Search results for: survival analysis

Authors: Nicole Ramlachan, Samuel Mark West

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Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-associated deaths in North America, with the vast majority being non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), with a five-year survival rate of only 24%. Non-invasive discovery of biomarkers associated with early-diagnosis of NSCLC can enable precision oncology efforts using liquid biopsy-based multiomics profiling of plasma. Although tissue biopsies are currently the gold standard for tumor profiling, this method presents many limitations since these are invasive, risky, and sometimes hard to obtain as well as only giving a limited tumor profile. Blood-based tests provides a less-invasive, more robust approach to interrogate both tumor- and non-tumor-derived signals. We intend to examine 30 stage III-IV NSCLC patients pre-surgery and collect plasma samples.Cell-free DNA (cfDNA) will be extracted from plasma, and next-generation sequencing (NGS) performed. Through the analysis of tumor-specific alterations, including single nucleotide variants (SNVs), insertions, deletions, copy number variations (CNVs), and methylation alterations, we intend to identify tumor-derived DNA—ctDNA among the total pool of cfDNA. This would generate data to be used as an accurate form of cancer genotyping for diagnostic purposes. Using liquid biopsies offer opportunities to improve the surveillance of cancer patients during treatment and would supplement current diagnosis and tumor profiling strategies previously not readily available in Trinidad and Tobago. It would be useful and advantageous to use this in diagnosis and tumour profiling as well as to monitor cancer patients, providing early information regarding disease evolution and treatment efficacy, and reorient treatment strategies in, timethereby improving clinical oncology outcomes.

Keywords: genomics, multiomics, clinical genetics, genotyping, oncology, diagnostics

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Authors: Radhey Sham Rajoria

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Pressure to increase the competitiveness in the manufacturing sector and for the survival in the market has led to the development of machining centres, which enhance productivity, improve quality, shorten the lead time, and reduce the manufacturing cost. With the innovation of machining centres in the manufacturing sector the production lines have been replaced by these machining centers, having the ability to machine various processes and multiple tooling with automatic tool changer (ATC) for the same part. Also the process plans can be easily generated for complex components. Some means are required to utilize the machining center at its best. The present work is concentrated on the automated part program generation, and in turn automated process plan generation for the turned components on Denford “MIRAC” 8 stations ATC lathe machining centre. A package in C++ on DOS platform is developed which generates the complete CNC part program, process plan and process sequence for the turned components. The input to this system is in the form of a blueprint in graphical format with machining parameters and variables, and the output is the CNC part program which is stored in a .mir file, ready for execution on the machining centre.

Keywords: CNC, MIRAC, ATC, process planning

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Authors: Yahaya Abdullahi Adadu, Canice Erunke Esidene

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The problems of socio-economic development have been a major challenge bedeviling the Nigerian post-colonial state since her political independence from Britain in October I,1960. Critics have argued that the dilemma of Nigeria’s economic survival started since the early 1970s when the agricultural sector which supposedly was the economic mainstay has been literally substituted with the gains of the oil petro-dollars coming from the foreign exchange earnings. Agriculture therefore, which used to be a major player in terms of human and national upliftment in Nigeria have been given a back seat while oil and gas has taken over the front burner in virtually every aspect of Nigeria’s national life. This study is therefore an exposition of the efforts of the Nasarawa state government in reversing the dangerous trend in which the over reliance on oil wealth has caused to persons, individuals and groups in terms of the prevailing levels of poverty and other attendant vices therein. The study focuses on the management policies of the various regimes in the state since its inception in 1996, with particular reference to the regime types-military and civilian alike in propelling the needed policy change, which could transform the economy in line with international best practices. Particular emphasis will be paid to the BADA-KOSHI agricultural scheme whose interest was to recover the lost glory of rural agriculture through series of roots and tuber expansion, and particularly such crops as yam minissetts, cassava, sweet potatoes and coco-yam, respectively. The paper covers the period between 1996 -2011, a period considered to be critical in the agricultural revolution of the state. The study adopts a theoretical approach via secondary methods of analysis for the efficient explanations of the burning issues under consideration. The paper sums up with policy recommendations and conclusion.

Keywords: poverty, agriculture, Badakoshi, rural policy management

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Authors: Nasim Nosoudi, Amir Zadeh, Hunter White, Joshua Conrad, Joon W. Shim

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De novo Malignancy has become one of the major causes of death after transplantation, so early cancer diagnosis and detection can drastically improve survival rates post-transplantation. Most previous work focuses on using artificial intelligence (AI) to predict transplant success or failure outcomes. In this work, we focused on predicting de novo malignancy after liver transplantation using AI. We chose the patients that had malignancy after liver transplantation with no history of malignancy pre-transplant. Their donors were cancer-free as well. We analyzed 254,200 patient profiles with post-transplant malignancy from the US Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN). Several popular data mining methods were applied to the resultant dataset to build predictive models to characterize de novo malignancy after liver transplantation. Recipient's bilirubin, creatinine, weight, gender, number of days recipient was on the transplant waiting list, Epstein Barr Virus (EBV), International normalized ratio (INR), and ascites are among the most important factors affecting de novo malignancy after liver transplantation

Keywords: De novo malignancy, bilirubin, data mining, transplantation

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Authors: Burdin Louise, Brulez Anne-Catherine, Mazurcyk Radoslaw, Leclercq Jean-louis, Benayoun Stéphane

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By using a biomimetic approach, an investigation was conducted to determine the connections between morphology and wetting. The interest is focused on the Morpho peleides butterfly. This butterfly is already well-known among researchers for its brilliant iridescent color and has inspired numerous innovations. The intricate structure of its wings is responsible for such color. However, this multiscale structure exhibits a multitude of other features, such as hydrophobicity. Given the limited research on the wetting properties of Morpho butterfly, a detailed analysis of its wetting behavior is proposed. Multiscale surface topographies of the Morpho peleides butterfly were analyzed using scanning electron microscope and atomic force microscopy. To understand the relationship between morphology and wettability, a goniometer was employed to measured static and dynamic contact angle. Since several studies have consistently demonstrated that superhydrophobic surfaces can effectively delay freezing, icing delay time the Morpho’s wings was also measured. The results revealed contact angles close to 136°, indicating a high degree of hydrophobicity. Moreover, sliding angles (SA) were measured in different directions, including along and against the rolling-outward direction. The findings suggest anisotropic wetting. Specifically, when the wing was tilted along the rolling outward direction (i.e., away from the insect’s body) SA was about 7°. While, when the wing was tilted against the rolling outward direction, SA was about 29°. This phenomenon is directly linked to the butterfly’s survival strategy. To investigate the exclusive morphological impact on anti-icing properties, PDMS replicas of the Morpho butterfly were obtained. When compared to flat PDMS and microscale textured PDMS, Morpho replications exhibited a longer freezing time. Therefore, this could be a source of inspiration for designing superhydrophobic surfaces with anti-icing applications or functional surfaces with controlled wettability.

Keywords: biomimetic, anisotropic wetting, anti-icing, multiscale roughness

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Authors: Jiahui Song

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In order to predict or explain a complicated biological process, it is important first to construct mathematical models that can be used to yield analytical solutions. Through numerical simulation, mathematical model results can be used to test scenarios that might not be easily attained in a laboratory experiment, or to predict parameters or phenomena. High-intensity, nanosecond pulse electroporation has been a recent development in bioelectrics. The dynamic pore model can be achieved by including a dynamic aspect and a dependence on the pore population density into pore formation energy equation to analyze and predict such electroporation effects. For greater accuracy, with inclusion of atomistic details, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were also carried out during this study. Besides inducing pores in cells, external voltages could also be used in principle to modulate action potential generation in nerves. This could have an application in electrically controlled ‘pain management’. Also a simple model-based rate equation treatment of the various cellular bio-chemical processes has been used to predict the pulse number dependent cell survival trends.

Keywords: model, high-intensity, nanosecond, bioelectrics

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Authors: Lorena Munoz

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Since the 1990s cities in the global south have implemented revanchist neoliberal urban regeneration policies that cater to urban elites based on “recovering” public space for capital accumulation purposes. These policies often work to reify street vending as survival strategies of ‘last resort’ for marginalized people and as an unorganized, unsystematic economic activities that needs to be disciplined, incorporated and institutionalized into the formal economy. This paper suggests, that by moving away from frameworks that reify formal/informal spheres of the economy, we are able to disrupt and rethink normative understandings of economic practices categorized as ‘informal’. Through queering economies, informal workers center their own understandings of self-value and legitimacy informing their economic lives and contributions to urban life. As such, queering the economy opens up possibilities of rethinking urban redevelopment policies that incorporate rather than remove street vendors, as their economic practices are incorporated into the everyday fabric and aesthetic of urban life.

Keywords: queering economies, street vendors, immigrant economies, race and nationality

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Authors: Samaneh Nadali, Masrah Azrifah Azmi Murad, Nurfadhlina Mohammad Sharef

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Sarcasm is a common phenomenon in social media which is a nuanced form of language for stating the opposite of what is implied. Due to the intentional ambiguity, analysis of sarcasm is a difficult task not only for a machine but even for a human. Although sarcasm detection has an important effect on sentiment, it is usually ignored in social media analysis because sarcasm analysis is too complicated. While there is a few systems exist which can detect sarcasm, almost no work has been carried out on a study and the review of the existing work in this area. This survey presents a nearly full image of sarcasm detection techniques and the related fields with brief details. The main contributions of this paper include the illustration of the recent trend of research in the sarcasm analysis and we highlight the gaps and propose a new framework that can be explored.

Keywords: sarcasm detection, sentiment analysis, social media, sarcasm analysis

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Authors: Suchao Donpudsa, Suwattana Visetnan, Anchalee Tassanakajon, Vichien Rimphanitchayakit

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The Single Wap Domain (SWD) is a type III crustin antimicrobial peptide whose function is to defense the host animal against the bacterial infection by means of antimicrobial and antiproteinase activities. A study of LvSWD from Litopenaeus vannamei is reported herein about its activities and function against bacteria, particularly the Vibrio parahaemolyticus AHPND (VPAHPND) that causes acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease. The over-expressed mature recombinant (r)LvSWD exhibits antimicrobial activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, especially VPAHPND. With four times the MIC of rLvSWD, the treated post larval shrimp infected by VPAHPND is able to survive longer with the 50% survival rate as long as 78 h as compared to 36 h of the infected shrimp without rLvSWD. To a certain extent, we have demonstrated that the rLvSWD can be applied to protect the post larval shrimp.

Keywords: crustin, Litopenaeus vannamei, Vibrio parahaemolyticus AHPND, antimicrobial activity

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Authors: Muhammad Alhada Fuadilah Habib, Ayla Karina Budita, Cut Rizka Al Usrah, Mukhammad Fatkhullah, Kanita Khoirun Nisa, Siti Muslihatul Mukaromah

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In this contemporary era, the term of development often emphasised merely on the economic growth aspect. Development of a program often considered as superior by the government, in fact, it often raises various problems. The problems occur because the development policies determined by the government tend to favor private entrepreneurs and impose on the oppression toward the community. The development promised to prosper the community's life, turn out in fact of harming the community, threatening the survival of the community and damaging the ecosystem of nature where the community hangs their life to it. Nowadays many natural resources should be used for the community’s life prosperity. However, the prosperity is conquered by the private entrepreneurs that are regulated through the free market mechanism and wrapped in democratization. This condition actually is a form of neoliberalism that builds new administration order system which is far from the meaning of the word democracy. The government should play more role in protecting community's life and prosperity, but in fact, the government sides with the private entrepreneurs for the sake of the economic benefits regardless of other aspects of the community’s life. This unjustified condition presents a wide range of social movements from the community in response to the neoliberalis policy that actually eliminates the doctrine of community sovereignty. Social movements performed by Yogyakarta south coastal area community, as the focus of the discussion in this paper, is one of the community’s response toward the government policies related to the construction of the ferruginous sand quarry which is tend to favor on private entrepreneurs and highly prejudicing or even threatening the survival of Yogyakarta south coastal area community. The data collection in this study uses qualitative research methods with in-depth interview data collection techniques and purposive informant determination techniques. This method was chosen in order to obtain the insightful data and detailed information to uncover the injustice policies committed by the government-private entrepreneurs toward Yogyakarta south coastal area community. The brief results of this study show that the conflicts between the community and government-private entrepreneurs occurred because of the differences of interests and paradigm of natural resource management. The resistance movements done by the community to fight back the government-private entrepreneurs was conducted by forming an organization called Paguyupan Petani Lahan Pantai Kulon Progo (PPLP-KP). This organization do the resistances through two ways; firstly, quiet action done through various actions such as; refusing against the socialization, performing discussion to deliberate their argument with the government-private entrepreneurs, complaining the problems to the central government, creating banners or billboards which contain the writing of rejection, performing pray rituals to invoke the justice from the God, as well as instill the resistance ideology to their young generation. Secondly, the rough action also is done through various actions such as; doing roadblocks, conducting rallies, as well as doing clash with the government apparatus. In case the resistances done by the community are seen from the pattern. Actually, the resistances are reaction toward the aggression carried out by the government-private entrepreneurs.

Keywords: community resistance, conflict, ferruginous sand quarry construction, social movement

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Authors: Angel Mabudusha

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The impression created by the high volume of foreign nationals being deported by the South African Home Affairs and the police departments is that all undocumented foreign nationals insist on staying in South Africa and voluntary repatriation is open for every person. However, those foreign nationals whose request for deportation has been rejected are often not reported on especially their everyday survival as undocumented immigrant women and their encounter with the police on the street. As a result, this paper aims at exploring the everyday experiences of these women on the street and on why the number of undocumented immigrant women in this country will remain a challenge to the police department. The research was conducted in two cities in South Africa, namely: Johannesburg and Pretoria where the police, the undocumented immigrant women, the human rights lawyers and NGO officials were interviewed on this matter. Based on the idea that voluntary repatriation is open for every immigrant, this study has found that some women’ request for voluntary repatriation remain a dream that never came true. Furthermore, this article proposes more humanitarian ways of dealing with undocumented immigrant women.

Keywords: repatriation, refugee status, undocumented foreign nationals, humanitarian

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Authors: Sharifah Insyirah, Noraliza A.

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Eucalyptus pellita is a popular species of plantation tree in many nations and regions because of its fast growth and excellent timber qualities. Moreover, Eucalyptus leaves are known as forest harvesting waste with the potential to generate essential oils. Eucalyptus is one of the plants utilized in the pulp and paper industry. This study aims to investigate the impact of two parameters, which are types of fertilizer and polybags (black polybags and transparent polybags), on Eucalyptus growth performance in the nursery. The present investigation was carried out at Main Nursery, Forestry Research Institute Malaysia under agro-climatic and irrigation conditions of the nursery. Twenty seedlings were prepared for this study consisting of two treatments of eco-friendly soil conditioner and NPK (ratio of NPK 8:8:8). Survival and height measurements were collected accordingly. Seedlings without any treatment showed better growth than treatment with soil conditioner or NPK. Seedlings as in C1, shows consistently fastest growth compared to T1 (B) and T2 (SC), and the mortality rates were 0%, 15% and 5%, respectively. The results demonstrated that fertilizer and soil conditioner applied at a younger age of seedlings had less effect on growth performance.

Keywords: eucalyptus pellita, potting media, high quality planting materials, nursery

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Authors: Shuai Liu

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In corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting, companies are expected to present both the positive and negative parts of the social and environmental impacts of their performance. This study investigates how the companies that listed in fortune 500 respond to this challenge by analyzing the representations of negative part especially the safety performance. It has found that in the level of genre analysis, it presented 3 major moves and 11 steps in terms of the interdiscursivity analysis. It was made up of three dominant discourse.. The study calls for greater focus on the internal and external analysis of the negative aspect of aspects of companies’ self-disclosure.

Keywords: CSR reports, negative parts, critical genre analysis, interdiscursivity

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Authors: Joanna Konstantinou

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The study is about the challenges faced by entrepreneurs in a crisis context and in turbulent economies. The scope is to determine which factors, if any, are related to the success of a new business venture, such as innovation, access to funding and capital, enhanced digital skills, employment relations and organizational culture as well as a company’s strategic orientation towards international markets. The crisis context has been recorded to have affected the number of SMEs in the Greek economy, the number of people employed as well as the volume of the output produced. Although not all SMEs have been equally impacted by the crisis, which has been identified to affect certain sectors more than others, and although research is not exhaustive in that end, employment relations and patterns, firm’s age, and innovation practices in relation to employees’ learning curve seem to have a positive correlation with the successful survival and resilience of the firm. The aim is to identify important factors that can contribute positively to the success of a startup business, and that will allow businesses to acquire resilience and survive economic adversities, and it will focus on businesses of the Greek economy, the country with the longer lasting economic crisis and the findings will be lessons to learn for other economies.

Keywords: entrepreneurship, innovation, crisis, challenges

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Authors: Edidiong Ekefre

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The Nigerian civil war was one of the foremost postcolonial conflicts in West Africa that attracted a serious humanitarian problem due to an unprecedented refugee crisis that affected the Biafran region. Due to its geographical location, the Nigerian government used blockades and starvation as a weapon of war against the Biafran. Faced with strong opposition from the Nigerian government, most humanitarian organizations withdrew their support from Biafra, whose death toll was rapidly growing daily due to starvation, malnutrition, and chronic ailment. Thus, the Catholic Church, a major Christian denomination in Biafra, had to see it as its religious obligation to support the humanitarian needs of the Biafrans. Thus, applying oral history methods with archival research, this paper examines the humanitarian activities of the Catholic Church in the Nigerian civil war. It contends that the Catholic Church was a key player in the humanitarian aspect of the Nigerian civil war. The paper concludes that faith-based humanitarian intervention in the Biafran refugee crisis was essential for the survival of the Biafran war-stricken women and children.

Keywords: refugee crisis, humanitarian intervention, Caritas International, blockades, airlifts, starvation

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Authors: Quan Gu, Daniel Dimitrov

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BingleSeq was developed as a shiny-based, intuitive, and comprehensive application that enables the analysis of single-Cell RNA-Sequencing count data. This was achieved via incorporating three state-of-the-art software packages for each type of RNA sequencing analysis, alongside functional annotation analysis and a way to assess the overlap of differential expression method results. At its current state, the functionality implemented within BingleSeq is comparable to that of other applications, also developed with the purpose of lowering the entry requirements to RNA Sequencing analyses. BingleSeq is available on GitHub and will be submitted to R/Bioconductor.

Keywords: bioinformatics, functional annotation analysis, single-cell RNA-sequencing, transcriptomics

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Authors: Shu-Jun Li, Cheng-Cao Sun, De-Jia Li

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Recently, long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been emerged as crucial regulators of human diseases and prognostic markers in numerous of cancers, including colorectal carcinoma (CRC). Here, we identified an oncogenetic lncRNA HULC, which may promote colorectal tumorigenesis. HULC has been found to be up-regulated and acts as oncogene in gastric cancer and hepatocellular carcinoma, but its expression pattern, biological function and underlying mechanism in CRC is still undetermined. Here, we reported that HULC expression is also over-expressed in CRC, and its increased level is associated with poor prognosis and shorter survival. Knockdown of HULC impaired CRC cells proliferation, migration and invasion, facilitated cell apoptosis in vitro, and inhibited tumorigenicity of CRC cells in vivo. Mechanistically, RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) and RNA pull-down experiment demonstrated that HULC could simultaneously interact with EZH2 to repress underlying targets NKD2 transcription. In addition, rescue experiments determined that HULC oncogenic function is partly dependent on repressing NKD2. Taken together, our findings expound how HULC over-expression endows an oncogenic function in CRC.

Keywords: long noncoding RNA, HULC, NKD2, colorectal carcinoma, proliferation, apoptosis

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Authors: P. Chihomvu, P. Stegmann, M. Pillay

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Pollution of the Klip River has caused microorganisms inhabiting it to develop protective survival mechanisms. This study isolated and characterized the heavy metal resistant bacteria in the Klip River. Water and sediment samples were collected from six sites along the course of the river. The pH, turbidity, salinity, temperature and dissolved oxygen were measured in-situ. The concentrations of six heavy metals (Cd, Cu, Fe, Ni, Pb, and Zn) of the water samples were determined by atomic absorption spectroscopy. Biochemical and antibiotic profiles of the isolates were assessed using the API 20E® and Kirby Bauer Method. Growth studies were carried out using spectrophotometric methods. The isolates were identified using 16SrDNA sequencing. The uppermost part of the Klip River with the lowest pH had the highest levels of heavy metals. Turbidity, salinity and specific conductivity increased measurably at Site 4 (Henley on Klip Weir). MIC tests showed that 16 isolates exhibited high iron and lead resistance. Antibiotic susceptibility tests revealed that the isolates exhibited multi-tolerances to drugs such as tetracycline, ampicillin, and amoxicillin.

Keywords: Klip River, heavy metals, resistance, 16SrDNA

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Authors: Juliza Hidayati, Sawarni Hasibuan

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PT. XYZ is a manufacturing company that produces Crude Palm Oil (CPO). The fierce competition in the global markets not only between companies but also a competition between supply chains. This research aims to analyze the supply chain and value chain of Crude Palm Oil (CPO) in the company. Data analysis method used is qualitative analysis and quantitative analysis. The qualitative analysis describes supply chain and value chain, while the quantitative analysis is used to find out value added and the establishment of the value chain. Based on the analysis, the value chain of crude palm oil (CPO) in the company consists of four main actors that are suppliers of raw materials, processing, distributor, and customer. The value chain analysis consists of two actors; those are palm oil plantation and palm oil processing plant. The palm oil plantation activities include nurseries, planting, plant maintenance, harvesting, and shipping. The palm oil processing plant activities include reception, sterilizing, thressing, pressing, and oil classification. The value added of palm oil plantations was 72.42% and the palm oil processing plant was 10.13%.

Keywords: palm oil, value chain, value added, supply chain

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Authors: Alexiou Dimitra, Fragkaki Maria

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The objective of the paper is the study of geographic, economic and educational variables and their contribution to determine the position of each member-state among the EU-28 countries based on the values of seven variables as given by Eurostat. The Data Analysis methods of Multiple Factorial Correspondence Analysis (MFCA) Principal Component Analysis and Factor Analysis have been used. The cross tabulation tables of data consist of the values of seven variables for the 28 countries for 2014. The data are manipulated using the CHIC Analysis V 1.1 software package. The results of this program using MFCA and Ascending Hierarchical Classification are given in arithmetic and graphical form. For comparison reasons with the same data the Factor procedure of Statistical package IBM SPSS 20 has been used. The numerical and graphical results presented with tables and graphs, demonstrate the agreement between the two methods. The most important result is the study of the relation between the 28 countries and the position of each country in groups or clouds, which are formed according to the values of the corresponding variables.

Keywords: Multiple Factorial Correspondence Analysis, Principal Component Analysis, Factor Analysis, E.U.-28 countries, Statistical package IBM SPSS 20, CHIC Analysis V 1.1 Software, Eurostat.eu Statistics

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Authors: J. R. Wang, W. Y. Cheng, J. S. Yeh, S. W. Chen, Y. M. Ferng, J. H. Yang, W. S. Hsu, C. Shih

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To understand the risk for dry storage concrete casks in the cask loading, transfer, and storage phase, the purpose of this research is to establish the probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) analysis methodology for dry storage concrete casks by using SAPHIRE 8 code. This analysis methodology is used to perform the study of Taiwan nuclear power plants (NPPs) dry storage system. The process of research has three steps. First, the data of the concrete casks and Taiwan NPPs are collected. Second, the PRA analysis methodology is developed by using SAPHIRE 8. Third, the PRA analysis is performed by using this methodology. According to the analysis results, the maximum risk is the multipurpose canister (MPC) drop case.

Keywords: PRA, dry storage, concrete cask, SAPHIRE

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Authors: Ayman A. Swelum, Abdullah N. Al-Owaimer, Mohamed A. Abouheif

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This study aimed to evaluate the effects of sheep breed and the number of embryos transferred on the success of multiple ovulation and embryo transfer (MOET). Sixteen Najdi and Naeimi ewes were used as donors. Multiple ovulation was achieved using equine chorionic gonadotropin (eCG). Thirty-five recipient ewes were divided into four groups: Najdi or Naeimi ewes that received either one or two embryos. After lambing, the gestation length, litter size, and sex of the lambs were recorded. The rates of pregnancy, lambing, and embryo survival were lower in the recipient Najdi than Naeimi ewes when two embryos were transferred. In contrast, the Naeimi ewes that received one embryo had a significantly lower embryo transfer success. In conclusion, the response of ewes to multiple ovulation stimulation using eCG was significantly high in Naeimi ewes (9.8±1.17). Moreover, transferring one embryo resulted in a significantly high pregnancy rate in the Najdi sheep (60%).

Keywords: embryo transfer, multiple ovulation, Najdi, Naeimi, sheep

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Authors: Jeong-Hyun Park, Young-Sik Park, Hyo-Teag Jung

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This paper presents static analysis deployment model for code quality on R&D Projects of SW Development. The proposed model includes the scope of R&D projects and index for static analysis of source code, operation model and execution process, environments and infrastructure system for R&D projects of SW development. There is the static analysis result of pilot project as case study based on the proposed deployment model and environment, and strategic considerations for success operation of the proposed static analysis deployment model for R&D Projects of SW Development. The proposed static analysis deployment model in this paper will be adapted and improved continuously for quality upgrade of R&D projects, and customer satisfaction of developed source codes and products.

Keywords: static analysis, code quality, coding rules, automation tool

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Authors: Ghulam Hassan Abbasi, Moazzam Jamil, Ghazala Akhtar, M.Anwar-ul-Haq

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Heavy metals are significant pollutants in environment and their toxicity is a problem for survival of living things while salicylic acid (SA) is signaling and ubiquitous bioactive molecule that regulates cellular mechanism in plants under stress condition. Therefore, exogenous application of salicylic acid (SA) under chromium stress in two chickpea varieties were investigated in hydroponic experiment with five treatments comprising of control, 5 µM Cr + 5 mM SA, 5µM Cr + 10 mM SA, 10µM Cr + 5 mM SA, and 10µM Cr + 10 mM SA. Results revealed that treatments of plants with 10 mM SA application under both 5 µM Cr and 10 µM Cr stress resulted in maximum improvement in plant morphological attributes (root and shoot length, root and shoot fresh and dry weight, membrane stability index and relative water contents) relative to 5 mM SA application in both chickpea varieties. Results regarding Cr concentration showed that Cr was more retained in roots followed by shoots and maximum reduction in Cr uptake was observed at 10 mM SA application. Chickpea variety BRC-61 showed maximum growth and least concentration of Cr in root and shoot relative to BRC-390 variety.

Keywords: chromium, Chickpea, salicylic acid, growth

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Authors: Ayoub Ali Maulana

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“The success and sustainability of an Islamic finance system depends on the ability to establish a comprehensive legal and regulatory framework that supports synergy amongst the components in the system”. Numbers of banks have introduced Islamic banking windows claiming that their products follow Islamic banking values without any compromise. National Bank of Commerce Limited, Stanbic Bank Limited, Kenya Commercial Bank, The Peoples Bank of Zanzibar and Amana Bank Limited are some of the banks which offer Islamic banking products in Tanzania. To date, there is no single provision in Tanzanian laws that speak of Islamic banking activities in the country. Despite the fact that consultancy commissioned to International Monetary Fund (IMF) to research on the best laws to govern Islamic banking industry in the country, the speed is not encouraging in making sure that the same is introduced as soon as possible. This paper highlights the trend of the banking services in Tanzania and examines the application of Islamic banking system in the Tanzanian conventional banking environment. In particular the paper considers whether the Islamic banking services in Tanzania can survive without an appropriate legal framework that accommodates it.

Keywords: islamic banks, interest, islamic windows, Tanzania

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Authors: Ju-young Hwang, Hyo-Gyoung Kwak, Hong Jae Yim

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This paper introduces a numerical analysis method for reinforced-concrete (RC) structures exposed to fire and compares the result with experimental results. The proposed analysis method for RC structure under the high temperature consists of two procedures. First step is to decide the temperature distribution across the section through the heat transfer analysis by using the time-temperature curve. After determination of the temperature distribution, the nonlinear analysis is followed. By considering material and geometrical non-linearity with the temperature distribution, nonlinear analysis predicts the behavior of RC structure under the fire by the exposed time. The proposed method is validated by the comparison with the experimental results. Finally, Prediction model to describe the status of after-cooling concrete can also be introduced based on the results of additional experiment. The product of this study is expected to be embedded for smart structure monitoring system against fire in u-City.

Keywords: RC structures, heat transfer analysis, nonlinear analysis, after-cooling concrete model

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Authors: Mrigakshi Das

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The private sector investments and quantum of money required in this sector critically hinges on the financial risk and returns the sector offers to providers of capital. Therefore, it becomes important to understand financial performance of hospitals. Financial Analysis is useful for decision makers in a variety of settings. Consider the small proprietary hospitals, say, Physicians Clinic. The managers of such clinic need the information that financial statements provide. Attention to Financial Statements of healthcare Organizations can provide answers to questions like: How are they doing? What is their rate of profit? What is their solvency and liquidity position? What are their sources and application of funds? What is their Operational Efficiency? The researcher has studied Financial Statements of 5 Private Healthcare Organizations in Guwahati City.

Keywords: not-for-profit organizations, financial analysis, ratio analysis, profitability analysis, liquidity analysis, operational efficiency, capital structure analysis

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Authors: D. Pranav

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Pesticides are a class of Biocide, whose use in agriculture has led to a momentous increase in the yield of crops, fruits and vegetables all over the word and its effective use has also been the pillars of success for the Green Revolution. However, the incessant use of pesticides has now reached alarming levels. In 2007 alone, the world used an estimated 2.4 million tons of pesticides. Despite its tremendous benefits for agriculture, pesticide has been one of the major reasons for degradation of the natural environment and undesirable effects on human beings. It has not only caused damage to human health, but has also threatened the survival of few birds and animal species. In India, the sale and usage of banned pesticide, increased usage of pesticides and its inadequate labeling has caused Bio magnification, which is causing deleterious effects on child development, resulting in stunted mental and physical growth. This paper aims to bring to shed light on major loopholes in the current pesticide regulations such as the Insecticide Act of 1968. It further discusses loopholes in the yet to be tabled Pesticides Management Bill of 2008. It discusses and arrives at potential amendments to the laws and regulations concerning pesticides; that cannot only be applied to the Indian subcontinent but other developing countries as well.

Keywords: pesticides, India, human health, environment, regulations, reform

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Authors: Maciej Sobczak, Julita Pietrzak, Tomasz Płoszaj, Agnieszka Robaszkiewicz

Abstract:

Brg1, a member of SWI/SNF complex, plays a role in chromatin remodeling, therefore, regulates expression of many genes. Brg1 is an ATPase of SWI/SNF complex, thus its activity requires ATP. Through its bromodomain recognizes acetylated histone residues and evicts them, thus promoting transcriptionally active state of chromatin. One of the enzymes that is responsible for acetylation of histone residues is Ep300. It was previously shown in the literature that cooperation of Brg1 and Ep300 occurs at the promoter regions that have binding sites for E2F-family transcription factors as well as CpG islands. According to literature, approximately 20% of human cancer possess mutation in Brg1 or any other crucial SWI/SNF subunit. That phenomenon makes Brg1-Ep300 a very promising target for anti-cancer therapy. Therefore in our study, we investigated if physical interaction between Brg1 and Ep300 exists and what impact those two proteins have on key for breast cancer cells processes such as DNA damage repair and cell proliferation. Bioinformatical analysis pointed out, that genes involved in cell proliferation and DNA damage repair are overexpressed in MCF7 and MDA-MB-231 cells. Moreover, promoter regions of these genes are highly acetylated, which suggests high transcriptional activity of those sites. Notably, many of those gene possess within their promoters an E2F, Brg1 motives, as well as CpG islands and acetylated histones. Our data show that Brg1 physically interacts with Ep300, and together they regulate expression of genes involved in DNA damage repair and cell proliferation. Upon inhibiting Brg1 or Ep300, expression of vital for cancer cell survival genes such as CDK2/4, BRCA1/2, PCNA, and XRCC1 is decreased in MDA-MB-231 and MCF7 cells. Moreover, inhibition or silencing of either Brg1 or Ep300 leads to cell cycle arrest in G1. After inhibition of BRG1 or Ep300 on tested gene promoters, the repressor complex including Rb, HDAC1, and EZH2 is formed, which inhibits gene expression. These results highlight potentially significant target for targeted anticancer therapy to be introduced as a supportive therapy.

Keywords: brg1, ep300, breast cancer, epigenetics

Procedia PDF Downloads 183

Authors: D. Beziakina, E. Bulgakova

Abstract:

This study continues the research on Tuvinian intonation and presents a general cross-dialect analysis of intonation of Tuvinian declarative utterances, specifically the character of the tone movement in order to test the hypothesis about the prevalence of level tone in some Tuvinian dialects. The results of the analysis of basic pitch characteristics of Tuvinian speech (in general and in comparison with two other Turkic languages - Uzbek and Azerbaijani) are also given in this paper. The goal of our work was to obtain the ranges of pitch parameter values typical for Tuvinian speech. Such language-specific values can be used in speaker identification systems in order to get more accurate results of ethnic speech analysis. We also present the results of a cross-dialect analysis of declarative intonation in the poorly studied Tuvinian language.

Keywords: speech analysis, statistical analysis, speaker recognition, identification of person

Procedia PDF Downloads 470