Serum magnesium levels in type 2 diabetes

Background: Several studies undertaken in different parts of the world have shown that hypomagnesemia occur at an increased frequency among patients with type 2 diabetes compared with their counterparts without diabetes. As current data suggest adverse outcomes in association with hypomagnesemia, it is prudent to monitor magnesium routinely in this patient population and treat the condition whenever possible. Therefore, this study was undertaken to determine the serum magnesium levels in type 2 diabetes in this part of our country.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 100 subjects, 50 diabetics without complications (group I), 50 diabetics with complications (group II) and 100 normal healthy controls (group III). Blood sugar levels, magnesium, HbA1C (%), cholesterol and triglyceride level were measured.Results: Serum magnesium levels were found low in study group as compared to control group. A significant correlation between HbA1C and magnesium levels was seen. The patients with diabetic complications have significantly higher values of serum cholesterol and triglycerides.Conclusions: Hypomagnesemia in type 2 diabetes was associated with poor glycemic control and with increased frequency of long term complications

Modeling of Cooling and Solidification of TNT based Cast High Explosive Charges

Cast trinitrotoluene (TNT) based high explosive charges suffer from different defects such as cracks, voids, etc. One of the quality control measures is to cool the castings gradually, so that the entire charge solidifies without a large temperature gradient from core to the periphery of the cast charge. The fact that the solidification of high explosive casting starts from the periphery (cooler side) and travels towards the center enables us to predict the solidification profile of TNT based explosive castings. Growth of solidification thickness and cooling temperature profiles of TNT based cast high explosive charges are predicted as functions of time and space using unsteady state heat transfer principles, associated with heat balance at solid to liquid interface as a moving boundary of solidification. This will enable adoption of proper quality control during solidification of the molten TNT to eliminate inherent drawbacks of cast high explosive charges. The solidification profiles of TNT based cast charges under controlled and natural conditions are predicted and the model is validated against 145 mm diameter TNT cast charge which is found to be in broad agreement with experiments.Defence Science Journal, Vol. 64, No. 4, July 2014, pp.339-343, DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.14429/dsj.64.467

A double-blind randomized placebo-controlled study of low dose mirtazapine once daily in patients of major depressive disorders on escitalopram

Background: The SSRIs being used as 1st line therapy in treatment of depression have delayed therapeutic effect which makes the patient vulnerable to an increased risk of suicide and decreased adherence to the treatment and will prematurely discontinue the therapy. The present study was conducted to evaluate if low dose mirtazapine-escitalopram combination therapy has any add on benefit over monotherapy with escitalopram.Methods: In a single-centered, comparative study involving patients with depression attending the out-patient after screening and exclusion, 60 eligible patients were randomly assigned to receive tablet mirtazapine 7.5 mg plus tablet escitalopram 10 mg intervention or tablet escitalopram 10 mg plus placebo intervention in a double-blind 6-week treatment phase. The primary outcome measure was the change in the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) and Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) score from baseline. Participants were evaluated at baseline, 1st, 2nd,4th and 6th week. Results were analyzed using Chi-Square test for adverse effects and independent t-test analysis for efficacy parameter.Results: In the analysis of results at 6th week the numbers of patients achieved remission in mirtazapine group are more with a p-value of 0.018 which is significant and the numbers of responders in mirtazapine group are also more which is statistically significant on chi-square test. There is no significant difference was observed between the two groups with reference to occurrence of adverse effect.Conclusions: Adding low dose mirtazapine has an added benefit in terms of efficacy and getting remission early with more number of responders in the treatment of major depression

Health-care professional’s attitude, beliefs and perceived potential barriers for recommended adult immunization practices in patients with type-2 diabetes mellitus

Background: Immunization coverage remains very low among adults. Vaccine preventable diseases (VPDs) may have an unpredictable course in diabetes mellitus (DM) owing to their altered immune functions. The objective of the study was to analyse the knowledge, attitude, practices and behaviour of the healthcare professionals (HCPs) regarding the pneumococcal, influenza and hepatitis B vaccination in patients of type-2 DM.Methods: This was a community based, cross-sectional study focusing on HCPs who were involved in diabetic care and were aware about recommended guidelines of adult immunization program. 100 HCPs completed this survey which embraced various parameters involved in vaccine uptake.Results: Females constituted 34% of the participating HCPs. The HCPs with qualification of MBBS and MD were 51% and 49% respectively. MD HCPs were routinely vaccinating DM patient more than MBBS ones which was statistically significant. Difficulty in identifying patients eligible for vaccination was perceived by 53% of HCPs. Vaccination was believed to be more important in children than adults by 63% HCPs and 93% agreed that vaccination provided protection against VPDs. Perceived as barriers for vaccination were: urgent concerns of the patients (79%), lack of time for explaining (49%), vaccine safety (60%), cost of vaccine (58%), lack of records (65%), lack of recall system (62%), lack of educational material for patients (83%), lack of training for HCPs (75%) and lack of ‘standing orders’ (84%).Conclusions: Despite recommendations for adult immunization, there are many substantial lacunae in knowledge and practice among HCPs resulting in low immunization coverage. A structured approach encompassing education and training, identification and elimination of potential barriers and improving infrastructure and leadership is the need to curb the mortality and morbidity associated with VPDs in diabetics

Importance of Microscopic Studies in Mineral Dressing

The importance of microscopic studies in mineral dressing is emphasised with illustrations based mostly on the studies conducted by the authors on Indian samples The information obtainable includes (i) identity of minerals, (ii) grain size, nature and degree of intergrowth of minerals, (iii) quantitative data on the mineralogical constituents, and (iv) genesis and other data of special significance

Sapphirine granulites from Panasapattu, Eastern Ghats belt, India : Ultrahigh-temperature metamorphism in a Proterozoic convergent plate margin

AbstractWe report equilibrium sapphirine + quartz assemblage in biotite–orthopyroxene–garnet granulites from a new locality in Panasapattu of Paderu region in the Eastern Ghats granulite belt, which provide new evidence for ultrahigh-temperature (UHT) metamorphism at 1030–1050 °C and 10 kbar in this region. The development of migmatitic texture, stabilization of the garnet–orthopyroxene–plagioclase–K-feldspar association, prograde biotite inclusions within garnet and sapphirine as well as sapphirine and cordierite inclusions within garnet in these granulites indicate that the observed peak assemblages probably formed during prograde dehydration melting of a Bt–Sill–Qtz assemblage, and constrain the prograde stage of the p–T path. The core domains of orthopyroxene porphyroblasts have up to w(Al2O3) 9.6%, which suggest that the temperatures reached up to 1150 °C suggesting extreme crustal metamorphism. These conditions were also confirmed by the garnet–orthopyroxene thermobarometery, which yields a p–T range of 1012–960 °C and 9.4 kbar. The p–T phase topologies computed using isochemical sections calculated in the model system Na2O–CaO–K2O–FeO–MgO–Al2O3–SiO2–H2O (NCKFMASH) for metapelites, garnet-free sapphirine granulites and garnet-bearing sapphirine granulites match the melt-bearing assemblages observed in these rocks. Isochemical sections constructed in the NCKFMASH system for an average sub-aluminous metapelite bulk composition, and contoured for modal proportions of melt and garnet, as well as for the compositional isopleths of garnet, predict phase and reaction relations that are consistent with those observed in the rocks. Garnet and orthopyroxene contain Ti-rich phlogopite inclusions, suggesting formation by prograde melting reactions at the expense of phlogopite during ultrahigh-temperature conditions. These p–T results underestimate 'peak' conditions, in part as a result of the modification of garnet compositions in the domains where some melt was retained. The post-peak evolution is constrained by a succession of melt-present reactions that occur at p < 10 kbar, inferred from micro-structural relations among various minerals. After high-temperature decompression from the metamorphic peak, the p–T path followed a near isobaric cooling stage to T < 900 °C. The UHT rocks investigated in this study occur within a continental collision suture which witnessed prolonged subduction–accretion history prior to the final collision. We correlate the extreme metamorphism and the stabilization of UHT mineral assemblages to heat and volatile input from an upwelled asthenosphere during subduction–collision tectonics in a Proterozoic convergent plate margin

Towards Light Weight Object Detection System

Transformers are a popular choice for classification tasks and as backbones for object detection tasks. However, their high latency brings challenges in their adaptation to lightweight object detection systems. We present an approximation of the self-attention layers used in the transformer architecture. This approximation reduces the latency of the classification system while incurring minimal loss in accuracy. We also present a method that uses a transformer encoder layer for multi-resolution feature fusion. This feature fusion improves the accuracy of the state-of-the-art lightweight object detection system without significantly increasing the number of parameters. Finally, we provide an abstraction for the transformer architecture called Generalized Transformer (gFormer) that can guide the design of novel transformer-like architectures

Centuries of Heat Waves over India during 20th and 21st Century

An assessment of temperature extremes is made for the Indian subcontinent to identify the changes since 1951 to 2015, and for the future climate periods till 2100 for all the 21 CMIP5 (Coupled Model intercomparision Project phase 5) models and the representative concentration pathways RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 were examined for the period from 1 March to 31 May to characterize the heat waves in future climates and mean maximum and mean minimum bias were evaluated for the Indian subcontinent. Later two highest recorded temperature regions were chosen Northwest & Central India (NW&CIN) and only central India (CIN) box and the features of heat waves such as intensity and frequency were evaluated up to 2100. Corresponding temperature predictions from historical runs for the period 1951–2005 of 21 global CMIP model outputs and statistics were performed with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) gridded maximum temperature data for validation. Statistical metrics of BIAS, RMSE and MAE have indicated low BIAS, high correlation and high IOA (Index of Agreement) validating CMIP climate simulations. By analyzing the statistics of all the 21 models with respect to the observational gridded data from IMD came to conclusion that among all the 21 models 5 models were performing well for Indian region and having good index of agreement with IMD. The frequencies of the days having thresholds of 40 ºC, 42 ºC and 45 ºC for the maximum temperature over India during the pre-monsoon are evaluated up to 21st century. All models are showing that the intensity and frequency of heat waves were increasing significantly for both RCP4.5 and RCP8.5. Specifically, the characteristics of heat waves in terms of intensity, duration and area extent are calculated and compared to heat waves of the current climate.

Vitamin D levels and tumor necrosis factor-α activity in newly diagnosed patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: An exploratory study in North-East India

Background: Diabetes poses a global threat, leading to hospitalizations and premature death if not managed properly. It involves tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), an inflammatory cytokine, which binds to TNF-α receptor-1, triggering sphingomyelinase, and ceramide production. Vitamin D acts as an anti-inflammatory agent, reducing inflammatory cytokines and proinflammatory cell growth, and benefiting diabetes mellitus (DM). Aims and Objectives: The primary objective was to compare serum Vitamin D and TNF-α levels in diabetics and non-diabetics. The secondary objective was to explore Vitamin D and TNF-α correlation in newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes. Materials and Methods: A case–control study involved 92 subjects in each group. Data included demographics, clinical assessments, glycemic parameters, Vitamin D, and TNF-α. Statistical analysis used student’s t-test and Pearson correlation (P<0.05). Results: The cohort comprised 34 females (36.96%) and 58 males (63.04%). Cases had significantly higher glycemic levels: FBG (247.2±53.92 mg/dL vs. 91.45±16.64 mg/dL), postprandial plasma glucose (319.7±72.08 mg/dL vs. 111.3±21.76 mg/dL), and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) (10.39±2.41% vs. 5.43±0.48%). Mean serum Vitamin D in cases (22.63 ng/mL) was significantly lower than controls (58.15 ng/mL), and mean TNF-α in cases (5.01 pg/mL) was higher than controls (4.63 pg/mL, P<0.0001). HbA1c negatively correlated with serum Vitamin D (r=−0.7461) and positively with TNF-α (r=0.7831). Vitamin D correlated negatively with TNF-α (r=−0.6481). Conclusion: The study revealed lower serum Vitamin D and higher TNF-α levels in cases, with a significant inverse association. It also found an inverse link between Vitamin D and HbA1c and a strong positive correlation between HbA1c and TNF-α. Recognizing Vitamin D and TNF-α’s diagnostic significance promises innovative strategies for managing type 2 DM

Experimental study and analysis of lubricants dispersed with nano Cu and TiO2 in a four-stroke two wheeler

The present investigation summarizes detailed experimental studies with standard lubricants of commercial quality known as Racer-4 of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (India) dispersed with different mass concentrations of nanoparticles of Cu and TiO2. The test bench is fabricated with a four-stroke Hero-Honda motorbike hydraulically loaded at the rear wheel with proper instrumentation to record the fuel consumption, the load on the rear wheel, and the linear velocity. The whole range of data obtained on a stationery bike is subjected to regression analysis to arrive at various relationships between fuel consumption as a function of brake power, linear velocity, and percentage mass concentration of nanoparticles in the lubricant. The empirical relation correlates with the observed data with reasonable accuracy. Further, extension of the analysis by developing a mathematical model has revealed a definite improvement in brake thermal efficiency which ultimately affects the fuel economy by diminishing frictional power in the system with the introduction of nanoparticles into the lubricant. The performance of the engine seems to be better with nano Cu-Racer-4 combination than the one with nano TiO2