The UK Diabetic Retinopathy Electronic Medical Record (UK DR EMR) Users Group, Report 2: real-world data for the impact of cataract surgery on diabetic macular oedema

Aim: To assess the rate of ‘treatment-requiring diabetic macular oedema (DMO)’ in eyes for the two  years before and after cataract surgery. Methods: Multicentre national diabetic retinopathy (DR) database study with anonymised data extraction across 19 centres from an electronic medical record system. Inclusion criteria: eyes undergoing cataract surgery in patients with diabetes with no history of DMO prior to study start. The minimum dataset included: age, visual acuity (all time-points), injection episodes, timing of cataract surgery and ETDRS grading of retinopathy and maculopathy. Main outcome measure: rate of developing first episode of treatment-requiring DMO in relation to timing of cataract surgery in the same eye. Results: 4850 eyes met the inclusion criteria. The rate of developing treatment-requiring DMO in this cohort was 2.9% in the year prior to surgery versus 5.3% in the year after surgery (p<0.01). The risk of ‘treatment-requiring DMO’ increased sharply after surgery, peaking in the 3–6 months' period (annualised rates of 5.2%, 6.8%, 5.6% and 4.0% for the 0–3, 3–6, 6–9 and 9–12 months' post-operative time periods respectively). Risk was associated with pre-operative grade of retinopathy: risk of DMO in the first year post-operatively being 1.0% (no DR pre-operatively), 5.4% (mild non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy; NPDR), 10.0% (moderate NPDR), 13.1% (severe NPDR) and 4.9% (PDR) (p<0.01). Conclusions: This large real-world study demonstrates that the rate of developing treatment-requiring DMO increases sharply in the year after cataract surgery for all grades of retinopathy, peaking in the 3–6 months' postoperative period. Patients with moderate and severe NPDR are at particularly high risk

Search for heavy resonances decaying to two Higgs bosons in final states containing four b quarks

A search is presented for narrow heavy resonances X decaying into pairs of Higgs bosons (H) in proton-proton collisions collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC at root s = 8 TeV. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 fb(-1). The search considers HH resonances with masses between 1 and 3 TeV, having final states of two b quark pairs. Each Higgs boson is produced with large momentum, and the hadronization products of the pair of b quarks can usually be reconstructed as single large jets. The background from multijet and t (t) over bar events is significantly reduced by applying requirements related to the flavor of the jet, its mass, and its substructure. The signal would be identified as a peak on top of the dijet invariant mass spectrum of the remaining background events. No evidence is observed for such a signal. Upper limits obtained at 95 confidence level for the product of the production cross section and branching fraction sigma(gg -> X) B(X -> HH -> b (b) over barb (b) over bar) range from 10 to 1.5 fb for the mass of X from 1.15 to 2.0 TeV, significantly extending previous searches. For a warped extra dimension theory with amass scale Lambda(R) = 1 TeV, the data exclude radion scalar masses between 1.15 and 1.55 TeV

Measurement of the top quark mass using charged particles in pp collisions at root s=8 TeV

Peer reviewe

Use of TRMM Precipitation Radar to address the problem of rain detection over the oceans in passive microwave measurements

411-420Despite success of Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite, rain detection by passive microwave radiometers still remains a major problem. In this paper, rain detection by a passive microwave radiometer has been analyzed with concurrent observations from Precipitation Radar (PR). Considering PR based rain detection as truth, the brightness temperatures and two most commonly used brightness temperature based indices, the Petty index and the scattering index have been examined, for their usefulness in rain identification over global oceans within PR latitudinal domains. The results indicate that neither brightness temperature, nor the Petty index, and nor the scattering index alone is a good indicator for rain identification. Using concurrent PR observations, the accuracy of rain identification by Petty index and scattering index has been examined. It has been found that with 37 GHz based Petty index, threshold value of 0.8, 0.9 and 0.95 for rain/no-rain discrimination, the raining pixels that are misclassified as non-raining are 2.32, 9.97 and 21.91%, respectively, and the non-raining pixels that are misclassified as raining are 36.82, 18.87 and 10.47%, respectively. Similarly, with scattering index threshold value of 10, the non-raining pixels that are misclassified as raining are 16.53% and raining that are misclassified as non-raining are 83.42, 76.37 and 39.14% for rain rate > 0.01, > 0.1 and 1 mm h-1, respectively. These results indicate poor rain identification by both the indices, especially at low rain rates. The geographical distribution of misclassified pixels indicates that it is difficult to attribute higher misclassification to any particular geographical region. The paper presents the problem of the rain identification and discusses the possible reasons for such misidentification

Effect of stamping and binder on coke quality for LVMC Coal

India possesses large reserves of Low and Medium Volatile Coking coal, which have a potential to produce coke. It is a matter of concern that these coal which accounts to nearly 50% of mineable caking coal reserves have not been able to secure entry into the steel plant due to failure to establish their suitability for coke making. Only high and to some extent medium coking coal is used in the steel sector today. For the long-term security of supply of coking coal to steel plant, it has become essential to examine the potential to use LVMC and medium volatile coking coal in coke making. This can be tried by beneficiating the coal for the improvement of their coking potential for carbonization. Alternately, suitable technology in the form of addition of a blending substance as well as stamping of coal mass prior to carbonization can have potential to improve the coke quality. In the present study an effort has been made to understand the effect of stamping and addition of additives as a binder on LVMC coal charged and analyzing the effect of these parameters on coke quality with respect to its strength, which is accessed by performing different experimental test. Study revealed that there is marked improvement of CRI/CSR value, shatter strength and Graiznov’s strength with optimum stamped coal charged and binder level

Organo-Lithotype Controls on Cleat/Fractures, Matrix-Associated Pores, and Physicomechanical Properties of Coal Seams of Raniganj Coalfield, India

he organo-lithotype properties of Barakar and Raniganj Formation coal seams have been investigated to assess the process of cleat origin, occurrence, and their influence on strength properties. Coal cleats have wide applications in coalbed methane gas recovery, underground mine strata mechanics, beneficiation, and pulverization. However, there is very limited information available on the cleat occurrence and controlling parameters of Indian coals. In this view, a total of 31 coal samples were retrieved from eight exploratory boreholes intersecting coal-bearing formations like Barakar and Raniganj in the Raniganj Coalfield. We identified four distinct lithotypes in coal seams: (i) B, bright coal; (ii) Db, dull banded coal; (iii) Bb, bright banded coal; and (iv) Bd, banded coal. The abundance of bright-band-associated lithotype indicates organic matter that attained the early anoxic conditions after deposition. The cleat system in Barakar coal is comparatively better than in Raniganj coal controlled by the lithotype, type of organic matter, thermal maturity, and gelification extent. The carbon enrichment process in coal mainly controls the megascopic cleat genesis pattern. The positive trend of cleat intensities with the depth of coal seams as determined by megascopic, microscopic, and scanning electron microscope (SEM) studies postulates that the macro- to nanocleats are interdependent and developed during devolatilization due to loss of plasticity. The field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) photographs have shown intricate microfractures and pore structures owing to the epigenetic characteristics. Vitrinite bands indicate that it comprises the partially deformed planer cleat system. The resistance to quartz weathering nature attributed to coal brittleness properties also contributed to cleat genesis. The total clay content exhibits an inverse relationship with different cleat intensities, suggesting that hydrous clay swells due to its inherent ultrafine characteristics, thus not supporting the cleat construction. However, it ropes the development of the irregular crack when organo–inorganic matter achieves the dry thermal conditions. The microfractures linked with different pore structures in studied coals can be classified into seven types: (i) vitrite-associated regular open-slit pores, (ii) vitriinertite-char allied irregular pores, (iii) irregular fracture-pore partially filled with clay, (iv) fissile pores along bedding planes of clay, (v) organic pores evolved due to external heat received from intrusives, (vi) deep organic pores evolved during compaction and thermal transformation, and (vii) pore fractures blocked by boghead algae. The clay content showed a positive relationship with physicomechanical properties, signifying the cementing characteristics of clay holding fractures and pores. There is significant variation in the strength properties of Barakar and Marren measures coal influenced by thermal maturity, lithotype characteristics, and organo–inorganic content