Spontaneous subarachnoid haemorrhage due to coarctation of aorta and intraspinal collaterals : a rare presentation

The occurrence of spontaneous subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) in association with coarctation of thoracic aorta and absence of intracranial aneurysm is a rare association. In spontaneous SAH, the predominant cause is intracranial aneurysmal rupture. This report describes a case of a 40 year-old male who presented with SAH and was incidentally diagnosed to have coarctation of aorta (CoA) with intraspinal collaterals on further work up. This case demonstrates the importance of detailed evaluation of patients with spontaneous SAH on whom common aetiologies have been ruled out.peer-reviewe

Discovering Higher-order SNP Interactions in High-dimensional Genomic Data

In this thesis, a multifactor dimensionality reduction based method on associative classification is employed to identify higher-order SNP interactions for enhancing the understanding of the genetic architecture of complex diseases. Further, this thesis explored the application of deep learning techniques by providing new clues into the interaction analysis. The performance of the deep learning method is maximized by unifying deep neural networks with a random forest for achieving reliable interactions in the presence of noise

Exponential Krylov time integration for modeling multi-frequency optical response with monochromatic sources

Light incident on a layer of scattering material such as a piece of sugar or white paper forms a characteristic speckle pattern in transmission and reflection. The information hidden in the correlations of the speckle pattern with varying frequency, polarization and angle of the incident light can be exploited for applications such as biomedical imaging and high-resolution microscopy. Conventional computational models for multi-frequency optical response involve multiple solution runs of Maxwell's equations with monochromatic sources. Exponential Krylov subspace time solvers are promising candidates for improving efficiency of such models, as single monochromatic solution can be reused for the other frequencies without performing full time-domain computations at each frequency. However, we show that the straightforward implementation appears to have serious limitations. We further propose alternative ways for efficient solution through Krylov subspace methods. Our methods are based on two different splittings of the unknown solution into different parts, each of which can be computed efficiently. Experiments demonstrate a significant gain in computation time with respect to the standard solvers.Comment: 22 pages, 4 figure

Effects of pressure suit and race on functional reach, static and dynamic strength

In the design of any manual workspace, it is important for the designers to have access to data that can illustrate reach capabilities under real-time work situation. Wearing bulky clothing (pressure suit) and protective restraints (seat or shoulder harness belts) is often mandatory in high acceleration work environments. Clothing and personal equipment worn can influence the functional reach and strength values since they add to the body size. The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of wearing a VKK-6M pressure suit on functional reach limitations and strength values. The technology of incorporating body dimensions into cockpit design primarily evolved in western countries and therefore the only datasets available is of Caucasians. When designing equipment for populations other than westerners, western anthropometric data is inappropriate. In this thesis a representative sample of Caucasian and Asian Indian population are chosen and their reach envelopes are compared. Subjects reach and strength data are collected with and without-suit and analyzed to see the effect of pressure suit on reach and strength. The study concludes that wearing pressure suit reduces the average reach significantly (at alpha = 0.05). The 5th percentile Asian Indian and Caucasian reach envelopes are derived for placement of critical cockpit controls. Race-reach study showed a significant difference in shoulder breadth of Caucasians and Asian Indians (at alpha = 0.05), but no apparent relationship between bideltoid breadth and thumb tip reach was found. The study on significance of wearing pressure suit on strengths (at alpha = 0.05) concluded, suit does not affect static or dynamic strength

Study of the obstetric outcome of breech presentation in pregnancy in a tertiary hospital in a rural area in Telangana, India

Background: The present study was undertaken to study the incidence, aetiology and obstetric outcome of breech presentation in pregnancy in a teaching hospital in a rural area.Methods: The present retrospective observational study was conducted in the department of obstetrics and gynaecology at Bhaskar Medical College and Bhaskar General Hospital, Yenkepally, Telangana from May 2014 to March 2017. 50 cases of breech presentation were included in the study. Demographic data like age, parity, gestational age of first detection of breech, aetiological factors of breech, mode of delivery, neonatal outcome were noted from case records.Results: The incidence of breech was 1.4% in pregnancies attending Bhaskar general hospital. 74% were in the age group of 20-24yrs & 20% were in the age group of 25-29yrs. Primis accounted for 62% of the study group. Common etiologies of breech presentation were oligohydramnios (28%) and uterine anomalies (28%). No obvious fetal anomalies were noted. Majority (96%) of cases were delivered by caesarean section for breech associated with oligohydramnios, gestational hypertension, intrauterine fetal growth restriction and preterm. Neonatal outcome was good in breech delivered by caesarean section.Conclusions: Breech delivery is a high risk pregnancy with adverse fetal outcomes during pregnancy and labour. Though caesarean section for breech presentation is not universally recommended, caesarean section can reduce the perinatal mortality and morbidity compared to vaginal birth for term breech pregnancy. Mode of delivery should be decided based on the case and obstetrician’s skill

An associative classification based approach for detecting SNP-SNP interactions in high dimensional genome

There have been many studies that depict genotype phenotype relationships by identifying genetic variants associated with a specific disease. Researchers focus more attention on interactions between SNPs that are strongly associated with disease in the absence of main effect. In this context, a number of machine learning and data mining tools are applied to identify the combinations of multi-locus SNPs in higher order data.However, none of the current models can identify useful SNPSNP interactions for high dimensional genome data. Detecting these interactions is challenging due to bio-molecular complexities and computational limitations. The goal of this research was to implement associative classification and study its effectiveness for detecting the epistasis in balanced and imbalanced datasets. The proposed approach was evaluated for two locus epistasis interactions using simulated data. The datasets were generated for 5 different penetrance functions by varying heritability, minor allele frequency and sample size. In total, 23,400 datasets were generated and several experiments are conducted to identify the disease causal SNP interactions. The accuracy of classification by the proposed approach wascompared with the previous approaches. Though associative classification showed only relatively small improvement in accuracy for balanced datasets, it outperformed existing approaches in higher order multi-locus interactions in imbalanced datasets

Analytical modeling of light transport in scattering materials with strong absorption

We have investigated the transport of light through slabs that both scatter and strongly absorb, a situation that occurs in diverse application fields ranging from biomedical optics, powder technology, to solid-state lighting. In particular, we study the transport of light in the visible wavelength range between $420$ and $700$ nm through silicone plates filled with YAG:Ce$^{3+}$ phosphor particles, that even re-emit absorbed light at different wavelengths. We measure the total transmission, the total reflection, and the ballistic transmission of light through these plates. We obtain average single particle properties namely the scattering cross-section $\sigma_s$, the absorption cross-section $\sigma_a$, and the anisotropy factor $\mu$ using an analytical approach, namely the P3 approximation to the radiative transfer equation. We verify the extracted transport parameters using Monte-Carlo simulations of the light transport. Our approach fully describes the light propagation in phosphor diffuser plates that are used in white LEDs and that reveal a strong absorption ($L/\ell_{\mathrm{a}} > 1$) up to $L/\ell_{\mathrm{a}} = 4$, where $L$ is the slab thickness, $\ell_{\mathrm{a}}$ is the absorption mean free path. In contrast, the widely used diffusion theory fails to describe this parameter range. Our approach is a suitable analytical tool for industry, since it provides a fast yet accurate determination of key transport parameters, and since it introduces predictive power into the design process of white light emitting diodes

Uniform line fillings

Deterministic fabrication of random metamaterials requires filling of a space with randomly oriented and randomly positioned chords with an on-average homogenous density and orientation, which is a nontrivial task. We describe a method to generate fillings with such chords, lines that run from edge to edge of the space, in any dimension. We prove that the method leads to random but on-average homogeneous and rotationally invariant fillings of circles, balls and arbitrary-dimensional hyperballs from which other shapes such as rectangles and cuboids can be cut. We briefly sketch the historic context of Bertrand's paradox and Jaynes' solution by the principle of maximum ignorance. We analyse the statistical properties of the produced fillings, mapping out the density profile and the line-length distribution and comparing them to analytic expressions. We study the characteristic dimensions of the space in between the chords by determining the largest enclosed circles and balls in this pore space, finding a lognormal distribution of the pore sizes. We apply the algorithm to the direct-laser-writing fabrication design of optical multiple-scattering samples as three-dimensional cubes of random but homogeneously positioned and oriented chords.Comment: 10 pages, 12 figures; v3: restructured paper, more references, more graph

Enhancing Productivity in Rice-Based Cropping Systems

In India, the rice-based cropping system is a major food production system with rice as the first food crop. The cereal-based cropping system is low-yielding and highly nutrient exhaustive resulting in the declining of soil fertility. Summer/pre kharif fallowing leaves on the land fallow for entire season and production of the cropping system is declined. Hence, crops that can improve the fertility status should be included in the cropping system. Development of short duration thermal insensitive rice varieties has encouraged multiple cropping involving a wide range of crops. Diversification of rice-based cropping systems with inclusion of pulses/legumes and oilseeds in summer fallows is one of the options for horizontal expansion, as they are known to improve soil organic matter through biological nitrogen fixation, root exudates, leaf shedding and higher below ground biomass. The strategy for higher yields in the cropping system should be formulated using the combined application of organics, inorganics and biofertilizers coupled with the inclusion of crops in summer fallows for sustainable yields and preservation of soil health

Effect of nanoparticles addition on the properties of polyurethane

This research is aimed at analyzing the properties of polyurethane nanocomposites, before and after cryogenic exposure. Graphene and Cloisite 30B were chosen as filler materials and the main purpose of adding these fillers is to improve the barrier properties. Clay was added to the hard segment while the graphene was added to the soft segment of polyurethane matrix. The nanocomposites with single-additive and with dual-additives were prepared by incorporating different concentrations of graphene and clay into polyurethane. These samples were then characterized using DSC, DMA and SEM. Instron machine was utilized to measure the tensile properties. The focus was on comparing the influence of using one-additive and two-additives on polyurethane and investigating the degradation of the nanocomposites due to initial cryogenic exposure. The results indicated that the uniform dispersion of the fillers led to an increase in glass transition temperature, stiffness and tensile modulus of the composites while the agglomeration at higher loading decreased these properties. When exposed to cryogenic temperatures, micro-cracks were seen in samples with higher loading of clay while there was no considerable change noticed in all the properties denoting the suitability of polyurethane composites for cryogenic applications. To assess the gas permeability characteristics of the composites an instrument was designed adhering to standard test method documented in ASTM D-1434(15)