Abdominal lump with intestinal obstruction: Prior history of abdominal surgery is a clue to diagnosis

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PSO-GWO Optimized Fractional Order PID Based Hybrid Shunt Active Power Filter for Power Quality Improvements

This paper presents a Hybrid Shunt Active Power Filter (HSAPF) optimized by hybrid Particle Swarm Optimization-Grey Wolf Optimization (PSO-GWO) and Fractional Order Proportional-Integral-Derivative Controller (FOPIDC) for reactive power and harmonic compensation under balance and unbalance loading conditions. Here, the parameters of FOPID controller are tuned by PSO-GWO technique to mitigate the harmonics. Comparing Passive with Active Filters, the former is tested to be bulky and design is complex and the later is not cost effective for high rating. Hence, a hybrid structure of shunt active and passive filter is designed using MATLAB/Simulink and in real time experimental set up. The compensation process for shunt active filter is different from predictable methods such as (p-q) or (id-i ) theory, in which only the source current is to be sensed. The performance of the proposed controller is tested under different operating conditions such as steady and transient states and indices like Total Harmonic Distortion (THD), Input Power Factor (IPF), Real Power (P) and Reactive Power (Q) are estimated and compared with that of other controllers. The parameters of FOPIDC and Conventional PID Controller (CPIDC) are optimized by the techniques such as PSO, GWO and hybrid PSO-GWO. The comparative simulation/experiment results reflect the better performance of PSO-GWO optimized FOPIDC based HSAPF with respect to PSO/GWO optimized FOPIDC/CPIDC based HSAPF under different operating conditions.

A nodulo-cystic eumycetoma caused by Pyrenochaeta romeroi in a renal transplant recipient: A case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p><it>Pyrenochaeta romeroi </it>(<it>P. romeroi</it>) is a saprophytic fungus found in soil and plants. The fungal spores can be introduced into deeper tissues by trauma. It causes eumycetoma, which affects skin and subcutaneous tissues.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>A 57-year-old South Asian man presented with a painless, nodular lesion (1 cm × 0.5 cm) on the left knee. He had had a renal transplant eight months earlier for end-stage renal failure. The patient was on tacrolimus, mycophenolate mofetil and prednisolone for immunosuppression. The lesion had progressed dramatically (to 5 cm × 5 cm) despite antibiotic treatment. The size and location of the lesion was severely affecting his quality of life, so an excision biopsy was performed. Nuclear ribosomal repeat-region sequencing confirmed the causative organism as <it>P. romeroi</it>. An <it>in vitro </it>antifungal susceptibility test demonstrated that <it>P. romeroi </it>was sensitive to voriconazole. Following a successful surgical removal, voriconazole was continued orally for two months.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>To the best of our knowledge, we are reporting the first case of Eumycetoma caused by <it>P. romeroi </it>in a renal transplant recipient. Physicians should be aware of this rare fungal disease in transplant recipients. We recommend a combination of medical and surgical management in these immunosuppressed patients.</p

On the selection and design of proteins and peptide derivatives for the production of photoluminescent, red-emitting gold quantum clusters

Novel pathways of the synthesis of photoluminescent gold quantum clusters (AuQCs) using biomolecules as reactants provide biocompatible products for biological imaging techniques. In order to rationalize the rules for the preparation of red-emitting AuQCs in aqueous phase using proteins or peptides, the role of different organic structural units was investigated. Three systems were studied: proteins, peptides, and amino acid mixtures, respectively. We have found that cysteine and tyrosine are indispensable residues. The SH/S-S ratio in a single molecule is not a critical factor in the synthesis, but on the other hand, the stoichiometry of cysteine residues and the gold precursor is crucial. These observations indicate the importance of proper chemical behavior of all species in a wide size range extending from the atomic distances (in the AuI-S semi ring) to nanometer distances covering the larger sizes of proteins assuring the hierarchical structure of the whole self-assembled system

Effect of Curcuma longa and Ocimum sanctum on myocardial apoptosis in experimentally induced myocardial ischemic-reperfusion injury

BACKGROUND: In the present investigation, the effect of Curcuma longa (Cl) and Ocimum sanctum (Os) on myocardial apoptosis and cardiac function was studied in an ischemia and reperfusion (I-R) model of myocardial injury. METHODS: Wistar albino rats were divided into four groups and orally fed saline once daily (sham, control IR) or Cl (100 mg/kg; Cl-IR) or Os (75 mg/kg; Os-IR) respectively for 1 month. On the 31(st )day, in the rats of the control IR, Cl-IR and Os-IR groups LAD occlusion was undertaken for 45 min, and reperfusion was allowed for 1 h. The hemodynamic parameters{mean arterial pressure (MAP), heart rate (HR), left ventricular end-diastolic pressure (LVEDP), left ventricular peak positive (+) LVdP/dt (rate of pressure development) and negative (-) LVdP/dt (rate of pressure decline)} were monitored at pre-set points throughout the experimental duration and subsequently, the animals were sacrificed for immunohistopathological (Bax, Bcl-2 protein expression & TUNEL positivity) and histopathological studies. RESULTS: Chronic treatment with Cl significantly reduced TUNEL positivity (p < 0.05), Bax protein (p < 0.001) and upregulated Bcl-2 (p < 0.001) expression in comparison to control IR group. In addition, Cl demonstrated mitigating effects on several myocardial injury induced hemodynamic {(+)LVdP/dt, (-) LVdP/dt & LVEDP} and histopathological perturbations. Chronic Os treatment resulted in modest modulation of the hemodynamic alterations (MAP, LVEDP) but failed to demonstrate any significant antiapoptotic effects and prevent the histopathological alterations as compared to control IR group. CONCLUSION: In the present study, significant cardioprotection and functional recovery demonstrated by Cl may be attributed to its anti-apoptotic property. In contrast to Os, Cl may attenuate cell death due to apoptosis and prevent the impairment of cardiac performance

Global Burden of Sickle Cell Anaemia in Children under Five, 2010-2050: Modelling Based on Demographics, Excess Mortality, and Interventions

The global burden of sickle cell anaemia (SCA) is set to rise as a consequence of improved survival in high-prevalence low- and middle-income countries and population migration to higher-income countries. The host of quantitative evidence documenting these changes has not been assembled at the global level. The purpose of this study is to estimate trends in the future number of newborns with SCA and the number of lives that could be saved in under-five children with SCA by the implementation of different levels of health interventions.First, we calculated projected numbers of newborns with SCA for each 5-y interval between 2010 and 2050 by combining estimates of national SCA frequencies with projected demographic data. We then accounted for under-five mortality (U5m) projections and tested different levels of excess mortality for children with SCA, reflecting the benefits of implementing specific health interventions for under-five patients in 2015, to assess the number of lives that could be saved with appropriate health care services. The estimated number of newborns with SCA globally will increase from 305,800 (confidence interval [CI]: 238,400-398,800) in 2010 to 404,200 (CI: 242,500-657,600) in 2050. It is likely that Nigeria (2010: 91,000 newborns with SCA [CI: 77,900-106,100]; 2050: 140,800 [CI: 95,500-200,600]) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (2010: 39,700 [CI: 32,600-48,800]; 2050: 44,700 [CI: 27,100-70,500]) will remain the countries most in need of policies for the prevention and management of SCA. We predict a decrease in the annual number of newborns with SCA in India (2010: 44,400 [CI: 33,700-59,100]; 2050: 33,900 [CI: 15,900-64,700]). The implementation of basic health interventions (e.g., prenatal diagnosis, penicillin prophylaxis, and vaccination) for SCA in 2015, leading to significant reductions in excess mortality among under-five children with SCA, could, by 2050, prolong the lives of 5,302,900 [CI: 3,174,800-6,699,100] newborns with SCA. Similarly, large-scale universal screening could save the lives of up to 9,806,000 (CI: 6,745,800-14,232,700) newborns with SCA globally, 85% (CI: 81%-88%) of whom will be born in sub-Saharan Africa. The study findings are limited by the uncertainty in the estimates and the assumptions around mortality reductions associated with interventions.Our quantitative approach confirms that the global burden of SCA is increasing, and highlights the need to develop specific national policies for appropriate public health planning, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Further empirical collaborative epidemiological studies are vital to assess current and future health care needs, especially in Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and India

Working Group Report: Heavy-Ion Physics and Quark-Gluon Plasma

This is the report of Heavy Ion Physics and Quark-Gluon Plasma at WHEPP-09 which was part of Working Group-4. Discussion and work on some aspects of Quark-Gluon Plasma believed to have created in heavy-ion collisions and in early universe are reported.Comment: 20 pages, 6 eps figures, Heavy-ion physics and QGP activity report in "IX Workshop on High Energy Physics Phenomenology (WHEPP-09)" held in Institute of Physics, Bhubaneswar, India, during January 3-14, 2006. To be published in PRAMANA - Journal of Physics (Indian Academy of Science

Quality control and beam test of GEM detectors for future upgrades of the CMS muon high rate region at the LHC

Gas Electron Multipliers (GEM) are a proven position sensitive gas detector technology which nowadays is becoming more widely used in High Energy Physics. GEMs offer an excellent spatial resolution and a high particle rate capability, with a close to 100% detection efficiency. In view of the high luminosity phase of the CERN Large Hadron Collider, these aforementioned features make GEMs suitable candidates for the future upgrades of the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) detector. In particular, the CMS GEM Collaboration proposes to cover the high-eta region of the muon system with large-area triple-GEM detectors, which have the ability to provide robust and redundant tracking and triggering functions. In this contribution, after a general introduction and overview of the project, the construction of full-size trapezoidal triple-GEM prototypes will be described in more detail. The procedures for the quality control of the GEM foils, including gain uniformity measurements with an x-ray source will be presented. In the past few years, several CMS triple-GEM prototype detectors were operated with test beams at the CERN SPS. The results of these test beam campaigns will be summarised