Effect of weight loss during pupal stage on the hatching of eggs in Leucinodes orbonalis (Guen) (Pyralidae: Lepidoptera)

A perda de peso durante o estádio pupal desenvolvido em diferentes plantas hospedeiras foi quase a mesma; mas a taxa de perda de peso diferiu de hospedeiro para hospedeiro. 0 número de ovos depositados pela mariposa foi diferente em hospedeiros diferentes. 0 número de ovos eclodidos também variou de hospedeiro para hospedeiro. Isto mostra que a fertilidade deste inseto foi afetada pela planta hospedeira. A taxa de peso corporal por dia durante o estágio pupal foi inversamente proporcional aos ovos subsequentemente eclodidos

Maternal and perinatal outcome in women with threatened abortion in first trimester

Background: Threatened abortion in first trimester is a risk factor for complications in the latter half of pregnancy. The present study was undertaken to identify the pregnancy outcome in women with threatened abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy in a tertiary hospital.Methods: A retrospective-prospective observational study was done on 100 pregnant women with a history of threatened abortion in the first trimester. Maternal outcome in the form of pregnancy loss, APH/PPH, Preeclampsia/eclampsia, PROM/PPROM, term delivery and retained placenta were studies. Perinatal outcome in the form of preterm delivery, Low Birth Weight, IUGR and IUFD were studied. Analysis of the data was done using SPSS version 17.Results: Threatened abortion in first trimester was found to be associated with increased risks of LBW, preterm births, PPROM, and PIH. Out of 100 patients, preterm births and LBW babies were found in 21% and 13% of patients respectively. 15% of the cases developed PIH, out of which gestational hypertension and pre-eclampsia were 8% and 6% respectively.Conclusions: Pregnant women with first trimester threatened abortion are at increased risk for spontaneous loss and adverse pregnancy outcomes. Knowledge of these risks may help the obstetricians to manage these cases vigorously in the antepartum period and do timely interventions as needed for a healthy mother and baby

Review of Non-destructive Testing (NDT) Techniques and their applicability to thick walled composites

A tier 1 automotive supplier has developed a novel and unique kinetic energy recovery storage system for both retro-fitting and OEM application for public transport systems where periodic stop start behaviour is paramount. A major component of the system is a composite flywheel spinning at up to 36,000 rpm (600 Hz). Material soundness is an essential requirement of the flywheel to ensure failure does not occur. The component is particularly thick for a composite being up to 30 mm cross section in some places. The geometry, scale and material make-up pose some challenges for conventional NDT systems. Damage can arise in composite materials during material processing, fabrication of the component or in-service activities among which delamination, cracks and porosity are the most common defects. A number of non-destructive testing (NDT) techniques are effective in testing components for defects without damaging the component. NDT techniques like Ultrasonic Testing, X-Ray, Radiography, Thermography, Eddy current and Acoustic Emission are current techniques for various testing applications. Each of these techniques uses different principles to look into the material for defects. However, the geometry, physical and material properties of the component being tested are important factors in the applicability of a technique. This paper reviews these NDT techniques and compares them in terms of characteristics and applicability to composite parts

In vitro biology of pigeon louse Colpocephalum turbinatum (Amblycera: Phthiraptera)

In vitro rearing of amblyceran Phthiraptera is a challenging task. A look on the literature reveals that negligible information exists on the in vitro bionomics of avian Amblycera. Present report furnishes information on the in vitro biology of an amblyceran louse, Colpocephalum turbinatum, reared at 35 ± 1?C, 75-82% Relative Humidity, at feather diet. The incubation period of the eggs of louse was determined as 5.37±0.67 days. The duration of first, second and third nymphal instars remained 5.04±0.65, 5.12±0.89 and 5.0±0.57 days, respectively. The longevity of adult female (13.04 ± 3.67 days) was comparatively longer than that of males (9.6±2.87 days). An adult female laid an average of 0.63 egg/day in vitro condition (35±1oC and 75-82% RH, at feather diet)

UrbanFly: Uncertainty-Aware Planning for Navigation Amongst High-Rises with Monocular Visual-Inertial SLAM Maps

We present UrbanFly: an uncertainty-aware real-time planning framework for quadrotor navigation in urban high-rise environments. A core aspect of UrbanFly is its ability to robustly plan directly on the sparse point clouds generated by a Monocular Visual Inertial SLAM (VINS) backend. It achieves this by using the sparse point clouds to build an uncertainty-integrated cuboid representation of the environment through a data-driven monocular plane segmentation network. Our chosen world model provides faster distance queries than the more common voxel-grid representation, and UrbanFly leverages this capability in two different ways leading to as many trajectory optimizers. The first optimizer uses a gradient-free cross-entropy method to compute trajectories that minimize collision probability and smoothness cost. Our second optimizer is a simplified version of the first and uses a sequential convex programming optimizer initialized based on probabilistic safety estimates on a set of randomly drawn trajectories. Both our trajectory optimizers are made computationally tractable and independent of the nature of underlying uncertainty by embedding the distribution of collision violations in Reproducing Kernel Hilbert Space. Empowered by the algorithmic innovation, UrbanFly outperforms competing baselines in metrics such as collision rate, trajectory length, etc., on a high fidelity AirSim simulator augmented with synthetic and real-world dataset scenes.Comment: Submitted to IROS 2022, Code available at https://github.com/sudarshan-s-harithas/UrbanFl

A CLINICAL STUDY TO STANDARDIZE THE PROCEDURE OF DHANYAMLA DHARA AND TO ASSESS ITS EFFICACY IN RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS

In this era of globalization and standardization there is a dire need to arrive at a consensus in the approach to the treatment of the diseases in Ayurveda. It is an essential tool not only for proper understanding of the pathology, appropriate diagnosis, and treatment, but also for scientific documentation and generation evidence for global acceptance and appreciation among the scientific community. Classics clearly demarcate the effects of Sweda as an operative and as a pre-operative/post-operative (or both procedures). Considering the therapeutic importance of one such Swedana modality, study was attempted on standardization of the procedure of Dhanyamla dhara, a form of Parisheka sweda. Based on the references in the classics, the data collected through questionnaires and personal interviews a protocol was developed and it was clinically tested in the disease, Rheumatoid Arthritis. The study was carried out in the Department of Panchakarma, Government Ayurveda College, Tripunithura. Patients diagnosed of Rheumatoid Arthritis (As per American College of Rheumatology revised criteria 1987) under the age group of 16-60 years were selected according to the inclusion criteria and were admitted to the IP Unit. Assessment was done by using clinical parameters (objective and subjective) before treatment and after treatment. The results were statistically analyzed using the most appropriate statistical tests. Significant results were noted in all the clinical parameters such as joint pain, joint swelling, tenderness, general functional capacity signifying the effectiveness of Dhanyamla dhara in improving the clinical features and quality of patients life

Disinfection by 1% sodium hypochlorite through cold fogging: an innovative appropriate technology against COVID-19 in public health

Background: SARS-CoV-2 is an enveloped virus with a fragile outer lipid envelope that makes it more susceptible to disinfectants compared to non-enveloped viruses. In this article, dispensation through cold Fogger was innovated as a measure against aerosol-based transmission of COVID-19 in large, enclosed spaces like hospitals, nursing homes, isolation centers and quarantine facilities.Methods: Ecological exploratory study, to ours effectiveness of 1% sodium hypochlorite through cold fogging against SARS COV-2 technology. Study setting included medical college in Western Maharashtra and the selected COVID-19 hospitals. The data was collated in MS excel and analysed using IBM SPSS version 23.0.Results: Average of 2.9 % HCWs got infected in hospitals where this innovation was used to disinfect, as compared to infections rates of 21.5% and 14.7% in other premier health institutes. There was strong negative correlation between percentage of health care infected and liters of sodium hypochlorite used with R2=0.56. Also, on applying Spearman correlation coefficient there was good negative correlation (-0.8).Conclusions: This appropriate technology has shown significant reduction in infection, with antecedent benefit of decreased morbidity and mortality of precious trained manpower. It gives much better dis-infection at 07 times less the cost and can be conveniently used for dis-infection against COVID-19 at the very periphery of primary health care delivery done at Sub-centres and PHCs

Gravitational Collapse of Inhomogeneous Dust in (2+1) Dimensions

We examine the gravitational collapse of spherically symmetric inhomogeneous dust in (2+1) dimensions, with cosmological constant. We obtain the analytical expressions for the interior metric. We match the solution to a vacuum exterior. We discuss the nature of the singularity formed by analyzing the outgoing radial null geodesics. We examine the formation of trapped surfaces during the collapse.Comment: Accepted for publication in CQ

Characterizing the immune microenvironment of malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor by PD-L1 expression and presence of CD8+ tumor infiltrating lymphocytes.

BackgroundMalignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor (MPNST) is an aggressive sarcoma with few treatment options. Tumor immune state has not been characterized in MPNST, and is important in determining response to immune checkpoint blockade. Our aim was to evaluate the expression of programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1), programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1), and presence of CD8+ tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) in MPNST, and correlate these findings with clinical behavior and outcome.ResultsPD-L1 staining of at least 1% was seen in 0/20 nerves, 2/68 benign lesions and 9/53 MPNST. Two of 68 benign lesions and 7/53 (13%) MPNST had at least 5% PD-L1 staining. CD8 staining of at least 5% was seen in 1/20 (5%) nerves, 45/68 (66%) benign lesions and 30/53 (57%) MPNST. PD-L1 was statistically more prevalent in MPNST than both nerves and benign lesions (p=0.049 and p=0.008, respectively). Expression of PD-1 was absent in all tissue specimens. There was no correlation of PD-L1 or CD8 expression with disease state (primary versus metastatic) or patient survival.MethodsA comprehensive PNST tissue microarray was created from 141 surgical specimens including primary, recurrent, and metastatic MPNST (n=53), neurofibromas (n=57), schwannoma (n=11), and normal nerve (n=20). Cores were stained in triplicate for PD-L1, PD-1, and CD8, and expression compared between tumor types. These data were then examined for survival correlates in 35 patients with primary MPNST.ConclusionsMPNST is characterized by low PD-L1 and absent PD-1 expression with significant CD8+ TIL presence. MPNST immune microenvironment does not correlate with patient outcome