cometadata/datacite-titles-descriptions-related-identifiers huggingface dataset:
DOI: 10.14457/cu.the.2006.1578
title: A Study of selected predictors of english reading test performance in consumer product marketing of fourth-year university students

description: The objectives of this study were to investigate )1) the relationship between scores froma Reading Test of English in Consumer Product Marketing (RT-ECPM) and the three selected test takers' variables namely formal content study, English language attainment and overall academic achievement, (2) the extent to which the three variables individually or in combination predict the RT-ECPM scores, and (3) the test takers' attitude towards the RT-ECPM. The population was fourth-year students from the Faculty of Commerce and Accountancy majoring in Business Administration at Chulalongkorn University of 2005 academic year. The samples consist of 133 students from the population. Two research instruments were developed to collect data in this study. A Reading Test of English in Consumer Product Marketing was formulated using the combined effort of the face-to-face interviews with the subject experts, corpus compilation and content analysis of related text books. A questionnaire for test takers was developed to collect data on test takers' variables and their attitude towards the RT-ECPM. Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated to explore the strength and the significance of the relationships between the three variables and the RT-ECPM scores. Multiple regression analysis was employed to study the predictability of the three independent variables on the performance in the RT-ECPM. Descriptive statistics using mean score was carried out to reveal the test takers' attitude towards the test. The findings revealed that (1) there were significant relationships between each of the three independent variables and the RT-ECPM scores at .05 level, i.e., English language attainment and the test score with r = .537, p
DOI: 10.14457/cu.the.2006.1579
title: To study the associations between SHP-1 methylation in normal epithelial tissues and demethylation in psoriasis

description: SHP-1 promotor hypermethylation has been studied in hematopoietic cells and observed only in various types of lymphoma and leukemia. This study reports a contrasting situation in normal epithelial tissues and an association with skin pathogenesis, particularly in psoriasis. We investigated several cell lines, 5 epithelial and 6 hematopoietic cell lines. White blood cells from normal healthy donors and normal micro-dissected epithelium of kidney, liver, breast, cervix, lung, prostate, bladder and skin were also included. Interestingly, promoter 2 hypermethylation was apparent in all epithelial cell lines and tissues. However, distinctive degrees of demethlation were noted in some skin samples. The methylation patterns of each cell line corresponded to their mRNA isoforms, in that isoform I and II could not be detected with either promoter 1 or 2 hypermethylation, respectively. We further explored whether an enhanced degree of demethlation could be observed in various dermatopathology lesions from Psoriasis, squamous cell cancers (SCC) and eczema. Thrity seven skin lesion samples were detected SHP-1 methylation of promoter 1 and 2 by using COBRA and MSP technique, respectively. While the promoter 2 methylation levels of SCC, eczemas and normal skins were not different, a significant degree of demethylation can be observed in psoriatic skin lesions, (p&lt;0.005). In addition, psoriatic skin displays a higher level of SHP-1 isoform II than normal skin (p&lt;0.05). In conclusion, this study discovered an unprecedented role of SHP-1 methylation in tissue specific expression and its alteration in a non-malignant human disease besides the transcription inhibition in leukemia an lymphoma. Furthermore, the promoter demethylation may play an important role in skin pathogenesis by enhancing SHP-1 isoform II transcription in psoriatic skin lesions.
DOI: 10.14457/cu.the.2006.1580
title: Resolving the people's war in Nepal : a discussion of obstacles to political integration

description: Between February 2005 and September 2006, Nepal incurred the most eventful bout of political happenings in the country’s recent history. The totalitarian takeover by King Gyanendra resulted in a mass people's movement numbering in the millions along with the emergence of the Communist Party Nepal-Maoists from a ten-year underground existence. This paper uses Classical Marxist Theory to show the plausibility of a Maoist-affiliated party participating in mainstream politics. On the brink of a new government system, political integration of the CPNM never seemed more possible. Successful political integration must be simultaneously accompanied by disarmament measures. The disarmament aspect of Nepal is discussed through the Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) Framework. The situation in Nepal is assessed until the submission of the interim constitution's first draft in August 2006.
DOI: 10.14457/cu.the.2006.1581
title: Characterization of mixture of palm oil and diesel atomized by a two-fluid nozzle using phase doppler anemometer

description: Because of the current energy crisis, an increase in fuel price and a decrease in its supply rise an increasing attention of an alternative fuel. Biodiesel is one of the most interesting alternative fuels which can be produced from many plants. Meanwhile drop size and dynamic of its spray has not been investigated clearly yet. Such detailed measurements play an important role in an enhancement of combustion efficiency, it would be employed for optimizing heat transfer, controlling evaporation, and lessening emission. In order to obtain this initial information, a PDA technique was used to measure the local drop size and velocity of mixture of diesel and palm oil. The method is based on light scattering interferometry. From frequency change, it provides information on droplet velocity while the droplet size is evaluated from the phase change of the laser. The atomizer used in this work is a two-fluid atomizer which has been applied for combustion aid because it can atomize high viscosity liquids like vegetable oil fuel. It was experimentally observed that the atomizer generates a spray with large drops at low air injection pressure. Large droplets are produced along traveling distance. Therefore, the large drops with low velocity are found at downstream distances far from the nozzle tip. Moreover, the properties of liquid fuel such as viscosity, affect the atomization and the droplet size distribution. Liquids with high viscosity cause poor atomization, resulting in larger drops. However, liquid viscosity could provide only a small effect on the velocity profile if compressed with the air injection pressure.
DOI: 10.14457/cu.the.2006.1582
title: Effect of Ni-modified Al[subscript 2]O[subscript 3] on the properties of Pd/Al[subscript 2]O[subscript 3] catalyst in selective acetylene hydrogenation

description: In this study, the effect of Ni-modified Al[subscript2]O[subscript3] prepared by sol-gel and solvothermal methods with varying Ni/Al molar rations on catalytic performances of supported Pd catalysts for selective hydrogenation of acetylene has been studied. It was found that catalytic performances of the Pd catalyst supported on Ni-modified Al[subscript2]O[subscript3] were superior compared to those of Pd-supported on commercial a-Al[subscript2]O[subscript3]. For the sol-gel-made samples, when Ni/Al ratio was 1, the highest ethylene selectivity was achieved whereas for the solvothermal-made samples, the utmost ethylene selectivity was obtained when Ni/Al ratio was 0.3. For a similar Ni/Al ratio (0.5), ethylene selectivity of the sol-gel-made samples was higher than that of solvothermal-made. From X-ray diffraction, it is suggested that varying Ni/Al ratio directly affected the crystalline phases of alumina supports and formation of nickel-alumina compounds. A revealed by NH[subscript3] temperature programmed desorption studies, incorporation of Ni atoms into a-Al[subscript2]O[subscript3] resulted in a significant decrease of acid sites on the alumina supports hence reducing coke deposition on the catalyst surface. Moreover, formation of NiAlAl[subscript2]O[subscript4] could modify the properties of Pd surface so that high ethylene selectivities were obtained.
DOI: 10.14457/cu.the.2006.1583
title: Development of lanthanum strontium manganite based solid oxide fuel cell electrode by advanced mechanochemical process

description: In this research, synthesis of La[subscript 0.8]Sr[subscript 0.2]MnO[subscript 3] (LSM) power by advanced mechanochemical process using a mixture of industrial-grade La[subscript 2]O[subscript 3], SrCO[subscript 3] and Mn[subscript 3]O[subscript 4] powders was investigated. In the present milling process, no media balls were employed, and mechanical activation was applied through frictions among particles in powder mixture. Under humid atmosphere (RH 70% at 25 degree celsius), XRD peak intensities of the starting powder decreased, and the specific surface area of the powder mixture increased during the early stage of the milling (&lt;10min). During further milling, the peaks of LSM started to appear. Differential thermal analysis (DTA) suggests that the present mechanical activation brought about the decomposition of SrCO[subscript 3] and the phase change if Mn[subscript 3]O[subscript 4]. Single phase of LSM was obtained by annealing the milled powder mixture (after 60 min of milling) at relatively lower temperature of 900 degree celsius, and its particle size was about 100 nm. The present process resulted considerably lower release of contamination from the milling media. In addition, the influence of the water content of the starting powder mixture on the mechanochemical synthesis of La[subscript 0.8]Sr[subscript 0.2]MnO[subscript 3] (LSM) powder was investigated. The water content of the starting powder mixture was varied up to 2.0 wt.% With water content of 2.0 wt.%, disordering of the crystalline starting powders rapidly processed. However, single phase LSM powder was not obtained. At a proper water content (&lt;0.2 and at 0.8 wt.%), fine grinding of the mixture occurred during the early stage of the milling and single phase LSM powder was obtained after 120 min of milling. The specific surface area (SSA) of the LSM powder was 5.0 m[superscript 2]/g and the particle size calculated from the SSA was approximately 180 nm. Furthermore, La[subscript 0.8]Sr[subscript 0.2]MnO[subscript 3] (LSM)/ Y[subscript 2]O[subscript 3] stabilized ZrO[subscript 2] (YSZ) composite powders were mechanically prepared. By changing the mechanical conditions, three composite powders with different size distributions were obtained. They were used to fabricate the cathodes of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). Microstructures of the cathodes were carefully characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM). Losses of internal resistance (IR) and polarization between the electrolyte and the cathode were measured with a current interruption technique. The cathode fabricated from the composite particles with narrow particle size distribution showed fine grains, uniform porous structure, and good contact within the electrolyte layer, and therefore it showed low IR and polarization losses. In contrast, the cathode fabricated from composite particles with large amount of coarse particles exhibited a non-uniform structure in grains and pore structure, resulting in high IR and polarization losses.
DOI: 10.14457/cu.the.2006.1584
title: The role of amulet magazines in promoting buddhist commercialism in Thai society

description: The purpose of this thesis is to identify the role of amulet magazines in promoting Buddhist commercialism in Thai society. The amulet magazines in Thailand can be classified into two types, 1) Knowledge type (Knowledge-based) magazine, and 2) Catalog type magazine. The researcher analyzed the format and content of these amulet magazines of today's market as the sample of analysis in terms of Buddhist Commercialism and superstitions. The concept used in the analysis is Media Literacy analysis, especially used A) All media are construction; B) The media construct reality; D) Media have commercial implications; and E) Media contain ideological and value messages; of eight key concepts of Media Literacy. Media literacy analysis with these concepts showed us that the role of the amulet magazines is to try to shape readers' thinking about amulets, and reinforce those ideas by constructing their own world view, in which "Amulets have sacred power and can facilitate miracles." (i.e., all media are construction, the media construct reality.), and emphasizing the sacred power of the amulets (i.e., media contain ideological and value messages.) in their components, in order to effectively sell amulets (i.e., media have commercial implications). The amulet magazines which have been established since 1987 have played a very significant role in establishing amulet business in Thailand and at the same time enlarging its market and the circle of consumers from the local level to the national level, because the absolute quantity of the amulet magazine has been dramatically increasing since 1987.
DOI: 10.14457/cu.the.2006.1585
title: An interactive rendering method for water-side scene with caustics using level map method

description: Realistic rendering of underwater scenes is one of the most anticipated research topics in computer graphics. Caustics are the important component enhancing the realism of this kind of scenes. Unfortunately, rendering caustics is a time consuming task. As a result, most existing algorithms cannot handle this at interactive rate. In recent years, volumetric texture based rendering algorithms have been proposed. They can render an underwater scene with caustics in real-time. However, these algorithms require large amount of memory and are restricted to non-cmoplex scenes. In this thesis we present a new interactive caustics rendering algorithm which requires less memory usage. In our proposed method, we represent each object as a pair of color and depth texture. Color texture is used to store the object image viewed from viewing rays which refracted at water surface. We calculate the light intensity distribution on this image and store the result back to the color texture. The depth texture is used in the intensity calculation process to improve accuracy of the caustics patterns. Our experiment shows that proposed algorithm can handle complex underwater scene with caustics at interactive time rate. While using a pair of color and depth instead of volumetric texture, we can reduce memory usage significantly.
DOI: 10.14457/cu.the.2006.1586
title: Characterization of deposited coke on Ni/SiO[subscript 2].MgO catalyst from carbon dioxide reforming of methane under periodic operation

description: In this work, the detailed study on the coke formation taking place in the periodic operation of the carbon dioxide reforming of methane on a commercial Ni/SiO[subscript 2].MgO catalyst was investigated by using various analytical methods including BET surface area measurement, SEM, XRD, and TPO in order to characterize the coke formed at reaction temperature range of 650-750 degrees Celsius and various reaction times. It was found that at least two different cokes were formed on the surface of catalyst at this temperature range. At low temperature, conversions of methane and carbon dioxide and yield of hydrogen were almost constant throughout reaction time. Coke was formed during the methane cracking period but was incompletely removed in the regeneration period. At this temperature, coke was mostly formed in filamentous form. In contrast, at high temperature, conversions of methane and carbon dioxide and yield of hydrogen decreased continuously with increasing reaction time. A lesser amount of coke was obtained but it was formed in encapsulating form. Thus, it affected the activity of catalyst.
DOI: 10.14457/cu.the.2006.1587
title: การซ้ำเพื่อสื่อสารบุคลิกภาพในงานออกแบบเรขศิลป์

description: วิทยานิพนธ์ฉบับนี้ได้ดำเนินงานวิจัยภายใต้การวิจัยเชิงคุณภาพ มีวัตถุประสงค์เพื่อหาการซ้ำเพื่อสื่อสารบุคลิกภาพในงานออกแบบเรขศิลป์ โดยสร้างแบบสอบถามเป็นเครื่องมือในการวิจัย จากนั้นจึงเก็บข้อมูลจากนักวิชาการและผู้เชี่ยวชาญทางด้านงานออกแบบ 2 ขั้นตอน คือ ขั้นตอนที่ 1 การหาตัวแทนของรูปร่าง ซึ่งเป็นองค์ประกอบของการซ้ำ ขั้นตอนที่ 2 การหาบุคลิกภาพของการซ้ำ ซึ่งใช้ผู้เชี่ยวชาญทางด้านการออกแบบเป็นผู้คัดเลือก ผลการวิจัยพบว่า การซ้ำเพื่อสื่อสารบุคลิกภาพในงานออกแบบเรขศิลปนั้น สามารถสื่อสารบุคลิกภาพได้ โดยการใช้รูปร่าง และหลักของการซ้ำ ดังนี้ 1. บุคลิกภาพสบายๆ ใช้รูปร่างอิสระ และการซ้ำแบบการหมุนรอบจุด 120 องศา 2. บุคลิกภาพสมัยใหม่ ใช้รูปร่างที่มีด้านเป็นเส้นตรง และการซ้ำแบบการผสมระหว่างเรียงลำดับ สลับซ้ายขวา และหมุนรอบจุด 3. บุคลิกภาพชวนฝัน ใช้รูปร่างไม่สม่ำเสมอ และการซ้ำแบบการสลับซ้ายขวาและหมุนรอบจุด 4. บุคลิกภาพธรรมชาติ ใช้รูปร่างอุบัติภาพ และการซ้ำแบบการเรียงลำดับสลับจังหวะ 5. บุคลิกภาพสง่างาม ใช้รูปร่างธรรมชาติ และการซ้ำแบบการสลับภาพซ้ายขวา 6. บุคลิกภาพสมสมัย ใช้รูปร่างเรขาคณิต และการซ้ำแบบการหมุนรอบจุด 60 องศา 7. บุคลิกภาพคลาสสิค ใช้รูปร่างธรรมชาติ และการซ้ำแบบการสลับซ้ายขวาและหมุนรอบจุด 8. บุคลิกภาพสำรวย โก้หรู ใช้รูปร่างที่มีด้านเป็นเส้นตรง และการซ้ำแบบการหมุนรอบจุด 90 องศา
DOI: 10.14457/cu.the.2006.1588
title: Effects of beta-adrenergic antagonists (carvedilol and propranolol) on beta 2-adrenergic receptors and factor VIII levels in hyperthyroid cats

description: The objective of this study was to compare effects of [beta][subscript 2] adrenergic blockers (carvedilol and propranolol) on factor VIII levels and [beta][subscript 2] adrenergic receptors in normal and hyperthyroid cats. Twelve cats were divided into two groups, a control group (n = 4) and a hyperthyroid group (n = 8), which animals in the hyperthyroid group were given L-thyroxine at the dose of 50 microgram/kg/day for 14 days. After an induction period, all animals were randomly selected to treat first with either propranolol or carvedilol. Half of animals received orally 1 mg/kg/day of propranolol combination with L-thyroxine once daily for a total period of 14 days. After that, animals were allowed to rest and washout for 14 days, and then they were received L-thyroxine for 14 days followed by L-thyroxine combination with 1 mg/kg/day carvedilol once daily for 14 days. Another half received carbedilol; then followed by propranolol. Blood samples were drawn for determinations of thyoxine levels, factor VIII levels, prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), and [beta][subscript 2] adrenergic receptor density. It was found that the hyperthyroid animals shown an increase in factor VIII levels. Carvedilol decreased thyroxine and factor VIII levels, but propranolol decreased only thyroxine levels. There was no change on the density of [beta][subscript 2] adrenergic receptors after thyroxine induction and after treated with either carvedilol or propranolol. These results indicate that factor VIII, which is related to thromboembolism, can be decreased by carvedilol.
DOI: 10.14457/cu.the.2006.1589
title: Protective effects of [alpha]-Lipoic acid and its Polyrotaxanes complexes against cisplatin induced DNA damage and its Apoptotic mechanism inducing in human lung epitherial cancer cells

description: [alpha]-Lipoic acid(LA) is a naturally-occurring antioxidant found in mitochondria of plant and human being. Thai spinach (Spinacea oleracea) was selected to extract natural LA. It formed complex with polyrotaxanes (PRx) to deliver and enhance the permeation through the skin to prevent DNA damage. Double strand DNA (dsDNA), human lung cancer H-460 cells and skin fibroblast cells were used in this study. The result showed that LA could protect the DNA damage and prevent the formation of DNA-platinum adducts those inducing cytotoxicity. Moreover, it had high efficacy to recover the DNA damage when compared with other antioxidants. For enhancing the topical absorption of LA, PRx and cholesterol modified PRx complexes were developed. The ex-vivo permeation study was investigated using the stratum corneum (SC) as a model membrance in Franze diffusion cell. LA-PRx complex enhance the permeation of LA through the SC when compared with LA solution. The cholesterol modified Prx gave the better permeation of free LA than LA-PRx complex. Both delivery systems were not toxic to fibroblast cells and they could stimulate the cell growth. Together, cholesterol modified PRx and even PRx might be a good approach for creating new biodegradable systems for topical application in term of enhancing the penetration through the skin. Studying the effect of LA in cancer cell, LA was found to be prooxidant by an induction of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and a concomitant increase in apoptosis in human lung epithelial cancer H-460 cells. The mechanism to induce the apoptosis of LA was found to be mediated through the mitochondrial death pathway which requires caspase-9 activation. Inhibition of caspase activity by pan-caspase inhibitor (z-VAD-fmk) or caspasd-9-specific inhibitor (z-LEHD-fmk) completely inhibited the apoptotic effect of LA. ROS inducing from LA activated the caspase-9 cascade and caused the downregulation of mitochondrial Bcl-2 protein through peroxide-dependent proteasomal degradation. Furthermore a novel prooxidant role of LA in apoptosis induction may be exploited for the treatment of cancer and related apoptosis disorders.