Web Site Productivity Measurement Using Single Task Size Measure

We propose a web site productivity measure using the average time taken by the proficient user takes in carrying out a transaction on a website to the total usage time of a web site. The total usage time of a web site depends on the size of the web site and bandwidth, the total time needed to use the information and other time factors. If productivity measurement of a web site delivers an expected productivity value in-between zero to one, then it indicates poor quality and the website needs to be redesigned, otherwise, if the value is bigger than one, which indicates higher expected productivity, then no need of updating. In this paper, we propose a productivity measurement method for web services. Finally, we demonstrate an example of its role for business to consumer web services using the new productivity measurement method

ASSESSMENT OF SUSTAINABILITY INDICATORS OF TWO GAS- TURBINE PLANTS WITH NAPHTHA AND NAPHTHA-RFG MIXTURE AS FUELS

To enhance sustainability of any energy system exergy based sustainability indicators (exergy efficiency, waste exergy ratio, environmental effect factor and exergetic sustainability index) are used. In the present paper sustainability aspects of two GT based power plant are carried out using sustainability indicators. For this purpose, two GT1) configurations, case A (Naphtha based GT power plant) and case B (Naphtha-Residual fuel gas mixture GT 2) are taken up as case study. Results show that exergetic sustainability index obtained as for case A is higher as compared to case B

Status of subclinical mastitis in lactating cows of selected dairy farms in Bangladesh and farmers’ understanding of mastitis

Background: Subclinical mastitis, a disease that is economically important to dairy cows, affects milk production. Management of udder health is an essential element in the process of safe milk production. Consumption of milk with a high somatic cell count (SCC) may also pose a health risk to humans. Objectives. We aimed to evaluate the SCC method for the detection of SCM in dairy cows and to assess farmers’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards mastitis detection and control. Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted to evaluate the current status of subclinical mastitis (SCM) in lactating dairy cows. The research work was also designed to assess farmers’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices about bovine mastitis. A total of 320 milk samples from 80 lactating cows were collected for physical examination and tested for subclinical mastitis using SCC. Results. Out of 80 lactating cows examined, 53 (66%, 95% CI: 55-76%) cows were diagnosed with subclinical mastitis. The average cow level SCC per ml of milk was 503101. According to the farmers’ self-report, 100% of farms practiced hand milking and 100% of milkmen washed their hands before milking. The majority of farms (90%) had brick floors. Most of the farmers (70%) knew about screening for subclinical mastitis. However, they never performed screening to detect subclinical mastitis. Conclusion. The high prevalence of SCM in dairy raised significant concerns about farm management, personal hygiene and biosecurity practices. Further study is needed to identify the etiologies of SCM and its associated risk factors

Wavelet Transform Based Ball Bearing Fault Detection Scheme for Heavy Duty Mining Electrical Motors under Supply Frequency Regulation using MCSA

Most heavy duty mining electrical drives employ squirrel cage induction motors (SCIMs) which are subjected to various undesirable stresses. Therefore, condition monitoring of the SCIMs is indispensable for achieving production goals with minimum downtime in a fault-free working environment. Because bearing damage is the most frequently occurring fault in SCIMs, an effective fault detection scheme will aid in achieving production targets in an industrial mining scenario. In this regard, the present work intends to propose an effective fault monitoring algorithm, which is immune to supply frequency regulation, for the detection of ball bearing damage in an SCIM. Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) is used for the design of the fault detection scheme. Validation of the proposed scheme is done in a LabVIEW based laboratory interface. The complete analysis is carried out in MATLAB/ Simulink using a 5.5 kW, 3-phase, 415 V, 50 Hz SCIM

Loco-regionally advance breast cancer: evaluation of management of breast cancer with special reference to multimodal approach

Background: Breast cancer is one of the most common human neoplasms, accounting for approximately one-quarter of all cancers in females worldwide and 27% of cancers in developed countries with a western lifestyle. The aims of this study were to evaluate the management of loco-regionally advanced carcinoma of breast with special reference to multimodal approach.Methods: The study was conducted on patients with loco-regionally advanced carcinoma of breast, reporting for treatment in a large multi-specialty teaching institute. All patients of stage IIIB were initially treated with neo-adjuvant (induction) chemotherapy (3 cycles), except 4 patients in the study group offered surgery as initial treatment because of small tumor size with limited peu’d orange change in the skin. After this treatment all patients were reassessed with a thorough clinical examination and restaging work upto detect the response of the chemotherapy. All patients who achieved objective response (complete + partial) were offered surgery, followed by CT and RT.Results: About 60% of the patients were in stage IIIB and 32% in stage IIIA. Majority of the tumors were in T4 category (64%). In 28% cases ipsilateral fixed lymph nodes were found. Histopathological examination revealed 76% (38) patients with infiltrating duct carcinoma, 4 patients (8%) had comedo carcinoma, 2 patients (4%) had lobular carcinoma, 2 patients (4%) had medullary carcinoma and 4 patients (8%) had mucinous carcinoma. Both nonresponsive (NR) and disease progression (DP) patients were in stage III B group. About 76.9% patients of stage IIIB (20) achieved partial response. Only 1 patient (33.3%) developed local recurrence after 10 months of completion of treatment. Median disease free survival (DFS) period of this group is 30.2 months. Recurrence rate is stage IIIA patients was 27.7% and in stage IIIB 37.5%. Maximum numbers of disease free patients were found in T3N1 group (85.7%). Patient with N2 and T4 disease chances of recurrence was more than N1 and T3 lesions.Conclusions: Patients with LBAC who are able to complete treatment with chemotherapy, mastectomy, and postmastectomy radiation have a high probability of locoregional control. Neo-adjuvant chemotherapy can make inoperable locally advanced breast cancer operable and with the use of neo-adjuvant CT, breast conservation surgery is possible even in locally advanced breast cancer. Use of post-operative CT and RT can increase the disease free survival period. Use of multimodal treatment in the form of CT, surgery and radiotherapy can increase the disease free survival period in locally advanced breast cancer. The advent of successful multimodal regimens incorporating systemic treatment (chemotherapy or chemohormonal therapy) as well as local therapy (surgery and radiation) has significantly improved disease-free and overall survival as well as local-regional control. Longer follow-up of these conservatively treated patients will be needed, however, to determine whether local-regional control is preserved

A study of nutritional assessment of newly diagnosed tuberculosis patients in a tertiary care hospital of Tripura, India

Background: Tuberculosis kills more than any infection in India. TB is a serious public health problem in India. Tuberculosis causes immense morbidity. The mortality rate of this disease is also very high. Tuberculosis causes a great distress to the patients. To control this infection is a challenge to the health care facility of India. A lot of steps are being taken at various levels to end this disease. Still a huge number of patients are dying everyday from these deadly diseases. Out of so many recognised risk factors, malnutrition is considered to be as one of the most important among them. The immunity of a malnourished patient is suppressed. When the patient’s immunity is ineffective, the conversion of latent tuberculosis to diseases happens. Malnutrition invites tuberculosis and tuberculosis again causes morbidity, so there is a complex relation between this two. Malnutrition and tuberculosis are both problems of considerable magnitude in most of the underdeveloped regions of the world.Methods: In this cross sectional hospital based study involving 400 newly diagnosed Tuberculosis cases were taken. Their nutritional status was measured by BMI.Results: It was found that 66% of the study population is having malnutrition (BMI <18.5kg/m2). Malnutrition was more in females (71%). Mean BMI is 17.9Kg/m2. Mean height of the population is 1.53 meters.Conclusions: Nutritional supplementation may represent a novel approach for fast recovery in tuberculosis patients. In addition, raising nutritional status of population may prove to be an effective measure to control tuberculosis in underdeveloped areas of world. This study has demonstrated that half of newly diagnosed adult TB patients were malnourished at the time of starting treatment, with more than a quarter having moderate to severe malnutrition

AN LC-MS/MS BASED BIOANALYTICAL APPROACH TO RESOLVE PHARMACOKINETIC INVESTIGATION OF ACOTIAMIDE HYDROCHLORIDE AND ITS APPLICATION TO BIOEQUIVALENCE STUDY

Objective: Acotiamide, a prokinetic drug used to treat Functional Dyspepsia, which acts by modulating gastric motility. However, in this present study, a simple and accurate bioanalytical method was developed for the estimation of Acotiamide in human plasma using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) and validated according to US-FDA guideline. Methods: The method was developed in blank human blood plasma; propranolol was used as internal standard (IS). Protein Precipitation technique was followed for the extraction of the drug from the plasma sample. In liquid chromatography, the C18 analytical column (50 x 3 mm, particle size-5 μm) was used; as a mobile phase, 0.1% formic acid in Mili Q water, and ACN with methanol (1:1) used, at 0.50 ml/min flow rate. Detection was done by positive electrospray ionization (ESI) with a run time of 7 min in multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode. Eight calibration concentrations were taken, ranging from 1.5625-200 ng/ml for Acotiamide. Different stability studies were performed and obtained results found within the acceptable range. Moreover, a comparative pharmacokinetic analysis was done in 24 healthy human volunteers in a single dose, randomized, crossover study. Results: The precursor to production reaction was; m/z 451.200 → 271.200 for Acotiamide and m/z 260.300 → 116.100 m/z for IS. The obtained calibration curve was linear, with a mean r2value 0.9953. Among the pharmacokinetic parameters, Cmax and Tmax were 25.71±2.31,23.61±2.32 ng/ml; 2.54±0.12, 2.43±0.21 h for reference and test samples, respectively. Conclusion: No major adverse events were noted in the clinical phase, the developed method was accurate and linear; obtained pharmacokinetic parameters hence represented

Evaluating adherence to government recommendations for post-exposure rabies vaccine among animal-bite victims: A hospital-based study in Bangladesh.

Rabies is a fatal but preventable zoonotic disease with an approximately 100% case fatality rate. The most common way to contract rabies is through the bite of a rabid animal. Post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) by vaccination and/or immunoglobulin therapy is the most effective measure for rabies prevention. The effectiveness of vaccination depends on the level of completion of vaccination. In Bangladesh, no previous studies were conducted to evaluate adherence to government recommendations for post-exposure rabies vaccine among animal-bite cases. We conducted a cross-sectional study to collect information about adherence to government recommendations for post-exposure rabies vaccine. A total of 457 animal bite victims were selected to collect data and follow up after one month of enrollment. The majority of participants (58%, n = 265, 95% CI: 53-63%) had a history of animal bites. Most of the participants (77%) were advised to receive three doses of vaccine and 100% of them completed 3-dose of vaccine. Among the 4-dose recommended group of participants (n = 105), 78% completed full vaccination. Of the 457 participants, 20% received post-exposure vaccine on the day of bite/scratch and the majority of the participants (66%, n = 303, 95% CI: 62-71%) received post-exposure vaccine on the day between the first and third day of bite or scratch. Increasing awareness of the importance of timely vaccination is the key to reducing the time gap between animal bites and intake of the first dose post-exposure vaccine

Constraints on Astro-unparticle Physics from SN 1987A

SN 1987A observations have been used to place constraints on the interactions between standard model particles and unparticles. In this study we calculate the energy loss from the supernovae core through scalar, pseudo scalar, vector, pseudo vector unparticle emission from nuclear bremsstrahlung for degenerate nuclear matter interacting through one pion exchange. In order to examine the constraints on $d_{\cal U}=1$ we considered the emission of scalar, pseudo scalar, vector, pseudo vector and tensor through the pair annihilation process $e^+e^-\to {\cal U} \gamma$. In addition we have re-examined other pair annihilation processes. The most stringent bounds on the dimensionless coupling constants for $d_{\cal U} =1$ and $\Lambda_{\cal U}= m_Z$ are obtained from nuclear bremsstrahlung process for the pseudo scalar and pseudo-vector couplings $\bigl|\lambda^{\cal P}_{0,1}\bigr|\leq 4\times 10^{-11}$ and for tensor interaction, the best limit on dimensionless coupling is obtained from $e^+ e^-\to {\cal U} \gamma$ and we get $\bigl|\lambda^{\cal T}\bigr| \leq 6\times 10^{-6}$.Comment: 12 pages, 2 postscript figure