Impact of range anxiety on driver route choices using a panel-integrated choice latent variable model

textThere has been a significant increase in private vehicle ownership in the last decade leading to substantial increase in air pollution, depleting fuel reserves, etc. One of the alternatives known as battery operated electric vehicles (BEVs) has the potential to reduce carbon footprints due to lesser or no emissions and thus the focus on shifting people from gasoline operated vehicles (GVs) to BEVs has increased considerably recently. However, BEVs have a limited ‘range’ and takes considerable time to completely recharge its battery. In addition, charging stations are not as pervasive as gasoline stations. As a result a new fear of getting stranded is observed in BEV drivers, known as range anxiety. Range anxiety has the potential to substantially affect the route choice of a BEV user. It has also been a major cause of lower market shares of BEVs. Range anxiety is a latent feeling which cannot be measured directly. It is not homogenous either and varies among different socio-economic groups. Thus, a better understanding of BEV users’ behavior may shed light on some potential solutions that can then be used to improve their market shares and help in developing new network models which can realistically capture effects of varying EV adoptions. Thus, in this study, we analyze the factors that may impact BEV users’ range anxiety in addition to their route choice behavior using the integrated choice latent variable model (ICLV) proposed by Bhat and Dubey (2014). Our results indicate that an individual’s range anxiety is significantly affected by their age, gender, income, awareness of charging stations, BEV ownership and other category vehicle ownership. Further, it also highlights the importance of including disutility caused by distance while considering network flow models with combined GV and BEV assignment. Finally, a more concentrated effort can be directed towards increasing the awareness of charging station locations in the neighborhood to help reduce the psychological barrier associated with range anxiety. Overcoming this barrier may help increase consumer confidence, resulting in increased BEV adoption and ultimately will lead towards a potentially pollution-free environment.Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineerin

A comparison of spot urinary protein-creatinine ratio with 24-hour urine protein in quantification of proteinuria in women with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy

Background: Proteinuria is a major indicator of hypertensive disorder of pregnancy. The gold standard for diagnosis of significant proteinuria is based on a 24hour urine collection which is cumbersome, time-consuming, and inconvenient to patients. A need, therefore, exists for a rapid, valid, and accurate test to identify significant urinary proteinuria. Methods: We conducted an observational cross-sectional hospital-based study wherein a total of 150 pregnant women who met the criteria of preeclampsia were taken. Spot urine samples for calculating the urine P/C ratio were taken immediately before 24hr urine collection. Correlation between 24hour urine protein and spot PCR was then determined by Pearson’s correlation coefficient(r). Results: The correlation coefficient (r) between 24hr urine protein and spot PCR was found to be 0.734 (n=150) which was highly significant with p<0.001. In this study, population the ROC curve analysis revealed the sensitivity of 90.3% and specificity of 97.3% with AUC 0.958 for a cut-off value of spot PCR as 0.43 to detect significant. Conclusions: Spot PCR is an accurate, valid, steady fast, reliable, and time-saving test which may be used as an alternative method for determining significant proteinuria in patients with pregnancy-induced hypertension

A REVIEW ON STHAULYA (OBESITY) AND ITS MANAGEMENT THROUGH AYURVEDA

Although man has developed sophisticated machines, medical equipment and potent medicines, in spite of all these upgrade, he is lacking proper health. In a quest to achieve more of worldly pleasures and luxury, people are adopting a faulty lifestyle and the disease-causing risk factors and stress in their life are on increase mode. This is the fundamental reason being surge of lifestyle disorders these days. Where obesity is main and root cause of many other lifestyle disorder. A detail description of obesity by name of Sthaulya found in Ayurvedic literature but the material is Scatter and different opinion by different Acharya were there. Ayurveda manage the disorder in a holistic approach with Diet, Lifestyle, medication and Sodhanakarma. So, in present study detail review of Sthaulya with the aim to enlighten the different treatment approaches for the management of Sthaulya (Obesity)

Effect of oral and intravenous hydration therapy on amniotic fluid index, maternal and perinatal outcome in borderline oligohydramnios

Background: The aim was to determine whether oral route of maternal hydration was advantageous over intravenous route in terms of increasing AFI and improving maternal and perinatal outcome in women having borderline oligohydramnios.Methods: At Aarogya hospital, 150 women in third trimester with borderline oligohydramnios (BO) AFI 5.1-8 cm, were divided randomly into two groups, oral hydration group (OG) and intravenous hydration (IVG). Each case was studied on OPD basis. After 2 hours, 48 hours and 1 week of oral or IV hydration. AFI was reassessed by same sonographer. Pre-delivery AFI and various outcome measures were recorded for both groups.Results: There was an increase in AFI by 44.5% in OG from 0 hour till delivery as compared to 30.7% increase in IVG. MSL occurred in 8 (10.7%) women in OG compared to 17 (22.6%) in IVG. FD was found in 4 (5.3%) in OG requiring LSCS compared to 16 (21.3%) in IVG. Total of 59 (78.7%) patients in OG has spontaneous vaginal delivery as compared to 42 (56%) in IVG. Perinatal outcome was better with OG than IVG 67 (89%) had Apgar at 1 min >8 in OG than 58 (77%) in IVG. Apgar score <8 at 1 min was seen in 8 (10.7%) in OG while 17 (22.7 %) in IVG. Overall, 7 (9.3%) required NICU admission in OG and 12 (16%) in IVG.Conclusions: AFI increment persisted longer in OG as compared to IVG. Maternal and perinatal outcome were better with oral hydration therapy than IV hydration

Comparative Pharmacognostical Studies Of Three Mahonia Species: Exploring The Possibilities As A Substitute Of Ayurvedic Drug “Daruharidra”

Mahonia species (Family: Berberidaceae) is well known plant used in traditional systems of medicine for the treatment of fever, cold, jaundice, diarrhea, dysentery, dermatitis, eczema and postnatal treatment. The present communication deals with comparative pharmacognostical studies and HPTLC quantification of benzylisoquinoline alkaloid berberine of three Mahonia species viz. Mahonia leschenaultii (Wallich ex Wight &amp; Arn.) Takeda (ML), Mahonia nepaulensis DC. (MN) and Mahonia borealis Takeda (MB). The macroscopic examination showed characteristic differences in leaf, inflorescence and fruit of the three species. The pharmacognostical parameters viz. moisture content, ash and extractive values of samples was found to be within the limits of standard. The phytochemical evaluation of metabolites through spectroscopy reveals the presence of flavonoid, phenolics, starch, sugar and tannin, former was found to be the highest (0.45%) among all. HPTLC quantification showed that the maximum content of berberine was found in Mahonia leschenaultii i.e. 0.197% ± 0.01 dry wt. basis. The study explores the possibilities of Mahonia species as a substitute of Ayurvedic drug “Daruharidra” i.e. Berberis aristata and will also aid in quality control of products containing “Daruharidra” in herbal drug industry

A cross-sectional study to evaluate sonographic foetal humerus length for estimation of gestational age in normal singleton pregnancies at a tertiary care centre

Background: Accurate knowledge of gestational age of the foetus is essential for planning a timely and uneventful outcome. Biparietal diameter, head circumference, abdominal circumference and femur length reliably predict gestational age. The humerus length is not widely used as biometric parameter for determining the GA so the present study was done to estimate foetal gestational age by measuring humerus length between 18 to 36 weeks of normal singleton pregnancies and to compare humerus length with routine parameters.Methods: This was a hospital based descriptive cross-sectional study, 200 women with viable singleton pregnancy, with known LMP, between 18 weeks to 36 weeks of gestation were included. Various foetal measurements such as biparietal diameter, head circumference, abdominal circumference, femur length and humerus length were measured using electronic calipers on ultrasound. Data were statistically analyzed.Results: The mean humerus length at 18 weeks was 25.27±1.16 mm and at 36 weeks of gestation was 57.11±1.58 mm. Simple linear regression analysis shows a strongly significant linear relationship between humerus length and gestational age. Where, gestational age (weeks) Y= 0.5213 x humerus length (X) + 4.905; with high degree of correlation coefficient (R2 =0.9785 and P≤0.0001). When Compared with BPD, HC, AC and FL, humerus length also shows a linear correlation.Conclusions: The measurement of the humerus length can be an important additional parameter for estimating gestational age along with other parameters and can be used to predict the gestational age of fetuses in special circumstances

Synthesis and Physicochemical Characterization of Banana Starch Tartrate and its Application as Disintegrant in Telmisartan Tablets

The present investigation was aimed to isolate banana starch (BS), synthesis of banana starch tartrate (BST), characterization, and application as a novel disintegrant in telmisartan tablets. Starch tartrate was synthesized by the esterification process by the treatment of tartaric acid on the backbone of the BS. Synthesized BST was found to be fine, slightly free-flowing and crystalline powder. The synthesized BST was subjected to Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and micrometric evaluation. Flow properties of BS and BST were determined as an angle of repose, bulk density, tapped density, Carr’s index, Hausner’s ratio, etc. BST exhibited good swelling properties and showed no gelling at 100°C but it was transformed into a clear solution. Fourier transform infrared spectra (FTIR) did not show the presence of any significant interaction between BST and Telmisartan(T). The direct compression technique was employed in formulating telmisartan tablets using BST sodium starch glycolate and crospovidone as a disintegrant.&nbsp; Tablets were comparatively evaluated for weight variation, thickness, hardness, friability, and disintegration. The tablets formulated using BS and BST passed prescribed evaluation tests for weight variation, friability, hardness, and thickness. The tablets formulated using BST as disintegrant gave optimum disintegration compared to those tablets containing sodium starch glycolate and crospovidone sodium super disintegrants. Evaluations indicated that synthesized BST shows qualitatively and quantitatively good disintegration characteristics in comparison to super disintegrants in telmisartan tablet formulation. These results suggest that the synthesized BST could be used as a novel semi-synthetic disintegrant in dispersible tablet formulations. Keywords: Banana Starch, Banana Starch tartrate, Telmisartan, Superdisintegran

A comparative study of serum calcium and magnesium levels in women with pre-eclampsia and normotensive women

Background: Pre-eclampsia is transient but potentially dangerous complication of pregnancy. Despite of pre-eclampsia's prevalence and severity, the pathophysiology of this multisystem disorder is still poorly understood and its aetiology has not yet been fully elucidated. Recently, nutritional deficiency especially micronutrients deficiency is gaining prominence in the pathogenesis of pre-eclampsia. Hypocalcaemia and hypomagnesaemia have been implicated in the pathogenesis of pre-eclampsia. This study has been done to compare serum calcium and magnesium levels in women with pre-eclampsia and normotensive women and their association with severity of pre-eclampsia.Methods: 50 women with pre-eclampsia and 50 normotensive women were included in the study and serum calcium and magnesium levels were measured. Data were analyzed.Results: The serum ionic calcium concentration was significantly lower in the pre-eclamptic cases compared to the normotensive controls (3.34±1.35 versus 4.37±0.74, p=0.0000) similarly serum magnesium concentration was significantly lower in the pre-eclamptic cases compared to the normotensive controls (1.68±0.41 versus 1.94±0.42, p-0.002). Mean serum ionic Ca levels in severe pre-eclampsia group was significantly lower than normotensive pregnant women (p=0.0000) as well as mild pre-eclampsia group (p=0.001). Mean serum Mg in severe pre-eclampsia was significantly lower than normotensive pregnant women (p=0.0008) as well as mild pre-eclampsia group (p=0.03). Serum ionic Ca and Mg had a negative correlation with systolic and diastolic blood pressure.Conclusions: Based on this study, measurements of serum ionic calcium and magnesium among women at risk of for pre-eclampsia may be used to predict the onset and severity of pre-eclampsia

To study the prevalence of latent tuberculosis infection among medical students

Background: Risk of developing latent tuberculosis infection increases in medical students with their higher exposure to TB care facilities. Objective: To study the prevalence of latent TB infection among students attending professional degrees MBBS, BDS, MD, MS, MDS at King George’s Medical University, India. Methods: This study was carried out with Tuberculin skin testing among students and active TB cases were excluded. A standard dose of 0.1?mL of purified protein derivative was slowly injected intra dermally into non-dominant forearm. After 48-72 hours, the reaction was estimated by measuring the transverse diameter of the induration. Results: Total 561 students had given consent to get enrolled. Prevalence of latent tuberculosis infection was significant with period of clinical exposure (p-value &lt; 0.05), average size of induration (p-value &lt; 0.001), and history of prior Tuberculin Skin Test (p-value &lt; 0.001). However it was not significant with the age (p-value &gt; 0.05), gender (p-value &gt; 0.05), and history of contact with active cases of TB (p-value &gt; 0.05). Conclusion: The prevalence of latent tuberculosis infection is higher in post graduate students followed by interns and final year students due to more exposure to patients in wards and clinics at King George’s Medical University, India

An observational study to find association of serum vitamin B12 and folate level with neonatal weight at a tertiary care centre

Background: In developing countries like India, low birth weight is a challenging and important public health problem as it has adverse effect on growth and development of children. Vitamin B12 and folate are micronutrients essential for normal foetal growth and development. Maternal folate and B12 concentrations have been positively associated with birth weight. The aim of this study was to evaluate maternal folate and vitamin B12 status in pregnant women in third trimester of pregnancy and to find their relation with foetal birth weight.Methods: 171 pregnant women in their third trimester with live singleton pregnancy were included in the study. S. vitamin B12 and folate levels were measured and results were analysed.Results: Mean maternal vitamin B12 level in mothers with LBW infants was significantly lower than that of mothers of ABW infants (143.23±91.79 vs 188.8±109.64 respectively p≤0.001) and mean maternal folate level in mothers with LBW infants was lower than that of mothers of ABW infants (8.46±8.94 vs 9.96±12.57 respectively p=0.054). There was a weak positive but statistically significant correlation between baby weight (kg) and S. vitamin B12 (rho=0.24, p=0.002) and S. folate (rho=0.17, p=0.029).Conclusions: The present study confirms that maternal low vitamin B12 level and low S. folate levels are associated with low birth weight so during antenatal visit women should be screened for vitamin B12 and folate deficiency and vitamin supplementation should be continued throughout the pregnancy