Indomethacin suppositories were prepared by using water-soluble and oil soluble suppository bases, and evaluated for in vitro release by USP I and modified continuous flow through bead bed apparatus. ...Effect of the Tween 80 (1% and 5%) was further studied on in vitro release of the medicament. Release rate was good in water-soluble suppositories bases in comparison to oil soluble suppositories bases. Release was found to be greater in modified continuous flow through bead bed apparatus. When surfactant was used in low concentration then release rate was much greater, as compared to high concentration. When stability studies were performed on the prepared indomethacin suppositories it was found that suppositories made by water-soluble base had no significant changes while suppositories prepared by oil soluble bases, had some signs of instability.
This paper presents the boundary detection of atrium and ventricle in echocardiographic images. In case of mitral regurgitation, atrium and ventricle may get dilated. To examine this, doctors draw ...the boundary manually. Here the aim of this paper is to evolve the automatic boundary detection for carrying out segmentation of echocardiography images. Active contour method is selected for this purpose. There is an enhancement of Chan–Vese paper on active contours without edges. Our algorithm is based on Chan–Vese paper active contours without edges, but it is much faster than Chan–Vese model. Here we have developed a method by which it is possible to detect much faster the echocardiographic boundaries. The method is based on the region information of an image. The region-based force provides a global segmentation with variational flow robust to noise. Implementation is based on level set theory so it easy to deal with topological changes. In this paper, Newton–Raphson method is used which makes possible the fast boundary detection.
The daily electrical peak load forecasting (PLF) has been done using the feed forward neural network (FFNN)-based upon the conjugate gradient (CG) back-propagation methods, by incorporating the ...effect of 11 weather parameters, the previous day peak load information, and the type of day. To avoid the trapping of the network into a state of local minima, the optimization of user-defined parameters, namely, learning rate and error goal, has been performed. The training dataset has been selected using a growing window concept and is reduced as per the nature of the day and the season for which the forecast is made. For redundancy removal in the input variables, reduction of the number of input variables has been done by the principal component analysis (PCA) method of factor extraction. The resultant dataset is used for the training of a 3-layered NN. To increase the learning speed, the weights and biases are initialized according to the Nguyen and Widrow method. To avoid over fitting, an early stopping of training is done at the minimum validation error.
Purpose
Several research papers related to electricity price forecasting have been reported in the leading journals in last 20 years. The purpose of this paper is to present a comprehensive survey ...and comparison of these techniques.
Design/methodology/approach
The present article provides an overview of the statistical short‐term price forecasting (STPF) models. The basic theory of these models, their further classification and their suitability to STPF has been discussed. Quantitative evaluation of the performance of these models in the framework of accuracy achieved and computation time taken has been performed. Some important observations of the literature survey and key issues regarding STPF methodologies are analyzed.
Findings
It has been observed that price forecasting accuracy of the reported models in day‐ahead markets is better as compared to that in real time markets. From a comparative analysis perspective, there is no hard evidence of out‐performance of one model over all other models on a consistent basis for a very long period. In some of the studies, linear models like dynamic regression and transfer function have shown superior performance as compared to non‐linear models like artificial neural networks (ANNs). On the other hand, recent variations in ANNs by employing wavelet transformation, fuzzy logic and genetic algorithm have shown considerable improvement in forecasting accuracy. However more complex models need further comparative analysis.
Originality/value
This paper is intended to supplement the recent survey papers, in which the researchers have restricted the scope to a bibliographical survey. Whereas, in this work, after providing detailed classification and chronological evolution of the STPF techniques, a comparative summary of various price‐forecasting techniques, across different electricity markets, is presented.
We measured thermoelectric power S of bulk single-wall carbon nanotube materials p doped with acids. In contrast to oxygen-exposed or degassed samples, S is very small at the lowest temperatures, ...increases superlinearly above a characteristic and sample-dependent T, and then levels off. We attribute this unusual behavior to 1D phonon drag, in which the depression of the Fermi energy cuts off electron-phonon scattering at temperatures below a characteristic T0. This idea is supported by a model calculation in which the low temperature behavior of phonon drag is specifically related to the one-dimensional character of the electronic spectrum.
Summary Background Serelaxin, recombinant human relaxin-2, is a vasoactive peptide hormone with many biological and haemodynamic effects. In a pilot study, serelaxin was safe and well tolerated with ...positive clinical outcome signals in patients with acute heart failure. The RELAX-AHF trial tested the hypothesis that serelaxin-treated patients would have greater dyspnoea relief compared with patients treated with standard care and placebo. Methods RELAX-AHF was an international, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, enrolling patients admitted to hospital for acute heart failure who were randomly assigned (1:1) via a central randomisation scheme blocked by study centre to standard care plus 48-h intravenous infusions of placebo or serelaxin (30 μg/kg per day) within 16 h from presentation. All patients had dyspnoea, congestion on chest radiograph, increased brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) or N-terminal prohormone of BNP, mild-to-moderate renal insufficiency, and systolic blood pressure greater than 125 mm Hg. Patients, personnel administering study drug, and those undertaking study-related assessments were masked to treatment assignment. The primary endpoints evaluating dyspnoea improvement were change from baseline in the visual analogue scale area under the curve (VAS AUC) to day 5 and the proportion of patients with moderate or marked dyspnoea improvement measured by Likert scale during the first 24 h, both analysed by intention to treat. This trial is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov , NCT00520806. Findings 1161 patients were randomly assigned to serelaxin (n=581) or placebo (n=580). Serelaxin improved the VAS AUC primary dyspnoea endpoint (448 mm × h, 95% CI 120–775; p=0·007) compared with placebo, but had no significant effect on the other primary endpoint (Likert scale; placebo, 150 patients 26%; serelaxin, 156 27%; p=0·70). No significant effects were recorded for the secondary endpoints of cardiovascular death or readmission to hospital for heart failure or renal failure (placebo, 75 events 60-day Kaplan-Meier estimate, 13·0%; serelaxin, 76 events 13·2%; hazard ratio HR 1·02 0·74–1·41, p=0·89 or days alive out of the hospital up to day 60 (placebo, 47·7 SD 12·1 days; serelaxin, 48·3 11·6; p=0·37). Serelaxin treatment was associated with significant reductions of other prespecified additional endpoints, including fewer deaths at day 180 (placebo, 65 deaths; serelaxin, 42; HR 0·63, 95% CI 0·42–0·93; p=0·019). Interpretation Treatment of acute heart failure with serelaxin was associated with dyspnoea relief and improvement in other clinical outcomes, but had no effect on readmission to hospital. Serelaxin treatment was well tolerated and safe, supported by the reduced 180-day mortality. Funding Corthera, a Novartis affiliate company.
Previously, infusions of an anti-IgE mAb (rhumAb-E25) in subjects decreased serum IgE levels, basophil IgE and FcepsilonRIalpha surface density, and polyclonal anti-IgE and Ag-induced basophil ...histamine release responses. We hypothesized that these effects would be reversed in vivo by discontinuation of infusions and in vitro by exposing basophils to IgE. Subjects received rhumAb-E25 biweekly for 46 wk. Blood samples taken 0-52 wk after rhumAb-E25 were analyzed for serum IgE and basophil expression of IgE, FcepsilonRIalpha, and CD32. Basophil numbers were unaffected by infusions. Eight weeks after infusions, free IgE levels rose in vivo but did not reach baseline. Basophil IgE and FcepsilonRIalpha rose in parallel with free IgE while CD32 was stable. FcepsilonRI densities, measured by acid elution, returned to 80% of baseline, whereas histamine release responses returned to baseline. Basophils cultured with or without IgE or IgG were analyzed for expression of IgE, FcepsilonRIalpha, and CD32. By 7 days with IgE, expression of IgE and FcepsilonRIalpha rose significantly, whereas cultures without IgE declined. IgE culture did not effect CD32. IgG culture did not effect expression of any marker. The present results strongly suggest that free IgE levels regulate FcepsilonRIalpha expression on basophils.
We report the results of the International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium prospective surveillance study from January 2004 to December 2009 in 33 pediatric intensive care units of 16 ...countries and the impact of being in a private vs. public hospital and the income country level on device-associated health care-associated infection rates. Additionally, we aim to compare these findings with the results of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Healthcare Safety Network annual report to show the differences between developed and developing countries regarding device-associated health care-associated infection rates.
A prospective cohort, active device-associated health care-associated infection surveillance study was conducted on 23,700 patients in International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium pediatric intensive care units.
The protocol and methodology implemented were developed by International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium. Data collection was performed in the participating intensive care units. Data uploading and analyses were conducted at International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium headquarters on proprietary software. Device-associated health care-associated infection rates were recorded by applying Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Healthcare Safety Network device-associated infection definitions, and the impact of being in a private vs. public hospital and the income country level on device-associated infection risk was evaluated.
None.
Central line-associated bloodstream infection rates were similar in private, public, or academic hospitals (7.3 vs. 8.4 central line-associated bloodstream infection per 1,000 catheter-days p < .35 vs. 8.2; p < .42). Central line-associated bloodstream infection rates in lower middle-income countries were higher than low-income countries or upper middle-income countries (12.2 vs. 5.5 central line-associated bloodstream infections per 1,000 catheter-days p < .02 vs. 7.0; p < .001). Catheter-associated urinary tract infection rates were similar in academic, public and private hospitals: (4.2 vs. 5.2 catheter-associated urinary tract infection per 1,000 catheter-days p = .41 vs. 3.0; p = .195). Catheter-associated urinary tract infection rates were higher in lower middle-income countries than low-income countries or upper middle-income countries (5.9 vs. 0.6 catheter-associated urinary tract infection per 1,000 catheter-days p < .004 vs. 3.7; p < .01). Ventilator-associated pneumonia rates in academic hospitals were higher than private or public hospitals: (8.3 vs. 3.5 ventilator-associated pneumonias per 1,000 ventilator-days p < .001 vs. 4.7; p < .001). Lower middle-income countries had higher ventilator-associated pneumonia rates than low-income countries or upper middle-income countries: (9.0 vs. 0.5 per 1,000 ventilator-days p < .001 vs. 5.4; p < .001). Hand hygiene compliance rates were higher in public than academic or private hospitals (65.2% vs. 54.8% p < .001 vs. 13.3%; p < .01).
Country socioeconomic level influence device-associated infection rates in developing countries and need to be considered when comparing device-associated infections from one country to another.
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