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Purpose: Inter-rater reliability is a critical aspect of stroke image interpretation. This study aims to investigate inter-rater reliability between neurologists and neuro-radiologist when assessing Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Score (ASPECTS) and Intracerebral Haemorrhage (ICH) scores using a mobile application (SMART INDIA App – by neurologists) and the Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS – by neuro-radiologist). Methods: Adult patients diagnosed with ischemic or haemorrhagic stroke were included in this study. Two Neurologists (R1 and R2) assessed the ASPECTS and ICH scores by viewing the SMART INDIA App. A neuroradiologist expert (R3) assessed the same using PACS. Kappa statistics are presented for agreement between the Raters. Results: 100 consecutive patients each of Acute Ischemic stroke (AIS) and ICH were included. A significant agreement in the total ASPECTS between the Raters 1 and 2 (0.85(95% CI—0.775,0.926)), Raters 1 and 3(0.76(95% CI—0.671,0.857)) and Raters 2 and 3(0.76(95% CI—0.673,0.857)) was noted. A good agreement was ascertained between Rater 1 and 3, even though the devices were different. A similar excellent agreement was also noted in assessing the ICH score. The study's findings indicate that neurologists using different devices and platforms demonstrated good to excellent agreement with the neuro-radiologist (considered the gold standard) when estimating ASPECTS and ICH scores. Conclusion: The interpretations of neurologists using the SMART INDIA App can be deemed valid and reliable from the neuroimaging viewpoint. These results contribute to our understanding of the feasibility and reliability of app-based image evaluation in the assessment of stroke.

Background:Myofascial pain syndrome (MPS) is a muscle pain disorder characterized by the presence of Myofascial Trigger Point (MTrP) within a taut band, local tenderness, referral of pain to a distant site, restricted range of motion, and autonomic phenomena. The upper trapezius is the muscle most often affected by MTrPs. Manual myofascial release (MFR) and Instrument-Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization (IASTM) are techniques of soft tissue release that are used to resolve MPS. Fifty six percent of physiotherapists complain of pain in multiple areas due to the massage and manual therapy that they have to perform.Objective:The objective of this study is to find whether IASTM is better than manual MFR in treating patients with MPS in upper trapezius.Methods:This study was a single-blinded randomized controlled trial that included 31 participants, both males and females between the age groups of 18–50 years. Participants were randomly divided into two groups. Three sessions were given over a period of one week for both groups. Group A received IASTM along with conventional treatment and Group B received Manual MFR along with the conventional treatment. The outcome measures evaluated were pain, cervical range of motion, pain pressure threshold (PPT) of trigger points, and the neck disability index. Pre- and post-measurements were taken and the analysis was done.Results:Both the treatment methods significantly reduced pain, improved PPT, range of motion, and function. The effects between the groups showed that IASTM was significantly better than manual MFR to reduce pain. The improvement in PPT, range of motion and function were equal in both the groups.Conclusion:IASTM and manual MFR both are effective individually as treatment procedures for pain, PPT, range of motion, and function. Neither of the treatment options can be considered better that the other. The clinician can decide based on the availability of the instrument, training, patient’s preference, and his/her comfort whether which of the two treatment methods should be used.

Byline: Nilima. Kshirsagar, Renuka. Munshi, Sandeep. Bavdekar, Rohit. Saxena Dry eye syndrome (DES) is a common disorder with rising incidence due to increased use of digital devices. While multiple treatment [...]

Deep learning techniques have recently drawn a lot of attention towards automatic facial emotion recognition (FER) applications such as diagnosis of psychiatric disorders, mental health monitoring, and other human–computer interaction applications. But the models that have been developed, have still not been generalized due to the absence of substantial emotion datasets and high operational costs. To address these issues, we propose a novel technique called facial emotion recognition using fine-tuned MobileNetV2 architecture (FERFM). It uses the concept of transfer learning to improve the performance of FER systems for mobile devices. It transfers the knowledge from pre-trained ImageNet dataset to profile view RGB-KDEF dataset for diversity among learnt features. Initially, data descriptive analysis is performed on input KDEF images to automate the necessary knowledge. Then the pipeline strategy is introduced, where the pre-trained MobileNetV2 architecture is fine tuned by eliminating the last six layers and adding dropout regularization, max pooling and dense layer. To test the performance of the proposed work, we ran several tests using the KDEF-RGB dataset, FER13 dataset and real-time facial expression images to classify the results into seven discrete categories of emotions. It was also verified on VGG-16 pretrained model and demonstrated remarkable performance comparatively. Proposed FERFM achieves 85.7% accuracy and requires 1,510,599 number of trainable parameters, 43 ms running time per image that proves the enhancement of FER performance and outperforms the existing state of art methods. Also, the ability to achieve low operational costs while maintaining high accuracy demonstrates proficiency in mobile applications.

Although there is no dearth of international and national level studies that have investigated the effects of clean energy for gender empowerment, until now no study has attempted to capture [...]

Electrochemical dearomatization has been recognized as an attractive tool for the rapid construction of structurally diverse molecules. The designed methodology encompasses an eco-friendly and efficient electrochemical approach to synthesizing spiro[4.5]dienones under mild reaction conditions. Furthermore, detailed mechanistic studies strongly bolster our hypothesis and emphasize the role of HFIP in the mechanism. The protocol is scalable and showcases a broad substrate scope with tolerance toward numerous functional groups. Henceforth, this strategy can be deployed as an alternative and sustainable tool for accessing spiro[4.5]dienones.

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Eating disorders (EDs) are undertreated worldwide. In the UK the lag between recognition of symptoms and treatment ranges from about 15 months to in excess of 2 years. Internet‐based cognitive behaviour therapy (ICBT) could be a viable alternative to face‐to‐face cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) that avoids the negative impacts of delayed interventions. Based on evidence from randomised controlled trials (RCTs), this systematic review investigated the efficacy of minimally guided self‐help ICBT, without face‐to‐face therapy, for the prevention, treatment and relapse prevention of all types of EDs in adults. The electronic databases MEDLINE, PsychINFO, CENTRAL, Scopus, and Web of Science were searched between 1991 and 2021. Inclusion criteria specified RCTs with ICBT versus inactive comparison groups. The Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool‐2 was used for quality assessments. Qualitative synthesis and meta‐analyses were conducted. Findings typically showed medium significant beneficial effect sizes for prevention studies ranging from (−0.31 [95% CI: −0.57, −0.06] to −0.47 [95% CI: −0.82, −0.11]) and generally large effect sizes for the treatment studies ranging from (−0.30 [95% CI: −0.57, −0.03] to −1.11 [95% CI: −1.47, −0.75]). Relapse prevention studies yielded mainly small non‐significant beneficial effects with significant effect sizes of (−0.29 [95% CI: −0.56, −0.03] and −0.43 [95% CI: −0.70, −0.16]). Only the treatment studies reached clinical significance and cognitive symptoms improved more than behavioural symptoms. ICBT appears to be efficacious for the prevention, treatment and relapse prevention of eating disorders with treatment interventions being the most beneficial. However, the evidence base is very small, particularly for treatment and relapse prevention, indicating the need for more high‐quality RCTs.

The present research examines the link between organisational virtuousness (OVR) and perceived organisational support (POS) towards enhancing well-being at workplace. Further, this research also explores psychological capital (PSC) as a mediator on the hypothesised links. Four hundred seven responses were collected from the employees of selected cement manufacturing plants in Odisha, India using perception-based surveys. The research model was evaluated through structural equation modelling (SEM). Based on the empirical results, the hypothesised links between the model constructs were found positive and significant. Also, the results indicate the partial mediating effect of PSC on the hypothesised paths. The study findings provide new insights to the scholarly community to better understand the concept of well-being at workplace, especially in emerging markets. In the long-run, employee well-being leads to positive outcomes for the manufacturing organisations that are competitive and demand high-levels of productivity and commitment.

Automatic emotion recognition (AER) using facial expressions and electroencephalogram (EEG) signals is an interesting and booming area of research in the field of human computer interaction This paper aims to identify the key state-of-the-art methodologies, understand the standard workflow pipeline and know the existing findings. Different machine learning and deep learning approaches used recently for information pre-processing, feature extraction, feature classification and fusion schemes have also been explored. Furthermore, the purpose of this review work is to discuss the aspects motivating researchers to move from unimodal to multimodal AER systems. Also, this surveyed information is summarised in tabular forms to investigate the recent methods used and the results obtained. This comprehensive literature survey identifies the key points for inclusion of facial expressions and EEG signals over other channels, also the benefits of automated features, which are being leveraged over hand crafted features for building improved real time emotion recognition systems. This review work provides new research directions, open challenges and existing state-of-the-art methods in the field of AER using facial expressions and EEG signals which can be used as benchmark studies for researchers.

The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the alleviating effect of silicon (Si) on fluoride (F)-mediated toxicity in wheat cultivars.

Niger (Guizotia abyssinicaCass.) is an important oilseed crop grown in many African countries as well as in India. Niger seed oil is used edible purposes in many parts of India including tribal populations of south Gujarat. The present work aims to explore the nutrient composition of different genotypes/varieties of niger. The niger genotypes such as NMS-1706, NMS-1708 and NMS-1709 were at par with the check variety GNNIG-3 in relation to oil production (46% crude oil content), whereas NMS-1705 showed a pretty good amount of crude protein (30.56%), rendering these genotypes competent for the future niger breeding programme to improve the oil quality. The obtained results highlighted that besides containing essential fatty acids niger also proved as a rich source of antioxidants, β-carotene and crude fibre.

This investigation revealed the impact of Ni-O doping variation in the Calophyllum oil biodiesel B25 against the braking torque 10–25 N-m, under FIT 21, 24 and 27 °btdc. The engine tested for B25N25, B25N50, B25N75 and B25N100 at Ni-O doping 25, 50, 75 and 100 ppm, respectively. It analyzed engine parameters like BTE, BSFC, CO2, CO, UNHC and NOx at 3.0 kW load, 210 bar FIP, 1500 rpm and 17.5 compression ratio. FIT 27 °btdc reported BTE rise by 10.15% and BSFC fall by 12.78% against the FIT 21 °btdc. Braking toque 10 to 25 N-m, it was found that with FIT 27 °btdc, 9.10% increase in BTE and 7.9% decrement in BFSC. BSFC reduced at FIT 27 °btdc against 21 °btdc for Ni-O doping of 25, 50, 75 and 100 ppm was 15.81%, 13.13%, 13.39% and 7.04% respectively. The highest BET 29.53% reported for B25N25, and lowest BSFC 0.301 kg/kW-h for B25N75. The highest CO2found 2.55% with B25N50, lowest CO 11.73% for B25N75. UBHC 9.30 ppm reported for B25N25 and B25N100. NOx was lowest 152 ppm for B25N50. It was concluded that B25N50 best suited fuel to minimise NOx emission with the improvement in BTE and reduction in BSFC at FIT of 27 °btdc.

The recent trend in healthcare is to use the automated biomedical signals processing for an augmented and precise diagnosis. In this context, an original approach is presented for categorization of stress and non-stress classes by processing the multichannel Electroencephalogram (EEG) signals. The EEG signals are decomposed by using the “Empirical Mode Decomposition” (EMD) and “Variational Mode Decomposition” (VMD), respectively render the “Intrinsic Mode Functions” (IMFs) and Modes. The Second Order Difference Plots (SODPs) are traced for each IMF and Mode. Shapes of SODPs are used to discriminate the two intended categories. The feature space includes areas, Central Tendency Measures (CTMs) and means of SODPs. It is derived from first 7 IMFs and Modes. The identification of stress and non-stress categories is performed by using the robust machine learning algorithms namely, the Support Vector Machine (SVM), Boosting with Random Forest (RF) and Multilayer Perceptron Neural Network (MLPNN). The applicability is tested by using a publicly available EEG signals dataset, recorded during mental arithmetic test. A detailed evaluation is carried out at the subset, individual channel and lobes wise. Noteworthy highest accuracies of subset wise 99.89%, channel wise 98.89% and lobe wise 99.99% are obtained respectively.

The prevailing environmental conditions control the growth and development of plant in one way or the other throughout the world. Abiotic stresses, i.e., drought, heavy metals, salinity, heat and cold and other environmental extremes negatively influence survival of plants and reduce the productivity of crops. The world’s most popular grain, wheat (Triticum aestivumL.), is highly susceptible to abiotic stress, which is the major reason for yield losses in the crop. Silicon (Si) is the second most abundant element and gaining popularity for its multilateral role in providing significant advantages for growth and yield of crop plants. It is a non-essential nutrient, but it has been shown to have beneficial effects on the growth and development of several plant species. Si substantially reduces the most abiotic stresses and it is non-polluting, non-detrimental and non-harmful to plants even when used in large quantities. Exogenous Si application prevents the detrimental effect of drought, heat and cold stress by increasing cuticle and epidermal layer thickening from silica deposited. Si creates an apoplastic barrier in the endodermis closer to the root apex to prevent the uptake and mobility of heavy metals. Under adverse conditions, Si increases nutrient uptake and restores wheat growth and production. The review clearly reveals the importance of Si nutrition in imparting abiotic stress tolerance and the need for its application in the wheat crop. Plant producers can benefit from Si fertilizers both economically and environmentally.

Pharmacovigilance is important in assuring the safety of medicines and protecting patients from harm. The Pharmacovigilance Programme of India (PvPI) is a robust scientific platform that provides valuable information on the safety of medicinal products and contributes to regulatory decisions. Recent changes in the regulation of the drug approval processes and pre- and post-approval vigilance of undesired effects have strengthened pharmacovigilance in India. This article gives an overview of pharmacovigilance structures and practices, their integration into public health programmes, the regulatory context, recent initiatives undertaken by PvPI, challenges to overcome, and the way forward., Introduction All medicines carry some risk of harm. It is therefore important to monitor their effects, both intended and unwanted, to get an evidence-based assessment of risk versus benefit. Today [...]

The effects of microwave and conventional oven drying on the drying kinetics and the quality of the ilmenite-coke composite pellets are presented. The drying time was substantially reduced in microwave drying (90 s) compared to conventional oven drying (10 min) for the exact size of composite pellets. The activation energy values in microwave drying were minimal for bigger-sized pellets. An 8–11 mm pellet size was suitable for achieving the desired pellet properties for both drying methods. The microwave-dried pellets showed quite similar dry strengths to that of the oven-dried pellets; however, the reduction performance of the microwave-dried pellets was better owing to the micro-cracks formation, as observed under the electron microscope, in several grains.

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Alternative Care is a form of care provided to children by caregivers other than their birth parents. In India, the existing alternative care mechanisms include institutional care, foster care and kinship care. As a continuum of support for care experienced youth, there is a provision of aftercare in the country. Child Protection System and Alternative Care in India have become more structured with relevant laws and policies in place, which guide the service delivery mechanisms to rehabilitate children in vulnerable circumstances, and those separated from their birth parents. In the recent past, India has witnessed pertinent changes in the child protection space, reflected at both policy and practice levels, with a visible move towards family-based alternative care and a focus to prevent unnecessary separation of children from their families.This paper intends to capture the landscape of alternative care and its evolution in India, drawing from the review of the legal and policy framework, existing literature, and detailed discussions with Civil Society Organisations(CSOs) and State functionaries. It brings out the role of stakeholders, good practices and challenges in implementing alternative care over the last decade, and provides recommendations for achieving a safe and nurturing family environment for children in vulnerable situations.

Background Sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) are an independent risk factor for obesity and other non-communicable diseases. Socioeconomic status (SES) is one of the key drivers for the purchase and consumption of SSBs among children and adults; however, there is a lack of strong evidence. This study aims to determine the association between SES and consumption patterns of SSBs across populations.Results The review was conducted according to PRISMA guidelines. PubMed, MEDLINE, Scopus, EMBASE, LILACS, Web of Science, Cochrane, and CINHAL databases were searched for relevant articles until 2022. Participants included children, adolescents, and adults who consumed different SSBs and were assessed based on their SES. The random-effects model was used to obtain the pooled odds ratio (OR). Twenty-one studies (152,070 participants) met the inclusion criteria. The risk of bias was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa tool, with the majority of the studies indicating medium to high quality. Eight ORs from four studies (34,454 participants) were considered for meta-analysis. Results showed those belonging to high SES had 48% lower odds of consuming the SSBs (OR 0.52; 95% CI: 0.42–0.61; p=  0.017). The overall quality of evidence was ascertained using GRADE criteria, illustrating a moderate certainty of evidence between SSB consumption and SES.Conclusion Meta-analysis suggests that SES influences the consumption pattern of SSBs, with high SES having lower odds of SSB consumption.

Byline: Vedangi. Mohite, Sudhindra. Baliga, Nilima. Thosar, Nilesh. Rathi, Pramod. Khobragade, Rashi. Srivastava Background: Topical anesthetics have an intrinsic part to reduce pricking pain sensation due to needle stick before [...]

Byline: Sudhindra. M, Meghana. Deshpande, Nilima. Thosar, Nilesh. Rathi, Sphurti. Bane, Pranjali. Deulkar Introduction: Children with special health-care needs have limitations in oral hygiene performance due to their potential motor, [...]

The Rairakhol alkaline complex situated in western Odisha consists of litho assemblages such as mafic-rich nepheline syenite, mafic-poor nepheline syenite and leucocratic syenite. These rocks have been investigated with respect to their mineralogy and chemistry with a special focus on their rare earth element (REE) content. Petrographic study reveals that the rocks are mainly medium to coarse grained with hypidiomorphic granular texture and composed of variable proportions of microcline/orthoclase, perthite, nepheline, albite, amphibole, biotite. The accessory minerals are calcite, sphene, zircon, thorium uranium oxide, apatite and opaques (mainly ilmenite, magnetite, pyrrhotite). Petrochemical analyses confirm that these nepheline syenites are typically miaskitic to marginally agpaitic with agpaitic coefficient [(Na + K)/Al molar prop.] varying between 0.75 and 1.01. Scanning electron microscope study shows that some REE-bearing mineral phases occur as inclusions or in interstitial spaces of the major mineral phases of nepheline syenite. The REEphases are of RE-sillicates, RE-oxides, and RE-phosphates which are generally rich in their LREE content. The identified REE-bearing mineral phases are britholite, allanite, apatite and zircon. The leucocratic syenite shows a strong positive Eu anomaly whereas the mafic-rich and mafic-poor nepheline syenites show a slightly negative Eu anomaly indicating that the rock originated from a highly fractionated magma. A rare Tm anomaly found in the leucocratic syenite indicates some influence of refractory dusts derived from carbonaceous chondritic material during their formation. This study provides an insight into the mineralogical and petrological peculiarities of this alkaline complex which might guide further exploration programs.

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To analyze the influence of foliar sprayed zinc oxide nanoparticles (24–28 nm) over a concentration range (0, 10, 20, and 50 mg/L) on two different mungbean cultivars (IPM 02–14 and RMG 975) to ameliorate arsenic toxicity (0, 15, and 30 µM). The zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONPs) have been phytosynthesized using Emblica officinalisfruit extract and characterized using various techniques such as UV–VIS Spectrophotometer, zeta sizer and potential, XRD, FTIR, SEM, and EDX. The arsenic and zinc content were determined by atomic absorption spectroscopy. The 30 μM arsenic (As) concentration was highly toxic and led to maximum decrease in growth but supplementation of ZnONPs increased the growth, yield, zinc (Zn) content, activity of antioxidative enzymes, and decreased As accumulation in mungbean cultivars. The supplementation of 20 mg/L ZnONPs decreased the total As content by 45%, 42%, and 39% in IPM 02–14 and 40%, 42%, and 32% in RMG 975 in roots, leaves, and seeds under 30 μM As stress, respectively over the controls. The Zn content in roots, leaves, and seeds of both mungbean cultivars increased linearly with increasing concentration of ZnONPs, indicating that As stress has little or no effect on Zn accumulation. The present study observed that the foliar spray of ZnONPs is effective to ameliorate the arsenic toxicity in mungbean cultivars by increasing the Zn content and decreasing As content in a dose dependent manner. The optimal concentration of ZnONPs was 20 mg/L as it is highly significant to decrease the As content in both the cultivars.

Establishing edentulous maxillary posterior span is a bigchallenge to implantologist. Maxillary sinus lift is commonly required procedures for loading implants in maxillary posterion edentulous span. There are various procedures like lateral approach, through implant osteotomy, direct/ Indirect sinus lift procedure with varios graft/graftless options. Each procedure has specific indication and outcome. With our experience and indications for particular procedure present study is presenting long term followed up cases of maxillary sinus augmentation with direct and indirect approach with using various grafts or graftless procedure.

Objective:To determine intention to breastfeed (ITBF) rates among mothers exclusively using marijuana (eMJ) compared with electronic cigarettes (eEcig), tobacco products (eTob), or multisubstances (MS), nonusers (NU), and the influence of paternal presence and paternal substance use.Study Design:Cross-sectional study of parental survey responses merged with electronic birth certificates. Accounting for clinical and social determinants of health, analyses of ITBF included (1) all mothers, (2) single mothers, and (3) mothers with fathers.Results:Among all mothers (n= 1,073), eMJ, eTob, and MS users had lower odds of ITBF compared with NU. Only eMJ users had lower odds of ITBF for those without paternal presence. However, in those mothers with a paternal presence, odds of ITBF were similar to NU for eMJ, eTob, and MS users when accounting for paternal factors, including paternal substance use.Conclusion:Women exclusively using MJ have lower ITBF compared with NU. However, paternal presence mitigated this effect, independent of parental MJ use. The presence of fathers may represent a unique predictor for increased ITBF in MJ using mothers.

In this paper, we show that the so-called Korn inequality holds for vector fields with a zero normal or tangential trace on a subset (of positive measure) of the boundary of Lipschitz domains. We further show that the validity of this inequality depends on the geometry of this subset of the boundary. We then consider three eigenvalue problems for the Lamé operator: we constrain the traction in the tangential direction and the normal component of the displacement, the related problem of constraining the normal component of the traction and the tangential component of the displacement, and a third eigenproblem that considers mixed boundary conditions. We show that eigenpairs for these eigenproblems exist on a broad variety of domains. Analytic solutions for some of these eigenproblems are given on simple domains.

•Creating a linear fractional transportation problem.•To describe uncertain cost parameters, interval-valued trapezoidal bipolar fuzzy numbers are used.•Employing a ranking function to defuzzify interval-valued trapezoidal bipolar fuzzy numbers.•Utilizing both the simplex method and the bipolar fuzzy programming Approach, the linear fractional transportation problem is addressed and resolved.•Putting the suggested approach to problem-solving into practice by using a sample calculation.

Heavy metals (HMs) are among the most harmful environmental constraints, threatening a wide range of life-forms, including plants. HMs significantly impair plant metabolism by interfering with the function of critical cellular biomolecules and ultimately lead to reduced crop yields. Various strategies were used to overcome the HM toxicity; among this use of nanoparticles (NPs) is a relatively new, effective, and efficient approach than the other conventional techniques. NPs decrease the mobility and bioavailability of HMs in soil, enhancing the proficiency of the apoplastic barrier within plants to restrict HM movement. NPs protect the plants’ antioxidant system by increasing the activities of enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants, collectively enhancing their role as stress mitigators. The current article discusses the role and mechanism of NPs to alleviate HM stress in soil and plants. The various factors affecting the interaction of NPs with HMs and toxicity raised by these materials in environment are also discussed. This article also discusses the future recommendations for utilization of NPs in plants to alleviate HM stress.

Byline: Sudhindra. Baliga, Minal. Chaudhary, Sham. Bhat, Poonam. Bhatiya, Nilima. Thosar, Pooja. Bhansali Background: Sickle cell anemia is a congenital hemoglobinopathy characterized by deformed red blood cells. Oxidative stress plays [...]

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jtcvs.2006.08.071 Byline: Song Wan (a), Nilima Shukla (b), Anthony P.C. Yim (a), Jason L. Johnson (b), Gianni D. Angelini (b), Jamie Y. Jeremy (b) Abbreviations: BrdU, bromodeoxyuridine; CABG, coronary artery bypass grafting; DMEM, Dulbecco minimum essential medium; FCS, fetal calf serum; PBS, phosphate-buffered saline solution; PCNA, proliferating cell nuclear antigen; VSMC, vascular smooth muscle cell Abstract: In patients who have undergone coronary artery bypass grafting, blood copper levels are elevated for 6 weeks after surgery. Copper is an established risk factor for cardiovascular disease and atherogenesis and promotes oxidative stress, lipid oxidation, cell proliferation, and matrix formation, all components of vein graft disease. This project therefore examined the effect of the copper chelator penicillamine on saphenous vein graft thickening in a pig model. Author Affiliation: (a) Department of Surgery, Prince of Wales Hospital, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China (b) The Bristol Heart Institute, The University of Bristol, Bristol, UK. Article History: Received 6 June 2006; Revised 26 July 2006; Accepted 3 August 2006 Article Note: (footnote) Supported by the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK 4310/99:CUHK 4091/00M).

Securing data generated from diverse sensors poses a critical challenge in contemporary applications, particularly due to the escalating volume of data and its vulnerability to security breaches. Blockchain technology has emerged as a promising solution, yet the implementation of blockchain applications entails significant costs. Assessing the feasibility of such implementations through simulation is imperative but has been hindered by a lack of details survey about the simulation tools leading to wrong choice of tools by the researchers, as every application is unique and requires specific blockchain platform as per use.

ErbB2 is considered to be the preferred dimerization partner among the ErbB receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) family. They are implicated in the development and progression of several cancer types, majorly breast cancer-related maladies. In the current study, quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR), molecular docking approaches and prediction of pharmacokinetic properties were utilized to identify promising ErbB2 inhibitors from a series of dihydropyrimidinone (DHPM) derivatives. The results indicated that the QSAR models of ErbB2 inhibitory activity is robust and has a very good prediction capacity, as exhibited by the value of R which is 0.9194. Furthermore, 6 compounds were shortlisted with potentially high biological activity. These compounds were subjected to drug likeliness, molecular docking and pharmacokinetic evaluations which indicated that the compounds are orally bioavailable and exhibit suitable proficiency as ErbB2 antagonists.

Background: Chronic arsenic toxicity, producing various clinical manifestations, is currently epidemic in West Bengal, India, Bangladesh, and other regions of the world. 2,3-Dimercapto-1-propanesulfonate, a chelating agent, increases excretion of arsenic in urine to several times the prechelation concentration but the therapeutic efficacy of 2,3-dimercapto-1-propanesulfonate in the management of chronic arsenic toxicity has been incompletely evaluated. We investigated the clinical use of 2,3-dmercapto-1-propanesulfonate in such patients. Methods: Twenty-one consecutive patients with chronic arsenicosis were individually randomized into 2 groups: 11 patients (9 males and 2 females, age 30.63 [+ or -] 11.4 years) received 2,3-dimercapto-1-propanesulfonate 100-mg capsules 4 times a day for 1 week and repeated in the 3rd, 5th, and 7th week with no drug during the intervening period. The other 10 patients (5 males and 5females, age 34.4 [+ or -] 14.41 years) were given placebo capsules (resembling 2,3-dimercapto-1-propanesulfonate) in the same schedule. The consumption of arsenic-contaminated water was terminated by all 21 subjects. Initial and posttreatment urinary arsenic excretion was determined in all cases. Sequential excretion of urinary arsenic was determined during the treatment of 2 drug- and 1 placebo-treated cases. The clinical features were evaluated by an objective scoring system before and after treatment. Routine investigation including liver function test and skin biopsy were also done before and after the treatment. Drug-associated toxicity was tabulated. Results: Therapy with 2,3-dimercapto-1-propanesulfonate caused significant improvement in the clinical condition of chronic arsenicosis patients as evidenced by significant reduction of total clinical scores from 8.90 [+ or -] 2.84 to 3.27 [+ or -] 1.73; p < 0.0001. Exposure cessation alone with placebo treatment also reduced clinical scores (8.50 [+ or -] 1.96 to 5.40 [+ or -] 2.12; p < 0.003), but the posttreatment total clinical score of 2,3-dimercapto-1-propanesulfonate-treated patients (3.27 [+ or -] 1.73) was significant(v lower than that of placebo-treated patients (5.40 [+ or -] 2.12; p < 0.01). The most significant improvement was noted in regard to the clinical scores of weakness, pigmentation, and lung disease. No difference was noted between groups in the hematological and biochemical parameters (which were normal) and skin histology before and after treatment. No 2,3-dimercapto-1-propanesulfimate-related adverse effects were noted. Total urinary excretion of arsenic in 2,3-dimercapto-1-propanesulfonate-treated cases increased significantly following drug therapy, with no increase in placebo-treated cases. Conclusion: 2,3-Dimercapto-1-propanesulfonate treatment caused significant improvement in the clinical score of patients suffering from chronic arsenic toxicity. Increased urinary excretion of arsenic during the period of therapy is the possible cause of this improvement., BACKGROUND Chronic arsenic (As) toxicity due to drinking of As-contaminated water has been reported from many countries, but the number of affected people in West Bengal, India, and Bangladesh is [...]

The present study is mainly focused on studying the mangroves in the Gulf of Khambhat and exploring the previous research work done over the area for mapping and monitoring of mangrove ecosystem, which will further help to analyze the future scope of mangrove research in this area. To study the status and distribution of mangroves in the Gulf of the Khambhat region, mainly three ground truth locations are selected to collect ground truth data, which are Ghogha (Bhavanagar), Dahej (Bharuch), and Kantiyajal (Bharuch). All three locations are analyzed for the study of the mangroves and their species distribution. Furthermore, the Land Use / Land Cover change in all three areas is also analyzed to find mangrove cover change. The resultant data can be further used for training mangrove monitoring models using remote sensing data. The study also highlights that the current research done over the gulf of Khambhat area is not using the full strength of remote sensing as only multispectral optical imageries are used in various studies along with visual interpretation techniques. The study highly recommends the use of remote sensing with multi-sensor, multitemporal along with state-of-the-art machine learning and computer vision-based techniques for the mapping and monitoring of the Mangrove ecosystem in the Gulf of Khambhat region.

Identification of biomarkers for psychiatric disorders remains very challenging due to substantial symptom heterogeneity and diagnostic comorbidity, limiting the ability to map symptoms to underlying neurobiology. Dimensional symptom clusters, such as anhedonia, hyperarousal, etc., are complex and arise due to interactions of a multitude of complex biological relationships. The primary aim of the current investigation was to use multi-set canonical correlation analysis (mCCA) to derive biomarkers (biochemical, physiological) linked to dimensional symptoms across the anxiety and depressive spectrum. Active-duty service members (N = 2,592) completed standardized depression, anxiety and posttraumatic stress questionnaires and several psychophysiological and biochemical assays. Using this approach, we identified two phenotype associations between distinct physiological and biological phenotypes. One was characterized by symptoms of dysphoric arousal (anhedonia, anxiety, hypervigilance) which was associated with low blood pressure and startle reactivity. This finding is in line with previous studies suggesting blunted physiological reactivity is associated with subpopulations endorsing anxiety with comorbid depressive features. A second phenotype of anxious fatigue (high anxiety and reexperiencing/avoidance symptoms coupled with fatigue) was associated with elevated blood levels of norepinephrine and the inflammatory marker C-reactive protein in conjunction with high blood pressure. This second phenotype may describe populations in which inflammation and high sympathetic outflow might contribute to anxious fatigue. Overall, these findings support the growing consensus that distinct neuropsychiatric symptom patterns are associated with differential physiological and blood-based biological profiles and highlight the potential of mCCA to reveal important psychiatric symptom biomarkers from several psychophysiological and biochemical measures.

The excessive drinking of alcohol can disrupt the neural system. This can be observed by properly analysing the Electroencephalogram (EEG) signals. However, the EEG is a signal of complex nature. Therefore, an accurate categorization between alcoholic (A) and non-alcoholic (NA) subjects, while using a short time EEG recording, is a challenging task. In this paper a novel hybridization of the oscillatory modes decomposition, features mining based on the Second Order Difference Plots (SODPs) of oscillatory modes, and machine learning algorithms is devised for an effective identification of alcoholism. The Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) and Variational Mode Decomposition (VMD) are used to respectively decompose the considered EEG signals in Intrinsic Mode Functions (IMFs) and Modes. Onward, the SODPs, derived from first six IMFs and Modes, are considered. Features of SODPs are mined. To reduce the dimension of features set and computational complexity of the classification model, the pertinent features selection is made on the basis of Wilcoxon statistical test. Three features with p-values (p) of < 0.05 are selected from each intended SODP and these are the Central Tendency Measure (CTM), area and mean. These features are used for the discrimination between A and NA classes. In order to determine a suitable EEG signal segment length for the intended application, experiments are performed by considering features extracted from three different length time windows. The classification is carried out by using the Least Square Support Vector Machine (LS-SVM), Multilayer perceptron neural network (MLPNN), K-Nearest Neighbour (KNN) and Random Forest (RF) algorithms. The applicability is tested by using the UCI-KDD EEG dataset. The results are noteworthy for MLPNN with 99.89% and 99.45% accuracies for EMD and VMD respectively for 8-second window.

Mangrove forests are considered to be the most productive ecosystem yet vanishing rapidly over the world. They are mostly found in the intertidal zone and sheltered by the seacoast. Mangroves have potential socio-economic benefits such as protecting the shoreline from storm and soil erosion, flood and flow control, acting as a carbon sink, provides a fertile breeding ground for marine species and fauna. It also acts as a source of income by providing various forest products. Restoration and conservation of mangrove forests remain a big challenge due to the large and inaccessible areas covered by mangroves forests which makes field assessment difficult and time-consuming. Remote sensing along with various digital image classification approaches seem to be promising in providing better and accurate results in mapping and monitoring the mangroves ecosystem. This review paper aims to provide a comprehensive summary of the work undertaken, and addresses various remote sensing techniques applied for mapping and monitoring of the mangrove ecosystem, and summarize their potential and limitation. For that various digital image classification techniques are analyzed and compared based on the type of image used with its spectral resolution, spatial resolution, and other related image features along with the accuracy of the classification to derive specific class information related to mangroves. The digital image classification techniques used for mangrove mapping and monitoring in various studies can be classified into pixel-based, object-based, and knowledge-based classifiers. The various satellite image data analyzed are ranged from light detection and ranging (LiDAR), hyperspectral and multispectral optical imagery, synthetic aperture radar (SAR), and aerial imagery. Supervised state of the art machine learning/deep machine learning algorithms which use both pixel-based and object-based approaches and can be combined with the knowledge-based approach are widely used for classification purpose, due to the recent development and evolution in these techniques. There is a huge future scope to study the performance of these classification techniques in combination with various high spatial and spectral resolution optical imageries, SAR and LiDAR, and also with multi-sensor, multiresolution, and temporal data.

Outdoor localization of non-cooperative moving discrete target tracking is a demanding and challenging due to inherent constraints of “target tracking wireless sensor networks” such as battery capacity, processing capacity, memory capacity. Current methods use either an active sensor or perform additional processing of the data received from multiple passive sensor nodes that increases power consumption. The work presented here proposes approximate localization of non-cooperative moving target in large open secluded area with optimal power consumption and sufficient accuracy. Binary passive infrared (PIR) sensor is used, resulting in reduced power consumption by the sensor. In order to deal with sensor’s technical limitation, a node is developed using variable range binary PIR sensors which results in variable sensing sectors. Deterministic directional, spatial–temporal domain of network topology along with activation log of node and its sectors is mapped with a dynamic target motion trajectory, resulting in sufficiently accurate target localization. Simulation results of the algorithm for “position estimation of random direction linearly moving target with positive slope motion model” indicate significant tracking of target with sufficient accuracy and reduced sensing power compared to existing methods.

This study assessed the potential and demonstrated the applicability of hyperspectral images from AVIRIS-NG data in mapping the health condition of the Lothian Island estuarine mangrove forest with rich floral diversity for the years 2016 and 2018. Nine vegetation indices covering every aspect of the health status were considered and a weighted overlay analysis was performed to generate health maps from AVIRIS-NG data. Discriminant Normalized Vegetation Index (DNVI) was produced from Sentinel-2 data for both the years 2016 and 2018 to validate the results from AVIRIS-NG data. The analysis showed considerable negative trends in plant pigment contents indicating poor vegetation health and increased stress in the entire mangrove forest of the Lothian Island. Furthermore, red-edge analysis at four specific points helped in validating our health maps generated from both AVIRIS-NG and Sentinel-2 data. Nearly 56% of the total area exhibits evidence of increasing stress within the span of the study years. 35% of the area has shown no change in the existing stress conditions in 2018. Both new plantation and species-specific resilience to stress appear to be the key factors for the sustenance of the existing mangrove population in the Lothian Island of the Indian Sundarbans.

Objective: To determine the effect of continuing medical education (CME) with and without a quality assurance component (CME+QA) on physician practices in the prevention of venous thromboembolism. Methods: A communitywide study was performed in 15 short-stay hospitals in central Massachusetts. The study population included 3158 patients in acute-care hospitals with multiple risk factors for venous thromboembolism. Study hospitals were randomly assigned to one of two educational strategies or to a control group that received no intervention. Results: The proportion of patients at high risk for venous thromboembolism who received effective methods of prophylaxis increased significantly fro 29% in 1986 to 52% in 1989 (P

Growth factors in modified culture mediums, hydroxyurea and flow cytometry appear to be helpful in the evaluation of the DNA replication time of human genes in fetal cells. Culture mediums are substances used to support the growth of microorganisms or other cells. Hydroxyurea inhibits enzymes involved in DNA synthesis. Flow cytometry is a method of counting cells. Researchers cultured human male and female fetal lung cells in a variety of growth mediums and studied DNA replication. Flow cytometry indicated a high degree of synchronization among the fetal cells during the S phase of the cell cycle, which is the phase in which DNA is synthesized. DNA synthesis was completed in a well-defined time period of seven hours. In addition, the replication of the human topoisomerase II gene occurred in a short time span only three hours after entry into the S phase.

Venous thromboembolism is the formation of blood clots in the circulation, often of the legs. The blood clots in the legs have a tendency to break away and travel throughout the bloodstream until they reach a vessel too small to pass through; they lodge in this vessel, obstructing blood flow and causing damage. Clots from the legs most often lodge in the lungs as pulmonary emboli, which can be fatal. The incidence of pulmonary embolism is greatly underestimated by physicians, and some studies suggest that as many as two-thirds of them are undiagnosed. Certain people are at higher risk for the development of venous thromboemboli than others. These include the elderly, those who have had major surgery, those who are bedridden for longer than five days, people with cancer or heart disease, and people who are obese or pregnant. Recent studies have suggested that the use of blood-thinning medications and devices to promote good circulation are very useful in reducing the incidence of thromboembolism in people at risk. A study was performed in 16 hospitals to determine the rate at which such prophylactic measures against thromboembolism are used. A randomly selected group of over 2,000 patients deemed to be at high risk for thromboemboli were assessed. Of these, 563 received acceptable thromboembolism prophylaxis. Teaching hospitals had a 44 percent prophylaxis rate, while community hospitals had only a 19 percent prophylaxis rate. Surgeons were more likely to order prophylaxis than nonsurgeons. Patients with a history of previous pulmonary embolism were likely to receive prophylaxis, while those with a history of only venous thrombosis were less likely to receive prophylactic measures, despite the known risk of recurrent venous thrombosis. Of note, this study was completed before the more recent studies showing the value of prophylaxis were published, so some possibility exists that the practice of treating a patient for a risk of thromboembolism has increased. However, several studies have suggested that changes in practice do not follow the publication of new data very rapidly. To reduce the mortality associated with thromboembolic disease, patients with high risk should be evaluated for their need for prophylactic therapies. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

To learn more about the incidence and outcome of deep vein thrombosis (DVT, a blood clot in a deep-lying vein, often in the leg) and pulmonary embolism (blockage of the circulation in the lungs by a clot that has migrated there), the medical records of patients discharged during an 18-month period from 16 short-stay general hospitals in one region of Massachusetts were reviewed. Of 151,349 acute-care discharges, slightly fewer than 1 percent (1,372) had the diagnosis of acute DVT and/or pulmonary embolism. This episode of DVT was the first for 405 patients in the group. Three or more risk factors for venous thromboembolism were present in 80 percent of these patients; many also had clinical signs of the condition. The data indicate that the annual incidence of DVT alone is 48 per 100,000, and the incidence of pulmonary embolism with or without DVT is 23 per 100,000. Twelve percent of the patients with venous thromboembolism died in the hospital; older patients were more likely than younger ones to die during their hospital stays. Nineteen percent, 25 percent, and 30 percent, respectively, of the patients had died one, two and three years after discharge. Extrapolation of these results to the US population indicates that approximately 170,000 new cases of venous thromboembolism are treated every year in short-stay hospitals, as well as an additional 99,000 recurrent cases. Diagnosis of venous thromboembolism is difficult, and fewer than half of all cases of pulmonary embolism are identified before death. It is likely that the true incidence of thromboembolism is underestimated. A more aggressive approach to preventing and treating these disorders could reduce the associated mortality. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)