Prevalence of hepatitis B and C virus infections among haemodialysis patients in Pune (western India)

Vascular injuries may occur as complications of elbow dislocation and usually involve the brachial artery. A case report is presented in which only the radial artery was compromised as a result of the dislocation.     

Computational dosimetry and treatment planning for boron neutron capture therapy

The longitudinal, expert, all data (LEAD) procedure has been employed as a criterion for the assessment of the procedural validity of diagnostic instruments. This study evaluated the procedure's concurrent, discriminant and predictive validity. Interview and questionnaire data obtained from 100 individuals in a substance abuse treatment program were used to assess current and lifetime substance use disorders and common comorbid disorders. An experienced, doctoral-level clinician formulated LEAD diagnoses for each patient, based on an initial interview, ongoing clinical contact and the results of the research assessment and all available clinical records. LEAD-derived substance use diagnoses showed good concurrent, discriminant and predictive validity. The validity of comorbid diagnoses obtained using the LEAD procedure was generally fair to good. Comparison with diagnoses based only on the clinician's unstructured initial interview showed that the availability of additional data enhanced diagnostic validity. Diagnoses derived by a research technician using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R showed validity comparable to that of LEAD diagnoses. To enhance its diagnostic validity, applications of the LEAD standard should include a structured interview. Other variations in the application of the LEAD standard, including a longer evaluation period, may also enhance its performance as a diagnostic criterion measure.     

Formal Analysis of Multiparty Contract Signing

We analyze the multiparty contract-signing protocols of Garay and MacKenzie (GM) and of Baum and Waidner (BW). We use a finite-state tool, Mocha, which allows specification of protocol properties in a branching-time temporal logic with game semantics. While our analysis does not reveal any errors in the BW protocol, in the GM protocol we discover serious problems with fairness for four signers and an oversight regarding abuse-freeness for three signers. We propose a complete revision of the GM subprotocols in order to restore fairness.     

A Coordinated Framework of DG Allocation and Operating Strategy in Distribution System for Configuration Management under Varying Loading Patterns

Abstract

The distributed generation (DG) planning with the varying pattern of the practical load is difficult as it calls for the frequent changes in DG size and system configuration, which is neither feasible nor permissible. Rather such a DG size and a configuration, which can be utilized over a wider load pattern, are more acceptable. This work presents a coordinated approach for DG planning and system reconfiguration. While to operate a particular DG size and the system configuration over a wide range of loading pattern, the configurations are ranked under different probabilistic loading patterns. Based upon the ranking of the new configuration, the energy performance of the coordinated planning is evaluated. Further, the observations from coordinated planning are imposed on coordinated operation using harmony search algorithm (HSA). The proposed approach is tested for single as well as multi-objectives on a 33-node system. A significant improvement in the computational efforts and energy performance of the resulting configuration have been observed where losses have reduced to 81.11 and 53.77?kW with single DG and multi-DG allocation respectively.     

A New SiF–Dipropargyl Glycerol Scaffold as a Versatile Prosthetic Group to Design Dimeric Radioligands: Synthesis of the [18F]BMPPSiF Tracer to Image Serotonin Receptors

A novel SiX–dipropargyl glycerol scaffold (X: H, F, or ¹⁸F) was developed as a versatile prosthetic group that provides technical advantages for the preparation of dimeric radioligands based on silicon fluoride acceptor pre‐ or post‐labeling with fluorine‐18. Rapid conjugation with the prosthetic group takes place in microwave‐assisted click conjugation under mild conditions. Thus, a bivalent homodimeric SiX–dipropargyl glycerol derivatized radioligand, [¹⁸F]BMPPSiF, with enhanced affinity was developed by using click conjugation. High uptake of the radioligand was demonstrated in 5‐HT_1A receptor‐rich regions in the brain with positron emission tomography. Molecular docking studies (rigid protein–flexible ligand) of BMPPSiF and known antagonists (WAY‐100635, MPPF, and MefWAY) with monomeric, dimeric, and multimeric 5‐HT_1A receptor models were performed, with the highest G score obtained for docked BMPPSiF: ?6.766 as compared with all three antagonists on the monomeric model. Multimeric induced‐fit docking was also performed to visualize the comparable mode of binding under in vivo conditions, and a notably improved G score of ?8.455 was observed for BMPPSiF. These data directly correlate the high binding potential of BMPPSiF with the bivalent binding mode obtained in the biological studies. The present study warrants wide application of the SiX–dipropargyl glycerol prosthetic group in the development of ligands for imaging with enhanced affinity markers for specific targeting based on peptides, nucleosides, and lipids.     

In vitro percutaneous absorption of genistein from topical gels through human skin

The objective of this study was to formulate genistein as a topical gel with various penetration enhancers for increased permeation and retention in human skin. The high performance liquid chromatography assay method was validated for precision and reproducibility. The intra-day and inter-day precision as represented by the coefficient of variation (CV) of the peak areas were <0.44% and <0.67%, respectively. Further, the reproducibility was demonstrated by the CV of the assay at different genistein concentrations, which were <1.64%. Genistein was subjected to various stress conditions to obtain basic information on the appropriate pH and aqueous vehicle for formulating topical gels. Genistein was highly stable under neutral and oxidative conditions, but degraded to highly polar and nonpolar compounds under basic and acidic conditions, respectively. Menthol produced a 9- and 22-fold increase in the flux and skin retention of genistein, respectively, after 24?h of gel application as compared with the control (no enhancer). Cineole showed an approximately 7-fold increase in flux, but skin retention did not increase significantly. Transcutol increased the flux and skin retention of genistein by 5- and 7-fold, respectively. When Transcutol was formulated with Lauroglycol, there was a 13- and 9-fold increase in the flux and skin retention, respectively. Incorporation of penetration enhancers into the topical gel increased the skin permeation of genistein, so that the target delivery rate for its therapeutic effects can be achievable based on the in vitro human skin data generated in this study.     

Lactic acid production from molasses by Sporolactobacillus cellulosolvens

Sporolactobacillus cellulosolvens (NCIMB 12173) isolated from an anaerobic digester and characterised biochemically is being reported for homofermentative lactic acid production from molasses in a batch culture. The effect of various process parameters on lactic acid production were optimized. A maximum lactic acid (24.2 g/l) and yield coefficient (0.79) was achieved using 3% (v/v) inoculum of 36 h old culture in molasses medium containing sugars (5%; w/v) supplemented with peptone (2.5 g/l) and (NH4)2SO4 (7.5 g/l), pH 6.5 at 40 degrees C after 72 h of fermentation.     

Dynamic analysis of flexible multi-body systems using mixed modal and tangent coordinates

This paper presents a mixed modal and tangent coordinate technique for computer aided analysis of flexible mechanical systems whose components undergo large translations and large rotations. In this model the configuration of a flexible component is identified by using two sets of generalized coordinates, namely rigid body and elastic coordinates. The rigid body coordinates define the location and orientation of a body axis, whereas the elastic coordinates define the displacement field of a component with respect to its body axis. The elastic coordinates are introduced by using finite element discretization to model flexible components with complex geometries. A modal analysis technique is used to identify the elastic mode shapes and to eliminate insignificant higher frequency modes. An orthonormalization of constraint Jacobian matrix associated with rigid body coordinates is used to identify the rigid body tangent coordinates. The resulting modal and tangent coordinates are used to develop an automated numerical integration scheme to solve the system differential and algebraic equations. Two numerical examples are considered to show the feasibility of dynamic analysis of flexible mechanical systems using this scheme.