Efficacy of Herbal Based Syrup on male sexual experiences: A double-blind randomized clinical trial

Background and aim: An Aphrodisiac includes any drug and food that arouses sexual instinct, induces venereal desire, and increases pleasure and performance. The present study was designed to clinically evaluate efficacy and safety of Herbal Based Syrup (HBS) composed of Tribulus terrestris L., Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer., Zingiber officinale Rosc, Ceratonia siliqua L., Papaver rhoeas L., and Palm tree pollen on sexual experience of men. Experimental procedure: The study was designed as a double-blind randomized clinical trial. The main outcome measures were the responses obtained from using the Arizona Sexual Experience Scale (ASEX). The ASEX was completed by 100 married and seemingly healthy men before and after taking one dose of HBS or placebo and at least one sexual intercourse. In addition, possible side effects were observed. A split-plot ANOVA (SPANOVA) design was used for statistical analysis. Results: Results of analysis of data for each variable of the ASEX showed significantly lower scores in HBS-treated group compared to the placebo (control) group in items of desire, arousal, erection, orgasm and satisfaction (p < 0.05). No drug-related serious adverse events were observed. Conclusion: Results of this study indicated a significant improvement in sexual experience of men following consumption of HBS. Due to various complications reported about the use of chemical sexual drive enhancers, HBS can be introduced as an alternative with fewer side effects. © 2020 Center for Food and Biomolecules, National Taiwan Universit

Automated Radiographic Measurements of Knee Osteoarthritis

Objective: Herewith, we report the development of Orthopedic Digital Image Analysis (ODIA) software that is developed to obtain quantitative measurements of knee osteoarthritis (OA) radiographs automatically. Manual segmentation and measurement of OA parameters currently hamper large-cohort analyses, and therefore, automated and reproducible methods are a valuable addition in OA research. This study aims to test the automated ODIA measurements and compare them with available manual Knee Imaging Digital Analysis (KIDA) measurements as comparison. Design: This study included data from the CHECK (Cohort Hip and Cohort Knee) initiative, a prospective multicentre cohort study in the Netherlands with 1,002 participants. Knee radiographs obtained at baseline of the CHECK cohort were included and mean medial/lateral joint space width (JSW), minimal JSW, joint line convergence angle (JLCA), eminence heights, and subchondral bone intensities were compared between ODIA and KIDA. Results: Of the potential 2,004 radiographs, 1,743 were included for analyses. Poor intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) were reported for the JLCA (0.422) and minimal JSW (0.299). The mean medial and lateral JSW, eminence height, and subchondral bone intensities reported a moderate to good ICC (0.7 or higher). Discrepancies in JLCA and minimal JSW between the 2 methods were mostly a problem in the lateral tibia plateau. Conclusions: The current ODIA tool provides important measurements of OA parameters in an automated manner from standard radiographs of the knee. Given the automated and computerized methodology that has very high reproducibility, ODIA is suitable for large epidemiological cohorts with various follow-up time points to investigate structural progression, such as CHECK or the Osteoarthritis Initiative (OAI).Biomaterials & Tissue Biomechanic

Integration of an Organic Rankine Cycle and a Photovoltaic Unit for Micro-Scale CHP Applications in the Residential Sector

Abstract The purpose of this work is to analyse the performance of a novel system for combined heat and power (CHP) generation in small-scale applications. The system is based on an Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) fed with biomass and a photovoltaic (PV) unit. The ORC and PV sub-systems operate in parallel to produce the required electrical energy. A preliminary investigation is performed to define the proper size of the photovoltaic unit. Afterwards, the analysis is focused on the hybrid system and a comparison between the two configurations is carried out. This work demonstrates the potential for integrating biomass and solar energy resources: during daylight, solar radiation is significant and the ORC system can be switched off or operated at partial load. Furthermore, the adoption of biomass makes it possible to overcome the intermittency of solar resource, increase the self-consumed electrical energy, and produce thermal energy, thereby saving natural gas for heating purposes