Recognition of Users' Activities using Constraint Satisfaction

Ideally designed software allow users to explore and pursue interleaving plans, making it challenging to automatically recognize user interactions. The recognition algorithms presented use constraint satisfaction techniques to compare user interaction histories to a set of ideal solutions. We evaluate these algorithms on data obtained from user interactions with a commercially available pedagogical software, and find that these algorithms identified users’ activities with 93% accuracy.Engineering and Applied Science

ANTIPLASMODIAL ACTIVITY OF CAESALPINIA CRISTA SEED EXTRACTS

Objective: To evaluate antiplasmodial activity of Caesalpinia crista seed extracts Methods:  Antiplasmodial activity of the seed extracts of Caesalpinia crista against rodent malaria infections in chloroquine sensitive Plasmodium falcipuram strain was investigated, and oral acute toxicity of seed extracts of Caesalpinia crista was also evaluated. Results: The findings of this study revealed significant (P < 0.05) and dose dependent decrease in parasitaemia in the parasitized groups treated with varying doses of the extract (50-200 mg/kg p.o.) in both suppressive and curative tests. There was also significant decrease in parasitaemia density in the chloroquine treated group. The alcoholic extract was found no toxicity in wistar rats and the oral LD50 was determined to be greater than 5000 mg/kg. Conclusion: Seed extracts of Caesalpinia crista extract possesses potent antiplasmodial activity and may therefore, serve as potential sources of new antimalarial agents Keywords: Plasmodium falcipuram, Caesalpinia crista, Plant extracts, Phytochemicals, Toxicity tests, malaria

Plan Recognition in Exploratory Domains

This paper describes a challenging plan recognition problem that arises in environments in which agents engage widely in exploratory behavior, and presents new algorithms for effective plan recognition in such settings. In exploratory domains, agentsʼ actions map onto logs of behavior that include switching between activities, extraneous actions, and mistakes. Flexible pedagogical software, such as the application considered in this paper for statistics education, is a paradigmatic example of such domains, but many other settings exhibit similar characteristics. The paper establishes the task of plan recognition in exploratory domains to be NP-hard and compares several approaches for recognizing plans in these domains, including new heuristic methods that vary the extent to which they employ backtracking, as well as a reduction to constraint-satisfaction problems. The algorithms were empirically evaluated on peopleʼs interaction with flexible, open-ended statistics education software used in schools. Data was collected from adults using the software in a lab setting as well as middle school students using the software in the classroom. The constraint satisfaction approaches were complete, but were an order of magnitude slower than the heuristic approaches. In addition, the heuristic approaches were able to perform within 4% of the constraint satisfaction approaches on student data from the classroom, which reflects the intended user population of the software. These results demonstrate that the heuristic approaches offer a good balance between performance and computation time when recognizing peopleʼs activities in the pedagogical domain of interest.Engineering and Applied Science

Laxative Property of Safoof-E-Sana, a Unani Formulation

An investigation was carried out to study the laxative property of aqueous extract Safoof-ESana in the unani formulation. Aqueous extract of Safoof-E-Sana was evaluated for laxative property and was measured by weighing the fecal out at 8th and 16th hour of drug administration. Safoof-E-Sana at 50, and 100 mg/kg showed dose dependent laxative effect. The results are compared with standard Senna. Safoof-E-Sana was showed significant laxative activity

Evaluating the network adequacy of vision care services for children in Arizona: A cross sectional study

Background: Vision challenges are among the most prevalent disabling conditions in childhood, affecting up to 28% of school-age children. These issues can impact the development, learning, and literacy skills of affected children. While vision problems are correctable with timely diagnosis and treatment, insufficient networks can impede children's access to comprehensive, and high-quality care. Objective: The study aims to determine where pediatric vision care network adequacy exists in the state of Arizona and where there are gaps in receiving vision care for children. Methods: This cross-sectional study assessed the adequacy of pediatric vision care networks in Arizona through a “secret shopper” phone survey. Calls were made to practices that accept Arizona's Medicaid program, Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) and/or commercial insurance. Providers were contacted following a standardized script to schedule routine appointments on behalf of 10 and 3-year-old patients enrolled in either Medicaid or commercial health insurance plans. The study examined various components of children's access to vision care services, including the reliability of provider directory information, time until the next available appointment, bilingual service offerings, ages served, region of practice and types of care available. Results: A total of 556 practices in Arizona were evaluated through simulations as patients on AHCCCS, and 510 practices were assessed through simulations as patients with commercial health insurance plans. The average wait time for the next available appointment was 13 days for both insurance types. Alarmingly, up to 74% of vision care practices in Arizona do not serve children covered by AHCCCS. Furthermore, only 41% provide services to children 5 years and younger. Conclusions: Our findings underscore the need to improve access to vision care services for children in Arizona, especially racial/ethnic minorities, low-income groups, and rural residents

Lack of significant association of an insertion/deletion polymorphism in the angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) gene with tropical calcific pancreatitis

BACKGROUND: The genetic basis of tropical calcific pancreatitis (TCP) is different and is explained by mutations in the pancreatic secretory trypsin inhibitor (SPINK1) gene. However, mutated SPINK1 does not account for the disease in all the patients, neither does it explain the phenotypic heterogeneity between TCP and fibro-calculous pancreatic diabetes (FCPD). Recent studies suggest a crucial role for pancreatic renin-angiotensin system during chronic hypoxia in acute pancreatitis and for angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors in reducing pancreatic fibrosis in experimental models. We investigated the association of ACE gene insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism in TCP patients using a case-control approach. Since SPINK1 mutations are proposed a modifier role, we also investigated its interaction with the ACE gene variant. METHODS: We analyzed the I/D polymorphism in the ACE gene (g.11417_11704del287) in 171 subjects comprising 91 TCP and 80 FCPD patients and compared the allelic and genotypic frequency in them with 99 healthy ethnically matched control subjects. RESULTS: We found 46% and 21% of TCP patients, 56% and 19.6% of FCPD patients and 54.5% and 19.2% of the healthy controls carrying the I/D and D/D genotypes respectively (P>0.05). No significant difference in the clinical picture was observed between patients with and without the del allele at the ACE in/del polymorphism in both categories. No association was observed with the presence or absence of N34S SPINK1 mutation in these patients. CONCLUSION: We conclude that the ACE insertion/deletion variant does not show any significant association with the pathogenesis, fibrosis and progression of tropical calcific pancreatitis and the fibro-calculous pancreatic diabetes

Papillon-Lefevre syndrome with pseudoainhum

An interesting episode of Papillon-Lefevre syndrome in a 25-year-old female with diffuse palmoplantar keratoderma, periodontitis and pseudoainhum of the toes is reported for academic interest. Her skin lesions improved with topical keratolytics and oral retinoid (acitretin) whereas periodontic problems showed significant improvement with systemic antibiotics and proper implementation of oral hygienic measures. She is undergoing oral rehabilitation with orthodontic surgical procedures