Understanding aarogya setu: navigating privacy during a pandemic proves to be tricky

Upasana Sharma (Carnegie India) writes that Aarogya Setu, India’s contact tracing application, raises many privacy concerns. And while making the app open source is the right step in ensuring a transparent framework, there is more work to be done in ensuring increased user security and privacy

AYURVEDA INTERVENTION IN FEMALE INFERTILITY DUE TO OVARIAN FACTOR - A CASE REPORT

Infertility is defined as inability of a couple to conceive after one year of regular unprotected sexual intercourse. Incidence of ovarian dysfunction in the form of Polycystic ovarian disease (PCOD) has become a leading cause of female infertility in today’s era. Polycystic Ovarian disease (PCOD) is a heterogeneous, multifactorial and polygenic endocrinal disorder. Acharya Sushrut explained about Bandhya Yonivya pada where Nashtartava is mentioned as the one and only symptom. In Ayurveda text word Aartava has been used extensively in different contexts; menstrual blood, ovum and ovarian hormones. Therefore Amenorrhea, anovulation, hormonal dysfunction can be considered as visible manifestations of Nashtartva. So, here an attempt has been made to explore Samshodhan (Virechan) as a possible line of treatment for Bandhya (Nashtartava). Material and method: Following is a case report of a female who was anxious to conceive after 4 years of active married life, along with H/O delayed menses.  Her USG reports showed polycystic appearance of ovaries and anovulation was noticed in follicular study. During this case study evaluation of Shodhan therapy (Virechan) and Shaman therapy in infertility due to ovulatory dysfunction was done. Result: Before the treatment patient was a known case of infertility due to PCOD and after treatment she conceived and delivered a healthy female baby. Discussion: Line of treatment was to enhance potency of ovum and with the help of Virechankarma, regularize vitiated Vata Dosha, Shrotoshuddhi and Aartava janan. Conclusion: Ayurveda therapy can be used in patients of infertility due to PCOD for better outcome and no adverse drug effect was noticed

AN EFFORT TO UNDERSTAND PCOS IN AYURVEDA CONTEXT

PCOS (Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome) is probably fastest growing health hazard amongst women of reproductive age. The prevalence of this disease in general population is about 5-10% world-wide where as relatively high prevalence in Indian subcontinent (52%). It is characterized by a combination of hyperandrogenism (clinical or biochemical), chronic anovulation and polycystic ovaries. This is frequently associated with insulin resistance and obesity. This particular feminine disorder is not described word to word in Ayurveda. PCOS associated some features are closely related with some of Yonivyapada yet some features nearly bring into its relation with Aartvadushti. PCOS can be better understood with the help of three basic principles given by Acharya Charak: Vikarprakriti, Adhisthanantara, Samutthanvishesha. Maximum congruence of PCOS can be established with Bandhya Yonivyapada. An attempt is made to understand Nashtartva which is the cardinal feature of Bandhya. Word Aartava has been used extensively in Samhita in context of menstrual blood, ovum and ovarian hormones. Therefore Amenorrhea, anovulation, hormonal dysfunction are considered exposed manifestations of Nashtartva. Possible line of treatment is stipulated with Nidanaparivarjan, Samshodhana, Aaganeya Dravya, Savayonivardhana Dravya

Radiatively Inefficient Accretion Flow Simulations with Cooling: Implications for Black Hole Transients

We study the effects of optically thin radiative cooling on the structure of radiatively inefficient accretion flows (RIAFs). The flow structure is geometrically thick, and independent of the gas density and cooling, if the cooling time is longer than the viscous timescale (i.e., $t_{\rm cool} \gtrsim t_{\rm visc}$). For higher densities, the gas can cool before it can accrete and forms the standard geometrically thin, optically thick Shakura-Sunyaev disk. For usual cooling processes (such as bremsstrahlung), we expect an inner hot flow and an outer thin disk. For a short cooling time the accretion flow separates into two phases: a radiatively inefficient hot coronal phase and a cold thin disk. We argue that there is an upper limit on the density of the hot corona corresponding to a critical value of $t_{\rm cool}/t_{\rm ff} (\sim 10-100)$, the ratio of the cooling time and the free-fall time. Based on our simulations, we have developed a model for transients observed in black hole X-ray binaries (XRBs). An XRB in a quiescent hot RIAF state can transition to a cold black-body dominated state because of an increase in the mass accretion rate. The transition from a thin disk to a RIAF happens because of mass exhaustion due to accretion; the transition happens when the cooling time becomes longer than the viscous time at inner radii. Since the viscous timescale for a geometrically thin disk is quite long, the high-soft state is expected to be long-lived. The different timescales in black hole transients correspond to different physical processes such as viscous evolution, cooling, and free-fall. Our model captures the overall features of observed state transitions in XRBs.Comment: 17 pages, 10 figures; version accepted to MNRAS; runs with thermal conduction included in this revisio

SHED: Spam Ham Email Dataset

Automatic filtering of spam emails becomes essential feature for a good email service provider. To gain direct or indirect benefits organizations/individuals are sending a lot of spam emails. Such kind emails activities are not only distracting the user but also consume lot of resources including processing power, memory and network bandwidth. The security issues are also associated with these unwanted emails as these emails may contain malicious content and/or links. Content based spam filtering is one of the effective approaches used for filtering. However, its efficiency depends upon the training set. The most of the existing datasets were collected and prepared a long back and the spammers have been changing the content to evade the filters trained based on these datasets. In this paper, we introduce Spam Ham email dataset (SHED): a dataset consisting spam and ham email. We evaluated the performance of filtering techniques trained by previous datasets and filtering techniques trained by SHED. It was observed that the filtering techniques trained by SHED outperformed the technique trained by other dataset. Furthermore, we also classified the spam email into various categories

An Empirical Investigation of Crowdfunding as an Instrument for Financing Entrepreneurial Start-ups successfully

The aim of this dissertation is to review the obstructions faced by the young entrepreneurs and the early start-ups to acquire finance and thereby explore the novel phenomenon of “crowdfunding”. Crowdfunding is still in its evolutionary flux and has developed limited academic literature so far. Thus, the research structures by first reviewing the literature on this new concept based on the problems faced by new ventures. Second, several project campaigns selected from popular crowdfunding platforms: Kickstarter and Indiegogo are evaluated. Then,a model using the grounded theory method is conducted in which the empirical investigation intends to bring out the three factors- social entrepreneurship, commercial entrepreneurship and problem solving that influence the innovative success factor of crowdfunding campaign that helps raising startup capital effectively. This model so constructed is named ‘the crowdfunding innovative success model’. Lastly, the prospects of future research are discussed. Keywords: young entrepreneurs, social media, web 2.0, crowdfunding, innovative success, social and commercial entrepreneurship, problem solving

Knowledge attitude and practice of pharmacovigilance among nursing professionals in a tertiary care teaching hospital in Dehradun, Uttarakhand

Background: Pharmacovigilance deals with identification, assessment and prevention and reporting of adverse drug reaction (ADR), play a pivotal role in ensuring safe use of drugs. However, in spite of having well established ADR reporting system in India and worldwide, the ADR underreporting is a big challenge till date. It is therefore very important to assess the level of awareness of Pharmacovigilance among healthcare professionals to identify the factors affecting ADRs reporting. The objective of the study was to evaluate knowledge, attitude and practice of pharmacovigilance among nursing professionals in a tertiary care teaching hospital in Dehradun, India.Methods: It was a cross sectional observational study conducted at HIMS over a period of 1 year. Nursing professionals who work in internal medicine, Surgery, PAC and intensive care unit (ICU) were included in this study. A self-administered questionnaire comprising of 15 items related to ADRs and Pharmacovigilance programme of India (PvPI) activity was provided to them and sufficient time to fill the questionnaire was given. The completely filled questionnaire was collected and data was analyzed using SPSS ver.20.0.Results: A total of 415 participants were included in the study. The mean age of the participant was 28.52 years. The number of female was more than male participants. Majority of participant (56%) couldn’t answer the meaning of pharmacovigilance. Only 25% participants were aware about ADR reporting process to ADR monitoring centre (AMC). Although majority of the participants understand the necessity of ADR reporting and aware about AMC centre and PvPI, but most of them showed unfamiliarity about ADR reporting form and previous experience of any kind of ADR. The most common reason for not reporting the ADR was difficulty in deciding the nature of adverse effects (AE) (44%) followed by lack of time (30%). Majority of participant (67%) denied any previous pharmacovigilance training and almost all (98%) have shown their interest in PvPI training.Conclusions: Nursing professionals in our hospital may lack adequate knowledge about ADR reporting and may need more education and training on the National Pharmacovigilance System and ADR reporting process

Species Selection Index (SSI): A novel tool designed for bio-resource selection under Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) mechanism

This investigation was designed for the use of species selection index (SSI) for bio-resource selection under access and benefit sharing mechanism. The bio-resources are being utilized by different industries for manufacturing various end products. Uttarakhand is known for its  bio-resources having highly medicinal properties. But, these bio-resources are on the verge of extinction because of over-exploitation. These bio-resources are not being utilized in a sustainable manner. Access and Benefit-sharing is the mechanism by which a species would benefit both producer and traders apart from the conservation. Selection of the concerned species from the area to be considered for ABS mechanism is a tedious work. In this paper, an attempt has been made to solve this issue. The objective was to formulate a methodology for the selection of native species for ABS. A novel method (Species Selection Index) has been formulated for this purpose. Study was conducted at organization, industry and village level. Different species from Uttarkashi, Pauri and Haridwar of Uttarakhand has been analysed by this method and compared with each other. Positive and Negative criteria were considered for the selection and based on the result Terminalia chebula and Zanthoxylem armatum was suggested for ABS. Therefore, The SSI can be used in the selection of any bio-resources to be considered for ABS mechanism or for any other developmental project. More SSI value means more suitable species to be considered for project related activity

Pathotype and racial diversity of Ascochyta rabiei isolates in the India

Ascochyta blight is the most destructive disease of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) caused by the fungus Ascochyta rabiei, in areas where low temperature (15-25ºC) and high humid (>150mm rainfall) conditions during crop growth. The aim of the study was to determine the pathotypes and physiological races of thirty Ascochyta rabies isolates of India. Pathotypes and physiological races were identified using Ascochyta rabiei specific standard international chickpea differentials. Spore’s suspensions adjusted to 5×105 spores/ml using a haemocytometer and sprayed on 12 day old seedlings of differential lines. All the test isolates were classified into four pathotypes and five physiological races based on their aggressiveness and virulence, respectively. We found eight isolates (26.66%) from Pathotype I (Least aggressive), two isolates (6.66%) from Pathotype II (aggressive), fifteen isolates (50 %) from Pathotype III (more aggressive) and four isolates (13.33%) from pathotype IV (Highly aggressive, killed all the differentials). Predominant pathotype present in India was Pathotype III followed by pathotype I, Pathotype IV and Pathotype II. Five races such as Race 1, 4, 5, 6 and 7 were identified. The most predominant race was 5 followed by 1, 4, 7 and 6, respectively. Among the 30 Indian A.rabiei isolates tested for presence of mating types found in India through multiplex PCR, only MAT1-2 was found. The race 2 and 3 was not found in India and irrespective of locations multiple pathotypes and races have been identified. Authors are grateful to Science and Engineering Research Board, New Delhi for funding to carry out this researc

The structure and duplex context of DNA interstrand crosslinks affects the activity of DNA polymerase eta

Several important anti-tumor agents form DNA interstrand crosslinks (ICLs), but their clinical efficiency is counteracted by multiple complex DNA repair pathways. All of these pathways require unhooking of the ICL from one strand of a DNA duplex by nucleases, followed by bypass of the unhooked ICL by translesion synthesis (TLS) polymerases. The structures of the unhooked ICLs remain unknown, yet the position of incisions and processing of the unhooked ICLs significantly influence the efficiency and fidelity of bypass by TLS polymerases. We have synthesized a panel of model unhooked nitrogen mustard ICLs to systematically investigate how the state of an unhooked ICL affects pol eta activity. We find that duplex distortion induced by a crosslink plays a crucial role in translesion synthesis, and length of the duplex surrounding an unhooked ICL critically affects polymerase efficiency. We report the synthesis of a putative ICL repair intermediate that mimics the complete processing of an unhooked ICL to a single crosslinked nucleotide, and find that it provides only aminimal obstacle for DNA polymerases. Our results raise the possibility that, depending on the structure and extent of processing of an ICL, its bypass may not absolutely require TLS polymerases.ope