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The Objective of the Projects is to analyse the Garment workers in various departments such as Sewing machine, ironing and Packing. The workplace has the capability to negatively affect employee’s overall performance in a whole lot of approaches, inclusive of dissatisfaction, minor or extreme injuries that limit employees capability to complete ordinary obligations, or even death in intense situations. Musculoskeletal diseases are one of the most common causes of decreased productiveness in the latest workplace. Because of high repetitive work and awkward work postures, have discovered musculoskeletal risk factors connected with the textile industries. In terms of self-reported musculoskeletal symptoms, the manufacturing employees had significantly higher symptom scores than the group with more diversified work duties for the head, neck, shoulders, and arms, but not for the low back, hips, or lower extremities. Individual parameters had intricate relationships with symptoms in the head and low back. Textile stitching machine operators are exposed to hazards and pain that accumulate over time due to prolonged activity. So, this study adopted a descriptive cross-sectional design in which textile sewing machine, Ironing and Packing operators were analysed using REBA method., {"references":["Ak, A., Ba, T., & Adebisi, O. A. (2013). Prevalence, pattern and impact of musculoskeletal disorders among sewing machine operators in Surulere Local Government Area of Lagos State, Nigeria. Indian Journal of Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy, 7(2), 15.","Athit, K. O. N. G. (2005). Hazards in Cambodian garment factories. Occupational Safety and Health, 55, 1-3.","Chavalitsakulchai, P., & Shahnavaz, H. (1993). Musculoseletal disorders of female workers and ergonomics problems in five different industries of a developing country. Journal of human ergology, 22(1), 29-43.","Crawford, J. O. (2007). The Nordic musculoskeletal questionnaire. Occupational medicine, 57(4), 300-301.","Herbert, R., Dropkin, J., Warren, N., Sivin, D., Doucette, J., Kellogg, L., Zoloth, S. (2001). Impact of a joint labor-management ergonomics program on upper extremity musculoskeletal symptoms among garment workers. Applied Ergonomics, 32(5), 453-460.","Kuorinka, I., Jonsson, B., Kilbom, A., Vinterberg, H., Biering-Sørensen, F., Andersson, G., & Jørgensen, K. (1987). Standardised Nordic questionnaires for the analysis of musculoskeletal symptoms. Applied ergonomics, 18(3), 233-237.","Maduagwu, S. M., Sokunbi, G. O., Bwala, M. P., Akanbi, O. A., Jajere, A. M., Jaiyeola, O. A., & Ojiakor, A. C. (2015). Work-related musculoskeletal disorders among self-employed sewing machine operators in maiduguri, Nigeria. Occupational Medicine & Health Affairs.","Malik, N., Maan, A. A., Pasha, T. S., Akhtar, S., & Ali, T. (2010). Role of hazard control measures in occupational health and safety in the textile industry of Pakistan. Pak J Agri Sci, 47(1), 72-76.","Çivitci, Ş. (2004). An ergonomic garment design for elderly Turkish men. Applied ergonomics, 35(3), 243-251.","Berberoğlu, U., & Tokuç, B. (2013). Work-related musculoskeletal disorders at two textile factories in Edirne, Turkey. Balkan medical journal, 2013(1), 23-27."]}

The objective of the projects is to analyze the chemical usage in various department and divisions in watch manufacturing industry. In watch manufacturing industry there are numerous numbers of chemicals has been used inside the premises comprises of various department and divisions along with it. There are 303 major chemicals has been used inside the premises. Every chemical used inside the industry has a toxicity and fire risk potential effects to the workers who handled and used the chemical in daily basics. Among the departments, case plant has a major contribution of chemical handling in watch manufacturing industry. About 53 percentage of chemical handling and usage has been done in case plant. To find out the chemical toxicity and fire risk, the recommended analysis has been carried out to find out the vulnerable chemical has been used inside the industry. Fire and explosion index and fire risk assessment has occupied a vital role throughout the analysis and help to identify the vulnerable chemicals. Through the analysis, we obtain the results of what are the safety gaps (or) deviations present inside the industry and recommend the solution based on it. This paper also provides a recommendation for the fire risk assessment of chemicals and ensure to establish and can manage fire safety and toxic safety effectively., {"references":["Hill, R. A., & Sendashonga, C. (2003). General principles for risk assessment of living modified organisms: lessons from chemical risk assessment. Environmental Biosafety Research, 2(2), 81-88.","Whaley, P., Halsall, C., Ågerstrand, M., Aiassa, E., Benford, D., Bilotta, G. & Taylor, D. (2016). Implementing systematic review techniques in chemical risk assessment: Challenges, opportunities and recommendations. Environment international, 92, 556-564.","Judson, R. S., Kavlock, R. J., Setzer, R. W., Cohen Hubal, E. A., Martin, M. T., Knudsen, T. B., ... & Dix, D. J. (2011). Estimating toxicity-related biological pathway altering doses for high-throughput chemical risk assessment. Chemical research in toxicology, 24(4), 451-462.","Amendola, A., Contini, S., & Ziomas, I. (1992). Uncertainties in chemical risk assessment: results of a European benchmark exercise. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 29(3), 347-363.","Johnson, A. C., & Sumpter, J. P. (2016). Are we going about chemical risk assessment for the aquatic environment the wrong way?. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 35(7), 1609-1616.","Bonzini, M., Leso, V., & Iavicoli, I. (2022). Towards a toxic-free environment: perspectives for chemical risk assessment approaches. La Medicina del Lavoro, 113(1).).","Greenberg, H. R., & Cramer, J. J. (Eds.). (1991). Risk assessment and risk management for the chemical process industry. John Wiley & Sons","Pastorok, Robert A., et al. (2003). Role of ecological modeling in risk assessment. Human and Ecological Risk Assessment 9.4. 939-972.","Papazoglou, I. A., Nivolianitou, Z., Aneziris, O., & Christou, M. (1992). Probabilistic safety analysis in chemical installations. Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries, 5(3), 181-191.","Sobus, J. R., Wambaugh, J. F., Isaacs, K. K., Williams, A. J., McEachran, A. D., Richard, A. M., ... & Newton, S. R. (2018). Integrating tools for non-targeted analysis research and chemical safety evaluations at the US EPA. Journal of exposure science & environmental epidemiology, 28(5), 411-426."]}

The available nutrient status of the mulberry gardens in the districts of Tamil Nadu is analyzed and evaluated to find the status. In this work, the soil is classified based on the test report to a number of features with fertility indices for boron (B), organic carbon (OC), potassium (K), phosphorus (P), and available boron (B), along with the parameter soil reaction (pH). A total of 10 steps are used for cross-validation purposes wherein in every step, the data involves 10% for validation and the remaining for training data. A fast learning classification methodology known as extreme learning method (ELM) is trained using the data to identify the micronutrients present in the soil. Activation functions such as hard limit, triangular basis, hyperbolic tangent, sine-squared, and Gaussian radial basis are used to optimize the methodology. Based on the analysis performed, the nutrients are classified and the optimal soil conditions are proposed for different regions that are analyzed. Based on the study conducted, it is found that the soils in Tamil Nadu have normal electrical conductivity and are red in colour. They are found to be rich in potassium (35% of the samples), nitrogen (80% of the samples), and sulphur (75% of the sample) and sufficient or poor in magnesium, boron, zinc, and copper.

In coal fired power plants, Bituminous coal grade C is received through wagons from coal mines, unloaded, and separated as sized coal and coal dust. Coal is stored in stockpiles of around 22000 square metres that have been specified for coal storage. The size of each stockpile is 15’ in length, 10’ in width, and 10’ in height and the temperature in the locality is around 38 °C, with summer temperatures reaching 42 °C. Spontaneous combustion occurred more than 90 times in a six month time. More than 75% of the area always has coal-stock since the industries are far away from the coal mines and more than 50 big furnaces use the coal gas as fuel. Raw coal and coal dust have higher sulphur content, a very low onset temperature, and the highest volatile matter content. Hence, it undergoes spontaneous combustion easily. The fixed carbon of sized coal is higher, and therefore its susceptibility to unstructured burning is lesser contrast with two new trials since it will have a higher calorific value. The quality of coal has the highest impact, while low-grade coal is most responsible for spontaneous combustion, and high-grade coal is the least susceptible to warming. The main indicators are physical symptoms such as odor, smoke, or heat sensation. The polluted environments contain CO, CO2, CH4, C2H4, and C2H6.

In Engineering Industries suffering due to industrial wound and ill health, of the Computer Numerical Control machines operators are in the increasing trend, in the subjective analysis which we carried out for the CNC machine, the operators expressing the discomfort at the neck, upper back, lower back, shoulder, and arm because of working with the keys in the controls and viewing the display. The aim of this examination is to identify the most favourable location of control and display through various muscles that activate while performing in CNC machine operations. We introduce surface Electromyogram (EMG) to determine the muscle activity and deliberate on plane of the body close to respective muscles of an operator.The muscle activity measured for all the twenty subjects, at five different levels to find out the best optimal location for controls and display to establish the findings of the subjective study. Though there is no clear trend when all the subjects are aggregated, it is seen that 90 cm-100 cm be the optimum range for the midpoint of the control panel and 143cm-148 cm appears to be the optimum range for the midpoint of the display. Since changes in muscle activity are comparatively small for all the six muscles taken for study, however, the effect of cumulative activity borne over a shift, week, month, and year are to be considered. Muscle activity may increase in repetitive head/finger movements. These combined effects are to be captured for the ergonomic design of the CNC operator interface.

The world is facing rapid exhaustion of the available nonrenewable energy resources and compelled toward searching for various possible alternatives to meet the increasing energy requirements. The energy requirements across the globe are helping the energy and mineral ore processing industries in searching for a transformational leap forward toward new fuel sources. Nanotechnology is a growing field which will contribute effectively to the biofuel production industry. Nanotechnologies are part of the aspirational era for the biofuel of the future and have applications in different fields. Nanotechnology has applications in an increasing number of number of industries, but its current use in enhancing the production of power and heat from biomass is limited. This chapter explores the possible impact of basic science on bioenergy production. In addition, it covers the liquid biofuels, biofuels market at the global fuel level, nanotechnologies and processes used in the bioenergy industry, problems associated with those technologies and processes, and potential nanotechnology solutions to those problems.

Schizophrenia risk is associated with increased gene copy number and brain expression of complement component 4 (C4). Because the complement system facilitates synaptic pruning, the C4 association has renewed interest in a hypothesis that excessive pruning contributes to schizophrenia pathogenesis. However, little is known about complement regulation in neural tissues or whether such regulation could be relevant to psychiatric illness. Intriguingly, common variation within CSMD1, which encodes a putative complement inhibitor, has consistently associated with schizophrenia at genome-wide significance. We found that Csmd1 is predominantly expressed in the brain by neurons, and is enriched at synapses; that human stem cell-derived neurons lacking CSMD1 are more vulnerable to complement deposition; and that mice lacking Csmd1 have increased brain complement activity, fewer synapses, aberrant complement-dependent development of a neural circuit, and synaptic elements that are preferentially engulfed by cultured microglia. These data suggest that CSMD1 opposes the complement cascade in neural tissues.Graphic Abstract.Our findings support a model in which CSMD1 opposes actions of the complement cascade in neural tissues (top left). We investigated two models in which Csmd1 was genetically ablated: human cortical neurons derived from embryonic stem cells, and a back-crossed C57bl6-Tac mouse line (top right). Csmd1 is normally expressed by neurons and present at synapses where it can protect them from complement (bottom left); in the absence of Csmd1 (bottom right), we find more deposition of complement (on cultured human cortical neurons and in the mouse visual system), reduced numbers of synapses (in the mouse visual system), and synaptic fractions that are more readily engulfed by microglia (ex vivo). Created with BioRender.com.

Cloud data center&rsquo, s total operating cost is conquered by electricity cost and carbon tax incurred due to energy consumption from the grid and its associated carbon emission. In this work, we consider geo-distributed sustainable datacenter&rsquo, s with varying on-site green energy generation, electricity prices, carbon intensity and carbon tax. The objective function is devised to reduce the operating cost including electricity cost and carbon cost incurred on the power consumption of servers and cooling devices. We propose renewable-aware algorithms to schedule the workload to the data centers with an aim to maximize the green energy usage. Due to the uncertainty and time variant nature of renewable energy availability, an investigation is performed to identify the impact of carbon footprint, carbon tax and electricity costin data center selection on total operating cost reduction. In addition, on-demand dynamic optimal frequency-based load distribution within the cluster nodes is performed to eliminate hot spots due to high processor utilization. The work suggests optimal virtual machine placement decision to maximize green energy usage with reduced operating cost and carbon emission.

Developmental synaptic remodeling is important for the formation of precise neural circuitry and its disruption has been linked to neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism and schizophrenia. Microglia prune synapses, but integration of this synapse pruning with overlapping and concurrent neurodevelopmental processes remains elusive. Adhesion G protein-coupled receptor ADGRG1/GPR56 controls multiple aspects of brain development in a cell type-specific manner: in neural progenitor cells, GPR56 regulates cortical lamination, whereas in oligodendrocyte progenitor cells, GPR56 controls developmental myelination and myelin repair. Here, we show that microglial GPR56 maintains appropriate synaptic numbers in several brain regions in a time- and circuit-dependent fashion. Phosphatidylserine (PS) on pre-synaptic elements binds GPR56 in a domain-specific manner, and microglia-specific deletion of Gpr56 leads to increased synapses as a result of reduced microglial engulfment of PS+ pre-synaptic inputs. Remarkably, a particular alternatively spliced isoform of GPR56 is selectively required for microglia-mediated synaptic pruning. Our present data provide a ligand- and isoform-specific mechanism underlying microglial GPR56-mediated synapse pruning in the context of complex neurodevelopmental processes.

Drastic variations in high-performance computing workloads lead to the commencement of large number of datacenters. To revolutionize themselves as green datacenters, these data centers are assured to reduce their energy consumption without compromising the performance. The energy consumption of the processor is considered as an important metric for power reduction in servers as it accounts to 60% of the total power consumption. In this research work, a power-aware algorithm (PA) and an adaptive harmony search algorithm (AHSA) are proposed for the placement of reserved virtual machines in the datacenters to reduce the power consumption of servers. Modification of the standard harmony search algorithm is inevitable to suit this specific problem with varying global search space in each allocation interval. A task distribution algorithm is also proposed to distribute and balance the workload among the servers to evade over-utilization of servers which is unique of its kind against traditional virtual machine consolidation approaches that intend to restrain the number of powered on servers to the minimum as possible. Different policies for overload host selection and virtual machine selection are discussed for load balancing. The observations endorse that the AHSA outperforms, and yields better results towards the objective than, the PA algorithm and the existing counterparts.

Astrocytes are important regulators of neural circuit function and behavior in the healthy and diseased nervous system. We screened for molecules in Drosophila astrocytes that modulate neuronal hyperexcitability and identified multiple components of focal adhesion complexes (FAs). Depletion of astrocytic Tensin, β-integrin, Talin, focal adhesion kinase (FAK), or matrix metalloproteinase 1 (Mmp1), resulted in enhanced behavioral recovery from genetic or pharmacologically induced seizure. Overexpression of Mmp1, predicted to activate FA signaling, led to a reciprocal enhancement of seizure severity. Blockade of FA-signaling molecules in astrocytes at basal levels of CNS excitability resulted in reduced astrocytic coverage of the synaptic neuropil and expression of the excitatory amino acid transporter EAAT1. However, induction of hyperexcitability after depletion of FA-signaling components resulted in enhanced astrocyte coverage and an approximately twofold increase in EAAT1 levels. Our work identifies FA-signaling molecules as important regulators of astrocyte outgrowth and EAAT1 expression under normal physiological conditions. Paradoxically, in the context of hyperexcitability, this pathway negatively regulates astrocytic process outgrowth and EAAT1 expression, and their blockade leading to enhanced recovery from seizure.

Data centers are large-scale data storage and processing systems. It is made up of a number of servers that must be capable of handling large amount of data. As a result, data centers generate a significant quantity of heat, which must be cooled and kept at an optimal temperature to avoid overheating. To address this problem, thermal analysis of the data center is carried out using numerical methods. The CFD model consists of a micro data center, where conjugate heat transfer effects are studied. A micro data center consists of servers aligned with air gaps alternatively and cooling air is passed between the air gaps to remove heat. In the present work, the design of data center rack is made in such a way that the cold air is in close proximity to servers. The temperature and airflow in the data center are estimated using the model. The air gap is optimally designed for the cooling unit. Temperature distribution of various load configurations is studied. The objective of the study is to find a favorable loading configuration of the micro data center for various loads and effectiveness of distribution of load among the servers.

Centrifugal pumps are used widely in different industries for various industrial purposes. Since performance of pump is affected by vibrations and depends on the blade inlet or outlet angle. The performance of the centrifugal pumps can be improved by alternating the geometric characteristics of impeller in the pumps. Centrifugal pump performance mainly depends upon blade exit angle. The vibration is mainly caused by blade exit angle. The rotating of the blade is based on the natural frequency and mode shapes. The impeller chosen for the study was a single- entry impeller with radial vanes. Using Creo 4.0 and ANSYS Workbench software the modeling and simulation of the impeller have been carried out. The respective frequencies and corresponding mode shapes impeller were measured by using eigenvalues and eigenvectors respectively. The results showed that the varying impeller blade exit angle had significant effect on natural frequency of the impeller., {"references":["Anirudha S. Bhosale, Gore P. N. (2017), \"A Review Paper on Improvement of Impeller Design a Centrifugal Pump using FEM and CFD\", International Journal for Innovative Research in Science & Technology, Volume 4, Issue 4, pp. 06-08.","Chetan Kallappa Tambake, Prof. Salunke P. V. (2015), \"Design, modelling and Analysis of Monoblock Centrifugal Pump Impeller\", International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Information Technology, Volume 03, Issue 06, pp. 1346−1354.","Farid Ayad.A, AbdallaH. M, Abo El- Azm A.S. (2015), \"Numerical Study of the Semi- Open Centrifugal Pump Impeller side Clearance\", Aerospace Sciences and Aviation Technology, Volume 16, pp. 145−159.","Ghanshyam G. Iratkar, Prof. Gandigude A. U. (2017), \"Structural Analysis, Material Optimization using FEA and Experimentation of Centrifugal Pump Impeller\", International Journal Of Advance Research, Ideas And Innovations In Technology, Volume 3, Issue 4, pp. 97−105.","Kaliappan S, Rajkamal M. D, Balamurali D. (2016), \"Numerical Analysis of Centrifugal Pump Impeller for Performance Imporvement\", International Journal of Chemical Science, Volume 14, Issue 2, pp. 1148−1156.","Mani Pranav Rajanand. (2016), \"Design and Analysis of Centrifugal Pump Impeller by FEA\", International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology, Volume 03, Issue 01, pp. 420−428.","Mani Pranav Rajanand. (2016), \"Design and Analysis of Centrifugal Pump Impeller by FEA\", International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology, Volume 03, Issue 01, pp. 420−428.","Manish Dadhich, Dharmendra Hariyani, Tarun Singh. (2012), \"Flow Simulation (CFD) & Fatigue Analysis (FEA) of a Centrifugal pump\", International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Technology, Volume 3, Issue 3, pp. 67−83.","Manish Dahich, Sheetal Kumar Jain, Vikas Sharma, Sanjay Kumar sharma, Dhirendra Agarwal, (2015) \"Fatigue (FEA) and Modal Analysis of a Centrifugal\",","Muhammad Ashri, Saravanan karuppanan, Santosh Patil, Idris Ibrahim. (2014), \"Modal Analysis of a Centrifugal Pump Impeller Using Finite Element Method\", EDP Sciences, Volume 13, pp. 403−418."]}

The use of hydraulics has increased tremendously in the recent past due to the various advantages it provides such as high power to weight ratio, elimination of complex components, ease of transportation and safety to name a few. Moreover the main advantage that hydraulic locomotives provide over conventional locomotives is constant velocity. Though there are various advantages to using hydraulics, contamination of working fluid poses a severe threat to components such as premature wear of components, a corrosion of components which would require replacing them well before their life incurring significant loss. Contamination of hydraulic fluids cannot be prevented or eliminated but can be contained to a certain extent. The safe levels of contamination are arrived at by comparing to recommended oil cleanliness values defined by NAS. Even though hydraulic systems are provided with an in built filter known as primary filter to remove solid or particulate impurities at cleanliness value at recommended levels. The controlling of contamination levels in the hydraulic oil by use another filtration unit externally, will reduce the level of contamination significantly and increases the life of the hydraulic drive system. To monitor the level of contamination of various sizes closely, a particle counter added to the additional unit proves to be beneficial. This project investigates the change in level of contamination in the working fluid after addition of the secondary filtration unit. Dr. K Muthukumar | V. Nagendra Kumar "Secondary Filtration of Closed Loop in DC Locomotive" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-3 | Issue-3 , April 2019, URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd23220.pdf

Restoration is one of the image processing techniques to restore the distorted image. The distorted image can be any type like blurred image, noise added either while storing or capturing of the images. the traditional restoration techniques are geometric correction, different types of filters to remove the noises. Generally, the restoration is applied to the single image to retrives its information. In this, the restoration process is applied in the application of image fusion of medical images. the reason to chose the image fusion process is to improve its entropy. The medical images used in this paper is the mammogram and MRI-breast image. In this, the image fusion is performed with the help of wavelet and curvelet transform. The curvelet transform is applied to the restored mammogram image with the help of contrast adjusted top-hat filter process. The wavelet transform is applied to the MRI image because it has more volume of data to acquire important details. The fused image is evaluated with the help of entropy, mean standard deviation and variance. The fused image has efficient value as compared to its original image but it is higher than the DTCWT-fused image. To verify the quality of the proposed method, the psnr is evaluated to determine the noise present in the image. From the evaluation, the noise is less and entropy is higher in the proposed method. Hence, the contrast adjusted wavelet curvelet fusion is the best restoration and fusion process in the breast images.

AimThe aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of spermatozoa morphology on ICSI cycle outcome parameters in couples with male factor infertility.DesignRetrospective study.SettingUniversity-level tertiary care center.Patients and methodsOne hundred and forty-eight couples with male factor infertility who had undergone intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) cycle from 2010 to December 2012 were included in this analysis. The semen samples of the male partners were classified according to the three predictive categories of the Tygerberg strict criteria: excellent prognosis (> 14% morphologically normal spermatozoa), good prognosis (5–14%) and poor prognosis (< 5%).Main outcome measuresThe primary outcome was the embryo quality rate.ResultsPatients in the poor prognosis subgroups exhibited deficits in spermatozoa concentration, motility and total motile fraction. The variations in the outcome parameters of fertilization rate, embryo development rate and embryo quality did not correlate with sperm morphology.ConclusionOur study suggests that Kruger's strict morphology criteria of the fresh semen sample is not a good predictor for the ICSI cycle outcome.How to cite this articlePreetha RP, Kamath MS, Aleyamma TK, Muthukumar K. Influence of Sperm Morphology on the Outcome of Assisted Reproductive Technique-Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection Cycles: A Retrospective Analysis. Int J Infertil Fetal Med 2015;6(3):122-127.

This article proposes a novel hybrid heuristic search algorithm based on Harmony search and particle artificial bee colony algorithm (HSA-PABC) for shunt capacitor placement problem. The objective function is framed to minimize power loss and to maximize voltage stability. To search for the optimal location of shunt capacitors, the combinatorial use of loss sensitivity factor and hybrid HSA-PABC algorithm is utilized. In this paper, different types of voltage dependent load models are taken into consideration to investigate their influence on the active power loss and voltage stability of the RDN. Simulation results shows that the voltage dependent load models lead to completely different solutions interms of power loss reduction, voltage stability improvement and net annual savings which are the crucial parameters in the decision process of optimal shunt capacitor placement problem. The result outcomes of the proposed hybrid algorithm outperform the results of other heuristic techniques in the literature. Keywords: Radial Distribution Network (RDN), Harmony Search Algorithm (HSA), Particle Artificial Bee Colony (PABC), Loss Sensitivity Factor (LSF), Backward-Forward Sweep based load flow (BFS), Voltage Stability Index (VSI)

The contaminated canned food sample (Mango juice – acidic nature) was collected from the Perambalur general market during January 2016 for microbiological analysis. The five different bacterial populations were isolated and enumerated from the contaminated mango juice canned food by pure culture technique. In which, fifty (50) bacterial strains were isolated and were challenged against ten different standard antibiotics on Mueller Hinton agar (MHA) by disc diffusion method for antibiotic resistance analysis. The mean level of TVC, TC, TS, FC and FS levels in contaminated canned juice sample were 154.0 x 104, 4.3 x 102, 1.3 x 102, 1.1 x 102, 0.4 x 102 and 2.75, respectively. All the fifty bacterial strains shown a resistant activity to ampicillin and penicillin antibiotic which indicate that these two antibiotic have got no effective and they are very weak to resist against those bacterial strains. In this study, more than 30% of isolates were resistant to single antibiotics whereas double and 3 antibiotic resistances were recorded in contaminated food isolates such as 18.3% and 16.6%, respectively. This sample showed a higher percentage (98.4%) of resistant strains which indicating that most of the strains were resistant to one or more of the tested antibiotics. This bacterial counts and antibiotic resistant strains indicated that the contaminated food samples contain toxic pathogens which may cause serious infection to consumers.

Does transfer of supernatant embryo culture fluid (stimulation of endometrial embryo transfer - SEET) prior to vitrified warmed blastocyst transfer result in better clinical pregnancy and live birth rates than direct vitrified warmed blastocyst transfer?This randomized controlled trial compared SEET group and direct transfer group (control) in 60 women undergoing vitrified warmed blastocyst transfers. The duration of the study was 3 years. The patients were undergoing vitrified warmed blastocyst transfer at university level infertility centre. Sixty women were randomized to SEET (n = 30) or control (n = 30).Data was available for analysis from all the 30 women in the SEET group and 30 women in the control group. There were no drop outs in the trial. The implantation rate was significantly lower in the SEET group compared to the control group (27 vs. 44 %, P = 0.018). The clinical pregnancy rates were similar in both the groups (47 vs. 53 %) but the live birth rate was also significantly lower in SEET group (23 vs. 50 %, P = 0.03).The sample size based on clinical pregnancy rates was small and hence not adequately powered to detect differences in live birth rates. Lack of blinding leading to possible bias cannot be ruled out.There was no evidence of an improvement in clinical pregnancy rate following SEET in vitrified warmed blastocyst transfer compared to direct transfer.

Astrocytic uptake of GABA through GABA transporters (GATs) is an important mechanism regulating excitatory/inhibitory balance in the nervous system; however, mechanisms by which astrocytes regulate GAT levels are undefined. We found that at mid-pupal stages the Drosophila melanogaster CNS neuropil was devoid of astrocyte membranes and synapses. Astrocyte membranes subsequently infiltrated the neuropil coordinately with synaptogenesis, and astrocyte ablation reduced synapse numbers by half, indicating that Drosophila astrocytes are pro-synaptogenic. Shortly after synapses formed in earnest, GAT was upregulated in astrocytes. Ablation or silencing of GABAergic neurons or disruption of metabotropic GABA receptor 1 and 2 (GABA(B)R1/2) signaling in astrocytes led to a decrease in astrocytic GAT. Notably, developmental depletion of astrocytic GABA(B)R1/2 signaling suppressed mechanosensory-induced seizure activity in mutants with hyperexcitable neurons. These data reveal that astrocytes actively modulate GAT expression via metabotropic GABA receptor signaling and highlight the importance of precise regulation of astrocytic GAT in modulation of seizure activity.

Electricity demand exceeds the supply leading to regional blackout. The power generated is transmitted through a large network and significant power losses in transmission and distribution feeders. Loss reduction through various methods has the potential to yield huge savings in economic growth and environmental impact. One such effective loss minimization method is to inject reactive power by placing shunt capacitors at appropriate places with proper size. A Harmony Search Algorithm methodology is proposed in this work to identify the appropriate size of shunt capacitors by taking the objective as minimizing the cost associated with real power losses along with installation cost of shunt capacitors in an unbalanced radial distribution network. The bus voltage limits, number/size of installed capacitors at each node are taken as constraints. A two stage methodology is adopted in this work to get the solution of the optimization problem. In the first stage, the voltage stability index values at each bus is computed and the node with minimum value of voltage stability index is identified as the most receptive node to voltage slump and such a node is considered as candidate node for installation of shunt capacitors. In the second stage the HSA methodology is used to ascertain the suitable capacitor size. The backward / forward sweep algorithm based Radial distribution load flow algorithm is utilized for power flow simulation. The proposed Harmony Search Algorithm is implemented on the modified IEEE 13 and 37 bus URDN.

Introduction: The incidence of breast cancer is increasing in developing countries over three decades. Despite good health indicators breast cancer is a public health problem in Kerala with an annual incidence of 14.9/100000 population. Identifying the risk factors helps to reduce the incidence in future. Method: A Population based case control study was conducted among all the breast cancer cases in the Arpookara Panchayat of Kottayam district in Kerala. 20 cases of breast cancer were paired with age matched controls from the same geographic area (ratio 1:4) with a total of 100 study participants. Data were collected by interviewing the participants using a pre tested structured questionnaire. Analysis was done by the authors using SPSS version 16.0 Results: Age group of participants ranged from 32-70 years with mean age of 49.7 + 10.39. Early menarche < 13 years [Odds Ratio =3.2, p= 0.03], being unmarried and single, family history of breast cancer [Odds Ratio = 3.5, p = 0.02], previous history of benign breast tumours [Odds Ratio =8.14, p= 0.04], breast feeding less than 2 years [Odds Ratio = 2.28, p = 0.01 ] were found to be the risk factors for the breast cancer and the birth of first child before 30 years [Odds Ratio =0.302, p = 0.03 ] was found to be a protective factor for breast cancer. 60% of cases belonged to lower socioeconomic status [Odds Ratio = 14.47, p = 0.03]. Despite high literacy status, significantly lower awareness about symptoms of breast cancer and self examination of the breast were noted [Odds Ratio =11.6, p= 0.03]. Conclusion: Awareness about symptoms of breast cancer and self examination of the breast were lacking in the study population. Health care personnel should be trained to spread the awareness of breast cancer in the community and to identify the vulnerable groups at the primary care settings itself. The policy makers can consider encouraging community participation by involving the non-governmental organizations, women self help groups and Public Private Partnerships in spreading the awareness of breast cancer.

Risk and safety are the important terms related with any industry and are linked conceptually and pragmatically. This paper illustrates the risk associated with an LPG fired furnace. The major risks involved in an LPG based gas furnaces are: leakages in the main LPG pipelines and improper working of equipment fitted with the LPG furnace. This paper proposes two methodologies for quantification of risk. The first one is based on the traditional risk and the second is based on Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). Analytical Hierarchy Process is a multi-criteria decision making technique, which breaks down a decision making problem in to a hierarchical structure, through which decision makers can bring about a comparison among different risk levels. The practical application of both traditional and AHP models are demonstrated with a case study concerning the safety of operations carried out in an LPG based gas furnace. The results obtained by analytical hierarchy process are compared with those obtained by traditional method of risk calculation. Comparing with the traditional method of risk calculation, the AHP technique of risk analysis have two advantages; by using AHP method, the risk assessment procedures become more comprehensive and also the risk calculated provides more precise values than that obtained by using traditional method and AHP is more conservative in the assessment of risks.

Objectives: The introduction of computerized numeric control (CNC) technology in manufacturing industries has revolutionized the production process, but there are some health and safety problems associated with these machines. The present study aimed to investigate the extent of postural discomfort in CNC machine operators, and the relationship of this discomfort to the display and control panel height, with a view to validate the anthropometric recommendation for the location of the display and control panel in CNC machines. Methods: The postural discomforts associated with CNC machines were studied in 122 male operators using Corlett and Bishop's body part discomfort mapping, subject information, and discomfort level at various time intervals from starting to end of a shift. This information was collected using a questionnaire. Statistical analysis was carried out using ANOVA Results: Neck discomfort due to the positioning of the machine displays, and shoulder and arm discomfort due to the positioning of controls were identified as common health issues in the operators of these machines. The study revealed that 45.9% of machine operators reported discomfort in the lower back, 41.8% in the neck, 22.1% in the upper-back, 53.3% in the shoulder and arm, and 21.3% of the operators reported discomfort in the leg. Conclusion: Discomfort increased with the progress of the day and was highest at the end of a shift; subject age had no effect on patient tendency to experience discomfort levels.

Coastal sand dunes (CSD) are found in the Thoothukudi District and the communities living close to the coastal sand dunes know the value of the sand dunes and their bioresources. A study of sand dune flora along coastal sand dune areas was done from March to August 2010. A total of 42 species belonging to 38 genera and 26 families were identified at different distances from the shoreline. The CSD systems are rich and diverse in their floral composition, even over the small areas of Manapadu and Kulasakarapattanam along the Thoothukudi coastal line. CSD constitute a variety of habitats and have vital ecological and economic importance. Such unique sensitive systems have to be protected from habitat degradation in order to protect their native diversity and ecological functions.

Background Although ≈ 10% of the population is affected by infertility, the treatment option of in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) remains unaffordable for the majority of infertile couples. We have initiated a lowcost programme incorporating an uncommonly used, but recognized, ovarian stimulation protocol, together with certain costlimiting initiatives in an established assisted reproductive technology (ART) set up. Methods The medical records of women who underwent the lowcost programme were analysed. Clomiphene citrate 50 mg daily was administered from Day 2 of the cycle and continued till the day of hCG trigger, thus preventing the LH surge. Intermittent doses of human menopausal gonadotrophin 150 IU were administered on alternate days from the 5th day onwards. Oocyte retrieval was carried out once at least two follicles of >18 mm were identified. The cycle was monitored by ultrasound only, with embryo transfer being carried out on Day 3. Clinical outcomes were recorded together with an estimation of the direct costs per cycle. Direct cost calculations did not include professional charges or facility costs. Results Of 143 women evaluated, 104 women underwent embryo transfer. The live birth rate and clinical pregnancy rate per embryo transfer were 19 and 22%. The live birth rate per initiated cycle was 14% (20/143). The multiple pregnancy rate was 26% with no case of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome being recorded. The average direct cost per cycle was US$ 675 for IVF and US$ 725 for an ICSI treatment cycle. Conclusions Using this protocol, together with several costcutting measures, we achieved an acceptable live birth rate per transfer of 19% at a reasonable cost. This approach could be used by established ART centres to provide treatment to couples who cannot afford conventional ART.

Improvement in survival rates of cancer patients has lead to a shift in focus toward fertility issues, especially in young survivors. Male fertility preservation is well established. Embryo cryopreservation remains most successful female fertility preservation option. Other female fertility preservation procedures like oocyte/ovarian tissue cryopreservation either have limited efficacy or in experimental stages. We have highlighted not uncommon clinical scenarios where the fertility preservation option was exercised. There is an urgent need to spread awareness among clinicians and patients regarding the various available fertility preservation measures. Timely referral will help in improving the quality of life of cancer survivors.

Objective : To determine the predictive factors for pregnancy after controlled ovarian hyperstimulation (COH)/intrauterine insemination (IUI). Design : Prospective observational study. Setting : University-level tertiary care center. Patients and Methods : 366 patients undergoing 480 stimulated IUI cycles between November 2007 and December 2008. Interventions : Ovarian stimulation with gonadotrophins was initiated and a single IUI was performed 36 h after triggering ovulation. Main Outcome Measures : The primary outcome measures were clinical pregnancy and live birth rates. Predictive factors evaluated were female age, duration of infertility, indication for IUI, number of preovulatory follicles, luteinizing hormone level on day of trigger and postwash total motile fraction (TMF). Results : The overall clinical pregnancy rate and live birth rate were 8.75% and 5.83%, respectively. Among the predictive factors evaluated, the duration of infertility (5.36 vs. 6.71 years, P = 0.032) and the TMF (between 10 and 20 million, P = 0.002) significantly influenced the clinical pregnancy rate. Conclusion : Our results indicate that COH/IUI is not an effective option in couples with infertility due to a male factor. Prolonged duration of infertility is also associated with decreased success, and should be considered when planning treatment.

Ce has been found experimentally to be preferentially incorporated into the C82 isomer of C2v symmetry as have other lanthanoids in M@C82 (M = La, Pr, Nd, etc.). We have investigated the underlying reason for this preference by calculating structural and electronic properties of Ce@C82 using density functional theory. The ground-state structure of Ce@C82 is found to have the cerium atom attached to the six-membered ring on the C2 axis of the C82-C2v cage, and the encapsulated atom is found to perturb the carbon cage due to chemical bonding. We have found Ce to favor this C2v chemisorption site in C82 by 0.62 eV compared to other positions on the inside wall of the cage. The specific preference of the metal atom to this six-membered ring is explained through electronic structure analysis, which reveals strong hybridization between the d orbitals of cerium and the pi orbitals of the cage that is particularly favorable for this chemisorption site. We propose that this symmetry dictated interaction between the cage and the lanthanide d orbital plays a crucial role when C82 forms in the presence of Ce to produce Ce@C82 and is also more generally applicable for the formation of other lanthanoid M@C82 molecules. Our theoretical computations are the first to explain this well-established fact. Last, the vibrational spectrum of Ce@C82 has been simulated and analyzed to gain insight into the metal-cage vibrations.

Hydrogen storage by carbon materials is a topic of current interest. In order to exploit fullerenes as one of the new forms of carbon for hydrogen storage, it is shown that an activator for hydrogen is necessary in the fullerene network. Even though one can generate stoichiometric hydrides the formation of such hydrides have to be established. In this present study we have examined what type of species on carbon surfaces may be able to activate hydrogen molecule and lead to hydride formation. The Density Functional Theory calculations have been carried out on some typical model systems wherein the fullerene molecule is substituted in the network with heteroatoms like N, P and S and the reduction in the dissociation energy of hydrogen molecule is considered as a measure of the ability to hydride the carbon materials. On the basis of the reduction in the dissociation energy for the hydrogen molecule it was shown that heteroatom substitution in the fullerene net work may be suitable for the activation and dissociation of hydrogen molecule.

Isolated pleural effusion is a rare presentation of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome. The pathogenesis of this disorder has not been fully elucidated. It supports the role of systemic factors rather than transudation of fluid from the surface of enlarged ovaries. This article describes a rare case of isolated pleural effusion following controlled ovarian hyperstimulation during an in-vitro fertilization cycle.

Nowadays Solar energy is an important energy source due to the energy crisis and environment pollution. Maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algorithm improves the utilization efficiency of a photovoltaic systems. In this paper an improved P&O MPPT algorithm is developed and simulated using MATLAB / SIMULINK to control the DC/DC buck converter. The obtained simulink model is also verified using dspace tool. Both the simulated and experimental results are validated by also comparing them with conventional MPPT methods. The performance measures show the increase in the efficiency of PV system by the proposed model. Full Text: PDF DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.11591/ijpeds.v7.i3.pp915-925

Objectives: The literature regarding clinical outcomes following day 5/6 vitrified warmed blastocysts transfer has been conflicting. We decided to evaluate and compare the clinical outcomes following vitrified warmed day 5/6 blastocyst transfer using a solid surface vitrification protocol with fresh blastocyst transfers. Settings: University teaching hospital. Study Design: A total of 249 women were retrospectively analyzed: 146 fresh day 5 blastocyst (group 1), 57 day 5 vitrified warmed blastocyst (group 2), and 46 vitrified warmed day 6 blastocyst (group 3) transfer cycles. Vitrification was done using solid surface methodology (non immersion protocol). The main outcomes were implantation rates, clinical pregnancy, and live birth rate per embryo transfer. Results: The baseline clinical characteristics were similar among all three groups. The implantation and clinical pregnancy rates following vitrified warmed day 6 blastocyst transfers (20.9% and 32.6%) were significantly lower as compared to day 5 fresh and vitrified warmed day 5 blastocyst transfers (40.3% and 56.1%, 36.3%, and 52.6%). However, there was no significant difference in the live birth rates across the three groups (group 1: 37.6%, group 2: 40.3%, and group 3: 28.2%). Conclusion: No statistically significant difference was observed in live birth rates between fresh day 5 blastocyst transfers and vitrified warmed day 5/6 blastocyst transfers. Vitrification of blastocysts using solid surface methodology is an efficient method of cryopreservation.