Search

E-mail is considered the commonly used and efficient way of communication over the globe. In the corporate sectors, the number of E-mails received every day is considerably high and the timely response to every E-mail is essential. Several researchers believe that natural language processing (NLP) techniques by the use of deep learning (DL) architectures have played a considerable part to reduce manual work for repeated E-mail responses and intended to develop E-mail systems with intelligent response function. In this view, this paper designs an intelligent DL enabled optimal bidirectional long short term memory (Bi-LSTM) technique for an automated E-mail reply (OBiLSTM-AER) of E-mail Client Prototype. The goal of the proposed model is to provide an automated E-mail reply solution for persons as well as corporates which receive massive identical E-mails daily. The presented model employs Glove and OBiLSTM model for feature extraction of receiving and response E-mails respectively. Finally, softmax classifier is applied to allocate the class labels. For improving the performance of the BiLSTM model, the hyperparameter tuning process takes place using an oppositional glowworm swarm optimization (OGSO) algorithm. An extensive set of simulations were performed to highlight the betterment of the proposed method and the results are examined interms of distinct measures.

The growing incidence of type 2 diabetes and obesity has become a worldwide crisis with increased socio-economic burden. Changes in lifestyle and food habits resulting in dysbiosis of the gut microbiota and low-grade inflammation are linked to the rising incidence. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of potential probiotic Lactobacillus fermentum MCC2759 and MCC2760 on intestinal markers of inflammation using a high-fat diet (HFD)-fed model and a streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic model. Lact. fermentum administration showed improved oral glucose tolerance compared with the model controls of HFD (AUC 1518) and STZ (628.8). Plasma insulin levels improved in the Lact. fermentum treated groups of HFD + MCC2759 (129 ± 4.24 pmol/L) and HFD + MCC2760 (151.5 ± 9.19 pmol/L) in HFD study, while in STZ diabetic study, the insulin levels were normalized with Lact. fermentum administration, for D + MCC2759 (120.5 ± 7.77) and D + MCC2760 (138 ± 5.65 pmol/L) groups. The results showed reduction in inflammatory tone in liver, muscle, and adipose tissues of rats in both models with stimulation of anti-inflammatory IL-10 by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Additionally, the potential probiotic cultures also displayed normalization of markers related to intestinal barrier integrity (ZO-1), TLR-4 receptor, and insulin sensitivity (GLUT-4, GLP-1, adiponectin). Thus, the results suggest that Lact. fermentum could act as potential probiotic for lifestyle-related disorders such as obesity, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome as both prophylactic and adjunct therapies.

Connective tissue neoplasms or soft tissue tumours as they are popularly called are mesenchymal neoplasms that affect any part of the body. They occur frequently in all organs including the head and neck region and the oral cavity is no exception. The frequency of their occurrence contributes to 15 - 20 % of all head and neck neoplasms and neoplasms of oral cavity form 1 - 4 % of the reported lesions,1,2 representing 2.2 % of all lipomas.3 In a study by Moreno SE et al. in 2016 the most frequently affected sites were the buccal mucosa followed by the lips, tongue, palate, and other areas of the oral cavity.4Here we are documenting a case occurring in the buccal mucosa.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common malignancies that can develop from high-risk colon polyps. Colonoscopy is a standard for examination and detection of colorectal polyps.[1] Segmentation and distinction of polyps can play a vital role in treatment (e.g., surgical planning) and predictive decision making. This paper proposes a neural network architecture called EDANet, using attention gates to effectively combine multi-level features to yield accurate polyp segmentation. The Encoder is a fully connected Convolution Neural Network (CNN) and the decoder part is a Cascaded Partial Decoder. Encoder and Decoder sub-networks are connected through a series of nested, dense skip pathways. The skip pathways aim at reducing the semantic gap between the feature maps of the Encoder and Decoder sub-networks. The proposed system trains the model on several epochs and it unies the previous epoch mask with the feature map of the current training epoch. The previous epoch mask is then used to provide a hard attention to the learnt feature maps at different convolutional layers. Experimental results demonstrate that the model trained and tested on the Kvasir-SEG dataset achieves a dice coefcient of 0.7874, mean Intersection over Union (mIoU) of 0.7010, recall of 0.7987, and a precision of 0.8577.

The plants belong to the genus Wrightiaare widely distributed throughout the world. Wrightiatinctoria (WT) plant species are being used in folk medicine for the treatment of several diseases. The review of the literature suggests that a good number of preclinical have confirmed the medicinal use of various Wrightiatinctoria species that have been mentioned in traditional medicine. The extract of Wrightiatinctoria was given daily to the rats, at doses of two hundred and 400 mg/kg along with thioacetamide to assess the affectivity of extract, against thioacetamide-induced hepatotoxicity. Serum samples were collected for analysis of various hepatoprotective parameters like aspartate transaminase, alanine transaminase, antacid phosphatase and total bilirubin, using commercially available test kits, together with morphological and histopathological indices in the liver of healthy and thioacetamide treated rats. Animals were sacrificed from each group, and their livers were dissected out for histopathological studies. Results of the present study suggest that the methanolic extract ofWrightiatinctoria leaves possess significant hepatoprotective activity on thioacetamide-induced hepatotoxicity, which might be associated with its high phenolic and flavonoid content and antioxidant properties.In conclusion, the present study depicts the curative efficacy of Wrightiatinctoria in an in-vivo experimental system. This study also revealed that Wrightiatinctoria could be used for the development of a phytomedicine against oxidative stress and liver ailments. However, further pharmacological evidence at the molecular level is required to establish the mechanism of the action of the drug.

Cloud computing poses a challenge to the healthcare infrastructure, as it affects privacy, confidentiality, and security rules concerning large binary objects such as x-rays and CT scan reports. However, health records are stored and accessed using an encryption hash which is stored in the interplanetary file system (IPFS), called a peer-to-peer system. But the patient’s data is sold, share for research purposes by their healthcare providers without their knowledge as it affects their privacy and security. In the healthcare industry today, customers face the issue of health record that lacks interoperability, resulting in difficulty aggregating and examining patient data. The objective of this research is to develop cybersecurity measurement approaches that ensure patient information security by protecting against cyber threats using blockchain technology based on healthcare IT. Consequently, this paper proposes an innovative solution to the problem, namely Patient-centric healthcare data management (PCHDM). It was built using IPFS, a permissioned distributed ledger system that uses Hyperledger Fabric, which stores health records, but only with the permission of the owner. A unique cryptographic public key encryption algorithm is used to encrypt IPFS data to build an electronic health record blockchain system. Our platform offers two types of solutions: (i) a solution that utilizes a database of hyper ledger fabric, which is an on-chain database, (ii) off-chain solutions which encrypt data and store it securely off-chain using IPFS. A robust blockchain solution for PCHDM will be created by encrypting the data stored in IPFS using appropriate public key cryptographic algorithms. To determine which blocks should be incorporated into the blockchain, the Byzantine Fault Tolerance is applied in the health chain architectural model. This system hosts smart contracts and application logic as well as smart contracts known as "chain code" via container technology. As part of this research, health record hashes were stored on the blockchain and the actual health data was stored off-chain in IPFS, which is the decentralized cloud storage system that achieves scalability. Due to the encryption of healthcare records with a hash, this model proves that unauthorized access is impossible because the records are more scalable, interoperable, and reliable. Stakeholders are more confident in collaborating and sharing their medical records with this model.

Recently machine learning algorithms are utilized for identifying network threats. Threats otherwise called as intrusions, will harm the network in a stern manner, thus it must be dealt cautiously. In the proposed research work, a deep learning model has been applied to recognize and categorize unanticipated and unpredictable cyber-attacks. The UNSW NB-15 dataset has a vital number of features which will be learned by the hidden layers present in the suggested model and classified by the output layer. The suitable quantity of layers, neurons in each layer and the optimizer utilized in the proposed work are obtained through a sequence of trial and error experiments. The concluding model acquired can be utilized for estimating future malicious attacks. There are several data preprocessing techniques available at our disposal. We used two types of techniques in our experiment: 1) Log transformation, MinMaxScaling and factorize technique; and 2) Z-score encoding and dummy encoding technique. In general, the selection of data preprocessing techniques has a direct impact on the output performed by any machine learning process and our research, attempts to prove this concept.

Plant viruses cause yield losses to crops of agronomic and economic significance and are a challenge to the achievement of global food security. Although conventional plant breeding has played an important role in managing plant viral diseases, it will unlikely meet the challenges posed by the frequent emergence of novel and more virulent viral species or viral strains. Hence there is an urgent need to seek alternative strategies of virus control that can be more readily deployed to contain viral diseases. The discovery in the late 1980s that viral genes can be introduced into plants to engineer resistance to the cognate virus provided a new avenue for virus disease control. Subsequent advances in genomics and biotechnology have led to the refinement and expansion of genetic engineering (GE) strategies in crop improvement. Importantly, many of the drawbacks of conventional breeding, such as long lead times, inability or difficulty to cross fertilize, loss of desirable plant traits, are overcome by GE. Unfortunately, public skepticism towards genetically modified (GM) crops and other factors have dampened the early promise of GE efforts. These concerns are principally about the possible negative effects of transgenes to humans and animals, as well as to the environment. However, with regards to engineering for virus resistance, these risks are overstated given that most virus resistance engineering strategies involve transfer of viral genes or genomic segments to plants. These viral genomes are found in infected plant cells and have not been associated with any adverse effects in humans or animals. Thus, integrating antiviral genes of virus origin into plant genomes is hardly unnatural as suggested by GM crop skeptics. Moreover, advances in deep sequencing have resulted in the sequencing of large numbers of plant genomes and the revelation of widespread endogenization of viral genomes into plant genomes. This has raised the possibility that viral genome endogenization is part of an antiviral defense mechanism deployed by the plant during its evolutionary past. Thus, GM crops engineered for viral resistance would likely be acceptable to the public if regulatory policies were product-based (the North America regulatory model), as opposed to process-based. This review discusses some of the benefits to be gained from adopting GE for virus resistance, as well as the challenges that must be overcome to leverage this technology. Furthermore, regulatory policies impacting virus-resistant GM crops and some success cases of virus-resistant GM crops approved so far for cultivation are discussed.

BACKGROUND Patenting protects innovation, fosters academic incentives, promotes competition, and generates new revenue for clinician-inventors and their institutions. Despite these benefits, and despite plastic surgery's history of innovation, plastic surgery-related patent applications are few. The goal of this article was to use unpublished data and formulate a robust discussion. METHODS The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's boolean search was investigated between the timeline of 1975 and June 23, 2020, to identify patents related to the key phrases to contrast patent (both, issued and filed) tally in each specialty. Queries for two key phrases related to plastic surgery and a core plastic surgical activity, both with and without the added term "plastic surgery," were performed. RESULTS Total patents with "cardiology" outnumber those with "plastic surgery" by 22,450 versus 7749 (i.e., almost 3:1). The overwhelming number of patents with "cosmetic" are non-plastic-surgery related: 87,910 total versus 2782 for those with plastic surgery. The corresponding numbers for "wound healing" are 36,359 versus 2703. Reasons for the patent gap between clinical innovations in plastic surgery and number of patents in our field are identified. Clear steps to bridge this gap are delineated that include a step-by-step process for patenting, from idea creation through commercialization. The authors propose "breakthrough to bank," a framework wherein academic medical centers can create an environment of innovative freedom, establish the infrastructure for technological transfer of intellectual property, and generate a pipeline toward commercial applications. CONCLUSIONS Innovation and inventions are important hallmarks for the progress of plastic surgery. Using a stepwise process, it may be possible to convert ideas into patents.

The present was the prospective study prospective on head injury cases admitted at tertiary care centre. Cases with the history of head injury which are admitted to the hospital are included in this study. The cases which were brought dead and which were having other visceral injury other than brain are excluded from this study. The present study was carried out in the department of Forensic medicine and Toxicology, Indira Gandhi Government Medical College, Nagpur during the period of November 2011 to October 2013. Aim of this study was to asses the age and sex wise distribution of head injury cases, type of skull fracture and intracranial hemorrage, survival time. In the present study 21 to 30 year was the most commonly involved group in which male outnumbered the female. Out of 103 cases, road traffic accident was the most common cause of head injury followed by fall from height and assault. Most of the cases (i.e.61 cases) died during the first 24 hours of admission. Fissured (Linear) fracture was the most common type of skull fracture observed in the present study (41.35% cases). Temporal bone was the most common bone involved. Subdural and subarachnoid haemorrhages are the most common type of intracranial haemorrhage observed in the present study.

Covid-19 pandemic left a long lasting impact on entire education sector, as an estimated 90% of educational institutions closed down in at least 188 countries in the world and offline traditional teaching came to a standstill. In such critical situation pedagogical innovations in form of online education, virtual simulators etc came to rescue to keep the students academically occupied and motivated entering into the virtual era.With advent of online education, several issues like social, infrastructural & pedagogical and psychological issues came to fore. Social divide, geographical issues, technical support and know how etc added to the gravity of situation. Educationists also pointed out that ethical issues in e-learning like academic dishonesty, plagiarism and copyright violations need to be addressed.The present work is an attempt to find out various ethical issues in online education and to make suggestions, where ever required.

Acute poisoning is important medical emergency and one of the cause of death. A thorough knowledge of the profile of the victim is essential for management and prevention of poisoning. A prospective analysis of all poisoning cases admitted to BKL Walawalkar Hospital, Sawarde was done to study the pattern of poisoning reported. 186 cases of poisoning including snake bite and scorpion bite were admitted. Data on age, sex, marital status, type of poison, time of exposure, mode of poison and outcome of poisoning were recorded and analysed. There are 111 males and 75 females victim involved in the study. Most common manner of poisoning was Accidental. Most common age group found was 1-10 year followed by 21-30 year. Majority of the victims were Married. Out of all 186 cases admitted 133 were recoverd, 48 had taken Discharge Against Medical Advice (DAMA) and 2 died and 2 were referred.

The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of levodopa therapy-induced complications on the quality of life (QoL) of Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients in Singapore over a 1-year follow-up period. 274 PD patients were prospectively recruited, of which 78 patients completed the follow-up. Patients were evaluated on: (1) motor symptoms, (2) non-motor symptoms, (3) levodopa therapy-induced complications and (4) QoL. Levodopa-induced complications including dyskinesia and OFF symptoms occurred in 13.5% and 55.9% of the study population, respectively. In patients who completed the 1-year follow-up, there was a trend suggestive of increasing dyskinesia duration, more disabling dyskinesia as well as longer, more sudden and unpredictable OFF periods. There was a significant decline in the overall QoL at follow-up, in particular, activities of daily living, emotional well-being, cognition and communication domains were the most affected. The multivariable analysis demonstrated that worsening of UPDRS IV total score over 1-year interval was associated with worsening in PDQ-Summary Index score (d = 0.671, p = 0.014). In conclusion, levodopa-induced complications had significant adverse impacts on QoL. This study substantiates the importance for clinicians to closely monitor and promptly manage levodopa therapy-induced complications that may arise in patients.

Background: India has been amongst the most affected nations during the SARS CoV2 pandemic, with sparse data on country wide spread of asymptomatic infections and antibody persistence. This longitudinal cohort study was aimed to evaluate SARS CoV2 seropositivity rate as a marker of infection and evaluate temporal persistence of antibodies with neutralization capability and to infer possible risk factors for infection. Methods: Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, India (CSIR) with its more than 40 laboratories and centers in urban and semi urban settings spread across the country piloted the pan country surveillance. 10427 adult individuals working in CSIR laboratories and their family members based on voluntary participation were assessed for antibody presence and stability was analyzed over 6 months utilizing qualitative Elecysys SARS CoV2 specific antibody kit and GENScript cPass SARS CoV2 Neutralization Antibody Detection Kit. Along with demographic information, possible risk factors were evaluated through self to be filled online forms with data acquired on blood group type, occupation type, addiction and habits including smoking and alcohol, diet preferences, medical history and transport type utilized. Symptom history and information on possible contact and compliance with COVID 19 universal precautions was also obtained. Findings:1058 individuals (10.14%) had antibodies against SARS CoV2. A follow up on 346 seropositive individuals after three months revealed stable to higher antibody levels against SARS CoV2 but declining plasma activity for neutralizing SARS CoV2 receptor binding domain and ACE2 interaction. A repeat sampling of 35 individuals, at six months, revealed declining antibody levels while the neutralizing activity remained stable compared to three months. Majority of seropositive individuals (75%) did not recall even one of nine symptoms since March 2020. Fever was the most common symptom with one fourth reporting loss of taste or smell. Significantly associated risks for seropositivity (Odds Ratio, 95% CI, p value) were observed with usage of public transport (1.79, 1.43 to 2∙24, 2.81561x10-6), occupational responsibilities such as security, housekeeping personnel etc. (2.23, 1.92 to 2.59, 6.43969x10-26), non smokers (1.52, 1.16 to 1.99, 0.02) and non vegetarianism (1.67, 1.41 to 1.99, 3.03821x10-8). An iterative regression analysis was confirmatory and led to only modest changes to estimates. Predilections for seropositivity was noted with specific ABO blood groups; O was associated with a lower risk. Interpretation: In a first of its kind study from India, we report the seropositivity in a country wide cohort and identify variable susceptible associations for contacting infection. Serology and Neutralizing Antibody response provides much sought for general insights on the immune response to the virus among Indians and will be an important resource for designing vaccination strategies. Funding: Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, India (CSIR)

Forensic Age Estimation is an expertise in Forensic Medicine which aims to find out the most accurate wayof determining the chronological age of the unknown person involved in judicial or legal proceedings. Thisstudy aims to investigate the relationship between the stage of union at Manubrium, Sternum & XiphoidProcess and biological age in Chhattisgarh population. The study was carried out in 270 healthy subjects(135 males and 135 females) aging from 25 to 70 years. The obtained results from the radiographs revealedthat the complete fusion of Xiphoid process & Manubrium with the body of sternum is seen in more than& 70% of individuals in the age group of 50-55 years. Females were consistently developing union at ayounger age than their male counterparts. Results also suggest that the age of union is found to vary greatlyall over the India indicating the need for separate standards of age of epiphyseal union for separate regions.

Background: Forensic Odontology is a rapidly evolving branch of dentistry which deals with theidentification of an individual. In instances of deceased individual, establishing identity may still posedifficulties depending upon the time that has elapsed since death. The oral structures can reliably be usedfor establishing identity of the deceased as they are preserved for long after death. The mandibular foramenis amongst the core structures & has been used for age estimation with reliable degree of accuracy usingradiographs which is a non-invasive and easily reproducible technique. Hence we decided to assess itsimportance in establishing gender. Methods: Digital Orthopantomograph (OPG) were used for the study asthey are taken for all dental procedures and can be preserved as records and may facilitate comparison ofante-mortem and post-mortem records. Various dimensions from the mandibular foramen were recorded.Conclusion: We found statistically significant correlation of Anteroposterior and Posteroanterior dimensionsin position of mandibular foramen to gender.

The increase crime rates with stress in the day to day life is responsible for vide range of medico legalautopsies in the society. The violent asphyxial deaths are responsible for the large number of medicolegalautopsies out of which hanging is a very common in society. Hanging is the cheapest and painless formof self-destruction. It has been employed as the method of suicide since time immortal. The study underconsideration is a cross sectional study which was carried on the dead bodies of either sex. The deceasedwere brought for medico legal autopsy with the history probably revealing the cause of death due to hangingin the autopsy room at a medical college in Central India from 1st August 2011 to 31st July 2017. Thenumber of hanging cases during the study period were 101,the majority of victims 66 (65.34%) belong to thenuclear family while the 31 (30.69%) cases belong to the joint family. The family status of 4 (3.96%) casescannot be ascertained as the bodies were unidentified. The majority of victims 70 (69.30%) cases, preferredindoor place for hanging while about 31 (30.69%) cases preferred outdoor place for hanging. Consideringtheir educational status about 24.75% cases had educated upto primary school, 10.89% had upto secondaryschool, 24.75% upto higher secondary, 22.77% upto graduate or more and 11.88% were uneducated. Also in4.95% cases, the educational status was unknown.

The COVID-19 is an acute and contagious disease characterized by pneumonia and ARDS. The disease is caused by SARS-CoV-2, which belongs to the family of Coronaviridae along with MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV-1. The virus has the positive-sense RNA as its genome encoding for ~26 proteins that work together for the virus survival, replication, and spread in the host. The virus gets transmitted through the contact of aerosol droplets from infected persons. The pathogenesis of COVID-19 is highly complex and involves suppression of host antiviral and innate immune response, induction of oxidative stress followed by hyper inflammation described as the "cytokine storm," causing the acute lung injury, tissue fibrosis, and pneumonia. Currently, several vaccines and drugs are being evaluated for their efficacy, safety, and for determination of doses for COVID-19 and this requires considerable time for their validation. Therefore, exploring the repurposing of natural compounds may provide alternatives against COVID-19. Several nutraceuticals have a proven ability of immune-boosting, antiviral, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory effects. These include Zn, vitamin D, vitamin C, curcumin, cinnamaldehyde, probiotics, selenium, lactoferrin, quercetin, etc. Grouping some of these phytonutrients in the right combination in the form of a food supplement may help to boost the immune system, prevent virus spread, preclude the disease progression to severe stage, and further suppress the hyper inflammation providing both prophylactic and therapeutic support against COVID-19.

Background:-The word “hernia” derived from Latin term meaning “a rupture”[1]. A hernia is defined as an area of weakness or complete disruption of fibromuscular tissue of body wall can pass through or herniate through defect[1]. In all ventral abdominal hernias, Inguinal hernia is the most common. Inguinal hernia repair is common in surgical practice. In past, the repair was pure open tissue repair which was changed to open prosthetic mesh repair. Laparoscopic groin hernia repair was first performed by Ger in 1979[1]. The laparoscopic approach to hernia repair has since evolved into common and effective procedure.Methods:-The presented study is a prospective, open labelled, randomized, comparative study during a period from May-2017 to March-2019. After taking written consent from the patients were randomly allocated to two groups. Group A, Open hernioplasty were operated with open tension free Lichtenstein’s hernioplasty. Group B, laparoscopic hernioplasty were operated with Transabdominal Preperitoneal(TAPP) repair. Those patients who fulfilled the inclusion criteria are included in study. The mode of presentation, surgical treatment and postoperative complications were all evaluated and compared.Results:-During the study there were no major life threatening complications were reported in either group. The postoperative pain and need of analgesics, presence of surgical site infections were more in Open hernioplasty group compared to laparoscopy group. The time taken for return to routine daily activities and work was earlier in patients treated with laparoscopy compared to open surgery and good cosmetic results.Conclusions:-Laparoscopic hernia repair has better, evolving & effective procedure in recent days compared to open hernia repair in terms of less postoperative complications, early recovery with good cosmetic results.

To communicate efficiently with a prospective user, auditory interfaces are employed in mobile communication devices. Diverse sounds in different volumes are used to alert the user in various devices such as mobile phones, modern laptops and domestic appliances. These alert noises behave erroneously in dynamic noise environments, leading to major annoyances to the user. In noisy environments, as sounds can be played quietly, this leads to the improper masked rendering of the necessary information. To overcome these issues, a multi-model sensing technique is developed as a smartphone application to achieve automatic volume control in a smart phone. Based on the ambient environment, the volume is automatically controlled such that it is maintained at an appropriate level for the user. By identifying the average noise level of the ambient environment from dynamic microphone and together with the activity recognition data obtained from the inertial sensors, the automatic volume control is achieved. Experiments are conducted with five different mobile devices at various noise-level environments and different user activity states. Results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed application for active volume control in dynamic environments.

Interspecies transmissions of viruses between animals and humans may result in unpredictable pathogenic potential and new transmissible diseases. This mechanism has recently been exemplified by the discovery of new pathogenic viruses, such as the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic, Middle-East respiratory syndrome-coronavirus epidemic in Saudi Arabia, and the deadly outbreak of Ebola in West Africa. The. SARS-CoV-2 causes coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19), which is having a massive global impact in terms of economic disruption, and, above all, human health. The disease is characterized by dry cough, fever, fatigue, myalgia, and dyspnea. Other symptoms include headache, sore throat, rhinorrhea, and gastrointestinal disorders. Pneumonia appears to be the most common and severe manifestation of the infection. Currently, there is no vaccine or specific drug for COVID-19. Further, the development of new antiviral requires a considerable length of time and effort for drug design and validation. Therefore, repurposing the use of natural compounds can provide alternatives and can support therapy against COVID-19. In this review, we comprehensively discuss the prophylactic and supportive therapeutic role of probiotics for the management of COVID-19. In addition, the unique role of probiotics to modulate the gut microbe and assert gut homeostasis and production of interferon as an antiviral mechanism is described. Further, the regulatory role of probiotics on gut-lung axis and mucosal immune system for the potential antiviral mechanisms is reviewed and discussed. Key points • Gut microbiota role in antiviral diseases • Factors influencing the antiviral mechanism • Probiotics and Covid-19

The most widely used procedure for perceiving lump in brain is Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Due to the increase in the need for an efficient classification procedure, a hybrid mechanism is proposed in this paper. The work discussed in this paper is a blend of Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Improved Kernel Prospective C-Means algorithm (IKProCM). The proposed approach is a collaborative work of SVM and IKProCM, a cross-breed procedure for perceiving brain lesion. The algorithm enhanced the image using enhancement techniques to improve contrast, resolution and removal of noise. Skull extraction is achieved by applying morphological operations and thresholding mechanism. IKProCM clustering mechanism is used to segment the image to identify the expanse of interest in the MR images. The Size Zone Matrix (SZM) is applied for pulling out required features found in the MRI image. Later SVM procedure segregates the MRI images as defective and non defective.

In Karnataka a state of Southern India, there are numerous varieties of traditional food products, which are present due its vast variation in culture, geographical indication and variability in the raw material present in all three different zones, viz. north, south and coastal. Preservation of food by fermentation that extends shelf life of the food product is a common practice followed at household level. Fermentation by microorganisms in the raw material leads to the production of finished product having higher nutritive value. Most of the microorganisms involved in fermentation of these food products are known to have the Generally Regarded as Safe (GRAS) status and are known to promote human health. Fermented products are known to enhance the nutritional property as well as the therapeutic property of the food. This modification is seen especially in the case of dairy products. Karnataka is a home for few unique fermented products of cereal-legume-based product as well as dairy-based product and toddy-based beverages. Indigenous knowledge is being utilized to prepare fermented foods like idli and dosa and beverages like toddy and neera. This chapter provides methods of preparation, role of microorganism and health benefits of those fermented food products of Karnataka.

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are an economically important group of microorganisms capable of producing a variety of metabolites that are being exploited in the food industry. LAB is used industrially for their starter culture properties and as probiotics. Besides their food-fermenting ability, they are known to impart desirable aroma, texture, and organoleptic characteristic to the finished product. Among the intracellular enzymes produced by LAB, lipase represents an important leading biocatalyst with proven potential in the food industry and environmental management. Among them, lipolytic enzymes, such as carboxylesterases, true lipases, and various types of phospholipases, represent novel biomolecules associated with flavor and characteristic aroma of the products in the dairy industry. In LAB with their diversity and occurrence in a range of food products, there is a possibility of obtaining desirable lipase with industrial relevance. Lipases, in general, are inducible enzymes, and their production is highly dependent upon cultural conditions such as pH, temperature, fermentation duration, concentration of substrates, level of inoculums, and most importantly the concentration of inducer. One of the major factors for the expression of lipase activity is the source of lipidic carbon since lipases are large inducible enzymes and are thus generally produced in the presence of a lipid source. Under the native condition, most of the lipase is produced at a very low amount, and hence, combining experimental work with mathematical modeling is required to achieve higher yield. Lipase from food-grade bacteria with a prominent biological function that includes hydrolysis, esterification, alcoholysis, acidolysis, esterification, and aminolysis is primarily known to catalyze the hydrolysis of the fatty acid ester bond in the triglycerol. Though LAB is known to be poor in the production of lipase, their production can be elevated by adopting suitable fermentation parameters. The ability of food-grade bacteria,viz., LAB for their inherent property for the production of lipase has commercial relevance to the food industry. This chapter summarizes recent updates about the lipase of LAB and their vivid biotechnological applications. It also provides a brief description of the study with reference to the lipolytic LAB used by the authors for their bioremediation purpose.

BACKGROUND CKD is a major problem worldwide, which is growing rapidly. It is the major cause of morbidity and mortality throughout the world. RBC count, Hb, hematocrit, platelet and TLC got decreased in chronic renal failure patients in many studies. Hemodialysis increases red blood cell count (RBC), hemoglobin (Hb) and packed cell volume (PCV) according to a study done to find out the effects of hemodialysis. In present study, the hematological parameters before and after hemodialysis will be observed and analyzed in CKD patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS This study was done on patients suffering from chronic renal failure admitted in hemodialysis unit at B.L.D.E. University’s Shri BM Patil Medical College, Hospital and Research Centre, Vijayapura from 1 st December, 2015 to 30th June, 2017. Under aseptic precautions, two milliliters of venous blood was taken from renal failure patients before and after hemodilaysis in an ethylene diamine tetra acetic acid (EDTA) vacutainer and immediately analyzed for a complete hemogram, including Hb, RBC count, and RDW, using an automated hematology analyzer. A peripheral smear was prepared from the same sample. RESULTS A total of 80 patients suffering from chronic renal failure were included in this study. Out of 80 patients of CRF, 58 patients (72.5%) were male and 22 patients (27.5%) were female. Maximum number of patients i.e. 25 were in age group of 51- 60 years (31.3%). In our study, Hb level was found to be increased after hemodialysis as compared to pre- dialysis. Mean Hb value in pre- dialysis patients was 7.69 ± 1.95 whereas in post dialysis patients, it was 8.46 ± 2.87 with a significant p value of 0.004. WBC level was found to be increased after dialysis when compared to pre- dialysis patients. Mean WBC value in pre- dialysis patients was 8 ± 5.31 whereas in post dialysis patients, it was 9.57 ± 6.70 with a significant p value of 0.005. Platelets were found to be decreased after dialysis as compared to pre- dialysis. Mean platelet value before dialysis was 2.10 ± 0.78 where as it was 1.87 ± 0.69 in post dialysis cases with a significant p value of 0.022. HCT level after dialysis was increased when compared to predialysis cases. Mean value of HCT before dialysis was 25.21 ± 6.49 whereas after dialysis it was 26.94 ± 7.10 with a significant p value of 0.038. NCNC anemia was most commonly seen both in pre- and post-dialysis cases. CONCLUSION Most of the hematological parameters like Hb, WBC, MCH, MCHC and HCT increased after HD as compared to predialysis cases. Platelet count was found to be decreased after dialysis as compared to predialysis cases. So, to evaluate the effectiveness of hemodialysis, it is necessary to test the complete hemogram before and after HD.

Emergence of nanotechnology opens up new avenues in diverse research frontiers. Nanorefrigerants are nanotechnology based refrigerants, which are stable mixture of nanoparticles of metal, oxide, carbon and its allotropes and refrigerants. Development of nanorefrigerants provides a new research frontier in the heat transfer perspective. The studies on nanorefrigerants are still in its budding stage. The intention of the present paper is to provide a comprehensive overview of experimental studies on thermophysical and rehological properties, boiling and condensation phenomena, pressure drop characteristics, aggregation behaviour, migration and degradation characteristics of different nanorefrigerants and application of nanorefrigerants in HVAC systems. Various outlooks of future scope associated with the studies of nanorefrigerants have also been suggested. It has been recognized that addition of nanoparticles in refrigerants contributes noteworthy augment in the thermal physical and heat transfer characteristics of refrigerants. Furthermore, application of nanorefrigerants in heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems enhance the overall performance in terms of coefficients of performance (COP) and energy efficiency.

The recent requirement for superwettable materials for efficient absorption of heavy oils and waste organic solvents has led to the advancement of various functional materials, where the disposal and non-degradation of their constituents in the environment is a threat, contributing to global warming. In the present work, we report an in situ fabricated, heterogeneous wettable, and biodegradable PLA Janus fabric based on a cellulosic-substrate, functionalized with surface-modified nanoclay. The developed Janus fabric, which is fabricated via an efficacious electrospinning technique, possesses superhydrophobicity (WCA ∼ 152°)/superoleophilicity (OCA ∼ 0°) and low ice-adhesion, owing to its hierarchical textured morphology, as revealed by FE-SEM analysis, along with an excellent oil–water separation efficiency of 99.16%, which is maintained for 30 reusable washing cycles, and a maximum permeation flux of around 65 000 l m−2 h−1 for n-hexane from a solvent–water mixture. More importantly, the reported Janus fabric demonstrates microbial and hydrolytic biodegradation with 78% weight loss in 28 days, at a rate of 2.79 ± 0.5% per day at room temperature, under an in-house developed biotic system constituted of decompost slurry. The FESEM analysis of the biodegraded samples revealed the presence of Gram-positive Bacillus polymyxa bacteria. Moreover, the engineered Janus fabric retains its inherent properties under various acidic and basic conditions (pH = 1 to 10), hyper-saline solutions (10% to 30%), mild-detergent solution, UV-radiation (254 nm), and sub-zero temperatures (−20 °C to 0 °C). The successive results demonstrate that the developed Janus fabric can be effectively used as a proficient biodegradable material for the efficient absorption of heavy oils/waste organic solvents in comparison with non-degradable synthetic materials.

BACKGROUND Chronic otitis media is a common clinical condition seen by an otolaryngologist and is one of the leading causes for hearing impairment and ear discharge. It is a significant health problem in developing countries and every ENT surgeon should have thorough knowledge of its pathology, the risks and complications associated with it and the definitive management of such patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS Aprospective study was conducted to study the characteristic clinical and audiological profile in 100 patients diagnosed with chronic otitis media of mucosal type. All the patients were evaluated with detailed history taking and thorough clinical examination along with audiological examination. RESULTS The results showed that out of 100 patients, most of them belonged to third decade of age and presented most commonly with ear discharge (91%), followed by decreased hearing (65%) and earache (29%). Most patients had a tympanic membrane perforation of medium size (72%), which often involved the anteroinferiorand posteroinferior quadrants. On comparing with audiological results, perforations involving the posterior quadrant were seen to have greater hearing loss than anterior quadrant perforations. CONCLUSION In this study, we observed that chronic otitis media of mucosal type occurs most commonly in middle-aged population with unilateral ear involvement as a common finding and ear discharge being the most common symptom. Pars tensa perforations of tympanic membrane were often medium sized with size of perforation directly proportional to the degree of hearing loss and perforations involving posterior quadrant had greater hearing loss than anterior quadrant. Therefore, early diagnosis by complete history taking and detailed clinical and audiological examination helps in timely intervention by surgical management, thereby improving the quality of life.

Cystitis Glandularis of Intestinal type is an uncommon proliferative disorder with metaplastic alteration of the urothelium showing mucous secreting intestinal glands in the urinary bladder. An association of Adenocarcinoma with longstanding intestinal metaplasia of urothelium is controversial. Due to lack of this evidence and prognosis, we report a case of a 16-year-old male presenting with dysuria and a space occupying lesion in the bladder masquerading as a tumor mass. Cystoscopy revealed a well-circumscribed irregular nodal growth arising from the anterior wall of the bladder. Transurethral resection of the mass was performed and the histopathology suggested Cystitis Glandularis of Intestinal Type.

Background: Hospital management practices are associated with cardiovascular process of care measures and patient outcomes. However, management practices related to acute cardiac care in India has not been studied. Methods and Results: We measured management practices through semistructured, in-person interviews with hospital administrators, physician managers, and nurse managers in Kerala, India between October and November 2017 using the adapted World Management Survey. Trained interviewers independently scored management interview responses (range: 1–5) to capture management practices ranging from performance data tracking to setting targets. We performed univariate regression analyses to assess the relationship between hospital-level factors and management practices. Using Pearson correlation coefficients and mixed-effect logistic regression models, we explored the relationship between management practices and 30-day major adverse cardiovascular events defined as all-cause mortality, reinfarction, stroke, or major bleeding. Ninety managers from 37 hospitals participated. We found suboptimal management practices across 3 management levels (mean [SD]: 2.1 [0.5], 2.0 [0.3], and 1.9 [0.3] for hospital administrators, physician managers, and nurse managers, respectively [ P =0.08]) with lowest scores related to setting organizational targets. Hospitals with existing healthcare quality accreditation, more cardiologists, and private ownership were associated with higher management scores. In our exploratory analysis, higher physician management practice scores related to operation, performance, and target management were correlated with lower 30-day major adverse cardiovascular event. Conclusions: Management practices related to acute cardiac care in participating Kerala hospitals were suboptimal but were correlated with clinical outcomes. We identified opportunities to strengthen nonclinical practices to improve patient care.

Multiple Online Social Networks and its applications have emerged rapidly at a large scale made dependence of global population on it for various reasons. The individuals data in each social network is just partial. Mapping these individuals across various online social networks is having more importance in forming communities and identifying the most influential node. The difficulties of fragmentary data which is the biggest challenge in the present social network era can be solved by forming groups and comparing their information which can be useful in several applications like influential node detection, spammer identification etc. The occurrence of different characterization of users leads in identifying the influential community by classifying them from other communities. Decision tree technique is used in splitting into different communities from multiple social network. Various number of trees are generated by changing class labels. Greater the performance metrical values (accuracy, precision, recall, f1-score) of the tree is considered for the effective formation of communities. Experimental results of the proposed method achieves 0.54, 0.58, 0.54, 0.54 in accuracy, precision, recall, and f1-measure, respectively.

In dynamic informal networks change the information prevailing inside them in perspective with time. An approach to distinguish the information existed in each nodes was achieved by recognizing the subnetworks or Communities inside the network through Community-Based models. To increase the utility capacity also estimated the degree to networks that are founded. The information about the networks will be not known and consequently the nature of the topology and instability data inside a Dynamic Social Network(DSN). It maximized the cost of finding the communities from the large networks and to reduce the cost expenditure in finding the communities; a novel greedy based approach has been proposed. The K values determine the total number of communities that are to be formed. The Network-based model foresee the individuals from the networks proposed strategy will likewise distinguish the network -based model that can catch the qualities of basic opening spanners productively and decline the connection upkeep cost in the extensive scale systems. An decrease in the cost of finding the optimal communities in comparison with the existing hierarchical and Clique census community detection approaches was achieved by the Top-k greedy approach with an optimal cost percent of 42.6.

Optimal route selection based upon Quality of Service (QoS) requirements is a challenging task in a completely dynamic environment like MANET. To enhance the quality of service in MANET, route selection plays an important role. Existing well known routing protocols like AODV, DSR, etc. does not choose path based on QoS parameters. Different applications has its own requirements for route selection like for Email and File transfer application, less retransmissions should be there while delay can have secondary importance and for video conferencing applications, bandwidth must be high and delay must be low. So, there is an uncertain environment in which same QoS parameter may have less or more importance as per the application. Fuzzy based approach plays a vital role in an uncertain environment like adhoc network in which nodes are mobile. In this paper, Fuzzy TOPSIS (multi-criteria decision making method) based approach is proposed for the selection of optimal path among N available routes from source to destination based on QoS parameters. Total four QoS parameters are considered here reliability, bandwidth jitter and delay. AOMDV routing protocol is the base protocol for the proposed system and the proposed protocol QoS-AOMDV is finally compare and analyzed with AODV, AOMDV protocol. QoS- AOMDV results in better throughput and delay as compared to AODV and AOMDV protocols.

In the present study, the modulatory effects of bifidobacterial spp. (Bifidobacterium breve NCIM 5671, Bifidobacterium longum NCIM 5672 and Bifidobacterium bifidum NCIM 5697) on adjuvant induced arthritis in rats were evaluated. Arthritis was induced in male Wistar rats by injecting 250 μg of Freund’s adjuvant directly into the paw. Fifteen days before and 15 days after the induction of arthritis, suspended cultures of bifidobacteria (109 cfu/ml) were administered by oral gavage. Paw volume, bone mineral content, oxidative stress markers, antioxidant enzymes, cytokines, eicosanoids and expression of COX2, as well as bone hydrolytic enzymes, were assessed by RT PCR. Although piroxicam-treated groups (drug control) had better effects than bifidobacteria-treated groups, bifidobacteria probiotics administration exhibited significant (P

The present environmental issues are alarming the use of conventional sources of energy. This has resulted in urgent studies in improving the methods of harnessing renewable sources of energy. The importance of wave energy arises from the fact that it is easily predictable, consistent and cause less damage to land area. The devices developed for tapping wave energy include wave activated bodies that use orbital movements of water, oscillating water columns that make use of wave induced air pressurization, overtopping devices that work like hydroelectric dams and wave surge converters that use horizontal motion of waves. The wave surge converters may be with flaps that protrude piercing the free surface or submerged and hinged at the bottom or top. The pitching motion of the flap can be used to drive hydraulic piston connected to electric generator. The geometry of this flap plays a vital role in conversion of the wave energy in to mechanical energy. Action of the wave on various flap geometry can be assessed by Computational Fluid Dynamics method and an optimum geometry that produces maximum mechanical power output can be derived. In this paper, different flap geometries made of same material and same volume are developed. Their performance under the wave conditions of a near shore point in Arabian sea (15’24’00” N, 73°45’58”E) is found out. The wave heights, wave periods, wave directions, surface current speed and directions, wind speed and directions for a year are collected. The best geometry is derived based on the power capturing capacity under these wave conditions by CFD methods.

Distributed defects in rolling element bearing arise due to the progression of small localized pits. If not monitored on time, this leads to premature or may turn into catastrophic failure of a rotor system and thus increases the cost of maintenance of machinery in industries. This research work introduced a novel method for the diagnosis of rolling element bearings to detect distributed defects using Dimensional Analysis (DA). The rolling element bearing system is modeled using DA with Buckingham’s theorem to study the vibration characteristics theoretically. Significant geometrical and response parameters are considered for modeling the rotor-bearing system. The in-house experimental test rig is designed and fabricated to study the vibration characteristics of distributed defects experimentally. Geometrical imperfections are created intentionally on the bearings surfaces using electro-discharge machining and vibration signatures generated are studied under different operating conditions. Experimental results are compared with analytical models developed using the DA. A comparison is made between distributed and localized defects and vibrations signatures from both are correlated with healthy bearings. It is noticed that there is a good correlation between theoretical and experimental results. The present study contributes as a simple and effective diagnosis of rolling element bearings for distributed defects and useful for condition monitoring of industrial machinery.

BACKGROUND Blood is the living force of our body and there is no substitute for it. It can only be replaced through blood donation. Blood donation can save millions of lives. Demand for safe blood is increasing every day because of increase in population, increased life-expectancy and urbanisation, trauma cases, major surgeries, patients with regular transfusion requirement like cases of thalassaemia, haemophilia and chemotherapy. To increase blood donor recruitment and retention, the level of knowledge and attitude of blood donors towards blood donation must be known as this affects donor’s decision of blood donation. This information helps for tailoring targeted programs and campaigns in order to recruit more people as regular voluntary blood donors. OBJECTIVE To assess the level of knowledge and attitude regarding blood donation amongst blood donors in Bijapur district, Karnataka. MATERIALS AND METHODS Blood donors registered for blood donation in B.L.D.E. University’s Shri B. M. Patil Medical College, Hospital and Research Centre’s Blood Bank, in Bijapur district were included in this study. The data was collected by filling a self-administered structured questionnaire. The questionnaire was administered to all the donors ready to participate in the study. Questionnaires were distributed at the time of registration and were collected after filling during the refreshment period. Also one-on-one individual interviews were conducted to know about the blood donation experience and willingness of donor for future donation. A scoring mechanism was used to understand the level of knowledge, a score of one was given for each correct response and zero for wrong and unaware response. RESULTS In this study, it was found that 61% of the participants had average knowledge [Cumulative score 4-6], 34% of the participants had good knowledge [Cumulative score 7-8] and 5% of participants had poor knowledge [Cumulative score 0-3] about the different aspects of blood donation, assessed using the questionnaire. Participants from urban background had more knowledge score than the participants from the rural area. Males had higher knowledge score than the females. CONCLUSION Interactive talk with blood donors helped to clear their concepts and misbeliefs about blood donation which encourage them for repeat donation. Informative campaigns on blood donation should be initiated in the rural areas to increase awareness about blood donation and the idea of voluntary blood donation needs to be intensively promoted.

To ascertain the quality of drinking water, surveillance of drinking water quality was conducted in Bhopal. The water supply to water treatment plants (WTPs) is from Kolar dam and Upper Lake. There was no significant change in water quality at the Kolar WTP on a day-to-day basis except in summer, when the manganese content of raw water was 0.3–0.4 mg/L, which was removed during treatment. The treated water quality from Birla Mandir WTP was within desirable limits during all the seasons. Filtered water from Idgah WTP showed significant coliform counts, indicating malfunctioning of filter beds. However, after chlorination coliforms were absent. For Phulphukta WTP, residual chlorine at the sump was 0.8–2.0 mg/L; therefore finished water was free from bacterial contamination. The finished water quality of all the WTPs met Central Public Health and Environmental Engineering Organisation guidelines. Although the sump water was free from bacterial contamination, it was contaminated with coliforms at the consumer end, which may be attributed to improper maintenance of service reservoirs and contamination en route. The proper maintenance of the distribution network, awareness of hygienic and sanitary conditions around public taps and proper storage of water are prerequisites for maintaining a safe water supply in the city.

Aminoglycosides are the most preferred choice of therapy against serious infections in humans. Therefore, its use in animal husbandry has been strictly regulated in the EU, UK, and USA to avoid the hazards of aminoglycoside resistance in gut microflora. Nevertheless, aminoglycosides are recommended for prophylaxis and therapeutics in food animals and agriculture owing to its bactericidal nature. In the recent past, the global surge in aminoglycoside-resistant lactic acid bacteria (LAB) from food sources has been noticed that might question its continued use in animal husbandry. Upon antibiotic administration, a selective pressure is created in the gut environment; in such instances, LAB could act as reservoirs of antibiotic resistance which may facilitate their transfer to pathogenic organisms contradicting its probiotic and industrial significance. This may be a risk to human health as the presence of one aminoglycoside resistance gene renders the bacteria tolerant to almost all antibiotics of the same class, thereby challenging its therapeutic efficacy. Low doses of aminoglycosides are recommended in farm animals due to its toxic nature and insolubility in blood. However, recent investigations indicate that use of aminoglycosides in sub-lethal concentrations can trigger the selection and conjugal transfer of aminoglycoside resistance in probiotic LAB. Resistance to erythromycin, tetracyclines, and fluoroquinolones in LAB were reported earlier to which immediate regulatory measures were adopted by some countries. Paradoxically, lack of regulations on antibiotic use in farms in most developing countries makes them a potential source of antibiotic resistance and its uncontrolled spread around the globe. The prevalence of aminoglycoside resistance was observed in enterococci from food origin earlier; however, its emergence in lactobacilli and pediococci suggests its spread in probiotic cultures which prompts immediate precautionary methods. This review highlights the emergence and hazards of aminoglycoside-resistant LAB which is in prime commercial demand both for preparing fermented food and also pharma-based therapeutics. It further focuses on the mode of aminoglycoside resistance and its occurrence in food-grade LAB, thus relating to its role in worldwide transfer via the food chain in spite of its limited use as compared to other antibiotics.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the anti-inflammatory ability of novel indigenous probiotic Lactobacillus fermentum MCC 2759, L. fermentum MCC 2760 and Lactobacillus delbrueckii MCC 2775 in a carrageenan induced acute inflammatory paw edema model. Probiotic cultures were administered to male Wistar rats via oral route. Carrageenan at a concentration of 1% was injected into hind paw of rats 30min after oral gavage on the 8th day of treatment regimen. Paw thickness (mm), stair climbing activity and motility score were the parameters used to score the inflammatory response. L. fermentum MCC 2759, L. fermentum MCC 2760 and L. delbrueckii MCC 2775 showed significant reduction in paw thickness (P0.05) showing percentage inhibition of 15.67%, 14.72% and 14.84%, respectively, 24h after carrageenan induction. Probiotic treatment also markedly alleviated the stair climbing and motility score. Histological analysis of tissue sections revealed reduction in cellular infiltration of probiotic and drug treatment groups. Adhesion to resected rat intestinal tissue also showed significant adherence capability (40%) of the probiotic cultures used. Therefore, L. fermentum MCC 2759, L. fermentum MCC 2760 and L. delbrueckii MCC 2775 may be used as potent anti-inflammatory agents with probiotic health benefits.

Here, safer nuclear fuels which can sustain in the high temperature and fluence environment of the reactor core are investigated to utilize nuclear energy peacefully. At Nuclear Fuel Complex in Hyderabad, nuclear fuels are being manufactured which are best suited for high temperature and fluence environment of the reactor core even in accidental scenarios. In this paper, nuclear fuels manufactured at NFC, Hyderabad are presented. The developed nuclear fuels have higher equivalent hydraulic diameter and breeding capability to produce U^233. Nuclear fuels having higher equivalent hydraulic diameter reduce the reactor core temperature substantially. These fuels have negative temperature coefficient of reactivity. Thus, in case of an accident, the fuel temperature never exceeds the safety limit. Therefore, the thermal heat available across the secondary of a heat exchanger can be utilized for different industrial processes. This allows the development of key technologies, such as safer co-generation of electricity and Hydrogen. The Three-Stage Indian Nuclear Power Program has been explained for nuclear disarmament. The product Hydrogen gas has been utilized in many ways for different applications. Moreover, the processing of iron ore with the energy obtained from the IHX secondary side, eliminates the burning of coals and CO2 emissions into the environment. Several radioisotopes have been developed for medical applications from spent fuel.

Background: Expenditure spent on pharmaceutical products accounts for a significant percent of the total health-care expenses of any country. Hence, there is a need to prioritize different and sometimes competing health-care interventions or possibly different brands of a particular medicine, especially in case of chronic illnesses for countries with fixed resources. Pharmacoeconomics helps us to make such decisions. Since antiplatelet drugs are prescribed on long-term basis, they were included in this study. Aim and Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze the cost variation of the antiplatelet drugs available in the market under various brand names manufactured by different pharmaceutical industries. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted to analyze the cost variation of different antiplatelet drugs available in Indian market. Cost of each drug with respect to dosage and formulation was obtained from the “current index of medical specialties” website for India. Cost ratio and percentage cost variation were then calculated. Results: Among the injectable and oral and drugs included in this study, the percentage cost variation was observed to be maximum with eptifibatide 75 mg vial, prasugrel 5 mg film-coated tablets, and aspirin-clopidogrel (75 + 75 mg) capsules. Conclusion: Even though the cost variation is found to be wide among the antiplatelet drugs available in Indian market, getting a cost-effective drug is not building castles in the air for the beneficiaries. This could be rendered possible with the help of policy-makers, pharmaceutical companies, physicians, and pharmacists when they join hands together.

Nowadays methane is considered as an alternative fuel for rocket engine application. It is abundant in the outer solar system that can be harvested from mars, Titan, Jupiter, many other planets and moon. The properties of cryogenic methane like higher density, higher vaporization temperature, less challenge in storage requirement compared to cryogenic hydrogen and its higher specific impulse, superior cooling capability and higher coking limit compared to kerosene created a renewed interest on space scientist in choosing methane as a propellant. Combustion and film cooling involving supercritical and transcritical regimes in a high pressure rocket engine combustion chamber is a challenging problem for the rocket engine designers. At supercritical and transcritical conditions, the thermophysical and transport properties exhibit tremendous variations which makes modeling combustion and cooling a demanding task. The present study is based on the oxygen methane thrust chamber model B at DLR P6.1 test bench. The finite volume based software ANSYS Fluent 15.0 is used for the numerical studies. The combustion is simulated using single step eddy dissipation approach. The real gas effects are incorporated using Soave Redlich Kwong cubic equation of state. The numerical scheme is validated by comparing the results obtained with the experimental results reported in literature. Investigations have been carried out to study the effect of film cooling on chamber wall temperature and wall heat flux for different oxidizer inlet temperature. The result revel that the hot gas temperature near the wall is higher in the transcritical combustion compared to supercritical combustion.