A study of eosinophil count in nasal and blood smear in allergic respiratory diseases in a rural setup

ABSTRACT: Allergic respiratory disorders are fairly common visiting cases in pediatrics outpatient department (OPD). With an appropriate history and detailed examination, diagnosis may not be problematic. Routine investigation may not contribute much to the final diagnosis but may help in ruling out other possibilities. This study was done to evaluate sensitivity and specificity of blood or nasal eosinophilia in subjects suffering from allergic respiratory disorders and also to assess the feasibility of nasal cytogram which is a simple, economical and reliable investigation in allergic respiratory disorders. This is a prospective clinical correlation study of patients attending outpatient department. 100 subjects aged between 2-18 years of either sex were selected for the estimation of eosinophil count in nasal and peripheral smear in allergic respiratory disorders. All allergic respiratory cases based on eosinophillia. The nasal and blood eosinophilia were compared with each other and clinical findings of allergic rhinitis with or without asthma were studied. In this study peak age incidence was seen between 11-18 years and it was more common in males. Rhinorrhoea, pale mucosa and nasal obstruction were common findings in allergic rhinitis with bronchial asthma. Nasal eosinophilia was seen in 52.4% and 64.9% of cases of allergic rhinitis and allergic rhinitis with asthma respectively. Blood eosinophilia was seen in 54% and 56.8% of cases of allergic rhinitis with asthma respectively. Nasal cytogram which is a simple, economical and non- invasive procedure can be used as an alternative to invasive peripheral smear eosinophilia as both are equally efficacious in diagnosing allergic respiratory diseases.KEYWORDS: Eosinophilia; Allergic rhinitis; Bronchial asthmaInternet Journal of Medical Update 2012 January;7(1):40-4

A Design of Experiments Approach Towards Desired Flow Distribution Through Manifolds in Electronics Cooling

For rack-mounted electronics, flow distribution is desired as per the heat load characteristics. In the literature, attainment of flow uniformity through manifolds is highlighted and widely discussed as it has more applications. To attain desired flow distribution, the complexity of the problem increases. In the present paper, the Design of Experiments (DOE) along with response surface optimization is used to arrive at desired flow, which includes uniform flow also. A three-dimension, 10-channel Z-type manifold is considered for the study. This model is taken from experimentally verified and published data for which desired flow patterns are achieved. Flow requirement through each channel is set as a parameter for optimization and by the defined sample set under DOE, uniform flow and pattern flow are achieved by introducing suitable orifices. Multi-Objective Genetic Algorithm (MOGA) is used for obtaining orifice diameters. A good agreement is observed between the attained flow patterns and desired patterns. This approach is simple and can be implemented for industrial applications

Unsteady reactive magnetic radiative micropolar flow, heat and mass transfer from an inclined plate with joule heating: a model for magnetic polymer processing

Magnetic polymer materials processing involves many multi-physical and chemical effects. Motivated by such applications, in the present work a theoretical analysis is conducted of combined heat and mass transfer in unsteady mixed convection flow of micropolar fluid over an oscillatory inclined porous plate in a homogenous porous medium with heat source, radiation absorption and Joule dissipation. A first order homogenous chemical reaction model is used. The transformed non-dimensional boundary value problem is solved using a perturbation method and Runge-Kutta fourth order numerical quadrature (shooting technique). The emerging parameters dictating the transport phenomena are shown to be the gyro-viscosity micropolar material parameter, magnetic field parameter, permeability of the porous medium, Prandtl number, Schmidt number, thermal Grashof number, species Grashof number, thermal radiation-conduction parameter, heat absorption parameter, radiation absorption parameter, Eckert number, chemical reaction parameter and Eringen coupling number (vortex viscosity ratio parameter). The impact of these parameters on linear velocity, microrotation (angular velocity), temperature and concentration are evaluated in detail. Results for skin friction coefficient, couple stress coefficient, Nusselt number and Sherwood number are also included. Couple stress is observed to be reduced with stronger magnetic field. Verification of solutions is achieved with earlier published analytical results

Oscillatory dissipative conjugate heat and mass transfer in chemically-reacting micropolar flow with wall couple stress : a finite element numerical study

High temperature non-Newtonian materials processing provides a stimulating area for process engineering simulation. Motivated by emerging applications in this area, the present article investigates the time-dependent free convective flow of a chemically-reacting micropolar fluid from a vertical plate oscillating in its own plane adjacent to a porous medium. Thermal radiative, viscous dissipation and wall couple stress effects are included. The Rosseland diffusion approximation is used to model uni-directional radiative heat flux in the energy equation. Darcy’s model is adopted to mimic porous medium drag force effects. The governing two-dimensional conservation equations are normalized with appropriate variables and transformed into a dimensionless, coupled, nonlinear system of partial differential equations under the assumption of low Reynolds number. The governing boundary value problem is then solved under physically viable boundary conditions numerically with a finite element method based on the weighted residual approach. Graphical illustrations for velocity, micro-rotation (angular velocity), temperature and concentration are obtained as functions of the emerging physical parameters i.e. thermal radiation, viscous dissipation, first order chemical reaction parameter etc. Furthermore, friction factor (skin friction), surface heat transfer and mass transfer rates have been tabulated quantitatively for selected thermo-physical parameters. A comparison with previously published paper is made to check the validity and accuracy of the present finite element solutions under some limiting cases and excellent agreement is attained. Additionally, a mesh independence study is conducted. The model is relevant to reactive polymeric materials processing simulation

Analysis of radiation-induced cell death in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma and rat liver maintained in microfluidic devices

Objective The aim of this study was to investigate how head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) tissue biopsies maintained in a pseudo in vivo environment within a bespoke microfluidic device respond to radiation treatment. Study Design Feasibility study. Setting Tertiary referral center. Subjects and Methods Thirty-five patients with HNSCC were recruited, and liver tissue from 5 Wistar rats was obtained. A microfluidic device was used to maintain the tissue biopsy samples in a viable state. Rat liver was used to optimize the methodology. HNSCC was obtained from patients with T1-T3 laryngeal or oropharyngeal SCC; N1-N2 metastatic cervical lymph nodes were also obtained. Irradiation consisted of single doses of between 2 Gy and 40 Gy and a fractionated course of 5×2 Gy. Cell death was assessed in the tissue effluent using the soluble markers lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and cytochrome c and in the tissue by immunohistochemical detection of cleaved cytokeratin18 (M30 antibody). Results A significant surge in LDH release was demonstrated in the rat liver after a single dose of 20 Gy; in HNSCC, it was seen after 40 Gy compared with the control. There was no significant difference in cytochrome c release after 5 Gy or 10 Gy. M30 demonstrated a dose-dependent increase in apoptotic index for a given increase in single-dose radiotherapy. There was a significant increase in apoptotic index between 1×2 Gy and 5×2 Gy. Conclusion M30 is a superior method compared with soluble markers in detecting low-dose radiation-induced cell death. This microfluidic technique can be used to assess radiation-induced cell death in HNSCC and therefore has the potential to be used to predict radiation response

Nonlinear Dynamics of Silicon Nanowire Resonator Considering Nonlocal Effect

In this work, nonlinear dynamics of silicon nanowire resonator considering nonlocal effect has been investigated. For the first time, dynamical parameters (e.g., resonant frequency, Duffing coefficient, and the damping ratio) that directly influence the nonlinear dynamics of the nanostructure have been derived. Subsequently, by calculating their response with the varied nonlocal coefficient, it is unveiled that the nonlocal effect makes more obvious impacts at the starting range (from zero to a small value), while the impact of nonlocal effect becomes weaker when the nonlocal term reaches to a certain threshold value. Furthermore, to characterize the role played by nonlocal effect in exerting influence on nonlinear behaviors such as bifurcation and chaos (typical phenomena in nonlinear dynamics of nanoscale devices), we have calculated the Lyapunov exponents and bifurcation diagram with and without nonlocal effect, and results shows the nonlocal effect causes the most significant effect as the device is at resonance. This work advances the development of nanowire resonators that are working beyond linear regime

Finite element computation of multi-physical micropolar transport phenomena from an inclined moving plate in porous media

Non-Newtonian flows arise in numerous industrial transport processes including materials fabrication systems. Micropolar theory offers an excellent mechanism for exploring the fluid dynamics of new non-Newtonian materials which possess internal microstructure. Magnetic fields may also be used for controlling electrically-conducting polymeric flows. To explore numerical simulation of transport in rheological materials processing, in the current paper, a finite element computational solution is presented for magnetohydrodynamic (MHD), incompressible, dissipative, radiative and chemically-reacting micropolar fluid flow, heat and mass transfer adjacent to an inclined porous plate embedded in a saturated homogenous porous medium. Heat generation/absorption effects are included. Rosseland’s diffusion approximation is used to describe the radiative heat flux in the energy equation. A Darcy model is employed to simulate drag effects in the porous medium. The governing transport equations are rendered into non-dimensional form under the assumption of low Reynolds number and also low magnetic Reynolds number. Using a Galerkin formulation with a weighted residual scheme, finite element solutions are presented to the boundary value problem. The influence of plate inclination, Eringen coupling number, radiation-conduction number, heat absorption/generation parameter, chemical reaction parameter, plate moving velocity parameter, magnetic parameter, thermal Grashof number, species (solutal) Grashof number, permeability parameter, Eckert number on linear velocity, micro-rotation, temperature and concentration profiles. Furthermore, the influence of selected thermo-physical parameters on friction factor, surface heat transfer and mass transfer rate is also tabulated. The finite element solutions are verified with solutions from several limiting cases in the literature. Interesting features in the flow are identified and interpreted

Interleukin-17D and Nrf2 mediate initial innate immune cell recruitment and restrict MCMV infection.

Innate immune cells quickly infiltrate the site of pathogen entry and not only stave off infection but also initiate antigen presentation and promote adaptive immunity. The recruitment of innate leukocytes has been well studied in the context of extracellular bacterial and fungal infection but less during viral infections. We have recently shown that the understudied cytokine Interleukin (IL)-17D can mediate neutrophil, natural killer (NK) cell and monocyte infiltration in sterile inflammation and cancer. Herein, we show that early immune cell accumulation at the peritoneal site of infection by mouse cytomegalovirus (MCMV) is mediated by IL-17D. Mice deficient in IL-17D or the transcription factor Nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 (Nrf2), an inducer of IL-17D, featured an early decreased number of innate immune cells at the point of viral entry and were more susceptible to MCMV infection. Interestingly, we were able to artificially induce innate leukocyte infiltration by applying the Nrf2 activator tert-butylhydroquinone (tBHQ), which rendered mice less susceptible to MCMV infection. Our results implicate the Nrf2/IL-17D axis as a sensor of viral infection and suggest therapeutic benefit in boosting this pathway to promote innate antiviral responses