Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
CARBAMAZEPINE LOADED VESICULAR STRUCTURES FOR ENHANCED BRAIN TARGETING VIA INTRANASAL ROUTE: OPTIMIZATION, IN VITRO EVALUATION, AND IN VIVO STUDY

Objective: Carbamazepine (CBZ) is used as a first line in the treatment of grand mal and partial seizures, but it suffers from many side effects on different systems of the body. The objective of the present study was optimization of CBZ vesicular structures using 23 multifactorial design for the most efficient targeting of CBZ to the brain via the intranasal route. Methods: The concentration of CBZ (10 and 20%), type of vesicles (niosomes and spanlastics) and speed of rotation (200 and 300 rpm) were considered as the independent variables XA, XB and XC respectively, while the dependent variables were particle size PS (Y1), polydispersity index PDI (Y2), zeta potential ZP (Y3) and entrapment efficiency EE (Y4). The study of the effect of different formulation variables was carried out using Design-Expert ® software. CBZ-loaded spanlastics and noisome were prepared by the ethanol injection method and thin film hydration method, respectively. The optimized formulation was subjected to viscosity measurement, in vitro drug release and physical stability studies. In vivo evaluations in rats for the optimized formulation in comparison to oral CBZ suspension was carried out using behavioral assessment by elevated plus maze test, determination of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (e-NOS), reduced glutathione (GSH) and ELISA estimation of TNFα. Results: The selected optimized formulation (F0) containing 20% CBZ and spanlastic vesicular structure showed PS, PDI, ZP, and the EE % of 350.09 nm, 0.830, 16.124mV and 82.777%, respectively. In vitro release study of F0 demonstrated the ability of the F0 to increase drug release in the range time from 10-60 min (p<0.05) when compared with CBZ suspension. The viscosity of F0 was nearly uniform (65 cps). The photomicrograph taken by the transmission electron microscopy (TEM) reveals the spherical shape of F0. Good physical stability for six months of storage at 25˚ C was found for F0. The optimized spanlastic formulation F0 showed a decrease in latency time in behavior assessment test using elevated plus Maze test, a decrease in serum eNOS and TNF-α and increase in GSH when compared with the oral CBZ suspension, in addition to the histopathological study that revealed the more CBZ uptake by the brain. Conclusion: The optimized spanlastic formulation F0 achieved better results when compared with the oral CBZ suspension for targeting the CBZ spanlastics vesicular structure to the brain via the nasal route.
Elicitation effect on the production of asiaticoside and asiatic acid in shoot, callus, and cell suspension culture of Centella asiatica

Centella asiatica is an important medicinal plant which contains various phytocompounds. Asiatic acid and asiaticoside are two major compounds which are responsible for its various pharmaceutical activities. The present study analyzes the effect of elicitor i.e. methyl jasmonate on the synthesis of asiaticoside and asiatic acid in shoot, callus and cell suspension cultures of Centella asiatica. A high performance liquid chromatography analysis showed that elicitation with 100 µM concentration of methyl jasmonate enhanced asiaticoside content by 69 fold in callus culture and 39 fold in shoot cultures whereas asiatic acid was enhanced by 1.9 folds in callus culture. Therefore, elicitation with methyl jasmonate is an effective method to increase the biosynthesis of asiaticoside and asiatic acid in plant cell cultures of Centella asiatica.
Conflicts, claims and disputes in construction

It is necessary and useful to differentiate destructive from constructive conflict and avoidable from necessary claims; and also to minimize disputes arising from unresolved conflict and claims in construction projects. This paper analyses such needs and proposes means of meeting them through an appropriate classification of construction claims; an estimation of their relative significance in terms of magnitude and frequency; and an identification of the proximate and root causes of the significant claims. A hierarchy of such claims, proximate and root causes is presented, based mainly on data collected from 61 projects and on 46 responses to questionnaires in Hong Kong. Measures of the relative significance of the claims categories are also presented. The results are reinforced by observations from parallel studies in Hong Kong and elsewhere, as well as from the literature. Strategies are suggested to avoid the avoidable and mitigate the unavoidable or unavoided claims, through controlling the controllable causes. Management focus is also recommended on controlling the causes of those categories of claims and disputes that are seen to be significant in terms of higher impact and/or probability of occurrence.
Corrosion and Anodizing Behavior of T1 (Al2CuLi) Precipitates in Al-Cu-Li Alloy

T 1 (Al 2 CuLi) phase precipitates, the main strengthening precipitates in third generation aluminum-copper-lithium (Al-Cu-Li) alloys, playacriticalroleindeterminingthecorrosionbehaviorofthesealloys.Herein,theT 1 precipitates,sufﬁcientlylargetobevisualizedby scanningelectronmicroscopy,wereintentionallygrowninacommercialAl-Cu-Lialloythroughahightemperatureannealingprocess.ThecorrosionandanodizingbehaviorofthealloyassociatedwithindividualT 1 precipitate plates was subsequently investigated. It was observed that corrosion initiated instantaneously on T 1 precipitate plates when the alloy was exposed to laboratory air. When immersed in NaCl solution, T 1 precipitate plates corroded through a dealloying process and then, drove anodic dissolution of the adjacent aluminum alloy matrix by forming copper-rich nanoparticles at the sites of dealloyed T 1 precipitates. The T 1 phase precipitates were anodized relatively faster than the aluminum matrix in tartaric-sulfuric acid solution under a constant voltage of 14 V. The anodic ﬁlm formed from T 1 precipitates was dissolved quickly by the anodizing electrolyte during anodizing at relatively higher temperatures, resulting in cavities of sizes similar to those of T 1 precipitate plates.
Strategies for the Control of Balance During Locomotion

The neural control of balance during locomotion is currently not well understood, even in the light of considerable advances in research on balance during standing. In this paper, we lay out the control problem for this task and present a list of different strategies available to the central nervous system to solve this problem. We discuss the biomechanics of the walking body, using a simplified model that iteratively gains degrees of freedom and complexity. Each addition allows for different control strategies, which we introduce in turn: foot placement shift, ankle strategy, hip strategy, and push-off modulation. The dynamics of the biomechanical system are discussed using the phase space representation, which allows illustrating the mechanical effect of the different control mechanisms. This also enables us to demonstrate the effects of common general stability strategies, such as increasing step width and cadence.
Antibacterial potential of different extracts of pineapple peel against gram-positive and gram-negative bacterial strains

Fruit wastes may cause serious environmental problems, since it accumulates in agro-industrial yards without having any significant and commercial value. Since disposal of these wastes is expensive due to high costs of transportation and a limited availability of landfills they are unscrupulously disposed causing concern as environmental problems. Furthermore, the problem of disposing by-products is further aggravated by legal restrictions. The pineapple (Ananas comosus) is one of the most important fruits in the world and is the leading edible member of the family Bromeliaceae. Large production of this fruit in world is mostly used for juice extraction in the industry which leads to produce huge amounts of residues, including peel and other segment membranes. Pineapple peel is the main by-product of pineapple processing industry and results in massive waste generations and if it is not processed properly produces odour, soil pollution and harborage for insects (Mandalari et al., 2006). In this regard, several efforts have been made in order to utilize pineapple wastes obtained from different sources. So an eco-friendly utilization of this waste is becoming more and more necessary for the production of value added products. The wastes from pineapple canneries have been used as the substrate for bromelain, organic acids and ethanol because of the presence of sugars, vitamins and growth factors (Dacera et al., 2009).
Climate change is implicating a two-fold impact on air temperature increase in the ripening period under the conditions of the Luxembourgish grapegrowing region

Aim: Grape (Vitis vinifera L.) phenology is mainly temperature-driven. Consequently, the shift in thermal conditions due to climate change is supposed to have a distinct influence on grape phenology, grape maturity and wine typicity. This study aims to investigate (i) the future phenological development, as well as (ii) the consequences on the temperature conditions in specific phenophases under the conditions of the Luxembourg grapegrowing region.Methods and Results: A budburst model and a phenological model were combined with an ensemble of ten regional climate change projections for Luxembourg. Analyses comparing four 30-year time spans (reference period: 1971-2000; present: 2001-2030; near future: 2031-2060; far future: 2061-2090) demonstrated that each of the 27 phenological stages according to BBCH code is projected to be reached significantly earlier than in the reference period. According to these projections, the length of phenophases at the early stages is not affected, whereas the ripening period length is significantly shortened. The air temperature increase in the ripening period (far future compared to reference period: + 4.6 °C to + 5.3 °C) is projected to be markedly higher than in the annual averages (+ 2.6 °C). Conclusions: Since (i) air temperatures are generally projected to increase in the future and (ii) the ripening period will take place earlier (usually in the warmer parts of the season), climate change is implicating a two-fold impact on air temperature increase in the ripening period.Significance and impact of the study: This two-fold impact potentially threatens the wine typicity of the traditional grapegrowing regions and therefore calls for specific adaptation strategies.
Single synthetic cell microreactor for the fundamental understanding of NOS enzymatic activity and its implication in system biology

Nitric oxide (NO) has been identified as an important chemical messenger in cells and living organisms. Understanding the mechanism involved in NO production by NO-synthase is of fundamental importance. Mimicking basic cell functions by encapsulating NO-synthase in a controlled and confined cell like environment, could help provide information about the enzyme. Polymersomes resulting from the self-assembly of amphiphilic block copolymers were used as the synthetic cell like microreactor. To this end, three major challenges were addressed in this thesis: (1) controlling species release and concentration inside the microreactor, (2) measuring the enzyme response by NO detection and (3) controlling enzymatic reactions in space and time inside a microreactor. Light was used as the exogenous stimulus to induce release; its application is instantaneous, non-invasive and easy to control spatially and temporally. Two different ways to release species via light excitation were explored. The first strategy involves destabilization of nanopolymersomes by block separation, induced by copolymer photocleavage. The second strategy was to induce fast osmotic pressure increase of the polymersomes internal medium, resulting in bursting and species release. In order to monitor NO production by NO-synthase in different parts of the microreactor, hydrophobic and hydrophilic fluorescent NO probes have been synthesized and studied showing excellent correlation with NO concentration. The release of species inside microreactor was finally achieved in order to control enzymatic reaction.
Atmospheric Chemistry in a Box or a Bag

Environmental chambers have proven to be essential for atmospheric photochemistry research. This historical perspective summarizes chamber research characterizing smog. Experiments with volatile organic compounds (VOCs)-nitrogen oxides (NOx) have characterized O3 and aerosol chemistry. These led to the creation and evaluation of complex reaction mechanisms adopted for various applications. Gas-phase photochemistry was initiated and developed using chamber studies. Post-1950s study of photochemical aerosols began using smog chambers. Much of the knowledge about the chemistry of secondary organic aerosols (SOA) derives from chamber studies complemented with specially designed atmospheric studies. Two major findings emerge from post-1990s SOA experiments: (1) photochemical SOAs hypothetically involve hydrocarbons and oxygenates with carbon numbers of 2, and (2) SOA evolves via more than one generation of reactions as condensed material exchanges with the vapor phase during “aging”. These elements combine with multiphase chemistry to yield mechanisms for aerosols. Smog chambers, like all simulators, are limited representations of the atmosphere. Translation to the atmosphere is complicated by constraints in reaction times, container interactions, influence of precursor injections, and background species. Interpretation of kinetics requires integration into atmospheric models addressing the combined effects of precursor emissions, surface exchange, hydrometeor interactions, air motion and sunlight.
An aid to convert spreadsheets to higher quality presentations

An Aid to Convert Spreadsheets to Higher Quality Presentations. (May 2004) Wasiu Olaniyi Olajide, B.S., University of Ibadan Chair of Advisory Committee: Dr. Bart Childs A table is often the preferred medium for presenting quantative information. In some cases the presentation of quantative information can be presented as textual data or graphics at a loss of precision and clarity. The subject of this thesis is to aid the extraction and production of quality tables from a common means of preparing data in tabular form, the spreadsheet. Spreadsheet processors are in common use. Many tables are prepared by a range of users from the näıve users to experts in graphic arts. Spreadsheet data is also produced in automatic form from applications. We will review the specification of tabular data, presentation formats, and the systems and their associated formats for storing and interchange of data. The goal of this research is the specification and development of a system to convert common spreadsheet data to a markup language that will allow for presentation of the data at a higher level of typographic excellence. The desired characteristics of this system will include 1. Robust importing of data from an array of commercial and open spreadsheet processors 2. Formatting decisions of the output specified by the user rather than taken from the spreadsheet
MICROFLUIDIC ANTIBODY MICROARRAY WITH AN ELECTRONIC READOUT FOR COMBINATORIAL IMMUNOPHENOTYPING OF CELL POPULATIONS

Immunophenotyping of heterogenous cell populations has important research and clinical applications. In this paper, we introduce an antibody microarray with an electrical readout for label-free combinatorial immunophenotyping of cell populations. Our device consists of microfluidic cell capture chambers prefunctionalized with antibodies against target antigens and code-multiplexed Coulter counters placed at strategic nodes across the device to quantify the fraction of cell population captured in functionalized chambers. Through combinatorial arrangement of antibody sequences along microfluidic paths, our device achieves all-electronic combinatorial immunotyping of cell populations against multiple antigen targets. Our device was tested with human blood, and estimated prevalence of different leukocyte subpopulations were shown to agree with results from a commercial hemocytometer.
Interactive content-based visualizations for multimedia search

Finding images or videos in multimedia collections is a difficult task. Many collections only have metadata such as filenames or timestamps, and no other information is available. To augment this, we can employ content based analysis techniques that provides extra content based metadata. This provides a good starting point, but the accuracy is often insufficient to automate full collection categorization. A human in the loop is essential to aid with search and categorization. In this thesis we evaluate how to retrieve elements from multimedia collections for a variety of retrieval tasks. We investigate different user interfaces that extend content based retrieval methods with novel user interface techniques. In one interface, MediaTable, we focus on categorization tasks by leveraging table-style user interfaces with images so users can investigate both the multimedia content and associated metadata at the same time. Users can categorize elements by placing them in buckets, and we perform experiments with aiding the user with their categorization task by automatically categorizing similar elements. We find that MediaTable provides an efficient categorization process and it provides users with valuable insight into the collection. In the RotorBrowser and ForkBrowser, we focus on retrieval tasks by enhancing search results by linking similar results together as threads which the user can follow. This allows users to browse not only through results from the original query, but also to find visually, semantically or temporally related results. This was shown to improves the performance as it encourages people to explore new parts of the collection.
THE EFFECT OF DIFFERENT STORAGE TEMPERATURES ON ANTISEPTIC GEL STABILITY CONTAINING GREEN TEA EXTRACT FORMULATED WITH ALOE VERA GEL

Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze the stability of antiseptic gel products containing green tea extract combined with aloe vera gel by observing the physical properties and the antibacterial effectivity during storage time with different temperature. Methods: The gel of Aloe vera were separated from the leaves using a sterile knife. While the dried green tea leaves were extracted using a maceration method. Both of active agents were combined with different concentration and formulated into an antiseptic gel product. The carbopol in a fixed concentration was used as a gelling agent. The antiseptic gel in different formulas (F1-F9) were evaluated for 56 d in different temperature storage of 18 and 25 °C. The physical properties (color, pH and viscosity) were observed and the antibacterial effectivity of each formula was analyzed using the agar diffusion method against Staphylococcus aureus. Results: As a result, the green tea extract and aloe vera gel were successfully incorporated into the carbopol formulation. Each formula represented a slight difference in the pH and viscosity value of each temperature during the storage time. But statistically, both temperatures did not give a significant difference to the pH and viscosity of each gel product. Therefore, the different effect given by the storage temperature was determined by analyzing the antibacterial effectivity results. The storage temperature of 18 °C gave a significant difference in the diameter of inhibition zones against S. aureus, compared to that of 25 °C. Formula number 9 containing the combination of 5% green tea extract and 6.24% aloe vera gel performed the highest antibacterial effectivity with the optimum storage temperature at 18 °C. Conclusion: The storage temperatures used in this study gave significant effect to physical properties stability and its antibacterial effectivity.
Analysis of the Overlapped Electrochemical Signals of Hydrochlorothiazide and Pyridoxine on the Ethylenediamine-Modified Glassy Carbon Electrode by Use of Chemometrics Methods

In this work, the electrochemical behavior of hydrochlorothiazide and pyridoxine on the ethylenediamine-modified glassy carbon electrode were investigated by differential pulse voltammetry. In pH 3.4 Britton-Robinson (B-R) buffer solution, both hydrochlorothiazide and pyridoxine had a pair of sensitive irreversible oxidation peaks, that overlapped in the 1.10 V to 1.20 V potential range. Under the optimum experimental conditions, the peak current was linearly related to hydrochlorothiazide and pyridoxine in the concentration range of 0.10–2.0 μg/mL and 0.02–0.40 μg/mL, respectively. Chemometrics methods, including classical least squares (CLS), principal component regression (PCR) and partial least squares (PLS), were introduced to resolve the overlapped signals and determine the two components in mixtures, which avoided the troublesome steps of separation and purification. Finally, the simultaneous determination of the two components in commercial pharmaceuticals was performed with satisfactory results.
Utilization of 7-chloro-4-nitrobenzo-2-oxa-1,3-diazole (NBD-Cl) for spectrochemical determination of l-ornithine: a multivariate optimization-assisted approach

A simple and highly sensitive univariate calibration strategy based on ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) absorption spectroscopy and assisted by multivariate screening and optimization was utilized for the determination of l-ornithine (l-ORN) as such and in the alimentary supplements. l-ORN, an OTC marketed amino acid, is widely used for bodybuilding and might be abused by athletes. A nucleophilic substitution reaction using 7-chloro-4-nitrobenzo-2-oxa-1,3-diazole (NBD-Cl) was the basis of the current investigation. Plackett–Burman design (PBD) and a response surface optimizer as screening and fine-tuning strategies, respectively, were instigated. Four numerical variables, reaction time (RT), temperature (Temp), pH and reagent volume (RV), and one categorical variable, the diluting solvent (DS), were considered. Absorbance of the yellow-colored adduct at 469 nm was the response studied. Pareto analysis, along with analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to ascertain the significant variables (screening phase) and their domains (optimization phase). Response transformation and stepwise analysis were employed when necessary. Probability, cube and individual value plots were used to get an insight into the statistical impact of the variables tested. Multiple responses' optimization was performed using Derringer's function. Calibration curves were linear in the range of 5–50 μg mL−1. Job's technique of continuous variation showed that the stoichiometric ratio is 2 : 1 (NBD-Cl : l-ORN). The proposed technique was successfully applied to the dietary supplements of l-ORN, inferring no interference from adjuvants and excipients. Analytical performance of this technique was validated conforming to the ICH standards.
hetDEEC: Heterogeneous DEEC protocol for prolonging lifetime in wireless sensor networks

Abstract In this paper, we propose a 3-level heterogeneous network model for WSNs to enhance the network lifetime, which is characterized by a single parameter. Depending upon the value of the model parameter, it can describe 1-level, 2-level, and 3-level heterogeneity. Our heterogeneous network model also helps to select cluster heads and their respective cluster members by using weighted election probability and threshold function. We compute the network lifetime by implementing DEEC protocol for our network model. The DEEC implementation for the existing 1-level, 2-level, and 3-level heterogeneous network models are denoted as DEEC-1, DEEC-2, and DEEC-3, respectively, and for our proposed 3-level heterogeneous network model, the DEEC implementations are denoted as hetDEEC-1, hetDEEC-2, and hetDEEC-3, respectively. The network lifetime in DEEC-3 and hetDEEC-3 increases by 154.17% and 182.67%, respectively for increasing 100% in the network energies with respect to the original DEEC.