Identifying barriers to early diagnosis of breast cancer and perception of women in Malwa region of Punjab,India

Objective:The aim of present study is to identify the breast cancer screening barriers among the women with breast cancer of Malwa region of Punjab,India.The study was conducted at three government hospitals representing almost all districts of Malwa region.Methods:The quantitative research design was followed using empirical research methods.Study was carried out by one-to-one interview by the field investigator and research assistant.Total of 363 breast cancer patient has been interviewed through the scheduled questionnaire and results has been recorded for further analysis.In this study,five barriers are described namely as personal barriers,socio-cultural barriers,economic barriers,health­system barriers,and treatment barriers which contains various questions regarding barriers to breast cancer screening.Univariate analysis methods have been used for the analysis to access the socio-demographic profile of women.Data has been obtained with the help of 5-point liker scale.Binary logistic model was chosen.Results:Majority of participants were in the age groups 50-<60 years(3&6%,140/363)and>60 years(31.1%,112/363).Majority of these women(47.4%,171/363)were illiterate and most of them were housewives.The major barriers to breast cancer screening faced by most of the women were having no knowledge about screening services(90.9%,329/363),the importance of early diagnosis(90.9%,329/363),different screening methods(95.5%,347/363)and place of availing screening services(91.2%,330/363)misguided belief in God and fate(81.5%,295/363)and preferring duties than taking care of health(70.2%,254/363).Education qualification(odds ratio[OR]0.74,β'=-0.309,t=-5.357,P=0.000)and socioeconomic class(OR 1.43,β’=0.354,t=3.399,P=0.001)were found to be significant determinant of the barriers among women.Conclusion:The survey was conducted in the women between the age 40-60 years and as an outcome,the unawareness about screening services,fatalistic attitude,fear of being diagnosed with the cancer,low per capita income was found out significant factors that restricted the women for early check-up for the breast cancer.

Tribological Performance of Different Concentrations of Al_(2)O_(3)Nanofluids on Minimum Quantity Lubrication Milling

Nanofluid minimum quantity lubrication(NMQL)is a green processing technology.Cottonseed oil is suitable as base oil because of excellent lubrication performance,low freezing temperature,and high yield.Al_(2)O_(3)nanoparticles improve not only the heat transfer capacity but also the lubrication performance.The physical and chemical proper-ties of nanofluid change when Al_(2)O_(3)nanoparticles are added.However,the effects of the concentration of nanofluid on lubrication performance remain unknown.Furthermore,the mechanisms of interaction between Al_(2)O_(3)nanoparti-cles and cottonseed oil are unclear.In this research,nanofluid is prepared by adding different mass concentrations of Al_(2)O_(3)nanoparticles(0,0.2%,0.5%,1%,1.5%,and 2%wt)to cottonseed oil during minimum quantity lubrication(MQL)milling 45 steel.The tribological properties of nanofluid with different concentrations at the tool/workpiece interface are studied through macro-evaluation parameters(milling force,specific energy)and micro-evaluation parameters(surface roughness,micro morphology,contact angle).The result show that the specific energy is at the minimum(114 J/mm^(3)),and the roughness value is the lowest(1.63μm)when the concentration is 0.5 wt%.The surfaces of the chip and workpiece are the smoothest,and the contact angle is the lowest,indicating that the tribological proper-ties are the best under 0.5 wt%.This research investigates the intercoupling mechanisms of Al_(2)O_(3)nanoparticles and cottonseed base oil,and acquires the optimal Al_(2)O_(3)nanofluid concentration to receive satisfactory tribological properties.

Cryptotanshinone ameliorates cladribine-induced cognitive impairment in rats

Objective:To evaluate the neuroprotective effect of cryptotanshinone against cladribine-induced cognitive impairment in rats.Methods:Rats were administered with cladribine(1 mg/kg,p.o.)and cryptotanshinone(10 and 20 mg/kg,i.p.)for four weeks.Behavioral tests such as Morris water maze and elevated plus maze were conducted to check memory impairment caused by cladribine.On day 29,all rats were sacrificed,and the brains were separated for estimation of neuroinflammatory factors,biochemical parameters,neurotransmitters,Aβ(1-42),blood-brain barrier permeability,nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2(Nrf2),and brain-derived neurotrophic factor(BDNF).Results:Treatment with cryptotanshinone dose-dependently enhanced spatial memory,improved the levels of neurotransmitter and antioxidant enzymes,and suppressed proinflammatory cytokine release.Cryptotanshinone also decreased Aβ(1-42)accumulation and increased the levels of Nrf2 and BDNF in the hippocampus.Additionally,the histopathological results showed that cryptotanshinone reduced cladribine-induced neuronal death in the hippocampus.Conclusions:Cryptotanshinone exhibits a promising neuroprotective effect against cladribine-induced cognitive impairment in preclinical studies,and may be a potential phytochemical for the treatment and management of cognitive impairment.

Efficient Optimal Routing Algorithm Based on Reward and Penalty for Mobile Adhoc Networks

Mobile adhoc networks have grown in prominence in recent years,and they are now utilized in a broader range of applications.The main challenges are related to routing techniques that are generally employed in them.Mobile Adhoc system management,on the other hand,requires further testing and improvements in terms of security.Traditional routing protocols,such as Adhoc On-Demand Distance Vector(AODV)and Dynamic Source Routing(DSR),employ the hop count to calculate the distance between two nodes.The main aim of this research work is to determine the optimum method for sending packets while also extending life time of the network.It is achieved by changing the residual energy of each network node.Also,in this paper,various algorithms for optimal routing based on parameters like energy,distance,mobility,and the pheromone value are proposed.Moreover,an approach based on a reward and penalty system is given in this paper to evaluate the efficiency of the proposed algorithms under the impact of parameters.The simulation results unveil that the reward penalty-based approach is quite effective for the selection of an optimal path for routing when the algorithms are implemented under the parameters of interest,which helps in achieving less packet drop and energy consumption of the nodes along with enhancing the network efficiency.

Sericin alleviates pentylenetetrazole kindling epilepsy and associated comorbidities via modulation of GABA-T enzyme and mitochondrial activity

Objective:To assess the effect of sericin against pentylenetetrazole(PTZ)kindling epilepsy and its associated comorbidities.Methods:Epilepsy was induced with PTZ at the dose of 30 mg/kg i.p.on alternative days for 25 days in rats.Sericin was administered orally at the doses of 250,500,and 1000 mg/kg for 35 days.The behavioral activities were performed using an elevated plus maze,forced swim test,and Morris water maze test.A PTZ challenge test was conducted on day 32.On day 35,rats were sacrificed to perform oxidative stress,mitochondrial dysfunction,neuroinflammation,neurotransmitters,GABA-T activity,and histopathological analyses.Results:Sericin at 500 and 1000 mg/kg significantly reduced behavioral changes and neuroinflammatory cytokines,as well as improved oxidative stress,mitochondrial enzyme complex activity,neurotransmitter level,and GABA-T enzymatic activity(P<0.05).Moreover,sericin improved the neuronal survival altered by PTZ kindling in rat hippocampus.Conclusions:Sericin mitigates epilepsy-associated secondary complications possibly by the modulation of mitochondrial enzyme complexes and GABA-T enzymatic activity.

Gamma Correction for Brightness Preservation in Natural Images

Due to improper acquisition settings and other noise artifacts,the image degraded to yield poor mean preservation in brightness.The simplest way to improve the preservation is the implementation of histogram equalization.Because of over-enhancement,it failed to preserve the mean brightness and produce the poor quality of the image.This paper proposes a multi-scale decomposi-tion for brightness preservation using gamma correction.After transformation to hue,saturation and intensity(HSI)channel,the 2D-discrete wavelet transform decomposed the intensity component into low and high-pass coefficients.At the next phase,gamma correction is used by auto-tuning the scale value.The scale is the modified constant value used in the logarithmic function.Further,the scale value is optimized to obtain better visual quality in the image.The optimized value is the weighted distribution of standard deviation-mean of low pass coefficients.Finally,the experimental result is estimated in terms of quality assessment measures used as absolute mean brightness error,the measure of information detail,signal to noise ratio and patch-based contrast quality in the image.By comparison,the proposed method proved to be suitably remarkable in retaining the mean brightness and better visual quality of the image.

Review on friction stir welding of magnesium alloys

Friction Stir Welding(FSW)is considered to be the most significant development in metal joining in last two decades.FSW has many advantages when welding magnesium or lightweight alloys.The Friction stir welding of magnesium alloy has many potential applications in major industries i.e.land transportation,aerospace,railway,shipbuilding and marine,construction,and many other industrial applications.Even magnesium alloys have been used in industrial equipment of nuclear energy as magnesium alloys have low tendency to absorb neutrons,sufficient resistance to carbon dioxide and excellent thermal conductivity.Recently,the research and development in FSW field and associated technologies have been developing rapidly worldwide.In this review article,the basic principle of friction stir welding and several aspects of friction stir welded magnesium alloys have been described.The current state of friction stir welding of magnesium alloys is summarized.In spite of this,much remains to be learned about the process and opportunities for further research are identified.

Neuroprotective potential of Quercetin in combination with piperine against 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine-induced neurotoxicity

1-Methy-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine（MPTP）is a neurotoxin that selectively damages dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta and induces Parkinson＇s like symptoms in rodents.Quercetin（QC）is a natural polyphenolic bioflavonoid with potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties but lacks of clinical attraction due to low oral bioavailability.Piperine is a well established bioavailability enhancer used pre-clinically to improve the bioavailability of antioxidants（e.g.,Quercetin）.Therefore,the present study was designed to evaluate the neuroprotective potential of QC together with piperine against MPTP-induced neurotoxicity in rats.MPTP（100μg/μL/rat,bilaterally）was injected intranigrally on days 1,4 and 7 using a digital stereotaxic apparatus.QC（25 and 50 mg/kg,intragastrically）and QC（25 mg/kg,intragastrically）in combination with piperine（2.5 mg/kg,intragastrically）were administered daily for 14 days starting from day 8 after the 3^（rd） injection of MPTP.On day 22,animals were sacrificed and the striatum was isolated for oxidative stress parameter（thiobarbituric acid reactive substances,nitrite and glutathione）,neuroinflammatory cytokine（interleukin-1β,interleukin-6,and tumor necrosis factor-α）and neurotransmitter（dopamine,norepinephrine,serotonin,gamma-aminobutyric acid,glutamate,3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid,homovanillic acid,and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid）evaluations.Bilateral infusion of MPTP into substantia nigra pars compacta led to significant motor deficits as evidenced by impairments in locomotor activity and rotarod performance in open field test and grip strength and narrow beam walk performance.Both QC（25 and 50 mg/kg）and QC（25 mg/kg）in combination with piperine（2.5 mg/kg）,in particular the combination therapy,significantly improved MPTP-induced behavioral abnormalities in rats,reversed the abnormal alterations of neurotransmitters in the striatum,and alleviated oxidative stress and inflammatory response in the striatum.These findings indicate that piperine can enhance the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of QC,and QC in combination with piperine exhibits strong neuroprotective effects against MPTP-induced neurotoxicity.

Rice Bran Oil: Emerging Trends in Extraction, Health Benefit, and Its Industrial Application

Rice bran oil(RBO)is unique among edible vegetable oils because of its unique fatty acid composition,phenolic compound(γ-oryzanol,ferulic acid)and vitamin E(tocopherol and tocotrienol).It has become a great choice of cooking oil because of its very high burning point,neutral taste and delicate flavour.Non-conventional methods of RBO extraction are more efficient and environmentally friendly than conventional extraction methods.Advances in RBO extraction using innovative extraction strategies like super/sub-critical CO_(2),microwave-assisted,subcritical H_(2)O,enzyme-assisted aqueous and ultrasoundassisted aqueous extraction methods have proven to significantly improve the yields along with improved nutritional profile of RBO.The compositions and strategies for stabilization of RBO are well discussed.The constituents are present in the RBO contribute to antioxidative,anti-inflammatory,antimicrobial,antidiabetic and anti-cancerous properties to RBO.This has helped RBO to become an important substrate for the application in food(cooking oil,milk product and meat product)and non-food industries(polymer,lubricant,biofuel,structural lipid and cosmetic).This review provided comprehensive information on RBO extraction methods,oil stabilization,existing applications and health benefits.

Investigation of microstructure and mechanical properties of friction stir welded AZ61 magnesium alloy joint

Increasing global demands for energy conservation and environmental protection led to the replacement of heavy components with lighter alloys.As magnesium alloys are believed to be unique candidates for lightweight applications and friction stir welding(FSW)is capable of joining magnesium alloys,in the current work,FSW joint of AZ61 Mg alloy has been fabricated.Microstructure and mechanical properties of the joints were evaluated.The elongated grains of the base metal were recrystallized in the stir zone and in transition zone during friction stir welding.The formation of finer grains in the stir zone of the joint is responsible for increase the hardness of the stir zone.The microhardness of base metal is higher than that of thermo-mechanically affected zone but lower than that of stir zone.The tensile strength of the weld was about 82%of the as-received base metal.The joint failed in ductile mode.This ductile failure of joint was due to the uniform deformation of material.

Comparison of wear behavior of ABS and Nylon6-Fe powder composite parts prepared with fused deposition modelling

Fused deposition modeling(FDM) is one of the latest rapid prototyping techniques in which parts can be manufactured at a fast pace and are manufactured with a high accuracy. This research work is carried out to study the friction and wear behavior of parts made of newly developed Nylon6-Fe composite material by FDM. This work also involves the comparison of the friction and wear characteristics of the Nylon6-Fe composite with the existing acrylonitrile butadiene styrene(ABS) filament of the FDM machine. This Is carried out on the pin on disk setup by varying the load(5, 10, 15 and 20 N) and speed(200 and 300 r/min). It is concluded that the newly developed composite is highly wear resistant and can be used in industrial applications where wear resistance is of paramount importance. Morphology of the surface in contact with the Nylon6-Fe composite and ABS is also carried out.

Information hiding with adaptive steganography based on novel fuzzy edge identification

The evolution in communication techniques has created wide threats for crucial information transfer through a communication channel. Covert communication with steganography is a skill of concealing secret information within cover object and hence shields the data theft over rapidly growing network.Recently, diverse steganography techniques using edge identification have been proposed in literature.Numerous methods however utilize certain pixels in the cover image for inserting edge information,resulting in significant deformation. The conventional edge detection method limits the deployment of edge detection in steganography as concealing the information would introduce some variations to the cover image. Hence inserting data in pixel areas recognized by existing conventional edge detection techniques like canny cannot ensure the recognition of the exact edge locations for the cover and stego images. In this paper, an Adaptive steganography method based on novel fuzzy edge identification is proposed. The method proposed is proficient of estimating the precise edge areas of a cover image and also ensures the exact edge location after embedding the secret message. Experimental results reveal that the technique has attained good imperceptibility compared to the Hayat AI-Dmour and Ahmed AIAni Edge XOR method in spatial domain.

Plants Used as Antihypertensive

Hypertension is a critical health problem and worse other cardiovascular diseases.It is mainly of two types:Primary or essential hypertension and Secondary hypertension.Hypertension is the primary possibility feature for coronary heart disease,stroke and renal vascular disease.Herbal medicines have been used for millions of years for the management and treatment of hypertension with minimum side effects.Over aim to write this review is to collect information on the anti-hypertensive effects of natural herbs in animal studies and human involvement as well as to recapitulate the underlying mechanisms,from the bottom of cell culture and ex-vivo tissue data.According to WHO,natural herbs/shrubs are widely used in increasing order to treat almost all the ailments of the human body.Plants are the regular industrial units for the invention of chemical constituents,they used as immunity booster to enhance the natural capacity of the body to fight against different health prob-lems as well as herbal medicines and food products also.Eighty percent population of the world(around 5.6 billion people)consume medicines from natural plants for major health concerns.This review provides a bird’s eye analysis primarily on the traditional utilization,phytochemical constituents and pharmacological values of medicinal herbs used to normalize hypertension i.e.Hibiscus sabdariffa,Allium sativum,Andrographis paniculata,Apium graveolens,Bidenspilosa,Camel-lia sinensis,Coptis chinensis,Coriandrum sativum,Crataegus spp.,Crocus sativus,Cymbopogon citrates,Nigella sativa,Panax ginseng,Salviaemiltiorrhizae,Zingiber officinale,Tribulus terrestris,Rauwolfiaserpentina,Terminalia arjuna etc.

Electrostatic atomization minimum quantity lubrication machining:from mechanism to application

Metal cutting fluids(MCFs)under flood conditions do not meet the urgent needs of reducing carbon emission.Biolubricant-based minimum quantity lubrication(MQL)is an effective alternative to flood lubrication.However,pneumatic atomization MQL has poor atomization properties,which is detrimental to occupational health.Therefore,electrostatic atomization MQL requires preliminary exploratory studies.However,systematic reviews are lacking in terms of capturing the current research status and development direction of this technology.This study aims to provide a comprehensive review and critical assessment of the existing understanding of electrostatic atomization MQL.This research can be used by scientists to gain insights into the action mechanism,theoretical basis,machining performance,and development direction of this technology.First,the critical equipment,eco-friendly atomization media(biolubricants),and empowering mechanisms of electrostatic atomization MQL are presented.Second,the advanced lubrication and heat transfer mechanisms of biolubricants are revealed by quantitatively comparing MQL with MCF-based wet machining.Third,the distinctive wetting and infiltration mechanisms of electrostatic atomization MQL,combined with its unique empowering mechanism and atomization method,are compared with those of pneumatic atomization MQL.Previous experiments have shown that electrostatic atomization MQL can reduce tool wear by 42.4%in metal cutting and improve the machined surface Ra by 47%compared with pneumatic atomization MQL.Finally,future development directions,including the improvement of the coordination parameters and equipment integration aspects,are proposed.

Vesicular nanocarrier based treatment of skin fungal infections: Potential and emerging trends in nanoscale pharmacotherapy

Occurrence of skin fungal infections is increasing nowadays and their presence is more prominent in patients suffering from immunocompromised diseases like AIDS. Skin fungal infections are a major cause of visits by patients to dermatology clinics. Although, a large number of antifungal agents are available for treatment of skin fungal infections, but, their toxic profile and physicochemical characteristics reduce therapeutic outcome. When these antifungal agents are delivered topically using conventional formulations like creams and gels, they may cause various side effects like redness, burning, and swelling at the site of application. Therefore, various vesicular formulations(phospholipid based or non phospholipid based) have been explored by pharmaceutical scientists to treat skin fungal infections topically. Vesicular formulation explored for the purpose are liposomes, ethosomes, transfersomes, transethosomes, niosomes, spanlastics, oleic acid vesicles, and nanoparticles.These formulations show various advantages like bioavailability enhancement of bioactives,high skin permeation power, no side effects at application site, dosing frequency reduction,and sustained drug release. Therefore, in the present article, we have discussed about the utility of various vesicular nanocarrier systems to treat skin fungal infections.

Influence of tool rotation speeds on mechanical and morphological properties of friction stir processed nano hybrid composite of MWCNT-Graphene-AZ31 magnesium

The ever-increasing demand for light weighted hard materials for transportation industries encouraged researchers to develop composites with excellent mechanical properties which can transform it into more economical and eco-friendly.Reinforcing the metals with carbonaceous nanomaterials are progressively in focus due to their excellent capability to inculcate and tailor the properties of MMCs.In the present research,a hybrid nanocomposite of MWCNT-Graphene-AZ31 Mg alloy has been developed by using variable tool rotation speeds with friction stir processing(FSP).Optimized reinforcement ratio of 1.6%vol.MWCNT and 0.3%vol.of graphene have been used with variable tool rotation speeds,whereas other processing parameters are kept constant.The developed specimens were investigated using standard testing equipment for evaluating and comparing the mechanical properties on the basis of the microstructure of the processing regions and their morphological analysis,according to the ASTM standards.The obtained results revealed an improvement of 19.72%in microhardness and 77.5% of compressive strength in comparison with the base metal AZ 31 Magnesium alloy,with a tool rotational speed of 1400rpm.The values of tensile stress and percentage area reduction were recorded as less than that of the base metal matrix,but an increasing trend has been observed in the values of both with the improvement on rotational speeds of the tool.The effectual strengthening mechanisms are analyzed on the bases of SEM images and observed that discussed and found that grain refinement strengthening is the major contributor to the strength of the nanocomposite.

Comparative analysis of proficiencies of various textures and geometric features in breast mass classification using k-nearest neighbor

This paper introduces a comparative analysis of the proficiencies of various textures and geometric features in the diagnosis of breast masses on mammograms.An improved machine learning-based framework was developed for this study.The proposed system was tested using 106 full field digital mammography images from the INbreast dataset,containing a total of 115 breast mass lesions.The proficiencies of individual and various combinations of computed textures and geometric features were investigated by evaluating their contributions towards attaining higher classification accuracies.Four state-of-the-art filter-based feature selection algorithms(Relief-F,Pearson correlation coefficient,neighborhood component analysis,and term variance)were employed to select the top 20 most discriminative features.The Relief-F algorithm outperformed other feature selection algorithms in terms of classification results by reporting 85.2%accuracy,82.0%sensitivity,and 88.0%specificity.A set of nine most discriminative features were then selected,out of the earlier mentioned 20 features obtained using Relief-F,as a result of further simulations.The classification performances of six state-of-the-art machine learning classifiers,namely k-nearest neighbor(k-NN),support vector machine,decision tree,Naive Bayes,random forest,and ensemble tree,were investigated,and the obtained results revealed that the best classification results(accuracy=90.4%,sensitivity=92.0%,specificity=88.0%)were obtained for the k-NN classifier with the number of neighbors having k=5 and squared inverse distance weight.The key findings include the identification of the nine most discriminative features,that is,FD26(Fourier Descriptor),Euler number,solidity,mean,FD14,FD13,periodicity,skewness,and contrast out of a pool of 125 texture and geometric features.The proposed results revealed that the selected nine features can be used for the classification of breast masses in mammograms.

STABILITY AND BIFURCATION ANALYSIS OF A DELAYED INNOVATION DIFFUSION MODEL

In this article, a nonlinear mathematical model for innovation diffusion with stage structure which incorporates the evaluation stage （time delay） is proposed. The model is analyzed by considering the effects of external as well as internal influences and other demographic processes such as emigration, intrinsic growth rate, death rate, etc. The asymptotical stability of the various equilibria is investigated. By analyzing the exponential characteristic equation with delay-dependent coefficients obtained through the variational matrix, it is found that Hopf bifurcation occurs when the evaluation period （time delay, T） passes through a critical value. Applying the normal form theory and the center manifold argument, we de- rive the explicit formulas determining the properties of the bifurcating periodic solutions. To illustrate our theoretical analysis, some numerical simulations are also included.

Characterisation and Corrosion-Erosion Behaviour of Carbide based Thermal Spray Coatings

Thermal spraying has emerged as a suitable and effective surface engineering technology and is widely used to apply wear, erosion and corrosion protective coatings for various kinds of industrial applications. Cr3C2-based coatings have been applied to a wide range of industrial components. Cr3C2-NiCr coatings offer greater corrosion and oxidation resistance, also having a high melting point and maintaining high hardness, strength and wear resistance up to a maximum operating temperature of 900 °C. The corrosion resistance is provided by NiCr matrix while the wear resistance is mainly due to the carbide ceramic phase. This paper reviews the performance, developments and applications of Cr3C2-NiCr thermal spray coatings for corrosion/erosion-corrosion under different types of environments and outlines the characterization of Cr3C2-NiCr coatings with respect to their microstructure and mechanical properties, together with some brief characterisation work by the author for HVOF sprayed 75Cr3C2-25NiCr coating on T91 boiler steel.

Nanocomposite Hydrogel Materials for Defective Cartilage Repair and Its Mechanical Tribological Behavior—A Review

Osteoarthritis(OA)is a regressive ailment that affects a large population of patients.The most common symptoms of OA in humans are cartilage abnormalities.Hydrogels are excellent candidates for cartilage regeneration and are widely accepted as implants.In the past few decades,numerous types of hydrogels have been synthesized to repair cartilage defects.This study highlights recent advances in hydrogel development for the treatment of cartilage defects.In addition,the detailed progression of tailored nanocomposite hydrogels is summarized,and emphasis has been placed on the mechanical properties,especially the tribological behavior of the developed nanocomposite hydrogels.