Abstract: Breast cancer is reported to be the most common cancer type among women worldwide and it is the second highest women fatality rate amongst all cancer types. Notwithstanding all the progresses made in prevention and early intervention, early prognosis and survival prediction rates are still not sufficient. In this paper, we propose an ANN model which outperforms all the previous supervised learning methods by reaching 99.57 in terms of accuracy in Wisconsin Breast Cancer dataset. Experimental results on Haberman’s Breast (...) Cancer Survival dataset show the superiority of proposed method by reaching 88.24 % in terms of accuracy. The results are the best reported ones obtained from Artificial Neural Network using JNN environment without any preprocessing of the dataset. (shrink)

The problem of evil has always haunted theologians and philosophers. Throughout the course of this paper I will peruse the concepts of evil put forth by Spinoza and Plotinus. These two notions of evil have many similarities, yet there are some vital distinctions between the two. Plotinus and Spinoza both had rather unique views on the concept of evil that seemed to be ahead of their time in many ways. These two philosophers’ outlook on the notion of evil departs from (...) the classical theological perspective on evil. This departure from this classical line of reasoning is extremely significant for our modern-day outlook on the concept of evil. Therefore, perusing their ideas of evil will prove worthwhile. The aim of this paper is to compare and contrast these notions of evil and highlight their similarities and differences. Ultimately, by examining and connecting Spinoza’s and Plotinus’ way of dealing with the problem of evil, I hope to present the reader with a sound alternative route to the problem of evil. (shrink)

Throughout the course of this paper I build upon the foundations of William Desmond’s philosophy in order to develop a rebuttal towards the nihilistic consequences brought about by many modern thinkers, for example: Albert Camus. These nihilistic consequences seem to play a significant role in the drastic increase of anxiety and depression seen throughout our current epoch. Ultimately, philosophies such as that of Camus cannot avoid this fall into nihilism. Nevertheless, these ramifications seem to stem from a misinterpretation of Camus’ (...) notion of the ‘Absurd’. Thus, this confrontation with the absurd determines whether or not we can escape the consequences of nihilism that can be found throughout modernity. (shrink)

Abstract: This study was aiming to determine the effect of the Vitamin A on paracetamol-induced hepatotoxicity. Fifteen rats were randomly divided into five groups; (three rats each) control group, paracetamol (1000 mg/kg body weight) was used to induce hepatotoxicity in albino rats. Vitamin A (Retinyl palmtate) administered at the dose levels of 100, 500 and1000 IU/kg body weights orally for 7 days prior to paracetamol dose. Hepatic toxicity was observed in paracetamol group; aspartate aminotransaminase (AST) level was high as compared (...) with control group (p = 0.003). The significant hepatoprotective effect of Vitamin A was observed at doses 500 and 1000 IU/kg body weight, as there was significant reduction of serum AST when compared to paracetamol group (p = 0.01 and 0.003 respectivly), where 100 IU/Kg vitamin A not significantly decrease AST. Liver trace element determined by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) (K, Ca, Fe, Cu, Zn and Rb) in paracetamol-treated group were found to be higher than that of the control group, although the only significant increase was observed with Cu. Br shows slight decrease compared to the control group. There were no significant differences between Vitamin A groups (100 mg/kg 500mg/kg and 1000mg/kg) and PCM-treated group in the liver tissue content of Ca, K, Zn, Cu, Rb and Br where Fe concentrations were significantly decrease at doses 500 and 1000IU/l (P value 0.05 and 0.045 respectively). Vitamin A shows protective effect by regulating liver tissue Fe. We recommend to perform further investigation on the mechanisms of Vitamin A hepatoprotective mechanisms of action. (shrink)

Objective: The nutrient artery which enters through the nutrient foramen (NF) provides blood circulation and nutrition in long bones. This supply is essential during the growing period, the early phases of ossification, and in some surgical procedures. This study aimed to investigate NF in adult human ulnas in the Turkish population. -/- Methods: For this study, 155 (70 right and 85 left) Turkish dry adult human ulnas were used. The presence, number, and patency of NF were recorded as well as (...) its topography and direction. The vertical distance between the most proximal point of the olecranon and the proximal edge of the NF (DONF), and the longitudinal distance between the most ventral point of the coronoid process on the sagittal plane and the proximal edge of the NF (DCpNF) was calculated. Additionally, the foraminal index (FI) was assessed. -/- Results: Single and double NFs were in 139 ulnas (89.67%), and 3 ulnas (1.94%), respectively. NFs were not observed in 13 ulnas (8.39%). The majority of NFs (93.12%) were situated on the anterior surface of the ulna. The direction of all NFs was towards the elbow. The mean DONF and DCpNF were 9.48 ± 1.57 cm, and 6.68 ± 1.44 cm, respectively. The FI was 37.45% in ulnas with a single NF, while it was 41.46% in ulnas with a double NF. -/- Conclusion: Our study has presented additional information such as the FI of ulnas with 2 NFs, and the distance between the coronoid process and NF in the Turkish population. (shrink)

The transition of C. albicans from unicellular yeast form to filamentous form i.e., pseudohyphae and hyphae is referred to as morphogenesis. C. albicans has the ability to respond to environmental conditions and accordingly changing its cell morphology. Three main morphological forms of C. albicans are unicellular yeast, pseudohyphae and hyphae. The effect of different growth media (Horse serum medium, RPMI-1640, MSGB), incubation temperatures (34˚C, 37˚C, 40˚C) and pH values (5.4, 6.4, 7.4) on germ tube production by C. albicans was evaluated. (...) Horse serum medium noticeably promotes filamentation while RPMI-1640 medium shows moderate filamentation and MSGB media shows moderately low filamentation. The germ tube of C. albicans developed early in 1.5 hr at high temperature i.e., 40˚C. Incubation temperature of 37˚C was associated with highest germ tube formation while 34˚C shows low filamentation. A pH of 5.4 also induces low filamentation, pH 6.4 gives moderately lower than pH 7.4. A pH of 7.4 was best suited for germ tube induction. The peak of mycelium production appears between 1.5 and 6 hr after inoculation of C. albicans culture. These results suggested that environmental factors are important in selectively favoring yeast or hyphal form, most important being the growth medium, incubation temperature and external pH value. (shrink)

This paper presents a diagrammatic notation for visualizing epistemic entities and relations. The notation was created during the Visualizing Worldviews project funded by the University of Toronto’s Jackman Humanities Institute and has been further developed by the scholars participating in the university’s Research Opportunity Program. Since any systematic diagrammatic notation should be based on a solid ontology of the respective domain, we first outline the current state of the scientonomic ontology. We then proceed to providing diagrammatic tools for visualizing the (...) epistemic entities and relations of this ontology. These basic diagramming techniques allow us to construct diagrams of various types for both synchronic and diachronic visualizations. The paper concludes by highlighting some future research directions. As the notation presented here is de facto accepted and used in scientonomy, the paper suggests no modifications. (shrink)