Search results for: artificial treatment

Authors: Ayobami Solomon Popoola

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Yam is majorly a carbohydrate food grown in most parts of the world. It could be boiled, fried or roasted for consumption in a variety of ways. Blanching is an established heat pre-treatment given to fruits and vegetables prior to further processing such as dehydration, canning, freezing etc. Losses of soluble solids during blanching has been a great problem because a reasonable quantity of the water-soluble nutrients are inevitably leached into the blanching water. Without blanching, the high residual levels of reducing sugars after extended storage produce a dark, bitter-tasting product because of the Maillard reactions of reducing sugars at frying temperature. Measurement and prediction of such losses are necessary for economic efficiency in production and to establish the level of effluent treatment of the blanching water. This paper aims at resolving this problem by investigating the effects of cube size and temperature on the rate of diffusional losses of reducing sugars and total sugars during hot water blanching of water-yam. The study was carried out using four temperature levels (65, 70, 80 and 90 °C) and two cubes sizes (0.02 m³ and 0.03 m³) at 4 times intervals (5, 10, 15 and 20 mins) respectively. Obtained data were fitted into Fick’s non-steady equation from which diffusion coefficients (Da) were obtained. The Da values were subsequently fitted into Arrhenius plot to obtain activation energies (Ea-values) for diffusional losses. The diffusion co-efficient were independent of cube size and time but highly temperature dependent. The diffusion coefficients were ≥ 1.0 ×10⁻⁹ m²s⁻¹ for reducing sugars and ≥ 5.0 × 10⁻⁹ m²s⁻¹ for total sugars. The Ea values ranged between 68.2 to 73.9 KJmol⁻¹ and 7.2 to 14.30 KJmol⁻¹ for reducing sugars and total sugars losses respectively. Predictive equations for estimating amount of reducing sugars and total sugars with blanching time of water-yam at various temperatures were also presented. The equation could be valuable in process design and optimization. However, amount of other soluble solids that might have leached into the water along with reducing and total sugars during blanching was not investigated in the study.

Keywords: blanching, kinetics, sugar losses, water yam

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Authors: Shahnaz Haque, Anand Shukla, Sunita Singh, Anil Kem

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Introduction: Diabetes Mellitus is a chronic metabolic disease affecting millions worldwide. Metformin is the most commonly prescribed first line oral hypoglycemic drug for type 2 diabetes mellitus, but due to progressive worsening of blood glucose control during the natural history of type 2 diabetes, combination therapy usually becomes necessary. Objective: This study was designed to assess the treatment satisfaction between Sitagliptin versus Pioglitazone added to Metformin in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods: We conducted a prospective, open label, randomized, parallel group study in SIMS, Hapur, U.P. Eligible patients fulfilling inclusion criteria were randomized into two groups having 25 patients in each group using tab Sitagliptin 100mg, tab Pioglitazone 30mg added to ongoing tab Metformin (500mg) therapy for 16 weeks. The follow-up visits were on weeks 4,12 and 16. Result: 16 weeks later, addition of Sitagliptin 100mg compared to that of Pioglitazone 30 mg to ongoing Metformin therapy provided similar glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) lowering efficacy in patients with T2DM with inadequate glycemic control on metformin monotherapy. Change in HbA1c in group1 was -0.656±0.21%(p<0.0001) whereas in group2 was -0.748±0.35%(p<0.0001). Hence decrease in HbA1c from baseline was more in group2. Both treatments were well tolerated with negligible risk of hypoglycaemia. Weight loss was observed with Sitagliptin in contrast to weight gain seen in Pioglitazone. Conclusion: In this study, Sitagliptin 100 mg along with metformin therapy in comparison to pioglitazone 30 mg plus metformin therapy was both effective, well-tolerated and improved glycemic control in both the groups. Addition of pioglitazone had cause oedema and weight gain to the patients whereas sitagliptin caused weight loss in its patients.

Keywords: sitagliptin, pioglitazone, metformin, type 2 diabetes mellitus

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Authors: Ibrahim A. Kareem, Sina O. Ayelaagbe

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This study investigated the effects of web-enabled Sculpture package on Colleges of Education students’ psychomotor level in Fine Arts in South-west, Nigeria. The objectives of this study were to: (i) determine the effect of web-enabled Sculpture package on Fine Arts Students’ performance; (ii) find out the effect of ability levels on Fine Arts Students’ performance and (iii) ascertain the interaction effect of treatment and ability levels on Fine Arts Students’ performance. The study was quasi-experimental design. A total of 48 Fine Arts Students participated in the study. There were 26 students in experimental and 22 for the control. The respondents were purposively sampled from Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo and Federal College of Education (Special) Oyo. Sculpture Achievement Test, Sculpture Skill Test and Sculpture ‘on the Spot’ Skill Assessment Instrument were validated by experts while Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) statistics was used to analyse the instrument while the remaining two instruments were subjected to Cronbach alpha statistics. Data were analysed using t-test and ANCOVA were used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings of the study revealed that: (i) Fine Arts Students’ in the experimental group performed significantly better than the control group; (ii) there was a significant difference among high, medium and low ability levels mean scores of Fine Arts Students’ performance in Colleges of Education; (iii) there was no significant interaction effect of treatment and ability levels on the mean scores of Fine Arts Students’ performance in Colleges of Education and. The study concluded that Fine Arts Students exposed to web-enabled Sculpture package performed better than those taught using the conventional method. Based on the study it was recommended that lecturers in Colleges of Education should endeavour to adapt and utilise web-enabled Sculpture package for teaching sculpture.

Keywords: fine art, psychomotor, sculpture, web-enabled

Procedia PDF Downloads 136

Authors: Akbar Nawaz Khan, Abdul Ghaffar, Abdur Rehman, Muhammad Naeem Riaz, Sayed Muhammad Hassan Andrabi

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The present study was conducted to compare sheep rearing in nomadic with transhumance system in term of production parameters. The following parameters which studied for comparison were household size, landholding area, flock size, body condition score, fecal egg count and live weight change in sheep under nomadic and transhumance systems of management in Malakand since October 2010 to March 2011. Further the effects of Body Condition Score (BCS) and Fecal Egg Count (FEC) on production were also examined. Two systems were checked for the purpose to check the efficiency of production. A total of eight flocks, four each from nomadic and transhumance system were selected for the study; each flock was divided into treatment and controlled groups to check the effect of treatment or de-wormers. A total of 160 animals were selected randomly (80 treated, 80 controlled). The adult ram average weight transhumance system was 55.58 kg while in nomadic that was 54.16 kg, weight change was positive, and the highest change was recorded in transhumance treated which was 13%. Fecal egg count was record low (75 EPG) in transhumance treated group while high (330 EPG) in nomadic controlled. Body condition score was recorded 3.6 for transhumance treated and 3.32 for nomadic treated. It is concluded from the present study that transhumance system performed significantly (p < 0.05) better in respect of live weight, BCS, FEC, family size, Landholding area, number of animals in a flock, offspring record, culling, and mortality. Mean values are 7.367 ± 0221, 0.900 ± 0.071, 63.167 ± 1.559, 55.600 ± 1.480, 8.300 ± 0.321 and 2.500 ± 0.158 respectively. De-wormer effect on FEC showed a significant reduction in egg load in mature sheep on both systems.

Keywords: small ruminant, sheep, nomadic, transhumance, Malakand, production efficiency

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Authors: Promise Ekpo Osaine, Daniel Melesse

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Image captioning is an active area of research in the multi-modal artificial intelligence (AI) community as it connects vision and language understanding, especially in settings where it is required that a model understands the content shown in an image and generates semantically and grammatically correct descriptions. In this project, we followed a standard approach to a deep learning-based image captioning model, injecting architecture for the encoder-decoder setup, where the encoder extracts image features, and the decoder generates a sequence of words that represents the image content. As such, we investigated image encoders, which are ResNet101, InceptionResNetV2, EfficientNetB7, EfficientNetV2M, and CLIP. As a caption generation structure, we explored long short-term memory (LSTM). The CLIP-LSTM model demonstrated superior performance compared to the encoder-decoder models, achieving a BLEU-1 score of 0.904 and a BLEU-4 score of 0.640. Additionally, among the CNN-LSTM models, EfficientNetV2M-LSTM exhibited the highest performance with a BLEU-1 score of 0.896 and a BLEU-4 score of 0.586 while using a single-layer LSTM.

Keywords: multi-modal AI systems, image captioning, encoder, decoder, BLUE score

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Authors: Nayira A. Abd Elbaky, Amal J. Fatani, Hazar Yaqub, Nouf M. Al-Rasheed, Naglaa El-Orabi, Mai Osman

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The present work is aimed to evaluate the protective effect of N-acetyl cystiene (NAC), coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), and their combination against carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced cardiotoxicity in rats. CCl4 treatment significantly elevated the levels of cardiac oxidative stress bio markers including nitric oxide (NO) and malondialdehyde (MDA). A concomitant decrease in the level of reduced glutathione and the activity of membrane bound enzyme, calcium-adenosine triphosphatase were observed in the hearts of rats exposed to CCl4 compared to respective values in normal group. Quantitative analysis of myocardial energy metabolism revealed a significant decrease in the glucose content coupled with depletion in the activities of myocardial glycolytic enzymes as hexokinase (HK), phosphofructokinase (PFK) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) after CCl4 treatment. In addition, a significant elevation in myocardial hydroxyproline level was observed in CCl4 intoxicated rats indicating interstitial collagen accumulation. Pretreatment with either NAC, CoQ10 or their combination successively alleviated the alterations in myocardial oxidative stress and antioxidant markers, as well as effectively up-regulated the decrease in cardiac energetic biomarkers in CCl4 intoxicated rats. Moreover, these antioxidants markedly reduced myocardial hydroxyproline level versus that of CCl4-treated animals. In conclusion, the present results illustrated that the prophylactic use of the current antioxidant resulted in a remarkable cardioprotective effect against CCl4 induced myocardial damage, which suggest that they may candidates as prophylactic agents against different cardio-toxins.

Keywords: carbon tetrachloride, lipid peroxidation, antioxidant, energy metabolism, hydroxyproline

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Authors: Gianluca Castelnuovo, Giada Pietrabissa, Gian Mauro Manzoni, Margherita Novelli, Emanuele Maria Giusti, Roberto Cattivelli, Enrico Molinari

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Diabesity could be defined as a new global epidemic of obesity and being overweight with many complications and chronic conditions. Such conditions include not only type 2 diabetes, but also cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, dyslipidemia, hypercholesterolemia, cancer, and various psychosocial and psychopathological disorders. The financial direct and indirect burden (considering also the clinical resources involved and the loss of productivity) is a real challenge in many Western health-care systems. Recently the Lancet journal defined diabetes as a 21st-century challenge. In order to promote patient compliance in diabesity treatment reducing costs, evidence-based interventions to improve weight-loss, maintain a healthy weight, and reduce related comorbidities combine different treatment approaches: dietetic, nutritional, physical, behavioral, psychological, and, in some situations, pharmacological and surgical. Moreover, new technologies can provide useful solutions in this multidisciplinary approach, above all in maintaining long-term compliance and adherence in order to ensure clinical efficacy. Psychological therapies with diet and exercise plans could better help patients in achieving weight loss outcomes, both inside hospitals and clinical centers and during out-patient follow-up sessions. In the management of chronic diseases clinical psychology play a key role due to the need of working on psychological conditions of patients, their families and their caregivers. mHealth approach could overcome limitations linked with the traditional, restricted and highly expensive in-patient treatment of many chronic pathologies: one of the best up-to-date application is the management of obesity with type 2 diabetes, where mHealth solutions can provide remote opportunities for enhancing weight reduction and reducing complications from clinical, organizational and economic perspectives. A stepped care mHealth-based approach is an interesting perspective in chronic care management of obesity with type 2 diabetes. One promising future direction could be treating obesity, considered as a chronic multifactorial disease, using a stepped-care approach: -mhealth or traditional based lifestyle psychoeducational and nutritional approach. -health professionals-driven multidisciplinary protocols tailored for each patient. -inpatient approach with the inclusion of drug therapies and other multidisciplinary treatments. -bariatric surgery with psychological and medical follow-up In the chronic care management of globesity mhealth solutions cannot substitute traditional approaches, but they can supplement some steps in clinical psychology and medicine both for obesity prevention and for weight loss management.

Keywords: clinical health psychology, mhealth, obesity, type 2 diabetes, stepped care, chronic care management

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Authors: Talal Asif, Maya Kosinska, Lucas Georger, Krish Sardesai, Muhammad Shah Miran

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This article presents a case review and literature review focused on the challenges of managing subaortic membranes (SAM) in young adult patients with mild aortic regurgitation (AR) or aortic stenosis (AS). The study aims to discuss the diagnosis of SAM, imaging studies used for assessment, management strategies in young patients, the risk of valvular damage, and the controversy surrounding prophylactic resection in mild AR. The management of SAM in adults poses challenges due to limited treatment options and potential complications, necessitating further investigation into the progression of AS and AR in asymptomatic SAM patients. The case presentation describes a 40-year-old male with muscular dystrophy who presented with symptoms and was diagnosed with SAM. Various imaging techniques, including CT chest, transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE), and transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE), were used to confirm the presence and severity of SAM. Based on the patient's clinical profile and the absence of surgical indications, medical therapy was initiated, and regular outpatient follow-up was recommended to monitor disease progression. The discussion highlights the challenges in diagnosing SAM, the importance of imaging studies, and the potential complications associated with SAM in young patients. The article also explores the management options for SAM, emphasizing surgical resection as the definitive treatment while acknowledging the limited success rates of alternative approaches. Close monitoring and prompt intervention for complications are crucial in the management of SAM. The concluding statement emphasizes the need for further research to explore alternative treatments for SAM in young patients.

Keywords: subaortic membrane, management, case report, literature review, aortic regurgitation, aortic stenosis, left ventricular outflow obstruction, guidelines, heart failure

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Authors: Shahid Noor, Kazim Najjad, Muhammad Nasir, Irshad Bhutto, Abdul Samad Memon, Khurram Anwar, Tehseen Riaz, Mian Muhammad Hanif, Nauman A. Mallik, Saeed Ahmed, Israr Ahmed, Ali Yasir

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Background: Musculoskeletal pain is the most common complaint presented to the health practitioner. It is well known that untreated or under-treated pain can have a significant negative impact on an individual’s quality of life (QoL). Objectives: This study was conducted across 10 sites in six (6) major cities of Pakistan to evaluate the tolerability, safety, and the clinical response of Nuberol Forte® (Paracetamol 650 mg + Orphenadrine 50 mg) to musculoskeletal pain in routine Pakistani practice and its impact on improving the patient’s QoL. Design & Methods: This NFORT-EFFECT observational, prospective multicenter study was conducted in compliance with Good Clinical Practice guidelines and local regulatory requirements. The study sponsor was "The Searle Company Limited, Pakistan. To maintain the GCP compliances, the sponsor assigned the CRO for the site and data management. Ethical approval was obtained from an independent ethics committee. The IEC reviewed the progress of the study. Written informed consent was obtained from the study participants, and their confidentiality was maintained throughout the study. A total of 399 patients with known prescreened musculoskeletal conditions and pain who attended the study sites were recruited, as per the inclusion/exclusion criteria (clinicaltrials.gov ID# NCT04765787). The recruited patients were then prescribed Paracetamol (650 mg) and Orphenadrine (50 mg) combination (Nuberol Forte®) for 7 to 14 days as per the investigator's discretion based on the pain intensity. After the initial screening (visit 1), a follow-up visit was conducted after 1-2 weeks of the treatment (visit 2). Study Endpoints: The primary objective was to assess the pain management response of Nuberol Forte treatment and the overall safety of the drug. The Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) scale was used to measure pain severity. Secondary to pain, the patients' health-related quality of life (HRQoL) was also assessed using the Muscle, Joint Measure (MJM) scale. The safety was monitored on the first dose by the patients. These assessments were done on each study visit. Results: Out of 399 enrolled patients, 49.4% were males, and 50.6% were females with a mean age of 47.24 ± 14.20 years. Most patients were presented with Knee Osteoarthritis (OA), i.e., 148(38%), followed by backache 70(18.2%). A significant reduction in the mean pain score was observed after the treatment with the combination of Paracetamol and Orphenadrine (p<0.05). Furthermore, an overall improvement in the patient’s QoL was also observed. During the study, only ten patients reported mild adverse events (AEs). Conclusion: The combination of Paracetamol and Orphenadrine (Nuberol Forte®) exhibited effective pain management among patients with musculoskeletal conditions and also improved their QoL.

Keywords: musculoskeletal pain, orphenadrine/paracetamol combination, pain management, quality of life, Pakistani population

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Authors: Rabia Korkmaz Tan, Şebnem Bora

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The major problem encountered when modeling complex systems with agent-based modeling and simulation techniques is the existence of large parameter spaces. A complex system model cannot be expected to reflect the whole of the real system, but by specifying the most appropriate parameters, the actual system can be represented by the model under certain conditions. When the studies conducted in recent years were reviewed, it has been observed that there are few studies for parameter tuning problem in agent based simulations, and these studies have focused on tuning parameters of a single model. In this study, an approach of parameter tuning is proposed by using metaheuristic algorithms such as Genetic Algorithm (GA), Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), Artificial Bee Colonies (ABC), Firefly (FA) algorithms. With this hybrid structured study, the parameter tuning problems of the models in the different fields were solved. The new approach offered was tested in two different models, and its achievements in different problems were compared. The simulations and the results reveal that this proposed study is better than the existing parameter tuning studies.

Keywords: parameter tuning, agent based modeling and simulation, metaheuristic algorithms, complex systems

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Authors: D. Sun, L. Saw, A. Onyianta, D. O’Rourke, Z. Lu, C. See, C. Wilson, C. Popescu, M. Dorris

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With the rapid development of wearable technology (e.g., smartwatch, activity trackers and health monitor devices), flexible dielectric materials with environmental-friendly, low-cost and high-energy efficiency characteristics are in increasing demand. In this work, a flexible dielectric nanocomposite was processed by incorporating two components: cellulose nanofibrils and alum sludge in a polymer matrix. The two components were used in the reinforcement phase as well as for enhancing the dielectric properties; they were processed using waste materials that would otherwise be disposed to landfills. Alum sludge is a by-product of the water treatment process in which aluminum sulfate is prevalently used as the primary coagulant. According to the data from a project partner-Scottish Water: there are approximately 10k tons of alum sludge generated as a waste from the water treatment work to be landfilled every year in Scotland. The industry has been facing escalating financial and environmental pressure to develop more sustainable strategies to deal with alum sludge wastes. In the available literature, some work on reusing alum sludge has been reported (e.g., aluminum recovery or agriculture and land reclamation). However, little work can be found in applying it to processing energy materials (e.g., dielectrics) for enhanced energy density and efficiency. The alum sludge was collected directly from a water treatment plant of Scottish Water and heat-treated and refined before being used in preparing composites. Cellulose nanofibrils were derived from water hyacinth, an invasive aquatic weed that causes significant ecological issues in tropical regions. The harvested water hyacinth was dried and processed using a cost-effective method, including a chemical extraction followed by a homogenization process in order to extract cellulose nanofibrils. Biodegradable elastomer polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) was used as the polymer matrix and the nanocomposites were processed by casting raw materials in Petri dishes. The processed composites were characterized using various methods, including scanning electron microscopy (SEM), rheological analysis, thermogravimetric and X-ray diffraction analysis. The SEM result showed that cellulose nanofibrils of approximately 20nm in diameter and 100nm in length were obtained and the alum sludge particles were of approximately 200um in diameters. The TGA/DSC analysis result showed that a weight loss of up to 48% can be seen in the raw material of alum sludge and its crystallization process has been started at approximately 800°C. This observation coincides with the XRD result. Other experiments also showed that the composites exhibit comprehensive mechanical and dielectric performances. This work depicts that it is a sustainable practice of reusing such waste materials in preparing flexible, lightweight and miniature dielectric materials for wearable technology applications.

Keywords: cellulose, biodegradable, sustainable, alum sludge, nanocomposite, wearable technology, dielectric

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Authors: Ireen Manase Kabembo, Patrick Chanda

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Background: Substance use disorders are among the chronic conditions that affect all age groups. Worldwide, there is an increase in young people affected by SUDs, which implies that more family members are transitioning into the caregiver role. Family caregivers play a buffering role in the formal healthcare system due to their involvement in caring for persons with acute and chronic conditions in the home setting. Family carers of youth with problematic alcohol and marijuana use experience myriad challenges in managing daily care for this medically vulnerable group. In addition, the poor health-seeking behaviours of youth with SUDs characterized by eluding treatment and runaway tendencies coupled with the effects of the pandemic made caregiving a daunting task for most family caregivers. Issues such as limited and unavailable psychotropic medications, social stigma and discrimination, financial hurdles, systemic barriers in adolescent and young adult mental healthcare services, and the lack of a perceived vulnerability to Covid-19 by youth with SUDs are experiences of family caretakers. Methods: A qualitative study with 30 family caregivers of youth aged 16-24 explored their lived experiences and subjective meanings using two in-depth semi-structured interviews, a caregiving timeline, and participant observation. Findings: Results indicate that most family caregivers had challenges managing care for treatment elusive youth, let alone having them adhere to Covid-19 regulations. However, youth who utilized healthcare services and adhered to treatment regimens had positive outcomes and sustained recovery. The effects of the pandemic, such as job losses and the closure of businesses, further exacerbated the financial challenges experienced by family caregivers, making it difficult to purchase needed medications and daily necessities for the youth. The unabated stigma and discrimination of families of substance-dependent youth in Zambian communities further isolated family caregivers, leaving them with limited support. Conclusion: Since young people with SUDs have a compromised mental capacity due to the cognitive impairments that come with continued substance abuse, they often have difficulties making sound judgements, including the need to utilize SUD recovery services. Also, their tendency to not adhere to the Covid-19 pandemic requirements places them at a higher risk for adverse health outcomes in the (post) pandemic era. This calls for urgent implementation of robust youth mental health services that address prevention and recovery for these emerging adults grappling with substance use disorders. Support for their family caregivers, often overlooked, cannot be overemphasized.

Keywords: chronic care management, Covid-19 pandemic, family caregivers, youth with substance use disorders

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Authors: Kenichi Hirota, Jifeng Wang, Sadao Araki, Koji Endo, Hideki Yamamoto

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Zirconium (Zr) has been used as a fuel cladding tube for nuclear reactors, because of the excellent corrosion resistance and the low adsorptive material for neutron. Generally speaking, the natural resource of Zr is often containing Hf that has similar properties. The content of Hf in the Zr resources is about 2~4 wt%. In the industrial use, the content of Hf in Zr resources should be lower than the 100 ppm. However, the separation of Zr and Hf is not so easy, because of similar chemical and physical properties such as melting point, boiling point and things. Solvent extraction method has been applied for the separation of Zr and Hf from Zr natural resources. This method can separate Hf with high efficiency (Hf < 100ppm), however, it needs much amount of organic solvents for solvent extraction and the cost of its disposal treatment is high. Therefore, we attached attention for the fractional crystallization. This separation method depends on the solubility difference of Zr and Hf in the solvent. In this work, hexafluorozirconate (hafnate) (K2Zr(Hf)F6) was used as model compound. Solubility of K2ZrF6 in water showed lower than that of K2HfF6. By repeating of this treatment, it is possible to purify Zr, practically. In this case, 16-18 times of recrystallization stages were needed for its high purification. The improvement of the crystallization process was carried out in this work. Water, hydrofluoric acid (HF) and hydrofluoric acid (HF) +hydrochloric acid (HCl) mixture were chosen as solvent for dissolution of Zr and Hf. In the experiment, 10g of K2ZrF6 was added to each solvent of 100mL. Each solution was heated for 1 hour at 353K. After 1h of this operation, they were cooled down till 293K, and were held for 5 hours at 273K. Concentration of Zr or Hf was measured using ICP analysis. It was found that Hf was separated from Zr-Hf mixed compound with high efficiency, when HF-HCl solution was used for solvent of crystallization. From the comparison of the particle size of each crystal by SEM, it was confirmed that the particle diameter of the crystal showed smaller size with decreasing of Hf content. This paper concerned with purification of Zr from Zr-Hf mixture using crystallization method.

Keywords: crystallization, zirconium, hafnium, separation

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Authors: Hannah Kolano, Paul Nadan, Jeremy Ryan, Sophia Nielsen

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The hooves of goats and other ruminants, or the family Ruminantia, are uniquely structured to adapt to rough terrain. Their hooves possess a hard outer shell and a soft interior that allow them to both conform to uneven surfaces and hook onto prominent features. In an effort to apply this unique mechanism to a robotics context, artificial feet for a hexapedal robot have been designed based on the hooves of ruminants to improve the robot’s ability to traverse unstructured environments such as those found on a rocky planet or asteroid, as well as in earth-based environments such as rubble, caves, and mountainous regions. The feet were manufactured using a combination of 3D printing and polyurethane casting techniques and attached to a commercially available hexapedal robot. The robot was programmed with a terrain-adaptive gait and proved capable of traversing a variety of uneven surfaces and inclines. This development of more adaptable robotic feet allows legged robots to operate in a wider range of environments and expands their possible applications.

Keywords: biomimicry, legged locomotion, robotic foot design, ruminant feet, unstructured terrain navigation

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Authors: B. Yermekbayeva, A. Gulyayaev, T. Nurgozhin, C. Bektur

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Cytisine aminophosphonate under the name "Cytafat" was approved for clinical trials in Republic of Kazakhstan as a putative liver protecting drug for the treatment of acute toxic hepatitis. A method of conducting the clinical trial is a double blind study. Total number of patients -71, aged from 16 to 56 years. Research on healthy volunteers determined the maximal tolerable doze of "Cytafat" as 200 mg/kg. Side effects when administered at high dozes (100-200 mg/kg) are tachycardia and increase of arterial blood pressure. The drug is tested in the treatment of 28 patients with a syndrome of hepatocellular failure (a poisoning with substitutes of alcohol, rat poison, or medical products). "Cytafat" was intravenously administered at a dose of 10 mg/kg in 200 ml of 5 % glucose solution once daily. The number of administrations: 1-3. In the comparison group, 23 patients were treated intravenously once a day with “Essenciale H” at a dose of 10 ml. 20 patients received a placebo (10 ml of glucose intravenously). In all cases of toxic hepatopathology the significant positive clinical effect of the testing drug distinguishable from placebo and surpassing the alternative was observed. Within a day after administration a sharp reduction of cytolitic syndrome parameters (ALT, AST, alkaline phosphatase, thymol turbidity test, GGT) was registered, a reduction of the severity of cholestatic syndrome (bilirubin decreased) was recorded, significantly decreased indices of lipid peroxidation. The following day, in all cases the positive dynamics was determined with ultrasound study (reduction of diffuse changes and events of reactive pancreatitis), hepatomegaly disappeared. Normalization of all parameters occurred in 2-3 times faster, than when using the drug "Essenciale H" and placebo. Average term of elimination of toxic hepatopathy when using the drug "Cytafat" -2,8 days, "Essenciale H" -7,2 days, and placebo -10,6 days. The new drug "Cytafat" has expressed cytoprotective properties.

Keywords: cytisine, cytoprotection, hepatopathy, hepatoprotection

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Authors: Akshay Patil

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Objective: Mediation analysis identifies causal pathways by testing the relationships between the NCR, the OS, and an intermediate variable that mediates the relationship between the Nimotuzumab-cisplatin-radiation (NCR) and OS. Introduction: In randomized controlled trials, the primary interest is in the mechanisms by which an intervention exerts its effects on the outcomes. Clinicians are often interested in how the intervention works (or why it does not work) through hypothesized causal mechanisms. In this work, we highlight the value of understanding causal mechanisms in randomized trial by applying causal mediation analysis in a randomized trial in oncology. Methods: Data was obtained from a phase III randomized trial (Subgroup of HPVNOCP). NCR is reported to significantly improve the OS of patients locally advanced head and neck cancer patients undergoing definitive chemoradiation. Here, based on trial data, the mediating effect of NCR on patient overall survival was systematically quantified through progression-free survival(PFS), disease free survival (DFS), Loco-regional failure (LRF), and the disease control rate (DCR), Overall response rate (ORR). Effects of potential mediators on the HR for OS with NCR versus cisplatin-radiation (CR) were analyzed by Cox regression models. Statistical analyses were performed using R software Version 3.6.3 (The R Foundation for Statistical Computing) Results: Effects of potential mediator PFS was an association between NCR treatment and OS, with an indirect-effect (IE) 0.76(0.62 – 0.95), which mediated 60.69% of the treatment effect. Taking into account baseline confounders, the overall adjusted hazard ratio of death was 0.64 (95% CI: 0.43 – 0.96; P=0.03). The DFS was also a significant mediator and had an IE 0.77 (95% CI; 0.62-0.93), 58% mediated). Smaller mediation effects (maximum 27%) were observed for LRF with IE 0.88(0.74 – 1.06). Both DCR and ORR mediated 10% and 15%, respectively, of the effect of NCR vs. CR on the OS with IE 0.65 (95% CI; 0.81 – 1.08) and 0.94(95% CI; 0.79 – 1.04). Conclusion: Our findings suggest that PFS and DFS were the most important mediators of the OS with nimotuzumab to weekly cisplatin-radiation in HPVNOCP.

Keywords: mediation analysis, cancer data, survival, NCR, HPV negative oropharyngeal

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Authors: Wei Qu, Cassandra Agius, Nikki Varvazovsky, Angela Meade

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The goals of the case study are to address the importance of early diagnosis of osmotic demyelination syndrome (ODS) and to analyse the types, duration, and intensities of the rehabilitation program to promote neurological and functional recovery. It can be associated with biphasic course of disease and severe neurological and neuropsychiatric symptoms. Although a few treatment modalities, such as plasmapheresis, immunoglobulin therapy, steroid, and thyrotrophin-releasing hormone, have been suggested, there is no effective treatment for ODS. The overall prognosis of established ODS is generally poor. A high proportion of patients have a severe permanent disability, which has led to social, economic, and emotional burdens to carers and societies. In this case, a 69-year-old retired pensioner with chronic alcoholism was admitted to the hospital with a reduced level of consciousness and tonic-clonic seizure. He had severe hyponatraemia (serum sodium 118 mmol/L) and hypokalemia (serum potassium 2.8 mmol/L). He was treated with anticonvulsants, 150ml 3% hypertonic saline over one hour, and 40 mmol potassium chloride over one hour, and his sodium was increased by 11 mmol/L in the first 24 hours. However, he had worsened neurological symptoms with quadriplegia, dysphagia, anarthria, and confusion, and the radiological features suggested the diagnosis of ODS. He had minimal neurological recovery during the first four weeks of hospital admission. He was treated with seven weeks of a multi-disciplinary intensive rehabilitation program. On discharge, he had made a significant cognitive and functional recovery and could mobilize independently without a walking aid. In conclusion, ODS can still occur despite correcting sodium following the current clinical guidelines. Patients with severe neurological deficits in the context of osmotic demyelination syndrome would benefit from intensive rehabilitation to facilitate their functional improvement and to promote their quality of life.

Keywords: osmotic demyelination syndrome, hyponatremia, central pontine and extrapontine myelinolysis, rehabilitation

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Authors: Jae-Il Jeong, Hoon-Jae Park, Jung-Woo Cho, Yang-Gon Kim, Jin-Young Park, Joo-Young Oh, Si-Geun Choi, Seock-Sam Kim, Young Tae Cho, Chan Gyu Kim, Jong-Hyoung Kim

Abstract:

Bearing component has strongly required to decrease vibration and wear to achieve high durability and life time. In the industry field, bearing durability is improved by surface treatment on the bearing surface by centrifugal casting or gravity casting production method. However, this manufacturing method has caused problems such as long processing time, defect rate, and health harmful effect. To solve this problem, there is a laser cladding deposition treatment, which provides fast processing and food adhesion. Therefore, optimum conditions of white metal laser deposition should be studied to minimize bearing contact axis wear using laser cladding techniques. In this study, we deposit a soft white metal layer on SCM440, which is mainly used for shaft and bolt. On laser deposition process, the laser power and powder feed rate and laser head speed factors are controlled to find out the optimal conditions. We also measure hardness using micro Vickers, analyze FE-SEM (Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope) and EDS (Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy) to study the mechanical properties and surface characteristics with various parameters change. Furthermore, this paper suggests the optimum condition of laser cladding deposition to apply in industrial fields. This work was supported by the Industrial Innovation Project of the Korea Evaluation Institute of Industrial Technology (KEIT) granted financial resource from the Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy, Republic of Korea (Research no. 10051653).

Keywords: laser deposition, bearing, white metal, mechanical properties

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Authors: S. B. Otieno1, F. Were, A. Afullo, K. Waza

Abstract:

Background: Multi drug resistance HIV has emerged rendering the current conventional treatment of HIV ineffective. There is a need for new treatment regime which is cheap, effective and not prone to resistance development by HIV. Methods: In randomized clinical study of 68 HIV positive children 3 – 15 years to asses the efficacy of yeast selenium in HIV/AIDS patients, 50μ yeast selenium was administered to 34 children while in matched control of 34 were put on placebo. Blood samples and weight of the both groups which were taken every 3 months intervals up to 6 months, were analyzed by ELIZA for CD4T cells, the data was analyzed by SPSS version 16, WAZ scores were analyzed by Epi Info version 6. Results: No significant difference in age { χ2 (1, 62) =0.03, p =0.853}, cause of morbidity between test and controls {χ2 (1, 65) = 5.87, p= 0.015} and on condition of foster parents {χ2 ( 1,63) = 5.57, p= 0.0172} was observed. Children on selenium showed progressive improvement of WAZ and significant difference at six months {F (5,12) = =5.758, P=0.006}, and weight gain of up to 4.1 kilograms in six months, and significant CD4 T cell count increase t= -2.943, p<0.05 compared to matched controls t = -1.258 p> 0.05. CD4 T cell count increased among all age groups on test 3-5 years (+ 267.1),5-8 years (+200.3) 9-15 years (+71.2) cells/mm3 and in matched controls a decrease 3-5 years (-71), 5-8 years (-125) and 9-13 years (-10.1) cells/mm3 . No significant difference inCD4 T cell count between boys {F (2, 32) = 1.531 p= 0.232} and between boys {F (2, 49) = 1.040, p= 0.361} on test and between boys and girls {F (5, 81) = 1.379, p= 0.241} on test. Similarly no significant difference between boys and girls were observed {F (5, 86) = 1.168, p= 0.332}.In the test group there was significant positive correlation β =252.23 between weight for age (WAZ), and CD4 T Cell Count p=0.007, R2= 0.252, F< 0.05. In matched controls no significant correlation between weight gain and CD4 T cell count change was observed at six months p > 0.05. No positive correlation β =-138.23 was observed between CD4T Cell count, WAZ, p=0.934, R2 =0.0337 F >0.05. Majority (96.78%) of children on test either remained or progressed to WHO immunological stage I. Conclusion: From this study it can be concluded that yeast Selenium is effective in slowing the progress of HIV 1 in children from WHO clinical stage I by improving CD4 T cell count and hence the immunity.

Keywords: selenium, HIV, AIDS, WAZ

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Authors: Praveen Adusumilli, Meher Lakshmi Konatam, Sadashivudu Gundeti, Stalin Bala

Abstract:

The invention of trastuzumab has changed the treatment of breast cancer and lives of many patients all over the world. Despite many patients getting benefitted from the drug, it is out of reach for most of the patients. There is very limited real world data regarding the epidemiology and clinical outcome of Her2neu positive breast cancer patients. Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective analysis of breast cancer patients presenting to a tertiary care cancer centre in Southern India from 2007 to2013. All early and locally advanced breast cancer patients, who were Her2neu 3+ on IHC are included in the study and evaluated in terms of epidemiology, 3-year disease free survival (DFS)and 5-year overall survival(OS). Chemotherapy regimens used were-FAC 6 cycles or AC 4 cycles followed by 12 cycles of weekly paclitaxel . Trastuzumab was given after 6 cycles of FAC or weekly with paclitaxel followed by 3weekly maintenance until 1 year. Results: Over the period of this study there were 885 newly diagnosed cases of carcinoma breast, of which 242 (27%) were Her2neu positive, 360(40%) were hormone receptor positive, and 212(24%) were triple negative. A total of 71(8%) were Her2neu equivocal of which only 10 patients got FISH test done. Of the 212 newly diagnosed patients, only 74 (29%) opted to have standard of care therapy with trastuzumab at our centre, out of which 52(24%), 8(3%), received under insurance, paying basis respectively. 14(9%) patients received the care as part of clinical trial program (ALTTO trial). 7 (9.72%) patients developed decrease of ejection fraction by greater than 10%, requiring stoppage of trastuzumab out of which 5 were restarted in 2 months. Patients receiving trastuzumab along with chemotherapy had longer 3year DFS 92% vs. 60% (p value<0.0001) when compared to chemotherapy alone. 5 year OS was 87% vs 44% (p-value <0.0001) compared to chemotherapy alone. Conclusion: Trastuzumab with chemotherapy improves the DFS and OS in Her2neu positive patients. The biggest constraint is the cost of the treatment and absence of universal health security net to treat all patients with this diagnosis.

Keywords: breast cancer, Her 2 neu positive, real world data, Trastuzumab

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Authors: C. P. Mallapur, U. K. Hulihalli, D. N. Kambrekar

Abstract:

Maize (Zea mays L.) an important cereal crop in the world has diversified uses including human consumption, animal feed, and industrial uses. A major constraint in low productivity of maize in India is undoubtedly insect pests particularly two species of stem borers, Chilo partellus (Swinhoe) and Sesamia inferens (Walker). The stem borers cause varying level of yield losses in different agro-climate regions (25.7 to 80.4%) resulting in a huge economic loss to the farmers. Although these pests are rather difficult to manage, efforts have been made to combat the menace by using effective insecticides. However, efforts have been made in the present study to integrate various possible approaches for sustainable management of these borers. Two field experiments were conducted separately during 2016-17 at Main Agricultural Research Station, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, Karnataka, India. In the first experiment, six treatments were randomized in RBD. The insect eggs at pinhead stage (@ 40 eggs/plant) were stapled to the under surface of leaves covering 15-20 % of plants in each plot after 15 days of sowing. The second experiment was planned with nine treatments replicated thrice. The border crop with NB -21 grass was planted all around the plots in the specific treatments while, cowpea intercrop (@6:1-row proportion) was sown along with the main crop and later, the insecticidal spray with chlorantraniliprole and nimbecidine was taken upon need basis in the specific treatments. The results indicated that the leaf injury and dead heart incidence were relatively more in the treatments T₂ and T₄ wherein, no insect control measures were made after the insect release (58.30 & 40.0 % leaf injury and 33.42 and 25.74% dead heart). On the contrary, these treatments recorded higher stem tunneling (32.4 and 24.8%) and resulted in lower grain yield (17.49 and 26.79 q/ha) compared to 29.04, 32.68, 40.93 and 46.38 q/ha recorded in T₁, T₃, T₅ and T₆ treatments, respectively. A maximum yield loss of 28.89 percent was noticed in T₂ followed by 19.59 percent in T₄ where no sprays were imposed. The data on integrated management trial revealed the lowest stem borer damage (19.28% leaf injury and 1.21% dead heart) in T₅ (seed treatment with thiamethoxam 70FS @ 8ml/kg seed + cow intercrop along with nimbecidine 0.03EC @ 5.0 ml/l and chlorantraniliprole 18.5SC spray @ 0.2 ml/l). The next best treatment was T₆ (ST+ NB-21 borer with nimbecidine and chlorantraniliprole spray) with 21.3 and 1.99 percent leaf injury and dead heart incidence, respectively. These treatments resulted in highest grain yield (77.71 and 75.53 q/ha in T₅ and T₆, respectively) compared to the standard check, T₁ (ST+ chlorantraniliprole spray) wherein, 27.63 percent leaf injury and 3.68 percent dead heart were noticed with 60.14 q/ha grain yield. The stem borers can cause yield loss up to 25-30 percent in maize which can be well tackled by seed treatment with thiamethoxam 70FS @ 8ml/kg seed and sowing the crop along with cowpea as intercrop (6:1 row proportion) or NB-21 grass as border crop followed by application of nimbecidine 0.03EC @ 5.0 ml/l and chlorantraniliprole 18.5SC @ 0.2 ml/l on need basis.

Keywords: Maize stem borers, Chilo partellus, Sesamia inferens, crop loss, integrated management

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Authors: Adam Beaunoyer, Cory Beaunoyer, Mohammed Elmorsy, Hanan Saleh

Abstract:

This research aims to create a reinforcement learning agent capable of racing in challenging simulated environments with a low collision count. We present a reinforcement learning agent that can navigate challenging tracks using both a Deep Q-Network (DQN) and a Soft Actor-Critic (SAC) method. A challenging track includes curves, jumps, and varying road widths throughout. Using open-source code on Github, the environment used in this research is based on the 1995 racing game WipeOut. The proposed reinforcement learning agent can navigate challenging tracks rapidly while maintaining low racing completion time and collision count. The results show that the SAC model outperforms the DQN model by a large margin. We also propose an alternative multiple-car model that can navigate the track without colliding with other vehicles on the track. The SAC model is the basis for the multiple-car model, where it can complete the laps quicker than the single-car model but has a higher collision rate with the track wall.

Keywords: reinforcement learning, soft actor-critic, deep q-network, self-driving cars, artificial intelligence, gaming

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Authors: Mualla McManus, Jenna Luche Thaye

Abstract:

World Health Organisation International Classification of Disease codes were created to define disease including infections in order to guide and educate diagnosticians. Most infectious diseases such as syphilis are clearly defined by their ICD 10 codes and aid/help to educate the clinicians in syphilis diagnosis and treatment globally. However, current ICD 10 codes for relapsing fever Borreliosis and Lyme disease are less clearly defined and can impede appropriate diagnosis especially if the clinician is not familiar with the symptoms of these infectious diseases. This is despite substantial number of scientific articles published in peer-reviewed journals about relapsing fever and Lyme disease. In the USA there are estimated 380,000 people annually contacting Lyme disease, more cases than breast cancer and 6x HIV/AIDS cases. This represents estimated 0.09% of the USA population. If extrapolated to the global population (7billion), 0.09% equates to 63 million people contracting relapsing fever or Lyme disease. In many regions, the rate of contracting some form of infection from tick bite may be even higher. Without accurate and appropriate diagnostic codes, physicians are impeded in their ability to properly care for their patients, leaving those patients invisible and marginalized within the medical system and to those guiding public policy. This results in great personal hardship, pain, disability, and expense. This unnecessarily burdens health care systems, governments, families, and society as a whole. With accurate diagnostic codes in place, robust data can guide medical and public health research, health policy, track mortality and save health care dollars. Better defined ICD codes are the way forward in educating the diagnosticians about relapsing fever and Lyme diseases.

Keywords: WHO ICD codes, relapsing fever, Lyme diseases, World Health Organisation

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Authors: Tiago Valente, Erico Lima, Bruno Deminicis, Andreia Cezario, Wallacy Santos, Fabiane Brito

Abstract:

Introduction: The Leucaena leucocephala known as leucaena is a perennial legume shrub of subtropical regions in which the forage shows favorable characteristics for livestock production. The objective of the study was to evaluate the influence of methods for overcoming dormancy the seeds of Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.). Materials and Methods: The number of germinated seeds was evaluated daily at the germination criterion radicle protrusion (growth, with about 2 cm long, the emerged seedlings of all). After the counting of the number of germinated seeds daily, the following characteristics were evaluated: Step 1: Germination count which represents the cumulative percentage of germinated seeds on the third day after the start of the test (Germ3); Step 2: Percentage of germinated seeds that correspond to the total percentage of seeds that germinate until the a seventh day after start of the test (Germ7); Step 3: Percentage of germinated seeds that correspond to the total percentage of seeds that germinate until the fifteenth day after start of the test (Germ15);Step 4: Germination speed index (GSI), which was calculated with number of germinated seeds to the nth observation; divided by number of days after sowing. Step 5: Total count of seeds do not germinate after 15 days (NGerm).The seed treatments were: (T1) water at 100 ºC/10 min; (T2) water at 100 ºC/1 min; (T3) Acetone (10 min); (T4) Ethyl alcohol (10 minutes); and (T5) intact seeds (control). Data were analyzed using a completely randomized design with eight replications, and it was adopted the Tukey test at 5% significance level. Results and Discussion: The treatment T1, had the highest speed of germination of seeds GSI, differed (P < 0.05). The T5 treatment (control) was the slowest response, between treatments until the seventh day after the beginning of the test (Germ7), with an amount of 20% accumulation of germinated seeds. The worst result of germination it was T5, with 30% of non-germinated seeds after 15 days of sowing. Acknowledgments: IFGoiano and CNPq (Brazil).

Keywords: acetone, boiling water, germination, seed physiology

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Authors: Andrea L. Arnett, Ann T. Packard, Yolanda I. Garces, Kenneth W. Merrell

Abstract:

Objective: Pathologic response following neoadjuvant chemoradiation (CRT) has been associated with improved overall survival (OS). Conflicting results have been reported regarding the pathologic predictive value of positron emission tomography (PET) response in patients with stage III lung cancer. The aim of this study was to evaluate the correlation between post-treatment PET response and pathologic response utilizing novel FDG-PET parameters. Methods: This retrospective study included patients with non-metastatic, stage IIIA (N2) NSCLC cancer treated with CRT followed by resection. All patients underwent PET prior to and after neoadjuvant CRT. Univariate analysis was utilized to assess correlations between PET response, nodal clearance, pCR, and near-complete pathologic response (defined as the microscopic residual disease or less). Maximal standard uptake value (SUV), standard uptake ratio (SUR) [normalized independently to the liver (SUR-L) and blood pool (SUR-BP)], metabolic tumor volume (MTV), and total lesion glycolysis (TLG) were measured pre- and post-chemoradiation. Results: A total of 44 patients were included for review. Median age was 61.9 years, and median follow-up was 2.6 years. Histologic subtypes included adenocarcinoma (72.2%) and squamous cell carcinoma (22.7%), and the majority of patients had the T2 disease (59.1%). The rate of pCR and near-complete pathologic response within the primary lesion was 28.9% and 44.4%, respectively. The average reduction in SUVmₐₓ was 9.2 units (range -1.9-32.8), and the majority of patients demonstrated some degree of favorable treatment response. SUR-BP and SUR-L showed a mean reduction of 4.7 units (range -0.1-17.3) and 3.5 units (range –1.7-12.6), respectively. Variation in PET response was not significantly associated with histologic subtype, concurrent chemotherapy type, stage, or radiation dose. No significant correlation was found between pathologic response and absolute change in MTV or TLG. Reduction in SUVmₐₓ and SUR were associated with increased rate of pathologic response (p ≤ 0.02). This correlation was not impacted by normalization of SUR to liver versus mediastinal blood pool. A threshold of > 75% decrease in SUR-L correlated with near-complete response, with a sensitivity of 57.9% and specificity of 85.7%, as well as positive and negative predictive values of 78.6% and 69.2%, respectively (diagnostic odds ratio [DOR]: 5.6, p=0.02). A threshold of >50% decrease in SUR was also significantly associated pathologic response (DOR 12.9, p=0.2), but specificity was substantially lower when utilizing this threshold value. No significant association was found between nodal PET parameters and pathologic nodal clearance. Conclusions: Our results suggest that treatment response to neoadjuvant therapy as assessed on PET imaging can be a predictor of pathologic response when evaluated via SUV and SUR. SUR parameters were associated with higher diagnostic odds ratios, suggesting improved predictive utility compared to SUVmₐₓ. MTV and TLG did not prove to be significant predictors of pathologic response but may warrant further investigation in a larger cohort of patients.

Keywords: lung cancer, positron emission tomography (PET), standard uptake ratio (SUR), standard uptake value (SUV)

Procedia PDF Downloads 218

Authors: Vijaya Kumar, Vidayasagar Pagilla, Abraham Joshua, Rakshith Kedambadi, Prasanna Mithra

Abstract:

Background: Post stroke rehabilitation are aimed to accelerate for optimal sensorimotor recovery, functional gain and to reduce long-term dependency. Intensive physical therapy interventions can enhance this recovery as experience-dependent neural plastic changes either directly act at cortical neural networks or at distal peripheral level (muscular components). Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation (NMES), a traditional bottom-up approach, mirror therapy (MT), a relatively new top down approach have found to be an effective adjuvant treatment methods for lower extremity motor and functional recovery in stroke rehabilitation. However there is a scarcity of evidence to compare their therapeutic gain in stroke recovery.Aim: To compare the efficacy of neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) and mirror therapy (MT) in very early phase of post stroke rehabilitation addressed to lower extremity motor recovery and balance. Design: observer blinded Randomized Clinical Trial. Setting: Neurorehabilitation Unit, Department of Physical Therapy, Tertiary Care Hospitals. Subjects: 32 acute stroke subjects with first episode of unilateral stroke with hemiparesis, referred for rehabilitation (onset < 3 weeks), Brunnstorm lower extremity recovery stages ≥3 and MMSE score more than 24 were randomized into two group [Group A-NMES and Group B-MT]. Interventions: Both the groups received eclectic approach to remediate lower extremity recovery which includes treatment components of Roods, Bobath and Motor learning approaches for 30 minutes a day for 6 days. Following which Group A (N=16) received 30 minutes of surface NMES training for six major paretic muscle groups (gluteus maximus and medius,quadriceps, hamstrings, tibialis anterior and gastrocnemius). Group B (N=16) was administered with 30 minutes of mirror therapy sessions to facilitate lower extremity motor recovery. Outcome measures: Lower extremity motor recovery, balance and activities of daily life (ADLs) were measured by Fugyl Meyer Assessment (FMA-LE), Berg Balance Scale (BBS), Barthel Index (BI) before and after intervention. Results: Pre Post analysis of either group across the time revealed statistically significant improvement (p < 0.001) for all the outcome variables for the either group. All parameters of NMES had greater change scores compared to MT group as follows: FMA-LE (25.12±3.01 vs. 23.31±2.38), BBS (35.12±4.61 vs. 34.68±5.42) and BI (40.00±10.32 vs. 37.18±7.73). Between the groups comparison of pre post values showed no significance with FMA-LE (p=0.09), BBS (p=0.80) and BI (p=0.39) respectively. Conclusion: Though either groups had significant improvement (pre to post intervention), none of them were superior to other in lower extremity motor recovery and balance among acute stroke subjects. We conclude that eclectic approach is an effective treatment irrespective of NMES or MT as an adjunct.

Keywords: balance, motor recovery, mirror therapy, neuromuscular electrical stimulation, stroke

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Authors: Godwin E. Egbung, Item J. Atangwho, Diana O. Odey, Eyong U. Eyong

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Background of the study: The frequent abuse of acetaminophen by field workers in Calabar metropolis necessitated the present study on the hypolipidemic and anti-nephrotoxic potentials of Vernonia calvoana (VC) extract in acetaminophen (paracetamol) treated male albino Wistar rats Methods:. Thirty-five (35) male albino Wistar rats weighing 100-150 g were divided into five (5) groups of seven rats each. Group 1 served as normal control, group 2 received normal saline after treatment with Acetaminophen (PCM), group 3 was treated with VC extracts (200 mg/kg body weight), group 4 received VC extracts ( 400 mg/kg body weight) and group 5 was administered 100 mg/kg body weight of Vitamin E. At the end of the 21 days treatment period, the animals were sacrificed using chloroform vapours, and blood was collected via cardiac puncture and used for analyses of haematological as well as biochemical indices. Results: Results indicated significant decreases (p < 0.001) in LDL-c, TC and TG levels in groups 3,4 and 5 relative to both the control as well as group 2, the atherogenic index showed a significant decrease at p < 0.001) in all treated groups compared with control and PCM- treated group. However, both extracts treated groups and vitamin E treated group showed significant (p < 0.001) increase in HDL-c relative to the control and PCM treated group. Serum potassium concentration was significantly (p < 0.05 and 0.001) reduced across all the treated groups compared with control and PCM- treated groups. Group 4 showed significant (p < 0.001) increase in RBC count, Hb, and PCV compared with PCM- treated group. Conclusions: We therefore conclude that ethanolic leaf extract of VC possesses probable anti-anemic, hypolipidemic potentials, and also ameliorates serum electrolyte imbalance in paracetamol- induced toxicity.

Keywords: acetaminophen, haematological indices, hypolipidemic potentials, serum lipid profile, vernonia calvoana, wistar rats

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Authors: Jemini Vyas, Oluwatobi Adeyoe, Jenny Branagan, Chandran Tanabalan, John Beatty, Aakash Pai

Abstract:

Introduction: The development of robotic surgery has accelerated centralisation to tertiary centres, where robotic radical prostatectomy (RP) is offered. The purpose of concentrating treatment in high volume specialist centres is to improve the quality of care and patient outcomes. The aim of this study was to assess the impact on clinical outcomes of centralisation for locally diagnosed patients undergoing RP. Methods: Clinical outcomes for 169 consecutive laparoscopic & open RP pre-centralisation were retrospectively compared with 50 consecutive robotic RP conducted over a similar period post-centralisation. Preoperative risk stratification and time to surgery were collected. Perioperative outcomes, including length of stay (LOS) and complications, were collated. Post-operative outcomes, including erectile dysfunction (ED), biochemical recurrence (BCR), and urinary continence, were assessed. Results: Preoperative risk stratification showed no difference between the two groups. The median time from diagnosis to treatment was similar between the two groups (pre-centralisation, 121 days, post-centralisation, 117 days). The mean length of stay (pre-centralisation, 2.1 days, post-centralisation, 1.6 days) showed no significant difference (p=0.073). Proportion of overall complications (pre-centralisation, 11.4%, post-centralisation, 8.7%) and complications, above Clavien-Dindo 2, were similar between the two groups (pre-centralisation1.2%, post-centralisation 2.2%). Post operative functional parameters, including continence and ED, were comparable. Five-year BCR free rate was 78% for the pre-centralisation group and 79% for the post centralisation group. Conclusion: For our cohort of patients, clinical outcomes have remained static during centralisation. It is imperative that centralisation is accompanied by increased capacity, streamlining of pathways, and training to ensure that improved quality of care is achieved. Our institution has newly acquired a robot, and prospectively studying this data may support the reversal of centralisation for RP surgery.

Keywords: prostate, cancer, prostatectomy, clinical

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Authors: Suttipong Phosuksirikul, Rawichar Chaipojjana, Arunsri Leejeerajumnean

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The aim of research was to define the relations between volatile compounds, some parameters (pH, titratable acidity (TA), total soluble solid (TSS), lactic acid bacteria count) and consumer preference of commercial fermented milks. These relations tend to be used for controlling and developing new fermented milk product. Three leading commercial brands of fermented milks in Thailand were evaluated by consumers (n=71) using hedonic scale for four attributes (sweetness, sourness, flavour, and overall liking), volatile compounds using headspace-solid phase microextraction (HS-SPME) GC-MS, pH, TA, TSS and LAB count. Then the relations were analyzed by principal component analysis (PCA). The PCA data showed that all of four attributes liking scores were related to each other. They were also related to TA, TSS and volatile compounds. The related volatile compounds were mainly on fermented produced compounds including acetic acid, furanmethanol, furfural, octanoic acid and the volatiles known as artificial fruit flavour (beta pinene, limonene, vanillin, and ethyl vanillin). These compounds were provided the information about flavour addition in commercial fermented milk in Thailand.

Keywords: fermented milk, volatile compounds, preference, PCA

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Authors: Aghbalou Nihad, Charki Abderafi, Saida Rahali, Reklaoui Kamal

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Maximize the benefit from the wind energy potential is the most interest of the wind power stakeholders. As a result, the wind tower size is radically increasing. Nevertheless, choosing an appropriate wind turbine for a selected site require an accurate estimate of vertical wind profile. It is also imperative from cost and maintenance strategy point of view. Then, installing tall towers or even more expensive devices such as LIDAR or SODAR raises the costs of a wind power project. Various models were developed coming within this framework. However, they suffer from complexity, generalization and lacks accuracy. In this work, we aim to investigate the ability of neural network trained using the Bayesian Regularization technique to estimate wind speed profile up to height of 100 m based on knowledge of wind speed lower heights. Results show that the proposed approach can achieve satisfactory predictions and proof the suitability of the proposed method for generating wind speed profile and probability distributions based on knowledge of wind speed at lower heights.

Keywords: bayesian regularization, neural network, wind shear, accuracy

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