Prevalence of thalassemia and hemoglobinopathy in antenatal mothers with relation to complete hemogram and high performance liquid chromatography-a hospital based study of Eastern India

Background: Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) and Beta thalassemia (BT) are two most common causes of microcytic hypochromic anemia in our country affecting the reproductive age group. It is important to discriminate between these two entities to prevent treatment with iron of individuals with thalassemia trait as well as prevent homozygous transmission of B thalassemia trait (BTT). Aim of the study was to investigate causes of microcytic anemia in antenatal mothers and to find out the role of Cell Counter and High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) so as to screen BTT and other hemoglobinopathies.Methods: This study was done over a period of six months (May 2017 to October 2017) in the Department of Pathology in R. G. Kar Medical College. We analyzed the blood samples of all antenatal mothers attending Department of Pathology for blood tests and a complete hemogram and hemoglobin A2 (Hb A2) quantitation was done.Results: Total cases evaluated were 2200 of which 442 patients were found to have microcytic hypochromic anemia (MCV<80%, MCH<27). Rest that is 1758 was normal. Of 442 cases of microcytic hypochromic anemia, 205 were found to have IDA, 115 BTT, 112 E trait, 1 case each of Hemoglobin E disease, E-Beta thalassemia and hereditary persistence of fetal hemoglobin (HPFH). Hemoglobinopathies like S trait and Hemoglobin J (Hb J) was found in 4 and 3 cases respectively.Conclusions: In India, Microcytic hypochromic anemia is common and may be due to IDA, BTT or other hemoglobinopathies Cell counter-based parameters and formulas, along with HPLC can be an effective method of thalassemia screening in a society.

The KO*-rings of BT^m, the Davis-Januszkiewicz Spaces and certain toric manifolds

This paper contains an explicit computation of the KO*-ring structure of an m-fold product of CP^{\infty}, the Davis-Januszkiewicz spaces and toric manifolds which have trivial Sq^2-homology.Comment: 34 page

How Effective are Toll Roads in Improving Operational Performance?

The main focus of this research is to develop a systematic analytical framework and evaluate the effect of a toll road on region’s traffic using travel time and travel time reliability measures. The travel time data for the Triangle Expressway in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States was employed for the assessment process. The spatial and temporal variations in the travel time distributions on the toll road, parallel alternate route, and near-vicinity cross-streets were analyzed using various travel time reliability measures. The results indicate that the Triangle Expressway showed a positive trend in reliability over the years of its operation. The parallel route reliability decreased significantly during the analysis period, whereas the travel time reliability of cross-streets showed a consistent trend. The stabilization of travel time distributions and the reliability measures over different years of toll road operation are good indicators, suggesting that further reduction in performance measures may not be seen on the near vicinity corridors. The findings from link-level and corridor-level analysis may help with transportation system management, assessing the influence of travel demand patterns, and evaluating the effect of planned implementation of similar projects

Priority Auctions and Queue Disciplines that Depend on Processing Time

Lecture on the first SFB/TR 15 meeting, Gummersbach, July, 18 - 20, 2004We analyze the allocation of priority in queues via simple bidding mechanisms. In our model, the stochastically arriving customers are privately informed about their own processing time. They make bids upon arrival at a queue whose length is unobservable. We consider two bidding schemes that differ in the definition of bids (these may reflect either total payments or payments per unit of time) and in the timing of payments (before, or after service). In both schemes, a customer obtains priority over all customers (waiting in the queue or arriving while he is waiting) who make lower bids. Our main results show how the convexity/concavity of the function expressing the costs of delay determines the queue-discipline (i.e., SPT, LPT) arising in a bidding equilibrium

The critical temperature for the BCS equation at weak coupling

For the BCS equation with local two-body interaction $\lambda V(x)$, we give a rigorous analysis of the asymptotic behavior of the critical temperature as $\lambda \to 0$. We derive necessary and sufficient conditions on $V(x)$ for the existence of a non-trivial solution for all values of $\lambda>0$.Comment: Revised Version. To appear in J. Geom. Ana

Susceptibility of the Endangered Karner Blue Butterfly (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) to \u3ci\u3eBacillus Thuringiensis\u3c/i\u3e Var. \u3ci\u3eKurstaki\u3c/i\u3e Used for Gypsy Moth Suppression in Michigan

We investigated the phenological and physiological susceptibility of the endangered Karner blue butterfly (Lycaeides melissa samuelis) to Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki (Bt), a product widely used for gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar) suppression in Michigan and other infested states. We monitored phenology of the bivoltine Karner blue in two regions of Michigan from 1993 to 1995 to determine if larval stages overlapped temporally with the period of Bt application for gypsy moth suppression. Karner blue larvae of the spring generation were found during the period that Bt was applied in nearby areas in 1993 only. However, spring-generation adults or newly laid eggs were observed up to 11 days before applications in 1994 and 1995. Since Karner blue eggs develop within one week, summer-generation larvae were most likely present during or shortly after 1994 and 1995 Bt application periods. These larvae would have been at risk, assuming Bt persistence of 4 to 6 days. Physiological susceptibility of Karner blue larvae to Bt was determined in a laboratory bioassay. Larvae were reared on wild lupine (Lupinus perennis) foliage that was untreated, or sprayed with Bt formulations at rates of 30-37 or 90 BIU/ha. A similar bioassay with second instar gypsy moth larvae on similarly treated white oak (Quercus alba) foliage was conducted concurrently. Karner blue survival was 100%, 27% and 14% on control, low and high Bt treatments, respectively. Early and late Karner blue instars were equally susceptible to Bt. Survival of gypsy moth was 80%, 33% and 5% on control, low and high Bt treatments, respectively, and did not differ significantly from Karner blue survival. We conclude that Karner blue is both phenologically and physiologically susceptible to Bt used for gypsy moth suppression, although the larval generation at risk and extent of phenological overlap may vary from year to year

Implementing a Business Process Management System Using ADEPT: A Real-World Case Study

This article describes how the agent-based design of ADEPT (advanced decision environment for processed tasks) and implementation philosophy was used to prototype a business process management system for a real-world application. The application illustrated is based on the British Telecom (BT) business process of providing a quote to a customer for installing a network to deliver a specified type of telecommunication service. Particular emphasis is placed upon the techniques developed for specifying services, allowing heterogeneous information models to interoperate, allowing rich and flexible interagent negotiation to occur, and on the issues related to interfacing agent-based systems and humans. This article builds upon the companion article (Applied Artificial Intelligence Vol.14, no 2, pgs. 145-189) that provides details of the rationale and design of the ADEPT technology deployed in this application