Comparative study of effectiveness and safety of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in patients of knee joint osteoarthritis of knee, tertiary care hospital, Bidar, India

Background: Osteoarthritis (OA) is a joint failure and OA is the most frequent chronic joint disease causing pain and disability. Where all the structures of joints have undergone pathological changes and they are hyaline articular cartilage loss which may be focal or non-uniform, initially it will be focal then spread all over non-uniformly. Non-Steroidal Anti Inflammatory Drugs (NSAID) are the mainstay of medical management of OA. Increased in reports suggests that GIT adverse effect with old NSAID’s and cardiovascular effects with selective cyclooxygenase-2 (COX2) inhibitors had precipitated to chase for better NSAID’s with minimal adverse effects. The current study compares the clinical effectiveness and safety of newer NSAID’s, etoricoxib, lornoxicam, to diclofenac which has been standard therapy in patients of OA of the knee joint.Methods: The current study is randomized, prospective, open-label, parallel group study conducted in 120 patients with OA of the knee joint diagnosed using American College of Rheumatology criteria. After getting the informed consent, they were randomized in three groups of 40 patients each who received tablet etoricoxib 120mg BID, tablet Lornoxicam 16mg BID, tablet diclofenac 50mg TID respectively. The duration of the study is 12 weeks. Data are calculated, tabulated and analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) test, and level of significance was determined by its P value.Results: After 12weeks of treatment, the severity of pain and functional indices using visual analog scale and Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis score were significantly better (P <0.05) in etoricoxib group as compared to lornoxicam or diclofenac group along with a lesser rate of adverse effects.Conclusions: It is concluded that etoricoxib is more effective and tolerated NSAID than lornoxicam and diclofenac in the treatment of knee joint OA

The Geometry of PSR B0031-07

PSR B0031-07 is well known to exhibit three different modes of drifting sub-pulses (mode A, B and C). It has recently been shown that in a multifrequency observation, consisting of 2700 pulses, all driftmodes were visible at low frequencies, while at 4.85 GHz only mode-A drift or non-drifting emission was detected. This suggests that modes A and B are emitted in sub-beams, rotating at a fixed distance from the magnetic axis, with the mode-B sub-beams being closer to the magnetic axis than the mode-A sub-beams. Diffuse emission between the sub-beams can account for the non-drifting emission. Using the results of an analysis of simultaneous multifrequency observations of PSR B0031-07, we set out to construct a geometrical model that includes emission from both sub-beams and diffuse emission and describes the regions of the radio emission of PSR B0031-07 at each emission frequency for driftmodes A and B. Based on the vertical spacing between driftbands, we have determined the driftmode of each sequence of drift. To restrict the model, we calculated average polarisation and intensity characteristics for each driftmode and at each frequency. The model reproduces the observed polarisation and intensity characteristics, suggesting that diffuse emission plays an important role in the emission properties of PSR B0031-07. The model further suggests that the emission heights of this pulsar range from a few kilometers to a little over 10 kilometers above the pulsar surface. We also find that the relationships between height and frequency of emission that follow from curvature radiation and from plasma-frequency emission could not be used to reproduce the observed frequency dependence of the width of the average intensity profiles.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures, 8 tables, accepted for publication in A&

Small error algorithms for tropical group testing

We consider a version of the classical group testing problem motivated by PCR testing for COVID-19. In the so-called tropical group testing model, the outcome of a test is the lowest cycle threshold (Ct) level of the individuals pooled within it, rather than a simple binary indicator variable. We introduce the tropical counterparts of three classical non-adaptive algorithms (COMP, DD and SCOMP), and analyse their behaviour through both simulations and bounds on error probabilities. By comparing the results of the tropical and classical algorithms, we gain insight into the extra information provided by learning the outcomes (Ct levels) of the tests. We show that in a limiting regime the tropical COMP algorithm requires as many tests as its classical counterpart, but that for sufficiently dense problems tropical DD can recover more information with fewer tests, and can be viewed as essentially optimal in certain regimes

Women empowerment through green mussel (Perna viridis) farming : Focus on Kerala

Mussel farming is one of the best ideas for the utilisation of natural resources as well as human resources in a sustainable manner. It is an activity with potential to empower women by giving them a chance to earn additional income for their family, thereby making them self-reliant. Thus, looking at the larger picture mussel farming could bring about an improvement in the socio-economic condition of families in the coastal States of India. Additionally, it also ensures production of healthy and protein rich food for the consumers

An overview of municipal solid waste management in Jaipur city, India - Current status, challenges and recommendations

In developing countries, urbanization and rapid population growth has resulted in a substantial increase in generation of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW). Safe collection, transportation and treatment of MSW are among the major issues for Indian cities. Poor MSW management practices have negative impact on public health, environment and climate change. India currently only treats 21% of MSW while the remainder disposed in unsanitary landfill sites with no recycling and treatment technologies. This paper reviews the existing MSW management practices, challenges and provides recommendations for improving MSW management for the city of Jaipur in Rajasthan, India. Despite being the state capital as well as the top tourist destination in northern part of India, there is no detailed study which reviews the waste management strategies of this city along with identifying the key challenges. The study reveals that the major challenges for MSW management in Jaipur include uncontrolled landfilling, inadequate public participation as well as failings of implementation of MSW legislation and waste conversion. Recommendations for improvement include public awareness campaigns, public-private partnership, investment in lined landfills, recycling and waste to energy techniques. Optimization models and life cycle assessment tools should be employed to minimize cost and the environmental impact of MSW management. This study will provide policy makers and private sector stakeholders to develop strategies for future planning, investment and execution of improved MSW management in Indian cities

Spatial variability in sea surface temperature and wind-driven coastal upwelling along the southwest coast of India

The coastal environment along the southwest coast of India is influenced by seasonal wind-driven coastal upwelling. The trend of upwelling index (UI) and sea surface temperature (SST) along the southwest coast of India during 1988-2015 were analysed in this study. In order to understand the spatial variation in SST and UI, the entire southwest coast of India was divided into three strata viz. stratum_1 (ST_1, southern part), stratum_2 (ST_2, middle part) and stratum_3 (ST_3, northern part). Temporal analyses of these parameters were carried out for three seasons such as monsoon (June-September), post-monsoon (OctoberJanuary) and pre-monsoon (February-May). In addition to seasonal changes in upwelling, large-scale latitudinal differences in upwelling were observed during this study, which is associated with spatial differences in coastal topography. The upwelling index along stratum_3 has increased after 1995 compared to previous period. Both SST and UI exhibited spatial variation along southwest coast of India. Eventhough, UI is higher during the summer monsoon compared to other seasons, a declining trend in UI during the summer monsoon was found from 1988 to 2015

Improving resistance of austenitic stainless steel to irradiation damage

It is believed that the addition of oversized solute atoms disturbs the process of recombination, agglomeration, and migration of point defects during irradiation process and thereby alters radiation damage, including radiation induced segregation. In this study, austenitic stainless steel (SS) 316 samples with different Ce content (0.00, 0.01, 0.04 and 0.09 wt% Ce) were irradiated using 4.8 MeV protons at 300°C to the total fluence of 9.724×1017 p/cm2. Irradiated samples were characterized using double-loop electrochemical potentiokinetic reactivation (DL-EPR) technique for the extent of RIS due to proton irradiation. It was found that the sample with 0.04 wt% Ce content showed the lowest EPR value, as measured by DL-EPR. It was also noticed that the slip lines were get preferentially attacked vis-à-vis grain boundaries. SS 316 Ce 0.09 wt% sample did not have any slip-lines and attack during the DL-EPR was confined to grain boundaries and few pitlike structures were noticed during AFM examinations

Book of Abstracts & Lead Articles The Second International Symposium Remote Sensing for Ecosystem Analysis and Fisheries

SAFARI (Societal Applications in Fisheries and Aquaculture using Remotely-Sensed Imagery) is an initiative which provides a forum for coordination, at the international level, of activities in global fisheries research and management. The forum is open to all interested parties, including policy makers, research scientists, government managers, and those involved in the fishing industries. SAFARI organizes international workshops and symposia as a platform to discuss the latest research in Earth observation and fisheries management, information sessions aimed at the fisheries industry, government officials and resource managers, representation at policy meetings, and producing publications relevant to the activities. SAFARI gains worldwide attention through collaboration with other international networks, such as ChloroGIN (Chlorophyll Global Integrated Network), IOCCG (International Ocean-Colour Coordinating Group), POGO (Partnership for Observation of the Global Oceans) and the oceans and society: Blue Planet Initiative of the intergovernmental organization, the Group on Earth Observations (GEO)