In this study, we aimed to compare osteoporosis (OP)-related bone mineral density, and bone turnover (markers of formation, and resorption) between patients with Fibromyalgia Syndrome (FMS) and degenerative disc disease, and to determine the relationship of these parameters with clinical, functional and emotional evaluation outcomes in FMS. Fifty premenopausal women with FMS and 50 premenopausa...

In this paper, we study an inherent problem of mining Frequent Itemsets (FIs): the number of FIs mined is often too large. The large number of FIs not only affects the mining performance, but also severely thwarts the application of FI mining. In the literature, Closed FIs (CFIs) and Maximal FIs (MFIs) are proposed as concise representations of FIs. However, the number of CFIs is still too larg...

Recent years have seen an explosion in the use of Peer-to-Peer (P2P) lending, in which websites such as Kiva and Microplace offer individuals the ability to make loans to microfinance borrowers across the developing world. Such sites offer a fascinating new example of a two-tiered monitoring device in which micro-finance institutions (MFIs) maintain dynamic relationships with borrowers and P2P ...

March 2005 57 Bindu Ananth is a Manager at ICICI Bank. She has worked in ICICI Bank's microfinance practice for over three years and is currently the co-ordinator of the Centre for MicroFinance Research. The views presented in this paper are solely those of the author and do not in any way reflect the views of ICICI Bank. Capital constraint is an issue impeding scaling up of microfinance in Ind...

Background Fatigue is a major symptom of multiple sclerosis (MS) in patients, and it has been shown to improve with physical exercise. Although fingolimod might lessen fatigue, it is unclear how patients treated with fingolimod react to physical activity regarding fatigue. Objective This study evaluated the effect of an exercise intervention on fatigue in relapsing-remitting MS patients recei...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effectiveness of a home-based cognitive rehabilitation (CR) program based on the video game Dr Kawashima's Brain Training (DKBT; Nintendo, Japan), in improving attention, processing speed, and working memory of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). METHODS This was a randomized, wait-list control study. Patients with MS and failure in at least one between Stroop Tes...

BACKGROUND Brucellosis is one of the most common chronic diseases, with widespread distribution. In spite of cell-mediated immunity (CMI) modulated mainly via activated T-helper type 1 (Th1) cells, brucellosis can advance to chronic disease in about 10-30% of cases. Regulatory T cells (Treg cells) are involved the immune response to brucellosis; however, their role, particularly in the change f...

BACKGROUND The clinical impact of neutralizing antibodies against interferon-beta (NAb) is controversial. Their presence can lead to a decrease in interferon-beta (IFNβ) efficacy. Fatigue reported in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) may be associated with an unfavorable clinical course. We conducted a prospective multicentre study to assess the association between response to IFNβ, NAb and...

This article aims to analyze the social impact of Koperasi Kasih Indonesia (KKI) as a microfinance institution (MFI) in terms benefits received by its members and how measure them. Conventionally parameters range expansion (outreach) disbursing microcredit are widely used MFIs. The more extensive reach also indicates potential that can be obtained Therefore, if it is separate from mission, targ...

Present paper intends to measure the determinants of performance of Indian financial sector. The performance variables of banking sector and microfinance institutions in India are studied over a study period of six years i.e. 2006-07 to 2011-12. The financial sector of India is gaining strength over the years and its contribution to growth is overwhelming. Banks are considered the main componen...