RPSMDSM: Residential Power Scheduling and Modelling for Demand Side Management

( Sheeraz Ahmed ),( Ali Raza ),( Shahryar Shafique ),( Mukhtar Ahmad ),( M. Yousaf Ali Khan ),( Asif Nawaz ),( Rohi Tariq ) 한국인터넷정보학회 2020 KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Syst Vol.14 No.6

In third world countries like Pakistan, the production of electricity has been quickly reduced in past years due to rely on the fossil fuel. According to a survey conducted in 2017, the overall electrical energy capacity was 22,797MW, since the electrical grids have gone too old, therefore the efficiency of grids, goes down to nearly 17000MW. Significant addition of fossil fuel, hydro and nuclear is 64.2%, 29% and 5.8% respectively in the total electricity production in Pakistan. In 2018, the demand crossed 20,223MW, compared to peak generation of 15,400 to 15,700MW as by the Ministry of Water and Power. Country faces a deficit of almost 4000MW to 5000MW for the duration of 2019 hot summer term. Focus on one aspect considering Demand Side Management (DSM) cannot oversea the reduction of gap between power demand and customer supply, which eventually leads to the issue of load shedding. Hence, a scheduling scheme is proposed in this paper called RPSMDSM that is based on selection of those appliances that need to be only Turned-On, on priority during peak hours consuming minimum energy. The Home Energy Management (HEM) system is integrated between consumer and utility and bidirectional flow is presented in the scheme. During peak hours of electricity, the RPSMDSM is capable to persuade less power consumption and accomplish productivity in load management. Simulations show that RPSMDSM scheme helps in scheduling the electricity loads from peak price to off-peak price hours. As a result, minimization in electricity cost as well as (Peak-to-Average Ratio) PAR are accomplished with sensible waiting time.

Gold Nanoparticles Conjugation Enhances Antiacanthamoebic Properties of Nystatin, Fluconazole and Amphotericin B

( Ayaz Anwar ),( Ruqaiyyah Siddiqui ),( Muhammad Raza Shah ),( Naveed Ahmed Khan ) 한국미생물 · 생명공학회 2019 Journal of microbiology and biotechnology Vol.29 No.1

Parasitic infections have remained a significant burden on human and animal health. In part, this is due to lack of clinically-approved, novel antimicrobials and a lack of interest by the pharmaceutical industry. An alternative approach is to modify existing clinically-approved drugs for efficient delivery formulations to ensure minimum inhibitory concentration is achieved at the target site. Nanotechnology offers the potential to enhance the therapeutic efficacy of drugs through modification of nanoparticles with ligands. Amphotericin B, nystatin, and fluconazole are clinically available drugs in the treatment of amoebal and fungal infections. These drugs were conjugated with gold nanoparticles. To characterize these goldconjugated drug, atomic force microscopy, ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometry and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy were performed. These drugs and their gold nanoconjugates were examined for antimicrobial activity against the protist pathogen, Acanthamoeba castellanii of the T4 genotype. Moreover, host cell cytotoxicity assays were accomplished. Cytotoxicity of these drugs and drug-conjugated gold nanoparticles was also determined by lactate dehydrogenase assay. Gold nanoparticles conjugation resulted in enhanced bioactivity of all three drugs with amphotericin B producing the most significant effects against Acanthamoeba castellanii (p < 0.05). In contrast, bare gold nanoparticles did not exhibit antimicrobial potency. Furthermore, amoebae treated with drugs-conjugated gold nanoparticles showed reduced cytotoxicity against HeLa cells. In this report, we demonstrated the use of nanotechnology to modify existing clinically-approved drugs and enhance their efficacy against pathogenic amoebae. Given the lack of development of novel drugs, this is a viable approach in the treatment of neglected diseases.

Antidiabetic Drugs and Their Nanoconjugates Repurposed as Novel Antimicrobial Agents against Acanthamoeba castellanii

( Ayaz Anwar ),( Ruqaiyyah Siddiqui ),( Muhammad Raza Shah ),( Naveed Ahmed Khan ) 한국미생물생명공학회(구 한국산업미생물학회) 2019 Journal of microbiology and biotechnology Vol.29 No.5

Acanthamoeba castellanii belonging to the T4 genotype may cause a fatal brain infection known as granulomatous amoebic encephalitis, and the vision-threatening eye infection Acanthamoeba keratitis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the antiamoebic effects of three clinically available antidiabetic drugs, Glimepiride, Vildagliptin and Repaglinide, against A. castellanii belonging to the T4 genotype. Furthermore, we attempted to conjugate these drugs with silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) to enhance their antiamoebic effects. Amoebicidal, encystation, excystation, and host cell cytotoxicity assays were performed to unravel any antiacanthamoebic effects. Vildagliptin conjugated silver nanoparticles (Vgt-AgNPs) characterized by spectroscopic techniques and atomic force microscopy were synthesized. All three drugs showed antiamoebic effects against A. castellanii and significantly blocked the encystation. These drugs also showed significant cysticidal effects and reduced host cell cytotoxicity caused by A. castellanii. Moreover, Vildagliptin-coated silver nanoparticles were successfully synthesized and are shown to enhance its antiacanthamoebic potency at significantly reduced concentration. The repurposed application of the tested antidiabetic drugs and their nanoparticles against free-living amoeba such as Acanthamoeba castellanii described here is a novel outcome that holds tremendous potential for future applications against devastating infection.

Rare bleeding disorders: spectrum of disease and clinical manifestations in the Pakistani population

Rafia Mahmood,Asad Mahmood,Maria Khan,Sadia Ali,Saleem Ahmed Khan,Syed Raza Jaffar 대한혈액학회 2020 Blood Research Vol.55 No.3

BackgroundRare inherited coagulation factor deficiencies constitute an important group of bleeding disorders. A higher frequency of these disorders is seen in areas of high consanguinity. Our aim was to study the prevalence and spectrum of rare inherited bleeding disorders, characterize the severity of the deficiencies, identify different clinical manifestations, and evaluate different treatments provided.MethodsThis cross-sectional study was conducted in the Department of Haematology, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology Rawalpindi, between January 2014 and December 2018. A detailed history was taken, and an examination was performed. The signs and symptoms were noted, and the patients were diagnosed on the basis of a coagulation profile. The disease severity was assessed using factor assays.ResultsAmong 2,516 patients with suspected coagulation disorders, 774 (30.8%) had an in-herited bleeding disorder. Of the 774 patients, 165 (21.3%) had a rare bleeding disorder; 91 (55.2%) of them were males, and 74 (44.9%) were females, with a male-to-female ratio of 1.2:1. The median patient age was 9 years 3 months. The most common disorder was factor VII deficiency (46 patients, 27.9%). The most common clinical presentation was bruising in 102 (61.8%) and gum bleeding in 91 (55.2%) patients. ConclusionThe most common rare bleeding disorder in our population is factor VII deficiency. The prevalence of these bleeding disorders is high in our population due to a high number of consanguineous marriages.

Parametric optimization for surface roughness, kerf and MRR in wire electrical discharge machining (WEDM) using Taguchi design of experiment

Adeel Ikram,Nadeem Ahmad Mufti1,Muhammad Qaiser Saleem,Ahmed Raza Khan 대한기계학회 2013 JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Vol.27 No.7

This paper reports the effect and optimization of eight control factors on material removal rate (MRR), surface roughness and kerf in wire electrical discharge machining (WEDM) process for tool steel D2. The experimentation is performed under different cutting conditions of wire feed velocity, dielectric pressure, pulse on-time, pulse off-time, open voltage, wire tension and servo voltage by varying the material thickness. Taguchi’s L18 orthogonal array is employed for experimental design. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and signal-tonoise (S/N) ratio are used as statistical analyses to identify the significant control factors and to achieve optimum levels respectively. Additionally, linear regression and additive models are developed for surface roughness, kerf and material removal rate (MRR). Results of the confirmatory experiments are found to be in good agreement with those predicted. It has been found that pulse on-time is the most significant factor affecting the surface roughness, kerf and material removal rate.