The 32nd CDC: Robust stabilizer synthesis for interval plants using Nevanlina-pick theory

The synthesis of robustly stabilizing compensators for interval plants, i.e., plants whose parameters vary within prescribed ranges is discussed. Well-known H(sup infinity) methods are used to establish robust stabilizability conditions for a family of plants and also to synthesize controllers that would stabilize the whole family. Though conservative, these methods give a very simple way to come up with a family of robust stabilizers for an interval plant

A qualitative study on the effectiveness of displayed health education materials (HEMs) in an immunization clinic of a tertiary care hospital in West Bengal, India

Background: Health education materials are intended to percolate certain messages to the general population in order to influence their knowledge and attitude toward health issues. The current study aims to determine the effectiveness of health education materials in terms of visibility, attractiveness, and clarity of message perceived by the study participants. Method: A cross-sectional qualitative study was conducted in the immunization clinic of a tertiary care hospital in West Bengal, India, upon 32 caregivers accompanying the children for immunization. Their explanation of the posters was recorded, transcribed, and translated into English. Results were obtained by analyzing data in both MS Excel and Visual Anthropac. Results: Out of 20 displayed posters, 12 were mostly situated around the vaccination table and had a pictorial presentation with child images. Those posters were first noticed by the participants while waiting. After the pile sorting of 10 attractive posters, four were related to child health, four were about nutrition and breastfeeding, and 2 were included under the personal hygiene group. Only a single poster associated with Vitamin A oil was fully understood by all respondents. A total of 6 posters were fully or partially understood by more than 80% of the respondents, whereas 3 posters related to personal hygiene were wrongly interpreted. Conclusion: The health education materials in the immunization clinic may be planned in clear pictorial presentation with less text, so those could be noticed easily and accompanied with audiovisual aids for understanding correctly

Study the impact of ketamine, clonidine and combination of ketamine-clonidine on cardiovascular system during pre and postoperatively: A double blind, placebo controlled study

Background: The use of ketamine as a sole anesthetic induces marked central sympathetic stimulation, causing increased heart rate, blood pressure (BP), and oxygen consumption (VO2). Both alpha 2-agonists and benzodiazepines have been used to attenuate these potentially harmful ketamine-induced responses.  Materials and Methods: After approval from institutional ethical committee and written informed consent, 120 adult patients, ASA physical status I and II, undergoing elective surgeries e.g. Open abdominal surgery, laparoscopic surgery, open urological surgery were included in this controlled, prospective, randomized, double-blind study. Patients were randomly (envelop randomization) allocated in 4 groups (n=30): Group K received IV ketamine (0.5mg/kg), Group C received IV clonidine (1.5μg/kg), Group KC received combination of IV ketamine (0.25mg/kg) and IV clonidine (0.75μg/kg) and Group P received IV normal saline (placebo). One envelop at a time was chosen by an anaesthesiologist, who was blinded to the preparation of study agents and administered the study drugs in the envelope one after the other, intravenously approximately 20 minutes before extubation. Results: Pre operative haemodynamic parameters like mean arterial pressure (MAP) and heart rate are comparable across the groups. There was statistically significant (two tailed p value < 0.001) rise in intra operative heart rate following intubation in groups K, KC and P. There was statistically significant increase in systolic blood pressure (SBP) in groups K and P (two tailed p value < 0.001). In group C and KC, there were significant fall in SBP, from the baseline values, following induction. Conclusion: The unwanted effects of the individual drugs like, haemodynamic alteration, hallucination or lower incidences of nausea and vomiting could be achieved by using half of the dose of each of the drugs in combination

Van der Knaap disease

Van der Knaap disease is a rare form of leukodystrophy, phenotypically characterized by megalencephaly, early-onset ataxia, pyramidal features, cognitive impairment, with an autosomal recessive inheritence. MRI Brain shows T1 and FLAIR hypointense subcortical cysts in mostly temporal lobes and in fronto-parietal subcortical areas. Authors report a 20 yr. girl with typical features