Search results for: genetic improvement

Authors: Özlem Ateş Sönmezoğlu, Begüm Terzi, Ahmet Yıldırım, Leyla Gündüz

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Durum wheat quality is defined as its suitability for pasta processing, that is pasta making quality. Another factor that determines the quality of durum wheat is the nutritional value of wheat or its final products. Wheat is a basic source of calories, proteins and minerals for humans in many countries of the world. For this reason, improvement of wheat nutritional value is of great importance. In recent years, deficiencies in protein and micronutrients, particularly in iron and zinc, have seriously increased. Therefore, basic foods such as wheat must be improved for micronutrient content. The effects of some major genes for grain quality established. Gpc-B1 locus is one of the genes increased protein and micronutrients content, and used in improvement studies of durum wheat nutritional value. The aim of this study was to increase the protein content and the micronutrient (Fe, Zn ve Mn) contents of an advanced durum wheat line (TMB 1) that was previously improved for its protein quality. For this purpose, TMB1 advanced durum wheat line were used as the recurrent parent and also, UC1113-Gpc-B1 line containing the Gpc-B1 gene was used as the gene source. In all of the generations, backcrossed plants carrying the targeted gene region were selected by marker assisted selection (MAS). BC4F1 plants MAS method was employed in combination with embryo culture and rapid plant growth in a controlled greenhouse conditions in order to shorten the duration of the transition between generations in backcross breeding. The Gpc-B1 gene was selected specific molecular markers. Since Yr-36 gene associated with Gpc-B1 allele, it was also transferred to the Gpc-B1 transferred lines. Thus, the backcrossed plants selected by MAS are resistance to yellow rust disease. This research has been financially supported by TÜBİTAK (112T910).

Keywords: Durum wheat, Gpc-B1, MAS, Triticum durum, Yr-36

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Authors: Simona Perga, Chiara Beltramo, Floriana Fruscione, Isabella Martini, Federica Cavallo, Federica Riccardo, Paolo Buracco, Selina Iussich, Elisabetta Razzuoli, Katia Varello, Lorella Maniscalco, Elena Bozzetta, Angelo Ferrari, Paola Modesto

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Introduction: Human and canine melanoma have common clinical, histologic characteristics making dogs a good model for comparative oncology. The identification of specific genes and a better understanding of the genetic landscape, signaling pathways, and tumor–microenvironmental interactions involved in the cancer onset and progression is essential for the development of therapeutic strategies against this tumor in both species. In the present study, the differential expression of genes in spontaneously occurring canine melanoma and in paired normal tissue was investigated by targeted RNAseq. Material and Methods: Total RNA was extracted from 17 canine malignant melanoma (CMM) samples and from five paired normal tissues stored in RNA-later. In order to capture the greater genetic variability, gene expression analysis was carried out using two panels (Qiagen): Human Immuno-Oncology (HIO) and Mouse-Immuno-Oncology (MIO) and the miSeq platform (Illumina). These kits allow the detection of the expression profile of 990 genes involved in the immune response against tumors in humans and mice. The data were analyzed through the CLCbio Genomics Workbench (Qiagen) software using the Canis lupus familiaris genome as a reference. Data analysis were carried out both comparing the biologic group (tumoral vs. healthy tissues) and comparing neoplastic tissue vs. paired healthy tissue; a Fold Change greater than two and a p-value less than 0.05 were set as the threshold to select interesting genes. Results and Discussion: Using HIO 63, down-regulated genes were detected; 13 of those were also down-regulated comparing neoplastic sample vs. paired healthy tissue. Eighteen genes were up-regulated, 14 of those were also down-regulated comparing neoplastic sample vs. paired healthy tissue. Using the MIO, 35 down regulated-genes were detected; only four of these were down-regulated, also comparing neoplastic sample vs. paired healthy tissue. Twelve genes were up-regulated in both types of analysis. Considering the two kits, the greatest variation in Fold Change was in up-regulated genes. Dogs displayed a greater genetic homology with humans than mice; moreover, the results have shown that the two kits are able to detect different genes. Most of these genes have specific cellular functions or belong to some enzymatic categories; some have already been described to be correlated to human melanoma and confirm the validity of the dog as a model for the study of molecular aspects of human melanoma.

Keywords: animal model, canine melanoma, gene expression, spontaneous tumors, targeted RNAseq

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Authors: Ahmed S. Abdulrasool

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Recently sand wall started to gain more attention as the sand is easy to compact by using vibroflotation technique. An advantage of sand wall is the availability of different additives that can be mixed with sand to increase the stiffness of the sand wall and hence to increase its performance. In this paper, the bearing capacity of circular foundation surrounded by sand wall stabilized with lime is evaluated through laboratory testing. The studied parameters include different sand-lime walls depth (H/D) ratio (wall depth to foundation diameter) ranged between (0.0-3.0). Effect of lime percentages on the bearing capacity of skirted foundation models is investigated too. From the results, significant change is occurred in the behavior of shallow foundations due to confinement of the soil. It has been found that (H/D) ratio of 2 gives substantial improvement in bearing capacity, and beyond (H/D) ratio of 2, there is no significant improvement in bearing capacity. The results show that the optimum lime content is 11%, and the maximum increase in bearing capacity reaches approximately 52% at (H/D) ratio of 2.

Keywords: bearing capacity, circular foundation, clay soil, lime-sand wall

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Authors: Seigo Matsuno, Yasuo Uchida, Shozo Tokinaga

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This paper proposes and empirically tests a model of the relationships between green supply chain management (GSCM) activities and corporate performance. From the literature review, we identified five constructs, namely, environmental commitment, supplier collaboration, supplier assessment, information sharing among suppliers, and business process improvement. These explanatory variables are used to form a structural model explaining the environmental and economic performance. The model was analyzed using the data from a survey of a sample of manufacturing firms in Japan. The results suggest that the degree of supplier collaboration has an influence on the environmental performance directly. While, the impact of supplier assessment on the environmental performance is mediated by the information sharing and/or business process improvement. And the environmental performance has a positive relationship on the economic performance. Academic and managerial implications of our findings are discussed.

Keywords: corporate performance, empirical study, green supply chain management, path modeling

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Authors: Sito Ismanti, Noriyuki Yasufuku

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Cement utilization to improve the properties of soil is a well-known method applied in field. However, its addition in large quantity must be controlled. This study presents utilization of natural and environmental-friendly material mixed with small amount of cement content in soil improvement, i.e. bamboo chips. Absorbability, elongation, and flatness ratio of bamboo chips were examined to investigate and understand the influence of its characteristics in the mixture. Improvement of dilation behavior as a problem of loose and poorly graded sand soil is discussed. Bamboo chips are able to improve the permeability value that affects the dilation behavior of cemented sand soil. It is proved by the stress path as the result of triaxial compression test in the undrained condition. The effect of size and content variation of bamboo chips, as well as the curing time variation are presented and discussed.  

Keywords: bamboo chips, permeability, mechanical properties, triaxial compression

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Authors: Hyu Sang Jo, Gyo Woo Lee

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In this study, the mechanical and thermal properties of epoxy composites that are reinforced with micrometer-sized silica particles were investigated by using the specimen experiments. For all specimens used in this study (from the baseline to specimen containing 70 wt% silica filler), the tensile strengths were gradually increased by 8-10%, but the ductility of the specimen was decreased by 34%, compared with those of the baseline samples. Similarly, for the samples containing 70 wt% silica filler, the coefficient of thermal expansion was reduced by 25%, but the thermal conductivity was increased by 100%, compared with those of the baseline samples. The improvement of thermal stability of the silica-reinforced specimen was confirmed to be within the experimented range, and the smaller silica particle was found to be more effective in delaying the thermal expansion of the specimens. When the smaller particle was used as filler, due to the increased specific interface area between filler and matrix, the thermal conductivities of the composite specimens were measured to be slightly lower than those of the specimens reinforced with the larger particle.

Keywords: carbon nanotube filler, epoxy composite, mechanical property, thermal property

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Authors: C. V. Nnamani, O. L. Adedeji

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The contemporary global economic meltdown has devastating effect on the Nigerian’s economy and its frantic search for alternative source of national revenue aside from oil and gas has become imperative for economic emancipation for Nigerians. Apicultural entrepreneurship could provide a source of livelihood if the basic knowledge of those plant genetic resources needed by bees is made available. A palynological evaluation of those palynotaxa which honey bees forage for pollen and nectar was carried out after standard acetolysis method. Results showed that the honey samples were highly diversified and rich in honey plants. A total of 9544.3 honey pollen, consisting of 39 honey plants belonging to 21 plant families and distributed within 38 genera were identified excluding 238 unidentified pollen grains. Data from the analysis equally revealed that Elaeis guineensis Jacq, Anacardium occidentale L, Diospyros mespiliformis Hochist xe ADC, Alchornea cordifolia Muell, Arg, Daniella oliveri (Rolfe) Hutch & Dalz, Irvingia wombolu Okafor ex Baill, Treculia africana Decne, Nauclea latifolia Smith and Crossopteryx febrifuga Afzil ex Benth were the predominant honey plants. It provided a guide to the optimal utilization of floral resources by honeybees in these regions, showing the opportunity and amazing potentials for apiculture entrepreneurship of these palytaxa. Most of these plants are rare, threatened and endangered. It calls for urgent conservation techniques and step by all players. Critical awareness creation to ensure farmers knowledge of these palynotaxa to ensure proper understanding and attendance boost from them as economic empowerment is needed.

Keywords: palynotaxa, acetolysis, enterprise, livelihood, Nigeria

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Authors: E. Younsi, H. Andriamboavonjy, A. David, S. Dokou, B. Lemrabet

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Software and time optimization are very important factors in financial markets, which are competitive fields, and emergence of new computer tools further stresses the challenge. In this context, any improvement of technical indicators which generate a buy or sell signal is a major issue. Thus, many tools have been created to make them more effective. This worry about efficiency has been leading in present paper to seek best (and most innovative) way giving largest improvement in these indicators. The approach consists in attaching a signature to frequent market configurations by application of frequent patterns extraction method which is here most appropriate to optimize investment strategies. The goal of proposed trading algorithm is to find most accurate signatures using back testing procedure applied to technical indicators for improving their performance. The problem is then to determine the signatures which, combined with an indicator, outperform this indicator alone. To do this, the FP-Tree algorithm has been preferred, as it appears to be the most efficient algorithm to perform this task.

Keywords: quantitative analysis, back-testing, computational models, apriori algorithm, pattern recognition, data mining, FP-tree

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Authors: Rizwan Sultan, Hasnain Zafar

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Trauma is the leading cause of death among young population not only in USA but Pakistan as well. The high prevalence of disease should result in larger amount of data and larger number of publications resulting in exploring room for improvement in the field. We aimed to review trauma literature generated from Pakistan in journals indexed with PubMed from January 2010 to December 2014. Search using term “Trauma AND Pakistan” filtering for relevant dates and species human was done on Pubmed. The abstracts and articles were reviewed by the authors to collect data on a preformed performa. 114 articles were published from Pakistan during these 5 years. 64% articles were published in international journals. 63% articles were published in journals with impact factor less than 1. 54% articles were published from one of the four provinces of Pakistan. 64% of articles provided level 4 while 14% articles provided level 5 evidence on the topic. 55% articles discussed epidemiology in non-representative populations. Trauma literature from Pakistan is not only lacking significantly but is also of poor quality and is unable to offer conclusions on this particular subject. There is a lot of space for improvement in the upcoming years.

Keywords: trauma, literature, Pakistan, level of evidence

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Authors: Aedah Abd Rahman, Nurdatillah Hasim

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Software quality issues require special attention especially in view of the demands of quality software product to meet customer satisfaction. Software development projects in most organisations need proper defect management process in order to produce high quality software product and reduce the number of defects. The research question of this study is how to produce high quality software and reducing the number of defects. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to provide a framework for managing software defects by following defined life cycle processes. The methodology starts by reviewing defects, defect models, best practices and standards. A framework for defect management life cycle is proposed. The major contribution of this study is to define a defect management road map in software development. The adoption of an effective defect management process helps to achieve the ultimate goal of producing high quality software products and contributes towards continuous software process improvement.

Keywords: defects, defect management, life cycle process, software quality

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Authors: Wee Akina Sia Seng Lee, Shabeshan Rengasamy, Lim Boon Hooi, Chandrakalavaratharajoo, Mohd Ibrahim K. Azeez

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This study was conducted to examine the effectiveness of Teaching Games For Understanding (TGFU) in improving the hockey tactical skills and state self-confidence among 16-year-old students. Two hundred fifty nine (259) school students were selected for the study based on the intact sampling method. One class was used as the control group (Boys=60, Girls=70), while another as the treatment group (Boys=60, Girls=69) underwent intervention with TGFU in physical education class conducted twice a week for four weeks. The Games Performance Assessment Instrument was used to observe the hockey tactical skills and The State Self-Confidence Inventory was used to determine the state of self-confidence among the students. After four weeks, ANCOVA analysis indicated the treatment groups had significant improvement in hockey tactical skills with F (1, 118) =313.37, p < .05 for school boys, and F (1, 136) =92.62, p < .05 for school girls. The Mann Whitney U test also showed the treatment groups had significant improvement in state self-confidence with U=428.50, z= -7.22, p < .05, r=.06 for school boys. ANCOVA analysis also showed the treatment group had significant improvement in state self-confidence with F (1, 136) =74.40, p < .05 for school girls. This indicates that TGFU in a 40 minute physical education class conducted twice a week for four weeks can significantly improve the hockey tactical skills and state self-confidence among 16-year-old students. The findings give new knowledge to PE teachers to implement the TGFU method as it enhances the hockey tactical skills and state self-confidence among 16-year-old students. Some recommendation was suggested for future research.

Keywords: Teaching Games For Understanding (TGFU), traditional teaching, hockey tactical skills, state self-confidence

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Authors: Sekena H. Abd El-Aziem, Heba A. M. Abd El-Kader, Sally S. Alam, Othman E. Othman

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Growth hormone (GH) is an anabolic hormone synthesized and secreted by the somatotroph cells of the anterior lobe of the pituitary gland in a circadian and pulsatile manner, the pattern of which plays an important role in postnatal longitudinal growth and development, tissue growth, lactation, reproduction as well as protein, lipid and carbohydrate metabolism. The aim of this study was to detect the genetic polymorphism of GH gene in five camel breeds reared in Egypt; Sudany, Somali, Mowaled, Maghrabi and Falahy, using PCR-RFLP technique. Also this work aimed to identify the single nucleotide polymorphism between different genotypes detected in these camel breeds. The amplified fragment of camel GH at 613-bp was digested with the restriction enzyme MspI and the result revealed the presence of three different genotypes; CC, CT and TT in tested breeds and significant differences were recorded in the genotype frequencies between these camel breeds. The result showed that the Maghrabi breed that is classified as a dual purpose camels had higher frequency for allele C (0.75) than those in the other tested four breeds. The sequence analysis declared the presence of a SNP (C→T) at position 264 in the amplified fragment which is responsible for the destruction of the restriction site C^CGG and consequently the appearance of two different alleles C and T. The nucleotide sequences of camel GH alleles T and C were submitted to nucleotide sequences database NCBI/Bankit/GenBank and have accession numbers: KP143517 and KP143518, respectively. It is concluded that only one SNP C→T was detected in GH gene among the five tested camel breeds reared in Egypt and this nucleotide substitution can be used as a marker for the genetic biodiversity between camel breeds reared in Egypt. Also, due to the possible association between allele C and higher growth rate, we can used it in MAS for camels and enter the camels possess this allele in breeding program as a way for enhancement of growth trait in camel breeds reared in Egypt.

Keywords: camel breeds in Egypt, GH, PCR-RFLP, SNPs

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Authors: Margaret Boone Rappaport, Christopher J. Corbally

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The ancient ape ancestral population from which living great ape and human species evolved had demographic features affecting their evolution. The population was large, had great genetic variability, and natural selection was effective at honing adaptations. The emerging populations of chimpanzees and humans were affected more by founder effects and genetic drift because they were smaller. Natural selection did not disappear, but it was not as strong. Consequences of the 'population crash' and the human effective population size are introduced briefly. The history of the ancient apes is written in the genomes of living humans and great apes. The expansion of the brain began before the human line emerged. Coalescence times for some genes are very old – up to several million years, long before Homo sapiens. The mismatch between gene trees and species trees highlights the anthropoid speciation processes, and gives the human genome history a fuzzy, probabilistic quality. However, it suggests traits that might form a foundation for capacities emerging later. A theoretical model is presented in which the genomes of early ape populations provide the substructure for the emergence of religious capacity later on the human line. The model does not search for religion, but its foundations. It suggests a course by which an evolutionary line that began with prosimians eventually produced a human species with biologically based religious capacity. The model of the sequential emergence of religious capacity relies on cognitive science, neuroscience, paleoneurology, primate field studies, cognitive archaeology, genomics, and population genetics. And, it emphasizes five trait types: (1) Documented, positive selection of sensory capabilities on the human line may have favored survival, but also eventually enriched human religious experience. (2) The bonobo model suggests a possible down-regulation of aggression and increase in tolerance while feeding, as well as paedomorphism – but, in a human species that remains cognitively sharp (unlike the bonobo). The two species emerged from the same ancient ape population, so it is logical to search for shared traits. (3) An up-regulation of emotional sensitivity and compassion seems to have occurred on the human line. This finds support in modern genetic studies. (4) The authors’ published model of morality's emergence in Homo erectus encompasses a cognitively based, decision-making capacity that was hypothetically overtaken, in part, by religious capacity. Together, they produced a strong, variable, biocultural capability to support human sociability. (5) The full flowering of human religious capacity came with the parietal expansion and smaller face (klinorhynchy) found only in Homo sapiens. Details from paleoneurology suggest the stage was set for human theologies. Larger parietal lobes allowed humans to imagine inner spaces, processes, and beings, and, with the frontal lobe, led to the first theologies composed of structured and integrated theories of the relationships between humans and the supernatural. The model leads to the evolution of a small population of African hominins that was ready to emerge with religious capacity when the species Homo sapiens evolved two hundred thousand years ago. By 50-60,000 years ago, when human ancestors left Africa, they were fully enabled.

Keywords: genetic drift, genomics, parietal expansion, religious capacity

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Authors: Bingxi Huang, Yiqing Li, Marek Morzynski, Bernd R. Noack

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We propose a Kriging-based global optimization method for active flow control with multiple actuation parameters. This method is designed to converge quickly and avoid getting trapped into local minima. We follow the model-free explorative gradient method (EGM) to alternate between explorative and exploitive steps. This facilitates a convergence similar to a gradient-based method and the parallel exploration of potentially better minima. In contrast to EGM, both kinds of steps are performed with Kriging surrogate model from the available data. The explorative step maximizes the expected improvement, i.e., favors regions of large uncertainty. The exploitive step identifies the best location of the cost function from the Kriging surrogate model for a subsequent weight-biased linear-gradient descent search method. To verify the effectiveness and robustness of the improved Kriging-based optimization method, we have examined several comparative test problems of varying dimensions with limited evaluation budgets. The results show that the proposed algorithm significantly outperforms some model-free optimization algorithms like genetic algorithm and differential evolution algorithm with a quicker convergence for a given budget. We have also performed direct numerical simulations of the fluidic pinball (N. Deng et al. 2020 J. Fluid Mech.) on three circular cylinders in equilateral-triangular arrangement immersed in an incoming flow at Re=100. The optimal cylinder rotations lead to 44.0% net drag power saving with 85.8% drag reduction and 41.8% actuation power. The optimal results for active flow control based on this configuration have achieved boat-tailing mechanism by employing Coanda forcing and wake stabilization by delaying separation and minimizing the wake region.

Keywords: direct numerical simulations, flow control, kriging, stochastic optimization, wake stabilization

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Authors: Elham Azimzadeh, Fahimeh Khorshidi, Alireza Farsi

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Balance impairment and fear of falling in older adults may reduce their quality of life. Reactive balance training could improve rapid postural responses and fall prevention in the elderly during daily tasks. Performing postural training and simultaneously cognitive dual tasks could be similar to the daily circumstances. Purpose: This study aimed to determine the effect of balance training on stable and unstable surfaces under dual cognitive task conditions on postural control and fear of falling in the elderly. Methods: Thirty non-fallers of older adults (65-75 years) were randomly assigned to two training groups: stable-surface (n=10), unstable-surface (n=10), or a control group (n=10). The intervention groups underwent six weeks of balance training either on a stable (balance board) or an unstable (wobble board) surface while performing a cognitive dual task. The control group received no balance intervention. COP displacements in the anterioposterior (AP) and mediolateral (ML) directions using a computerized balance board, functional balance using TUG, and fear of falling using FES-I were measured in all participants before and after the interventions. Summary of Results: Mixed ANOVA (3 groups * 2 times) with repeated measures and post hoc test showed a significant improvement in both intervention groups in AP index (F= 11/652, P= 0/0002) and functional balance (F= 9/961, P= 0/0001). However, the unstable surface training group had more improvement. However, the fear of falling significantly improved after training on an unstable surface (p= 0/035). All groups had no significant improvement in the ML index (p= 0/817). In the present study, there was an improvement in the AP index after balance training. Conclusion: Unstable surface training may reduce reaction time in posterior ankle muscle activity. Furthermore, focusing attention on cognitive tasks can lead to maintaining balance unconsciously. Most of the daily activities need attention distribution among several activities. So, balance training concurrent to a dual cognitive task is challenging and more similar to the real world. According to the specificity of the training principle, it may improve functional independence and fall prevention in the elderly.

Keywords: cognitive dual task, elderly, fear of falling, postural control, unstable surface

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Authors: Prem Bahadur Giri

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The nationalization of forests during the early 1960s had become counterproductive for the conservation of forests in Nepal. Realizing this fact, the Government of Nepal initiated a paradigm shift from a government-controlled forestry system to people’s direct participation in managing forestry, conceptualizing a community forest approach in the early 1980s. The community forestry approach is expected to promote sustainable forest management, restoring degraded forests to enhance the forest condition on the one hand, and on the other, improvement of livelihoods, particularly of low-income people and forest-dependent communities, as well as promoting community ownership of a forest. As a result, the establishment of community forests started and had taken faster momentum in Nepal. Of the total land in Nepal, forest occupies 6.5 million hectares which are around 45 percent of the forest area. Of the total forest area, 1.8 million hectares have been handed over to community management. A total of 19,361 ‘community forest users groups’ are already created to manage the community forest. To streamline the governance of community forests, the enactment of ‘The Forest Act 1993’ provides a clear legal basis for managing community forests in Nepal. This article is based on an in-depth study taking the case of Tarpakha Community Forest (TCF) located in Siranchok Rural Municipality of Gorkha District in Nepal. It mainly discusses the extent to which the TCF is able to achieve the twin objectives of this community forest for catalyzing socio-economic improvement of the targeted community and conservation of the forest. The primary information was generated through in-depth interviews along with group discussions with members, the management committee, and other relevant stakeholders. The findings reveal that there is a significant improvement in the regeneration of the forest and also changes in the socio-economic status of the local community. However, coordination with local municipalities and forest governing entities is still weak.

Keywords: community forest, socio-economic benefit, sustainable forest management, Nepal

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Authors: Tanyaporn Chairoch

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Introduction: Cannabis is a drug to treat patients with many diseases such as Multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, and Epilepsy, where theycontain many active compounds such as delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD). Especially, THC is the primary psychoactive ingredient in cannabis and binds to cannabinoid 1 (CB1) receptors. Moreover, CB1 is located on the neocortex, hippocampus, basal ganglia, cerebellum, and brainstem. In previous study, we found the association between the variant of CB1recptors gene (rs2023239) and decreased effect of nicotine reinforcement in patients. However, there are no data describing whether the distribution of CB1 receptor gene is a genetic marker for Thai patients who are treated with cannabis. Objective: Thus, the aim of this study we want to investigate the frequency of the CB1 receptor gene in Thai patients. Materials and Methods: All of sixty Thai patients received the medical cannabis for treatment who were recruited in this study. DNA will be extracted from EDTA whole blood by Genomic DNA Mini Kit. The genotyping of CNR1 gene (rs 2023239) was genotyped by the TaqMan real time PCR assay (ABI, Foster City, CA, USA).and using the real-time PCR ViiA7 (ABI, Foster City, CA, USA). Results: We found thirty-eight (63.3%) Thai patients were female, and twenty-two (36.70%) were male in this study with median age of 45.8 (range19 – 87 ) years. Especially, thirty-two (53.30%) medical cannabis tolerant controls were female ( 55%) and median age of52.1 (range 27 – 79 ) years. The most adverse effects for medical cannabis treatment was tachycardia. Furthermore, the number of rs 2023239 (TT) carriers was 26 of 27 (96.29%) in medical cannabis-induced adverse effects and 32 of 33 (96.96%) in tolerant controls. Additionally, rs 2023239 (CT) variant was found just only one of twenty-seven (3.7%) in medical cannabis-induced adverse effects and 1 of 33 (3.03%) in tolerant controls. Conclusions: The distribution of genetic variant in CNR1 gene might serve as a pharmacogenetics markers for screening before initiating the therapy with medical cannabis in Thai patients.

Keywords: cannabis, pharmacogenetics, CNR1 gene, thai patient

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Authors: Morteza Taherinezhad, Ahmad Reza Rabbani, Morteza Asemani, Rudy Swennen

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Oil-oil correlation is one of the most important issues in geochemical studies that enables to classify oils genetically. Oil-oil correlation is generally estimated based on non-polar fractions of crude oil (e.g., saturate and aromatic compounds). Despite several advantages, the drawback of using these compounds is their susceptibility of being affected by secondary processes. The polar fraction of crude oil (e.g., asphaltenes) has similar characteristics to kerogen, and this structural similarity is preserved during migration, thermal maturation, biodegradation, and water washing. Therefore, these structural characteristics can be considered as a useful correlation parameter, and it can be concluded that asphaltenes from different reservoirs with the same genetic signatures have a similar origin. Hence in this contribution, an integrated study by using both non-polar and polar fractions of oil was performed to use the merits of both fractions. Therefore, five oil samples from oil fields in the Persian Gulf were studied. Structural characteristics of extracted asphaltenes were investigated by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Graphs based on aliphatic and aromatic compounds (predominant compounds in asphaltenes structure) and sulphoxide and carbonyl functional groups (which are representatives of sulphur and oxygen abundance in asphaltenes) were used for comparison of asphaltenes structures in different samples. Non-polar fractions were analyzed by GC-MS. The study of asphaltenes showed the studied oil samples comprise two oil families with distinct genetic characteristics. The first oil family consists of Salman and Reshadat oil samples, and the second oil family consists of Resalat, Siri E, and Siri D oil samples. To validate our results, biomarker parameters were employed, and this approach completely confirmed previous results. Based on biomarker analyses, both oil families have a marine source rock, whereby marl and carbonate source rocks are the source rock for the first and the second oil family, respectively.

Keywords: biomarker, non-polar fraction, oil-oil correlation, petroleum geochemistry, polar fraction

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Authors: A. S. Vidyashree, C. M. Kalleshwaraswamy, R. Asokan, H. M. Mahadevaswamy

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Termites are very vital ecological thespians in tropical ecosystem, having been designated as “ecosystem engineers”, due to their significant role in providing soil ecosystem services. Despite their importance, our understanding of a number of their basic biological processes in termites is extremely limited. Developing a better understanding of termite biology is closely dependent upon consistent species identification. At present, identification of termites is relied on soldier castes. But for many species, soldier caste is not reported, that creates confusion in identification. The use of molecular markers may be helpful in estimating phylogenetic relatedness between the termite species and estimating genetic differentiation among local populations within each species. To understand this, termites samples were collected from various places of Western Ghats covering four states namely Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra during 2013-15. Termite samples were identified based on their morphological characteristics, molecular characteristics, or both. Survey on the termite fauna in Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu indicated the presence of a 16 species belongs to 4 subfamilies under two families viz., Rhinotermitidae and Termitidae. Termititidae was the dominant family which was belonging to 4 genera and four subfamilies viz., Macrotermitinae, Amitermitinae, Nasutitermitinae and Termitinae. Amitermitinae had three species namely, Microcerotermes fletcheri, M. pakistanicus and Speculitermes sinhalensis. Macrotermitinae had the highest number of species belonging two genera, namely Microtermes and Odontotermes. Microtermes genus was with only one species i.e., Microtermes obesi. The genus Odontotermes was represented by the highest number of species (07), namely, O. obesus was the dominant (41 per cent) and the most widely distributed species in Karnataka, Karala, Maharashtra and Tamil nadu followed by O. feae (19 per cent), O.assmuthi (11 per cent) and others like O. bellahunisensis O. horni O. redemanni, O. yadevi. Nasutitermitinae was represented by two genera namely Nasutitermes anamalaiensis and Trinervitermes biformis. Termitinae subfamily was represented by Labiocapritermes distortus. Rhinotermitidae was represented by single subfamily Heterotermetinae. In Heterotermetinae, two species namely Heterotermes balwanthi and H. malabaricus were recorded. Genetic relationship among termites collected from various locations of Western Ghats of India was characterized based on mitochondrial DNA sequences (12S, 16S, and COII). Sequence analysis and divergence among the species was assessed. These results suggest that the use of both molecular and morphological approaches is crucial in ensuring accurate species identification. Efforts were made to understand their evolution and to address the ambiguities in morphological taxonomy. The implication of the study in revising the taxonomy of Indian termites, their characterization and molecular comparisons between the sequences are discussed.

Keywords: isoptera, mitochondrial DNA sequences, rhinotermitidae, termitidae, Western ghats

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Authors: Evelyn Marie Richmond, Andrew McBride, Chris Johnston, John Marley

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Background: Good quality patient information resources for orthognathic treatment help to reinforce information delivered during the initial consultation and help patients make informed decisions about their care. The Consultant Orthodontists and a Dental Core Trainee noted limited patient engagement with the British Orthodontic Society (BOS) 'Your Jaw Surgery' online resources and that the existing BOS patient information leaflet (PIL) could be customised and developed to meet local requirements. Aim: The quality improvement project (QIP) aimed to improve patients' understanding of orthognathic treatment by ensuring at least 90% of patients had read the new in-house patient information leaflet (PIL) and a minimum of 50% of patients had accessed the British Orthodontic Society (BOS) 'Your Jaw Surgery' online resources before attending the joint orthognathic multidisciplinary clinic by June 2023. Methods: The QIP was undertaken in the orthodontic department of the School of Dentistry, Belfast. Data was collected prospectively during a 6-month period from January 2023 to June 2023 over 3 Plan, Do, Study, Act (PDSA) cycles. Suitable patients were identified at consultant orthodontic new patient clinics. Following initial consultation for orthognathic treatment, patients were contacted to complete a patient questionnaire. Design: The change ideas were a poster with a QR code directing patients to the BOS 'Your Jaw Surgery' website in consultation areas and a new in-house PIL with a QR code directing patients to the BOS 'Your Jaw Surgery' website. Results: In PDSA cycle 1, 86.7% of patients were verbally directed to the BOS 'Your Jaw Surgery' website, and 53.3% accessed the online resources after their initial consultation. Although 100% of patients reported reading the existing PIL, only 64.3% felt it discussed the risks of orthognathic treatment in sufficient detail. By PDSA cycle 3, 100% of patients reported being directed to the BOS 'Your Jaw Surgery' website, however, only 58.3% engaged with the website. 100% of patients who read the new PIL felt that it discussed the risks of orthognathic treatment in sufficient detail. Conclusion: The slight improvement in access to the BOS 'Your Jaw Surgery' website shows that patients do not necessarily choose to access information online despite its availability. The uptake of the new PIL was greater than reported patient engagement with the BOS 'Your Jaw Surgery' website, which indicates patients still value written information despite the availability of online resources.

Keywords: orthognathic surgery, patient information resources, quality improvement project, risks

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Authors: Kristine Kalnica-Dorosenko, Aiga Svede

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Amblyopia or 'lazy eye' is impaired or dim vision without obvious defect or change in the eye. It is often associated with abnormal visual experience, most commonly strabismus, anisometropia or both, and form deprivation. The main task of amblyopia treatment is to ameliorate etiological factors to create a clear retinal image and, to ensure the participation of the amblyopic eye in the visual process. The treatment of amblyopia and eccentric fixation is usually associated with problems in the therapy. Eccentric fixation is present in around 44% of all patients with amblyopia and in 30% of patients with strabismic amblyopia. In Latvia, amblyopia is carefully treated in various clinics, but eccentricity diagnosis is relatively rare. Conflict which has developed relating to the relationship between the visual disorder and the degree of eccentric fixation in amblyopia should to be rethoughted, because it has an important bearing on the cause and treatment of amblyopia, and the role of the eccentric fixation in this case. Visuoscopy is the most frequently used method for determination of eccentric fixation. With traditional visuoscopy, a fixation target is projected onto the patient retina, and the examiner asks to look straight directly at the center of the target. An optometrist then observes the point on the macula used for fixation. This objective test provides clinicians with direct observation of the fixation point of the eye. It requires patients to voluntarily fixate the target and assumes the foveal reflex accurately demarcates the center of the foveal pit. In the end, by having a very simple method to evaluate fixation, it is possible to indirectly evaluate treatment improvement, as eccentric fixation is always associated with reduced visual acuity. So, one may expect that if eccentric fixation in amlyopic eye is found with visuoscopy, then visual acuity should be less than 1.0 (in decimal units). With occlusion or another amblyopia therapy, one would expect both visual acuity and fixation to improve simultaneously, that is fixation would become more central. Consequently, improvement in fixation pattern by treatment is an indirect measurement of improvement of visual acuity. Evaluation of eccentric fixation in the child may be helpful in identifying amblyopia in children prior to measurement of visual acuity. This is very important because the earlier amblyopia is diagnosed – the better the chance of improving visual acuity.

Keywords: amblyopia, eccentric fixation, visual acuity, visuoscopy

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Authors: Harshkumar K. Desai, Anuj K. Desai, Jay P. Patel, Snehal V. Trivedi, Yogendrasinh Parmar

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The need of continuous improvement in a product or process in this era of global competition leads to apply value engineering for functional and aesthetic improvement in consideration with economic aspect too. Solar industries located at G.I.D.C., Makarpura, Vadodara, Gujarat, India; a manufacturer of variety of CNC Machines had a challenge to analyze the structural design of column, base, carriage and table of CNC Milling Machine in the account of reduction of overall weight of a machine without affecting the rigidity and accuracy at the time of operation. The identified task is the first attempt to validate and optimize the proposed design of ribbed structure statically using advanced modeling and analysis tools in a systematic way. Results of stress and deformation obtained using analysis software are validated with theoretical analysis and found quite satisfactory. Such optimized results offer a weight reduction of the final assembly which is desired by manufacturers in favor of reduction of material cost, processing cost and handling cost finally.

Keywords: CNC milling machine, optimization, finite element analysis (FEA), weight reduction

Procedia PDF Downloads 277

Authors: Sher Mohammed, Purushottam Lal, Pawan K. Kasera

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The Thar Desert of Rajasthan covers a wide geographical area spreading between 23.3° to 30.12°, North latitude and 69.3◦ to 76◦ Eastern latitudes; having a unique spectrum of arid zone vegetation. This desert is spreading over 12 districts having a rich source of economically important/threatened plant diversity interacting and growing with adverse climatic conditions of the area. Due to variable geological, physiographic, climatic, edaphic and biotic factors, the arid zone medicinal flora exhibit a wide collection of angiosperm families. The herbal diversity of this arid region is medicinally important in household remedies among tribal communities as well as in traditional systems. The on-going increasing disturbances in natural ecosystems are due to climatic and biological, including anthropogenic factors. The unique flora and subsequently dependent faunal diversity of the desert ecosystem is losing its biotic potential. A large number of plants have no future unless immediate steps are taken to arrest the causes, leading to their biological improvement. At present the potential loss in ecological amplitude of various genera and species is making several plant species as red listed plants of arid zone vegetation such as Commmiphora wightii, Tribulus rajasthanensis, Calligonum polygonoides, Ephedra foliata, Leptadenia reticulata, Tecomella undulata, Blepharis sindica, Peganum harmala, Sarcostoma vinimale, etc. Mostly arid zone species are under serious pressure against prevailing ecosystem factors to continuation their life cycles. Genetic, molecular, cytological, biochemical, metabolic, reproductive, germination etc. are the several points where the floral diversity of the arid zone area is facing severe ecological influences. So, there is an urgent need to conserve them. There are several opportunities in the field to carry out remarkable work at particular levels to protect the native plants in their natural habitat instead of only their in vitro multiplication.

Keywords: ecology, evaluation, xerophytes, economically, threatened plants, conservation

Procedia PDF Downloads 267

Authors: Umang H. Gajjar, K. M. Khambholja, R. K. Patel

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Semecarpus anacardium shows the presence of bioflavonoids, phenolic compounds, bhilawanols, minerals, vitamins and amino acids. Detoxified S. anacardium and its oils are considered to have anti-inflammatory properties and used in nervous debility, neuritis, rheumatism and leprous modules. S. anacardium if used without purification causes toxic skin inflammation problem because it contains toxic phenolic oil. During this Shodhana Process - An ayurvedic purification method, toxic phenolic oil was removed, have marked effect on the concentration of the phytoconstituent & antioxidant activity of S. anacardium. Total phenolic content decreased up to 70 % (from 28.9 %w/w to 8.94 %w/w), while there is a negligible effect on the concentration of total flavonoid (7.51 %w/w to 7.43 %w/w) and total carbohydrate (0.907 %w/w to 0.853 % w/w) content. IC50& EC50 value of extract of S. anacardium before and after purification are 171.7 & 314.3 while EC50values are 280.μg/ml & 304. μg/ml, shows that antioxidant activity of S. anacardium is decreased but the safety profile of the drug is increased as the toxic phenolic oil was removed during Shodhana - An ayurvedic purification method.

Keywords: Semecarpus anacardium, Shodhana process, safety profile, improvement

Procedia PDF Downloads 257

Authors: H. Ashrafi, S. Ebrahimi, H. Kamalzadeh

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With the development of business competition, it is important for healthcare providers to improve their service qualities. In order to improve service quality of a clinic, four important dimensions are defined: tangibles, responsiveness, empathy, and reliability. Moreover, there are several service stages in hospitals such as financial screening and examination. One of the most challenging limitations for improving service quality is budget which impressively affects the service quality. In this paper, we present an approach to address budget uncertainty and provide guidelines for service resource allocation. In this paper, a service quality improvement approach is proposed which can be adopted to multistage service processes to improve service quality, while controlling the costs. A multi-objective function based on the importance of each area and dimension is defined to link operational variables to service quality dimensions. The results demonstrate that our approach is not ultra-conservative and it shows the actual condition very well. Moreover, it is shown that different strategies can affect the number of employees in different stages.

Keywords: allocation, budget uncertainty, healthcare resource, service quality assessment, robust optimization

Procedia PDF Downloads 185

Authors: Daina Jonkus, Solvita Petrovska, Dace Smiltina, Lasma Cielava

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The beta-lactoglobulin and kappa-casein are milk proteins which are important for milk composition. Cows with beta-lactoglobulin and kappa-casein gene BB genotypes have highest milk crude protein and fat content. The aim of the study was to determinate the frequencies of milk protein gene polymorphisms in local Latvian Brown (LB) cows breed and analyze the influence of beta-lactoglobulin and kappa-casein genotypes to milk productivity traits. 102 cows’ genotypes of milk protein genes were detected using Polymerase Chain Reaction and Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) and electrophoresis on 3% agarose gel. For beta-lactoglobulin were observed 2 types of alleles A and B and for kappa-casein 3 types: A, B and E. Highest frequency in beta-lactoglobulin gene was observed for B allele – 0.926. Molecular analysis of beta-lactoglobulin gene shows 86.3% of individuals are homozygous by B allele and animals are with genotypes BB and 12.7% of individuals are heterozygous with genotypes AB. The highest milk yield 4711.7 kg was for 1st lactation cows with AB genotypes, whereas the highest milk protein content (3.35%) and fat content (4.46 %) was for BB genotypes. Analysis of the kappa-casein locus showed a prevalence of the A allele – 0.750. The genetic variant of B was characterized by a low frequency – 0.240. Moreover, the frequency of E occurred in the LB cows’ population with very low frequency – 0.010. 54.9 % of cows are homozygous with genotypes AA, and only 4.9 % are homozygous with genotypes BB. 32.8 % of individuals are heterozygous with genotypes AB, and 2.0 % are with AE. The highest milk productivity was for 1st lactation cows with AB genotypes: milk yield 4620.3 kg, milk protein content 3.39% and fat content 4.53 %. According to the results, in local Latvian brown there are only 2.9% of cows are with BB-BB genotypes, which is related to milk coagulation ability and affected cheese production yield. Acknowledgment: the investigation is supported by VPP 2014-2017 AgroBioRes Project No. 3 LIVESTOCK.

Keywords: beta-lactoglobulin, cows, genotype frequencies, kappa-casein

Procedia PDF Downloads 272

Authors: Alvaro Quino, Roger Trejo, Gary Duran, Jordy Viso

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This article presents a study on the lightening and improvement of properties of soil extracted in the province of Talara in the department of Piura -Peru, to be used in filling in the construction of embankments for roads. This soft soil has a high percentage of elastic settlement and consolidation settlement. Currently, there are different methods that seek to mitigate the impact of this problem, which have achieved favorable results. As a contribution to these investigations, we propose the use of two lightening materials to be used in the filling of embankments; these materials are expanded polystyrene beads (EPS) and rice husk ash (RHA). Favorable results were obtained, such as a reduction of 14.34% of the volumetric weight, so the settlement will be reduced. In addition, it is observed that as the RHA dosage increases, the shear resistance increases. In this article, soil mechanics tests were performed to determine the effectiveness of this method in lightening and improving properties for the soil under study.

Keywords: sandy clay soils, rice husk ash, expanded polystyrene, soft soils

Procedia PDF Downloads 172

Authors: Liudmila Garzanova, Lidia Ananyeva, Olga Koneva, Olga Ovsyannikova, Oxana Desinova, Mayya Starovoytova, Rushana Shayahmetova, Anna Khelkovskaya-Sergeeva

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Objectives. There is very few data on changes of the musculoskeletal manifestations (artritis, arthralgia, muscle weakness, etc.) in systemic sclerosis (SSc) on rituximab (RTX) therapy. The aim of our study was to assess the severity of the musculoskeletal involvement in SSc patients (pts) and its changes during RTX therapy. Methods. Our study included 103 pts with SSc. The mean followup period was 12.6±10.7 months. The mean age was 47±12.9 years, female-87 pts (84%), the diffuse cutaneous subset of the disease had 55 pts (53%). The mean disease duration was 6.2±5.5 years. All pts had interstitial lung disease (ILD) and were positive for ANA, 67% of them were positive for antitopoisomerase-1. All patients received prednisolone at a dose of 11.3±4.5 mg/day, immunosuppressants at inclusion received 47% of them. Pts received RTX due to the ineffectiveness of previous therapy for ILD. The cumulative mean dose of RTX was 1.7±0.6 grams. Arthritis was observed in 22 pts (21%), arthralgias in 47 pts (46%). Muscle weakness was observed in 17 pts (17%). Tendon friction rubs was established in 7 pts (7%). The results at baseline and at the end of the follow up are presented in the form of mean values. Results. There was an improvement of all outcome parameters and musculoskeletal manifestations on RTX therapy. There was a decrease in the number of pts with arthritis from 22 (21%) to 10 (9%), a decrease in the number of pts with arthralgias from 47 (46%) to 31 (30%). The number of pts with muscle weakness decreased from 17 (17%) to 7 (7%). The number of pts with tendon friction rubs decreased from 7 (7%) to 3 (3%). The creatine phosphokinase decreased from 365.5±186 to 70.8±50.4 (p=0.00006). The C-reactive protein (CRP) decreased from 23.2±31.3 to 8.62±7.4 (p=0.001). The dose of prednisolone was reduced from 11.3±4.5 to 9.8±3.5 mg/day (p=0.0004). Conclusion. In our study, musculoskeletal involvement was detected in almost half of the patients with SSc-ILD. There was an improvement of musculoskeletal manifestations despite a small cumulative dose of RTX. We also managed to reduce the dose of glucocorticosteroids. The improvement of musculoskeletal manifestations was accompanied by a decrease in laboratory parameters - creatine phosphokinase and CRP. RTX is effective option for treatment of musculoskeletal manifestations in SSc.

Keywords: arthritis, musculoskeletal involvement, systemic sclerosis, rituximab

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Authors: Mario Robinson, Moe Rabea

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This research examines the effects of heat treatment processes on the mechanical properties and corrosion resistanceof1045 and 4140 Steel Alloysfor industrial applications. Heat treatment processes of full annealing, normalizing, quenching, and tempering are carried out on the alloy samples. The mechanical and corrosion resistance tests of the heat treated samples are carried out, and the results obtained are related to their SEMmorphologies analysis. The results show that the heat treatment processes have an effect on the tensile strength, impact, and a significant effect on the corrosion resistance of the alloy samples. With respect to the strain characteristics, significant improvement in the ductility of the samples is recorded in the full annealing and alloy tempered samples. Thus, for application requiring strength and ductility, such as in aerospace industries, this tempered heat treated alloy could be used. In addition, the quenched sample shows a significant improvement in hardness.

Keywords: heat treatment, corrosion resistance, steel, industrial appilcations

Procedia PDF Downloads 177

Authors: Jiri F. Urbanek, Jiri Barta, Oldrich Svoboda, Jiri J. Urbanek

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The organizations of European and Czech critical infrastructure have specific position, mission, characteristics and behaviour in European Union and Czech state/ business environments, regarding specific requirements for regional and global security environments. They must respect policy of national security and global rules, requirements and standards in all their inherent and outer processes of supply-customer chains and networks. A controlling is generalized capability to have control over situational policy. This paper aims and purposes are to introduce the controlling as quite new necessary process attribute providing for critical infrastructure is environment the capability and profit to achieve its commitment regarding to the effectiveness of the quality management system in meeting customer/ user requirements and also the continual improvement of critical infrastructure organization’s processes overall performance and efficiency, as well as its societal security via continual planning improvement via DYVELOP modelling.

Keywords: added value, DYVELOP, controlling, environments, process approach

Procedia PDF Downloads 412