Search

Wireless mesh networks (WMNs) have become a popular solution for expanding internet service and communication in both urban and rural areas. However, the performance of WMNs depends on generating optimized time-division multiple access (TDMA) schedules, which distribute time into a list of slots called superframes. This study proposes novel meta-heuristic algorithms to generate TDMA link schedules in WMNs using two different interference/constraint models: multi-transmit-receive (MTR) and full-duplex (FD). The objectives of this study are to optimize the TDMA frame for packet transmission, satisfy the constraints, and minimize the end-to-end delay. The significant contributions of this study are: (1) proposing effective and efficient heuristic solutions to solve the NP-complete problem of generating optimal TDMA link schedules in WMNs; (2) investigating the new FD interference model to improve the network capacity above the physical layer. To achieve these objectives and contributions, the study uses two popular meta-heuristics, the artificial bee colony (ABC) and/or genetic algorithm (GA), to solve the known NP-complete problems of joint scheduling, power control, and rate control. The results of this study show that the proposed algorithms can generate optimized TDMA link schedules for both MTR and FD models. The joint routing and scheduling approach further minimizes end-to-end delay while maintaining the schedule's minimum length and/or maximum capacity. The proposed solution outperforms the existing solutions in terms of the number of active links, end-to-end delay, and network capacity. The research aims to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of WMNs in most applications that require high throughput and fast response time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The last few years have witnessed tremendous challenges in the management of operational risks faced by banks and the emergence of newer risks. The working models for bank staff are now different; additionally, there has been a massive increase in the digitization level. All these aspects make operational risk management in banks an attractive field of study. There is a need to perform systematic bibliometric analysis in this research area, providing the various trends and highlighting areas for further research analysis. This research paper has examined the various aspects of operational risk management in Banks by performing a thorough bibliometric analysis of 676 articles extracted from two data databases, i.e., Scopus and Web of Science, from 2010 until March 2023. These were analyzed using the tools Biblioshiny and VOSviewer. Various bibliometric techniques like analysis of trends, citations, contributing authors, keywords, and bibliographic coupling have been performed. This research paper has significant theoretical and practical implications which can assist future researchers. Operational risks are ever-dynamic, and five themes, i.e., climate risk, information security risks, geopolitical risks, third-party risks and compliance risks, have been identified in this research paper as key focus areas for conducting research in the future. The findings of this study and suggestions for future research will be useful to academicians, policymakers, and operational risk management professionals for identifying potential areas of collaboration in the future to strengthen the operational risk management framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Byline: Keya. Basu, Moumita. Chatterjee, Abhishek. De, Moumita. Sengupta, Chhanda. Datta, Pradip. Mitra Context: Autoimmune blistering diseases (AIBDs) are characterized by autoantibodies directed against antigens of skin. Direct immunofluorescence (DIF) [...]

Malignant melanoma is a tumor of melanocytic origin. Lymphatic and hematogenous metastases are common in this condition. Retrospective analysis was performed in 16 consecutive cases diagnosed histopathologically as malignant melanoma at the pathology department of a medial college in eastern India. 75% of the patients were male; majority of them was in their sixth decade. All (100%) the lesions were pigmented. The primary site was known in all cases, except two (12.5%). Out of the 14 cases with known primary site 11 (78.57%) were cutaneous melanomas, including one arising in labia minora, two (14.29%) were ocular and one (7.14%) was vaginal in origin. Among cutaneous melanomas, superficial spreading type was the commonest variety and mixed population of epithelioid and spindle cell was the commonest histopathological pattern. The commonest grade of invasion was grade III (Clark′s). The clinical presentation of the case of vaginal melanoma and the two cases of secondary melanomas, including the one with obscure primary tumor, were bewildering and hence are discussed separately.

We present a detailed methodology for drift-diffusion (DD) modeling of gain and dark currents in mid-wave infrared (MWIR) and short-wave infrared (SWIR) ${\mathrm {Hg}}_{{1}-{x}}$ CdxTe p-around-n avalanche photodiodes (APDs) based on a comprehensive analysis of experimentally obtained data from three different sets of devices. These devices are fabricated on homogeneous and compositionally-graded films with cadmium composition ranging from ${x}\,\,=0.37$ to 0.45, each with differing geometrical dimensions, and tested at operating temperatures ranging from 140 to 240 K. The temperature, composition, and electric-field dependent impact ionization (ImI) coefficients are calibrated first according to the given experimental gain data. The gain-normalized dark current (GNDC) curve, along with the presumption of electron-only multiplication, is then used to thoroughly understand and model the behavior of diffusion and generation currents. At high biases, the GNDC curve reveals contributions from tunneling, which are classified as either trap-assisted or band-to-band based on their temperature dependence. The tunneling mechanisms are modeled accordingly: trap-assisted tunneling (TAT) is scaled inversely with Shockley–Read–Hall (SRH) lifetime, while band-to-band tunneling (BTBT) is scaled with bandgap, effective mass, and an additional empirical temperature term. Finally, the comprehensive model is applied to all three experimental devices across the operating temperature range with good agreement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fifty female patients, in the age range 3.5 to 45 yrs, suffering from chronic diffuse alopecia were studied for the probable causes. In 26% of cases, iron deficiency anaemia was found to be the major aetiological factor and 20% cases showed hupothyroidism. The cause could not be traced in 40% of cases. In majority of cases, multiple factors might be implicated.

Background: Hirschsprung's disease (HD) is a genetic disorder with a complex pattern of inheritance. Some single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are identified to be associated with the risk of Hirschsprung's Disease (HSCR).Aims and Objectives: The aim of this study is to know the association between the rearranged during transfection (RET) proto-oncogene polymorphism and HD and to characterize the SNPs of RET proto-oncogene affecting HD.Materials and Methods: The study was conducted in the Department of Pathology in association with the Department of Pediatric Surgery. Blood samples were collected from the patients diagnosed with confirmed HD and from age- and sex-matched controls. This case-control study consisted of 53 HSCR cases and 50 controls. Genotypes of rs1800860 and rs1800861 were analysed in by polymerase chain reaction amplification and sanger sequencing. Associations with the risk of HSCR were estimated by odds ratio (OR) and their 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) using.Results: We observed that in the case of rs1800860A > G genotype AG was not associated with the increasing risk of disease (OR with 95% CI = 0.568 [0.238-1.356]) while genotype GG was associated with increasing the risk of the disease (OR with 95% CI = 2.278 [0.967-5.366]). In the case of rs1800861G > T genotype GT was associated with lowering the risk of the disease (OR with 95% CI = 0.230 [0.0981-0.539]) while genotype TT was associated with increasing the risk of the disease (OR with 95% CI = 9.647 [3.830-24.302]). The difference in the genotypic distribution of GT and TT at rs1800861G > T between Short segment disease (SSD) cases and Long Segment Disease (LSD) and total colonic aganglionosis was made by Fisher's exact test and it was statistically significant (P = 0.0476 and 0.0054).Conclusion: The results of this study support the hypothesis that variations in RET pathway might play an important role in the development of HSCR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Byline: Chinmay. Halder, Biswanath. Naskar, Projna. Biswas, Pradip. Mitra Eccrine angiomatous hamartoma (EAH) is a very rare benign neoplastic condition characterized by hamartomatous proliferation of eccrine glands and accompanying blood [...]

A 45 year old female, with lesions of disseminated discoid lupus erythematosus (DLE) for about 10 year duration, developed a solitary lesion of well-differentiated squamous cell carcinoma on the healed scar of a DLE on the right forearm.

Byline: Sumit. Sen, Gobinda. Chatterjee, Pradip. Mitra, Anusree. Gangopadhyay Hamartomatous, circumscribed swellings of the extremities make an interesting study. Presentations are manifold and the naevi are not always present from [...]

The lifetime of the excited 2 1Ag state of cis,cis-octatetraene (the eight carbon oligomer of cis-polyacetylene) in a n-octane host crystal has been measured as a function of temperature in the region 8

Objectives: Fanconi anaemia (FA) is a rare inherited bone marrow failure and autosomal recessive blood disorder. FA patients have a higher risk of cancer, including acute myeloid leukaemia and squamous cell carcinoma. Maximum, but not all, affected individuals have one or more somatic abnormalities, including skin, skeletal, genitourinary, gastrointestinal, cardiac and neurological anomalies, etc. Positive stress cytogenetics has immense implications for the treatment and management of FA. The aim of our study was to find out the incidence of FA in the population of phenotypically normal aplastic anaemia (AA) patients in West Bengal. Methods: Ethical clearances were obtained from the corresponding institutional committees. A total of 117 AA cases was selected. Stress cytogenetics was performed from peripheral venous blood (PVB) samples of 63 AA patients (age ≤ 50 years) and 63 age- and sex-matched healthy individual (control) using Mitomycin C (MMC). Results: Out of 63 AA patients, 6 (9.25%) cases showed positive stress cytogenetics suggestive of FA, which is statistically significant (p-value - 0.000532), analysed by chi-square test. Discussion: A considerable percentage of patients showing sensitivity towards MMC, even if they are phenotypically normal and did not have any distinguishable features which are generally found in FA. Conclusion: This observation may indicate that stress cytogenetics analysis of phenotypically normal AA patients (≤50 years) is essential for the improvement of the treatment procedure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In rural areas of developing countries, solid fuels are still widely used for cooking, heating, and lighting purposes. This study investigates the effects of household air pollutants (HAPs) exposure on the occurrence of respiratory symptoms, blood pressure, and lung function. In this study, we randomly selected 123 (83 biomass and 40 clean fuel user) subjects to assess the impact of smoke generated from solid biomass fuel by assessing their health status along with the ventilation pattern of the kitchens and living rooms. HAPs (PM10, PM2.5, and CO) and different health parameters were measured along with monitoring of self-reported health symptoms for a consecutive period of eight months. Results revealed that the concentration of CO, PM2.5, and PM10 were found highest in biomass using households. Higher odds of the upper respiratory symptoms, runny nose (OR: 4.08, 95% CI: 1.22–22.14, p < 0.03), nasal congestion (OR: 9.07, 95% CI: 1.39–97.89, p < 0.01) and the odds of the lower respiratory symptoms like wheezing (OR: 1.62, 95% CI: 1.23–10.94, p < 0.01), breathlessness (OR: 4.44, 95% CI: 1.3–14.75, p < 0.01), chest tightness (OR: 4.89, 95% CI: 1.23–22.14, p < 0.03) and dry cough (OR: 3.661, 95% CI: 1.05–12.25, p < 0.04) were significantly higher in biomass fuel user. Similarly higher systolic (+11.41 mmHg), higher diastolic pressure (+3.3 mmHg), higher pulse pressure (+8.11 mmHg), and a 6 mmHg higher mean arterial pressure among biomass fuel using tribal women. The risk of hypertension was significantly (p < 0.03) higher (OR: 3.04; 95% CI: 1.18–7.89) among solid biomass fuel users. The lung abnormality was recorded 28.91% (OR: 5.02, 95% CI: 1.50 to 16.56, p < 0.01) among biomass fuel user. Finally, it is suggested that the use of efficient cookstoves, increase in cross ventilation, and cleaner fuel are urgently needed to curb the pollution load. [Display omitted] • Rural tribal women are severely exposed from indoor air pollutants. • Risk of lung disease and hypertension are predominant for heavy exposure group. • Tribal women are worst sufferer from upper and lower respiratory symptoms. • Biomass users are suffering from various morbidities/comorbidities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Beta-thalassemia trait (BTT) is a common genetic disorder of hemoglobin and imposes a significant burden on global healthcare. Screening of this disorder is immensely important epidemiologically as it can reduce the future incidence of thalassemia major in newborns. The present study was carried out to evaluate the role of six discrimination indices to differentiate cases of BTT from others. Materials and Methods: A single-center, cross-sectional study was conducted on consecutive 10,407 participants. In addition to common diagnostic statistics association, concordance and receiver-operating characteristic curves were assessed to judge the role of discrimination indices. Results: Shine and Lal index, Mentzer index, and Srivastava index had revealed better discriminative function compared to England and Fraser index, red cell distribution width index, and Green and King index. Conclusion: Discrimination indices are rapid, reliable, and easy tools to suspect a case of BTT and send the subject for further high-performance liquid chromatography evaluation. But the cut-off value for these indices needs to be revised to achieve the best combination of sensitivity and specificity in this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A linear mode photon counting focal plane array using HgCdTe mid-wave infrared (MWIR) cutoff electron initiated avalanche photodiodes (e-APDs) has been designed, fabricated, and characterized. The broad spectral range (0.4 to 4.3 μm) is unique among photon counters, making this a "first of its kind" system spanning the visible to the MWIR. The low excess noise [F(M ≈ 1] of the e-APDs allows for robust photon detection while operating at a stable linear avalanche gain in the range of 500-1000. The readout integrated circuit (ROIC) design included a very high gain-bandwidth product resistive transimpedance amplifier (3 x 1013 Ω-Hz) and a 4 ns output digital pulse width comparator. The ROIC had 16 high-bandwidth analogs and 16 low-voltage differential signaling digital outputs. The 2 x 8 array was integrated into an LN2 Dewar with a custom leadless chip carrier and daughter board design that preserved high-bandwidth analog and digital signal integrity. The 2 x 8 e-APD arrays were fabricated on 4.3 µm cutoff HgCdTe and operated at 84 K. The measured dark currents were approximately 1 pA at 13 V bias where the measured avalanche photodiode gain was 500. This translates to a predicted dark current induced dark count rate of less than 20 KHz. Single photon detection was achieved with a photon pulse signal-to-noise ratio of 13.7 above the amplifier noise floor. A photon detection efficiency of 50% was measured at a photon background limited false event rate of about 1 MHz. The measured jitter was in the range of 550-800 ps. The demonstrated minimum time between distinguishable events was less than 10 ns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The precise role of iron in immune regulation especially in children vulnerable to iron deficiency is not fully known. Hence, this study was conducted to evaluate the effects of iron deficiency anemia (IDA) and its treatment with oral iron supplementation on cell-mediated immunity (CMI) and humoral immunity (HMI) in children. Materials and Methods: A total of 40 children (<15 years) with IDA and 40 age-matched healthy children after satisfying the inclusion criteria were enrolled for this case-control study. Flow cytometric evaluation of absolute and relative numbers of cluster of differentiation 4 (CD4) and CD8 (cluster of differentiation 8) lymphocyte subgroups was carried out to assess the CMI and serum Immunoglobulin G (IgG), Immunoglobulin A (IgA), Immunoglobulin M (IgM) were measured to assess the HMI at baseline and 3 months post oral iron supplementation. Results: Significantly lower levels (P < 0.05) of CD4+ T-cells and decreased CD4:CD8 ratios were observed in the iron deficient children. Iron supplementation significantly improved the CD4+ cell counts and CD4:CD8 ratios. However, immunoglobulin levels weren't different between the two groups. Conclusions: Although IDA did not influence HMI, it significantly impaired CMI, which was improved following iron supplementation for 3 months. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Determination of the pattern of HIV/AIDS in patients attending voluntary confidential counseling and testing center (VCCTC) and prevention of parent-to-child transmission (PPTCT) center of a low-prevalence district of Eastern India. To find out high-risk group and interventional strategy for prevention. Method: Cross-sectional exploratory secondary data analysis from the VCCTC and PPTCT register. Result: Of the 1348 participants, 160 (11.86%) adults were HIV seropositive. Prevalence in males and females was 9.8% and 20.7%, respectively. Among 22 (1.63%) seropositive children, transmission was vertical in 18 (81.8%). Seventy-one (88.75%) positive adult males were migratory goldsmiths working in Mumbai and other big cities. They were clustered in a particular locality (Daspur). Conclusion: Goldsmiths migrated from Daspur to big cities are the bridge populations who are responsible for higher prevalence of HIV in their families and locality. Interventional strategies targeted at this high-risk group are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The next generation of infrared (IR) sensor systems will include active imaging capabilities. One example of such a system is a gated active/passive system. The gated active/passive system promises target detection and identification at longer ranges compared to conventional passive-only imaging systems. A detector that is capable of both active and passive modes of operation opens up the possibility of a self-aligned system that uses a single focal plane. The mid-wave infrared (MWIR) HgCdTe electron injection avalanche photodiode (e-APD) provides state-of-the-art 3 µm to 5 µm performance for the passive mode and high, low-noise, gain in the active mode, and high quantum efficiency at 1.5 µm. Gains of greater than 1000 have been measured in MWIR e-APDs with a gain-independent excess noise factor of 1.3. This paper reports the application of the mid-wave HgCdTe e-APD for near-IR gated-active/ passive imaging. Specifically a 128 x 128 focal-plane array (FPA) composed of 40-µm-pitch MWIR cutoff APD detectors and custom readout integrated circuit was designed, fabricated, and tested. Median gains as high as 946 at 11 V bias with noise equivalent photon inputs as low as 0.4 photon were measured at 80 K and 1 µs gate times. This subphoton sensitivity is consistent with the high gains, low excess noise factor, and low effective gain normalized dark-current densities, near or below 1 nA/cm², that were achieved in these FPAs. A gated imaging demonstration system was designed and built using commercially available parts. High resolution and precision gating was demonstrated in this system by imagery taken at ranges out to 9 km. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eccrine angiomatous hamartoma (EAH) is a very rare benign neoplastic condition characterized by hamartomatous proliferation of eccrine glands and accompanying blood vessels and lymphatics. These lesions are more often present at birth or appear during early infancy and childhood and present as solitary nodule or plaque with occasional pain and sweating. They are generally present on the extremities, mostly the palms and soles. We report here a case of EAH in a 20-year-old female who presented with a solitary angiomatous plaque close to the lower eyelid of the right eye with occasional pain and sweating for its rarity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Punctate porokeratosis is a rare variant of porokeratosis. Linear distribution of this entity has been described in very few cases. Herein, we report a case of rare coexistence of unilateral linear punctate porokeratosis and ipsilateral solitary actinic porokeratosis in an 18-year-old male. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]