Experimental Implementation of Adaptive-Critic Based Infinite Time Optimal Neurocontrol for a Heat Diffusion System

Recently the synthesis methodology for the infinite time optimal neuro-controllers for PDE systems in the framework of adaptive-critic design has been developed. In this paper, first we model an experimental setup representing one dimensional heat diffusion problems. Then we synthesize and implement an adaptive-critic based neuro-controller for online temperature profile control of the experimental setup

Proper Orthogonal Decomposition Based Modeling and Experimental Implementation of a Neurocontroller for a Heat Diffusion System

Experimental implementation of a dual neural network based optimal controller for a heat diffusion system is presented. Using the technique of proper orthogonal decomposition (POD), a set of problem-oriented basis functions are designed taking the experimental data as snap shot solutions. Using these basis functions in Galerkin projection, a reduced-order analogous lumped parameter model of the distributed parameter system is developed. This model is then used in an analogous lumped parameter problem. A dual neural network structure called adaptive critics is used to obtain optimal neurocontrollers for this system. In this structure, one set of neural networks captures the relationship between the states and the control, whereas the other set captures the relationship between the states and the costates. The lumped parameter control is then mapped back to the spatial dimension, using the same basis functions, which results in a feedback control. The controllers are implemented at discrete actuator locations. Modeling aspects of the heat diffusion system from experimental data are discussed. Experimental results to reach desired final temperature profiles are presented

Clarithromycin: overview and its current clinical utility in the treatment of respiratory tract infections

Upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) is a common reason for medical consultation all over the world. Streptococcus A (Strep A) and other infections can cause sore throat as well as pharyngitis or tonsillitis. It may also result in post-infection sequelae, including acute post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis, acute rheumatic fever, and rheumatic heart disease.  As a result, there is a need for an antibiotic that is effective, easy to administer, has a favorable sensitivity pattern, and preferably has some additional pharmacodynamic properties that complement the basic antibacterial profile. Clarithromycin is a macrolide antibacterial agent with broad-spectrum activity against respiratory pathogens. It is especially active against atypical Chlamydia pneumoniae, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, and Legionella spp. It is well absorbed and stable at gastric pH. It is metabolized by the cytochrome P450 enzymes and forms 14-hydroxy clarithromycin, which is more active than the parent compound, especially against Hemophilus influenzae. It acts by preventing protein synthesis by binding to the 50S subunit of bacterial ribosomes. In dosages of 500 to 1000 mg/day for 5 to 14 days, clarithromycin is effective in the treatment of community-acquired upper and lower respiratory tract infections in hospital and community settings. It exerts significant anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, and post-antibiotic effects. It provides a viable option for the treatment of community-acquired respiratory tract infections, in both children and adults.  

A comparative study of coronary artery disease in diabetics and non-diabetics

Background: Cardiovascular diseases accounts for the greatest burden of morbidity and mortality worldwide, both in developed and in developing countries. Coronary Heart Disease  makes up more than half of all CVD deaths in men and women  under 75 years of age, is eases with a lifetime risk of developing CHD after  age 40 years, of 49 per cent for men and 32 per cent for women. The Framingham study showed that the risk of cardiovascular death was increased 4-5 fold in women and 2 fold in men with predominantly type-2 diabetes mellitus.Methods: The present study was undertaken at Chandulal Chandrakar Memorial Hospital, Bhilai, Dist. Durg, Chhattisgarh, India between the periods of September- 2010, September-2012 (2 years). 120 cases of CAD were studied, out of which 60 cases are diabetic CAD and 60 cases are non-diabetic CAD. Sample is drawn by simple random technique. Ethical approval was obtained from institutional ethical committee. Total Cases were 120, Diabetic CAD (Group -1)-60 and Non-diabetic CAD (Group 2)-60. Results: Male to female ratio in group-1 was 2.3:1 and in group-2 it was 1.7:1. Females were commonly affected in the diabetic group than non-diabetic group. Diabetics are more obese than non-diabetics. Non-diabetics have higher ideal body weight 58.33% than diabetic (36.66%) (p<0.001); whereas proportion of over-weight people was same in both groups. Among the diabetic group and non-diabetic group maximum number of cases belonged to low risk category with total cholesterol, triglycerides and LDL cholesterol, but with borderline risk with HDL cholesterol.Conclusions: CAD in diabetics had considerably higher percent of severe and unpredictable presentation. Diabetics have a higher risk factor profile and poor clinical outcome.

Geology of South and Southwest part of Uttar Pradesh and its Mineral Significance

The major part of Uttar Pradesh is covered by Gangatic alluvium in the north whereas the southern part is covered by peninsular terrain. This alluvium cover belongs to Holocene age and is mainly dominated by Varanasi older sediments exposed beyond the river basinal areas and Banda younger sediments exposed around the rivers flowing. The older alluvium comprises finer grained, well compacted and more mature sediments occupying extensive stretches at relatively higher elevations. The drainage pattern in region is subdendritic to dendritic type formed by hills and nalas flowing over the soil cover. The Peninsular part of Uttar Pradesh is covered by the rocks of Archean to Mesozoic age. The Bundelkhand craton nuclei mostly composed of Archean granitoids show heterogeneity in texture and composition, intruded by later phase of magmatic activity. The Mahrauni Group of the rocks exposed around Girar, Manpura and Rajaula areas in Madawara block of Lalitpur region. The Bijawar Group is exposed in Sonrai area district Lalitpur of Uttar Pradesh. The rocks of Dudhi Gneissic Complex and Mahakoshal Group are exposed in Sonbhadra and Mirzapur district. Few exposures of Ajabgarh Group rocks are exposed in Mathura district. These Bijawar Group, Mahakoshal Group and Ajabgarh Group rocks are equivalent to Delhi Supergroup. The Bundelkhand craton is capped by the sedimentary units of Vindhyan Supergroup which is exposed mainly in the southern part of Uttar Pradesh and a few exposures are observed in Agra district. The Deccan Trap rocks are also traces in Lalitpur district of Uttar Pradesh

Optimization of flow cytometric detection and cell sorting of transgenic Plasmodium parasites using interchangeable optical filters

Background: Malaria remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Flow cytometry-based assays that take advantage of fluorescent protein (FP)-expressing malaria parasites have proven to be valuable tools for quantification and sorting of specific subpopulations of parasite-infected red blood cells. However, identification of rare subpopulations of parasites using green fluorescent protein (GFP) labelling is complicated by autofluorescence (AF) of red blood cells and low signal from transgenic parasites. It has been suggested that cell sorting yield could be improved by using filters that precisely match the emission spectrum of GFP. Methods: Detection of transgenic Plasmodium falciparum parasites expressing either tdTomato or GFP was performed using a flow cytometer with interchangeable optical filters. Parasitaemia was evaluated using different optical filters and, after optimization of optics, the GFP-expressing parasites were sorted and analysed by microscopy after cytospin preparation and by imaging cytometry. Results: A new approach to evaluate filter performance in flow cytometry using two-dimensional dot blot was developed. By selecting optical filters with narrow bandpass (BP) and maximum position of filter emission close to GFP maximum emission in the FL1 channel (510/20, 512/20 and 517/20; dichroics 502LP and 466LP), AF was markedly decreased and signal-background improve dramatically. Sorting of GFP-expressing parasite populations in infected red blood cells at 90 or 95% purity with these filters resulted in 50-150% increased yield when compared to the standard filter set-up. The purity of the sorted population was confirmed using imaging cytometry and microscopy of cytospin preparations of sorted red blood cells infected with transgenic malaria parasites. Discussion Filter optimization is particularly important for applications where the FP signal and percentage of positive events are relatively low, such as analysis of parasite-infected samples with in the intention of gene-expression profiling and analysis. The approach outlined here results in substantially improved yield of GFP-expressing parasites, and requires decreased sorting time in comparison to standard methods. It is anticipated that this protocol will be useful for a wide range of applications involving rare events

Formulation and optimization of Retapamulin loaded PLGA nanoparticles for burn wounds

In the present study, PLGA nanoparticles (PLGA-NP) of retapamulin (RP) were prepared and optimized by studying the effect of various formulation and process variables for effective delivery at burn wound site. Drug loaded PLGA-NP were successfully prepared and characterized by TEM, XRD and DSC study. Formulation and process variables like surfactant concentration, drug concentration, polymer concentration etc. showed significant effect on the particle size, entrapment efficiency and drug loading. PLGA-NP exhibited prolonged drug release following Higuchi release kinetics (R2= 0.9907). In vitro study demonstrated systemic escape of drug from PLGA-NP which might eliminate side effects associated with topical exposure through conventional treatment. Further retention of activity of entrapped drug was confirmed by in vitro antimicrobial assay. Optimized PLGA nanoparticle of Retapamulin was incorporated into PVA-Chitosan hydrogel slurry and casted into film to prepare multiphase hydrogel.Thus, present optimized system can be effectively used for delivery of drug at burn wound site in especially compromised wounds.&nbsp

Divergent trends in ischaemic heart disease and stroke mortality in India from 2000 to 2015: a nationally representative mortality study.

INTRODUCTION: India accounts for about a fifth of cardiovascular deaths globally, but nationally representative data on mortality trends are not yet available. In this nationwide mortality study, we aimed to assess the trends in ischaemic heart disease and stroke mortality over 15 years using the Million Death Study. METHODS: We determined national and subnational cardiovascular mortality rates and trends by sex and birth cohort using cause of death ascertained by verbal autopsy from 2001 to 2013 among 2·4 million households. We derived mortality rates for ischaemic heart disease and stroke by applying mortality proportions to UN mortality estimates for India and projected the rates from 2000 to 2015. FINDINGS: Cardiovascular disease caused more than 2·1 million deaths in India in 2015 at all ages, or more than a quarter of all deaths. At ages 30-69 years, of 1·3 million cardiovascular deaths, 0·9 million (68·4%) were caused by ischaemic heart disease and 0·4 million (28·0%) by stroke. At these ages, the probability of dying from ischaemic heart disease increased during 2000-15, from 10·4% to 13·1% in men and 4·8% to 6·6% in women. Ischaemic heart disease mortality rates in rural areas increased rapidly and surpassed those in urban areas. By contrast, the probability of dying from stroke decreased from 5·7% to 5·0% in men and 5·0% to 3·9% in women. A third of premature stroke deaths occurred in the northeastern states, inhabited by a sixth of India's population, where rates increased significantly and were three times higher than the national average. The increased mortality rates of ischaemic heart disease nationally and stroke in the northeastern states were higher in the cohorts of adults born in the 1970s onwards, than in earlier decades. A large and growing proportion of the ischaemic heart disease nationally and stroke deaths in high-burden states reported earlier diagnosis of cardiovascular disease, but low medication use. INTERPRETATION: The unexpectedly diverse patterns of cardiovascular mortality require investigation to identify the role of established and new cardiovascular risk factors. Secondary prevention with effective and inexpensive long-term treatment and adult smoking cessation could prevent substantial numbers of premature deaths. Without progress against the control of cardiovascular disease in India, global goals to reduce non-communicable diseases by 2030 will be difficult to achieve. FUNDING: Fogarty International Center of the US National Institutes of Health, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Indian Council of Medical Research, and the Disease Control Priorities

Measuring progress from 1990 to 2017 and projecting attainment to 2030 of the health-related Sustainable Development Goals for 195 countries and territories: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017

Background: Efforts to establish the 2015 baseline and monitor early implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) highlight both great potential for and threats to improving health by 2030. To fully deliver on the SDG aim of “leaving no one behind”, it is increasingly important to examine the health-related SDGs beyond national-level estimates. As part of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2017 (GBD 2017), we measured progress on 41 of 52 health-related SDG indicators and estimated the health-related SDG index for 195 countries and territories for the period 1990–2017, projected indicators to 2030, and analysed global attainment. Methods: We measured progress on 41 health-related SDG indicators from 1990 to 2017, an increase of four indicators since GBD 2016 (new indicators were health worker density, sexual violence by non-intimate partners, population census status, and prevalence of physical and sexual violence [reported separately]). We also improved the measurement of several previously reported indicators. We constructed national-level estimates and, for a subset of health-related SDGs, examined indicator-level differences by sex and Socio-demographic Index (SDI) quintile. We also did subnational assessments of performance for selected countries. To construct the health-related SDG index, we transformed the value for each indicator on a scale of 0–100, with 0 as the 2\ub75th percentile and 100 as the 97\ub75th percentile of 1000 draws calculated from 1990 to 2030, and took the geometric mean of the scaled indicators by target. To generate projections through 2030, we used a forecasting framework that drew estimates from the broader GBD study and used weighted averages of indicator-specific and country-specific annualised rates of change from 1990 to 2017 to inform future estimates. We assessed attainment of indicators with defined targets in two ways: first, using mean values projected for 2030, and then using the probability of attainment in 2030 calculated from 1000 draws. We also did a global attainment analysis of the feasibility of attaining SDG targets on the basis of past trends. Using 2015 global averages of indicators with defined SDG targets, we calculated the global annualised rates of change required from 2015 to 2030 to meet these targets, and then identified in what percentiles the required global annualised rates of change fell in the distribution of country-level rates of change from 1990 to 2015. We took the mean of these global percentile values across indicators and applied the past rate of change at this mean global percentile to all health-related SDG indicators, irrespective of target definition, to estimate the equivalent 2030 global average value and percentage change from 2015 to 2030 for each indicator. Findings: The global median health-related SDG index in 2017 was 59\ub74 (IQR 35\ub74–67\ub73), ranging from a low of 11\ub76 (95% uncertainty interval 9\ub76–14\ub70) to a high of 84\ub79 (83\ub71–86\ub77). SDG index values in countries assessed at the subnational level varied substantially, particularly in China and India, although scores in Japan and the UK were more homogeneous. Indicators also varied by SDI quintile and sex, with males having worse outcomes than females for non-communicable disease (NCD) mortality, alcohol use, and smoking, among others. Most countries were projected to have a higher health-related SDG index in 2030 than in 2017, while country-level probabilities of attainment by 2030 varied widely by indicator. Under-5 mortality, neonatal mortality, maternal mortality ratio, and malaria indicators had the most countries with at least 95% probability of target attainment. Other indicators, including NCD mortality and suicide mortality, had no countries projected to meet corresponding SDG targets on the basis of projected mean values for 2030 but showed some probability of attainment by 2030. For some indicators, including child malnutrition, several infectious diseases, and most violence measures, the annualised rates of change required to meet SDG targets far exceeded the pace of progress achieved by any country in the recent past. We found that applying the mean global annualised rate of change to indicators without defined targets would equate to about 19% and 22% reductions in global smoking and alcohol consumption, respectively; a 47% decline in adolescent birth rates; and a more than 85% increase in health worker density per 1000 population by 2030. Interpretation: The GBD study offers a unique, robust platform for monitoring the health-related SDGs across demographic and geographic dimensions. Our findings underscore the importance of increased collection and analysis of disaggregated data and highlight where more deliberate design or targeting of interventions could accelerate progress in attaining the SDGs. Current projections show that many health-related SDG indicators, NCDs, NCD-related risks, and violence-related indicators will require a concerted shift away from what might have driven past gains—curative interventions in the case of NCDs—towards multisectoral, prevention-oriented policy action and investments to achieve SDG aims. Notably, several targets, if they are to be met by 2030, demand a pace of progress that no country has achieved in the recent past. The future is fundamentally uncertain, and no model can fully predict what breakthroughs or events might alter the course of the SDGs. What is clear is that our actions—or inaction—today will ultimately dictate how close the world, collectively, can get to leaving no one behind by 2030