Neonatal septicemia- a smooth technique of diagnosis in developing countries

Background: Neonatal septicemia is characterized by clinical signs and symptoms accompanied by bacteremia in the first month of life. As per National Neonatal Perinatal Database (NNPD) 2002-2003, the incidence of neonatal sepsis in India was 30 per 1000 live birth. C-reactive protein (CRP), an acute phase reactant has advantages of low serum levels in normal infants, a rapid rise after 12 to 24 hours of sepsis and a massive rise thereafter as long as inflammatory stimuli persist and followed by immediate fall of serum level as soon as inflammation subside.Methods: Total 100 cases were studied at NICU, K.R Hospital, Mysore, India. Peripheral blood smear was prepared by heel prick and were stained using Leishman stain.  Total leucocyte count was performed by using automated haematology analyzer. I/T (immature to total neutrophil) ratio were calculated by dividing the total immature count by total neutrophil count (including both mature and immature neutrophil count. C reactive protein was assessed by kit using CRP Latex, agglutination slide test. For Micro ESR blood was collected in preheparinised microhematocrit tubes of 75 mm length with an internal diameter of 1.1 mm & external diameter of 1.5 mm by heel prick technique.Results: Our study revealed that, among 100 children under study, males of low birth weight were commonly affected. Among the investigations I:T ratio and CRP shows a better sensitivity and specificity for early diagnosis of neonatal sepsis.Conclusions: Amongst all the hematological parameters Immature to total neutrophil (I:T) ratio has a reasonably good predictive value for early diagnosis of neonatal septicemia. This study is done as an endeavor to add to something about our preexisting knowledge of diagnosis of neonatal sepsis early for better management of this group of patients especially in developing countries.

Sources of suspended organic matter and selective feeding by zooplankton in an estuarine mangrove ecosystem, as traced by stable isotopes

Between January 1995 and August 1996, suspended matter and zooplankton were sampled at different locations in a mangrove ecosystem located in the Gautami Godavari Estuary and adjacent Kakinada Bay (Andhra Pradesh, India). Suspended matter was sampled at 13 different stations, and was found to have a highly variable carbon stable isotope composition, with delta 13C values ranging overall between -30.94 and -19.18 ppt, and a highly variable elemental (C:N) composition. Our data suggest that the phytoplankton component has a seasonally and spatially variable delta 13C signature, which is surpressed by the terrestrial signal but may at times fall in the same range as the delta 13C of the allochtonous matter. It is argued that the phytoplankton delta 13C decreases after the onset of the monsoon rains, most likely due to the 13C-depletion of the DIC pool caused by the microbial respiration of the allochtonous organic matter. At each of the 4 sites selected for concurrent zooplankton sampling, the zooplankton showed a much wider range of delta 13C than did the suspended matter, with overall delta 13C values between -30.14 and -16.45 ppt. In addition, spatial differences in average delta 13C were much more pronounced for zooplankton than for total suspended matter. These data indicate that zooplankton feed on a component of the suspended matter pool, which has more pronounced seasonal and spatial delta 13C variations than the total suspended matter. Thus, despite the large amounts of terrestrial and mangrove detritus present in the water column, the locally produced phytoplankton appears to be a more important carbon source for the zooplankton

Geometry Meets Vectors: Approximation Algorithms for Multidimensional Packing

We study the generalized multidimensional bin packing problem (GVBP) that generalizes both geometric packing and vector packing. Here, we are given $n$ rectangular items where the $i^{\textrm{th}}$ item has width $w(i)$, height $h(i)$, and $d$ nonnegative weights $v_1(i), v_2(i), \ldots, v_{d}(i)$. Our goal is to get an axis-parallel non-overlapping packing of the items into square bins so that for all $j \in [d]$, the sum of the $j^{\textrm{th}}$ weight of items in each bin is at most 1. This is a natural problem arising in logistics, resource allocation, and scheduling. Despite being well studied in practice, surprisingly, approximation algorithms for this problem have rarely been explored. We first obtain two simple algorithms for GVBP having asymptotic approximation ratios $6(d+1)$ and $3(1 + \ln(d+1) + \varepsilon)$. We then extend the Round-and-Approx (R&A) framework [Bansal-Khan, SODA'14] to wider classes of algorithms, and show how it can be adapted to GVBP. Using more sophisticated techniques, we obtain better approximation algorithms for GVBP, and we get further improvement by combining them with the R&A framework. This gives us an asymptotic approximation ratio of $2(1+\ln((d+4)/2))+\varepsilon$ for GVBP, which improves to $2.919+\varepsilon$ for the special case of $d=1$. We obtain further improvement when the items are allowed to be rotated. We also present algorithms for a generalization of GVBP where the items are high dimensional cuboids

Processing of fine size minerals : Studies on some Indian uranium ores

Conventionally uranium ores are processed by direct chemical leaching techniques. However, the application of chemical leaching for lean tenor and high tonnage uranium- ores is being desisted due to obvious environmental concerns. It is in this context that the physical benefi-ciation methods for the pre-concentration of uranium ores, if feasible, are gaining importance. Adoption of physical beneficiation helps in containing uranium and daughter nuclides in a smaller mass of pre-concentrate, which can be further subjected to conventional chemical processing, leaving bulk of the ore safe for disposal. In the application of physical beneficiation techniques, particle size plays a significant role. Both the economic mineral of uranium - uraninite and pitchblend, are brittle and report in very fine sizes during comminution, an oper-ation meant for their liberation.It is well established fact that concentration of particles finer than 25um by conventional physical beneficiation methods is very difficult due to the low mass and high surface area. However with the advent of new fine particle concentrators and techniques the situation has shown tremendous impr-ovement. This paper highlights the studies carried out on the use of both physical (gravity and magnetic) and physico-chemical beneficiation methods for recovering fine size uranium values from some low grade uranium bearing ores of India

Bin Packing under Random-Order: Breaking the Barrier of 3/2

Best-Fit is one of the most prominent and practically used algorithms for the bin packing problem, where a set of items with associated sizes needs to be packed in the minimum number of unit-capacity bins. Kenyon [SODA '96] studied online bin packing under random-order arrival, where the adversary chooses the list of items, but the items arrive one by one according to an arrival order drawn uniformly randomly from the set of all permutations of the items. Kenyon's seminal result established an upper bound of $1.5$ and a lower bound of $1.08$ on the random-order ratio of Best-Fit, and it was conjectured that the true ratio is $\approx 1.15$. The conjecture, if true, will also imply that Best-Fit (on randomly permuted input) has the best performance guarantee among all the widely-used simple algorithms for (offline) bin packing. This conjecture has remained one of the major open problems in the area, as highlighted in the recent survey on random-order models by Gupta and Singla [Beyond the Worst-Case Analysis of Algorithms '20]. Recently, Albers et al. [Algorithmica '21] improved the upper bound to $1.25$ for the special case when all the item sizes are greater than $1/3$, and they improve the lower bound to $1.1$. Ayyadevara et al. [ICALP '22] obtained an improved result for the special case when all the item sizes lie in $(1/4, 1/2]$, which corresponds to the $3$-partition problem. The upper bound of $3/2$ for the general case, however, has remained unimproved. In this paper, we make the first progress towards the conjecture, by showing that Best-Fit achieves a random-order ratio of at most $1.5 - \varepsilon$, for a small constant $\varepsilon>0$. Furthermore, we establish an improved lower bound of $1.144$ on the random-order ratio of Best-Fit, nearly reaching the conjectured ratio

AN EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF MULTI-CYLINDER CONVENTIONAL CI ENGINE USING MADHUCA INDICA OIL AS FUEL

The present work is mainly discussed with a qualitative study of engine’s significant characteristics fuelled with mahua bio-diesel & its different types of mixtures with neat diesel. The significant technical properties of various mixtures are tabulated. A 4-S multi-cylinder (6-Cylinder) DI conventional CI engine is used for the study under different speed modes. All types of characteristics for various mixtures are estimated in running the engine. Pure diesel is indicated by B-0 and pure mahua bio-diesel is represented by B-100. From the test results, it is found that B-25 gives almost the same BTE as B-0 at maximum load, compared to all the blends. The blend B-0 and B-25 give the least SFC of 0.332 and 0.268 kg/kWh at minimum speed (1200 rpm) and maximum speed (2400 rpm) at maximum load as contrasted to all mixtures. The B-100 gave 3.01% of NOx while related to B-0 @ lower speed

Efficacy and safety of racecadotril as an adjunct to oral rehydration therapy for acute watery diarrhea in children

Background: Racecadotril, an enkephalinase inhibitor with antisecretory action is a safe and effective treatment for acute diarrheafor children and adults. As an adjunct to oral rehydration therapy (ORT) in Indian children, its efficacy and safety data are scarce.Methods: A total of 117 children with acute watery diarrhea for not more than 7 days were randomized into two groups. Group A(control group) received ORT and zinc only while Group B (study group) received a combination of racecadotril (1.5 mg/kg q8 h),zinc and ORT. Primary end point was the number of loose stools during first 48 h of treatment. Time to cure as well as total volumeof oral rehydration solution (ORS) consumed was also measured. Results: Baseline characteristics were not significantly differentbetween the groups. Mean 48 h stool frequency in the study group was 10.47±3.2 episodes and that in control group was 15.87±4.6episodes indicating a significant reduction of 34.1% with racecadotril (p=0.00016). The mean time for recovery in the study groupwas 37.98±6.1 h and 51.02±9.4 h in control group indicating a significant reduction of 25.6% with racecadotril (p=0.002). Themean volume of ORS consumed before recovery in the study group was 162.72 ml as compared to 232.68 ml in control grouppointing to a significant reduction of 30.1% in the study group. Conclusions: Racecadotril is effective as an adjunct to ORT andearly continued feeding in infants and children with acute watery diarrhea

A database management system for selection of steel

Selection of an ideal material for a given application will be a relatively simple matter, if perfect or near perfect materials are available. Such a material will have high strength, high toughness, good ductility and good fabricability. These properties would not necessarily be compatible in an existing material. Compromises and trade-offs among various properties become inevitable. On the other hand, infinite number of possible materials in various forms and its usage are so intertwined in all industries that a person can have no real comprehension of the characteristics of all the materials. A computer assistance either in the form of a software or a database is therefore unavoidable. A database is developed to assist in the selection of steels for scientific and engineering applications. A program is written in Foxpro to identify the ideal steel based on its tensile strength, elongation, toughness and hardness. The program can select the suitable steels and can generate the forging temper-ature, heat treatment procedure, etc. The input data are obtained from various handbooks and textbooks. A Pentium-586 with FOXPRO is used to build the prototype database management system in DOS environment. Human interface with the system is enhanced by the user-friendly menus. The database can be made compatible easily to a wide variety of micro, mini and mainframe computers

Assessment Of Socioeconomic Status And Livelihood Index Among Small-Scale Fishermen Along The Kakinada Coast, Andhra Pradesh, India.

This present study provides an overview of the socio-economic characteristics and livelihood capitals of small-scale fishermen (SSF) in Kakinada Coast, Andhra Pradesh, India. It highlights key parameters such as age, sex, household structure, occupational status, income, and expenditure. The study also examines the five central capitals that influence the livelihoods of SSF: human, natural, financial, physical, and social capital. The majority of SSF in Kakinada Coast are in the prime working age group (25-54), with fishing being their primary occupation. The average household size is 4.81, with an average of 2.51 male members and 2.30 female members. Male SSF dominate the community, accounting for 96% of respondents, while females make up only 4%. The physical assets of SSF include large and small boats, fishing gears, drying racks, spades, radios, cooking pots, and jars. Access to natural capital, such as land, open water, usable forest, and aquatic resources, is limited for floating fishers. SSF have a limited level of human capital, including knowledge, skills, education, mental health, disease frequency, and access to training. The livelihood assessment index indicates that SSF possess a moderate level of human, financial, physical, natural, and social capital