Antihypertensive and Antioxidant Action of Amlodipine and Vitamin C in Patients of Essential Hypertension

The etiology of essential hypertension includes increased oxidative stress. The role of antihypertensive drug amlodipine as an antioxidant and the benefit of addition of vitamin C, an antioxidant to antihypertensive therapy were studied. Forty male patients of essential hypertension were randomly divided into two groups and treated with 5 mg amlodipine. In addition one group also received 1000 mg vitamin C (as two 500 mg tablets) once daily for three months. Although blood pressure decreased in both groups, the systolic blood pressure in patients given vitamin C was less (126.4 ± 7.47) compared to the other group (130.9 ± 7.27). A decrease in malondialdehyde, an increase in erythrocyte sodium-potassium adenosine triphosphatase (Na+ K+ ATPase) and an increase in the superoxide dismutase levels were observed in both groups. The increase in SOD was statistically more in the patients given vitamin C in addition to amlodipine (0.1717 ± 0.0150 compared to 0.152 ± 0.0219 units/100 ml assay). In spite of the known antihypertensive, antioxidant activity, similarity in correcting endothelial dysfunction independently, giving the two drugs together and early introduction of vitamin C perhaps decreases oxidative stress and augments the antioxidant status. This may prevent further vascular damage due to oxidative stress, leading to a better prognosis in essential hypertension patients

Tribological properties of CNT-filled epoxy-carbon fabric composites: Optimization and modelling by machine learning

Polymer matrix composites reinforced with fibers/fillers are extensively used in several tribological components of automotive and boating applications. The mechanical performance of polymer composites improves by incorporating nanofillers as secondary reinforcement. The present research work fabricated carbon fabric-reinforced epoxy composites using the hand layup. The carbon fabric-reinforced polymer composites were fabricated with 0.1 wt%, 0.2 wt%, and 0.5 wt% of carbon nanotubes (CNT) fillers as secondary reinforcement. Tribological properties of carbon fabric-reinforced epoxy composites filled with CNT have been carried out using a pin‐on‐disc method. Adding fillers significantly improves the tribological behaviour of the carbon fabric-reinforced epoxy composites by reducing wear rate and coefficient of friction. The large surface area of interaction due to the higher aspect ratio of CNT shows improved adhesion between epoxy matrix and carbon fabrics. It improves the various mechanical and tribological characteristics of composites—also, an analysis of worn surfaces is carried out to analyze the wear mechanisms using scanning electronic microscopy. The research employs a combination of experimental analyses and machine learning (ML) techniques to explore the wear resistance, hardness, and predictive modeling of volume loss in the composites. The hyperparameter fine-tuning of ML algorithms, including Random Forest (RF), k-Nearest Neighbors (KNN), and XGBoost, demonstrates superior predictive capabilities, particularly with RF. The study bridges material science, ML, and practical applications, contributing valuable insights for developing advanced composite materials