EXPERIMENTAL AND THEORETICAL DETERMINATION OF STRUCTURAL, VIBRATIONAL, MOLECULAR, ELECTRONIC, NLO, NBO, AND THERMODYNAMIC CHARACTERISTICS OF PENTABROMOPHENOL AND PENTAFLUROPHENOL#.

Fourier Transform Raman (3500-100 \wn) and Fourier Transform infrared spectra (4000-400 \wn) were measured for Pentabromophenol (PBP) and Pentaflurophenol (PFP). UV-Visible (200-400 nm) spectrum, along with 1H and 13C NMR spectra were also recorded, for PBP. Torsional potentials, optimized structure parameters, barrier height to internal rotation, harmonic vibrational frequencies, general valance force field, potential energy distribution (PED), along with infrared and Raman intensities were evaluated, for PBP and PFP. DFT was used in conjunction with B3LYP functional with 6-311++G(d,p) basis set, for the computations. Scaling process was employed to get a better fit between the measured and computed frequencies. The rms error between them was 9.7 and 7.0 \wn, for PBP and PFP, respectively. Unambiguous vibrational assignments were arrived at by using PED and eigenvectors. In order to understand the nature of intermolecular hydrogen bond in these molecules geometry optimization was made for dimers of PBP and PFP. Further, using Gauge Independent Atomic orbital (GIAO) approach 1H and 13C NMR chemical shifts were evaluated and compared with corresponding experimentally measured shifts for PBP. In the same way, Time-dependent Density Functional Theory (TD-DFT) was used to simulate UV-Visible spectrum of PBP and compared with its experimental spectrum. HOMO and LUMO energies along with associated electronic parameters were generated. In order to find reactive sites in PBP and PFP molecular electrostatic surface potential (MESP) diagrams were drawn. The values of dipole moment, polarizability and hyperpolarizability of these molecules were computed to determine their NLO behavior. To understand the stability of the molecules (PBP and PFP) caused by charge delocalization, natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis was made for both PBP and PFP. Thermodynamic parameters were also evaluated for both the molecules. \\ Key words: Pentabromophenol, Pentaflurophenol, Vibrational spectra, Intermolecular hydrogen bond, DFT, Hyperpolarizability \# A part of this work appeared in J. Mol. Struct. 1180 (2019) 665-675 \

A NEW STABILITY-INDICATING RP-HPLC-PDA METHOD FOR SIMULTANEOUS ESTIMATION OF TRIPLICATE MIXTURE OF RAMIPRIL, ATORVASTATIN AND CLOPIDOGREL IN TABLET DOSAGE FORM

Objective: To develop a novel, accurate, precise and linear reverse phase high performance liquid chromatographic (RP-HPLC) method for simultaneous quantitative estimation of ramipril, atorvastatin and clopidogrel in Atamra-CV tablet and validate as per international conference on harmonization (ICH) guidelines and to perform the force degradation studies using the developed method.Methods: In the present work, the good chromatographic separation was achieved isocratically using a shim-pack HPLC Kromasil 150 mm x 4.6 mm, 5 m. m. And mobile phase consisting of 0.05 M potassium dihydrogen orthophosphate pH 3 adjusted with orthophosphoric acid and acetonitrile in the ratio (52:48), at flow rate 1 ml/min and column temperature (30 °C). The effluents obtained were monitored at 210 nm with the UV-visible detector.Results: The retention time of ramipril, atorvastatin and clopidogrel was found to be 2.893 min, 5.012 min and 6.102 min respectively. The linearity of ramipril, atorvastatin and clopidogrel was found in the range of 25-150 % and the correlation coefficient for ramipril, atorvastatin and clopidogrel were>0.999. The high recovery values (98%-101%) indicate a satisfactory accuracy. The low percent relative standard deviation (% RSD) values in the precision study reveals that the method is precise. The three-drug samples were subjected to stress conditions of acidic and alkaline hydrolysis, oxidation, photolysis and thermal degradation. The proposed method proved to be stability-indicating by resolution of the analytes from their forced-degradation products.Conclusion: The developed method is novel, simple, precise, rapid, accurate and reproducible for simultaneous estimation of ramipril, atorvastatin and clopidogrel tablet dosage form. Hence the proposed method may find practical applications as a quality-control tool in the simultaneous analysis of the three drugs in combined dosage forms in quality-control laboratories. The proposed method was made use of photodiode array (PDA) as a tool for peak identification and purity confirmation

A prospective study on clinical profile and incidence of acute kidney injury due to hair dye poisoning

Background: Globally suicides are mounting at an alarming rate over the last few decades thus claiming the most productive age group of the society. Developing country like India is no exception to this needless increasing toll.Methods: This study was a prospective observational study with 31 patients recruited at Osmania General Hospital between November 2011 – October 2013. Patients of alleged hair dye ingestion admitted in MICU were taken up for study after the exclusion criteria were ruled out. Informed consent was obtained from every patient or patient’s relatives. All routine laboratory investigations were done basing on standard clinical procedures and protocols and patient related clinical information were recorded on the prepared proforma from the time of hospital admission till discharge or death. The presence of AKI was defined and graded as per the RIFLE criteria.Results: The present work examines 31 cases of suicidal ingestion of hair dye, out of which males were 6 (19.35%) and females were 25 (80.64%). It was observed that the tendency to commit suicide was more in the age group 21 -30 years with males (30%) and females (70%). 19% of total patients who ingested more than 50 ml of dye had developed Acute Kidney injury requiring hemodialysis. Upon treatment about 58% of patients were discharged from hospital in good general health condition, Four patients expired due to respiratory complications with pneumonia, ARDS, sepsis and ARF.Conclusions: So in current scenario of emerging hair dye poisoning, it is imperative for a timely intervention by reducing the time of admission in hospital and also early management by clinicians is the need of an hour

Structural Effects of Various Commonly used Disinfectant Solutions on Gutta-Percha: An Atomic Force Microscopic Study

Introduction: Gutta-percha cones can be contaminated by various ways. Literature revealed several methods for rapid decontamination of gutta-percha cones in dentistry. Atomic force microscope (AFM) is a well-established methodology for structural characterization of materials. Aim: The purpose of the study is to evaluate the effects of 5% sodium hypochlorite 2% chlorhexidine, 2.2% glutaraldehyde, 6% hydrogen peroxide on the surface structure of standardizedgutta-percha cones in their respective cold sterilization times 1, 10, 15, 10 minutes respectively as found in many studies. Materials and methods: Forty standardized gutta-percha cones (ISO standardized size 60) were cut 3 mm from the tip, attached to a glass base and immersed in 5% sodium hypochlorite, 2% chlorhexidine, 2.2% glutaraldehyde, 6% hydrogen peroxide for 1, 10, 15, 10 minutes. After this, the samples were positioned in the atomic force microscope. Theanalyses were performed between 1 and 2 mm from the tip after each period of immersion in NaOCl. Gutta-percha cone without any NaOCl treatment were used as control. Root mean square (RMS) parameters for contact mode imaging variations were measured. Results: The differences between RMS values were testedby ANOVA with Fisher’s protected LSD test for multiple comparisons (p < 0.05). Aggressive deteriorative effects on gutta-percha cone elasticity were observed for 5.25% NaOCl at 1 minute when compared to the control (p < 0.05). In addition, 2% chlorhexidine has caused topographic changes after 15 minutes when compared to the control (p < 0.05). Conversely, 2.2% glutaraldehyde, 6% hydrogen peroxide solution did cause minimal alteration on topography or elasticity of gutta-percha cone structure when compared to the control (p > 0.05). Conclusion: Six percent hydrogen peroxide and 2.2% glutaraldehyde are safe alternative for chair side decontamination of gutta-percha cones when compared to 5.25% NaOCl and 2% chlorhexidine.&nbsp

Identification of Novel QTLs for BPH Tolerance in Rice Using Resistant Donor BM 71

Rice is the most widely grown crop in the world, feeding half of the world’s population. Brown plant hopper (BPH) is a considerable risk to rice fields carrying 20-90% yield losses. Hopper burn can be effectively managed by the recognition and use of BPH genes. Marker based genetic analysis of 136 RILcollected from a high yielding susceptible variety, MTU 3626 and BM 71, a BPH donor developed at RARS, identified 3 minor novel QTLs viz; qmbph2.1,qmbph4.1 and qmbph12.1 on chromosomes 2, 4 and 12 and two other QTLson chromosome 5 and 7, namelyqmbph5.1 and qmbph7.1. The phenotyping of RIL’s revealed that ten RIL’s (2711 – 31, 2711 – 37, 2711 – 50, 2711 – 69, 2711 – 84, 2711 – 88, 2711 – 94, 2711 – 100, 2711 – 168 and 2711 – 191) recorded yields comparable to checks, Swarna and Pushyami along with BPH score similar to donor. The BPH resistance lines recognised will be further evaluated, and the confirmed lines can be employed in rice breeding programs

ARE THE SIDE EFFECTS OF PARACETAMOL BOOSTED BY CAFFEINE??

Paracetamol (acetaminophen) with caffeine is a combination medicine indicated for the temporary relief of pain and discomfort associated with a number of conditions such as headache or muscle pain. Paracetamol has a narrow safety margin and there are number of risks associated with paracetamol. It is only safe and effective when used according to directions on OTC (Over- The-Counter) and Rx labelling. However, long-term use of paracetamol increases the risk of kidney and liver failure and makes people more vulnerable to high blood pressure and strokes.  Chronic or excessive administration of caffeine has been implicated in a range of dysfunctions involving the liver, renal system, gastrointestinal system, and musculature. A patient taking the combination of paracetamol with caffeine may be more likely to experience adverse effects than to get improved analgesia, compared with paracetamol alone. Keywords: Paracetamol, Caffeine, OTC, Hepatic ToxicityÂ

A Comprehensive Analysis on Risk Prediction of Heart Disease using Machine Learning Models

Most of the deaths worldwide are caused by heart disease and the disease has become a major cause of morbidity for many people. In order to prevent such deaths, the mortality rate can be greatly reduced through regular monitoring and early detection of heart disease. Heart disease diagnosis has grown to be a challenging task in the field of clinically provided data analysis. Predicting heart disease is a highly demanding and challenging task with pure accuracy, but it is easy to figure out using advanced Machine Learning (ML) techniques. A Machine Learning approach has been shown to predict heart disease in this approach. By doing this, the disease can be predicted early and the mortality rate and severity can be reduced. The application of machine learning techniques is advancing significantly in the medical field. Interpreting these analyzes in this methodology, which has been shown to specifically aim to discover important features of heart disease by providing ML algorithms for predicting heart disease, has resulted in improved predictive accuracy. The model is trained using classification algorithms such as Decision Tree (DT), K-Nearest Neighbors (K-NN), Random Forest (RF), Support Vector Machine (SVM). The performance of these four algorithms is quantified in different aspects such as accuracy, precision, recall and specificity. SVM has been shown to provide the best performance in this approach for different algorithms although the accuracy varies in different cases

Blockchain-Enabled On-Path Caching for Efficient and Reliable Content Delivery in Information-Centric Networks

As the demand for online content continues to grow, traditional Content Distribution Networks (CDNs) are facing significant challenges in terms of scalability and performance. Information-Centric Networking (ICN) is a promising new approach to content delivery that aims to address these issues by placing content at the center of the network architecture. One of the key features of ICNs is on-path caching, which allows content to be cached at intermediate routers along the path from the source to the destination. On-path caching in ICNs still faces some challenges, such as the scalability of the cache and the management of cache consistency. To address these challenges, this paper proposes several alternative caching schemes that can be integrated into ICNs using blockchain technology. These schemes include Bloom filters, content-based routing, and hybrid caching, which combine the advantages of off-path and on-path cachings. The proposed blockchain-enabled on-path caching mechanism ensures the integrity and authenticity of cached content, and smart contracts automate the caching process and incentivize caching nodes. To evaluate the performance of these caching alternatives, the authors conduct experiments using real-world datasets. The results show that on-path caching can significantly reduce network congestion and improve content delivery efficiency. The Bloom filter caching scheme achieved a cache hit rate of over 90% while reducing the cache size by up to 80% compared to traditional caching. The content-based routing scheme also achieved high cache hit rates while maintaining low latency

Assessment of ground water quality in an industrial agglomeration of Visakhapatnam, A. P

ABSTRACT Ground water is increasingly used for domestic, agricultural, industrial and other activities. Quality of water is the most important factor for any use; be it domestic or any other purposes. Indiscriminate use of ground water deteriorates the quality and quantity of water. The present work reports the physico-chemical characteristics of the ground waters collected from an industrialized urban agglomeration of Visakhapatnam city, Andhra Pradesh. The physicochemical parameters include pH, Turbidity, Conductivity, Total Dissolved Solids, Chlorides, Sulphates, Total Hardness, Calcium, Magnesium, Total Alkalinity, Nitrates and Fluorides. Though the data show that majority of the values are compatible with the maximum allowable standards recommended by BIS, still in depth studies are to be carried out to decide its suitability for safe drinking and domestic use. It is possible that the concentration of the dissolved impurities may increase further if the recommended norms for discharging industrial effluents are not adhered

Effect of Recombinant Cytokines on the Expression of Natural Killer Cell Receptors from Patients with TB or/and HIV Infection

BACKGROUND: NK cells express several specialized receptors through which they recognize and discriminate virally-infected/tumor cells efficiently from healthy cells and kill them. This ability to lyse is regulated by an array of inhibitory or activating receptors. The present study investigated the frequency of various NK receptors expressed by NK cell subsets from HIV-infected TB patients. The effect of IL-15+IL-12 stimulation on the expression of NK receptors was also studied. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The study included 15 individuals each from normal healthy subjects, pulmonary tuberculosis patients, HIV-infected individuals and patients with HIV and tuberculosis co-infection. The expression of NK cell receptors was analyzed on two NK cell subsets within the peripheral blood: CD16+CD3- and CD56+CD3- using flow cytometry. The expression of inhibitory receptors (CD158a, CD158b, KIRp70, CD85j and NKG2A) on NK subsets was increased in HIV, when compared to NHS. But the response in HIV-TB was not uniform. Stimulation with IL-15+IL-12 dropped (p<0.05) the expression of CD85j and NKG2A in HIV. The basal expression of natural cytotoxicity receptors (NKp30 and NKp46) on NK cell subsets was lowered (p<0.05) in HIV and HIV-TB as compared to NHS. However, the expression of NKp44 and NKG2D was elevated in HIV. Enhanced NKp46 and NKG2D expression was observed in HIV with IL-15+IL-12 stimulation. The coreceptor NKp80 was found to be expressed in higher numbers on NK subsets from HIV compared to NHS, which elevated with IL-15+IL-12 stimulation. The expression of NK receptors and response to stimulation was primarily on CD56+CD3- subset. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: IL-15+IL-12 has an immunomodulatory effect on NK cell subsets from HIV-infected individuals viz down-regulation of iNKRs, elevation of activatory receptors NKp46 and NKG2D, and induction of coreceptor NKp80. IL-15+IL-12 is not likely to be of value when co-infected with TB probably due to the influence of tuberculosis