An activated carbon fiber supported Fe₂O₃@bismuth carbonate heterojunction for enhanced visible light degradation of emerging pharmaceutical pollutants

The developed Fe2O3@BC heterojunction photocatalyst supported over activated carbon fiber exhibited efficient photocatalytic activity for degradation of antipyrine under visible light irradiation.</jats:p

Therapeutic Response of Mifepristone with Dinoprost and Misoprostol for Management of Canine Pyometra

Background: Canine pyometra (chronic purulent endometritis) is one of the most important uterine disorder of bitches seeks medical treatment. The hormonal therapies are not much popular among the veterinarians thus needs to exploit some hormonal protocols for this condition. Therefore, the experiment was carried out to study the therapeutic response of antiprogestin and prostaglandin in canine pyometra. Methods: The experiment was carried out in total 21 bitches affected with pyometra were selected and divided randomly into 3 groups. Animals of control group (TC) were treated with non-hormonal supportive treatment for 7 days. Animals of T1 were received non-hormonal supportive treatment for 7 days similar to TC along with mifepristone @ 3 mg/kg orally BID on day 1, 2 and 8 and Dinoprost in @ 50-200 mcg/kg S/C day 3 to 7. Animals of T2 were treated similar to TC plus mifepristone @ 3 mg/kg orally BID on day 1, 2 and 8 and Misoprostol @ 3 mcg/kg intravaginally twice daily on day 3 to 7. Result: Therapeutic responses was recorded better in T1 group (100%), followed by T2 (71.43%) and TC (42.86%). The mean TLC values after completion of treatment (day 8) were significantly decreased in T1 and T2. The neutrophil count in different groups T1, T2 and TC was reduced significantly. There was significant decrease in mean concentration of BUN and creatinine on day 8 after treatment in T1 and T2 groups. The mean ALT values decreased significantly in T1 group. However, ALP values decreased significantly in T1 and T2 groups. The mean serum progesterone declined significantly in both the hormone treated groups (T1 and T2). The study can be concluded that therapeutic response of mifepristone with dinoprost tromethamine was found most effective for the treatment of canine pyometra than mifepristone with misoprostol protocol. </jats:p

Sterilization of Male Dogs by Intra-testicular Administration of Calcium Chloride Solution

Background: Chemical castration is one of the methods of non surgical contraception which has been suggested as a fast and low cost alternative to control a wide range of canine population.Methods: The potency of intra-testicular 20% calcium chloride solution was tested in 12 fertile, healthy and stray adult male dogs. Dogs were divided randomly into two groups, consisting six animals in each. The animals of group-I were administered intra-testicular 1.0 ml of 20% calcium chloride solution. Bilateral intra-testicular injection was performed using 21 gauge needle directed from the caudo-ventral aspect of each testis approximately 1 cm from the cauda epididymis and towards the dorso-cranial aspect of testis as per the procedure adopted by Jana and Samanta (2007). In group-II, 1.0 ml of normal saline was injected intra-testicular as placebo. Its efficacy was assessed by testicular morphometry, scrotal circumference (on day 0, 7, 15 and 30), histo-morphology (on day 0 and 30) and serum testosterone assay (on day 0, 15 and 30 of treatment).Result: The testicular morphometry of both the testicles was found to be increased size of testes significantly on day 7 in the treatment group as compared to day 0 and then decreased gradually and significantly on day 15 and 30. Histo-morphological study revealed significant changes including complete derangement of seminiferous tubules on day 30 post-treatment. Out of six animals the testes of four animals represented complete destruction of outline of seminiferous tubules. The germinal epithelium and Leydig cells were degenerated and parenchyma was replaced by fibro-collagenous tissue which was evident by the presence of numerous fibrocytes and fibroblast. There was no evidence of mature germ cells in section of both the testes. In some areas small blood capillaries were observed which may indicate neo-vascularisation. Discrete inflammatory infiltration of leucocytes was also observed in the parenchyma. Decrease in serum testosterone level after the end of study, i.e., day 30 indicated degeneration of Leydig cells. It can be concluded that 20% calcium chloride solution has a potential for testicular degeneration and thus sterilization of male dogs.</jats:p

Taxonomy of Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System in Modern Engineering Sciences

Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) blends advantages of both Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) and Fuzzy Logic (FL) in a single framework. It provides accelerated learning capacity and adaptive interpretation capabilities to model complex patterns and apprehends nonlinear relationships. ANFIS has been applied and practiced in various domains and provided solutions to commonly recurring problems with improved time and space complexity. Standard ANFIS has certain limitations such as high computational expense, loss of interpretability in larger inputs, curse of dimensionality, and selection of appropriate membership functions. This paper summarizes that the standard ANFIS is unsuitable for complex human tasks that require precise handling of machines and systems. The state-of-the-art and practice research questions have been discussed, which primarily focus on the applicability of ANFIS in the diversifying field of engineering sciences. We conclude that the standard ANFIS architecture is vastly improved when amalgamated with metaheuristic techniques and further moderated with nature-inspired algorithms through calibration and tuning of parameters. It is significant in adapting and automating complex engineering tasks that currently depend on human discretion, prominent in the mechanical, electrical, and geological fields.</jats:p