Enhancement of Microwave Absorption Properties of Hexaferrite/Epoxy Composites on the Addition of Non-magnetic Oxides

The effect of non-magnetic oxides such as Al2O3, TiO2 and ZnO on the microwave absorption properties of magnetoplumbite barium hexaferrite (BaFe11.8Co0.2O19) is analyzed. Barium hexaferrite nanoparticles are synthesized through the sol-gel auto-combustion method. BaFe11.8Co0.2O19-Al2O3, BaFe11.8Co0.2O19-TiO2 and BaFe11.8Co0.2O19-ZnO composites are synthesized in a 1:1 ratio through mechanical mixing and heat treatment. The epoxy composites are fabricated with 50% loading of BaFe11.8Co0.2O19-Al2O3, BaFe11.8Co0.2O19-TiO2 and BaFe11.8Co0.2O19-ZnO in epoxy matrix followed by room temperature curing. The powder XRD analyses showed homogeneous distribution of BaFe11.8Co0.2O19 and Al2O3 in BaFe11.8Co0.2O19-Al2O3 composite while TiO2 and ZnO phases dominate in BaFe11.8Co0.2O19-TiO2 and BaFe11.8Co0.2O19-ZnO composites, respectively. Scanning electron microscopy shows the evenly distributed BaFe11.8Co0.2O19 and Al2O3 in BaFe11.8Co0.2O19-Al2O3 composites. The electromagnetic characterization calculated from experimental permittivity and permeability shows reflection loss RL ≤ -10 dB (≥ 90% absorption) for a very small thickness of 0.5 mm over the entire X-band (8-12 GHz) for BaFe11.8Co0.2O19-Al2O3 composites. BaFe11.8Co0.2O19-TiO2 and BaFe11.8Co0.2O19-ZnO show RL < - 8 dB with a thickness of 2.5 mm over the frequency range 8–9.7 GHz and RL < - 8 dB with a thickness of 3.6 mm over 8.7-11.1 GHz, respectively. Further, when compared with BaFe11.8Co0.2O19 alone (RL < -7 dB at 3.2 mm in 8-11 GHz), the BaFe11.8Co0.2O19-Al2O3 composite is superior both in terms of the thickness of the coating as well as the percentage absorption in the X-band

“Sixteen and a half”: a rare neurological syndrome

"Sixteen and a half" syndrome is a recently coined terminology for a novel pontine neuro-ophthalmological condition. It is characterised by "one and a half" syndrome with an additional ipsilateral seventh and eighth cranial nerve palsy (1½+7+8=16½). We hereby present a case with "sixteen and a half" syndrome, characterised by facial asymmetry, conjugate gaze palsy and unilateral deafness with vertigo. As demonstrated by magnetic resonance imaging, the responsible pontine lesion was a brainstem tuberculoma involving the ipsilateral abducens nucleus and the adjacent medial longitudinal fasciculus (MLF), along with facial and vestibulocochlear nerve. The location of the tuberculoma and the clinical presentation is unusual

REVIEW ON MALNUTRITION HEALTH HAZARDS IN PEDIATRIC POPULATION AND ITS AYURVEDA MANAGEMENT

Objectives: The study was designed with the objectives: To study the role of Brimhana therapy in Karshya and to review the clinical research works on Karshya (malnutrition) in the Institute for Post Graduate Teaching and Research in Ayurveda (IPGT and RA), Jamnagar, and reach a final conclusion.Methods: This study was done by compiling the classical Ayurvedic literature, pediatric magazines, and research journals as well as PubMed and MedLine database for the search of the relevant literature. The review has been done from previous years of clinical research work in IPGT and RA, Jamnagar.Discussion: Brumhana and Vrushya Yoga have resulted in obtaining the phenomena of ideal anabolism. Brumhana Yoga has Kapikachhu, Shweta musli, and Shatavari are Brumhana and Vrushya both properties in it, that's why it shows a better result. Basti is better in Vatahara Guna and fruitful in microcirculation that is why it produces a better result.Conclusion: In the present study, it has been concluded that Brumhana is the line of treatment in Karshya (malnutrition) and gives a fruitful result. Ayurvedic medication and procedures are very efficacious to overcome this malnutrition named, a great burden on society. Assimilation has also a very big role for the absorption of Brumhana Yoga, and for this, regulation of Agni is very important. Basti procedure is more efficacious than drug administration. Overall Ayurveda is very efficacious in Karshya

Bacillus subtilis as potential producer for polyhydroxyalkanoates

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are biodegradable polymers produced by microbes to overcome environmental stress. Commercial production of PHAs is limited by the high cost of production compared to conventional plastics. Another hindrance is the brittle nature and low strength of polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), the most widely studied PHA. The needs are to produce PHAs, which have better elastomeric properties suitable for biomedical applications, preferably from inexpensive renewable sources to reduce cost. Certain unique properties of Bacillus subtilis such as lack of the toxic lipo-polysaccharides, expression of self-lysing genes on completion of PHA biosynthetic process – for easy and timely recovery, usage of biowastes as feed enable it to compete as potential candidate for commercial production of PHA

Formulation of peppermint oil nanoemulsion using conjugates of whey proteins with maltodextrin and its characterization

394-400Whey protein-maltodextrin conjugate is used as emulsifier and stabilizer to prepare peppermint (Mentha piperita L.) oil (PO) nanoemulsion. The mean particle size, zeta potential and poly dispersity index (PDI) of stable PO nanoemulsion (5% oil+8% conjugate+0.5% Tween 80) was 144.8±5.32 nm, -24.40±0.42 mV and 0.217±0.05 respectively and this formulation was not unstable to food processing conditions like pH 3.0 to pH 7.0, heat treatments and ionic strength 0.1 M to 1.0 M. The emulsion was stable at 25°C for 15 days and its particle size is 332.2±4.66 nm at 15th day of storage. Agar well diffusion method is used to assess the antimicrobial efficacy of PO (5%) dissolved in dimethyl sulphoxide (DMSO) and 5% PO nanoemulsion against microorganisms like E. coli ATCC 25922, B. cereus ATCC 14459, Salmonella typhi NCDC 6017 and E. faecalis NCDC 115. The formulation prepared in the present study will have the application in preservation of various foods against spoilage microorganisms

Managing virtual networks and other resources in a mixed managed domains

HPE OneView is a resource model based infrastructure management appliance which automates deployment, provisioning and integration of compute, storage, and networking infrastructure in a data center. APIC is a policy based manageability appliance for Cisco ACI fabric and offers services to manage policies on a collection of resources of a data center. Cisco ACI interfaces with VMware and automates creation of virtual networks for VMware environment. Cisco ACI also integrates with OpenStack and Microsoft systems for network automation requirements. Keeping OneView resources current with Cisco ACI policies is complex, time consuming and error prone task. Realizing this through an automated mechanism is equally complex involving mechanism to handle large volume of policy updates, ability to handle with low latency, work with message bursts and operate with undefined frequencies

A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW ON ADULTERATION OF RAW MATERIALS USED IN ASU DRUG MANUFACTURING

Ayurveda is a system of Indian traditional form of alternative medicine. In 20th and 21th century due to side effects of synthetic drugs, there is an increasing interesting ASU medicine. At present the adulteration of the herbal drugs is the burning problem in ASU herbal industry and it has caused a major problem in the research on commercial natural products. The deforestation and extinction of many species and incorrect identification of many plants has resulted in adulteration and substitution of raw drugs. The future development of analysis of herbs is largely depended upon reliable methodologies for correct identification, standardization and quality assurance of Ayurvedic drugs. In India normally the contamination/adulteration in food/crude drugs is done either for financial gain or due to carelessness and lack in proper hygienic condition of processing, storing, transportation and marketing. Medicinal plants constitute an effective source of traditional and modern medicine. Adulteration is considered as an intentional addition of foreign substances to increase the weight of the product or to decrease its cost. It may be due to- Confusion in vernacular names, Lack of knowledge about authentic plants, Non availability, Similarity in morphology, activity, aroma, Careless collection and other unknown reasons. This article throws a light on adulteration, types, common market adulterants in ASU medicines and prescribed Prevention methods

Phylogenomic analyses and distribution of terpene synthases among Streptomyces

This is the final version. Available on open access from Beilstein-Institut via the DOI in this recordTerpene synthases are widely distributed among microorganisms and have been mainly studied in members of the genus Streptomyces. However, little is known about the distribution and evolution of the genes for terpene synthases. Here, we performed whole-genome based phylogenetic analysis of Streptomyces species, and compared the distribution of terpene synthase genes among them. Overall, our study revealed that ten major types of terpene synthases are present within the genus Streptomyces, namely those for geosmin, 2-methylisoborneol, epi-isozizaene, 7-epi-α-eudesmol, epi-cubenol, caryolan-1-ol, cyclooctat-9-en-7-ol, isoafricanol, pentalenene and α-amorphene. The Streptomyces species divide in three phylogenetic groups based on their whole genomes for which the distribution of the ten terpene synthases was analysed. Geosmin synthases were the most widely distributed and were found to be evolutionary positively selected. Other terpene synthases were found to be specific for one of the three clades or a subclade within the genus Streptomyces. A phylogenetic analysis of the most widely distributed classes of Streptomyces terpene synthases in comparison to the phylogenomic analysis of this genus is discussed.NW

Identifying Prognostic Groups Using Machine Learning Tools in Patients Undergoing Chemoradiation for Inoperable Locally Advanced Nonsmall Cell Lung Carcinoma

Introduction Unresectable stage III nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) continues to have dismal 5-year overall survival (OS) rate. However, a subset of the patients treated with chemoradiation show significantly better outcome. Prediction of treatment outcome can be improved by utilizing machine learning tools, such as cluster analysis (CA), and is capable of identifying complex interactions among many variables. We have utilized CA to identify a cluster with good prognosis within stage III NSCLC. Materials and Methods Retrospective analysis of treatment outcomes was done for 92 patients who underwent chemoradiation for inoperable locally advanced NSCLC from 2012 to 2018. Using various patient- and treatment-related variables, an exploratory factor analysis was performed to extract factors with eigenvalue > 1. An appropriate number of homogeneous groups were identified using agglomerative hierarchical cluster analysis. Further K-mean cluster analysis was applied to classify each patient into their homogeneous clusters. The newly formed cluster variable was used as an independent variable to estimate survival over time using Kaplan–Meier method. Results With a median follow-up of 18 months, median OS was 14 months. Using CA, three prognostic clusters were obtained. Cluster 2 with 36 patients had a median OS of 36 months, whereas Cluster 1 with 34 patients had a median OS of 20 months (p = 0.004). Conclusion A cluster could thus be identified with a relatively good prognosis within stage III NSCLC. Using CA, we have attempted to create a model which may provide more specific prognostic information in addition to that provided by tumor node metastasis-based models

Disease progression in Plasmodium knowlesi malaria is linked to variation in invasion gene family members.

Emerging pathogens undermine initiatives to control the global health impact of infectious diseases. Zoonotic malaria is no exception. Plasmodium knowlesi, a malaria parasite of Southeast Asian macaques, has entered the human population. P. knowlesi, like Plasmodium falciparum, can reach high parasitaemia in human infections, and the World Health Organization guidelines for severe malaria list hyperparasitaemia among the measures of severe malaria in both infections. Not all patients with P. knowlesi infections develop hyperparasitaemia, and it is important to determine why. Between isolate variability in erythrocyte invasion, efficiency seems key. Here we investigate the idea that particular alleles of two P. knowlesi erythrocyte invasion genes, P. knowlesi normocyte binding protein Pknbpxa and Pknbpxb, influence parasitaemia and human disease progression. Pknbpxa and Pknbpxb reference DNA sequences were generated from five geographically and temporally distinct P. knowlesi patient isolates. Polymorphic regions of each gene (approximately 800 bp) were identified by haplotyping 147 patient isolates at each locus. Parasitaemia in the study cohort was associated with markers of disease severity including liver and renal dysfunction, haemoglobin, platelets and lactate, (r = ≥ 0.34, p =  <0.0001 for all). Seventy-five and 51 Pknbpxa and Pknbpxb haplotypes were resolved in 138 (94%) and 134 (92%) patient isolates respectively. The haplotypes formed twelve Pknbpxa and two Pknbpxb allelic groups. Patients infected with parasites with particular Pknbpxa and Pknbpxb alleles within the groups had significantly higher parasitaemia and other markers of disease severity. Our study strongly suggests that P. knowlesi invasion gene variants contribute to parasite virulence. We focused on two invasion genes, and we anticipate that additional virulent loci will be identified in pathogen genome-wide studies. The multiple sustained entries of this diverse pathogen into the human population must give cause for concern to malaria elimination strategists in the Southeast Asian region