Efficacy of ciclesonide, budesonide and beclomethasone dipropionate in moderate persistent bronchial asthma: a comparative study

Background: The objective of the present study was to compare the efficacy and adverse effects of ciclesonide with that of budesonide and beclomethasone dipropionate in moderate persistent cases of bronchial asthma.Methods: This was an open label, randomized parallel group study done in Government General and Chest Hospital, Hyderabad for a period of 12 weeks. Each group had 20 patients. Group A was given ciclesonide inhalational therapy 160 mcg once daily. Group B was given budesonide inhalational therapy 400 mcg twice daily. Group C was given beclomethasone dipropionate inhalational therapy 400 mcg twice daily.Results: Symptomatic improvement was observed in all three groups. At end point, mean FEV1 in ciclesonide treatment group improved by 23.84% compared with 15.24% in budesonide and 12.93% in beclomethasone treatment groups. At end point, mean FVC value in ciclesonide treatment group improved by 6.44% compared with 1.5% in budesonide and 1.06% in beclomethasone groups. Mean FEV1/FVC also improved by 16.56% in ciclesonide group compared with 13.68% in budesonide and 11.93% in beclomethasone groups. No adverse effects were reported in any of the treatment groups.Conclusions: This study showed that ciclesonide is superior to budesonide and beclomethasone in improving lung function, decreasing symptoms and need for rescue medication in moderate persistent asthma

ERMO2 algorithm: an energy efficient mobility management in mobile cloud computing system for 5G heterogeneous networks

Recently, mobile devices are becoming the primary platforms for every user who always roam around and access the cloud computing applications. Mobile cloud computing (MCC) combines the both mobile and cloud computing, which provides optimal services to the mobile users. In next-generation mobile environments, mainly due to the huge number of mobile users in conjunction with the small cell size and their portable information‟s, the influence of mobility on the network performance is strengthened. In this paper, we propose an energy efficient mobility management in mobile cloud computing (E2M2MC2) system for 5G heterogeneous networks. The proposed E2M2MC2 system use elective repeat multi-objective optimization (ERMO2) algorithm to determine the best clouds based on the selection metrics are delay, jitter, bit error rate (BER), packet loss, communication cost, response time, and network load. ERMO2 algorithm provides energy efficient management of user mobility as well as network resources. The simulation results shows that the proposed E2M2MC2 system helps in minimizing delay, packet loss rate and energy consumption in a heterogeneous network

Experimental Study of Selective Laser Sintering of Parmax

Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) has been used to successfully process crystalline polymers, ceramics and metals. However, wide range of materials available and their applications have acted as an impetus to expand the applications of SLS to different material systems. This paper presents one such experimental study undertaken to explore the application of SLS to process Parmax® polymers – a family of high performance amorphous poly pphenylenes. As a part of the collaborative study, various process parameters and material formulations were tried out to ascertain the feasibility of the process and the initial results obtained look promising. This paper lists the material formulations tested and process parameters controlled. Also, analysis of the results of the experimental study and the outline of the next phase of research to be undertaken have been described. This study was motivated by the numerous applications of Parmax® in the electronics, defense and aerospace industries as well as the goal to expand the applications and utility of SLS.Mechanical Engineerin

The cGMP Signaling Pathway Affects Feeding Behavior in the Necromenic Nematode Pristionchus pacificus

Background: The genetic tractability and the species-specific association with beetles make the nematode Pristionchus pacificus an exciting emerging model organism for comparative studies in development and behavior. P. pacificus differs from Caenorhabditis elegans (a bacterial feeder) by its buccal teeth and the lack of pharyngeal grinders, but almost nothing is known about which genes coordinate P. pacificus feeding behaviors, such as pharyngeal pumping rate, locomotion, and fat storage. Methodology/Principal Findings: We analyzed P. pacificus pharyngeal pumping rate and locomotion behavior on and off food, as well as on different species of bacteria (Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, and Caulobacter crescentus). We found that the cGMP-dependent protein kinase G (PKG) Ppa-EGL-4 in P. pacificus plays an important role in regulating the pumping rate, mouth form dimorphism, the duration of forward locomotion, and the amount of fat stored in intestine. In addition, Ppa-EGL-4 interacts with Ppa-OBI-1, a recently identified protein involved in chemosensation, to influence feeding and locomotion behavior. We also found that C. crescentus NA1000 increased pharyngeal pumping as well as fat storage in P. pacificus. Conclusions: The PKG EGL-4 has conserved functions in regulating feeding behavior in both C. elegans and P. pacificus nematodes. The Ppa-EGL-4 also has been co-opted during evolution to regulate P. pacificus mouth form dimorphism that indirectly affect pharyngeal pumping rate. Specifically, the lack of Ppa-EGL-4 function increases pharyngeal pumping, time spent in forward locomotion, and fat storage, in part as a result of higher food intake. Ppa-OBI-1 functions upstream or parallel to Ppa-EGL-4. The beetle-associated omnivorous P. pacificus respond differently to changes in food state and food quality compared to the exclusively bacteriovorous C. elegans

Feeding Response of Tree Fodder Bhimal (Grewia Optiva) on Growth Performance of Castrated Male Goats

Bhimal (Grewia optiva) is a fodder tree mostly found in mid hills of mid and far western region of Nepal. Bhimal could constitutes one of the main livestock green fodders, especially for goats when fresh green fodder become limited during the winter dry season. However, the feeding value of Bhimal leaves on growth performance of castrated goats probably has not been evaluated so far. Therefore, an experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of Bhimal leaves feeding on growth performance of castrated male goats for 90 days. Altogether 16 growing castrated male goats of same breed, age and body weight were selected and equally divided into four treatments T1, T2, T3 and T4 with four replications by using Completely Randomized Design (CRD). Four types of experimental diets were prepared having various levels (0 to 100%) of Bhimal leaves as fodder. Experimental animals of Treatment 1 were fed with seasonal fodder + 100 g concentrate mixture, Treatment 2 with 100% Bhimal fodder + 100 g concentrate mixture, Treatment 3with 75% Bhimal fodder + 25% seasonal fodder + 100 g concentrate mixture, while Treatment 4 with 50% Bhimal fodder + 50% season fodder + 100 g concentrate mixture. All diets were fed ad-lib and experimental animals had free access to drinking water. The diets offered and refusal was measured daily and weight change was observed fortnightly. The result showed that fodder intake (g/d/animal) and total dry matter intake (TDMI g/kg live weight) of goats differed significantly (P<0.01), but concentrate intake was not differed significantly (P<0.01) among treatments. The highest dry matter intake per animal /day was in Treatment 2 (52.75 g/kg live weight) followed by Treatment 4, Treatment 3 and Treatment 1 (51.7, 48.56 and 32.69 g/kg live weight, respectively).The average daily gain in body weight was observed highest in Treatment 2 (66.66 g/d) followed by Treatment 3 (31.66 g/d) and Treatment 4 (30.83 g). The growth rate was significantly (P<0.01) different among diet groups (P<0.05, P<0.01 and P<0.01 for 60, 75 and 90 days, respectively). In case of the feed conversion ratio, Treatment 2 had best ratio (8.79:1) than Treatment 1 (14.21:1), T3 (17.03:1) and Treatment 4 (18.59:1). The present response study showed that body weight in castrated male goats can be increased significantly (P<0.05) implying that in winter season when other green forages are poorly available goat farming can be supported by Bhimal fodder tree.Journal of Nepal Agricultural Research Council Vol.3 2017: 1-1

A convenient preparative method for the glucosides of fatty alcohols and sterols

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Minimally manipulative method for the expansion of human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells to treat osseous defects

Copyright © 2019 Hamerly, Tweedell, Hritzo, Nyasembe, Tekwani, Nanayakkara, Walker and Dinglasan. Malaria is a major global health threat, with nearly half the world\u27s population at risk of infection. Given the recently described delayed clearance of parasites by artemisinincombined therapies, new antimalarials are needed to facilitate the global effort toward elimination and eradication. NPC1161 is an 8-aminoquinoline that is derived from primaquine with an improved therapeutic profile compared to the parent compound. The (R)-(-) enantiomer (NPC1161B) has a lower effective dose that results in decreased toxic side effects such as hemolysis compared to the (S)-(+)-enantiomer, making it a promising compound for consideration for clinical development. We explored the effect of NPC1161B on Plasmodium falciparum oocyst and sporozoite development to evaluate its potential transmission-blocking activity viz. its ability to cure mosquitoes of an ongoing infection. When mosquitoes were fed NPC1161B 4 days after P. falciparum infection, we observed that total oocyst numbers were not affected by NPC1161B treatment. However, the sporozoite production capacity of the oocysts was impaired, and salivary gland sporozoite infections were completely blocked, rendering the mosquitoes non-infectious. Importantly, NPC1161B did not require prior liver metabolism for its efficacy as is required in mammalian systems, suggesting that an alternative metabolite is produced in the mosquito that is active against the parasite. We performed liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS)/MS analysis of methanol extracts from the midguts of mosquitoes fed on an NPC1161B (434.15 m/z)-treated blood meal and identified a compound with a mass of 520.2 m/z, likely a conjugate of NPC1161B or an oxidized metabolite. These findings establish NPC1161B, and potentially its metabolites, as transmission-blocking candidates for the treatment of P. falciparum