Quantifying psychopathology in rapid readmissions

Psychiatric readmissions contribute to a significant cost and healthcare burden to physicians, hospitals, and the healthcare system as an entity. Furthermore, as part of the Affordable Care Act, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) began to reduce financial coverage to hospitals with overwhelming rehospitalization rates. The purpose of this study was to do a systematic analysis on inpatient psychiatric readmission data and identify co-morbidities and risk factors that lead to high readmission rates. The data collection includes 163 patients with a total of 348 readmissions over the span of 90 days at one inner-city hospital in the Chicagoland area. Study findings suggest that higher rates of readmission are linked to cocaine abuse in both male and female populations. Diagnosis of bipolar in females and schizoaffective disorder in male populations were the among the highest for readmission. Key social factors such as homelessness and low socioeconomic status were identified to contribute to a large proportion of psychiatric readmission burden. However, an overwhelming amount of information was missing due to unobtained labs and lack of current patient social history. By using this data as well as data from electronic medical records (EMRs) to further investigate and identify other features of at-risk patients, hospitals can potentially address these markers to lower readmission rates. Ultimately, a higher understanding of the patients' needs can be understood and can help develop standardized plans of care for prevalent psychiatric illnesses in these populations

Determination of sowing window for kharif maize in Punjab, India using sensitized, calibrated and validated CERES-Maize model

Crop models help in optimizing the farming practices under climate change scenarios. The CERES-Maize was sensitized for genetic coefficients (P1, P2, P5, G2, G3 and PHINT) using sensitivity index (SI) through mathematicaland graphical approach. The sensitized range was used for calibrating the model for maize hybrids Punjab Maize Hybrid1 (PMH1) and Punjab Maize Hybrid2 (PMH2) for the year 2018 and further validated for the year 2019 using statistical indices. A good coefficient of determination (R 2) for PMH1 and PMH2 was obtained for anthesis (0.82, 0.80), maturity (0.67, 0.94), yield (0.95, 0.95) and Leaf Area Index (LAI) (0.85, 0.82) respectively. The Normalized Root Mean Square Error (NRMSE) was found to be excellent (<10%) for all the parameters except LAI where it was good. The model simulated 20th May to 7th June as the optimum sowing window for maize with grain yield / LAI for PMH1 being 5200-6000 kg ha-1 / 2.9-3.2 and for PMH2 being 4200-5400 kg ha-1/ 2.8-3.0. With delay in sowing from June 8th to 18th the grain yield/LAI varied between 5000 - 5400 kg ha-1/3.1-3.4 for PMH1 and 4000 - 5000 kg ha-1/ 2.7-3.2 for PMH2. Delay in sowing after June 7th reduces the grain yield at the expense of profuse vegetativegrowth, i.e. the LAI increases upto June 18th and 24th for PMH1 and PMH2, respectively. The deviation of grain yield and Harvest Index (HI) from their mean for the sowing window, respectively showed depreciation after June9th (-0.31%, -2.31%) for PMH1 and after June 12th (-6.49%, -0.13%) for PMH2. The HI and grain yield decreased while LAI and biomass increased with delayed sowing. The calibrated CERES-Maize model can further be used for analysing the climate change impact on maize in Punjab, India

Microstructural characterization and mechanical performance along the thickness of electron beam welded stabilized AISI 321 stainless steel

The Electron Beam welding (EBW) process was employed to fabricate 18 mm thick fully penetrated butt welds of AISI 321 stainless steel. Nail shaped weld wide at the top and narrow at the bottom was obtained. Characterization of the weld joint was carried out using optical microscopy, scan electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, microhardness, impact toughness test and tensile strength test. The microstructure of the weld metal was found to be free from defects like cracks porosity etc. The weld metal consisted of the primarily austenitic matrix with skeletal and vermicular morphology of δ-ferrite by the side of the grain boundaries. Carbides of Cr and Ti were found in the weld metal after the thermal aging treatment of 750°C for 24 hours as reveled by the XRD analysis. The tensile strength study revealed a maximum strength of 575 MPa at the root of the weld joint in the as-welded state. The maximum impact toughness of 129.3 J was obtained in the top section of the weld in the as-welded condition. The results in terms of structure-property correlaterelationship. This study recommends the effectiveness of EBW for joining 18 mm thick AISI 321

Effect of post weld heat treatment on metallurgical and mechanical properties of electron beam welded AISI 409 ferritic steel

The applicability of ferritic stainless steel is restricted due to its low weldability, and this can be attributed to the severe grain growth in the weld zone during the solidification of the weld pool and formation of fully ferritic structure. This study aims to investigate the weldability of 18 mm thick AISI 409 ferritic stainless steel plates using an electron beam welding process without the use of filler metal. The joints were investigated for metallography characterization (microstructure, macrostructure, and microhardness) and mechanical behavior (tensile strength and impact toughness) in as-welded condition and after post-weld heat treatment at 550 ºC for 75 minutes. The weld zone exhibited large columnar grains in the direction perpendicular to the weld centerline and got refined after post-weld heat treatment. The ultimate tensile strength, yield strength, and microhardness of the weld zone were found higher than the base metal. The impact toughness of weld zone was found to be reduced by 45%, but the post-weld heat treatment improved the toughness by 40%. Results revealed that the electron beam welding process could be successfully employed for welding of AISI 409 ferritic stainless steel, which will increase its application range that requires thicker section of welded plates. Post-weld heat treatment was found to be advantageous for improving the microstructure and mechanical properties

Development of a biosensor based on linear dichroism spectroscopy

Existing methodologies for biomolecular detection are limited in several key areas. Heterogeneous assays struggle with various wash steps which can prolong assay time, while other assays require costly reagents, lack mobility and can be highly complex in nature. This project demonstrates how a bio-nano particle in the form of M13 bacteriophage (M13) can be used for the basis of a novel homogeneous immunoassay which incorporates the use of linear dichroism spectroscopy (LD). M13 has a high aspect ratio which allows it to align easily in shear flow, this in turn generates a large LD signal. This property of M13 has been manipulated for use in a new in-vitro diagnostic technique. Existing M13 production yields are much lower than those required for this assay. A new method was developed which increased the yield 10 fold. Chemical modifications were made by covalently attaching chromophores, this enabled the M13 LD signal to be visualised in the visible region and develops the potential for multiplexing. By chemically modifying M13 with chromophores and antibodies it was possible to create an assay capable of detecting 10$^5$ cells/mL of $Escherichia$ $coli$ O157. This is 100 times more sensitive than the M13 based assay developed by Pacheco-Gomez $et$ $al.$ (2012). The assay was reassembled to detect small molecules and was found to have a sensitivity of 0.01 mM. The assays presented form a sensitive, specific, fast diagnostic tool capable of detecting pathogens and small molecules. It offers significant improvements over existing methods, and could act as a platform in developing a multimodal detection system

Insect and Pest Management for Sustaining Crop Production Under Changing Climatic Patterns of Drylands

Climate change is alarming, particularly for agriculturists as it severely impacts the development, distribution, and survival of insects and pests, affecting crop production globally. Over time, climate change is drastically tumbling the crop productivity in all the cropping systems, whereas the dryland agriculture with existing low productivity is immensely hit. While all the existing species in drylands, including humans, are coping with extreme climate variations for millennia, future climate change predictions put dryland agriculture in a threat zone. Drylands support 38% of the world’s population; therefore, climate change coupled with population growth and global food security draws the attention of scientists towards sustainable crop production under changing trends. The intermingling and intermixing of various biological, hydrological, and geographical systems plus the anthropogenic factors continuously amplify the changes in the dryland systems. All of this brings us to one challenge: developing pest management strategies suitable for changing climatic patterns. In this complex agrology framework, integrated pest management (IPM) strategies, especially those involving early monitoring of pests using prediction models, are a way to save the show. In this chapter, we will summarize the direct and indirect effects of climate change on crop production, the biology of insect pests, the changing pest scenarios, the efficacy of current pest management tactics, and the development of next-generation crop protection products. Finally, we will provide a perspective on the integration of best agronomic practices and crop protection measures to achieve the goal of sustainable crop production under changing climatic trends of drylands

Differential Effects of Biochar on Soils Within an Eroded Field

Future uses of biochar will in part be dependent not only on the effects of biochar on soil processes but also on the availability and economics of biochar production. If pyrolysis for production of bio-oil and syngas becomes wide-spread, biochar as a by-product of bio-oil production will be widely available and relatively inexpensive compared to the production of biochar as primary product. Biochar produced as a by-product of optimized bio-oil production using regionally available feedstocks was examined for properties and for use as an amendment targeted to contrasting soils within an eroded field in an on-farm study initiated in 2013 at Brookings, South Dakota, USA. Three plant based biochar materials produced from carbon optimized gasification of corn stover (Zea mays L.), Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Lawson and C. Lawson) wood residue, and switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) were applied at a 1% (w/w) rate to a Maddock soil (Sandy, Mixed, Frigid Entic Hapludolls) located in an eroded upper landscape position and a Brookings soil (Fine-Silty, Mixed, Superactive, Frigid Pachic Hapludolls) located in a depositional landscape position. The cropping system within this agricultural landscape was a corn (Zea mays L.) and soybean (Glycine max L.) rotation. Biochar physical and chemical properties for each of the feedstocks were determined including pH, surface area, surface charge potential, C-distribution, ash content, macro and micro nutrient composition. Yields, nutrient content, and carbon isotope ratio measurements were made on the harvested seed. Soil physical properties measured included water retention, bulk density, and water infiltration from a ponded double ring infiltrometer. Laboratory studies were conducted to determine the effects of biochar on partitioning of nitrate and phosphorus at soil surface exchange complex and the extracellular enzymes activity of C and N cycles. Crop yields were increased only in the Maddock soil. Biochar interacted with each soil type to alter physical and chemical properties. However the pattern of interaction depended on soil and biochar typ

Polymerase chain reaction on a viral nanoparticle

The field of synthetic biology includes studies that aim to develop new materials and devices from biomolecules. In recent years much work has been carried out using a range of biomolecular chassis including α-helical coiled coils, α-sheet amyloids and even viral particles. In this work we show how hybrid bionanoparticles can be produced from a viral M13 bacteriophage scaffold through conjugation to DNA primers that can template a polymerase chain reaction (PCR). This unprecedented example of a PCR on a virus particle has been studied by flow aligned linear dichroism spectroscopy, which gives information on the structure of the product as well as a new protototype methodology for DNA detection. We propose that this demonstration of PCR on the surface of a bionanoparticle is a useful addition to ways in which hybrid assemblies may be constructed using synthetic biology