Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ethnobotanical survey of some medicinal plants used in traditional health care in Abeokuta areas of Ogun State, Nigeria

An ethnobotanical survey of medicinal plants used in traditional health care delivery system in some selected towns of Ogun State, Nigeria was carried out to obtain useful information on their uses and potentials. Ethnobotanical data were collected by oral interview with the aid of a semi-structured questionnaire administered to 50 respondents made up of traditional medical practitioners (TMPs), herbalists and herb sellers. A total of 58 plant species belonging to 34 families were found to be useful in the treatment of various ailments such as asthma, cough, yellow fever, tuberculosis, measles, malaria, ringworm, boil, eczema, typhoid and diabetes. Recipes used in the treatment of these ailments were documented. Herbal remedies were either prepared from dry or freshly collected plants while the traditional solvent of choice included water, pure honey, lime, alcohol and aqueous extracts from fermented maize. The main methods of preparation are decoction and infusion while method of administration ranges from 3 to 5 cl of drinking cup, 2 to 3 times daily. The survey revealed that the leaves component accounted for the majority of the part used for herbal preparations. Residents in the study areas find the traditional medicine cheaper as compared to orthodox medicine. It is therefore implicated that conscientious efforts should be made to conserve medicinal plant genetic resources to ensure continued access to these plant materials while efforts should be made to reduce pressures on the remaining germplasm.
Community-Based Prevention Programs in the War on Drugs: Findings from the “Fighting Back” Demonstration

Illegal drug use remains one of the United States' most serious health problems, and the “War on Drugs” continues without an end in sight. Antidrug programs, which offer the potential to reduce substance abuse problems, are a component of efforts to deal with the problem, but they operate absent adequate scientific analysis. Although policy has shifted from a focus on supply control to one that includes prevention and treatment, research and theory lag behind program implementation. Thus, for example, community-based programs designed to change norms and systems of substance use have been widely promoted despite the lack of data to support their use. The present paper summarizes findings from an evaluation of a large national demonstration program, “Fighting Back. ” Results of the evaluation of broad-based community initiatives in a dozen communities show that the programs failed to reduce rates of substance use and associated harms. These findings, along with other evidence, place reliance on community-based programs at odds with public rhetoric. To deal more effectively with substance abuse, there is a need to move from “grading” programs to understanding why and how interventions function.
A New Evolutionary-Incremental Framework for Feature Selection

Feature selection is an NP-hard problem from the viewpoint of algorithm design and it is one of the main open problems in pattern recognition. In this paper, we propose a new evolutionary-incremental framework for feature selection.The proposed framework can be applied on an ordinary evolutionary algorithm (EA) such as genetic algorithm (GA) or invasive weed optimization (IWO). This framework proposes some generic modifications on ordinary EAs to be compatible with the variable length of solutions. In this framework, the solutions related to the primary generations have short length.Then, the length of solutions may be increased through generations gradually. In addition, our evolutionary-incremental framework deploys two new operators called addition and deletion operators which change the length of solutions randomly. For evaluation of the proposed framework, we use that for feature selection in the application of face recognition. In this regard, we applied our feature selection method on a robust face recognition algorithm which is based on the extraction of Gabor coefficients. Experimental results show that our proposed evolutionary-incremental framework can select a few number of features from existing thousands features efficiently. Comparison result of the proposed methods with the previous methods shows that our framework is comprehensive, robust, and well-defined to apply on many EAs for feature selection.
ASSESSMENT OF OXIDATIVE STRESS AND HOMOCYSTEINE LEVEL IN PATIENTS WITH AND WITHOUT TYPE 2 DIABETIC RETINOPATHY

: Background: Oxidative stress and mild hyperhomocysteinemia are independent risk factors of vascular diseases and present in type 2 diabetes. Our aim in this study is to investigate role of hyperhomocysteinemia, oxidative stress and association of homocysteine level with oxidative stress in the development of diabetic retinopathy. Materials and Methods: Forty type 2 diabetic patients with retinopathy and sixty without retinopathy subjects were included to the study. Plasma homocysteine level, prooxidant-antioxidant balance and HbA1c concentration was measured in two groups, also we tested 50 healthy volunteers as control. Results: HbA1c concentration in patients is significantly higher than healthy subject and positive correlation was found between HbA1c and retinopathy in diabetes patients. Plasma levels of homocysteine are significantly higher in diabetic patients compared to healthy individuals. However, there is no significant differentiate in homocysteine plasma levels in patients with and without retinopathy. Oxidative stress is higher in diabetic patient compared to healthy subjects; and also there is significant association between retinopathy and oxidative stress. Our data don’t show any significant correlation between HbA1c and homocysteine levels and homocysteine level with oxidative stress, however there is positive correlation between oxidative stress and HbA1c concentration. Conclusions: Our findings confirm elevation of homocysteine in diabetic patients; however there isn’t significant correlation between homocysteine levels and presence of diabetic retinopathy in type 2 diabetic patients. In agreement with previous data oxidative stress significantly associated with development of retinopathy.
Performance analysis of elliptic curve cryptography for SSL

Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) is emerging as an attractive public-key cryptosystem for mobile/wireless environments. Compared to traditional cryptosystems like RSA, ECC offers equivalent security with smaller key sizes, which results in faster computations, lower power consumption, as well as memory and bandwidth savings. This is especially useful for mobile devices which are typically limited in terms of their CPU, power and network connectivity. However, the true impact of any public-key cryptosystem can only be evaluated in the context of a security protocol. This paper presents a first estimate of the performance improvements that can be expected in SSL (Secure Socket Layer), the dominant security protocol on the Web today, by adding ECC support.
Efficient Public Key Certificate Management for Mobile Ad Hoc Networks

Mobile ad hoc networks involve communications over a shared wireless channel without any centralized infrastructure. Consequently, in an optimal solution, management and security services depend exclusively on network members. The main contribution of this paper is an efficient public key management scheme that is suitable for fully self-organized mobile ad hoc networks where all nodes play identical roles. Our approach implies that the operations of creating, storing, distributing, and revoking nodes' public keys are carried out locally by the nodes themselves. The goal of the presented methods is the improvement in the process of building local certificate repositories of nodes. In order to do it, an authentication solution based on the web of trust concept is combined with an element of routing based on the multipoint relay concept introduced in the optimized link state routing protocol. Our proposal leads to a good tradeoff among security, overhead, and flexibility. Experimental results show a considerable decrease in resource consumption while carrying out the certificate verification process.
Effects of the FTO Gene on Lifestyle Intervention Studies in Children

The effects of FTO on body weight, body composition, and the risk of developing overweight and obesity in children, adolescents, and adults are analyzed in this review. Most trails have been conducted on the rs9939609 SNP of the FTO gene. The minor A-allele frequency ranged from 0.38 to 0.49 in different European populations. Briefly, it has been reported that overweight-obesity risk per A-allele ranged from 1.76 to 1.35, whereas z-score for BMI has a wider variation from 0.05 to 0.5 kg/m2 in European children and adolescents. As for other adiposity indexes, a waist circumference increase from 0.60 to 0.95 cm per A-allele was found together with an increase in fat mass from 0.68 to 1.78 kg in European children and adoles-cents. In regard to food intake, AA carrier subjects were reported to have reduced satiety responsiveness scores and a higher total energy and fat intake. However, it is not clear whether energy expenditure did modify the role of the rs9939609 FTO gene variant in adiposity. Furthermore, few reports examined the influence of FTO gene variants using intervention studies. Overall, it seems that the A-allele (rs9939609 FTO) is associated with higher body weight gain. However, further studies into FTO gene variants in children and adults are needed.
Maxillary Sinus Grafting with Autograft Versus Fresh-Frozen Allograft: A Split-Mouth Evaluation of Bone Volume Dynamics.

PURPOSE To compare volumetric changes after sinus augmentation of completely edentulous maxillae with either autogenous or allogeneic fresh-frozen bone particles. MATERIALS AND METHODS This split-mouth study in patients who required bilateral sinus grafting used autograft particles for one sinus and allograft particles for the contralateral sinus. The grafted sinuses were left to heal for 6 months prior to implant insertion. All patients underwent four computed tomography scans: prior to augmentation and 1 week, 6 months, and 12 months after grafting. Computer software was used to analyze bone graft volume in each scan. RESULTS Fifteen patients (8 men, 7 women) with a mean age of 54 ± 5 years (range, 48 to 60 years) took part and underwent 30 sinus augmentation procedures. Mean autograft and allograft volumes were not statistically significantly different at each time point (1 week: 2.01 ± 0.43 cm³ vs 2.46 ± 0.79 cm³; 6 months: 1.53 ± 0.49 cm³ vs 1.75 ± 0.64 cm³; and 12 months: 1.38 ± 0.43 cm³ vs 1.59 ± 0.56 cm³, respectively). Mean volumetric reductions of 31.35% and 35.36% (23.9% and 29.9% in the 6 months prior to implant insertion, followed by an additional 9% and 9% in the following 6 months), relative to 1 week postgrafting, were noted for the autograft and allograft groups, respectively, after 12 months. CONCLUSION On the basis of this split-mouth study of 15 patients, there was no statistically significant volumetric difference after 12 months between the use of autograft or allografts for sinus augmentation. Fresh-frozen bone allograft may serve as an alternative that avoids the morbidity associated with autograft harvesting.
What is lacking in current decision aids on cancer screening?

Recent guidelines on cancer screening have provided not only more screening options but also conflicting recommendations. Thus, patients, with their clinicians' support, must decide whether to get screened, which modality to use, and how often to undergo screening. Decision aids could potentially lead to better shared decision‐making regarding screening between the patient and the clinician. A total of 73 decision aids concerning screening for breast, cervical, colorectal, and prostate cancers were reviewed. The goal of this review was to assess the effectiveness of such decision aids, examine areas in need of more research, and determine how the decision aids can be currently applied in the real‐world setting. Most studies used sound study designs. Significant variation existed in the setting, theoretical framework, and measured outcomes. Just over one‐third of the decision aids included an explicit values clarification. Other than knowledge, little consistency was noted with regard to which patient attributes were measured as outcomes. Few studies actually measured shared decision‐making. Little information was available regarding the feasibility and outcomes of integrating decision aids into practice. In this review, the implications for future research, as well as what clinicians can do now to incorporate decision aids into their practice, are discussed. CA Cancer J Clin 2013. © 2013 American Cancer Society.
An agent-based approach for building complex software systems

uilding high-quality, industrialstrength software is difficult. Indeed, it has been argued that developing such software in domains like telecommunications, industrial control, and business process management represents one of the most complex construction tasks humans undertake. Against this background, a wide range of software engineering paradigms have been devised. Each successive development either claims to make the engineering process easier or promises to extend the complexity of applications that can feasibly be built. Although evidence is emerging to support these claims, researchers continue to strive for more effective techniques. To this end, this article will argue that analyzing, designing, and implementing complex software systems as a collection of interacting, autonomous agents (that is, as a multiagent system [4]) affords software engineers a number of significant advantages over contemporary methods. This is not to say that agent-oriented software engineering represents a silver bullet [2]—there is no evidence to suggest it will represent an order of magnitude improvement in productivity. However, the increasing number of deployed applications [4, 8] bears testament to the potential advantages that accrue from such an approach. In seeking to demonstrate the efficacy of agent-oriented techniques, the most compelling argument would be to quantitatively show how their adoption improved the development process in a range of projects. However, such data is simply not available (as it is not for approaches like patterns, application frameworks, and componentware). Given this situation, the best that can be achieved is a qualitative justification of why agent-oriented approaches are well suited to engineering complex, distributed software systems.
What Kinds of Mental Health Services do Public Schools in the United States Provide?

This article describes the first national survey of mental health services in a representative sample of the 83,000 United States (U.S.) public elementary, middle, and high schools and their associated school districts. The survey identified types of mental health problem encountered, types of service delivered, administrative arrangements for delivering/coordinating services, and the disciplines/qualifications of providers. Issues of funding, budgeting and resource allocation, and data use were also explored. Major findings indicated that mental health services are widely available in schools, and schools are attempting to respond to the mental health needs of students. However, schools report that the frequency and severity of mental health problems are increasing, while resource levels are static or decreasing. Further research is needed to explore issues such as the intensity and duration of school mental health services, adequacy of specialty training for school mental health providers, and effectiveness of combinations of preventive mental health and treatment services.
Prevalência da tuberculose multirresistente no Estado do Ceará, 1990-1999

Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is a worldwide concern but its magnitude in the state of Ceara - Northeastern Brazil has been so far unknown. Objectives: To determine the prevalence of MDR-TB among us as well as the sesceptibility of Mycobacterium tuberculosis> to antituberculosis drugs. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted using 1,500 susceptibility tests (ST) for rifampin (RFM), isoniazid (INH), streptomycin (SM), pyrazinamide (PYZ), ethambutol (ETM) and ethionamide (ETH) that were performed at the Central Laboratory of the State of Ceara (LACEN) between 1990 and 1999. The proportion method test was used. Results: Of the 1,500 stains studied, 404 (27%) were resistant to at least one drug, including both primary and acquired resistance. MDR-TB, defined as resistance to at least rifampin and isoniazid was observed in 266 (17.7%) patients. During the study period, there were 41,073 TB cases and MDR-TB prevalence was 0.65% in our state. Among the patients studied, 62.3% were men and mean age was 40.17 ± 14.62. Overall prevalence for single-drug resistance was 8.1% (INH = 5.7%; SM = 1.5%; and RFP = 0.9%). Resistance to 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 drugs was, respectively, 10.8%; 3.1%; 0.9%; 1.5%; and 2.9%. HIV testing was performed in all inpatients and some outpatients (total of 86 patients) and revealed that they were all HIV negative. The probability of 5-year survival (138 patients assessed) was greater in the MDR-TB group treated with alternative drugs, including the patients of the failure group. Conclusion: The MDR-TB prevalence rate found in this study is intermediate in comparison with those reported in Brazil and the other parts of the world. Preventive approaches, early diagnosis and the development of effective, safe and relatively inexpensive new drugs should be stimulated.
To study prevalence of incipient iron deficiency in primary hypothyroidism.

Background: Hypothyroidism, affects around 1% of general population. Anemia in association with hypothyroidism has been studied since 1881. Iron deficiency has multiple adverse effects on thyroid metabolism. It decreases circulating thyroid hormone concentration, blunts thyrotrophic response to TRH, decreases serum T 3 . Objective of current study was to find prevalence of iron deficiency in primary hypothyroid. Methods: In our study 70 patients were selected, out of which 50 were females and 20 were males, who were suffering from hypothyroidism. Iron deficiency in the study group was confirmed at baseline using multiple iron status indicators (serum ferritin, serum iron, TIBC & percentage Saturation). These patients were between age group 18-65 years. Results: In our study only 14 patients (20%) manifested with anemia (which was defined as Hb<12gm/dl), where as the prevalence of iron deficiency (with or without anemia) was 34.2%, in which 28.5% were females and 5.70% were males, thus showing that prevalence of iron deficiency (with or without anemia) can be higher than iron deficiency anemia itself, which is supported by literature. Conclusion: Iron deficiency was present in a significant portion of patients with primary hypothyroidism. It also concluded that frequency of iron deficiency (with or without anemia) was higher than iron deficiency anemia.
IGF-I and IGF-Binding Proteins in Articular Exudates of Children with Post-Traumatic Knee Damage and Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis

Objective: IGF-I stimulates multiple functions of connective tissue cells and its activity is modulated by IGF-binding proteins (BPs). Some metalloproteinases are expected to modify IGF-I activity by digestion of IGF-BPs. It was decided to evaluate the concentration of IGF-I, IGF-BPs and the activity of gelatinases A and B in knee exudates of children with post-traumatic damage (PTD) and children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) in comparison with those in the sera of the same patients. Methods: ELISA (for IGF-I assay), polyacrylamine gel electrophoresis following Western immunoblotting (for IGF-I and IGF-BPs expression), and zymography (for gelatinase detection) were used. Results: The knee exudates, especially those taken from patients with JIA, contained large amounts of IGF-I. The exudates of PTD and JIA patients contained some forms of IGF-BP-1 of molecular weight lower than those occurring in serum. Low expression BP-3 and high activity of gelatinase B were detected in the JIA exudates. Conclusions: The high gelatinase activities in exudates imply joint tissue damage. The cellular response to damage of this kind is an increase in IGF-I production, which stimulates repair processes. High proteolytic activities of gelatinase B in JIA patients may lower the amount of BP-3, possibly causing a relative decrease of IGF-I concentration and impairing the reparation processes stimulated by IGF-I.
Ranibizumab in the treatment of age-related macular degeneration

Age-related macular degeneration is one of the most common irreversible causes of visual loss. It has been well established from both animal and human studies that vascular endothelial growth factor plays an important role in the pathogenesis of this process. Ranibizumab is a monoclonal antibody fragment directed towards human vascular endothelial growth factor that was developed to halt the progression of wet age-related macular degeneration. The antibody fragment has a molecular weight of 48 kDa and is produced by an Escherichia coli expression system. Ranibizumab received approval in the USA in July 2006 and the European Union in January 2007. It is introduced into the eye by injection into the vitreous cavity. Conjunctival hemorrhage, vitreous floaters, intraocular inflammation, increased intraocular pressure and eye pain were the most common ocular complaints of patients receiving ranibizumab injections over sham treatments. The rates of retinal detachment, cataract and endophthalmitis do not exceed .
Embolization of Intracranial Dural Arteriovenous Fistulas Using PHIL Liquid Embolic Agent in 26 Patients: A Multicenter Study

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The introduction of liquid embolic agents has revolutionized endovascular approach to cranial vascular malformations. The aim of the study was to retrospectively assess the efficacy and safety of Precipitating Hydrophobic Injectable Liquid (PHIL), a new nonadhesive liquid embolic agent, in the treatment of patients with cranial dural arteriovenous fistulas. The primary end point was the rate of complete occlusion of dural arteriovenous fistulas. Secondary end points included the incidence of adverse events and clinical status at 3-month follow-up. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a retrospective multicenter study. Twenty-six consecutive patients with dural arteriovenous fistulas (de novo or previously treated) treated by injection of PHIL only or with PHIL in combination with other embolization products (such as Onyx or detachable coils) were included in the study. Recruitment started in August 2014 and ended in September 2015. RESULTS: Twenty-two (85%) patients were treated with PHIL only, with 3 patients treated with both PHIL and Onyx, and 1, with both PHIL and coils. Immediate complete angiographic occlusion was achieved in 20 (77%) patients. Of the 6 patients with residual fistulas, 3 were retreated with PHIL and 1 achieved angiographic cure. An adverse event was seen in 1 patient who developed worsening of preexisting ataxia due to acute thrombosis of the draining vein. CONCLUSIONS: PHIL appears to be safe and effective for endovascular treatment of cranial dural arteriovenous fistulas. Short-term angiographic and clinical results are comparable with those of Onyx, with the added advantage of easier preparation and improved homogeneous cast visualization. The use of iodine as a radio-opacifier also produces considerably less artifacts on CT compared with tantalum-based embolic materials.