Mother Tongue Influence on English Pronunciation: A Case study in College Students

Mother tongue interference can affect students’ English speaking skill especially in pronouncing the words intrinsically. Considering Tamil language is the dominant mother language used by students at College level, the students as EFL learners often use their mother tongue in daily communication and at campus, and College students pronounce English words in a different way. This study investigated the forms of Tamil language interfering students in pronouncing English words, and how they were interfered. This was a descriptive study in the field of English pronunciation elaborated in a qualitative way. Recorded interviews and pronunciation testing were the main techniques of collecting data. Interview guide, validated pronunciation test, and document analysis were the instruments. In conclusion, the interference was positive since Tamil language’s phonemic sounds have some similarities to those of English, so this condition does not potentially change the meanings of English words

Optimization of Complex Water Supply Network

AbstractThe Millennium drought created critical water shortages throughout Australia and particularly in South East Queensland (SEQ). In response to this the bulk water network was significantly enhanced resulting in large infrastructure augmentations consisting of cross regional pipelines, a desalination plant and a purified recycled water plant. Given that SEQ can transition from drought to flood and vice versa in a short period of time it is a fine balance to operate the new more complicated asset base economically whilst maintaining sufficient supply security. With rising energy prices and the increasing cost of living pressures, there is an immediate need to better understand what optimal grid operation looks like and this is currently being investigated by the Seqwater Decision Support System (DSS).Till now, a network such as the SEQ water grid with its variety of water supply sources of varying reliabilities and complexity of the network has been operated in a relatively manual manner using manual heuristics. Given the number of factors which need to be considered when making decisions about which parts of the network to activate at any one time and the limitations of the human mind to resolve these, means that sub optimal results are frequently generated.The development of a DSS using optimization techniques can help determine the most efficient mode of delivery of water taking into account the operating costs of the various assets within the network, amongst a range of other constraints. This paper goes into detail the application of the optimization technology to the SEQ Water grid

Oxidation of Acetonaphthones by Hexacyanoferrate(III)

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Performance Analysis of Preemptive Based Uniprocessor Scheduling

All the real-time systems are bound with response time constraints, or else, there is a risk of  severe consequences, which includes failure. The System will fail when not able to meet the requirements according to the specifications. The problem of real-time scheduling is very vast, ranging from uni-processor to complicated-multiprocessor. In this paper, we have compared the performance of real-time tasks that should be scheduled properly, to get optimum performance. Analysis methodology and the concept of optimization leads to the design of appropriate scheduling. We have done  the analysis among RM and EDF algorithm that are important for scheduling in uni-processor

Prevalence of occult bladder dysfunction among diabetic subjects attending an endocrinology outpatient clinic

INTRODUCTION: Diabetes is one of the most common chronic diseases affecting people world wide. The increasing prevalence of Diabetes all over the world is a major public health concern. The prevalence of diabetes in the adults will rise from 135 million in 1995 to 300 million by the year 2025, and more than 75% of the diabetics will reside in developing countries as compared to 62% in 1995. By 2025, India, China and the U.S will have the largest number of people with diabetics. Several factors have contributed to the increasing burden of diabetes. These include a specific increase in risk factors for type 2 diabetes, such as increasing obesity, lack of adequate physical activity, and life style and food changes induced by urbanization. Another factor contributing to apparent increase in the prevalence of diabetes has been the improvement in surveillance systems for diabetes, which has allowed better assessment of the true burden of diabetes. Along with increased incidence of diabetes, complications caused by diabetes are also on the rise. Diabetes has its influence on multi-organ involvement in chronic diseases. Diabetes affects every organ due to macrovascular, microvascular and metabolic changes. AIM OF THE STUDY: To estimate the prevalence and pattern of occult bladder dysfunction in diabetic subjects of 18 to 60 years age attending endocrinology outpatient clinic. PATIENTS AND METHODS Research Question: 1. What is the prevalence of occult bladder dysfunction among diabetic subjects between 18 to 60 years of age from Tamilnadu attending endocrinologydiabetic outpatient clinic? 2. What is the pattern of bladder dysfunction among the studied subjects? 3. Is there any association between the prevalence of bladder dysfunction between symptomatic and asymptomatic subjects? 4. Is there an association between bladder dysfunction and microvascular complications of diabetes? Inclusion Criteria: 1. All Tamil speaking diabetic subjects between 18 to 60 years of age attending endocrinology – diabetic outpatient clinic. Exclusion Criteria: 1. Previous surgery of urethra, prostate or bladder, 2. Previous pelvic procedures likely to cause bladder denervation like Hysterectomy and Abdominoperineal excision of rectum, 3. Neurological diseases likely to influence the lower urinary tract except autonomic neuropathy, 4. Overactive bladder, Bladder outlet obstruction or any other abnormal urodynamic findings, 5. Bladder calculus, 6. Bacterial and tuberculous cystitis, 7. Medications like anticholinergics, diuretics, antidepressants and antipsychotics. RESULTS: A total of 90 patients were recruited for the study. Of 90 patients, 65 (72.2%) were males and 25 (27.8%) were females. Of 90 patients, 45 had urodynamic study according to the inclusion criteria and 45 others did not have urodynamic evaluation (non-urodynamics group). Over all 37 patients (41.1%) had bladder dysfunction and 53 patients (58.9%) did not have bladder dysfunction. In the urodynamic group, 35 of 45 (77.8%) had bladder dysfunction as defined in the study. In the non-urodynamics group, only 2 of 45 patients (4.4%) had bladder dysfunction. Age of the patients ranged from 20 to 58 years (mean age ± SD - 45.6 ± 8.12 years). Male patients were slightly older than females (46.23 ± 8.0 years in males against 44.2 ± 8.1 years in females). One half of the males and one fourth of the females had bladder dysfunction (P= 0.012). Patients were categorized according to the age into three groups namely: 1) 18 to 39 yrs (21.1%) 2) 40-50 yrs (48.9%) and 3) >50yrs (30%) (Figure 3). Bladder dysfunction was seen more often in subjects with age >50 years (45.9%) (P = 0.012). A few patients (7/90) were type 1 diabetics and majority (83/90) were type 2 diabetics. Bladder dysfunction was seen often in type 2 diabetics, however it was not statistically significant (P =0.610). Mean duration of diabetes was 6.7 years (range 1-25). Bladder dysfunction was seen in subjects with longer duration of diabetes (6 years Vs 3 years) P= 0.042. CONCLUSIONS: From this study, it can be concluded that 1) The prevalence of bladder dysfunction in diabetic subjects between 18 to 60 years of age from Tamilnadu attending a diabetic clinic was 41.1%. 2) Abnormal urodynamic findings other than diabetic cystopathy are commonly seen among the diabetic subjects. 3) IPSS, Uroflowmetry and estimation of post void residual urine might be useful to screen the diabetic subjects before urodynamic evaluation to diagnose and characterize bladder dysfunction. 4) Bladder dysfunction is seen often (35/45) in patients with moderate LUTS than in asymptomatic patients (2/45) or those with mild LUTS. 5) Bladder dysfunction is significantly associated with peripheral neuropathy and association with other microvascular complications like retinopathy and nephropathy is not significant

FORMULATION AND EVALUATION OF SUSTAINED RELEASE MATRIX TABLETS OF LEVOSULPIRIDE BY USING NATURAL POLYMER

Objective: The objective of the present study was to develop sustained release matrix tablets of levosulpiride by using natural polymers.Method: The tablets were prepared with different ratios of Chitosan, Xanthan gum and Guar gum by wet granulation technique. The solubility study of the levosulpiride was conducted to select a suitable dissolution media for in vitro drug release studies.Results: Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) study revealed no considerable changes in IR peak of levosulpiride and hence no interaction between drug and the excipients. DSC thermograms showed that no drug interaction occurred during the manufacturing process. In vitro dissolution study was carried out for all the formulation and the results compared with marketed sustained release tablet. The drug release from matrix tablets was found to decrease with increase in polymer ratio of Chitosan, Xanthan gum and Guar gum.Conclusion: Formulation LF3 exhibited almost similar drug release profile in dissolution media as that of marketed tablets. From the results of dissolution data fitted to various drug release kinetic equations, it was observed that highest correlation was found for First order, Higuchi's and Korsmeyer equation, which indicate that the drug release occurred via diffusion mechanism.    Â

Research Notes : Yield evaluation of immature, green soybeans

Soybeans are commonly called the meat of the fields in the orient. Soybean is a popular vegetable in oriental diet and is rich in vitamins A and B and is a good source of protein, fat, calcium, phosphorous and iron. Soybean as a vegetable can be grown easily even during the rainy season since the final product to be harvested is immature green seed

Screening, production, and characterization of biologically active secondary metabolite(s) from marine Streptomyces sp. PA9 for antimicrobial, antioxidant, and mosquito larvicidal activity

1319-1326Bioprospecting of actinobacteria from understudied ecosystems is a promising source for extracting novel bioactive metabolites. A study was undertaken to characterize and analyze the bio-efficacy of actinobacterial extract for antimicrobial, larvicidal, and antioxidant activities. Seven morphologically different actinobacterial cultures isolated from mangrove rhizosphere sediment near Parangipettai, South India, were tested for antimicrobial activity. Bioactive metabolites from one potential strain PA9 were produced by submerged fermentation. The selected Streptomyces sp. PA9 was subjected to the production of crude extract for antimicrobial, larvicidal, and antioxidant activity. The actinobacterial compound was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). The PA9 actinobacterial crude extract showed best antimicrobial activity against clinical bacteria, Salmonella typhi (21.6 ± 0.88 mm) and fungi, Candida albicans (26.6 ± 0.88 mm). The PA9 extract showed significant larvicidal activity against Culex quinquefasciatus with LC50=173.21 µg/ml and r2=0.841. The PA9 extract also exhibited antioxidant activity from DPPH (72%) and nitric oxide free radicals (85%). The characterization of the PA9 extract by FTIR analysis showed the presence of possible functional groups. Active compounds were isolated by HPLC and GC–MS with major and minor peaks observed on the basis of retention time. The bio-efficacy of PA9 has warranted further studies to develop a baseline for the drug development

Prevalence, incidence and resolution of abscesses and sinuses in patients with tuberculosis of spine: A 5-year results of patients treated with short course chemotherapy with or without surgery in Madras

A controlled clinical study comparing 6 or 9 months of ambulatory chemotherapy alone with radical surgery plus 6 months of chemotherapy was undertaken in patients with spinal tuberculosis in Madras. The prevalence of sinuses and/or clinically evident abscesses was 49(19%) of 253 patients, with significantly higher proportion in patients with lumbar or lumbo-sacral lesions. The incidence of lesions appearing after the start of chemotherapy was 32 (16%) of 204 patients. By five years, all had resolved. The resolution of the lesions was significantly faster and the incidences significantly lower in the radical surgery group than in the two ambulatory series. Mediastinal abscesses were observed on radiographs in 66 (66%) of 100 patients with thoracic or thoraco-lumbar lesions. By five years, the lesions had disappeared in all except two patients and the disappearance was significantly faster in the radical surgery group than in the two ambulatory series. There was no recurrence of these lesions during a period of five years