A METHOD AND A CONNECTING DEVICE FOR ASSOCIATING USERS AND PHILANTHROPIC ENTITIES

The present disclosure relates to a method and a connecting device for associating users and philanthropic entities to help in community movement. In the present disclosure, initially a connecting device 103 may receive a request from an authorization entity to connect to a philanthropic entity 105. The authorization entity may send the request to the connecting device 103 when the user device 101 initiates a transaction with a merchant. The authorization entity may determine if the user device 101 is enrolled in the charity program. Further, the connecting device 103 may send a request to retrieve the event data associated with the charity program to philanthropic entity 105. The connecting device 103 may further transmit the retrieved event data associated with the charity program to the user device 101. Finally, the connecting device 103 triggers the contribution as charity to the philanthropic entity 105 based on the received response

Automation-Testing For Monitoring The Network Health Of Manufacturing Web-Based Application

In this research, automation-testing approach is proposed to monitor the manufacturing web-based health application. Current monitoring system indicates that all components such as servers, applications, services, ports and URLs are not in critical condition, but operator on the production site could not operate the manufacturing application. The proposed approach will monitor the standard operation in manufacturing web-based application and determine the health state of the whole production. Automated script is executed and response time is captured as the performance indicator. A web-based reporting will display response times mapped in different graphs. From the preliminary testing result, graphs are compared and analyze. Finally, the comparison result will determine the abnormalities of the manufacturing application

An overview of the role of lactic acid bacteria in fermented foods and their potential probiotic properties

Fermentation is the process by which a complex food compound is broken down into a simpler compound by the action of microorganisms such as yeast, filamentous fungi, and bacteria. Although yeast and fungi play the most important roles in food fermentation, lactic acid bacteria (LAB), a generally regarded as safe (GRAS) probiotic, is frequently included in the starter culture. In the early stages of food fermentation, LAB created an acidic environment to minimize the prevalence of potentially harmful microorganisms. The presence of probiotic microorganisms in the finished food also qualifies it as a functional food item. When consumed, probiotics in food can help to maintain the microbial balance in the gut intestinal tract and hence enhance gut intestinal health. As a result, probiotics can provide extra health benefits in addition to the fundamental nutrient of the fermented product. Lactobacillus, Lactococcus, Pediococcus, Streptococcus, Enterococcus, Oenococcus, and Leuconostoc are some of the common genera of LAB. Good LAB usually has the following properties, including acid and bile tolerance, adherence to human epithelial cells, antibiotic susceptibility, no hemolytic and cytotoxicity activity, and antagonistic activity toward potential pathogenic bacteria, to serve as a good probiotic (antimicrobial). Scientists and the food industry are constantly isolating new candidates of LABs with better qualities from various food sources and introducing them as unique candidate probiotics in food

Characterisation and pathogenicity of Fusarium species associated with yellowing disease in black pepper (Piper nigrum L.)

Yellowing disease has become one of the main threats to black pepper (Piper nigrum L.) production. This study was conducted to isolate and characterize Fusarium species associated with yellowing disease based on morphological and molecular characteristics, and to evaluate their pathogenicity on black pepper. Fungal isolates were recovered from symptomatic black pepper plants located in major growing areas in Sarawak. Based on morphological characteristics, a total of 73 Fusarium isolates were identified. Genomic DNA sequence analysis of nuclear ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and translation elongation factor-1 alpha (EF-1α) had confirmed the identity of the Fusarium isolates. The four identified Fusarium species were F. solani (90.4%), F. oxysporum (5.5%), F. concentricum (2.7%), and F. mangiferae (1.4%). Based on morphological characterisation, F. solani isolates were grouped into two distinct morphotypes, morphotype I and II. Phylogenetic analysis of F. solani has shown a high level of intraspecific variation among the isolates. The two major clades formed were found to correspond to the morphotype grouping. Pathogenicity test showed that all four Fusarium species are pathogenic to black pepper based on disease incidence and severity. This study provides new insights into the Fusarium species associated with yellowing disease in black pepper, and highlights the high genetic variability among the Fusarium isolates. This result calls for a critical revision of the current strategies in disease management, and resistance breeding programs in black pepper

Panax notoginseng Attenuates Bleomycin-Induced Pulmonary Fibrosis in Mice

Panax notoginseng (PN) is a traditional Chinese herb experimentally proven to have anti-inflammatory effects, and it is used clinically for the treatment of atherosclerosis, cerebral infarction, and cerebral ischemia. This study aimed to determine the anti-inflammatory effects of PN against bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis in mice. First, in an in vitro study, culture media containing lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was used to stimulate macrophage cells (RAW 264.7 cell line). TNF-α and IL-6 levels were then determined before and after treatment with PN extract. In an animal model (C57BL/6 mice), a single dose of PN (0.5 mg/kg) was administered orally on Day 2 or Day 7 postbleomycin treatment. The results showed that TNF-α and IL-6 levels increased in the culture media of LPS-stimulated macrophage cells, and this effect was significantly inhibited in a concentration-dependent manner by PN extract. Histopathologic examination revealed that PN administered on Day 7 postbleomycin treatment significantly decreased inflammatory cell infiltrates, fibrosis scores, and TNF-α, TGF-β, IL-1β, and IL-6 levels in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid when compared with PN given on Day 2 postbleomycin treatment. These results suggest that PN administered in the early fibrotic stage can attenuate pulmonary fibrosis in an animal model of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

A Retained Lens Fragment Induced Anterior Uveitis and Corneal Edema 15 Years after Cataract Surgery

A 60-year-old male was referred to the ophthalmologic clinic with aggravated anterior uveitis and corneal edema despite the use of topical and systemic steroids. He had undergone cataract surgery in both eyes 15 years previous. Slit lamp examinations revealed a retained lens fragment in the inferior angle of the anterior chamber, with severe corneal edema and mild anterior uveitis. The corneal edema and uveitis subsided following surgical extraction of the lens fragment. That a retained lens fragment caused symptomatic anterior uveitis with corneal edema 15 years after an uneventful cataract surgery is unique. A retained lens fragment should be considered as one of the causes of anterior uveitis in a pseudophakic patient

QoS multicast tree construction in IP/DWDM optical internet by bio-inspired algorithms

Copyright @ Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.In this paper, two bio-inspired Quality of Service (QoS) multicast algorithms are proposed in IP over dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) optical Internet. Given a QoS multicast request and the delay interval required by the application, both algorithms are able to find a flexible QoS-based cost suboptimal routing tree. They first construct the multicast trees based on ant colony optimization and artificial immune algorithm, respectively. Then a dedicated wavelength assignment algorithm is proposed to assign wavelengths to the trees aiming to minimize the delay of the wavelength conversion. In both algorithms, multicast routing and wavelength assignment are integrated into a single process. Therefore, they can find the multicast trees on which the least wavelength conversion delay is achieved. Load balance is also considered in both algorithms. Simulation results show that these two bio-inspired algorithms can construct high performance QoS routing trees for multicast applications in IP/DWDM optical Internet.This work was supported in part ny the Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) of UK under Grant EP/E060722/1, the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant no. 60673159 and 70671020, the National High-Tech Reasearch and Development Plan of China under Grant no. 2007AA041201, and the Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education under Grant no. 20070145017

Pharmacokinetics and safety of ixazomib plus lenalidomide–dexamethasone in Asian patients with relapsed/refractory myeloma: a phase 1 study

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Efficacy and tolerability of vardenafil in Asian men with erectile dysfunction

10.1111/j.1745-7262.2008.00388.xAsian Journal of Andrology103495-50