A non-dominated sorting Differential Search Algorithm Flux Balance Analysis (ndsDSAFBA) for in silico multiobjective optimization in identifying reactions knockout

Metabolic engineering is defined as improving the cellular activities of an organism by manipulating the metabolic, signal or regulatory network. In silico reaction knockout simulation is one of the techniques applied to analyse the effects of genetic perturbations on metabolite production. Many methods consider growth coupling as the objective function, whereby it searches for mutants that maximise the growth and production rate. However, the final goal is to increase the production rate. Furthermore, they produce one single solution, though in reality, cells do not focus on one objective and they need to consider various different competing objectives. In this work, a method, termed ndsDSAFBA (non-dominated sorting Differential Search Algorithm and Flux Balance Analysis), has been developed to find the reaction knockouts involved in maximising the production rate and growth rate of the mutant, by incorporating Pareto dominance concepts. The proposed ndsDSAFBA method was validated using three genome-scale metabolic models. We obtained a set of non-dominated solutions, with each solution representing a different mutant strain. The results obtained were compared with the single objective optimisation (SOO) and multi-objective optimisation (MOO) methods. The results demonstrate that ndsDSAFBA is better than the other methods in terms of production rate and growth rate

A Quantitative Approach to Estimate the Damage Inflicted by Traffic Pollution on Historic Buildings in Al-Salt City, Jordan

Traffic in the city of Al-Salt is not only putting pedestrians at risk and threatening the health of citizens, it is also damaging the town's historic buildings. Most stone buildings in the heritage-rich city are suffering adverse effects from vehicle-related pollution. This effect is highly visible soiling and discoloration from deposited carbon particles in the form of fine soot on most buildings. The level and progress of the damage depends on the geology of the stone and the proximity of the structure from traffic congestion. The accumulation of soot leads to the buildup of black sulfate (gypsum) skins on the limestone facade which causes the sound stone behind it to disintegrate. It is vital to the well-being of this historic treasure that the volume of the city traffic must be reduced and traffic flow improved. The main objective of this study is to qualitatively and quantitatively assess the damage caused to buildings of historical and cultural value by traffic pollution. Age of vehicles running on city’s streets and the rate of their emissions are quantified and analyzed. Several field investigations and laboratory tests were conducted to identify the chemical relations between pollutants and stone decay on these buildings. Keywords: Traffic pollution, tailpipe emission, vehicular emission, historic buildings, limeston

DISEASE DETECTION FROM FIELD SPECTROMETER DATA

ABSTRACT: Oil palm plants have been planted in large scale of areas. Ganoderma disease has been recognized and diagnosed in oil palm plants to infect almost half of the oil palm plants in Malaysia. To deal with this problem, the use of vegetation indices analysis on hyper spectral field data we will examine the ability of this data in discrimination between Ganoderma disease stages in oil palm plants which will be helpful in control the spread of the diseases. By using vegetation indices the oil palm plants could be classified into 1 (T1 healthy), 2 (T2 semi healthy) and 3 (T3 severe damage) plant classes accurately. The results showed that the best vegetation index is the Modified Red Edge Simple Ratio (MSR705) among the vegetation indices to discriminate between oil palm health stages. It was realized that the modification that was applied to the Modified Red Edge Simple Ratio (MSR705) index of Narrowband greenness VIs has been exhibited an acceptable results in differentiate between the oil palm plant stage 1 (T1 healthy) and stage 2 (T2 semi healthy).   ABSTRAK: Tanaman kelapa sawit ditanam secara meluas.  Penyakit ganoderma dikenali dan didiagnosikan menjangkiti hampir separuh tanaman kelapa sawit di Malaysia. Untuk mengawal penyakit ini daripada merebak, analisis indeks tanaman dijalankan ke atas data kawasan spektrum melampau di mana keupayaan data ini diuji dalam membezakan peringkat-peringkat penyakit Ganoderma terhadap tanaman kelapa sawit. Dengan menggunakan indeks tanaman, kelapa sawit dapat diklasifikasikan kepada 1 (T1 sihat), 2 (T2 separa sihat) dan 3 (T3 rosak); kelas tanaman dengan tepat. Keputusan menunjukkan indeks tanaman terbaik sebagai Modified Red Edge Simple Ratio (MSR705) yang merupakan indeks tanaman dalam membezakan peringkat kesihatan kelapa sawit. Adalah didapati pengubahsuaian terhadap indeks Modified Red Edge Simple Ratio (MSR705) yang juga indeks Jalur Sempit Hijau VI telah memberikan keputusan yang munasabah dalam membezakan peringkat tanaman kelapa sawit peringkat 1 (T1 sihat) dan peringkat 2 (T2 separa sihat)

Counselling Agent in Online Game Design for Excessive and Addictive Gaming Control

The issue of online game effects such as excessive play and addiction has attracted the attention of researchers, Government authorities and even stakeholders. For example, Chinese government has adopted daily shutting down of internet cafe at specified hours, and Australian authority enforced censoring certain portion of certain games before they are released. As an effort to tackle this issue, researchers have proposed adopting design changes on time limit as well as providing referral services as ways of limiting harm. The impart of the above are yet to make any remarkable impact on players. In this paper, we proposed a Counseling Agent model integrating informative and self-appraisal messages in online game design as a control measure. Counseling being a major source of addressing most human disorder has become a focus of attraction in addressing the issue of online game overuse in the society. In addition, the informative and self-appraisal messaging in games have proven optimistic through making positive impact on player's thoughts and behavior towards gaming. These messages are expected to remind players about the negative impact of excessive and addictive gaming habits, as well as suggesting possible reductive solutions through message streaming

Measurements of mitral annular displacement in 2D echocardiography images

Mitral Annular Displacement (MAD) in echocardiography has been described as a variation in mitral annulus position between the enddiastolic and the end-systolic in a complete cardiac cycle. It could be used as a rapid and reproducible method of determining the LV global systolic function and could be an easily detectable index for wall motion abnormalities. In this study, a computational method of MAD was implemented based on the mitral annulus motion tracking at both sides; namely the lateral side and the septal side using 2D-Echocardiographic (2DE) datasets. This method comprises three main processing stages: 2DE dataset preparation, Region Of Interest (ROI) selection and MAD measurements. For each 2DE dataset, MAD was computed as the movement distance toward the LV apex at both sides individually in twoconsecutive frames using the ‘Euclidian distance' method. Then, the maximum displacement occurs during a complete cardiac cycle was measured in millimetres (mm) for each side. The overall datasets used are 178 original 2D-echocardiography images in 4-chamber view. The experimental results for MAD measurements were compared with results that obtained by TMQ Advanced technique using QLAB software. The comparative analysis was done qualitatively by visual observation of two expert and the comparison scores show that the proposed method of MAD measurements has high acceptability of 85%. Furthermore, the quantitative analysis of the MAD method is comparable with TMAD measurements by QLAB and there is no significant differences in displacement measurements

Compressive strength and durability of foamed concrete incorporating processed spent bleaching earth

Foamed concrete incorporating processed spent bleaching earth (PSBE) produces environmentally friendly foamed concrete. Compressive strength, porosity, and rapid chloride penetration tests were performed to investigate the potential application for building material due to its low density and porous concrete. Laboratory results show that 30% PSBE as cement replacement in foamed concrete produced higher compressive strength. Meanwhile, the porosity of the specimen produced by 30% PSBE was 45% lower than control foamed concrete. The porosity of foamed concrete incorporating PSBE decreases due to the fineness of PSBE that reduces the volume of void space between cement and fine aggregate. It was effectively blocking the pore and enhances the durability. Consistently, the positive effect of incorporating of PSBE has decreased the rapid chloride ion permeability compared to that control foamed concrete. According to ASTM C1202-19 the foamed concrete containing 30% PSBE was considered low moderate permeability based on its charge coulombs value of less than 4000. Besides, the high chloride ion permeability in foamed concrete is because the current quickly passes through the specimen due to its larger air volume. In conclusion, incorporating PSBE in foamed concrete generates an excellent pozzolanic effect, producing more calcium silicate hydrate and denser foamed concrete, making it greater, fewer voids, and higher resistance to chloride penetration

Antimicrobial resistance among migrants in Europe: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Rates of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are rising globally and there is concern that increased migration is contributing to the burden of antibiotic resistance in Europe. However, the effect of migration on the burden of AMR in Europe has not yet been comprehensively examined. Therefore, we did a systematic review and meta-analysis to identify and synthesise data for AMR carriage or infection in migrants to Europe to examine differences in patterns of AMR across migrant groups and in different settings. METHODS: For this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched MEDLINE, Embase, PubMed, and Scopus with no language restrictions from Jan 1, 2000, to Jan 18, 2017, for primary data from observational studies reporting antibacterial resistance in common bacterial pathogens among migrants to 21 European Union-15 and European Economic Area countries. To be eligible for inclusion, studies had to report data on carriage or infection with laboratory-confirmed antibiotic-resistant organisms in migrant populations. We extracted data from eligible studies and assessed quality using piloted, standardised forms. We did not examine drug resistance in tuberculosis and excluded articles solely reporting on this parameter. We also excluded articles in which migrant status was determined by ethnicity, country of birth of participants' parents, or was not defined, and articles in which data were not disaggregated by migrant status. Outcomes were carriage of or infection with antibiotic-resistant organisms. We used random-effects models to calculate the pooled prevalence of each outcome. The study protocol is registered with PROSPERO, number CRD42016043681. FINDINGS: We identified 2274 articles, of which 23 observational studies reporting on antibiotic resistance in 2319 migrants were included. The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or AMR infection in migrants was 25·4% (95% CI 19·1-31·8; I2 =98%), including meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (7·8%, 4·8-10·7; I2 =92%) and antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacteria (27·2%, 17·6-36·8; I2 =94%). The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or infection was higher in refugees and asylum seekers (33·0%, 18·3-47·6; I2 =98%) than in other migrant groups (6·6%, 1·8-11·3; I2 =92%). The pooled prevalence of antibiotic-resistant organisms was slightly higher in high-migrant community settings (33·1%, 11·1-55·1; I2 =96%) than in migrants in hospitals (24·3%, 16·1-32·6; I2 =98%). We did not find evidence of high rates of transmission of AMR from migrant to host populations. INTERPRETATION: Migrants are exposed to conditions favouring the emergence of drug resistance during transit and in host countries in Europe. Increased antibiotic resistance among refugees and asylum seekers and in high-migrant community settings (such as refugee camps and detention facilities) highlights the need for improved living conditions, access to health care, and initiatives to facilitate detection of and appropriate high-quality treatment for antibiotic-resistant infections during transit and in host countries. Protocols for the prevention and control of infection and for antibiotic surveillance need to be integrated in all aspects of health care, which should be accessible for all migrant groups, and should target determinants of AMR before, during, and after migration. FUNDING: UK National Institute for Health Research Imperial Biomedical Research Centre, Imperial College Healthcare Charity, the Wellcome Trust, and UK National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit in Healthcare-associated Infections and Antimictobial Resistance at Imperial College London

Graphene Oxide-Gallic Acid Nanodelivery System for Cancer Therapy

Despite the technological advancement in the biomedical science, cancer remains a life-threatening disease. In this study, we designed an anticancer nanodelivery system using graphene oxide (GO) as nanocarrier for an active anticancer agent gallic acid (GA). The successful formation nanocomposite (GOGA) was characterized using XRD, FTIR, HRTEM, Raman, and UV/Vis spectroscopy. The release study shows that the release of GA from the designed anticancer nanocomposite (GOGA) occurs in a sustained manner in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) solution at pH 7.4. In in vitro biological studies, normal fibroblast (3T3) and liver cancer cells (HepG2) were treated with different concentrations of GO, GOGA, and GA for 72 h. The GOGA nanocomposite showed the inhibitory effect to cancer cell growth without affecting normal cell growth. The results of this research are highly encouraging to go further for in vivo studies

Effects of anthropogenic activities on the heavy metal levels in the clams and sediments in a tropical river

The present study aimed to assess the effects of anthropogenic activities on the heavy metal levels in the Langat River by transplantation of Corbicula javanica. In addition, potential ecological risk indexes (PERI) of heavy metals in the surface sediments of the river were also investigated. The correlation analysis revealed that eight metals (As, Co, Cr, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn) in total soft tissue (TST) while five metals (As, Cd, Cr, Fe and Mn) in shell have positively and significantly correlation with respective metal concentration in sediment, indicating the clams is a good biomonitor of the metal levels. Based on clustering patterns, the discharge of dam impoundment, agricultural activities and urban domestic waste were identified as three major contributors of the metals in Pangsun, Semenyih and Dusun Tua, and Kajang, respectively. Various geochemical indexes for a single metal pollutant (geoaccumulation index (I geo), enrichment factors (EF), contamination factor (C f) and ecological risk (Er)) all agreed that Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni and Zn are not likely to cause adverse effect to the river ecosystem, but As and Pb could pose a potential ecological risk to the river ecosystem. All indexes (degree of contamination (C d), combined pollution index (CPI) and PERI) showed that overall metal concentrations in the tropical river are still within safe limit. River metal pollution was investigated. Anthropogenic activities were contributors of the metal pollution. Geochemical indexes showed that metals are within the safe limit