Nurturing net generation graduates with global skills

The total enrolments in more than 20,000 universities and tertiary education providers around the world are in the range of 200 million students. One in five students are enrolled in technology related disciplines. Various surveys reiterate that only a fraction of graduates are suitable for careers in the world of hyper-connected economies and competitive businesses with supply chains spanning the world. Universities irrespective of where they are functioning are facing new challenges, opportunities and expectations. They are being assessed, benchmarked and compared frequently by third parties with considerable impact on reputation, student enrolments, and resources. Tertiary institutions are on the cusp of enrolling a Net generation of students, who have diverse learning aspirations and needs compared the earlier generations. The emerging scenario requires the tertiary education to be reimagined in terms of the way a) the students are developed to possess global skills and values, b) faculty members are prepared to inspire students, c) curriculum and pedagogy are tailored to the needs of 21st Century workplaces and jobs, d) scientific research and innovation are carried out, and e) entrepreneurship is facilitated at the universities. This manuscript is based on authors’ own experiences during the rise of world-class universities in Singapore, and close interactions with several tertiary institutions around the world. The reimagined higher education will enable future graduates to build liveable and resilient societie

Acceleration of DDSCAT Computation by Parallelization on a Supercomputer

The DDSCAT software is enabled for use of MPI or OpenMP to distribute calculation of different particle orientations amongst multiple processors on a high performance system. Run times for these simulations have been tested to take hours or days however and simulating varying orientations is not always necessary. If a simulation with only one particle orientation is submitted, DDSCAT could still potentially parallelize the simulation by wavelength calculations but it is unknown if this is the case. In this paper, we will be (i) quantifying the reduction in computation time that MPI provides relative to an equivalent MPI disabled simulation and (ii) suggesting a method to additionally improve computation time when executing in a high performance computing environment

Intelligent hydrogels and their biomedical applications

Intelligent biomaterials can modify their properties in response to physical, chemical, and biological stimuli. These smart characteristics drive the innovation of biomaterials in therapy and diagnostics for detecting diseases and providing treatment at early stages. Mainly, hydrogels have gained significant interest in developing smart materials due to their excellent biocompatibility and ability to interact with body fluids that host condition-specific stimuli. Temperature, pressure, pH, light, ROS, cell metabolites, and other physicochemical factors specific to specific disease conditions were studied as major stimuli for designing intelligent biomaterials. The stimuli-responsive characteristic mainly depends on the sensitivity of the biomaterial to the stimuli factor and the tunable macromolecular structure of the materials. The method of biomaterial fabrication is critical in determining the physical and chemical properties of the biomaterial. Surface functionalisation, material blending, and crosslinking are commonly used to synthesise intelligent hydrogels to change the macromolecular structure. The impact and mechanism of these fabrication methods on the macromolecular structure and stimuli responsiveness of intelligent materials remain unidentified. This review focuses on strategies for transforming conventional hydrogels into intelligent hydrogels, their concerning mechanisms of stimuli-responsiveness and their biomedical applications.Peer reviewe

Electrospinning and emerging healthcare and medicine possibilities

Electrospinning forms fibers from either an electrically charged polymer solution or polymer melt. Over the past decades, it has become a simple and versatile method for nanofiber production. Hence, it has been explored in many different applications. Commonly used electrospinning assembles fibers from polymer solutions in various solvents, known as solution electrospinning, while melt and near-field electrospinning techniques enhance the versatility of electrospinning. Adaption of additive manufacturing strategy to electrospinning permits precise fiber deposition and predefining pattern construction. This manuscript critically presents the potential of electrospun nanofibers in healthcare applications. Research community drew impetus from the similarity of electrospun nanofibers to the morphology and mechanical properties of fibrous extracellular matrices (ECM) of natural human tissues. Electrospun nanofibrous scaffolds act as ECM analogs for specific tissue cells, stem cells, and tumor cells to realize tissue regeneration, stem cell differentiation, and in vitro tumor model construction. The large surface-to-volume ratio of electrospun nanofibers offers a considerable number of bioactive agents binding sites, which makes it a promising candidate for a number of biomedical applications. The applications of electrospinning in regenerative medicine, tissue engineering, controlled drug delivery, biosensors, and cancer diagnosis are elaborated. Electrospun nanofiber incorporations in medical device coating, in vitro 3D cancer model, and filtration membrane are also discussed

Small molecule inhibitors against PD-1/PD-L1 immune checkpoints and current methodologies for their development: a review

Programmed death-1/programmed death ligand-1 (PD-1/PD-L1) based immunotherapy is a revolutionary cancer therapy with great clinical success. The majority of clinically used PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors are monoclonal antibodies but their applications are limited due to their poor oral bioavailability and immune-related adverse effects (irAEs). In contrast, several small molecule inhibitors against PD-1/PD-L1 immune checkpoints show promising blockage effects on PD-1/PD-L1 interactions without irAEs. However, proper analytical methods and bioassays are required to effectively screen small molecule derived PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors. Herein, we summarize the biophysical and biochemical assays currently employed for the measurements of binding capacities, molecular interactions, and blocking effects of small molecule inhibitors on PD-1/PD-L1. In addition, the discovery of natural products based PD-1/PD-L1 antagonists utilizing these screening assays are reviewed. Potential pitfalls for obtaining false leading compounds as PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors by using certain binding bioassays are also discussed in this review

Coastal lagoon goods and services and human development

Dissertação mest., Gestão da Água e da Costa, Universidade do Algarve, 2008Coastal lagoons are valuable ecosystems, which provide humans with many benefits. These benefits may take several forms but the economic benefits are highly valued, and are obtained from the lagoon’s goods and services. These goods and services are subjected to pressures and impacts from human development. Therefore in order to assess what changes may occur in these goods and services, three coastal lagoons are studied: the Oropuche (Trinidad & Tobago), Ria Formosa (Portugal), and Venice (Italy) lagoons. The Oropuche lagoon exists in a developing country, where the lagoon ecosystem is threatened by land use changes, a decrease in sustainable use and where management interventions are minimal. In developing countries, too often are ecosystem values suffered for the sake of economic development, therefore the study also aims to demonstrate to policy and decision makers about the need for improved management in the Oropuche lagoon. The study has showed that despite the level of human development: low, medium or high, impacts to the lagoon ecosystem may vary, but the lagoons essentially continue to provide key goods and services. It has also shown that there is a large potential for the Oropuche Lagoon to be sustainably managed so that its value can at least be maintained for future generations

Inhibitory Effects of Cannabinoids on Acetylcholinesterase and Butyrylcholinesterase Enzyme Activities

Introduction: Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) are two cholinergic enzymes catalyzing the reaction of cleaving acetylcholine into acetate and choline at the neuromuscular junction. Abnormal hyperactivity of AChE and BChE can lead to cholinergic deficiency, which is associated with several neurological disorders including cognitive decline and memory impairments. Preclinical studies support that some cannabinoids including cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) may exert pharmacological effects on the cholinergic system, but it remains unclear whether cannabinoids can inhibit AChE and BChE activities. Herein, we aimed to evaluate the inhibitory effects of a panel of cannabinoids including CBD, Δ8-THC, cannabigerol (CBG), cannabigerolic acid (CBGA), cannabicitran (CBT), cannabidivarin (CBDV), cannabichromene (CBC), and cannabinol (CBN) on AChE and BChE activities. Methods: The inhibitory effects of cannabinoids on the activities of AChE and BChE enzymes were evaluated with the Ellman method using acetyl- and butyryl-thiocholines as substrates. The inhibition mechanism of cannabinoids on AChE and BChE was studied with enzyme kinetic assays including the Lineweaver-Burk and Michaelis-Menten analyses. In addition, computational-based molecular docking experiments were performed to explore the interactions between the cannabinoids and the enzyme proteins. Results: Cannabinoids including CBD, Δ8-THC, CBG, CBGA, CBT, CBDV, CBC, and CBN (at 200 µM) inhibited the activities of AChE and BChE by 70.8, 83.7, 92.9, 76.7, 66.0, 79.3, 13.7, and 30.5%, and by 86.8, 80.8, 93.2, 87.1, 77.0, 78.5, 27.9, and 22.0%, respectively. The inhibitory effects of these cannabinoids (with IC50 values ranging from 85.2 to \u3e200 µM for AChE and 107.1 to \u3e200 µM for BChE) were less potent as compared to the positive control galantamine (IC50 1.21 and 6.86 µM for AChE and BChE, respectively). In addition, CBD, as a representative cannabinoid, displayed a competitive type of inhibition on both AChE and BChE. Data from the molecular docking studies suggested that cannabinoids interacted with several amino acid residues on the enzyme proteins, which supported their overall inhibitory effects on AChE and BChE. Conclusion: Cannabinoids showed moderate inhibitory effects on the activities of AChE and BChE enzymes, which may contribute to their modulatory effects on the cholinergic system. Further studies using cell-based and in vivo models are warranted to evaluate whether cannabinoids’ neuroprotective effects are associated with their anti-cholinesterase activities