Effect of Upper Limb Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation with Resistance Training on Respiratory Muscle Strength in Quadriplegics: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Chanchal Gautam(Chanchal Gautam ),Jaskirat Kaur(Jaskirat Kaur ),Harpreet Singh(Harpreet Singh ) 사피엔시아 2020 Exercise Medicine Vol.4 No.-

Objectives: Spinal cord injuries lead to impairment of the respiratory system due to paresis or paralysis of the respiratory muscles leading to respiratory insufficiency, which is dependent on the level and completeness of the injury. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of upper limb proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) combined with resistance training on respiratory muscle strength and perceived difficulty of breathing in individuals with tetraplegia. Methods: 26 participants with traumatic tetraplegia C5-C8 participated in the study. They were then allocated in two different groups. PNF Group received upper extremity PNF combined with resistance training for 10 repetitions per set, 3 sets 3 times a week for 4 weeks, and CONT Group received respiratory training with triflow type incentive spirometer. Participants were evaluated for maximum inspiratory pressure (MIP), maximum expiratory pressure (MEP) and modified borg scale (MBS). Results: After four weeks of intervention, there were significant improvement in the scores of MIP, MEP, MBS in both groups separately. Also between group comparison showed significant improvement in scores of MIP (P=0.004), MEP (P =0.004), MBS (P=0.001) in PNF Group as compared to CONT Group. Conclusions: This study concludes that there was significant improvement in respiratory muscle strength and rate of perceived difficulty of breathing using upper limb PNF combined with resistance training in tetraplegics.

A comparative evaluation of cytotoxicity of root canal sealers: an in vitro study

Gautam Pyarelal Badole,Manjusha Madhukar Warhadpande,Ganesh Kothiramji Meshram,Rakesh Namdeoraoji Bahadure,Shubha Gopal Tawani,Shital Gautam Badole 대한치과보존학회 2013 Restorative Dentistry & Endodontics Vol.38 No.4

Objectives The objective of this in vitro study was to evaluate and compare the cytotoxicity of four different root canal sealers i.e. Apexit Plus (Ivoclar Vivadent), Endomethasone N (Septodont), AH-26 (Dentsply) and Pulpdent Root Canal Sealer (Pulpdent), on a mouse fibroblast cell line (L929). Materials and Methods Thirty two discs for each sealer (5 mm in diameter and 2 mm in height) were fabricated in Teflon mould. The sealer extraction was made in cell culture medium (Dulbecco's Modified Eagle's Medium, DMEM) using the ratio 1.25 cm2/mL between the surface of the sealer samples and the volume of medium in a shaker incubator. Extraction of each sealer was obtained at 24 hr, 7th day, 14th day, and one month of interval. These extracts were incubated with L929 cell line and 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay was done. Two-way ANOVA for interaction effects between sealer and time and Post-hoc multiple comparison using Tukey's test across all the 16 different groups were used for statistical analysis. Results Apexit Plus root canal sealer was significantly less toxic than other sealers (p < 0.05) and showed higher cellular growth than control. Endomethasone N showed mild cytotoxicity. AH-26 showed severe toxicity which became mild after one month while Pulpdent Root Canal Sealer showed severe to moderate toxicity. Conclusions Apexit Plus was relatively biocompatible sealer as compared to other three sealers which were cytotoxic at their initial stages, however, they became biocompatible with time. Objectives The objective of this in vitro study was to evaluate and compare the cytotoxicity of four different root canal sealers i.e. Apexit Plus (Ivoclar Vivadent), Endomethasone N (Septodont), AH-26 (Dentsply) and Pulpdent Root Canal Sealer (Pulpdent), on a mouse fibroblast cell line (L929). Materials and Methods Thirty two discs for each sealer (5 mm in diameter and 2 mm in height) were fabricated in Teflon mould. The sealer extraction was made in cell culture medium (Dulbecco's Modified Eagle's Medium, DMEM) using the ratio 1.25 cm2/mL between the surface of the sealer samples and the volume of medium in a shaker incubator. Extraction of each sealer was obtained at 24 hr, 7th day, 14th day, and one month of interval. These extracts were incubated with L929 cell line and 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay was done. Two-way ANOVA for interaction effects between sealer and time and Post-hoc multiple comparison using Tukey's test across all the 16 different groups were used for statistical analysis. Results Apexit Plus root canal sealer was significantly less toxic than other sealers (p < 0.05) and showed higher cellular growth than control. Endomethasone N showed mild cytotoxicity. AH-26 showed severe toxicity which became mild after one month while Pulpdent Root Canal Sealer showed severe to moderate toxicity. Conclusions Apexit Plus was relatively biocompatible sealer as compared to other three sealers which were cytotoxic at their initial stages, however, they became biocompatible with time.

Pandemic induced lockdown as a boon to the Environment: trends in air pollution concentration across India

Gautam Alok Sagar,Sanjeev Kumar,Sneha Gautam,Aryan Anand,Ranjit Kumar,Abhishek Joshi,Kuldeep Bauddh,Karan Singh 한국기상학회 2021 Asia-Pacific Journal of Atmospheric Sciences Vol.57 No.4

The present paper designed to understand the variations in the atmospheric pollutants viz. PM10, PM2.5, SO2, NO2, and CO during the COVID-19 pandemic over eight most polluted Indian cities (Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Chandigarh, Kolkata, and Ahmedabad). A significant reduction in the PM2.5 (63%), PM10 (56%), NO2 (50%), SO2 (9%), and CO (59%) were observed over Major Dhyan Chand Stadium. At Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, a decline of 44% in PM2.5 and 50% in PM10 was seen just a week during the initial phase of the lockdown. Gaseous pollutants (NO2, SO2 & CO) dropped up-to 36, 16, and 41%, respectively. The Air Quality Index (AQI) shows a dramatic change from 7% to 67% during observation at Chandigarh and Ballygunge during the inspection. Whereas, Ahmedabad, Worli, Income Tax Office, Talkatora, Lalbagh, and Ballygaunge have showed a significant change in AQI from 25.76% to 68.55%. However, Zoo Park, CST, Central School, and Victoria show relatively low variation in AQI in the range of 3.0% to 14.50% as compare to 2019 after lockdown. Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) analysis suggested that long range transportation of pollutants were also a part and parcel contributing to changes in AQI which were majorly coming from the regions of Iran, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, as well as a regional grant from Indian Gangatic plains and Delhi Non-capital region.

Impact of Cyano and Fluorine Group Functionalization on the Optoelectronic and Photovoltaic Properties of Donor-Acceptor-π-Acceptor Benzothiadiazole Derived S mall Molecules: A D FT a nd TD-DFT S tudy

Prabhat Gautam,Anurag Gautam,Neeraj Kumar 한국재료학회 2023 한국재료학회지 Vol.33 No.6

Solar cells based on p-conjugated donor-acceptor (D-A) organic molecular systems are a promising alternative to conventional electrical energy generation. D-A molecular systems, which have a triphenylamine (TPA) moiety linked with a benzothiadiazole (BTD) moiety, open the potential development of new small molecule donors for bulk heterojunction (BHJ) solar cells. Here, a series of donor-acceptor-π-acceptor (D-A-π-A) small molecule donors (SMD) derived from triphenylamine (TPA) donor and benzothiadiazole (BTD) acceptor building blocks, were designed for BHJ organic solar cells. The small molecule donors SMD1-4 were studied using density functional theory (DFT) and time dependent-DFT (TDDFT) methods, to understand the effect of cyano and fluorine group functionalization on their properties. The effect of structure alteration by cyano and fluorine group functionalization on the optoelectronic properties, the calculated highest occupied molecular orbitals (HOMOs) and lowest unoccupied molecular orbitals (LUMOs) and the HOMO-LUMO gaps were theoretically explored. The Voc (open-circuit photovoltage) and fill factor (FF) for SMD1-4 were obtained with a PC71BM acceptor, which showed that these organic small molecules are potential small molecule donors for organic bulk heterojunction solar cells.

A comparative evaluation of cytotoxicity of root canal sealers: an in vitro study

Badole, Gautam Pyarelal,Warhadpande, Manjusha Madhukar,Meshram, Ganesh Kothiramji,Bahadure, Rakesh Namdeoraoji,Tawani, Shubha Gopal,Tawani, Gopal,Badole, Shital Gautam The Korean Academy of Conservative Dentistry 2013 Restorative Dentistry & Endodontics Vol.38 No.4

Objectives: The objective of this in vitro study was to evaluate and compare the cytotoxicity of four different root canal sealers i.e. Apexit Plus (Ivoclar Vivadent), Endomethasone N (Septodont), AH-26 (Dentsply) and Pulpdent Root Canal Sealer (Pulpdent), on a mouse fibroblast cell line (L929). Materials and Methods: Thirty two discs for each sealer (5 mm in diameter and 2 mm in height) were fabricated in Teflon mould. The sealer extraction was made in cell culture medium (Dulbecco's Modified Eagle's Medium, DMEM) using the ratio 1.25 $cm^2/mL$ between the surface of the sealer samples and the volume of medium in a shaker incubator. Extraction of each sealer was obtained at 24 hr, 7th day, 14th day, and one month of interval. These extracts were incubated with L929 cell line and 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay was done. Two-way ANOVA for interaction effects between sealer and time and Post-hoc multiple comparison using Tukey's test across all the 16 different groups were used for statistical analysis. Results: Apexit Plus root canal sealer was significantly less toxic than other sealers (p < 0.05) and showed higher cellular growth than control. Endomethasone N showed mild cytotoxicity. AH-26 showed severe toxicity which became mild after one month while Pulpdent Root Canal Sealer showed severe to moderate toxicity. Conclusions: Apexit Plus was relatively biocompatible sealer as compared to other three sealers which were cytotoxic at their initial stages, however, they became biocompatible with time.

Electronic structure studies of Fe-doped ZnO nanorods by x-ray absorption fine structure

Gautam, Sanjeev,Kumar, Shalendra,Thakur, P,Chae, K H,Ravi Kumar,Koo, B H,Lee, C G Institute of Physics [etc.] 2009 Journal of Physics. D, Applied Physics Vol.42 No.17

<P>We report the electronic structure studies of well-characterized polycrystalline Zn<SUB>1−<I>x</I></SUB>Fe<SUB><I>x</I></SUB>O(<I>x</I> = 0.0, 0.01, 0.03 and 0.05) nanorods synthesized by a co-precipitation method using x-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS). X-ray diffraction (XRD) reveals that Fe-doped ZnO crystallizes in a single phase wurtzite structure without any secondary phase. From the XRD pattern, it is observed that peak positions shift towards lower 2&thetas; value with Fe doping. The change in the peak positions with increase in Fe contents clearly indicates that Fe ions replace Zn ions in the ZnO matrix. Linear combination fittings at Fe <I>K</I>-edge demonstrate that Fe is in a mixed-valent state (Fe<SUP>3+</SUP>/Fe<SUP>2+</SUP>) with a ratio of ∼7 : 3 (Fe<SUP>3+</SUP> : Fe<SUP>2+</SUP>). XAFS data are successfully fitted to wurtzite structure using IFEFFIT and Artemis. The results indicate that Fe substitutes Zn site in the ZnO matrix in tetrahedral symmetry.</P>

Plug-In Safe-by-Design Nanoinorganic Antibacterials

Gautam, Milan,Park, Dae Hoon,Park, Sung Jae,Nam, Kang Sik,Park, Geun Young,Hwang, Jungho,Yong, Chul Soon,Kim, Jong Oh,Byeon, Jeong Hoon American Chemical Society 2019 ACS NANO Vol.13 No.11

<P>Due to antimicrobial resistance and the adverse health effects that follow broad and inappropriate use of antibacterial agents, new classes of antibacterials with broad and strong bactericidal activity and safety for human use are urgently required globally, increasingly so with the onset of climate change. However, R&D in this field is known to be rarely profitable, unless a cost-effective, flexible, and convenient platform that ensures the production of workable candidate antibacterials can be developed. To address this issue, inorganic nanomaterials have been considered for their bactericidal activities, yet further investigations of composition crystalline modifications and/or surface biomaterial coatings are still required to provide effective and safe antibacterial nanoparticles. In this study, we developed a plug-in system comprising a spark plasma reactor and a flow heater under nitrogen gas flow to supply precursor inorganic nanoparticles (Cu-Te configuration) that can be modulated in-flight at different temperatures. From antibacterial and toxicological assays in both <I>in vitro</I> and <I>in vivo</I> models, bactericidal and toxicological profiles showed that the plug-in system-based platform can be used to identify key parameters for producing safe-by-design agents with antibacterial activity [>88% (<I>in vitro</I>) and >80% (<I>in vivo</I>) in antibacterial efficiency] and safety (>65% in <I>in vitro</I> viability and >60% in <I>in vivo</I> survival rate).</P> [FIG OMISSION]</BR>

Building Bridges: Eurocentric to Intercultural Information Ethics

Gautam, Ayesha,Singh, Deepa World Association for Triple Helix and Future Stra 2021 Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia Vol.20 No.1

Misguided use, manipulation, misappropriation, disruption and mismanagement of Information deeply affects the infosphere as well as the social and moral fabric of a society. Information ethics is an attempt to bring the creation, organization, dissemination, and use of information within the ambit of ethical standards and moral codes. The diverse and inherently pluralistic nature of societies however puts forth an additional demand on us - to come up with an intercultural information ethics. An intercultural ethics which is other-centric, context sensitive and workable without being homogenizing, patronizing and colonizing. An endeavor in that direction has already been made by proponents of intercultural information ethics like: Charles M. Ess, Fay Sudweeks, Rafael Capurro, Pak-Hang Wong, Soraj Hongladarom et al. In our paper, we propose that the kind of ethical pluralism being sought in the domain of information ethics can be attained by having a reappraisal of the current methodological strategies, by casting a critical relook at the Eurocentric ethical model. This paper analyses the current framework of Intercultural Information Ethics. And in an endeavour to move towards an all-encompassing, other-centric, workable, intercultural, harmonious and compassionate model of 'Pluralistic Information Ethics', it proposes the Indian / Asian philosophical method of 'Samvāda' to the current inventory which includes methods like: 'parrhesia/free speech' and 'interpretive phronēsis.

Aerosol technique-based carbon-encapsulated hollow mesoporous silica nanoparticles for synergistic chemo-photothermal therapy

Gautam, Milan,Thapa, Raj Kumar,Poudel, Bijay Kumar,Gupta, Biki,Ruttala, Hima Bindu,Nguyen, Hanh Thuy,Soe, Zar Chi,Ou, Wenquan,Poudel, Kishwor,Choi, Han-Gon,Ku, Sae Kwang,Yong, Chul Soon,Kim, Jong Oh Elsevier 2019 Acta Biomaterialia: structure-property-function re Vol.88 No.-

<P><B>Abstract</B></P> <P>Near-infrared (NIR)-responsive drug delivery systems have enhanced tumor ablative efficiency through permeation and retention effects. Graphene oxide (GO) has shown great potential both in photothermal therapy and in drug delivery. Thus, in this study, we designed an ambient spark-generated GO, wrapped on topotecan (TPT)-loaded hollow mesoporous silica nanoparticles (HMSN-NH2-TPT-CGO), to function as an efficient platform for pH-dependent sustained release of TPT. HMSN-NH2-TPT-CGO also exhibited a combined chemo-photothermal effect within a single carrier system. This developed system was stable with a uniform particle size (∼190 nm) and was demonstrated to possess a sufficient heat-absorbing capacity to induce tumor cell ablation. We performed the ablation of tumor cells both <I>in vitro</I> and <I>in vivo</I> in combination with photothermal therapy and chemotherapy using the spark-generated functional GO and HMSN. The prepared nanocarriers demonstrated high cellular uptake, apoptosis, and G0/G1 cell cycle arrest. <I>In vivo</I> study using the MDA-MB-231 xenograft model revealed the ultraefficient tumor ablative performance of HMSN-NH2-TPT-CGO compared with that of free TPT, with no toxic effect on vital organs. Altogether, the optimized nanocarriers presented a significant potential to act as a vehicle for cancer treatment.</P> <P><B>Statement of Significance</B></P> <P>This is the first study that uses spark-generated graphene oxide nanoflakes to cover the topotecan (TPT)-loaded hollow mesoporous silica nanoparticles (HMSNs) to treat breast cancer. Dense silica was used as a hard template to prepare the HMSNs attributing to a high drug payload. The concentration of Na<SUB>2</SUB>CO<SUB>3</SUB> was precisely controlled to minimize the silica etching time within 70 min. The use of the nanographene flakes served a dual purpose, first, by acting as a capping agent to prevent the premature release of drug and, second, by serving as a nano heater that significantly ablates the tumor cells. The prepared nanocarriers (NCs) exhibited effective and enhanced <I>in vitro</I> and <I>in vivo</I> apoptosis, as well as significant tumor growth inhibition even after 15 days of treatment time, with no toxic effect to the vital organs. The NCs enhanced <I>in vitro</I> tumor cell killing effects and served as an effective carrier for <I>in vivo</I> tumor regression, thereby highlighting the enormous potential of this system for breast cancer therapy.</P> <P><B>Graphical abstract</B></P> <P>[DISPLAY OMISSION]</P>

Oxygen and hydrogen isotopic characterization of rainfall and throughfall in four South Korean cool temperate forests

Gautam, Mukesh Kumar,Lee, Kwang-Sik,Bong, Yeon-Sik,Song, Byeong-Yeol,Ryu, Jong-Sik Taylor Francis 2017 Hydrological sciences journal Vol.62 No.12