Search results for: normal walking

Authors: Jamboor K. Vishwanatha

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Among the potent anti-cancer agents, curcumin has been found to be very efficacious against various cancer cells. Despite multiple medicinal benefits of curcumin, poor water solubility, poor physiochemical properties and low bioavailability continue to pose major challenges in developing a formulation for clinical efficacy. To improve its potential application in the clinical area, we formulated poly lactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) nanoparticles. The PLGA nanoparticles were formulated using solid-oil/water emulsion solvent evaporation method and then characterized for percent yield, encapsulation efficiency, surface morphology, particle size, drug distribution within nanoparticles and drug polymer interaction. Our studies showed the successful formation of smooth and spherical curcumin loaded PLGA nanoparticles with a high percent yield of about 92.01±0.13% and an encapsulation efficiency of 90.88±0.14%. The mean particle size of the nanoparticles was found to be 145nm. The in vitro drug release profile showed 55-60% drug release from the nanoparticles over a period of 24 hours with continued sustained release over a period of 8 days. Exposure to curcumin loaded nanoparticles resulted in reduced cell viability of cancer cells compared to normal cells. We used a novel non-covalent insertion of a homo-bifunctional spacer for targeted delivery of curcumin to various cancer cells. Functionalized nanoparticles for antibody/targeting agent conjugation was prepared using a cross-linking ligand, bis(sulfosuccinimidyl) suberate (BS3), which has reactive carboxyl group to conjugate efficiently to the primary amino groups of the targeting agents. In our studies, we demonstrated successful conjugation of antibodies, Annexin A2 or prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA), to curcumin loaded PLGA nanoparticles for targeting to prostate and breast cancer cells. The percent antibody attachment to PLGA nanoparticles was found to be 92.8%. Efficient intra-cellular uptake of the targeted nanoparticles was observed in the cancer cells. These results have emphasized the potential of our multifunctional curcumin nanoparticles to improve the clinical efficacy of curcumin therapy in patients with cancer.

Keywords: polymeric nanoparticles, cancer therapy, sustained release, curcumin

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Authors: S. Pathak, R. Lazarus

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A 25-year-old male HIV patient (CD4 cells 20/µL and HIV viral load 14200000 copies/ml) with a past medical history of duodenal ulcer, pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, oesophageal candidiasis presented with fever and a seizure to hospital. The only recent travel had been a religious pilgrimage from Singapore to Malaysia 5 days prior; during the trip he sustained skin abrasions. The patient had recently started highly active antiretroviral therapy 2 months prior. Clinical examination was unremarkable other than a temperature of 38.8°C and perianal warts. Laboratory tests showed a leukocyte count 12.5x109 cells/L, haemoglobin 9.4 g/dL, normal biochemistry and a C-reactive protein 121 mg/L. CT head and MRI head were unremarkable and cerebrospinal fluid analysis performed after a delay (due to technical difficulties) of 11 days was unremarkable. Blood cultures (three sets) taken on admission showed Gram-negative rods in the anaerobic bottles only at the end of incubation with culture result confirmed by molecular sequencing showing Helicobacter cinaedi. The patient was treated empirically with ceftriaxone for seven days and this was converted to oral co-amoxiclav for a further seven days after the blood cultures became positive. A Transthoracic echocardiogram was unremarkable. The patient made a full recovery. Helicobacter cinaedi is a gram-negative anaerobic fastidious organism affecting patients with comorbidity. Infection may manifest as cellulitius, colitis or as in this case as bloodstream infection – the latter is often attributed to faeco-oral infection. Laboratory identification requires prolonged culture. Therapeutic options may be limited by resistance to macrolides and fluoroquinolones. The likely pathogen inoculation routes in the case described include gastrointestinal translocation due to proctitis at the site of perianal warts, or breach of the skin via abrasions occurring during the pilgrimage. Such organisms are increasing in prevalence as our patient population ages and patients have multiple comorbidities including HIV. It may be necessary in patients with unexplained fever to prolong incubation of sterile sites including blood in order to identify this unusual fastidious organism.

Keywords: fastidious, Helicobacter cinaedi, HIV, immunocompromised

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Authors: Ayca Bilginoglu, Belma Turan

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Metabolic syndrome, is associated impaired blood glucose level, insulin resistance, dyslipidemia caused by abdominal obesity. Also, it is related with cardiovascular risk accumulation and cardiomyopathy. The hypothesis of this study was to examine the effect of thiazolidinediones such as pioglitazone which is widely used insulin-sensitizing agents that improve glycemic control, on intracellular Na+ homeostasis in metabolic syndrome-induced cardiomyopathy in male rats. Male Wistar-Albino rats were randomly divided into three groups, namely control (Con, n=7), metabolic syndrome (MetS, n=7) and pioglitazone treated metabolic syndrome group (MetS+PGZ, n=7). Metabolic syndrome was induced by providing drinking water that was 32% sucrose, for 18 weeks. All of the animals were exposed to a 12 h light – 12 h dark cycle. Abdominal obesity and glucose intolerance had measured as a marker of metabolic syndrome. Intracellular Na+ ([Na+]i) is an important modulator of excitation–contraction coupling in heart. [Na+]i at rest and [Na+]i during pacing with electrical field stimulation in 0.2 Hz, 0.8 Hz, 2.0 Hz stimulation frequency were recorded in cardiomyocytes. Also, Na+ channel current (INa) density and I-V curve were measured to understand [Na+]i homeostasis. In results, high sucrose intake, as well as the normal daily diet, significantly increased body mass and blood glucose level of the rats in the metabolic syndrome group as compared with the non-treated control group. In MetS+PZG group, the blood glucose level and body inclined to decrease to the Con group. There was a decrease in INa density and there was a shift both activation and inactivation curve of INa. Pioglitazone reversed the shift to the control side. Basal [Na+]i either MetS and Con group were not significantly different, but there was a significantly increase in [Na+]i in stimulated cardiomyocytes in MetS group. Furthermore, pioglitazone had not effect on basal [Na+]i but it reversed the increase in [Na+]i in stimulated cardiomyocytes to the that of Con group. Results of the present study suggest that pioglitazone has a significant effect on the Na+ homeostasis in the metabolic syndrome induced cardiomyopathy in rats. All animal procedures and experiments were approved by the Animal Ethics Committee of Ankara University Faculty of Medicine (2015-2-37).

Keywords: insulin resistance, intracellular sodium, metabolic syndrome, sodium current

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Authors: Rajiv Kumar Srivastava

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Manufacturing of complex products such as automobiles and computers requires a very large number of parts and sub-assemblies. The design of mechanisms for delivery of these materials to the point of assembly is an important manufacturing system and supply chain challenge. Different approaches to this problem have been evolved for assembly lines designed to make large volumes of standardized products. However, contemporary assembly systems are required to concurrently produce a variety of products using approaches such as mixed model production, and at times even mass customization. In this paper we examine the material supply approaches for variety production in moderate to large volumes. The conventional approach for material delivery to high volume assembly lines is to supply and stock materials line-side. However for certain materials, especially when the same or similar items are used along the line, it is more convenient to supply materials in kits. Kitting becomes more preferable when lines concurrently produce multiple products in mixed model mode, since space requirements could increase as product/ part variety increases. At times such kits may travel along with the product, while in some situations it may be better to have delivery and station-specific kits rather than product-based kits. Further, in some mass customization situations it may even be better to have a single delivery and assembly station, to which an entire kit is delivered for fitment, rather than a normal assembly line. Finally, in low-moderate volume assembly such as in engineered machinery, it may be logistically more economical to gather materials in an order-specific kit prior to launching final assembly. We have studied material supply mechanisms to support assembly systems as observed in case studies of firms with different combinations of volume and variety/ customization. It is found that the appropriate approach tends to be a hybrid between direct line supply and different kitting modes, with the best mix being a function of the manufacturing and supply chain environment, as well as space and handling considerations. In our continuing work we are studying these scenarios further, through the use of descriptive models and progressing towards prescriptive models to help achieve the optimal approach, capturing the trade-offs between inventory, material handling, space, and efficient line supply.

Keywords: assembly systems, kitting, material supply, variety production

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Authors: Juan Francisco Reinoso Gordo, Francisco Javier Ariza-López, José Rodríguez Avi, Domingo Barrera Rosillo

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The evaluation of the quality of a data product is based on the comparison of the product with a reference of greater accuracy. In the case of MDE data products, quality assessment usually focuses on positional accuracy and few studies consider other terrain characteristics, such as slope and orientation. The proposal that is made consists of evaluating the similarity of two DEMs (a product and a reference), through the joint analysis of the distribution functions of the variables of interest, for example, elevations, slopes and orientations. This is a multivariable approach that focuses on distribution functions, not on single parameters such as mean values or dispersions (e.g. root mean squared error or variance). This is considered to be a more holistic approach. The use of the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test is proposed due to its non-parametric nature, since the distributions of the variables of interest cannot always be adequately modeled by parametric models (e.g. the Normal distribution model). In addition, its application to the multivariate case is carried out jointly by means of a single test on the convolution of the distribution functions of the variables considered, which avoids the use of corrections such as Bonferroni when several statistics hypothesis tests are carried out together. In this work, two DEM products have been considered, DEM02 with a resolution of 2x2 meters and DEM05 with a resolution of 5x5 meters, both generated by the National Geographic Institute of Spain. DEM02 is considered as the reference and DEM05 as the product to be evaluated. In addition, the slope and aspect derived models have been calculated by GIS operations on the two DEM datasets. Through sample simulation processes, the adequate behavior of the Kolmogorov-Smirnov statistical test has been verified when the null hypothesis is true, which allows calibrating the value of the statistic for the desired significance value (e.g. 5%). Once the process has been calibrated, the same process can be applied to compare the similarity of different DEM data sets (e.g. the DEM05 versus the DEM02). In summary, an innovative alternative for the comparison of DEM data sets based on a multinomial non-parametric perspective has been proposed by means of a single Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. This new approach could be extended to other DEM features of interest (e.g. curvature, etc.) and to more than three variables

Keywords: data quality, DEM, kolmogorov-smirnov test, multivariate DEM comparison

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Authors: S. Padma, D. H. Tejavathi

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Somatic embryogenesis is a remarkable illustration of the dictum of plant totipotency where developmental reconstruction of somatic cells takes place towards the embryogenic pathway. It recapitulates the morphological and developmental process that occurs in zygotic embryogenesis. S. androgynous commonly called as multivitamin plant. The leaves are consumed as green leafy vegetable by the Southeast Asian communities due to their rich nutritional profile. Despite being a good nutritional vegetable with proteins, vitamins, minerals, amino acids, it is warned for excessive intake due to the presence of alkoloid called papaverine. Papaverine at higher concentrations is toxic and leads to a syndrome called Bronchiolitis Obliterans. In the present study, morphogenetic potential of shoot tip, leaf and nodal explants of Sauropus androgynous was investigated to develop and enhance the reliable plant regeneration protocol via somatic embryogenesis. Somatic embryos were derived directly from the embryogenic callus derived from shoot tip, node and leaf cultures on Phillips and Collins (L2) medium supplemented with NAA at various concentrations ranging from 5.3 µM/l to 26.85 µM/l within two months of inoculation. Thus obtained embryos were sub cultured to modified L2 media supplemented with increased vitamin level for the further growth. Somatic embryos with well-developed cotyledons were transferred to normal and modified L2 basal medium for conversion. The plantlets thus obtained were subjected to brief acclimatization before transferring them to land. About 95% of survival rate was recorded. The augmentation process of culturing various explants through somatic embryogenesis using synthetic medium with various plant growth regulators under controlled conditions have aggrandized the commercial production of Sauropus making it easily available over the conventional propagation methods. In addition, regeneration process through somatic embryogenesis has ameliorated the development of desired character in Sauropus with low papaverine content thereby providing a valuable resource to the food and pharmaceutical industry. Based on this research, plant tissue culture techniques have shown promise for economical and convenient application in Sauropus androgynous breeding.

Keywords: L2 medium, multivitamin plant, NAA, papaverine

Procedia PDF Downloads 191

Authors: Geetha Jayapathy, Lakshmi Muthukrishnan, Manoj Kumar Reddy Pulim , Radhika Raman

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Introduction: Ketones are the end products of fatty acid metabolism and a source of energy for vital organs such as the brain, heart and skeletal muscles. Ketones are produced in excess when glucose is not available as a source of energy or it cannot be utilized as in diabetic ketoacidosis. Children admitted in the emergency department often have starvation ketosis which is not clinically manifested. Decision on admission of children to the emergency room with subtle signs can be difficult at times. Point of care blood ketone testing can be done at the bedside even in a primary level care setting to supplement and guide us in our management decisions. Hence this study was done to explore the utility of this simple bedside parameter as a supplement in assessing pediatric patients presenting to the emergency department. Objectives: To estimate blood ketones of children admitted in the emergency department. To analyze the significance of blood ketones in various disease conditions. Methods: Blood ketones using point of care testing instrument (ABOTTprecision Xceed Pro meters) was done in patients getting admitted in emergency room and in out-patients (through sample collection centre). Study population: Children aged 1 month to 18 years were included in the study. 250 cases (In-patients) and 250 controls (out-patients) were collected. Study design: Prospective observational study. Data on details of illness and physiological status were documented. Blood ketones were compared between the two groups and all in patients were categorized into various system groups and analysed. Results: Mean blood ketones were high in in-patients ranging from 0 to 7.2, with a mean of 1.28 compared to out-patients ranging from 0 to 1.9 with a mean of 0.35. This difference was statistically significant with a p value < 0.001. In-patients with shock (mean of 4.15) and diarrheal dehydration (mean of 1.85) had a significantly higher blood ketone values compared to patients with other system involvement. Conclusion: Blood ketones were significantly high (above the normal range) in pediatric patients who are sick requiring admission. Patients with various forms of shock had very high blood ketone values as found in diabetic ketoacidosis. Ketone values in diarrheal dehydration were moderately high correlating to the degree of dehydration.

Keywords: admission, blood ketones, paediatric emergencies, point of care testing

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Authors: Chih-Chung Huang, Po-Hsun Peng

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Ultrasound transient elastography has become a valuable tool for many clinical diagnoses, such as liver diseases and breast cancer. The pathological tissue can be distinguished by elastography due to its stiffness is different from surrounding normal tissues. An ultrafast frame rate of ultrasound imaging is needed for transient elastography modality. The elastography obtained in the ultrafast system suffers from a low quality for resolution, and affects the robustness of the transient elastography. In order to overcome these problems, a coherent plane wave compounding technique has been proposed for conventional ultrasound system which the operating frequency is around 3-15 MHz. The purpose of this study is to develop a novel beamforming technique for high frequency ultrasound coherent plane-wave compounding imaging and the simulated results will provide the standards for hardware developments. Plane-wave compounding imaging produces a series of low-resolution images, which fires whole elements of an array transducer in one shot with different inclination angles and receives the echoes by conventional beamforming, and compounds them coherently. Simulations of plane-wave compounding image and focused transmit image were performed using Field II. All images were produced by point spread functions (PSFs) and cyst phantoms with a 64-element linear array working at 35MHz center frequency, 55% bandwidth, and pitch of 0.05 mm. The F number is 1.55 in all the simulations. The simulated results of PSFs and cyst phantom which were obtained using single, 17, 43 angles plane wave transmission (angle of each plane wave is separated by 0.75 degree), and focused transmission. The resolution and contrast of image were improved with the number of angles of firing plane wave. The lateral resolutions for different methods were measured by -10 dB lateral beam width. Comparison of the plane-wave compounding image and focused transmit image, both images exhibited the same lateral resolution of 70 um as 37 angles were performed. The lateral resolution can reach 55 um as the plane-wave was compounded 47 angles. All the results show the potential of using high-frequency plane-wave compound imaging for realizing the elastic properties of the microstructure tissue, such as eye, skin and vessel walls in the future.

Keywords: plane wave imaging, high frequency ultrasound, elastography, beamforming

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Authors: Mustapha Kamel Mihoubi, Essadik Kerkar, Abdelhamid Hebbouche

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According to the randomness of most of the factors affecting the stability of a gravity dam, probability theory is generally used to TESTING the risk of failure and there is a confusing logical transition from the state of stability failed state, so the stability failure process is considered as a probable event. The control of risk of product failures is of capital importance for the control from a cross analysis of the gravity of the consequences and effects of the probability of occurrence of identified major accidents and can incur a significant risk to the concrete dam structures. Probabilistic risk analysis models are used to provide a better understanding the reliability and structural failure of the works, including when calculating stability of large structures to a major risk in the event of an accident or breakdown. This work is interested in the study of the probability of failure of concrete dams through the application of the reliability analysis methods including the methods used in engineering. It is in our case of the use of level II methods via the study limit state. Hence, the probability of product failures is estimated by analytical methods of the type FORM (First Order Reliability Method), SORM (Second Order Reliability Method). By way of comparison, a second level III method was used which generates a full analysis of the problem and involving an integration of the probability density function of, random variables are extended to the field of security by using of the method of Mont-Carlo simulations. Taking into account the change in stress following load combinations: normal, exceptional and extreme the acting on the dam, calculation results obtained have provided acceptable failure probability values which largely corroborate the theory, in fact, the probability of failure tends to increase with increasing load intensities thus causing a significant decrease in strength, especially in the presence of combinations of unique and extreme loads. Shear forces then induce a shift threatens the reliability of the structure by intolerable values of the probability of product failures. Especially, in case THE increase of uplift in a hypothetical default of the drainage system.

Keywords: dam, failure, limit state, monte-carlo, reliability, probability, sliding, Taylor

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Authors: Angelis P. Barlampas

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The purpose of this study is to inform the reader, about the various applications of artificial intelligence (AI), in cardiac imaging. AI grows fast and its role is crucial in medical specialties, which use large amounts of digital data, that are very difficult or even impossible to be managed by human beings and especially doctors.Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to the ability of computers to mimic human cognitive function, performing tasks such as learning, problem-solving, and autonomous decision making based on digital data. Whereas AI describes the concept of using computers to mimic human cognitive tasks, machine learning (ML) describes the category of algorithms that enable most current applications described as AI. Some of the current applications of AI in cardiac imaging are the follows: Ultrasound: Automated segmentation of cardiac chambers across five common views and consequently quantify chamber volumes/mass, ascertain ejection fraction and determine longitudinal strain through speckle tracking. Determine the severity of mitral regurgitation (accuracy > 99% for every degree of severity). Identify myocardial infarction. Distinguish between Athlete’s heart and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, as well as restrictive cardiomyopathy and constrictive pericarditis. Predict all-cause mortality. CT Reduce radiation doses. Calculate the calcium score. Diagnose coronary artery disease (CAD). Predict all-cause 5-year mortality. Predict major cardiovascular events in patients with suspected CAD. MRI Segment of cardiac structures and infarct tissue. Calculate cardiac mass and function parameters. Distinguish between patients with myocardial infarction and control subjects. It could potentially reduce costs since it would preclude the need for gadolinium-enhanced CMR. Predict 4-year survival in patients with pulmonary hypertension. Nuclear Imaging Classify normal and abnormal myocardium in CAD. Detect locations with abnormal myocardium. Predict cardiac death. ML was comparable to or better than two experienced readers in predicting the need for revascularization. AI emerge as a helpful tool in cardiac imaging and for the doctors who can not manage the overall increasing demand, in examinations such as ultrasound, computed tomography, MRI, or nuclear imaging studies.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, cardiac imaging, ultrasound, MRI, CT, nuclear medicine

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Authors: Anne Mastamet-Mason

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Crimes against women is a global concern, and South Africa, in particular, is in a dilemma of dealing with constant criminal acts that face the country. Debates on violence against women in South Africa cannot be overemphasised any longer as crimes continue to rise year by year. The recent death of a university student at the University of Cape Town, as well as many other cases, continues to strengthen the need to find solutions from all the spheres of South African society. The advanced textiles market contains a high number and variety of technologies, many of which have protected status and constitute a relatively small portion of the textiles used for the consumer market. Examples of advanced textiles include nanomaterials, such as silver, titanium dioxide and zinc oxide, designed to create an anti-microbial and self-cleaning layer on top of the fibers, thereby reducing body smell and soiling. Smart textiles propose materials and fabrics versatile and adaptive to different situations and functions. Integrating textiles and computing technologies offer an opportunity to come up with differentiated characteristics and functionality. This paper presents a proposal to design a smart camisole/Yoga sports brazier and a smart Yoga sports pant garment to be worn by women while alone and while in purported danger zones. The smart garments are to be worn under normal clothing and cannot be detected or seen, or suspected by perpetrators. The garments are imbued with devices to sense any physical aggression and any abnormal or accelerated heartbeat that may be exhibited by the victim of violence. The signals created during the attack can be transmitted to the police and family members who own a mobile application system that accepts signals emitted. The signals direct the receiver to the exact location of the offence, and the victim can be rescued before major violations are committed. The design of the Yoga sports garments will be done by Professor Mason, who is a fashion designer by profession, while the mobile phone application system will be developed by Mr. Amos Yegon, who is an independent software developer.

Keywords: smart clothing, wearable technology, south africa, 4th industrial revolution

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Authors: Stefan Andersson, Balram Panjwani, Bernd Wittgens, Jan Erik Olsen

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Polycyclic Aromatic hydrocarbons are organic compounds consisting of only hydrogen and carbon aromatic rings. PAH are neutral, non-polar molecules that are produced due to incomplete combustion of organic matter. These compounds are carcinogenic and interact with biological nucleophiles to inhibit the normal metabolic functions of the cells. Norways, the most important sources of PAH pollution is considered to be aluminum plants, the metallurgical industry, offshore oil activity, transport, and wood burning. Stricter governmental regulations regarding emissions to the outer and internal environment combined with increased awareness of the potential health effects have motivated Norwegian metal industries to increase their efforts to reduce emissions considerably. One of the objective of the ongoing industry and Norwegian research council supported "SCORE" project is to reduce potential PAH emissions from an off gas stream of a ferroalloy furnace through controlled combustion. In a dedicated combustion chamber. The sizing and configuration of the combustion chamber depends on the combined properties of the bulk gas stream and the properties of the PAH itself. In order to achieve efficient and complete combustion the residence time and minimum temperature need to be optimized. For this design approach reliable kinetic data of the individual PAH-species and/or groups thereof are necessary. However, kinetic data on the combustion of PAH are difficult to obtain and there is only a limited number of studies. The paper presents an evaluation of the kinetic data for some of the PAH obtained from literature. In the present study, the oxidation is modelled for pure PAH and also for PAH mixed with process gas. Using a perfectly stirred reactor modelling approach the oxidation is modelled including advanced reaction kinetics to study influence of residence time and temperature on the conversion of PAH to CO2 and water. A Chemical Reactor Network (CRN) approach is developed to understand the oxidation of PAH inside the combustion chamber. Chemical reactor network modeling has been found to be a valuable tool in the evaluation of oxidation behavior of PAH under various conditions.

Keywords: PAH, PSR, energy recovery, ferro alloy furnace

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Authors: Sayani Chatterjee, Kusum Lata Pangtey, Sarita Singh, Harvir Singh

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Biodegradation leads to a systematic alteration of the chemical and physical properties of crude oil showing sequential depletion of n-alkane, cycloalkanes, aromatic which increases its specific gravity, viscosity and the abundance of heteroatom-containing compounds. The biodegradation leads to a change in the molecular fingerprints and geochemical parameters of degraded oils, thus make source and maturity identification inconclusive or ambiguous. Asphaltene is equivalent to the most labile part of the respective kerogen and generally has high molecular weight. Its complex chemical structure with substantial microporous units makes it suitable to occlude the hydrocarbon expelled from the source. The occluded molecules are well preserved by the macromolecular structure and thus prevented from secondary alterations. They retain primary organic geochemical information over the geological time. The present study involves the extraction of this occluded hydrocarbon from the asphaltene cage through mild oxidative degradation using mild oxidative reagents like Hydrogen Peroxide (H₂O₂) and Acetic Acid (CH₃COOH) on purified asphaltene of the biodegraded oils of Mansa, Lanwa and Santhal fields in Cambay Basin. The study of these extracted occluded hydrocarbons was carried out for establishing oil to oil and oil to source correlation in the Mehsana block of Cambay Basin. The n-alkane and biomarker analysis through GC and GC-MS of these occluded hydrocarbons show similar biomarker imprint as the normal oil in the area and hence correlatable with them. The abundance of C29 steranes, presence of Oleanane, Gammacerane and 4-Methyl sterane depicts that the oils are derived from terrestrial organic matter deposited in the stratified saline water column in the marine environment with moderate maturity (VRc 0.6-0.8). The oil source correlation study suggests that the oils are derived from Jotana-Warosan Low area. The developed geochemical technique to extract the occluded hydrocarbon has effectively resolved the ambiguity that resulted from the inconclusive fingerprint of the biodegraded oil and the method can be also applied in other biodegraded oils as well.

Keywords: asphaltene, biomarkers, correlation, mild oxidation, occluded hydrocarbon

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Authors: Manoj Kumar Reddy Pulim, Lakshmi Muthukrishnan, Geetha Jayapathy, Radhika Raman

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Introduction: In the past two decades, noninvasive positive pressure ventilation (NIPPV) emerged as one of the most important advances in the management of both acute and chronic respiratory failure in children. In the acute setting, it is an alternative to intubation with a goal to preserve normal physiologic functions, decrease airway injury, and prevent respiratory tract infections. There is a need to determine the clinical profile and parameters which point towards the need for NIV in the pediatric emergency setting. Objectives: i) To study the clinical profile of children who required non invasive ventilation and invasive ventilation, ii) To study the clinical parameters common to children who required non invasive ventilation. Methods: All children between one month to 18 years, who were intubated in the pediatric emergency department and those for whom decision to commence Non Invasive Ventilation was made in Emergency Room were included in the study. Children were transferred to the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit and started on Non Invasive Ventilation as per our hospital policy and followed up in the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit. Clinical profile of all children which included age, gender, diagnosis and indication for intubation were documented. Clinical parameters such as respiratory rate, heart rate, saturation, grunting were documented. Parameters obtained were subject to statistical analysis. Observations: Airway disease (Bronchiolitis 25%, Viral induced wheeze 22%) was a common diagnosis in 32 children who required Non Invasive Ventilation. Neuromuscular disorder was the common diagnosis in 27 children (78%) who were Intubated. 17 children commenced on Non Invasive Ventilation who later needed invasive ventilation had Neuromuscular disease. High frequency nasal cannula was used in 32, and mask ventilation in 17 children. Clinical parameters common to the Non Invasive Ventilation group were age < 1 year (17), tachycardia n = 7 (22%), tachypnea n = 23 (72%) and severe respiratory distress n = 9 (28%), grunt n = 7 (22%), SPO2 (80% to 90%) n = 16. Children in the Non Invasive Ventilation + INTUBATION group were > 3 years (9), had tachycardia 7 (41%), tachypnea 9(53%) with a male predominance n = 9. In statistical comparison among 3 groups,'p' value was significant for pH, saturation, and use of Ionotrope. Conclusion: Invasive ventilation can be avoided in the paediatric Emergency Department in children with airway disease, by commencing Non Invasive Ventilation early. Intubation in the pediatric emergency department has a higher association with neuromuscular disorders.

Keywords: clinical parameters, indications, non invasive ventilation, paediatric emergency room

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Authors: Man-Yun Liu, Emily Chia-Yu Su

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Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the public health crisis of the 21st century. AD is a degenerative brain disease and the most common cause of dementia, a costly disease on the healthcare system. Unfortunately, the cause of AD is poorly understood, furthermore; the treatments of AD so far can only alleviate symptoms rather cure or stop the progress of the disease. Currently, there are several ways to diagnose AD; medical imaging can be used to distinguish between AD, other dementias, and early onset AD, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Compared with other diagnostic tools, blood (plasma) test has advantages as an approach to population-based disease screening because it is simpler, less invasive also cost effective. In our study, we used blood biomarkers dataset of The Alzheimer’s disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) which was funded by National Institutes of Health (NIH) to do data analysis and develop a prediction model. We used independent analysis of datasets to identify plasma protein biomarkers predicting early onset AD. Firstly, to compare the basic demographic statistics between the cohorts, we used SAS Enterprise Guide to do data preprocessing and statistical analysis. Secondly, we used logistic regression, neural network, decision tree to validate biomarkers by SAS Enterprise Miner. This study generated data from ADNI, contained 146 blood biomarkers from 566 participants. Participants include cognitive normal (healthy), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and patient suffered Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Participants’ samples were separated into two groups, healthy and MCI, healthy and AD, respectively. We used the two groups to compare important biomarkers of AD and MCI. In preprocessing, we used a t-test to filter 41/47 features between the two groups (healthy and AD, healthy and MCI) before using machine learning algorithms. Then we have built model with 4 machine learning methods, the best AUC of two groups separately are 0.991/0.709. We want to stress the importance that the simple, less invasive, common blood (plasma) test may also early diagnose AD. As our opinion, the result will provide evidence that blood-based biomarkers might be an alternative diagnostics tool before further examination with CSF and medical imaging. A comprehensive study on the differences in blood-based biomarkers between AD patients and healthy subjects is warranted. Early detection of AD progression will allow physicians the opportunity for early intervention and treatment.

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease, blood-based biomarkers, diagnostics, early detection, machine learning

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Authors: Sung Hyun Kim

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Introduction: Sleep disturbance is common in children with developmental disorders (D.D.). Sleep disturbance has a variety of negative effects, such as behavior problems, medical problems, and even developmental problems in children with D.D. However, to our best knowledge, there has been no proper treatment for sleep disorders in children with D.D. Therefore, we conduct this study to know the positive effects of intensive rehabilitation therapy in children with D.D. on the degree of sleep disturbance. Method: We prospectively recruited 22 patients with a diagnosis of D.D. during the period of January 2022 through May 2022. The inclusion criteria were as follows: 1) a patient who would participate in the intensive rehabilitation therapy of our institution; 2) the age participant under 18 years at the time of assessment; 3) a child who has consented to participate in the study by signing the consent form by the legal guardian. We investigated the clinical characteristics of participants by the medical record, including sex, age, underlying diagnosis of D.D., and Gross Motor Function Measures (GMFM). Before starting the intensive rehabilitation therapy, we conducted a Sleep disturbance scale for children (SDSC). It contains 26 questions about children’s sleep, and those questions are grouped into six subscales, such as Disorders of initiating and maintaining sleep (DIMS), Sleep Breathing Disorders(SBD), Disorders of arousal(DOA), Sleep-Wake Transition Disorders(SWTD), Disorders of excessive somnolence(DOES) and Sleep Hyperhydrosis(SHY). We used the t-score, which was calculated by comparing the scores of normal children. Twenty two patients received 8 weeks of intensive rehabilitation, including daily physical and occupational therapy. After that, we did follow up with SDSC. The comparison between SDSC before and after intensive rehabilitation was calculated using the paired t-test, and P< 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Demographic data and clinical characteristics of 22 patients are enrolled. Patients were 4.03 ± 2.91 years old, and of the total 22 patients, 14 (64%) were male, and 8 (36%) were female. Twelve patients(45%) were diagnosed with Cerebral palsy(C.P.), and the mean value of participants’ GMFM was 47.82 ± 20.60. Each mean value of SDSC’s subscales was also calculated. DIMS was 62.36 ± 13.72, SBD was 54.18 ± 8.39, DOA was 49.59 ± 7.01, SWTD was 58.95 ± 9.20, DOES was 53.09 ± 15.15, SHY was 52.14 ± 8.82, and the total was 59.86 ± 13.18. These values suggest that children with D.D. have sleep disorders. After 8 weeks of intensive rehabilitation treatment, the score of DIMS showed improvement(p=0.016), but not the other subscale and total score of SDSC. Conclusion: This result showed that intensive rehabilitation could be helpful to patients of D.D. with sleep disorders. Especially intensive rehabilitation therapy itself can be a meaningful treatment in inducing and maintaining sleep.

Keywords: sleep disorder, developmental delay, intensive rehabilitation therapy, cerebral palsy

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Authors: Zainab Bashir

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There has been a lot of quantitative research on end-stage renal disease (ESRD), its implications, psychological effects and so on across the world, however little qualitative information is available on coping strategies and illness role adaptations specific to renal failure. This article attempts to learn about illness roles and coping strategies specific to aged ESRD patients on hemodialysis in Lahore. The patients were interviewed on a structured schedule and were asked questions on tasks and coping related to physical, psychological, and social consequences of renal failure. Standardised techniques and methods of grounded theory were used to analyse and code the information in this small-scale, in-depth study. An analysis of tasks faced by the ESRD patients and coping they employ to fulfill or overcome those tasks were done. This analysis was based on three different types of data: experiential accounts of ESRD patients with respect to tasks and strategies for coping, coping styles and illness roles typologies, and monographs of coping styles. In the information gathered using interviews with respondents, three styles of problem focused coping, and two styles of emotion focused coping could be identified. Problem focused coping included making physical adjustments to suit the requirements of the health condition, including dialysis and medical regime as integral part of patients’ lives, and altering future plans according to the course of the disease. Emotion focused coping included seeking help to manage stress/anxiety and resenting the disease condition and giving up. These coping styles are linked to the illness roles assigned to the respondents. In conclusion, there is no single formula to deal with the disease, however, some typologies can be established. In most of the cases discussed in the paper, adjustment to a regular dialysis routine, restriction in bodily function, inability to work and negative impacts on family life, especially spousal relationships have come to fore as common problems. A large part of coping with these problems had to do with mentally accepting the disease and carrying on despite. These cannot be seen as deviant adaptations to the depressive situation arising from renal failure, but more of patterned ways in which patients can approximate a close to normal lifestyle despite the terminal disease.

Keywords: coping strategies, ESRD patients, hemodialysis, illness roles

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Authors: Amina Abubakar

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English like any other language is rich by means of arbitrary, conventional, symbols which lend it to lot of inconsistencies in spelling, phonology, syntax, and morphology. The research examines the irregularities prevalent in the structure and meaning of some ‘er’ lexical items in English and its implication to vocabulary acquisition. It centers its investigation on the derivational suffix ‘er’, which changes the grammatical category of word. English language poses many challenges to Second Language Learners because of its irregularities, exceptions, and rules. One of the meaning of –er derivational suffix is someone or somebody who does something. This rule often confuses the learners when they meet with the exceptions in normal discourse. The need to investigate instances of such inconsistencies in the formation of –er words and the meanings given to such words by the students motivated this study. For this purpose, some senior secondary two (SS2) students in six randomly selected schools in the metropolis were provided a large number of alphabetically selected ‘er’ suffix ending words, The researcher opts for a test technique, which requires them to provide the meaning of the selected words with- er. The marking of the test was scored on the scale of 1-0, where correct formation of –er word and meaning is scored one while wrong formation and meaning is scored zero. The number of wrong and correct formations of –er words meaning were calculated using percentage. The result of this research shows that a large number of students made wrong generalization of the meaning of the selected -er ending words. This shows how enormous the inconsistencies are in English language and how are affect the learning of English. Findings from the study revealed that though students mastered the basic morphological rules but the errors are generally committed on those vocabulary items that are not frequently in use. The study arrives at this conclusion from the survey of their textbook and their spoken activities. Therefore, the researcher recommends that there should be effective reappraisal of language teaching through implementation of the designed curriculum to reflect on modern strategies of teaching language, identification, and incorporation of the exceptions in rigorous communicative activities in language teaching, language course books and tutorials, training and retraining of teachers on the strategies that conform to the new pedagogy.

Keywords: ESL(English as a second language), derivational morpheme, inflectional morpheme, suffixes

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Authors: Suehyun Cho, Darrell Harrington, Florent Cros, Olin Palmer, John Caputo, Michael Kardosh, Eran Oren, William Loudon, Alex Kiselyov, Michael Shpigelmacher

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Bionaut Labs, LLC is developing a minimally invasive robotic microdevice designed to treat non-communicating hydrocephalus in both adult and pediatric patients. The device utilizes biocompatible microsurgical particles (Bionaut™) that are specifically designed to safely and reliably perform accurate fenestration(s) in the 3rd ventricle, aqueduct of Sylvius, and/or trapped intraventricular cysts of the brain in order to re-establish normal cerebrospinal fluid flow dynamics and thereby balance and/or normalize intra/intercompartmental pressure. The Bionaut™ is navigated to the target via CSF or brain tissue in a minimally invasive fashion with precise control using real-time imaging. Upon reaching the pre-defined anatomical target, the external driver allows for directing the specific microsurgical action defined to achieve the surgical goal. Notable features of the proposed protocol are i) Bionaut™ access to the intraventricular target follows a clinically validated endoscopy trajectory which may not be feasible via ‘traditional’ rigid endoscopy: ii) the treatment is microsurgical, there are no foreign materials left behind post-procedure; iii) Bionaut™ is an untethered device that is navigated through the subarachnoid and intraventricular compartments of the brain, following pre-designated non-linear trajectories as determined by the safest anatomical and physiological path; iv) Overall protocol involves minimally invasive delivery and post-operational retrieval of the surgical Bionaut™. The approach is expected to be suitable to treat pediatric patients 0-12 months old as well as adult patients with obstructive hydrocephalus who fail traditional shunts or are eligible for endoscopy. Current progress, including platform optimization, Bionaut™ control, and real-time imaging and in vivo safety studies of the Bionauts™ in large animals, specifically the spine and the brain of ovine models, will be discussed.

Keywords: Bionaut™, cerebrospinal fluid, CSF, fenestration, hydrocephalus, micro-robot, microsurgery

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Authors: P. Renjitha, P. Hari Prakash

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Auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder (ANSD) is an auditory disorder with normal cochlear outer hair cell function and disrupted auditory nerve function. It results in unique clinical characteristic with absent auditory brainstem response (ABR), absent acoustic reflex and the presence of otoacoustic emissions (OAE) and cochlear microphonics. The lesion site could be at cochlear inner hair cells, the synapse between the inner hair cells and type I auditory nerve fibers, and/or the auditory nerve itself. But the literatures on synchrony at higher auditory system are sporadic and are less understood. It might be interesting to see if there is a recovery of neural synchrony at higher auditory centers. Also, does the level at which the auditory system recovers with adequate synchrony to the extent of observable evoke response potentials (ERPs) can predict speech perception? In the current study, eight ANSD participants and healthy controls underwent detailed audiological assessment including ABR, auditory middle latency response (AMLR), and auditory late latency response (ALLR). AMLR was recorded for clicks and ALLR was evoked using 500Hz and 2 kHz tone bursts. Analysis revealed that the participant could be categorized into three groups. Group I (2/8) where ALLR was present only for 2kHz tone burst. Group II (4/8), where AMLR was absent and ALLR was seen for both the stimuli. Group III (2/8) consisted individuals with identifiable AMLR and ALLR for all the stimuli. The highest speech identification sore observed in ANSD group was 30% and hence considered having poor speech perception. Overall test result indicates that the site of neural synchrony recovery could be varying across individuals with ANSD. Some individuals show recovery of neural synchrony at the thalamocortical level while others show the same only at the cortical level. Within ALLR itself there could be variation across stimuli again could be related to neural synchrony. Nevertheless, none of these patterns could possible explain the speech perception ability of the individuals. Hence, it could be concluded that neural synchrony as measured by evoked potentials could not be a good clinical predictor speech perception.

Keywords: auditory late latency response, auditory middle latency response, auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder, correlation with speech identification score

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Authors: Ranjan Banerjee, W. D. Gunawardana

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The free vibration and flutter analysis plays a major part in aircraft design which is indeed, a mandatory requirement. In particular, high aspect ratio transport airliner wings are prone to free vibration and flutter problems that must be addressed during the design process as demanded by the airworthiness authorities. The purpose of this paper is to carry out a detailed free vibration and flutter analysis for a wide range of high aspect ratio aircraft wings and generate design curves to provide useful visions and understandings of aircraft design from an aeroelastic perspective. In the initial stage of the investigation, the bending and torsional stiffnesses of a number of transport aircraft wings are looked at and critically examined to see whether it is possible to express the stiffness distributions in polynomial form, but in a sufficiently accurate manner. A similar attempt is made for mass and mass moment of inertia distributions of the wing. Once the choice of stiffness and mass distributions in polynomial form is made, the high aspect ratio wing is idealised by a series of bending-torsion coupled beams from a structural standpoint. Then the dynamic stiffness method is applied to compute the natural frequencies and mode shape of the wing. Next the wing is idealised aerodynamically and to this end, unsteady aerodynamic of Theodorsen type is employed to represent the harmonically oscillating wing. Following this step, a normal mode method through the use of generalised coordinates is applied to formulate the flutter problem. In essence, the generalised mass, stiffness and aerodynamic matrices are combined to obtain the flutter matrix which is subsequently solved in the complex domain to determine the flutter speed and flutter frequency. In the final stage of the investigation, an exhaustive parametric study is carried out by varying significant wing parameters to generate design curves which help to predict the free vibration and flutter behaviour of high aspect ratio transport aircraft wings in a generic manner. It is in the aeroelastic context of aircraft design where the results are expected to be most useful.

Keywords: high-aspect ratio wing, flutter, dynamic stiffness method, free vibration, aeroelasticity

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Authors: Kamila Dus-Szachniewicz, Artur Bednarkiewicz, Katarzyna Gdesz-Birula, Slawomir Drobczynski

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In modern oncology hyperthermia (HT) is defined as a controlled tumor heating. HT treatment temperatures range between 40–48 °C and can selectively damage heat-sensitive cancer cells or limit their further growth, usually with minimal injury to healthy tissues. Despite many advantages, conventional whole-body and regional hyperthermia have clinically relevant side effects, including cardiac and vascular disorders. Additionally, the lack of accessibility of deep-seated tumor sites and impaired targeting micrometastases renders HT less effective. It is believed that above disadvantages can significantly overcome by the application of biofunctionalized microparticles, which can specifically target tumor sites and become activated by an external stimulus to provide a sufficient cellular response. In our research, the unique optical tweezers system have enabled capturing the silica microparticles, primary cells and tumor spheroids in highly controllable and reproducible environment to study the impact of localized heat stimulation on normal and pathological cell and within multicellular tumor spheroid. High throughput spheroid model was introduced to better mimic the response to HT treatment on tumors in vivo. Additionally, application of local heating of tumor spheroids was performed in strictly controlled conditions resembling tumor microenvironment (temperature, pH, hypoxia, etc.), in response to localized and nonhomogeneous hyperthermia in the extracellular matrix, which promotes tumor progression and metastatic spread. The lack of precise control over these well- defined parameters in basic research leads to discrepancies in the response of tumor cells to the new treatment strategy in preclinical animal testing. The developed approach enables also sorting out subclasses of cells, which exhibit partial or total resistance to therapy, in order to understand fundamental aspects of the resistance shown by given tumor cells in response to given therapy mode and conditions. This work was funded by the National Science Centre (NCN, Poland) under grant no. UMO-2017/27/B/ST7/01255.

Keywords: cancer spheroids, hyperthermia, microparticles, optical tweezers

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Authors: Yelin Zhao, Xinxiu Li, Martin Smelik, Oleg Sysoev, Firoj Mahmud, Dina Mansour Aly, Mikael Benson

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Background: Early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer is clinically challenging due to vague, or no symptoms, and lack of biomarkers. Polygenic risk score (PRS) scores may provide a valuable tool to assess increased or decreased risk of PC. This study aimed to develop such PRS by filtering genetic variants identified by GWAS using transcriptional programs identified by single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq). Methods: ScRNA-seq data from 24 pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) tumor samples and 11 normal pancreases were analyzed to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in in tumor and microenvironment cell types compared to healthy tissues. Pathway analysis showed that the DEGs were enriched for hundreds of significant pathways. These were clustered into 40 “programs” based on gene similarity, using the Jaccard index. Published genetic variants associated with PDAC were mapped to each program to generate program PRSs (pPRSs). These pPRSs, along with five previously published PRSs (PGS000083, PGS000725, PGS000663, PGS000159, and PGS002264), were evaluated in a European-origin population from the UK Biobank, consisting of 1,310 PDAC participants and 407,473 non-pancreatic cancer participants. Stepwise Cox regression analysis was performed to determine associations between pPRSs with the development of PC, with adjustments of sex and principal components of genetic ancestry. Results: The PDAC genetic variants were mapped to 23 programs and were used to generate pPRSs for these programs. Four distinct pPRSs (P1, P6, P11, and P16) and two published PRSs (PGS000663 and PGS002264) were significantly associated with an increased risk of developing PC. Among these, P6 exhibited the greatest hazard ratio (adjusted HR[95% CI] = 1.67[1.14-2.45], p = 0.008). In contrast, P10 and P4 were associated with lower risk of developing PC (adjusted HR[95% CI] = 0.58[0.42-0.81], p = 0.001, and adjusted HR[95% CI] = 0.75[0.59-0.96], p = 0.019). By comparison, two of the five published PRS exhibited an association with PDAC onset with HR (PGS000663: adjusted HR[95% CI] = 1.24[1.14-1.35], p < 0.001 and PGS002264: adjusted HR[95% CI] = 1.14[1.07-1.22], p < 0.001). Conclusion: Compared to published PRSs, scRNA-seq-based pPRSs may be used not only to assess increased but also decreased risk of PDAC.

Keywords: cox regression, pancreatic cancer, polygenic risk score, scRNA-seq, UK biobank

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Authors: Chiou-Shiue Ko

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As is explicitly stipulated in Article 7 of the Enforcement Rules of the Special Education Act as amended in 1998, "in principle, children with disabilities should be integrated with normal children for preschool education". Since then, all cities and counties have been committed to promoting preschool inclusive education. The Education Department, New Taipei City Government, has been actively recruiting advisory groups of professors to assist in the implementation of inclusive education in preschools since 2001. Since 2011, the author of this study has been guiding Preschool Rainbow to implement inclusive education. Through field observations, meetings, and teaching demonstration seminars, this study explored the process of how inclusive education has been successfully implemented in collaboration with teachers of special education classes and regular classes in Preschool Rainbow. The implementation phases for inclusive education in a single academic year include the following: 1) Preparatory stage. Prior to implementation, teachers in special education and regular classes discuss ways of conducting inclusive education and organize reading clubs to read books related to curriculum modifications that integrate the eight education strategies, early treatment and education, and early childhood education programs to enhance their capacity to implement and compose teaching plans for inclusive education. In addition to the general objectives of inclusive education, the objective of inclusive education for special children is also embedded into the Individualized Education Program (IEP). 2) Implementation stage. Initially, a promotional program for special education is implemented for the children to allow all the children in the preschool to understand their own special qualities and those of special children. After the implementation of three weeks of reverse inclusion, the children in the special education classes are put into groups and enter the regular classes twice a week to implement adjustments to their inclusion in the learning area and the curriculum. In 2013, further cooperation was carried out with adjacent hospitals to perform development screening activities for the early detection of children with developmental delays. 3) Review and reflection stage. After the implementation of inclusive education, all teachers in the preschool are divided into two groups to record their teaching plans and the lessons learned during implementation. The effectiveness of implementing the objective of inclusive education is also reviewed. With the collaboration of all teachers, in 2015, Preschool Rainbow won New Taipei City’s “Preschool Light” award as an exceptional model for inclusive education. Its model of implementing inclusive education can be used as a reference for other preschools.

Keywords: collaboration, inclusive education, preschool, teachers, special education classes, regular classes

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Authors: Khadijeh Abhari, Seyed Shahram Shekarforoush, Saeid Hosseinzadeh

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Probiotics have been considered as an approach to treat and prevent a wide range of inflammatory diseases. The spore forming probiotic strain Bacillus coagulans has demonstrated anti-inflammatory and immune-modulating effects in both animals and humans. The prebiotic, inulin, also potentially affects the immune system as a result of the change in the composition or fermentation profile of the gastrointestinal microbiota. An in vivo trial was conducted to evaluate the effects of probiotic B. coagulans, and inulin, either separately or in combination, on down regulate immune responses and progression of rheumatoid arthritis using induced arthritis rat model. Forty-eight male Wistar rats were randomly divided into 6 groups and fed as follow: 1) control: Normal healthy rats fed by standard diet, 2) Disease control (RA): Arthritic induced (RA) rats fed by standard diet, 3) Prebiotic (PRE): RA+ 5% w/w long chain inulin, 4) Probiotic (PRO): RA+ 109 spores/day B. coagulans by orogastric gavage, 5) Synbiotic (SYN): RA+ 5% w/w long chain inulin and 109 spores/day B. coagulans and 6) Treatment control: (INDO): RA+ 3 mg/kg/day indomethacin by orogastric gavage. Feeding with mentioned diets started on day 0 and continued to the end of study. On day 14, rats were injected with complete Freund’s adjuvant (CFA) to induce arthritis. Arthritis activity was evaluated by biochemical parameters and paw thickness. Biochemical assay for Fibrinogen (Fn), Serum Amyloid A (SAA), TNF-α and Alpha-1-acid glycoprotein (α1AGp) was performed on day 21, 28 and 35 (1, 2 and 3 weeks post RA induction). Pretreatment with PRE, PRO and SYN diets significantly inhibit SAA and Fn production in arthritic rats (P < 0.001). A significant decrease in production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, TNF-α, was seen in PRE, PRO and SYN groups (P < 0.001) which was similar to the effect of the anti-inflammatory drug Indomethacin. Further, there were no significant anti-inflammatory effects observed following different treatments using α1AGp as a RA indicator. Pretreatment with all supplied diets significantly inhibited the development of paw swelling induced by CFA (P < 0.001). Conclusion: Results of this study support that oral intake of probiotic B. coagulans and inulin are able to improve biochemical and clinical parameters of induced RA in rat.

Keywords: rheumatoid arthritis, bacillus coagulans, inulin, animal model

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Authors: Aymen Arfaoui, Abdelkader Soumaya

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The Messalla-Ressas-Bou Kornine (MRB) and Hammamet Korbous (HK) major trending North-South fault zones provide a good opportunity to show the effects of the Eocene compressive phase in northern Tunisia. They acted as paleogeographical boundaries during the Mesozoic and belonged to a significant strike-slip corridor called the «North-South Axis,» extending from the Saharan platform at the South to the Gulf of Tunis at the North. Our study area is situated in a relay zone between two significant strike-slip faults (HK and MRB), separating the Atlas domain from the Pelagian Block. We used a multidisciplinary approach, including fieldwork, stress inversion, and geophysical profiles, to argue the shortening event that affected the study region. The MRB and HK contractional duplex is a privileged area for a local stress field and stress nucleation. The stress inversion of fault slip data reveals an Eocene compression with NW-SE trending SHmax, reactivating most of the ancient Mesozoic normal faults in the region. This shortening phase is represented in the MRB belt by an angular unconformity between the Upper Eocene over various Cretaceous strata. The stress inversion data reveal a compressive tectonic with an average NW-SE trending Shmax. The major N-S faults are reactivated under this shortening as sinistral oblique faults. The orientation of SHmax deviates from NW-SE to E-W near the preexisting deep faults of MRB and HK. This E-W stress direction generated the emerging overlap of Ressas-Messella and blind thrust faults in the Cretaceous deposits. The connection of the sub-meridian reverse faults in depth creates "flower structures" under an E-W local compressive stress. In addition, we detected a reorientation of the SHmax into an N-S direction in the central part of the MRB - HK contractional duplex, creating E-W reverse faults and overlapping zones. Finally, the Eocene compression constituted the first major tectonic phase which inverted the Mesozoic preexisting extensive fault system in Northern Tunisia.

Keywords: Tunisia, eocene compression, tectonic stress field, Bou Kornine-Ressas-Messella

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Authors: M. Gowri, E. K. Girija, V. Ganesh

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Background and Significance: Among the dental infections, inflammation and infection of the root canal are common among all age groups. Currently, the management of root canal infections involves cleaning the canal with powerful irrigants followed by intracanal medicament application. Though these treatments have been in vogue for a long time, root canal failures do occur. Treatment for root canal infections is limited due to the anatomical complexity in terms of small micrometer volumes and poor penetration of drugs. Thus, infections of the root canal seem to be a challenge that demands development of new agents that can eradicate E. faecalis. Methodology: In the present study, we synthesized and screened silver-curcumin nanoparticle against E. faecalis. Morphological cell damage and antibiofilm activity of silver-curcumin nanoparticle on E. faecalis was studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Biochemical evidence for membrane damage was studied using flow cytometry. Further, the antifungal activity of silver-curcumin nanoparticle was evaluated in an ex vivo dentinal tubule infection model. Results: Screening data showed that silver-curcumin nanoparticle was active against E. faecalis. silver-curcumin nanoparticle exerted time kill effect. Further, SEM images of E. faecalis showed that silver-curcumin nanoparticle caused membrane damage and inhibited biofilm formation. Biochemical evidence for membrane damage was confirmed by increased propidium iodide (PI) uptake in flow cytometry. Further, the antifungal activity of silver-curcumin nanoparticle was evaluated in an ex vivo dentinal tubule infection model, which mimics human tooth root canal infection. Confocal laser scanning microscopy studies showed eradication of E. faecalis and reduction in colony forming unit (CFU) after 24 h treatment in the infected tooth samples in this model. Further, silver-curcumin nanoparticle was found to be hemocompatible, not cytotoxic to normal mammalian NIH 3T3 cells and non-mutagenic. Conclusion: The results of this study can pave the way for developing new antibacterial agents with well deciphered mechanisms of action and can be a promising antibacterial agent or medicament against root canal infection.

Keywords: ex vivo dentine model, inhibition of biofilm formation, root canal infection, silver-curcumin nanoparticle

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Authors: Deepthy Ann Joy, N. Sreedevi

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Hearing impairment (HI) at an early age, identified before the onset of language development can reduce the negative effect on speech and language development of children. Early rehabilitation is very important in the improvement of speech production in children with HI. Other than conventional hearing aids, Cochlear Implants are being used in the rehabilitation of children with HI. However, delay in acquisition of speech and language milestones persist in children with Cochlear Implant (CI). Delay in speech milestones are reflected through speech sound errors. These errors reflect the temporal and spectral characteristics of speech. Hence, acoustical analysis of the speech sounds will provide a better representation of speech production skills in children with CI. The present study aimed at investigating the acoustic characteristics of vowels in Malayalam speaking children with a cochlear implant. The participants of the study consisted of 20 Malayalam speaking children in the age range of four and seven years. The experimental group consisted of 10 children with CI, and the control group consisted of 10 typically developing children. Acoustic analysis was carried out for 5 short (/a/, /i/, /u/, /e/, /o/) and 5 long vowels (/a:/, /i:/, /u:/, /e:/, /o:/) in word-initial position. The responses were recorded and analyzed for acoustic parameters such as Vowel duration, Ratio of the duration of a short and long vowel, Formant frequencies (F₁ and F₂) and Formant Centralization Ratio (FCR) computed using the formula (F₂u+F₂a+F₁i+F₁u)/(F₂i+F₁a). Findings of the present study indicated that the values for vowel duration were higher in experimental group compared to the control group for all the vowels except for /u/. Ratio of duration of short and long vowel was also found to be higher in experimental group compared to control group except for /i/. Further F₁ for all vowels was found to be higher in experimental group with variability noticed in F₂ values. FCR was found be higher in experimental group, indicating vowel centralization. Further, the results of independent t-test revealed no significant difference across the parameters in both the groups. It was found that the spectral and temporal measures in children with CI moved towards normal range. The result emphasizes the significance of early rehabilitation in children with hearing impairment. The role of rehabilitation related aspects are also discussed in detail which can be clinically incorporated for the betterment of speech therapeutic services in children with CI.

Keywords: acoustics, cochlear implant, Malayalam, vowels

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Authors: Ayesha Waqar Khan, Mariam Altaf, Jamil Ahmad, Shaheen Shahzad

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Kidney fibrosis is an anticipated outcome of possibly all types of progressive chronic kidney disease (CKD). Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) signaling pathway is responsible for production of matrix-producing fibroblasts and myofibroblasts in diseased kidney. In this study, a discrete model of TGF-beta (transforming growth factor) and CTGF (connective tissue growth factor) was constructed using Rene Thomas formalism to investigate renal fibrosis turn over. The kinetic logic proposed by Rene Thomas is a renowned approach for modeling of Biological Regulatory Networks (BRNs). This modeling approach uses a set of constraints which represents the dynamics of the BRN thus analyzing the pathway and predicting critical trajectories that lead to a normal or diseased state. The molecular connection between TGF-beta, Smad 2/3 (transcription factor) phosphorylation and CTGF is modeled using GenoTech. The order of BRN is CTGF, TGF-B, and SMAD3 respectively. The predicted cycle depicts activation of TGF-B (TGF-β) via cleavage of its own pro-domain (0,1,0) and presentation to TGFR-II receptor phosphorylating SMAD3 (Smad2/3) in the state (0,1,1). Later TGF-B is turned off (0,0,1) thereby activating SMAD3 that further stimulates the expression of CTGF in the state (1,0,1) and itself turns off in (1,0,0). Elevated CTGF expression reactivates TGF-B (1,1,0) and the cycle continues. The predicted model has generated one cycle and two steady states. Cyclic behavior in this study represents the diseased state in which all three proteins contribute to renal fibrosis. The proposed model is in accordance with the experimental findings of the existing diseased state. Extended cycle results in enhanced CTGF expression through Smad2/3 and Smad4 translocation in the nucleus. The results suggest that the system converges towards organ fibrogenesis if CTGF remains constructively active along with Smad2/3 and Smad 4 that plays an important role in kidney fibrosis. Therefore, modeling regulatory pathways of kidney fibrosis will escort to the progress of therapeutic tools and real-world useful applications such as predictive and preventive medicine.

Keywords: CTGF, renal fibrosis signaling pathway, system biology, qualitative modeling

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Authors: M. Haruna, O. O. Onafowokan, G. Holt, K. Anderson, R. G. Middleton

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Background: Requirements for satisfactory outcomes following total hip arthroplasty (THA) include restoration of femoral offset, version, and leg length. Various techniques have been described for restoring these biomechanical parameters, with leg length restoration being the most predominantly described. We describe a “quartered head technique” (QHT) which uses a stepwise series of femoral head osteotomies to identify and preserve the centre of rotation of the femoral head during THA in order to ensure reconstruction of leg length, offset and stem version, such that hip biomechanics are restored as near to normal as possible. This study aims to identify whether using the QHT during hip arthroplasty effectively restores leg length and femoral offset to within acceptable parameters. Methods: A retrospective review of 206 hips was carried out, leaving 124 hips in the final analysis. Power analysis indicated a minimum of 37 patients required. All operations were performed using an anterolateral approach by a single surgeon. All femoral implants were cemented, collarless, polished double taper CPT® stems (Zimmer, Swindon, UK). Both cemented, and uncemented acetabular components were used (Zimmer, Swindon, UK). Leg length, version, and offset were assessed intra-operatively and reproduced using the QHT. Post-operative leg length and femoral offset were determined and compared with the contralateral native hip, and the difference was then calculated. For the determination of leg length discrepancy (LLD), we used the method described by Williamson & Reckling, which has been shown to be reproducible with a measurement error of ±1mm. As a reference, the inferior margin of the acetabular teardrop and the most prominent point of the lesser trochanter were used. A discrepancy of less than 6mm LLD was chosen as acceptable. All peri-operative radiographs were assessed by two independent observers. Results: The mean absolute post-operative difference in leg length from the contralateral leg was +3.58mm. 84% of patients (104/124) had LLD within ±6mm of the contralateral limb. The mean absolute post-operative difference in offset from contralateral leg was +3.88mm (range -15 to +9mm, median 3mm). 90% of patients (112/124) were within ±6mm offset of the contralateral limb. There was no statistical difference noted between observer measurements. Conclusion: The QHT provides a simple, inexpensive yet effective method of maintaining femoral leg length and offset during total hip arthroplasty. Combining this technique with pre-operative templating or other techniques described may enable surgeons to reduce even further the discrepancies between pre-operative state and post-operative outcome.

Keywords: leg length discrepancy, technical tip, total hip arthroplasty, operative technique

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