Search results for: demineralized bone matrix

Authors: Mousa Saleh Daoud

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Rickets is a condition that affects the development of bones in children. It causes soft bones, which can become bowed or curved, this bending and curvature is evident in the age of Walking. The most common cause of rickets is dietary deficiency of vitamin D or Lack of exposure to sunlight or both together. The link between vitamin D and rickets has been known for many years and is well understood by doctors and scientists. If a child does not get enough of the vitamin D, the bones cannot form hard outer shells. This is why they become soft and weak. This study was conducted on children who reviewed by our medical clinic between the years 2011-2013. The study included 400 children, aged between one and six years. 11 children had clear clinical manifestations of rickets of varying degrees and all of them due to lack of vitamin D except for one case of rickets resistant to vitamin D. 389 cases ranged between natural and deficiency in vitamin D without clinical manifestations of Rickets.

Keywords: rickts, bone metabolic diseases, vitamin D, child

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Authors: Seok Woo Chang, Kee Yeon Kum, Kwang Shik Bae, WooCheol Lee

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Aim: The objective of this study was to compare the biocompatibilities and mineralization potential of ProRoot MTA and newly developed calcium phosphate based cement, Capseal. Materials and Methods: The biocompatibilities and mineralization-related gene expressions (Bone sialoprotein (BSP) and osteocalcin (OCN)) of ProRoot MTA and Capseal were also compared by a methylthiazol tetrazolium (MTT) assay and reverse transcription-polymerization chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis on 1, 3, and 7 days, respectively. Empty rings were used as control group. The results were statistically analyzed by Kruskal-Wallis test with a Bonferroni correction. P-value of < 0.05 was considered significant. Results: The biocompatibilities of ProRoot MTA and Capseal were equally favorable. ProRoot MTA and Capseal affected the messenger RNA expression of osteocalcin and osteonectin. Conclusions: Based on the results, both ProRoot MTA and Capseal could be a useful biomaterial in clinical endodontics.

Keywords: biocompatibility, calcium silicate cement, MTT, RT-PCR

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Authors: R. Vimal, K. Hari Hara Subramaniyan, C. Aswin, B. Logeshwaran, M. Ramesh

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Due to several environmental concerns, natural fibers have greatly replaced the synthetic fibers as a reinforcing material in polymer matrix composites. Among the natural fibers, jute fibers are the most abundant plant fibers which are manufactured mainly in countries like India. In recent years, modification of plant fibers with range of chemicals to increase various mechanical and thermal properties has been focused greatly. Among that, some of the plant fibers were modified using succinic anhydride. In the present study, Jute fibers have been modified chemically by treatment with succinic anhydride and glutaric anhydride at different concentrations of 5%, 10%, 20%, 30% and 40%. The fiber modification was done under retting condition at various retention times of 3, 6, 12, 24, 36, and 48 hours. The modification of fiber structure in both the cases is confirmed with Infrared Spectroscopy. The degree of modification increases with increase in retention time, but higher retention time has damaged the fiber structure which is common in both the cases. Comparatively, treatment of fibers with glutaric anhydride has shown efficient output than that of succinic anhydride. The unmodified fibers, succinylated fibers and glutarylated fibers at different retention times are reinforced with epoxy matrix at various volume fractions of fiber under room temperature. The composite made using unmodified fiber is used as a standard material. The tensile strength and flexural strength of the composites are analyzed in detail. Among these, the composite made with glutarylated fiber has shown good mechanical properties when compared to those made of succinylated and unmodified fiber.

Keywords: flexural strength, glutarylation, jute fibers, succinylation, tensile strength

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Authors: Rabindranath Jana, Biswajit Maity, Keka Rana

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The most promising clean energy source is the fuel cell, since it does not generate toxic gases and other hazardous compounds. Again the direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) is more user-friendly as it is easy to be miniaturized and suited as energy source for automobiles as well as domestic applications and portable devices. And unlike the hydrogen used for some fuel cells, methanol is a liquid that is easy to store and transport in conventional tanks. The most important part of a fuel cell is its membrane. Till now, an overall efficiency for a methanol fuel cell is reported to be about 20 ~ 25%. The lower efficiency of the cell may be due to the critical factors, e.g. slow reaction kinetics at the anode and methanol crossover. The oxidation of methanol is composed of a series of successive reactions creating formaldehyde and formic acid as intermediates that contribute to slow reaction rates and decreased cell voltage. Currently, the investigation of new anode catalysts to improve oxidation reaction rates is an active area of research as it applies to the methanol fuel cell. Surprisingly, there are very limited reports on nanostructured membranes, which are rather simple to manufacture with different tuneable compositions and are expected to allow only the proton permeation but not the methanol due to their molecular sizing effects and affinity to the membrane surface. We have developed a nanostructured fuel cell membrane from polydimethyl siloxane rubber (PDMS), ethylene methyl co-acrylate (EMA) and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs). The effect of incorporating different proportions of f-MWNTs in polymer membrane has been studied. The introduction of f-MWNTs in polymer matrix modified the polymer structure, and therefore the properties of the device. The proton conductivity, measured by an AC impedance technique using open-frame and two-electrode cell and methanol permeability of the membranes was found to be dependent on the f-MWNTs loading. The proton conductivity of the membranes increases with increase in concentration of f-MWNTs concentration due to increased content of conductive materials. Measured methanol permeabilities at 60oC were found to be dependant on loading of f-MWNTs. The methanol permeability decreased from 1.5 x 10-6 cm²/s for pure film to 0.8 x 10-7 cm²/s for a membrane containing 0.5wt % f-MWNTs. This is due to increasing proportion of f-MWNTs, the matrix becomes more compact. From DSC melting curves it is clear that the polymer matrix with f-MWNTs is thermally stable. FT-IR studies show good interaction between EMA and f-MWNTs. XRD analysis shows good crystalline behavior of the prepared membranes. Significant cost savings can be achieved when using the blended films which contain less expensive polymers.

Keywords: fuel cell membrane, polydimethyl siloxane rubber, carbon nanotubes, proton conductivity, methanol permeability

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Authors: Yahya Asanoglu, Celaletdin Ergun

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Ceramic-matrix composites (CMC) have significant prominence in various engineering applications because of their heat resistance associated with an ability to withstand the brittle type of catastrophic failure. In this study, specific raw materials have been chosen for the purpose of having suitable CMC material for high-temperature dielectric applications. CMC material will be manufactured through the polymer infiltration and pyrolysis (PIP) method. During the manufacturing process, vacuum infiltration and autoclave will be applied so as to decrease porosity and obtain higher mechanical properties, although this advantage leads to a decrease in the electrical performance of the material. Time and temperature adjustment in pyrolysis parameters provide a significant difference in the properties of the resulting material. The mechanical and thermal properties will be investigated in addition to the measurement of dielectric constant and tangent loss values within the spectrum of Ku-band (12 to 18 GHz). Also, XRD, TGA/PTA analyses will be employed to prove the transition of precursor to ceramic phases and to detect critical transition temperatures. Additionally, SEM analysis on the fracture surfaces will be performed to see failure mechanism whether there is fiber pull-out, crack deflection and others which lead to ductility and toughness in the material. In this research, the cost-effectiveness and applicability of the PIP method will be proven in the manufacture of CMC materials while optimization of pyrolysis time, temperature and cycle for specific materials is detected by experiment. Also, several resins will be shown to be a potential raw material for CMC radome and antenna applications. This research will be distinguished from previous related papers due to the fact that in this research, the combination of different precursors and fabrics will be experimented with to specify the unique cons and pros of each combination. In this way, this is an experimental sum of previous works with unique PIP parameters and a guide to the manufacture of CMC radome and antenna.

Keywords: CMC, PIP, precursor, quartz

Procedia PDF Downloads 157

Authors: Balaji Devanathan, Gokul G, Raveena Divya, Abhishek Yadav, Sudhir K.Gupta

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Background: Age estimation is a common problem in administrative settings, medico legal cases, and among athletes competing in different sports. Age estimation is a problem in medico legal problems that arise in hospitals when there has been a criminal abortion, when consenting to surgery or a general physical examination, when there has been infanticide, impotence, sterility, etc. Medical imaging progress has benefited forensic anthropology in various ways, most notably in the area of determining bone age. An efficient method for researching the epiphyseal union and other differences in the body's bones and joints is multi-slice computed tomography. There isn't a significant database on Indians available. So to obtain an Indian based database author has performed this original study. Methodologies: The appearance and fusion of ossification centre of sternoclavicular joint is evaluated, and grades were assigned accordingly. Using MSCT scans, we examined the relationship between the age of the deceased and alterations in the sternoclavicular joint during the appearance and union in 500 instances, 327 men and 173 females, in the age range of 0 to 25 years. Results: According to our research in both the male and female groups, the ossification centre for the medial end of the clavicle first appeared between the ages of 18.5 and 17.1 respectively. The age range of the partial union was 20.4 and 20.2 years old. The earliest age of complete fusion was 23 years for males and 22 years for females. For fusion of their sternebrae into one, age range is 11–24 years for females and 17–24 years. The fusion of the third and fourth sternebrae was completed by 11 years. The fusions of the first and second and second and third sternebrae occur by the age of 17 years. Furthermore, correlation and reliability were carried out which yielded significant results. Conclusion: With numerous exceptions, the projected values are consistent with a large number of the previously developed age charts. These variations may be caused by the ethnic or regional heterogeneity in the ossification pattern among the population under study. The pattern of bone maturation did not significantly differ between the sexes, according to the study. The study's age range was 0 to 25 years, and for obvious reasons, the majority of the occurrences occurred in the last five years, or between 20 and 25 years of age. This resulted in a comparatively smaller study population for the 12–18 age group, where age estimate is crucial because of current legal requirements. It will require specialized PMCT research in this age range to produce population standard charts for age estimate. The medial end of the clavicle is one of several ossification foci that are being thoroughly investigated since they are challenging to assess with a traditional X-ray examination. Combining the two has been shown to be a valid result when it comes to raising the age beyond eighteen.

Keywords: age estimation, sternoclavicular joint, medial clavicle, computed tomography

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Authors: Fahad Suleiman, Sammani Abdullahi

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The study depicts that a Wedderburn Artin – theorem for rings is considered to be a semisimple ring R which is isomorphic to a product of finitely many mi by mi matrix rings over division rings Di, for some integers n_i, both of which are uniquely determined up to permutation of the index i. It has been concluded that when R is simple the Wedderburn – Artin theorem is known as Wedderburn’s theorem.

Keywords: Commutativity, Wedderburn theorem, Semisimple ring, R module

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Authors: S. Rozhkova, O. Rozhkova, A. Harlova, V. Lasukov

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For optimal unbiased filter as mean-square and in the case of functioning anomalous noises in the observation memory channel, we have proved insensitivity of filter to inaccurate knowledge of the anomalous noise intensity matrix and its equivalence to truncated filter plotted only by non anomalous components of an observation vector.

Keywords: mathematical expectation, filtration, anomalous noise, memory

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Authors: M. S. Matlala, I. Ignatious

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Environmental sustainability has taken the center stage in human life all over the world. Energy is the most essential component of our life. The conventional sources of energy are non-renewable and have a detrimental environmental impact. Therefore, there is a need to move from conventional to non-conventional renewable energy sources to satisfy the world’s energy demands. The study aimed at screening for microbial cellulolytic enzymes using a proteomic approach. The objectives were to screen for microbial cellulases with high specific activity and separate the cellulolytic enzymes using a combination of zymography and two-dimensional (2-D) gel electrophoresis followed by tryptic digestion, Matrix-assisted Laser Desorption Ionisation-Time of Flight (MALDI-TOF) and bioinformatics analysis. Fungal and bacterial isolates were cultured in M9 minimal and Mandel media for a period of 168 hours at 60°C and 30°C with cellobiose and Avicel as carbon sources. Microbial cells were separated from supernatants through centrifugation, and the crude enzyme from the cultures was used for the determination of cellulase activity, zymography, SDS-PAGE, and two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Five isolates, with lytic action on carbon sources studied, were a bacterial strain (BARK) and fungal strains (VCFF1, VCFF14, VCFF17, and VCFF18). Peak cellulase production by the selected isolates was found to be 3.8U/ml, 2.09U/ml, 3.38U/ml, 3.18U/ml, and 1.95U/ml, respectively. Two-dimensional gel protein maps resulted in the separation and quantitative expression of different proteins by the microbial isolates. MALDI-TOF analysis and database search showed that the expressed proteins in this study closely relate to different glycoside hydrolases produced by other microbial species with an acceptable confidence level of 100%.

Keywords: cellulases, energy, two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, matrix-assisted laser desorption ionisation-time of flight, MALDI-TOF MS

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Authors: Balwinder Singh, Veerpaul Kaur Mann

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A composite material is formed by the combination of two or more phases or materials. Natural minerals-derived Basalt fiber is a kind of fiber being introduced in the polymer composite industry due to its good mechanical properties similar to synthetic fibers and low cost, environment friendly. Also, there is a rising trend towards the use of industrial wastes as fillers in polymer composites with the aim of improving the properties of the composites. The mechanical properties of the fiber-reinforced polymer composites are influenced by various factors like fiber length, fiber weight %, filler weight %, filler size, etc. Thus, a detailed study has been done on the characterization of short-chopped Basalt fiber-reinforced polymer matrix composites using fly ash as filler. Taguchi’s L9 orthogonal array has been used to develop the composites by considering fiber length (6, 9 and 12 mm), fiber weight % (25, 30 and 35 %) and filler weight % (0, 5 and 10%) as input parameters with their respective levels and a thorough analysis on the mechanical characteristics (tensile strength and impact strength) has been done using ANOVA analysis with the help of MINITAB14 software. The investigation revealed that fiber weight is the most significant parameter affecting tensile strength, followed by fiber length and fiber weight %, respectively, while impact characterization showed that fiber length is the most significant factor, followed by fly ash weight, respectively. Introduction of fly ash proved to be beneficial in both the characterization with enhanced values upto 5% fly ash weight. The present study on the natural fibres reinforced epoxy composites using fly ash as filler material to study the effect of input parameters on the tensile strength in order to maximize tensile strength of the composites. Fabrication of composites based on Taguchi L9 orthogonal array design of experiments by using three factors fibre type, fibre weight % and fly ash % with three levels of each factor. The Optimization of composition of natural fibre reinforces composites using ANOVA for obtaining maximum tensile strength on fabricated composites revealed that the natural fibres along with fly ash can be successfully used with epoxy resin to prepare polymer matrix composites with good mechanical properties. Paddy- Paddy fibre gives high elasticity to the fibre composite due to presence of approximately hexagonal structure of cellulose present in paddy fibre. Coir- Coir fibre gives less tensile strength than paddy fibre as Coir fibre is brittle in nature when it pulls breakage occurs showing less tensile strength. Banana- Banana fibre has the least tensile strength in comparison to the paddy & coir fibre due to less cellulose content. Higher fibre weight leads to reduction in tensile strength due to increased nuclei of air pockets. Increasing fly ash content reduces tensile strength due to nonbonding of fly ash particles with natural fibre. Fly ash is also not very strong as compared to the epoxy resin leading to reduction in tensile strength.

Keywords: tensile strength and epoxy resin. basalt Fiber, taguchi, polymer matrix, natural fiber

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Authors: Tarek Aly

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The shoulder is the most mobile joint whose stability requires the interaction of both dynamic and static stabilizers. Its wide range of movement predisposes to a high susceptibility to dislocation, accounting for nearly 50% of all dislocations. This trauma typically results in ligament injury (e.g., labral tear, capsular strain) or bony fracture (e.g., loss of glenoid or humeral head bone), which frequently causes recurrent instability. Patients with significant glenoid defects may require Latarjet procedure, which involves transferring the coracoid to the antero-inferior glenoid rim. In spite of outstanding results, 15 to 30% of cases suffer complications. In this article, we discuss the diagnosis of recurrent shoulder instability, the surgical technique and various complications of Latarjet procedure.

Keywords: recurrent, anterior gleno-humeral instability, latarjet, unstable shoulder

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Authors: Paschal A. Ubi, Salawu Abdul Rahman Asipita

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The use of suitable engineering materials which poses less harm to ,an and the environment is sort for in recent times, thus giving rise to polymer composites filled with natural organic reinforcement which are biodegradable. Treatment of natural fibres is essential in improving matrix to filler adhesion, hence improving its mechanical properties. In this study, investigations were carried out to determine the effect of sodium hydroxide treatment on the tensile, flexural, impact and hardness properties of crushed and uncrushed luffa cylindrica fibre reinforced recycled low density polyethylene composites. The LC (Luffa Cylindrica) fibres were treated with 0%, 2%, 4%, 6%, 8%, and 10% wt. NaOH concentrations for a period of 24 hours under room temperature conditions. The compounding of the waste LDPE was done using a two roll mill at a temperature of 150 oC and cured in a hydraulic press at a temperature of 150oC for 3 minutes at 3 metric tonnes. A formulation of 20/80g (reinforcement to matrix ratio in grams) was maintained for all fabricated samples. Analysis of the results showed that the uncrushed luffa fibre samples gave better mechanical properties compared with the crushed luffa fibre samples. The uncrushed luffa fibre composites had optimum tensile and flexural strengths of 7.65MPa and 17.08Mpa respectively corresponding to a young modulus and flexural modulus of 21.08MPa and 232.22MPa for the 8% and 4%wt. NaOH concentration respectively. Results obtained in the research showed that NaOH treatment with the 8% NaOH concentration improves the mechanical properties of the LC fibre reinforced composites when compared with other NaOH treatment concentration values.

Keywords: LC fibres, NaOH concentration, LC/rLDPE composite, tensile strength, flexural strength

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Authors: Irina Alexandra Paun, Mona Mihailescu, Marian Zamfirescu, Catalin Romeo Luculescu, Adriana Maria Acasandrei, Cosmin Catalin Mustaciosu, Roxana Cristina Popescu, Maria Dinescu

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A major concern in bone tissue engineering is to develop complex 3D architectures that mimic the natural cells environment, facilitate the cells growth in a defined manner and allow the flow transport of nutrients and metabolic waste. In particular, porous structures of controlled pore size and positioning are indispensable for growing human-like bone structures. Another concern is to monitor both the structures and the seeded cells with high spatial resolution and without interfering with the cells natural environment. The present approach relies on laser-based technologies employed for fabricating porous biomimetic structures that support the growth of osteoblast-like cells and for their non-invasive 3D imaging. Specifically, the porous structures were built by two photon polymerization –direct writing (2PP_DW) of the commercially available photoresists IL-L780, using the Photonic Professional 3D lithography system. The structures consist of vertical tubes with micrometer-sized heights and diameters, in a honeycomb-like spatial arrangement. These were fabricated by irradiating the IP-L780 photoresist with focused laser pulses with wavelength centered at 780 nm, 120 fs pulse duration and 80 MHz repetition rate. The samples were precisely scanned in 3D by piezo stages. The coarse positioning was done by XY motorized stages. The scanning path was programmed through a writing language (GWL) script developed by Nanoscribe. Following laser irradiation, the unexposed regions of the photoresist were washed out by immersing the samples in the Propylene Glycol Monomethyl Ether Acetate (PGMEA). The porous structures were seeded with osteoblast like MG-63 cells and their osteogenic potential was tested in vitro. The cell-seeded structures were analyzed in 3D using the digital holographic microscopy technique (DHM). DHM is a marker free and high spatial resolution imaging tool, where the hologram acquisition is performed non-invasively i.e. without interfering with the cells natural environment. Following hologram recording, a digital algorithm provided a 3D image of the sample, as well as information about its refractive index, which is correlated with the intracellular content. The axial resolution of the images went down to the nanoscale, while the temporal scales ranged from milliseconds up to hours. The hologram did not involve sample scanning and the whole image was available in one frame recorded going over 200μm field of view. The digital holograms processing provided 3D quantitative information on the porous structures and allowed a quantitative analysis of the cellular response in respect to the porous architectures. The cellular shape and dimensions were found to be influenced by the underlying micro relief. Furthermore, the intracellular content gave evidence on the beneficial role of the porous structures in promoting osteoblast differentiation. In all, the proposed laser-based protocol emerges as a promising tool for the fabrication and non-invasive imaging of porous constructs for bone tissue engineering. Acknowledgments: This work was supported by a grant of the Romanian Authority for Scientific Research and Innovation, CNCS-UEFISCDI, project PN-II-RU-TE-2014-4-2534 (contract 97 from 01/10/2015) and by UEFISCDI PN-II-PT-PCCA no. 6/2012. A part of this work was performed in the CETAL laser facility, supported by the National Program PN 16 47 - LAPLAS IV.

Keywords: biomimetic, holography, laser, osteoblast, two photon polymerization

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Authors: Simone F. Medeiros, Isabela F. Santos, Rodolfo M. Moraes, Jaspreet K. Kular, Marcus A. Johns, Ram Sharma, Amilton M. Santos

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Tissue engineering aims to develop alternatives to treat damaged tissues by promoting their regeneration. Its basic principle is to place cells on a scaffold capable of promoting cell functions, and for this purpose, polymeric nanoparticles have been successfully used due to the ability of some macro chains to mimic the extracellular matrix and influence cell functions. In general, nanoparticles require surface chemical modification to achieve cell adhesion, and recent advances in their synthesis include methods for modifying the ligand density and distribution onto nanoparticles surface. However, this work reports the development of biodegradable polymeric nanoparticles capable of promoting cellular adhesion without any surface chemical modification by ligands. Biocompatible and biodegradable nanoparticles based on poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBHV) were synthesized by solvent evaporation method. The produced nanoparticles were small in size (85 and 125 nm) and colloidally stable against time in aqueous solution. Morphology evaluation showed their spherical shape with small polydispersity. Human osteoblast-like cells (MG63) were cultured in the presence of PHBHV nanoparticles, and growth kinetics were compared to those grown on tissue culture polystyrene (TCPS). Cell attachment on non-tissue culture polystyrene (non-TCPS) pre-coated with nanoparticles was assessed and compared to attachment on TCPS. These findings reveal the potential of PHBHV nanoparticles for cell adhesion and growth, without requiring a matrix ligand to support cells, to be used as scaffolds, in tissue engineering applications.

Keywords: tissue engineering, PHBHV, stem cells, cellular attachment

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Authors: Victor Prevost, Solene Landerneau, Michel Duhamel, Joel Sternheimer, Olivier Gallet, Pedro Ferrandiz, Marwa Mokni

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The search for homologous proteins is one of the ongoing challenges in biology and bioinformatics. Traditionally, a pair of proteins is thought to be homologous when they originate from the same ancestral protein. In such a case, their sequences share similarities, and advanced scientific research effort is spent to investigate this question. On this basis, we propose the Protein-Wave Alignment Tool (”P-WAT”) developed within the framework of the France Relance 2030 plan. Our work takes into consideration the mass-related wave aspect of protein biosynthesis, by associating specific frequencies to each amino acid according to its mass. Amino acids are then regrouped within their mass category. This way, our algorithm produces specific alignments in addition to those obtained with a common amino acid coding system. For this purpose, we develop the ”P-WAT” original algorithm, able to address large protein databases, with different attributes such as species, protein names, etc. that allow us to align user’s requests with a set of specific protein sequences. The primary intent of this algorithm is to achieve efficient alignments, in this specific conceptual frame, by minimizing execution costs and information loss. Our algorithm identifies sequence similarities by searching for matches of sub-sequences of different sizes, referred to as primers. Our algorithm relies on Boolean operations upon a dot plot matrix to identify primer amino acids common to both proteins which are likely to be part of a significant alignment of peptides. From those primers, dynamic programming-like traceback operations generate alignments and alignment scores based on an adjusted PAM250 matrix.

Keywords: protein, alignment, homologous, Genodic

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Authors: Hosein Maghsoudi

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Rheumatois arthritis (RA) is progressive inflammatory autoimmune diseases that primarily affect the joints, characterized by synovial hyperplasia and inflammatory cell infiltration, deformed and painful joints, which can lead tissue destruction, functional disability systemic complications, and early dead and socioeconomic costs. The cause of rheumatoid arthritis is unknown, but genetic and environmental factors are contributory and the prognosis is guarded. However, advances in understanding the pathogenesis of the disease have fostered the development of new therapeutics, with improved outcomes. The current treatment strategy, which reflects this progress, is to initiate aggressive therapy soon after diagnosis and to escalate the therapy, guided by an assessment of disease activity, in pursuit of clinical remission. The pathobiology of RA is multifaceted and involves T cells, B cells, fibroblast-like synoviocyte (FLSc) and the complex interaction of many pro-inflammatory cytokine. Novel biologic agents that target tumor necrosis or interlukin (IL)-1 and Il-6, in addition T- and B-cells inhibitors, have resulted in favorable clinical outcomes in patients with RA. Despite this, at least 30% of RA patients are résistance to available therapies, suggesting novel mediators should be identified that can target other disease-specific pathway or cell lineage. Among the inflammatory cell population that might participated in RA pathogenesis, FLSc are crucial in initiaing and driving RA in concert of cartilage and bone by secreting metalloproteinase (MMPs) into the synovial fluid and by direct invasion into extracellular matrix (ECM), further exacerbating joint damage. Invasion of fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLSc) is critical in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid-arthritis. The metalloproteinase (MMPs) and activator of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)/nuclear factor- κB pthway play a critical role in RA-FLS invasion induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The present study aimed to explore the anti-invasion activity of Glycyrrhizic Acid as a pharmacologically safe phytochemical agent with potent anti-inflammatory properties on IL-1beta and TNF-alpha signalling pathways in Bovine fibroblast-like synoviocyte ex- vitro, on LPS-stimulated bovine FLS migration and invasion as well as MMP expression and explored the upstream signal transduction. Results showed that Glycyrrhizic Acid suppressed LPS-stimulated bovine FLS migration and invasion by inhibition MMP-9 expression and activity. In addition our results revealed that Glycyrrhizic Acid inhibited the transcriptional activity of MMP-9 by suppression the nbinding activity of NF- κB in the MMP-9 promoter pathway. The extract of licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra L.) has been widely used for many centuries in the traditional Chinese medicine as native anti-allergic agent. Glycyrrhizin (GL), a triterpenoidsaponin, extracted from the roots of licorice is the most effective compound for inflammation and allergic diseases in human body. The biological and pharmacological studies revealed that GL possesses many pharmacological effects, such as anti-inflammatory, anti-viral and liver protective effects, and the biological effects, such as induction of cytokines (interferon-γ and IL-12), chemokines as well as extrathymic T and anti-type 2 T cells. GL is known in the traditional Chinese medicine for its anti-inflammatory effect, which is originally described by Finney in 1959. The mechanism of the GL-induced anti-inflammatory effect is based on different pathways of the GL-induced selective inhibition of the prostaglandin E2 production, the CK-II- mediated activation of both GL-binding lipoxygenas (gbLOX; 17) and PLA2, an anti-thrombin action of GL and production of the reactive oxygen species (ROS; GL exerts liver protection properties by inhibiting PLA2 or by the hydroxyl radical trapping action, leading to the lowering of serum alanine and aspartate transaminase levels. The present study was undertaken to examine the possible mechanism of anti-inflammatory properties GL on IL-1beta and TNF-alpha signalling pathways in bovine fibroblast-like synoviocyte ex-vivo, on LPS-stimulated bovine FLS migration and invasion as well as MMP expression and explored the upstream signal transduction. Our results clearly showed that treatment of bovine fibroblast-like synoviocyte with GL suppressed LPS-induced cell migration and invasion. Furthermore, it revealed that GL inhibited the transcription activity of MMP-9 by suppressing the binding activity of NF-κB in the MM-9 promoter. MMP-9 is an important ECM-degrading enzyme and overexpression of MMPs in important of RA-FLSs. LPS can stimulate bovine FLS to secret MMPs, and this induction is regulated at the transcription and translational levels. In this study, LPS treatment of bovine FLS caused an increase in MMP-2 and MMP-9 levels. The increase in MMP-9 expression and secretion was inhibited by ex- vitro. Furthermore, these effects were mimicked by MMP-9 siRNA. These result therefore indicate the the inhibition of LPS-induced bovine FLS invasion by GL occurs primarily by inhibiting MMP-9 expression and activity. Next we analyzed the functional significance of NF-κB transcription of MMP-9 activation in Bovine FLSs. Results from EMSA showed that GL suppressed LPS-induced NF-κB binding to the MMP-9 promotor, as NF-κB regulates transcriptional activation of multiple inflammatory cytokines, we predicted that GL might target NF-κB to suppress MMP-9 transcription by LPS. Myeloid differentiation-factor 88 (MyD88) and TIR-domain containing adaptor protein (TIRAP) are critical proteins in the LPS-induced NF-κB and apoptotic signaling pathways, GL inhibited the expression of TLR4 and MYD88. These results demonstrated that GL suppress LPS-induced MMP-9 expression through the inhibition of the induced TLR4/NFκB signaling pathway. Taken together, our results provide evidence that GL exerts anti-inflammatory effects by inhibition LPS-induced bovine FLSs migration and invasion, and the mechanisms may involve the suppression of TLR4/NFκB –mediated MMP-9 expression. Although further work is needed to clarify the complicated mechanism of GL-induced anti-invasion of bovine FLSs, GL might be used as a further anti-invasion drug with therapeutic efficacy in the treatment of immune-mediated inflammatory disease such as RA.

Keywords: glycyrrhizic acid, bovine fibroblast-like synoviocyte, tlr4/nf-κb, metalloproteinase-9

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Authors: Metin Kömsöken, Ayşe Güneş Tanır, Onur Karaman

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Usage of high energy charged particles for diagnosis and treatment has been widespread in medicine. The main purpose is to investigate that Bremsstrahlung which occurs by tissue interactions with charged particles should not be neglected. Nuclear stopping power (Bremsstrahlung) was calculated for lung, brain, skin, muscle, bone (cortical) and water targets for the energies of electrons obtained from LINAC used in radiotherapy and of β+ sources used in positron emission tomography (PET). These calculations were done by using the four different analytical functions including classical Bethe-Bloch, Tsoulfanidis, modified Bethe-Bloch and modified Tsoulfanidis equations. It was concluded that obtained results were compatible with that of National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST-ESTAR).

Keywords: β- emitting source, bremsstrahlung, therapeutic radionuclides, LINAC

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Authors: Qimin Shi, Yi Sun, Constantinus Politis, Shoufeng Yang

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In-situ preparation of particle-reinforced aluminium matrix composites (PRAMCs) by laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) additive manufacturing is a promising strategy to strengthen traditional Al-based alloys. The laser-driven thermite reaction can be a practical mechanism to in-situ synthesize PRAMCs. However, introducing oxygen elements through adding Fe₂O₃ makes the powder mixture highly sensitive to form porosity and Al₂O₃ film during LPBF, bringing challenges to producing dense Al-based materials. Therefore, this work develops a processing strategy combined with consecutive high-energy laser melting scanning and low-energy laser remelting scanning to prepare PRAMCs from a Fe₂O₃/AlSi12 powder mixture. The powder mixture consists of 5 wt% Fe₂O₃ and the remainder AlSi12 powder. The addition of 5 wt% Fe₂O₃ aims to achieve balanced strength and ductility. A high relative density (98.2 ± 0.55 %) was successfully obtained by optimizing laser melting (Emelting) and laser remelting surface energy density (Eremelting) to Emelting = 35 J/mm² and Eremelting = 5 J/mm². Results further reveal the necessity of increasing Emelting, to improve metal liquid’s spreading/wetting by breaking up the Al₂O₃ films surrounding the molten pools; however, the high-energy laser melting produced much porosity, including H₂₋, O₂₋ and keyhole-induced pores. The subsequent low-energy laser remelting could close the resulting internal pores, backfill open gaps and smoothen solidified surfaces. As a result, the material was densified by repeating laser melting and laser remelting layer by layer. Although with two-times laser scanning, the microstructure still shows fine cellular Si networks with Al grains inside (grain size of about 370 nm) and in-situ nano-precipitates (Al₂O₃, Si, and Al-Fe(-Si) intermetallics). Finally, the fine microstructure, nano-structured dispersion strengthening, and high-level densification strengthened the in-situ PRAMCs, reaching yield strength of 426 ± 4 MPa and tensile strength of 473 ± 6 MPa. Furthermore, the results can expect to provide valuable information to process other powder mixtures with severe porosity/oxide-film formation potential, considering the evidenced contribution of laser melting/remelting strategy to densify material and obtain good mechanical properties during LPBF.

Keywords: densification, laser powder bed fusion, metal matrix composites, microstructures, mechanical properties

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Authors: Chun Hsien Wu, Guan Xuan Wu, Hsia Ying Cheng, Shyh Ming Kuo

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Articular cartilage is composed of chondrocytes and extracellular matrix, such as collagen fibers, glycosaminoglycans, etc., which play an important role in lubricating and cushion joint activities. The phenotypic expression and metabolic activity of chondrocytes are extremely important in maintaining the functions of articular cartilage. In in vitro passaged culture of chondrocytes, chondrocytes gradually lose their original cell phenotype and morphology, which is called dedifferentiation. After continuous passaged culture of chondrocytes or induction by inflammatory factor IL-1, chondrocytes changed their phenotype and morphology. Also, the extracellular matrix type II collagen and GAG secretion were significantly reduced, while type I and X collagen were synthesized. Farnesol is an anti-inflammatory and antioxidant sesquiterpene compound that has the specific property of promoting collagen production. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether farnesol could restore the original type II collagen synthesis and, furthermore, the mechanisms of farnesol on the synthesis of type II collagen from the de-differentiated chondrocytes. The obtained results showed that the de-differentiated chondrocytes significantly restored to secret type II collagen and GAG (2.5-folds increases), and the secretion of collagen I and X and PGE2 synthesis were also significantly reduced after being treated with farnesol, indicating that farnesol had a restoration/re-differentiation effect on de-differentiated chondrocytes. The de-differentiated chondrocytes exhibited decreased expression of PPAR-γ and upregulated TGF-β expression to increase the MMP-13 expression. Higher expression of MMP-13 caused chondrocytes to secret type X collagen. On the contrary, increasing the expression of PPAR-γ would benefit the production of type II collagen. As shown, the PPAR-γ expression increased, and MMP-13 expression decreased after being treated with farnesol, indicating a possible signal pathway of farnesol to restore the production of type II collagen. However, more detailed mechanisms still need to evaluate.

Keywords: chondrocytes, de-differentiation, farnesol, re-differentiation

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Authors: Abubakar Sadiq Mensah

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The Knowledge of the population growth of a nation is paramount to national planning. The population of a place is studied and a model developed over a period of time, Matrices is used to form model for population growth. The eigenvalue ƛ of the matrix A and its corresponding eigenvector X is such that AX = ƛX is calculated. The stable age distribution of the population is obtained using the eigenvalue and the characteristic polynomial. Hence, estimation could be made using eigenvalues and eigenvectors.

Keywords: eigenvalues, eigenvectors, population, growth/stability

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Authors: Mutwakil Nafi, Abed Elaziz El Amein, Muna El Dawi, Khalafala Salih, Osma Elbahi, Abed Elhalim Abou

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Recently a large deposit of oolitic iron ore of Late Carboniferous-Permotriassic-Lower Jurassic age was discovered in Wadi Halfa and Argein areas, North Sudan. It seems that the iron ore mineralization exists in the west and east bank of the River Nile of the study area that are found on the Egyptian-Sudanese border. The Carboniferous-Lower Jurassic age strata were covered by 67 sections and each section has been examined and carefully described. The iron-ore in Wadi Halfa occurs as oolitic ironstone and contained two horizons: (A) horizon and (B) horizon. Only horizon (A) was observed in southern Argein area. The texture of the ore is variable depending on the volume of the component. In thin sections the average of the ooids were ranged between 90% - 80%. The matrix varies between 10%-20% by volume and detritus quartz in other component my reach up to 30% by volume in sandy massive ore. Ooids size ranges from 0.2mm-1.00 mm on average in very coarse ooids may attend up to 1 mm in size. The matrix around the ooids is dominated by iron hydroxide, carbonate, fine and amorphous silica. The probable ore reserve estimate of 1.234 billion at a head grade of 41.29% Fe for the Wadi Halfa Oolitic Ironstone Formation. The iron ore shows higher content of phosphorus ranges from 6.15% to 0.16%, with mean 1.45%. The new technology Hatch–Ironstone Chloride Segregation (HICS) can be used to produce commercial-quality of iron and reduce phosphorus and silica to acceptable levels for steel industry. The development of infra structures and presence huge quantity of iron ore would make exploitation of the iron ore economic.

Keywords: HICS, Late Carboniferous age, oolitic iron ore, phosphorus

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Authors: G. Wojcik, J. Gindlhuber, A. Syarif, K. Hoetzenecker, P. Bohm, P. Vesely, V. Biasin, G. Kwapiszewska

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Pulmonary fibrosis is a rare disease where uncontrolled wound healing processes damage the lung structure. Intensive changes within the extracellular matrix (ECM) and its interaction with fibroblasts have a major role in pulmonary fibrosis development. Among others, collagen is one of the main components of the ECM, and it is important for lung structure. In IPF, constant production of collagen by fibroblast, through TGFβ1-SMAD2/3 pathways, leads to an uncontrolled deposition of matrix and hence lung remodeling. Abnormal changes in lipid production, alterations in fatty acids (FAs) metabolism, enhanced oxidative stress, and lipid peroxidation in fibrotic lung and fibrotic fibroblasts have been reported; however, the interplay between the collagen and lipids is not yet established. One of the FAs influx regulators is Angiopoietin-like 4 (ANGPTL4), which inhibits lipoprotein lipase work, decreasing the availability of FAs. We hypothesized that altered lipid composition or availability could have the capability to influence the phenotype of different fibroblast populations in the lung and hence influence lung fibrosis. To prove our hypothesis, we aim to investigate lipids and their influence on human, animal, and in vitro levels. In the bleomycin model, treatment with the well-known metabolic drugs Rosiglitazone or Metformin significantly lower collagen production. Similar results were noticed in ANGPTL4 KO animals, where the KO of ANGPTL4 leads to an increase of FAs availability and lower collagen deposition after the bleomycin challenge. Currently, we study the treatment of different FAs on human lung para fibroblasts (hPF) isolated from donors. To understand the lipid composition, we are collecting human lung tissue from donors and pulmonary fibrosis patients for Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. In conclusion, our results suggest the lipid influence on collagen deposition during lung fibrosis, but further research needs to be conducted to understand the matter of this relationship.

Keywords: collagen, fibroblasts, lipidomics, lung, pulmonary fibrosis

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Authors: A. Lubis, S. S. Pasulu, Z. Hikmah, A. Endaryanto, A. Harsono

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Infection by group A streptococci (GAS) can trigger an autoantibody that cause a poststreptococcal reactive arthritis (PSRA). Four patients with PSRA aged 10 years to 14 years old with the main complaint of joint pain for five days to 10 days after suffering a fever and sore throat. The joint pain was persistent, additive, and non migratory. All patients revealed an increase in erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and anti-streptolysin O (ASLO), but the chest x-ray, electrocardiography, and echocardiography were normal. Bone imaging showed no destruction on the affected joint. Jones Criteria were not fulfilled in all patients. Erythromycin and ibuprofen were given in all patients and an improvement was shown. Erythromycin was continued for one year and routine controls were conducted for cardiac evaluation. The prognosis of all the patients was good.

Keywords: arthritis, group a streptococcus, autoantibody, Jones criteria

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Authors: Benedict O. Muyale, Emmanuel S. Murunga

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Cities have always been the loci for nationals as well as growth of cultural fusion and innovation. Over 50%of global population dwells in cities and urban centers. This means that cities are prolific users of natural resources and generators of waste; hence they produce most of the greenhouse gases which are causing global climate change. The root cause of increase in the transport sector carbon curve is mainly the greater numbers of individually owned cars. Development in these cities is geared towards economic progress while environmental sustainability is ignored. Infrastructure projects focus on road expansion, electrification, and more parking spaces. These lead to more carbon emissions, traffic congestion, and air pollution. Recent development plans for Nairobi city are now on road expansion with little priority for electric train solutions. The Vision 2030, Kenya’s development guide, has shed some light on the city with numerous road expansion projects. This chapter seeks to realize the following objectives; (1) to assess the current transport situation of Nairobi; (2) to review green transport solutions being undertaken in the city; (3) to give an overview of alternative green transportation solutions, and (4) to provide a green transportation framework matrix. This preliminary study will utilize primary and secondary data through mainly desktop research and analysis, literature, books, magazines and on-line information. This forms the basis for formulation of approaches for incorporation into the green transportation framework matrix of the main study report.The main goal is the achievement of a practical green transportation system for implementation by the City County of Nairobi to reduce carbon emissions and congestion and promote environmental sustainability.

Keywords: cities, transport, Nairobi, green technologies

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Authors: Ulku Soydal, Mustafa Esen Marti, Gulnare Ahmetli

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In this study, precipitated calcium carbonate lime waste (LW) from sugar beet process was recycled as the raw material for the preparation of composite materials. Epoxidized soybean oil (ESO) was used as a co-matrix in 50 wt% with DGEBA type epoxy resin (ER). XRD was used for characterization of composites. Effects of ESO and LW filler amounts on mechanical properties of neat ER were investigated. Modification of ER with ESO remarkably enhanced plasticity of ER.

Keywords: epoxy resin, biocomposite, lime waste, properties

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Authors: I. Grigoraviciute-Puroniene, K. Tsuru, E. Garskaite, Z. Stankeviciute, A. Beganskiene, K. Ishikawa, A. Kareiva

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Tricalcium phosphate (β-Ca₃(PO₄)₂, β-TCP) powders were synthesized using wet polymeric precipitation method for the first time to our best knowledge. The results of X-ray diffraction analysis showed the formation of almost single a Ca-deficient hydroxyapatite (CDHA) phase of a poor crystallinity already at room temperature. With continuously increasing the calcination temperature up to 800 °C, the crystalline β-TCP was obtained as the main phase. It was demonstrated that infrared spectroscopy is very effective method to characterize the formation of β-TCP. The SEM results showed that β-TCP solids were homogeneous having a small particle size distribution. The β-TCP powders consisted of spherical particles varying in size from 100 to 300 nm. Fabricated β-TCP specimens were placed to the bones of the rats and maintained for 1-2 months.

Keywords: Tricalcium phosphate (β-Ca3(PO4)2, bone regeneration, wet chemical processing, polymeric precipitation

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Authors: Thuraya Ahmed Hamood Al Shidhani

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Sports Medicine injuries are very common in primary health care. It is not necessary related to direct trauma, but it could be because of repetitive stress and overuse injuries. Knowledge of Primary Health care providers about the common sports medicine injuries and when to refer to a specialist is essential. Common sports injuries are muscle strain, joint sprain, bone bruise, Patellofemoral pain syndrome, Anterior cruciate ligament injuries, meniscal injuries, ankle ligaments injuries, concussion, Rotator cuff tendinosis/impingement syndrome, lateral and medial epicondylitis and fractures. Systematic approach is very useful in evaluation of sports injuries. RICE is important in initial management. Physiotherapy is essential for rehabilitation. Definitive Management is dependent on patient’s condition and function.

Keywords: common, sports medicine injuries, primary health care, injuries

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Authors: Wega Trisunaryanti, Hesty Kusumastuti, Iip Izul Falah, Muhammad Fajar Marsuki, Rahmad Nuryanto

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Synthesis of Ni supported on mesopore silica-alumina (MSA) for hydrocracking of pyrolyzed α-cellulose had been carried out. The silica and alumina were extracted from Sidoarjo mud. Gelatin from catfish bone was used as a template for the mesopore design. The MSA was synthesized by using hydrothermal method at 100 °C for 24 h and calcined at 550 °C for 4 h then characterized by using X-Ray Diffraction Spectrometer (XRD) and Nitrogen Gas Sorption Analyzer (GAS). The Ni metal was loaded to the MSA by wet impregnation method. The catalytic activity in the hydrocracking reaction of pyrolyzed α-cellulose was carried out at 450 °C for 2 h. The MSA synthesized in this work is an amorphous material with specific surface area, total pore volume, and average pore diameter of 212.29 m²/g, 1.29 cm³/g, and 20.05 nm, respectively. The Ni/MSA catalyst produced 73.02 wt.% of liquid product in hydrocracking of pyrolyzed α-cellulose.

Keywords: catalyst, gelatin, hydrocracking, mesopore silica-alumina, α-cellulose

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Authors: V. Veeraprathap, G. S. Harish, G. Narendra Kumar

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Uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells in the lung in the form of tumor can be either benign (non-cancerous) or malignant (cancerous). Patients with Lung Cancer (LC) have an average of five years life span expectancy provided diagnosis, detection and prediction, which reduces many treatment options to risk of invasive surgery increasing survival rate. Computed Tomography (CT), Positron Emission Tomography (PET), and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) for earlier detection of cancer are common. Gaussian filter along with median filter used for smoothing and noise removal, Histogram Equalization (HE) for image enhancement gives the best results without inviting further opinions. Lung cavities are extracted and the background portion other than two lung cavities is completely removed with right and left lungs segmented separately. Region properties measurements area, perimeter, diameter, centroid and eccentricity measured for the tumor segmented image, while texture is characterized by Gray-Level Co-occurrence Matrix (GLCM) functions, feature extraction provides Region of Interest (ROI) given as input to classifier. Two levels of classifications, K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN) is used for determining patient condition as normal or abnormal, while Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) is used for identifying the cancer stage is employed. Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) algorithm is used for the main feature extraction leading to best efficiency. The developed technology finds encouraging results for real time information and on line detection for future research.

Keywords: artificial neural networks, ANN, discrete wavelet transform, DWT, gray-level co-occurrence matrix, GLCM, k-nearest neighbor, KNN, region of interest, ROI

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Authors: A. Peyvan, D. Li, J. Komperda, F. Mashayek

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Turbulence can be observed in a variety fluid motions in nature and industrial applications. Recent investment in high-speed aircraft and propulsion systems has revitalized fundamental research on turbulent flows. In these systems, capturing chaotic fluid structures with different length and time scales is accomplished through the Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) approach since it accurately simulates flows down to smallest dissipative scales, i.e., Kolmogorov’s scales. The discontinuous spectral element method (DSEM) is a high-order technique that uses spectral functions for approximating the solution. The DSEM code has been developed by our research group over the course of more than two decades. Recently, the code has been improved to run large cases in the order of billions of solution points. Running big simulations requires a considerable amount of RAM. Therefore, the DSEM code must be highly parallelized and able to start on multiple computational nodes on an HPC cluster with distributed memory. However, some pre-processing procedures, such as determining global element information, creating a global face list, and assigning global partitioning and element connection information of the domain for communication, must be done sequentially with a single processing core. A separate code has been written to perform the pre-processing procedures on a local machine. It stores the minimum amount of information that is required for the DSEM code to start in parallel, extracted from the mesh file, into text files (pre-files). It packs integer type information with a Stream Binary format in pre-files that are portable between machines. The files are generated to ensure fast read performance on different file-systems, such as Lustre and General Parallel File System (GPFS). A new subroutine has been added to the DSEM code to read the startup files using parallel MPI I/O, for Lustre, in a way that each MPI rank acquires its information from the file in parallel. In case of GPFS, in each computational node, a single MPI rank reads data from the file, which is specifically generated for the computational node, and send them to other ranks on the node using point to point non-blocking MPI communication. This way, communication takes place locally on each node and signals do not cross the switches of the cluster. The read subroutine has been tested on Argonne National Laboratory’s Mira (GPFS), National Center for Supercomputing Application’s Blue Waters (Lustre), San Diego Supercomputer Center’s Comet (Lustre), and UIC’s Extreme (Lustre). The tests showed that one file per node is suited for GPFS and parallel MPI I/O is the best choice for Lustre file system. The DSEM code relies on heavily optimized linear algebra operation such as matrix-matrix and matrix-vector products for calculation of the solution in every time-step. For this, the code can either make use of its matrix math library, BLAS, Intel MKL, or ATLAS. This fact and the discontinuous nature of the method makes the DSEM code run efficiently in parallel. The results of weak scaling tests performed on Blue Waters showed a scalable and efficient performance of the code in parallel computing.

Keywords: computational fluid dynamics, direct numerical simulation, spectral element, turbulent flow

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