Antibacterial Effect of various Concentrations of Sodium Hypochlorite and 2% Chlorhexidine combined with Proteolytic Enzyme against Enterococcus Faecalis Biofilm: An invitro study

AIM OF THE STUDY: To evaluate the antibacterial efficacy of various concentrations of sodium hypochlorite and Chlorhexidine combined with proteolytic enzyme in dentin - An invitro study. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the anti enterococcus faecalis efficacy using various concentrations of sodium hypochlorite (5.25%, 1% & 3%) and 2% Chlorhexidine combined with Trypsin, a proteolytic enzyme in root canal dentin. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Seventy five single rooted teeth were selected and the dentin specimens were prepared from the middle third of the root. Dentin specimens were immersed in peptone agar medium eppendorf tubes. Enterococcus faecalis strains were inoculated and cultured for 21 days at 370c. Then the dentin specimens were exposed to the experimental irrigants (5.25% Naocl, 3% Naocl + trypsin, 1%Naocl+trypsin, 2% chlorhexidine + trypsin, normal saline) and evaluated under confocal laser scanning microscope to determine the antibacterial efficacy of experimental irrigants. RESULTS: The results of the present study showed that all groups exhibited equal antibacterial effect except group 5:(Saline- negative control). There was no significant difference among groups 1,2,3,4.(P value > 0.05). Group 1, 2, 3, 4 showed significant difference when compared to Group 5 (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: There was no significant difference among the groups regarding antienterococcus faecalis activity except negative control. Based on the results of the present study, it can be concluded that the irrigation protocol with 1% trypsin followed by lower concentrations of sodium hypochlorite (1% & 3%) and 1% trypsin followed by 2% chlorhexidine showed equivalent antibacterial effect compared to 5.25% sodium hypochlorite. Further studies are needed to evaluate the effect of trypsin over the physical properties of root canal dentin

Novel, Ceramic Membrane System For Hydrogen Separation

Separation of hydrogen from coal gas represents one of the most promising ways to produce alternative sources of fuel. Ceramatec, teamed with CoorsTek and Sandia National Laboratories has developed materials technology for a pressure driven, high temperature proton-electron mixed conducting membrane system to remove hydrogen from the syngas. This system separates high purity hydrogen and isolates high pressure CO{sub 2} as the retentate, which is amenable to low cost capture and transport to storage sites. The team demonstrated a highly efficient, pressure-driven hydrogen separation membrane to generate high purity hydrogen from syngas using a novel ceramic-ceramic composite membrane. Recognizing the benefits and limitations of present membrane systems, the all-ceramic system has been developed to address the key technical challenges related to materials performance under actual operating conditions, while retaining the advantages of thermal and process compatibility offered by the ceramic membranes. The feasibility of the concept has already been demonstrated at Ceramatec. This project developed advanced materials composition for potential integration with water gas shift rectors to maximize the hydrogenproduction

Prevalence of Cardiac Shunt Lesions in patients with Migraine with Aura and without Aura.

Migraine headache is a common disabling condition which represents a significant healthcare burden. It is characterised by recurrent disabling attacks of headache associated with nausea, vomiting, hypersenstivity to light, sound, and smell and in a third of patients neurological aura symptoms. These aura symptoms are fully reversible visual, sensory or speech disturbances. Visual disturbances are common and last for 5 – 60 mins. The underlying neurological mechanism for aura is cortical spreading depression. Recent evidence found a significant association between patent foramen ovale and transient global amnesia. This finding prompted the suggestion that paradoxical microembolisation in the vertebrobasilar territory may cause transient global amnesia. Like transient global amnesia, migraine with visual aura is a paroxysmal disturbance in which a sudden dysfunction of cortical areas fed by the terminal branches of the basilar artery is believed to trigger the attack. Arteriovenous shunting of vasoactive substances from the venous to the arterial system through a patent foramen ovale in patents with migraine may affect endothelial function (van mokt et al.). In individuals with a right to left shunt, a lower dose of venous trigger substances may be needed to induce migraine because the shunt permits the pulmonary filter to be bypassed. Many studies have shown migraineurs who experience an aura are more likely to have a patent foramen ovale (48%) than the general population (20%). Right to left cardiac shunt at rest through a patent foramen ovale (PFO) is more common in migraineurs with aura (15%) than in control patients with patent foramen ovale who do not experience migraine (0%). This suggest that interatrial communication may play a role in the pathogenesis of migraines. Closure of patent foramen ovale had resolved symptoms of migraine with aura in 50% of patients and improved symptoms in other 50% of subjects. Many studies have demonstrated closure of patent foramen ovale reduce migraine symptoms . This study investigated the prevalence of cardiac shunt lesions in migraine patients with and without aura. The transesophageal contrast echocardiography has been done to detect intracardiac shunts in migraine patients with and without aura. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES : 1. To evaluate the frequency of cardiac shunt lesions in patients with migraine with aura and migraine without aura. 2. To correlate the variables of migraine with variables of shunt. 3. To compare the results of our study with that reported by other studies performed in various parts of the world. CONCLUSION : 1. The female to male ratio in our study was found to be 2.8:1.Female predilection was more in younger age group <35 years. 2. Shunt lesion was present in 34% of migraine with aura patients. But only in 5% of migraine without aura patients. 3. Osteum secundum type of atrial septal defect was found to be the mo st common shunt lesion in our 24% of migraine with aura patients. 4. Patent foramen ovale was found in 10% of migraine with aura patients. 5. Atrial septal defect of svc type was noticed in only 5% of migraine without aura patients. 6. Statistically significant number of migraine with aura patients had shunt lesions. 7. Transesophageal contrast echocardiography is valuable in patients with migraine more so in aura patients to detect shunt lesions. 8. Closure of the shunt in patients with migraine may ameliorate symptoms

Improvement of Grazing Lands for Better Livestock Production--A Case Study from Chitradurga District in India

Chitradurga is a highly drought prone district in the central dry zone of Karnataka, India, with a normal rainfall of 530 mm per annum. Over 85 per cent of cultivable area is rainfed and the livestock plays a vital role in rural income generation in this district. Improper management and overgrazing have resulted in most of the grazing resources declining to a poor, degraded condition. Regeneration of pasture land was vital in the villages due to three reasons - a) people\u27s livelihood dependency on livestock was considerable b) small ruminants played a vital role for landless farmers and c) lack of adequate fodder was a prime factor for low livestock productivity. To improve the livelihood of livestock farmers, a few interventions were made under World Bank funded National Agricultural Innovation Project through consortium approach in 10 project villages. Frequent interactions were held with the local livestock farmers to discuss about the importance of increasing the fodder resources in the villages to improve the income and to sustain their livelihood. They realized the importance of fodder and came forward to take up cultivation of perennial fodders and also, for the revitalization of grazing lands, locally known as kavals. The primary survey in the villages indicated that about 90 to 96 per cent of the small ruminant holders are dependent on these common property grazing resources for the fodder needs. The High Level Panel of Experts on food security and nutrition, constituted by FAO, has emphasized the importance of extending appropriate technologies and inputs, providing the needed credit and ensuring assured and remunerative marketing opportunities to the smallholders (HLPE, 2013). Such measures are also essential for revitalizing the degraded grasslands in this region

Analysing an Imbalanced Stroke Prediction Dataset Using Machine Learning Techniques

A stroke is a medical condition characterized by the rupture of blood vessels within the brain which can lead to brain damage. Various symptoms may be exhibited when the brain's supply of blood and essential nutrients is disrupted. To forecast the possibility of brain stroke occurring at an early stage using Machine Learning (ML) and Deep Learning (DL) is the main objective of this study. Timely detection of the various warning signs of a stroke can significantly reduce its severity. This paper performed a comprehensive analysis of features to enhance stroke prediction effectiveness. A reliable dataset for stroke prediction is taken from the Kaggle website to gauge the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. The dataset has a class imbalance problem which means the total number of negative samples is higher than the total number of positive samples. The results are reported based on a balanced dataset created using oversampling techniques. The proposed work used Smote and Adasyn to handle imbalanced problem for better evaluation metrics. Additionally, the hybrid Neural Network and Random Forest (NN-RF) utilizing the balanced dataset by Adasyn oversampling achieves the highest F1-score of 75% compared to the original unbalanced dataset and other benchmarking algorithms. The proposed algorithm with balanced data utilizing hybrid NN-RF achieves an accuracy of 84%. Advanced ML techniques coupled with thorough data analysis enhance stroke prediction. This study underscores the significance of data-driven methodologies, resulting in improved accuracy and comprehension of stroke risk factors. Applying these methodologies to medical fields can enhance patient care and public health outcomes. By integrating our discoveries, we can enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the public health system

Comparative Study of Ram Air Turbines based on Wind Tunnel Study for Specific Air Borne Energy Extraction

Ram Air Turbines (RAT) are used for emergency on-board power generation on aircraft and associated systems. Many studies on usage of RATs have shown promising results in terms of using RATs as a source of emergency on-board power generation. Many external podded systems on aircraft utilise RATs for self-sufficient adaptation. These pods generate their own power using RATs for their power requirements instead of depending on the mother aircraft power. Commercial cargo planes use RATs for generating emergency hydraulic power. A RAT was suggested to be used for emergency power, during failure of main alternator on a prototype aircraft. A specific requirement of the RAT was also to produce high drag for aerodynamic braking when deployed and concurrently generate electrical energy. Three models with different solidity were studied in wind tunnel at different wind speeds for suitability of this drag-energy combination. This paper presents the results of the study. Based on the results, a suitable RAT was selected for further analysis and ground trials

Robot-aided assessment of wrist proprioception

Introduction: Impaired proprioception severely affects the control of gross and fine motor function. However, clinical assessment of proprioceptive deficits and its impact on motor function has been difficult to elucidate. Recent advances in haptic robotic interfaces designed for sensorimotor rehabilitation enabled the use of such devices for the assessment of proprioceptive function. Purpose: This study evaluated the feasibility of a wrist robot system to determine proprioceptive discrimination thresholds for two different DoFs of the wrist. Specifically, we sought to accomplish three aims: first, to establish data validity; second, to show that the system is sensitive to detect small differences in acuity; third, to establish test–retest reliability over repeated testing. Methodology: Eleven healthy adult subjects experienced two passive wrist movements and had to verbally indicate which movement had the larger amplitude. Based on a subject’s response data, a psychometric function was fitted and the wrist acuity threshold was established at the 75% correct response level. A subset of five subjects repeated the experimentation three times (T1, T2, and T3) to determine the test–retest reliability. Results: Mean threshold for wrist flexion was 2.15° ± 0.43° and 1.52° ± 0.36° for abduction. Encoder resolutions were 0.0075° (flexion–extension) and 0.0032° (abduction–adduction). Motor resolutions were 0.2°(flexion–extension) and 0.3° (abduction–adduction). Reliability coefficients were rT2-T1 = 0.986 and rT3-T2 = 0.971. Conclusion: We currently lack established norm data on the proprioceptive acuity of the wrist to establish direct validity. However, the magnitude of our reported thresholds is physiological, plausible, and well in line with available threshold data obtained at the elbow joint. Moreover, system has high resolution and is sensitive enough to detect small differences in acuity. Finally, the system produces reliable data over repeated testing

Utilisation of Ram Air Turbine on a Fighter Platform for Energy Extraction Failure Mode Study

Aircraft electrical system needs to be robust enough to cater for electrical power requirements of all the systems of the aircraft and all the safety/degraded mission critical systems in failure modes. Designing such a robust electrical system for a developmental aircraft program is a challenge. A developmental aircraft during its various phases would involve integration of additional systems and new weapons (in case of fighter aircraft). Integration of newer systems imposes fresh challenges in managing the electrical system architecture especially in failure modes. Weapon integration in a prototype fighter program is dynamic as newer contemporary weapons are developed at faster pace and ever evolving. Power crisis through existing on-board power generation systems in failure mode was felt during an indigenous aircraft development program. A novel idea of introducing a Ram Air Turbine and utilize the power generated during main alternator failure for critical systems was studied. The intention of this paper is to cover the details of the study carried out towards utlisation of such a Ram Air Turbine in landing phase for extraction of energy in case of main alternator failure

Application of simultaneous active and reactive power modulation of SMES unit under unequal mode for power system stabilization

Vol.14, No. 2, May 199

Socio-Economic and Occupational Status of The Fisherman Community in Thoothukudi District

This research study aims to examine the socioeconomic and occupational status of the fisherman community in the Thoothukudi district, located in the southern part of Tamil Nadu, India. The fishing community plays a vital role in the region's economy, contributing to the livelihoods of numerous households and supporting the local fishery industry. The study adopts a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews to gather comprehensive data on various aspects of the fisherman community's socioeconomic conditions and occupational dynamics. A representative sample of fishermen and their families residing in different coastal villages within the Thoothukudi district will be selected for data collection. The quantitative phase involves administering structured surveys to collect data on demographic characteristics, education levels, household income, asset ownership, and access to social welfare programs. Additionally, information related to occupational factors such as fishing techniques, equipment, fishing practices, and income generated from fishing activities will be collected. The qualitative phase comprises in-depth interviews with a subset of participants to explore their perceptions, challenges, and aspirations related to their occupation and socio-economic circumstances. The qualitative data will provide a nuanced understanding of the fisherman community's lived experiences, social networks, and community support systems. The collected data will be analyzed using appropriate statistical methods and qualitative thematic analysis techniques. The findings of this research are expected to shed light on the current socioeconomic and occupational status of the fisherman community in the Thoothukudi district. The study will also identify key challenges and opportunities faced by the community, including issues related to poverty, education, healthcare, and infrastructure. The results of this study can inform policymakers, government agencies, and non-governmental organizations working towards the welfare and development of the fisherman community. By understanding the socio-economic and occupational dynamics, stakeholders can design targeted interventions and policies to enhance the livelihoods, well-being, and sustainable development of the fisherman community in the Thoothukudi district and similar coastal regions