Antibiotic susceptibility pattern of extended spectrum β-lactamase ESBL producing gram negative bacilli in a tertiary care teaching hospital, Bareilly, India

Background: The increasing prevalence of infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria makes empirical treatment of these infections difficult. Resistance to a wide variety of common antimicrobials has made the proliferation of extended spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) producing strains a serious global health concern that has complicated treatment strategies and is very alarming. This study was undertaken to identify ESBL production in various gram negative bacilli isolated and to further study the antibiogram of ESBL producers and their contribution towards anti-microbial resistance.Methods: A total of 2008 samples were taken and studied for positive bacterial growth. Presence of ESBL positivity was detected using Kirby-Bauer sensitivity testing method and their antibiogram was studied. Data was analysed using IBM SPSS version 20. Chi-square test was applied wherever applicable to check the significant difference among the different groups. p value of ≤0.05 was considered to be significant.Results: A total of 2008 samples were studied. Out of which 655 gave positive bacterial growth and amongst these 312 were ESBL producers. Resistance to multiple classes of antibiotics was observed among ESBL producers and mostly imipenem, colistin and polymyxin B were the antibiotics which were sensitive to most of the strains.Conclusions: The frequency of ESBL producing strains among clinical isolates has been steadily increasing. Advance drug resistance surveillance and development of newer antibiotics is necessary to guide the appropriate and judicious antibiotic use

Design of Efficient Power Filter with Reduced Distortion Using Control Algorithm

The electrical distribution system is facing undesirable power quality disturbances due to different types of linear/nonlinear loads on the supply system. The objective of the project is to reduce the distortion level in voltage or current input to the load and at the output of the filter. To design a simple but highly viable hybrid active power buffer that is capable of feeding less distorted voltage to the nonlinear load model. To present an optimal controlling of these buffers so as to minimize the voltage distortion by designing a different algorithm for the same. Comparing the THD levels of the output voltage waveform with the standard controlling method with the proposed control design to further enhance the proposed design such that it is practically feasible to be implemented in grid system having renewable energy resources. In this work, a power filter has been designed using different algorithms with an objective to reduce the Total Harmonic Distortion in the voltage output waveforms. The total harmonic distortion in the voltage output waveform being fed to the load using only the PQ_RLS algorithm is found to be 2.18 %. In the case of the output voltage from the power buffer using PQ_RLS algorithm, the THD level is 0.17 %. The distortion level in the output voltage waveforms in both the cases being fed to the load when compared, it is found that RLS algorithm in combination with PQ algorithm is more effective in reducing the distortion as compared to standard RLS method or PQ method

Correlation between hyperuricemia and lipid profile in untreated dyslipidemic patients

There are a number of epidemiological studies that suggest the association of cardiovascular diseases and uric acid but very few studies highlight the direct association of deranged lipid profile with uric acid levels. The present study was  indented to find out if any association exists between hyperuricemia and dyslipidemia. Blood samples were collected from healthy controls (n=70) and patients with dyslipidemia (n=70) who were not receiving any treatment for  dyslipidemia. These samples were processed for estimating lipid profile and uric acid levels. The parameters in the two groups were compared. Correlation between different parameters was calculated by Pearson correlation analysis in both the groups. Uric acid levels (6.40 ± 1.27 vs 4.89 ± 0.21 mg/dl, P<0.001) were significantly higher in patients as compared to those in controls. There was significant increase in the levels of total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TAGs), LDL-C, VLDL-C, non-HDL cholesterol (P<0.001 in each case), in patients of dyslipidemia. However, significant decrease in the levels of HDL-C (P<0.001) was seen in patients compared to controls. LDL-C/HDL-C ratio (P<0.001), TC/HDL-C ratio (P<0.001) and TAG/HDL-C ratio (P<0.001) were also significantly increased in dyslipidemic subjects when compared to controls. Uric acid had significant  correlations with TC (r=0.334, P<0.001), TAGs (r = 0.288, P<0.001), LDL-C (r = 0.241, P<0.001), VLDL-C (r= 0.158, P<0.001) and HDL-C (r= –0.652, P<0.001) in patients. Results of this study imply that there is higher association of  hyperuricemia in dyslipidemic patients than normal subjects. Therefore treatment of underlying hyperuricemia should be an important aspect in planning the treatment strategy for dyslipidemia to reduce the cardiovascular morbidity.Keywords: Cardiovascular disease; Coronary artery disease; Dyslipidemia;Hyperuricemia; Lipid rati

Design of a meta-assembler for microprogramming and a survey of microprogram optimization techniques

The purpose of this thesis is to develop and implement a meta-assembler for microprogramming. Different methods for optimizing microprogram execution and storage are also investigated. The meta-assembler is of an adaptive type. It allows complete flexibility in the definition of the target machine op-codes and microinstruction field formats. The assembly process consists of two main phases. In the first phase the assembler builds a description of the target machine in terms of its microinstruction field format definitions. In the second phase the source program is assembled into object microcode. The assembler is written in the language Pascal. The assembler is fast, efficient and the syntax allows easy development of source code. Different techniques for optimization of execution time and storage of microprograms are investigated, these include the description of the high level language SIMPL which allows high level microprogramming and generates optimized horizontal microcode --Abstract, page ii

Cumulative effect of systemic inflammation and oxidative stress in 40 known cases of active rheumatoid arthritis

Background: Oxidative stress has been implicated in the pathophysiology of a number of diseases such as cancer, hypertension and inflammatory diseases. Although previous evidences provided extensive literature about the biological role of antioxidant enzymes in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), there is a paucity of satisfactory explanation regarding the alteration in the level of antioxidant enzymes along with marker of systemic inflammation in RA. The objective of present study was to estimate the level of C-reactive protein (CRP), Superoxide dismutase (SOD), Catalase (CAT), Glutathione peroxidase (GSHPx) and Ceruloplasmin in active RA patients.Methods: 40 patients of either sex (30-50 years age group) suffering from active RA and 40 normal healthy individuals served as control; were included in the study. Above mentioned parameters were estimated using standard methods and data from patients and controls were compared by using Student’s t-test.Results: Erythrocyte SOD, CAT and GSHPx activity were significantly low in RA subjects (P<0.001) whereas plasma Ceruloplasmin level was found to be significantly high (P<0.001) as compared to healthy controls.Conclusions: These findings suggest that combined effect of inflammation and free radical generation is involved in the pathogenesis of active RA, characterized by imbalance in antioxidant enzyme status and enhanced CRP levels, which served as an excellent marker of oxidative stress and systemic inflammation in active RA

CICHORIUM INTYBUS LINN: A REVIEW OF PHARMACOLOGICAL PROFILE

The use of natural products as medicinal agents presumably predates the earliest recorded history. Cichorium Intybus L. is a plant which is used in several traditional medicine systems to cure various diseases Chicory belongs to the family Asteraceae is a small aromatic biennial or perennial herb. This plant has been known to posses Anti-ulcer, Hepatoprotective, Antibacterial, Cardioprotective, Antioxidant and Free radical Scavenging, Anti-malarial, Anti-fungal, Gastroprotective, Antihelminthic, Analgesics, Tumour protective, Anti-allergic and other miscellaneous activities. The whole plant contains a number of medicinally important compounds showing therapeutic effects such as inulin, esculin, volatile compounds, bitter sesquiterpene lactones, coumarins, flavonoids and vitamins etc. The pharmacological studies reported in the present review confirm the therapeutic value of Chichorium Intybus L. Thus the use of this plant for human and animal disease therapy and reinforce the importance of the ethno-botanical approach as a potential source of bioactive substances

The glass transition and crystallization kinetic studies on BaNaB9O15 glasses

Transparent glasses of BaNaB9O15 (BNBO) were fabricated via the conventional melt-quenching technique. The amorphous and the glassy nature of the as-quenched samples were respectively, confirmed by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The glass transition and crystallization parameters were evaluated under non-isothermal conditions using DSC. The correlation between the heating rate dependent glass transition and the crystallization temperatures was discussed and deduced the Kauzmann temperature for BNBO glass-plates and powdered samples. The values of the Kauzmann temperature for the plates and powdered samples were 776 K and 768 K, respectively. Approximation-free method was used to evaluate the crystallization kinetic parameters for the BNBO glass samples. The effect of the sample thickness on the crystallization kinetics of BNBO glasses was also investigated.Comment: 23 pages, 12 figure