Comparative study of safety and efficacy of pregabalin and gabapentin in management of neuropathic pain associated with chronic lumbar radiculopathy

Background: Chronic lumbar radiculopathy a clinical condition in which there is back and leg pain associated with sensory, reflex, or motor deficits in the area of nerve root distribution lasting for more than 12 weeks. The prevalence of lumbar radiculopathy has been reported to be 5.3% in men and 3.7% in women. Pregabalin and gabapentin, which fit in to a new category of drugs called as alpha-2-delta (α2δ) modulators, have been discovered to be effective in the treatment of neuropathic pain related with multiple conditions. So this study was done to compare safety and efficacy of pregabalin and gabapentin in management of pain associated with chronic lumbar radiculopathy.Methods: This was a randomized two arm comparative prospective study. Total 160 patients were enrolled and randomized equally into 2 groups. Group A patients were given capsule pregabalin 75 mg two times a day orally, Group B patients were given tablet gabapentin 300 mg two times a day. Pain intensity was assessed at the start of study i.e. at baseline (0 week), at 6 weeks and at 12 weeks of starting the treatment using numeric pain rating scale.Results: There was significant reduction in pain at the end of 12 weeks in both the groups (p<0.0001), but there was no significant difference between these two groups. The incidence of adverse effects was also more in group A.Conclusions: Both the drugs are having comparable efficacy but gabapentin is more tolerable in such cases

Bayesian Evidence and Model Selection

In this paper we review the concepts of Bayesian evidence and Bayes factors, also known as log odds ratios, and their application to model selection. The theory is presented along with a discussion of analytic, approximate and numerical techniques. Specific attention is paid to the Laplace approximation, variational Bayes, importance sampling, thermodynamic integration, and nested sampling and its recent variants. Analogies to statistical physics, from which many of these techniques originate, are discussed in order to provide readers with deeper insights that may lead to new techniques. The utility of Bayesian model testing in the domain sciences is demonstrated by presenting four specific practical examples considered within the context of signal processing in the areas of signal detection, sensor characterization, scientific model selection and molecular force characterization.Comment: Arxiv version consists of 58 pages and 9 figures. Features theory, numerical methods and four application

Revival-collapse phenomenon in the fluctuations of quadrature field components of the multiphoton Jaynes-Cummings model

In this paper we consider a system consisting of a two-level atom, initially prepared in a coherent superposition of upper and lower levels, interacting with a radiation field prepared in generalized quantum states in the framework of multiphoton Jaynes-Cummings model. For this system we show that there is a class of states for which the fluctuation factors can exhibit revival-collapse phenomenon (RCP) similar to that exhibited in the corresponding atomic inversion. This is shown not only for normal fluctuations but also for amplitude-squared fluctuations. Furthermore, apart from this class of states we generally demonstrate that the fluctuation factors associated with three-photon transition can provide RCP similar to that occurring in the atomic inversion of the one-photon transition. These are novel results and their consequence is that RCP occurred in the atomic inversion can be measured via a homodyne detector. Furthermore, we discuss the influence of the atomic relative phases on such phenomenon.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figure

Non-monotonic changes in Asian Water Towers’ streamflow at increasing warming levels

Data Availability Statement - The MERIT DEM is available at http://hydro.iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp/~yamadai/MERIT_DEM/. The NDVI is available at https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/climate-data-records/normalized-difference-vegetation-index.The LAI dataset is available at https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/climate-data-records/leaf-area-index-and-fapar. Department of Hydrology and Meteorology in Nepal for the Ganges is available at https://www.dhm.gov.np/request-data, and the Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority for the Indus are available at http://www.wapda.gov.pk. Soil hydraulic parameters are available at http://globalchange.bnu.edu.cn/research. The Watch Forcing dataset (WFD) is obtained from https://rda.ucar.edu/datasets/. The CMIP6 model outputs are available at https://esgf-node.llnl.gov/search/cmip6/. The RGI data is available at http://www.glims.org/RGI/randolph60.html.The ice thickness datasets are available at https://doi.org/10.6096/1007. The glacier mass balance data are available at https://wgms.ch/data_databaseversions and https://www.sedoo.fr/theia-publication-products/?uuid=c428c5b9-df8f-4f86-9b75-e04c778e29b9. H08 data is available at https://www.isimip.org/. The World Gridded Population is available at https://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/data/collection/gpw-v4. The results of this study are available as a supplement to this manuscript (Supplementary Dataset 1).Previous projections show consistent increases in river flows of Asian Water Towers under future climate change. Here we find non-monotonic changes in river flows for seven major rivers originating from the Tibetan Plateau at the warming levels of 1.5 °C, 2.0 °C, and 3.0 °C based on an observation-constrained hydrological model. The annual mean streamflow for seven rivers at 1.5 °C warming level decreases by 0.1–3.2% relative to the present-day climate condition, and increases by 1.5–12% at 3.0 °C warming level. The shifting river flows for the Yellow, Yangtze, Brahmaputra, and Ganges are mostly influenced by projected increases in rainfall, but those for the Mekong, Salween, and Indus are dictated by the relative changes in rainfall, snowmelt and glacier melt. Reduced river flows in a moderately warmed climate threaten water security in riparian countries, while elevated flood risks are expected with further temperature increases over the Tibetan Plateau.National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 92047301, 51825902, 51961125204, and 52109023), and the State Key Laboratory of Hydroscience and Engineering (Grant Nos. 2022-KY-03). The Tibetan Plateau boundary is provided by National Tibetan Plateau Data Center (http://data.tpdc.ac.cn). L.Y. also acknowledges support from the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (0209-14380804) and the Frontiers Science Center for Critical Earth Material Cycling Fund

Low-Loading of Pt Nanoparticles on 3D Carbon Foam Support for Highly Active and Stable Hydrogen Production

Minimizing Pt loading is essential for designing cost-effective water electrolyzers and fuel cell systems. Recently, three-dimensional macroporous open-pore electroactive supports have been widely regarded as promising architectures to lower loading amounts of Pt because of its large surface area, easy electrolyte access to Pt sites, and superior gas diffusion properties to accelerate diffusion of H2 bubbles from the Pt surface. However, studies to date have mainly focused on Pt loading on Ni-based 3D open pore supports which are prone to corrosion in highly acidic and alkaline conditions. Here, we investigate electrodeposition of Pt nanoparticles in low-loading amounts on commercially available, inexpensive, 3D carbon foam (CF) support and benchmark their activity and stability for electrolytic hydrogen production. We first elucidate the effect of deposition potential on the Pt nanoparticle size, density and subsequently its coverage on 3D CF. Analysis of the Pt deposit using scanning electron microscopy images reveal that for a given deposition charge density, the particle density increases (with cubic power) and particle size decreases (linearly) with deposition overpotential. A deposition potential of −0.4 V vs. standard calomel electrode (SCE) provided the highest Pt nanoparticle coverage on 3D CF surface. Different loading amounts of Pt (0.0075–0.1 mgPt/cm2) was then deposited on CF at −0.4 V vs. SCE and subsequently studied for its hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity in acidic 1M H2SO4 electrolyte. The Pt/CF catalyst with loading amounts as low as 0.06 mgPt/cm2 (10-fold lower than state-of-the-art commercial electrodes) demonstrated a mass activity of 2.6 ampere per milligram Pt at 200 mV overpotential, nearly 6-fold greater than the commercial Pt/C catalyst tested under similar conditions. The 3D architectured electrode also demonstrated excellent stability, showing &lt;7% loss in activity after 60 h of constant current water electrolysis at 100 mA/cm2

Late-Onset Stargardt Disease Due to Mild, Deep-Intronic ABCA4 Alleles

PURPOSE. To investigate the role of two deep-intronic ABCA4 variants, that showed a mild splice defect in vitro and can occur on the same allele as the low penetrant c.5603A>T, in Stargardt disease (STGD1). METHODS. Ophthalmic data were assessed of 18 STGD1 patients who harbored c.769-784C>T or c.4253+43G>A in combination with a severe ABCA4 variant. Subjects carrying c.[769784C>T; 5603A>T] were clinically compared with a STGD1 cohort previously published carrying c.5603A>T noncomplex. We calculated the penetrances of the intronic variants using ABCA4 allele frequency data of the general population and investigated the effect of c.769-784C>T on splicing in photoreceptor progenitor cells (PPCs). RESULTS. Mostly, late-onset, foveal-sparing STGD1 was observed among subjects harboring c.769-784C>T or c.4253+43G>A (median age of onset, 54.5 and 52.0 years, respectively). However, ages of onset, phenotypes in fundo, and visual acuity courses varied widely. No significant clinical differences were observed between the c.[769-784C>T; 5603A>T] cohort and the c.4253+43G>A or the c.5603A>T cohort. The penetrances of c.769-784C>T (20.5%-39.6%) and c.4253+43G>A (35.8%-43.1%) were reduced, when not considering the effect of yet unidentified or known factors in cis, such as c.5603A>T (identified in 7/7 probands with c.769-784C>T; 1/8 probands with c.4253+43G>A). Variant c.769-784C>T resulted in a pseudo-exon insertion in 15% of the total mRNA (i.e., similar to 30% of the c.769-784C>T allele alone). CONCLUSIONS. Two mild intronic ABCA4 variants could further explain missing heritability in late-onset STGD1, distinguishing it from AMD. The observed clinical variability and calculated reduced penetrance urge research into modifiers within and outside of the ABCA4 gene

Relationship between the atomic inversion and Wigner function for multiphoton multimode Jaynes-Cummings model

In this paper we consider multimode multiphoton Jaynes-Cummings model, which consists of a two-level atom, initially prepared in an excited atomic state, interacting with $N$ modes of electromagnetic field prepared in general pure quantum states. For this system we show that under certain conditions the evolution of the Wigner function at the phase space origin provides direct information on the corresponding atomic inversion. This relation is also valid even if the system includes Kerr-like nonlinearity, Stark shift effect, different types of the initial atomic state as well as moving atom. Furthermore, based on this fact we discuss for the single-mode case the possibility of detecting the atomic inversion by means of techniques similar to those used for Wigner function.Comment: 19 pages, 4 figure