Automated Tool for Calibration Features Checking Engine Platform

Fuel economy and government emissions regulations and other compulsory features like ABS and Cruise Control are important for automotive engine manufacturers. New engine sensors and actuators are introduced to meet these requirements, which increases engine complexity and cost. Calibration is the process of achieving optimal settings by evaluating the behavior of an engine. This multistep process involves designing tests, collecting data, analyzing the data and calibrating lookup tables to model the engine. This process helps to identify the optimal balance of engine performance, emissions, and fuel economy. There are number of calibration parameters which control the engine performance and behavior of its accessories. These parameters needs to be calibrated and adjusted to arrive at an engine settings which are optimized for performance, fuel economy, emissions and cost. In this project, we have developed an automated tool which helps in this calibration tuning process to reduce time and efforts. In this project, the calibration process is to be automated

Genomic instability of the DYZ1 repeat in patients with Y chromosome anomalies and males exposed to natural background radiation

We assessed genomic instability of 3.4 kb DYZ1 repeat arrays in patients encompassing prostate cancer (PC), cases of repeated abortion (RA) and males exposed to natural background radiation (NBR) using real-time PCR and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). Normal males showed DYZ1 copies ranging from 3000 to 4300, RA, 0-2237; PC, 550; and males exposed to NBR, 1577-5700. FISH showed organizational variation of DYZ1 in these samples substantiating the data obtained from real-time PCR. Of the 10 RA samples, 7 were found to be affected of which, 5 showed deletion of 265 bp from nt 25 to 290 and 773 bp from 1347 to 2119 and 2 showed deletion of 275 bp from nt 3128 to 3402. Copy number variation of DYZ1 in these males correlated with genetic constrains/anomalies. Although precise mechanisms of genomic instability of DYZ1 remains unclear, we construe that this repeat plays a critical role in maintaining the structural integrity of the Y chromosome, possibly by absorbing the load of mutations. This may be used as a marker system to analyze genetic integrity of the DYZ1 repeat array(s) across the spectrum of patients

Comparative trends of accidental to intentional mortalities over a one-year period at a tertiary care centre

Background: The trends of deaths due to unnatural incidents are on the rise each year throughout the world, including India. Incremental trends have been observed in all mortalities throughout the country. Although all these mortalities seem preventable, yet not much has been achieved over the years. Intentional mortalities are yet more preventable as compared to non intentional ones. The trends of unnatural deaths were observed at a tertiary care centre of the capital city of Rajasthan to determine the comparative magnitude of such fatalities to predict possible reasons for them.Methods: An observational study was carried out for a one year period (2013-14) at the Department of Forensic Medicine of an apex institution of the capital metropolitan city to determine the comparative trends of accidental to suicidal and homicidal deaths amongst the medico-legal autopsies carried out over the study period. The results were analysed to look into the probable reasons for these preventable deaths.Results: Accidental fatalities contributed maximally followed by suicides and homicides. All types of unnatural deaths were more commonly observed in young adult male population. Road accidents were the major offenders followed by thermal injuries and falls. Intentional fatalities due to self harm or other human beings shared a considerable burden among unexpected mortalities over the study region.Conclusions: Majority of the reported fatalities were preventable deaths occurring amongst the active and productive population and hence, it is of utmost importance to analyse such deaths to suggest remedial measures bring down the toll of such causalities

RsaI repetitive DNA in Buffalo Bubalus bubalis representing retrotransposons, conserved in bovids, are part of the functional genes

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Repetitive sequences are the major components of the eukaryotic genomes. Association of these repeats with transcribing sequences and their regulation in buffalo <it>Bubalus bubalis </it>has remained largely unresolved.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We cloned and sequenced <it>RsaI </it>repeat fragments pDp1, pDp2, pDp3, pDp4 of 1331, 651, 603 and 339 base pairs, respectively from the buffalo, <it>Bubalus bubalis</it>. Upon characterization, these fragments were found to represent retrotransposons and part of some functional genes. The resultant clones showed cross hybridization only with buffalo, cattle, goat and sheep genomic DNA. Real Time PCR, detected ~2 × 10⁴copies of pDp1, ~ 3000 copies of pDp2 and pDp3 and ~ 1000 of pDp4 in buffalo, cattle, goat and sheep genomes, respectively. <it>RsaI </it>repeats are transcriptionally active in somatic tissues and spermatozoa. Accordingly, pDp1 showed maximum expression in lung, pDp2 and pDp3 both in Kidney, and pDp4 in ovary. Fluorescence <it>in situ </it>hybridization showed repeats to be distributed all across the chromosomes.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The data suggest that <it>RsaI </it>repeats have been incorporated into the exonic regions of various transcribing genes, possibly contributing towards the architecture and evolution of the buffalo and related genomes. Prospects of our present work in the context of comparative and functional genomics are highlighted.</p

Effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor and angiotensin receptor blocker initiation on organ support-free days in patients hospitalized with COVID-19

IMPORTANCE Overactivation of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) may contribute to poor clinical outcomes in patients with COVID-19. Objective To determine whether angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) initiation improves outcomes in patients hospitalized for COVID-19. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS In an ongoing, adaptive platform randomized clinical trial, 721 critically ill and 58 non–critically ill hospitalized adults were randomized to receive an RAS inhibitor or control between March 16, 2021, and February 25, 2022, at 69 sites in 7 countries (final follow-up on June 1, 2022). INTERVENTIONS Patients were randomized to receive open-label initiation of an ACE inhibitor (n = 257), ARB (n = 248), ARB in combination with DMX-200 (a chemokine receptor-2 inhibitor; n = 10), or no RAS inhibitor (control; n = 264) for up to 10 days. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was organ support–free days, a composite of hospital survival and days alive without cardiovascular or respiratory organ support through 21 days. The primary analysis was a bayesian cumulative logistic model. Odds ratios (ORs) greater than 1 represent improved outcomes. RESULTS On February 25, 2022, enrollment was discontinued due to safety concerns. Among 679 critically ill patients with available primary outcome data, the median age was 56 years and 239 participants (35.2%) were women. Median (IQR) organ support–free days among critically ill patients was 10 (–1 to 16) in the ACE inhibitor group (n = 231), 8 (–1 to 17) in the ARB group (n = 217), and 12 (0 to 17) in the control group (n = 231) (median adjusted odds ratios of 0.77 [95% bayesian credible interval, 0.58-1.06] for improvement for ACE inhibitor and 0.76 [95% credible interval, 0.56-1.05] for ARB compared with control). The posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitors and ARBs worsened organ support–free days compared with control were 94.9% and 95.4%, respectively. Hospital survival occurred in 166 of 231 critically ill participants (71.9%) in the ACE inhibitor group, 152 of 217 (70.0%) in the ARB group, and 182 of 231 (78.8%) in the control group (posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitor and ARB worsened hospital survival compared with control were 95.3% and 98.1%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In this trial, among critically ill adults with COVID-19, initiation of an ACE inhibitor or ARB did not improve, and likely worsened, clinical outcomes. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT0273570

Prevalence and Determinants of Excessive Screen Viewing Time in Children Aged 3–15 Years and Its Effects on Physical Activity, Sleep, Eye Symptoms and Headache

Screen viewing time is the total time spent by a child on any digital/electronic device. The objective of the present study was to determine the prevalence and predictors of excessive screen viewing time in children in Ujjain, India. This cross-sectional, community-based study was conducted through a house-to-house survey using the three-stage cluster sampling method in 36 urban wards and 36 villages of Ujjain District, India. Excessive screen viewing time was defined as screen viewing for >2 h/day. The prevalence of excessive screen viewing time was 18%. Risk factors identified using the multivariate logistic regression model were age (OR: 1.63, p p = 0.004); parents’ perception about the child’s habituation to screen time (OR: 8.46, p p p p 2 h (OR: 5.17, p p = 0.012). This study identified multiple modifiable risk factors for excessive screen viewing time

An Ultra Low Power 2.4GHz Sub-Threshold LNA with Tunable Input Matching for Wireless Sensor Network Applications

An ultra-low power (ULP) sub-threshold CMOS low noise amplifier (LNA) with tunable input matching for 2.4 GHz ISM band wireless sensor network applications is presented. A mathematical approach has been presented to find input matching network for any type of impedance transformation like complex to complex and complex to real. An Impedance transformation using parallel inductor sub-threshold LNA topology has been presented for IEEE 802.15.4a standard using a standard low cost 0.18μm RF CMOS process. The inductive source degeneration is avoided here to facilitate higher gain, better figure of merit with less area. Continuously tuned characteristics are obtained by using a switch, and the input matching circuit is equipped with varactor tuning techniques. It occupies the frequency range between 2.2 GHz and 2.55 GHz, and achieves 24dB gain, a 3.6dB noise figure with-5 dBm P1dB. This draws a supply voltage of 0.532 mA from 1.8 V