A local man sits on the pavement in Patan Durbar Square at one am. A taxi driver calls a cell pho... more A local man sits on the pavement in Patan Durbar Square at one am. A taxi driver calls a cell phone number I handed to him that belongs to the guesthouse I am staying at. Both of them are strangers to me, but go out of the way to make sure I reach home safe. It struck a chord, nice warm people and very hospitable. The next morning begins with meeting Mr. Shakya, the person in charge of visitors at Patan hospital, touring the hospital, including the outpatient department, emergency room, wards, auditorium, and medical school. I’m greeted with Namaste, and introduced as “tyo America ma doctor hoâ€. This is followed by a most important visit to the cafeteria. We go over the menu. I am told the most popular options and also advice to not order ‘jawanoko jhol†(for nursing females only, helps let down), I am told this will be explained soon in private. Curiosity grew. This hospital tour has surprised me because what I had in mind was a hospital with few rooms with barely any equip...
Objective: Excessive autophagy (degradation of intracellular structures) characterizes cardiomyoc... more Objective: Excessive autophagy (degradation of intracellular structures) characterizes cardiomyocyte injury in hypertensive heart disease. The effect of Angiotensin II receptor blocker Valsartan on RVH-induced myocardial autophagy remains unexplored. Method: Twenty-one domestic pigs (50-60 Kg) were randomized into 3 groups: RVH, RVH+Valsartan, and Control (n=7 each), and observed for 10 wks. Valsartan (320mg/d PO) was administered for 4 wks starting at 6 wks of RVH. After 10 wks, myocardial fibrosis was examined by trichrome staining, and inflammation by M1 macrophage (M1 Ø, CD163+/iNOS+) staining and TNF-α expression (immunoblotting). Autophagy was examined for Atg 12-Atg 5, Beclin-1 and its inhibitor mTOR. Result: At 6 wks, MAP was higher in both RVH and RVH+Valsartan compared to Control (147.6 ±14.0 and 139.1±11.2 vs. 105.9±11.4 mmHg, respectively, P<0.05). At 10 wks, Valsartan did not decrease MAP compared to RVH (P=0.31), Both Beclin-1 and Atg 12-Atg 15 expressions that were...
International Journal for Research in Applied Science and Engineering Technology, 2021
In today's world cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death. The disease strikes a pers... more In today's world cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death. The disease strikes a person so quickly that they do not receive treatment. Properly diagnosing patients is therefore a daunting task for medical professionals. Misdiagnosis by a hospital leads to a bad reputation and a loss of dignity. At the same time the treatment of this disease is very high and not very expensive for patients especially in India. The purpose of this paper is to improve the cost-effective treatment using data mining technology to simplify the decision support system. Almost all hospitals use a certain hospital management system to manage the health care of patients. Unfortunately most programs do not usually use large clinical data where important information is hidden. As these systems generate a large amount of data in various forms but this data is rarely visited and remains unused. Therefore, in this process much effort is required to make wise decisions. Diagnosing the disease using a variety of features or symptoms is a daunting task. This paper uses various data mining techniques in an effort to help diagnose the disease in question.
Introduction: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) possess endogenous reparative properties and may serv... more Introduction: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) possess endogenous reparative properties and may serve as an exogenous therapeutic intervention in patients with chronic kidney disease. Cardiovascular risk factors clustering in the metabolic syndrome (MetS) might adversely affect cellular properties. To test the hypothesis that Mets interferes with MSC characteristics, we performed comprehensive comparison of the mRNA, microRNA, and protein content of MSCs isolated from Lean and MetS pigs. Methods: Domestic pigs were fed a 16-week Lean or MetS diet (n=4 each). Expression profiles of co-existing microRNAs, mRNAs, and proteins were obtained by high-throughput sequencing and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. TargetScan and ComiR were used to predict target genes of differentially expressed microRNAs, and DAVID 6.7 for functional annotation analysis to rank primary gene ontology categories for the microRNA target genes, mRNAs, and proteins. Results: Differential expression analysis revealed 12 microRNAs upregulated in MetS-MSCs compared to Lean-MSCs (fold change>1.4, p<0.05), which target 7,728 genes, whereas 33 mRNAs and 78 proteins were downregulated (fold change<0.7, p<0.05). Integrated analysis showed that targets of those microRNAs upregulated in MetS-MSCs overlap with at least half of mRNAs and proteins dysregulated in those cells. Functional analysis of overlapping mRNAs and proteins suggest that they are primarily involved in mitochondria, inflammation and transcription. MetS-MSCs also exhibited increased nuclear translocation of nuclear factor kappa-B, associated with increased SA-β-Galactosidase and decreased cytochrome-c oxidase-IV activity. Conclusion: MetS alters the transcriptome and proteome of swine adipose tissue-derived MSCs particularly genes involved in mitochondria, inflammation and transcription regulation. These
International Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Drug Research, 2017
Almond butter is one of the moisturizing agents, which has good emollient and moisturizing proper... more Almond butter is one of the moisturizing agents, which has good emollient and moisturizing properties and hence can be well utilized to design a moisturizing cream, which can provide a good moisturizing property and help to maintain the healthy skin. The aim of the present study is to formulate moisturizing cream using Almond Butter and to evaluate its moisturizing property. In the present study, proper cream base was formulated by taking different trials and evaluated. The cream base showing the best results with respect to pH, thermal stability, total fatty matter and specific gravity was used for the incorporation of the active ingredient in different concentration and was evaluated for physical and chemical parameters. The subjective evaluation of the final product was carried out on volunteers of age 20 - 25 years with dry skin and moisturizing capacity was studied using corneometer. The values for pH, thermal stability, total fatty matter and specific gravity of the selected c...
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-No... more This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License, which allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work non-commercially, as long as the author is credited and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms.
Obesity and hypertension are major risk factors for cardiovascular diseases, and their growing co... more Obesity and hypertension are major risk factors for cardiovascular diseases, and their growing coexistence accounts for an increase in adverse cardiac events, but the mechanisms are yet to be determined. We hypothesized that obesity exacerbates mitochondrial dysregulation imposed by hypertension and augments left ventricular dysfunction. Obesity-prone Ossabaw pigs were randomized to lean (standard diet) and obese (high-fat diet), without (Lean-sham and Obese-sham) or with renovascular hypertension (Lean-hypertension and Obese-hypertension), induced after 12 weeks of diet (n=7 each). Cardiac function, myocardial perfusion and oxygenation, and microvascular remodeling were assessed 4 weeks later. Mitochondrial biogenesis signals and structural proteins, respiratory chain complex activities, and mitochondrial self-degradation were examined, as was fibrosis. Obesity alone exerted no apparent effect on mitochondrial dynamics, but aggravated in hypertensive hearts the reduction of mitocho...
To establish and characterize a novel domestic porcine model of obesity. Fourteen domestic pigs w... more To establish and characterize a novel domestic porcine model of obesity. Fourteen domestic pigs were fed normal (lean, n = 7) or high-fat/high-fructose diet (obese, n = 7) for 16 weeks. Subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue biopsies were obtained after 8, 12, and 16 weeks of diet, and pericardial adipose tissue after 16 weeks, for assessments of adipocyte size, fibrosis, and inflammation. Adipose tissue volume and cardiac function were studied with multidetector computed tomography, and oxygenation was studied with magnetic resonance imaging. Plasma lipids profile, insulin resistance, and markers of inflammation were evaluated. Compared with lean pigs, obese pigs had elevated cholesterol and triglyceride levels, blood pressure, and insulin resistance. Both abdominal and pericardial fat volume increased in obese pigs after 16 weeks. In abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue, adipocyte size and both tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α expression progressively increased. Macrophage infiltrati...
At 10 weeks, there were no differences in body weight and the degree of stenosis among the groups... more At 10 weeks, there were no differences in body weight and the degree of stenosis among the groups (Table 1), including Normal, unilateral RAS, RAS þ Valsartan, or RAS þ triple therapy (TT, reserpine þ hydralazine þ hydrochlorothiazide).
We show that a series of peptides corresponding to individual β-strands in native β-lactoglobulin... more We show that a series of peptides corresponding to individual β-strands in native β-lactoglobulin readily form amyloid aggregates and that such aggregates are capable of seeding fibril formation by a full-length form of βlactoglobulin in which the disulfide bonds are reduced. By contrast, preformed fibrils corresponding to only one of the β-strands that we considered, βA, were found to promote fibril formation by a full-length form of β-lactoglobulin in which the disulfide bonds are intact. These results indicate that regions of high intrinsic aggregation propensity do not give rise to aggregation unless at least partial unfolding takes place. Furthermore, we found that the high aggregation propensity of one of the edge strands, βI, promotes dimerisation of the native structure rather than misfolding and aggregation since the structure of βI is stabilised by the presence of a disulfide bond. These findings demonstrate that the interactions that promote folding and native-state oligomerisation can also result in high intrinsic amyloidogenicity. However, we show that the presence of the remainder of the sequence dramatically reduces the net overall aggregation propensity by negative design principles that we suggest are very common in biological systems as a result of evolutionary processes.
Renovascular hypertension alters cardiac structure and function. Autophagy is activated during le... more Renovascular hypertension alters cardiac structure and function. Autophagy is activated during left ventricular hypertrophy and linked to adverse cardiac function. The angiotensin II receptor blocker, valsartan, lowers blood pressure and is cardioprotective, but whether it modulates autophagy in the myocardium is unclear. We hypothesized that valsartan would alleviate autophagy and improve left ventricular myocardial mitochondrial turnover in swine renovascular hypertension. Domestic pigs were randomized to control, unilateral renovascular hypertension, and renovascular hypertension treated with valsartan (320 mg/d) or conventional triple therapy (reserpine+hydralazine+hydrochlorothiazide) for 4 weeks after 6 weeks of renovascular hypertension (n=7 each group). Left ventricular remodeling, function, and myocardial oxygenation and microcirculation were assessed by multidetector computer tomography, blood oxygen level–dependent MRI, and microcomputer tomography. Myocardial autophagy, ...
American Journal of Physiology-Renal Physiology, 2013
Obesity-metabolic disorders (ObM) often accompany renal artery stenosis (RAS). We hypothesized th... more Obesity-metabolic disorders (ObM) often accompany renal artery stenosis (RAS). We hypothesized that the coexistence of ObM and RAS magnifies inflammation and microvascular remodeling in the stenotic kidney (STK) and aggravates renal scarring. Twenty-eight obesity-prone Ossabaw pigs were studied after 16 wk of a high-fat/high-fructose diet or standard chow including ObM-sham, ObM-RAS, Lean-RAS, or Lean-sham (normal control) groups. Single-kidney renal blood flow (RBF) and glomerular filtration rate (GFR) were assessed by multidetector computed tomography (CT), renal oxygenation and tubular transport capability by blood-oxygen-level-dependent MRI, and microcirculation by micro-CT for vessel density, and Western blotting for protein expressions of angiogenic factors (VEGF/FLK-1). Renal vein and inferior vena cava levels of inflammatory cytokines were measured to evaluate systemic and kidney inflammation. Macrophage (MØ) infiltration and subpopulations, fat deposition in the kidney, and...
Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 2018
Objectives: The juvenile population has higher rates of multiple experienced traumas and thus is ... more Objectives: The juvenile population has higher rates of multiple experienced traumas and thus is at increased risk for developing PTSD. In the general population, estimates average 25%, compared with approximately 90% in incarcerated youth. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine has recommended prazosin for the treatment of PTSD-related nightmares. Although frequently used in the adolescent population, evidence is limited to only a few case reports and a retrospective chart review of patients treated in a traumafocused clinic. Methods: We conducted a retrospective chart review of youth who were evaluated and treated from June 2015 to June 2017 in a weekly juvenile detention center. A total of 167 patients were identified, of which 24 were found to have been treated with prazosin. Gender, ethnicity, age at onset of treatment within the clinic, comorbid diagnoses, additional treatments, initial and final treatment dose, response, tolerability, and adverse effects were reviewed. Results: Data were analyzed to identify relevant findings among the above variables. One patient was discharged before reassessment and was excluded. Of the final group of patients (N ¼ 23), 19 were found to have an improvement in symptoms (ie, fewer nightmares). Overall, an overwhelming majority (83%) of patients demonstrated an improvement in symptoms, with a mean dose of 2 mg. The mean age at onset of treatment was 15 years for responders and 16 years for nonresponders. Four responders had significant tolerability issues. Of these 4 patients, 2 experienced symptomatic hypotension, 1 patient had asymptomatic hypotension, and 1 experienced excessive sedation. Only 1 of the patients with symptomatic hypotension elected to discontinue. One nonresponder was found to have an increased number of nightmares and significant hypotension; therefore, prazosin was discontinued. Conclusions: Within this limited dataset, no statistically significant predictors of response to prazosin were found. However, given the overwhelming improvement in symptoms, we advocate for routine screening and careful consideration of trauma-related diagnoses in high-risk youth.
The case study presented here is an intensive nineday community participation project in a Swiss ... more The case study presented here is an intensive nineday community participation project in a Swiss town, aimed at fostering community food production. The approach to participatory design presented here seeks to emphasize the in-situ improvisatory 'doing' of collaborative activities. Using notions such as diffusing, reifying and catalyzing the study describes the iterative movement of the project that is bound up in material arrangements and social relations. Through a reflection in action approach, the author unpacks how the designer's agency is understood through social interactions and acts of summarizing, materialization and translation. The paper concludes by discussing power and agency, both as an outcome and central to the design process. This reflective exploration through the lens of agency seeks to encourage the reflexivity of designers in collaborative practice.
2020 3rd International Conference on Communication System, Computing and IT Applications (CSCITA)
Population increase has been an ever-increasing problem. In a country like India, where populatio... more Population increase has been an ever-increasing problem. In a country like India, where population is rising at a rapid rate, problems associated with it also increases. Some of these problems include increased unemployment, limited availability of resources, overcrowding, etc. One such issue which is most commonly seen in cities is the overcrowding. One such case of overcrowding which is discussed here is with respect to Mumbai Suburban Railways. Mumbai local trains carries lakhs of passengers daily. Most of the population in Mumbai is dependent on local trains for commuting to their work places. Travelling in peak hours is the most difficult task that people of Mumbai face. Due to overcrowding, there has been many accidents reported in the last few years and the number is increasing. Hence, our research goes on designing a system which will tackle the above problem. The approach involves collecting GPS data of people who enter the railway platform. This data is used for visualizing, monitoring and crowd prediction and creating a level of warning to commuters.
This paper describes a method to use the thresholding technique to automatically classify the thr... more This paper describes a method to use the thresholding technique to automatically classify the three parts of a speech signal - silence, unvoiced and voiced. It makes use of three characteristics of the speech signal namely - short time energy (STE), zero crossing rate (ZCR) and fundamental frequency (F0).
Tesis para optar al grado de Magíster en Ciencias, Mención GeologíaMemoria para optar al título d... more Tesis para optar al grado de Magíster en Ciencias, Mención GeologíaMemoria para optar al título de Geóloga20 noviembre de 202
— One of the most influential device in human lives is the `Computer`. The usage of computers is ... more — One of the most influential device in human lives is the `Computer`. The usage of computers is increasing exponentially in every other field existing on this earth. No doubt it simplifies the way we handle data. It also helps in easily exchanging information among humans, with everyday new technologies coming up for making the sharing of data more and more easy. But it does require some input when an interface is utilized to transfer data. Currently most common form of input provided is touch or by mouse and keyboard. With pioneering research in `Speech Recognition ` from many years, it has become one of the most prominent part of modern technological systems. Thus, `Speech ` is also considered as an input to computer, making it a natural and faster way of providing input to computers. A high degree of accuracy is required for good speech recognition system. The predominant problems faced are silence detection and removal, voiced unvoiced distinguishing, detection of word boundary...
In recent decades, the use of wind turbines has been successfully increasing in power generation.... more In recent decades, the use of wind turbines has been successfully increasing in power generation. Various types of wind turbine configurations as well as possible blade geometries are been proposed and are still under development for extracting the maximum possible energy extraction. Vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) found to have enhanced adaptable physiognomies to the unsteady wind of urban terrains. These turbines can yield electricity from the wind of any direction with low-slung cut-in wind speed. These turbines are ominously quieter than the old-fashioned HAWTs, light-weight, and can be straightforwardly unified into buildings. Hence, the main idea of the present work to numerically evaluate the design performance of a C-shaped Savonius turbine for wind-energy conversion thus obtaining a higher output. During computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations, 3 different symmetric and non-symmetric airfoils are examined. After authenticating the numerical procedure against experim...
A local man sits on the pavement in Patan Durbar Square at one am. A taxi driver calls a cell pho... more A local man sits on the pavement in Patan Durbar Square at one am. A taxi driver calls a cell phone number I handed to him that belongs to the guesthouse I am staying at. Both of them are strangers to me, but go out of the way to make sure I reach home safe. It struck a chord, nice warm people and very hospitable. The next morning begins with meeting Mr. Shakya, the person in charge of visitors at Patan hospital, touring the hospital, including the outpatient department, emergency room, wards, auditorium, and medical school. I’m greeted with Namaste, and introduced as “tyo America ma doctor hoâ€. This is followed by a most important visit to the cafeteria. We go over the menu. I am told the most popular options and also advice to not order ‘jawanoko jhol†(for nursing females only, helps let down), I am told this will be explained soon in private. Curiosity grew. This hospital tour has surprised me because what I had in mind was a hospital with few rooms with barely any equip...
Objective: Excessive autophagy (degradation of intracellular structures) characterizes cardiomyoc... more Objective: Excessive autophagy (degradation of intracellular structures) characterizes cardiomyocyte injury in hypertensive heart disease. The effect of Angiotensin II receptor blocker Valsartan on RVH-induced myocardial autophagy remains unexplored. Method: Twenty-one domestic pigs (50-60 Kg) were randomized into 3 groups: RVH, RVH+Valsartan, and Control (n=7 each), and observed for 10 wks. Valsartan (320mg/d PO) was administered for 4 wks starting at 6 wks of RVH. After 10 wks, myocardial fibrosis was examined by trichrome staining, and inflammation by M1 macrophage (M1 Ø, CD163+/iNOS+) staining and TNF-α expression (immunoblotting). Autophagy was examined for Atg 12-Atg 5, Beclin-1 and its inhibitor mTOR. Result: At 6 wks, MAP was higher in both RVH and RVH+Valsartan compared to Control (147.6 ±14.0 and 139.1±11.2 vs. 105.9±11.4 mmHg, respectively, P<0.05). At 10 wks, Valsartan did not decrease MAP compared to RVH (P=0.31), Both Beclin-1 and Atg 12-Atg 15 expressions that were...
International Journal for Research in Applied Science and Engineering Technology, 2021
In today's world cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death. The disease strikes a pers... more In today's world cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death. The disease strikes a person so quickly that they do not receive treatment. Properly diagnosing patients is therefore a daunting task for medical professionals. Misdiagnosis by a hospital leads to a bad reputation and a loss of dignity. At the same time the treatment of this disease is very high and not very expensive for patients especially in India. The purpose of this paper is to improve the cost-effective treatment using data mining technology to simplify the decision support system. Almost all hospitals use a certain hospital management system to manage the health care of patients. Unfortunately most programs do not usually use large clinical data where important information is hidden. As these systems generate a large amount of data in various forms but this data is rarely visited and remains unused. Therefore, in this process much effort is required to make wise decisions. Diagnosing the disease using a variety of features or symptoms is a daunting task. This paper uses various data mining techniques in an effort to help diagnose the disease in question.
Introduction: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) possess endogenous reparative properties and may serv... more Introduction: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) possess endogenous reparative properties and may serve as an exogenous therapeutic intervention in patients with chronic kidney disease. Cardiovascular risk factors clustering in the metabolic syndrome (MetS) might adversely affect cellular properties. To test the hypothesis that Mets interferes with MSC characteristics, we performed comprehensive comparison of the mRNA, microRNA, and protein content of MSCs isolated from Lean and MetS pigs. Methods: Domestic pigs were fed a 16-week Lean or MetS diet (n=4 each). Expression profiles of co-existing microRNAs, mRNAs, and proteins were obtained by high-throughput sequencing and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. TargetScan and ComiR were used to predict target genes of differentially expressed microRNAs, and DAVID 6.7 for functional annotation analysis to rank primary gene ontology categories for the microRNA target genes, mRNAs, and proteins. Results: Differential expression analysis revealed 12 microRNAs upregulated in MetS-MSCs compared to Lean-MSCs (fold change>1.4, p<0.05), which target 7,728 genes, whereas 33 mRNAs and 78 proteins were downregulated (fold change<0.7, p<0.05). Integrated analysis showed that targets of those microRNAs upregulated in MetS-MSCs overlap with at least half of mRNAs and proteins dysregulated in those cells. Functional analysis of overlapping mRNAs and proteins suggest that they are primarily involved in mitochondria, inflammation and transcription. MetS-MSCs also exhibited increased nuclear translocation of nuclear factor kappa-B, associated with increased SA-β-Galactosidase and decreased cytochrome-c oxidase-IV activity. Conclusion: MetS alters the transcriptome and proteome of swine adipose tissue-derived MSCs particularly genes involved in mitochondria, inflammation and transcription regulation. These
International Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Drug Research, 2017
Almond butter is one of the moisturizing agents, which has good emollient and moisturizing proper... more Almond butter is one of the moisturizing agents, which has good emollient and moisturizing properties and hence can be well utilized to design a moisturizing cream, which can provide a good moisturizing property and help to maintain the healthy skin. The aim of the present study is to formulate moisturizing cream using Almond Butter and to evaluate its moisturizing property. In the present study, proper cream base was formulated by taking different trials and evaluated. The cream base showing the best results with respect to pH, thermal stability, total fatty matter and specific gravity was used for the incorporation of the active ingredient in different concentration and was evaluated for physical and chemical parameters. The subjective evaluation of the final product was carried out on volunteers of age 20 - 25 years with dry skin and moisturizing capacity was studied using corneometer. The values for pH, thermal stability, total fatty matter and specific gravity of the selected c...
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-No... more This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License, which allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work non-commercially, as long as the author is credited and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms.
Obesity and hypertension are major risk factors for cardiovascular diseases, and their growing co... more Obesity and hypertension are major risk factors for cardiovascular diseases, and their growing coexistence accounts for an increase in adverse cardiac events, but the mechanisms are yet to be determined. We hypothesized that obesity exacerbates mitochondrial dysregulation imposed by hypertension and augments left ventricular dysfunction. Obesity-prone Ossabaw pigs were randomized to lean (standard diet) and obese (high-fat diet), without (Lean-sham and Obese-sham) or with renovascular hypertension (Lean-hypertension and Obese-hypertension), induced after 12 weeks of diet (n=7 each). Cardiac function, myocardial perfusion and oxygenation, and microvascular remodeling were assessed 4 weeks later. Mitochondrial biogenesis signals and structural proteins, respiratory chain complex activities, and mitochondrial self-degradation were examined, as was fibrosis. Obesity alone exerted no apparent effect on mitochondrial dynamics, but aggravated in hypertensive hearts the reduction of mitocho...
To establish and characterize a novel domestic porcine model of obesity. Fourteen domestic pigs w... more To establish and characterize a novel domestic porcine model of obesity. Fourteen domestic pigs were fed normal (lean, n = 7) or high-fat/high-fructose diet (obese, n = 7) for 16 weeks. Subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue biopsies were obtained after 8, 12, and 16 weeks of diet, and pericardial adipose tissue after 16 weeks, for assessments of adipocyte size, fibrosis, and inflammation. Adipose tissue volume and cardiac function were studied with multidetector computed tomography, and oxygenation was studied with magnetic resonance imaging. Plasma lipids profile, insulin resistance, and markers of inflammation were evaluated. Compared with lean pigs, obese pigs had elevated cholesterol and triglyceride levels, blood pressure, and insulin resistance. Both abdominal and pericardial fat volume increased in obese pigs after 16 weeks. In abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue, adipocyte size and both tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α expression progressively increased. Macrophage infiltrati...
At 10 weeks, there were no differences in body weight and the degree of stenosis among the groups... more At 10 weeks, there were no differences in body weight and the degree of stenosis among the groups (Table 1), including Normal, unilateral RAS, RAS þ Valsartan, or RAS þ triple therapy (TT, reserpine þ hydralazine þ hydrochlorothiazide).
We show that a series of peptides corresponding to individual β-strands in native β-lactoglobulin... more We show that a series of peptides corresponding to individual β-strands in native β-lactoglobulin readily form amyloid aggregates and that such aggregates are capable of seeding fibril formation by a full-length form of βlactoglobulin in which the disulfide bonds are reduced. By contrast, preformed fibrils corresponding to only one of the β-strands that we considered, βA, were found to promote fibril formation by a full-length form of β-lactoglobulin in which the disulfide bonds are intact. These results indicate that regions of high intrinsic aggregation propensity do not give rise to aggregation unless at least partial unfolding takes place. Furthermore, we found that the high aggregation propensity of one of the edge strands, βI, promotes dimerisation of the native structure rather than misfolding and aggregation since the structure of βI is stabilised by the presence of a disulfide bond. These findings demonstrate that the interactions that promote folding and native-state oligomerisation can also result in high intrinsic amyloidogenicity. However, we show that the presence of the remainder of the sequence dramatically reduces the net overall aggregation propensity by negative design principles that we suggest are very common in biological systems as a result of evolutionary processes.
Renovascular hypertension alters cardiac structure and function. Autophagy is activated during le... more Renovascular hypertension alters cardiac structure and function. Autophagy is activated during left ventricular hypertrophy and linked to adverse cardiac function. The angiotensin II receptor blocker, valsartan, lowers blood pressure and is cardioprotective, but whether it modulates autophagy in the myocardium is unclear. We hypothesized that valsartan would alleviate autophagy and improve left ventricular myocardial mitochondrial turnover in swine renovascular hypertension. Domestic pigs were randomized to control, unilateral renovascular hypertension, and renovascular hypertension treated with valsartan (320 mg/d) or conventional triple therapy (reserpine+hydralazine+hydrochlorothiazide) for 4 weeks after 6 weeks of renovascular hypertension (n=7 each group). Left ventricular remodeling, function, and myocardial oxygenation and microcirculation were assessed by multidetector computer tomography, blood oxygen level–dependent MRI, and microcomputer tomography. Myocardial autophagy, ...
American Journal of Physiology-Renal Physiology, 2013
Obesity-metabolic disorders (ObM) often accompany renal artery stenosis (RAS). We hypothesized th... more Obesity-metabolic disorders (ObM) often accompany renal artery stenosis (RAS). We hypothesized that the coexistence of ObM and RAS magnifies inflammation and microvascular remodeling in the stenotic kidney (STK) and aggravates renal scarring. Twenty-eight obesity-prone Ossabaw pigs were studied after 16 wk of a high-fat/high-fructose diet or standard chow including ObM-sham, ObM-RAS, Lean-RAS, or Lean-sham (normal control) groups. Single-kidney renal blood flow (RBF) and glomerular filtration rate (GFR) were assessed by multidetector computed tomography (CT), renal oxygenation and tubular transport capability by blood-oxygen-level-dependent MRI, and microcirculation by micro-CT for vessel density, and Western blotting for protein expressions of angiogenic factors (VEGF/FLK-1). Renal vein and inferior vena cava levels of inflammatory cytokines were measured to evaluate systemic and kidney inflammation. Macrophage (MØ) infiltration and subpopulations, fat deposition in the kidney, and...
Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 2018
Objectives: The juvenile population has higher rates of multiple experienced traumas and thus is ... more Objectives: The juvenile population has higher rates of multiple experienced traumas and thus is at increased risk for developing PTSD. In the general population, estimates average 25%, compared with approximately 90% in incarcerated youth. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine has recommended prazosin for the treatment of PTSD-related nightmares. Although frequently used in the adolescent population, evidence is limited to only a few case reports and a retrospective chart review of patients treated in a traumafocused clinic. Methods: We conducted a retrospective chart review of youth who were evaluated and treated from June 2015 to June 2017 in a weekly juvenile detention center. A total of 167 patients were identified, of which 24 were found to have been treated with prazosin. Gender, ethnicity, age at onset of treatment within the clinic, comorbid diagnoses, additional treatments, initial and final treatment dose, response, tolerability, and adverse effects were reviewed. Results: Data were analyzed to identify relevant findings among the above variables. One patient was discharged before reassessment and was excluded. Of the final group of patients (N ¼ 23), 19 were found to have an improvement in symptoms (ie, fewer nightmares). Overall, an overwhelming majority (83%) of patients demonstrated an improvement in symptoms, with a mean dose of 2 mg. The mean age at onset of treatment was 15 years for responders and 16 years for nonresponders. Four responders had significant tolerability issues. Of these 4 patients, 2 experienced symptomatic hypotension, 1 patient had asymptomatic hypotension, and 1 experienced excessive sedation. Only 1 of the patients with symptomatic hypotension elected to discontinue. One nonresponder was found to have an increased number of nightmares and significant hypotension; therefore, prazosin was discontinued. Conclusions: Within this limited dataset, no statistically significant predictors of response to prazosin were found. However, given the overwhelming improvement in symptoms, we advocate for routine screening and careful consideration of trauma-related diagnoses in high-risk youth.
The case study presented here is an intensive nineday community participation project in a Swiss ... more The case study presented here is an intensive nineday community participation project in a Swiss town, aimed at fostering community food production. The approach to participatory design presented here seeks to emphasize the in-situ improvisatory 'doing' of collaborative activities. Using notions such as diffusing, reifying and catalyzing the study describes the iterative movement of the project that is bound up in material arrangements and social relations. Through a reflection in action approach, the author unpacks how the designer's agency is understood through social interactions and acts of summarizing, materialization and translation. The paper concludes by discussing power and agency, both as an outcome and central to the design process. This reflective exploration through the lens of agency seeks to encourage the reflexivity of designers in collaborative practice.
2020 3rd International Conference on Communication System, Computing and IT Applications (CSCITA)
Population increase has been an ever-increasing problem. In a country like India, where populatio... more Population increase has been an ever-increasing problem. In a country like India, where population is rising at a rapid rate, problems associated with it also increases. Some of these problems include increased unemployment, limited availability of resources, overcrowding, etc. One such issue which is most commonly seen in cities is the overcrowding. One such case of overcrowding which is discussed here is with respect to Mumbai Suburban Railways. Mumbai local trains carries lakhs of passengers daily. Most of the population in Mumbai is dependent on local trains for commuting to their work places. Travelling in peak hours is the most difficult task that people of Mumbai face. Due to overcrowding, there has been many accidents reported in the last few years and the number is increasing. Hence, our research goes on designing a system which will tackle the above problem. The approach involves collecting GPS data of people who enter the railway platform. This data is used for visualizing, monitoring and crowd prediction and creating a level of warning to commuters.
This paper describes a method to use the thresholding technique to automatically classify the thr... more This paper describes a method to use the thresholding technique to automatically classify the three parts of a speech signal - silence, unvoiced and voiced. It makes use of three characteristics of the speech signal namely - short time energy (STE), zero crossing rate (ZCR) and fundamental frequency (F0).
Tesis para optar al grado de Magíster en Ciencias, Mención GeologíaMemoria para optar al título d... more Tesis para optar al grado de Magíster en Ciencias, Mención GeologíaMemoria para optar al título de Geóloga20 noviembre de 202
— One of the most influential device in human lives is the `Computer`. The usage of computers is ... more — One of the most influential device in human lives is the `Computer`. The usage of computers is increasing exponentially in every other field existing on this earth. No doubt it simplifies the way we handle data. It also helps in easily exchanging information among humans, with everyday new technologies coming up for making the sharing of data more and more easy. But it does require some input when an interface is utilized to transfer data. Currently most common form of input provided is touch or by mouse and keyboard. With pioneering research in `Speech Recognition ` from many years, it has become one of the most prominent part of modern technological systems. Thus, `Speech ` is also considered as an input to computer, making it a natural and faster way of providing input to computers. A high degree of accuracy is required for good speech recognition system. The predominant problems faced are silence detection and removal, voiced unvoiced distinguishing, detection of word boundary...
In recent decades, the use of wind turbines has been successfully increasing in power generation.... more In recent decades, the use of wind turbines has been successfully increasing in power generation. Various types of wind turbine configurations as well as possible blade geometries are been proposed and are still under development for extracting the maximum possible energy extraction. Vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) found to have enhanced adaptable physiognomies to the unsteady wind of urban terrains. These turbines can yield electricity from the wind of any direction with low-slung cut-in wind speed. These turbines are ominously quieter than the old-fashioned HAWTs, light-weight, and can be straightforwardly unified into buildings. Hence, the main idea of the present work to numerically evaluate the design performance of a C-shaped Savonius turbine for wind-energy conversion thus obtaining a higher output. During computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations, 3 different symmetric and non-symmetric airfoils are examined. After authenticating the numerical procedure against experim...
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Papers by Aditya Pawar