Prophylactic Efficacy of Cinnarizine versus Propranolol in the Treatment of Childhood Migraine: A Single-Blind Randomized Clinical Trial

Background Although the development of effective and safe treatments for prophylaxis of migraine headaches represents an important public health concern, only a few medications have been approved by the specific treatment of patients with migraine. We aimed to compare the efficacy of cinnarizine with propranolol in the prophylaxis of pediatric migraine headache. Materials and Methods  In a Randomized Clinical Trial, children aged 6-14 years were selected from the patients with migraine admitted to the neurology clinic of Bandar Abbas pediatric Hospital, affiliated to Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences, Bandar Abbas, Iran. Eligible patients (n, 56) were randomly divided into two groups, each comprising 28 patients: the first group administered cinnarizine (37.5 mg/day in children aged 6–12 years and 50 mg/day in children aged 12–17 years), and the second group received propranolol (1-mg/kg/day). The frequency, severity of headaches over the trial period were assessed.   Results: After two months of treatment, both groups had significant reduction in headache frequency in comparison with baseline period (p= 0.047), although this difference between groups was not statistically significant. In addition, the mean severe migraine attacks at the end of the second month was significantly lower in the cinnarizine group compared with the propranolol group (p=0.048).  At the end of the study 64% (n=18) of patients who had received the cinnarizine and 57% (n=16) of patients who had administered the propranolol, the drugs appeared to have a preventative effect on their headaches. Conclusion: According to the results, Cinnarizine appeared as effective as propranolol for the prophylactic treatment of childhood migraine

Clodinafop-Propargyl Resistance Genes in Lolium rigidum Guad. Populations Are Associated with Fitness Costs

Amino acid substitutions that confer herbicide-resistance may cause fitness costs in mutant plants at unfavorable levels in contrast to wild-species. The fitness costs in three Lolium rigidum populations (AH3 (Ile-2041-Asn) and BO2 (Ile-1781-Leu) as resistant (R) to clodinafop-propargyl, an ACCase (acetyl-CoAcarboxylase) inhibitor, carrying the mutations 1781 and 2041, respectively, and HF as susceptible (S)) were studied during 2014 and 2016. The germination rates and percentages of the three L. rigidum populations, and competition between them and Triticum aestivum using substitution series experiments were assessed. The BO2 and AH3 populations showed resistance to clodinafop-propargyl due to mutations in their ACCase genes. The germination rate for L. rigidum decreased as the sowing depth increased, with the lowest germination rate being found at 8 cm. AH3 and HF populations presented higher seed germination under water and NaCl salinity stress, but no fitness cost variations were observed among these R populations under optimal growth conditions. Diverse germination responses to light conditions were observed between the S and R L. rigidum populations. The highest germination percentage was observed in the HF population at the two-week lighting + two-week darkness regime. The comparison of relative yield total and relative crowding coefficient showed that T. aestivum was more competitive than L. rigidum. However, among ACCase-resistant L. rigidum populations, AH3 population was the most competitive presenting no fitness costs. This R population was more competitive than the S (HF) one under competitive conditions. These results show that fitness costs in the R L. rigidum populations vary according to the specific mutation at the ACCase gene that confers resistance to clodinafop-propargyl. In conclusion, mutations occurring at the 2041 position in the ACCase gene caused fitness costs, but those occurring at the 1781 position did not generate fitness costs for L. rigidum. Therefore, non-chemical methods should be considered unfavorable for resistant populations of this species

Composite patch reinforcement of a cracked simply-supported beam traversed by moving mass

In this study dynamic analysis of a metallic beam under travelling mass was investigated. A beam with an edge crack was considered to be reinforced using composite patch. Euler-Bernoulli beam theory was applied to simulate the time-history behavior of the beam under dynamic loading. Crack in the beam was modeled using a rotational spring. Dimension of the composite patch, crack length, stress intensity factor at crack tip and beam deflection are some parameters which were studied in details. Results were validated against those which were found through Finite Element Method

Analysis of Cantilever Beam Deflection under Uniformly Distributed Load using Artificial Neural Networks

In this study the deflection of a cantilever beam was simulated under the action of uniformly distributed load. The large deflection of the cantilever beam causes the non-linear behavior of beam. The prupose of this study is to predict the deflection of a cantilever beam using Artificial Neural Networks (ANN). The simulation of the deflection was carried out in MATLAB by using 2-D Finite Element Method (FEM) to collect the training data for the ANN. The predicted data was then verified again through a non linear 2-D geometry problem solver, FEM. Loads in different magnitudes were applied and the non-linear behaviour of the beam was then recorded. It was observed that, there is a close agreement between the predicted data from ANN and the results simulated in the FEM

Analysis of Cantilever Beam Deflection under Uniformly Distributed Load using Artificial Neural Networks

In this study the deflection of a cantilever beam was simulated under the action of uniformly distributed load. The large deflection of the cantilever beam causes the non-linear behavior of beam. The prupose of this study is to predict the deflection of a cantilever beam using Artificial Neural Networks (ANN). The simulation of the deflection was carried out in MATLAB by using 2-D Finite Element Method (FEM) to collect the training data for the ANN. The predicted data was then verified again through a non linear 2-D geometry problem solver, FEM. Loads in different magnitudes were applied and the non-linear behaviour of the beam was then recorded. It was observed that, there is a close agreement between the predicted data from ANN and the results simulated in the FEM

Vibration Analysis of Self-Healing Hybrid Composite Beam Under Moving Mass

In this study vibration analysis of hybrid epoxy composite beam under moving mass was investigated. Composite beam was reinforced unidirectional by carbon fibres and Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) wires. There is an open crack in the middle of the beam that is extended transversely in the beam structure and modelled as local flexibility. SMA fibres were embedded longitudinally in the layer of epoxy to heal the defected area by strain recovery. The Timoshenko beam model was used and the beam at the crack area was divided into two segments. Transfer Matrix Method (TMM) was then applied to solve the problem. Various volume fractions of wires in the epoxy were studied and found that, volume fraction of 2.5% can repair the defected beam as healthy one. It was observed that, using high volume fraction of SMA wires can significantly reduce deflection. Moreover, it was achieved SMA wires with volume fraction of 15% is capable to increase natural frequency of cracked beam 9.6%. Stress Intensity Factor (SIF) at the crack tip was studied and the recovery of the mode I SIF as a result of embedded wires revealed. The effect of various volume fractions of SMA wires, mass speed and crack depth were studied as well. There is a proper adjustment between the current results and those which were found through FEM

Thermo-mechanical behaviour of smart composite beam under quasi-static loading

Experimental and numerical studies on a hybrid composite smart beam under quasi-static loading were carried out. The composite beam is consisted of two layers; carbon fibre/epoxy and SMA wire/epoxy layer. Carbon fibres as well as SMA wires were embedded in the host epoxy unidirectionally. SMA wires were programmed before being embedded in the composite beam. All thermo-mechanical properties associated with SMA wires were experimentally determined. A constant flexural load was initially applied to the middle of a simply-supported beam and temperature of the beam was then increased. The beam was heated using a thermal-chamber. During the heating process the deflection of the beam at midpoint was measured and the behaviour of the hybrid beam under incremental load was investigated. It was observed that, the presence of embedded SMA wires in the beam can effectively reduce deflection. Furthermore, using high volume fraction of fibres can cause buckling in the opposite direction of lateral force. Experimental results were compared against FE method and a perfect fit was obtained

The Joint Action of Some Broadleaf Herbicides on Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) Weeds and Photosynthetic Performance of Potato

Herbicide mixtures are a modern weed management practice as they reduce herbicide application. This study aimes to evaluate the effect of metribuzin, halosulfuron and flumioxazin applied individually and as mixtures (metribuzin:halosulfuron and metribuzin:flumioxazin) on Chenopodium album, Amaranthus retroflexus, and potatoes on biomass and chlorophyll-a fluorescence in 21 experiments. The individual herbicide experimental design was a randomized completely block design with seven doses and three replications. The factorial experiments were performed on the basis of randomized completely block design in three replications for binary mixture experiments. Flumioxazin was very potent in controlling C. album, A. retroflexus, and injured potatoes with a 50% effective dose (ED50) of 1.21, 0.54, and 12.23 g ai·ha−1, respectively. Both mixtures of metribuzin:halosulfuron and metribuzin:flumioxazin generally showed an antagonistic effect on both weeds and potato in 12 independent experiments. Metribuzin, halosulfuron, and flumioxazin significantly decreased photosystem II activity by decreasing the maximum quantum efficiency (Fv/Fm). The metribuzin:halosulfuron mixtures almost followed the Additive Dose Model for Fv/Fm, whilst there was an antagonistic effect for the metribuzin:flumioxazin that was closely related to biomass. The results indicated that mixtures were generally antagonistic, and the endpoint choice is pivotal when assessing the joint action of mixtures

The Survival Response of Earthworm (Eisenia fetida L.) to Individual and Binary Mixtures of Herbicides

Frequent use of herbicides may impose a risk on non-target species. The objective was to test the combined toxic effect of binary herbicide mixtures—metribuzin:halosulfuron and metribuzin:flumioxazin—on non-target earthworms in two test systems: filter paper and a soil toxicity test system. The joint action experiments were independently run twice to substantiate the findings. The most potent individual herbicide was metribuzin, with a 50% lethal concentration (LC50) of 17.17 µg ai. cm−2 at 48 h in the filter paper test. The toxicity of the individual herbicides on the filter paper test was ranked as metribuzin>halosulfuron>flumioxazin. In the soil test, metribuzin and halosulfuron had high toxicity with an LC50 of 8.48 and 10.08 mg ai. kg−1, respectively, on day 14. Thus, the individual herbicide ranking did not change between the filter paper and artificial soil tests. The herbicide’s mixed effect in both test systems showed a consistent antagonistic effect relative to a Concentration Addition reference model. It indicates that the mixtures retracted the herbicide’s action in the earthworms

Process Optimization of In Situ Magnetic-Anisotropy Spark Plasma Sintering of M-Type-Based Barium Hexaferrite BaFe12O19

This paper introduces a new spark plasma sintering technique that is able to order crystalline anisotropy by in-series/in situ DC electric coupled magnetic field. The process control parameters have been investigated on the production of anisotropic BaFe12O19 magnets based on resulted remanence (Mr). Sintering holding time (H.T.), cooling rate (C.R.), pressure (P), and sintering temperature (S.T.) are optimized by Taguchi with L9 orthogonal array (OA). The remanent magnetization of nanocrystalline BaFe12O19 in parallel (Mrǁ) and perpendicular (MrꞱ) to the applied magnetic field was regarded as a measure of performance. The Taguchi study calculated optimum process parameters, which significantly improved the sintering process based on the confirmation tests of BaFe12O19 anisotropy. The magnetic properties in terms of Mrǁ and MrꞱ were greatly affected by sintering temperature and pressure according to ANOVA results. In addition, regression models were developed for predicting the Mrǁ as well as MrꞱ respectively