Complexity Studies in Some Piece wise Continuous Dynamical Systems

The, “Complex systems”, stands as a broad term for many diverse disciplines of science and engineering including natural & medical sciences. Complexities appearing in various dynamical systems during evolution are now interesting subjects of studies. Chaos appearing in various dynamical systems can also be viewed as a form of complexity. For some cases nonlinearities within the systems and for other cases piecewise continuity property of the system are responsible for such complexity. Dynamical systems represented by mathematical models having piecewise continuous properties show strange complexity character during evolution. Interesting recent articles explain widely on complexities in various systems. Observable quantities for complexity are measurement of Lyapunov exponents (LCEs), topological entropies, correlation dimension etc. The present article is related to study of complexity in systems having piecewise continuous properties. Some mathematical models are considered here in this regard including famous Lozi map, a discrete mathematical model and Chua circuit, a continuous model. Investigations have been carried forward to obtain various attractors of these maps appearing during evolution in diverse and interesting pattern for different set of values of parameters and for different initial conditions. Numerical investigations extended to obtain bifurcation diagrams, calculations of LCEs, topological entropies and correlation dimension together with their graphical representation

Assessment of oral hygiene habits, oral hygiene practices and tooth wear among fertilizer factory workers of Northern India: a Cross sectional study

Background: The association between oral hygiene habits & practices and severity of tooth wear lesion varies from community to community and also from occupation to occupation. The present study was conducted with to assess oral hygiene habits & practices and tooth wear among fertilizer factory workers of Punjab, India. Material and Methods: A descriptive cross sectional survey was conducted among 965 male workers who were aged between 19–58 years, who were the workers of fertilizers factory of Bathinda, India. An interview on the demographic profile, oral hygiene practices, and adverse habits followed a clinical examination for recording the Tooth Wear (Smith and Knight Index 1984) using Type III examination. The Chi–square test and a Stepwise multiple linear regression analysis were used for the statistical analysis. Confidence interval and p-value set at 95% and ≤ 0.05 respectively. Results: In the present study majority (47.2%) of the study population used chew sticks for cleaning their teeth. Overall prevalence of adverse habits was reported (92.4%). Study population showed higher prevalence of tooth wear (77.1%). Best predictors identified for Tooth Wear were oral hygiene practices, adverse habits, years of work experience and age respectively. Conclusions: Considerable percentages of fertilizer factory workers have demonstrated a higher prevalence of tooth surface loss. This may be useful in designing the investigations that aim to further explore the causes for these findings and more importantly to plan oral health promotion program implementing both preventive and curative strategies

MIPOMERSEN: A NOVEL THERAPEUTIC DRUG FOR THE TREATMENT OF FAMILIAL HYPERCHOLESTEROLEMIA, HYPERLIPIDAEMIA, AND HYPERCHOLESTEROLEMIA

Familial Hypercholesterolemia (FH) is one of the most common autosomal dominant disorders which exist in either heterozygous form or a homozygous form. These two forms are prevalent in1 in500 and1 ina million population respectively. FH results in premature atherosclerosis; as early as childhood in case of homozygous (HoFH) form and in adults in case of heterozygous (HeFH) form. In case of HoFH both the alleles forLDL-receptor are defective, whereas the mutation in the single allele is the cause for HeFH. Both the forms of the disease are associated with high levels ofLDL-C and lipoprotein (a) in plasma, with high morbidity and mortality rate caused by cardiovascular disease. In several past years, different lipid-lowering drugs like Statins (HMG-coenzyme-A reductase inhibitor), MTTP inhibitor, CETP inhibitors, PCSK9 inhibitor, thyroid mimetics, niacin, bile acid sequestrants and lipid apheresis were administered to patients with FH, to achieve the goal of reducing plasmaLDL-C and lipoprotein (a). However, such drugs proved inefficient to achieve the goals because of several reasons. Mipomersen is a 20 nucleotide antisense oligonucleotide; a novel lipid-lowering therapeutic drug currently enrolled in the treatment of patients with HoFH, HeFH and other forms of hypercholesterolemia. It arrests the synthesis of Apo B100 by targeting Apo B100 mRNA and thus inhibiting the synthesis and release of all Apo B-containing lipoproteins, such as very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL), intermediate density lipoprotein (IDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and non-high-density lipoprotein. It also lowers lipoprotein (a), and ultimately reduces the severity of coronary artery disease and cardiovascular disease.Keywords: Hypercholesterolemia, Low-density lipoprotein, Mipomersen, Cholesterol, Lipoprotein, Antisense oligonucleotideÂ

Evaluation of prevalence of fingerprint patterns in patients with oral potentially malignant disorders

Aim: This study was conducted to evaluate and compare the prevalence of dermatoglyphic patterns amongst patients diagnosed with OPMD and a control group consisting of patients with/without tobacco habit, to prevent the occurrence of disease in susceptible individuals. Materials and Methods: Fingerprints were recorded using the Ink Method by Cummins and Midlo, and were subjected to analysis and statistical evaluation. Results: Fingerprints of a total of 150 patients were recorded amongst which each group i.e. subjects with OPMD, control with habit and control without habit consisted of 50 individuals. There was an equal distribution of whorl and loop pattern whereas arch pattern was found to be significantly less in number overall. Conclusion: Dermatoglyphics can be used for predicting various genetic disorders, when compared to environmental disorders, which are less case specific. In the present study there is no prevalence of individual pattern and it was found to be statistically insignificant, owing to the limited sample size. Studies in the field of dermatoglyphics among OPMD patients’ needs more research in order to draw recognizable and accountable conclusions

Effectiveness of 3% hypertonic saline nebulization in acute bronchiolitis among Indian children: A quasi-experimental study

Objective: To compare the effects of 3% hypertonic saline (HS) and 0.9% normal saline with nebulized 0.9% normal saline with salbutamol in patients of acute viral bronchiolitis. Materials and Methods: Participants were divided into three groups, that is, 3% HS group, 0.9% normal saline group and 0.9% saline with salbutamol group. Four doses at interval of 6 h were given daily until discharge. Average CS score and length of hospital stay were compared. One-way analysis of variance paired t-test and Chi-square test were utilized for statistical analysis. Results: The mean ages of the patients in three groups were 6.03 ± 3.71, 5.69 ± 3.34 and 5.48 ± 3.35 respectively. The 3rd day CS scores for all the groups were 1.0 ± 1.1, 1.9 ± 1.1 and 3.3 ± 0.5 respectively (P = 0.000). The average length of hospital stay was 3.4 ± 1.7, 3.7 ± 1.9 and 4.9 ± 1.4 days respectively (P = 0.001). Conclusion: The present study concludes that 3% HS nebulization (without additional bronchodilators) is an effective and safe treatment for nonasthmatic, moderately ill patients of acute bronchiolitis. The economic benefit of this comparably priced modality of treatment can be enormous in terms of hospital costs with parents returning to work sooner