Strategy to develop centre of accreditation of excellence (CARE) with industrial-based recognition

This paper presents the strategy to develop Centre of Accreditation and Recognition of Excellence (CARE) with Industrial-based Recognition. The issue of unemployed graduates or graduates failing to obtain a job equivalent to their qualifications is a subject often addressed today by the youth. Employers argue that many graduates do not have the knowledge, skills and abilities relevant to the requirements of the industry, even though they have spent three to five years pursuing a diploma or bachelor’s degree. The aim of this study is to review the strategy in developing Centre of Accreditation and Recognition of Excellence (CARE) with Industrial-based Recognition. In this study, the strategic factors of previous case studies were identified. These strategic factors will then be verified by TVET and industry experts using the Delphi method. After the evaluation process, some of the strategic factors were ignored and new factors were included. In the end, the authorized body certification and skill sets are the new findings by expert group for the strategy in developing Centre of Accreditation and Recognition of Excellence (CARE) with Industrial-based Recognition

Distribution power loss minimization via distributed generation, capacitor and network reconfiguration

This paper presents a solution to solve the network reconfiguration, DG coordination (location and size) and capacitor coordination (location and size), simultaneously. The proposed solution will be determined by using Artificial Bee Colony (ABC). Various case studies are presented to see the impact on the test system, in term of power loss reduction and also voltage profiles. The proposed approach is applied to a 33-bus test system and simulate by using MATLAB programming. The simulation results show that combination of DG, capacitor and network reconfiguration gives a positive impact on total power losses minimization as well as voltage profile improvement compared to other case studies

HAGE (DDX43) is a biomarker for poor prognosis and a predictor of chemotherapy response in breast cancer

Background: HAGE protein is a known immunogenic cancer-specific antigen. Methods: The biological, prognostic and predictive values of HAGE expression was studied using immunohistochemistry in three cohorts of patients with BC (n=2147): early primary (EP-BC; n=1676); primary oestrogen receptor-negative (PER-BC; n=275) treated with adjuvant anthracycline-combination therapies (Adjuvant-ACT); and primary locally advanced disease (PLA-BC) who received neo-adjuvant anthracycline-combination therapies (Neo-adjuvant-ACT; n=196). The relationship between HAGE expression and the tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) in matched prechemotherapy and postchemotherapy samples were investigated. Results: Eight percent of patients with EP-BC exhibited high HAGE expression (HAGEþ) and was associated with aggressive clinico-pathological features (Ps<0.01). Furthermore, HAGEþexpression was associated with poor prognosis in both univariate and multivariate analysis (Ps<0.001). Patients with HAGE+ did not benefit from hormonal therapy in high-risk ER-positive disease. HAGE+ and TILs were found to be independent predictors for pathological complete response to neoadjuvant-ACT; P<0.001. A statistically significant loss of HAGE expression following neoadjuvant-ACT was found (P=0.000001), and progression-free survival was worse in those patients who had HAGE+ residual disease (P=0.0003). Conclusions: This is the first report to show HAGE to be a potential prognostic marker and a predictor of response to ACT in patients with BC

A highly competitive system for CO methanation over an active metal-free fibrous silica mordenite via in-situ ESR and FTIR studies

Catalytic methanation of carbon monoxide (CO) offers a sustainable and attractive way to produce the synthetic natural gas (SNG), which can be a substitute for fossil fuels (coal, petroleum and natural gas) towards a low carbon future. This study focuses on CO methanation over a modified mordenite (FSMOR), which was synthesized through a microemulsion method. The Physico-chemical properties of the synthesized FSMOR were examined by field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), N2 adsorption-desorption isotherms, and electron spin resonance (ESR). The FSMOR showed a unique fibrous morphology, which has improved the CO conversion (73%), CH4 selectivity (71%) and rate of formation (0.0491 μmol-CH4/m2s) remarkably due to enhancement in BET surface area, oxygen vacancies, and basicity. The FSMOR expressed high thermal stability and low carbon deposition compared to MOR, which was confirmed by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Raman and TEM observations. Besides, the in-situ ESR and FTIR observations proposed that the oxygen vacancies played a vital role to adsorb and activate the CO and H2 molecules via linear adsorbed CO* as intermediates, which dissociated into adsorbed C* to form methane by hydrogenation. This study may open up new opportunities for metal-free heterogeneous catalysis systems to enhance the catalytic CO methanation to produce SNG

Distribution power loss minimization via distributed generation, capacitor and network reconfiguration

This paper presents a solution to solve the network reconfiguration, DG coordination (location and size), and capacitor coordination (location and size), simultaneously. The proposed solution will be determined by using Artificial Bee Colony (ABC). Various case studies are presented to see the impact on the test system, in terms of power loss reduction and also voltage profiles. The proposed approach is applied to a 33-bus test system and simulated by using MATLAB programming. The simulation results show that combination of DG, capacitor and network reconfiguration gives a positive impact on total power losses minimization as well as voltage profile improvement compared to other case studies

Performance, emissions and carbon deposit characteristics of diesel engine operating on emulsion fuel

Little is known about the effects of using emulsion fuel for extended operation hours. Emulsion fuels comprise of water, low grade diesel fuel (D2) and surfactant in the ratio of 10:89:1 v/v% (E10) and 20:79:1 v/v% (E20). The characteristics of carbon deposits from an engine after a run of 200 h were examined. The carbon deposit analysis performed were macroscopic/microscopic photographs, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), metal element analysis (MEA) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR). Increasing water in emulsion fuel decreased particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen oxides (NO x ) altogether. TGA results observed that carbon deposit of E10 engine differed from E20 and D2 engines in terms of its characteristics, which includes darker colour of carbon deposit and the higher volatile content, while the MEA results observed that the elemental metal concentration in the carbon deposit was reduced with increasing water content. The intensity of the spectrum from C–H group for the carbon deposit E10 engine was higher compared to carbon deposit D2 and E20 engine respectively due to a complete combustion. Therefore, it was observed that 10% or less water content delivered better fuel consumption, emissions, and carbon deposit

High nuclear MSK1 is associated with longer survival in breast cancer patients

Purpose: Mitogen- and stress- activated kinases (MSKs) are important substrates of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)-activated protein kinase family. MSK1 and MSK2 are both nuclear serine/threonine protein kinases, with MSK1 being suggested to potentially play a role in breast cancer cell proliferation, cell cycle progression, cell migration, invasion and tumour growth. The aim of the current study was to assess MSK1 protein expression in breast cancer tumour specimens, evaluating its prognostic significance. Methods: A large cohort of 1902 early stage invasive breast cancer patients was used to explore the expression of MSK1. Protein expression was examined using standard immunohistochemistry on tissue microarrays. Results: Low MSK1 protein expression was associated with younger age (P=0.004), higher tumour grade (P<0.001), higher Nottingham Prognostic Index scores (P=0.007), negative ER (P<0.001) and PR (P<0.001) status, and with triple-negative (P<0.001) and basal-like (P<0.001) phenotypes. Low MSK1 protein expression was significantly associated with shorter time to distant metastasis (P<0.001), and recurrence (P=0.013) and early death due to breast cancer (P=0.01). This association between high MSK1 expression and improved breast cancer-specific survival was observed in the whole cohort (P=0.009) and in the HER2 negative and non-basal like tumours (P=0.006 and P=0.024, respectively). Multivariate analysis including other prognostic variables indicated that MSK1 is not an independent marker of outcome. Conclusions: High MSK1 is associated with improved breast cancer-specific survival in early stage invasive breast cancer patients, and has additional prognostic value in HER2 negative and non-basal like disease. Although not an independent marker of outcome we believe such findings, and significant associations with well-established negative prognostic factors (age, grade, Nottingham Prognostic Index, hormone receptor status, time to distant metastasi

Mapping ergonomics application to improve SMEs working condition in industrially developing countries: a critical review

In industrially developing countries (IDC), small and medium enterprises (SMEs) account for the highest proprotion of employment. Unfortunately, the working conditions in SMEs are often very poor and expose employees to a potentially wide range of health and safety risks. This paper presents a comprehensive review of 161 articles related to ergonomics application in SMEs, using Indonesia as a case study. The aim of this paper is to investigate the extent of ergonomics application and identify areas that can be improved to promote effective ergonomics for SMEs in IDC. The most urgent issue found is the need for adopting participatory approach in contrast to the commonly implemented top-down approach. Some good practices in ergonomics application were also revealed from the review, e.g. a multidisciplinary approach, unsophisticated and low-cost solutions, and recognising the importance of productivity. The review also found that more work is still required to achieve appropriate cross-cultural adaptation of ergonomics application. Practitioner Summary: Despite continuous efforts in addressing ergonomics issues in SMEs of IDC, workers are still exposed to poor work conditions. We reviewed factual-based evidence of current ergonomics application to inform future strategies of ergonomics in IDC, using Indonesia as a case study

Immunohistochemistry profiles of breast ductal carcinoma: factor analysis of digital image analysis data

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Molecular studies of breast cancer revealed biological heterogeneity of the disease and opened new perspectives for personalized therapy. While multiple gene expression-based systems have been developed, current clinical practice is largely based upon conventional clinical and pathologic criteria. This gap may be filled by development of combined multi-IHC indices to characterize biological and clinical behaviour of the tumours. Digital image analysis (DA) with multivariate statistics of the data opens new opportunities in this field.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Tissue microarrays of 109 patients with breast ductal carcinoma were stained for a set of 10 IHC markers (ER, PR, HER2, Ki67, AR, BCL2, HIF-1α, SATB1, p53, and p16). Aperio imaging platform with the Genie, Nuclear and Membrane algorithms were used for the DA. Factor analysis of the DA data was performed in the whole group and hormone receptor (HR) positive subgroup of the patients (n = 85).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Major factor potentially reflecting aggressive disease behaviour (i-Grade) was extracted, characterized by opposite loadings of ER/PR/AR/BCL2 and Ki67/HIF-1α. The i-Grade factor scores revealed bimodal distribution and were strongly associated with higher Nottingham histological grade (G) and more aggressive intrinsic subtypes. In HR-positive tumours, the aggressiveness of the tumour was best defined by positive Ki67 and negative ER loadings. High Ki67/ER factor scores were strongly associated with the higher G and Luminal B types, but also were detected in a set of G1 and Luminal A cases, potentially indicating high risk patients in these categories. Inverse relation between HER2 and PR expression was found in the HR-positive tumours pointing at differential information conveyed by the ER and PR expression. SATB1 along with HIF-1α reflected the second major factor of variation in our patients; in the HR-positive group they were inversely associated with the HR and BCL2 expression and represented the major factor of variation. Finally, we confirmed high expression levels of p16 in Triple-negative tumours.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Factor analysis of multiple IHC biomarkers measured by automated DA is an efficient exploratory tool clarifying complex interdependencies in the breast ductal carcinoma IHC profiles and informative value of single IHC markers. Integrated IHC indices may provide additional risk stratifications for the currently used grading systems and prove to be useful in clinical outcome studies.</p> <p>Virtual Slides</p> <p>The virtual slide(s) for this article can be found here: <url>http://www.diagnosticpathology.diagnomx.eu/vs/1512077125668949</url></p