Search results for: small cell

Authors: Ana-Marija Stjepić, Luka Sušac, Dalia Suša Vugec

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In the last few years, examples from scientific literature and business practices show that the adoption of technological innovations increases enterprises' performance. Recently, when it comes to the field of information technology innovation, business intelligence systems (BISs) have drawn a significant amount of attention of the scientific circles. BISs can be understood as a form of technological innovation which can bring certain benefits to the organizations that are adopting it. Therefore, the aim of this paper is twofold: (1) to define determinants of successful BISs adoption in small and medium enterprises and thus contribute to this neglected research area and (2) to present the current state of BISs adoption in small and medium-sized companies. In order to do so, determinants are defined and classified into three dimensions, according to the Technology – Organization – Environment (TOE) theoretical framework that describes the impact of each dimension on technological innovations adoption. Moreover, paper brings a case study presenting the adoption of BISs in practice within an organization from tertiary (service) industry sector. Based on the results of the study, guidelines for more efficient, faster and easier BISs adoption are presented.

Keywords: adoption, business intelligence, business intelligence systems, case study, TOE framework

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Authors: Shi-xia Xu, Zai-wen Zhang, Ru-xue Chen, Shan Zhou, Xiang-feng Tang

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Objective: The clinical influence of HLA-DPB1 mismatches on clinical outcome of HSCT is less clear. This is the first meta-analysis to study the HLA-DPB1 matching statues on clinical outcomes after unrelated donor HSCT. Methods: We searched the CIBMTR, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) and related databases (1995.01–2017.06) for all relevant articles. Comparative studies were used to investigate the HLA-DPB1 loci mismatches on clinical outcomes after unrelated donor HSCT, such as the disease-free survival (DFS), overall survival, GVHD, relapse, and transplant-related mortality (TRM). We performed meta-analysis using Review Manager 5.2 software and funnel plot to assess the bias. Results: At first, 1246 articles were retrieved, and 18 studies totaling 26368 patients analyzed. Pooled comparisons of studies found that the HLA-DPB1 mismatched group had a lower rate of DFS than the DPB1-matched group, and lower OS in non-T cell depleted transplantation. The DPB1 mismatched group has a higher incidence of aGVHD and more severe ( ≥ III degree) aGvHD, lower rate of relapse and higher TRM. Moreover, compared with 1-antigen mismatch, 2-antigen mismatched led to a higher risk of TRM and lower relapse rate. Conclusions: This meta-analysis indicated HLA-DPB1 has important influence on survival and transplant-related complications during unrelated donor HSCT and HLA-DPB1 donor selection strategies have been proposed based on a personalized algorithm.

Keywords: human leukocyte antigen, DPB1, transplant, meta-analysis, outcome

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Authors: Francois Defay

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Uses of Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) are increasing for many applicative cases. Long endurance UAVs are required for inspection or transportation in some deserted places. The global optimization of the efficiency is the aim of the works in ISAE-SUPAERO. From the propulsive part until the motor control, the global optimization can increase significantly the global efficiency. This paper deals with the global improvement of the efficiency of the electrical propulsion for the aerial vehicle. The application case of study is a small airplane of 2kg. A global modelization is presented in order to validate the electrical engine in a complete simulation from aerodynamics to battery. The classical control of the synchronous permanent drive is compared to the field-oriented control which is not yet applied for UAVs. The experimental results presented show an increase of more than 10 percent of the efficiency. A complete modelization and simulation based on Matlab/ Simulink are presented in this paper and compared to the experimental study. Finally this paper presents solutions to increase the endurance of the electrical aerial vehicle and provide models to optimize the global consumption for a specific mission. The next step is to use this model and the control to work with distributed propulsion which is the future for small distance plane.

Keywords: electrical propulsion, endurance, field-oriented control, UAV

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Authors: Rishmidevi Kirtie Algoe

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Advocating for gender equality in sports is a global struggle but a greater challenge for small nations with weak economies like Suriname, a Dutch-speaking country in the Caribbean. This paper presents the experience of the Suriname Olympic Committee (SOC) in addressing gender inequality in sports in the global context of the policies implemented by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The case of Suriname is interesting because it shows the results of a small nation in creating protective measures. The SOC has succeeded in developing a code of conduct for sports and is now taking steps to establish a sports justice institute. All of this is happening in a situation where there are few women leaders in sport: only three of the seventeen national member federations are led by women, and there are two women on SOC's 9-member board. Three arguments are made. First, gender inequality in sports in Suriname is a reflection of national power structures and cultural barriers to women in sports. Second, IOC policies and resources to reduce gender inequality in sports, while important, do not guarantee national change. Third, and more importantly, the SOC has addressed gender inequality with an approach based on the principles of "walk the talk" and "trial and error." All three arguments are elaborated on using the framework of intersectionality. The study draws empirically on data collected during and on SOC Gender and Sport Commission seminars and workshops, including two surveys, transcripts, and newspaper articles.

Keywords: Caribbean, gender inequality, safeguarding, Suriname Olympic Committee

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Authors: Marwa M. Ibrahim

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The objective of this research is to study the technical and economic performance of wind/diesel/battery (W/D/B) off-grid system supplying a small remote gathering of four families using the HOMER software package. The second objective is to study the effect of wind energy system on the cost of generated electricity considering the cost of reducing CO₂ emissions as external benefit of wind turbines, no pollutant emission through the operational phase. The system consists of a small wind turbine, battery storage, and diesel generator. The electrical energy is to cater to the basic needs for which the daily load pattern is estimated at 8 kW peak. Net Present Cost (NPC) and Cost of Energy (COE) are used as economic criteria, while the measure of performance is % of power shortage. Technical and economic parameters are defined to estimate the feasibility of the system under study. Optimum system configurations are estimated for the selected site in Egypt. Using HOMER software, the simulation results shows that W/D/B systems are economical for the assumed community site as the price of generated electricity is about 0.285 $/kWh, without taking external benefits into considerations and 0.221 if CO₂ emissions taken into consideration W/D/B systems are more economical than alone diesel system as the COE is 0.432 $/kWh for diesel alone.

Keywords: renewable energy, hybrid energy system, on-off grid system, simulation, optimization and environmental impacts

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Authors: Kousay Abid

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The aim of this paper is to better understand talent and talent management (TM) in small French companies as well as in medium-sized ones (SME). While previous empirical investigations have largely focused on multinationals and big companies and concentrated on the Anglo-Saxon context, we focus on the pressing need for implementing TM strategies and practices, not only on a new ground of SME but also within a new European context related to France and the French context. This study also aims at understanding strategies adopted by those firms as means to attract, retain, maintain and to develop talents. We contribute to TM issues by adopting a multilevel approach, holding the goal of reaching a global holistic vision of interactions between various levels while applying TM, to make it more and more familiar to us. A qualitative research methodology based on a multiple-case study design, bottomed firstly on a qualitative survey and secondly on two in-depth case study, both built on interviews, will be used in order to develop an ideal analysis for TM strategies and practices. The findings will be based on data collected from more than 15 French SMEs. Our theoretical contributions are the fruit of context considerations and the dynamic of multilevel approach. Theoretically, we attempt first to clarify how talents and TM are seen and defined in French SMEs and consequently to enrich the literature on TM in SMEs out of the Anglo-Saxon context. Moreover, we seek to understand how SMEs manage jointly their talents and their TM strategies by setting up this contextualized pilot study. As well, we focus on the systematic TM model issue from French SMEs. Our prior managerial goal is to shed light on the need for TM to achieve a better management of these organizations by directing leaders to better identify the talented people whom they hold at all levels. In addition, our TM systematic model strengthens our analysis grid as recommendations for CEO and Human Resource Development (HRD) to make them rethink about the companies’ HR business strategies. Therefore, our outputs present a multiple lever of action that should be taken into consideration while reviewing HR strategies and systems, as well as their impact beyond organizational boundaries.

Keywords: french context, multilevel approach, small and medium-sized enterprises, talent management

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Authors: Mohammad Afzal Khan, Fatimah Alanazi, Hala Abdalrahman Ahmed, Talal Shamma, Kilian Kelly, Mohammed A. Hammad, Abdullah O. Alawad, Abdullah Mohammed Assiri, Dieter Clemens Broering

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Lung transplantation is a life-saving surgical replacement of diseased lungs in patients with end-stage respiratory malfunctions. Despite the remarkable short-term recovery, long-term lung survival continues to face several significant challenges, including chronic rejection and severe toxic side-effects due to global immunosuppression. Stem cell-based immunotherapy has been recognized as a crucial immunoregulatory regimen in various preclinical and clinical studies. Despite initial therapeutic outcomes, conventional stem cells face key limitations. The Cymerus™ manufacturing facilitates the production of a virtually limitless supply of consistent human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived mesenchymal stem cells, which could play a key role in selective immunosuppression and graft repair during rejection. Here, we demonstrated the impact of iPSC-derived human MSCs on the development of immune-tolerance and long-term graft survival in mouse orthotopic airway allografts. BALB/c→C57BL/6 allografts were reconstituted with iPSC-derived MSCs (2 million/transplant/ at d0), and allografts were examined for regulatory T cells (Tregs), oxygenation, microvascular blood flow, airway epithelium and collagen deposition during rejection. We demonstrated that iPSC-derived MSC treatment leads to significant increase in tissue expression of hTSG-6 protein, followed by an upregulation of mouse Tregs and IL-5, IL-10, IL-15 cytokines, which augments graft microvascular blood flow and oxygenation, and thereby maintained a healthy airway epithelium and prevented the subepithelial deposition of collagen at d90 post-transplantation. Collectively, these data confirmed that iPSC-derived MSC-mediated immunosuppression has potential to establish immune-tolerance and rescue allograft from sustained hypoxic/ischemic phase and subsequently limits long-term airway epithelial injury and collagen progression, which therapeutically warrant a study of Cymerus iPSC-derived MSCs as a potential management option for immunosuppression in transplant recipients.

Keywords: stem cell therapy, immunotolerance, regulatory T cells, hypoxia and ischemia, microvasculature

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Authors: Chengcao Sun, Cuili Yang, Shujun Li, Ruilin Xue, Yongyong Xi, Liang Wang, Dejia Li

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Backgrounds: Inflammation is widely distributed in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), and ultimately leads to progressive deterioration of muscle function with the co-effects of chronic muscle damage, oxidative stress, and reduced oxidative capacity. NF-E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) plays a critical role in defending against inflammation in different tissues via activation of phase II enzymes, heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1). However, whether Nrf2/HO-1 pathway can attenuate muscle inflammation on DMD remains unknown. The purpose of this study was to determine the anti-inflammatory effects of Sulforaphane (SFN) on DMD. Methods: 4-week-old male mdx mice were treated with SFN by gavage (2 mg/kg body weight per day) for 4 weeks. Gastrocnemius, tibial anterior and triceps brachii muscles were collected for related analysis. Immune cell infiltration in skeletal muscles was analyzed by H&E staining and immuno-histochemistry. Moreover, the expressions of inflammatory cytokines,pro-inflammatory cytokines and Nrf2/HO-1 pathway were detected by western blot, qRT-PCR, immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence assays. Results: Our results demonstrated that SFN treatment increased the expression of muscle phase II enzymes HO-1 in Nrf2 dependent manner. Inflammation in mdx skeletal muscles was reduced by SFN treatment as indicated by decreased immune cell infiltration and lower expressions of the inflammatory cytokines CD45, pro-inflammatory cytokines tumour necrosis factor-α and interleukin-6 in the skeletal muscles of mdx mice. Conclusions: Collectively, these results show that SFN can ameliorate muscle inflammation in mdx mice by Nrf2/HO-1 pathway, which indicates Nrf2/HO-1 pathway may represent a new therapeutic target for DMD.

Keywords: sulforaphane, Nrf2, HO-1, inflammation

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Authors: Ola Jon Mork, Lars Andre Giske, Emil Bjørlykhaug

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Stabilization of critical processes in order to have the right quality of the products, more efficient production and smoother flow is a key issue in lean production. This paper presents how simulation of key welding processes can stabilize complicated welding processes in small scale production, and how simulation can impact the entire production concept seen from the perspective of lean production. First, a field study was made to learn the production processes in the factory, and subsequently the field study was transformed into a value stream map to get insight into each operation, the quality issues, operation times, lead times and flow of materials. Valuable practical knowledge of how the welding operations were done by operators, appropriate tools and jigs, and type of robots that could be used, was collected. All available information was then implemented into a simulation environment for further elaboration and development. Three researchers, the management of the company and skilled operators at the work floor where working on the project over a period of eight months, and a detailed description of the process was made by the researchers. The simulation showed that simulation could solve a number of technical challenges, the robot program can be tuned in off line mode, and the design and testing of the robot cell could be made in the simulator. Further on the design of the product could be optimized for robot welding and the jigs could be designed and tested in simulation environment. This means that a key issue of lean production can be solved; the welding operation will work with almost 100% performance when it is put into real production. Stabilizing of one key process is critical to gain control of the entire value chain, then a Takt Time can be established and the focus can be directed towards the next process in the production which should be stabilized. Results show that industrial parameters like welding time, welding cost and welding quality can be defined on the simulation stage. Further on, this gives valuable information for calculation of the factories business performance, like manufacturing volume and manufacturing efficiency. Industrial impact from simulation is more efficient implementation of lean manufacturing, since the welding process can be stabilized. More research should be done to gain more knowledge about simulation as a tool for implementation of lean, especially where there complex processes.

Keywords: simulation, lean, stabilization, welding process

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Authors: Maram Elkady

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Purpose: The purpose behind this study is to determine the impact of some factors on achieving successful accounting information systems (AIS) outsourcing in Egypt, taking into account two factors: the selection of an effective accounting service provider and the quality relationships between the client firm and the accounting service provider. The researcher measured outsourcing success through the perceived benefits, including (strategic, technological, and economic benefits). Design/Methodology/Approach: A survey was carried out by means of questionnaires answered by 152 small and medium Egyptian firms outsourcing their accounting activities. The researcher targeted the personnel in the client firms who were in direct contact with the accounting outsourcer. The hypotheses were tested through multiple regression analysis using SPSS 24 and AMOS 22. Findings: Building a quality relationship with the provider is found to have more impact than the effective selection of the AIS provider on the success of the AIS outsourcing process. Originality/Value: The researcher found that some proxies of each success determinant can be more influential than others based on type of benefits perceived from AIS outsourcing (strategic, technological, and economic).

Keywords: accounting information system, AIS, outsourcing, successful outsourcing, AIS service provider selection, relationship with the accounting service provider

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Authors: Samuel Nderitu Muchiri, Tracy Wangechi Maina

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Truck drivers face a myriad of challenges in their profession. Enhancements in logistics effectiveness can be pivotal in propelling economic developments. The specific objective of the study was to assess the influence of driver distraction on crash risk. The study is significant as it elucidates best practices that truck drivers can embrace in an effort to enhance road safety. These include amalgamating behaviors that enable drivers to fruitfully execute multifaceted functions such as finding and following routes, evading collisions, monitoring speed, adhering to road regulations, and evaluating vehicle systems’ conditions. The analysis involved an empirical review of ten previous studies related to the research topic. The articles revealed that driver distraction plays a substantial role in road accidents and other crucial road security incidents across the globe. Africa depends immensely on the freight transport sector to facilitate supply chain operations. Several studies indicate that drivers who operate primarily on rural roads, such as those found in Sub-Saharan Africa, have an increased propensity to engage in distracted activities such as cell phone usage while driving. The findings also identified the need for digitalization in truck driving operations, including carrier management techniques such as fatigue management, artificial intelligence, and automating functions like cell phone usage controls. The recommendations can aid policymakers and commercial truck carriers in deepening their understanding of driver distraction and enforcing mitigations to foster road safety.

Keywords: truck drivers, distraction, digitalization, crash risk, road safety

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Authors: Farzad Doostishoar, Abdolreza Hasanzadeh, Seyed Amin Ayatolahi Mousavi

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Introduction and Goals: Deuterium has different action from its isotopes hydrogen in chemical reactions and biochemical processes. It is not a significant difference in heavier atoms between the behavior of heavier isotope and the lighter One but for very lighter atoms it is significant . According to that most of the weight of all creatures body is water natural rate can be significant. In this article we want to study the effect of reduced deuterium on the fungus cell. If we saw the dependence of deuterium concentration of environment on the cells growth we can test this in invivo models too. Methods: First we measured deuterium concentration of the distillated water this analyze was operated by Arak’s heavy water company. Then the deuterium was diluted to ½ ¼ 1/8 1/16 by adding water free of deuterium for making media. In tree of samples the deuterium concentration was increased by adding D2O up to 10,50,100 times more concentrated. For candida albicans growth we used sabor medium and for aspergillus fomigatis growth we used sabor medium containing chloramphenicol. After culturing the funguses species we put the mediums for each species in the shaker incubator for 10 days in 25 centigrade. In different days and times the plates were studied morphologically and some microscopic characteristics were studied too. This experiments and cultures were repeated 3 times. Results: Statistical analyzes by paired-sample T test showed that aspergilus fomigatoos growth was decreased in concentration of 72 ppm( half deuterium concentration of negative control) significantly. In deuterium concentration reduction the growth reduce into the negative control significantly. The project results showed that candida albicans was sensitive to reduce and decrease of the deuterium in all concentrations.

Keywords: deuterium, cancer cell, growth, candida albicans

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Authors: Kapoor Anurag, Sharma Pradeep, Mittal K Kailash, Kumar Ajai, Jawad Kalbe, Amit Kumar Singh

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Background: Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most prevalent malignant tumour on a global scale. Limited research has been conducted on tumour markers in oral cancer, and additional evaluation is required for several tumour producers that show clinical promise. The present study aimed to find out the co-relation of β-2 Microglobulin and Lipid Bound Sialic Acid in oral carcinoma patients. Methodology: The present case-control study was carried out on 35 patients with histopathologically confirmed OSCC and 35 age-matched controls. Serum concentrations of 2-Microglobulin and Total Sialic Acid (TSA) in the participants were determined via ELISA and spectrophotometric technique, respectively. Results: The OSCC group consisted of 20 males and 15 females, with an average age of 58 years, while the control group comprised 18 males and 17 females, with an average age of 55 years. Elevated levels of β2-microglobulin (3.87±0.12) and LSA (73.57±2.42) were observed in OSCC patients compared to controls (2.25±0.18; 65.21±2.06, respectively). Further examination based on smoking status revealed a significant increase in both β2-microglobulin and LSA levels among smokers compared to non-smokers (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The study suggests a notable association between higher levels of β2-microglobulin and LSA in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) patients who smoke compared to non-smokers. This observation leads to a hypothesis that this disparity could potentially serve as a significant contributing factor to the advancement of oral cancer.

Keywords: biochemistry human cancer, human, oral carcinoma, marker

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Authors: Renata Rank Miranda, Arandi Ginane Bezerra, Ciro Alberto Oliveira Ribeiro, Marco AntôNio Ferreira Randi, Carmen Lúcia Voigt, Lilian Skytte, Kaare Lund Rasmussen, Francisco Filipak Neto, Frank Kjeldsen

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Synergetic and antagonistic effects of drugs are well-known concerns in pharmacological assessments of dose and toxicity. Similar approach should be used in assessing cellular uptake and cytotoxicity of nanoparticles. Since nanoparticles are released into the aquatic environment they may interact with existing xenobiotics. Here we used biochemical assays and quantitative proteomics to assess the cytotoxicity of silver nanoparticles (AgNP) when human hepatoma HepG2 cells were co-exposed to 2 nm AgNP together with either Cd2+ or Hg2+ ions. Time-course experiments (2h, 4h, and 24h) were conducted to assess the first response to the exposure studies. The general trend was that a synergetic toxicological response was observed in cells exposed to both AgNP and Cd2+ or Hg2+, with AgNP and Cd2+ being more toxic. This was observed by a significant increase in the ROS and superoxide level of >35% in the case of AgNP+Cd2+ compared to the sum of responses of AgNP and Cd2+, individually. Metabolic activity and viability also dropped more for AgNP+Cd2+ (>10%) than for AgNP and Cd2+ combined. We used inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry to investigate if AgNP facilitates larger influx of toxic metal ions into HepG2 cells. Only Hg2+ ions was found to be more efficiently engulfed as the concentration of Hg2+ was found 2.8 times larger compared to exposure experiments with only Hg2+. This effect was not observed for Cd2+. We now continue with deep proteomics studies to obtain wider details on the mechanism of the toxicity related to AgNP, Cd2+, and AgNP+Cd2+, respectively.

Keywords: nanotoxicology, silver nanoparticles, proteomics, human cell line

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Authors: Yuliya Y. Gavrichenko

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Background and Aims: The increasing bacterial resistance to almost all the available antibiotics has encouraged scientists to search for alternative sources of antibacterial agents. Nowadays, it is known that many plant secondary metabolites have diverse biological activity. These compounds can be potentially active against human bacterial and viral infections. Extended research has been carried out to explore the use of the luminescent bacterial test as a rapid, accurate and inexpensive method to assess the antibacterial properties and to predict the biological activity spectra for plant origin substances. Method: Botanical material of fifteen species was collected from their natural and cultural habitats on the Crimean peninsula. The aqueous extracts of following plants were tested: Robinia pseudoacacia L., Sideritis comosa, Cotinus coggygria Scop., Thymus serpyllum L., Juglans regia L., Securigera varia L., Achillea millefolium L., Phlomis taurica, Corylus avellana L., Sambucus nigra L., Helichrysum arenarium L., Glycyrrhiza glabra L., Elytrigia repens L., Echium vulgare L., Conium maculatum L. The test was carried out using luminous strains of marine bacteria Photobacterium leiognathi, which was isolated from the Sea of Azov as well as four Escherichia coli MG1655 recombinant strains harbouring Vibrio fischeri luxCDABE genes. Results: The bactericidal capacity of plant extracts showed significant differences in the study. Cotinus coggygria, Phlomis taurica, Juglans regia L. proved to be the most toxic to P. leiognathi. (EC50 = 0.33 g dried plant/l). Glycyrrhiza glabra L., Robinia pseudoacacia L., Sideritis comosa and Helichrysum arenarium L. had moderate inhibitory effects (EC50 = 3.3 g dried plant/l). The rest of the aqueous extracts have decreased the luminescence of no more than 50% at the lowest concentration (16.5 g dried plant/l). Antibacterial activity of herbal extracts against constitutively luminescent E. coli MG1655 (pXen7-lux) strain was observed at approximately the same level as for P. leiognathi. Cotinus coggygria and Conium maculatum L. extracts have increased light emission in the mutant E. coli MG1655 (pFabA-lux) strain which is associated with cell membranes damage. Sideritis comosa, Phlomis taurica, Juglans regia induced SOS response in E. coli (pColD-lux) strain. Glycyrrhiza glabra L. induced protein damage response in E. coli MG1655 (pIbpA-lux) strain. Conclusion: The received results have shown that the plants’ extracts had nonspecific antimicrobial effects against both E. coli (pXen7-lux) and P. leiognathi biosensors. Mutagenic, cytotoxic and protein damage effects have been observed. In general, the bioluminescent inhibition test result correlated with the traditional use of screened plants. It leads to the following conclusion that whole-cell luminescent biosensors could be the indicator of overall plants antibacterial capacity. The results of the investigation have shown a possibility of bioluminescent method in medicine and pharmacy as an approach to research the antibacterial properties of medicinal plants.

Keywords: antibacterial property, bioluminescence, medicinal plants, whole-cell biosensors

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Authors: Petr Konvalina, Jan Moudry

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As organic farmers are searching foregoing crops for horticultural crops, there is possible to choice neglected wheat species and also have a new market and sale opportunities. Concerning wheat, there are landraces so called hulled wheat species (einkorn, emmer wheat, spelt) comprising parts of collections of the world gene banks. The advantage of this wheat species are small demands on growing conditions and also droughtiness in conditions of changing climate. Our paper aims at presenting the results of the study and the assessment of spring wheat forms, four einkorn cultivars, eight emmer wheat cultivars, seven spelt wheat cultivars in particular, as compared to modern bread wheat variety. Small-plot trials were established at two different localities within the Czech Republic and Austria in 2009 and 2012. The results of the trials show that some varieties were inclined to lodging. On the other hand, they were resistant to common wheat diseases (mildew, brown rust). Hulls served as barriers and obstacles against the DON grain contamination. The yield rate was lower. The grains were characterized by a high proportion of protein in grain (up to 18.1 %). However, they may be difficult to use for common baking. Moreover, new food products demonstrating a different technological quality of the hulled wheat species have to be launched on the market. They will be suitable for regional marketing.

Keywords: organic farming, hulled wheat species, einkorn, emmer, spelt

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Authors: Lancer Scott

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Purpose: High quality clinical disaster medicine requires providers working collaboratively to care for multiple patients in chaotic environments; however, many providers lack adequate training. To address this deficit, we created a competency-based, 5-hour Emergency Preparedness Training (EPT) curriculum using didactics, small-group discussion, and kinetic learning. The goal was to evaluate the effect of a short course on improving provider knowledge, confidence and skills in disaster scenarios. Methods: Diverse groups of medical university students, health care professionals, and community members were enrolled between 2011 and 2014. The course consisted of didactic lectures, small group exercises, and two live, multi-patient mass casualty incident (MCI) scenarios. The outcome measures were based on core competencies and performance objectives developed by a curriculum task force and assessed via trained facilitator observation, pre- and post-testing, and a course evaluation. Results: 708 participants completed were trained between November 2011 and August 2014, including 49.9% physicians, 31.9% medical students, 7.2% nurses, and 11% various other healthcare professions. 100% of participants completed the pre-test and 71.9% completed the post-test, with average correct answers increasing from 39% to 60%. Following didactics, trainees met 73% and 96% of performance objectives for the two small group exercises and 68.5% and 61.1% of performance objectives for the two MCI scenarios. Average trainee self-assessment of both overall knowledge and skill with clinical disasters improved from 33/100 to 74/100 (overall knowledge) and 33/100 to 77/100 (overall skill). The course assessment was completed by 34.3% participants, of whom 91.5% highly recommended the course. Conclusion: A relatively short, intensive EPT course can improve the ability of a diverse group of disaster care providers to respond effectively to mass casualty scenarios.

Keywords: clinical disaster medicine, training, hospital preparedness, surge capacity, education, curriculum, research, performance, training, student, physicians, nurses, health care providers, health care

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Authors: Fellah Sihem

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The optimal use of soil moisture by culture, is related to the leaf area index, which stood in the cycle and its modulation according to the prevailing stress intensity. For a given stock of water in the soil, cultivar adapted and saving water is one that is no luxury consumption during the preanthesis. It modulates the leaf area index to regulate sweating in the degree of its water supply. In plants water saving, avoidance of dehydration is related to the reduction of water loss by cuticular and stomatal pathways. Muchow and Sinclair reported that the test of relative water content (TRE) is considered the best indicator of leaf water status. The search for indicators of the ability of the plant to make good use of the water, under water stress is a prerequisite for progress in improving performance under water stress. This experiment aims to characterize a set of durum wheat varieties, tested jars and vegetation under different levels of water stress to the surface of the leaf, relative water content, cell integrity, the accumulated biomass and efficiency of water use. The experiment was conducted during the 2005/2006 academic year, at the Agricultural Research Station of the Field Crop Institute of Setif, under semi-controlled conditions. Five genotypes of durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf) were evaluated for their ability to tolerate moderate and severe water stress. The results showed that geno types respond differently to water stress. Dry matter accumulation and growth rate varied among geno types and were significantly reduced. At severe water stress biomass accumulated by Boussalam was the least affected.

Keywords: water stress, triticum durum, biomass, cell membrane integrity, relative water content

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Authors: Eyad Almaita

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In this paper, a novel adaptive Radial Basis Function Neural Networks (RBFNN) algorithm is used to forecast the hour by hour electrical load demand in Jordan. A small and effective RBFNN model is used to forecast the hourly total load demand based on a small number of features. These features are; the load in the previous day, the load in the same day in the previous week, the temperature in the same hour, the hour number, the day number, and the day type. The proposed adaptive RBFNN model can enhance the reliability of the conventional RBFNN after embedding the network in the system. This is achieved by introducing an adaptive algorithm that allows the change of the weights of the RBFNN after the training process is completed, which will eliminates the need to retrain the RBFNN model again. The data used in this paper is real data measured by National Electrical Power co. (Jordan). The data for the period Jan./2012-April/2013 is used train the RBFNN models and the data for the period May/2013- Sep. /2013 is used to validate the models effectiveness.

Keywords: load forecasting, adaptive neural network, radial basis function, short-term, electricity consumption

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Authors: Zahid Khalil, Saad Ul Haque, Asif Khan

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Decision making about identifying suitable sites for any project by considering different parameters is difficult. Using GIS and Multi-Criteria Analysis (MCA) can make it easy for those projects. This technology has proved to be an efficient and adequate in acquiring the desired information. In this study, GIS and MCA were employed to identify the suitable sites for small dams in Dadu Tehsil, Sindh. The GIS software is used to create all the spatial parameters for the analysis. The parameters that derived are slope, drainage density, rainfall, land use / land cover, soil groups, Curve Number (CN) and runoff index with a spatial resolution of 30m. The data used for deriving above layers include 30-meter resolution SRTM DEM, Landsat 8 imagery, and rainfall from National Centre of Environment Prediction (NCEP) and soil data from World Harmonized Soil Data (WHSD). Land use/Land cover map is derived from Landsat 8 using supervised classification. Slope, drainage network and watershed are delineated by terrain processing of DEM. The Soil Conservation Services (SCS) method is implemented to estimate the surface runoff from the rainfall. Prior to this, SCS-CN grid is developed by integrating the soil and land use/land cover raster. These layers with some technical and ecological constraints are assigned weights on the basis of suitability criteria. The pairwise comparison method, also known as Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) is taken into account as MCA for assigning weights on each decision element. All the parameters and group of parameters are integrated using weighted overlay in GIS environment to produce suitable sites for the Dams. The resultant layer is then classified into four classes namely, best suitable, suitable, moderate and less suitable. This study reveals a contribution to decision-making about suitable sites analysis for small dams using geospatial data with minimal amount of ground data. This suitability maps can be helpful for water resource management organizations in determination of feasible rainwater harvesting structures (RWH).

Keywords: Remote sensing, GIS, AHP, RWH

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Authors: Michalina Aniola, Andrzej Katrusiak

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4,4-Bipyridine is an important compound often used in chemical practice and more recently frequently applied for designing new metal organic framework (MoFs). Here we present a systematic high-pressure study of its hydrobromide salt. 4,4-Bipyridine hydrobromide monohydrate, 44biPyHBrH₂O, at ambient-pressure is orthorhombic, space group P212121 (phase a). Its hydrostatic compression shows that it is stable to 1.32 GPa at least. However, the recrystallization above 0.55 GPa reveals a new hidden b-phase (monoclinic, P21/c). Moreover, when the 44biPyHBrH2O is heated to high temperature the chemical reactions of this compound in methanol solution can be observed. High-pressure experiments were performed using a Merrill-Bassett diamond-anvil cell (DAC), modified by mounting the anvils directly on the steel supports, and X-ray diffraction measurements were carried out on a KUMA and Excalibur diffractometer equipped with an EOS CCD detector. At elevated pressure, the crystal of 44biPyHBrH₂O exhibits several striking and unexpected features. No signs of instability of phase a were detected to 1.32 GPa, while phase b becomes stable at above 0.55 GPa, as evidenced by its recrystallizations. Phases a and b of 44biPyHBrH2O are partly isostructural: their unit-cell dimensions and the arrangement of ions and water molecules are similar. In phase b the HOH-Br- chains double the frequency of their zigzag motifs, compared to phase a, and the 44biPyH+ cations change their conformation. Like in all monosalts of 44biPy determined so far, in phase a the pyridine rings are twisted by about 30 degrees about bond C4-C4 and in phase b they assume energy-unfavorable planar conformation. Another unusual feature of 44biPyHBrH2O is that all unit-cell parameters become longer on the transition from phase a to phase b. Thus the volume drop on the transition to high-pressure phase b totally depends on the shear strain of the lattice. Higher temperature triggers chemical reactions of 44biPyHBrH2O with methanol. When the saturated methanol solution compound precipitated at 0.1 GPa and temperature of 423 K was required to dissolve all the sample, the subsequent slow recrystallization at isochoric conditions resulted in disalt 4,4-bipyridinium dibromide. For the 44biPyHBrH2O sample sealed in the DAC at 0.35 GPa, then dissolved at isochoric conditions at 473 K and recrystallized by slow controlled cooling, a reaction of N,N-dimethylation took place. It is characteristic that in both high-pressure reactions of 44biPyHBrH₂O the unsolvated disalt products were formed and that free base 44biPy and H₂O remained in the solution. The observed reactions indicate that high pressure destabilized ambient-pressure salts and favors new products. Further studies on pressure-induced reactions are carried out in order to better understand the structural preferences induced by pressure.

Keywords: conformation, high-pressure, negative area compressibility, polymorphism

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Authors: Muhammad Bilal Mustafa, Javed Hussain, Simeon Babatunde

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The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed the vulnerabilities of countless organisations beyond their size, type, and location. However, some groups and sectors are disproportionally get impacted by the pandemic. In the context of the UK, ethnic Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) turn out to be the most precarious group among all private sectors. Many ethnic SMEs shut down their business operations during a pandemic. A large portion of Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) owners have huge concerns regarding their business’ survival and resilience. The current UK-centric studies have focused on the large business population, and there is a gap in ethnic SMEs and how they get affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Moreover, there is a need to further knowledge and academic research to investigate the fundamental factors that could strengthen the resilience of ethnic SMEs as well as contribute to long-term sustainability. Therefore, this study aims to capture the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on ethnic SMEs in the UK and assess the survival measures taken by ethnic SMEs during Covid-19. Besides, this study adopts a dynamic capabilities perspective that how firms' specific capabilities enable ethnic SMEs to exploit entrepreneurial opportunities during the Covid-19 pandemic. Finally, this research will help ethnic SMEs to develop vigorous resilience to address future external shocks and market uncertainties.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic, ethnic minority SMEs, entrepreneurial resilience, dynamic capabilities, sustainability

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Authors: Mikaela Kutrolli, Noah S. Pereira, Vanessa Scanlon, Mohamadmahdi Samandari, Ali Tamayol

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Bone tissue engineering has drawn significant attention and various biomaterials have been tested. Polymers such as polycaprolactone (PCL) offer excellent biocompatibility, reasonable mechanical properties, and biodegradability. However, PCL scaffolds suffer a critical drawback: a lack of micro/mesoporosity, affecting cell attachment, tissue integration, and mineralization. It also results in a slow degradation rate. While 3D-printing has addressed the issue of macroporosity through CAD-guided fabrication, PCL scaffolds still exhibit poor smaller-scale porosity. To overcome this, we generated composites of PCL, hydroxyapatite (HA), and powdered sucrose (PS). The latter serves as a sacrificial material to generate porous particles after sucrose dissolution. Additionally, we have incorporated dexamethasone (DEX) to boost the PCL osteogenic properties. The resulting scaffolds maintain controlled macroporosity from the lattice print structure but also develop micro/mesoporosity within PCL fibers when exposed to aqueous environments. The study involved mixing PS into solvent-dissolved PCL in different weight ratios of PS to PCL (70:30, 50:50, and 30:70 wt%). The resulting composite was used for 3D printing of scaffolds at room temperature. Printability was optimized by adjusting pressure, speed, and layer height through filament collapse and fusion test. Enzymatic degradation, porogen leaching, and DEX release profiles were characterized. Physical properties were assessed using wettability, SEM, and micro-CT to quantify the porosity (percentage, pore size, and interconnectivity). Raman spectroscopy was used to verify the absence of sugar after leaching. Mechanical characteristics were evaluated via compression testing before and after porogen leaching. Bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) behavior in the printed scaffolds was studied by assessing viability, metabolic activity, osteo-differentiation, and mineralization. The scaffolds with a 70% sugar concentration exhibited superior printability and reached the highest porosity of 80%, but performed poorly during mechanical testing. A 50% PS concentration demonstrated a 70% porosity, with an average pore size of 25 µm, favoring cell attachment. No trace of sucrose was found in Raman after leaching the sugar for 8 hours. Water contact angle results show improved hydrophilicity as the sugar concentration increased, making the scaffolds more conductive to cell adhesion. The behavior of bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) showed positive viability and proliferation results with an increasing trend of mineralization and osteo-differentiation as the sucrose concentration increased. The addition of HA and DEX also promoted mineralization and osteo-differentiation in the cultures. The integration of PS as porogen at a concentration of 50%wt within PCL scaffolds presents a promising approach to address the poor cell attachment and tissue integration issues of PCL in bone tissue engineering. The method allows for the fabrication of scaffolds with tunable porosity and mechanical properties, suitable for various applications. The addition of HA and DEX further enhanced the scaffolds. Future studies will apply the scaffolds in an in-vivo model to thoroughly investigate their performance.

Keywords: bone, PCL, 3D printing, tissue engineering

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Authors: Ipek Gunay, Efe B. Orman, Metin Ozer, Bekir Salih, Ali R. Ozkaya

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Phthalocyanines with macrocyclic ring containing at least three heteroatoms have nine or more membered structures. Metal-free phthalocyanines react with metal salts to obtain chelate complexes. This is one of the most important features of metal-free phthalocyanine as ligand structure. Although phthalocyanines have very similar properties with porphyrins, they have some advantages such as lower cost, easy to prepare, and chemical and thermal stability. It’s known that Pc compounds have shown one-electron metal-and/or ligand-based reversible or quasi-reversible reduction and oxidation processes. The redox properties of phthalocyanines are critically related to the desirable properties of these compounds in their technological applications. Thus, Pc complexes have also been receiving increasing interest in the area of fuel cells due to their high electrocatalytic activity in dioxygen reduction and fuel cell applications. In this study, novel phthalocyanine complexes coordinated with Fe(II) and Co (II) to be used as catalyst were synthesized. Aiming this goal, a new nitrile ligand was synthesized starting from 4-hydroxy-3,5-dimethoxy benzyl alcohol and 4-nitrophthalonitrile in the presence of K2CO3 as catalyst. After the isolation of the new type of nitrile and metal complexes, the characterization of mentioned compounds was achieved by IR, H-NMR and UV-vis methods. In addition, the electrochemical behaviour of Pc complexes was identified by cyclic voltammetry, square wave voltammetry and in situ spectroelectrochemical measurements. Furthermore, the catalytic performances of Pc complexes for oxygen reduction were tested by dynamic voltammetry measurements, carried out by the combined system of rotating ring-disk electrode and potentiostat, in a medium similar to fuel-cell working conditions.

Keywords: phthalocyanine, electrocatalysis, electrochemistry, in-situ spectroelectrochemistry

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Authors: Yao Song

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Objectives: We aimed to explore the clinicodemographic characteristics and prognosis of grey zone squamous cell cancer (GZSCC) located in the overlapping or ambiguous area of the oral cavity and oropharynx and to identify valuable factors that would improve its differential diagnosis and prognosis. Methods: Information of GZSCC patients in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database was compared to patients with an oral cavity (OCSCC) and oropharyngeal (OPSCC) squamous cell carcinomas with corresponding HPV status, respectively. Kaplan-Meier method with log-rank test and multivariate Cox regression analysis were applied to assess associations between clinical characteristics and overall survival (OS). A predictive model integrating age, gender, marital status, HPV status, and staging variables was conducted to classify GZSCC patients into three risk groups and verified internally by 10-fold cross validation. Results: A total of 3318 GZSCC, 10792 OPSCC, and 6656 OCSCC patients were identified. HPV-positive GZSCC patients had the best 5-year OS as HPV-positive OPSCC (81% vs. 82%). However, the 5-year OS of HPV-negative/unknown GZSCC (43%/42%) was the worst among all groups, indicating that HPV status and the overlapping nature of tumors were valuable prognostic predictors in GZSCC patients. Compared with the strategy of dividing GZSCC into two groups by HPV status, the predictive model integrating more variables could additionally identify a unique high-risk GZSCC group with the lowest OS rate. Conclusions: GZSCC patients had distinct clinical characteristics and prognoses compared with OPSCC and OCSCC; integrating HPV status and other clinical factors could help distinguish GZSCC and predict their prognosis.

Keywords: GZSCC, OCSCC, OPSCC, HPV

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Authors: C. Lanzerstorfer

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Liquid sprays of water are frequently used in air pollution control for gas cooling purposes and for gas cleaning. Twin-fluid nozzles with internal mixing are often used for these purposes because of the small size of the drops produced. In these nozzles the liquid is dispersed by compressed air or another pressurized gas. In high efficiency scrubbers for particle separation, several nozzles are operated in parallel because of the size of the cross section. In such scrubbers, the scrubbing water has to be re-circulated. Precipitation of some solid material can occur in the liquid circuit, caused by chemical reactions. When such precipitations are detached from the place of formation, they can partly or totally block the liquid flow to a nozzle. Due to the resulting unbalanced supply of the nozzles with water and gas, the efficiency of separation decreases. Thus, the nozzles have to be cleaned if a certain fraction of blockages is reached. The aim of this study was to provide a tool for continuously monitoring the status of the nozzles of a scrubber based on the available operation data (water flow, air flow, water pressure and air pressure). The difference between the air pressure and the water pressure is not well suited for this purpose, because the difference is quite small and therefore very exact calibration of the pressure measurement would be required. Therefore, an equation for the reference air flow of a nozzle at the actual water flow and operation pressure was derived. This flow can be compared with the actual air flow for assessment of the status of the nozzles.

Keywords: condition monitoring, dual flow nozzles, flow equation, operation data

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Authors: Tzu-Hao Li, Shie-Liang Hsieh, Han-Chieh Lin, Ying-Ying Yang

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TNF superfamily-stimulated pathogenic cascades and macrophage (M1)/kupffer cells (KC) polarization are important in the pathogenesis of ischemia-reperfusion (IR) liver injury in animals with hepatic steatosis (HS). Decoy receptor 3 (DcR3) is a common upstream inhibitor of the above-mentioned pathogenic cascades. The study evaluated whether modulation of these DcR3-related cascades was able to protect steatotic liver from IR injury. Serum and hepatic DcR3 levels were lower in patients and animals with HS. Accordingly, the effects of pharmacologic and genetic DcR3 replacement on the IR-related pathogenic changes were measured. Significantly, DcR3 replacement protected IR-Zucker(HS) rats and IR-DcR3-Tg(HS) mice from IR liver injury. The beneficial effects of DcR3 replacement were accompanied by decreased serum/hepatic TNF, soluble TNF-like cytokine 1A (TL1A), Fas ligand (Fas-L) and LIGHT, T-helper-cell-1 cytokine (INF) levels, neutrophil infiltration, M1 polarization, neutrophil-macrophage/KC-T-cell interaction, hepatocyte apoptosis and improved hepatic microcirculatory failure among animals with IR-injured steatotic livers. Additionally, TL1A, Fas-L, LIGHT and TLR4/NFB signals were found to mediate the DcR3-related protective effects of steatotic livers from IR injury. Using multimodal in vivo and in vitro approaches, we found that DcR3 was a potential agent to protect steatotic livers from IR injury by simultaneous blocking the multiple IR injury-related pathogenic changes.

Keywords: Decoy 3 receptor, ischemia-reperfusion injury, M1 polarization, TNF superfamily

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Authors: Sungpyo Kim, Changseok Oh, Ga-Young Lee, Hyun-Man Kim

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Intercellular junction of keratinocytes is crucial for epithelia to build an epithelial barrier. Junctional epithelium (JE) seals the interfaces between tooth and gingival tissue. Keratinocytes of JE attach to surfaces roughened by abrasion or erosion with aging. Thus behavior of oral keratinocytes on the rough substrates may help understand the epithelial seal of JE of which major intercellular junction is E-cadherin junction (ECJ). The present study investigated the influence of various substrate roughnesses on the development of ECJ between normal human gingival epithelial keratinocytes, HOK-16B cells. HOK-16B cells were slow in the development of ECJ on the rough substrates compared to on the smooth substrates. Furthermore, oral keratinocytes on the substrates of higher roughnesses were delayed in the development of E-cadherin junction than on the substrates of lower roughnesses. Delayed development of E-cadherin junction on the rough substrates was ascribed to the impaired spreading of cells and its higher JNK activity. Cells on the smooth substrates rapidly spread wide cytoplasmic extensions around cells. However, cells on the rough substrates slowly extended narrow cytoplasmic extensions of which number was limited due to the substrate irregularity. As these cytoplasmic extensions formed ECJ when met with the extensions of neighboring cells, thus, the present study demonstrated that a limited chance of contacts between cytoplasmic extensions due to the limited number of cytoplasmic extensions and slow development of cytoplasmic extensions brought about a delayed development of ECJ in oral keratinocytes on the rougher substrates. Sealing between cells was not complete because only part of cell membrane contributes to the formation of intercellular junction between cells on the substrates of higher roughnesses. Interestingly, inhibition of JNK activity promoted the development of ECJ on the rough substrates, of which mechanism remains to be studied further.

Keywords: substrate roughness, E-cadherin junction, oral keratinocyte, cell spreading, JNK

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Authors: Mutaz Dwairy

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Solid tumors have high interstitial fluid pressure (IFP), high mechanical stress, and low oxygen levels. Solid stresses may induce apoptosis, stimulate the invasiveness and metastasis of cancer cells, and lower their proliferation rate, while oxygen concentration may affect the response of cancer cells to treatment. Although tumors grow in a nonhomogeneous environment, many existing theoretical models assume homogeneous growth and tissue has uniform mechanical properties. For example, the brain consists of three primary materials: white matter, gray matter, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Therefore, tissue inhomogeneity should be considered in the analysis. This study established a physical model based on convection-diffusion equations and continuum mechanics principles. The model considers the geometrical inhomogeneity of the brain by including the three different matters in the analysis: white matter, gray matter, and CSF. The model also considers fluid-solid interaction and explicitly describes the effect of mechanical factors, e.g., solid stresses and IFP, chemical factors, e.g., oxygen concentration, and biological factors, e.g., cancer cell concentration, on growing tumors. In this article, we applied the model on a brain tumor positioned within the white matter, considering the brain inhomogeneity to estimate solid stresses, IFP, the cancer cell concentration, oxygen concentration, and the deformation of the tissues within the neoplasm and the surrounding. Tumor size was estimated at different time points. This model might be clinically crucial for cancer detection and treatment planning by measuring mechanical stresses, IFP, and oxygen levels in the tissue.

Keywords: biomechanical model, interstitial fluid pressure, solid stress, tumor microenvironment

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Authors: T. Mokhele, O. Mutanga, F. Ahmed

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South Africa is one of the few countries that have stopped using the same Enumeration Areas (EAs) for census enumeration and dissemination. The advantage of this change is that confidentiality issue could be addressed for census dissemination as the design of geographic unit for collection is mainly to ensure that this unit is covered by one enumerator. The objective of this paper was to evaluate the performance of automated zone design output areas against non-zone design developed geographies using the 2001 census data, and 2011 census to some extent, as the main input. The comparison of the Automated Zone-design Tool (AZTool) census output areas with the Small Area Layers (SALs) and SubPlaces based on confidentiality limit, population distribution, and degree of homogeneity, as well as shape compactness, was undertaken. Further, SPSS was employed for validation of the AZTool output results. The results showed that AZTool developed output areas out-perform the existing official SAL and SubPlaces with regard to minimum population threshold, population distribution and to some extent to homogeneity. Therefore, it was concluded that AZTool program provides a new alternative to the creation of optimised census output areas for dissemination of population census data in South Africa.

Keywords: AZTool, enumeration areas, small areal layers, South Africa

Procedia PDF Downloads 169