Abstract: There is a general feeling that Internet crime is an
advanced type of crime that has not yet infiltrated developing
countries like Uganda. The carefree nature of the Internet in which
anybody publishes anything at anytime poses a serious security threat
for any nation. Unfortunately, there are no formal records about this
type of crime for Uganda. Could this mean that it does not exist
there? The author conducted an independent research to ascertain
whether cyber crimes have affected people in Uganda and if so, to
discover where they are reported. This paper highlights the findings.
Abstract: The aim of this study is to investigate the kinematics of undulatory elongated fish swimming against a velocity flow. We perform the experiments on European eel Anguilla Anguilla swimming in a hydrodynamic re-circulating tank with the velocity flow fixed at 0.2 m/s. We find that the undulating shape of overall eel body changes when it swims slantwise from the flow direction, by comparison to axial undulation shape. We examine this kinematics and we propose a general equation describing the lateral position of undulation body taking into account the direction of the eel-s swimming.
Abstract: We investigated the effects of modified
preprogrammed training mode Chase Trainer from Balance Trainer
(BT3, HurLab, Tampere, Finland) on athlete who experienced
unilateral Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome (PFPS). Twenty-seven
athletes with mean age= 14.23 ±1.31 years, height = 164.89 ± 7.85
cm, weight = 56.94 ± 9.28 kg were randomly assigned to two groups:
experiment (EG; n = 14) and injured (IG; n = 13). EG performed a
series of Chase Trainer program which required them to shift their
body weight at different directions, speeds and angle of leaning twice
a week for duration of 8 weeks. The static postural control and
perceived pain level measures were taken at baseline, after 6 weeks
and 8 weeks of training. There was no significant difference in any of
tested variables between EG and IG before and after 6-week the
intervention period. However, after 8-week of training, the postural
control (eyes open) and perceived pain level of EG improved
compared to IG (p
Abstract: We present a dextran modified silicon microring
resonator sensor for high density antibody immobilization. An array
of sensors consisting of three sensor rings and a reference ring was
fabricated and its surface sensitivity and the limit of detection were
obtained using polyelectrolyte multilayers. The mass sensitivity and
the limit of detection of the fabricated sensor ring are 0.35 nm/ng
mm-2 and 42.8 pg/mm2 in air, respectively. Dextran modified sensor
surface was successfully prepared by covalent grafting of oxidized
dextran on 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) modified silicon
sensor surface. The antibody immobilization on hydrogel dextran
matrix improves 40% compared to traditional antibody
immobilization method via APTES and glutaraldehyde linkage.
Abstract: The subcellular organelles called oil bodies (OBs) are lipid-filled quasi-spherical droplets produced from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and then released into the cytoplasm during seed development. It is believed that an OB grows by coalescence with other OBs and that its stability depends on the composition of oleosins, major proteins inserted in the hemi membrane that covers OBs. In this study, we measured the OB-volume distribution from different genotypes of A. thaliana after 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 days of seed development. In order to test the hypothesis of OBs dynamics, we developed a simple mathematical model using non-linear differential equations inspired from the theory of coagulation. The model describes the evolution of OB-volume distribution during the first steps of seed development by taking into consideration the production of OBs, the increase of triacylglycerol volume to be stored, and the growth by coalescence of OBs. Fitted parameters values show an increase in the OB production and coalescence rates in A. thaliana oleosin mutants compared to wild type.
Abstract: The aims of this paper are to study the efficacy of
chitosan nanoparticles in stimulating specific antibody against
A/H1N1 influenza antigen in mice. Chitosan nanoparticles (CSN)
were characterized by TEM. The results showed that the average size
of CSN was from 80nm to 106nm. The efficacy of A/H1N1 influenza
vaccine loaded on the surface of CSN showed that loading efficiency
of A/H1N1 influenza antigen on CSN was from 93.75 to 100%. Safe
property of the vaccine were tested. In 10 days post vaccination,
group of CSN 30 kDa and 300 kDa loaded A/H1N1 influenza antigen
were the rate of immune response on mice to be 100% (9/9) higher
than Al(OH)3 and other adjuvant. 100% mice in the experiment of all
groups had immune response in 20 days post vaccination. The results
also showed that HI titer of the group using CSN 300 kDa as an
adjuvant increased significantly up to 3971 HIU, over three-fold
higher than the Al(OH)3 adjuvant, chitosan (CS), and one hundredfold
than the A/H1N1 antigen only. Stability of the vaccine
formulation was investigated.
Abstract: Arms detection is one of the fundamental problems in
human motion analysis application. The arms are considered as the
most challenging body part to be detected since its pose and speed
varies in image sequences. Moreover, the arms are usually occluded
with other body parts such as the head and torso. In this paper,
histogram-based skin colour segmentation is proposed to detect the
arms in image sequences. Six different colour spaces namely RGB,
rgb, HSI, TSL, SCT and CIELAB are evaluated to determine the best
colour space for this segmentation procedure. The evaluation is
divided into three categories, which are single colour component,
colour without luminance and colour with luminance. The
performance is measured using True Positive (TP) and True Negative
(TN) on 250 images with manual ground truth. The best colour is
selected based on the highest TN value followed by the highest TP
value.
Abstract: The purpose of research was to know the role of
immunogenic protein of 49 kDa from V.alginolyticus which capable
to initiate molecule expression of MHC Class II in receptor of
Cromileptes altivelis. The method used was in vivo experimental
research through testing of immunogenic protein 49 kDa from
V.alginolyticus at Cromileptes altivelis (size of 250 - 300 grams)
using 3 times booster by injecting an immunogenic protein in a
intramuscular manner. Response of expressed MHC molecule was
shown using immunocytochemistry method and SEM. Results
indicated that adhesin V.alginolyticus 49 kDa which have
immunogenic character could trigger expression of MHC class II on
receptor of grouper and has been proven by staining using
immunocytochemistry and SEM with labeling using antibody anti
MHC (anti mouse). This visible expression based on binding between
epitopes antigen and antibody anti MHC in the receptor. Using
immunocytochemistry, intracellular response of MHC to in vivo
induction of immunogenic adhesin from V.alginolyticus was shown.
Abstract: As days go by, we hear more and more about HIV,
Ebola, Bird Flu and other dreadful viruses which were unknown a
few decades ago. In both detecting and fighting viral diseases
ordinary methods have come across some basic and important
difficulties. Vaccination is by a sense introduction of the virus to the
immune system before the occurrence of the real case infection. It is
very successful against some viruses (e.g. Poliomyelitis), while
totally ineffective against some others (e.g. HIV or Hepatitis-C). On
the other hand, Anti-virus drugs are mostly some tools to control and
not to cure a viral disease. This could be a good motivation to try
alternative treatments. In this study, some key features of possible
physical-based alternative treatments for viral diseases are presented.
Electrification of body parts or fluids (especially blood) with micro
electric signals with adjusted current or frequency is also studied. The
main approach of this study is to find a suitable energy field, with
appropriate parameters that are able to kill or deactivate viruses. This
would be a lengthy, multi-disciplinary research which needs the
contribution of virology, physics, and signal processing experts. It
should be mentioned that all the claims made by alternative cures
researchers must be tested carefully and are not advisable at the time
being.
Abstract: Snake bite cases in Malaysia most often involve the
species Naja-naja and Calloselasma rhodostoma. In keeping with the
need for a rapid snake venom detection kit in a clinical setting, plate
and dot-ELISA test for the venoms of Naja-naja sumatrana,
Calloselasma rhodostoma and the cobra venom fraction V antigen
was developed. Polyclonal antibodies were raised and further used to
prepare the reagents for the dot-ELISA test kit which was tested in
mice, rabbit and virtual human models. The newly developed dot-
ELISA kit was able to detect a minimum venom concentration of
244ng/ml with cross reactivity of one antibody type. The dot-ELISA
system was sensitive and specific for all three snake venom types in
all tested animal models. The lowest minimum venom concentration
detectable was in the rabbit model, 244ng/ml of the cobra venom
fraction V antigen. The highest minimum venom concentration was
in mice, 1953ng/ml against a multitude of venoms. The developed
dot-ELISA system for the detection of three snake venom types was
successful with a sensitivity of 95.8% and specificity of 97.9%.
Abstract: This research deals with a flexible flowshop
scheduling problem with arrival and delivery of jobs in groups and
processing them individually. Due to the special characteristics of
each job, only a subset of machines in each stage is eligible to
process that job. The objective function deals with minimization of
sum of the completion time of groups on one hand and minimization
of sum of the differences between completion time of jobs and
delivery time of the group containing that job (waiting period) on the
other hand. The problem can be stated as FFc / rj , Mj / irreg which
has many applications in production and service industries. A
mathematical model is proposed, the problem is proved to be NPcomplete,
and an effective heuristic method is presented to schedule
the jobs efficiently. This algorithm can then be used within the body
of any metaheuristic algorithm for solving the problem.
Abstract: This paper presented a modified efficient inductive
powering link based on ASK modulator and proposed efficient class-
E power amplifier. The design presents the external part which is
located outside the body to transfer power and data to the implanted
devices such as implanted Microsystems to stimulate and monitoring
the nerves and muscles. The system operated with low band
frequency 10MHZ according to industrial- scientific – medical (ISM)
band to avoid the tissue heating. For external part, the modulation
index is 11.1% and the modulation rate 7.2% with data rate 1 Mbit/s
assuming Tbit = 1us. The system has been designed using 0.35-μm
fabricated CMOS technology. The mathematical model is given and
the design is simulated using OrCAD P Spice 16.2 software tool and
for real-time simulation, the electronic workbench MULISIM 11 has
been used.
Abstract: This paper proposes a technique to protect against
email bombing. The technique employs a statistical approach, Naïve
Bayes (NB), and Neural Networks to show that it is possible to
differentiate between good and bad traffic to protect against email
bombing attacks. Neural networks and Naïve Bayes can be trained
by utilizing many email messages that include both input and output
data for legitimate and non-legitimate emails. The input to the model
includes the contents of the body of the messages, the subject, and
the headers. This information will be used to determine if the email
is normal or an attack email. Preliminary tests suggest that Naïve
Bayes can be trained to produce an accurate response to confirm
which email represents an attack.
Abstract: Many medical devices are driven by motor pumps. Some researchers reported that the vibration mainly affected medical devices using a motor pump. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of stiffness and damping coefficient in a 3-dimensional (3D) model of a motor pump and spring. In the present paper, experimental and mathematical tests for the moments of inertia of the 3D model and the material properties were investigated by an INSTRON machine. The response surfaces could be generated by using 3D multi-body analysis and the design of experiment method. It showed that differences in contours of the response surface were clearly found for the particular area. Displacement of the center of the motor pump was decreased at K≈2000 N/M, C≈12.5 N-sec/M. However, the frequency was increased at K≈2000 N/M, C≈15 N-sec/M. In this study, this study suggested experimental technique for vibration reduction for a motor pump in medical device. The combined method suggested in this study will greatly contribute to design of medical devices concerning vibration and noise intervention.
Abstract: A thin coating of hexamethyldisiloxane and subsequent O2-plasma treatment was performed on mirror-polished titanium in order to regulate the wide range of wettability including 106 and almost 0 degrees of contact angles. The adsorption behavior of
fibronectin and albumin in both individual and competitive mode,
and initial attachment of fibroblasts and osteoblasts were investigated.
Individually, fibronectin adsorption showed a biphasic inclination, whereas albumin showed greater adsorption to hydrophobic surfaces.
In competitive mode, in solution containing both fibronectin and albumin, fibronectin showed greater adsorption on hydrophilic
surfaces, whereas Alb predominantly adsorbed on hydrophobic
surfaces. Initial attachment of both cells increased with increase in
surface wettability, in particular, on super-hydrophilic surface, which
correlated well with fibronectin adsorption in competitive mode.
These results suggest that a cold plasma-surface modification enabled
to regulate the surface wettability, and fibronectin adsorption may be
responsible for increasing cell adhesion on hydrophilic surfaces in a
body fluid
Abstract: The purpose of this study is to revisit the concept of
rape as represented by professionals in the literature as well as its
perception (beliefs and attitudes) in the population at large and to
propose methodological improvements to its measurement tool. Rape
is a serious crime threatening its victim-s physical and mental health
and integrity; and as such is legally prosecuted in all modern
societies. The problem is not in accepting or rejecting rape as a
criminal act, but rather in the vagueness of its interpretations and
“justifications" maintained in the mentality of modern societies -
known in the literature as the phenomenon of "rape-myth". The rapemyth
can be studied from different perspectives: criminology,
sociology, ethics, medicine and psychology. Its investigation requires
rigorous scientific objectivity, free of passion (victims of rape are at
risk of emotional bias), free of activism (social activists, even if wellintentioned
are also biased), free of any pre-emptive assumptions or
prejudices. To apply a rigorous scientific procedure, we need a solid,
valid and reliable measurement. Rape is a form of heterosexual or
homosexual aggression, violently forcing the victim to give-in in the
sexual activity of the aggressor against her/his will. Human beings
always try to “understand" or find a reason justifying their acts.
Psychological literature provides multiple clinical and experimental
examples of it; just to mention the famous studies by Milgram on the
level of electroshock delivered by the “teacher" towards the “learner"
if “scientifically justifiable" or the studies on the behavior of
“prisoners" and the “guards" and many other experiments and field
observations. Sigmund Freud presented the phenomenon of
unconscious justification and called it rationalization. The multiple
justifications, rationalizations and repeated opinions about sexual
behavior contribute to a myth maintained in the society. What kind of
“rationale" our societies apply to “understand" the non-consensual
sexual behavior? There are many, just to mention few:
• Sex is a ludistic activity for both participants, therefore –
even if not consented – it should bring pleasure to both.
• Everybody wants sex, but only men are allowed to manifest
it openly while women have to pretend the opposite, thus men have
to initiate sexual behavior and women would follow.
• A person who strongly needs sex is free to manifest it and
struggle to get it; the person who doesn-t want it must not reveal
her/his sexual attraction and avoid risky situations; otherwise she/he
is perceived as a promiscuous seducer.
• A person who doesn-t fight against the sexual initiator
unconsciously accepts the rape (does it explain why homosexual
rapes are reported less frequently than rapes against women?).
• Women who are raped deserve it because their wardrobe is
very revealing and seducing and they ''willingly'' go to highly risky
places (alleys, dark roads, etc.).
• Men need to ventilate their sexual energy and if they are
deprived of a partner their urge to have sex is difficult to control.
• Men are supposed to initiate and insist even by force to have
sex (their testosterone makes them both sexual and aggressive).
The paper overviews numerous cultural beliefs about masculine
versus feminine behavior and their impact on the “rape myth".
Abstract: This paper focuses on a technique for identifying the geological boundary of the ground strata in front of a tunnel excavation site using the first order adjoint method based on the optimal control theory. The geological boundary is defined as the boundary which is different layers of elastic modulus. At tunnel excavations, it is important to presume the ground situation ahead of the cutting face beforehand. Excavating into weak strata or fault fracture zones may cause extension of the construction work and human suffering. A theory for determining the geological boundary of the ground in a numerical manner is investigated, employing excavating blasts and its vibration waves as the observation references. According to the optimal control theory, the performance function described by the square sum of the residuals between computed and observed velocities is minimized. The boundary layer is determined by minimizing the performance function. The elastic analysis governed by the Navier equation is carried out, assuming the ground as an elastic body with linear viscous damping. To identify the boundary, the gradient of the performance function with respect to the geological boundary can be calculated using the adjoint equation. The weighed gradient method is effectively applied to the minimization algorithm. To solve the governing and adjoint equations, the Galerkin finite element method and the average acceleration method are employed for the spatial and temporal discretizations, respectively. Based on the method presented in this paper, the different boundary of three strata can be identified. For the numerical studies, the Suemune tunnel excavation site is employed. At first, the blasting force is identified in order to perform the accuracy improvement of analysis. We identify the geological boundary after the estimation of blasting force. With this identification procedure, the numerical analysis results which almost correspond with the observation data were provided.
Abstract: In this paper, the data correction algorithm is suggested
when the environmental air temperature varies. To correct the infrared
data in this paper, the initial temperature or the initial infrared image
data is used so that a target source system may not be necessary. The
temperature data obtained from infrared detector show nonlinear
property depending on the surface temperature. In order to handle this
nonlinear property, Taylor series approach is adopted. It is shown that
the proposed algorithm can reduce the influence of environmental
temperature on the components in the board. The main advantage of
this algorithm is to use only the initial temperature of the components
on the board rather than using other reference device such as black
body sources in order to get reference temperatures.
Abstract: Intradiscal and intervertebral pressure transducers
were developed. They were used to map the pressures in the nucleus
and within the annulus of the human spinal segments. Their stressrelaxation
were recorded over a period of time for nucleus
pressure, applied load, and peripherial strain against time. The
results show that for normal discs, pressures in the nucleus are
viscoelastic in nature with the applied compressive load.
Mechanical strains which develop around the periphery of the
vertebral body are also viscoelastic with the applied compressive
load. Applied compressive load against time also shows viscoelastic
behavior. However, annulus does not respond viscoelastically with
the applied load. It showed a linear response to compressive loading.
Abstract: Nanotechnology is the science of creating, using and
manipulating objects which have at least one dimension in range of
0.1 to 100 nanometers. In other words, nanotechnology is
reconstructing a substance using its individual atoms and arranging
them in a way that is desirable for our purpose.
The main reason that nanotechnology has been attracting
attentions is the unique properties that objects show when they are
formed at nano-scale. These differing characteristics that nano-scale
materials show compared to their nature-existing form is both useful
in creating high quality products and dangerous when being in
contact with body or spread in environment.
In order to control and lower the risk of such nano-scale particles,
the main following three topics should be considered:
1) First of all, these materials would cause long term diseases that
may show their effects on body years after being penetrated in human
organs and since this science has become recently developed in
industrial scale not enough information is available about their
hazards on body.
2) The second is that these particles can easily spread out in
environment and remain in air, soil or water for very long time,
besides their high ability to penetrate body skin and causing new
kinds of diseases.
3) The third one is that to protect body and environment against
the danger of these particles, the protective barriers must be finer than
these small objects and such defenses are hard to accomplish.
This paper will review, discuss and assess the risks that human and
environment face as this new science develops at a high rate.