α-Glucosidase, α-amylase inhibition kinetics,in vitro gastro-intestinal digestion,and apoptosis inducing abilities of Ficus microcarpa L. f. and Ficus racemosa L. fruit polysaccharides

Food Science and Biotechnology - A rich source of nutrients, figs have a number of clinically validated benefits. This study aimed to evaluate the in vitro simulated gastrointestinal digestion, and...     

Influence of Reaction Parameters on the Hydrogenolysis of Hydroxymatairesinol Over Carbon Nanofibre Supported Palladium Catalysts

The density functional theory (DFT/B3LYP) calculations were applied to investigate the interaction of a Pt₆ particle with the ZSM-5 zeolite framework. The electronic structure of the metal particle is strongly affected by the interaction with basic framework oxygens and acid sites of the zeolite support. Adsorption on basic sites (E_ads = 6 kcal/mol) favors the formation of the electron enriched metal cluster. Interaction of the platinum cluster with the acid site characterized by stabilization energy of 47 kcal/mol results in oxidation of the metal particle and suppression of Brønsted acidity of the support. The hypothesis is put forward that the oxidized platinum particle can function as an active site for the alkane isomerisation on platinum supported high silica zeolites.     

The Big Picture on Big Holes: SSH and Sendmail challenge Microsoft’s top spot for flaws

Lately we have seen quite a few Microsoft vulnerabilities — the most noteworthy being the Object Data vulnerability, which Microsoft attempted to fix with the patches in security bulletin MS03-032. The Object Data vulnerability is extremely easy to exploit — like MS01-020 which is still being exploited by many viruses (e.g. ‘Swen’ currently roaming the Internet). The vulnerability has already beenexploited by a spammer, who wanted to promote his porn site and by a hacker, who compromised an online hotel.     

Optimization of a method for simultaneous analysis of cell surface phenotype and cell cycle in human bone marrow and peripheral blood leukocytes by flow cytometry: the value of both internal and external standards

Three different methods for the simultaneous analysis of surface phenotype and DNA quantification were compared. One method, involving the fixation of cells in 70% ethanol, was convincingly superior, both with regard to the CV of the G0G1 peak and the intensity of the DNA labelling. Furthermore, the correlation between the surface antigen densities before and after fixation were high. Experiments evaluating the intraday and the interday variation of the DNA ratio (the mean channel of the G0G1 peak of the sample divided by the mean channel of the G0G1 peak of chicken erythrocytes), documented the former to be small, with S.D. values varying from 0.0 to 0.016, while the latter were considerably higher with S.D. values varying from 0.077 to 0.123. Since the intraday variation of the DNA ratio was consistently low and the interday variation strongly correlated to the position of the red fluorescence test beads, it was possible to minimize the interday variation of the DNA ratio, by calculating the DNA index as the ratio between the DNA ratio of the sample and that of an external control (buffy coat leukocytes). Analyzing normal bone marrow and calculating the DNA index (DI) on the basis of these ratios, the confidence limits of the DI were decreased by more than half the values obtained when DI calculation was based solely on an internal standard, thereby making subsequent ploidy determinations of patient samples more precise. We conclude that this setup of internal and external standards allows accurate determinations of DNA aneuploidy even in an assay where whole cells labelled for surface antigen and DNA content are analyzed.     

The Physical Context of Creativity

Creative processes are complex and consist of sub‐processes, e.g. value creation, scaffolding, imagination and materialization. Creativity takes place in a physical context, i.e. in a confined space. Such space restricts and enables the free flow of sensory experiences and proximity of other people. The confinements may make certain sensory experiences available, e.g. vision of source material, sight and sound (including noise). This framing allows certain cognitive processes and restricts others. This may induce emotions that, in turn, facilitate or reduce the enhancement of creativity. Physical space affects the well‐being of people, the channels of information, the availability of knowledge tools and sets the stage for coherence and continuity, which may contribute to competitive advantages.     

Prolonged release Matrix Pellets Prepared by Melt Pelletization I. Process Variables

A melt pelletization process was investigated in an 8 litre laboratory scale high shear mixer using a formulation with paracetamol, glyceryl monostearate 40-50, and microcrystalline wax. The effects of jacket temperature, product temperature during massing, product load, massing time and impeller speed were investigated by means of factorially designed experiments. The maximum yield of pellets in the range of 500-1400μm was found to approx. 90%. For process conditions preventing deposition of moist mass, the process was found to be reproducible. Impeller speed and massing time were found to be important process variables. Remarkably low in vitro drug release rates were observed in USP-dissolution tests.     

Faculty and Student Attitudes Toward Community Service: A Comparative Analysis

The Humanitarian Engineering initiative, sponsored by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, at the Colorado School of Mines, is creating a program that will support engineering students in understanding their responsibility for solving community development problems that exist throughout the world. As part of this effort, data has been collected on faculty and student attitudes using the ‘Community Service Attitudes Scale,” developed and validated by Shiarella, McCarthy, and Tucker. During the fall 2004, 78 students and 34 faculty members responded to this instrument. Statistically significant differences were found between the attitudes of students and faculty, males and females, and among different age groupings with respect to service activities. A general finding was that faculty displayed better attitudes toward community service than the students.     

Maternal depression and early positive parenting predict future conduct problems in young children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are at risk for adverse outcomes such as substance abuse and criminality, particularly if they develop conduct problems. Little is known about early predictors of the developmental course of conduct problems among children with ADHD, however. Parental psychopathology and parenting were assessed in 108 children who first met Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.) criteria for ADHD at 4-7 years old. When demographic variables and baseline ADHD and conduct problems were controlled, maternal depression predicted conduct problems 2-8 years following the initial assessment, whereas positive parenting during the structured parent- child interaction task predicted fewer future conduct problems. These findings suggest that maternal depression is a risk factor, whereas early positive parenting is a protective factor, for the developmental course of conduct problems among children with ADHD. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mechanical properties of moist agglomerates in relation to granulation mechanisms part I. Deformability of moist,densified agglomerates

The mechanical properties of moist samples of fine, polydisperse powders are investigated by measuring the tensile strength by a diametrical compression test and the stress—strain relationship of samples exposed to uniaxial compression. The strengths determined by the two methods correlate well. The strength of moist samples compressed to porosities comparable to the level of intragranular porosities achieved by granulation in high-speed mixers is shown to be influenced significantly by particle interactions in addition to mobile liquid bondings. For a particular material the strength is controlled mainly by porosity and liquid saturation. It is shown that the effect of a growing liquid saturation is to reduce particle interactions and thus to facilitate densification during granulation. The deformability of moist samples, which is dependent on strength and deformation behaviour, is assessed for lactose and dicalcium phosphate.