SMART FOOT INSOLE FOR REDUCING THE RISK OF FOOT ULCERS IN DIABETIC PATIENTS BY MEASURING PLANTAR PRESSURE

Background of the Study: The prevailing cause of Diabetes is a decline in insulin production, the outcome of which is an elevated glucose level in the blood. The superabundance of glucose in the blood can cause severe complications, damaging other body organs, including kidneys, nerves, heart, and upper and lower limbs. However, the common complication in diabetic patients is foot ulcer, which is directly associated with Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN), which is the extensive cause of this. DPN is the inability of nerves to sense any external change, due to which the foot plantar pressure is altered and evolves because of the high glucose level. Methodology: This paper provides a solution in the form of a portable and cost-effective device based on force sensors for diabetic patients to monitor the change in foot plantar pressure at home and overcome the risk of foot ulceration. The device is implemented on 30 participants to characterize the plantar pressure values with flat foot and normal foot types for the Control group and diabetic group. Results: An evident difference in the value of Mid-foot pressure is observed for both the groups, Control group (Normal foot = 144+2.63 kPa, Flat foot = 150+2.72 kPa) and Diabetic Group (Normal foot = 213+2 kPa, Flat foot = 216+1 kPa). Deviation in these values discriminates the mid-foot pressure for the two groups, thus providing us a range for the individuals of the control group for the alarming situation. Conclusion: Noticing the plantar pressure through the proposed device helps diabetes patients reduce their risk.

Chemical Residues in Chicken Meat and Their Dissipation During Processing

Poultry industry plays a vital role in bridging protein gap by the provision of protein rich food across the world. Now a days, consumers are demanding foods free from any kind of drugs, pesticide and antibiotics residues. For the purpose, instant research was carried out to serve multiple purposes. The research study was divided into two phases; first phase deal with screening of antibiotics, pesticide residues in feed and chicken meat collected from different poultry farms of district Faisalabad, Pakistan. Moreover, the impact of different processing techniques on dissipation of pesticide residues were also studied in first phase. The second phase comprised of controlled antibiotic feeding trial and use of different processing techniques to study dissipation behaviour of antibiotics (enrofloxacin, ciprofloxacin, oxytetracycline, and doxycycline). From results of feed samples it was revealed that doxycycline was present in higher quantities followed by enrofloxacin, ciprofloxacin and oxytetracycline. However, Tylosin residues were recorded in least quantities (25.69±0.60 μg/Kg), whilst colistin residues were not detected in all the feed samples. Besides, presence of antibiotic residues in whole chicken showed alike trend as that of feed. Doxycycline was significantly higher than its MRL (100 μg/Kg) followed by oxytetracycline, ciprofloxacin, enrofloxacin and colistin. While tylosin residues were detected in least quantities in whole chicken. The results from pesticides study indicated that pesticides varied significantly in feed samples. However, higher quantities of endosulfan sulphate, α-endosulfan and β-endosulfan were observed. The DDE, γ-HCH and dieldrin contents were in lesser amounts with the exception of two farms. Bifenthrin, cyfulthrin, permethrin, cypermethrin and deltamethrin were also present but their amount varied significantly. Overall, organochlorines were more abundant as compared to pyrethroids. Among organochlorines, DDE and γ-HCH were present in lesser amounts. The statistical results revealed that pesticide residues varied significantly as a function of different poultry farms and processing conditions. The processing technologies like boiling, roasting, grilling and microwave heating were tested for their ability to dissipate pesticide residues. The roasting and grilling were most effective processing techniques in reducing pesticide residues. The processing reduces the residues up to the extent that most of them were falling within MRL (safe limit). The results from 2nd phase of the research explicated that the amounts of different antibiotics influenced as a function of processing technologies. Enrofloxacin residues were reduced as a function of roasting and boiling. The grilling of poultry meat was least effective in reducing the antibiotics residues. Overall, roasting was considered to be more effective approach to reduce antibiotic and pesticide residues. The processing techniques like boiling and microwave were statistically at par with each other in reducing the antibiotic residues but were less effective than roasting. It was also observed that oxytetracycline was decreased significantly in microwave processed thigh chicken meat. Grilling was found to be least effective in decreasing antibiotic residues in thigh part of chicken meat. It was deduced from present research that pesticide and antibiotic residues were significantly reduced with the processing techniques. However, whole food chain needs to be restructured and government and allied stakeholder should work together in controlling the menace of pesticide and antibiotic residues.