Revisiting the empirical existence of the Phillips Curve for India

This paper revisits the empirical existence of the Phillips curve in the Indian context. To estimate the Phillips curve we need two variables – inflation and the output gap. In the case of India, incorrect measurement of both variables causes much difficulty in estimating the Phillipscurve. We use a non-linear Kalman filter approach to estimate the output gap and find that the Kalman filter estimate captures all the dynamics of the economy. Our results show that after taking supply shocks into consideration, there is clear evidence as to the existence of the Phillips curve in India for recent years.Kalman Filter; Output Gap; Inflation

Isolation, identification and screening of potential cellulase-free xylanase producing fungi

In order to isolate cellulase-free xylanase-producing fungi, screening and isolation of fungi was done using decaying wood, agricultural wastes and other lignocellulosic wastes as microbial source. Thirty (30) fungal species were selected for further analysis based upon clearing zones formation on xylan enriched agar plates. Submerged fermentation was done with 30 fungal isolates to identify strain that could produce highest amount of cellulase-free xylanase at a pH of 5.5 and at 28 ± 2°C temperature. Under screening conditions, 90% of the strains produced xylanase (6.6 to 495 U/ml) and negligible amount of cellulase ( 0.6 U/ml) with growth. Growth was determined in terms of mycelial dry weight which ranged between 0.6 to 2.34 mg/ml. The amount of soluble protein was also determined which ranged between 102 to 300 g/ml. The pH change after incubation was in between 5.0 to 8.0. Strain specific variability in xylanase production was confirmed in Aspergillus sp. and Penicillium sp. In addition, this study shows here that Rhizopus sp. can also produce xylanase under given conditions.Key words: Cellulase-free xylanase, xylan, xylanase, submerged fermentation, malt extract agar

Art and craft of episiotomy

Background: Episiotomy is the most common obstetric surgical procedure performed in labor room. Mediolateral and Midline episiotomies are the most common types. Post-delivery suture angle is the most important determinant factor which predicts the risk of anal sphincter injuries. Mediolateral episiotomy has a significantly lower risk of OASIS rate when compared to midline episiotomies. Aim of the study was to know whether mediolateral episiotomies are actually mediolateral and does the angle of episiotomy influences the risk of anal sphincter injuries, maternal/fetal complications in the perinatal period.Methods: An observational study was conducted on 250 postpartum patients admitted to our hospital. Details of episiotomy in relation to incision angle, length, depth and post suturing angle were noted within two days of delivery.Results: Among the subjects included there were 40.8 % incisions were RMLE, average length was 3.32cms, average suture angle is 28.69 degree. OASIS was seen in 19.5% cases more so with midline episiotomies.Conclusions: Episiotomy is an essential, must to know skill. Compulsory ssupervised clinical teaching and use of skill lab training can prevent potential detrimental consequences

Internet: A place for patent retrieval

Countries design patent laws according to their respective economic interest. Before one files intellectual property one should know the regimes under which his intellectual property is placed. Intellectual properties are always of intense debate. The basic reason for the controversies is due tolack of transdisciplinary approaches to address patent concepts. In this present mini-review, we are presenting some web links that will help any researcher to get acquainted with the rules and regulationof filling an intellectual property of some countries as internet is now viewed as the place form where retrieval of information is possible with in second

Extreme events enhance phytoplankton bloom in the south-western Bay of Bengal

253-258A study on MODIS (Moderate Resolution imaging Spectroradiometer)-derived chlorophyll-a concentration data was carried out for 12 years (2003 to 2014), to know the reasons for two episodic phytoplankton bloom events occurred in 2005 and 2013. During the month of December 2005 and 2013, magnitude of the production increased to two to three times of climatological value over the south-western Bay of Bengal region. Reasons for the bloom were examined with the available satellite resources and it was identified that the strong cyclonic eddy, with long residence time, caused the increase of the production. This production intensified when cyclones passed through or were close to the eddy. The vertical mixing enhanced (2013) when very severe cyclonic storms passed through or moved close to the eddy compared to depressions passing over it which caused further intensification of the primary production

The role of brush cytology in diagnosing lesions of biliary tract

Background: Biliary brushing during endoscopic retrograde cholangiography pancreatography (ERCP) helps in the diagnosis of lesions of biliary tract. We compared the cellular and diagnostic results of various samples taken from the stricture site with the help of brushings taken from stricture site. The aim of this study was to know the age and sex prevalence in subjects suffering from biliary tract lesions and to know the role of ERCP guided brush cytology smears in diagnosing various lesions of exrtrahepatic biliary tract.Methods: It is a hospital based study conducted in the Department of Pathology, Andhra Medical College. Brush cytology smears were obtained from twenty patients and cytological examinations was conducted. All the clinical details and investigation reports were collected.Results: The age group of patients in this study ranged from 30 to 75 years. The numbers of cases analyzed during this period were 20. The mean age of presentation was 55 years. Male: Female ratio was 3:2. Majority of these cases presented with obstructive jaundice. Brush cytology smears from distal bile duct showed malignant cells hence our study revealed distal bile duct is more vulnerable to malignancy. Among all the 20 cases, 12 cases (60%) were reported as cholangiocarcinoma and the remaining 8 cases (40%) were included under benign/reactive. Among benign/reactive lesions, one case showed Micro-filarial infestation with reactive atypia of cells.Conclusions: The current study was conducted to assess the relative accuracy of brush cytology for diagnosis of malignant biliary strictures

Vitamin D deficiency and its correlation with pregnancy outcome

Background: There is a growing concern about the high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency and its relationship with variety of diseases worldwide. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency and its association with pregnancy outcome.Methods: This was a cross sectional study conducted among 150 antenatal women from October 2014 to April 2015. Data containing socio-demographic details, vitamin D level, serum calcium, pregnancy complications and growth situation of newborns were collected and analyzed.Results: A total 150 pregnant women participated in the study, 75.3% were vitamin D deficient, 22.1% vitamin D insufficient and 2.6% normal. There was no significant adverse maternal outcome. NICU admission was required in 28.3 and 15.2% in the vitamin D deficient and insufficient groups respectively.Conclusions: Women from different socioeconomic status, irrespective of parity and educational levels had vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency. This study fails to show a relation of vitamin D deficiency with other high-risk factors of pregnancy and does not show any adverse fetal outcome

FPGA Implementation of Floating Point Reciprocator Using Binomial Expansion Method

Floating-point support has become a mandatory feature of new micro processors due to the prevalence of business, technical, and recreational applications that use these operations.  In these operations Floating-point division is generally regarded as a low frequency, high latency operation in typical floating-point applications. So due to this not much development had taken place in this field. But nowadays floating point divider has become indispensable and increasingly important in many scientific and signal processing applications.In this paper we implement floating point reciprocator for both single precision and double precision floating point numbers using FPGA. Here the implementation is based on the binomial expansion method. By comparing with previous works the modules occupy less area with a higher performance and less latency. The designs trade off either 1 unit in last-place (ulp) or 2 ulp of accuracy (for double or single precision respectively), without rounding, to obtain a better implementation

Etiological Role of Cytomegalovirus in Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus

Cytomegalovirus is a double stranded DNA virus belonging to herpes virus family. The infection once acquired persistslifelong. The transmission of cytomegalovirus infection from mother to child may occur either in utero or perinatally. The riskof transmission to the fetus as a function of gestation age is uncertain, but infection during early gestation carries a higher riskof severe fetal disease. The incidence of Type 1 diabetes mellitus is rising continuously all over the world and this may be dueto multiple factors. The role of cytomegalovirus in the etiology of diabetes mellitus is controversial. Here, we report a case of35 months female child having Type 1 diabetes mellitus with congenital cytomegalovirus disease

Two case reports of accessory cavitated uterine mass-diagnostic challenges

Accessory and cavitated uterine mass (ACUM) is a rare Mullerian duct anomaly of unknown incidence, affects young women. ACUM symptoms such as dysmenorrhea and chronic pelvic pain (CPP) resistant to common analgesics and hormonal contraceptives. Here we report two ACUM cases in our hospital within one year of period with different clinical manifestations. The idea behind reporting this-cases is to increase awareness of the above entity and for concurrent surgical treatment.