生化学ネットワークの確率論的ダイナミクスのシミュレーションと理論解析

九州工業大学博士学位論文（要旨）学位記番号：情工博甲第330号 学位授与年月日：平成29年9月22

Assessing Water Charges under Changing Institutional Irrigation Management in Pakistan: A Methodological Framework

The Government of Pakistan has opted for institutional reforms for canal irrigation system of the country with a view to undertaking efficient operation and maintenance of the system and improving cost recovery. In the new reforms, the Farmers’ Organisations will manage distributaries and minors and pay the cost of upstream water in full. The complex hierarchy of the system poses serious challenges for working out the cost of water delivery for various channels. The paper presents a methodological framework for assessing the recoverable O&M costs from the farmers benefiting from an irrigation network. Hakra 4-R Distributary in the Eastern Sadiqia Canal serves as an illustration. The methodology shows how the beneficiary farmers can share the costs of the system. Simple methods are provided for working out water rates on the basis of volume of water received, commanded area, and duration of the irrigation turn. Out of the three methods, the area-based and time-based water rates have comparative advantage over the volumetric water rates owing to the resource endowments of the farmers

Analysis of a U.S. Fashion Brand\u27s Outsourcing from Bangladesh: Problems and Proposed Solution

This research focused on exploring the role of apparel outsourcing from Bangladesh for the U.S. and the ways to reduce the effect of inefficiency factors to make this outsourcing long-term sustainable. In this research, a sequential mixed case study was conducted. Gary Teng and Jaramillo\u27s (2005) supplier evaluation model was used to evaluate the outsourcing performance of Bangladeshi and Vietnamese suppliers for a U.S. fashion brand (i.e., Phillips Van-Heusen (PVH). The supplier evaluation model has 20 factors under five clusters (i.e., delivery, flexibility, cost, quality & reliability). On the other part of the research, in-depth interviews were taken from three buyers in the Bangladeshi local office of PVH and three Bangladeshi suppliers from three different companies. The supplier evaluation scores revealed that the Bangladeshi supplier had a very competitive position compared to its competitor (Vietnamese supplier). Bangladesh scored 0.410 while Vietnam scored 0.307 out of 1.0. In terms of the five clusters, Bangladesh (0.106) has a great advantage in the cost cluster over Vietnam (0.281). Bangladesh (0.204) is also more advanced in the quality cluster than Vietnam (0.192). For the remaining three clusters, Vietnam has marginal advancement than Bangladesh. Specifically, the Bangladeshi supplier performed higher than expected in the capacity, negotiability, continuous improvement, and certification factors. The Bangladeshi supplier just met the buyer\u27s expectations in information sharing, customization, customer service, feeling of trust, and country\u27s political situation factors. This research gives an overview of the apparel business practice in Bangladesh to the unexplored part of the U.S. fashion industry

CONSCIOUS USE OF CODE-SWITCHING TO IMPROVE FLUENCY IN SPOKEN ENGLISH OF BANGLADESHI STUDENTS

Purpose: Present-day English language teaching in Bangladesh, despite adopting Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), focuses more on accuracy (i.e. grammar) than fluency which is proved as a weak strategy. Fluency acquisition in speaking includes pronunciation, but focusing on pronunciation first, slows down the process of becoming a fluent speaker. Methodology: As code-switching exists at the tertiary level in Bangladesh and because of the tremendous fascination of Bangladeshi students towards Bengali, code-switching can be utilized as a tool to improve fluency in spoken English. Thus, this research proposes an alternative to existing approaches. Result: Once desired fluency is achieved; grammar and pronunciation will be emphasized respectively to attain proper speaking skills. The success of this process can be studied in three phases. In the first phase, it examines whether allowing code-switching while speaking English helps Bengali students achieve fluency or not. Applications: This research can be used for universities, teachers, and students. Novelty/Originality: In this research, the model of the Conscious Use of Code-Switching to Improve Fluency in Spoken English of Bangladeshi Students is presented in a comprehensive and complete manner

Water loss: A postharvest quality marker in apple storage

Apple fruit can be stored for long periods of time, especially with the use of controlled atmosphere storage, but like many fruits and vegetables are susceptible to water loss. Water loss can result in compromised appearance such as skin shriveling, as well as loss of firmness, and reduced saleable weight, which in turn affect the income of growers and other industry stakeholders. Preharvest factors that can influence water loss in apples during the postharvest period include climate, cultivar, fruit size, tree age, orchard practices, and harvest maturity. Postharvest factors such as the storage temperature, relative humidity, storage type, and duration can also affect water loss in apple fruit during storage. The mechanisms of cuticle biosynthesis in water permeance, the role of stomata and lenticels, microcracking, crosstalk with mechanical injuries, storage disorders, and decay incidence during the storage of apples are reviewed. Additionally, the review summarizes: preharvest and postharvest factors influencing water loss; recent management strategies including pre-cooling, cold storage, controlled atmospheres, packaging, and anti-senescence chemicals; the use of edible coatings, as well as other non-chemical approaches for modulating water loss and maintaining storage quality. The review also provides direction for the industry to manage this destructive problem in the postharvest supply chain of apple fruit

COVID-19 infection and vaccine status in patients with chronic kidney diseases

Background: The COVID-19 virus has had a great effect globally, changing many commonalities. The incidence of COVID-19 had weakened the immune system, leading to more severe outcomes of various common diseases. Since its early development, the vaccination of COVID-19 has also had mixed responses. The aim of the study was to observe the incidence rate of COVID-19 infection and vaccination status among chronic kidney disease patients. Methods: In this study 50 (27 male and 23 female) adult skulls were investigated to determine the type of asterion, its distance from important bony landmarks and also the nearby venous sinuses were measured. Results: Majority (41.61%) of the participants had been between the ages of 41-55 years old, and 64.84% male prevalence was observed. 60.65% of the participants had been from rural areas. A large portion of the participants (38.06%) did not have any comorbidities, while multiple comorbidities were present among many of the remaining participants. Hypertension was the most common comorbidity, observed in 56.45% of the participants. 72.26% of the present study participants had been asymptomatic, while 13.23% had a fever as their symptom of COVID-19. COVID-19 test was done on 81 patients, among whom 64 had tested positive. Among the total 310 participants, 29.03% had not received any vaccinations, while 14.19% had received only 1st dose of vaccination, 47.2% had received up to their 2nd dose, and 9.35% had received their booster dose. Conclusions: The present study observed a low incidence rate of COVID-19 positive patients among those affected by chronic kidney disease. However, the study also observed a significant positive relation between COVID-19 positive patients and the need for additional medical support, leading to the conclusion that COVID-19 can significantly affect the severity of CKD.

Pattern of Pharmacotherapy of Patients Having Ischemic Heart Disease at a Specialized Hospital in Dhaka, Bangladesh: A Survey Based Study on Patients Discharged from Hospital

Aims: Study on pharmacotherapeutic pattern on cardiovascular patients is rarely done. Patient’s demography, drug usage and its clinical outcome are the basis for the assessment of cardiac treatment. The aim of this study to analyze the demography of patients of ischemic heart disease along with drug usage and current trends of practice in Bangladesh. Methods: This study was carried out over a period of two months at different units of NICVD, situated at Dhaka, Bangladesh. A structured questionnaire was prepared to collect necessary data from patients. Descriptive statistics was used to represent the data. Results: A total 363 discharged patients were interviewed followed by the verification of their discharge report and other medical documents to obtain necessary information. Out of 363 patients, frequency of male patients were high (74.66%, N= 271) than female patients (25.34%, N=92). There is a trends of ischemic heart disease development after 40 years of age and found significant in this study (P< 0.05). In this study, 83.19% of total patients were above 40 years of age. We found a significant number of patients also had diabetes, asthma and chronic kidney disease. Treatment approach of ischemic heart disease includes pharmacotherapy, revascularization and percutaneous coronary intervention. 48 patients (13.22%) out of 363 went for revascularization and percutaneous coronary intervention was done to 25 patients (6.89%). The goal of Pharmacotherapy is to reduce blood cholesterol level, prevention of further platelet aggregation, reduction of angina and control of heart rate. In our study, we found that, statins, anti platelet and anti angina/anti ischemic drugs are core in the treatment of ischemic heart disease. Beta blocker, ACE inhibitor or ARB, CCB is commonly added to standard therapy to reduce mortality and for better therapeutic outcome. Among statins, the frequency of use of atorvastatin (87.93%), combination of clopidogrel and aspirin (73.90%) among anti platelet agents, combination of trimetazidine and nitroglycerine (61.56%) among anti angina/anti ischemic agents were highest. In our study, we found that bisoprolol was most commonly prescribed by the physicians among other beta blockers. Conclusion: The outcome of this study will be helpful for young professionals, general physicians and other professionals involved in the health care setting for the rational use of drugs and to formulate effective strategy for the management of ischemic heart disease

Entanglement Swapping Using Hyperentangled Pairs of Two-Level Neutral Atoms

Hyperentangled swapping is a quantum communication technique that involves the exchange of hyperentangled states, which are quantum states entangled in multiple degrees of freedom, to enable secure and efficient quantum information transfer. In this paper, we demonstrate schematics for the hyperentanglement swapping between separate pairs of neutral atoms through the mathematical framework of atomic Bragg diffraction, which is efficient and resistant to decoherence, yielding deterministic results with superior overall fidelity. The utilized cavities are in superposition state and interact with the incoming atoms off-resonantly. Quantum information carried by the cavities is swapped through resonant interactions with two-level auxiliary atoms. We also discuss entanglement swapping under a delayed-choice scenario and provide a schematic generalization covering multiple-qubit scenarios. Finally, we introduce specific experimental parameters to demonstrate the experimental feasibility of the scheme.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figure

Melatonin application suppresses oxidative stress and maintains fruit quality of cold stored ‘Esperanza’ raspberries by regulating antioxidant system

Raspberries are highly perishable and have a short storage life. To extend its storage life, we evaluated the impact of preharvest melatonin (MEL) application (0, 50, 100, 200 mol L−1), three days before harvest, on the activities of oxidative and antioxidative enzymes and quality attributes in ‘Esperanza’ raspberries up to 10 d cold storage. The 200 mol L−1 MEL-treated raspberries exhibited a significant reduction in disease incidence while maintaining higher marketable fruit and activities of superoxide dismutase, glutathione reductase, dehydroascorbate reductase, monodehydroascorbate reductase, ascorbate peroxidase and catalase as compared to control. Additionally, it reduced activities of polyphenol oxidase, peroxidase and lipoxygenase enzymes and increased flavonoids and ascorbic acid levels. However, preharvest spray of 100 mol L−1 MEL mitigated fruit weight loss and maintained higher anthocyanins, and glutathione than control. In conclusion, MEL application (100–200 mol L−1), three days before harvest, supressed oxidative stress by maintaining higher activities of antioxidant enzymes in raspberries during 10 d of cold storage