Experimental Investigations on Mild Steel Compound Parabolic Reflector with Aluminum Foil as Selective Surface and Top Cover

AbstractThe paper explores the experimental results of the prototype compound parabolic trough solar collector made of mild steel and its surface coated with an aluminum foil of thickness 10 micron as a selective surface. This prototype has been tested with top cover for instant water heating and steam generation application. The performance of collector has been evaluated with receiver coated with selective absorber coatings. This line focusing parabolic trough yields instantaneous efficiency of 60% with top cover. Actual field experimentation for performance evaluation of prototype system has been done during month of April and May 2012 at Shivaji university, Kolhapur [Latitude: 16.42° N, Longitude: 74.13°W].For the hotter climatic conditions, this type of system may play an important role in industrial process heating applications

Pharmaceutical Analysis of Eptifibatide via Simple, Rapid, Economical UV-Spectrophotometric Methods

Eptifibatide is an antiplatelet drug of the glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitor class. Pharmaceutically it is applied to reduce the risk of acute cardiac ischemic events. The present work reveals two simple, rapid and economical UuV-Spectrophotometric methods for pharmaceutical analysis of Eeptifibatide bulk and in parenteral formulation. The ‘Method I’ is based on the Zero Order Spectrophotometric determination of drug at its wavelength maximum 218.20 nm and ‘Method II’ employed First Order Derivative - Aarea Uunder Curve (AUauC) technique in which the area has been integrated between two wavelengths 220.20 to 237.20 nm. The drug obeyed linearity in the concentration range of 3 - 18 μg/mLl with coefficient of correlation; greater than 0.999 in both methods. The amounts of drug determined by both methods are in conformity with label claim. These methods are validated for accuracy, precision and ruggedness with % RSD value less than 2.0

ADOPTING ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORK FOR WEAR INVESTIGATION OF BALL BEARING MATERIALS UNDER PURE SLIDING CONDITION

In the industry, ball bearings are the most widely used machine element. The ball materials may differ in various bearing applications. Wear of the ball and recess after a period of use is the most common cause of ball bearing failure. The present study aims to develop the artificial neural network model for assessing the wear of different ball bearing materials. A wear test method has been followed as suggested by the ASTM-G99 standard. The pin on disc apparatus was selected to conduct numerous trials. L9 array was considered to design the experiments. The factors considered for this study were load, time, and sliding speed. Based on the results obtained, ANN code was proposed to evaluate wear using numerous test parameters. The results obtained from the proposed model are nearly similar to experimental results, which would be evidence for the correctness of the model. The proposed neural network model can be used in numerous applications with given parameters

Development and Validation of UV Spectrophotometric Method for Simultaneous Estimation of Quinfamide and Mebendazole in in-house Pharmaceutical Formulation

The present work described the development of two simple, accurate, rapid, cost effective and reproducible UV-Spectrophotometric methods for the simultaneous estimation of Quinfamide and Mebendazole in bulk and in laboratory mixture using 0.01M methanolic HCl as a solvent. The absorption maximum for Quinfamide and Mebendazole were found to be at 260.00 nm and 232.40 nm respectively. Beer’s - lamberts was followed in concentration ranges of 1 - 6 μg/mL for Quinfamide and 2- 12 μg/mL for Mebendazole. The percentage recovery of Quinfamide and mebendazole ranged from 98.48 to 99.08 and 98.83 to 99.62 (Method I); from 98.14 to 98.93 and 99.16 to 99.35 (Method II) for Quinfamide and Mebendazole. The established methods were sensible for simultaneous quantitative determination of both these drugs in fixed dose combinations. Validation of both these methods was performed as per ICH guidelines. The developed methods can routinely be used for estimation of both these drugs in their combined dosage form

An Insight on Analytical Profile on Bisoprolol Fumarate – A Selective Beta-1 Adrenoreceptor Blocker

BF is Beta-adreno receptor antagonist and used as an AntiHypertensive Drug. BF gives the blocking action on β1-adrenergic receptors in the heart and vascular smooth muscle. The present review compiles the various approaches implemented for quantification of BF in bulk drug, pharmaceutical matrix and biological fluid. This review represents more than 50 analytical methods which include capillary electrophoresis, HPLC, HPTLC, UV-Spectroscopy, UPLC, impurity profiling and electrochemical methods implemented for estimation of BF as a single component as well as in multicomponent

Assessment of carbon loss related to Soil loss in the tropical watershed of Maharashtra, India

Soil carbon pools have a significant impact on the global carbon cycle and soil erosion caused by natural or human activities is one of the main drivers of changes in soil carbon sequestration. The present study aimed to estimate the carbon loss associated with soil loss in the watershed using remote sensing and GIS techniques. The study was carried out at the Central MPKV Campus Watershed, Rahuri, located in the rain shadow region of the Maharashtra state, India. The soil loss from the watershed was estimated using USLE model. The soil loss and carbon loss from the watershed were estimated before the implementation of conservation measures and after the implementation of conservation measures. It was found that the average annual soil loss from the watershed before and after conservation measures was 18.68 t/ha/yr and 9.41 t/ha/yr, respectively. Carbon loss was determined by soil loss rate, organic carbon content and the carbon enrichment ratio. The carbon loss from the watershed before and after conservation measures was 348.71 kgC/ha/yr and 205.52 kgC/ha/yr. The findings revealed that soil and carbon erosion was very severe on steep slopes without conservation measures and with limited vegetation cover. It was found that by reducing the carbon loss associated with soil loss, soil conservation measures not only aid in the conservation of natural resources but also serve as a climate change mitigation measure

Real world evidence of effectiveness and safety of an oral formulation containing un-denatured type-II collagen 40 mg and aflapin 100 mg (HAPID®) in the management of osteoarthritis of knee: findings of a prospective, multi-center, observational study

Background: Osteoarthritis (OA) of knee is a common progressive multifactorial joint disorder affecting the quality of life, and surgical repair is the final option which has substantial impact on healthcare costs. This real-world study evaluates the efficacy and safety of an oral formulation containing UC-II and aflapin (Boswellia serrata extract enriched in 3-O-acetyl-11-keto-beta-boswellic acid) for treatment of OA of knee.Methods: Data of 505 ambulatory adult patients (study duration-Jul-21 to Jul-22) of either gender (227 M, 278 F) having OA of knee, and who received study treatment (capsule HAPID®, Wockhardt, India) once daily for a period of up to 90 days were included for the study after obtaining informed written consent. Primary outcomes were mean change in Western Ontario and McMaster universities OA index (WOMAC) scores from baseline through day 90 (total and sub-scales for joint pain, joint stiffness, and physical function), and change in 0-10 visual analogue scale (VAS) score for pain.Results: About 285 (56.4%) patients were newly diagnosed, majority (63.4%) were having grade 2 severity of OA (Kellgren and Lawrence grade). The mean (SD) baseline total WOMAC scores improved from 60.94 (23.60) at baseline to 26.42 (22.19) on day 90. Significant improvements were seen starting from day 5 (p=0.023) and progressively up to day 90 (p<0.0001).Conclusions: The excellent safety and efficacy profile of combination therapy with aflapin and UC-II makes it a desirable pharmacological treatment modality for management of patients of knee OA

Comparison of multiplex meta analysis techniques for understanding the acute rejection of solid organ transplants

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Combining the results of studies using highly parallelized measurements of gene expression such as microarrays and RNAseq offer unique challenges in meta analysis. Motivated by a need for a deeper understanding of organ transplant rejection, we combine the data from five separate studies to compare acute rejection versus stability after solid organ transplantation, and use this data to examine approaches to multiplex meta analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We demonstrate that a commonly used parametric effect size estimate approach and a commonly used non-parametric method give very different results in prioritizing genes. The parametric method providing a meta effect estimate was superior at ranking genes based on our gold-standard of identifying immune response genes in the transplant rejection datasets.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Different methods of multiplex analysis can give substantially different results. The method which is best for any given application will likely depend on the particular domain, and it remains for future work to see if any one method is consistently better at identifying important biological signal across gene expression experiments.</p

Extreme Evolutionary Disparities Seen in Positive Selection across Seven Complex Diseases

Positive selection is known to occur when the environment that an organism inhabits is suddenly altered, as is the case across recent human history. Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have successfully illuminated disease-associated variation. However, whether human evolution is heading towards or away from disease susceptibility in general remains an open question. The genetic-basis of common complex disease may partially be caused by positive selection events, which simultaneously increased fitness and susceptibility to disease. We analyze seven diseases studied by the Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium to compare evidence for selection at every locus associated with disease. We take a large set of the most strongly associated SNPs in each GWA study in order to capture more hidden associations at the cost of introducing false positives into our analysis. We then search for signs of positive selection in this inclusive set of SNPs. There are striking differences between the seven studied diseases. We find alleles increasing susceptibility to Type 1 Diabetes (T1D), Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), and Crohn's Disease (CD) underwent recent positive selection. There is more selection in alleles increasing, rather than decreasing, susceptibility to T1D. In the 80 SNPs most associated with T1D (p-value <7.01×10−5) showing strong signs of positive selection, 58 alleles associated with disease susceptibility show signs of positive selection, while only 22 associated with disease protection show signs of positive selection. Alleles increasing susceptibility to RA are under selection as well. In contrast, selection in SNPs associated with CD favors protective alleles. These results inform the current understanding of disease etiology, shed light on potential benefits associated with the genetic-basis of disease, and aid in the efforts to identify causal genetic factors underlying complex disease

May Measurement Month 2018: a pragmatic global screening campaign to raise awareness of blood pressure by the International Society of Hypertension

Aims Raised blood pressure (BP) is the biggest contributor to mortality and disease burden worldwide and fewer than half of those with hypertension are aware of it. May Measurement Month (MMM) is a global campaign set up in 2017, to raise awareness of high BP and as a pragmatic solution to a lack of formal screening worldwide. The 2018 campaign was expanded, aiming to include more participants and countries. Methods and results Eighty-nine countries participated in MMM 2018. Volunteers (≥18 years) were recruited through opportunistic sampling at a variety of screening sites. Each participant had three BP measurements and completed a questionnaire on demographic, lifestyle, and environmental factors. Hypertension was defined as a systolic BP ≥140 mmHg or diastolic BP ≥90 mmHg, or taking antihypertensive medication. In total, 74.9% of screenees provided three BP readings. Multiple imputation using chained equations was used to impute missing readings. 1 504 963 individuals (mean age 45.3 years; 52.4% female) were screened. After multiple imputation, 502 079 (33.4%) individuals had hypertension, of whom 59.5% were aware of their diagnosis and 55.3% were taking antihypertensive medication. Of those on medication, 60.0% were controlled and of all hypertensives, 33.2% were controlled. We detected 224 285 individuals with untreated hypertension and 111 214 individuals with inadequately treated (systolic BP ≥ 140 mmHg or diastolic BP ≥ 90 mmHg) hypertension. Conclusion May Measurement Month expanded significantly compared with 2017, including more participants in more countries. The campaign identified over 335 000 adults with untreated or inadequately treated hypertension. In the absence of systematic screening programmes, MMM was effective at raising awareness at least among these individuals at risk