Search

Production of high-quality inoculum in sufficient quantities is crucial for biocontrol programs. Entomopathogenic Fungi (EPF) are highly suitable biocontrol agents due to their adaptability, mode of action, persistence, and wide host range. This study aimed to evaluate the suitability of agro-wastes, including sugarcane bagasse, paddy husk, Post Mushroom Substrate (PMS), and sorghum grains with and without 10% molasses fortification, for mass production of four EPF isolates (Cordyceps fumosorosea: MT997932, Beauveria bassiana: MT997933, Akanthomyces lecanii: MT997935, and Hirsutella thompsonii: MT997936) isolated from two agro-climatic zones in Karnataka, India. The study employed solid-state fermentation. Results showed that sorghum grains fortified with 10% molasses had the highest mycelial growth and spore production of all isolates, followed by PMS with 10% molasses (T 7 ). Fortification with molasses positively influenced the growth and spore production of EPF. The results indicated that while sorghum grains were the best choice for mass production, PMS fortified with molasses also had great potential as an alternative substrate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Entomopathogenic fungi are the most versatile and potential biocontrol agents, due to their adaptability, mode of entry, persistent nature and wide host range. The present study aimed to isolate and identify the native entomopathogenic fungi for the biocontrol of major sucking insect pests of floriculture. Eighty-one fungal isolates were isolated from 55 soil samples and 26 infected insect cadavers were collected from the eastern and southern dry zones of Karnataka, India. Serial dilution and plating techniques, and insect bait techniques were followed. The insecticidal activity of fungal isolates against aphids, mites, 2nd instar larvae of thrips and whitefly nymphs was determined by leaf disc bioassay under in vitro conditions. The results of the experiment revealed that among 81 fungal isolates, sixteen (19.25 %) exhibited insecticidal activity against test insects and further, a distribution study revealed that 50 per cent of EPF isolates were belonging to genera Beauveria and Metarhizium (25% each), 18.75% Aspergillus, 12.50% were Lecanicillium spp. and 13% were Paecilomyces spp. (6.25%) and Hirsutella spp. (6.25 %) respectively. It was concluded that the recovery rate of EPF is lower with 19.5% and the dominant genera of EPFs are Beauveria and Metarhizium. This show EPFs with broader host rage will have more chances of survival and the same criteria can be used for the selection of efficient EPFs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kidney tumors represent a significant medical challenge, characterized by their often-asymptomatic nature and the need for early detection to facilitate timely and effective intervention. Although neural networks have shown great promise in disease prediction, their computational demands have limited their practicality in clinical settings. This study introduces a novel methodology, the UNet-PWP architecture, tailored explicitly for kidney tumor segmentation, designed to optimize resource utilization and overcome computational complexity constraints. A key novelty in our approach is the application of adaptive partitioning, which deconstructs the intricate UNet architecture into smaller submodels. This partitioning strategy reduces computational requirements and enhances the model's efficiency in processing kidney tumor images. Additionally, we augment the UNet's depth by incorporating pre-trained weights, therefore significantly boosting its capacity to handle intricate and detailed segmentation tasks. Furthermore, we employ weight-pruning techniques to eliminate redundant zero-weighted parameters, further streamlining the UNet-PWP model without compromising its performance. To rigorously assess the effectiveness of our proposed UNet-PWP model, we conducted a comparative evaluation alongside the DeepLab V3+ model, both trained on the "KiTs 19, 21, and 23" kidney tumor dataset. Our results are optimistic, with the UNet-PWP model achieving an exceptional accuracy rate of 97.01% on both the training and test datasets, surpassing the DeepLab V3+ model in performance. Furthermore, to ensure our model's results are easily understandable and explainable. We included a fusion of the attention and Grad-CAM XAI methods. This approach provides valuable insights into the decision-making process of our model and the regions of interest that affect its predictions. In the medical field, this interpretability aspect is crucial for healthcare professionals to trust and comprehend the model's reasoning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Entomopathogenic fungi (EPF) are the most versatile and potential biocontrol agents, due to their adaptability, mode of entry, persistence nature and wide host range. The present study aimed to isolate, identify, and evaluate the virulence of entomopathogenic fungi (EPF) for their potential as biocontrol agents against red spider mites (Tetranychus urticae). Out of 81 fungal isolates, 16 (19.25%) showed insecticidal activity under in vitro conditions. The results revealed that among 16 isolates, ENPF-8 and ENPF-58 had significantly higher mortality rates (93-95 %) at a concentration of 1x108 conidia/ml after 9 days after treatment (DAT). The virulent fungal isolates were identified as Isaria fumosorosea (Gene bank accession number: MT997932) and Hirsutella thompsonii (Gene bank accession number: MT997936) by sequencing the ITS region of the 18S rRNA gene. H. thompsonii (ENPF-58) was found to be more virulent against test insects, with lower LC50 (7.6x105 conidia/ml) and LT50 (5.7, 5.89 and 5.99 days) values compared to the other EPF. Based on the results, H. thompsonii could be a promising biocontrol agent with a wide host range and high virulence as tested in other experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The performance of the Electrical Distribution System (EDS) depends on how efficiently it utilizes the distribution lines, provides power flow with minimum losses, and provides a better voltage profile to utilities. The Distribution Static Synchronous Compensators (DSTATCOM) or Distribution Generation (DG) (like number of Photovoltaic Array (PVA) or number of Wind Turbine Generation Unit (WTGU)) play a major role in the EDS system to improve its performance. The right location and right size of DSTATCOM, or DG is a challenging problem for acquiring their maximum possible benefits to improve EDS performance. This paper proposes a constrained generalized multi-objective performance index (MOPI) objective function proposed with EDS performance indices. Improved Teaching Learning Based Optimization (ITLBO) is used by eliminating the convergence issue of basic Teaching Learning Based Optimization (TLBO) to solve the proposed objective function. DSTATCOM, PVAs, and WTGUs are considered for placement and sizing at different locations for EDS performance improvement by optimizing the MOPI objective function with ITLBO. The optimal solution helps to minimize the power losses, enhance the consumer voltage profile and voltage stability, increase the line loadability margin, and reduce the burden of consumer loss allocation in EDS. The performance test is conducted on 33 node EDS and showed the efficiency of the proposed solutions using the MATLAB software. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bacillus subtilis is a Gram-positive bacterium known for its antagonistic attributes, particularly through the production of various secondary metabolites, including lipopeptides. In this study, we investigated the antagonistic capabilities of B. subtilis strain NBAIRBSWG1 with a focus on assessing the efficacy of NBAIR-BSWG1 in combatting Sclerotium rolfsii. Our findings demonstrated substantial inhibitory effects, with 82.73% to 100% reduction in S. rolfsii growth when exposed to NBAIR-BSWG1 at concentrations ranging from 50 to 100 µL/mL in poison food technique. In dual culture assay, NBAIR-BSWG1 exhibited a significant 55.50% inhibition of S. rolfsii. Moreover, pot experiments revealed a promising 26% reduction in disease incidence. This study underscores the significant role of NBAIR-BSWG1 in controlling S. rolfsii, holding substantial potential for developing effective formulations aimed at mitigating the southern blight of tomatoes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) represents a considerable global health challenge, emphasizing the need for precise and prompt prediction of disease progression to enable early intervention and enhance patient outcomes. As per this study, we introduce an innovative fusion deep learning model that combines a Graph Neural Network (GNN) and a tabular data model for predicting CKD progression by capitalizing on the strengths of both graph-structured and tabular data representations. The GNN model processes graph-structured data, uncovering intricate relationships between patients and their medical conditions, while the tabular data model adeptly manages patient-specific features within a conventional data format. An extensive comparison of the fusion model, GNN model, tabular data model, and a baseline model was conducted utilizing various evaluation metrics, encompassing accuracy, precision, recall, and F1-score. The fusion model exhibited outstanding performance across all metrics, underlining its augmented capacity for predicting CKD progression. The GNN model's performance closely trailed the fusion model, accentuating the advantages of integrating graph-structured data into the prediction process. Hyperparameter optimization was performed using grid search, ensuring a fair comparison among the models. The fusion model displayed consistent performance across diverse data splits, demonstrating its adaptability to dataset variations and resilience against noise and outliers. In conclusion, the proposed fusion deep learning model, which amalgamates the capabilities of both the GNN model and the tabular data model, substantially surpasses the individual models and the baseline model in predicting CKD progression. This pioneering approach provides a more precise and dependable method for early detection and management of CKD, highlighting its potential to advance the domain of precision medicine and elevate patient care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Solar Mean Magnetic Field (SMMF) is the mean value of the line-of-sight (LOS) component of the solar vector magnetic field averaged over the visible hemisphere of the Sun. So far, the studies on SMMF have mostly been confined to the magnetic field measurements at the photosphere. In this study, we calculate and analyse the SMMF using magnetic field measurements at the chromosphere, in conjunction with that of photospheric measurements. For this purpose, we have used full-disk LOS magnetograms derived from spectropolarimetric observations carried out in Fe i 6301.5 Å and Ca ii 8542 Å by the Synoptic Optical Long-term Investigations of the Sun (SOLIS)/Vector Spectromagnetograph (VSM) instrument during 2010–2017. It is found from this study that the SMMF at the chromosphere is weaker by a factor of 0.60 compared to the SMMF at the upper-photosphere. The correlation analysis between them gives a Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.80. The similarity and reduced intensity of the chromospheric SMMF with respect to the photospheric SMMF corroborate the idea that it is the source of the Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Kodaikanal Tower Tunnel Telescope (KTT) is a three-mirror Coelostat-based Solar telescope. An inherent variable image drift is present in the KTT which is detrimental to observations particularly to slit-based spectroscopic and spectropolarimetric observations. An image Auto Guider system has recently been installed at KTT to arrest the image drift based on sensing the image limb. The image's limb position on the image plane is sensed using a two-segment photodiode sensor in North–South and East–West directions. Feedback is given to the second mirror of Coelostat, which tilts, causing the image to move on the image plane. This paper discusses instrumental setup, calibration, and testing of the Auto Guider system at KTT. The Auto Guider system is robust and capable of arresting image drifts up to 55 arcsec min − 1 , which is much higher than the typically observed drifts (maximum 7 arcsec min − 1 ) at KTT with a precision of ± ∼ 0. 9 arcsec. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of endophytes as biocontrol agents has been gaining importance towards the sustainable agriculture and eco friendly farming. The present study is designed to isolate and screen the bacterial endophytes that inhibit the fungal pathogen Alternaria solani that causes early blight disease in the potato and in most of the solanaceous crops. The bacterial endophytes (62) were isolated from different parts of potato plant viz., leaf, stem, roots and tubers. Among them, ten isolates were taken as efficient isolates which significantly inhibited the growth of fungal pathogen in dual culture method. The highest inhibition percentage against the pathogen was recorded in the isolate PEL-4 (71.46%) followed by PES-5 (69.38%). All the ten efficient isolates were found to be Gram positive. Six isolates tested positive for starch hydrolysis. Eight isolates tested catalase positive. Only three isolates were tested positive for HCN production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, we have demarcated five zones within the Deccan Volcanic Province (DVP): (1) Kutch, (2) Western Ghats, (3) Central Son–Narmada, (4) Eastern Son–Narmada and (5) South-Eastern Deccan (SE DVP) to evaluate spatial geochemical variations within the DVP possibly controlled by different eruption loci. True OIB-type unmixed trace element and isotopic signatures are demonstrated by both alkali and tholeiitic basalts from Kutch and a small proportion from Western Ghats. However, large number of tholeiitic basaltic samples from both the zones and Central Son–Narmada zone illustrate sub-continental lithosphere mantle (SCLM) signatures. The Eastern Son–Narmada and SE DVP zones of the DVP show evolved compositions, but are dominantly derived from sub-lithospheric sources. The plume–lithosphere interaction is represented by mixing and/or assimilation and fractional crystallisation (AFC) of plume-derived melts with the sub-continental lithospheric mantle (SCLM)-derived melts, sediments preserved in the SCLM, lower crustal (TTG-type) and upper crustal (granitic) components. We argue that melts from the Archaean sediments preserved in the SCLM, represented by calc-alkaline lamprophyres, are the most suited components that interacted with the plume-derived as well as SCLM peridotite-derived melts. Few Kutch zone basalts require granitic components, while some proportion of Western Ghats zone basalts require TTG-type assimilate to explain their isotopic characteristics. Mixing and/or AFC between the plume-derived and sediment-derived melts and SCLM peridotite-derived and sediment-derived melts played fundamental roles in the observed geochemical heterogeneity of the Deccan basalts. We demonstrate that original sub-lithosphere melts may display apparent SCLM signatures by ~10% mixing and/or ~20% AFC of lamprophyre source melts and entire Deccan data considered in the present study can be explained by 20% mixing and/or 50% AFC of plume-derived melts with calc-alkaline lamprophyre as an assimilate. Research Highlights: The melts generated from the Archaean sediments preserved in the SCLM, represented by calc-alkaline lamprophyres, are most likely the components that interacted with the plume-derived as well as SCLM-derived partial melts during the formation of DVP. Mixing and/or AFC of calc-alkaline lamprophyres, TTGs and granites by plume-derived melts and SCLM peridotite-derived melts explain total geochemical spread of the Deccan basalts. Approximately, 10% mixing and/or ~20% AFC of Archean calc-alkaline lamprophyre melts can make original sub-lithosphere melts display apparent SCLM signatures. The basalts from the western side of DVP have undergone higher levels of assimilation compared to those from the eastern side. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microwave sintering of powder metals is recognised for better process advantages, namely, less process time, rapid densification, uniform volumetric and selective heating characteristics. There are certain theoretical analyses to explain the mass transport mechanisms during microwave sintering. The current study reports on an investigation of densification kinetics in austenitic (316 L) stainless steel powder compacts processed by microwave hybrid heating method at solidus and super-solidus temperatures. The analysis of densification kinetics and sintering mechanisms were studied using the grain growth exponential and time-temperature plots. The results revealed that the major densification is achieved through bulk diffusion (viscous mass flow) at a higher temperature (1250°C–1300°C) under the super-solidus region while grain boundary retardation is the mechanism for the reduced grain growth at a lower sintering temperature (1100°C–1200°C) under solidus region. The apparent activation energies are calculated using the Arrhenius plot and classical grain growth analysis simultaneously. The activation energies of 42 ± 3 kJ/mol and 24 ± 2 kJ/mol are observed for the samples sintered at a lower temperature. The higher activation energies of 219 ± 8 kJ/mol and 254 ± 7 kJ/mol are obtained for the samples sintered at 1250°C–1300°C for both analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ultra-rapid microwave sintering of powder metals is recognized for better process advantages, namely less process time, uniform volumetric heating, and fine microstructural features that will improve mechanical and corrosion properties. In the present study, austenitic (316 L) stainless steel powder compacts were sintered using a multimode microwave hybrid heating system at solidus (1200°C and 1250°C) and super-solidus (1300°C) temperature with different holding times 30, 45 and 60 min. Mechanical as well as electrochemical responses were correlated with the microstructural features and densification characteristics. The samples sintered at 1300°C for 60 min have shown improved densification and higher tensile strength of 474.3 MPa with 22.1% ductility. It is also noted that an increase in sintering temperature resulted in excellent corrosion resistance in the order of ten times. The input process parameters and the output property responses are mathematically modeled with the help of RSM. The developed equations and experimental studies are in good agreement with output responses (sintered density, yield strength, %elongation, microhardness, corrosion rate) with 0.92 to 0.95 desirability. The validation of optimized output responses is evaluated by conducting confirmation tests at two conditions (1300°C for 60 min & 1300°C for 52 min) and are in line with regression model analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Identification of suitable factors that influence significantly to the response is crucial for the traits based breeding program to make a better decision about improvement in productivity. Multiple linear regression (MLR) is the benchmark method commonly using to identify suitable factors for crop improvement. It doesn't work always due to stringent assumption (Multicollinearity, Linearity) behind the MLR model. Here we tried to develop an efficient model for the selection of major traits that contribute to seed yield in soybean by comparing different models. Methods: Field experiment was conducted using 98 soybean core population through augmented design. 18 morphometric traits obtain from soybean core population were considered under the study as regressors. Multiple linear regression (MLR), principle component regression (PCR), regression tree and Random Forest models were compared to select traits based on prediction accuracy. Result: All the models identified the number of pods per plant (NPP) has the most influencing variable to the soybean yield. However random forest has a much higher prediction power (RMSE=4.59, MAPE=0.18) compared to other models under study. The results of random forest revealed that the number of pods per plant, number of branches per plant and other associated characters like plant height at harvest as highly influencing traits for seed yield in soybean. Finally, tried to identify genotypesthat possess superiority about most influencing morphological characters on seed yield using cluster analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The diagnostic capabilities of spectral lines in the far-ultraviolet (FUV) and extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) wavelength ranges are explored in terms of their Hanle and Zeeman sensitivity to probe the vector magnetic fields in the solar corona. The temperature range covered is log (10 T) = 5.5 – 6.3. The circular-polarization signal due to longitudinal Zeeman effect is estimated for spectral lines in the wavelength range of 500 to 1600 Å. The Stokes V / I signal for a FUV line is found to be of the order of 10−4 for a longitudinal field strength of 10 gauss, which further reduces to 10−5 for wavelengths below 1200 Å. Due to such low signals, the present study aims to find combinations of spectral lines having different Hanle sensitivity but with identical peak formation temperature to probe the coronal magnetic-field vector. The combination of Hanle-sensitive lines is better suited because the Hanle signals are stronger by at least an order of magnitude compared to Zeeman signals. The linear polarization signals due to the Hanle effect from at least two spectral lines are required to derive information on the full vector. It is found from this study that there is always a pair of Hanle-sensitive lines for a given temperature range suitable for probing the coronal vector magnetic field and they are located in close proximity to each other in terms of their wavelength. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ultra-rapid microwave sintering of powder metals will provide fine microstructural features that improve mechanical properties. In present study, three grades of stainless steel powder compacts (316L, 430L, 410) were produced using a uniaxial compaction unit. These compacts were sintered by microwave hybrid heating method at 1300°C (super-solidus region). The densification response, microstructural attributes, and mechanical properties were compared at 30, 45 and 60 min holding times. The compositional analysis was performed with the help of optical emission spectroscopy (OES) and scanning electron microscopy equipped with energy dispersed spectroscopy(SEM-EDS). The results obtained from both spectroscopies are compared for the sintered samples. The correlation of mechanical properties is analysed with evolved microstructural attributes (pore volume, pore shape and pore distribution). The excellent strength of 457 ± 16 MPa, 466 ± 6 MPa and 476 ± 26 MPa with 23 ± 1.3%, 14 ± 1.5% and 11 ± 1% of ductility is observed for sintered AISI 316L, 430L and 410, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Measurement of magnetic field in this layer is challenging both from point of view of observations and interpretation of the data. We present in this work about spectropolarimetric observations of a pore, simultaneously in Ca ii (CaIR) at 854.2 nm (CaIR) and H α (656.28 nm). The observed region includes a small scale energetic event (SSEE) taking place in the region between the pore and the region which show opposite polarity to that of pore at the photosphere. The energetic event appears to be a progressive reconnection event as shown by the time evolution of the intensity profiles. Closer examination of the intensity profiles from the downflow regions suggest that the height of formation of CaIR is higher than that of Hi α, contrary to the current understanding about their height of formation. Preliminary results on the inversion of Stokes-I and V profiles of CaIR are also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thermosolutal Marangoni boundary layer flows are of great interest due to their applications in industrial applications such as drying of silicon wafers, thin layers of paint, glues, in heat exchangers, and crystal growth in space. The present analysis deals with the effect of chemical radiation and heat absorption/generation of the viscous fluid flow on a thermosolutal Marangoni porous boundary with mass transpiration and heat source/sink. The physical flow problem is mathematically modeled into Navier–Stokes equations. These nonlinear partial differential equations are then mapped into a set of nonlinear ordinary differential equations using similarity transformation. The analytical solutions for velocity, temperature, and concentration profiles are rigorously derived. The solutions so obtained are analyzed through various plots to demonstrate the effect of various physical parameters such as mass transpiration parameter Vc, inverse Darcy number Da−1, Marangoni number Ma, Schmidt number Sc, chemical reaction coefficient (K), Prandtl number (Pr), thermal radiation parameter (NR), and the heat source/sink parameter (I) on the momentum/thermal boundary, and their physical insights are also reported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analysis of spectropolarimetric observations of two circular sunspots located close to disk centre in H α (6562.8 Å) and Fe i (6569.22 Å) is presented in this paper. The corresponding active region numbers are NOAA 10940 and NOAA 10941 referred to as AR1 and AR2, respectively. The vector magnetic field at the photosphere is derived through inversion of Stokes profiles of Fe i under Milne–Eddington atmospheric model. The chromospheric vector magnetic field is derived from H α Stokes profiles under weak-field approximation. Azimuthally averaged magnetic field as a function of radial distance from the centre of sunspot at the photosphere and chromosphere are studied. At the photosphere, the radial variation shows a well known behaviour that the total field and the line-of-sight (LOS) component monotonically decrease from centre to the edge of the sunspot and the transverse component initially increases, reaches a maximum close to half the sunspot radius and then decreases. LOS and the transverse components become equal close to half the sunspot radius consistent with the earlier findings. At the chromosphere, all the components of the magnetic field decrease with the sunspot radius. However, the LOS component decreases monotonically whereas the transverse component decreases monotonically up to about 0.6 times the sunspot radius after which it reaches a constant value. Azimuthally averaged magnetic field gradient from photosphere to chromosphere is also presented here. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MHD flow of an electrically conducting Newtonian fluid over a super linear stretching sheet in the presence of suction/injection and Navier slip is studied using modified Adomain decomposition method (MADM) and Padé approximants. Governing nonlinear partial differential equations are transformed into nonlinear ordinary differential equations using an appropriate similarity transformation. The transformed equations are solved analytically by the modified ADM and Padé approximation. The modified ADM for solving nonlinear differential equations is purely and solely the traditional Taylor's series method. Padé approximants are applied to increase the convergence of the given series. The developed analytical technique is verified comprehensively. It is found that Navier's slip condition can lead to a non-essential growth of the boundary layer thickness and a decrease in the axial and transverse velocities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hanging is said to be one of the commonest methods of committing suicides. It is also seen as accidental and homicidal death. The present study is mainly done to know the importance of hanging among all unnatural deaths which are subjected to Post-mortem examination in the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Hospital, Warangal mortuary during the period between January 2012 and March 2013 . Magnitude of hanging deaths was decreased to 4.27% of total Post-mortem examinations. Male to female ratio is 2.61 : 1.60% of total hanging deaths are seen in the age group of 21 – 40 years. 98% of total hanging deaths are Suicidal and rest of them are accidental. No homicidal hanging is seen in the present study. Reasons committing suicide were many. Social problems were outnumbering the physical and psychiatric problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Measurement of magnetic field in this layer is challenging both from point of view of observations and interpretation of the data. We present in this work about spectropolarimetric observations of a pore, simultaneously in Ca ii (CaIR) at 854.2 nm (CaIR) and H α (656.28 nm). The observed region includes a small scale energetic event (SSEE) taking place in the region between the pore and the region which show opposite polarity to that of pore at the photosphere. The energetic event appears to be a progressive reconnection event as shown by the time evolution of the intensity profiles. Closer examination of the intensity profiles from the downflow regions suggest that the height of formation of CaIR is higher than that of Hi α, contrary to the current understanding about their height of formation. Preliminary results on the inversion of Stokes-I and V profiles of CaIR are also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The sella turcica is an important component situated in the mid-third of the cranial fossa. Knowledge about its normal morphologies and dimensions may play a crucial role in diagnosing underlying pathologies. The present study aimed to analyze the principal morphological shapes of the sella turcica, measure its linear dimensions, and determine whether any correlations exist between its dimensions and body mass index (BMI) in subjects in a North Indian population. Methods: The study was conducted on 100 subjects (50 men; 50 women) who underwent cone-beam computed tomography scans at our Oral Medicine and Radiology Department. The subjects had an age range of 20–60 years. The morphology of the sella turcica was examined according to age and various measurements were taken to determine its size. Possible correlations between the dimensions of the sella turcica and BMI were evaluated by statistical analysis. Results: In the present study, 69% of the subjects had a normal morphology. No uniform increases in length, width, and depth of the sella turcica were observed with aging. When Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated, no strong correlations were found between the dimensions of the sella turcica and BMI. A mild correlation was seen between the length and width of the sella turcica. Conclusion: No significant correlations were found between the dimensions of the sella turcica and BMI in the present study. These findings may have arisen through the small sample size, and thus further studies with larger groups of subjects are warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the present paper is to investigate the mobile internet usage among the students of JNTUA College of Engineering, Pulivendala, YSR Kadapa Dist in Andhra Pradesh. The study adopted a descriptive survey design and data was collected through a wellstructured and precise questionnaire, distributed personally among the respondents for this study. The results indicate that portability is the major reason to use internet through mobile phone. 84.09% of the respondents during their examinations. The study also found that 93.18% using mobile internet for mails. Slow downloading is the major problem faced by the most of the respondents of this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we investigate the theoretical analysis for the unsteady magnetohydrodynamic laminar boundary layer flow due to impulsively stretching sheet. The third-order highly nonlinear partial differential equation modeling the unsteady boundary layer flow brought on by an impulsively stretching flat sheet was solved by applying Adomian decomposition method and Pade approximants. The exact analytical solution so obtained is in terms of rapidly converging power series and each of the variants are easily computable. Variations in parameters such as mass transfer (suction/injection) and Chandrasekhar number on the velocity are observed by plotting the graphs. This particular problem is technically sound and has got applications in expulsion process and related process in fluid dynamics problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Justification: Asthma and allergic rhinitis together are part of the concept of 'one airway, one disease' or 'united airway disease'. The management of allergic airway diseases should address this united concept and manage the issue by educating the patients and their parents and health care providers, along with environmental control measures, pharmacotherapy and immunotherapy. Here, we present recommendations from the module of 'Airway Diseases Education and Expertise' (ADEX) that focused on allergic rhinitis, asthma and sleep disorder breathing as a single entity or Allergic Airway Disease. Process: A working committee was formed by the collaboration of Pediatric Allergy Association of India (PAAI) and Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP) Allergy and Applied Immunology chapter to develop a training module on united airway disease. Objectives: To increase awareness, understanding and acceptance of the concept of 'United Airway disease' and to educate the primary health care providers for children and public health officials, in the management of united airway diseases. Recommendations: Recommendations for diagnosis, management and follow-up of Allergic airway disease are presented in this document. A better compliance by linking education of child, parent, grandparents and other health care providers, and scientific progress by collaboration between practitioners, academicians, researchers and pharmaceutical companies is suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To document the epidemiological, clinical and laboratory profile of all children with scrub typhus at a tertiary care centre in Chennai between September 2010 and June 2011. Methods: The case records of all children admitted and diagnosed with scrub typhus between September 2010 and June 2011 were analysed to look for salient clinical and laboratory parameters. Results: During the study period, 52 children were admitted with scrub typhus in the authors' hospital. The presenting complaints included fever in all cases. Other symptoms included swelling of legs (50 %) and vomiting (45 %). 13 % presented with CNS symptoms. The commonest physical findings included eschar (67 %), hepatomegaly (94 %), splenomegaly (73 %) and third spacing (67 %). Salient lab parameters included packed cell volume (PCV) <30 (48 %), leucocytosis (56 %), positive C-reactive protein (CRP) (92 %), hypoalbuminemia (79 %). Common complications included acute kidney injury (10 %) and peripheral gangrene (4 %). There was no mortality in the present case series. Conclusions: The clinical profile of children with scrub typhus in a tertiary care centre is reported. Eschar and hepatosplenomegaly with a high CRP value is helpful in diagnosis. All patients responded well to the treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oncologists all over the globe, relentlessly research on methodologies for detection of cancer and precise localization of cancer therapeutics with minimal adverse effects on healthy tissues. Since the previous decade, the fast growing research in nanotechnology has shown promising possibilities for achieving this dream of every oncologist.Nanorobots (or nanobots) are typical devices ranging in size from 0.1 to 10 μm and constructed of nanoscale or molecular components. Robots will augment the surgeon's motor performance, diagnostic capability and sensations with haptics and augmented reality. The article here aims in briefly describing the architecture of the nanorobots and their role in oncotherapy. Although, research into nanorobots is still in its preliminary stages, the promise of such technology is endless. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The whole plant extract of acalyphaindica and croton bonplandianum obtained cold extraction of mixture of ethanol and water was chosen for pharmacological screening. The Swiss albino mice are subjected to extract at 125 mg/kg to check the CNS depressant activity by actophotometer test. The test and standard were given orally. After 60 min. the animal are placed in to the actophotometer and observation were recorded at the interval of 90, 120 and 180 min. acalyphaindica showed CNS depressant effect but crotonbonplandianum has no depressant activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanotechnology is the creation and utilization of materials, devices and systems through the control of matter on the nanometer-length scale, that is, at the level of atoms, molecules and supramolecular structures. Given the inherent nanoscale functional of living cells, it was inevitable that nanotechnology would be applied in biological settings, giving rise to the term nanobiotechnology; that is, the application of nanotechnology in the life sciences. Nanobiotechnology is also being applied to refine surgery from microsurgery to nanosurgery. During the past few years, considerable progress has been made in the application of nanobiotechnology in cancer, that is, nano-oncology, which is currently the most important chapter of nanomedicine. Nanobiotechnology plays an important role in the discovery of biomarkers of cancer. Several drugs in development for cancer are based on nanobiotechnology, and a few of these are already approved. Nanobiotechnology- based devices are in development as aids to cancer surgery. Finally, nanobiotechnology is playing an important role in personalized therapy for cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brief Background: Central giant cell granuloma (CGCG) of the jaws is an uncommon benign intra-osseous, giant cell containing lesion characterized by osteoclast-like giant cells scattered in a cellular fibrovascular stroma. The lesion occurs more commonly in females and more often located in mandible as compared to maxilla. A case of central giant cell granuloma and its treatment modalities is presented. Materials and Methods: Panoramic radiograph showed a large well defined radiolucency without corticated margins. Based on clinical features and radiographic examination, differential diagnosis of odontogenic keratocyst, central giant cell granuloma and ameloblastoma was made. Final diagnosis of CGCG was established on histopathological examination. Discussion: The clinical, histopathological and radiological features form the subject of discussion. Summary and Conclusions: Central giant cell granuloma is a benign intraosseous, non-neoplastic lesion of the jaws and use of intralesional injections of corticosteroids have been successful as has been the systemic administration of calcitonin in the form of subcutaneous injections or nasal spray. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cowden syndrome (CS) or multiple hamartoma syndrome is an infrequent genodermatoses, which is inherited as an autosomal dominant trait resulting from the mutation in the Phosphatase and Tensin homolog gene on the arm 10q and is principally characterized by multiple hamartomas with an increased risk of development of malignancies. Facial and oral signs are remarkable in the form of multiple papules and trichilemmomas on the face. We report one such rare case of CS in a 19-year-old patient who was diagnosed on the basis of her oral mucosal lesions and was further investigated and diagnosed with other hamartomas. The present case report signifies the responsibility of the oral physician in the early diagnosis of this progressive pathological syndrome as it leaves its footmark in the oral cavity in the form of oral mucosal lesions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Treacher Collins syndrome (TCS) is an autosomal dominant disorder of craniofacial development characterized by variable involvement of the craniofacial structures derived from the first and second branchial arches. Occurrence of this syndrome is relatively rare with wide variations in the clinical expression. Aspects of speech, appearance, and social well-being along with psychological issues are hampered in these patients. Treating such disabled children poses a great challenge not only in the medical field but also in the dental meadow. We report a case of a 5-year-old boy who presented with this syndrome and the dental treatment was carried out with a noteworthy outcome for a period of 8 years. A brief review of etiology, dental anomalies along with prognosis is documented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a heuristic approach for optimal feeder reconfiguration of radial distribution systems (RDS). Optimal feeder reconfiguration involves the selection of the best set of branches to be opened by considering the all tie switches, such that the resulting RDS has the desired performance. Amongst the several performance criteria considered for optimal feeder reconfiguration, line maximizing loadability is an important one. In this paper an algorithm is proposed based on simple heuristic rules and identified an effective switch status configuration of distribution system for maximizing the line maximum loadability of the system. The line maximum loadability, power loss and voltage profile calculation of the best switching combination are found by load flow solution. Compared to other published articles, the proposed method reduces the switching combinations searched and gives the optimum solution in few number of load flow runs. To demonstrate the validity of the proposed algorithm, computer simulations are carried out on 33-bus system and the performance of the proposed method compared with the other existing methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crouzon syndrome or craniofacial dysostosis is a rare syndrome characterized by craniosynostosis, midfacial hypoplasia and exophthalmia. The abnormalities found in this syndrome change too much from case to case depending on the suture fusion order. We report a case of a 12 year old child and a mother showing variations in the dentofacial tissues clinically and radiographically. Subsequently, the application of digital software [Dolphin Imaging 11] enabled us to solve out the case as Crouzon syndrome by analyzing the skeletal and soft tissue alterations. An update of the effects of this syndrome on various systems and dentofacial features with emphasis on tooth abnormalities is documented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We performed high resolution spectroscopy of the solar corona during the total solar eclipse of 22 July 2009 in two emission lines: the green line at 5303 Å due to Fe xiv and the red line at 6374 Å due to Fe x, simultaneously from Anji (latitude 30°28.1′ N; longitude 119°35.4′ E; elevation 890 m), China. A two-mirror coelostat with 100 cm focal length lens produced a 9.2 mm image of the Sun. The spectrograph using 140 cm focal length lens in Littrow mode and a grating with 600 lines per millimeter blazed at 2 μm provided a dispersion of 30 mÅ and 43 mÅ per pixel in the fourth order around the green line and third order around the red line, respectively. Two Peltier cooled 1k × 1k CCD cameras, with a pixel size of 13 μm square and 14-bit readout at 10 MHz operated in frame transfer mode, were used to obtain the time sequence spectra in two emission lines simultaneously. The duration of totality was 341 s, but we could get spectra for 270 s after a trial exposure at an interval of 5 s. We report here on the detection of intensity, velocity, and line width oscillations with periodicity in the range of 25 - 50 s. These oscillations can be interpreted in terms of the presence of fast magnetoacoustic waves or torsional Alfvén waves. The intensity ratios of green to red emission lines indicate the temperature of the corona to be 1.65 MK in the equatorial region and 1.40 MK in the polar region, relatively higher than the expected temperature during the low activity period. The width variation of the emission lines in different coronal structures suggests different physical conditions in different structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The need for fast load flow algorithms for radial distribution networks that take advantage of their particular structure has been increasing for planning and optimization. In this article, a novel load flow method of radial distribution systems is presented. In the proposed method, different realistic loads have been considered, as loads are voltage dependent in distribution systems. The effect of load growth is investigated with the proposed method, as it is required for system expansion, planning, and operation. The proposed method has a good convergence pattern and execution time for all types of realistic loads and sizes of the networks. The efficacy of the proposed method is tested with different radial distribution systems and compared with other existing methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study was aimed to evaluate six indigenous plant extracts for their ability to protect maize from infestation by maize weevil Sitophilus zeamais (M). The plant extracts were tested for its toxicity by fumigation and grain surface coating methods. Further, the effects of botanical treatments on F1 progeny, seed emergence and antifungal activities were studied. The results indicated that the extracts of Eicchornia crassipes controlled the test insect in grain surface coating method (100%, P = 0.05). Further, the same plant extract had significantly reduced the development of F1 progeny (97 ± 0.7%). In germination experiments, T + UEx samples showed normal seed germination of maize. However, in T + Ex samples, the seed germination depended on the grain protectant efficacy of the tested botanical extracts. Always higher percantage seed germination was recorded in those treatments where there was less infestation. Extracts of Carica papaya had significantly reduced the incidence of seed-borne fungus Aspergillus flavus (4 ± 2.4%) and did not affect the seed germination when compared to other treatments and untreated control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A marginal approach and a variance-component mixed effect model approach (here called a conditional approach) are commonly used to analyze variables that are subject to limit of detection. We examine the theoretical relationship and investigate the numerical performance of these two approaches. We make some recommendations based on our results. The marginal approach is recommended for bivariate normal variables, and the variance-component mixed effect model is preferable for other multivariate analysis in most circumstances. Two approaches are illustrated through one case study from a preclinical experiment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]