Training in Aura Reading: Results from a Small Quasi-Experimental Study in India (Research Note)

The aura is believed to be an invisible field surrounding the physical body, interpenetrating and extending beyond it. The present study examines whether appearance of an aura-like phenomenon around the hand can be perceived visually after a short training session. A quasi-experimental research design was employed with 47 participants with a mean age of 19 years. Results from before and after attempting to view an aura-like phenomenon around the hand were analyzed using Contingency Coefficient analysis. The results suggest that an aura-like phenomenon can be detected around the hand since the participants narrated several experiences that were novel (

Solar-type Stars Observed by LAMOST and Kepler

Obtaining measurements of chromospheric and photometric activity of stars with near-solar fundamental parameters and rotation periods is important for a better understanding of solar-stellar connection. We select a sample of 2603 stars with near-solar fundamental parameters from the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST)-Kepler field and use LAMOST spectra to measure their chromospheric activity and Kepler light curves to measure their photospheric activity (i.e., the amplitude of the photometric variability). While the rotation periods of 1556 of these stars could not be measured due to the low amplitude of the photometric variability and highly irregular temporal profile of light curves, 254 stars were further identified as having near-solar rotation periods. We show that stars with near-solar rotation periods have chromospheric activities that are systematically higher than stars with undetected rotation periods. Furthermore, while the solar level of photospheric and chromospheric activity appears to be typical for stars with undetected rotation periods, the Sun appears to be less active than most stars with near-solar rotation periods (both in terms of photospheric and chromospheric activity).Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure

Relatório de estágio em farmácia comunitária

Relatório de estágio realizado no âmbito do Mestrado Integrado em Ciências Farmacêuticas, apresentado à Faculdade de Farmácia da Universidade de Coimbr

Comparative analysis of various laboratory biomarkers based on the severity of COVID-19 in a tertiary care hospital in South India

COVID-19 (Corona Virus Disease 2019) was a life-changing pandemic with impact on social, environmental, health, and economic issues. Various inflammatory and hematological biomarkers studied individually or in combination in the literature have shown significant results with regard to COVID-19 pathology, severity, and prognosis. Yet the question of interest is how covid-19 inflammatory cascade impacts the interlink between the biomarkers during different stages. This study aims to retrospectively analyse ferritin, albumin, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), total bilirubin, direct bilirubin, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine, D-dimer, Lactate Dehydrogenase (LDH), C Reactive Protein (CRP) and Interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels between two groups based on COVID-19 severity.  A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted with laboratory data of COVID-19 patients admitted at Sri Ramachandra Medical College Hospital, India. The sample size was 104 [Group1: severe disease, n=52; Group-2: mild disease, n=52]. After normality testing, data were compared between the two groups followed by correlation analysis between the variables. A p<0.05 was considered statistically significant. On comparison, Group 2 (severe COVID-19 disease) showed significant difference in the levels of all the biomarkers (p<0.005) except Creatinine (p<0.128) when compared with Group 1 (mild COVID-19 disease). Significant correlation was obtained between all biomarkers (p<0.005) except creatinine. The correlation analysis primarily explains the inflammatory cascade involved in disease. Ferritin appears to have a standalone effect on disease severity, progression, organ dysfunction. This understanding can be used to provide better and more timely care

RICE: A Reliable and Efficient Remote Instrumentation Collaboration Environment

Remote access of scientific instruments over the Internet (i.e., remote instrumentation) demand high-resolution (2D and 3D) video image transfers with simultaneous real-time mouse and keyboard controls. Consequently, user quality of experience (QoE) is highly sensitive to network bottlenecks. Further, improper user control while reacting to impaired video caused due to network bottlenecks could result in physical damages to the expensive instrument equipment. Hence, it is vital to understand the interplay between (a) user keyboard/mouse actions toward the instrument, and (b) corresponding network reactions for transfer of instrument video images toward the user. In this paper, we first present an analytical model for characterizing user and network interplay during remote instrumentation sessions in terms of demand and supply interplay principles of traditional economics. Next, we describe the trends of the model parameters using subjective and objective measurements obtained from QoE experiments. Thereafter, we describe our Remote Instrumentation Collaboration Environment (RICE) software that leverages our experiences from the user and network interplay studies, and has functionalities that facilitate reliable and efficient remote instrumentation such as (a) network health awareness to detect network bottleneck periods, and (b) collaboration tools for multiple participants to interact during research and training sessions