Versal deformations of Leibniz algebras

In this work we consider deformations of Leibniz algebras over a field of characteristic zero. The main problem in deformation theory is to describe all non-equivalent deformations of a given object. We give a method to solve this problem completely, namely work out a construction of a versal deformation for a given Leibniz algebra, which induces all non-equivalent deformations and is unique on the infinitesimal level.Comment: 29 page

Applying Machine Based Decomposition in 2-Machine Flow Shops

The Shifting Bottleneck (SB) heuristic is among the most successful approximation methods for solving the Job Shop problem. It is essentially a machine based decomposition procedure where a series of One Machine Sequencing Problems (OMSPs) are solved. However, such a procedure has been reported to be highly ineffective for the Flow Shop problems (Jain and Meeran 2002). In particular, we show that for the 2-machine Flow Shop problem, the SB heurisitc will deliver the optimal solution in only a small number of instances. We examine the reason behind the failure of the machine based decomposition method for the Flow Shop. An optimal machine based decomposition procedure is formulated for the 2-machine Flow Shop, the time complexity of which is worse than that of the celebrated Johnsons Rule. The contribution of the present study lies in showing that the same machine based decomposition procedures which are so successful in solving complex Job Shops can also be suitably modified to optimally solve the simpler Flow Shops.

CO₂ Capture for Industries by Algae

The increased usage of fossil fuels has led to increase in the concentration of CO2, which is a greenhouse gas responsible for global warming. Algae-based CO2 conversion is a cost-effective option for reducing carbon footprint. In addition, algae-based CO2 mitigation strategy has the potential to obtain valuable products at the end of the process. In the present study, freshwater algal species were isolated and identified for CO2 capture, such as Hydrodictyon, Spirogyra, Oscillatoria, Oedogonium, and Chlorella. The algal strains were screened based on different parameters like fast growth rate, high rate of photosynthesis, strong tolerance to the trace constituents of other gases (gaseous hydrocarbons, NOx, SOx, etc.), high temperature tolerance, and possibility to produce high value products, etc. The study involves integrated methods for utilizing 90–99% CO2 from a natural gas processing industry (GAIL India, Ltd.) as well as 13–15% of CO2 from flue gas of thermal power plants (Chandrapura and Santaldih Thermal Power Station) as carbon nutrient source along with the additional nutritional supplements. A 400-ml and 25-l flat panel photo-bioreactor (PSI Photo-bioreactors) was used for CO2 capture. After CO2 capture, the algal biomass was used to extract value-added products such as amino acid rich feed, algal oil, algal pellets, etc

Attitude of Doctors Towards Homosexuality at a Medical College, West Bengal, India: A Cross-sectional Study

Introduction: Attitude towards homosexuality varies differently in different parts of the world. But, almost everywhere social stigma and marginalisation make them vulnerable to poor health and social outcomes. So, physicians should be made aware and sensitive about this issue in order to provide optimal care without any prejudices and discrimination. Aim: To assess the attitude of the doctors towards the homosexuality at a Medical College, West Bengal, India. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted for three months from August 2021 and October 2021 at Raiganj Government Medical College and Hospital, West Bengal, India. A predesigned, pretested, structured questionnaire was distributed to each of the faculty members of this medical college. The questionnaire was kept anonymous for name, religion, department or academic qualification and began with asking questions on age and sex. It consisted of 18 statements, nine substatements of relevant attitude along with additional specific comments on the subject. The faculty members were requested to put the filled up questionnaires in a drop box placed at a designated area in the Department of Psychiatry. In this way responses were finally obtained from 56 out of total 69 faculty members. All of them were postgraduate degree holders. The attitude scores were compared on the basis of age and sex using Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests. A p-value was calculated to find the association of attitude score with age and gender groups. Results: Among the study participants 21 (37.5%) were in ≥50 years age group, 18 (32.1%) in 40-49 years age group and 17 (30.4%) in ≤40 years age group. Males were 41 (73.2%) and females were 15 (26.8%). Forty six (82.2%) participants agreed that homosexuality is “constitutionally determined” (an inherent fundamental right as per Indian constitution). However 34 (60.7%) did not believe it to be a “sexual orientation”. Half of the participants are of the opinion that “homosexuals are easily recognizable”. Forty three (76.8%) respondents are of the opinion that “homosexuals should not be employed in school”. Also 41 (73.2%) believed that “homosexuals are danger to children”. Only 23 (41.1%) generally agreed that they “did not feel embarrassed while talking about homosexuality”. Just above half of the participants agreed that they “really did not understand homosexuality. The attitude scores did not however vary according to age (p-value=0.25) or sex (p-value=0.09) groups. Conclusion: Majority of the study participants had inadequate knowledge on the issues of homosexuality with a more or less neutral stance in their attitude

Global burden of 288 causes of death and life expectancy decomposition in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

BACKGROUND Regular, detailed reporting on population health by underlying cause of death is fundamental for public health decision making. Cause-specific estimates of mortality and the subsequent effects on life expectancy worldwide are valuable metrics to gauge progress in reducing mortality rates. These estimates are particularly important following large-scale mortality spikes, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. When systematically analysed, mortality rates and life expectancy allow comparisons of the consequences of causes of death globally and over time, providing a nuanced understanding of the effect of these causes on global populations. METHODS The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021 cause-of-death analysis estimated mortality and years of life lost (YLLs) from 288 causes of death by age-sex-location-year in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations for each year from 1990 until 2021. The analysis used 56 604 data sources, including data from vital registration and verbal autopsy as well as surveys, censuses, surveillance systems, and cancer registries, among others. As with previous GBD rounds, cause-specific death rates for most causes were estimated using the Cause of Death Ensemble model-a modelling tool developed for GBD to assess the out-of-sample predictive validity of different statistical models and covariate permutations and combine those results to produce cause-specific mortality estimates-with alternative strategies adapted to model causes with insufficient data, substantial changes in reporting over the study period, or unusual epidemiology. YLLs were computed as the product of the number of deaths for each cause-age-sex-location-year and the standard life expectancy at each age. As part of the modelling process, uncertainty intervals (UIs) were generated using the 2·5th and 97·5th percentiles from a 1000-draw distribution for each metric. We decomposed life expectancy by cause of death, location, and year to show cause-specific effects on life expectancy from 1990 to 2021. We also used the coefficient of variation and the fraction of population affected by 90% of deaths to highlight concentrations of mortality. Findings are reported in counts and age-standardised rates. Methodological improvements for cause-of-death estimates in GBD 2021 include the expansion of under-5-years age group to include four new age groups, enhanced methods to account for stochastic variation of sparse data, and the inclusion of COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality-which includes excess mortality associated with the pandemic, excluding COVID-19, lower respiratory infections, measles, malaria, and pertussis. For this analysis, 199 new country-years of vital registration cause-of-death data, 5 country-years of surveillance data, 21 country-years of verbal autopsy data, and 94 country-years of other data types were added to those used in previous GBD rounds. FINDINGS The leading causes of age-standardised deaths globally were the same in 2019 as they were in 1990; in descending order, these were, ischaemic heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lower respiratory infections. In 2021, however, COVID-19 replaced stroke as the second-leading age-standardised cause of death, with 94·0 deaths (95% UI 89·2-100·0) per 100 000 population. The COVID-19 pandemic shifted the rankings of the leading five causes, lowering stroke to the third-leading and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to the fourth-leading position. In 2021, the highest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 occurred in sub-Saharan Africa (271·0 deaths [250·1-290·7] per 100 000 population) and Latin America and the Caribbean (195·4 deaths [182·1-211·4] per 100 000 population). The lowest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 were in the high-income super-region (48·1 deaths [47·4-48·8] per 100 000 population) and southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania (23·2 deaths [16·3-37·2] per 100 000 population). Globally, life expectancy steadily improved between 1990 and 2019 for 18 of the 22 investigated causes. Decomposition of global and regional life expectancy showed the positive effect that reductions in deaths from enteric infections, lower respiratory infections, stroke, and neonatal deaths, among others have contributed to improved survival over the study period. However, a net reduction of 1·6 years occurred in global life expectancy between 2019 and 2021, primarily due to increased death rates from COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality. Life expectancy was highly variable between super-regions over the study period, with southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania gaining 8·3 years (6·7-9·9) overall, while having the smallest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 (0·4 years). The largest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 occurred in Latin America and the Caribbean (3·6 years). Additionally, 53 of the 288 causes of death were highly concentrated in locations with less than 50% of the global population as of 2021, and these causes of death became progressively more concentrated since 1990, when only 44 causes showed this pattern. The concentration phenomenon is discussed heuristically with respect to enteric and lower respiratory infections, malaria, HIV/AIDS, neonatal disorders, tuberculosis, and measles. INTERPRETATION Long-standing gains in life expectancy and reductions in many of the leading causes of death have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the adverse effects of which were spread unevenly among populations. Despite the pandemic, there has been continued progress in combatting several notable causes of death, leading to improved global life expectancy over the study period. Each of the seven GBD super-regions showed an overall improvement from 1990 and 2021, obscuring the negative effect in the years of the pandemic. Additionally, our findings regarding regional variation in causes of death driving increases in life expectancy hold clear policy utility. Analyses of shifting mortality trends reveal that several causes, once widespread globally, are now increasingly concentrated geographically. These changes in mortality concentration, alongside further investigation of changing risks, interventions, and relevant policy, present an important opportunity to deepen our understanding of mortality-reduction strategies. Examining patterns in mortality concentration might reveal areas where successful public health interventions have been implemented. Translating these successes to locations where certain causes of death remain entrenched can inform policies that work to improve life expectancy for people everywhere. FUNDING Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

On-loom finishing of handloom products — An innovative &

172-177In big sectors, finishing of textiles is not a matter of problem as the machines for this purpose can be fed with long length of fabrics. But the usual finishing techniques practiced in mill sectors can not be adopted in handloom sectors, because the products here are in the form of piece goods. In Fulia, Shantipur, Nabadweep and some other reputed handloom sectors of West Bengal, the weavers are found to apply size paste made of sago or starch mainly on saris and silk thans by hand on-looms (while weaving) only. But door curtains, towels, bed covers and many other handloom products are sold in the market without any finish. Many finishing can be developed on handloom products also by applying hand spraying system by the use of different softeners, stiffeners, glazers, etc. as required by the end-users, to make them more beautiful, attractive, lustrous and market competitive. In the paper, an innovative and indigenous approach has been made on trial basis for on-loom application of finish on handloom goods, and it has been proved by doing some simple testing that this indigenous approach is both technically and economically feasible not only for piece goods, but also for bulk application provided some other accessories like cottage level finishing chamber/steamer, ceiling fan, drier, etc. can be arranged. The products requiring this type of finishing treatments should not be hot pressed or ironed in any stage, otherwise the inherent fullness of the handloom goods will be adversely affected

The Pro-Coagulant Fibrinogenolytic Serine Protease Isoenzymes Purified from <i>Daboia russelii russelii</i> Venom Coagulate the Blood through Factor V Activation: Role of Glycosylation on Enzymatic Activity

<div><p>Proteases from Russell's viper venom (RVV) induce a variety of toxic effects in victim. Therefore, four new RVV protease isoenzymes of molecular mass 32901.044 Da, 333631.179 Da, 333571.472 Da, and 34594.776 Da, were characterized in this study. The first 10 N-terminal residues of these serine protease isoenzymes showed significant sequence homology with N-terminal sequences of snake venom thrombin-like and factor V-activating serine proteases, which was reconfirmed by peptide mass fingerprinting analysis. These proteases were found to be different from previously reported factor V activators isolated from snake venoms. These proteases showed significantly different fibrinogenolytic, BAEE-esterase and plasma clotting activities but no fibrinolytic, TAME-esterase or amidolytic activity against the chromogenic substrate for trypsin, thrombin, plasmin and factor Xa. Their <i>Km</i> and <i>Vmax</i> values towards fibrinogen were determined in the range of 6.6 to 10.5 µM and 111.0 to 125.5 units/mg protein, respectively. On the basis of fibrinogen degradation pattern, they may be classified as A/B serine proteases isolated from snake venom. These proteases contain ∼42% to 44% of N-linked carbohydrates by mass whereas partially deglycosylated enzymes showed significantly less catalytic activity as compared to native enzymes. <i>In vitro</i> these protease isoenzymes induce blood coagulation through factor V activation, whereas <i>in vivo</i> they provoke dose-dependent defibrinogenation and anticoagulant activity in the mouse model. At a dose of 5 mg/kg, none of these protease isoenzymes were found to be lethal in mice or house geckos, suggesting therapeutic application of these anticoagulant peptides for the prevention of thrombosis.</p></div