Karakter Pertumbuhan Bawang Merah (Allium Ascalonicum L.) Varietas Lokal Samosir Pada Beberapa Dosis Iradiasi Sinar Gamma

The aim of the research was to identify growth characters of shallot var. local samosir with gammarays irradiation. Research was conducted at the Jl. Selamet Ketaren, Medan with a height of 25meter above sea level began from April until July 2014. Bulbs of shallot were exposed to severaldoses (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 Gy) using Co60 source. Differencies of growth characters (shoot length,leaf number and tiller number per clump, harvest time, fresh and dry weight of bulb per plant, bulbdiameter and average weight per bulb) was analyze by t test using minitab v.16. The results showedshoot length 6 weeks after planting (WAP) were shorter 1.97cm, 2.38cm, 3.1cm, 4.73cm and4.49cm at doses 2,3,4,5,6 Gy; leaf number 2 WAP were reduced 35.16% and 39.24% at dose 5 and6 Gy, meanwhile tiller number 6 WAP was increased 13.88% at dose 6 Gy respectively comparedto control. Fresh weight and dry weight of bulb were lighter 30,39% and 37,04% at doses 5 Gy and38,52% and 47,44% at doses 6 Gy; average weight per bulb were lighter 23,2%, 47,64% and47,98% and bulb diameter were smaller 11,48%, 25,48% and 30,41% at doses 4,5,6 Gy respectivelycompared to control

A scalable parallel subspace clustering algorithm for massive data sets

Clustering is a data mining problem which finds dense regions in a sparse multi-dimensional data set. The attribute values and ranges of these regions characterize the clusters. Clustering algorithms need to scale with the data base size and also with the large dimensionality of the data set. Further, these algorithms need to explore the embedded clusters in a sub-space of a high dimensional space. However, the time complexity of the algorithm to explore clusters in subspaces is exponential in the dimension-ality of the data and is thus extremely compute intensive. Thus, paral-lelization is the choice for discovering clusters for large data sets. In this paper we present a scalable parallel subspace clustering algorithm which has both data and task parallelism embedded in it. We also formulate the technique of adaptive grids and present a truly un-supervised clustering al-gorithm requiring no user inputs. Our implementation shows near linear speedups with negligible communication overheads. The use of adaptive grids results in two orders of magnitude improvement in the computation time of our serial algorithm over current methods with much better quality of clustering. Performance results on both real and synthetic data sets with very large number of dimensions on a 16 node IBM SP2 demonstrate our algorithm to be a practical and scalable clustering technique. 1

Knowledge, attitude and practice of dentists towards oral submucous fibrosis

Background: Oral submucous fibrosis (OSMF) is an oral precancerous condition characterized by inflammation and progressive fibrosis of the submucosal tissues resulting in marked rigidity and trismus. OSMF still remains a dilemma to the clinicians due to elusive pathogenesis and less well-defined classification systems.Aim and objectives: The aim of the study was to assess the knowledge among dental students about the significance of Oral Submucous Fibrosis and it’s management.Methodology: The questionnaire based study was conducted among 100 participants. A self-administered questionnaire was used. The questionnaire based study was conducted through an online forum , google form software. The questions were formed to observe knowledge,attitude,and practical approach of dental students towards treating OSMF patients attending private dental hospitals .The data collected were stored and results were analysed by SPSS software. Out of 500 participants. Majority of participants were aware that betel quid were the most common habits and blanching mucosa were the common features associated with OSMF.Conclusion: Within the limits of the present study, students showed good knowledge on the various clinical and diagnosis aspects of Oral submucous fibrosis, however the knowledge on the management aspect of oral submucous fibrosis was moderate. A better knowledge of OSMF will endure safer health care services for the population

Preparation, In Vitro Characterization, and In Vivo Pharmacokinetic Evaluation of Respirable Porous Microparticles Containing Rifampicin

This study aimed to prepare and evaluate rifampicin microparticles for the lung delivery of rifampicin as respirable powder. The microparticles were prepared using chitosan by the spray-drying method and evaluated for aerodynamic properties and pulmonary drug absorption. To control the drug release, tripoly-phosphate in different concentrations 0.6, 0.9, 1.2, and 1.5 was employed to get a sustained drug release profile. The microparticles were evaluated for drug loading, % entrapment efficiency, tapped density, morphological characteristics, and in vitro drug release studies. Aerosol properties were determined using the Andersen cascade impactor. Porous microparticles with particle sizes (d0.5) less than 10 μm were obtained. The entrapment of rifampicin in microparticles was up to 72%. In vitro drug release suggested that the crosslinked microparticles showed sustained release for more than 12 hrs. The drug release rate was found to be decreased as the TPP concentration was increased. The microparticles showed a fine particle fraction in the range of 55–63% with mass median aerodynamic diameter (MMAD) values below 3 μm. The in vivo pulmonary absorption of the chitosan microparticles suggested a sustained drug release profile up to 72 hrs with an elimination rate of 0.010 per hr. The studies revealed that the spray-dried porous microparticles have suitable properties to be used as respirable powder in rifampicin delivery to the lungs

Development and Characterization of Pharmacokinetic Parameters of Fast-Dissolving Films Containing Levocetirizine

A fast-dissolving film containing levocetirizine, a non-sedative antihistamine drug, was developed using pullulan, xanthan gum, propylene glycol, and tween 80 as the base materials. The drug content of the prepared films was within an acceptable limit as prescribed by the USP. The film exhibited excellent stability for four months when stored at 40 °C and 75% humidity. In vitro dissolution studies suggested a rapid disintegration, in which most of levocetirizine (93.54 ± 3.9%) dissolved within 90 seconds after insertion into the medium. Subse-quently, Sprague–Dawley rats were used to compare the pharmacokinetic properties of the film preparation administered to the oral cavity, to those with oral administration of the pure drug solution. The pharmacokinetic parameters were similar between the two groups in which AUC0–t (ng h/ml), AUC0–∞ (ng h/ml) Cmax (ng/ml), Tmax (min), Kel (h−1), and t1/2 (h) of the reference were 452.033 ± 43.68, 465.78 ± 48.16, 237.16 ± 19.87, 30, 0.453 ± 0.051, and 1.536 ± 0.118, respectively, for the film formulation 447.233 ± 46.24, 458.22 ± 46.74, 233.32 ± 17.19, 30, 0.464 ± 0.060, and 1.496 ± 0.293, respectively. These results suggest that the present levocetirizine containing fast-dissolving film is likely to become one of the choices to treat different allergic conditions