Great Platform Research Articles

Low-Cost Graphene-Based Digital Microfluidic System.

In this work, the laser-scribing technique was used as a low-cost, rapid and facile method for fabricating digital microfluidic (DMF) systems. Laser-scribed graphene (LSG) electrodes are directly synthesized on flexible substrates to pattern the DMF electrode arrays. This facilitates the DMF electrodes’ fabrication process by eliminating many microfabrication steps. An electrowetting test was performed to investigate the effectiveness of the LSG DMF electrodes in changing the contact angles of droplets. Different DMF operations were successfully performed using the proposed LSG DMF chips in both open and closed DMF systems. The quality and output resolution were examined to assess the performance of such patterned electrodes in the DMF systems. To verify the efficacy of the LSG DMF chips, a one-step direct assay for the detection of Legionella pneumophila deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) was performed on the chip without the need for any washing step. The high specificity in distinguishing a single-nucleotide mismatch was achieved by detecting target DNA concentrations as low as 1 nM. Our findings suggest that the proposed rapid and easy fabrication method for LSG DMF electrodes offers a great platform for low-cost and easily accessible point-of-care diagnostic devices.

IMPACTS OF DESIGN THINKING COURSE FOR UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN A PRIVATE HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTION

The general idea behind any Design Thinking course is to expand the creativity and critical thought process of students in their studies and develop these highly sought after skillsets at the tertiary level. In this study, the Design Thinking course helps students to develop practical and innovative solutions based on the problems that figured and need to have a solution. This research explores the impacts of the Design Thinking course for undergraduate students in a private institution in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. This research was conducted with the use of a quantitative research method through an online survey and was distributed to 114 students at the end of the course. This was done to examine the impacts of the Design Thinking course. Furthermore, the survey questionnaire was used as the main tool for data collection. The findings show a positive impact of the Design Thinking course for undergraduate students, the course has given a great platform to students and having a design thinking mindset to think more creatively.

Nanoporous Zn-Based Metal–Organic Framework Nanoparticles for Fluorescent pH Sensing and Thermochromism

Dual-functional porous metal–organic framework (MOF) nanoparticles have generated a great platform for developing various types of luminescent sensors because of their inconceivable structural dive...

Advanced approaches for Obesity and Endocrinology

It is a great platform to share a new things on obesity and diabetes and it is organizing with the International Researchers, Doctors, Scientists, Endocrinologists, Diabetologists, Health care professionals, Delegates and Students across the globe will assemble on the venue and justify the phenomenon, the theme “Advanced approaches for Obesity and Endocrinology.Overweight and obesity has proceeded as one of the most regular global issues as it is affecting more than a billion adults worldwide. Both general and abdominal obesity have been shown as risk factors contributing for morbidity and mortality. Major global organizations have focused today on speedy treatment and prevention strategies for this epidemic which has been recognized to pose drastic threat to public health. Obesity results in reduced quality of life. This global health issue is becoming more prevalent among women and in lower social classes or immigrants; while over weight is increasing especially among children.

Biomass-Derived Activated Carbon as a Catalyst for the Effective Degradation of Rhodamine B dye

Activated carbon (AC) was fabricated from carrot waste using ZnCl2 as the activating agent and calcined at 700 °C for 2 h in a tube furnace. The as-synthesized AC was characterized using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction analysis, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller analysis; the results revealed that it exhibited a high specific surface area and high porosity. Moreover, this material displayed superior catalytic activity for the degradation of toxic Rhodamine B (RhB) dye. Rate constant for the degradation of RhB was ascertained at different experimental conditions. Lastly, we used the Arrhenius equation and determined that the activation energy for the decomposition of RhB using AC was approximately 35.9 kJ mol−1, which was very low. Hopefully it will create a great platform for the degradation of other toxic dye in near future.

Tremendous Contribution of Dr. Shahid Ullah to Scientific Community during COVID-19 Pandemic in the Form of Scientific Research

Legends are often the leading indicators of progress, civilization, culture for society and especially for the scientific community. The world is running on such beneficent, diligent, and creative-mind people, which sacrificing their precious time of life for the aid of society. Dr. Shahid Ullah is one of those who tried day night for humanity and have provided a great platform for the scientific community as well as for local researcher in the form of S Khan Lab, which has all updated biological databases of all research area that were not been provided on such friendly finding forum. The purpose of biological databases is to store, organize and distribute data in a standardized and searchable manner to facilitate the processing and visualization of data for humans. Taken together he has collected all biological databases to one easy and friendly finding manner platform which is available at http://www.habdsk.org/ with timely updates. Further, he has also provided two databases on the Covid-19, a global challenge for the scientific community recently.

Understanding Complex Social Network of Government Officials in Decision Making

Understanding Complex Social Network of Government Officials in Decision Making

Knowledge discovery of scholarly publications on misinformation on social media: A text mining approach

Social media is a remarkable outcome of Web 2.0 technology, which is very popular among the Internet users. The general public is using social media as a communication media to fulfil their information requirements on various occasions such as disaster communication, health communication, marketing products and services and political campaigns. However, the openness of social media provides a great platform for misinformation sharing which is a very common problem in social media communication. Hence, the main objectives of this study are to analyse the publication year and total citation count of publications on misinformation on social media and to identify the main disciplines of misinformation studies on social media using the text mining technique. The primary data of this study were extracted from the Web of Science database using the keywords; social media, misinformation, disinformation and fake news on 16th April 2020. The WoS provided 62 search results and all 62 articles were considered in this study. The title of the article, journal, published year, total citation, abstract, author keywords, keywords plus, Web of Science categories, and research areas were extracted from WoS database. The text mining was done manually. According to the results, scholarly publications on misinformation on social media were first published in the year 2012. Scholarly publications were categorized into 10 main categories; Information, Media, Medical information, Social Science, Communication, Health information, Computer science, Other Sciences, Engineering and Management and Finance. The medical information subject area is covering vast varieties of research areas than the other main subject areas.

3D super-resolved imaging in live cells using sub-diffractive plasmonic localization of hybrid nanopillar arrays

Abstract Analysing dynamics of a single biomolecule using high-resolution imaging techniques has been had significant attentions to understand complex biological system. Among the many approaches, vertical nanopillar arrays in contact with the inside of cells have been reported as a one of useful imaging applications since an observation volume can be confined down to few-tens nanometre theoretically. However, the nanopillars experimentally are not able to obtain super-resolution imaging because their evanescent waves generate a high optical loss and a low signal-to-noise ratio. Also, conventional nanopillars have a limitation to yield 3D information because they do not concern field localization in z-axis. Here, we developed novel hybrid nanopillar arrays (HNPs) that consist of SiO2 nanopillars terminated with gold nanodisks, allowing extreme light localization. The electromagnetic field profiles of HNPs are obtained through simulations and imaging resolution of cell membrane and biomolecules in living cells are tested using one-photon and 3D multiphoton fluorescence microscopy, respectively. Consequently, HNPs present approximately 25 times enhanced intensity compared to controls and obtained an axial and lateral resolution of 110 and 210 nm of the intensities of fluorophores conjugated with biomolecules transported in living cells. These structures can be a great platform to analyse complex intracellular environment.

Construction of Biocompatible Dual-Drug Loaded Complicated Nanoparticles for in vivo Improvement of Synergistic Chemotherapy in Esophageal Cancer

Combination chemotherapy is a routine treatment for esophageal cancer, but some shortcomings, such as drug toxicity and side effects, greatly limit the clinical application of combination therapy. To overcome these shortcomings, we have developed a mesoporous silica nanoparticle system that was used to load doxorubicin and β-elemene. β-elemene was encapsulated in the pore of mesoporous silica nanoparticle and doxorubicin was electrostatically adsorbed on the surface of mesoporous silica nanoparticle by hyaluronic acid to construct dual drugs synergistic nanoparticles (bMED NPs, ~77.15 nm). In vitro studies demonstrated that bMED NPs had a good treatment effect in esophageal cancer cell lines. In vivo fluorescence imaging results demonstrated that bMED NPs could accumulate in tumor sites and achieve in vivo long-term circulation and continuous drug release. In addition, bMED NPs exhibited significant antitumor effects in the esophageal cancer mouse model, which may provide a great platform for esophageal cancer chemotherapy.

Preface: Proceeding of Joint Conference on Green Engineering Technology & Applied Computing 2020

This joint conference is organized simultaneously of International Conference on Green Engineering & Technology 2020 (IConGETech2020) and International Conference on Applied Computing 2020 (ICAC2020). This joint conference invites papers from various fields in both green engineering & technology and applied computing related fields. The primary goal of the conference is to provide the opportunities for academicians, professionals, practitioers and policy makers in the engineering and computing fields to share their thoughts and empirical works both to those involved in their field or those interested in the subject being researched.The objectives of this Joint conference are:1. To provide a forum for researchers, educators, students and industries to share and exchange ideas and research findings in both fields of researches.2. To give an opportunity to both academia and industries to communicate on problems faced in current research and the industries.3. To create networks and stimulate potential collaborations between researchers in the same field of research.International Conference on Green Engineering & Technology 2020 (IConGETech2020) will foster the progress in green engineering and related technology by contributing your expertise to what promises to be a very comprehensive and exciting meeting. The aim of the IConGETech2020 is exploring the advances and challenges in Green Engineering & Technology between academia, scientists and engineers by bringing together again the world class researchers and Industrial heads to discuss the latest developments and innovations in the fields of related field of research works.International Conference on Applied Computing 2020 (ICAC2020) aims to address the main issues of concern within the applied computing area and related fields. This conference offers a great opportunity to bring together professors, researchers, and scholars around the globe, having a great platform to deliver the latest innovative research result and the most recent development and trends in applied computing. We cordially invite all prospective authors to submit their original manuscripts to ICAC2020.

Two novel Zn-CPs act as dual-functional luminescent sensors for highly selective, sensitive and stable detection of Fe3+ ions and tetracycline

Environmental issues are the great challenge that human beings are suffering from. Development in coordination polymers (CPs) provides a great platform for tracing hazardous substance by fluorescence detection. In this work, two novel Zn-CPs, namely [Zn(1,1′-bbi)(C2O4)]n (1) and [Zn3(1,1′-bbi)(L)2(H2O)]n (2) (flexible 1,1′-bbi = 1,1′-(1,4-butanediyl)bis(imidazole), and H3L = 5-(2-carboxylphenoxy)isophthalic acid) have been synthesized under solvothermal conditions, and further characterized by IR spectra, elemental analyses, thermogravimetric (TG) analyses, powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Complex 1 displays a sql topological framework; complex 2 shows an unprecedented 4-nodal (3,3,5,6)-c topological network with Point Schläfli symbol (4·5·6)2(42·52·62·73·9)2(42·52·64·7·84·9·10)(42·5)2. CPs 1–2 possess good application prospect due to their high thermal, and chemical stability. The selective and sensitive fluorescence sensing of 1–2 have been investigated towards Fe3+ ions and tetracycline in detail.

Silver and copper oxide nanoparticles-decorated graphene oxide via pulsed laser ablation technique: Preparation, characterization, and photoactivated antibacterial activity

Graphene oxide, silver and copper oxide nanoparticles display photoactivated antibacterial behavior owing to their ability to generate charge carriers via light exposure. In this work, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and copper oxide nanoparticles (CuONPs) were embedded through graphene oxide (GO) using laser ablation technique. The microstructural behavior of the synthesized compositions has been investigated via XRD and TEM. The optical properties were studied by (UV–Vis), while the antibacterial properties were investigated in addition to the cell viability towards normal cell line (HFB4) in vitro. The antibacterial activity of GO was enhanced significantly with addition nanoparticles; by meaning, the inhibition zone enlarged from 5.4 mm with pure GO to be around 11.2 mm against E. coli with contribution of CuONPs. This trend of enhancement suggests that GO could be a great platform for different kinds of photo-activated antibacterial to be recommended for versatile biomedical applications.

Guest Editorial: Special Section on Cybersecurity Techniques for Managing Networked Systems

As the backbone of communications amongst objects, humans, companies, and administrations, the Internet has become a great integration platform capable of efficiently interconnecting billions of entities, from RFID chips to data centers. This platform provides access to multiple hardware and virtualized resources (servers, networking, storage, applications, connected objects) coming from cloud computing and Internet-of-Things (IoT) infrastructures. From these resources that may be hosted and distributed amongst different providers and tenants, the building and operation of complex and value-added networked systems is enabled.

Effect of Surfactant-Keratin Hydrolysate Interactions on the Hydration Properties of a Stratum Corneum Substitute.

A novel stratum corneum substitute (SCS) has been developed, and the fundamental mechanism of the dehydration process has been studied using the SCS. After washing with cleansers which contain surfactants, our skin "feels" dehydrated (or hydrated). Although many studies have focused on the effect of surfactants on the regulation of the water loss by the lipid bilayers in the stratum corneum (SC) for a long timescale or at equilibrium, only few studies have focused on the acute effect of the surfactant interaction on dehydration. In addition, the interaction between the surfactant and keratin has been often underappreciated compared to lipid bilayers although keratin is the major nonaqueous component of the SC. Here, we have developed novel SCS models, nonkeratinized (lipid only) and keratinized, to study the effect of keratin hydrolysates on the dehydration rate. We have confirmed that the lipid organizational structure of the SCS was similar to that of the human SC using X-ray scattering. We have revealed that keratin hydrolysates play a significant role in the dehydration rate, accelerating the rate for the short term. We have also demonstrated that the effect of surfactants on dehydration is more pronounced for keratinized samples than that for the nonkeratinized sample. However, the dehydration rate for the nonkeratinized SCS with the surfactant became faster than the that for the keratinized SCS after the 20 min evaporation process, suggesting that the water binding sites of keratin hydrolysates slowed down evaporation, while the surfactant interacting with the lipids accelerated the water loss. Lastly, the study demonstrated that the SCS model can be a great platform to test macroscopic properties and analyze the underlying mechanism at the molecular level for various chemicals.

Method of Synthetic Motion for Testing Single Particle Tracking Microscopes

The study of cells and molecules at the nanometer scale necessitates the development of methods that can localize and track single particles, collectively known as single particle tracking microscopes (SPTM). However successful these techniques are, it is difficult to compare them directly, especially as one is most interested in their performance on a specific experimental setup. In this work, we demonstrate the use of synthetic motion (SM) as a basis for testing, calibrating, optimizing, and comparing SPTM techniques. SM, first described by Michael Saxton, is a method of moving a fixed fluorophore along a trajectory, by a stochastic motion model realization. This allows a single particle to move with a known ground-truth in the acquired image of an SPTM, allowing for comparison to the estimated positions, trajectory, and motion model parameters. Having the ground truth then allows for detailed and precise experimental analysis and comparison of specific SPTMs with very different detection and signal processing. However, when implementing SM, one must take into account the physical limitations of the actuation modality used to achieve motion on the microscope. Piezo-actuated microscope stages make a great platform for SM due to its large actuation range, precise positioning, and high speeds. However, achieving accurate and precise positioning requires overcoming several challenges that arise due to the nature of the piezo-actuators. The effects of controller quantization, actuator slew rate, amplifier input slew rate, and bandwidth limitations on SM are analyzed. Additionally, a feedforward-feedback control system can increase the bandwidth of the stage while maintaining the precise and accurate motion needed for the fast acquisition rates of modern SPTMs and for producing intraframe motion-blur. With these challenges overcome, SM becomes a powerful tool for the experimental analysis of SPT algorithms, hardware, and microscope instrument designs.

Análisis semiótico de los nuevos formatos de la noticia de comunidad en Facebook y Twitter del discurso del medio digital ecuatoriano KolectiVOZ


 Los nuevos medios sociales comprenden una nueva esfera mediática donde se generan nuevos formatos informativos. En este sentido, nuestra investigación se enfocará en una nueva dinámica de noticia de la comunidad en los nuevos medios; para ello, empleará el método hermenéutico para, a través de este, hacer un análisis semiótico del espacio proyectado por KolectiVOZ, “Culopropismo”, que lo encontramos en la plataforma de Facebook. El medio digital denuncia través de su espacio quejas de la ciudadanía como invasión o apropiación indebida del espacio público. De esta manera, el análisis semiótico partirá de las dimensiones respectivas: sintáctica, semántica y pragmática, que se conectará con los resultados de las hipermediaciones técnicas y sociales que permiten la comunicación en el espacio digital, y qué tipo de audiencias son las que consumen dichos contenidos. En la actualidad, vivimos la sociedad red (Castells, 2001) y con el desarrollo de las nuevas tecnologías se evidencia un bombardeo de información debido la actividad continua de los prosumidores (Scolari, 2008) que se trata de una audiencia que no solo consume contenidos, sino que además los produce. Ante ello, las audiencias cohabitan en una ecología de medios donde conviven los medios digitales y los medios analógicos (Scolari, 2015), en consecuencia, los formatos de los contenidos noticiosos se diversificaron, no solo en cuanto a contenido sino también en formatos (Oviedo & Ulloa, 2016). Ante ello, la internet por ser una gran plataforma de información supera con creces las dimensiones informativas que los medios analógicos pueden brindar, en los cuales se presentan todo tipo de situaciones que favorecen o no a una sociedad. Los nativos digitales (Piscitelli, 2008) que nacieron rodeados de tecnología tienen una serie de capacidades cognitivas que no tienen los migrantes digitales, es por ello, que los nuevos formatos de las noticias están enfocados en esta nueva audiencia.

Prethermalization and Nonreciprocal Phonon Transport in a Levitated Optomechanical Array

AbstractRecent advances in levitated optomechanics have brought new opportunities for the study of macroscopic quantum mechanics and precision measurement. Previous studies have mainly focused on the single levitated nanoparticle, the systems of multiple levitated nanoparticles were rarely involved. Here an array of optically levitated nanospheres in vacuum is considered and nontrivial phonon transport in this system is investigated. The levitated nanospheres are coupled by optical binding. Key parameters of this system, such as the interaction range, trapping frequencies, and mechanical dissipation, are highly tunable. Due to these advantages, counter‐intuitive phenomena such as prethermalization and nonreciprocal phonon transport can be achieved by tuning the spacing between neighboring spheres, the mechanical dissipation, and the trapping frequency of each sphere. The system provides a great platform to investigate novel phonon transport and thermal energy transfer.

Dual pH- and GSH-Responsive Degradable PEGylated Graphene Quantum Dot-Based Nanoparticles for Enhanced HER2-Positive Breast Cancer Therapy.

Dual stimuli-responsive degradable carbon-based nanoparticles (DS-CNPs) conjugated with Herceptin (HER) and polyethylene glycol (PEG) have been designed for the treatment of HER2-positive breast cancer. Each component has been linked through disulfide linkages that are sensitive to glutathione in a cancer microenvironment. β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) on the surface of DS-CNPs formed an inclusion complex (DL-CNPs) with doxorubicin (DOX) at a high loading capacity of 5.3 ± 0.4%. In response to a high level of glutathione (GSH) and low pH in a tumor environment, DL-CNPs were rapidly degraded and released DOX in a controlled manner via disruption of host–guest inclusion. These novel DL-CNPs exhibited high cellular uptake with low toxicity, which induced the efficient inhibition of antitumor activity both in vitro and in vivo. Cell viability, confocal laser scanning microscopy, and animal studies indicate that DL-CNPs are a great platform with a synergistically enhanced antitumor effect from the dual delivery of HER and DOX in DL-CNPs.

When liposomes met antibodies: Drug delivery and beyond.

Drug encapsulated liposomes and monoclonal antibodies (Mabs) are two distinctively different classes of therapeutics, but both aim to become the ultimate "magic bullet". While PEGylated liposomes rely on the enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect for accumulation in solid tumor tissues, Mabs are designed to bind tightly to specific surface antigens on target cells to exert effector functions. Immunoliposome (IL) refers to the structural combination of liposomes and antibodies, whereas the antibodies are usually decorated on the liposome surface. ILs can therefore take advantage of interactions between antibodies and cancer cells for more efficient endocytosis and intracellular drug delivery. The antibody structure, affinity, density, as well as the liposome surface properties and drug to lipid ratios all contribute to the IL pharmacokinetic(PK) and pharmacodynamic(PD) behaviors. The optimal formulation parameters may vary for different target cells and tissues. Furthermore, besides the delivery of cytotoxic drugs to cancer cells, new ILs are being developed to interact with multiple target receptors, multiple target cells and trigger multiple therapeutic effects. We envision that the IL format can be a great platform for the molecular engineering of multi-valent, multi-specific interactions to achieve complex biological functions for therapeutic benefits, especially in the area of cancer immunotherapy.