Design expert based optimization of the pyrolysis process for the production of cattle dung bio-oil and properties characterization

This study aimed to optimize pyrolysis conditions to maximize bio-oil yield from cattle dung, a waste product of livestock practices. Pyrolysis of cattle dung was carried out in batch type reactor. The pyrolysis process was optimized using a central composite design in response surface methodology, with conversion parameters such as pyrolysis temperature, vapor cooling temperature, residence time, and gas flow rate taken into account. The cattle dung bio-oil was analyzed using gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy (GC/MS), an elemental analyzer, a pH probe, and a bomb calorimeter. Furthermore, the ASTM standard procedures were used to determine the bio-fuel characteristics. The optimized conditions were found to be a pyrolysis temperature of 402 °C, a vapor cooling temperature of 2.25 °C, a residence time of 30.72 min, and a gas flow rate of 1.81 l min-1, resulting in a maximum bio-oil yield of 18.9%. According to the findings, the yield of bio-oil was predominantly affected by pyrolysis temperature and vapor cooling temperature. Moreover, the bio-oil that was retrieved was discovered to be similar to conventional liquid fuels in numerous ways.

Effectiveness of Eupatorium perfoliatum 30C in Prevention of Dengue Fever and Acute Febrile Illness during 2017 Dengue Outbreak in Urban Slums of Delhi: A Prospective, Open-Label, Community-Based, Parallel Cohort Study

OBJECTIVE

This study was undertaken to assess the effectiveness of Eupatorium perfoliatum (EP) 30C on the incidence of dengue fever and acute febrile illness (AFI) during the 2017 dengue outbreak.

METHODS

We conducted a prospective, open-label, community-based parallel cohort study involving apparently healthy individuals residing in 06 urban slums (JJ colony) of Delhi. The participants were enrolled in two cohorts - the medicine cohort (MC) and the control cohort (CC). Participants in MC were given weekly one dose of EP 30C for 10 weeks along with Information, Education and Communication (IEC) material regarding dengue. Participants in the CC were provided with the IEC material only. The primary outcome measure was the incidence of dengue fever as per case definitions notified in the national guidelines for clinical management of dengue fever by the Government of India during the 10 weeks follow-up period. The secondary outcome measures were the incidence of AFI and the hospitalization of confirmed dengue cases.

RESULTS

The analysis included 40,769 participants residing in 06 slum clusters of Delhi out of which 28,321 participants were in MC and 12,448 participants were in CC. The incidence of laboratory-confirmed dengue in the MC was 2.57 per 10,000 person-weeks (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.02-3.22) in comparison with 7.55 per 10,000 person-weeks (95% CI, 6.12-9.21) in the CC. The incidence of AFI in the MC was 19.66 per 10,000 person-weeks (95% CI, 18.07-21.36) in comparison with 40.96 per 10,000 person-weeks (95% CI, 37.48-44.67) in the CC. The overall protective effect of EP against laboratory-confirmed dengue was 65.77% (95% CI, 53.37-74.87; p = 0.0001) and against AFI was 52.58% (95% CI, 46.37-58.07; p = 0.0001). Hospitalization reported in the MC was nil as against 4.35% in the CC. No dengue-related case fatalities were reported from either cohort. None of the participants from the MC reported any adverse events owing to the prophylactic intervention.

CONCLUSION

The study concludes that EP 30C was able to prevent dengue significantly. Randomized controlled trials are needed to confirm or refute our findings.

Ziel

Das Ziel dieser Studie war die Beurteilung der Wirksamkeit von Eupatorium perfoliatum (EP) 30C auf die Inzidenz von Dengue-Fieber und akuter fiebriger Erkrankung (AFE) während des Dengue-Ausbruchs 2017.

Methoden

Wir führten eine prospektive, unverblindete, Bevölkerungs-Parallelgruppen-Kohortenstudie mit augenscheinlich gesunden Bewohnern von 6 städtischen Slums (JJ-Kolonie) in Delhi durch. Die Teilnehmer wurden in 2 Kohorten aufgenommen, einer Medizinkohorte (MK) und einer Kontrollkohorte (KK). Die Teilnehmer in der MK erhielten 10 Wochen lang wöchentlich eine Dosis EP 30C und dazu Aufklärungsmaterialien über Dengue. Die Teilnehmer in der KK erhielten nur die Aufklärungsmaterialien. Die primäre Zielgröße war die Dengue-Fieber-Inzidenz laut der in den nationalen Leitlinien für das klinische Management des Dengue-Fiebers von der indischen Regierung bekannt gegebenen Falldefinition in dem zehnwöchigen Beobachtungszeitraum. Die sekundären Zielgrößen waren die Inzidenz von AFE und die Anzahl hospitalisierter bestätigter Dengue-Fälle.

Ergebnisse

In die Analyse wurden 40,769 Bewohner von 6 Slum-Clustern in Delhi einbezogen, davon wurden 28,321 Teilnehmer in die MK aufgenommen und 12,448 Teilnehmer in die KK. Die Inzidenz von im Labor bestätigter Dengue betrug in der MK 2,57 pro 10,000 Personen/Woche (95%-Konfidenzintervall [KI]: 2,02–3,22), verglichen mit 7,55 pro 10,000 Personen/Woche (95%-KI: 6,12–9,21) in der KK. Die Inzidenz von AFI betrug in der MK 19,66 pro 10,000 Personen/Woche (95%-Konfidenzintervall [KI]: 18,07–21,36), verglichen mit 40,96 pro 10,000 Personen/Woche (95%-KI: 37,48–44,67) in der KK. Der Schutzeffekt (SE) von EP betrug gegen im Labor bestätigte Dengue 65,77% (95%-KI: 53,37–74,87; p = 0,0001) und gegen AFI 52,58% (95%-KI: 46,37–58,07; p = 0,0001). Die Hospitalisierungsrate war in der MK gleich Null versus 4,35% in der KK. In keiner Kohorte waren Dengue-bedingte Todesfälle zu verzeichnen. Bei keinem der Teilnehmer in der MK traten jegliche unerwünschten Ereignisse infolge der prophylaktischen Maßnahme auf.

Schlussfolgerung

Die Studie gelangt zu dem Schluss, dass Eupatorium perfoliatum 30C in signifikantem Maße Dengue vorbeugen konnte. Randomisierte kontrollierte Studien sind erforderlich, um unsere Ergebnisse zu bestätigen bzw. zu widerlegen.

Diverse presentations of ectopia lentis and lens coloboma in Marfan's syndrome

Marfan's syndrome (MFS) is an autosomal dominant connective tissue disorder with defect in the fibrillin-1 gene. The most common ocular manifestation is subluxated lens in the superotemporal direction, accounting for 50%-85% of total cases. The association of lens coloboma with MFS has been described in literature, but the coexistence of lens coloboma with ectopia lentis is a rare feature. Here, we describe three cases of MFS including a case of bilateral lens coloboma with ectopia lentis: case 1 - a 39-year-old male with inferotemporal lens subluxation in the right eye and superotemporal lens subluxation in the left eye with open-angle glaucoma and high myopia, case 2 - a 15-year-old child with bilateral superonasal lens subluxation with lens coloboma, and case 3 - a 56-year-old female with bilateral lens coloboma. Case 1 and case 2 had clear lenses with good refractive correction; hence, they were optically rehabilitated with contact lenses, whereas case 3 was advised for cataract surgery. It is important to distinguish the lens coloboma from a more common entity, ectopia lentis as former usually remains stable while the latter might need a surgical intervention.

Effectiveness of Arsenicum album 30C in Prevention of COVID-19 in Individuals Residing in Containment Zones of Delhi-A Prospective, Community-based, Parallel Cohort Study

OBJECTIVE

 This work was designed as undertaken to evaluate the protective effect of Arsenicum album 30C against COVID-19.

DESIGN

 The work was designed as a prospective parallel cluster cohort study.

INTERVENTION

 Participants were enrolled in a homeopathy intervention (HI) cohort (who received Arsenicum album) or in a non-intervention (NI) cohort (who received no systematic intervention) from COVID-19 containment areas of Delhi. Individuals of age 5 years or above were given four medicated pills of Arsenicum album 30C, while those from 1 to 5 years old were given two medicated pills in each dose.

RESULTS

 The analysis included 10,180 individuals residing in 11 COVID-19 containment areas in Delhi, out of which 6,590 individuals were in the HI cohort and 3,590 individuals were in the NI cohort. The overall protective effect of Arsenicum album 30C was 83.43% (95% confidence interval [CI], 76.77 to 88.17): 45 cases per 6,590 (8.34 per 10,000 person-weeks) in the Arsenicum album 30C group versus 143 cases per 3,590 (45.01 per 10,000 person-weeks) in the NI cohort. The protective effect of Arsenicum album 30C against laboratory confirmed COVID-19 was 74.40% (95% CI, 55.08 to 85.41): 18 cases per 6,590 (3.32 per 10,000 person-weeks) in the Arsenicum album 30C group versus 38 cases per 3,590 (11.85 per 10,000 person-weeks) in the NI cohort.

CONCLUSION

The   use of Arsenicum album 30C was associated with some protection against probable and laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 in a containment-zone setting. Randomized controlled trials are needed to confirm or refute these results.

Low Interscalene Brachial Plexus Block with Dexmedetomidine and Clonidine as Adjuvants to Local Anaesthetic Mixture: A Double-blind Randomised Clinical Study

Introduction: For routine and emergency upper limb surgeries, brachial plexus block is better alternative to general anaesthesia. As compared to classic Interscalene brachial plexus Block (ISB), Low Interscalene Block (LISB) deposit Local Anesthetic (LA) more caudad causing sensory-motor blockade of upper limb. It acts as bridge between supraclavicular and classic ISB. Local anaesthetic mixture are used to shorten the onset of sensorymotor blockade. Alongside, various adjuvants are mixed with LA to further improve quality of block. Aim: To compare the efficacy of dexmedetomidine and clonidine as adjuvants to LA mixture in LISB for upper limb surgeries to assess onset and duration of Sensory-motor block and to observe any complication associated with block. Materials and Methods: This double-blind, randomised prospective clinical study was conducted on 90 patients, aged 18 to 60 years, posted for upper limb surgeries with American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) grade I, II at a tertiary care centre of Government Medical College, Patiala, Punjab, India from February 2021 to November 2021. The patients were randomly divided into three groups. Group I: levo-bupivacaine 0.5% (20 mL)+ lignocaine 2% (10 mL)+ Normal Saline (NS) (1 mL), group II: levo-bupivacaine 0.5% (20 mL)+ lignocaine 2% (10 mL) + dexmedetomidine 50 mcg (1 mL), group III: levo-bupivacaine 0.5% (20 mL)+ lignocaine 2% (10 mL)+ clonidine 50 mcg (1 mL). The parameters observed were: onset and duration of sensory and motor block, any intraoperative complication. Data was compiled with the help of MS-Excel and analysis done with IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22. Results: The mean onset time of sensory and motor block was faster in group II (4.20±0.62, 5.25±0.89 min) as compared to group III (5.24±0.99, 6.23±0.96 min) and group I (6.48±0.87, 7.03±1.02 min). The mean duration of sensory and motor block was prolonged in group II (743.38±12.55, 673.21±22.29 min) as compared to group III (480.65±14.72, 433.03±7.28 min) and group I (311.28±5.75, 272.03±6.09 min). No adverse effect was observed during this study. Conclusion: Dexmedetomidine was more effective than clonidine as an adjuvant to LA mixture (0.5% levobupivaciane + 2% lignocaine) in low interscalene brachial plexus block and no episode of pneumothorax and phrenic nerve palsy was seen.

Inheritance and biochemical basis of yellowing of apical leaves: a unique trait in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.)

A unique trait, i.e. yellowing of apical/young leaves in response to low temperature and high relative humidity was identified in a chickpea genotype, ICCX110069. To determine inheritance pattern of this trait, ICCX110069 was crossed to four other genotypes, GL14050, GL14049, GL14059 and SAGL152117, that exhibited normal green apical leaves under similar environmental conditions. The F₁, F₂, F₃, BC₁F₁ and BC₁F₂ generations were generated. A ratio of 13 normal green leaf: three yellow leaf was found to be the best fit, indicated digenic gene action with suppressor effect of normal green leaf over the expression of yellowing of apical/young leaf trait. The chlorophyll content was significantly lower, while guaiacol peroxidase activity was significantly higher in yellow leaves of ICCX110069 as compared to green leaves of the same genotype and of GL14049, indicating the competence of antioxidative defence mechanism involved with the expression of this trait.

Yeast techniques for modeling drugs targeting Bcl-2 and caspase family members

Development of drugs targeting Bcl-2 relatives and caspases, for treating diseases including cancer and inflammatory disorders, often involves measuring interactions with recombinant target molecules, and/or monitoring cancer cell killing in vitro. Here, we present yeast-based methods for evaluating drug-mediated inhibition of Bcl-2 relatives or caspases. Active Bax and caspases kill Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and pro-survival Bcl-2 proteins can inhibit Bax-induced yeast death. By measuring the growth or adenosine triphosphate content of transformants co-expressing Bax with pro-survival Bcl-2 relatives, we found that the Bcl-2 antagonist drugs ABT-737 or ABT-263 abolished Bcl-2 or Bcl-x_L function and reduced Bcl-w activity, but failed to inhibit Mcl-1, A1 or the poxvirus orthologs DPV022 and SPPV14. Using this technique, we also demonstrated that adenoviral E1B19K was resistant to these agents. The caspase inhibitor Q-VD-OPh suppressed yeast death induced by caspases 1 and 3. Yeast engineered to express human apoptotic regulators enable simple, automatable assessment of the activity and specificity of candidate drugs targeting Bcl-2 relatives or caspases.

Endothelial dysfunction in ankylosing spondylitis improves after tumor necrosis factor-alpha blockade

Chronic inflammation in ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is associated with vascular endothelial dysfunction. Infliximab improves inflammatory disease activity in AS patients, but its effect on endothelial dysfunction has still not been tested in these patients. Twelve anti-TNF naive AS patients (mean age, 32.6 +/- 3.94 years; disease duration, 5.6 +/- 0.8 years) with high disease activity [Bath ankylosing spondylitis disease activity index (BASDAI score > 4)] despite treatment with stable doses of conventional disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) were investigated. Inflammatory disease activity [BASDAI and Bath ankylosing spondylitis functional index (BASFI) scores, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels], serum nitrite concentration, and endothelium-dependent and endothelium-independent vasodilation of the brachial artery were measured at baseline and 12 weeks of therapy after single intravenous infusion of infliximab (5 mg/kg). Previous DMARD(s) regimen remained unchanged throughout the study period. After treatment with infliximab, flow-mediated vasodilation improved from 9.81 +/- 1.70% to 26.93 +/- 2.34% (p < 0.001), whereas there was no significant change in endothelium-independent vasodilation with nitroglycerin and baseline diameter (13.65 +/- 2.10% versus 14.59 +/- 1.93%, p = 0.08, and 4.45 +/- 0.15 versus 4.46 +/- 0.15 mm, p = 0.3, respectively). Nitrite concentration reduced from 6.50 +/- 0.21 to 2.57 +/- 0.18 micromol/l (p < 0.001), ESR from 40.90 +/- 6.00 to 11.50 +/- 1.38 mm in the first hour (p < 0.001), and CRP level from 29.08 +/- 4.11 to 2.69 +/- 0.43 mg/dl (p < 0.001). BASDAI and BASFI scores were significantly reduced from 5.40 +/- 1.14 to 1.40 +/- 0.70 (p < 0.05) and 5.05 +/- 1.76 to 0.20 +/- 0.63 (p < 0.05), respectively. The study suggests that in ankylosing spondylitis, endothelial dysfunction is a part of the disease process and infliximab improves both endothelial dysfunction and inflammatory disease activity.

Joint thresholding and quantizer selection for compression of medical ultrasound images in the wavelet domain

This paper introduces a simple and efficient technique for compression of medical ultrasound (US) images in the wavelet domain. The statistics of subband wavelet coefficients are modelled using the generalized Gaussian distribution (GGD). By exploiting these statistics, a uniform scalar quantizer is designed which adapts very well to the changing statistics of the signal across various subbands and scales. To increase the quantization performance, a threshold is chosen adaptively to zero-out the insignificant wavelet coefficients in the detail subbands before quantization. A distinctive feature of the proposed technique is that it unifies the two approaches to image adaptive coding: rate-distortion (R-D) optimized quantizer selection and R-D optimal thresholding, in order to increase the compression performance of the coder. The operational R-D criterion used for joint optimization is derived in the minimum description length (MDL) framework. The experimental results show that the joint R-D optimization leads to significant improvement in the compression performance of the proposed coder, named JTQ-WV, over the best state-of-the-art image coder, SPIHT. For example, the coding of US images at 0.25 bpp by JTQ-WV yields a PSNR gain of 1.0 dB over the benchmark SPIHT.

Effect of spironolactone on endothelial dysfunction in rheumatoid arthritis

OBJECTIVE

Chronic inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is associated with vascular endothelial dysfunction. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of spironolactone on endothelial function in anti-tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-naive RA patients.

METHODS

Twenty-four anti-TNF-naive RA patients (mean age 49 +/- 1.8 years; disease duration 8.5 +/- 5.8 years) with high disease activity [Disease Activity Score including a 28-joint count (DAS28 > 5.1)] despite treatment with stable doses of conventional disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) were investigated. Inflammatory disease activity [DAS28 and Health Assessment Questionnaire-Disability Index (HAQ-DI) scores, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and C-reactive protein (CRP)], serum markers of endothelial dysfunction, serum nitrite concentration, and endothelium-dependent and -independent vasodilation of the brachial artery were measured before and after 12 weeks of therapy with oral spironolactone 2 mg/kg/day.

RESULTS

After treatment with spironolactone, flow-mediated vasodilation (FMD) improved from 3.18 +/- 0.46% to 3.95 +/- 0.49% (p < 0.001) whereas there was no significant change in endothelium-independent vasodilation with nitroglycerin and baseline diameter (18.4 +/- 1.15% vs. 18.3 +/- 1.13%, p = 0.046, and 3.5 +/- 0.1 vs. 3.52 +/- 0.1 mm, p = 0.952, respectively); serum nitrite concentration was reduced significantly from 6.9 +/- 0.34 to 6.8 +/- 0.33 micromol/L (p < 0.001), ESR from 59.90 +/- 4.86 to 51.22+/-4.26 mm in the first hour (p < 0.001), and CRP level from 15.2+/-3.8 to 9.4+/-2.6 mg/dL (p = 0.019). DAS28 and HAQ-DI scores were significantly reduced, from 6.9+/-0.25 to 4.1+/-0.31 (p < 0.05) and from 1.47+/-0.09 to 0.69+/-0.1 (p < 0.05), respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

The study suggests that, in RA, endothelial dysfunction is part of the disease process and treatment with spironolactone improves both endothelial dysfunction and inflammatory disease activity in RA.

Wavelet based compression of medical ultrasound images using vector quantization

In this paper, an efficient technique for compression of medical ultrasound (US) images is proposed. The technique is based on wavelet transform of the original image combined with vector quantization (VQ) of high-energy subbands using the LBG algorithm. First, we analyse the statistical behaviour of wavelet coefficients in US images across various subbands and scales. The analysis show that most of the image energy is concentrated in one of the detail subband, either in the vertical detail subband (most of the time) or in the horizontal subband. The other two subbands at each decomposition level contribute negligibly to the total image energy. Then, by exploiting this statistical analysis, a low-complexity image coder is designed, which applies VQ only to the highest energy subband while discarding the other detail subbands at each level of decomposition. The coder is tested on a series of abdominal and uterus greyscale US images. The experimental results indicate that the proposed method clearly outperforms the JPEG2000 (Joint Photographers Expert Group) encoder both qualitatively and quantitatively. For example, without using any entropy coder, the proposed method yields a peak signal to noise ratio gain of 0.2 dB to 1.2 dB over JPEG2000 on medical US images.

Performance improvement of the SPIHT coder based on statistics of medical ultrasound images in the wavelet domain

This paper proposes some modifications to the state-of-the-art Set Partitioning In Hierarchical Trees (SPIHT) image coder based on statistical analysis of the wavelet coefficients across various subbands and scales, in a medical ultrasound (US) image. The original SPIHT algorithm codes all the subbands with same precision irrespective of their significance, whereas the modified algorithm processes significant subbands with more precision and ignores the least significant subbands. The statistical analysis shows that most of the image energy in ultrasound images lies in the coefficients of vertical detail subbands while diagonal subbands contribute negligibly towards total image energy. Based on these statistical observations, this work presents a new modified SPIHT algorithm, which codes the vertical subbands with more precision while neglecting the diagonal subbands. This modification speeds up the coding/decoding process as well as improving the quality of the reconstructed medical image at low bit rates. The experimental results show that the proposed method outperforms the original SPIHT on average by 1.4 dB at the matching bit rates when tested on a series of medical ultrasound images. Further, the proposed algorithm needs 33% less memory as compared to the original SPIHT algorithm.

Space-frequency quantiser design for ultrasound image compression based on minimum description length criterion

The paper addresses the problem of how the spatial quantisation mode and subband adaptive uniform scalar quantiser can be jointly optimised in the minimum description length (MDL) framework for compression of ultrasound images. It has been shown that the statistics of wavelet coefficients in the medical ultrasound (US) image can be better approximated by the generalised Student t-distribution. By combining these statistics with the operational rate-distortion (RD) criterion, a space-frequency quantiser (SFQ) called the MDL-SFQ was designed, which used an efficient zero-tree quantisation technique for zeroing out the tree-structured sets of wavelet coefficients and an adaptive scalar quantiser to quantise the non-zero coefficients. The algorithm used the statistical 'variance of quantisation error' to achieve the different bit-rates ranging from near-lossless to lossy compression. Experimental results showed that the proposed coder outperformed the set partitioning in hierarchical trees (SPIHT) image coder both quantitatively and qualitatively. It yielded an improved compression performance of 1.01 dB over the best zero-tree based coder SPIHIT at 0.25 bits per pixel when averaged over five ultrasound images.

Sonographic diagnosis of diastematomyelia in utero: a case report and literature review

Fetal diastematomyelia is a rare form of spinal dysraphism that is characterized by a complete or incomplete division of the spinal cord by an osseous or fibrocartilaginous septum. A case of diastematomyelia, which was detected on the routine third trimester detailed ultrasound scan, is presented. The diagnosis was based on the detection of an echogenic focus in the posterior aspect of the spine in association with widening of the interpedicular vertebral space. The case illustrates that diastematomyelia can occur in the absence of overt spina bifida and that prenatal detection will allow timely postnatal investigation and treatment. Prenatal literature is further reviewed to assess the clinical significance of this finding.

Stressful family life events and nonspecific somatic complaints in school children

The relationship between stressful family life events and somatic complaints in 477 school children was studied. There was a significant association between life events and somatic complaints, with a general trend for somatic complaints to increase in almost direct proportion to the number of family life events. Overall occurrence of these nonspecific symptoms was more in girls. The somatic complaints were significantly more in children from nuclear families and of illiterate or poorly educated mothers. No significant association was observed between somatic complaints and number of children in the family or socio-economic status. Assessment of psychodevelopmental tasks and family environment during routine check up of children by the school health teams and their appropriate training in this field should be stressed upon.

Enuresis: analysis of 100 cases

One hundred children with enuresis were studied to find out various factors responsible for this condition. Enuresis was more frequent in first born, service class and bottle fed children. There was a significant role of stress factors in causation of enuresis. We found a higher frequency of behavioral symptoms among children with enuresis. There was no significant correlation between enuresis and sex, education of parents, social class, sleep patterns, age of mother at marriage and intellectual grades of the children. Worm infestations, giardiasis, amebiasis and urinary infection were seen in 70% of cases. General body weakness, cold and nervousness were the common causes of enuresis in the parents' opinion. The main reason for not seeking the treatment at an early stage in view of parents' was that they thought enuresis a normal variant.