Revolutions Per Minute Research Articles

PRPCalc2: An App for Platelet-Rich Plasma Preparation.

Platelet-rich plasma (PRP), an inexpensive yet powerful treatment modality, is widely used but poorly understood. Three areas of unmet need are the ability to compare results using differing centrifuges and methods; translating a study result into a specific practice; and estimating yield and dosage without the benefit of an in-office hematology analyzer. PRPCalc2 is a set of software tools that facilitates these goals. The app consists of software tools that (1) calculate the appropriate radius for centrifugation, (2) calculate the correct revolutions per minute (RPM) for the centrifuge, (3) calculate the mean yield for the method and its confidence interval, and (4) calculate platelet dosage. Using these tools, a practitioner with any centrifuge can create and validate their own PRP preparation method and then use it to create a standardized PRP.

DC Motor Speed Control with Proportional Integral Derivative (PID) Control on the Prototype of a Mini-Submarine

DC (Direct Current) motors are widely used as controllers in the industrial and robotics fields. In the rotation of the DC motor, there is still an unstable rotational speed so that a controller is needed to be able to stabilize the speed at the rotation of the DC motor. The control used in this study used the PID (Proportional Integral Derivative) control method. The PID control system works by processing calculations based on control variables Kp, Ki, and Kd to achieve conditions according to the expected setpoints. To achieve the expected conditions, the trial and error method is used. PID control in this study was implemented on a DC motor with a brushed type using an Arduino Mega microcontroller. The speed of the DC motor is read by the encoder sensor and entered in the PID equation. The output of the PID value will produce data in the form of PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) which will be the input of the L298N driver via Arduino Mega. The DC motor will produce a rotational speed in the form of RPM (Revolution Per Minute) data up to the specified set point. The implementation of PID was produced by giving parameter values to Kp, Ki, and Kd. The best PID parameter usage in this study was in the form of Kp = 0.6; Ki=0.3; and Kd=0.01. The application of the PID parameter obtains a stable system response curve at a predetermined set point. The resulting Kp, Ki, and Kd parameter data is used as graph data in MATLAB software.

Improving Drilling Efficiency and Safety Based on Hydraulic Mechanical Specific Energy in the Framework of Economic Model Predictive Control

Summary The economic value of real-time optimization of the drilling process has attracted extensive attention in the period of crude oil price fluctuation. Because of the complicated bottomhole conditions and coupling relationship among subsystems, it is difficult for the driller to continuously adjust the primary manipulation variables—weight on bit (WOB), revolutions per minute (RPM), and managed pressure drilling (MPD) equipment—which leads to unsatisfactory drilling effect and increased nonproductive time. Here, we propose an integrated control strategy based on economic model predictive control with zone tracking (ZoneEMPC), nonlinear model predictive control (NMPC), and Lyapunov-based model predictive control (LMPC) to optimize hydraulic mechanical specific energy (HMSE) while stabilizing bottomhole pressure (BHP). During normal drilling, ZoneEMPC is used to minimize HMSE through operating RPM, WOB, mud pump flow, and choke-valve opening as well as its tracking performance, which ensures that the BHP is maintained within the pressure window. Moreover, the controller is switched to NMPC, which adjusts the BHP to quickly reach the new setting zone. The reason for controller switching is that the tracking accuracy of ZoneEMPC could decline when encountering high-pressure formation with gas invasion. As the BHP reaches the new pressure range, the controller is switched to ZoneEMPC again and the HMSE is reoptimized. In addition, the transmission rate of mud pulse telemetry is not enough to meet the real-time control in practical engineering. Therefore, the LMPC controller is used to ensure the closed-loop stability of the system when the downhole measurement data (e.g., BHP) delayed. This study uses the drilling data of a vertical well located in Tarim, China, to verify the control strategy. The results indicated that the proposed integrated control strategy could improve the rate of penetration (ROP), especially in a formation with high rock strength. Meanwhile, the BHP could be adjusted efficiently and stably under different conditions. This work provides a unified framework integrating multiple system models for practical engineering, which has certain theoretical guiding significance for the automation and intelligent development of the oil and gas industry.

Effect of ceiling fan in mitigating exposure to airborne pathogens and COVID-19

Ceiling fans are the ubiquitously used electrical appliance in indoor spaces that affect the local airflow pattern and, consequently, transmission of airborne pathogens and respiratory droplets. This study numerically investigated the effect of airflow induced by the ceiling fan and ventilation rate on aerosol distribution to mitigate exposure to airborne pathogens and COVID-19. A full-scale room with a ceiling fan, natural ventilation and an occupant was modelled through transient computational fluid-particle dynamics (CFPD). To analyze the relationship between the ceiling fan rotation speed and the aerosol distribution, a ceiling fan was operated with 160, 265 and 365 revolutions per minute (RPM). The effect of the ceiling fan on particles was analyzed for particles of different sizes. The increasing ceiling fan rotation speed, the percentage deposition of the aerosol particles with diameters >40 μm was increased. The effect of different ventilation rates on aerosol distribution was evaluated. The increased ventilation rate, the percentage of the total aerosol particles flushed out was increased. The effectiveness of the mask in mitigating the exposure risk of airborne pathogens was also investigated. In combination with the natural ventilation and mask, the ceiling fan was demonstrated to have the potential to reduce airborne pathogen transmission in indoor spaces.

Data Mining in the Analysis of Tree Harvester Performance Based on Automatically Collected Data

Data recorded automatically by harvesters are a promising and potentially very useful source of information for scientific analyses. Most researchers have used StanForD files for this purpose, but these are troublesome to obtain and require some pre-processing. This study utilized a new source of similar data: JDLink, a cloud-based service, run by the machine manufacturer, that stores data from sensors in real time. The vast amount of such data makes it hard to comprehend and handle efficiently. Data mining techniques assist in finding trends and patterns in such databases. Records from two mid-sized harvesters working in north-eastern Poland were analyzed using classical regression (linear and logarithmic), cluster analysis (dendrograms and k-means) and Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Linear regression showed that average tree size was the variable having the greatest effect on fuel consumption per cubic meter and productivity, whereas fuel consumption per hour was also dependent, e.g., on distance driven in a low gear or share of time with high engine load. Results of clustering and PCA were harder to interpret. Dendrograms showed most dissimilar variables: total volume harvested per day, total fuel consumption per day and share of work time on high revolutions per minute (RPMs). K-means clustering allowed us to identify periods when specific clusters of variables were more prominent. PCA results, despite explaining almost 90% of variance, were inconclusive between machines, and, therefore, need to be scrutinized in follow-up studies. Productivity values (avg. around 10 m3/h) and fuel consumption rates (13.21 L/h, 1.335 L/m3 on average) were similar to the results reported by other authors under comparable conditions. Some new measures obtained in this study include, e.g., distance driven in a low gear (around 7 km per day) or proportion of time when the engine was running on low, medium or high load (34%, 39% and 7%, respectively). The assumption of this study was to use data without supplementing from external sources, and with as little processing as possible, which limited the analytic methods to unsupervised learning. Extending the database in follow-up studies will facilitate the application of supervised learning techniques for modeling and prediction.

Design and Development of Check Valve for Irrigation Pump

Shallow tube wells (STW) are widely operated in Bangladesh to draw groundwater for irrigating the crop field. About 65% of irrigated area is covered by more than 1.3 million STW. However, farmers are facing difficulties in starting STW due to priming problem. Therefore, this study was undertaken to design and develop a check valve (CqV)/non-return valve to overcome the priming problem as well as reduce the drudgery of farmers while starting STW. The check valve was designed based on the working principles of hand tubewell operating system. Considering the tubewell size of 100 mm, check valve having three diameters of 125 mm, 150 mm, and 175 mm for two-valve fitting lengths of 150 mm and 225 mm based on the flange or thread joint were fabricated using locally available material at Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) research workshop. Check valves were tested at the field level in different locations of Bangladesh. The results revealed that the field performance of check valve overcame the priming problem, made easy starting and reduced the drudgery of farmers. The best performance was found when the diameter of the cheque valve was at least 50 mm over the size of tube well and the minimum length was 150 mm. The installation of check valve could not create any adverse effects on tube well discharge and engine revolution per minute (RPM). It could successfully reduce the starting time and facilitate the easy use of plastic pipe/ polythene pipe, which reduces the water conveyance loss and pumping hours. Bangladesh Rice J. 25 (2) : 77-84, 2021

Robust Cadence and Power Tracking on a Switched FES Cycle With an Unknown Electromechanical Delay

Functional electrical stimulation (FES) is commonly used to facilitate cycling tasks for people with lower-limb movement disorders. In this work, FES and motor controllers are designed to track a desired power and cadence, respectively, and a Lyapunov-based switched systems analysis is performed to guarantee uniformly ultimately bounded power tracking and global exponential cadence tracking for a switched, delayed, nonlinear, and uncertain FES-cycling system. A unique challenge in this problem is that there is an unknown time-varying input delay to produce force, and a different unknown time-varying residual input delay where force is still produced after stimulation is removed. These delays impact the dwell-time conditions that dictate stimulation timing, and if not properly accounted for can lead to undesired effects such as antagonistic muscles exerting force at the same time or potential instabilities. The proposed controllers were validated by experimental analysis of four participants with neurological conditions (NCs) and five able-bodied participants, and yielded average power and cadence tracking errors of 0.01 ± 0.09 W and −0.05 ± 0.65 revolutions per minute (RPM), respectively, for the able-bodied participants and 0.01 ± 1.11 W and −0.07 ± 1.17 RPM, respectively, for the participants with NCs.

A comparative study of hybrid bit over roller cone and PDC bits

Early hybrid drilling concepts date back to the 1930s, but the development of a viable drilling tool has only become feasible with recent advances in Polycrystalline Diamond Compact (PDC) cutter technology. This paper describes a new generation of hybrid bits based on proven PDC bit designs with roll cutters on the bit periphery. Laboratory and field results will be presented, comparing the performance of hybrid bits with that of conventional PDC and roller bits. A hybrid bit can drill shale and other plastically behaving formations two to four times faster than a roller cone because it is more aggressive and efficient. The penetration rate of a hybrid bit responds linearly to Revolutions Per Minute (RPM), unlike roller taper bits that exhibit an exponential response with an exponent less than one. In other words, a hybrid drill will drill significantly faster than a comparable roller drill in motor applications. Another advantage is the influence of rolling mills on bit dynamics. Compared to conventional PDC bits, torsional oscillations are up to 50% lower, and low-speed slip/slip and high-speed swirl are reduced. This gives the hybrid drill a wider operating window and greatly improves tool face control in directional drilling. The Hybrid Drill is a highly specific drill aimed at traditional cylindrical taper applications limited by the Rate of Penetration (ROP), large-diameter PDC-bit and roller-cone-bit applications limited by torque or Weight on Bit (WOB). Highly interconnected formations with high torque fluctuations can cause premature C3 failure and limit mean operating value torque, and motor and/or P applications where higher ROP and better build speed and tool face control are desired.

Airflow Characteristic of UAV Quadcopter Propeller Blade Using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)

In this study, the main focus is to study of air flow characteristic of UAV quadcopter propeller at incorporate blade profile using variableangle of attack (AoA)and revolution per minute (RPM) with its twisted blade using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) / Ansys tool. Three propellers have been designed which Propeller 1 is untwisted while Propeller 2 and 3 twisted at certain angle. Three speeds which are 4000 rpm, 6000 rpm and 8000 rpm have been set for each propeller are being analysed using ANSYS Fluid Flow (fluent). The result shows the different thrust force generated by three propellers and Propeller 2 (33.6757 N) has the highest thrust force generated compared to Propeller 1 and 3 especially at 8000 rpm. This is due to the suitable twisting angle profile that has been set at the Propeller 2at this operating speed. For comparison, Propeller 3 produce the highest thrust force of 18.44Nat 6000 rpmexceeding Propeller 2 which is 17.81 N.To summarize, each propeller blade profile has a distinctive aerodynamic performance and should be adopted by matching the flight operating condition. Higher rpmgenerateshigherthrust force, and increaselift and drag coefficient.

Platinum nanoparticles decorated Nb2CTx MXene as an efficient dual functional catalyst for hydrogen evolution and oxygen reduction reaction

Here, a dual functional Nb2CTx@Pt nanocomposite has been synthesized by in situ reduction method. The Pt loading in the composite has been optimized to get minimum overpotential (141 mV at 10 mA/cm2) for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) along with a promising Tafel slope of 46.3 mV/dec, while Pt/C shows an overpotential and Tafel slope of 104 mV and 32.4 mV/dec, respectively. The Pt mass activity for Nb2CTx@Pt3.8 composite at 100 mV overpotential was 3.44 A g−1 while the Pt mass activity for conventional Pt/C was 0.7 A g−1, which shows that the activity of Nb2CTx@Pt3.8 composite is approximately 5 times higher than Pt/C. In addition, the catalyst was found to be stable for continuous 500 cycles without any binder molecules. The oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) capability of the material was also evaluated and found that the catalyst exhibited a current density of −4.28 mA/cm2 in the diffusion limiting region in comparison with the current density of −5.82 mA/cm2 for Pt/C at 2600 revolutions per minute (RPM). The Pt mass activity of Nb2CTx@Pt3.8 composite for ORR is approximately 10 times higher than Pt/C. The Nb2CTx@Pt3.8 composite was able to reduce O2 completely using the 4-electron pathway with very little peroxide production. From these results, the dual functionality of the Nb2CTx@Pt3.8 composite for both HER and ORR has been established.

Sistem Kontrol Otomatis Pagar Rumah Berbasis Internet of Things (IoT)

The fence is the main part of a house in terms of security. The conventional fence is opened and closed manually by the home owner. In rainy conditions this will be very ineffective and inefficient because the home owner has to get out of the vehicle to open the fence. This problem underlies the idea of making an automatic fence opening and closing system using a smartphone by utilizing Internet of Things (IoT) technology. Smartphone is useful as a NodeMCU controller contained in the ESP8266 WiFi module via an internet connection to connect to the blynk application. Relay is used as a switch that will command the motor to rotate when it gets a command from NodeMCU. Changes in relay conditions will cause the 12volt 200rpm DC motor to rotate, so the fence will move opened and closed. The movement of the servo motor also causes the turnstile to lock after the fence is closed. In order for the system to work properly, the revolutions per minute (RPM) of the motor requires a supply voltage of 12V. When the fence is opened, the motor speed is 53RPM. When closed, the motor speed is 49RPM. In the process of locking and opening the fence, the servo motor takes about 2 seconds.

Influence of milling parameters on the properties of ground coal bottom ash and its blended cement

Coal bottom ash (CBA), a by-product of the coal thermal power plant, can be classified as pozzolanic material according to ASTM C618. Therefore, it is a suitable supplementary cementitious material (SCM) in concrete. In recent developments, it was established that the pulverization of CBA enhanced the pozzolanic properties. Numerous prior studies on utilising the ground CBA (GCBA) as SCM was conducted by milling CBA in a laboratory ball mill. However, the optimisation of the milling parameters was not investigated to achieve the optimum output rate and quality of GCBA. Hence, the present work is aimed to establish optimised milling parameters for producing high-quality GCBA in a ball mill for use as a constituent binder in binary and ternary blended cement. The raw CBA was pulverised at various retention times, the angular velocity of the mill (in revolution per minute, RPM) and CBA to instantaneous media ratio. The physical and pore properties of the resulting GCBA were characterized by Blaine fineness, laser particle and Bruneur Emmer Teller analysis. Besides, the workability and mechanical strength of mortar made with the GCBA blended cement were also examined. Subsequently, statistical analysis of test results was conducted by analysis of variance (ANOVA). It was observed that the CBA ground for 5 hours (5H-GCBA) exhibited optimum performance in physical and mechanical properties. Subsequently, the 5H-GCBA was pulverised at an angular velocity of 50 – 80 revolutions per minute (RPM) with a CBA to instantaneous media ratio of 1:10 – 2:10. The statistical analysis revealed that the retention time and the angular velocity of mill and CBA to instantaneous media ratio significantly influenced the workability, flexural and compressive strength of GCBA-blended mortar. In conclusion, the blended cement containing GCBA pulverised at 70 RPM with a CBA to instantaneous media ratio of 1.5:10 for 5 hours exhibits optimum performance.

Investigations of Hydrodynamic Force Generated on the Rotating Cylinder Implemented as a Bow Rudder on a Large-Scale Ship Model

This paper presents experimental studies of the force generated on the rotating cylinder implemented as a bow rudder on a large-scale ship model. The research focused on the maneuverability of the unit equipped with a rotating cylinder (RC) in the front part of the model and its future use as a steering device on small draft river barges. The study presented in this paper is a continuation of the research carried out using the small physical model of a river push train in 1:20 geometric scale equipped with two bow RCs and open water tests of separated rotating cylinders carried out in a flume tank. The experimental test setup with RC installed on the model in 1:24 geometric scale allowed to compare the parameters of standard maneuvers performed with the use of RC and without it. The proposed method based on the measurement of the ship model trajectory during maneuvers allowed to compare the hydrodynamic steering force generated by RC with the steering force generated by the conventional stern spade rudder. The results of the experiments compared with empirical models show a similar trend. RC dynamics was tested for rotational speeds up to 570 RPM (revolutions per minute) and ship model velocity up to 1 m/s. The rotating cylinder generated velocity field is presented and phenomena influencing the generated hydrodynamic force are discussed.

Mixed micellar solubilization for procion blue MxR entrapment and optimization of necessary parameters for micellar enhanced ultrafiltration

In this study, micellar enhanced ultrafiltration, MEUF, being an active methodology, has been employed to remove Procion Blue MxR (PBM) from synthetic effluent. MEUF is being applied to reduce the toxicity level of aqueous system using the micellar media of cationic surfactants i.e. Cetyl trimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC). Subsequently, the effect of addition of nonionic surfactant, Triton X-100 (TX-100), on solubilizing power of cationic surfactants is investigated. The values of partition coefficient and free energy of partition reflect the extent of interaction of the dye with the surfactants. Initially molecules of pollutants i.e. dye form ion pairs with ionic surfactants and, later on, the same is incorporated within micelle. Maximum value of free energy of partition ΔGp has been found to be −55.49 kJmol-1 and -50.43 kJmol in the presence of CPC and CTAB, respectively. The size of pollutant, thus, increases and, consequently, can be easily filtered. The effect of various factors i.e. concentration of surfactant, concentration of electrolyte (NaCl), transmembrane pressure, revolutions per minute (RPM) and pH, have been investigated to find the optimum conditions for maximum removal of PBM from aqueous system. The efficiency of MEUF has been assessed by calculating the values of rejection percentage and permeate flux. Both the surfactants were observed as strong candidates for PBM encapsulation but overall, maximum rejection percentage (R%) of 96.90% was attained by CPC.

Experiments on the Novel Chord-Edge Cutter to Break Rock with Higher Efficiency and Its Field Application

Summary Aiming at the difficulty of penetration in hard-plasticity formation represented by the Mahu oil field, a new type of chord-edge cutter is proposed. Through theoretical derivation and quantitative analysis of specific unit pressure (SUP) and breaking area, the penetration and rock-breaking area of the chord-edge cutter are studied, which clarifies that the rock-breaking efficiency of the chord-edge cutter is higher than that of the conventional cutter. The first part of the laboratory experiment investigated the drilling efficiency of two mini-bits on a special sample. The results show that the chord-edge cutter mini-bit has higher efficiency than a conventional mini-bit. The second part of the laboratory experiment investigated the influence of rate of penetration (ROP), revolutions per minute (RPM), and rock types on the drilling performance of chord-edge cutter mini-bit. The data show that the chord-edge cutter is more suitable for drilling hard-plastic rocks. It also reveals that the higher the RPM, the lower the stick/slip vibration, but the RPM above a certain value will lead to an increase in lateral vibration. ROP and weight on bit (WOB) are positively correlated. And the higher the drilling speed, the higher the stick/slip vibration and lateral vibration. To verify these conclusions, a field test is carried out in the hard-plastic formation of a well in the Mahu. In this test, compared with a conventional polycrystalline diamond compact (PDC) bit, a roller-cone bit, and a hybrid bit, the chord-edge cutter bit has the best drilling effect. Further, it is found that when using the chord-edge cutter bit, the high RPM and proper control of WOB can achieve a better drilling efficiency. This rule is mutually confirmed with the conclusion of the laboratory experiment. After the above research and its implementation, it can be concluded that the novel chord-edge cutter bit can achieve the research goal of higher efficiency, which provides a new idea to overcome challenges in the hard-plastic strata.

PILOT STUDY OF MODIFIED ROTATING ARM IMPACTOR FOR USE IN AEROBIOLOGICAL STUDIES

<h3>Introduction</h3> Utilized in aerobiological studies, the Rotarod Sampler (IQVIA) remains the gold standard in determining volumetric ambient airborne pollen concentration. However, utilization comes at the cost of high energy consumption, start-up and maintenance fees, and variable air patterns generated by rotating I-rods. We present a prototype to address the aforementioned issues: a battery-powered rotating arm impactor utilizing slides as opposed to rods. <h3>Methods</h3> The Rotorod Sampler Model 40 and prototype were situated in the same area and height, equipped with two rods and two slides coated with silicone grease, respectively. 7 atmospheric samples were collected and counted at various intervals over an 18-day period in June 2022, and directly compared. <h3>Results</h3> The prototype was created using 3D printing, with a 24 × 24 -millimeter exposure of each slide for sample collection. The prototype's speed was set at 10 revolutions per minute (RPM), while the Rotarod Sampler was set at 2400 rpm and utilized standard 31 × 1-millimeter sampler rods. Prototype battery needed to be replaced on days 2 and 18, and consequently may have impacted results. Mean pollen count and standard deviation of Rotarod Sampler was 124.2 and 40, and 23.4 and 10.6 for the prototype. The correlation coefficient was 0.61, signifying moderate positive association between pollen counts obtained from the Rotarod Sampler and prototype. <h3>Conclusion</h3> Though our prototype has a larger surface area, it collected significantly less pollen than the Rotarod Sampler. A moderate correlation between the two devices was observed, though increases in the RPM of the prototype should be considered for future evaluation.

Characterizing nuclear morphology and expression of eNOS in vascular endothelial cells subjected to a continuous range of wall shear stress magnitudes and directionality

Complex patterns of hemodynamic wall shear stress occur in regions of arterial branching and curvature. Areas within these regions can be highly susceptible to atherosclerosis. Although many studies have characterized the response of vascular endothelial cells to shear stress in a categorical manner, our study herein addresses the need of characterizing endothelial behaviors over a continuous range of shear stress conditions that reflect the extensive variations seen in the vasculature. We evaluated the response of human umbilical vein endothelial cell monolayers to orbital flow at 120, 250, and 350 revolutions per minute (RPM) for 24 and 72 h. The orbital shaker model uniquely provides a continuous range of shear stress conditions from low and multidirectional at the center of each well of a culture plate to high and unidirectional at the periphery. We found distinct patterns of endothelial nuclear area, nuclear major and minor diameters, nuclear aspect ratio, and expression of endothelial nitric oxide synthase over this range of shear conditions and relationships were fit with linear and, where appropriate, power functions. Nuclear area was particularly sensitive with increases in the low and multidirectional WSS region that incrementally decreased as WSS became higher in magnitude and more unidirectional over the radius of the cell layers. The patterns of all endothelial behaviors exhibited high correlations (positive and negative) with metrics of shear stress magnitude and directionality that have been shown to strongly associate with atherosclerosis. Our findings demonstrate the exquisite sensitivity of these endothelial behaviors to incremental changes in shear stress magnitude and directionality, and provide critical quantitation of these relationships for predicting the susceptibility of an arterial segment to diseases such as atherosclerosis, particularly within complex flow environments in the vasculature such as around bifurcations.

Telemonitoring of Home-Based Biking Exercise: Assessment of Wireless Interfaces

Background Telerehabiliation has been shown to have great potential in expanding access to rehabilitation services, enhancing patients’ quality of life, and improving clinical outcomes. Stationary biking exercise can serve as an effective aerobic component of home-based physical rehabilitation programs. Remote monitoring of biking exercise provides necessary safeguards to ensure exercise adherence and safety in patients' homes. The scalability of the current remote monitoring of biking exercise solutions is impeded by the high cost that limits patient access to these services, especially among older adults with chronic health conditions. Objective The aim of this project was to design and test two low-cost wireless interfaces for the telemonitoring of home-based biking exercise. Methods We designed an interactive biking system (iBikE) that comprises a tablet PC and a low-cost bike. Two wireless interfaces to monitor the revolutions per minute (RPM) were built and tested. The first version of the iBikE system uses Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) to send information from the iBikE to the PC tablet, and the second version uses a Wi-Fi network for communication. Both systems provide patients and their clinical teams the capability to monitor exercise progress in real time using a simple graphical representation. The bike can be used for upper or lower limb rehabilitation. We developed two tablet applications with the same graphical user interfaces between the application and the bike sensors but with different communication protocols (BLE and Wi-Fi). For testing purposes, healthy adults were asked to use an arm bike for three separate subsessions (1 minute each at a slow, medium, and fast pace) with a 1-minute resting gap. While collecting speed values from the iBikE application, we used a tachometer to continuously measure the speed of the bikes during each subsession. Collected data were later used to assess the accuracy of the measured data from the iBikE system. Results Collected RPM data in each subsession (slow, medium, and fast) from the iBikE and tachometer were further divided into 4 categories, including RPM in every 10-second bin (6 bins), RPM in every 20-second bin (3 bins), RPM in every 30-second bin (2 bins), and RPM in each 1-minute subsession (60 seconds, 1 bin). For each bin, the mean difference (iBikE and tachometer) was then calculated and averaged for all bins in each subsession. We saw a decreasing trend in the mean RPM difference from the 10-second to the 1-minute measurement. For the 10-second measurements during the slow and fast cycling, the mean discrepancy between the wireless interface and tachometer was 0.67 (SD 0.24) and 1.22 (SD 0.67) for the BLE iBike, and 0.66 (SD 0.48) and 0.87 (SD 0.91) for the Wi-Fi iBike system, respectively. For the 1-minute measurements during the slow and fast cycling, the mean discrepancy between the wireless interface and tachometer was 0.32 (SD 0.26) and 0.66 (SD 0.83) for the BLE iBike, and 0.21 (SD 0.21) and 0.47 (SD 0.52) for the Wi-Fi iBike system, respectively. Conclusions We concluded that a low-cost wireless interface provides the necessary accuracy for the telemonitoring of home-based biking exercise.

Investigation into the Compressive Stress on Lumbar Spine among Tractor Drivers during different Ride Conditions

The aim of this investigation is to figure out the stress (compressive) on the lumbar spine of tractor driver posture among different ride conditions i.e., RPM (Revolutions per minute), Postures, and Road Conditions). The spinal stress under various riding conditions was assessed using the daily equivalent static compression dose (Sed). Design Expert, a statistical programme that combines Taguchi’s L9 Orthogonal Array Method, is used to determine the experimental runs with different parameters such as varying the tractor speed in RPM (700, 1000 & 1300), driver posture (Lean forward without backrest-P1, vertical erect without backrest-P2, vertical erect with backrest-P3), selected road conditions (village road, brick road and farm road). Analysis of the overall influence of riding conditions among all the experiments was done by calculating signal-to-noise (S/N) ratios. A regression model has been developed to analyze the Sed response and the desirability technique was used to minimize the Sed response. The daily dose of static compression on lumber spine was found between 0.35 and 0.67 MPa, which comes within the category of “moderate adverse health effect” as defined by ISO2631-5: 2004. Statistically, the RPM and Road type conditions were found highly significant with the percentage contribution is 77% and 21% respectively. As comfort is crucial for the tractor driver. The Sed values can be used for tractor seat design for more comfort. The approach is novel as per the Indian context for the tractor driver’s comfort. The methods of work-study and sampling in a larger context are well established.

Determination of gender from dental pulp by identification of Barr bodies: A comparative study.

The determination of gender by dental pulp Barr bodies seems to be efficient tool especially in case of natural calamities where bodies are mutilated, charred, and unidentified. Different techniques are used for Barr bodies two of which are histopathological and cytological methods. The objective of the study is to check the reliability of human dental pulp for identification of gender using Barr bodies. The study sample consisted of 60 extracted teeth from 20 male and 40 female patients aged 12-25 years. Inclusion criteria included non-carious freshly extracted teeth, Teeth were extracted and the pulp was obtained using a carborundum disc at 30,000 revolutions per minute (RPM). The teeth were categorized into two groups. Group 1 and Group II include 20 females and 10 males each. In group I, rapid manual tissue processing technique was done and in Group II pulp tissue slides were prepared by cytopathological technique. The slides obtained were stained with H&E and Barr bodies were visualized. On comparison of Barr bodies on males and females in dental pulp, the mean number of Barr body count in females was more than males. Accuracy and count were much more appreciated in histopathological technique than cytological procedure. The mean Barr body count was more in females than in male samples. In histopathological technique Barr bodies were more analyzed and appreciated than in cytopathological technique on checking the efficacy and evaluating its diagnostic significance of dental pulp for identification of gender.