bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Administración de Call Center Ante Exigências del Consumidor
Authors: Kasznar Istvan Karoly
Published: September 2018

Este artículo muestra la creciente importancia asumida por los call-centers, como entidades que ayudan a comunicar con presteza, rapidez y grande eficiencia, informaciones y dados através de un canal de doble sentido. Tanto el consumidor, quanto el supridor de servicios ganan con el uso de call-centers, en un juego de alianzas del tipo gana-gana. Son expuestas las ventajas y desventajas del uso y aprovechamiento de call-centers, tanto por clientes, quanto por empresários. Y se apresentan las oportunidades estratégicas para la adequada compreensión de la relevancia de los call-centres y de su futuro, en la lógica y dinâmica organizacional. Además, dados y levantamientos ilustran el perfil y la razon de ser de las consultas a call-centers.
O COMPORTAMENTO SOCIALMENTE RESPONSÁVEL DAS EMPRESAS INFLUENCIA A DECISÃO DE COMPRA DO CONSUMIDOR?
Authors: Silva Renata Céli Moreira da , Bertrand Hélène
Published: September 2018

O presente artigo buscou pesquisar a atitude e comportamento do consumidor em relação àsempresas socialmente responsáveis. A pesquisa foi feita através de entrevistas com questionários.Foram entrevistados mestrandos de uma universidade do RJ. Os resultados mostraram que eles têmuma atitude positiva em relação à compra socialmente responsável, mas o seu comportamento aindanão envolve essa prática. Porém os consumidores não estão satisfeitos com seu modo de comprar eacham que as empresas poderiam disponibilizar mais informações sobre suas ações socialmenteresponsáveis.
EL GERENTE DESCARTABLE: UN DILEMA ENTRE LA OPTIMIZACIÓN DE LA PRODUCTIVIDAD Y LA MINIMIZACIÓN DEL BIEN-ESTAR SOCIAL
Authors: Kasznar Istvan Karoy
Published: September 2018

Este artículo caracteriza y muestra una importante alternativa de contratación de trabajadores especializados, de buena formación superior, normalmente universitária, que se ven transformados envendedores, hazen parte de la fuerza de ventas y promueven en La realidad los resultados económicos y financieros empresariales que se buscan en políticas de Marketing. El autor muestra que motivadas por la busca de resultados inmediatos, numerosas instituciones financieras han optado por la contratación de una mano de obra que es predominantemente descartable.  Esto crea sequelas en las empresas, entre ellas la falta de fidelidad. Y en los sujetos descartados, puede producir efectos como desmotivación,depresión, y falta de cooperativismo con la empresa originalmente contratante.
A CONSOLIDAÇÃO DA MARCA ZONA SUL NO SEGMENTO DE SUPERMERCADOS: UM ESTUDO DE CASO
Authors: Cova Carlos José Guimarães , Araújo Erick Jacobina Ladewig de
Published: September 2018

O presente trabalho se propõe a apresentar os conceitos relativos à consolidação da marca, ou Brand,como elemento de diferenciação da concorrência e fundamento da estratégia corporativa.Preliminarmente apresentaremos os conceitos atinentes à relação do marketing com a estratégia demarca, bem como o processo decisório envolvendo o Brand. Em seguida faremos uma exposição dasprincipais ações que devem ser empreendidas para o estabelecimento do relacionamento com osclientes. Por fim, apresentamos o estudo de caso do Supermercado Zona Sul, como exemplo de sucessoda aplicação.
ADMINISTRAÇÃO DE POLÍTICAS EMERGENCIAIS DE SAÚDE. O CASO ARGENTINA E BRASIL E A PANDEMIA DA GRIPE SUÍNA (H1N1)
Authors: Kasznar Istvan Karoy
Published: September 2018

A gripe suína H1N1 é nível seis de gravidade e representa uma pandemia no mundo atual. Aoapresentar características mutagênicas, seu combate torna-se complexo e o esclarecimento públicomediante adequadas medidas de informação e comunicação pública é fundamental para dominar-sesua expansão e otimizar-se a administração das políticas públicas de saúde. Estudam-se neste âmbitoas atividades ocorridas, a tomar e em vias de adoção, pelas autoridades da vigilância sanitária, naArgentina e no Brasil, num processo de trabalho integrado e complementar.
AS VANTAGENS DE APRENDIZADO DO EMPREENDEDORISMO: UM ESTUDO DESDE O ENSINO DE BASE ATÉ O SUPERIOR
Authors: Cunha Robson Moreira , Soares Elisa Lemos , Fontanillas Carlos Navarro
Published: September 2018

O objetiva estimular a necessidade do ensino de empreendedorismo em sua abrangência e relevância a partir dos primeiros anos educacionais. Enfatiza-se esta necessidade através do entendimento de que características e competência peculiares aos empreendedores são importantes atodos, independente da área de atuação profissional ou mesmo não profissional. Necessita-se de pessoasque mudem a cultura brasileira, fazendo com que a afirmação de Tom Jobim “No Brasil, sucesso éofensa pessoal” deixe de ser verdadeira. Dessa maneira busca-se dar ênfase aos motivos pelos quais osempreendedores devam ser considerados como seres sociais tão especiais para o desenvolvimentoeconômico e social num contexto amplamente globalizado. São também apresentados dadosimportantes do GEM sobre o desenvolvimento do empreendedorismo no Brasil. Realça-se aimportância de órgãos estimuladores do empreendedorismo e educadores, que ajudam a garantir osucesso de muitos empreendimentos. Este artigo tem como base autores especializados no tema,empreendedorismo, e que através de seus estudos vêem sustentar esta proposta.
CULTURA ORGANIZACIONAL EM HOSPITAIS PRIVADOS DE NATAL/RN
Authors: Lucena Lidiane De Medeiros , Oliveira José Arimatés de
Published: September 2018

O presente trabalho teve como objetivo caracterizar a cultura organizacional dos hospitais, enfatizando as práticas e os valores organizacionais. A metodologia utilizada na pesquisa foi de caráter descritivo e explicativo. A pesquisa ocorreu através da aplicação do Instrumento Brasileiro para a Avaliação da Cultura Organizacional – IBACO, com 283 sujeitos distribuídos em três hospitais da rede privada de Natal/RN. As evidências encontradas pelo estudo foram analisadas através do software estatístico SPSS, com a técnica multivariada de análise fatorial. A partir dessa análise, foram obtidos cinco fatores distribuídos entre práticas e valores organizacionais, que foram: as práticas de recompensa e treinamento; integração externa e promoção do relacionamento interpessoal; e, os valores de satisfação, bem-estar e cooperação dos empregados e profissionalismo competitivo. De forma geral, a prática que mais se destacou foi a de recompensa e treinamento, enquanto o valor de destaque foi o de satisfação, bem-estar e cooperação dos empregados.
GESTÃO AMBIENTAL NA FORMAÇÃO DA IMAGEM CORPORATIVA: O CASO DAS AGÊNCIAS DO BANCO REAL EM CONSELHEIRO LAFAIETE/MG
Authors: Menezes Renata Giacomin , Dias Reinaldo
Published: September 2018

A crescente preocupação da sociedade com as questões ambientais tem levado as empresas a se preocuparem, cada vez mais, com o controle dos impactos ambientais através da implantação do Sistema de Gestão Ambiental. O presente trabalho busca analisar a gestão ambiental como ferramenta estratégica competitiva na formação da imagem corporativa e reforçar a importância das organizações adotarem práticas de preservação ambiental para melhor atender a empresa e a sociedade em que está inserida. O trabalho trata-se de um estudo de caso com a utilização da pesquisa de caráter exploratório com descrições qualitativas e quantitativas, pesquisa bibliográfica e documental, além do trabalho de campo composto de entrevistas estruturadas em questionários semi-fechados, com objetivo de analisar o comportamento do consumidor diante da imagem ambiental corporativa.
EMPREENDEDORISMO SOCIAL E ECONOMIA SOLIDÁRIA: O CASO DA COOPERATIVA DE AGENTES AUTÔNOMOS DE RECICLAGEM DE ARACAJU (CARE)
Authors: Teixeira Rivanda Meira , Schettino Gregório Cerqueira , Rodrigues Alisson Pinheiro , Mendes José Erivaldo
Published: September 2018

O objetivo desse estudo é analisar os principais obstáculos enfrentados pela Cooperativa de Agentes Autônomos de Reciclagem de Aracaju (CARE) para seu funcionamento. Procura-se delinear o perfil desse empreendimento e reconhecer a motivações de seu surgimento, identificar as formas de financiamento de suas atividades e por fim, apontar as dificuldades e os desafios encontrados nas suas operações. A estratégia de pesquisa adotada foi o estudo de caso único e as fontes de evidências originaram-se de fontes primárias e secundárias. Observou-se que no período inicial da formação da CARE as principais dificuldades enfrentadas foram o descrédito dos catadores no que concerne a proposta da cooperativa e a insuficiência de materiais recicláveis. Ao longo dos anos as dificuldades enfrentadas variam entre a carência de materiais para reciclagem e a falta de apoio efetivo da sociedade que não colabora com a coleta seletiva do lixo.
UMA ANÁLISE ESTRATÉGICA – ESTUDO DE CASO HSBC BRASIL
Authors: Rodrigues Elizabeth , Levrini Gabriel , Simões Mário
Published: September 2018

O presente trabalho faz uma análise estratégica da subsidiária do HSBC Holding no Brasil, no período de 2006 a 2009, para evidenciar como o banco conseguiu adaptar-se à nova realidade dos mercados em que opera. Também é feita uma análise das mudanças estratégicas que foram realizadas e, suas implicações no desempenho da empresa. O estudo baseou-se no ferramental GI de Macedo-Soares (2005), que contempla os construtos de Fahey & Randall (1998) e Hofer & Schendel (1978). Os resultados evidenciaram que o banco busca uma estratégia de posicionar-se globalmente, dando ênfase nos países em desenvolvimento, entretanto demonstra uma deficiência na circulação de informações estratégicas nos diversos níveis hierárquicos. Quanto aos processos de inovação, não foi evidenciado que o banco acompanhe as tecnologias inovadoras implantadas por seus concorrentes.
The tax system of the Russian Federation and its characteristics
Authors: Малкина Марина , Malkina Marina , Балакин Родион , Balakin Rodion
Published: September 2018

The monograph discusses theoretical, methodological and practical approaches to the assessment of the properties of tax systems. The theories and concepts of taxes, as well as empirical approaches to modeling the relationship between the parameters of the tax and economic system of the country are studied. On the example of the tax system of the Russian Federation in 2006-2017 such properties of tax systems as profitability, uniformity of taxation and risk are investigated in dynamics. The method of assessment of uneven taxation is proposed, on the basis of which the contribution of individual taxes and industries to interregional differences in the level of tax return in the Russian Federation is determined. The method of risk assessment and decomposition of the tax system using the portfolio approach of G. Markowitz and U. Sharpe is proposed. The application of this technique allowed to determine the contribution of different taxes, industries and regions to the risk of the tax system of the country and its regions, as well as to conduct a comparative risk assessment of tax systems of the Russian Federation in the distribution of tax revenues between the three levels of the budget system. The paper also proposes and tested a method of factor analysis of tax revenues in the Russian Federation, which allowed to assess the impact of inflation, economic growth, the overall level of tax return and its relative level in the regions on the growth of tax revenues in the Russian Federation and its subjects in 2006-2016. The monograph is of interest to the scientific and academic community, government and business.
Research into connection between spectral resonance structures and harmonics of ionospheric Alfvén resonator
Authors: Прикнер К. , Prikner K. , Фейгин Феликс , Feygin Feliks , Хабазин Юрий , Khabazin Yuriy
Published: September 2018

We present the results of modeling of the ionospheric Alfvén resonator (IAR) and compare the results of electromagnetic waves passing through IAR to Earth's surface with the dynamic spectrum of simultaneous observations of spectral resonance structures (SRS). IAR is simulated using ionospheric parameters obtained from measurements made with the CP-1 program of the Scandinavian EISCAT radar. The IAR model is employed to calculate coefficients of reflection RC(f) and transmission TC(f) of electromagnetic waves in the frequency range 0–5 Hz. The observed dynamic SRS spectrograms consist of spectral lines, in which frequencies, time variations of frequencies, and distances between adjacent resonant lines are confidently determined. The calculated frequencies of maxima of the signal transmission coefficient TC to Earth's surface correspond to the observed frequencies of the dynamic spectrum of SRS.
Analysis of electron density calculations using deterministic-probabilistic model of the ionospheric D-region
Authors: Беккер Сусанна , Bekker Susanna
Published: September 2018

The work is devoted to the development of a fundamentally new way of modeling the ionospheric D-region – deterministic-probabilistic. The results of Ne calculations using this technique are analyzed. Research of this kind is of fundamental importance, related to the rejection of a purely deterministic description of a continuously changing environment such as the ionosphere. In this work, the electron density is calculated using a five-component system of ionization-recombination cycle equations. Probability density functions (PDFs) of input parameters of the model are used to solve the system. The most important sources of the D-region ionization are taken into account to calculate PDFs of the ionization rate. The necessary number of iterations is determined by the convergence of PDFs of the electron density from 50 km to 85 km at midlatitudes under different heliogeophysical conditions. Theoretical Ne PDFs have been shown to be in good agreement with two experimental databases on electron density, especially at large D-region heights. The next important stage of modeling is the thorough verification of Ne PDFs from experimental radiophysical data on VLF–LF propagation.
Atmospheric effects of the cosmic-ray mu-meson component
Authors: Янчуковский Валерий , Yanchukovsky Valery , Кузьменко Василий , Kuzmenko Vasiliy
Published: September 2018

Variations in the intensity of cosmic rays observed in the depth of the atmosphere include the atmospheric component of the variations. Cosmic-ray muon telescopes, along with the barometric effect, have a significant temperature effect due to the instability of detected particles. To take into account atmospheric effects in muon telescope data, meteorological coefficients of muon intensity are found. The meteorological coefficients of the intensity of muons recorded in the depth of the atmosphere are estimated from experimental data, using various methods of factor analysis. The results obtained from experimental data are compared with the results of theoretical calculations.
First results of absolute measurements of solar flux at the Irkutsk Incoherent Scatter Radar (IISR)
Authors: Сетов Артём , Setov Artem , Глоба Мария , Globa Mariia , Медведев Андрей , Medvedev Andrey , Васильев Роман , Vasilyev Roman , Кушнарев Дмитрий , Kushnarev Dmitriy
Published: September 2018

The Irkutsk Incoherent Scatter Radar (IISR) allows us to carry out passive radio observations of the Sun and other powerful radio sources. We describe a method for absolute measurements of spectral flux density of solar radiation at IISR. Absolute measurements are meant to determine the flux density in physical units [W·m–2·Hz–1]. The IISR antenna is a horn with frequency beam steering, therefore radio sources can be observed at different frequencies. Also there is a polarization filter in the antenna aperture, which passes only single (horizontal) polarization. To acquire flux density absolute values, the IISR receiver is calibrated by the Cygnus-A radiation. Since the Sun’s position in the IISR antenna pattern is determined by a frequency differing from the Cygnus-A observation frequency, we perform an additional calibration of the antenna overall frequency response in the 154–162 MHz operation frequency range, using the background sky noise. The solar disk size is comparable with the main beam width in the north—south direction, hence the need to take into account the shape of the brightness distribution in the operation frequency range. The average flux density of the quiet-Sun radiation was ~5 sfu (solar flux units, 10–22 W·m–2·Hz–1) at the 161 MHz frequency.
Research into connection between spectral resonance structures and harmonics of ionospheric Alfvén resonator
Authors: Прикнер К. , Prikner K. , Фейгин Феликс , Feygin Feliks , Хабазин Юрий , Khabazin Yuriy
Published: September 2018

We present the results of modeling of the ionospheric Alfvén resonator (IAR) and compare the results of electromagnetic waves passing through IAR to Earth's surface with the dynamic spectrum of simultaneous observations of spectral resonance structures (SRS). IAR is simulated using ionospheric parameters obtained from measurements made with the CP-1 program of the Scandinavian EISCAT radar. The IAR model is employed to calculate coefficients of reflection RC(f) and transmission TC(f) of electromagnetic waves in the frequency range 0–5 Hz. The observed dynamic SRS spectrograms consist of spectral lines, in which frequencies, time variations of frequencies, and distanc-es between adjacent resonant lines are confidently de-termined. The calculated frequencies of maxima of the signal transmission coefficient TC to Earth's surface correspond to the observed frequencies of the dynamic spectrum of SRS.
Magnetospheric response of two types in PSc geomagnetic pulsations to interaction with interplanetary shock waves
Authors: Пархомов Владимир , Parhomov Vladimir , Бородкова Наталия , Borodkova Natalia , Яхнин Александр , Yahnin Aleksandr , Теро Райта , Tero Raita , Цэгмэд Б. , Tsegmed B. , Хомутов Сергей , Khomutov Sergey , Пашинин Александр , Pashinin Aleksandr , Чиликин Виталий , Chilikin Vitaliy , Мочалов Алексей , Mochalov Aleksey
Published: September 2018

Using the June 22, 2015 event as an example, we present new data confirming the presence of a precursor of the sudden magnetic impulse caused by a powerful interplanetary shock wave (ISW). The precursor in the form of a train of oscillations (broadband pulse) with a falling frequency in the range 0.25÷11 Hz with a duration of ~20 s, which had a spectral resonance structure, was recorded globally by a network of induc-tion magnetometers at 18:33:27 UT. No significant phase delays of the signals were detected in four fre-quency bands at widely spaced observatories. It is sug-gested that the impulse can be excited in the Earth — ionosphere waveguide by a pulsed electric field which occurs in the ionosphere due to the short-term impact of ISW on the magnetosphere.
Receiving antenna electrodynamic model in terms of waveguide representation of HF field
Authors: Хахинов Виталий , Khakhinov Vitaliy
Published: September 2018

The receiving antenna is an important part of a radio channel that requires electrodynamic approach in mathematical simulation of its characteristics. Since the invention of radio, and due to further theoretical studies of radio signal transmission, the following situation has arisen: researchers’ attention to receiving antennas is inversely proportional to the factor by which their number exceeds the number of transmitting antennas. We address the problem of building a receiving antenna electrodynamic model in terms of a waveguide representation of HF field. Structurally, the antenna is considered as metal wires of a finite length and arbi-trary configuration. Current distribution in antenna is calculated using the long-line theory and normal-mode approach. The mathematical representation of the receiving antenna electrodynamic model is calculation expressions for receiving coefficients of normal modes. They reflect the effects of receiving antenna characteristics, including its directional pattern, on ef-fectiveness of the incident HF field energy conversion into the energy of the driven current waves and final distribution of net current in antenna. These expressions are used to derive the expression to calculate the effective length of the receiving antenna.

The obtained mathematical expressions of the re-ceiving antenna electrodynamic model do not contradict the principle of antenna reciprocity.

We present calculation formulas for the receiving coefficients and excitation of the isotropic antenna electromagnetic model.
Photoprotective Effect Of Stilbenes And Its Derivatives against Ultraviolet Radiation-Induced Skin Disorders
Authors: Shelan Nagapan Tava , Rohi Ghazali Ahmad , Fredalina Basri Dayang , Nallance Lim Wenna
Published: September 2018

Ultraviolet radiation (UVR) from sunlight is an environmental human carcinogen. Skin exposure to UVR would increase the oxidative stress, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) damage, melanogenesis and photocarcinogenesis. Therefore, development of photoprotective agent is necessary in order to reduce the cutaneous toxicity. The use natural active compounds like stilbenes and its derivatives have gained attention as photoprotection to skin due to its broad biological activities such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti melanogenesis and chemoprevention. This review article aims to analyse the existing literature on the photoprotective effect of stilbenes and its derivatives which include the resveratrol, pterostilbene, piceatannol and oxyresveratrol on in vitro and in vivo studies. This article describes the stilbenes and its derivatives protect and prevent UVR induced skin disorders via the reduction of oxidative stress, alleviation of DNA damage, inhibition of melanogenesis and anti photocarcinogenic effect.
Medical Image Fusion: A Brief Introduction
Authors: Dogra Ayush , Goyal Bhawna , Agrawal Sunil
Published: September 2018

Digital images are an extremely powerful and widely used medium of communication. They are able to represent very intricate details about the world that surrounds us in a very easy, compact and readily available manner. Due to the innate advances in the acquisition devices such as bio-sensors and remote sensors, huge amount of data is accessible for the further processing and information extraction. The need to efficiently process this immense amount of information has given rise to the emergence of the popular disciplines like image processing, image analysis, and computer vision and image fusion. This article gives a brief insight into basic understanding and significance of image fusion.
Effect of Co Enzyme Q10 Alone or in Combination with Vitamin C on Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Brain Injury in Rats
Authors: A. El-Laithy Nabila , M.E. Mahdy Elsayed , R. Youness Eman , Shafee Nermeen , S.S. Mowafy Mohamed , M. Mabrouk Mahmoud
Published: September 2018

Our was to determine the impact of CoenzymeQ10 (Co Q10) and vitamin C alone or in combination on oxidative stress in brain tissue of rats during endotoxemia induced by single intraperitoneal dose of Lipopolysaccharide (LPS), 500µg/kg. Both CoQ10&vitamin C were given orally to rats with doses (200&100 mg/kg) respectively for 7successive days prior induction of endotoxemia .LPS injected, with Co Q10 with doses (100 &200 mg/kg) &vit. C (50&100 mg/kg).In addition CoQ10 and vitamin C together in doses (100&50 mg/kg) & (200&100 mg/kg) respectively were added to LPS-treated rats. Then euthanized 4 hours later. Histopathological assessment of brain tissue was done. Results: LPS injection induced oxidative stress in brain tissue, resulting in marked increase in malondiadehyde (MDA), nitrite (NO) and Amyloid beta (Aβ), while decreasing reduced glutathione (GSH), paraoxonase-1 (PON1) and brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF).CoQ10 and vit.C administration with doses(200&100 mg/ kg) before endotoxemia result in reduction of brain MDA, NO and Aβ, while increasing levels of GSH, PON1 and BDNF compared to controls. The addition of both Co Q10 &vit.C to LPS- treated rats lead to decrease of brain NO, MDA and Aβ, also increase of GSH, PON1 and BDNF. This effect was more obviouswith high doses, this due to the ameliorating effect of both CoQ10 and vit.C on oxidative stress of brain tissue during endotoxemia.This consisted with the histopathological results. Conclusion: this work focuses on the possible role of CoQ10 &vit.C as antioxidants in protecting brain tissue.
Molecular Docking and Drug-Likeness for the Identification of Inhibitory Action of Acetogenins from Annona muricata as Potential Anticancer against Hypoxia Inducible Factor 1 Alpha
Authors: I. Handayani Supri , Rahmiati Rahmiati , Rahmadi Lisnawati , Rosmalena Rosmalena , D. Prasasty Vivitri
Published: September 2018

Hypoxia inducible factor 1 alpha (HIF-1α) regulates cell growth and differentiation which is implicated in human cancers. HIF-1α activates its cascade carcinogenesis mechanism in cancer cells. It is well-understood that signaling is initiated by HIF-1α receptor. Overexpression of HIF-1α is associated with several different human cancers, including breast cancer, lung cancer and colon cancer. Thus, HIF-1α becomes potential target of therapeutic approach in developing HIF-1α inhibitors. The aim of this research is to investigate potential inhibitors which are known as Acetogenins (AGEs) isolated from Annona muricata against HIF-1α. In order to achieve this goal, chemical structures of all compounds were retrieved from PubChem database. Molecular docking was performed by AutoDock Vina program and the resulting binding modes were analyzed with AutoDock Tools program. Among all the compounds, murihexocin A showed the best binding modes compared to other two inhibitors based on the lowest binding energies (LBE = -7.9 kcal/mol) as high as gefitinib. This was indicating that murihexocin A has favorable interaction with the essential amino acid residues at catalytic site of HIF-1α. Drug-likeness calculation of AGEs were also performed. These in silico results could be beneficial as a compound model for further studies in-vitro and in-vivo.
A Novel Curvature - Norm Based Centroid Initialized and Morphologically Driven Distance Regularized Level Sets for Nuclear Segmentation in Histopathological Images
Authors: Shivamurthy P.M. , Nagabhushan T.N. , Basavaraj Vijaya
Published: September 2018

Nuclear pleomorphism is considered to be one of the most significant shape based feature adapted in grading the cancer through the pathological studies of the H&E stained tissue slides. Microscopic study of manually extracting the feature is highly laborious and misleads the pathologists during grading. Digitization of the slides has given rise to various segmentation approaches to extract the nuclei shape to assess the degree of pleomorphism. Here, a novel approach of initializing and evolving the distance regularized level sets (DRLS) for the detection and segmentation of the nuclei has been presented. In this work, two major objectives have been achieved. First, a novel geometric approach has been devised for the detection of centroids of each nuclei in the occluded region and second, a shape prior model has been presented for the extraction of gradient information through morphological operations. The multiple level set implementation of the DRLS contours are initialized using the centroids detected and driven through the gradient computed. The proposed method has been experimented over the images of benign and malignant breast cancer tissue obtained from BeakHis dataset. A quantitative analysis of the results have shown that a 97% of object detection accuracy and 78% of overlap resolution has been achieved through the proposed model. A comparative study with that of geodesic active contours have indicated an improvement in the segmentation accuracy measure of 9-10 pixel difference.
Simple Virilization Type of Classic Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia: Case Report
Authors: Pande Dwipayana I Made , Sudjana Karismayusa , Semadi Siswadi , Suastika Ketut , Ratna Saraswati Made , Gotera Wira
Published: September 2018

We have reported a case of 21 year old patient with congenital adrenal hyperplasia that manifestated with ambiguous genitalia and other signs of androgen excess. Chromosome analysis revealed 46 XX. Laboratory examination and imaging showed high level of 17-hydroxyprogesterone, undeveloped uterus, two ovaries with follicles, no testicles, no prostate, and mass at upper side of both kidney with irregular border confirmed the diagnosis. It was planned to give glucocorticoid therapy to the patient to suppress androgen level, genital reconstruction surgery and psychosexual therapy to reared as a woman, but she refused all suggestions because she wanted to be considered a man.
Evaluation of Anticancer Activity of Olmesartan and Ramipril On A549 Cell Line
Authors: Gayathri E , Punnagai K. , Chellathai D. Darling
Published: September 2018

Angiotensin Converting Enzyme Inhibitor (ACEI) and Angiotensin II type 1 receptor antagonist (ARBs) are the most efficient cardiovascular drugs and exhibited efficient cytostatic activity in vitro in many malignant and normal cells1.OBJECTIVE: This study aims to assess the anticancer activity of these two drugs in a dose dependant manner using A549 cell line through MTT assay and Cell cycle analysis.. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ramipril and Olmesartan were added to A549 at various concentrations ranging from 10⁻⁶ to 10mM.The dot plot of the cytotoxicity results were used to extrapolate the IC50 values. The dot plot of flow cytometry results were used to extrapolate the DNA percentage in phases of cell cycle. The plates were read at 570 nm by using a PERCLIN ELMER (multimode reader). Measurements for concentration required for 50% inhibition was noted. RESULTS: Ramipril and Olmesartan were added to A549 at various concentrations ranging from 10⁻⁶ to 10mM.The dot plot of the cytotoxicity results were used to extrapolate the IC50 values. The dot plot of flow cytometry results were used to extrapolate the DNA percentage in phases of cell cycle.
Zingiber Officinale Alleviates Maternal and Fetal Hepatorenal Toxicity Induced by Prenatal Cadmium
Authors: S. Abd El-Aziz Gamal , N. Mustafa Hesham , Abdulraouf Saleh Hamid , M.O. El-Fark2 Magdy
Published: September 2018

This study was designed to address the protective effects of Zingiber officinale on the toxic outcomes of prenatal Cadmium administration on pregnancy outcome. Pregnant female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into four groups (eight rats/each), control group received distilled water, 2nd group treated with 8.8 mg of CdCl2/kg b. wt, 3rd group treated with 250 mg of Zingiber officinale/kg b. wt, and 4th group treated with 250 mg of Zingiber officinale/kg b. wt, followed by 8.8 mg of CdCl2/kg b.wt. Daily body weight of pregnant was recorded from GD1-GD20, and then pregnant rats were sacrificed at GD20. Samples of maternal and fetal livers and kidneys were processed for histological examination. Administration of Cd to pregnant rats showed adverse effects on pregnant mothers and their fetuses; reduced maternal weight gain, reduced absolute organ weights, reduced fetal growth parameters and placental weights together with altered histological appearance of the maternal and fetal livers and kidneys. While co-administration of Zingiber officinale showed an improvement of these toxic alterations. Zingiber officinale through its antioxidant activity could be beneficial against toxic outcomes of Cd exposure during pregnancy.
The Significance of Spermidine and Spermine in Association with Atherosclerosis in Sera of Iraqi Patients
Authors: A.Ibrahim Suhad , A. Zainulabdeen Jwan , M. Jasim Hameed
Published: September 2018

This study aims to determine the relationship between spermidine (SPD) and spermine (SPM) with the incidence of atherosclerosis in population of Iraqi patients in comparison with controls. A total of 128 atherosclerosis patients (64 male and 64 female) were included in the present study (aged 45-70 years). They were categorized into two groups: a group that underwent percutaneous coronary intervention catheterization (PCI) and a group that underwent diagnostic catheterization (DIG). 64 age matched, apparently healthy individuals (showing no symptoms of heart disease) of both men and women were also included in the control group (C). Sera were used as samples of the present study; the main measurements included SPD and SPM levels using the HPLC method. Results showed that serum levels of SPD were 631.53 ± 35.637, and 540.49 ± 44.564µg/ml in PCI and DIG patients, respectively. These levels showed significant increases (p˂0.001) when compared to their levels (29.162 ± 6.151µg/ml) in sera of healthy controls. On the other hand, the SPM levels were (159.98 ± 15.981, and 169.85 ±14.606 µg/ml) in PCI and DIG patients, respectively, which also show significant increases (p˂0.001) when compared with the SPM levels (24.26 ± 4.613 µg/ml) in the control group. Moreover, the changes in SPD and SPM levels differed significantly (p˂0.001, and p˂0.05, respectively) according to gender in patient groups. Moreover, it was found that there were positive correlations between sera levels of SPD and SPM in atherosclerosis patients with the levels of white blood cells (WBC) (r=0.58, p˂0.05, r=0.55, p˂0.05), neutrophils (r=0.54, p˂0.05, r=0.51, p˂0.05), lymphocytes (r=0.46, p˂0.05, r=0.48, p˂0.05) and red blood cells (RBC) (r=0.43, p˂0.05, r=0.60, p˂0.01). These results demonstrated that SPD and SPM levels were altered in sera of atherosclerosis patients when compared with the control group. In addition, the data indicated that these patients’ gender played a role in their levels. Generally, correlations were observed among the SPD and SPM levels, the white blood cell differential, and the red blood cells in the sera of atherosclerosis patients.
Oral Health Related Quality Of Life with Mandibular Resection Prosthesis
Authors: Kalaignan Parithimar , Shree Mohan Jaya
Published: September 2018

Cancers of the orofacial region can be devastating in their impact on physical structure and function of the affected individual, leading to potentially severe compromises in quality of life. A total of Twenty (20) mandibular resected patients were selected for this study. All the patients’ were rehabilitated with mandibular resection prosthesis. Novel scale known as Maxillofacial Prosthesis Performance Scale (MFPPS) was developed for mandibulectomy patients to assess the oral health related quality of life. This scale has been tested for validity and reliability. The OHRQol was measured using the oral health impact profile (OHIP-Edent-19), Obturator functioning scale (OFS-15) and Maxillofacial Prosthesis Performance Scale (MFPPS-10) with standardized questionnaire after 2 weeks & 3months of prosthesis function for twenty (20) mandibular resected patients. For OHIP –Edent scale; when comparing 2 weeks, all subscale scores shown significant progress on oral health impact profile-Edent scale after 3 months of prosthesis function. For OFS scale; when observing the score of 2 weeks and 3 months, there was dramatic improvement of (75%) in miscellaneous factors which include Problems in dryness of mouth, engagement in social events and obturator positioning. For MFPPS; all rehabilitated patients’ were observed two weeks later, negative impacts have been eliminated and positive impacts increased on oral health. The patient was reviewed again 3months later and confirming an even higher level of overall satisfaction with the Mandibular Resection Prosthesis. The maxillofacial prosthesis had a strong positive impact on quality of life .Hence mandibular resection prosthesis enhance the oral health related quality of life.
Physiological Features of Platelets in Milk and Vegetable Nutrition Piglets
Authors: E. S. Tkacheva
Published: September 2018

A very important mechanism for maintaining homeostasis in the animal body is platelet hemostasis. The level of his activity very strongly determines the rheology of blood in the capillaries and due to this the state of metabolism in the tissues. There is reason to believe that the growth and development of piglets depends on the level of functional activity of platelets. For this reason, studies of the age-related dynamics of platelet activity in piglets during early ontogeny are of great importance. In the study, it was established that piglets of milk and vegetal nutrition showed an increase in the adhesive, aggregation and secretory capacity of platelets. The main reason for this may be an intensification of the work of receptor and postreceptor mechanisms of platelets. This was characteristic of piglets during dairy and plant nutrition in the same degree with respect to strong and weak inducers of platelet aggregation. At the base of the revealed increase in the activity of platelets in piglets throughout the course of the observation, the increase in the synthesis of thromboxane in platelets was largely due to the increase in the activity of cyclooxygenase and thromboxane synthetase in them and activation of the secretion of ADP from them. The increase in hemostatic activity of platelets in piglets during the phase of milk and plant nutrition should be considered an important regulator of their microcirculation and metabolism in tissues under changing conditions of existence.
Comparison of pH Levels of the Saliva before and after the Consumption of Cough Syrups in Children
Authors: H. Dave Pavithra , Gurunathan Deepa , Sudhan Vasantharajan Madhu
Published: September 2018

Pediatric syrup formulations have been used for a long time in medicine. Cough syrups and other liquid medications are available easily and widely accepted by the children. The high intake of oral medications can be the causative factor for dental erosion and decay. Hence the aim of this study is to compare the efficacy in the pH levels of the saliva before and after the consumption of cough syrups. The study included 50 volunteer children. Children were recruited from the general medicine ward at Saveetha Medical College and Hospitals. Criteria for inclusion are candidates to be completely recovered within 5 days from upper respiratory tract infections such as common cold, cough and asthma. Children not recovering for more than 5 days and with other bacterial infections such as pneumonia, tuberculosis and other chronic respiratory ailments were excluded from the study. Prior to the study, its essence was explained to participants and their parents so that they could provide an informed consent. The collected data were analysed with IBM.SPSS statistics software version 23.0 (2009) to describe about the data descriptive statistics frequency analysis. To find the significant difference between the bivariate samples in Paired groups the Paired sample t-test was used. The pH levels before the consumption of cough syrups was found to be 7.09 and after consumption was 6.86 and the significant p value was calculated to be 0.0002 thus being statistically significant. The present study finds a significant drop in salivary pH level following the intake of cough syrup, which makes them a risk factor for the development of dental caries, and especially in childhood.
Virtual Screening of Drug Likeness using Tree Based Ensemble Classifier
Authors: Ani R. , Manohar Roshini , Anil Gayathri , Deepa O.S.
Published: September 2018

In earlier years, the Drug discovery process took years to identify and process a Drug. It takes a normal of 12 years for a Drug to travel from the research lab to the patient. With the introduction of Machine Learning in Drug discovery, the whole process turned out to be simple. The utilization of computational tools in the early stages of Drug development has expanded in recent decades. A computational procedure carried out in Drug discovery process is Virtual Screening (VS). VS are used to identify the compounds which can bind to a Drug target. The preliminary process before analyzing the bonding of ligand and drug protein target is the prediction of drug likeness of compounds. The main objective of this study is to predict Drug likeness properties of Drug compounds based on molecular descriptor information using Tree based ensembles. In this study, many classification algorithms are analyzed and the accuracy for the prediction of drug likeness is calculated. The study shows that accuracy of rotation forest outperforms the accuracy of other classification algorithms in the prediction of drug likeness of chemical compounds. The measured accuracies of the Rotation Forest, Random Forest, Support Vector Machines, KNN, Decision Tree and Naïve Bayes are 98%, 97%, 94.8%, 92.8%, 91.4%, 89.5% respectively.
Biomedical Prediction of Radial Size of Powdered Element using Artificial Neural Network
Authors: Gehlot Yaagyanika , Sharma Bhairvi , Muthu P. , Muthusamy Hariharan , Latha S.
Published: September 2018

Silver nitrous aqueous solution is used to biosynthesize Silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) through a green and easy way using tuber powder extracts of Curcuma Longa (C. longa). The aim is to model an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) using seven existing algorithms in MATLAB for forecasting the size of the silver nanoparticle with volume of both C. longa extraction and AgNO3, time of stirring and temperature of reaction as input functions. Several techniques including Quasi-Newton, Conjugate Gradient and Levenberg-Maquardt are employed for training the designed ANN model, a feed-forward backpropagation network with different combinations of architecture and transfer functions. Each algorithm is fashioned to obtain the best performance by calculating the Regression (R), Mean Square Error (MSE), Mean Absolute Error (MAE) and Error Sum of Squares (SSE), thereby comparing the results and propounding the optimum algorithm technique for the discussed application in nanoengineering. Finally, based on the findings, the optimum network is proposed through the simulation results.
To Evaluate Self-Reported Oral Health Attitudes, Behavior and to Compare the Oral Health Attitudes among Students of Different Years of a Dental School in South-India
Authors: Madhan Kumar Seenivasan , Jeyapalan Karthigeyan , Maheswari Mani Uma , Natarajan Parthasarathy , Natarajan Shanmuganathan , Anand Kumar V.
Published: September 2018

To evaluate self-reported oral health attitudes, behavior and compare the oral health attitudes among a group of dental students of different years in India. Four hundred dental students from first year to internship of the undergraduate dental course of Faculty of Dental Sciences, Sri Ramachandra Medical College and Research Institute, Chennai were surveyed and a modified HU-DBI survey was administered to all of them. The questionnaire consists of 28 questions with yes or no responses, where the first 25 questions were related to oral health attitudes and the last three questions dealt with smoking habits of the subjects. The responses were tabulated and statistically analyzed using IBM SPSS software version 19.0. Highly significant results were obtained with respect to oral hygiene in both males and females indicative of good oral hygiene practices. The general trends for answering indicate that both males and female dental students showed a high degree of awareness and competence in all four sub sections of the questionnaire, namely oral health attitude, oral hygiene, self-reported oral health and smoking. This result was highly significant for most questions. Dental hygiene and dental hygiene practices among dental students in this South Indian population show an improvement among dental students from year to year. No significant differences were seen between male and female dental students.
Comparison of Efficacy of Diclofenac and Paracetamol as Preemptive Analgesic Agent
Authors: Thenarasu Vinishdharma , Gurunathan Deepa , Santhosh Kumar M.P.
Published: September 2018

Extraction of teeth has been a common, routine dental procedure done in clinics which may lead to moderate to severe pain postoperatively. Any pain postoperatively may cause a discomfort in particpants and affects their routine lifestyle. Preemptive analgesics plays an important role in reducing postoperative pain and distress associated with painful dental procedures. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are one of the treatment options to be used as pain relief for surgical teeth extraction. Wherelse, another commonly prescribed drug over-the-counter is Paracetamol. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the analgesic effect of both the drug as an preemptive analgesia. This study is a double blind , clinical trial. Twenty particpants were randomised into two group. Group A receiving Paracetamol (500mg) and Group B receiving Diclofenac (100mg) orally, 30 minute before the extraction is done. The pain intensity and the duration of the analgesia is evaluated using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS). Patient who were given Diclofenac (100mg) show a higher analgesic effect compare to Paracetamol (500mg).However, the analgesic effect in patient received Diclofenac is much more longer then patient received Paracetemol. Two different drug has been used in this study to evaluate their efficacy as an preemptive analgesic and it can be concluded that Diclofenac is more effective then Paracetamol as an preemptive analgesia.
Classification of Breast Lesions using Modified Masood Score and Neural Network
Authors: Nandish Manoli Sonali , Raj Ulle Anand , Nandini N.M. , Rekha T.S.
Published: September 2018

In this paper, we propose a novel method to classify Breast Lesions based on minute changes in the cell and nuclear features of the cell. It is important to note these changes as they play a significant role in diagnosis and the line of treatment by an oncologist. To overcome the problem of inter-observer variability the method of scoring is used to grade the lesions considered for the study. We have used the Modified Masood Score and designed an algorithm which classifies a given breast lesion into 6 classes namely Benign, Intermediate class-1,Intermediate class-2, Malignant class-1,Malignant class-2 and Malignant class-3. We have developed a sensitive model using the feed-forward neural network and Pattern Network to achieve the above objective. The Rank of the features is observed using ReliefF Algorithm.
Mirror, mirror, on the wall
Authors: Keogh Kenneth
Published: September 2018

A hernia repair consultation leads our Associate Editor to take some time to reflect.
Learning by doing: ‘Working out’ in craft research
Authors: Gill Kathryn
Published: September 2018

As part of a conservation and access project, the author was asked to replicate a set of rare thread-wrapped coat buttons that proved to be of a previously undocumented form. Using knowledge of the technologies of historic textiles and upholstery and extensive experience of image-based documentation, the thread-wrapping of the buttons was reconstructed through a process characterized as ‘learning by doing’. This involved: studying the surviving buttons and button fragments; working with large-scale images of the buttons to analyse possible wrapping sequences; making large-scale models to study the effects of thread-wrapping in practice; and finally, having worked-out (literally and metaphorically) the wrapping techniques, making appropriately sized buttons for a replica of a coat dated circa 1700. This paper demonstrates how knowledge creation (replicating the button-wrapping technique and the thread-wrapped buttons) was achieved by a dialectical process of manual discovery, comparison with published sources, and evaluation and adjustment ‘in the hand’.
Book Reviews
Authors: Baines Elizabeth , Devane Emily
Published: September 2018

Conradology: A Celebration of the Work of Joseph Conrad, Becky Harrison and Magda Raczyńska (eds) (2017)

Manchester: Comma Press, 209 pp.,

ISBN 978-1-91097-433-9, p/bk, £9.99

Four voices: Recent short story collections

The Missing Girl, Jacqueline Doyle (2017)

New York: Black Lawrence Press, 31 pp.,

ISBN 978-1-62557-983-6, p/bk, $8.95

The Liars’ Asylum, Jacob M. Appel (2017)

New York: Black Lawrence Press, 168 pp.,

ISBN 978-1-62557-975-1, p/bk, $16.95

Mothers, Chris Power (2018)

London: Faber & Faber, 304 pp.,

ISBN 978-0-57133-968-6, h/bk, £10

Dazzling the Gods, Tom Vowler (2018)

London: Unbound, 240 pp.,

ISBN 978-1-78352-398-6, p/bk, £8.99