Etiological evaluation of convulsions in children from 1 month to 14 years of age

Background: Seizures are a common problem evaluated in the pediatric emergency departments worldwide. Objective: The objective of the study was to study the etiology of convulsions in children aged 1 month–14 years. Methods: This cross-sectional study was done among 120 children admitted to the pediatric ward of a tertiary care hospital with convulsions during the period of June 2014–May 2015. Complete blood count, blood sugar, serum calcium, magnesium, and electrolytes were done for all the children. Mantoux, chest X-ray, liver biopsy, electroencephalograph, lumbar puncture and cerebrospinal fluid analysis, ultrasonography cranium, computed tomography brain, or magnetic resonance imaging brain were done based on the clinical situation. Results: We found that 46.7% of the children had febrile seizures, 19.2% had seizure disorder, 15% had cerebral palsy, 5.8% had viral encephalitis, 3.3% had pyogenic meningitis, 1.7% had neurocysticercosis, 0.8% had metabolic disorders, and 0.8% had traumatic brain injury, and the cause of seizures was unknown in 6.6% of the children. Conclusion: Children with seizures need a thorough evaluation to identify the underlying pathology causing seizures

Implementation of Driver Software of Trailer Module Chip

The aim of the project is to develop a driver software for UJA1076A SBC in embedded C using IAR Embedded Workbench and integrate the driver software with application software of Trailer module. Currently MC33903 system basis chip from Freescale is used in Trailer Module. As an initiative to reduce the material cost for the Trailer module product, a lower price SBC NXP UJA1076A has been used. Also due to the fact that the newly proposed SBC has less number of operating modes and registers to configure, it helps in making the driver software much more simpler, thus reducing the risk of hidden issues in the otherwise complex design and code of the current SBC driver software

TIME AND CONTEXT VARIABLE TOPOLOGIES (TCVT) FOR SUSTAINABILITY-AWARE NETWORK OPERATIONAL FOCUS MODES

Techniques are presented herein that leverage the concept of Time-Variant Routing (TVR) to create time and context variable topologies (TCVTs) that offer a scalable and versatile solution for supporting a proportional response to changes in a network’s traffic levels, allowing a network operator to maximize sustainability gains in a network having variable, tidal, and periodic traffic. Aspects of the presented techniques encompass sub-topological planes (which can be made available to a topology as a function of time), network operational focus modes (which employ such planes to create objective-optimized topologies), and mappings between the two. The techniques allow an optimal set of topological elements to be identified based on different variables including, for example, a traffic demand and a renewable energy makeup (e.g., a carbon intensity). By hiding all of the complexity from a user, the techniques offer a simplified user experience through which such a user need only select different network operational focus modes to manage very complex outcomes

Implementation of ERP in an Automobile Manufacturing Shop Floor

The implementation of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems has been known to be much more difficult than the development of a computer application supporting a single business function. This paper addresses the implementation of an ERP system in an automobile manufacture shop floor. This paper examines step by step procedure for implementing an ERP system within the shop floor and also looks improve business process and operations through good business communication system. The Development of a planning module by visual basic programming language were also discussed

Human protein reference database—2006 update

Human Protein Reference Database (HPRD) () was developed to serve as a comprehensive collection of protein features, post-translational modifications (PTMs) and protein–protein interactions. Since the original report, this database has increased to >20 000 proteins entries and has become the largest database for literature-derived protein–protein interactions (>30 000) and PTMs (>8000) for human proteins. We have also introduced several new features in HPRD including: (i) protein isoforms, (ii) enhanced search options, (iii) linking of pathway annotations and (iv) integration of a novel browser, GenProt Viewer (), developed by us that allows integration of genomic and proteomic information. With the continued support and active participation by the biomedical community, we expect HPRD to become a unique source of curated information for the human proteome and spur biomedical discoveries based on integration of genomic, transcriptomic and proteomic data

Global burden of 288 causes of death and life expectancy decomposition in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

BACKGROUND Regular, detailed reporting on population health by underlying cause of death is fundamental for public health decision making. Cause-specific estimates of mortality and the subsequent effects on life expectancy worldwide are valuable metrics to gauge progress in reducing mortality rates. These estimates are particularly important following large-scale mortality spikes, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. When systematically analysed, mortality rates and life expectancy allow comparisons of the consequences of causes of death globally and over time, providing a nuanced understanding of the effect of these causes on global populations. METHODS The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021 cause-of-death analysis estimated mortality and years of life lost (YLLs) from 288 causes of death by age-sex-location-year in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations for each year from 1990 until 2021. The analysis used 56 604 data sources, including data from vital registration and verbal autopsy as well as surveys, censuses, surveillance systems, and cancer registries, among others. As with previous GBD rounds, cause-specific death rates for most causes were estimated using the Cause of Death Ensemble model-a modelling tool developed for GBD to assess the out-of-sample predictive validity of different statistical models and covariate permutations and combine those results to produce cause-specific mortality estimates-with alternative strategies adapted to model causes with insufficient data, substantial changes in reporting over the study period, or unusual epidemiology. YLLs were computed as the product of the number of deaths for each cause-age-sex-location-year and the standard life expectancy at each age. As part of the modelling process, uncertainty intervals (UIs) were generated using the 2·5th and 97·5th percentiles from a 1000-draw distribution for each metric. We decomposed life expectancy by cause of death, location, and year to show cause-specific effects on life expectancy from 1990 to 2021. We also used the coefficient of variation and the fraction of population affected by 90% of deaths to highlight concentrations of mortality. Findings are reported in counts and age-standardised rates. Methodological improvements for cause-of-death estimates in GBD 2021 include the expansion of under-5-years age group to include four new age groups, enhanced methods to account for stochastic variation of sparse data, and the inclusion of COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality-which includes excess mortality associated with the pandemic, excluding COVID-19, lower respiratory infections, measles, malaria, and pertussis. For this analysis, 199 new country-years of vital registration cause-of-death data, 5 country-years of surveillance data, 21 country-years of verbal autopsy data, and 94 country-years of other data types were added to those used in previous GBD rounds. FINDINGS The leading causes of age-standardised deaths globally were the same in 2019 as they were in 1990; in descending order, these were, ischaemic heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lower respiratory infections. In 2021, however, COVID-19 replaced stroke as the second-leading age-standardised cause of death, with 94·0 deaths (95% UI 89·2-100·0) per 100 000 population. The COVID-19 pandemic shifted the rankings of the leading five causes, lowering stroke to the third-leading and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to the fourth-leading position. In 2021, the highest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 occurred in sub-Saharan Africa (271·0 deaths [250·1-290·7] per 100 000 population) and Latin America and the Caribbean (195·4 deaths [182·1-211·4] per 100 000 population). The lowest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 were in the high-income super-region (48·1 deaths [47·4-48·8] per 100 000 population) and southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania (23·2 deaths [16·3-37·2] per 100 000 population). Globally, life expectancy steadily improved between 1990 and 2019 for 18 of the 22 investigated causes. Decomposition of global and regional life expectancy showed the positive effect that reductions in deaths from enteric infections, lower respiratory infections, stroke, and neonatal deaths, among others have contributed to improved survival over the study period. However, a net reduction of 1·6 years occurred in global life expectancy between 2019 and 2021, primarily due to increased death rates from COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality. Life expectancy was highly variable between super-regions over the study period, with southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania gaining 8·3 years (6·7-9·9) overall, while having the smallest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 (0·4 years). The largest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 occurred in Latin America and the Caribbean (3·6 years). Additionally, 53 of the 288 causes of death were highly concentrated in locations with less than 50% of the global population as of 2021, and these causes of death became progressively more concentrated since 1990, when only 44 causes showed this pattern. The concentration phenomenon is discussed heuristically with respect to enteric and lower respiratory infections, malaria, HIV/AIDS, neonatal disorders, tuberculosis, and measles. INTERPRETATION Long-standing gains in life expectancy and reductions in many of the leading causes of death have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the adverse effects of which were spread unevenly among populations. Despite the pandemic, there has been continued progress in combatting several notable causes of death, leading to improved global life expectancy over the study period. Each of the seven GBD super-regions showed an overall improvement from 1990 and 2021, obscuring the negative effect in the years of the pandemic. Additionally, our findings regarding regional variation in causes of death driving increases in life expectancy hold clear policy utility. Analyses of shifting mortality trends reveal that several causes, once widespread globally, are now increasingly concentrated geographically. These changes in mortality concentration, alongside further investigation of changing risks, interventions, and relevant policy, present an important opportunity to deepen our understanding of mortality-reduction strategies. Examining patterns in mortality concentration might reveal areas where successful public health interventions have been implemented. Translating these successes to locations where certain causes of death remain entrenched can inform policies that work to improve life expectancy for people everywhere. FUNDING Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Cytotoxicity responses to selected ESAT-6 and CFP-10 peptides in tuberculosis

Cytotoxicity responses were studied for the ESAT-6 peptides Esp1, Esp6, Esp7, Esp8, and CFP-10 peptides, Cfp6, Cfp7, Cfp8, Cfp9 (synthetic 20-mer peptides) and the recombinant ESAT-6, CFP-10 proteins. Cytolytic molecules perforin, granzymes A and B, granulysin responses in healthy household contacts (HHC) and pulmonary tuberculosis patients (PTB), were studied by intracellular flow cytometry. Functional cytotoxicity was studied in both the groups for the peptides Esp6 and Cfp8 by an enzyme (lactate dehydrogenase) based assay. The results revealed that cytolytic molecule positive CD4+ and CD8+ T cells were increased in HHC in response to Esp1, Esp6, Cfp8 and Cfp9 immunogenic peptides compared to PTB. Functional cytotoxicity results showed higher cytotoxicity (not statistically significant) to be exhibited by the peptide Esp6 than Cfp8 in the HHC

Wdrożenie narzędzi „Lean Management” w przemyśle odzieżowym

Garment Manufacturing is one of the oldest in the world, compromising a high number of critical operations. The main issues in the garment industry are the lead time, production rate, very poor line balancing and fabric wastes. Productivity improvement is carried out by implementing the various lean tools in the industry, such as 5S, Value Stream Mapping (VSM) and line balancing in the sewing section. After the implementation of lean tools in the garment industry, the outcomes observed are a reduction in work-in-progress inventory, increases in the production process and increased line efficiency. Similarly the before and after implementation of 5S, which shows space utilisation in the sewing section, is increased. In this research, an implementation study was conducted in only one organisation. Hence the results extracted by the conduct of this implementation study are achievable and adaptable in similar organisations.Główne problemy w przemyśle odzieżowym to czas realizacji, tempo produkcji, bardzo niska równowaga linii i marnotrawstwo tkanin. Celem pracy było uzyskanie poprawy produktywności poprzez wdrożenie różnych narzędzi „Lean Management” w branży, takich jak 5S, Mapowanie Strumienia Wartości (VSM) i równoważenie linii w dziale szycia. Po wdrożeniu narzędzi „Lean Management” w przemyśle odzieżowym na podstawie uzyskanych rezultatów zaobserwowano zmniejszenie zapasów w toku prac, zwiększenie procesu produkcji i zwiększenie wydajności linii. Przedstawione w pracy wyniki dotyczą badania wdrożeniowego przeprowadzonego w jednej organizacji. W związku z tym wyniki uzyskane w ramach tego badania są możliwe do osiągnięcia i dostosowania w podobnych organizacjach