User Information needs and Information Seeking Behaviour of Physics Department at the University of Burdwan

Purpose – The study found on the University of Burdwan physics department faculties and research scholars’ information needs and information seeking behaviour. The purpose is to find out the information needs, source use, satisfaction level, and improvement needs for library infrastructure, sources and services. Methodology – In this information needs and seeking behaviour study, two sets online questionnaire has been developed to achieve the objective. Only physics faculties and regular registered research scholars (session 2011 – 2020) in the University of Burdwan have been selected as main respondents. Data has been collected using Google form. Online questionnaire have been served through email to all the physics faculty members and one hundred five registered research scholars in the University of Burdwan. The response rates from respondents are 47.62% (faculty) and 64.86% (scholars). The ratio of male – female respondents’ of physics faculty members and scholars are 9:1 and 38:10 respectively. Findings – The study depicted the physics department faculty members and research scholars’ information needs and information seeking behaviour at the University of Burdwan. Information need and information seeking behaviour of physics department faculty members and regular research scholars was in-depth understanding of the major roles on overall university library development in the angle from the students; purview on Burdwan university library. Originality/value – The current finding are original and reflected latest observation on the physics department faculties and research scholars’ information-seeking behaviour in the University of Burdwan. The study benefits information Seekers and as well as library policy makers who provide the library collection development and services to the users of the University

Personalized Ranking in eCommerce Search

We address the problem of personalization in the context of eCommerce search. Specifically, we develop personalization ranking features that use in-session context to augment a generic ranker optimized for conversion and relevance. We use a combination of latent features learned from item co-clicks in historic sessions and content-based features that use item title and price. Personalization in search has been discussed extensively in the existing literature. The novelty of our work is combining and comparing content-based and content-agnostic features and showing that they complement each other to result in a significant improvement of the ranker. Moreover, our technique does not require an explicit re-ranking step, does not rely on learning user profiles from long term search behavior, and does not involve complex modeling of query-item-user features. Our approach captures item co-click propensity using lightweight item embeddings. We experimentally show that our technique significantly outperforms a generic ranker in terms of Mean Reciprocal Rank (MRR). We also provide anecdotal evidence for the semantic similarity captured by the item embeddings on the eBay search engine.Comment: Under Revie

Role of ultrasonography in evaluation of right iliac fossa mass compared to CT scan

Background: With the demonstration of origin and nature of RIF mass by high-resolution ultrasound and multidetector CT scan, the patients presenting with clinically palpable mass in RIF need not to undergo time consuming, uncomfortable and unpalatable barium study. The objective is to evaluate the diagnostic precision of CT and ultrasonography in the diagnosis of right iliac fossa masses and to assess the effectiveness of USG in diagnosing various right iliac fossa masses in comparison with CT scan in terms of sensitivity, specificity, and predictive accuracy. Methods: The study was conducted on 35 patients presenting with right iliac fossa mass who were stable enough to undergo USG followed by CT scan. The time gap between these studies had kept to minimum to make the studies comparable. USG and CT scan was performed by 2 expert radiologists, who had been blinded of each other findings. Results: More than 50% cases were related to appendicular pathology. Ultrasound abdomen had a sensitivity and specificity of 88.9% and 94.11% in diagnosis of appendicular mass, 71.42% and 96.42% in diagnosis of appendicular abscess, 66.7% and 96.6% in diagnosis of ileo-caecal tuberculosis, 50% and 100% in diagnosis of carcinoma caecum respectively as compared to CT scan. Conclusions: USG is the most easily available bed side investigation and excellent screening test for RIF mass. However, CECT whole abdomen remains the gold standard investigation for etiological diagnosis of RIF mass

Partial acidulation of phosphate rock for enhanced phosphorus availability in alluvial soils of Bihar, India

The present study was undertaken to fractionate partially acidulated phosphate rock (PAPR) and evaluate its effect on Phosphorus availability in alluvial soils. For this purpose, low grade phosphate rock was collected from Udaipur, Rajasthan and acidulated at different degrees with sulphuric acid (H2SO4) (v/v)Results from an incubation study showed that the available fraction of P [Water soluble (WSP) and Citrate soluble (CSP)] increased with increasing degree of acidulation. The maximum WSP was obtained at 50% H2SO4 (52.30% of total P) and the maximum CSP was obtained at 80% H2SO4 (49.54% of total P). 50 % dissolution of rock phosphate was the best treatment and found to be at par with that of 60% and 80% but was significantly superior to rest of the treatments. The maximum WSP in the soil samples was obtained after acidulation with 50 %H2SO4 and the maximum Olsen’s P by the 14th day of incubation. An increasing trend was found at initial stages of incubation (7-14 days) with a notable decrease in the later stages. WSP demonstrated the maximum correlation at 40% dissolution(r = 96* for first order reaction, r =95* for second order reaction) while for Olsen’s P, the maximum correlation was found in initial rock phosphate sample (r =88* for first order reaction, r =94* for second order reaction). Kinetics analysis of the obtained rock phosphate demonstrated that the PARP has more influence on phosphorus release pattern as compared to the inorganic P (SSP)

A cognate tRNA specific conformational change in glutaminyl-tRNA synthetase and its implication for specificity

Conformational changes that occur upon substrate binding are known to play crucial roles in the recognition and specific aminoacylation of cognate tRNA by glutaminyl-tRNA synthetase. In a previous study we had shown that glutaminyl-tRNA synthetase labeled selectively in a nonessential sulfhydryl residue by an environment sensitive probe, acrylodan, monitors many of the conformational changes that occur upon substrate binding. In this article we have shown that the conformational change that occurs upon tRNAGln binding to glnRS/ATP complex is absent in a noncognate tRNA tRNAGlu-glnRS/ATP complex. CD spectroscopy indicates that this cognate tRNAGln-induced conformational change may involve only a small change in secondary structure. The Van't Hoff plot of cognate and noncognate tRNA binding in the presence of ATP is similar, suggesting similar modes of interaction. It was concluded that the cognate tRNA induces a local conformational change in the synthetase that may be one of the critical elements that causes enhanced aminoacylation of the cognate tRNA over the noncognate ones

Ruptured Hydatid Cyst with an Unusual Presentation

Ruptured pulmonary hydatid cyst may sometimes cause complications like empyema, bronchopleural fistula, and collapsed lung. These complications may mislead the diagnosis and treatment if prior evidence of cyst has not been documented before rupture. We present a case of a young male who presented with complete collapse of left lung with pyopneumothorax and bronchopleural fistula which was misdiagnosed as pulmonary tuberculosis. He was referred to us from peripheral hospital for pneumonectomy when his condition did not improve after six months of antitubercular chemotherapy and intercostals drainage. On investigation, CT scan revealed significant pleural thickening and massive pneumothorax restricting lung expansion. Decortication of thickened parietal and visceral pleura revealed a ruptured hydatid endocyst, and repair of leaking bronchial openings in floor of probable site of rupture in left upper lobe helped in the complete expansion of the collapsed lung followed by uneventful recovery

The ultrasonic changes in maturing placenta in pregnancy complicated with hypertension and its correlation with neonatal outcome

Background: Hypertension is the most common medical problem encountered during pregnancy, complicating 2-3% of pregnancies. Obstetric ultrasound provides a cornerstone to other modalities used for assessing hypertensive disorders of pregnancy. This study was designed to detect the placental changes in hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and correlation with neonatal outcome.Methods: The study group comprised of 42 patients with pregnancy complicated with hypertension with period of gestation above 20 weeks and B.P. more than 140/90 mm of Hg measured on two occasions 6 hours or more apart. The control group consists of 42 normotensive patients matched with age and parity. One ultrasonic examination were performed between 28 weeks and 34 weeks and another after 34 weeks till term. Apart from routine parameters i.e. BPD, AC, FL, Amniotic fluid index, EBW and gestational age routine placental grading were performed according to the classification proposed by Grannum and associates. To evaluate perinatal outcome following measurement were studied – birth weight immediately after delivery, mode of delivery, perinatal morbidity and mortality , APGAR  score , presence of fetal distress.Results: In 97.62%  cases (41 out of 42 ) of control group showed Grade–II changes as opposed to 57.14% of cases (24 out of 42) in study group before 34 weeks.Conclusions: Accelerated maturation of placenta in pregnancy complicated with hypertension are more common in the hypertensive group