Potential of Mobile Phones to Serve as a Reservoir in Spread of Nosocomial Pathogens

Objective: The use of cellular telephones by medical personnel and the associated nosocomial transmission of pathogens have not been thoroughly examined. The objective of this study was to determine the incidence of bacterial colonisation on mobile phones of Healthcare workers (HCWs) and its accompanying resistance to commonly used antimicrobials in a medical and dental hospital in India. Method: A total of 204 mobile phones of HCWs from medical and dental departments were screened. A sterile swab moistened with sterile saline was rotated over the external surface of the phone. Swabs were cultured on 5% sheep blood agar and MacConkey agar plates. Plates were incubated aerobically at 37°C for 24 hours. All isolates were tested for antimicrobial susceptibility. A questionnaire was used for data collection on mobile phone use in hospital. Result: 99% of the phones demonstrated evidence of bacterial contamination. 64.8% of medical samples showed growth of pathogenic micro-organisms and 37.9% showed growth of Multi drug resistant bacteria. 59.37% of dental samples showed growth of pathogenic micro-organisms and 43.75% showed growth of Multi drug resistant bacteria. Pathogens isolated included Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter, Enterococcus faecalis, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. According to the questionnaire 40% admitted to using their phones between examination of patients. Only 6% used disinfectants to wipe their phones. Conclusion: This study reveals that mobile phones are commonly used by HCWs, even during patient contact and may serve as a potential vehicle for the spread of nosocomial pathogens

Skin Lesion Classification towards Melanoma Detection Using EfficientNetB3

The rise of incidences of melanoma skin cancer is a global health problem. Skin cancer, if diagnosed at an early stage, enhances the chances of a patient’s survival. Building an automated and effective melanoma classification system is the need of the hour. In this paper, an automated computer-based diagnostic system for melanoma skin lesion classification is presented using fine-tuned EfficientNetB3 model over ISIC 2017 dataset. To improve classification results, an automated image pre-processing phase is incorporated in this study, it can effectively remove noise artifacts such as hair structures and ink markers from dermoscopic images. Comparative analyses of various advanced models like ResNet50, InceptionV3, InceptionResNetV2, and EfficientNetB0-B2 are conducted to corroborate the performance of the proposed model. The proposed system also addressed the issue of model overfitting and achieved a precision of 88.00%, an accuracy of 88.13%, recall of 88%, and F1-score of 88%

Decoding the Internet Trolls and their Implications on Female YouTubers

YouTube was one of the first platforms fuelling every layperson\u27s dream to get a taste of stardom. Standing true to its promise, it exposed everyone to content creation and every aspect of fame that comes with content creation. The good, the bad, and the ugly side of the online platform involve the trolls and hate comments on the online platforms. It was eventually noticed that the trolling phenomena are shaping up biasedly and follow gender inequality recently. The online trolls are severe and ugly, especially for female content creators. The comments were harsh, demeaning and sometimes vindictive. Looking at this aspect of gender-specific trolling, the study aimed to explore and understand the trolling and nature of the trolls that female YouTubers encounter day-to-day. A qualitative approach was used to comprehend the argument. In-depth interviews were conducted with female content creators on YouTube. The YouTubers considered for the study were first selected by reviewing their content and their number of followers. Later they were connected individually to participate in the study. A total of fifteen female YouTubers were interviewed across different genres of beauty, lifestyle, entertainment and art. The study further dissected these female Youtubers\u27 trolling and backlash experiences and their effect on their content output. These YouTubers have been actively using the tools provided by the platform to block out the negativity from their channels. At the same time, they have realised that it may not be easy to cut the hate comments and trolls out entirely. The conversation highlighted the impact and severity of trolls and their efforts to refocus their energies and attention on improving and creating better quality. The study will act as a reference point for future feminist scholars across disciplines and further explore online trolling phenomena

Relaxation of Collective Excitations in LJ-13 Cluster

We have performed classical molecular dynamics simulation of $Ar_{13}$ cluster to study the behavior of collective excitations. In the solid ``phase'' of the cluster, the collective oscillation of the monopole mode can be well fitted to a damped harmonic oscillator. The parameters of the equivalent damped harmonic oscillator-- the damping coefficient, spring constant, time period of oscillation and the mass of the oscillator -- all show a sharp change in behavior at a kinetic temperature of about $7.0^oK$. This marks yet another characteristic temperature of the system, a temperature $T_s$ below which collective excitations are very stable, and at higher temperatures the single particle excitations cause the damping of the collective oscillations. We argue that so long as the cluster remains confined within the global potential energy minimum the collective excitations do not decay; and once the cluster comes out of this well, the local potential energy minima pockets act as single particle excitation channels in destroying the collective motion. The effect is manifest in almost all the physical observables of the cluster.Comment: Revised and enlarged. 6 pages RevTeX style. 7 eps figures available on request. To appear in J Chem Phy

Collective Bargaining: A Tool for settling Industrial Disputes

The terms and conditions of employment of workers are regulated between their bargaining agents and the employers. Thus, the obligation to bargain collectively is mutual. So the union and the employer are under the duty to bargain, in view, that the parties are required to meet at reasonable times and confer in good faith, with an intention to negotiate on the subject matter called for. In relation to this, the collective bargaining agreement ought to be written and signed by parties on request, where in either party is required to agree to a proposal or make a concession. With an aim to reduce unwanted strikes and lockdowns caused by the workers, the paper revolves around the role of Trade Unions inthe settlement of disputes between the employer and workers through a collective bargaining process, resulting in the peaceful settlement of industrial disputes

Standing stock of three species of demersal fishes from southwest coast of India

Standing stock of three principal demersal fishes of the inshore waters off Mangalore was assessed. The assessment was based on fortnightly samplings conducted in an area extending over ca 850 km². The data gathered was computed employing Alverson's methods. The standing stock of Nemipterus japonicus, Saurida tumbil and Grammoplites scaber indicates that this area supports good quantities of these fishes and if properly exploited, will sustain a profitable demersal fishery

Hydrography of fishing grounds of Arabian sea off Mangalore

Hydrographical parameters, namely temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen and density of the fishing grounds off Mangalore extending over an area of ca 850 km² have been studied during March 1976 - March 1977. Twelve stations along three transects up to 50 m isobaths were located for sampling. The vertical distribution of temperature show three distinct phases, namely, a period of conspicuous variation, a short intermediary phase and a period of thermal stability. The dissolved oxygen of the bottom waters was drastically low during September. Salinity fluctuations were not considerable between months and depths. Dense waters existed over the shelf region, especially along the bottom during september and to a certain extent in october also. The distribution patterns of temperature, dissolved oxygen and density clearly indicate the movement of cold, dense, oxygen-poor- bottom waters from greater depths to the upper reaches of the shelf during September

Microstructural Characterization and Hardness Evaluation of Friction Stir Welded Composite AA6061-4.5Cu-5SiC (Wt.%)

Recent developments in advanced materials research have led to the emergence of new materials having features like low density, high strength to weight ratio, excellent mechanical properties, heat and corrosion resistance. In friction stir welding (FSW), a non-consumable rotating welding tool is used to generate the frictional heat and plastic deformation of the material in the welding zone, which is in the solid state. The advantages of FSW as compared to the fusion welding are high joint strength, less defect weld, uniform distribution of grain structure in the weld zone and low power consumption. AA6061with 4.5 % weight of copper and 5 % weight of SiC composite material has been prepared to conduct experiment and carry out characterization, evaluation of the mechanical properties. Micro-structural characterization of the weld zone is carried out by scanning electron microscope (SEM). Evaluation of hardness was also carried out across the weld zone. A successful method for FSW of AA6061-4.5(wt.%) Cu-5(wt.%) SiC has been developed.Defence Science Journal, 2013, 63(4), pp.429-434, DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.14429/dsj.63.486

Microstructural Characterization and Hardness Evaluation of Friction Stir Welded Composite AA6061-4.5Cu-5SiC (Wt.%)

Recent developments in advanced materials research have led to the emergence of new materials having features like low density, high strength to weight ratio, excellent mechanical properties, heat and corrosion resistance. In friction stir welding (FSW), a non-consumable rotating welding tool is used to generate the frictional heat and plastic deformation of the material in the welding zone, which is in the solid state. The advantages of FSW as compared to the fusion welding are high joint strength, less defect weld, uniform distribution of grain structure in the weld zone and low power consumption. AA6061with 4.5 % weight of copper and 5 % weight of SiC composite material has been prepared to conduct experiment and carry out characterization, evaluation of the mechanical properties. Micro-structural characterization of the weld zone is carried out by scanning electron microscope (SEM). Evaluation of hardness was also carried out across the weld zone. A successful method for FSW of AA6061-4.5(wt.%) Cu-5(wt.%) SiC has been developed.Defence Science Journal, 2013, 63(4), pp.429-434, DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.14429/dsj.63.486

Indexing of geospatial data by using GIS techniques for sustainable use and management of coastal natural resources in India

Increasing anthropogenic activities in sensitive coastal environments has drawn a global attention in present era and protecting coastal zones from over exploitation has become a subject to remarkable stress in coastal management of India. Several studies has already described that Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information System (GIS) are combined and advanced decision support system for storing, structuring and analyzing any information in a scientific way. The present paper provides an overview of GIS application for conserving natural resources and making a smart coastal area in India. It is also described that how a decision support system can be developed for monitoring & outlaying any coastal area to plan out the various activities along the coastal zones. The GIS technology was used here to provide the information for micro and macro level spatial planning of natural resources of coastal areas in India on a sustainable basis. For mapping, monitoring and indexing the study area ArcMap and ArcScene, two basic and powerful platforms of ArcGIS software were used. With the help of tools in ArcTool box like 3D analyst, Spatial analyst, Multidimension tools etc. and respective methods like Raster interpolation, Raster surface, Extraction were applied for geographical referencing, projecting the area and generating contour lines