Surgical treatment of thromboembolia in the heart right atrium in pregnant women

Two clinical cases of surgical treatment of cardiac right-chamber thromboembolism in pregnant women are described. Thromboembolism was diagnosed during a routine examination. In the first clinical case, considering the late pregnancy, a thromboembolectomy was performed under artificial circulation after surgical delivery.In the second case, thrombus removal from the right atrium was performed on a working heart, without interruption of pregnancy. The surgical and postsurgical period proceeded without any specific features and the patients were discharged from the hospital without any complications. These clinical cases show that it is possible to remove thrombus from the right heart chambers without the use of extracorporeal circulation, which is also safe for the mother and the fetus.

Drudgery assessment and ergonomic evaluation of pedal operated Ragi (Eleusine Coracana) thresher

BACKGROUND: Ragi (Eleusine Coracana) is a major food crop for the tribal population of India. OBJECTIVE: This study emphasizes the need to consider ergonomics aspects in the design and development of a pedal operated ragi thresher (PORT) for tribal people, and assesses the drudgery as well as ergonomic evaluation of a developed thresher against the conventional practice. METHODS: Thirty subjects (male = 15 and female = 15) from the tribal region were evaluated ergonomically. The physiological responses of the subjects were studied and their performance was compared. RESULTS: The results revealed that the working heart rate, oxygen consumption rate and overall discomfort rating were significantly higher in case of traditional threshing as compared to those in case of PORT. Postural analysis identified the traditional method as the most fatigue one as the person has to lift the hand above shoulder level repeatedly and has to sit in a squatting posture for long period. CONCLUSION: The drudgery and occupational hazards to public health involved in the traditional method of threshing was reduced by using the pedal operated ragi thresher. Furthermore, the traditional method involved continuous stressed actions across the entire body, whereas the PORT involved only the lower limbs.

Localized Pulmonary Vein Scar Promotes Atrial Fibrillation in High Left Atrial Pressure

BackgroundPulmonary vein (PV) ablation is unsuccessful in atrial fibrillation (AF) patients with high left atrial (LA) pressure. Increased atrial stretch by increased pressure is proarrhythmic for AF, and myocardial scar alters wall deformation. We hypothesized that localized PV scar is proarrhythmic for AF in high LA pressure.MethodsRadiofrequency energy was delivered locally in the right PV of healthy sheep. The sheep recovered for 4 months. Explanted hearts (n = 9 PV scar, n = 9 controls) were perfused with 1:4 blood:Tyrode’s solution in a four-chamber working heart setup. Programmed PV stimulation was performed during low (∼12 mmHg) and high (∼25 mmHg) LA pressure. An AF inducibility index was calculated based on the number of induction attempts and the number of attempts causing AF (run of ≥ 20 premature atrial complexes).ResultsIn high LA pressure, the presence of PV scar increased the AF inducibility index compared with control hearts (0.83 ± 0.20 vs. 0.38 ± 0.40 arb. unit, respectively, p = 0.014). The diastolic stimulation threshold in high LA pressure was higher (108 ± 23 vs. 77 ± 16 mA, respectively, p = 0.006), and its heterogeneity was increased in hearts with PV scar compared with controls. In high LA pressure, the refractory period was shorter in PV scar than in control hearts (178 ± 39 vs. 235 ± 48 ms, p = 0.011).ConclusionLocalized PV scar only in combination with increased LA pressure facilitated the inducibility of AF. This was associated with changes in tissue excitability remote from the PV scar. Localized PV ablation is potentially proarrhythmic in patients with increased LA pressure.

Drudgery reduction in operation of cleaner-cum-grader: An ergonomic intervention

A pedal-operated cleaner-cum-grader having common bicycle chain-sprocket mechanism to get the speeds of 240 and 720 rpm of eccentric shaft and blower shaft, respectively for the desired cleaning/grading of grains was developed earlier by CIAE, Bhopal. Also, in order to utilize the human energy in more efficient way through pedalling mode, CIAE has recently developed a dynapod. The dynapod is a pedal operated rotary device, which can be used as an interface between human worker and any rotary-type machine. The developed dynapod was used to operate the cleaner-cum-grader to assess the drudgery reduction in its operation in comparison to original pedalling mechanism. The dynapod was interfaced with the cleaner-cum-grader by carrying out minor modifications in the original unit. Eight male agricultural workers with mean stature and weight as 168.4 cm and 54.4 kg, respectively participated in the study. The cleaner-cum-grader was used for cleaning and grading of soybean grains. Heart rate of the workers was measured during operation of cleaner-cum-grader using the dynapod as well as the original pedalling mechanism. Mean working heart rate during operation of machine with original pedalling mechanism was 114 beats min-1 as against 108 beats min-1 in case of pedalling with dynapod. The work pulse (ÄHR) with the original pedalling mechanism was 35 beats min-1 as against 29 beats min-1 during pedalling with dynapod. The output capacity of the machine increased from 303 kg h-1 in case of original pedalling mechanism to 345 kg h-1 with dynapod. Considering the cardiac cost as well as output of the machine, the drudgery reduction by using dynapod with cleaner-cum-grader was about 25.4% as compared to the original pedalling mechanism.

Melatonin as a prospective metabolic regulator in pathologically altered cardiac energy homeostasis

A constant energy supply is indispensable for the relentlessly working heart. The unique metabolic flexibility of the cardiac tissue enables it to maintain its energy requirement under variable physiological conditions. However, some physiopathological statuses including aging, ischemia-reperfusion injury, diabetic cardiomyopathy, pathological cardiac hypertrophy, and heart failure frequently cause cardiac dysfunction and detrimental metabolic alteration. If the ATP supply fails to match the requirement of a working heart, the heart loses its functional capacity, resulting in slower recovery. A decrease in energy generation is often the ramifications of myocardial mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress. Melatonin, a broad-spectrum antioxidant molecule has an appreciable role in the maintenance of metabolic homeostasis― from a single cell to an entire organism. Melatonin has the capacity to reduce ROS generation, preserve mitochondrial stability, and restore a robust mitochondrial function for unabated ATP production in cardiac tissues. Additionally, melatonin can promote carbohydrate and fat metabolism to further improve the ATP production in heart. In cardiac cells, melatonin upregulates GLUT4 expression either by impeding oxidative stress or by enhancing AMPK activation which accelerates fatty acid oxidation by upregulating PPAR-α and CPT-1α. Melatonin plays a pivotal role in the maintenance of calcium homeostasis in cardiomyocytes by obviating oxidative stress-mediated disruption of SERCA and NCX proteins. A possible role of melatonin to convert the Warburg effect to oxidative metabolism in pathological cardiac events has been recently contemplated. The current review will discuss the possible role of melatonin protecting against cardiac metabolic imbalances under pathological states.

Intervention of Dynapod in Cleaner-cum-Grader for Drudgery Reduction

An ergonomic evaluation cleaner-cum-grader with original cycle mechanism and ICAR-CIAE developed dynapod was conducted. The study was conducted with 15 male subjects aged between 20-40 years, mean stature of 1640 ±40 mm and mean weight of 54 ±5 kg. The maximum aerobic capacities of the subjects were determined using sub-maximal exercise protocol. The mean working heart rate of the subjects in operation of machine with original cycle mechanism was 157 beats min-1 as against 125 beats min-1 with dynapod. The work pulse (ΔHR) of 57 beats min-1 and 31 beats min-1 was observed for pedaling with cycle mechanism and dynapod, respectively. The output capacity of machine increased by 41 kg h-1 with use of dynapod compared to pedaling with cycle mechanism. Using dynapod in operation of cleaner-cum-grader resulted in drudgery reduction by 51.6 % as compared to the original cycle mechanism.

Relationships between the Rider’s Pelvic Mobility and Balance on a Gymnastic Ball with Equestrian Skills and Effects on Horse Welfare

Riders need core stability to follow and guide the horse’s movements and avoid giving unintended or conflicting signals. This study evaluated the rider’s performance of exercises on a gymnastic ball with on-horse performance and indicators of stress in the horse. Twenty experienced riders were scored performing three exercises on a gymnastic ball and for quality and harmony when riding based on evaluation of video recordings in which conflict behaviours were evident. The horse’s heart rate and number of conflict behaviors during the riding test and cortisol levels after completion of the test were measured. The rider’s ability to roll the pelvis from side-to-side on a gymnastic ball was highly correlated with ability to circle the pelvis on the ball and with quality and harmony during riding. However, pelvic roll and riding quality and harmony showed a trend toward a negative correlation with balancing skills on the ball. It appears that the ability to actively move the pelvis is more relevant to equestrian performance than static balancing skill. Horses ridden by riders with better pelvic mobility and control showed significantly fewer conflict behaviors. On the contrary, high scores for balancing on the gymnastic ball were negatively correlated with the horses’ working heart rates, suggesting a less energetic performance. Pelvic control and mobility may be predictive for equestrian skills and riding harmony.