Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of Silibinin Enriched Silymarin in Chronic HCV Patients

Background/ Aim: Silymarin is a polyphenolic compound with anti-hepatotoxic activity. It has low oral bioavailability due to its poor aqueous solubility. Thus enhancement of its dissolution may lead to a better bioavailability. The objective of the presented study was to prepare fast dissolving enriched silymarin preparation via the preparation of enriched silymarin as solid dispersion and compare it with Legalon capsules in chronic HCV patients in a clinical study. Method: Enriched silymarin solid dispersion was prepared in sufficient amount. A clinical study was conducted including 24 patients. The patients were divided into two groups; each group had 12 patients. One group received the solid dispersion. The second group received Legalon capsules. Patients received capsules three times daily for 12 weeks. All these patients had been subjected to full medical history, abdominal ultrasonography, laboratory investigations and quality of life assessment at baseline and after treatment. Results: Solid dispersion had significantly faster dissolution rate. It is effective in reducing AST, ALT, total bilirubin, improving prothrombin concentration, prothrombin time and quality of life. Conclusion: Silymarin solid dispersion is a promising preparation. Large scale and longer duration may be required to ascertain its effects.
Aplicativos para smartphones e sua colaboração na capacitação funcional de idosos

Objetivo : conhecer os aplicativos para smartphones, com sistema operacional Android, capazes de contribuir nas Atividades Instrumentais da Vida Diaria (AVDI) de idosos. Metodos : trata-se de uma revisao bibliografica com analise uantitativa e qualitativa, a partir do levantamento de aplicativos para smartphones com o sistema operacional Android, disponiveis na Play Store, referentes ao idoso e que pudessem contribuir na realizacao de suas AVDIs. Resultados : foram incluidos 46 aplicativos, sendo 25 disponiveis em portugues, 31 relacionados a “usar o telefone ou outros aparelhos de comunicacao”, 11 a “lidar com transporte”, oito a gerenciar medicacoes”, um a “gerenciar financas”, um a “preparar refeicoes” e um a “manutencao das tarefas domesticas e da casa”. Conclusao : os aplicativos podem funcionar como importantes ferramentas no monitoramento e na realizacao de atividades instrumentais da vida diaria dos idosos, contribuindo para a melhora e a manutencao de sua independencia.
Metabolic costs of growth in free-living Garter Snakes and the energy budgets of ectotherms

1. The metabolic or respiratory cost of growth (RG) is the increase in metabolic rate of a growing animal, and it represents chemical potential energy expended in support of net biosynthesis but not deposited as new tissue. 2. Two statistical methods (multiple non-linear regression and analysis of regression residuals) were used to calculate RG from data (n = 68) from a doubly labelled water study of free-ranging Garter Snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis fitchi) in northern California. 3. The sample-wise (‘ecological’) cost of growth was 2·07 kJ per gram of net growth (equivalent to 8·63 kJ g–1 dry tissue); reanalysis of a subset of efficient growers yielded a more conservative ‘physiological’ estimate of 1·67 kJ g–1. 4. Our empirical estimate of RG, among the first reported for squamate reptiles and free-living animals of any kind, compares closely with published, laboratory-derived values for ectotherms. 5. The metabolic costs of growth accounted for an average of 30% of total field metabolic rates for these snakes, which were growing at a mean rate of 3% of body mass per day. However, our method probably underestimated the total ecological cost of growth for large animals, because potential growth costs that covary with body size were not included. 6. Distinction between conceptual and empirical energy budgets clarifies relationships among body size, metabolic rates, and the physiological and ecological costs of growth.
Extension of the Aki-Utsu b-value estimator for incomplete catalogs

The Aki (1965) maximum likelihood estimate of the Gutenberg–Richter b ‐value is extended for use in the case of multiple catalogs with different levels of completeness. The most striking feature of this newly derived estimator is its simplicity—it is more manageable than the well‐known and already easy to use Weichert (1980) solution to the analogs problem. In addition, confidence intervals for the newly derived estimator are provided.
Evaluation of Survey Methods and Development of Species Distribution Models for Kit Foxes in the Great Basin Desert

Historically, kit foxes (Vulpes macrotis) once occupied the desert and semi-arid regions of southwestern North America, ranging from Idaho to central Mexico. Once the most abundant carnivore in the western desert, the species is now considered rare. Survey methods have been evaluated for kit foxes, but often in populations where abundance is high and there is little consensus on which technique is best to monitor abundance. We conducted a 2 year study to evaluate 4 methods suggested to be best for detecting kit foxes and examined the detection rates relative to minimum kit fox abundance (determined by radio-collared animals). The study was conducted on the U.S. Army Dugway Proving Grounds and the bordering BLM lands in Utah. We evaluated scat deposition surveys, scent station surveys, spotlight survey, and trapping. All surveys were conducted on 15 5-km transects during the three biological seasons of the kit fox. Home range sizes for kit foxes on the study site were extremely large, averaging 20.5 km 2 . Scat deposition surveys had both the highest detection probabilities ( = 0.88) and were most closely related to minimum known fox abundance (r 2 = 0.50, P = 0.001). The next best method for kit fox detection was the scent station survey ( = 0.73), which had the second highest correlation to fox abundance (r 2 = 0.46, P < 0.001). For detecting kit foxes in a low density population we suggest using scat deposition transects during the breeding season. This method had both the highest detection probability and correlation 11 to kit fox abundance. Scat deposition surveys have low costs, resilience to weather, low labor requirements, and pose no risk to the study animals. The breeding season was ideal for monitoring kit fox population size, as detections consisted of primarily the resident population and we had the highest detection probabilities during this season. In areas with sympatric canids, careful training of technicians may be required, but risk of overlapping scat dimensions should be lowest during the breeding season as most sympatric canids are also fully grown by the subsequent breeding season.
ASSOCIATED WITH FREE RADICAL PRODUCTION AND ANTIOXIDANT DEFENSE IN THE LESSER SHORT-NOSED FRUIT BATS ( Cynopterus brachyotis ) )

Fruit bats have been reported as the natural reservoir of many emerging and re-emerging zoonotic diseases. Infected bats usually do not show any clinical symptoms and are infected persistently. This unique characters indicate that bats have high immune activity to combat viruses even in its physiological state. High immune activity will affect the size of lymphoid organ and produce high level of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Spleen is one of the important lymphoid organ which have a strategic function in elimination of blood borne pathogens. This study was undertaken to provide information on the normal size of spleen and to analyze malonaldehyde (MDA) and super oxide dismutase (SOD) levels of free range fruit bats (Cynopterus brachyotis). The ratio of body weight/spleen was 0.4% and there were no significance differences between the male and female bats. The spleen MDA levels which represent ROS generation was higher than those of the liver. Male bats with higher levels of MDA tend to have bigger spleen size than the female which has lower MDA levels. High levels of MDA might indicate a high immune activity inside the spleen. Despite the negative effect of ROS to genetic material, high level of ROS can be advantageous to support the bats immune system as a viral reservoir. High levels of MDA are generally accompanied by high levels of SOD which might reduce the negative impact of oxidative stress in the C. brachyotis.
Neutrino induced reactions related to the $\nu$-process nucleosynthesis of ${}^{92}$Nb and ${}^{98}$Tc

It has recently been proposed that ${}^{92}_{41}$Nb and ${}^{98}_{43}$Tc may have been formed in the $\nu$-process. We investigate the neutrino induced reactions related to the $\nu$-process origin of the two odd-odd nuclei. The main neutrino reactions for ${}^{92}_{41}$Nb are the charged-current (CC) $^{92}$Zr($\nu_e,e^{-}$)$^{92}$Nb and the neutral-current (NC) $^{93}$Nb(${\nu} ({\bar \nu}), {\nu}^{'} ({\bar \nu})^{'}$ n)$^{92}$Nb reactions. The main reactions for ${}^{98}_{43}$Tc, are the CC reaction $^{98}$Mo($\nu_e,e^-$)$^{98}$Tc and the NC reaction $^{99}$Ru(${\nu} ({\bar \nu}), {\nu}^{'} ({\bar \nu})^{'}$ p)$^{98}$Tc. Our calculations are carried out using the quasi-particle random phase approximation. Numerical results are presented for the energy and temperature dependent cross sections. Since charge exchange reactions by neutrons may also lead to the formation of ${}^{92}_{41}$Nb and ${}^{98}_{43}$Tc, we discuss the feasibility of the $^{92}$Mo(n,p)$^{92}$Nb and $^{98}$Ru(n,p)$^{98}$Tc reactions to produce these nuclei.
Categorization of alphanumeric characters by Guinea baboons : within- and between-class stimulus discrimination

Une tâche de categorisation perceptive a ete proposee a des babouins a l'aide d'un systeme informatique. En ayant recours a un protocole d'appariement symbolique, les singes devaient discriminer des caracteres alphanumeriques representant des B et des 3. Apres l'apprentissage, les singes sont capables de reconnaitre des B et des 3 presentes avec des polices differentes de celles de l'entrainement (Experience 1). Le recours a des procedures de categorisation est verifiee dans une autre etude (Experience 2) qui montre la capacite des babouins a discriminer des exemplaires appartenant a une meme categorie.
Termite Prey Specialization in the Pitcher Plant Nepenthes albomarginata—Evidence from Stable Isotope Analysis

Old World pitcher plants (Nepenthes spp., Nepenthaceae) trap and digest invertebrate prey to derive nutrients, primarily nitrogen (N). In the majority of lowland Nepenthes species studied to date, ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) are numerically the dominant prey taxon. Nepenthes albomarginata is unusual in showing an apparent bias towards the capture of termites (Isoptera). We tested the hypothesis that N. albomarginata derives N from termite capture, by comparison of foliar stable N isotope abundance (δ15N) with a sympatric species (N. rafflesiana), whose verified major prey group is ants. N. albomarginata showed significantly lower δ15N values than N. rafflesiana, reflecting the lower δ15N value of termite tissue relative to that of ants, and suggesting a degree of prey segregation between the two Nepenthes species. Using mixing models, we estimated that termites (Hospitalitermes sp.) contribute 53.8 ± 7.3% of the total foliar N in N. albomarginata, and that ants (Crematogaster sp.) contribute 68.1 ± 2.4% of the total foliar N in N. rafflesiana. We also investigated the carbon stable isotope abundance (δ13C) in both species.N. albomarginata showed higher δ13C values and a lower estimated intercellular partial pressure of CO2(Ci) than N. rafflesiana, indicating either higher water use efficiency (due to water stress) or greater photosynthetic capacity.
CONTIGUITY PRINCIPLE FOR GEOGRAPHIC UNITS: EVIDENCE ON THE QUANTITY, DEGREE, AND LOCATION OF PUBLIC USE MICRODATA AREA (PUMA) FRAGMENTATION

Social scientists investigating how context varies by geographical location and/or how macro - level phenomenon affects individual outcomes often make use of U.S. Census Bureau Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) files where micro - units can only be geographic ally located to Public Use Microdata Area (PUMA) polygons. Most spatial analysis investig a- tions with PUMAs ignore the fact that many of them are multipart polygons — spatially separated polygons that share the same attribute and are stored as a single featu re in a vector file. We briefly discuss the theoretical premises of how ge o- graphical boundaries are created for macro units and investigate the quantity, degree, and location of PUMA fragment a- tion. We argue that the basic contiguity principle (the assumpti on that spatial analysis uses polygon centroids for solid and contiguous geographic units) in spatial dependence analysis is being violated with many PUMAs in the U.S. mainland — where Texas, California, Tennessee, and Illinois merit special attention. Futur e research should outline a method for ha n- dling multipart polygons in spatial and hierarchical analyses.
A new insight into the bleachability of kraft pulps

L'aptitude au blanchiment des pâtes chimiques a haut rendement a fait l'objet de plusieurs rapports, mais peu de travaux ont ete consacres a l'evaluation des changements dans l'aptitude au blanchiment des compositions de fabrication et structures chimiques de pâte aux diverses etapes du blanchiment. Dans le present rapport, nous avons blanchi quatre types de pâte d'epinette noire - pâte kraft de reference conventionnelle, pâte kraft conventionnelle a indice kappa eleve, pâte au polysulfure (PS) et pâte au polysulfure-anthraquinone (PS-AQ)- a l'aide des sequences D 0 E 0 DED et ODOEoDED. Nous avons trouve que, des quatre pâtes analysees, la pâte PS-AQ avait la plus mauvaise reponse au blanchiment selon ces sequences. La pâte PS et la pâte kraft de reference presentaient les memes caracteristiques quant a l'aptitude au blanchiment. Nous avons aussi trouve que les pâtes delignifiees a l'oxygene reagissaient plus mal au blanchiment D 0 E0 que les pâtes ecrues correspondantes. La sequence OD 0 E0DED a produit une pâte plus blanche que la sequence D 0 E0 DED. Les differences dans l'aptitude au blanchiment des pâtes sont attribuables a la formation d'une liaison covalente entre les groupes d'acide hexenuroniques et la lignine.
Studies on the Polymorphism and Transcriptional Regulation of the ABO and P1PK Histo-blood Group Genes

Antigens of the clinically important ABO and P1PK blood group systems are carbohydrate structures. Thus the underlying genes do not encode antigens directly but glycosyltransferases that add specific sugar molecules to selected precursor chains. The aim of this study was to investigate the transcriptional regulation of ABO and A4GALT, with an emphasis on interindividual differences. The up-and downstream regions of the major ABO alleles were sequenced to identify allele-specific motifs. Transcript levels were evaluated in both peripheral blood and bone marrow samples. Considerable allelic variation was observed between the common ABO alleles although this did not appear to influence transcript levels. Strikingly, however transcripts from the two major A alleles, A1 and A2 were undetectable in peripheral blood while, B/O transcripts were readily found. Consequently all alleles were transcribed in bone marrow cells undergoing erythroid culture. In a second study, a novel ABO hybrid allele with an anomalous enhancer region was characterized in a A1Bweak sample. Contrary to current beliefs, the number minisatellite 43-bp elements in the enhancer region did not correlate with ABO transcript levels in these two studies. A4GALT gene transcripts were measured in P1 and P2 phenotypes samples. Regarding transcript levels and RBC surface antigen expression. Through the discovery of a novel A4GALT transcript containing a previously unrecognized and polymorphic A4GALT exon, the long-suspected link between the P1 and Pk antigens was established. A P1/P2 polymorphism was confirmed useful for genotyping in >200 donors. The P2 allele was shown to lower A4GALT transcript levels as well as P1 and Pk antigen expression. Accordingly P1/P2 zygosity appears to explain the well-known but poorly understood variability in P1 strength on erythrocytes. Based on these studies, the Pk antigen has now joined P1 in the former P blood group system, appropriately re-designated P1PK. In summary, these studies of ABO and A4GALT transcriptional have resulted in significant discoveries towards increased understanding of two clinically important blood group systems. The mechanisms underlying 1) the apparent absence of A transcripts in peripheral blood, and 2) how the P2-specific polymorphism down-regulates A4GALT transcripts remains to be explained. (Less)
Ocean climate, euphausiids and auklet nesting: inter-annual trends and variation in phenology, diet and growth of a planktivorous seabird, Ptychoramphus aleuticus

Variability in ocean climate results in fluctuations in the timing and abundance of zoo- plankton. In turn, fluctuations in zooplankton as prey may have consequences for reproductive deci- sions and performance of planktivorous seabirds. We examined interrelationships between mean sea- sonal oceanographic conditions and prey availability and the timing of breeding, nestling diet, growth and productivity (as number of chicks fledged per breeding pair) of Cassin's auklet Ptychoramphus aleuticus in the central California Current System. Substantial inter-annual variability in seasonal ocean climate parameters as well as in auklet reproductive and diet characteristics was evident. Hatching dates and the proportion of all euphausiids in the diet were positively correlated with sea- sonal sea-surface temperature and negatively correlated with seasonal upwelling values. A significant negative correlation was found between the proportion of Euphausia pacifica in the diet and hatch date, while significant positive correlations were found between Thysanoessa spinifera in the diet and productivity, and between productivity and growth. Based on the California Cooperative Fisheries In- vestigations euphausiid data set, significant positive correlations were found between E. pacifica abundance and auklet meal mass and productivity and between T. spinifera abundance and auklet productivity. As demonstrated by the auklet diet, euphausiids responded to changes in ocean climate on multiple temporal scales. In most years, auklets responded adaptively to variation in oceanographic conditions and prey availability by modifying timing of breeding. However, in years when ocean con- ditions deteriorated after the initiation of breeding, prey availability was severely reduced beyond the auklet's adaptive response, resulting in diminished nestling growth and productivity.
Fat damascene wires for high bandwidth routing in silicon interposer

System-In-Package (SIP) enables flexible and low cost integration of multiple components such as memory, logic or passives in a single package. However, SIP performances are today limited for high performances applications such as FPGA, processor or GPU in which high bandwidth communication between the elements of the system is required. The use of an intermediate carrier such as Silicon Interposer between IC chips and substrate resolve the bandwidth bottleneck by increasing the I/Os number. Indeed, Si Interposer combines fine pitch μBumps and high density routing for fast and high bandwidth interconnection between mounted chips. Low cost semi-additive electrochemical plating process (ECP) is often used for interposer routing processing [1]. Damascene process is an alternative allowing for an improved reliability (use of barrier between Cu and dielectric) and better line pitch scalability [2]. However, the use of thin lines characteristic of standard damascene technology such as 65 nm Back-End-Of-Line (BEOL), impact overall signal transmission performances because of their relative high resistance compare with ECP approach. In this work, impacts of Cu lines dimensions and line neighboring onto system bandwidth and crosstalk are first simulated. The output allows for optimal performances interposer damascene interconnect which process and characterization are described in a second part.
PREDICTION OF THE HARDNESS OF HARDENED SPECIMENS WITH A NEURAL NETWORK NAPOVED TRDOTE KALJENIH VZORCEV Z NEVRONSKIMI MRE@AMI

In this article we describe the methods of intelligent systems to predict the hardness of hardened specimens. We use the mathematical method of fractal geometry in laser techniques. To optimize the structure and properties of tool steel, it is necessary to take into account the effect of the self-organization of a dissipative structure with fractal properties at a load. Fractal material science researches the relation between the parameters of fractal structures and the dissipative properties of tool steel. This paper describes an application of the fractal dimension in the robot laser hardening of specimens. By using fractal dimensions, the changes in the structure can be determined because the fractal dimension is an indicator of the complexity of the sample forms. The tool steel was hardened with different speeds and at different temperatures. The effect of the parameters of robot cells on the material was better understood by researching the fractal dimensions of the microstructures of hardened specimens. With an intelligent system the productivity of the process of laser hardening was increased because the time of the process was decreased and the topographical property of the material was increased.
Health Knowledge and Consumer Use of Nutritional Labels: The Issue Revisited

The role of health knowledge in consumer use of nutritional labels on food packages is explored using data from the 1995 Diet and Health Knowledge Survey. Two types of label use models, a binary choice label use model and a level of label use model, are employed with particular attention given to the endogeneity of health knowledge. The binary choice model is concerned with factors affecting the probability of label use. The level of label use model deals with factors affecting the number of food products in which label use occurred. The results show that health knowledge has a significant role in increasing label use.
A New Watermarking Algorithm for Point Model Using Angle Quantization Index Modulation

Point cloud models are widely used in industry. It is also faced with increasingly serious copyright protection issues. A new watermarking algorithm of 3D point cloud model using angle quantization index modulation is proposed. At first, a point cloud model is segmented into many patches according to the length of watermark information. Then, for each patch, 1 bit watermark is embedded into by modulating the angle of feature signal. Experiments show that the algorithm is certain robustness against affine transformation, reorder and low intensity of noise.
Spectral inequalities for operators on H-type groups

In this paper the spectra of certain Schrödinger-type operators defined in the sub-elliptic setting of H-type groups are investigated. Two approaches are taken: the first one makes use of a convenient unitary transformation on the Heisenberg group, while the second proceeds via functional inequalities. The paper concludes by highlighting a major difference between the spectrum of the considered operators depending on which natural sub-Riemannian metric is chosen. Mathematics Subject Classification (2010). Primary 58J50; Secondary 22E30.