bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Formulation and development of floating multiple-unit minitablets of Nimodipine without using a gas-generating agent: in vitro and in vivo characterization
Authors: Panda M. , Rao M. E. B. , Patra C. N. , Panda J. , Panigrahi K. C. , Patro G. 
Published: February 2020

Abstract
Background
Floating drug delivery systems have been reported for different active pharmaceutical ingredients as single-unit tablets with gas-generating agents. In this present research, the formulation of floating multiple-unit minitablets of Nimodipine without using gas-generating agent was attempted with an objective of increased residence time, sustain-release and improved oral bioavailability. Solid dispersion with different ratios (1:0.5, 1:1, 1:1.5, 1:2, 1:2.5) of drug with the lipophilic carrier such as Compritol ATO 888, Gelucire 43/01, G39/01 and Precirol ATO 05 was formulated using melt granulation technique. The adsorbent Sylysia 350 to lipophilic carrier is maintained at 1:1. The granules were compressed into minitablets weighing 15 mg and were filled into a ‘0’ size capsule.

Results
Differential scanning calorimetry study justified no interaction of the drug with excipients. The formulations which exhibited desirable flow property, floating lag time less than 1 min and floating time of 12 h were further characterized for various post-compression parameters. The optimized single-dose (capsule) of floating multiple-unit minitablets of Nimodipine consisting of 60 mg of drug, 120 mg of G43/01 and 120 mg of Sylysia 350 showed an average of floating lag time within 24.48 s, floating time of 14.32 h and sustained-release up to 12 h. Pharmacokinetic study of the optimized formulation (F9) showed nearly 2.5 times increase in area under the curve with increased residence time in comparison to aqueous suspension of Nimodipine. The stability study revealed no significant change in various parameters before and after storage.

Conclusion
Hence, gelucire 43/01-based multiple-unit minitablets of Nimodipine can be considered a promising approach for sustaining the drug release with gastric retention for 12 h without using gas-generating agent.
Seismic attribute and petrophysics-assisted interpretation of the Nanushuk and Torok Formations on the North Slope, Alaska
Authors: Bhattacharya Shuvajit , Verma Sumit 
Published: February 2020

Exploration of the Brookian sandstone reservoirs in the Nanushuk and Torok Formations on the North Slope of Alaska is a hot topic and presents opportunities to the oil and gas community because of their shallow depth, vast extent, and scope of development. The consecutive hydrocarbon discoveries announced by Repsol-Armstrong, Caelus Energy, and ConocoPhillips in 2015, 2016, and 2017 have indicated the presence of the vast recoverable resources on the North Slope in the Nanushuk and Torok reservoirs. We have investigated the detailed geophysical and petrophysical characteristics of these reservoirs. Our goal is to detect dominant geologic features in these formations using a combination of seismic attributes at the regional scale and analyze critical petrophysical and rock physics properties to evaluate formation heterogeneities and identify the reservoir targets by integrating well log and core data at the well scale. The Nanushuk Formation is expressed as topset reflections, whereas the Torok and gamma-ray zone formations are expressed as foresets and bottomsets on the seismic reflection data. Using seismic attributes, we mapped the extent of different geomorphological features, including shelf edges, channels, slides, and basin-floor fans, all with significant amplitude anomalies. The shelf edges continue for tens to hundreds of miles along the north/northwest and east–west directions, depending on the areas. The internal characters of these formations delineated by conventional well logs and advanced petrophysical analysis reveal their vertical heterogeneities and complexities, in terms of reservoir properties. We conclude that the reservoirs are vertically and laterally heterogeneous. These are thin-bedded low-resistivity reservoirs. Only a few zones in the parasequences are oil-saturated. We find that a combination of low [Formula: see text] ratio and acoustic impedance can be a useful proxy to detect the hydrocarbon-bearing sand intervals in these formations.
Effectiveness of Trastuzumab for Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2–Positive Breast Cancer in a Real-Life Setting: One Decade of Experience Under National Treatment Coverage Regulations
Authors: Camejo Natalia , Castillo Cecilia , Alonso Rafael , Correa Fernando , Rivero Emiliano , Mezquita Camila , Rosich Agustin , Dellacasa Fiamma , Silveira Luciana , Delgado Lucía 
Published: February 2020

PURPOSE Trastuzumab has shown an overall survival (OS) benefit in patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)–positive breast cancer (BC), in both the adjuvant and the metastatic setting. We assessed the effectiveness of trastuzumab in patients treated in daily practice according to national treatment coverage protocols and compared our results with those reported by randomized clinical trials. These coverage protocols included patient selection criteria similar to those of those clinical trials and were developed by the Uruguayan National Resource Fund (FNR), the agency that has funded these prescriptions for more than a decade. PATIENTS AND METHODS We included all patients with HER2-positive BC treated with trastuzumab under FNR coverage approved between January 1, 2006, and December 31, 2016. The source of data was the FNR database, and primary outcome was OS, analyzed through Cox proportional hazards regression analysis. RESULTS A total of 1,944 women were included: 1,085 women (55.8%) were postmenopausal and 1,240 (63.7%) had HER2 and hormone receptor–positive BC. Trastuzumab was administered as adjuvant therapy to 1,233 patients (63.5%), of whom 154 also received it as a neoadjuvant treatment. Three hundred nineteen patients (16.4%) received trastuzumab for advanced disease. Five-year OS in the adjuvant setting was 86.4% (95% CI, 84.0% to 88.7%). The median survival of patients with advanced BC was 25.1 months (95% CI, 10.1 to 42.5 months). CONCLUSION Our survival results are not inferior to those reported in clinical trials, in both adjuvant and advanced settings. Importantly, these results support the relevance and the feasibility of treating patients in routine practice, following coverage protocols based on patient selection criteria and methods supported by positive clinical trials. In addition, these results favor quality and appropriate access to BC treatment in our country.
Relationship between CNR and visibility of anatomical structures of cone-beam computed tomography images under different exposure parameters
Authors: Wang Miss Fei , Xie Xiaoyan , Li Gang , Zhang Zuyan 
Published: February 2020

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the image quality of cone beam CT (CBCT) under different exposure parameters and the relationship between contrast-to-noise and visibility of eight anatomical structures. Methods: CBCT images for the evaluation of subjective image quality were acquired on an anthropopathic phantom containing a human skeleton embedded in soft tissue equivalent materials using 25 exposure protocols. Visibility of eight anatomical structures was evaluated by five independent observers. Using the SEDENTEXCT IQ Image Quality phantom, the contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) was calculated by ImageJ software. Results: A reduction on the visibility of anatomical structures was seen under lower exposure parameters. However, for 84% of the protocols, visibility of anatomical structures remained acceptable even under some lower parameter settings. As CNR increased, the visibility of anatomical structures also increased correspondingly. A change point could be found in the CNR interval 29.42–36.51 after which the visibility of anatomical structures no longer increases with the increase of CNR. Conclusions: Although CNR decrease under a lower exposure parameter, the image quality often remained acceptable at exposure levels below the manufacture’s recommended settings. It is possible to standardize subjective image quality by physical factors. Currently, it is not possible to predetermine a change point CNR value due to different CBCT machine and variation of diagnostic tasks.
A study of the N=28 neutron shell via g-factor measurements in neutron-rich Cl isotopes
Authors: De Rydt M. , Neyens G. , Mertzimekis T. J. , E513 Collaboration at GANIL For the 
Published: February 2020

A series of g-factor measurements in the Cl isotopes created as secondary radioactive beams at intermediate energies and employing the β-NMR technique have been recently carried out at GANIL. The results attempt to shed light on several open questions for the ground state properties of Cl isotopes, located just off the very interesting region of the island of inversion. Preliminary experimental results are presented and compared to shell-model calculations around N=28.
Scintillation index and BER performance for optical wave propagation in anisotropic underwater turbulence under the effect of eddy diffusivity ratio
Authors: Xu Guanjun , Lai Jiahui 
Published: February 2020

Underwater optical communication has been a promising technology but is severely affected by underwater turbulence due to the resulting fluctuations in the index of refraction. In this paper, a revised spatial power spectrum model is obtained that considers the refraction index to be a function of the eddy diffusivity ratio, assuming the underwater turbulence is anisotropic. The scintillation indices for both plane and spherical waves that propagate in underwater turbulence are derived based on this model. Thereafter, the performance of an optical communication system, i.e., the outage probability and bit error rate, with the associated aperture averaging effect is considered. The simulation results demonstrate that temperature-induced and salinity-induced turbulence have distinct influences on the scintillation index and consequently result in different system performances. In addition, the variation in the eddy diffusivity ratio in some intervals induces more complicated results for underwater optical communication. Moreover, the effect of the receiver aperture diameter on the aperture averaging factor is presented in anisotropic underwater turbulence. Such an effect is more obvious in the plane wave case than in the spherical wave case. These results can find potential application in the engineering design of optical communication systems in an underwater environment.
Mappila literature as a paradigm for countercultures: Reading Moinkutty Vaidyar in context
Authors: Hameed Abdullah Abdul 
Published: February 2020

Abstract
Recent studies on Mappila literature revisit Mappila culture in an attempt to understand the 'Mappila Muslim' beyond earlier representations by colonial and nationalist scholarship. Mappila literature is studied as a paradigm for understanding traditions of dissent and resistance by indigenous communities in colonized contexts. This article positions Mappila poet Moinkutty Vaidyar in a lineage of Mappila writings of resistance in Arabic, Arabimalayalam and Malayalam, and studies Vaidyar's works as a continuum of Mappila counterculture while also placing him as a link between two distinct eras in Kerala's literary history through synchronic and diachronic reading of Malayalam literary history. It critically explores the reasons behind marginalization of Mappila literature by mainstream academic studies until the early years of twenty-first century. While considering Moinkutty Vaidyar as a continuum of the Mappila counterculture, this research also presents a case for Vaidyar as an anti-orthodox social reformer, a secular thinker, a successor of the pāttu and bhakti traditions, a harbinger of romanticism and modernism in Kerala's literature and finally as the creative genius who created a new linguistic and literary landscape for Mappila society.
Why did Qajar elites become such enthusiastic patrons of ta'zīyah? A simple question with a complex answer
Authors: Aghaie Kamran Scot 
Published: February 2020

Abstract
The Qajar elites of Iran used various Shi'i religious rituals to bolster their legitimacy, but ta'zīyah was the Qajar ritual par excellence. This article argues for the key role played by the following factors. First, the relationship between the Qajar elites and the elite ulamā was often contentious. Second, since the ulamā controlled most religious spaces and rituals, it was difficult for the Qajar elites to sponsor rituals independently of the ulamā, and third, since the ulamā had conflicting and ambivalent attitudes towards certain Shi'i rituals, because of the practices of dressing up and representing holy Shi'i persons (including males dressing up as female characters), and because of the injurious aspects of rituals like qamah zanī and zanjīr zanī. Finally, hierarchies of status within the ulamā developed throughout the Qajar period, following the victory of the Ūsūlīs over the Akhbārīs in Iraq and Iran. A combination of these factors meant that the highest-ranking ulamā typically did not sponsor rituals like ta'zīyah, which provided a unique opportunity for Qajar elites to promote their legitimacy, with relative independence from the elite ulamā.
Contesting authentic Islam: Ahlul Quran movements and performance of debates in the religious sphere of Kerala
Authors: Shafeeque K. P. Abdul 
Published: February 2020

Abstract

Ahlul Quran movements introduced the debates on the question of the authority of tradition as the second source of Islamic knowledge and critiqued the existing notions of Islam among the Malabar Muslims in Kerala. These intra-Islamic factions attempted to reinterpret Islam according to their interpretations solely based on the Quran and developed their take on what constitutes 'authentic Islam'. This article uses Ahlul Quran as a generic term for the two main Ahlul Quran movements that developed in the Malabar Coast during the early and late half of the twentieth century. These two movements were the Ahlul Quran movement of Pazhayangadi by B. Kunjahamed Haji and Khuran Sunnath Society of Abul Hasan (popularly known as Chekanur Moulavi). They initiated numerous oral debates and discussions with various Islamic groups existing in the Malabar region such as Sunnis, Mujahids, Ahmediyyas and Jamaat-e-Islami, challenging and contesting different notions of 'authentic Islam'. Along with oral debates, it also gave birth to textual contestations, with voluminous books, articles and pamphlets challenging each other. This article traces the intra-religious debates that developed among the Malabar Muslims after the emergence of Ahlul Quran thoughts. It analyses how the existing Islamic groups upholding different versions of 'authentic Islam' in the Malabar region, located in the northern part of Kerala, South India, challenged the growth of these Ahlul Quran movements. In short, during the numerous debates and contestations that happened between the Islamic groups within the Malabar region the article explores how these debates are a constant performance of Islam and its tradition.
Polemical encounters: Ambedkar and Savarkar on Muslim performativity
Authors: Ismailee Sania 
Published: February 2020

Abstract
The concept of Muslim performativity and the perception of the image of an ordinary Muslim are the central themes of this article. It outlays V. D. Savarkar's and B. R. Ambedkar's views on Muslim performativity – performance of Muslimness or Islamic religiosity. It primarily engages with Savarkar's Essentials of Hindutva (1923) and Ambedkar's Pakistan or the Partition of India ([1945] 2013) and extracts their comments on Muslimness with reference to Muslim invasions and alleged divided loyalty. Apart from highlighting the convergences and divergences in their views on Muslim performativity, it describes their debate as performance. Further, this article argues that a hangover of Savarkarite and Ambedkarite comments on Muslim performativity permeates through the legal production of the Muslim community. By discussing the Muslim community's multifarious attempts to reform family law, this essay engages with the lived reality of Muslim performativity to stress the heterogeneity of Muslimness. By posing the lived reality of Muslim performativity against the dominant discourse in the aforementioned thinkers' works, it contributes a novel approach towards the conceptualization of performativity and departs from Judith Butler's concept of performativity.
Determinants of Support for Climate Change Efforts in the Global South
Authors: Adugu Emmanuel 
Published: February 2020

This paper addresses determinants that underpin support for climate change efforts. The study is based on Pew Research Center (USA), Spring 2015 Global Attitudes survey dataset, with a primary focus on climate change, collected from March 25 to May 27, 2015. Drawing on the new ecological paradigm and ecological modernization perspectives, the paper utilizing logistic regression, examines the relationship between individuals’ perception or awareness of the severity of climate change and their support for limiting greenhouse emissions; the extent to which individuals’ views on whether developing countries should do as much as the rich countries in addressing climate change predict the likelihood of their (individuals’) support for limiting greenhouse emissions. The logistic regression models reveal that people’s rational insight into the following consequences of climate change positively predicts support for limiting greenhouse emissions: severe weather like floods or severe storms; long periods of unusually hot weather; rising sea levels; years of schooling and age positively predict support for limiting greenhouse emissions. In general, knowing an individual’s country of residence offers no predictive value in determining whether the individual will support limiting greenhouse emissions. The notable exceptions are: South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya. These four countries display positive and statistically significant coefficients in the logistic regression model predicting support for greenhouse emissions. Keywords: climate change; environmental concern; greenhouse emissions; ecological crisis; Africa
Therapeutic drug monitoring of anti-epileptic drugs – a clinical verification of volumetric absorptive micro sampling
Authors: Canisius Thierry P.I.J.M. , Soons J.W.P. Hans , Verschuure Pauline , Wammes-van der Heijden Emmeke A. , Rouhl Rob P.W. , Majoie H.J. Marian 
Published: February 2020

Abstract

Background
Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) can serve as a valuable tool in optimising and individualising epilepsy treatment, especially in vulnerable groups such as pregnant women, the elderly and children. Unfortunately, TDM is often performed suboptimally due to limitations in blood collection. Therefore, we investigated volumetric absorptive micro sampling (VAMS) – a new home-sampling technique. We aimed to evaluate VAMS to determine and quantify the different AEDs and concentrations of 16 different AEDs in whole blood collected by VAMS.

Methods
Patient blood samples (n = 138) were collected via venepunctures at the Academic Centre for Epileptology Kempenhaeghe. AED concentrations were determined, and these concentrations were used to compare the VAMS method (whole blood) with the conventional method (serum). In addition, the recovery was examined as well as the impact of haematocrit. Finally, AED-spiked blood was used to test the stability of the AEDs inside the micro-sampler devices over a period of time and whether temperature had an effect on the stability.

Results
VAMS allows for an accurate detection of 16 different AEDs within 2 days after sampling. Deviation in recovery was less than 10% and high correlations were found between VAMS and conventional sampling. Moreover, haematocrit does not have an effect with values between 0.3 and 0.5 (L/L). Finally, although storage temperature of VAMS does affect some AEDs, most are unaffected.

Conclusions
VAMS enables an accurate detection of a wide variety of AEDs within 2 days after sampling.
Classification of distance-transitive orbital graphs of overgroups of the Jevons group
Authors: Pogorelov Boris A. , Pudovkina Marina A. 
Published: February 2020

AbstractThe Jevons group AS̃n is an isometry group of the Hamming metric on the n-dimensional vector space Vn over GF(2). It is generated by the group of all permutation (n × n)-matrices over GF(2) and the translation group on Vn. Earlier the authors of the present paper classified the submetrics of the Hamming metric on Vn for n ⩾ 4, and all overgroups of AS̃n which are isometry groups of these overmetrics. In turn, each overgroup of AS̃n is known to define orbital graphs whose “natural” metrics are submetrics of the Hamming metric. The authors also described all distance-transitive orbital graphs of overgroups of the Jevons group AS̃n. In the present paper we classify the distance-transitive orbital graphs of overgroups of the Jevons group. In particular, we show that some distance-transitive orbital graphs are isomorphic to the following classes: the complete graph 2n, the complete bipartite graph K2n−1,2n−1, the halved (n + 1)-cube, the folded (n + 1)-cube, the graphs of alternating forms, the Taylor graph, the Hadamard graph, and incidence graphs of square designs.
On some implicitly precomplete classes of monotone functions in Pk
Authors: Starostin Mikhail V. 
Published: February 2020

AbstractThe paper is concerned with the completeness problem in implicit expressibility in a multi-valued logics Pk. For each k ≥ 2 and any nontrivial order relation on the set {0, 1, …, k − 1} we find two implicitly precomplete classes of functions which are monotone with respect to this order
Past Extropy of 𝑘-Records
Authors: Sathar E. I. Abdul , Jose Jitto 
Published: February 2020

AbstractRecently,
A. S. Krishnan, S. M. Sunoj and N. U. Nair
[Some reliability properties of extropy for residual and past lifetime random variables, J. Korean Stat. Soc. 2020, 10.1007/s42952-019-00023-x]
introduced past extropy for measuring uncertainty contained in past lifetime of random variables.
In the present study, we focus on the past extropy of k-records.
The motivation for considering past extropy of k-records has been discussed in detail.
We have also illustrated the merit of considering past extropy of k-records over past extropy of classical records and past extropy of original random sample using two real life data sets.
Some important properties of past extropy of k-records are discussed in this work.
We have expressed past extropy of k-records using past extropy of k-records arising from uniform distribution.
The work proposes a simple estimator for past extropy of k-records as well.