Efficient Digital System Management using IEEE 1451.0 Enabled Control Architecture

The IEEE and National Institute of Standards and Technology have formulated an open universal standard called IEEE 1451 for ‘Smart Transducer Interface’ with digital systems. The objectives of this paper is to propose IEEE 21450 enabled control architectures for efficient management of power system with embedded system parameters as electronic documentation. The control architecture accommodates appropriate number of transducer interface module along with transducer electronic data sheet, which enables active calibration, adaptive tuning and failure proof operation of system management

Determining the osmolality of seminal fluid aids in the rapid diagnosis of the fertilizing potential of spermatozoa

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Immune response & modulation of immune response induced in the guineapigs by Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) & M. fortuitum complex isolates from different sources in the south Indian BCG trial area

A total of 139 guineapigs were used to study the immune response and its modulation induced by Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) and M. fortuitum complex strains obtained from different sources in the south Indian BCG trial area. The guineapigs were divided into groups and some were directly sensitised/immunised with different MAC strains, M. fortuitum complex strain or BCG and others were sensitised with MAC or M. fortuitum complex and then immunised with BCG. The resulting delayed type hypersensitivity (DTH) response in the different groups of guineapigs was studied by skin tests using PPD-RT23 and PPD-B, and protective response was studied by challenging the guineapigs with a south Indian low virulent strain of M. tuberculosis and enumerating the bacilli in spleen at different points of time. The 3 strains of MAC induced similar low levels of DTH to PPD-RT23 but much higher and varying levels of DTH to PPD-B. MAC strains from soil and sputum induced different levels of immune modulation during subsequent immunisation with BCG on the DTH response to PPD-RT23 and PPD-B. At 2 wk after challenge, 23.8, 81 and 90.5 per cent protection was induced by the standard strain, soil isolate and sputum isolate of MAC, respectively, while 33.3 per cent protection was induced by the M. fortuitum complex strain compared to the protection induced by BCG alone. Prior exposure to MAC or M. fortuitum complex did not have any modulatory effect on the protective immunity due to BCG at this time point. However, at 6 wk after challenge, while the guineapigs immunised with BCG were protected, modulation of the protective response resulting from BCG was observed in the guineapigs sensitised with MAC and M. fortuitum from soil

Evaluation of Procedures for Isolation of Nontuberculous Mycobacteria from Soil and Water

Six methods of decontamination each for the isolation of mycobacteria from soil and water were compared. On the basis of the results obtained. three of the six methods for soil and two of the six methods for water were further evaluated. For both soil and water samples, the method using 3% sodium lauryl sulfate in combination with 1% NaOH yielded more positives than the other methods

HERMITIAN SYMMETRY BASED FIBER NON-LINEARITY COMPENSATION IN OPTICAL OFDM NETWORKS

Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) is a modulation technique which is now used in most new and emerging broadband wired and wireless communication systems such as standard 802.11a/b/g/n, Digital Video Broad casting Television (DVB-TV), and Long Term Evolution (LTE) in the next mobile generation, due to its capacity in solving the problems of Inter-Symbol Interference (ISI) caused by the effects of the dispersive channel. Very recently researches focus on applying OFDM technology in optical fiber communication systems. Optical OFDM is well suited for high speed transmission systems with high spectral efficiency and attracted significant attention from the optical communication community. One of the major issues that degrade the performance of optical OFDM networks is its fiber non-linearity. Fiber non-linearities represent the fundamental limiting mechanisms to the amount of data that can be transmitted on a single optical fiber. Non-linear effects arise as optical fiber data rates, transmission lengths, number of wavelengths, and optical power level increases. Therefore, the effect of non-linearity in high data rate optical networks needs to be controlled to enhance link performances. In this paper, a nonlinearity compensation technique (Hermitian Symmetry) is implemented to improve the performance of OFDM based optical networks. This would provide high spectral efficiency, low ISI and very good Bit Error Rate (BER) performances without increasing the complexity of the network. The optical OFDM transmission system with fiber non-linearity compensation is simulated using Virtual Photonics Integrated (VPI) software

Addressing Semantic Interoperability, Privacy and Security Concerns in Electronic Health Records

The use of Electronic Health Records (EHR) in healthcare has the potential of reducing medical errors, minimizing healthcare cost and significantly improving the healthcare service quality. However, there is a barrier in healthcare data and information exchange between various healthcare systems due to the lack of interoperability. Also, with the implementation of EHR system, there are security and privacy concerns in the storage and transferring data entities.  The healthcare interoperability problem remains an issue of further research and this paper proposes a semantic interoperability framework for solving  this problem by allowing healthcare stakeholders and organizations (doctors, clinics, hospitals)using various healthcare standards to exchange data and its semantics, which can be understood by both machines and humans. Moreover, the proposed framework takes into consideration the security aspects in the semantic interoperability framework by utilizing data encryption and other technologies to secure the communication for the EHR information while ensuring real time data availability.                                                                                                  Keywords:. Semantic interoperability; Interoperability standards; Electronic Health records(EHR); Artifical Intelligence Techniques. Natural Language Processing (NLP), Word2Vec, skip gram, CBO

EVALUATION OF PHARMACOECONOMIC DIRECT COST IN DIABETES PATIENTS

Objective:  Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a major cause of disability, morbidity and mortality Worldwide. The objective of this study is to evaluate the Pharmacoeconomic direct health care cost in type II Diabetes with complications and Diabetes alone: A cost of illness study.Methods:  A Prospective observational study was conducted for one year at the Care diabetes Center; Warangal. The enrolled patients were followed and the information collected contains: total direct costs, which include direct medical costs and direct nonmedical cost. The data observed was analyzed for the average cost incurred in treating the diabetic patient.Results:  The total average costs per diabetic patient without complications was Rs. 8695.7±1341,  this includes the average direct medical cost Rs. 6366.50± 561.12, the average lab cost Rs. 1368.84±64.8, the average direct non Medical Cost was Rs. 960.36±14.04 compared to  those with DM complications,the total average cost was Rs. 12960.73±549.96 for macro vascular complications, Rs. 11039.11±265.36 for micro vascular complications. To treat Diabetes with comorbidities which include both micro and macro complications the total average cost was  Rs. 16658.13±1393.44, the average direct medical cost was Rs. 14071.77±2884.68, the average lab cost Rs. 1628.04±51, the average direct non Medical Cost was Rs.958.32±13.08. The costs were found to increase progressively with the increase in the number of complications. Costs also differed significantly across the types of complications.Conclusion: Our study concludes that the cost of Diabetes with complications resulted about 2 times higher than compared to Diabetes alone.Key words:  Cost analysis; diabetes; economics; health care; direct medical cost; non medical cos

Intestinal parasitic infections and the level of immunosuppression in HIV seropositive individuals with diarrhoea in Kilimanjaro, Tanzania: A cross- sectional study

original research 52 Background: Opportunistic and non-opportunistic intestinal parasites play a significant role in the morbidity and mortality of HIV/AIDS-infected patients. The frequency of their occurrence strongly correlates with the patient's level of immunity. The most common clinical manifestation of these intestinal parasites is diarrhoea. Prevalence of intestinal parasites among HIV-infected patients has been found to be as high as 95%. Objective: To determine the prevalence of intestinal parasites among HIV-infected participants presenting with diarrhoea and association with CD4 cell counts, ART and cotrimoxazole prophylaxis. Methods: A prospective cross-sectional study was conducted in four HIV clinics in Moshi district, Kilimanjaro Region, Tanzania. Stool samples were collected and analyzed from participants presenting with three or more episodes of loose stool per day or a single bloody bowel movement. The identification of parasites was done using direct microscopy and staining techniques. Demographic data, CD4 counts and stool results were recorded. Data analysis was done using STATA IC/11.1. Results: The study included 83 adult HIV positive patients. There were 36 males (43.4%) and 47 females (56.6%), with a median age of 36 years (range 30-43). The baseline CD4 count was 150 cells/ul (range 72-295 cells/ul). Of our participants, 47 (56.6%) had a baseline CD4 cell count < 200 cell/uL. Only 6(7.2%) had CD4 counts above 500cells/uL. Of the whole group, 62(74.7%) were on ARV therapy and 33(39.8%) were on cotrimoxazole prophylaxis. Intestinal parasites were detected in 25 of our participants. Among these 25 participants, Ascaris lumbricoides was found in 52%, Giardia lamblia in 32% and Entamoeba histolytica in 16%. The frequency of intestinal parasites was significantly associated with CD4 cell counts <200 cells/ul (p=0.02). There was no significant difference in parasitic infections associated with ART status or cotrimoxazole use. Conclusion: The prevalence of parasitic infection is high in HIV-infected patients presenting with diarrhoea despite the use of ART and other prophylactic medications. Intestinal parasites should not be overlooked in HIV-infected patients presenting with diarrhoea

4′-(4-Methoxy­phen­yl)-1,1′,1′′-trimethyl­dispiro­[indoline-3,2′-pyrrolidine-3′,3′′-pyrrolidine]-2,2′′,5′′-trione

In the title compound, C24H25N3O4, the pyrrolidine ring adopts an envelope conformation while the pyrrolidine-2′′,5′′-dione ring adopts a twist conformation. The indoline unit is planar [maximum deviation of −0.050 (9) Å] and forms a dihedral angle of 40.36 (4)° with the methoxy­phenyl ring. Intra­molecular C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds are observed. In the crystal, mol­ecules are linked into a two-dimensional network parallel to the ab plane by inter­molecular C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds and C—H⋯π inter­actions

Bioremediation of heavy metals using an endophytic bacterium Paenibacillus sp. RM isolated from the roots of Tridax procumbens

The aim of the present study was to assess the bioremediation potential of endophytic bacteria isolated from roots of Tridax procumbens plant. Five bacterial endophytes were isolated and subsequently tested for minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) against different heavy metals. Amongst the five isolates, strain RM exhibited the highest resistance to copper (750 mg/l), followed by zinc (500 mg/l), lead (450 mg/l), and arsenic (400 mg/l). Phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rDNA sequence suggested that strain RM was a member of genus Paneibacillus. Strain RM also had the capacity to produce secondary metabolites, indole acetic acid, siderophores, 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) deaminase, and biosurfactant and solubilize phosphate. The growth kinetics of strain RM was altered slightly in the presence of metal stress. Temperature and pH influenced the metal removal rate. The results suggest that strain RM can survive under the high concentration of heavy metals and has been identified as a potential candidate for application in bioremediation of heavy metals in contaminated environments