Branching random walk with infinite progeny mean: a tale of two tails

We study the extremes of branching random walks under the assumption that the underlying Galton-Watson tree has infinite progeny mean. It is assumed that the displacements are either regularly varying or they have lighter tails. In the regularly varying case, it is shown that the point process sequence of normalized extremes converges to a Poisson random measure. In the lighter-tailed case, we study the asymptotics of the scaled position of the rightmost particle in the $n$-th generation and show the existence of a non-trivial constant.Comment: 19 pages. Significant improvement from the previous version. 1. Proof of the regularly varying case shortened. 2. In light tailed case, a new constant derived and results pushed to almost sure limits. 3. The results about cloud speed are corollary. 4. Completely new proof for the light tailed displacement. 5. Introduction shortene

Development of quality standards of Triphala Kwatha churna with its ingredients through HPTLC and mass spectroscopy

113-119In recent years there has been rapid growth in the field of herbal medicine. Drugs belonging to Asian traditional systems of medicine are accepted universally only after standardisation. It is therefore, very important to develop essential techniques for standardisation of herbal drugs. The present study has focused on development of quality standards of Triphala Kwatha churna under WHO/API guidelines along with HPTLC and mass spectroscopy. This polyherbal Kwatha churna is used to treat constipation and other gastric disorders. In this study, an in-house prepared Triphala Kwatha churna was botanically and chemically standardised by HPTLC and mass spectroscopic studies with the reference standard gallic acid. The botanical standardisation of the above formulation was done by evaluation of macroscopic and microscopic studies of the powder formulation along with its ingredients. Physicochemical parameters like LOD, ash value, acid insoluble ash, water and alcohol extractives were determined. Safety parameters, viz., heavy metals, microbial content, specific pathogens, pesticide residue and aflatoxins detection have been also estimated. The results obtained in the present study defining quality control parameters help to develop the quality standards of Triphala Kwatha churna formulation. The HPTLC fingerprint profiling of the formulation along with its ingredients complies with the reference standards gallic acid. This observation is also found in Mass Spectroscopic study of the methanolic extract of the formulation with this reference standard. Preliminary phytochemical screening test revealed the presence of bioactive constituents including phenols, flavonoids, tannins and carbohydrate

Cross-modal Learning of Graph Representations using Radar Point Cloud for Long-Range Gesture Recognition

Gesture recognition is one of the most intuitive ways of interaction and has gathered particular attention for human computer interaction. Radar sensors possess multiple intrinsic properties, such as their ability to work in low illumination, harsh weather conditions, and being low-cost and compact, making them highly preferable for a gesture recognition solution. However, most literature work focuses on solutions with a limited range that is lower than a meter. We propose a novel architecture for a long-range (1m - 2m) gesture recognition solution that leverages a point cloud-based cross-learning approach from camera point cloud to 60-GHz FMCW radar point cloud, which allows learning better representations while suppressing noise. We use a variant of Dynamic Graph CNN (DGCNN) for the cross-learning, enabling us to model relationships between the points at a local and global level and to model the temporal dynamics a Bi-LSTM network is employed. In the experimental results section, we demonstrate our model's overall accuracy of 98.4% for five gestures and its generalization capability.Comment: Submitted to IEEE Sensor Array and Multichannel Signal Processing Workshop (SAM 2022

Acute onset movement disorders in diabetes mellitus: A clinical series of 59 patients

Background and purpose: No previous study has assessed the frequency and clinical– radiological characteristics of patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) and acute onset non-choreic and nonballistic movements. We conducted a prospective study to investigate the spectrum of acute onset movement disorders in DM.Methods: We recruited all the patients with acute onset movement disorders and hyper-glycemia who attended the wards of three hospitals in West Bengal, India from August 2014 to July 2021.Results: Among the 59 patients (mean age = 55.4± 14.3 years, 52.5% men) who were included, 41 (69.5%) had choreic or ballistic movements, and 18 (30.5%) had nonchoreic and nonballistic movements. Ballism was the most common movement disorder (n= 18, 30.5%), followed by pure chorea (n= 15, 25.4%), choreoathetosis (n= 8, 13.6%), tremor (n= 5, 8.5%), hemifacial spasm (n= 3, 5.1%), parkinsonism (n= 3, 5.1%), myoclonus (n= 3, 5.1%), dystonia (n= 2, 3.4%), and restless leg syndrome (n= 2, 3.4%). The mean duration of DM was 9.8 ± 11.4 years (89.8% of the patients had type 2 DM). Nonketotic hypergly-cemia was frequently (76.3%) detected. The majority (55.9%) had no magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) changes; the remaining showed striatal hyperintensity. Eight patients with MRI changes exhibited discordance with sidedness of movements. Most of the patients (76.3%) recovered completely.Conclusions: This is the largest clinical series depicting the clinical–radiological spectrum of acute onset movement disorders in DM. Of note was that almost one third of patients had nonchoreic and nonballistic movements. Our findings highlight the importance of a capillary blood glucose measurement in patients with acute or subacute onset movement disorders, irrespective of their past glycemic status

Development of quality standards of Triphala Kwatha churna with its ingredients through HPTLC and mass spectroscopy

In recent years there has been rapid growth in the field of herbal medicine. Drugs belonging to Asian traditional systems of medicine are accepted universally only after standardisation. It is therefore, very important to develop essential techniques for standardisation of herbal drugs. The present study has focused on development of quality standards of Triphala Kwatha churna under WHO/API guidelines along with HPTLC and mass spectroscopy. This polyherbal Kwatha churna is used to treat constipation and other gastric disorders. In this study, an in-house prepared Triphala Kwatha churna was botanically and chemically standardised by HPTLC and mass spectroscopic studies with the reference standard gallic acid. The botanical standardisation of the above formulation was done by evaluation of macroscopic and microscopic studies of the powder formulation along with its ingredients. Physicochemical parameters like LOD, ash value, acid insoluble ash, water and alcohol extractives were determined. Safety parameters, viz., heavy metals, microbial content, specific pathogens, pesticide residue and aflatoxins detection have been also estimated. The results obtained in the present study defining quality control parameters help to develop the quality standards of Triphala Kwatha churna formulation. The HPTLC fingerprint profiling of the formulation along with its ingredients complies with the reference standards gallic acid. This observation is also found in Mass Spectroscopic study of the methanolic extract of the formulation with this reference standard. Preliminary phytochemical screening test revealed the presence of bioactive constituents including phenols, flavonoids, tannins and carbohydrates

Comparison between intrathecal isobaric ropivacaine-fentanyl and bupivacaine-fentanyl in elective infraumbilical orthopedic surgery: A randomized controlled study

Background and Aims: We aimed to evaluate and compare the block characteristics and duration of analgesia of intrathecal isobaric ropivacaine-fentanyl and bupivacaine-fentanyl combination in adult patients undergoing lower limb orthopedic surgery. Material and Methods: Seventy-four American Society of Anesthesiologists′ I and II adult patients undergoing lower limb orthopedic surgery under subarachnoid block were randomized to receive either 3 ml 0.5% isobaric ropivacaine and 25 mcg fentanyl (Group R) or 3 ml 0.5% isobaric bupivacaine and 25 mcg fentanyl (Group B). The hemodynamic profiles, maximum upper level of sensory block height, time to reach peak block height, two dermatome regression time, and duration of motor block were recorded. Results: There was no statistically significant difference regarding the hemodynamic parameters between the groups. The median (range) peak sensory block height was T7 (T4-T9) in Group R and T7 (T4-T10) in Group B. Time to reach peak block height (13.2 ± 2.3 min in Group R vs. 13.7 ± 2.2 min in Group B; P = 0.385) was similar between the groups. Two dermatome regression time in sensory block (median 120 min vs. 85 min; P < 0.001) and duration of motor block (median 245 min vs. 150 min; P < 0.001) was significantly higher in Group B. The duration of analgesia (median 360 min vs. 245 min; P < 0.001) was significantly higher in the bupivacaine group. Conclusion: Intrathecal isobaric bupivacaine-fentanyl combination produces a significantly longer duration of analgesia, sensory block and motor block than isobaric ropivacaine-fentanyl combination. As ropivacaine has a shorter duration of sensory and motor block, it may be preferred in day care surgery

Modulation of the Photophysics of Nucleotide-Functionalized Copper Nanoclusters Using Aqueous Binary Mixtures

Nanomaterials have been steadily gaining importance over the past few decades. Metal nanoclusters comprised of gold or silver have been thoroughly studied and well documented. Only recently, the focus has begun to shift to copper nanoclusters (CuNCs). However, there are very few studies that focus on the modulation of the photophysics of metal nanoclusters, especially CuNCs. Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) is an industrially and biologically important solvent. Aqueous DMSO binary mixtures have been frequently used for modulation of excited-state dynamics of many conventional fluorophores. Here, by performing the time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy of nucleotide-functionalized CuNCs in aqueous DMSO binary mixtures, we have demonstrated that DMSO negatively affects the excited-state decay dynamics of CuNCs by destabilizing the excited state, leading to faster decay dynamics. We have proposed that DMSO disrupts the water-mediated internanocluster (interNC) cuprophilic interactions, which are mostly responsible for stabilization of the CuNC excited state. These results will provide significant physical insight on techniques to modulate the radiative decay dynamics of CuNCs and other nanomaterials

Causality in heliophysics: Magnetic fields as a bridge between the Sun’s interior and the Earth’s space environment

Our host star, the Sun, is a middle-aged main sequence G type star whose activity varies. These variations are primarily governed by solar magnetic fields which are produced in the Sun’s interior via a magnetohydrodynamic dynamo mechanism. Solar activity manifests across different timescales, spanning transient phenomena such as flares, energetic particle events and coronal mass ejections to short to long-term modulation of solar irradiance, plasma winds, open flux and cosmic ray flux in the heliosphere. Collectively, these phenomena define space weather and space climate, which impact the state of the near-Earth space environment, the Earth’s magnetosphere, atmosphere and our space-reliant technologies. Understanding physical processes that are at the heart of solar variability and which causally connect the Sun–Earth system is therefore of immense importance to humanity. Such understanding leads to predictions of the impact of solar activity on our planet and provides a window to explore the plasma universe and other star–planet systems, including assessing the habitability of (exo)planets. In this review, based on our research on the solar–terrestrial system and extant scientific literature, we illuminate processes related to the genesis of solar magnetic fields in the Sun’s interior, their emergence and evolution, their manifestation as solar eruptive events, and their eventual impact on the geospace environment mediated via solar winds and storms. We focus on few phenomena that establish causal connections and demonstrate how our current understanding can lead to development of predictive capabilities encompassing the domain of heliophysics