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Four gastroenteritis viruses were responsible for 54% of the acute gastroenteritis (AGE) cases in children hospitalized between May 2017 and December 2019 in Pune city of Maharashtra state, Western India. The majority (79%) of the children were

Objectives Age estimation in forensic odontology is having a great importance in recent times because of the request by court or other government authorities so that immigrants whose real age is unknown should not suffer unfair disadvantages because of their supposed age, and so that all legal procedures to which an individual's age is relevant can be properly followed. Purpose The present study was planned to be conducted on pulp tissue and dental hard tissues derived from individuals for DNA isolation and age determination . Materials and Methods The present study was an experimental single-blinded study consisting of 30 extracted teeth categorized into three groups as follows: Group A: 10 to 20 years, Group B: 21 to 30 years, Group C: 31 to 40 years. DNA was isolated from the pulp of each tooth and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) for calculating telomere length was performed. Results With increase in age, the length of telomere gets shortened which will be helpful in analyzing the age of the person when morphological and biological remnants are not available except the tooth. Conclusion The present study found that estimation of human age based on the relative TL measured by the real-time quantitative PCR may be a useful method for age prediction, especially when there is no morphologic information in the biological sample. This is the first study to accesses the age of a person by telomere length using dental pulp.

Background: Neutrophils, the most abundant white blood cells are known to play a major role in the fundamental physiological response to tackle with microbial infections via different mechanisms. A series of assays have been developed that mimic neutrophil functions both in vivo and in vitro to look at specific deficiencies of neutrophil function. There is need to develop method to have defined normal range for these tests to differentiate between health and disease. We aim to define normal range for panel of screening assays in healthy adult Indian participants. Materials and Methods: The study included 30 male and 30 female adult healthy participants. A volume of 10 ml of blood was collected from each participant. Four different assays that included chemotaxis, phagocytosis, intracellular killing (candidacidal assay), and nitroblue tetrazolium (NBT) test were performed. For defined range was established for all the assays. Simultaneously controls were set up for all the tests. Results: For NBT assay, the mean values for control and test were 13.58 and 58.90 respectively. The mean values for the control and test for phagocytosis assay were 1.77 and 4.49. Similarly, the values for candidacidal assay were 11.67% and 34.98. Finally, the values for chemotaxis test were 2.13 cm for Formyl-Methionyl-Leucyl-Phenylalanine, 0.54 cm for participant's serum and 0.48 cm for the medium. Conclusion: Based on the data generated, the values produced in the present investigation should be considered as normal range for adult population between the age group of 25–50 years for the protocols followed in the study.

Background and Aims:Porphyromonas gingivalis ( P. gingivalis) is considered as an important pathogen responsible for periodontal disease which is characterized by inflammation of gingiva and destruction of periodontal ligament and alveolar bone leading to loss of tooth. Along with clinical investigations, suitable microbiological analysis needs to be performed which could provide more insight into the disease severity. We aim to quantify P. gingivalis by real-time PCR (RT-PCR) and analyze its association with demographic data including clinical parameters.Materials and Methods:The study consisted of chronic periodontitis patients (CP group) and healthy subjects (H group) with 120 samples in each group. RT-PCR was carried out by the SYBR Green assay to target 16S ribosomal ribonucleic acid species-specific region of P. gingivalis. Standard strain of P. gingivalis ATCC 33277 was used as a control.Results:In the CP group, 79.16% samples were found positive for P. gingivalis, whereas 29.17% samples were positive in the H group. A significant difference was found when the prevalence was compared within males and females ( P < .001 for both). In the older age groups, we found a higher rate of detection of P. gingivalis. As analyzed by Spearman’s correlation test, the number of cells of P. gingivalis was significantly associated with probing depth ( P = .02) and clinical attachment level ( P = .01) in the CP group. The mean cell number of P. gingivalis was found to be increasing with increasing levels of probing depth and clinical attachment level ( P < .001 and P = .01, respectively).Conclusion:The present study reaffirms that the P. gingivalis microbe is significantly associated with the chronic periodontitis and that its level varies with the severity of the disease. Colonization of the bacterium is significantly associated with severe forms of the disease.

ObjectivesTo compare the co-administration of an Ayurvedic drug AYUSH 64 as an adjunct to standard of care (SOC) and SOC for efficacy and safety in the management of COVID-19.DesignMulticentre, parallel efficacy, randomized, controlled, open label, assessor blind, exploratory trial with a convenience sample. Patients followed to complete 12 weeks of study duration.SettingCOVID-19 dedicated non-intensive care wards at 1 government hospital, 1 medical college teaching hospital and 1 medical university teaching hospitalParticipants140 consenting, eligible, hospitalized adult patients suffering from mild and moderate symptomatic COVID-19 and confirmed by a diagnostic (SARS-CoV-2) RT-PCR assay on nasal and throat swab were randomized to SOC or SOC plus AYUSH 64. To be withdrawn if disease becomes severe.InterventionsTwo tablets of AYUSH 64, 500 mg each, twice daily after meals, and continued till study completion. SOC (symptomatic and supportive) as per national guidelines of India for mild and moderate disease.Main outcome measuresTime period to clinical recovery (CR) from randomization baseline and proportion with CR within 28 days time frame; CR defined in the protocolResults140 patients randomized (70 in each arm); 138 patients with CR qualified for analysis. Both groups were matched at baseline. The mean time to CR from randomization was significantly superior in AYUSH 64 group (95% CI -3.03 to 0.59 days); a higher proportion (69.7%) in the first week (p=0.046, Chi-square). No significant differences observed for COVID-19 related blood assays (such as D-Dimer). AYUSH 64 arm showed significant (pConclusionsAYUSH 64 hastened recovery, reduced hospitalization and improved overall health in mild and moderate COVID-19 when co-administered with SOC under medical supervision. It was safe and well tolerated. Further studies are warranted.Trial registrationThe Clinical Trials Registry India Number CTRI/2020/06/025557FundingCCRAS, Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India

ObjectivesTo provide a broad evaluation of the efficacy and safety of Ayurveda interventions (procedural and non-procedural) for the management of sinusitis, and also of the relative efficacy and safety of different Ayurveda therapies for Sinusitis.MethodsFive electronic databases for published research articles, three databases for the unpublished doctoral thesis, clinical trial registries, and hand searches were done till August 2020. All comparative clinical trials recruiting sinusitis patients of any age group, receiving Ayurveda intervention, regardless of forms, dosages, and ingredients, for not less than one week were included. The data extraction and the risk of bias(RoB) assessment were done by two reviewers independently.ResultsA total of 2824 records were identified, of which 09 randomized parallel arms trials met inclusion criteria. No studies were found comparing Ayurveda versus placebo or non-Ayurveda interventions. Combined Ayurveda therapy (CT) was statistically more beneficial compared with either procedural or non-procedural Ayurveda therapy alone in reducing symptoms nasal discharge (standardized MD −0.71, 95% CI −1.16 to −0.26, I2 58%, 210 participants) and headache (standardized MD −0.44, 95% CI −0.86 to −0.02, I2 56%, 218 participants), however, no significant difference was found in reducing symptoms nasal obstruction and loss of smell. No numerical data related to the safety of Ayurveda intervention was found in included trials. Because, included trials(09) were having ‘high’ to ‘unclear’ overall bias, sub-standard methodology, and heterogeneity in results, the overall findings need to be interpreted cautiously.ConclusionsAlthough individual studies appeared to produce positive results, very low certainty of total effect(downgraded twice for RoB, once for inconsistency, indirectness, and imprecision each) hindered to arrive at any conclusion regarding efficacy or safety of Ayurveda interventions for sinusitis. There is a need for well-designed-executed-reported clinical studies on clinically relevant outcomes.PROSPERO registration numberRD42018103995ARTICLE SUMMARYStrength and limitations of this studyThis is the first systematic review to provide the status of available evidence on the efficacy and safety of Ayurveda interventions for sinusitis.The search strategy was comprehensive, all the relevant sources were searched for published as well as unpublished research works.This systematic review has a broad review question, which compromises its eternal validity.The certainty of the overall effect is ‘very low’ due to ‘unclear’ to ‘high’ overall risk of bias, lack of validated outcome measures, inconsistency in results with wide CIs, small sample sizes, incomplete reporting, etc.

Background Influenza-like Illness (ILI) refers to a wide range of viral infections with an important cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The global incidence of ILI is estimated at 5–10% in adults and 20–30% in children. In India influenza accounts for 20–42% of monthly acute medical illness hospitalizations during the peak rainy season. AYUSH-64, a poly-herbal drug, is in practice for 40 years for various clinical conditions like fevers, microfilaremia, and inflammatory conditions. Objective A pilot study was conducted to evaluate the safety and efficacy of Ayurvedic formulation, AYUSH-64 in clinically diagnosed ILI for accelerating the recovery. Material and Methods A prospective, open-label, nonrandomized, single group, single-center pilot clinical study with pre-test and post-test design was conducted at Raja Ramdeo Anandilal Podar Central Ayurveda Research Institute for Cancer, Mumbai, an institute of Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS) between June 2018 and July 2019. A total of 38 participants of clinically diagnosed ILI (18–65 years) were studied with an one-week intervention of ‘AYUSH 64’ in a dose of 3 gm/day and three weeks post-treatment observation period. Assessment of parameters viz. improvement in the symptoms of ILI, frequency of usage of acetaminophen, antihistaminic and cough syrup, hematology, liver function and kidney function tests along with incidence of secondary complications, and time to return to a normal routine was done. Results One-week intervention of AYUSH 64 helped to recover from ILI symptoms with reduced frequency of usage of acetaminophen and antihistaminic. The intervention was safe on hematology and biochemical parameters. No serious adverse effects were observed during the study. Conclusion AYUSH 64 along-with standard care in ILI is safe and efficacious and this may be used in other viral infections with pyrexia as add-on to standard care for early recovery and better outcome.

We present a new laboratory setup for photoacoustic, transmission ultrasound and reflection ultrasound tomography. The system is based on a pair of independently rotating hemisphere segments on which are mounted acoustic transmitters and detectors. The interchangeability of the elements, as well as the ability to fully customise the acquisition protocol, allows for a considerable amount of flexibility in testing out different imaging approaches in both 2D and 3D. The current focus is the development of laser-induced ultrasound (LIUS) transmitters for use in tomographic imaging. We propose a transmitter design tuned for speed-of-sound mapping with a 1MHz centred response.

In this paper a new power efficient routing algorithm for MANETs with self-organizing and self-routing features is described and its performance analyzed in different simulation scenarios. The algorithm has the logic of a non-cooperative routing algorithm based on the evaluation of a weight parameter, the latter being a function of properties of the MANET nodes related to the nominal available power and the transmission range. A self-estimation of this weight parameter for each node is introduced in the routing process based on the status and functional history of the node. The routing is based on network layering, formation of service areas in each layer and choice of nodes from these areas to have the functionality of default gateways. The proposed algorithm, named service zone gateway prediction (SZGP), is a hybrid type of routing mechanism, incorporating pre-computed multipath hop-by-hop distributed routing, with a periodically updated hierarchical multilayered structure. The results from the simulation experiments show that the performance of the proposed SZGP algorithm in relation to the basic performance parameters such as packet delivery ratio, delay and throughput are similar to those of the well-known AODV algorithm, but in relation to power efficiency the proposed algorithm outperforms AODV significantly. This is due to the fact that such an approach reduces the overall number of broadcasts in the network and ensures a reliable and energy efficient connection by balancing the load among the nodes.

Congenital heart surgery was born in the USA and then spread all over the world in the second half of the twentieth century. The speciality was brought to India by foreign-trained Indian surgeons as well as American and Canadian missionary surgeons. The first generation Indian surgeons were trained in the USA, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. In this article, an attempt is made to explore how the pioneer surgeons established this speciality in India by reviewing the published literature, visiting institutions of historical significance, and also interviewing few surgeons who took the key role in both laying the foundation as well as training the next generation surgeons.

Searchable symmetric encryption (SSE) scheme allows a data owner to perform search queries over encrypted documents using symmetric cryptography. SSE schemes are useful in cloud storage and data outsourcing. Most of the SSE schemes in existing literature have been proved to leak a substantial amount of information that can lead to an inference attack. This paper presents, a novel leakage resilient searchable symmetric encryption with periodic updation (LRSSEPU) scheme that minimizes extra information leakage, and prevents an untrusted cloud server from performing document mapping attack, query recovery attack and other inference attacks. In particular, the size of the keyword vector is fixed and the keywords are periodically permuted and updated to achieve minimum leakage. Furthermore, our proposed LRSSEPU scheme provides authentication of the query messages and restricts an adversary from performing a replay attack, forged query attack and denial of service attack. We employ a combination of identity-based cryptography (IBC) with symmetric key cryptography to reduce the computation cost and communication overhead. Our scheme is lightweight and easy to implement with very little communication overhead.

Resource constrained devices such as sensors and RFIDs are utilized in many application areas to sense, store and transmit the sensitive data. This data must be encrypted to achieve confidentiality. The implementation of traditional public key encryption (PKE) techniques by these devices is always challenging as they possess very limited computational resources. Various encryption schemes based on identity-based encryption (IBE) and certificate-less public key encryption (CL-PKE) have been proposed to overcome limitations of PKI. However, many of these schemes involve the computationally expensive exponentiation and bilinear pairing operations on elliptic curve group to encrypt the messages. In this context, we propose a lightweight optimized CL-PKE scheme in which exponentiation and pairing operations are completely eliminated during encryption and only involves computation of cheaper addition and multiplication operations on elliptic curve. Implementation of the proposed scheme confirms its lightweight nature as compared to original CL-PKE scheme.

For many Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) applications, periodic transmission of beacon messages by a source vehicle is paramount for providing the unhindered service and to maintain its accuracy. A malicious source vehicle could deny beacon messages of a target ITS application and intelligently cover-up this denial with signal loss faced due to wireless channel error and surrounding environment obstacles. In this context, we propose a lightweight technique to detect a beacon denial attacker using Auto-Correlation Function (ACF). This technique possesses higher detection accuracy in comparison to fixed threshold scheme which depends upon the number of beacon messages denied by the source vehicle. Furthermore, we propose a random vehicle inspection scheme for inspecting randomly chosen set of vehicles for beacon denial attack. In addition to reducing computational overhead, the advantage of this scheme is that an attacker with knowledge about detection algorithm cannot decide the time and place of inspection. Simulation results confirm the accurate and lightweight nature of the proposed technique.

Scardovia wiggsiae has recently been identified as a potential pathogen associated with dental caries. The aim of the present study was to detect and quantify S. wiggsiae from dental plaque samples of children suffering from severe early childhood caries and children who were caries free by employing a real time DNA polymerase chain reaction (Real-time PCR) method. Dental plaque samples were collected from children suffering from severe early childhood caries (S-ECC) (n = 30) and caries free children (CF) (n = 30) reporting to the out-patient clinics of the department of paediatric and preventive dentistry. Plaque samples from each group were subjected to real-time PCR, post DNA extraction. Both the groups showed the presence of the organism S. wiggsiae, however there was a significant difference in its quantification between groups, with the median number being 1.49 × 108 cells per ml in caries free samples compared to 1.40 × 109 cells per ml in S-ECC samples. S. wiggsiae were isolated from nearly all samples of children, both caries free and those suffering from S-ECC. However, their numbers differ drastically in both groups with the scales tipping towards the S-ECC group, proving their association with the disease process in a significant manner. The present study shows significant association of S. wiggsiae in severe early childhood caries.

Different applications have come out as in the field of Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) by years of research. At present, Lossy Networks (LLNs) are in the center of area of studies. LLNs are made up of Wireless Personal LANs, low-power Line Communication Networks, and Wireless Sensor Networks. In such LLNs, for sending protected data, routing IPv6 routing protocol is used for minimum-power as well as not reliable networks (RPL) controlled by Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) routing protocol. A route created by rank-based RPL protocol for the sink based in the rank value and link quality of its neighbors. But, it has few site backs for example, high packet loss rates, maximized latency, and very low security. Packet losses as well as latency get maximized as the length of path (in hops) increases as with every hope a wrong parent link is chosen. For increasing the RPL system and to solving issue stated above, a Trust Management System is proposed. Every node is having a trust value. Trust value will increase or decrease depending to behavior of node and trusted path is selected for delivering the data. For increasing energy efficiency, at the time of data transferring “compress then send” method is used, this results in minimum utilization of energy reduced data size. By making use of cryptography, we gained data security which is the key concern. By analyzing the test outcomes conducted on JUNG simulator shows, our proposed system have increased the packet delivery ratio by having trust management system while transferring the data, increases energy efficiency by utilizing the data compression, network security is improved by utilizing encryption decryption method as compared to present system.

The wireless sensor network (WSN) is one of the resource constrained ad-hoc communication networks, having limited resources such as storage space, energy and computational capability. In addition to this it suffers from quick changes in the structure of the wireless link due to variations of the signal strength, interference, and multi-path propagation characteristics. Reliable energy efficient data transmission in WSNs to prolong the network lifetime is an important and challenging issue. In general, there are several approaches like multi-path routing and source coding, automatic repeat request, used for providing reliable data transfer in WSNs. But the overhead and performance of such end-to-end single-path approaches are often dominated by congestion as well as some poor-quality links or nodes on the path. That is, these traditional approaches are not able to quickly and properly react in this multi-hop wireless environment. To cope with the above issues, in this paper we propose an energy efficient reliable data transfer scheme named as "Adaptive Sectoring Scheme for Reliability (ASSR)" for WSNs. In this approach, the given sensor field is divided into sectors activated one at a time by the occurrence of an event. To minimize the congestion as well as to increase the throughput with maximum packet delivery ratio, the sectoring process is adjusted dynamically to ensure reliable data transmission. Simulation experiments show that the proposed scheme leads to an improvement of the reliability and energy consumption.

A mobile ad hoc network (MANET) is dynamic, ad hoc, infrastructure less and self-configurable having autonomous nodes. Route discovery in MANET is dynamic. Security from malicious attacks in MANET is a huge challenge. Topology hiding is a technique to improve MANET security. Topology Hiding hides topology information sent from a network to an untrusted Network. It also restores the topology. One such protocol Topology-Hiding Multipath Routing protocol (THMR) overcomes the threat of topology-exposure. Our proposed Modified THMR (M-THMR) improves upon THMR and works on fault nodes detection and avoidance. The protocol is implemented for performance comparison with THMR protocol. Experimental results show that M-THMR protocol is well performs better in delay, packet delivery and packet loss with low overhead.

Introduction: Capnocytophaga species are recognized as part of human oral microbiota and implicated as periodontal pathogens associated with various periodontal diseases. The three original Capnocytophaga species - Capnocytophaga ochracea, Capnocytophaga sputigena and Capnocytophaga gingivalis were initially isolated from periodontitis in adults, but subsequent studies demonstrated their presence also at periodontally healthy sites in both children and adults. Their association with periodontal disease is a matter of controversy. Considering the differing virulence features of the respective isolate, it is crucial to identify these isolates to species level. Aims: The aim of this study is to investigate the prevalence of Capnocytophaga species by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) through restriction fragment length polymorphism in healthy individuals and patients with periodontal disease. Material and Methods: The study included a total of 300 individuals, 100 each with Gingivitis, Chronic periodontitis, and Healthy individuals. The plaque samples were collected using sterile curette in reduced transport fluid. DNA extraction was carried out for PCR analysis. Results: Of 300 individuals, Capnocytophaga species were identified from 237 (79%) participants in all groups. The prevalence was statistically analyzed using Chi-square test. The prevalence was more in males in gingivitis and healthy individuals (42% and 49% respectively), and females in periodontitis (40%). C. ochracea was observed in a higher proportion (36.33%), followed by C. granulosa (32.66%) and C. gingivalis (10%). They were identified more in the age group of 30–40 years in gingivitis and periodontitis, (30 and 21 individuals, respectively) and 39 individuals in 18–29 years in healthy individuals. They were present in 87% in healthy individuals, 77% in gingivitis and 73% in periodontitis. Conclusion: Capnocytophaga species are commonly present in healthy individuals and may be associated with periodontal disease. There is a need for further study to know the prevalence of other species of Capnocytophaga in health and disease.

Basti is one of the five procedures of panchakarma in Ayurveda. Classically, it is advocated in the diseases of vata . It is mainly of two types viz. asthapana and anuvasana . According to the classical texts basti administration is done with the help of animal bladder ( bastiputaka ) and specially prepared metal/wooden nozzle/catheter ( bastinetra ), the whole assembly is called as bastiyantra . Nowadays, except in some of the Vaidya traditions in Kerala, basti administration is often done using enema-can or douche-set. In the aforesaid classical procedure active pressure is expected to be given on the bastiputaka whereas, in conventionally used enema-can only passive or gravitational force plays a role. This is important in the context of ' basti danakala or pidanakala i.e. time for basti administration'.

Background: Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans (Aa), an important primary periodontal pathogen, is known for its strong virulence characteristics that cause periodontal disease. We investigated Aa occurrence in Indian individuals using culture and 16 s rDNA polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study with 100 participants each in the healthy and chronic periodontitis (CP) groups was conducted. The subgingival plaque was collected and immediately plated on selective media for Aa. The remaining plaque samples were used for DNA extraction. PCR was performed using specific primers for Aa. Statistical Analysis Used: The detection of bacteria and the clinical parameters between the groups were compared using the Mann–Whitney U-test. For assessing the agreement between the results of anaerobic culture and PCR, Kappa analyses were performed. Results: Aa levels using culture and PCR was 51% and 69% in the CP group and 12% and 30% in the healthy group, respectively. The two groups showed significant differences (P < 0.00001). The detection accuracy of culture and PCR was assessed, and the coefficient of accuracy (k) was highly significant in the healthy (0.3103; P < 0.0001) and CP groups (0.1536; P < 0.0497). Conclusions: Aa was predominantly found in the CP group compared with the healthy group, which is consistent with previous findings. Our results showed that both techniques can be used for detecting Aa. An ideal technique for detecting subgingival microorganisms should be carefully selected depending on the scope of the intended future work.

The reason for this review is to introduce a basic diagram of steering convention for low power and lossy system. Additionally talk about the points of interest and impediments of a convention and think about them. Wireless sensor networks are appealing to specialists because of their extensive variety of use potential in ranges, for example, target identification and tracking, environmental monitoring, industrial process monitoring, and strategic frameworks. On the other hand, lower sensing ranges result in dense networks, which bring the need to accomplish a proficient medium access protocol subject to power imperatives. The IPv6 directing convention for low-power and lossy systems (RPL) has been as of late standardized by the Engineering Task Force (IETF) steering convention for low-control and Lossy networks (ROLL) working social event to bolster IPv6 directing for asset compelled contraptions in the present day, home, additionally, metropolitan situations. Regardless, a couple studies have created the impression that RPL may experience low delivery rates, especially in extensive scale organizations. This paper gives an in-depth examination of the protocol attributes and outline decisions that create such lack of quality issues. In proposed work, we perform data compression and trust calculation which will reduce data sending time and also improves lossless data transmission.

Objectives The purpose of this study was to compare color-flow duplex imaging (CFDI), intravascular ultrasound (IVUS), and renal arteriography in diagnosing renal artery (RA) fibromuscular dysplasia (FMD) and correlating with the hemodynamic response to balloon angioplasty (BA) in patients with drug-resistant hypertension. Background Renal arteriography is generally regarded as the gold standard for diagnosing RA FMD. The observation that CFDI and IVUS depicted endoluminal abnormalities suggestive of RA FMD in some patients with normal renal arteriograms prompted comparison of these modalities in a consecutive series of patients. Methods Twenty hypertensive patients with CFDI suggestive of RA FMD (mid-to-distal flow derangement and velocity augmentation) underwent renal arteriography, IVUS, and BA, with both immediate and long-term blood pressure (BP) response assessment. Results All patients were women, aged 31 to 86 years (mean 62 years). On IVUS, various endoluminal defects (eccentric ridges; fluttering membranes; spiraling folds) were depicted at locations predicted by CFDI and were uniformly identified at sites where arteriography depicted classic evidence of FMD (8 patients). However, similar defects were detected by IVUS when angiography was borderline (7 patients) or normal (5 patients). Balloon angioplasty eliminated (16 patients) or reduced (4 patients) the IVUS findings and lowered systolic BP in all (mean reduction 53 mm Hg, p Conclusions Both CFDI and IVUS depict the blood flow and endoluminal abnormalities of RA FMD. Balloon angioplasty eliminates or improves IVUS findings and produces substantial, sustained BP reduction, an effect that is independent of baseline arteriographic appearance, calling into question the legitimacy of arteriography as the diagnostic gold standard.

Background: Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans is a proven periodontal pathogen. In dentistry, there is a need to identify and quantitate the organisms from the diseased sites quickly and reliably. Since culture requires several days, molecular methods are being used frequently to detect A. actinomycetemcomitans. Among them, fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) is rapid, sensitive and quantitative. An attempt is made here to evaluate the applicability of this technique as a diagnostic tool in periodontology. Materials and Methods: A total of 77 healthy individuals and 77 patients with chronic periodontitis were enrolled for the study. Subgingival plaque was collected, fixed with paraformaldehyde and subjected to FISH. Oligonucleotide probe labelled with 6-carboxyfluorescein (FAM) was used for hybridization. After the procedure, the fluorescently stained A. actinomycetemcomitans were identified and counted from the smear and quantitated using a simple grading. Results: The data revealed that plaques from 84.5% of healthy individuals and 98.7% of chronic periodontitis showed the presence of A. actinomycetemcomitans. However, the number of these bacteria were very low in most positive samples from healthy subjects in contrast to patients with chronic periodontitis, who had higher number of organisms. Statistical analysis using Mann–Whitney test revealed a significant difference among the two groups with P ≤ 0.001 and Z = −5.833. Conclusions: The procedure used in the study is simple, rapid and can be easily adaptable. It also has a high sensitivity and has the ability to detect a single bacterial cell. The method can be directly applied to the clinical samples and can be used as a rapid diagnostic tool in periodontics.

The Mobile Ad-hoc Networks (MANET) are suffering from network partitioning when there is group mobility and thus cannot efficiently provide connectivity to all nodes in the network. Autonomous Mobile Mesh Network (AMMNET) is a new class of MANET which will overcome the weakness of MANET, especially from network partitioning. However, AMMNET is vulnerable to routing attacks such as Blackhole attack in which malicious node can make itself as intragroup, intergroup or intergroup bridge router and disrupt the network. In AMMNET, To maintain connectivity, network survivability is an important aspect of reliable communication. Maintaning security is a challenge in the self organising nature of the topology. To address this weakness proposed approach measured the performance of the impact of security enhancement on AMMNET with the basis of bait detection scheme. Modified bait approach that will prevent blackhole node entering into the network and helps to maintain the reliability of the network. The proposed scheme uses the idea of Wumpus World concept from Artificial Intelligence. Modified bait scheme will prevent the blackhole attack and secures network.

Understanding of the mechanisms, outcomes and treatment of non-Q wave myocardial infarction (NQMI) has evolved. Coexisting diabetes poses additional challenges. We studied baseline characteristics, in-hospital and one-year outcomes for NQMI patients having percutaneous transluminal angioplasty.

This article summarizes the results of a one-day seminar on computer crimes and threats for the bank computer personnel in Bombay. Technical and nontechnical aspects of understanding, investigating, and preventing computer crimes were presented by two experts. Results revealed a significant increase in participants awareness about computer crimes and threats. Practical suggestions are offered regarding future implementation.

In order to design an efficient heat exchanger accurately, a better understanding is needed regarding the foulants that are deposited on the heat transfer surfaces of heat exchangers to recover energy from hot flue gases in industrial furnaces. This article briefly describes the design and fabrication of a gas-side fouling measuring device, and its testing in an industrial environment. It describes probe fabrication, instrumentation used for recording the data, field test location, tests performed, and data analysis. The conclusions of the tests performed are summarized. Although fouling deposits on the probe were minimal, the tests proved that the probe is capable of measuring fouling in a harsh industrial environment.

Considerable amount of work is going on regarding the development of high temperature liquid salts technology to meet future process needs of Next Generation Nuclear Plant. This report identifies the important characteristics and concerns of high temperature molten salts (with lesson learned at University of Wisconsin-Madison, Molten Salt Program) and provides some possible recommendation for future work

The genetic defect of coagulation factor V known as factor V Leiden produces a resistance to degradation by activated protein C (APC) and increases the risk of venous thromboembolism. The data on arterial thrombosis associated with APC resistance are still not clearly defined. We conducted a study in patients presenting with acute myocardial infarction (MI) to assess whether factor V Leiden increases the risk of arterial thrombosis. We studied 109 patients who had a diagnosis of acute MI (69 males and 40 females, aged 25–91 years), and 112 controls. The study population was identified by characteristic ECG changes and elevation of serum CK-MB, whereas the control subjects were anonymous healthy blood donors with no known history of coronary artery disease. Blood samples from the patients and controls were analyzed for the factor V Leiden mutation by DNA analysis, using the polymerase chain reaction. Heterozygous factor V Leiden mutation was found in 9 of 109 (8%) MI patients and 5 of 112 (4%) control subjects (P = .42). In conclusion, this study shows no evidence of an association between factor V Leiden and acute MI.

The death certificate is an important medical document that impacts mortality statistics and health care policy. Resident physician accuracy in completing death certificates is poor. We assessed the impact of two educational interventions on the quality of death certificate completion by resident physicians. Two-hundred and nineteen internal medicine residents were asked to complete a cause of death statement using a sample case of in-hospital death. Participants were randomized into one of two educational interventions: either an interactive workshop (group I) or provided with printed instruction material (group II). A total of 200 residents completed the study, with 100 in each group. At baseline, competency in death certificate completion was poor. Only 19% of residents achieved an optimal test score. Sixty percent erroneously identified a cardiac cause of death. The death certificate score improved significantly in both group I (14+/-6 vs 24+/-5, p0.001) and group II (14+/-5 vs 19+/-5, p0.001) postintervention from baseline. Group I had a higher degree of improvement than group II (24+/-5 vs 19+/-5, p0.001). Resident physicians' skills in death certificate completion can be improved with an educational intervention. An interactive workshop is a more effective intervention than a printed handout.

This report summarizes work at the Idaho National Laboratory to develop strategies to enhance air-side heat transfer in geothermal air-cooled condensers such that it should not significantly increase pressure drop and parasitic fan pumping power. The work was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, NEDO (New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization) of Japan, Yokohama National University, and the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, India. A combined experimental and numerical investigation was performed to investigate heat transfer enhancement techniques that may be applicable to largescale air-cooled condensers such as those used in geothermal power applications. A transient heat transfer visualization and measurement technique was employed in order to obtain detailed distributions of local heat transfer coefficients on model fin surfaces. Pressure drop measurements were obtained for a variety of tube and winglet configurations using a single-channel flow apparatus that included four tube rows in a staggered array. Heat transfer and pressure drop measurements were also acquired in a separate multiple-tube row apparatus in the Single Blow Test Facility. In addition, a numerical modeling technique was developed to predict local and average heat transfer for these low-Reynolds number flows, with and without winglets. Representative experimental and numerical results were obtainedmore » that reveal quantitative details of local finsurface heat transfer in the vicinity of a circular tube with a single delta winglet pair downstream of the cylinder. Heat transfer and pressure-drop results were obtained for flow Reynolds numbers based on channel height and mean flow velocity ranging from 700 to 6500. The winglets were of triangular (delta) shape with a 1:2 or 1:3 height/length aspect ratio and a height equal to 90% of the channel height. Overall mean fin-surface heat transfer results indicate a significant level of heat transfer enhancement (in terms of Colburn j-factor) associated with deployment of the winglets with circular as well as oval tubes. In general, toe-in (common flow up) type winglets appear to have better performance than the toe-out (common flow down) type winglets. Comparisons of heat transfer and pressure drop results for the elliptical tube versus a circular tube with and without winglets are provided. During the course of their independent research, all of the researchers have established that about 10 to 30% enhancement in Colburn j-factor is expected. However, actual increase in heat transfer rate from a heat exchanger employing finned tubes with winglets may be smaller, perhaps on the order of 2 to 5%. It is also concluded that for any specific application, more full-size experimentation is needed to optimize the winglet design for a specific heat exchanger application. If in place of a circular tube, an oval tube can be economically used in a bundle, it is expected that the pressure drop across the tube bundle with the application of vortex generators (winglets) will be similar to that in a conventional circular tube bundle. It is hoped that the results of this research will demonstrate the benefits of applying vortex generators (winglets) on the fins to improve the heat transfer from the air-side of the tube bundle.« less

Little comparative data exist for glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors in acute coronary syndromes (ACS). Two hundred twenty-eight patients were studied: 114 received tirofiban (TI) and 114 received abciximab (AB) for either unstable angina (UA) or myocardial infarction (MI). All patients received aspirin, heparin, and ticlopidine or clopidogrel. Baseline characteristics were similar between the 2 groups for admitting diagnosis (UA vs MI), age, gender, ejection fraction, diabetes mellitus, prior coronary artery disease, prior myocardial infarction (MI), prior bypass surgery, hypertension, congestive heart failure, hyperlipidemia, MI type (Q vs non-Q), or location. Drug administration time (mean) was 13 hours (AB) and 24 hours (TI). All AB was administered in the catheterization laboratory as compared to TI (34% in laboratory and 66% before laboratory). More AB patients received angioplasty or stent (92% vs 80%, p = 0.008) while more TI patients had CABG (10% vs 3%, p = 0.027). In-hospital complications including death, MI, urgent revascularization, cerebrovascular accidents or transient ischemic attacks, and access site bleeding were similar (p = NS). Multivariate predictors of events (odds ratios) were prior coronary artery bypass graft (2.3), diabetes (1.7), and prior percutaneous translu minal coronary angioplasty (1.7), but not the agent used. Over a mean follow-up of 13 months, the individual endpoints of death, MI, revascularization, or hospitalization were similar for both groups. The AB patients had improved freedom from revascularization (100% vs 81%, p=0.015) in an emergent setting and TI patients had improved freedom from revascularization (93% vs 77%, p= 0.038) with elective procedures. Tirofiban and abciximab appear effective and safe when used for ACS when recommended dosing and precautions are followed. Major adverse outcomes are rare and bleeding complications uncommon.