Evaluation of learning and memory effect of atorvastatin and simvastatin in alprazolam induced amnesia in mice

Background: The study was undertaken to evaluate the learning and memory effect of lipid lowering drugs atorvastatin and simvastatin in alprazolam induced amnesic mice.Methods: The study was carried out on albino mice, divided into 4 groups of 6 animals each (either sex, 3-4 months of age, weight 25-30g). Amnesia was induced by administering Alprazolam (2mg/kg for 14 days) in all 4 groups from 1st to 14th day. In addition, group 2, 3 and 4 received Piracetam (400mg/kg), Atorvastatin (5mg/kg) and Simvastatin (5mg/kg) from 8th to 14th day respectively. The learning and memory of the animals was assessed by employing Elevated plus maze (EPM) and Step-down type passive avoidance (SDA) model.Results: Results were compared among the different groups using one way-ANOVA followed by post hoc Tukey’s test. The measured parameters were compared with standard drug Piracetam. In EPM model Atorvastatin (p<0.049) and Simvastatin (p<0.007) were comparable with standard drug Piracetam, whereas in SDA model only simvastatin group (p<0.001) showed significant result.Conclusions: In EPM model, both the statins showed significant improvement in learning and memory in alprazolam induced amnesic mice. However further studies are required to support these observations

Study of oral glucosamine, methylsulfonylmethane and their combination in osteoarthritis of the knee

Background: Osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee is the most common degenerative joint disorder that results in disability and increased morbidity. Conventional treatment of OA with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) often leads to serious adverse side effects that may increase morbidity and mortality. Glucosamine and Methylsulfonylmethane (MSM) have anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties which may supplement NSAIDs. Hence this study was aimed to determine the effectiveness and safety of these drugs in the management of knee OAMethods: 76 (63.33%) female and 44 (36.67%) male patients of OA of the knees were divided equally into four groups depending upon the therapy with Glucosamine or MSM or their combination (study groups) or none of them (control group) for 12 weeks. After the written consent, a detail Clinical History& Examination, Biochemical investigations, X-rays of chest and knees and ECG were done. The outcome of the treatment was assessed by Western Ontario and McMaster University Osteoarthritis (WOMAC) Index and for any adverse drug effects.Results: After 12 weeks of study there was significant decrease in mean WOMAC pain scores (27.29-39.13) and total aggregate scores (23.53-37.14%) in study groups (p<0.01-p<0.001) as compared to control group (14.28 % and 8.82% respectively). Besides the relief of pain and improvement in physical functions were superior in patients treated with combination therapy. Conclusions: This study showed Glucosamine & MSM are effective in the management of OA of knee and are safe health supplement to NSAIDs while their combination was more superior and effective.

Cost-Effective Load Scheduling for Hybrid Renewable Energy Systems

Hybrid renewable energy systems offer great promise for the future. However, some lingering concerns regarding stability and cost efficiency still exist. If a private party installs the system and maintains full control, the party may itself alleviate some of these problems by wisely optimizing the benefits offered by the system. One of the ways to do so is to develop a schedule for their load such that the cost incurred is minimized; this is done by maximally utilizing the renewable sources of energy before using the backup options of more conventional energy sources. Creating such a schedule involves considering several factors, such as solar energy available and the quantity of load that may be flexibly scheduled as opposed to fixed demands. This work presents a unique and innovate method – dynamic programming – to solve this problem. This is modeled in a mathematical context, one of optimal control, and then implemented using MATLAB. Care is taken to generate a realistic model that serves as a starting point for further research while idealizing some components for simplicity

Magnetocaloric effect and critical behavior near the paramagnetic to ferrimagnetic phase transition temperature in TbCo2-xFex

Magnetocaloric effect (MCE) in TbCo2-xFex has been studied by dc magnetization measurements.On substituting Fe in TbCo2, not only the magnetic transition temperature is tuned to room temperature, but also the operating temperature range for MCE is increased from 50 K for TbCo2 to 95 K for TbCo1.9Fe0.1. The maximum magnetic entropy change (-{\Delta}SM) for TbCo1.9Fe0.1 is found to be 3.7 J kg-1 K-1 for a 5 T field change, making it a promising candidate for magnetic refrigeration near room temperature. The temperature dependent neutron diffraction study shows a structural phase transition (from cubic to rhombohedral phase with lowering of temperature) which is associated with the magnetic phase transition and these transitions broaden on Fe substitution. To investigate the nature of the paramagnetic to ferrimagnetic phase transition, we performed a critical exponent study. From the derived values of critical exponents, we conclude that TbCo2 belongs to the 3D Heisenberg class with short-range interaction, while on Fe substitution it tends towards mean-field with long-range interaction. The derived values of critical exponents represent the phenomenological universal curve for the field dependence of {\Delta}SM, indicating that TbCo2 and TbCo1.9Fe0.1 belong to two different universality classes.Comment: 12 figure

A Study on Nutritional and Health Status of Salt Workers

Not availabl

Non-linear Oberbeck-electroconvection in a poorly conducting fluid through a vertical channel in the presence of an electric field

Non-linear Oberbeck-electroconvection (OBEC) in a poorly electrically conducting fluid through a vertical channel, when the walls are held at different temperatures with temperature difference perpendicular to gravity, is studied using the modified Navier stokes equation in the presence of both induced and an applied electric field. Both analytical and numerical solutions for the non-linear coupled equations governing the motion are obtained and found that analytical solutions agree well with numerical solutions for values of the buoyancy parameter N < 1. It is shown that OBEC can be controlled by maintaining the temperature difference either in the same direction or opposing the potential difference with a suitable value of electric number W. The effect of W on velocity, temperature, rate of heat transfer, skin friction and mass flow rate are computed and the results are depicted graphically. We found that analytical results agree well with numerical results for small values of N. We also found that an increase in W accelerates the flow and hence increases linearly the skin friction and mass flow rate. © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Palmprint identification using Log Transformation of Transform Domain Features

The Palmprint is an efficient physiological biometric trait to identify a person. In this paper we propose Palmprint Identification using Log Transformation of Transform Domain Features. The Region of Interest (ROI) of palmprint image is extracted using preprocessing. The KWT and DWT are applied on preprocessed image to generate features. The KWT and DWT features of test image and database images are compared using Euclidian distance to compute EER and TSR values. The EER and TSR values of KWT and DWT are fused using Log Transformation to get better performance parameters. It is observed that the values of performance parameters are better in the case of proposed algorithm compared to existing algorithms

Evaluation of effect of alcoholic extract of Tinospora cordifolia on learning and memory in alprazolam induced amnesia in albino mice

Background: Tinospora cordifolia is one of the most versatile shrub with cognitive enhancing effects could be beneficial for treatment of dementia and neurodegenerative diseases like alzheimer’s disease. The purpose of study was to evaluate the effect of Tinospora cordifolia on learning and memory in alprazolam induced amnesia in albino mice.Methods: The study was carried out on albino mice, divided into 4 groups of 6 animals each (either sex, 3-4 months of age, weight 25-30g). Amnesia was induced by administering alprazolam (2 mg/kg body weight for 14 days) in all 4 groups for 14 days from 1st to 14th day. Group 1 was given alprazolam (2 mg/kg/p.o) alone for 14 days. In addition, group 2 was given piracetam (400 mg/kg p.o) from 8th to 15th day. Group 3 was given alcoholic extract of Tinospora cordifolia 140 mg/kg, p.o. from 1st to 15th day. Group 4 was given alcoholic extract of Tinospora cordifolia 280 mg/kg, p.o. from 1st to 15th day. The learning and memory of the animals was assessed by employing elevated plus maze (EPM) and step-down type passive avoidance model (SDA).Results: Results were compared among the different groups using one way-ANOVA followed by post hoc Tukey’s test. The measured parameters were compared with standard drug piracetam. Tinospora cordifolia at 140 mg/kg (p<0.02) and 280 mg/kg was significant in both models (p<0.02) and in EPM model, Tinospora cordifolia at 280 mg/kg showed highly significant result (P<0.01).Conclusions: Tinospora cordifolia, Indian medicinal plant useful for treatment of various ailments can also be a useful alternative for treating dementia and associated diseases like alzheimer’s disease

Synthesis of ruthenium(II) carbonyl complexes with 2-monosubstituted and 1,2-disubstituted benzimidazoles

The reaction of the polymeric carbonyl complex RuCl 2(CO) 2 x with 2-monosubstituted and 1,2-disubstituted benzimidazoles and 1,4-bis(benzimi-dazol-2-yl)benzene (L 9) in 2-methoxyethanol produces various coloured complexes of the formulae Ru(CO) 2Cl 2(L) 2·xH 2O (L = 1-(o-hydroxybenzyl)-2- -(o-hydroxyphenyl)benzimidazole (L 1), 1-(o-hydroxyphenyl)benzimidazole (L 4), 1-(p-hydroxyphenyl)benzimidazole (L 5), 1-(p-chlorobenzyl)-2-p-chloro-phenyl)benzimidazole (L 7), 1-1-(dimethylamino)benzyl-2-1-(dimethyl- amino)phenylbenzimidazole (L 10), x = 0; L = 2-benzylbenzimidazole (L 8), 1,4-bis(benzimidazol-2-yl)benzene (L 9), x = 2; L = 1-(o-chlorobenzyl)-1-(o- -chlorophenyl)benzimidazole (L 6); x = 3), Ru(CO) 2Cl(L 2) 3Cl·3H 2O and Ru(CO) 2(L 3) 4Cl 2·3H 2O (L 2 = 1-(m-hydroxybenzyl)-2-(m-hydroxyphenyl)- benzimidazole; L 3 = 1-(p-hydroxybenzyl)-2-(p-hydroxyphenyl)benzimidazole). The complexes were characterized by elemental analysis, conductivity measurements, as well as infrared, electronic, 1H- and 13C-NMR spectral studies. © 2009 Copyright (CC) SCS