Search results for: human and viral genes

Authors: Hyun-Kyung Lee, Jehyung Oh, Young Eun Jeong, Hyun-Shik Lee

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Perfluoroalkyl compounds (PFCs) are environmental toxicants that persistently accumulate in the human blood. Their widespread detection and accumulation in the environment raise concerns about whether these chemicals might be developmental toxicants and teratogens in the ecosystem. We evaluated and compared the toxicity of PFCs of containing various numbers of carbon atoms (C8-11 carbons) on vertebrate embryogenesis. We assessed the developmental toxicity and teratogenicity of various PFCs. The toxic effects on Xenopus embryos were evaluated using different methods. We measured teratogenic indices (TIs) and investigated the mechanisms underlying developmental toxicity and teratogenicity by measuring the expression of organ-specific biomarkers such as xPTB (liver), Nkx2.5 (heart), and Cyl18 (intestine). All PFCs that we tested were found to be developmental toxicants and teratogens. Their toxic effects were strengthened with increasing length of the fluorinated carbon chain. Furthermore, we produced evidence showing that perfluorodecanoic acid (PFDA) and perfluoroundecanoic acid (PFuDA) are more potent developmental toxicants and teratogens in an animal model compared to the other PFCs we evaluated [perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA)]. In particular, severe defects resulting from PFDA and PFuDA exposure were observed in the liver and heart, respectively, using the whole mount in situ hybridization, real-time PCR, pathologic analysis of the heart, and dissection of the liver. Our studies suggest that most PFCs are developmental toxicants and teratogens, however, compounds that have higher numbers of carbons (i.e., PFDA and PFuDA) exert more potent effects.

Keywords: PFC, xenopus, fetax, development

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Authors: Bartosz Osiecki, Jane Liu

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Pollutants emitted from forest fires such as PM₂.₅ and carbon monoxide (CO) have been found to impact the air quality of distant regions through long-range transport. PM₂.₅ is of particular concern due to its transport capacity and implications for human respiratory and cardiovascular health. As such, significant increases in PM₂.₅ concentrations have been exhibited in urban areas downwind of fire sources. This study seeks to expand on this literature by evaluating the impacts of long-range forest fire emission transport on air quality in Toronto, Ontario, as a means of evaluating the vulnerability of this major urban center to distant fire events. In order to draw correlations between the fire event and air pollution episode in Toronto, MODIS fire count data and HYPLSIT trajectories are used to assess the date, location, and severity of the fire and track the trajectory of emissions (respectively). Forward and back-trajectories are run, terminating at the West Toronto air monitoring station. PM₂.₅ and CO concentrations in Toronto during September 2017 are found to be significantly elevated, which is likely attributable to the fire activity. Other sites in Ontario including Toronto (East, North, Downtown), Mississauga, Brampton, and Hamilton (Downtown) exhibit similar peaks in PM₂.₅ concentrations. This work sheds light on the non-local, natural factors influencing air quality in urban areas. This is especially important in the context of climate change which is expected to exacerbate intense forest fire events in the future.

Keywords: air quality, forest fires, PM₂.₅, Toronto

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Authors: Elin Julianti, Marlia Singgih, Masayoshi Arai, Jianyu Lin, Masteria Yunovilsa Putra, Muhammad Azhari, Agnia S. Muharam

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The search for a source of new medicinal compounds with anticancer activity from natural products has become important to resolve the ineffectiveness problem of pancreatic cancer therapy. Fungal marine microorganisms are prolific sources of bioactive natural products. In this present study, the ethyl acetate extract of cultured broth of Trichoderma longibrachiatum marine sponge-derived fungi exhibited selective cytotoxicity against human pancreatic carcinoma PANC-1 cells cultured under glucose-deficient conditions (IC50 = 98,4 µg/mL). The T. longibrachiatum was fermented by the static method at room temperature for 60 days. The culture broth was extracted using ethyl acetate by liquid-liquid extraction method. The liquid-liquid extraction was conducted toward the ethyl extract by using 90% MeOH-H₂O and n-|Hexane as a solvent. The extract of 90% MeOH-H₂O was fractionated by liquid extraction using by C₁₈ reversed-phase vacuum flash chromatography using mixtures of MeOH-H₂O, from 50:50 to 100:0, and 1% TFA MeOH as the eluents to yield six fractions. The fraction 2 (MeOH-H2O, 70:30) and fraction 3 (MeOH-H2O, 80:20) showed moderate cytotoxicity with IC50 value of 119.3 and 274.7 µg/mL, respectively. Fraction 4 (MeOH-H₂O, 90:10) showed the highest cytotoxicity activity with IC₅₀value of < 10 µg/mL. The chemical compounds of the fractions that are responsible for cytotoxic activity are potent for further investigation.

Keywords: cytotoxic activity, trichoderma longibrachiatum, marine-derived fungi, PANC-1 cell line

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Authors: Tonislav Ivanov, Oleksii Nedashkivskyi, Denis Babeshko, Vadim Pinskiy, Matthew Putman

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Training a machine learning model for object detection that generalizes well is known to benefit from a training dataset with diverse examples. However, training datasets usually contain many repeats of common examples of a class and lack rarely seen examples. This is due to the process commonly used during human annotation where a person would proceed sequentially through a list of images labeling a sufficiently high total number of examples. Instead, the method presented involves an active process where, after the initial labeling of several images is completed, the next subset of images for labeling is selected by an algorithm. This process of algorithmic image selection and manual labeling continues in an iterative fashion. The algorithm used for the image selection is a deep learning algorithm, based on the U-shaped architecture, which quantifies the presence of unseen data in each image in order to find images that contain the most novel examples. Moreover, the location of the unseen data in each image is highlighted, aiding the labeler in spotting these examples. Experiments performed using semiconductor wafer data show that labeling a subset of the data, curated by this algorithm, resulted in a model with a better performance than a model produced from sequentially labeling the same amount of data. Also, similar performance is achieved compared to a model trained on exhaustive labeling of the whole dataset. Overall, the proposed approach results in a dataset that has a diverse set of examples per class as well as more balanced classes, which proves beneficial when training a deep learning model.

Keywords: computer vision, deep learning, object detection, semiconductor

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Authors: Shinta Ardiana Sari, Dini Puti Angelia

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A high number of urban population in Jakarta has been a substantial issue for mobility strategy. Transit Oriented Development (TOD) becomes one of the strategies to improve community livability based on the design of transit place and the system of its context. TOD principle is trying to win over pedestrian motorization habit, makes people would rather transit and travel more than using private vehicle. Train station takes the main role as the catalyst to emerge TOD, in Jakarta this role will be taken by Commuter line and the future MRT. For advancing its development, architectural design perspective is needed to perform evaluation while seeking for the strategies between accessibility transportation modes with convenience and safety for increasing human behavioral intention. This paper discovers design strategy for transit place that appropriates with Jakarta condition use the basic theories of liminal space and transit-oriented development goal. This paper use evidence-based approach with typology method to analyze the present condition of Commuter Line station in Jakarta and precedent of Asian Cities, Tokyo and Seoul, as the secondary sources, and also with numbers of valid questionnaires. Furthermore, the result of this paper aims to the emerging of a transit-oriented community by giving design requirements and suggestion transportation policies preparing for the operational of MRT in the future Jakarta and other similar cities.

Keywords: station design, transit place, transit-oriented development, urban

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Authors: Soundarya Lahari Vedula

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Dalit women make up a significant portion of the Indian population. However, they are victims of age old discrimination. This paper presents a brief background of the Indian caste system which is a hierarchical division placing Dalits at the lowest rank. Dalits are forced to perform menial and harsh tasks. They often face social ostracism. The situation of Dalit women is of unique significance as they face triple discrimination due to their caste, gender, and class. Dalit women are strictly withheld by the rigid boundaries of the caste system. They are discriminated at every stage of their life and are denied access to public places, education and healthcare facilities among others. They face the worst forms of sexual violence. In spite of legislations and international conventions in place, their plight is not adequately addressed. This paper discusses, in brief, the legal mechanism in place to prohibit untouchability. Furthermore, this paper details on the specific human rights violations faced by Dalit women in the social, economic and political spheres. The violations range from discrimination in public places, denial of education and health services, sexual exploitation and barriers to political representation. Finally, this paper identifies certain lacunae in the existing Indian statutes and broadens on the measures to be taken to improve the situation of Dalit women. This paper offers some recommendations to address the plight of Dalit women such as amendments to the existing statutes, effective implementation of legal mechanisms and a more meaningful interpretation of the international conventions.

Keywords: Dalit, caste, class, discrimination, equality

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Authors: Radhika Jagtap

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Contemporary scholarship in international legal theory is investigating new avenues of providing alternatives to dominant concepts. Indigenous peoples’ philosophies and perspectives developed through them provide a fertile ground to explore similar alternative ideas. This review paper evaluates the theorized accounts of indigenous scholarships which have contributed towards a rich body of knowledge generating alternative visions on dominant notions of ‘post coloniality’, ‘resistance’ and ‘globalization’. Further, it shall assess the relevance of such a project in shaping contemporary international legal thought. Traditional or classical international law has been opined to be highly influenced by the colonial and imperialist history which also left a mark on the way dominant discourses of resistance and globalization are read in mainstream international law. The paper shall first define what do we mean by indigenous philosophy and what kind of indigeneity is that inclusive of. Second, the paper defines the dominant discourse and then counters the same with the alternative indigenous perspective in the case of each concept that is in question. Finally, the paper shall conclude with certain theoretical findings – that the post coloniality, from indigenous perspective, lead to the further marginalization of indigeneity, especially in the third world; that human rights as the sole means of representing resistance in international law ends up making it a very state-centric discipline and last, that globalization from an indigenous, marginalised perspective is not as celebrated as it is in mainstream international law. Major scholarly works that shall be central to the discussion are those of Linda Tuiwahi Smith, Ella Shohat and David Harvey. The nature of the research shall be inductive and involve mostly theoretical review of scholarly works.

Keywords: indigenous, post colonial, globalization, perspectives

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Authors: Farhat Jabeen, Syed Asfaq Hussain Bukhari

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In the wake of the contemporary period the basic objective of the research paper points out that socio-cultural scenario of Pakistan reveals that gender-based violence is deep rooted in the society irrespective of language and ethnicity. This paper would reconnaissance the possibility reforms in Pakistan for diminishing of violence. Women are not given their due role, rights, and respect. Furthermore, they are treated as chattels. This presentation will cover the socio-customary practices in the context of discrimination, stigmatization, and violence against women. This paper envisages justice in a broader sense of recognition of rights for women, and masculine structure of society, socio-customary practices and discrimination against women are a very serious concern which needs to be understood as a multidimensional problem. The paper will specially focus on understanding the existing obstacles of women in Pakistan in the constitutional scenario. Women stumble across discrimination and human rights manipulations, voluptuous violation and manipulation including domestic viciousness and are disadvantaged by laws, strategies, and programming that do not take their concerns into considerations. This presentation examines the role of honour killings among Pakistani community. This affects their self-assurance and capability to elevation integrity campaign where gender inequalities and discrimination in social, legal domain are to be put right. This paper brings to light the range of practices, laws and legal justice regarding the status of women and also covers attitude towards compensations for murders/killings, domestic violence, rape, adultery, social behavior and recourse to justice.

Keywords: discrimination, cultural, women, violence

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Authors: Thirayu Jumsai Na Ayudhya

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The attempt to understand about what architecture means to people as they go about their everyday life revealed that knowledge such as environmental psychology, environmental perception, environmental aesthetics, inadequately address the contextualized and holistic theoretical framework. In my previous research, it was found that people’s making senses of their everyday architecture can be addressed in terms of four super‐ordinate themes; (1) building in urban (text), (2) building in (text), (3) building in human (text), (4) and building in time (text). In this research, Bangkok CBD was selected as the focal urban context that the integrated style of architecture is noticeable. It is expected that in a unique urban context like Bangkok CBD unprecedented super-ordinate themes will be unveiled through the reflection of people’s everyday experiences. In this research, people’s architectural experience conducted in Bangkok CBD, Thailand, will be presented succinctly. The research addresses the question of how do people make sense of their everyday architecture/buildings especially in a unique urban context, Bangkok CBD, and identifies ways in which people make sense of their everyday architecture. Two key methodologies are adopted. First, Participant-Produced-Photograph (PPP) allows people to express their experiences of the everyday urban context freely without any interference or forced-data generating by researchers. Second, Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) are also applied as main methodologies. With IPA methodology, a small pool of participants is considered giving the detailed level of analysis and its potential to produce a meaningful outcome.

Keywords: architectural experience, building appreciation, design psychology, environmental psychology, sense-making, the everyday experience, transactional theory

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Authors: Saeed Ullah Jan

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This study has examined the e-readiness in libraries of public sector universities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Efforts were made to evaluate the availability of human resources, electronic infrastructure, and network services and programs in the public sector university libraries. The population of the study was the twenty-seven public sector university libraries of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. A quantitative approach was adopted, and a questionnaire-based survey was conducted to collect data from the librarian/in charge of public sector university libraries. The collected data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 22 (SPSS). The mean score of the knowledge component interpreted magnitudes below three which indicates that the respondents are poorly or moderately satisfied regards knowledge of libraries. The satisfaction level of the respondents about the other components, such as electronic infrastructure, network services and programs, and enhancers of the networked world, was rated as average or below. The study suggested that major aspects of existing public-sector university libraries require significant transformation. For this purpose, the government should provide all the required resources and facilities to meet the population's informational and recreational demands. The Information Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure of public university libraries needs improvement in terms of the availability of computer equipment, databases, network servers, multimedia projectors, digital cameras, uninterruptible power supply, scanners, and backup devices such as hard discs and Digital Video Disc/Compact Disc.

Keywords: ICT-libraries, e-readiness-libraries, e-readiness-university libraries, e-readiness-Pakistan

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Authors: Asmaa F. Hamouda, Randa M Shrourou

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Cabbage (Brassica oleracea) and Ginger (Zingiber officinale) constitute apportion of regular human diet. The effect of Cabbage(CE) and Ginger extracts(GE) separately on liver nitric oxide (NO), malondialdehyde (MDA), as well as serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), total bilirubin, total cholesterol(TC), triglyceride(T.G), high density lipoprotein(HDL cholesterol), low density lipoprotein (LDL cholesterol), thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), Triiodothyronine (T3), Thyroxine (T4) in rats treated and untreated with carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) was studied. The levels of NO, MDA, as well as serum AST, ALT, total bilirubin, TC, T.G, LDLand TSH showed an elevation and decline in HDL, T3, and T4 in rats treated with CCl4 as compared to control. Treatment of rats with GE pre, during, and post CCl4 administration improved NO, MDA, as well as serum AST, ALT, total bilirubin, TC, T.G, HDL, LDL, TSH, T3, T4 as compared to CCl4, indicates that GE improve thyroid function and reduced oxidative stress as well as injuries induced by CCl4. Treatment of rats with CE pre, during, and post CCl4 administration did not improved in the thyroid hormones and lipid profile levels as compared to CCl4. These findings suggest that ginger treatment exerts a protective effect on metabolic disorders by decreasing oxidative stress.

Keywords: liver injuries, carbon tetrachloride (CCl4), cabbage (Brassica oleracea), ginger (Zingiber officinale), thyroid function

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Authors: Feiying Wu

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Chatbots are computer programs that attempt to engage a human in a dialogue, which originated in the 1960s with MIT's Eliza. However, they have become widespread more recently as advances in language technology have produced chatbots with increasing linguistic quality and sophistication, leading to their potential to serve as a tool for Computer-Assisted Language Learning(CALL). The aim of this article is to assess the feasibility of using two chatbots, Mitsuku and CleverBot, as pedagogical tools for learning English as a second language by stimulating L2 learners with distinct English proficiencies. Speaking of the input of stimulated learners, they are measured by AntWordProfiler to match the user's expected vocabulary proficiency. Totally, there are four chat sessions as each chatbot will converse with both beginners and advanced learners. For evaluation, it focuses on chatbots' responses from a linguistic standpoint, encompassing vocabulary and sentence levels. The vocabulary level is determined by the vocabulary range and the reaction to misspelled words. Grammatical accuracy and responsiveness to poorly formed sentences are assessed for the sentence level. In addition, the assessment of this essay sets 25% lexical and grammatical incorrect input to determine chatbots' corrective ability towards different linguistic forms. Based on statistical evidence and illustration of examples, despite the small sample size, neither Mitsuku nor CleverBot is ideal as educational tools based on their performance through word range, grammatical accuracy, topic range, and corrective feedback for incorrect words and sentences, but rather as a conversational tool for beginners of L2 English.

Keywords: chatbots, CALL, L2, corrective feedback

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Authors: Lucia Perez, Maria Gaton y Santa Palella

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Starting from the etymology of the word culture, the Latin term ‘colere’, whose meaning is to cultivate, we understand that the society that cultivates its knowledge is laying the foundations for new possibilities. In this sense, art and fashion contain the same attributes: concept, aesthetic principles, and refined techniques. Both play a crucial role, communication, and this implies a sense of community, relationship with tradition, and innovation. This is the mirror in which to contemplate, but also the space that helps to grow. This is the framework where our object of study opens up: the anthropological management or the mission management model applied to fashion exhibitions in museums and cultural institutions. For this purpose, a bibliographic review has been carried out with its subsequent analysis, a case study of three successful exhibitions: ‘Christian Dior: designer of dreams’, ‘Balenciaga and the Spanish painting’, and ‘China: Through the Looking Glass’. The methodology has been completed with interviews focused on the curators. Amongst the results obtained, it is worth highlighting the fundamental role of transcendent leadership, which, in addition to being results-oriented, must align the motivations of the collaborators with the mission. The anthropological management model conceives management as a service, and it is oriented to the interests of the staff and the public, in short, of the person; this is what enables the objectives of effectiveness, efficiency, and social value to be achieved; dimensions, all necessary for the proper development of the mission of the exhibitions. Fashion, understood as art, is at the service of culture, and therefore of the human being, which defines a transcendent mission. We conclude that the profile of an anthropological management model applied to fashion exhibitions in museums is the ideal one to achieve the purpose of these institutions.

Keywords: art, culture, fashion, anthropological model, fashion exhibitions

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Authors: Uche A. Nnawulezi

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Undoubtedly, despite all efforts made to achieve overall peace through the application of the principles of international humanitarian law, crimes against mankind which are of unprecedented concern to the whole world have remained unabated. The fall back on war as a technique for settling disputes between nations, individuals, countries and ethnic groups with accompanying toll of deaths and destruction of properties have remained a conspicuous component of human history. Indeed, to control this conduct of warfare and the dehumanization of individuals, a body of law aimed at regulating the impacts of conflicts and hostilities in the theater of war has become necessary. Thus, it is to examine the conditions in which international humanitarian law will apply and also to determine the extent of the challenges of new progressions of warfare that this study is undertaken. All through this examination, we grasped doctrinal approach wherein we used text books, journals, international materials and supposition of law specialists in the field of international humanitarian law. This paper shall examine the distinctive factors responsible for the rebelliousness to the rules of International Humanitarian Law and furthermore, shall proffer possible courses of action that will address the challenges of new technologies of warfare all over the world. Essentially, the basic proposals made in this paper if totally utilized may go far in ensuring a sufficient standard in the application of the rules of international humanitarian law as it relates to an increasingly frequent phenomenon of contemporary developments in technologies of warfare which has in recent past, made it more difficult for the most ideal application of the rules of international humanitarian law. This paper deduces that for a sustainable global peace to be achieved, the rules of International Humanitarian Law as it relates to the utilization of new technologies of warfare should be completely clung to and should be made a strict liability offense. Likewise, this paper further recommends the introduction of domestic criminal law punishment of serious contraventions of the rules of international humanitarian law.

Keywords: international, humanitarian law, new technologies, warfare

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Authors: Md Omar Faruq Howlader, Tariq Pervez Sattar, Sandra Dudley

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This paper describes the design process of a 200 MHz Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) and a battery powered concrete vertical concrete surface climbing mobile robot. The key design feature is a miniaturized 200 MHz dipole antenna using additional radiating arms and procedure records a reduction of 40% in length compared to a conventional antenna. The antenna set is mounted in front of the robot using a servo mechanism for folding and unfolding purposes. The robot’s adhesion mechanism to climb the reinforced concrete wall is based on neodymium permanent magnets arranged in a unique combination to concentrate and maximize the magnetic flux to provide sufficient adhesion force for GPR installation. The experiments demonstrated the robot’s capability of climbing reinforced concrete wall carrying the attached prototype GPR system and perform floor-to-wall transition and vice versa. The developed GPR’s performance is validated by its capability of detecting and localizing an aluminium sheet and a reinforcement bar (rebar) of 12 mm diameter buried under a test rig built of wood to mimic the concrete structure environment. The present robotic GPR system proves the concept of feasibility of undertaking inspection procedure on large concrete structures in hazardous environments that may not be accessible to human inspectors.

Keywords: climbing robot, dipole antenna, ground penetrating radar (GPR), mobile robots, robotic GPR

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Authors: Sheikh Shams Azam, Manoj Raju, Venkatesh Pagidimarri, Vamsi Kasivajjala

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Over the past decade, there has been a steep rise in the data-driven analysis in major areas of medicine, such as clinical decision support system, survival analysis, patient similarity analysis, image analytics etc. Most of the data in the field are well-structured and available in numerical or categorical formats which can be used for experiments directly. But on the opposite end of the spectrum, there exists a wide expanse of data that is intractable for direct analysis owing to its unstructured nature which can be found in the form of discharge summaries, clinical notes, procedural notes which are in human written narrative format and neither have any relational model nor any standard grammatical structure. An important step in the utilization of these texts for such studies is to transform and process the data to retrieve structured information from the haystack of irrelevant data using information retrieval and data mining techniques. To address this problem, the authors present Q-Map in this paper, which is a simple yet robust system that can sift through massive datasets with unregulated formats to retrieve structured information aggressively and efficiently. It is backed by an effective mining technique which is based on a string matching algorithm that is indexed on curated knowledge sources, that is both fast and configurable. The authors also briefly examine its comparative performance with MetaMap, one of the most reputed tools for medical concepts retrieval and present the advantages the former displays over the latter.

Keywords: information retrieval, unified medical language system, syntax based analysis, natural language processing, medical informatics

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Authors: Yesim Özogul, Fethiye Takadaş, Mustafa Durmus, Yılmaz Ucar, Ali Rıza Köşker, Gulsun Özyurt, Fatih Özogul

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It has been well documented that polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), especially eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) have beneficial effects on health, regarding prevention of cardiovascular diseases, cancer and autoimmune disorders, development the brain and retina and treatment of major depressive disorder etc. Thus, an adequate intake of omega PUFA is essential and generally marine fish are the richest sources of PUFA in human diet. Thus, this study was conducted to evaluate the efficiency of different extraction methods (Bligh and Dyer, soxhlet, microwave and ultrasonics) on the fat content and fatty acid profiles of marine fish species (Mullus babatus, Upeneus moluccensis, Mullus surmuletus, Anguilla anguilla, Pagellus erythrinus and Saurida undosquamis). Fish species were caught by trawl in Mediterranean Sea and immediately iced. After that, fish were transported to laboratory in ice and stored at -18oC in a freezer until the day of analyses. After extracting lipid from fish by different methods, lipid samples were converted to their constituent fatty acid methyl esters. The fatty acid composition was analysed by a GC Clarus 500 with an autosampler (Perkin Elmer, Shelton, CT, USA) equipped with a flame ionization detector and a fused silica capillary SGE column (30 m x 0.32 mm ID x 0.25 mm BP20 0.25 UM, USA). The results showed that there were significant differences (P < 0.05) in fatty acids of all species and also extraction methods affected fat contents and fatty acid profiles of fish species.

Keywords: extraction methods, fatty acids, marine fish, PUFA

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Authors: Carlo Cernicchiaro, Pedro D. Gaspar, Martim L. Aguiar

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The agricultural sector is becoming more critical than ever in view of the expected overpopulation of the Earth. The introduction of robotic solutions in this field is an increasingly researched topic to make the most of the Earth's resources, thus going to avoid the problems of wear and tear of the human body due to the harsh agricultural work, and open the possibility of a constant careful processing 24 hours a day. This project is realized for a terrestrial autonomous robot aimed to navigate in an orchard collecting fallen peaches below the trees. When it receives the signal indicating the low battery, it has to return to the docking station where it will replace its battery and then return to the last work point and resume its routine. Considering a preset path in orchards with tree rows with variable length by which the robot goes iteratively using the algorithm D*. In case of low battery, the D* algorithm is still used to determine the fastest return path to the docking station as well as to come back from the docking station to the last work point. MATLAB simulations were performed to analyze the flexibility and adaptability of the developed algorithm. The simulation results show an enormous potential for adaptability, particularly in view of the irregularity of orchard field, since it is not flat and undergoes modifications over time from fallen branch as well as from other obstacles and constraints. The D* algorithm determines the best route in spite of the irregularity of the terrain. Moreover, in this work, it will be shown a possible solution to improve the initial points tracking and reduce time between movements.

Keywords: path planning, fastest return path, agricultural autonomous terrestrial robot, docking station

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Authors: Cetin Arslan, Senol Tayan

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Social media is one of the most important and effective means of social interaction among people in which they create, share and exchange their ideas via photos, videos or voice messages. Although there are lots of communication tools, social media sites are the most prominent ones that allows the users articulate themselves in a matter of seconds all around the world with almost any expenses and thus, they became very popular and widespread after its emergence. As the usage of social media increases, it becomes an effective instrument in social matters. While it is possible to use social media to emphasize basic human rights and protest some failures of any government as in “Arab Spring”, it is also possible to spread propaganda and misinformation just to cause long lasting insurgency, upheaval, turmoil or disorder as an instrument of intervention to internal affairs and state sovereignty by some hostile groups or countries. It is certain that “social media” has positive effects on democracies letting people have chance to express themselves and to organize, but it is also obvious that the misuse of it, is very common that even a five-minute-long video can cause to wage a campaign against a country. Although it looks anti-democratic, when you consider the catastrophic effects of misuse of social media, it is a kind of area that serious precautions are to be taken without limiting democratic rights while allowing constant and perpetual share but preventing the criminal events. This article begins with the current developments in social media and gives some examples on misuse of it. Second part tries to put emphasize on the legal basis that can prevent criminal activities and the upheavals and insurgencies against state security. Last part makes comparison between democratic countries and international organizations’’ actions against such activities and proposes some further actions that are compatible with democratic norms.

Keywords: democracy, disorder, security, Social Media

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Authors: M. Abouleish, R. Umer, Z. Sara

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Nitrate can cause serious environmental and human health problems. Effluent from different industries and excessive use of fertilizers have increased the level of nitrate in ground and surface water. Nitrate can convert to nitrite in the body, and as a result, can lead to Methemoglobinemia and cancer. Therefore, different organizations have set standard limits for nitrate and nitrite. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) has set a Maximum Contaminant Level Goal (MCLG) of 10 mg N/L for nitrate and 1 mg N/L for nitrite. The removal of nitrate from water and wastewater is very important to ensure the availability of clean water. Different plant materials such as banana peel, rice hull, coconut and bamboo shells, have been studied as biosorbents for the removal of nitrates from water. The use of abundantly existing plant material as an adsorbent material and the lack of energy requirement for the adsorption process makes biosorption a sustainable approach. Therefore, in this research, the fruit of the plant was investigated for its ability to act as a biosorbent to remove the nitrate from wastewater. The effect of pH on nitrate removal was studied using both the raw and chemically activated fruit (adsorbent). Results demonstrated that the adsorbent needs to be chemically activated before usage to remove the nitrate from wastewater. pH did not have a significant effect on the adsorption process, with maximum adsorption of nitrate occurring at pH 4. SEM/EDX results demonstrated that there is no change in the surface of the adsorbent as a result of the chemical activation. Chemical activation of the adsorbent using NaOH increased the removal of nitrate by 6%; therefore, various methods of activation of the adsorbent will be investigated to increase the removal of nitrate.

Keywords: biosorption, nitrates, plant material, water, and wastewater treatment

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Authors: M. Latha, Achintya K. Dolui, P. Vijayaraj

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Vegetable oils mainly triacylglycerol (TAG) are an essential nutrient in the human diet as well as one of the major global commodity. There is a pressing need to enhance the yield of oil production to meet the world’s growing demand. Oil content is controlled by the balance between synthesis and breakdown in the cells. Several studies have established to increase the oil content by the overexpression of oil biosynthetic enzymes. Interestingly the significant oil accumulation was observed with impaired TAG hydrolysis. Unfortunately, the structural, as well as the biochemical properties of the lipase enzymes, is widely unknown, and so far, no candidate gene was identified in seeds except sugar-dependent1 (SDP1). Evidence has shown that SDP1directly responsible for initiation of oil breakdown in the seeds during germination. The present study is the identification of seed-specific acyl-hydrolases by activity based proteome profiling (ABPP) using Arabidopsis thaliana as a model system. The ABPP reveals that around 8 to 10 proteins having the serine hydrolase domain and are expressed during germination of Arabidopsis seed. The N-term sequencing, as well as LC-MS/MS analysis, was performed for the differentially expressed protein during germination. The coding region of the identified proteins was cloned, and lipases activity was assessed with purified recombinant protein. The enzyme assay was performed against various lipid substrates, and we have observed the acylhydrolase activity towards lysophosphatidylcholine and monoacylglycerol. Further, the functional characteristic of the identified protein will reveal the physiological significance the enzyme in oil accumulation.

Keywords: lipase, lipids, vegetable oil, triacylglycerol

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Authors: Abdulkader Helwan

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Iris cancer, so called intraocular melanoma is a cancer that starts in the iris; the colored part of the eye that surrounds the pupil. There is a need for an accurate and cost-effective iris cancer detection system since the available techniques used currently are still not efficient. The combination of the image processing and artificial neural networks has a great efficiency for the diagnosis and detection of the iris cancer. Image processing techniques improve the diagnosis of the cancer by enhancing the quality of the images, so the physicians diagnose properly. However, neural networks can help in making decision; whether the eye is cancerous or not. This paper aims to develop an intelligent system that stimulates a human visual detection of the intraocular melanoma, so called iris cancer. The suggested system combines both image processing techniques and neural networks. The images are first converted to grayscale, filtered, and then segmented using prewitt edge detection algorithm to detect the iris, sclera circles and the cancer. The principal component analysis is used to reduce the image size and for extracting features. Those features are considered then as inputs for a neural network which is capable of deciding if the eye is cancerous or not, throughout its experience adopted by many training iterations of different normal and abnormal eye images during the training phase. Normal images are obtained from a public database available on the internet, “Mile Research”, while the abnormal ones are obtained from another database which is the “eyecancer”. The experimental results for the proposed system show high accuracy 100% for detecting cancer and making the right decision.

Keywords: iris cancer, intraocular melanoma, cancerous, prewitt edge detection algorithm, sclera

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Authors: W. Nootcharin, S. Sujittra, K. Mayuso, K. Kornphimol, M. Rawiwan

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Silver has distinct antibacterial properties and has been used as a component of commercial products with many applications. An increasing number of commercial products cause risks of silver effects for human and environment such as the symptoms of Argyria and the release of silver to the environment. Therefore, the detection of silver in the aquatic environment is important. The colorimetric chemosensor is designed by the basic of ligand interactions with a metal ion, leading to the change of signals for the naked-eyes which are very useful method to this application. Dithizone ligand is considered as one of the effective chelating reagents for metal ions due to its high selectivity and sensitivity of a photochromic reaction for silver as well as the linear backbone of dithizone affords the rotation of various isomeric forms. The present study is focused on the conformation and interaction of silver ion and silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) with dithizone using density functional theory (DFT). The interaction parameters were determined in term of binding energy of complexes and the geometry optimization, frequency of the structures and calculation of binding energies using density functional approaches B3LYP and the 6-31G(d,p) basis set. Moreover, the interaction of silver–dithizone complexes was supported by UV–Vis spectroscopy, FT-IR spectrum that was simulated by using B3LYP/6-31G(d,p) and 1H NMR spectra calculation using B3LYP/6-311+G(2d,p) method compared with the experimental data. The results showed the ion exchange interaction between hydrogen of dithizone and silver atom, with minimized binding energies of silver–dithizone interaction. However, the result of AgNPs in the form of complexes with dithizone. Moreover, the AgNPs-dithizone complexes were confirmed by using transmission electron microscope (TEM). Therefore, the results can be the useful information for determination of complex interaction using the analysis of computer simulations.

Keywords: silver nanoparticles, dithizone, DFT, NMR

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Authors: Tim Steinhaus, Christian Beidl

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Urban air quality and climate protection are two major challenges for future mobility systems. Despite the steady reduction of pollutant emissions from vehicles over past decades, local immission load within cities partially still reaches heights, which are considered hazardous to human health. Although traffic-related emissions account for a major part of the overall urban pollution, modeling the exact interaction remains challenging. In this paper, a novel approach for the determination of the emission-immission interaction on the basis of neural network modeling for traffic induced NO2-immission load within a near-traffic hot-spot scenario is presented. In a detailed sensitivity analysis, the significance of relevant influencing variables on the prevailing NO2 concentration is initially analyzed. Based on this, the generation process of the model is described, in which not only environmental influences but also the vehicle fleet composition including its associated segment- and certification-specific real driving emission factors are derived and used as input quantities. The validity of this approach, which has been presented in the past, is re-examined in this paper using updated data on vehicle emissions and recent immission measurement data. Within the framework of a final scenario analysis, the future development of the immission load is forecast for different developments in the vehicle fleet composition. It is shown that immission levels of less than half of today’s yearly average limit values are technically feasible in hot-spot situations.

Keywords: air quality, emission, emission-immission-interaction, immission, NO2, zero impact

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Authors: Banu Karasah, Derya Sarı

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Nature changes as a result of human necessities constantly. This change mostly feels in natural water sources which are reconstructed with an effect of dams and motorways. On the other hand, dams and motorways demolish and re-shape nature while the visual quality of landscape gets a new character. Changing and specialization new landscapes will be very important to protection-usage balance to explore sustainable usage facilities. The main cause of the selection of Artvin city is, it has very important geographical location and one of the most attraction points in the World with its biodiversity, conservation areas and natural landscape characteristics. Coruh River is one of the most significant landscape identity element of Artvin. This river begins with Erzurum and falls into the Black Sea in Batumi in Georgia, many dams, and hydroelectric station are located during this basin. Borcka, Muratli and Deriner dams have already been built. Moreover, Deriner is 6th highest dams all over the world. As a result of dams, motorways route were re-shaped and the ways which have already changed because of elevation is directly affected several of natural destruction. In contrast, many different reservoirs in Coruh Basin provide new vista point that has high visual quality. In this study, we would like to evaluate with sustainable landscape design in 76 km river corridor, which is mainly based on Deriner, Borcka and Muratli Dams and determination of their basin-lakes recreational potential and opportunities. Lastly, we are going to give some suggestion about the potential of the corridor.

Keywords: Artvin, dam reservoirs, landscape assessment, river corridor, visual quality

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Authors: Marcela Menah de Sousa Lima, Victor Ushijima Leone, Natasha Aparecida Grande de Franca, Barbara Santarosa Emo Peters, Ligia Araujo Martini

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Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) intake has been constantly related to benefits to human health since having a positive effect on reducing body fat. The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between CLA intake and biochemical measurements and body composition of adults and the elderly. Subjects/Methods: 287 adults and elderly participants in an epidemiological study in Sao Paulo Brazil, were included in the present study. Participants had their dietary data obtained by two non-consecutive 24HR, a body composition assessed by dual-energy absorptiometry exam (DXA), and a blood collection. Mean differences and a correlation test was performed. For all statistical tests, a significance of 5% was considered. Results: CLA intake showed a positive correlation with HDL-c levels (r = 0.149; p = 0.011) and negative with VLDL-c levels (r = -0.134; p = 0.023), triglycerides (r = -0.135; p = 0.023) and glycemia (r = -0.171; p = 0.004), as well as negative correlation with visceral adipose tissue (VAT) (r = -0.124, p = 0.036). Evaluating individuals in two groups according to VAT values, a significant difference in CLA intake was observed (p = 0.041), being the group with the highest VAT values, the one with the lowest fatty acid intake. Conclusions: This study suggests that CLA intake is associated with a better lipid profile and lower visceral adipose tissue volume, which contributes to the investigation of the effects of CLA on obesity parameters. However, it is necessary to investigate the effects of CLA from milk and dairy products in the control adiposity.

Keywords: adiposity, dairy products, diet, fatty acids

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Authors: Areej Javaid, Nishat Fatima, Mehwish Naseer

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There is a tremendous use of biofertilizers in agriculture to increase crop productivity. Pakistan spends a huge amount on the purchase of synthetic fertilizers every year. The use of natural compounds to harness crop productivity is the major area of interest nowadays due to being safe for human health and the environment as well. Legumes have the intrinsic quality to enrich the nutrient status of soil because of the presence of nitrogen fixation bacteria on nodules. This research determined the effect of biofertilizer on nodulation attributes and yield of the pea plant. Seeds of pea varieties were treated with a slurry of biofertilizer prepared in a 10% sugar solution just before seed sowing. The impact of biofertilizer on different parameters of growth, yield and nodulation was observed. Analysis of variance showed that plant height, days to flowering, number of nodes, days to first pod, root length and plant height exhibited significant genetic variation. All the yield parameters, including the number of pods per plant, number of seeds per pod, seed fresh and dry weight showed significant results under treatment. Among nodulation parameters, nodule number responded positively to biofertilizer treatment. Genotypes 2001-40 showed better performance followed by 2001-20 and LINA-PAK in all the parameters, whereas 2001-40 and 2001-20 performed well in nodulation and yield parameters. Consequently, seed treatment with biofertilizer before sowing is recommended to obtain higher crop yield.

Keywords: biological nitrogen fixation, correlation analysis, quantitative inheritance, varietal responses

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Authors: Sanghoon Shim, Jaehwan Jung, Sung-Ah Kim

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As the digital technology develops, studies on the TUI (Tangible User Interface) that links the physical environment utilizing the human senses with the virtual environment through the computer are actively being conducted. In addition, there has been a tremendous advance in computer design making through the use of computer-aided design techniques, which enable optimized decision-making through comparison with machine learning and parallel comparison of alternatives. However, a complex design that can respond to user requirements or performance can emerge through the intuition of the designer, but it is difficult to actualize the emerged design by the designer's ability alone. Ancillary tools such as Gaudí's Sandbag can be an instrument to reinforce and evolve emerged ideas from designers. With the advent of many commercial tools that support 3D objects, designers' intentions are easily reflected in their designs, but the degree of their reflection reflects their intentions according to the proficiency of design tools. This study embodies the environment in which the form can be implemented by the fingers of the most basic designer in the initial design phase of the complex type building design. Leapmotion is used as a sensor to recognize the hand motions of the designer, and it is converted into digital information to realize an environment that can be linked in real time in virtual reality (VR). In addition, the implemented design can be linked with Rhino™, a 3D authoring tool, and its plug-in Grasshopper™ in real time. As a result, it is possible to design sensibly using TUI, and it can serve as a tool for assisting designer intuition.

Keywords: design environment, digital modeling, hand gesture, TUI, virtual reality

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Authors: Marsha R. Lawrence

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Introduction: In February and March of 2020, many Black Americans in Albany, Georgia, were impacted by COVID-19 compared to the rest of the country. Due to misinformation and distrust in the community, citizens were not able to make good health decisions regarding COVID-19. The city of Albany applied for a grant with the Department of Health and Human Services, specifically the Office of Minority Health and it was approved. The city of Albany partnered with Albany State University to administer the grant and implementation ensued. Method: An eleven-page electronic and paper cross-sectional survey was given to participants. Albany State University recruited community partners like health care organizations and faith-based organizations to reach the citizens of Albany, Georgia. These partners reached participants through creative community activities to educate participants about COVID-19 and provide incentives to receive a vaccine. Data collection is still in progress because activities are ongoing. Anticipated Results: By December 2023, we anticipate results of the number of participants who accepted vaccines based on participants who stated providers checked their understanding, participants who were satisfied with communication regarding COVID-19 health information about the vaccine, and participants who were involved in decisions regarding the COVID-19 vaccine. Conclusion: Health communication is a subsection of health literacy. At this point, approximately 4000 individuals have received information and education about COVID-19 in the Albany area. We expect building trusting relationships played an important part in the increase in knowledge and vaccination in Albany, Georgia.

Keywords: health literacy, health communication, vaccination, COVID-19

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Authors: Lutfi Abosrra, Alseddeq Alabaoub, Nuri Elhaloudi

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Corrosion processes in the Oil & Gas industry can lead to failures that are usually costly to repair, costly in terms of loss of contaminated product, in terms of environmental damage and possibly costly in terms of human safety. This article describes the results of the corrosion review and criticality assessment done at Mellitah Gas (SRU unit) for pressure equipment and piping system. The information gathered through the review was intended for developing a qualitative RBI study. The corrosion criticality assessment has been carried out by applying company procedures and industrial recommended practices such as API 571, API 580/581, ASME PCC 3, which provides a guideline for establishing corrosion integrity assessment. The corrosion review is intimately related to the probability of failure (POF). During the corrosion study, the process units are reviewed by following the applicable process flow diagrams (PFDs) in the presence of Mellitah’s personnel from process engineering, inspection, and corrosion/materials and reliability engineers. The expected corrosion damage mechanism (internal and external) was identified, and the corrosion rate was estimated for every piece of equipment and corrosion loop in the process units. A combination of both Consequence and Likelihood of failure was used for determining the corrosion risk. A qualitative consequence of failure (COF) for each individual item was assigned based on the characteristics of the fluid as per its flammability, toxicity, and pollution into three levels (High, Medium, and Low). A qualitative probability of failure (POF)was applied to evaluate the internal and external degradation mechanism, a high-level point-based (0 to 10) for the purpose of risk prioritizing in the range of Low, Medium, and High.

Keywords: corrosion, criticality assessment, RBI, POF, COF

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