Effect of Cavity Design on the Strength of Direct Posterior Composite Restorations: An Empirical and FEM Analysis

The aim of the present study was to verify the hypothesis that cavity design does not affect the strength of direct composite restorations as do material properties. Finite element modeling (FEM) and empirical testing were done for two cavity designs: a box shape (cube) and a concave shape (U). Two microhybrid composites were used to prepare the samples with the help of split stainless steel moulds. Compressive strength was tested. The results were statistically analyzed. Both FEA and empirical testing were complementary to each other in that the concave shape showed a significantly higher strength than box. Material properties affected the values only when box shape was used. The null hypothesis is thus rejected, and it is concluded that design significantly affects the strength of direct composite restorations

Adenosine deaminase from Plasmodium falciparum as a Potential Drug Target in Anti- Malarial Drug Designing: A Bioinformatic Approach

Parasites are responsible for a wide variety of infectious diseases causing an enormous health and economical blight. Malaria is one such prominent disease that causes widespread infections in humans and results in innumerable deaths annually. The development of resistance of the malarial parasites to the conventional drugs has signaled for an urgent need to design new drugs in an effective way and also to identify and study new drug targets to combat this disease. The rational design of a drug is usually based on the biochemical and physiological differences between the pathogen and the host. So in this current study we focus on the striking differences in the purine metabolism of the malarial parasite Plasmodium falciparum and that of the host. Based on this, we submit a hypothesis on targeting a protein Adenosine deaminase that plays an important role in the purine metabolism of the parasite. In this study a synthetic and a natural drug were used and their efficacy was compared and analyzed

Feto-maternal outcome in twin pregnancy

Background: Natural higher orders multiple conceptions are uncommon. The reported incidence ranges from 0.01% to 0.07% of all pregnancies. Multiple births are much more common today than they were in the past. Throughout the world, the prevalence of twin births varies from approximately 2-20 /1000 birth. Overall complications occur in approximately 83% of twin pregnancies as compared to 25% in singleton pregnancies. This delayed childbearing has resulted in an increased maternal age at conception.Methods: Present study is a randomized prospective study of 100 cases of twin pregnancies admitted at our institute from July, 2009 to October, 2011 including all emergency as well as registered cases. . Patients included in this study were from various socio-economic classes and they were having a different level of education. In all cases a detailed history was taken, all routine and specific investigations were done.Results: In this prospective study we observed 100 cases of twin pregnancies. In this study most of the patients (46%) delivered at 33- 36 weeks of gestation. 5%of patients had abortion at an early gestation. Majority of the patients delivered vaginally (61%), followed by LSCS (Lower Segment Caesarean Section) (38%). In this study low birth weight babies were the most common (188 babies) to the extent of 94%. We had 11% (22) extremely low birth weight babies. There were 13 neonatal deaths (6.5%). We observed the highest incidence of twins in the age group of 20 -29 years. The least were below the age of 20 years. The incidence among primigravida and multigravida was almost the same.Conclusions: Most of the complications in multiple gestations are preventable. High risk units in the obstetric ward and well developed NICU set up would reduce the maternal, perinatal morbidity and mortality

Phytochemical Screening and Antimicrobial Activity of the Plant Extracts of Mimosa pudica L. Against Selected Microbes

Mimosa pudica L. is a creeping annual or perennial herb. It has been identified as Lajjalu in Ayurveda and has been found to have antiasthmatic, aphrodisiac, analgesic and antidepressant. In the present study the active phytocomponents of Mimosa pudica were revealed using phytochemical analysis. The antimicrobial activity of Mimosa was studied using well diffusion method. The activity was tested against Aspergillus fumigatus, Citrobacter divergens and Klebsiella pneumonia at different concentrations of 50, 100 and 200μg/disc and the results have been illustrated

A prospective evaluation of efficacy and safety of topical bromfenac 0.09% over topical flurbiprofen 0.03% after cataract surgery

Background: Different medications are used to reduce pain and inflammation after cataract surgery. Hence this study was taken up to compare the efficacy and safety of topical bromfenac 0.09% over topical flurbiprofen 0.03% in reducing anterior chamber inflammation and pain after cataract surgery.Methods: Total of 100 patients who underwent uneventful cataract surgery with posterior chamber intra ocular lens (IOL) implantation were randomly allocated to receive bromfenac 0.09% and flurbiprofen 0.03% topically from first post-operative day onwards for 6 weeks. Assessment of anterior chamber inflammation and pain was done by slit lamp and visual analogue scale respectively on each follow up days. Analysis was done by unpaired t test and Fischer’s exact test.Results: The response to treatment was earlier in bromfenac group for all the inflammatory changes (significant difference was found on day 7, p<0.05) except for corneal edema where both the groups showed similar response. On 7th day after surgery, 72% patients in flurbiprofen group and 12% in bromfenac group had pain (score1), while on the 14th day none in the bromfenac group complained of pain whereas 4% in flurbiprofen group still had pain. Both the drugs were safe and no clinically serious adverse effects were observed in either of the groups.Conclusions: This study showed both the medications, topical bromfenac 0.09% and topical flurbiprofen 0.03% effective and safe in reducing pain and anterior chamber inflammation after cataract surgery but the response was earlier with bromfenac 0.09%

Chromophoric azo reagents for amino acid and peptide labeling

Four carboxylic azo dyes are presented as new markers with spectroscopic absorption peaks ranging from 400 to 500 nm for amino acid and peptide labeling at their N-terminus. Labeling can also be performed at side chain residues as it is exemplified with lysine and serine.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia

Novel ethyl 2-(1-aminocyclobutyl)-5-(benzoyloxy)-6-hydroxy-pyrimidine-4-carboxylate derivatives: synthesis and anticancer activities

To explore the anticancer activity of 2, 4, 5, 6-substituted pyrimidines, several ethyl 2-(1-aminocyclobutyl)-5-(benzoyloxy)-6-hydroxy-pyrimidine-4-carboxylate derivatives associated with the different substituted aromatic/aliphatic carboxamides and sulfonamides were synthesized. Different groups and position on phenyl ring attached to the carboxamide and sulfonamide of the pyrimidine led to two set of compounds. Their chemical structures were confirmed by IR,1H NMR and LC/MS analysis. Cytotoxicity of all the synthesized compounds were examined on human leukemia celllines (K562 and CEM). The preliminary results showed most of the derivatives exhibited good antitumor activity. Compound with para chloro substitution among carboxamides and compound with meta dichloro substitution among sulphonamidesexhibited significant antitumor activity with IC50 value of 14.0 &#956;M and 15.0 &#956;M respectively against K562cell line. For comparison among electron donating groups between carboxamides and sulfonamides, compounds with para tert-butyl substitution were chosen for further studies. Cell cycle analysis suggests that both tert-butyl substituted compounds are able to induce apoptosis

Simulation of IRNSS Navigation Payload Operations for End to End Payload Testing

Fault free operations of space vehicles have always been a challenging task. Every space mission requires stringent qualification process on ground for qualification of the space vehicle for mission operations. This paper deals with the simulation of IRNSS navigation payload operations on ground for end to end payload testing and qualification of the payload for broadcast of IRNSS navigation parameters. IRNSS is an emerging Indian regional navigation satellite system for providing the satellite based navigation service over India and neighboring region. The system is optimally designed for its space and ground segment to provide the best in class navigation service. The space segment comprises of 7 satellites with 4 satellites in geo-synchronous orbit and 3 in geo-stationary orbit. The navigation payload on-board every IRNSS spacecraft comprises of navigation signal generation unit, atomic clocks and ranging subsystems. For every IRNSS spacecraft, a series of tests are carried out during different phases of spacecraft integration and testing. The core elements of IRNSS navigation operations such as IRNSS navigation software, payload test receiver, atomic clocks and telecommand and telemetry subsystem all participate in simulation and end to end testing of navigation payload. This paper describes in detail the simulation of various mission scenarios with respect to navigation payload operations considering different phases of satellite operations, subsystems involved and environment. The simulation has been key to successful operations of IRNSS 1A and IRNSS 1B which are operational in IRNSS space segment. Keywords: IRNSS, Navigation, payload, simulatio

Metabolite Profiling for Six 'B' Vitamins Using LC-MS in Tomato Genotypes at Different Stages of Fruit Maturity

Vitamins are essential nutrients in food crucial for maintaining good health. Tomato, being a widely consumed vegetable, provides a good quantity of vitamins. Metabolite profiling of vitamins at different stages of fruit maturity in a crop helps identify the right stage for better quality. Based on preliminary screening for quality parameters, tomato lines rich in TSS, antioxidants, lycopene and beta-carotene were selected for the present study. Eight genotypes and a wild species were profiled for 'B' vitamins at three different stages of fruit maturity, viz., green, breaker and ripe stage. A simple and sensitive liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometric (LC-MS/MS) method for simultaneous determination of six 'B' vitamins was developed and validated by us. Among the genotypes studied, IIHR-249-1 recorded higher niacin, pantothenic acid and biotin content. Pyridoxine content was higher in the hybrid, Arka Rakshak. The wild species, LA-1777(Solanum habrochaites) was found to be rich in pantothenic acid, riboflavin and thiamine. Content of most of the vitamins increased with ripening of the fruit. IIHR-249-1 and LA-1777 were found to be rich in 'B' vitamins, earlier reported to be also rich in antioxidants and lycopene. These genotypes can be used for improving the nutritive value of tomato under crop improvement programmes, through conventional breeding or biotechnological approaches

Effect of deflocculation on the efficiency of sludge reduction by Fenton process.

A novel approach to improve the efficiency of Fenton treatment for sludge reduction through the implication of a deflocculating agent citric acid, for the exclusion of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) from waste-activated sludge (WAS), was investigated. Deflocculation was achieved with 0.06 g/g suspended solids (SS) of citric acid dosage. Fenton optimization studies using response surface methodology (RSM) revealed that 0.5 and 0.0055 g/g SS were the optimal dosages of H2O2 and Fe2+. The addition of a cation-binding agent set the pH value of sludge to 5 which did not affect the Fenton efficiency. The results presented in this study shows the advantage of deflocculating the sludge as SS and volatile suspended solids (VSS) reductions were found to be higher in the deflocculated (53 and 63 %, respectively) than in the flocculated (22 and 34 %, respectively) sludges. Kinetic investigation of the treatment showed that the rate of the reaction was four times higher in the deflocculated sludge than control. The methodology reported in this manuscript was successfully applied to a real case were the deflocculated mediated Fenton process reduced the sludge disposal cost from 297.8 to 61.9 US dollars/ton of sludge