INFLUENCE OF HYDRATED SODIUM CALCIUM ALUMINOSILICATE AND ACTIVATED CHARCOAL ON THE PHARMACOKINETICS OF SINGLE PULSE DOSING OF ENROFLOXACIN IN BROILER CHICKEN

ABSTRACTObjective: The present study was undertaken to evaluate the interaction kinetics of enrofloxacin, the commonly used antibacterial in poultry withmycotoxin binders namely hydrated sodium calcium aluminosilicate (HSCAS) and activated charcoal (AC), which have become inevitable componentsof poultry feed.Methods: Control group received normal feed free of toxin binder, whereas HSCAS and AC group were supplemented with HSCAS and AC at 0.5% infeed, respectively. Enrofloxacin was administered as single pulse dose (at 10 mg/kg) through drinking water to all the groups. Blood samples werecollected at predetermined time intervals after drug administration, and plasma was separated and analyzed for enrofloxacin concentrations usinghigh-performance liquid chromatography.Results: Significant decrease in area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC0-∞)was noticed in AC group when compared to control group(13.90±1.15 vs. 19.67±1.68 mg.h/ml), whereas HSCAS group (16.42±1.24 mg.h/ml) neither differed significantly from AC nor control group. Thevolume of distribution and clearance were significantly high in AC group when compared to control group (8.31±0.89 vs. 6.39±0.13 l/kg; 0.77±0.07 vs.0.53±0.05 l/h/kg). HSCAS group was intermediate and did not differ significantly from the other two groups (8.13±0.45 l/kg; 0.63±0.04 l/h/kg).However, volume of distribution at steady state was significantly high in both AC (10.42±1.09 l/kg) and HSCAS group (9.45±0.48 l/kg) when comparedto control group (7.21±0.20 l/kg). Maximum plasma concentration was significantly low (0.99±0.04, 0.97±0.06, 1.38±0.04 mg/ml) and time to reachmaximum plasma concentration was significantly delayed (7.33±0.42, 6.67±0.67, 4.33±0.67 h) in AC and HSCAS group when compared to controlgroup, respectively. The relative bioavailability was significantly low in both AC and HSCAS group (74.95±10.70, 88.88±15.03%) when comparedto control group. Pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic integration revealed that the dose of enrofloxacin (10 mg/kg) was capable of treating onlymoderately sensitive organisms (minimum inhibitory concentration ≤0.125 mg/ml) both in the presence and absence of toxin binder and higherdosage is needed for the less sensitive organism.Conclusion: The study revealed that the administration of enrofloxacin to HSCAS and AC supplemented broilers would lead to decrease in clinicalefficacy and promote the development of antimicrobial resistance. AC was found to interact more with enrofloxacin than HSCAS as observed fromthe PK parameters. Hence, careful adjustment of dosage or withdrawal of the usage of toxin binder containing either HSCAS or AC in feed duringenrofloxacin treatment is recommended.Keywords: Enrofloxacin, Pulse dosing, Hydrated sodium calcium aluminosilicate, Activated charcoal, Interaction kinetics

Exploring the design of interactive smart textiles for emotion regulation

The present study aims to investigate the design of interactive textiles for emotion regulation. In this work we proposed a design which allows users to visualize their physiological data and help regulate their emotions. We used the Research through Design method to explore how physiological data could be represented in four different interactive textiles and how movement-based interaction could be designed to support users’ understanding and regulation of their emotional state. After an initial user interview evaluation with several textile prototypes, light and vibration were selected as modalities within the biofeedback-based interaction. A smart interactive shawl that reacts to changes in emotional arousal was designed to help the users know their emotion and adjust it, if necessary, with the support of electrodermal activity sensor and pressure-based sensors. The results of the second study showed that the smart shawl could help the user to visualize their emotions and reduce their stress level by interacting with it. © 2020, Springer Nature Switzerland AG

User-elicited dual-hand interactions for manipulating 3D objects in virtual reality environments

© 2018, The Author(s). Virtual reality technologies (VR) have advanced rapidly in the last few years. Prime examples include the Oculus RIFT and HTC Vive that are both head-worn/mounted displays (HMDs). VR HMDs enable a sense of immersion and allow enhanced natural interaction experiences with 3D objects. In this research we explore suitable interactions for manipulating 3D objects when users are wearing a VR HMD. In particular, this research focuses on a user-elicitation study to identify natural interactions for 3D manipulation using dual-hand controllers, which have become the standard input devices for VR HMDs. A user elicitation study requires potential users to provide interactions that are natural and intuitive based on given scenarios. The results of our study suggest that users prefer interactions that are based on shoulder motions (e.g., shoulder abduction and shoulder horizontal abduction) and elbow flexion movements. In addition, users seem to prefer one-hand interaction, and when two hands are required they prefer interactions that do not require simultaneous hand movements, but instead interactions that allow them to alternate between their hands. Results of our study are applicable to the design of dual-hand interactions with 3D objects in a variety of virtual reality environments

Designing for rehabilitation movement recognition and measurement in virtual reality

Abstract Virtual reality (VR)-based rehabilitation has been widely implemented to maintain and increase patient motivation during therapy sessions. Researchers nowadays design VR-based rehabilitation by leveraging off-the-shelf VR devices for easy access and application. However, researchers need to implement additional custom hardware or incorporate a specific algorithm to perform a real-time evaluation of each therapeutic movement. This study aims to design and develop a system with features for recognizing and measuring the upper limb rehabilitation movement in VR using off-the-shelf VR devices such as VR headsets, controllers, and trackers. This system is bundled and distributed as a single toolkit to accommodate other researchers in providing the evaluation feature for their VR-based rehabilitation system. The user experiment was conducted to verify the usability of this proposed design system. The experiment results show that the system can recognize 16 upper limb movements and provide several measurement data that researchers can use in providing the evaluation feature based on their design requirements

Design and simulation of 2.4 GHz microstrip parallel coupled line low pass filter for wireless communication system

Abstract A low pass filter only allows signals below its cut-off frequency to pass while attenuating other signals with frequencies higher than those of the filter. Several interesting techniques were proposed by researchers to design low pass filter. However, majority of those filters present difficulties of integration with other elements of electronics gadgets, high cost, high power consumption, large size and low-frequency application. Consequently, the current study focused on design and simulation of a parallel coupled-line microstrip low pass filter. Computer Simulation Technology (CST) microwave software was used for the design and simulation of the filter. Results Analyses were made and the resulting frequency responses were plotted using a sigma plot. It was concluded that the proposed microstrip filter presents solutions to the issues observed in the former designs

Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) Virus—Pathophysiological Axis and the Current Treatment Strategies

Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) is a lethal respiratory disease with its first case reported back in 2012 (Jeddah, Saudi Arabia). It is a novel, single-stranded, positive-sense RNA beta coronavirus (MERS-CoV) that was isolated from a patient who died from a severe respiratory illness. Later, it was found that this patient was infected with MERS. MERS is endemic to countries in the Middle East regions, such as Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. It has been reported that the MERS virus originated from bats and dromedary camels, the natural hosts of MERS-CoV. The transmission of the virus to humans has been thought to be either direct or indirect. Few camel-to-human transmissions were reported earlier. However, the mode of transmission of how the virus affects humans remains unanswered. Moreover, outbreaks in either family-based or hospital-based settings were observed with high mortality rates, especially in individuals who did not receive proper management or those with underlying comorbidities, such as diabetes and renal failure. Since then, there have been numerous reports hypothesising complications in fatal cases of MERS. Over the years, various diagnostic methods, treatment strategies and preventive measures have been strategised in containing the MERS infection. Evidence from multiple sources implicated that no treatment options and vaccines have been developed in specific, for the direct management of MERS-CoV infection. Nevertheless, there are supportive measures outlined in response to symptom-related management. Health authorities should stress more on infection and prevention control measures, to ensure that MERS remains as a low-level threat to public health