A modular and extensible RNA-based gene-regulatory platform for engineering cellular function

Engineered biological systems hold promise in addressing pressing human needs in chemical processing, energy production, materials construction, and maintenance and enhancement of human health and the environment. However, significant advancements in our ability to engineer biological systems have been limited by the foundational tools available for reporting on, responding to, and controlling intracellular components in living systems. Portable and scalable platforms are needed for the reliable construction of such communication and control systems across diverse organisms. We report an extensible RNA-based framework for engineering ligand-controlled gene-regulatory systems, called ribozyme switches, that exhibits tunable regulation, design modularity, and target specificity. These switch platforms contain a sensor domain, comprised of an aptamer sequence, and an actuator domain, comprised of a hammerhead ribozyme sequence. We examined two modes of standardized information transmission between these domains and demonstrate a mechanism that allows for the reliable and modular assembly of functioning synthetic RNA switches and regulation of ribozyme activity in response to various effectors. In addition to demonstrating examples of small molecule-responsive, in vivo functional, allosteric hammerhead ribozymes, this work describes a general approach for the construction of portable and scalable gene-regulatory systems. We demonstrate the versatility of the platform in implementing application-specific control systems for small molecule-mediated regulation of cell growth and noninvasive in vivo sensing of metabolite production

THE PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF FOUR TYPES WATER SOFTENER USED FOR BOILER

This project is to the performance evaluation of four types water softener used for boiler, based on the existing commercial water softener. Many designs have been utilized today, so here is a project to determine the best design of a water softener tank. Last semester, researches and studies are based on the existing commercial water softener. Design specifications and parameters are determined for a specified capacity of water usage. The first semester will be temporary halted by the initial drawing ofthe new design. This semester, by using CATIA software, the designs of the tank are drawn. Design considerations will be judged for the designs. The project will continue with performance calculations and the final design drawing. Then, the fabrication is conducted in the workshop to construct the tanks with different designs. After the experiments have been carried out, the results are taken and the performance is calculated. The data will be analyzed and the best design is chosen based on the comparison. The comparison of performance is indicated by the hardness reduced, pH value and the conductivity of the water after the softening process. The highest value among four selected designs will be chosen as the best design with the best performance. The discussion part will explain more about the result including the error occurred during the experiment. The recommendation for improvement also provided at the end of this report. As a conclusion, this experiment is successful to meet its objective in finding the best design ofwater softener for the softening process

Women's experiences of pregnancy, childbirth, and the postnatal period in the Gambia: A qualitative study

Objective: In sub-Saharan African countries, there are unique cultural factors and adverse physical conditions that contribute to women's experiences of pregnancy and birth. The objective of this study was to qualitatively explore women's experiences of pregnancy, childbirth, the postnatal period, and maternal psychological distress in The Gambia. Design and methods: Semi-structured interviews were carried out with 55 women who had given birth within the previous year. Results: Thematic analysis identified five themes: (1) transition to adulthood, (2) physical difficulties, (3) value of children in relation to others, (4) children as a strain, and (5) going through it alone. The results suggest that having a child is a defining point in women's lives associated with happiness and joy. However, women also described situations which could lead to unhappiness and distress in the perinatal period. A child conceived out of wedlock or a baby girl can be sources of distress because of negative cultural perceptions. The strain of having a child, particularly the additional financial burden, and minimal support from men were also a concern for women. Finally, women recognized the danger associated with delivery and expressed recurrent worries of complications during childbirth which could result in the death of them or the baby. Conclusions: Further research is needed to identify women vulnerable to psychological distress so that health services and target interventions can be developed accordingly

Myanmar-North Korea relations are primarily a contest between Myanmar's civilian government and its military

For more about the East-West Center, see http://www.eastwestcenter.org/Khun Nyan Min Htet, former East-West Center in Washington Young Professionals Program participant, explains that "As pariah states shunned by the international community for their severe human rights violations and facing sanctions and embargoes by the West, the two countries managed pragmatically to meet each others' needs.

Behavior analysis for aging-in-place using similarity heatmaps

The demand for healthcare services for an increasing population of older adults is faced with the shortage of skilled caregivers and a constant increase in healthcare costs. In addition, the strong preference of the elderly to live independently has been driving much research on "ambient-assisted living" (AAL) systems to support aging-in-place. In this paper, we propose to employ a low-resolution image sensor network for behavior analysis of a home occupant. A network of 10 low-resolution cameras (30x30 pixels) is installed in a service flat of an elderly, based on which the user's mobility tracks are extracted using a maximum likelihood tracker. We propose a novel measure to find similar patterns of behavior between each pair of days from the user's detected positions, based on heatmaps and Earth mover's distance (EMD). Then, we use an exemplar-based approach to identify sleeping, eating, and sitting activities, and walking patterns of the elderly user for two weeks of real-life recordings. The proposed system achieves an overall accuracy of about 94%

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TEACHERS’ PERCEPTION TOWARDS PRINCIPAL’S LEADERSHIP STYLE AND THEIR JOB SATISFACTION AT NO.1 BASIC EDUCATION MIDDLE SCHOOL IN YANGON, MYANMAR

This study identified the relationship between teachers’ perception towards principal’s leadership style and their job satisfaction at No.1 Basic Education Middle School in Yangon, Myanmar. The research objectives were, (1) to identify principal’s leadership style, (2) to identify the level of teachers’ job satisfaction and, (3) to determine the relationship between teachers’ perception towards principal’s leadership style and their job satisfaction at No.1 Basic Education Middle School in Yangon, Myanmar. In this research, there were 65 respondents, all full-time teachers from kindergarten to primary. The study reported the transformational leadership style, transactional leadership style, and demographic factors of teachers. This study found that teachers’ perception towards principal leadership style resulted as moderate, teachers’ job satisfaction level resulted as moderate and there is a significant relationship between teachers’ perception towards principal’s leadership style and their job satisfaction at No.1 Basic Education Middle School in Yangon, Myanmar. The recommendations are (1) teachers should approach with different perception towards leadership style of their principal, (2) teachers should be more positive with challenges and decision-making, (3) principal should use more transformational leadership style. Further research should be conducted using other demographic factors of teachers at international school or private schools in Myanmar

Higher-Order Cellular Information Processing with Synthetic RNA Devices

The engineering of biological systems is anticipated to provide effective solutions to challenges that include energy and food production, environmental quality, and health and medicine. Our ability to transmit information to and from living systems, and to process and act on information inside cells, is critical to advancing the scale and complexity at which we can engineer, manipulate, and probe biological systems. We developed a general approach for assembling RNA devices that can execute higher-order cellular information processing operations from standard components. The engineered devices can function as logic gates (AND, NOR, NAND, or OR gates) and signal filters, and exhibit cooperativity. RNA devices process and transmit molecular inputs to targeted protein outputs, linking computation to gene expression and thus the potential to control cellular function

Need Assessment for the Supply of Vocational High School Teachers in Indonesia ~Study on Developmental Issues of Vocational Institute~

This research purpose is to specify the needs of vocational schoolteachers or instructors and recognize the efforts to comply with vocational schoolteachers/instructors' requirements. This study accustomed a quantitative approach with a secondary data analysis method. This research indicates that the needs of specialized vocational teachers and instructors possibly classified as a deficiency in both private and state schools. In contrast, the lack of private schools is higher than in-state schools. Efforts to comply with the specialized vocational instructors have been undertaking by the Indonesian government, containing: Hiring of teacher’s public officials, hiring of Honorary instructors, and the Dual Expertise Program. Keywords:Vocational Schoolteachers, Private and State school, Vocational Specialization Teachers, Vocational High Schools, Meeting Teacher Needs. DOI: 10.7176/JEP/12-11-02 Publication date: April 30th 202

EFFECT OF WASHING ON DELTAMETHRIN CONCENTRATION AND BIO-EFFICACY OF INSECTICIDE-TREATED MOSQUITO NETS

The deltamethrin impregnated mosquito nets not only prevent but also control malaria, dengue fever and other vector-bone diseases. However, the deltamethrin concentration and bio-efficacy of mosquito nets can reduce due to washing. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of washing on deltamethrin concentration and bio-efficacy of military insecticide-treated mosquito nets. High Performance Liquid Chromatography method was used for the determination of deltamethrin in mosquito-nets. Then, the WHO recommended cone and excito-chamber methods were used to determine the bio-efficacy of mosquito nets. The deltamethrin concentrations in the mosquito-net were after no wash (4590±58.54 ppm), 1× wash (4020±47.39 ppm), 2× wash (3225±45.22 ppm), 3× wash (2771±107.5 ppm), 4× wash (2657±58.59 ppm), 5× wash (1835±47.55 ppm), 10× wash (957±34.85 ppm), 15× wash (197±22.54 ppm) and 20× wash (87±23.75 ppm). The mosquito knockdown effects were reduced by washing of net (no wash to 20× wash) after 60 minutes and 6 hours exposure range from 90-40% and 100-70%. The mosquito mortality rate was reduced by washing of net (no wash to 20× wash) after 24 hours exposure were reduced range from 100-80%. The mosquito repellent action was reduced by washing of net (no wash to 20× wash) after 10 minutes and 24 hours exposure, range from 90-30% and 100-60%. The effective bio-efficacy level was found in 5×wash (1835±47.55 ppm of deltamethrin).Therefore, mosquito net should be impregnated again after the 5× wash to obtain the best protection on the public from mosquito bite

The Involvement of Local Community in The Tourist Attractions of Baliwoso Upadesa, Pengotan, Bangli

Bali, which is essentially the center of Indonesian tourism which is known by all foreign tourists, has all kinds of tourism that tourists need. One of the tourism sectors is special interest tourism, especially in rural areas. The involvement of local community participation plays an important role in the development and preservation of the environment and local resources. However, most of them work as farmers, of course they lack knowledge and experience in the field of tourism. So that in involving the community it is necessary to do training first. This study aims to analyze the form of local community involvement in Pengotan Village by using the theory of participation and the function of human resources. This research was conducted by collecting qualitative data. Data obtained from interviews and observations. After the data was obtained, the researchers analyzed the data using Miles and Huberman. The results of this study found that the Pengotan Village Community involved in Baliwoso participated actively in a top-down or bottom-up manner, starting from managerial functions to the operational functions of Upadesa Baliwoso. This provides a boost to employment opportunities or additional income by working to meet the operational needs of tourists visiting Baliwoso