80 research outputs found
Failure Potential Assessment of Heat Exchanger Network for Inherently Safer Design
The inherent safety indices are the widely accepted tool to assess the inherent safety level at the preliminary design stage. Numerous inherent safety indices have been designed to assess the failure potential of shell and tube heat exchanger but limited indices have a capability to measure the failure potential of the heat exchanger network at the preliminary design stage. Moreover, integration between process design stages with risk and consequence estimation is extremely important in order to design inherently safe process plants. However, the lack of formal integration between process design stages with risk and consequence estimation results in unproductive estimation of risk levels and consequence that occurs during a particular process route until the design is completed. Few studies on the integration of risk estimation with process design are available but a viable framework is yet to be reported. Hence, based on the highlighted issue, application of integrated Risk Estimation Tool (iRET) for explosion scenarios is proposed to study the failure potential assessment of heat exchanger network (HEN) at the preliminary design stag
Bioactive compounds and therapeutic properties of Aloe vera- a review
Aloe vera is a popular herbal medicine and worldwide appreciated for its therapeutic potential. From ancient time, it has been used as a home remedy for different health issues. Many researchers have shown its therapeutic potential and there are many citations of characterization of bioactive compounds from it. A wide range of bioactive compounds have been characterized from Aloe vera. It has a wide range of antimicrobial, antioxidant, and antidiabetic properties. Aloe vera can also provide support for carbohydrate and lipid metabolism by maintaining the level of cholesterol and sugar in blood and it can also help to maintain body weight. Due to the presence of higher number of bioactive compounds and prolific therapeutic properties, it is widely used in medicine, cosmetics and food sector. In this review, the characterisation of bioactive compounds from Aloe vera along with the extraction of its gel and encapsulation is reviewed with a discussion on its medicinal properties
Failure Potential Assessment of Heat Exchanger Network for Inherently Safer Design
The inherent safety indices are the widely accepted tool to assess the inherent safety level at the preliminary design stage. Numerous inherent safety indices have been designed to assess the failure potential of shell and tube heat exchanger but limited indices have a capability to measure the failure potential of the heat exchanger network at the preliminary design stage. Moreover, integration between process design stages with risk and consequence estimation is extremely important in order to design inherently safe process plants. However, the lack of formal integration between process design stages with risk and consequence estimation results in unproductive estimation of risk levels and consequence that occurs during a particular process route until the design is completed. Few studies on the integration of risk estimation with process design are available but a viable framework is yet to be reported. Hence, based on the highlighted issue, application of integrated Risk Estimation Tool (iRET) for explosion scenarios is proposed to study the failure potential assessment of heat exchanger network (HEN) at the preliminary design stag
Transcriptional Signatures in Liver Reveal Metabolic Adaptations to Seasons in Migratory Blackheaded Buntings
The molecular underpinnings of metabolic adaptation to seasons are poorly understood in long- distance migrants. We measured changes in physiology and performed de novo sequencing of RNA extracted from liver samples collected at 4-h intervals over a period of 24 h from a long-distance avian migrant, the blackheaded bunting (Emberiza melanocephala), during two states: photostimulated vernal migratory (M) state and photorefractory non-migratory (nM) state. The M state was differentiated from the nM state based on body fattening and weight gain, as well as on Zugunruhe, that is, nocturnal migratory restlessness in caged birds. We found that baseline blood glucose and triglyceride levels were significantly higher in the M state than the nM state; conversely, surface body temperature was higher in the nM state than the M state. In a total of 6 liver samples that were sequenced from each state, 11,246 genes were annotated, including 4448 genes that were cyclic over 24 h. We found 569 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between the M and the nM state, and the M state showed 131 upregulated and 438 downregulated genes. These DEGs formed core gene hubs associated with specific biological processes in both the states. In addition, weighted gene coexpression network analysis revealed two discrete modules of coexpressed genes, with a significant difference in the expression pattern of metab olism-associated genes between M and nM states. These results demonstrate, for the first time, transcriptome-wide changes in the liver between two distinct physiological states and give molecular insights into seasonal metabolic adaptations in latitudinal migrants
Temperature Dependence of Elastic and Ultrasonic Properties of Sodium Borohydride
We present the temperature dependent elastic and ultrasonic properties of sodium borohydride. The second and third order elastic constants of NaBH4 have been computed in the temperature range 0-300K using Coulomb and Born-Mayer potential. The sodium borohydride crystallizes into NaCl-type structure. The computed values of second order elastic constants have been applied to evaluate the temperature dependent mechanical properties such as bulk modulus, shear modulus, tetragonal modulus, Poisson’s ratio and Zener anisotropy factor and ultrasonic velocity to predict futuristic information about sodium borohydride. The fracture to toughness ratio (bulk modulus/shear modulus) in sodium borohydride varied from 1.91 to 1.62, which shows its behavioral change from ductile to brittle on increasing the temperature. Then, ultrasonic Grüneisen parameters have been computed with the use of elastic constants in the temperature regime 100-300K. The obtained results have been discussed in correlation with available experimental and theoretical results. [1] A. Amudhavalli, M. Manikandan, A. Jemmy Cinthia, R. Rajeswarapalanichamy and K. Iyakutti, Z. Naturforsch. A 72 (2017) 321. [2] D.Singh, P.K.Yadawa and S.K.Sahu, Cryogenics 50 (2010) 476. [3] V. Bhalla, D.Singh and S.K.Jain, Int. J. Comput. Mat. Sc. Eng. 5 (2016) 1650012. [4] S. Kaushik, D. Singh and G. Mishra, Asian J. Chem. 24 (2012) 5655. [5] D. Chernyshov, A. Bosak, V. Dmitriev, Y. Filmchuk and H. Hagemann, Phys. Rev. B 78 (2008)172104. [6] H. Hagemann, S. Gomes, G. Renaudin and K. Yvon, J. Alloys Compd. 363 (2004) 126. [7] Y. Filinchuk, D. Chernyshov and V. Dmitriev, Z. Kristallogr. 223 (2008) 649. [8] Z.Xiao Dong, J.Z. Yi, Z. Bo, H. Z. Feng and H.Y. Qing, Chin. Phys. Lett. 28(2011)076201. [9] T. Ghellab, Z. Charifi, H. Baaziz, Ş. Uğur, G. Uğur and F. Soyalp, Phys. Scr. 91 (2016) 045804. [10] S. Bae, S. Gim, H. Kim and K. Hanna, Appl. Catal. B: Environm. 182 (2016) 541. [11] G. Renaudin, S. Gomes, H. Hagemann, L. Keller and K. Yvon, J Alloys Compd. 375 (2004) 98. [12] P. Vajeeston, P. Ravindran, A. Kjekshus and H. Fjellvåg, J Alloys Compd. 387 (2005) 97. [13] S. Orimo, Y. Nakamori, J.R. Eliseo, A. Zuttel and C. M. Jensen, Chem. Rev. 107 (2007) 4111. [14] A. Istek and E. Gonteki, J. Environ. Bio.7 (2009) 951. [15] R. S. Kumar and A.L. Cornelinus, Appl. Phys. Lett. 87 (2005) 261916. [16] E. Kim, R. Kumar, P. F. Weck, A. L. Cornelius, M. Nicol, S. C. Vogel, J. Zhang, M. Hartl, A.C. Stowe, L. Daemen and Y. Zhao, J. Phys. Chem. Lett. B 111 (2007) 13873. [17] K. Brugger, Phys. Rev. 133 (1964) A1611. [18] P.B. Ghate, Phy. Rev. 139 (1965) A1666 [19] S. Mori, Y. Hiki, J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 45 (1975) 1449. [20] V. Bhalla, R. Kumar, C. Tripathy and D. Singh, Int. J. Mod. Phys. B 27 (2013) 1350116. [21] D. Singh, S. Kaushik, S. Tripathi, V. Bhalla and A. K. Gupta, Arab. J. Sci. Eng. 39 (2014) 485. [22] K. Brugger, Phys. Rev.137 (1965) 1826. [23] W. P. Mason, Physical Acoustics, vol. IIIB, Academic Press, New York, 1965. [24] M.P. Tosi, Solid State Physics, vol. 12, Academic Press, New York, 1965. [25] Y. Nakamori and S. Orimo, J. Alloy Compd.370(2004)271. [26] D. Singh, D.K. Pandey and P.K. Yadawa, Cent. Eur. J. Phys. 7 (2009) 198. [27] V. Bhalla, D. Singh, G. Mishra and M. Wan, J. Pure Appl. Ultrason. 38 (2016)23. [28] D. Singh, S. Kaushik, S.K. Pandey, G. Mishra and V. Bhalla, VNU J. Sc.: Math. Phys. 32(2016)43. [29] J.P.Watt and L. Peselnick, J.Appl. Phys. 51 (1980) 1525. [30] S.F.Pugh, Philos.Mag. 45 (1954) 823. [31] V. Bhalla, D. Singh and S.K. Jain, Int. J. Thermophys. 37(2016)33. [32] V. Bhalla, D. Singh, S.K. Jain and R. Kumar, Pramana- J. Phys. 86 (2016)135
Protocol for the mWellcare trial: a multicentre, cluster randomised, 12-month, controlled trial to compare the effectiveness of mWellcare, an mHealth system for an integrated management of patients with hypertension and diabetes, versus enhanced usual care in India.
INTRODUCTION: Rising burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and diabetes is a major challenge to the health system in India. Innovative approaches such as mobile phone technology (mHealth) for electronic decision support in delivering evidence-based and integrated care for hypertension, diabetes and comorbid depression have potential to transform the primary healthcare system. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: mWellcare trial is a multicentre, cluster randomised controlled trial evaluating the clinical and cost-effectiveness of a mHealth system and nurse managed care for people with hypertension and diabetes in rural India. mWellcare system is an Android-based mobile application designed to generate algorithm-based clinical management prompts for treating hypertension and diabetes and also capable of storing health records, sending alerts and reminders for follow-up and adherence to medication. We recruited a total of 3702 participants from 40 Community Health Centres (CHCs), with ≥90 at each of the CHCs in the intervention and control (enhanced care) arms. The primary outcome is the difference in mean change (from baseline to 1 year) in systolic blood pressure and glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) between the two treatment arms. The secondary outcomes are difference in mean change from baseline to 1 year in fasting plasma glucose, total cholesterol, predicted 10-year risk of CVD, depression, smoking behaviour, body mass index and alcohol use between the two treatment arms and cost-effectiveness. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The study has been approved by the institutional Ethics Committees at Public Health Foundation of India and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Findings will be disseminated widely through peer-reviewed publications, conference presentations and other mechanisms. TRIAL REGISTRATION: mWellcare trial is registered with Clinicaltrial.gov (Registration number NCT02480062; Pre-results) and Clinical Trial Registry of India (Registration number CTRI/2016/02/006641). The current version of the protocol is Version 2 dated 19 October 2015 and the study sponsor is Public Health Foundation of India, Gurgaon, India (www.phfi.org)
Effectiveness of an mHealth-Based Electronic Decision Support System for Integrated Management of Chronic Conditions in Primary Care: The mWellcare Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial.
BACKGROUND: The burden of noncommunicable diseases and their risk factors has rapidly increased worldwide, including in India. Innovative management strategies with electronic decision support and task sharing have been assessed for hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and depression individually, but an integrated package for multiple chronic condition management in primary care has not been evaluated. METHODS: In a prospective, multicenter, open-label, cluster-randomized controlled trial involving 40 community health centers, using hypertension and diabetes mellitus as entry points, we evaluated the effectiveness of mWellcare, an mHealth system consisting of electronic health record storage and an electronic decision support for the integrated management of 5 chronic conditions (hypertension, diabetes mellitus, current tobacco and alcohol use, and depression) versus enhanced usual care among patients with hypertension and diabetes mellitus in India. At trial end (12-month follow-up), using intention-to-treat analysis, we examined the mean difference between arms in change in systolic blood pressure and glycated hemoglobin as primary outcomes and fasting blood glucose, total cholesterol, predicted 10-year risk of cardiovascular disease, depression score, and proportions reporting tobacco and alcohol use as secondary outcomes. Mixed-effects regression models were used to account for clustering and other confounding variables. RESULTS: Among 3698 enrolled participants across 40 clusters (mean age, 55.1 years; SD, 11 years; 55.2% men), 3324 completed the trial. There was no evidence of difference between the 2 arms for systolic blood pressure (Δ=-0.98; 95% CI, -4.64 to 2.67) and glycated hemoglobin (Δ=0.11; 95% CI, -0.24 to 0.45) even after adjustment of several key variables (adjusted differences for systolic blood pressure: - 0.31 [95% CI, -3.91 to 3.29]; for glycated hemoglobin: 0.08 [95% CI, -0.27 to 0.44]). The mean within-group changes in systolic blood pressure in mWellcare and enhanced usual care were -13.65 mm Hg versus -12.66 mm Hg, respectively, and for glycated hemoglobin were -0.48% and -0.58%, respectively. Similarly, there were no differences in the changes between the 2 groups for tobacco and alcohol use or other secondary outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: We did not find an incremental benefit of mWellcare over enhanced usual care in the management of the chronic conditions studied. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: URL: https://www. CLINICALTRIALS: gov. Unique identifier: NCT02480062
p53 Target Gene SMAR1 Is Dysregulated in Breast Cancer: Its Role in Cancer Cell Migration and Invasion
Tumor suppressor SMAR1 interacts and stabilizes p53 through phosphorylation at its serine-15 residue. We show that SMAR1 transcription is regulated by p53 through its response element present in the SMAR1 promoter. Upon Doxorubicin induced DNA damage, acetylated p53 is recruited on SMAR1 promoter that allows activation of its transcription. Once SMAR1 is induced, cell cycle arrest is observed that is correlated to increased phospho-ser-15-p53 and decreased p53 acetylation. Further we demonstrate that SMAR1 expression is drastically reduced during advancement of human breast cancer. This was correlated with defective p53 expression in breast cancer where acetylated p53 is sequestered into the heterochromatin region and become inaccessible to activate SMAR1 promoter. In a recent report we have shown that SMAR1 represses Cyclin D1 transcription through recruitment of HDAC1 dependent repressor complex at the MAR site of Cyclin D1 promoter. Here we show that downmodulation of SMAR1 in high grade breast carcinoma is correlated with upregulated Cyclin D1 expression. We also established that SMAR1 inhibits tumor cell migration and metastases through inhibition of TGFβ signaling and its downstream target genes including cutl1 and various focal adhesion molecules. Thus, we report that SMAR1 plays a central role in coordinating p53 and TGFβ pathways in human breast cancer
Salinomycin induces cell death and differentiation in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma stem cells despite activation of epithelial-mesenchymal transition and Akt
Temperature dependent elastic and ultrasonic properties of ytterbium monopnictides
Ultrasonic properties of ytterbium monopnictides (YbX: X= As, P) have been evaluated along <100>, <110> and <111> directions in the temperature range 100-400 K. The second-and third-order elastic constants (SOECs and TOECs) are calculated for the computation of ultrasonic parameters. Other elastic constants like bulk modulus, shear modulus, Young’s modulus, Poisson ratio, anisotropic ratio, tetragonal moduli and fracture/toughness ratio are also calculated to evaluate the performance of materials under investigation. The elastic behaviour of these materials shows their brittle nature. It is found that the ultrasonic attenuation in ytterbium monopnictides increases with temperature and have quadratic function of temperature. The nature of ultrasonic attenuation was found to be quite similar to the other observed results of rare-earth monopnictides
- …