Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Design and in vitro characterization of buccoadhesive tablets of timolol maleate

Abstract Objective: The purpose of this work was to develop and evaluate buccoadhesive tablets of timolol maleate (TM) due to its potential to circumvent the first-pass metabolism and to improve its bioavailability. Methods: The tablets were prepared by direct compression using two release modifying polymers, Carbopol 974P (Cp-974p) and sodium alginate (SA). A 32 full factorial design was employed to study the effect of independent variables, Cp-974p and SA, in various proportions in percent w/w, which influences the in vitro drug release and bioadhesive strengths. Physicochemical properties of the drug were evaluated by ultraviolet, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and powder X-ray diffraction (P-XRD). Tablets were evaluated for hardness, thickness, weight variation, drug content, surface pH, swelling index, bioadhesive force and in vitro drug release. Results: The FTIR and DSC studies showed no evidence of interactions between drug, polymers and excipients. The P-XRD study revealed that crystallinity of TM remain unchanged in optimized formulation tablet. Formulation F9 achieves an in vitro drug release of 98.967% ± 0.28 at 8 h and a bioadhesive force of 0.088 N ± 0.01211. Conclusion: We successfully developed buccal tablet formulations of TM and describe a non-Fickian-type anomalous transport as the release mechanism.
Multiplex Genotyping for Cystic Fibrosis from Filter Paper Blood Spots

Cystic fibrosis is a common disease of the Caucasian population and is associated with significant early mortality. We present a simple and rapid method for cystic fibrosis genotyping from filter paper blood spots, using a currently available commercial genotyping kit. Using multiplex technology, genotype information on the four most common UK mutations can easily be obtained within a single working day. Used in conjunction with current immunoreactive trypsinogen screening protocols, blood spot genotyping offers a method of hastening the diagnosis, and thus treatment, of cystic fibrosis.
A group based MAC protocol for QoS provisioning in cognitive radio networks

With the deployment of more wireless applications, spectrum scarcity becomes an issue in many countries. Recent reports show that the reason for this spectrum shortage is the underutilization of some spectrum resources. Fortunately, the emergence of open spectrum and dynamic spectrum assess technology in cognitive radio networks relieves this problem. In this paper, we propose a novel cognitive MAC protocol to achieve highly efficient spectrum usage and QoS provisioning. In the proposed protocol, secondary users are divided into several non-overlapping groups, and all leftover channels are allocated among groups taking the groups¿ bandwidth requirements into consideration. Moreover, the allocation of vacant channels can be adjusted dynamically when members join/leave groups or primary users return/leave the current network. Simulations show that the proposed MAC protocol greatly improves the quality of service for secondary users and utilizes spectrum resources to the superior.
System analysis concepts and principles of construction mathematical model study object

There are exposed the results of a system analysis of the role, construction grounding and quality evaluation of investigated objects mathematical models in physical and technical sciences on the base of which known treatments of this notions are systemized. The necessity of the mathematical model notion and term specification in contemporary education and certification process, and also in scientific publications is underlined‥
Incentive Compatible Mechanisms for Resource Procurement in Computational Grids with Rational resource Providers

In a computational grid, the presence of grid resource providers who are rational and intelligent could lead to an overall degradation in the efficiency of the grid. In this paper, we design incentive compatible grid resource procurement mechanisms which ensure that the efficiency of the grid is not affected by the rational behavior of resource providers.In particular, we offer three elegant incentive compatible mechanisms for this purpose: (1) G-DSIC (Grid-Dominant Strategy Incentive Compatible) mechanism (2) G-BIC (Grid-Bayesian Nash Incentive Compatible) mechanism (3) G-OPT(Grid-Optimal) mechanism which minimizes the cost to the grid user, satisfying at the same time, (a) Bayesian incentive compatibility and (b) individual rationality. We evaluate the relative merits and demerits of the above three mechanisms using game theoretical analysis and numerical experiments.
Renal biopsy morphology in renal transplantation: A comparative study of the light‐microscopic appearances of biopsies from patients treated with cyclosporin A or azathioprine prednisone and antilymphocyte globulin

Nephrotoxicity is a major side effect of cyclosporin A (CSA) when used in renal transplantation, and the distinction between nephrotoxicity and rejection is important in patient management. One hundred twenty-five renal biopsies were examined from 56 patients entered into a controlled clinical trial aimed at comparing the efficacy of CSA therapy alone to a combination of prednisone, azathioprine, and antilymphocyte globulin (AZA). In order to define the histopathology of rejection and nephrotoxicity, all the biopsies were evaluated in a semiquantitative manner by an observer unaware of the clinical state of the patient.Comparison of the morphological appearances of 32 biopsies from patients on CSA, and 22 biopsies from AZA-treated patients performed during clinically apparent rejection episodes showed that the histological patterns of rejection were the same in both treatment groups.Comparison of the morphological features of 34 biopsies from patients receiving CSA and 13 from patients receiving AZA, performed during prolonged periods of post-transplant renal failure, who eventually recovered on continuation of original therapy, showed that there were no morphological features specific to the CSA-treated group.Five patients on CSA had oliguria which was prolonged by CSA nephrotoxicity. Thirteen biopsies from all five patients showed a diffuse interstitial fibrosis that was peculiar to this group of patients.
Comparative Evaluation of Volatile Anaesthetic Agents for Attenuation of Venous Cannulation Pain: A Prospective, Randomized Controlled Study.

INTRODUCTION Topical application of volatile anaesthetic agents has been found to attenuate the response to a mechanical stimulus; however, this effect of volatile anaesthetic on perception of pain during venous cannulation is not known. AIM To compare the efficacy of topically administered volatile anaesthetic agents for attenuating venous cannulation pain. MATERIALS AND METHODS This prospective, randomized, placebo controlled and double blind study was conducted on 120 patients, aged 20-60years. They were of American Society of Anaesthesiologists (ASA) I or II physical status, of either sex, planned for elective surgeries. These patients were randomized into 4 groups, of 30 each. Equipotent doses of halothane (1ml), isoflurane (1.5ml), sevoflurane (2.7ml) and sterile water (2.5ml; Control) were topically administered on the volar surface of forearm wrapped with cotton and aluminium foil; venous cannulation was performed with 18G intravenous cannula after 30 min. These patients were assessed for the incidence and severity of pain upon venous cannulation {visual analog scale (VAS), 0-100mm; 0 = no pain and 100 = worst imaginable pain}. Data were analysed by one-way ANOVA, Chi-square test and Kruskal-Wallis test. The p<0.05 was considered as significant. RESULTS A significant reduction in the incidence of venous cannulation pain was observed in the halothane (79%) group as compared to control (100%; p<0.05), isoflurane (100%; p<0.05) and sevoflurane (100%; p<0.05) groups. The severity of venous cannulation pain as assessed by median (interquartile range, Q1-Q3). VAS scores was reduced in the halothane {10 (10-20); p<0.001}, isoflurane {20 (10-30); p<0.001} and sevoflurane {20 (20-30); p<0.001} groups as compared to the control group {40 (30-40)}; VAS score in the halothane group was significantly less as compared to isoflurane (p<0.05) and sevoflurane (p<0.05) groups. CONCLUSION Topical application of halothane is most effective in reducing incidence and severity of venous cannulation pain; however, topical application of isoflurane and sevoflurane decreases only the severity of venous cannulation pain.
miRNA-Related Polymorphisms in miR-423 (rs6505162) and PEX6 (rs1129186) and Risk of Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma in an Iranian Cohort.

AIMS Iran is located in the Asian esophageal cancer belt. It is a high-risk region for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). The extent to which genetic components, especially variants within miRNAs or their binding sites, contribute to risk of ESCC in the region is not yet fully understood. Herein, tests were done on an Iranian cohort to evaluate the association of miRNA-related polymorphisms in miR-423 (rs6505162) and peroxisomal biogenesis factor 6 (PEX6) (rs1129186 within a miR-149-5p-binding site) with the risk of ESCC risk. METHODS This study recruited 200 ESCC patients and 300 healthy individuals. Genotyping was performed using the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism method. Target genes and biological processes that are regulated by miR-423 and may be affected by a change in miR-423 expression were identified by in silico analysis. RESULTS Logistic regression analyses revealed an association between rs6505162 and ESCC, assuming codominant (AA vs. CC, odds ratios, OR [95% confidence interval, CI]: 0.32 [0.15-0.69], p-value: 0.0076), recessive (AA vs. CC+CA, OR [95% CI]: 0.35 [0.16-0.73], p-value: 0.0027), and log-additive models (OR [95% CI]: 0.69 [0.52-0.91], p-value: 0.0084). No significant association was observed for PEX6 rs1129186. In silico analyses revealed several genes and biological processes that are regulated by miR-423 in ESCC. CONCLUSION This study identified the first evidence of an association of a miRNA-related variant with risk of ESCC in an Iranian cohort. PEX6 rs1129186 may not modulate the risk of ESCC in the cohort.
Comparison of methods for evaluating signal synchronization and direction: Application to uterine EMG signals

Over the last decades several techniques have been developed to analyze interactions in multivariate dynamic systems. Several measures have been proposed to detect the strength and direction of relationships between time series and in physiological data. In this paper we use three methods that are widely used in connectivity and directionality analysis: Nonlinear correlation coefficient (h2), general synchronization (H) and Granger causality (GC). The performances of all methods are tested on two-dimensional coupled synthetic nonlinear Rössler model. They are then applied to a dataset of contractions of real uterine EMG to study the evolution of synchronization with week before labor. Finally h2 is used to detect the connectivity and direction between all the signal channels. The results on synthetic signal show a slight superiority of h2. The results obtained on real signals are encouraging and may be used for solving open questions on the directionality of EHG and may provide a manner of finding their source loci.
Prevalence and prognostic impact of electrocardiographic abnormalities in outpatients with extracardiac artery disease

Identifying cardiac disease in patients with extracardiac artery disease (ECAD) is essential for clinical decision‐making. Electrocardiography (ECG) is an easily accessible tool to unmask subclinical cardiac disease and to risk stratify patient with or without manifest cardiovascular disease (CV). We aimed to examine the prevalence and prognostic impact of ECG changes in outpatients with ECAD. Outpatients with carotid or lower extremity artery disease (n = 435) and community‐based controls (n = 397) underwent resting ECG. The patients were followed during a median of 4·8 years for CV events (hospitalization or death caused by ischaemic heart disease, cardiac arrest, heart failure, or stroke). ECG abnormalities were classified according to the Minnesota Code. Major (33% versus 15%, P<0·001) but not minor ECG abnormalities (23% versus 26%, P = 0·42) were significantly more common in patients versus controls. During the follow‐up, 141 patients experienced CV events. Both major ECG abnormalities [hazard ratio (HR) 1·58, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1·11–2·25, P = 0·012] and any ECG abnormalities (HR 1·57, 95% CI 1·06–2·33, P = 0·024) were significantly associated with CV events after adjustment for potential risk factors. In conclusion, ECG abnormalities were common in these outpatients with ECAD. Major and any ECG abnormalities were independent predictors of CV events. Addition of easily accessible ECG information might be useful in risk stratification for such patients.
Inflammation and cancer: An ancient link with novel potentials

Infection and chronic inflammation contribute to about 1 in 4 of all cancer cases. Mediators of the inflammatory response, e.g., cytokines, free radicals, prostaglandins and growth factors, can induce genetic and epigenetic changes including point mutations in tumor suppressor genes, DNA methylation and post‐translational modifications, causing alterations in critical pathways responsible for maintaining the normal cellular homeostasis and leading to the development and progression of cancer. Recent discovery of an interaction between microRNAs and innate immunity during inflammation has further strengthened the association between inflammation and cancer. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Microinhomogeneities in Semi-Insulating Cd(Zn)Te

We investigated the temperature dependences (TDs) in the range of 290–423 K for the Hall constant <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$R_{\mathbf {H}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> and the Hall carrier mobility <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu _{\mathbf {n}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\sigma R_{\mathbf {H}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>) in semi-insulating Cd<sub>0.9</sub> Zn<sub>0.1</sub> Te:In (CZT) crystals. As-grown, CZT material has nonequilibrium distributions of native and impurity-related defects. Thus, before taking any measurements, the samples were kept inside the test chamber in the dark at 423 K to reach an equilibrium state at T < 423 K. For all the tested samples, the <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$R_{\mathbf {H}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> TD could be described by two activation energies. At the transitional point, the TD of the carrier mobility also changes from “normal” at high temperatures to “exponential” at low temperatures. The latter is a result of the collective effect of drift barriers due to microinhomogeneity. Therefore, only the high-temperature activation energies can be assigned to the ionization energies of the compensated deep donors (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\varepsilon _{\mathbf {D}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>). For different samples, the values for <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\varepsilon _{\mathbf {D}}^{\mathbf {0}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> (at absolute zero) were found to be in the range of 0.50–0.78 eV, and the degree of donor compensation [<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$D^{\mathbf {+}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>]/[D] is between 0.3 and 0.98. The low-temperature region, where there are strong effects of crystal microinhomogeneities, cannot be used to characterize the ionization energy of donors. Therefore, we describe the activation energy as <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\varepsilon _{\mathbf {1}} = \varepsilon _{\mathbf {D}}-\alpha \varepsilon _{\mathbf {b}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>, where <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\varepsilon _{\mathbf {b}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> is the drift barrier height found from the TD of the carrier mobility and <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\alpha $ </tex-math></inline-formula> takes a value close to unity. Values of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\varepsilon _{\mathbf {b}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> for our studied samples lie within (0.05–0.35) eV.
Use of a supplementary internet based education program improves sleep literacy in college psychology students.

INTRODUCTION Knowledge regarding the importance of sleep in health and performance and good sleep hygiene practices is low, especially among adolescents and young adults. It is important to improve sleep literacy. Introductory psychology is one of the most highly enrolled courses at colleges and universities. This study tested the impact of an Internet-based learning module on improving sleep literacy in this venue. METHODS An Internet-based supplementary learning module containing sleep physiology and hygiene information was developed using content from the Harvard Medical School sleep educational website http://www.understandingsleep. org. Access to the module was provided as an extra credit activity for 2 of 4 sections (Supplemental Sleep, SS, N = 889) of an introductory college psychology course during their standard instruction on sleep and dreaming. The remaining 2 sections (Standard Instruction, SI, N = 878) only were encouraged to visit the website without further direction. Level of knowledge was assessed before and after availability to the module/website and at the end of the semester. Students were asked to complete a survey at the end of the semester inquiring whether they made any changes in their sleep behaviors. RESULTS Two hundred fifty students participated in the extra credit activity and had data available at all testing points. Students in the SS Group had a significant improvement in sleep knowledge test scores after interacting with the website in comparison to the SI group (19.41 ± 3.15 vs. 17.94 ± 3.08, p < 0.001). This difference persisted, although at a lower level, at the end of the semester. In addition, 55.9% of the SS group versus 45.1% of the SI group indicated that they made changes in their sleep habits after participation in the extra credit sleep activity (p < 0.01). The most common change was a more consistent wake time. CONCLUSION Use of a supplementary internet-based sleep learning module has the potential to enhance sleep literacy and change behavior among students enrolled in an introductory college psychology course.
Preparation of modified long-mer RNAs and analysis of FMN binding to the ypaA aptamer from B. subtilis

In recent years, RNA has been shown to fulfil a number of cellular functions. This has led to much interest in elucidation of the structure of functional RNA molecules, and thus, in the preparation of suitably functionalized RNAs. The chemical synthesis of RNAs allows for the site-specific modification; however, is limited to sequences of about 60–70 nucleotides in length. At the example of the flavine mononucleotide (FMN) responsive aptamer of the ypaA riboswitch from B. subtilis, we demonstrate the highly efficient preparation of site-specifically modified long-mer RNAs. Our strategy consists of the chemical synthesis of fragments followed by enzymatic or chemical ligation. Splint ligation with T4 RNA ligase turned out to be most successful among the enyzymatic protocols. Highly efficient chemical ligation was performed by azide–alkyne cycloaddition of suitably modified RNA fragments. Wild-type and 2-aminopurine (2-AP)-modified variants of the ypaA aptamer were prepared. FMN binding to all synthesized ypaA aptamer variants is demonstrated. However, dissociation of FMN from its binding site by reduction of the isoalloxazin unit as demonstrated before for a small-hairpin-derived aptazyme could not be shown. This implies that either FMN is less accessible to reduction when it is bound to its natural aptamer; that reduced FMN remains bound to the aptamer; or that FMN upon reduction indeed is released from its binding site, without the aptamer folding back in the natural ligand-free state. The results of this study are of general interest to the preparation of site-specifically modified RNAs for investigation into structure and function.
Sequential evolution of genotype GII.4 norovirus variants causing gastroenteritis outbreaks from 2001 to 2006 in Eastern Spain

Noroviruses are the most common cause of outbreaks of viral gastroenteritis worldwide. Norovirus outbreaks were surveyed in Catalonia and the region of Valencia (Eastern Spain) between January 2001 and December 2006 as part of the European Union funded network “Food‐borne viruses in Europe”. During this time the etiology and epidemiological features of 194 outbreaks of acute non‐bacterial gastroenteritis were investigated and norovirus was identified as causing 169 (87.1%) of them. Molecular epidemiology of viral strains was studied by RT‐PCR and sequencing part of the RNA polymerase gene in ORF1 from 153 outbreak strains. The most commonly identified norovirus genotype was GII.4 (71.9% of the characterized outbreak strains), which is also the predominant genotype worldwide. During this survey five genetic variants of GII.4 genotype have been sequentially detected and identified as 1996, 2002, 2004, 2006a, and 2006b variants. The transition from one variant to a new one always took place over a short period of time, and thereafter the replacement of strains circulating previously was observed. These new GII.4 variants may have arisen as a consequence of viral evasion from the host immune responses, although apparently there is a lack of long‐term immunity after norovirus infections. J. Med. Virol. 80: 1288–1295, 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Bidirectional clustering of weights for neural networks with common weights

This paper proposes a method which succinctly structures neural networks having a few thousand weights. Here structuring means weight sharing where weights in a network are divided into clusters and weights within a cluster have the same value. We newly introduce a weight sharing technique called bidirectional clustering of weights (BCW), together with second-order optimal criteria for both cluster merging and splitting. Our experiments using two artificial data sets showed that the BCW method works well to find a succinct network structure from a neural network having about 2000 weights in both regression and classification problems. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Syst Comp Jpn, 38(10): 46–57, 2007; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/scj.20535