HOXD8 exerts a tumor-suppressing role in colorectal cancer as an apoptotic inducer

Homeobox (HOX) genes are conserved transcription factors which determine the anterior-posterior body axis patterning. HOXD8 is a member of HOX genes deregulated in several tumors such as lung carcinoma, neuroblastoma, glioma and colorectal cancer (CRC) in a context-dependent manner. In CRC, HOXD8 is downregulated in cancer tissues and metastatic foci as compared to normal tissues. Whether HOXD8 acts as a tumor suppressor of malignant progression and metastasis is still unclear. Also, the underlying mechanism of its function including the downstream targets is totally unknown. Here, we clarified the lower expression of HOXD8 in clinical colorectal cancer vs. normal colon tissues. Also, we showed that stable expression of HOXD8 in colorectal cancer cells significantly reduced the cell proliferation, anchorage-independent growth and invasion. Further, using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), we identified the genes associated with HOXD8 in order to demonstrate its function as a suppressor or a promoter of colorectal carcinoma. Among inversely related genes, apoptotic inhibitors like STK38 kinase and MYC were shown to be negatively associated with HOXD8. We demonstrated the ability of HOXD8 to upregulate executioner caspases 6 & 7 and cleaved PARP, thus inducing the apoptotic events in colorectal cancer cells

A NEW STATISTICAL MODEL FOR THE ESTIMATION OF AUTOCLAVE EXPANSION OF PORTLAND CEMENT

This paper presents the predictive functional control of an autoclave expansion of Portland cement, using non-linear regression equation. This is in order to save time and expense also for quality control assurance for produced cement (in cement factories). The autoclave expansion test (ASTM C151- 05) is one of the internationally used tests in detecting the unsoundness of Portland cement. The factors affecting test results were reviewed. A statistical analysis was built and based on 50 different cement samples taken from 8 different Iraqi cement factories. Thirty three of the samples were ordinary Portland cement while the other seventeen samples were sulfate resisting Portland cement. The model examines different variables such as; chemical composition (phase composition and oxides percentages), and physical properties such as fineness. Regression analysis was performed to establish a mathematical formula. According to the analysis the model provide good estimation of autoclave expansion and yielded good correlations with the data used in this study. It was found that the multiple linear regressions are very suitable for predicting the autoclave expansion of Portland cement. Study results indicate that the correlation coefficient may reach 0.9797, indicating that the proposed method has referential value. The model was tested with collected new raw data and the predictions were highly correlation to the experimental results (R2=0.9535)

Development of amine-functionalized mesoporous alumina for radioiodine removal from water

“Radioactive materials have spread due to careless disposal and nuclear disasters. Some radionuclides can exist in an aqueous media, like radioactive iodine. As a result, in this work amine-functionalized mesoporous alumina was developed to adsorb radioactive iodine from the liquid phase. Bismuth was incorporated, using a wet impregnation method, to test it as a possible silver replacement. Amine grafting was used to functionalize the surface of the mesoporous alumina. All materials prepared in this work were characterized by N2 physisorption, FTIR and TGA to determine the textural properties, surface functionality, and amine loading. The synthesized materials were tested for iodine adsorption in batch experiments. The effect of initial iodine concentration, temperature, contact time, bismuth loading, amine chain, and amine loading were studied in this work. The iodine adsorption capacities were obtained, and it was found that Bi15/Al-DMAPS had the highest iodine adsorption capacity of 215 mg/g in the first paper; whereas, Al-DMAPS had the highest iodine adsorption capacity of 241 mg/g in the second paper. BET surface areas were also obtained and found to be 176 and 191 m2/g for Bi15/Al-DMAPS and Al-DMAPS, respectively”--Abstract, page iv

A Real Time Distributed Network Monitoring Platform (RTDNM)

Perkembangan geografi dan peningkatan saiz dalam rangkaian-rangkaian komputer menjadikan keperluan pemantauan terhadapnya menjadi semakin penting. As computer networks increase in size and expand geographically, the necessity to monitor them becomes increasingly important

Knowledge Transfer: A Critical Review of Research Approaches

Knowledge transfer occurs when individuals in the organization share knowledge, skills, recommendations, and ideas pertinent to the organization. Individuals, members of one group, or members of different groups communicate. Direct commitment between the broadcaster and receiver is necessary to ensure that knowledge sharing is successful. Knowledge transfer considers sharing information throughout the organization's divisions and employees. There has been tremendous growth in the amount of study done on knowledge generation and transfer. The latter is caused by knowledge development and transfer, both of which increase an organization's competitiveness. Since the beginning of knowledge management research in the middle of the 1990s, the theoretical development of knowledge transfer has continued to grow. The researcher conducted a critical review of the literature to evaluate the various research approaches utilized by past studies. The paper tries to review and summarize the different approaches which will guide future research studies in knowledge transfer

UUM's Library Reminder System

According to the 9th and 10th rules in the Sultanah Bahiyah Library, students are responsible for the returning or books borrowed on/before the due date; fines will be imposed on late return of materials borrowed. The delay of return will also affect the well balanced flow of the books. In order to solve the problem, a UUM's Library reminder system is proposed in this research to remind the students to return books on time. The proposed system will follow the General Methodology of Design Research introduced by Vaishnavi and Kuechler. Following this methodology, the awareness of problem and suggestion is made first, after the development of the system, evaluation is conducted and finally conclusion is made. This system is hoped to make the library's daily operation more efficient and help the students to avoid punishment of delay to return books

THE COMPELLING NECESSITY OF HOUSING AS A MEANS OF TERMINATING THE LEASE

This study deals with the compelling necessity of housing as a means of terminating the lease, which is a permit or a means granted by the legislator or the judiciary to the owner to repossess their property as a result of the realization of an emergency circumstance. To meet the aim of the current study, a comparative analytical approach is taken into account. Given the results,  the right of the owner to repossess the property by compelling necessity is restricted by not to abuse the right in order to preserve the rights of the tenant for the purposes of housing. In fact, these restrictions, which violation constitute an abuse, are represented in the absence of the intent of abusement, that the desired benefit of the act is illegitimate and that the benefit from the same is not commensurate with the harm that afflicts others in addition to not going beyond the status established by the customs and traditions

Compressive Strength and Elastic Modulus of Slurry Infiltrated Fiber Concrete (SIFCON) at High Temperature

SIFCON is a special type of fiber reinforced concrete (FRC) with an unattached fiber matrix that gives the composite matrix important tensile properties and, due to its high fiber content, SIFCON also has distinctive and unique ductility and energy absorption properties. Higher temperature resistance is one of the most important parameters affecting the durability and service life of the material. In this research, the compression strength and elastic modulus of Slurry Infiltrated Fiber Concrete (SIFCON) were tested both before and after exposure to high temperatures. Two fire exposure durations of 2 and 3 hours are examined. In addition to room temperatures, three temperature ranges of 400 ° C, 600 ° C and 900 ° C have been introduced. The results of the experiment showed that the compressive strength and elastic modulus decreased after exposure to high temperatures. The drastically reduction of compressive strength took place with increasing temperature above 600 °C. While, the reduction in elastic modulus values is more significant than the decrease in compressive strength at the same fire flame temperatures. The residual compressive strength and elastic modulus at 900 °C were in the range of (52.1% to 59.6%) and (30.6% to 34.1%) respectively

Correlation between quality of healthcare and safety culture in Saudi Arabia organizations

Background: The current study aimed to examine the association between hospital nurses’ attitudes about the safety culture and patients’ views about the quality of healthcare services delivered to them during their hospitalization. Methods: This study was cross section study as well as adopted the correlational design. The study used the hospital survey on patient safety culture to assess nurses’ perceptions about the safety culture, and the consumer assessment of healthcare providers and systems survey to assess patients’ experience of care. The current study was conducted in a tertiary healthcare organization in Riyadh city in Saudi Arabia. Results: The response rates for nurses and patients were 79% and 80%, respectively. In nurses’ sample, the majority 92.9% was female and 90.6% was non-Saudi; while 43.5% of patients were male and the majority was Saudi 97.1%. More than half of the nurses 57.2% were married and 35.4% identified themselves as single. On the other hand, the majority of patients 81.5% were married and 48.7% of patients had a diploma or high school or less. Conclusions: The results of canonical correlation analysis showed positive and strong correlations between nurses’ perceptions of safety culture (facilitators and threats to patient safety) and patients’ perceptions of quality of healthcare (interpersonal care communication and technical quality of care). The canonical variates for both root pairs (canonical correlation coefficients = 0.89 and 0.81). This finding clearly proves that in workplaces where staffs have more positive perceptions of patient safety culture, patients have more positive experiences of care