Enhancing TCP Performance In Wired-Cum-Wireless Networks

Increasing popularity for mobile devices has prompted industrial and academic research towards improving the performance of wireless applications. Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) plays an important role in defining a network’s performance, and its use in wireless networks has exposed several inadequacies in its operation. Tight coupling of TCP’s error and congestion control mechanisms has proven to be incompatible with the unique characteristics of wireless channels. TCP, designed for wired networks, assumes any loss of packet to be an indication of congestion in the network. Wireless networks exhibit a higher bit error rate, low and varying bandwidth, and disconnections of hosts due to mobility. All of the aforementioned reasons can result in random packet loss which is misinterpreted as a sign of congestion by TCP. Such erroneous triggering of congestion control measures can unnecessarily reduce TCP throughput. In this report, we will delve deeper into TCP’s operation, and discuss its performance issues in wired-cum-wireless networks. We also present a survey of existing schemes that tackle these issues, and introduce a new scheme called TCP-ECN to enhance TCP performance in wireless networks. The essence of the new scheme is to use Explicit Congestion Notification to enable the wireless host to distinguish between wired and wireless losses. Another facet of our scheme is to allow the base station to “freeze” the sender when it notices an imminent disconnection of the mobile host. The objective of TCP-ECN is to insulate the TCP sender from the idiosyncrasies of the wireless channel. We have both simulated and implemented the new scheme. This report details the new scheme in depth, and analyzes the test results obtained

Understanding Epilepsy Among Parents Through an Educative Blog-A Novel Method

INTRODUCTION: Epilepsy is a neurological disorder characterized by the risk of recurrent seizures. Individuals are still socially discriminated due to misunderstandings by widespread negative attitudes and defensive behavior. AIM: To assess the knowledge among parents regarding epilepsy and to eradicate the myths associated with using a blog.MATERIALS AND METHOD: A blog was created with elaborate information regarding Epilepsy.50 parents of children with history of Epilepsy were included for the study. The parents of the children were given the link to the blog and were asked to go through it and express their views and responses. Later the parents were educated and doubts/queries were clarified.RESULTS: About 40 parents were willing to go through the blog. The other 10 though reluctant went through the blog after making them realize the need to have knowledge about epilepsy. Among 50 parents, around 30 parents refused to believe that it was a form of epilepsy/fits and discontinued the medication without Physician’s consent. Around 45 parents believed that giving metal objects helped in treating seizures. Also 40 parents believed strongly that Febrile seizures was not a form of seizures and did not require treatment. 20 parents had discontinued the medication on their own after a few months.CONCLUSION: In our study we found lack of knowledge regarding Epilepsy and the different variants of epilepsy. Also, parents strongly believed in the myths and hence did not consult a doctor. Most parents assumed Epilepsy to be a neurologic disorder and that it required psychiatric help. This study made an attempt to educate people regarding epilepsy in detail by the means of an educative blog

EVALUATION OF EFFECT OF AQUEOUS EXTRACT OF ZINGIBER OFFICINALE ROSCOE (GINGER) ON ACUTE AND CHRONIC INFLAMMATION IN ADULT ALBINO RATS

 Objective: Zingiber officinale (ZO) Roscoe (Ginger) is known to have many medicinal properties. The present study was carried out to evaluate theanti-inflammatory activity of aqueous extract of ginger in adult albino rats, both in acute and chronic inflammatory settings and to compare the samewith standard anti-inflammatory agent diclofenac sodium.Methods: Anti-inflammatory activity of ginger at the dose of 500 mg/kg body weight administered orally was evaluated in adult albino rats dividedinto different groups as control, test and standard. Effect of ginger on acute inflammation was evaluated by carrageenan in induced rat paw edemamethod and chronic inflammation was evaluated by rexin pellet granuloma method. Histopathological analysis was also done to evaluate effect ofginger on leukocyte migration and lymphocyte accumulation at the site of acute and chronic inflammation respectively.Results: Aqueous extract of ginger decreased the signs of both acute and chronic inflammation. The percent inhibition of edema (for acuteinflammation) with ZO extract was 28.80%, whereas with diclofenac sodium 63.46%. Percentage inhibition of granulation tissue (for chronicinflammation) for ginger was 31.04% and 63.42% for diclofenac sodium.Conclusion: Aqueous extract of ginger decreased the signs of both acute and chronic inflammation and was comparable to standard anti-inflammatorydrug diclofenac sodium. As currently available anti-inflammatory drugs are associated with number of side-effects, ginger can be potentially exploredas an anti-inflammatory agent with minimal or no side-effects.Keywords: Zingiber officinale Roscoe, Ginger, Acute inflammation, Chronic inflammation, Rat paw oedema, Rexin pellet granuloma, Diclofenac sodium

FORMULATION AND EVALUATION OF MOUTH-DISSOLVING FILM OF AN H1 ANTIHISTAMINE DRUG

Objective: The objective of present work was to develop a Mouth dissolving film of Levocetirizine dihydrochloride drug by Solvent casting method using different natural polymers. The best polymer was selected on the basis of the release of the drug and disintegration time. Methods: Sodium alginate and Guar gum are used as a natural polymers. Starch is used as a disintegrant. Glycerol is used as a plasticizer. Citric acid is usedas a saliva-stimulating agent. Mannitol is used as a sweetener. Peppermint oil as a flavoring agent. Mouth-dissolving films were prepared by using the solvent casting method. Results: The compatibility study of the drug with different natural polymers was carried out. The IR spectral studies showed no interaction between drug and polymers. Obtained satisfactory results for Preformulation and post-formulation tests. Formulation F6 containing sodium alginate, F9 containing guar gum and F14 containing a combination ratio of (Sodium alginate: guar gum) showed good results throughout the study. The stability studies on the formulations F6, F9 and F14 indicates that there is no significant change in physical appearance, disintegration time and drug content release study. Conclusion: From the results, it was concluded that the Mouth dissolving films of Levocetirizine dihydrochloride containing natural polymer sodium alginate (F6) showed the least disintegration time (14.28 sec), highest dissolution rate (98.24%) than the formulation containing natural polymer guar gum and combination ratio of (Sodium alginate: guar gum)

Paracervical clamps for treatment of uncontrolled postpartum haemorrhage: a novel technique

Background: PPH is one of the most dreaded third stage complication and is one of the leading cause of maternal mortality and morbidity. Most of the deaths are due to limited availability of pharmacological agents and absent skills to manage PPH. The basis of the study is to introduce a novel technique of application of paracervical clamps transvaginally for temporary occlusion of uterine arteries which represent 90% of blood flow to the uterus.Methods: A prospective study of patients with PPH who did not respond to medical management and who were hemodynamically stable. Paracervical clamps were applied and hemodynamic parameters are continuously monitored. Close monitoring for bleeding PV is done. Clamps are left intact for 6-8 hours and removed.Results: Out of 680 cases of Post-partum haemorrhage. Paracervical clamps were applied to 320 patients from duration of 2013 to 2015 in Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences and Sushruta Multispeciality Hospital Hubballi. Haemorrhage was effectively controlled in 304 (95.1%) patients and only 16 patients required further surgical management. This non-invasive simple procedure has reduced the rates of surgical management of PPH and the associated morbidity.Conclusions: Application of paracervical clamps is an effective, simple and minimally invasive surgical technique for avoiding excess blood loss in mild to moderate postpartum haemorrhage

AN OVERVIEW OF BIOSIMILARS

Biosimilars are surmounting pharmaceutical market from last three decades and sale increasing progressively. Advances in the biotechnologylead to development and discovery of new biological products to treat various life-threatening diseases. Biosimilars are biological drugs that areproduced after expiry of the patent of approved innovator. This review attempt to highlight the differences between biosimilars and chemical generics,development stages, issues of concern with the use of biosimilars and need of appropriate regulations for their approval. Generic approach is notscientifically useful to manufacture biosimilars. Biosimilars have more structural complexity, multi-layered manufacturing or scale-up process andrisk of immunogenicity; therefore required unique regulatory pathways to introduce them in the market. Safety and efficacy of biosimilar are essentialparameter to increase access in the population. Biosimilars can ensure the cost-effective treatment to invade incurable diseases due to enhancedcompetition in pharma/biotech industries to manufacture it.Keywords: Biosimilars, Biologics, Follow-on biologics, Generic drugs, Subsequent-entry biologics

Lehya formulations for mother and child care in Havyak community of Uttara Kannada district, Karnataka, India

The period between pregnancy and the child birth is a critical phase in the lives of mothers and newborn babies. In most of the Asian countries including India, the use of medicinal plants, cultural traditions and the diets practiced by the ethnic groups have their age old histories. Present study was carried out to compile the traditional knowledge of the age old practitioners on pre and postnatal remedies. The survey was carried out in the areas of Sirsi, Siddapur and Mundgod taluks of Uttara Kannada district, Karnataka state, India. Medicinal plants were collected and quantitative data analyses like Use Value (UV), Relative frequency citation (Rfc) and Family Importance Value (FIV) have been provided to analyze the importance of reported plants. The study revealed the use of 28 plant species belonging to 19 families. The home remedies for pregnant women are in the form of paste, called ‘Lehya’ in local language. Habit-wise analysis of the plants indicate that herbs are highly used (35.71%) and in most of the case fruits (32.14%) and seeds (25%) are frequently used plant parts in ‘Lehya’ preparation. The most important plant species according to the quantitative data analysis are Cassia sophera, Centella asiatica, Cocos nucifera, Cucumis melo var. acidulus, Curcuma longa, Phoenix dactylifera and Syzygium aromaticum

Depression in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients: a cross sectional study from rural tertiary care hospital of South Karnataka, India

Background: Depression is associated with a 60% increased risk of Type 2 Diabetes mellitus and diabetes doubles the odds of depression. This study was undertaken to estimate the prevalence of depression and to assess the association between glycemic control and depression in diabetic patients.Methods: Total 130 type 2 diabetes mellitus patients were included in this cross-sectional hospital-based study. Study protocol included detailed clinical history, examination, administering of questionnaire-based scale and investigations. Fasting plasma glucose, post prandial plasma glucose, HbA1c, lipid profile, renal function test and electrolytes of these subjects were determined. Becks depression inventory (BDI) scale was used for diagnosis and grading the severity of depression among these patients.Results: Out of 130 diabetic patients, depression was present in 39.23% of the individuals, among which, 16.15% had mild depression, 10% had borderline depression, 7.69% had moderate depression, 3.07% had severe depression and 2.3% had extreme depression. Prevalence of depression in patients with glycated haemoglobin levels of ≤6.4 was found to be 29.16%, 6.5 to 7 was 33.76% and ≥7.1% was 62.07%.Conclusions: Depression was found to be more common in diabetic patients compared to general population. The prevalence of depression was more among patients with long duration of diabetes, female sex, Muslim religion, substance abuse, complications associated with diabetes and poor glycaemic control. More case control studies with larger sample size are needed to confirm this association

Cardiovascular Disease Prediction using Machine Learning Ensemble Methods

Recently the main cause of death occurring due to cardiovascular disease has happened even in the past. Early diagnosis of the disease can be assessed to reduce the high risk and ensure healthiness. Data mining techniques have been significantly used as it helps in zero or less intervention of humans and it is seen as the best technique as it gives precise result with the best accuracy. The study is conducted on ensemble methods and built a model using boosting and bagging classifiers. The objective of this work is to design and implement a heart disease prediction system using machine learning ensemble methods namely, Random Forest, Adaptive Boosting, Gradient Boosting, and XGBoost. The effective performance of the applied ensemble techniques is analyzed, and a mobile application is developed for the same. The proposed mobile application is built as a user interface that accepts data based on clinical attributes concerning heart disease. This mainly helps in the medical field such as laboratories that incorporate the developed model. The outcome of the proposed model predicts the probability of a person suffering from heart disease. The accuracy of the models is evaluated