Sources of Tolkien: Influence of Myths and Legends on J.R.R. Tolkien in Shaping His Own Mythology

J.R.R. Tolkien is a prominent name among the writers of fantasy and children’s literature. His works The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings stand among the most widely read novels. Tolkien was influenced by a number of myths and legends which made him a creative writer. Norse mythology, Arthurian Legends, Finnish mythology and the Epic poem Beowulf are the chief among Tolkien’s sources. Tolkien was aphilologist and was familiar with the ancient European languages and texts. With the help of all these myths and legends, Tolkien was able to create a mythology and fictional universe of his own. His fictional universe is named Middle- earth. This research paper focuses on analyzing the influence of the above mentioned myths and legends on Tolkien in creating his own mythology

Autonomous Tour Guide Robot using RF Module

Tourists and tourist locations are a major source of income to any country’s economy. A good tourist location can help improve the economic standard of a place. So it is very important that there are adequate measures to improve the tourism sector. The best way to see and enjoy a place is on our own, because when we find out a thing on our own, the experience remains with us ever. This is the main idea that brought us to make this project. We are presenting in this paper a tour guide robot that will take tourists through a location of interest, using a robot navigator. The device is equipped with an Arduino module that controls the device. The user needs to use a mobile application to pair with the device and start the robot, once started it will take the user to different locations and will inform him of the details or importance of each location. The device is also equipped with a panic button and a heart-rate sensor that helps to inform the authorities if any emergency situation arises

Modified SPLICE and its Extension to Non-Stereo Data for Noise Robust Speech Recognition

In this paper, a modification to the training process of the popular SPLICE algorithm has been proposed for noise robust speech recognition. The modification is based on feature correlations, and enables this stereo-based algorithm to improve the performance in all noise conditions, especially in unseen cases. Further, the modified framework is extended to work for non-stereo datasets where clean and noisy training utterances, but not stereo counterparts, are required. Finally, an MLLR-based computationally efficient run-time noise adaptation method in SPLICE framework has been proposed. The modified SPLICE shows 8.6% absolute improvement over SPLICE in Test C of Aurora-2 database, and 2.93% overall. Non-stereo method shows 10.37% and 6.93% absolute improvements over Aurora-2 and Aurora-4 baseline models respectively. Run-time adaptation shows 9.89% absolute improvement in modified framework as compared to SPLICE for Test C, and 4.96% overall w.r.t. standard MLLR adaptation on HMMs.Comment: Submitted to Automatic Speech Recognition and Understanding (ASRU) 2013 Worksho

Clinical spectrum of hypothyroidism: a cross sectional study in Puducherry, South India

Background: Hypothyroidism is characterised by underactive thyroid gland where there is reduced synthesis and secretion of thyroid hormones by the gland. With nearly one fifth of the population affected by hypothyroidism it is important to understand the clinical presentation of the disease. The present study aims to explore various clinical signs and symptoms of patients with hypothyroidism in Puducherry, South India.Methods: The study was carried out as a cross sectional study in a tertiary care medical college hospital, Puducherry among 213 patients who are admitted for various reasons and found to have hypothyroidism on laboratory investigations. With help of specialists in various fields all the patients were evaluated thoroughly and findings of the history and examination were noted down. Data entry was done in Epi Data version 3. Means and proportions were calculated using the software SPSS version 21.Results: Most of the hypothyroid patients (168/213) were females, giving a female: male ratio of approximately 3.4: 1. Primary hypothyroidism was found in most of the study participants (91%) and sub clinical hypothyroidism was seen in 6.2% of the patients. Commonest clinical presentation of the hypothyroid patients were fatigue (83.6%), weight gain (66.7%), were dry/coarse skin (52.1%) and voice change (50.7%).Conclusions: The commonest symptom being fatigue and weight gain while the commonest clinical sign was dry skin and voice change.

Formulation and Evaluvation of Fast Dissolving Films of Isosorbide Mononitrate

This Study Formulation and Evaluation of fast dissolving oral film of Isosorbide mononitrate of initiated with determination of max using UV spectroscopy and it was found that max & it obeys Beer’s Lamberts law.The FTIR characterization of Isosorbide mononitrate and the physical mixture of drug and polymer indicate the absence of interaction between them. Initial placebo trials of polymers were taken to optimize the concentration of polymer and composition. Fast dissolving oral thin films with selected polymer concentration, films with HPMC, PVA and combination of both PVA and HPMC were formulated by solvent casting method. Sucralose and pineapple flavour were used to improve the palatability of films. All the formulation were evaluated for the uniformity of weight, thickness of film, drug content, content uniformity, tensile strength, percentage elongation, folding endurance, surface pH, Invitro dispersion time and Invitro dissolution studies. The weight of films with HPMC, PVA and combination of both PVA and HPMC were about 40.51±0.63, 45.83±0.95 and 43.43±1.26 mg respectively. In all the films the calculated standard deviation values are very low which suggest that, the prepared films were uniform in thickness. All films exhibited folding endurance above proving the flexible nature of the film. The oral thin films of Isosorbide mononitrate prepared with HPMC, PVA and combination films prepared by solvent casting method possesses good mechanical properties. Results of texture analysis proved that films with PVA showed higher tensile strength than other two formulations. The standard deviation values of surface pH indicate that all the films all the films were uniform and as close to salivary pH. The drug content and content uniformity results suggesting that drug was uniformly dispersed throughout all films. The Invitro dispersion time of all the films were within 30 sec .The dissolution results indicate that rate and extent of films formulated with HPMC was greater than other two formulations. Hence film formulated with HPMC was selected as a final formula. Film dosage form typically the size of a postage stamp that dissolves or disintegrates quickly in the oral cavity resulting in solution or suspension without the need for the administration of water is known as an oral fast dispersing dosage form. There is an unmet need in the art for an oral dosage form which includes Isosorbide mononitrate which can be administered conveniently without requiring water for ingestion, which can disintegrate rapidly, and which has a decrease potential for a patients to expel the dosage form after administration and placement of the dosage form in the oral cavity. This dosage form is convenient for the geriatric patients and bedridden patients are unwilling to take solid do solid dosage form. Isosorbide mononitrate is not available as patient compliance orally disintegrating dosage form. Thus present attempt of developing Isosorbide mononitrate oral thin film was successful and the developed Isosorbide mononitrate oral thin film is a viable alternative for Isosorbide mononitrate immediate release tablets

Numerical Flow Simulation using Star CCM+

The accuracy of numerical simulation of any physical process depends on the technique adopted for the simulation and the software used. Many software i.e., ANSYS, PHONICS, NUMECA, STAR-CCM+, etc. have been developed to solve the governing equations in discretizing the flow domain. Each software has its own capabilities and limitations. In the present work, STAR-CCM+ has been used for numerical simulation in draft tube of hydraulic turbine and result are presented in graphical and tabular form.   Keyword: Elbow draft tube, numerical flow simulation, efficiency, head loss

Factors Associated with Enrolment of Households in Nepal’s National Health Insurance Program

Background: Nepal has made remarkable efforts towards social health protection over the past several years. In 2016, the Government of Nepal introduced a National Health Insurance Program (NHIP) with an aim to ensure equitable and universal access to healthcare by all Nepalese citizens. Following the first year of operation, the scheme has covered 5 percent of its target population. There are wider concerns regarding the capacity of NHIP to achieve adequate population coverage and remain viable. In this context, this study aimed to identify the factors associated with enrolment of households in the NHIP.Methods: A cross-sectional household survey using face to face interview was carried out in 2 Palikas (municipalities) of Ilam district. 570 households were studied by recruiting equal number of NHIP enrolled and non-enrolled households. We used Pearson’s chi-square test and binary logistic regression to identify the factors associated with household’s enrolment in NHIP. All statistical analyses were performed using IBM SPSS version 23 software.Results: Enrolment of households in NHIP was found to be associated with ethnicity, socio-economic status, past experience of acute illness in family and presence of chronic illness. The households that belonged to higher socio-economic status were about 4 times more likely to enrol in the scheme. It was also observed that households from privileged ethnic groups such as Brahmin, Chhetri, Gurung, and Newar were 1.7 times more likely to enrol in NHIP compared to those from underprivileged ethnic groups such as janajatis (indigenous people) and dalits (the oppressed). The households with illness experience in 3 months preceding the survey were about 1.5 times more likely to enrol in NHIP compared to households that did not have such experience. Similarly, households in which at least one of the members was chronically ill were 1.8 times more likely to enrol compared to households with no chronic illness.Conclusion: Belonging to the privileged ethnic group, having a higher socio-economic status, experiencing an acute illness and presence of chronically ill member in the family are the factors associated with enrolment of households in NHIP. This study revealed gaps in enrolment between rich-poor households and privileged-underprivileged ethnic groups. Extension of health insurance coverage to poor and marginalized households is therefore needed to increase equity and accelerate the pace towards achieving universal health coverage

Serum Uric Acid: An Independent Risk Factor in Non Embolic Ischemic Stroke

Stroke is a major cause of mortality and morbidity throughout the world. Apart from the traditional risk factors of stroke many reports have suggested that hyperuricemia plays an important prognostic role in cerebrovascular accidents. The objective of this study was to evaluate the role of serum uric acid (SUA) as an independent risk factor for non-embolic ischemic stroke. This study shows that elevated SUA is strongly associated with an increased risk for the development of acute ischemic / non-embolic stroke in this study population. The association between elevated SUA and ischemic stroke may need to be considered especially when treating elderly patients, diabetics and the population with coronary artery disease. Lowering SUA level can be considered as one of the preventive modalities for stroke while treating high risk population

Study on Esterification of Ethylene Glycol With Acetic Acid in the Presence of Seralite SRC-120 and Molecular Sieve 13X Catalyst

There is an increasing the trend of chemical industries toward new processes that should meets more requirement such as generation of nearly zero waste chemicals, less energy, and sufficient uses of product chemicals in various application. Esterification is the general name for a chemical reaction in which two reactants ethylene glycol and acetic acid form an ester as a product. Since the reaction was occurred in equilibrium and reversible manner, the reaction was become slowly without catalyst.The reaction was carried out in the presence of Seralite SRC-120 and Molecular Sieve 13x as acid catalyst with investigated temperature range from 333 to 363 K and varying amount of 0.5wt% to 2.0wt% catalyst load. It was found that as increase reaction time as increase mole fraction of product, conversion of reactant and selectivity of ethylene glycol di-acetate (EGDA) but decrease the selectivity of ethylene glycol mono-acetate (EGMA). The maximum conversion of acetic acid and ethylene glycol were obtained 46.12% and 100% during 10 hour reaction time with 1.5wt% amount of catalyst loading respectively. But Molecular sieve 13x has been given only 78% conversion of ethylene glycol with 4.0 wt% catalyst loading The selectivity of ethylene glycol di-acetate has been observed 66 percentages with amount of 0.5wt% Seralite SRC-120 as a catalyst. However the product selectivity with Molecular Sieve 13X was found to be very less. In the present work, parameter estimation has been done by using non-linear least square method with the help of Matlab modeling software. Best fit equilibrium constant and activation energy was found for reaction system