Intelligent integrated information system for effective enterprise management: Designing to deployment: An approach

Enterprise management has become extremely complex today. The Internet, information and communication technologies, and compulsions from globalisation, pose both opportunities and threats to the enterprise, of dimensions never seen before. Only the techno-savvy, intelligent, and agile enterprises can manage their business effectively. They seek and depend on intelligent information systems for survival and growth.However, the task of designing, building, and adopting one is quite daunting, given the number and complexities of options.It is in this context that ‘integrated intelligent information system’ [IIIS] assumes importance. Based on literature and experiences published, this paper presents a systematic approach to designing, building and adopting enterprise-appropriate IIIS

Segmented conjugated polymers

Segmented conjugated polymers, wherein the conjugation is randomly truncated by varying lengths of non-conjugated segments, form an interesting class of polymers as they not only represent systems of varying stiffness, but also ones where the backbone can be construed as being made up of chromophores of varying excitation energies. The latter feature, especially when the chromophores are fluorescent, like in MEHPPV, makes these systems particularly interesting from the photophysics point of view. SegmentedMEHPPV-x samples, where x represents the mole fraction of conjugated segments, were prepared by a novel approach that utilizes a suitable precursor wherein selective elimination of one of the two eliminatable groups is affected; the uneliminated units serve as conjugation truncations. Control of the composition x of the precursor therefore permits one to prepare segmented MEHPPV-x samples with varying levels of conjugation (elimination). Using fluorescence spectroscopy, we have seen that even in single isolated polymer chains, energy migration from the shorter (higher energy) chromophores to longer (lower energy) ones occurs - the extent of which depends on the level of conjugation. Further, by varying the solvent composition, it is seen that the extent of energy transfer and the formation of poorly emissive inter-chromophore excitons are greatly enhanced with increasing amounts of non-solvent. A typical S-shaped curve represents the variation of emission yields as a function of composition suggestive of a cooperative collapse of the polymer coil, reminiscent of conformational transitions seen in biological macromolecules

Issues on Design of Piled Raft Foundation

A piled raft foundation consists of a thick concrete slab reinforced with steel which covers the entire contact area of the structure, in which the raft is supported by a group of piles or a number of individual piles. Bending moment on raft, differential and average settlement, pile and raft geometries are the influencing parameters of the piled raft foundation system. In this paper, a detailed review has been carried out on the issues on the raft foundation design. Also, the existing design procedure was explained

A rare case of xanthogranulomatous cervicitis in post radiation radical hysterectomy

Xanthogranulomatous inflammation is a distinguished form of chronic inflammation affecting several organs, predominantly the kidney and gallbladder. Involvement of female genital tract is rare. So far only one case of xanthogranulomatous inflammation of cervix has been reported in Indian literature. We report a case of xanthogranulomatous cervicitis in a 38 year female who had undergone radiotherapy for carcinoma cervix. Probably this is the first case in Indian literature to be reported in the setting of carcinoma of cervix

Regulation of Heme Biosynthesis in Neurospora crassa

The mold Neurospora crassa does not accumulate porphyrins in iron deficiency but instead accumulates the sideramine desferricoprogen. In iron deficiency there is an accumulation of δ-aminolevulinic acid and the δ-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase level is very low. A similar situation exists in cobalt toxicity and zinc deficiency. The δ-aminolevulinic acid synthetase and ferroprotoporphyrin chelatase comparatively show only marginal changes under these conditions. Addition of iron and zinc to the respective metal-deficient cultures results in an induction of δ-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase. The induction of δ-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase is repressed by protoporphyrin and less effectively by hemin and hemoglobin. Iron deficiency, zinc deficiency, and cobalt toxicity have been found to interfere with the conversion of protoporphyrin into heme, thus rendering protoporphyrin available to repress the enzyme. This repression can be counteracted by iron and much more effectively by coprogen. A model has been proposed in which protoporphyrin has been visualized as the corepressor for the enzyme δ-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase. It is held that iron in the form of coprogen converts protoporphyrin to heme, the latter having a lesser affinity for the aporepressor. Coprogen can inhibit heme binding to the aporepressor and thus render the repressor nonfunctional. This will lead to a derepression of the enzyme δ-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase

Role of serum LDH in preeclampsia as a prognostic factor – a cross sectional case control study in tertiary care hospital

Background: LDH is an intracellular cytoplasmic enzyme. It is ubiquitous to all the major organ systems. Cellular enzymes in extracellular space have no metabolic function, although they serve as indicators of disturbances in cellular integrity. Serum LDH is abnormal in many disorders, therefore total serum LDH is highly sensitive but nonspecific test. In preeclampsia also LDH may be elevated and can indicate the prognosis for both mother and fetus. We conducted this study to examine the relationship between lactate dehydrogenase concentration and the severity of the disease and the occurrence of its complications.Methods: 200 pre-eclamptic women (121 with mild and 79 with severe pre-eclampsia) and 200 healthy normotensive controls were studied prospectively at Government Kilpauk medical college and hospital between January and December 2015. Demographic, hemodynamic, and laboratory data were compared among the three groups. The symptoms and complications of severe pre-eclampsia along with fetal outcome were analyzed according to the levels of LDH.Results: Severely pre-eclamptic patients were significantly younger, with low gravidity and parity. On the other hand, they had significantly increased systolic and diastolic pressure and liver enzymes, uric acid, urine albumin, and LDH levels. The symptoms and complications of pre-eclampsia along with perinatal mortality were increased significantly in patients with LDH >800 IU/l compared with those who had lower levels.Conclusions:  Lactate dehydrogenase is a useful biochemical marker that reflects the severity of pre-eclampsia. In our study, LDH has been evaluated as a biochemical marker for preeclampsia and as a prognosticator of the disease severity. Detection of high-risk patients with increased levels of LDH mandate close monitoring and management to prevent maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality

Electrophysiological responses of banana pseudostem weevil, Odoiporus longicollis Olivier (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) to methyl jasmonate, 1-hexanol and host plant extract

53-57The banana pseudostem weevil (BSW), Odoiporus longicollis Olivier (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) is one of the most destructive pests of banana and plantains. Our laboratory bioassay studies showed that out of 50 host plants related volatile chemicals screened against BSW, only methyl jasmonate (MeJA) and 1-hexanol was electrophysiologically and behaviourally active. Here, we investigated the influence of host plant extract (HPE) on two semiochemicals, namely methyl jasmonate (MeJA) and 1-hexanol, both independently and in combination, in the electroantennogram (EAG) response in BSW. The results showed that HPE alone elicited greater EAG response only in males suggesting that males involved predominantly in the host plant selection. Addition of HPE to MeJA increased significantly higher EAG response in females and the response was insignificant in males. Similarly, the addition of HPE to 1-hexanol evoked higher response in females but decreased antennal activity was recorded in males compared to HPE alone. The HPE showed additive effect on MeJA and 1-hexanol in their EAG responses only in female BSW. The result also revealed that 1-hexanol+HPE blend exhibited enhanced EAG response compared to 1-hexanol alone in both sexes

Next-generation sequencing for endocrine cancers : Recent advances and challenges

Contemporary molecular biology research tools have enriched numerous areas of biomedical research that address challenging diseases, including endocrine cancers (pituitary, thyroid, parathyroid, adrenal, testicular, ovarian, and neuroendocrine cancers). These tools have placed several intriguing clues before the scientific community. Endocrine cancers pose a major challenge in health care and research despite considerable attempts by researchers to understand their etiology. Microarray analyses have provided gene signatures from many cells, tissues, and organs that can differentiate healthy states from diseased ones, and even show patterns that correlate with stages of a disease. Microarray data can also elucidate the responses of endocrine tumors to therapeutic treatments. The rapid progress in next-generation sequencing methods has overcome many of the initial challenges of these technologies, and their advantages over microarray techniques have enabled them to emerge as valuable aids for clinical research applications (prognosis, identification of drug targets, etc.). A comprehensive review describing the recent advances in next-generation sequencing methods and their application in the evaluation of endocrine and endocrine-related cancers is lacking. The main purpose of this review is to illustrate the concepts that collectively constitute our current view of the possibilities offered by next-generation sequencing technological platforms, challenges to relevant applications, and perspectives on the future of clinical genetic testing of patients with endocrine tumors. We focus on recent discoveries in the use of next-generation sequencing methods for clinical diagnosis of endocrine tumors in patients and conclude with a discussion on persisting challenges and future objectives

Selective harmonic elimination in awide modulation range using modified Newton-raphson and pattern generation methods for a multilevel inverter

Considering the aim of having low switching losses, especially in medium-voltage and high-power converters, the pre-programmed pulse width modulation technique is very useful because the generated harmonic content can be known in advance and optimized. Among the different low switching frequency techniques, the Selective Harmonics Elimination (SHE) modulation method is most suitable because of its direct control over the harmonic spectrum. This paper proposes a method for obtaining multiple solutions for selectively eliminating specific harmonics in a wide range of modulation indices by using modified Newton-Raphson (NR) and pattern generation techniques. The different pattern generation and synthesis approach provide more degrees of freedom and a way to operate the converter in a wide range of modulation. The modified Newton-Raphson technique is not complex and ensures fast convergence on a solution. Moreover, multiple solutions are obtained by keeping a very small increase in the modulation index. In the previous methods, solutions were not obtainable at all modulation indices. In this paper, only exact solutions to the low-order harmonics elimination for Cascaded H-bridge inverter are reported for all modulation indices. Analytical and simulation results prove the robustness and correctness of the technique proposed in this paper. 2018 by the authors.Acknowledgments: This (publication, report, etc.) was made possible by NPRP grant # [X-033-2-007] from the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of Qatar Foundation).Scopu

A State-of-the-Art review on the drive of renewables in Gujarat, State of India: Present situation, barriers and future initiatives

Given the recent increasing public focus on climate change issues, the share of electricity generation by renewable energy resources is increasing day by day. Increased renewables share will give us robust, sustainable, and climate-friendly energy systems for the future. Renewable energy penetration with the current power systems needs substantial research, planning and development which are now the primary focus throughout the world. In this study, a global renewable energy scenario is explained in detail in contrast with India, considering a case study elucidating the comprehensive review of the Gujarat state in India. The primary focus is on Gujarat state’s actions plans to pertain to harvest renewable energy and maximizing its share in the energy mix. This study examines the actions and the policies adopted by the Gujarat government to overcome the potential barriers in order to support non-conventional as well as renewable energy development. It also investigates the numerous techno-economic and social constraints with possible solutions in promoting the deployment of upcoming renewable energy resources across Gujarat. This study can be used as a guideline for the government, policymakers, utilities, stakeholders and researchers to promote an increased renewable energy share in Gujarat as well as at other places around the globe