Snail Homing and Mating Search Algorithm: A Novel Bio-Inspired Metaheuristic Algorithm

In this paper, a novel Snail Homing and Mating Search (SHMS) algorithm is proposed. It is inspired from the biological behaviour of the snails. Snails continuously travels to find food and a mate, leaving behind a trail of mucus that serves as a guide for their return. Snails tend to navigate by following the available trails on the ground and responding to cues from nearby shelter homes. The proposed SHMS algorithm is investigated by solving several unimodal and multimodal functions. The solutions are validated using standard statistical tests such as two-sided and pairwise signed rank Wilcoxon test and Friedman rank test. The solution obtained from the SHMS algorithm exhibited superior robustness as well as search space exploration capabilities within the less computational cost. The real-world application of SHMS algorithm is successfully demonstrated in the engineering design domain by solving three cases of design and economic optimization shell and tube heat exchanger problem. The objective function value and other statistical results obtained using SHMS algorithm are compared with other well-known metaheuristic algorithms.Comment: 46 Pages, 11 Figures, 24 Table

Forgotten DJ stents with calculi in a double moiety re-implant: A case report

Calculi occurring around double J (DJ) stents is a rare occurrence. Our case was of a 12-year-old female who was operated for ureteric re-implantation of both moieties in a case of left sided double moiety with Grade IV VUR. Two DJ stents were kept in situ and patient was lost to follow-up. The stents and resultant calculi came into notice when she came with abdominal pain and dysuria. They were removed by pyelolithotomy with suprapubic cystolithotomy

Study protocol for economic evaluation of probiotic intervention for prevention of neonatal sepsis in 0-2-month old low-birth weight infants in India: the ProSPoNS trial

Introduction: The ProSPoNS trial is a multicentre, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to evaluate the role of probiotics in prevention of neonatal sepsis. The present protocol describes the data and methodology for the cost utility of the probiotic intervention alongside the controlled trial. Methods and analysis: A societal perspective will be adopted in the economic evaluation. Direct medical and non-medical costs associated with neonatal sepsis and its treatment would be ascertained in both the intervention and the control arm. Intervention costs will be facilitated through primary data collection and programme budgetary records. Treatment cost for neonatal sepsis and associated conditions will be accessed from Indian national costing database estimating healthcare system costs. A cost–utility design will be employed with outcome as incremental cost per disability-adjusted life year averted. Considering a time-horizon of 6 months, trial estimates will be extrapolated to model the cost and consequences among high-risk neonatal population in India. A discount rate of 3% will be used. Impact of uncertainties present in analysis will be addressed through both deterministic and probabilistic sensitivity analysis. Ethics and dissemination: Has been obtained from EC of the six participating sites (MGIMS Wardha, KEM Pune, JIPMER Puducherry, AIPH, Bhubaneswar, LHMC New Delhi, SMC Meerut) as well as from the ERC of LSTM, UK. A peer-reviewed article will be published after completion of the study. Findings will be disseminated to the community of the study sites, with academic bodies and policymakers. Registration: The protocol has been approved by the regulatory authority (Central Drugs Standards Control Organisation; CDSCO) in India (CT-NOC No. CT/NOC/17/2019 dated 1 March 2019). The ProSPoNS trial is registered at the Clinical Trial Registry of India (CTRI). Registered on 16 May 2019. Trial registration number: CTRI/2019/05/019197; Clinical Trial Registry

Mortality and pulmonary complications in patients undergoing surgery with perioperative SARS-CoV-2 infection: an international cohort study

Background: The impact of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) on postoperative recovery needs to be understood to inform clinical decision making during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. This study reports 30-day mortality and pulmonary complication rates in patients with perioperative SARS-CoV-2 infection. Methods: This international, multicentre, cohort study at 235 hospitals in 24 countries included all patients undergoing surgery who had SARS-CoV-2 infection confirmed within 7 days before or 30 days after surgery. The primary outcome measure was 30-day postoperative mortality and was assessed in all enrolled patients. The main secondary outcome measure was pulmonary complications, defined as pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, or unexpected postoperative ventilation. Findings: This analysis includes 1128 patients who had surgery between Jan 1 and March 31, 2020, of whom 835 (74·0%) had emergency surgery and 280 (24·8%) had elective surgery. SARS-CoV-2 infection was confirmed preoperatively in 294 (26·1%) patients. 30-day mortality was 23·8% (268 of 1128). Pulmonary complications occurred in 577 (51·2%) of 1128 patients; 30-day mortality in these patients was 38·0% (219 of 577), accounting for 81·7% (219 of 268) of all deaths. In adjusted analyses, 30-day mortality was associated with male sex (odds ratio 1·75 [95% CI 1·28–2·40], p\textless0·0001), age 70 years or older versus younger than 70 years (2·30 [1·65–3·22], p\textless0·0001), American Society of Anesthesiologists grades 3–5 versus grades 1–2 (2·35 [1·57–3·53], p\textless0·0001), malignant versus benign or obstetric diagnosis (1·55 [1·01–2·39], p=0·046), emergency versus elective surgery (1·67 [1·06–2·63], p=0·026), and major versus minor surgery (1·52 [1·01–2·31], p=0·047). Interpretation: Postoperative pulmonary complications occur in half of patients with perioperative SARS-CoV-2 infection and are associated with high mortality. Thresholds for surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic should be higher than during normal practice, particularly in men aged 70 years and older. Consideration should be given for postponing non-urgent procedures and promoting non-operative treatment to delay or avoid the need for surgery. Funding: National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland, Bowel and Cancer Research, Bowel Disease Research Foundation, Association of Upper Gastrointestinal Surgeons, British Association of Surgical Oncology, British Gynaecological Cancer Society, European Society of Coloproctology, NIHR Academy, Sarcoma UK, Vascular Society for Great Britain and Ireland, and Yorkshire Cancer Research

Effects of Modified Thermoplastic Starch on Crystallization Kinetics and Barrier Properties of PLA

This study reports on using reactive extrusion (REX) modified thermoplastic starch particles as a bio-based and biodegradable nucleating agent to increase the rate of crystallization, percent crystallinity and improve oxygen barrier properties while maintaining the biodegradability of PLA. Reactive blends of maleated thermoplastic starch (MTPS) and PLA were prepared using a ZSK-30 twin-screw extruder; 80% glycerol was grafted on the starch during the preparation of MTPS as determined by soxhlet extraction with acetone. The crystallinity of PLA was found to increase from 7.7% to 28.6% with 5% MTPS. The crystallization temperature of PLA reduced from 113 °C to 103 °C. Avrami analysis of the blends showed that the crystallization rate increased 98-fold and t1/2 was reduced drastically from 20 min to <1 min with the addition of 5% MTPS compared to neat PLA. Observation from POM confirmed that the presence of MTPS in the PLA matrix significantly increased the rate of formation and density of spherulites. Oxygen and water vapor permeabilities of the solvent-casted PLA/MTPS films were reduced by 33 and 19% respectively over neat PLA without causing any detrimental impacts on the mechanical properties (α = 0.05). The addition of MTPS to PLA did not impact the biodegradation of PLA in an aqueous environment

Effects of Modified Thermoplastic Starch on Crystallization Kinetics and Barrier Properties of PLA

This study reports on using reactive extrusion (REX) modified thermoplastic starch particles as a bio-based and biodegradable nucleating agent to increase the rate of crystallization, percent crystallinity and improve oxygen barrier properties while maintaining the biodegradability of PLA. Reactive blends of maleated thermoplastic starch (MTPS) and PLA were prepared using a ZSK-30 twin-screw extruder; 80% glycerol was grafted on the starch during the preparation of MTPS as determined by soxhlet extraction with acetone. The crystallinity of PLA was found to increase from 7.7% to 28.6% with 5% MTPS. The crystallization temperature of PLA reduced from 113 °C to 103 °C. Avrami analysis of the blends showed that the crystallization rate increased 98-fold and t1/2 was reduced drastically from 20 min to <1 min with the addition of 5% MTPS compared to neat PLA. Observation from POM confirmed that the presence of MTPS in the PLA matrix significantly increased the rate of formation and density of spherulites. Oxygen and water vapor permeabilities of the solvent-casted PLA/MTPS films were reduced by 33 and 19% respectively over neat PLA without causing any detrimental impacts on the mechanical properties (α = 0.05). The addition of MTPS to PLA did not impact the biodegradation of PLA in an aqueous environment

Synchronizing the RecordReplay engines for MPI Trace compression By

An analysis tool has been developed which characterizes the communication behavior of large scale massively parallel applications which use MPI to communicate amongst parallel tasks. This tool has essentially two components  –  record engine and replay engine. Record engine efficiently produces the communication traces in compressed file(s)  and replay engine replays the execution and generates statistical data for analysis purpose. The current record engine has some extensions done over a period of time. However,  the corresponding changes have not been done to the replay engine. So,  our task is to identify the changes that are needed and to make those changes and do the benchmarking with small and large benchmarks. Solved Issues 1. Fixing the new record engine. We have managed to successfully  generate the rsd files for the IS benchmark in the NAS Parallel Benchmarking suite. This required three fixes in the code. First fix: While trying to run the benchmark with the new record framework we found that most of the calls were successfully being captured by the record engine but the MPI_Alltoallv()  call was aborting in the middle of execution. On further analysis of the code we found that initialization of the value for sender&apos;s displacement was incorrect. The fix was nothing but a change in the name of the variable used to denote sender&apos;s displacement in the mpispec.umpi.extract file. Instead of being “sdispl ”  it was named “displ ”  in the file. Changed File:  mpispec.umpi.extrac