Mathematical model for a heat pump dryer for aromatic plant

A mathematical model was developed to evaluate the performance of heat pump dryer for drying of aromatic plants. The model consists of three sub-models; namely, drying model, heat pump model, and performance model. Drying model was developed based on mass balance, heat balance, heat transfer and drying rate equations. Heat pump sub-model consists of some theoretical and empirical equations for estimating the parameters of evaporator, compressor, condenser and expansion valve. The performance sub-model was the equations for prediction of drying efficiency, COP (coefficient of performance), MER (moisture evaporating rate) and SMER (specific moisture evaporating rate). The model was validated with the experimental data. The experiments was conducted in a fixed bed drying of valerian roots (Valeriana officinalis L.) in cooperation with a agricultural company (Agrargenossenschaft Nöbdenitz e.G., Thüringen) in Thüringen, Germany. Data logger was used to record the temperature, relative humidity, humidity ratio and enthalpy of air at different positions of the dryer equipped with different types of sensors. The average drying air temperature was 36.84°C and relative humidity was about 20%. About 89 hours were required to reduce the moisture content of valerian roots from 89 to 9% (wb). The simulated results (temperature, relative humidity and moisture content) agreed well with the experimental results. The average COP, MER and SMER and drying efficiency were 5.45, 140.03 kg/h, 0.038 kg/kWh, and 78.23%, respectively. This model may be used for design data for heat pump dryer for drying of aromatic plants as well as other heat sensitive crops

Elucidation of anti-hyperglycemic activity of Psidium guajava L. leaves extract on streptozotocin induced neonatal diabetic Long-Evans rats

Background: Psidium guajava L (Guava) belongs to the Myrtaceae family and has been claimed to possess several pharmacological properties including antidiabetic. Objective: This study was designed to evaluate the anti-hyperglycemic activity of P guajava L leaves aqueous extract on neonatal streptozotocin-induced type 2 diabetic model rats. Methods: Streptozotocin was induced (90 mg/kg) intraperitoneally to 48 h old Long Evans rat pups. After three months, 18 male type-2 diabetic model rats were confirmed by OGTT (FG > 7 mmol/L). Therefore, experimental rats were divided into three groups 2) Diabetic water control (10 ml/kg), 3) Gliclazide treated (20 mg/kg), and 4) Extract treated group (1.25g/kg)] Six normal female rats comprised group 1 [Non-diabetic water control (10 ml/kg)]. All rats were treated orally with their respective treatment for 28 consecutive days. Blood samples were collected on 0 days (by tail cut method) and the end day (by cardiac puncture) of the experiment. The anti-hyperglycemic activity was evaluated by measuring fasting glucose, serum insulin, lipid profile, hepatic glycogen content, and intestinal glucose absorption by standard methods. Results: The serum glucose level of extract treated group was decreased by 16% as well as significantly (p<0.05) increased the serum insulin level (M±SD, 0 day vs 28thday; 0.319 ± 0.110 vs 0.600 ± 0.348, μg/L). Moreover, the extract-treated group also significantly (p<0.05) enhanced liver glycogen content and inhibited glucose absorption from the upper intestine. Besides, a significant (p < 0.05) reduction of LDL-cholesterol level was found in the extract-treated group (M±SD, 55 ± 33 vs 14 ± 9, mg/dl) compared with baseline values where other groups did not show any statistically remarkable changes. Conclusion: Current study concludes that P guajava leaves aqueous extract enhances insulin secretion from pancreatic beta-cells and promotes glycogen synthesis in the liver. The extract also inhibits glucose absorption from the upper intestine and improves dyslipidemia to some extent. Therefore, possesses the potential for drug development against T2DM

International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortiu (INICC) report, data summary of 43 countries for 2007-2012. Device-associated module

We report the results of an International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC) surveillance study from January 2007-December 2012 in 503 intensive care units (ICUs) in Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Europe. During the 6-year study using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) U.S. National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) definitions for device-associated health care–associated infection (DA-HAI), we collected prospective data from 605,310 patients hospitalized in the INICC's ICUs for an aggregate of 3,338,396 days. Although device utilization in the INICC's ICUs was similar to that reported from ICUs in the U.S. in the CDC's NHSN, rates of device-associated nosocomial infection were higher in the ICUs of the INICC hospitals: the pooled rate of central line–associated bloodstream infection in the INICC's ICUs, 4.9 per 1,000 central line days, is nearly 5-fold higher than the 0.9 per 1,000 central line days reported from comparable U.S. ICUs. The overall rate of ventilator-associated pneumonia was also higher (16.8 vs 1.1 per 1,000 ventilator days) as was the rate of catheter-associated urinary tract infection (5.5 vs 1.3 per 1,000 catheter days). Frequencies of resistance of Pseudomonas isolates to amikacin (42.8% vs 10%) and imipenem (42.4% vs 26.1%) and Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates to ceftazidime (71.2% vs 28.8%) and imipenem (19.6% vs 12.8%) were also higher in the INICC's ICUs compared with the ICUs of the CDC's NHSN