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In this paper, a comparative study of microstrip patch antenna using microstrip line feed and coaxial feed is proposed. Rogers RT5880 is used as a substrate on which metal patch is mounted. The designed antenna resonates at 9.3 GHz (Radar frequency X band). Design is simulated using computer simulation technology. The proposed antenna has Voltage Standing Wave Ratio (VSWR) of 1.258 and 1.485, Gain of 7.622 dB and 7.548 dB, Directivity of 7.850 dBi and 7.773 dBi and radiation efficiency of 94.89% and 94.95% with return loss of −18.9dB and −14.209 dB for Microstrip line feed and coaxial feedrespectively.

An optical diagnostic technique to determine the order and concentration of lithium polysulfides in lithium–sulfur (Li–S) battery electrolytes has been developed. One of the major challenges of lithium–sulfur batteries is the problem of polysulfide shuttling between the electrodes, which leads to self-discharge and loss of active material. Here we present an optical diagnostic for quantitative in situ measurements of lithium polysulfides using attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. Simulated infrared spectra of lithium polysulfide molecules were generated using computational quantum chemistry routines implemented in Gaussian 09. The theoretical spectra served as a starting point for experimental characterization of lithium polysulfide solutions synthesized by the direct reaction of lithium sulfide and sulfur. Attenuated total reflection FT-IR spectroscopy was used to measure absorption spectra. The lower limit of detection with this technique is 0.05 M. Measured spectra revealed trends with respect to polysulfide order and concentration, consistent with theoretical predictions, which were used to develop a set of equations relating the order and concentration of lithium polysulfides in a sample to the position and area of a characteristic infrared absorption band. The diagnostic routine can measure the order and concentration to within 5% and 0.1 M, respectively.

A novel spectro-electrochemical cell for in operando FT-IR spectroscopy has been developed. Attenuated total reflection allows FT-IR measurements in coin cell geometry. Polysulfide evolution in Li-S batteries was studied extensively using the cell.

Wireless sensor networks (WSN) consist of hundreds of miniature sensor nodes to sense various events in the surrounding environment and report back to the base station. Sensor networks are at the base of internet of things (IoT) and smart computing applications where a function is performed as a result of sensed event or information. However, in resource-limited WSN authenticating a remote user is a vital security concern. Recently, researchers put forth various authentication protocols to address different security issues. Gope et al presented a protocol claiming resistance against known attacks. A thorough analysis of their protocol shows that it is vulnerable to user traceability, stolen verifier, and denial of service (DoS) attacks. In this article, an enhanced symmetric key-based authentication protocol for IoT-based WSN has been presented. The proposed protocol has the ability to counter user traceability, stolen verifier, and DoS attacks. Furthermore, the proposed protocol has been simulated and verified using Proverif and BAN logic. The proposed protocol has the same communication cost as the baseline protocol; however, in computation cost, it has 52.63% efficiency as compared with the baseline protocol.

Background: In this study, our aim was to identify and isolate Candida species from patients admitted in ICU,s of our hospital and to determine their susceptibilities to various antifungal agents so as to find the local resistance pattern and guide for empirical treatment.Methods: In our study 37 strains of candida were isolated (4 Candida albicans, 33 Non-albicans Candida strains). Candida species were identified by conventional, biochemical and molecular methods. Antifungal susceptibility tests for amphotericin B, fluconazole, itraconazole, ketoconazole and voriconazole were performed with broth microdilution method and E- tests as described by National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS).Results: Out of 37 Candida strains, the most prevalent species were C. tropicalis (43.2%), C. parapsilosis (24.3%), C. krusei (16.2%), C. albicans (10.8%), and C. glabrata (2.7%). Among all strains four strains (10.8 %) were resistant, two Candida albicans where found resistant to fluconazole one Candida krusei and one Candida parapsilosis were found to be resistant to all azoles.Conclusions: Candidemia continues to be associated with substantial morbidity and mortality and non albicans Candida species are the commonly isolated pathogen from those patients admitted in tertiary care hospitals in Indian scenario. Thus, it is imperative to perform antifungal susceptibility to select appropriate and effective antifungal therapy.

Battery development is being accelerated by the use of operando characterization tools, which provide real-time measurements of chemistry and transport during battery operation. While much attention has focused on recent advancements in diagnostic tools, such as x-ray spectroscopy and tomography or neutron reflectometry, optical diagnostics continue to provide new insights into battery chemistry and transport. Optical diagnostics, including ultraviolet and infrared absorption spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, optical microscopy, and fluorescence, are being used to study complex battery phenomena from dendrite growth and solid electrolyte interface formation to electrolyte stability. Optical access is a fundamental challenge to using optical characterization in batteries, as electrochemistry necessarily occurs between two conductors, which are opaque to electromagnetic radiation in the UV, visible, and infrared. While transparent conductors have been used in select cases, most optical characterization studies employ custom electrochemical cells with modified battery geometries to allow for optical access (so called “spectro-electrochemical” cells). Spectro-electrochemical cells create unique challenges for operando battery characterization, as the observed trends are necessarily impacted by modifications to battery geometry and materials. The recent commercialization of spectro-electrochemical cells is accelerating adoption of these techniques. In this work, we review operando optical characterization tools applied to battery research. A recently developed diagnostic using attenuated total reflection infrared spectroscopy is also presented, including applications in lithium sulfur and lithium ion batteries. Operando measurements of the polysulfide shuttle mechanism in a Li-S battery is presented, including the impact of additives on the shuttle mechanism. Electrolyte decomposition in Li-ion batteries during SEI formation is also reported. Finally, operando measurements of electrolyte chemical stability during battery operation at elevated temperature is presented. An optical thermometry technique is also demonstrated for internal battery temperature measurements.

Decomposition of ethylene carbonate (EC) in lithium ion batteries leads to battery swelling, off-gassing, and thermal runaway. Ethylene carbonate decomposes electrochemically by reduction at the anode or chemically in the bulk electrolyte at elevated temperature. The formation of a solid electrolyte interface (SEI) on the anode limits electrochemical decomposition so long as the SEI remains intact. While neat ethylene carbonate is thermally stable at temperatures exceeding 150°C, EC-based electrolytes containing lithium hexafluorophosphate (LiPF6) salt are known to chemically react at temperatures as low as 50°C. Decomposition rate has been shown to increase with higher salt content, indicating a salt-catalyzed thermal decomposition mechanism. Trace contaminants, especially moisture, have also been shown to strongly effect electrolyte thermal stability. Thus, small impurities in the manufacture of battery components can have dramatic effect on electrolyte stability and battery aging. Electrolyte decomposition mechanisms have been studied extensively. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and accelerated rate calorimetry (ARC) can identify temperatures of reactions, kinetic parameters, and heat release rates. Decomposition mechanisms and reaction products are also identified indirectly by ex situ electrolyte and off-gas analysis. Despite numerous studies, much remains unknown about decomposition chemistry in lithium ion batteries, especially the role of trace impurities on stability. Further, little is known about electrolyte decomposition mechanisms in batteries, as few operando electrolyte diagnostics exist. In this work, the chemical stability of EC at elevated temperature is studied using infrared spectroscopy. Electrolyte samples are heated on an attenuated total reflection (ATR) spectrometer stage using both liquid samples and in operating half and full cell batteries. Liquid samples were prepared in an argon glove box with varying concentrations of LiPF6 salt, H2O, and in CO2 gas environments (to simulate cathode off-gassing). Accurate temperature readings up to 150°C were made using infrared thermometry. Operando spectroscopic measurements of electrolyte stability in graphite half cells, lithium cobalt oxide (LiCoO2) half cells, and lithium ion full cells were also collected. Reaction rates and activation energies are also reported using time-resolved infrared spectroscopy.

Background: To quantify the extent of emergency department overcrowding in a tertiary care hospital and to identify possible solutions.Methods: A retrospective hospital record-based study was conducted at Government Medical College Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir, India from the Department of Pediaterics and comprised data of all the patients presenting to the emergency department between 1st January 2018 to 31st December 2018. Demographic characteristics, length of stay (LOS), revisit frequency and consultation status of the patients were determined.Results: Of the 1,17,035 patients, 25,223 (43.89%) were discharged straight away while 24,113 (41.95%) were admitted to different wards and subspecialties. Besides, 6464 (11.25%) patients left the department against medical advice, 861 (1.5%) expired, 741 (1.29%) were referred to other hospitals and 67 (0.12%) were dead on arrival. Of those who were admitted, 1,4498 (60.13%) patients stayed for more than 10 hours before getting the main hospital bed. Mostly, the delays observed were due to delay in getting lab reports, already preoccupied ventilators and incubators in pediatric and neonatal intensive care units, not using checklist for proper reassessment of patients and early discharge, overburdened by patients coming in just for nebulization and intravenous or intramuscular medications, the admitting residents detain the unstable patient longer in emergency department before admission to wards.Conclusions: In conclusion, cooperation of the managers, relevant departments and a multidisciplinary approach are necessary to achieve the goals to reduce overcrowding in the emergency departments.

Background: India with 1.35 billion people is the second most populated country in the world next to China. Total fertility rate of India is 2.2 and the current total fertility rate of Jammu and Kashmir is 1.7 which is still lagging behind various states. This study was conducted to investigate the knowledge, attitude and practices of contraception in women of reproductive age in this set up.Methods: The present cross-sectional study was carried out in patients attending OPD (outpatient department) of Obstetrics and Gynecology at ASCOMS, Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir, India from 1st September 2017 to 31st August 2018. 200 married women aged between 18-49 years were included in this study. Socio-demographic characteristics of the women, their knowledge, attitude and practices on contraception were evaluated with the help of predesigned questionnaire.Results: Out of 200 women, maximum respondents belong to age group of 21-25 years (75.6%). Most of the contraceptive non-users belongs to age below 20 years (62.5%). Majority of respondents were Hindu (70.37%), maximum studied up to secondary level education (84.61%), 70.30% were housewives and 56.58% belongs to middle class. In 45% of respondents, media was the main source of information. Preferred spacing method was condom in 85% of cases. 68% women had knowledge of female sterilization. According to most women, family planning methods are meant for limitations of birth (43%) and 36% meant for spacing of birth. 80% women had positive attitude towards contraceptive usage. 50% experienced side effects with the use of contraceptives. The most common side effect was menstrual irregularities in 25% of cases. Most common reason for not using contraceptive methods among non-respondents were lack of knowledge in 50% of cases.Conclusions: The study showed that inspite of having good knowledge, utilization of contraceptives were less because of large family norm, religious myth, cultural and political barriers. Ignorance regarding use and side effects of various contraceptive methods is another reason for inadequate practice of family planning methods.

Background: The increasing clinical incidence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is a major global health care issue. Among MDR pathogens, Klebsiella pneumoniae (KP) is one of the world's most dangerous superbugs; and becoming resistant to virtually every antibiotic available today. The objective were to study the clinical characteristics of neonatal sepsis caused by KP and the antibiotic sensitivity pattern of Klebsiella pneumoniae in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in northern india.Methods: This observational study was conducted with neonates who were admitted in NICU of Government Medical College (GMC) Jammu (Jammu and Kashmir) India and whose blood culture showed growth of KP in a study period of 1 year between 1st January 2018 to 31st December 2018. The data was entered into a register and presented by descriptive statistics.Results: Twenty four neonates were included in the study. The clinical presentations include refusal of feed (83.3%), lethargy (79.2%), respiratory distress (70.8%), shock (70.8%), fever (37.5%) or hypothermia (58.3%), apnea (29.2%) and abdominal distension (33.3%). Most common perinatal risk factor was prolonged labor (>24 h) seen in 79.2% of cases. C-reactive protein (CRP) level was positive in 95% of the cases. The mortality was 25%. KP strains were sensitive to colistin, polymyxin B, cotrimoxazole and tetracyclines.Conclusions: The clinical manifestations of neonatal sepsis caused by KP are usually non-specific. CRP detection is valuable for early diagnosis of sepsis. Neonatal sepsis persists as a cause of mortality in this region. Regular antimicrobial surveillance for empirical treatment remains an important component of neonatal care.

Background: Neonatal hypothermia is increasingly recognized as a risk factor for newborn survival. World Health Organization (WHO) recommends maintaining a warm chain and skin-to-skin care for thermo-protection of newborn children. Since little is known about practices related to newborn hypothermia, this study’s goal was to assess the knowledge of mothers of newborns especially LBW babies on prevention of hypothermia and to provide them the knowledge of cost-effective thermal protection measures.Methods: It was a cross-sectional study using pre-tested, pre-structured questionnaire. 108 postnatal mothers having LBW babies admitted in postnatal wards of Government Medical College, Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir, India were included in the study and analysed using SPSS version 20.Results: Out of 108 mothers, maximum mothers were of age less than 25 years (51%), 60% were from rural area, residing in nuclear family were 62%. Mothers attended hospital for confinement were 95% and 85% started breast feeding their babies. 45% had knowledge of keeping the baby warm by immediately wiping the baby and only 3% mothers had knowledge of Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC).Conclusions: Understanding and addressing community-based practices on hypothermia, prevention and management might help to improve newborn survival in resource-limited settings. Possible interventions include the implementation of skin-to-skin care in rural areas and the use of appropriate, low-cost newborn warmers to prevent hypothermia and support families in their provision of newborn thermal protection. Training family members to support mothers in the provision of thermo-protection for their newborns could facilitate these practices. Those who fail to fully attend antenatal clinics should be targeted for newborn care education.

Background: The objective of this study is to determine the trends of patients presenting in Obstetrics and Gynecology emergency department and to identify possible solutions.Methods: This retrospective hospital record-based study was conducted at Government Medical College Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir, India from the department of Gynecology and Obstetrics and comprised data of all patients presenting to the emergency department between 1st January 2018 to 31st December 2018. Patients were assessed in terms of demographic features, presenting complaints, admission types (urgent, non-urgent), referral from other hospitals or coming from home. The total number of patients admitted and the number of patients sent home was also recorded.Results: A total of 1,46,366 patients were analyzed retrospectively. Out of which 63,004 (43.05%) were send home from the OPD while 83,362 (56.95%) presented to the emergency department. Of them, 49,383 (59.24%) were discharged straight away from the ED after emergency treatment and care while 339,79 (40.76%) were admitted. Out of 339,79 patients, 24,932 (73.37%) stayed in the emergency whereas 9047 (26.63%) admitted into different wards for elective procedures. Majority of the patients 26,098 (89.92%) came from home and 2927 patients (10.08%) were referred from other hospitals. Labour pains 7833 (31.42%) was the most common presentation. Trauma was the reason for admission in 112 (0.45%) patients out of 29025. 971 (3.89%) patients presented with gynecological problems. 4093 (14.10%) patients presented with non-urgent indications. Rest of all patients presented with indications which were categorized as urgent and were admitted. All data was analysed using SPSS version 20.Conclusions: To reduce the overcrowding in the emergency department and improve quality of obstetrics and gynecological services, Inpatients and Outpatient departments at primary and secondary care levels need to be strengthened. Patients with non-urgent problems should be provided adequate care at primary and secondary health care centers.

Wireless Sensor Networks have been an active area of research owing to its myriad range of applications. Traditional security protocols are not feasible for such networks due to their resource constraint nature. However, ECC has been considered as a viable cryptographic technique due to its low computational overhead. In this paper study and application of ECC on a popular WSN operating system, TinyOS, has been carried out. Practical implementation of the ECC operations has been performed using TinyECC library. TinyECC has been used to develop custom security protocols on TinyOS. The performance benchmarking of the proposed protocols has also been carried out. The developed protocol has been fused on the MicaZ Motes.

Wireless Sensor Networks has evoked a lot of attention in recent years as it offers a broad horizon of applications in environmental monitoring. Security of such networks is a key area of research as traditional techniques cannot be employed due to their low energy and memory constraints. The cornerstone of security primitives in cryptography is a key exchange. In this paper Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) has been utilized to develop an improved key exchange mechanism for wireless sensor networks. Existing key exchange mechanism has been surveyed and their limitations have been discussed. The developed Protocol has been simulated in TinyOS using Tossim simulator. The protocol has also been ported on MicaZ motes. The performance parameters which include memory and energy has also been measured and benchmarked against ECDH.

Background: Cesarean section (CS) rates are increasing worldwide; however, it can lead to significant increase in maternal and infant morbidity and mortality. This study aimed to determine the rates and trend of cesarean sections in Jammu (Jammu and Kashmir), India.Methods: This was a retrospective hospital record-based study done in patients who were admitted in Government Medical College Jammu (Jammu and Kashmir) India in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology during the study period from Jan 2012 to Dec 2017 and data of CS was collected. The trends and indications for CS over the 5-year period were analyzed with SPSS 12.0 software.Results: During the study period, annual number of deliveries in GMC Jammu increased from 14592 (2012) to 20417 (2017). CS rates increased from 4817 (33.01%) to 8378 (41.03%) with a hike of 8.02%. Commonest indication for CS was post CS pregnancies (25.43%-34.24%) followed by non-progress of labor (NPOL), fetal distress, breech presentation, antepartum hemorrhage, cephalo-pelvic disproportion (CPD) and severe pregnancy induced hypertension (PIH).Conclusions: This study indicates that rapid socio-economic changes and the outlook towards medical intervention by the women, families and society are largely responsible for rising trend of CS. Other factors that have been reported for this are fear of pain; concerns about genital modifications after vaginal delivery; misconception that CS is safer for the baby; fear of medical litigation and lower tolerance to any complications or outcomes other than the perfect baby are responsible for the current high incidence of caesarean section in many states and urban centres with post cesarean pregnancy being the largest contributor. From doctors point of view, it is a defensive medicine to have better outcome.

Background: The aim of the study was to find out the reasons behind healthy women preferring cesarean section (CS) in the absence of obstetric and medical indications.Methods: This was a prospective study among women who came for delivery at ASCOMS, Jammu (Jammu and Kashmir), India a tertiary level teaching hospital. All women who underwent caesarean delivery for maternal request were included in this study.Results: The total number of deliveries during the study period (9 months) were 889. There were 636 (71.54%) vaginal deliveries and 253 (28.46%) CSs. Among 253 CSs, 25 (9.88%) had maternal request as their indication. Majority 13 (52%) of them were in the age group of 20 - 25 years. Multigravida opted for CS more than primigravida (17 versus 8). Most 10 (40%) of them were Graduates and 15 (60%) were working. Majority of them 13 (52%) were in class II socioeconomic status of Kuppuswamy’s scale. The various reasons for women requesting cesarean delivery were refusal of vaginal birth after cesarean section (VBAC), simultaneous tubectomy, painless delivery, prolonged infertility, afraid of neonatal outcome and astrological concerns.Conclusions: Most of the women who opted for cesarean delivery in our study was for preventable reasons like painless labor, previous negative birth experience and simultaneous tubectomy which would have been avoided by prior counseling starting from antenatal period and by providing labor analgesia. Proper education of the patient and personal involvement of the treating obstetrician in counselling the patient and her supporters can reduce cesarean delivery for maternal request.

Background: Febrile seizures are the most common cause of convulsions in children and a frequent cause of emergency hospital admissions. There are different hypothesis about neurotransmitters and trace element (such as zinc) changes in cerebrospinal fluid and serum, which can have a role in pathogenesis of febrile convulsions. Hence we want to study this association in our set up. Objectives was to study the association between serum zinc levels and febrile seizures in childern in our set up.Methods: This hospital based, prospective case control study was done in SKIMS Soura Srinagar, Kashmir (J and K), India for one-year period from August 2015 to July 2016. A total of 100 children aged 6 months to 6 years admitted in the hospital presenting with febrile seizures after fulfilling our inclusion and exclusion criteria were enrolled for the study. Informed consent was taken from their attendants and classified into 2 groups of 50 each. Patients with history of simple febrile seizures were taken as cases and those with fever without seizures as controls. A detailed history was taken, and complete physical examination was done on the patients and recorded on a precoded and pretested proforma. Blood was collected within 12 hours of admission and serum zinc levels were estimated. For statistical analysis, SPSS 17 program using t-test was employed. Chi-square test was performed to compare proportion between 2 or more discrete variables. P

Background: Poisoning is a common preventable cause of morbidity and mortality in children. Most of the poisoning in children less than 5 years of age is accidental. Not much of Indian data is available particularly from this part of the country. So, authors conducted a retrospective hospital record-based study to know clinical profile and outcome of children presenting with poisoning in our set up. The objective was to study clinical profile, outcome of childhood poisoning and intoxication in Jammu District (Jammu and Kashmir) IndiaMethods: This was a retrospective hospital record-based study done in patients who were admitted in pediatric wards and pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) of SMGS Hospital Jammu with history of ingestion of poison or intoxication or envenomation from January 2017 to December 2017. The data collected was analyzed with SPSS 12.0 software. Demographic and etiological factors were retrospectively recorded and analyzed.Results: There were 227 children enrolled in study with an incidence of 0.99%. Male: female ratio was 1.2:1. Most of the children were asymptomatic and majority of them arrived to the hospital in less than 2 h. The majority of our patients 115 (50.66%) were in the 13-18 years age group. Organophosphorus poisoning was the commonest poisoning seen in 51 (57.30%) patients followed by snake bite 29 (55.77%), insect bite 17 (32.69%), Phenol 14 (77.78%), kerosene 11 (12.36%) and rat poison 10 (11.23%). Alcohol problem occurred in 9 (24.32%) cases. The most frequent cause of suicide attempt were school problems, followed by conflict in the family. Route of poisoning was ingestion in 173 (76.21%) cases followed by bites 53 (23.35%) and inhalation in 1 (0.44%) case. Vomiting 105 (46.25%) was the predominant clinical feature. Aspiration pneumonia 17 (43.59%) followed by respiratory failure 7 (17.95%) were the most common complications. During treatment 67 (27.91%) received gastric lavage and 28 (12.33%) received antidotes. Overall survival was 210 (92.51%), among remaining cases 2 (0.88%) cases died in hospital and 15 (6.61%) cases left against medical adviceConclusions: Parental health education will decrease the occurrence of childhood poisoning. Along with the parents and teachers, media also should take active steps to educate the rural population about the preventive measures from bite, stings and handling of poisonous agents.

This article describes a decentralized secure migration process of mobile agents between Mobile-C agencies. Mobile-C is an IEEE Foundation for Intelligent Physical Agents (FIPA) standard compliant multi-agent platform for supporting C/C++ mobile and stationary agents. Mobile-C is specially designed for mechatronic and factory automation systems where malicious agents may cause physical damage to machinery and personnel. As a mobile agent migrates from one agency to another in an open network, the security concern of mobile agent systems should not be neglected. Security breaches can be minimized considerably if an agency only accepts mobile agents from agencies known and trusted by the system administrator. In Mobile-C, a strong authentication process is used by sender and receiver agencies to authenticate each other before agent migration. The security framework also aims to guarantee the integrity and confidentiality of the mobile agent while it is in transit. This assures that all agents within an agency framework were introduced to that framework under the supervision and permission of a trusted administrator. The Mobile-C Security protocol is inspired from the Secure Shell (SSH) protocol, which avoids a single point of failure since it does not rely on a singular remote third party for the security process. In this protocol, both agencies must authenticate each other using public key authentication, before a secure migration process. After successful authentication, an encrypted mobile agent is transferred and its integrity is verified by the receiver agency. This article describes the Mobile-C secure migration process and presents a comparison study with the SSH protocol. The performance analysis of the secure migration process is performed by comparing the turnaround time of mobile agent with and without security options in a homogeneous environment. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Electrolytes composed of alkyl carbonate solvents with lithium hexafluorophosphate (LiPF6) salt have enjoyed near universal adoption in lithium ion batteries. Despite the wide adoption of these electrolytes, significant safety issues can occur under mechanical, electrochemical, or thermal abuse. Safety concerns will only increase with an expanded number of battery applications (including emerging markets for used batteries), higher energy density, and a need for extreme fast charging in electric vehicle applications. The stability of ethylene carbonate (EC) against oxidation at the cathode while forming a stable solid electrolyte interface (SEI) upon reduction at the anode has made this solvent a key ingredient in almost all lithium ion batteries. Linear carbonates (e.g. diethyl carbonate (DEC) or dimethyl carbonate (DMC)) are mixed with EC to reduce viscosity and increase ion mobility, while maintaining a wide electrochemical stability window. While stable against reduction at the anode, the higher volatility and lower boiling points of linear alkyl carbonates increase risk of vapor buildup within the battery. At elevated temperature, these carbonate-based electrolytes become unstable as SEI decomposition, solvent-salt reactions, anode reduction, cathode oxidation, and thermal decomposition lead to thermal runaway, battery venting, fire, or explosion. In an effort to improve safety and explore alternative electrolytes, numerous studies have sought to identify the underlying mechanisms of electrolyte decomposition. Differential scanning calorimetry and accelerated rate calorimetry experiments are commonly used to identify onset temperatures of key reactions, global kinetic parameters, and heat release rates. Ex-situ electrolyte and gas analyses are also used to identify decomposition mechanisms and reaction products. However, much remains unknown about the detailed decomposition chemistry in lithium ion batteries. Furthermore, decomposition chemistry is highly dependent on the composition of the electrolyte and electrode, making it difficult to predict thermal stability in new or modified battery chemistries. Here we present operando Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy measurements of electrolyte decomposition in lithium ion batteries. Using attenuated total reflection (ATR) spectroscopy, we simultaneously monitored electrolyte composition and electrochemical performance of heated LiCoO2 coin cells with EC/DEC/LiPF6 electrolyte and Celgard separators. Using the ATR method, an infrared evanescent wave propagates several microns into the electrolyte-saturated pores of the anode and cathode layers, respectively. The resulting absorption spectra are analyzed to identify electrolyte species and their molecular bonds. The coin cell geometry allows for careful control and monitoring of electrolyte temperature and composition at charge/discharge rates > 1C. Electrolyte decomposition was monitored during battery cycling as a function of electrolyte composition, battery temperature, C-rate, and state of charge. The role of LiPF6 in solvent decomposition reactions was also explored. These measurements captured the dynamics of SEI formation on the graphite anode, including identification of key molecular bonds involved in EC decomposition during formative cycles from density functional theory modeling. At temperatures above 70°C, SEI decomposition was observed, followed by an increase in EC decomposition. Overcharging resulted in irreversible damage of the LiCoO2 cathode without any observable change in electrolyte composition. Spectral analysis further revealed distinct reaction mechanisms for temperature-induced EC decomposition and EC decomposition associated with SEI formation.

Background: Breast milk is a complete food for growing children until 6 months of age, and mothers play a important role in their growth and development. So, promoting their attitude towards the benefits of breastfeeding ensures guarantee child health in the future. The objective of this study was to assess the knowledge and practice of Breast feeding with their determinants among mothers in Jammu.Methods: In this cross‑sectional study, 200 mothers attending the well‑baby clinics in Jammu from June 2017 to Febuary 2018 were selected, data was collected by face-to-face interviews using a structured questionnaire.Results: Of the 200 women, 70% were 21–30 years of age and 61% of mothers have studied only up to primary school. Majority of deliveries (80%) took place in government run hospitals. 75% of the infants were born out of normal delivery. 47.5% of mothers did not feed colostrum to their babies. Breastfeeding was initiated in only 13% of babies within one hour after birth. 52.5% babies were fed with pre-lacteals. In 7% of babies bathing was done immediately after birth.Conclusions: Maternal knowledge and attitude towards exclusive Breast feeding was moderate. It is essential to plan for mothers by officials in order to promote breast-feeding in the first 6 months of baby's life to enhance positive maternal attitude in this regard.

Background: Congenital heart defects (CHDs) are an important cause of mortality and morbidity in children representing a major global health burden. Not much of Indian data is available particularly from this part of the country. So, authors conduct a retrospective study to know the spectrum of congenital heart disease in our set up.Methods: A retrospective hospital based study was carried out in the neonatal intensive care unit of SMGS Hospital, Jammu from January 2017 until December 2017 to see the spectrum of CHD.Results: There were 5552 neonates admitted during the study period out of which 68 were found to have CHD. The prevalence was 12.24 per 1000 admitted neonates. Out of 68 admitted neonates, 41were males (60.3 %) and 27 females (39.7%). Clinically Respiratory distress (51.47%) was the commonest presenting symptom followed by Cyanosis (16.18%), refusal of feed (13.23%) and murmer (10.3%).46 (67.65%) newborn had acyanotic and 22 (32.35%) cyanotic congenital heart lesions. Ventricular septal defect (27.94%) was the commonest acyanotic congenital heart defects whereas Tetrology of Fallot (14.70%) was the commonest cyanotic congenital heart diseases. Cleft lip and Cleft Palate was found in 12.5% followed by Down’s syndrome in 3.57% of cases of newborns with CHD. The mode of delivery was spontaneous in 64.71% followed by Elective LSCS were 23.53% and Emergency LSCS were 11.76%.Conclusions: There is an urgent need for government and non‑government organizations to establish well‑equipped cardiothoracic surgical centers across the country especially in Jammu to cater for children with CHDs.

Aspergillus fumigatus produced more protein (114 μg/ml vs 51 μg/ml) and a higher specific activity of the endoglucanase (9158 vs 6294) in the culture filtrates from solid state fermentation (SSF) than that from submerged fermentation (SmF) when grown on wheat straw. The activation energy (Ea) of substrate hydrolysis was less (33 kJ mol−1) for the endoglucanase produced under the SSF (SSF-EG) than the enzyme produced under the SmF (SmF-EG), which was 51 kJ mol−1. The SSF-EG was more thermostable as compared to the SmF-EG, evidenced by the larger enthalpy of activation of denaturation, Δ H D * , 152 kJ mol−1 vs 112 kJ mol−1 at 50 °C (similar results at higher temperatures). It was further evidenced by a steeper decline in the half lives (T1/2) of the SmF-EG than the SSF-EG. The free energy changes of activation of denaturation of the enzymes, Δ G D * , were 107 kJ mol−1 and 106 kJ mol−1 for the SSF-EG and the SmF-EG, respectively, at 50 °C (similar results at higher temperatures). The entropies of activation of denaturation, Δ S D * , were positive for both of the enzymes. The melting temperature (Tm) of the enzyme was 5 °C more for the SSF-EG than the SmF-EG.

In the hierarchical structure of IAEA safety performance indicators (SPIs) the top level is operational safety performance. Safety performance cannot be measured directly. Aggregation is a process by which the indices of the lower-level indicators are combined to get the numerical index for the next higher-level indicator. Hence, with the help of aggregation, the numerical index can be obtained for safety performance of a nuclear power plant. Karachi Nuclear Power Complex (KNPC) worked, under the auspices of IAEA, on developing guidelines for establishing goals and thresholds, aggregation to higher-level indicators and trend indices of SPIs. This paper presents the work done by KNPC on aggregation to higher-level indicators.

Most studies of cellulose hydrolysis have been carried out on three components of the cellulolytic systems, viz, endoglucanases, exoglucanases, and cellobiases. Little attention has been paid to the fragmentation activity of certain cellulolytic systems. We have noticed that despite being a more powerful degrader of modified cellulose (CMC), the 7-day grown culture filtrate of Myrothecium verrucaria was less effective than that of Trichoderma reesei at degrading pure unmodified cellulose. Scanning electron microscopy imaging showed that one distinguishing feature of the latter is its ability to fragment (macerate) the cellulose. Cellulose particle size decreased with time as it was incubated in the culture filtrate of T. reesei at 37 °C. This was used as a pre-treatment. Pre-treated cellulose was then washed and incubated with fresh T. reesei or M. verrucaria culture filtrates. Pre-treatment increased liberation of reducing sugars during subsequent incubation of cellulose in T. reesei culture filtrate but not in subsequent incubation in M. verrucaria culture filtrate. It was hypothesized that fragmentation activity of the pre-treatment opened up attack sites for further hydrolysis, but these were not available for attack by other enzyme systems.

Performance indicators have found a wide use in the nuclear industry. IAEA developed a safety performance indicators framework for use by NPPs. Karachi Nuclear Power Complex (KNPC) worked, under the auspices of IAEA, on developing guidelines for establishing goals and thresholds, aggregation to higher levels and trend indexes. This paper describes the work done by KNPC on goals and thresholds along with the recommended guidelines.

Background: Oligohydramnios is a serious complication of pregnancy that is associated with a poor perinatal outcome and complicates 1-5% of pregnancies. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the role of antepartum transabdominal amnioinfusion on amniotic fluid volume/latency period in pregnancies with oligohydramnios.Methods: This study was conducted in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences Soura Srinagar. In this study, a total of 54 pregnant women with ultrasonographically diagnosed oligohydramnios i.e. AFI < 5 cm and gestational age of >24 weeks were taken for therapeutic amnioinfusion and its effects on amniotic fluid volume were studied. Statistical Software SPSS (Version 20.0) and Microsoft excel were used to carry out the statistical analysis of data. P-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results: Mean age of patients in our study was 27.5±3.19 years and gestational age group of 28-34 weeks. The mean AFI pre and post amnioinfusion was found to be 3.3 cm and 8.8 cm respectively. The difference was found to be statistically significant with a p value of 2.5kg. The mean weight of newborn was 2.9±0.59 kgs. The incidence of newborn admissions to NICU was 20.4%. Number of neonatal deaths in our study was 5.6%. There was reduction of neonatal admission to NICU and neonatal deaths after transabdominal amnioinfusion.Conclusions: Antepartum transabdominal amnioinfusion is a useful procedure to reduce complications resulting from decreased intra-amniotic volume. It significantly raises the amniotic fluid especially useful in preterm pregnancies, where the procedure allows for a better perinatal outcome by significantly prolonging the duration of pregnancy, increasing birth weight, preventing fetal distress and thereby reducing operative intervention. Optimizing the selection of patients who are good candidates for the procedure is a prerequisite.

Li-S cells promise a theoretical capacity much greater than existing Li-ion technology, but the problem of polysulfide shuttling, which leads to self-discharge and loss of active material, remains one of the largest barriers to commercial adoption. We report a spectro-electrochemical cell designed for in operando measurements of the order and concentration of lithium polysulfides (Li2Sn, where n is the order). The design is a major improvement on existing cells, which typically require significant modifications from commercial cell geometries and require low charge/discharge rates during operation. The optically accessible Li-S cell resembles a CR2032 battery, and is constructed on a metallic disc with a diamond crystal at its center. Attenuated total reflection (ATR) Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy is used for in-operando measurements of soluble polysulfides, which are present in the electrolyte-saturated pores of the sulfur electrode. The diagnostic was calibrated using ATR spectra of lithium polysulfide standards, prepared from direct reaction of lithium sulfide and sulfur. The order and concentration of lithium polysulfides in a sample are determined from the position and area of a characteristic IR absorption band. The diagnostic routine can measure polysulfide order and concentration to within 5% and 0.1 M, respectively. Polysulfides smaller than Li2S4 are insoluble and are not present in ATR spectra. Li-S cells were discharged at C rates up to 2 with simultaneous measurement of lithium polysulfide order and concentration. The obtained voltage profiles are consistent with those reported in literature. During discharge, polysulfide order steadily decreases while polysulfide concentration initially increases followed by a steady decrease. The initial increase in concentration is attributed to: i) reduction from elemental sulfur to Li2S8, and ii) reduction of Li2S8 to smaller polysulfides. The subsequent decrease in concentration is attributed to formation of insoluble polysulfides, which are not measured by the diagnostic. Charging the cell follows the opposite trend, except that elemental sulfur is not recovered.

3,5-Dinitrosalicylic acid (DNS) reagent is widely used in the estimation of reducing sugars. The reagent shows a differential behaviour towards mono- and di-saccharides. This phenomenon has been misinterpreted in the literature. Contrary to the facts, it has been reported that the DNS test is less sensitive for the estimation of cellobiose than it is for the estimation of glucose. This communication clarifies the concept. In addition, the study also compares the reaction of different mono- and di-saccharides and discusses the difference in their reactivity.

This paper investigates the possibility of using Dynamic Line Rating (DLR) to increase the existing power transmission capacity of overhead lines. The main contribution is to combine theoretical calculations and modeling with real application to conclude benefits of DLR. Both introduction of relevant theory and a case study on a power distribution system in Sweden are included. The concept of DLR implies that the capacity of a component dynamically varies as a function of external parameters, such as weather conditions and loading history. Traditionally, the rating is statically set from simulations of worst-case scenarios. Based on conventional static line rating (SLR) methods, the actual current carrying capability of overhead conductors is underestimated. When an increase in the line current capacity is needed, overhead lines may be rated based on a method that allows system operators to run the lines closer to their actual real-time capacity. Furthermore, the paper addresses the problems of observing safe ground clearance requirements. Knowing the conductor temperature, when it transmits the required electricity is an important factor to be taken into consideration. Therefore, based on real-time ambient conditions with actual line loading and with the help of IEEE-738-2006 standard, the conductor temperature is also calculated in this paper. Finally, an economic analysis is performed to evaluate the financial advantages of applying the dynamic line ratings approach compared to traditional static line ratings technique for a specific overhead conductor (VL3). QC 20150520

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) find applications in the industrial automation where periodic and sporadic events occur. The combined propagation of information generated by periodic and sporadic events from a sensor node to an actuator node is challenging due to random nature of sporadic events, particularly, if the deadlines are hard. The IEEE 802.15.4 standard provides the basis for a real-time communication mechanism between neighboring nodes of the WSN at the media access control layer. However, the standard does not address such communications over multiple hops. To support the industrial applications with such requirements, this work proposes a novel online control protocol that exploits the basis provided by the IEEE 802.15.4 standard. The proposed control protocol ensures that a given offline sporadic schedule can be adapted online in a timely manner such that the static periodic schedule has not been disturbed and the IEEE 802.15.4 standard compliance remains intact. The proposed protocol is simulated in OPNET. The simulation results are analyzed and presented in this paper to prove the correctness of the proposed protocol regarding the efficient real-time sporadic event delivery along with the periodic event propagation.

Energy conservation is one of the challenging tasks in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) whether deployed on ground or underwater. Applications of Underwater Sensor Networks (UWSNs) are gradually increasing due to the remote nature of control and automatic data transmission to onshore base stations. However, this automatic mechanism of WSNs is totally based on their built-in battery, which can not be replaced during network operation. Depth based routing is a popular routing technique which, do not needs full dimensional location information. However, consideration of depth and residual energy information for selection of next hop are not enough for balanced energy consumption of WSNs. In this research work, we identified the areas where energy is consumed most in depth based routing techniques. Due to which energy hole may be created. In addition we introduced Receive Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) based location identification and multilevel power transmission in depth based routing technique. Simulation result shows that the proposed technique gives better results than its counterparts.

β-Glucosidase is an important component of the cellulose degrading enzyme system. The enzyme has other biological applications as well. Often a large number of samples have to be screened for β-glucosidase activity, such as fractions obtained from column chromatography or environmental samples. A gel diffusion technique is presented for screening any number of samples with less labour and cost as compared to other screening methods used. The technique is based on the well-established reaction of β-glucosidase with esculin. Chromatographic fractions were successfully screened to the same degree of accuracy as one of the most commonly used p -nitrophenyl-β- d -glucopyranoside assay.

A simple, sensitive, accurate and more informative assay for determining the number of modified groups during the course of carboxyl group modification is described. Monomeric carboxymethylcellulase (CMCase) from Aspergillus niger was modified by 1-ethyl-3(3-dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide (EDC) in the presence of glycinamide. The different time-course aliquots were subjected to non-denaturing PAGE and the gel stained for CMCase activity. The number of carboxyl groups modified are directly read from the ladder of the enzyme bands developed at given time. This method showed that after 75 min of modification reaction there were five major species of modified CMCases in which 6 to 10 carboxyls were modified.

A lot of technical information/data is generated daily at a Nuclear Power Plant (NPP). More often than not this information is scattered over different forms, data sheets and reports. As such, accessibility as well as useability is limited. In order to make this information useable and beneficial to plant safety and availability, PC based software was developed in-house. This paper describes the software and its benefits that have been seen.

The carboxyl groups of purified carboxymethylcellulase (CMCase) from Aspergillus niger NIAB280 were modified by 1-ethyl-3(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide (EDC) in the presence of glycinamide for 15 min (GAM15) and glycinamide plus cellobiose for 75 min (GAM75). The half-lives of GAM15 at different temperatures were significantly enhanced whereas those of GAM75 were reduced as compared with the native CMCase. The activation energies of denaturation of native, GAM15 and GAM75 were 40, 35 and 59kJ mol respectively. Native CMCase and GAM15 showed no compensation effect, whereas native and GAM75 gave temperature of compensation of 44iC. Gibb's free energy of activation for denaturation (DG*) of GAM15 was increased as compared with native CMCase. Surprisingly the entropies (DS*) of activation for denaturation were negative for native and GAM75 and decreased further for GAM15 between the temperature range of 45 to 65iC. A possible explanation for the thermal inactivation of native and increased thermal stability of GAM15 is also discussed.

In wireless sensor networks WSNs, sensor nodes nodes are equipped with limited energy source. Therefore, efficient energy utilisation of nodes has become a hot research area in WSNs. In this paper, we introduce a new routing technique for WSNs in which, we solve the problem of unbalanced energy utilisation, which causes energy and coverage holes in WSNs. Deployment area is divided into subareas; each subarea logically represents a static cluster. Dividing network field into subfields helps to control coverage hole problem whereas, static clustering helps to avoid energy hole problem. Mathematical formulation of the proposed work is provided to analyse and verify our technique. Simulation results show that our technique balances energy utilisation of the network.

This work focusses on analyzing the optimization strategies of routing protocols with respect to energy utilization of sensor nodes in Wireless Sensor Network (WSNs). Different routing mechanisms have been proposed to address energy optimization problem in sensor nodes. Clustering mechanism is one of the popular WSNs routing mechanisms. In this paper, we first address energy limitation constraints with respect to maximizing network life time using linear programming formulation technique. To check the efficiency of different clustering scheme against modeled constraints, we select four cluster based routing protocols; Low Energy Adaptive Clustering Hierarchy (LEACH), Threshold Sensitive Energy Efficient sensor Network (TEEN), Stable Election Protocol (SEP), and Distributed Energy Efficient Clustering (DEEC). To validate our mathematical framework, we perform analytical simulations in MATLAB by choosing number of alive nodes, number of dead nodes, number of packets and number of CHs, as performance metrics., NGWMN with 7th IEEE International Conference on Broadband and Wireless Computing, Communication and Applications (BWCCA 2012), Victoria, Canada, 2012

Aspergillus fumigatuswas grown on chopped wheat straw in a solid state fermentation (SSF) process carried out in constant presence of isolated free water inside the fermentation chamber. The system allowed maintaining a constant vapor pressure inside the fermentor throughout the fermentation process. Crude endoglucanase produced byA. fumigatusunder such conditions was more thermostable than previously reported enzymes of the same fungal strain which were produced under different conditions and was also more thermostable than a number of other previously reported endoglucanases as well. Various thermostability parameters were calculated for the crude endoglucanase. Half lives (T1/2) of the enzyme were 6930, 866, and 36 min at 60°C, 70°C, and 80°C, respectively. Enthalpies of activation of denaturation (ΔHD*) were 254.04, 253.96, and 253.88 K J mole−1, at 60°C, 70°C and 80°C, respectively, whereas entropies of activation of denaturation (ΔSD*) and free energy changes of activation of denaturation (ΔGD*) were 406.45, 401.01, and 406.07 J mole−1 K−1and 118.69, 116.41, and 110.53 K J mole−1at 60°C, 70°C and 80°C, respectively.

The best inspection strategy is generally obtained by minimizing the average number of inspections required to find the actual minimal cutset (MCS). This is an acceptable criterion if every inspection of a basic event costs the same. A criterion for the limiting case of equiprobable MCSs is presented that minimizes the cost rather than the average number of inspections.

Mobile agent is a suitable paradigm to collect information from multiple sites in a distributed environment. As compare to other technologies, mobile agents can be used beneficially for Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) and to measure power quality information at each energy meter. Since meter contains embedded system, so the choice of agent platform for such an application is very important. This article investigates different methods from literature that use mobile agent paradigm for AMR process. It proposes a method that reduces the total security computation cost which is incurred in AMR process. In this method, energy meters are organized in the form of a group based upon the geographical location. In such one location energy meters perform their jobs under a security manager. In this method, the concept of local mobile agent is proposed to avoid the visit of external mobile agent to energy meters directly. Local mobile agent carries the acceptable queries from security manager and visits energy meters. This article uses mathematical modeling to represent the security computation cost incurred by each method from literature and compare it with the propose method. It is concluded that the proposed mechanism reduces the security computation cost considerably, compared to other methods.

This paper describes a secure migration process of mobile agents between agencies. Mobile-C is an IEEE Foundation for Intelligent Physical Agents (FIPA) standard compliant multi-agent platform for supporting C/C++ mobile and stationary agents. This secure migration process is inspired from Secure Shell (SSH). Before migration, both agencies authenticate each other using public key authentication. After successful authentication, an encrypted mobile agent is transferred and its integrity is verified. Mobile-C is specially designed for mechatronic and factory automation systems where, for correct system operations, agencies must accept mobile agents from trusted agencies. For this reason, the emphasis is on strong authentication of both agencies involved in migration process. Security aspects of other popular mobile agent systems are described briefly. A comparison study with SSH protocol is performed and future work is elaborated.Copyright © 2009 by ASME

Primula macrophylla (Primulaceae) is reported as to be useful in asthma, restlessness, insomnia and fish poisoning. Antifungal and toxic activities of crude extract, fractions and a pure isolated compound exhibited statistically significant activities. Excellent antifungal activity was found in the crude extract, benzene and ethyl acetate fractions against T. longifusis and against M. canis with different MIC values. Antileishmanial activity (IC(50) = 50ug/mL) was observed as compared to standard drug Amphotericin B, and cytotoxic activity (LD(50) = 47.919microg/mL) was also found in the chloroform fraction. While pure compound 2-phenylchromone (Flavone) isolated from the chloroform fraction showed good activity (IC(50) = 25microg/mL) against Leishmania and cytotoxicity (LD(50) = 2.0116 microg/mL) in Brine Shrimp experiments. From antileishmanial and cytotoxic activity it can be concluded that 2-phenylchromone is the major compound responsible for these activities.

Mobile agent technology has many benefits but it suffers from the possibility of security breaches by agent platforms. In this paper, an infrastructure is proposed to secure mobile agents from the agent platform they reside on, which is especially suited for industrial automation devices having low computational resources. In this infrastructure, a security guider bank (SGB) serves a group of agent platforms (AP), which is called a domain. The SGB maintains information about the domain, which is used by mobile agents to decide whether it is safe to visit the domain or not. This information is represented as vulnerability levels and reputation values. With this domain-based approach the turnaround time of agents is considerably reduced. Instead of collecting reputation information from each platform, the agent can use the cumulative history at the SGB. The SGB also maintains a copy of mobile agents during their visit of a domain, so that they can be renewed if altered by any AP during their journey. It recalculates vulnerability levels and reputation values after a specified amount of time or after the execution of a mobile agent at each agent platform. This scheme is able to detect as well as prevent - to some extent - malicious changes of mobile agents.

Two triterpene glycosides denticin ( 1) and denticulatin ( 2) have been isolated from the whole plant of PRIMULA DENTICULATA Sm. and their structures were established by spectral and chemical studies as 3beta-{ O-beta- D-glucopyranosyl-(1-->4)-[ O-beta- D-xylopyranosyl-(1-->2)]- O-(beta- D-glucopyranosyl-(1-->4)-[ O-beta- D-glucopyranosyl-(1-->2)]-alpha- L-arabinopyranosyloxy}-16alpha-hydroxy-13beta, 28-epoxyolean-30-al and 3beta-{ O-beta- D-glucopyranosyl-(1-->2)- O-beta- D-glucopyranosyl-(1-->4)-[ O-beta- D-xylopyranosyl-(1-->2)]- O-beta- D-glucopyranosyl-(1-->4)-[ O-beta- D-glucopyranosyl-(1-->2)]-alpha-L-arabinopyranosyloxy}-16alpha-hydroxy-13beta,28-epoxyolean-30-al, respectively.

This paper focuses on the optimization of computation cost for agent platform, which appears due to complex security operations. Traditionally, a security manager is integrated within an agent platform, which performs these operations for every mobile agent visiting the platform. To reduce the security costs at the agent platform, a detached security manager is used, which performs complex security operations on behalf of multiple agent platforms. The detached security manager is a security controlling authority for a set of agent platforms. It provides load balancing of mobile agents and enables quick agent migration between platforms. A variation of the detached security manager is a distributed security manager which provides fault tolerant and reliability in terms of a security process. A comparison of these variations of security concludes that the gained merits - savings in efficiency and performance -depend very much upon the requirements of the system which adopt it.