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Introduction: The objective of the present initiative was to build capacity of health care providers in private sector along with standardisation of care during antenatal period for common antenatal problems of GDM and iron deficiency anaemia in private sector. Methods: A pilot project for all levels of health care providers including doctors, nurses, counsellors and laboratory technicians of 34 private facilities in six districts of Jharkhand was planned. Training modules for GDM and anaemia based on government of India guidelines were developed. End line evaluation included data collection and descriptive analysis of quantitative data quality scores from assessment standards on GDM and anaemia in pregnancy. Results: Knowledge assessment of health care providers and doctors through baseline and end line knowledge assessment survey questionnaire showed that 100% health care providers who were trained scored 85% or more in knowledge assessment questionnaires as seen by baseline and end line questionnaire results. All project hospitals (n = 34) in Jharkhand achieved quality standards of care in intervention period for gestational diabetes mellitus and anaemia in pregnancy. They achieved total score more than 80% and exceeded target of 80% of the quality standards. Conclusion: A systematic strengthening of private health care facilities through a blended tele-mentoring and onsite support is possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The challenge of developing an Android malware detection framework that can identify malware in real-world apps is difficult for academicians and researchers. The vulnerability lies in the permission model of Android. Therefore, it has attracted the attention of various researchers to develop an Android malware detection model using permission or a set of permissions. Academicians and researchers have used all extracted features in previous studies, resulting in overburdening while creating malware detection models. But, the effectiveness of the machine learning model depends on the relevant features, which help in reducing the value of misclassification errors and have excellent discriminative power. A feature selection framework is proposed in this research paper that helps in selecting the relevant features. In the first stage of the proposed framework, t-test, and univariate logistic regression are implemented on our collected feature data set to classify their capacity for detecting malware. Multivariate linear regression stepwise forward selection and correlation analysis are implemented in the second stage to evaluate the correctness of the features selected in the first stage. Furthermore, the resulting features are used as input in the development of malware detection models using three ensemble methods and a neural network with six different machine-learning algorithms. The developed models' performance is compared using two performance parameters: F-measure and Accuracy. The experiment is performed by using half a million different Android apps. The empirical findings reveal that malware detection model developed using features selected by implementing proposed feature selection framework achieved higher detection rate as compared to the model developed using all extracted features data set. Further, when compared to previously developed frameworks or methodologies, the experimental results indicates that model developed in this study achieved an accuracy of 98.8%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The certification of wine quality is essential to the wine industry. The main goal of this work is to develop a machine learning model to forecast wine quality using the dataset. We utilised samples from the red wine dataset (RWD) with eleven distinct physiochemical properties. With the initial RWD, five machine learning (ML) models were trained and put to the test. The most accurate algorithms are Random Forest (RF) and Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost). Using these two ML approaches, the top three features from a total of eleven features are chosen, and ML analysis is performed on the remaining features. Several graphs are employed to demonstrate the feature importance based on the XGBoost model and RF. Wine quality was predicted using relevant characteristics, often referred to as fundamental elements, that were shown to be essential during the feature selection procedure. When trained and tested without feature selection, with feature selection (RF), and with key attributes, the XGBoost classifier displayed 100% accuracy. In the presence of essential variables, the RF classifier performed better. Finally, to assess the precision of their predictions, the authors trained an RF classifier, validated it, and changed its hyperparameters. To address collinearity and decrease the quantity of predictors without sacrificing model accuracy, we have also used cluster analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Death from unexpected circulatory arrest within 60 min of onset of symptom is known as sudden cardiac death (SCD). In spite of the advancement in treatment and prevention strategies, SCD remains the most common cause of death worldwide especially in the young. Main body: This review focuses on highlighting how different cardiovascular diseases contribute to SCD. We discuss the clinical symptoms that the patient experience prior to sudden cardiac arrest and the treatment strategies including pharmacological and surgical treatment. Conclusions: We conclude that since there are many causes of SCD and very few treatment options, prevention strategies, early detection, and resuscitation of those at greatest risk is important. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Partial meal replacement (PMR) offers potential glycemic and weight control benefits in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients. We evaluated the clinical impact of PMR (diabetes-specific nutritional supplement [DSNS]) in overweight/obese Indian patients with T2DM. Methods: PRIDE, a 12-week, phase IV, open-label, multicenter study randomized (1:1) newly diagnosed T2DM patients (≤ 1 year) to either DSNS plus standard of care (SOC; diabetes treatment with dietary counseling) group (PMR) or SOC alone group (SOC). The primary endpoint was mean change in glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) from baseline to week 12. Secondary endpoints were changes in glucose profiles, body weight, waist circumference, lipid profile, and factors impacting quality-of-life (QoL) at week 6 and 12 from baseline. Safety was assessed throughout the study. Results: Of the 176 patients enrolled, 171 (n = 85 in PMR group; n = 86 in SOC group) were included in the modified intent-to-treat population. The mean reduction in HbA1c at week 12 from baseline in PMR group was significant compared to the SOC group (− 0.59 vs. − 0.21%, p = 0.002). At week 12, the PMR group showed significant reduction in mean body weight (− 2.19 vs. − 0.22 kg; p = 0.001) and waist circumference (− 2.34 vs. − 0.48 cm; p = 0.001) compared to SOC group. Mean fasting plasma glucose and post-prandial glucose significantly reduced from baseline at week 6 and 12 in each group (p < 0.05). No significant change was observed in lipid profile. QoL parameters (treatment adherence, general well-being, and energy fulfilment) in the PMR were significantly better than SOC group (p < 0.05). Patients were satisfied with the taste of DSNS. No serious adverse events were reported. Conclusions: DSNS is an encouraging option for PMR strategy, as it significantly improved HbA1c, body weight, waist circumference, and overall well-being among overweight/obese Indian T2DM patients. Trial Identification No.: CTRI/2019/10/021595. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The risk of mortality for the mother and the newborn is aggravated during birth in low- and middle-income countries due to preventable causes, which can be addressed with increased quality of care practices. One such practice is intrapartum fetal heart rate (FHR) monitoring, which is crucial for the early detection of fetal ischemia, but is inadequately monitored in low- and middle-income countries. In India, there is currently a lack of sufficient data on FHR monitoring. Methods: An assessment using facility records, interviews and observation was conducted in seven facilities providing tertiary, secondary or primary level care in aspirational districts of three states. The study sought to investigate the frequency of monitoring, devices used for monitoring and challenges in usage. Results: FHR was not monitored as per standard protocol. Case sheets revealed 70% of labor was monitored at least once. Only 33% of observed cases were monitored every half hour during active labor, and none were monitored every 5 min during the second stage of labor. More time was observed for monitoring with a Doppler compared with a stethoscope, as providers reported fluctuation in readings. Reportedly, low audibility and a perceived need of expertise were associated with using a stethoscope. High case load and the time required for monitoring were reported as challenges in adhering to standard monitoring protocols. Conclusion: The introduction of a standardized device and a short refresher training on the World Health Organization and skilled birth attendant protocols for FHR monitoring will improve usage and compliance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mobile ad hoc network (MANET) is an infrastructure-less, self-motivated, arbitrary, self-configuring, rapidly changing, multi-hop network that is self-possessing wireless bandwidth-conscious links without centrally managed router support. In such a network, wireless media is easy to snoop. It is firm to the surety to access any node, easier to insertion of bad elements or attackers for malicious activities in the network. Therefore, security issues become one of the significant considerations for such kind of networks. The deployment of an effective intrusion detection system is important in order to provide protection against various attacks. In this paper, a Digitally Signed Secure Acknowledgement Method (DSSAM) with the use of the RSA digital signature has been proposed and simulated. Three different parameters are considered, namely secure acknowledgment, node authentication, and packet authentication for study. This article observes the DSSAM performance and compares it with two existing standard methods, namely Watchdog and 2-ACK under standard Dynamic Source Routing (DSR) routing environment. In the end, it is noticed that the rate of detection of malicious behaviour is better in the case of the proposed method. However, associated overheads are high. A trade-off between performance and overhead has been considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this work is to design, characterize, and manufacture a new class of passive actuators that are composed of natural chitosan biopolymers and 3D printed carbon fiber composites (CFRP). These actuators leverage variation in the physical properties of chitosan films with respect to their water content to produce programmable deformation. To control the actuator and its performance, various fundamental physicochemical material characterizations such as microstructural, thermal, hygroscopic swelling for chitosan films, and mechanical analyses were conducted for both materials to validate their properties for the intended application. The morphological behavior confirmed that there was good miscibility with no phase separation in chitosan film, and 3D printed CFRP possesses consistent accuracy irrespective of its minor defects. The swelling ratio of chitosan films was determined as a means of measuring the tunable hygroscopic expansion. According to thermal and mechanical analysis, both polymers possess strength and stiffness desirable for actuator design. Initial built prototypes of small-scale actuators were tested to guide the manner in which the passive actuation behavior could be directed for functional transformations. The results were integrated into CAD software to simulate a large-scale prototype that was subsequently fabricated. The experimental and simulated motions of the large-scale actuator were compared, and the overall performance was discussed with respect to structural integrity and response time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the major applications of the Heterogeneous Network (HetNet) is in the healthcare system. Deploying HetNet in healthcare systems enables patients, physicians, and other stakeholders to communicate easily with each other. Due to the large growth in the network's subscribers, the security of the stored health data became one of the major concerns because unauthorized access to this data may lead to very serious complications, and unreliable transmission of data may lead to fatal risks to the patient's life. Therefore, taking data integrity into consideration, user authentication has become one of the main factors. However, significant research work has been performed at HetNet's physical layer to secure communication, but the result of this leads to an increase in hardware components. The increasing hardware components not only costs money but also power consumption. Therefore, this paper presents an alternate way of securing communication in HetNet at the network layer. However, resolving security problems at the network layer increases computational complexity. Nevertheless, earlier, some encryption techniques like identity-based encryption (IBE), symmetric key encryption (SKE), and public-key encryption (PKE) have been utilized for securing data. Due to their own disadvantages, this paper utilizes an attribute-based encryption (ABE) authentication scheme for securing health data in medical applications. With the help of this method, access to the intruders is denied which results in reduced communication overhead. This authentication scheme helps protect the essential information against attacks by the intruders. It includes a third party server that helps to authenticate and store patient's information. The whole security technique has been written in the form of HLPSL (high-level protocol specification language) codes, and the results are then validated with the help of AVISPA (automated validation of Internet security protocols and applications) tool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spin-polarized electronic structure, magnetic moments, and spectra of optical conductivity of the ternary ErSn1.1Ge0.9 and TmSn1.1Ge0.9 compounds have been calculated within the GGA+U method, taking into account strong electron correlations in the 4f-shell of Er and Tm, as well as non-stoichiometry of compositions. The calculation results pointed to antiferromagnetic ordering for both intermetallics with effective magnetic moments that precisely reproduce the published experimental values. Optical properties of these compounds were measured using the ellipsometric method in the energy range of 0.078–5.64 eV. It has been shown that the main peculiarities of experimental curves are described by calculated densities of electronic states. The good agreement of magnetic moments and interband optical conductivities, which are calculated from first principles, with the experimental data indicates the importance of accounting for the strong electron correlations and non-stoichiometry of compositions in calculations of electronic structure of the RSn1.1Ge0.9-type compounds containing heavy rare-earth metals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The production of enzymes involved in lignin degradation (laccase, ligninase), carbon cycling (β-glucosidase), and phosphorous cycling (phosphomonoesterase) by white rot fungi (Pleurotus sajor-caju) was studied. In the presence of chlorpyrifos, carbofuran, and their mixture, laccase activity was highest on the 7th day, i.e., 192.5 ± 0.31 U ml− 1, 213.6 ± 0.31 U ml− 1, and 164.6 ± 0.31 U ml− 1, respectively, compared to the control which produced maximum laccase on the 14th day (126.9 ± 0.15 U ml− 1). Phosphomonoesterase activity in the presence of chlorpyrifos, carbofuran, and their mixture was 31.5 ± 0.25, 24.1 ± 0.15, and 29.2 ± 0.35 µg PNP min−1 ml−1, respectively, which was more than the control on the 21st day (11.63 ± 0.21 µg PNP min−1 ml−1). β-Glucosidase production increased with the days of incubation in the presence of pesticides than in the control. β-Glucosidase activity on the 21st day in the presence of chlorpyrifos, carbofuran, and their mixture was 32.4 ± 0.1, 24.2 ± 0.3, and 28.4 ± 0.25 µg PNP min−1 ml−1, respectively, as compared to control (15.3 ± 0.6 µg PNP min−1 ml−1). Thus, chlorpyrifos, carbofuran, and their mixture were found to have a positive effect on the production of laccase, β-glucosidase, and phosphomonoesterase by P. sajor-caju, which can use these pesticides as a source of their nutrition, thereby improving the health of pesticide-polluted soils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polycrystalline RAgSn (R=Ho, Er) compounds, synthesized by arc melting method are found to crystallize in cubic crystal structure with the space group Pm3 m. The dc and ac magnetic susceptibility data show that the compounds are antiferromagnetic at low temperatures. The absence of magnetic hysteresis reveals the soft magnetic nature. Magnetocaloric effect has been estimated from magnetization data that show moderate value for these compounds. The structure of the electronic states and corresponding inter-band transitions calculated for these compounds within the LSDA+U method are found in good agreement with experimental optical conductivity. The theoretical calculations also confirm antiferromagnetic ordering in RAgSn (R=Ho, Er). The values of the effective magnetic moments of holmium and erbium are found to be close to the experimental ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

GdCuSi has been studied by structural, magnetic, magneto-thermal, and magneto-transport measurements. The compound crystallizes in the NiIn-type hexagonal structure. Magnetic measurements show antiferromagnetic ordering at T = 14.2 K and a magnetic anomaly near 5 K, which are confirmed by different measurements. Magnetocaloric effect (MCE) has been estimated from both magnetization and heat capacity data and it shows a change in sign below T. Similar to MCE, magnetoresistance (MR) data also show sign change below T. The compound shows large MCE and MR near its ordering temperature. The sign change in MCE and MR is attributed to the non-collinear antiferromagnetic structure of the compound. The theoretical calculations suggest competition of ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic interactions, which causes non-collinear magnetic structure in this compound. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To review the need of emergency recanalization surgical procedure in cases of bilateral choanal atresia. A retrospective analysis was undertaken for the cases of bilateral choanal atresia which were recanalized between January 2000 and February 2010 in a teaching hospital. Out of 135,954 live births (0.004%), six cases of bilateral choanal atresia were diagnosed and operated during this period. Five cases were hospital deliveries from our hospital whereas one case was referred from another hospital. Three cases were recanalized with dilatation procedure whereas the other three were endoscopically recanalized with micro-drill. All the cases were operated in routine operation theatre. All were managed with orogastric tube or oropharyngeal airway during the waiting period for surgery. No neonate required emergency intubation or tracheostomy. The average age at the time of surgery was 10 days (range 5-21 days). As per our observations recanalization surgery for bilateral choanal atresia is not a surgical emergency. Neonates can be managed temporarily with orogastric tube/oropharyngeal airway during waiting period. Subsequently surgery can be done in routine and unhurried operation theater by experienced surgical hands thus minimizing the morbidity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mixed-mode dynamic crack growth behavior along an arbitrarily smoothly varying path in functionally graded materials (FGMs) under transient thermo-mechanical loading is studied. An asymptotic analysis in conjunction with displacement potentials is used to develop transient thermo-mechanical stress fields around the propagating crack-tip. Asymptotic temperature field equations are derived for exponentially varying thermal properties, and later, these equations are used to derive transient thermo-mechanical stress fields for a curving crack in FGMs. The effect of the transient parameters (loading rate, crack-tip acceleration, and temperature change) and temperature gradient on the maximum principal stress and circumferential stress associated with the propagating crack-tip is discussed. Finally, using the minimum strain energy density criterion, the effect of temperature gradient, crack-tip speeds, and T-stress on crack growth directions is determined and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the advent of basket-level purchasing data of households, choice modelers are actively engaged in the development of statistical and econometric models of multi-category choice behavior of households. This paper reviews current developments in this area of research, discussing the modeling methodologies that have been used, the empirical findings that have emerged so far, and directions for future research. We also motivate the use of Bayesian methods to overcome the computational challenges involved in estimation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two-dimensional MoS2 has emerged as promising material for nanoelectronics and spintronics due to its exotic properties. However, high contact resistance at metal semiconductor MoS2 interface still remains an open issue. Here, we report electronic properties of field effect transistor devices using monolayer MoS2 channels and permalloy (Py) as ferromagnetic (FM) metal contacts. Monolayer MoS2 channels were directly grown on SiO2/Si substrate via chemical vapor deposition technique. The increase in current with back gate voltage (Vg) shows the tunability of FET characteristics. The Schottky barrier height (SBH) estimated for Py/MoS2 contacts is found to be +28.8 meV (at Vg = 0V), which is the smallest value reported so-far for any direct metal (magnetic or non-magnetic)/monolayer MoS2 contact. With the application of positive gate voltage, SBH shows a reduction, which reveals ohmic behavior of Py/MoS2 contacts. Low SBH with controlled ohmic nature of FM contacts is a primary requirement for MoS2 based spintronics and therefore using directly grown MoS2 channels in the present study can pave a path towards high performance devices for large scale applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]