Adaptive Neuro Fuzzy Inference System control of active suspension system with actuator dynamics

A hybrid intelligent control technique based on combination of neural network and fuzzy logic will be proposed for hydraulic actuated active suspension system. A half car model will be used for design of Adaptive Neuro Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) controller for hydraulic actuated active suspension. The nonlinear behavior of hydraulic system and uncertain parameters in active suspension has increased the difficulty of creating mathematical model for active suspension system. The performance of most of the classical controller depends on nature of mathematical model of system. Hence it is very difficult to create classical controller without mathematical model of a system. Fuzzy logic controller has ability to predict the behavior of system without the need of mathematical model of a system. In this paper, ANFIS controller proposed for active suspension due to its ability to handle actuator dynamics and parameter uncertainty in hydraulic actuator. The simulation carried out for sinusoidal road profile in order to measure the performance of proposed controller. The result of simulation indicates performance of the ANFIS controller for active suspension with actuator dynamics

ENHANCED PRODUCTION OF PSORALEN THROUGH ELICITORS TREATMENT IN ADVENTITIOUS ROOT CULTURE OF PSORALEA CORYLIFOLIA L.

Objective: The present study aimed to determine the effect of two elicitors namely Methyl Jasmonate (MeJ) and Salicylic acid (SA) on adventitious root production of Psoralea corylifolia L. as the elicitors and at different concentrations.Methods: Adventitious roots of P. corylifolia L. were treated with different concentration of elicitors such as MeJ (10, 20, 30 and 40 µM/l) and SA (50, 100, 150 and 200 µM/l) to enhance the psoralen contents. After the treatment, psoralen content was analyzed through the analytical HPLC experiments (Methanol: Water (50:50) at 0.8 ml/min-1 flow rate and the injection volume as 20 µl).Results: MeJ and SA treatments at the concentrations of 30 µM/l and 150 µM/l respectively were found to increase the net wet weight of adventitious root production to 8 fold at 8 hours of elicitor treatment periods. Further, the quantity of psoralen was determined from the elicitors (MeJ and SA) treated roots and mother plant through the analytical HPLC experiments in order to estimate the psoralen content and it was found as 3.73 mg/ml, 0.015 mg/ml and 0.56 mg/ml respectively.Conclusion: In the present study we achieved enhanced production of psoralen through abiotic elicitors (MeJ and SA) treatment and concluded that the MeJ at 30 µM/l concentration shows significant enhancement of psoralen production.Â

Genetic determination and characterization of extended spectrum β-lactamase producing Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae in a tertiary care hospital, India

145-150Extended spectrum beta lactamase (ESBL) producing Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae are known to cause nosocomial outbreaks which emerged as one of the world’s extreme health threats in past two decades. In this context, the present study was aimed to isolate multi drug resistant E. coli and K. pneumoniae and evaluated the ESBL production. The samples were collected from district Govt. hospital, Ariyalur, Tamil Nadu, India in the period of September 2014 to September 2015 and a total of 1400 nosocomial isolates were isolated. All the isolates were subjected to antibiotic susceptibility testing by Kirby–Bauer disc diffusion method. E. coli (n = 160) had shown high antibiotic resistance pattern to Amikacin, Ceftazidime and Nalidixic acid while K. pneumoniae (n = 110) had shown high antibiotic resistance pattern to Ceftazidime and Nalidixic acid. Based on the phenotypic confirmatory test, 163 (60.4%) isolates (n = 89,  E. coli and n = 74, K. pneumoniae) were ESBL producer. ESBL-positive isolates were screened for the presence of ESBL encoding blaTEM, blaSHV, blaCTX-M-1, blaNDM-1, blaIMP1 and blaGES resistance genes by multiplex polymerase chain reaction (mPCR).  Among the ESBL producing genes, blaCTX-M-1 was the highest (90.8%) prevalence followed by blaTEM (77.3%), blaGES (19%) and blaNDM-1 (3.1%) alone or together.  The present study concluded that the highest prevalence of ESBL producing MDR E. coli and K. pneumoniae with multiple resistance genes demand for new therapeutic options

Formulation and evaluation of herbal face cream with green tea extract

Face cream is a semi-solid preparation for improving skin colour. The purposes of the present research work was to formulate and evaluate herbal face cream with green tea extract, turmeric, aloe vera gel as a skin toner. Herbal creams offer several advantages over synthetic creams. The majority of existing creams which has prepared from drugs of synthetic origin and gives extras fairness to face, but it has several side effects such as itching or several allergic reactions. Herbal creams do not have any of these side effects, without side effects it gives the nourishment to skin. Method carried out to prepare herbal cream was vanishing cream formulation. Firstly, oil phase was prepared, Secondly aqueous phase was prepared. Then aqueous phase was added into the oil phase at 700 c with continuous stirring. Now, once the transfer was completed it was allowed to come at room temperature all the while being stirred. Perfume was added at last just before the finished product was transferred to suitable container. The above prepared herbal cream was evaluated with parameters such as pH, homogeneity by visual and by touch, appearance (colour), rub out (spread ability, wetness), washability, consistency and emolliency. The study suggests that the composition of extract and the base of the cream F1 are more stable and safe

Role of Melatonin in Directing Plant Physiology

Melatonin (MT), a naturally occurring compound, is found in various species worldwide. In 1958, it was first identified in the pineal gland of dairy cows. MT is an "old friend" but a "new compound" for plant biology. It brings experts and research minds from the broad field of plant sciences due to its considerable influence on plant systems. The MT production process in plants and animals is distinct, where it has been expressed explicitly in chloroplasts and mitochondria in plants. Tryptophan acts as the precursor for the formation of phyto-melatonin, along with intermediates including tryptamine, serotonin, N-acetyl serotonin, and 5-methoxy tryptamine. It plays a vital role in growth phases such as the seed germination and seedling growth of crop plants. MT significantly impacts the gas exchange, thereby improving physio-chemical functions in plant systems. During stress, the excessive generation and accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) causes protein oxidation, lipid peroxidation, nucleic acid damage, and enzyme inhibition. Because it directly acts as an antioxidant compound, it awakens the plant antioxidant defense system during stress and reduces the production of ROS, which results in decreasing cellular oxidative damage. MT can enhance plant growth and development in response to various abiotic stresses such as drought, salinity, high temperature, flooding, and heavy metals by regulating the antioxidant mechanism of plants. However, these reactions differ significantly from crop to crop and are based on the level and kind of stress. The role of MT in the physiological functions of plants towards plant growth and development, tolerance towards various abiotic stresses, and approaches for enhancing the endogenous MT in plant systems are broadly reviewed and it is suggested that MT is a steering compound in directing major physiological functions of plants under the changing climate in future

Importance of Protein Kinase and Its Inhibitor: A Review

Deregulation of a broad range of protein kinases has been linked to the development and growth of cancer cells. Protein kinases are intracellular enzymes that regulate cell growth and proliferation as well as the triggering and regulation of immune responses. Protein kinases are important therapeutic targets in cancer because of their critical role in signalling mechanisms that drive malignant cell characteristics. Intensive efforts in drug research have been made in this area over the last two decades. The current study delves into the catalytic domain of a protein kinase as well as information transfer from the cell’s membrane to internal targets. It also discusses the function of protein kinases in signal transduction and their cellular signalling pathways. Furthermore, it specifically outlines a systematic method to hybrid therapies to solve the issue of protein kinase resistance. The therapeutic use of nitric oxide, as well as other targets such as Phosphoinositide 3-kinases (PI3K), Protein Kinase B (Akt), serine/threonine protein kinase (mTOR), p38 mitogen-activated protein kinases (p38 MAPK), vascular endothelial growth factor receptors (VEGFR), epidermal growth factor receptors (EGFR), and anaplastic lymphoma (ALK) etc., According to the review article, selective therapy has shown high effectiveness in the treatment of advanced cancer, with protein kinase inhibitors being a main focus of the therapy. As a result, the latest review summarized that, the current state of science with the aim of identifying a novel protein kinase inhibitor that may be utilized in the treatment of advanced cancers

Taxonomy of Coding Techniques for Efficient Network Communications

Internet Research Task Force, Request For Comments (RFC) 8406, https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc8406/This document summarizes recommended terminology for Network Coding concepts and constructs. It provides a comprehensive set of terms in order to avoid ambiguities in future IRTF and IETF documents on Network Coding. This document is the product of the Coding for Efficient Network Communications Research Group (NWCRG), and it is in line with the terminology used by the RFCs produced by the Reliable Multicast Transport (RMT) and FEC Framework (FECFRAME) IETF working groups

Meta‐analysis of flow modeling performances—to build a matching system between catchment complexity and model types

Hydrological models play a significant role in modelling river flow for decision making support in water resource management. In the past decades, many researchers have made a great deal of efforts in calibrating and validating various models, with each study being focused on one or two models. As a result, there is a lack of comparative analysis on the performance of those models to guide hydrologists to choose appropriate models for the individual climate and physical conditions. This paper describes a two-level meta-analysis to develop a matching system between catchment complexity (based on catchment significant features (CSFs)) and model types. The intention is to use the available CSF information for choosing the most suitable model type for a given catchment. In this study, the CSFs include the elements of climate, soil type, land cover and catchment scale. Specific choices of model types in small and medium catchments are further explored with all CSF information obtained. In particular, it is interesting to find that semi-distributed models are the most suitable model type for catchments with the area over 3000 km2, regardless of other CSFs. The potential methodology for expanding the matching system between catchment complexity and model complexity is discussed. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Suppression of Inflammatory Cardiac Cytokine Network in Rats with Untreated Obesity and Pre-Diabetes by AT2 Receptor Agonist NP-6A4

Obesity affects over 42% of the United States population and exacerbates heart disease, the leading cause of death in men and women. Obesity also increases pro-inflammatory cytokines that cause chronic tissue damage to vital organs. The standard-of-care does not sufficiently attenuate these inflammatory sequelae. Angiotensin II receptor AT2R is an anti-inflammatory and cardiovascular protective molecule; however, AT2R agonists are not used in the clinic to treat heart disease. NP-6A4 is a new AT2R peptide agonist with an FDA orphan drug designation for pediatric cardiomyopathy. NP-6A4 increases AT2R expression (mRNA and protein) and nitric oxide generation in human cardiovascular cells. AT2R-antagonist PD123319 and AT2RSiRNA suppress NP-6A4-effects indicating that NP-6A4 acts through AT2R. To determine whether NP-6A4 would mitigate cardiac damage from chronic inflammation induced by untreated obesity, we investigated the effects of 2-weeks NP-6A4 treatment (1.8 mg/kg delivered subcutaneously) on cardiac pathology of male Zucker obese (ZO) rats that display obesity, pre-diabetes and cardiac dysfunction. NP-6A4 attenuated cardiac diastolic and systolic dysfunction, cardiac fibrosis and cardiomyocyte hypertrophy, but increased myocardial capillary density. NP-6A4 treatment suppressed tubulointerstitial injury marker urinary β-NAG, and liver injury marker alkaline phosphatase in serum. These protective effects of NP-6A4 occurred in the presence of obesity, hyperinsulinemia, hyperglycemia, and hyperlipidemia, and without modulating blood pressure. NP-6A4 increased expression of AT2R (consistent with human cells) and cardioprotective erythropoietin (EPO) and Notch1 in ZO rat heart, but suppressed nineteen inflammatory cytokines. Cardiac miRNA profiling and in silico analysis showed that NP-6A4 activated a unique miRNA network that may regulate expression of AT2R, EPO, Notch1 and inflammatory cytokines, and mitigate cardiac pathology. Seventeen pro-inflammatory and pro-fibrotic cytokines that increase during lethal cytokine storms caused by infections such as COVID-19 were among the cytokines suppressed by NP-6A4 treatment in ZO rat heart. Thus, NP-6A4 activates a novel anti-inflammatory network comprised of 21 proteins in the heart that was not reported previously. Since NP-6A4’s unique mode of action suppresses pro-inflammatory cytokine network and attenuates myocardial damage, it can be an ideal adjuvant drug with other anti-glycemic, anti-hypertensive, standard-of-care drugs to protect the heart tissues from pro-inflammatory and pro-fibrotic cytokine attack induced by obesity