Three dimensional fixed charge bi-criterion indefinite quadratic transportation problem

The three-dimensional fixed charge transportation problem is an extension of the classical three-dimensional transportation problem in which a fixed cost is incurred for every origin. In the present paper three-dimensional fixed charge bi-criterion indefinite quadratic transportation problem, giving the same priority to cost as well as time, is studied. An algorithm to find the efficient cost-time trade off pairs in a three dimensional fixed charge bi-criterion indefinite quadratic transportation problem is developed. The algorithm is illustrated with the help of a numerical example

Fetal colon diameter as a tool for estimating gestational age in advanced pregnancy in north Indian population: a pilot study

Background: Conventional Ultrasound dating is not very accurate after 34 weeks of gestation and has standard deviation of about 2 weeks. The aim of the study was to verify whether fetal colon diameter can be used as a tool for estimating gestational age (GA) of fetuses between 32 to 40 weeks.Methods: 100 healthy pregnant women aged 20-35 years were recruited. Fetal bi-parietal diameter, head circumference, abdominal circumference, and femoral lengths were assessed by ultrasound. In addition descending colon diameter was assessed at the level of colonic haustra. The correlation between GA and colon thickness was assessed by the Pearson correlation test.Results: Significant correlation between fetal colon diameter and maternal gestational age was observed (r=0.582). Correlation between gestational age and femur length (r = 0.725) was found to be higher than that between gestational age and colon diameter (r = 0.528) suggesting that femur length is a better parameter than colon diameter for gestational age estimation. The regression equation for gestational age as a function of colon diameter was derived as GA = 28.614 + 0.629 × CD. The diagnostic accuracy of CD of ≥ 12mm in predicting term pregnancy was 75% with a high negative predictive value of 88.9% and positive predictive value of 58.7%.Conclusions: The present study suggested that colon diameter can be used for predicting term pregnancy. Further studies are required to validate this novel marker of maturity amongst Indian population

The transpeptidase PbpA and non-canonical transglycosylase RodA of Mycobacterium tuberculosis play important roles in regulating bacterial cell lengths

The cell wall of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) is a complex structure that protects the pathogen in hostile environments. Peptidoglycan (PG), which helps determine the morphology of the cell envelope, undergoes substantial remodeling under stress. This meshwork of linear chains of sugars, crosslinked through attached peptides, is generated through the sequential action of enzymes termed transglycosylases and transpeptidases. The Mtb genome encodes two classical transglycosylases and four transpeptidases, the functions of which are not fully elucidated. Here, we present work on the yet uncharacterized transpeptidase PbpA and a non-classical transglycosylase RodA. We elucidate their roles in regulating in vitro growth and in vivo survival of pathogenic mycobacteria. We find that RodA and PbpA are required for regulating cell length, but do not affect mycobacterial growth. Biochemical analyses show PbpA to be a classical transpeptidase, while RodA is identified to be a member of an emerging class of non-canonical transglycosylases. Phosphorylation of RodA at T463 modulates its biological function. In a guinea pig infection model, RodA and PbpA are found to be required for both, bacterial survival as well as formation of granuloma structures, thus underscoring the importance of these proteins in mediating mycobacterial virulence in the host. Our results emphasize the fact that while redundant enzymes likely compensate for the absence of RodA or PbpA during in vitro growth, the two proteins play critical roles for the survival of the pathogen inside its host

Upright kneeling position during second stage of labor: a pilot study

Background: Women delivering in upright position have shorter labour due to efficient and stronger contractions with faster descent of foetal head. The present study aimed to find out effect of upright kneeling position in the second stage of labour on maternal and foetal outcome and assess patients’ satisfaction.Methods: The study was carried out in a tertiary care hospital of North India from October 2012 to February 2014. Low risk women admitted in early labour were divided into two groups, women delivering in kneeling position and in supine position. The outcome measures studied were, duration of second stage of labour, mode of delivery, 2nd degree perineal tears, Apgar scores at 5 minutes, NICU admission rate and patient satisfaction.Results: The mean duration of second stage of labour in kneeling group was shorter by 14.901 minutes. The rate of vaginal delivery was comparable for both primigravidas and multigravida in kneeling and supine groups, RR: 2.275, 95% CI (0.7872-6.5831) and RR: 1.633, 95% CI (0.393-6.775). Primigravidas had more 2nd degree perineal tears in kneeling group as compared to supine, RR 4.191, 95% CI (1.54 to 11.41). No difference in Apgar scores >7 at 5 minutes was observed in both groups, however, significantly lesser babies in kneeling group were admitted in NICU, RR 0.246, 95% CI (0.079 to 0.761). There was no difference on comparing satisfaction scores of primigravidas and multigravida in both supine and kneeling position.Conclusions: Kneeling position reduces the duration of second stage of labour and NICU admissions

THE IMPLEMENTATION OF CLOUD COMPUTING AS STRATEGIC TECHNOLOGY FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT USING REGRESSION ANALYSIS

As information technology has advanced, there has been a shift toward relying more and more on online cloud storage and computing services. There is no getting around the fact that recent times have seen a meteoric rise in interest in cloud computing. This technology is used by many different organisations as the central component of their information technology infrastructure. The use of cloud computing results in increased data processing efficiency across a variety of computer and storage systems that are available over the internet. The approaches have advanced as a direct result of the cutting-edge and forward-thinking computer procedures that are the foundation of the internet's core database and network architecture. In the 1990s, a new sort of cutting-edge computing known as grid computing came into being. 2005 saw the birth of two new computing paradigms: cloud computing and utility computing. Consolidating several virtual computing components into a single physical platform is one of the most distinguishing features of cloud computing services and infrastructure. These components include the central processing unit (CPU), the network, storage, and memory. A piece of software known as a hypervisor is responsible for isolating each virtual machine (VM) (used by Virtual box and VMware, for example). Using this strategy, one virtual disc or machine may be prevented from directly accessing the memory and programmes of another inside the same environment. This can be accomplished by using a firewall. Through the use of hardware abstraction, it is feasible to conceal the complexity of operating physical computer systems, while at the same time efficiently boosting the systems' processing capacity. Utilizing virtualization technology in the cloud comes with a number of benefits, including scalability and the capacity to support many tenants (one software programme serving many users at once). These properties are essential to cloud computing because they make sharing and pooling resources possible. Sharing and pooling resources provides a number of benefits, some of which include increased business value, more flexibility, and cost savings. When it comes to the process of moving assets from cloud providers to cloud virtualization users, provisioning is an extremely important step. In order to fulfil the requirements of its clientele, the cloud service provider must create an acceptable number of virtual machines and make available sufficient amounts of resources. This may be accomplished by any one of the following three methods: advanced provisioning, dynamic provisioning, or user self-provisioning. The mechanism by which cloud services and resources are made available, known as dynamic provisioning, faces a number of challenges. These challenges include the correct configuration of virtual machines (VMs) and technological constraints such as disc space, processing power, memory, and network throughput. It's possible that the scalability of virtual machines, the setup of cloud systems, and other aspects of virtualization's deployment might provide some difficulties

OxDBase: a database of oxygenases involved in biodegradation

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Oxygenases belong to the oxidoreductive group of enzymes (E.C. Class 1), which oxidize the substrates by transferring oxygen from molecular oxygen (O₂) and utilize FAD/NADH/NADPH as the co-substrate. Oxygenases can further be grouped into two categories i.e. monooxygenases and dioxygenases on the basis of number of oxygen atoms used for oxidation. They play a key role in the metabolism of organic compounds by increasing their reactivity or water solubility or bringing about cleavage of the aromatic ring.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>We compiled a database of biodegradative oxygenases (OxDBase) which provides a compilation of the oxygenase data as sourced from primary literature in the form of web accessible database. There are two separate search engines for searching into the database i.e. mono and dioxygenases database respectively. Each enzyme entry contains its common name and synonym, reaction in which enzyme is involved, family and subfamily, structure and gene link and literature citation. The entries are also linked to several external database including BRENDA, KEGG, ENZYME and UM-BBD providing wide background information. At present the database contains information of over 235 oxygenases including both dioxygenases and monooxygenases. This database is freely available online at <url>http://www.imtech.res.in/raghava/oxdbase/</url>.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>OxDBase is the first database that is dedicated only to oxygenases and provides comprehensive information about them. Due to the importance of the oxygenases in chemical synthesis of drug intermediates and oxidation of xenobiotic compounds, OxDBase database would be very useful tool in the field of synthetic chemistry as well as bioremediation.</p

Immune responses in patients with HIV infection after vaccination with recombinant Hepatitis B virus vaccine

BACKGROUND: Patients with HIV infection are at risk of co-infection with HBV, as the routes of transmission are shared and thus immunization with HBV vaccine could be protective in them. The aim of the present study was to assess the efficacy of recombinant vaccine in treatment-naive HIV positive patients and healthy controls, and to dissect out differences if any, in different limbs of immune response. METHODS: Forty HIV positive patients and 20 HIV negative controls, negative for HBsAg, HBsAbs and HBcAbs were vaccinated with three doses of 40μg and 20μg of vaccine respectively. Patients were divided into high CD4 and low CD4 group based on CD4+ lymphocytes of 200 and < 200/mm3 respectively. Group II consisted of healthy controls. Detection of phenotypic markers was done by flowcytometry. Cytokine estimation was done by sandwich ELISA. HBsAbs were estimated in serum by ELISA. RESULTS: After vaccination, CD(4)+, CD(8)+ and CD(3)+ cells increased significantly in all the groups. There was no increase in NK cell activity in patients with high CD(4)+ lymphocytes and only a marginal increase in patients with low CD(4)+ lymphocytes (170 to 293/mm3) whereas a marked increase was observed in controls (252 to 490/mm3). After vaccination, although an increase in memory cells was observed in HIV positive patients, yet HBsAb levels were significantly lower than controls (P < 0.05) indicating a functional defect of memory cells in HIV/AIDS patients. Basal IFN-γ levels were also significantly lower in HIV/AIDS patients (P < 0.01). Although the levels increased after vaccination, the peak level remained lower than in controls. HBsAb titers were much lower in HIV positive patients compared to controls. (High CD(4)+ group: 8834 mIU/ml, low CD(4)+ group: 462 mIU/ml Vs. Controls: 16,906 mIU/ml). IL-4 and IL-10 were low in patients. CONCLUSION: Despite a double dose in patients, IL-4 and IL-10, which regulate antibody response, were also lower in patients, and this together with low CD(4)+ counts and lack of T help, accounted for low HBsAb levels. Vaccination in patients with CD(4)+ lymphocytes < 50/mm(3) was ineffective. Thus early immunization is advocated in all HIV positive patients at a stage when they are still capable of mounting an adequate immune respons

Development of a self-assessment tool for resident doctors’ communication skills in India

Purpose Effective communication skills are essential for resident doctors to provide optimum patient care. This study was conducted to develop and validate a questionnaire for the self-assessment of resident doctors’ communication skills in India. Methods This was a mixed-methods study conducted in 2 phases. The first phase consisted of questionnaire development, including the identification of relevant literature, focus group discussions with residents and experts from clinical specialties, and pre-testing of the questionnaire. The second phase involved administering the questionnaire survey to 95 residents from the Departments of Medicine, Emergency Medicine, Pediatrics, and Surgery at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India in April 2019. Internal consistency was tested and the factor structure was analyzed to test construct validity. Results The questionnaire consisted of 3 sections: (A) 4 items on doctor-patient conflicts and the role of communication skills in avoiding these conflicts, (B) 29 items on self-assessment of communication skills in different settings, and (C) 8 items on barriers to practicing good communication skills. Sections B and C had good internal consistency (Cronbach α: 0.885 and 0.771, respectively). Section C had a 2-factor solution, and the barriers were classified as ‘training’ and ‘infrastructure’ factors. Conclusion This appears to be a valid assessment tool of resident doctors’ communication skills, with potential utility for identifying gaps in communication skills and developing communication skills modules

Penilaian Kinerja Keuangan Koperasi di Kabupaten Pelalawan

This paper describe development and financial performance of cooperative in District Pelalawan among 2007 - 2008. Studies on primary and secondary cooperative in 12 sub-districts. Method in this stady use performance measuring of productivity, efficiency, growth, liquidity, and solvability of cooperative. Productivity of cooperative in Pelalawan was highly but efficiency still low. Profit and income were highly, even liquidity of cooperative very high, and solvability was good