Inpatient department hospital utilization among pregnant women with spinal cord injury or paralysis in the United States.

BACKGROUND: Spinal cord injury (SCI) results from damage to the spinal cord, leading to a temporary or permanent alteration in its normal function, usually causing a lifelong disability. SCI is one of the major causes of paralysis. Due to a sparsity of available research and to address the existing gaps, it is essential to evaluate the inpatient hospital use of pregnant women with SCI/paralysis. METHODS: This study operationalizes inpatient hospital use in three ways. We used the National (Nationwide) Inpatient Sample (NIS) from 2006 through 2019. The first analysis used a hurdle model for length of hospital stay and a linear regression for total hospitalization charges to assess non-delivery-related healthcare utilization for pregnant women with SCI/paralysis. The second analysis employed negative binomial regression for length of stay and ordinary least squares regression for total hospitalization charges to examine delivery-related healthcare utilization for pregnant women with SCI/paralysis. The third analysis used propensity-score kernel matching to determine the impact of SCI/paralysis on the healthcare utilization for inpatient encounters of pregnant women divided into groups - with and without SCI/paralysis. RESULTS: The average length of hospital stay for pregnant women with SCI/paralysis admitted for non-delivery and delivery-related reasons were 7.85 days (median: 4 days, IQR: 2 - 7 days) and 8.11 days (median: 4 days, IQR: 2 - 8 days), respectively. The average total hospitalization charges for pregnant women with SCI/paralysis admitted for non-delivery and delivery-related reasons were $85,676.47 (median:$29,181.31, IQR: $15,757.56 -$70,767.22, in 2019 dollars) and $79,027.84 (median:$30,043.4, IQR: $16,164.16 -$78,386.09, in 2019 dollars). The pregnant women with SCI/paralysis had, on average, a length of stay of about three days (SE: 0.22) longer and a total hospitalization charge of approximately $30,393.23 (SE:$24,84.01, in 2019 dollars) more than the pregnant women without SCI/paralysis. CONCLUSION: Pregnant women with SCI/paralysis have greater hospital inpatient service utilization when compared to those without SCI/paralysis. It is essential for a healthcare delivery system to understand the extent of healthcare utilization of pregnant women with SCI/paralysis to be able to develop effective programs and policies to address the needs of this population

RISK MAINTENANCE STRATEGY IN BLADE MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY MACHINERIES - BY USING APPLICATIONS OF TOPSIS METHOD

Regarding the capital and operating expenses of windmill turbines, blades are amongst the most vital parts. Those blades are made using conventional manufacturing methods such as deep groove machine, CNC Machine, foam slicing machine, glass layer machine, glass layer winding machine, balsa angle cutting machine, etc. In this research, TOPSIS (Technique for Order Performance by Similarity to Ideal Solution) method is used to sort the machining methods that need to be handled very carefully according to risk and hazard in blade production. This research objective is to find the windmill blade design data, various production processes and its hazards, risks etc. with the help of previous research papers. Through these results, using the TOPSIS method, a priority number can be given to all the production processes and the safety windmill blade production processes that need more attention can be identified

Disparities in Mortality Between Appalachian and non-Appalachian Regions of Kentucky

Introduction: In the opioid epidemic, the U.S. faces a significant public health crisis, with some areas of the country, such as rural and Appalachian regions, suffering more than others. The differential regional impact of the crisis in Kentucky—a state with both non-metropolitan/metropolitan and Appalachian/Non-Appalachian statuses—has not yet been documented despite such knowledge being essential to the success of overdose prevention efforts. Purpose: This study compares all-cause, drug- and opioid-related mortality between counties in different regions of Kentucky: Appalachian non-metropolitan, Appalachian metropolitan, non-Appalachian non-metropolitan, and non-Appalachian metropolitan. Methods: Age-adjusted mortality data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Wide-ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research (CDC WONDER, 2000–2019) were used. County-level demographic and socioeconomic data were obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 American Community Survey. Statistical analyses were performed with negative binomial regression models with a log link. Results: The Appalachian non-metropolitan region of Kentucky had a significantly higher (p \u3c .05) all-cause mortality (1,076/100,000) compared to the state’s non-Appalachian metropolitan (904/100,000), non-Appalachian non-metropolitan (959/100,000), and Appalachian metropolitan (938/100,000) regions. Within non-Appalachian regions, non-metropolitan rates were higher than metropolitan (p = .0006). For drug- and opioid-related mortality, non-metropolitan and metropolitan regions had comparable rates within non-Appalachia, as well as within Appalachia. Appalachian regions had twice the mortality rates of non-Appalachian regions of the state (p \u3c .05). Among the Appalachian counties, non-metropolitan counties had higher all-cause mortality than metropolitan counties. Implications: The findings from this study can help healthcare practitioners and public health officials develop interventions addressing drug-related and opioid-related mortality in Kentucky targeted to the regions where rates are significantly higher. Also, the information on geographic, demographic, and socioeconomic factors related to these types of mortality can be used to design interventions specific to the target population’s socio-demographics

Cultural Wellbeing Index: A Dynamic Cultural Analytics Process for Measuring and Managing Organizational Inclusion as an Antecedent Condition of Employee Wellbeing and Innovation Capacity

The purpose of this study was to validate an inclusive, holistic, evidence-based index to measure the impact of organizational culture on employee wellbeing. This study utilized a new Cultural Wellbeing Index (CWI), a composite of other validated cultural metrics including inputs of hope, trust, and belonging. Internal validity of the index was measured using Cronbach’s alpha and Pearson correlation. Four logistic regression models were completed to test the correlative power of the CWI to employee health, retention, engagement, and job satisfaction. CWI shows strong internal validity and strong correlative and predictive power with employee wellbeing metrics among the population surveyed

GMRT observations of extragalactic radio sources with steeply inverted spectra

We report quasi-simultaneous GMRT observations of seven extragalactic radio sources at 150, 325, 610 and 1400 MHz, in an attempt to accurately define their radio continuum spectra, particularly at frequencies below the observed spectral turnover. We had previously identified these sources as candidates for a sharply inverted integrated radio spectrum whose slope is close to, or even exceeds $\alpha_c$ = +2.5, the theoretical limit due to synchrotron self-absorption (SSA) in a source of incoherent synchrotron radiation arising from relativistic particles with the canonical (i.e., power-law) energy distribution. We find that four out of the seven candidates have an inverted radio spectrum with a slope close to or exceeding +2.0, while the critical spectral slope $\alpha_c$ is exceeded in at least one case. These sources, together with another one or two reported in very recent literature, may well be the archetypes of an extremely rare class, from the standpoint of violation of the SSA limit in compact extragalactic radio sources. However, the alternative possibility that free-free absorption is responsible for their ultra-sharp spectral turnover cannot yet be discounted.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. Comments are welcom

Enhanced fluorescent properties of an OmpT site deleted mutant of Green Fluorescent Protein

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The green fluorescent protein has revolutionized many areas of cell biology and biotechnology since it is widely used in determining gene expression and for localization of protein expression. Expression of recombinant GFP in <it>E. coli </it>K12 host from pBAD24M-GFP construct upon arabinose induction was significantly lower than that seen in <it>E. coli </it>B cells with higher expression at 30°C as compared to 37°C in <it>E. coli </it>K12 hosts. Since OmpT levels are higher at 37°C than at 30°C, it prompted us to modify the OmpT proteolytic sites of GFP and examine such an effect on GFP expression and fluorescence. Upon modification of one of the two putative OmpT cleavage sites of GFP, we observed several folds enhanced fluorescence of GFP as compared to unmodified GFPuv (Wild Type-WT). The western blot studies of the WT and the SDM II GFP mutant using anti-GFP antibody showed prominent degradation of GFP with negligible degradation in case of SDM II GFP mutant while no such degradation of GFP was seen for both the clones when expressed in BL21 cells. The SDM II GFP mutant also showed enhanced GFP fluorescence in other <it>E. coli </it>K12 OmpT hosts like <it>E. coli </it>JM109 and LE 392 in comparison to WT GFPuv. Inclusion of an OmpT inhibitor, like zinc with WT GFP lysate expressed from an <it>E. coli </it>K12 host was found to reduce degradation of GFP fluorescence by two fold.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We describe the construction of two GFP variants with modified putative OmpT proteolytic sites by site directed mutagenesis (SDM). Such modified genes upon arabinose induction exhibited varied degrees of GFP fluorescence. While the mutation of K79G/R80A (SDM I) resulted in dramatic loss of fluorescence activity, the modification of K214A/R215A (SDM II) resulted in four fold enhanced fluorescence of GFP.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This is the first report on effect of OmpT protease site modification on GFP fluorescence. The wild type and the GFP variants showed similar growth profile in bioreactor studies with similar amounts of recombinant GFP expressed in the soluble fraction of the cell. Our observations on higher levels of fluorescence of SDM II GFP mutant over native GFPuv in an OmpT⁺host like DH5α, JM109 and LE392 at 37°C reiterates the role played by host OmpT in determining differences in fluorescent property of the expressed GFP. Both the WT GFP and the SDM II GFP plasmids in <it>E. coli </it>BL21 cells showed similar expression levels and similar GFP fluorescent activity at 37°C. This result substantiates our hypothesis that OmpT protease could be a possible factor responsible for reducing the expression of GFP at 37°C for WT GFP clone in K12 hosts like DH5α, JM109, LE 392 since the levels of GFP expression of SDM II clone in such cells at 37°C is higher than that seen with WT GFP clone at the same temperature.</p

COMPARATIVE IN-VITRO ANTIBACTERIAL AND ANTIFUNGAL ATTRIBUTES OF DIFFERENT SOLVENT EXTRACTS FROM LEAF, BARK, ROOT AND INFLORESCENCE OF MEMECYLON UMBELLATUM BURM.

This paper describes the antibacterial and antifungal activities and Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) of different solvent (pet. ether, chloroform, ethyl acetate, acetone, methanol and water) extracts of leaves, bark, root and inflorescence of Memecylon umbellatum burm. The percent yields from leaves, bark, root and inflorescence was found to be 0.2062 to 2.836, 0.0601 to 0.5142, 0.050 to 1.425, 0.0210 to 0.717 respectively. Overall, acetone extract produced from the leaves exhibited significantly (P &lt; 0.05) higher antibacterial activity along with superior antifungal activity. MIC for acetone and ethyl acetate extract of leaf was found to be 0.5 mg for the entire organisms compared to 3-15 mg for other extracts. Such study will explore pharmacological activity of the tested parts of Memecylon umbellatum burm especially, the leaves which might be valuable for therapeutic applications

ANALYSIS AND DESIGN OF THREE LEGGED 400KV DOUBLE CIRCUIT STEEL TRANSMISSION LINE TOWERS

ABSTRACT Transmission line towers constitute about 28 to 42 percent of the cost of the transmission line. The increasing demand for electrical energy can be met more economically by developing different light weight configurations of transmission line towers. The present work describes the analysis and design of three legged self-supporting 400 kV double circuit steel transmission line towers models with an angle and tube sections. In this study constant loading parameters including wind forces as per IS: 802 (1995) are taken into account in both models. The efforts have been made to do 3D analysis of tower considering all the members of the space truss as primary members. STAAD. Pro program has been used to analysis and design the members of 400 kV double circuit tower have deviation angle 2 degree. The maximum sag and tension calculations of conductor and ground wire as per IS: 5613 (Part 3/ Sec 1) 1989. The comparative study is presented here with respective to axial forces, deflections, maximum sectional properties, critical loading conditions between both models of towers. The study shows that tower with tube sections are efficient and have better forceweight ratio including 20.6% saving in weight of steel with tubes against steel with angles in three legged transmission line tower