Noncommunicable diseases, also known as chronic diseases, tend to last long and result from genetic, physiological, environmental, and behavioural factors. Uric acid nephrolithiasis, arthritis and gout come under noncommunicable diseases related with Monosodium urate monohydrate (MSUM ) crystals. MSUM crystals are deposited in peripheral joints, causing gout and eliciting an intense localized inflammatory attack. In contrast, in collecting ducts and medullary interstitium, it is a urinary calculi which causes dysuria, nausea and hematuria. The study aims to explore the possible morphological features of monosodium urate monohydrate crystals. The study was carried out on a glass slide under a microscope to observe the growth patterns of MSUM crystals. For this purpose, a drop of gel medium (sodium meta silicate solution + 0.2M sodium hydroxide + 2N acetic acid) at pH 5.02 - 5.17 was placed in the middle of a glass slide and converted into a gel. A 0.07 M uric acid drop was added to the adequately formed gel. The glass slide was observed under a microscope till it was completely dried. Monosodium urate monohydrate was formed as spherical ring banded spherulites, dumbbell and composite spherulites. The current study provides different phases of MSUM crystallization on a glass slide for the first time. It may also be used as a model to evaluate prophylactic management against gouty and renal stones through in vitro assessment of crystal growth and aggregation inhibition and modulation of developing or developed crystals by using different natural products.
Ambon Bay consists of the inner Ambon Bay (IAB) and the outer Ambon Bay (OAB) and they are separated by the shallow sill (12 m) Galala-Rumah Tiga. The topography of the bay makes it unique and causes the exchange of water mass between those two parts of the bay does not follow the daily tidal cycle. The aim of this study was to analyze the vertical and horizontal temperature and chlorophyll-a distribution in order to know the water circulation in Ambon Bay. This study was carried out during the monsoon, in November 2018. The CTD was used to measure in situ temperature and chlorophyll-a concentration. The data were analyzed by using Surfer and ODV programs. The results show that the temperature of the surface water (0-5 m) of Ambon Bay was 29.2℃. In depth 15-40 m, temperature was different between the IAB (27.7-28.2℃) and OAB (29,2-28.7℃). Chlorophyll-a concentration was found higher in the IAB than in OAB in all depths. In the depth >12 m, chlorophyll-a in the IAB was 1 mg/m3 compared to its concentration in OAB only 0.3 mg/m3. As a conclusion, the sill in Ambon bay causes unique circulation of water mass between IAB and OAB based on the analysis of temperature and chlorophyll-a concentration distribution.
This review shares historical glimpses of the art and science of urinary crystal growth in the gel. This successful journey of long and detailed research consists of theoretical and experimental knowledge. The survey consists of historical aspects of crystal growth, the development of urinary crystal growth in the gel as an in vitro urolithiasis model and the application of this model to evaluate prophylactic management against kidney stones.
The genus Caesalpinia belongs to the family Caesalpiniaceae and includes 280 species distributed in tropic and subtropical regions of the world. Historically, species of the genus Caesalpinia have been used to treat a wide range of ailments, such as malaria, ascariasis, dysentery, fever, rheumatism, and influenza. Phytochemical works led to the isolation of triterpenoids, diterpenes, flavonoids, steroids and phenolic compounds. Pharmacological studies have shown that the extracts and compounds isolated from this genus exhibited anticancer, anti-inflammatory, anti-malarial, antipyretic, anti-microbial, anti-rheumatic, antiulcer and anti-diabetic activities. Therefore, this review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the genus Caesalpinia's ethnopharmacology, phytochemistry and pharmacology.
Frequent power outages arising from poor state of electricity infrastructure is hindering Nigeria’s socio-economic growth. Port Harcourt is one of the foremost cities in Nigeria where business and social activities are becoming rapidly more dependent on electricity. Any power outage, even of the shortest duration, in Port Harcourt City has severe socio-economic impacts and there is no likelihood that the phenomenon would abate even in the nearest future. This research investigated the causes of incessant power outages in Port Harcourt City and suggested remedial measures to reverse the trend. The researcher relied on datacollected from primary sources through personal observations, interviews and discussions with residents of the City and from secondary sources such as the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) and current scholarly literature relating to this research, over a period of twelve months. The study used a descriptive and the non-parametric simple percentages technique in analysing the data so collected and in drawing conclusions. It was found that inadequate power generating capacity, shortage of gas, weak and dilapidated electrical transmission and distribution network, inadequate power infrastructure facilities, etc. are the chief causes of incessant power outages in the Port Harcourt metropolis. The paper recommends, among others, immediate upgrade of existing power infrastructure facilities, review of government policy on domestic gas supply and stiff statutory legislation on vandalism as measures to stabilise electricity supply in the Port Harcourt city.
This study investigated the practice of artificial fruit ripening among fruit vendors of banana, plantain, mango and pawpaw in Rivers State. The study adopted a descriptive cross-sectional survey design. Two objectives, corresponding research questions and null hypotheses guided the study. The population for the study comprised all the accessible 1,810 fruit vendors in Rivers East senatorial district. A sample size of 472 fruit vendors was drawn using multi-stage sampling procedure. A validated self-structured questionnaire titled ‘Practice of Artificial Fruit Ripening’ with inter-scale reliability co- efficient of 0.896 was used as instrument for data collection. The descriptive statistics of mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions, while inferential statistics of Z-test and One-Way Analysis of Variance were used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 alpha level. It was found that fruit vendors in Rivers State sometimes practiced artificial fruit ripening using chemical and non-chemical methods. It was also discovered that regardless of their level of education and years of experience in the fruit business, the fruit vendors sometimes indulged in unhealthy practice of artificial fruit ripening. More so, the study revealed significant difference in practice among the fruit vendors in Rivers State based on level of education and years of experience. Based on the findings, it was concluded that the current practice of artificial fruit ripening in Rivers State is not in tandem with global best practices and therefore portend danger to the wellbeing of Rivers people and other Nigerians. The study therefore recommended among others that; community health workers should carry-out regular and effective health awareness campaigns concerning the dangers of using chemicals to ripen fruits. The Government of Rivers State through the Ministry of Agriculture should organise training programmes for fruit vendors on faster, safer, and economically feasible methods of fruits ripening and other post-harvest management techniques
Power and dominance exist everywhere and occur at the macro and micro levels. Being powerful and domineering are factors that serve as emblems for the people in the realm of politics. Power relations are overtly exercised in such discourse. But what is interesting is how power and dominance exist between or among those people who are branded as “powerful;” thus, using the Face Theory of Brown and Levinson (1978), this discourse analysis paper analyzed the power relations that transpired in a senate hearing and its relationship with the Face Threatening Acts (FTAs) used by the people involved in the discourse. A Philippine Senate hearing excerpt served as the primary corpus for analysis. Results showed that the people in the discourse were all powerful, creating tension when they projected their dominance on one another. Each member threatened and challenged their positive and negative faces. The power play evolved into a "pass-theball" effect, and no one has absolute power because it weakens once the person wielding its face is threatened. Hence, to disempower the empowered, a person must learn how to play and use FTAs such as insulting, disagreeing, disapproving, provoking, commanding, and demanding against the powerful to strike a social balance.
Systemic onset juvenile idiopathic arthritis (SoJIA) is a rare inflammatory disorder. It is the severest form of juvenile idiopathic arthritis, and complications occur most commonly in this type. Non-responsiveness to standard therapy with corticosteroids and disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs is not uncommon. Interleukin-1 beta (Il-1β) has been shown to be a main contributor to the pathogenesis of SoJIA. Anakinra, a recombinant Il-1β receptor antagonist, was shown to be effective in small cohorts of therapy-resistant adult and pediatric still's patients. This study aimed to evaluate the real-world efficacy, steroid-sparing effect, and safety profile of anakinra in patients with SoJIA at a tertiary care center in Libya. A retrospective case series was conducted on patients with SoJIA treated with anakinra at the Tripoli Children's Hospital between 2010 and 2017. Data on demographic characteristics, disease activity, corticosteroid dosage, concomitant medications, and adverse events were collected at baseline and at 1-, 3-, 6-, and 12-month post-treatment. 13 patients were treated with anakinra with a mean age of 9.4±4.6 years at anakinra initiation and a female-to-male ratio of 2: 1. All patients were on corticosteroids and 92.3% on methotrexate at treatment initiation. The proportion of patients achieving inactive disease (Jadas 10=0) increased over time. A marked steroid-sparing effect was observed: the number of patients requiring high-dose steroids (>0.5 mg/kg/day) decreased from 100% at baseline to 7.6% at 12 months, and 53.8% successfully discontinued corticosteroids entirely. All patients experienced injection site reaction, and macrophage activation syndrome occurred in 15.4% as a side effect after treatment initiation. But no severe infections or fatalities occurred. Reasons for discontinuation included remission (46.1%), drug unavailability (23.0%), inefficacy (15.3%), and side effects (15.3%). Anakinra demonstrated significant efficacy in inducing rapid disease control and reducing corticosteroid dependence in patients with refractory SoJIA, with a manageable safety profile
Mediterranean journal of pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences
Colon cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death in women and the third most common cause of cancer death in men. Therefore, early detection of this cancer can lead to lower infection and death rates. In this research, we propose a new lightweight deep learning approach based on a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) for efficient colon cancer detection. In our method, the input histopathological images are normalized before feeding them into our CNN model, and then colon cancer detection is performed. The efficiency of the proposed system is analyzed with publicly available histopathological images database and compared with the state-of-the-art existing methods for colon cancer detection. The result analysis demonstrates that the proposed deep model for colon cancer detection provides a higher accuracy of 99.50%, which is considered the best accuracy compared with the majority of other deep learning approaches. Because of this high result, the proposed approach is computationally efficient.
The cross line movement according to the two labor and products is the thing to take care of in the present worldwide economy. Worldwide exchange labor and products has for some time been a standard, for different advantages that gather from it. There have been numerous respective and multilateral arrangements comparable to cross line exchange dealings. The development of administrations area that decidedly influences the everyday daily routine and guidelines of experiencing or personal satisfaction. The World Trade Organization (WTO), of which in excess of 156 nations are individuals, has an understanding according to global administrations exchange. The General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) is the WTO's arrangement that administers exchange 12 sorts of administrations, including 'instruction administrations'. One of the basic inquiries or issues in such manner would be corresponding to the sort of college to be permitted to set up its grounds or branch or in any case offer training administrations. This paper would endeavor to give some potential experiences into this issue. Internationalization and globalization are the two Global ideas terms conversely utilized as far as higher education. Most impressively, the test to set up colleges will come from the worldwide monsters of the interchanges, data innovation and mixed media ventures worldwide suppliers, packed with capital, ready to get to remarkable global researchers and educators, talented in giving in situ understudy support at the same time in numerous nations, and equipped for expediting proficient accreditation and acknowledgment all throughout the planet. Quality in the subsequent 'worldwide virtual colleges' will be high, normalization will make cost structures that are powerfully serious, brand acknowledgment will be acquired, maybe by accepting one of the incomparable Ivy League organizations as an accomplice, or on the other hand by moving into advanced education a prevailing brand from the correspondences or processing ventures.
Study objectives: The study aimed to evaluate the antitussive effect of aerial parts of ethanolic extract of Caesalpinia pulcherrima (Caesalpiniaceae). Methods: In this study, cough was induced by the sulfur dioxide induction method. Four groups of animals were made, with six animals in each group, and all drugs were administered orally. Group I was used as a control, group II as a standard, and groups III and IV received 200 and 400 mg/kg Caesalpinia pulcherrima aerial parts extract. Results: Caesalpinia pulcherrima aerial parts (CPAP) extract suppressed cough. Doses of 200 and 400 mg/kg Caesalpinia pulcherrima aerial parts extract showed highly significant results compared to the standard at 60 and 90 min of drug administration. Conclusion: From the above results, it can be concluded that plants have significant activity in cough suppression.
This paper proposes EPyNet, a deep learning architecture designed for energy reduced audio emotion recognition.In the domain of audio based emotion recognition, where discerning emotional cues from audio input is crucial, the integration of artificial intelligence techniques has sparked a transformative shift in accuracy and performance.Deep learning , renowned for its ability to decipher intricate patterns, spearheads this evolution. However, the energy efficiency of deep learning models, particularly in resource-constrained environments, remains a pressing concern. Convolutional operations serve as the cornerstone of deep learning systems. However, their extensive computational demands leading to energy-inefficient computations render them as not ideal for deployment in scenarios with limited resources. Addressing these challenges, researchers came up with one-dimensional convolutional neural network (1D CNN) array convolutions, offering an alternative to traditional two-dimensional CNNs, with reduced resource requirements. However , this array-based operation reduced the resource requirement, but the energy-consumption impact was not studied. To bridge this gap, we introduce EPyNet, a deep learning architecture crafted for energy efficiency with a particular emphasis on neuron reduction. Focusing on the task of audio emotion recognition, We evaluate EPyNet on five public audio corpora-RAVDESS, TESS, EMO DB, CREMA D, and SAVEE.We propose three versions of EPyNet, a lightweight neural network designed for efficient emotion recognition, each optimized for different trade-offs between accuracy and energy efficiency. Experimental results demonstrated that the 0.06M EPyNet reduced energy consumed by 76.5% while improving accuracy by 5% on RAVDESS, 25% on TESS, and 9.75% on SAVEE. The 0.2M and 0.9M models reduced energy consumed by 64.9% and 70.3%, respectively. Additionally, we compared our Proposed 0.06M system with the MobileNet models on the CIFAR-10 dataset and achieved significant improvements. The 1035 proposed system reduces energy by 86.2% and memory by 95.7% compared to MobileNet, with a slightly lower accuracy of 0.8%. Compared to MobileNetV2, it improves accuracy by 99.2% and reduces memory by 93.8%. When compared to MobileNetV3, it achieves 57.2% energy reduction, 85.1% memory reduction, and a 24.9% accuracy improvement. We further test the scalability and robustness of the proposed solution on different data dimensions and frameworks.
The Construction Industry is one of the industries contributing highest GDP in Indian economy. The material that is most chosen in construction Industry is concrete. Concrete is a material made with Cement, Fine aggregate in the form of sand, Coarse aggregate in the form of gravel and water. With increasing scarcity of sand, construction works are coming to jolt and thereby increasing the need for choosing an alternative material. Vermiculite is a material which after exfoliation can be used as a filler material replacing sand partially without affecting strength much. One more material Granite (by product which is a waste is causing lot of environmental Issues), produced from granite industry, is available in India in several million tons. Coarse aggregate generally used is a crushed aggregate obtained from rocks like granite, basalt and soon. Recycled aggregate is an aggregate which is obtained after demolishing of an existing building, which is a waste causing economical in balance and which if put into use can not only decrease the construction cost but also make this waste into a better use. In the present study, for a M35 grade of concrete, Vermiculite (0, 5%, 10% and 15% of weight of sand) and granite powder (fixed at 10% of weight of sand used) is used to replace sand partially and in the place of normal coarse aggregate, recycled aggregate is used which is 20 mm passing and 12 mm retained After preparation of Mix-Design(1:1.83:2.69 with w/c ratio of 0.38) the concrete cubes are casted to test for compressive strength after curing for 28 days, 56 days and 90 days. Forsec brand super plasticizer is used to take care of workability requirements. Durability test in the form of resistance to attack of sulphuric acid was conducted along with compressive strength. The test results were promising at 10% replacement levels of Vermiculite.
The anti-emetic activity of the leaves methanolic extracts of Cassia angustifolia Vahl., Cassia holosericea Fresen., Cassia italica Miller. Lam. ex F.W. Ander and Cassia purpurea Roxb., was evaluated in young chicks. Emesis was induced by copper sulfate (50 mg/kg), and the extracts were tested orally at a dose of 150 mg/kg. All the extracts significantly decreased the number of retching (p < 0.05 and p < 0.01) compared with standard chlorpromazine.
The research paper aims to find out the relevance of the existing support system for accelerating women entrepreneurship development and how these entrepreneurial support services of various Institutions expedite the process of social inclusion of women. The study has been conducted in the West Tripura District between January to August 2022. A total of 385 women entrepreneurs who were trained under government institutions were considered as the sample size. The primary data was collected directly from the field on basis of secondary information from Government Departments. The purposive sampling method has been deployed to identify the respondents for conducting the sample survey .
Diabetes is a global issue, the diabetes epidemic is expected to continue, and the burden of diabetes causes catastrophic expenditure for healthcare system. The current study aimed to determine the presentation, the clinical feature and cardio-vascular risk factors in patients with diabetes. A retrospective observational study had been conducted in out-patients department at Almustaqpal Almosherq Centre during September, 2013 till September, 2020, the total number of attended out-patients department were 1 024, 820 patients who were selected for this study. A special perform was completed for every patient, which included details about patient’s demographics, points in clinical history, relevant investigations and clinical examinations were recorded. The study reported that out of 820 patients, 66% (n = 538) was female and their age range was between 14 - 87 years with a mean age of 56.53 ± 13.49 years, 96% (n = 791) were clinically diagnosed as type II diabetes, 07% of the patients were diagnosed as pre-diabetes, the duration of diabetes ranged from newly diagnosed to more than 10 years, with 46% (n = 379) of the studied population were more than 10 years diabetes duration, 70% (581) were presented with classical symptoms of diabetes. Initial treatment for diabetes also different in the studied sample, were absent of anti-diabetic medications in 30% (n = 248) of the patients, they refused to start glucose lowering drugs, 34.6% (n = 284) of them have morbid obesity (body mass index is more than 40), 80% (n = 662) have high HBA1c (more than 8 g%), 40.3% (n = 240/596) were uncontrolled hypertension on anti-hypertension drugs, 95.6% (n = 682/713) were controlled on treatment of lipid lowering drugs. This study showing the presentation of diabetes were the common, type II diabetes, at age group between 41 - 66 years about 65%, female sex, with high body mass index, high glycated hemglobulin and uncontrolled hypertension. There is concern that diabetic patients were occurring at a high frequency in younger adults, where longer duration of illness could increase the risk of developing more complications in later life. The rate of coexist cardiovascular risk factors (hypertension, dyslipidaemia and obesity) in Libyan patients with diabetes is highlighted.
Mediterranean journal of pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences
Dignity therapy (DT) is an evidence-based psychotherapeutic approach originally designed to alleviate emotional and existential distress in patients with terminal illnesses. While dignity therapy has been well documented in palliative care, emerging perspectives suggest that its principles such as promoting autonomy, meaning, and self-worth can be beneficial for persons with severe mental illness (SMI) who often experience stigma, identity loss, and existential suffering. Although severe mental illness and terminal illness are distinct conditions both may involve the profound psychological and existential challenges that affect personal dignity. This paper explores the philosophical foundations and therapeutic benefits of dignity therapy, with a particular focus on its potential application in mental health settings. It highlights the significance of preserving dignity in psychiatric care and emphasizes the need for compassionate, personcentered mental health support tailored to the lived experiences of the person with severe mental illness.
Introduction: Obesity has been declared an epidemic that does not discriminate based on age, gender, or ethnicity and thus needs urgent containment and management. Since the third wave of COVID-19 is expected to affect children the most, these children and adolescents should be more cautious while having junk foods, during covid situations due to the compromise of Immunity in the individuals and further exacerbating the organ damage. Methodology: A PAN India survey organized by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) among 13,274 children between the ages 9–14 years reported that 93% of the children ate packed food and 68% consumed packaged sweetened beverages more than once a week, and 53% ate these products at least once in a day. Almost 25% of the School going children take ultra-processed food with high levels of sugar, salt, fat, such as pizza and burgers, from fast food outlets more than once a week. Children and adolescents who consume more junk food or addicted to such consumption might be even more vulnerable during the third wave, which will significantly affect the younger category. Conclusion: There is an urgent need to spread awareness among children and young adults about these adverse effects of junk food. There is no better time than now to build a supportive environment nurturing children and young adults in society and promising good health.
Hepatitis B virus infection is a major health problem worldwide. More than 400 million people are suffering from this infectious disease. Alhagi Maurorum (camel thorn, CTE) is used in Libyan folk medicine for hepatitis. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of the camel thorn on the hepatitis B virus. After a pharmacological and toxicological screening of camel thorns on experimental animals in our laboratories, in an open-label study, 15 patients of either gender were chosen at random with their consent (consent form signed). The patients had no liver cirrhosis and were not alcoholics. Following clinical testing, the patients were given a low, safe dose of camel thorn powder (2.6 g soaked in boiling water for 10 minutes) three times per day for six months. The viral load was measured before treatment and three and six months after the beginning of the experiment by polymerase chain reaction. The complete blood picture, the level of transaminases, bilirubin, creatinine, blood glucose, lipid profile, thyroid function, and prothrombin were assessed before and after three months after the beginning of the experiment. Our data showed no significant changes in the complete blood picture, creatinine, blood urea, glucose level, bilirubin, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, lipid profile, prothrombin, and thyroid function. The levels of viral load before, three months after, and six months after the beginning of our study were 1689 ± 289, 558 ± 160, and 271 ± 026 IU per mL, respectively. From this study, we may conclude that the camel thorn is safe and showed activity against viral hepatitis B, however, further investigations are needed by increasing the number of patients and using higher doses of plant extract to explore its mechanism of action. Finally, the mechanism of camel thorn may be related either to its antiviral effect or to the stimulation of either endogenous interferon or the immune system.
Mediterranean journal of pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences
The Cellular Manufacturing is adopted in batch type manufacturing industries nowadays for their production with increased productivity, less cost and time with effective control. The proposed optimization model is used to determine the cost of machine cells, i.e., machine duplication, part subcontract, inter intra cellular movements cost and cost of production associated with machine cell, such as machine reconfiguration and part inventory considering machine flexibility for various time periods. Initially, a mathematical model is proposed to calculate machine cell cost with and without considering machine flexibility, and then another lpp integer model is proposed to calculate the machine cell production and associated cost for the changes in the time period, part type, and volume considering machine flexibility. The manufacturing data in the incidence matrix and machine cell, and part family data in the block diagonal form are given as input to the optimization programming language Cplex and the output is given for the two mathematical models. The data relating to machine duplication, part subcontract, inter intracellular movement; machine reconfiguration, and part inventory are given. Two-dimensional shop floor layouts are presented in rectilinear coordinates for all the problems for easy analysis of material movement length and shop floor area