Effect of noise-induced wavelength fluctuation in tunable diode lasers on narrow-linewidth absorption measurements

Tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy is being widely used to make sensors for diagnostic purposes in various engineering applications. Since the wavelength of many diode lasers used in such sensors is sensitive to the driving current, even noise as small as a few μArms in the driving current can cause a wavelength fluctuation of ∼ 0.5 pm, which is large enough to interfere with sensitive absorption measurements. Although these fluctuations are small, they can cause significant systematic error in measured absorption spectra in applications where the absorption line probed is narrow, as is the case for low-density hypersonic flows. As an example, at a pressure of 300 Pa and 297 K, the error in the full width at half-maximum was 6.5% in an absorption spectrum obtained using a system based on a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser scanned at 10 kHz. This paper analyzes the effect of such systematic errors on measured temperature and velocity and suggests some remedial measures. © 2018 Optical Society of Americ

Progressive disability in elderly population among tribals of Telangana: a cross sectional study

Abstract Background The tribal population of Telangana, India, lives in remote and difficult conditions. This study was carried out to find out estimate, the prevalence and progression of disability in elderly population among tribals of Khammam District, Telangana state, India. Methods A population based cross sectional survey was conducted in villages of Tribal Sub Plan area. Elderly people who are 60 years or older were chosen with a two stage sampling procedure: (1) probability proportion to size was used to select clusters and (2) in each selected cluster households were selected by systematic random sampling. The participants were interviewed with the 36 item Telugu version of the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS 2.0) questionnaire. Socio- demographic information, behavioral measurements, health and social benefit indicators were also assessed. Descriptive analytical methods were used for prevalence estimation and logistic regression was used to examine the associations of progressive age over disability among elderly. Results A total of 506 elderly people from 1349 households in 20 villages across 31mandals of Khammam were interviewed. Majority of elderly population among tribals were illiterate (men 88.94%; women 99.33%), used tobacco (men 81.25%; women 57.72%), consumed alcohol (men 80.77%; women 47.32%) and were hypertensive (men 53.85%; women 63.42%). The prevalence of disability was higher in women. Maximum disability in the interviewed elderly population was seen in domains of performing house hold activities, and mobility. In comparison with men, women expressed more disability for majority of domains. As age progressed, the disability for self-care domain increased to a maximum of 2.6 times in men and 6.6 times in women and for mobility domain increased to a maximum of 9.7 times in men and 7.2 times in women. Conclusions Although present disability modifying mobility Assistive Devices (AD) can help elderly in overcoming disability, these are primarily designed for built environments. As the needs, cultural sensitivities, and living environment of elderly population in tribals are unique, newer innovative assistive devices should be designed and developed

Application of MOORA & COPRAS integrated with entropy method for multi-criteria decision making in dry turning process of Nimonic C263

This article presents an integrated multi-criteria decision making using Entropy, MOORA and COPRAS methods for turning Nimonic C263. Experiments were performed under L27 Taguchi orthogonal array. Dry turning was performed and cubic boron nitride (CBN) was used to turn the alloy. The variables speed, feed and depth of cut were chosen as factors. For each experiment, the shear force component was measured during on line. The insert flank wear was measured after every experiment. The main objective of this paper is to identify the suitable trial to ensure minimum force and flank wear simultaneously. Because of the cost reduction and quality improvement, the controlling factors level should be selected appropriately. Hence, the integrated MCDM technique using MOORA, COPRAS and Entropy was chosen to determine the best experiment out of 27 experiments. Alternatives were ranked and the results were evaluated. The best experiment for minimization of force and flank wear is found to be 125 m/min, 0.055 mm/rev and 0.25 mm. The experimental test were observed with lesser deviation and confirmed that proposal found is more suitable to obtain minimum force and flank wear

Infectious laryngotracheitis: Etiology, epidemiology, pathobiology, and advances in diagnosis and control - a comprehensive review

Infectious laryngotracheitis (ILT) is a highly contagious upper respiratory tract disease of chicken caused by a Gallid herpesvirus 1 (GaHV-1) belonging to the genus Iltovirus, and subfamily Alphaherpesvirinae within Herpesviridae family. The disease is characterized by conjunctivitis, sinusitis, oculo-nasal discharge, respiratory distress, bloody mucus, swollen orbital sinuses, high morbidity, considerable mortality and decreased egg production. It is well established in highly dense poultry producing areas of the world due to characteristic latency and carrier status of the virus. Co-infections with other respiratory pathogens and environmental factors adversely affect the respiratory system and prolong the course of the disease. Latently infected chickens are the primary source of ILT virus (ILTV) outbreaks irrespective of vaccination. Apart from conventional diagnostic methods including isolation and identification of ILTV, serological detection, advanced biotechnological tools such as PCR, quantitative real-time PCR, next generation sequencing, and others are being used in accurate diagnosis and epidemiological studies of ILTV. Vaccination is followed with the use of conventional vaccines including modified live attenuated ILTV vaccines, and advanced recombinant vector vaccines expressing different ILTV glycoproteins, but still these candidates frequently fail to reduce challenge virus shedding. Some herbal components have proved to be beneficial in reducing the severity of the clinical disease. The present review discusses ILT with respect to its current status, virus characteristics, epidemiology, transmission, pathobiology, and advances in diagnosis, vaccination and control strategies to counter this important disease of poultry