JURNAL AGROTEKNOLOGI
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Experimental and mathematical modelling of magnetically labelled mesenchymal stromal cell delivery
No full textA key challenge for stem cell therapies is the delivery of therapeutic cells to the repair site. Magnetic targeting has been proposed as a platform for defining clinical sites of delivery more effectively. In this paper, we use a combined in vitro experimental and mathematical modelling approach to explore the magnetic targeting of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) labelled with magnetic nanoparticles using an external magnet. This study aims to (i) demonstrate the potential of magnetic tagging for MSC delivery, (ii) examine the effect of red blood cells (RBCs) on MSC capture efficacy and (iii) highlight how mathematical models can provide both insight into mechanics of therapy and predictions about cell targeting in vivo. In vitro MSCs are cultured with magnetic nanoparticles and circulated with RBCs over an external magnet. Cell capture efficacy is measured for varying magnetic field strengths and RBC percentages. We use a 2D continuum mathematical model to represent the flow of magnetically tagged MSCs with RBCs. Numerical simulations demonstrate qualitative agreement with experimental results showing better capture with stronger magnetic fields and lower levels of RBCs. We additionally exploit the mathematical model to make hypotheses about the role of extravasation and identify future in vitro experiments to quantify this effect
Prospective analyses of testosterone and sex hormone‐binding globulin with the risk of 19 types of cancer in men and postmenopausal women in UK Biobank
No full textWe investigated the associations of estimated free and total circulating testosterone and sex hormone‐binding globulin (SHBG) with cancer risk in men and postmenopausal women, using a pan‐cancer approach, including 19 cancers in UK Biobank. Risk was estimated using multivariable‐adjusted Cox regression in up to 182 608 men and 122 112 postmenopausal women who were cancer‐free at baseline. Participants diagnosed with cancer within 2 years of baseline were excluded. Hazard ratios (HRs) and confidence intervals (CIs) were corrected for regression dilution bias using repeat measurements. We accounted for multiple testing using the false discovery rate. In men, higher free testosterone was associated with higher risks of melanoma and prostate cancer (HR per 50 pmol/L increase = 1.35, 95% CI 1.14‐1.61 and 1.10, 1.04‐1.18, respectively). Higher total testosterone was associated with an elevated risk of liver cancer (HR per 5 nmol/L = 2.45, 1.56‐3.84), and higher SHBG was associated with a higher risk of liver cancer (HR per 10 nmol/L = 1.56, 1.31‐1.87) and a lower risk of prostate cancer (0.93, 0.91‐0.96); the associations with liver cancer were partially attenuated after excluding men diagnosed within 4.7 years from baseline. In postmenopausal women, free and total testosterone and SHBG were associated with risks of endometrial (HR per 10 pmol/L = 1.59, 1.32‐1.90; HR per 0.5 nmol/L = 1.34, 1.18‐1.52 and HR per 25 nmol/L = 0.78, 0.67‐0.91, respectively) and breast cancer (1.32, 1.22‐1.43; 1.24, 1.17‐1.31 and 0.88, 0.83‐0.94, respectively). We report a novel association of free testosterone with malignant melanoma in men, and confirm known associations between testosterone and risks for prostate, breast and endometrial cancers. The association with liver cancer in men may be attributable to reverse causation
Age‐related decline in cortical inhibitory tone strengthens motor memory
No full textAgeing disrupts the finely tuned excitation/inhibition balance (E:I) across cortex via a natural decline in inhibitory tone (-amino butyric acid, GABA), causing functional decrements. However, in young adults, experimentally lowering GABA in sensorimotor cortex enhances a specific domain of sensorimotor function: adaptation memory. Here, we tested the hypothesis that as sensorimotor cortical GABA declines naturally with age, adaptation memory would increase, and the former would explain the latter. Results confirmed this prediction. To probe causality, we used brain stimulation to further lower sensorimotor cortical GABA during adaptation. Across individuals, how stimulation changed memory depended on sensorimotor cortical E:I. In those with low E:I, stimulation increased memory; in those with high E:I stimulation reduced memory. Thus, we identified a form of motor memory that is naturally strengthened by age, depends causally on sensorimotor cortex neurochemistry, and may be a potent target for motor skill preservation strategies in healthy ageing and neurorehabilitation
Preferred explanations for ontology−mediated queries under existential rules
No full textRecently, explanations for query answers under existential rules have been investigated, where an explanation is an inclusion-minimal subset of a given database that, together with the ontology, entails the query. In this paper, we take a step further and study explanations under different minimality criteria. In particular, we first study cardinality-minimal explanations and hence focus on deriving explanations of minimum size. We then study a more general preference order induced by a weight distribution. We assume that every database fact is annotated with a (penalization) weight, and we are interested in explanations with minimum overall weight. For both preference orders, we study a variety of explanation problems, such as recognizing a preferred explanation, all preferred explanations, a relevant or necessary fact, and the existence of a preferred explanation not containing forbidden sets of facts. We provide a detailed complexity analysis for all the aforementioned problems, thereby providing a more complete picture for explaining query answers under existential rules
Fine-scale spatial variation in fitness is comparable to disturbance-induced fluctuations in a fire-adapted species
No full textThe spatial scale at which demographic performance (e.g. net reproductive output) varies can profoundly influence landscape-level population growth and persistence, and many demographically pertinent processes such as species interactions and resource acquisition vary at fine-scales. We compared the magnitude of demographic variation associated with fine-scale heterogeneity ( 1 ha) fluctuations associated with fire disturbance. We used a spatially explicit model within an IPM modeling frame-work to evaluate the demographic importance of fine-scale variation. We used a measure of expected lifetime fruit production, EF , that is assumed to be proportional to lifetime fitness. Demographic differences and their effects on EF , were assessed in a population of the herbaceous perennial Hypericum cumulicola (~ 2600 individuals), within a patch of Florida rosemary scrub (400 m x 80 m). We compared demographic variation over fine spatial scales to demographic variation between years across six years after a fire. Values of EF changed by orders of magnitude over F as demographic changes caused by time-since-fire, a key driver in this system. Our findings show that environmental changes over a few tens of meters can have ecologically meaningful implications for population growth and extinction
DESAIN KEMASAN SEKUNDER PADA PRODUK PROL TAPE DENGAN METODE QUALITY FUNCTION DEPLOYMENT (QFD) (Studi Kasus di UD. Purnama Jati, Kabupaten Jember)
Get PDFPackaging refers to an object to protect and secure certain products within the package as well as giving a particular image to persuade the customers. The research objectives were to identify customers’ desires and satisfaction levels to prol tape product packaging using the quality function deployment (QFD) method, designing packages, determining the type of packaging, and determining the compressive strength of the packaging using a universal testing machine (UTM). The research findings were 4 important attributes found for secondary packaging, namely the attributes of strength, appearance, price, and protection. Based on the attributes, the researcher designed a new secondary packaging using the RSC (regular slotted container) type of packaging consisting of two parts; BC flute type for outer packaging and B flute type for inner packaging. Meanwhile, the old secondary packaging only consisted of one part, namely B flute type for outer packaging. According to the compressive strength test results, the new packaging has a compressive strength value of 189.6 kgf with a maximum stack number of 40 stacks, and the old packaging has a compressive strength value of 82.7 kgf with a maximum stack number of 18 stacks.
Keywords: compressive strength, packaging, prol tape, QF
TINGKAT KESUKAAN DAN NILAI GIZI COOKIES DENGAN PENAMBAHAN TEPUNG DAUN KATUK DAN TEPUNG DAUN KELOR UNTUK IBU MENYUSUI
Get PDFKatuk leaves [Sauropus androgynus (L.) Merr] and moringa leaves (Moringa oleifera Lam.) are plants that can be used as galactagogues. Galactagogues compounds in both can stimulate the hormones prolactin and oxytocin, thereby increasing milk production. Katuk leaves and moringa leaves have a natural taste that is not favoured so that processing and formulation of other ingredients are needed to make the two ingredients more preferable. With an average growth from 2016-2020 of 4.250%, cookies can be a medium to help meet human needs. This study purposed to determine the level of preference and nutritional value of cookies with the addition of katuk leaves and moringa leaves as a snack for nursing mothers. This study used a factorial research design with 2 factors, namely 3 levels of katuk leaf flour (5 g, 10 g, 15 g) and 2 levels of moringa leaf flour (5 g, 10 g). The hedonic test data were processed using the Friedman test and further test with the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Calculations used to test the effectiveness to determine the selected formula showed that the F4 treatment (5 g katuk leaf flour: 10 g moringa leaf flour) had the highest effectiveness value of 0.95. The results of the chemical test on the F4 treatment had a water content of 1.02%, carbohydrates 76.88%, protein 12.05%, fat 7.85%, and energy contributions of 423.50 kcal per 100 g, and 105.87 kcal per dose serving (30 g).
Keywords: breastfeeding mothers, cookies, katuk leaves, moringa leave
Semimechanistic pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic modeling of piperaquine in a volunteer infection study with Plasmodium falciparum blood-stage malaria
No full textDihydroartemisinin-piperaquine is a recommended first-line artemisinin combination therapy for Plasmodium falciparum malaria. Piperaquine is also under consideration for other antimalarial combination therapies. The aim of this study was to develop a pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic model that might be useful when optimizing the use of piperaquine in new antimalarial combination therapies. The pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic model was developed using data from a previously reported dose-ranging study where 24 healthy volunteers were inoculated with 1,800 blood-stage Plasmodium falciparum parasites. All volunteers received a single oral dose of piperaquine (960 mg, 640 mg, or 480 mg) on day 7 or day 8 after parasite inoculation in separate cohorts. Parasite densities were measured by quantitative PCR (qPCR), and piperaquine levels were measured in plasma samples. We used nonlinear mixed-effect modeling to characterize the pharmacokinetic properties of piperaquine and the parasite dynamics associated with piperaquine exposure. The pharmacokinetics of piperaquine was described by a three-compartment disposition model. A semimechanistic parasite dynamics model was developed to explain the maturation of parasites, sequestration of mature parasites, synchronicity of infections, and multiplication of parasites, as seen in natural clinical infections with P. falciparum malaria. Piperaquine-associated parasite killing was estimated using a maximum effect (Emax) function. Treatment simulations (i.e., 3-day oral dosing of dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine) indicated that to be able to combat multidrug-resistant infections, an ideal additional drug in a new antimalarial triple-combination therapy should have a parasite reduction ratio of ≥102 per life cycle (38.8 h) with a duration of action of ≥2 weeks. The semimechanistic pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic model described here offers the potential to be a valuable tool for assessing and optimizing current and new antimalarial drug combination therapies containing piperaquine and the impact of these therapies on killing multidrug-resistant infections. (This study has been registered in the Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry under no. ANZCTRN12613000565741.
A multispecies pseudoadiabat for simulating condensable-rich exoplanet atmospheres
No full textCentral stages in the evolution of rocky, potentially habitable planets may play out under atmospheric conditions with a large inventory of nondilute condensable components. Variations in condensate retention and accompanying changes in local lapse rate may substantially affect planetary climate and surface conditions, but there is currently no general theory to effectively describe such atmospheres. In this article, expanding on the work by Li et al., we generalize the single-component moist pseudoadiabat derivation in Pierrehumbert to allow for multiple condensing components of arbitrary diluteness and retained condensate fraction. The introduction of a freely tunable retained condensate fraction allows for a flexible, self-consistent treatment of atmospheres with nondilute condensable components. To test the pseudoadiabat's capabilities for simulating a diverse range of climates, we apply the formula to planetary atmospheres with compositions, surface pressures, and temperatures representing important stages with condensable-rich atmospheres in the evolution of terrestrial planets: a magma ocean planet in a runaway greenhouse state; a post-impact, late-veneer-analog planet with a complex atmospheric composition; and an Archean Earth-like planet near the outer edge of the classical circumstellar habitable zone. We find that variations in the retention of multiple nondilute condensable species can significantly affect the lapse rate and in turn outgoing radiation and the spectral signatures of planetary atmospheres. The presented formulation allows for a more comprehensive treatment of the climate evolution of rocky exoplanets and early Earth analogs
Mud volcanoes and dissolution structures as kinematic markers during salt tectonic deformation
No full textThe recognition of linear trails of fluid escape pipes that have been deformed by salt flow have recently been suggested to offer a novel approach to reconstructing the internal kinematics of thick salt sequences deforming under gravity. These deformed pipes constrain a number of key parameters for salt tectonic analysis including the salt flow direction, translation distance of the top salt and overburden, the internal flow profile and from the flow velocity, the bulk viscosity of the salt. Here we interpret and characterise two previously unrecognised large-scale strain markers within a salt sequence that may be equally as valuable as the deformed pipes for constraining salt flow. This study is based on the interpretation of a ca. 4,600 km2 3D seismic survey from the outer slope of the Nile Cone, offshore Egypt, located at the boundary between the extensional and translational domains of the deformed marginal region of the Messinian salt basin. We mapped five deformed pipe trails that allow us to constrain the average flow velocity of the top salt, at ca. 2 mm/yr over the past 2–3 Myrs. The salt flowed in a basinward NW/NNW direction away from the basin margin. In addition, we mapped two large (ca. 2 km diameter) salt dissolution depressions formed by subjacent dissolution of the evaporites. These are presently located down the salt flow direction of a large remnant erosional high at the base of the salt, and in the general alignment of one of the pipe trails. We therefore argue that this dissolution structure most likely formed by fluid venting from the base salt high, and as such can be used to measure translation direction, distance and average velocity. The second of the two novel kinematic indicators requires mapping of genetically connected mud volcanoes and their depletion zones. The study area contains over 400 individual mud volcanoes that are sourced from beneath the salt and erupted from the Early Pliocene to Recent. A subset of these, extruded at or near to the present day seafloor, have well imaged pre-salt depletion zones vertically beneath the erupted volcanic cones. A smaller subset, typically buried Early Pliocene extrusions, is found to have volcanic cones that are systematically offset laterally from their corresponding depletion zones, with an offset direction and distances closely matched with other kinematic markers. Hence we suggest that mud volcanic plumbing systems can provide another independent kinematic marker from which to infer salt flow regime