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[Display omitted] • Investigate HDH for freshwater from saltwater using heat pipes, employing waste heat from residential ACs. • Innovate with recovered AC waste heat to enhance efficiency in freshwater production. • Experimentally assess system performance across varied AC temperatures (19 °C, 20 °C, 21 °C). • Highlight superior freshwater production of R32 heat pipe compared to R134a and R600a. • Contribute to a holistic understanding of HDH system performance, emphasizing efficiency benefits. This study presents an experimental exploration of a desalination system that produces freshwater from saltwater using a novel heat pipe-assisted humidification-dehumidification (HDH) process. The system utilizes waste heat recovered from residential air conditioners that use vapour compression refrigeration systems. The study focuses on the mass and heat transfer within the system's components, with performance evaluations conducted at three different air conditioning temperatures (19 °C, 20 °C, and 21 °C). The experiments highlight the freshwater production of the R32 heat pipe over the R134a and R600a heat pipes. The study estimates the system's cost-effectiveness at $0.0085/L, emphasizing its economic viability. Preheating resulted in significant improvements in freshwater yield, ranging from 43.33 % to 51.5 %, at temperatures of 21 °C and 20 °C, respectively. The Gain Output Ratio (GOR) doubled from 0.75 to 1.52, indicating a more energy-efficient process with significant improvements in the effectiveness of humidification and dehumidification. The pH levels improved from 8.32 to 7.07, representing a 15 % reduction and falling within the WHO-recommended range of 6.5–8.5. Electrical Conductivity (EC) shows a notable reduction from 62,720 to 826.1 micromhos/cm, representing a 98.68 % reduction, and well below the permissible limit of 1500 micromhos/cm. Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) also experienced a drop from 31,777 to 413.1 ppm, representing a 98.7 % reduction, and falls under the WHO guideline of <600 ppm for drinking water. The experiments prove that the use of waste heat from household air conditioners for sustainable freshwater production through the HDH desalination method, with the added efficiency benefits of heat pipe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human beings are often driven to exhibit dietary preference according to their hedonic characteristics. Though previous studies proposed that the fat taste preference of an obese individual was associated with BMI, the perception of fat taste differs for every individual. The genetic variation among populations in taste receptor genes such as CD36 may be a contributing factor for this difference. Satiety peptides can also play a role in the regulation of fat taste perception. Generally, this hormone helps us to feel the sense of satiety. We have analysed the relationship among oro-gustatory perception of dietary lipids, salivary peptide-YY and genetic polymorphism in CD36. Oral fatty acid sensitivity analysis was performed by alternative forced choice method. Salivary peptide-YY concentration was analysed by ELISA and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in CD36 gene was determined by Real-Time PCR experiments. We observed that the SNP at rs1761667 of CD36 and oral detection threshold for linoleic acid (LA) are associated with choice of food, lipid profiles, peptide-YY as well as adiposity parameters in obese population. Obese peoples had significantly low levels of peptide YY than people with BMI less than 25. These factors possibly play a role in preference for energy rich diets, development of obesity and associated complications. This study provides a solid foundation for understanding the alterations in the dietary fat intake and levels of peptide-YY, which are associated with polymorphism in fat taste receptor. This is the first report that shows a significant relationship between the satiety hormone level, SNP in CD36 gene and oral fat detection threshold in human subjects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Obesity has been consistently associated with a higher incidence of ventral hernia. It is preferable to treat both obesity and hernia in such patients because, with weight loss, the risk of recurrence of hernia is reduced. Bariatric surgery offers the best treatment for obesity and its associated co-morbidities and in combination with intraperitoneal onlay mesh repair (IPOM) provides the best treatment in such patients. The bariatric surgical team often faces the dilemma of whether to offer concomitant bariatric surgery with IPOM or a staged procedure in such patients because the safety of a concomitant procedure still creates doubt. In this study we present our long-term results of the concomitant approach in such patients to analyze its long-term safety and efficacy. Tertiary care teaching hospital, India. We have performed a retrospective evaluation of all patients who underwent concomitant bariatric surgery with IPOM for primary or recurrent ventral hernia from January 2003 to July 2017 who completed a minimum follow-up of 12 months. A total of 156 patients of underwent concomitant bariatric surgery with IPOM, 120 patients (body mass index : 43.64 ± 6.8) underwent sleeve gastrectomy, and 36 patients (body mass index: 42.49 ± 8.57) underwent Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. One-hundred and seventeen patients were operated for primary hernia and 39 for recurrent hernia. There were no postoperative mesh infections and only 1 patient had recurrence. Bariatric surgery with IPOM provides the patient with a 1-stage treatment for both obesity and ventral hernia along with reduced risk of recurrence as a result of weight loss. It is safe to do a combined procedure in high volume centers with adequate expertise. • Bariatric surgery can be safely combined with ventral hernia mesh repair. • No mesh infections occurred after the concomitant procedure. • Recurrence rate after combined approach is very low (0.91%). • Surgeon should have the expertise to perform both the procedures expeditiously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Surgically induced weight loss improves nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in morbidly obese Caucasian patients. Similar data are lacking from India. Objective To compare the histologic features of NAFLD in morbidly obese Indian patients before and 6 months after bariatric surgery. Histologic changes were also separately assessed according to the type of bariatric intervention. Setting Teaching institution, India; private practice. Methods All patients undergoing bariatric surgery from July 2012 to July 2013 underwent a routine liver biopsy at the time of bariatric surgery. If the biopsy specimen indicated NAFLD, patients were asked to undergo a second biopsy after 6 months. Baseline anthropometry, clinical data, biochemistry, and pathology were recorded and repeated at follow-up. Results Eighty-eight of 134 index biopsy specimens indicated NAFLD. Thirty patients had paired liver biopsies. Steatosis was present in all, 14 had lobular inflammation, 10 had ballooning degeneration, and 14 had fibrosis. Mean time between the biopsies was 7.1 months (range 6–8 months). At the second biopsy, steatosis had resolution in 19 and improvement in 11, lobular inflammation had resolution in 12 and improvement in 2, ballooning had resolution in 9 and improvement in 1 and fibrosis had resolution in 11 and improvement in 3 ( P <0.05 for all). Improvement was greater among those who underwent a sleeve gastrectomy in comparison to a Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, although this difference was not statistically significant. None had worsening of liver histologic results. Conclusions Surgically induced weight loss significantly and rapidly improves liver histology in morbidly obese Indians with NAFLD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]