Growth Inhibition by Caffeic Acid, One of the Phenolic Constituents of Honey, in HCT 15 Colon Cancer Cells

Previous work from our laboratory showed that the mechanism of crude-honey induced apoptosis in colon cancer cells. Since phenolic constituents of honey were attributed to its apoptosis-inducing ability, we studied caffeic acid, one of the phenolic constituents of honey, induced effect on colon cancer cells. Antiproliferative effect of caffeic acid was estimated using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. MTT assay signified the antiproliferative nature of caffeic acid against the HCT 15 colon cancer cells. A time-dependent inhibition of colony formation was evident with caffeic acid treatment. Cell-cycle analysis of caffeic acid- (CA-) treated cells indicated increasing accumulation of cells at sub-G1 phase. Photomicrograph images of treated cells showed membrane blebbing and cell shrinkage. Yo-pro-1 staining of caffeic-acid-treated cells confirmed apoptosis in dose- and time-dependent manner. Increasing ROS generation and reduction in the mitochondrial membrane potential were also accompanied in the caffeic acid-induced apoptosis. This work will promote caffeic acid as a likely candidate in the chemoprevention of colon cancer

Bus manufacturing: line balancing and optimization

Bus production is a singular industry due to the product variety and customization usually required by clients. Buses are usually conceived based in a chassis where a frame is built, following the safety rules adopted by the sector. The external view can be similar, but some construction aspects and internal view are usually defined by the client, leading to a high customization. Thus, the bus can be manufactured in a common line, but the different configurations usually lead to a complex assembling process that needs to be carefully thought. Moreover, this kind of industry is permanently subjected to huge competitiveness and sustainable evaluation, which implies a rigorous cost planning and production, avoiding budget problems. This work was carried out in a bus manufacturer located in the Porto surroundings, which produces a large number of bus types for airports, tourism, urban or scholar purposes. The factory has three different production lines, being each one allocated to a different kind of bus manufactured. The lines needed an optimization and balancing improvement, thus, this study intended to make a contribution to this purpose.A produção de autocarros é um negócio singular devido à variedade de produtos e personalização requerida pelos clientes. Os autocarros são normalmente concebidos com base num chassis, onde é construída a estrutura, seguindo as normas de segurança usuais no sector. A vista exterior dos autocarros pode ser similar, mas existem alguns aspectos construtivos e o interior, que são normalmente definidos pelo cliente, conduzindo a uma elevada personalização do produto. Assim, os autocarros podem ser fabricados numa mesma linha, mas com configurações diferentes, levando normalmente a um complexo processo de montagem que necessita ser convenientemente pensado. Acresce que este tipo de indústria está permanentemente sujeito a uma elevada competitividade e avaliação da sua sustentabilidade, evitando problemas relacionados com o não cumprimento do orçamento inicial. Este trabalho foi desenvolvido numa empresa construtora de autocarros sediada nos arredores do Porto, a qual produz um diversificado leque de tipos de autocarros para aeroportos, turismo, urbanos ou para transporte escolar. A fábrica possui três linhas diferentes de produção, estando cada uma alocada a um tipo diferente de autocarro fabricado. As linhas de produção necessitavam de uma otimização e balanceamento e este estudo pretendeu dar uma contribuição nesse sentido

An object-oriented approach to maps

The use of location-based applications has increased among common users and field agencies. Geographical information systems have benefitted organizations of all sizes and almost every industry. Studies have indicated that the user\u27s spatial ability plays an important role in how the users interact with the software. Investigators have found that spatial ability is composed of five components such as visualization, speeded rotation, closure speed, closure flexibility and perceptual speed. In order to scientifically study individual differences in spatial ability, various visualizations and views of a geographic area that closely resembles user\u27s perception needs to be developed. Object-oriented approach of maps provides a self-contained representation of the features in a geographical region. With the help of such a representation, various usability features and visualizations can be developed to study individual differences in spatial ability. This thesis describes an object-oriented approach to representing maps and building maps software on top of that. It describes the data model, the development of the maps software and the pilot conducted to evaluate usability features developed

Library Writers Reward Project

Open-source library development exploits the distributed intelligence of participants in Internet communities. Nowadays, contribution to the open-source community is fading [16] (Stackalytics, 2016) as there is not much recognition for library writers. They can start exploring ways to generate revenue as they actively contribute to the open-source community. This project helps library writers to generate revenue in the form of bitcoins for their contribution. Our solution to generate revenue for library writers is to integrate bitcoin mining with existing JavaScript libraries, such as jQuery. More use of the library leads to more revenue for the library writers. It uses the visitor system’s computational power to mine bitcoins. As stated above, library writers can make sure that every visitor is contributing towards revenue generation. The amount of bitcoins that can be generated is directly related to the user\u27s participation. When I tested this project for about a week on the single machine, it was able to make 0.021226 BTC, which in today’s value is 8.96 U.S. dollars. The project also includes support for a digital wallet, which will keep track of a private key for currency balance

A Review Study on Trust and Breach of Psychological Contract

The aim of this study is to review on trust and breach of psychological contract. The purpose of the study is to identify briefly on the psychological contract and the important of psychological contract to the employer as well as employees. It is also to learn the content of psychological contract and to study in brief on the types of psychological contract, breach and violation. This study is carried out to identify the reactions to breach and violation of psychological contract, list down the reasons for a lack of trust among the employees and to learn the ways how the employers gain and maintain the trust. The consequences to the organizations when the employee’s trust are lacking and what will happen if employees trust is high also has studied to add knowledge on psychological contract aspects. Lastly, the impact to the employees when the psychological contract is violated also has been reviewed. For this research, qualitative research method was used to gather the data. The data obtained from journals, case studies and books and magazines was reviewed to gather the information for this project. The review found that there were four main importances. First it explained in detail the meaning the meaning of psychological contract and its importance to both employers and employees. Secondly, the research has explained briefly on types of psychological contract, types of breach and violation of psychological contract. Thirdly, the research has indicate the trust; from the perspective of employees and employers. Fourthly, the research explains the impacts for violation of psychological contract. From the review it could be concluded that breach of psychological contract can be upgraded if both parties; employees and employers are working together in a line. They have to change because of economical, political and social changes, therefore the working relationship also changing. To improve the employees from breach of psychological contract, the organizations can implement some of the suggested methods to reduce the breach of psychological contract

Tips for Allied Health Professionals to Successfully Engage with Research: A commentary

While allied health professionals are encouraged to engage with research, there are numerous challenges to do so in practice. In this commentary, we reflect on some of these challenges and provide some simple tips on strategies that can be used by allied health professionals to overcome these challenges. These tips may provide a starting point for allied health professionals to successfully engage with research