Modern Walking Robots: A Brief Overview

In this review, we would like to present some of the most interesting modern designs of walking robots: bipedal, quadropedal, hexopedal, and octopods. Their advantages and disadvantages are highlighted. It has been determined that structures with eight or more limbs are ineffective due to high level of electricity consumption. The use of more than six number of legs does not give noticeable advantages in profile cross-country ability or maneuverability, however, it allows to reduce the forces and moments of inertia forces due to decrease in mode coefficient (ratio of time spent by propulsor in support to time of entire step), and, consequently, smoother leg movements in swing phase

ANTICARCINOGENIC ACTIVITY OF RICE BRAN PHYTIC ACID AGAINST HUMAN BREAST CANCER CELL LINE (MCF-7)

Phytic acid (PA) has been reported for anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and anticancer activity. However, molecular mechanism of anticancer activity is not clear. This study investigated the anticancer activity of rice bran PA against breast cancer (MCF-7). Cytotoxicty of PA (0 to 7 mM) against MCF-7 cells was examined by MTT and LDH assays after 24 and 48 h treatment. Apoptotic activity was evaluated by expressional analysis of apoptosis-regulatory genes [i.e., p53, Bcl-2, Bax, caspase-3 and -9] by reverse transcriptase-PCR and DNA fragmentation assay. PA inhibited the growth of MCF-7 cells in a concentration dependent manner (p≤0.04). After 48 h treatment, cells viability was recorded 80.9, 71.1, 59.8, 36.6, 26.7 and 15.9% in MTT assay and 85.3, 72.6%, 62.3%, 42.1, 31.7 and 21.7% in LDH assay at concentration of 1.4, 2.2, 3.0, 3.8, 4.6, and 5.4 mM respectively. Hence, treatment of PA for 24 h, recorded viability of cells 84.6, 73.8, 61.0, 47.0, 28.8 and 17.3% in MTT assay and 87.8, 77.5%, 62.9%, 49.8, 35.7 and 23.3% in LDH assay at concentration of 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 mM, respectively. PA treated MCF-7 cells showed up-regulation of p53, Bax, caspase-3 and -9, and down-regulation of Bcl-2 gene (p ≤0.03). At IC50 (3.4 mM) of PA, the p53, Bax, caspase 3 and -9 genes were up-regulated by 6.34, 4.90, 23.45 and 15.03 folds respectively. Also, the fragmented genomic DNA in PA treated cells showed the signs of apoptosis. Our study endorsed the biological activity of PA and demonstrated the PA induced growth inhibition and apoptosis in MCF-7 cells by modulating the expression of apoptosis-regulatory genes. Keyword: Phytic acid, antioxidant, cytotoxicity, apoptosis, caspases, p53, Bax, Bcl-2, DNA fragmentatio

Cutaneous leishmaniasis in Karak, Pakistan: Report of an outbreak and comparison of diagnostic techniques

A total of 339 patients with clinically suspected cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) were studied from March to April, 2010 in three villages of Karak, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan where an epidemic of the disease was in question. Using polymerase chain reaction (PCR), 78.17% (265/339) were observed having CL. Microscopically, however, only 43.06% (146/339) were diagnosed with the disease. This study reports and confirms epidemic of CL in both gender of all ages in the area. Females (70.94%) were noted to be predominantly affected as compared to males (29%). Clinically, 12.38% of patients had more than three lesions, 29.20% had two lesions, while 58.40% had only single lesion. Most lesions were found on exposed surfaces of the body (predominantly hands, face and feet). The present study confirms that PCR was more sensitive than microscopic examination.Key words: Epidemic, cutaneous leishmaniasis, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), microscopy, Pakistan

Operation of Circuit Breakers: Data and Analysis

[EN] An attempt has been made for the analysis on Circuit breakers (CBs) this paper. First, the types and arcing phenomenon of Oil and SF6 Circuit breakers were briefly discussed. However, various CBs were analyzed in terms of certain outage frequencies and reliability indices to ascertain the most reliable CB. This was possible using data collected from the 33kV Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) New Haven, Enugu. After the analysis, Emene Industrial CB had the highest value of availability of 0.9999 and the lowest tripping report while Ezillo had the highest failure rate of 0.1032.The authors are immensely grateful for the financial support from “African Centre of Excellence (ACE-SPED) University of Nigeria, Nsukka” to enable us to achieve the research (Muncho J. Mbunwe et al., 2019-2021).Madueme, VC.; Mbunwe, MJ.; Madueme, TC.; Ahmad, MA.; Anghel Drugarin, CV. (2021). Operation of Circuit Breakers: Data and Analysis. Multidisciplinary Journal for Education, Social and Technological Sciences. 8(2):60-73. https://doi.org/10.4995/muse.2021.12406OJS607382Anyaka, B.O. (2012). Reliability and Maintainability of Power System [Lecture Note]. http://engineering.unn.edu.ngCircuit globe, (n.d.). Circuit breaker, Retrieved June 10, 2017, from open source:- http://circuitglobe.com/circuit-breaker.htmlElectrical concepts, Circuit breaker and Arc Phenomenon, (n.d.). Retrieved June 10, 2017, from open source: http://electricalbaba.com/circuit-breaker-and-arc-phenomenon/Electrical Systems, (n.d.). Retrieved June 10, 2017, from open source: http://skm-eleksys.com/2012/02/sf6-circuit-breaker-working.htmlKezunovic, M. Ren, Z. Latisko, G. Sevcik, D.R. Lucey, J.S. Cook, W.E. and Koch, E.A. (2005). Automated Monitoring and Analysis of Circuit Breaker Operation, IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, 20(3), p. 1910. https://doi.org/10.1109/TPWRD.2005.848466Pinnekamp, F. (2007). The circuit breaker: a showcase of industrial product development, Transmission group R&D and technology, ABB, Switzerland, p.31. https://new.abb.com/docs/default-source/technology/brosch%C3%BCre-chchrc2017final-einseitig-(002).pdf?sfvrsn=e3f37d14_2Saxena, S. Singh, A. Ali, M. Gandhi, K. (2012). Various Types of Circuit Breakers used in Power System for Smooth Working of the Transmission Line, MIT International Journal of Electrical and Instrumentation Engineering, 2(2), p. 106. https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/06918326da2b2ac6fd80620d88961b68554b72edSuwanasri, T. Hlaing, M.T. and Suwanasri, C. (2014). Failure Rate Analysis of Power Circuit Breaker in High Voltage Substation, GMSARN International Journal, 8(1), 1-6. http://gmsarnjournal.com/home/journal-vol/journal-vol-8-no-1/Transmission Company of Nigeria. (2016). Tripping reports April - June 2016 [Unpublished Raw data]. New Haven, Enugu, Nigeria. https://www.tcn.org.ng/page_history.phpMuncho J. Mbunwe, M. Ayaz Ahmad, Syed Khalid Mustafa. (2020). An effective energy saving design strategy to maximize the use of electricity, J. Math. Comput. Sci., 10(5), 1808-1833, https://doi.org/10.28919/jmcs/4775Mbunwe Muncho J., Ezema Ejiofor E., Ngwu Anene A., C V Anghel Drugarin, M. Rehan Ajmal, M Ayaz Ahmad. (2021). Characterization of three phase solid state VAR compensation scheme in three phase pulse width modulation voltage source inverter, Journal of Physics: Conference Series, Vol. 1781, 012034, https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/1781/1/012034M. Ayaz Ahmad, Irina Tvoroshenko, Jalal Hasan Baker, Vyacheslav Lyashenko. (2019). Modeling the Structure of Intellectual Means of Decision-Making Using a System Oriented NFO Approach, International Journal of Emerging Trends in Engineering Research , Vol. 7(11), 460-465. https://doi.org/10.30534/ijeter/2019/107112019Mykhailo Kopot, M. Ayaz Ahmad, Vyacheslav Lyashenko, Syed Khalid Mustafa. (2020). Prospects for Creating Sub-Millimeter Magnetrons, International Journal of Advanced Trends in Computer Science and Engineering, Vol. 9(4), 6184-6188. https://doi.org/10.30534/ijatcse/2020/294942020M. Ayaz Ahmad, Irina Tvoroshenko, Jalal Hasan Baker, Vyacheslav Lyashenko. (2019). Computational Complexity of the Accessory Function Setting Mechanism in Fuzzy Intellectual Systems, International Journal of Advanced Trends in Computer Science and Engineering, Vol. 8(5), 2370-2377. https://doi.org/10.30534/ijatcse/2019/77852019Muncho J. Mbunwe, Udochukwu B. Akuru, Hilary U. Ezea, Ogbonnaya I. Okoro, M. Ayaz Ahmad. (2020). Some Aspects of Future Energy Generation in Using of Solar Power Satellites, Int. J. Anal. Appl., 18 (1), 117-128. https://doi.org/10.28924/2291-8639-18-2020-11

Effect of lecirelin acetate, hCG or progesterone administration on day 7 post-insemination on conception rate and progesterone concentration in cross-bred cattle

The present study was designed to evaluate the effect of administration of lecirelin acetate, hCG and progesterone after AI on ovarian picture, serum progesterone concentrations and first service conception rate in cross-bred cattle. A total of 160 lactating cross bred (Friesian x Sahiwal) cattle were divided into 4 groups after AI. The groups were treated as follows: control (injected i.m with normal saline 2ml, n=40), d 7-LA (injected i.m with lecirelin acetate100 µg, n=40), d 7-hCG (injected with hCG 3300 IU, n=40) and d 7-P4 (injected i.m with Progesterone 0.5 mgdaily for 4 days, n=40) group. The hormonal treatments were given to animals on day 7 after AI. The ultrasonography and blood sampling was done before treatment and then 7 days later. All animals were examined for pregnancy through ultrasonography at 40 ± 1 day after AI. The diameter of SCL on 7 days after treatment was higher (P 4 treated cows did not differ from control cows. Formation of ACL was observed only in 50 % & 80 % cows in d 7-LA and d 7-hCG group respectively. No ACL was observed in control and d 7- P4 cattle on day 7 after treatment. The P4 concentrations were significantly higher (P 0.05) difference in FSCR was observed between control and d 7-P4 group. It was concluded that the use of hCG or LA, 7 days after AI is a beneficial tool to improve conception rate in cross-bred cattle whereas use of parental P4 post-breeding has no effect on SCL diameter and conception rate

Pre-processing of Images as a Source of Additional Information for Image of the Natural Polymer Composites

Image processing is one of the methods of analyzing and obtaining new information. Image processing methods can be applied to any image. Image processing is used in various fields of research. Among the stages of image processing, the stage of image pre-processing is important. This stage allows increasing the efficiency of the analysis of the original image. We considered the use of pre-processing for the analysis of natural polymer composites image. In this paper, we describe the possibilities of automatic processing of natural polymer composites image

TREATMENT OF BOVINE SCHISTOSOMIASIS WITH MEDICINAL PLANT VERONIA ANTHELMINTICA (KALIZIRI), AN ALTERNATIVE APPROACH

Background: Veronia anthelmintica (Kaliziri) is a medicinally very important plant as being reported for remarkable therapeutic potential. The present research evaluates its antischistosomal activity. Methods and Materials: 54 buffaloes naturally infected with Schistosomiasis were used for anthelmintic trails. All animals for the study were tagged so as to distinguish from others. The animals were checked up on routine basis by a veterinary doctor. Preparation of samples of herbal drug and experiment was design according to available literature. Results: During present studies, buffalos naturally infected with Schistosomiasis were treated with Veronia anthelmintica (Kaliziri), with dose 75 mg/kg, 150 mg/kg and 225 mg/kg body weight respectively, and their impact on various parameters like eggs reduction, milk production, weight gain and feed intake was noted. Furthermore, their efficiency (%) was compared with standard drug “Praziquantel” (allopathic drug) at “10mg/Kg” body weight dose level. The effectiveness (%) of “Praziquantel” was noted as hundred after first dose, while the effectiveness for the herbal drug get to this level after injecting of second dose of “225mg/kg body weight”. Statistically significant (

Knowledge, attitudes, and practices among nurses in Pakistan towards diabetic foot

Introduction: Diabetic foot ulcers are a pressing complication of diabetes mellitus. Wound care requires a significant proportion of healthcare resources. It is imperative, therefore, for healthcare professionals to possess sound knowledge of the disease along with a positive attitude to ensure better clinical practice. Our literature search revealed a scarcity of data pertaining to diabetic foot ulcers. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the knowledge and attitudes of nurses regarding diabetic foot care. Methods: A cross-sectional study design was employed, a pre-validated and pre-tested questionnaire was used to collect data from a sample size of 250 nurses working at two tertiary care hospitals in Karachi, Pakistan. The study was conducted over a period of three months (January to March 2018) and included all nurses who possessed at least one year of clinical experience in diabetic ulcer care. The statistical software employed was SPSS version 19 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, US). Non-parametric tests and descriptive statistics were used for data analysis and statistical significance was assumed at a p-value of less than 0.5. Results: Only 54% of the nurses in our study possessed adequate knowledge of diabetic foot ulcers. The mean score of knowledge was 74.9 (±9.5). Macdonald’s standard criteria for learning outcomes was used to gauge the knowledge levels of our study population. Nurses performed best in the domain of ulcer care with 65.3% of the participants possessing good knowledge of the topic. The overall attitude of nurses towards patients with diabetic ulcers was positive. Conclusion: This study highlights important gaps in nurses’ knowledge and sheds light on the lack of evidence-based practice. Poor knowledge can compromise healthcare standards, even with the presence of positive attitudes. Hence, a comprehensive revision of nursing curricula across local tertiary hospitals for allowing nurses to update their knowledge is warrante