Synergistic Small Worlds that Drive Technological Sophistication

Advanced economies exhibit a high degree of sophistication in the creation of various products. While critical to such sophistication, the nature and underlying structure of the interactions taking place inside production processes remain opaque when studying large systems such as industries or entire economies. Using partial information decomposition, we quantify the nature of these interactions, allowing us to infer how much innovation stems form specific input interactions and how they are structured. These estimates yield a novel picture of the nuanced interactions underpinning technological sophistication. By analyzing networks of synergistic interactions, we find that more sophisticated industries tend to exhibit highly modular small-world topologies; with the tertiary sector as its central connective core. Countries and industries that have a well-established connective core and specialized modules exhibit higher economic complexity and output efficiency. Similar modular networks have been found to be responsible for maintaining a balance between integration and segregation of information in the human brain, suggesting a universal principle underlying the organization of sophisticated production processes

Stabilization of anarobic digestor sludge through vermicomposting

In this study, efficiency of vermitechnology in stabilizing sludge without pre-treatment was studied. The sludge was directly introduced in the vermicomposting reactors after their withdrawal from the bio-methanation reactor installed for experimentation on domestic waste. One Liter (5% TS) sludge was loaded after every fourth day and it was discontinued after sixteen days. However, the chemical analysis of the compost was done till twentyfourth day. The present study also evaluated the potential of one indigenous Perionyx excavates (P.e.) and one exotic epigeic earthworm species Eisenia fetida (E.f). The results clearly elucidate that vermireactor with indigenous earthworms (P.e) gives over all comparable similar results with world wide known exotic species (E.f). The results of the study show a significant reduction in initial C/N ratio from an initial value of 19 to 9 for all reactors with earthworms, total organic matter (TOC) reduced by 50% and pH also reduced nearer to neutral, but increase in, total nitrogen (TN) 95%, NH4+-N reduced from 0.52% to 0.31% and NO3-N increased from 0 to 0.13%, total phosphorus (TP) increased from the initial concentration of 0.76% to 1.31%., However, removal efficiency of Fecal coliforms (indicator organism) in the prepared vermicompost through P.e and E.f was in the 6 log and 7 log (MPN/gm) respectively

Controlling the drug-resistant tuberculosis epidemic in India: challenges and implications

India has a higher tuberculosis (TB) burden than any other country, accounting for an estimated one-fourth of the global burden. Drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) presents a major public health problem in India. Patients with DR-TB often require profound changes in their drug regimens, which are invariably linked to poor treatment adherence and sub-optimal treatment outcomes compared to drug-sensitive TB. The challenge of addressing DR-TB is critical for India, as India contributes over 27% of global DR-TB cases. In recent decades, India has been proactive in its battle against TB, even implementing a revised National Strategic Plan to eliminate TB by 2025. However, to achieve this ambitious goal, the country will need to take a multifaceted approach with respect to its management of DR-TB. Despite concerted efforts made by the National TB Elimination Program, India faces substantial challenges with regard to DR-TB care, especially in peripheral and resource-limited endemic zones. This article describes some of the major challenges associated with mitigating the growing DR-TB epidemic in India and their implications

Bioremediation of soil contaminated with a mixture of chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons.

Thesis (M.Sc.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2008.Chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons (CAH’s) are a diverse group of industrial chemicals that play a significant role as pollutants of soil and groundwater. They are recalcitrant and resist degradation in most waste treatment systems. Furthermore, physical removal techniques used for CAHs are often very expensive, labour intensive and time consuming. Microbial communities native to contaminated areas are known to participate in biodegradation of these CAHs to an extent. The main focus of this study was therefore to investigate the bioremediation of soil contaminated with a mixture of CAHs, namely carbon tetrachloride (CCl4), dichloromethane (DCM) and 1, 2 dichloroethane (1, 2-DCA). Two different laboratory-scale microcosm types, a stationary microcosm (Type S) and microcosms that received a continuous circulation of groundwater (Type C) were used to determine the effects of 3 different bioremediation approaches, viz, biostimulation, bioaugmentation and a combination of biostimulation and bioaugmentation on the degradation process. For both microcosm types, gas chromatography analysis revealed that the greatest decreases in CAH concentrations occurred in soil that was biostimulated. 1, 2-DCA was rapidly biodegraded in Type C microcosms that contained glucose, with a 57% net degradation in 15 days. Consortia comprising of aerobic Bacillus and Alcaligenes sp. were used for bioaugmenting contaminated soil. However, this approach did not promote biodegradation as significantly as biostimulation experiments. A combination of biostimulation and bioaugmentation revealed that the addition of nutrients was still unable to induce the degradative ability of the introduced microorganisms to produce degradation values comparable to those of biostimulated soil microcosms. Common intermediates of CAH metabolism viz., chloroform, dichloromethane and carbon dioxide were detected by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. The detection of chloroform and dichloromethane is sufficient evidence to assume that anaerobic conditions had developed, and that biodegradation was occurring under oxygen-limiting or oxygen-free conditions. An aerobic environment was initially created, but soil microbial respiration had probably led to the rapid development of anaerobic conditions and in all likelihood, enhanced degradation. The prevalence of anaerobic conditions can also account for the lack of appreciable degradation by the bacterial consortium used during bioaugmentation. Phospholipid phosphate analysis was conducted and used as an indicator of microbial biomass. It was noted that phospholipid phosphates did not always correlate with the degradation of CAHs in some microcosms. In this regard, different patterns were noted for Type S and Type C microcosms. Microbial biomass patterns for Type C biostimulated and bioaugmented soil microcosms increased within the first 5 days of sampling. This could have been as a result of the larger volume of groundwater required for the circulating microcosm possibly concealing actual CAH concentrations. In contrast, in Type S microcosms, for most treatments, a sharp decline in biomass within the first week was observed. This study clearly demonstrates that the bioremediation of certain chlorinated solvents can be a function of their water solubility. It must also be emphasized that the biodegradation of some CAHs in a mixture can affect the concentrations of others present in the mixture as well, warranting further study with mixtures of CAHs. Furthermore, the development and use of bioreactors, similar to the Type C microcosm can provide novel, simple ways to hasten remediation of chlorinated solvents like 1, 2-DCA

A clinical study of arrhythmias associated with acute myocardial infarction and thrombolysis

Background: Arrhythmias are a common occurrence in ACS. This study was undertaken to analyze the incidence, frequency and type of arrhythmias in relation to the site of infarction to aid in timely intervention to modify the outcome in MI and to study the significance of Reperfusion arrhythmias.Methods: 100 patients were evaluated. ECG and cardiac enzymes were studied. Arrhythmias complicating AMI in terms of their incidence, timing, severity, type, relation, reperfusion and results were studied.Results: Of the 100 cases, 74% were males and 26% females of which incidence being common between 4th to 7th decades of life. AMI was common in patients with Diabetes and Hypertension (23% each). Incidence of AWMI (58%) is higher than IWMI (40%). Out of all arrhythmias, Ventricular Tachycardia was seen in 24% cases with 50% mortality and preponderance to Antero Lateral Myocardial Infarction. Sinus Tachycardia was seen in 23% of cases with preponderance to Antero Lateral Myocardial Infarction and persistence of Sinus Tachycardia was a prognostic sign, mortality being 22%. Complete Heart Block and Sinus Bradycardia were seen with IWMI, incidence being 53.8% and 100% respectively. Bundle Branch Block was common in AWMI (31%) than IWMI (10%). Among 64 thrombo-lysed cases, 21 had Reperfusion Arrhythmias without any mortality, whereas remaining 43 without Reperfusion Arrhythmias had mortality of 18.6%.Conclusions: According to the study, Tachy-arrhythmias are common with Anterior Wall Myocardial Infarction and Brady-arrhythmias in Inferior Wall Myocardial Infarction. Reperfusion Arrhythmias are a benign phenomenon and good indicator of successful reperfusion

Plasmodium Vivax Associated Myocarditis

Plasmodium infection in human beings is often associated with complications. Complications such as cerebral malaria, acute respiratory distress syndrome, acute kidney injury and cardiac complications including myocarditis, pericarditis and hypoglycaemia may be seen in infection by Plasmodium falciparum. However, these complications have rarely been reported with Plasmodium vivax infections. Myopericarditis complicating P. vivax malaria is particularly rare and only a few cases have been reported so far. We report on a case of myopericarditis due to P. vivax malaria to add to the literatur

Design of the strut braced wing aircraft in the agile collaborative MDO framework

The paper describes the deployment of the AGILE Development Framework to investigate the Strut Braced Wing aircraft configuration. The design process consists of a multilevel multidisciplinary architecture, progressing from the initial conceptual synthesis to the physics based analysis. All the main disciplinary domains, including on board system design and cost assessment, are accounted for in the assembled workflow. Due to the specific characteristics of the Strut Braced Wing configuration, the aeroelastic analysis is the main focus of the study and it is addressed at both high and low fidelity levels. The integration of the engine-wing system is also included in the design process. All the design competences, which are hosted at the different partners, communicate via CPACS (Common Parametric Aircraft Configuration Schema) data schema. All the results generated, including the multidisciplinary design process itself, will be published and made available as part of the AGILE Overall Aircraft Design database