Implementation of a MSP430-based ultrasonic distance measurement module

This application report describes a distance-measuring system based on ultrasonic sound utilizing the MSP430F413 ultralow-power microcontroller. The system transmits a burst of ultrasonic sound waves towards the subject and then receives the corresponding echo. The MSP430 integrated analog comparator Comparator_A is used to detect the arrival of the echo to the system. The time taken for the ultrasonic burst to travel the distance from the system to the subject and back to the system is accurately measured by the MSP430. Assuming the speed of sound in air at room temperature to be 1100 ft/s, the MSP430 computes the distance between the system and the subject and displays it using a two-digit static LCD driven by its integrated LCD driver. The distance is displayed in inches with an accuracy of ±1 inch. The minimum distance that this system can measure is eight inches and is limited by the transmitter’s transducer settling-time. The maximum distance that can be measured is ninetynine inches. The amplitude of the echo depends on the reflecting material, shape, and size. Sound-absorbing targets such as carpets and reflecting surfaces less than two square feet in area reflect poorly. The maximum measurable range is lower for such subjects. If the amplitude of the echo received by the system is so low that it is not detectable by the Comparator_A, the system goes out of range. This is indicated by displaying the error message E

ANTI-INFLAMMATORY ACTIVITY OF TRAUMEEL (A HOMEOPATHIC PREPARATION) IN EXPERIMENTAL ANIMALS-RATS

 Objective: To evaluate the anti-inflammatory effect of traumeel on acute and chronic inflammatory experimental animal models (rats).Methods: The traumeel, a homeo medicinal preparation was tested for its efficacy in acute and chronic inflammatory rats. In acute models: Rat pawedema method was used. In this model, rats were divided into four groups, six rats each. Group-I (NC), received 2% GA 2 ml, Group-II (PC) receivedaspirin (200 mg/kg), Group-III, intravenous received low dose (6CH) and high dose (300CH) of traumeel, preparation orally. Edema was developed ininjected paw. Immediately the foot edema volume was measured at 0 hr and at the end of 3rd hr with a plethysmograph. The percentage of inhibitionof edema by drugs was measured and compared between the test, control and standard groups. In chronic models: Granuloma method was used,and test drugs were given for 7 days. The animals were divided and treated same as in the acute model. After 7 days treatment, on 8th day animalswere sacrificed each implanted pellet was extracted with adherent granulation tissue. These pellets were dried and weighed. The known weight wasdeducted from granulation tissue weight. The mean weight of granulation tissue and difference in weight of granulation tissue for each group wascalculated, and the percentage of inhibition of inflammation was calculated.Results: The percentage of inhibition of edema in the acute model with 6CH, 300CH after 3 hrs is 51%, 76% respectively and with aspirin is 79%. Inchronic models, the percentage of inhibition of granulation tissue with 6CH, 300CH after 7 days is 19.5%, 32.85%, respectively and with aspirin is41.95%. The reduction of inflammation was statistically significant in each group is (p<0.001).Conclusion: Traumeel, a homeo preparation is a best alternative drug for the treatment of acute inflammatory conditions with no side effects.Keywords: Inflammation, Traumeel preparation, Carrageenan, Aspirin.Â

Multi-objective optimization in single-row layout design using a genetic algorithm

This paper presents the development of a genetic algorithm for determining a common linear machine sequence for multi-products with different operation sequences and facilities with a limited number of duplicate machine types available for a job. This work aims to minimize the total flow distance travelled by products, reduce the number of machines arranged in the final linear sequence, and decrease the total investment cost of the machines used in the final sequence. We assume that product flow runs only in the forward direction, either via in-sequence or bypass movement. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm by solving a typical layout design problem taken from literature, and several randomly generated problems. Results indicate that the proposed algorithm serves as a practical decision support tool for resolving layout problems in manufacturing facilities

Efficacy of zoledronic acid infusion on bone mineral density among adult population

Background: Osteoporosis is a skeletal disease characterised by impaired bone strength due to reduced bone mineral density. As a consequence, patients with osteoporosis are at increased risk of fractures. Zoledronic acid is an anti-resorptive agent that acts by slowing down osteoclast medicated bone resorption, thereby increasing bone density. This study was carried out to evaluate the efficacy of Zoledronic acid on bone mineral density.Methods: This study was carried out as a record based cross sectional study among 30 symptomatic adult patients who visited the outpatient department of Orthopedics for a period of two years. Bone mineral density (BMD) parameters assessed using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scan were documented for initial period and after six months of intervention. Documentation of intervention with single dose of zoledronic acid 5 mg by intravenous infusion was verified and noted.Results: There was a significant difference in the mean scores for both femoral neck and lumbar spine with respect to BMD values and T-score values between baseline parameters and values measured after 6 months of Zoledronic acid infusion. The difference was statistically significant (p<0.05).Conclusions: Single dose of zoledronic acid 5 mg by intravenous infusion was found to be effective in increasing the BMD among individuals suffering from osteopenia and osteoporosis

Preemptive Routing & Intrusion Detection for MANETs

An ad-hoc network will often change rapidly in topology, this courses for routes in the network to often disappear and new to arise. The Ad-hoc On-Demand Distance Vector Routing Protocol(AODV), is based on the principle of discover routes as needed. In this paper we will extend the definition of AODV with the ability to discover multiple routes to a host and switch between them, if an active route is becoming weak and there is a risk that it will disappear. We will refer to it as pre-emptive AOMDV . We will show that the performance of pre-emptive AOMDV do handle changes in topology better than AODV it self. To show the effect of extending AODV, the suggested protocol is implemented in a simulator. Performance enhancements will be presented from different scenarios, to compare pre-emptive AOMDV with the ordinary AODV. In this paper we also focus on intrusion detection based on Finite State Machine and cache memory in ad hoc networks. Security is one of the most important issues in current networks. The most common cases of attacks in mobile Ad hoc networks can be drop of routing packets and changes in the incoming packets which aims at disrupting the network routing and overall network reduce performance. The presented approach based on FSM focuses at recognizing the malicious nodes within the network in a fast and accurate way, then it deals with rapid introduction of the malicious nodes to other nodes in the network to prevent sending multiple packets and drop and packet change. Finally, we will show the significant improvement in comparison with others, we simulated our methods by NS2 software

ENHANCED PRODUCTION OF PSORALEN THROUGH ELICITORS TREATMENT IN ADVENTITIOUS ROOT CULTURE OF PSORALEA CORYLIFOLIA L.

Objective: The present study aimed to determine the effect of two elicitors namely Methyl Jasmonate (MeJ) and Salicylic acid (SA) on adventitious root production of Psoralea corylifolia L. as the elicitors and at different concentrations.Methods: Adventitious roots of P. corylifolia L. were treated with different concentration of elicitors such as MeJ (10, 20, 30 and 40 µM/l) and SA (50, 100, 150 and 200 µM/l) to enhance the psoralen contents. After the treatment, psoralen content was analyzed through the analytical HPLC experiments (Methanol: Water (50:50) at 0.8 ml/min-1 flow rate and the injection volume as 20 µl).Results: MeJ and SA treatments at the concentrations of 30 µM/l and 150 µM/l respectively were found to increase the net wet weight of adventitious root production to 8 fold at 8 hours of elicitor treatment periods. Further, the quantity of psoralen was determined from the elicitors (MeJ and SA) treated roots and mother plant through the analytical HPLC experiments in order to estimate the psoralen content and it was found as 3.73 mg/ml, 0.015 mg/ml and 0.56 mg/ml respectively.Conclusion: In the present study we achieved enhanced production of psoralen through abiotic elicitors (MeJ and SA) treatment and concluded that the MeJ at 30 µM/l concentration shows significant enhancement of psoralen production.Â

Assessment of psychomotor skills using finger pulse guided biofeedback tool in young medical students: Psychomotor skills using heart rate as biofeedback tool

Psychomotor skills are the organized patterns of muscular activities guided by signals from the environment. These skills can be influenced by factors like age, gender, built of an individual and handedness. It’s a known fact that the dominant hand has more dexterity; nevertheless, proficiency of the non-dominant hand can be improved with repetition of tasks and procedures. The aim of the present study was to examine the influence of biofeedback mechanism on psychomotor skills performance and gender variation in their activity. Eighty participants aged between 20-30 years were recruited after taking the informed consent. All the subjects performed number countdown test and 100 pin dexterity test. Tests were done by fixing the subject’s heart beats instead of stipulated time which was picked up by finger Pulse plethysmography using optocoupler principle. The results were compared between the males and age-matched female participants. The pin dexterity scores with a right and left hands in males (57.2±8.1, 42.16±7.3) were significantly higher than females (48.41±8.4, 37.58±6.8) (p = 0.001 and p = 0.01). There was no significant difference in number countdown test scores. The results suggest that males handle a skilled performance better than females. This is perhaps males were less anxious as the task was designed in such way that it has to be completed by counting down the heart beats. In that way, the males got more time duration as the heart rate did not shoot up when the task was assigned

DC conductivity and Seebeck coefficient of nonstoichiometric MgCuZn ferrites

Nonstoichiometric series of Mg0.5-xCuxZn0.5Fe1.9O4-δ where x = 0.0, 0.1, 0.15, 0.2 and 0.25 has been synthesized by conventional solid state reaction route. The single phase spinel structure of the double sintered ferrites was confirmed by X-ray diffraction patterns (XRD). The ferrite series was studied in terms of DC electrical conductivity and thermoelectric power in the temperature ranging from room temperature to 300 °C and 400 °C, respectively. It was observed that DC electrical conductivity and Seebeck coefficient α decreased with the increase in x. DC electrical conductivity was found to decrease by about 4 orders. All the compositions showed a negative Seebeck coefficient exhibiting n-type semiconducting nature. From the above experimental results, activation energy and mobility of all the samples were estimated. Small polaron hopping conduction mechanism was suggested for the series of ferrites. Owing to their low conductivity the nonstoichiometric MgCuZn ferrites are the best materials for transformer core and high definition television deflection yokes. © 2017 Wroclaw University of Science and Technology

Seroprevalence of hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C virus co-infection in human immunodeficiency virus infected patients at a tertiary care hospital in South India

Background: About one third of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infected patients are co infected with either hepatitis B virus (HBV) or hepatitis C virus (HCV) as the three viruses have similar routes of transmission that is through transfusion of blood and blood products, sharing of needles to inject drugs and unprotected sexual activity. The survival of HIV infected patients has been markedly improved with highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). However several studies showed that the liver diseases caused by HBV or HCV have emerged as one of the leading causes of non AIDS related deaths in HIV patients. The objective of this work was to study the prevalence of HBV & HCV co-infection in HIV infected patients at a Tertiary care centre in South India.Methods: The study group includes 100 HIV seropositive individuals confirmed by three rapid tests as per NACO (National AIDS Control Organization) guidelines in ICTC (Integrated Counseling and Testing Centre), Department of Microbiology, Andhra Medical College, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India. Age and sex matched 100 HIV seronegative individuals were also included in the study as controls. Both the groups were screened for detection of HBV and HCV markers by one rapid test and a solid phase enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (sandwich ELISA).Results: Out of 100 HIV positive patients in the study group 12(12%) were co infected with HBV and 2(2%) were co infected with HCV. Out of 12 HIV and HBV co infected patients 7(58.3%) were females and 5(41.7%) were males. The HIV &HCV co infected patients were both females. Co infection of HBV & HCV with HIV was found to be 0(0%). Co infection was most commonly seen in the age group 31-40 years followed by 21 – 39 years. In the control group out of 100 HIV negative individuals, 1(1%) was infected with HBV infection.Conclusions: The routine screening of HBV and HCV should be mandatory for HIV infected patients, as there is more chance of co infection with these Hepatitis viruses due to enhanced immunodeficiency by HIV and similar routes of transmission. Clear National policies should be established which should include clear economic and health care strategies to improve quality of living conditions, education and easy access to health care facilities.