Reduction of Switching Losses in VSC Using DC Link Fuzzy Logic Controller

The main objective of a soft switching circuit is to reduce the switching losses in a static converter when is switched at high frequency. In this paper a DC link fuzzy logic controller applied to a VSC (voltage source converter). The lossless switching is tested in a parallel VSC and is verified the effect of the soft switching circuit in MATLAB-SIMULINK. During the switching interval some power is dissipated in power transistors. A VSC in parallel to the DC link is added in simulation to show the instantaneous power in any switch. Keywords: fuzzy logic controller with rule-viewer, dc link, soft switching, voltage source inverter, lossless switchin

A clinical study of pediatric hypomelanotic dermatoses at tertiary care center

Background: Hypopigmentary and depigmentary lesions are frequently encountered in pediatric age group which can be alarming and distressing to parents. They may be insignificant or denote an underlying multisystem disorder. Hence, a thorough medical history, clinical, Wood’s lamp examination, and an interdisciplinary consultation may aid in the correct diagnosis of these dermatoses. Objectives: The objectives of the study were to study the various hypopigmentary and depigmentary dermatoses in children attending the outpatient department of a tertiary care center in South India. Materials and Methods: A descriptive study was conducted at the outpatient department of dermatology at the tertiary care center of South India, where 121 patients aged between 0 and 18 years presenting with hypopigmentary and depigmentary skin lesions from August 2018 to August 2019 were included in the study irrespective of gender. A detailed history, clinical examination, and basic investigations were done. Results: Out of 121 children included in our study, 67 (55.37%) were girls and 54 (44.62%) were boys. The mean age of the study group was 9.8 years. The most common dermatosis observed was pityriasis alba (28.9%), followed by primary disorders of hypopigmentation (vitiligo, lichen striatus, nevus depigmentosus, nevus anemicus, halo nevus, hypomelanosis of Ito, progressive macular hypomelanosis, and blaschkoid dermatitis), post-inflammatory hypopigmentation (19.8%), pityriasis versicolor (8.2%), Hansen’s disease (3.3%), and morphea (2.4%). Conclusion: The most common hypomelanotic dermatosis noted in the present study was pityriasis alba followed by primary disorders of hypopigmentation and depigmentation. Most of the dermatoses were either self-limiting or benign in nature and required only reassurance and managed with only medical line of management. These diseases may be the reason for undue concern and anxiety in parents; hence, a thorough evaluation and management of these dermatoses are necessary

Impairment in biochemical indices in sprayers exposed to commonly used organophosphorus and pyrethroids: A case study

This study was carried out to evaluate the effect of spraying organophosphate, carbamate and synthetic pyrethroid pesticides on biochemical parameters viz., red blood cell (RBC) acetylcholine esterase (AchE) and plasma butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) activities, oxidative stress parameters viz., plasma T-BARs, catalase activity and antioxidant levels such as reduced glutathione, and α-tocopherol and pesticide residues (analysed using the GC/LC-MS/MS) in sprayers cultivating cotton, chilly and paddy crops in Guntur district for a period of >10 years. The study population included sprayers (120) with a mean age of 37.8 ± 10.8 years and controls (60) with a mean age of 37.3 ± 12.2 years. A significant difference was observed for AchE, BChE activities, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARs), catalase activity, reduced glutathione and the concentration of pesticide residues in the sprayers cultivating different crops for a period of >10 years as compared to the controls. However, there is no such significant difference observed for α-tocopherol.Key words: Pesticide residues, chronic exposure, biochemical indices,  sprayers running head, biochemical indices, pesticide residues in sprayer

Subword-based Stochastic Segment Modeling for Offline Arabic Handwriting Recognition

In this paper, we describe several experiments in which we use a stochastic segment model (SSM) to improve offline handwriting recognition (OHR) performance. We use the SSM to re-rank (re-score) multiple decoder hypotheses. Then, a probabilistic multi-class SVM is trained to model stochastic segments obtained from force aligning transcriptions with the underlying image. We extract multiple features from the stochastic segments that are sensitive to larger context span to train the SVM. Our experiments show that using confidence scores from the trained SVM within the SSM framework can significantly improve OHR performance. We also show that OHR performance can be improved by using a combination of character-based and parts-of-Arabic-words (PAW)-based SSMs

Clinical outcomes following surgical management of brain abscess in a tertiary care centre: retrospective analysis of 56 cases

Background: Despite the advent of newer antibiotics and surgical strategies, the overall outcome and quality of life issues in Brain Abscess (BA) patients remain a continuous challenge for the neurosurgical community.Methods: Fifty-six patients with BA are analyzed retrospectively, that treated between January 2014 and June 2019, according to age, the clinical symptoms, etiologic factors, infecting organisms, prognostic factors, localization, diagnostic and treatment methods and outcome.Results: In acute cases, common clinical features were headache, fever, vomiting, focal deficit and seizure. In chronic abscesses, common clinical features were mild to moderate headache and progressive focal deficit. In 12(21.42%) patients had adjacent localized sinus, middle ear infection. In 27(48.21%) patients no primary source of infection was identified, predisposing factors included post neurosurgery (8.92%), post penetrating injury (3.57%), and congenital heart disease, infective endocarditis, sinusitis. The frontal lobe involved in 28.5% cases, temporal lobe and cerebellum are next to be involved. Burr hole aspiration in 29(51.78%) cases, a craniotomy was done in 15(26.78%) cases. Pus culture was negative in 36 (64.28%) cases. Mortality was noted in 2(3.57%) cases. Complete resolution of the abscess with complete recovery of preoperative neuro-deficit was seen in 71.42% cases and recovery with major neuro-deficit was observed in 16.07% cases. The best outcome was seen with a better Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) on admission.Conclusions: BA, when surgery is required, should be done on an emergency basis. BA treated with burr hole aspiration shows excellent clinical and radiological response. A craniotomy is required in selected cases and is a primary procedure in cerebellar, postoperative and posttraumatic abscesses. Broad-spectrum antibiotic therapy should be administered for a period of minimum 6 weeks to prevent relapse

An irrigated area map of the world (1999) derived from remote sensing

Remote sensing / Mapping / GIS / Irrigated sites / Estimation

Effect of temperature and chain length of added primary amines on the sphere to rod transition of aqueous ionic micelles

The importance of micelles as templates for nanomaterials is growing day by day. This resulted in an increasing interest for micelles in different sizes and shapes. Addition of n-amines to micellar solutions was found to bring change in the shape of the micelles from sphere to rod in aqueous ionic micellar solutions. The change in shape is qualitatively obtained from sudden change in the slope of pH versus amine concentration plots because the degree or protonation of n-alkylamines depends on the shape of micelles. In the present investigation, pH is measured at different temperatures to elucidate the influence of addition of n-amines on sphere-to-rod transition in aqueous micellar solutions. The surfactants employed in the present investigation are cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB), cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC), and sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS).As the amine concentration is increased, the pH increases linearly at certain amine concentration and the slope of the resulting straight line changes on further addition of amine. It is noticed that increasing temperature requires more amine for structural transition of aqueous ionic micelles. It is also observed that the effectiveness of added amines leading to shape transition from sphere to rod is in the order of C8NH2>C7NH2> C6NH2

Hantzsch synthesis of 1,4-dihydropyridine derivatives over ZnO/ZrO2 catalyst under solvent free condition

1055-1063Hantzsch synthesis of 1,4-dihydropyridine derivatives is accomplished using novel and efficient ZnO/ZrO2 catalyst. The catalysts prepared by facile precipitation and wet impregnation method have been characterized by using techniques like XRD, SEM, EDS, UV-diffuse reflectance spectra, FTIR, XPS, BET surface area. Ex situ Pyridine absorption FTIR spectroscopy is used to determine the Bronsted and Lewis acidic sites. Enhanced activity of the zirconia supported zinc catalyst is attributed to tetragonal phase, more acidic sites and high surface area of the catalyst. The products attained in good to excellent yields in short duration under solvent free condition, minimizing the disposal problem and energy dissipation. The catalyst can be reused umpteen times without significant loss in activity

Preparation, validation and user-testing of pictogram-based patient information leaflets for hemodialysis patients

AbstractBackground: Patient information leaflets are universally-accepted resources to educate the patients/users about their medications, disease and lifestyle modification. Objectives: The objective of the study was to prepare, validate and perform user-testing of pictogram-based patient information leaflets (P-PILs) among hemodialysis (HD) patients. Methods: The P-PILs are prepared by referring to the primary, secondary and tertiary resources. The content and pictograms of the leaflet have been validated by an expert committee consisting of three nephrologists and two academic pharmacists. The Baker Able Leaflet Design has been applied to develop the layout and design of the P-PILs. Results: Quasi-experimental pre- and post-test design without control group was conducted on 81 HD patients for user-testing of P-PILs. The mean Baker Able Leaflet Design assessment score for English version of the leaflet was 28, and 26 for Kannada version. The overall user-testing knowledge assessment mean scores were observed to have significantly improved from 44.25 to 69.62 with p value <0.001. Conclusion: The overall user opinion of content and legibility of the leaflets was good. Pictogram-based patient information leaflets can be considered an effective educational tool for HD patients

Medicinal plants used in the treatment of snakebite and scorpion sting by the tribesof Shahapur and Jawhar forest division

Many tribal communities living in the forest area deals with emergency cases of snakebite, scorpion sting by using traditional knowledge of medicinal plants. They possess Traditional and authentic information gained from their elders about the antidote for poisonous bites.  The present study was conducted in the tribal pockets of Shahapur and Jawhar forest division of Thane forest circle, Maharashtra. Data was collected by interviews with folk healers and informers by using specially design open and close-ended proforma. Collected data have been verified from the classical text of Ayurveda, books and available articles. This medico-ethno-botanical survey reveals the detail information on 27 plants belonging to 19 families. Total 17 and 10 claims have been reported for the treatment of snakebite and scorpion sting, respectively. Only 1 plant is claimed for veterinary use.  Tribal has been using flower, fruit, pod, root, stem, stem bark, leaf, etc. as an antidote in the form of fresh juice, powder for internal use and paste for local application. They also are administering medicine via Nasya (nasal administration) and Dhumapan (smoke). The observation generated by this article create scientific curiosity regarding further studies to evaluate the efficacy and develop antidote from medicinal plants based on tribal knowledg