To Compare Different Respiratory Patterns on Upper Limb Exercise Capacity in Patients with COPD

INTRODUCTION: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a common preventable and treatable disease which is characterized by persistent airflow limitation that is usually and associated with an enhanced chronic inflammatory response in the airways and the lung to noxious particles and gases. Exacerbations and co-morbidities contribute to the overall severity in individual patients. OBJECTIVES: To compare different respiratory patterns on upper limb exercise capacity in patients with COPD. METHODS: Twenty two COPD patients were recruited in the study from various hospital and old age homes across Mangalore. Upper limb exercise capacity was measured in all four types of exercises two shoulder flexion-extension (one associated with inspiratory time during the concentric phase and the other associated with expiratory time) and two shoulder abduction-adduction (same timing as above). Borg's score and heart rate was noted pre and post UL exercise testing, Recovery both subjective and objective was noted post exercise testing Statistical analysis was done using Shapiro wilk test, independent t-test. Wilcoxon signed Ranked t-test, and Friedman test. RESULTS: The patient with COPD were able to perform better for longer duration with inverted breathing pattern (expiration during concentric phase of UL movement involving exercise 2 and exercise 4) when compared with the results of exercise frequently applied in clinical practice (inspiration during concentric phase of UL movement involving exercise 1 and exercise 3). There was significant difference in duration for which exercise test was performed between exercise 1 and exercise 2 with p-value of 0.002, between exercise 3 and exercise 4 with p-value <0.001. In addition among the studied exercises, exercise 4 shows significant increase in Spo2 post exercises (p-value < 0,001) with prolonged recovery 2 (objective) period for the same exercise suggesting that the gain in Spo2 was maintained for longer time as compare to other exercise. CONCLUSION: The exercises performed with inverted respiratory time (exercise 2 and exercise 4) were able to perform better than other exercise (exercise 1 and exercise 3) and can be used as important strategies during physical exercise programs in these patients

Performance Evaluation of Energy Efficient Optimized Routing Protocol for WBANs Using PSO Protocol

A Wireless Body Area Network (WBAN) is a network that may be worn on the human body or implanted in the human body to transmit data, audio, and video in real-time to assess how vital organs are performing. A WBAN may be either an inter-WBAN or an intra-WBAN network. Intra-WBAN communication occurs when the various body sensors can share information. This is known as inter-WBAN communication, which occurs when two or more WBANs can exchange data with one another. One difficulty involves getting data traffic from wireless sensor nodes to the gateway with as little wasted energy, dropped packets, and downtime as possible. In this paper, the WBAN protocols have been compared with WBAN under Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), and the performance of various parameters has been analysed for different simulation areas. The WBAN under the PSO protocol reduces the energy consumption by 43.2% against the SIMPLE protocoldue to the effective selection of forwarding nodes based on PSO optimization. In addition to that the experimental WBAN testbed is conducted in indoor environment to study the performance of the routing metrics towards energy and packet reception.

Impact Assessment of ‘Bhoochetana’ – A Soil Test-Based Nutrient Management Scaling-Out Initiative in Karnataka

A study was conducted during rabi 2014 to assess the impact of ‘Bhoochetana’, a soil test-based fertilizer management initiative in Karnataka, India. In selected six villages across Raichur, Deodurga, Manvi and Lingasugur blocks of Raichur district in Karnataka, India, soil samples and crop yield data were collected from farmers’ fields having farmer practice (FP) of blanket application of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K), as well as improved practice (IP) of soil test-based application of N, P and K along with deficient sulphur (S), boron (B) and zinc (Zn) as recommended under ‘Bhoochetana’. After five years (since 2010) of ‘Bhoochetana’ in Raichur district, significant improvement in soil health is noted in IP adopted plots. In five out of six villages, soil organic carbon under IP increased to medium (0.50% to 0.71%) levels as compared with low (0.26% to 0.43%) levels observed under FP. Soil fertility under IP improved in terms of macro and micro nutrients like N, P, K, S, B and Zn. Increase in crop yield of all major crops like cotton (19%), groundnut (17%), pigeonpea (13%), sorghum (11%), and sunflower (11%) was observed under IP

Engaging with sustainability issues in metropolitan Chennai : city report

Chennai is the largest metropolitan city in South India (8.7 million in 2011) and the provincial capital of the large state of Tamil Nadu (population 72 million in 2011). Before that, under British rule, the city was the capital of the Madras Presidency, and was known as Madras until 1996, when the name was officially changed to Chennai. Located on the east coast of India, on the Bay of Bengal, sea trade has been an important aspect of the regional economy since at least the colonial period. Still today, the city combines political functions with economic command functions for both manufacturing and services, reflecting the region's diversified economy. The Chennai metropolitan area has witnessed strong growth over the last 20 years in automobile manufacturing, software services, hardware manufacturing, healthcare and financial services (CDP 2009). However, it should be noted that only 30% of total employment in the city takes place in the formal sector i.e., is covered by contracts and labour laws, the remaining 70% falls in the informal sector. This underscores the importance of small and micro enterprises and self-employment for providing goods, services and livelihoods in the local economy

Are textbook lungs really normal? A cadaveric study on the anatomical and clinical importance of variations in the major lung fissures, and the incomplete right horizontal fissure.

INTRODUCTION: The lungs have three main fissures: the right oblique fissure (ROF), right horizontal fissure (RHF), and left oblique fissure (LOF). These can be complete, incomplete or absent; quantifying the degree of completeness of these fissures is novel. Standard textbooks often refer to the fissures as complete, but awareness of variation is essential in thoracic surgery. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fissures in 81 pairs of cadaveric lungs were classified. Oblique fissures were measured from lung hila posteriorly to the lung hila anteriorly; and the RHF measured from the ROF to the anteromedial lung edge. The degree of completeness of fissures was expressed as a percentage of the total projected length were they to be complete. The frequency and location of accessory fissures was noted. RESULTS: LOF were complete in 66/81 (81.5%), incomplete in 13/81 (16.0%) and absent in 2/81 (2.47%); ROF were complete in 52/81 (64.2%), incomplete in 29/81 (35.8%) and never absent; RHF were more variable, complete in 18/81 (22.2%), incomplete in 54/81 (66.7%) and absent in 9/81 (11.1%). LOF and ROF were on average 97.1% and 91.6% complete, respectively, being deficient posteriorly at the lung hila. The RHF on average 69.4% complete, being deficient anteromedially. There were accessory fissures in 10 left and 19 right lungs. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides a projection of the anatomy thoracic surgeons may encounter at operation, in particular the variable RHF. This knowledge is essential for optimal outcomes in both benign and oncological procedures influenced by the fissures

Genetic diversity for grain nutrients contents in a core collection of finger millet (Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn.) germplasm

Finger millet is a promising source of micronutrients and protein contents besides energy and can contribute to alleviation of iron (Fe), zinc (Zn) and protein malnutrition, affecting women and preschool children in African and south-east Asian countries. The most cost effective approach for mitigating micronutrients and protein malnutrition is to introduce staple crop cultivars selected and/or bred for Fe, Zn and protein dense grain. Attempts to breed finger millet for enhanced grain nutrients are still in its infancy. Analysis, detection and exploitation of existing variability among the germplasm accessions are the initial steps in breeding micronutrient and protein-dense finger millet cultivars. Evaluation of finger millet core germplasm for grain nutrients and agronomic traits revealed a substantial genetic variability for grain Fe, Zn, calcium (Ca) and protein contents. The accessions rich in nutrient contents were identified and their agronomic diversity assessed. The accessions rich in Zn content have significantly higher grain yield potential than those rich in Fe and protein content. Grain nutrient-specific accessions and those contrasting for nutrient contents were identified for use in strategic research and cultivar development in finger millet

γ-Tocotrienol suppresses prostate cancer cell proliferation and invasion through multiple-signalling pathways

Tocotrienol-rich fraction (TRF) has demonstrated antiproliferative effect on prostate cancer (PCa) cells. To elucidate this anticancer property in PCa cells, this study aimed, first, to identify the most potent isomer for eliminating PCa cells; and second, to decipher the molecular pathway responsible for its activity. Results showed that the inhibitory effect of γ-tocotrienol was most potent, which resulted in induction of apoptosis as evidenced by activation of pro-caspases and the presence of sub-G1 cell population. Examination of the pro-survival genes revealed that the γ-tocotrienol-induced cell death was associated with suppression of NF-κB, EGF-R and Id family proteins (Id1 and Id3). Meanwhile, γ-tocotrienol treatment also resulted in the induction of JNK-signalling pathway and inhibition of JNK activity by a specific inhibitor (SP600125) was able to partially block the effect of γ-tocotrienol. Interestingly, γ-tocotrienol treatment led to suppression of mesenchymal markers and the restoration of E-cadherin and γ-catenin expression, which was associated with suppression of cell invasion capability. Furthermore, a synergistic effect was observed when cells were co-treated with γ-tocotrienol and Docetaxel. Our results suggested that the antiproliferative effect of γ-tocotrienol act through multiple-signalling pathways, and demonstrated for the first time the anti-invasion and chemosensitisation effect of γ-tocotrienol against PCa cells

Impact of financial inclusion in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review of reviews

Financial inclusion programmes seek to increase access to financial services such as credit, savings, insurance and money transfers and so allow poor and low-income households in low- and middle-income countries to enhance their welfare, grasp opportunities, mitigate shocks, and ultimately escape poverty. This systematic review of reviews assesses the evidence on economic, social, behavioural and gender-related outcomes from financial inclusion. It collects and appraises all of the existing meta-studies - that is systematic reviews and meta-analyses - of the impact of financial inclusion. The authors first analyse the strength of the methods used in those meta-studies, then synthesise the findings from those that are of a sufficient quality, and finally, report the implications for policy, programming, practice and further research arising from the evidence. Eleven studies are included in the analysis