Improving energy consumption prediction for residential buildings using Modified Wild Horse Optimization with Deep Learning model.

The consumption of a significant quantity of energy in buildings has been linked to the emergence of environmental problems that can have unfavourable effects on people. The prediction of energy consumption is widely regarded as an effective method for the conservation of energy and the improvement of decision-making processes for the purpose of lowering energy use. When it comes to the generation of positive results in prediction tasks, the Machine Learning (ML) technique can be considered the most appropriate and applicable strategy. This article presents a Modified Wild Horse Optimization with Deep Learning approach for Energy Consumption Prediction (MWHODL-ECP) model in residential buildings. The MWHODL-ECP method that has been provided places an emphasis on providing an up-to-date and precise forecast of the amount of energy that residential buildings consume. The MWHODL-ECP algorithm goes through several phases of data preprocessing in order to achieve this goal. These steps include merging and cleaning the data, converting and normalising the data, and converting the data. A model known as deep belief network (DBN) is used here for the purpose of predicting energy consumption. In the end, the MWHO algorithm is utilised for the hyperparameter tuning procedure. The results of the experiments demonstrated that the MWHODL-ECP approach is superior to other existing DL models in terms of its performance. The MWHODL-ECP model has improved its performance, with effective prediction results of MSE-1.10, RMSE-1.05, MAE-0.41, R-squared-96.28, and Training time-1.23.

Evaluation of medical interns' learning of exposure to revised national tuberculosis control programme guidelines.

BACKGROUND: As per the Medical Council of India (MCI), the posting in the Chest and TB department is elective during internship. Hence, they lack hands on exposure to various components of RNTCP programme. This gap in treating TB patients by using RNTCP guidelines may be bridged by sensitizing the interns through early exposure of medical interns to training programmes. OBJECTIVE: The workshop was conducted and evaluated, 1) To know learners' immediate reaction and 2) To know its effects on their learning and practice. METHODS: A series of training workshop on RNTCP guidelines was organized for Interns by the Core-committee of the State Task Force (STF), RNTCP and Department of Community Medicine, Sri Manakula Vinayagar Medical College and Hospital (SMVMCH), Puducherry, during January 2012-November 2012. A Pre and Post test self-administrated questionnaire, immediate feedback and other open-ended feedback after six months was obtained from Interns to know its effect on their clinical practice. RESULTS: The pre and post test mean scores were highly significant (p<0.001). In the analysis of feedback, the consensus score for all the responses was above 75%. As per the responses of the feedback from interns taken after six months, the three broad categories of common responses from the manual content analysis emerged were: 1) Effect of training in patient care, 2) Acquaintance of RNTCP Guidelines, 3) Future Plan of application of lessons learned. CONCLUSION: This training programme has been well received by the medical interns and has now been incorporated as a regular activity for the Interns posted in the Department of Community Medicine.

Pyridoxine-dependent epilepsy owing to antiquitin deficiency--mutation in the ALDH7A1 gene.

Pyridoxine-dependent epilepsy (PDE) is an inborn error of metabolism resulting from antiquitin deficiency. There is marked elevation of α-amino adipic semi-aldehyde (αAASA), piperidine-6-carboxylate (P6C) and pipecolic acid. The diagnosis can be confirmed by identifying the mutation in the ALDH7A1 gene in chromosome 5q3l. An 8-year-old Indian girl presented with severe developmental delay and seizures and was found to have pyridoxine-dependent epilepsy owing to an antiquitin mutation. Genetic evaluation of the parents allowed antenatal diagnosis to be made during the next pregnancy.

Movement disorder emergencies in childhood.

The literature on paediatric acute-onset movement disorders is scattered. In a prospective cohort of 52 children (21 male; age range 2mo-15y), the commonest were chorea, dystonia, tremor, myoclonus, and Parkinsonism in descending order of frequency. In this series of mainly previously well children with cryptogenic acute movement disorders, three groups were recognised: (1) Psychogenic disorders (n = 12), typically >10 years of age, more likely to be female and to have tremor and myoclonus (2) Inflammatory or autoimmune disorders (n = 22), including N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor encephalitis, opsoclonus-myoclonus, Sydenham chorea, systemic lupus erythematosus, acute necrotizing encephalopathy (which may be autosomal dominant), and other encephalitides and (3) Non-inflammatory disorders (n = 18), including drug-induced movement disorder, post-pump chorea, metabolic, e.g. glutaric aciduria, and vascular disease, e.g. moyamoya. Other important non-inflammatory movement disorders, typically seen in symptomatic children with underlying aetiologies such as trauma, severe cerebral palsy, epileptic encephalopathy, Down syndrome and Rett syndrome, include dystonic posturing secondary to gastro-oesophageal reflux (Sandifer syndrome) and Paroxysmal Autonomic Instability with Dystonia (PAID) or autonomic 'storming'. Status dystonicus may present in children with known extrapyramidal disorders, such as cerebral palsy or during changes in management e.g. introduction or withdrawal of neuroleptic drugs or failure of intrathecal baclofen infusion; the main risk in terms of mortality is renal failure from rhabdomyolysis. Although the evidence base is weak, as many of the inflammatory/autoimmune conditions are treatable with steroids, immunoglobulin, plasmapheresis, or cyclophosphamide, it is important to make an early diagnosis where possible. Outcome in survivors is variable. Using illustrative case histories, this review draws attention to the practical difficulties in diagnosis and management of this important group of patients.

Structural, magnetic, electrochemical, catalytic, DNA binding and cleavage studies of new macrocyclic binuclear copper(II) complexes.

The macrocyclic symmetrical and a series of unsymmetrical binuclear copper(II) complexes have been synthesized by using mononuclear complex [CuL] [3,3'-((1E,7E)-3,6-dioxa-2,7-diazaocta-1,7-diene-1,8-diyl)bis(3-formyl-5-methyl-2-diolato)copper(II)]. Another compartment of the [CuL] have been condensed with various diamines like 1,2-bis(aminooxy)ethane (L(1)), 1,2-diamino ethane(L(2a)), 1,3-diamino propane(L(2b)), 1,4-diamino butane(L(2c)), 1,2-diamino benzene(L(2d)), 1,8-diamino naphthalene(L(2e)) and characterized by elemental, spectroscopic, and X-ray crystallographic methods. The influence of the coordination geometry and the ring size of the binucleating ligands on the electronic, redox, magnetic, catecholase activity, DNA binding and cleavage properties have been studied. The molecular structures of the symmetrical binuclear complex [Cu(2)L(1)(H(2)O)(2)](ClO(4))(2) (1) and unsymmetrical binuclear complex [Cu(2)L(2b)(ClO(4))(H(2)O)]ClO(4) (2b) were determined by X-ray crystallography. Both of them were discrete binuclear species in which each Cu(II) ions are in distorted square pyramid. The Cu...Cu distances vary from 3.0308 (2b) to 3.0361 A (1). Electrochemical studies evidenced that two quasi-reversible one electron-transfer reduction waves (E(pc)(1)) -0.91 to -1.01 V, (E(pc)(2)) -1.26 to -1.55 V) for binuclear complexes are obtained in the cathodic region. Cryomagnetic investigation of the binuclear complexes reveals a weak antiferromagnetic spin exchange interaction between the Cu(II) ions within the complexes (-2J=104.4-127.5 cm(-1)). The initial rate (V(in)) for the oxidation of 3,5-di-tert-butylcatechol to o-quinone by the binuclear Cu(II)complexes are in the range 3.6 x 10(-5) to 7.3 x 10(-5)Ms(-1). The binuclear Cu(II) complexes are avid binders to calf thymus DNA. The complexes display significant oxidative cleavage of circular plasmid pBR322 DNA in the presence of mercaptoethanol using the singlet oxygen as a reactive species. The aromatic diamine condensed macrocyclic ligands of copper(II) complexes display better DNA interaction and significant chemical nuclease activity than the aliphatic diamine condensed macrocyclic Cu(II) complexes.

Single step intein-mediated purification of hGMCSF expressed in salt-inducible E. coli.

Human granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (hGMCSF) is an important therapeutic cytokine. As a novel attempt to purify hGMCSF protein, without the enzymatic cleavage of the affinity tag, an intein-based system was used. The gene was fused by overlap extension PCR to the intein sequence at its N-terminal in pTYB11 vector. The hGMCSF was expressed as a fusion protein in E. coli BL21(DE3), and E. coli GJ1158. In the former, the protein was expressed as inclusion bodies and upon purification the yield was 7 mg/l with a specific activity of 0.5 x 10(7) IU/mg. In salt-inducible E. coli GJ1158, hGMCSF was expressed in a soluble form at 20 mg/l and a specific activity of 0.9 x 10(7) IU/mg. The intein-hGMCSF was purified on a chitin affinity column by cleaving intein with 50 mM DTT resulting in a highly pure 14.7 kDa hGMCSF.

Thyroid disorders in women of Puducherry.

Thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), Free Thyroxine (FT(4)) and Free Triiodothyronine (FT(3)) were assayed in 505 women of this region. 60 women had previous history of thyroid disease. The remaining 445 women formed the "Disease free group". A "Reference group" was obtained by excluding women with previous and present history of thyroid dysfunction. Of the total 505 women examined 15.8% had thyroid dysfunction and 84.2% were euthyroid. 11.5% were hypothyroid (9.5% sub-clinical) and 1.8% hyperthyroid (1.2% clinical). The geometric mean TSH for the total population was 2.65 µIU/ml. It was significantly (p=0.025) lower in the reference population 2.17 µIU/ml. There was no significant difference in the FT(3) and FT(4) values between groups. 19% of women over 60 years had elevated TSH above 4.5 µIU/ml. The 2.5 and 97.5 percentiles of the reference population was 1.1-5.2 µIU/ml. 6.1% of women in the reference group had TSH levels above the reference intervals. Hypothyroidism particularly sub-clinical hypothyroidism is predominantly present amongst women in this iodine sufficient region. Evaluation of thyroid status could help in early detection and treatment.

Profile of diabetic foot complications and its associated complications--a multicentric study from India.

AIM: The aims of this study were to determine. The prevalence of foot complications such as neuropathy, peripheral vascular disease (PVD), amputations and infections and the associated diabetic complications and practice of foot care among these subjects. METHODS: A total of 1319 type 2 diabetic patients, were selected from four different centres across India. The centres were Diabetes Research Centre (DRC), Chennai, Government Rajaji Hospital (GRH), Madurai, Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore and All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), Delhi. Details were collected regarding foot problems and associated complications. RESULTS: The prevalence of neuropathy was 15% (n=193) and PVD was 5% (n=64). Infections were present in 7.6% (n=100) of patients. The infection rate varied from 6-11% in the different centres. Nearly 3% of subjects had undergone a minor or major amputation. DISCUSSION: This study found that the prevalence of infection was 6-11% and prevalence of amputation was 3% in type 2 diabetic patients. Neuropathy (15%) was found to be an important risk factor for diabetic foot infections. Effective foot care advice should be propagated to reduce the burden imposed by diabetic foot complication particularly in developing countries like India.

Bacterial lipid modification of proteins for novel protein engineering applications.

Functioning of proteins efficiently at the solid-liquid interface is critical to not only biological but also modern man-made systems such as ELISA, liposomes and biosensors. Anchoring hydrophilic proteins poses a major challenge in this regard. Lipid modification, N-acyl-S-diacylglyceryl-Cys, providing an N-terminal hydrophobic membrane anchor is a viable solution that bacteria have successfully evolved but remains unexploited. Based on the current understanding of this ubiquitous and unique bacterial lipid modification it is possible to use Escherichia coli, the popular recombinant protein expression host, for converting a non-lipoprotein to a lipoprotein with a hydrophobic anchor at the N-terminal end. We report two strategies applicable to non-lipoproteins (with or without signal sequences) employing minimal sequence change. Taking periplasmic Shigella apyrase as an example, its signal sequence was engineered to include a lipobox, an essential determinant for lipid modification, or its mature sequence was fused to the signal sequence of abundant outer membrane lipoprotein, Lpp. Lipid modification was proved by membrane localization, electrophoretic mobility shift and mass spectrometric analysis. Substrate specificity and specific activity measurements indicated functional integrity after modification. In conclusion, a convenient protein engineering strategy for converting non-lipoprotein to lipoprotein for commercial application has been devised and tested successfully.

Antinociceptive activity of Wrightia tinctoria bark.

The ethyl acetate, acetone and methanol extracts of Wrightia tinctoria bark showed antinociceptive activity on acetic acid-induced writhing test in mice, their effects being comparable to that of acetylsalicylic acid.

Effect of A. lanata leaf extract and Vediuppu chunnam on the urinary risk factors of calcium oxalate urolithiasis during experimental hyperoxaluria.

Urolithiasis is one of the third most common afflictions found in humans. The efficacy of the two Siddha drugs, Aerva lanata and Vediuppu chunnam as antilithic agents using a urolithic rat model were tested in this study. Hyperoxaluria was induced in rats using 0.75% ethylene glycol in drinking water. Aerva lanata(3.0 mg kg(-1)body weight) and Vediuppu chunnam (3.5 mg kg(-1)body weight) were given orally for 28 days. Urinary risk factors of urolithiasis were monitored at the end of 7th, 14th, 21st and 28th days. Urinary volume was increased in hyperoxaluric as well as drug-treated rats. Increased urinary excretion of calcium, oxalate, uric acid, phosphorus and protein in hyperoxaluric rats was brought down significantly by the administration of A. lanata or Vediuppu chunnam. Decreased magnesium excretion in hyperoxaluric rats was normalized by drug treatment. The drug increases the urine volume, thereby reducing the solubility product with respect to calcium oxalate and other crystallizing salts such as uric acid, which may induce epitaxial deposition of calcium oxalate. Drug alone treated rats did not show any adverse effects. Combination therapy was found to be more effective and this indigenous medicine can be used successfully as an antilithic agent.

Sensorineural hearing loss in neurobrucellosis.

A case of neurobrucellosis presenting to the otologist with sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) as the predominant clinical feature is reported. The diagnostic features and treatment options are discussed and the need for prolonged combination treatment to prevent relapse and further deterioration of hearing stressed. SNHL in neurobrucellosis has hitherto been reported principally in neurology literature as something of an incidental finding and so escapes the attention of otologists. It is hoped that this report will alert otologists in areas where brucellosis is endemic to the need to include tests for brucellosis in the routine diagnostic screening for SNHL. Practitioners in other locations should also consider this possibility when dealing with patients who have visited or lived in endemic regions.