Academic scientist’s motivation in research commercialization from National Research Universities in Thailand: An individual Level

The main objective of this research was to study a model of the motivation of academic scientists to commercialise research by investigating the relationship between their motivation and influence factors, focusing on the individual level. Questionnaire surveys were used to collect the data. The target samples were selected from professors in national research universities in Thailand. The results from regression analysis showed that both personal driving force and opportunity recognition affected the motivation of academic scientists in research commercialization. The results of the analysis of variance, t-tests and Pearson Chi-Square identified the type of research, intellectual property ownership, taking a business course, involvement in the scientific community and having a personal connection with industry affected the driving force of the researcher. University-industry linkage directly affected to recognise opportunities. This research may help guide policy makers to increase research commercialization by academic researchers. Keywords: academic scientist, research commercialization, scientist’s motivation, academic entrepreneurship, university-industry linkage, national research university, technology transfe

N-Acetylglucosamine: Production and Applications

N-Acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) is a monosaccharide that usually polymerizes linearly through (1,4)-β-linkages. GlcNAc is the monomeric unit of the polymer chitin, the second most abundant carbohydrate after cellulose. In addition to serving as a component of this homogeneous polysaccharide, GlcNAc is also a basic component of hyaluronic acid and keratin sulfate on the cell surface. In this review, we discuss the industrial production of GlcNAc, using chitin as a substrate, by chemical, enzymatic and biotransformation methods. Also, newly developed methods to obtain GlcNAc using glucose as a substrate in genetically modified microorganisms are introduced. Moreover, GlcNAc has generated interest not only as an underutilized resource but also as a new functional material with high potential in various fields. Here we also take a closer look at the current applications of GlcNAc, and several new and cutting edge approaches in this fascinating area are thoroughly discussed

Collaborative Cassava-Chip Supply Chain Mobile Application in Thailand

Cassava-chip is considered one of Thailand’s most important economic crops and Thailand is the world’s largest cassava products exporter. Thai government is prioritizing the cassava production in their “Mega farm” strategy in support of agricultural economic and collaboration between farmer, public and private sectors. The collaborative model is an integrated supply chain that manages the multiple stakeholders. Moreover, implementing the collaborative supply chain (CSC) has improve overall performance of the entire supply chain. The study aims to review existing literature on collaborative model and critical success factors in the agriculture supply chain context during 2008-2018 and the 20-year agriculture and cooperatives strategy (2017-2036). The six key collaborative success factors are identified: Business Management, Information Technology, Value Added Process, SC Relationship, Top Management Commitment, Partnership, Service Quality, Process, Resource Capability, Environment Uncertainties, Customer Satisfaction. The hypothesis will be tested by the linear regression analysis and develop the prototype of CSC mobile application to create the collaboration in cassava chip industry. Then, the result will be embedded into mobile application. The application will later be used to provide more appropriate third-party system to enhance the collaborative cassava chip supply chain in Thailand. The result shows that all components are supported by the hypothesis and user acceptance test

Collaborative Cassava-Chip Supply Chain Mobile Application in Thailand

Cassava-chip is considered one of Thailand’s most important economic crops and Thailand is the world’s largest cassava products exporter. Thai government is prioritizing the cassava production in their “Mega farm” strategy in support of agricultural economic and collaboration between farmer, public and private sectors. The collaborative model is an integrated supply chain that manages the multiple stakeholders. Moreover, implementing the collaborative supply chain (CSC) has improve overall performance of the entire supply chain. The study aims to review existing literature on collaborative model and critical success factors in the agriculture supply chain context during 2008-2018 and the 20-year agriculture and cooperatives strategy (2017-2036). The six key collaborative success factors are identified: Business Management, Information Technology, Value Added Process, SC Relationship, Top Management Commitment, Partnership, Service Quality, Process, Resource Capability, Environment Uncertainties, Customer Satisfaction. The hypothesis will be tested by the linear regression analysis and develop the prototype of CSC mobile application to create the collaboration in cassava chip industry. Then, the result will be embedded into mobile application. The application will later be used to provide more appropriate third-party system to enhance the collaborative cassava chip supply chain in Thailand. The result shows that all components are supported by the hypothesis and user acceptance test

Chitosan Oligosaccharide Promotes Junction Barrier through Modulation of PI3K/AKT and ERK Signaling Intricate Interplay in T84 Cells

Chitosan oligosaccharide (COS) is a breakdown product of chitin, a polymer of N-acetyl-D-glucosamine. COS promotes barrier function in intestinal epithelial cells. However, the exact mechanism of COS-induced barrier function remains unknown. This study was aimed to explore the intricate signaling cascades in the junction barrier induced by COS (100 μg/mL) in human intestinal epithelial cells (T84 cells). COS (100 μg/mL) promoted tight junction assembly and increased transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER). COS inhibited FITC-dextran flux in T84 cell monolayers at 2 h, 4 h, 6 h and 24 h post treatment. In addition, the effect of COS on TEER and FITC-dextran flux was abrogated by pre-incubation of wortmannin (2 μM), an AKT (protein kinase B) inhibitor, at 2 h and 4 h post treatment, indicating that COS-induced tight junction integrity was mediated at least in part by AKT activation. COS-induced TEER was amplified at 24 h and 48 h post treatment by pre-incubation with SC79 (2.5 μM), an AKT activator. Moreover, COS induced inhibition of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) in T84 cells. Wortmannin and SC79 pre-incubation promoted ERK activation and ERK inhibition, respectively, suggesting that COS-induced ERK inhibition was mediated by AKT. Collectively, this study reveals that COS promotes junction barrier integrity via regulating PI3K/AKT and ERK signaling intricate interplay in T84 cell monolayers. COS may be beneficial in promoting junction barrier in intestinal disorders

Levan-type fructooligosaccharide production using Bacillus licheniformis RN-01 levansucrase Y246S immobilized on chitosan beads

Bacillus licheniformis RN-01 levansucrase Y246S (LsRN-Y246S) was immobilized by covalently linking onto chitosan, Sepabead EC-EP, and Sepabead EC-HFA, beads. The stability of immobilized LsRN-Y246S was found to be the highest with chitosan beads, retaining more than 70% activity after 13 weeks storage at 4 oC, and 68% activity after 12 hours incubation at 40°C. LsRN-Y246S immobilized on chitosan beads withstands sucrose concentrations up to 70% (w/v), retaining over 85% of its activity, significantly better than LsRN-Y246S immobilized on others supporting matrices. LsRN-Y246S immobilized on chitosan showed a 2.4 fold increase in activity in the presence of Mn2+, and gave slight protection against deactivation by of Cu2+, Zn2+, Fe3+, SDS and EDTA. A maximum of 8.36 g and an average of 7.35 g LFOS yield at least up to DP 11 can be produced from 25 g of sucrose, during five production cycles. We have demonstrated that LFOS can be effectively produced by chitosan immobilized LsRN-Y246S and purified

Chitosan Oligosaccharide Prevents Afatinib-Induced Barrier Disruption and Chloride Secretion through Modulation of AMPK, PI3K/AKT, and ERK Signaling in T84 Cells

Diarrhea is an important adverse effect of epidermal growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinase inhibitors, especially afatinib. Novel antidiarrheal agents are needed to reduce epidermal growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinase inhibitor-associated diarrhea to improve the quality of life and treatment outcome in cancer patients. This study aimed to investigate the anti-diarrheal activity of chitosan oligosaccharide against afatinib-induced barrier disruption and chloride secretion in human intestinal epithelial cells (T84 cells). Chitosan oligosaccharide (100 μg/mL) prevented afatinib-induced barrier disruption determined by changes in transepithelial electrical resistance and FITC-dextran flux in the T84 cell monolayers. In addition, chitosan oligosaccharide prevented afatinib-induced potentiation of cAMP-induced chloride secretion measured by short-circuit current analyses in the T84 cell monolayers. Chitosan oligosaccharide induced the activation of AMPK, a positive regulator of epithelial tight junction and a negative regulator of cAMP-induced chloride secretion. Moreover, chitosan oligosaccharide partially reversed afatinib-induced AKT inhibition without affecting afatinib-induced ERK inhibition via AMPK-independent mechanisms. Collectively, this study reveals that chitosan oligosaccharide prevents the afatinib-induced diarrheal activities in T84 cells via both AMPK-dependent and AMPK-independent mechanisms. Chitosan oligosaccharide represents a promising natural polymer-derived compound for further development of treatment for afatinib-associated diarrheas

Unraveling the structural and molecular properties of 34-residue levans with various branching degrees by replica exchange molecular dynamics simulations.

Levan has various potential applications in the pharmaceutical and food industries, such as cholesterol-lowering agents and prebiotics, due to its beneficial properties, which depend on its length and branching degree. A previous study also found that the branching degree of levan affected anti-tumor activities against SNU-1 and HepG2 tumor cell lines. Despite its promising potential, the properties of levans with different branching degrees are not well understood at the molecular level. In two models of the generalized Born implicit solvent (GBHCT and GBOBC1), we employed replica-exchange molecular dynamics simulations to explore conformational spaces of 34-residue levans (L34) with branching degrees of zero (LFO34B0), one (LFO34B1), three (LFO34B3) and five (LFO34B5), as well as to elucidate their structural and molecular properties. To ensure a fair comparison of the effects of branching degree on these properties, we focused on analyzing the properties of the central 21-residue of the main chains of all systems. Our results show that all major representative conformations tend to form helix-like structures with kinks, where two-kink helix-like structures have the highest population. As branching degree increases, the population of helix-like structures with zero or one kink tends to increase slightly. As the number of kinks in the structures with the same branching degree increases, the average values of the lengths and angles among centers of masses of three consecutive turns of residue i, i+3, and i+6 tended to decrease. Due to its highest occurring frequencies, the O6 (i)-H3O (i+1) hydrogen bond could be important for helix-like structure formation. Moreover, hydrogen bonds forming among the branching residue (br), branching position (bp) and other residues of L34B1, L34B3 and L34B5 were identified. The O1(bp)-H3O(br), O1(br)-H3O(br) and O5(br)-H1O(br) hydrogen bonds were found in the first-, second- and third-highest occurrence frequencies, respectively. Our study provides novel and important insights into conformational spaces and the structural and molecular properties of 34-residue levans with various branching degrees, which tend to form helix-like structures with kinks