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The choice of electrode’s material, it’s topography like shape, size, and position play a very important role in determination of sensitivity of an electrostrictive capacitive sensor. The electrode material is required to be in mechanical and electrical compliance with the dielectric material for getting optimum performance of the sensor. A mathematical analysis for the estimation of contribution from edge effect has also been carried out for different sizes of electrodes and separation between the electrodes. It has been observed that in capacitive sensors, with gap between electrodes in nanoscale and area of electrodes in millimetres, deviation of capacitance is of the order of 10-3 considering edge leakage as compared to capacitance, measured without considering edge leakage. But in nano range sensors, where both area and gap between electrodes are in nano scale, this deviation is more than 5%, which should not be neglected.

Background: Type I tympanoplasty is a surgical technique used to restore the integrity of tympanic membrane as well as improve the hearing in inactive mucosal chronic otitis media. There are two main methods that are underlay and overlay in between both is interlay. The aim of the present study is to analyse and compare the results of the two most commonly used type I tympanoplasty techniques, underlay and the interlay technique in chronic otitis media with mucosal disease in large central perforation, in terms of graft uptake and hearing improvement. Subjects and Methods: This is a randomized prospective study of 100 cases of inactive mucosal chronic otitis media with total or large anterior central perforation between October2017 to September 2019 in Anugarah Narayan Magadh Medical College & Hospital, Gaya. Half had gone through Interlay and half by Underlay technique of Type I Tympanoplasy surgery. Results: The graft uptake rate in this study was 96% and 90% for Interlay and Underlay technique respectively. Postoperatively mean air bone gap maximally reduced in the Interlay technique. Conclusion: The present study showed that Interlay method had better graft uptake rate as well as hearing improvement in total and large anterior central perforation of inactive mucosal chronic otitis media than the Underlay technique.

Background: Epistaxis is bleeding through nose. It is most common emergency situation in ENT that is disastrous to the patient and troublesome to treat for doctors. It is seen that 60% population experiences epistaxis in their life time and only 6% went to take consultation. The study aims to evaluate incidence, etiology, provoking factors and cost effective management. Subjects and Methods: A 3 years retrospective study between September 2015 to August 2018 carried out in Anugarah Narayan Magadh Medical College & Hospital, Gaya on 98 admitted epistaxis patients. Results: Total 11,667 patients came in ENT department among them 2,723 patients with nasal complain. Incidence was0.84% among all cases and 3.6% among nasal problems. No obvious cause seen in 34 cases (34.23%) then cardiovascular cause in 32 cases (32.65%) then infection in19.32% and lastly by trauma in 5.68%. Maximum patients in 40-50 years age group 36% and minimum in 70-80 years 1%. Most patients belong to urban76 cases (77.27%) and middle age 36 cases (36.36%). Males are more prone 57 cases (57.95%) with ratio 1.39:1. Mostly in January-March months 45 cases (46.59%). Most patients came with unilateral epistaxis 86 cases (87.5%). About 26cases (26.14%)came with single episode whom urgent treatment required. Well managed with Nonsurgical method to 85 patients (86.73%) by anterior nasal packing (ANP) in 43 cases (43.87%) and chemical cauterization to 19 cases(19.30%) while surgical treatment given to 13 patients (13.26%).Some required electrocauterization 16 cases (16.32%) with bipolar. Mean hospital stay length 3.2 days. Blood transfusion required in 7cases (7.14%). Conclusion: Cost effectively anterior nasal packing is best conservative indirect method and electrocauterization is very effective direct method.

Background and Aims: Supraglottic airways (SGAs) should have good oropharyngeal seal pressures (OSP) for adequate ventilation and prevention of aspiration. Our aim was to study the effect of lateral position on OSP and thereby on ventilatory parameters for i-gel® and ProSeal™ laryngeal mask airway (PLMA) in children. Methods: In this prospective observational study, 86 children of ASA I-II, aged 1 month to 12 years, scheduled for elective surgery under general anaesthesia using i-gel® or PLMA and requiring lateral position either for surgery or regional blocks were included. In both supine and lateral position OSP (constant flow method), expired tidal volume, fractional volume loss (%), and end-tidal carbon dioxide (ETCO2) were noted. Intragroup and intergroup difference in OSP from supine to lateral position was analyzed using paired and unpaired t-test respectively. Results: In lateral position, there was a significant decrease in the OSP (cm H2O) in both i-gel® (supine: 21.94 ± 5.82, lateral: 15.54 ± 5.37) and PLMA (supine: 17.53 ± 5.05, lateral: 12.76 ± 3.37) groups (P = 0.000). Percentage reduction in OSP from supine to lateral with i-gel® (28.14 ± 18.86) and PLMA (24.06 ± 19.75) were comparable (P = 0.339). With both i-gel® and PLMA significant increase in fractional volume loss and ETCO2were noted in lateral position. I-gel® group had higher OSP compared to PLMA in supine (P = 0.001) and lateral position (P = 0.009). Conclusion: In lateral position there was significant reduction in OSP compared to supine position with both i-gel® and PLMA.

Early and accurate diagnosis of plant diseases is a vital step in the crop protection system. In traditional practices, identification is performed either by visual observation or by testing in laboratory. The visual observation requires expertise and it may vary subject to an individual which may lead to an error while the laboratory test is time consuming and may not be able to provide the results in time. To overcome these issues, image based machine learning approach to detect and classify plant diseases has been presented in literature. We have focused specifically on rice plant (Oryza sativa) disease in this paper. The images of the diseased symptoms in leaves and stems have been captured from the rice field. We have collected a total of 619 rice plant diseased images from the real field condition belong to four classes:(a) Rice Blast (RB), (b) Bacterial Leaf Blight (BLB), (c) Sheat Blight (SB) and (d) Healthy Leave (HL). We have used a pre-trained deep convolutional neural network(CNN) as a feature extractor and Support Vector Machine (SVM) as a classifier. We have obtained encouraging results. The early identification of rice diseases by this approach could be used as a preventive measure well as an early warning system. Further, it could be extended to develop a rice plant disease identification system on real agriculture field.

Background The prevalence of dry eye disease is increasing globally and requires the attention of healthcare professionals as it worsens patients’ quality of life. No published studies on the epidemiology of dry eyes have been found in Dubai. Purpose To describe the epidemiology, prevalence, severity, and associated factors of dry eyes in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in 2019. Methods This was an analytical, cross-sectional, survey-based study. An online survey was distributed by email to Mohammed Bin Rashid University students, staff, and faculty and to the staff at Mediclinic City and Parkview Hospitals in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, from April–June 2019. The survey included demographic questions and the Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI). Results The survey was completed by 452 participants; the majority were females (288/452; 63.7 %). The prevalence of dry eyes in Dubai was estimated to be 62.6 % (283/452), with severely dry eyes being the most prevalent (119/283; 42 %). Females, high daily screen time (> 6 h), and the use of contact lenses were found to be associated with dry eyes (P-value Conclusions This is the first cross-sectional study to investigate the prevalence of dry eyes in Dubai (62.6 %). The majority of participants had severe dry eyes symptoms. Severely dry eyes were more common among females and users of contact lenses.

Rice is a primary food and encounters an essential role in providing food security worldwide. However, several diseases affect this crop that significantly reduces its production and quality. Therefore, early detection of diseases is much needed task to prevent spreading of diseases. Hence, it is desirable to develop an automatic system which will help agronomist, pathologist and even the farmers to diagnose the rice diseases more efficiently and take preventive measures in time. In the present era of advanced artificial intelligence, various learning techniques have been explored for rice plant disease classification. Among various machine learning techniques, deep learning has been widely applied in various domains of computer vision and image analysis recently. It has successfully delivered promising results with large potential. However, training the deep learning model from the scratch requires huge labeled data and collection of huge labeled data is expensive, laborious and time taking process. Transfer learning of pre-trained deep learning model is a technique to overcome such problems. This paper has explored the performance of various pre-trained deep CNN models such as: (i) AlexNet; (ii) Vgg16; (iii) ResNet152V2; (iv) InceptionV3; (V) InceptionResNetV2; (vi) Xception; (vii) MobileNet; (viii) DenseNet169; (ix) NasNetMobile; and (x) NasNetLarge for image based rice plant disease classification. The dataset used in this paper consist of 1216 rice plant diseased images and these have been collected from the real agricultural field having seven classes: (i) rice blast; (ii) bacterial leaf blight; (iii) brown spot; (iv) sheath blight; (v) sheath rot; (vi) false smut; (vii) healthy leaves. The Vgg16 model resulted highest classification accuracy of 93.11%. The outcome of the model can be used as an advisory and as an early detection tool in the real agriculture domain.

Introduction Skeletal maturity is of paramount importance for the diagnosis and prognosis of orthodontic treatment undertaken in adolescents. This can be assessed by different methods. The study here aims at evaluation of the effect of the onset of menarche and body mass index (BMI) percentile, i.e., overall body growth, on the skeletal maturation of adolescent females and, to find the relationship between age at menarche, cervical maturation stages, and BMI percentile in female orthodontic patients of Indian origin. Materials and Methods Adolescent females were asked to fill a questionnaire to extract the history of their menarche and chronological age and those within 3 months of menarche were selected. Their height and weight were measured under standard conditions and BMI was calculated. Lateral cephalograms obtained for them were scaled for cervical vertebrae maturation stages according to Hassel and Farman’s method. These parameters were then statistically correlated. Results The results showed that the girls with higher BMI percentile attained menarche early than their healthier counterparts, whereas attaining menarche did not correlate with any specific stage of skeletal maturity. Conclusion Young girls coming for orthodontic treatment should be carefully assessed for skeletal maturity, as variable amount of skeletal growth may be left even after attaining menarche.

History has always been a perennial source of man's keen curiosity and great interest. An ever-growing significance of Geosites, museums, monuments and sites of archaeological importance, the world over, is evidence to it. The tremendously growing tourism industry, in fact, has its origin in this very fact. Of late, alongside the concept of theme parks, the innovative idea of exploring the important sites revealing specific events (climatic, tectonic, thermal, magmatic, geomorphic, extra-telluric etc.) through geological history or associated with the evolution of mankind and the present day biodiversity as well, through the earth history of 4.6 billion years and also using them as a potential tourist resource is steadily getting ground. If exploration of prehistoric geosites and development of important sites for information, education and awareness of people could be judiciously integrated with tourism promotion, it may have synergistic implications as the sites would act as a unique touristic appeal and the tourism itself will support the former concept financially and otherwise, as well. India, on account of its unique geological history vis-a-vis physiographic, biotic and geoheritage manifestations of varied geo-events and consequently meteorological differences prevailing in, is one of the richest repository of varied geo-heritage sites including bio-sites studded with record and documentation of evolutionary lineages essentially needed to unravel the history of earth and understanding the palaeo-prevailed environmental scenario through earth's history and intensity of natural processes operating upon ever since the earth's origin. The present paper aims at comprehensively examining the prehistoric geosites in India, in an attempt to identify some of the areas with richer heritage in this regard. Some of the geologically more important sites with rich geoheritage and also prominent areas of tourism promotion are discussed in this paper, so as to conserve this invaluable treasure of earth history in the today's era of squeezing space on the face of rapid Industrialization and infra-structural developmental activities.

Sheep and goat production is a predominant livestock activity in harsh climatic regions of the country particularly in hilly areas. The goat and sheep population in Himachal Pradesh is 1.12 and 0.81 million respectively. Gaddi and Rampur-Bushair are the two indigenous sheep breeds of the state well adapted to the prevalent migratory production system. The somatotrophic axis (GH/IGF-I axis) is considered as the key in postnatal growth and metabolism in different mammals including farm animals. The technique of PCR-RFLP was used to analyze polymorphism of IGF-1 gene in sheep and goat breeds of Himachal Pradesh and to study association with body measurements in Gaddi goats. For polymorphism studies, genomic DNA was isolated from 63, 68, 197 and 73 animals belonging to Gaddi sheep, Rampur- Bushair sheep, Gaddi goat and Chegu goats, respectively.. PCR amplification of IGF-1 yielded 363 bp amplicon. The PCR-RFLP digestion of amplified products with HaeIII revealed three fragments of 363 bp, 264 bp and 99 bp after digestion. Allele frequencies for A allele were 0.66 0.59, 0.65 and 0.70 and for B allele were 0.34, 0.41, 0.35 and 0.20 in Gaddi sheep, Rampur-Bushair sheep, Gaddi goat and Chegu goat, respectively. The frequency of AA, AB and BB genotypes ranged from 0.38 to 0.55, 0.30 to 0.42 and 0.14 to 0.19 in different breeds studied .The Ne, Hobs and Hexp ranged from 1.80 to 1.99, 0.30 to 0.43, 0.42 to 0.48, and 0.33 to 0.37, respectively in different populations. The PIC revealed median level of polymorphism in studied breeds. Alignment of sequences also confirmed presence of C/G substitution at 264 bp. Nucleotide variability was found at 17 places between different breeds. Genetic variability was detected among all four breeds studied, however no significant association could be detected in Gaddi goats.

With the increase of the electrical interconnect network complexity, the signal integrity (SI) analysis becomes crucial for the electronic RF and mixed circuit designer. Approximated and optimized models of printed circuit boards (PCBs) electrical interconnect network were developed. However, interconnect effect correction techniques are still needed. The present paper addresses an example of correction technique of electrical interconnect for the PCBs. The feasibility of the concept is verified by considering a distributed transmission line (TL) latency and delay correction. The proposed correction technique is based on the use of the negative group delay (NGD) circuits. The theoretical approach including the NGD cell synthesis relations are established. The innovative low- and band-pass NGD topologies are suggested respectively for the baseband and modulated signal delay reduction. The fundamental characteristics of the low- and band-pass NGD cells are examined. The proposed technique is applied to the compensation of the microstrip interconnect line delay. It was found that the NGD effects enable to compensate the signal delay in baseband frequency up to hundreds MHz with low-pass NGD circuit and 2.45 GHz modulated microwave signals with band-pass NGD circuit. In both cases, the possibilities to reduce the latency and delay of some nanoseconds (ns) are performed.

In a recent Forum paper, Wardle (Journal of Vegetation Science, 2016) questions the value of biodiversity–ecosystem function (BEF) experiments with respect to their implications for biodiversity changes in real world communities. The main criticism is that the previous focus of BEF experiments on random species assemblages within each level of diversity has ‘limited the understanding of how natural communities respond to biodiversity loss.’ He concludes that a broader spectrum of approaches considering both non-random gains and losses of diversity is essential to advance this field of research. Wardle's paper is timely because of recent observations of frequent local and regional biodiversity changes across ecosystems. While we appreciate that new and complementary experimental approaches are required for advancing the field, we question criticisms regarding the validity of BEF experiments. Therefore, we respond by briefly reiterating previous arguments emphasizing the reasoning behind random species composition in BEF experiments. We describe how BEF experiments have identified important mechanisms that play a role in real world ecosystems, advancing our understanding of ecosystem responses to species gains and losses. We discuss recent examples where theory derived from BEF experiments enriched our understanding of the consequences of biodiversity changes in real world ecosystems and where comprehensive analyses and integrative modelling approaches confirmed patterns found in BEF experiments. Finally, we provide some promising directions in BEF research.

Introduction: With demographic transition and increase in life expectancy elderly population has increased substantially in recent years. Rapid growth in the elderly population resulted in high magnitude of noncommunicable diseases leading to physical disability, dependency on caregivers and poor quality of life. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and correlates of physical disability among elderly rural population in a community development block. Subjects and Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in Bhatar block of Purba Bardhaman district from November 2020 to January 2021 among 350 elderly participants ≥60 years selected by multistage random sampling. With prior informed consent, data were collected using semi-structured pre-designed, pretested schedule and 10-item Barthel index. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression was done to find out the correlates. Results: The prevalence of physical disability among elderly was 28.9% and proportion was more in ≥70 years age group, 62.6% of the subjects suffered from one or more chronic diseases. In bivariate analysis age (odds ratio [OR] = 5.36), caste (OR = 2.27), education (OR = 4.57), current employment status (OR = 0.13), type of family (OR = 2.15), socioeconomic status (OR = 4.04) and presence of any chronic diseases (OR = 1.86) was significantly associated with physical disability. Multivariable analysis revealed age (adjusted OR [AOR] = 2.96 [1.54–5.68]), education (AOR = 2.98 [1.60–5.54]) and current employment status (AOR = 0.23 [0.09–0.58]) as significant predictors. Conclusions: The prevalence of physical disability among elderly is substantially high in the study area. Effective promotive, preventive, curative, and rehabilitative geriatric health care services need to be strengthened for early diagnosis and treatment of health problems in the elderly.

Concern about human modification of Earth's ecosystems has recently motivated ecologists to address how global change drivers will impact the simultaneous provisioning of multiple functions, termed ecosystem multifunctionality (EMF). However, metrics of EMF have often been applied in global change studies with little consideration of the information they provide beyond single functions, or how and why EMF may respond to global change drivers. Here, we critically review the current state of this rapidly expanding field and provide a conceptual framework to guide the effective incorporation of EMF in global change research. In particular, we emphasize the need for a priori identification and explicit testing of the biotic and abiotic mechanisms through which global change drivers impact EMF, as well as assessing correlations among multiple single functions because these patterns underlie shifts in EMF. While the role of biodiversity in mediating global change effects on EMF has justifiably received much attention, empirical support for effects via other biotic and physicochemical mechanisms are also needed. Studies also frequently stated the importance of measuring EMF responses to global change drivers to understand the potential consequences for multiple ecosystem services, but explicit links between measured functions and ecosystem services were missing from many such studies. While there is clear potential for EMF to provide novel insights to global change research, predictive understanding will be greatly improved by insuring future research is strongly hypothesis-driven, is designed to explicitly test multiple abiotic and biotic mechanisms, and assesses how single functions and their covariation drive emergent EMF responses to global change drivers.

In this paper we present the urgency for the optical transport networking evolution for 5G delivery and ultra-broadband services to users and communities of users, in the followings: (a) Cloud core, Metro-cloud core and edge cloud networking structure with optical SDN and SDN/NFV. (b) Photonic enabled technologies including principal devices and photonic processors. (c) Security aspects and transmission technology for secret keys in co-transmission of massive data transport.

Blast, caused by Pyricularia grisea (teleomorph: Magnaporthe grisea), is the most devastating disease of finger millet affecting production, utilization, and trade in Africa and Southeast Asia. An attempt was made to select a set of putative host differentials that can be used to determine virulence diversity in finger-millet-infecting populations of M. grisea. Thus, a differential set comprising eight germplasm accessions selected from finger millet core collection (IE 2911, IE 2957, IE 3392, IE 4497, IE 5091, IE 6240, IE 6337, and IE 7079) and a resistant (‘GPU 28’) and a susceptible (‘VR 708’) variety was developed. This differential set was used to study pathogenic variation in 25 isolates of M. grisea collected from Karnataka, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh states in India. Based on the reaction (virulent = score ≥4 and avirulent = score ≤3 on a 1-to-9 scale) on host differentials, nine pathotypes were identified among 25 M. grisea isolates. Pathotype 9, represented by isolate Pg23 from Vizianagaram, was the most virulent because it could infect all of the host differentials except GPU 28. This study will be helpful in devising strategies for monitoring virulence change in M. grisea populations, and for identification of blast resistance in finger millet for use in disease resistance breeding programs.

In this paper we present two different techniques for photonic generation of millimeter and THz waves. Each of them tackles the phase noise problem associated with optical sources in a different way. The first one relays on the heterodyne down-conversion of two phase noise correlated optical tones. The correlation is achieved by generation of an optical frequency comb. To select one of the optical lines we use an optical phase lock loop, which besides enabling a frequency offset between output and input, can provide optical gain and is highly selective. The second one relays on the envelope detection of a single sideband-with carrier signal. In this approach the photonic remote antenna unit is implemented as monolithically integrated photonic chip.

Farming systems of households in the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir State have been analyzed based on the primary data collected through a total sample of 450 farmers in 2010-2011. The cereal based farming system and livestock based farming system has been found mostly in the study area except in Rajouri district where only cereal based farming system was predominant. Livestock and cereals only have been found to be the main sources of farm income in all the districts, whereas maximum contribution to their income was from non-farm. The study has indicated that credit has no impact on farm income as none of the sample farmers has taken credit from any sources, whether it is institutional or non-institutional sources. It was also observed that cross-bred breeding programme has not marked headway in the sample area. As far as resource use efficiency was concerned, Cobb-Douglas production was used and it was observed that the elasticity coefficient was highly significant for area under cereals (AUC) in Reasi and Doda districts whereas for area under other crops (AOTH) it was found to be highly significant in Kathua and Doda districts. Doda district was found highly significant for both DA and EI also. Key words: Farming system, livestock, cereal.

High data transmission capacity is increasingly needed in shortand medium-haul optical communication links. Cost-effective wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) transceiver architectures, achieving high information spectral densities (ISDs) (>1 b/s/Hz) and using low-complexity direct detection receivers are attractive solutions for such links. In this paper, we assess the use of dual-drive Mach-Zehnder modulators (DD-MZMs), and compare them with in-phase quadrature (IQ)-modulators for generating spectrally-efficient single sideband Nyquist pulse-shaped 16-QAM subcarrier (N-SCM) modulation format signals. The impact of the extinction ratio (ER) of a modulator on the optical sideband suppression ratio (OSSR) was investigated for the SSB signals in WDM systems, together with the resulting impact on inter-channel crosstalk penalties. First, in back-to-back operation, an IQ-modulator with an ER of 30 dB and a DD-MZM with an ER of 18 dB were experimentally compared in a 6×25 Gb/s WDM system by varying the channel spacing. Following this comparison, 16 GHz-spaced 6×25 Gb/s WDM signal transmission was experimentally demonstrated using the DD-MZM. The experiment was performed using a recirculating loop with uncompensated standard single-mode fiber (SSMF) and EDFA-only amplification. The maximum achievable transmission distances for single channel and WDM signals were found to be 565 and 242 km, respectively, at a net optical ISD of 1.5 b/s/Hz. This is the first experimental comparison of such modulator types for SSB N-SCM signal generation and the highest achieved ISD using a DD-MZM in direct-detection WDM transmission.

Highly transparent, low resistive pure and Sb, Zn doped nanostructured SnO 2 thin films have been successfully prepared on glass substrates at 400° C by spray pyrolysis method. Structural, electrical and optical properties of pure and Sb, Zn doped SnO 2 thin films are studied in detail. Powder X-ray diffraction confirms the phase purity, increase in crystallinity, size of the grains (90–45 nm), polycrystalline nature and tetragonal rutile structure of thin films. The scanning electron microscopy reveals the continuous change in surface morphology of thin films and size of the grains decrease due to Sb, Zn doping in to SnO 2 . The optical transmission spectra of SnO 2 films as a function of wavelength confirm that the optical transmission increases with Sb, Zn doping remarkably. The optical band gap of undoped film is found to be 4.27 eV and decreases with Sb, Zn doping to 4.19 eV, 4.07 eV respectively. The results of electrical measurements indicate that the sheet resistance of the deposited films improves with Sb, Zn doping. The Hall measurements confirm that the films are degenerate n-type semiconductors.

A suction pressure control valve (SPCV) for microneurosurgery is designed to place control of safe suction pressure in the hands of an operating neurosurgeon. Tumor tissue needs more negative suction pressure as compared to normal brain tissue, cranial nerves, and vessels in the neurosurgical operating field. The authors present the details of a prototype of a simple and inexpensive device for dynamic adjustment of negative suction pressure by the surgeon or the assistant while working on different tissue types during microneurosurgery.

Background: Patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD) are at an increased risk of developing severe disease and mortality associated with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) Statins form the cornerstone of therapy for primary and secondary prevention of CVD Objective: This review aims at exploring the possible advantages and the risks associated with the use of statins in patients with COVID-19 Methods: We searched the PubMed and Google Scholar databases until June 5, 2020, and reviewed the available literature on this topic Results: Statins have been shown to improve outcomes in acute respiratory distress syndrome, which is one of the major causes of death in COVID-19 Statins exert many pleiotropic effects (anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory effect, nitric oxide release, and effects on coagulation cascade), which would theoretically appear beneficial in COVID-19 Statins also increase angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 levels in animal models and can potentially reduce lung injury related to viral infections Besides, the cardioprotective effects of statins can be beneficial in cardiovascular complications (e g , acute myocardial infarction) of COVID-19 Nonetheless, there are concerns regarding the adverse effects associated with the use of statins in the setting of COVID-19, which can be simply avoided by dose modification and clinical monitoring Conclusions: Statins appear to be beneficial in COVID-19 and may improve the outcome, but future-focused studies are needed before recommending their de novo use in COVID-19

Recent incidents at the nation's only operating deep geologic nuclear waste repository, the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), resulted in the release of americium and plutonium from one or more defense-related transuranic (TRU) waste containers into the environment. WIPP is a U.S. Department of Energy mined geologic repository that has been in operation since March, 1999. Over 85,000 m3 of waste in various vented payload containers have been emplaced in the repository. The primary radionuclides within the disposed waste are 239+240Pu and 241Am, which account for more than 99% of the total TRU radioactivity disposed and scheduled for disposal in the repository. For the first time in its 15 years of operation, there was an airborne radiation release from the WIPP at approximately 11:30 PM Mountain Standard Time (MST) on Friday, February 14, 2014. The radiation release was likely caused by a chemical reaction inside a TRU waste drum that contained nitrate salts and organic sorbent materials. In a recent news release, DOE announced that photos taken of the waste underground showed evidence of heat and gas pressure resulting in a deformed lid, in material expelled through that deformation, and in melted plastic and rubber and polyethylene in the vicinity of that drum. Recent entries into underground Panel 7 have confirmed that at least one waste drum containing a nitrate salt bearing waste stream from Los Alamos National Laboratory was breached underground and was the most likely source of the release. Further investigation is underway to determine if other containers contributed to the release. Air monitoring across the WIPP site intensified following the first reports of radiation detection underground to ascertain whether or not there were releases to the ground surface. Independent analytical results of air filters from sampling stations on and near the WIPP facility have been released by us at the Carlsbad Environmental Monitoring & Research Center and confirmed trace amounts of 241Am and 239+240Pu, at ratios reflecting the suspect waste stream. The highest activity detected offsite was 115.2 μBq/m3 for 241Am and 10.2 μBq/m3 for 239+240 Pu. These concentrations in air were very small, localized, and below any level of public health or environmental concern.

Ba0.6Sr0.4Ti0.99Fe0.01O3 films were deposited by Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) technique on two different substrates viz. Pt/Si and quartz, which were ex situ annealed at 700 °C in normal air atmosphere. The formation of single phase with perovskite structure and nanosize surface morphology of the films was ascertained by X-ray Diffraction studies and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) respectively. The detailed electrical properties like dielectric constant, loss tangent and tunability at low frequency were measured. The dielectric properties at microwave frequencies are also investigated in order to find suitability of the films for microwave tunable device applications. With the substitution of Fe3+ at B-site (1 mol%), the dielectric loss has been brought down due to better compensation of charges in the composition to 0.003 (measured at 11.06 GHz) in BST system. The optical properties of the film were also measured and the band gap of the films was calculated to ascertain the dielectric insulating properties. P-E hysteresis loop confirms its paraelectric behavior, which is one of the essential criterion for the films in tunable applications.

A simple 60-GHz radio-over-fiber system employing a combination of uncorrelated optical heterodyning and envelope detection is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. At the central office, a multiband orthogonal frequency division multiplexing ultrawideband (MB-OFDM UWB) signal is used for the external modulation of a dual-arm Mach-Zehnder Modulator to generate an optical signal-sideband signal, which is then coupled with an unmodulated free-running continuous wave laser. Optical heterodyne mixing at the base station and envelope detection at the customer unit are utilized. The experimental results confirm that photonic millimeter-wave signal generation and detection can be achieved without the need for complex optical phase-locked loops and high-frequency microwave sources. As a proof of concept, successful transmission of a 3.84 Gb/s 16-QAM MB-OFDM UWB signal over 48-km standard single-mode fiber without chromatic dispersion compensation and a further 4-m wireless channel is experimentally demonstrated.

Background Local decision making is linked to several service quality improvement parameters. Rogi Kalyan Samitis (RKS) at peripheral decision making health units (DMHU) are composite bodies that are mandated to ensure accountability and transparency in governance, improve quality of services, and facilitate local responsiveness. There is scant literature on the nature of functioning of these institutions in Odisha. This study aimed to assess the perception of RKS members about their roles, involvement and practices with respect to local decision making and management of DMHUs; it further examined perceptual and functional differences between priority and non-priority district set-ups; and identified predictors of involvement of RKS members in local governance of health units. Methods As members of RKS, health service providers, officials in administrative/managerial role, elected representatives, and officials from other departments (including independent members) constituted our study sample. A total of 112 respondents were interviewed across 6 districts, through a multi-stage stratified random sampling; we used a semi-structured interview schedule that comprised mainly of close-ended and some open-ended questions. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to compare 3 priority (PD) and 3 non-priority districts (NPD), categorized on the basis of Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) estimates of 2011 as proxy of population health. Governance, human resource management, financial management and quality improvement functions were studied in detail. Opinion about various individual and organizational factors in local self-governance and predictors of involvement were identified. Results The socio-demographic profile and composition of respondents were comparable between PD and NPD. Majority of respondents were ‘satisfied’ with their current roles in the governance of local health institutions. About one-fourth opined that the amount of funds allocated to RKS under National Health Mission (NHM) was ‘grossly insufficient’. Fifty percent of respondents said they requested for additional funds, last year, and 38.8 % informed that they requested additional funds for purchase of drugs. About 87 % respondents were satisfied with their role in the local governance of the health units (PD = 94.3 % vs. NPD = 80.7 %). Almost all (PD = 98 % vs. NPD = 80.7 %) opined that local decision making helped in improving the performance of health units. For most of the open-ended questions the responses were non-specific. Staggering differences were found between PD and NPD with respect to their involvement in district plan preparation (NPD = 78.9 % vs. PD = 58.5 %), training in plan preparation (NPD = 47.4 % vs. PD = 27.5 %), participation of officials from other departments (PD = 96.9 % vs. NPD = 45.5 %), and inclusion of activities of other sectors (PD = 70.8 % vs. NPD = 41.8 %). Whereas, no significant PD-NPD difference was found about their perceived ‘involvement’ in undertaking the 12 designated responsibilities. Composite scores on various individual and organizational factors were compared and found to be varying significantly. Through regression, we inferred work experience, qualification and non-monetary incentives as strong determinants of current level of involvement of RKS members in governance and management of health units. Conclusion Poor knowledge/expectation of RKS members was diluting the decision making process at DMHUs. There is an urgent need to improve their knowledge, understanding and expertise in areas of governance and management practices. A locally-monitored and time-bound capacity building plan could achieve this. Yearly resource allocation for drug procurement needs revision. Specific eligibility criteria based on work experience and qualification may be fixed for RKS membership. Further research may focus on identifying the underlying individual and systemic factors behind such large PD-NPD differences.

Groundnut ( Arachis hypogaea L.) is susceptible to pre- and post-harvest infections by Aspergillus spp. Aflatoxin B 1 (AFB 1 ), is the contaminant produced by the fungus in infected grains posing a threat to human and animal health. This paper reports of a study undertaken in Malawi to determine the occurrence and distribution of Aflatoxigenic Aspergilli in the soil and AFB 1 contamination in groundnuts. A total of 1397 groundnut samples collected from farm homesteads, local markets, warehouses and shops in 2008 and 2009 were analyzed for AFB 1 contamination using the enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and A. Aspergilli population densities in 1053 soil samples collected from the same sites were estimated using serial dilutions plated on A. Aspergilli medium. Farmer socio-economic profile information was also collected to determine relationships to AFB 1 contamination. The results revealed 46% and 23% of the total samples, from 2008 to 2009, respectively, had AFB 1 contamination levels greater than 4 ppb, and those above 20 ppb were 21% for 2008 and 8% for 2009, respectively. Fitted smooth curve relationships show that there is a clear increase in the chance of groundnut contamination when the population density of A. Aspergilli in the soil increased beyond 3000 (log (cfu) > 8). The measured level of A. Aspergilli in soil varied by location, as well as ecologies within location. Low-altitude ecologies, which were warmer and experienced low precipitation levels, had the highest densities of A. Aspergilli , whereas cooler high-altitude ecologies had the lowest density of these fungi. Similarly high AFB 1 contamination, was recorded across the country with 11–28% of all samples collected from the warm low to mid-altitude ecologies recording contamination ≥20 ppb and low contamination (2–10% of samples) in the mid to high altitude cool ecologies. From a crop management perspective, this study also suggests that both less experienced and older farmers were more likely to produce groundnuts contaminated with aflatoxin. These findings have implications in the design of intervention strategies to avoid short- and long-term human health effects from aflatoxin exposure.

A number of analytical methods has been developed and used for the determination of neptunium in environmental and nuclear fuel samples using alpha, ICP–MS spectrometry, and other analytical techniques. This review summarizes and discusses development of the radiochemical procedures for separation of neptunium (Np), since the beginning of the nuclear industry, followed by a more detailed discussion on recent trends in the separation of neptunium. This article also highlights the progress in analytical methods and issues associated with the determination of neptunium in environmental samples.

An IEEE 802.16e-2005 (WiMAX) compliant, long- reach passive optical network is demonstrated, focusing on the development of next generation optical access with transparent wireless backhauling. In addition to the extended feeder reach, a wavelength band overlay is used to enhance network scalability by maintaining passive splitting in the field and with some design modification at the optical line terminal and remote base station. Radio-over-fiber is used to minimize network installation and maintenance costs through the use of simple remote radio heads complemented by frequency division multiplexing to address individual base stations. The implementation of overlapping radio cells/sectors is also proposed to provide joint signal processing at wireless user terminals. Experimental measurements confirmed EVMs below -30 and -23 dB downstream and upstream, respectively, over fiber link lengths of up to 84.6 km. In addition, adjacent channel leakage ratio measurements demonstrated that a figure of -45 dB with 40 MHz subcarrier spacing, as specified by the standard, can be readily achieved.

Background. A phase 3 study demonstrated the safety and efficacy of paromomycin (paromomycin IM injection) for treatment of VL in an inpatient setting.Methods. This phase 4 study was conducted to assess the safety and efficacy of paromomycin in children and adults in an outpatient setting in Bihar, India.Results. This study enrolled 506 adult and pediatric patients. Of the 494 patients in the intent-to-treat (ITT) population, 98% received a full course of treatment. The overall study completion rate was 94% (462/494) for the ITT population and 96% (461/479) for the efficacy-evaluable (EE) population. Initial clinical cure was 99.6%, and final clinical cure 6 months after treatment was 94.2%. Grade 3 or 4 adverse events occurred in 5% of patients; events with a frequency of ≥1% were increases in alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase.Conclusions. This study confirms the safety and efficacy of paromomycin to treat VL in an outpatient setting.

BST thin films of optimized target composition of Ba0.6Sr0.4TiO3 have been deposited on Cr-Au coated Si substrate by Pulsed Laser Deposition technique with low substrate temperature of 100°C using different laser energies (250 mJ, 300 mJ and 350 mJ). The structural, morphological and electrical studies have been carried out for all the films. The value of dielectric constant and dielectric loss for the film deposited with different laser energies were in the range of 18–20 and 0.04–0.07 respectively. The thickness of the film was 0.4 μm. All the films show higher resistivity (∼107Ω-cm) and high dielectric breakdown strength (∼500 kV/cm). The observed results suggest that the low temperature deposited BST thin films are suitable for RF MEMS Switch application.

This study analyzed the effectiveness of active case detection (ACD) for new visceral leishmaniasis (VL) cases. ACD detection was carried out using house to house screening in Bangladesh and India and by neighborhood screening around index cases in Nepal. The percent increase of new VL cases through ACD compared to PCD was 6.7-17.1% in India; 38.8% in Nepal; and 60% in Bangladesh. The screening effort was high in India and Bangladesh (house to house screening) compared to Nepal (index case screening). The additional cost per new VL case detected varied: $50 to $106 in India; $172 in Bangladesh; $262 in Nepal depending on the type of screening staff, transport and training costs. The estimated annual VL incidence in the ACD arm ranged from 315-383 in India; 109 in Bangladesh, and 43 per 100,000 in Nepal. The additional effort and cost rises as disease incidence declines or PCD improves.

We describe 480 Mbps, bi-directional ultra-wideband (UWB) radio signal transmission over 1 km of single-mode optical fiber. Key components are a highly linear, reflective electro absorption transducer (EAT) and commercially available 1308-nm and 1564-nm VCSELs with 4.8-GHz bandwidth. Detailed EAT and 1308-nm VCSEL distortion analyses and measurements are presented highlighting the low intermodulation and harmonic distortion necessary for typical -18-dB wireless channel error vector magnitudes (EVMs). Direct VCSEL modulation with Wimedia supported band group 1 (3.1-4.8 GHz) MB-OFDM UWB signals was modelled with VPItransmissionMaker, suggesting a minimum EVM of -18.733 dB at 0.4502 OMI. This was confirmed by 480 Mbps upstream and downstream EVM measurements over fiber of -21.4 dB or better. Fully functional, half-duplex, bi-directional data transfer was achieved with interlocked RF switches.

After almost fifteen years of successful waste disposal operations, the first unambiguous airborne radiation release from the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) was detected beyond the site boundary on February 14, 2014. It was the first accident of its kind in the 15-year operating history of the WIPP. The accident released moderate levels of radioactivity into the underground air. A small but measurable amount of radioactivity also escaped to the surface through the ventilation system and was detected above ground. The dominant radionuclides released were americium and plutonium, in a ratio consistent with the known content of a breached drum. The radiation release was caused by a runaway chemical reaction inside a transuranic (TRU) waste drum which experienced a seal and lid failure, spewing radioactive materials into the repository. According to source-term estimation, approximately 2 to 10 Ci of radioactivity was released from the breached drum into the underground, and an undetermined fraction of that source term became airborne, setting off an alarm and triggering the closure of seals designed to force exhausting air through a system of filters including high-efficiency-particulate-air (HEPA) filters. Air monitoring across the WIPP site intensified following the first reports of radiation detection underground to determine the extent of impact to WIPP personnel, the public, and the environment, if any. This article attempts to compile and interpret analytical data collected by an independent monitoring program conducted by the Carlsbad Environmental Monitoring & Research Center (CEMRC) and by a compliance-monitoring program conducted by the WIPP's management and operating contractor, the Nuclear Waste Partnership (NWP), LLC., in response to the accident. Both the independent and the WIPP monitoring efforts concluded that the levels detected were very low and localized, and no radiation-related health effects among local workers or the public would be expected.

Visceral leishmaniasis (kala-azar) affects large, rural, resource-poor populations in South Asia, Africa, and Brazil. Safe, effective, and affordable new therapies are needed. We conducted a randomized, controlled, phase 3 open-label study comparing paromomycin, an aminoglycoside, with amphotericin B, the present standard of care in Bihar, India.In four treatment centers for visceral leishmaniasis, 667 patients between 5 and 55 years of age who were negative for the human immunodeficiency virus and had parasitologically confirmed visceral leishmaniasis were randomly assigned in a 3:1 ratio to receive paromomycin (502 patients) at a dose of 11 mg per kilogram of body weight intramuscularly daily for 21 days or amphotericin B (165 patients) at a dose of 1 mg per kilogram intravenously every other day for 30 days. Final cure was assessed 6 months after the end of treatment; safety assessments included daily clinical evaluations and weekly laboratory and audiometric evaluations. Noninferiority testing was used to compare 6-month cure rates, with a chosen margin of noninferiority of 10 percentage points.Paromomycin was shown to be noninferior to amphotericin B (final cure rate, 94.6% vs. 98.8%; difference, 4.2 percentage points; upper bound of the 97.5% confidence interval, 6.9; P0.001). Mortality rates in the two groups were less than 1%. Adverse events, which were more common among patients receiving paromomycin than among those receiving amphotericin B (6% vs. 2%, P=0.02), included transient elevation of aspartate aminotransferase levels (3 times the upper limit of the normal range); transient reversible ototoxicity (2% vs. 0, P=0.20); and injection-site pain (55% vs. 0, P0.001); and in patients receiving amphotericin B, as compared with those receiving paromomycin, nephrotoxicity (4% vs. 0, P0.001), fevers (57% vs. 3%), rigors (24% vs. 0, P0.001), and vomiting (10% vs.1%, P0.001).Paromomycin was shown to be noninferior to amphotericin B for the treatment of visceral leishmaniasis in India. (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00216346.)

This work aims to investigate the performance of millimetre wave (mm-wave) broadband wireless access for seamless integration with the (ultra-dense) WDM infrastructure. By using two uncorrelated lasers at the coherent receiver, a simple implementation is obtained, which can additionally be improved, if thermally uncooled lasers are used. Although such asynchronous receiver design is mildly affected by laser phase noise, it suffers from the wavelength drift that occurs between the uncooled laser sources. Also, there are performance penalties due to high laser line-width when complex modulation formats are used for transmission. In this work, we analyze the performance of heterodyne based optical receivers, using OOK and multilevel modulation formats.

In this work a PON/mm-wave converged topology using single mode fiber (SMF) to multimode fiber (MMF) feeds is addressed supporting 60GHz indoor wireless access, standard PON, and a 60GHz wireless bridge providing a virtual PON extension. Proof-of-concept experiments are performed using a 1.2Gb/s OOK (NRZ) transmission over SMF-MMF-SMF link without or including 60GHz photonic up-conversion to be used on a wireless link (PON bridge) and fiber post transmission, or a 5Gb/s at 60GHz carrier MB-OFDM transmission over SMF-MMF-SMF link co-existing with 1.2Gb/s OOK (NRZ) signal.

A simple, single mode fiber/ multimode fiber (SMF-MMF) 60GHz radio over fiber scheme using a conventional central launching technique at 1550nm is experimentally evaluated under various indoor OFDM standards at a 5Gb/s bit rate.

This paper presents the performance evaluation of full-standard wireless signals overlay on two access networks: (i) legacy long-reach networks and (ii) next-generation networks using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) modulation. The proposed bundle of full-standard OFDM wireless signals includes broadcast of ETSI EN 300 744 DVB-T signals and multi-format wireless signals 3GPP long-term evolution (LTE), IEEE 802.16 Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), and ECMA-368 ultra-wide band (UWB). This bundle of OFDM-based signals is transmitted using radio-over-fibre in overlay with: (i) legacy baseband data of a conventional passive optical network (PON) or (ii) a custom OFDM signal providing Gigabit Ethernet (OFDM-GbE) for next-generation access networks. The optimum RF input power level for the combined bundle of signals is evaluated for both downstream (using external transmission) and upstream (using direct modulation). The successful demodulation of all signals confirms the actual possibility of coexistence of multi-format OFDM wireless with legacy baseband data. Also, it is demonstrated that the system with OFDM-GbE can achieve longer optical reach using centralized OFDM compensation. In this case, the possibility of providing video overlay with more DVB-T channels is confirmed for the complete UHF band.

Sitamaquine (WR6026) is an 8-aminoquinoline in development for the oral treatment of visceral leishmaniasis (VL). This was an open-label, dose-increasing study to determine the dose-response and safety profile for sitamaquine in Kenyan patients with VL caused by Leishmania donovani. Patients (mean age 15.9 [range = 5-47] years) received sitamaquine daily for 28 days at one of four doses: 1.75 (n = 12), 2.0 (n = 61), 2.5 (n = 12), or 3.0 (n = 12) mg/kg/day. The primary efficacy outcome was cure (absence of parasites on splenic aspirate) in the intent-to-treat population at day 180. Cure was achieved in 79 (83%) of 95 patients overall, and in 11 (92%) of 12, 49 (80%) of 61, 9 (82%) of 11, and 10 (91%) of 11 patients at sitamaquine doses of 1.75, 2.0, 2.5, or 3.0 mg/kg/day, respectively. The most frequent adverse events during active treatment were abdominal pain (12 [12%] of 97) and headache (11 [11%] of 97), and one patient in each of the 2.5 mg/kg/day and 3.0 mg/kg/day dose groups had a severe renal adverse event. The effects of sitamaquine on the kidney need further investigation. Sitamaquine was efficacious and generally well tolerated in Kenyan patients with VL.

BST thin films are grown by pulsed laser deposition technique at different temperatures and different oxygen deposition pressures. X-ray diffraction studies confirm the perovskite phase of the films. From the ɛ′–V characteristic tunability is calculated and the films grown at lower oxygen deposition pressure is found have higher tunability which is explained in terms of stress developed in the film and oxygen vacancies formed during deposition. The ɛ′–V variation is explained in terms of Devonshire's phenomenological theory.

In a study to evaluate the relative efficacies of sodium antimony gluconate (SAG) and amphotericin B (AMB), each drug was used to treat 60 Indian cases of visceral leishmaniasis (VL). At the time of treatment, each case had recently been parasitologically confirmed. The patients received either 20 mg SAG/kg daily, by intramuscular injection, for 4 weeks, or 1 mg AMB/kg daily, infused slowly over 2 h, with no incremental dosage, for 20 days. The response of the patients was followed clinically and by the microscopical examination of bone-marrow aspirates (BMA). The infected macrophages in subsamples of the BMA collected pre-treatment were cultured so that the drug sensitivities of the parasites, to 20 microg SAG or 1 microg AMB/ml medium, could be determined in vitro. Other subsamples of the BMA were used to set up promastigote cultures that were then used to infect BALB/c mice. The responses of the mice to 5 days of treatment with SAG or AMB (at the same daily dosages as used in the clinical trials) were subsequently explored. SAG only cured 46.6% of the patients given the drug, only cleared amastigotes from 38.3% of the macrophage cultures, and only cured 53.3% of the infected mice. The corresponding values for AMB - 100%, 100% and 100% - were markedly higher (P