Effect of calorie supplementation on growth of undernourished children

The results reported here may be generally applicable to poor communities in several Asian countries where dietaries are based largely on cereals and to a smaller extent on legumes and pulses. They may perhaps not be applicable to situations in some African countries where the staples are tapioca and plantain. The present observations should not be interpreted to mean that the current home diets in the concerned poor communities are satisfactory and do not need improvement. On the contrary, these diets are deficient in a number of nutrients, particularly vitamin A, riboflavin, iron, and possibly calcium. It should, however, be possible to overcome some of these deficiencies by improving the existing dietaries through the inclusion of relatively inexpensive foods that are locally available and well within the reach of the poor. A question often raised is whether, in view of the bulk arising from low fat content and low calorie concentration, young children would be able to consume predominantly cereal-based diets in quantities adequate to meet their calorie needs. The present study shows that the bulk should not present an insuperable problem provided the total daily diet is divided into several appropriate meals in the course of the day. The immediate practical approach towards combating malnutrition in children living in poor rural Asian communities would seem to lie in educating these communities in bridging the calorie gap with the present dietaries after such improvement, rather than in distributing elaborately processed "protein-rich formulations," which are unnecessary and expensive

Biocompatibility and Toxicity of Poly(vinyl alcohol)/N,O-Carboxymethyl Chitosan Scaffold

The in vivo biocompatibility and toxicity of PVA/NOCC scaffold were tested by comparing them with those of a biocompatible inert material HAM in a rat model. On Day 5, changes in the blood parameters of the PVA/NOCC-implanted rats were significantly higher than those of the control. The levels of potassium, creatinine, total protein, A/G, hemoglobulin, erythrocytes, WBC, and platelets were not significantly altered in the HAM-implanted rats, when compared with those in the control. On Day 10, an increase in potassium, urea, and GGT levels and a decrease in ALP, platelet, and eosinophil levels were noted in the PVA/NOCC-implanted rats, when compared with control. These changes were almost similar to those noted in the HAM-implanted rats, except for the unaltered potassium and increased neutrophil levels. On Day 15, the total protein, A/G, lymphocyte, monocyte, and eosinophil levels remained unaltered in the PVA/NOCC-implanted rats, whereas urea, A/G, WBC, lymphocyte, and monocyte levels remained unchanged in the HAM-implanted rats. Histology and immunohistochemistry analyses revealed inflammatory infiltration in the PVA/NOCC-implanted rats, but not in the HAM-implanted rats. Although a low toxic tissue response was observed in the PVA/NOCC-implanted rats, further studies are necessary to justify the use of this material in tissue engineering applications

Panax ginseng Modulates Cytokines in Bone Marrow Toxicity and Myelopoiesis: Ginsenoside Rg1 Partially Supports Myelopoiesis

In this study, we have demonstrated that Korean Panax ginseng (KG) significantly enhances myelopoiesis in vitro and reconstitutes bone marrow after 5-flurouracil-induced (5FU) myelosuppression in mice. KG promoted total white blood cell, lymphocyte, neutrophil and platelet counts and improved body weight, spleen weight, and thymus weight. The number of CFU-GM in bone marrow cells of mice and serum levels of IL-3 and GM-CSF were significantly improved after KG treatment. KG induced significant c-Kit, SCF and IL-1 mRNA expression in spleen. Moreover, treatment with KG led to marked improvements in 5FU-induced histopathological changes in bone marrow and spleen, and partial suppression of thymus damage. The levels of IL-3 and GM-CSF in cultured bone marrow cells after 24 h stimulation with KG were considerably increased. The mechanism underlying promotion of myelopoiesis by KG was assessed by monitoring gene expression at two time-points of 4 and 8 h. Treatment with Rg1 (0.5, 1 and 1.5 µmol) specifically enhanced c-Kit, IL-6 and TNF-α mRNA expression in cultured bone marrow cells. Our results collectively suggest that the anti-myelotoxicity activity and promotion of myelopoiesis by KG are mediated through cytokines. Moreover, the ginsenoside, Rg1, supports the role of KG in myelopoiesis to some extent

Speech enhancement using a generic noise codebook

Although single-microphone noise reduction methods perform well in stationary noise environments, their performance in non-stationary conditions remains unsatisfactory. Use of prior knowledge about speech and noise power spectral densities in the form of trained codebooks has been previously shown to address this limitation. While it is possible to use trained speech codebooks in a practical system, the variety of noise types encountered in practice makes the use of trained noise codebooks less practical. This letter presents a method that uses a generic noise codebook for speech enhancement that can be generated on-the-fly and provides good performance

Optimized high speed turning on Inconel 718 using Taguchi method based Grey relational analysis

269-275Inconel 718, a Nickel based super alloy which has wide applications in aerospace industry particularly in the hot sections of gas turbine engines due to their high temperature strength and corrosion resistance. It is known as being among the most difficult-to-cut materials. This paper presents an optimum process parameters (speed, feed and depth of cut) to minimize the cutting force, surface roughness and tool flank wear together in CNC high speed dry turning of Inconel 718 using Taguchi method based Grey relational analysis. The study involved nine experiments based on Taguchi orthogonal array and the result indicates that the optimal process parameters are 60 m/min for speed, 0.05 mm/rev for feed and 0.2 mm for depth of cut from the selected range. Also the significant process parameters have been found out for the above process optimization by performing ANOVA. Confirmation tests with the optimal levels of cutting parameters are carried out in order to illustrate the effectiveness of the method

Effect of salinity & temperature on the Gastropod <i>Thais rudolphi</i> (Lamarck) from Waltair Coast

195-197Effects of salinity and temperature, and their combined effect on the survival of T. rudolphi were studied. Salinities 2 and 63% were lethal to the animals. With increase in temperature (34 to 43°C) there was a decrease in the time of survival. Survival time was comparatively more at 33°, 35° C and 20 % salinity combinations. They could tolerate low temperatures (16° C) better within a salinity range 20-33%