Phencyclidine: A rare cause of saccadic intrusions Shameer Nijam, M; Thambirajah, Narmathey; Vithanawasam, Dhanushka ...
Annals of Indian Academy of Neurology,
10/2019, Volume:
22, Issue:
4
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Saccadic intrusions such as opsoclonus and ocular flutter are often due to a paraneoplastic or a parainfectious condition. Toxins/drugs may rarely cause them. Herein, we report a rare case of ocular ...flutter/opsoclonus due to phencyclidine (PCP) toxicity. Our patient is a 21-year-old male who presented with a 3-day history of headache, generalized ill health, and aggressive behavior. He was admitted with reduced level of consciousness following generalized seizures. He had features of sympathetic overactivity with ocular flutter and opsoclonus. Urine toxicology was positive for PCP. Despite supportive care, he succumbed to complications of rhabdomyolysis. Several drugs including cocaine, phenytoin, lithium, and amitriptyline are known to cause ocular flutter/opsoclonus rarely. It is poorly described with PCP. This case highlights PCP as a rare cause of toxin-induced saccadic intrusions and attempts to postulate its pathogenesis. Moreover, our report is the first case of PCP intoxication in Sri Lanka and one of the few documented reports in the South Asian region. Therefore, it represents a significant worrisome alarm about the spread of this substance in this region.
The paper presents a range of energy storage devices, such as batteries and super/ultracapacitors, and demonstrate how they can be integrated with a voltage balancing circuit that utilizes a single ...inductor-capacitor energy converter. The circuit's primary function is to effectively transfer surplus energy from the upper cell to the lower cell in the chain, using a bidirectional MOSFET switch and an LC tank. This active balancing circuit is designed to provide fast balancing speed, compact size, low cost, and superior performance in terms of maximum energy recovery. The control of MOSFET switches is managed by synchronous trigger patterns with complementary pulse-width modulated signals, operating in a near-zero current system. This feature enables the maintenance of a zero-voltage gap between non-adjacent cells within a series battery or supercapacitor string during cyclic charging and discharging. Additionally, the resonant frequency of the circuit is the same as the switching frequency, which results in a lower resonant frequency.
IoT based Smart and Automated Solar Panel Cleaning System G, Vinith. S.; K, Ragavapriya. R.; N, Mohamed Shameer ...
2023 Second International Conference on Electronics and Renewable Systems (ICEARS),
2023-March-2
Conference Proceeding
Solar panels are typically deployed in dry environments. The power generation efficiency of solar panels is hampered by high dust buildup and bird droppings. Manually cleaning a solar panel is ...time-consuming and difficult. This study suggests a brush-based programmed system using IoT technology for cleaning solar panels. The microcontroller and an Android device are used to control the system. The system tells the user of the various operations carried out. The technology may be made portable so that it could be used in multiple places. For the benefit of those who use solar panels, this project was created. This study intends to enable transparency in the cleaning process by utilizing most recent technological advancements, which offer a higher integrity, consistency, cost-effective, and scalable solution for the elimination of dust and speck. Comparing the energy output of the proposed cleaning system to solar panel with dust buildup. Applications from across the world manage this system. The amount of labor required to clean solar panels is also reduced by this technology.
The most common, devastating problem in agriculture is plant (pathogenic) diseases and abiotic conditions which have a profound effect on growth and yield of the plant resulting in heavy losses. In ...order to prevent losses, different chemicals are used indiscriminately, which in turn lead to environmental pollution due to their persistence and toxicity yet employed to meet consumer demand. To fight ever increasing demand and indiscriminate use of chemical agents along with their devastating after effects in agriculture, we need less invasive, eco-friendly and most importantly sustainable practices. Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) influence different physiological activities of the plant through various mechanisms (metabolites, antibiotics, Induced Systemic Resistance and enzymes) and impart protection from pathogens as well as environmental stress factors. But, current applications are limited in this regard as mechanisms involved, field applications variance and lack of farmer awareness contributing majorly. Current review tries to provide comprehensive knowledge on the PGPR’s applications as plant protectant against pathogens & abiotic factors leading to sustainable agricultural practices.
Abstract
Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) is an economically important disease, and ingestion of soy isoflavones (ISF) may benefit PRRSV-infected pigs due to demonstrated ...anti-inflammatory and antiviral properties. The objective of this experiment was to recreate immunological effects previously observed in young pigs infected with PRRSV receiving ISF and determine how those effects influence growth performance during the entire growth period from weaning to market. In total, 96 weaned barrows were group housed in a biosafety level-2 containment facility and allotted to 1 of 3 experimental treatments that were maintained throughout the study: noninfected pigs received an ISF-devoid control diet (NEG, n = 24), and infected pigs received either the control diet (POS, n = 36) or that supplemented with total ISF in excess of 1,600 mg/kg (ISF, n = 36). Following a 7-d adaptation, weanling pigs were inoculated intranasally with either a sham-control (PBS) or live PRRSV (1 × 105 TCID50/mL, strain NADC20). After inoculation, individual blood samples (n = 8 to 12/treatment) were routinely collected to monitor viral clearance and hematological parameters, including serum neutralizing anti-PRRSV antibody production. Pen-based oral fluids were used to monitor PRRSV clearance at later growth stages. A 1- or 2-way ANOVA was performed to compare experimental treatments depending on whether the outcome was repeatedly measured. In general, PRRSV infection decreased performance during early growth phases, resulting in 5.4% lower final BW for POS vs. NEG pigs (P < 0.05). Dietary ISF elicited inconsistent effects on growth performance, increased (P < 0.05) neutrophil cell counts and the relative proportion of memory T-cells, and decreased (P < 0.05) the time to full PRRSV clearance from oral fluids. Dietary ISF also elicited earlier, more robust anti-PRRSV neutralizing antibody production when compared with POS pigs. Additionally, and most notably, POS pigs experienced ~50% greater infection-related mortality rate vs. ISF pigs (P < 0.05), which may have significant economic implications for producers. Overall, dietary ISF ingestion supported immune responses and reduced mortality in PRRSV-infected pigs when fed to growing pigs though the biological mechanism of these effects remains unclear.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has resulted in severe psychological, social, and economic stress in people's lives. It is not known whether the stress of the pandemic is associated ...with an increase in the incidence of stress cardiomyopathy.
To determine the incidence and outcomes of stress cardiomyopathy during the COVID-19 pandemic compared with before the pandemic.
This retrospective cohort study at cardiac catheterization laboratories with primary percutaneous coronary intervention capability at 2 hospitals in the Cleveland Clinic health system in Northeast Ohio examined the incidence of stress cardiomyopathy (also known as Takotsubo syndrome) in patients presenting with acute coronary syndrome who underwent coronary arteriography. Patients presenting during the COVID-19 pandemic, between March 1 and April 30, 2020, were compared with 4 control groups of patients with acute coronary syndrome presenting prior to the pandemic across 4 distinct timelines: March to April 2018, January to February 2019, March to April 2019, and January to February 2020. Data were analyzed in May 2020.
Patients were divided into 5 groups based on the date of their clinical presentation in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Incidence of stress cardiomyopathy.
Among 1914 patient presenting with acute coronary syndrome, 1656 patients (median interquartile range age, 67 59-74; 1094 66.1% men) presented during the pre-COVID-19 period (390 patients in March-April 2018, 309 patients in January-February 2019, 679 patients in March-April 2019, and 278 patients in January-February 2020), and 258 patients (median interquartile range age, 67 57-75; 175 67.8% men) presented during the COVID-19 pandemic period (ie, March-April 2020). There was a significant increase in the incidence of stress cardiomyopathy during the COVID-19 period, with a total of 20 patients with stress cardiomyopathy (incidence proportion, 7.8%), compared with prepandemic timelines, which ranged from 5 to 12 patients with stress cardiomyopathy (incidence proportion range, 1.5%-1.8%). The rate ratio comparing the COVID-19 pandemic period to the combined prepandemic period was 4.58 (95% CI, 4.11-5.11; P < .001). All patients during the COVID-19 pandemic had negative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction test results for COVID-19. Patients with stress cardiomyopathy during the COVID-19 pandemic had a longer median (interquartile range) hospital length of stay compared with those hospitalized in the prepandemic period (COVID-19 period: 8 6-9 days; March-April 2018: 4 3-4 days; January-February 2019: 5 3-6 days; March-April 2019: 4 4-8 days; January-February: 5 4-5 days; P = .006). There were no significant differences between the COVID-19 period and the overall pre-COVID-19 period in mortality (1 patient 5.0% vs 1 patient 3.6%, respectively; P = .81) or 30-day rehospitalization (4 patients 22.2% vs 6 patients 21.4%, respectively; P = .90).
This study found that there was a significant increase in the incidence of stress cardiomyopathy during the COVID-19 pandemic when compared with prepandemic periods.
Japanese encephalitis (JE) is an infectious encephalitis prevalent in Asia. It usually presents with fever, headache, convulsions and extrapyramidal symptoms. Limbic system involvement and ...hypothermia though common in autoimmune encephalitis have never been reported in JE. We report a case of an 18-year-old girl with no previous comorbidities who presented to us with a history of fever and headache for 1 week duration. She developed bilateral lateral rectus palsy and asymmetric flaccid weakness of all four limbs, after 2 days of admission, which was followed by altered sensorium and intermittent hypothermia. Neuroimaging revealed longitudinal myelitis extending from pons till the L1 level along with bilateral thalamic hemorrhage in brain. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was positive for IgM antibody to JE virus. She was treated with supportive measures, but she developed intractable hypothermia and seizures and succumbed to illness after 2 weeks of admission.
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