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Ultrasound images(US) of carotid artery aid in the detection and diagnosis of Cardiovascular Diseases (CVD). Traditional methods for analysis of US images employ hand crafted features to classify images, which need expert knowledge for careful design and lack robustness to variations, leading to low sensitivity in clinical applications. Intima Media Thickness (IMT) and elasticity are the predominant markers used for carotid artery (CA) atherosclerotic plaque detection. This paper proposes to address the problem by building Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) for segmentation of intima media complex (ie) Region of Interest (RoI). A dataset consisting of 450 subjects is used to train and validate the proposed CNN. Segmentation is done in the far wall region of the artery from the longitudinal B-mode images enabling atleast 24 RoIs and RoNIs (Region of Non Interest) for each image. The result of 10-fold cross validation shows accuracy of 99.54%. Mean deviation of IMT from manual tracings is found to be 0.06645mm.

A. nilotica (L.) leaf extract was subjected to fractional extraction to isolate potential antioxidant compound ethyl gallate. A. nilotica (L.) leaf extract was fractionated with different solvents and was investigated for antioxidant activity. Based on the results, the pure compound obtained from Fr. Y with low IC50 was further characterized by UV–Vis spectra, IR, 1D, 2D-NMR spectra. Pure ethyl gallate showed 75% antioxidant activity. As ethyl gallate is an approved food additive and an emerging anticancer agent, this paper will be of major importance for the food and pharmaceutical industries.

The combination of the fields of software engineering, gadgets, and science has stood out among the most revolutionary future innovations. Health issues have been the focus of various engaging and explanatory studies. One such health‐related dilemma is diabetes. Diabetes at its serious stage results in impaired vision. Increase in the glucose level is a critical parameter that could result in hyperglycaemia, hypoglycaemia, massive heart attack, strokes, and aneurysms. Monitoring the glucose level in blood is one of the control measures for diabetes in the affected population. A glucose monitoring framework interminably measures and screens the glucose level in blood. A novel framework for measuring the glucose level is proposed in this study. This study employs nanopellets that evaluate the glucose level. When the glucose level increases or decreases, it is continuously recorded and displayed using a microcontroller (mixed signal processor (MSP) 430). The data are then sent to the physician through global system for mobile communication. The typical blood glucose level of human being ranges from 70 to 110 mg/dl. When the insulin level builds up to certain point, hyperglycaemia occurs. When decreases, hypoglycaemia occurs. Hyperglycaemia leads to cataracts, oedema, hypertension, polyuria, and polydipsia. Hypoglycaemia causes perplexity, energy, insensateness, coma, and death.

The Eastern Ghats of India is well known for its wealth of natural vegetation and Shervaroy is a major hill range of the Eastern Ghats of Tamil Nadu. Ethnomedicinal studies in the Eastern Ghats of Tamil Nadu or the Shervaroy Hills have been carried out by various researchers. However, there is not much information available on ethnoveterinary medicine in the Eastern Ghats of India. The aim of this study was to examine the potential use of folk plants as alternative medicine for cattle to cure various diseases in the Shervaroy Hills of the Eastern Ghats. Based on interactions with traditional medicine practitioners, it has been observed that a total of 21 medicinal plants belonging to 16 families are used to cure various diseases such as mastitis, enteritis, arthritis, stomatitis, salivation from the mouth, wounding, and conjunctivitis in animals. It has been observed that the traditional knowledge of ethnoveterinary medicine is now confined only among the surviving older people and a few practitioners in the tribal communities of the Shervaroy Hills. Unfortunately, no serious attempts have been made to document and preserve this immense treasure of traditional knowledge., Graphical abstract

The measurement of Carotid Intima Media Thickness (IMT) on Common Carotid Artery (CCA) is a principle marker of risk of cardiovascular disease. This paper presents a novel method of using deep Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) for identification and measurement of IMT on the far wall of the artery. The Region of Interest (ROI) is extracted using CNN architecture with 8 layers. 110 subjects are taken for the study. Each subject is recorded with one Right Common Carotid Artery (RCCA) and Left Common Carotid Artery (LCCA) frame resulting in 220 recordings. Patch based segmentation with 2640 patches are given to the training network for ROI localization. Intima Media Complex (IMC) is the area where IMT is measured. This region is extracted after defining the ROI. Keeping in mind the end objective of measurement of IMT values binary threshold with snake algorithm is applied to extract the lumen-intima and media-adventitia boundary. IMT values are measured for 20 cases and mean difference is found to be 0.08 mm.

Phycoremediation ability of microalgae namely Oscillatoria acuminate and Phormidium irrigum were validated against the heavy metals from tannery effluent of Ranipet industrial area. The microalgae species were cultured in media containing tannery effluent in two different volumes and the parameters like specific growth rate, protein content and antioxidant enzyme activities were estimated. FTIR spectroscopy was carried out to know the sorption sites interaction. The antioxidant enzymes namely superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione (GSH) contents were increased in microalgae species indicating the free radical scavenging mechanism under heavy metal stress. SOD activity was 0.502 and 0.378 units/gram fresh weight, CAT activity was 1.36 and 0.256 units/gram fresh weight, GSH activity was 1.286 and 1.232 units/gram fresh weight respectively in the effluent treated microalgae species. Bio sorption efficiency for Oscillatoria acuminate and Phormidium irrigum was 90% and 80% respectively. FTIR analysis revealed the interaction of microalgae species with chemical groups present in the tannery effluent. From the results, the microalgae Oscillatoria acuminate possess high antioxidant activity and bio sorption efficiency when compared to Phormidium irrigum and hence considered useful in treating heavy metals contaminated effluents.

Diaphragm walls are generally constructed using stiff concrete of same stiffness throughout. Research has shown that as wall flexibility increases, the stress imposed by the soil redistribute and reduces structural forces on wall. Approximately five fold reduction in maximum bending moment occurred when wall stiffness was reduced from that of a 1m concrete section to that of a Frodinghamn1N sheet pile. Unfortunately this beneficial effect is accompanied by greater wall and soil movements (Potts & Day, 1991). So the diaphragm wall cannot be too flexible also. In this paper static analysis of two different diaphragm wall sections of varying stiffness is carried out using PLAXIS software for the load condition existing at deep draft berth of New Mangalore Port, and the performances of these sections are compared with previous study performed by Yajnheswaran et al. (2015). The diaphragm wall sections used in analysis are modeled as single panel. The length of the panel is taken as 5m. Anchors are provided at +2.5m. Soil layer details are obtained from boreholes at NMPT.

Background: Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome caused by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is an immunosuppressive disease. Over the past decades, it has plagued human health due to the grave consequences in its harness. Objective: For this reason, anti-HIV agents are imperative, and the search for the same from natural resources would assure the safety. Materials and Methods: In this investigation we have performed molecular docking, molecular property prediction, drug-likeness score, and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation to develop a novel anti-HIV drug. We have screened 12 alkaloids from a medicinal plant Toddalia asiatica for its probabilistic binding with the active site of the HIV-1-reverse transcriptase (HIV-1-RT) domain (the major contributor to the onset of the disease). Results: The docking results were evaluated based on free energies of binding (ΔG), and the results suggested toddanol, toddanone, and toddalenone to be potent inhibitors of HIV-1-RT. In addition, the alkaloids were subjected to molecular property prediction analysis. Toddanol and toddanone with more rotatable bonds were found to have a drug-likeness score of 0.23 and 0.11, respectively. These scores were comparable with the standard anti-HIV drug zidovudine with a model score 0.28. Finally, two characteristic protein-ligand complexes were exposed to MD simulation to determine the stability of the predicted conformations. Conclusion: The toddanol-RT complex showed higher stability and stronger H-bonds than toddanone-RT complex. Based on these observations, we firmly believe that the alkaloid toddanol could aid in efficient HIV-1 drug discovery. SUMMARY In the present study, the molecular docking and MD simulations are performed to explore the possible binding mode of HIV 1 RT with 12 alkaloids of T. asiatica. Molecular docking by AutoDock4 revealed three alkaloids toddanol, toddanone, and toddalenone with highest binding affinity towards HIV 1 RT. The drug likeness model score revealed a positive score for toddanol and toddanone which is comparable to the drug likeness score of the standard anti HIV drug zidovudine. Results from simulation analysis revealed that toddanol RT complex is more stable than toddanone RT complex inferring toddanol as a potential anti HIV drug molecule. Abbreviations used: HIV: Human immunodeficiency virus, HIV 1 RT: HIV 1 reverse transcriptase, RNase H: Ribonuclease H, MD: Molecular dynamics, PDB: Protein databank, RMSD: Root mean square deviation, RMSF: Root mean square fluctuation.

In the present study, free radical scavenging, cytotoxic, and hemolytic activities of the polyphenolic compound ethyl gallate isolated from ethanol extract of Acacia nilotica Wild. Ex. Del. leaves were determined. The free radical-scavenging activities of the ethyl gallate were demonstrated in several in vitro assays in order to evaluate the possible antioxidant mechanism. The results revealed ethyl gallate as hydrogen donor, metal chelator, and free radical scavenger. Ethyl gallate was effective in scavenging 1,1-Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radicals and the IC₅₀ value was lower than all the positive controls used in this study. Deoxyribose degradation assay revealed that ethyl gallate had more iron-chelating ability than the direct hydroxyl radical-scavenging ability. The results of the cytotoxic study revealed that the compound was moderately active and IC₅₀ value was found to be100 μg/mL for Vero cell lines and 72 μg/mL for Hela cell lines. The compound possessed no hemolytic activity against rat and human erythrocytes revealing its cytotoxic mechanism and nontoxicity. The results from this work will provide an important information for the food and pharmacological industries with respect to the use of the compound as an antioxidant and a health-related drug.Antioxidant from plant sources is safe to use, as compared to synthetic products. It also can be used as a supplement to alleviate most of the diseases because of its free radical-scavenging activity.

Dietary intake of phytochemicals having antioxidant activity is associated with a lower risk of mortality from many diseases. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the free radical scavenging, cytotoxic and hemolytic activities of leaves ofAcacia niloticaby using various methods. The results of the present study revealed that ethanol extract was the most effective and IC50value was found to be 53.6 μg mL−1for Vero cell lines and 28.9 μg mL−1for Hela cell lines in cytotoxicity assays. The zone of color retention was 14.2 mm in -carotene bleaching assay, which was as significant as positive control, butylated hydroxy toluene. None of the tested extracts possessed any hemolytic activity against rat and human erythrocytes revealing their cytotoxic mechanism and non-toxicity. Thus, only the ethanol extract could be considered as a potential source of anticancer and antioxidant compounds. Further phytochemical studies will be performed for specification of the biologically active principles.

In India, during the mid-nineties the Union Government had initiated the Mid-Day Meal schemes in schools to promote primary education on one hand, and to reduce malnutrition on the other. However, Tamil Nadu had launched this program several decades before; during the regime of Mr. Kumarasami Kamraj (1954-1963). An empirical study was undertaken in the rural areas of Tamil Nadu, in the south of India, to understand the nutritional status of the children between 11 and 18 years old. This group is vulnerable, as during this age, individuals undergo physical and mental changes. We calculated the Body Mass Index (BMI) of school children to assess their nutritional status. A total of 806 school children took part in this study and the majority of them were found to be underweight in the study region. Irrespective of their age group and sex, as per the WHO’s international standards, 83% of the students were underweight (BMI < 18.5). Only 16% of the students were in the normal range (BMI 18.5 - 24.9), and of the rest, 0.39% and 0.06% were in the BMI range of 25 - 29.9 (overweight) and 30 - 35.9 (obese), respectively. Based on available data, a regression analysis was carried out. This regression model showed that students’ age, sex and father’s occupation significantly affects their BMI. Further analysis showed that BMI was independent of the students’ blood group. It was concluded that malnutrition among school children can be eliminated by providing additional healthy foods and by improving the Socio Economic Background (SEB) of the region.

Construction sector is one of the largest end users of environmental resources and is one of the largest polluters of manmade and natural environments around the globe. Economic development, climate change due to the greenhouse gas (GHG) emission, energy security and energy access are the primary concerns for India. Sustainable development in energy sector has become a concern for all the people in the world. Sustainability means it satisfies the needs of the people without jeopardizing the prospects of the future generation. To minimize these effects, the concept of Green Building has been introduced in the construction industry. To asses these buildings, there are various building assessment tools which have emerged globally. These assessment tools have been developed and used to assist the planning and design of sustainable buildings. The aim is to develop complete environmental consciousness among construction specialists towards sustainable performance and to achieve the objective of sustainability in the construction sector. In this study, the assessment approaches towards environmental, economic and social aspects are discussed. The comparative study and analysis on these building assessment tools i.e. LEED-India, GRIHA and IGBC have been made. It is found that there may be inconsistence in the assessment tools and criteria. However, lack of fully integrated assessment tools has resulted in the lack of a holistic assessment approach for the building life cycle.

Malaria is one of the most common infectious diseases and an enormous public health problem and claims an estimated 1–3 million lives every year and the majority of whom are young children. No vaccine is currently available for the treatment of malaria. This letter proposes a new method of detecting malaria based on the measurement of the dielectric properties of blood at the microwave frequencies. The measurements were made at the S-band of microwave frequency using rectangular cavity perturbation technique with the samples of blood from healthy donors as well as from malaria patients. It is found that an appreciably change in the dielectric properties of patient samples with the normal healthy samples and this measurements were in good agreement with clinical results. This measurement is a new novel in vitro method of diagnosing malaria at its onset using microwaves, so that necessary precautions can be taken such as proper preventative drugs, which will continuously reduce the risk of infection. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 51: 915–918, 2009; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.24202

This article reports a new method of analyzing pericar- dial fluid based on the measurement of the dielectric properties at mi- crowave frequencies. The microwave measurements were performed by rectangular cavity perturbation method in the S-band of microwave fre- quency with the pericardial fluid from healthy persons as well as from patients suffering from pericardial effusion. It is observed that a re- markable change in the dielectric properties of patient samples with the normal healthy samples and these measurements were in good agree- ment with clinical analysis. This measurement technique and the method of extraction of pericardial fluid are simple. These results give light to an alternative in-vitro method of diagnosing onset pericardial effusion abnormalities using microwaves without surgical procedure. © 2008 Wiley

HIV/AIDS is one of the most destructive epidemics in ever recorded history claims an estimated 2.4–3.3 million lives every year. Even though there is no treatment for this pandemic Elisa and Western Blot tests are the only tests currently available for detecting HIV/AIDS. This article proposes a new method of detecting HIV/AIDS based on the measurement of the dielectric properties of blood at the microwave frequencies. The measurements were made at the S-band of microwave frequency using rectangular cavity perturbation technique with the samples of blood from healthy donors as well as from HIV/AIDS patients. An appreciable change is observed in the dielectric properties of patient samples than with the normal healthy samples and these measurements were in good agreement with clinical results. This measurement is an alternative in vitro method of diagnosing HIV/AIDS using microwaves. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 50: 557–561, 2008; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.23143

The physiological changes of pregnancy can result in complications in the mother, which in turn may have fetal implications. There is a need to refine the risk stratification of women so that they can receive appropriate obstetrical counseling and care. The present communication presents the analysis of the amniotic fluid which is surrounded by the baby and helps to protect both the baby and the uterus. The in vitro measurements of amniotic fluid samples were carried out by cavity perturbation technique in the frequency range of 2–3 GHz of different samples as a function of gestation weeks and have observed a pronounced change of the conductivity at the end of normal pregnancies and consistent conductivity in complicated pregnancies. This indicates that microwave study is a life saving diagnostic procedure of the mother and baby can take proper care for those having complicated pregnancies. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 49: 2364–2368, 2007; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.22753

Lymphatic filariasis (LF) is the world's most disabling and disfiguring diseases affects the persons making incapacitated or disfigured. This article presents a new solution for the early detection of LF. In vitro blood analysis is made based on the dielectric properties at microwave frequencies using rectangular cavity perturbation technique at the S-band with the different samples of blood obtained from healthy donors as well as from patients suffering from filariasis. It is noticed that an appreciably change in the dielectric properties of patient samples with the normal healthy samples and this measurements were in good agreement with clinical analysis. This measurement technique is simple and suggests a new novel alternative in-vitro method of diagnosing LF using microwaves and is completely independent of time unlike the traditional method diagnosis. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 49: 3166–3169, 2007; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com).DOI 10.1002/mop.22970

Background: Incisional hernia forms the most common delayed morbidity following midline laparotomy surgeries- causing mental trauma to the patient impairing their quality of life and scars the name and fame of the surgeon. So, the need for possible attributes on surgeon’s aspect to prevent the incisional hernia is the need of the hour. We planned a randomized controlled trial to compare two different abdominal closure techniques to reduce the incidence of Incisional hernia following midline laparotomy incisions. We advocated Hughes abdominal repair which includes a series of two horizontal and two vertical mattresses within single suture whereby the tension load of suture is distributed both along and across the suture line.Methods: 1:1 Randomized controlled trial in which the patient is blinded and obviously operating surgeon is non-blinded. Evaluating examiner and radiologist are blinded.100 patients who underwent emergency and elective midline laparotomies were enrolled in the study and intra-operatively randomized into two groups in 1:1 pattern. Ethical clearance obtained from the Institutional ethical committee. The primary outcome measure is the incidence of burst abdomen at the end of 15 days by the evaluating surgeon (non-operated surgeon who is blinded). The secondary outcome is the incidence of incisional hernia at the end of one year-evaluated by detailed clinical examination with radiological proof using CT abdomen.Results: The incidence of incisional hernia is significantly low in Hughes abdominal repair than conventional abdominal closure.Conclusions: Hughes abdominal wall closure is superior to conventional closure in both emergency and elective laparotomy cases, in prevention of wound dehiscence and Incisional hernias later. Present study encourages us that Hughes abdominal wall repair is comparable to mesh repairs. This study needs to be continued further to a vast sample size to perfectly assess the statistical significance.

This article reports a new in vitro bile analysis based on the measurement of the dielectric properties at microwave frequencies. The measurements were made using rectangular cavity perturbation technique at the S-band of microwave frequency with the different sam- ples of bile obtained from healthy persons as well as from patients. It is observed that an appreciable change in the dielectric properties of pa- tient's samples with the normal healthy samples and these measurements were in good agreement with clinical analysis. These results prove an alternative in-vitro method of detecting bile abnormalities based on the measurement of the dielectric properties of bile samples using micro- waves without surgical procedure. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 51: 101-103, 2009; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop. 24021 Bile is a bitter, yellow or green alkaline fluid secreted by hepato- cytes and its constituents are water, cholesterol, bile pigments, bicarbonate ions, and bile salts. It is stored in the gallbladder between meals and while eating is discharged into the duodenum. The gall bladder absorbs the water and electrolytes concentrating it between the meals and when the chyme enters the small intes- tine, it excretes waste and aids the process of digestion of lipids. Cholesterol is also released with the bile. The human liver can produce close t o1lo fbile per day depending on the body size. Cholelithiasis is known as gallstones which are formed in the gallbladder due to variation in concentration of bile constituents. Choledocholithiasis is the presence of gallstones in the common bile duct (1). Cholestatic jaundice is caused by thickened bile or bile plugs in the small biliary passages of the liver. These situa- tions can lead to the gall bladder rupture or form an abscess which leads to a life-threatening infection of the liver requires medical emergency, the endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) procedure, or surgical treatment. This article reports a comprehensive study of the dielectric properties of human bile at microwave frequencies. The samples were collected from healthy persons and people ailing from cholelithiasis, choledocholithiasis, and cholestatic jaundice. The measurement of the dielectric prop- erties of bile helps to identify the healthy condition as well as diseased condition as there is significant variation in the dielectric properties. Biological effects of microwaves and the application of micro- waves in medicine are developing areas of research (2). The nonionizing microwave radiation interacts with tissues and obtains a large dielectric contrast according to their water content. Thus

This article communicates a new method of detecting cervical cancer based on the measurement of the dielectric properties of smear at microwave frequencies. The microwave measurements were performed by rectangular cavity perturbation in the S-band of microwave frequency with the smear samples from healthy persons as well as from cancerous patients. It is observed an appreciable change in the dielectric properties of cancerous samples with the normal healthy samples and these measurements were in good agreement with clinical analysis. This measurement technique is simple and the collection of smear is painless and nonsurgical in nature. The results show a new method of diagnosing cervical cancer using microwave measurement without any surgical procedures and suggest an alternative to Papanikolaou test or Papanicolaou test. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 50: 1552–1554, 2008; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.23433

This communication presents a novel method of detection of cancer cells in lymph based on the measurement of the dielectric properties at microwave frequencies. The microwave measurements were performed by rectangular cavity perturbation method in the S-band of microwave frequency with the lymph samples from healthy persons as well as from cancerous patients. It is noticed that a remarkable change in the dielectric properties of cancerous samples with the normal healthy samples and these measurements were in good agreement with clinical analysis. This measurement technique is simple and the cannulation of lymph from persons is least painful and nonsurgical in nature. These results prove an alternative in-vitro method of diagnosing onset cancer abnormalities using microwaves without surgical procedure. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 49: 2559–2561, 2007; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.22792

Arthritis is one of the most pervasive diseases that causes of disability. For most people arthritis pain and inflammation cannot be avoided as the body ages. The present communication reports the study on the synovial fluid has the main lubricant in joints collected from normal persons and those ailing from arthritis are subjected to the microwave study and the variations of the dielectric parameters are investigated. The in vitro measurements of synovial fluid samples are done using cavity perturbation technique in the frequency range of 2–3 GHz. It is observed that in this band, the dielectric constant of normal samples are higher than those of arthritis affected ones and conductivity of is higher in normal samples, which finds application in detecting arthritis using microwaves. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 49: 1700–1702, 2007; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.22552

In today's life, microwave technology is used in both diagnostic and therapeutic procedure. This letter presents the study of dielectric properties of pregnant women urine as well normal women urine at microwave frequencies. In vitro measurements using cavity perturbation technique is employed in the frequency range between 2 and 3 GHz. It is observed that dielectric constant of pregnant women urine samples is smaller than the normal women urine samples and the conductivity of pregnant women urine samples is higher than that of normal women urine samples, which is a novel alternative in vitro method of determining pregnancy, and is required for a woman to make preparations for proper prenatal care and family planning. The same samples are subjected to investigations in the clinical laboratory for quantitative analysis, which holds good for our microwave study. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 49: 786–788, 2007; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.22279