Identification of MHC Class II Binders/ Non-binders using Negative Selection Algorithm

The identification of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class-II restricted peptides is an important goal in human immunological research leading to peptide based vaccine design. These MHC class–II peptides are predominantly recognized by CD4+ T-helper cells, which when turned on, have profound immune regulatory effects. Thus, prediction of such MHC class-II binding peptides is very helpful towards epitope-based vaccine design. HLA-DR proteins were found to be associated with autoimmune diseases e.g. HLA-DRB1*0401 with rheumatoid arthritis. It is important for the treatment of autoimmune diseases to determine which peptides bind to MHC class II molecules. The experimental methods for identification of these peptides are both time consuming and cost intensive. Therefore, computational methods have been found helpful in classifying these peptides as binders or non-binders. We have applied negative selection algorithm, an artificial immune system approach to predict MHC class–II binders and non-binders. For the evaluation of the NSA algorithm, five fold cross validation has been used and six MHC class–II alleles have been taken. The average area under ROC curve for HLA-DRB1*0301, DRB1*0401, DRB1*0701, DRB1*1101, DRB1*1501, DRB1*1301 have been found to be 0.75, 0.77, 0.71, 0.72, and 0.69, and 0.84 respectively indicating good predictive performance for the small training set

Performance Based Grouping of Neighbors Students in Progressive Education Datasets

Now a day’s the educational organizations are facing the biggest challenges, of the massive growth of educational data. Further they do not have a good policy and to use this data for improving the quality of their managerial decisions in today’s scenario. The main goal of higher education institutions is to provide quality of education for their students. In general the educational database contains the important information for predicting a student’s performance, and this Prediction of student’s performance in educational environments is of utmost importance. The knowledge mining techniques has provided a decision making tool which can facilitate better resource utilization in terms of students performance. The knowledge mining techniques are more helpful in classifying educational database. In this paper the clustering task is used to assess student’s performance from education databases. By using this task we extract the knowledge that can describes students’ performance in end semester examination. Keywords – Educational datasets, knowledge mining, Decision Making, Data Classification, Performance Prediction

A Review on Electrical Behavior of Different Substrates, Electrodes and Membranes in Microbial Fuel Cell

The devices, which convert the energy in the form of electricity from organic matters, are called microbial fuel cell (MFC). Recently, MFCs have been given a lot of attention due to their mild operating conditions, and various types of biodegradable substrates have been used in the form of fuel. Traditional MFCs were included in anode and cathode chambers, but there are single chamber MFCs. Microorganisms actively catabolize substrate, and bioelectricities are produced. In the field of power generation from non-conventional sources, apart from the benefits of this technique, it is still facing practical constraints such as low potential and power. In this study, most suitable, natural, low cost MFCs components are electrodes (anode and cathode), organic substrates, membranes and its design is selected on the basis of maximum potential (voltage) as an electrical parameter, which indicates a vital role of affecting factor in MFC for sustainable power production

An epidemiological study on the prevalence of self-medication practises: a serious threat for the population in the Muvattupuzha region in Kerala, India

This study is an investigation on Self medication, defined as the ‘use of a product without medical prescription or consultation in order to prevent or treat a disease or a symptom or to promote health'. The main issues in self-medication are improper usage of resources, OTC abuse, pathogen resistance and potential side effects with prolonged suffering in many of the cases. A prospective, cross -sectional questionnaire based study was carried out among 450 people selected by random sampling in the Muvattupuzha, Kerala, region. The main objectives of this study were to find out the reason and type of illness for which people self-medicate, prevalence of self-medication during pregnancy, self-medication with antibiotics and pharmacist’s approach while dispensing the OTC drugs. In the study, it was clear that a majority of the population self-medicate which includes the prescription drugs and even antibiotics. Self-medication is a serious public health concern; the remedy is to provide health education and which is the responsibility of all the pharmacists

Study of Integrated Renewable Energies for Developing Countries -Scope and Challenges

Abstract This paper focused on the integrated renewable energies for developing countries and also highlights on it

Kinetic and mechanistic study of oxidation of 1,2-propanediol by aqueous alkaline solution of N-bromosuccinimide in the presence of aquachloro-complex of ruthenium(III) as homogeneous catalyst

Kinetics of Ru(III) catalysis in oxidation of 1,2-propanediol by N-bromosuccinimide in alkaline media has been studied in presence of mercuric acetate as bromide ions scavenger in the temperature range of 30–45 °C. The reaction follows complex kinetics, being first order with respect to both 1,2-propanediol and Ru(III). First order kinetics with respect to NBS at its lower concentrations shifts to zero order at its high concentrations. Variation of both [OH-] and [KCl] shows a positive effect on the rate of reaction. Negligible effect of addition of succinimide (reduction product of NBS) is observed, while variation of both [Hg(OAc)2] and ionic strength has no effect on rate of the reactions. Various activation parameters are calculated. The products of the reactions have been identified as acetic acid and formic acid. A suitable mechanism in conformity with the kinetic observations is discussed and rate law derived

Epidural bupivacaine combined with dexmedetomidine or clonidine in infraumbilical surgeries: a comparative evaluation

Background: Alpha-2 agonist are being extensively evaluated as an alternative to neuraxial opoids, as an adjuvants in regional anaesthesia The faster onset of action of local anaesthetics, rapid establishment of both sensory and motor blockade, prolonged duration of analgesia into postoperative period, dose sparing action of local anaesthetics and stable cardiovascular parameters make these agents a very effective adjuvant in regional anaesthesia.Methods: Our study had 45 patients, all patients belonged to ASA Grade-I or II, between 20 and 55 years of age with an average height of 150 and 170 cm and have ideal body weight requiring neuraxial blockade for lower abdominal surgeries. All the patients were randomly allocated into two groups Group-I: Epidural bupivacaine 0.5% (16 ml) + clonidine 75 µgm (1 ml) Group-II: Epidural bupivacaine 0.5 % (16 ml) + Dexmedetomidine 50 µgm (1 ml) Patients were monitored for sensory and motor blockade, hemodynamic parameters, rescue analgesia, sedation and adverse effects in perioperative period.Results: The time of onset of sensory block at T10 and time to reach maximum sensory block (T6) in group-I was significantly longer as compared to group-II. The complete motor blockade (grade-3) was achieved much later and time taken for recovery to grade-0 was significantly shorter in group-I. The time for rescue analgesia in group-I was significantly shorter as compared to group-II. Hypotension was the most common side effect in both the groups. Dry mouth is a known side effect of alpha-2 agonists. Epidural dexmedetomidine produced profound sedation.  Conclusions: We conclude from this study that dexmedetomidine is a better adjuvant than clonidine for providing early onset of sensory analgesia, superior sedative properties and prolonged post-operative analgesia.