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Biomedical subjects

A Muralidhar

Publications and source records attributed to A Muralidhar.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

Needle necropsy in AIDS.

The value of autopsy in understanding the natural course of any disease is beyond any argument. The reluctance of pathologists to perform autopsy in HIV infected cadavers is justified due to the risks involved to the prosector and the morgue attendants. A relative low risk needle necropsy protocol is proposed using fine needle aspiration cytology, tru-cut biopsies and microbiological examination. Diagnosis could be offered in all the forty-four needle necropsies performed. Disseminated tuberculosis in 18/44 (40.9%) cases, disseminated cryptococcosis in 12/44 (27.2%) cases, poly-microbial infections in 27.2% cases and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in 9% cases were detected in the study. Infectious agents like Histoplasma capsulatum, Isospora belli, tachyzoites of Toxoplasma gondii, Candida sp and Cryptococcus sp could be demonstrated in the samples obtained in the study. Lack of material for study of gross pathology, inaccessibility of deep-seated lesions and risk of needle stick injury to the prosector though low are the limitations of this procedure.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗

Safety performance of gloves using the pressure tolerance of the hand.

Two prototype gloves have been designed and developed at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The aim of this study was to evaluate the safety performance of the developed gloves. An experiment was conducted to assess the discomfort threshold level at 12 zones on the palmar surface of the hand for five hand conditions--bare hand, single glove, double glove and two prototype gloves. Prototype I consisted of a glove with an extra layer of glove material applied selectively to critical areas of the hand; while prototype II had up to four layers applied to critical areas. This design increases protection in critical areas without increasing bulk, provides performances comparable with single glove, and improves grip strength. The study was conducted using an algometer device to apply pressure to each of the 12 zones, for all hand conditions. The results indicated that for pressure tolerance, prototype II had the highest pressure-discomfort threshold, while prototype I had a threshold similar to the double layer glove. Pressure discomfort tolerance threshold is greatly increased by the use of gloves, and pressure-discomfort thresholds are raised by 25-65%. The two prototype gloves, although much less bulkier than the double glove, have pressure thresholds that are equal to or superior to that of a double glove. The algometer can be used to assess the safety of glove from mechanical trauma. Hence, the generalizability of the results is somewhat restricted. However, the method of selective protection, without compromising performance appears to be promising and is worth pursuing by glove designers.

Adult↗

The development and evaluation of an ergonomic glove.

The primary intent of this study was to determine if a hand glove could be designed on a criterion of selective protection. Force distribution patterns on the palmar side of hand were obtained from various studies to develop zones of hand that needed protection. A new design for gloves was developed based on the principle of selective protection, where protective material is introduced in varying levels over different parts of the glove, in order to provide protection where it is most needed, and at the same time preserve the desirable dexterity and strength capabilities of the barehand, optimizing the trade-off between protection and performance. Two pairs of prototype gloves incorporating different levels of protection were fabricated and tested using a battery of performance tests and an algometer test for pressure sensitivity. The test battery comprising four dexterity tasks and a maximal voluntary grip strength task was used to assess a number of glove conditions, including the two prototype gloves developed. The results indicate that the performance of the prototype gloves are comparable, and that the performance times for the double glove and the two prototype gloves tested were not significantly different. For the grip strength, the two prototype gloves were better than the double glove. The assembly task performance for the prototype II (laminar glove) was significantly lower than that of the other glove types tested. It appears that gloves of variable thickness can be developed to afford adequate protection at zones of most need. Glove manufacturers are recommended to use an ergonomic approach in the design of gloves. Such an approach, besides protecting the safety objective of gloves, could enhance productivity considerably.

Accidents, Occupational↗