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Background Allergen-specific immunotherapy balances the Th2-biased immunity towards Th1 and Treg responses. Adjuvants are used in allergen preparations to intensify the immune responses. The increased prevalence of allergies in developed societies has been associated with decreased microbial load during childhood. This has initiated a search for microbial structures to be used as adjuvants. Our study has shown that a synthetic triacedimannose (TADM) may suppress the Th2-type allergic inflammatory response. The aim of this study was to compare the properties of TADM with capacities of other adjuvants, CpG ODN and MPL, to modulate cytokine production in PBMC and regulate sensitisation in an OVA-sensitised mouse asthma model. Methods The effects of TADM were studied in vitro on birch stimulated PBMC cultures of birch allergic rhinitis patients with other known adjuvants. Cytokines in supernatants were measured by Luminex. Effects of TADM were analysed in vivo in a mouse model of OVA-induced allergic asthma by analysing BAL, cytokine mRNA and serum antibodies. Results TADM was the only adjuvant that significantly suppressed the production of all birch induced Th2-type cytokines. In a murine model, TADM significantly suppressed the specific IgE production and enhanced IFN-γ production. Conclusions TADM suppresses the birch allergen induced Th2-type cytokine responses in allergic subjects more efficiently than the two other adjuvants, MPL and CpG ODN. TADM is immunomodulatory also in vivo and decreases the IgE levels and increases the IFN-γ responses in a murine model. These results suggest that TADM may be a promising candidate for novel adjuvants in immunotherapy.

Let us now evaluate rules engines based on agility, scalability, and usability and decide which is best suited for developing smart applications. We’ll start by defining what a rules engine is.

NLP provides a way to process, understand, and derive meaning from human language. Apple’s SIRI, Google’s Home, Amazon’s Echo, and Microsoft’s Cortana are few examples of NLP systems.

SmartAppGen is a set of frameworks to help generate knowledge-based applications from structured knowledge automatically. Structured knowledge can be provided in various formats, e.g. excel sheet, text, and XML.

Figure 8-1 represents knowledge from which one can derive a list of medical tests a patient needs to undergo based on the symptoms of the patient.

We came up with a three-tier high-level and low-level architecture for SmartAppGen. See Figure 7-1.

This chapter contains a comparison of rules engines used for developing on mobile platforms.

Android-ndk and Eclipse Helios were used to port CLIPS into Android. It is better to use a Linux machine for porting.

Knowledge management is defined as creating, sharing, using, and managing information for a system or organization.

The combination of benzyl bromide, sodium hydroxide and 15-crown-5 in tetrahydrofuran is shown to be an efficient method for installing benzyl groups at both the 4- and 6-positions regioselectively directly from peracetylated N-trichloroacetyl-protected glucosamine and galactosamine. Application of this benzylation strategy proved to significantly shorten the synthetic route to hyaluronic acid tetra- and hexamers.

Three different β-linked divalent mannosides, along with their corresponding monovalent counterparts, have been designed and chemically synthesized by coupling the corresponding propargyl (propargyl alcohol in the case of the monovalent compounds) and 2-azidoethyl glycosides by using an efficient click chemistry protocol. Crich's β-mannosylation methodology was applied to the construction of the β-mannosidic linkages. All the glycosylation reactions gave moderate-to-good yields with high selectivities. A competitive inhibition enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was performed to determine the inhibition, by the synthesized mannosides, of specific human IgG binding to low-molecular-weight Candida albicans mannan; moderate inhibition capacity was observed for some of the compounds.

Synthesis of a series of novel (6-deoxy-glycopyranosid-6-yl) sulfone derivatives has been achieved using a general synthetic strategy. Yields were excellent in every case. The synthetic compounds were evaluated for their biological potential against Ca 2+ -ATPase, an important enzyme involves in tranporting Ca 2+ across the cell membranes.

A series of (6,6′)-C-linked pseudodisaccharides has been prepared using a general synthetic strategy of olefin metathesis in the presence of Grubbs second-generation catalyst. Yields were excellent in every case.

The synthesis of a unique tetrasaccharide linked to the serine 61 of human clotting factor IX through an α- l -fucose residue has been achieved for the first time in excellent yield. All glycosylation and protecting group manipulation steps are high yielding and reproducible for a scale-up preparation. A sequential glycosylation strategy has been used to assemble suitably protected monosaccharide synthons for the preparation of the target tetrasaccharide.

The first stereoselective synthesis of a unique trisaccharide containing an open-chain glycosyl cyclic acetal moiety found in the cell wall of Proteus has been successfully achieved. Most of the intermediate steps are high yielding and highly reproducible. The acetal linkage of the open-chain d -galactosamine moiety with an ( S )-configuration was formed exclusively.

An antigenic heptasaccharide motif of the cell-wall glycolipid of Mycobacterium gordonae strain 989 has been synthesized in a linear fashion by using a general glycosylation condition and minimum number of protecting group manipulation. All suitably protected monosaccharide intermediates were prepared from commercially available reducing sugars following some novel methodologies recently developed in our laboratory. Most of the synthetic intermediates were obtained as solid compounds in excellent yields.

A pentasaccharide repeating unit of the O-antigen of Hafnia alvei has been synthesized in a concise manner. High yielding glycosylation steps and minimum number of protecting group manipulation steps are the key features of this synthesis. A two-step, one-pot phase transfer oxidation protocol has been applied for the preparation of D-galacturonic acid.

A general, odorless, one‐pot methodology has been developed for the preparation of 1,2‐trans‐thioglycosides and thio‐Michael addition products of carbohydrate derivatives through triphenyl phosphine‐mediated cleavage of disulfides and reaction of the thiolate formed in situ with glycosyl bromides and glycosyl conjugated alkenes.

A series of di- and trisaccharides containing 6-O-linked galactofuranose were synthesized as an anomeric mixture of methyl glycosides using silica-supported perchloric acid.

An efficient aza-Michael addition of amines to a series of α,β-unsaturated ketones, carboxylic esters, nitriles and chalcones has been carried out using perchloric acid supported over silica gel (HClO4-SiO2) at room temperature in high yields under solvent-free reaction conditions.

A convenient odorless methodology has been devised for the preparation of 1,2-trans-thio- and selenoglycosides through zinc-mediated cleavage of disulfides and diselenides and reaction of the thiolate and selenides formed in situ with glycosyl bromides. The yields were excellent in all cases.

Two underground coal mines in the Sydney Coalfield, Nova Scotia, Canada have encountered gas outbursts from sandstone formations overlying the coal seams. These have consistently occurred while driving mine roadways into virgin ground at and below mining depths of 700 m. In this investigation, triaxial compression tests were conducted on samples of the outburst-prone sandstone from one of these mines, the Phalen Colliery, while simultaneously measuring gas permeability, acoustic emissions and ultrasonic P-wave velocity and attenuation. Experimental results characterized these sandstone properties over the full range of axial stresses up to compressive failure. These data were intended to assist with (i) evaluating the potential for degassing the sandstone and (ii) evaluating the results of in-seam seismic surveys, which were conducted to map the sandstone ahead of mining. At the estimated in situ conditions in virgin rock at 700 m depth, the sandstone permeability is expected to be in the 0.005 to 0.04 mD range, the P-wave velocity is approximately 4000 m/s and the attenuation quality factor in the 20 to 25 range. Near mine openings at 700 m depth, where the lateral confining pressures are reduced, the permeability can be several orders of magnitude higher in the 4 to 15 mD range, the P-wave velocity is 3800 m/s and the attenuation quality factor is in the 10 to 15 range. Experimental data suggests that microcracking in the sandstone prior to compressive failure does not significantly enhance permeability but there may be local pockets of higher permeability within the sandstone.

Cryptography allows a person to encrypt/decrypt the content if s/he has the secret key. Since a key can in itself be inadvertently disclosed, stolen, guessed or computed using various brute force mechanisms, there is a need for adding intelligence to the encryption and decryption process. Context-based content sharing system will allow a person to decrypt content not just based on him/her having the key, but also by considering the contexts associated with the sender and/or the receiver before allowing decryption to proceed. This way, it adds a level of security on top of encryption. In addition to that, failed decryption attempts can be notified to the owner of the encrypted content. This adds more stealth in the system.

Health and well being of employees are of great concern for most of the large organizations. In addition to paying most of the health insurance premium for the employees, the employer also provide few in house doctors to take care of employees health at work place. In this paper we present the system iHealth, a decision support system that can reduce the cost of employee healthcare and increase health awareness of the work force. To the best of our knowledge no healthcare DSS has been implemented inside any public or private company.

A series of oligovalent carbohydrate assemblies (ranging from mono- to pentavalent), derived from three structurally different β-linked or β-(1→2)-linked mannosides, has been chemically synthesized, and the respective compounds have been biologically evaluated in order to investigate their immunostimulatory properties. The Crich methodology for β-mannosylation was successfully utilized to introduce the β-linkages, and a click chemistry protocol was utilized to generate the oligovalent derivatives. A convenient protecting group strategy involving the simultaneous use of both p-methoxybenzyl and benzylidene groups was employed, which allowed a simple and cost-effective global deprotection step. The immunomodulatory properties of the synthesized multivalent mannosides were evaluated by assessing cytokine production in human white blood cell cultures. The Th2-type cytokines interleukin-4 and interleukin-5 (IL-4 and IL-5), the Th1 cytokine interferon-γ (IFN-γ), the Treg cytokine IL-10, and the pro-inflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor (TNF) were included in the screening. A single trivalent acetylated mannobiose derivative was identified as a potent inducer of Treg and Th1 immune response, resulting in strong IL-10 and moderate IFN-γ productions dose-dependently, while inducing no Th2 cytokine response. The immunomodulatory properties of this trivalent mannoside were further studied in vitro in allergen (Bet v)-stimulated human peripheral blood mononuclear cell cultures of birch pollen allergic subjects. Stimulation with birch pollen induced strong IL-4 and IL-5 responses, which could be suppressed by the trivalent acetylated mannobiose derivative. The IL-10 response was also suppressed, whereas the production of IFN-γ was strongly enhanced. The results suggest that the identified lead compound has suppressive effects on the Th2-type allergic inflammatory response and shows potential as a possible lead adjuvant for the specific immunotherapy of allergies.

People in rural areas do not have convenient access to quality healthcare close to their locations. Although there are health care centers in villages, they are not staffed and most lack in basic infrastructural facilities. Villagers are forced to travel long distances to district head quarters or major cities to avail of medical facilities, often at high cost, which they can ill afford. We developed a mobile based decision support framework on the Android open platform and demonstrated the feasibility of building the complete end to end system for large scale deployment to outreach health worker. The decision support system enables the outreach health worker to deliver consistent and quality primary healthcare to rural population. The same platform can host other revenue generating opportunities for the outreach worker to keep them motivated and providing them a means of livelihood.

A series of (6,6′)-C-linked pseudodisaccharides has been prepared using a general synthetic strategy of olefin metathesis in the presence of Grubbs second-generation catalyst. Yields were excellent in every case.

A general, odorless, one‐pot methodology has been developed for the preparation of 1,2‐trans‐thioglycosides and thio‐Michael addition products of carbohydrate derivatives through triphenyl phosphine‐mediated cleavage of disulfides and reaction of the thiolate formed in situ with glycosyl bromides and glycosyl conjugated alkenes.

Directly reduced iron (DRI) is a major source of iron units in cases of low scrape availability and/or hot metal. Its main advantage is it is low content of phosphorus and sulphur. Removal of phosphorus and sulphur demands high energy consumption in steel making process. With fast depleting sources of cooking coal, the availability of hot metal will decrease in the coming years. Also, scrap availability is already on the declining trend. Hence, DRI is going to be the main source of iron units in the future, especially in electric arc furnace (EAF steel making). The disadvantage of DRI usages lies in it is high reactivity. Freshly produced DRI possesses high susceptibility to oxidation whenever it comes in contact with air. The generated heat in the oxidation reaction increases the tendency to oxidation, thereby, starting a short of chain reaction and ultimately leading to the burning of DRI. This phenomenon makes storage and handling of DRI a concern. The problem caused loss of one cargo in Delta steel company, Nigeria. The authors of this dissertation were given the responsibility to work out the solution in the minimum possible time for implementing it to the next shipments. It is heartening that the problem could be successfully solved and implemented in the next shipments in November ‘06. Hence, after above work implementation of the recommendations for a $45 risk/ton of DRI, only $1 is to be spent for protection against the risk.