The design of a sensitive probe for mass flux measurements of water vapor in air

This investigation pertains to the construction and investigation of a sensitive probe to determine the possibility of measuring the mass flux of water vapor in air under non-flow steady state conditions. The probe was a small electrolysis cell is which the electrolyte (partially hydrated phosphorus pentoxide) was used as the sensing element. The rate of mass transfer was determined by measuring the amount of direct current flowing through the acid film --Abstract, page i

An Interesting Case of Isolated Pancreatic Transection Following Blunt Abdominal Trauma in Emergency Department

Introduction: Traumatic injury to the pancreas is not common, but if the diagnosis is delayed or misdiagnosed in the emergency department (ED), the condition is associated with high morbidity and mortality and raises a question about the quality of emergency care. Here, we describe a rare case of blunt abdominal trauma resulted in isolated pancreas injury. Case presentation: A 25-year-old young male came to our emergency room (ER) in a conscious, anxious state from a nearby town with a history of roadside trauma. Further investigations revealed an isolated pancreatic injury due to trauma with no other major injuries, which occurred due to a sudden high-speed impact of the steering wheel to the epigastrium of a driver while driving the car, severely compressing the pancreas between the backbone and steering wheel. The patient was admitted to the intensive care unit for close observation and monitoring. He was managed conservatively on intravenous fluids, antibiotics, analgesics, and vasopressors. He was discharged after five days in a hemodynamically stable and afebrile condition, on a normal diet. Conclusion: Isolated pancreatic injury following blunt abdominal trauma is rare, and the symptoms are difficult to analyze early due to its retroperitoneal anatomy. Early detection and early intervention are important in the ED, and if left unrecognized, could result in a poor outcome

HEART MONITORING VIA WIRELESS ECG

The monitoring of heart had been a complex task. Acquiring ECG of the chronic patient spending most of their time outside the hospital had been a trivial task. Recording of ECG of such patients using wireless method is further challenging. This paper presents various methods of wireless ECG acquisition, their limitations and challenges. Cardiomobile, Flexible wireless ECG are the examples of such systems that are available in the medical world for wireless ECG

VIRTUAL REALITY IN BIOMEDICAL

Virtual reality (VR) encompasses a number of surgical research topics, including computer graphics, imaging, visualization, simulation, data fusion and telemedicine. In this paper we define virtual reality and each of these areas, focusing on a state-of-the-art review of the research and recent accomplishments. .Virtual reality is a powerful technology for solving today’s real-world problems. Virtual reality refers to computer-generated, interactive, three-dimensional (3-D) environments into which patients are immersed. It provides a way for surgeon to visualize, manipulate and interact with simulated environments through the use of computers and extremely complex data

Multimodal Behavior Program for ADHD Incorporating Yoga and Implemented by High School Volunteers: A Pilot Study

A low-cost resource approach to ADHD therapy would be a practical approach to treating children in developing countries. Research has shown that ADHD is prevalent in all areas of the world, and yet treatment for children in more impoverished countries is still lacking. The approach taken was to combine yoga and meditation combined with multimodal behavioral therapy program for children ageing 6 to 11. The program was kept low cost by using trained high school volunteers and integrating the program within the public school. After 6 weeks of the program, 90.5% of children showed improvement as measured by their performance impairment score, a measurement of academic performance. Parent and Teacher evaluations of behavior also found improvement as 25 of the 64 children (39.1%) improved into the normal range as measured by the Vanderbilt questionnaire. Moreover, children could successfully learn both yoga and meditation from high school students irrespective of their age, ADHD type, or initial performance impairment. The results demonstrate efficacy of a multimodal behavioral program incorporating yoga and meditation. The use of high school volunteers from schools in the area demonstrates an effective low-cost and universally applicable approach

Can The Cognitive Parameters Of College Students With Learning Disabilities Benefit From Using Mahapraan, A Breathing Based Preksha Meditation?

The efficacy of meditation in cognitive improvement is inadequately studied in college students with learning disabilities. Mahapraan, a short technique taught in Preksha Dhyan, is a simple technique that involves repeated deep breathing followed by a long buzzing sound. In this pilot study, we compared cognitive and pulmonary function changes in college students with and without learning disabilities (LD and no-LD respectively).   Methods: Following IRB approval, we recruited 6 LD and 9 no-LD students. The students practiced Mahapraan with a trained instructor 3 times a week for 30 minutes. We assessed Connors Continuous Performance Test II, duration of buzzing sound during prolonged expiration, and peak flow using a Peak Flow meter at baseline and at 4 weeks.   Results: At baseline, the LD students had poorer cognitive function than the no-LD group. Discrimination power  as measured by detectability, and the consistency of reaction showed improvement (p<0.05) in LD group.   The no-LD students showed significant increase in rate of response.  Both groups showed improvement in the duration of buzzing (10/13, 77%), by an average of 6.8 seconds as well as improvements in Peak Expiratory Flow (11/13, 85%), by an average of  107.5 mls (n.s.).   Conclusion: Except for better consistency and improved discrimination in LD from baseline, cognitive tests changes were similar in both groups. We saw improvement in buzzing duration and Peak Expiratory Flow rates in both groups suggesting similar development of technique. Mahapraan shows promise as a simple technique for cognitive improvement and pulmonary function in both LD and no-LD group

An Automated Method for the Determination of Intestinal Disaccharidase and Glucoamylase Activities

Determination of disaccharidase and glucoamylase activities is important for the diagnosis of intestinal diseases. We adapted a widely accepted manual method to an automated system that uses the same reagents reaction volumes, incubation times, and biopsy size as the manual method. A dye was added to the homogenates as the internal quality control to monitor the pipetting precision of the automated system. When the automated system was tested using human intestinal homogenates, the activities of all the routinely tested disaccharidases, including lactase, maltase, sucrase, and palatinase, as well as the activity of glucoamylase, showed perfect agreement with the manual method and were highly reproducible. The automated analyzer can perform the same routine assays of disaccharidases and glucoamylase with high consistency and accuracy and reduce testing costs by performing a larger sample size with the same number of staff. Additional developments, such as barcoding and built-in plate reading, would result in a completely automated system

Efficacy of Sweet Potato Powder and Added Water as Fat Replacer on the Quality Attributes of Low-fat Pork Patties

The present study was conducted to investigate the efficacy of sweet potato powder (SPP) and water as a fat replacer in low-fat pork patties. Low-fat pork patties were developed by replacing the added fat with combinations of SPP and chilled water. Three different levels of SPP/chilled water viz. 0.5/9.5% (T-1), 1.0/9.0% (T-2), and 1.5/8.5% (T-3) were compared with a control containing 10% animal fat. The quality of low-fat pork patties was evaluated for physico-chemical (pH, emulsion stability, cooking yield, aw), proximate, instrumental colour and textural profile, and sensory attributes. The cooking yield and emulsion stability improved (p<0.05) in all treatments over the control and were highest in T-2. Instrumental texture profile attributes and hardness decreased, whereas cohesiveness increased compared with control, irrespective of SPP level. Dimensional parameters (% gain in height and % decrease in diameter) were better maintained during cooking in the low-fat product than control. The sensory quality attributes juiciness, texture and overall acceptability of T-2 and T-3 were (p<0.05) higher than control. Results concluded that low-fat pork patties with acceptable sensory attributes, improved cooking yield and textural attributes can be successfully developed with the incorporation of a combination of 1.0% SPP and 9.0% chilled water

Role of Moringa oleifera in regulation of diabetes-induced oxidative stress

AbstractObjectiveTo evaluate the antioxidant activity of aqueous extract ofMoringa oleifera (M. oleifera) young leaves by in vivo as well as in vitro assays.MethodsIn vitro study included estimation of total phenolic, total flavonol, total flavonoid and total antioxidant power (FRAP assay). In addition, in vivo study was done with the identified most effective dose of 200 mg/kg of its lyophilized powder on normal and diabetic rats. Its effect on different oxidative free radical scavenging enzymes,viz, superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione-S-transferase (GST), lipid peroxide (LPO) contents were measured.ResultsSignificant increase in activities of SOD, CAT, GST while, a decrease in LPO content was observed. Whereas, total phenolic, flavonoid and flavonol contents in the extract were found to be 120 mg/g of GAE, 40.5 mg/g of QE and 12.12 mg/g of QE, respectively. On the other hand, FRAP assay results ofM. oleifera leaves was (85.00±5.00)μM/g of extract powder.ConclusionsThe significant antioxidant activities ofM. oleifera leaves from both in vivo as well as in vitro studies suggests that the regular intake of its leaves through diet can protect normal as well as diabetic patients against oxidative damage