Replacement of fish meal by plant protein sources in Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) diet: growth performance and utilization

The nutritional suitability and cost effectiveness of rice polish and mustard oil cake as protein sources in the diet of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) were studied. This study introduced rice polish as a plant protein source for Nile tilapia and three diets were formulated using rice polish (0, 10 and 20%) and mustard oil cake (10.0, 17.6 and 22.0%) for a feeding trial of eight weeks to observe the growth performance and feed utilization. The result was indicated that growth performance tended to decrease with increase in inclusion level of rice polish and mustard oil cake. The control diet (FM35) recorded the highest body weight gain (BWG) (363.79±59.32%) and the least (330.24±32.32%) was in diet FM25. Specific growth rate (SGR) was followed the same trend and no significant differences of SGR was observed among the diets (P>0.05). Feed intake (FI) of different diets was ranged between 30.33 g and 35.08 g per fish at the end of this experiment. Feed intake was also declined with the increase in inclusion level of rice polish, though the feed conversion ratio (FCR) and protein efficiency ratio (PER) were not significantly different (P>0.05) among the diets. The results of this study revealed that partial replacement of fish meal by rice polish and mustard oil cake would be cost effective without any significant change in growth performance

Impact of common carp, Cyprinus carpio (L.) and Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus (L.) on arthropods population, zoobenthos and weeds in rice-fish culture

An experiment was carried out in the fields of the Agronomy Field Laboratory, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, Bangladesh to determine the impact of common carp (Cyprinus carpio) and tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) culture on arthropod population, zoobenthos and weeds of rice field. The treatments were: (1) rice combined with mono sex tilapia, (2) rice combined with common carp, (3) rice combined with a mixed culture of mono sex tilapia and common carp and (4) rice alone. It was observed that tilapia significantly reduced the number of arthropods, green leafhoppers and white leafhoppers in the rice-fish production systems. Benthos analysis revealed significant effects of fish culture on the abundance of molluscs, oligochaete worms and chironomid larvae. Lowest number of benthos was obtained in the treatments with common carp and significant reduction of the weed biomass was observed, especially in the tilapia containing plots. Based on the results of the study it can be suggested that common carp may play an important role in controlling of benthic organisms, while tilapia might be more effective to control terrestrial arthropods and weeds

A Smart IoT-Based Prototype System for Rehabilitation Monitoring

Smart healthcare is growing significantly in the healthcare sector due to the Internet of Things. A remote monitoring system is one of the smart healthcare implementations for rehabilitating stroke patients. Nowadays, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread, patients undergoing home rehabilitation have difficulty meeting with their physicians due to movement constraints. In addition, the healthcare facilities are devoted to treating patients with COVID-19. As a result, physicians and patients could not frequently meet to gather their rehabilitation progress. This study involves developing a prototype to monitor a post-stroke patient's rehabilitation process using the Arduino Nano 33 Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and force-sensing resistor (FSR). The prototype analyzes critical aspects of the rehabilitation process based on handgrip, heart rate, sleep, and step tracking measurements. The results of the handgrip, heart rate, sleep, and step tracking measurements are evaluated for various types of subjects and six testing approaches showed an accurate and consistent results. However, experiments partially success with a small error is detected while tracking the steps of each subject. Several recommendations are highlighted to improve the prototype using other sensors such as force sensing resistor and flex sensor for handgrip force transducer, electromyogram (EMG) sensor for stroke-patients rehabilitation, and others

A Smart IoT-Based Prototype System for Rehabilitation Monitoring

Smart healthcare is growing significantly in the healthcare sector due to the Internet of Things. A remote monitoring system is one of the smart healthcare implementations for rehabilitating stroke patients. Nowadays, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread, patients undergoing home rehabilitation have difficulty meeting with their physicians due to movement constraints. In addition, the healthcare facilities are devoted to treating patients with COVID-19. As a result, physicians and patients could not frequently meet to gather their rehabilitation progress. This study involves developing a prototype to monitor a post-stroke patient's rehabilitation process using the Arduino Nano 33 Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and force-sensing resistor (FSR). The prototype analyzes critical aspects of the rehabilitation process based on handgrip, heart rate, sleep, and step tracking measurements. The results of the handgrip, heart rate, sleep, and step tracking measurements are evaluated for various types of subjects and six testing approaches showed an accurate and consistent results. However, experiments partially success with a small error is detected while tracking the steps of each subject. Several recommendations are highlighted to improve the prototype using other sensors such as force sensing resistor and flex sensor for handgrip force transducer, electromyogram (EMG) sensor for stroke-patients rehabilitation, and others

Plasma lipid profiles discriminate bacterial from viral infection in febrile children

Fever is the most common reason that children present to Emergency Departments. Clinical signs and symptoms suggestive of bacterial infection ar

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

Retention of beta-carotene and vitamin C in dried mango osmotically pretreated with osmotic solutions containing calcium or ascorbic acid

The retention of vitamin C and carotenoids was studied in the cv. \u27Tommy Atkins\u27 mango as affected by osmotic dehydration prior to hot air drying. Osmotic dehydration (OD) was carried out over 15 h at 25\ub0C using sucrose solutions of 45\ub0BRIX with and without 1% (w/w) calcium chloride or 1% ascorbic acid with a fruit to solution ratio of 1:10 (w/w), and the OD-treated mango samples were then dried in an air convection oven at 50\ub0C or 70\ub0C. An osmotic pretreatment before drying significantly reduced the drying time and prevented colour change in dried mango. Addition of calcium in the OD solution significantly improved vitamin C retention, on average from 44% to 57%. However, the addition of ascorbic acid to the osmotic solution highly increased the retention of vitamin C content in the dried mango. The retention of all-trans-β-carotene was significantly lower in all OD treated mango samples dried at 50\ub0C but remained unchanged in OD-treated mango samples with calcium or vitamin C dried at 70\ub0C. Moreover, osmotic dehydration with and without additives reduced the ratio of 13-cis-β-carotene to all-trans-β-carotene. The results showed that the addition of calcium or vitamin C to the osmotic solution can improve the nutritional value of dried mango