Autonomic nervous system dysfunction in Parkinson’s disease patients

Background: Parkinson’s disease (PD) PD ranks second among the common neurodegenerative disease next only to Alzheimer’s dementia. Autonomic symptoms in Parkinson’s disease is very common.  This study assesses the autonomic dysfunction in PD, their prevalence, type and severity in related to staging.Methods: The study was conducted in Rajiv Gandhi government general hospital, Institute of neurology Madras medical college between 2011 to 2013, 141 patients fulfilling the criteria of Parkinson’s disease brain bank society were included in the study. All the patients were clinically examined with special attention to history, clinical features and symptoms and signs of Autonomic dysfunction. The patients were graded using the Hoehn and Yahr staging system.Results: Among 141 patients, 118 (83.7%) had autonomic dysfunction. Among 87 males, 72 patients had ANS dysfunction and among 54 females, 46 patients had ANS dysfunction. Stage wise 39 patients of 53 patients (73.6%) belonging to Stage I; 37 of 44 (84.1%) belonging to Stage II; 26 of 28 (92.8%) belonging to Stage III and all patients belonging to Stage IV and V had ANS dysfunction.Conclusions: ANS dysfunction in Parkinson’s disease is a common problem and the prevalence of it is 82.75% in males and 85.2% in females and overall in 83.7% of patients. The prevalence of ANS dysfunction in Males and females increases as the Hoehn and Yahr stage increases as evidenced by 68.7% of males and 80.9% of females have ANS dysfunction in stage I, while 100% of males and females in stage IV and V have ANS dysfunction. Sexual dysfunction (84.7%) ranks first followed by gastrointestinal (56.9%), and thermoregulatory (51.3%) autonomic disturbances in males and urinary disturbances (78.3%), ranks first followed by thermoregulatory (65.2%), and cardiovascular disturbances (56.5%) in females

Effective Utilization and Conversion of Spent Distillery Liquid to Valuable Products Using an Intensified Technology of Two-stage Biological Sequestration

The potential of Cladosporium cladosporioides and Phormidium valdernium in treating spent distillery liquid in a two-stage sequential step was investigated. During the batch experiment, a maximum decolourisation of 68.5 % and 81.37 % COD reduction was achieved in the first-stage bioreactor. Further, the spent wash from bioreactor was treated with cyanobacteria in the second stage and resulted in COD reduction (3,652 mg L–1) of 89.5 % and 92.7 % decolorization, respectively. Biodegradation was confirmed using HPLC analysis, and the products released during the degradation in the two stages were identified using GC-MS analysis, and found to be 2-octenyl acetate, 1,6-heptadiene from the fungi and oxotetrahydrofuran, hexadecane from cyanobacteria which in turn reveals the fact that the sequential treatment was through the mechanism of biodegradation and not by adsorption. The results imply that sequential treatment using the combination of fungi and cyanobacteria resulted in better degradation and decolourisation for the distillery spent wash

Prediction of Leaf Diseases by using Machine Learning Techniques-A New Approach to Applied Informatics

Applied Informatics is a new emerging field which encompasses information technology and other areas of science. Many Automatic detection of a plant disease is proving their benefits in more fields of plant leaves. Proposed work focus on using machine learning techniques with multilayer Perceptron and simple K-Means algorithm for predicting sugarcane leaf disease by using Weka tool and the obtained results are promising

Renewable energy based microgrid system sizing and energy management for green buildings

The objective of this paper is to model a hybrid power system for buildings, which is technically feasible and economically optimal. With a view to promote renewable energy sources, photovoltaics and wind turbines are integrated with the grid connected building. The system is modeled and the optimal system configuration is estimated with the help of hybrid optimization model for electric renewables (HOMER). The logic is illustrated with a case study based on the practical data of a building located in southern India. This building is associated with 3.4 MWh/day priority load (peak load as 422 kW), as well as 3.3 MWh/day deferrable load (peak load as 500 kW). Sensitivity analysis is performed to deal with uncertainties such as the increase in electricity consumption and grid tariff, environmental changes, etc. From the simulation result, it is observed that the designed system is cost effective and environment friendly, which leads to 6.18 % annual cost savings and reduces CO2 emissions by 38.3 %. Sensitivity results indicate that the system is optimal and adaptable in a certain range of unanticipated variances with respect to best estimated value. Finally, an energy management strategy is developed for the optimal system to ensure reliable power during contingency and disturbances. The green and hybrid power system designed can be adaptable to any critical and large consumers of urban buildings

Key Aspects of Smart Grid Design for Distribution System Automation: Architecture and Responsibilities ☆

In the conventional distribution network, systems designed for the control of individual constituents are autonomous with each other with respect to architectures and controlling. Thus, centralized control and integrated functionality are the major challenges faced by the distribution system operators. To overcome these issues, the term “distribution system automation” came into picture by using information and communications technology (ICT)as a resolution that integrate all the critical constituents of a distribution system. This develops a smart environment at power distribution level, called as “smart microgrid” that can optimize the system economy and improve the system resiliency. The major challenge lies in distribution system automation is the selection of proper architecture and communications. In view of all these aspects, this paper present an overview of distribution system automation as a part of smartgrid initiatives and its important features viz., architecture layout and responsibilities

Efficacy of pregabalin versus nortriptyline in the treatment of chronic low backache with radiculopathy: an open label observational study

Background: The efficacy and safety of Pregabalin and Nortriptyline have been proved individually in low backache with radicular pain. However, there are limited number of studies comparing the efficacy of Pregabalin and Nortriptyline in Chronic Low Backache (CLBA) with radicular pain. Hence the present study was designed to determine the efficacy as well as tolerability of Pregabalin in comparison with that of Nortriptyline for reduction of pain in CLBA. The present study was an open label prospective observational study.Methods: Patients with CLBA, 15-60 years of age without specific cause and significant neurological deficit were included in the study. Severity of pain was assessed by Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). Patients were followed up at 2 and 4 weeks and their VAS scores and side effects were noted.Results: Both Pregabalin and Nortriptyline were effective in reducing pain, from baseline to 2 weeks and up to 4 weeks of treatment in chronic low backache with radicular pain, but there was no statistically significant difference between the two treatment groups. The incidences of side effects were less in the Nortriptyline treatment group as compared to Pregabalin.Conclusions: From the results of the present study it can be concluded that both Pregabalin and Nortriptyline were equally effective in the treatment of chronic low backache with radicular pain, but the incidence of adverse effects were more with Pregabalin as compared to Nortriptyline

Antimicrobial Activity of Graphene Oxide Contributes to Alteration of Key Stress-Related and Membrane Bound Proteins

Introduction: Antibacterial activity of graphene oxide (GO) has been extensively studied, wherein penetration of the bacterial cell membrane and oxidative stress are considered to play a major role in the bactericidal activity of GO. However, the specific mechanism responsible for the antibacterial activity of GO remains largely unknown. Hence, the goal of this study was to explore the mode of action of GO, via an in-depth proteomic analysis of the targeted bacteria. Methods: Staphylococcus aureus was grown in the presence of GO and samples were collected at different growth phases to examine the cell viability and to analyze the changes in protein expression. Antimicrobial efficiency of GO was tested by assessing bacterial viability, live/dead staining and scanning electron microscopy. The intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) induced by GO treatment were examined by fluorescence microscopy. Label-free quantitative proteomics analysis was performed to examine the differentially regulated proteins in S. aureus after GO treatment. Results: GO treatment was observed to reduce S. aureus viability, from 50 \ub1 17% after 4 h, to 93 \ub1 2% after 24 h. The live/dead staining confirmed this progressive antimicrobial effect of GO. SEM images revealed the wrapping of bacterial cells and their morphological disruption by means of pore formation due to GO insertion. GO treatment was observed to generate intracellular ROS, correlating to the loss of cell viability. The proteomics analysis revealed alteration in the expression of cell membrane, oxidative stress response, general stress response, and virulence-associated proteins in GO-treated bacterial cells. The time-dependent bactericidal activity of GO correlated with a higher number of differentially regulated proteins involved in the above.-mentioned processes. Conclusion: The obtained results suggest that the time-dependent bactericidal effect of GO is attributed to its wrapping/trapping ability, ROS production and due to physical disruption of the cell membrane

ANALYTICAL METHOD DEVELOPMENT & VALIDATION OF ARTEMETHER IN BULK DRUG BY RP- HPLC METHOD AS PER ICH GUIDELINES

Objective: An accurate, precise, rapid & economical RP-HPLC method was developed for the estimation of Artemether as per International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) guideline in pharmaceutical dosage form using ultraviolet (UV) detector. Methods: Elution was carried out using a mobile phase consisting of Acetonitrile & Methanol (50:50 v/v) and the flow rate was set to 1.6 ml/min at 216 nm, retention time for Artemether was found to be 1.330 min. Results: The method was found to be linear in the concentration range of 100-600 µg/ml, in the linearity study regression equation was found to be y = 0.199x – 1.133 & correlation coefficient was found to be 0.999. This method was Rugged and Robust in different testing criteria, LOD and LOQ were found to be 23.037µg/ml, 69.809µg/ml respectively. Accuracy study was done in 3 different concentration level i. e 50, 100, 150% & % recovery of the method was found to be 99.4%, 100.4%, 99.7% respectively in 3 different levels & mean recovery was 99.8%, so method was accurate. Conclusion: Results of all validation parameters were within the limits as per ICH guidelines. Â

Design of a Partial Resonant Inverter for solar photovoltaic applications

This paper presents a solar-powered Partial Resonant Inverter (PRI) interfaced with an asymmetrical cascaded nine-level inverter. The DC input of the proposed system is obtained using Solar Photovoltaic (SPV) panel. The input DC sources fed to the asymmetrical cascaded nine-level inverter are in the ratio of 1:3. The step modulated nine-level inverter works with a precalculated switching angle for a fixed modulation of 0.7. Compared to the conventional 50 Hz inverter and the multi-output transformer design, the proposed system is more compact because of the high-frequency AC link. The PRI ensures Zero Voltage Switching (ZVS) and reduces the switching losses. The proposed scheme has been validated in the MATLAB/ SIMULINK environment and an experimental prototype is built in the laboratory. Based on the investigations the Selective Harmonic Elimination (SHE) method gives superior performance when compared to the Optimal Harmonic Stepped Modulation (OHSM) method. From the results and comparative analysis, the proposed system uses fewer switches to obtain the nine-level output, uses the PRI setup with the multioutput transformer to make the design compact and improves the power quality of the system