Experimental evaluation of active and passive means of alleviating rotor impulsive noise in descent flight

A controlled wind tunnel test program was conducted on a model 2.14 m (7 ft) diameter teetering rotor to determine the effectiveness of blade tips such as the Ogee tip and the TAMI (Tip Air Mass Injection) tip in reducing the impulsive noise due to blade-vortex interaction in descent flight. In addition, a full rectangular tip which has the same span as the Ogee tip and an effective rectangular tip which has the same lifting area as the Ogee tip were also considered. The tests were conducted at two advance ratios (0.125 and 0.14) with various descent rates ranging from steady level flight to about 6 m/sec (20 ft/sec). A comparison of the performance of different rotors showed that for the same tip Mach number and thrust, the Ogee tip rotor absorbed more power than the full rectangular tip rotor, while the TAMI tip rotor absorbed more power than the effective tip rotor

Determination of genetic variation for vegetative and floral traits in African marigold (Tagetes erecta)

Twenty-one genotypes of African marigold were (Tagetes erecta L.) evaluated for 11 growth and flowering related traits to study their genetic parameters such as variability, heritability, genetic (GCV), phenotypic (PCV) coefficient of variation and correlation and path coefficient analysis. Analysis of variance for all the traits showed significant differences among genotypes for all the growth and flowering related traits. High range in mean performance has been observed for traits, viz. plant height (64.00-106.67 cm), plant spread (49.33-72.00 cm), flower diameter (3.77- 6.17 cm), days required for flowering (78.67-99.33 days), number of secondary branches (22.13-37.47) and flower duration (26.00-44.83 days). Higher genotypic and phenotypic coefficient of variation was observed for traits such as fresh flower weight per plant, flower fresh weight per 10 flowers, number of flowers per plant, stem girth, flowering duration, etc. The high value (> 90%) of heritability was observed for all traits except plant height, plant spread and stem girth. The genetic advance was found ranged from 1.23 for flower diameter to 288.69 for fresh flower weight per plant. High values of genetic advance as per cent of mean was recorded for number of flowers (59.79%) followed by fresh flower weight per plant (59.32%) and flower fresh weight per 10 flowers (58.09%). Fresh flower weight per plant is significantly and positively correlated both at genotypic and phenotypic level for plant spread, flower fresh weight per flower, number of flowers per plant and flower diameter. Path coefficient analysis at genotypic level revealed that the number of primary branches per plant contributed highest and has significantly positive direct effect on fresh flower weight per plant followed by number of flowers per plant, flower diameter, flower fresh weight per flower, days required for flowering and stem girth. The different genotypes were identified to be performing differently for different quantitative traits. Hence, those genotypes with superior traits could be involved in the hybridization programme for assembling of desirable traits in a single genotype

Effect of shade levels on production and quality of cordyline (Cordyline terminalis)

An investigation was carried out during 2013-14 to study the effect of different shade levels on the production and quality of cordyline (Cordyline terminalis Kunth.) under the subtropical condition of New Delhi, India. The effect of spectral control of light on physiology and vegetative development was evaluated at different crop growth stages. Shade nets did not only protect plants from high light intensities but also improved the vegetative growth, yield, vase life and quality of cordyline cut greens irrespective of shade level. Different shade levels modified microclimates, PAR, transmittance and canopy temperature. The shading improved plant characters like height, number of leaves, chlorophyll content, leaf area, fresh weight, harvest index and vase life. The plants grown under different shade levels showed improved photosynthetic activity and reduced transpiration rate. Plants grown under 50% shade level were taller, along with more number of leaves having longer petiole, chlorophyll content which can be attributed to higher photosynthetic rate, whereas harvest index and vase life was optimum. Overall, shade net with 50% shading was found best for commercial production of cordyline cut greens

A comparison of clinical outcomes between vaccinated and vaccine-naive patients of COVID-19, in four tertiary care hospitals of Kerala, South India

The problem considered: This multi-centric study analyzed data of COVID-19 patients and compared differences in symptomatology, management, and outcomes between vaccinated and vaccine-naive patients. Methods: All COVID-19 positive individuals treated as an in-or out-patient from the 1stMarch to 15th May 2021 in four selected study sites were considered for the study. Treatment details, symptoms, and clinical course were obtained from hospital records. Chi-square was used to test the association of socio-demographic and treatment variables with the vaccination status and binary logistic regression were used to obtain the odds ratio with a 95% confidence interval. Results: The analysis was of 1446 patients after exclusion of 156 with missing data of which males were 57.3% and females 42.7%. 346 were vaccinated; 189 received one dose and 157 both doses. Hospitalization was more in vaccinated (38.2% vs 27.4%); ICU admissions were less in vaccinated (3.5% vs 7.1%). More vaccinated were symptomatic (OR = 1.5); half less likely to be on non-invasive ventilation (OR = 0.5) while vaccine naive patients had 4.21 times the risk of death. Conclusion: Severe infection, duration of hospital stays, need for ventilation and death were significantly less among vaccinated when compared with vaccine naive patients

High-level characteristics of or-and independent and-parallelism in prolog

Although studies of a number of parallel implementations of logic programming languages are now available, their results are difficult to interpret due to the multiplicity of factors involved, the effect of each of which is difficult to sepárate. In this paper we present the results of a high-level simulation study of or- and independent and-parallelism with a wide selection of Prolog programs that aims to determine the intrinsic amount of parallelism, independently of implementation factors, thus facilitating this separation. We expect this study will be instrumental in better understanding and comparing results from actual implementations, as shown by some examples provided in the paper. In addition, the paper examines some of the issues and tradeoffs associated with the combination of and- and or-parallelism and proposes reasonable solutions based on the simulation data obtained

Research approvals iceberg: how a 'low-key' study in England needed 89 professionals to approve it and how we can do better.

BACKGROUND: The red tape and delays around research ethics and governance approvals frequently frustrate researchers yet, as the lesser of two evils, are largely accepted as unavoidable. Here we quantify aspects of the research ethics and governance approvals for one interview- and questionnaire-based study conducted in England which used the National Health Service (NHS) procedures and the electronic Integrated Research Application System (IRAS). We demonstrate the enormous impact of existing approvals processes on costs of studies, including opportunity costs to focus on the substantive research, and suggest directions for radical system change. MAIN TEXT: We have recorded 491 exchanges with 89 individuals involved in research ethics and governance approvals, generating 193 pages of email text excluding attachments. These are conservative estimates (e.g. only records of the research associate were used). The exchanges were conducted outside IRAS, expected to be the platform where all necessary documents are provided and questions addressed. Importantly, the figures exclude the actual work of preparing the ethics documentation (such as the ethics application, information sheets and consent forms). We propose six areas of work to enable system change: 1. Support the development of a broad range of customised research ethics and governance templates to complement generic, typically clinical trials orientated, ones; 2. Develop more sophisticated and flexible frameworks for study classification; 3. Link with associated processes for assessment, feedback, monitoring and reporting, such as ones involving funders and patient and public involvement groups; 4. Invest in a new generation IT infrastructure; 5. Enhance system capacity through increasing online reviewer participation and training; and 6. Encourage researchers to quantify the approvals processes for their studies. CONCLUSION: Ethics and governance approvals are burdensome for historical reasons and not because of the nature of the task. There are many opportunities to improve their efficiency and analytic depth in an age of innovation, increased connectivity and distributed working. If we continue to work under current systems, we are perpetuating, paradoxically, an unethical system of research approvals by virtue of its wastefulness and impoverished ethical debate

A Chemocentric Approach to the Identification of Cancer Targets

A novel chemocentric approach to identifying cancer-relevant targets is introduced. Starting with a large chemical collection, the strategy uses the list of small molecule hits arising from a differential cytotoxicity screening on tumor HCT116 and normal MRC-5 cell lines to identify proteins associated with cancer emerging from a differential virtual target profiling of the most selective compounds detected in both cell lines. It is shown that this smart combination of differential in vitro and in silico screenings (DIVISS) is capable of detecting a list of proteins that are already well accepted cancer drug targets, while complementing it with additional proteins that, targeted selectively or in combination with others, could lead to synergistic benefits for cancer therapeutics. The complete list of 115 proteins identified as being hit uniquely by compounds showing selective antiproliferative effects for tumor cell lines is provided

Raloxifene inhibits tumor growth and lymph node metastasis in a xenograft model of metastatic mammary cancer

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The effects of raloxifene, a novel selective estrogen receptor modulator, were studied in a mouse metastatic mammary cancer model expressing cytoplasmic ERα.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Mammary tumors, induced by inoculation of syngeneic BALB/c mice with BJMC3879luc2 cells, were subsequently treated with raloxifene at 0, 18 and 27 mg/kg/day using mini-osmotic pumps.</p> <p>Results</p> <p><it>In vitro </it>study demonstrated that the ERα in BJMC3879luc2 cells was smaller (between 50 and 64 kDa) than the normal-sized ERα (66 kDa) and showed cytoplasmic localization. A statistically significant but weak estradiol response was observed in this cell line. When BJMC3879luc2 tumors were implanted into mice, the ERα mRNA levels were significantly higher in females than in males. <it>In vitro </it>studies showed that raloxifene induced mitochondria-mediated apoptosis and cell-cycle arrest in the G1-phase and a decrease in the cell population in the S-phase. In animal experiments, tumor volumes were significantly suppressed in the raloxifene-treated groups. The multiplicity of lymph node metastasis was significantly decreased in the 27 mg/kg group. Levels of apoptosis were significantly increased in the raloxifene-treated groups, whereas the levels of DNA synthesis were significantly decreased in these groups. No differences in microvessel density in tumors were observed between the control and raloxifene-treated groups. The numbers of dilated lymphatic vessels containing intraluminal tumor cells were significantly reduced in mammary tumors in the raloxifene-treated groups. The levels of ERα mRNA in mammary tumors tended to be decreased in the raloxifene-treated groups.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These results suggest that the antimetastatic activity of raloxifene in mammary cancer expressing cytoplasmic ERα may be a crucial finding with clinical applications and that raloxifene may be useful as an adjuvant therapy and for the chemoprevention of breast cancer development.</p

A dimensioning and tolerancing methodology for concurrent engineering applications II: comprehensive solution strategy

Dimensioning and tolerancing (D&T) is a multidisciplinary problem which requires the fulfillment of a large number of dimensional requirements. However, almost all of the currently available D&T tools are only intended for use by the designer. In addition, they typically provide solutions for the requirements one at time. This paper presents a methodology for determining the dimensional specifications of the component parts and sub-assemblies of a product by satisfying all of its requirements. The comprehensive solution strategy presented here includes: a strategy for separating D&T problems into groups, the determination of an optimum solution order for coupled functional equations, a generic tolerance allocation strategy, and strategies for solving different types of D&T problems. A number of commonly used cost minimization strategies, such as the use of standard parts, preferred sizes, preferred fits, and preferred tolerances, have also been incorporated into the proposed methodology. The methodology is interactive and intended for use in a concurrent engineering environment by members of a product development team

Incident type 2 diabetes attributable to suboptimal diet in 184 countries

The global burden of diet-attributable type 2 diabetes (T2D) is not well established. This risk assessment model estimated T2D incidence among adults attributable to direct and body weight-mediated effects of 11 dietary factors in 184 countries in 1990 and 2018. In 2018, suboptimal intake of these dietary factors was estimated to be attributable to 14.1 million (95% uncertainty interval (UI), 13.814.4 million) incident T2D cases, representing 70.3% (68.871.8%) of new cases globally. Largest T2D burdens were attributable to insufficient whole-grain intake (26.1% (25.027.1%)), excess refined rice and wheat intake (24.6% (22.327.2%)) and excess processed meat intake (20.3% (18.323.5%)). Across regions, highest proportional burdens were in central and eastern Europe and central Asia (85.6% (83.487.7%)) and Latin America and the Caribbean (81.8% (80.183.4%)); and lowest proportional burdens were in South Asia (55.4% (52.160.7%)). Proportions of diet-attributable T2D were generally larger in men than in women and were inversely correlated with age. Diet-attributable T2D was generally larger among urban versus rural residents and higher versus lower educated individuals, except in high-income countries, central and eastern Europe and central Asia, where burdens were larger in rural residents and in lower educated individuals. Compared with 1990, global diet-attributable T2D increased by 2.6 absolute percentage points (8.6 million more cases) in 2018, with variation in these trends by world region and dietary factor. These findings inform nutritional priorities and clinical and public health planning to improve dietary quality and reduce T2D globally. (c) 2023, The Author(s)