Pressure biofeedback is a tool that can detect the movement of a structure and may be used as an indicator of muscle function. It's widely used to measure the transversus abdominis (TrA) muscle ...activity. Pressure biofeedback (PBU) monitors the abdominal wall movement by measuring the pressure change during abdominal hollowing and can indirectly evaluate the TrA muscle function, which is considered as a valuable tool. The evaluation of the training of core muscles, including the transversus abdominis, requires a reliable outcome. Various methods using different positions are used to evaluate the transversus abdominis muscle function. However, it is noted that a standard way of evaluation and training still needs to be improved in research and clinical practice. This technical report discusses the optimal position and technique to measure the TrA muscle activity using PBU, with discussions on the merits and demerits of the body positions.
The technical report is presented with a literature review of the PBU measurement of TrA and through observation in the clinical practice. The evaluation methods of TrA, including the position to activate and isolate, are discussed in detail.
Training core muscles does not imply TrA activation, and evaluating isolated TrA and multifidus is essential before intervention. The abdominal drawing-in maneuver effectively activates TrA in various evaluation positions of the body, but when using PBUs, it would be valid in a prone position.
Different body positions are practiced to train TrA and core muscles using PBU, commonly adopted by practice are in supine. It's noted that most of the studies lack in establishing the effectiveness of the position in evaluating the TrA muscle activity using PBU. The need for insight into an appropriate technique for evaluating TrA activity is addressed in this technical report. This report presents key points on the complete technique and concludes that the prone position is superior to other positions and recommended for measuring and recording the TrA activity using a PBU.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
AbstractThis study aims to examine the seasonal price trends of cauliflower in the Nepalese market over the past decade, considering its significance as a major vegetable in terms of production and ...land area. The primary goal is to predict short-term market prices using econometric time-series analysis and artificial neural networks (ANNs), providing valuable insights for stakeholders, such as farmers, policymakers, researchers and students to make informed decisions and implement effective strategies for production, marketing, and distribution. The data, derived from the annual reports of the Kalimati Fruits and Vegetable Market covering April 2013 to March 2023, serves as the foundation for the analysis. Utilising the Seasonal Auto-Regressive Integrated Moving Average (SARIMA), Long Short-Term Memory Recurrent Neural Network (LSTM RNN) and Facebook (Fb) Prophet models, the study probes into the intricate seasonal patterns and trends in cauliflower prices. In contrast to conventional literature trends, the results of this study highlight the superior forecast accuracy of the SARIMA model, sizing the need for tailored-modeling approaches to address the complexities of the agricultural commodity market. The findings reveal an overall stable price structure in Nepal, implying the necessity for strategic planning to address potential challenges for cauliflower growers. The study recommends off-season cultivation to manage supply-demand imbalances during peak periods, enabling farmers to optimise profits and promote sustainable agricultural practices using policy interventions.
Layered fabrics are utilized for the development of active sport wear applications due to their thermo-physiological properties. In this study, nine different types of knitted fabrics were developed ...using mill spun yarns of Eri silk, Wool (worsted), and Bamboo with three different knit structures such as single jersey, single pique, and honeycomb. The thermo-physiological properties such as thermal conductivity, thermal resistance, thermal absorptivity, air permeability, and water vapor permeability were studied. Further to this, the moisture management properties such as wetting time, absorption rate, spreading speed, and maximum wet radius of the knitted fabrics were measured. Finally, the overall thermal comfort fabric was compared both subjective and objective manner and found that Eri silk based knitted honeycomb structure was highest rated than other samples.
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BFBNIB, GIS, IJS, KISLJ, NUK, PNG, UL, UM, UPUK
A 17‐year‐old male sustained a blunt thoracic trauma after he had a dirt bike accident. He was admitted for the management of multiple fractures, was hemodynamically stable, and presented without any ...cardiac symptoms. The patient underwent transthoracic echocardiography and CT angiogram of the thorax as the workup of possible cardiac injury as he had a new aortic regurgitation murmur, troponin rise, and a new RBBB. Imaging showed aortic root rupture, type A aortic dissection involving aortic root and proximal ascending aorta, and acute severe aortic regurgitation, not typically seen with blunt thoracic trauma. The patient was immediately taken to the operating room, underwent a surgical aortic valve and root replacement with the Bentall procedure, and had a good outcome.
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BFBNIB, DOBA, FZAB, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VSZLJ
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•Limited solubility and bioavailability of quercetin and baicalein result into their limited use as a drug candidate.•DFT and MCR approach revealed different anionic forms for both ...quercetin and baicalein at different pH.•Both flavonoids exhibit reversible aggregation behaviour and can be modulated by pH, temperature, and their concentration.•Experiments depicted similar results with computational (DFT) measurements.•The presence of extra OH group affects the stability of polyphenols and their propensity to aggregate.
Recently, flavonoids like quercetin and baicalein have drawn the attention of many researchers worldwide owing to their potential therapeutic applications. But they are still not used for biomedical purposes due to their low solubility and bioavailability. Moreover, there are very few reports available on various factors that can modulate the physicochemical properties of these flavonoids in an aqueous medium. This work explores the physicochemical behaviour of quercetin and baicalein in an aqueous medium under different solution conditions (like pH and temperature). UV–vis and fluorescence studies revealed that quercetin and baicalein show quite different optical properties from each other under same aqueous conditions. Quercetin undergoes autooxidation at alkaline pH and the rate of this autooxidation was enhanced at higher temperature whereas no autooxidation of baicalein was observed at any pH or temperature. Different anionic forms of quercetin and baicalein formed at different pH were characterized with the aid of density functional theory (DFT) and multivariate curve resolution (MCR) approach. Dynamic light scattering (DLS) studies suggest that temperature affects the particle size of both the flavonoids significantly and this aggregation phenomenon was observed to be reversible.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Liver transplant is the treatment available for eligible patients with end-stage liver cirrhosis. Acute kidney injury and electrolyte abnormalities are associated with liver disease and can be ...exacerbated by surgery. Intraoperative renal replacement therapy has been tried in some large centres. The authors discuss the physiological changes and complications during liver transplant surgery, and review literature on the safety, feasibility, benefits, and drawbacks of intraoperative renal replacement therapy during liver transplant surgery.
In this work, a new adaptive extreme learning machine (ELM) neural network-based fuzzy controller is designed and simulated for implementing speed regulation in a permanent magnet synchronous motor. ...ELM is a neural model wherein the number of hidden neurons to be placed in the hidden layer is tuned during the process of neural network training itself. A new adaptive ELM model is developed for placing the number of hidden neurons in the hidden layer, and this new adaptive ELM is tuned with artificial bee colony (ABC) algorithm for optimizing its weight parameters and also the number of hidden neurons. Fuzzy proportional–integral (PI) controller is developed in this work in order to eliminate the steady-state error. The new adaptive ELM neural model optimized with ABC algorithm is applied to tune the input parameters of the fuzzy PI controller and also on optimizing the rules and fuzzy membership functions. The optimized adaptive ELM neural network-based fuzzy PI controller is utilized to investigate the speed regulation of permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) in this work. The developed new PI controller with the PMSM is tested for its performance characteristics and to prove its validity is compared with the traditional controller and other heuristic controllers proposed in earlier literature works.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OBVAL, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
In order to feed the growing population, agriculture is a vital component of any country; however, pests pose a constant threat to it. Chemical pesticides are employed to safeguard the crops from the ...enormous yield loss. These chemical pesticides are boundless in killing crop pests; however, they have detrimental effects on the health of both humans and the environment. Therefore, biological control techniques are being utilised after identifying an environmentally suitable substitute. Due to its well-known biological control mechanism, Trichoderma spp. have been utilised extensively in agricultural applications. The host plant’s soil and rhizosphere serve as shelter place for Trichoderma. It has the ability to create a variety of secondary metabolites and secretion of important enzymes. Clarification of Trichoderma’s importance in the prevention and treatment of plant diseases is thus important in order to advance sustainable agriculture. The mechanisms, which include mycoparasitism, antibiosis and competition aid in the management of insect pests and plant pathogens in the soil, seeds, roots, stems, leaves, etc. It is crucial to create new formulations of biocontrol microorganisms with a greater level of stability and survivability in order to implement biocontrol technology in the field and enhance its commercialisation.
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FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Mechanical stress on eukaryotic nucleus has been implicated in a diverse range of diseases including muscular dystrophy and cancer metastasis. Today, there are very few non-perturbative methods to ...quantify nuclear mechanical properties. Interferometric microscopy, also known as quantitative phase microscopy (QPM), is a powerful tool for studying red blood cell biomechanics. The existing QPM tools, however, have not been utilized to study biomechanics of complex eukaryotic cells either due to lack of depth sectioning, limited phase measurement sensitivity, or both. Here, we present depth-resolved confocal reflectance interferometric microscopy as the next generation QPM to study nuclear and plasma membrane biomechanics. The proposed system features multiple confocal scanning foci, affording 1.5 micron depth-resolution and millisecond frame rate. Furthermore, a near common-path interferometer enables quantifying nanometer-scale membrane fluctuations with better than 200 picometers sensitivity. Our results present accurate quantification of nucleic envelope and plasma membrane fluctuations in embryonic stem cells.
Background: The need for empirical investigations in software engineering is growing. Many researchers nowadays, conduct and validate their solutions using empirical research. The Survey is an ...empirical method which enables researchers to collect data from a large population. The main aim of the survey is to generalize the findings. Aims: In this study, we aim to identify the problems researchers face during survey design and mitigation strategies. Method: A literature review, as well as semi-structured interviews with nine software engineering researchers, were conducted to elicit their views on problems and mitigation strategies. The researchers are all focused on empirical software engineering. Results: We identified 24 problems and 65 strategies, structured according to the survey research process. The most commonly discussed problem was sampling, in particular, the ability to obtain a sufficiently large sample. To improve survey instrument design, evaluation and execution recommendations for question formulation and survey pre-testing were given. The importance of involving multiple researchers in the analysis of survey results was stressed. Conclusions: The elicited problems and strategies may serve researchers during the design of their studies. However, it was observed that some strategies were conflicting. This shows that it is important to conduct a trade-off analysis between strategies.
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