The application of tannin extract from Anogeissus leiocarpus plant as wood adhesives

This work reports the extraction and application of tannins as wood- adhesives from Anogeissus leiocarpus plant using water, acetone or a mixture of these as solvent. In terms of the quantity of extracts from polyphenolic extract of Anogeissus leiocarpus bark, water was the most effective solvent, followed sequentially by acetone and solvent mixture (90% acetone and 10% water). The use of solvent mixture in tannin extraction yielded high tannin content. The poly condensation reaction of Anogeissus leiocarpus bark extract is influenced significantly by amount of formaldehyde (9.0 ml), tannin (2.5 g), glycerol (0.6 ml), cure temperature 80OC, types and pH 7.5 of the adhesive medium. Adhesive joint of significant bond strength were obtained from Anogeissus leiocarpus tannin adhesive. Prolonged cure periods particularly at elevated temperature have adverse effect on the strength properties of these joints, especially with wood- panels as substrates. Joint prepared with adhesive derived from these extracts were tested for strength properties.Keywords: Anogeissus leiocarpus, tannin, polycondensation, Formaldehyde, cure temperature

Effect of Variety, Seed Rate and Row Spacing on the Growth and Yield of Rice in Bauchi, Nigeria

Field experiments were conducted at Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Fadama Farm Bauchi, during the rainy seasons of 2006 and 2007 to study the effects of variety, seeding rate and row spacing on growth and yield of rice. Two varieties of rice; Ex – China (Indigenous and upland/lowland) and NERICA-1 (improved and upland), three seeding rates (32, 54 and 75 kg/ha) and four row spacings (15, 20, 25 and broadcast) were used during the study. The treatments were combined and laid in a split – split plot design with three replications. Variety was placed in the main plot, seeding rate in the sub plot while row spacing was placed in sub –sub plot. Data were collected on parameters such as plant height, number of tillers per plant, spikes per hill, spikelets per spike and number of seeds per spike, seed weight per hill, 1000 grain weight and yield kg ha-1 and analyzed using analysis of variance procedure for split – split plot and significant differences among the treatment means were separated using the Duncan multiple range test (DMRT). Variety Ex-China produced significantly (P<0.05) higher numbers of tillers per plant and spikes per hill. However, NERICA-1 produced significantly (P<0.05) higher numbers of spikelets per spike, seeds per spike, weight of seed per spike, weight of seed per hill, 1000 grain weight and yield in kg ha-1 than Ex-China. Row spacings of 15, 20 and 25cm also had significant effects on the number of tillers per plant, number of spikes per hill, number of spikelets per spike, number of seeds per spike, weight of seed per spike, weight of seed per hill, 1000 grain weight and yield kg ha-1 over the control. From the factors studied, seeding rate did not show any significant difference during the two years of investigation. Interactions were also observed among the factors studied. Therefore, row spacings irrespective of the method used, or hole planting of rice could be more appropriate for optimum grain yield.Key words: Seed rate, Row spacing, Spike

Potential application of resin extracts of Anogeissus leiocarpus plant

This work reports the application of tannin obtained from Anogeissus leiocarpus plant and its use in formulation of a thermosetting material for domestic and industrial use. The ploy condensation of tannin with formaldehyde produced a thermosetting resin with useful properties; formaldehyde (10.5 ml), tannin (2.5 g), glycerol (0.6 ml), hexamine (5.5 g), pH 7.5 and temperature 60 °C. Gel viscosity and effect of temperature on gel time were determined. Absorption behaviour of the films from the thermosetting material formulated under aqueous, acid and basic conditions were investigated. Water absorption up to 90% was obtained between 1 to 3 hrs. Perhaps due to differences in chain topology of the material formulated related to the molecular size holes in the polymer structure which depends on the morphology and crosslink density of the material. No acid absorption was observed after 12 hrs indicating that cross-linking reaction was still taking place in the solution.Keywords: Thermosetting, Resin, Polycondensation, Tannin, polymerization, viscosit

A review on efficacy of Kayaseka in Pakshaghata

Man has always feared two things death and disease. Stroke is a disease which appears suddenly with strong pathophysiology. It is responsible for more dependency than any other disease since it hampers the functional ability of person sometimes it may even lead to death. As birds need both wings to maintain posture, co-ordination of movements, execution of different movements similarly humans need both halves. If a bird loses its one wing it is unable to fly and even live due to depraved morbidity. In the same way when person suffers from stroke he is a like bird with clipped wings. Pakshaghata is a Vatavyadhi. Acharyas have established it under Astamahagada. In all types of Vatavyadhi, Snehana and Swedana are mentioned as a line of treatment. Acharya Charaka advocates the use of Ushnaveerya Parisheka in the mitigation of Vata Dosha. Induction of Swedana by unique procedure of pouring liquid by warm medicated oil on body is known as Parisheka Sweda. When it is performed on whole body along with the Abhyanga, is known as Kayaseka

Norovirus Infection and Disease in an Ecuadorian Birth Cohort: Association of Certain Norovirus Genotypes With Host FUT2 Secretor Status.

BACKGROUND: Although norovirus is the most common cause of gastroenteritis, there are few data on the community incidence of infection/disease or the patterns of acquired immunity or innate resistance to norovirus. METHODS: We followed a community-based birth cohort of 194 children in Ecuador with the aim to estimate (1) the incidence of norovirus gastroenteritis from birth to age 3 years, (2) the protective effect of norovirus infection against subsequent infection/disease, and (3) the association of infection and disease with FUT2 secretor status. RESULTS: Over the 3-year period, we detected a mean of 2.26 diarrheal episodes per child (range, 0-12 episodes). Norovirus was detected in 260 samples (18%) but was not found more frequently in diarrheal samples (79 of 438 [18%]), compared with diarrhea-free samples (181 of 1016 [18%]; P = .919). A total of 66% of children had at least 1 norovirus infection during the first 3 years of life, and 40% of children had 2 infections. Previous norovirus infections were not associated with the risk of subsequent infection. All genogroup II, genotype 4 (GII.4) infections were among secretor-positive children (P < .001), but higher rates of non-GII.4 infections were found in secretor-negative children (relative risk, 0.56; P = .029). CONCLUSIONS: GII.4 infections were uniquely detected in secretor-positive children, while non-GII.4 infections were more often found in secretor-negative children

Intersected EMG heatmaps and deep learning based gesture recognition

Hand gesture recognition in myoelectric based prosthetic devices is a key challenge to offering effective solutions to hand/lower arm amputees. A novel hand gesture recognition methodology that employs the difference of EMG energy heatmaps as the input of a specific designed deep learning neural network is presented. Experimental results using data from real amputees indicate that the proposed design achieves 94.31% as average accuracy with best accuracy rate of 98.96%. A comparison of experimental results between the proposed novel hand gesture recognition methodology and other similar approaches indicates the superior effectiveness of the new design

Prinzip der mendelschen Randomisierung und Anwendung in der kardiovaskulären Medizin

Zusammenfassung: Hintergrund: Die Methode der mendelschen Randomisierung wird zunehmend zur Auswertung genetischer und epidemiologischer Daten genutzt. Korrekt angewendet, können wichtige Erkenntnisse für die klinische Forschung, Entwicklung neuer Pharmaka und die Patientenversorgung gewonnen werden. Ziel der Arbeit: Die vorliegende Übersichtsarbeit soll das Prinzip, Anwendungsmöglichkeiten und Limitationen der mendelschen Randomisierung anhand von Beispielen aus der kardiovaskulären Medizin aufzeigen. Material und Methode: Es erfolgte eine selektive Literaturrecherche in PudMed. Weiterhin flossen Erfahrungen der Autoren in der Anwendung der mendelschen Randomisierung ein. Ergebnisse: Mithilfe der mendelschen Randomisierung können Menschen anhand von genetischen Markern randomisiert werden. Geeignete genetische Marker sind direkt mit einer lebenslangen Exposition assoziiert. Bei Nachweis einer Assoziation zwischen dem genetischen Marker und einer Erkrankung kann man von einer kausalen Beziehung zwischen der Exposition und der Erkrankung ausgehen. Somit können aus epidemiologischen Daten Schlussfolgerungen zur Kausalität einer Assoziation und deren quantitativer Ausprägung gezogen werden. Weiterhin können mithilfe der mendelschen Randomisierung die Ergebnisse klinischer Studien antizipiert werden, was Rückschlüsse über bekannte Wirkstoffe erlaubt und der Entwicklung neuer pharmakologischer Prinzipien dient. Die Limitationen der mendelschen Randomisierung müssen bei der Interpretation der gewonnenen Erkenntnisse beachtet werden. Schlussfolgerung: Um Studien, welche auf dem Prinzip der mendelschen Randomisierung beruhen, kritisch interpretieren zu können, ist ein grundlegendes Verständnis der Möglichkeiten und Grenzen der Methode notwendig

Estimating the workload associated with symptoms-based ovarian cancer screening in primary care: an audit of electronic medical records

BACKGROUND: Ovarian cancer is the most lethal gynaecological malignancy in the United Kingdom (UK). Studies have found that many women with ovarian cancer have symptoms for several months before diagnosis. Using a symptoms-based tool to diagnose ovarian cancer (OC) earlier is appealing, but may increase general practitioner (GP) workload because the symptoms are typically vague and non-specific. This study aimed to provide estimates of the GP workload associated with offering symptoms-based ovarian cancer screening. METHODS: A cross-sectional analysis of electronic records from four general practices in England, UK. We downloaded anonymous data on women aged 45–74 who consulted over one week to estimate the proportion who would be offered ‘screening’ according to the UK National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines and a symptoms index (Index 2) over one year. We used previous consultations (censoring women with no prior symptom at the date of their last recorded consultation) to estimate the proportion of women presenting with a new (not recorded in previous 12 months) NICE symptom each year. RESULTS: Data were obtained from 19,558 women. The proportion presenting over one week varied between practices (5%-14%), however, the proportion with an OC symptom was similar (17% overall). Over one year, an estimated 51.8% (95% CI 44.0%-59.7%) would present with an OC symptom, 26.6% (95% CI 19.3%-35.1%) with a NICE symptom and 20.3% (95% CI 13.7%-28.5%) with an Index 2 symptom. Each year, an estimated 11.9% (95% CI 5.0%-18.3%) of women would present with a new NICE symptom. CONCLUSION: One in two women aged 45–74 present to primary care at least once a year with an OC symptom, 11.9% with a new NICE symptom. This would be comparable to 2 to 8 yearly screening (depending on what symptoms triggered testing)

Analysis of acute vascular damage after photodynamic therapy using benzoporphyrin derivative (BPD)

Benzoporphyrin derivative monoacid ring A (BPD-MA, verteporfin) is currently under investigation as a photosensitizer for photodynamic therapy (PDT). Since BPD exhibits rapid pharmacokinetics in plasma and tissues, we assessed damage to tumour and muscle microvasculature when light treatment for PDT was given at short times after injection of photosensitizer. Groups of rats with chondrosarcoma were given 2 mg kg−1 of BPD intravenously 5 min to 180 min before light treatment of 150 J cm−2 690 nm. Vascular response was monitored using intravital microscopy and tumour cure was monitored by following regrowth over 42 days. For treatment at 5 or 30 min after BPD injection, blood flow stasis was limited to tumour microvasculature with lesser response in the surrounding normal microvasculature, indicating selective targeting for damage. No acute changes were observed in vessels when light was given 180 min after BPD injection. Tumour regression after light treatment occurred in all animals given PDT with BPD. Long-term tumour regression was greater in animals treated 5 min after BPD injection and least in animals given treatment 180 min after drug injection. The correlation between the timing for vascular damage and cure implies that blood flow stasis plays a significant role in PDT-induced tumour destruction. © 1999 Cancer Research Campaig

A SM-like Higgs near 125 GeV in low energy SUSY: a comparative study for MSSM and NMSSM

Motivated by the recent LHC hints of a Higgs boson around 125 GeV, we assume a SM-like Higgs with the mass 123-127 GeV and study its implication in low energy SUSY by comparing the MSSM and NMSSM. We consider various experimental constraints at 2-sigma level (including the muon g-2 and the dark matter relic density) and perform a comprehensive scan over the parameter space of each model. Then in the parameter space which is allowed by current experimental constraints and also predicts a SM-like Higgs in 123-127 GeV, we examine the properties of the sensitive parameters (like the top squark mass and the trilinear coupling A_t) and calculate the rates of the di-photon signal and the VV^* (V=W,Z) signals at the LHC. Our typical findings are: (i) In the MSSM the top squark and A_t must be large and thus incur some fine-tuning, which can be much ameliorated in the NMSSM; (ii) In the MSSM a light stau is needed to enhance the di-photon rate of the SM-like Higgs to exceed its SM prediction, while in the NMSSM the di-photon rate can be readily enhanced in several ways; (iii) In the MSSM the signal rates of pp -> h -> VV^* at the LHC are never enhanced compared with their SM predictions, while in the NMSSM they may get enhanced significantly; (iv) A large part of the parameter space so far survived will be soon covered by the expected XENON100(2012) sensitivity (especially for the NMSSM).Comment: Version in JHEP (refs added