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Co-administration of prescribed drug with that of over the counter products may either lead to altered therapeutic effect, adverse effects or depleted efficacy of one or both drugs. One such example is geriatric patients being treated with ayurvedic cardioprotectives formulations for ischemia generally suffer from bowel movement discomfort and tend to consume herbal laxatives simultaneously without physician's consent. The proposed study was undertaken to determine whether any interaction exists when Arjuna, a cardioprotective agent is concomitantly administered orally with Haritaki churna, a laxative agent, in isoproterenol (subcutaneous administration) induced ischemic rats on pharmacodynamic level. Data was statistically evaluated by comparing the effect of combination group with that of isoproterenol control and Arjuna group on electrocardiogram (ECG) patterns, blood serum parameters, gastric motility using ONE WAY ANNOVA, p < 0.05 followed by Tukey's multiple comparison test. Results suggests that there is significant decrease in cardioprotective efficacy of Arjuna when administered together with Haritaki. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As cancer continues to be one of the biggest threats worldwide and causes maximum deaths after cardiovascular diseases, a greater emphasis must be given for newer strategies for the development of anti-cancer drugs. Cancer treatment strategies target various mechanisms such as apoptosis, metastasis, angiogenesis, etc. Angiogenesis, which is the process of generation of new capillary blood vessels, can be an excellent target for anti-cancer therapy, as a tumor cannot grow further without it. The present study aims to evaluate and compare anti-angiogenic activity of ethanolic extract of Parkia biglandulosa (EEPB) and its isolate β-sitosterol by regenerative angiogenesis assay using caudal fin of adult zebrafish. One of its active constituents that is β-sitosterol, which was expected to show anti-cancer activity, was isolated by using flash chromatography and its activity was checked along with crude ethanolic extract of Parkia biglandulosa (EEPB). Results of regenerative angiogenesis compared by one way ANOVA followed by Tukey's test showed significant inhibition of fin growth when compared with control group which signified anti-angiogenic effect of test compounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the polymer science the conducting polymers have been studied extensively during the last two decades as an important semiconductor material because of their interesting chemical and physical properties. Firstly Chemical bath deposition method is successfully used for the synthesis of polythiophene which was successfully doped TiO2 composites on glass slide surface using FeCl3 as an oxidant at room temperature. Effect of dopant TiO2 on properties of polythiophene thin film was then studied. Chemical composition of polythiophene film was investigated by FTIR spectroscopy. Surface morphology was influenced by dopant. SEM image of composites exhibit nano size grains this is a beauty of our work. XRD analysis showed modification from fully amorphous to well developed crystalline structure .TGA-DTA results indicates composites of polythiophene with TiO2 are found to be most thermally stable than undoped polythiophene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional nomenclatures of specifying cutting tool geometries are two-dimensional (2D) in nature. The present work presents a paradigm to model the geometries of a variety of twist drills in terms of three-dimensional (3D) parameters. The work outlines the construction of a detailed computer-aided design (CAD) model for a fluted twist drill and establishes a new 3D definition for the geometry of drill in terms of biparametric surface patches. The flutes of the drill are modeled as helicoidal surfaces. For this, sectional geometry of tip-to-tip profile is developed and then swept. The geometric model of the shank is developed separately. The transitional surfaces are modeled as bicubic Bèzier surfaces. With this methodology, we propose a new 3D nomenclature for drill geometries in terms of 3D rotational angles. The relations necessary to map the proposed three-dimensional angles to two-dimensional conventional angles, known as forward mapping and their reverse relations (inverse mapping) are also developed. The new paradigm offers immense technological advantages in terms of numerous downstream applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

B-splines have today become the industry standard for CAD data representation. Freeform shape synthesis from point cloud data is an emerging technique. This predominantly involves B-spline curve / surface fitting to the point cloud data to obtain the CAD definitions. Accurate curve and surface fit-ting from point clouds needs estimation of order, i.e. number of knots and a good parameterization model, i.e. the determination of parameter values of the digitized points in order to perform least squares (LSQ) fitting. Numerous work have been done on selection of such parameters. Nevertheless, the problem of LSQ with optimal knots has not been addressed in totality. Simultaneous optimization of number of knots and parameter values leads to multiple contradictory objectives and traditional optimization is prone to fail. The present work proposes a hybrid approach based on genetic algorithms, for optimal number of knots and optimal parameter allocation, simultaneously, for curve and surface fitting. A novel population initial-ization scheme involving analytical and neural network estimation is also proposed here, ensuring that the optimization procedure is both global in nature and computationally less expensive. Further classical opti-mization of parameters alone based on error is carried if required. The present study of parameterization is for Non Uniform B-spline fitting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we have established a new three-dimensional standard to specify single point cutting tool geometry. The paper models a single point cutting tool in terms of biparametric surface patches. Six new angles, called grinding angles, are proposed to define the orientation of these surface patches. Forward and inverse mappings among grinding angles (αi, βi,γi), conventional tool nomenclature (γy, γx, αy,αx, ..... ), and setting or swivel angles for grinding (θA, θB, θC) are established. The benefits of the new paradigm include ease of finite element based engineering analysis, simulation, and programming of the CNC tool cutter and grinder for tool sharpening. The proposed methodology is illustrated with a few numerical examples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and objective Tenofovir use in HIV positive patients is associated with 0.5-2.5% risk of acute kidney injury (AKI). Data on AKI due to tenofovir use in resource limited settings like India is sparse. Objective of this study is to determine incidence, risk factors and outcome of tenofovir-induced acute kidney injury (serum creatinine>2 mg/dl or creatinine clearance decrease by 50% compared to baseline) in HIV infected patients attending tertiary level HIV clinic in Western India. Methods All patients enrolled at the clinic from 2009 to 2012 who were initiated on tenofovir-based ART and had regular follow up creatinine clearance values available were included in this retrospective observational cohort analysis. Patients already on tenofovir-based ART during enrollment were also included. Summary of results 512 patients were enrolled in the study with 70% being males. Average age of the cohort was 41 years, average body weight 56 kilograms and median baseline CD4 count 164 cells/mm3. Mean baseline creatinine clearance was 90 ml/min. Median duration of follow up was 26 months. Tenofovir-induced AKI developed in 25 patients (incidence 4.88 %). Median time to developing AKI was 6 months. On stopping tenofovir, 15 patients had complete recovery of renal function, 5 had partial recovery while 5 patients died. Hemodialysis as a treatment option was used in 3 patients. Age>50 yrs (p=0.001), baseline creatinine clearance<50 ml/min (p=0.0001), diabetes mellitus (p=0.0001), use of tenofovir with protease inhibitors (p=0.001), presence of renal calculus disease (p =0.0001) and use of concomitant nephrotoxic medications (p=0.001) were significantly associated with risk of tenofovir AKI on applying Pearson's Chi square test. Conclusions Incidence of tenofovir-induced AKI in our cohort is higher than previously reported and could be attributed to lower body weight, lower baseline creatinine clearance, higher incidence of advanced HIV disease and higher incidence of co-morbidities in our patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]