An Assessment of Public Awareness Regarding E-Waste Hazards and Management Strategies

The fast pace of innovation both within India and abroad, along with the increasing affordability of electronic goods due to economic growth, has led to the rapid turnover of these consumer goods and thus enormous amounts of electronic waste (or e-waste). In addition to the sheer volume that must be managed, electronics contain highly toxic chemicals that complicate the waste handling process and can be detrimental to human health and the environment. However, India has only recently implemented regulations that directly address this issue through the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF). Public awareness of this government policy and e-waste hazards is key to both active participation in management systems and the ability to put pressure on producer compliance. Thus, the study here attempts to assess this aspect of the e-waste situation through personal interviews with Indian families in Ahmedabad, a large city in Gujarat. Insight from government officials, NGO representatives, and formal and informal e-waste processing workers were also sought in order to give the general public interviews a structural context. It was found that most respondents do not participate in formal e-waste recycling systems, do not know specific details about the health and environmental hazards of e-waste, and do not know about the 2011 e-waste legislation. Additionally, only about one quarter acknowledge the possibility of extracting raw materials or spare components from unused electronics. Thus, government bodies must invest more in creating a public with greater knowledge of and agency in India’s e-waste issue

Self-Microemulsifying System

Oral route is preferred for drug administration; however according to the recent scenario 40% of new drug candidates have poor water solubility and low bioavailability. One of the biggest challenges in drug delivery science is to improve low oral bioavailability problem which is associated with the hydrophobic drugs due to their unprecedented potential as a drug deliver with the broad range of application. Self-emulsifying systems have been proved as highly useful technological innovations to vanquish such bioavailability problem by virtue of their diminutive globule size, higher solubilization tendency for hydrophobic drugs, robust formulation advantages, and easy to scale up. Self-microemulsifying systems are isotropic mixers of oil, surfactant, drug and co-emulsifier or solubilizer, which spontaneously form transparent micro-emulsions with oil droplets ranging between 100 and 250 nm. Micro emulsified drug can be easily absorbed through the lymphatic pathway and it bypasses the hepatic first-pass effect. Self-microemulsifying system is a thermodynamically stable system and overcomes the drawback of layering of emulsions after sitting for a long period of time. The present literature gives exhaustive information on the formulation design and characterization of self-microemulsifying systems

Generation of a User Interface Prototype from an Integrated Scenario Specification

This report discusses the design for the generation of a device independent user interface prototype for services offered by a digital library from an Integrated Scenario Specification using class diagrams and collaboration diagrams as input. The project was conceived as an extension to the SUIP tool, which generates a User interface in java. But this approach has an inherent problem. The interfaces thus generated have the java look and feel and this can't be changed if the user so desires. Our design overcomes this drawback by generating the interface in UIML which is device independent and thus it is possible to render the code in java, HTML, WML and other languages. The report aims at providing details about the intricacies of the design and deployment. In addition, it also lists possible enhancements to the code that could be taken up as future work

Quantifying vehicle control from physiology in type 1 diabetes

Objective: Our goal is to measure real-world effects of at-risk driver physiology on safety-critical tasks like driving by monitoring driver behavior and physiology in real-time. Drivers with type 1 diabetes (T1D) have an elevated crash risk that is linked to abnormal blood glucose, particularly hypoglycemia. We tested the hypotheses that (1) T1D drivers would have overall impaired vehicle control behavior relative to control drivers without diabetes, (2) At-risk patterns of vehicle control in T1D drivers would be linked to at-risk, in-vehicle physiology, and (3) T1D drivers would show impaired vehicle control with more recent hypoglycemia prior to driving. Methods: Drivers (18 T1D, 14 control) were monitored continuously (4 weeks) using in-vehicle sensors (e.g., video, accelerometer, speed) and wearable continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) that measured each T1D driver’s real-time blood glucose. Driver vehicle control was measured by vehicle acceleration variability (AV) across lateral (AVY, steering) and longitudinal (AVX, braking/accelerating) axes in 45-second segments (N = 61,635). Average vehicle speed for each segment was modeled as a covariate of AV and mixed-effects linear regression models were used. Results: We analyzed 3,687 drives (21,231 miles). T1D drivers had significantly higher overall AVX, Y compared to control drivers (BX = 2.5 × 10−2 BY = 1.6 × 10−2, p \u3c 0.01)—which is linked to erratic steering or swerving and harsh braking/accelerating. At-risk vehicle control patterns were particularly associated with at-risk physiology, namely hypo- and hyperglycemia (higher overall AVX,Y). Impairments from hypoglycemia persisted for hours after hypoglycemia resolved, with drivers who had hypoglycemia within 2–3 h of driving showing higher AVX and AVY. State Department of Motor Vehicle records for the 3 years preceding the study showed that at-risk T1D drivers accounted for all crashes (N = 3) and 85% of citations (N = 13) observed. Conclusions: Our results show that T1D driver risk can be linked to real-time patterns of at-risk driver physiology, particularly hypoglycemia, and driver risk can be detected during and prior to driving. Such naturalistic studies monitoring driver vehicle controls can inform methods for early detection of hypoglycemia-related driving risks, fitness to drive assessments, thereby helping to preserve safety in at-risk drivers with diabetes

Posterior Microphthalmos Pigmentary Retinopathy Syndrome

Purpose: To report a case of a rare disease entity Posterior Microphthalmos Pigmentary Retinopathy Syndrome (PMPRS) in a 47-year-old female with a brief review of literature. Case Report: A 47-year-old woman presented with a history of defective vision with an associated difficulty in night vision. Clinical workup was done, which included a thorough ocular examination showing diffuse pigmentary mottling of fundus, ocular biometry showing short axial length with normal anterior segment dimensions, electroretinography showing extinguished response, optical coherence tomography showing foveoschisis, and ultrasonography showing thickened sclera–choroidal complex. Findings were consistent with those reported by other authors with PMPRS. Conclusion: Posterior microphthalmia with or without other ocular and systemic associations should be suspected in cases with high hyperopia. It is mandatory to carefully examine the patient at presentation and close follow-ups are needed to maintain visual function

SARS-CoV-2: comparison of IgG levels at 9 months post second dose of vaccination in COVID-survivor and COVID-naïve healthcare workers

Background: Natural (asymptomatic/symptomatic COVID-19 infection) and artificial (vaccination) exposure to the pathogen represent two modes of acquiring active immunity. No definitive guidelines exist regarding whether COVID-survivors (with infection/re-infection/re-re-infection in the three COVID-19 waves) require a modified vaccination schedule. Most countries are offering a third vaccine dose and many are contemplating a fourth dose. Our aim was to gauge the IgG-antibody levels 9m post second vaccination in healthcare workers (HCW) and compare these with IgG-levels 1m post-vaccination in the same cohort for any decline, and to compare the post-vaccination IgG-levels in COVID-survivors and COVID-naïve HCW at 9m.Methods: This prospective observational single-centric cohort study included 63 HCW of either sex, aged 18-70y who completed 9m post-vaccination. The IgG-titre was tested at 9-10m post second vaccination in COVID-survivors and COVID-naïve HCW.Results: At 1m and 9m post-vaccination IgG-levels in COVID-survivors (23.097±4.58 and 15.103±4.367 respectively; p<0.0001) and COVID-naïve HCW (16.277±6.36 and 9.793±6.928 respectively; p=0.0013) had unequal variance (Welsch test; p=0.0022 at 9m). 9/31 COVID-naïve HCW but none of the 32 COVID-survivors tested COVID-positive in the second wave post second vaccination. 11/31 and 3/32 HCW belonging to the former and latter groups developed COVID-19 in the third wave consequently deferring their third/precautionary vaccination.Conclusions: Although HCW with IgG-levels in all brackets developed COVID-19, the severity of symptoms corresponded with the IgG-levels. COVID-19 is here to stay, but in peaceful co-existence in endemic proportions. Considering evidence that immunity acquired by vaccination/natural infection is ephemeral, re-invention of vaccines to match the ever-mutating virus is foreseen.

Complex Dynamics of Competitive First Order Chemical Self-Replication

In most experimental conditions, the initial concentrations of a chemical system are at stoichiometric proportions, allowing us to eliminate at least one variable from the mathematical analysis. Under different initial conditions, we need to consider other manifolds defined by stoichiometry and the principle of conservation of mass. Therefore, a given set of initial conditions defines a dynamic manifold and the system, a tall times, has to satisfy a particular relation of its concentrations. To illustrate the relevance of the initial conditions in a dynamic analysis, we consider a chemical system consisting of two first-order self-replicating peptides competing for a common nucleophile in a semi-batch reactor. For the symmetric case, we find different complex oscillations for a given set of parameter values but different initial conditions

A novel RET inhibitor with potent efficacy against medullary thyroid cancer in vivo

Background Most medullary thyroid carcinomas (MTC) recur or progress despite optimal surgical resection. Current targeted-therapies show promise but lack durable efficacy and tolerability. The purpose of this study was to build upon previous in vitro work and evaluate Withaferin A (WA), a novel RET inhibitor, in a metastatic murine model of MTC. Methods 5 million DRO-81-1 human MTC-cells injected in the left posterior neck of Nu/Nu mice uniformly generated metastases to the liver, spleen, and/or lungs. Treatment with WA (8mg/kg/day i.p.×21 days) was started for tumors >100 mm3. Endpoints were survival, tumor>1500 mm3, decreased bodyweight, or body score (all measured thrice weekly). Results All controls (saline; n=5) died or deteriorated from metastatic disease by 7 weeks post injection. All treated animals were alive,(WA; n=5), having tumor regression and growth-delay without toxicity or weight-loss at 6 wks post treatment; p<0.01. Tumor cells treated with WA demonstrated inhibition of total and phospho-RET levels by Western-Blot analysis in a dose-dependent manner (almost complete inhibition with 5uM WA treatment) as well as potent inhibition of phospho-ERK and phospho-AKT levels. Conclusions Withaferin A is a novel natural-product RET-inhibitor with efficacy in a metastatic murine model of MTC. Further long-term efficacy/toxicity studies are warranted to evaluate this compound for clinical translation

Electric Hydraulic Hybrid Motor Coupling

Final report and team photo for Project 05 of ME450, Fall 2010 semester.The Xebra is a pure electric vehicle that has a limited range. Rather than add more batteries to increase the range, a hydraulic launch assist and regenerative braking system will be added to minimize electrical consumption. The objective is to design, procure and install a mechanical coupling system between the electric motor, hydraulic pump/motor, and wheels.David Swain (USEPA)http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/86236/1/ME450 Fall2010 Final Report - Project 05 - Electric Hydraulic Hybrid Motor Coupling.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/86236/2/ME450 Fall2010 Team Photo - Project 05 - Electric Hydraulic Hybrid Motor Coupling.jp

How Scarcity Frames Value

In behavioral science, much attention is given to the ways that decisions are malleable. Here, we discuss how scarcity leads people to make more consistent judgments and decisions. Several studies demonstrate that participants experiencing various forms of scarcity are less susceptible to different context or framing effects