future studies of possible development of a selective insecticide or even in possible pharmacological applications.

Keywords: web silk toxins, silk-produncing glands, de novo transcriptome assembly, LCMS-based proteomics

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Authors: Nazanin Amanat, Alison Tayler, Steve Whyard

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While chemical insecticides effectively control many insect pests, they also harm many non-target species. Double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) pesticides, in contrast, can be designed to target unique gene sequences and thus act in a species-specific manner. DsRNA insecticides do not, however, work equally well for all insects, and for some species that are considered refractory to dsRNA, a primary factor affecting efficacy is the relative ease by which dsRNA can enter a target cell’s cytoplasm. In this study, we are examining how different structured dsRNAs (linear, hairpin, and paperclip) can enter mosquito and lepidopteran cells, as they represent dsRNA-sensitive and refractory species, respectively. To determine how the dsRNAs enter the cells, we are using chemical inhibitors and RNA interference (RNAi)-mediated knockdown of key proteins associated with different endocytosis processes. Understanding how different dsRNAs enter cells will ultimately help in the design of molecules that overcome refractoriness to RNAi or develop resistance to dsRNA-based insecticides. To date, we have conducted chemical inhibitor experiments on both cell lines and have evidence that linear dsRNAs enter the cells using clathrin-mediated endocytosis, while the paperclip dsRNAs (pcRNAs) can enter both species’ cells in a clathrin-independent manner to induce RNAi. An alternative uptake mechanism for the pcRNAs has been tentatively identified, and the outcomes of our RNAi-mediated knockdown experiments, which should provide corroborative evidence of our initial findings, will be discussed.

Keywords: dsRNA, RNAi, uptake, insecticides, dipteran, lepidopteran

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Authors: L. K. Davis

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The effects of the evolution force are observable in nature at all structural levels ranging from small molecular systems to conversely enormous biospheric systems. However, the evolution force and work associated with formation of biological structures has yet to be described mathematically or theoretically. In addressing the conundrum, we consider evolution from a unique perspective and in doing so we introduce the “Fundamental Theory of the Evolution Force: FTEF”. We utilized synthetic evolution artificial intelligence (SYN-AI) to identify genomic building blocks and to engineer 14-3-3 ζ docking proteins by transforming gene sequences into time-based DNA codes derived from protein hierarchical structural levels. The aforementioned served as templates for random DNA hybridizations and genetic assembly. The application of hierarchical DNA codes allowed us to fast forward evolution, while dampening the effect of point mutations. Natural selection was performed at each hierarchical structural level and mutations screened using Blosum 80 mutation frequency-based algorithms. Notably, SYN-AI engineered a set of three architecturally conserved docking proteins that retained motion and vibrational dynamics of native Bos taurus 14-3-3 ζ.

Keywords: 14-3-3 docking genes, synthetic protein design, time-based DNA codes, writing DNA code from scratch

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Authors: Hoda Mahgoub, Abeer Hanafy

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Linagliptin (LNG) belongs to dipeptidyl-peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitor class. DPP-4 inhibitors represent a new therapeutic approach for the treatment of type 2 diabetes in adults. The aim of this work was to develop and validate an accurate and reproducible HPLC method for the determination of LNG with high sensitivity in rat plasma. The method involved separation of both LNG and pindolol (internal standard) at ambient temperature on a Zorbax Eclipse XDB C18 column and a mobile phase composed of 75% methanol: 25% formic acid 0.1% pH 4.1 at a flow rate of 1.0 mL.min-1. UV detection was performed at 254nm. The method was validated in compliance with ICH guidelines and found to be linear in the range of 5–1000ng.mL-1. The limit of quantification (LOQ) was found to be 5ng.mL-1 based on 100µL of plasma. The variations for intra- and inter-assay precision were less than 10%, and the accuracy values were ranged between 93.3% and 102.5%. The extraction recovery (R%) was more than 83%. The method involved a single extraction step of a very small plasma volume (100µL). The assay was successfully applied to an in-vivo pharmacokinetic study of LNG in rats that were administered a single oral dose of 10mg.kg-1 LNG. The maximum concentration (Cmax) was found to be 927.5 ± 23.9ng.mL-1. The area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC0-72) was 18285.02 ± 605.76h.ng.mL-1. In conclusion, the good accuracy and low LOQ of the bioanalytical HPLC method were suitable for monitoring the full pharmacokinetic profile of LNG in rats. The main advantages of the method were the sensitivity, small sample volume, single-step extraction procedure and the short time of analysis.

Keywords: HPLC, linagliptin, pharmacokinetic study, rat plasma

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Authors: Ava Faridi, Pouya Faridi, Aleksandr Kakinen, Ibrahim Javed, Thomas P. Davis, Pu Chun Ke

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Human islet amyloid polypeptide (IAPP) is a hormone associated with glycemic control and type 2 diabetes. Biophysically, the chirality of IAPP fibrils has been little explored with respect to the aggregation and toxicity of the peptide. Biochemically, it remains unclear as for how protein expression in pancreatic beta cells may be altered by cell exposure to the peptide, and how such changes may be mitigated by nanoparticle inhibitors for IAPP aggregation. In this study, we first demonstrated the elimination of the IAPP nucleation phase and shortening of its elongation phase by silica nanoribbons. This accelerated IAPP fibrillization translated to reduced toxicity, especially for the right-handed silica nanoribbons, as revealed by cell viability, helium ion microscopy, as well as zebrafish embryo survival, developmental and behavioral assays. We then examined the proteomes of βTC6 pancreatic beta cells exposed to the three main aggregation states of monomeric, oligomeric and amyloid fibrillar IAPP, and compared that with cellular protein expression modulated by graphene quantum dots (GQDs). A total of 29 proteins were significantly regulated by different forms of IAPP, and the majority of these proteins were nucleotide-binding proteins. A regulatory capacity of GQDs against aberrant protein expression was confirmed. These studies have demonstrated the great potential of employing nanomaterials targeting the mesoscopic enantioselectivity and protein expression dysregulation in pancreatic beta cells.

Keywords: graphene quantum dots, IAPP, silica nanoribbons, protein expression, toxicity

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Authors: Kwangwon Seo, Haksoo Han

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Al-Si was synthesized and introduced in poly 2,2’-m-(phenylene)-5,5’-bibenzimidazole (PBI). As a result, a series of five Al-Si/PBI composite (ASPBI) membranes (0, 3, 6, 9, and 12 wt.%) were developed and characterized for application in high temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (HT-PEMFCs). The chemical and morphological structure of ASPBI membranes were analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffractometer and scanning electron microscopy. According to the doping level test and thermogravimetric analysis, as the concentration of Al-Si increased, the doping level increased up to 475%. Moreover, the proton conductivity, current density at 0.6V, and maximum power density of ASPBI membranes increased up to 0.31 Scm-1, 0.320 Acm-2, and 0.370 Wcm-2, respectively, because the increased concentration of Al-Si allows the membranes to hold more PA. Alternatively, as the amount of Al-Si increased, the tensile strength of PA-doped and -undoped membranes decreased. This was resulted by both excess PA and aggregation, which can cause serious degradation of the membrane and induce cracks. Moreover, the PA-doped and -undoped ASPBI12 had the lowest tensile strength. The improved performances of ASPBI membranes imply that ASPBI membranes are possible candidates for HT-PEMFC applications. However, further studies searching to improve the compatibility between PBI matrix and inorganic and optimize the loading of Al-Si should be performed.

Keywords: composite membrane, high temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell, membrane electrode assembly, polybenzimidazole, polymer electrolyte membrane, proton conductivity

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Authors: Priyanka Chowdhury, Asitikantha Sarma, Utpal Ghosh

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Hadron therapy using high Linear Energy Transfer (LET) ion beam is producing promising clinical results worldwide. The major advantages are its ability to kill radio-resistant tumor and its anti-metastatic activity. Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 (PARP-1) inhibitors have been widely used as radiosensitizer, but its role in metastasis is unknown. The purpose of our study was to investigate the effect of PARP-1 depletion in combination with either Carbon Ion Beam (CIB) or gamma irradiation on metastatic potential of cultured cancerous cells. A549 cells were irradiated with CIB (0-4Gy) or gamma (0, 2, 4, 6 and 10 Gy) with and without PARP-1 inhibition. The metastatic potential of the cells was determined by cell migratory assay, expression, and activity of MMP-2 and MMP-9, expression of Cadherin, Fibronectin, and Vimentin. CIB exposure reduced migratory property and activity of MMP-2 and MMP-9 significantly. CIB with PARP-1 inhibition reduced cell migration and Matrix Metalloproteinase (MMPs) activity in a synergistic manner. Expression of MMPs was also down-regulated in CIB and combined treatment. On the contrary, MMP- 2 and MMP-9 activity was significantly increased in gamma irradiated cells but decreased upon combined treatment of gamma and PARP-1 inhibitor. MMPs expression and migration was reduced when gamma irradiation was combined with PARP-1 inhibition. Thus, our study clearly demonstrates that PARP-1 inhibition in combination with either high or low LET can significantly suppress metastatic potential in cancer cells and thereby can be a promising tool in controlling metastatic cancers.

Keywords: high LET, low LET, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP), PARP-1

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Authors: Gursimran Jandu, Melissa Nelson, Mia Ingram, Hana Jalal

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There is a significant overlap between autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), with up to 90% of young people diagnosed with ASD having this co-morbidity. Distinguishing between the symptoms of the two leads to issues with accurate treatment, yet this is paramount in benefiting the young person. There are two distinct methods of treatment, psychological or pharmacological, with clinicians tending to choose one or the other, potentially due to the lack of research available. This report reviews the efficacy of psychological and pharmacological treatments for young people diagnosed with ASD and co-morbid OCD. A literature review was performed on papers from the last fifteen years including ‘ASD’, ‘OCD’ and individuals under the age of 18. Eleven papers were selected as relevant. The report looks at the comparison between more traditional methods, such as selective-serotonin-reuptake-inhibitors (SSRI) and Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT), and newer therapies, such as modified or intensive ASD focused psychotherapies, and the use of other medication classes. On reviewing the data, it was identified that there was a distinct lack of information on this important topic. The most widely used treatment was medication such as Fluoxetine, an SSRI, which rarely showed improvement in symptoms or outcomes. This is in contrast to modified forms of CBT which often reduces symptoms or even results in OCD remission. With increased research into non-traditional management of these co-morbid conditions, it is clear there is scope that modified CBT may become the future treatment of choice for OCD in young people with ASD.

Keywords: autism spectrum disorder, intensive or adapted cognitive behavioural therapy, obsessive compulsive disorder, pharmacological management

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Authors: Rabiaa Gammoudi, Najet Rebei, Othman Hasnaoui

Abstract:

Photovoltaic systems use different techniques for tracking the Maximum Power Point (MPPT) to provide the highest possible power to the load regardless of the climatic conditions variation. In this paper, the proposed method is the Open Circuit (OC) method with sudden and random variations of insolation. The simulation results of the water pumping system controlled by OC method are validated by an experimental experience in real-time using a test bench composed by a centrifugal pump powered by a PVG via a boost chopper for the adaptation between the source and the load. The output of the DC/DC converter supplies the motor pump LOWARA type, assembly by means of a DC/AC inverter. The control part is provided by a computer incorporating a card DS1104 running environment Matlab/Simulink for visualization and data acquisition. These results show clearly the effectiveness of our control with a very good performance. The results obtained show the usefulness of the developed algorithm in solving the problem of degradation of PVG performance depending on the variation of climatic factors with a very good yield.

Keywords: PVWPS (PV Water Pumping System), maximum power point tracking (MPPT), open circuit method (OC), boost converter, DC/AC inverter

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Authors: Zhaopeng Xuan, Yuan Bian, C. Cailleaux, Jing Qin, S. Traore

Abstract:

Traditional software engineering allows engineers to propose to their clients multiple specialized software distributions assembled from a shared set of software assets. The management of these assets however requires a trade-off between client satisfaction and software engineering process. Clients have more and more difficult to find a distribution or components based on their needs from all of distributed repositories. This paper proposes a software engineering for a user-driven software product line in which engineers define a feature model but users drive the actual software distribution on demand. This approach makes the user become final actor as a release manager in software engineering process, increasing user product satisfaction and simplifying user operations to find required components. In addition, it provides a way for engineers to manage and assembly large software families. As a proof of concept, a user-driven software product line is implemented for eclipse, an integrated development environment. An eclipse feature model is defined, which is exposed to users on a cloud-based built platform from which clients can download individualized Eclipse distributions.

Keywords: software product line, model-driven development, reverse engineering and refactoring, agile method

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Authors: Chika C. Ogueke, Ijeoma M. Agunwah

Abstract:

The antimicrobial activities and preservative potentials of crude extracts of Alstonia boonei stem bark and Euphorbia hirta leaves were studied. Soxhlet extraction and cold ethanol extraction methods were used for the extraction of the dried and ground plant samples. Well in agar diffusion method was used for the antimicrobial screening at different concentrations of 25mg/ml, 50mg/ml, 100mg/ml and 200mg/ml on E.coli and B.subtilis. The preservative effects of the extracts at 0.1%, 0.2% and 0.3% singly and in combination were determined in minced meat using E. coli and B. subtilis as test isolates. Phytochemical analysis was also conducted on the extracts using standard analytical methods. E.hirta cold and A.boonei cold extracts gave the highest zone of growth inhibition on E. coli and B.substilis with 20mm zone diameter at 200mg/ml concentration. Phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, saponins and cardiac glycosides. A.boonei at 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3% produced a log cycle reduction on the growth of E.coli. Mixture of A. boonei and E. hirta extracts (1:1) at 0.1% and 0.2% also produced a log cycle reduction on the growth of E.coli and B. subtilis, however the A. boonei extracts had more significant effect on the isolates. The observed antimicrobial activities are attributed to the phytochemicals identified in the extracts. The results reveal the potentials of plant extracts as natural antimicrobial preservatives in minced meat. Thus the crude extracts can act as inhibitors of bacteria in a food system. Upon further purification better results may be obtained.

Keywords: antimicrobial preservative, crude extracts, minced meat, test isolates

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Authors: Ioannis Boutas, Vasilios Pergialiotis, Nicolaos Salakos, George Agrogiannis, Panagiotis Konstantopoulos, Laskarina-Maria Korou, Theodoros Kalampokas, Odysseas Gregoriou, George Creatsas, Despina Perrea

Abstract:

Introduction: The effect of third generation aromatase inhibitors in the lipid profile among women with breast cancer, present diversities. It has been also shown that low levels of estrogens affect liver metabolism in mice in numerous ways, such as lipid accumulation and hepatic steatosis. Materials and Methods: Forty-five female Wistar rats underwent surgical ovariectomy. The animals were anesthetized with a combination of ketamine (75 mg/kg) and xylazine (10 mg/kg) which were administered intraperitoneally. After the ovariectomy, the operated animals were randomized in three groups. The first group did not receive any drug regimen (ovariectomized control group). The second group received Anastrazole and the third group received Letrozole. Four months after the initiation of the study, the animals were euthanized and livers were dissected immediately for further histopathological analysis. The histological features were grouped into 4 broad categories: steatosis, ballooning, portal inflammation and lobular activity. A score from 0 (absence) to 3 (severe) was assigned to each parameter. Results: The liver pathology analysis revealed significant differences among groups with favored mild steatosis and ballooning among animals that received Anastrazole or Letrozole. Conclusion: The effect of Anastrazole and Letrozole on liver function have not yet been clarified. In our study mild histological liver alterations seem also to occur and these alterations should be taken in mind in future clinical studies

Keywords: anastrazole, letrozole, liver, rats

Procedia PDF Downloads 352

Authors: Robson C. Santos, Julio C. P. Ribeiro, Iorran M. de Castro, Luan C. F. Rodrigues, Sandro R. L. Silva, Diego M. Quesada

Abstract:

The work aims to develop a robot in the form of autonomous vehicle to detect, inspection and mapping of underground pipelines through the ATmega328 Arduino platform. Hardware prototyping very similar to C / C ++ language that facilitates its use in robotics open source, resembles PLC used in large industrial processes. The robot will traverse the surface independently of direct human action, in order to automate the process of detecting buried pipes, guided by electromagnetic induction. The induction comes from coils that sends the signal to the Arduino microcontroller contained in that will make the difference in intensity and the treatment of the information, then this determines actions to electrical components such as relays and motors, allowing the prototype to move on the surface and getting the necessary information. The robot was developed by electrical and electronic assemblies that allowed test your application. The assembly is made up of metal detector coils, circuit boards and microprocessor, which interconnected circuits previously developed can determine, process control and mechanical actions for a robot (autonomous car) that will make the detection and mapping of buried pipelines plates.

Keywords: robotic, metal detector, embedded system, pipeline inspection

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Authors: Jin Boo Jeong

Abstract:

In this study, we elucidated anti-cancer activity and potential molecular mechanism of DKC against human colorectal cancer cells. DKC-E70 suppressed the proliferation of human colorectal cancer cell lines such as HCT116, SW480, LoVo and HT-29. Although DKC-E70 decreased cyclin D1 expression in protein and mRNA level, decreased level of cyclin D1 protein by DKC-E70 occurred at the earlier time than that of cyclin D1 mRNA, which indicates that DKC-E70-mediated downregulation of cyclin D1 protein may be a consequence of the induction of degradation and transcriptional inhibition of cyclin D1. In cyclin D1 degradation, we found that cyclin D1 downregulation by DKC-E70 was attenuated in presence of MG132. In addition, DKC-E70 phosphorylated threonine-286 (T286) of cyclin D1 and T286A abolished cyclin D1 downregulation by DKC-E70. We also observed that DKC-E70-mediated T286 phosphorylation and subsequent cyclin D1 degradation was blocked in presence of the inhibitors of ERK1/2, p38 or GSK3β. In cyclin D1 transcriptional inhibition, DKC-E70 inhibited the expression of β-catenin and TCF4, and β–catenin/TCF-dependent luciferase activity. Our results suggest that DKC-E70 may downregulate cyclin D1 as one of the potential anti-cancer targets through cyclin D1 degradation by T286 phosphorylation dependent on ERK1/2, p38 or GSK3β, and cyclin D1 transcriptional inhibition through Wnt signaling. From these findings, DKC-E70 has potential to be a candidate for the development of chemoprevention or therapeutic agents for human colorectal cancer. This research was supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education (NRF-2016R1D1A3B03931713).

Keywords: anticancer, calyx of persimmon, cyclin D1, Diospyros kaki Thunb., human colorectal cancer

Procedia PDF Downloads 312