Determining thermal conductivity and absorption coefficient of semi-transparent liquids using numerical and experimental approach

Thermal properties of the molten salts are emerging as one of the important areas of research. The motivation for this particular research originated from the use of molten salts in high temperature heat exchangers. The molten salts are transparent liquids at their melting point. Considering this aspect of molten salt which resembles with water the research is conducted on water and glycerin. The effect of radiation along with conduction is studied in calculating the thermal conductivity of water; The effect of radiation on thermal conductivity is calculated using Rosseland\u27s approximation method. Thermal conductivity is calculated as function of temperature. Different radiation sources are used in the experiment to investigate the overall dependence of thermal conductivity on temperature for water, glycerin and glycol

Evaluation of analgesic activity of aqueous extract of leaves of hibiscus sabdariffa in albino rats

Background: Analgesia and inflammation continues to be an area of great interest for research, probably due to the non-availability of a safer and more effective analgesic and anti-inflammatory agent. This has led to increase in demand for natural products with analgesic and anti-inflammatory activity having fewer side effects. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as indomethacin are used in the treatment of inflammation, fever and pain. However, NSAIDs cause gastric damage as a major adverse reaction. In this study, the analgesic and anti-inflammatory activity of aqueous extract H. sabdariffa Linn was studied using hot plate method in albino rats.Methods: In this study, analgesic activity of H. sabdariffa was studied and compared with standard drug, indomethacin using Hot plate method. Aqueous extract of leaves of H. sabdariffa (200 mg/kg or 400 mg/kg) and indomethacin (25 mg/kg) were used to separate groups of rats and reaction time was measured at 20, 60, 90 minutes and compared with control group.Results: All the test groups showed significant (P<0.05) analgesic effect in increasing the reaction time in hot plate method during the entire test period of 90 minutes.Conclusions: H. sabdariffa possesses significant analgesic activity probably due to presence of flavonoids and organic acids like ascorbic acid and citric acid as well as polysaccharides reported to be present in this plant

Immunomodulatory effects of fruits of Barringtonia racemosa Linn.

Background: Barringtonia racemosa (B. racemosa) is used medicinally in treatment of diarrhoea, asthma, coughs, jaundice. It is also used as an analgesic and antipyretic. This plant has also significant anti-tumor activity. However, systematic evaluation of its immunomodulatory effects has not been reported. In present study the hydroalcoholic extract of fruits of B. racemosa has been evaluated for its immunomodulatory properties in animal models.Methods: Extract of Fruits of B. racemosa was prepared from fruit powder and methanol by macerations and filtration. Healthy albino Wistar rats of either sex having 110-160 g body weight were used for this study. 1. Delayed type hypersensitivity reaction (DTH) using Sheep red blood cells (SRBCs): After immunization with SRBC effect of cyclophosphamide and hydroalcoholic extract of B. racemosa was seen on paw volume changes in rats challenged with SRBC by using digital Plethysmometer. 2. Humoral antibody response to SRBC: Animas were immunized with SRBC and treated with cyclophosphamide and hydroalcoholic extract of B. racemosa. Serum of these animals was observed for haemagglutination titer.Results: Fruits extract at the dose of 5 mg/kg i.p. showed significant decrease in DTH response as compared to that of control group animals. However, the effect of extract was less potent as compared to that of cyclophosphamide treated group. In haemagglutination titer assay, antibody titer in case naïve control, SRBC treated, cyclophosphamide treated and extract treated groups was 1:1, 1:32, 1:8 and 1:16 respectively.Conclusions: The hydroalcoholic extract of this fruits was found to inhibit SRBCs induced DTH in rats. Similarly, SRBCs induced antibody titer was also reduced

Band structures of laterally coupled quantum dots, accounting for electromechanical effects

In a series of recent papers we demonstrated that coupled electro-mechanical effects can lead to pronounced contributions in band structure calculations of low dimensional semiconductor nanostructures (LDSNs) such as quantum dots, wires, and even wells. Some such effects are essentially nonlinear. Both strain and piezoelectric effects have been used as tuning parameters for the optical response of LDSNs in photonics, band gap engineering and other applications. However, these effects have been largely neglected in literature while laterally coupled quantum dots (QDs) have been studied. The superposition of electron wave functions in these QDs become important in the design of optoelectronic devices as well in tayloring properties of QDs in other applications areas. At the same time, laterally grown QDs coupled with electric and mechanical fields are becoming increasingly important in many applications of LDSN-based systems, in particular where the tunneling of electron wave function through wetting layer (WL) becomes important and the distance between the dots is treated as a tuning parameter. Indeed, as electric and elastic effects are often significant in LDSNs, it is reasonable to expect that the separation between the QDs may also be used as a tuning parameter in the application of logic devices, for example, OR gates, AND gates and others. In this contribution, by using the fully coupled model of electroelasticity, we build on our previous results while analyzing the influence of these effects on optoelectronic properties of QDs. Results are reported for III-V type semiconductors with a major focus given to GaN/AlN based QD systems

Study of anti-inflammatory activity of omeprazole in complete Freund’s adjuvant induced arthritic rats

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic, progressive, and systemic inflammatory disease, characterized by synovial proliferation and joint erosions. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are used as an important part of therapeutic regime to suppress the pain and inflammation associated with RA. The modern drugs both steroidal and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) and disease modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDSs) are used for the amelioration of the symptoms of the disease; however, they offer only temporary relief and also produce adverse effects. This study was done to evaluate anti-inflammatory activity of Omeprazole in CFA induced arthritic rats.Methods: Animals were divided into five groups of six each, group I as control, group II as standard whereas groups III, IV and V as test groups (three doses). Anti-inflammatory effect of group II Diclofenac sodium (10 mg/kg orally) and group III, IV and V received Omeprazole (10mg/kg, 20mg/kg, and 30mg/kg bodyweight orally respectively) was evaluated in adult albino rats by Plethysmometer on 7th, 14th and 21st day post adjuvant injection.Results: Group 3 produced a significant suppression of paw volume with P value (<0.05) and Group 4 produced a very significant suppression with P value (<0.001) compared to other groups.Conclusions: Omeprazole, a PPI, has anti-inflammatory activity

A rare case of hydrocele in a female

Vulval swellings have always been a case of a difficult and a puzzling situation and more so when they are huge in size. Vulvar swellings are of various types such as Bartholin cyst, sebaceous cyst, cyst of canal of nuck, inguino-labial hernia and vulval varicosities. Most common vulvar cysts are epidermal inclusion cysts. Usual location is beneath the epidermis. An alternative histogenesis is embryonic remnants or occlusion of pilosebaceous ducts of sweat glands. Cutaneous cysts which are lined by ciliated epithelium are very rare, and authors present a rare case of a cyst arising from a left labium majus resembling a hydrocele seen in males with histopathology suggestive of ciliated cyst of the vulva

Prevalence of Serological Markers of Hepatitis B in patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease

AIM : To study the prevalence of serological markers of Hepatitis B infection in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). MATERIAL AND METHODS : We studied 76 IBD patients who presented or were under the follow up of the Department of Gastroenterology, Christian Medical College Vellore, India. The basic demographic data, IBD related history, risk factors for hepatitis B transmission, hepatitis B immunization details and markers of hepatitis B infection (HBsAg and Anti HBc) were assessed. RESULTS : Out of the 76 patients, 42(55.3%) had ulcerative colitis, 33(44.3%) had Crohn’s disease while 1(1.3%) had indeterminate colitis. The overall mean age for the entire study population was 37.5±13.9 years. The overall median total duration of illness at the time of inclusion of the study was 35(1-410) months while the overall median duration prior to diagnosis of illness was 7.5(1-228) months. The overall male: female ratio was 1.7:1 (48:28). Hepatitis B markers (HBsAg/Anti-HBc) were positive in 9(11.8%, 95% CI: 6.4-21%) out of 76 patients with inflammatory bowel disease. None of the patients who were positive for hepatitis B markers had features of chronic liver disease or portal hypertension. Out of the multiple risk factors studied mean age (P=0.034), non IBD related surgeries (P=0.009) and non IBD related hospital admission (P=0.008) were significantly more common in those positive for viral markers compared who were not. Out of 76 patients studied, only 7(9.2%) patients had completed 3 doses of vaccination. CONCLUSION : In our study, we found that the prevalence of hepatitis B infection in IBD patients was similar to that of the general population in India. While several guidelines recommend hepatitis B vaccination in IBD, only 9.2% of our patients had completed 3 doses of vaccinatio

Anti-Arthritic Activity of Bartogenic Acid Isolated from Fruits of Barringtonia racemosa Roxb. (Lecythidaceae)

The fruits of Barringtonia racemosa are prescribed in the ayurvedic literature for the treatment of pain, inflammation and rheumatic conditions. In present investigation, activity guided isolation of bartogenic acid (BA) and its evaluation in the Complete Freund's Adjuvant (CFA)-induced arthritis in rats is reported. Among the various extracts and fractions investigated preliminarily for carrageenan-induced acute inflammation in rats, the ethyl acetate fraction displayed potent anti-inflammatory activity. Large-scale isolation and characterization using chromatography and spectral study confirmed that the constituent responsible for the observed pharmacological effects was BA. Subsequently the BA was evaluated for effectiveness against CFA-induced arthritis in rats. The results indicate that at doses of 2, 5, and 10 mg kg−1 day−1, p.o., BA protects rats against the primary and secondary arthritic lesions, body weight changes and haematological perturbations induced by CFA. The serum markers of inflammation and arthritis, such as C-reactive protein and rheumatoid factor, were also reduced in the BA-treated arthritic rats. The overall severity of arthritis as determined by radiological analysis and pain scores indicated that BA exerts a potent protective effect against adjuvant-induced arthritis in rats. In conclusion, the present study validates the ethnomedicinal use of fruits of B. racemosa in the treatment of pain and inflammatory conditions. It further establishes the potent anti-arthritic effects of BA. However, additional clinical investigations are needed to prove the efficacy of BA in the treatment of various immuno-inflammatory disorders

A modified method for evaluating analgesic activity of drugs using Rana tigrina frog

Background: Different species of frogs had been used by many researchers for evaluation of analgesic drugs e.g., Rana pipiens and African claw frog. In our study, we used Rana tigrina, which was never used for evaluation of analgesic activity of drugs. So by doing this project, we judged usefulness of R. tigrina to evaluate analgesic drugs.Methods: Animals used were R. tigrina of either sex weighing 100-150 g. Glass flask with porous platform was used for observation of frog. All groups were treated with 4% NaCl solution S.C. on abdomen). Characteristic parameter i.e., number of eye blinkings (this parameter was observed during the pilot study after 4% NaCl S.C. injection on lower third of frogs abdominal wall) were observed before and after drug administration. Each observation was for 5 mins. Centrally and periphrally acting drugs effect was tested on the number of blinks and buccal oscillations.Results: Centrally acting drug inhibit rise in number of eye blinkings and buccal oscillation significantly. Piroxicam diclofenac sodium and ketoprofen decreased rise in number of blinks; but, it was not significant as compared with control.Conclusion: This animal may be used alternative to existing methods of evaluating analgesics in Indian setup