Biomedical subjects

V Kavitha

Publications and source records attributed to V Kavitha.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2005

Conformations of trimethoxymethylsilane: matrix isolation infrared and ab initio studies.

Conformations of trimethoxymethylsilane were studied using matrix isolation infrared spectroscopy and ab initio computations. Trimethoxymethylsilane was trapped in both argon and nitrogen matrixes using heated nozzle effusive sources and a supersonic jet source, in an effort to alter the conformational population in the matrix. Ab initio calculations were carried out at the HF and B3LYP level using 6-31++G basis set to support our experimental observations. The frequencies computed at the B3LYP level was found to fit well with our experimental data. A conformer with a C1(g(+/-)g(+/-)t) structure was predicted by our computations to be the ground state conformer.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2005

Destruction of cresols by Fenton oxidation process.

The present study was used to probe the treatment of simulated wastewater containing cresols by Fenton process. Experiments were conducted in a batch reactor to examine the effects of operating variables like pH, hydrogen peroxide concentration (H(2)O(2)) and ferrous ion concentration (Fe(2+)) on chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal. The progress of the degradation reaction was monitored by the decrease in COD content in the treated solution. The optimal reacting conditions were experimentally determined and it was found to be [H(2)O(2)]=31.64 mM, [Fe(2+)]=0.90 mM for o- and p-cresol while 0.72 mM for m-cresol at pH=3.0+/-0.2. The degradation efficiency for cresol isomers was as high as 82% within 120 min at optimum conditions. A pseudo-first-order kinetic model was adopted to represent the Fenton oxidation for cresols. The mineralization rate for cresols obeys the following sequence: m->p->o-. Maximum degradation occurred at 30 degrees C for the temperature range of 20-50 degrees C studied. The global activation energy for the first-order reaction was estimated to be in the range of 12.90-16.25 kJ/mol. Air/nitrogen did not play an active role in completely mineralizing the organic intermediates at the experimental conditions adopted. Irrespective of the position of methyl group in o-, m- or p-position, the maximum dissolved organic carbon (DOC) removal efficiency was 42%. Only 2/5th of cresol was mineralized to CO(2) by Fenton process. The results showed that the cresols were completely oxidized and degraded into lower molecular weight aliphatic acids. Among the acids, acetic and oxalic acids were identified as the major products formed during the degradation.

Acetic Acid↗

PubMed2004

The role of ferrous ion in Fenton and photo-Fenton processes for the degradation of phenol.

The efficiency of different Fenton-related oxidative processes such as Fenton, solar-Fenton and UV-Fenton were examined using phenol as a model compound in simulated and industrial wastewater. A batch study was conducted to optimize parameters like pH, hydrogen peroxide concentration and ferrous ion concentration governing the Fenton process. At optimum conditions, different Fenton-related processes were compared for the degradation of phenol. Increased degradation and mineralisation efficiency were observed in photo-Fenton processes as compared to conventional Fenton process. The maximum mineralising efficiency for phenol with Fenton, solar and UV-Fenton processes were 41%, 96% and 97% respectively. In Fenton process, carboxylic acids like acetic acid and oxalic acid were formed as end products during the degradation of phenol while in photo-Fenton processes, both these ions were identified during the early stages of phenol degradation and were oxidized almost completely at 120 min of the reaction time. In photo-Fenton processes (solar and UV light) complete degradation were observed with 0.4 mM of Fe2+ catalyst as compared to 0.8 mM of Fe2+ in conventional Fenton process. In Fenton and solar-Fenton processes, an iron reusability study was performed to minimize the amount of iron used in treatment process. The efficacy of Fenton and solar-Fenton processes was applied to effluent from phenol resin-manufacturing unit for the removal and mineralisation of phenol.

Catalysis↗

PubMed2003

Degradation of 2-chlorophenol by Fenton and photo-Fenton processes--a comparative study.

The oxidation potentiality of simulated aqueous solution of 2-chlorophenol (2-CP) by Fenton's reagent was assessed for wastewater treatment. Batch experiments were carried out to investigate the effects of pH, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), and ferrous ion (Fe2+) concentrations. Degradation reaction occurred within a limited pH range of 2.5-4.0. Maximum degradation occurred at a concentration of 22 mM of H2O2 and at 0.45 mM of Fe2+. Influence of temperature on degradation of 2-CP was investigated. Arrhenius plot for the degradation of 2-CP at various temperatures was plotted based on the experimental data. The role of solar light and UV in photo-fenton degradation of 2-CP was investigated and compared with Fenton process. In both Fenton and photo-fenton processes, free chloride ion generated from 2-CP degradation process reached a maximum concentration at a very short interval of time. Maximum DOC removal of 39% was achieved in Fenton's process (i.e.,) only 2/5th of compound was mineralized. The efficiency of mineralization was considerably improved to 95-97% in photo-fenton processes. Low molecular weight aliphatic organic compounds like oxalic acid and acetic acid formed during the reaction were monitored for Fenton's process. The fate of these stable intermediates compounds in photo-fenton processes were also discussed.

Chlorophenols↗

PubMed2000

Perturbations in eosinophil homeostasis following treatment of lymphatic filariasis.

Treatment of patients with patent Wuchereria bancrofti infection results in an acute clinical reaction and peripheral eosinophilia. To investigate the dynamics of the eosinophil response, changes in eosinophil activation and degranulation and plasma levels of eosinophil-active chemokines and cytokines were studied in 15 microfilaremic individuals in south India by sequential blood sampling before and after administration of 300 mg of diethylcarbamazine (DEC). Clinical symptoms occurred within 24 h. Plasma interleukin-5 (IL-5) and RANTES levels peaked 1 to 2 days posttreatment, preceding a peak peripheral eosinophil count at day 4. Major basic protein secretion from eosinophils paralleled IL-5 secretion, while levels of eosinophil-derived neurotoxin peaked at day 13 after treatment. Expression of the activation markers HLA-DR and CD25 on eosinophils rose markedly immediately after treatment, while expression of VLA-4 and alpha4beta7 showed an early peak within 24 h and a second peak at day 13. Thus, the posttreatment reactions seen in filarial infections can be divided into an early phase with killing of microfilariae, clinical symptomatology, increases in plasma IL-5 and RANTES levels, and eosinophil activation and degranulation and a later phase with expression of surface integrins on eosinophils, recruitment of eosinophils from the bone marrow to tissues, and clearance of parasite antigen.

Adult↗

PubMed1999

A chaos-based model for low complexity predictive coding scheme for compression and transmission of electroencephalogram data.

A method for low complexity, low bit rate transmission of EEG (electroencephalogram) data, based on chaotic principles, is presented. The EEG data is assumed to be generated by a non-linear dynamical system of E dimensions. The E dynamical variables are reconstructed from the one-dimensional time series by the process of time-delay embedding. A model of the form X[n + 1] = F(X[n], X[n - 1], ... , X[n - p]) is fitted for the data in the E-dimensional space and this model is used as predictor in the predictive coding scheme for transmission. This model is able to give a reduction of nearly 50% of the dynamic range of the error signal to be transmitted, with a reduced complexity, when compared to the conventionally used linear prediction method. This implies that a reduced bit rate of transmission with a reduced complexity can be obtained. The effects of variation of model parameters on the complexity and bit rate are discussed.

Adult↗

PubMed1999

Long-term persistence of cellular hyporesponsiveness to filarial antigens after clearance of microfilaremia.

The persistence of parasite-specific cellular hyporesponsiveness after clearance of blood microfilariae (mf) was studied in 18 individuals who had been treated with a single dose of ivermectin, diethylcarbamazine, or a combination 2-3 years previously and who had initially cleared their parasitemia. At recruitment into the present study, 50% were again mf+ and 50% remained mf-. There were no significant differences between the mf+ and mf- groups in the amount of interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) produced by peripheral blood mononuclear cells in response to adult or microfilarial antigens, although IFN-gamma production in response to purified protein derivative was greater in the mf+ group (geometric mean [gm] = 3,791 pg/ml; P = 0.02) than in the mf- group (gm = 600 pg/ml). These data suggest that although microfilaremic individuals may temporarily regain the ability to produce IFN-gamma to parasite antigens post-treatment, they subsequently revert to a state of hyporesponsiveness to mf-containing antigens that appears to be independent of the recurrence of microfilaremia and the response to nonparasite antigens.

Adult↗

PubMed1994

Automatic diagnosis of neuro-muscular diseases using neural network.

An automatic diagnostic tool for neuromuscular diseases, based on the feature extraction and classification of myoelectric patterns using neural network is described. Electromyogram (EMG) signals are extracted from the patients during maximal contraction using needle electrodes. This EMG signal is digitized at a rate of 1000 samples/second. The myoelectric signal is divided into many time segments. Five time domain features are extracted from each of these segments and are averaged over the segments to obtain one feature set. This is applied to the neural network for classification. Results are presented for the diagnosis of polymyositis.

Electromyography↗