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The application of variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometry (VASE) to the characterization of thin films is very important because it facilitates the understanding of their physical and optical properties. To prepare a series of film samples consisting of TiO2:ZrO2 on a TiN/Si substrate, we employed the SYBILLA P200 equipment (manufactured by ABCD Technology) through the process of Chemical Beam Vapor Deposition (CBVD). TiO2:ZrO2 on TiN/Si thin films is a composite material that has gained significant attention in various technological applications, particularly in the field of thin film coatings on semiconductor substrates like TiN/Si. TiO2:ZrO2 thin films exhibit excellent dielectric properties and good thermal stability, making them suitable for various electronic and semiconductor applications. From FESEM and EDX analysis, it is found that with increase of Ti/Zr atomic ratio, grain size increases. Ellipsometric analysis reveals increase in film thickness and refractive index with increase in Ti/Zr atomic ratio. As the film continues to grow, changes in its microstructural phase led to a transition from a monolayer physical ellipsometry model to a bilayer physical model. This transition is due to the appearance of inhomogeneity in the TiO2:ZrO2 thin film. Dynamic fits obtained using a two‐layer physical model and a Cauchy–Lorentz optical model show three distinct phases in the film growth phase: a nucleation phase, a fusion phase, and a continuous layer phase. Although our proposed model shows satisfactory performance in most cases, the determination of the refractive index can be problematic for very thin thicknesses. The developed VASE modeling process should be able to generate TiO2:ZrO2characterization on TiN/Si substrate films using comparable physical and optical modeling considerations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Case: A 47-year-old man presented with neck pain, restricted neck movements, along with involvement of facial and hypoglossal nerve. On the basis of clinico-radiological correlation, the patient was diagnosed with craniovertebral junction tuberculosis and was started on antitubercular therapy (ATT). Failing the conservative trial, the patient was operated and occipitocervical fusion was done with bone grafting. After 12 months of ATT intake, he showed complete recovery of the facial and hypoglossal nerve, with complete resolution of instability pain. Conclusion: Craniovertebral junction tuberculosis is uncommon, and its manifestation with cranial nerves involvement is even more rare. Meticulous clinico-radiological assessment should be done to diagnose and plan the treatment. Early recognition and prompt initiation of ATT, along with timely surgical intervention, when necessary, are crucial for optimal management and outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary Unstructured peer‐to‐peer (P2P) networks pose unique challenges for efficient and scalable routing. In this study, we introduce a novel routing algorithm inspired by the foraging behavior of honey bees named Honey Bee Optimization in P2P Networks (HBO_P2P) to address the inherent limitations of routing in unstructured P2P networks, focusing on improving packet delivery, minimizing hop count, reducing message overhead, and optimizing overall throughput. To evaluate the performance of our proposed algorithm, we conducted comprehensive experiments comparing it with existing algorithms commonly used in P2P networks, namely, particle swarm optimization (PSO), genetic algorithm (GA), and ant colony optimization (ACO). After the simulation, we got the results as follows: Our algorithm outperforms ACO, GA, and PSO by exhibiting the highest number of data hops indicating potential efficiency in route optimization. Routing overhead is also minimal as compared to ACO, GA, and PSO. The average data packet delay is also low in our algorithm as compared to ACO, GA, and PSO. HBO_P2P achieves the highest throughput, nearly reaching 100 Mbps. While ACO and GA exhibit similar throughput of around 80 Mbps, and PSO has the lowest throughput, approximately 60 Mbps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel method has been developed to use ammonium tetrafluoroborate (NH4BF4) directly as catalyst in Biginelli reaction. A new paradigm of the Biginelli reaction for the synthesis of 3,4‐dihydropyrimidin‐2(1H)‐ones derivatives found the use of ammonium tetrafluoroborate as a novel, inexpensive, readily available, non‐toxic and mild catalyst in good to excellent yields. Notably, this is the first time that ammonium tetrafluoroborate is directly used as a catalyst in organic synthesis. So far, no organic reaction is available in literature where NH4BF4 is directly used as catalyst. However, some reactions are found where NH4BF4 is used with other catalysts as promoters or additives. The protocol developed has several advantages, such as highly efficient, simple, atom‐economical, environmentally friendly, easy synthetic and purification methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Retinoblastoma is a retinal cancer that affects children and is the most prevalent intraocular tumor worldwide. Despite tremendous breakthroughs in our understanding of the fundamental mechanisms that regulate progression of retinoblastoma, the development of targeted therapeutics for retinoblastoma has lagged. Our review highlights the current developments in the genetic, epigenetic, transcriptomic, and proteomic landscapes of retinoblastoma. We also discuss their clinical relevance and potential implications for future therapeutic development, with the aim to create a frontline multimodal therapy for retinoblastoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), depression is one of the largest contributors to the burden of mental and psychological diseases with more than 300 million people being affected; however a huge portion of this does not receive effective diagnosis. Traditional techniques to diagnose depression were based on clinical interviews. These techniques had several limitations based on duration and variety of symptoms, due to which these methods lacked subjectivity and accuracy. Speech is tested to be an important tool in diagnosis as they carry the impression of one's thoughts and emotions. Speech signals not only carry the linguistic feature but they also contain several other features (paralinguistic features) which can reflect the emotional state of the speaker. The analysis of these features can be used for the diagnosis of depression. With the advancement of artificial techniques and algorithms, they have become popular and are widely used in tasks of pattern recognition and signal processing. These algorithms can easily extract the features from the data and learn to recognize patterns from them. Although these algorithms can successfully recognize emotions, their efficiency is often argued. The main objective of this paper is to propose a strategy to efficiently diagnose depression from the analysis of speech signals. The analysis is performed in the following two ways: First, by considering the male and female emotions combined (gender-neutral) where they are classified into two classes, and second, separately for the male and female emotions (gender-based) for a total of four classes. Experiments conducted show the advantages and shortcomings of paralinguistic features for diagnosis of depression. During experimentation we tested several architectures by efficiently tuning the hyperparameters. For K-nearest neighbors (KNN), best attained accuracy was 86%, whereas for Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP) architecture the accuracy attained was 87.8%. Best results were obtained from hybrid 1D-Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) and Long Short Term Memory (LSTM) architecture with the accuracy of 88.33% and 90.07% for gender-neutral and gender-based respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Brassica juncea cultivated globally as oilseed used as spice and greens and have nutritional, medicinal, and economic benefits. • Brassica traits improve with the application of transformation, nanotechnology, and in vitro techniques. • Molecular markers measure and illustrate the variation in genes among different varieties and gene pools of Indian mustard. • This review focuses on advancing crop development for enhanced production to overcome global demand. Brassica juncea (L.) Czern & Coss. commonly known as Indian mustard is a versatile oilseed crop which is widely cultivated in India as well as in some parts of Canada, Russia, China, and Australia. While the plant's seeds serve as a spice, its vegetative parts are edible and used as green vegetable. Apart from its usage as vegetable oil, B. juncea has various other applications in biofertilizer, chemical and paint industries. The plant also shows medicinal properties due to its anti-cancer, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory activities. Furthermore, mustard oil is a valuable reservoir of unsaturated fatty acids, resulting in a significant surge in demand relative to supply during the past decade. Also, the production of this crop is severely hindered by a number of biotic and abiotic stresses which cause significant yield losses. Therefore, it is important to create mustard varieties that can withstand a wide range of agroclimatic conditions and provide high yields while being resistant to biotic and abiotic challenges. Plant tissue culture, ovary culture, and Agrobacterium -mediated genetic transformation are the important methods of propagation and regeneration in Brassica species. In addition, molecular marker studies have shown new directions for crop improvement, with different combinations of promoters and markers influencing traits such as seed germination, enhanced oil content, disease resistance, and abiotic stress handling. Marker-assisted selection (MAS) and SSR markers are crucial in molecular investigations due to their ability to reveal genetic diversity and resistance features. In recent years nanotechnological interventions have also provided novel avenues for crop improvement. Various metal and metal oxide nanoparticles have been used as nanofertilizers for crop improvement. Future research should focus on developing stress-resistant varieties using advanced breeding techniques, genetic engineering and nanotechnological interventions. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shyamlatal, a natural rain-fed wetland located at an elevation of 1300m in Champawat District, owes its prime conservation value in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, India. Because there is a scarcity of data on bio-resources that are critical to ecological functioning, the present study documented the species composition and seasonal patterns in richness and abundance of butterflies for their future management and conservation in a wetland environment of the Shyamlatal. A record of 64 species and 45 genera under six butterfly families was made from the catchment area of watershed and surrounding forests surveyed during 2016 to 2018. Nymphalidae with 28 species over 45.84% of the total individuals was the most dominant taxonomic group of butterflies. Species on conservation priority were rare (17.18% species), habitat specific (18.75% species), legally protected (7.81% species) and endemic (20.31% species) butterflies of the Himalaya. The overall species richness and diversity of butterflies varied across seasons and the high similarity in butterfly composition was observed during summer and autumn. Results provided baseline information on the importance of mosaic of vegetation in sustaining rich butterfly diversity around the wetland, which must be managed and conserved for maintaining ecological health and integrity of the region. The results also revealed that human activities have negative consequences on butterfly diversity in the study area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This letter to the editor addresses a comparative study on minimally invasive fusion surgery for patients with degenerative spondylolisthesis and severe lumbar spinal stenosis. The authors of the letter express appreciation for the work done by the original authors but raise some concerns about the study. They suggest that selection bias may have influenced the results due to inherent differences between the two groups. They also point out errors in the data presented and question the methodology used to assess clinical outcomes. The authors of the letter hope that their queries will improve the quality of the study for the benefit of readers. [Extracted from the article]

This paper presents a novel miniaturized noninvasive submersible compact planar sensor to estimate petroleum contents for various industrial and remote sensing applications. The proposed sensor is based on a microstrip technique wherein a complementary split‐ring resonator is used to sense samples under interrogation. The proposed compact sensor works at a resonating frequency of 8.87 GHz with quite high sensitivity. The designed sensor can accurately detect the shift in resonant frequency for corresponding change in soil samples and different level of petroleum contents. Furthermore, the sensor gives accurate permittivity extraction of various soil samples sample using an innovative automated neural network‐based algorithm. The experimental results show that the proposed sensor can detect materials contents with good repeatability, which can be used to detect the presence of petroleum constituents in transportation pipelines and mining exploration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Experimental investigations into the effect of duty cycle and electrolyte concentration on the surface topography in the microchannel formation in the soda-lime glass substrate by a pulsed electrochemical discharge machining are reported. These microstructures are required in various microsystems applications such as microfluidics, integrated-passive-devices for radio-frequency MEMS, 3-D glass interposer. No significant machining happened at lower duty cycles (< 50%) and lower electrolyte concentration (10%), which was due to the lower surface temperature generated as predicted by the numerical simulation. At these parameters, the tool electrode locally adhered to the glass substrate and prevented the underneath glass surface from being etched periodically. The non-homogeneous etching leads to the uneven surface topography and pillar-like structures, which is termed as the 'localized adhesion and fast releasing effect. It was observed to be severe when the tool electrode was in contact with the glass substrate, i.e., zero-gap. At this condition, high temperature led to the thermal expansion of the tool electrode, which resulted in the intermittent machining and pillar-like structures in the middle of the microchannel. As the gap was increased, this effect was subsidized, and the surface topography of microchannel improved. Variation in microchannel depth and heat-affected zone (HAZ) at various electrolyte concentrations and duty cycles were investigated. Experimental results revealed that the microchannel depth and the HAZ increase with an increase in the duty cycle and electrolyte concentration. Deeper microchannels (> 500 µm) having complex shapes were demonstrated by using a multi-pass milling technique. The capability of the presented method in making buried redistribution lines in 3D MEMS inductor is also shown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Content-based medical image retrieval (CBMIR) systems can assist and help doctors and radiologists in reliable diagnosis by retrieving relevant medical cases from past cases that share similarities with the current case. Therefore, there is a need for improved retrieval accuracy in CBMIR systems. Retrieving similar Brain Tumor magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) slices from the same class as the query is inherently challenging. For different types of tumors, there is no class-specific structure, size or shape. Further, MRIs being present in multiple views increase discrepancy in interview retrieval. This leads to high inter-class similarity but at the same time high intra-class variations. Skewed data quantities for Brain Tumor types like Meningioma further add to another challenge. It is necessary to formulate rich and generic MRI representations to address these issues. Toward the same, it is essential to model spatial contexts on a multi-scale across the tumor-affected regions and enhances the feature representational learning by extracting generic features. Hence, we propose a Weight Initialization Framework with Densely Connected Networks to improve generalization for Brain Tumor MRI retrieval. The proposed framework uplifts DenseNet-based models for feature extraction as they incorporate feature reuse and feature learning in a multi-scale manner. Further, a weight Initialization Framework (WIF) is used for improvising the representational learning. Specifically, WIF initializes weights of the DenseNet model by transfer learning-based adaptation, which then involves freezing the initial few layers. The freezing step ensures rich low-level features, even for long-tailed classes like Meningioma, while the remaining trainable layers are fine-tuned to incorporate domain-inherent feature learning. The proposed approach outperforms state-of-the-art by a margin of 1.70% and 1.69% on standard mAP and p@10, respectively. Concretely, when DenseNet and WIF are jointly employed, a stark increment in performance for the Meningioma class is observed, suggesting the generalizability of the framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Bergmann's rule relating eco-geographic pattern in body size of species with latitude/elevation, remain unexplored among different animal taxa including insects from the Indian Himalayan Region that ranges in elevation and environmental conditions. The applicability of the rule was tested using body size data set of natural adult male populations of six butterfly species that were common in abundance and occur over a range of elevations in the Western Himalaya. The influence of changes in body size on flight related morphometry was also explored to understand the adaptative and dispersal strategies of the species across elevations. Among the various morphometric traits, the principal component analysis revealed that the forewing length was the most reliable measure of determining the body size clinal pattern in butterflies. Species Danaus chrysippus , Danaus genutia and Vanessa indica strongly followed the Bergmann's rule, while Papilio polytes followed the converse Bergmann's rule. By contrast, Pieris brassicae and Catopsilia pomona exhibited a moderate clinal pattern and partially followed the converse of the rule. The flight related morphometric indices namely, wing load and aspect ratio varied among species and showed no regular pattern along elevational gradients. The results suggested inconsistent trends in intra-specific morphometric variations of widespread butterfly species, crucial to comprehend their conservation strategies in the Western Himalaya. [Display omitted] • Bergmann's rule explains the body size pattern, which is still unknown for various taxa from the Indian Himalayan Region. • Widespread butterflies showed diverse and inconsistent patterns in body size variation in the Western Himalaya. • Flight related morphometric traits elucidated the strategies for adaptation and dispersal mechanism. • Findings offer crucial insights for understanding the need for development of species specific conservation policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Patients discharged from hospitals on a Friday (Friday discharges) are readmitted sooner (a shorter timeto- emergency-readmission) than those discharged on any other day of the week. To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of increasing weekend capacity, the effect estimate of Friday discharge on time-to-emergency-readmission needs to be precise. However, precise effect estimation is complicated by the confounding effect of differing healthcare-seeking behaviour and admission practices, and therefore different admission probability, by day of the week. The objective of this research was to examine how differing admission probability by day of the week influences the effect of discharge day on time-to-emergency-readmission. Methods: We used a Markov model to determine how day of the week admission probability would theoretically affect the time-to-emergency-readmission for Friday and Wednesday discharges. We tested this in a cohort of patients who have had a history of respiratory illness, using a Cox proportional hazards model to fit the time-to-emergencyreadmission to any Quebec hospital as a function of the day of the week of discharge and admission. We fitted another Cox model with an additional time-varying covariate for the current day of the week, to model differing admission probabilities by day of the week. Results: Our Markov model showed that if admission probability is lower on the weekends, Friday discharges will be readmitted later (longer time-to-emergency-readmission) thanWednesday discharges. Using hospital admission data, we found that Friday discharges were readmitted slightly earlier thanWednesday discharges (HR: 1.03, 95% CI: (1.02, 1.05)). After adding a time-varying covariate for the current day of the week, the length of time-to-emergency-readmission for a Friday discharge increased, but it was still earlier than a Wednesday discharge (HR: 1.04, 95% CI: (1.01, 1.07)). Conclusions: The lower admission probabilities on the weekend confound the effect of Friday discharge on timeto- emergency-readmission by increasing the time-to-emergency-readmission. This confounding effect causes an underestimate of the effect of Friday discharge on time-to-emergency-readmission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pregnant women are vaccinated against influenza less frequently than other high-risk groups. To design effective vaccination strategies, we must understand how decisions regarding vaccination may vary by trimester and over vaccination campaigns. We used a Cox model indexed by calendar time to estimate the effect of gestational trimester and other factors on vaccination uptake in a large cohort of pregnant women in Catalonia (Spain) during 2008-09 to 2012-13 influenza vaccination campaigns. We analyzed 247,316 pregnancies. Vaccination coverage was 3.7%, 5.2%, 4.8%, 5.6% and 4.6% from 2008-09 to 2012-13 seasonal vaccination campaigns and 8.3% for the 2009 pandemic vaccination campaign. Pregnant women previously vaccinated had higher uptake than women not previously vaccinated and the hazard ratios (HRs) comparing these 2 groups decreased from 10, the first day of seasonal campaigns, to 1.3 the last day. During the pandemic campaign, HRs decreased over the course of the campaign from 8.6 to 1.9. Women in second and third trimester had higher uptake than women in first trimester, with HR=2.8 and 2.3, respectively, at the start of seasonal campaigns. Influenza vaccination coverage among this cohort of pregnant women was alarmingly low. Our analysis reveals that gestational and calendar time have distinct and interacting effects on vaccination uptake; women in their second trimester and third trimester and previously vaccinated were more prone to be vaccinated, but this effect wanes as the influenza season progresses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growth in bitumen and synthetic crude oil (SCO) production in the Canadian oil sands industry has superseded pipeline capacity growth in recent years, leading to the increased interest in the transport of crude oil by rail to desired markets. However, the specific techno-economic parameters that facilitate increased competitiveness of either transportation mode against the other is seldom addressed in the existing literature. This paper involves the development of a rail and pipeline techno-economic transport model, which is used to ascertain the transportation cost of both options for a market distance range of 1–3000 km and a production scale of 100,000–750,000 barrels per day (bpd). The transportation cost for either option is highly sensitive to the market distance, transportation scale and crude grade being transported; however, pipelines are generally more competitive for large transportation scales, while the cost-effectiveness of rail transport is realized particularly at smaller transportation scales. In general, pipelines are cost efficient for the transportation of crude oil in the majority of scenarios investigated. Rail can be more economical than pipeline under certain conditions. The use of insulated rail cars for the transport of raw bitumen is the area with greatest potential for cost competitiveness against pipelines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crude oil is currently transported primarily by pipelines and rail from extraction sites to refineries around the world. This research evaluates energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for three scenarios (synthetic crude oil and dilbit with and without diluent return) in which 750?000 bpd of Alberta's bitumen is transported 3000 km to determine which method has a lower environmental impact. Each scenario has a pipeline and rail pathway, and the dilbit without diluent return scenario has an additional heated bitumen pathway, which does not require diluent. An Excel based bottom-up model is developed using engineering first-principles to calculate mass and energy balances for each process. Results show that pipeline transportation produced between 61% and 77% fewer GHG emissions than by rail. The GHG emissions decreased by 15% and 73% for rail and pipelines as the capacity increased from 100?000 to 800?000 bpd. A Monte Carlo simulation was performed to determine the uncertainty in the emissions and found that the uncertainty was larger for pipelines (up to ±73%) and smaller for rail (up to ±28%). The uncertainty ranges do not overlap, thus confirming that pipelines have lower GHG emissions, which is important information for policy makers conducting pipeline reviews. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a model to perform energy balances and estimate hydrogen conversion efficiency from UCG-based syngas. The model was developed for H 2 production from UCG-based syngas with and without CCS, along with the co-production of electricity and steam in a conventional combined cycle plant. In this paper, at base case conditions (H 2 O-to-O 2 injection ratio of 2 and a steam-to-carbon ratio of 3), the coal-to-H 2 conversion efficiency is estimated to be 58.1% for UCG with and without CCS. For the plant configuration involving no CCS, in addition to H 2 production, approximately 4.7% of coal energy is converted to electricity that is exported to the grid. In the case of UCG–CCS, a minor energy penalty is incurred; wherein the electrical energy exported per unit coal energy is around 2.4%, with a CO 2 capture efficiency of 91.6% being achieved. The H 2 conversion efficiency decreases with rise in H 2 O-to-O 2 injection ratio, but increases with fall in steam-to-carbon ratio. Effect of ground water influx in UCG on the H 2 conversion efficiency is minor, whereas H 2 separation efficiency in the pressure swing adsorption (PSA) unit has a major effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electric vehicle charging by renewable energy can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This paper presents a data-intensive techno-economic model to estimate the cost of charging an electric vehicle with a battery capacity of 16 kW h for an average travel distance of 65 km from small-scale renewable electricity in various jurisdictions in Canada. Six scenarios were developed that encompass scale of operation, charging time, and type of renewable energy system. The costs of charging an electric vehicle from an off-grid wind energy system at a charging time of 8 h is 56.8–58.5 cents/km in Montreal, Quebec, and 58.5–60.0 cents/km in Ottawa, Ontario. However, on integration with a small-scale hydro, the charging costs are 9.4–11.2 cents/km in Montreal, 9.5–11.1 cents/km in Ottawa and 10.2–12.2 cents/km in Vancouver, British Columbia. The results show that electric vehicle charging from small-scale hydro energy integration is cost competitive compared charging from conventional grid electricity in all the chosen jurisdictions. Furthermore, when the electric vehicle charging time decreases from 8 to 4 h, the cost of charging increases by 83% and 11% from wind and hydro energy systems, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The demand for hydrogen is likely to increase in the next decade to satisfy the projected growth of the bitumen upgrading industry in western Canada. This paper presents GHG (greenhouse gas) abatement costs and the GHG abatement potential in producing hydrogen from UCG (underground coal gasification) along with CCS (carbon capture and sequestration). Seven hydrogen production scenarios are considered to assess the competitiveness of implementing UCG compared to SMR (steam methane reforming). The analysis is completed through a LCA (life cycle assessment) of large-scale hydrogen production from UCG and SMR with and without CCS. Considering SMR technology without CCS as the base case, the GHG abatement costs of implementing the UCG-CCS technology is calculated to be in the range of 41–109 $CAD/tonne-CO 2 -eq depending on the transportation distance to the CCS site from the UCG-H 2 production plant. Life cycle GHG emissions are higher in UCG than in SMR. The GHG abatement costs for SMR-CCS-based scenarios are higher than for UCG-CCS-based scenarios; they range from 87 to 158 $CAD/tonne-CO 2 -eq in a similar manner to UCG-CCS. Consideration of revenues for selling the CO 2 captured for EOR (enhanced oil recovery) reduces the GHG abatement costs. An opportunity for revenue generation is realized in the UCG-CCS case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Western Canada is endowed with considerable reserves of deep un-mineable coal, which can be converted to syngas by means of a gasification process called underground coal gasification (UCG). The syngas can be transformed into hydrogen (H 2 ) through commercially available technologies employed in conventional fossil-fuel based H 2 production pathways. This paper presents a data-intensive model to evaluate life cycle GHG emissions in H 2 production from UCG with and without CCS. Enhanced oil recovery (EOR) was considered as a sequestration method and included in the LCA. The life cycle GHG emissions are calculated to be 0.91 and 18.00 kg-CO 2 -eq/kg-H 2 in H 2 production from UCG with and without CCS, respectively. In addition, a detailed analysis of the influence of key UCG parameters, i.e., H 2 O-to-O 2 injection ratio, ground water influx, and steam-to-carbon ratio in syngas conversion, is completed on the results. The advantage of adopting UCG–CCS technology for H 2 production is realized over the predominant steam methane reforming (SMR) process; around 15.3 million tonnes of GHG emissions can be mitigated to achieve the projected SCO production rate from the bitumen upgrading in 2022. Furthermore, the sensitivity analysis showed that the life cycle GHG emissions is sensitive to the heat exchanger efficiency and the separation efficiency of the pressure swing adsorption (PSA) unit, with increasing values of these parameters causing an increase and a decrease in the magnitude of life cycle GHG emissions, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gait impairment is one of the primary symptoms of degenerative lumbar canal stenosis (LCS), yet it is poorly understood due to a lack of quantitative data on kinematics and kinetics during the gait. Gait analysis is a well-established tool for the quantitative assessment of gait disturbances, providing a functional diagnosis, assessing treatment plan and monitoring of disease progress. To analyze the effect of decompression surgery on gait characteristics in patients with LCS. Prospective non-randomized comparative study at a teaching hospital. Eighteen patients with symptomatic LCS and 18 healthy volunteers. Gait quality: spatiotemporal, kinetic and kinematic parameters functional outcome: ODI, VAS. Eighteen patients with single-level LCS and 18 healthy volunteers were prospectively recruited. All the patients with symptomatic LCS underwent TLIF (transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion) surgery. Gait analysis was perfomed preoperatively and six months postoperatively as per standard protocol. The spatiotemporal, kinematic and kinetic parameters were analyzed. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and coefficient of skewness and kurtosis was used to assess the normality of distribution. Pre- and postoperative clinical outcomes, spatial-temporal, kinetic and kinematic data were compared with the paired t-test or Wilcoxon signed-rank test according to the normality of the distribution. Unpaired t-test was used to compare the two groups. Stepwise linear regression models were used to detect significant relationships between changes in ODI and VAS score, and parameters describing gait function. Significant improvement was noted in ODI (p < 0.05) and VAS scores (p < 0.05) six months post-surgery. Spatiotemporal (Stride time [p=0.01], Swing phase % [p=0.01], Double support phase % [p=0.02], Mean velocity [p < 0.01], Cadence [p < 0.01], Stride length [p < 0.01], Step length [p < 0.01] and step width [p < 0.01])and kinetic parameters (peak hip [p < 0.01], knee [p < 0.01] and ankle power [p < 0.01], vertical GRF [p=0.01]) were significantly better following surgery, reaching normal levels when compared to healthy individuals. The kinematic parameters (trunk tilt [p=0.02], peak hip extension [p < 0.01], peak knee flexion in stance [p=0.01] and swing phase [p < 0.01], peak ankle dorsiflexion in stance [p < 0.01] and swing phase [p=0.04], GPS [p < 0.01] and GDI [p < 0.01]) were significantly improved following surgery but did not reach normal levels when compared to controls. A significant correlation was found between change in ODI and VAS score with change in certain kinematic parameters (knee power, stance time, ankle plantarflexion, peak ankle dorsiflexion moment, GDI, swing time, peak ankle dorsiflexion in swing, peak hip and knee flexor moment). Decompression surgery in LCS produces improvement in gait parameters, pain scores, and functional outcome that significantly improves walking tolerance and speed. This abstract does not discuss or include any applicable devices or drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of processing techniques (soaking, roasting and microwave irradiation) on biochemical parameters of groundnut, especially resistant starch (RS) and non-resistant starch (NRS), along with phytic acid (PA), iron (Fe), PA/Fe molar ratio and sugars were studied. Changes in RS and NRS content after processing have not been reported yet. Roasting for 12 min at 160 °C caused an increase in RS (61.1 %) and NRS (67.2 %) content in the GAUG-10 genotype. Water-soaking of kernels for 8 h reduced the amount of PA and increased the amount of Fe and the molar ratio of PA/Fe. Processing techniques reduced sugar alcohols (inositol and mannitol) and stachyose content in groundnut kernels. Variation in nutritional and antinutritional traits of groundnut influenced by processing technique suggests a degree of genotypic tolerance. • Roasting of groundnut kernels raised resistant and non-resistant starch content in groundnut. • Soaking for 8 h reduced phytic acid and improved iron content in kernels. • Stachyose content was reduced by processing techniques. • Nutritional profile was improved by roasting in GAUG-10. • Nutritional profile was improved by 8 h soaking in GG-20 and Girnar-2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The central problem of a hybrid airship design, the optimum apportionment of the total lift between the static buoyant lift and the aerodynamic lift, is studied. The lift apportionment is carried out for specific lifting-body shape represented by a CD0 and K. Different flight strategies have been analyzed. Optimal configurations have been obtained for various flight-time constraints and cruise altitudes. The result of the study is a set of hybrid airships with optimal apportionment of total lift along with optimal flight profile. The set has been presented in the form of a design chart, and an optimal hybrid airship can be obtained, corresponding to a maximum flight time and a cruise altitude. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel constrained formulation for the dynamic subgrid-scale model for large eddy simulation (LES) is proposed. An externally prescribed Reynolds stress is used as the constraint and is imposed in the near-wall region of wall-bounded flows. However, unlike conventional zonal approaches, Reynolds stress is not imposed as the solution, but used as a constraint on the subgrid-scale stress so that the computed Reynolds stress closely matches the prescribed one only in the mean sense. In the absence of an ideal wall model or adequate near-wall resolution, a LES solution at coarse resolution is expected to be erroneous very near the wall while giving reasonable predictions away from the wall. The Reynolds stress constraint is limited to the region where the LES solution is expected to be erroneous. The Germano-identity error is used as an indicator of LES quality such that the Reynolds stress constraint is activated only where the Germano-identity error exceeds a certain threshold. The proposed model is applied to LES of turbulent channel flow at various Reynolds numbers and grid resolutions to obtain significant improvement over the dynamic Smagorinsky model, especially at coarse resolutions. This constrained formulation can be extended to incorporate constraints on the mean of other flow quantities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dynamic Lagrangian averaging approach for the dynamic Smagorinsky model for large eddy simulation is extended to an unstructured grid framework and applied to complex flows. The Lagrangian time scale is dynamically computed from the solution and does not need any adjustable parameter. The time scale used in the standard Lagrangian model contains an adjustable parameter θ. The dynamic time scale is computed based on a 'surrogate-correlation' of the Germano-identity error (GIE). Also, a simple material derivative relation is used to approximate GIE at different events along a pathline instead of Lagrangian tracking or multi-linear interpolation. Previously, the time scale for homogeneous flows was computed by averaging along directions of homogeneity. The present work proposes modifications for inhomogeneous flows. This development allows the Lagrangian averaged dynamic model to be applied to inhomogeneous flows without any adjustable parameter. The proposed model is applied to LES of turbulent channel flow on unstructured zonal grids at various Reynolds numbers. Improvement is observed when compared to other averaging procedures for the dynamic Smagorinsky model, especially at coarse resolutions. The model is also applied to flow over a cylinder at two Reynolds numbers and good agreement with previous computations and experiments is obtained. Noticeable improvement is obtained using the proposed model over the standard Lagrangian model. The improvement is attributed to a physically consistent Lagrangian time scale. The model also shows good performance when applied to flow past a marine propeller in an off-design condition; it regularizes the eddy viscosity and adjusts locally to the dominant flow features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current dengue epidemic in Latin America represents a major threat to health. However, surveillance of affected regions lacks timeliness and precision. We investigated real-time electronic sources for monitoring spread of dengue into new regions. This approach could provide timely estimates of changes in distribution of dengue, a critical component of prevention and control efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Propulsor crashback is an off-design operating condition where a propulsor rotates in the reverse direction to yield negative thrust. Crashback is characterized by the interaction of the free stream with the reverse flow generated by propulsor rotation. This causes a highly unsteady vortex ring which leads to flow separation and unsteady forces and moments on the blades. Large eddy simulation (LES) is performed for marine propulsors in crashback for various configurations and advance ratios and validated against experiments. The predictive capability of LES as a tool for propulsor crashback is demonstrated on an open propulsor, open propulsor with a submarine hull, and ducted propulsor with and without stator blades. LES is in good agreement with experiments for the mean and RMS levels, and spectra of the unsteady loads on the propulsors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the in vitro effects of brassinosteroids (BRs) on growth in the form of multiple shoots, chlorophyll content, Hill reaction activity (HRA), activities of catalase (CAT), peroxidase (POX), polyphenol oxidase (PPX), and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) in Arachis hypogaea L. genotypes (M-13 and PBS24030). In vitro impact of BR on shoot multiplication potential was found to be the best at 1mL L-1 with BA (3 mg L-1) in both the cultivars. Flowering was observed in PBS24030 on themedium containing 2.0mL L-1 BR with 3mg L-1 BA. Rhizogenesis was noticed in the presence of BR alone. Total chlorophyll content and HRA were highest at 2.0mL L-1 with BA in M-13 and 1.0mLL-1 with BA in PBS24030. Antioxidant enzyme activities were increased in the presence of BR whether alone or in combination with BA in both the cultivars. However, progressive decline was observed in case of MDA content. The results obtained in the study clearly indicated not only the in vitro establishment of groundnut cultivars in the presence of BR alone and in combination with BA but also its effect on various growth promotory physiological parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Nandhour Landscape located in an eco-fragile biodiversity rich Terai Arc Landscape of India is protected in the form of a wildlife sanctuary and is least explored in terms of insect diversity and functions. Therefore, this study aimed to provide baseline information on the biodiversity of insects and their ecological functions in tropical to sub-tropical forest ecosystems which is important for the successful long-term provisioning of ecosystem functions and services in the protected landscape. Using standardized sampling techniques, the present study examined the structure and composition of insect assemblages in terms of their comparative diversity and richness across a range of habitat types in the Nandhour Landscape. Besides, the present study also evaluated the ecological significance of insect fauna. A total of 230 insect species belonging to 47 families and nine orders were recorded from various habitats and Lepidoptera was the most dominant insect order in terms of both richness and abundance, followed by Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, Odonata and others. Species diversity and richness were the highest in dense moist and open dry riverine forests, while the least in plantation forest and agricultural land. The heterogeneous structure and composition substantiated the importance of overall spatial heterogeneity and natural forests in sustaining and maintaining the rich insect diversity. Conservation of insect diversity is highly important as several species provide crucial ecosystem services and aid in the functioning of various ecologically fragile habitats of the landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship of spinopelvic parameters with spondylolisthesis is widely explored. However, there is scarce evidence on correlation of tuberculosis of lumbar spine with respect to spinopelvic harmony. The current study aims to find the association between functional outcomes and spinopelvic parameters in lumbar spine tuberculosis treatment. A total of 47 patients with active tuberculosis confined to lumbar spine were prospectively analyzed and divided into 2 groups according to mode of intervention. Group A included 26 operatively managed patients and group B had 21 conservatively managed cases. Functional parameters comprising Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) and Visual Analog Scale (VAS) along with spinopelvic radiologic parameters (pelvic incidence [PI], pelvic tilt [PT], sacral slope [SS], lumbar lordosis [LL], PI-LL, sagittal vertical axis) in both groups were analyzed at 0 and 6 months of follow-up. Both the groups showed significant improvement from initial presentation to final follow-up in ODI (Group A: 85.4 ± 12.1–12.3 ± 3.2, P = 0.02; Group B: 82.5 ± 10.06–36.8 ± 11.9, P = 0.04) and VAS (Group A: 8.1 ± 1.2–1.4 ± 0.9, P = 0.02; Group B: 8.5 ± 0.09–3.5 ± 1.1, P = 0.02). Statistically significant (P < 0.05) difference was observed in both functional outcome parameters between the 2 groups at 2-month and 6-month follow-up, compared with nonsignificant difference (P > 0.05) at presentation. Better improvements of spinopelvic parameters of PT, SS, LL, PI-LL were observed in Group A and in both groups the difference of these parameters correlated with differences of functional outcome parameters, though PI showed no correlation. The spinopelvic parameters played significant role in functional outcome. There is better functional outcome when LL is adequately restored. Surgical correction offered betterment of spinopelvic parameters like PT, SS, an sagittal vertical axis, which in turn leads to improvement in functional outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Little is known about how Indian farming practices affect German chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla L.). This study examines the effects of the sowing date and spacing of plants on flower productivity, essential oil concentration, and the composition of German chamomile grown in the arid zone of Rajasthan, India. In a factorial randomized block design (FRBD), the treatments consisted of four sowing dates (15 and 25 October, 5 and 15 November) and three spacings of plants (20 × 10 cm, 30 × 10 cm, and 40 × 10 cm). The dried flower yield (Kg ha−1), fresh flower yield (Kg ha−1), and number of flowers per plant of chamomile crop were significantly affected by the varying spacing of plants and the date of sowing. The highest values for dry weight, fresh weight, and number of flowers were obtained from the second date of sowing (25 October) with 40 × 10 cm geometry. Likewise, the highest values for total oil (12.44%) and essential oil (0.94%) contents were also obtained from the D2P3 combination (D2—sowing date 25 October, P3—40 × 10 cm spacing of plants). GC/MS analyses of the samples showed that p-menth-1-en-4-ol, acetate, cis-alpha-farnesene, anethole+estragol, 1,4-cyclohexadiene,1-methyl-4-(1-methylethyl)- and 3,6-dihydro-4-(4-methyl-3-pentenyl)-1,2-dithiin were the main identified compounds in the essential oil of chamomile fresh flowers. The treatments altered the quality profile of the essential oils in general. The principal components of chamomile essential oil were significantly affected by the D2P3 treatment. The findings of this study add to our understanding of how to grow high-quality chamomile flowers in arid regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Nandhour Wildlife Sanctuary, which is located in the biodiversity rich Terai Arc Landscape of India, provides a vivid array of habitats for wildlife in tropical to sub-tropical forest ecosystems. However, the protected landscape of Nandhour is least explored in terms of insect fauna including beetle diversity, which is pre-requisite for the successful long-term provisioning of ecosystem functions and services. Using standardized sampling methods, this study examined the structure and composition of beetle assemblages across different land-use types in the Nandhour Wildlife Sanctuary of Uttarakhand from March 2018 to February 2020. A total of 42 species were recorded in the study area, belonging to families Scarabaeidae (13 species), Coccinellidae (7 species), Carabidae (6 species), Chrysomelidae, Meloidae (5 species each), Elateridae (2 species), Cerambycidae, Lucanidae, Tenebrionidae and Hydrophilidae (1 species each). Riverine forest had the highest alpha diversity and species richness, followed by mixed forest, grassland, sal (Shorea robusta Gaertn.) forest, chir-pine (Pinus roxburghii Sarg.) forest, scrubland, plantation forest and cultivation land. Overall spatial heterogeneity of the protected landscape resulted in a heterogeneous structure and composition of beetle assemblages, which must be managed in a more sustainable and scientific manner for the proper ecological functioning and stability of the region. Structure and composition was also found to be affected by seasons, assemblages peaked in richness and abundance during wet rainy season. The present study could serve as a baseline for future impact assessment of land-use changes on beetle assemblages, as well as for implementing effective plans and strategies of biodiversity conservation in the sanctuary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deciding the healing end point in spinal tuberculosis (STB) remains a controversial topic. The current systematic review aims to address the controversy existing in the literature to find a comprehensive method to assess healing in STB. A thorough literature search was carried out for studies with the assessment of healing parameters in STB. Data extraction was carried out manually, which included study characteristics and healing criteria evaluated in each study. Qualitative analysis of 8 included studies showed that healing parameters were described in 3 domains: clinical, hematologic, and radiologic response of the patient to antitubercular chemotherapy. Each domain included various individual parameters, with clinical and radiologic assessment criteria being used in most of the studies. Improvement in terms of pain, constitutional symptoms, weight gain, neurology; variation in erythrocyte sedimentation rate and C-reactive protein; and changes in radiography, magnetic resonance imaging, and positron emission tomography/computed tomography were found to be promising predictors in the assessment of healing. Radiologic response parameters emerged as the maximally used criteria to assess healing in STB. However, in the absence of any statistical analysis and an observed lag in radiologic response, the cumulative effect of all the parameters in 3 domains (clinical, hematologic, and radiologic) can be used to declare a spinal tubercular lesion nonhealing, healing, or healed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large amounts of longitudinal health records are now available for dynamic monitoring of the underlying processes governing the observations. However, the health status progression across time is not typically observed directly: records are observed only when a subject interacts with the system, yielding irregular and often sparse observations. This suggests that the observed trajectories should be modeled via a latent continuous‐time process potentially as a function of time‐varying covariates. We develop a continuous‐time hidden Markov model to analyze longitudinal data accounting for irregular visits and different types of observations. By employing a specific missing data likelihood formulation, we can construct an efficient computational algorithm. We focus on Bayesian inference for the model: this is facilitated by an expectation‐maximization algorithm and Markov chain Monte Carlo methods. Simulation studies demonstrate that these approaches can be implemented efficiently for large data sets in a fully Bayesian setting. We apply this model to a real cohort where patients suffer from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with the outcome being the number of drugs taken, using health care utilization indicators and patient characteristics as covariates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background A system for monitoring vaccine-related media content was previously developed and studied from an international perspective. This monitoring approach could also have value at a regional level, but it has yet to be evaluated at this scale. We examined regional patterns of vaccine-related media topics and sentiment in the US and Canada. Methods We extracted vaccine-relevant US and Canadian online media reports between June 2012 and October 2014 from the Vaccine Sentimeter, a HealthMap-based automated media monitoring system for news aggregators and blogs. We analyzed regional distributions of reports about vaccines, categories (i.e., topics), sentiment, and measles outbreaks. Findings The Vaccine Sentimeter captured 10,715 reports during the study period. Negative sentiment was highest in reports about vaccine safety (47%), Hepatitis B (19%), and Vermont (18%). Analyses of measles outbreaks revealed geographical variation in media content. For example, religious beliefs were mentioned in 27% of measles reports in Texas and 22% of British Columbia reports, but there were no references to religion in media on measles from California. Interpretations A regional analysis of online sentiment towards vaccine can provide insights that may give US and Canadian public health practitioners a deeper understanding of media influences on vaccine choices in their regions and consequently lead to more effective public health action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consumption of cereals as the predominant dietary source imposes a compounding effect on hidden hunger due to their low micronutrient content as well as availability. Thus, identification and inclusion of crop varieties with greater nutrient content and availability for human consumption is integral to alleviate micronutrient malnutrition. Peanut cultivars were studied for their phytic acid, Ca, Mg, P, K, Fe and Zn content in seeds and their interactions influencing Fe and Zn bioavailability. GG7 recorded highest Fe (0.067 g kg−1), Zn (0.069 g kg−1) and Mg (3.75 g kg−1) while LGN 2, SG 99 and DRG 12 showed highest Ca (0.0633 g kg−1), P (5.88 g kg−1) and K (7.58 g kg−1) contents respectively. Phytic acid content was highest in TMV 2 (27.68 g kg−1) and lowest in DRG 12 (7.06 g kg−1). Phytic acid was negatively correlated with Mg (-0.497) and K (-0.546), while a positive correlation with Ca (0.427) was recorded. Mg was positively correlated to Fe (0.568) and Zn (0.1), while Zn and P displayed negative correlation (-0.442). The cluster analysis revealed cluster I enlisting cultivars with high Fe, Zn and Mg content having high Zn availability (GG 7, Girnar 2 and DRG 12); whereas, cluster II displayed cultivars with low Fe and Zn availability (TAG 24, JL 24 and TMV 2). Zn and Fe contents are substantially higher in peanuts. The predominance of Mg, K and Ca in kernels further aid in reduced binding of Zn and Fe with phytic acid, thereby improving their availabilities for human consumption to ensure nutritional security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: weather predictions are a useful tool for informing public health planning and prevention strategies for non-injury health outcomes, but the association between winter weather warnings and fall-related injuries has not been assessed previously. Objective: to examine the association between fall-related injuries among older adults and government-issued winter weather warnings. Methods: using a dynamic cohort of individuals ≥65 years of age who lived in Montreal between 1998 and 2006, we identified all fall-related injuries from administrative data using a validated set of diagnostic and procedure codes. We compared rates of injuries on days with freezing rain or snowstorm warnings to rates observed on days without warnings. We also compared the incidence of injuries on winter days to non-winter days. All analyses were performed overall and stratified by age and sex. Results: freezing rain alerts were associated with an increase in fall-related injuries (incidence rate ratio [IRR] = 1.20, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.08-1.32), particularly among males (IRR = 1.31, 95% CI: 1.10-1.56), and lower rates of injuries were associated with snowstorm alerts (IRR = 0.89, 95% CI: 0.80-0.99). The rate of fall-related injuries did not differ seasonally (IRR = 1.00, 95% CI: 0.97-1.03). Conclusions: official weather warnings are predictive of increases in fall-related injuries among older adults. Public health agencies should consider using these warnings to trigger initiation of injury prevention strategies in advance of inclement weather. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: weather predictions are a useful tool for informing public health planning and prevention strategies for non-injury health outcomes, but the association between winter weather warnings and fall-related injuries has not been assessed previously. Objective: to examine the association between fall-related injuries among older adults and government-issued winter weather warnings. Methods: using a dynamic cohort of individuals ≥65 years of age who lived in Montreal between 1998 and 2006, we identified all fall-related injuries from administrative data using a validated set of diagnostic and procedure codes. We compared rates of injuries on days with freezing rain or snowstorm warnings to rates observed on days without warnings. We also compared the incidence of injuries on winter days to non-winter days. All analyses were performed overall and stratified by age and sex. Results: freezing rain alerts were associated with an increase in fall-related injuries (incidence rate ratio [IRR] = 1.20, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.08-1.32), particularly among males (IRR = 1.31, 95% CI: 1.10-1.56), and lower rates of injuries were associated with snowstorm alerts (IRR = 0.89, 95% CI: 0.80-0.99). The rate of fall-related injuries did not differ seasonally (IRR = 1.00, 95% CI: 0.97-1.03). Conclusions: official weather warnings are predictive of increases in fall-related injuries among older adults. Public health agencies should consider using these warnings to trigger initiation of injury prevention strategies in advance of inclement weather. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Variations in in-hospital COVID-19 mortality risk were consistent across provinces • The changing patients'demographic profiles only partly explained these variations • Nosocomial infections and higher patient load increased mortality risks • Length of intensive care unit stay decreased over time, varied across both age groups and provinces • With emergence new variants, continued monitoring of patient outcomes is essential Epidemics of COVID-19 strained hospital resources. We describe temporal trends in mortality risk and length of stays in hospital and intensive care units (ICUs) among patients with COVID-19 hospitalized through the first three epidemic waves in Canada. We used population-based provincial hospitalization data from the epicenters of Canada's epidemics (Ontario and Québec). Adjusted estimates were obtained using marginal standardization of logistic regression models, accounting for patient-level and hospital-level determinants. Using all hospitalizations from Ontario (N = 26,538) and Québec (N = 23,857), we found that unadjusted in-hospital mortality risks peaked at 31% in the first wave and was lowest at the end of the third wave at 6–7%. This general trend remained after adjustments. The odds of in-hospital mortality in the highest patient load quintile were 1.2-fold (95% CI: 1.0–1.4; Ontario) and 1.6-fold (95% CI: 1.3–1.9; Québec) that of the lowest quintile. Mean hospital and ICU length of stays decreased over time but ICU stays were consistently higher in Ontario than Québec. In-hospital mortality risks and length of ICU stays declined over time despite changing patient demographics. Continuous population-based monitoring of patient outcomes in an evolving epidemic is necessary for health system preparedness and response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background The test-negative design is commonly used to estimate influenza and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine effectiveness (VE). In these studies, correlated COVID-19 and influenza vaccine behaviors may introduce a confounding bias where controls are included with the other vaccine-preventable acute respiratory illness (ARI). We quantified the impact of this bias on VE estimates in studies where this bias is not addressed. Methods We simulated study populations under varying vaccination probabilities, COVID-19 VE, influenza VE, and proportions of controls included with the other vaccine-preventable ARI. Mean bias was calculated as the difference between estimated and true VE. Absolute mean bias in VE estimates was classified as low (<10%), moderate (10% to <20%), and high (≥20%). Results Where vaccination probabilities are positively correlated, COVID-19 and influenza VE test-negative studies with influenza and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) ARI controls, respectively, underestimate VE. For COVID-19 VE studies, mean bias was low for all scenarios where influenza represented ≤25% of controls. For influenza VE studies, mean bias was low for all scenarios where SARS-CoV-2 represented ≤10% of controls. Although bias was driven by the conditional probability of vaccination, low VE of the vaccine of interest and high VE of the confounding vaccine increase its magnitude. Conclusions Where a low percentage of controls is included with the other vaccine-preventable ARI, bias in COVID-19 and influenza VE estimates is low. However, influenza VE estimates are likely more susceptible to bias. Researchers should consider potential bias and its implications in their respective study settings to make informed methodological decisions in test-negative VE studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In response to the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic, Canada undertook the largest vaccination campaign in its history. The effort mobilized thousands of healthcare workers, cost many hundreds of millions of dollars, and vaccinated more than 40% of the population. Despite the large investment in mass vaccination internationally, little is known about the factors that drive the timing of vaccination uptake. Purpose: Data from 2009 were used to investigate three potential determinants of vaccination uptake in Montreal, Canada. Methods: Poisson regression was used to analyze daily vaccination before and after a telephone intervention targeting households in 12 of the city’s 29 health neighborhoods. The effect of an eligibility strategy based on risk groups, and of weather, on uptake was then estimated. Data were analyzed in 2013. Results: Considerable variation in daily mass vaccination was observed, with the peak day (30,204 individuals) accounting for nearly five times the uptake of the slowest day (6298 individuals). No evidence was found that the telephone intervention led to a significant increase in vaccination. Daily vaccination was associated significantly with weather conditions, including mean temperature (relative risk [RR]=1.28, 95% CI=1.12, 1.46) and heavy precipitation (RR=0.63, 95% CI=0.45, 0.89), even after accounting for changes to eligibility, which also were associated with increased vaccination. Conclusions: Considerable temporal variation in uptake can occur during mass vaccination efforts. Targeted interventions to increase vaccination should be evaluated further, as a large intervention had no observable effect. Mass vaccination campaigns should, however, attempt to optimize priority sequences and account for weather when estimating vaccine demand. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article focuses on the article focuses on the BCG World Atlas: A Database of Global BCG Vaccination Policies and Practices, a database the offers information on BCG from all countries around the world. It states that BCG vaccine was introduced to prevent tuberculosis (TB) in 1921. It mentions that the database's creation involves the gathering of detailed information on BCG vaccination policies and practices as many countries as possible.

Background: There is little empirical evidence in support of a relationship between rates of influenza infection and level of material deprivation (i.e., lack of access to goods and services) and social deprivation (i.e. lack of social cohesion and support). Method: Using validated population-level indices of material and social deprivation and medical billing claims for outpatient clinic and emergency department visits for influenza from 1996 to 2006, we assessed the relationship between neighbourhood rates of influenza and neighbourhood levels of deprivation using Bayesian ecological regression models. Then, by pooling data from neighbourhoods in the top decile (i.e., most deprived) and the bottom decile, we compared rates in the most deprived populations to the least deprived populations using age- and sex-standardized rate ratios. Results: Deprivation scores ranged from one to five with five representing the highest level of deprivation. We found a 21% reduction in rates for every 1 unit increase in social deprivation score (rate ratio [RR] 0.79, 95% Credible Interval [CrI] 0.66, 0.97). There was little evidence of a meaningful linear relationship with material deprivation (RR 1.06, 95% CrI 0.93, 1.24). However, relative to neighbourhoods with deprivation scores in the bottom decile, those in the top decile (i.e., most materially deprived) had substantially higher rates (RR 2.02, 95% Confidence Interval 1.99, 2.05). Conclusion: Though it is hypothesized that social and material deprivation increase risk of acute respiratory infection, we found decreasing healthcare utilization rates for influenza with increasing social deprivation. This finding may be explained by the fewer social contacts and, thus, fewer influenza exposure opportunities of the socially deprived. Though there was no evidence of a linear relationship with material deprivation, when comparing the least to the most materially deprived populations, we observed higher rates in the most materially deprived populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sudden surge of Post Covid-19 Rhino-orbito-mucormycosis cases has left entire ENT fraternity in the center of a war room. We present a quick administrative preparedness for this situation in a tertiary care Government Institute in India. This model may serve as a reference for other centers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]