Intelligent robotic rehabilitation system for treatment of disabilities subsequent to injuries or neurological disorders

Injuries or neurological trauma, such as stroke, complete and incomplete spinal cord injuries result in paraplegia and hemiplegia, which is the leading cause of disabilities world over. Survivors have muscle coordination discrepancies resulting in impaired joint motions and inability to perform activities of daily living (ADL). Neurological trauma falls in top 15 risk factors for Kazakhstan people and their health conditions. Urgent steps are required to be initiated as the current rate of such disorders is predicted to increase by three times over the next 30 years. Robot assisted physical therapy has shown some preliminary signs of improvement in subjects and therefore active orthosis have been developed to impart repetitive, prolonged and systematic therapy. Existing robots are normally inspired by the industrial robots and thus provide constrained motion to the articulating joints in an uncomfortable and unsafe manner. There is a need to develop human friendly, safe and intelligent robots in order to carry out physical therapy. We aim at developing an intelligent rehabilitation system (IRS) using wearable robots equipped with state of the art sensors and actuators, optimization routines (to identify musculoskeletal functions at the affected limb) and development of advanced controllers. Physical therapy is expected to be evidence based, objective and human friendly

Intelligent robotic rehabilitation system for treatment of disabilities subsequent to injuries or neurological disorders

Injuries or neurological trauma, such as stroke, complete and incomplete spinal cord injuries result in paraplegia and hemiplegia, which is the leading cause of disabilities world over. Survivors have muscle coordination discrepancies resulting in impaired joint motions and inability to perform activities of daily living (ADL). Neurological trauma falls in top 15 risk factors for Kazakhstan people and their health conditions. Urgent steps are required to be initiated as the current rate of such disorders is predicted to increase by three times over the next 30 years. Robot assisted physical therapy has shown some preliminary signs of improvement in subjects and therefore active orthosis have been developed to impart repetitive, prolonged and systematic therapy. Existing robots are normally inspired by the industrial robots and thus provide constrained motion to the articulating joints in an uncomfortable and unsafe manner. There is a need to develop human friendly, safe and intelligent robots in order to carry out physical therapy. We aim at developing an intelligent rehabilitation system (IRS) using wearable robots equipped with state of the art sensors and actuators, optimization routines (to identify musculoskeletal functions at the affected limb) and development of advanced controllers. Physical therapy is expected to be evidence based, objective and human friendly

Advance research progresses in aluminium matrix composites: manufacturing & applications

At present aluminium matrix composites are widely used in engineering applications. Aluminium matrix composites are providing such superior properties which cannot be achieved by any existing monolithic material. Properties of aluminium matrix composite are highly influenced by nature of reinforcement which can be either in continuous or discontinuous fibre form. It also depends on the selection of processing techniques for the fabrication of aluminium matrix composites which depends on many factors including type of matrix and reinforcement, the degree of microstructural integrity desired and their structural, mechanical, electrochemical and thermal properties. Present paper reports an overview on synthesis routes, mechanical behavior and applications of aluminium matrix composites. Special focus is given to primary processing techniques for manufacturing of aluminium matrix composites. In the end, commercialization challenges, industrial aspects and future research directions are also briefed.This work was supported by the UREP grant # UREP23-116-2-041 from the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of Qatar Foundation). The statements made herein are solely the responsibility of the authors.Scopu

Traditional use of medicinal plants among the tribal communities of Chhota Bhangal, Western Himalaya

The importance of medicinal plants in traditional healthcare practices, providing clues to new areas of research and in biodiversity conservation is now well recognized. However, information on the uses for plants for medicine is lacking from many interior areas of Himalaya. Keeping this in view the present study was initiated in a tribal dominated hinterland of western Himalaya. The study aimed to look into the diversity of plant resources that are used by local people for curing various ailments. Questionnaire surveys, participatory observations and field visits were planned to illicit information on the uses of various plants. It was found that 35 plant species are commonly used by local people for curing various diseases. In most of the cases (45%) under ground part of the plant was used. New medicinal uses of Ranunculus hirtellus and Anemone rupicola are reported from this area. Similarly, preparation of "sik" a traditional recipe served as a nutritious diet to pregnant women is also not documented elsewhere. Implication of developmental activities and changing socio-economic conditions on the traditional knowledge are also discussed

Getting into hot water: water quality in tropical lakes in relation to their utilisation

Over-exploitation of tropical lakes and reservoirs ('lakes') causes water quality problems that occur as a result of competing socio-economic demands and the presence of feedback loops within the system that exacerbate the situation. We review well documented case studies from Brazil, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia and Mexico to examine the effect that changes in water quality and quantity have had on the utilisation of these tropical lakes. By comparing the different approaches used to improve their sustainable management, we have found that nutrient enrichment is one of the most important and widespread water quality problems, causing adverse effects such as algal blooms, nuisance levels of aquatic plants, low oxygen levels and elevated greenhouse gas emissions. These effects restrict the use of these lakes for water supply, fisheries, recreation, tourism and wildlife. We conclude that tropical lakes require better management, urgently, to restore the ecosystem services that they deliver to man and nature. However, to be effective, the development of sustainable management programmes needs to be underpinned by reliable scientific evidence and the results of extensive stakeholder engagement activities. We note that, currently, there is little information available on how tropical lakes respond to management interventions that can be used to guide these activities. Further research is needed to address this knowledge gap. Presented at International Conference on the Ocean and Earth Sciences, 18-20 November 2020, Jakarta Selatan, Indonesia (held online)

Circular Economy Pathways for Municipal Wastewater Management in India: A Practitioner’s Guide

The 2030 Water Resources Group is a unique publicprivate- civil society partnership that helps governments to accelerate reforms that will ensure sustainable water resource management for the long term development and economic growth of their country. It does so by helping to change the “political economy” for water reform in the country through convening a wide range of actors and providing water resource analysis in ways that are digestible for politicians and business leaders. The 2030 WRG was launched in 2008 at the World Economic Forum and has been hosted by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) since 2012

Clinical isolates of the modern Mycobacterium tuberculosis lineage 4 evade host defense in human macrophages through eluding IL-1\u3b2-induced autophagy article

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), the causative agent of tuberculosis (TB), has infected over 1.7 billion people worldwide and causes 1.4 million deaths annually. Recently, genome sequence analysis has allowed the reconstruction of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) evolution, with the identification of seven phylogeographic lineages: four referred to as evolutionarily "ancient", and three "modern". The MTBC strains belonging to "modern" lineages appear to show enhanced virulence that may have warranted improved transmission in humans over ancient lineages through molecular mechanisms that remain to be fully characterized. To evaluate the impact of MTBC genetic diversity on the innate immune response, we analyzed intracellular bacterial replication, inflammatory cytokine levels, and autophagy response in human primary macrophages infected with MTBC clinical isolates belonging to the ancient lineages 1 and 5, and the modern lineage 4. We show that, when compared to ancient lineage 1 and 5, MTBC strains belonging to modern lineage 4 show a higher rate of replication, associated to a significant production of proinflammatory cytokines (IL-1\u3b2, IL-6, and TNF-\u3b1) and induction of a functional autophagy process. Interestingly, we found that the increased autophagic flux observed in macrophages infected with modern MTBC is due to an autocrine activity of the proinflammatory cytokine IL-1\u3b2, since autophagosome maturation is blocked by an interleukin-1 receptor antagonist. Unexpectedly, IL-1\u3b2-induced autophagy is not disadvantageous for the survival of modern Mtb strains, which reside within Rab5-positive phagosomal vesicles and avoid autophagosome engulfment. Altogether, these results suggest that autophagy triggered by inflammatory cytokines is compatible with a high rate of intracellular bacilli replication and may therefore contribute to the increased pathogenicity of the modern MTBC lineages