Screening of cetirizine for analgesic activity in mice

Background: Pain is the most common symptom for which patients approach doctors. We have multitude of drugs for pain relief, but they have serious side effects ranging from peptic ulcer (e.g. NSAIDs) to renal failure. The other group, opioids have well known side effects ranging from sedation to drug dependence. So a search for a drug for analgesia with high therapeutic effect and fewer side effects will be a boon for the patients. The objective of this study was to find whether cetirizine, a second generation antihistaminic drug, has got any analgesic activity in mice.Methods: Ten adult albino mice weighing 20-30 grams of either sex were randomized to two groups (n=5). Group I: control group (Treated with solvent 0.1 ml/kg), Group II: Test group (Cetirizine 1mg/kg). All drugs were given orally. The analgesic activity was evaluated by using tail flick, tail immersion and tail clip methods. Reaction time of animals to pain sensation before and after Cetirizine administration were noted at 0, 15, 30, 60 and 90 minutes time intervals respectively on Day 1, 3, 5, 7, 10.Results: Mean reaction time was expressed as Mean±SEM, and one way ANOVA was used to assess statistical significance. Cetirizine was found to have statistically significant analgesic effect in mice and time dependent increase in analgesic effect were observed in all three pain models and maximum analgesic activity was observed at 60 minutes (p<0.001) after drug administration.Conclusions: Through this study, Cetirizine, a second generation antihistamine, is found to have significant analgesic activity in mice. This effect has to be studied further elaborately in animals as well as in humans

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

VLSI implementation of booth multiplier and carry select adder based fir filter design for ECG signal denoising

Over the last two decades, FIR filters have been the subject of intense research. The design of an adder, which is a major building component in circuit design, determines the overall performance of a system. The Finite Impulse Response (FIR) filter has been increasingly popular in signal processing applications in recent years. For signal processing field applications and VLSI systems, many adders are implemented. Signal denoising, as well as the production of an effective multiplier, had never been explained in any of the previous publications. This paper proposes 8 bit booth multipliers for partial products. The design employs the Carry select and Booth techniques. For partial product addition, the Carry Select Adder (CSA) is employed. The architecture of the FIR filter is proposed for operation with Electro Cardiogram (ECG) signal. It's known as CSA-BOOTH FIR, and it's used for denoising. Using the MATLAB application, the ECG signal with noise is sent into the filter. The denoising method is written in Verilog, with the output recorded in a text file. The binary values are read in MATLAB to denoise the signal. The performance of FPGAs and ASICs is evaluated.&nbsp

Analyzing the Variability in Maize (Zea mays L.) Genotypes Using Principal Component Analysis under Varied Ecosystems

Maize is a cereal cross-pollinated crop which belongs to the family poaceae. It is grown over a wider range of environment than any other cereal crop. The present study was conducted to study genetic variability using principal component analysis. Twenty maize genotypes were used in the study. Ten characters viz., plant height, ear height, days to 50 % tasselling, days to 50 % silking, ASI, cob length, number of rows per cob, hundred seed weight, shelling percentage and yield were recorded for the study. In the PCA, four principal components exhibited eigen value more than 1.0 exhibiting 84.54 percent of the variability for the characters under irrigated conditions. The PC1 negative loadings for the flowering traits, viz., days to 50 % silking (-0.3886), ASI (-0.3233) and days to 50 % tasselling (-0.2972) and positive loadings with higher contribution from cob length (0.4033), no of rows per cob (0.3480) followed by shelling percentage were observed. Positive loadings were exhibited by days to tasselling (0.4780), plant height (0.4670) and hundred seed weight (0.4518) in PC2. In PC3 positive loadings for the characters viz., number of rows per cob (0.5338), ASI (0.5226) and cob length (0.3299) and negative loadings for the traits grain yield (-0.3815), ear height (-0.2658) and plant height (-0.2437) and in PC4 positive loadings for plant height (0.4953), ear height (0.2546) and negative loadings were shown by days to grain yield (-0.6632), shelling percentage (-0.3751), ASI (-0.2369) and 50 % silking (-0.0648) were observed. In rainfed conditions, the two principal components had eigen value of more than 1. Under normal irrigated condition,&nbsp; PC1 and PC2&nbsp; had eigen value of 5.689 and 1.6439. Plant height (0.3866), cob length (0.3726), number of rows per cob (0.3551), shelling % (0.3196), grain yield (0.2941), and hundred seed weight (0.2847) contributed positively to PC1. PC 2 had highest positive contributions from days to 50 % tasselling (0.5676), days to 50 % silking (0.5249), shelling % (0.3885), hundred seed weight (0.3763) and grain yield (0.2007). Negative loadings were shown by ear height (-0.1356) and plant height (-0.0093). Positive loadings were contributed by days to 50 % tasselling (0.5676), Days to 50 % silking, shelling percentage (0.3885) and hundred grain weight (0.3763)

Underwater communication implementation with OFDM

259-266Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) is an emerging technology in wireless communication for high data rate. It is a special form of multi-carrier communication technique which is the platform for modern communication systems. Underwater channel is a time varying multipath channel causing Inter Symbol Interference (ISI), Inter Carrier Interference (ICI) and fading. Due to the detrimental effect of time and frequency spreading, achieving high data rate in underwater wireless communication is challenging. This paper investigates on how OFDM finds its suitability for wireless underwater communication. The wireless underwater communication with OFDM scheme was tested using underwater transducers in a water tank and the results are presented.</span

Rare immune-related adverse events in patients with melanoma: incidence, spectrum, and clinical presentations

ABSTRACTImmune-related adverse events (irAEs) are side effects of immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy (ICI). While common irAEs have been well characterized, there are more limited data on rare immune related adverse events (RirAEs) due to low incidence. Lack of characterization of these entities has led to difficulties in accurate diagnosis and management. Here, we conducted a multi-institution analysis of all patients with stage III/IV melanoma who developed RirAEs after being treated with ICIs (anti-PD-1/L1, anti-CTLA-4, and combination PD-1/CTLA-4 blockade) at three institutions (Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Melanoma Institute of Australia). RirAEs were defined as those occurring in approximately <1% of patients treated with anti-PD-1 or <2% with combination. Of 2834 patients who received ICIs, 82 developed RirAEs and were more common with combination PD-1/CTLA-4 blockade (4.6%) vs. anti-PD-1/L1 agents (2.8%). Overall median time from ICI start to RirAE was 86 days (interquartile range 42–235 days) with significantly earlier onset in combination therapy (p < 0.001). The spectrum of RirAEs spanned across several organ systems. Most RirAEs were grade 2 (57 [41.3%]) and grade 3 (40 [29.0%]) with relatively few grade 4 (11 [8.0%]) or 5 (5 [3.6%]) events. Steroid re-escalation (21.4%) or additional immunosuppression (13.8%) were commonly required. RirAE recurrence occurred in 22.6% with ICI rechallenge; 37.1% had new irAEs with rechallenge. In conclusion, RirAEs associated with ICIs in melanoma patients occurred, in aggregate, in 2–5% of patients treated with anti-PD-1-based therapy. Steroid re-escalation and alternative immunosuppression use were frequently required but fatal irAEs were fairly uncommon

Three-dimensional assessment of unilateral subcondylar fracture using computed tomography after open reduction

Objective: The aim was to assess the accuracy of three-dimensional anatomical reductions achieved by open method of treatment in cases of displaced unilateral mandibular subcondylar fractures using preoperative (pre op) and postoperative (post op) computed tomography (CT) scans. Materials and Methods: In this prospective study, 10 patients with unilateral sub condylar fractures confirmed by an orthopantomogram were included. A pre op and post op CT after 1 week of surgical procedure was taken in axial, coronal and sagittal plane along with three-dimensional reconstruction. Standard anatomical parameters, which undergo changes due to fractures of the mandibular condyle were measured in pre and post op CT scans in three planes and statistically analysed for the accuracy of the reduction comparing the following variables: (a) Pre op fractured and nonfractured side (b) post op fractured and nonfractured side (c) pre op fractured and post op fractured side. P < 0.05 was considered as significant. Results: Three-dimensional anatomical reduction was possible in 9 out of 10 cases (90%). The statistical analysis of each parameter in three variables revealed (P < 0.05) that there was a gross change in the dimensions of the parameters obtained in pre op fractured and nonfractured side. When these parameters were assessed in post op CT for the three variables there was no statistical difference between the post op fractured side and non fractured side. The same parameters were analysed for the three variables in pre op fractured and post op fractured side and found significant statistical difference suggesting a considerable change in the dimensions of the fractured side post operatively. Conclusion: The statistical and clinical results in our study emphasised that it is possible to fix the condyle in three-dimensional anatomical positions with open method of treatment and avoid post op degenerative joint changes. CT is the ideal imaging tool and should be used on a regular basis for cases of condylar fractures