India has the second largest number of people with type 2 diabetes (T2D) globally. Epidemiological evidence indicates that consumption of white rice is positively associated with T2D risk, while ...intake of brown rice is inversely associated. Thus, we explored the effect of substituting brown rice for white rice on T2D risk factors among adults in urban South India. A total of 166 overweight (BMI ≥ 23 kg/m2) adults aged 25–65 years were enrolled in a randomised cross-over trial in Chennai, India. Interventions were a parboiled brown rice or white rice regimen providing two ad libitum meals/d, 6 d/week for 3 months with a 2-week washout period. Primary outcomes were blood glucose, insulin, glycosylated Hb (HbA1c), insulin resistance (homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance) and lipids. High-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) was a secondary outcome. We did not observe significant between-group differences for primary outcomes among all participants. However, a significant reduction in HbA1c was observed in the brown rice group among participants with the metabolic syndrome (−0·18 (se 0·08) %) relative to those without the metabolic syndrome (0·05 (se 0·05) %) (P-for-heterogeneity = 0·02). Improvements in HbA1c, total and LDL-cholesterol were observed in the brown rice group among participants with a BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2 compared with those with a BMI < 25 kg/m2 (P-for-heterogeneity < 0·05). We observed a smaller increase in hs-CRP in the brown (0·03 (sd 2·12) mg/l) compared with white rice group (0·63 (sd 2·35) mg/l) (P = 0·04). In conclusion, substituting brown rice for white rice showed a potential benefit on HbA1c among participants with the metabolic syndrome and an elevated BMI. A small benefit on inflammation was also observed.
We present a description of a constant extraperitoneal pad of fat on the anterior abdominal wall that scan serve as an additional landmark for placing the lateral ports during a transabdominal ...preperitoneal (TAPP) repair of inguinal hernia.
Hevea brasiliensis (HB) flower particulates were filled high‐density poly ethylene (HDPE) composite was molded through a vertical injection molding process. The molded composite specimens were ...carried out X‐ray powder diffraction analysis and found the HB filler crystal size of 12.63 nm. The morphology of the HB/HDPE composite was analyzed through field emission scanning electron microscope and the presence of different elements was found through energy dispersive X‐ray. The HB/HDPE composite was carried out thermo gravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetric, and found its melting point and its degradation. The HB/HDPE composite was carried out and found its mechanical properties. The observed result suggests that the newly developed composites could be used for low‐strength applications.
Finger millet or ragi is one of the ancient millets in India (2300 BC), and this review focuses on its antiquity, consumption, nutrient composition, processing, and health benefits. Of all the ...cereals and millets, finger millet has the highest amount of calcium (344mg%) and potassium (408mg%). It has higher dietary fiber, minerals, and sulfur containing amino acids compared to white rice, the current major staple in India. Despite finger millet's rich nutrient profile, recent studies indicate lower consumption of millets in general by urban Indians. Finger millet is processed by milling, malting, fermentation, popping, and decortication. Noodles, vermicilli, pasta, Indian sweet (halwa) mixes, papads, soups, and bakery products from finger millet are also emerging. In vitro and in vivo (animal) studies indicated the blood glucose lowering, cholesterol lowering, antiulcerative, wound healing properties, etc., of finger millet. However, appropriate intervention or randomized clinical trials are lacking on these health effects. Glycemic index (GI) studies on finger millet preparations indicate low to high values, but most of the studies were conducted with outdated methodology. Hence, appropriate GI testing of finger millet preparations and short- and long-term human intervention trials may be helpful to establish evidence-based health benefits.
Vertical distributions (altitude profiles) of condensation nuclei (CN) and cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) and their spatial variations across the Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) have been investigated ...based on airborne measurements carried out during the SWAAMI field campaign (June to July 2016) capturing the contrasting phases of the Indian monsoon activity in 2016 just prior to its onset and during its active phase. Prior to the monsoon onset, high concentrations of CN and CCN prevailed across the IGP, and the profiles revealed frequent occurrence of elevated layers (in the altitude range 1–3 km). Highest concentrations and elevated peaks with high values occurred over the central IGP. The scenario changed dramatically during the active phase of the monsoon, when the CN and CCN concentrations dropped (CN by 20 % to 30 % and CCN by 6 % to 25 %) throughout the IGP with more pronounced changes at altitudes higher than 3 km where decreases as high as > 80 % were observed. These reductions have an east-to-west decreasing gradient, being most remarkable in the eastern IGP and very weak over the western IGP where the CN concentrations above 3 km increased during the monsoon. The activation ratios (ARs) showed contrasting features, increasing with increase in altitude, prior to the onset of monsoon, reversing the trend to decrease with increase in altitude during the active phase of the monsoon. The supersaturation spectrum became flatter during the active phase of the monsoon, indicating an increase in the hygroscopicity of aerosols following the mixing of surface-based emissions with the advected marine air mass.
Vertical structures of aerosol single scattering albedo (SSA), from near the surface through the free troposphere, have been estimated for the first time at distinct geographical locations over the ...Indian mainland and adjoining oceans, using in situ measurements of aerosol scattering and absorption coefficients aboard the Facility for Airborne Atmospheric Measurements (FAAM) BAe-146 aircraft during the South West Asian Aerosol Monsoon Interactions (SWAAMI) campaign from June to July 2016. These are used to examine the spatial variation of SSA profiles and also to characterize its transformation from just prior to the onset of Indian Summer Monsoon (June 2016) to its active phase (July 2016). Very strong aerosol absorption, with SSA values as low as 0.7, persisted in the lower altitudes (<3 km) over the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP), prior to the monsoon onset, with a west-to-east gradient; lower values occurred in the north-western arid regions, peaking in the central IGP and somewhat decreasing towards the eastern end. During the active phase of the monsoon, the SSA is found to increase remarkably, indicating far less absorption. Nevertheless, significant aerosol absorption persisted in the lower and middle troposphere over the IGP. Inputting these SSA and extinction profiles into a radiative transfer model, we examined the effects of using height-resolved information in estimating atmospheric heating rates due to aerosols, over similar estimates made using a single columnar value. It was noted that use of a single SSA value leads to an underestimation (overestimation) of the heating rates over regions with low (high) SSA, emphasizing the importance of height-resolved information. Further, the use of realistic profiles showed significant heating of the atmosphere by submicron aerosol absorption at the middle troposphere, which may have strong implications for clouds and climate.
The vertical structure of atmospheric aerosols over the Indian mainland and the surrounding oceans and its spatial distinctiveness and resultant atmospheric heating are characterised using long-term ...(2007–2020) satellite observations, assimilated aerosol single scattering albedo, and radiative transfer calculations. The results show strong, seasonally varying zonal gradients in the concentration and vertical extent of aerosols over the study region. Compared to the surrounding oceans, where the vertical extent of aerosols is confined within 3 km, the aerosol extinction coefficients extend to considerably higher altitudes over the mainland, reaching as high as 6 km during pre-monsoon and monsoon seasons. Longitudinally, the vertical extent is highest around 75∘ E and decreasing gradually towards either side of the study region, particularly over peninsular India. Particulate depolarisation ratio profiles affirm the ubiquity of dust aerosols in western India from the surface to nearly 6 km. While the presence of low-altitude dust aerosols decreases further east, the high-altitude (above 4 km) dust layers remain aloft throughout the year with seasonal variations in the zonal distribution over north-western India. High-altitude (around 4 km) dust aerosols are observed over southern peninsular India and the surrounding oceans during the monsoon season. Radiative transfer calculations show that these changes in the vertical distribution of aerosols result in enhanced atmospheric heating at the lower altitudes during the pre-monsoon, especially in the 2–3 km altitude range throughout the Indian region. These results have strong implications for aerosol–radiation interactions in regional climate simulations.
B-type natriuretic peptide is released from the ventricles of the heart in response to hemodynamic stress, and blood levels of B-type natriuretic peptide may be useful in the diagnosis of heart ...failure. In this study, a rapid, bedside immunoassay for B-type natriuretic peptide was used to make or exclude the diagnosis of heart failure in patients with acute dyspnea from various causes. The assay was found to have good sensitivity and excellent specificity in the diagnosis of heart failure.
Rapid measurement of this peptide is useful in establishing or excluding the diagnosis of congestive heart failure.
Currently, there are 5 million Americans with congestive heart failure, with nearly 500,000 new cases every year.
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The prevalence of symptomatic heart failure in the general European population ranges from 0.4 percent to 2.0 percent.
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Because of the high total direct costs of care for heart failure, estimated at $10 billion to $38 billion per year, the Health Care Financing Administration (now the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) targeted heart failure as the disease most worthy of cost-effective management.
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To provide cost-effective treatment for patients with congestive heart failure, rapid and accurate differentiation of congestive heart failure from other . . .
We consider the problem of constructing logical topologies over a wavelength-routed optical network with no wavelength changers. We present a general linear formulation which considers routing ...traffic demands, and routing and assigning wavelengths to lightpaths, as a combined optimization problem. The formulation also takes into account the maximum number of hops a lightpath is permitted to take, multiple logical links in the logical topology, multiple physical links in the physical topology, and symmetry/asymmetry restrictions in designing logical topologies. The objective is to minimize congestion. We show by examples how equality and inequality logical degree constraints have a bearing on congestion. We prove that, under certain conditions, having equality degree constraints with multiple edges allowed in the design of logical topologies does not affect congestion. This helps in reducing the dimensionality of the search space and hence speeds up the search for an optimal solution of the linear formulation. We solve the linear formulation for small examples and show the tradeoff between congestion, number of wavelengths available and the maximum number of hops a lightpath is allowed to take. For large networks, we solve the linear formulation by relaxing the integer constraints. We develop topology design algorithms for large networks based on rounding the solutions obtained by solving the relaxed problem. Since the whole problem is linearizable, the solution obtained by relaxation of the integer constraints yields a lower bound on congestion. This is useful in comparing the efficiency of our heuristic algorithms. Following Bienstock and Gunluk (1995), we introduce a cutting plane which helps in obtaining better lower bounds on congestion and also enables us to reduce the previously obtained upper bounds on congestion.
A three-dimensional (spatial and vertical) gridded data set of black carbon (BC) aerosols has been developed for the first time over the Indian mainland using data from a dense ground-based network, ...aircraft- and balloon-based measurements from multiple campaigns, and multi-satellite observations, following statistical assimilation techniques. The assimilated data reveal that the satellite products tend to underestimate (overestimate) the aerosol absorption at lower (higher) altitudes with possible climate implications. The regional maps of BC-induced atmospheric heating derived using this data set capture the elevated aerosol heating layers over the Indian region along with the spatial high over the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It is shown that, over most of the Indian region, the incorporation of realistic profiles of aerosol absorption/extinction coefficients and single scattering albedo into the radiative transfer calculations leads to enhanced high-altitude warming. This could strongly influence the upper-tropospheric and lower-stratospheric processes, including the vertical transport of BC to higher altitudes, and thus have larger implications for atmospheric stability than what would be predicted using satellite observations alone. This will have larger implications for atmospheric stability than what would be predicted using satellite observations alone and could strongly influence the upper-tropospheric and lower-stratospheric processes, including increased vertical transport of BC to higher altitudes. The 3D assimilated BC data set will be helpful in reducing the uncertainty in aerosol radiative effects in climate model simulations over the Indian region.
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