A Cyberinfrastructure for BigData Transportation Engineering

Big Data-driven transportation engineering has the potential to improve utilization of road infrastructure, decrease traffic fatalities, improve fuel consumption, decrease construction worker injuries, among others. Despite these benefits, research on Big Data-driven transportation engineering is difficult today due to the computational expertise required to get started. This work proposes BoaT, a transportation-specific programming language, and it's Big Data infrastructure that is aimed at decreasing this barrier to entry. Our evaluation that uses over two dozen research questions from six categories show that research is easier to realize as a BoaT computer program, an order of magnitude faster when this program is run, and exhibits 12-14x decrease in storage requirements

Retrocorneal Scleral Patch Supported Glue: A Technique for Management of Corneal Perforation and Corneoscleral Melt following Pterygium Surgery

Purpose: To describe a new method of treatment of corneal perforation with extensive corneoscleral melt. Case Report: A 42-year-old man presented with moderate-sized (3.5 mm) corneal perforation with extensive corneo-limbo-scleral ulceration following bare sclera excision of pterygium. No prior use of antimetabolites or postoperative beta radiation noted. We considered retrocorneal sclera patch supported cyanoacrylate application. The sclera was thinned to one-third thickness and a patch (4.5×4.5 mm) was punched. The sclera patch was placed on the iris, behind the corneal perforation, adequately covering it from inside. A minimal amount of adhesive was applied on the retrocorneal sclera patch and margin of corneal perforation. The ulcerating sclera was covered with double layered amniotic membrane. Topical antibiotic, steroid, and cycloplegic drops were instilled thrice daily. Corneal perforation healed and no recurrence occurred during the 18 months’ follow-up. Conclusion: Retrocorneal scleral patch supported cyanoacrylate is effective for corneal perforation with corneo-scleral melt

Foreign investment liberalization and incentives in selected Asia-Pacific Developing Countries:Implications for the health service sector in Nepal

The prime objective and main research questions of the study are: 1) What are the practices of service sector investment liberalization and incentives from selected developing countries, and 2) How those experiences can be applied to the investment liberalization and provision of incentives in the Nepalese services sector, with focus on the health service sector? It should be pointed out that a country’s liberalizing strategy refers to a dynamic policy process through a flow in time; however since this study is presently limited to focus on a point in time (e.g. 2003), attention is given to FDI incentives in selected developing countries to tease out lessons of a broad service related investment (health) liberalization strategy.AFTA,RTA,CEPT

Self-identity, embodiment and the development of emotional resilience

This article is made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund. Copyright @ The Author 2013. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The British Association of Social Workers. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Recent social work reforms in the UK have highlighted the need for social work practitioners to be empathetic, reflexive and resilient. Current literature defines resilience as the individual's adaptive response to adversity, stress-resistant personality traits and the ability to ‘bounce back’, yet the processes by which resilience is developed remain underexplored. The stressors associated with training to be a social worker particularly necessitate such an investigation. This study adopts a phenomenological approach to explore social work students' lived experiences of managing emotion and developing resilience. Emotion is constructed as a relational concept, developed within intersubjective space and as an embodied experience. Findings indicate tensions in student narratives around the expression of emotion and ‘being professional’. Critical incident narratives reveal often overwhelming difficulties experienced by students, prior to and during the social work programme. A variety of coping strategies were adopted including active resistance, spirituality, critical reflection and social support. Narratives as ‘discourses-in-the-making’ highlight embodiment as a valuable analytical lens by which emotional conflicts are experienced, deconstructed and resolved through the process of integrating the personal and professional self. Spaces to develop emotional resilience within the social work curriculum are discussed

Diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in Camellia sinensis in Uttarakhand State, India

Many microorganisms form symbioses with plants that range on a continuous scale, from parasitic to mutualistic. Among these, the most widespread mutualistic symbionts is the arbuscular mycorrhiza, formed between arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi and vascular flowering plants and other plants. A study of diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in Camellia sinensis was conducted in four plantation territories of Uttarakhand. Microscopic analysis of the mycorrhizal status of roots has revealed that samples from all four locations belonged only to AM fungi. The mycorrhizal colonization level was found high thus reflecting the mycotrophic nature of C. sinensis (L.). Results of isolation and identification of spores from all field-collected soil samples has revealed relatively higher spore count. All recovered spores were found to belong to the Glomales Order, represented by Glomaceae family. Isolation has also brought into notice that three groups were dominant: the first one included light yellow colored spores, second, corresponded dark yellow-brown colored spores and third, magenta colored spores. The morphological characters indicated that the spore populations consisted of 3 – 6 morphotypes. The Glomus genus was represented by three species; that is, Glomus mossae, Glomus fasciculatum, Glomus sp. 1 (an unidentified species).Keywords: Glomus mossae, Glomus fasciculatum, Mycorrhiza, Camillia sinensisAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 9(33), pp. 5313-5319, 16 August, 201

Drug utilization pattern of analgesics after a surgical procedure in a tertiary care hospital: a prospective observational single centre cohort study

Background: the study aimed to understand the prescription pattern of analgesics used in the post-operative period after a general surgical procedure in a tertiary care hospital in India and estimate the severity of post-operative pain up to 48 hours. Such a study was not done in this institute of recent hence it was carried out. Methods: 266 adults of either gender were recruited and prescription pattern analyzed over a period of 1 year beginning January 2021 to December 2021 from the post-operative general surgery wards of a tertiary care hospital in India. Patient interview and records were used to collect data. Follow ups at 4, 24 and 48 hours were undertaken to assess pain according to the visual analogue scale (VAS) that was analyzed using the Friedman’s test followed by the post hoc Dunn’s test. Results: an average of 1.52±0.58 analgesics were prescribed per patient. Paracetamol was most commonly used followed by tramadol and diclofenac. All analgesics prescribed were a part of the national list of essential medicines. Effective pain management is feasible as seen by the significant (p<0.0001) reduction in average pain score from 4.75±1.35 to 3.05±1.18 at 24 hours and further to 2.16±1.04 at 48 hours. Conclusions: Use of analgesics prescribed from a standardized list is effective in majority of patients