Toolbox for optimizing spacecraft ascent trajectory from launch to lower earth orbit

The target is to develop a toolbox for the ascent trajectory of a launch vehicle using an analytical/numerical approach. The mission profile would be optimized from Launch to payload delivery in the Lower Earth Orbit (LEO). Reduce launch delays due to inaccuracy in estimating atmospheric and wind profiles. The toolbox includes trajectory optimization within the atmosphere to achieve LEO, Orbit transfer maneuvers, and Orbit maintenance to counter the effects the atmospheric drag and oblateness to ensure payload delivery to the intended orbit. Input factors are independent (e.g., orbital elements, satellite orientation) and dependent (e.g., engine staging, burn rate, atmospheric drag). They collectively shape the rocket\u27s trajectory and performance throughout the flight. The toolbox, designed for use in industry for early mission design, uses impulsive movements to accelerate the optimization process

Evaluation of micronucleus frequency in oral exfoliated buccal mucosa cells of smokers and tobacco chewers: a comparative study

Background: Oral cancer is one of the tenth most common cancers in the world and constitutes the third most important group of malignancies in India. Majority of these cancers are diagnosed at an advanced stage resulting in poor prognosis and survival rates among patients. Hence early diagnosis of oral cancers seems to be the need of the hour. Analysis of exfoliated buccal cell micronuclei (MN) is a sensitive method of monitoring genetic damage. The present study aims to compare the frequency of micronucleus in tobacco chewers and smokers and thus evaluate the genotoxic potential of these habits.Methods: The study was conducted on 60 subjects, divided into 3 groups each of 20 subjects. Group 1: with history of chewing tobacco, group 2: with history of chewing tobacco and smoking, group 3: healthy subjects without any habits as controls. Oral exfoliated cells were obtained from buccal mucosa of the subjects, 2 slides were prepared from each subject stained with Giemsa and H&E stain respectively. Atleast 1000 cells were examined for each subject and micronuclei frequency was scored according to criteria of Tolbert et al.Results: The mean number of micronuclei was 18.5±9.5 in tobacco chewers, 19.1±9.2 in chewers with smoking habit and 8.2±5.6 in controls. Bonferroni multiple comparisons amongst these three groups showed the mean difference of micronuclei to be highly significant when chewers and chewers with smoking habit were compared to controls. Similarly based on the duration of addiction, a highly significant difference was noted in no. of micronucleated cells in subjects addicted to tobacco for more than 15 years.Conclusions: Tobacco can cause and increase the rate of nuclear anomalies in both smoking and smokeless forms. Thus oral mucosal micronuclei frequency can be used as a marker of epithelial carcinogenic progression.

A study to find correlation of platelet indices with HbA1c in diabetic patients with absence/presence of vascular complications

Background: Diabetes Mellitus is a global pandemic disease. The increased platelet activity is emphasized to play a role in the development of vascular complications of the metabolic disorder. Mean platelet volume (MPV) is an indicator of average size and activity of platelets. This study was conducted to find correlation of platelet indices with HbA1c in diabetic patients with absence/presence of vascular complications.Methods: Total of 100 subjects was enrolled in the study. Sample for glucose estimation and platelet indices were collected and estimation were carried out by the auto-analyzers. The statistical evaluation is done using SPSS version 22. Student t- test was used for doing comparison between two variables namely HbA1c <7 and HbA1c ≥7 and diabetics with vascular complications v/s without vascular complications.Results: MPV, is significantly higher in patients with type -2 diabetes mellitus with HbA1C ≥7 and those with vascular complications in comparison to patients having HbA1c <7 and those without vascular complications ( p- value <0.001 which is highly significant).Conclusions: MPV might be used as a simple and cost-effective laboratory test in the follow up of diabetes mellitus along with HbA1c and thereby help to reduce the morbidity and mortality

New perspectives in modified Gleason’s grading for prostatic cancer and its comparison with original Gleason’s

Background: The Gleason score is the most widely accepted histopathological grading system for prostate cancer since decade despite having many deficiency that can potentially impact patient health care. So ISUP agreed on developing a system of prognostic grade groups from I-V. Aim and objective was to study the new perspectives of modified Gleason’s grading and to compare it with original Gleason’s System with focus on the prognostic significance of the modifications.Methods: A retrospective study of 60 patients, who underwent TURP and Sextant biopsy and diagnosed as prostatic carcinoma in our institute were included in this study. Laboratory requisition forms with clinical history, PSA levels and histopathology reports of these patients were reviewed and graded accordingly to the newer gleasons. New Gleason grade includes five distinct Grade Groups based on the modified Gleason score groups. Grade Group 1 = Gleason score ≤6, Grade Group 2 = Gleason score 3 + 4 = 7, Grade Group 3 = Gleason score 4 + 3 = 7, Grade Group 4 = Gleason score 8, Grade Group 5 = Gleason scores 9 and 10 were assigned. The change in the grading system is tabulated and compared separately.Results: Patients age ranged from 55-80 years. The number of cases were 3,12,15,19 and 11 categorized under grade group I, grade group II, grade group III, grade group IV, grade group V cancer respectively according to modified gleason grading.Conclusions: Modified Gleason is a simplified grading system which may reduce over treatment of indolent prostate cancer. New gleasons grading clarifies the clinicians about the dilemma of gleason scores, offering an excellent prognostic stratification of this carcinoma

Evaluation of Polyherbal Anticancer Tablets: A Review

Cancer is a malignant abnormal growth of cells, one of the most dreaded and complex diseases. It concerns with several tempo spatial changes in cell composition, which finally lead to neoplasia. Various types of cancers have been reported. Chemotherapy, radiation, and/or surgery may cure them. Herbal remedies are supposed to be harmless as they cause fewer complications and are less likely to habitual. Antioxidant compositions of therapeutic plants show the anticancer activity and therefore, use of different proportions of the active components to formulate various standardized preparation with single or multiple components for their synergistic effects play a crucial role in curing cancer. Evaluation parameters to assess the in vitro anticancer activity includes Caspase-3, Caspase-9, alamar blue, LDH assay, XTT assay, sulforhodamine-B assay, MTT assay, DNA fragmentation assay, neutral red uptake cytotoxic assay, tryphan blue assay. Evaluation of dried extract or granules includes bulk density, tapped density, Carr’s index, Hausner’s ratio, angle of repose while the tablets evaluated by drug-excipient compatibility study by FT-IR, stability studies, hardness, thickness, weight variation, friability, disintegration time and dissolution test

A comparison of platelet count in severe preeclampsia, mild preeclampsia and normal pregnancy

Background: Preeclampsia, the most common of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy is an idiopathic multisystem disorder affecting 2 – 10% of all pregnancies and together they form one member of the deadly triad, along with hemorrhage and infection that contribute greatly to the maternal morbidity and mortality rates. The identification of this clinical entity and effective management play a significant role in the outcome of pregnancy. Platelet count is emphasized to play a significant role in hemostasis mechanism of preeclampsia and the degree of thrombocytopenia increases with severity of preeclampsia. This study was conducted to find correlation of platelet count in severe preeclampsia, mild preeclampsia and normal subjects.Methods: Total 140 subjects, 70 control and 70 cases were enrolled in the study. Samples for platelet count were collected and estimation was carried out by the auto-analyzers. The statistical evaluation is done using SPSS version 22 along with Anova and student t-test.Results: The mean platelet count was significantly lower (p <0.05) in mild and severe preeclampsia than that in the normal pregnancy. Decreased platelet count in severe preeclampsia was significant compared to that in mild preeclampsia.Conclusions: The frequency of thrombocytopenia was found to be directly related with the severity of disease, so platelet count can be used as a simple and cost effective tool to monitor the progression of preeclampsia, thereby preventing complications to develop during the gestational period

Phytochemical Investigation and Pharmacological Evaluation of Solanum xanthocarpum Endowed with their potential Activity

The study was done to assess the in-vitro antibacterial potential of various extracts was studied and compared with ciprofloxacin as the standard and shows significant action against E. coli, B. substilis S. aureus, S. pyrogenes, P. aeruginosa, and S. typhi. Anti-fungal potential of the aqueous extract also studied using miconazole as standard and shows significant action against A. niger and C. albicans. Anthelmintic potential of the aqueous and ethanolic extracts was also studied on earthworms, Eudrillus eugeniae using albendazole as standard and shows moderate activity. In the present study in-vitro free radical scavenging activity of whole plant material performed. Various crude extracts of S. xanthocarpum was prepared by successive maceration process using various solvents such as; chloroform, petroleum ether (60-80o), acetone, ethanol and distilled water. Each one extract have been chosen to study the free radical inhibitory activity by DPPH radical scavenging method. The preliminary phytochemical screening of extracts showed that sterols, alkaloids, glycosides, tannins, saponins, phenolic compounds, carbohydrates and proteins were present in the plant. Petroleum ether, chloroform, acetone, ethanol and distilled water extracts showed 52.69, 46.15, 21.08, 52.72 and 44.35 % respectively compared to standard ascorbic acid. Acetone extract showed poor inhibition of DPPH radical compared to standard and other extracts also

Evaluation of micronucleus frequency in oral exfoliated buccal mucosa cells of smokers and tobacco chewers: a comparative study

Background: Oral cancer is one of the tenth most common cancers in the world and constitutes the third most important group of malignancies in India. Majority of these cancers are diagnosed at an advanced stage resulting in poor prognosis and survival rates among patients. Hence early diagnosis of oral cancers seems to be the need of the hour. Analysis of exfoliated buccal cell micronuclei (MN) is a sensitive method of monitoring genetic damage. The present study aims to compare the frequency of micronucleus in tobacco chewers and smokers and thus evaluate the genotoxic potential of these habits. Methods: The study was conducted on 60 subjects, divided into 3 groups each of 20 subjects. Group 1: with history of chewing tobacco, group 2: with history of chewing tobacco and smoking, group 3: healthy subjects without any habits as controls. Oral exfoliated cells were obtained from buccal mucosa of the subjects, 2 slides were prepared from each subject stained with Giemsa and H and E stain respectively. Atleast 1000 cells were examined for each subject and micronuclei frequency was scored according to criteria of Tolbert et al. Results: The mean number of micronuclei was 18.5+/-9.5 in tobacco chewers, 19.1+/-9.2 in chewers with smoking habit and 8.2+/-5.6 in controls. Bonferroni multiple comparisons amongst these three groups showed the mean difference of micronuclei to be highly significant when chewers and chewers with smoking habit were compared to controls. Similarly based on the duration of addiction, a highly significant difference was noted in no. of micronucleated cells in subjects addicted to tobacco for more than 15 years. Conclusions: Tobacco can cause and increase the rate of nuclear anomalies in both smoking and smokeless forms. Thus oral mucosal micronuclei frequency can be used as a marker of epithelial carcinogenic progression. [Int J Res Med Sci 2016; 4(8.000): 3130-3133

A comparison of platelet parameters in type -2 diabetics, pre-diabetics and normal subjects

Introduction: Diabetes Mellitus is a global pandemic disease. The increased platelet activity is emphasized to play a role in the development of vascular complications of the metabolic disorder. Mean platelet volume (MPV) is an indicator of average size and activity of platelets. This study is conducted to compare the platelet parameters in diabetics, pre-diabetics and normal subjects and to find correlation between glycemic control determinants (fasting plasma glucose) and platelet parameters (MPV, platelet count, platelet distribution width) in all the three groups and to correlate the duration of diabetes with MPV. Material and Methods: Total of 300 subjects (100 subjects in each group) were enrolled in the study. Sample for glucose estimation and platelet parameters were collected and estimation was carried out by the auto-analyzers. The statistical evaluation is done using SPSS version 22. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Pearson's correlation test are used to compare the variables and to see the correlation between the different variables respectively. Result: MPV a marker of platelet function and activation, is significantly higher in patients with type -2 diabetes mellitus than in control and pre-diabetic group with p- value &lt;0.001 which is highly significant. FPG shows no correlation with platelet count and platelet distribution width. Also no correlation was seen between MPV and duration of diabetes. Conclusion: MPV can be used as a simple and cost effective tool to monitor the progression and control of diabetes and thereby preventing impending acute vascular events in health care centres

Preponderance of Bioactive Medicinal Compounds and ATR-FTIR Spectroscopy of Coriander and Mustard Floral Honey from <i>Apis mellifera</i>

The physicochemical, total phenolics, flavonoids, and antioxidant activity were evaluated for biochemical characterization of coriander and mustard floral honey. The total phenolics, flavonoids and antioxidant activity were analyzed using UV-VIS spectrophotometer. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) was used to evaluate the chemical characteristic of coriander and mustard floral honey. The total phenolics content was ranged from 294 to 462 mg gallic acid equivalent kg-1 of honey. The total flavonoid content was ranged from 43 to 53 mg quercetin equivalent kg-1 of honey. Antioxidant activity results were expressed as inhibitory concentration (IC50) value ranged from 4.58 to 5.54 mg mL-1. FT-IR spectra showed the presence of alcohols, carboxylic acids, esters, ethers, phenols, and amines in both floral honey samples. This study discovered that coriander floral honey is more affluent than mustard floral honey in nutritional as well as medicinal aspects. At a glance the processing of honey by heating did not affect the phenolics, flavonoid, and antioxidants of honey; even processed honey contains higher phenols and antioxidants. The FT-IR spectra showed the similarity in both kinds of honey refers to chemical constituents. This study will help the researcher and honey consumer to find out the higher bioactive medicinal compounds containing honey