Automatic Protein Shake Freestyle Vending Machine

This paper discusses the design and implementation of an automatic protein shake freestyle vending machine. This machine is capable of providing protein shakes as per the customer’s requirement. Customers are able to decide what kind of protein supplement they want according to their fitness needs, and they can give the appropriate instructions to the machine to prepare their protein drink by use of a touch system. Other customers, who are unable to decide or new to fitness supplements can choose a pre-designed drinks according to their personal fitness. As such, the machine gives the freedom of selection to the customer if they doesn’t have any idea about their nutrition requirement

Reduction of false positives in fault detection system using a low pass data filter

Network traffic is bursty in nature and exhibits the property of self-similarity, the degree of which is measured by the Hurst parameter. Now, in any network there is always the possibility of the occurrence of fault traffic that can be caused due to faults or malfunction of a network component. Fault Detection Systems that check for traffic anomalies can trigger off an alert on the detection of any traffic behavior that deviates from normal. Such deviation is usually caused when a fault occurs. But in network traffic sudden bursts may occur due to the inherent behavior of a network application. Due to this burst a fault detection system could generate an alert if the burst crosses a preset threshold even though it is not a fault condition. This paper investigates the use of a data filter to reduce such false positives that may be caused due to sudden bursts or spikes

Effects of Ca2+, microRNAs, and rosuvastatin on insulin-secreting beta cell function

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a condition of high blood glucose levels due to insulin resistance and defective insulin secretion. Impaired insulin secretion plays a major role in the pathophysiology of T2D, it is mainly attributed to beta cell function i.e. failure to secrete insulin or reduced beta cell mass. The exocytotic process is crucial for beta cell function and its dysregulation leads to impaired insulin secretion. Therefore, understanding the central mechanisms involved in the regulation of exocytosis is essential to recognize possible targets for therapeutic intervention and treatment of T2D. In this thesis I have investigated the role of Ca2+, miRNAs and rosuvastatin in the regulation of ion channels, exocytosis and insulin secretion of beta cells. For this purpose, pancreatic rat INS-1 832/13 beta cells, rodent animal models, and islets from human cadaver donors has been used. Whole-cell patch clamp was used to study exocytosis measured as changes in cell membrane capacitance. In beta cells, biphasic exocytotic pattern was previously mainly attributed to insulin granule pool depletion. In paper I, we used the pulse length protocol and mixed-effect modelling; the latter takes care of cellular heterogeneity, to study exocytosis as a function of Ca2+ influx (measured as Q). The data suggests that pool depletion plays a minor role in observed biphasic exocytotic pattern in INS-1 832/13 cells; instead exocytosis is mostly determined by the kinetics of Ca2+ current inactivation. In paper II and III, we have investigated the effects of miRNA modulation on insulin secretion and exocytosis. First we investigated miRNA-regulation of voltage-gated Na+ channels since their role in beta cell function is not yet clear. Down-regulation of miR-375 differentially affected Na+ channel inactivation properties in INS-1 832/13 cells and miR-375 knock-out mice beta cells, suggesting species differences. As steady-state inactivation determines the number of channels available for generation of action potential, this study is a proof of principle that mir-375 could be important in regulating electrical activity in human beta cells. Next, miRNA-regulation of the exocytotic process was investigated. Overexpression of miR-335 reduced exocytosis and thereby insulin secretion through decreased expression of the exocytotic proteins STXBP1, SNAP25 and SYT11. In this paper I also made the novel observation that SYT11 increase basal insulin secretion and decrease rapid exocytosis, two phenomenons associated with T2D. The work on miR-335 emphasizes the importance of miRNAs in the regulation of the exocytotic process. In paper IV and V the effects of the cholesterol-lowering drug rosuvastatin was investigated. Rosuvastatin treatment dose dependently affected Ca2+ influx, exocytosis, basal and glucose-induced insulin secretion in INS-1 832/13 cells. Interestingly, most of this effect was though mevalonate pathway and not from the cholesterol lowering ability of rosuvastatin. In vivo rosuvastatin had an overall positive effect on glucose homeostasis in mice but negative effects on beta cell function such as disturbed Ca2+-signalling. In conclusion, the data in my thesis demonstrate the need for investigations of the mechanisms behind defective insulin secretion and exocytosis in order to understand and treat T2D

NUMERICAL DESIGN OF STEERABLE GUIDEWIRES

Biomedical devices are an integral part of the medical industry nowadays. With the increase in cases of heart disease, catheterization procedures are becoming more frequent. Small-scale actuators are needed for the guidance of small-scale catheters and guidewires to remote targets in the human body. Numerical modelling is needed to guide the experiments in developing such steerable devices and to optimize their design. Here, we designed small-scale steerable guidewires by first developing bending actuators and then assembling them with guidewires. The actuators use materials with strain response to electric potential in a very low voltage range that is not harmful to the human body. Our work examined the layered strip configuration for the structure of actuators and identified trends to maximize the bending deformations. Using the commercial software Abaqus, we developed a finite element model based on Piezoelectric actuation to simulate various combinations of materials and geometries and to optimize the design of the actuator and the steerable guidewires. We also developed an analytical model for the actuators and showed that the simulation results are in agreement with the analytical model. Parameters like thickness, length, and different geometrical combinations and their effect on bending were compared. This numerical model can be customized for different materials that can be used for designing these actuators in future

Inpatient department hospital utilization among pregnant women with spinal cord injury or paralysis in the United States.

BACKGROUND: Spinal cord injury (SCI) results from damage to the spinal cord, leading to a temporary or permanent alteration in its normal function, usually causing a lifelong disability. SCI is one of the major causes of paralysis. Due to a sparsity of available research and to address the existing gaps, it is essential to evaluate the inpatient hospital use of pregnant women with SCI/paralysis. METHODS: This study operationalizes inpatient hospital use in three ways. We used the National (Nationwide) Inpatient Sample (NIS) from 2006 through 2019. The first analysis used a hurdle model for length of hospital stay and a linear regression for total hospitalization charges to assess non-delivery-related healthcare utilization for pregnant women with SCI/paralysis. The second analysis employed negative binomial regression for length of stay and ordinary least squares regression for total hospitalization charges to examine delivery-related healthcare utilization for pregnant women with SCI/paralysis. The third analysis used propensity-score kernel matching to determine the impact of SCI/paralysis on the healthcare utilization for inpatient encounters of pregnant women divided into groups - with and without SCI/paralysis. RESULTS: The average length of hospital stay for pregnant women with SCI/paralysis admitted for non-delivery and delivery-related reasons were 7.85 days (median: 4 days, IQR: 2 - 7 days) and 8.11 days (median: 4 days, IQR: 2 - 8 days), respectively. The average total hospitalization charges for pregnant women with SCI/paralysis admitted for non-delivery and delivery-related reasons were $85,676.47 (median:$29,181.31, IQR: $15,757.56 -$70,767.22, in 2019 dollars) and $79,027.84 (median:$30,043.4, IQR: $16,164.16 -$78,386.09, in 2019 dollars). The pregnant women with SCI/paralysis had, on average, a length of stay of about three days (SE: 0.22) longer and a total hospitalization charge of approximately $30,393.23 (SE:$24,84.01, in 2019 dollars) more than the pregnant women without SCI/paralysis. CONCLUSION: Pregnant women with SCI/paralysis have greater hospital inpatient service utilization when compared to those without SCI/paralysis. It is essential for a healthcare delivery system to understand the extent of healthcare utilization of pregnant women with SCI/paralysis to be able to develop effective programs and policies to address the needs of this population

Analytical Mechanics of Magnetic Particles Suspended in Magnetorheological Fluid

In this paper, the behavior of MR particles has been systematically investigated within the scope of analytical mechanics. . A magnetorheological fluid belongs to a class of smart materials. In magnetorheological fluids, the motion of magnetic particles is controlled by the action of internal and external forces. This paper presents analytical mechanics for the interaction of system of particles in MR fluid. In this paper, basic principles of Analytical Mechanics are utilized for the construction of equations

CORRELATION OF NUTRITIONAL STATUS OF MOTHER AND THE BIRTH WEIGHT OF THE BABY

Objective: The objective of this study is to correlate mother's nutritional status during pregnancy and determine the birth weight of the baby.Methods: A comparative, exploratory approach and prospective cohort study design was used to find out mothers' nutritional status during pregnancy influences the birth weight of babies. The data were collected using structured interview schedule and dietary history by 24 h recall method from a randomly selected sample of 380 eligible mothers delivered at Krishna Hospital, Karad.Results: There was a significant correlation between birth weight and calorie intake (correlation coefficient [r]=0.595; p<0.001; Chi-square=201.3; p<0.001.) A higher proportion of low birth weight babies, i.e., 105 (32.2%) were delivered by the mothers consuming <70% of protein ([r]=0.245; p<0.001; χ2=24.033; p<0.001]). There was correlation between birth weight and calcium intake of mothers ([r]=0.525; p<0.001; χ2=10.12; p<0.001] birth†weight and iron intake of mothers ([r]=0.250; p<0.001; χ2=13.798; p<0.001).Conclusion: The intake of calorie, protein, calcium, and iron of mother can significantly influence the weight of the newborn baby. Among all anthropometric parameters of the mother, weight gain was the strongest predictor of adequacy of the birth weight

Industry 4.0 enabling technologies for increasing operational flexibility in final assembly

The manufacturing industry is facing uncertainties caused by growing competition and increasing customer demands. Simultaneously, the fourth industrial revolution, commonly referred to as Industry 4.0, is helping in modernising the manufacturing industry. In the process of modernising, companies are now capable of building resilience into their systems. This resilience is in the form of higher operational flexibility, which helps cope with the growing uncertainties. The new technologies under the Industry 4.0 umbrella can be used to increase operational flexibility. This article summarises various Industry 4.0 enabling technologies that can increase operational flexibility in final assembl