Estimation and quantification of liver iron concentration by magnetic resonance imaging

Background: Liver iron overload is considered to be the histological hallmark of genetic hemochromatosis. The accurate estimation of iron overload is important to establish the diagnosis of hemochromatosis. The aim of the present study was to estimate T2* liver value, quantify liver iron concentration (in milligram of iron per gram dry weight) and find out the appropriate therapy for patients with iron overload according to severity index.Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was carried out in Department of Radio Diagnosis, at B.Y.L. Nair Hospital and medical college, Mumbai from June 2017 to August 2018. A total of 50 cases were enrolled for the present study.Results: Male predominance (66.0%) was seen. Mean duration of disease among the studied cases was 10.52±6.06 years, with minimum and maximum duration of disease of 1 and 26 years respectively. Eight percent had compliance to visit and treatment among the enrolled cases.Conclusions: MRI was concluded to be potentially useful non-invasive method for evaluating liver iron stones in a wide spectrum of haematological and liver diseases

Predicting and grading the degree of difficulty of cochlear implant surgery by evaluating temporal bone using high resolution computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging

Background: The current study was designed to assess the challenges that arise during cochlear implantation. Hence imaging based grading system, using a structured, 12-point scoring chart was developed with an aim to assess various anatomical factors of temporal bone helpful in contemplating complications involved in surgery and to assess various congenital and acquired abnormalities if detected during scan which can affect cochlear implant surgery.Methods: This was a descriptive study done on 60 patients with sensorineural hearing loss. They were evaluated preoperatively by using HRCT and MRI findings and subsequently underwent cochlear implantation. A 12-point scoring chart was developed based on imaging findings. Surgical times were noted in each case and each imaging point on the scoring chart was correlated with the surgical times.Results: Eleven out of 12 points in the scoring chart proved to be statistically significant in predicting the degree of difficulty of the surgical procedure. One point was not correlating with the surgical timings. Based on the grading system, in the present study, there were 37 patients (61.66%) classified as Grade 1, 16 patients (26.67%) classified as Grade 2 and 7 patients (11.67%) classified as Grade 3.Conclusions: These radiological image findings and its related grading system are relatively easy and quick to assess on readily available pre-operative temporal bone CT scan and MRI. They can form a pre-operative checklist that provides a formalized approach for the surgeons and, in particular surgical trainees, predict and, thus prepare for, potentially challenging cochlear implant cases

Pharmacognostical and Preliminary Phytochemical Screening of Nardostachys jatamansi Dc Rhizome, Achyranthus aspera Linn plant and Trachyspermum ammi Linn fruit

Nardostachys jatamansi, Achyranthus aspera and Trachyspermum ammi are very important medicinal plants which are traditionally used in many medical conditions. The present study involves Pharmacognosy and preliminary phytochemical investigations of the rhizomes, whole plant and fruit parts of above three plants respectively .This study consist of the morphological and microscopical study of the plant; the phytochemical screening and testing for alkaloids, glycosides, tannins, steroids and flavonoids; TLC study and HPTLC fingerprinting. The parameters from the above were recorded with an objective of drawing an attention on the plant as well as a reference for further scientific investigations.  Keywords: Nardostachys jatamansi, Achyranthus aspera, Trachyspermum ammi, Flavanoids,  Microscopical, Pharmacognosy

Hazards in the Wake of Climate Change Induced Extreme Weather Events and Their Impact on Indian Fisheries

Climate change, whether driven by natural or human forcing, can lead to changes in the likelihood of the occurrence or strength of extreme weather and climate events or both. In recent past, the increased occurrence of extreme climatic events has caused enormous damage t

Platform for Mechatronics Education Using: (1) Mechatronics Technology Demonstrator, and (2) Web Based Virtual Experimentation

Increasing demands on the productivity of complex systems, such as machine tools and their steadily growing technological importance will require the application of new methods in the product development process. This paper shows that the analysis of the simulation results from the simulation based mechatronic model of a complex system followed by a procedure that allows a better understanding of the dynamic behavior and interactions of the components. This paper will highlight the results of interaction between National Institute of Technology, (NITK) Surathkal, India and University of District of Columbia (UDC) in the area of Mechatronics and virtual testing. Mechatronics is a design philosophy, which is an integrating approach to engineering design. Through a mechanism of simulating interdisciplinary ideas and techniques, mechatronics provides ideal conditions to raise the synergy, thereby providing a catalytic effect for the new solutions to technically complex situations. Many real-world systems can be modeled by the mass-spring-damper system and hence considering one such system, namely Mechatronics Technology Demonstrator (MTD) is taken as the first example. MTD is a portable low cost, technology demonstrator that can be used for teaching mechatronics system design. The paper highlights design optimization of several mechatronic products using the procedures derived by the use of mass spring damper based mechatronic system. The second example is on web based virtual experimentation, where the experiment is conducted by remote triggering of Torsion Testing Machine. Remote triggered (RT) experimentation is a method of remotely controlling the laboratory equipment by an internet based system from a webpage. RT lab is an excellent way for the students to get access to expensive state of the art labs and equipment. The present work deals with the systematic approach of realizing a remote triggered experimentation on a horizontal torsional testing machine which can be triggered from a tablet PC or a laptop through an internet connection directed to the server computer system. RT lab algorithms are built in the server computer and the information and controls will be displayed on an html webpage where the experiment can be conducted. In this experiment the machine is remotely started through a command in the webpage which will be directed to the main server computer system from a wireless handheld internet enabled device such as laptops or tablet PCs and render the suitable graph of the experiment in the device. The experiment is completely in the control of the user. The person can either on/off the main equipment with the help of the device within the given slot of time and the data from the graph can be retrieved for further analysis. The first example uses a software platform of VisSim and the second example uses a software platform LabView. Although located in two different locations and countries, this paper examines the common mechatronics philosophy and the design approach used in modeling, simulation, optimization and virtual experimentation in building robust mechatronics product and procedures.</jats:p

Equilibrium studies on mixed ligand complexes of lanthanides with some schiff bases and polycarboxylic acids

192-194Equilibrium studies have been done on the mixed ligand complexes of Ln(III) with ligands L and A where L = N-(salicylidene)-1H-2-benzimidazolylmethylamine (SBMA), N-(3-chlorosalicylidene)-1H-2-benzimidazolylmethylamine(SBMA), N-(3-methoxysalicylidene)1H-2-benzimidazolylmethylamine (MeO-SBMA); A = iminodiacetic acid (IMDA), hydroxyethyliminodiacetic acid (HIMDA), nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA) and Ln(III) = Pr(III), Nd(III), Dy(III), Gd(III), Y(III). Formation constants of binary 1:1:1 (ML), 1:2 (ML2) and ternary 1:1:1 (MAL) complexes have been determined potentiometrically at 30°C in 60% (v/v) aqueous methanol at I = 0.1 M (NaClO4). In these systems, the ligand L acts as a secondary ligand in the presence of A