Comparison of Fully Deflated with Partially Inflated Technique for Ease of Insertion of Laryngeal Mask Airways in Adults

Objective: To compare the frequency of ease of insertion of the laryngeal mask airway (LMA) between fully deflated and partially inflated laryngeal mask airway, in anesthetized mechanically ventilated adult patients undergoing different non-emergency short-term surgical and gynecological procedures. Methodology: A total of 104 patients were recruited in this RCT. Using computer generated random numbers, patients were allocated to two groups: fully deflated LMAs in A and partially inflated LMAs in B. Pre-operative assessment was done and informed consent was taken. All subjects were 20–40 years of age, ASA-I and ASA- II, planned for short surgical and gynaecological cases (elective) that required general anaesthesia with mechanical ventilation. Premedication with 2 mg midazolam IV was done 30 minutes before the start of the operation. Monitors were attached. One 18G cannula was maintained. IV fluids were administered to each patient as per patient’s and procedure's requirements. Pre-oxygenation was done with 100% oxygen with a face mask for three minutes. Glycopyrrolate IV 0.2mg/kg and nalbuphine IV 0.15mg/kg were given to all at induction by an anesthetist. Results:  In Group A, 98% of patients had ease of insertion while 2% of patients didn’t have ease of insertion, whereas in Group B 90% of patients had ease of insertion and 10% of patients didn’t. Ease of insertion was measured by the number of attempts (first attempt insertion – ease of insertion). Conclusion: Our study concludes that the fully deflated technique is superior as compared to the partially inflated technique in terms of easier insertion in Laryngeal mask airways

Comparison of Garden Soil with Nitrogen and Potassium for Growing Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) in Glass House.

The experiment was conducted during the year 2019-20 by Vegetable Section, Agriculture Research Station (ARS) Baffa Mansehra to compare garden soil with nitrogen (Urea) and potassium (Murate of Potash) for lettuce production in glass house. Lettuce is an important summer off-season and high valued crop cultivated at District Mansehra in the months of July-August. The produce is transported to other metropolises with handsome earning,  but excessive use of minerals and synthetic fertilizers may render the produce less profitable in one or another way. Hence this experiment was designed to compare garden soil with  nitrogen and potassium doses.  It is evident from the statistical analysis that garden soil has a significant effect on  number of leaves, leaf area, seed per plant, yield per plant and yield per acre. Seed production is noticeable for garden soil when the prevailing temperature during seed formation was 250C.  In terms of leaf area maximum leaf area 576.10 cm2was recorded for garden soil while minimum leaf area 303.43 cm2 was recorded with nitrogen applied @ 200 kg ha-1 and potassium applied @ 100 kg ha-1 respectively. Maximum number of leaves 28.03 was recorded for garden soil while the minimum number 21.96 was recorded for nitrogen applied @ 200 kg ha-1 and potassium applied @ 100 kg ha-1. Seed formation was successful with mean temperature 250C in glass house for 30 days, here again garden soil surpassed nitrogen and potassium with 4.03gm plant-1. Yield per plot 3.69 kg was recorded for garden soil and the minimum value 1.1843 kg was recorded for nitrogen and potassium applied @ 200 kg ha-1 nitrogen while potassium applied @ 100 kg ha-1. Garden soil gives maximum yield of 13600 kg acre-1 compared with the lowest production 6070.5 kg acre-1 of nitrogen and potassium applied @ 200 kg ha-1 nitrogen while potassium applied @ 150 kg ha-1.  Keywords:, Lettuce, garden soil, leaf area, seed production, glass house DOI: 10.7176/CEIS/14-2-06 Publication date:May 31st 202

A copper diimine‐based honeycomb‐like porous network as an efficient reduction catalyst

Nitrophenols are among the widely used industrial chemicals worldwide; however, their hazardous effects on environment are a major concern nowadays. Therefore, the conversion of environmentally detrimental p‐nitrophenol (PNP) to industrially valuable p‐aminophenol (PAP), a prototype reaction, is an important organic transformation reaction. However, the traditional conversion of PNP to PAP is an expensive and environmentally unfriendly process. Here, we report a honeycomb‐like porous network with zeolite‐like channels formed by the self‐organization of copper, 1,10‐phenanthroline, 4,4′‐bipyridine, and water. This porous network effectively catalyzed the transformation of hazardous PNP to pharmaceutically valued PAP. In the presence of complex, PNP to PAP conversion occurred in a few minutes, which is otherwise a very sluggish process. To assess the kinetics, the catalytic conversion of PNP to PAP was studied at five different temperatures. The linearity of lnCt/Co versus temperature plot indicated pseudo‐first‐order kinetics. The copper complex with zeolite like channels may find applications as a reduction catalyst both on laboratory and industrial scales and in green chemistry for the remediation of pollutants

RESPONSE OF SUNFLOWER TO VARIOUS PRE-GERMINATION TECHNIQUES FOR BREAKING SEED DORMANCY

Abstract Seed dormancy is considered to be a serious constraint in sunflower seed production. Viable seeds sometimes do not germinate even in the presence of favorable environmental conditions. Such seeds are suspected to be dormant. The study was conducted under controlled/laboratory conditions during spring 2010 at National Agricultural Research Centre, Islamabad. The objective of the study was to evaluate some techniques to convert a seed from dormant to non-dormant germinable state. Dormant seeds of 21 sunflower hybrids were treated with three hot water treatments (100°/80°C) and four chemicals potassium nitrate, 0.2%, thiourea, 0.5%, ethanol, 25%, acetone, 25% for breaking seed dormancy .The untreated seed was taken as control. Soaking seeds in hot water (80°C) for 15 minutes followed by one day dry and seed treatment with acetone were found to be the most effective and successful techniques in converting the seed from dormant to nondormant state

Characterization and modification of flow applied to endothelium cultured in swirled wells

The non-uniform distribution of atherosclerosis within the arterial tree has been attributed to variation in wall shear stress (WSS). However, the metric leading to disease initiation is disputed. The problem has been extensively investigated using the swirling well method, which exposes cultured endothelial cells (EC) to spatially varying shear conditions. However, the CFD used to characterize the flow has rarely been validated experimentally, and it is hard to distinguish effects on EC of WSS magnitude from effects of flow directionality. This study aims to improve, validate and adapt the existing CFD model of a swirling 12-well plate on an orbital shaker. The results were used to test the currently accepted theory that cells align with the mean WSS direction. If was found that fluctuations in rotational speed can be ignored if they remain below ±19 RPM but surface tension/wetting effects need to be incorporated in the CFD model as they have a significant effect on wave breaking and velocity magnitude: the agreement of experimental particle imaging velocimetry (PIV) and height with CFD was improved when surface tension effects were incorporated into the CFD model. Modifications were made by increasing culture medium viscosity and, volume, and by geometrical changes to the 12-well. Adding a central cylinder produced uniaxial flow whereas suspending a cylinder above the base produced multidirectional flow. Increasing the volume produced low but relatively constant magnitudes whereas viscosity changes influenced only the magnitude of WSS and not directionality. Tilting the well removed radial symmetry of the flow. EC were subjected to control or modified flows and nuclear morphology was assessed by confocal microscopy. Contrary to the conventional view, EC did not always align with the mean WSS vector; nuclei aligned with the modal WSS vector when the time average WSS was 0.3-0.5 Pa, but aligned so as to minimise the transverse WSS when the time average WSS was 0.6 Pa.Open Acces

Assessment of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitory activity and quality attributes of yoghurt enriched with Cinnamomum verum, Elettaria cardamomum, Beta vulgaris and Brassica oleracea

The new concept of functional foods has led to the varieties in the production of foods that provide not only basic nutrition, but can also warrant good health and longevity. This study deals with the production and evaluation of fortified yogurts’ with Cinnamomum verum, Elettaria cardamomum, Beta vulgaris and Brassica oleracea. The qualitative and quantitative phytochemical analysis of above mentioned plant extracts before using them into the preparation of functional yoghurt was carried out. The sensory evaluation of enriched yogurts with plant extracts carried out using 9 point hedonic scale. Comparative analysis between enriched yogurts and plain yogurt was carried. The results indicated increase in ash contents, water holding capacity, titratable acidity, total soluble solids, total phenolic content, tannin content, and total flavonoid content in fortified yogurt as compared to plain yogurt. In addition to this fortified yogurts showed greater antioxidant and antibacterial activity in contrast to plain yogurt. However, moisture contents, pH and susceptibility to syneresis of yogurt decreases with the addition of plant extracts. Shelf life of plain and fortified yogurt was determined both at room and refrigerated temperature. The results revealed that shelf life of fortified yogurt was greater as compared to plain yogurt. In silico analysis was carried out by using the galaxy web software. The results indicated that bioactive compounds including ascorbic acid, sinapinic acid, cinnamaldehyde and linalool acetate present in the flavored yogurts binds with angiotensin converting enzyme. All enriched yogurts showed higher anti-Angiotensin converting enzyme activity as compared to plain-yogurt

Segmenting Growth of Endothelial Cells in 6-Well Plates on an Orbital Shaker for Mechanobiological Studies

Shear stress imposed on the arterial wall by the flow of blood affects endothelial cell morphology and function. Low magnitude, oscillatory and multidirectional shear stresses have all been postulated to stimulate a pro-atherosclerotic phenotype in endothelial cells, whereas high magnitude and unidirectional or uniaxial shear are thought to promote endothelial homeostasis. These hypotheses require further investigation, but traditional in vitro techniques have limitations, and are particularly poor at imposing multidirectional shear stresses on cells. One method that is gaining increasing use is to culture endothelial cells in standard multi-well plates on the platform of an orbital shaker; in this simple, low-cost, high-throughput and chronic method, the swirling medium produces different patterns and magnitudes of shear, including multidirectional shear, in different parts of the well. However, it has a significant limitation: cells in one region, exposed to one type of flow, may release mediators into the medium that affect cells in other parts of the well, exposed to different flows, hence distorting the apparent relation between flow and phenotype. Here we present an easy and affordable modification of the method that allows cells to be exposed only to specific shear stress characteristics. Cell seeding is restricted to a defined region of the well by coating the region of interest with fibronectin, followed by passivation using passivating solution. Subsequently, the plates can be swirled on the shaker, resulting in exposure of cells to well-defined shear profiles such as low magnitude multidirectional shear or high magnitude uniaxial shear, depending on their location. As before, the use of standard cell-culture plasticware allows straightforward further analysis of the cells. The modification has already allowed the demonstration of soluble mediators, released from endothelium under defined shear stress characteristics, that affect cells located elsewhere in the well.National Medical Research Council (NMRC)Published versionThe authors gratefully acknowledge a British Heart Foundation project grant (to PDW), a National Medical Research Council Singapore TAAP and DYNAMO Grant (to XW, NMRC/OFLCG/004/2018, NMRC/OFLCG/001/2017), an A*STAR Graduate Scholarship (to KTP), and a British Heart Foundation Center of Research Excellence studentship (to MA)

Sol-Gel Synthesized High Entropy Metal Oxides as High-Performance Catalysts for Electrochemical Water Oxidation

Hexanary high-entropy oxides (HEOs) were synthesized through the mechanochemical sol-gel method for electrocatalytic water oxidation reaction (WOR). As-synthesized catalysts were subjected to characterization, including X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transforms infrared (FTIR) analysis, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). All the oxide systems exhibited sharp diffraction peaks in XRD patterns indicating the defined crystal structure. Strong absorption between 400–700 cm−1 in FTIR indicated the formation of metal-oxide bonds in all HEO systems. WOR was investigated via cyclic voltammetry using HEOs as electrode platforms, 1M KOH as the basic medium, and 1M methanol (CH3OH) as the facilitator. Voltammetric profiles for both equiatomic (EHEOs) and non-equiatomic (NEHEOs) were investigated, and NEHEOs exhibited the maximum current output for WOR. Moreover, methanol addition improved the current profiles, thus leading to the electrode utility in direct methanol fuel cells as a sequential increase in methanol concentration from 1M to 2M enhanced the OER current density from 61.4 to 94.3 mA cm−2 using NEHEO. The NEHEOs comprising a greater percentage of Al, ([Al0.35(Mg, Fe, Cu, Ni, Co)0.65]3O4) displayed high WOR catalytic performance with the maximum diffusion coefficient, D° (10.90 cm2 s−1) and heterogeneous rate constant, k° (7.98 cm s−1) values. These primary findings from the EC processes for WOR provide the foundation for their applications in high-energy devices. Conclusively, HEOs are proven as novel and efficient catalytic platforms for electrochemical water oxidation

Structure-Function Mutational Analysis and Prediction of the Potential Impact of High Risk Non-Synonymous Single-Nucleotide Polymorphism on Poliovirus 2A Protease Stability Using Comprehensive Informatics Approaches

Polio viral proteinase 2A performs several essential functions in genome replication. Its inhibition prevents viral replication, thus making it an excellent substrate for drug development. In this study, the three-dimensional structure of 2A protease was determined and optimized by homology modelling. To predict the molecular basis of the interaction of small molecular agonists, docking simulations were performed on a structurally diverse dataset of poliovirus 2A protease (PV2Apr°) inhibitors. Docking results were employed to identify high risk missense mutations that are highly damaging to the structure, as well as the function, of the protease. Intrinsic disorder regions (IDRs), drug binding sites (DBS), and protein stability changes upon mutations were also identified among them. Our results demonstrated dominant roles for Lys 15, His 20, Cys 55, Cys 57, Cys 64, Asp 108, Cys 109 and Gly 110, indicating the presence of various important drug binding sites of the protein. Upon subjecting these sites to single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analysis, we observed that out of 155 high risk SNPs, 139 residues decrease the protein stability. We conclude that these missense mutations can affect the functionality of the 2A protease, and that identified protein binding sites can be directed for the attachment and inhibition of the target proteins