Plasmin and plasminogen variation in bovine raw milk : impact of season, breed and milking system

Plasmin (PL) is a native proteinase in milk, which combines a complex system consisting of its zymogen called plasminogen (PG), inhibitors and activators, which activity is known to make considerable changes in the dairy products, which represent in irregulating of casein hydrolysis and poor clotting properties, that may slow the cheese ripening process and consequently increase the processing expense. The objective of this study was to investigate if on-farm factors (i.e., seasons breed and milking system) significantly affect the PL and PG-derived activity of raw milk. As well as, to investigate the relationship and/or possible correlations between PL and PG-derived activity and milk composition (i.e., pH, protein, somatic cell count and total bacteria count). Milk was collected from 18 different farms northern Sweden in November 2017, February and September 2018. PL and PG analyses were conducted on milk serum fraction in duplicates obtained by ultracentrifugation of skimmed milk samples. PL and PG-derived activities were analyzed by the spectrophotometric method using multi-mode microplate reader at 37°C. Urokinase (49.5 plough units) was used as PG activator to measure the total proteolytic activity of PL and PG. The production season had no effect (P > 0.05) on the average PL and PG-derived activities. The raw milk PL and PG-derived activities were significantly affected by breed. Jersey had higher (P < 0.05) PL (6,54 U/mL) and PG-derived (139,67 U/mL) activities compared to all other breeds. SRB had higher (P < 0.05) PL activity (16.2%, 31% and 39.8%) comparing to MB, SLB/SRB and SLB, respectively. MB had higher (P < 0.05) PL activity (17.13%) than SLB. With regard to SRB, SLB/SRB and MB had higher (P < 0.05) PG-derived activity (13.5%, 31%, 13.1% and 12.4%, respectively) comparing to SLB. Farms with a conventional milking system (CMS) had higher (P < 0.05) PG-derived activity compared to farms containing automatic milking system (AMS). The mean PG derived activity showed to be higher in CMS (102.66 U/mL) compared to (91.84 U/mL) in AMS. Total protein content and somatic cell count (SCC) were correlated with PL and PG-derived activities. Milk pH and total bacteria count (TBC) were not correlated with PL and PG activity

The Effect of Sn(IV) Chlorin e6 on HepG2 Cancer Cell Lines

This research investigated the effect of Sn(IV) chlorin e6 dichloride trisodium salt photosensitizer on the viability of HepG2 cancer cell lines in vitro. The effect of light on the viability of cells without the photosensitiser and the toxicity of the photosensitiser in the absence of light were examined in this research. No toxic effects with the absence of light were found and no photodamge effect on the cells without the presence of photosensitiser. The effect of different concentrations of the photosensitiser with fixed light dose of 70 J/cm2 on the viability of HepG2 cancer cells were performed. Then, two concentrations 25 and 30 μg/ml were investigated at different light doses 60-100 J/cm2. The effect of the photosensitiser on the viability of HepG2 at different light doses and different concentrations was found to have low viability over concentrations of 25 μg/ml. This could be due to that the photosensitiser reached a saturated status after this concentration. Key words: PDT; Sn(IV) chlorin e6; liver cancer; phototoxicity; viability assa

Three dimensional nonlinear temperature and structural analysis of roller compacted concrete dam

This paper focuses on the development, verification and application of a three-dimensional finite element code for coupled thermal and structural analysis of roller compacted concrete dams. The Kinta RCC gravity dam, which is the first roller compacted concrete dam in Malaysia, has been taken for the purpose of verification of the finite element code. The actual climatic conditions and thermal properties of the materials were considered in the analysis. The structural stress analysis was performed using the elasto-plastic stress analysis. The Mohr yield criterion which is widely used for concrete plasticity modeling was adopted in this study. The results have shown that, the elasto-plastic analysis can redistribute the state of stresses and produces a more realistic profile of stresses in the dam

Coupled thermal and structural analysis of roller compacted concrete arch dam by three-dimensional finite element method

This paper focuses on the development, verification and application of a three-dimensional nite element code for coupled thermal and structural analysis of roller compacted concrete arch dams. The Ostour Arch dam located on Ghezel-Ozan River, Iran, which was originally designed as conventional concrete arch dam, has been taken for the purpose of verication of the nite element code. In this project, RCC technology has been ascertained as an alternative method to reduce the cost of the project and make it competitive. The thermal analysis has been carried out taking into account the simulation of the sequence of construction, environmental temperature changes, and the wind speed. In addition, the variation of elastic modulus with time has been considered in this investigation using Concard's model. An attempt was made to compare the stresses developed in the dam body five years after the completion of the dam with those of end of the construction. It was seen that there is an increase in the tensile stresses after five years over stresses obtained immediately at the end of construction by 61.3%

The Predictive Ability of Social Anxiety within Internet Addiction among University Students

The study aimed to identify the predictive ability of social anxiety in Internet addiction among university students, by relying on the relational descriptive approach. The study sample consisted of (462) male and female students from the Faculty of Educational Sciences at the Hashemite University who were selected through the available random method and were assessed by the social anxiety scale and the Internet addiction scale prepared by Young (1997) which was modified by Widyanto and McMurran (2004) after confirming the appropriateness of its psychometric properties. The study results found that social anxiety level and Internet addiction level were high among the study sample and indicated a statically significant correlation at level (0.01) between the social anxiety level and the level of Internet addiction, which indicates that the higher the social anxiety level, the higher the internet addiction level and that social anxiety works as a predictor of the internet addiction. Results also indicated a nonexistence of statistically significant differences in the social anxiety level as well as the level of Internet addiction due to gender. The current study recommended the activation of students’ counseling services for students within the university and society as a whole to train them on controlling and self-control, which reduce the social anxiety and increase the university's interest about Internet addiction phenomenon in addition to holding awareness programs to help solve problems of this phenomenon

Thermal and stress analysis of Kinta RCC dam

The thermal analysis of roller compacted concrete dams (RCC) plays an important role in their design and construction. This paper focuses on the application and verification of a two-dimensional finite element code developed for the thermal and structural analysis of RCC dams. The Kinta RCC gravity dam, which is the first RCC dam in Malaysia, has been taken for the purpose of verification of the finite element code. The dam is 78 m in height and still under construction. The actual climatic conditions and thermal properties of the materials were considered in the analysis. The predicted temperatures obtained from the finite element code that was developed are found to be in good agreement with actual temperatures measured in the field using thermocouples installed within the dam body

Development of finite element computer code for thermal analysis of roller compacted concrete dams

Thermal analysis of roller compacted concrete (RCC) dams plays an important role in their design and construction. This paper deals with the development of a finite element based computer code for the determination of temperatures within the dam body. The finite element code is then applied to the real full-scale problem to determine the impact of the placement schedule on the thermal response of roller compacted concrete dam. Based on the results obtained, it could be concluded that for a given roller compacted concrete dam, changing the placing schedule can optimize the locations of maximum temperature zones

Modelling heat exchange between RCC dam and reservoir

Temperature control plays an important role in the design and construction of roller-compacted concrete (RCC) dams. Hydration of cement and climatic changes on the convective boundaries are the two main heat sources of the temperature rise in RCC dams. Therefore, the effects of these two factors have to be determined accurately in order to reduce the risk of thermally induced cracking in these dams. Simplified approaches are usually adopted to approximate the temperature changes on the upstream dam side after the dam reservoir is filled. These simplified approaches are usually based on long-term observations of similar reservoirs. However, it is practically hard to generalise the conditions of these reservoirs with respect to the reservoir under consideration. In this work, the finite-element method has been used to simulate the heat exchange between the RCC dam body and the reservoir water taking into account the reservoir operation. A realistic isothermal profile has been obtained that has been used to determine the cracking probability of the RCC dam body

Study protocol for locoregional precision treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma with transarterial chemoembolisation (TACTida), a clinical study:idarubicin dose selection, tissue response and survival

INTRODUCTION: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common cause of cancer-related death, often detected in the intermediate stage. The standard of care for intermediate-stage HCC is transarterial chemoembolisation (TACE), where idarubicin (IDA) is a promising drug. Despite the fact that TACE has been used for several decades, treatment success is unpredictable. This clinical trial has been designed believing that further improvement might be achieved by increasing the understanding of interactions between local pharmacology, tumour targeting, HCC pathophysiology, metabolomics and molecular mechanisms of drug resistance. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The study population of this single-centre clinical trial consists of adults with intermediate-stage HCC. Each tumour site will receive TACE with two different IDA doses, 10 and 15 mg, on separate occasions. Before and after each patient's first TACE blood samples, tissue and liquid biopsies, and positron emission tomography (PET)/MRI will be performed. Blood samples will be used for pharmacokinetics (PK) and liver function evaluation. Tissue biopsies will be used for histopathology analyses, and culturing of primary organoids of tumour and non-tumour tissue to measure cell viability, drug response, multiomics and gene expression. Multiomics analyses will also be performed on liquid biopsies. PET/MRI will be used to evaluate tumour viability and liver metabolism. The two doses of IDA will be compared regarding PK, antitumour effects and safety. Imaging, molecular biology and multiomics data will be used to identify HCC phenotypes and their relation to drug uptake and metabolism, treatment response and survival. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Participants give informed consent. Personal data are deidentified. A patient will be withdrawn from the study if considered medically necessary, or if it is the wish of the patient. The study has been approved by the Swedish Ethical Review Authority (Dnr. 2021-01928) and by the Medical Product Agency, Uppsala, Sweden. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: EudraCT number: 2021-001257-31

Accruals quality vis-a-vis disclosure quality: Substitutes or complements?

The impact of accruals quality and disclosure quality on stock returns is a topical issue in market-based accounting research. Most of the debate is centred on their incremental ability to predict future earnings. Recent studies suggest that higher information risk proxied by either lower accruals quality or lower disclosure quality results in higher stock returns. This paper examines the relationship between accruals quality and disclosure quality, and investigates whether they are complements or substitutes in explaining the time-series variation in portfolio returns. Applying portfolio groupings, we find a positive association between accruals quality and disclosure quality, suggesting that firms with higher disclosure quality engage less in earnings management and have higher accruals quality. Asset pricing tests show that an accruals quality factor and a disclosure quality factor explain the time-series variation in the excess returns of similar sets of portfolios. This suggests that they contain similar information and confirms the substitutive nature of accruals quality and disclosure quality factors