Parameter estimation of electric power transformers using Coyote Optimization Algorithm with experimental verification

In this work, the Coyote Optimization Algorithm (COA) is implemented for estimating the parameters of single and three-phase power transformers. The estimation process is employed on the basis of the manufacturer's operation reports. The COA is assessed with the aid of the deviation between the actual and the estimated parameters as the main objective function. Further, the COA is compared with well-known optimization algorithms i.e. particle swarm and Jaya optimization algorithms. Moreover, experimental verifications are carried out on 4 kVA, 380/380 V, three-phase transformer and 1 kVA, 230/230 V, single-phase transformer. The obtained results prove the effectiveness and capability of the proposed COA. According to the obtained results, COA has the ability and stability to identify the accurate optimal parameters in case of both single phase and three phase transformers; thus accurate performance of the transformers is achieved. The estimated parameters using COA lead to the highest closeness to the experimental measured parameters that realizes the best agreements between the estimated parameters and the actual parameters compared with other optimization algorithms

Validated Chromatographic Methods for the Simultaneous Determination of Sodium Cromoglycate and Oxymetazoline Hydrochloride in a Combined Dosage Form

Two chromatographic methods were developed and validated for the simultaneous determination of Sodium Cromoglycate (SCG) and Oxymetazoline Hydrochloride (OXMT). SCG and OXMT are administered in combination for effective treatment of nasal congestion and allergy. The first chromatographic method was based on usingaluminum TLC plates pre-coated with silica gel GF254 as the stationary phase and chloroform: methanol: toluene: triethylamine (5: 2: 4:1, by volume) as the mobile phase followed by densitometric measurement of the separated bands at 235 nm. The second method is a high performance liquid chromatographic method for separation and determination of SCG and OXMT using reversed phase C18 column with isocratic elution. The mobile phase composed of acetonitrile: methanol (2: 1, v/v) at flow rate of 1.0 mL/ min. Quantitation was achieved with UV detection at 220 nm. The validity of the proposed methods was assessed using the standard addition technique. The obtained results were statistically compared with those obtained by the official methods, showing no significant difference with respect to accuracy and precision at p = 0.05

Consumer trust and confidence in the compliance of Islamic banks

Islamic banks compete with traditional (non-Islamic) banks for customers. This article aims to provide insight into why some Muslims choose to bank with Islamic banks in Pakistan, while others do not. Specifically, it addresses the questions: to what extent are trust and confidence active influencers in the decision-making process, are they differentiated or are they one of the same? Also how does the Pakistani collective cultural context further complicate the application of these concepts? For the purposes of this article trust refers to people and their interpersonal or social relations whereas confidence concerns institutions such as banks. Drawing on interviews with Muslim consumers in Pakistan, this study provides further insight into consumer behaviour within financial services and specifically Islamic banking and contributes to our theoretical understanding of the concepts of trust and confidence

Crude Coal Tar and Ultraviolet (UV) A radiation (Modified Goeckerman Technique) in Treatment of Psoriasis

Background: Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory dermatosis that has a substantial impact on the quality of life. Goeckerman\u27s technique (GT) has been recruited for the treatment of psoriasis with high clearance rates and long periods of remission.Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory dermatosis that has a substantial impact on the quality of life. Goeckerman’s technique (GT) has been implemented for the treatment of psoriasis with high clearance rates and long periods of remission. The objective of this article was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of modified GT (crude coal tar 2.5% plus UVA) as an alternative therapeutic modality for psoriatic patients with skin types III-V. Twenty two patients with moderate, severe, and erythrodermic psoriasis were included in this study. All patients received modified GT (crude coal tar 2.5% plus UVA) six days per week for a period of 3 months. Assessment of the rate of reduction of psoriasis area severity index (PASI) was performed, as well as photographic documentation of each patient at baseline and after completion of therapy. There was a significant reduction in PASI scores after therapy in all patients (P=0.001). The rate of PASI reduction after therapy was &gt;50% in 63.6% of patients; 27.3% of patients achieved &gt;75% reduction and 9.1% of patients achieved 26-50% reduction. No serious side effects were reported in any of the patients. Modified GT is a safe and effective therapeutic option for patients with moderate and severe psoriasis.</p

A922 Sequential measurement of 1 hour creatinine clearance (1-CRCL) in critically ill patients at risk of acute kidney injury (AKI)

Meeting abstrac

In vitro anti-inflammatory and acetylcholinesterase inhibition efficiency of plant extracts from Sinai-Egypt

Ten plant extracts were prepared and tested in in vitro assays against COX-2, COX-1 and acetylcholinesterase with evaluation of their antioxidant properties. The tested extracts exhibited varied anti COX-2 effect and they were superior to celecoxibe (inhibition percentage was 42.67% at 50 µg/mL), reference drug. Lavandula coronopifolia and Scrophularia Libanotica extracts were the efficient inhibitors (100% and 91% at 50 µg/mL respectively). Launaeaspinosa and Pulicaria undulata were the powerful AChE inhibitor (IC50 values were 16.69 and 29.06 µg/mL, respectively) followed with L. coronopifolia and S.libanotica extracts (IC50 values were 61.89 and 49.83 µg/mL, respectively) and they were efficient in scavenging superoxide radicals and metal ions, nitric oxide formation inhibition, as well as, lipid peroxide production suppression. L. coronopifolia and S. Libanotica extracts can be introduced as natural cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors without affecting cyclooxygenase-1 whereas L. spinosa and P. undulata extracts were potent suppressor for AChE with robust antioxidant properties which suggest the possibility of using the four extracts, L. coronopifolia, S. libanotica, L. spinosa and P. undulata as natural agent in treating neurodegenerative disorder

In vitro anti-inflammatory and acetylcholinesterase inhibition efficiency of plant extracts from Sinai-Egypt

635-641Ten plant extracts were prepared and tested in in vitro assays against COX-2, COX-1 and acetylcholinesterase with evaluation of their antioxidant properties. The tested extracts exhibited varied anti COX-2 effect and they were superior to celecoxibe (inhibition percentage was 42.67% at 50 µg/mL), reference drug. Lavandula coronopifolia and Scrophularia Libanotica extracts were the efficient inhibitors (100% and 91% at 50 µg/mL respectively). Launaeaspinosa and Pulicaria undulata were the powerful AChE inhibitor (IC50 values were 16.69 and 29.06 µg/mL, respectively) followed with L. coronopifolia and S.libanotica extracts (IC50 values were 61.89 and 49.83 µg/mL, respectively) and they were efficient in scavenging superoxide radicals and metal ions, nitric oxide formation inhibition, as well as, lipid peroxide production suppression. L. coronopifolia and S. Libanotica extracts can be introduced as natural cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors without affecting cyclooxygenase-1 whereas L. spinosa and P. undulata extracts were potent suppressor for AChE with robust antioxidant properties which suggest the possibility of using the four extracts, L. coronopifolia, S. libanotica, L. spinosa and P. undulata as natural agent in treating neurodegenerative disorder

Mapping 123 million neonatal, infant and child deaths between 2000 and 2017

Since 2000, many countries have achieved considerable success in improving child survival, but localized progress remains unclear. To inform efforts towards United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 3.2—to end preventable child deaths by 2030—we need consistently estimated data at the subnational level regarding child mortality rates and trends. Here we quantified, for the period 2000–2017, the subnational variation in mortality rates and number of deaths of neonates, infants and children under 5 years of age within 99 low- and middle-income countries using a geostatistical survival model. We estimated that 32% of children under 5 in these countries lived in districts that had attained rates of 25 or fewer child deaths per 1,000 live births by 2017, and that 58% of child deaths between 2000 and 2017 in these countries could have been averted in the absence of geographical inequality. This study enables the identification of high-mortality clusters, patterns of progress and geographical inequalities to inform appropriate investments and implementations that will help to improve the health of all populations

Laparoscopy in management of appendicitis in high-, middle-, and low-income countries: a multicenter, prospective, cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Appendicitis is the most common abdominal surgical emergency worldwide. Differences between high- and low-income settings in the availability of laparoscopic appendectomy, alternative management choices, and outcomes are poorly described. The aim was to identify variation in surgical management and outcomes of appendicitis within low-, middle-, and high-Human Development Index (HDI) countries worldwide. METHODS: This is a multicenter, international prospective cohort study. Consecutive sampling of patients undergoing emergency appendectomy over 6 months was conducted. Follow-up lasted 30 days. RESULTS: 4546 patients from 52 countries underwent appendectomy (2499 high-, 1540 middle-, and 507 low-HDI groups). Surgical site infection (SSI) rates were higher in low-HDI (OR 2.57, 95% CI 1.33-4.99, p = 0.005) but not middle-HDI countries (OR 1.38, 95% CI 0.76-2.52, p = 0.291), compared with high-HDI countries after adjustment. A laparoscopic approach was common in high-HDI countries (1693/2499, 67.7%), but infrequent in low-HDI (41/507, 8.1%) and middle-HDI (132/1540, 8.6%) groups. After accounting for case-mix, laparoscopy was still associated with fewer overall complications (OR 0.55, 95% CI 0.42-0.71, p < 0.001) and SSIs (OR 0.22, 95% CI 0.14-0.33, p < 0.001). In propensity-score matched groups within low-/middle-HDI countries, laparoscopy was still associated with fewer overall complications (OR 0.23 95% CI 0.11-0.44) and SSI (OR 0.21 95% CI 0.09-0.45). CONCLUSION: A laparoscopic approach is associated with better outcomes and availability appears to differ by country HDI. Despite the profound clinical, operational, and financial barriers to its widespread introduction, laparoscopy could significantly improve outcomes for patients in low-resource environments. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT02179112

Global, regional, and national comparative risk assessment of 84 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks for 195 countries and territories, 1990–2017 : a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017

Background: The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2017 comparative risk assessment (CRA) is a comprehensive approach to risk factor quantification that offers a useful tool for synthesising evidence on risks and risk outcome associations. With each annual GBD study, we update the GBD CRA to incorporate improved methods, new risks and risk outcome pairs, and new data on risk exposure levels and risk outcome associations. Methods: We used the CRA framework developed for previous iterations of GBD to estimate levels and trends in exposure, attributable deaths, and attributable disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), by age group, sex, year, and location for 84 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or groups of risks from 1990 to 2017. This study included 476 risk outcome pairs that met the GBD study criteria for convincing or probable evidence of causation. We extracted relative risk and exposure estimates from 46 749 randomised controlled trials, cohort studies, household surveys, census data, satellite data, and other sources. We used statistical models to pool data, adjust for bias, and incorporate covariates. Using the counterfactual scenario of theoretical minimum risk exposure level (TMREL), we estimated the portion of deaths and DALYs that could be attributed to a given risk. We explored the relationship between development and risk exposure by modelling the relationship between the Socio-demographic Index (SDI) and risk-weighted exposure prevalence and estimated expected levels of exposure and risk-attributable burden by SDI. Finally, we explored temporal changes in risk-attributable DALYs by decomposing those changes into six main component drivers of change as follows: (1) population growth; (2) changes in population age structures; (3) changes in exposure to environmental and occupational risks; (4) changes in exposure to behavioural risks; (5) changes in exposure to metabolic risks; and (6) changes due to all other factors, approximated as the risk-deleted death and DALY rates, where the risk-deleted rate is the rate that would be observed had we reduced the exposure levels to the TMREL for all risk factors included in GBD 2017. Findings: In 2017,34.1 million (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 33.3-35.0) deaths and 121 billion (144-1.28) DALYs were attributable to GBD risk factors. Globally, 61.0% (59.6-62.4) of deaths and 48.3% (46.3-50.2) of DALYs were attributed to the GBD 2017 risk factors. When ranked by risk-attributable DALYs, high systolic blood pressure (SBP) was the leading risk factor, accounting for 10.4 million (9.39-11.5) deaths and 218 million (198-237) DALYs, followed by smoking (7.10 million [6.83-7.37] deaths and 182 million [173-193] DALYs), high fasting plasma glucose (6.53 million [5.23-8.23] deaths and 171 million [144-201] DALYs), high body-mass index (BMI; 4.72 million [2.99-6.70] deaths and 148 million [98.6-202] DALYs), and short gestation for birthweight (1.43 million [1.36-1.51] deaths and 139 million [131-147] DALYs). In total, risk-attributable DALYs declined by 4.9% (3.3-6.5) between 2007 and 2017. In the absence of demographic changes (ie, population growth and ageing), changes in risk exposure and risk-deleted DALYs would have led to a 23.5% decline in DALYs during that period. Conversely, in the absence of changes in risk exposure and risk-deleted DALYs, demographic changes would have led to an 18.6% increase in DALYs during that period. The ratios of observed risk exposure levels to exposure levels expected based on SDI (O/E ratios) increased globally for unsafe drinking water and household air pollution between 1990 and 2017. This result suggests that development is occurring more rapidly than are changes in the underlying risk structure in a population. Conversely, nearly universal declines in O/E ratios for smoking and alcohol use indicate that, for a given SDI, exposure to these risks is declining. In 2017, the leading Level 4 risk factor for age-standardised DALY rates was high SBP in four super-regions: central Europe, eastern Europe, and central Asia; north Africa and Middle East; south Asia; and southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania. The leading risk factor in the high-income super-region was smoking, in Latin America and Caribbean was high BMI, and in sub-Saharan Africa was unsafe sex. O/E ratios for unsafe sex in sub-Saharan Africa were notably high, and those for alcohol use in north Africa and the Middle East were notably low. Interpretation: By quantifying levels and trends in exposures to risk factors and the resulting disease burden, this assessment offers insight into where past policy and programme efforts might have been successful and highlights current priorities for public health action. Decreases in behavioural, environmental, and occupational risks have largely offset the effects of population growth and ageing, in relation to trends in absolute burden. Conversely, the combination of increasing metabolic risks and population ageing will probably continue to drive the increasing trends in non-communicable diseases at the global level, which presents both a public health challenge and opportunity. We see considerable spatiotemporal heterogeneity in levels of risk exposure and risk-attributable burden. Although levels of development underlie some of this heterogeneity, O/E ratios show risks for which countries are overperforming or underperforming relative to their level of development. As such, these ratios provide a benchmarking tool to help to focus local decision making. Our findings reinforce the importance of both risk exposure monitoring and epidemiological research to assess causal connections between risks and health outcomes, and they highlight the usefulness of the GBD study in synthesising data to draw comprehensive and robust conclusions that help to inform good policy and strategic health planning