Proteus Simulation Using Various Power Converters for a Photovoltaic System

The need for renewable energy sources is on the increasethanks to the acute energy crisis within the world these days. Solar powercould be aimportant untapped resource in an exceedingly tropical country like India. The main hindrance for the penetration and reach of solar photovoltaic [PV] systems is their low efficiency. The main objective is to use the buck, boost and buck-boost converter along with a maximum power point tracking [MPPT] control mechanism to increase the efficiency of a PV system. The MPPT is responsible for extracting the maximum possible power from the photovoltaic cell. The converters are used to supply a constant and required voltage magnitude to the loa

CLINICAL PROFILE AND THE OUTCOME OF COVID-19 IN PATIENTS WITH HEMATOLOGICAL MALIGNANCY: A SINGLE CENTRE EXPERIENCE

Objective: In the present study, we are reporting the clinical profile; and outcomes of COVID-19 in patients with hematological malignancy at tertiary care hospitals. Methods: Data from laboratory-confirmed 40 COVID-19 patients diagnosed between January 1, 2021 and July 31, 2021, were analyzed retrospectively. All COVID-19 patients with hematological malignancy (n=40) were included in the study. Results: In the present study, a total of 40 patients were included. Of 40, 25 (62.5%) were males, and 15 (37.5%) were females. The median age in this study was 43 years (Range, 8–70). Of these 40 patients, acute myeloid leukemia was the most common malignancy 11 (27.5%), followed by acute lymphoblastic leukemia 9 (22.5%) than non-Hodgkin lymphoma 5 (12.5%), plasma cell dyscrasia 4 (10%), chronic myeloid leukemia 4 (10%), chronic lymphocytic leukemia 3 (7.5%), acute promyelocytic leukemia 2 (5%), chronic myelomonocytic leukemia 2 (5%). Mean hemoglobin was (8.04 g/dl), white blood cell count was (10.14×109/l), platelet count was (77.7×109/l) creatinine was (0.86 mg/dl), bilirubin was (1.24 mg/dl). The overall case-fatality rate was 8 (22.5%). Conclusion: Patients with hematological malignancy are immunocompromised, and our study reveals that there is an increased case fatality rate among these patients. Hence, physicians should be aggressive in the management of COVID‐19 patients with hematological malignancy

Effect of biocontrol agents on production of rooted back pepper cutting in serpentine method

Availability of disease free quality planting material is a major limiting factor in black pepper cultivation. In order to meet the increasing demand and also to create awareness on good agricultural practices for healthy disease free planting material production to farmers, a nursery experiment was started with improved varieties of black pepper by adopting a non-chemical bio-intensive management strategy. Here solarization of potting mixture was the main concern followed my amending the solarized potting mixture with potential bioagents. The experiment was designed in a two factor CRD with four improved varieties and five treatments. Each treatment contains a combination of two bioagents with antifungal and nematicidal properties respectively. The common recommended fungicide Metalaxyl-Mancozeb (0.125%) and nematicide carbsosulfan (0.1%) was used as control. The treatments were incorporated individually into solarized potting mixture and planted with improved varieties used viz., IISR Girimunda, Malabar Excel, Shakti and Thevam, The plants in each treatment were kept for multiplication by serpentine method with proper irrigation and phytosanitation. The results of plant growth and establishment in different treatments, showed that  fortification of solarized potting mixture with Trichoderma harzianum + Pochonia chlamydosporia combination or combination of Streptomyces  strains  (Act 2+9) are significantly superior (35.46% and 21% respectively) for the production of healthy rooted planting material. IISR Malabar Excel and IISR Thevam produced the maximum  number of plants from a single node cutting in treatment with T. harzianum + P. chlamydosporia (T1) (59 nos. and 51 nos. respectively) followed by Malabar Excel with Act 2+9 and Act 5+9 (45 nos. each). So an average of 6-7 plants/month/cutting was produced in the potential treatment while it was only 3-4 plants in control. The advantage of the method is that, after solarization and fortification with respective bioagents, there is no need for further application of any fungicides, insecticides or any other nutrient spray as usually done. Thus the method of soil solarization followed by fortification of either T. harzianum+ P. chlamydosporia  or combination of Streptomyces strains viz., Ketasatospora setae (Act 2) and S. tauricus (Act9) is found suitable for the production of healthy quality planting material of high yielding varieties to meet the increasing demand of planting material with a C:B ratio of 1:2

Protocol for the EACH trial: a multicentre phase II study evaluating the safety and antitumour activity of the combination of avelumab, an anti-PD-L1 agent, and cetuximab, as any line treatment for patients with recurrent/metastatic head and neck squamous cell cancer (HNSCC) in the UK.

IntroductionHead and neck cancer is the eighth most common cancer in the UK. Current standard of care treatment for patients with recurrent/metastatic squamous cell head and neck carcinoma (HNSCC) is platinum-based chemotherapy combined with the anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (anti-EGFR) monoclonal antibody, cetuximab. However, most patients will have poor median overall survival (OS) of 6-9 months despite treatment. HNSCC tumours exhibit an immune landscape poised to respond to immunotherapeutic approaches, with most tumours expressing the immunosuppressive receptor programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1). We undertook the current study to determine the safety and efficacy of avelumab, a monoclonal antibody targeting the interaction between PD-L1 and its receptor on cytotoxic T-cells, in combination with cetuximab.Methods and analysisThis is a multi-centre, single-arm dose de-escalation phase II safety and efficacy study of avelumab combined with cetuximab; the study was to progress to a randomised phase II trial, however, the study will now complete after the safety run-in component. Up to 16 participants with histologically/cytologically recurrent/metastatic squamous cell carcinoma (including HNSCC) who have not received cetuximab previously will be recruited. All patients will receive 10 mg/kg avelumab and cetuximab (500, 400 or 300 mg/m2 depending on the cohort open at time of registration) on days 1 and 15 of 4-week cycles for up to 1 year, (avelumab not given cycle 1 day 1). A modified continual reassessment method will be used to determine dose de-escalation. The primary objective is to establish the safety of the combination and to determine the optimum dose of cetuximab. Secondary objectives include assessing evidence of antitumour activity by evaluating response rates and disease control rates at 6 and 12 months as well as progression-free and OS.Ethics and disseminationApproval granted by City and East REC (18/LO/0021). Findings will be published in peer-reviewed journals and disseminated at conferences.Trial registration numberNCT03494322

Preliminary impression techniques for microstomia patients

The Prosthetic rehabilitation of microstomia patients presents difficulties at all the stages. The difficulty starts with the preliminary impression making. This is due to the tongue rigidity and the decreased oral opening. A maximum oral opening which is smaller than the size of the tray can make prosthetic treatment challenging. Due to the restricted mouth opening, insertion and removal of the impression trays is extremely cumbersome and various modifications of the trays have been used in the past. Among these are the flexible trays and the sectional trays used with different modes of reassembling the segments extra orally after the impression is made. This article reviews the literature published from 1971 to 2015 concerning preliminary impression techniques used in making impressions for patients with microstomia based on various tray designs. An electronic search was performed across three databases (PubMed, Science Direct and Google Scolar) for relevant citations. The keywords/combinations used for the search were microstomia, limited/constricted/restricted mouth opening/oral access, trismus, sectional trays, impressions and prosthetic/prosthodontic rehabilitation. The search was limited to papers written in English which resulted in a total of 45 related articles of which 17 articles were included for discussion of this review

Stressing the (Epi)Genome: Dealing with Reactive Oxygen Species in Cancer

10.1089/ars.2017.7158ANTIOXIDANTS & REDOX SIGNALING29131273-129

Recalcitrant Pruritus as Primary Manifestation of Synchronous Hodgkins Lymphoma and Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis

We present a 73 year old female with intractable pruritus and nonspecific cutaneous rash for a period of 9 months. She had recieved symptomatic therapy with no improvement. A complete examination revealed axillary and abdominal lymphadenopathy. A biopsy confirmed the diagnosis of Hodgkins lymphoma with Langerhans cell histiocytosis. She received 5 cycles of chemotherapy with resolution of pruritus and reduction in axillary and abdominal lymphadenopathy. The patient presented 6 months later with relapse and succumbed to the illness. Simultaneous occurrence of Langerhans cell histiocytosis and Hodgkins lymphoma may lead to misdiagnosis. The awareness of such an association is important to make an accurate diagnosis and guide appropriate therapy

An In Vivo study to compare and evaluate the correlation of the facial measurements with the combined mesiodistal width of the maxillary anterior teeth between males and females

Aim: The aim of this study was to compare and evaluate the correlation of the facial measurements (interalar, intercommissural, intercanthal, and interpupillary distance) with the combined mesiodistal width of the maxillary anterior teeth between males and females. Objectives: The objectives of this study were: (a) To evaluate the correlation of the facial measurements (interalar, intercommissural, intercanthal, and interpupillary distance) and combined mesiodistal width of maxillary anterior teeth. (b) To compare the correlation of the facial measurements (interalar, intercommissural, intercanthal, and interpupillary distance) with the combined mesiodistal width of maxillary anterior teeth between males and females. Materials and Methods: This study was carried out on 120 dentate Subjects selected from Yenepoya Dental College, Mangalore. The vernier caliper was used to measure the interalar, intercommissural, intercanthal, and interpupillary distance. The mesiodistal width of maxillary anterior teeth was measured on the cast. For accuracy, every distance was measured three times and the mean taken. Results: Comparison of parameters between males and females was calculated using independent sample t-test. The values obtained for each variables are interalar distance: for males 38.89 ± 2.19 and for females 35.58 ± 2.33. Intercommissural distance: for males 50.96 ± 2.99 and for females 47.15 ± 2.97. Intercanthal distance: for males 31.92 ± 1.46 and for females 30.46 ± 2.07. Interpupillary distance: for males 65.15 ± 2.82 and for females 61.78 ± 3.18. Mesiodistal width of maxillary anterior teeth: for males 52.55 ± 1.82 and for females 51.33 ± 2.50. Conclusion: Within the limitations of this study, the study concluded there is a significant correlation between interalar, intercommissural, intercanthal, interpupillary distance, and mesiodistal width of maxillary anterior teeth in total subjects. In females, there is a significant correlation between interalar, intercanthal, interpupillary distance, and mesiodistal width of maxillary anterior teeth

Dynamics and biomedical application of novel superparamagnetic helical nanorobots

The magnetic nanorobots, primarily composed of ferromagnetic materials, have been extensively investigated for their potential applications in cellular diagnostics and therapy. However, because of the substantial magnetic remanence exhibited by ferromagnetic materials, the magnetic stability of these nanorobots is a matter of serious concern. Here, we have designed and developed superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles’(SPIONs) functionalized nanorobots (SPIONs-NR), a unique system that is highly stable against magnetic agglomeration. This kind of arrangement of random magnetic moments adhering to the nanorobot’s surface is relatively new and has not been previously explored in terms of fundamental physics and biomedical applications. We have carefully analyzed the various dynamical aspects of these functionalized nanorobots by studying their precession angle as a function of applied frequency at different magnetic fields. Furthermore, these functionalized nanorobots can be controllably maneuvered in the extracellular matrix by the application of rotating magnetic fields of comparatively lower magnitudes (usually < 50 G) to selectively target and annihilate malignant tissues via magnetic hyperthermia-induced localized heating, and therefore, making SPIONs-NR promising candidates in modernizing advanced nanomedicine research

The Effect of Surfactant on Polyherbal Liquid Shampoo and its Comparative Analysis

Objective: Herbal shampoo is gaining immense popularity among all consumer groups due to rising awareness about the side effects of chemical formulations. It was also observed that not many marketed shampoos incorporated excellent hair nurturing properties of curry leaves. The aim of the study was to formulate and evaluate herbal shampoo using Murraya koenigii, Phyllanthus emblica, Acacia concinna Linn., Trigonella foenum-graecum, Sapindus mukorossi and perform a comparative analysis with marketed formulation. Method: Three formulations were prepared using extracts of Murraya koenigii, Phyllanthus emblica, Acacia concinna, Trigonella foenum-graecum and Sapindus mukorossi in definite proportions. Decyl Glucoside and Sodium Lauryl Sulphate were added as surfactant in adequate amount. The formulated shampoo was evaluated for organoleptic properties (colour and odour), pH, surface tension, viscosity, dirt dispersion, cleansing action, foaming ability and stability studies. Results: The formulated shampoos were brown in colour with good acceptable fragrance. All the formulations showed good cleansing and detergency power with stable foam. F1 showed comparatively better foaming ability. All the formulations had neutral pH and low surface tension (21-25 dyn/cm). The solid content was found to be in the range of 23-27 % and viscosity 4885 cP- 4903 cP. The results of the prepared formulations were compared with a marketed formulation and were found that F1 formulation was on par with marketed formulation. Conclusion: The prepared shampoo had good characteristics. It was further inferred that it is possible to develop safer and equally effective shampoo using ingredients of plant origin