BACKGROUND Sickle cell disease (HbSS) is a major health problem in Nigeria and malaria has been implicated as a leading cause of morbidity/mortality in sickle cell disease patients. Few reasons were put forward to explain the observed morbidity/mortality of HbSS subjects due to Plasmodium falciparum (P. falciparum) malaria. OBJECTIVES To determine the level of immunoglobulin classes (IgM, IgA...

Piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) is a powerful method widely used for nanoscale studies of the electromechanical coupling effect in various materials systems. Here, we review recent progress in this field that demonstrates great potential of PFM for the investigation of static and dynamic properties of ferroelectric domains, nanofabrication and lithography, local functional control, and str...

AIMS Due to their contribution to modulation of intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) and stiffness of the sacroiliac joints, the pelvic floor muscles (PFM) have been argued to provide a contribution to control of the lumbar spine and pelvis. Furthermore, as IAP is modulated during respiration this is likely to be accompanied by changes in PFM activity. METHODS In order to evaluate the postural and ...

Servomotors have already been around for some decades and they are extremely popular among roboticists due to their simple control technique, reliability and low-cost. They are usually controlled by using Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) and this paper aims to keep the idea of simplicity and low-cost, while introducing a new control technique: Pulse Frequency Modulation (PFM). The objective of this...

i ON SYSTEM IDENTIFICATION USING PULSE-FREQUENCY MODULATED SIGNALS Nonperiodic time quantization has proved very useful for the improvement of measurement and control systems. Very often nonperiodic time quantization is connected with pulse frequency modulation (PFM). In the present report some aspects of continuous system identification using PFM signals have been studied. Two possibilities fo...

In previous studies on the formation of Lymantria dispar nuclear polyhedrosis virus (LdMNPV) few polyhedra (FP) mutants, several polyhedron formation mutants (PFM) were identified that appeared to be unique. These viral mutants are being characterized to investigate the processes of polyhedron formation and virion occlusion. LdMNPV isolate PFM-1 is one of these mutants, and is described in this...

Protein–energy malnutrition (PEM) causes a significant impairment of the immune system, the thymus being one of the most affected organs. It has been demonstrated that the administration of probiotic fermented milk (PFM) recovered the intestinal barrier, histological alterations and mucosal and systemic immune functions in a non-severe malnutrition model using BALB/c mice. The aim of the presen...

BACKGROUND The proper evaluation of the pelvic floor muscles (PFM) is essential for choosing the correct treatment. Currently, there is no gold standard for the assessment of female PFM function. OBJECTIVE To determine the correlation between vaginal palpation, vaginal squeeze pressure, and electromyographic and ultrasonographic variables of the female PFM. METHOD This cross-sectional study...

AIMS To investigate the muscle activation patterns of the abdomino-pelvic region used by incontinent women during a pelvic floor muscle (PFM) contraction and a Valsalva manouevre compared to healthy, asymptomatic subjects. METHODS Thirteen incontinent (symptomatic) women, identified using ultrasound to be consistently depressing the bladder base during PFM contraction, and thirteen continent ...