Vitamin D deficiency (VDD) is ubiquitous in the Indian subcontinent. VDD has been shown to impair muscle functions. However, the association of VDD with cardiorespiratory endurance is uncertain. ...Hence, we enrolled and supplemented vitamin D in military recruits with VDD with an aim to evaluate effect of supplementation on cardiorespiratory endurance and muscle strength.
We enrolled 90 military recruits with VDD and randomly allotted them to two groups equally. The group I received cholecalciferol granules 60,000 IU every fortnight for twelve weeks (cases), and the group II was observed as control. Muscle strength and cardiorespiratory endurance was assessed with a battery of tests (standing broad jump, bent arm hang test, 20 m shuttle run) at baseline and repeated at the end of training (nineteen weeks). Blood samples were collected for measurement of serum 25(OH)D and parathyroid hormone.
In Group I and Group II, there was significant increase in 25(OH) D levels (25.8 ± 7.1 and 17.3 ± 3.5 ng/ml, respectively), and in VO2 max (9.8 ± 8.8 and 12.7 ± 8.6 ml/kg/min, respectively) compared with the baseline values. However, no significant change was observed in muscle strength after supplementation. There was no difference between the groups in VO2 max and muscle strength at baseline and at the end of training.
Vitamin D supplementation did not improve muscle strength and cardiorespiratory endurance in military recruits with VDD. A significant rise in 25(OH) D was observed even in those not supplemented with vitamin D.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Abstract
Background
Smoking is a significant cause of preventable mortality, morbidity and healthcare costs. Tobacco Free Ireland aims to reduce smoking prevalence to <5% by 2025. The recently ...published Department of Health and HSE National Clinical Guidelines for Tobacco Control emphasise the need for healthcare professionals to address smoking cessation during hospital admissions. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between smoking and hospitalisation, health service utilisation and prescribed medication use.
Methods
TILDA (The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing) wave 3 and wave 4 datasets were used, with 5,564 participants in both wave 3 and 4. Following univariate analysis, logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the health service usage outcomes associated with smoking.
Results
On univariate analysis, primary/no education (p < 0.001) and lower age group (<53 years) were significantly associated with increased smoking. After adjustment for demographic variables, smokers had a reduced likelihood of attending ≥1GP appointments over the past 12 months than non/ex-smokers (adjusted Odds Ratio OR: 0.65, 95% Confidence Interval CI: 0.42–0.72). Hospitalisations during the same period were found to have no significant association with smoking (p = 0.490). Smoking was also shown to cause a reduced likelihood of having ≥1 regular medications (adjusted OR: 0.69, 95% CI: 0.57–0.85).
Conclusion
Considering the impact of smoking on health, the results appear initially counterintuitive. There are a couple of explanations. Older smokers with more severe smoking-related morbidity may not participate in the TILDA Study. In addition, the results suggest that smokers tend to avoid visiting the GP which may indicate either that smokers are unconcerned about their health or do not wish to discuss smoking. Deferral of care to a later stage may impact prognosis and costs. Further research is required to investigate the dose-effect relationship of smoking with health service utilisation in the Irish setting.
We estimate the uplink channel of an extra large-scale multiple-input-multiple-output (XL-MIMO) system, with the base station (BS) consisting of multiple antenna sub-arrays. The BS has a ...decentralized processing architecture, wherein each sub-array is connected to a local processing unit (LPU), which performs its signal processing tasks. The non-stationarity in XL-MIMO channel causes it to become sparse. We design a decentralized channel estimation algorithm to exploit this sparsity. In this algorithm, each LPU decentrally estimates the channel of a sub-array by exchanging information with other LPUs. This exchange is required to exploit the XL-MIMO sparsity. This decentralized algorithm is designed in two steps. The first step designs a centralized sub-array-based variational Bayesian learning (cS-VBL) algorithm. The second step extends this centralized design to a decentralized S-VBL (dS-VBL) implementation, which converts the centralized hyperparameter updates in cS-VBL algorithm to equivalent decentralized optimization problems. Each LPU decentrally solves this problem using asynchronous alternating direction method of multipliers. We show that the proposed i) cS-VBL and dS-VBL algorithms exploit the XL-MIMO channel sparsity, and outperform their existing centralized and decentralized counterparts; and ii) dS-VBL algorithm is robust to LPU failures, and has a lower complexity than cS-VBL algorithm.
Fundraising is essential to the voluntary sector. Giving clubs, where donors are publicly recognised for a gift at a specific level, are prolific in the context of university and arts fundraising to ...support giving. However, there is little known about their role in other cause areas. This paper examines giving clubs in UK health and disability charities and explores the benefits and challenges they offer to fundraisers working in UK nonprofit organisations.
Foreign objects such as backing tapes may get embedded between the plies of a laminated polymer composite during its fabrication which can compromise the composite panel or the adjacent bond joint. ...This paper investigates the effect of such inter-layer inclusion defects in laminated carbon fiber composite adherends, on the strength of an adjacent single lap bonded joints, using both experimental and computational methods. Composite laminates composed of 0° unidirectional lamina were fabricated with Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) strips embedded between the first two plies closest to the bond line. Three different inclusion positions were investigated and the location of the inclusion defect yielding the lowest strength was identified. The inclusion location in the most compromised joint was then used to study the effect of this type of defect in adherends having different ply orientations. Finite Element (FE) stress analysis was performed to understand the variation in the shear and peel stresses due to the presence of the inclusion. FE analysis revealed higher shear and peel stresses in bonded joints adjacent to inclusion defects.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Wearable ultrasound systems are surpassing traditional boundaries for continuous and real-time patient care and diagnostics. However, these systems have limitations due to the use of conventional ...coupling media with a high dehydration rate for long-term use, leading image quality to deteriorate over time. Additionally, the use of conventional acoustic gel with ultrasound probes on wearable mounts around curved human surfaces leads to imperfect probe edge contact. In this paper, we propose a Non-Newtonian-Fluid based acoustic gel coupler with high structural stability and a very low dehydration rate for wearable ultrasound systems that overcomes the above limitations. The proposed acoustic coupler exhibited enhanced imaging with a 35 % increase in lateral resolution on curved surfaces and material parameters with a low dehydration rate of 32 % and a 3.5 % increase in density, over a frequency range of 4.60 MHz to 10.60 MHz. In addition, the measurements revealed a reduced acoustic attenuation of 0.328 dB/cm/MHz with a speed of sound of 1595 m/s. Thus, integrating Non-Newtonian-based acoustic gel with these improved parameters will make wearable ultrasound systems more appropriate for consistent and continuous use on irregular and curved surfaces.
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•NNF acoustic coupler for wearable ultrasonography improves dehydration rate by 32 % with 0.328 % acoustic attenuation.•Enhanced lateral resolution with NNFAC due to higher SoS, increasing acoustic beam convergence at the interface (Snell's law).•NNFAC's rheology enhances coupling (reduces air gaps) on curved surfaces with stability, essential for clinical monitoring.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
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•DEAE cellulose was used as adsorbent for coliphages, MS2 and SUSP2.•Moringa oleifera seed protein functionalized rice husk ash (FaRHA) was also used.•DEAE cellulose had relatively ...higher adsorption capacity for the coliphages.•DEAE cellulose could be regenerated and reused using the optimized eluents.•Rotavirus could also be effectively adsorbed and desorbed from DEAE cellulose.
Adsorption elution technique is widely used for virus preconcentration before detection and quantification. However, the existing methods do not provide adequate recovery of viruses. DEAE cellulose, and Moringa oleifera seed protein functionalized rice husk ash (FaRHA) adsorbents were evaluated for the concentration of an enteric virus, Rotavirus A (RVA), an F-specific coliphage, MS2, and a somatic coliphage, SUSP2. Recovery with various adsorbent-eluent pairs was tested using initial coliphage concentration (Co) 104 PFU/mL. An eluent composed of 1.5 M NaCl, 2% Tween 80, and 0.05 M KH2PO4 (pH 9.2) yielded a high recovery of MS2 from DEAE cellulose (82%) and it also yielded high recovery of RVA. However, SUSP2 recovery from DEAE cellulose was ~61%, even after eluent optimization. An eluent comprised of glycine 3X broth, 1.5 M NaCl, 3% Tween 80, and 0.05 M KH2PO4 (pH 10.2) yielded high recovery of SUSP2 from FaRHA (88%). The maximum recovery of MS2 and RVA from FaRHA was lower (77% and 32%, respectively). The Freundlich model provided a good fit to the adsorption-desorption isotherms for the coliphages. For both the coliphages, the Freundlich capacity parameter, KF, was two orders of magnitude higher for DEAE cellulose compared to FaRHA. MS2 recovery from DEAE cellulose was minimally affected by antichaotrophic ions and dissolved organic matter, and higher sorption could be achieved over a wide pH range. For FaRHA, pH variation and various water matrices had a significant adverse effect on coliphage recovery. Thus, DEAE cellulose is a superior adsorbent for virus preconcentration from water samples.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Correlated sparse Bayesian learning (Corr-SBL) is a powerful framework for multi-user multiple input multiple-output millimeter wave (mmWave) channel estimation. It exploits the underlying sparsity ...and spatial correlation in a mmWave channel. Due to massive antennas at the base station in mmWave systems, this algorithm becomes computationally expensive. This is because it inverts a high-dimensional matrix while computing the covariance matrix of the channel estimate. We propose a novel fast Corr-SBL algorithm, which exploits the sparsity in the estimated covariance matrix, and then calculates it approximately with a much lesser time complexity. We show that the proposed algorithm, without significantly compromising the performance, estimates a correlated sparse vector with a reduced complexity.
To compare the ease of visualization and comfort of the surgeon during phacoemulsification surgery using NGENUITY® 3D (NG) visualization system and standard operating microscope (SOM).
In this ...prospective, randomized, single-blind, single-center study, patients undergoing phacoemulsification surgery by one of the five surgeons were randomly assigned to two groups based on the visualization modality-NG and SOM. Ease of visualization and comfort of the surgeon was assessed using a 27-parameter in-house Surgeon Comfort Score questionnaire.
A total of 224 phacoemulsification with intraocular lens implantations were performed in senile immature cataract (SIMC, n = 174) and mature cataract patients (MC, n = 50). Surgeon's ease of visualization (4.92-5.00) and hand-eye coordination score (4.97-5.00) were comparable between the NG- and SOM-groups. Postoperative neck discomfort was lower in both the groups, with a relatively lower discomfort in the NG-group (score: 1.04 vs 1.56). The Spearman rank correlation coefficient (r) between illumination of the operation theatre room and the surgical field revealed a weak negative correlation for most of the patients in the NG-group, and a positive correlation for patients in the SOM-group. No correlation was obtained between brightness of the surgical field and comfort with the surgical field brightness.
Similar ease of visualization was experienced by the surgeons using NG- and SOM-system. Neck discomfort postsurgery was numerically lower in the NG-group, although not significant. Additionally, the NG-system permitted the safe performance of phacoemulsification using a lower surgical field illumination.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
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•Basic aspects of heterogeneous electron Fenton processes are introduced.•Catalytic supports for heterogeneous electro Fenton processes are reviewed.•Activated carbon, carbon ...nanotubes and alginate based supported catalysts are widely studied.•Feasibility of fibre based catalytic support requires extensive research investigation.
Extremely low pH requirement and additional sludge management for the homogeneous electro-Fenton (EF) process necessitated the development of heterogeneous electro-Fenton (HEF) reactions that utilize solid catalysts that can be recovered and reused. In the recent decades, supported catalysts have immensely attracted researchers owing to the outstanding physical, chemical, and electronic properties of the supports that benefit the EF process by enhancing the removal efficiency, reducing reaction time, and extending the operational pH range. This review enlightens the readers about various materials that have been used for supporting the catalysts, their importance, method of impregnation, and optimum conditions required to attain maximum pollutant removal. From the wide array of catalysts reviewed, porous supports with a high surface area such as activated carbon, biochar and fibres adsorbs the pollutants near their surface facilitating enhanced Fenton reactions and degradation of pollutants. Alginate-based catalysts can be prepared by a simple procedure and exhibit good degradation efficiency when used in batch and continuous EF reactors. Zeolite-based catalysts are structurally stable and display promising results for successive cycles. The flexible and conductive nature of fibre-based supports performs the dual role as a catalyst and cathode. The highly stable and conductive properties of graphene and carbon nanotubes promote electron transfer, much required for continuous EF reactions.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
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