A study of electrocardiogram changes in patients with acute stroke

Background: Electrocardiogram (ECG) changes are observed in patients with acute stroke and may create confusion with ECG changes found in cardiac disorders. The aim of the study was to study the ECG changes in patients with acute stroke who are not suffering from cardiac disorders which are known to show ECG changes.Methods: It was a prospective hospital observational based study conducted for a period of 1 year (20th July 2014 to 20thJuly 2015) including patients with acute stroke. Total 122 patients were enrolled and ECG changes were observed.Results: Various ECG changes are observed (Table 1) in present study including rhythm disturbances (like sinus tachycardia, sinus bradycardia, AF, VPc, RBBB, LBBB, etc.)  in 69 patients (56.6%) , bradycardia in 25 patients (19.5%), tachycardia 34 patients (28.1%), prolonged PR interval in 10 patients (9.2%), LAD in 32 patients (26.2%), RAD in 7 patients (5.7%), prolonged QRS interval in 31 patients (25.4%), LVH in 19 patients (15.6%), prolonged QTc interval in 53 patients (43.4%), p wave abnormalities in 30 patients (24.6%), pathological q wave in 11 patients (9.6%), ST segment elevation in 14 patients (11.4%), ST segment depression in 20 patients (16.4%), T wave inversion in 44 patients (36.1%) and presence of U wave in 9 patients (7.1%).Conclusions: QTc prolongation followed by T-wave inversion followed by ST segment changes were the most frequent ECG changes observed in patients with acute stroke. Various types of arrhythmias like sinus tachycardia, sinus bradycardia, AF, VPCs, BBB, Heart blocks, etc. were also among the common ECG findings. Furthermore ECG findings like PR interval prolongation, QRS interval prolongation and P-wave abnormalities (hardly any study is there in literature about these ECG findings) were additional findings in this study.

Adverse Impact of Heat Stress on Bovine Development: Causes and Strategies for Mitigation

Heat stress induces the richness and reproductive domesticated animal’s performance by settling the physiology conceptive steps, through hormonal irregularity, diminished oocyte quality and feeble semen quality, and diminished undeveloped organism advancement and endurance. It depends on principally milk production, nutrition, disease management, sexual activities, and heat stress tolerance capacity in livestock farming. The decreases infertility caused by elevated blood heat influences sex gland regulation, oestrus regulation, and gametocyte disturbance and also affects embryonic development. Heat stress reduces the degree of dominance of the seminal vesicles and this may be observed as reduced steroidogenic capability of its theca and granulose cells as fall in blood oestrogen concentrations. Plasma progestin levels are also diminished counting on whether or not the heat stress is acute and on the metabolic state of the animal. The endocrine changes the cyst activities and alters the ovulatory mechanism leading to a decrease in gametocyte and embryo quality. Summer infertility may be countered through oestrus behaviour can be mitigated by with the help of implementation of ovulation phase treatments to limited period of embryonic transfer and also advanced reproductive technologies involving hormonal treatments, systematic artificial insemination and which may enhance the possibility of establishing pregnancy in domestic animals

Neutron diffraction and magnetic properties of Co2_2Cr1−x_{1-x}Tix_xAl Heusler alloys

We report the structural, magnetic, and magnetocaloric properties of Co$_2$Cr$_{1-x}$Ti$_x$Al ($x=$ 0--0.5) Heusler alloys for spintronic and magnetic refrigerator applications. Room temperature X-ray diffraction and neutron diffraction patterns along with Rietveld refinements confirm that the samples are of single phase and possess a cubic structure. Interestingly, magnetic susceptibly measurements indicate a second order phase transition from paramagnetic to ferromagnetic where the Curie temperature (T$_{\rm C}$) of Co$_2$CrAl increases from 330~K to 445~K with Ti substitution. Neutron powder diffraction data of the $x=$ 0 sample across the magnetic phase transition taken in a large temperature range confirm the structural stability and exclude the possibility of antiferromagnetic ordering. The saturation magnetization of the $x=$ 0 sample is found to be 8000~emu/mol (1.45~$\mu_{\rm B}$/{\it f.u.}) at 5~K, which is in good agreement with the value (1.35$\pm$0.05~$\mu_{\rm B}$/{\it f.u.}) obtained from the Rietveld analysis of the neutron powder diffraction pattern measured at temperature of 4~K. By analysing the temperature dependence of the neutron data of the $x=$ 0 sample, we find that the change in the intensity of the most intense Bragg peak (220) is consistent with the magnetization behavior with temperature. Furthermore, an enhancement of change in the magnetic entropy and relative cooling power values has been observed for the $x=$ 0.25 sample. Interestingly, the critical behavior analysis across the second order magnetic phase transition and extracted exponents ($\beta\approx$ 0.496, $\gamma\approx$ 1.348, and $\delta\approx$ 3.71 for the $x=$ 0.25 sample) suggest the presence of long-range ordering, which deviates towards 3D Heisenberg type interactions above T$_{\rm C}$, consistent with the interaction range value $\sigma$.Comment: submitte

A bio-impedance System for Fluid Monitoring in Dengue Disease

Dengue disease is a mosquito borne viral fever widespread in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. The incidence of the disease has rapidly grown over the last decade. There is no specific course of medication to treat dengue. But determining the intensity of fluid leakage is essential in managing the progression of the disease. Bioimpedance technology is an inviting tool for safe, inexpensive and non-invasive monitoring of body fluids. However existing systems are not attractive for continuous and long term assessments. In addition the system performance is also susceptible to variations in posture and motion related artifacts. This work presents a motion aware bioimpedance measurement system (AMBICA) for fluid monitoring using AD5940 and accelerometers to overcome the mentioned limitations. The primary aim of this thesis is to characterize the performance of the developed device with a commercial device(BIACorpus). Additionally a framework to detect the variation in posture and motion is presented.Bioimpedance and movement data was collected from 14 healthy volunteers. The impedance values measured by the device showed high correlation (r>0.98) while the reactance values showed weak correlation (0.10 < r < 0.67). The bias and limits of agreement estimated for impedance measurements are -4.50_13.01 and [21.0,-30.0] respectively. The estimated bias and limits of agreement for reactance measurements are 14.84_19.64, the limits of agreement are [53.36,-23.68]. The precision scores indicated a higher variability in measurements for BIACorpus device compared to AMBICA. The proposed framework was able to identify the active and inactive periods and gross postures like supine, sitting and standing with an accuracy of >95% and 94.6% respectively. The results in this study showed that the impedance and reactance values followed a typical trend agreeable with bioimpedance measurements. However, the values measured by AMBICA agree more closely with BIACorpus for impedance measurements than for reactance measurements. Inconsistencies are observed for both devices and they are attributed to parasitics and imbalance of interface impedances at the inputs of the AD5940. Due to the difference in technologies used, the values from the devices do not measure the exact same values. Therefore values above or below the reference values may still have clinical significance. AMBICA can be used in the future for fluid assessments in dengue affected subjects. Furthermore motion related information gathered using the framework proposed can be further incorporated to develop contextual bioimpedance monitoring applications.Biomedical Engineerin

Impact of Abiotic Stress on Phytoplankton and Zooplankton with Special Reference to Food Web

In aquatic ecosystems, bacterial colonies constitute an important aspect of biological diversity and biogeochemical cycling. Phytoplankton is the primary producer of the food web and zooplanktons are an important part of freshwater food webs and biogeochemical cycles, as they serve as the main trophic connection between primary producers (phytoplankton) and fish. This chapter conducts abiotic stress effects on phytoplankton and zooplankton along with the impact of abiotic stress on their energy succession. Abiotic stress shows the decreasing supply of essential vitamins due to abiotic stress can have huge consequences for the aquatic food web. Abiotic factors had a significant impact on the biomass of phytoplankton and zooplankton communities exposed including increased temperature, acidification, nutrient enrichment and increasing ultraviolet (UV) environment of the aquatic ecosystem that significantly affect their survival, behaviour, nutritional procurement, reproduction and their overall population dynamic. Oxygen stress also is a widespread occurrence in freshwater environments, with the depletion of DO in the water layers under the epilimnion becoming increasingly common. At moderately high salinities, a decreased top-down control by zooplankton on phytoplankton may be an indirect result, leading to a worsening of eutrophication symptoms

Wearable bioimpedance for continuous and context-aware clinical monitoring

Bioimpedance monitoring provides a non-invasive, safe and affordable opportunity to monitor total body water for a wide range of clinical applications. However, the measurement is susceptible to variations in posture and movement. Existing devices do not account for these variations and are therefore unsuitable to perform continuous measurements to depict trend changes. We developed a wearable bioimpedance monitoring system with embedded real-time posture detection using a distributed accelerometer network. We tested the device on 14 healthy volunteers following a standardized protocol of posture change and evaluated the agreement with a commercial device. The impedance showed a high correlation (r>0.98), a bias of -4.5 Ω, and limits of agreement of -30 and 21 Ω. Context-awareness was achieved with an accuracy of 94.6% by classifying data from two accelerometers placed at the upper and lower leg. The calculated current consumption of the system was as low as 10 mA during continuous measurement operation, suggesting that the system can be used for continuous measurements over multiple days without charging. The proposed motion-aware design will enable the measurement of relevant bioimpedance parameters over long periods and support informed clinical decision making

Studies on the dependence of optical rotatory power on chemical constitution. Part II. The effect of position-isomerism and conjugation on optical activity among aryl derivatives of amino- and bisimino-camphor

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Solitary extramedullary plasmacytoma of thoracic epidural space presenting with dorsal compressive myelopathy: A case report and review of literature

Plasma Cell neoplasms result from monoclonal proliferation of plasma cells. Solitary extramedullary plasmacytomas (SEMPs) are rare and constitute 5% of all plasma cell disorders. SEMPs most commonly involve upper aerodigestive tract. Isolated spinal epidural space involvement by SEMPs is extremely rare and to best of our knowledge only 7 such cases have been reported previously in available English literature. We hereby present a rare case of thoracic epidural SEMP in a 32-year-old female who presented with thoracic compressive myelopathy and discuss the pertinent literature