Development of a 3D coculture system to study adipocyte and lymph node cell interactions

We have developed a long term 3-dimensional coculture system with adipocytes and lymph node cells for the purpose of investigating interactions between these cells in vitro. Present experimental work with the culture system is aimed at introducing lymph node cells, in proportions similar to those found in intact lymph nodes, among differentiated adipocytes and observing interactions and the establishment of a spatial relationship between them. Co-cultures will be used to investigate the lymph node adipocyte interactions following immune stimulation (lipopolysaccharide treatment) measuring production of inflammatory mediators (cytokines) and lipolytic activity

Discrete simulations of spatio-temporal dynamics of small water bodies under varied stream flow discharges

International audienceSpatio-temporal patterns of small water bodies (SWBs) under the influence of temporally varied stream flow discharge are simulated in discrete space by employing geomorphologically realistic expansion and contraction transformations. Cascades of expansion-contraction are systematically performed by synchronizing them with stream flow discharge simulated via the logistic map. Templates with definite characteristic information are defined from stream flow discharge pattern as the basis to model the spatio-temporal organization of randomly situated surface water bodies of various sizes and shapes. These spatio-temporal patterns under varied parameters (?s) controlling stream flow discharge patterns are characterized by estimating their fractal dimensions. At various ?s, nonlinear control parameters, we show the union of boundaries of water bodies that traverse the water body and non-water body spaces as geomorphic attractors. The computed fractal dimensions of these attractors are 1.58, 1.53, 1.78, 1.76, 1.84, and 1.90, respectively, at ?s of 1, 2, 3, 3.46, 3.57, and 3.99. These values are in line with general visual observations

Safe drinking water status in the state of Bihar, India: challenges ahead

Water is a precious resource gifted by nature for the human well being. But its contamination whether chemical or faecal is a challenge for the water supply agencies in providing safe drinking water especially to the rural community. It is a known fact that safe drinking water is essential for healthy living yet millions of people on the earth are deprived of it. Deterioration of ground water quality in recent years due to various human as well as geogenic activities is a threat to humanity especially in rural areas in plains as it is the only available water source within their reach. The governments are struggling to provide adequate safe water to all rural habitations. Depletion of water table in many areas resulting in emergence of chemical impurities like Arsenic and Fluoride in water is making it unsafe whereas water in high water table zone are bacteriologically unsafe. Bihar one of the largest states of Indian Republic with high groundwater potential is facing a serious water quality problem .This paper is a case study and attempts to identify the steps to improve the rural health through safe water supply

Weakly Nonlinear Analysis of Electroconvection in a Suspended Fluid Film

It has been experimentally observed that weakly conducting suspended films of smectic liquid crystals undergo electroconvection when subjected to a large enough potential difference. The resulting counter-rotating vortices form a very simple convection pattern and exhibit a variety of interesting nonlinear effects. The linear stability problem for this system has recently been solved. The convection mechanism, which involves charge separation at the free surfaces of the film, is applicable to any sufficiently two-dimensional fluid. In this paper, we derive an amplitude equation which describes the weakly nonlinear regime, by starting from the basic electrohydrodynamic equations. This regime has been the subject of several recent experimental studies. The lowest order amplitude equation we derive is of the Ginzburg-Landau form, and describes a forward bifurcation as is observed experimentally. The coefficients of the amplitude equation are calculated and compared with the values independently deduced from the linear stability calculation.Comment: 26 pages, 2 included eps figures, submitted to Phys Rev E. For more information, see http://mobydick.physics.utoronto.c

Implementation of Intelligent Monitoring System for year Elderly

One of three adults 65 or older falls every year. Injuries sustained among the elderly because of falls are a major problem worldwide. Demographic predictions of population aged 65 and over suggest the need for telemedicine applications in the eldercare domain. In this paper, we propose an intelligent surveillance system that monitors human activities with a particular interest of the problem of fall detection. To make the motion detection and object tracking fully automatic and robust under different illumination conditions, combination of best-fit approximated ellipse around the face and temporal changes of head position, would provide a useful cue for detection of different behaviors. The system identifies the face, collects data suchas speed of movement, and triggers an alarm on the determination of fall event. Reliable recognition rate of experimental results underlines satisfactory performance of our system

Automated Monitoring System for Fall Detection in the Elderly

Falls are a major problem for the elderly people living independently. Accordingto the World Health Organization, falls and sustained injuries are the third cause of chronic disability. In the last years there have been many commercial solutions aimed at automatic and non automatic detection of falls like the social alarm (wrist watch with a button that is activated by the subject in case of a fall event), and the wearable fall detectors that are based on combinations of accelerometers and tilt sensors. Critical problems are associated with those solutions like button is often unreachable after the fall, wearable devices produce many false alarms and old people tend to forget wearing them frequently. To solve these problems, we propose an automated monitoring that will detects the face of the person, extract features such as speed and determines if a human fall has occurred. An alarm is triggered immediately upon detection of a fall

Real Time Recognition of Elderly Daily Activity using Fuzzy Logic through Fusion of Motion and Location Data

One of the major problems that may encounter old people at home is falling. Approximately, one of three adults of the age of 65 or older falls every year. The World Health Organization reports that injuries due to falls are the third most common cause of chronic disability. In this paper, we proposed an approach to indoor human daily activity recognition, which combines motion and location data by using a webcam system, with a particular interest to the problem of fall detection. The proposed system identifies the face and the body in a given area, collects motion data such as face and body speeds and location data such as center of mass and aspect ratio; then the extracted parameters will be fed to a Fuzzy logic classifier that classify the fall event in two classes: fall and not fall

The Time-Budget Perspective of the Role of Time Dimension in Modular Network Dynamics during Functions of the Brain

Information processing plays a key role in the daily activities of human and nonhuman primates. Information processing in the brain, underlying behavior, is constrained by the four-dimensional nature of external physical surroundings. In contrast to three geometric dimensions, there are no known peripheral sensory organs for the perception of time dimension. However, the representation of time dimension in modular neural networks is critical for the brain functions that require interval timing or the temporal coupling of action with perception. Recent experimental and theoretical studies are shedding light on how the representation of time dimension in neural circuits plays a key role in the diverse functions of the brain, which also includes motor interactions with environment as well as social interactions, such as verbal and nonverbal communication. Although different lines of evidence strongly suggest that rhythmic neural activities represent time dimension in the brain, how the information represented by rhythmic activities is processed to time behavioral responses by the brain remains unclear. Theoretical considerations suggest that the rhythmic activities represent a physical aspect of the time dimension rather than the source of simple additive temporal units for coding time intervals in neural circuits