Correlation of Body Age with anthropometric parameters in students

Obesity is becoming a pandemic these days. People are overweight and are losing the joy of self control. Lack of exercise, poor dietary habits lead to hypertension and diabetes mellitus. It is essential to make students aware of their faulty habits so they may correct it at an early age. We analyzed the BMI, Body age, Visceral Fat, Total and subcutaneous fat using an OMRON Machine by bioelectrical impedance for 52 students. About 60% of students whose body age was more than their actual age were counseled to eat rightly and exercise regularly

Iodine adsorption characteristics of activated carbon obtained from Spinacia Oleracea (spinach) leaves

Spinach leaves powder was modified by activation with conc. H2SO4 and was characterized by using FTIR, optical microscopy, XRD analysis and methylene blue adsorption method. The maximum specific surface area measured by the Methylene blue adsorption method was 499 m2/g. The adsorption of iodine was investigated by varying parameters as pH, adsorbent dose, contact time and I2 concentration. The adsorption process was fitted to the Langmuir model controlled by pseudo - second –  order kinetics with a constant rate value of 0.00305 g/(mg·min). The maximum adsorption was at pH 10. The maximum adsorption capacity was 909.091 mg/g. The ∆G value was -25 kJ/mole, which confirmed the physico - chemcal adsorption process

Correlation of Serum Zinc, Alkaline phosphatase and Ascorbic acid levels in Diabetes Mellitus

Introduction:Diabetes mellitus is a dangerous disease with complications and prevalence of mortality accounting for at least 10% of total health care A few published reports of both in vitro and in vivo studies on the interactions among Zinc (Zn), Alkaline- phosphatase (AP) enzyme activity, Ascorbic acid (AA) and glucose drew attention to their alterations in diabetic statesThe present work was aimed at evaluating the serum Zinc, Alkaline phosphatase and Ascorbic acid levels in Diabetes Mellitus and to statistically correlate the serum values of blood glucose with serum zinc, alkaline phosphatase [ALP] & Ascorbic acid [AA] for finding significance which could help in clinical outcome. Methods:  The sample size taken was 94 having both males and females of 22-85 years of age. The study group was divided into the following six categories. Group A: - Control group of 20 normal subjects in the age group of 22-70 years,      Group B: -14 IDDM without complication subject in the age group of 22-43 years.Group C: -20 IDDM with nephropathy subject in the age group of 41-85 years. Group D: - 20 NIDDM without complication subject in age group of 37-72 years.Group E:-10 NIDDM with nephropathy subject in age group of 45-65 years.Group F:-10 NIDDM with retinopathy subject in age group of 49-66 years. Some parameters were taken from each individual of this study like estimation of blood glucose [fasting and post prandial] by Asatoor and King method, determination of serum Zn was carried out using atomic absorption spectrophotometry, Serum alkaline phosphatase (AP) activity was determined by the method of King and Armstrong as modified by Kind and King, plasma ascorbic acid is determined using formulae Results:The decrease in serum AA levels and the increase in serum DHA were highly significant. However, no correlations could be demonstrated statistically among the above said parameters in healthy and diabetic subjects.. It is being speculated that the raised serum AP activity may be due to the de-inhibition of activity by lowered serum AA concentrations. Serum Alkaline Phosphatase activity is eliminated in diabetics. It is an indicator of liver function that may be hampered in long term in diabetics. Serum Ascorbic acid is an antioxidant and its levels are decreased in diabetics. Its values can be assayed for monitoring oxidative reaction in diabetics. The estimation of serum zinc is not needed as there is no statistical difference. The need for right eating, exercise and right thinking needs to be stressed, particularly for diabetics. Keywords: NSAIDs, severe cutaneous adverse reactions (SCARs), cutaneous adverse drug reactions (CADRs), stevens johnson syndrome (SJS), fixed drug eruptions (FDEs), fixed dose combination (FDC), over the counter (OTC

Equalization Transfers in Canada: Emerging Challenges

Since the last one decade or so equalization transfer programme has been a principal source of dispute between federal and provincial governments and among provinces. It has become politically controversial given the lack of predictability, accountability and adhoc change in the formula and use of transfer for electoral purpose, among others. Resource federalism has become another major challenge as provinces are now strongly divided between those that possess natural resources and those that do not. Unlike earlier, the major proportion of Canadian population today resides in equalization receiving have-not provinces. This has had profound consequence on fiscal federalism. The very nature of equalization programme and institution of executive federalism through which transfer is operated are highly politicized. The idea of having a non-partisan and independent body responsible for determining and allocating equalization transfers is resisted by both orders of government. The paper examines these challenges

Equalization Transfers in Canada: Emerging Challenges

Since the last one decade or so equalization transfer programme has been a principal source of dispute between federal and provincial governments and among provinces. It has become politically controversial given the lack of predictability, accountability and adhoc change in the formula and use of transfer for electoral purpose, among others. Resource federalism has become another major challenge as provinces are now strongly divided between those that possess natural resources and those that do not. Unlike earlier, the major proportion of Canadian population today resides in equalization receiving have-not provinces. This has had profound consequence on fiscal federalism. The very nature of equalization programme and institution of executive federalism through which transfer is operated are highly politicized. The idea of having a non-partisan and independent body responsible for determining and allocating equalization transfers is resisted by both orders of government. The paper examines these challenges

Optimal Control Promotional Policy for a New Product Incorporating Repeat Purchase in Segmented Market: A Control Theoretic Approach

This chapter considers an optimal control model to obtain dynamic promotional policies for a product considering a segmented market where first-time and additional repeat purchase sales are assumed to be generated through mass and differentiated promotions. Mass promotion is carried out in the whole market which reaches each segment with a fixed spectrum, and differentiated promotion is catered to each segment individually. The firm’s finite promotional resources are to be allocated for promoting a product at mass and segment levels of the market in a finite time period. The formulated control problem obtains optimal promotional effort policy for each segment using the maximum principle. The applicability of the proposed control model is illustrated through a numerical example by discretizing the model

Optimization of casting process parameters for synthesis of Al-Nb-B master alloy

Al-Nb-B master alloys were synthesized using commercial pure aluminum, niobium, and KBF4 salts. Two different sources of Nb (pure Nb powder and Al-60%Nb powder) were used to prepare the master alloy. Casting process parameters such as reaction time and melt stir time interval were varied to enhance the formation of in situ intermetallic particles in the master alloys. The size, shape and distribution of intermetallic particles in these master alloys were studied using microscopy techniques. The results show that the Al-5Nb-1B master alloy prepared with Al-60%Nb powders has a uniform distribution of intermetallic particles as compared to the master alloy prepared with pure Nb powders. Increase in boron content from 1 wt.% to 2 wt.% in the master alloys resulted in a higher fraction of intermetallic particles. Among all the master alloys synthesized, Al-5Nb-2B was observed to have the highest number of well-distributed intermetallic particles which could act as potential grain refiners of aluminum alloys

Nonlinear optical properties of stilbene and azobenzene derivatives containing azaphosphane groups

We have studied the nonlinear optical (NLO) properties of some donor-acceptor molecules with stilbene and azobenzene molecules as backbone. We have used the nitro group as the acceptor and azaphosphane (R3P=N-) as the donor group. To study the effect of variation of NLO properties, we have replaced the substituents (Rs) connected to the phosphorus atom by methyl, amine and phenyl groups. We find that both first-order polarizability and hyperpolarizabilities are larger for stilbene derivatives and is maximum for the phenyl substitution. Second-order polarizability is higher for methyl substitution. We have also obtained the two-photon absorption cross-section for these molecules. We find that both one-photon and two-photon absorption cross-sections are maximum for the same excited state (first excited state in the case of stilbene and second excited state in the case of azobenzene derivatives)

Evaluating the Potentials of Open Source in Medical Field: Are We Ready to Embrace it?

Open source software has gained significant traction in recent years, along with some concerns. Here we discuss the features open source model like greater transparency, cost-effectiveness, and customization. It also addresses the rising concerns on privacy and security issues in internet. This article highlights the benefits and limitations of open source software in medical services and health education.