Prevalence of vitamin B12 deficiency in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients on metformin therapy in a tertiary care hospital

Background: The objective of the study was to estimate the prevalence of vitamin B12 deficiency and presence of peripheral neuropathy in type 2 diabetes patients on metformin treatment.Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out in Department of Biochemistry and Medicine in a tertiary care teaching hospital in south India. Type 2 diabetes mellitus patients diagnosed based on World Health Organization (WHO) criteria treated with metformin for more than 6 months were included in the study. B12 levels were estimated and DNS scoring, vibration perception test and 10 gm Semmes-Weinstein monofilament test done.Results: A total of 55 participants were identified. Most of them were on 1500 mg of metformin once a day in divided dose. In this study maximum number of participants are in the age group of 50-70 years. Peripheral neuropathy is seen in 43.9% of persons with normal B12 levels and 28.5% of persons with low B12 levels. A Chi square test showed a chi square statistic value of 1.8221 with a p value of 0.312 which is not significant. Univariate analysis showed vitamin B12 deficient patients are of significantly higher age (63 years versus 57 years p=0.01) and with higher duration of treatment (9 years versus 6 years p=0.01).Conclusions: Prolonged metformin therapy is associated with deficiency of vitamin B12. The prevalence of B12 deficiency among diabetic patients on metformin was found to be 25.45%. Routine B12 estimation and correction of low B12 levels will be beneficial to these patients. Earlier initiation of B12 in patients on metformin may prevent the onset of neurological damage

Object Classification Techniques using Tree Based Classifiers

Object recognition is presently one of the most active research areas in computer vision, pattern recognition, artificial intelligence and human activity analysis. The area of object detection and classification, attention habitually focuses on changes in the location of anobject with respect to time, since appearance information can sensibly describe the object category. In this paper, feature set obtained from the Gray Level Co-Occurrence Matrices (GLCM), representing a different stage of statistical variations of object category. The experiments are carried out using Caltech 101 dataset, considering sevenobjects viz (airplanes, camera, chair, elephant, laptop, motorbike and bonsai tree) and the extracted GLCM feature set are modeled by tree based classifier like Naive Bayes Tree and Random Forest. In the experimental results, Random Forest classifier exhibits the accuracy and effectiveness of the proposed method with an overall accuracy rate of 89.62%, which outperforms the Naive Bayes classifier

Biosorption of chromium by mangrove-derived Aplanochytrium sp.

The microbial dried biomass of Thraustochytrids is used as bioadsorbent for the removal of the chromium in aqueous solution. In this investigation, three species of Thraustochydrids namely Aplanochytrium sp., Thraustochytrium sp. and Schizochytrium sp. were tested for the efficiency of chromium accumulation by culturing in chromium-incorporated medium at 30°C for one week incubation. The biomass was harvested by filtration through Whatman no.1 filter paper. The level of metal accumulation in the biomass was determined by using an inductively coupled plasma system (ICP- Optical Emission Spectrophotometer; Optima 2100DV). Finally, among the three strains, Aplanochytrium spp. was selected for the adsorption kinetics and optimization using response surface methodology. Optimization of chromium removal by dried microbial biomass was analyzed with important factors of different pH, adsorbent dosage (Aplanochytrium dried biomass), temperature and processing time with 30 batch experimental plan derived from the centre composite design (CCD) of response surface methodology. Aplanochytrium sp. dried biomass removed chromium of 69.4% in aqueous solution. Therefore, Aplanochytrium sp. dried biomass is potent for the removal of chromium in waste water treatment.Key words: Mangroves, chromium removal, Aplanochytrium sp., biosorption, waste water treatment

Polymorphic Phase Transformation of Degussa P25 TiO2 by the Chelation of Diaminopyridine on TiO62- Octahedron: Correlation of Anatase to Rutile Phase Ratio on the Photocatalytic Activity

A series of nitrogen-doped Degussa P25 photocatalysts were synthesized successfully by grinding and calcination method using 2,6-diaminopyridine (DAP) as a nitrogen precursor. The prepared samples were characterized by various analytical methods. The phase contents of anatase and rutile in the Degussa P25 powders have been altered by simply changing the proportion of DAP. A mechanism involving chelated DAP molecule on TiO62- octahedron is discussed. The enhanced activity is attributed to synergistic effect in the two phase solid material. Due to the low activation barrier, the effective inter particle electron transfer between the two polymorphs is quite efficient only when they are in close proximity with similar crystallite sizes. The transfer of electrons from the rutile phase to lattice/electron trapping sites of anatase and also to the Ti3+-Vo defect level created by the dopant favors effective charge separation and enhance the photocatalytic activity under solar illumination

Photocatalytic performance of silver TiO2: Role of electronic energy levels

Nano-sized silver deposits on the surface of Degussa P25 TiO2 (Ag-DP25) particles act as sites of electron accumulation where the reduction of adsorbed species takes place. Electrons can be transferred from Degussa P25 TiO2 (DP25) to Ag particles because of the difference in the work functions of the two materials. The efficiency of the electron transfer depends on the size and the distribution of metal deposits. A significant photocatalytic oxidation enhancement by metal deposit will only be observed if the metal deposits play a more dominant role than just increasing the life time of charge carriers. The properties of metal deposits like, loaded amount, oxidation state of the deposit and its size will influence the performance. Further, a decrease in band-gap in DP25 and Ag-DP25 was observed due to the carbide ion substitution for the oxide ion in TiO2. Such unintentional carbon incorporation is expected mostly in combustion synthesized materials. Silver metal deposits and unintentional incorporation of the carbon shows the beneficial effect by specific mechanism in the photocatalytic degradation of Congo Red (CR). © 2011 Elsevier B.V. 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Kinetic Model Based on non-linear Regression Analysis is Proposed for the Degradation of Phenol under UV/solar Light Using Nitrogen Doped TiO2

Nitrogen was doped into the TiO2 matrix in the concentration range of 0.05-0.20 at.% and the photocatalytic activities were tested for the degradation of phenol (Ph) under UV/solar light using hydrogen peroxide (HP) and ammonium persulfate (APS) as electron acceptors. The prepared photocatalysts characterized by various analytical techniques confirm the incorporation of nitrogen in the TiO2 lattice. The 0.15 at.% dopant concentration shows higher photocatalytic activity compared with sol-gel TiO2 (SG) and Degauss P25 TiO2 (P25) for the degradation process. Photoluminescence technique was used for studying the extent of hydroxyl radicals produced on TiO2 and TiO2−xNx (NT) surface in the presence of oxidants under UV/solar light irradiation. The kinetic rate equation obtained for the best system TiO2−xNx (x = 0.15 at.%)/APS/under solar irradiation is found to be: rap,solar = 0.0041[NT]0.54[APS]0.71[Ph]−0.70. A kinetic/mathematical model was developed based on the nonlinear regression analysis for the various processes and the validity of the model was tested by comparing the experimental values with the theoretically calculated data as a function of variable parameters like catalyst dosage, concentration of electron acceptors and initial concentration of Ph

Enhanced photocatalytic activity of silver metallized TiO2 particles in the degradation of an azo dye methyl orange: Characterization and activity at different pH values

The photocatalytic activity of silver deposited Degussa P25 titanium dioxide (Ag-DP25) in the photodegradation of methyl orange (MO) was investigated. The photocatalysts were characterized using PXRD, SEM, EDX, FTIR and UV-vis spectrophotometer. The obtained results show that the silver (Ag0) deposited TiO2 exhibited visible light plasmon absorption band. The degradation experiment reveals that the catalytic property of Ag-DP25 in the degradation of MO is more efficient than that of commercially available Degussa P25 TiO2 (DP25) samples. The improvement of Ag-DP25 catalyst efficiency strongly depends on the content of silver (Ag) deposits. The present study shows that the degradation process is dominated by Ag-TiO2 photocatalytic system, complying with pseudo-first order rate law. The higher rate of photodegradation observed on Ag-DP25 at pH 6.6 can be correlated to the ratios of the concentrations of the ionized to the neutral dye molecules and also to the higher concentration of hydroxylated surface, which are able to effectively scavenge photogenerated valence band holes. Accumulation of the holes in the semiconductor particles increases the probability of formation of excited oxygen atom which is a reactive species readily oxidizing the organic dye molecule. The reduction of pH during the course of the reaction is attributed to the complete mineralization of the dye. © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

A Study on Kirani Kazhichal Noi (Amoebiasis)

A collective and comparative study of the disease kirani is made covering all aspects of disease enclosing siddha and modern aspects. • The peak age incidence of kirani noi was found 51-60 years age group and male female ratio was 0:100. • The prevalence of the disease was high among lower and middle class society i.e 85% patients. • Among dietary patterns 60% were vegetarian diet. • Seasonal incidence was maximum 40% muduvenil kalam, 35% at kaarkalam. • Majority of patients (60%) from neithal nelam (costal area), 20% of cases from mullai nilam. (forest and its adjacent areas). • Diagnosis by Envagai thervugal revealed that malam was affected in all patients due to keezhnokkukaal, as it vitiates in its power. • Mircroscopical examination of stool is very useful to detail differentiate the E.h. cyst from other parasites. • The clinical trial conducted in selected patients were satisfactory and encouraging. • The cost of treating the disease Kirani is economical when compared to the recent advances and new modes of treatment. CONCLUSION: Kirani noi is a common disease of the present day society with increasing incidence day by day. • The clinical trial has proved that “Mangottai Paruppu Chooranam” and “Jathikkai Karkam” are highly effective in the treatment of the disease “Kirani Noi”. • The cost effectiveness with the trial medicines noted worthy. • The trial medicines are both “Mangottai Paruppu Chooranam” and “Jathikkai Karkam” is in the taste of Thuvarppu. • Astringent controls and arrests the diarrhea. So, the trial medicines, both are pacify the vitiated pitha vaatha & vaatha pitha kutrams. • My trial medicines act as oppurai aspect. • Siddha medicine once again proves it self as a great boom to mankind. • Thus this study will provide excellent scope in field of “Siddha Medicine” in the new millennium

A comparative study on turbinectomy and turbinoplasty.

INTRODUCTION The commonest presenting symptom of any pathology associated with nasal cavity is nasal obstruction. Inferior turbinate hypertrophy is one of the main causes for nasal obstruction. It is a separate bone covered by lamina propria including erectile tissue and ciliated pseudo stratified columnar epithelium. Inferior turbinate hypertrophy can be diagnosed by anterior rhinoscopic examination. Whole turbinate hypertrophy could be confirmed by diagnostic nasal endoscopy. AIM OF THE STUDY This prospective study aims to compare the surgical results of conventional inferior turbinectomy with that of micro-debrider assisted inferior turbinoplasty. To find out the symptomatic improvement by pre-operative and post-operative clinical examination. To find out the healing process by post-operative diagnostic nasal endoscopic examination. SELECTION CRITERIA Age more than 20 years and less than 45 years. Sex: Both male and female patients were considered for the study. Patients clinically presenting with Inferior Turbinate Hypertrophy and nasal obstruction with or without allergic rhinitis were taken up. Patients with ostio- meatal complex involvement were excluded from this study Patients with previous history of nasal surgeries were excluded from this study. MATERIALS AND METHODS In patients, refractory to medical management, surgery is preferred. This is achieved by either reducing the size of or removing the inferior turbinate. Among the 60 patients taken into study, 30 underwent inferior turbinectomy and 30 underwent inferior turbinoplasty. Post-operative evaluation assessing symptomatic relief was done. Postoperative morbidity like bleeding, crusting, synechiae formation was considered as failure events. These variables were evaluated pre and post operatively by clinical and diagnostic nasal endoscopic examination. RESULTS AND INTERPRETATION 30 out of 60 underwent inferior turbinectomy in which 25 patients (95%) recovered completely without any symptoms at the end of 6 months of follow up. 5 patients had mild nasal obstruction and dryness of nose. Inferior turbinoplasty was done in 30 patients of whom 28 (98%) completely recovered. Only 2 patients had oedema of mucosa and rhinitis till the end of 6 months of post-operative follow up. Our study concluded that there was no significant difference in the outcome of the two techniques. CONCLUSION Keeping in mind the anatomy and physiological functions, inferior turbinoplasty takes an upper hand, owing to the preservation and maintenance of the inferior turbinate, despite being statistically insignificant with inferior turbinectomy

Determination of Hospitality Services Quality and Customer Satisfaction – a Holserv Approach

This study examines the relationship between quality of perceived service and level of satisfaction customer attained in Tourism. Although the aforesaid relationship discussions proliferated, studies have employed customised SERVQUL for tourism remains dearth. This research attempts to fulfil the gap by using HOLSERV measurement instrument. HOLSERV is developed to measure the service quality in tourism, comprised with three factors named employee, tangibles, and reliability. Data have been collected from guests of the luxury hotels located in Pondicherry (Puducherry). 344 samples were used for data analyses after eliminating the unusable data by preliminary psychometric test. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) followed by Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was employed to examine the postulated relationship. The results supported the proposed hypotheses. Employees, tangibles, and reliability are confirmed as factors of hospitality service quality by CFA. Employee factor ascertained to be an important factor by SEM. From the results and findings of this study, implications have been drawn, limitations were given, and recommendations were made for future researcher