bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Terrain analysis in Phetchabun province
Authors:   , Pichetsopon Tanapat
Published: September 2023

Phetchabun province, lower northern Thailand is vulnerable to geohazards, landslide and flooding with the potential for significant harm to people and property. In addition, Phetchabun province has many lineaments that could be potential source of tectonic activities. In this study, terrain analysis techniques are used through 30 meters resolution Digital Elevation Model (DEM) data in order to determine geomorphic indices related to tectonic activity. The statistic index method (Si) is calculated in relation of six parameters to indicate landslide susceptible area. and the hydromorphometric contrast index (HCI) is used to identify sensitive area to flooding by evaluating five parameters. According to the result, the SL index with 90 to 100 percentage was selected to represent anomalous values. The Smf index, most of lineaments has been supported the low to medium active tectonics. The value of HI indicates less impact from tectonic activity. HC show most drainage basins in concave curves. The Bs index, most drainage basins that are related to medium to high tectonic activity. Additionally, the high and very high classes of landslide susceptibility maps have been situated in the eastern and western area. The high class of flood susceptibility map has been shown in the central and southern area.
Geoinformatics and predictive model for malaria risk in Thailand
Authors:   , Krainara Patcharaporn
Published: September 2023

Malaria is an infectious disease caused by the parasite Plasmodium spp., and transmitted by an anopheles mosquito as a vector. After an infected female Anopheles mosquito bites a person, a parasite from salivary glands is delivered into the human’s blood flow. The incubation period of the disease is between 10-14 days and in the severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. Many researches indicated that the occurrence of malaria requires many factors, including environmental factors, landscape and climate. Therefore, every healthcare organization delivered policies to control these typical factors towards human’s living styles. Though malaria has been cleared for decades, there is one serious problem that there were emergences of malaria parasite that resisted various types of medicines in use. So, it causes the complication in malaria control processes. To solve such complication, this study collected data mainly from the National Statistical Office database and applied statistical method, combining with the machine learning technique and Geographic Information System to determine risk factors, risk model, and risk map for malaria distribution in Thailand. As a result of these methods, this study proposed a new set of monitoring parameters, 28 parameters, a logistic model tree (LMT) risk model, and a risk map for malaria distribution derived by the machine learning mechanism. The precision and recall of this tree are 0.780 and 0.821, respectively, which are higher than using the risk model created from the typical factors.  As a result of this finding, the government can utilize these newly identified factors to develop suitable strategies to control malaria considering proper criteria. For example, the government should control the quality of rivers or even increase the amount of river monitoring in some areas to reduce the malaria risk. Once these factors are completely managed with well-developed plans, each community can reduce the risk of malaria without concern regarding drug resistance. Moreover, according to the risk map, each area in Thailand has been defined as high, medium, low distribution of malaria based on the discovery factors. In such result, the government can set suitable the malaria monitoring and protection strategies for each individual area with a proper budget to be provided.
Dental services utilization, oral status, and oral health-related quality of life among Thai elderly: data from the eight Thailand national oral health survey
Authors:   , Harirugsakul Punkanit
Published: September 2023

The number of older adults in Thailand is currently increasing. To create the appropriate oral health service for them requires understanding the associations between dental service utilization (DSU), oral status and oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL). The objectives of this study were to examine the associations of DSU and oral status with OHRQoL and to examine the associations between social backgrounds and DSU in Thai older adults. Data on 4,130 Thai older adults from the 8th Thailand National Oral Health Survey were collected through interviews and oral examination. Chi-square test and multiple logistic regression models were applied. Thai older adults who lived in an urban area, had an income over 15,001 Baht, graduated middle school or more, entitled to civil servant medical benefit scheme, and were ex-smokers or never-smoked were more likely to visit a dental clinic. Thai older adults who had 27 teeth or more and 8 posterior occlusal pairs or more were more likely to have less difficulty eating. Difficulty eating, difficulty speaking and satisfaction with oral health were associated with DSU. In conclusion, Thai older adults with poor social backgrounds and smoking utilized less dental services. OHRQoL in Thai older adults, especially difficulty eating, was associated with income, DSU, posterior occlusal pairs and number of teeth.
Adsorption of haloacetonitriles by carbonized metal-organic frameworks
Authors:   , Rodbutr Phattarawarin
Published: September 2023

This research investigated adsorption efficiency of four including; Chloroacetonitrile (MCAN), Dichloriacetonitrile (DCAN), Bromoacetonitrile (MBAN) and Dibromoacetonitrle (DBAN) on five acid-washed carbonized metal-organic frameworks (MOFs)  (WC-ZIF-8, WC-MIL-53, WC-MIL-88B, WC-UiO-66 and WC-HKUST-1) compared with powder activated carbon (PAC S10). The synthesized materials were characterized by XRD, SEM-EDS, nitrogen adsorption isotherms, FTIR and XPS. The screening experiment revealed that WC-MIL-88B,  WC-ZIF-8, and PAC had highest adsorption capacities for four HANs, respectively. The HANs molecular size and their hydrophobicity influenced the adsorption rates of HANs in the order of DBAN>DCAN>MBAN>MCAN. The adsorption isotherms showed that Di-halogenic HANs (DBAN and DCAN) can be adsorbed by WC-MOFs much better than mono-halogenic HANs (MBAN and MCAN). From XRD analysis, O-C=O and Fe-O functional groups of WC-MIL-88B might play the important role for adsorption of four HANs., adsorption sites of WC-MIL-88B are expected to be enough for mixed-solute HANs adsorption in low concentration range (0-100ppb), and the order of adsorption capacities does not change from the single-solute adsorption.
Factors affecting the purchase of commercial endowment insurance for the Chinese adults
Authors:   , Jin Tiantian
Published: September 2023

The study aimed to explore factors affecting the purchase of commercial endowment insurance for the Chinese adults. It used secondary data from “China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study”, this data was based on family and individual who are 45 and over years old with a total of 17,000 individuals in 2015. In this study the percent of people with commercial endowment insurance is 0.93%, while the percent of people without is 99.07% so it used the Binary logistic model. Factors are studied from individual characteristic consists of age, gender, education, health status and income, and family characteristic composes of number children of family and marital status, and external characteristic was made up of living place for Chinese adults. The study summarized statistics of individual characteristic, family characteristic and external characteristic, summarized the mean and standard error of age and income, as well as the cross-tabulation of gender, health status, education level, number children of family, marital status and live place for full sample and with and without commercial endowment insurance. In the logistic regression model, the results showed that age influenced at level of 10% significance, and income influenced at level of 1% significance.
Increasing levodopa and carbidopa loading quantity in oral pullulan thin film
Authors:   , Krisai Kitisak
Published: September 2023

Due to the non-compliance of Parkinson’s patient, both youth and elderly patients commonly suffer from the consequent of tablet administration. Therefore, the way to solve this patient’s non-compliance is the development of levodopa (LD) and carbidopa (CD) as an oral thin film (OTF) formulation. The current study focuses on the increasing solubility of LD and CD in order to improve the loading quantity for OTF preparation including formulation development and short-term stability investigation. The technique of solubilization by ionization approach was selected. Quantitative determination of solubilized LD and CD in various acid solvents showed the highest solubility of both drugs in 0.1 M HCl acid/0.1 M citric acid pH 1.5. The utilization of cosolvency, surfactant and high polymer concentration were also applied. The result revealed that they were not provide synergistic effect on the improving of LD and CD solubility in acid solvent. OTFs containing LD and CD were prepared by solvent casting method using pullulan as polymeric material. Glycerin and ascorbic acid were used as a plasticizer and antioxidant, respectively. The OTF formulation was assessed according to various physico-mechanical properties. The OTF produced without glycerin was breakable whereas 5% and 10%w/w addition provided tackier film. However, small level of glycerin at 1% and 2%w/w were successfully applied to gain appropriate OTF. Although high pullulan content of 8 %w/w was remarkably showed acceptable film characteristic, loading content of both drugs was negligibly improved. Therefore, the developed OTFs that met the requirements was found to be composed of 8 %w/w of pullulan with either glycerin added of 1% or 2 %w/w of dry pullulan. When considering the stability of mentioned products, they were not exhibited appreciable stability as shown with the significant disappearing of LD and CD content during storage. Further formulation development should be conducted by pointing out with specific additives and method of preparation.
Risk assessment of GMP inspection of overseas pharmaceutical manufacturers based on pic/s desktop inspection
Authors:   , Cheewajorn Waranon
Published: September 2023

Good manufacturing practice (GMP) inspection of overseas manufacturers is regulated under desktop inspection by Thailand Food and Drug Administration (Thai FDA). The desktop inspection system is verified mainly by document without on-site inspection like for local manufacturers. The inspection results may thus cause certain gaps in terms of quality and reliability. In addition, none has reported the risk assessment of desktop inspection system in Thailand and the limited research articles investigated these gaps. This work utilized the quality risk management (QRM) of International Council for Harmonization Q9 (ICH Q9) guideline with Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) tool to study risk assessment and risk control of GMP desktop inspection system of overseas pharmaceutical manufacturers in Thailand. The study design consisted of 5 steps. First, pre-assessment step was to set up a risk assessment team and data analysis of desktop inspection and drug quality defect situation over three years in 2016 – 2018. Next, risk identification step was performed by analysis of regulation gap and routine workflow. The regulation gap was analyzed by comparing Thai regulations against five globally-selected countries/organizations, namely; Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, World Health Organization (WHO) and The Pharmaceutical Inspection Co-operation Scheme (PIC/S). Followed by risk analysis and risk evaluation step, brainstorming based on team discussion, along with using FMEA tool and risk priority number (RPN) were conducted. Finally, risk reduction step described all the risk mitigation approaches, verified by implementation and re-assessment. The results showed that the most potential negative effects on the quality and reliability of the desktop inspection system with highest RPN values were desktop inspection pathway for non-PIC/S or non-WHO prequalification certified manufacturers (RPN = 100) and lack of stepwise approach in document review (RPN = 80) that were analyzed as the high-risk level based on the regulation gap and workflow analysis, respectively. Such overseas manufacturers tended to have various GMP standards based on their own quality system criteria and be inspected by different levels of the authorized inspectorate. Meanwhiles, lack of this stepwise can lead to missing critical points and difference in inspection results. Nevertheless, after implementation, stepwise procedures justified the quality of inspection results and reduced RPN value and risk level to acceptable level. This work can be very useful for the Thai FDA to manage and minimize all potential risks for continual quality improvement of the desktop inspection system for overseas pharmaceutical manufacturers in Thailand.
Serum non-coding RNA levels as potential diagnostic and prognostic markers of hepatocellular carcinoma
Authors:   , Pratedrat Pornpitra
Published: September 2023

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common type of liver cancers in the world. Most common cause of HCC is viral hepatitis B infection (HBV). That lead to HCC detection at late stage and be difficult for curative treatment. So, biomarkers for HCC are required to detect HCC efficiently. MicroRNAs and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play a key role in tumorigenesis through many different mechanisms. Moreover, non-coding RNA can be released into body fluid. Hence purpose of this study is to investigate the level of miRNA and lncRNAs in serum as the used as potential biomarkers for HBV-HCC detection. For miRNAs, miRNA-223-3p can be determined as an independent factor for predicting overall survival rate in patients with HCC-HBV. Therefore, miR-223-3p might be a novel potential miRNA for HCC prognosis. Another lncRNAs, circulating H19 can be used with AFP to increase both sensitivity and specificity for HCC prediction. We further studied the relation between H19 and cancer phenotypes by gene knock out via CRISPR/Cas9. The result showed that silenced H19 can decrease cell migration in Huh7 (p < 0.05). According to the complication of lncRNA functions in cell, it is difficult to conclude the main mechanism of lncRNA to predict the disease progression, and cannot use specific lncRNA alone for disease marker. Therefore, the use of combination marker types may help to improve predictive values for diseases progression. However, a large cohort is required for serum validation.
"Bricks in the wall" : sufficiency economy philosophy in Thailand and gaps in the framework
Authors:   , Takenaka Laura
Published: September 2023

His Majesty King Bumibol Adulyadej was inspired by a book called Small is Beautiful, all about how to humanize economics and make development benefit those who need it most. When he saw the devastation after the 1997 Asian Economic Crisis, he formulated the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy (SEP) to help the Thai people recover and to make Thailand more resilient. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the philosophy in depth and find the gaps in the framework. The objectives are to pinpoint the gaps and weaknesses in the current framework, obtain farmers’ insights into the realities of farming via the New Theory, and analyse the feasibility of large corporations using SEP for their internal management. Critical indicators for agribusiness and non-agricultural based businesses are identified. They are the ‘bricks’ of Indicators (operational applications) and a new finding of Democratization.  For large corporations, Democratization may not be possible, but the SEP theory could be more flexible in interpretation, such as cooperation could be introduced in stages as a compromise. The Thai Government is promoting the SEP as the vehicle to achieve the United Nations Global Goals. If the SEP is applied both domestically and internationally by the Thai Government, it could achieve the SDG’s Goals 1, 2, 5, and 10. A qualitative study comprised of a comprehensive literature review, a series of participant interviews, participant observation on SEP New Theory farms and research sites as well as speaking to key informants outlined the situation of the New Theory farmer. A macro view of six business case studies of corporations that are said to be SEP compliant were conducted with data analysis and online research as well as email interviews between the researcher and relevant stakeholders.
Motivation in selecting study Korean language of students and working-age people in Thailand
Authors:   , Punplub Amphai
Published: September 2023

This research focuses on selecting study Korean language of students and working-age people in Thailand. The Research samples were 360 university students who chose Korean language as their major and 80 working-age people who study Korean language at KEC (Korean Education Center in Thailand) and Sejong Korean Language Institution in Thailand. The instrument used for data gathering was the questionnaire that was adopted from the Gardner’s (1985) Attitude/Motivation Test Battery (AMTB). The result shows that students and working-age people have Integrative motivation more than Instrumental motivation. The result and recommendation given in this research not only reveals the motivation to choose Korean language of the students and working-age people but also can help Korean language instructors to integrate this information with their teaching methods for building motivation and perseverance in their students in order that the students can develop their Korean language skills more efficiently. Moreover, this study’s findings may provide useful guidelines for the Korean language institutions in developing Korean Language Courses.
Korean education policy and parents expectation: case study of Korean school in Thailand
Authors:   , Luewiphan Piranun
Published: September 2023

Korean education policy had established Korean schools or KS for expatriated Korean in many countries including in Thailand. The purposes of this study are 1) to understand the characteristic of KS in terms of schools established aboard with the Korean curriculum base. 2) To understand the purpose and expectations of parents on the Korean School and see if those expectations are met. The data was collected by survey all related parties of the Korean International School (Students, teachers, and parents) 69 respondents. The data were collected from June – August 2020. The study shows that not only the Korean Government creates KS that uses the Korean core curriculum to provide the same standard education as the private school in South Korea but also wants to help students maintain their identity as Korean. We find that the students show more favoritism and comfortable over Korean culture, furthermore around 68% of the student wants to live in Korea after graduation. And the second result shows that KS parents’ expectation on KS can be divided into two groups, first the elementary level parents who seek for the good school system and trusted environment for their child to study, and the secondary level parents who are more focused on getting privilege opportunity to get into good university from residing in Thailand.
ICT development and wage premiums across countries
Authors:   , Dai Hongwu
Published: September 2023

This study examines the effect of ICT on wage premium, by using data from 64 countries during the period 2010–2016. The Fixed Effect Model (FEM) is employed to study the relationship between ICT development and income inequality, by using two dependent variables: the conventional wage premium and wage premiums for ICT-intensive occupation. The main findings are: 1) the wage premium in countries with low levels of ICT development is relatively higher;  2) the development of ICT has a positive relationship with the wage premium;  3) the roles of the three sub-indexes of ICT development are different: ICT access shows a small positive relationship, while ICT use and ICT skills are significantly negative with the wage premium.

However, the results of the split sample provide a different result. The development of ICT has a negative relationship with the wage premium in higher ICT developed countries.
The effect of 1’ acetoxychavicol acetate on cell proliferation, metastasis, and angiogenesis in human endocrine-resistant breast cancer cells
Authors:   , Pradubyat Nalinee
Published: September 2023

Background: Oestrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer patients have a good prognosis, but 30% of these developed resistance through hyperactivation of PI3K/AKT, ERK1/2, and NFκB, which interconnected with ER signalling. In this study, the effects of 1’ acetoxychavicol acetate (ACA), a plant-metabolite acetate ester compound with an NF-kB inhibitory activity, were investigated in a panel of endocrine-resistant breast cancer cells. 

Methods: Plant material was purified by chromatographic methods and followed by structural identification using nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectroscopy. In vitro and in vivo antiproliferative effects of ACA were studied in MCF7/LCC2 and MCF7/LCC9 endocrine-resistant cells using the MTT assay and the zebrafish xenograft model respectively. Anti-invasion of ACA was performed by the matrigel invasion assay, while its mechanism of action was elucidated through molecular docking simulation, real-time PCR, and western blotting. Western blot analysis was also used to investigate its effect on apoptosis. 

Results: ACA inhibited the proliferation of MCF7, MCF7/LCC2, and MCF7/LCC9 cells at a concentration- and time-dependent fashion. This was associated with down-regulation of HER2 receptor, estrogen receptor coactivator (NCOA3), pERK1/2, pAKT, and proliferative markers (CCND1, C-myc). While in vivo, significant reduction in the tumour mass of ACA-treated zebrafish engrafted MCF7/LCC9 groups was observed compared to the control treatment. Furthermore, the anti-invasive effects of ACA were confirmed in vitro by the matrigel invasion assay and with reduction in the expression levels of CXCR4, uPA and proangiogenic factors, VEGF and FGF2 in ACA-treated cells compared to untreated control. The repressed expression of uPA and FGF2 was also validated by molecular docking analysis. Moreover, ACA-treated cells exhibited lower expression levels of the anti-apoptotic BCL2 and MCL1 proteins in addition to increase JNK/SAPK expression and enhance PARP cleavage, indicating apoptotic cell induction by ACA. 

Conclusion: This research suggested that the ACA inhibited cell proliferation and induce apoptosis in breast cancer cells through HER2/MAPK/ERK1/2 and PI3K/AKT pathways. In addition, the anti-angiogenic and anti-invasive activity of ACA was through the downregulation of VEGF, FGF2, uPA, and CXCR4.
Preparation and photocatalytic efficiency of graphitic carbon nitride/silver-titanium dioxide composite
Authors:   , Narkbuakaew Tanaporn
Published: September 2023

This research aimed to synthesize high efficiency UV-visible light responsive g-C₃N₄/Ag-TiO₂ composite photocatalysts. The photocatalysts preparation method was classified into 3 parts. The first part was to study the influence of calcination temperature, %Ag loading content, and types of reducing agent on the photocatalytic performance of achieved Ag-TiO₂. The second part, effect of calcination temperatures and soaking time on preparation of high performance g- C₃N₄ photocatalysts under visible light irradiation were studied. Finally, the g- C₃N₄/Ag-TiO₂ composite was synthesized. Then, the photocatalytic performance of prepared photocalysts were investigated through cationic and anionic dye degradation under both UV and visible light irradiation. The photocatalyst’s characteristics such as crystallinity, morphology, optoelectronic properties, and surface properties were well characterized. Likewise, the oxidation state of Ag existing in the prepared composites were clearly investigated by using the X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES). Moreover, the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was applied for further confirmation of chemical surface properties. The result showed that the optimal condition for preparation of Ag-TiO₂ was 2 wt.% of Ag loading by using NaBH4 as reducing agent without calcination, while a high performance g- C₃N₄ was achieved by calcining urea at 600 °C for 4 hours. It was obtained that the optimal ratio of g- C₃N₄ to Ag-TiO₂ in g- C₃N₄/Ag-TiO₂ composite was 2 to 1 which possessed the highest photocatalytic performance in anionic/cationic dye degradation under both UV and visible light irradiation. It could degrade 10 mg/L of rhodamine B dye under UV and visible light irradiation for 95.01 % within 60 min and 99.74 % within 15 min, respectively, by using 0.05 g of photocatalysts. In addition, for methyl orange degradation efficiency, as prepared g- C₃N₄/Ag-TiO₂ presented 62.32% within 30 min and 65.71% within 15 min under UV and visible light irradiation, respectively. The results suggested that preparation of photocatalyst as heterostructured g- C₃N₄/Ag-TiO₂ composite could improve photocatalysis activity of g- C₃N₄ under both UV and visible light irradiation. Further, the light-responsive region of Ag-TiO₂ was extended to UV-visible light by using as heterostructured composite. Hence, it was worth noting that the g- C₃N₄/Ag-TiO₂ can possibly be applied as the promising photocatalyst materials.
Uniform distribution of fractional parts of average of kth power of prime divisors
Authors:   , Chairatanagul Chitpanu
Published: September 2023

In this thesis, we prove that for every positive integer k greater than or equal to two, the sequence of the fractional parts of the arithmetic mean of the kth power of prime divisors of n counted with or without multiplicity, as n runs through all positive integers, is uniformly distributed modulo one.
Aircraft detection using single shot scale-invariant face detector with viridis saliency map from remote sensing image
Authors:   , Lilek Teepakorn
Published: September 2023

Aircraft detection from remote sensing images is a useful task and essential in many fields; for example, in the military, aircraft detection systems are used to search and inspect an enemy aircraft from remote sensing images. Nowadays, aircraft detection from remote sensing images has gained increasing research attention because this task is very challenging. This task is difficult due to many occurred problems in remote sensing images, such as a shadow, a complicated background, and various aircraft scales. In this research, we create a Viridis saliency map using many techniques from image processing such as color mapping, morphological image processing, and image thresholding. The Viridis saliency map can help reduce the noise from the background of remote sensing images well. Moreover, we combine our Viridis saliency map with a famous detector called Single Shot Scale-invariant Face Detector, which is used to detect a human face in the image. From the results, this method can handle the scale problem efficiently.
Functional and transcriptomic changes in synergy of endotoxin and (1->3)-β-D-glucan in bone marrow derived macrophage from Fc gamma receptor IIb deficient mice
Authors:   , Issara-amphorn Jiraphorn
Published: September 2023

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease with a diverse array of clinical symptoms. There are many factors including environmental factors may trigger disease progression. In this study, we investigated the influence of spontaneous gut leakage upon polymicrobial sepsis in Fc gamma receptor IIb deficient (FcgRIIb-/-) mice aged 8 and 40 weeks, as representing asymptomatic and symptomatic lupus, respectively. The spontaneous gut leakage as determined by i) the level of serum FITC-dextran, ii) increased serum endotoxin (LPS), and iii) increased serum (1->3)-b-D-glucan (BG), were demonstrated in symptomatic FcgRIIb-/- mice, but not in asymptomatic group. Moreover, spontaneous gut leakage was detected by increased serum BG without fungal infection was also found in SLE patients with lupus nephritis. Gut leakage induced by dextran sulfate solution (DSS) or LPS injection with BG or LPS alone, but not BG alone, enhanced the severity of cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) sepsis more prominently in 8-week-old FcgRIIb-/- mice. In addition, BG+LPS activated FcgRIIb-/- macrophages produced higher level of proinflammatory cytokine when compared with wild type macrophage. Moreover, BG+LPS activated macrophages enhanced expression of activating FcgRs, NF-kB and Syk compared with wild type macrophage. The inhibitor against Dectin-1, Syk and NF-kB, but not Raf-1, reduced supernatant TNF-α in BG+LPS activated macrophages implying Syk dependent signaling. Additionally, Syk abundance in FcgRIIb-/- mice and in CLP surgery were higher than wild type mice possibly due to several Syk-activator (anti-dsDNA, LPS and BG), and Syk inhibitor attenuated proteinuria and serum cytokine only in FcgRIIb-/- mice. Moreover, administration of a Syk inhibitor prior CLP surgery in FcgRIIb-/- mice attenuated sepsis severity as evaluated by mortality, organ injury, Serum LPS and post serum cytokines. Furthermore, RNA sequencing analysis of BG+LPS activated macrophages with or without Syk inhibitor treatment, we found that Syk inhibitor downregulated several inflammatory pathways in macropahges, suggesting the potential anti-inflamatory impact of Syk inhibitor in lupus. The genes that found in BG+LPS activated macrophages associated with the prediction of genes involve in mortality in sepsis patients and Syk inhibitor treatment reversed almost direction of those genes.

            In conclusion, spontaneous gut leakage and the induction of gut permeability worsened sepsis severity. Gut translocation of LPS and BG showed minor effect on wild type mice, but the synergistic effect of BG and LPS was prominent in FcgRIIb-/- mice, suggesting the therapeutic strategies addressing gut leakage may be interest in sepsis condition in patient with sepsis. In addition, Syk signaling is promising therapeutic target for SLE patients. Syk inhibitor appears to be an alternative drug for treatment of lupus with a counter on sepsis.
The effect of a trehalase inhibitor, validamycin A, on the growth of Aspergillus flavus
Authors:   , Plabutong Napasawan
Published: September 2023

Aspergillus flavus is a fungus found in the environment causing keratitis, cutaneous infections, sinusitis, invasive pulmonary aspergillosis in humans. Although this fungus can be treated with antifungal agents, these main antifungal agents have many side effects. Trehalase is an enzyme for digesting trehalose into two glucose subunits and is essential for virulence in many fungi. A trehalase inhibitor, called validamycin A, has been used effectively against a rice fungal pathogen, Rhizoctonia solani. In this study, we observed that validamycin A increased trehalose levels significantly in A. flavus spores and delayed the germination of those spores. In addition, to further investigate the combinative effect of validamycin A with an antifungal agent, amphotericin B, the checkerboard assay was performed with A. flavus ATCC204304 and A. flavus clinical isolates with high minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of amphotericin B. We observed that validamycin A and amphotericin B had a synergistic effect with these A. flavus clinical isolates.  The cytotoxicity of validamycin A to human bronchial epithelial cells was not observed in this study. In conclusion, this study showed that validamycin A was able to inhibit the growth of A. flavus. One of the mechanisms behind the effect of validamycin A was to delay the germination of A. flavus spores. Furthermore, validamycin A also possessed a combinative effect with amphotericin B without significant cytotoxic effect on human bronchial epithelial cells.
Characterization of MAIT TCR repertoire of gastrointestinal tract and peripheral blood MAIT cells
Authors:   , Kongkaew Thidarat
Published: September 2023

Mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells are an innate-like T cell that rapidly respond to infection. MAIT cells are αβ T cells that possess a Vα7.2 (TRAV1-2) TCR with mostly pairing to TRAJ33, TRAJ20 or TRAJ12 and predominantly TRBV20-1, TRBV6-1 and TRBV6-4. MAIT T cell receptors (TCR) repertoire have been previously studied in peripheral blood. However, data on MAIT TCR repertoire in gastrointestinal tract are lacking. We studied 2 individuals who are underwent esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) and colonoscopy. Blood and biopsies were obtained. PBMCs were isolated from blood and LPLs were isolated from biopsies. Due to the low number of MAIT cells in each gastrointestinal tract site and being insufficient for experiments, we proliferated MAIT cells to increase MAIT cell population. Our results show that MAIT cells can proliferate in vitro. We mostly found TRAJ33 followed by TRAJ20, TRAJ12 that contained Tyr95, which necessary for interaction with antigens and TRAJ30 and TRAJ36, which contained Arg95 and Asn95 that also interact with antigens. Moreover, most TRBV gene usage in every site were TRBV6-4 and TRBV20-1. There were overlapping and non-overlapping TRBV gene usage in each site. The TRBV in ileum of both patients was the most diverse. We may concluded that MAIT TCR repertoire in mucosal was more diverse than peripheral and the result of MAIT TCR repertoire may concluded that MAIT TCR repertoire are associate with bacterial selection. However, the study of vitamin B metabolite synthesis bacteria may be help us to more understand MAIT TCR selection.
Alteration levels of monoamine neurotransmitter related with non-motor symptoms and their fluctuation patterns during on/off periods in Parkinson’s patients
Authors:   , Wichit Patsorn
Published: September 2023

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder. This study consisted of two parts. The purpose of part I was to investigate the difference in concentrations of DA, NE, 5-HT and their metabolites (3-methoxytyramine (3-MET), homovanillic acid (HVA), normetanephrine (NM), vanillylmandelic acid (VMA) and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA)) in peripheral body fluids between control and PD groups. In addition, the correlation between these neurotransmitter levels and NMSs were evaluated. The purpose of part II was to investigate the fluctuation of plasma DA, NE and 5-HT concentrations during medication ON/OFF periods in advanced-PD patients. In part I, the control and PD patients (n=40/group), aged between 30-80 years were randomly recruited from the King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital. All participants were assessed anxiety and depression, sleep problems, and sexual dysfunction by using Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Modified Parkinson’s disease sleep scale (MPDSS), and The Arizona Sexual Experience Scale (ASEX), respectively. Plasma, saliva, and urine were collected for determined the levels of monoamine and their metabolites by using high performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detector. In part II, the plasma DA, NE and 5-HT levels were determined in advanced-PD patients at 3 points time during medication ON/OFF periods (5 minutes before, 45 and 120 minutes after drug taking). Plasma DA level did not show significant differences between two groups. However, there were significantly higher in plasma NE and lower plasma 5-HT levels in PD patients than control group. Levels of urinary 3-Met and HVA were significantly higher in the PD patients, while urinary NM and 5-HIAA levels were significantly lower in PD than control. Salivary DA and NE tend to increase in PD but do not show significant differences when compared to control. However, salivary 5-HT could not be detected in this study. PD patients were significantly higher in HADS (anxiety and depression) and ASEX score with lower in MPDSS score than in control. For the study of correlation, the results did not show any relationship between monoamines levels and NMSs in PD patients. In part II, we found that plasma DA, NE and 5-HT levels increase after medication taking for 45 minutes in ON comparing to the OFF period. Plasma DA and 5-HT levels tend to be decrease after medication taking for 120 minutes. Meanwhile, NE level in plasma was continuously increased. However, there were no significant difference among 3 time points of these plasma monoamine levels. From these findings, there is dysregulations of monoamines in peripheral body fluids. Additionally, PD patients exhibited anxiety, depression, sleep disturbances and sexual dysfunction. This knowledge could benefit appropriate pharmacological treatment planning in respect of monoamine changes and might also help predict subsequent clinical symptoms.
Production of Bio-jet fuel from palm fatty acid distillate over Bi-Functional CoPd/HZSM-12 catalysts
Authors:   , Chaowichitra Jarujit
Published: September 2023

Jet fuel is one of the major products from a petroleum refinery, its combustion emissions contribute to global warming. Therefore, bio-jet fuel is introduced to solve this problem. Palm fatty acid distillate (PFAD) is an interesting feedstock for bio-jet fuel production via three reactions including deoxygenation, hydrocracking, and isomerization. In this study, the monometallic (Co and Pd) and bimetallic (CoPd and NiPd) supported on HZSM-12 zeolite with various metal loadings and bimetallic CoPd with various zeolite supports (HZSM-12, HZSM-5, and HY) were investigated in a continuous flow trickle bed reactor. The presence of bimetallic CoPd on HZSM-12 zeolite support enhanced the deoxygenation activity and acidity for bio-jet fuel production. Moreover, 10Co1Pd/HZSM-12 exhibited high stability due to its low coke formation. 10Ni1Pd/HZSM-12 catalyst showed high deoxygenation reaction but low hydrocracking thus it produced a high amount of biodiesel. The 10Co1Pd/HZSM-5 catalyst had high acidity which excessively cracked, resulting in a low quantity of bio-jet fuel, while the 10Co1Pd/HY catalyst had a big 3-dimensional pore size that caused a low selectivity to bio-jet fuel production and high coke formation. Furthermore, the optimal condition for bio-jet fuel production over 10Co1Pd/HZSM-12 catalyst was found at 350 °C, 30 bar, LHSV of 1.5 h⁻¹, and H₂/feed molar ratio of 8, giving 55 % bio-jet fuel yield.
Continuous synthesis of biodiesel and glycerol ether using homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts
Authors:   , Rattanapanya Natta
Published: September 2023

In our study, a mixture of p-toluenesulfonic acid and sulfuric acid (TsOH-H2SO4) as a catalyst showed a good performance in transesterification of palm oil (PO) with methanol and etherification of biodiesel with isobutylene. For biodiesel production, the catalyst noticeably accelerated the reaction faster than TsOH and H2SO4 alone and also gave up to 99.8% of the conversion. Etherification of biodiesel with isobutylene in the etherification process using isobutylene/glycerol molar ratio 6:1 at 70°C, in the period of 5 h reaction time, gave high selectivity to produce DTBG and TTBG (81.4%). Furthermore, the catalyst can be reused for 6 cycles of continuous synthesis (transesterification and etherification). When using deep eutectic solvents (DESs) as catalyst, the highest conversion of biodiesel (99.8%) were obtained from the condition of 10%wt ChCl-TsOH (3:1 ratio), 10:1 methanol/PO ratio at 110°C and reaction time 4 h. In the etherification process for the next step of the etherification synthesis using ChCl-TsOH as catalyst, isobutylene/glycerol molar ratio 6:1, reaction temperature 100°C, and 5 h reaction time, it gave high selectivity to produce DTBG and TTBG (89.9%). Furthermore, the ChCl-TsOH catalyst could be reused for 4 cycles. In comparison of fuel properties between biodiesel and biodiesel blending with 10% the prepared tert-butyl glycerol ethers blend would enhance the biodiesel efficiency as follows; acid value, pour point and iodine value.
Polyvinyl alcohol/starch modified cotton thread for glucose distance-based colorimetric detection
Authors:   , Punnoy Pornchanok
Published: September 2023

In this thesis, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and starch modified cotton thread was developed as a cotton thread-based device for distance-based colorimetric detection of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and glucose. PVA and starch, the biocompatible polymers, were modified on a cotton thread to enhance the enzymatic stability and reagent immobilization efficiency. The colorimetric glucose detection of the device was based on a bienzymatic reaction involving glucose oxidase (GOx) and horseradish peroxidase (HRP), incorporated with potassium iodide (KI) as an indicator, which was oxidized by H2O2 to provide blue-black color band of an iodine–starch complex. The length of color band on the cotton thread is proportional to H2O2 and glucose concentrations, allowing for a simple and rapid quantitative detection observed by the naked eyes without any signal readout instrument. For the best performance of the proposed device, various parameters were studied, such as the ratio of PVA/starch, KI volume, HRP volume and sample volume. Under the optimal conditions, the cotton thread-based device was used to detect H2O2 and glucose providing linear ranges of 1.0-6.0 mM and 0.1-5.0 mM with detection limits of 0.25 mM and 0.1 mM, respectively. Furthermore, the interference effect of glucose detection was also investigated and the obtained results showed no interfering from common compounds in human tear (i.e. potassium chloride, sodium chloride, urea, ascorbic acid, uric acid, cholesterol and  bovine serum albumin). Eventually, the developed device could be successfully applied for the quantitative determination of glucose in artificial human tear.
Effects of synthetic glyceryl ester additives on cold flow properties of diesel oil
Authors:   , Kaweewut Ruchapong
Published: September 2023

The synthesis of solketal derivatives with some selected fatty acid (stearic acid, palmitic acid, lauric acid, myristic acid, oleic acid and linolenic acid) to glyceryl esters was conducted. All compounds were characterized by spectroscopic means. Cold flow properties of diesel oil with these glyceryl ester additives were studied in terms of pour point (PP). Glyceryl laurate was the most effective pour point decreasing at 1,000 mg/kg (DPP = 3°C). However, the blended diesel of 1,000 mg/kg glyceryl laurate could not commercialize finishing product because that was hazy diesel at room temperature. The combination of glyceryl laurate and commercial additive was discovered. Moreover, the pour point result of diesel with combination additive more decreased than blended diesel only commercial additive. 200 mg/kg of commercial and 100 mg/kg of glyceryl laurate show reduced pour point of diesel from 13.5 °C to 3 °C.
Development of oxidase enzyme and non-enzyme based biosensors for lactate and creatinine detection
Authors:   , Boobphahom Siraprapa
Published: September 2023

This dissertation focused on the development of electrochemical sensors based on metal oxides and graphene modified electrodes for clinical applications, which is divided into two parts. The first part is development of a biosensor based on lactate oxidase (LOx) immobilized on titanium dioxide sol (TiO2 sol)/graphene nanocomposite modified nickel (Ni) foam electrode for enzymatic electrochemical detection of lactate via hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) detection. A TiO2/graphene nanocomposite was simply synthesized by hydrolysis and coated on Ni foam electrode to develop a novel electrode in biosensor. The results showed that the well intercalation of TiO2 sol within graphene film covered on the Ni foam surface, leading to enhanced sensitivity and improved stability of the sensor. This electrode was successfully applied to detect lactate in a complex biological fluid. It exhibited a linear range from 0.05 to 10 mM with a detection limit of 19 µM. This platform was sensitive enough for early diagnosis of severe sepsis and septic shock via the detection of concerned lactate level. The second part is development of a paper-based analytical device (PAD) coupled with a dispensing technique for a non-enzymatic sensor of creatinine. The device was fabricated using a HP D300 dispenser for depositing a copper oxide and ionic liquid composite onto an electrochemically reduced graphene modified screen-printed carbon electrode (CuO/IL/ERGO/SPCE) on a PAD. The results revealed that the use of HP D300 dispenser in a novel approach for electrode modification, allowing for enhanced sensitivity and reproducibility. The CuO/IL/ERGO/SPCE was constructed and applied as a non-enzymatic sensor of creatinine in human serum samples. It exhibited a linear range from 0.01 to 2 mM with a detection limit of 0.22 µM, which make this device is applicable for detecting clinically relevant creatinine level in acute kidney injury diagnosis.
Stochastic supply chain optimization for ammonia and urea processes
Authors:   , Srisamut Seangplang
Published: September 2023

To support the demand growth in the agriculture sector from increasing population, ammonia and urea productions have been continuously increasing. Methane from natural gas can be used as feedstock in the production process. Nevertheless, the conventional plant using natural gas feedstock produces carbon dioxide as a by-product of the process. This proposed plant contains two processes, producing ammonia and urea can be more efficient in the production, where the byproducts of CO₂ can be used to produce more urea and reduce CO₂ emission. This research proposes ammonia and urea synthesis process using PROII software to simulate workflow and estimate the energy consumption. To be marketable and profitable for the agricultural industry, the techno-economic and stochastic analysis are applied to deal with uncertain demand from the market. This work is comprised of three main parts; the first part is the simulation of the base case process of the proposed ammonia/urea plant. The input data and parameters are obtained from the petrochemical industry in Thailand. In the second part, techno-economic analysis is significant for a feasibility study to estimate expenditure and the profitability of the project. Finally, the stochastic analysis is applied to optimize the production rate and supply chain of the products from various demands of the markets. The optimized supply chain network has been investigated on the production rate, the effect of penalty, and profit feasibility through profit accumulative curve. The conceptual design of manufacturing processes attempts to produce ammonia and urea, based on 1,930 t/d of natural gas feedstock.