Phytase production by Aspergillus niger NCIM 563 for a novel application to degrade organophosphorus pesticides

Additional file 2. Additional data

Etiology and chemical composition of gall stone disease: a prospective observational study from the developing world

Background: Aim of the study was to assess the etiology and determine the chemical composition of gallstones in our population.Methods: This was a prospective observational study conducted at GMC Srinagar from 2018 to 2020. One hundred patients having gall stone disease were enrolled into the study and after cholecystectomy was performed the stones chemical composition was analyzed by fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The data was collated and analysed.Results: 54 patients had mixed stones with chemical composition of cholesterol, calcium carbonate and calcium bilirubinate; 39 had cholesterol stones and 7 patients had pigmented stone with chemical composition of cholesterol, calcium carbonate and calcium bilirubinate.Conclusions: Our results suggest that cholesterol, either singularly or in combination with calcium carbonate or bilirubin is a common component of gall stones in our population

Rasmussen’s Encephalitis

Introduction: Rasmussen’s encephalitis (RE) is an inflammatory encephalopathy characterized by progressive refractory focal seizures, cognitive deterioration and focal neurological deficit that occur with gradual atrophy of one brain hemisphere. Case presentation: We report a case of an 18-year-old male with a history of abnormal body movements involving the right half of the body without loss of consciousness for the last 15 years. Noncontrast computed tomography (NCCT) head and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed hemiatrophy of the left cerebral hemisphere. Conclusion: RE is a rare disease; hence, diagnosing and managing such patients may be challenging. Our aim is to draw attention of the treating physicians towards this disease with the help of this case report

Customized vacuum assisted closure therapy of wounds as a simple and cost-effective technique of wound closure-a prospective observational study from underdeveloped world

Background: Aim of the study was to study the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of indigenously designed customized vacuum assisted closure (VAC) of wounds in our patients. The management of difficult to heal wounds has been the main force that led to the development of advanced gadgets for their management. The technique of vacuum assisted closure has revolutionized the management of difficult to heal wounds and delivers better results as compared to conventional technique. Our aim was to assess the efficacy and cost effectiveness of customized VAC therapy.Methods: This prospective study was conducted in the department of surgery and allied specialties, GMC Srinagar, from June 2018 and September 2020. During this period, 80 patients were subjected to VAC therapy and were included in this study.Results: VAC dressing was used in 80 patients. 55 were males and 25 were females. Most of the wounds in our study were located over lower limbs (70%). RTA was the most common mode of injury followed by fall from height. After the VAC therapy, 78.8% patients were managed by STSG, 11.3% by flap cover, 6.3% by secondary suturing and 3.8% healed by secondary intention. Pain was experienced by 30% of the patients, 7.5% had hypoalbuminemia, 3.8% had surrounding skin maceration. The average total cost of the VAC therapy was 863.13 (±399.82) Indian rupees (11.76 USD). The mean duration of hospital stay for our patients was 22 days.Conclusions: Customized VAC Therapy has revolutionary potential in the management of the difficult to treat wounds as far as its safety, speed and cost effectiveness is considered especially in a setup of poor income nations like ours

Near-Zero Emissions Oxy-Combustion Flue Gas Purification

The objectives of this project were to carry out an experimental program to enable development and design of near zero emissions (NZE) CO{sub 2} processing unit (CPU) for oxy-combustion plants burning high and low sulfur coals and to perform commercial viability assessment. The NZE CPU was proposed to produce high purity CO{sub 2} from the oxycombustion flue gas, to achieve > 95% CO{sub 2} capture rate and to achieve near zero atmospheric emissions of criteria pollutants. Two SOx/NOx removal technologies were proposed depending on the SOx levels in the flue gas. The activated carbon process was proposed for power plants burning low sulfur coal and the sulfuric acid process was proposed for power plants burning high sulfur coal. For plants burning high sulfur coal, the sulfuric acid process would convert SOx and NOx in to commercial grade sulfuric and nitric acid by-products, thus reducing operating costs associated with SOx/NOx removal. For plants burning low sulfur coal, investment in separate FGD and SCR equipment for producing high purity CO{sub 2} would not be needed. To achieve high CO{sub 2} capture rates, a hybrid process that combines cold box and VPSA (vacuum pressure swing adsorption) was proposed. In the proposed hybrid process, up to 90% of CO{sub 2} in the cold box vent stream would be recovered by CO{sub 2} VPSA and then it would be recycled and mixed with the flue gas stream upstream of the compressor. The overall recovery from the process will be > 95%. The activated carbon process was able to achieve simultaneous SOx and NOx removal in a single step. The removal efficiencies were >99.9% for SOx and >98% for NOx, thus exceeding the performance targets of >99% and >95%, respectively. The process was also found to be suitable for power plants burning both low and high sulfur coals. Sulfuric acid process did not meet the performance expectations. Although it could achieve high SOx (>99%) and NOx (>90%) removal efficiencies, it could not produce by-product sulfuric and nitric acids that meet the commercial product specifications. The sulfuric acid will have to be disposed of by neutralization, thus lowering the value of the technology to same level as that of the activated carbon process. Therefore, it was decided to discontinue any further efforts on sulfuric acid process. Because of encouraging results on the activated carbon process, it was decided to add a new subtask on testing this process in a dual bed continuous unit. A 40 days long continuous operation test confirmed the excellent SOx/NOx removal efficiencies achieved in the batch operation. This test also indicated the need for further efforts on optimization of adsorption-regeneration cycle to maintain long term activity of activated carbon material at a higher level. The VPSA process was tested in a pilot unit. It achieved CO{sub 2} recovery of > 95% and CO{sub 2} purity of >80% (by vol.) from simulated cold box feed streams. The overall CO{sub 2} recovery from the cold box VPSA hybrid process was projected to be >99% for plants with low air ingress (2%) and >97% for plants with high air ingress (10%). Economic analysis was performed to assess value of the NZE CPU. The advantage of NZE CPU over conventional CPU is only apparent when CO{sub 2} capture and avoided costs are compared. For greenfield plants, cost of avoided CO{sub 2} and cost of captured CO{sub 2} are generally about 11-14% lower using the NZE CPU compared to using a conventional CPU. For older plants with high air intrusion, the cost of avoided CO{sub 2} and capture CO{sub 2} are about 18-24% lower using the NZE CPU. Lower capture costs for NZE CPU are due to lower capital investment in FGD/SCR and higher CO{sub 2} capture efficiency. In summary, as a result of this project, we now have developed one technology option for NZE CPU based on the activated carbon process and coldbox-VPSA hybrid process. This technology is projected to work for both low and high sulfur coal plants. The NZE CPU technology is projected to achieve near zero stack emissions, produce high purity CO{sub 2} relatively free of trace impurities and achieve ~99% CO{sub 2} capture rate while lowering the CO{sub 2} capture costs

Visual-Inertial and Leg Odometry Fusion for Dynamic Locomotion

Implementing dynamic locomotion behaviors on legged robots requires a high-quality state estimation module. Especially when the motion includes flight phases, state-of-the-art approaches fail to produce reliable estimation of the robot posture, in particular base height. In this paper, we propose a novel approach for combining visual-inertial odometry (VIO) with leg odometry in an extended Kalman filter (EKF) based state estimator. The VIO module uses a stereo camera and IMU to yield low-drift 3D position and yaw orientation and drift-free pitch and roll orientation of the robot base link in the inertial frame. However, these values have a considerable amount of latency due to image processing and optimization, while the rate of update is quite low which is not suitable for low-level control. To reduce the latency, we predict the VIO state estimate at the rate of the IMU measurements of the VIO sensor. The EKF module uses the base pose and linear velocity predicted by VIO, fuses them further with a second high-rate IMU and leg odometry measurements, and produces robot state estimates with a high frequency and small latency suitable for control. We integrate this lightweight estimation framework with a nonlinear model predictive controller and show successful implementation of a set of agile locomotion behaviors, including trotting and jumping at varying horizontal speeds, on a torque-controlled quadruped robot.Comment: Submitted to IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 202

Blood urea nitrogen as an early predictor of severity in acute pancreatitis

Background: Acute pancreatitis presents as acute abdominal pain and is usually associated with raised pancreatic enzyme levels in the blood or urine. Aims and objectives of the study was to evaluate the role of serial BUN measurement as an early prognostic marker of acute pancreatitis.Methods: From each patient detailed history was taken, general and systemic examination were done and relevant investigations were conducted. BUN was repeated after 24 hours and the change in the level of BUN was noted. Imaging in the form of CT after 72 hours of admission were performed in each patient. The severity of acute pancreatitis was gauged by modified CTSI and the same was compared to the change in BUN values over first 24 hours of admission.Results: Mean BUN values at ‘0’ hour in severe acute pancreatitis and non-severe acute pancreatitis were 31.91±6.79 and 15.44±5.95 mg/dl, respectively. The difference between the two groups was statistically significant with p value of <0.001. Similarly, the difference in BUN values at ‘24’ hours between the two groups was statistically significant. BUN value ≥23 mg/dl at ‘0’ hour was found to be the optimal cut off for determining the severity of pancreatitis with sensitivity of 91.3%. BUN ≥25 mg/dl at 24 hours was found to be the optimal cut-off for determining the severity of acute pancreatitis with sensitivity of 95.7%.Conclusions: BUN as a single marker for acute pancreatitis can be useful as it is easy to perform and cheap marker to predict severity without the need for complex calculations.

Co-infections with Chikungunya Virus and Dengue Virus in Delhi, India

Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are common vectors for dengue virus and chikungunya virus. In areas where both viruses cocirculate, they can be transmitted together. During a dengue outbreak in Delhi in 2006, 17 of 69 serum samples were positive for chikungunya virus by reverse transcription–PCR; 6 samples were positive for both viruses