Development of Piezoelectric Nano- generator with Super-Capacitor

Harvesting mechanical energy from human motion is an attractive approach for obtaining clean and sustainable electric energy to power wearable sensors, which are widely used for health monitoring, activity recognition, gait analysis and so on. This paper studies a piezoelectric energy based device which conserve mechanical energy in shoes originated from human motion. The device is based on a on a pressure based energy generation. Besides, consideration is given to both high performance durability and build with repect to keeping the comfort in mind . The device provides an average output power of 1 mW during a walk at a frequency of roughly 1 Hz., a direct current (DC) power supply is built through integrating the device with a power management circuit

Prescription to practice in hypertension: a community experience in central Kerala

Background: Control of blood pressure is a global challenge and non-adherence to hypertension medications is a public health concern. Patient, medication and system related factors can contribute to non-adherence. The study was to determine adherence to hypertension medications and to understand the barriers to adherence in an adult group in Pathanamthitta District of Central Kerala.Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted in a community setting in 2016, among 139 adults aged 30 years and above on treatment for hypertension for at least six months. Those with gestational hypertension, those having serious comorbid conditions and those unwilling to participate were excluded. The data sheet included basic demographic information and history related to hypertension. A content validated eight item questionnaire was used to assess reported adherence and scores classified level of adherence as good (8), moderate (6-<8) and poor (<6). The data was analyzed using SPSS. Chi square test of significance and multivariate regression analysis were done. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results: The participants were in the age group 34-91 years, 50.4% belonging to 50-69 years, and 75.5% were females. Adherence to hypertension medications was good in 49.6%, moderate in 31.7% and poor in 18.7%. The most common factors reported to contribute to non-adherence were forgetfulness (70.5%), high cost of medications (51.8%), and symptom-free state (27.3%).Conclusions: Adherence was good in less than half the study participants and poor in almost one-fifth. Forgetfulness and high medication costs were the most commonly reported barriers. These findings highlight the importance of individuals, families and health service, joining hands to tackle the public health problem of non-adherence to hypertension medications

Nutritional status of older adults in a community in Pathanamthitta district of Kerala

Background: India is said to be shifting from an undernourished to over nourished population with advances in health, economy and medical care. But there is paucity of information regarding nutritional status of older adults in the country, who are socially and economically insecure. Hence the present study attempts to assess the nutritional status of people above 60 years of age, and to find the factors associated with it.Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among 129 people aged above 60 years, residing in Pathanamthitta district, Kerala. Mini Nutritional Assessment tool (MNA) was used to classify the respondents as having ‘normal nutrition’ (score 23.5 and above), ‘at risk of malnutrition’ (17-23.5), ‘malnourished’ (<17). A 24-hour dietary recall was done to calculate per day calorie intake and compare with Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA). The results were interpreted as adequate or deficient. Descriptive statistics, chi-square and spearman’s correlation were done to find relationship between various sociodemographic variables, MNA status, BMI and calorie intake.Results: Females constituted 75.2%; 81.4% were unemployed; 62% belonged to rural area. Nutritional assessment showed 41.9% to be having normal nutrition, 46.5% at risk of malnutrition, and 11.6% malnourished. Caloric intake was less than the RDA in 89.1%. There was no association between calorie intake per day and MNA status. Education (p=0.025), place of residence (p=0.021), marital status (p=0.003), and family income (p=0.031) were factors significantly influencing nutritional status in elderly. There was significant correlation between MNA status and BMI (p<0.001, r=0.329).Conclusions: Malnutrition was seen in 11.6% of older adults in this study and another major proportion was at risk of malnutrition. Better nutritional status was significantly associated with good education, urban residence, married state, and higher family income. Dietary intake was inadequate among older adults. 24-hour dietary recall reflected nutritional status of only the malnourished. 

Galactose and its Metabolites Deteriorate Metaphase II Mouse Oocyte Quality and Subsequent Embryo Development by Disrupting the Spindle Structure

Premature ovarian insufficiency (POI) is a frequent long-term complication of classic galactosemia. The majority of women with this disorder develop POI, however rare spontaneous pregnancies have been reported. Here, we evaluate the effect of D-galactose and its metabolites, galactitol and galactose 1-phosphate, on oocyte quality as well as embryo development to elucidate the mechanism through which these compounds mediate oocyte deterioration. Metaphase II mouse oocytes (n=240), with and without cumulus cells (CCs), were exposed for 4hours to D-galactose (2μM), galactitol (11μM) and galactose 1-phosphate (0.1mM), (corresponding to plasma concentrations in patients on galactoserestricted diet) and compared to controls. The treated oocytes showed decreased quality as a function of significant enhancement in production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) when compared to controls. The presence of CCs offered no protection, as elevated ROS was accompanied by increased apoptosis of CCs. Our results suggested that D-galactose and its metabolites disturbed the spindle structure and chromosomal alignment, which was associated with significant decline in oocyte cleavage and blastocyst development after in-vitro fertilization. The results provide insight into prevention and treatment strategies that may be used to extend the window of fertility in these patients

Efecto de procesos de ahumado frío y caliente y la adición de extracto polifenólico natural de Dunaliella salina sobre la calidad bioquímica y la vida útil de filetes de Sander lucioperca almacenados durante 90 días

The effects of cold and hot smoking and the addition of&nbsp;Dunaliella salina&nbsp;polyphenol extract on the biochemical quality and shelf-life of&nbsp;Sander lucioperca&nbsp;fillets after storage for 90 days at 0-4 °C were examined. The results showed a significant increase in protein, lipid, free fatty acid, and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl contents, and a decrease in peroxide and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, and volatile base nitrogen levels in cold (CSF) and hot (HSF) smoked fillets covered with or without extract and stored for 1, 20, and 90 days compared to fresh fillets (FF). Saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids exhibited a significant increase in FF and CSF and HSF covered with or without extract. The total polyunsaturated fatty acids revealed a significant decrease in FF and CSF and HSF with or without extract. Therefore, cold and hot smoking and polyphenol extract improved the biochemical quality and storage shelf-life of fillets for 90 days at 0-4 °C.Se examinaron los efectos del ahumado en frío y en caliente y la adición de extracto de polifenoles de&nbsp;Dunaliella salina&nbsp;sobre la calidad bioquímica y la vida útil de filetes de&nbsp;Sander lucioperca&nbsp;almacenados durante 90 días a 0-4 °C. Los resultados mostraron un aumento significativo en los contenidos de proteínas, lípidos, ácidos grasos libres y 1,1-difenil-2-picrilhidrazilo, y una disminución en las sustancias reactivas de peróxido y ácido tiobarbitúrico, y los niveles de nitrógeno básico volátil en frío (LCR) y caliente (HSF) de filetes ahumados cubiertos con o sin extracto y almacenados durante 1, 20 y 90 días en comparación con los filetes frescos (FF). Los ácidos grasos saturados y monoinsaturados exhibieron un aumento significativo en FF y LCR y HSF cubiertos con o sin extracto. Los ácidos grasos poliinsaturados totales revelaron una disminución significativa en FF y CSF y HSF con o sin extracto. Por lo tanto, el ahumado en frío y en caliente y el extracto de polifenoles mejoraron la calidad bioquímica y la vida útil durante el almacenamiento de los filetes durante 90 días a 0-4 °C

Mapping cropland in Ethiopia using crowdsourcing

The spatial distribution of cropland is an important input to many applications including food security monitoring and economic land use modeling. Global land cover maps derived from remote sensing are one source of cropland but they are currently not accurate enough in the cropland domain to meet the needs of the user community. Moreover, when compared with one another, these land cover products show large areas of spatial disagreement, which makes the choice very difficult regarding which land cover product to use. This paper takes an entirely different approach to mapping cropland, using crowdsourcing of Google Earth imagery via tools in Geo-Wiki. Using sample data generated by a crowdsourcing campaign for the collection of the degree of cultivation and settlement in Ethiopia, a cropland map was created using simple inverse distance weighted interpolation. The map was validated using data from the GOFC-GOLD validation portal and an independent crowdsourced dataset from Geo-Wiki. The results show that the crowdsourced cropland map for Ethiopia has a higher overall accuracy than the individual global land cover products for this country. Such an approach has great potential for mapping cropland in other countries where such data do not currently exist. Not only is the approach inexpensive but the data can be collected over a very short period of time using an existing network of volunteers

Effect of activated carbon in Polysufone-Polyethyleneimine-Silver composite membrane towards adsorption of chromium (Cr), lead (Pb), silver (Ag) and cadmium (Cd) in synthetic wastewater

Adsorption of heavy metal has been monopoly by activated carbon either in solid or powder form and the introduction of membrane consist of activated carbon could therefore increase the capacity of adsorption. The objective of this work was to investigate the effect of adding activated carbon in a Polysufone-Polyethyleneimine-Silver (Psf-PEI-Ag) composite membrane in terms of the heavy metal adsorption in synthetic wastewater. The membrane was developed by phase inversion at different composition of activated carbon (from 0 to 0.9%) while the other components were kept constant at 15% Psf, 0.5% Ag and 0.3% PEI. The SEM image showed a symmetrical membrane matrix with sponge-like structure. The composite membrane with 0.9wt% AC has the highest water flux and removal of heavy metal (chromium, lead, silver and cadmium). The percentage of heavy metal reduction by the composite membrane was 35% cadmium, 19% chromium, 16% silver and 2% lead. The result indicated that the introduction of activated carbon indeed plays an important role towards enhancing the adsorption of heavy metal. This work is expected to provide better understanding of activated carbon in PEI-Ag membrane and to inspire new approaches in designing membrane with higherheavy metal removal. © 2017 University of Mohammed Premier Oujda Morocco

Prevalence of congenital heart defects in neuroblastoma patients: a cohort study and systematic review of literature

Data on the prevalence of congenital heart defects (CHD) in neuroblastoma patients are inconsistent. If CHD are more common in neuroblastoma patients than in the general population, cardiac screening might be warranted. In this study we used echocardiography to determine the prevalence of CHD in a single centre cohort of surviving neuroblastoma patients. In addition, we performed a systematic review of the literature. Echocardiography was performed in 119 of 133 patients (89.5%). Only two patients (1.7%) had CHD. The prevalence of CHD was not significantly different from a previously published control group of 192 leukaemia patients examined by echocardiography (P = 0.49). Literature search revealed 17 studies, showing prevalence rates of CHD in neuroblastoma patients ranging from 0 to 20%. Prevalence was less than 3.6% in the majority of studies. Most studies lacked information on validity. We conclude that current evidence does not support standard cardiac screening in all patients with neuroblastoma

Which Green Matters for Whom? Greening and Firm Performance across Age and Size Distribution of Firms.

A growing body of literature links firm performance with sustainability efforts.We contribute to this literature by developing a novel framework for contextualising greening through the lens of tangibility and visibility of greening activities and examine the impact of different types of greening on firm performance along the age and size distribution of firms. The empirical results based on a large-scale database suggest that rewards to different types of greening differ across age and size distributions