Comparing WHO C-Model generated C-Section probabilities to actual delivery outcomes in a tertiary care centre

Background: A model which takes into account several relevant factors and gives the probability of C-Section in a woman would have the advantage of preparing for such an event. The identification of women at high risk of C-Section (>50% risk) would provide the opportunity for understanding risks involved in pursuing a vaginal delivery whereas if the risk of C-Section was less (50% probability, giving the model a sensitivity of 14.33%, specificity of 98.8%, positive predictive value of 90% and negative predictive value of 60.56%. Robson’s Groups 5 and 3 demonstrated the greatest overuse of C-Sections.Conclusions: The WHO Model when applied to this centre showed a high positive predictive value for C-Sections but the negative predictive value or the ability to correctly predict a vaginal delivery was much less

A simple model for self-propulsion of microdroplets in surfactant solution

We propose a simple active hydrodynamic model for the self-propulsion of a liquid droplet suspended in micellar solutions. The self-propulsion of the droplet occurs by spontaneous breaking of isotropic symmetry and is studied using both analytical and numerical methods. The emergence of self-propulsion arises from the slow dissolution of the inner fluid into the outer micellar solution as filled micelles. We propose that the surface generation of filled micelles is the dominant reason for the self-propulsion of the droplet. The flow instability is due to the Marangoni stress generated by the non-uniform distribution of the surfactant molecules on the droplet interface. In our model, the driving parameter of the instability is the excess surfactant concentration above the critical micellar concentration which directly correlates with the experimental observations. We consider various low-order modes of flow instability and show that the first mode becomes unstable through a supercritical bifurcation and is the only mode contributing to the swimming of the droplet. The flow fields around the droplet for these modes and their combined effects are also discussed.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure

FogGIS: Fog Computing for Geospatial Big Data Analytics

Cloud Geographic Information Systems (GIS) has emerged as a tool for analysis, processing and transmission of geospatial data. The Fog computing is a paradigm where Fog devices help to increase throughput and reduce latency at the edge of the client. This paper developed a Fog-based framework named Fog GIS for mining analytics from geospatial data. We built a prototype using Intel Edison, an embedded microprocessor. We validated the FogGIS by doing preliminary analysis. including compression, and overlay analysis. Results showed that Fog computing hold a great promise for analysis of geospatial data. We used several open source compression techniques for reducing the transmission to the cloud.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, 1 table, 3rd IEEE Uttar Pradesh Section International Conference on Electrical, Computer and Electronics (09-11 December, 2016) Indian Institute of Technology (Banaras Hindu University) Varanasi, Indi

Estimating quantum coherence by noncommutativity of any observable and its incoherent part

We establish an inequality involving the quantum coherence of an arbitrary quantum state, possibly nonpure, in arbitrary dimension and a noncommutativity estimator of an arbitrary observable. The noncommutativity estimator uses the commutator of the observable and its incoherent or classical part. The relation provides a direct method of obtaining an estimate of the quantum coherence of an arbitrary quantum state, without resorting to quantum state tomography or the existing witness operators.Comment: 5 pages, no figure

EFFECT OF CULTURE PARAMETERS ON PROTEASE AND CELLULASE PRODUCTION BY TWO BACTERIAL STRAINS, Corynebacterium alkanolyticum ATH3 AND Bacillus licheniformis CBH7 ISOLATED FROM FISH GUT

Microbial protease and cellulase are in high demand by different industries due to their minimal cost and availability. This study was aimed to maximize the production of protease and cellulase using two bacteria, Corynebacterium alkanolyticum ATH3 and Bacillus licheniformis CBH7, isolated from fish gut. This study demonstrated the effect of different culture parameters in protease and cellulase production using two different bacterial strains. Results of this study clearly indicated the importance of different parameters such as moisture content, pH, incubation temperature, incubation period, inoculum size, carbon sources and nitrogen sources in enzyme production. The most critical parameters affecting the enzymes production were pH, temperature, carbon and nitrogen sources. Further investigations are required to enhance the enzymes production using genetic engineering

Comparison of mathematical indices of insulin resistance for clinical application in the four phenotypes of polycystic ovarian syndrome

Background: Insulin resistance may not be essential for the diagnosis, but does play a crucial role in PCOS and contributes to significant morbidity and long term life threatening sequelae. The extent of this resistance differs in different phenotypes and is difficult to assess in clinical settings. In this study we used mathematical indices to assess insulin resistance across the whole PCOS spectrum and used cut off values to find whether all PCOS phenotypes were Insulin resistant.Methods: 60 newly diagnosed PCOS participants were included in the study analysis. Depending upon their presentation these participants were grouped into 4 phenotypes. The two mathematical indices HOMA and QUICKI were calculated for each participant .The mean value of HOMA and QUICKI were calculated for each group and compared using ANOVA. A cut off value of >2.6 for HOMA and <0.33 for QUICKI was used to determine Insulin resistance.Results: There was a significant difference in the degree of insulin resistance among the different phenotypes of PCOS. Not all PCOS women can be called insulin resistant when using certain cut off values for QUICKI and HOMA. The PCOM+MI+HA phenotype appears to be more resistant than all other phenotypes.Conclusions: Insulin resistance is a not present universally and varies among all phenotypes of PCOS. In clinical setting simple mathematical indices could be used to identify these individuals and initiate appropriate therapy in order to prevent long term metabolic sequelae. Cut off values for both the indices need to take into account all factors that influence insulin sensitivity

Development of C-Band RF Front-end of Precision Coherent Mono-pulse C-Band Radar

A compact, robust and high performance front-end of a radar receiver is designed and demonstrated in this paper. The important parameters like noise figure, sensitivity, selectivity, dynamic range and tracking range are superior to that of the existing systems and facilitate online monitoring of the above important parameters. The gain and phase matching facility are incorporated. The local oscillator is integrated within the module which in turn reduces the losses as compare with the existing local oscillator, placed in the instrumentation cabin. The frequency, amplitude, delay between skin and transponder frequency can be controlled remotely by computer program. Therefore, the mixed mode operation (skin and transponder) of radar receiver is possible. Moreover, the SPDT switch is integrated in the same module for RF simulation to facilitate the three channel mono-pulse receiver calibration, receiver health monitoring and range calibration of precision coherent mono-pulse C-band radar. The components used are monolithic microwave integrated circuit based technologies with superior specifications, makes the total module miniaturized and reduced the hardware complications. The total power consumption is much less and improves the overall performance than the existing front-end.Defence Science Journal, Vol. 64, No. 4, July 2014, pp. 358-365, DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.14429/dsj.64.4245

Non lethal concentrations of pesticide impair ovarian function in the freshwater perch,Anabas testudineus

Anabas testudineus were treated with non lethal levels of metacid-50 (0.106 ppb) and carbaryl (1.66 ppm) for 90 days covering the pre-spawning and spawning phases of the annual reproductive cycle. The main purpose of the present work was to identify the effects of metacid-50 and carbaryl on the gonado somatic index (GSI) and ovarian and plasma estrogen level. There was no alteration in GSI until 15 days, initiating the inhibition on day 20 which further intensified from 20 to 90 days of exposure. Plasma and ovarian estrogen level significantly increased up to 15 days of exposure followed by a decline till the end of the experiment. It is noteworthy that the effect of pesticides on GSI is reflected in the ovarian estrogen level. This highlights the fact that at short-term exposures the nonlethal levels of pesticides have no inhibitory effect while at long-term exposure, the pesticides have potent inhibitory effect on the reproduction of fish

THE EFFECT OF SEASONAL TEMPERATURE ON ENDOGENOUS GUT ENZYME ACTIVITY IN FOUR AIR-BREATHING FISH SPECIES

Probava u riba je složen proces koji se obavlja uz pomoć endogenih i egzogenih enzima. Zabilježen je širok raspon vrsta enzima kod riba, a njihovo lučenje i koncentracije su izrazito ovisne o hranidbenim navikama, strukturi crijeva teokolišnim uvjetima. U ovom istraživanju, utvrđena je aktivnost dva endogena enzima (proteaza i amilaza) u četiri ekonomski važne vrste riba koje mogu udisati zrak (Clarias batrachus, Channa punctatus, Anabas testudineus i Heteropneustes fossilis) pri različitim sezonskim temperaturama. Rezultati su ukazali na višu aktivnost proteaze kod svih istraživanih riba tijekom mjeseca svibnja, nakon čega slijede rujan i prosinac. Također, indicirana je viša enzimska aktivnost u području stražnjeg crijeva (HG) u usporedbi s prednjim crijevom (FG), što upućuje da je HG aktivnije u probavnim aktivnostima od FG. Optimizacija učinkovitosti hranidbe u industriji akvakulture je vrlo važna jer su troškovi hrane visoki a njena dostupnost ograničena. Prikazane informacije u radu moguposlužiti pri razvoju optimalnih hranidba i režima hranjenja za razmatrane vrste.The digestion process in fish is a complex phenomenon and is accomplished with the help of both endogenous and exogenous enzymes. A wide range of enzymes have been reported in fish and their secretion and concentrations highly depend on feeding habits, gut structure and environmental conditions. In this present investigation, we have demonstrated the activity of two endogenous enzymes (protease and amylase) in four economically important air-breathing fish species (Clarias batrachus, Channa punctatus, Anabas testudineus and Heteropneustes fossilis) at different seasonal temperatures. Our results demonstrated that protease activity was higher in all fish during the month of May, followed by September and December. It was also detected that enzyme activity was higher in the hindgut region (HG) compared to the foregut (FG), which suggests that HG is more active in digestion compared to FG. The optimization of feeding efficiency in aquaculture industries is very important, as the cost of feed is high and its availability is also limited. The information presented may be of importance when developing optimized diets and feeding regimes for the species considered

Quorum-sensing network-associated gene regulation in Gram-positive bacteria

Quorum sensing (QS) is the chemical communication processes between bacteria, which may be inter-genus or intra-genus. In general, several physiological functions, such as nutrient uptake, competence development, biofilm formation, sporulation, and toxin secretion, are accomplished through QS process. The QS (cell density-dependent process) circuit in Gram-positive bacteria consists mainly of two parts: an inducer molecule and a receptor protein. The binding of inducer molecule to receptor activates the target gene, which then performs the necessary function in bacteria. In the past few years, several investigations have been conducted to explore the QS circuit in various bacteria, but still this information is insufficient to fully understand the bacterial gene expression cascade. In the present review, we summarize the QS architecture and their associated gene regulation in four Gram-positive bacteria, such as Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, and Streptococcus pneumoniae. It is well established that S. aureus, B. cereus, and S. pneumoniae are potent human pathogen. A detailed understanding of QS circuit in these bacteria would be useful in preparation of customized medicine in future. Whereas, B. subtilis is an industrially important candidate and has been used in several biotechnology sectors. Understanding of QS circuit in B. subtilis will definitely enrich the antibiotics and enzyme industries