Abstract: Turkey has 72 % of total world boron reserves on the
basis of B2O3.Borates that is a refined form of boron minerals have a
wide range of applications. Zinc borates can be used as multifunctional
synergistic additives. The most important properties are
low solubility in water and high dehydration temperature. Zinc
borates dehydrate above 290°C and anhydrous zinc borate has
thermal resistance about 400°C. Zinc borates can be synthesized
using several methods such as hydrothermal and solid-state
processes. In this study, the solid-state method was applied between
500 and 800°C using the starting materials of ZnO and H3BO3 with
1:4 mole ratio. The reaction time was determined as 4 hours after
some preliminary experiments. After the synthesis, the crystal
structure and the morphology of the products were examined by XRay
Diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy
(FT-IR) and Raman Spectrometer. As a result the form of ZnB4O7
was synthesized with the highest crystal score at 800°C.
Abstract: Zinc borates can be used as multi-functional
synergistic additives with flame retardant additives in polymers. Zinc
borate is white, non-hygroscopic and powder type product. The most
important properties are low solubility in water and high dehydration
temperature. Zinc borates dehydrate above 290°C and anhydrous zinc
borate has thermal resistance about 400°C. Zinc borates can be
synthesized using several methods such as hydrothermal and solidstate
processes. In this study, the solid-state method was applied at
low temperatures of 600oC and 700oC using the starting materials of
ZnO and H3BO3 with several mole ratios. The reaction time was
determined as 4 hours after some preliminary experiments. After the
synthesis, the crystal structure and the morphology of the products
were examined by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Fourier Transform
Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR). As a result the forms of ZnB4O7,
Zn3(BO3)2, ZnB2O4 were synthesized and obtained along with the
unreacted ZnO.
Abstract: NFκB activation plays a crucial role in anti-apoptotic responses in response to the apoptotic signaling during tumor necrosis factor (TNFa) stimulation in Multiple Myeloma (MM). Although several drugs have been found effective for the treatment of MM by mainly inhibiting NFκB pathway, there are no any quantitative or qualitative results of comparison assessment on inhibition effect between different single drugs or drug combinations. Computational modeling is becoming increasingly indispensable for applied biological research mainly because it can provide strong quantitative predicting power. In this study, a novel computational pathway modeling approach is employed to comparably assess the inhibition effects of specific single drugs and drug combinations on the NFκB pathway in MM, especially the prediction of synergistic drug combinations.
Abstract: This paper explored the use of Importance- Performance Analysis in assessing the competitiveness of China-s Macao Special Administrative Region as a city for international conventions. Determinants of destination choice for convention tourists are grouped under three factors, namely the convention factor, the city factor and the tourism factor. Attributes of these three factors were studied through a survey with the convention participants and exhibitors of Macao SAR. Results indicate that the city boasts of strong traditional tourist attractions and infrastructure, but is deficient in specialized convention experts and promotion mechanisms. A reflection on the findings suggests that an urban city such as the Macao SAR can co-develop its the convention and the traditional tourism for a synergistic effect. With proper planning and co-ordination, both areas of the city-s tourism industry will grow as they feed off each other.
Abstract: Most of fuzzy clustering algorithms have some
discrepancies, e.g. they are not able to detect clusters with convex
shapes, the number of the clusters should be a priori known, they
suffer from numerical problems, like sensitiveness to the
initialization, etc. This paper studies the synergistic combination of
the hierarchical and graph theoretic minimal spanning tree based
clustering algorithm with the partitional Gath-Geva fuzzy clustering
algorithm. The aim of this hybridization is to increase the robustness
and consistency of the clustering results and to decrease the number
of the heuristically defined parameters of these algorithms to
decrease the influence of the user on the clustering results. For the
analysis of the resulted fuzzy clusters a new fuzzy similarity measure
based tool has been presented. The calculated similarities of the
clusters can be used for the hierarchical clustering of the resulted
fuzzy clusters, which information is useful for cluster merging and
for the visualization of the clustering results. As the examples used
for the illustration of the operation of the new algorithm will show,
the proposed algorithm can detect clusters from data with arbitrary
shape and does not suffer from the numerical problems of the
classical Gath-Geva fuzzy clustering algorithm.
Abstract: Studies were carried out to determine the in vitro
susceptibility of the typhoid pathogens to combined action of Euphorbia hirta, Euphorbia heterophylla and Phyllanthus niruri. Clinical isolates of the typhoid bacilli were subjected to susceptibility testing using agar diffusion technique and the minimum inhibitory
concentration (MIC) determined with tube dilution technique. These
isolates, when challenged with doses of the extracts from the three
medicinal plants showed zones of inhibition as wide as 26±0.2mm, 22±0.1mm and 18±0.0mm respectively. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) revealed organisms inhibited at varying
concentrations of extracts: E. hirta (S. typhi 0.250mg/ml, S. paratyphi A 0.125mg/ml, S. paratyphi B 0.185mg/ml and S. paratyphi C 0.225mg/ml), E. heterophylla (S. typhi 0.280mg/ml, S. paratyphi A
0.150mg/ml, S. paratyphi B 0.200mg/ml and S. paratyphi C 0.250mg/ml) and P. niruri (S. typhi 0.150mg/ml, S. paratyphi A 0.100mg/ml, S. paratyphi B 0.115mg/ml and S. paratyphi C 0.125mg/ml). The results of the synergy between the three plants in
the ration of 1:1:1 showed very low MICs for the test pathogens as follows S. typhi 0.025mg/ml, S. paratyphi A 0.080mg/ml, S. paratyphi B 0.015mg/ml and S. paratyphi C 0.10mg/ml with the
diameter zone of inhibition (DZI) ranging from 35±0.2mm,
28±0.4mm, 20±0.1mm and 32±0.3mm respectively. The secondary
metabolites were identified using simple methods and HPLC. Organic components such as anthroquinones, different alkaloids,
tannins, 6-ethoxy-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-2,2,4-trimethyl and steroids were identified. The prevalence of Salmonellae, a deadly infectious disease, is still very high in parts of Nigeria. The synergistic action of these three plants is very high. It is concluded that pharmaceutical companies should take advantage of these findings to develop new
anti-typhoid drugs from these plants.
Abstract: The rheological properties, structure and potential synergistic interactions of whey proteins (1-6%) and inulin (20%) in mixed gels in the presence of CaCl2 was the aim of this study. Whey proteins have a strong influence on inulin gel formation. At low concentrations (2%) whey proteins did not impair in inulin gel formation. At higher concentration (4%) whey proteins impaired inulin gelation and inulin impaired the formation of a Ca2+-induced whey protein network. The presence of whey proteins at a level allowing for protein gel network formation (6%) significantly increased the rheological parameters values of the gels. SEM micrographs showed that whey protein structure was coated by inulin moieties which could make the mixed gels firmer. The protein surface hydrophobicity measurements did not exclude synergistic interactions between inulin and whey proteins, however. The use of an electrophoretic technique did not show any stable inulin-whey protein complexes.