Protective effect of ethanolic leaf extract of Alphonsea sclerocarpa against ethylene glycol induced urolithiasis in rats

Alphonsea sclerocarpa Thwaites belonging to the family Annonaceae is a small tree, which grows up to 10-15 m tall the leaves are simple and alternate. Despite its medicinal properties the plant seems to be less explored and hence this research aims at exploring the antiurolithiatic activity of ethanolic leaf extract of A. sclerocarpa on ethylene glycol induced urolithiasis in rats. A. sclerocarpa leaf powder was extracted using ethanol. The effect of ethanolic leaf extract of A. sclerocarpa (250 and 500 mg/kg, p.o.) was studied in experimentally induced renal stone in rats by in vivo model. Ethylene glycol model (0.75% in drinking water, for 28 days) was used for renal stone induction. The blood, urine and kidney samples were used for various parameters. The concentration of calcium, oxalate, phosphorus, creatinine and blood urea nitrogen was observed in each group. The phytochemical analysis was carried out to detect the presence of secondary metabolites like saponins and flavonoids in the ethanolic extract of A. sclerocarpa leaf extract. In ethylene glycol (0.75% v/v) treated animal model ethanolic extract of A. sclerocarpa leaf extract showed significant results on stone promoters (calcium oxalate, inorganic phosphate and sodium), kidney function parameters (uric acid, blood urea nitrogen, creatinine). On the basis of biochemical parameters and histopathological study it was confirmed that A. sclerocarpa leaf extract protected the renal cells from oxidative stress and injury induce by calcium oxalate crystals. The investigation of ethanolic extract of A. sclerocarpa leaf has shown promising antiurolithiatic activity and support folklore claims of these plants as antiurolithiatic. The mechanism of action of these plants for antiurolithiatic is apparently related to increased diuresis and lowering of urinary concentrations of stone-forming constituents, though it should be confirmed by the extensive exploratory studies

Traditional Knowledge on the Edibility of Sea urchin roe among the Fisher folk Community of the Gulf of Mannar region with a note on their Cuisine

Sea urchins are marine echinoderms and their body consists of five gonads covered by a calcareous test. The gonads of male and female sea urchins are commonly called ‘roe’ and have been known a delicacy in several parts of the world. However in India not all the coastal community eat the gonads of sea urchin, but fishers of a fishing village along Gulf of Mannar, have the habit of consuming the sea urchin roe for centuries. There are a variety of sea urchin recipes viz., Risotto with Sea Urchin-Dill, and Smoked Caviar-Sea Urchin Mousse with Ginger Vinaigrette, Sea Urchin Bruschetta and Sea Urchin Linguine available in the western world, but in India the cuisine of sea urchin roe is not well known, the present study documented for the first time on the two cooking methods viz., Grilling and dry fry of sea urchin roe from the fisherfolk community of Gulf of Mannar region

A Cadaveric Study of Radial Nerve Course and its Clinical Implications on Radial Nerve Block at Elbow

Introduction: Upper limb nerve blocks are done commonly by brachial plexus (C5-T1) blocks via supraclavicular, infraclavicular approaches. Sometimes a single peripheral nerve needs additional block with local anaesthetic to achieve adequate block. Peripheral nerve blocks are useful for minor surgical procedures in a single nerve distribution. Aim: To study the course and clinical significance of the radial nerve in 50 cadaveric upper limbs. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 50 intact dissected upper limbs. The upper limbs were obtained from the Department of Anatomy, Sri Ramachandra Medical College from August 2020 to December 2020. Radial nerve was exposed by routine dissection in all the upper limbs and its entire course was studied and observed for any variation. The distance from the biceps tendon to the radial nerve at the elbow, distance of the radial nerve in the Lateral Intermuscular Septum (LIS) from the epicondyles at the elbow were measured. The results obtained were statistically analysed using SPSS version 16.0. Results: In present study, the mean distance of the radial nerve in the LIS to the medial epicondyle was 12.4±0.31 cm and to the lateral epicondyle was 12.1±0.28 cm. The mean distance from the biceps tendon to the radial nerve at the elbow was 1.75±0.22 cm. Conclusion: From the present study, it can be inferred that effective peripheral radial nerve block can be achieved by blocking the nerve 1.75 cm lateral to the biceps tendon at the elbow 3 cm above the elbow crease. This can be made comfortable to the patient and more precise by ultrasound localisation of the radial nerve

Future sea level rise implications on development of Lazarus Island, Singapore Southern Islands

10.2495/ISLANDS100111WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment130121-13

Numerical Simulation of Winter Precipitation over the Western Himalayas Using a Weather Research and Forecasting Model during 2001–2016

In the present study, dynamically downscaled Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model simulations of winter (DJF) seasonal precipitation were evaluated over the Western Himalayas (WH) at grey zone configurations (at horizontal resolutions of 15 km (D01) and 5 km (D02)) and further validated using satellite-based (IMERG; 0.1°), observational (IMD; 0.25°), and reanalysis (ERA5; 0.25° and IMDAA; 0.108°) gridded datasets during 2001–2016. The findings demonstrate that both model resolutions (D01 and D02) are effective at representing precipitation characteristics over the Himalayan foothills. Precipitation features over the region, on the other hand, are much clearer and more detailed, with a significant improvement in D02, emphasizing the advantages of higher model grid resolution. Strong correlations and the lowest biases and root mean square errors indicate a closer agreement between model simulations and reanalyses IMDAA and ERA5. Vertical structures of various dynamical and thermodynamical features further confirm the improved and more realistic in WRF simulations with D02. Moreover, the seasonal patterns of upper tropospheric circulation, vertically integrated moisture transport, surface temperature and cloud cover show more realistic simulation in D02 compared to coarser domain D01. The categorical statistics reveal the efficiency of both D01 and D02 in simulating moderate and heavy precipitation events. Overall, our study emphasizes the significance of high-resolution data for simulating precipitation features specifically over complex terrains like WH

Lung cancer disease detection using service-oriented architectures and multivariate boosting classifier

Big data analytics in healthcare is emerging as a promising field to extract valuable information from large databases and enhance results with fewer costs. Although numerous methods have been proposed for big data analytics in the medical field, an authorized entity is required to access data, inhibiting diagnosis accuracy and efficiency. Particularly, the detection of lung cancer is critical as it is the third most common type of cancer occurring in both males and females in the US and a leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide, the detection of lung cancer. Therefore, this study introduces the Multivariate Ruzicka Regressed eXtreme Gradient Boosting Data Classification (MRRXGBDC) technique and service-oriented architecture (SOA) to improve the prediction accuracy and reduce the prediction time of lung cancer in big data analytics. Service-oriented architectures (SOAs) provide a set of healthcare services, where patient data are stored in the database of a physician or other certified entity. After receiving the patient data as input, several multivariate Ruzicka logistic regression trees are constructed by the physician to calculate the relationship between the dependent and independent variables. With this regression analysis, the presence or absence of disease is discovered. The experimental results reveal that the MRRXGBDC technique performs better with 10% improvement in prediction accuracy, 50% reduction of false positives, and 11% faster prediction time for lung cancer detection compared to existing works

Numerical Simulation of Winter Precipitation over the Western Himalayas Using a Weather Research and Forecasting Model during 2001–2016

In the present study, dynamically downscaled Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model simulations of winter (DJF) seasonal precipitation were evaluated over the Western Himalayas (WH) at grey zone configurations (at horizontal resolutions of 15 km (D01) and 5 km (D02)) and further validated using satellite-based (IMERG; 0.1°), observational (IMD; 0.25°), and reanalysis (ERA5; 0.25° and IMDAA; 0.108°) gridded datasets during 2001–2016. The findings demonstrate that both model resolutions (D01 and D02) are effective at representing precipitation characteristics over the Himalayan foothills. Precipitation features over the region, on the other hand, are much clearer and more detailed, with a significant improvement in D02, emphasizing the advantages of higher model grid resolution. Strong correlations and the lowest biases and root mean square errors indicate a closer agreement between model simulations and reanalyses IMDAA and ERA5. Vertical structures of various dynamical and thermodynamical features further confirm the improved and more realistic in WRF simulations with D02. Moreover, the seasonal patterns of upper tropospheric circulation, vertically integrated moisture transport, surface temperature and cloud cover show more realistic simulation in D02 compared to coarser domain D01. The categorical statistics reveal the efficiency of both D01 and D02 in simulating moderate and heavy precipitation events. Overall, our study emphasizes the significance of high-resolution data for simulating precipitation features specifically over complex terrains like WH

Electrical and Mechanical Characteristics Assessment of Wind Turbine System Employing Acoustic Sensors and Matrix Converter

Permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG)-based wind turbine systems have a wide range of applications, notably, for higher-rated wind energy conversion systems (WECS). A WECS involves integrating several components to generate electrical power effectively on a large scale due to the advanced wind turbine model. However, it offers several glitches during operation due to various factors, notably, mechanical and electrical stresses. This work focuses on evaluating the mechanical and electrical characteristics of the WECS using two individual schemes. Firstly, wind turbines were examined to assess the vibrational signatures of the drive train components for different wind speed profiles. To apply this need, acoustic sensors were employed that record the vibration signals. However, due to substantial environmental impacts, several noises are logged with the observed signal from sensors. Therefore, this work adapted the acoustic signal and empirical wavelet transform (EWT) to assess the vibration frequency and magnitude to avoid mechanical failures. Further, a matrix converter (MC) with input filters was employed to enhance the efficiency of the system with reduced harmonic contents injected into the grid. The simulated results reveal that the efficiency of the matrix converter with input filter attained a significant scale of about 95.75% and outperformed the other existing converting techniques. Moreover, the total harmonic distortion (THD) for voltage and current were examined and found to be at least about 8.24% and 3.16%, respectively. Furthermore, the frequency and magnitude of the vibration signals show a minimum scale for low wind speed profile and higher range for medium wind profile rather than higher wind profile. Consolidating these results from both mechanical and electrical characteristics, it can be perceived that the combination of these schemes improves the efficiency and quality of generated power with pre-estimation of mechanical failures using acoustic signal and EWT