Lipid Lowering Activity of Anthocephalus indicus Root in Hyperlipidemic Rats

The lipid lowering activity of Anthocephalus indicus (family Rubiaceae; Hindi name Kadamba) root extract has been studied in triton WR-1339 induced hyperlipidemia in rats. In this model, feeding with root extract (500 mg kg−1 b.w.) lowered plasma lipids and reactivated post-heparin lipolytic activity in hyperlipidemic rats. Furthermore, the root extract (50–500 μM) inhibited the generation of superoxide anions and hydroxyl radicals, in both enzymic and non-enzymic systems, in vitro. The results of the present study demonstrated both lipid lowering and antioxidant activities in root extract of A. indicus, which could help prevention of hyperlipidemia and related diseases

#naorobot : exploring Nao discourse on Twitter

The Nao robot from Aldebaran Robotics is a fairly popular humanoid robot. In this study, we aimed to conduct a discourse analysis around the Nao through content analysis of posts on Twitter (N=235 tweets in English). The analysis aimed to understand discourse around the robot, the usage trends of the robot, the existence of social relationships between user and robot and if there were any patterns in tweeting. Our main results show that the Nao is attributed with high anthropomorphism and social rapport and the popular usages of the robot extend to research and education but not to health and domestic applications. In conclusion, we speculate on our results obtained and present a direction for future research

An image based non-verbal behaviour analysis of HRI

Acceptance and engagement of users towards social robots is the yardstick by which the success and efficacy of Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) is measured. Metrics such as acceptance and engagement are normally measured through subjective (such as interviews) or objective measures (such as non-verbal behaviour). In this study, we report on a methodologically novel process of monitoring non-verbal behaviour of humans in visual images with a social robot. We qualitatively code pictures of humans with the Nao robot as found on Instagram. We specifically coded the emotions of the users as depicted by their facial expressions as well as their social distance maintained towards the robot. Our results show that in general humans persist with an overall positive, enthusiastic and engaging behaviour towards the Nao. Moreover, females were found to be much more expressive in their responses towards the Nao as compared to males - a gender effect. We conclude with the implications of our results and possible avenues of future research on the topic of measuring human engagement with social robots through visual stimuli

Age and frailty are independently associated with increased COVID-19 mortality and increased care needs in survivors: results of an international multi-centre study

Introduction: Increased mortality has been demonstrated in older adults with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), but the effect of frailty has been unclear. Methods: This multi-centre cohort study involved patients aged 18 years and older hospitalised with COVID-19, using routinely collected data. We used Cox regression analysis to assess the impact of age, frailty and delirium on the risk of inpatient mortality, adjusting for sex, illness severity, inflammation and co-morbidities. We used ordinal logistic regression analysis to assess the impact of age, Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) and delirium on risk of increased care requirements on discharge, adjusting for the same variables. Results: Data from 5,711 patients from 55 hospitals in 12 countries were included (median age 74, interquartile range [IQR] 54–83; 55.2% male). The risk of death increased independently with increasing age (>80 versus 18–49: hazard ratio [HR] 3.57, confidence interval [CI] 2.54–5.02), frailty (CFS 8 versus 1–3: HR 3.03, CI 2.29–4.00) inflammation, renal disease, cardiovascular disease and cancer, but not delirium. Age, frailty (CFS 7 versus 1–3: odds ratio 7.00, CI 5.27–9.32), delirium, dementia and mental health diagnoses were all associated with increased risk of higher care needs on discharge. The likelihood of adverse outcomes increased across all grades of CFS from 4 to 9. Conclusion: Age and frailty are independently associated with adverse outcomes in COVID-19. Risk of increased care needs was also increased in survivors of COVID-19 with frailty or older age.</p