An integrated control/structure design method using multi-objective optimization

The benefits are demonstrated of a multiobjective optimization based control structure integrated design methodology. An application of the proposed CSI methodology to the integrated design of the Spacecraft COntrol Lab Experiment (SCOLE) configuration is presented. Integrated design resulted in reducing both the control performance measure and the mass. Thus, better overall performance is achieved through integrated design optimization. The mutliobjective optimization approach used provides Pareto optimal solutions by unconstrained minimization of a differentiable KS function. Furthermore, adjusting the parameters gives insight into the trade-offs involved between different objectives

Microbial, Biochemical, Anatomical and Histochemical Analysis of Black Pepper and Sorghum Inoculated with Mycorrhiza

Microbial, biochemical and histochemical analysis of Black pepper (Piper nigrum L.) and sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) inoculated with mycorrhiza from the organic soil, inorganic soil, natural soil, control and Glomus fasciculatum was studied. Microbial population and activity of different enzymes in soils of pepper and sorghum inoculated with mycorrhiza and control plants were studied. The anatomical studies showed that there were striking differences in plant leaf structures. Sizes of upper epidermis, lower epidermis, xylem cells and spongy layer increased due to inoculation with mycorrhiza from the organic soil, inorganic soil, natural soil, control and Glomus fasciculatum. Histochemical analysis of these crop plants were carried out to study the difference in the accumulation of the polysaccharides, proteins and nucleic acids in leaf tissues of control and mycorrhiza inoculated plants. There was increased accumulation of protein, polysaccharide and the nucleic acids in the leaf samples indicating the direct correlation between the Arbuscular Mycorrhizal  (AM) fungi and the crop response to inoculation of the AM fungi. The growth parameters studied were stem girth, rooting percentage and sprouting percentage. Mycorrhizal association with pepper and sorghum was also studied

Robust stabilization of marginally stable positive-real systems

This paper investigates the stability of the negative feedback interconnection to two positive-real systems which have poles in the closed left-half of the complex plane. A new definition of marginally strict positive real systems is introduced, and sufficient conditions are obtained for the stability of the feedback interconnection of such systems, using the Lyapunov method. The conditions obtained have direct applications to dynamic dissipative controllers for flexible spacecraft and are the least restrictive ones published to date

Some Properties and Stability Results for Sector-Bounded LTI Systems

This paper presents necessary and sufficient conditions for a linear, time-invariant (LTI) system to be inside sector (n, b) in terms of linear matrix inequalities in its state-space realization matrices, which represents a generalization of similar conditions for bounded H(sub infinity)-norm systems. Further, a weaker definition of LTI systems strictly inside closed sector (a, b) is proposed, and state-space characterization of such systems is presented. Sector conditions for stability of the negative feedback interconnection of two LTI systems and for stability of LTI systems with feedback nonlinearities are investigated using the Lyapunov function approach. It is shown that the proposed weaker conditions for an LTI system to be strictly inside a sector are sufficient to establish closed-loop stability of these systems

A study on incidence and clinical profile of fungal sinusitis in patients diagnosed with chronic rhinosinusitis.

Aim: To study the incidence and clinical profile of fungal sinusitis in diagnosed cases of chronic rhinosinusitis. Materials and Methods: This was a prospective study in which 100 patients with chronic rhinosinusitis who underwent treatment in the department of E.N.T at a tertiary care centre over two years were randomized into the study. Diagnosis was confirmed by fungal culture and pathological examination of the excised specimen. The data collected from the patients was analysed by Pearson Chi- Square and Fisher’s Exact tests. Patients underwent either endoscopic sinus surgery or medical line of management or a combination of both. Results: Fungal rhinosinusitis was more common in the elderly age groups with involvement of maxillary sinus in most of the cases. Nasal discharge, nasal obstruction and headache were the most common presenting symptoms. Pathological examination had a higher sensitivity than microbiology examination in the diagnosis. Mucor was the most commonly isolated organism. Fungal sinusitis was comparatively more common among immunocompetent individuals. More than one-third of cases were invasive fungal rhinosinusitis. Complications were more in cases of mucormycosis. Surgery with chemotherapy offered better treatment outcome as compared to single modality. Conclusion: Early detection and treatment of fungal rhinosinusitis is the key in tackling this clinical condition which can otherwise be fatal

Study of serum cortisol levels in complicated and uncomplicated Plasmodium vivax malaria patients

Background: Malaria results in pathological changes in various body organs, as the parasite invade and multiply in circulating red blood cells. Despite of advances in diagnostic and treatment modalities, worldwide incidences of malaria are significant. Current study was conducted to investigate serum cortisol level changes as a promising biomarker for risk prediction in malaria and to study adrenal insufficiency in malaria patients.Methods: Current investigation was a prospective observational study, conducted on complicated and uncomplicated Plasmodium vivax malaria patients. Serum cortisol levels in patients were investigated through immunoassay using direct chemiluminescent technology and were statistically correlated with Plasmodium vivax malaria infection.Results: Results of present investigation revealed that on day 1 there was significant difference in mean serum cortisol levels between the Plasmodium vivax malaria patients and control group and cortisol levels were significantly higher in complicated Plasmodium vivax malaria patients compared to uncomplicated cases on day 1 and 7. Cortisol levels were observed to be normal on day 1 and 7 in uncomplicated malaria cases and in patients with bleeding manifestations, renal failure and jaundice. In 10 out of 15 cases of cerebral malaria, significant increase in serum cortisol levels were observed on day 1, while on day 7 levels were normal in all 15 cases.Conclusions: Rise in serum cortisol level had a positive correlation with temperature and thus can be useful to predict the severity of disease in Plasmodium vivax malaria patients. No cortisol insufficiency was observed in during active and convalescent stages of illness

Pathogenicity of symbiotic bacteria associated with entomopathogenic nematodes on larvae of Galleria mellonella

The investigation was carried out to study the effect of different population of symbiotic bacteria associated with entomopathogenic nematodes isolated from agroclimatic zone 5 of Karnataka on second instar larvae of greater wax moth, Galleria mellonella by artificial diet method. Entomopathogenic nematodes were isolated by insect bait method and symbiotic bacteria were isolated and identified by morphological and biochemical tests. Second instar larvae of G. mellonella were fed with artificial diet containing different populations of bacterial cells and mortality data of larvae was recorded after 48hrs. The cumulative mortality of larvae has increased with increase in the concentration of bacterial cells. The median lethal concentration varied among the bacterial isolates against G.mellonella larvae. Among the twenty isolates used in the study, isolate KPR1 was found to be highly pathogenic with a lower median lethal concentration of  0.018x105 cells/ml followed by HEB2 (0.084x105 cells/ml), KPR4 (0.12x105 cells/ml), CHK1(0.13x105 cells/ml), KPR3(0.16x105 cells/ml), EXP2 (0.19x105 cells/ml) CHK2 (0.19x105 cells/ml), RMG2(0.20x105 cells/ml). The remaining twelve bacterial isolates showed higher median lethal concentration with isolate BGR showing the highest LD50 of 26x105 cells/ml. These results suggest that the toxic activity to G. mellonella varied among the Symbiotic bacteria isolated from different locations.ÂÂ

Impact of hand hygiene training module among healthcare providers working in neonatal intensive care unit: A before and after trial

Background: Healthcare-associated infections (HAI) include central line-associated bloodstream infections, catheter-associated urinary tract infections, and ventilator-associated pneumonia. Maintaining strict hand hygiene (HH) compliance and asepsis is pivotal in reducing the HAI. Objective: The objective of this study is to evaluate the impact of a training module on HH practices of healthcare providers (HCPs) working in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Methods: An uncontrolled before and after study was conducted in a tertiary level NICU of a government hospital. All HCPs working in the NICU were eligible and included in the analyses. In the pre-intervention Phase I (November–December 2016) and in the post-intervention Phase II (February–March2017), trained HH auditors noted the HH compliance of all HCPs. All HCPs were trained in HH practices using the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals SAFE-I Hospital infection control training module, and then, HH compliance was compared in both the phases. HH compliance rates were measured among HCP at the end of each phase. Results: Overall HH compliance rates improved significantly in phase II when compared with phase I (97% and 77%, respectively, p=0.0001). Conclusion: Maintaining high HH compliance in an intensive care setting is challenging; therefore, adopting training modules to educate HCPs significantly improves HH compliance rates

Impact of Cultivation Practices and Varieties on Productivity, Profitability, and Nutrient Uptake of Rice (Oryza sativa L.) and Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Cropping System in India

Interest in conservation measures, including reduced tillage, zero tillage, and crop residue retention, is growing in major rice growing areas of the world; particularly in the Indo-Gangetic plains. Of late, research interest is increasing in India for a specialised method of cultivation known as natural farming, which aims at maintain the functional biodiversity of the farm with little or no use of external inputs. With the increasing water crisis at a global level, it became imperative to develop technologies that can reduce the water use, particularly in water-guzzling low land paddy, by developing alternate cultivation methods; direct seeded rice is one such technology. A two-year field experiment was carried out at two locations during 2019–2020 and 2020–2021 to find out the impact of different cultivation and varieties on the productivity and profitability of the rice–wheat cropping system. The experiments were conducted in split plot design, replicated thrice, with cultivation practices in the main plot and varieties of both wheat and rice in the sub plot. The results so obtained reveal that conventional tillage significantly out yielded other methods of cultivation in both the crops at both the locations, while significantly lower grain yield in both crops was observed from natural farming. Adoption of reduced tillage, zero tillage and natural farming reduced the grain yield of wheat by 4.6%, 10.9%, and 59.4% over conventional tillage, while the corresponding decline in grain yield of rice was 10.8%, 16.1%, and 34.0% with reduced tillage, zero tillage, and natural farming, respectively. Among the varieties tested, HPW 368 and Him Palam Lal Dhan 1 (HPR 2795) produced significantly higher grain yield of wheat and rice, respectively, at both the locations during both years. Conventional tillage among cultivation practices and HPW 368 and Him Palam Lal Dhan 1 (HPR 2795) among wheat and rice varieties also proved to be better in terms of various economic indicators, including gross return, net return, and ratio benefit cost ratio (B:C ratio)