Structural, Microstructural and Electrical Properties of Lanthanum (La+3)-Modified Lead Iron Niobate Pb(Fe0.5Nb0.5)O3

Lanthanum-modified Lead iron niobate ceramic oxides having chemical formula Pb(1-x)Lax(Fe0.5Nb0.5)(1-x/4)O3 (x=0.00, 0.02, 0.04, 0.06, 0.08) have been prepared using traditional solid state reaction route. Preliminary structural, microstructural and electrical studies were carried out by the powder x-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and complex impedance spectroscopic technique in awide experimental conditions. The x-ray diffraction study confirmed the formation of perovskite structures of the newly modified ceramics. The lattice parameters were calculated using standard IUCR software CHECKCELL. Crystallite sizes of the samples were calculated from Williamson-Hall method. Microstructure/morphology of the materials was analyzed from SEM images. Dieletric and impedance spectroscopic studies of the materials were carried out as a function of temperature for a wide range of frequencies. The pure PFN ceramic oxide shows the phase transition from ferroelectric to paraelectric state around 1150C. There is a notable decrease in the transition temperature of La-PFN(x=0.02) ceramic and above 4% La concentration, the transition temperature falls below room temperature

Navigating The Impact Of Covid-19 Pandemic On The Vegetable Value Chain For Sustainable Farming

The COVID-19 pandemic had caused wide disruptions across various sectors, including agriculture and had posed serious threat to global food systems, particularly the vegetable value chain. The disruptions caused by the pandemic such as labour shortages, marketing facilities, loss of income, disruptions in supply chain and shifts in consumer’s preference leading to hunger, poverty and food insecurity which is adversely affecting to the livelihood opportunities of the vegetable farmers. A study was conducted to understand the experiences of vegetable farmers with respect to the impacts of COVID‐19 pandemic on the vegetable value chain. The study was administered with the vegetable farmers (n = 240) in the state of Odisha, India. It is an agrarian state of India where major part of its population depends on agriculture for sustaining their socio-economic livelihood. It constitutes of 10 agro-climatic zones out of which two agro-climatic zones that is north eastern coastal plain and east & south eastern coastal plain were taken for the study. The results from the study clearly show the multifaceted impact of pandemic on the vegetable value chain system. This paper aims to provide an overview of the challenges encountered, adaptations made in the various stages of vegetable value chain highlighting its key components and opportunities. Furthermore, it helps in obtaining valuable insights for policymakers, practitioners and researchers striving to enhance the resilience and sustainability of vegetable value chains amidst global crises

Usability and Design Analysis for COMET (COnvergent Media and Exploratory Technologies Lab)

poster abstractThe COnvergent Media and Exploratory Technologies (COMET) Lab is an applied research laboratory in the Department of Human-Centered Computing, School of Informatics and Computing, where faculty and students work together to deliver web, mobile and interactive media solutions for projects submitted by units from the IUPUI campus, external organizations and the community at large. The COMET website serves as a portfolio showcasing to stakeholders inside and outside the campus (community) what IUPUI faculty and students do in the COMET Lab. Currently, the site serves six primary audiences: Non-profit or community organizations, for-profit businesses, IUPUI students, IUPUI faculty/staff, and student organizations. Due to the number of users interested in COMET, we considered performing a redesign of the site in order to improve its aesthetics and the user experience. Based on our initial research discovery with our users, we recognized that many users visited the site because they were interested in projects created at SOIC, wanted access to applications developed by COMET, and were searching for a place to discuss project funding. Also, students were interested in Service Learning, civic engagement, or possibilities for an Independent Study/Capstone project. The redesign attempts to meet three goals: 1) attract external and campus stakeholders for potential projects; 2) connect students with projects, and 3) build a system for project partnerships/collaborations. With the new redesign users will be able to search and view featured projects, join a project, or propose a project with COMET (faculty/community). The visual style will be based on material design and the UI brand colors, specifically the IU Majestic and orange as the accent color

EVALUATION OF DIABETIC AND NON-DIABETIC PATIENTS' MACULAR THICKNESS FOLLOWING CATARACT SURGERY. A PROSPECTIVE CASE-CONTROL STUDY.

Background:  Diabetes accelerates cataract development. After cataract surgery, optical tissue damage causes problems. Cystoid development causes macular oedema. Edoema thickens the macula and impairs the retinal blood barrier. Non-invasive optical coherence tomography investigates retinal layers. This approach evaluates macular and retinal thickness. Diabetic retinopathy increases macular thickness. This study assesses cataract surgery patients' macular thickness. Edoema is 30%+ thicker than baseline. The study includes diabetics and non-diabetics. Method: This was a prospective case-control study conducted at the Department of Ophthalmology, Pradyumna Bal Memorial Hospital, Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences (PBMH-KIMS), KIIT University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India. All the subjects’ baseline visual acuity, macular thickness, and macular anatomy or pathology were phacoemulsification documented. The participants underwent either manual SICS or Phacoemulsification cataract surgery. Visual acuity and macular thickness, along with morphological changes in the macula, were observed in all the patients on POD-1, post-operatively at 1 week and 4 weeks.  Results:  21.5% of the patients with diabetes developed macular oedema, and only 5% of the control participants developed macular oedema after the cataract surgery. Conclusion:  The visual acuity of diabetic patients is severely affected after undergoing cataract surgery, irrespective of the modality of the surgery. The risk of developing macular oedema is greater in diabetic patients with retinopathy compared to non-diabetics.  Recommendation: People with diabetic retinopathy who have advanced cataracts and need surgery or laser therapy to fix their vision should start diabetes treatment right away so that the shape of their macular cells does not change permanently

Dermal application of lactic acid based cream of a non pathogenic Kocuria marina (BMKO1) strain against Epidermophyton floccosum (MTCC 613) symptomatic excision mice model

The aim of this study was to evaluate the antifungal efficacy of Kocuria marina (BMKo1) derived Lactic acid against Epidermophyton floccosum (MTCC-613) infections induced on male Swiss Albino mice model (Mus musculus).  For this purpose, the isolated strain was subjected to ‘flask fermentation’ and the Lactic acid produced as fermentation product, was quantified and analysed. Prior to preclinical test, healthy mice models of approximately 8 weeks old and 25-30 gm (weight) were subjected to intra-dermal administration for a period of 15 days to test for toxicity. Mortality, clinical signs, body weight changes were continually monitored. Then the mouse models were inoculated with 100 µl/ml (V/V) of E. floccosum (MTCC-613) spore suspensions following ‘Excision model’. After induction of the infection, the symptomatic mice groups were subjected to topical application of Kocuria lactic acid cream based formulation at a concentration of 1µl/ml (V/V). The naked eye observations were made on the infected lesions till the absolute deduction of infection of excised skin surfaces. The degrees of deduction of infection were converted into scores and the percentages (%) of deduction of infection were calculated and the average value was derived. There were inclusion of positive control (Fluconazole) and negative control (group with infection induced excision, but without any drug application) mice groups for the sake of comparison. Further, with absolute deduction of infection score observed in mice group, applied with Kocuria derived Lactic acid was akin to Fluconazole activity. However, the infection induced mice group was found to be with substantial increase of degree of infection. This study have curtain raised about the anti Epidermophyton infection activity of a cream based  Cell free Lactic acid derived from a non pathogenic strain of Kocuria marina on mouse models. Keywords: Kocuria marina, Epidermophyton floccosum, Lactic aci

Cervical fibroid: an uncommon presentation

Fibroids arising from cervix are rare tumours accounting for 2% of all fibroids. A cervical leiomyoma is commonly single and is either interstitial or subserous, rarely it becomes submucous and polypoidal. Anterior cervical fibroid may press on urinary bladder and urethra and displace the urethro-vesical junction giving rise to urinary frequency and retention. Management of symptomatic cervical fibroid is hysterectomy or myomectomy and need an expert hand. Here we report a case of huge anterior cervical fibroid of 15x15x7cm with an unusual presentation of menorrhagia of only 2 days and no urinary symptoms. Inspite of the fibroid being huge and impacted, hysterectomy was done successfully without any injury to bladder and ureters.

METABOLIC SYNDROME AMONG DOCTORS: A PILOT STUDY FROM ODISHA

Objective: This study was planned to assess the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) among doctors of Bhubaneswar. Methods: A cross-sectional, single-centered observational study was conducted among doctors over a period of 8 months after clearance from Institutional Ethical Committee. All consented participants were subjected to anthropometric measurements and physical examination. Fasting plasma glucose and complete lipid profile were estimated using standard procedures after 12 h of overnight fast. MetS was defined according to the Modified National Cholesterol Education Program-Adult Treatment Panel III criteria for MetS screening. Results: Among 170 participants (males - 117 and females - 53), 64 (37.65%) were with MetS. Prevalence of same was higher in males (41.9%) than females (28.3%). The younger doctors (≤40 years) had more prevalence of MetS compared to the elderly (>40 years) doctors (41 [39.8%] vs. 23 [34.3%]). In the males, high blood pressure was the major contributor to the prevalence of MetS followed by low high-density lipoproteins-cholesterol (HDL-C) and high triglyceride values. However, in females, low HDL-C and greater waist circumference contributed the maximum to MetS. Conclusion: In the present study, the young male doctors have a greater prevalence of MetS than the older and the females. MetS is still a significant public health problem in the educated population including those of doctors, especially the younger ones.Â

ANATOMICAL AND BIOCHEMICAL ASPECTS OF THEVETIA PERUVIANA L. A COMMONLY PLANTED ROADSIDE TROPICAL SHRUB OF BHUBANESWAR, ODISHA

Objective: Air pollution is one of the most severe environmental problems of developing cities which adversely affects both plant and human life. However, roadside plants in the urban locations help in reducing the pollution level from the air through foliar surface and act as pollution sink. In this work, an attempt was made to understand the impact of air pollution on urban roadside plants which act as bio indicator.Methods: A study was conducted to check the impact of urbanization on air pollution by analyzing anatomical and biochemical aspects of Thevetia peruviana L. For anatomical analysis, the transverse sections of leaves were observed under a microscope; whereas for biochemical analysis, the estimation of chlorophyll, carotenoid and protein were determined by spectrophotometric methods. On the other hand, antioxidant enzyme assays, as well as specific activity staining, were performed to study the antioxidant potential. To investigate the antioxidant activity of the leaf extracts, an assay for catalase (CAT), guaiacol peroxidase (GPX) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) were performed. Isoforms of CAT, GPX and SOD were separated using native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) and their activities were analyzed.Results: Analysis of data revealed that the anatomical disturbances significantly occurred in exposed plants of various sites. Among biochemical parameters, photosynthetic pigments such as chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, total chlorophyll and carotenoid content were found to be decreased. A maximum (7.65±0.51, 3.78±0.56,11.43±0.91, 5.63±0.55 mg/g, respectively) decrement was noticed in leaves of the Pokhariput plant in comparison to Khorda NH5 (19.44±1.08, 10.12±1.03, 29.56±2.32, 10.22±1.21 mg/g, respectively) which is taken as control one. To determine the effect of air pollution on proteins, leaf extracts were analyzed by the Lowry method and sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). The substantial decrement of total protein and alteration in polypeptides were noticed in polluted sites. Meanwhile, the enhancement of antioxidant enzyme activities such as CAT, GPX and SOD were also detected.Conclusion: The increment of antioxidant enzymes and alteration of proteins, suggesting the activation of defensive mechanisms in selected plants under air pollution stress and also the plants made physiological and biochemical adjustments to overcome the oxidative damage

Synergizing airborne non-terrestrial networks and reconfigurable intelligent surfaces-aided 6G IoT

On the one hand, Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (RISs) emerge as a promising solution to meet the demand for higher data rates, improved coverage, and efficient spectrum utilization. On the other hand, Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTNs) offer unprecedented possibilities for global connectivity. Moreover, the NTN can also support the upsurge in the number of Internet of Things (IoT) devices by providing reliable and ubiquitous connectivity. Although NTNs have shown promising results, there are several challenges associated with their usage, such as signal propagation delays, interference, security, etc. In this article, we have discussed the possibilities of integrating RIS with an NTN platform to overcome the issues associated with NTN. Furthermore, through experimental validation, we have demonstrated that the RIS-assisted NTN can play a pivotal role in improving the performance of the entire communication system

Synergizing Airborne Non-Terrestrial Networks and Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces-Aided 6G IoT

On the one hand, Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (RISs) emerge as a promising solution to meet the demand for higher data rates, improved coverage, and efficient spectrum utilization. On the other hand, Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTNs) offer unprecedented possibilities for global connectivity. Moreover, the NTN can also support the upsurge in the number of Internet of Things (IoT) devices by providing reliable and ubiquitous connectivity. Although NTNs have shown promising results, there are several challenges associated with their usage, such as signal propagation delays, interference, security, etc. In this article, we have discussed the possibilities of integrating RIS with an NTN platform to overcome the issues associated with NTN. Furthermore, through experimental validation, we have demonstrated that the RIS-assisted NTN can play a pivotal role in improving the performance of the entire communication system.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figure