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Landslide is one of the natural calamities that severely affect society and economy, specifically in the mountainous regions. Monitoring of the possible landslide areas is essential to minimize the effect. Remote sensing and geographical information system are useful tools for landslide monitoring in order to prevent the loss associated with landslide. In recent years, the development of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) photogrammetry opened a new window in the field of geosciences for reconnaissance survey, mapping and hazard monitoring. In the present study, high-resolution aerial images are collected by DJI phantom 4 drone, with 24 megapixel camera, at an elevation of 70 m from the ground. From the aerial images, 3D point clouds, orthomosaic and DEM are generated, using Agisoft Photoscan software. The collected ground control points are used for georeferencing the model and for error estimation. The slope, slope direction and drainage pattern maps are prepared using ArcGIS. Landslide material spread over 0.365 m2 area with more than 1 million m3 of debris transported. However, the debris material is not completely washed out of the slope and stuck at the upper part of the village that has a chance of further slide. In such a devastating situation, the southern part of the Kangpokpi area could be affected in the future. With the help of this mapping and photogrammetric technique, the landslide can be monitored constantly so that future disasters can be prevented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Dengue is a vector borne disease with various grades of severity. Pregnancy is a high-risk group and is prone for complications of dengue haemorrhagic fever. Dengue fever has rapidly emerged as the most common arboviral infection globally. Objectives: The primary objective of the study was to assess maternal and fetal outcomes of pregnancies affected with dengue fever. Materials and methods: It was an institutional based prospective observational study. It was conducted in Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, College of Medicine & Sagar Dutta Hospital, Kamarhati, Kolkata, West Bengal, India. After receiving the clearance from the ethical committee study was conducted from June 2022 to December 2022. All pregnant patients reporting to the hospital with fever and serologically confirmed dengue infection (40 confirmed cases) were included in the study. Clinical and laboratory data of patients were collected. The cases were followed up till their delivery to monitor the effect of dengue. The data were entered in MS Excel spreadsheet and analysis was done using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21.0. Result: In the present study platelet count of 9 (22%) patients were <25000 lac and platelet count of 13 (33%) patients were 15000 to 50000 lac. In the present study 3 (7.50%) patients need ICU care followed by 9 (22.50%) need platelet transfusion, 7 (17.50%) need C PAP, 8 (20%) need PPH, 7 (17.50%) need abortion and 2 (5%) patients need abruption. In the present study 5 (12.5%) fetals suffered from fetal distress followed by 2 (5%) suffered from Oligohydramnios. In the present study 4 (35%) neonatal were normal. 8 (20%) neonatal need SNCU admission, 2 (5%) neonatal need NICU admission. Conclusion: Pregnancy-related dengue illness progressed quickly and caused serious consequences. For both the mother and the fetus to have a positive outcome, close materno-fetal monitoring and prompt obstetric care are necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The Internet is used as a tool to seek health information by individuals. Mental health concerns are the high prevalence of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and preventive steps are required to curb the illness. Therefore, to gain more insight into health concerns, it is now a common practice to seek health information on the Internet. This study propose an integrated theoretical model to explore the relationship between COVID-19 protocols and perceived online trust with online health information seeking intention (OHISI) and a moderating effect of perceived severity and perceived urgency. Design/methodology/approach: Data are collected from 325 athletes in the category of individual and team sports through an online survey in a Likert-scale questionnaire. The analysis is performed with a quantitative methodology. Findings: The study reveals the bright side of online health information (OHI), which brings athletes together and has played out with virtual happy hours, meetings and events. The bright side of OHI reflects social, cultural, technological and economic benefits. An OHI chatbot offers bright personalised side information to the individual seeker, which is more convenient and efficient than human capabilities. Originality/value: The pivotal contribution is the integrated theoretical framework that is derived from multidisciplinary literature to capture the complexity of OHI. Also, it conceptualises the constructs in the context of OHI and COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Ageing is inevitable for any human being. According to census 2011, the population of over 60 years of age in India accounted 8% of the total population, as of 2016 it is 8.6% which is projected to increase to 20% by 2050. Aim & Objective: To estimate the prevalence of depression among geriatrics age group and to identify factors associated with depression among geriatrics age group. Material & Methods: It was a cross-sectional study conducted between April 2022 and September 2022. Total sample size was 138. Number of subjects to be sampled from each village was calculated by probability proportion to size (PPS). Finally using simple random sampling method, participants were selected from each village. Results: The majority of the participants were in between 60 and 65 years old (63.8% of the total), next 66 to 75 years old (26.8% of the total), and finally over 75 years old (9.4% of the total). The mean age of participants in the study was 65.06+6.60 years. The proportion of male participants in the study was 47.1%, and the proportion of female participants was 52.9%. In present study, it was found that 65.9% had depression among the geriatrics population. Conclusion: This study also portrays significant association with age group, marital status, occupation, type of family and smoking history among depression among geriatrics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a progressive disease with high morbidity and mortality. Risk stratification and initiation of dual or triple combination therapy has a better clinical response, especially in high-risk patients. Unfortunately, prostacyclin analogues are not marketed in India; hence, the use of these medications is limited. We report the benefits and difficulties of using iloprost inhalation in patients with advanced PAH in India. Methods. In this prospective observational study, we included patients with group 1 PAH. Inhaled iloprost was initiated as an add-on therapy for patients who had clinical, echocardiographic or laboratory deterioration on dual oral medications. Patients with clinical instability were excluded. All patients underwent thorough clinical evaluation, detailed echocardiogram and laboratory investigations. Patients were started on inhaled iloprost 2.5 μg six times daily and closely followed up. The dose was escalated if necessary. On followup, clinical echocardiographic and laboratory evaluation was done on all patients. Results. Fourteen patients (11 women) with a median age of 32 years (2--66 years) with group 1 PAH were started on inhaled iloprost as an add-on therapy. Improvement in clinical parameters, WHO functional class, echocardiographicderived right ventricular function, and N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-pro-BNP) levels were observed in 10 of 14 patients. A median increase of 31% (4.2, 106%) in the distance travelled during 6-minute walk test, a median increase of 45% (--20, 120%) in right ventricular fractional area change, a median increase of 27% (--16.7, 60%) in tricuspid annular peak systolic excursion and a median decrease of 36.7% (--69.6, 17.2%) in NT-pro-BNP levels were observed after initiation of medication. Three patients had progression of symptoms and were then referred for lung/heart--lung transplant. One patient developed progression of symptoms after an excellent initial response and transitioned to subcutaneous treprostinil. Improvement in clinical, echocardiographic and laboratory features allowed us to successfully perform surgical Potts shunt in 2 patients. The medications were well tolerated with minimal and transient side-effects. There were no deaths. Conclusion. Inhaled iloprost can be used with acceptable benefits and minimal side-effects in patients with PAH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we have proposed a stochastic Knapsack Problem (KP) based mathematical model for small-scale vegetable sellers in India and solved it by an advanced Genetic Algorithm. The knapsack problem considered here is a bounded one, where vegetables are the objects. In this model, we have assumed that different available vegetables (objects) have different weights (that are available), purchase costs, and profits. The maximum weight of vegetables that can be transported by a seller is limited by the carrying capacity of the vegetable carrier and the business capital of the seller is also limited. The aim of the proposed mathematical model is to maximize the total profit of the loaded/traded items, with a set of predefined constraints on the part of the vegetable seller or retailer. This problem has been solved in a Type-2 fuzzy environment and the Critical Value (CV) reduction method is utilized to defuzzify the objective value. We have projected an improved genetic algorithm based approach, where we have incorporated two features, namely refinement and immigration. We have initially considered benchmark instances and subsequently some redefined cases for experimentation. Moreover, we have solved some randomly generated proposed KP instances in Type-2 fuzzy environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Generative Adversarial Network for inverting Moho architecture from observed gravity anomalies. • Spherical prism based forward gravity modelling for high accuracy. • Near realistic Moho topography generation using FFT filtering technique for training the network. • Fast and accurate estimation of high-resolution Moho without prior knowledge of inversion algorithms. Accurate estimation of Moho topography plays a crucial role in understanding Earth's structure, geodynamic processes, and resource exploration. This study presents a novel approach that utilizes conditional Generative Adversarial Networks (cGAN) to reveal Moho topography based on observed gravity anomalies. Synthetic training datasets of Moho topography were generated using the FFT filtering method due to the scarcity of true datasets. Spherical prism-based forward gravity modeling was employed to evaluate the resulting gravity anomalies. We compared the performance of our developed deep learning algorithm cGAN (conditional Generative Adversarial Networks) with a traditional inversion technique using various synthetic datasets, and a real case study in southern peninsular India, a geologically diverse region comprising ancient continental tectonic blocks. Bott's inversion scheme was employed as a verification method for the Moho surface estimation using the presented deep learning model. Using spherical prism-based forward gravity modeling, observed gravity anomalies were corrected for multiple factors such as topography, bathymetry, sediments, crustal heterogeneities, and mantle heterogeneities. By removing these effects, we isolated the gravity contribution solely related to pure Moho undulation. The mean Moho depth and density contrast between the crust and mantle were derived from seismic constraints for improving estimation accuracy. The findings demonstrate the potential of the cGAN and spherical prism-based gravity modeling approach in accurately estimating the Moho topography, offering insights into Earth's subsurface structures and enhancing our understanding of geodynamic processes and resource exploration efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Any business that opts to adopt a recommender engine (RE) for various potential benefits must choose from the candidate solutions, by matching to the task of interest and domain. The purpose of this paper is to choose RE that fits best from a set of candidate solutions using rule-based automated machine learning (ML) approach. The objective is to draw trustworthy conclusion, which results in brand building, and establishing a reliable relation with customers and undeniably to grow the business. Design/methodology/approach: An experimental quantitative research method was conducted in which the ML model was evaluated with diversified performance metrics and five RE algorithms by combining offline evaluation on historical and simulated movie data set, and the online evaluation on business-alike near-real-time data set to uncover the best-fitting RE. Findings: The rule-based automated evaluation of RE has changed the testing landscape, with the removal of longer duration of manual testing and not being comprehensive. It leads to minimal manual effort with high-quality results and can possibly bring a new revolution in the testing practice to start a service line "Machine Learning Testing as a service" (MLTaaS) and the possibility of integrating with DevOps that can specifically help agile team to ship a fail-safe RE evaluation product targeting SaaS (software as a service) or cloud deployment. Research limitations/implications: A small data set was considered for A/B phase study and was captured for ten movies from three theaters operating in a single location in India, and simulation phase study was captured for two movies from three theaters operating from the same location in India. The research was limited to Bollywood and Ollywood movies for A/B phase, and Ollywood movies for simulation phase. Practical implications: The best-fitting RE facilitates the business to make personalized recommendations, long-term customer loyalty forecasting, predicting the company's future performance, introducing customers to new products/services and shaping customer's future preferences and behaviors. Originality/value: The proposed rule-based ML approach named "2-stage locking evaluation" is self-learned, automated by design and largely produces time-bound conclusive result and improved decision-making process. It is the first of a kind to examine the business domain and task of interest. In each stage of the evaluation, low-performer REs are excluded which leads to time-optimized and cost-optimized solution. Additionally, the combination of offline and online evaluation methods offer benefits, such as improved quality with self-learning algorithm, faster time to decision-making by significantly reducing manual efforts with end-to-end test coverage, cognitive aiding for early feedback and unattended evaluation and traceability by identifying the missing test metrics coverage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The changes in land use and regional climate together with human interventions affect the hydrological processes, resulting in the spatial and temporal alterations of surface and subsurface flow processes. Both climate and land surface change have adverse implications on the natural hydrological system in terms of variation in the run-off regime, surface storage, evapotranspiration, subsurface flow and infiltration, thereby affecting the hydrology of the river basin as a whole. Even though several studies worldwide have attempted to address the influence of climate change, land-use change and human activities on the hydrology of river basins, either as a whole or limited to a few components of the hydrological cycle, limited attention has been given to study the hydrological changes in the river basins of arid and semi-arid tropics, which are essentially fed by precipitation. The objective of the study is to analyse the changes in hydrological characteristics of the Cauvery river basin, a semi-arid river basin in South India. The changes in the hydrology of the Cauvery river basin are studied by analysing the trends in hydro-meteorological parameters using Mann-Kendall trend tests and Sen's estimator of the slope. The results showed that the changes in the volume of rainfall and the number of rainy days significantly affect the overall hydrological regime of the river basin. The analysis of annual and seasonal rainfall over the Cauvery river basin showed a decreasing trend in the middle Cauvery basin. A declining trend in the number of rainfall events was also observed in the middle Cauvery region. The effect of decreasing trend in the volume of rainfall and number of rainy days is evident from the decreasing trends in the streamflow of the main channel and tributaries of the Cauvery river. The regions of increase in evapotranspiration showed a significant correlation with the regions which exhibited a decline in groundwater level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the energy use pattern in wheat crop cultivation in the Himalayan Tarai region of India among different farmer groups. A total of 250 farmers from 59 villages were interviewed and information on various inputs in wheat crop production was collected during 2015-16. Based on the information, all the inputs in wheat crop production were identified and converted into energy using standard energy equivalents. Results showed that the total energy expenditure in wheat crop production in the region was 20497.1 MJ/ha in which fertilizer, fuel and seed shared 85% of the total energy. Fertilizer alone accounted for 50.2% of total energy followed by fuel (22.6%). It was estimated that farmers of the large and medium category used more energy compared to those having small landholding, but also produced more grains. Operation-wise, fertilizer application consumed maximum energy followed by tillage operation. The average value estimated for output-to-unit input energy ratio was 3.02, whereas it was 3.26, 3.15, 3.14, 3.11 and 2.95 for large, medium, semi-medium, small and marginal category farmers respectively. It can be concluded from the present study that energy consumption has a positive relationship with yield. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Incidence of diabetes mellitus has increased over the past few years, mainly due to our eating habits and physical inactivity. This also includes the use of artificial sweetening agents which have broadly replaced other forms of sugars and have shown a paradoxical, negative effect on blood glucose. Ingestion of these artificial sweeteners (AS) results in the release of insulin from pancreas which is mistaken for glucose (due to their sweet taste). This increases the levels of insulin in blood eventually leading to decreased receptor activity due to insulin resistance. Methodology: It is a crosssectional study that was conducted on patients diagnosed with type-2 diabetes mellitus of a tertiary care hospital in Central India. All the diabetics that presented in the OPD were divided into 2 groups based on whether they use AS (group A) or not (group B). Insulin resistance was calculated for each group using HOMA-IR and graphs were plotted. Results: The HOMAIR values for Group A and B ranged from 0.9–24.33 and 0.12–10.83 with mean values 7.39 and 2.6, respectively, showing that the ones who used AS had a higher insulin resistance. The study also showed that the duration of use of artificial sweeteners had a direct impact on insulin resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: The compliance of safety and quality parameters laid out by national and international guidelines in outdoor blood donation camps has not been studied in India. Our study aimed at identifying, monitoring, analyzing, and developing preventive strategies for several key parameters associated with the quality and safety of outdoor voluntary blood donation camps (VBDC). Settings: The study covered a total of 424 VBDCs at various locations in Bengaluru, Karnataka (South India) from 2009 to 2013. Seven government hospitals based blood banks, three private hospitals based blood banks and two voluntary standalone blood banks participated in the VBDCs included in the study. Materials and Methods: At the onset, the quality and safety standards to be followed were discussed and agreed upon. During the study, noncompliance (NC) to the agreed upon standards were recorded and shared. Periodic trainings were also organized to help minimize NC. Results: One or more instances of NC in 73% of the VBDCs. Highest NC were observed associated with punctuality (34%), wearing gloves (16%), hemoglobin (Hb) estimation (11%) and donor screening and selection other than Hb check (8-9%). Conclusion: For all 16 parameters under study, significant NC was observed. As a whole private hospital based blood banks were more noncompliant. The high degree of NC to matters relating to quality and safety in VBDCs is high and warrants for urgent attention and further study. Our study also shows that regular monitoring and systematic and strategic intervention can decrease the rate of NC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background & objectives: Malachite green (MG), an environmentally hazardous material, is used as a non permitted food colouring agent, especially in India. Selenium (Se) is an essential nutritional trace element required for animals and humans to guard against oxidative stress induced by xenobiotic compounds of diverse nature. In the present study, the role of the selenium compound diphenylmethyl selenocyanate (DMSE) was assessed on the oxidative stress (OS) induced by a food colouring agent, malachite green (MG) in vivo in mice. Methods: Swiss albino mice (Mus musculus) were intraperitoneally injected with MG at a standardized dose of 100 µg/ mouse for 30 days. DMSE was given orally at an optimum dose of 3 mg/kg b.w. in pre (15 days) and concomitant treatment schedule throughout the experimental period. The parameters viz. ALT, AST, LPO, GSH, GST, SOD, CAT, GPx, TrxR, CA, MN, MI and DNA damage have been evaluated. Results: The DMSE showed its potential to protect against MG induced hepatotoxicity by controlling the serum alanine aminotransferase and aspartate amino transferase (ALT and AST) levels and also ameliorated oxidative stress by modulating hepatic lipid peroxidation and different detoxifying and antioxidative enzymes such as glutathione-S-transferase (GST), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and also the selenoenzymes such as glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and thioredoxin reductase (TrxR) and reduced glutathione level which in turn reduced DNA damage. Interpretation & conclusions: The organo-selenium compound DMSE showed significant protection against MG induced heptotoxicity and DNA damage in murine model. Better protection was observed in pretreatment group than in the concomitant group. Further studies need to be done to understand the mechanism of action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Competing Interests: None declared.

In spite of advances in chelation therapy and screening of blood, mortality associated with the most common life-threatening noncommunicable disease of children in India, transfusion-dependent thalassemia (TDT), remains poorly defined. This study aims at estimating death rates and mortality risk factors associated with TDT. The clinical records of 1087 patients from 5 thalassemia centers in India were retrospectively analyzed from 2011 to 2018. Median patient age was 8.5 years, with 107 patients older than 18 years; 656 patients were male and 431 were female. Demographic details and clinical parameters were analyzed at presentation and at last visit. With 41 recorded deaths, actuarial survival at 26.9 years was 50%, and under-5 mortality was 7 times higher than in the general population. Patients with transfusion-transmitted infections (TTIs) had 3.4 times higher risk for death (P = .031). Serum ferritin higher than 4000 ng/dL had 4.6 times higher risk for mortality compared with ferritin lower than 1000 ng/dL (P = .00063). A hemoglobin drop lower than 2 g/dL per week had 7.7 times higher mortality risk compared with a drop of less than 1 g/dL per week (P < .0001). Social determinants (sex, economic status, and distance from center), splenectomy, and even cardiac complications were not associated with higher mortality risk. Main causes of death were infection, iron overload, TTIs, and allo-immunization. Patients who received more than 4 years of adequate care had more than 66% mortality risk reduction (P < .0001). TDT in India continues to result in high mortality. Ineffective transfusion, TTIs, and chelation continue to be the most significant risk factors. Comprehensive care in dedicated day care centers from early age is likely to improve outcomes., (© 2020 by The American Society of Hematology.)

Background: A liquid Pentavalent (DTwP-Hb-Hib) combination vaccine, developed by Human Biologicals Institute, underwent a Phase III clinical study in India. In this randomized, single blind, non-inferiority study, the immunogenicity and safety of this Investigational vaccine was compared with Pentavac SD® vaccine in 6-8 weeks old healthy infants., Methods: A total of 405 healthy infants aged 6-8 weeks old were randomized in 2:1 ratio to receive three doses of either the Investigational liquid Pentavalent (DTwP-Hb-Hib) combination vaccine or Pentavac SD® vaccine at four to six weeks interval. Immunogenicity was compared by estimation of antibody titers before the first dose and 4-6 weeks after the third dose of vaccination. Safety of each vaccine was assessed and compared by collection of data on solicited and unsolicited adverse events throughout the study period., Results: Out of a total of 405 enrolled subjects, 387 subjects completed the study. The seroconversion rates, seroprotection rates and geometric mean titres of the Investigational liquid Pentavalent (DTwP-Hb-Hib) combination vaccine group were found to be comparable and non-inferior to the Pentavac SD® vaccine group at 4-6 weeks after the third dose of vaccination. Pain, erythema and swelling at the site of injection were found to be the most common local adverse events whereas fever, irritability and unusual crying were found to be the most common systemic adverse events in both the vaccine groups. No vaccine related serious adverse event was reported. In this study, both the Investigational vaccine as well as the Comparator vaccine were found to be immunogenic and well tolerated., Conclusion: After assessment of the results of the study it was concluded that the Investigational liquid Pentavalent (DTwP-Hb-Hib) combination vaccine developed by Human Biologicals Institute was immunogenic and safe when administered to infants aged 6-8 weeks and was non-inferior in immunogenicity and safety to Pentavac SD® vaccine. Clinical Trial Registry of India Identifier: CTRI/2016/01/006541., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Competing Interests: The authors have no competing interests to declare.

Jagriti Innovations developed a collaboration tool in partnership with the Cure2Children Foundation that has been used by health professionals in Italy, Pakistan, and India for the collaborative management of patients undergoing bone marrow transplantation (BMT) for thalassemia major since August 2008. This online open-access database covers data recording, analyzing, and reporting besides enabling knowledge exchange, telemedicine, capacity building, and quality assurance. As of February 2014, over 2400 patients have been registered and 112 BMTs have been performed with outcomes comparable to international standards, but at a fraction of the cost. This approach avoids medical emigration and contributes to local healthcare strengthening and competitiveness. This paper presents the experience and clinical outcomes associated with the use of this platform built using open-source tools and focusing on a locally pertinent tertiary care procedure-BMT., (Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.)