Use of fluorescent micropsheres to measure coronary flow reserve in rat animal model

Heart attacks result from reduced or blocked blood flow through major coronary arteries, resulting in permanent damage to heart muscle. Coronary blood flow (CBF) is thus important to measure in experimental animal models of heart disease. A standard method to measure CBF uses tracer microspheres (Ø = 15 µm) injected into the left ventricle that flow through coronary arteries but cannot pass through capillaries and so become trapped in heart muscle. Previously, radioactive or colored microspheres have quantified the number of tracers trapped in the muscle. Fluorescent microspheres offer a more recent and more sensitive measurement mode. However, fluorescent microspheres have not often been used to measure CBF in small animals (rats, mice) that are now the most common animal models used in heart research. This thesis aimed to develop the techniques for use of fluorescent microspheres to measure CBF in rat animal models used by the cell biology laboratories at UMDNJ-Newark. Two non-overlapping fluorescent wavelengths were chosen (yellow-green; red). Using a spectrophotometer, fluorescence intensity was calibrated for known numbers of microspheres (set via controlled dilution). CBF in two rats was measured at rest and during maximal vasodilation (adenosine) using procedures for colored microspheres. After euthanasia, hearts were removed, and blood samples and left ventricular tissue were processed using a sedimentation method for full recovery of fluorescent microspheres, which were scanned through the spectrophotometer to count fluorescence intensity. Using the predetermined calibration curve, the number of microspheres in each sample was determined; from this CBF was calculated. CBF averaged 5.9 ml/min/g at rest, which was within the normal range for rats quoted in recent literature. With maximal vasodilation, CBF increased to an average of 12.9 ml/min/g, which indicated a coronary flow reserve that was 2.2 times the resting level. The same value for coronary flow velocity reserve (2.2) was measured in 6 rats using Doppler echocardiography. The consistency of these results suggests that the procedures developed for fluorescent microspheres lead to repeatable and reliable measurement of coronary blood flow in rats

FINSERV ANDROID APPLICATION

The FINSERV Android application is a mobile tool designed for individuals to manage and track their finances. In financially complex world, many people struggle to maintain a clear overview of their income, expenses, and financial goals. This application aims to bridge that gap by providing users with a powerful and user-friendly platform to efficiently monitor and optimize their personal finances. With the Personal Finance Tracking Android Application, users can effortlessly track their income and expenses, categorize transactions, and gain valuable insights into their spending patterns. The application offers features such as expense categorization and real-time expense tracking. To enhance usability and understanding, the application employs data visualization techniques. Financial information is presented in clear and concise graphs, charts, and reports, making it easy for users to comprehend their financial status at a glance. This visual representation enhances financial literacy and enables users to make informed decisions

A spatially constrained QCD colour reconnection in pp, pA, and AA collisions in the PYTHIA8/Angantyr model

We present an updated version of the QCD-based colour reconnection model in PYTHIA8, where we constrain the range in impact parameter for which reconnections are allowed. In this way, we can introduce more realistic colour reconnections in the Angantyr model for heavy ion collisions, where previously only reconnections within separate nucleon sub-collisions have been allowed. We investigate how the new impact parameter constraint influences final states in pp collisions, and retune parameters of the multi-parton interaction parameters in PYTHIA to compensate so that minimum bias data are reproduced. We also study multiplicity distributions in pA collisions and find that, in order to counteract the loss in multiplicity due to the introduction of global colour reconnections, we need to modify some parameters in the Angantyr model while keeping the parameters tuned to pp fixed. With Angantyr we can then extrapolate to AA collisions without further parameter tuning and retaining a reasonable description of the basic multiplicity distributions.Comment: 26 pages, 20 figures, Updated in accordance with the journal version of the articl

Baryon correlations in Pythia

We present the results from our investigation of angular correlations between baryon pairs in the PYTHIA8 event generator. We show how colour reconnection models and hadronization mechanisms influence such angular correlations and in particular address the effect of gluons on the baryon production mechanism in the Lund string fragmentation model. We conclude by discussing the new theoretical ideas in comparison with the ALICE pp collision results for the baryon angular correlations. We propose a hypothesis for suppressing baryons produced in gluon jets and show how that may influence the angular correlations.Comment: 19 pages, 8 figure

Survey on Computer Worms

Cyber Security is an important aspect in the field of information technology. Either it is often neglected or given a lesser priority .One of the biggest challenges that we face today is to secure information. The first thing that comes to our mind whenever we think about cyber security is ‘cyber crimes’, which are increasing at a very fast pace. Governments of countries, agencies and companies are taking crucial measures in order to prevent cybercrimes. Despite taking measures cyber security is still a very big concern. This paper mainly lays emphasis on the definition of worms, difference between worms and viruses, behavioural patterns of worms, major categories of worms, aspects of designing of worms, life cycle of worms, history and timeline of worms and a case study of Stuxnet

Study of drug utilization, morbidity pattern and cost of hypolipidemic agents in a tertiary care hospital

Background: Data on the extent of use and costs of lipid-lowering agents are not widely available. Our aim was to study the drug utilization and morbidity pattern, cost of different hypolipidemic drugs along with the risk assessment for coronary heart disease.Methods: After approval of protocol by the Institutional Review Board, an observational, prospective study was carried out in 300 patients using NCEP and ATP III Guidelines-2002 for evaluation of presence or absence of risk factors for coronary heart diseases. Data were analysed using SPSS software version 16.0and WHO Core Drug Prescribing Indicators.Results: Patient’s morbidity pattern revealed that 62%, 49.3%, 28% suffered from ischemic heart disease, hypertension and type 2 diabetes mellitus respectively. On risk assessment, 48%, 13.3% patients had borderline and high level of total cholesterol respectively; 42%, 22.7% had borderline and high triglyceride levels respectively; 71.1% men and 62% women had low HDL cholesterol levels while 17.3%, 6% and 2.7% patients had borderline high, high and very high level of LDL cholesterol levels respectively. Frequency of prescriptions was atorvastatin (82%), rosuvastatin (9.3%) and simvastatin (4.7%) among the most frequently prescribed statins drug group. The mean number of drugs per prescription was 7.34. Drugs prescribed by generic name and from essential drugs list was 24.96% and 71.81% respectively. Mean cost of hypolipidemic agents/prescription/day was 10.74 (±1.96) Indian Rupees with rosuvastatin being the costliest.Conclusion: Rational use of hypolipidemic agents with an increasing trend of statins prescriptions will significantly reduce the morbidity and mortality from coronary heart diseases.

The study of correlation between thyroid function and blood pressure in hypertensive patients attending out patient department in tertiary care centre

Background: Hypertension may be the initial clinical presentation for at least 15 endocrine disorders, including overt and subclinical hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism. The correction of thyroid dysfunction may normalize Blood Pressure (BP) in most cases, therefore checking thyroid function is essential during the workup for hypertension. The present study was conducted to find out the association between hypertension and thyroid dysfunction.Methods: It was a retrospective, observational study conducted among patients having hypertension visiting the outpatient department of Medicine in KIMS Karad, during the period of 2 months.Results: The mean values of various thyroid function parameters among hypertensive cases was assessed in the current study, Authors found that the mean Serum T3 level was 93.5917±32.82, Mean Serum T4 level was 6.72±1.64 and the mean Serum TSH level was 2.52±2.71. Among all the cases about 52% cases had deranged thyroid function reports.Conclusions: The results of this study suggest an association between subclinical hypothyroidism and increased blood pressure levels

A Validated High Performance Thin Layer Chromatographic Method for Simultaneous Estimation of Berberine Chloride and Guggulsterone Z in Herbal Formulation

A simple, precise, and robust high-performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC) method was developed and validated for the determination of berberine chloride and guggulsterone Z in herbal formulation. Chromatographic separation was achieved on aluminium plates precoated with silica gel G60F254 as the stationary phase and toluene-acetonitrile-formic acid (5:3:0.5 v/v/v) as the mobile phase. Densitometric evaluation was carried out at 264 nm. The present method was validated according to ICH guidelines. The Rf value of berberine chloride and guggulsterone Z was found to be 0.40 ± 0.02 and 0.68 ± 0.02, respectively. The response in terms of peak area was found to be linear over the concentration range of 100-500 ng/spot for berberine chloride and 200-1000 ng/spot for guggulsterone Z with regression coefficient value greater than 0.995 for both the phytoconstituents. The method was validated by determining its accuracy, precision, robustness, specificity and system suitability. The method was found to be accurate, precise and robust to carry out the simultaneous estimation of berberine chloride and guggulsterone Z. The developed method was successfully applied for the simultaneous estimation of berberine chloride and guggulsterone Z in herbal formulation

Controlled Low-Strength Material (CLSM) produced from limestone fines and other byproducts

Title from PDF of title page, viewed on March 11, 2013Thesis advisor: Ceki HalmenIncludes bibliographic references (p. 147-154)Thesis (M.S.)--School of Computing and Engineering. University of Missouri--Kansas City, 2012VitaControlled Low Strength Material (CLSM) or flowable fill mixtures are typically specified and used in lieu of compacted fill especially for backfill, utility bedding, void fill and bridge approaches. This study developed flowable fill mixtures containing only quarry fines, fly ash, synthetic gypsum and water, for different applications without any cement or good quality aggregates, to reduce costs significantly. The study used by-products of two industries, quarry fines and fly ash, to produce cheap cementitious CLSM mixtures that are flowable in their fresh state. Successful use of quarry fines in CLSM mixtures can reduce costs related to storage and disposal of fines, save dwindling landfill space, and generate additional revenue for quarries. This study also evaluated the use of synthetic gypsum obtained from industrial waste products. The use of soil as a compacted fill is generally responsible for various issues related to differential settlement. Some of the most important causes of differential settlement are compression of poorly compacted embankment soils, poor material characteristics, non-homogeneity of embankment soils, and erosion of underlying soils. Considering limited funds available to federal and state highway agencies, the developed group of mixtures should be economically feasible and it should provide a good, constant density, homogeneous support layer with low settlement.Introduction -- Literature review -- Materials, mixtures proportions and test procedures -- Results and discussions -- Summary, conclusions and suggested future researc