Spherical Casimir energies and Dedekind sums

Casimir energies on space-times having general lens spaces as their spatial sections are shown to be given in terms of generalised Dedekind sums related to Zagier's. These are evaluated explicitly in certain cases as functions of the order of the lens space. An easily implemented recursion approach is used.Comment: 18 pages, 2 figures, v2:typos corrected, inessential equation in Discussion altered. v3:typos corrected, 1 reference and comments added. v4:typos corrected. Ancillary results added in an appendi

Strain analysis of multiferroic BiFeO3-CoFe2O4 nanostructures by Raman scattering

We report a Raman scattering investigation of columnar BiFeO3-CoFe2O4 (BFO-CFO) epitaxial thin film nanostructures, where BFO pillars are embedded in a CFO matrix. The feasibility of a strain analysis is illustrated through an investigation of two nanostructures with different BFO-CFO ratios. We show that the CFO matrix presents the same strain state in both nanostructures, while the strain state of the BFO pillars depends on the BFO/CFO ratio with an increasing tensile strain along the out-of-plane direction with decreasing BFO content. Our results demonstrate that Raman scattering allows monitoring strain states in complex 3D multiferroic pillar/matrix composites.Comment: revised version submitted to Appl. Phys. Let

A note on the fishery of mysid, Mesopodopsis zeylanica Nouvel (1954) at Mahim Mumbai

Mysids or opossum shrimps are component of zooplankton composition which are used for human consumption. Mysids are harvested using hand trawl made of mosquito netting during high tide period at surface of water. The article deals the fishery of this mysid, landing and catch composition as preliminary report from the Mumbai coast

History, Violence and Collective Memory: Implications for Mental Health in Ecuador

National histories of violence shape experiences of suffering and professional responses. In Ecuador, mental health literature addressing this crucial issue is scarce and little debated. In contrast, local psychiatrists and psychologists within the country face contemporary challenges that are deeply rooted in a violent colonial past and the perpetuation of its fundamental ethos. This paper critically reviews relevant literature on collective memory and historical trauma, and focuses on Ecuador as a case study on how to incorporate history into modern mental health challenges. The discussion poses key questions and outlines possible ways for Ecuador to address the link between history and mental health, including insights from countries that have struggled with their violent pasts. This paper contributes to ongoing international debate on the role of cultural history in mental health with implications for social scientists and practising clinicians in former colonised nations

Predicting HR Churn with Python and Machine Learning

Employee turnover imposes a substantial financial burden, necessitating proactive retention strategies. The aim is to leverage HR analytics, specifically employing a systematic machine learning approach, to predict the likelihood of active employees leaving the company. Using a systematic approach for supervised classification, the study leverages data on former employees to predict the probability of current employees leaving. Factors such as recruitment costs, sign-on bonuses, and onboarding productivity loss are analysed to explain when and why employees are prone to leave. The project aims to empower companies to take pre-emptive measures for retention. Contributing to HR Analytics, it provides a methodological framework applicable to various machine learning problems, optimizing human resource management, and enhancing overall workforce stability. This research contributes not only to predicting turnover but also proposes policies and strategies derived from the model's results. By understanding the root causes and timing of employee departures, companies can proactively implement measures to mitigate turnover, thereby minimizing the associated financial and operational burdens

Automatic Vehicle Number Plate Recognition for Vehicle Parking Management System

A license plate recognition (LPR) system is one type of intelligent transportation system (ITS). It is a type of technology in which the software enables computer system to read automatically the license number plate of vehicle from digital pictures. Reading automatically the number plate means converting the pixel information of digital image into the ASCII text of the number plate. This paper discuses a method for the vehicle number plate recognition from the image using mathematical morphological operations. The main objective is to use different morphological operations in such a way that the number plate of vehicle can be identified accurately. This is based on various operation such as image enhancement, morphological transformation, edge detection and extraction of number plate from vehicle image. After this segmentation is applied to recognize the characters present on number plate using template matching. This algorithm can recognize number plate quickly and accurately from the vehicles image. Keywords: ANPR, ITS, Image Enhancement, Edge Detection, Morphological Operation, Number Plate Extraction,  Template Matching

Use of Air Infiltration in Swine Housing Ventilation System Design

The objective of this research was to develop and analyze the procedure for using recent air infiltration (AI) data collected from commercial swine finishing rooms (SFRs) in the design of negative pressure mechanical ventilation systems (VSs). Air infiltration is an integral part of any ventilation process. Infiltration reduces the pressure differential across planned inlets and at very low pressure differences, cold air jets may drop directly on the animals causing significant discomfort. In this article, a design procedure is proposed for swine housing ventilation systems with the influence of air infiltration included. The method was used on one SFR for which air infiltration data was collected by in-field testing. The air-jet throw, jet momentum number, a newly developed coverage factor, and Archimedes number were used to assess the influence of infiltration on predicted air-jet and fresh-air distribution and to help guide the design of planned inlets in SFR VSs with known infiltration. The analysis completed quantifies the severity of AI on air-jet and air distribution performance, and suggests that for the analysis room to ventilate properly requires a 50% reduction in AI levels beyond field measured curtain and fan infiltration. The analysis completed suggests a method for systematically planning three-dimensional ceiling inlet placement and operation and provides design guidance for new ceiling inlets suitable for SFR VSs

Maternal and foetal outcome of hypothyroidism in pregnancy: a prospective observational study

Background: Thyroid dysfunction is one of the most common endocrine disorders affecting women of reproductive age group. There is a debate among obstetricians about universal versus targeted screening for hypothyroidism during pregnancy. Therefore, we conducted this study with aim to highlight the need for universal screening of pregnant women for hypothyroidism. Methods: This was prospective analytical study involving 200 pregnant women conducted in a tertiary care hospital in Mumbai from January 2018 to December 2019. Thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) was done as a screening test. Estimation of free T3 (FT3) and free T4 (FT4) are advised if TSH was found abnormal. Patients were followed up throughout the pregnancy and postpartum up to 6 weeks. Study parameters were assessed in both mother and neonate and statistical analysis was done. Results: Pregnancy induced hypertension (PIH) was observed in 13% of study population. Premature labour was observed in 11% of study population. Recurrent abortion was observed in 7% of study population. Postpartum haemorrhage (PPH) was observed in 4% of study population. Anaemia was observed in 69% of study population. Neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) admission was observed in 17% of study population. Neonatal hypo/ hyperthyroidism was observed in 3% of study population. Conclusions: Pregnant females should routinely be screened for thyroid functions to detect hypothyroidism and be given adequate treatment to prevent maternal and foetal complications. Adequate treatment and regular follow up will improve the maternal and foetal outcomes

Diverse small molecule inhibitors of human apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease APE1 identified from a screen of a large public collection.

The major human apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease APE1 plays a pivotal role in the repair of base damage via participation in the DNA base excision repair (BER) pathway. Increased activity of APE1, often observed in tumor cells, is thought to contribute to resistance to various anticancer drugs, whereas down-regulation of APE1 sensitizes cells to DNA damaging agents. Thus, inhibiting APE1 repair endonuclease function in cancer cells is considered a promising strategy to overcome therapeutic agent resistance. Despite ongoing efforts, inhibitors of APE1 with adequate drug-like properties have yet to be discovered. Using a kinetic fluorescence assay, we conducted a fully-automated high-throughput screen (HTS) of the NIH Molecular Libraries Small Molecule Repository (MLSMR), as well as additional public collections, with each compound tested as a 7-concentration series in a 4 µL reaction volume. Actives identified from the screen were subjected to a panel of confirmatory and counterscreen tests. Several active molecules were identified that inhibited APE1 in two independent assay formats and exhibited potentiation of the genotoxic effect of methyl methanesulfonate with a concomitant increase in AP sites, a hallmark of intracellular APE1 inhibition; a number of these chemotypes could be good starting points for further medicinal chemistry optimization. To our knowledge, this represents the largest-scale HTS to identify inhibitors of APE1, and provides a key first step in the development of novel agents targeting BER for cancer treatment

Evaluation of eddy viscosity-based models in decaying rotating stratified turbulence

The results of large eddy simulation (LES) using three sub-grid scale models, namely: constant coefficient Smagorinsky, dynamic Smagorinsky, and a dynamic Clark model, for rotating stratified turbulence in the absence of forcing using large-scale isotropic initial condition, are reported here. The LES results are compared to in-house direct numerical simulation (DNS) for establishing grid-independence requirements. Three cases with varying ratios of Brunt-Vaisala frequency to the inertial wave frequency, N / f, have been chosen to evaluate the performance of LES models. The Reynolds number and N / f are chosen as (a) Case 1: Re = 3704, N / f = 5, (b) Case 2: Re = 6667, N / f = 40, and, (c) Case 3: Re = 6667, N / f = 138. This framework is used to illustrate the relative magnitudes of the stratification and rotation which is observed in geophysical flows. Various quantities including turbulent kinetic energy (tke), turbulent potential energy (tpe), total dissipation, potential and total energy spectra, and their fluxes, are analyzed to understand the predictive capability of the various LES models. Results show that all the SGS model predictions are very similar, with the classical Smagorinsky model displaying the highest deviation compared to DNS. The effect of an increase in the value of N / f is also seen in the results of LES with an increase in the oscillations observed in the evolution of tke and tpe and a reduction in dissipation. The spectral analysis shows that the dynamic Clark and Smagorinsky models predict the large-scale physics (\kappa < 10), while the small scales (10 < \kappa < 64) energy is under-predicted.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figure