Analysis of wave III of brain stem auditory evoked potential waveforms during microvascular decompression of cranial nerve VII for hemifacial spasm

INTRODUCTION:: Intraoperative monitoring of brain stem auditory evoked potential during microvascular decompression (MVD) prevent hearing loss (HL). Previous studies have shown that changes in wave III (wIII) are an early and sensitive sign of auditory nerve injury. OBJECTIVE:: To evaluate the changes of amplitude and latency of wIII of brain stem auditory evoked potential during MVD and its association with postoperative HL. Hearing loss was classified by American Academy of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery (AAO-HNS) criteria, based on changes in pure tone audiometry and speech discrimination score. METHODS:: Retrospective analysis of wIII in patients who underwent intraoperative monitoring with brain stem auditory evoked potential during MVD was performed. A univariate logistic regression analysis was performed on independent variables amplitude of wIII and latency of wIII at change max and On-Skin, or a final recording at the time of skin closure. A further analysis for the same variables was performed adjusting for the loss of wave. RESULTS:: The latency of wIII was not found to be significantly different between groups I and II. The amplitude of wIII was significantly decreased in the group with HL. Regression analysis did not find any increased odds of HL with changes in the amplitude of wIII. CONCLUSIONS:: Changes in wave III did not increase the odds of HL in patients who underwent brain stem auditory evoked potential s during MVD. This information might be valuable to evaluate the value of wIII as an alarm criterion during MVD to prevent HL. © 2014 by the American Clinical Neurophysiology Society

Advancements In Effective Black Cotton Soil Stabilization: A Review

Soil stabilization has become the main concern to develop promising structures by strengthening the characteristics of weak soil. This can be achieved by incorporating many stabilization techniques like sand cushions, CNS layer method, columns, vibrations, and chemical methods. This re-view is based on a study of different soil stabilizing procedures and their effectiveness in altering and intensifying the features like Optimum Moisture Content (OMC), California Bearing Ratio (CBR), Maximum Dry Density (MDD), Unconfined Compressive Strength (UCS) and shrinkage behavior, etc., of feeble soil as it covers the greatest land area in India

2-(2,6-Dimethoxy­phen­yl)-5-hydr­oxy-7-meth­oxy-4H-1-benzopyran-4-one

In the title compound, C18H16O6, the dimethoxy­phenyl ring is rotated by 61.8 (1)° from the plane of the benzopyran system. The mol­ecule is stabilized by an intra­molecular O—H⋯O hydrogen bond

Solid–liquid mass transfer coefficients in an ultrasound-irradiated extraction of iota-carrageenan

A 20-kHz intensity ultrasound was used in the extraction of iota-carrageenan from Eucheuma denticulatum seaweed by using water as solvent. In a simplified extraction procedure, the seaweed particle size of 0.7125E-03 m, 1.2E-3 m, and 1.7E-03 m diameter were studied at different ultrasonic amplitude levels, ranging from 2.08E-06 to 6.4E-06 m and the temperatures from 30 to 60 °C. The maximum iota-carrageenan yield obtained was 57.2 %. This study suggested that ultrasound intensity employed reduced the extraction time required and improved the yield of iota-carrageenan by 6 %. The particle diameter variation during the extraction was found to be a linear equation. The solid-liquid mass transfer coefficient was correlated for ultrasound extraction of iota-carrageenan in terms of operating conditions employed in this investigation as kL = 0:0027A0.866Dp -0.533(T)0.133

Ameliorative Effect of Ginger on Blood Glucose Levels and Cardiac TCA Cycle Enzymes Activity in STZ Induced Diabetic Rat

This study aimed to investigate the effects of ginger administration on altered blood glucose levels, cytosolic and mitochondrial enzymes (TCA cycle enzymes) activity in streptozotocin-induced diabetes rats. The study divided Wistar strain rats into five groups: normal control, ginger treated, diabetic control, diabetic plus ginger treated, and diabetic plus glibenclamide treated groups. The diabetic group had significantly elevated blood glucose levels, which were significantly lowered by ginger administration. The cytosolic enzyme G6PDH activity was significantly (P<0.001) decreased along with a significant increase in the LDH activity in diabetic rats heart tissue. The activities of SDH, MDH, GDH in the heart tissue of diabetic rats were significantly decreased, but the daily oral treatment of ginger to diabetic rats for thirty days reversed the above changes in a significant (P<0.001) manner. The study demonstrated that an ethanolic extract of ginger could lower blood glucose levels, improve enzyme activities and body weight in diabetic rats. This suggests that ginger extracts could be used as a cardio-protective supplement to reverse diabetic-induced complications

Structural, Morphological and 1/f noise Properties of ITO/TiO2 thin Films by e-beam Evaporation System for Optoelectronic Device Applications

In the present research study, ITO/TiO2 thin films were prepared on a glass substrate by using an electron beam (e-beam) evaporation system at different annealing temperatures (300, 350, 400 and 450 °C). The amorphous and crystalline natures of ITO/TiO2 structure were analyzed by X-ray diffraction study. As the grain size becomes larger, indirectly it will develop the crystalline quality of the TiO2 films studied from AFM. The surface of TiO2 films and the crystalline size of the sample were increased gradually with respect to a temperature that is observed in SEM. The elemental composition determined by the energy dispersive analysis of EDAX showed that TiO2 thin films were highly stoichiometric. Further, the higher optical transmittance (93%) was obtained with 450 °C annealed ITO/TiO2 film. The optical band gap increased along with annealing temperatures (300, 350, 400 and 450 °C). All the above results of this present work can be utilized for solar cell and optoelectronic device applications. © 2020 Author(s)

Removal of used motor oil from water body using modified commercial activated carbon

In this study, modification of commercial activated carbon (AC) was carried out for adsorption of used motor oil (UMO) from wastewater. The modification process involved impregnation of phosphoric acid at ratio 1: 2 followed by 500oC for 2 h for carbonization. Characterization of modified activated carbon (MAC) was done by using scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy to study morphology and the structural change and to identify the surface functional group of MAC. Based on the results obtained from this study, the percentage yield of the MAC was 63 with a moisture content of 37, and pH was 2.37. The adsorption of UMO by MAC was investigated. The effect of contact time, temperature, and pH to the adsorption process was studied, where the results showed that MAC had higher percentage of adsorption compared to AC. The study of the reusability of MAC was also done for 30 min and three cycles. The result showed that MAC could be regenerated and reused. The study of adsorption equilibrium was done by using Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms. The adsorption of UMO proved to fit better to Freundlich isotherm compared to Langmuir isotherm with a value of 0.9174. The adsorption kinetic study was done using pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order models. The adsorption data showed a better fit to pseudo-first-order kinetic model with a value of 0.9239. Adsorption capacity was found to be 3.951 oil/g (MAC). © 2019 Malaysian Institute of Chemistry. All rights reserved

Formulation of polymeric inhibitor for viscosity reduction of crude oil

Generally, waxes and asphaltenes are classified as solid category which involved with deposition of high-molecular-weighted compounds along pipelines which leads to production issues. This study presents the effect of different mixture concentration consisting of copolymer and solvent on crude oil viscosity in order to find a solution for reduction of wax and asphalthene deposition along the surface of pipelines. There were two proportions used which are ethylene-vinyl acetate 25 (EVA 25), methylcyclohexane (MCH) and paraxylene as first proportion and EVA 40, MCH and paraxylene as second proportion. EVA is a polymer that comprises of linear chain of polyethylene fragment and vinyl acetate molecule which has the ability in controlling the size of formed wax crystals. Laboratory experiments were designed by response surface methodology (RSM) specifically using central composite design (CCD) to formulate ratio and analyzed optimum percentage composition of mixture to obtain a good model. The optimum parameters were 10.02% of EVA 25, 10.00% of MCH and 79.98% of paraxylene for first proportion and 10.00% of EVA 40, 45.78% of MCH and 44.22% of paraxylene for second proportion to minimize the viscosity of crude oil

Optimization study on the effects of shear rate and concentration of inhibitor on wax and asphaltene deposition from crude oil using copolymer and aromatic compounds

In this study, the effects of shear rate and an ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA)-based wax inhibitor towards the viscosity of crude oil was investigated. The viscosity of crude oil decreased when the shear rate increased and the most effective shear rate (in terms of rotational speed) was 100 rpm, which could reduce viscosity as high as 62.96 compared to the lowest shear rate applied (20 rpm). The EVA-based wax inhibitor could reach up to 80.66 of viscosity reduction of crude oil original viscosity when the weight percentage of EVA, methylcyclohexane (MCH) and para-xylene (PX) were 10.00, 45.78 and 44.22, respectively. PX was used as the asphaltene depressant along with the inhibitor. An optimization study evaluated that the most optimum conditions were found to be 10.00, 40.09 and 49.90 respectively for EVA, MCH and PX. © 2019 Malaysian Institute of Chemistry. All rights reserved