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Background: Recent technological evolutions allow for the identification of hearing level (HL) in infants soon after birth. The goal of early hearing detection and intervention is to maximize linguistic and communication skills and literacy development for children who are deaf or hard of hearing. Infants whose HL has been confirmed before 6 months of age must be provided early intervention. Aims and Objectives: The aim of the study was to observe the changes in the otoacoustic emissions (OAE) and brainstem auditory evoked potential (BAEP) in infants with birth asphyxia (BA). Materials and Methods: The present study was a case– control study. A total of 50 cases of infants with BA and 50 normal-term infants were part of the study after obtaining informed consent as per the ICMR guidelines. A through clinical examination and otoscopy examination were done to rule out any conductive hearing loss. Then, OAE and BAEP were recorded to estimate the hearing loss and hearing threshold of infants. Results: BAEP waveform I, III, and V absolute latencies were significantly prolonged among BA infants than normal infants. The interpeak latency (IPL) of the right ear III-V was significantly increased in BA infants. However, III-V and I-V latencies though prolonged in BA infants, they are not statistically significant. No significant interaural difference was noted in absolute and IPLs of both BA and normal infants. No significant relationship existed between the mode of delivery and the degree of hearing loss in both ears. Significant association was observed between the degree of hearing loss and severity of BA (hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy) in both ears. Conclusion: BAEP recording in BA infants is useful to identify the hearing impairment at the earliest. The implication of this research work will help in early detection of hearing impairment, so that speech and language developmental delay in the child can be prevented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An optimum temperature distribution at the bottom of the cooking vessel is necessary to enhance the cooking experience for induction heating users. Traditional ferromagnetic cookware has good efficiency in heating surfaces but uneven temperature distribution with flat inductors, which ultimately leads to inequitable cooking outcomes. To address this issue, the paper proposes an alternative solution by incorporating different designs of cookware. The paper describes the analysis and design of cookware using the finite element method to improve the temperature distribution of the cookware. This paper explains the temperature distribution and magnetic flux distribution at the bottom of the cookware. The results demonstrate that the proposed solution achieves a well-balanced trade-off between efficiency and even temperature distribution at the bottom of the induction cookware. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work introduces an innovative methodology to enhance the efficiency of solar Parabolic Trough Collectors by integrating corrugated tube receivers accompanied by conical strip inserts. Conventional optimization techniques involving adjustments in size, material composition, and insert configurations often necessitate supplementary energy input. A concept centered around augmenting turbulence was introduced, employing corrugated tube receivers to address this challenge. The study encompassed empirical investigations employing three corrugated copper tube receivers, each possessing distinct pitches (8 mm, 10 mm, and 12 mm) while maintaining uniform corrugation heights (2 mm). These experiments were conducted within a regime of laminar flow conditions characterized by Reynolds numbers spanning from 700 to 2000. The primary objective was to identify the most favorable absorber geometry, subsequently coupled with three varying pitches of conical strip inserts (20 mm, 30 mm and 50 mm) to intensify heat transference. The findings unveiled that the corrugated tube with an 8 mm pitch and 2 mm corrugation height, combined with a conical strip insert possessing a pitch of 20 mm, exhibited promising results. This specific amalgamation yielded remarkable enhancements in the augmented Nusselt number (132%), friction factor (38%), and thermal efficiency (9%) in contrast to the unadorned tube operating under analogous conditions. These outcomes underscore the substantial potential of this pioneering approach in significantly elevating the overall performance of solar parabolic trough collectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The thyroid hormone is so essential that it is involved in the functioning of all the body systems, especially in the development of the brain in fetal life. The World Health Organization has estimated that around 2 billion individuals are suffering from thyroid disorders. Hence, it is essential to identify and diagnose hypothyroid patients so that the treatment strategy can be started at the earliest. Aims and Objectives: The present study aimed to find out the peripheral nerve conduction velocity, range, and degree of movement of joints in newly diagnosed hypothyroid women and compare them with those of normal euthyroid women. Materials and Methods: The present study was a case--control study conducted from July 2015 to March 2016. A total of 50 cases of newly diagnosed hypothyroid women and 50 age-matched euthyroid women were part of the study after obtaining written and informed consent. Thyroid estimation was performed in the Clinical Biochemistry Department by the ELISA method, and nerve conduction studies were performed in the Neurology Department. Results: The age and height of the participants were not statistically significant. Weight and body mass index were significantly higher in the cases when compared to the control group. Sensory and motor conduction velocities of the right median nerve are significantly less in these cases when compared to control group participants. Sensory and motor conduction velocities of the right ulnar nerve are significantly less in these cases when compared to control group participants. Sensory and motor conduction velocities of the left median nerve are significantly less in these cases when compared to control group participants. Sensory and motor conduction velocities of the left ulnar nerve are significantly less in these cases when compared to control group participants. The goniometric parameters (right and left sides) of the cases and control group participants were not significantly different. Conclusion: Hypothyroid women have a delay in peripheral nerve conduction velocities, including sensory and motor components, and the degree and range of movements of limb joints were not affected. A nerve conduction study may be utilized as a routine screening test for hypothyroid individuals so that hormone replacement therapy can be instituted at the earliest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The gradual depletion of non-renewable fossil fuels, increase in their price, the toxic exhausts emitted during their combustion, risk associated in their import and its storage made many researchers to focus on deriving suitable alternate fuels. In the present investigation the performance and emission characteristics of the blends and neat methanolized papaya oil were determined on a test engine consisting of single cylinder fuelled by diesel and running at 1500 rpm. The results revealed that the blend B25 of the test biodiesel is found optimum, as it recorded better specific fuel consumption and brake thermal efficiency. Further coating on the piston enhanced the performance of the optimum blend when compared with the standard engine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper investigates the performance, combustion and emission analysis of various biodiesel blends prepared from animal fat methyl ester (AF100) and waste cooked oil (WCO) 8–10 h used. A single cylinder, four-stroke, water-cooled, compression ignition (CI) engine was used in this investigation. Blends were prepared differently, by mixing of prepared biodiesels in various proportions. The AF100 and WCO are prepared through transesterification process. In the preparation of AF100 and WCO, catalyst potassium hydroxide (KOH) and alcohol methanol are used. The prepared AF100r was blended with WCO and petro-diesel (PD) in various proportions such as AF50WCO50 (50% of AF100 and 50% of WCO), PD50AF30WCO20 (50% of PD, 30% of AF100 and 20% of WCO) and PD50AF50 (50% of AF100 and 50% of PD). Few important properties were tabulated and compared with PD. Performance, combustion and emission tests were carried out with the above-prepared blends and compared with PD. From the tests, it was observed that PD50AF30WCO20 consumes lesser brake-specific fuel consumption and produced higher brake thermal efficiency compared to other tested blends. PD50AF50 develops higher cylinder pressure which emits more amount of CO2. 30% higher exhaust gas temperature is found in AF50WCO50 and 28% higher of CO, 22% of lower amount of unburned hydrocarbons was found in the blend. PD50AF30WCO20 develops a maximum amount of heat release rate with lower amount of CO, NOxand smoke emission compared to other blends. After completion of these investigations, it is concluded that PD50AF30WCO20 is a better suitable blend of two biodiesels used in CI engines without any modification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Work-related musculoskeletal disorder is (WMSD) defined as injuries or disorders of the musculoskeletal system, which includes muscles, nerves, tendons, joints, cartilages, and spinal discs that may be associated with exposure to risk factors in the workplace. This study is to determine the prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal symptoms and analysis of risk factors among the academicians of university in Malaysia. Index Terms--Academician, Work-related Musculoskeletal Symptom Work-related musculoskeletal symptoms (WMS) has been identified as "occupational cramps" or "occupational myalgia", in relation to an occupation or work-related activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The aim of the study was to evaluate the local anesthetic activity of root extracts of the Anacyclus pyrethrum, and to check its effect of interaction at the site of injection in guinea pigs. Materials and Methods: The study sample included thirty guinea pigs each weighing 450-500 g, maintained under standard conditions. The root extracts were prepared using three solvents, in 1% and 2% concentration and injected in guinea pigs. The animals were divided into five groups, six in each group based on the type of extract used along with a control and a standard drug. All the animals received 0.5 ml of intradermal injection of the prepared extract, with 1% concentration in the left and 2% in the right dorsal flank of the animal and were checked for local anesthetic activity by a pinprick test. After 72 h, biopsy was done from the injected site to check for drug interaction. Results: The number of negative response obtained from 2% ethanol extract is more effective when compared to other extracts. Histological samples showed inflammatory changes in 1% aqueous extract in a single animal. Conclusion: Among the test compounds, 2% ethanol showed more significant effect; hence, it is suggested to synthesize more compounds in this series and evaluate their pharmacological actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Scrum, an agile development process allows quickly production of working piece of product by undergoing the development into small release cycles and in improvement ways. There is a growing demand to expose students to such practices. In the same time students also need to practice the possible roles that they will get when they join a real life project or an industry. Exercising the Scrum practices may help the students to learn and practice the possible roles to perform during a project. During a cycle of scrum called 'sprint retrospective', the team dedicated time to deliberately reflect how they are doing and to find ways to improve. The scrum team will be constantly looking for improving opportunities either for the product builds or the practices they chosen. In this paper, we discuss our experiences in practicing the Scrum practices in students' development of final year projects. This may be very useful to the final year students and new recruitments whose are on job training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Objective: To investigate antidiabetic efficacy of the extract of field grown and in vitro raised leaves of Solanum xanthocarpum (S. xanthocarpum) against alloxan induced diabetic rats. Methods: The antidiabetic activity of the crude methanol extracts of the field grown and in vitro raised leaves of S. xanthocarpum at different concentrations (100–200 mg/kg bw) was tested against alloxan induced diabetic rats. The antidiabetic efficacy was validated through various biochemical parameters and the antioxidant effect was also determined. The phytochemical analyses of field grown S. xanthocarpum and in vitro rasied S. xanthocarpum leaves were done by estimating their chlorophyll, carotenoids, total sugar, protein, amino acid and minerals contents. Results: The results revealed that the methanol extracts of both the leaves (field grown and in vitro raised) of S. xanthocarpum was efficient anti hyperglycemic agents at a concentration of 200 mg/kg bw and posses potent antioxidant activity. However, the extracts of in vitro rasied S. xanthocarpum raised leaves exhibit higher efficacy than the field grown leaves in all tested concentrations. Proximal composition and mineral analysis of S. xanthocarpum revealed higher concentration of contents in in vitro rasied S. xanthocarpum than field grown S. xanthocarpum. Conclusions: From the results it can be concluded that the leaves extracts of S. xanthocarpum can be a potential candidate in treating the hyperglycemic conditions and suits to be an agent to reduce oxidative stress. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The unpredictable nature of the wireless network and exponential growth in traffics with different quality of service requirements has led hardware complexity to escalate. In order to effectively control and manage the network traffics, there is a need for intelligent call admission control (CAC) in admitting traffics into the wireless network that provides necessary quality of service. In this paper, we propose a fuzzy logic partition-based call admission control (FZ CAC). The scheme primarily partitions the total link bandwidth into three which corresponds to constant bit rate (CBR), variable bit rate (VBR) and handover (HO) services. The fuzzy logic admission control scheme was implemented in the HO portion to intelligently keep dropping probability as low as possible based on the available bandwidth. Simulation results showed that the proposed approach outperformed both partition-based CAC (PB CAC) and conventional bandwidth allocation CAC (CB CAC). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To find out an alternative strategy to antibiotic usage against bacterial infection. Materials and Methods: The purpose of this study is to describe the quorum-sensing (QS) inhibitory activity of edible plants and fruits against N-acyl-homoserine lactone (AHL)-mediated violacein production in Chromobacterium violaceum and virulence factor expression in Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1. Results: Aqueous extracts of Ananas comosus (Bromeliaceae), Musa paradiciaca (Musaceae), Manilkara zapota (Sapotaceae) and Ocimum sanctum (Lamiaceae) were prepared and anti-QS activity of each extract was tested against AHL-mediated phenotypic expressions of C. violaceum and PAO1. Most of these extracts showed significant reduction in AHL-mediated violacein production in C. violaceum as well as pyocyanin pigment, staphylolytic protease, elastase production and biofilm formation in PAO1. However, these extracts were not inhibitory to bacterial growth, revealing that the QS inhibition by the extracts is not related to static or killing effects on the bacteria. Conclusions: The present study identified the anti-QS activity of A. comosus, M. paradiciaca, M. zapota and O. sanctum. An AHL-inactivating compound from these plant sources can be used as an alternative to antibiotic compounds to prevent AHL-mediated bacterial infection in higher organisms. Copyright © 2010 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

IEEE 802.16j MMR WiMAX networks allow the number of hops between the user and the MMR-BS to be more than two hops. The standard bandwidth request procedure in WiMAX network introduces much delay to the user data and acknowledgement of the TCP packet that affects the performance and throughput of the network. In this paper, we propose a new scheduling scheme to reduce the bandwidth request delay in MMR networks. In this scheme, the MMR-BS allocates bandwidth to its direct subordinate RSs without bandwidth request using Grey prediction algorithm to estimate the required bandwidth of each of its subordinate RS. Using this architecture, the access RS can allocate its subordinate MSs the required bandwidth without notification to the MMR-BS. Our Bandwidth Grant Algorithm can reduce delay in IEEE 802.16j MMR WiMAX Network significantly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract??Numerical simulation of the steady and laminar convection in the thermal entry region of the finned annulus is carried out for the case of hydrodynamically fully developed flow when subjected to uniform heat flux thermal boundary condition. Finite difference based marching procedure is used to compute the numerical solution of the energy equation. The results to be presented include Nusselt number, as a function of dimensionless axial length and thermal entrance length for various configurations of the finned double-pipe. The numerical results show that Nusselt number has complex dependence on the geometric variables like ratio of radii, fin height, and number of fins. A comparison of the computed results for certain limiting cases with the results available in the literature validates the numerical procedure used in this work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]