Search results for: genetic determinant

Authors: Meriche Hacene

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Introduction: Celiac disease (CD) is a chronic immune-mediated enteropathy triggered by gluten found in wheat or oats or rye. Celiac disease is associated with the HLA-DQ2 and HLA-DQ8 susceptibility alleles. This association with the HLA DQ2/DQ8 molecules confirmed the responsibility of genetic factors that intervene in the triggering of the autoimmune process of this condition. Objective: To evaluate the results of HLA DQ2 and HLA DQ8 typing of 40 patients suspected of having CD by PCR-SSP (Polymerase Chain Reaction Sequence Specific Primers). Material and method : 40 patients suspected of celiac disease with IgA transglutaminase serology (-) and duodenal biopsy (+). HLADR/DQ PCR-SSP (fluogen-innotrain) typing was carried out. Results : The average age of adults was 40 years, children: 4 years, the sex ratio was 1M/3F. In our patients the HLA DQ2 allele is found with a frequency of 75%, the DQ8 with a frequency of 25%, 17.5% were HLA-DQ2 homozygous and 15% were HLADQ2/HLADQ8. In our series, HLADQ2, DQ8 are found in almost all patients with a frequency of 95%. 30% of patients in our study had associated positivity of HLA-DRB3, DRB4 or DRB5 alleles. Conclusion : A high prevalence of positivity of HLADQ2 alleles at the expense of HLA DQ8 was found, which is consistent with literature data. These molecules constitute an additional marker for screening and diagnosis of CD.

Keywords: HLA typing, coeliac disease, HLA DQ 2, HLA DQ8

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Authors: D. R. Apoorva

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Ichthyosis follicularis, alopecia, and photophobia (IFAP) syndrome is a rare oculocutaneous disorder of genetic origin. This disorder results from mutations in the membrane-bound transcription factor protease site, two genes that impair cholesterol homeostasis, and the ability to cope with endoplasmic reticulum stress. We report a rare case of IFAP syndrome with an atypical presentation, and it was interesting to note that the child had patchy non-scarring alopecia over the scalp along with unilateral madarosis. To our best knowledge, this unique presentation has not been described earlier. The child presented with photophobia and unilateral ptosis. The child also had short stature and intellectual disability. Skin histopathology was nonspecific and consisted of dilated hair follicles with keratin plugs extending above the skin surface. This rare oculocutaneous disorder requires proper documentation so that identification of its variants may be possible in the future. Early recognition of atypical presentations can help in preventing cardiovascular complications, which remain the major cause of death.

Keywords: alopecia, photophobia, ichthyosis follicularis, IFAP syndrome

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Authors: Arkadiusz Mezyk, Wojciech Klein, Mariusz Pawlak, Jacek Gnilka

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The aortic heart valve stents should fulfill many criterions. These criteria have a strong impact on the geometrical shape of the stent. Usually, the final construction of stent is a result of many year experience and knowledge. Depending on patents claims, different stent shapes are produced by different companies. This causes difficulties for biomechanics engineers narrowing the domain of feasible solutions. The paper present optimization method for stent geometry defining by a specific analytical equation based on various mathematical functions. This formula was implemented as APDL script language in ANSYS finite element environment. For the purpose of simulation tests, a few parameters were separated from developed equation. The application of the genetic algorithms allows finding the best solution due to selected objective function. Obtained solution takes into account parameters such as radial force, compression ratio and coefficient of expansion on the transverse axial.

Keywords: aortic stent, optimization process, geometry, finite element method

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Authors: N. Ploysook, R. Rugsaj, C. Suvanjumrat

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The characteristic requirement for producing rectangular shape bottles was a uniform thickness of the plastic bottle wall. Die shaping was a good technique which controlled the wall thickness of bottles. An advance technology which was the finite element method (FEM) for blowing parison to be a rectangular shape bottle was conducted to reduce waste plastic from a trial and error method of a die shaping and parison control method. The artificial intelligent (AI) comprised of artificial neural network and genetic algorithm was selected to optimize the die gap shape from the FEM results. The application of AI technique could optimize the suitable die gap shape for the parison blow molding which did not depend on the parison control method to produce rectangular bottles with the uniform wall. Particularly, this application can be used with cheap blow molding machines without a parison controller therefore it will reduce cost of production in the bottle blow molding process.

Keywords: AI, bottle, die shaping, FEM

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Authors: Adedeji S. Adegoke, Olakunle N. Popoola

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Promotion is indispensible and inestimable property of marketing through which different organizations persuade their prospective customers. The idea of passing information about a product to the consumer at outside the world is known as promotional activities. A study was determined whether there was relationship between promotional mix and consumer buying decision, that is may be customers were influenced by promotion. It was investigated to determine whether promotion can be used to influence competitors’ activities in the market and also research was conducted to determine if there was any problem encountered by Nigeria bottling company plc, in promoting its beverages products. The various forms of promotional mix available for an organization were examined and recommended the appropriate promotional mix that company can adopt to boost the company sales. The research design was depended on the primary and secondary data. The primary data were information collected from the subjects using methods of data collection, that is through the use of questionnaire, interview, direct observation, etc. The secondary data consist of information that already exists having been collected for another purpose by some researchers. These include internal and external sources. The questionnaire was designed and administered to the staff of production and marketing department of Nigeria bottling company plc., which served as the population of this study, out of which sample was drawn randomly from the population, using sample random technique. It was deduced that 90% of the respondents opined that advertising influenced competition in the market and that there was a good sale after they started advert while 10% of them were not sure. At advertising level, 85% of the respondents chose 81-100% as the increase in the percentage recorded in their sales level, while 10% of them agreed that increase in the percentage recorded in their sales was within 61-80% and 5% of them chose 45-60% as the percentage increase in their sales record. Due to unstable economic condition of the Nigeria, many business organizations adopted the promotional strategies. Apart from advertising, it was discovered through research that sales promotion served as an incentive to consumers of Nigeria bottling company plc at a time offer gifts and prizes to consumers which drastically increased their level of sales. Since advertising and sales promotion increased the level of sales, more money should be allocated for this purpose to maintain market share and thereby increase profit.

Keywords: consumer, marketing, organization, promotional mix

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Authors: K. Yadamma, K. Rudrama Devi

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The protective effect of Ginger Extract against cyclophosphamide induced cytotoxicity was evaluated in in vivo animal model using analysis of chromosomal aberrations in somatic cells of mice. Three doses of Ginger Extract (150mg/kg, 200mg/kg, and 250mg/kg body weight) were selected for modulation and given to animals after priming. The animals were sacrificed 24, 48, 72 hrs after the treatment and slides were prepared for the incidence of chromosomal aberrations in bone marrow cells of mice. When animals were treated with cyclophosphamide 50mg/kg, showed cytogenetic damage in somatic cells. However, a significant decrease was observed in the percentage of chromosomal aberrations when animals were primed with various doses of Ginger Extract. The present results clearly indicate the protective nature of Ginger Extract against cyclophosphamide induced genetic damage in mouse bone marrow cells.

Keywords: ginger extract, protection, bone marrow cells, swiss albino mice

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Authors: Qiao Qiao

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With the development of The Times, the elderly demand for pension service facilities is increasing. Taking 26 street towns in Jiangjin District of Chongqing as examples, ArcGIS spatial analysis method was used to analyze the distribution status of the elderly population, the core density of the elderly population, and the spatial layout characteristics of institutional elderly care facilities in Jiangjin District of Chongqing. The results showed that there were differences in the structure and aging degree of the elderly population in each street town. There is a certain imbalance between the spatial distribution of the elderly population and the planning and construction of elderly care facilities. The accessibility of elderly care facilities is uneven. Therefore, a genetic algorithm is used to optimize the spatial layout of institutional elderly care facilities, improve the accessibility of facilities, strengthen the participation of multiple subjects, and provide a reference for the future construction planning of elderly care facilities.

Keywords: institutional pension facilities, spatial layout, accessibility, ArcGIS

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Authors: Bo Ram Choi, Ji Su Kim, Juyeon Cho, Hyukjin Lee

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Food contaminated by bacteria (E.coli), causes food poisoning, which occurs to many patients worldwide annually. We have introduced an application of rolling circle amplification (RCA) as a versatile biosensor and developed a diagnostic platform composed of capillary tube and microbeads for rapid and easy detection of Escherichia coli (E. coli). When specific mRNA of E.coli is extracted from cell lysis, rolling circle amplification (RCA) of DNA template can be achieved and can be visualized by beads aggregation in capillary tube. In contrast, if there is no bacterial pathogen in sample, no beads aggregation can be seen. This assay is possible to detect visually target gene without specific equipment. It is likely to the development of a genetic kit for point of care testing (POCT) that can detect target gene using microbeads.

Keywords: rolling circle amplification (RCA), Escherichia coli (E. coli), point of care testing (POCT), beads aggregation, capillary tube

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Authors: Rohita Gupta, G. S. Brah, R. Verma, C. S. Mukhopadhayay

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Although chicken strains show differences in susceptibility to a number of diseases, the underlying immunological basis is yet to be elucidated. In the present study, heterophils were subjected to LPS stimulation and total RNA extraction, further differential gene expression was studied in broiler, layer and indigenous Aseel strain by Real Time RT-PCR at different time periods before and after induction. The expression of the 14 AvBDs and chTLR 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 15 and 21 was detectable in heterophils. The expression level of most of the AvBDs significantly increased (P<0.05) 3 hours post in vitro lipopolysaccharide challenge. Higher expression level and stronger activation of most AvBDs, NFkB-1 and IRF-3 in heterophils was observed, with the stimulation of LPS in layer compared to broiler, and in Aseel compared to both layer and broiler. This investigation will allow more refined interpretation of immuno-genetic basis of the variable disease resistance/susceptibility in divergent stock of chicken including indigenous breed. Moreover this study will be helpful in formulation of strategy for isolation of antimicrobial peptides from heterophils.

Keywords: differential expression, heterophils, cytokines, defensin, TLR

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Authors: N. Hoosain, S. Nene, B. Pearce, C. Jacobs, M. Du Plessis, M. Benjeddou

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Organic Cation Transporters play a vital role in the absorption, tissue distribution and elimination of various substrates. Numerous studies have suggested that variations in non-synonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of SLC22A2 could influence an individual’s response to various treatments, including clinically important drugs. This study is the first to determine the baseline frequency distribution for twenty SNPs of SLC22A2in the Zulu population. DNA was collected from 101 unrelated “healthy” Zulu participants. Genotypes of all samples were determined using a multiplex PCR and SNaPshot assay followed by the generation of the haplotype structure. This is the first time that the baseline frequency distribution of SNPs is reported for the Zulu population. Data from this study could be used in in vitro and in vivo pharmacogenetic and pharmacokinetic studies to evaluate the potential role the studied SNPs play in the therapeutic efficacy of clinically important drugs.

Keywords: SLC22A2 gene, SNaPshot assay, PCR, Zulu population

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Authors: Ludivine Gueho, Sylvain Fleury, Eric Jamet

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Driver distraction is known to be a major contributing factor of car accidents. Since many years, constructors have been designing embedded technologies to face this problem and reduce distraction. Being able to predict user acceptance would further be helpful in the development process to build appropriate systems. The present research aims at modelling the acceptability of a specific system, an innovative personalized and contextualized embedded radio, through an online survey of 202 people in France that assessed the psychological variables determining intentions to use the system. The questionnaire instantiated the dimensions of the extended version of the UTAUT acceptability model. Because of the specific features of the system assessed, we added 4 dimensions: perceived security, anxiety, trust and privacy concerns. Results showed that hedonic motivation, i.e., the fun or pleasure derived from using a technology, and performance expectancy, i.e., the degree to which individuals believe that the characteristics of the system meet their needs, are the most important dimensions in determining behavioral intentions about the innovative radio. To a lesser extent, social influence, i.e., the degree to which individuals think they can use the system while respecting their social group’s norms and while giving a positive image of themselves, had an effect on behavioral intentions. Moreover, trust, that is, the positive belief about the perceived reliability of, dependability of, and confidence in a person, object or process, had a significant effect, mediated by performance expectancy. In an applicative way, the present research reveals that, to be accepted, in-car embedded new technology has to address individual needs, for instance by facilitating the driving activity or by providing useful information. If it shows hedonic qualities by being entertaining, pretty or comfortable, this may improve the intentions to use it. Therefore, it is clearly important to include reflection about user experience in the design process. Finally, the users have to be reassured on the system’s reliability. For example, improving the transparency of the system by providing information about the system functioning, could improve trust. These results bring some highlights on determinant of acceptance of an in-vehicle technology and are useful for constructors to design acceptable systems.

Keywords: acceptability, innovative embedded radio, structural equation, user-centric evaluation, UTAUT

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Authors: Parisa Gharibi Khoshkar

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The global outbreak of Covid-19 forced a swift shift in the education sector, transitioning from traditional in-person settings to remote online setups in a short period. This abrupt change, coupled with health risks and other stressors such as the lack of social interaction, has had a negative impact on academic staff, leading to increased job-related stress and psychological pressures that can result in burnout. To address this, the current research aims to investigate the relationship between job stress and burnout among academic staff in Hebron, Palestine. Furthermore, this study examines the moderating role of emotional intelligence to gain a deeper understanding of its effects in reducing burnout among academic staff and teachers. This research posits that emotional intelligence plays a vital role in helping individuals manage job-related stress and anxiety, thereby preventing burnout. Using a self-administered questionnaire, the study gathered data from 185 samples comprising teachers and administrative staff from two universities in Hebron. The data was analyzed using moderated regression analysis, ANOVA model, and interaction plots. The findings indicate that work-related stress has a direct and significant influence on burnout. Moreover, the current results highlight that emotional intelligence serves as a key determinant in managing the negative effects of the pandemic-induced stress that can lead to burnout among individuals. Given the high-demand nature of the education sector, this research strongly recommends that school authorities take proactive measures to provide much-needed support to academic staff, enabling them to better cope with job stress and fostering an environment that prioritizes individuals' wellbeing. The results of this study hold practical implications for both scholars and practitioners, as they highlight the importance of emotional intelligence in managing stress and anxiety effectively. Understanding the significance of emotional intelligence can aid in implementing targeted interventions and support systems to promote the well-being and resilience of academic staff amidst challenging circumstances.

Keywords: job stress, burnout, employee wellbeing, emotional intelligence, industrial organizational psychology, human resource management, organizational psychology

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Authors: Negin Parsamanesh, Saman Ameri-Mahabadi, Ali Nikfar, Mojdeh Mansouri, Hossein Chiti, Gita Fatemi Abhari

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Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a severe progressive X-linked neuromuscular illness that affects movement through mutations in dystrophin gene. The mutation leads to insufficient, lack of or dysfunction of dystrophin. The cause of DMD was determined in an Iranian family. Exome sequencing was carried out along with a complete physical examination of the family. In silico methods were applied to find the alteration in the protein structure. The homozygous variant in DMD gene (NM-004006.2) was defined as c.2732-2733delTT (p.Phe911CysfsX8) in exon 21. In addition, phylogenetic conservation study of the human dystrophin protein sequence revealed that phenylalanine 911 is one of the evolutionarily conserved amino acids. In conclusion, our study indicated a new deletion in the DMD gene in the affected family. This deletion with an X-linked inheritance pattern is new in Iran. These findings could facilitate genetic counseling for this family and other patients in the future.

Keywords: duchenne muscular dystrophy, whole exome sequencing, iran, metabolic syndrome

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Authors: Estibe Dagne Mekonnen

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In recent years, the prevalence of undernourishment was 30 percent for sub-Saharan Africa, compared with 16 percent for Asia and the Pacific (Ali, 2011). In Ethiopia, almost 40 percent of the total population in the country and 57 percent of Addis Ababa population lives below the international poverty line of US$ 1.25 per day (UNICEF, 2009). This study aims to analyze the determinant of household food secrity in Addis Ababa city administration. Primary data were collected from a survey of 256 households in the selected sub-city, namely Addis Ketema, Arada, and Kolfe Keranio, in the year 2022. Both Purposive and multi-stage cluster random sampling procedures were employed to select study areas and respondents. Descriptive statistics and order logistic regression model were used to test the formulated hypotheses. The result reveals that out of the total sampled households, 25% them were food secured, 13% were mildly food insecure, 26% were moderately food insecure and 36% were severely food insecure. The study indicates that household family size, house ownership, household income, household food source, household asset possession, household awareness on inflation, household access to social protection program, household access to credit and saving and household access to training and supervision on food security have a positive and significant effect on the likelihood of household food security status. However, marital status of household head, employment sector of household head, dependency ratio and household’s nonfood expenditure has a negative and significant influence on household food security status. The study finally suggests that the government in collaboration with financial institutions and NGO should work on sustaining household food security by creating awareness, providing credit, facilitate rural-urban linkage between producer and consumer and work on urban infrastructure improvement. Moreover, the governments also work closely and monitor consumer good suppliers, if possible find a way to subsidize consumable goods to more insecure households and make them to be food secured. Last but not least, keeping this country’s peace will play a crucial role to sustain food security.

Keywords: determinants, household, food security, order logit model, Addis Ababa

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Authors: Mathuravech Thanaphon, Thephasit Nat

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The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) is focusing on expanding its pumped storage hydropower (PSH) capacity to increase the reliability of the system during peak demand and allow for greater integration of renewables. To achieve this requirement, Thailand will have to double its current renewable electricity production. To address the challenges of balancing supply and demand in the grid with increasing levels of RE penetration, as well as rising peak demand, EGAT has already been studying the potential for additional PSH capacity for several years to enable an increased share of RE and replace existing fossil fuel-fired generation. In addition, the role that pumped-storage hydropower would play in fulfilling multiple grid functions and renewable integration. The proposed sites for new PSH would help increase the reliability of power generation in Thailand. However, most of the electricity generation will come from RE, chiefly wind and photovoltaic, and significant additional Energy Storage capacity will be needed. In this paper, the impact of integrating the PSH system on the adequacy of renewable rich power generating systems to reduce the thermal power generating units is investigated. The variations of system adequacy indices are analyzed for different PSH-renewables capacities and storage levels. Power Development Plan 2018 rev.1 (PDP2018 rev.1), which is modified by integrating a six-new PSH system and RE planning and development aftermath in 2030, is the very challenge. The system adequacy indices through power generation are obtained using Multi-Objective Genetic Algorithm (MOGA) Optimization. MOGA is a probabilistic heuristic and stochastic algorithm that is able to find the global minima, which have the advantage that the fitness function does not necessarily require the gradient. In this sense, the method is more flexible in solving reliability optimization problems for a composite power system. The optimization with hourly time step takes years of planning horizon much larger than the weekly horizon that usually sets the scheduling studies. The objective function is to be optimized to maximize RE energy generation, minimize energy imbalances, and minimize thermal power generation using MATLAB. The PDP2018 rev.1 was set to be simulated based on its planned capacity stepping into 2030 and 2050. Therefore, the four main scenario analyses are conducted as the target of renewables share: 1) Business-As-Usual (BAU), 2) National Targets (30% RE in 2030), 3) Carbon Neutrality Targets (50% RE in 2050), and 5) 100% RE or full-decarbonization. According to the results, the generating system adequacy is significantly affected by both PSH-RE and Thermal units. When a PSH is integrated, it can provide hourly capacity to the power system as well as better allocate renewable energy generation to reduce thermal generations and improve system reliability. These results show that a significant level of reliability improvement can be obtained by PSH, especially in renewable-rich power systems.

Keywords: pumped storage hydropower, renewable energy integration, system adequacy, power development planning, RE100, multi-objective genetic algorithm

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Authors: Bertalan Jillek, Péter Szabó, Judit Kopniczky, István Szabó, Balázs Patczai, Kinga Turzó

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Hip and knee prostheses are one of the most frequently used medical implants, that can significantly improve patients’ quality of life. Long term success and biointegration of these prostheses depend on several factors, like bulk and surface characteristics, construction and biocompatibility of the material. The applied surgical technique, the general health condition and life-quality of the patient are also determinant factors. Medical devices used in orthopedic surgeries have different surfaces depending on their function inside the human body. Surface roughness of these implants determines the interaction with the surrounding tissues. Numerous modifications have been applied in the recent decades to improve a specific property of an implant. Our goal was to compare the surface characteristics of typical implant materials used in orthopedic surgery and traumatology. Morphological and chemical structure of Vortex plate anodized titanium, cemented THR (total hip replacement) stem high nitrogen REX steel (SS), uncemented THR stem and cup titanium (Ti) alloy with titanium plasma spray coating (TPS), cemented cup and uncemented acetabular liner HXL and UHMWPE and TKR (total knee replacement) femoral component CoCrMo alloy (Sanatmetal Ltd, Hungary) discs were examined. Visualization and elemental analysis were made by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). Surface roughness was determined by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and profilometry. SEM and AFM revealed the morphological and roughness features of the examined materials. TPS Ti presented the highest Ra value (25 ± 2 μm, followed by CoCrMo alloy (535 ± 19 nm), Ti (227 ± 15 nm) and stainless steel (170 ± 11 nm). The roughness of the HXL and UHMWPE surfaces was in the same range, 147 ± 13 nm and 144 ± 15 nm, respectively. EDS confirmed typical elements on the investigated prosthesis materials: Vortex plate Ti (Ti, O, P); TPS Ti (Ti, O, Al); SS (Fe, Cr, Ni, C) CoCrMo (Co, Cr, Mo), HXL (C, Al, Ni) and UHMWPE (C, Al). The results indicate that the surface of prosthesis materials have significantly different features and the applied investigation methods are suitable for their characterization. Contact angle measurements and in vitro cell culture testing are further planned to test their surface energy characteristics and biocompatibility.

Keywords: morphology, PE, roughness, titanium

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Authors: Esra Polat

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Partial Least Squares Discriminant Analysis (PLSDA) is a statistical method for classification and consists a classical Partial Least Squares Regression (PLSR) in which the dependent variable is a categorical one expressing the class membership of each observation. PLSDA can be applied in many cases when classical discriminant analysis cannot be applied. For example, when the number of observations is low and when the number of independent variables is high. When there are missing values, PLSDA can be applied on the data that is available. Finally, it is adapted when multicollinearity between independent variables is high. The aim of this study is to determine the economic and/or demographic indicators, which are effective in grouping the 28 European Union (EU) member countries and 7 candidate countries (including potential candidates Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and Kosova) by using the data set obtained from database of the World Bank for 2014. Leaving the political issues aside, the analysis is only concerned with the economic and demographic variables that have the potential influence on country’s eligibility for EU entrance. Hence, in this study, both the performance of PLSDA method in classifying the countries correctly to their pre-defined groups (candidate or member) and the differences between the EU countries and candidate countries in terms of these indicators are analyzed. As a result of the PLSDA, the value of percentage correctness of 100 % indicates that overall of the 35 countries is classified correctly. Moreover, the most important variables that determine the statuses of member and candidate countries in terms of economic indicators are identified as 'external balance on goods and services (% GDP)', 'gross domestic savings (% GDP)' and 'gross national expenditure (% GDP)' that means for the 2014 economical structure of countries is the most important determinant of EU membership. Subsequently, the model validated to prove the predictive ability by using the data set for 2015. For prediction sample, %97,14 of the countries are correctly classified. An interesting result is obtained for only BiH, which is still a potential candidate for EU, predicted as a member of EU by using the indicators data set for 2015 as a prediction sample. Although BiH has made a significant transformation from a war-torn country to a semi-functional state, ethnic tensions, nationalistic rhetoric and political disagreements are still evident, which inhibit Bosnian progress towards the EU.

Keywords: classification, demographic indicators, economic indicators, European Union, partial least squares discriminant analysis

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Authors: Chung-Young Lee, Se-Hee Ahn, Ilhwan Kim, Du-Min Go, Dae-Yong Kim, Jun-Gu Choi, Youn-Jeong Lee, Jae-Hong Kim, Hyuk-Joon Kwon

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The polymerase of avian influenza A virus (AIV) is a heterotrimer composed of PB2, PB1 and PA. PB2 plays a role in overcoming the host barrier; however, the genetic prerequisites for avian PB2 to acquire mammalian pathogenic mutations have not been well elucidated. Here, we demonstrated that key amino acid mutations (I66M, I109V and I133V, collectively referred to as MVV) of prototypic avian PB2 increase the replication efficiency of recombinant PR8 virus carrying the mutated PB2 in both avian and mammalian hosts. The MVV mutations caused no weight loss in mice, but they did allow replication in infected lungs, and the viruses acquired fatal mammalian pathogenic mutations such as Q591R/K, E627K, or D701N in the infected lungs. The MVV mutations are located at the interfaces of the trimer and are predicted to increase the strength of this structure. Thus, gaining MVV mutations might be the first step for AIV to acquire mammalian pathogenicity. These results provide new insights into the evolution of AIV in birds and mammals.

Keywords: avian influenza A virus, prototypic PB2, polymerase activity, mammalian pathogenicity, first-step mutations

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Authors: Gideon Ndubuisi

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It is widely acknowledged that the quality of a country’s export matters more decisively than the quantity it exports. Hence, understanding the drivers of exported goods’ quality is a relevant policy question. Among other things, product quality upgrading is a considerable cost uncertainty venture that can be undertaken by an entrepreneur. Once a product is successfully upgraded, however, others can imitate the product, and hence, the returns to the pioneer entrepreneur are socialized. Along with this line, a government policy such as intellectual property rights (IPRs) protection which lessens the non-appropriability problem and incentivizes cost discovery investments becomes both a panacea in addressing the market failure and a sine qua non for an entrepreneur to engage in product quality upgrading. In addendum, product quality upgrading involves complex tasks which often require a lot of knowledge and technology sharing beyond the bounds of the firm thereby creating rooms for knowledge spillovers and imitations. Without an institution that protects upstream suppliers of knowledge and technology, technology masking occurs which bids up marginal production cost and product quality fall. Despite these clear associations between IPRs and product quality upgrading, the surging literature on the drivers of the quality of exported goods has proceeded almost in isolation of IPRs protection as a determinant. Consequently, the current study uses a difference-in-difference method to evaluate the effects of IPRs reforms on the quality of exported goods in 16 developing countries over the sample periods of 1984-2000. The study finds weak evidence that IPRs reforms increase the quality of all exported goods. When the industries are sorted into high and low-patent sensitive industries, however, we find strong indicative evidence that IPRs reform increases the quality of exported goods in high-patent sensitive sectors both in absolute terms and relative to the low-patent sensitive sectors in the post-reform period. We also obtain strong indicative evidence that it brought the quality of exported goods in the high-patent sensitive sectors closer to the quality frontier. Accounting for time-duration effects, these observed effects grow over time. The results are also largely consistent when we consider the sophistication and complexity of exported goods rather than just quality upgrades.

Keywords: exports, export quality, export sophistication, intellectual property rights

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Authors: Mombaur Busisiwe, Lesosky Maia, Liebenberg Lisa, Heckmann Jeannine

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Introduction: To assess age- and gender-specific incidence rates (IR) of acetylcholine receptor (AChR)-antibody positive myasthenia gravis (MG) in South Africa, and geographical variation in incidence. Methods: IRs were calculated from positive AChR antibody laboratory data between 2011 and 2012, using 2011 population census data. Results:890 individuals were seropositive, for an annual IR of 8.5 per million. Age-standardized IR for early- (< 50) and late-onset (≥ 50) MG were 4.1 and 24 per million, respectively, and for juveniles, 4.3 per million. The IR between provinces ranged from 1 to 19 per million. Conclusions: In this Southern hemisphere African population, the overall IR and peak IR (in older men) for seropositive MG is comparable to that in Europe and North America, arguing against environmental factors. However, IRs may be higher among children with African genetic ancestry. Geographical variation in incidence underscores the importance of outreach programs for regions with limited resources.

Keywords: incidence rates (IR), acetylcholine receptor (AChR), myasthenia gravis (MG), South Africa

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Authors: Jiheon Park, Taekwang Kim, Kwang Ryel Ryu

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Electric automated guided vehicles (AGVs) are becoming popular in many automated container terminals nowadays because they are pollution-free and environmentally friendly vehicles for transporting the containers within the terminal. Since efficient operation of AGVs is critical for the productivity of the container terminal, the replacement of batteries of the AGVs must be conducted in a strategic way to minimize undesirable transportation interruptions. While a too frequent replacement may lead to a loss of terminal productivity by delaying container deliveries, missing the right timing of battery replacement can result in a dead AGV that causes a severer productivity loss due to the extra efforts required to finish post treatment. In this paper, we propose a strategy for battery replacement based on a scoring function of multiple criteria taking into account the current battery level, the distances to different battery stations, and the progress of the terminal job operations. The strategy is optimized using a genetic algorithm with the objectives of minimizing the total time spent for battery replacement as well as maximizing the terminal productivity.

Keywords: AGV operation, automated container terminal, battery replacement, electric AGV, strategy optimization

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Authors: P. S. Jagadeesh Kumar, Tracy Lin Huan, S. Meenakshi Sundaram

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Alzheimer’s disease is one of the prevalent kind of ailment, expected for impudent reconciliation or an effectual therapy is to be accredited hitherto. Probable detonation of patients in the upcoming years, and consequently an enormous deal of apprehension in early discovery of the disorder, this will conceivably chaperon to enhanced healing outcomes. Complex impetuosity of the brain is an observant symbolic of the disease and a unique recognition of genetic sign of the disease. Machine learning alongside deep learning and decision tree reinforces the aptitude to absorb characteristics from multi-dimensional data’s and thus simplifies automatic classification of Alzheimer’s disease. Susceptible testing was prophesied and realized in training the prospect of Alzheimer’s disease classification built on machine learning advances. It was shrewd that the decision trees trained with deep neural network fashioned the excellent results parallel to related pattern classification.

Keywords: Alzheimer's diagnosis, decision trees, deep neural network, machine learning, pattern classification

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Authors: R. Rajabpour, N. Talebbeydokhti, M. H. Ahmadi

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In recent years, new techniques for solving complex problems in engineering are proposed. One of these techniques is JPSO algorithm. With innovative changes in the nature of the jump algorithm JPSO, it is possible to construct a graph-based solution with a new algorithm called G-JPSO. In this paper, a new algorithm to solve the optimal control problem Fletcher-Powell and optimal control of pumps in water distribution network was evaluated. Optimal control of pumps comprise of optimum timetable operation (status on and off) for each of the pumps at the desired time interval. Maximum number of status on and off for each pumps imposed to the objective function as another constraint. To determine the optimal operation of pumps, a model-based optimization-simulation algorithm was developed based on G-JPSO and JPSO algorithms. The proposed algorithm results were compared well with the ant colony algorithm, genetic and JPSO results. This shows the robustness of proposed algorithm in finding near optimum solutions with reasonable computational cost.

Keywords: G-JPSO, operation, optimization, pumping station, water distribution networks

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Authors: Lu Yang, Meiyang Song, Xiang Yu, Wenhao Zhou, Chuntao Feng

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To address the problem that the FM continuous-wave radar (FMCW) extracts human vital sign signals which are susceptible to noise interference and low reconstruction accuracy, a new detection scheme for the sign signals is proposed. Firstly, an improved complete ensemble empirical modal decomposition with adaptive noise (ICEEMDAN) algorithm is applied to decompose the radar-extracted thoracic signals to obtain several intrinsic modal functions (IMF) with different spatial scales, and then the IMF components are optimized by a BP neural network improved by immune genetic algorithm (IGA). The simulation results show that this scheme can effectively separate the noise and accurately extract the respiratory and heartbeat signals and improve the reconstruction accuracy and signal-to-noise ratio of the sign signals.

Keywords: frequency modulated continuous wave radar, ICEEMDAN, BP neural network, vital signs signal

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Authors: Zhenyu Zhang, Hsi-Hsien Wei

Abstract:

Highway network systems play a vital role in disaster response for disaster-damaged areas. Damaged bridges in such network systems can impede disaster response by disrupting transportation of rescue teams or humanitarian supplies. Therefore, emergency inspection and repair of bridges to quickly collect damage information of bridges and recover the functionality of highway networks is of paramount importance to disaster response. A widely used measure of a network’s capability to recover from disasters is resilience. To enhance highway network resilience, plenty of studies have developed various repair scheduling methods for the prioritization of bridge-repair tasks. These methods assume that repair activities are performed after the damage to a highway network is fully understood via inspection, although inspecting all bridges in a regional highway network may take days, leading to the significant delay in repairing bridges. In reality, emergency repair activities can be commenced as soon as the damage data of some bridges that are crucial to emergency response are obtained. Given that emergency bridge inspection and repair (EBIR) activities are executed simultaneously in the response phase, the real-time interactions between these activities can occur – the blockage of highways due to repair activities can affect inspection routes which in turn have an impact on emergency repair scheduling by providing real-time information on bridge damages. However, the impact of such interactions on the optimal emergency inspection routes (EIR) and emergency repair schedules (ERS) has not been discussed in prior studies. To overcome the aforementioned deficiencies, this study develops a routing and scheduling model for EBIR while accounting for real-time inspection-repair interactions to maximize highway network resilience. A stochastic, time-dependent integer program is proposed for the complex and real-time interacting EBIR problem given multiple inspection and repair teams at locations as set post-disaster. A hybrid genetic algorithm that integrates a heuristic approach into a traditional genetic algorithm to accelerate the evolution process is developed. Computational tests are performed using data from the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, based on a regional highway network in Sichuan, China, consisting of 168 highway bridges on 36 highways connecting 25 cities/towns. The results show that the simultaneous implementation of bridge inspection and repair activities can significantly improve the highway network resilience. Moreover, the deployment of inspection and repair teams should match each other, and the network resilience will not be improved once the unilateral increase in inspection teams or repair teams exceeds a certain level. This study contributes to both knowledge and practice. First, the developed mathematical model makes it possible for capturing the impact of real-time inspection-repair interactions on inspection routing and repair scheduling and efficiently deriving optimal EIR and ERS on a large and complex highway network. Moreover, this study contributes to the organizational dimension of highway network resilience by providing optimal strategies for highway bridge management. With the decision support tool, disaster managers are able to identify the most critical bridges for disaster management and make decisions on proper inspection and repair strategies to improve highway network resilience.

Keywords: disaster management, emergency bridge inspection and repair, highway network, resilience, uncertainty

Procedia PDF Downloads 109

Authors: Antonela Matana, Dubravka Brdar, Vesela Torlak, Marijana Popovic, Ivana Gunjaca, Ozren Polasek, Vesna Boraska Perica, Maja Barbalic, Ante Punda, Caroline Hayward, Tatijana Zemunik

Abstract:

Parathyroid hormone (PTH) plays a critical role in the regulation of bone mineral metabolism and calcium homeostasis. Higher PTH levels are associated with heart failure, hypertension, coronary artery disease, cardiovascular mortality and poorer bone health. A twin study estimated that 60% of the variation in PTH concentrations is genetically determined. Only one GWAS of PTH concentration has been reported to date. Identified loci explained 4.5% of the variance in circulating PTH, suggesting that additional genetic variants remain undiscovered. Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify novel genetic variants associated with PTH levels in a general population. We have performed a GWAS meta-analysis on 2596 individuals originating from three Croatian cohorts: City of Split and the Islands of Korčula and Vis, within a large-scale project of “10,001 Dalmatians”. A total of 7 411 206 variants, imputed using the 1000 Genomes reference panel, with minor allele frequency ≥ 1% and Rsq ≥ 0.5 were analyzed for the association. GWAS within each data set was performed under an additive model, controlling for age, gender and relatedness. Meta-analysis was conducted using the inverse-variance fixed-effects method. Furthermore, to identify sex-specific effects, we have conducted GWAS meta-analyses analyzing males and females separately. In addition, we have performed biological pathway analysis. Four SNPs, representing one locus, reached genome-wide significance. The most significant SNP was rs11099476 on chromosome 4 (P=1.15x10-8), which explained 1.14 % of the variance in PTH. The SNP is located near the protein-coding gene RASGEF1B. Additionally, we detected suggestive association with SNPs, rs77178854 located on chromosome 2 in the DPP10 gene (P=2.46x10-7) and rs481121 located on chromosome 1 (P=3.58x10-7) near the GRIK1 gene. One of the top hits detected in the main meta-analysis, intron variant rs77178854 located within DPP10 gene, reached genome-wide significance in females (P=2.21x10-9). No single locus was identified in the meta-analysis in males. Fifteen biological pathways were functionally enriched at a P<0.01, including muscle contraction, ion homeostasis and cardiac conduction as the most significant pathways. RASGEF1B is the guanine nucleotide exchange factor, known to be associated with height, bone density, and hip. DPP10 encodes a membrane protein that is a member of the serine proteases family, which binds specific voltage-gated potassium channels and alters their expression and biophysical properties. In conclusion, we identified 2 novel loci associated with PTH levels in a general population, providing us with further insights into the genetics of this complex trait.

Keywords: general population, genome-wide association analysis, parathyroid hormone, single nucleotide polymorphisms.

Procedia PDF Downloads 225

Authors: Dandan Zhang

Abstract:

Elucidating the original relationship between historical materialism and German historicism from the internal dimension of intellectual history has important theoretical significance for deep understanding and interpretation of the essential characteristics of historical materialism. German historicism contains the triple deduction of scientific historicism, historical relativism, and vitalism. The historicism of science argues for its historical status as science in the name of objective, systematic, and typical research methods, and procedural principles. Historical relativism places history under the specific historical background to study epistemological and methodological issues about the nature of human beings and the value of history. German historicism walks up to natural and cultural relativism on the basis of romanticism. Vitalism emphasizes intuition, will, and experience of life from individuals and places history on the ontology of organic life and vitality. Historical materialism and German historicism have a theoretical relationship in the genetic field. The former criticizes and surpasses the latter. Meanwhile, in the evolution of German historicism, the differences between historical materialism with it are essential features of historical science.

Keywords: German historicism, scientific historicism, historical relativism, vitalism, historical materialism

Procedia PDF Downloads 44

Authors: Nam-Kuk Kim, Jin Kim, Soomin Park, Changhee Lee, Mijin Chu, Seong-Hun Lee

Abstract:

In this study, we conducted whole genome re-sequencing of 10 cultivars originated from five countries including Korea, China, India, Pakistan and Ethiopia with Sesamum indicum (Zhongzho No. 13) genome as a reference. Almost 80% of the whole genome sequences of the reference genome could be covered by sequenced reads. Numerous SNP and InDel were detected by bioinformatic analysis. Among these variants, 266,051 SNPs were identified as unique to countries. Pakistan and Ethiopia had high densities of SNPs compared to other countries. Three main clusters (cluster 1: Korea, cluster 2: Pakistan and India, cluster 3: Ethiopia and China) were recovered by neighbor-joining analysis using all variants. Interestingly, some variants were detected in DGAT1 (diacylglycerol O-acyltransferase 1) and FADS (fatty acid desaturase) genes, which are known to be related with fatty acid synthesis and metabolism. These results can provide useful information to understand the regional characteristics and develop DNA markers for origin discrimination of sesame.

Keywords: Sesamum indicum, NGS, SNP, DNA marker

Procedia PDF Downloads 327

Authors: H. Zidoum, A. AlShareedah, S. Al Sawafi, A. Al-Ansari, B. Al Lawati

Abstract:

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease with genetic and environmental components. SLE is characterized by a wide variability of clinical manifestations and a course frequently subject to unpredictable flares. Despite recent progress in classification tools, the early diagnosis of SLE is still an unmet need for many patients. This study proposes an interpretable disease classification model that combines the high and efficient predictive performance of CatBoost and the model-agnostic interpretation tools of Shapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP). The CatBoost model was trained on a local cohort of 219 Omani patients with SLE as well as other control diseases. Furthermore, the SHAP library was used to generate individual explanations of the model's decisions as well as rank clinical features by contribution. Overall, we achieved an AUC score of 0.945, F1-score of 0.92 and identified four clinical features (alopecia, renal disorders, cutaneous lupus, and hemolytic anemia) along with the patient's age that was shown to have the greatest contribution on the prediction.

Keywords: feature selection, classification, systemic lupus erythematosus, model interpretation, SHAP, Catboost

Procedia PDF Downloads 84

Authors: Saeid H. Mobini, Monika Lulsdorf, Thomas D. Warkentin

Abstract:

The length of the breeding cycle from seed to seed is a limiting factor in the development of improved homozygous lines for breeding or recombinant inbred lines (RILs) for genetic analysis. The objective of this research was to accelerate the production of field pea RILs through application of rapid generation technology (RGT). RGT is based on the principle of growing miniature plants in an artificial medium under controlled conditions, and allowing them to produce a few flowers which develop seeds that are harvested prior to normal seed maturity. We aimed to maintain population size and genetic diversity in regeneration cycles. The effects of flurprimidol (a gibberellin synthesis inhibitor), plant density, hydroponic system, scheduled fertilizer applications, artificial light spectrum, photoperiod, and light/dark temperature were evaluated in the development of RILs from a cross between cultivars CDC Dakota and CDC Amarillo. The main goal was to accelerate flowering while reducing maintenance and space costs. In addition, embryo rescue of immature seeds was tested for shortening the seed fill period. Data collected over seven generations included plant height, the percentage of plant survival, flowering rate, seed setting rate, the number of seeds per plant, and time from seed to seed. Applying 0.6 µM flurprimidol reduced the internode length. Plant height was decreased to approximately 32 cm allowing for higher plant density without a delay in flowering and seed setting rate. The three light systems (T5 fluorescent bulbs, LEDs, and High Pressure Sodium +Metal-halide lamp) evaluated did not differ significantly in terms of flowering time in field pea. Collectively, the combination of 0.6 µM flurprimidol, 217 plant. m-2, 20 h photoperiod, 21/16 oC light/dark temperature in a hydroponic system with vermiculite substrate, applying scheduled fertilizer application based on growth stage, and 500 µmole.m-2.s-1 light intensity using T5 bulbs resulted in 100% of plants flowering within 34 ± 3 days and 96.5% of plants completed seed setting in 68.2 ± 3.6 days, i.e., 30-45 days/generation faster than conventional single seed descent (SSD) methods. These regeneration cycles were reproducible consistently. Hence, RGT could double (5.3) generations per year, using 3% occupying space, compared to SSD (2-3 generation/year). Embryo rescue of immature seeds at 7-8 mm stage, using commercial fertilizer solutions (Holland’s Secret™) showed seed setting rate of 95%, while younger embryos had lower germination rate. Mature embryos had a seed setting rate of 96.5% without either hormones or sugar added. So, considering the higher cost of embryo rescue using a procedure which requires skill, additional materials, and expenses, it could be removed from RGT with a further cost saving, and the process could be stopped between generations if required.

Keywords: field pea, flowering, rapid regeneration, recombinant inbred lines, single seed descent

Procedia PDF Downloads 362