Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) is a lipid messenger mediated by G protein-coupled receptors (LPAR1-6). It is involved in the pathogenesis of certain chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. In addition, it controls the self-renewal and differentiation of stem cells. Recent research has demonstrated the close relationship between periodontitis and various diseases in the human body. However, the precise role of LPA in the development of periodontitis has not been studied. We identified that LPAR1 was highly expressed in human periodontal ligament stem cells (PDLSCs). In periodontitis-mimicking conditions with Porphyromonas gingivalis -derived lipopolysaccharide (Pg-LPS) treatment, PDLSCs exhibited a considerable reduction in the cellular viability and osteogenic differentiation potential, in addition to an increase in the inflammatory responses including tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-1β expression and nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB) activation. Of the various LPAR antagonists, pre-treatment with AM095, an LPAR1 inhibitor, showed a positive effect on the restoration of cellular viability and osteogenic differentiation, accompanied by a decrease in NF-κB signaling, and action against Pg-LPS. These findings suggest that the modulation of LPAR1 activity will assist in checking the progression of periodontitis and in its treatment.

Introduction: Age-related co-morbidities are common among persons living with chronic Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). However, data are largely absent on the relationship between frailty and incontinence as related to falls—common age-related co-morbidities—among people living with chronic HIV (PLWH). Methods: To inform hospital-based Occupational Therapy (OT) services for PLWH, we performed a case-control study using extracted data from the electronic medical records of PLWH who had received OT at a large academic hospital. Two-hundred-and-four subjects were included in the final dataset; sixty-eight were cases that reported a fall within the last 12 months, while 136 were controls which were PLWH who had not sustained a fall. Results: The association between falls and frailty indicated that persons categorized as ‘pre-frail’ with balance deficits were more likely to fall (OR=2.77 [1.18-6.52]). Women who lacked insurance were less likely to fall (OR=0.38 [0.18-0.82]) and (OR=0.29 [0.09-0.88]) respectively. The association between incontinence and falls among PLWH were not statistically significant in a multivariate adjusted regression model (OR=1.38 [.59-3.22]). Conclusion: Our findings suggest further examination of the person factors of PLWH who are categorized clinically as ‘pre-frail’ or ‘frail’ may improve health outcomes and reduce falls when paired with occupation-based interventions.

스리랑카는 채소의 주년 생산에 적합한 기후를 갖고 있는 열대국가이다. 열대, 아열대 채소의 재배면적은 전체 농지(105,062 ha)의 약 3%이다. 지난 50년 동안 스리랑카에서 채소 육종에 관한 체계적인 연구가 이루어졌고 채소 부문은 지속적으로 증가하였다. 하지만 채소 육종, 재배 및 가공과 관련된 기술이 선진국에 비해 많이 뒤떨어져 있는 형편이다. 전통 육종법을 통해 개발된 다양한 농업적 형질을 가진 품종이 현재까지 스리랑카의 채소 생산에 이용되고 있지만 생명공학적 방법을 접목한 채소 품종 육종법의 중요성이 점차로 부각되고 있다. 본 논문은 스리랑카에서 중요한 채소 작물인 토마토, 고추류, 콩류, 가지 및 여주의 육종과 품종 현황을 소개하고 향후 스리랑카 육종 전망에 대해 논의하였다.

Fatigue is not a trivial issue and needs much attention. On the other hand, fatigue among seafarers could lead to accidents at sea due to their inability and ineffectiveness in carrying out their work. Some were caused by sleepiness and lack of vigour, which, could not only affect their safety but compromising on other seafarers as well. In this study, factors that cause fatigue among seafarers were examined analytically and their quantitative priorities were determined using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method. Additionally, the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) is used to identify the best alternatives in minimizing fatigue among seafarers. For this, data is collected through interview involving those working in academic and maritime industry with more than 5 years of experiences in dealing with seafarers. The AHP result shows that fitness is the main cause that could affect fatigue on seafarers’ reliability. Besides, TOPSIS result shows that a well-maintained shipboard is the best way in sustaining seafarers’ energy. In sum, fatigue among seafarers could influence on safety and may lead towards precarious health issue over a long-term.

Halal transportations will ensure that the Halal status of the products will be preserved. Halal certification is believed to increase the operation cost for the transport providers, which reflect the price paid by customers who choose to buy products transported by Halal transportation. Hence, it is worthwhile to investigate the willingness of Muslim consumers to pay extra for the Halal transportation cost. The study aims to identify factors influencing Muslim consumers’ attitude towards their willingness to pay for Halal transportation. Using the stimulus-organism-response model, attitude which represents the organism factor will be treated as a mediator for variables representing the stimulus factors and the variable for the response. On the other hand, the study will also examine the effect of knowledge as a moderating factor. The data was collected from Muslim consumers in Kuala Lumpur. Applying the purposive sampling method with a self-administered survey, 202 respondents agreed to participate in the study. The findings revealed that awareness and perceived behavioural control are a stimulus towards attitude, and attitude is a significant organism on willingness to pay. The study also found that attitude mediates the relationship between awareness and perceived behavioural control towards the willingness to pay for Halal transportation. Additionally, the knowledge has a moderating effect of the relationship between attitude and the willingness to pay. The findings of the study are not only beneficial for the Muslim community in Malaysia, but also the Muslims around the world.

The seaport system is one of the complex systems which involves many stakeholders; i.e. seaport cluster; seaport authority, seaport operator, government, shipping agent, forwarding agent etc. Due to this concern, the aims of this research is revealed the relationship between the three elements of seaport quality towards the seaport competitiveness. Subsequently, the scope of this research identified three elements of seaport quality (seaport effectiveness; seaport reliability; seaport governance) and seaport competitiveness as the influential elements from the Malaysian Seaport perspective. Then, the methodology of this research used quantitative method analysis and questionnaire as the instrument for the Malaysian seaport cluster stakeholders. Multiple regressions and the reliability test were employed for the data analysis. The 143 out of 180 respondents had approved after data screening. Consequently, the finding was the 8 influential elements of seaport quality onto seaport competitiveness; (i) highly stability on strong cooperation about ship and cargoes, (ii) systematic arrangement of facilities and equipment, (iii) demonstrates good understanding of client requirement, (iv) reliability on the ability of equipment and facilities, (v) easy understanding towards the implementation of the guidelines of process involves, (vi) highly attending by customer on the cooperation through community, (vii) highly understanding and knowledge to the security compliance and (viii) minimizing the ship turnaround time, and those were statistically significant under the Malaysian seaport quality perspectives. As conclusion, the element of seaport quality would contribute as the benchmark to improvise the Malaysian seaport competitiveness. The contribution from this research is foreseen under the developing the guidelines through the seaport quality while enhancing the seaport operation efficiency and the strategies development in determining the continuous sustainability of seaport industry.

A two-level full factorial design 22 with three replications was employed to assess the effect of the incorporation of PSF into the epoxy matrix and the surface treatment of carbon fibers on the work of adhesion (WA) and the interfacial shear strength (IFSS) of carbon fiber–epoxy composites. The IFSS was determined using the microbond (or microdrop) micromechanical test, and the work of adhesion was estimated using two different procedures: (1) using the Owens and Wendt method, and (2) from the Dupre–Young expression using the contact angle θ of a cured epoxy resin on a single carbon fiber and the surface energy of the cured epoxy resin. It was found that the treatment of the carbon fiber with the silane-coupling agent appreciably increases its polar component because of the nitric acid oxidation and the chemisorption of the silane-coupling agent onto the carbon fiber surface. Also, the O=S=O group present in the polysulfone chain resin fairly increases the polar component of the epoxy–PSF blend. The results show that the wetting of the silane-treated carbon fiber by the thermoplastic-modified epoxy resin is better, thus increasing the fiber–matrix adhesion. It was also found that there is a similarity between the trends of both, the IFSS and the WA results. Also, from the ANOVA results it was also seen that both the incorporation of the PSF to the epoxy matrix and the surface treatment of the carbon fibers and their interaction were statistically significant to the IFSS and the WA.

본 리뷰 논문은 식품 산업에서 나노 기술의 활용에 관한 보고이다. 식품 병원균에 대한 항균 활성을 갖는 생리 활성 성분은 식품 보존시 효율성을 향상시키고 보존성을 증진시키기 위해 나노입자(NPs)로 캡슐화된다. 그러나, 이러한 NPs는 인간에게 생체 적합성과 무독성을 지녀야 된다. 식품 보존분야의 발전은 일부 산업 분야에서 식품 포장용 NPs의 개발을 가져왔다. 식품 산업 분야에서 가장 일반적으로 사용되는 NPs 그룹은 금속 산화물이다. 산화 아연과 이산화 티타늄 같은 금속 산화물 NPs는 식품 재료에 서 항균 활성을 나타내기 때문에, NPs는 강화된 기능적 특성으로 식품 보존에 사용될 수 있다. 식품 영양과 관능적 특성과 관련된 나노 기술의 적용은 나노 기반 식품 제조 및 보존에 관한 안전규제를 중심으로 간략하게 정리하였다.

This work addresses the development of the astronomical observatory all through history, from an architectural point of view, as a building in relation to the observing instruments and their functioning as a heterogeneous work center. We focused on 32 observatories (in the period 1259–2007) and carefully analyzed the architectures. Considering the impact of the construction itself or its facilities on the results of the research (thermal or structural stability, poor weather protection, turbulence, etc.), there is little attention paid to theories or studies of the architectural or construction aspects of the observatories. Therefore, this work aims to present a theoretical-critical contribution that, at least, invites the reflection of those involved in the development of astronomical observatories in the future.

This study focused on the development of Fe–Co/kaolin catalyst by a wet impregnation method. Response surface methodology was used to study the influence of operating variables such as drying temperature, drying time, mass of support and stirring speed on the yield of the catalyst. The catalyst composite at best synthesis conditions was then calcined in an oven at varied temperature and time using 22 factorial design of experiment. The catalyst with optimum surface area was then utilized to grow carbon nanofiber (CNF) in a chemical vapour deposition (CVD) reactor. Both the catalyst and CNF were characterized using high-resolution scanning electron microscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. On the influence of operating variables on the yield of catalyst, the results showed that an optimum yield of 96.51% catalyst was obtained at the following operating conditions: drying time (10 h), drying temperature (110 °C), stirring speed (100 rpm) and mass of support (9 g). Statistical analysis revealed the existence of significant interactive effects of the variables on the yield of the catalyst. The HRSEM/XRD/BET/TGA analysis revealed that the particles are well dispersed on the support, with high surface area (376.5 m2/g) and thermally stable (330.88 °C). The influence of operating parameters on the yield of CNF was also investigated and the results revealed an optimum yield of 348% CNF at the following operating conditions: reaction temperature (600 °C), reaction time (40 min), argon flow rate (1416 mL/min) and acetylene/hydrogen flow rate (1416 mL/ min). It was found from statistical analysis that the reaction temperature and acetylene/hydrogen flow rates exerted significant effect on the CNF yield than the other factors. The contour and surface plots bi-factor interaction indicated functional relationship between the response and the experimental factors. The characterization results showed that the synthesized CNF is thermally stable, twisted and highly crystalline and contain surface functional groups. It can be inferred from the results of various analyses that the developed catalyst is suitable for CNF growth in a CVD reactor.

The IMO Standard Marine Communication Phrases (SMCP) has been established purposely to enhance the greater safety of vessel’s navigation by standardizing the language used among seafarers. However, accidents are still occurred due to communication failures among onboard merchant vessels’ crews. It is worth mentioning that the major cause of marine accidents is human error (80%) where one-third from it was due to communication failures. Ineffective communication, different culture and language among seafarers onboard are some instigators of human error that lead to accidents in marine operations. Therefore, the primary aim of this paper is to investigate and evaluate the causal factors that contributes to communication failures onboard merchant vessels. Then, this paper recommends possible solutions for minimizing the communication failures among seafarers. To achieve this research objectives, two decision-making tools which are the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Evidential Reasoning (ER) was applied. Data and judgments are obtained from domains experts from four marine training providers and eight shipowners in Malaysia. The result has shown that lack of SMCP knowledge, prejudice and dialect varieties are the most significant factors that contribute to the communication failures onboard merchant vessels. Few suggestions and opinions from the experts are proposed in this paper. This research can assist marine training providers and shipowners to identify and evaluate the causal factors of communication failures thus corrective action can be taken.