Call admission control using cell breathing concept for wideband CDMA

This paper presents a Call Admission Control (CAC) algorithm based fuzzy logic to maintain the quality of service using cell breathing concept. When a new call is accepted by a cell, its current user is generally affected due to cell breathing. The proposed CAC algorithm accepts a new call only if the current users in the cell are not jeopardized. Performance evaluation is done for single-cell and multicell scenarios. In multicell scenario dynamic assignment of users to the neighboring cell, so called handoff, has been considered to achieve a lower blocking probability. Handoff and new call requests are assumed with handoff being given preference using a reserved channel scheme. CAC for different types of services are shown which depend upon the bandwidth requirement for voice, data and video. Distance, arrival rate, bandwidth and nonorthogonality factor of the signal are considered for making the call acceptance decision. The paper demonstrates that fuzzy logic with the cell breathing concept can be used to develop a CAC algorithm to achieve a better performance evaluation

Liver function profile in thalassemic children receiving multiple blood transfusions

Background: Hepatic dysfunction is a frequent manifestation in thalassemic patients receiving multiple blood transfusions (BTs) as a part of treatment. Objective: The objective of the study was to study the liver function profile in thalassemic children and its correlation with the age of initiation of transfusion therapy. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was done among 32 thalassemic patients in the age group of 1–18 years visiting a tertiary care hospital regularly for BTs at the Department of Pediatrics at the tertiary hospital of North India. Liver function tests (LFTs) were done in all thalassemic patients included total bilirubin, liver enzymes (serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase [SGOT], serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase [SGPT], and alkaline phosphatase [ALP]), total protein, serum albumin, serum ferritin, hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), and anti-hepatitis C virus. The age of initiation of BT was also recorded. Derangement in LFTs and correlation between the age of initiation of transfusion therapy and derangement of liver function were studied. Results: Out of 32 patients, only 7 (21.87%) had normal LFT values. A total of 17 (53.12%) had increased SGOT, 15 (46.87%) had increased SGPT, and 25 (78.12%) had increased bilirubin levels. Total protein and serum albumin were below normal in 5 (15.65%) and 3 (9.3%) patients, respectively. ALP was increased in 24 (75%) patients. Majority of the patients (43.75%) had serum ferritin between 2000 and 2999 ng/ml. Only two patients had significantly deranged LFTs. No patient was positive for HBsAg. However, we did not find a significant correlation between age of initiation of transfusion therapy and derangement of liver enzymes in these patients. Conclusion: If thalassemic patients are given properly tested blood and regular chelation therapy, liver function remains normal. Immunization against hepatitis B and testing of blood bags is recommended. It is also recommended that LFT should be done regularly at 3 months interval to detect any abnormality

Correlation between blood pressure and body mass index in 5–12-year-old children of insured population

Background: Childhood hypertension is an increasing problem all over the world; especially, in developing countries, as it has now been shown to be a precursor of adult hypertension. Objective: The objective of this study was to screen the patients presenting in the outpatient department (OPD) with minor illness for the presence of hypertension and its correlation with body mass index (BMI). Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional, observational study in which 105 children between 5 and 12 years of age, who presented in pediatrics OPD of a tertiary care hospital, were screened for blood pressure (BP), height, weight, and BMI. A pro forma was designed to include parental BP, diet details, physical activity, and average daily screen time. Their demographic details including BP of parents were recorded in OPD, and lifestyle of the child reflecting on screen time, physical activity, and food habits were recorded in pro forma. The children were later categorized according to their BMI and BP centiles. Results: BP >90th centile was found in 8 (7.6%) of the screened children and BP >90th centile was present in 5.55% of girls and 8.6% of the boys. 27 (25.7%) children had BMI >85th centile; 5 (4.7%) children had both BMI >85th centile and BP >90th centile; of them, three were boys and two were girls. Conclusion: This study highlights the importance of routine measurements of the BP in all children presenting in OPD to screen them for hypertension

Heat stress tolerance in peas (Pisum sativum L.): Current status and way forward

In the era of climate change, the overall productivity of pea (Pisum sativum L.) is being threatened by several abiotic stresses including heat stress (HS). HS causes severe yield losses by adversely affecting several traits in peas. A reduction in pod yield has been reported from 11.1% to 17.5% when mean daily temperature increase from 1.4 to 2.2°C. High-temperature stress (30.5-33°C) especially during reproductive phase is known to drastically reduce both seed yield and germination. HS during germination and early vegetative stage resulted in poor emergence and stunted plant growth along with detrimental effects on physiological functions of the pea plant. To combat HS and continue its life cycle, plants use various defense strategies including heat escape, avoidance or tolerance mechanisms. Ironically, the threshold temperatures for pea plant and its responses are inconsistent and not yet clearly identified. Trait discovery through traditional breeding such as semi leaflessness (afila), upright growing habit, lodging tolerance, lower canopy temperature and small seeded nature has highlighted their utility for greater adaptation under HS in pea. Screening of crop gene pool and landraces for HS tolerance in a targeted environment is a simple approach to identify HS tolerant genotypes. Thus, precise phenotyping using modern phenomics tools could lead to increased breeding efficiency. The NGS (next generation sequencing) data can be associated to find the candidate genes responsible for the HS tolerance in pea. In addition, genomic selection, genome wide association studies (GWAS) and marker assisted selection (MAS) can be used for the development of HS tolerant pea genotypes. Additionally, development of transgenics could be an alternative strategy for the development of HS tolerant pea genotypes. This review comprehensively covers the various aspects of HS tolerance mechanisms in the pea plant, screening protocols, omic advances, and future challenges for the development of HS tolerant genotypes

Knowledge sharing for innovation performance improvement in micro/SMEs: an insight from the creative sector

As economies become more reliant on innovative, knowledge-intensive firms, understanding the interaction between knowledge and improving innovation performance is increasingly important. Although most UK businesses are micro, small or medium-sized enterprises (micro/SMEs), knowledge management research has tended to focus on large companies Knowledge sharing can be critical for innovation performance, especially for smaller players with limited resources. Our study presents an insight from micro/SMEs operating in the highly knowledge-intensive and innovative games/entertainment software development sector. Using a mixed method approach, we investigate knowledge sharing and its contribution to firm innovation performance improvements. Our findings suggest that micro/SMEs are at the forefront of the creative sector precisely because of their smaller size. Our study reveals evidence of knowledge donation but limited evidence of knowledge collection in the knowledge sharing process. We develop a model highlighting the importance of industry context, individual knowledge and organizational size in knowledge sharing for innovation performance

Agro-morphological characterization of lentil germplasm of Indian National Genebank and Development of a core set for efficient utilization in lentil improvement programs

Lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) is one of the major cool-season pulse crops worldwide. Its increasing demand as a staple pulse has led to the unlocking of diverse germplasm collections conserved in the genebanks to develop its superior varieties. The Indian National Genebank, housed at the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)-National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, New Delhi, India, currently has 2,324 accessions comprising 1,796 indigenous and 528 exotic collections. This study was conducted to unveil the potential of lentil germplasm by assessing its agro-morphological characteristics and diversity, identifying trait-specific germplasm, and developing a core set. The complete germplasm set was characterized for two years, i.e., 2017-2018 and 2018-2019, and data were recorded on 26 agro-morphological traits. High phenotypic variability was observed for nine quantitative and 17 qualitative traits. A core set comprising 170 accessions (137 Indian and 33 exotic) was derived based on the characterization data as well as geographical origin using a heuristic method and PowerCore software. This core set was found to be sufficiently diverse and representative of the entire collection based on the comparison made using Shannon-Weaver diversity indices and χ2 test. These results were further validated by summary statistics. The core set displayed high genetic diversity as evident from a higher coefficient of variance in comparison to the entire set for individual traits and overall Shannon-Weaver diversity indices (entire: 1.054; core: 1.361). In addition, the total variation explained by the first three principal components was higher in the core set (70.69%) than in the entire collection (68.03%). Further, the conservation of pairwise correlation values among descriptors in the entire and core set reflected the maintenance of the structure of the whole set. Based on the results, this core set is believed to represent the entire collection, completely. Therefore, it constitutes a potential set of germplasm that can be used in the genetic enhancement of lentils