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Feasibility assessment of a stepped solar still integrated with hexagram fin: an experimental and numerical approach toward sustainability

Chinnasamy S, Balasubramanian K, Sampathkumar A, Babu PK, Satchi CS

Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2024 Sep;31(41):53973-53992.
PMID: 37971583 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-023-30726-y

Effective utilization and conservation of freshwater is a global concern due to the rapid population growth and industrial usage. To address this challenge, various approaches have been developed and implemented to convert brackish water into freshwater and meet the global water demand. This study introduces hexagram-shaped aluminum fins attached to a powder-coated basin to improve the freshwater production rate of stepped solar still. The experiment involved testing the modified stepped solar still (MSSS) equipped with hexagram fins and the conventional stepped solar still (CSSS) without hexagram fins during summer days at the Sathyamangalam location (11.49° N, 77.27° E). A mathematical model was used to analyze the performance of the solar stills, and the simulation results were validated by comparing CSSS and MSSS in terms of their freshwater production. The results indicate that the productivity of CSSS increased by 40% using hexagram fins, and the MSSS with hexagram fins produced a maximum of 4.45 l/m2 of fresh water daily. The annual performance of MSSS and CSSS in the experimental location reveals a 12.6% reduction in the payback period of the solar still due to the presence of fins. The study recommends using fins in solar stills in hot climates for efficient and cost-effective water desalination applications to achieve sustainable development objectives while reducing carbon emissions.
Fulltext The use of nerve conduction studies in determining the short-term outcome of Bell's palsy

Prakash KM, Raymond AA

Med J Malaysia, 2003 Mar;58(1):69-78.
PMID: 14556328

Bell's palsy is a common neurological problem causing considerable loss of self-esteem among patients. A prospective observational study was conducted to determine the short-term outcome of Bell's palsy at 1 month and 2 months after the onset and the relationship between these outcomes with facial nerve degeneration. We also determined if gender, age, diabetes, systolic and diastolic blood pressure influence the severity of facial nerve degeneration and the clinical outcome at 2 months after the onset. After clinically grading the newly diagnosed unilateral Bell's palsy patients using the House-Brackmann facial nerve grading system, nerve conduction studies of the facial nerve were done to determine the severity of facial nerve degeneration. The recovery of the facial paralysis was clinically graded again at the end of 1 month and 2 months from the onset. A total of 37 patients were recruited. There was a strong positive correlation between facial nerve degeneration and the clinical outcome of Bell's palsy at 1 month (r = 0.794; p < 0.0005) and 2 months (r = 0.732; p < 0.0005) after the onset. There was no significant correlation between either the facial nerve degeneration or the clinical outcome at 2 months with the patients' age (p = 0.288 and p = 0.799 respectively), systolic blood pressure (p = 0.425 and p = 0.933 respectively) or diastolic blood pressure (p = 0.243 and p = 0.579 respectively). Neither the severity of facial nerve degeneration nor the clinical outcome at 2 months were significantly different between male and female patients (p = 0.460 and p = 0.725 respectively) or diabetic and non-diabetic patients (p = 0.655 and p = 0.655 respectively).
Fulltext Bilateral corneal perforation in a sexually active adult male with gonococcal conjunctivitis

Bastion ML, Prakash K, Siow YC, Loh SS

Med J Malaysia, 2006 Aug;61(3):366-8.
PMID: 17240593 MyJurnal

A 41 year-old Malay man had been treated by general practitioners for bilateral red eyes with profuse discharge of three weeks' duration with no improvement. He then presented to an ophthalmologist who noted profuse purulent discharge, bilateral corneal perforation, lid swelling and chemosis. Culture of the ocular discharge grew Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Treatment with systemic and topical antibiotics prevented microperforations in the right eye from progressing to overt perforation and was able to control disease in the left eye.
Editorial: New challenges and future perspectives in pathological conditions

Muzaimi M, Prakash KNB, Cheah PS, Feng L

Front Behav Neurosci, 2023;17:1201044.
PMID: 37304763 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2023.1201044
Fulltext Corneal changes in type II diabetes mellitus in Malaysia

Choo M, Prakash K, Samsudin A, Soong T, Ramli N, Kadir A

Int J Ophthalmol, 2010;3(3):234-6.
PMID: 22553561 DOI: 10.3980/j.issn.2222-3959.2010.03.12

To compare corneal endothelial structure and central corneal thickness (CCT) between type II diabetics and non-diabetic control patients. To look for correlations between diabetic status and corneal findings.
Fulltext Machine learning assisted hepta band THz metamaterial absorber for biomedical applications

Jain P, Chhabra H, Chauhan U, Prakash K, Gupta A, Soliman MS, et al.

Sci Rep, 2023 Jan 31;13(1):1792.
PMID: 36720922 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-29024-x

A hepta-band terahertz metamaterial absorber (MMA) with modified dual T-shaped resonators deposited on polyimide is presented for sensing applications. The proposed polarization sensitive MMA is ultra-thin (0.061 λ) and compact (0.21 λ) at its lowest operational frequency, with multiple absorption peaks at 1.89, 4.15, 5.32, 5.84, 7.04, 8.02, and 8.13 THz. The impedance matching theory and electric field distribution are investigated to understand the physical mechanism of hepta-band absorption. The sensing functionality is evaluated using a surrounding medium with a refractive index between 1 and 1.1, resulting in good Quality factor (Q) value of 117. The proposed sensor has the highest sensitivity of 4.72 THz/RIU for glucose detection. Extreme randomized tree (ERT) model is utilized to predict absorptivities for intermediate frequencies with unit cell dimensions, substrate thickness, angle variation, and refractive index values to reduce simulation time. The effectiveness of the ERT model in predicting absorption values is evaluated using the Adjusted R2 score, which is close to 1.0 for nmin = 2, demonstrating the prediction efficiency in various test cases. The experimental results show that 60% of simulation time and resources can be saved by simulating absorber design using the ERT model. The proposed MMA sensor with an ERT model has potential applications in biomedical fields such as bacterial infections, malaria, and other diseases.
Fulltext CD10 marks non-canonical PPARγ-independent adipocyte maturation and browning potential of adipose-derived stem cells

Chakraborty S, Ong WK, Yau WWY, Zhou Z, Bhanu Prakash KN, Toh SA, et al.

Stem Cell Res Ther, 2021 02 04;12(1):109.
PMID: 33541392 DOI: 10.1186/s13287-021-02179-y

BACKGROUND: Effective stem cell therapy is dependent on the stem cell quality that is determined by their differentiation potential, impairment of which leads to poor engraftment and survival into the target cells. However, limitations in our understanding and the lack of reliable markers that can predict their maturation efficacies have hindered the development of stem cells as an effective therapeutic strategy. Our previous study identified CD10, a pro-adipogenic, depot-specific prospective cell surface marker of human adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs). Here, we aim to determine if CD10 can be used as a prospective marker to predict mature adipocyte quality and play a direct role in adipocyte maturation.
METHODS: We first generated 14 primary human subject-derived ASCs and stable immortalized CD10 knockdown and overexpression lines for 4 subjects by the lentiviral transduction system. To evaluate the role of CD10 in adipogenesis, the adipogenic potential of the human subject samples were scored against their respective CD10 transcript levels. Assessment of UCP1 expression levels was performed to correlate CD10 levels to the browning potential of mature ASCs. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and Western blot analysis were performed to determine CD10-dependent regulation of various targets. Seahorse analysis of oxidative metabolism and lipolysis assay were studied. Lastly, as a proof-of-concept study, we used CD10 as a prospective marker for screening nuclear receptor ligands library.
RESULTS: We identified intrinsic CD10 levels as a positive determinant of adipocyte maturation as well as browning potential of ASCs. Interestingly, CD10 regulates ASC's adipogenic maturation non-canonically by modulating endogenous lipolysis without affecting the classical peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ)-dependent adipogenic pathways. Furthermore, our CD10-mediated screening analysis identified dexamethasone and retinoic acid as stimulator and inhibitor of adipogenesis, respectively, indicating CD10 as a useful biomarker for pro-adipogenic drug screening.
CONCLUSION: Overall, we establish CD10 as a functionally relevant ASC biomarker, which may be a prerequisite to identify high-quality cell populations for improving metabolic diseases.