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BACKGROUND Otologists always yearn to improve the hearing outcome of their patients with chronic suppurative otitis media. There are different options for ossiculoplasty to choose from, depending on the extent of disease, condition of ossicular chain and availability of implant material and there has always been a quest to make appropriate decision with a predictable outcome. In this study, we have tried to analyse various factors which can affect hearing outcome after Ossiculoplasty. METHODS A retrospective study was done to study the effect of implant material, condition of ossicular chain and disease in the mastoid on post-operative hearing improvement on 200 patients, who underwent tympanoplasty or tympanomastoidectomy from January 2018 to January 2020, in Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, K.D. Medical College, Mathura. Decision of ossiculoplasty was made based on intra-operative findings. Autograft incus, Teflon TORP (total ossicular replacement prosthesis) and cartilage columella were used based on availability and feasibility. RESULTS Mean improvement in average air-bone gap of 200 patients was found to be 18.57 dB, with autograft incus, it was 19.99 dB, with Teflon TORP (total ossicular replacement prosthesis), 19.53 dB and with cartilage columella 16.73 dB (P = 0.023). Mean hearing improvement was 18.98 dB when handle of malleus was present and 15.59 dB when it was absent (P = 0.023). Mean hearing improvement was 19.42 dB when stapes superstructure was present and 16.92 dB when it was absent (P = 0.016). Even though the hearing outcome was better when mastoid was disease free (19.57 dB) compared to when it was diseased (18.30 dB), the difference was not statistically significant. (P = 0.177) CONCLUSIONS In our study, we found autograft incus to be the best material for ossiculoplasty and presence of handle of malleus and stapes superstructure improved postoperative hearing outcome significantly but involvement of mastoid by disease did not significantly affect the hearing outcome post-operatively. KEYWORDS Chronic Suppurative Otitis Media, Ossiculoplasty, Tympanoplasty, Ossicular Prosthesis, Autograft

The present study identifies the prevalence, pattern & geographical distribution of pregnancy loss and its various determinants. The choropleth equal interval maps and local indicators of spatial association maps were used to investigate the locations requiring attention. Spatial regression techniques were used to investigate the factors associated with pregnancy losses across India using data derived from the fourth round of National Family Health Survey. A decision tree was constructed to investigate the interaction effect of the significant factors.The percentage of pregnancy loss in India is noted to be 14.3% (95% BCa confidence interval: 13.47, 14.79). The spatial autocorrelation coefficient ( $$\rho = 0.61,~p < 0.001$$ ) indicated the spatial dependence in the data. Hotspots of response variable were observed in districts of Uttar Pradesh, Manipur, and Odisha. Locations, with high percentage of women who have attained education upto high school and above, women who did not want the pregnancy, and women whose family did not want more child, were likely to have increased percentage of pregnancy loss. Struggles in a womens life, family’s pressure and own desire to have child coupled with their education status are related to the pregnancy loss. Preventing the unplanned pregnancies will play a pivotal role in decreasing the pregnancy loss which further prevents maternal mortality and morbidity. Timely and adequate supplies of contraception in public health institutions particulary sub-centre, primary health centre should be ensured.

Introduction It has always been a concern of ENT surgeon to prevent post operative complications like nasal bleeding, septal hematoma and septal abscess after septoplasty. Traditionally nasal packing has been done to avoid these complications. Although the nasal pack itself has been a concern for several reasons, packing apart from causing breathing distress, has resulted in epiphora, dysphagia, sleep disturbance, post-operative pain, headache, septal infection, septal abscess and even toxic shock syndrome. Materials and Methods This study has compared the efficacy of a newly designed septal splint with clip with nasal packs. This study was done on 60 patients, nasal packing was done in 30 patients and septal splints with clip were applied in 30 patients. Results Post-operative pain, epiphora, dysphagia, dryness of mouth and sleep disturbance was found to be significantly less in patients with septal splints with clip as compared to those with nasal packing. Conclusion Septal splints with clip is more efficacious alternative to nasal packing in patients undergoing septoplasty.

In the proposed work, a new control is used with inner loop as a current control and the outer loop as a voltage control of a solar photovoltaic (PV) array-fed single-phase grid interfaced system, ...

Medium voltage induction motor drives (MVIMDs) are the vital constituents of industries. Here, a less complex, compact size drive system meeting the power quality standard is developed for crucial applications of industries. This paper presents a novel structure of the multi-winding transformer (MWT) and power converter for the drive system with a focus on achieving minimum total harmonics distortion (THD) and high efficiency. Hence, a unique configuration of a 5-level cascaded multilevel inverter and a 24-pulse rectification system is designed to improve the power quality at the supply and the motor terminals of MVIMD, respectively. The simplest star-delta configurations are utilized to design a 24-pulse converter. Apart from this, less complex conventional configured three level voltage sources inverters are cascaded in way so that five level phase voltage is obtained. A modified level-shifted pulse width modulation and indirect field-oriented control (IFOC) are utilized to demonstrate the flexibility of the drive system during the steady-state and dynamic conditions. The higher pulse rectification and high number of level systems are needed to be investigated, because they comply with the stringent power quality standard defined in the IEEE-519. A prototype of the drive is developed, and the obtained simulated results and experimental response ensure the practicality of presented configuration of drive system.

Here, 18-pulse rectification system is presented to supply clean power to medium voltage drives used in applications such as oil and gas production. High pulse rectification systems are demanded by industry to satisfy international power quality standards like the IEEE-519. A cascaded multilevel inverter is used here, which is cascading three –phase voltage source inverter (VSI) in unique manner. The presented four –level inverter has three 2-level VSI in cascaded arrangement. This induction motor drive (IMD) system is compact in size as it requires less number DC voltage sources, thus making it reliable. A Simulink model is built to analysis the performance of an indirect field-oriented control (IFOC) technique based 30kW IMD. Therefore, to validate the Simulink result a 7.5kW induction motor (IM) experimental setup control by a DSP (dSPACE DS1006) controller. A comprehensive study shows a superior power quality performance both at grid and drive end of the system.

This paper deals with a multi-phase transformer (MPT) based 20-pulse converter used in a 3-level cascaded multilevel inverter (MLI) fed medium voltage induction motor drive (MVIMD). In this work, an MPT is proposed, which is converting 3-Φ AC-supply in to 5-Φ AC-supply. Therefore, it is designed as a 20-pulse converter. Due to this, the presented IMD has acceptable power quality even at very light load condition. At the drive end a 3-level cascaded MLI is utilized, which is cascading two three-phase VSIs. This 3-level inverter does not require any clamping diodes like NPC inverter and free from DC-link capacitor voltages balancing issues. To achieve reduced hardware complexity, size, elimination of the sensor cable and to increase reliability of MVIMD, a speed sensorless vector control is used in this paper. The behavior of the system is examined by simulating it in MATLAB-Simulink, which is also proved by means of test results taken from a laboratory prototype under all required operations of IMD.

This paper presents the Genetic Algorithm-Selective Harmonic Elimination (GA-SHE) technique to suppress lower order harmonic in 7-level binary cascaded H-bridge multilevel inverter (CHB-MLI). Genetic Algorithm (GA) based selective harmonic elimination (SHE) technique is utilized to govern the optimal switching angles of 7-level binary CHB-MLI. The optimized switching angles calculated offline are utilized to improve the drive end power quality of a 36-pulse AC-DC converter fed 7-level binary CHB-MLI based indirect field-oriented control (IFOC) for induction motor drive (IMD) system. A low-frequency fundamental switching technique is employed to reduce the switching losses in a high-power converter for a medium voltage induction motor drive application. A multi-winding transformer (MWT) fed 36-pulse AC-DC converter configuration is utilized to improve the power quality at the grid end. The performance of the system is analyzed at various operating conditions through simulated result. A DSP (dSPACE DS-1006) controller based 7.5kW IMD prototype is utilized to validate the simulated results.

Facial nerve palsy is usually associated with a malignant parotid neoplasm; it is highly unusual for it to result from a benign situation, such as inflammation or infection of the parotid gland. Surgery along with prompt medical treatment is the mainstay, and in the majority of the patients, nerve paralysis recovers in the follow-up period. We report a case of a 50-year-old non-diabetic non-hypertensive female who presented with odynophagia, left-sided parotid swelling, and left facial nerve palsy. The diagnosis of facial nerve palsy due to a parotid abscess extending to the parapharyngeal space was made. Facial palsy fully recovered within 2 months.

The Electroencephalogram (EEG) signals recorded during motor imagery (MI) tasks are often used as input in the brain-computer interface (BCI) applications. The adaptation of these EEG signals to control signals depend on the selection of an accurate feature that can provide good classification. The study compared various features of alpha frequency band adapting wavelet-based time-frequency analysis approach. The mean, variance, wavelet energy, Shannon entropy, log energy entropy, kurtosis, and skewness feature were extracted from the EEG signals recorded from symmetrical electrode locations of the motor cortex and their performance accuracies were evaluated using SVM and KNN classification algorithms. In results, the Shannon entropy showed the highest classification accuracy of 86.4 % with SVM classifier. Findings of this study establish Shannon entropy as a potential feature to use in EEG-based BCI analysis along with SVM classification algorithm.

The presented work deals with an asymmetric seven level cascaded configuration for solar photovoltaic (PV) grid integrated system, which contains two H-bridges with asymmetric DC link voltages i.e. unequal DC link voltage. It helps to enhance the output voltage levels that is controlled at V dc for H-bridge1 and 2V dc for H-bridge2 making it as 1:2 ratio for binary voltage values and attains seven level as its output voltage. Level shifted pulse width modulation (LS-PWM) technique is used to provide pulses to the respective switches of the insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBT). Reduced switching frequency is the major attribute for the system. Power quality issues are also dealt with case in order to provide better performance for the desired system configuration within IEEE-519 and IEEE-719 standards.

Background The processing of brain signals for Motor imagery (MI) classification to have better accuracy is a key issue in the Brain-Computer Interface (BCI). While conventional methods like Artificial neural network (ANN), Linear discernment analysis (LDA), K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN), Support vector machine (SVM), etc. have made significant progress in terms of classification accuracy, deep transfer learning-based systems have shown the potential to outperform them. BCI can play a vital role in enabling communication with the external world for persons with motor disabilities. New Methods Deep learning has been a success in many fields. However, for Electroencephalogram (EEG) signals, relatively minimal work has been carried out using deep learning. This paper proposes a combination of Continuous Wavelet Transform (CWT) along with deep learning-based transfer learning to solve the problem. CWT transforms one dimensional EEG signals into two-dimensional time-frequency-amplitude representation enabling us to exploit available deep networks through transfer learning. Results The effectiveness of the proposed approach is evaluated in this study using an openly available BCI competition data-set. The results of the approach have been compared to earlier works on the same dataset, and a promising validation accuracy of 95.71% is achieved in our investigation. Comparison with existing methods and Conclusion Our approach has shown significant improvement over other studies, which is 5.71% improvement over earlier reported algorithm (Tabar and Halici, 2017) using the same dataset. Results show the validity of the proposed Deep Transfer-Learning based technique as a state of the art technique for MI classification in BCI.

This paper present a 36-pulse AC-DC converter fed 5-level cascaded multilevel inverter (MLI) driven vector controlled induction motor drive (VCIMD). A modular transformer is utilized to make the grid current nearly sinusoidal and the transformer is connected to achieve a 36pulse AC-DC converter. A symmetrical 5-level cascaded MLI is utilized on the motor side, which offers the good performances of the proposed VCIMD. A 3$^{rd}$ harmonics injection based sinusoidal pulse width modulation (SPWM) is proposed in this paper, for variable speed induction motor drive to achieve the performances similar to space vector modulation (SVM). A 5level cascaded MLI has less switching loss. It is because, it is operated at low switching frequency. The Simulink/MATLAB base simulations results are verified by the experimental results and both the simulation and experimental results are given in this paper.

A 54-pulse AC-DC converter fed 15-level voltage sources inverter (VSI) based vector controlled induction motor drive (VCIMD) is proposed in this paper. This meet the harmonics current limit specified in an IEEE-519 standard at utility end of the proposed drive. Basically an eighteen-pulse AC-DC converter is used, with the help of primary phase shift in phase shifting transformer these eighteen-pulse AC-DC converter is configured as a 54-pulse AC-DC converter (18×3=54). A modified nearest level modulation strategy is proposed to offer very low switching frequency of a 15-level VSI to limit the switching losses in the permissible limits. At the proposed drive end, a binary based 15-level VSI is used to improve the steady state, dynamic and power quality performances of an induction motor drive. A 54-pulse AC-DC converter fed 15-level VSI based VCIMD is designed and then modelled in Simulink/MATLAB environment and its performance is demonstrated in detail.

This paper reports the ground water quality deterioration due to fluoride in the parts of Chhattisgarh state. Out of selected 60 sites, high contamination of fluoride content up to 7.00 ppm was found in Kolam, Muragaon and Saraitola villages and in the range of 1.0 to 1.2 ppm in Basanpalli, Bhalumuda, Dolesara, Penkapara, Kunjhemura villages. Ten new areas were selected for yearly monitoring and fluoride concentration was found up to 1.44 ppm. The results call for immediate steps for monitoring and treatment of contaminated locations.

This paper proposes a method to enhance the power quality of the medium voltage multilevel inverter based induction motor drive system. An 18-pulse AC-DC converter is used to feed a 27-level inverter based vector controlled induction motor drive (VCIMD). Using this configuration, the input supply current distortion decreases to meet the demand of an IEEE-519 standard. The distortion in the 27-level inverter output voltage and its switch cost are decreased impressively with an increase in the number of AC-output voltage levels. As the steps of output voltage are increased, it is switched at low switching frequency. The proposed drive system is examined in the all possible operating conditions of an induction motor. The proposed 18-pulse AC-DC converter fed 27-level inverter for VCIMD is modelled and its performance is simulated in Simulink/MATLAB environment to demonstrate its effectiveness for the medium and large rating applications.

This paper proposes a twelve-pulse AC-DC converter fed three level neutral point clamped (NPC) voltage sources inverter (VSI) based field oriented controlled (FOC) induction motor drive (IMD). Power quality improvement at utility is achieved by a twelve-pulse AC-DC converter along with high pass passive filter to meet an IEEE-519 standard. The space vector modulation (SVM) strategy is used to balance the capacitor voltages of the NPC inverter. The neutral point voltage balancing is achieved by the time adjustment between positive and negative small vectors. The proposed drive system is examined under all possible operating modes of an induction motor. A twelve-pulse AC-DC converter fed three level NPC-VSI based FOC of an induction motor drive is modelled in Simulink/MATLAB environment and its performance is analyzed in detail.

This paper reports high levels and variability in the arsenic (As) levels at locations identified as one of the highest As-contaminated locations in the world. The high levels and variability in As levels were established by a strict monitoring protocol and the minimum possible time lag between the sampling and analysis. Special sampling arrangements were created at the central-east Indian location to monitor regularly the various water quality parameters at four specific locations. Out of the four monitored locations the locations 1–3 were found contaminated on more than 90% and the public water supply source (location 4) was found contaminated on more than 38% sampling episodes as per Indian standards. If the WHO standards for As (max. 0.01 mg/L) are considered then all the inhabitants were supplied with unacceptable drinking water on ∼93% of the sampled days during the sampling period. The paper identifies many complexities in the management of As-contamination and the perils of low level contamination...

Here we report a system which can be operated using electroencephalography (EEG) signals generated during eye blink and thus may be useful for persons with locomotive and other disabilities for performing their day-to-day activities. EEG signals are processed by a microcontroller and based on programming, the microcontroller takes a decision to perform the desired task by actuating a corresponding device from several devices connected to the system. An important feature of the system is that it can be adapted to particular needs of the user and can be attached/detached for actuation of different appliances according to the user’s condition and requirements.

The study reports the use of three biomarkers i.e. total arsenic in hair and nails, total arsenic in blood, and total arsenic in urine to identify or quantify arsenic exposure and concomitant health effects. The main source of arsenic was inorganic exposure through drinking water. The arsenic levels and the health effects were analyzed closely in a family having maximum symptoms of arsenic. Based on the result of this study it is reported that there exist a correlation between the clinically observable symptoms, the blood and urine arsenic level, and the arsenic intake through drinking water. An intensive study on the urinary arsenic levels was carried out in which the urine levels of arsenic and the urine sufficiency tests were performed. A composite picture of body burden of arsenic has been obtained by carrying out a complete biochemical analysis of a maximum affected family. This confirms pronounced chronic exposure of the arsenic to these people. A combined correlation study on the arsenic levels measured in whole blood, urine, hair, nails and age present a remarkable outcome. Accordingly, the arsenic levels in blood are negatively correlated with the urine arsenic levels, which indicate either the inadequacy of the renal system in cleaning the blood arsenic or a continuous recirculation of the accumulated arsenic. This is an important conclusion about arsenical metabolism in humans. The study also raises the issues of the prospects of complete elimination of the accumulated arsenic and the reversibility of the health effects. Based on the work in Kourikasa village we report that there are very remote chances of complete purging of arsenic and thus reversibility of the health effects owing to various factors. The paper also discusses the various issues concerning the chronic arsenic poisoning management in the affected locations.

Several control strategies have been proposed for diode clamped and flying capacitor multilevel inverters topologies which have their advantages. The observation for multicarrier modulation is quite similar for the above mentioned topologies, where as phase disposition technique has a superior line-to-line harmonic performance over alternative phase opposition disposition and phase opposition disposition techniques. Marx multilevel inverter derived from the Marx generator topology with the features of voltage balancing and boosting capability may find various applications in the field of renewable applications. This paper analyzes and propose the most suitable control strategy for the aforementioned topology. The detailed mathematical analysis and simulation results for various control algorithms for Marx inverter are presented in the paper.

Fly ash (FA) poses serious problems to the industries. Integrated steel plants generate huge quantity of FA from their captive power plants and other furnaces. This ash is generally disposed off in the ash ponds along with other sludges and residues of steel making operations. This changes the constitution of FA and makes the brick manufacturing difficult. This paper has attempted to devise the ways for the use of this mixed ash for manufacturing mixed ash clay bricks successfully. The bricks thus made are superior in structural and aesthetic qualities and portents huge saving in the manufacturing costs with better consumer response.

Concern for decentralized planning with people’s participation in India is as old as planning itself. The first Plan document is eloquent on it and has emphasized that planning from below with people’s participation helps efficient utilization of resources and more equitable distribution of benefits. However, the attempt for decentralized planning was sporadic. Decentralized planning received increased attention with the 73rd and 74th constitutional amendments which made planning a mandatory function of local bodies. The democratic base widened after 1993 enabling horizontal planning and implementation. Planning now is done at many layers of government Centre, State, district, block, village, and municipality. Thus, now we practice multi-level planning. Local bodies at sub-State level come under the decentralized multi-level planning framework. ABSTRACT