Burden of typhoid and paratyphoid fever in India.

BACKGROUND: In 2017, more than half the cases of typhoid fever worldwide were projected to have occurred in India. In the absence of contemporary population-based data, it is unclear whether declining trends of hospitalization for typhoid in India reflect increased antibiotic treatment or a true reduction in infection. METHODS: From 2017 through 2020, we conducted weekly surveillance for acute febrile illness and measured the incidence of typhoid fever (as confirmed on blood culture) in a prospective cohort of children between the ages of 6 months and 14 years at three urban sites and one rural site in India. At an additional urban site and five rural sites, we combined blood-culture testing of hospitalized patients who had a fever with survey data regarding health care use to estimate incidence in the community. RESULTS: A total of 24,062 children who were enrolled in four cohorts contributed 46,959 child-years of observation. Among these children, 299 culture-confirmed typhoid cases were recorded, with an incidence per 100,000 child-years of 576 to 1173 cases in urban sites and 35 in rural Pune. The estimated incidence of typhoid fever from hospital surveillance ranged from 12 to 1622 cases per 100,000 child-years among children between the ages of 6 months and 14 years and from 108 to 970 cases per 100,000 person-years among those who were 15 years of age or older. Salmonella enterica serovar Paratyphi was isolated from 33 children, for an overall incidence of 68 cases per 100,000 child-years after adjustment for age. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of typhoid fever in urban India remains high, with generally lower estimates of incidence in most rural areas. (Funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; NSSEFI Clinical Trials Registry of India number, CTRI/2017/09/009719; ISRCTN registry number, ISRCTN72938224.)

Evaluation and Treatment of Iron Deficiency Anemia: A Gastroenterological Perspective

A substantial volume of the consultations requested of gastroenterologists are directed towards the evaluation of anemia. Since iron deficiency anemia often arises from bleeding gastrointestinal lesions, many of which are malignant, establishment of a firm diagnosis usually obligates an endoscopic evaluation. Although the laboratory tests used to make the diagnosis have not changed in many decades, their interpretation has, and this is possibly due to the availability of extensive testing in key populations. We provide data supporting the use of the serum ferritin as the sole useful measure of iron stores, setting the lower limit at 100 μg/l for some populations in order to increase the sensitivity of the test. Trends of the commonly obtained red cell indices, mean corpuscular volume, and the red cell distribution width can provide valuable diagnostic information. Once the diagnosis is established, upper and lower gastrointestinal endoscopy is usually indicated. Nevertheless, in many cases a gastrointestinal source is not found after routine evaluation. Additional studies, including repeat upper and lower endoscopy and often investigation of the small intestine may thus be required. Although oral iron is inexpensive and usually effective, there are many gastrointestinal conditions that warrant treatment of iron deficiency with intravenous iron

A hierarchical algorithm for predicting the linear viscoelastic properties of polymer melts with long-chain branching

The “hierarchical model” proposed earlier [Larson in Macromolecules 34:4556–4571, 2001] is herein modified by inclusion of early time fluctuations and other refinements drawn from the theories of Milner and McLeish for more quantitative prediction. The hierarchical model predictions are then compared with experimental linear viscoelastic data of well-defined long chain branched 1,4-polybutadienes and 1,4-polyisoprenes using a single set of parameter values for each polymer, which are obtained from experimental data for monodisperse linear and star polymers. For a wide range of monodisperse branched polymer melts, the predictions of the hierarchical model for monodisperse melts are very similar to those of the Milner–McLeish theories, and agree well with experimental data for many, but not all, of the branched polymer samples. Since the modified hierarchical model accounts for arbitrary polydispersity in molecular weight and branching distributions, which is not accounted for in the Milner–McLeish theories, the hierarchical algorithm is a promising one for predicting the relaxation of general mixtures of branched polymers.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/47217/1/397_2004_Article_415.pd

Evaluation of epoxy underfill materials for solder flip-chip technology

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Status report on the parallelised version of NCMRWF forecast13; model on Flosolver

Detailed comparisons between the Cray output and the Flosolver output for 1-day' forecast using NCMRWF forecast model have been made. The calculations have been made both13; in single precision and double precision for a critical assessment of build up of rowld off error. The calculations show that there are no meteorologically significant differences between the outputs, the remaining difference may be ascribed to the differences in input, machine dependent features, library definition etc. and for practical purposes, single precision calculation is adequate13

NCMRWF Forecast Model: Implementing the recommendations of13; the review committee

Based on the recommendations of the Review Committee13; a double precision calculation for a one-day forecast using13; the parallelised version of .'JCMRWF Forecast Model has13; been made on Flosolver Mk3. The calculations show that13; there are no meteorologically significant differences between the Cray output Clnd the Flosolver output. The existing differences which are insignificant may be ascribed to the differ'ences in input, machine dependent features, library definitions etc

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Not AvailableRice is generally shows variable level of sensitivity to salinity during its developmental stages and remarkably sensitive during young seedling stage and early reproductive phase. Quantifying the level of salt tolerance based on salt stress indices is an effective method in identification of tolerant genotypes. In this study, the salt stress indices were used to identify best performing genotypes based on salt susceptibility indices (SSI) and salt response indices (SRI) as relevant parameters. Among the 39 genotypes studied, 29 showed better endurance to salt susceptibility indices, among them Pokkali, IR72132-AC-6-1 and IR70869-B-P-13-2 performed well with least SSI, which refers more tolerance with lesser yield reduction, whereas IR29 was vice-versa to the above. Genotypes IR72593-B-19-2-3-1, IR73104-B-1-1-3-2-1 and IR74802-3R-7-1-2 had a better performance with early flowering and highly responsive to salt stress with lower percent yield reduction. The phenotypic variation is higher than genotypic variation for all traits except for flowering duration and it indicates presence of variability for different traits. High heritability with variability, genetic advance and better salt stress indices indicates involvement of additive gene action and can be manipulated and utilized in further breeding program.Not Availabl