Search results for: Cancer cell treatment

Authors: M. Chaichanyut, S. Tungjitkusolmun

Abstract:

This paper is concerned with microwave (MW) ablation for a liver cancer tissue by using helix antenna. The antenna structure supports the propagation of microwave energy at 2.45 GHz. A 1½ turn spiral catheter-based microwave antenna applicator has been developed. We utilize the three-dimensional finite element method (3D FEM) simulation to analyze where the tissue heat flux, lesion pattern and volume destruction during MW ablation. The configurations of helix antenna where Helix air-core antenna and Helix Dielectric-core antenna. The 3D FEMs solutions were based on Maxwell and bio-heat equations. The simulation protocol was power control (10 W, 300s). Our simulation result, both helix antennas have heat flux occurred around the helix antenna and that can be induced the temperature distribution similar (teardrop). The region where the temperature exceeds 50°C the microwave ablation was successful (i.e. complete destruction). The Helix air-core antenna and Helix Dielectric-core antenna, ablation zone or axial ratios (Widest/length) were respectively 0.82 and 0.85; the complete destructions were respectively 4.18 cm³ and 5.64 cm³

Keywords: Liver cancer, Helix antenna, Finite element, Microwave ablation.

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Authors: M.D. Murcia, M. Gomez, E. Gomez, J.L. Gomez, N. Christofi

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The removal efficiency of 4-chlorophenol with different advanced oxidation processes have been studied. Oxidation experiments were carried out using two 4-chlorophenol concentrations: 100 mg L-1 and 250 mg L-1 and UV generated from a KrCl excilamp with (molar ratio H2O2: 4-chlorophenol = 25:1) and without H2O2, and, with Fenton process (molar ratio H2O2:4- chlorophenol of 25:1 and Fe2+ concentration of 5 mg L-1). The results show that there is no significant difference in the 4- chlorophenol conversion when using one of the three assayed methods. However, significant concentrations of the photoproductos still remained in the media when the chosen treatment involves UV without hydrogen peroxide. Fenton process removed all the intermediate photoproducts except for the hydroquinone and the 1,2,4-trihydroxybenzene. In the case of UV and hydrogen peroxide all the intermediate photoproducts are removed. Microbial bioassays were carried out utilising the naturally luminescent bacterium Vibrio fischeri and a genetically modified Pseudomonas putida isolated from a waste treatment plant receiving phenolic waste. The results using V. fischeri show that with samples after degradation, only the UV treatment showed toxicity (IC50 =38) whereas with H2O2 and Fenton reactions the samples exhibited no toxicity after treatment in the range of concentrations studied. Using the Pseudomonas putida biosensor no toxicity could be detected for all the samples following treatment due to the higher tolerance of the organism to phenol concentrations encountered.

Keywords: 4-chlorophenol, Fenton, photodegradation, UV, excilamp.

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Authors: Shang-Hsin Ou, Yang-Chun Lin, Ke-Hao Cheng

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The year 2021 marked a historic drought in Taiwan, posing unprecedented challenges due to record-low rainfall and inadequate reservoir storage. The central region experienced water scarcity, leading to the implementation of "Groundwater Utilization at Construction Sites" for drought-resilient livelihood water supply. This study focuses on the establishment process of temporary groundwater treatment plants at construction sites in Taichung City, serving as a reference for future emergency response and the utilization of construction site groundwater. To identify suitable sites for groundwater reuse projects, site selection operations were carried out based on relevant water quality regulations and assessment principles. Subsequently, the planning and design of temporary water treatment plants were conducted, considering the water quality, quantity, and on-site conditions of groundwater wells associated with construction projects. The study consolidates the major water treatment facilities at each site and addresses encountered challenges during the establishment process. Practical insights gained from operating temporary groundwater treatment plants are presented, including improvements related to stable water quality, water quantity, equipment operation, and hydraulic control. In light of possible future droughts, this study provides an outlook and recommendations to expedite and improve the setup of groundwater treatment plants at construction sites. This includes considering on-site water abstraction, treatment, and distribution conditions. The study aims to provide concise guidelines for setting up and managing temporary groundwater treatment plants at construction sites, drawing insights from Taichung City's establishment process. It offers recommendations for addressing challenges like water quality, quantity, equipment operation, and regulation compliance. By sharing these insights, it aims to aid regions facing similar emergencies, ensuring sustainable water supply and societal stability amidst water shortages and droughts.

Keywords: Drought resilience, groundwater treatment, construction site, water supply.

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Authors: Ritsuko Kawasaki (Aiba), Takeshi Hiromatsu

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Management is required to understand all information security risks within an organization, and to make decisions on which information security risks should be treated in what level by allocating how much amount of cost. However, such decision-making is not usually easy, because various measures for risk treatment must be selected with the suitable application levels. In addition, some measures may have objectives conflicting with each other. It also makes the selection difficult. Therefore, this paper provides a model which supports the selection of measures by applying multi-objective analysis to find an optimal solution. Additionally, a list of measures is also provided to make the selection easier and more effective without any leakage of measures.

Keywords: Information security risk treatment, Selection of risk measures, Risk acceptance and Multi-objective optimization.

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Authors: Jing Lei, Yoram Vodovotz, Timothy R. Billiar

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To identify an endothelial cell-specific promoter suitable for vascular-specific targeting, we tested five promoters in vitro--Tie2SE, Tie2LE, ICAM2, Flt-1 and vWF--for promoter activity and specificity in endothelial cells, smooth muscle cells and non-vascular resident cells as well as tissues. These promoters, except for vWF, exhibited good endothelial activity and specificity in vitro. In a syngenic heart transplantation model, the ICAM2 promoter was variably functional in coronary endothelial cells of donor hearts. Thus, the ICAM2, Flt-1, Tie2SE and Tie2LE promoters hold promise for endothelial-specific targeting, but in vitro expression may not predict in vivo expression.

Keywords: vascular-specific targeting, endothelial cell-specificpromoter, endothelial specificity.

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Authors: Sirimanee Banjong

Abstract:

This study aimed to 1) develop pre-service teachers’ leadership skills through camp-based learning, and 2) develop preservice teachers’ teamwork skills through camp-based learning. An applied research methodology was used. The target group was derived from a purposive selection. It involved 32 fourth-year students in Early Childhood Education Program enrolling a course entitled Seminar in Early Childhood Education provided during second semester of academic year 2013. The treatment was camp-based learning activities which applied a PDCA process including four stages: 1) plan, 2) do, 3) check, and 4) act. Research instruments were a learning camp program, a camp-based learning management plan, a 5-level assessment form for leadership skills and a 5-level assessment form for assessing teamwork skills. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results were: 1) pre-service teachers’ leadership skills yielded the before treatment average score at x= 3.4, S.D.=0.6 2and the after-treatment average score at x 4.29 , S.D.=0.66 pre-service teachers’ teamwork skills yielded the before-treatment average score at x=3.31, S.D.=0.60 and the after-treatment average score at x=4.42, S.D.=0.66 Both differences were statistically significant at the .05 level. Thus, the pre-service teachers’ leadership and teamwork skills were significantly improved through the camp-based learning approach.

Keywords: Learning camp, leadership skills, teamwork skills.

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Authors: Nurettin Simsek, Özlem Cakır

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The aim of this study is to point out whether personalization of mathematical word problems could affect student achievement or not. The research was applied on two-grades students at spring semester 2008-2009. Before the treatment, students personal data were taken and given to the computer. During the treatment, paper-based personalized problems and paper-based non personalized problems were prepared by computer as the same problems and then these problems were given to students. At the end of the treatment, students- opinion was taken. As a result of this research, it was found out that there were no significant differences between learners through personalized or non-personalized materials, and also there were no significant differences between gender through personalized and non-personalized problems. However, opinion of students was highly positive through the personalized problems.

Keywords: Personalization, word problem, computer aided personalization.

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Authors: Reza Faghih Mirzaee, Mohammad Hossein Moaiyeri, Keivan Navi

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In this paper we present two novel 1-bit full adder cells in dynamic logic style. NP-CMOS (Zipper) and Multi-Output structures are used to design the adder blocks. Characteristic of dynamic logic leads to higher speeds than the other standard static full adder cells. Using HSpice and 0.18┬Ám CMOS technology exhibits a significant decrease in the cell delay which can result in a considerable reduction in the power-delay product (PDP). The PDP of Multi-Output design at 1.8v power supply is around 0.15 femto joule that is 5% lower than conventional dynamic full adder cell and at least 21% lower than other static full adders.

Keywords: Bridge Style, Dynamic Logic, Full Adder, HighSpeed, Multi Output, NP-CMOS, Zipper.

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Authors: Tsair-Fwu Lee , Hui-Min Ting , Pei-Ju Chao, Jing-Chuan Jiang, Min-Yuan Chao, Wen-Cheng Chen, Long-Chang Chen, Jia-Ming Wu

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The purpose of this study is to derive parameters estimating for the Lyman–Kutcher–Burman (LKB) normal tissue complication probability (NTCP) model using analysis of scintigraphy assessments and quality of life (QoL) measurement questionnaires for the parotid gland (xerostomia). In total, 31 patients with head-and-neck (HN) cancer were enrolled. Salivary excretion factor (SEF) and EORTC QLQ-H&N35 questionnaires datasets are used for the NTCP modeling to describe the incidence of grade 4 xerostomia. Assuming that n= 1, NTCP fitted parameters are given as TD50= 43.6 Gy, m= 0.18 in SEF analysis, and as TD50= 44.1 Gy, m= 0.11 in QoL measurements, respectively. SEF and QoL datasets can validate the Quantitative Analyses of Normal Tissue Effects in the Clinic (QUANTEC) guidelines well, resulting in NPV-s of 100% for the both datasets and suggests that the QUANTEC 25/20Gy gland-spared guidelines are suitable for clinical used for the HN cohort to effectively avoid xerostomia.

Keywords: HN, NTCP, SEF, QoL, QUANTEC

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Authors: N. M. Sani, E. D. Jatau, O. S. Olonitola, M. Y. Gwarzo, P. Moodley, N. S. Mujahid

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Hemoglobin (HB) indicates anemia level and by extension may reflect the nutritional level and perhaps the immunity of an individual. Some antiretroviral drugs like Zidovudine are known to cause anemia in people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). A cross sectional study using demographic data and blood specimen from 218 female commercial sex workers attending antiretroviral therapy (ART) clinics was conducted between December, 2009 and July, 2011 to assess the effect of zidovudine on hematologic, and RNA viral load of female sex workers receiving antiretroviral treatment in north western Nigeria. Anemia is a common and serious complication of both HIV infection and its treatment. In the setting of HIV infection, anemia has been associated with decreased quality of life, functional status, and survival. Antiretroviral therapy, particularly the highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), has been associated with a decrease in the incidence and severity of anemia in HIV-infected patients who have received a HAART regimen for at least 1 year. In this study, result has shown that of the 218 patients, 26 with hemoglobin count between 5.1 – 10g/dl were observed to have the highest viral load count of 300,000 – 350,000copies/ml. It was also observed that most patients (190) with HB of 10.1 – 15.0g/dl had viral load count of 200,000 – 250,000 copies /ml. An inverse relationship therefore exists i.e. the lower the hemoglobin level, the higher the viral load count even though the test statistics did not show any significance between the two (P = 0.206). This shows that multivariate logistic regression analysis demonstrated that anemia was associated with a CD4 + cell count below 50/μL, female sex workers with a viral load above 100,000 copies/mL, who use zidovudine. Severe anemia was less prevalent in this study population than in historical comparators; however, mild to moderate anemia rates remain high. The study therefore recommends that hematological and virologic parameters be monitored closely in patients receiving first line ART regimen.

Keywords: Female sex worker, Zidovudine, Hemoglobin, Anemia.

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Authors: Seyed Sina Khamesi, Rana Rafiei

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The extensive aeration process is widely used for wastewater treatment. However, due to the high energy consumption of this process, which is closely related to the issues of environmental sustainability and global climate change, this article presents a simple solution to reduce energy consumption in this process. The amount of required energy is one of the critical considerations for various wastewater treatment techniques. For this purpose, an industrial wastewater treatment plant and all energy-consumer equipment in terms of energy consumption have been analyzed. The investigations and measurements revealed that the aeration unit has the highest energy consumption rate. To address this, an innovative approach is proposed to reduce energy consumption in the identified high-consumer unit. The proposed solution involves introducing baffles to divide the tank into multiple parts and using a tank with a small width and long length to enhance the mixing process. This approach reduces the need for additional equipment and significantly lowers energy consumption. To thoroughly scrutinize the proposed solution and analyze the behavior of the multi-phase fluid inside the tank, the sewage flow has been modeled using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method. The study presents an optimal design for the aeration unit based on these findings. The results indicate that implementing the technique suggested in this article can decrease total energy consumption by 33.15% and can be applied to all types of biological treatment plants.

Keywords: Wastewater treatment, aeration, energy consumption, Computational Fluid Dynamics, activated sludge.

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Authors: Ali Rafiee, Ahad Salimi, Ali Reza Roosta

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Prostate cancer is one of the most frequent cancers in men and is a major cause of mortality in the most of countries. In many diagnostic and treatment procedures for prostate disease accurate detection of prostate boundaries in transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) images is required. This is a challenging and difficult task due to weak prostate boundaries, speckle noise and the short range of gray levels. In this paper a novel method for automatic prostate segmentation in TRUS images is presented. This method involves preprocessing (edge preserving noise reduction and smoothing) and prostate segmentation. The speckle reduction has been achieved by using stick filter and top-hat transform has been implemented for smoothing. A feed forward neural network and local binary pattern together have been use to find a point inside prostate object. Finally the boundary of prostate is extracted by the inside point and an active contour algorithm. A numbers of experiments are conducted to validate this method and results showed that this new algorithm extracted the prostate boundary with MSE less than 4.6% relative to boundary provided manually by physicians.

Keywords: Prostate segmentation, stick filter, neural network, active contour.

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Authors: Flavio Araujo, Paulo Scalize, Julio Lima, Natalia Vieira, Antonio Albuquerque, Isabela Santos

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From a concern regarding the environmental impacts caused by the disposal of residues generated in Water Treatment Plants (WTP's), alternatives ways have been studied to use these residues as raw material for manufacture of building materials, avoiding their discharge on water streams, disposal on sanitary landfills or incineration. This paper aims to present the results of a research work, which is using WTR for replacing the soil content in the manufacturing of soil-cement floor with proportions of 0, 5, 10 and 15%. The samples tests showed a reduction mechanical strength in so far as has increased the amount of waste. The water absorption was below the maximum of 6% required by the standard. The application of WTR contributes to the reduction of the environmental damage in the water treatment industry.

Keywords: Residue, soil-cement floor, sustainable, WTP.

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Authors: Alaa Hussein Wadi

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The principal objective of a water treatment plant is to produce water that satisfies a set of drinking water quality standards at a reasonable price to the consumers. The gravel-bed flocculator provide a simple and inexpensive design for flocculation in small water treatment plants (less than 5000 m3/day capacity). The packed bed of gravel provides ideal conditions for the formation of compact settleable flocs because of continuous recontact provided by the sinuous flow of water through the interstices formed by the gravel. The field data which were obtained from the operation of the water supply treatment unit cover the physical, chemical and biological water qualities of the raw and settled water as obtained by the operation of the treatment unit. The experiments were carried out with the aim of assessing the efficiency of the gravel filter in removing the turbidity, pathogenic bacteria, from the raw water. The water treatment plant, which was constructed for the treatment of river water, was in principle a rapid sand filter. The results show that the average value of the turbidity level of the settled water was 4.83 NTU with a standard deviation of turbidity 2.893 NTU. This indicated that the removal efficiency of the sedimentation tank (gravel filter) was about 67.8 %. for pH values fluctuated between 7.75 and 8.15, indicating the alkaline nature of the raw water of the river Shatt Al-Hilla, as expected. Raw water pH is depressed slightly following alum coagulation. The pH of the settled water ranged from 7.75 to a maximum of 8.05. The bacteriological tests which were carried out on the water samples were: total coliform test, E-coli test, and the plate count test. In each test the procedure used was as outlined in the Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater (APHA, AWWA, and WPCF, 1985). The gravel filter exhibit a low performance in removing bacterial load. The percentage bacterial removal, which is maximum for total plate count (19%) and minimum for total coliform (16.82%).

Keywords: Gravel bed flocculator, turbidity, total coliform.

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Authors: Imanda H. Pradana, Tillana Adilaviana, Christine Pretty Ballerena

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Ever since industrial revolution began, our ecosystem has changed. And indeed, the negatives outweigh the positives. Industrial waste usually released into all kinds of body of water, such as river or sea. Tempeh waste is one example of waste that carries many hazardous and unwanted substances that will affect the surrounding environment. Tempeh is a popular fermented food in Asia which is rich in nutrients and active substances. Tempeh liquid waste- in particular- can cause an air pollution, and if penetrates through the soil, it will contaminates ground-water, making it unavailable for the water to be consumed. Moreover, bacteria will thrive within the polluted water, which often responsible for causing many kinds of diseases. The treatment used for this chemical waste is biological treatment such as constructed wetland and activated sludge. These kinds of treatment are able to reduce both physical and chemical parameters altogether such as temperature, TSS, pH, BOD, COD, NH3-N, NO3-N, and PO4-P. These treatments are implemented before the waste is released into the water. The result is a comparation between constructed wetland and activated sludge, along with determining which method is better suited to reduce the physical and chemical subtances of the waste.

Keywords: activated sludge, constructed wetland, waste, watertreatment

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Authors: Madiha El Awamie, Catherine Rees

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Natural preservatives have been used as alternatives to traditional chemical preservatives; however, a limited number have been commercially developed and many remain to be investigated as sources of safer and effective antimicrobials. In this study, we have been investigating the antimicrobial activity of an extract of Glycyrrhiza glabra (liquorice) that was provided as a waste material from the production of liquorice flavourings for the food industry, and to investigate if this retained the expected antimicrobial activity so it could be used as a natural preservative. Antibacterial activity of liquorice extract was screened for evidence of growth inhibition against eight species of Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, including Listeria monocytogenes, Listeria innocua, Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis and Bacillus subtilis. The Gram-negative bacteria tested include Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium but none of these were affected by the extract. In contrast, for all of the Gram-positive bacteria tested, growth was inhibited as monitored using optical density. However parallel studies using viable count indicated that the cells were not killed meaning that the extract was bacteriostatic rather than bacteriocidal. The Minimum Inhibitory Concentration [MIC] and Minimum Bactericidal Concentration [MBC] of the extract was also determined and a concentration of 50 µg ml^-1 was found to have a strong bacteriostatic effect on Gram-positive bacteria. Microscopic analysis indicated that there were changes in cell shape suggesting the cell wall was affected. In addition, the use of a reporter strain of Listeria transformed with the bioluminescence genes luxABCDE indicated that cell energy levels were reduced when treated with either 12.5 or 50 µg ml^-1 of the extract, with the reduction in light output being proportional to the concentration of the extract used. Together these results suggest that the extract is inhibiting the growth of Gram-positive bacteria only by damaging the cell wall and/or membrane.

Keywords: Antibacterial activity, bioluminescence, Glycyrrhiza glabra, natural preservative.

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Authors: Yi-Ping Fang, Yi-Ting Wong

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Transcription factor p53 has a powerful tumor suppressing function that is associated with many cancers. However, p53 of the molecular weight was higher make the limitation across to skin or cell membrane. Thymidine dinucleotide (pTT), an oligonucleotide, can activate the p53 transcription factor. pTT is a hydrophilic and negative charge oligonucleotide, which delivery in to cell membrane need an appropriate carrier. The aim of this study was to improve the bioavailability of the nucleotide fragment, thymidine dinucleotide (pTT), using elasic liposome carriers to deliver the drug into the skin. The study demonstrate that dioleoylphosphocholine (DOPC) incorporated with sodium cholate at molar ratio 1:1 can archived the particle size about 220 nm. This elastic liposome could penetration through skin from stratum corneum to whole epidermis by confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). Moreover, we observed the the slight increase in generation of p53 by western blot.

Keywords: Elastic liposome, Tymidine dinucleotide, p53, Topical delivery

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Authors: Mayada Alqaisi, Nasser Al-Shanti, Quiyu Wang, William S. Gilmore

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In-vitro mouse co-culture of E14 embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and OP9 stromal cells can recapitulate the earliest stages of haematopoietic development, not accessible in human embryos, supporting both haemogenic precursors and their primitive haematopoietic progeny. 1α, 25-Dihydroxy-vitamin D3 (VD3) has been demonstrated to be a powerful differentiation inducer for a wide variety of neoplastic cells, and could enhance early differentiation of ESCs into blood cells in E14/OP9 co-culture. This study aims to ascertain whether VD3 is key in promoting differentiation and suppressing proliferation, by separately investigating the effects of VD3 on the proliferation phase of the E14 cell line and on stromal OP9 cells.The results showed that VD3 inhibited the proliferation of the cells in a dose-dependent manner, quantitatively by decreased cell number, and qualitatively by alkaline-phosphatase staining that revealed significant differences between VD3-treated and untreated cells, characterised by decreased enzyme expression (colourless cells). Propidium-iodide cell-cycle analyses showed no significant percentage change in VD3-treated E14 and OP9 cells within their G and S-phases, compared to the untreated controls, despite the increased percentage of G-phase compared to the S-phase in a dosedependent manner. These results with E14 and OP9 cells indicate that adequate VD3 concentration enhances cellular differentiation and inhibits proliferation. The results also suggest that if E14 and OP9 cells were co-cultured andVD3-treated, there would be furtherenhanced differentiation of ESCs into blood cells.

Keywords: Differentiation, embryonic stem cells, OP9 stromal cells, 1α, 25-dihydroxy-vitamin D3

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Authors: D. Kuchar, T. Fukuta, M. Kubota, H. Matsuda

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The selective recovery of heavy metals of Cu, Zn, Ni and Cr from a mixed plating sludge by sulfidation and oxidation treatment was targeted in this study. At first, the mixed plating sludge was simultaneously subjected to an extraction and Cu sulfidation process at pH=1.5 to dissolve heavy metals and to precipitate Cu2+ as CuS. In the next step, the sulfidation treatment of Zn was carried out at pH=4.5 and the residual solution was subjected to an oxidation treatment of chromium with H2O2 at pH=10.0. After the experiments, the selectivity of metal precipitation and the chromium oxidation ratio were evaluated. As results, it was found that the filter cake obtained after selective sulfidation of Cu was composed of 96.6% of Cu (100% equals to the sum of Cu, Zn, Ni and Cr contents). Such findings confirmed that almost complete extraction of heavy metals was achieved at pH=1.5 and also that Cu could be selectively recovered as CuS. Further, the filter cake obtained at pH=4.5 was composed of 91.5% Zn and 6.83% of Cr. Regarding the chromium oxidation step, the chromium oxidation ratio was found to increase with temperature and the addition of oxidation agent of H2O2, but only oxidation ratio of 59% was achieved at a temperature of 60°C and H2O2 to Cr3+ equivalent ratio of 180.

Keywords: Chromium recovery, oxidation, plating sludge, sulfidation.

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Authors: Loai Nasrat, Mervat S. Hassan

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Bentonitic material from South Aswan, Egypt was evaluated in terms of mineral-ogy and chemical composition as bleaching clay in refining of transformer oil before and after acid activation and thermal treatment followed by acid leaching using HCl and H2SO4 for different contact times. Structural modification and refining power of bento-nite were investigated during modification by means of X-ray diffraction and infrared spectroscopy. The results revealed that the activated bentonite could be used for refining of transformer oil. The oil parameters such as; dielectric strength, viscosity and flash point had been improved. The dielectric breakdown strength of used oil increased from 29 kV for used oil treated with unactivated bentonite to 74 kV after treatment with activated bentonite. Kinematic Viscosity changed from 19 to 11 mm2 /s after treatment with activated bentonite. However, flash point achieved 149 ºC.

Keywords: Dielectric strength, unactivated bentonite, X-ray diffraction, SEM image

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Authors: S.Rajanna, H.K.Shivanand, Akash Deep B.N

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Thermite welding is mainly used in world. The reasons why the thermite welding method is widely used are that the equipment has good mobility and total working time of that is shorter than that of the enclosed arc welding method on site. Moreover, the operating skill, which required for thermite welding, is less than that of for enclosed arc welding. In the present research work, heat treatment and combined 'expulsion and heat treatment' techniques were used improve the mechanical properties and weldment structure. The specimens were cut in the transverse direction from expulsion with Heat treated and heat treated Thermite Welded rails. Specimens were prepared according to AWS standard and subjected to tensile test, Impact test and hardness and their results were tabulated. Microstructural analysis was carried out with the help of SEM. Then analyze to effect of heat treated and 'expulsion with heat treated' with the properties of their thermite welded rails. Compare the mechanical and microstructural properties of thermite welded rails between heat expulsion with heat treated and heat treated. Mechanical and microstructural response expulsion with heat treated thermite welded rail is higher value as compared to heat treatment.

Keywords: Expulsion, Heat treatment, Mechanical, Weldment.

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Authors: Osama Elsarrar, Marjorie Darrah, Richard Devin

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This paper discusses the idea of capturing an expert’s knowledge in the form of human understandable rules and then inserting these rules into a dynamic cell structure (DCS) neural network. The DCS is a form of self-organizing map that can be used for many purposes, including classification and prediction. This particular neural network is considered to be a topology preserving network that starts with no pre-structure, but assumes a structure once trained. The DCS has been used in mission and safety-critical applications, including adaptive flight control and health-monitoring in aerial vehicles. The approach is to insert expert knowledge into the DCS before training. Rules are translated into a pre-structure and then training data are presented. This idea has been demonstrated using the well-known Iris data set and it has been shown that inserting the pre-structure results in better accuracy with the same training.

Keywords: Neural network, rule extraction, rule insertion, self-organizing map.

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Authors: Rohith K Reddy, David Mayerich, Michael Walsh, P Scott Carney, Rohit Bhargava

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Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopic imaging is an emerging technique that provides both chemically and spatially resolved information. The rich chemical content of data may be utilized for computer-aided determinations of structure and pathologic state (cancer diagnosis) in histological tissue sections for prostate cancer. FT-IR spectroscopic imaging of prostate tissue has shown that tissue type (histological) classification can be performed to a high degree of accuracy [1] and cancer diagnosis can be performed with an accuracy of about 80% [2] on a microscopic (≈ 6μm) length scale. In performing these analyses, it has been observed that there is large variability (more than 60%) between spectra from different points on tissue that is expected to consist of the same essential chemical constituents. Spectra at the edges of tissues are characteristically and consistently different from chemically similar tissue in the middle of the same sample. Here, we explain these differences using a rigorous electromagnetic model for light-sample interaction. Spectra from FT-IR spectroscopic imaging of chemically heterogeneous samples are different from bulk spectra of individual chemical constituents of the sample. This is because spectra not only depend on chemistry, but also on the shape of the sample. Using coupled wave analysis, we characterize and quantify the nature of spectral distortions at the edges of tissues. Furthermore, we present a method of performing histological classification of tissue samples. Since the mid-infrared spectrum is typically assumed to be a quantitative measure of chemical composition, classification results can vary widely due to spectral distortions. However, we demonstrate that the selection of localized metrics based on chemical information can make our data robust to the spectral distortions caused by scattering at the tissue boundary.

Keywords: Infrared, Spectroscopy, Imaging, Tissue classification

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Authors: Anastasia Katsamaki, Nikolaos Bilalis, Vassilis Dedoussis

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This work proposes a set of actions to assist redesign procedure in existing products of Electric and Electronic Equipment (EEE). The aim is to improve their environmental behavior after their withdrawal in the End-of-Life (EOL) phase. In the beginning data collection takes place. Then follows selection and implementation of the optimal EOL Treatment Strategy (EOL_TS) and its results- evaluation concerning the environment. In parallel, product design characteristics that can be altered are selected based on their significance for the environment in the EOL stage. All results from the previous stages are combined and possible redesign actions are formulated for further examination and afterwards configuration in the design stage. The applied method to perform these tasks is Lean Thinking (LT). At the end, results concerning the application of the proposed method on a distribution transformer are presented.

Keywords: End-of-life treatment, Lean thinking, WEEE

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Authors: S. Jungsuttiwong, R. Tarsang, S. Pansay, T. Yakhantip, V. Promarak, T. Sudyoadsuk, T. Kaewin, S. Saengsuwan, S. Namuangrak

Abstract:

In this paper, four carbazole-based D-D-π-A organic dyes code as CCT2A, CCT3A, CCT1PA and CCT2PA were reported. A series of these organic dyes containing identical donor and acceptor group but different π-system. The effect of replacing of thiophene by phenyl thiophene as π-system on the physical properties has been focused. The structural, energetic properties and absorption spectra were theoretically investigated by means of Density Functional Theory (DFT) and Time-Dependent Density Functional Theory (TD-DFT). The results show that nonplanar conformation due to steric hindrance in donor part (cabazolecarbazole unit) of dye molecule can prevent unfavorable dye aggregation. By means of the TD-DFT method, the absorption spectra were calculated by B3LYP and BHandHLYP to study the affect of hybrid functional on the excitation energy (Eg). The results revealed the increasing of thiophene units not only resulted in decreasing of Eg, but also found the shifting of absorption spectra to higher wavelength. TD-DFT/BHandHLYP calculated results are more strongly agreed with the experimental data than B3LYP functions. Furthermore, the adsorptions of CCT2A and CCT3A on the TiO2 anatase (101) surface were carried out by mean of the chemical periodic calculation. The result exhibit the strong adsorption energy. The calculated results provide our new organic dyes can be effectively used as dye for Dye Sensitized Solar Cell (DSC).

Keywords: Dye-Sensitized Solar cell, Carbarzole, TD-DFT, D-D-π-A organic dye

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Authors: Thitiporn Machikowa, Thanawit Kulrattanarak, Sodchol Wonprasaid

Abstract:

One problem of synthetic sunflower cultivation is an erratic germination of the seeds. To improve the germination, presowing seed treatment with an ultrasound was tested. All treatments were carried out at 40 kHz frequency with the intensities of 40, 60, 80 and 100% of the ultrasonic generator total power (250 W) for the durations of 5, 10, 15 and 20 minutes. Data on seed germination percentage, seed vigor index (SVI), root and shoot lengths of seedlings were collected. The results showed that germination, SVI, root and shoot lengths of ultrasonic treated seedlings were different from the control, depending on intensity of the ultrasound. The effects of ultrasonic treatment were significant on germination, resulting in a maximum increase of 43% at 40 and 60% intensities compared to that of the control seeds. In addition, seedlings of these 2 treatments had higher SVI and longer root and shoot lengths than that of the control seedlings. All treatment durations resulted in higher germination and SVI, longer root and higher shoot lenghts of seedlings than the control. Among the duration treatments, only SVI and seedling root length were significantly different.

Keywords: Ultrasonic, germination, root length, shoot length, Helianthus annuus L.

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Authors: E. Shahsavari, R. Ghasemi, A. Akramizadeh

Abstract:

This paper presents a new method to design nonlinear feedback linearization controller for PEMFCs (Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells). A nonlinear controller is designed based on nonlinear model to prolong the stack life of PEMFCs. Since it is known that large deviations between hydrogen and oxygen partial pressures can cause severe membrane damage in the fuel cell, feedback linearization is applied to the PEMFC system so that the deviation can be kept as small as possible during disturbances or load variations. To obtain an accurate feedback linearization controller, tuning the linear parameters are always important. So in proposed study NSGA (Non-Dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm)-II method was used to tune the designed controller in aim to decrease the controller tracking error. The simulation result showed that the proposed method tuned the controller efficiently.

Keywords: Feedback Linearization controller, NSGA, Optimal Control, PEMFC.

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Authors: Mairwen K. Jones, Lynne Harris, Lisa D. Vaccaro

Abstract:

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a common and disabling condition. Therapist-delivered treatments that use exposure and response prevention have been found to be very effective in treating OCD, although they are costly and associated with high rates of attrition. Effective treatments that can be made widely available without the need for therapist contact are urgently needed. This case study represents the first published investigation of a self-administered cognitive treatment for OCD in a 50-year old female with a 20 year history of OCD. The treatment evaluation occurred over 27 weeks, including 12 weeks of self-administration of the Danger Ideation Reduction Therapy (DIRT) program. Decreases of between 23% to 33% on measures from pre-treatment to follow-up were observed. Bearing in mind the methodological limitations associated with a case study, we conclude that the results reported here are encouraging and indicate that further research effort evaluating the effectiveness of self-administered DIRT is warranted.

Keywords: Anxiety Treatment, Cognitive Therapy, Danger Ideation Reduction Therapy, Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder, Self- Administered Danger Ideation Reduction Therapy.

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Authors: Luan Mavriqi, Ilma Robo, Emin Kuzimi, Egresa Baca

Abstract:

The process of skeletal growth in an adolescent significantly affects the displacement of implants placed in the palatine suture. The problems caused by this process have an impact on the dental function and aesthetics of the affected data. If fixed prostheses are placed based on implants, the whole structure would impede maxillary growth. This is the significant difference between the maxilla and the mandible, as the lower jaw has no growth process that affects the movement of the implants or the latter to inhibit the growth of the jaw. In a teenager patient an accident occurred accompanied by loss of maxillary central incisors. The main complaint of patients is aesthetics and phonetics. Dental history of patients refers to the presence of a Maryland bridge that was accompanied by dissatisfaction on the part of the patient. Implant placement is not indicated as jaw augmentation may lead to displacement of the implant. The treatment plan includes the placement of implants in the palatum where this bone thickness allows as a procedure.in this article only the first stage of treatment is presented. Implant treatment is ongoing, will be followed by the second phase of treatment when the patient has reached the age of 18 years.

Keywords: Implants, palatum, adolescent, primary incisor teeth.

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Authors: Ninlawat Phuangchoke, Waraporn Viyanon, Setta Sasananan

Abstract:

The most important process of the water treatment plant process is coagulation, which uses alum and poly aluminum chloride (PACL). Therefore, determining the dosage of alum and PACL is the most important factor to be prescribed. This research applies an artificial neural network (ANN), which uses the Levenberg–Marquardt algorithm to create a mathematical model (Soft Jar Test) for chemical dose prediction, as used for coagulation, such as alum and PACL, with input data consisting of turbidity, pH, alkalinity, conductivity, and, oxygen consumption (OC) of the Bangkhen Water Treatment Plant (BKWTP), under the authority of the Metropolitan Waterworks Authority of Thailand. The data were collected from 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2019 in order to cover the changing seasons of Thailand. The input data of ANN are divided into three groups: training set, test set, and validation set. The coefficient of determination and the mean absolute errors of the alum model are 0.73, 3.18 and the PACL model are 0.59, 3.21, respectively.

Keywords: Soft jar test, jar test, water treatment plant process, artificial neural network.

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