Choosing R-tree or Quadtree Spatial DataIndexing in One Oracle Spatial Database System to Make Faster Showing Geographical Map in Mobile Geographical Information System Technology

The latest Geographic Information System (GIS) technology makes it possible to administer the spatial components of daily “business object," in the corporate database, and apply suitable geographic analysis efficiently in a desktop-focused application. We can use wireless internet technology for transfer process in spatial data from server to client or vice versa. However, the problem in wireless Internet is system bottlenecks that can make the process of transferring data not efficient. The reason is large amount of spatial data. Optimization in the process of transferring and retrieving data, however, is an essential issue that must be considered. Appropriate decision to choose between R-tree and Quadtree spatial data indexing method can optimize the process. With the rapid proliferation of these databases in the past decade, extensive research has been conducted on the design of efficient data structures to enable fast spatial searching. Commercial database vendors like Oracle have also started implementing these spatial indexing to cater to the large and diverse GIS. This paper focuses on the decisions to choose R-tree and quadtree spatial indexing using Oracle spatial database in mobile GIS application. From our research condition, the result of using Quadtree and R-tree spatial data indexing method in one single spatial database can save the time until 42.5%.

Numerical Simulation of Restenosis in a Stented Coronary Artery

Nowadays, cardiac disease is one of the most common cause of death. Each year almost one million of angioplasty interventions and stents implantations are made all over the world. Unfortunately, in 20-30% of cases neointimal proliferations leads to restenosis occurring within the following period of 3-6 months. Three major factors are believed to contribute mostly to the edge restenosis: (a) mechanical damage of the artery-s wall caused by the stent implantation, (b) interaction between the stent and the blood constituents and (c) endothelial growth stimulation by small (lower that 1.5 Pa) and oscillating wall shear stress. Assuming that this last actor is particularly important, a numerical model of restenosis basing on wall shear stress distribution in the stented artery was elaborated. A numerical simulations of the development of in-stent restenosis have been performed and realistic geometric patterns of a progressing lumen reduction have been obtained

Neurogenic Potential of Clitoria ternatea Aqueous Root Extract–A Basis for Enhancing Learning and Memory

The neurogenic potential of many herbal extracts used in Indian medicine is hitherto unknown. Extracts derived from Clitoria ternatea Linn have been used in Indian Ayurvedic system of medicine as an ingredient of “Medhya rasayana", consumed for improving memory and longevity in humans and also in treatment of various neurological disorders. Our earlier experimental studies with oral intubation of Clitoria ternatea aqueous root extract (CTR) had shown significant enhancement of learning and memory in postnatal and young adult Wistar rats. The present study was designed to elucidate the in vitro effects of 200ng/ml of CTR on proliferation, differentiation and growth of anterior subventricular zone neural stem cells (aSVZ NSC-s) derived from prenatal and postnatal rat pups. Results show significant increase in proliferation and growth of neurospheres and increase in the yield of differentiated neurons of aSVZ neural precursor cells (aSVZNPC-s) at 7 days in vitro when treated with 200ng/ml of CTR as compared to age matched control. Results indicate that CTR has growth promoting neurogenic effect on aSVZ neural stem cells and their survival similar to neurotrophic factors like Survivin, Neuregulin 1, FGF-2, BDNF possibly the basis for enhanced learning and memory.

Pro-inflammatory Phenotype of COPD Fibroblasts not Compatible with Repair in COPD Lung

COPD is characterized by loss of elastic fibers from small airways and alveolar walls, with the decrease in elastin increasing with disease severity. It is unclear why there is a lack of repair of elastic fibers. We have examined fibroblasts cultured from lung tissue from normal and COPD subjects to determine if the secretory profile explains lack of tissue repair. In this study, fibroblasts were cultured from lung parenchyma of bronchial carcinoma patients with varying degrees of COPD; controls (non-COPD, n=5), mild COPD (GOLD 1, n=5) and moderate-severe COPD (GOLD 2-3, n=12). Measurements were made of proliferation, senescence-associated beta-galactosidase-1, mRNA expression of IL-6, IL-8, MMP-1, tropoelastin and versican, and protein levels for IL-6, IL-8, PGE2, tropoelastin, insoluble elastin, and versican. It was found that GOLD 2-3 fibroblasts proliferated more slowly (p

Function of miR-125b in Zebrafish Neurogenesis

MicroRNAs are an important class of gene expression regulators that are involved in many biological processes including embryogenesis. miR-125b is a conserved microRNA that is enriched in the nervous system. We have previously reported the function of miR-125b in neuronal differentiation of human cell lines. We also discovered the function of miR-125b in regulating p53 in human and zebrafish. Here we further characterize the brain defects in zebrafish embryos injected with morpholinos against miR-125b. Our data confirm the essential role of miR-125b in brain morphogenesis particularly in maintaining the balance between proliferation, cell death and differentiation. We identified lunatic fringe (lfng) as an additional target of miR-125b in human and zebrafish and suggest that lfng may mediate the function of miR-125b in neurogenesis. Together, this report reveals new insights into the function of miR- 125b during neural development of zebrafish.

The Cytotoxic Effect of PM 701 and its Fractions on Cell Proliferation of Breast Cancer Cells, McF7

Breast cancer is the most common malignancy in the world among women. Many therapies have been designed to treat this disease. Mamectomy, chemotherapy and radiotherapy are still the main therapies of breast cancer. However, the results were unsatisfactory and still far from the ideal treatment. PM 701is a natural product, has anticancer activity. The bioactive fraction PMF and subfraction PMFK had been isolated from PM701. PM 701 and its fractions were proved to have a cytotoxic properties against different cancer cell lines. This article is directed for the further examination of lyophilized PM701 and its active fractions on the growth of breast cancer cells (MCF-7). PM 701, PMF or PMFK were adding to the cultural medium, where MCF-7 is incubated. PM 701, PMF or PMFK were able to inhibit significantly the proliferation of MCF-7 cells, Moreover these new agents were proved to induce apoptosis of the breast cancer cells; through its direct effect on the nuclei.

Apoptosis Induced by Low-concentration Ethanol in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cell Strains and Down-regulated AFP and Survivin Analysis by Proteomic Technology

Ethanol is generally used as a therapeutic reagent against Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC or hepatoma) worldwide, as it can induce Hepatocellular carcinoma cell apoptosis at low concentration through a multifactorial process regulated by several unknown proteins. This paper provides a simple and available proteomic strategy for exploring differentially expressed proteins in the apoptotic pathway. The appropriate concentrations of ethanol required to induce HepG2 cell apoptosis were first assessed by MTT assay, Gisma and fluorescence staining. Next, the central proteins involved in the apoptosis pathway processs were determined using 2D-PAGE, SDS-PAGE, and bio-software analysis. Finally the downregulation of two proteins, AFP and survivin, were determined by immunocytochemistry and reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR) technology. The simple, useful method demonstrated here provides a new approach to proteomic analysis in key bio-regulating process including proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, immunity and metastasis.

Potential Effects of Human Bone Marrow Non- Mesenchymal Mononuclear Cells on Neuronal Differentiation

Bone marrow-derived stem cells have been widely studied as an alternative source of stem cells. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) were mostly investigated and studies showed MSCs can promote neurogenesis. Little is known about the non-mesenchymal mononuclear cell fraction, which contains both hematopoietic and nonhematopoietic cells, including monocytes and endothelial progenitor cells. This study focused on unfractionated bone marrow mononuclear cells (BMMCs), which remained 72 h after MSCs were adhered to the culture plates. We showed that BMMC-conditioned medium promoted morphological changes of human SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells from an epithelial-like phenotype towards a neuron-like phenotype as indicated by an increase in neurite outgrowth, like those observed in retinoic acid (RA)-treated cells. The result could be explained by the effects of trophic factors released from BMMCs, as shown in the RT-PCR results that BMMCs expressed nerve growth factor (NGF), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), and ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF). Similar results on the cell proliferation rate were also observed between RA-treated cells and cells cultured in BMMC-conditioned medium, suggesting that cells creased proliferating and differentiated into a neuronal phenotype. Using real-time RT-PCR, a significantly increased expression of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) mRNA in SHSY5Y cells indicated that BMMC-conditioned medium induced catecholaminergic identities in differentiated SH-SY5Y cells.

In vivo Introduced Extracellular Ubiquitin Regulates Intracellular Processes

Extracellular ubiquitin in vivo effect on regenerative liver cells and liver histoarchitectonics has been studied. Experiments were performed on mature female white rats. Partial hepatectomy was made using the modified method of Higgins and Anderson. Standard histopathological assessment of liver tissue was used. Proliferative activity of hepatocytes was analyzed by colchicine mitotic index and immunohistochemical staining on ki67. We have found that regardless of number of injections and dose of extracellular ubiquitin liver histology has not been changed, so at tissue level no effect was observed. In vivo double injection of ubiquitin significantly decreases the mitotic activity at 32 hour point after partial hepatectomy. Thus, we can conclude that in vivo injected extracellular ubiquitin inhibits proliferative activity of hepatocytes in partially hepatectomyzed rats.

Expression of Gen Extracellular Matrix and Cell Adhesion Molecule of Brain Embrio Mice at GD-10 By Real Time RT-PCR

research goal was to determine the expression levels cDNA of brain embrio at gestation days 10 (GD-10). The Electroforesis DNA results showed that GAPDH, Fibronectin1, Ncam1, Tenascin, Vimentin, Neurofilament heavy, Neurofilament medium and Neurofilament low were 447 bp, 462 bp, 293 bp. 416 bp, 327 bp, 301 bp, 398 bp and 289 bp. Result of real-time RT-PCR on brain Embryo at gestation days 10 showed that the expression of copy gen Fibronectin 36 copies, Ncam 21,708 copies; Tenascin 24,505 copies; Vimentin 538,554 copies; Neurofilament heavy 2,419 copies; Neurofilament medium 92,928 copies; Neurofilament low 125,809 copies. Vimentin expressed gene copies is very high compared with other gene copies. This condition are caused by Vimentin, that contribute to proliferate of brain development. The vimentin role to cell proliferation of brain.

On the Mathematical Model of Vascular Endothelial Growth Connected with a Tumor Proliferation

In the paper the mathematical model of tumor growth is considered. New capillary network formation, which supply cancer cells with the nutrients, is taken into the account. A formula estimating a tumor growth in connection with the number of capillaries is obtained.

Web Personalization to Build Trust in E-Commerce: A Design Science Approach

With the development of the Internet, E-commerce is growing at an exponential rate, and lots of online stores are built up to sell their goods online. A major factor influencing the successful adoption of E-commerce is consumer-s trust. For new or unknown Internet business, consumers- lack of trust has been cited as a major barrier to its proliferation. As web sites provide key interface for consumer use of E-Commerce, we investigate the design of web site to build trust in E-Commerce from a design science approach. A conceptual model is proposed in this paper to describe the ontology of online transaction and human-computer interaction. Based on this conceptual model, we provide a personalized webpage design approach using Bayesian networks learning method. Experimental evaluation are designed to show the effectiveness of web personalization in improving consumer-s trust in new or unknown online store.

Induction of Apoptosis by Newcastle Disease Virus Strains AF220 and V4-UPM in Human Promyelocytic Leukemia (HL60) and Human T-Lymphoblastic Leukemia (CEM-SS) Cells

Newcastle Disease Virus (NDV), an avian paramyxovirus, is a highly contagious, generalised virus disease of domestic poultry and wild birds characterized by gastro-intestinal, respiratory and nervous signs. In this study, it was shown that NDV strain AF2240 and V4-UPM are cytolytic to Human Promyelocytic Leukemia, HL60 and Human T-lymphoblastic Leukemia, CEM-SS cells. Results from MTT cytolytic assay showed that CD50 for NDV AF2240 against HL60 was 130 HAU and NDV V4-UPM against HL60 and CEM-SS were 110.6 and 150.9 HAU respectively. Besides, both strains were found to inhibit the proliferation of cells in a dose dependent manner. The mode of cell death either by apoptosis or necrosis was further analyzed using acridine orange and propidium iodide (AO/PI) staining. Our results showed that both NDV strains induced primarily apoptosis in treated cells at CD50 concentration. In conclusion, both NDV strains caused cytolytic effects primarily via apoptosis in leukemia cells.

Changes of in vitro Cytokine Production induced by δ-Lactams

The aim of this work was to study the in vitro effects of δ-lactam 1 and its 4-chlorophenyl derivative 2, on the proliferative responses of human lymphocytes and Th1 and Th2 cytokine secretion. The possible protective role of vitamin E on intracellular stress oxidative induced by these compounds was also investigated. Peripheral blood lymphocytes were isolated using differential centrifugation on a density gradient of Histopaque. They were cultured with mitogen concanavalin A, vitamin E (10 μM) and with different concentrations of the compounds 1 and 2 (0.1 to 10 μM). Proliferation (MTT assay), IL-2, INFγ and IL-4 (Elisa kits), intracellular superoxide anion were determined. 1 and 2 were immunostimulant and increased cytokine secretion with a shift away from Th1 response to Th2. These properties were however accompanied by an increase in intracellular oxidative stress. The presence of vitamin E exhibited protective effects by reducing δ- lactam-induced superoxide anion generation in lymphocytes.

Web Usability : A Fuzzy Approach to the Navigation Structure Enhancement in a Website System, Case of Iranian Civil Aviation Organization Website

With the proliferation of World Wide Web, development of web-based technologies and the growth in web content, the structure of a website becomes more complex and web navigation becomes a critical issue to both web designers and users. In this paper we define the content and web pages as two important and influential factors in website navigation and paraphrase the enhancement in the website navigation as making some useful changes in the link structure of the website based on the aforementioned factors. Then we suggest a new method for proposing the changes using fuzzy approach to optimize the website architecture. Applying the proposed method to a real case of Iranian Civil Aviation Organization (CAO) website, we discuss the results of the novel approach at the final section.

Sterility Examination and Comparative Analyses of Inhibitory Effect of Honey on Some Gram Negative and Gram Positive Food Borne Pathogens in South West Nigeria

Food borne illnesses have been reported to be a global health challenge. Annual incidences of food–related diseases involve 76 million cases, of which only 14 million can be traced to known pathogens. Poor hygienic practices have contributed greatly to this. It has been reported that in the year 2000 about 2.1 million people died from diarrheal diseases, hence, there is a need to ensure food safety at all level. This study focused on the sterility examination and inhibitory effect of honey samples on selected gram negative and gram positive food borne pathogen from South West Nigeria. The laboratory examinations revealed the presence of some bacterial and fungal contaminations of honey samples and that inhibitory activity of the honey sample was more pronounced on the gram negative bacteria than the gram positive bacterial isolates. Antibiotic sensitivity test conducted on the different bacterial isolates also showed that honey was able to inhibit the proliferation of the tested bacteria than the employed antibiotics.

Acceptance of Mobile Learning: a Respecification and Validation of Information System Success

With the proliferation of mobile computing technology, mobile learning (m-learning) will play a vital role in the rapidly growing electronic learning market. However, the acceptance of m-learning by individuals is critical to the successful implementation of m-learning systems. Thus, there is a need to research the factors that affect users- intention to use m-learning. Based on an updated information system (IS) success model, data collected from 350 respondents in Taiwan were tested against the research model using the structural equation modeling approach. The data collected by questionnaire were analyzed to check the validity of constructs. Then hypotheses describing the relationships between the identified constructs and users- satisfaction were formulated and tested.

In Silico Analysis of Pax6 Interacting Proteins Indicates Missing Molecular Links in Development of Brain and Associated Disease

The PAX6, a transcription factor, is essential for the morphogenesis of the eyes, brain, pituitary and pancreatic islets. In rodents, the loss of Pax6 function leads to central nervous system defects, anophthalmia, and nasal hypoplasia. The haplo-insufficiency of Pax6 causes microphthalmia, aggression and other behavioral abnormalities. It is also required in brain patterning and neuronal plasticity. In human, heterozygous mutation of Pax6 causes loss of iris [aniridia], mental retardation and glucose intolerance. The 3- deletion in Pax6 leads to autism and aniridia. The phenotypes are variable in peneterance and expressivity. However, mechanism of function and interaction of PAX6 with other proteins during development and associated disease are not clear. It is intended to explore interactors of PAX6 to elucidated biology of PAX6 function in the tissues where it is expressed and also in the central regulatory pathway. This report describes In-silico approaches to explore interacting proteins of PAX6. The models show several possible proteins interacting with PAX6 like MITF, SIX3, SOX2, SOX3, IPO13, TRIM, and OGT. Since the Pax6 is a critical transcriptional regulator and master control gene of eye and brain development it might be interacting with other protein involved in morphogenesis [TGIF, TGF, Ras etc]. It is also presumed that matricelluar proteins [SPARC, thrombospondin-1 and osteonectin etc] are likely to interact during transport and processing of PAX6 and are somewhere its cascade. The proteins involved in cell survival and cell proliferation can also not be ignored.

Association of the p53 Codon 72 Polymorphism with Colorectal Cancer in South West of Iran

The p53 tumor suppressor gene plays two important roles in genomic stability: blocking cell proliferation after DNA damage until it has been repaired, and starting apoptosis if the damage is too critical. Codon 72 exon4 polymorphism (Arg72Pro) of the P53 gene has been implicated in cancer risk. Various studies have been done to investigate the status of p53 at codon 72 for arginine (Arg) and proline (Pro) alleles in different populations and also the association of this codon 72 polymorphism with various tumors. Our objective was to investigate the possible association between P53 Arg72Pro polymorphism and susceptibility to colorectal cancer among Isfahan and Chaharmahal Va Bakhtiari (a part of south west of Iran) population. We investigated the status of p53 at codon 72 for Arg/Arg, Arg/Pro and Pro/Pro allele polymorphisms in blood samples from 145 colorectal cancer patients and 140 controls by Nested-PCR of p53 exon 4 and digestion with BstUI restriction enzyme and the DNA fragments were then resolved by electrophoresis in 2% agarose gel. The Pro allele was 279 bp, while the Arg allele was restricted into two fragments of 160 and 119 bp. Among the 145 colorectal cancer cases 49 cases (33.79%) were homozygous for the Arg72 allele (Arg/Arg), 18 cases (12.41%) were homozygous for the Pro72 allele (Pro/Pro) and 78 cases (53.8%) found in heterozygous (Arg/Pro). In conclusion, it can be said that p53Arg/Arg genotype may be correlated with possible increased risk of this kind of cancers in south west of Iran.

Oleate Induces Apoptosis in 3T3-L1 Adipocytes

Oleic acid (C18:1) play an important role in proliferation of fat cells. In this study, the effect of oleate on cells viability in 3T3-L1 cells (fat cells) was investigated. The 3T3-L1 cells were treated with various concentrations of oleate in the presence of 23 mM glucose. Oleate was added to adipogenic media (day 0) to investigate the influence of oleate on proliferation of postconfluent preadipocytes after 24 h induction. 0.1 mM oleate promoted cell division by increasing 33.9% number of cells from basal control in postconfluent preadipocytes. However, there were no significantly different in cells viability with control cells when oleate concentrations were increased up to 0.5 mM. When added to differentiated adipocytes (day 12) for 48 h, the number of cells decreased as oleate concentrations increased. 92.7% of cells lost demonstrated apoptosis and necrosis after 48 h with 0.5 mM oleate. The fluorochrome staining was examined under fluorescence microscopy using acridine orange and ethidium bromide double staining. Furthermore, the presence of high lactate (60.6% increased from basal control) released into plasma has shown the direct cytotoxicity of 0.5 mM oleate on adipocytes.