An Improved Scheduling Algorithm for Traveling Tournament Problem with Maximum Trip Length Two

The Traveling Tournament Problem(TTP) is a combinatorial optimization problem where we have to give a scheduling algorithm which minimizes the total distance traveled by all the participating teams of a double round-robin tournament maintaining given constraints. Most of the instances of this problem with more than ten teams are still unsolved. By definition of the problem the number of teams participating has to be even. There are different variants of this problem depending on the constraints. In this problem, we consider the case where number of teams is a multiple of four and a team can not play more than two consecutive home or away matches. Our scheduling algorithm gives better result than the existing best result for number of teams less or equal to 32

Chrisimos: A useful Proof-of-Work for finding Minimal Dominating Set of a graph

Hash-based Proof-of-Work (PoW) used in the Bitcoin Blockchain leads to high energy consumption and resource wastage. In this paper, we aim to re-purpose the energy by replacing the hash function with real-life problems having commercial utility. We propose Chrisimos, a useful Proof-of-Work where miners are required to find a minimal dominating set for real-life graph instances. A miner who is able to output the smallest dominating set for the given graph within the block interval time wins the mining game. We also propose a new chain selection rule that ensures the security of the scheme. Thus our protocol also realizes a decentralized minimal dominating set solver for any graph instance. We provide formal proof of correctness and show via experimental results that the block interval time is within feasible bounds of hash-based PoW.Comment: 20 pages, 3 figures. An abridged version of the paper got accepted in The International Symposium on Intelligent and Trustworthy Computing, Communications, and Networking (ITCCN-2023) held in conjunction with the 22nd IEEE International Conference on Trust, Security and Privacy in Computing and Communications (TrustCom-2023

Prevalence and Factors Associated with Overweight/Obesity in Adolescent School Girls: A Cross-Sectional Study in Kolkata, India

Overweight and obesity in adolescent girls are considered a leading global public health issues in recent times. There is a need to evaluate the potential socioeconomic and behavioural factors behind adolescents’ overweight and obesity in different environmental settings. The present study aims to understand the prevalence of overweight and obesity among urban adolescent school girls and to determine the association between selected socioeconomic and behavioural factors and overweight/obesity. This is a cross-sectional study using a multistage stratified cluster sampling with a sample size of 1041 adolescent girls aged 10 to 18 years from schools of Kolkata, India. Overall prevalence of overweight and obesity were 18.9% and 23.7%, respectively. The prevalence of overweight and obesity was higher among those adolescent girls whose parents had completed higher education (49.5%) and had higher monthly per capita household expenditure (48.4%). Stepwise binary logistic regression analysis confirmed that the probability of being overweight/ obese tended to be in adolescents who slept less than 7 hours per day (pem>p=0.002), taken medicines three months before the survey (p=0.008), and watched television and mobile phones for more than 1 hour a day (p=0.039). Rapid change in modern lifestyles is seemingly decreasing sleep duration in adolescents with subsequent negative impact on their health

Performance Evaluation of High Temperature High Current Conductors

A rapid increase in electric power consumption is witnessed, there is a demand for the uninterrupted power supply. Newer generation units are being built with the increased installed power. The available transmission lines are reaching critical limits of ampacity and sag; hence there exists an intricacy in finding corridors particularly in densely populated cities to construct new overhead lines in many industrialized countries including India. Most of the times, it becomes impossible to obtain a right of way for the new transmission lines; hence, present circumstances demand the use of available lines representing a cheaper solution than going in for an underground transmission. Increasing the transmission capacity of overhead lines using high temperature low sag (HTLS) conductors, replacing original ACSR conductors with approximately the same diameter is one of the techniques. HTLS conductors are capable of withstanding high-temperature, continuous operation above 200 degrees C without loss of tensile strength or increase in sag. In the present work, a computer program is developed in accordance with IEEE Std.738 to estimate the current and temperature distribution for various HTLS conductors and a graphical user interface has been developed to optimize the selection of various hardware accessories used for HTLS conductors. A novel experimental facility has been built for the present study. Results obtained for both simulation and experimental investigations are analyzed and presented. An attempt has also been made to study the effect of magnetic fields due to higher currents in the conductors

Analysis of High Temperature Low Sag Conductors used for High Voltage Transmission

Presently there is a continuous demand for the electric power consumption across the globe, however with the existing distribution lines are reaching critical limits of ampacity and sag, it has become difficult in finding corridors to construct new overhead lines in many industrialized countries including India. Replacing the existing ACSR conductors with high temperature high current low sag (HTLS) conductors almost of the same diameter is one of the recent methods. The present work a parametric study is conducted for steady state surface temperature, thermal time constant, change of emissivity, absorptivity etc for various ACSR and HTLS conductors using the developed computer code which is in accordance with IEEE Std. 738. Some experimental study is also conducted and the results obtained are presented. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd

Effect of MTHFR (rs1801133) and FTO (rs9939609) genetic polymorphisms and obesity in T2DM: a study among Bengalee Hindu caste population of West Bengal, India

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) susceptibility has increased due to the independent risks of genetic polymorphism and obesity as well as combinations of these. Despite recent advancements in T2DM management and diagnosis, the challenges of susceptibility and prognosis still remain. The present work is attempted to understand the association of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) (rs1801133) and FTO (rs9939609) genetic polymorphisms and obesity with T2DM among the Bengalee Hindu caste population of West Bengal, India. One hundred and four clinically diagnosed T2DM male patients and 176 healthy males, without family history of T2DM, (control group) of the endogamous linguistic group (Bengalee Hindu caste) participated. Genotyping was performed using the PCR-RFLP method following the isolation of genomic DNA. MTHFR (rs1801133) genetic polymorphism with CT genotype revealed significantly higher risk (OR = 3.44; p = .01) of T2DM compared to the CC genotype. The attenuation of MTHFR-T2DM risk after adjustment for age and waist circumference revealed obesity and age effects in progression of T2DM. T2DM patients also had significantly (p < .05) higher overall obesity, central obesity, and SBP compared to the controls. However, FTO (rs9939609) genetic polymorphism demonstrated no significant (p= .854) effect on T2DM and obesity. The present study identified that MTHFR genetic polymorphism and obesity might be used as screening tools for early prognosis of T2DM

Experience-dependent cell survival in the maternal rat brain

International audienc

Induction of brain tubulin by triidothyronine: dual effect of the hormone on the synthesis and turnover of the protein

The relative effects of triiodothyronine (T<SUB>3</SUB>) on the synthesis and turnover of tubulin in the developing rat and chick brain have been examined. Measurements of rates of turnover of radiolabeled tubulin in the hormone-sensitive tissues show that the half-life of tubulin turnover is 4-6 h in the absence of T<SUB>3</SUB> and 10-12 h in the presence of the hormone. Analysis of short-term kinetic data on the stimulation of tubulin by T<SUB>3</SUB> in the chick brain show that the rapid induction is due to a dual effect of the hormone on the metabolism of tubulin -an increase in the rate of synthesis as well as a decline in its rate of turnover

Comparative analysis of the membrane proteins and their specificities in neurons, protoplasmic astrocytes, and oligodendrocytes from rat brain

Plasma membranes from neuronal perikarya (N), protoplasmic astrocytes (A) and oligodendrocyies (O) of rat brains were analysed with respect to their protein and glycoprotein contents and specificities. SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis revealed a total number of 23, 17, and 17 major proteins in N, A, and O respectively. Periodate-Schiff''s staining showed that approximately 40-60% of these proteins were glycoproteins. The reactivity of these glycoproteins to Con A and WGA was also studied. Selective iodination of whole cells followed by electrophoresis and autoradiography indicated that of the major proteins, only 25% of neuronal and 60% of astroglial and oligodendroglial membrane proteins were exposed outside the cell surface. The overall results suggest that membrane proteins of each of the three cell types studied here have characteristically different internal and external markers differing in size, glycoprotein content, and reactivity of the glycoproteins to lectins