715 research outputs found
Planning of Library and Doucmentation Services in the Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute, Durgapur
The background and importance of engineering industry in the economy of India and its dependence on foreign know-how are traced. The significance of indigenous research and development activities and the objectives and functions of the Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute (CMERl) in this context are mentioned. The necessity
for library and documentation services,
and their planning is pointed but. The
acquisition programme, bibliographical
organisation of the documents and the
different types of documentation services
offered by the CMERI Library are
described
Epidemiology of HIV Infection Among Brothel-based Sex Workers in Kolkata, India
A cross-sectional study was carried out during January-June 2004 to
assess the status of HIV infection among brothel-based sex workers in
Kolkata city, India. Six hundred and twenty-two sex workers, selected
from six brothels, were included in the study to assess their HIV
status, and 362 sex workers, a subset of the above population, were
interviewed to study their risk behaviour and practices. Blood samples
were collected from each sex worker for testing HIV by an unlinked
anonymous method. The prevalence of HIV infection was 9.6%, but was
much higher among younger sex workers aged 20 years or less (27.7%)
compared to the older age group (8.4%). This difference was
statistically significant, indicating an association of younger ages
with HIV infection [p=0.006 and odds ratio (OR)=4.18; (95% confidence
interval (CI) 1.2-13.8)]. HIV was not associated with duration of sex
work, average number of clients entertained per day, condom use,
practice of sex during menstruation, precoital examination of penis for
visible ulcer/discharge, suffering from sexually transmitted
infections, and entertaining clients outside the brothel. There was a
big gap between the reported and the evaluated condom use by sex
workers. The results suggest that there is a need to develop suitable
HIV intervention strategies, considering the socioeconomic and cultural
aspects of city sex workers, with a provision for continuous monitoring
and evaluation
Influence of Organic Acids on Diltiazem HCl Release Kinetics from Hydroxypropyl Methyl Cellulose Matrix Tablets
The matrix tablets of diltiazem hydrochloride were prepared by direct compression using hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose (HPMC) and various amounts (2.5%, 5.0%, 10% and 20%) of citric acid, malic acid and succinic acid. The characterization of physical mixture of drug and organic acids was performed by Infra-red spectroscopy. An organic acid was incorporated to set up a system bringing about gradual release of this drug. The influence of organic acids on the release rate were described by the Peppas equation: M t /M∞ = Kt n and Higuchi’s equation: Q t = K1t1/2. The addition of organic acids and the pH value of medium could notably influence the dissolution behavior and mechanism of drug-release from matrices. Increasing amounts of organic acid produced an increase in drug release rate, which showed a good linear relationship between contents of organic acid and drug accumulate release (%) in phosphate buffer, pH 7.4. The drug release increased significantly (P < 0.05) with use of succinic acid in tablet formulation. Increasing amounts of succinic acid above 10% produced decreasing values of n and increasing values of k, in a linear relationship, which indicated there was a burst release of drug from the matrix. Optimized formulations are found to be stable upon 3-month study
Perceived Discrimination and Poverty among Syrian Refugee Women in Jordan
The Syrian Civil War displaced millions of Syrian women and children, many of whom face economic challenges and discrimination. This paper examines self-reported poverty and its relationship with perceived discrimination among women, as framed by social exclusion theory. The cross-sectional study included 507 Syrian refugee women visiting health clinics outside camps in Jordan. Consistent with our hypothesis, 79.09% of women reported poverty as a serious problem, and women reporting discrimination were found to have higher odds of reporting poverty as a serious problem post-migration (AOR: 3.489; 95% CI: 1.534, 7.937). Gender-responsive interventions, policy implications, and recommendations are addressed
Gamma-ray Observations Under Bright Moonlight with VERITAS
Imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes (IACTs) are equipped with sensitive
photomultiplier tube (PMT) cameras. Exposure to high levels of background
illumination degrades the efficiency of and potentially destroys these
photo-detectors over time, so IACTs cannot be operated in the same
configuration in the presence of bright moonlight as under dark skies. Since
September 2012, observations have been carried out with the VERITAS IACTs under
bright moonlight (defined as about three times the night-sky-background (NSB)
of a dark extragalactic field, typically occurring when Moon illumination >
35%) in two observing modes, firstly by reducing the voltage applied to the
PMTs and, secondly, with the addition of ultra-violet (UV) bandpass filters to
the cameras. This has allowed observations at up to about 30 times previous NSB
levels (around 80% Moon illumination), resulting in 30% more observing time
between the two modes over the course of a year. These additional observations
have already allowed for the detection of a flare from the 1ES 1727+502 and for
an observing program targeting a measurement of the cosmic-ray positron
fraction. We provide details of these new observing modes and their performance
relative to the standard VERITAS observations
The First VERITAS Telescope
The first atmospheric Cherenkov telescope of VERITAS (the Very Energetic
Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System) has been in operation since February
2005. We present here a technical description of the instrument and a summary
of its performance. The calibration methods are described, along with the
results of Monte Carlo simulations of the telescope and comparisons between
real and simulated data. The analysis of TeV -ray observations of the
Crab Nebula, including the reconstructed energy spectrum, is shown to give
results consistent with earlier measurements. The telescope is operating as
expected and has met or exceeded all design specifications.Comment: Accepted by Astroparticle Physic
In Vitro Structural and Functional Evaluation of Gold Nanoparticles Conjugated Antibiotics
Bactericidal efficacy of gold nanoparticles conjugated with ampicillin, streptomycin and kanamycin were evaluated. Gold nanoparticles (Gnps) were conjugated with the antibiotics during the synthesis of nanoparticles utilizing the combined reducing property of antibiotics and sodium borohydride. The conjugation of nanoparticles was confirmed by dynamic light scattering (DLS) and electron microscopic (EM) studies. Such Gnps conjugated antibiotics showed greater bactericidal activity in standard agar well diffusion assay. The minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of all the three antibiotics along with their Gnps conjugated forms were determined in three bacterial strains,Escherichia coli DH5α,Micrococcus luteusandStaphylococcus aureus. Among them, streptomycin and kanamycin showed significant reduction in MIC values in their Gnps conjugated form whereas; Gnps conjugated ampicillin showed slight decrement in the MIC value compared to its free form. On the other hand, all of them showed more heat stability in their Gnps conjugated forms. Thus, our findings indicated that Gnps conjugated antibiotics are more efficient and might have significant therapeutic implications
Global Search for New Physics with 2.0/fb at CDF
Data collected in Run II of the Fermilab Tevatron are searched for
indications of new electroweak-scale physics. Rather than focusing on
particular new physics scenarios, CDF data are analyzed for discrepancies with
the standard model prediction. A model-independent approach (Vista) considers
gross features of the data, and is sensitive to new large cross-section
physics. Further sensitivity to new physics is provided by two additional
algorithms: a Bump Hunter searches invariant mass distributions for "bumps"
that could indicate resonant production of new particles; and the Sleuth
procedure scans for data excesses at large summed transverse momentum. This
combined global search for new physics in 2.0/fb of ppbar collisions at
sqrt(s)=1.96 TeV reveals no indication of physics beyond the standard model.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures. Final version which appeared in Physical Review D
Rapid Communication
Anisotropic flow of charged hadrons, pions and (anti-)protons measured at high transverse momentum in Pb-Pb collisions at TeV
The elliptic, , triangular, , and quadrangular, , azimuthal
anisotropic flow coefficients are measured for unidentified charged particles,
pions and (anti-)protons in Pb-Pb collisions at TeV
with the ALICE detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Results obtained with the
event plane and four-particle cumulant methods are reported for the
pseudo-rapidity range at different collision centralities and as a
function of transverse momentum, , out to GeV/.
The observed non-zero elliptic and triangular flow depends only weakly on
transverse momentum for GeV/. The small dependence
of the difference between elliptic flow results obtained from the event plane
and four-particle cumulant methods suggests a common origin of flow
fluctuations up to GeV/. The magnitude of the (anti-)proton
elliptic and triangular flow is larger than that of pions out to at least
GeV/ indicating that the particle type dependence persists out
to high .Comment: 16 pages, 5 captioned figures, authors from page 11, published
version, figures at http://aliceinfo.cern.ch/ArtSubmission/node/186
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