A Circular Statistical Method for Extracting Rotation Measures

We propose a new method for the extraction of Rotation Measure from spectral polarization data. The method is based on maximum likelihood analysis and takes into account the circular nature of the polarization data. The method is unbiased and statistically more efficient than the standard $\chi^2$ procedure. We also find that the method is computationally much faster than the standard $\chi^2$ procedure if the number of data points are very large.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figure

A Blue Print for the Future Electronic Warfare Suite Development

Mastering increasing complexity of electronic warfare (EW) airborne equipment systems needs new architectural concepts mainly based on modular design, generic resources and reliable communication buses. Less is more architectural concept replaces separate EW line replaceable units with fewer centralized processing units. This approach leads to a robust architecture for the next generation EW suite development in a unified fashion and thereby promising significant weight reduction and maintenance savings. In general, this approach is represented by a blanket term called integrated modular avionics (IMA). IMA architecture based EW suite development concentrates with the main goals of IMA such as technology transparency, resource sharing, incremental qualification, reduced maintenance cost, and so on.Defence Science Journal, 2013, 63(2), pp.192-197, DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.14429/dsj.63.426

A study to assess the effectiveness of puppet play in reducing preoperative anxiety among children 6-12 years of age, undergoing abdominal surgery at Institute of Child Health and Hospital for Children, Egmore, Chennai

A pre-experimental research design, one group pretest - posttest design was used to assess the effectiveness of Puppet play in reducing preoperative anxiety among children 6-12 years of age, undergoing abdominal surgery at Institute of child health, Egmore, Chennai-8. The tool used for the study consists of demographic data, and Modified Yale preoperative anxiety scale. The population of this study were 60 children of both sexes in the age group of 6 to 12 year. Sample for the study were selected through convenient sampling technique. Conceptual framework used for the study was Wiedenbach’s Helping art of Clinical Nursing Model. The findings of the study revealed that on average, children are having 27.5% of reduction in anxiety score. It shows the effectiveness of study. Puppet play in the form of hand puppet with doctor’s play set was found to be effective in reducing the preoperative anxiety of the children undergoing surgery. Children need adequate information tailored to their needs, and hospital environments need to be made more children centered

Training Programmes and Success of Agri Clinics and Agri Business Centres (Acabcs) In Karnataka – An Evaluation

Agriculture Sector is contributing 16.5%to the GDP of the country and has enclosed more than 50% workforce are still engaged in agriculture and allied activities. (Economic survey 2019-20)Though higher workforce is involved, they are not self-reliable to earn their livelihood and it is indispensable to rethink the shift of agricultural sector. In this scenario Agri entrepreneurship or farm entrepreneurship apparently benefits the small-scale farmers to be self- reliable and independent. The National Institute for Management of Agricultural Extension (MANAGE) has classified 32 activities of agribusiness all over India (as on 5th February 2021) covering horticulture, floriculture, sericulture, dairy farming, poultry, agri clinics and agribusiness centres. Agri Clinics and Agri Business Centres (ACABCS) in the post globalization era have emerged as an important commercial activity in agriculture and Agribusiness undertakings formed by trained agriculturists. Such business may include sale of inputs, maintenance and custom hiring of farm equipment with other facilities in agriculture and allied areas as well as market linkages for revenue generation, post-harvest administration and entrepreneurial progress. Nodal Training institutes are contributing significantly for the development and growth of ACABCs. With this background, the study is undertaken at with an objective of examining the relationship of training programmes and the success of ACABCs in Karnataka. Sixty (29 Trained and 31 untrained) sample Agripreneurs drawn from Bengaluru urban and rural districtswere contacted with a structured questionnaire to understand their business growth and success level with the help of various parameters. Hypothesis testing was done with the help of Chi square test. For analysis simple percentage technique was applied. It has also come out with few findings and suggestions

Assessment of dynamic balance and bone density in premenopausal and postmenopausal middle-age women: a comparative study

Background: Dynamic balance control is required to perform simple and complex mobility task in our day-to-day life. Deficit in balance can results in falls and fractures which can affect health-related quality of life. Menopause is also considered as a risk for fracture due to osteoporosis, which at later life becomes difficult to manage and causes higher morbidity. So, evaluation of balance and bone density is important in middle-age in women, so that we can plan and administer proper treatment strategies at an early stage which can reduce risk of falls and fractures. Therefore, the aim of the study was to assess and compare dynamic balance and bone density in premenopausal and postmenopausal middle-age women.Methods: Female participants in the age-group of 40-60 years were divided into premenopausal and postmenopausal group based on the criteria of cessation of menstrual cycles for minimum one year. Participants were assessed barefooted for dynamic balance by physical performance mobility tests such as narrow walk test (NWT), Figure-of-8 walk test (F8WT), obstacle walk test (OWT) and normal gait speed (NGS). Bone density was evaluated by using ultrasound bone densitometer at calcaneus in community setting. Results: The time taken to complete the NWT, F8WT, OWT was reduced significantly (p<0.05) in post-menopausal group, showing dynamic balance is significantly affected in postmenopausal women when compared with premenopausal women in middle-age group. Gait speed was also reduced in both the groups but it was significantly reduced (p<0.05) in postmenopausal group. Also bone density decreases significantly in post-menopausal group showing osteoporosis, premenopausal group also showed osteopenia when assessed by ultrasound bone densitometer in community setting.Conclusions: Dynamic balance and bone density significantly decreases in post-menopausal middle-age women as compared with pre-menopausal middle-age women

Papaya Extract to Treat Dengue: A Novel Therapeutic Option?

Abstract Dengue is a viral disease that today affects a vast number of people in over 125 countries and is responsible for a sizable number of deaths. In the absence of an effective antiviral drug to treat the disease, various treatments are being investigated. Studies have indicated that the juice of the leaves of the Carica papaya plant from the family Caricaceae could help to increase the platelet levels in these patients. This review describes some of the published studies on this topic. The search was done independently by the two authors using PubMed, Google and the library database and included relevant articles of the last 10 years. A total of 7 studies were included in this review, which were one animal study, one case report, three case series and two randomized controlled trials. Although many of the studies and case reports published in literature lack adequate information, some of the studies do raise the possibility that this treatment could be an important option in the future. Further large-scale studies could establish the usefulness or ineffectiveness of this natural product in the treatment of dengue

Large Scale Alignment of Optical Polarizations from Distant QSOs using Coordinate Invariant Statistics

We introduce several coordinate invariant statistical procedures in order to test for local alignment of polarizations. A large scale alignment of optical polarizations from distant QSOs has recently been observed by \huts and collaborators. The new statistical procedures are based on comparing polarizations at different angular coordinates by making a parallel transport. The results of these statistical procedures continue to support the existence of the large scale alignment effect in the QSO optical polarization data. The alignment is found to be much more pronounced in the data sample with low degrees of polarization $p\le 2$%. This suggests that the alignment may be attributed to some propagation effect. The distance scale over which the alignment effect is dominant is found to be of order 1 Gpc. We also find that a very large scale alignment is present in the large redshift, $z\ge 1$, data sample. Infact the data sample with $z\ge 1$ appears to be aligned over the entire celestial sphere. We discuss possible physical effects, such as extinction and pseudoscalar-photon mixing, which may be responsible for the observations.Comment: 23 pages, 8 figure

MALDI-TOF MS: the proteomic approach, the future of fungal identification in India

Background: India, being a country where fungal infections are rampant, is urgently in need of effective tools for early and accurate diagnosis of fungal infections. Matrix-assisted Laser Desorption Ionization Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) is a recent method which has shown potential in identifying clinically important bacterial pathogens as well as clinically important fungi. The main objective of this study was to compare the utility of MALDI-TOF MS for the identification of fungi against that of conventional methods.Methods: The project was carried out in a tertiary care government hospital in India. Fifty clinical isolates comprising mainly various yeast species were subjected to conventional identification (Phenotypic) as well as MALDI-TOF-MS. Their results were further compared.Results: MALDI-TOF MS showed a high concordance with conventional methods while identifying species like C. albicans, C. tropicalis, C. parapsilosis and C. neoformans, although the concordance for species such as Rhodotorula and Trichosporon could only be matched up to genus level.Conclusions: MALDI-TOF MS-based identification is both a rapid and a viable tool for identification of clinically relevant yeast species with good correlation to conventional methods and a quick turnaround time