Towards a path integral for the pure-spin connection formulation of gravity

A proposal for the path-integral of pure-spin-connection formulation of gravity is described, based on the two-form formulation of Capovilla et. al. It is shown that the resulting effective-action for the spin-connection, upon functional integration of the two-form field $\Sigma$ and the auxiliary matrix field $\psi$ is {\it non-polynomial}, even for the case of vanishing cosmological constant and absence of any matter couplings. Further, a diagramatic evaluation is proposed for the contribution of the matrix-field to the pure spin connection action.Comment: 8 pages in plain-TeX.-----IUCAA_TH/9

ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF THE COLLEGE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE

Colleges of veterinary medicine are often asked to provide evidence of the economic impacts of their activities. This report presents methods for evaluating a veterinary college and applies them to the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine. Short-run impacts on income and employment are assessed as well as the long-run benefits of the research, extension, teaching, and clinical services of the college.Public Economics,

Predictive Value of CRP and Lactate Levels for Bowel Gangrene/Strangulation in Patients with Bowel Obstruction

Background: Bowel blockage is a frequent and potentially fatal illness that requires quick identification of consequences like gangrene and strangling of the bowel. In order to diagnose intestinal gangrene/strangulation in patients with bowel obstruction, this study evaluated clinical symptoms and laboratory markers, specifically C-reactive protein (CRP) and lactate levels. Methods: One hundred patients who presented with intestinal obstruction participated in prospective observational research that we conducted. Clinical signs were evaluated, including guarding, vomiting, abdominal distension, irreducible edema, and pain in the abdomen. For the purposes of measuring lactate and CRP, blood samples were taken. Radiological findings, intraoperative assessment, and histological examination were required as part of the diagnostic criteria for intestinal gangrene/strangulation. Results: Common clinical symptoms were stomach discomfort (98%), vomiting (67%), and abdominal distension (58%). In 40% of individuals, irreversible edema was observed. In 54% of instances, a history of constipation was mentioned. Gangrenous bowel was substantially related with elevated lactate and CRP levels (p 0.001). In gangrenous bowel, mean lactate concentrations were 870.25 mmol/L compared to 536.62 mmol/L in viable bowel, and mean CRP concentrations were 141 mg/L compared to 68.23 mg/L in viable intestine. Conclusion: Bowel blockage is typically diagnosed based on clinical signs such abdominal pain and unremitting swelling. Furthermore, in these individuals, high CRP and lactate levels are useful indicators for detecting intestinal gangrene/strangulation. The incorporation of these markers into clinical practice may help patients with intestinal obstruction receive early management and experience better results. To determine precise cutoff values for these markers in everyday practice, more study is required

Clinical Profile and Surgical Management of Incisional Hernias: A Retrospective Study

Background: An iatrogenic hernia known as an incisional hernia develops at the site of prior surgical incisions and poses therapeutic difficulties. For prevention and therapy, it is essential to comprehend their clinical presentation and management. The clinical characteristics and treatment of incisional hernias at a tertiary care facility are reviewed in this study. Methods: At the Department of General Surgery, a retrospective study was done. Demographic information, clinical presentation, surgical history, hernia features, post-operative problems, and comorbidities were gathered from 60 patients who underwent incisional hernia surgery. Results: 60% of the patients were female, and the age ranges of 35 to 45 and 56 to 65 were the most common. 15% of patients reported pain prior to surgery. Lower segment cesarean sections (38.33%) and Pfannenstiel incisions (45%) were the most frequent prior surgeries. 83.33% of patients had infraumbilical hernias, and 11.67% had post-operative surgical site infections. A significant comorbidity was obesity. The chosen surgical technique was sublay (preperitoneal) meshplasty. Conclusion: Infraumbilical incisions, in particular, showed a female predominance in incisional hernias. Comorbidities, especially obesity, were associated with the development of hernias. Strenuous infection control procedures are required to prevent post-operative surgical site infections. Commonly employed is sublay meshplasty. The prevention and treatment of incisional hernias are influenced by these findings

On proving the robustness of algorithms for early fault-tolerant quantum computers

The hope of the quantum computing field is that quantum architectures are able to scale up and realize fault-tolerant quantum computing. Due to engineering challenges, such "cheap" error correction may be decades away. In the meantime, we anticipate an era of "costly" error correction, or early fault-tolerant quantum computing. Costly error correction might warrant settling for error-prone quantum computations. This motivates the development of quantum algorithms which are robust to some degree of error as well as methods to analyze their performance in the presence of error. We introduce a randomized algorithm for the task of phase estimation and give an analysis of its performance under two simple noise models. In both cases the analysis leads to a noise threshold, below which arbitrarily high accuracy can be achieved by increasing the number of samples used in the algorithm. As an application of this general analysis, we compute the maximum ratio of the largest circuit depth and the dephasing scale such that performance guarantees hold. We calculate that the randomized algorithm can succeed with arbitrarily high probability as long as the required circuit depth is less than 0.916 times the dephasing scale.Comment: 27 pages, 3 figures, 1 table, 1 algorithm. To be submitted to QIP 202

Leveraging a deeper understanding of Poloxamer188 to improve cell culture processes

The industry-wide use of Poloxamer188 (P188) underwent severe scrutiny as a result of lot variability discovered within the past few years. While screening methods have been developed to ensure lot consistency and the root cause of the variability has likely been identified, a fundamental understanding of surfactant-cell interactions has not yet been achieved. As industry continues to push culture densities higher to maximize product yield, higher aeration and agitation are required to supply sufficient oxygen transfer rate. The harsher environment in the bioreactor, depletion of shear protectants, and possible cell physiology change leads to the need of improved shear protection strategies to minimize shear damage in the cell culture process. In this project, novel concentric cylinder mixer (CCM) assay was developed to quantify the relative shear sensitivity of mAb producing Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cell lines in production bioreactors. Compared with other methods to characterize shear sensitivity, the CCM assay requires low sample volume and minimal processing time. Various concentrations of P188 were evaluated using CCM assay to improve shear protection strategies in 3L and 300L bioreactors. Results indicate that cell shear sensitivity dramatically increases upon reaching the cell culture stationary phase, coinciding with viability decline and exponential LDH increase in the bioreactor. With a simple shift in shear protectant concentration, we were able to increase harvest viability resulting in decreased cellular debris, decreased foam stability, and reduction in LDH upon harvest. A strong dose dependent correlation between membrane rigidity and surfactant concentration was also discovered through the studies which provided possible mechanism of how surfactant reinforces cell membrane by decreasing membrane fluidity. The knowledge of cell membrane fluidity combined with the CCM assay contributes to our understanding of cell shear sensitivity and surfactant-cell interactions. These tools can be used to optimize process parameter set points, evaluate media formulation effects on cell sensitivity, and select shear resistant cell lines to improve cell culture process robustness

Watershed Based Technology: Experiences and Lessons

This paper delineates the micro-watershed based technology conceived, designed and developed by ICRISAT and reviews its performance at ICRISAT Centre and in farmers' fields. The earlier results are viewed retrospectively and lessons drawn for solving the difficult problem of spread of this technology in dryland regions of India. ICRISAT has assembled a watershed based technology for dependable rainfall areas of the semi-arid tropics regions of India. The long-term experiments at ICRISAT Centre confirmed that the application of improved technology results in considerable improvements in yields and profitability. The on-farm watershed trials in a few agro-climates of the Indian semi-arid tropics with moderate but dependable rainfall showed that gross profits from improved technology were 1.5-2 times higher than those from the traditional technology as long as management support and adequate inputs were made available. The experience shows that the continuing need for management support for watershed development, credit supply, wheeled tool carriers, infrastructure facilities for supply of seeds, fertilizers and the need of farmer's participation and their training are some of the constraints which seem to impose narrower limits on the technology spread than had earlier been anticipated. The lessons learned from these experiences suggest that these barriers can be removed by close cooperation of researchers, administrators, extension workers and bankers with active participation of the farmers in order to realize the full potential of the watershed based technology