Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Extraction and Evaluation of Tamarind Seed Polysaccharide as Pharmaceutical In situ Gel Forming System

Aim of study: Present study includes extraction and characterization the tamarind (Tamarindus indica) seed polysaccharide as pharmaceutical excipients. Material and methods: By using water based extraction in Soxhlet apparatus tamarind seed polysaccharide was obtained. For characterization of the extracted tamarind seed polysaccharide phytochemical screening was done and micromeritic properties, flow behavior, and swelling index were calculated. In situ gel forming capacity of polymer was also evaluated with and without sodium alginate. Results revealed that extracted tamarind seed polysaccharide was soluble in warm water while insoluble in cold water and in organic solvents. It was also exhibited that extracted tamarind seed polysaccharide had good flow properties. pH was found 6.1, this showed that can be used in dosage form, without any irritation. Results also showed that this polymer can be used to form in situ gel with sodium alginate. In Conclusions: tamarind derived seed polysaccharide can be used as pharmaceutical excipient to prepare solid as well as semisolid dosage form.
Differentially Amplitude- and Phase-Encoded QAM for Amplify-and-Forward Multiple-Relay Systems

This paper studies the differentially amplitude- and phase-encoded quadrature amplitude modulation (DAPE QAM) transmission for the amplify-and-forward multiple-relay system using the fixed-relay-gain mechanism over independent Rician and Nakagami-m fading links. In the multiple-relay system, the destination collects signals from the source and multiple relays in distinct phases. Operating over two successively received symbols, an equal-gain combining (EGC) receiver and a weighted-gain combining (WGC) receiver are developed to noncoherently combine received signals from direct and multiple-relay links and thereby achieve cooperative diversity. The EGC receiver operates without any link-side information, whereas the knowledge of average signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) on source-relay and relay-destination links is required for realizing the WGC receiver. Based on Beaulieu's convergent series approach, efficient computation formulas of the bit error probability (BEP) upper bounds are derived for both receivers. Numerical and simulation results on 16- and 64-point signal constellations show that the WGC receiver exhibits better BEP performance than the EGC receiver when link SNR estimates are not significantly large in error. The WGC receiver for DAPE QAM is also shown to outperform, in terms of BEP, the conventional receiver for differentially detecting the differential phase-shift keying modulation signal with the same constellation size.
Segment selection in the L&h Realspeak laboratory TTS system

The L&H RealSpeak Laboratory TTS (RSLab) system is a corpus based speech synthesis system comprising components that deal with linguistic processing, prosody prediction, segment selection, concatenation and modification. In this paper we focus on the segment selection process. During segment selection, the units in a large database of speech are scored with a cost according to their prosodic/phonetic mismatch with the target description of the utterance to be synthesized. This prosodic/phonetic cost is computed on the basis of a combination of symbolic and numeric features. The candidate units from the speech database are then evaluated for the ease with which they can be concatenated. A dynamic programming algorithm, using additive costs, is used to find the optimal path of candidates to represent the spoken utterance. The chosen segments are then concatenated in the time domain to yield a smooth-sounding speech signal, with natural-sounding prosody. One of the keys to the success of the segment selection component is the context dependent choice of cost functions, and the method of combining the costs from the various features. The RSLab system makes use of a family of complex cost functions that allows linguistic and perceptual knowledge to be incorporated in the segment selection process.
Provably Secure Password Reset Protocol: Model, Definition, and Generic Construction

Many online services adopt a password-based user authentication system because of its usability. However, several problems have been pointed out on it, and one of the well-known problems is that a user forgets his/her password and cannot login the services. To solve this problem, most online services support a mechanism with which a user can reset a password. In this paper, we consider a provable security treatment for a password reset protocol. We formalize a model and security definitions, propose a generic construction based on a pseudorandom function and public key encryption. In addition, we implement a prototype of our protocol to evaluate its efficiency.
American Journal of Epidemiology Original Contribution Sports, Smoking, and Overweight during Adolescence as Predictors of Sciatica in Adulthood: a 28-year Follow-up Study of a Birth Cohort

Lifestyle factors such as smoking, obesity, and level of physical activity predict low back pain (LBP) and sciatica. The authors investigated whether participating in sports, smoking, and being overweight or obese at 14 years of age predicted hospitalizations due to LBP or sciatica in adulthood. In 1980, at the age of 14 years, a total of 11,399 members of the 1966 Northern Finland Birth Cohort returned the postal questionnaire. Patients from the 1966 Northern Finland Birth Cohort who were hospitalized because of LBP or sciatica were followed to the end of 2008 through the Finnish Hospital Discharge Register. Data were analyzed using Cox's proportional hazards multistate model with the Markov clock forward time scale. During follow-up, 119 females (2.7%) and 254 males (5.6%) had been hospitalized at least once because of LBP or sciatica. Among females, overweight was associated with an increased risk of second-time hospitalization for surgical treatment for sciatica (hazard ratio ¼ 7.1, 95% confidence interval: 1.5, 34.4). Among males, smoking was associated with an increased risk of first-time nonsurgical hospitalization (hazard ratio ¼ 1.8, 95% confidence interval: 1.2, 2.7) and second-time surgical hospitalization (hazard ratio ¼ 3.2, 95% confidence interval: 1.2, 8.2). The authors found potentially modifiable risk factors in adolescence that predicted hospital treatments for low back disorders during adolescence and young adulthood. Low back disorders, including nonspecific, nonradiating low back pain (LBP) and sciatica, are common health problems among adults and represent a remarkable burden on the health care system. In Finland, costs of sickness absences due to low back disorders have increased by 43% from 1995 to 2005, for a total cost of >e100 million in 2005 (1). In Health 2000, a population-based survey of Finns 30 years of age, every 10th subject had a chronic low back disorder (2). In the same survey, the prevalence rate of physician-diagnosed sciatica was 4.7% (3). Sciatic pain is more persistent and severe, the outcome of this pain is worse, and it consumes more health resources than localized LBP (4). It also causes longer illness absences and more disability than does nonspecific LBP (5, 6). Genetic factors play a major role in explaining the variability of disc degeneration (7, 8), LBP (9, 10), and disc herniations (11, 12). The role of environmental factors in LBP appears to grow larger with increasing age (9). Recent evidence shows that cardiovascular risk factors, such as over-weight/obesity and smoking, increase the …
Once-weekly alendronate 70 mg and raloxifene 60 mg daily in the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis*

Objective:To compare the efficacy and tolerability of once-weekly (OW) alendronate (ALN) 70 mg and raloxifene (RLX) 60 mg daily in the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis. Design:This 12-month, randomized, double-blind study enrolled 456 postmenopausal women with osteoporosis (223 ALN, 233 RLX) at 52 sites in the United States. Efficacy measurements included lumbar spine (LS), total hip, and trochanter bone mineral density (BMD) at 6 and 12 months, biochemical markers of bone turnover, and percent of women who maintained or gained BMD in response to treatment. The primary endpoint was percent change from baseline in LS BMD at 12 months. Adverse experiences were recorded to assess treatment safety and tolerability. Results:Over 12 months, OW ALN produced a significantly greater increase in LS BMD (4.4%, P < 0.001) than RLX (1.9%). The percentage of women with ≥ 0% increase in LS BMD (ALN, 94%; RLX, 75%; P < 0.001) and ≥ 3% increase in LS BMD (ALN, 66%; RLX, 38%; P < 0.001) were significantly greater with ALN than RLX. Total hip and trochanter BMD increases were also significantly greater (P ≤0.001) with ALN. Greater (P < 0.001) reductions in N-telopeptide of type I collagen and bone-specific alkaline phosphatase were achieved with ALN compared with RLX at 6 and 12 months. No significant differences in the incidence of upper gastrointestinal or vasomotor adverse experiences were seen. Conclusion:ALN 70 mg OW produced significantly greater increases in spine and hip BMD and greater reductions in markers of bone turnover than RLX over 12 months. A greater percentage of women maintained or gained BMD on ALN than RLX. Both medications had similar safety and tolerability profiles.
Effects of isobaric ropivacaine with or without fentanyl in subarachnoid blockade: A prospective double-blind, randomized study

Background: The addition of fentanyl to ropivacaine has shown to improve the quality of analgesia without compromising its benefits such as early mobilization and early voiding. Aim: The aim of the study was to evaluate the effects of the isobaric ropivacaine in combination with fentanyl and compare it with the isobaric ropivacaine alone in spinal anesthesia for lower abdominal and lower limb surgeries. Settings and Design: Double-blinded randomized controlled trial. Subjects and Methods: Hundred patients belonging to American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status I and II scheduled for either lower abdominal or lower limb surgery under spinal anesthesia were included. The study was a prospective double-blinded randomized controlled trial where patients were randomly allocated into two groups to receive either 2.5 ml of 0.75% (18.75 mg) isobaric ropivacaine with 25 μg fentanyl (Group RF) or 2.5 ml of 0.75% (18.75 mg) isobaric ropivacaine with 0.5 ml of 0.9% saline (Group R) intrathecally. Statistical Analysis: Data analysis was done by Student′s unpaired t-test. SPSS version 16 was used. P < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results: We found no significant difference in hemodynamics, onset of sensory and motor block, peak level of block, recovery from motor block, return of micturition and incidence of side effects with the addition of fentanyl to ropivacaine. First request for analgesia was required earlier in the control group. There was also a significant prolongation of the duration of sensory block (mean - 341.6 min) and postoperative analgesia in Group RF (mean - 442.2 min) (P < 0.001). Conclusion: The addition of fentanyl to ropivacaine significantly prolongs the duration of postoperative analgesia with clinically insignificant influence on hemodynamics and motor blockade with minimal side effects.
Demand, Selection and Patient Outcomes in German Acute Care Hospitals

This paper examines the effects of variation in unexpected demand on patient outcomes in acute care German hospitals. Naturally, an unexpected surge in demand may negatively affect the quality of care and thus patient outcomes, such as in-hospital mortality. We estimate models explaining patient outcomes depending on demand, unobservable patient selection and seasonal factors, as well as patient-specific risk factors and unobservable hospital and department fixed-effects. The main message of this analysis is that hospitals are well prepared to deal with this unexpected volatility in demand, as by and large it does not negatively affect patient outcomes. Hospitals seem to deal with high unexpected workload by steering the patients' length of stay relating to their severity of illness. Elective patients are discharged earlier, while discharges of high-risk emergency patients are postponed.
Chagas disease: What is known and what should be improved: a systemic review

This study consists of a broad review on what is known and what should be improved regarding knowledge of Chagas disease, not only through analysis on the main studies published on the topics discussed, but to a large extent based on experience of this subject, acquired over the past 50 years (1961-2011). Among the subjects covered, we highlight the pathogenesis and evolution of infection by Trypanosoma cruzi, drugs in use and new strategies for treating Chagas disease; the serological tests for the diagnosis and the controls of cure the infection; the regional variations in prevalence, morbidity and response to treatment of the disease; the importance of metacyclogenesis of T. cruzi in different species of triatomines and its capacity to transmit Chagas infection; the risks of adaptation of wild triatomines to human dwellings; the morbidity and need for a surveillance and control program for Chagas disease in the Amazon region and the need to prioritize initiatives for controlling Chagas disease in Latin America and Mexico and in non-endemic countries, which is today a major international dilemma. Finally, we raise the need for to create a new initiative for controlling Chagas disease in the Gran Chaco, which involves parts of Argentina, Bolivia and Paraguay.
Assembl y of Poly-3-Hexylthiophene Nano-Crystallites into Low Dimensional Structures Using Indandione Derivatives

Conductive polymer poly-3-hexylthiophene (P3HT) needles were self-assembled using a second component (indandione derivatives) as a linking agent to enhance their long range alignment. The morphologies of the hybrid organic/organic materials were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Both linear and branched structures could be produced, with the degree of branching depending upon the linker used. Incorporation of indandione derivatives broadened the UV absorbance band of P3HT without significant change to its photoluminescence. This hybrid material could open a promising avenue in photovoltaic applications due to its interesting morphologies and optical properties.
Smoke carcinogens cause bone loss through the aryl hydrocarbon receptor and induction of Cyp1 enzymes

Smoking is a major risk factor for osteoporosis and fracture, but the mechanism through which smoke causes bone loss remains unclear. Here, we show that the smoke toxins benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) and 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) interact with the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (Ahr) to induce osteoclastic bone resorption through the activation of cytochrome P450 1a/1b (Cyp1) enzymes. BaP and TCDD enhanced osteoclast formation in bone marrow cell cultures and gavage with BaP stimulated bone resorption and osteoclastogenesis in vivo. The osteoclastogenesis triggered by BaP or RANK-L was reduced in Ahr−/− cells, consistent with the high bone mass noted in Ahr−/− male mice. The receptor activator of NF-κB ligand (RANK-L) also failed to induce the expression of Cyp1 enzymes in Ahr−/− cells. Furthermore, the osteoclastogenesis induced by TCDD was lower in Cyp1a1/1a2−/− and Cyp1a1/1a2/1b1−/− cultures, indicating that Ahr was upstream of the Cyp enzymes. Likewise, the pharmacological inhibition of the Cyp1 enzymes with tetramethylsilane or proadifen reduced osteoclastogenesis. Finally, deletion of the Cyp1a1, Cyp1a2, and Cyp1b1 in triple knockout mice resulted in reduced bone resorption and recapitulated the high bone mass phenotype of Ahr−/− mice. Overall, the data identify the Ahr and Cyp1 enzymes not only in the pathophysiology of smoke-induced osteoporosis, but also as potential targets for selective modulation by new therapeutics.
and Potential Roles Dendritic Cells as Killers: Mechanistic Aspects

endowed the unique to activate naive T cells. important effector during the innate response, pathogen recognition and cytokine production. the crucial link between innate and adaptive immune responses. DC are quite heterogeneous and various subsets endowed specific recognition mechanisms, locations, phenotypes, and functions have been described both in rodents and in humans. A series of studies that rodent as well as human DC could also mediate another important innate function, i.e., cell-mediated cytotoxicity, mostly toward tumor cells. In this article, we will review the pheno-types of these so-called killer DC, their killing mechanism, and putative implication in the immune response. The Journal of Immunology, 2008, 181:
Beliefs and Intentions of Counselors, Parents, and Students Regarding Agriculture as a Career Choice.

In Illinois, agricultural education programs at the secondary level continue to experience enrollment declines (Craft, 1991). Data compiled between 1977 and 1986 by the Illinois Association of Vocational Agricultural Teachers (Witt. 1987) and the Illinois Board of Higher Education (Databook on Illinois Higher Education, 1986) from 1977 to 1986, showed declining numbers as high as 54 and 22 percent, respectively, in student enrollment in agricultural programs. These enrollment trends were not reflected by those reported for total student enrollment. Data reported during this period for secondary school enrollment showed a moderate decrease of 20 percent, while four-year institutions with agriculture programs only experienced a slight decrease of 4.2 percent.
Density and Shape as CT Predictors of Intracerebral Hemorrhage Growth

Background and Purpose— Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) growth predicts mortality and functional outcome. We hypothesized that irregular hematoma shape and density heterogeneity, reflecting active, multifocal bleeding or a variable bleeding time course, would predict ICH growth. Methods— Three raters examined baseline sub-3-hour CT brain scans of 90 patients in the placebo arm of a Phase IIb trial of recombinant activated Factor VII in ICH. Each rater, blinded to growth data, independently applied novel 5-point categorical scales of density and shape to randomly presented baseline CT images of ICH. Density and shape were defined as either homogeneous/regular (Category 1 to 2) or heterogeneous/irregular (Category 3 to 5). Within- and between-rater reliability was determined for these scales. Growth was assessed as a continuous variable and using 3 binary definitions: (1) any ICH growth; (2) ≥33% or ≥12.5 mL ICH growth; and (3) radial growth >1 mm between baseline and 24-hour CT scan. Patients were divided into tertiles of baseline ICH volume: “small” (0 to 10 mL), “medium” (10 to 25 mL), and “large” (25 to 106 mL). Results— Inter- and intrarater agreements for the novel scales exceeded 85% (±1 category). Median growth was significantly higher in the large-volume group compared with the small group (P<0.001) and in heterogeneous compared with homogeneous ICH (P=0.008). Median growth trended higher in irregular ICHs compared with regular ICHs (P=0.084). Small ICHs were more regularly shaped (43%) than medium (17%) and large (3%) ICHs (P<0.001). Small ICHs were more homogeneous (73%) compared with medium (37%) and large (17%) ICHs (P<0.001). Adjusting for baseline ICH volume and time to scan, density heterogeneity, but not shape irregularity, independently predicted ICH growth (P=0.046) on a continuous growth scale. Conclusions— Large ICHs were significantly more irregular in shape, heterogeneous in density, and had greater growth. Density heterogeneity independently predicted ICH growth using some definitions.
La valoración médicolegal del mobbing o acoso laboral

Some considerations on the medico-legal assesment of mobbing or psychoterror at work From the scope of the prevention of risks at work, the authors discuss different basic aspects for the evaluation of the psychoterrorized person which are: 1) a correct hazards evaluation, including violence related risks, 2) reflection of this evaluation in preventive planification and action, 3) appropriate and documented medical follow up, establishing the moment and necessity of psychiatric intenlention for correct diagnosis and treatment, 4) rule out concurrent causes operating at the same time and, if they exist, determine their relative influence and 5) make an exact differential diagnosis including simulation and worsening of previous pathology. Key-words: Psychological violence. Risk violence. Psychoterror. Mobbing. Differential diagnosis. Simulation. Bullying. Stress. * Catedratico de Psiquiatria y Profesor de la Universidad Autonoma de Madrid ** Medico de Trabajo y Tecnico Superior de Prevencion de Riesgos Laborales. Tribunal Supremo. J. L. Gonzalez de Rivera Revuelta, J. A. Lopez Garcia Silva
A primary adaptation of the W-CHAMB protocol for Gigabit WPANs

High speed WPANs are intended to provide multi-media and multi-megabyte transmission services over relatively short distances for a wide range of devices. The long term goal of future high speed WPANs is to support transmission with a data rate of up to 2 Gbps. The W-CHAMB protocol is a link layer protocol for next generation WLANs. It is able to perform multi-hop delivery of high quality multi-media services in a fully distributed manner. In this article, we adapt the W-CHAMB protocol for Gigabit WPANs. The analytical results on the traffic performance and system capacity indicate that the adapted protocol is able to support high amounts of high quality multi-media transmission services in multi-hop Gigabit WPANs
Risk in pediatric anesthesia

Risk in pediatric anesthesia can be conveniently classified as minor or major. Major morbidity includes cardiac arrest, brain damage and death. Minor morbidity can be assessed by clinical audits with small patient samples. Major morbidity is rare. It is best assessed by very large clinical studies and by review of closed malpractice claims. Both minor and major morbidity occur most commonly in infants and children under three, especially those with severe co‐morbidities. Knowledge of risk profiles in pediatric anesthesia is a starting point for the reduction of risk.
Gate oxide trap characterization under DC and pulse stress

Gate oxide and interface trap charges are critical parameters for device reliability and their generation and recovery are investigated under AC and DC oxide field stress on n-channel MOSFETs by C-V, I–V, and CP measurements. The interface traps generation is the same under both DC and AC stress but oxide charge trap generation is higher at AC stress than DC stress. The oxide charge and interface trap generation rate is independent of frequency from low to 10MHz but increase with stress time. The generated interface traps are positioned in the middle of the band gap and oxide traps are negatively charged and located in the upper half of the energy band gap due to the electron injection from the inversion layer. Both interface and oxide trap charges are characterized by high frequency and quasi-static C-V measurement.