Use of cetylpyridinium chloride for the storage of sputum samples and isolation of M. tuberculosis

Of 220 sputum specimens collected from pulmonary tuberculosis patients, 85 were culture positive when the sputum aliquots were stored with cetypyridinium chloride (CPC) and processed on 7th day (CPC method), whereas only 70 were culture positive when the aliquots of the same specimens were stored without CPC and processed by sodium hydroxide (NaOH) method. The difference in the culture positivity was statistically significant. The number of positive, cultures obtained by the CPC method (85) was comparable to that obtained by the NaOH method before storage (95) and the difference was not statistically significant

Impact of Fii in recent stock market volatility / D. S. Selvakumar

The growth of relationship of interdependence between individuals and institutions across geographical and political boundaries through globalisation leads to increase of flow of investments capital. Globalisation refers to a process of increasing economic integration and growing economic interdependence between countries in the world economy. For a developing country, opening up of the stock market to FII can act as catalyst in improving efficiency of the market. As FII arrival is associated with the importation of sophisticated financial technology, adoption of the technology to the domestic environment, and greater investments in improving information processing and financial services. However these benefits should be weighted against uncertainties associated with opening up of the market. One of the major concerns is that the portfolio funds may lead to greater volatility in domestic stock prices. If foreign stock prices for any reason fluctuate the domestic prices will also respond to the fluctuations. This paper focuses on the impact of FIIs in the stock market volatility in recent times

The effect of cigarette smoke exposure on the development of inflammation in lungs, gut and joints of TNFΔARE mice

The inflammatory cytokine TNF-alpha is a central mediator in many immune-mediated diseases, such as Crohn's disease (CD), spondyloarthritis (SpA) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Epidemiologic studies have shown that cigarette smoking (CS) is a prominent common risk factor in these TNF-dependent diseases. We exposed TNF Delta ARE mice; in which a systemic TNF-alpha overexpression leads to the development of inflammation; to 2 or 4 weeks of air or CS. We investigated the effect of deregulated TNF expression on CS-induced pulmonary inflammation and the effect of CS exposure on the initiation and progression of gut and joint inflammation. Upon 2 weeks of CS exposure, inflammation in lungs of TNF Delta ARE mice was significantly aggravated. However, upon 4 weeks of CS-exposure, this aggravation was no longer observed. TNF Delta ARE mice have no increases in CD4+ and CD8+ T cells and a diminished neutrophil response in the lungs after 4 weeks of CS exposure. In the gut and joints of TNF Delta ARE mice, 2 or 4 weeks of CS exposure did not modulate the development of inflammation. In conclusion, CS exposure does not modulate gut and joint inflammation in TNF Delta ARE mice. The lung responses towards CS in TNF Delta ARE mice however depend on the duration of CS exposure

Factors associated with glycemic control in children with type 1 diabetes mellitus.

Type I diabetes mellitus is a chronic metabolic disorder with heterogeneous etiologies characterized by hyperglycemia as a cardinal biochemical feature. Patients with Diabetes mellitus are at increased risk of morbidity and mortality due to the micro and macrovascular complication caused by diabetes. Maintaining strict glycemic control in type I DM reduces the incidence and progression of long term complication. There are various risk factors found to be associated with poor glycemic control. Identification of risk factors associated with poor glycemic control is necessary, so that appropriate intervention can be done to improve glycemic control and to prevent complication. As there is a lack of regional literature, this study was undertaken in our setting. Aims and Objectives To study the factors associated of glycemic control in Type I Diabetes Children. Materials and Methods This is a cross sectional study carried out at the diabetes clinic for children at tertiary care hospital ICH & HC in Chennai. Children attending the clinic were enrolled into the study after obtaining informed consent from the parent / guardian. A structured questionnaire was used to collect date from the parents/guardian. Glycemic Control was assessed by measurement of glycosylated Hb .Data entry and analysis was done using Epi Info Software Version 3.5.1 and SPSS version 16. Results 99 participants were recruited into the study. The mean HbA1C was 9.16% (SD2.168) came under a fair control group. 31 children had age appropriate glycemic control. The children with good glycemic control had a statistically significant level of hypoglycemic p=0.041. 53 children presented with DKA as initial onset of diabetes mellitus. 21 children were hospitalized for inter current illness. Conclusion The following factors namely age, duration of diabetes, insulin regimen, SMBG, compliance to therapy, follow up and serum cholesterol did not have impact on glycemic control. Hypo glycemic episodes were found to be more common in children with good glycemic control which was statistically significant

Improvement of oil content in groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) by the impacts of gamma irradiation

Gamma radiation dosages of 100, 200, 300, 400, 500 and 600 Gy were given to the groundnut seed variety Dharani (Arachis hypogaea L.). The study's goal was to look at genetic diversity, heritability and genetic advancement for seed yield and quality characteristics in M2 generation using only a Randomized Complete Block Experiment using 3 replications from 2018 to 2019. The article's outcomes significantly enhanced the oil content of groundnut at 400 Gy to 52.44 % as compared to other dosages. For all characteristics, treated seeds displayed more variance than control seeds, particularly seed yield per plant showing the highest in GCV, PCV, H2, GA and GAM. In most traits, 400 Gy of gamma-ray treatment generates the largest changes however, 600 Gy of gamma-ray treatment also creates equivalent conditions. The link between features demonstrated that the number of pods per plant had a significant role in rationalizing seed yield variance in the M2 generation. These findings show that this yield component is one of the most important predictors of pod yield variations among plants and it is also favorably impacted by irradiation mutagens (gamma rays)

Control system of automatic garage using programmable logic controller

In today’s populated world, urban land availability has become scarce and manual involvement of humans for a proper task makes a work less efficient and less accurate. The garage is one of the workstations which needs to be modernized for enhanced land utilization, energy saving approach and systematic functioning. This goal can only be achieved through the automation of parking systems. We have proposed an automated control system for garage using siemens PLC (programmable logic control)-1200 to control the vehicles. The number plate of the car is recorded through the RFID reader and the parking slot for that particular vehicle is allotted automatically based on the available vacancy. Along with this the parking area is fitted with fire alarm, which will raise if any smoke or fire happens in the location. The total parking cost of each vehicle can be calculated based on the number of hours it has been parked. And the information will be displayed in the SCADA screen. Additionally, instead of the full lightening of the complete place, lightening will be provided only in the direction of movement of the car, preventing wastage of energy

Formulation development and evaluation of regio-selective bilayer floating tablets of propranolol for sustained release and rosuvastatin calcium for immediate release

The present study was aimed to develop regio-selective bilayer floating tablets containing propranolol hydrochloride as SR layer and Rosuvastatin calcium as IR layer for hypertensive patients. Combination therapy of beta-blocker and HMGCo-A Reductase inhibitors is recommended for treatment of hypertensive patients. The drug excipient interaction was investigated with FTIR spectroscopy. The study indicated that there was no interaction between the drug and the excipients used in the formulations. The floating matrix layer was formulated with hydrophobic polymer (ethyl cellulose) and hydrophilic polymers (HPMC K4M, HPMC K100 and Xanthan gum) to retard the drug release upto 12 hours. The rosuvastatin calcium solid dispersion of different ratios (1:1, 1:2, 1:3, and 1:4) was prepared by taking starch phosphate as a novel carrier for the drug. From the dissolution results of rosuvastatin solid dispersion, two ratios which exhibit enhanced dissolution of rosuvastatin calcium were selected. The immediate release rosuvastatin calcium layer was formulated with sodium starch glycolate (4%). All the formulations were evaluated for physical characteristics, drug content, dissolution, release kinetics and stability studies. The tablets were formulated by wet granulation method because the flow property of the drugs and the blends were poor. The formulated granules were evaluated and showed good flow property. The tablets were found to be within the limits with respect to uniformity of weight, hardness, thickness, diameter and friability. The disintegration time of the IR tablets containing solid dispersion in ratio of 1:4 and SSG 4 % was found to be optimum. The drug content of the formulated IR tablets was found to be within the limits. The invitro dissolution studies were performed for all the IR-SD formulations. The formulations RC-1, RC-2 and RC-3 released 46.05, 77.79 and 101.29 at the end of 15 minutes. Thus the formulation RC-3 has enhanced solubility of rosuvastatin calcium and it was optimized formulation and selected for compression with bilayer floating tablets. The drug content of the formulated Propranolol hydrochloride SR floating tablets was found to be within Pharmacopoeial limits. The drug content of the bilayer floating tablets was estimated by simultaneous estimation method and it was found to be within Pharmacopoeial limits. In vitro dissolution studies were performed for all the bilayer floating tablet formulations. The formulation RBFT-7 containing HPMC K4M 20% Released the drug upto 12 hours. Floating lag time of bilayer floating tablets was within 3 minutes and floating duration was more than 12 hours. In vitro dissolution study was performed for bilayer floating tablets. At the end of 15 minutes the release was found to be 101.29% for immediate release layer of Rosuvastatin calcium and at the end of 12th hour the release was found to be 101.01 % for sustained release layer of Propranolol hydrochloride. Release kinetics of sustained release layer of bilayer floating tablets followed zero order release kinetics. The release of the drug was dependent on diffusion, swelling and erosion of the polymer. The stability studies showed that the formulated bilayer floating tablets were stable and did not show any significant changes in the physical characteristics, drug content and dissolution. The results obtained were found to be within acceptable limits. Thus the formulated bilayer floating tablets of propranolol hydrochloride and rosuvastatin calcium was found to be stable. Regio- selective bilayer floating tablets of rosuvastatin calcium for immediate release and propranolol hydrochloride for sustained release was formulated to reduce the frequency of administration and to reduce hypertension

Effect of osmotic stress on in vitro plant growth hormone production by osmotolerant bacteria isolated from chilli phyto microbiome

The present study was conducted to determine the effect of osmotic stress on the plant growth hormone production by six osmotolerant plant growth promoting bacterial strains. These strains originated from the phytomicrobiome of chilli cultivated in the drought prone areas of Andhra Pradesh. They possessed multiple plant growth promotion traits including the ability to produce a variety of plant growth hormones. The effect of osmotic stress on the plant growth hormone production was determined by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) under normal and in vitro osmotic stress conditions using 25% Poly Ethylene Glycol (PEG) 8000. In general, it was observed that osmotic stress impacted the plant growth hormone production of the isolates, but nevertheless plant hormones were detected in all the bacterial strains. An exception to this was the cytokinin molecule zeatin riboside, which was produced at higher levels by five of the six bacterial isolates under osmotic stressed conditions

Optical and structural analysis of solar selective absorbing coatings based on AlSiOx:W cermets

It is reported in this work the development and study of the optical and structural properties of a solar selective absorber cermet based on AlSiOx:W. A four-layer composite film structure, W/AlSiOx:W(HA)/AlSiOx:W(LA)/AlSiOx, was deposited on stainless steel substrates using the magnetron sputtering deposition method. Numerical calculations were performed to simulate the spectral properties of multilayer stacks with varying metal volume fraction cermets and film thickness. The chemical analysis was performed using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and the results show that in the high metal volume fraction cermet layer, AlSiOx:W(HA), about one third of W atoms are in the W-O oxidation state, another third in the Wx+ oxidation state and the last third in the W4+, W5+ and W6+ oxidation states. The X-ray diffractograms of AlSiOx:W layers show a broad peak indicating that both, W and AlSiOx, are amorphous. These results indicate that this film structure has a good spectral selective property that is suitable for solar thermal applications, with the coatings exhibiting a solar absorptance of 94-95.5% and emissivities of 8-9% (at 100 degrees C) and 10-14% (at 400 degrees C). The samples were subjected to a thermal annealing at 450 degrees C, in air, and 580 degrees C, in vacuum and showed very good oxidation resistance and thermal stability. Morphological characterizations were carried out using scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. Rutherford Backscattering experiments were also performed to analyze the tungsten depth profile.The authors acknowledge the support of the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) in the framework of the Strategic Funding UID/FIS/04650/2013. The authors are also grateful to the financial support of FCT, POCI and PORL operational programs through the project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-016907 (PTDC/CTM-ENE/2882/2014), co-financed by European community fund FEDER. The authors also acknowledge GIST Japan for using the XPS-Kratos.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Effect of osmotic stress on in vitro plant growth hormone production by osmotolerant bacteria isolated from chilli phyto microbiome

The present study was conducted to determine the effect of osmotic stress on the plant growth hormone production by six osmotolerant plant growth promoting bacterial strains. These strains originated from the phytomicrobiome of chilli cultivated in the drought prone areas of Andhra Pradesh. They possessed multiple plant growth promotion traits including the ability to produce a variety of plant growth hormones. The effect of osmotic stress on the plant growth hormone production was determined by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) under normal and in vitro osmotic stress conditions using 25% Poly Ethylene Glycol (PEG) 8000. In general, it was observed that osmotic stress impacted the plant growth hormone production of the isolates, but nevertheless plant hormones were detected in all the bacterial strains. An exception to this was the cytokinin molecule zeatin riboside, which was produced at higher levels by five of the six bacterial isolates under osmotic stressed conditions