DEVELOPMENT OF ANALYTICAL METHOD FOR THE DETERMINATION OF NINHYDRIN-POSITIVE SUBSTANCES IN AMINO ACIDS BY HIGH-PERFORMANCE LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHY

Aim and Objectives: The aim of the work is focused on the optimization of the high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method for the determination of ninhydrin-positive substances in amino acids using HPLC technique in a single method. Since, most of the amino acids are widely used in the determination of Renal and Nutrition drug products exist independently in the monograph for each amino acid either by TLC or HPLC.Methods: The chromatographic separation was performed using sodium amino acid analysis cation exchange column using Sodium Eluent Na 315, Sodium eluent Na 425, and Sodium Eluent Na 640 as Mobile phase, performed by gradient program with detection of wavelength 570 nm using flow rate as 0.4 mL/min. The method has been evaluated using post-column derivatization technique (HPLC/Pinnacle PCX).Results: All the amino acids were eluted correspondingly at the individual retention time and the method shall be validated as per the ICH Q2R1 Guideline.Conclusion: The method has been successfully evaluated and developed for the analytical applications

Exploring the impact of public health teams on alcohol premises licensing in England and Scotland (ExILEnS): procotol for a mixed methods natural experiment evaluation.

Background: Recent regulatory changes in the system by which premises are licensed to sell alcohol, have given health representatives a formal role in the process in England and Scotland. The degree to which local public health teams engage with this process varies by locality in both nations, which have different licensing regimes. This study aims to critically assess the impact on alcohol-related harms - and mechanisms - of public health stakeholders’ engagement in alcohol premises licensing from 2012 to 2018, comparing local areas with differing types and intensities of engagement, and examining practice in Scotland and England. Methods: The study will recruit 20 local authority areas where public health stakeholders have actively engaged with the alcohol premises licensing system (the 'intervention’) and match them to a group of 20 lower activity areas using genetic matching. Four work packages are included: (1) Structured interviews and documentary analysis will examine the type and level of intervention activity from 2012 to 2018, creating a novel composite measure of the intensity of such activity and will assess the local licensing system and potential confounding activities over the same period. In-depth interviews with public health, licensing, police and others will explore perceived mechanisms of change, acceptability, and impact. (2) Using longitudinal growth models and time series analyses, the study will evaluate the impact of high and low levels of activity on alcohol-related harms using routine data from baseline 2009 to 2018. (3) Intervention costs, estimated National Health Service cost savings and health gains will be evaluated using the Sheffield Alcohol Policy Model to estimate impact on alcohol consumption and health inequalities. (4) The study will engage public health teams to create a new theory of change for public health involvement in the licensing process using our data. We will share findings with local, national and international stakeholders. Discussion: This interdisciplinary study examines, for the first time, whether and how public health stakeholders involvement in alcohol licensing impacts on alcohol harms. Using mixed methods and drawing on complex systems thinking, it will make an important contribution to an expanding literature evaluating interventions not suited to traditional epidemiological research

Spontaneous Breathing in Early Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome: Insights From the Large Observational Study to UNderstand the Global Impact of Severe Acute Respiratory FailurE Study

OBJECTIVES: To describe the characteristics and outcomes of patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome with or without spontaneous breathing and to investigate whether the effects of spontaneous breathing on outcome depend on acute respiratory distress syndrome severity. DESIGN: Planned secondary analysis of a prospective, observational, multicentre cohort study. SETTING: International sample of 459 ICUs from 50 countries. PATIENTS: Patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome and at least 2 days of invasive mechanical ventilation and available data for the mode of mechanical ventilation and respiratory rate for the 2 first days. INTERVENTIONS: Analysis of patients with and without spontaneous breathing, defined by the mode of mechanical ventilation and by actual respiratory rate compared with set respiratory rate during the first 48 hours of mechanical ventilation. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Spontaneous breathing was present in 67% of patients with mild acute respiratory distress syndrome, 58% of patients with moderate acute respiratory distress syndrome, and 46% of patients with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome. Patients with spontaneous breathing were older and had lower acute respiratory distress syndrome severity, Sequential Organ Failure Assessment scores, ICU and hospital mortality, and were less likely to be diagnosed with acute respiratory distress syndrome by clinicians. In adjusted analysis, spontaneous breathing during the first 2 days was not associated with an effect on ICU or hospital mortality (33% vs 37%; odds ratio, 1.18 [0.92-1.51]; p = 0.19 and 37% vs 41%; odds ratio, 1.18 [0.93-1.50]; p = 0.196, respectively ). Spontaneous breathing was associated with increased ventilator-free days (13 [0-22] vs 8 [0-20]; p = 0.014) and shorter duration of ICU stay (11 [6-20] vs 12 [7-22]; p = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS: Spontaneous breathing is common in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome during the first 48 hours of mechanical ventilation. Spontaneous breathing is not associated with worse outcomes and may hasten liberation from the ventilator and from ICU. Although these results support the use of spontaneous breathing in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome independent of acute respiratory distress syndrome severity, the use of controlled ventilation indicates a bias toward use in patients with higher disease severity. In addition, because the lack of reliable data on inspiratory effort in our study, prospective studies incorporating the magnitude of inspiratory effort and adjusting for all potential severity confounders are required

Identifying associations between diabetes and acute respiratory distress syndrome in patients with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure: an analysis of the LUNG SAFE database

Background: Diabetes mellitus is a common co-existing disease in the critically ill. Diabetes mellitus may reduce the risk of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), but data from previous studies are conflicting. The objective of this study was to evaluate associations between pre-existing diabetes mellitus and ARDS in critically ill patients with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure (AHRF). Methods: An ancillary analysis of a global, multi-centre prospective observational study (LUNG SAFE) was undertaken. LUNG SAFE evaluated all patients admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU) over a 4-week period, that required mechanical ventilation and met AHRF criteria. Patients who had their AHRF fully explained by cardiac failure were excluded. Important clinical characteristics were included in a stepwise selection approach (forward and backward selection combined with a significance level of 0.05) to identify a set of independent variables associated with having ARDS at any time, developing ARDS (defined as ARDS occurring after day 2 from meeting AHRF criteria) and with hospital mortality. Furthermore, propensity score analysis was undertaken to account for the differences in baseline characteristics between patients with and without diabetes mellitus, and the association between diabetes mellitus and outcomes of interest was assessed on matched samples. Results: Of the 4107 patients with AHRF included in this study, 3022 (73.6%) patients fulfilled ARDS criteria at admission or developed ARDS during their ICU stay. Diabetes mellitus was a pre-existing co-morbidity in 913 patients (22.2% of patients with AHRF). In multivariable analysis, there was no association between diabetes mellitus and having ARDS (OR 0.93 (0.78-1.11); p = 0.39), developing ARDS late (OR 0.79 (0.54-1.15); p = 0.22), or hospital mortality in patients with ARDS (1.15 (0.93-1.42); p = 0.19). In a matched sample of patients, there was no association between diabetes mellitus and outcomes of interest. Conclusions: In a large, global observational study of patients with AHRF, no association was found between diabetes mellitus and having ARDS, developing ARDS, or outcomes from ARDS. Trial registration: NCT02010073. Registered on 12 December 2013

Epidemiology and patterns of tracheostomy practice in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome in ICUs across 50 countries

Background: To better understand the epidemiology and patterns of tracheostomy practice for patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), we investigated the current usage of tracheostomy in patients with ARDS recruited into the Large Observational Study to Understand the Global Impact of Severe Acute Respiratory Failure (LUNG-SAFE) study. Methods: This is a secondary analysis of LUNG-SAFE, an international, multicenter, prospective cohort study of patients receiving invasive or noninvasive ventilation in 50 countries spanning 5 continents. The study was carried out over 4 weeks consecutively in the winter of 2014, and 459 ICUs participated. We evaluated the clinical characteristics, management and outcomes of patients that received tracheostomy, in the cohort of patients that developed ARDS on day 1-2 of acute hypoxemic respiratory failure, and in a subsequent propensity-matched cohort. Results: Of the 2377 patients with ARDS that fulfilled the inclusion criteria, 309 (13.0%) underwent tracheostomy during their ICU stay. Patients from high-income European countries (n = 198/1263) more frequently underwent tracheostomy compared to patients from non-European high-income countries (n = 63/649) or patients from middle-income countries (n = 48/465). Only 86/309 (27.8%) underwent tracheostomy on or before day 7, while the median timing of tracheostomy was 14 (Q1-Q3, 7-21) days after onset of ARDS. In the subsample matched by propensity score, ICU and hospital stay were longer in patients with tracheostomy. While patients with tracheostomy had the highest survival probability, there was no difference in 60-day or 90-day mortality in either the patient subgroup that survived for at least 5 days in ICU, or in the propensity-matched subsample. Conclusions: Most patients that receive tracheostomy do so after the first week of critical illness. Tracheostomy may prolong patient survival but does not reduce 60-day or 90-day mortality. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02010073. Registered on 12 December 2013

A Comprehensive Report of Software Engineering

Software Engineering is a methodical procedure to be followed during the development of a software project till its completion. It includes so many phases, like Requirement Analysis. Planning, Design, Testing, Coding and13; Maintenance. Metrics are one which can be adopted to measure the quality or the performance of the product during any part of the development phase.Metrics are used in Design, Coding and Testing. This report describe certain13; salient features of metrics used in software engineering_ Also the importance of Stubs and Drivers have been described. OOP i.e. Object Oriented Programming or technique can be used in software engineering also. Testing13; of software is also an important stage which has been highlighted in this report. The importance of software tools also have been touched. Some aspects of Data Flow Diagram and its related subjects have been described.13; CASE tools i.e. computer Aided Software Engineering Tools is an important and relevant subject and have been included here. A brief description of Test Oracle have been given

Image Processing and its Applications

This report covers details about image compression, image processing applications and image processing algorithms., The algorithms explained are point processes which 'operate on individual pixels, area processes which operate on individual pixels along with the surrounding pixels, geometric processes which operates on arrangement of pixels, and frame processes which operate on more than one - image. In th.e point processes, histogram calculations and contrast modification operations are covered. In areas processes, convolution operation i.s mentioned. In geometric process, operations like translation, rotation and scaling are explained. In frame processes the operations like addition, - subtraction, AND, JR, and XOR are covered in detail. This -report also covers the various :ompression methods in general. The perception of colour is important for any image processor and hence a RGB colour model is also explained

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Not AvailableA study was conducted to determine the photosynthesis, sucrose phosphate synthase and invertase activities in four tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill) cultivars, eg Mruthyunjaya, Pusa early dwarf (PED), Arka Ahuthi and Pusa Ruby exhibiting differential response in floral abscission under water stress. Among the four cultivars, Arka Ahuthi and Pusa Ruby were found to be more susceptible to abscission under water stress as indicated by more than 55.0% abscission of flower buds and flowers in these cultivars. Water stress caused a substantial decrease in photosynthesis in all the cultivars, although the degree of decrease varied with cultivars. In the cultivars where the abscission of flowers and flower buds was more (Arka Ahuthi and Pusa Ruby), the reduction in photosynthesis was more (53-61.5%) compared to the cultivars where the abscission was relatively less (Mruthyunjaya and PED)(39.0-53.0%) during stress. There was a considerable decrease in SPS activity during stress in susceptible cultivars. In susceptible cultivars, the invertase activity in reproductive organs as well as leaf and developing young fruits decreased under stress. The decrease in photosynthesis along with a reduction in invertase activity may be important contributing factors for the abscission of flower and flower buds in abscission susceptible tomato cultivars under water stress.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableA study was conducted to evaluate the response of hot pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) to foliar applied glycinebetaine (GB) under water stress condition. Three varieties of hot pepper eg Arka Lohit, Pusa Jwala and Arka Haritha were subjected to water stress at flowering stage. The plants applied with GB had the greater plant height, leaf area, fruit fresh and dry mass under water deficit conditions. GB application increased the PN under water defi cit condition. It was attributed to an improvement in stomatal conductance under water stress. There was a varietal difference in invertase activity and total sugar contents to GB application under water stress. Higher yield and better water use efficiency (WUE) were found in GB applied plants. The plants treated with GB 10 days before and at the time of imposing water stress (T2) responded better. The results suggested that exogenous GB ameliorates the negative effects of water stress in tomato.Not Availabl

Comparative clinical evaluation of glycosylated haemoglobin level in healthy and chronic periodontitis patients: A chairside diagnostic method

Objective and Background: Glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c) level can consequently be interpreted as an average of the blood glucose present over the past 3-4 months. Periodontitis is associated with glycemic control in patients with diabetes. The purpose of this study was to determine the level of HbA1c in healthy and periodontitis patients who were previously not diagnosed with diabetes mellitus. Materials and Methods: A total of 40 patients were selected for study and divided into two groups. Group 1 included patients with a healthy periodontium, and Group 2 included patients suffering from chronic periodontitis. Finger stick blood was collected by special collection unit (A1CNOW +® Bayer Health Care, Tarrytown New York, USA), for estimating level of HbA1c. Result: Both groups showed similar HbA1c levels clinically with slight increase in levels in the test group, but was statistically significant (test - 5.66 ± 0.35%, control - 5.17 ± 0.3% P = 0.003). Conclusion: Indians are at a high-risk of developing periodontitis and diabetes. These data suggest a possible link between periodontitis and glycemic control in nondiabetic individuals, periodontal disease may be a potential contributor to the development of type 2 diabetes