Nonminimal state space approach to multivariable ramp metering control of motorway bottlenecks

The paper discusses the automatic control of motorway traffic flows utilising ramp metering, i.e. traffic lights on the on-ramp entrances. A multivariable ramp metering system is developed, based on the nonminimal state space (NMSS) approach to control system design using adaptive proportional-integral-plus, linear quadratic (PIP–LQ) optimal controllers. The controller is evaluated on a nonlinear statistical traffic model (STM) simulation of the Amsterdam motorway ring road near the Coen Tunnel

Genotype and environment interaction and stability analysis for seed yield in yellow mung bean (Vigna radiata L.)

Nine yellow seeded mung (Vigna radiata L.) genotypes were evaluated along with three checks for their yield performance during three years (2007, 2010 and 2011). Pooled analysis of variance and stability analysis were performed. The genotypic (G) × environment (E) interaction and both variance due to genotypes and environment were significant. The portioning of G × E interaction into linear and non-linear components indicated that both predictable and unpredictable components shared the interaction. On the basis of stability parameters, the top yielding genotypes such as BGS-9 (605.444 Kg/Ha), Sel-4 (519.778 Kg/Ha) and China mung (567.000 Kg/Ha) exhibited high mean yield. Based on stability parameters the genotypes YM-5 (459.889 Kg/Ha), YM-8 (451.333 Kg/Ha) exhibited low mean performance along with regression value nearer to unity (bi=1) and non significant deviation from regression (S2 di=0) indicating the high stability and wider adaptability across the three environments. The genotypes BGS-9 (605.444 Kg/Ha) and Sel-4 (519.778 Kg/Ha) exhibited high mean value and bi values (bi>1) and non significant deviation (S2 di < 0) value indicating adapted for high performance environments (These genotypes are sensitive to environments and give maximum yield when inputs are not limited)

Impact of HIV Infection on Radiographic Features in Patients with Pulmonary Tuberculosis

Background. There is insufficient data on the radiographic presentation of tuberculosis in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infected patients from India. Methods. We examined the chest radiographs of 181 patients including 82 HIV positives with newly diagnosed sputum culture positive pulmonary tuberculosis before and after the completion of anti-tuberculosis treatment (ATT). Patients with smear/culture positive pulmonary tuberculosis were treated with Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP) Cat-I regimen (2EHRZ3/4HR3). An independent assessor blinded to HIV and clinical status of patients read the radiographs. Results. At presentation, HIV seropositive patients were significantly more likely to have normal chest radiographs (14.2% vs 0), miliary tuberculosis (10.7% vs 1%) and pleural effusion (16.6% vs 3%), and less likely to have cavitation (17.8% vs 39.4%) as compared to HIV negative patients. At the end of treatment, HIV positive patients were more likely to have normal radiographs (42.8% vs 1.2%), and less likely to have fibrosis (17.8% vs 42.5%). Conclusions. The radiographic presentation of pulmonary tuberculosis in HIV-infected patients is atypical with less cavitation, and more dissemination. On completion of ATT, patients with HIV have less radiographic sequelae in the form of fibrosis. These features may be due to the reduced inflammatory response that patients with HIV infection may be able to mount

Knowledge Attitude and Practice on Sexual Health Education among Teachers of Intellectually Challenged Children in Villupuram District

Sexual health education has always been a controversial topic. Parents of intellectually challenged children experience fear about other people that they might take advantage of their child, thus special educators have greater role in assisting children with intellectual disability in their growth and development, and sexuality is part of that growth. Special educators need to start early to educate the intellectually challenged children about sexuality-related issues and continue the conversation well into their teen years. Sexual health education helps children with an intellectual disability recognize if someone is trying to take advantage of them so they can recognize inappropriate sexual advances early on, better protect themselves from exploitation and be able to report incidents of suspected sexual abuse. Hence, all the special educators should be aware about sexual health education. Against this background, the present study is aimed at measuring the Knowledge, Attitude and Practice on Sexual Health Education among teachers of intellectually challenged children in Villupuram District. Having adopted descriptive research design, a total of 32 special educators were selected from 93 special educators using Simple Random Sampling Method (Lottery Method) for the study. A tool on KAP on Sexual Health Education prepared by Venkat Lakshmi and Navyas was applied by the authors to measure the KAP on Sexual Health Education. Salient findings and Suggestions pertaining to the study will be discussed in the full paper. Keywords: Knowledge, Attitude and Practice on Sexual Health Education, Teachers of Intellectually Challenged Children, Role of Teachers

Dialogues in the health care system of the Kom

Since time immemorial, diseases have evolved along with human physical, mental, and technological changes. The perception of diseases has also changed over time. As society evolved due to socioeconomic and political forces and with the introduction of new belief systems and ideas along with the traditional method of treating diseases during the colonial period, different knowledge systems of proper healthcare emerged. This paper aims to study the different perceptions of disease in Kom society and the conflicting dialogues in defining, managing and treating diseases. The study was conducted among the Kom tribes of Manipur, using an interview method with key informants. With exposure to different knowledge systems, i.e., indigenous ethnic practice, Christian faith healing and modern medical science, the people’s health care system is found to be engaged in a complex dialogue within the three health systems. The practice of medical pluralism often creates conflicts within the health care system of the people and leads to health inequality. Proper awareness of disease regarding its cause, cure and prevention is most necessary in the light of their knowledge gain to avoid further conflict within the health care system of the Kom

The RESPONSE OF SUGARCANE GENOTYPES SUBJECTED TO SALINITY STRESS AT DIFFERENT GROWTH PHASES: RESPONSE OF SUGARCANE GENOTYPES SUBJECTED TO SALINITY STRESS AT DIFFERENT GROWTH PHASES: Abstract, Introduction,materials & Methods, Resultls & Discussion, Conclusion.

 A few commercial sugarcane genotypes were subjected to salinity stress at various growth phases of sugarcane to ascertain the critical growth stage for salinity stress and to assess the response of the genotypes. All the data were recorded and analysed during maturity phase. The salt treatments drastically reduced SPAD chlorophyll, chlorophyll fluorescence, RWC, stalk height, weight and other yield parameters in a few genotypes during T2 (salt treatment given during formative phase) & T5 (salt treatment given throughout crop cycle) but a few genotypes which are tolerant towards salt stress gave better results comparing other genotypes. The ions like sodium, potassium and chloride were analysed in the juice which showed higher elevation in the genotype Co 97010. Among the genotypes, Co 85019 and Co 99004 recorded significantly prime compared to rest of the genotypes. Treatment throughout the growth phases (T5) followed by stress at formative phase (T2) were found to be critical for growth, physiological and yield responses in all the genotypes

Seed priming technology in spice crops: A review

Seed priming is one of the important method of seed treatment is the process of controlled hydration of seeds. At the time to a level that permits the pre-germinative metabolic activity, but that prevents actual emergence of the radicle is also known as pre germination seed treatment method. Seed priming is useful for increase the speed of seed germination and uniformity of germination particularly under adverse conditions like temperature, moisture and salinity. Seeds are soaked in different solutions like various inorganic salts, sugars and polyethylene glycol (PEG) a chemically inert, high molecular weight compounds, etc. After seed priming increase in hydrolytic enzyme activity especially a-amylase, strong increase of super oxide dismutase, catalase activities and expression of certain proteins related to water stress and heat shock. During germination the primed seeds contain higher scavenging of ROS (Reactive Oxygen Species). This reviews reported the primed spices seeds or rhizomes contain abiotic stress tolerant capacities, increase the antioxidant enzyme activities like peroxidase, catalase, superoxide dismutase (SOD), polyphenol oxidase (PPO), lipoxygenase (LOX) and phenyl alanine ammonia lyase (PAL), break the seed dormancy, increase the germination percentage and early growth. This studies gives an overview about the seed priming in spice crops with relevant case studies

On Improving Reliability of SRAM-Based Physically Unclonable Functions

Physically unclonable functions (PUFs) have been touted for their inherent resistance to invasive attacks and low cost in providing a hardware root of trust for various security applications. SRAM PUFs in particular are popular in industry for key/ID generation. Due to intrinsic process variations, SRAM cells, ideally, tend to have the same start-up behavior. SRAM PUFs exploit this start-up behavior. Unfortunately, not all SRAM cells exhibit reliable start-up behavior due to noise susceptibility. Hence, design enhancements are needed for improving reliability. Some of the proposed enhancements in literature include fuzzy extraction, error-correcting codes and voting mechanisms. All enhancements involve a trade-off between area/power/performance overhead and PUF reliability. This paper presents a design enhancement technique for reliability that improves upon previous solutions. We present simulation results to quantify improvement in SRAM PUF reliability and efficiency. The proposed technique is shown to generate a 128-bit key in ≤0.2 μ\u27\u3eμμ s at an area estimate of 4538 μ\u27\u3eμμ m 2\u27\u3e22 with error rate as low as 10−6\u27\u3e10−610−6 for intrinsic error probability of 15%

Effects of antiplatelet therapy on stroke risk by brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases: subgroup analyses of the RESTART randomised, open-label trial

Background Findings from the RESTART trial suggest that starting antiplatelet therapy might reduce the risk of recurrent symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage compared with avoiding antiplatelet therapy. Brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases (such as cerebral microbleeds) are associated with greater risks of recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage. We did subgroup analyses of the RESTART trial to explore whether these brain imaging features modify the effects of antiplatelet therapy

A comparative study of thyroid stimulating hormone among lean and obese women with polycystic ovarian syndrome

Background: The polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is an abnormality of young women of reproductive age. Between 20-50% of women with PCOS are normal weight or thin, and the pathophysiology of the disorder in these women may be related to a hypothalamic-pituitary defect that results in increased release of LH. PCOS and Thyroid disorders share certain common characteristics, risk factors, and pathophysiological abnormalities. In this study we have compared the serum TSH levels in obese and non-obese PCOS women to detect if there is a significant difference in the occurrence of hypothyroidism based on the BMI.Methods: Non-pregnant women attending the gynecological OPD diagnosed with PCOS as per Rotterdam criteria were included. Serum TSH was done in all women diagnosed as PCOS and based on their BMI women were either included in obese or non-obese group using Asian cut-off for BMI and the values compared.Results: In the present study 152 women were included. Women with low BMI and normal BMI were grouped as lean PCOS or non-obese PCOS and the overweight and obese women together were grouped as obese PCOS. The total number in the lean group was 28 and 124 in the obese group. Raised serum TSH levels were observed in 23.02%(35) women out of which 17.14%(6) belonged to the non-obese group and the remaining 82.85%(29) to the obese group. Among the 152 women thyroid enlargement was seen in 1.3%(2). Both women had raised serum TSH levels and both belonged to the obese group.Conclusions: The results of our study seem to indicate that thyroid dysfunction in PCOS women developed irrespective of presence or absence of obesity