Cavity-induced slow gain recovery in pump-probe experiments of quantum cascade lasers

We show that the Fabry-P´erot cavity dynamics of quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) play an important role in the gain recovery observed in a pump-probe experiment. Due to the residual pump power in the cavity after the pump pulse is reflected from the facet, the probed gain recovers at a slower rate

Analysis of Obfuscated Code with Program Slicing

In Man-At-The-End (MATE) attacks, software apps run on a device under full control of the attackers: they can violate the intellectual property of the app by means of malicious reverse engineering, software piracy, and software tampering. Obfuscation is a technique that is widely adopted by developers to mitigate this problem. Obfuscation increases complexity of software code, by obscuring the structure of code and data in order to thwart the reverse engineering process. However, it is possible to reverse engineer obfuscated code with time, determination and the right tools. In general, there is no accepted methodology to determine the strength of obfuscated code; however resilience is often considered a good metric as it indicates the percentage of obfuscated code that cannot be removed by automated de-obfuscation tools. We introduce a novel approach to measure the resilience of obfuscated C code using program slicing. Given a variable of interest, that might be part of a code region used to manipulate a crypto key or a license number, program slicing can mimic the attacker behaviour by trying to remove the code unrelated to that variable, acting as a new type of de-obfuscator

Study of the post operative outcome in orthopeadic management in cases of high HBA1c diabetic patients-a case series

Elderly diabetic patients are at risk of poor fracture healing in post-traumatic fracture seven due to trivial low energy falls and chronic pathological bone involvement. Glycated haemoglobins are haemoglobins with an attached sugar moiety. HbA1c is the predominant fraction of HbA1 and gives an estimate of the blood sugar levels of an individual over the last three months. Here we present a case series of 3 elderly patients who came to us with post traumatic fractures or chronic bone pathologies and very high HBA1C values (>10%) who required operative orthopaedics management. The injuries were adequately managed with splintage and operative procedures after proper control of the patients’ blood sugars levels. Postoperatively mobilization was challenging. Orthopaedic chronic bone pathologies and post traumatic limb fractures with uncontrolled sugar and very high HBa1c are very difficult to treat. Postoperatively patients are at a very high risk of infection, poor suture healing, risk of repeat fracture, osteoporosis, etc which often results into functional outcome being hampered. Proper counselling by operating surgeon, physiotherapy and postoperative rehabilitation with the help of relatives and assisting devices with strict preoperative and post operative sugar control provides good outcome. In cases of trauma in old age, one should always thoroughly examine and screen for comorbidities such as hypertension and diabetes using reliable markers such as HBa1c levels. So that early appropriate treatment and mobilization can be done with good functional outcome

Natural organic matter in sedimentary basins and its relation to arsenic in anoxic ground water: the example of West Bengal and its worldwide implications

In order to investigate the mechanism of As release to anoxic ground water in alluvial aquifers, the authors sampled ground waters from 3 piezometer nests, 79 shallow (80 m) wells, in an area 750 m by 450 m, just north of Barasat, near Kolkata (Calcutta), in southern West Bengal. High concentrations of As (200-1180 mug L-1) are accompanied by high concentrations of Fe (3-13.7 mgL(-1)) and PO4 (1-6.5 mg L-1). Ground water that is rich in Mn (1-5.3 mg L-1) contains <50 mug L-1 of As. The composition of shallow ground water varies at the 100-m scale laterally and the metre-scale vertically, with vertical gradients in As concentration reaching 200 mug L-1 m(-1). The As is supplied by reductive dissolution of FeOOH and release of the sorbed As to solution. The process is driven by natural organic matter in peaty strata both within the aquifer sands and in the overlying confining unit. In well waters, thermotolerant coliforms, a proxy for faecal contamination, are not present in high numbers (<10 cfu/100 ml in 85% of wells) showing that faecally-derived organic matter does not enter the aquifer, does not drive reduction of FeOOH, and so does not release As to ground water.Arsenic concentrations are high (much greater than50 mug L-1) where reduction of FeOOH is complete and its entire load of sorbed As is released to solution, at which point the aquifer sediments become grey in colour as FeOOH vanishes. Where reduction is incomplete, the sediments are brown in colour and resorption of As to residual FeOOH keeps As concentrations below 10 mug L-1 in the presence of dissolved Fe. Sorbed As released by reduction of Mn oxides does not increase As in ground water because the As resorbs to FeOOH. High concentrations of As are common in alluvial aquifers of the Bengal Basin arise because Himalayan erosion supplies immature sediments, with low surface-loadings of FeOOH on mineral grains, to a depositional environment that is rich in organic mater so that complete reduction of FeOOH is common. (C) 2004 Published by Elsevier Ltd

Factors affecting reproductive performance of dairy cows in a pasture-based, automatic milking system research farm: a retrospective, single-cohort study

A retrospective single cohort study was conducted to identify production and health factors associated with reproductive performance in a pasture-based automatic milking system research farm. The calving system of this herd shifted from split calving to year round calving gradually during the study period. Data from 365 cows with 798 lactations were analysed in the study. Reproductive outcome variables of interest were intervals from calving to first oestrus, to first insemination, and to conception as well as number of inseminations per conception, probability of submission for insemination by 80 days in milk, probability of conception by 100 days in milk and probability of conception at first insemination. Production factors (milk yield and its composition; milking frequency), record of periparturient disease, parity and season of calving were considered as predictor variables. The associations between predictor and outcome variables were assessed by multivariable linear regression, logistic regression and survival analyses for quantitative, binary and time-to-event outcomes, respectively. Average milk yield and milking frequency during 100 days in milk were not significantly associated with any of the reproductive measures. The likelihood of conception by 100 days in milk decreased gradually with year of automatic milking systems commissioning. Cows calved in autumn were 43% (hazard ratio: 1.43, P < 0.05) more likely to conceive compared to cows that calved in summer. Multiparous cows were more likely (P < 0.05) to be recorded for oestrus compared to primiparous cows. Twinning was negatively associated with the reproductive outcomes measured in the automatic milking systems research herd. Milk yield and milking frequency during 100 days in milk had no effect on reproductive measures in the pasture-based automatic milking system research herd. Key words: Reproduction, Automatic Milking System, Pasture-Based Syste

Factors affecting reproductive performance of dairy cows in a pasture-based, automatic milking system research farm: a retrospective, single-cohort study

A retrospective single cohort study was conducted to identify production and health factors associated with reproductive performance in a pasture-based automatic milking system research farm. The calving system of this herd shifted from split calving to year round calving gradually during the study period. Data from 365 cows with 798 lactations were analysed in the study. Reproductive outcome variables of interest were intervals from calving to first oestrus, to first insemination, and to conception as well as number of inseminations per conception, probability of submission for insemination by 80 days in milk, probability of conception by 100 days in milk and probability of conception at first insemination. Production factors (milk yield and its composition; milking frequency), record of periparturient disease, parity and season of calving were considered as predictor variables. The associations between predictor and outcome variables were assessed by multivariable linear regression, logistic regression and survival analyses for quantitative, binary and time-to-event outcomes, respectively. Average milk yield and milking frequency during 100 days in milk were not significantly associated with any of the reproductive measures. The likelihood of conception by 100 days in milk decreased gradually with year of automatic milking systems commissioning. Cows calved in autumn were 43% (hazard ratio: 1.43, P < 0.05) more likely to conceive compared to cows that calved in summer. Multiparous cows were more likely (P < 0.05) to be recorded for oestrus compared to primiparous cows. Twinning was negatively associated with the reproductive outcomes measured in the automatic milking systems research herd. Milk yield and milking frequency during 100 days in milk had no effect on reproductive measures in the pasture-based automatic milking system research herd. Key words: Reproduction, Automatic Milking System, Pasture-Based Syste

Oblikovanje i vrednovanje plutajućih uljnih mikrozrnaca loratadina s produljenim zadržavanjem u želucu

Gastro retentive controlled release system of loratadine was formulated to increase the residence time in stomach and to modulate the release behaviour of the drug. Oil entrapped floating microbeads prepared by emulsion gelation method were optimized by 23 factorial design and a polymer ratio of 2.5:1.5 (pectin: sodium alginate) by mass, 15% (m/v) of oil (mineral oil or castor oil) and 0.45 mol L-1 calcium chloride solution were selected as the optimized processing conditions for the desired buoyancy and physical stability. In vitro drug release in fed state conditions demonstrated sustained release of loratadine for 8 h that best fitted the Peppas model with n < 0.45. The ethylcellulose coating on microbeads optimized by 22 factorial design resulted in controlled release formulation of loratadine that provided zero-order release for 8 h.U radu je opisana priprava plutajućih mikrozrnaca za kontrolirano oslobađanje loratadina metodom želiranja emulzije. Mikrozrnca sadrže ulja, a njihovo zadržavanje u želucu je produljeno. Priprava mikrozrnaca je optimirana 23 faktorijalnim dizajnom. Pripravci optimalne sposobnosti plutanja i stabilnosti dobiveni su uz omjer masa pektina i natrijevog alginata 2,5:1,5, udio mineralnog ulja ili ulja kastora 15% (m/v) i koncentraciju kalcijevog klorida 0,45 mol L1. Iz tih se mikrozrnaca loratadin oslobađa in vitro tijekom 8 h, a oslobađanje slijedi Peppasov model ako je n < 0,45. Mikrozrnca presvučena etilcelulozom optimirana 22 faktorijalnim dizajnom slijede kinetiku nultog reda tijekom 8 h

Multi-indicator supply chain management framework for food convergent innovation in the dairy business

A comprehensive integrated framework of indicators currently used in lean, agile, sustainable and resilient supply chain paradigms is developed under the umbrella of convergent innovation (CI) and applied to the management of the supply chain of a dairy company, including procurement, processing and distribution of their products to customers. CI is a meta-framework that opens new frontiers for commercial innovation, supply chains and market systems by making the convergence of economic, social and environmental outcomes the target of business and actor decisions throughout society to build supply and demand for commercially viable outcomes. This framework provides a company with a multi-indicator supply chain management tool designed to accommodate the supply chain paradigms of being lean, agile, sustainable and resilient, as well as providing milk-based essential nutrition within a process called convergent innovation. The proposed analytical framework can serve as a decision support tool to systematically evaluate and improve the dairy supply chain from plant production to retailers. In jurisdictions without a quota system for milk production at the farm level, the system constructed in this paper could be expanded to handle farm production and shipment to dairy processing plants.The authors would like to express their appreciation to personnel at focal dairy manufacturer company for their thoughtful inputs that contributed to the quality of their paper. This research work is supported by funds PT76740 (MITACS - Multi-Criteria Supply Chain Design and Management Framework for Food Convergent Innovation in Dairy Business) to the first author with Parmalat Canada as an industry partner. Partial financial support was also provided by a SSHRC research grant (PT62411, Paths of convergence for agriculture, health and wealth: Foundational work for a Trans-disciplinary whole-of-society paradigm in food and nutrition context)