Showing papers in "Scopus in 2004"

Thymoquinone extracted from black seed triggers apoptotic cell death in human colorectal cancer cells via a p53-dependent mechanism.

Abstract: For centuries, the black seed (Nigella sativa) herb and oil have been used in Asia, Middle East and Africa to promote health and fight disease. Thymoquinone (TQ), the most abundant constituent present in black seed, is a promising dietary chemopreventive agent. We investigated the effects of thymoquinone (TQ) against HCT-116 human colon cancer cells and attempted to identify its potential molecular mechanisms of action. We report that TQ inhibits the growth of colon cancer cells which was correlated with G1 phase arrest of the cell cycle. Furthermore, TUNEL staining and flow cytometry analysis indicate that TQ triggers apoptosis in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Apoptosis induction by TQ was associated with a 2.5-4.5-fold increase in mRNA expression of p53 and the downstream p53 target gene, p21WAF1. Simultaneously, we found a marked increase in p53 and p21WAF1 protein levels but a significant inhibition of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 protein. Co-incubation with pifithrin-alpha (PFT-alpha), a specific inhibitor of p53, restored Bcl-2, p53 and p21WAF1 levels to the untreated control and suppressed TQ-induced cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. p53-null HCT-116 cells were less sensitive to TQ-induced growth arrest and apoptosis. These results indicate that TQ is antineoplastic and pro-apoptotic against colon cancer cell line HCT116. The apoptotic effects of TQ are modulated by Bcl-2 protein and are linked to and dependent on p53. Our data support the potential for using the agent TQ for the treatment of colon cancer.

Phase II trial of arsenic trioxide and alpha interferon in patients with relapsed/refractory adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma

Abstract: Human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1 associated adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma carries a very poor prognosis due to its intrinsic resistance to chemotherapy. Although zidovudine (AZT) and alpha-interferon (IFN) yield some responses and improve ATL prognosis, alternative therapies are needed. Arsenic trioxide (As) dramatically synergizes with IFN to induce growth arrest and apoptosis of ATL leukemia cells in vitro. These results prompted us to initiate a phase II trial of As/IFN combination in seven patients with relapsed/refractory ATL (four acute and three lymphoma). Four patients exhibited a clear initial response (one complete remission and three partial remissions). Yet, the treatment was discontinued after a median of 22 days because of toxicity (three patients) or subsequent progression (four patients). Six patients eventually died from progressive disease (five patients) or infection (one patient), but the remaining patient is still alive and disease free at 32 months. Pharmacokinetic studies showed that maximum arsenic blood levels (median 0.46 microM) were slowly achieved (8-15 days). In conclusion, arsenic/IFN treatment is feasible and exhibits an anti-leukemia effect in very poor prognosis ATL patients despite a significant toxicity. Future studies should assess the best timing for arsenic therapy: frontline with IFN/AZT or as maintenance after induction.

Occupational health research in developing countries: A partner for social justice

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Effect of confinement of bond strength between steel bars and concrete

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Fingerprint image enhancement method using directional median filter

Abstract: The performance of any fingerprint recognizer highly depends on the fingerprint image quality. Different types of noises in the fingerprint images pose greater difficulty for recognizers. Most Automatic Fingerprint Identification Systems (AFIS) use some form of image enhancement. Although several methods have been described in the literature, there is still scope for improvement. In particular, effective methodology of cleaning the valleys between the ridge contours are lacking. We observe that noisy valley pixels and the pixels in the interrupted ridge flow gap are "impulse noises". Therefore, this paper describes a new approach to fingerprint image enhancement, which is based on integration of Anisotropic Filter and directional median filter(DMF). Gaussian-distributed noises are reduced effectively by Anisotropic Filter, "impulse noises" are reduced efficiently by DMF. Usually, traditional median filter is the most effective method to remove pepper-and-salt noise and other small artifacts, the proposed DMF can not only finish its original tasks, it can also join broken fingerprint ridges, fill out the holes of fingerprint images, smooth irregular ridges as well as remove some annoying small artifacts between ridges. The enhancement algorithm has been implemented and tested on fingerprint images from FVC2002. Images of varying quality have been used to evaluate the performance of our approach. We have compared our method with other methods described in the literature in terms of matched minutiae, missed minutiae, spurious minutiae, and flipped minutiae(between end points and bifurcation points). Experimental results show our method to be superior to those described in the literature.

Optimal uncoded regeneration for binary antipodal signaling

Abstract: We derive, for a binary antipodal input signal, the optimal uncoded regenerator function when the channels at the ingress and at the egress of the regenerator are degraded by AWGN. We show that the optimal function is a Lambert W function parametrized on the energies of the noises and the input. For comparison, we derive the performance of systems in which the regenerator uses a hard limiter or an amplifier.

Intuitive Visualization of Pareto Frontier for Multi- Objective Optimization in n-Dimensional Performance Space

Abstract: A visualization methodology is presented in which a Pareto Frontier can be visualized in an intuitive and straightforward manner for an n-dimensional performance space. Based on this visualization, it is possible to quickly identify 'good' regions of the performance and optimal design spaces for a multi-objective optimization application, regardless of space complexity. Visualizing Pareto solutions for more than three objectives has long been a significant challenge to the multi-objective optimization community. The Hyper-space Diagonal Counting (HSDC) method described here enables the lossless visualization to be implemented. The proposed method requires no dimension fixing. In this paper, we demonstrate the usefulness of visualizing n-f space (i.e. for more than three objective functions in a multiobjective optimization problem). The visualization is shown to aid in the final decision of what potential optimal design point should be chosen amongst all possible Pareto solutions.

Historical document image enhancement using background light intensity normalization

Abstract: This work presents a background light intensity normalization algorithm suitable for historical document images. The algorithm uses an adaptive linear function to approximate the uneven background due to the uneven surface of the document paper, aged color and light source of the cameras for image lifting. Our algorithm adaptively captures the background with a "best fit" linear function and normalized with respect to the approximation. The technique works for both gray scale and color images with significant improvement in readability.

Experimental and numerical investigation of the effect of phase change materials on clothing during periodic ventilation

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Population ageing in Lebanon: Current status, future prospects and implications for policy

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Sequences and Phylogenies of Plant Pararetroviruses, Viruses, and Transposable Elements

Abstract: DNA elements found within cells that include the enzyme reverse transcriptase can be brought together within a unified taxonomic framework. The framework includes retroelements that are components of the nuclear genome, and recognized viruses where nuclear integration is unknown, occurs occasionally or is frequent. The classification probably has a natural basis and reflects aspects of the evolution and phylogeny of the elements. Complete retroelements and retroviruses include two or more open reading frames (ORFs) that encode single proteins or polyproteins. The order of the genes in the elements varies. In recent years it has been shown that pararetroviruses can be integrated in the plant genome, and evidence indicates they can be transcribed to give infectious virus. In this chapter, we show scale alignments of genomes from the six taxonomic families of reverse-transcribing viruses, gypsy and copia-like retroelements and long interspersed nuclear elements (LINEs), and also the enzyme telomerase, to show the lengths of the elements and the order of genes. We also show amino-acid alignments and key conserved residues or domains within the reverse transcriptase (RT), RNase H (RH), integrase (INT), and aspartic protease (PR) genes and in a conserved cysteine-histidine (CH) zinc-finger-like domain. A unified classification of reverse-transcribing elements is useful for phylogenetic and taxonomic purposes and understanding their contribution to plant genome function and evolution.

Prevalence Of Pacifier-sucking Habits And Successful Methods To Eliminate Them - A Preliminary Study

Abstract: Purpose: The goal of this study was to verify the prevalence of nutritive (breast-feeding and bottle-feeding) and non-nutritive (pacifier) sucking habits, the methods used to eliminate them, and success of these methods. Methods: To collect the data, 502 questionnaires were distributed to parents of 0- to 6-year-old children. Results: Bottle-feeding was used by 83% and pacifier by 63% of children. The professional’s explanation, the use of substances on the pacifier, the abrupt interruption of the habit, and parents’ explanations were efficient in 90%, 80%, 64%, and 38% of the cases, respectively. Conclusions: Sucking habits had a high prevalence in this sample. An indirect linear relationship between breast-feeding and pacifier use demonstrated that the more the child was breast-fed, the less the pacifier was used. The most efficient method to end the pacifiersucking habit was professional explanation; however, it was used less often. (J Dent Child. 2004;71:148-151)

Design of steel structures for blast-related progressive collapse resistance

Abstract: Structural steel framing is an excellent system for providing building structures the ability to arrest collapse in the event of extreme damage to one or more vertical load carrying elements. The most commonly employed strategy to provide progressive collapse resistance is to employ moment-resisting framing at each floor level so as to redistribute loads away from failed elements to alternative load paths. Design criteria commonly employed for this purpose typically rely on the flexural action of the framing to redistribute loads and account for limited member ductility and overstrength using elastic analyses to approximate true inelastic behavior. More efficient design solutions can be obtained by relying on the development of catenary behavior in the framing elements. However, in order to reliably provide this behavior, steel framing connections must be capable of resisting large tensile demands simultaneously applied with large inelastic flexural deformations. Moment connections prequalified for use in seismic service are presumed capable of providing acceptable performance, however, research is needed to identify confirm that these connection technologies are capable of reliable service under these conditions. In addition, some refinement of current simplified analysis methods is needed. 42 INTRODUCTION Many government agencies and some private building owners today require that new buildings be designed and existing buildings evaluated and upgraded to provide ability to resist the effects of potential blasts and other incidents that could cause extreme local damage. While it may be possible to design buildings to resist such attacks without severe damage, the loading effects associated with these hazards are so intense that design measures necessary to provide such performance would result in both unacceptably high costs as well as impose unacceptable limitations on the architectural design of such buildings. Fortunately, the probability that any single building will actually be subjected to such hazards is quite low. As a result, a performance-based approach to design has evolved. The most common performance goals are to permit severe and even extreme damage should blasts or other similar incidents affect a structure, but avoid massive loss of life. These goals are similar, though not identical to the performance goals inherent in design to resist the effects of severe earthquakes, and indeed, some federal guidelines for designing blast resistant structures draw heavily on material contained in performance-based earthquake-resistant design guidelines. While there are many similarities between earthquake-resistant design and blast-resistant design, there are also important differences. Blast-resistant design typically focuses on several strategies including, provision of adequate standoff to prevent a large weapon from effectively being brought to bear on a structure, provision of access control, to limit the likelihood that weapons will be brought inside a structure; design of exterior cladding and glazing systems to avoid the generation of glazing projectiles in occupied spaces as a result of specified blast impulsive pressures, and configuration and design of structural systems such that loss of one or more vertical load carrying elements will result at most, in only limited, localized collapse of the structure. Although blast pressures can be several orders of magnitude larger than typical wind loading pressures for which buildings are designed, the duration of these impulsive loads is so short that they are typically not capable of generating sufficient lateral response in structures to trigger lateral instability and global collapse. Steel structures with complete lateral force-resisting systems capable of resisting typical wind and seismic loads specified by the building codes for design will generally be able to resist credible blast loads without creation of lateral instability and collapse. However, explosive charges detonated in close proximity to structural elements can cause extreme local damage including complete loss of load carrying capacity in individual columns, girders and slabs. Consequently, structural design of steel structures for blast resistance is typically focused on design of vulnerable elements, such as columns, with sufficient toughness to avoid loss of load carrying capacity when exposed to a small charge and provision of structural systems that are capable of limiting or arresting collapse induced by extreme local damage to such elements and avoiding initiation of progressive collapse. Steel building systems are ideally suited to this application. The toughness of structural steel as a material, and the relative ease of designing steel structures such that they have adequate redundancy, strength and ductility to redistribute loads and arrest collapse facilitate the design of collapse-resistant steel structures. However, effective design strategies that will provide collapse resistance at low cost and with minimal architectural impact are urgently needed as is research necessary to demonstrate the effectiveness of technologies employed to provide the desired collapse resistance. This paper explores these issues. DESIGN STRATEGIES Typical design strategies for collapse resistant buildings involve removal of one or more vertical load carrying elements and demonstrating that not more than specified portions of the building will be subject to collapse upon such occurrence. The element removal could occur as a result of any of several loading events including blast, vehicle impact, fire, or similar incidents. Regardless, the design strategy can be traced to lessons learned from observation of the blast-induced collapse of the Alfred P. Murrah Building in Oklahoma City. As illustrated in Figure 1 (Partin 1995) extreme damage to columns at the first story of the building, led to progressive collapse of much of the structure (Figure 2).

Discriminatory power of handwritten words for writer recognition

Abstract: Analysis of allographs (characters) and allograph combinations (words) is the key for the identification/verification of a writer's handwriting. While allographs are usually part of words and the segmentation of a word into allographs is a subjective process, analysis of handwritten words is a natural option, complementary to allograph and document-level analysis. We consider four different types of features obtained using both segmentation-based and segmentation-free approaches: (i) GSC (gradient, structural and concavity) features that are extracted from the cells of a grid superimposed on the word image (ii) WMR (word model recognizer) features, extracted from the cells of superimposed grids on the segmented characters (iii) SC (shape curvature) features that describe characters by the distribution of curvature values on their contours and (iv) SCON (shape context) features that measure the similarity between character contour shapes. Their individual and accumulated performance is evaluated for the writer identification and verification tasks on over 75000 words images, written by more than 1000 writers. Experimental results show that handwritten words are very effective in discriminating handwriting and that both segmentation-free and segmentation-based approaches are valid.

Liposomal Prilocaine: Preparation, Characterization, And In Vivo Evaluation

Abstract: PURPOSE This study reports the development and in vivo evaluation of a liposomal system for the local anesthetic, prilocaine. METHODS Liposomal prilocaine was prepared with egg phosphatidylcholine, cholesterol and a-tocopherol (4:3:0.07 molar ratio). The size of the liposomes was measured by laser light scattering and the effect of prilocaine on membrane fluidity made use of electron spin resonance (ESR). The anesthetic effect of liposomal prilocaine was compared to that of plain prilocaine solution (with or without vasoconstrictor) in a rat infraorbital nerve blockade model. RESULTS Laser light-scattering analysis showed one major vesicle population of liposomes with ca 400 nm (100%), without size changes after prilocaine incorporation. The ESR results showed a decrease in the orientation of the phospholipid molecules into the liposomes (ca 11%) in the presence of prilocaine, which characterized the prilocaine-liposome interaction. A prolongation of anesthetic effect was produced by liposomal prilocaine in comparison to plain prilocaine (without vasoconstrictor, p<0.001). However, no statistical differences were found after comparison between liposomal prilocaine and vasoconstrictor-containing prilocaine. CONCLUSIONS We suggest that the encapsulation of prilocaine in liposomes facilitates the controlled release of prilocaine (increasing the time of duration of the sensory nervous blockade) and constitutes a good choice to replace vasoconstrictor-containing local anesthetic formulations.

Photolysis frequency of O to O( D): Measurements and modeling during the International Photolysis Frequency Measurement and Modeling Intercomparison (IPMMI)

Abstract: R. E. Shetter, W. Junkermann, W. H. Swartz, G. J. Frost, J. H. Crawford, B. L. Lefer, J. D. Barrick, S. R. Hall, A. Hofzumahaus, A. Bais, J. G. Calvert, C. A. Cantrell, S. Madronich, M. Müller, A. Kraus, P. S. Monks, G. D. Edwards, R. McKenzie, P. Johnston, R. Schmitt, E. Griffioen, M. Krol, A. Kylling, R. R. Dickerson, S. A. Lloyd, T. Martin, B. Gardiner, B. Mayer, G. Pfister, E. P. Röth, P. Koepke, A. Ruggaber, H. Schwander, and M. van Weele

Detecting deceit via analyses of verbal and nonverbal behavior in children and adults

Abstract: This experiment examined children's and undergraduates' verbal and nonverbal deceptive behavior, and the extent to which their truths and lies could be correctly classified by paying attention to these responses. Participants (N= 196) aged 5–6, 10–11, and 14–15, as well as university undergraduates, participated in an erasing the blackboard event, and told the truth or lied about the event afterwards. Nonverbal and verbal responses were coded, the latter with Criteria-Based Content Analysis and Reality Monitoring. Although children and undergraduates demonstrated different behaviors (for example, the children obtained lower CBCA scores and made more movements), actual cues to deceit were remarkably similar across different age groups (for example, both 5–6-year-olds and undergraduates obtained lower CBCA scores and made fewer movements while lying). A combination of verbal and nonverbal lie detection methods resulted in more correct classifications of liars and truth tellers than the verbal and nonverbal lie detection methods individually, with the combined method obtaining hit rates as high as 88%.

A low-cost framework for individualized interactive telerehabilitation

Abstract: In this paper we examine the issues pertaining to development of a low-cost telerehabilitation framework for upper-limb dysfunction, that is suitable for deployment in patients' homes. We use the example of a Virtual Driving Environment (VDE) to present the overall architecture and discuss issues of: (i) quantitative data-acquisition using commercial-off-the-shelf gaming devices; (ii) model-based parametric data transmission/playback; and (iii) parametric biomechanical identification and data reduction; to support individualization within the telerehabilitation regimen.

Forensic handwritten document retrieval system

Abstract: Document storage and retrieval capabilities of the CEDAR-FOX forensic handwritten document examination system are described. The system is designed for automated and semiautomated analysis of scanned handwritten documents. For library creation, the system provides functionalities for (i) entering document metadata, e.g., identification number, writer and other collateral information, (ii) creating a textual transcript of the image content at the word level, and (iii) including automatically extracted document level features, e.g., stroke width, slant, word gaps, as well as finer features that capture the structural characteristics of characters and words. For extracting these features the system performs page analysis, page segmentation, line separation, word segmentation and finally recognition of characters and words. The extracted features are used for writer identification by matching against a library built as a database. The system design is driven by questioned document examination with its emphasis on writer identification. Several query modalities are permitted for retrieval: (i) document level: the entire document image is the query; (ii) partial image: a region of interest (ROI) of a document; (ii) word image: which is also called word spotting; (iv) text keyword: the user can type in keywords ranging from the words in the documents, case number, person names, time and the preregistered keywords such as brief descriptions of the case. The system has been implemented using Microsoft visual C++ and tested using MySQL database system from MySQL ABTM. It provides as a graphical user interface for forensic document identification, verification and analysis.

Convergence and stability in distributed design of large systems

Abstract: Decentralized systems constitute a special class of design under distributed environments. They are characterized as large and complex systems divided into several smaller entities that have autonomy in local optimization and decision-making. The mechanisms behind this network of decentralized design decisions create difficult management and coordination issues. Standard techniques to modeling and solving decentralized design problems typically fail to understand the underlying dynamics of the decentralized processes and therefore result in suboptimal solutions. This paper aims to model and understand the mechanisms and dynamics behind a decentralized set of decisions within a complex design process. This paper builds on already existing results of convergence in decentralized design for simple problems to extend them to any kind of quadratic decentralized system. This involves two major steps: developing the convergence conditions for the distributed optimization problem, and finding the equilibrium points of the design space. Illustrations of the results are given in the form of hypothetical decentralized examples.Copyright © 2004 by ASME

TRUMMAR - A trust model for mobile agent systems based on reputation

Abstract: In this paper we present TRUMMAR, a reputation-based trust model that mobile agent systems can use to protect agents from malicious hosts. TRUMMAR is unique in being a truly comprehensive model since it accounts, in a unified framework, for a multitude of concepts such as prior-derived reputation, first impression, loss of reputation information with time, hierarchy of host systems (neighbors, friends, and strangers), and the inclusion of interaction results in reputation calculation. TRUMMAR is also general enough to be applied to any distributed system. We show simulation results that verify the correctness of this model and the effects of its various parameters.

Predictors of bone mineral density in patients on hemodialysis.

Abstract: Renal osteodystrophy is a universal complication of uremia. Renal failure patients are at risk for low bone mineral density (BMD) and fractures. Parathyroid hormone (PTH) plays a pivotal role in the pathophysiology of uremic bone disease. Histomorphometric studies suggest that the maintenance of PTH levels between two and four times the upper limit of normal is associated with the lowest prevalence of two common forms of osteodystrophy: osteitis fibrosa cystica and adynamic bone disease. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the above recommendation for PTH levels in dialysis patients corresponds to a more optimal BMD with a special emphasis on diabetic versus nondiabetic subjects. Twenty-eight patients with chronic renal failure on hemodialysis underwent measurement of PTH levels, as well as BMD at the lumbar spine, hip, and forearm. They were divided into three groups based on the mean PTH level over the 5 years prior to having BMD measured. Osteoporosis was diagnosed in 55% of men and 87% of women on dialysis. Predictors of BMD were gender, duration on hemodialysis, and diabetes. Our study supports the histomorphometry-based studies suggesting that the maintenance of intact PTH levels two to four times the upper limit of normal may be associated with better skeletal health in uremic patients on hemodialysis, and that the diabetic subgroup is at particular risk for low BMD.

A Rule-Based Extensible Stemmer for Information Retrieval with Application to Arabic

Abstract: This paper presents a new and extensible method for information retrieval and content analysis in natural languages (NL). The proposed method is stem-based; stems are extracted based on a set of language dependent rules that are interpreted by a rule engine. The rule engine allows the system to be adapted to any natural language by modifying the NL semantic rules and grammar. The system has been fully tested using Arabic, and partially using English, Hebrew, and Persian. We validate our approach using a database-based prototype.

Intestinal parasites among presumably healthy individuals in Lebanon

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