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BACKGROUND: Turmeric cultivation primarily thrives in India, followed by Bangladesh, Cambodia, Thailand, China, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. India leads globally in both area and production of turmeric. Despite this, there is a recognized gap in research regarding the impact of climate change on site suitability of turmeric. The primary objective of the present study was to evaluate both the present and future suitability of turmeric cultivation within the humid tropical region of Kerala, India, by employing advanced geospatial techniques. The research utilized meteorological data from the Indian Meteorological Department for the period of 1986–2020 as historical data and projected future data from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6). Four climatic scenarios of shared socioeconomic pathway (SSP) from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change AR6 model of MIROC6 for the year 2050 (SSP 1–2.6, SSP 2–4.5, SSP 3–7.0 and SSP 5–8.5) were used. RESULTS: The results showed that suitable area for turmeric cultivation is declining in future scenario and this decline can be primarily attributed to fluctuations in temperature and an anticipated increase in rainfall in the year 2050. Notable changes in the spatial distribution of suitable areas over time were observed through the application of geographic information system (GIS) techniques. Importantly, as per the suitability criteria provided by ICAR‐National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning (ICAR‐NBSS & LUP), all the districts in Kerala exhibited moderately suitable conditions for turmeric cultivation. With the GIS tools, the study identified highly suitable, moderately suitable, marginally suitable and not suitable areas of turmeric cultivation in Kerala. Presently 28% of area falls under highly suitable, 41% of area falls under moderately suitable and 11% falls under not suitable for turmeric cultivation. However, considering the projected scenarios for 2050 under the SSP framework, there will be a significant decrease in highly suitable area by 19% under SSP 5–8.5. This reduction in area will have an impact on the productivity of the crop as a result of changes in temperature and rainfall patterns. CONCLUSION: The outcome of the present research suggests that the state of Kerala needs to implement suitable climate change adaptation and management strategies for sustaining the turmeric cultivation. Additionally, the present study includes a discussion on potential management strategies to address the challenges posed by changing climatic conditions for optimizing turmeric production in the region. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Terbinafine-induced DRESS syndrome mimicking eosinophilic cellulitis While peripheral eosinophilia is common, tissue eosinophilia is not a uniform feature and may occur in less than a quarter of biopsied cases.1 A 30-year-old housewife presented to the emergency department with high-grade fever and severely pruritic skin lesions that had gradually progressed to involve most of the body over past 3 days. However, tissue eosinophilia was seen in only 20% of cases.1 Interestingly, tissue eosinophilia in DRESS was linked to extensive disease and recurrent disease flares.3 Even though flame figures have been reported in numerous conditions ranging from Wells syndrome to immunobullous disorders,4 they have not been reported till date in DRESS syndrome. [Extracted from the article]

Perfluorocarbons (PFC) are compounds with high gas solubility that could help deliver O2 to tissues and have been suggested as adjunct therapy to ischemia. Using a newly designed in vitro system, we tested the hypothesis that a third generation PFC emulsion (Oxycyte) increased O2 transport of blood by measuring changes in O2 extraction ratio. The system included a computer-controlled pump and blood-gas exchange chambers to oxygenate and deoxygenate the blood from nine sickle cell disease (SCD) patients and five healthy donors. The flowing blood reached various levels of hemoglobin O2 saturation and O2 partial pressures (PO2), measured using a CO-oximeter and a blood gas analyzer. The mixtures were kept at physiological blood pressure and temperature, constant flow, normobaric conditions, and FiO2 = 0.30. After adding PFC, the measurements suggested an increase in the transport of O2 and CO. Addition of PFC resulted in larger PO2 difference from 15 ± 2 mmHg to 23 ± 2 mmHg. Using normal blood and blood from SCD patients, the average O2 extraction ratio (O2ER) after PFC was significantly higher than baseline. Addition of saline did not cause statistically significant changes. The data suggest increased (facilitated) O2 transport by this PFC emulsion in both normal and SCD blood. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 102A: 2105-2115, 2014. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water is at the core of the most difficult sustainability challenges facing humans in the modern era, involving feedbacks across multiple scales, sectors, and agents. We suggest that a transformative new discipline is necessary to address many and varied water-related challenges in the Anthropocene. Specifically, we propose socio-hydrology as a use-inspired scientific discipline to focus on understanding, interpretation, and scenario development of the flows and stocks in the human-modified water cycle across time and space scales. A key aspect of socio-hydrology is explicit inclusion of two-way feedbacks between human and water systems, which differentiates socio-hydrology from other inter-disciplinary disciplines dealing with water. We illustrate the potential of socio-hydrology through three examples of water sustainability problems, defined as paradoxes, which can only be fully resolved within a new socio-hydrologic framework that encompasses such two-way coupling between human and water systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Freshwater scarcity has been cited as the major crisis of the 21st century, but it is surprisingly hard to describe the nature of the global water crisis. We conducted a metaanalysis of 22 coupled human-water system case studies, using qualitative comparison analysis (QCA) to identify water resource system outcomes and the factors that drive them. The cases exhibited different outcomes for human wellbeing that could be grouped into a six "syndromes": groundwater depletion, ecological destruction, drought-driven conflicts, unmet subsistence needs, resource capture by elite, and water reallocation to nature. For syndromes that were not successful adaptations, three characteristics gave cause for concern: (1) unsustainability--a decline in the water stock or ecosystem function that could result in a long-term steep decline in future human wellbeing; (2) vulnerability--high variability in water resource availability combined with inadequate coping capacity, leading to temporary drops in human wellbeing; (3) chronic scarcity--persistent inadequate access and hence low conditions of human wellbeing. All syndromes could be explained by a limited set of causal factors that fell into four categories: demand changes, supply changes, governance systems, and infrastructure/technology. By considering basins as members of syndrome classes and tracing common causal pathways of water crises, water resource analysts and planners might develop improved water policies aimed at reducing vulnerability, inequity, and unsustainability of freshwater systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding consumers' upgrading behavior is essential to product planning. Product managers would like to know what fraction of customers would upgrade to new and improved versions, and how fast. This paper presents a method to forecast the sales path of an improved version of a high-technology product defined in terms of its price path and multiattribute product specification. The approach is potentially useful to managers to answer what-if questions on the effects of alternative price paths and product specifications of the upgrade on when and what fraction of customers will upgrade. By doing such analysis for several product options under consideration, managers can choose the best feature specification and price path for the upgrade. The proposed approach integrates an individual-level conjoint utility model with a hazard function specification. The first stage of estimation (i.e., conjoint analysis) measures individual-level multiattribute utility functions, and the second stage (i.e., duration analysis) calibrates the coefficients of predictor variables of the time to upgrade via maximum likelihood. An illustrative application in the personal digital assistant (PDA) category confirms the predictive validity and potential usefulness of the proposed approach. Among the empirical findings are that higher upgrade costs and expectation of faster product improvement tend to delay buyers' upgrading decisions. The roles of other predictor variables such as product category characteristics, consumer characteristics, and peer pressure were also confirmed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Domenico solution is widely used in several analytical models for simulating ground water contaminant transport scenarios. Unfortunately, many textbook as well as journal article treatments of this approximate solution are full of empirical statements that are developed without mathematical rigor. For this reason, a rigorous analysis of this solution is warranted. In this article, we present a mathematical method to derive the Domenico solution and explore its limits. Our analysis shows that the Domenico solution is a true analytical solution when the value of longitudinal dispersivity is zero. For nonzero longitudinal dispersivity values, the Domenico solution will introduce a finite amount of error. We use an example problem to quantify the nature of this error and suggest some general guidelines for the appropriate use of this solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The creep behaviour of directionally solidified (DS) Ni-base superalloy GTD 111 has been investigated at various temperatures (649 °C to 982 °C) and stresses (124 MPa to 896 MPa). Specimens machined in longitudinal and transverse directions with respect to the grain orientation from three batches of the material were tested. The specimens in the longitudinal direction consistently exhibited higher creep rupture life and creep ductility than specimens from the transverse direction. There were some systematic variations in creep deformation and rupture behaviour among specimens from different batches. Optical and scanning electron microscopy investigations were conducted to understand the creep rupture behaviour. Various deformation and rupture models were evaluated for representing the creep behaviour of the alloy and a neural network model was applied to creep rupture data to assess its predictive capability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Melatonin is a ubiquitous molecule and widely distributed in nature, with functional activity occurring in unicellular organisms, plants, fungi and animals. In most vertebrates, including humans, melatonin is synthesized primarily in the pineal gland and is regulated by the environmental light/dark cycle via the suprachiasmatic nucleus. Pinealocytes function as ‘neuroendocrine transducers’ to secrete melatonin during the dark phase of the light/dark cycle and, consequently, melatonin is often called the ‘hormone of darkness’. Melatonin is principally secreted at night and is centrally involved in sleep regulation, as well as in a number of other cyclical bodily activities. Melatonin is exclusively involved in signaling the ‘time of day’ and ‘time of year’ (hence considered to help both clock and calendar functions) to all tissues and is thus considered to be the body's chronological pacemaker or ‘Zeitgeber’. Synthesis of melatonin also occurs in other areas of the body, including the retina, the gastrointestinal tract, skin, bone marrow and in lymphocytes, from which it may influence other physiological functions through paracrine signaling. Melatonin has also been extracted from the seeds and leaves of a number of plants and its concentration in some of this material is several orders of magnitude higher than its night-time plasma value in humans. Melatonin participates in diverse physiological functions. In addition to its timekeeping functions, melatonin is an effective antioxidant which scavenges free radicals and up-regulates several antioxidant enzymes. It also has a strong antiapoptotic signaling function, an effect which it exerts even during ischemia. Melatonin's cytoprotective properties have practical implications in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. Melatonin also has immune-enhancing and oncostatic properties. Its ‘chronobiotic’ properties have been shown to have value in treating various circadian rhythm sleep disorders, such as jet lag or shift-work sleep disorder. Melatonin acting as an ‘internal sleep facilitator’ promotes sleep, and melatonin's sleep-facilitating properties have been found to be useful for treating insomnia symptoms in elderly and depressive patients. A recently introduced melatonin analog, agomelatine, is also efficient for the treatment of major depressive disorder and bipolar affective disorder. Melatonin's role as a ‘photoperiodic molecule’ in seasonal reproduction has been established in photoperiodic species, although its regulatory influence in humans remains under investigation. Taken together, this evidence implicates melatonin in a broad range of effects with a significant regulatory influence over many of the body's physiological functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: To produce a working clinical protocol for pulp therapy techniques in the extensively carious primary molar. INTRODUCTION: The International Agency for Research on Cancer has recently classified formaldehyde as carcinogenic to human beings. As such, a medicament that can be used to replace formocresol in clinical practice should be identified. METHODS: Part I of this paper explored the currently available alternative interventions and materials to formocresol in the form of a narrative review following an extensive literature search. Part II now presents the formation of a specialist group to establish an evidence-based protocol, for the management of the extensively carious primary molar. CONCLUSION: A protocol and key points document have been developed to assist clinicians in their treatment planning. Areas for further postgraduate training are identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVES: (1) To present a narrative review of the currently available alternative interventions and materials to formocresol pulpotomy for the management of extensive caries in the primary molar, and (2) to produce a clinical protocol for pulp therapy techniques in the extensively carious primary molar. INTRODUCTION: The International Agency for Research on Cancer has recently classified formaldehyde as carcinogenic to human beings. Since Buckley's Formocresol contains 19% formaldehyde in its full strength and, therefore, 1% in a 20% dilution, a safer alternative should be identified. METHODS: A narrative review of the published literature for primary molar pulp therapy techniques was undertaken following an extensive and appropriate literature search. A specialist group of paediatric dentists was formed to arrive at a consensus and establish an evidence-based protocol for the management of extensively carious primary molar teeth. Part I of this paper explores the currently available alternative interventions and materials to formocresol in the form of a narrative review. The second part of the paper will present the formation of a specialist group to arrive at a consensus and establish an evidence-based protocol for the management of the extensively carious primary molar. CONCLUSIONS: After consideration of a review of extensively searched literature, a protocol and key points document have been developed to assist clinicians in their treatment planning. Further long-term studies with the highest level of evidence (i.e. randomized controlled trials) are required to enable us to identify acceptable alternatives which can replace formocresol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to investigate whether differences in surface treatment prior to repair influenced the seal of a resin fissure sealant placed on the occlusal surfaces of permanent molar teeth. SETTING: In-vitro study. SAMPLE AND METHODS: One hundred and twenty-eight extracted human first and second molars were randomly allocated to one of four groups of 32 teeth each. A light cured, unfilled, opaque resin fissure sealant (Delton) was placed on their occlusal surface following cleaning by prophylaxis and acid etching. Following storage in artificial saliva (Saliva Orthana) for a week, duplication of sealant failure was carried out. The teeth were then subjected to one of four different surface treatments: Group 1: with a slow-speed prophylaxis brush followed by acid etching (control method); Group 2: a slow-speed bur and acid etching; Group 3: air abrasion and acid etching; and Group 4: acid etching and application of a bonding agent. Following a further week of storage in artificial saliva two layers of impermeable varnish were applied to the nonocclusal surfaces of the teeth; their apices were then sealed with wax and the teeth were immersed in 1% methylene blue for 48 h. The teeth were then sectioned (ISOMET 1000) to achieve three cuts resulting in a maximum of four blocks, i.e. six surfaces per tooth. A total of 715 sections from 126 teeth were scored for microleakage on the intact and repaired side of the fissure sealant. RESULTS: Statistical analysis did not demonstrate any one single method of repair to be superior to the control method for reapplication of the sealant. CONCLUSION: All four techniques compared in this study seem to be acceptable for replacing or repairing lost or fractured fissure sealants. As prophylaxis with a brush rotating at slow speed followed by acid etching, which probably represents current practice, is also the simplest technique that can be practised on children, it is therefore recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to investigate whether differences in surface treatment prior to repair influenced the seal of a resin fissure sealant placed on the occlusal surfaces of permanent molar teeth.In-vitrostudy.One hundred and twenty-eight extracted human first and second molars were randomly allocated to one of four groups of 32 teeth each. A light cured, unfilled, opaque resin fissure sealant (Delton) was placed on their occlusal surface following cleaning by prophylaxis and acid etching. Following storage in artificial saliva (Saliva Orthana) for a week, duplication of sealant failure was carried out. The teeth were then subjected to one of four different surface treatments: Group 1: with a slow-speed prophylaxis brush followed by acid etching (control method); Group 2: a slow-speed bur and acid etching; Group 3: air abrasion and acid etching; and Group 4: acid etching and application of a bonding agent. Following a further week of storage in artificial saliva two layers of impermeable varnish were applied to the nonocclusal surfaces of the teeth; their apices were then sealed with wax and the teeth were immersed in 1% methylene blue for 48 h. The teeth were then sectioned (ISOMET 1000) to achieve three cuts resulting in a maximum of four blocks, i.e. six surfaces per tooth. A total of 715 sections from 126 teeth were scored for microleakage on the intact and repaired side of the fissure sealant.Statistical analysis did not demonstrate any one single method of repair to be superior to the control method for reapplication of the sealant.All four techniques compared in this study seem to be acceptable for replacing or repairing lost or fractured fissure sealants. As prophylaxis with a brush rotating at slow speed followed by acid etching, which probably represents current practice, is also the simplest technique that can be practised on children, it is therefore recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Integrated Design tor Marketability and Manufacturing (IDMM at Stanford) is an Integrated Product Development course (IPD at Michigan) that is distinguished by hands-on manufacture of customer-ready prototypes executed by cross-disciplinary teams of students (MBAs and graduate Engineering and Design students) in a simulated economic competition against benchmark products and against each other. The course design is such that teams can succeed only by performing well in each of the marketing, manufacturing, engineering, and design dimensions. Student failure modes include adopting the wrong product strategy, failure to execute a sound strategy of producing a product that meets market needs, failure to drive costs down, poor product positioning and/or communication, poor forecasting and inventory management, and poor team dynamics. Instructors adopting this course model will face challenges that derive from its definitively cross-functional nature. The course involves faculty from Business. Engineering, and Design in a world where teaching load, compensation and infrastructural support is most often tallied on a unit-specific basis. The course requires faculty with broad interests in a world in which narrow academic depth is often more highly valued. Other challenges the course presents include maintaining a sense of fairness in the final product competition, so that students can move beyond the anger of a potential failure to learn from their experience. Also, in its current manifestations on the Stanford and Michigan campuses the course requires expensive general-purpose machine tools and instruction for students to build fully functional (customer-ready) product prototypes. We provide our current resolutions to these challenges, and the rewards for making the effort. In the end. the course's survivability can be traced to the benefits it provides to all stakeholders: students, faculty, and administrators. These benefits include a course that integrates disciplines in a was that students believe will increase their integrative skills and marketability, a course that faculty can embrace as a vehicle for their own development in teaching and research, and that administrators find sufficiently novel and engaging to attract the attention of outside constituencies and the press. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary. Objectives. To study barrier formation in nonvital, immature perma-nent incisors being treated using the apexification technique in two centres, and to establish the effect of the frequency of change of calcium hydroxide (CaOH) on barrier detection times. Design. A retrospective study of the time of detection and the position of barriers. Results. There were no significant differences between the two centres in terms of the average frequency of change of each CaOH dressing, the distribution of barrier detection times or the position of barriers (P > 0.05). There was a total of 107 teeth and the time of barrier detection was significantly earlier in more frequently dressed teeth (P = 0.013). Of the teeth with a barrier detection time of less than 9 months, 60.7% were dressed more frequently than every 3 months, as opposed to 39.1% of teeth with longer barrier times (P = 0.027). The mean time of barrier detection for all cases was 43.3 weeks. The majority of barriers were located at or near the apex. Conclusion. The frequency of change of CaOH can increase the speed of barrier detec-tion but does not appear to affect the position. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the effectiveness of excision and ventilation tube insertion in treating pars tensa retraction pockets in children. Recognition of recurrent infections, ossicular erosion and cholesteatoma; Symptomatology of retraction pocket; Clinical management of tympanic membrane retraction.

One critical step in new product development is selecting from among multiple possible product concepts the one that the firm will carry forward into the marketplace. There is a need for low-cost, parallel testing of the appeal of new product concepts, the results of which closely mirror ultimate market perfonnance. In this article, the authors first describe an Internet-based product concept testing method they developed that incorporates virtual prototypes of new product concepts, substituting them for physical prototypes. The method can he used with either static representations of the products or with dynamic representations that demonstrate how the product works through a simulated video clip of its operation. The objective of this method is to allow design teams to select the best of several new concepts within a product category with which to proceed, without having to develop physical prototypes. The authors then provide a rigorous test of both virtual prototype methods against tests using both physical prototypes and attribute-only (i.e., no visuals), full-profile conjoint analysis. Nine concepts compete against two actual products in the tests. Market shares from the test using the physical prototypes are defined as the "actual" market shares. Predicted market shares for the attribute-only, full-profile conjoint analysis and each of the two virtual prototype methods are compared to those obtained for the physical prototypes. Both static and animated virtual prototype tests produced market shares that closely mirrored those obtained with the physical products, outperforming the set of predictions across the full range of products produced in the attribute-only conjoint analysis. Interestingly, the attribute-only conjoint analysis identified the top three products, in correct order. It was unable to differentiate performance below these top three products. Furthermore, it predicted market shares for the lop three products to be well below those achieved using physical prototypes. As virtual prototypes cost considerably less to build and test than their physical counterparts, design teams using Internet-based product concept research may be able to afford to explore a much larger number of concepts. Virtual prototypes and the testing methods associated with them may help reduce the uncertainty and cost of new product introductions by allowing more ideas to be concept tested in parallel with target consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the nondestructive estimation of seed oil by pulsed nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), an assumption generally is made that the hydrogen content of the oil in the seed sample under investigation is the same as that of the oil standard or that of the oil in the standard seed samples. The hydrogen content is defined as the number of hydrogen atoms per unit mass of oil. The validity of this assumption has been investigated by; (i) calculating the Hydrogen contents of various oils on the basis, of their reported fatty acid composition, and (ii) experimentally determining the hydrogen contents of cotton and mustard oils obtained from different varieties of seeds. The FID method was used to monitor the NMR signal intensities. Both calculated and experimental values show that that hydrogen contents can be different not only for different oils but also for the same oil extracted from different varieties of the seeds. This variation in hydrogen contents is shown to introduce an error in the oil content values as estimated by NMR methods. The magnitude of this error increases with oil content, and also with the difference in the hydrogen contents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seed asymmetry and moisture associated with the seeds are known to affect seed oil estimation by pulsed nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technique employing free induction decay or single spin echo (SE) pulse sequence. Using Gossypium (cottonseeds) as experimental material, it is shown that transverse relaxation times (T) of seed oil, in different varieties of seeds, measured in vivo, are not the same. The mean T value of tetraploid seeds is found to be significantly higher than that of diploids. The effect of T variation and other problems on oil estimation by the free induction decay and SE methods can be avoided by using the Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill (CPMG) pulse sequence to monitor the signal intensities of a certain number of selected echoes and processing them to yield the extrapolated signal intensity at zero time. The oil content values thus estimated are found to agree well with those obtained by Soxhlet method. The agreement between the two methods might depend upon the presence of gossypol and other pigments present in the samples. Neither delinting nor dehydrating the seeds is necessary in the present method. Even with the CPMG sequence, use of individual echoes is not recommended, as the T variations give rise to erroneous values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three basic pulse sequences, viz., Free Induction Decay (FID), Spin Echo (SE) and Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill (CPMG), available in the pulsed nuclear magnetic resonance technique have been used to estimate the relative oil content in single as well as bulk samples of oil-bearing seeds. Conclusive evidence has been presented to show that the CPMG sequence is vastly superior to the other two as far as the effects of seed orientation and moisture content are concerned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consumer choice among multiattributed products is modeled as a two-stage process in which a conjunctive stage (that eliminates products with one or more "totally unacceptable" attribute levels) is followed by a compensatory stage (that trades off remaining products on multiple attributes). A self-explicated preference measurement procedure based on the two-stage model yielded a slightly larger predictive validity compared to conjoint analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Esophageal injury or perforation is a rare but life threatening complication of transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE). Most of the patients manifest symptoms within 24 hours of the procedure and upper esophagus is the most common site of injury. We report a patient who underwent TEE for the evaluation of severe valvular insufficiency and 4 days after the procedure developed an esophageal tear in its mid portion associated with profuse upper gastrointestinal bleeding. Though delayed esophageal perforation in the lower segment has been previously reported after a perioperative TEE, no such report exists to our knowledge, in the setting of a nonsurgical TEE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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A letter to the editor about fibre-optic laryngoscope and endotracheal tube assembly as the method of monitoring recurrent laryngeal nerve function during thyroid surgery is presented.