Fuzzified Single Phase Automatic Sequential Reactive Power Compensation with Minimized Switches

The current rapid growth in IoT technology facilitates the effortless implementation of bidirectional remote monitoring and control system implementation in homes and buildings. We have modeled an actual non-intrusive PnP sequential SVC prototype hardware and wireless FLC automation software design on a real single phase home appliances system as load modeling. In addition, we have also designed a novel Unidirectional MOSFET Switched Capasitor model (UniMosSC) which enables us to reduce the hardware cost and increase the life span of SVC due it uses minimum switching devices. The system we have designed is able to correct the power factor at the root of the problem at each appliance. Due to complexity of appliance clustering and overlapping clusters, we implemented fuzziness in the system for more reliability in computations. The system could be used in homes or buildings resulting in electricity bill reduction, saving dollars and cents

Recent Developments in Selected Sesquiterpenes: Molecular Rearrangements, Biosynthesis, and Structural Relationship among Congeners

Recent developments in selected sesquiterpenoids are reviewed for the past one decade (2005–2017) with special reference to Mechanisms of multistep molecular rearrangements of some sesquiterpenes or derivatives based on isotopic labeling studies and extensive spectroscopic analysis such as molecular rearrangement of acetyl cedrene to cedrene follower, acid catalyzed rearrangement of moreliane-based triketone, synthesis of (−)-isocomene and (−)-triquinane by acid-catalyzed rearrangement of (−)-modhephene, Total synthesis of (+)-cymbodiacetal, BF3 catalyzed molecular rearrangements of mono epoxides of α- and β-himachalenes, santonic acid: Zn-HCl-ether reduction. Insights into biosynthesis of albaflavenone, caryol-1(11)-ene-10-ol, (+)-koraiol, pogostol, patchouli alcohol and valerenadiene are discussed. Congeners for probing structure-biosynthetic relationship. This approach is discussed with the availability of very interesting results on the isolation of highly oxygenated secondary metabolites from endophytic fungi, Xylaria sp

ANTIBACTERIAL AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITIES OF STEM BARK ESSENTIAL OIL CONSTITUENTS OF LITSEA GLUTINOSA C. B. ROB.

Objective: To evaluate the chemical composition, antibacterial and antioxidant properties of stem bark essential oil of Litsea glutinosa C. B. Rob.Methods: The essential oil isolated from stem bark of L. glutinosa and their chemical composition was analyzed by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry detector. The in vitro antibacterial activity of the stem bark essential oil was investigated against eight human pathogenic bacterial clinical isolates using agar disc diffusion method and MIC value was determined by modified resazurin microtitre-plate assay. The antioxidant activity of essential oil was measured by 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH), 2, 2-azinobis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonate radical cation (ABTS) and β-carotene bleaching assay.Results: GC-MS analysis of stem bark essential oil resulted in the identification of 37 compounds, off which 9,12-octadecadienoic acid (62.57%), hexadecanoic acid (12.68%), stigmast-5-en-3-ol (6.87%) and vitamin E (2.51%) were the main constituents representing 84.63% of the oil. The determination of in vitro antibacterial activity of stem bark essential oil resulted in significant inhibition zone (15.00±0.57 mm) and MIC value (0.15±0.15×10-2 mg/ml) against the pathogenic bacteria Vibrio cholera followed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Salmonella typhi. The results of DPPH radical scavenging (IC50:4.540±0.06 µg/ml), ABTS (IC50:256.02±0.06 µg/ml) and β-carotene bleaching assay (%I: 78.51±0.42 %) showed significant in vitro antioxidant property.Conclusion: L. glutinosa stem bark essential oil showed potential antibacterial activity against the Vibrio cholera. The results of this investigation supported the ethnomedical claim of essential oil as a demulcent, antidiarrheal and antioxidant drug

Analysis of medication errors in medicine ward of medical college teaching hospital, Mandya

Background: Medication errors are one of the most common types of medical error that is seen in hospitalised patients. Since medication error is one of the growing concerns of healthcare issue and have implications on patient safety, the purpose of this study was to identify medication error and in turn would help to create awareness among healthcare professionals and provide safety to the patients.Methods: Study was initiated after obtaining approval from the Institutional Ethics Committee. The study was done for a period of 1 year between June 2016 and May 2017. Clinical data and data regarding the medication that was prescribed, transcribed, dispensed, administered was collected and was analysed for various types of medication errors during the different stages of medication use process.Results: A total of 351 subjects were recruited in the study for assessing medication error. About 2,283 drugs were prescribed among 351 patients. Maximum number of drugs was administered through parenteral route (50.3%). Medication error was most common during the prescribing stage (51.4%) followed by transcribing stage (39.1%), administration stage (6.9%), and dispensing stage (2.6%). On an average 6 drugs were prescribed per patient. Total of about 5411 errors have occurred out of which 98.8% of errors were preventable, 1.2% of errors were non-preventable. Cardiovascular system (21.9%) and endocrine and renal system (21.9%) was commonly affected due to the medication errors.Conclusions: Medication errors are one of the commonest problems of the healthcare system should be identified and documented and their causes should be studied in order to develop systems that minimize the recurrence

Obstructive Sleep Apnea – Current Perpectives

Obstructive sleep apnea is a common sleep related breathing disorder. The demand for sleep medicine services has increased exponentially since the recognition of sleep apnea as a disease in the 1960s. The involvement of dentists in the treatment of sleep apnea has increased. It is important that dentists are aware of the problem of sleep disorders and the potential they have to help in their management

Smart Battery Management System for Electric Vehicles

Electric vehicles are showing some promises in the automotive industry and can be the answer for mitigating carbon footprint. In the process of upgrading electric vehicles to the customer demands, battery performance serves a crucial part in deciding the performance of the electric vehicles. So, Battery Management System becomes the brains behind monitoring and controlling the battery. Real-time sensing of the battery parameters, decision-making capability to choose the type of charging, and which cell to be charged are all the functionalities of BMS. All these criteria can be assessed precisely and efficiently via processors like Raspberry pi, along with IoT and cloud computing technologies. These approaches can be used for remote accessing of the battery’s performance, which will help the customer and the company to analyse the vehicle's condition. They also help prevent battery degradation. Since IoT and cloud computing technologies are being used, if an adverse state occurs in the battery, the customer can be notified directly via their mobile. In this article, a combined technology of locally hosted processor and cloud-based decision making has been discussed to improve the battery intern Electric Vehicle’s performance

The relationship between white matter microstructure and self-perceived cognitive decline

Subjective cognitive decline (SCD) is a perceived cognitive change prior to objective cognitive deficits, and although it is associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology, it likely results from multiple underlying pathologies. We investigated the association of white matter microstructure to SCD as a sensitive and early marker of cognitive decline and quantified the contribution of white matter microstructure separate from amyloidosis. Vanderbilt Memory & Aging Project participants with diffusion MRI data and a 45-item measure of SCD were included [n = 236, 137 cognitively unimpaired (CU), 99 with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), 73 ± 7 years, 37% female]. A subset of participants (64 CU, 40 MCI) underwent a fasting lumbar puncture for quantification of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) amyloid-β(CSF Aβ42), total tau (CSF t-tau), and phosphorylated tau (CSF p-tau). Diffusion MRI data was post-processed using the free-water (FW) elimination technique, which allowed quantification of extracellular (FW) and intracellular compartment (fractional anisotropy, mean diffusivity, axial diffusivity, and radial diffusivity) microstructure. Microstructural values were quantified within 11 cognitive-related white matter tracts, including medial temporal lobe, frontal transcallosal, and fronto-parietal tracts using a region of interest approach. General linear modeling related each tract to SCD scores adjusting for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, Framingham Stroke Risk Profile scores, APOE ε4 carrier status, diagnosis, Geriatric Depression Scale scores, hippocampal volume, and total white matter volume. Competitive models were analyzed to determine if white matter microstructural values have a unique role in SCD scores separate from CSF Aβ42. FW-corrected radial diffusivity (RDT) was related to SCD scores in 8 tracts: cingulum bundle, inferior longitudinal fasciculus, as well as inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) pars opercularis, IFG orbitalis, IFG pars triangularis, tapetum, medial frontal gyrus, and middle frontal gyrus transcallosal tracts. While CSF Aβ42 was related to SCD scores in our cohort (Radj2 = 39.03%; β = −0.231; p = 0.020), competitive models revealed that fornix and IFG pars triangularis transcallosal tract RDT contributed unique variance to SCD scores beyond CSF Aβ42 (Radj2 = 44.35% and Radj2 = 43.09%, respectively), with several other tract measures demonstrating nominal significance. All tracts which demonstrated nominal significance (in addition to covariates) were input into a backwards stepwise regression analysis. ILF RDT, fornix RDT, and UF FW were best associated with SCD scores (Radj2 = 46.69%; p = 6.37 × 10-12). Ultimately, we found that medial temporal lobe and frontal transcallosal tract microstructure is an important driver of SCD scores independent of early amyloid deposition. Our results highlight the potential importance of abnormal white matter diffusivity as an early contributor to cognitive decline. These results also highlight the value of incorporating multiple biomarkers to help disentangle the mechanistic heterogeneity of SCD as an early stage of cognitive decline

Hepatocyte growth factor, hepatocyte growth factor activator and arginine in a rat fulminant colitis model

INTRODUCTION: Dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) is commonly used to induce a murine fulminant colitis model. Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) has been shown to decrease the symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) but the effect of its activator, HGFA, is not well characterized. Arginine reduces effects of oxidative stress but its effect on IBD is not well known. The primary aim is to determine whether HGF and HGFA, or arginine will decrease IBD symptoms such as pain and diarrhea in a DSS-induced fulminant colitis murine model. METHODS: A severe colitis was induced in young, male Fischer 344 rats with 4% (w/v) DSS oral solution for seven days; rats were sacrificed on day 10. Rats were divided into five groups of 8 animals: control, HGF (700 mcg/kg/dose), HGF and HGFA (10 mcg/dose), HGF and arginine, and high dose HGF (2800 mcg/kg/dose). Main clinical outcomes were pain, diarrhea and weight loss. Blinded pathologists scored the terminal ileum and distal colon. RESULTS: DSS reliably induced severe active colitis in 90% of animals (n = 36/40). There were no differences in injury scores between control and treatment animals. HGF led to 1.38 fewer days in pain (p = 0.036), while arginine led to 1.88 fewer days of diarrhea (P = 0.017) compared to controls. 88% of HGFA-treated rats started regaining weight (P \u3c 0.001). DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION: Although treatment was unable to reverse fulminant disease, HGF and arginine were associated with decreased days of pain and diarrhea. These clinical interventions may reduce associated symptoms for severe IBD patients, even when urgent surgical intervention remains the only viable option

Design and Evaluation of Portable Manually Operated Spawn Spreading Machine for Oyster Mushroom (Pleurotus florida) Cultivation

Oyster mushroom (Pleurotus florida) is gaining demand owing to its benefits and taste. But, the prevailing manual method of cultivation is compromised with limited spawn spreading capacity and high chance of contamination which could be overcome by use of a spawn spreading machine. Currently no such machine is available which has prompted us to develop the same. The benefaction of the developed machine to the farmers is lightweight, portable, autoclavable, affordable, uncomplicated design, unskilled person can operate and minimize contamination chance that leads to increase in yield of mushroom. It constitutes the main frame, truncated conical hopper and ball valve metering mechanism. The machine evaluated in the lab shown that a highest spawn spreading capacity of 288 bags/h as compared to manual spreading operation of 110 bags/h for rice straw substrate at spawning rate of 50 g. In this context, the result clearly indicate that, the spawn spreading machine is very cost effective, save time and reduce labour requirement as compared to manual operation

Axonal Injury Partially Mediates Associations Between Increased Left Ventricular Mass Index and White Matter Damage

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Left ventricular (LV) mass index is a marker of subclinical LV remodeling that relates to white matter damage in aging, but molecular pathways underlying this association are unknown. This study assessed if LV mass index related to cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers of microglial activation (sTREM2 [soluble triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2]), axonal injury (NFL [neurofilament light]), neurodegeneration (total-tau), and amyloid-β, and whether these biomarkers partially accounted for associations between increased LV mass index and white matter damage. We hypothesized higher LV mass index would relate to greater CSF biomarker levels, and these pathologies would partially mediate associations with cerebral white matter microstructure. METHODS: Vanderbilt Memory and Aging Project participants who underwent cardiac magnetic resonance, lumbar puncture, and diffusion tensor imaging (n=142, 72±6 years, 37% mild cognitive impairment [MCI], 32% APOE-ε4 positive, LV mass index 51.4±8.1 g/m2, NFL 1070±588 pg/mL) were included. Linear regressions and voxel-wise analyses related LV mass index to each biomarker and diffusion tensor imaging metrics, respectively. Follow-up models assessed interactions with MCI and APOE-ε4. In models where LV mass index significantly related to a biomarker and white matter microstructure, we assessed if the biomarker mediated white matter associations. RESULTS: Among all participants, LV mass index was unrelated to CSF biomarkers (P>0.33). LV mass index interacted with MCI (P=0.01), such that higher LV mass index related to increased NFL among MCI participants. Associations were also present among APOE-ε4 carriers (P=0.02). NFL partially mediated up to 13% of the effect of increased LV mass index on white matter damage. CONCLUSIONS: Subclinical cardiovascular remodeling, measured as an increase in LV mass index, is associated with neuroaxonal degeneration among individuals with MCI and APOE-ɛ4. Neuroaxonal degeneration partially reflects associations between higher LV mass index and white matter damage. Findings highlight neuroaxonal degeneration, rather than amyloidosis or microglia, may be more relevant in pathways between structural cardiovascular remodeling and white matter damage