Electronic Two-Dimensional Beam Steering for Integrated Optical Phased Arrays

This paper presents electrical beam steering in an integrated 4x4 2D optical phased array (OPA) on a silicon on insulator (SOI) process enabling fast and repeatable beam steering for next generation projection, tracking, and imaging

Knotted Floss Technique

Whenever a patient finds gingival embrasures that are too wide for use of a regular dental floss and too thin for insertion of an interdental brush, a dental floss can be modified by tying a simple knot on it and using the knotted area for hygiene of such wide Type-I gingival embrasure

Breastfeeding Practices among Mothers at Birth and at 6 Months in Urban Areas of Delhi-Ncr, India

The objective of the present was to potray the breastfeeding practices followed by breastfeeding mothers, at birth and at 6 months, in urban areas of Delhi-National Capital Region. For this, 185 dyads of motherinfant aged 6 months were selected from Pediatric Outpatient Department of a government and a private hospital. A questionnaire-cum-interview was designed to collect the participants’ information on breastfeeding practices. It was found that only 29.7% infants had early initiation of breastfeeding despite the high (78.9%) institutional deliveries. Around 40.5% infants were given feeds apart from breast milk, mainly infant formula (81.3%) at the hospital after birth. There were 13% infants who received pre-lacteal feeds, mainly as a traditional family custom. The practice of exclusive breastfeeding for first six months was followed by 62.2% mothers. Complementary feeding or top feeding was received by 71.9% infants, but only 45.1% mothers initiated complementary foods at the recommended age of 6 months. It can be concluded that in the urban areas of India breastfeeding practices remains poor even after rigorous work done for promotion and protection of breastfeeding. Hence strong institutional care and support for breastfeeding is required at birth and efficient counseling for appropriate feeding of the infant is needed to intensify breastfeeding

Nanophotonic projection system

Low-power integrated projection technology can play a key role in development of low-cost mobile devices with built-in high-resolution projectors. Low-cost 3D imaging and holography systems are also among applications of such a technology. In this paper, an integrated projection system based on a two-dimensional optical phased array with fast beam steering capability is reported. Forward biased p-i-n phase modulators with 200MHz bandwidth are used per each array element for rapid phase control. An optimization algorithm is implemented to compensate for the phase dependent attenuation of the p-i-n modulators. Using rapid vector scanning technique, images were formed and recorded within a single snapshot of the IR camera

Nanophotonic coherent imager

An integrated silicon nanophotonic coherent imager (NCI), with a 4 × 4 array of coherent pixels is reported. In the proposed NCI, on-chip optical processing determines the intensity and depth of each point on the imaged object based on the instantaneous phase and amplitude of the optical wave incident on each pixel. The NCI operates based on a modified time-domain frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) ranging scheme, where concurrent time-domain measurements of both period and the zero-crossing time of each electrical output of the nanophotonic chip allows the NCI to overcome the traditional resolution limits of frequency domain detection. The detection of both intensity and relative delay enables applications such as high-resolution 3D reflective and transmissive imaging as well as index contrast imaging. We demonstrate 3D imaging with 15μm depth resolution and 50μm lateral resolution (limited by the pixel spacing) at up to 0.5-meter range. The reported NCI is also capable of detecting a 1% equivalent refractive index contrast at 1mm thickness

COMPARATIVE EVALUATION OF CYTOLOGICAL AND HISTOPATHOLOGICAL GRADING IN INVASIVE DUCTAL CARCINOMA BREAST: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

Objectives: Carcinoma breast is most commonly diagnosed cancer in women. Fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) and histopathology play very important role in diagnosing breast cancer. Main objective of this study is to compare the cytological and histopathological grading in invasive ductal carcinoma of breast. Methods: The study was conducted in the Department of Pathology, Government Medical College, Patiala. Fifty patients with palpable breast lump were selected. The age of whom varied from 30 to 86 years. FNAC was done, smears were prepared and stained with Romanowsky and Papanicolaou stains. Cytological grading was done according to Robinson’s method. After surgery, the results were compared with histological grading according to Nottingham’s Modification of Bloom–Richardson method. Results: On cytological grading of 50 cases, 25 (50%) cases were graded as Grade II, 21 (42%) as Grade I, and 4 (8%) as Grade III. Whereas on histological grading, Grades I, II and III tumors were 17 (34%), 22 (44%), and 11 (22%), respectively. Overall concordance of cytological grading with histological grading was 76% with a kappa value of 0.605 and p<0.001. Conclusion: The study showed that the cytological grade correlates well with the histological grade. Cytological grade can be of great value in evaluating the aggressiveness of tumor, neoadjuvant chemotherapy and can be used as a prognostic factor for better management of patients

Antibacterial activity of six indigenous Indian plants: Acacia nilotica (Fabaceae), Albizia saman (Fabaceae), Azadirachta indica (Meliaceae), Carica papaya (Caricaceae), Cymbopogon citratus (Poaceae) and Mangifera indica (Anacardiaceae)

Plants have been used as major source of active compounds with medicinal importance since human civilization. These naturally occurring pharmacologically active agents have least or no toxicity to the host. The antibacterial activity of extracts (water, acetone and methanol) from six indigenous Indian plants: Acacia nilotica (Fabaceae), Albizia saman (Fabaceae), Azadirachta indica (Meliaceae), Carica papaya (Caricaceae), Cymbopogon citratus (Poaceae) and Mangifera indica (Anacardiaceae) were determined against the pathogenic bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus: ATCC 25923; Escherichia coli: ATCC 25922 and Klebsiella pneumonia: ATCC 700603). The antimicrobial study was carried out by the gel diffusion method and the results show that as compared to aqueous extract, methanolic and acetone extracts were more effective. Of all the studied plants, the methanolic extract of A. saman leaves inhibited the growth of all the three test organisms.Key words: Antibacterial activity, pathogenic bacteria, indigenous plants.

Removal of turbidity from washing machine discharge using Strychnos potatorum seeds: Parameter optimization and mechanism prediction

In this research an attempt has been made to utilize the Strychnos potatorum seed powder as an environmentally friendly coagulant for the removal of turbidity from washing machine discharge. The performance of this system was also compared with synthetic water. Experimental studies were conducted for the maximum removal of turbidity from washing machine discharge and synthetic turbid water which were varied from 50 to 145 NTU. The effect of operating parameters such as initial turbidity, S. potatorum dosage and pH of the solution was optimized for the maximum removal of turbidity. It was seen that the percentage removal of turbidity lay was between 68-89% and 65-84% for synthetic turbid water and washing machine discharge sample respectively, at an ideal pH of 6-7. The experimental values were compared with the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models to understand the extent of influence of the sorption of the particles onto the S. potatorum seed powder. Better results with respect to concordance of experimental data were observed with Langmuir isotherm model, indicating a monolayer sorption of particles onto the S. potatorum seed powder. It was observed from the isotherm study that the sorption may also be influenced in the removal of turbidity to some extent from the washing machine discharge and synthetic water. The prepared material can be effectively utilized for the removal of turbidity from the water