Association of Physical Activity with Co-morbid Conditions in Geriatric Population

To find out association of physical activity with co-morbid conditions in geriatric population, a cross-sectional study was conducted in different cties of Pakistan in 2015. A total of 114 participants were inducted by non-probability convenience sampling technique. Data was collected after informed verbal consent by a validated questionnaire that is Rapid Assessment of Physical Activity (RAPA). Participants were categorized into two groups i.e. physically active and physically inactive. Data was entered and analyzed in SPSS version 20. There were 66 (57.9%) males and 48 (42.1%) females with mean age of 57.04±7.348 years. Among hypertensive individuals (n=43, 37.7%) there were 39 (90.7%) physically inactive, among individuals having angina (n=17, 14.9%) there were 15 (88.2%) physically inactive. Out of 37 (32.5%) diabetics, 35 (94.6%) were physically inactive. Among individuals suffering from arthritis (n=40, 35.1%), there were 38 (95%) physically inactive. A significant association was found between physical activity and diabetes and arthritis with p-value of 0.048 and 0.029 respectively. Physical activity is significantly associated with diabetes and arthritis in geriatric population. Adequate physical activity should be performed to reduce the risk of co-morbid conditions and improve the quality of life in geriatric population

Biohydrolysis of Saccharum spontaneum for cellulase production by Aspergillus terreus

Saccharum spontaneum, a wasteland weed, is utilized for cellulase production by Aspergillus terreus in solid state fermentation. S. spontaneum served as good carbon source and solid support. Various process parameters including optimal nitrogen source, initial moisture level, incubation time, initial pH, incubation temperature and inoculum size were evaluated. The maximum cellulase production was attained at 70% of initial moisture with incubation of 96 h at 30±2°C, and pH 4.5. Ammonium sulphate in concentration of 0.2% (w/w) was the most preferable nitrogen source among all tested nitrogen sources. The results indicate that S. spontaneum could be utilized as a substrate in solid state fermentation (SSF) for economic production of cellulase.Key words: Cellulase, solid state fermentation, Saccharum spontaneum, Aspergillus terreus

Compact relativistic geometries in f(R,G)f(R,G) gravity

One of the possible potential candidates for describing the universe's rapid expansion is modified gravity. In the framework of the modified theory of gravity $f(R,G)$, the present work features the materialization of anisotropic matter, such as compact stars. Specifically, to learn more about the physical behavior of compact stars, the radial, and tangential pressures as well as the energy density of six stars namely $Her X-1$, $SAXJ1808.4-3658$, $4U1820-30$, $PSR J 1614 2230$, $VELA X-1$, and $Cen X-3$ are calculated. Herein, the modified theory of gravity $f(R,G)$ is disintegrated into two parts i.e. the $\tanh$ hyperbolic $f(R)$ model and the three different $f(G)$ model. The study focuses on graphical analysis of compact stars wherein the stability aspects, energy conditions, and anisotropic measurements are mainly addressed. Our calculation revealed that, for the positive value of parameter n of the model $f(G)$, all the six stars behave normally.Comment: Some changes have been made. " To appear in International Journal of Geometric Methods in Modern Physics

A survey on opinion spam detection methods

Since the past decade, fake Reviews also known as Opinion spam has plagued the e-commerce sector around the world. Opinion spam is considered extremely harmful as it can be used to control the sentiment of a product or service, which in turn can be used to damage the sales and reputation of a company. Throughout the years, extensive research has used Natural language processing for extracting textual features and use them with various machine learning algorithms for opinion spam detection. Majority of the reviewed literature has focused on supervised learning techniques using artificially crafted datasets. The purpose of this paper is twofold: to analyze the various machine learning techniques that have been proposed in the extant literature for detecting opinion spam and compare their accuracies, to provide further insights for future researchers in the field of opinion spam detection. This survey has concluded that semi-supervised techniques using multi-aspect features of reviews, reviewers, and products can provide a better result in spam detection. Furthermore, the lack of accurately labeled datasets presents a major challenge in the field of Fake review detection

Microstructural properties and compressive strength of fy ash‑based geopolymer cement immersed in CO2‑saturated brine at elevated temperatures

Geopolymer cement has signifcance in several engineering applications due to improved physical and chemical charac�teristics compared to ordinary portland cement (OPC). However, the emphasis on petroleum industry for cementing is not well recorded under CO2 exposure. This experimental research aims to investigate the impact of CO2-saturated brine on geopolymer-based and OPC-based cement under elevated temperature. Fly ash-based alkali-activated cement is prepared, and cement slurry is cured at two diferent conditions (17.23 MPa/60 °C and 24.13 MPa/130 °C). The slurry is then submerged into CO2-saturated brine using autoclave chamber at supercritical CO2 conditions for 24, 72 and 96 h. Microstructure prop�erties are characterized using SEM, XRF, XRD, and IR. Compression strength is experimentally tested on cubical cement samples. A comparative analysis of fy ash geopolymer cement and OPC at varying conditions exhibits that microstructure and compressive strength of geopolymer cement show better performance. It signifes the potential of fy ash as a binder in sequestration cement for CO2 injection wells. This research suggests that the concentration of CO2 has a minor infuence on the degree of carbonation. However, the temperature is found to be a critical factor for microstructure and mechanical properties reduction in OPC in a CO2-rich environment

Effect of nanofillers on tribological properties of polymer nanocomposites: a review on recent development

Polymer nanocomposites with enhanced performances are becoming a trend in the current research field, overcoming the limitations of bulk polymer and meeting the demands of market and society in tribological applications. Polytetrafluoroethylene, poly(ether ether ketone) and ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene are the most popular polymers in recent research on tribology. Current work comprehensively reviews recent advancements of polymer nanocomposites in tribology. The influence of different types of nanofiller, such as carbon-based nanofiller, silicon-based nanofiller, metal oxide nanofiller and hybrid nanofiller, on the tribological performance of thermoplastic and thermoset nanocomposites is discussed. Since the tribological properties of polymer nanocomposites are not intrinsic but are dependent on sliding conditions, direct comparison between different types of nanofiller or the same nanofiller of different morphologies and structures is not feasible. Friction and wear rate are normalized to indicate relative improvement by different fillers. Emphasis is given to the effect of nanofiller content and surface modification of nanofillers on friction, wear resistance, wear mechanism and transfer film formation of its nanocomposites. Limitations from the previous works are addressed and future research on tribology of polymer nanocomposites is proposed

Hepatoprotective effects of bioactive compounds from traditional herb Tulsi (Ocimum sanctum Linn) against galactosamine-induced hepatotoxicity in rats

Ocimum sanctum L. (Tulsi; Family: libiaceae), also known as “The Queen of herbs” or “Holy Basil,” is an omnipresent, multipurpose plant that has been used in folk medicine of many countries as a remedy against several pathological conditions, including anticancer, antidiabetic, cardio-protective, antispasmodic, diaphoretic, and adaptogenic actions. This study aims to assess O. sanctum L.’s hepatoprotective potential against galactosamine-induced toxicity, as well as investigate bioactive compounds in each extract and identify serum metabolites. The extraction of O. sanctum L as per Ayurveda was simultaneously standardized and quantified for biochemical markers: rutin, ellagic acid, kaempferol, caffeic acid, quercetin, and epicatechin by HPTLC. Hepatotoxicity was induced albino adult rats by intra-peritoneal injection of galactosamine (400 mg/kg). The quantified hydroalcoholic and alcoholic extract of O. sanctum L (100 and 200 mg/kg body weight/day) were compared for evaluation of hepatoprotective potential, which were assessed in terms of reduction in histological damage, change in serum enzymes such as AST, ALT, ALP and increase TBARS. Twenty chemical constituents of serum metabolites of O. sanctum were identified and characterized based on matching recorded mass spectra by GC-MS with those obtained from the library-Wiley/NIST. We evaluated the hepatoprotective activity of various fractions of hydroalcoholic extracts based on the polarity and investigated the activity at each phase (hexane, chloroform, and ethyl acetate) in vitro to determine how they affected the toxicity of CCL4 (40 mM) toward Chang liver cells. The ethyl acetate fraction of the selected plants had a higher hepatoprotective activity than the other fractions, so it was used in vacuum liquid chromatography (VLC). The ethyl acetate fraction contains high amounts of rutin (0.34% w/w), ellagic acid (2.32% w/w), kaempferol (0.017% w/w), caffeic acid (0.005% w/w), quercetin (0.038% w/w), and epicatechin (0.057% w/w) which are responsible for hepatoprotection. In comparison to standard silymarin, isolated bioactive molecules displayed the most significant hepatoprotective activity in Chang liver cells treated to CCl4 toxicity. The significant high hepatoprotection provided by standard silymarin ranged from 77.6% at 100 μg/ml to 83.95% at 200 μg/ml, purified ellagic acid ranged from 70% at 100 μg/ml to 81.33% at 200 μg/ml, purified rutin ranged from 63.4% at 100 μg/ml to 76.34% at 200 μg/ml purified quercetin ranged from 54.33% at 100 μg/ml to 60.64% at 200 μg/ml, purified epicatechin ranged from 53.22% at 100 μg/ml to 65.6% at 200 μg/ml, and purified kaempferol ranged from 52.17% at 100 μg/ml to 60.34% at 200 μg/ml. These findings suggest that the bioactive compounds in O. sanctum L. have significant protective effects against galactosamine-induced hepatotoxicity