bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Determinants of healthcare utilization and out-of-pocket expenditure in Thailand
Authors:   , Saichol Piraya
Published: September 2023

Thailand launched the Universal Coverage Scheme (UCS) in 2001 and most studies are focusing on the impact of the UCS on healthcare utilization and out-of-pocket (OOP) expenditure. None of the studies, however, examines healthcare utilization and OOP expenditure across the three main public health insurance schemes, i.e. UCS, Social Security Scheme (SSS), and Civil Servant Medical Benefit Scheme (CSMBS). Therefore, this study aims to examine the impact of health insurance status and use of health insurance on outpatient service utilization and healthcare OOP expenditure by using the 2017 Health and Welfare Survey data. Given large income and other disparities across Thailand’s regions, regional differences are also explored. The study employed a multinomial logit model for the analysis of healthcare utilization and a two–part model for the analysis of healthcare OOP expenditure. The results reveal that the SSS beneficiaries are more likely to seek care at healthcare facilities than the UCS beneficiaries, but this is only observed in the Bangkok and central region. The use of public health insurance is found to decrease the amount of OOP expenditure, conditional on incurring OOP, in case of total healthcare cost and direct medical cost, while it increases the amount of OOP expenditure in case of transportation cost. Individuals who use the UCS incur the lowest amount of OOP spending in terms of total healthcare cost, direct medical cost and transportation cost. In addition, people who live outside of Bangkok incur lower OOP for total healthcare cost and transportation cost than those living in Bangkok. Overall, the results suggest that the UCS is very successful in creating financial protection for the majority of Thai citizens. The area of residence is found to have an impact on both healthcare utilization, as well as probability of incurring OOP and amount of OOP expenditure. These findings raise some concerns about the inequality across the three public health insurance schemes and the regional disparities in Thailand, which should be solved in order to increase equality in healthcare utilization across the Thai population.
The relationship between social participation and smoking among middle-aged and elderly persons in China
Authors:   , Liu Yuqing
Published: September 2023

This study examined the relationship between social participation and smoking among middle-aged and elderly persons. This study used a secondary dataset drawn from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS,2015). In this nationally survey, the number of observations was 9,876. The dependent variable used in this study is smoking and non-smoking. Smoking includes light smoking, moderate, and heavy smoking. The explanatory variables are family factors, demographic characteristics, and socioeconomic factors. Factors associated with smoking were examined with logistic regression model. 

The results showed that gender, marital status, health self-assessment, pension, chronic disease, playing Mahjong, playing chess, playing cards, or going to the community club, going to a sport, social, or other kinds of the club, using the Internet are the influencing factors of middle-aged and elderly smoking. Middle-aged and elderly who played Mahjong, played chess, played cards, or went to community club are risk factors for smoking (p<0.001). Middle-aged and elderly people who played Mahjong, played chess, played cards, or went to community club are 1.34 times more likely to smoke than non-smokers. (OR=1.342316). Middle-aged and elderly people who went to a sport, social or other kinds of clubs are protective factors for smoking(p=0.022). Middle-aged and elderly people who went to a sport, social or other kinds of clubs are 0.79 times more likely to smoke than non-smokers (OR=0.7941856). Middle-aged and elderly who used the Internet are risk factors for smoking(p=0.024). Middle-aged and elderly people who used the Internet are 1.31 times more likely to smoke than non-smokers. (OR=1.314805). The impact of other social participation on smoking among middle-aged and elderly people are not statistically significant at 5% significance level. The results altogether indicated a clear relationship between social participation and smoking.

It is necessary to distinguish which social participation is beneficial to middle-aged and older people's physical and mental health, in which social participation is a risk factor for a healthy lifestyle for middle-aged and elderly people. The community should promote a healthy lifestyle for middle-aged and older people. Post signs of smoking hazards in the community, for example. Increase investment in community cultural facilities to provide more suitable places for middle-aged and older people. Health departments and government departments should actively cooperate in the tobacco control plan and implementation.
Effects of 3D printer parameters on conductivity of Nano-titanium dioxide on electrode solar cells
Authors:   , Charoensopa Krairop
Published: September 2023

Fabricating conductive materials on electrode of electronic devices with printing techniques continues to gain popularity, including 3D printing especially Liquid Deposition Modelling (LDM) technology which is being interested in electronics industry. This research applied LDM 3D printing to fabricate nano-Titanium dioxide (TiO₂) thin film on an electrode or anode. The aim of research was to study the effect of parameters for setting the printer, such as nozzle size, printing speed, air pressure and nozzle distance from the electrode surface, on the quality of TiO₂ thin film and related sheet resistance. The experiment began with the paste samples preparation by mixing between the ready-made nano-TiO₂ PST-18NR (P25) with ethanol 99.5% and the flow of each paste was considered. Then a printing test was performed by adjusting the combination of the variation of the printer parameters. The obtained wet thin films were annealed in a chamber at temperature of 500 degree Celsius for 4 hours. The dried thin films’ characteristics were analyzed by evaluating uniformity, thickness, roughness, cracking and sheet resistance which led to achieve good quality electrode. The results showed that the rheology of TiO₂ paste sample was important to set the printer parameters to give the proper force to extrude the TiO₂ paste with optimum thin film thickness without crack. The obtained sheet resistance of thin films was between 5.10 – 5.77 MΩ/Sq which was able to construct the DSSCs. This printing condition had limitation on the thin film thickness at only 6 ±0.25 µm and multiple printing had no effect on the increase of thin film thickness significantly. The conversion efficiency of DSSCs was 4%. Interestingly, this study confirmed the possibility of designing the thin film with various shapes, by which the efficiency conversion of solar energy showed at averaged 3%.
Customer churn prediction for a software-as-a-service inventory management company
Authors:   , Amornvetchayakul Phongsatorn
Published: September 2023

This thesis proposes customer churn prediction model for a Software-as-a-Service inventory management company in Thailand. Software-as-a-Service is the fast growing and high market values industry as a new emerging online business. Customer churn is a critical measure for this business. Thus, this thesis focuses on seeking a customer churn prediction model specified for a Software-as-a-Service inventory management company in Thailand which is facing a high churn rate issue. This thesis executes the prediction models with four machine learning algorithms: logistic regression, support vector machine, decision tree and random forest. The results show that the optimized decision tree model is capable to outperform other classification models toward recall scorer with validated testing scores of 94.4% of recall and 88.2% of F1-score. Moreover, feature importance scores can highlight useful insights of case-study that business metrics are significantly related to churn behavior. As a result, this paper is beneficial to the case-study company to help indicate real churn customer correctly and enhance the effectiveness in making executive decision and marketing campaign.
SMEs' obstacles in Thailand: the analysis of the association between the difference in size, sector, region and the problems that occur in business operations
Authors:   , Traithaiteera Phoom
Published: September 2023

The number of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Thailand has increased these years. The objectives of this research were to identify obstacles in business operations and develop a guideline to promote and support SMEs in Thailand. The data was collected in the questionnaire; the respondents of this research are entrepreneurs entering the government services by the Department of Industrial Promotion between the years 2016 - 2018 with a total of 1,297 enterprises. This research used a chi-square test for independence to determine whether there is a significant association between the two variables. The results showed that the small sized beverage production enterprises (C11) need support in logistics and organization management knowledge more than other industries in the small sized production sector; the medium sized textile production industry (C13) need support in technology knowledge and need to develop more in the area of marketing problems on medium sized enterprises in the region; the printing and reproduction of media industry (C18) need support in information technology and marketing knowledge that should focus on medium sized enterprises; the production of rubber and plastic products industry (C22) need support in human resources knowledge and channels to access the government services that should focus on small sized enterprises; the medium sized electrical equipment production industry (C27) need support in technology and marketing knowledge and need to develop more in the area of marketing problems on medium sized enterprises in the region; the wholesale trade industry (G46) need support in human resources knowledge, business networking that should focus on small sized enterprises and need to develop more in the area of production problems on small sized enterprises in the region; the retail trade industry (G47) need support in technology knowledge and need to develop more in Bangkok in the area of production problems on medium sized enterprises; the wholesale, retail, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (G45) and the wholesale trade (G46) need support in human resource on small sized enterprises more than the retail trade industry (G47); the small sized food and beverage service industry (I56) need support in technology knowledge and access government funding sources; and the small sized real estate industry (L68) need support in marketing knowledge. Also, the Analytic Hierarchy Approach (AHP) showed the most suitable process used in promotion and develop entrepreneurs is consulting. The research results are expected to provide a guideline and suggestion to promote and develop SMEs in Thailand.
An Investigation of ETF Flows : Asset Allocation Perspectives
Authors:   , Wongsawatgul Boonyaporn
Published: September 2023

This study investigates impacts of asset allocations on ETF flows across asset classes in a panel form, utilizing fixed-effects panel regression. The period of study covers October 2008 to July 2019. The investment universe contains 9 U.S.-listed ETFs, classifying into 5 asset classes. Monthly asset allocations are obtained from 5 optimization strategies based on mean-variance and risk-based optimizations. The findings indicate that asset allocations of risk-based optimization strategies significantly explain fund flows across asset classes. It implies that ETF market participants attempt to stabilize portfolio volatilities rather than maximize portfolio expected returns or risk-adjusted returns. This study further analyses relations between ETF flows and returns during flight-to-quality episodes and find that flows lead returns.
Institutional factors and cross-border merger and acquisition : evidence from selected Asian countries
Authors:   , Phuriputranonth Haneeta
Published: September 2023

The objective of this study is to examine the impact of institutional factors on cross-border merger and acquisition (M&A) inflows by using a panel data of 18 selected Asian countries from 2002 to 2016. This study contributes to the existing literatures by using various measures of institutional factors as the determinants of cross-border M&A into selected Asian countries and examining at the disaggregated level according to country’s income level. There are two main results from this study. First, two institutional factors, namely control of corruption and voice and accountability, have significant effect on cross-border M&A into selected Asian countries. Higher control of corruption results in lower flows of M&A into these host countries. Host countries with higher level voice and accountability tends to attract lower amount of M&A. This result is different from the expectation. Second, when classifying countries by income level into high-, upper middle-, and lower middle-income levels, the results vary in each group. The result of high-income countries is similar to that in the overall case where control of corruption and voice and accountability are two significant institutional factors of M&A. different result is found in case of upper-middle income countries where better government effectiveness, control of corruption, and rule of law are the attractive factors for cross-border M&A investors. The lower-middle income destinations show the same result as the high-income countries with regulatory quality as an additional significant factor. Countries with better regulatory quality can attract more M&As. For policy recommendation, host countries should focus on improving the institutional factors namely government effectiveness, rule of law, and regulatory quality to attract cross-border M&As. For control of corruption and voice and accountability, even though lower level of these factors attracts more M&A inflows, the host countries still need to improve the quality of these institutional factors in order to attract foreign investors in the long run. And, Home countries should promote a good institutional quality to enhance the development of both the home and host countries.
Expectations and reality in meeting financial needs of Thai elderly : a gender perspective
Authors:   , Soontornsittipong Phantira
Published: September 2023

Using the 2007 Survey of Knowledge and Attitudes on Elderly Issues surveying respondents aged 50 to 59 and the 2017 Survey of Older Persons in Thailand surveying respondents aged 60 to 69, this study identified a cohort to examine the gap between reality and expectations of Thai elderly males and females with regards to financial sources in meeting financial needs at old age with emphasis placed on the effect of regions and education. Three models of OLS dummy regression were ran to find the magnitude, sign, and significance of the reality-expectations gap. The results of the study found that the gaps for savings and pension as an elderly financial source is similar for both males and females. While, working at old age and children remain important sources to meeting the financial needs of the Thai elderly, reality continues to disappoint with declining fertility rates. We found that the gap between expectation and reality was almost three times larger for females than for their male counterparts when it came to working at old age. Elderly financial support from their adult children were prominently linked to regional and educational differences in Thailand. The gap of children support for females living in the Northeast was about half of those living elsewhere indicating the strong intergenerational ties in the Northeast. Highly educated elders are less likely to receive support from their children with the gap for respondents with university education to be twice that of lower educated respondents. Rural elders were also more likely to work at old age given the gap for males living in Bangkok being four time larger than for males living outside Bangkok. Future policy and public allowance will inevitably play a crucial role in closing the gap of financially vulnerable individuals in Thai society.
A study of Korean cultural competence of Korean as a foreign language students at high school in Bangkok, Thailand
Authors:   , Tabsai Kritus
Published: September 2023

The research objectives are to examine the level of students' Korean cultural competence, to study and analyze the relationship between students' background and students' Korean cultural competence. The samples consist of 254 students who study Korean as a foreign language from 8 high schools in Bangkok. The research instrument is a questionnaire about Korean cultural competence which consists of 4 components: Korean cultural knowledge, Korean cultural skill, Korean cultural awareness, and Korean communicative skill. The research data is analyzed by descriptive statistics and correlation analysis. The results are as follows: (1) Level of students' Korean cultural competence is moderate (2) students' background affects their Korean cultural competence at .01, the significant levels are review duration, Korean life experience, grade, Hallyu liking, tutorial class, motivation to study at the undergraduate level, and Korean language learning duration.
The factors that influencing to Thai's free independent travelers decision to travel in South Korea
Authors:   , Kumboosya Onjira
Published: September 2023

Nowadays, the Korea tourism industry has a popular to Thai's free independent travelers to visit South Korea. The objective of this study was the various factors that influencing to Thai’s Free Independent Travelers decision to travel in South Korea and to study behavior of Thai’s Free Independent Traveler to decide to travel in South Korea including to study principles of Korea Tourism Organization’s marketing that affect to decision of independent Thai travelers. The sample size is Thai’s Free Independent Travelers by using questionnaires 78 people consists were an online survey and in-depth interviews with bloggers 4 people and who’s don’t like in Korean 1 people. The result of the study found that, the sample size to survey is 78 people. Found the factors that influencing to Thai’s Free Independent Travelers decision to travel in South Korea were (1) Korean food (2) Korean idols and Korean series and (3) Promotion of Korea Tourism. After watched a video for promote Korea Tourism has found that travelers have more motivation to travel to South Korea.
Impact Of Covid-19 outbreak on tourism business in Thailand targeting Korean tourists
Authors:   , Thadaopas Phreeda
Published: September 2023

The spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19) temporarily stops the global travelling which decreases almost 100 percent of the tourists' number. The situation directly affects Thai tourism industry which is one of the significant industries in Thailand that generates large amount of income each year. This is because Thailand is very popular among international tourists, especially Korean tourists, Korea is ranked one of the top five countries base on the number of tourists entering Thailand with more than a year annd Korean tourists spend more than 80,000 million baht each year. There is a variety of services in Thailand for Korean tourists, so during the spread of COVID-19, many businesses in tourism industry faces with severe impact. Thus, this research aims to study the effects of COVID-19 towards Thai tourism businesses which aim at Korean tourists. The research uses an in-depth interview on the related business groups in order to find the effects on and problems faced by, their businesses, and the strategies they use during the crisis. Additionally, the research aims to find the solutions to restore Thai tourism industry after the crisis. The result illustrates that there are different effects toward each type of business, but most of them face with an insufficient income to run the business due to the disease prevention and control measures. Each business has different strategies to cope with the problems, most businesses decide to decrease their cost, such as employees' salary, while trying to increase their income. The tourism industry needs help and support from both government and private sectors on finance and policies which will help them to compete with other countries by increasing public relations and stability in order to accelerate confidence and encourage tourists to return quickly.
The gratitude from South Korea To Korean War Thai veterans
Authors:   , Fakon Rattapakorn
Published: September 2023

In Korean War period, Thailand sent over 11,776 Thai soldiers and Thai Red Crosses to participate in the Korean War. The participation of the Thai military consists of 4 organizations. There are military army, air force, naval officers and Thai Red Cross. In this regard, how does Thailand have an attitude towards the invitations of the United Nations? Especially, the Thai solider who sacrificed themselves in the War and how about their expression to join the War. Now South Korea has been become a power of the economy or "The 3rd Tiger" of Asia and was retuning the gratitude to Korean War Veterans and their families.For example, award of the bachelor's degree scholarship for heirs, praise to Thai Korean War Veterans by honor’s event, camping for Veterans heir in South Korea. Partying on various occasions.

The gratitude from South Korea to Thai Korean War Veterans and their family are accord by the concept of gratitude, despite being universal but in the ideology of the Korean people, this idea came from Confucianism’s taught, which is the foundation of the Korean people’s though, and the research found that, the teachings of gratitude were given as the most important of all Confucian teachings and has been conveyed as a legendary tale, train the children to realize the value of gratitude.
"Train to Busan" movie : a reflection of social problems in South Korea
Authors:   , Sungnoi Souwaluck
Published: September 2023

The purpose of this research is to analyze a reflection of social problems in “Trian to Busan” movie. The study is a qualitative research that uses Roland Barthes’s semiology to analyze the social problems which are reflected in the movie through elements such as scenes, dialogues of characters

The results from this study show that “Train to Busan” movie reflects the social problems in contemporary South Korean society through scenes, dialogue of characters. These problems are family problems, social class and inequality, environmental problems and political problems. The problems which occur in South Korea are a result of the rapid change in contemporary South Korea society and the adoption of the capitalist economic system to develop South Korea’s economic system.
Long-time behavior of a nonlocal dispersal equation
Authors:   , Dintawong Aussacha
Published: September 2023

In this thesis, study the nonlocal dispersal equation [equation] with a non-homogeneous boundary condition. We generalize the result of J.W. Sun (2015), where in this work the kernel J has a non-compact support. The global well-posedness and comparison principles (both time-dependent and stationary problems) are established. The main result is the long-time behavior of solutions, which is proved to depend on the boundary data.
Boundaries of overlapping reuleaux triangles
Authors:   , Kaewkam Jirapat
Published: September 2023

where R1 and R2 are two congruent Reuleaux triangle such that Int(R1)∩Int(R2) ̸= ∅. Denote ∂Ri and Int(Ri) the boundary and the interior of Ri , respectively. We finish the proof when R2 is a translated copy R1 and we obtain some interesting results when R1 and R2 intersect in general position.
Spectra of unitary Cayley graphs of matrices over finite commutative rings
Authors:   , Rattanakangwanwong Jitsupat
Published: September 2023

For a finite ring R with identity, the unitary Cayley graph of R, CR, is the graph with vertex set R and for each x, y ∈ R, x and y are adjacent if and only if x − y is a unit of R. In this thesis, we determine some eigenvalues of CMn(F) , where F is a finite field, by using the additive characters and use these eigenvalues to analyze strong regularity, hyperenergetic graphs and Ramanujan graphs. Next, we extend the results to CMn(R) , where R is a local ring. We characterize all local rings R and n ≥ 2 such that the graph CMn(F) is strongly regular and Ramanujan and also show that the graph is hyperenergetic. Moreover, we show that the unitary Cayley graph of product of matrix rings is hyperenergetic. Finally, we prove that the unitary Cayley graph of product of matrix rings is neither a strongly regular graph nor a Ramanujan graph
Numerical methods for jump-extended cox-ingersoll-ross and constant elasticity of variance models
Authors:   , Klunklar Purin
Published: September 2023

The jump-extended Cox-Ingersoll-Ross and jump-extended constant elasticity of variance models are stochastic differential equations (SDEs) used to forecast interest rates or stock prices. We simulate these SDEs directly by eight numerical methods: Euler Maruyama method, simplified Euler method, jump-adapted Euler method, jumpadapted simplified Euler method, jump-adapted order two weak method, jump-adapted simplified order two weak method, jump-adapted order two derivative free method and jump-adapted simplified order two derivative free method. The transformed approach is also applied with these eight numerical methods. We compare their performance by testing the positivity preserving of numerical solutions and finding their weak orders of convergence as well as their run time.
Logo classification of amphetamines by surf and bag-of-features model
Authors:   , Nitijiramon Tharaphon
Published: September 2023

An amphetamine is one of the drugs apprehended by the policemen in Thailand. At present, when an amphetamine drug seller is arrested, captured amphetamines are sent to the Scientific Crime Detection Center Region 1 to identify the amphetamines' source. Each drug is classiﬁed based on the printed character to relevant information from the source of drugs. For each case, a large volume of drugs is sent to be classified by only three staff members. It is a time-consuming task. In this work, we propose a framework for classifying the image of amphetamines based on their logo using the SURF and Bag-of-features model (BoF). In this work, we have dataset consists of three types: Apple logo for 192 images, R logo for 103 images, and WY logo for 360 images. We found that the unsmooth surface and low contrast are the main factors of low accuracy for this classification. Therefore, we propose a process to enhance the main feature and reduce noise on the surface using an adaptive filter, Contrast-Limited Adaptive Histogram Equalization (CLAHE), active contour, and image morphology. Our proposed algorithm shows that the clarity of the logo on amphetamines is improved. We also then apply SURF to extract features and classify using BoF. This experimental result shows for each step can improve the accuracy and the accuracy of our method is up to 97 percent. The accuracy of the WY logo classification by our proposed method is 94 percent.
Stationary test for first order autoregressive model subject to sampling errors
Authors:   , Rattanachadjan Weerapat
Published: September 2023

In 1979, Dickey and Fuller introduced a stationary test on the first order autoregressive model, AR(1), and limitting distribution of the estimator of autoregressive coefficient and the test statistics. The method has been applied to test the stationarity of the first order autoregressive time series model. However, the method has been applied regardless of sampling errors which usually occurs in data collection. autoregressive model subject to sampling errors.
Machine vision integrated three-dimensional printing system
Authors:   , Sithiwichankit Chaiwuth
Published: September 2023

Three-dimensional printing has been a widespread solution of fabricating geometrical customized products. Any 3D printed product is normally fabricated at a position defined with respect to the coordinate system of the corresponding 3D printer. So, the 3D printing cannot be conveniently implemented in some fabricating applications in which fabricating positions are commonly constrained to some physical references, e.g., architecture construction, surface restoration, food decoration, etc. This research aimed to integrate the 3D printing with machine vision, which is vastly used for guiding robotic systems to operate at desirable positions constrained to physical objects. Hence, the 3D printing can be conveniently and affordably implemented at any position constrained to any physical reference. The proposed machine vision integrated 3D printing system comprises a 3D printer, which is originally constructed in this research, a commercial web camera, and a commercial computer. The web camera was equipped to the printhead of the 3D printer, and necessary computer programs were developed. Then, evaluating products were fabricated on evaluating physical reference, in order to evaluate the machine vision integrated 3D printing system. From the successfully fabricated results of the evaluating products, the machine vision integrated 3D printing system gives promise of conveniently, affordably, and accurately, implementing the 3D printing in the mentioned applications.
Identification of probiotic bacteria with anticancer activity against colorectal cancer in vitro
Authors:   , Prakobwat Patcharin
Published: September 2023

Colorectal cancer is the third most common cause of cancer death worldwide. It is ranked third for new cancer patients in Thailand. Colorectal cancer is associated with multifactorial risk factors including the imbalance of gut microbiota. This project aimed to identify Lactobacillus strains isolated from Thai healthy populations that have anticancer activities against colorectal cancer in vitro. Lactobacillus cultured media (LCM) obtained from thirty-nine Lactobacillus strains, previously shown to have anti-inflammatory activity, were selected and used at different concentrations and/or pH adjustment to determine the anti-proliferative effect on HT-29 and Caco-2 colon cancer cells at 24, 48, and 72 h. The cell viability was analyzed by 2-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-3,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT assay). LCM from 2 out of 39 strains, L. vaginalis L19 and L. gasseri L20, significantly reduced cell viability at certain concentrations and time-points. Due to weak anti-proliferative activity of LCM, viable L. vaginalis L19 and L. gasseri L20 were used to treat Caco-2 cells and cell viability was determined by flow cytometry. L. gasseri L20 at the MOI of 100 strongly and significantly reduced Caco-2 cell viability more than L. vaginalis L19 after 24 and 48 h incubation. Furthermore, L. vaginalis L19 and L. gasseri L20 could weakly adhere to polarized and differentiated Caco-2 cells, i.e., enterocyte-like epithelial cells, as demonstrated by the adhesion assay and scanning electron microscopy. Therefore, L. vaginalis L19 and L. gasseri L20 might be useful for prevention of colorectal cancer in the future.
The role of chromatin structure in cellular responses to bacterial cytolethal distending toxin in saccharomyces cerevisiae model
Authors:   , Denmongkholchai Siriyod
Published: September 2023

Cytolethal distending toxin subunit B (CdtB) is a DNase I-like bacterial genotoxin that causes DNA damage leading to cell cycle arrest and cell death. Previous reports demonstrated that CdtB has low level of DNase activity in vitro. Besides, a mutation at histone H2B phosphorylation site required for chromatin condensation during apoptosis (S10A) conferred partial resistance to CdtB in Saccharomyces cerevisiae model. Therefore, we hypothesized that chromatin structure may affect CdtB function. In this study, we identified chromatin regulators required for CdtB cytotoxicity in yeast. We found that deletions of certain components of SWR-complex (SWR1, SWC2, SWC5, SWC6, and ARP6), INO80-complex (ARP5), SIR-complex (SIR2, SIR3), and Htz1 led to CdtB resistance. We investigated the mechanisms by which these mutations could confer CdtB resistance. Our results showed that CdtB nuclear localization, as observed by confocal fluorescence microscopy, was reduced in several mutants such as htz1Δ, swr1Δ, swc2Δ, swc6Δ, arp6Δ, and arp5Δ. This may be due to their effects on protein transport through ER reported in a previous study. Therefore, reduced CdtB nuclear localization may lead to increased survival in these mutants. We also determined whether CdtB could induce DNA damages in these mutants by using rad50Δ as DNA damage indicator. Deletion of RAD50 in strains lacking HTZ1, SWR1, SWC2, SWC6, ARP6, SIR2, and SIR3 led to CdtB hypersensitivity, suggesting that CdtB could induce DNA damage. Thus, the increased survival despite DNA damage may be due to enhanced DNA repair. We showed that three DNA repair genes including ADA2, MRC1 and SSL2 were upregulated in certain mutants. Taken together, chromatin regulators may be involved in several cellular processes during CdtB transport and intoxication. In addition, we performed a genome-wide screen for gene deletions that confer CdtB resistance. A list of 243 genes related to various processes was identified in the screen. The Gene Ontology term organic anion transport (16 genes) was significantly enriched in the gene list. We found that these mutants also showed reduced nuclear localization of CdtB. The results from this study provide further insights into the complex interplay of multiple host factors with CdtB. This information will be useful for further investigation into strategies to combat CdtB genotoxins and/or to develop them in other applications such as targeting cancer cells.
Expression of human dentin matrix protein 1 in escherichia coli and nicotiana benthamiana and their effect on proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of human periodontal ligament stem cells
Authors:   , Ahmad Aktsar
Published: September 2023

This study aimed to express recombinant protein human Dentin Matrix Protein 1 (hDMP1) in Escherichia coli and Nicotiana benthamiana and investigated the osteogenic differentiation effects in human Periodontal Ligament Stem Cells (hPDLSCs). The gene encoding hDMP1 was ligated into the pET22b and pBY2R2e expression vectors. Recombinant hDMP1 protein has been productively expressed in E. coli and N. benthamiana. E. coli-produced hDMP1 resulted in 60 kDa and 100, and the optimal condition to produce highly expression was demonstrated at 0.5 mM IPTG and incubation at 37oC for 6 hr. N. benthamiana-produced hDMP1 protein showed in a 100 kDa that indicated the presence of post-translational modification, and the highest-level expression was obtained at 2 dpi and OD600 0.4. Recombinant hDMP1 could induce ALP, BMP2, CBFA1, OSX, OPN, and WNT3a osteogenic marker genes and calcium deposition in hPDLSCc. In conclusion, the results indicated that recombinant hDMP1 could induce osteogenic differentiation in hPDLSCs. However, N. benthamiana-produced hDMP1 could induce osteogenic differentiation and calcium deposition better than E. coli-produced hDMP1. Therefore, N. benthamiana-produced hDMP1 has potential to use as an inductive molecule in bone tissue�engineering.
Inhibitory effects of compounds isolated from ethyl acetate extracts of Glycosmis parva branches and leaves on LPS-induced RAW 264.7 macrophage activation
Authors:   , Laprasert Chanyanuch
Published: September 2023

Macrophages play major roles to produce several inflammatory mediators in many chronic inflammatory diseases. Current anti-inflammatory drugs target these mediators to alleviate inflammation symptoms. Searching for new anti-inflammatory agents is always needed due to problems from currently used anti-inflammatory drugs. This study aimed to investigate the anti-inflammatory potential of three main compounds, arborinine, N-methylatalaphylline and S-deoxydihydroglyparvin (DDGP), isolated from Glycosmis parva leaves and branches on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated macrophage RAW 264.7 cells. Only DDGP demonstrated a potent inhibitor of LPS-activated macrophages. It inhibited expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase and decreased nitric oxide production with IC50 3.47 ± 0.1 µM. It suppressed the mRNA expression and the protein production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin (IL)-1β, and IL-6. LPS activates these cytokine productions at the early step of LPS-induced macrophage activation. DDGP also decreased the mRNA expression of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 and macrophage inflammatory protein-1α, and two enzymes, cyclooxygenase-2 and mitochondrial prostaglandin (PG) E synthase, for PGE2 synthesis. Additionally, it inhibited PGE2 production. It had little or no effect on modulating anti-inflammatory molecules. Effects of DDGP on LPS signaling pathways were also evaluated. DDGP profoundly decreased phosphorylated p38 MAP kinase. It had little or no effect on the phosphorylation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase and extracellular-signal-regulated kinase, and on nuclear factor- κB activation. These results suggested that DDGP inhibited expression and production of inflammatory molecules in LPS-activated macrophages via suppressing p38 MAPK activation. DDGP may be a good candidate anti-inflammatory agent.
Effects of rhinacanthin-C in multidrug-resistance breast cancer cells
Authors:   , Chaisit Suwichak
Published: September 2023

Rhinacanthin-C (RN-C) is a major bioactive naphthoquinone ester found in Rhinacanthus nasutus Kurz (Acanthaceae).  This compound has potential therapeutic value as an anticancer agent. Rhinacanthin-C was reported to enhance doxorubicin cytotoxicity in breast cancer cells through direct inhibition of P-gp activity.  However, its ability in reversing multidrug resistance (MDR) in cancer cells through the down-regulation of P-gp expression, alteration of detoxification system, and increase in apoptosis proteins remains unreported.  Thus, this study was to investigate the potential MDR reversal effect of rhinacanthin-C and its underlying mechanisms in MCF-7/DOX.  In this study, rhinacanthin-C (1 µM, 48 h) significantly enhanced cytotoxicity of camptothecin, doxorubicin, and etoposide.  Apparently, the loss of P-gp function in the rhinacanthin-C-treated for 24- h in MCF-7/DOX cells was associated with the reduction of MDR1 mRNA expression and P-gp protein levels.  In addition, the down-regulation effect of rhinacanthin-C on P-gp expression involved with suppressions of the Akt/NF-kB signaling pathway and YB-1 expression, but not the MAPK/ERK1/2 signaling pathway.  The result also demonstrated that rhinacanthin-C (up to 3 µM, 24-h) was able to produce intracellular ROS and potentiate H2O2 toxicity, leading to increased apoptosis in MCF-7/DOX cells.  Moreover, this compound inhibited the MAPKs signaling, resulting in changes in the Bax/Bcl-2 ratios and a decrease in the expression of PARP protein.  In addition, rhinacanthin-C might increase cellular stress and promote apoptosis via inhibition of the Akt/GSK-3β/Nrf2 pathway, leading to the down-regulation of antioxidant and detoxifying enzymes such as NQO1 and HO-1.  Taken together, rhinacanthin-C displayed its MDR reversal effect in MCF-7/DOX cells through down-regulation of MDR1 and P-gp expression by inhibiting Akt/NF-kB signaling pathway and YB-1 expression.  In addition, rhincanthin-C was able to induce apoptosis through ROS production and suppression of the cell survival systems mediated by the MAPKs and Akt/GSK-3β/Nrf2 signaling pathways.
Responsiveness of the Thai version of the Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System-29 (PROMIS-29) in patients with chronic low back pain
Authors:   , Khutok Kornkanok
Published: September 2023

Background: The Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System-29 (PROMIS-29) questionnaire assesses 7 health related quality of life domains. However, research to evaluate the responsiveness and minimal clinically important differences (MCIDs) of the PROMIS-29 scores in patients with chronic low back pain (cLBP) is limited. Purpose: To evaluate responsiveness and estimate the MCIDs for PROMIS-29 scales in patients with cLBP. Method: One hundred and eighty-three participants with cLBP took part in the study. They completed the PROMIS-29 scales at baseline, 4 weeks, and 8 weeks of the study. Responsiveness of the PROMIS-29 scale scores was evaluated by examining the mean change scores, effect sizes (ESs), standardized response means (SRMs) based on the global perceived effect (GPE) over time, including correlations with GPE. MCIDs were estimated by computing optimal cut point on the receiver operating characteristic curve and standard error of measurement (SEM) statistics for each scale. Results: The mean change scores, ESs, and SRMs increased as a function of the GPE ratings. At 4-week follow-up, the ESs and SRMs showed large magnitudes (ESs and SRMs ≥ 0.80) for Pain Intensity, Physical Function, and Anxiety scales in very much improved group. The correlations between change scores and GPE ratings were mostly weak in magnitude at 4 and 8 weeks. The MCID estimates computed as Pain Intensity 1.50 points; Physical function 3.60 points; Anxiety 5.88 points; Depression 5.25 points; Fatigue 7.75 points; Sleep Interference 3.90 points; Ability to Participate in Social Roles and Activities 4.58 points; and Pain Interference 4.85 points. Conclusion: The PROMIS-29 scale scores assessing pain intensity, physical function, and anxiety evidenced the most responsivity in the study sample.
Parents' knowledge, attitude, and preventive practice about sexual harassment of children in travel and tourism destination in Lombok, Indonesia
Authors:   , Fauzana Siti
Published: September 2023

Tourism is known as a promoter for economic growth. Lombok island is a place of interest where plenty tourists visit, but a high increasing number of visitors affect to increasing sexual harassment of local children. Child sexual harassment (CSH) is one of the seriously concerned issues. And parents are the best position with high potential to prevent CSH, they can act as a strong external obstacle to the offender accessing children. But there are limited studies were conducted on parent’s knowledge, attitude, and preventive practice (KAPP) about child sexual harassment especially tourism destination. The aims of this study were (1) to assess the level of KAPP about CSH of parents and (2) to find the association between socio-demographic, family, and community factors with the level of KAPP about CSH of parents in tourism destination Lombok, Indonesia. A cross-sectional study was conducted to assess this research. The total of 313 participants were parents who live in tourism destinations, Gili Indah village, Lombok, Indonesia, and have children age between 5-17 years old. Data collecting by using an online questionnaire. Most of the parents in this study had moderate knowledge (71.2%), both in male (72.4%) and female (69.5%) parents. The level of parents’ attitude towards child sexual harassment prevention in tourism destinations was positive (58.1%), but in detail, positive attitudes of male parents are higher than female parents, which is 69.2% and 42.2%. The preventive practice of parents was at a fair level (53.7%), with mostly male (61.1%) had fair preventive practice while female mostly had good preventive practice (49.2%). Sociodemographic factors, family factors, and community factors show significant association with KAPP of parents. But among knowledge, attitude, and preventive practice the factor they had significant association was not exactly similar. Only education that constantly showed significant association with KAPP. Finding related to factors that had a significant association with KAPP in this study can be a baseline to develop further study and program about child sexual harassment in tourism destinations.
Effect of chicken lof (low fat in 90 days): m-health application on lipid profile and body composition among dyslipedemia healthcare workers: a randomized controlled trial
Authors:   , Puntpanich Suwadee
Published: September 2023

Background/ Objectives: Non-communicable disease has become public health concern and is associated with an unhealthy lifestyle and ageing. This present study was conducted to explore the effectiveness of “CHICKEN LOF”: M-health application on lipid profile and body composition among dyslipidemia healthcare workers of Phuket City Hospital, Thailand. Subjects/ Methods: This study was a randomized controlled trail with 4 serial measurements and it was conducted among full time dyslipidemia healthcare workers from “Phuket Care Project”, a 10, 000 bed hospital via home visitation in Phuket City Hospital, Thailand. A total of 80 participants participated and they were randomly assigned by a computer generator into either an intervention group or control group. The intervention group received “CHICKEN LOF”: M-Health Application and usual care, and the control group received only usual care. Outcomes were measured on day 30, 60 and 90 compared to baseline. Results: There were 40 participants (M11/F29) with the mean age of 33.9 years in the intervention group and 40 participants (M7/F33) with the mean age of 33.2 years in control group. All of the baseline characteristics were not statistically of significant difference. Significant changes were observed in intervention group on total knowledge (p=0.000), total attitude (p=0.001), total practice (p=0.000), HDL-C (p=0.002), weight (p=0.000), BMI (p=0.001), body fat percentage (p=0.029), bone mass (p=0.030), BMR (p=0.032) and total body water (p=0.027). In pairwise comparison, significant increase of knowledge, attitude and practice was found from the baseline to at day 30, 60 and 90 respectively. Conclusion: As healthy lifestyle has become important issue for personal health which can result many changes in daily life of every person, it is needed to aware and practice the healthy lifestyle measures. The findings of this present study concluded the objectives of the study that M-Health intervention: CHICKEN LOF created by combination of 3 communication theories for motivation change: expectancy theory, behavior change communication theory and Persuasion and reinforcement theory is effective on improving knowledge, attitude and practice on lipid profile and body composition modifying score including improving in blood lipid profile and body composition. Being the use of technology in conducting health promotion and education especially using mobile phone, board game application like this CHICKEN LOF will be attractive to users not only the awareness but also the change of self-management and self-monitoring for their daily healthy lifestyle.