Identification of genomic markers correlated with sensitivity in solid tumors to Dasatinib using sparse principal components

Background: Differential analysis techniques are commonly used to offer scientists a dimension reduction procedure and an interpretable gateway to variable selection, especially when confronting high-dimensional genomic data. Huang et al. used a gene expression profile of breast cancer cell lines to identify genomic markers which are highly correlated with in vitro sensitivity of a drug Dasatinib. They considered three statistical methods to identify differentially expressed genes and finally used the results from the intersection. But the statistical methods that are used in the paper are not sufficient to select the genomic markers. Methods: In this paper we used three alternative statistical methods to select a combined list of genomic markers and compared the genes that were proposed by Huang et al. We then proposed to use sparse principal component analysis (PCA) to identify a final list of genomic markers. The sparse PCA incorporates correlation into account among the genes and helps to draw a successful genomic markers discovery. Results: We present a new and a small set of genomic markers to separate out the groups of patients effectively who are sensitive to the drug Dasatinib. The analysis procedure will also encourage scientists in identifying genomic markers that can help to separate out two groups

UTILIZING URBAN SPACE FOR BETTER TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT- A STUDY OF KHULNA CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT, BANGLADESH

A city center or central business district (CBD) is the heart of a city. As a large number of people and business concentrates there for different purposes it deserves special consideration from city planning. Most crucial problem of CBD is that much development blurs beside the streets and it disrupts circulation and communication. The CBD area of Khulna already coped up with this problem. In the Khulna CBD area also faces this sort of traffic problems and to minimize these traffic problems, utilization effectively of urban space through different design considerations is required. This paper also tries to develop layout plan focusing the maximum utilization of the urban space, considered different design criteria and it can be used as a tool to reduce the traffic problems of the CBD area. Various street problems are identified which are responsible for the inefficient circulation system of the study area. It is also identified that street problems are related with design elements. As in the study area, the conditions of urban design elements are poor they can not ensure proper canalizations both for pedestrian and vehicular traffic. In the time of urban design element analysis focus has been given on the street management respect. The proposals included in this research paper will be helpful for improvement of the present level of function as well as can be used to develop development control rules.Urban space, Traffic Management & Central Business District

Asleep at the wheel: the real interest rate experience in Australia

A re-thinking and clear understanding of the factors underlying a country's balance of trade position is needed as the global trade regime becomes more liberalized. The relationship between the overall trade balance and its determinants as propounded in the standard models may not necessarily be the same with the bilateral trade balances. This study has developed a model of bilateral trade balance that captures the effects of all factors influencing trade balance as suggested by elasticity, absorption, and monetary approaches and the popular Gravity Model with some extensions. Specifically, the present paper postulates that the relative factors determine the trading pattern, and hence the trade balance of a country in bilateral trade with partners while in the earlier models absolute factors determine the trade balance,. Using standard panel data techniques the model is empirically tested and the results show significant effects of all the relative factors on the bilateral trade balance of Bangladesh in trading with her partners. The robustness check of the model ensures the validity of the specification.Trade Balance, Panel Data

Fate of Benzalkonium Chlorides in Natural Environment and Treatment Processes

Benzalkonium chlorides (BACs) are a type of cationic surfactant and are highly adsorptive to negatively charged surfaces during the wastewater treatment process. They can, therefore, enter the aquatic environment via the suspended organic matter in wastewater effluents, and the terrestrial environment through the application of biosolids as a soil amendment for crop production or by the use of reclaimed wastewater for irrigation. This research investigated the fate of the two most commonly used BACs, benzyl dimethyl dodecyl ammonium chloride (BDDA; C12-alkyl chain) and benzyl dimethyl tetradecyl ammonium chloride (BDTA; C14-alkyl chain), individually and in mixture in various natural and engineered systems. Under laboratory conditions, the following potential fate processes of these BACs were investigated: bacterial biodegradation, adsorption and leaching in various agricultural soils amended with biosolids, and plant uptake. A pure Pseudomonas strain biodegraded BACs, but BDTA was more toxic and inhibited the biodegradation of BDDA. Radiolabelled [U-14C-benzyl] BDDA showed about 85% of the initial concentration mineralized within 300 h. Adsorption studies of BACs to agricultural soils showed, BDTA adsorbed more on soil compared to BDDA. Organic carbon normalized adsorption coefficients (Log Koc, L kg–1) for BACs in the soils were \u3e4, which suggested that BACs tend to retain on the organic fraction of soils. Soil column experiments indicated very low leaching (–1 BACs inhibited plant growth to 50% and BACs were found in the root and shoot tissues of both garden cress (Lepidium sativum) and lettuce (Lactuca sativa). An advanced oxidation process (AOP) based on O3/H2O2 showed that about 1.28 g h–1 O3 and 200 mg L–1 of H2O2 at pH 11 degraded 90% of the initial BACs within 30 min. The AOP treated water was not toxic to two species of algae (Chlorella vulgaris and Chlamydomonas reinhardtii); growth rate was about 0.38 d-1 for treated and control samples compared to 0.01 d-1 for samples contained BACs without AOP. About 25 transformation products were identified in the AOP processes following six different degradation pathways

Improvement of Total Sulphur Measurement Techniques for Management of Reactive Mine Tailings

A sample preparation method for total sulphur measurement in reactive mine tailings was developed by ultrasound assisted digestion (USAD) and inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) technique. KZK-1, asericite schist, was selected as the certified reference material (CRM) and Musselwhite gold mine tailings were used as tailings sample. Experimental factors (i.e. digestion time, temperature and acid-oxidant combination) were studied in two steps. In the first step, a two-level and three-factor (23) full factorial design of experiment was applied and the total sulphur was measured by USAD and ICP-OES technique. The best result at 95% confidence level (P\u3c 0.05) was identified to be 20 minutes of digestion, 80OC and 1ml HNO3:1ml HCl, which can achieve 100% recovery of total sulphur for the selected CRM. Subsequently, the USAD method was compared with other total sulphur measurement techniques (i.e. hot plate assisted digestion method, X-ray fluorescence and LECO-CNS). The investigated method was verified by X-ray diffraction analysis. In the second step, for further improvement, the role of H2O2 (oxidant) was investigated for USAD and ICP-OES technique. The process was optimized by design of experiment and response surface methodology. The optimum result at 95% confidence level (P\u3c 0.05) was identified as 10 minutes of digestion, 77 OC in combination with 1ml HNO3: 1ml HCl : 1.35ml H2O2 for 100% recovery of total sulphur for the selected CRM. The optimum digestion level was applied to tailings and satisfactory result was observed. A regression model equation was developed and verified by the F (Fisher’s) values as well as P (probability) values. The percentage relative standard deviation (%RSD) revealed the precision of the developed technique

A pattern-based development of secure business processes

Iga andmeturbest huvitatud äriettevõte valib iseendale sobilikud turvameetmed, et vältida ootamatuid sündmusi ja õnnetusi. Nende turvameetmete esmane ülesanne on kaitsta selle äriettevõtte ressursse ja varasid. Äriettevõtetes aset leidvad õnnetused (vähemtähtsad või katastroofilised) on enamikel juhtudel oma olemuselt sarnased ning põhjustatud sarnaste turvariskide poolt. Paljudel andmeturbe spetsialistidel on raskusi leidmaks õiget lahendust konkreetsetele probleemidele, kuna eelmiste samalaadsete probleemide lahendused ei ole korrektselt dokumenteeritud. Selles kontekstis on turvalisuse mustrid (Security Patterns) kasulikud, kuna nad esitavad tõestatud lahendusi spetsiifiliste probleemide jaoks. Käesolevas väitekirjas arendasime välja kümme turvariskidele suunatud mustrit (SRP ehk Security Risk-oriented Patterns) ja defineerisime, kuidas kasutada neid mustreid vastumeetmetena turvariskidele äriprotsesside mudelite sees. Oma olemuselt on need mustrid sõltumatud modelleerimiskeelest. Lihtsustamaks nende rakendamist, on mudelid esitatud graafilises vormingus äriprotsesside modelleerimise keeles (BPMN). Me demonstreerime turvariskidele suunatud mustrite (SRP) kasutatavust kahe tööstusettevõtte ärimudeli näite põhjal. Esitame mustrite rakendamise kohta kvantitatiivsed analüüsid ja näitame, kuidas turvariskidele suunatud mustrid (SRP) aitavad demonstreerida andmeturbe nõrku kohti ärimudelites ning pakume välja lahendusi andmeturvalisusega seotud probleemidele. Selle uurimistöö tulemused võivad julgustada andmeturvalisusega tegelevaid analüütikuid jälgima mustritel-põhinevaid lähenemisi oma äriettevõtete kaitsmiseks, et aidata seeläbi kaasa ka infosüsteemide (Information Systems (IS)) kaitsmisele.Every security concerned enterprise selects its own security measures in order to avoid unexpected events and accidents. The main objective of these security measures is to protect the enterprise’s own resources and assets from damage. Most of the time, the accidents or disasters take place in enterprise are similar in nature, and are caused by similar kind of vulnerabilities. However, many security analysts find it difficult to select the right security measure for a particular problem because the previous proven solutions are not properly documented. In this context Security Patterns could be helpful since they present the proven solutions that potentially could be reused in the similar situations. In this thesis, we develop a set of ten Security Risk-oriented Patterns (SRP) and define the way how they could be used to define security countermeasures within the business process models. In principle, patterns are modelling language-independent. Moreover, to ease their application, we represent them in a graphical form using the Business Process Modelling Notation (BPMN) modelling approach. We demonstrate the usability of the Security Risk-oriented Patterns (SRP) by applying them on two industrial business models. We present the quantitative analysis of their application. We show that Security Risk-oriented Patterns (SRP) help to determine security risks in business models and suggest rationale for security solutions. The results of this research could potentially encourage the security analysts to follow pattern-based approach to develop secure business processes, thus, contributing to secure Information Systems (IS)

Impact of Climate Change in the Coastal Area of Bangladesh

Source: ICHE Conference Archive - https://mdi-de.baw.de/icheArchiv

Verification of Bangla Sentence Structure using N-Gram

Statistical N-gram language modeling is used in many domains like spelling and syntactic verification, speech recognition, machine translation, character recognition and like others. This paper describes a system for sentence structure verification based on Ngram modeling of Bangla. An experimental corpus containing one million word tokens was used to train the system. The corpus was a part of the BdNC01 corpus, created in the SIPL lab. of Islamic university. Collecting several sample text from different newspapers, the system was tested by 1000 correct and another 1000 incorrect sentences. The system has successfully identified the structural validity of test sentences at a rate of 93%. This paper also describes the limitations of our system with possible solutions

Solid-state NMR study of nitric oxide adsorption in carboxylate based MOFs

Solid-state NMR study of nitric oxide adsorption in MOFs. Amine functionalized Cu3btc2 MOFs shows chemisorption of NO as NONOates. NO also adsorbed in Cu open metal site(OMS). All of these information is characterized by 1H, 13C and 15N NMR studies. NO adsoprtion in Al based MOFs MIL-100(Al) is investigated to get details about direct detection of OMS site by 27Al NMR. First time detection of 15NO as dimer is acheived by 15N NMR studies.:Contents.............................................................................. v List of Figures...................................................................... vii Abbreviations............................................................................. ix 1 Motivation .............................................................................1 2 Introduction .............................................................................3 2.1 Nitric oxide (NO): A Potent Gasotransmitter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 2.1.1 Biological action in human biology: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 2.1.2 Structure and chemistry of NO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 2.2 NO storage in porous materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 2.2.1 Physisorption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 2.2.2 Chemisorption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 2.3 Current NO storage materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 2.4 Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 2.4.1 Cu3btc2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 2.4.2 MIL-100(Al) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 3 Experimental techniques .............................................................................15 3.1 Nuclear spin interactions in solid-state NMR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 3.2 NMR Techniques and Pulse Sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 3.3 NMR sample tube preparation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 3.4 Gas adsorption procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 4 Overview and enclosed papers 29 References .............................................................................121 5 Contribution .............................................................................137Gas storage in solids is becoming more important as a technology, with applications ranging in fields such as energy, the environment, and more importantly in biology and medicine. Porous solid storage materials are also increasingly important to advancements in science, as seen through their use in emergent gas-delivery technologies that include storage of the signaling molecule, nitric oxide (NO). The deficiencies of NO biosynthesis have been interconnected to a number of diseases, such as cardiovascular dysfunction, thrombosis and cancer. To date, one of the promising NO delivery materials are the metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), a new class of porous materials, which can store significant quantities of NO and then deliver it to specific sites in the body. MOFs contain open metal sites (OMS) that can physisorbed NO. Furthermore, amine functionalized MOFs can store NO covalently as N,N -diazeniumdiolates (NONOate). The thesis at hand is a collection of the publications written and co-authored by the author. The following thesis will investigate NO adsorption of one of the most highly studied carboxylate-based MOFs, Cu3btc2, and its amine derivatives, and MIL-100(Al) [Materials Institute Lavoisier] by magic angle spinning (MAS) NMR. However, NMR observation of Cu3btc2 is quite difficult, because it behaves as a paramagnet at room temperature. This paramagnetic behavior originates from the presence of antiferromagnetically coupled Cu-Cu ions, which result in an S=1 electronic state at higher temperatures (above 90 K). In that case, a significant insight into the understanding of NO interaction and the changing of electronic properties of NO loaded Cu3btc2 and the formation of NONOate in Cu3(NH2btc)2, which is known as University of Hamburg materials (UHM-30), has been obtained by MAS NMR. In paper (A) the effect of NO adsorption on the Cu3btc2 and UHM-30 has been followed by adsorbing different amounts of NO/Cu via the gas phase. The relevant NMR parameters, e.g., chemical shift, hyperfine coupling and 1H T1 of NO loaded MOFs displayed the change of electron density at the Cu site because of NO adsorption as well as indirect suggestion of NONOate formation. Further studies are carried out on the secondary amine functionalized MOFs, Cu3(NHRbtc)2, as they opened up the greater potential for NONOate formation in the MOFs. The structural characterization of four different Cu3(NHRbtc)2 is carried out by MAS NMR in (B) which revealed better incorporation of the btc ligand compared to NHRbtc in MOFs. In (C) NO loaded UHM-37 is extensively investigated by MAS NMR in order to understand the sorption priority, e.g., chemisorption or physiosorption. The multinuclear approach together with the fact that the MOFs contain antiferromagnetically coupled Cu-Cu pairs and NO being paramagnetic shows significant effects on spectra that allow for the deduction of adsorption effects in these MOFs. In the amine-functionalized UHM-37, first chemisorption of NO takes place to form NONOates. When this reaction is completed, additional adsorption at the OMS takes place. This observation is also in accordance with observed 13C shift changes upon NO adsorption. With 15N-labeled NO, we were able to directly determine signals of NONOate formation in UHM-37. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on 15N NMR data of NONOates in porous systems. In (D), NO interaction of another type of carboxylate MOF, MIL-100(Al) is investigated by 1H, 13C and 27Al MAS NMR. 27Al NMR data show that half of all Al sites are free for gas adsorption and that additional Al(OH)3 is present inside the pores, which is well-documented by 27Al 1H HETCOR spectra. 1H T1 of NO loaded MIL-100(Al) decreases with NO loading representing uniform distribution of NO in the MOF. In addition, the MIL-100(Al) five-coordinated Al site intensity is decreasing with increasing NO loading, while six-coordinated site intensity is increasing and a maximum of 1 NO per Al trimer can be adsorbed. This indicates rather weak NO adsorption. The magnetic properties of NO make it quite interesting for NMR measurements. Therefore, isotopically leveled bulk 15NO is studied for the first time by NMR in (E). The manuscript is accepted for publication and is included in this thesis. 15N NMR spectra have been obtained in the liquid and the solid state. The dynamic equilibrium ranges between (NO)2 and NO is characterized in gas - liquid transition temperature of NO. The variation of 15N chemical shift, line width and 15N T1 of NO with temperature represents the fast dynamic equilibrium. SQUID measurements are carried out on the same sample for further confirmation of the NMR results.:Contents.............................................................................. v List of Figures...................................................................... vii Abbreviations............................................................................. ix 1 Motivation .............................................................................1 2 Introduction .............................................................................3 2.1 Nitric oxide (NO): A Potent Gasotransmitter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 2.1.1 Biological action in human biology: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 2.1.2 Structure and chemistry of NO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 2.2 NO storage in porous materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 2.2.1 Physisorption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 2.2.2 Chemisorption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 2.3 Current NO storage materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 2.4 Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 2.4.1 Cu3btc2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 2.4.2 MIL-100(Al) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 3 Experimental techniques .............................................................................15 3.1 Nuclear spin interactions in solid-state NMR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 3.2 NMR Techniques and Pulse Sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 3.3 NMR sample tube preparation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 3.4 Gas adsorption procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 4 Overview and enclosed papers 29 References .............................................................................121 5 Contribution .............................................................................13

Young Men’s Experiences and Views of Sex Education in Bangladesh: A Foucauldian Discourse Analysis

This study has sought to shed light on the dearth of research on sex education in Bangladesh bringing forward young men’s experiences, views, narratives, recollections, and perceptions around sex education. Using social constructionism and poststructuralism, this study addresses the research questions: How did Bangladeshi young men receive sex education during adolescence? How did they interpret their experiences? How did their narratives reproduce and/or disrupt dominant discourses related to sex education, including discourses around sexuality, teenagerhood, masculinity, and manhood? Based on the qualitative data collected from nine in-depth Skype interviews with young men in Bangladesh, nine themes emerged. These themes illustrate - how participants received sex education with the help of peers, pornography, the Internet, media, parents, schools, and religion. This study also reveals that what they learned about sex and sexuality from these sources was often gendered (e.g., reproduced hegemonic masculinity), sexist (e.g., undermined the need for girls’ consent), and naturalized the idea of sex and sexuality as dangerous (e.g., through a focus on sexually infected disease prevention). This study identified dominant discourses around sex education, which are intertwined with social institutions, such as the school; it also illustrates instances which reproduced and disrupted these dominant discourses. Some participants embraced dominant discourses while others disrupted them, and some contradicted themselves. Participants also proposed mixed ways of improving sex education in Bangladesh, especially through designing sex education curriculum. The study draws the attention of the parents, curriculum designers, teachers, policymakers, service providers to young people, and scholars from the Global South to consider these innovations as food for thought to ensure young people’s right to sex educatio