Leaf-inspired microcontact printing vascular patterns.

The vascularization of tissue grafts is critical for maintaining viability of the cells within a transplanted graft. A number of strategies are currently being investigated including very promising microfluidics systems. Here, we explored the potential for generating a vasculature-patterned endothelial cells that could be integrated into distinct layers between sheets of primary cells. Bioinspired from the leaf veins, we generated a reverse mold with a fractal vascular-branching pattern that models the unique spatial arrangement over multiple length scales that precisely mimic branching vasculature. By coating the reverse mold with 50 μg ml-1 of fibronectin and stamping enabled selective adhesion of the human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) to the patterned adhesive matrix, we show that a vascular-branching pattern can be transferred by microcontact printing. Moreover, this pattern can be maintained and transferred to a 3D hydrogel matrix and remains stable for up to 4 d. After 4 d, HUVECs can be observed migrating and sprouting into Matrigel. These printed vascular branching patterns, especially after transfer to 3D hydrogels, provide a viable alternative strategy to the prevascularization of complex tissues

Seasonal anomalies of stocks in ASEAN equity markets

This study examines the daily anomalies in the five ASEAN equity markets of Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines before, during and after the Asian financial crisis. The regression results reveal different patterns among these markets for each of the three periods. The Monday and Friday effects are most predominant during the pre-crisis period. Only the Tuesday effect in Thailand and the Philippines is observed during the crisis period. While the pattern of daily anomalies in Thailand during the post-crisis period reverts to that of the pre-crisis period, the other four markets exhibit different patterns of daily anomalies compared to the pre-crisis period. When the time-varying return volatility is taken into account through the use of GARCH-M model, the Monday effect remains significant while some of the other daily anomalies have become insignificant during the pre-crisis period. The Tuesday effect in Thailand and the Philippines disappears altogether during the crisis period. Only the Monday and Friday effects in Thailand persist in the post-crisis period

Positive solution for singular boundary value problems

AbstractA sufficient condition for the existence of positive solutions of the nonlinear boundary value problem u″(t) + f(t, u(t)) = 0, 0<t<, u′(0) = u(1) = 0is constructed, where f : [0, 1) × (0, ∞) → (0, ∞) is continuous, f(t, u) is locally Lipschitz continuous, and f(t, u)u is strictly decreasing in u > 0 for each t ∈ (0, 1)

A comparison forecasting models for ASEAN equity markets

This paper compares six models for forecasting the performance of the ASEAN equity markets of Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines before, during and after the Asian financial crisis. In the precrisis period, the OLS, ARCH-M and TARCH models have better forecasting performance than the other models. In the crisis period, the ARCH-M model has the best forecast performance for three markets, while the remaining two markets are best forecast with the random walk model. However, in the post-crisis period, the TARCH and EGARCH models are found to be the most suitable models. The different variants of the GARCH model adequately captured the time-varying returns volatility. But the asymmetry of the market returns is not significant in all the markets modelled by the TARCH and EGARCH models

PENGARUH WOM (WORD OF MOUTH) DAN E-WOM (ELECTRONIC- WORD OF MOUTH) TERHADAP MINAT KUNJUNGan WISATA

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui pengaruh WOM (Word of Mouth) dan E-WOM (Electronic-Word of Mouth) terhadap minat kunjungan wisata ke Kota Sawahlunto. Sampel penelitian ini sebanyak 112 responden yang terdiri dari masyarakat umum yang berdomisili di Kota Padang yang belum pernah melakukan kunjungan wisata ke Kota Sawahlunto. Penelitian ini dilakukan dengan metode kuantitatif. Teknik yang digunakan untuk pemilihan sampel adalah purposive sampling. Pengolahan data penelitian dilakukan menggunakan SPSS 16.0. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa WOM tidak berpengaruh signifikan terhadap minat kunjungan wisata ke Kota Sawahlunto dan E-WOM berpengaruh signifikan terhadap minat kunjungan wisata ke Kota Sawahlunto Kata Kunci :WOM, e-WOM, dan minat kunjungan wisat

The long-term effects of behavioral interventions on condom use and sexually transmitted infections among female brothel-based sex workers in Singapore, 1994-2002

Ph.DDOCTOR OF MEDICIN

Diabetic retinopathy screening: global and local perspective

Diabetes mellitus has become a global epidemic. It causes significant macrovascular complications such as coronary artery disease, peripheral artery disease, and stroke; as well as microvascular complications such as retinopathy, nephropathy, and neuropathy. Diabetic retinopathy is known to be the leading cause of blindness in the working-age population and may be asymptomatic until vision loss occurs. Screening for diabetic retinopathy has been shown to reduce blindness by timely detection and effective laser treatment. Diabetic retinopathy screening is being done worldwide either as a national screening programme or hospital-based project or as a community-based screening programme. In this article, we review different methods of screening including grading used to detect the severity of sight-threatening retinopathy and the newer screening methods. This review also includes the method of systematic screening being carried out in Hong Kong, a system that has helped to identify diabetic retinopathy among all attendees in public primary care clinics using a Hong Kong–wide public patients’ database.published_or_final_versio

Limbal Stem Cells and Corneal Epithelial Regeneration: Current Status and Prospectives

The clear cornea functions like a window that controls the entry of light for visual information and plays a protective role. The failure of appropriate repair following corneal injury results in loss of corneal function. The limbal region of the cornea is thought to serve as a unique reservoir of corneal epithelial stem cells where limbal stem cells (LSC) contributed to the regeneration of corneal epithelium. The deficiency of LSC (LSCD) results in the failed regeneration of corneal epithelium following injuries. In this review, we discuss the current knowledge of LSC and LSC-based transplantation for regeneration of corneal epithelium. We will first review the latest development of corneal structures. Next we will introduce the concept of LSC and the associated debates. Third, we will review different LSC-based transplantation methods for LSCD treatment and compare their advantages and disadvantages. Finally, we will discuss the improvements of regeneration of corneal epithelium.published_or_final_versio