Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
In vitro evaluation and intra-articular administration of biodegradable microspheres containing naproxen sodium

The dispersion of non-steroidal antiin ̄ammatory drugs (NSAIDs) into biodegradable polymeric matrices have been accepted as a good approach for obtaining a therapeutic e ect in a predetermined period of time meanwhile minimizing the side e ects of NSAIDs. In the present study, it was aimed to prepare Naproxen Sodium (NS), (a NSAID) loaded microsphere formulation using natural Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA) and synthetic biodegradable polymers such as poly(lactide-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) (50:50 MW 34 000 and 88 000 Da) for intra-articular administration, and to study the retention of the drug at the site of injection in the knee joint. NS incorporated microspheres were evaluated in vitro for particle size (the mean particle size; for BSA microspheres, 10:0 § 0:3 mm, for PLGA microspheres, 9:0 § 0:2 and 5:0 § 0:1 mm for MW 34 000 and 88 000 Da, respectively), yield value, drug loading, surface morphology and drug release. For in vivo studies, monoarticular arthritis was induced in the left knee joints of rabbits by using ovalbumin and Freund’s Complete Adjuvant as antigen and adjuvant. A certain time (4 days) is allowed for the formation of arthritis in the knee joints, then the NS loaded microspheres were injected directly into the articular cavity. At speci®c time points, gamma scintigrams were obtained to determine the residence time of the microspheres in knee joints, in order to determine the most suitable formulation. This study indicated that PLGA, a synthetic polymer, is more promising than the natural type BSA microspheres for an e ective cure of mono-articular arthritis in rabbits.
Restoration of a Mediterranean Postfire Shrubland: Plant Functional Responses to Organic Soil Amendment

We investigated the potential of plant functional responses to speed up restoration in a postfire ecosystem. The patterns of change in plant nutrient uptake and water potential after compost amendment were monitored for 2 years in a 7‐year‐old postfire shrubland in southeastern France. We studied four different stress‐tolerant species with contrasting life traits: three shrub species and a perennial herb. Three treatments were applied: control, 50 and 100 Mg/ha of fresh cocomposted sewage sludge and green waste. In both compost treatments, concentrations of all the macronutrients increased. The amendment improved N and cation nutrition, but the positive effect of compost on plant nutrient status was most apparent on leaf P concentrations, indicating that P was a limiting nutrient in this shrubland. Compost had no significant short‐term effect on trace metal concentrations in plants. The plant nutrition response of different species to the compost varied; the nutritional status of Brachypodium retusum and Cistus albidus improved the most, whereas that of Quercus coccifera and Ulex parviflorus improved the least. Woody species exhibited no increase in N stocks. Phosphorus accumulation was also about three times higher in plots amended at 50 Mg/ha than in control plots for B. retusum and C. albidus. The severe summer drought of 2003 altered the compost effect. Contrary to our expectations, plants on amended plots did not exhibit a better water status in summer: the effect of the summer drought had a greater effect on water status than did the compost treatment.
Sex differences in survival in non-small cell lung cancer patients 1974–1998

This study comprised a total of 7 553 patients with non-small cell lung cancer (2 660 women and 4 893 men) treated at a comprehensive cancer centre between 1974 and 1998. Significant differences in tumour histology were associated with gender (p<0.001); adenocarcinoma was the most common diagnosis in both men (50.0%) and women (41.7%); squamous cell carcinoma was the second most prevalent diagnosis (21% and 31% in women and men, respectively); and bronchioalveolar tumours were more prevalent in men (3% compared with 7% in women). Frequency distributions with local, regional or distant disease at registration were similar between men and women (p=0.906). In a multivariable Cox regression analysis the indications were that gender is an important risk factor for survival. Adjusting for age, stage, treatment received and ability to pay for care, a statistically significant interaction between gender and tumour histology (p=0.043) was found, where, in relation to female sex and histologies other than squamous carcinoma, women who presented with squamous carcinoma had an increased risk of death (HR=1.09, 95% CI 1.02–1.18) while men had an increased risk of death for all histologies (HR=1.29, 95% CI 1.21–1.40, and HR=1.15, 95% CI 1.07–1.24 for squamous and other histologies, respectively). This study confirms previous reports of strong gender-dependent differences in survival in patients with non-small cell lung cancer, including a histology-specific effect in women.
Understanding ATP synthesis: structure and mechanism of the F1-ATPase (Review)

To couple the energy present in the electrochemical proton gradient, established across the mitochondrial membrane by the respiratory chain, to the formation of ATP from ADP and Pi, ATP-synthase goes through a sequence of coordinated conformational changes of its major subunits (α, β). These changes are induced by the rotation of the γ subunit driven by the translocation of protons through the c subunit of the membrane portion of the enzyme. During this process, the F1-portion of the ATP-synthase adopts at least two major conformations depending on the occupancy of the β subunits: one with two nucleotides, the other with three. In the two-nucleotide structure, the empty β subunit adopts an open conformation that is highly different from the other conformations of β subunits: tight, loose and closed. The three-dimensional structures of the F1-ATPase in each of these two major conformations provide a framework for understanding the mechanism of energy coupling by the enzyme. The energetics associated with two different models of the reaction steps, analysed using molecular dynamics calculations, show that three-nucleotide intermediates do not occur in configurations with an open β subunit; instead, they are stabilized by completing a jaw-like motion that closes the β subunit around the nucleotide. Consequently, the energy driven, major conformational change takes place with the β subunits in the tight, loose and closed conformation.
The epidemiology of Phytophthora infestans. IV. Spraying trials, 1959 to 1963, and the infection of tubers

SUMMARY The methods needed to decrease losses from potato blight in the variety Majestic are different from those required for King Edward. Few Majestic tubers become infected and control depends chiefly on prolonging the life of the haulm to ensure the maximum yield of tubers. With King Edward, infected tubers often cause more loss than premature defoliation. Tuber infection often occurs very early in the attacks, when profuse sporulation coincides with sufficient rain to penetrate through soil to the tubers. Spraying with fungicide delayed initial tuber infection of King Edward but did not necessarily decrease the proportion of tubers infected at harvest. The largest yield of sound tubers from fungicide-sprayed plots in the 1960 epidemic was obtained after killing the haulm when only 5% had been destroyed by blight. Allowing the foliage to survive later than this stage did not increase the yield of sound tubers even in years when blight attacks were late and slow. Protection with fungicide and haulm destruction are complementary treatments, both of which require careful timing to obtain the best result with tuber-susceptible varieties.
Water-induced pruritus in haematologically controlled polycythaemia vera: response to phototherapy

BACKGROUND: Water-induced pruritus is characterized by the development of intense and widespread itching after contact with water at any temperature and without observable skin lesions. Around 40-52% of patients with polycythaemia vera (PV) have waterinduced pruritus, and more than 20% of the patients continue with symptoms despite an adequate control of the underlying disease. The aetiology is unknown and treatment is often unsuccessful. We report a patient with a haematologically controlled polycythaemia vera and waterinduced pruritus that responded to phototherapy. METHODS: An 83-year-old woman with haematologically controlled PV referred with intense waterinduced pruritus without cutaneous lesions. Topical emollients and oral antihistamines were unsatisfactory and so phototherapy treatment (90% UVA/10% UVB) three times a week was commenced. RESULTS: Improvement was visible after 1 month and at the end of 3 months the pruritus had disappeared and treatment was stopped. CONCLUSION: It is considered that the successful treatment in this patient is due to the UVB radiation.
Benzodiazepine receptor density in major depression

Thirteen drug-naive outpatients with major depression and seven healthy controls were investigated using single-photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT) with 123I-labeled iomazenil. Depression was diagnosed in accordance with the criteria of the DSM-III-R, and the severity of depression was evaluated using the 21-item Hamilton depression rating scale. Patients had significantly lower benzodiazepine receptor density in the both cerebral hemispheres and, especially, in the left temporal cortex than did the controls. Significant negative correlations were observed between psychic anxiety in patients and the benzodiazepine receptor density in the left (r 0.73) and right (r 0.74) temporal cortex. The results suggest that benzodiazepine receptor density is associated with anxiety symptoms among depressed patients.
Different Extinction Risks of the Breeding Colonies of Rooks Corvus frugilegus in Rural and Urban Areas of SW Poland

Abstract. In 1983–1999 in SW Poland (40 540 km2, 13% of the total area of Poland) the Rook was reported to nest in at least 270 colonies with a combined total of from ca. 18 to > 20 thousand breeding pairs. Between 1983–1988 and 1992–1999,105 (39% ) colonies were abandoned, i.e., 16–20% of the population as recorded in earlier periods. The largest drop in numbers (34%) occurred in rural populations. The median for abandoned colonies was 16 nests, which was nearly six times lower than that for active rookeries (median = 99). General linear models (GLM) indicate that the abandonment of colonies depends on their location (village, small town, city), the size and number of nests, and the presence of other rookeries in the vicinity of those studied. The best-fit model describing rookery extinction invoked the number of nests and other colonies within a radius of < 10 km from the colony studied. In each of three analyzed radii (10, 20 and 30 km) the numbers of nests and other colonies were decidedly higher around extinct rookeries. Active Rook colonies were farther away from the nearest rookery, and also from large colonies consisting of 50, 100 and 150 nests. The probability that a rookery would be abandoned was strongly negatively correlated with its size.
Disentangling direct and indirect effects of a legume shrub on its understorey community

Direct and indirect interactions among plants contribute to shape community composition through above- and belowground processes. However, we have not disentangled yet the direct and indirect soil and canopy effects of dominants on understorey species. We addressed this issue in a semi-arid system from southeast Spain dominated by the legume shrub Retama sphaerocarpa. During a year with an exceptionally dry spring, we removed the shrub canopy to quantify aboveground effects and compared removed-canopy plots to open plots between shrubs to quantify soil effects, both with and without watering. We added a grass removal treatment in order to separate direct from indirect shrub effects and quantified biomass, abundance, richness and composition of the forb functional group. With watering, changes in forb biomass were primarily driven by indirect shrub effects, with contrasting negative soil and positive aboveground indirect effects; changes in forb abundance and composition were more influenced by direct shrub soil effects with contrasting species composition between open and Retama patches. As community composition was different between open and Retama patches the indirect effects of Retama on forb species did not concern forbs from the open community but forbs from Retama patches. Indirect effects are, thus, important at the functional group level rather than at the species level. Without watering, there were no significant interactions. Changes in species richness between treatments were weak and seldom significant. We conclude that shrub effects on understorey forbs are primarily due to their influence on soil properties, directly affecting forb species composition but indirectly affecting the biomass of the forbs of the Retama patches, and only with sufficient water.
Patients with schizophrenia after the acute ward: Seven years' service utilization and clinical course

What characterizes the use of treatment services and global functioning of patients with schizophrenia in sectorized psychiatry? Are there relationships between patient characteristics, treatment characteristics, and outcome? Eighty-one patients with DSM-IIIR schizophrenia treated at a short-term unit serving a defined catchment area were followed up after 7 years. Seventy-four of the 76 patients alive at follow-up participated in the study. Global functioning was measured with the Health Sickness Rating Scale. The patients had mainly been treated as outpatients with short hospitalizations. The level of outpatient contact was high, and most used antipsychotic medication throughout the follow-up period. Global outcome was poor in spite of demographic characteristics associated with good outcome in schizophrenia. The uniformly poor outcome indicates that the overall organization of treatment services did not suit these patients with schizophrenia. The treatment needs of patients with later onsets of psychosis seemed to be underestimated.
MODERATING AND MEDIATING EFFECTS IN CAUSAL MODELS

This article explains causal relationships in conceptual models of mental health phenomena. Direct, moderating, mediating, and reciprocal effects among variables are defined, appropriate statistical analyses are described, and the correct interpretations of moderating versus mediating effects are discussed. Examples are provided that will help the reader to distinguish between moderating and mediating effects.
Controlled release of vancomycin from biodegradable microcapsules

Poly D,L-lactic acid (PLA) and its copolymers with glycolide PLGA 90:10 and 70:30 were polymerized under various conditions to yield polymers in the molecular weight range 12000-40000 daltons, as determined by gel permeation chromatography. Vancomycin hydrochloride was the hydrophilic drug of choice for the treatment of methicillin resistant Staphyloccoccal infections. It was microencapsulated in the synthesized polymers using water-oil-water (w/o/w) double emulsion and solvent evaporation. The influence of microcapsule preparation medium on product properties was investigated. An increase in polymer-to-drug ratio from 1:1 to 3:1 caused an increase in the encapsulation efficiency (i.e. from 44-97% with PLGA). An increase in the emulsifier (PVA) molecular weight from 14-72 kD caused an increase in encapsulation efficiency and microcapsule size. The in vitro release of vancomycin from microcapsules in phosphate buffer saline (pH 7.4) was found to be dependent on molecular weight and copolymer type. The kinetic behaviour was controlled by both diffusion and degradation. Sterilization with 60Co (2.5 Mrad) also affected the degradation rate and release profiles. Degradation of microcapsules could be seen by scanning electron microscopy, by the increase in the release rate from PLA and by the decrease in the Tg values of microcapsules. In vitro bactericidal effects of the microcapsule formulations on S.aureus were determined with a special diffusion cell after the preparations had been sterilized, and were found to have bactericidal effects lasting for 4 days.
Control of molecular weight cut-off for immunoisolation by multilayering glycol chitosan-alginate polyion complex on alginate-based microcapsules

Glycol chitosan is a positively charged polysaccharide which is water-soluble at pH 7.4, and is able to form a polyion complex (PIC) with anionic polymers, such as alginate. The authors attempt to develop a novel type of alginate-based microcapsule using this glycol chitosan for a islets-encapsulated bioartificial pancreas. The number of layers composed of glycol chitosan-alginate (GC-Alg) PIC were optimized, in order to cut off immunoglobulin transport and to protect encapsulated islets from the host immune reaction, and the transport characteristics were evaluated of glucose, bovine serum albumin (BSA) and gammaglobulin. To add mechanical stability to the microcapsule, calcium ions, which crosslinked the alginate polymers close to the interface between core Caalginate and multilayered membrane, were partially substituted with barium ions after the formation of multilayered Ca-alginate gel beads. The partition coefficients of BSA and gamma-globulin were decreased with the increasing number of layers. The immunoisolation was achieved againstgamma-globulin with four layers of the GC-Alg PIC membrane, while BSA could permate the membrane. The four-layered Ba-alginate gel bead had a good permeability for glucose, giving a diffusion coefficient corresponding to 80% of that in pure water. Insulin secretion from the islets in the four-layered Ba-alginate microcapsule was satisfactorily observed with the fractional stimulation ratio of 2.17. This result indicates that the encapsulated islets maintained their viability even after encapsulation. It was, thus, shown that the Ba-alginate microcapsule with four layers of the GC-Alg PIC membrane is promising as the microencapsulation material for a bioartificial pancreas.
Sustained delivery of salbutamol and beclometasone from spray-dried double emulsions

The sustained delivery of multiple agents to the lung offers potential benefits to patients. This study explores the preparation of highly respirable dual-loaded spray-dried double emulsions. Spray-dried powders were produced from water-in-oil-in-water (w/o/w) double emulsions, containing salbutamol sulphate and/or beclometasone dipropionate in varying phases. The double emulsions contained the drug release modifier polylactide co-glycolide (PLGA 50 : 50) in the intermediate organic phase of the original micro-emulsion and low molecular weight chitosan (Mw<190 kDa: emulsion stabilizer) and leucine (aerosolization enhancer) in the tertiary aqueous phase. Following spray-drying resultant powders were physically characterized: with in vitro aerosolization performance and drug release investigated using a Multi-Stage Liquid Impinger and modified USP II dissolution apparatus, respectively. Powders generated were of a respirable size exhibiting emitted doses of over 95% and fine particle fractions of up to 60% of the total loaded dose. Sustained drug release profiles were observed during dissolution for powders containing agents in the primary aqueous and secondary organic phases of the original micro-emulsion; the burst release of agents was witnessed from the tertiary aqueous phase. The novel spray-dried emulsions from this study would be expected to deposit and display sustained release character in the lung.
The influence of magnesium stearate on the characteristics of mucoadhesive microspheres

Microspheres containing the mucoadhesive polymer chitosan hydrochloride, with matrix polymer Eudragit RS, pipemidic acid as a model drug and agglomeration preventing agent magnesium stearate were prepared by the solvent evaporation method. The amount of magnesium stearate was varied and the following methods were used for microsphere evaluation: sieve analysis, drug content and dissolution determination, scanning electron microscopy, xray diffractometry, DSC and FTIR spectroscopy. The results showed that average particle size decreased with increasing amount of magnesium stearate used for microsphere preparation. This is probably a consequence of stabilization of the emulsion droplets with magnesium stearate. Higher pipemidic acid content in the microspheres was observed in larger particle size fractions and when higher amounts of magnesium stearate were used. It was also found that these two parameters significantly influenced the dissolution rate. The important reason for the differences in drug content in microspheres of different particle sizes is the diffusion of pipemidic acid from the acetone droplets in liquid paraffin during the preparation procedure. The physical state of pipemidic acid changed from crystalline to mostly amorphous with its incorporation in microspheres, as shown by x-ray diffractometry and differential
Microencapsulation of ascorbic acid: effect of process variables on product characteristics

This study deals with a comparative investigation of the characteristics of ascorbic acid microcapsules prepared by different methods, such as thermal phase separation, melt dispersion, solvent evaporation and spray drying. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), release tests and size distribution were used for the evaluation of product characteristics. The results show that microencapsulated ascorbic acid could prevent the ascorbic acid colour change, retard its core release rate, and generally mask its acid taste. In the thermal phase separation, molecular weight (Mw) of ethyl cellulose (EC) and the addition of polyisobutylene (PIB) significantly influenced the aggregation and release rate of microcapsules. In the melt dispersion method, spherical particles were prepared by using carnauba. The ascorbic acid release rate was found to be slower in the case of carnauba-encapsulated ascorbic acid than that made by EC using other methods. In the solvent evaporation method, a higher Mw of EC and the addition of plastizer were also found to be important for good encapsulation. In the spray drying method, loss of ascorbic acid was found to be minimum during microencapsulation. Starch and beta-cyclodextrin encapsulated ascorbic acid delayed the degradation of ascorbic acid during storage at 38°C and relative humidity 84.0%.
Variations in Yield, Quality, and Antioxidant Potential of Kalmegh (Andrographis paniculata Nees) with Soil Alkalinity and Season

The edaphoclimatic conditions that affect the yield and qualities of Andrographis paniculata Nees, (Kalmegh) were studied. Under seasonal and soil pH variations, andrographolide content ranged between 2.25–3.85% in aerial parts of the plant. Total phenolic content, antioxidant activity and reducing power were 20.3 mg g−1 GAE, 66.8% and 2.8 ASE mL−1. FRSA measured by DPPH showed an IC50 of 0.34 mg mL−1, EC50 of 14.7 mg mg−1 DPPH, and anti-radical power of 6.76. AOA in different assays expressed as IC50 ranged from 0.31 to 1.29 mg mL−1. The extract showed significant protective effect against Fenton's reaction on supercoiled pUC18 DNA.