A prospective, open label, pilot study to evaluate the role of sucralfate in the management of pressure ulcers

INTRODUCTION: Pressure ulcers are a common problem in patients with neurological disorders and prolonged immobilization, which leads to significant morbidity, occasional mortality with long hospital stay and expenses. Present Scenario: Currently, the standard treatment provided is normal saline dressing for clean non-infected pressure ulcers. Topical Sucralfate has been used to heal burn wounds and various dermatological conditions like erosive dermatitis, aphthous stomatitis, intertrigo and acute radiation esophagitis. The results of these clinical trials have been positive in favour of Sucralfate. OBJECTIVES: In this study, we determined if Sucralfate increases the rate of healing of pressure ulcers (grade 3) in comparison to normal saline. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients matching inclusion criteria were divided into two groups. The control group received conventional normal saline dressings (present standard of care) and the intervention group received 7% Sucralfate ointment. The Sucralfate ointment was prepared by the institutional pharmacy. An assessor scored the wound (PUSH Tool 3.0), take tracings of ulcer perimeter on a transparent sheet for area calculation and volume of ulcers on day 1, day 7 and after the completion of the study (Day 14). The volume on analysis days was assessed using a custom program developed by the Department of Bioengineering, CMC, Vellore using Microsoft Kinect. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Both descriptive and analytical statistics were carried out. The percentage change in area and PUSH 3.0 score were found to be significant in the Sucralfate group. However, due to a lesser sample size, the baseline area and volume had variation. As a result, the percentage decrease in volume in the Sucralfate group was not significant; although the median of percentage decrease in Sucralfate group was much more when compared with the percentage decrease in the normal saline group

Effects of ultraviolet radiation on pigmentation and malondialdehyde content of three aquatic macrophytes

A study has been done in order to evaluate the ill effects of UV-A,UV-B and UV-C on pigmentation and malondialdehyde content of floating macrophytes (Lemna sp., Pistia sp. and Eichhornia sp.) in one, three, and five days interval. Study results revealed that all types of ultraviolet light (UV-A, UV-B, and UV-C) did not produce same extent of ill effects on the studied macrophytes. Pistia sp. and Eichhornia sp. showed similar reduction pattern of chl a/chl b ratio with respect to control. Results also suggest that among the three types of radiation only UV-B showed higher level of changes in both the pigment and malondialdehyde content. Moreover, among the three tested macrophytes only Lemna sp. showed some protective role against UV radiation compared to other to macrophytes

Study on the Perspective of Mechanical Properties and Corrosion Behaviour of Stainless Steel, Plain and TMT Rebars

In the present research, the effects of various alloying elements and microstructural constituents on the mechanical properties and corrosion behaviour have been studied for four different rebars. The microstructures of stainless steel and plain rebar primarily reveal equiaxed ferrite grains and ferrite-pearlite microstructures, respectively, with no evidence of transition zone, whereas tempered martensite at the outer rim, followed by a narrow bainitic transition zone with an internal core of ferrite-pearlite, has been observed for the thermomechanically treated (TMT) rebars. The hardness profiles obtained from this study display maximum hardness at the periphery, which decreases gradually towards the centre, thereby providing the classical U-shaped hardness profile for TMT rebars. The tensile test results confirm that stainless steel rebar exhibits the highest combination of strength (≈755 MPa) and ductility (≈27%). It has been witnessed that in Tafel plots, the corrosion rate increases for all the experimental rebars in 1% HCl solution, which is well expected because the acid solutions generally possess a higher corrosive environment than seawater (3.5% NaCl) due to their acidic nature and lower pH values. However, all the experimental results obtained from Tafel and Nyquist plots correlate well for both 1% HCl and 3.5% NaCl solutions

Seasonal variation of soil enzymes in areas of fluoride stress in Birbhum District, West Bengal, India

AbstractSoil enzyme activities provide a unique biochemical means for assessing soil function as an indicator of soil fertility, which can be altered by a profusion of fluoride in the soil and seasonal changes. Seven sites were chosen in the fluoride-affected area of Nasipur, Birbhum District, West Bengal, India, to compare seasonal changes in enzymes (urease, amylase, cellulase and invertase), fluoride content, physicochemical characteristics and the availability of microbes in the soil with a control. The activity of all the enzymes varied with season. Urease had greater activity in the summer, followed by winter; it showed marginal differences from the control area during the winter (p<0.002) and summer (p<0.110) but a significant (p<0.000) difference during the rainy season. Soil pH had a negative impact on urease activity during both winter and summer. Cellulase activity was accelerated by the organic matter and organic carbon content of the soil. Fluoride therefore had the greatest activity against urease activity during the rainy, summer and winter seasons. The microbial population of the soil also showed a negative impact of fluoride, which may in turn affect the soil enzymes and characteristics

Rapid immunochromatographic test: An evolving tool for diagnosis of scrub typhus

Background: Scrub typhus is prevalent in many districts of South Bengal throughout the year where an average temperature of 20–35°C, which contributes to the spread of Leptotrombidium deliense. However, its diagnosis remains complicated by the lack of readily available and validated assays, the non-specificity of clinical symptoms on admission, and even non-availability of the pathognomonic eschar in most of the cases. Aims and Objectives: This study was carried out to evaluate the rapid immunochromatographic test (RICT) for early detection of scrub typhus for using it as an early diagnostic tool at the field level. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study in which 181 serum samples from clinically suspected cases (after excluding dengue, malaria, Japanese encephalitis, and typhoid fever) collected over 13 months were processed for the detection of immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies for scrub typhus by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and rapid test. Results: Considering IgM ELISA for scrub typhus as the gold standard, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value for RICT were found to be 100%, 86.87%, 50%, and 100%, respectively. Conclusion: RICT is a simple, rapid, and reliable assay for diagnosis of scrub typhus, capable of providing accurate results quickly and is highly suitable for field deployment in remote areas with limited medical support

Dynamics of Hot QCD Matter -- Current Status and Developments

The discovery and characterization of hot and dense QCD matter, known as Quark Gluon Plasma (QGP), remains the most international collaborative effort and synergy between theorists and experimentalists in modern nuclear physics to date. The experimentalists around the world not only collect an unprecedented amount of data in heavy-ion collisions, at Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) in New York, USA, and the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland but also analyze these data to unravel the mystery of this new phase of matter that filled a few microseconds old universe, just after the Big Bang. In the meantime, advancements in theoretical works and computing capability extend our wisdom about the hot-dense QCD matter and its dynamics through mathematical equations. The exchange of ideas between experimentalists and theoreticians is crucial for the progress of our knowledge. The motivation of this first conference named "HOT QCD Matter 2022" is to bring the community together to have a discourse on this topic. In this article, there are 36 sections discussing various topics in the field of relativistic heavy-ion collisions and related phenomena that cover a snapshot of the current experimental observations and theoretical progress. This article begins with the theoretical overview of relativistic spin-hydrodynamics in the presence of the external magnetic field, followed by the Lattice QCD results on heavy quarks in QGP, and finally, it ends with an overview of experiment results.Comment: Compilation of the contributions (148 pages) as presented in the `Hot QCD Matter 2022 conference', held from May 12 to 14, 2022, jointly organized by IIT Goa & Goa University, Goa, Indi

Efficient delivery of streaming interactive video

The ability to record and/or transmit voice and moving images (i.e., continuous media) has had enormous impact on twentieth century societies. On the Internet, the popular new communication medium, video is becoming an increasingly popular means for conveying news and information, tele-lectures, enhancing chat groups and discussion forums, as well as enhancing user home pages. The focus of this dissertation is on video delivery systems that deliver data from a server to clients across a high speed network. In particular, we study some issues that arise in efficiently providing video playback and VCR like interactive control functionality in video delivery systems. In the first part of the dissertation, we study the problem of constant-bitrate (CBR) transport of variable-bit-rate (VBR) video. We examine several structural properties exhibited by the tradeoffs between resources such as the CBR transmission rate, the buffer requirements at the client, and the transmission time, and the delay in starting playback of a video. We present an efficient algorithm to compute the minimum client buffer required to transmit a VBR video using CBR transport. We find that delaying the playback of a VBR video by even a few seconds can significantly reduce the CBR transmission rate and client buffer requirements. In the second part of the dissertation, we focus on the problem of provisioning VCR like functionalities of Fast Forward, Rewind and Pause, in the context of delivering CBR video. We discuss several techniques for providing these functionalities and find that providing VCR functionalities with statistical guarantees ensures that clients receive good quality service while resources at the server are used efficiently. In the third part of the dissertation, we address the problem of restarting playback of VBR video at the end of an interactive operation, using playback techniques that reduce the variability of the video. We develop and evaluate algorithms to restart playback at the end of an interactive operation. We then examine the performance of these algorithms in a video server under different server bandwidth allocation policies. We find that it is possible to restart playback of VBR video with low latencies

Vulnerability of bus and truck drivers affected from vehicle engine noise

The purpose of this study was to find out the vulnerability of bus and truck drivers due to constant exposure of vehicle-engine noise inside the vehicle cabin. Comparative results revealed that noise levels inside the cabin of buses and trucks were in the range of 88.6–102.4 dB and 87.95–103.4 dB, respectively. The health status of bus and truck drivers was assessed by measuring their systolic and diastolic pressure, pulse rate, BMI, digestion problem, hearing loss, vision problem, back pain and irritation. Paired t-test of the results revealed non-significant (p < 0.05) relation between systolic and diastolic pressure of both bus and truck drivers. The pulse rate of truck driver was significantly (p < 0.01) related with noise level inside the cabin of truck. The humidity level inside the cabin showed a positive relation with vehicle age (p < 0.01) and driving period (p < 0.01). This study clearly suggests that vehicle engine noise adversely affects the cardiovascular health of both bus and truck drivers