The impact of chinese assertiveness on global order.

Chinese assertiveness has increased considerably in the international arena, with enhanced Chinese influence in all spheres. China has become a political, economic, and military power, flexing its muscles in the international politics. China’s rise has affected the existing liberal global order and caused the advent of a new cold war. China, being a staunch communist regime is presenting a challenge to the liberal international order. Thus, the present paper attempts to explore how Chinese assertiveness has affected the global order

Robotics Irrigation – A Key to Agricultural Revolution

Agricultural robots are machine programmed to do agricultural task and farm assignment. Despite the large diffusion of robotic and automated solutions that took place during the last decades in most production processes, the agricultural sector benefited only marginally from automated solutions. Most of the farming is now done with machines but they are not automated, hence there is a need of another revolution in agriculture and that is robotics and automation revolution.Agricultural robots can be classified into several groups: harvesting or picking, planting, weeding, pest control, maintenance or irrigation. Out of these, irrigation robots have been researched and implemented very less but are of a great importance to increase the production of a crop. Different type of crops has different types of irrigation requirements and should be dealt accordingly. This can be efficiently done if robotics is integrated in irrigation. Hereby, in this paper, we are proposing efficient ways of irrigation by robots, their advantages and future perspectives. Our approach is to utilize available information technologies and the proposed framework in the form of more intelligent machines to reduce and target energy inputs in more effective ways than in the past

Secured & High Resolution Watermarking Technique

the watermarking is a method of embedding some king of hidden authentication information with cover image so that it can be identified later. There are many methods available which uses some kind of signal or the binary images, however sometimes it is difficult to defend that the recovered signal/image is same embedded watermarked image because there is always a possibility to get similar patterns form non watermarked images, hence in this paper we presents a secure watermark technique which is capable to embed 8 bit image. The experimental results shows that the technique is not only time efficient but also immune to different attacks

Mineral and Bone Metabolism Disorders in Minority Incident ESRD Patients in an Inner-City Hemodialysis Unit

Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) predisposes patients to mineral and bone metabolism disorder (CKD- MBD), which is a well-known risk factor for increased mortality. Because Medical Evidence Form 2728 from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for incident end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients does not require documentation of CKD-MBD markers, MBD status on incident patients remains unknown. Objective: Retrospective observational study to determine the prevalence of mineral and bone metabolism disorder in minority incident ESRD patients. Methods: We studied all incident ESRD patients in our hemodialysis unit between January 2000 and September 2008. Patients followed for less than three months were excluded. Target values for CKD stage 5 were defined as per 2003 Kidney Disease Outcome Quality Initiative guidelines. Results: One hundred seventy-four patients were stud- ied, with a mean age of 53.7±16.1 years, mean body mass index of 26.67±5.98 kg/m2, and mean estimated glomerular filtration rate of 6.7±4.03 mL/min/1.73m2. Mean lab values with one standard deviation were as follows: corrected calcium 8.5±1.3 mg/dL, serum albumin 3.05±0.77 g/dL, phosphorus 5.5±2.2 mg/dL, calcium-phosphorus product 46.7±18.5 mg2/dL2, and intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH) 440.9±397.8 pg/mL. Target values for cal- cium, phosphorus, calcium-phosphorus product, and iPTH were met in 34%, 42%, 72%, and 31% of the patients, respectively, while only 6% of the patients met all four target values. Conclusions: CKD-MBD is widely prevalent in minority incident dialysis patients at initiation of therapy. Its management continues to be a challenge and warrants early recognition and therapy in CKD patients.

Utility of Abraham Lens in YAG Laser Capsulotomy: A Prospective Study

Introduction: Neodymium-doped Yttrium Aluminum Garnet (Nd: YAG) laser capsulotomy remains the safest treatment for Posterior Capsular Opacification (PCO). The use of capsulotomy lens has some benefits to offer especially when learning the procedure and in uncooperative patients. With changing curriculum in medical teaching which focusses more on practical aspects it will serve as an asset for the trainees. Even if not used routinely its importance cannot be altogether undermined. Aim: To assess the utility of Abraham capsulotomy lens in YAG laser capsulotomy procedure and compare it with capsulotomy performed without lens. Materials and Methods: This was a prospective, longitudinal study conducted in the Department of Ophthalmology, Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India, from June 2020 to February 2021. A total of 79 patients who developed PCO after more than six months of cataract surgery and had decrease in visual acuity on Snellen’s chart by two or more lines from baseline were included. Visual acuity, Intraocular Pressure (IOP) measurement, fundoscopy, Ocular Coherence Tomography (OCT) was done for Central Macular Thickness (CMT) in all patients at presentation, one and three months following YAG capsulotomy. Nd-YAG laser capsulotomy was then done with and without the use of Abraham’s capsulotomy lens in two groups. Parameters such as visual acuity change, IOP, CMT, energy used in capsulotomy, type of PCO were then compared between the two groups. Independent t-test, repeated Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Spearman’s correlation tests were used to analyse the data. Results: Of the 79 patients, 40 underwent capsulotomy without the Abraham lens (Group 1) and 39 with Abraham lens (Group 2). Females were more than males in both the groups. The improvement in visual acuity was statistically significant in both groups. There was statistically significant difference in CMT in both groups at each visit. The average energy used for dealing with fibrous type of calcification was significantly more than that used in elsching pearls (13.96 mj). Complications like Intraocular Lens (IOL) pitting, raised IOP, cystoid macular oedema, uveitis and retinal detachment were encountered which were managed by appropriate medical and surgical therapy. Conclusion: Use of capsulotomy lens decreases the amount of energy needed for capsulotomy and helps to stabilise the eye and to focus better especially for ophthalmologists in their initial training days

Metabolic Syndrome and Incident Diabetes: Current state of the evidence

OBJECTIVE—Our objective was to perform a quantitative review of prospective studies examining the association between the metabolic syndrome and incident diabetes

Epithelialization of hydrogels achieved by amine functionalization and co-culture with stromal cells

The aim of this study was to develop a hydrogel which would be suitable for corneal cell re-epithelialization when used as a corneal implant. To achieve this, a series of hydrogels were functionalized with primary amines by post-polymerization reactions between amine compounds and glycidyl ether groups attached to the hydrogels. We report a strong correlation between the structure of the amine and the viability of stromal cells and epithelial cells cultured on these hydrogels. Subsequent co-culture of epithelial and stromal cells on the amine modified hydrogels allowed successful expansion of epithelial cells on surfaces functionalized with alkyl α–ω diamines with carbon chain lengths of between 3 and 6. Analysis of variance showed that corneal epithelial cells had a strong preference for surfaces functionalized by the reaction of excess 1,3 diaminopropane with units of glycidyl methacrylate compared to the reaction products of other amines (ammonia; 1,2-diaminoethane; 1,4-diaminobutane or 1,6-diaminohexane). We suggest this approach of amine functionalization combined with stromal/epithelial co-culture offers a promising new approach to achieving a secure corneal epithelium. Keywords: Epithelial cell

On the Relative Relevance of Subject-Specific Geometries and Degeneration-Specific Mechanical Properties for the Study of Cell Death in Human Intervertebral Disk Models

Capturing patient- or condition-specific intervertebral disk (IVD) properties in finite element models is outmost important in order to explore how biomechanical and biophysical processes may interact in spine diseases. However, disk degenerative changes are often modeled through equations similar to those employed for healthy organs, which might not be valid. As for the simulated effects of degenerative changes, they likely depend on specific disk geometries. Accordingly, we explored the ability of continuum tissue models to simulate disk degenerative changes. We further used the results in order to assess the interplay between these simulated changes and particular IVD morphologies, in relation to disk cell nutrition, a potentially important factor in disk tissue regulation. A protocol to derive patient-specific computational models from clinical images was applied to different spine specimens. In vitro, IVD creep tests were used to optimize poro-hyperelastic input material parameters in these models, in function of the IVD degeneration grade. The use of condition-specific tissue model parameters in the specimen-specific geometrical models was validated against independent kinematic measurements in vitro. Then, models were coupled to a transport-cell viability model in order to assess the respective effects of tissue degeneration and disk geometry on cell viability. While classic disk poro-mechanical models failed in representing known degenerative changes, additional simulation of tissue damage allowed model validation and gave degeneration-dependent material properties related to osmotic pressure and water loss, and to increased fibrosis. Surprisingly, nutrition-induced cell death was independent of the grade-dependent material properties, but was favored by increased diffusion distances in large IVDs. Our results suggest that in situ geometrical screening of IVD morphology might help to anticipate particular mechanisms of disk degeneration