Applying Association Rules and Co-location Techniques on Geospatial Web Services

Most contemporary GIS have only very basic spatial analysis and data mining functionality and many are confined to analysis that involves comparing maps and descriptive statistical displays like histograms or pie charts. Emerging Web standards promise a network of heterogeneous yet interoperable Web Services. Web Services would greatly simplify the development of many kinds of data integration and knowledge management applications. Geospatial data mining describes the combination of two key market intelligence software tools: Geographical Information Systems and Data Mining Systems. This research aims to develop a Spatial Data Mining web service it uses rule association techniques and correlation methods to explore results of huge amounts of data generated from crises management integrated applications developed. It integrates between traffic systems, medical services systems, civil defense and state of the art Geographic Information Systems and Data Mining Systems functionality in an open, highly extensible, internet-enabled plug-in architecture. The Interoperability of geospatial data previously focus just on data formats and standards. The recent popularity and adoption of the Internet and Web Services has provided a new means of interoperability for geospatial information not just for exchanging data but for analyzing these data during exchange. An integrated, user friendly Spatial Data Mining System available on the internet via a web service offers exciting new possibilities for spatial decision making and geographical research to a wide range of potential users.   Keywords: Spatial Data Mining, Rule Association, Co-location, Web Services, Geospatial Dat

Impact of placental malaria on maternal, placental and fetal cord responses and its role in pregnancy outcomes in women from Blue Nile State, Sudan

Pes al naixement; Citocines; Malària placentàriaPeso al nacer; Citoquinas; Paludismo placentarioBirth weight; Cytokines; Placental malariaBackground The sequestration of Plasmodium falciparum infected cells in the placenta results in placental malaria (PM). It activates the mother's immune cells and induces secretion of inflammatory cytokines, which might influence pregnancy outcomes. This study aims to investigate the cytokines (levels IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, IL-17A, and INF γ) in maternal peripheral, placental, and umbilical cord blood in response to PM and the extent to which this may influence maternal haemoglobin levels and birth weight. Methods A total of 185 consenting Sudanese women from Blue Nile State were enrolled at delivery time in a cross-sectional study conducted between Jan 2012-Dec 2015. Malaria infection in the collected maternal peripheral, placental, umbilical cord samples was determined microscopically, and ELISA was used to measure the plasma levels IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, IL-17A, and INF γ in the collected positive and negative malaria samples. Results Elevated levels of IL-4 and IL-10 and reduced levels of IL-6 were detected in the malaria positive samples in comparison to the negative ones in the three types of the samples investigated. Maternal, IL-4 and IL-10 were significantly higher in the samples collected from the PM infected group compared to the non-infected control (P < 0.001). While the absence of PM was significantly associated with the IL-6 and maternal IFN-γ levels, maternal IL-17A, placental and umbilical cord IFN-γ levels showed no significant difference (P = 0.214, P = 0.065, P = 0.536, respectively) due to infection. Haemoglobin level and birth weight were increased in the group with high levels of IL-6 and IL-17A, but not in the group with IL-4 and IL-10 levels. While significantly negative correlation was found between IFN-γ levels and birth weight for all three types of samples, only maternal peripheral IFN-γ level was significantly positively correlated with maternal haemoglobin (r = 0.171, P = 0.020). Conclusion These results suggest that PM induces mother’s immune response and impairs her cytokine profile, which might alter maternal haemoglobin levels and the baby's birth weight.This work was supported by Vall d´Hebron Research Institute as part of Samia Omer fellowship of the 4th edition of Science by Women, Foundation Mujeres por África (FMxA), Madrid –Spain

Nanonutraceuticals: Anti-Cancer Activity and Improved Safety of Chemotherapy by Costunolide and Its Nanoformulation against Colon and Breast Cancer

Costunolide (COS) is a sesquiterpene lactone with anticancer properties. The present study investigated the anticancer effects of COS against the human colon (HCT116) and breast (MDA-MB-231-Luc) cancer cell lines. Inhibition of cell lines viability and IC50 of COS were assessed via an MTT assay. Furthermore, the apoptotic rate was detected by assessment of Bcl2-associated X (Bax) and B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl2) protein levels by flow cytometry. Xenograft mice model of HCT116 and MDA-MB-231-Luc were carried out to determine the effect of COS and its nanoparticles (COS-NPs). The results demonstrated that COS inhibited the viability of HCT116 and MDA-MB-231-Luc cells, with a half maximal inhibitory concentration value (IC50) of 39.92 µM and 100.57 µM, respectively. COS significantly increased Bax and decreased Bcl2 levels in treated cells. COS and COS-NPs, in combination with doxorubicin (DOX), significantly decreased the tumor growth of HCT116 and MDA-MB-231-Luc implants in mice. Furthermore, oral administration of COS and COS-NPs significantly decreased the viable cells and increased necrotic/apoptotic cells of HCT116 and MDA-MB-231-Luc implants. Interestingly, both COS and COS-NPs protected the cardiac muscles against DOX’s cardiotoxicity. The current results indicated the promising anticancer and cardiac muscles protection of COS and COS-NPs when administered with chemotherapy