SARAS: a precision system for measurement of the Cosmic Radio Background and signatures from the Epoch of Reionization

SARAS is a correlation spectrometer purpose designed for precision measurements of the cosmic radio background and faint features in the sky spectrum at long wavelengths that arise from redshifted 21-cm from gas in the reionization epoch. SARAS operates in the octave band 87.5-175 MHz. We present herein the system design arguing for a complex correlation spectrometer concept. The SARAS design concept provides a differential measurement between the antenna temperature and that of an internal reference termination, with measurements in switched system states allowing for cancellation of additive contaminants from a large part of the signal flow path including the digital spectrometer. A switched noise injection scheme provides absolute spectral calibration. Additionally, we argue for an electrically small frequency-independent antenna over an absorber ground. Various critical design features that aid in avoidance of systematics and in providing calibration products for the parametrization of other unavoidable systematics are described and the rationale discussed. The signal flow and processing is analyzed and the response to noise temperatures of the antenna, reference termination and amplifiers is computed. Multi-path propagation arising from internal reflections are considered in the analysis, which includes a harmonic series of internal reflections. We opine that the SARAS design concept is advantageous for precision measurement of the absolute cosmic radio background spectrum; therefore, the design features and analysis methods presented here are expected to serve as a basis for implementations tailored to measurements of a multiplicity of features in the background sky at long wavelengths, which may arise from events in the dark ages and subsequent reionization era.Comment: 49 pages, 17 figure

The Effectiveness of Mandala Colouring Therapy in Increasing Year 3 Pupils’ Focus During the Initial Lesson

Focus is a very important element in the world of education to increase the effectiveness of other learning skills such as reading writing and calculating The lack of focus issue existed as the pupils were uninterested and unmotivated to learn This has caused disruptive behaviours in the classroom which affected both teachers and pupils An intervention was essential in curbing this problem Hence this study was embarked to identify the effectiveness of the Mandala Colouring Therapy in increasing Year 3 pupils focus during the initial lesson of the day A mixed method study was conducted at 5 national schools in Temerloh Pahang The participants were 100 Year 3 low average pupils and 20 teachers who taught initial lesson periods The data was collected through interviews and questionnaires These quantitative data was analysed using frequency counts on SPSS while the qualitative data was analysed using Burnard s method The overall findings revealed that pupils interest and focus has been increased with Mandala Colouring Therap

Study of awareness of insulin usage in diabetics attending NRI Medical College and General Hospital

Background: India had 69.2 million diabetic patients. Insulin is an important part of diabetes treatment, but one-third of patients fail to take their insulin as prescribed, and many adults intentionally skip their doses. Since, diabetes treatment continues for lifetime, there is a need to assess the knowledge and understanding of patients in relation to their disease process and its management.Methods: A cross sectional, observational, knowledge and attitude survey were carried on patients with type II diabetes mellitus who are taking insulin therapy and attended medicine diabetes OPD in tertiary care Hospital during the period of April 2017 to Dec 2017. 200 diabetic patients’ ≥18 years of age who were willing to respond to the study questionnaire were interviewed.Results: Total of 200 study participants were interviewed using structured questionnaires, almost 75 (37.5%) of the respondents were age group of 41 - 50 years. 109 (54.5 %) male, 67 (33.5%)Hindus, 121 (60.5 %) married,79 (39.5%) were primary school, 120 (73.8%) were family history of diabetes, duration of treatment1-3 years 72 (31.5 %), 160 (63%) of the study subjects know about diabetes is high blood glucose, 119(59.5%)of subjects know complications of diabetes, 165(82.5%) were know about insulin used for diabetes, 115 (57.5%) of patients know other substitute for insulin, 94 (47%) of the study subjects have knowledge of complications of insulin therapy, 85 (42.5) were know different types of insulin preparations, 141 (70.5%) were know insulin is mandatory in some patients,159 (79.5%) were understood the route of administration of insulin.Conclusions: The finding of present study showed that, diabetes patients had average knowledge and less favourable attitude among diabetic patients toward insulin therapy

HEPATOPROTECTIVE ACTIVITY OF ALSTONIA SCHOLARIS FRUITS AGAINST CARBON TETRACHLORIDE-INDUCED HEPATOTOXICITY IN RATS

The hepatoprotective activity of ethanolic extract of fruits of Alstonia scholaris was evaluated by carbon tetrachloride (CCL4)-induced hepatotoxicity in rats. The toxicant CCL4 was used to induce hepatotoxicity at a dose of 2 ml/kg as 1:1 mixture with olive oil. The ethanolic extract of fruits of Alstonia scholaris was administered in the dose of 150 and 300 mg/kg/day orally for 5 days. Silymarin (50 mg/kg) was used as standard drug. The hepatoprotective effect of the ethanolic extract was evaluated by the assessment of biochemical parameters such as SGOT, SGPT, SALKP, total bilirubin and histopathological studies of the liver. Treatment of animals with the ethanolic extract significantly reduced the liver damage and the symptoms of liver injury by restoration of architecture of liver as indicated by lower levels of serum bilirubin as compared with the normal and silymarin treated groups

The Transportation Primitive

This paper presents algorithms for implementing the transportation primitive on a distributed memory parallel architecture. The transportation primitive performs many-to-many personalized communication with bounded incoming and outgoing traffic. We present a two-stage deterministic algorithm that decomposes the communication with possibly high variance in message size into two communication stages with low message size variance. If the maximum outgoing or incoming traffic at any processor is t, transportation can be done in 2t¯ time (+ lower order terms) when t O(p 2 + pø=¯) (¯ is the inverse of the data transfer rate, ø is the startup overhead). If the maximum outgoing and incoming traffic are r and c respectively, transportation can be done in (r+c)¯ time when either r O(p 2 ) or c O(p 2 ). Optimality and scalability are thus achieved when the traffic is large, a condition that is usually satisfied in practice. The algorithm was implemented on the Connection Machine CM-5. The implementation used the low latency communication primitives (active messages) available on the CM 5, but the algorithm as such is architecture independent. An alternate single-stage algorithm using distributed random scheduling was implemented on the CM-5 and the performance of the two algorithms were compared

On the detection of global 21-cm signal from reionization using interferometers

Detection of the global redshifted 21-cm signal is an excellent means of deciphering the physical processes during the Dark Ages and subsequent Epoch of Reionization (EoR). However, detection of this faint monopole is challenging due to the high precision required in instrumental calibration and modeling of substantially brighter foregrounds and instrumental systematics. In particular, modeling of receiver noise with mK accuracy and its separation remains a formidable task in experiments aiming to detect the global signal using single-element spectral radiometers. Interferometers do not respond to receiver noise; therefore, here we explore the theory of the response of interferometers to global signals. In other words, we discuss the spatial coherence in the electric field arising from the monopole component of the 21-cm signal and methods for its detection using sensor arrays. We proceed by first deriving the response to uniform sky of two-element interferometers made of unit dipole and resonant loop antennas, then extend the analysis to interferometers made of one-dimensional arrays and also consider two-dimensional aperture antennas. Finally, we describe methods by which the coherence might be enhanced so that the interferometer measurements yield improved sensitivity to the monopole component. We conclude (a) that it is indeed possible to measure the global 21-cm from EoR using interferometers, (b) that a practically useful configuration is with omnidirectional antennas as interferometer elements, and (c) that the spatial coherence may be enhanced using, for example, a space beam splitter between the interferometer elements

EVALUATION OF GENOTOXICITY PROFILE OF JASADA BHASMA (A ZINC-BASED MINERAL FORMULATION) IN SWISS ALBINO MICE

  Objective: Genotoxicity is regarded as one of the potential risk factors for causing pathological diseases. It was confirmed that many chemicals have the mutagenic activity which leads to cancer. A compound which interacts with genetic material DNA and shows adverse effects by altering its structure or function is referred to as genotoxic.Methods: The present study involved 40 Swiss albino mice weighing between 25 and 30 g body weights categorized into four different groups. Group-I (normal control) received 0.5% carboxymethyl cellulose as vehicle. Group-II (toxicant control) received 40 mg/kg/body weight cyclophosphamide on the 28th day. Group-III and IV received test drug JB 15.6 mg/kg and 78 mg/kg, respectively, for 28 consecutive days. Blood samples were collected and processed for evaluating by comet assay. The animals were sacrificed and collected the bone marrow from both the femur for chromosomal aberration and micronuclei assay.Results: JB administered at two different dose levels did not show any significant changes in the comet assay parameters, no micronucleus was found and did not produce any chromosomal aberrations both numerically and structurally when compared to positive test control group.Conclusion: The genotoxicity evaluation of JB did not show any chromosomal aberrations and presence of micronucleus. Thus, the safety data will refine therapeutic utility of JB encouraging their rationale use and translate into greater and broader utilization of JB

SARAS 2: A Spectral Radiometer for probing Cosmic Dawn and the Epoch of Reionization through detection of the global 21 cm signal

The global 21 cm signal from Cosmic Dawn (CD) and the Epoch of Reionization (EoR), at redshifts $z \sim 6-30$, probes the nature of first sources of radiation as well as physics of the Inter-Galactic Medium (IGM). Given that the signal is predicted to be extremely weak, of wide fractional bandwidth, and lies in a frequency range that is dominated by Galactic and Extragalactic foregrounds as well as Radio Frequency Interference, detection of the signal is a daunting task. Critical to the experiment is the manner in which the sky signal is represented through the instrument. It is of utmost importance to design a system whose spectral bandpass and additive spurious can be well calibrated and any calibration residual does not mimic the signal. SARAS is an ongoing experiment that aims to detect the global 21 cm signal. Here we present the design philosophy of the SARAS 2 system and discuss its performance and limitations based on laboratory and field measurements. Laboratory tests with the antenna replaced with a variety of terminations, including a network model for the antenna impedance, show that the gain calibration and modeling of internal additives leave no residuals with Fourier amplitudes exceeding 2~mK, or residual Gaussians of 25 MHz width with amplitudes exceeding 2~mK. Thus, even accounting for reflection and radiation efficiency losses in the antenna, the SARAS~2 system is capable of detection of complex 21-cm profiles at the level predicted by currently favoured models for thermal baryon evolution.Comment: 44 pages, 17 figures; comments and suggestions are welcom

Early Clinical Detection of Pharmacologic Response in Insulin Action in a Nondiabetic Insulin-Resistant Population

AbstractBackgroundInsulin resistance heightens the risk for type 2 diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular disease. Amelioration of insulin resistance may reduce this risk. The thiazolidinedone class of insulin sensitizers improves insulin action in individuals with insulin-resistant diabetes and nondiabetic individuals. However, there are few reports on the time of onset of such effects independent of reversal of glucotoxicity.ObjectiveThe goal of our study was to test whether the thiazolidinedione pioglitazone has prominent early metabolic effects that can be detected in an obese, nondiabetic, insulin-resistant population.MethodsWe conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group trial in men with nondiabetic insulin resistance using a hyperinsulinemic euglycemic clamp technique (at low and high doses of insulin at 10 and 40 mU/m2/min, respectively). The patients were given 30 mg daily oral pioglitazone or placebo for 28 days. Patients underwent a baseline clamp before initiation of treatment, and again at 14 and 28 days of treatment.ResultsCompared with placebo, under high-dose hyperinsulinemia, pioglitazone led to significant increases in glucose disposal rates (GDR) of 1.29 mg/kg/min (90% CI, 0.43–2.15; 39%; P=0.008) that were detectable at 2 weeks of treatment and persisted at 4 weeks of treatment. Under low-dose hyperinsulinemia, significant increases in GDR of 0.40 mg/kg/min (90% CI, 0.17–0.62; 95%; P=0.003) were observed at 4 weeks of treatment. These responses were accompanied by robust suppression of free fatty acids under hyperinsulinemic conditions, and by significant increases in circulating basal total adiponectin at 2 and 4 weeks of treatment.ConclusionsSignificant changes in insulin action across multiple insulin-sensitive tissues can be detected within 2 weeks of initiation of insulin-sensitizing therapy with pioglitazone in obese patients with nondiabetic insulin resistance. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01115712

A prospective, open label, randomized-controlled study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of MyVir tablets in mildly symptomatic COVID-19 patients

Background: Coronavirus can cause pneumonia, respiratory failure and death. The emergence of novel coronavirus has posed a challenging situation that warrants urgent global attention. Currently there was no effective therapy available for COVID-19 and hence antiviral and immune modulators are most sought after medicines to manage complications of COVID-19.Methods: In this study involving mild COVID-19 we randomized 42 patients to receive a MyVir tablets twice daily along with standard of care (SOC) or SOC alone in 1:1 ratio for 14 days. We evaluated the benefits of MyVir tablets by assessing clinical outcomes and improvement in immune markers (LDH, CRP, D-dimer, TLC).Results: At the end of the study the immune markers in MyVir group improved significantly compared to control group. In patients who received MyVir, CRP decreased from 3.3 mg/l to 1.7 mg/l (p=0.0171). D-dimer decreased from 0.589 on day 0 to 0.368 on day 14 (p=0.03) and LDH decreased from 224 U/l on day 0 to 158 U/l on day 14 in test group (p=0.05). TLC showed favorable improvement in study group compared to control group. Early recovery from COVID-19 symptoms was observed in patients on MyVir treated group. Patients treated with MyVir tablets reduced the duration of hospitalization when given along with standard of care.Conclusions: MyVir accelerated recovery of COVID-19 patients by early improvement in clinical symptoms and immune markers in this study and results clearly indicates that MyVir tablets has antiviral, immune booster activity. Hence this study provides evidence that MyVir has definitive role in the management of mild COVID-19 patients along with standard of care (funded by Mi Lab Life Sciences(P) Ltd. CTRI no. CTRI/2020/05/024967)