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This paper presents an experimental analysis of the optimization of PZT-based tiles for energy harvesting. The hardware (actual experiment), PZT-based tiles, were developed using 6 × 6 piezoelectric (PZT—lead zirconate titanate) sensors of 40 mm in diameter on a hard cardboard sheet (300 × 300 mm2). Our experimental analysis of the designed tiles obtained an optimized power of 3.626 mW (85 kg or 0.83 kN using 36 sensors) for one footstep and 0.9 mW for 30 footsteps at high tapping frequency. Theoretical analysis was conducted with software (Design-Expert) using the response surface methodology (RSM) for optimized PZT tiles, obtaining a power of 6784.155 mW at 150 kg or 1.47 kN weight using 34 sensors. This software helped to formulate the mathematical equation for the most suitable PZT tile model for power optimization. It used the quadratic model to provide adjusted and predicted R2 values of 0.9916 and 0.9650, respectively. The values were less than 0.2 apart, which indicates a high correlation between the actual and predicted values. The outcome of the various experiments can help with the selection of input factors for optimized power during pavement design.

Purpose: To analyse various ocular abnormalities and visual morbidity in patients with psoriasis and to detect ocular complications following psoriasis treatment. Materials and Methods: A prospective observational study was conducted among 120 psoriasis patients. All patients underwent slit lamp examination, indirect ophthalmoscopy, Schirmer’s test, Tear breakup time and Rose Bengal staining and ancillary investigations when required. Results: Among 120 patients, the prevalence of ocular manifestation was 57%, of whom 22% were symptomatic. Ocular features were most common in scalp psoriasis and pustular psoriasis. Disease duration was not found to have any impact on the severity of ocular manifestation. The most common ophthalmic feature was ocular surface disorder (46%), followed by cataract (30%), meibomitis (17%) and blepharitis in 16%. Correlation between tests was calculated using kappa coefficient and statistical significance was found in the pattern of conjunctival staining with a p value of 0.02. Out of 9 patients with psoriatic arthritis, 3% showed signs of chronic uveitis. Steroid induced glaucoma was seen in 27% and ocular hypertension in 21%. Corticosteroid used in systemic management frequently caused visual morbidity. Conclusion: Ocular signs and symptoms in psoriasis may be subtle and overlooked, hence complete ophthalmic examination is recommended for early detection of ocular abnormalities. Early treatment for dry eye is important to prevent irreversible ocular surface changes. Regular monitoring prevents steroid induced cataract and steroid induced glaucoma. As multisystem involvement is seen in psoriasis, a multidisciplinary approach reduces ocular morbidity. Keywords: Cataract, Corticosteroids, Dry eye, Psoriasis, Glaucoma.

BACKGROUND: Medical Council of India, introduced the Post Graduate (PG) curriculum as ‘Competency Based Medical Education’ (CBME). Feedback from the end users is a vital step in curriculum evaluation. Therefore, the primary objective of this study was to develop and validate a Structured Feedback Questionnaire (SFQ) for postgraduates, encompassing all the components of the PG-CBME curriculum. METHODS: SFQ was developed with 23 Likert based questions and four open ended questions. Content validation was done by Lawshe method. After getting institutional ethics clearance and informed consent, SFQ was administered to 121 final year PGs (response rate 100%). We performed Principal component analysis (PCA), Structural equation modeling (SEM), Chi squared test (χ(2)/df); goodness-of-fit index (GFI); adjusted GFI; comparative fit index (CFI) and root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA). Cronbach's alpha was done for estimating the internal consistency. RESULTS: The validation resulted in a three-factor model comprising of “curriculum” (42.1%), “assessment” (28%), and “support” (18.5%). Chi squared test (χ(2)/df ratio)

Background: Maize (Zea mays) grain sprouts (MGS) can be a potential source of green fodder for ruminants, especially when there is scarcity of land and water. Nutritional value of MGS grown with hydroponic technique was assessed for nutrient utilization, blood biochemical profile, immunity and growth performance in lambs. Methods: The MGS were produced in a polyhouse and harvested on 10th day and subjected to rumen in vitro incubation for gas production (RIVIGP) test to predict metabolisable energy (ME) value. The feeding cum growth trial was conducted for 120 days. Eighteen healthy male lambs of 3-4 months age and comparable body weight were randomly allotted in a complete randomized design to three dietary groups of six in each. The control (T1) group lambs were fed conventional green fodder (CGF), finger millet straw (FMS) and compounded feed mixture (CFM) at 50:10:40 ratio on DM basis, In treatment group two (T2), proportion of CGF and CFM was reduced by 50% and substituted with 45% MGS on DM basis (CGF, FMS, CFM and MGS on total DM basis was in 25:10:20:45 ratio, respectively). In treatment group three (T3), CGF was completely replaced with MGS (80%) and CFM was reduced to 25% of control (CGF, FMS, CFM and MGS on total DM basis was in 0:10:10:80 ratio, respectively). Result: Results indicated that MGS has ME (MJ/kg DM) of 9.70. The average DM intake (g/d/lamb) in T1, T2 and T3 groups was 764, 581 and 398, respectively. The average daily gain (ADG, g) in T1, T2 and T3 groups was 77.3, 48.5 and 20.9, respectively. There was a significant (P less than 0.05) decrease in DMI and ADG with reduced feed efficiency in lambs fed MGS. However, the per cent digestibility of nutrients, blood biochemical profile, immunity and serum minerals in lambs did not differ among the groups. It is concluded that replacement of compounded feed mixture or conventional green fodder with MGS will limit the dry matter intake, net nutrient availability and negatively affect the growth performance in lambs.

Background The prevalence of superficial fungal infections in India is believed to have increased substantially in the past decade. We evaluated the treatment outcomes and risk factors associated with clinical response to a treatment course of itraconazole for the management of dermatomycosis in India. Methods In this real-world, prospective pilot study (August 2019 to March 2020), adult participants (18–60 years), diagnosed with T. cruris or T. corporis, received itraconazole 200 mg/day (any formulation) orally for 7 days, and were followed for an additional 7 days. Results The study was terminated early due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Of 40 enrolled participants (mean [SD] age, 35.5 [12.73] years; {62.5%}] male; 37 received itraconazole and 20 (50%) completed the study. The median (range) Clinical Evaluation Tool Signs and Symptoms total score at baseline was 5.5 (2–10). Clinical response of “healed” or “markedly improved” based on the Investigator Global Evaluation Tool at day 7 (primary objective) was 42.9% (12/28; 95% CI: 24.53%, 61.19%). Itraconazole minimum inhibitory concentration for identified microorganisms, T. mentagrophytes species complex (91.7%) and T. rubrum (8.3%), was within the susceptibility range (0.015–0.25 mcg/mL). At day 14, 8/13 (61.5%) participants achieved a mycological response, 2/13 participants (15.4%) had a mycological failure and 90% showed a clinical response. Conclusion COVID-19 pandemic affected patient recruitment and follow-up, so the findings call for a careful interpretation. Nevertheless, this real-world study reconfirmed the clinical efficacy and microbial susceptibility to itraconazole for the fungi causing dermatophytosis in India. Trial registration Trial registration number: Clinicaltrials.gov NCT03923010.

Optical biopsy is critical in examining tissue specimens for aiding diagnostics. Here, we correlate image entropy, spatial correlation, and Mueller matrix derived orientation parameter to study the organization of collagen in unstained thin scleroderma samples.

Crop monitoring and yield prediction are central to management decisions for farmers. One key task is counting the number of kernels on an ear of corn to estimate yield in a field. As ears of corn can easily have 400–900 kernels, manual counting is unrealistic; traditionally, growers have approximated the number of kernels on an ear of corn through a mixture of counting and estimation. With the success of deep learning, these human estimates can now be replaced with more accurate machine learning models, many of which are efficient enough to run on a mobile device. Although a conceptually simple task, the counting and localization of hundreds of instances in an image is challenging for many image detection algorithms which struggle when objects are small in size and large in number. We compare different detection-based frameworks, Faster R-CNN, YOLO, and density-estimation approaches for on-ear corn kernel counting and localization. In addition to the YOLOv5 model which is accurate and edge-deployable, our density-estimation approach produces high-quality results, is lightweight enough for edge deployment, and maintains its computational efficiency independent of the number of kernels in the image. Additionally, we seek to standardize and broaden this line of work through the release of a challenging dataset with high-quality, multi-class segmentation masks. This dataset firstly enables quantitative comparison of approaches within the kernel counting application space and secondly promotes further research in transfer learning and domain adaptation, large count segmentation methods, and edge deployment methods.

BACKGROUND: Postgraduate medical curriculum is usually devoted to developing competencies in the specialty concerned, patient care, and submitting dissertations. The need to impart teaching skills during postgraduation has gone unnoticed, hence Ramachandra Annual Postgraduate Teaching Skills (RAPTS), a teaching skills workshop, was conceptualized and implemented as postgraduate students serve as tutors/residents in the department to teach undergraduate medical students. This study is aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the teaching skills workshop for postgraduates. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred and seventy-eight postgraduate students of pre- and paraclinical department underwent the training in medical education principles and participated in the feedback. RAPTS Workshop was implemented as per the six-step approach. The learning was evaluated through a pre- and posttest scores. Student feedback was also obtained on the process overall objectives and contents of the workshop. Force-field analysis was performed. RESULTS: There was a significant learning by the postgraduates on various medical education principles as evidenced by significant improvement in the posttest scores (P < 0.05). Feedback regarding the general aspects of the workshop showed that 92% of the participants felt that the contents of the workshop suited their learning. Eighty-four percent of the participants opined that the presentations of the sessions were good and 91% felt that time management was good. Force-field analysis indicated that the factors favoring teaching skills workshop were higher. CONCLUSION: This study has highlighted the importance of including teaching methodology training in the postgraduate curriculum that helps in grooming the future teachers in the right direction, in the right time. Competencies related to teaching skills based on medical education principles can be included in the postgraduate curriculum.