In vitro investigation of anti-inflammatory activity and evaluation of phytochemical profile of Syzygium caryophyllatum

This study examined the anti-inflammatory potential of an aquous root extract of Syzygium caryophyllatum (Family: Myrtaceae) and reference drug Declofenac sodium, invitro using heat induced egg albumin denaturation bio assay technique. The concentrations of the root extract used were 781.25, 1562.5, 3125, 6250 and 12500 μg/mL. While diclofenac sodum were 78.12, 156.25, 312.5, 625, 1250 and 2500 μg/mL. Both the extract (r2 = 0.97; P<0.05) and Diclofenac sodium (r2 = 0.87; P<0.05) displayed marked and concentration dependent inhibition of heat-induced protein denaturation with IC50 value of 6.229 *103 μ g/ml and ~1.704*108 μg/mL respectively. Phytochemical analysis of the extract revealed the presence of the flavanoids, phenols, tanins, alkaloids, saponins and amino acids. It is concluded that the aquous root extract of Sri Lankan grown Syzygium caryophyllatum possess marked in vitro antiinflammatory activity which is mediated possibly by flavanoids, tanins and alkaloids. This is a novel finding. Further the results scientifically justify the use of roots of Syzygium caryophyllatum in Sri Lankan traditional medicine to treat inflammation

Superheating Field in Superconductors with Nanostructured Surfaces

We report calculations of a dc superheating field Hsh in superconductors with nanostructured surfaces. Numerical simulations of the Ginzburg-Landau (GL) equations were performed for a superconductor with an inhomogeneous impurity concentration, a thin superconducting layer on top of another superconductor, and superconductor-insulator-superconductor (S-I-S) multilayers.The superheating field was calculated taking into account the instability of the Meissner state with a nonzero wavelength along the surface, which is essential for realistic values of the GL parameter κ. Simulations were done for the materials parameters of Nb and Nb3Sn at different values of κ and the mean free paths. We show that the impurity concentration profile at the surface and thicknesses of S-I-S multilayers can be optimized to enhance Hsh above the bulk superheating fields of both Nb and Nb3Sn. For example, a S-I-S structure with 90 nm thick Nb3Sn layer on Nb can boost the superheating field up to ≈ 500 mT, while protecting the SRF cavity from dendritic thermomagnetic avalanches caused by local penetration of vortices

Application of phasor measurement units for monitoring power system dynamic performance

This Working Group is a sequel to a previous working group on Wide Area Monitoring and Control for Transmission Capability Enhancement, which published the Technical Brochure 330 in 2007. Since then the synchrophasor technology has advanced rapidly and many utilities around the world have installed hundreds of PMUs in their networks. In this Technical Brochure, we look at the current state of the technology and the extent to which it has been used in the industry. As the technology has matured, it is also important to understand the communication protocols used in synchrophasor networks and their relevant cyber-security issues. These concerns are briefly discussed in the brochure. The applications of Phasor Measurement Units (PMU) measurements reported here are divided into three categories: (a) applications already installed in utility networks, (b) applications that are well-tested, but not yet installed, and (c) applications that are beneficial to the industry, but not fully developed yet. The most common and mature applications are wide area monitoring, state estimation, and model validation. Out of these three applications, wide area monitoring is well established in the industry. The protection and control applications are emerging as evident from the reported examples. The experience of using remote synchrophasor measurements as feedback control signals is not widely reported by the industry. In parallel to this Working Group, Study Committee B5 had a Working Group on “Wide area protection and control technologies.” The Technical Brochure 664 published by this Working Group in September 2016 reviews synchrophasor technology and discusses the industry experience with wide area protection and control. The North American synchrophasor Initiative (NASPI) is another technical group that has gathered and reported a wide range of PMU experiences of industry and researchers. In summary, the field-tested applications presented in this Technical Brochure are a testimony to the confidence of utilities in the synchrophasor technology. The progress in state estimation techniques indicates that synchrophasor measurements will become a standard part of energy management and security assessment systems in the near future

Sri Lankan tsunami refugees: a cross sectional study of the relationships between housing conditions and self-reported health

BACKGROUND: On the 26th December 2004 the Asian tsunami devastated the Sri Lankan coastline. More than two years later, over 14,500 families were still living in transitional shelters. This study compares the health of the internally displaced people (IDP), living in transitional camps with those in permanent housing projects provided by government and non-government organisations in Sri Lanka. METHODS: This study was conducted in seven transitional camps and five permanent housing projects in the south west of Sri Lanka. Using an interviewer-led questionnaire, data on the IDPs' self-reported health and housing conditions were collected from 154 participants from transitional camps and 147 participants from permanent housing projects. Simple tabulation with non-parametric tests and logistic regression were used to identify and analyse relationships between housing conditions and the reported prevalence of specific symptoms. RESULTS: Analysis showed that living conditions were significantly worse in transitional camps than in permanent housing projects for all factors investigated, except 'having a leaking roof'. Transitional camp participants scored significantly lower on self-perceived overall health scores than those living in housing projects. After controlling for gender, age and marital status, living in a transitional camp compared to a housing project was found to be a significant risk factor for the following symptoms; coughs OR: 3.53 (CI: 2.11-5.89), stomach ache 4.82 (2.19-10.82), headache 5.20 (3.09-8.76), general aches and pains 6.44 (3.67-11.33) and feeling generally unwell 2.28 (2.51-7.29). Within transitional camp data, the only condition shown to be a significant risk factor for any symptom was household population density, which increased the risk of stomach aches 1.40 (1.09-1.79) and headaches 1.33 (1.01-1.77). CONCLUSION: Internally displaced people living in transitional camps are a vulnerable population and specific interventions need to be targeted at this population to address the health inequalities that they report to be experiencing. Further studies need to be conducted to establish which aspects of their housing environment predispose them to poorer health

Environmental chemicals impact dog semen quality in vitro and may be associated with a temporal decline in sperm motility and increased cryptorchidism

Adverse temporal trends in human semen quality and cryptorchidism in infants have been associated with exposure to environmental chemicals (ECs) during development. Here we report that a population of breeding dogs exhibit a 26 year (1988–2014) decline in sperm quality and a concurrent increased incidence of cryptorchidism in male offspring (1995–2014). A decline in the number of males born relative to the number of females was also observed. ECs, including diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) and polychlorinated biphenyl 153 (PCB153), were detected in adult dog testes and commercial dog foods at concentrations reported to perturb reproductive function in other species. Testicular concentrations of DEHP and PCB153 perturbed sperm viability, motility and DNA integrity in vitro but did not affect LH stimulated testosterone secretion from adult testis explants. The direct effects of chemicals on sperm may therefore contribute to the decline in canine semen quality that parallels that reported in the human

Development of a low cost method for breeding paracheirodon innesi (Neon Tetra) in captivity.

The Tetras are one of the most popular groups of fishes that are kept in modern aquaria. The neon tetra, Paracheirodon innesi, is one of the most popular tetras in the world and they are the second highest fish imported to the U.S both in numbers of individuals and total value, second only to the Guppy, Poecillia reticulate. The production of neon tetra in Sri Lanka is inadequate to fulfill the demand in export market since efforts of aquarists in breeding them has failed in most instances. Commercial breeding is done successfully in other countries but breeding in small scale has also reported not successful. Water pH is recognized as the main factor affecting on neon tetra breeding and artificially acidified fresh water is recommended. Pairs of brood fish have routinely spawned in acidified, soft water at 25 0 C (pH, 5.5—6.5, adjusted with phosphoric acid; total alkalinity, 3.2 mg 1-1 and total hardness, 6.0 mg I-I , as CaC03). Water was also conditioned with humic acids (0.04%). Water acidification is not a cost effective method for Sri Lanka and this study attempted to find an alternative low cost method to breed neon tetra in captivity. Twenty one glass aquarium tanks were settled inside the hatchery and rain water, river water and well water were used separately for the experiment. Temperature and the pH of water in each tank were recorded daily using a pH meter (EcoScan pH 5). Four sides of the tanks were covered with black polythene papers to control the light further. Brooders were introduced to the tanks (pair per tank) and after 24 hours the tanks were observed for the eggs. Brooders were removed from the tanks and 2 ppm methylene blue was added. Fry were started to feed with paramecium culture and fry were transferred to cement tanks after 10 days. Collected data were analyzed with Pearson Chi-Squire Test using Minitab 14 statistical package. The pH of rain water, river water and well water during the period of study were 6.2± 0.05, 8.0±0.04 and 7.5±0.05 respectively. Spawning and hatching were only observed in tanks filled with rain water. After the tetras were transferred to the cement tank, there was a 5% of reduction of the population. The results of the study has shown that the rain water has a significant effect (P<0.05) on the breeding of neon tetra. The reported rearing pH of the neon tetra is 6.9 — 7.4 and the breeding pH of the neon tetra is 5.5 — 6.5. The tropical rain forests in South American countries where neon tetra originated also have low pH level, low light condition and moderate temperature. These findings are directly compatible with the recent findings about the neon tetra breeding. Breeding of neon tetra with rain water is possible in aquarium condition. Use of rain water is a low cost method to breed neon tetra rather than using expensive chemicals

A Study on the Exposure to E-Learning during COVID-19: Special Reference to Management Undergraduates of Non-State Universities

Education is a goal of every human being in this modern era. The remarkable growth in information technology and the internet over the past few years has propelled the need for the application of e-learning among the educational sectors. Due to the recent outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sri Lankan educational institutes were forced to transform to e-learning. Hence, it is essential to have a strong awareness on the engagement of students in this e-learning. The purpose of this study is to examine the level of exposure to e-learning with special reference to the management undergraduates of non-state universities in Sri Lanka. This study is a quantitative research study and&nbsp;is based on a deductive research approach. For data collection, researchers used a questionnaire based on a convenience sampling process. A sample of 332 students was considered from a total population of 2500 students including 3rd and 4th year management undergraduates from two non-state universities. The collected data were analysed using one sample t-test analysis and descriptive analysis using the Statistical Package for Service Solutions. The researchers used one sample t-test to predict the students' level of exposure to e-learning based on the mean value of e-learning. The results show that students had a high level of exposure to e-learning with a value of 3.92. In addition, it revealed that system quality, instructors’ quality, digital readiness and learners’ attitude are highly influential towards the students’ level of exposure to e-learning. Furthermore, descriptive analysis revealed that the average GPA achieved by undergraduates utilising e-learning is higher than by traditional learning with an average score of 3.35. The findings of this study can serve as a guideline for higher educational institutions in developing appropriate initiatives to uplift the e-learning exposure. The main limitation of the study was that only management undergraduates were taken into consideration. As a result, future researchers should focus their efforts on different faculty studies separately to explore the level of e-learning exposure in each one of them. Keywords: COVID-19, E-Learning, Exposure, GPA, Undergraduate

Nonlinear Dynamics and Dissipation of a Curvilinear Vortex Driven by a Strong Time-Dependent Meissner Current

We report numerical simulations of large-amplitude oscillations of a trapped vortex line under a strong ac magnetic field $H(t)=H\sin\omega t$ parallel to the surface. The power dissipated by an oscillating vortex segment driven by the surface ac Meissner currents was calculated by taking into account the nonlinear vortex line tension, vortex mass and a nonlinear Larkin-Ovchinnikov (LO) viscous drag coefficient $\eta(v)$. We show that the LO decrease of $\eta(v)$ with the vortex velocity $v$ can radically change the field dependence of the surface resistance $R_i(H)$ caused by trapped vortices. At low frequencies $R_i(H)$ exhibits a conventional increases with $H$, but as $\omega$ increases, the surface resistance becomes a nonmonotonic function of $H$ which decreases with $H$ at higher fields. The effects of frequency, pin spacing and the mean free path $l_i$ on the field dependence of $R_{i}(H)$ were calculated. It is shown that, as the surface gets dirtier and $l_i$ decreases, the anomalous drop of $R_{i}(H)$ with $H$ shifts to lower fields which can be much smaller than the lower critical magnetic field. Our numerical simulations also show that the LO decrease of $\eta(v)$ with $v$ can cause a vortex bending instability at high field amplitudes and frequencies, giving rise to the formation of dynamic kinks along the vortex. Measurements of $R_i(H)$ caused by sparse vortices trapped perpendicular to the surface can offer opportunities to investigate an extreme nonlinear dynamics of vortices driven by strong current densities up to the depairing limit at low temperatures. The behavior of $R_i(H)$ which can be tuned by varying the rf frequency or concentration of nonmagnetic impurities is not masked by strong heating effects characteristic of dc or pulse transport measurements

Impact of the introduction of pneumococcal conjugate vaccination on pneumonia in The Gambia: population-based surveillance and case-control studies.

BACKGROUND: Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) are used in many low-income countries but their impact on the incidence of pneumonia is unclear. The Gambia introduced PCV7 in August, 2009, and PCV13 in May, 2011. We aimed to measure the impact of the introduction of these vaccines on pneumonia incidence. METHODS: We did population-based surveillance and case-control studies. The primary endpoint was WHO-defined radiological pneumonia with pulmonary consolidation. Population-based surveillance was for suspected pneumonia in children aged 2-59 months (minimum age 3 months in the case-control study) between May 12, 2008, and Dec 31, 2015. Surveillance for the impact study was limited to the Basse Health and Demographic Surveillance System (BHDSS), whereas surveillance for the case-control study included both the BHDSS and Fuladu West Health and Demographic Surveillance System. Nurses screened all outpatients and inpatients at all health facilities in the surveillance area using standardised criteria for referral to clinicians in Basse and Bansang. These clinicians recorded clinical findings and applied standardised criteria to identify patients with suspected pneumonia. We compared the incidence of pneumonia during the baseline period (May 12, 2008, to May 11, 2010) and the PCV13 period (Jan 1, 2014, to Dec 31, 2015). We also investigated the effectiveness of PCV13 using case-control methods between Sept 12, 2011, and Sept 31, 2014. Controls were aged 90 days or older, and were eligible to have received at least one dose of PCV13; cases had the same eligibility criteria with the addition of having WHO-defined radiological pneumonia. FINDINGS: We investigated 18 833 children with clinical pneumonia and identified 2156 cases of radiological pneumonia. Among children aged 2-11 months, the incidence of radiological pneumonia fell from 21·0 cases per 1000 person-years in the baseline period to 16·2 cases per 1000 person-years (23% decline, 95% CI 7-36) in 2014-15. In the 12-23 month age group, radiological pneumonia decreased from 15·3 to 10·9 cases per 1000 person-years (29% decline, 12-42). In children aged 2-4 years, incidence fell from 5·2 to 4·1 cases per 1000 person-years (22% decline, 1-39). Incidence of all clinical pneumonia increased by 4% (-1 to 8), but hospitalised cases declined by 8% (3-13). Pneumococcal pneumonia declined from 2·9 to 1·2 cases per 1000 person-years (58% decline, 22-77) in children aged 2-11 months and from 2·6 to 0·7 cases per 1000 person-years (75% decline, 47-88) in children aged 12-23 months. Hypoxic pneumonia fell from 13·1 to 5·7 cases per 1000 person-years (57% decline, 42-67) in children aged 2-11 months and from 6·8 to 1·9 cases per 1000 person-years (72% decline, 58-82) in children aged 12-23 months. In the case-control study, the best estimate of the effectiveness of three doses of PCV13 against radiological pneumonia was an adjusted odds ratio of 0·57 (0·30-1·08) in children aged 3-11 months and vaccine effectiveness increased with greater numbers of doses (p=0·026). The analysis in children aged 12 months and older was underpowered because there were few unvaccinated cases and controls. INTERPRETATION: The introduction of PCV in The Gambia was associated with a moderate impact on the incidence of radiological pneumonia, a small reduction in cases of hospitalised pneumonia, and substantial reductions of pneumococcal and hypoxic pneumonia in young children. Low-income countries that introduce PCV13 with reasonable coverage can expect modest reductions in hospitalised cases of pneumonia and a marked impact on the incidence of severe childhood pneumonia. FUNDING: GAVI's Pneumococcal vaccines Accelerated Development and Introduction Plan, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and UK Medical Research Council