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An increasingly multicultural Aotearoa early childhood education (ECE) landscape forms the context for my doctoral study in progress. My research explores the culturally embedded and negotiated environmental identities of a growing number of migrant Indian teachers. This article documents my experiences of confronting and navigating the unexpected while planning and conducting the data collection for my research. The primary challenges were access to participants as well as participant dropouts. I discuss how I mitigated these challenges by employing an alternate sampling method as well as accounting for participant attrition and trustworthiness of data. The modification strategies highlight flexibility and responsiveness as critical research tools. This article has implications for early career researchers intending to plan or begin their research in the light of any future disruptions, such as the current COVID-19 climate.

Background: Toothbrushes that are used regularly can accumulate a high amount of microorganisms, which have the potential to cause infections or reinfections. There is a need for toothbrush disinfection methods which are effective and can be easily implemented. The present study assessed the antimicrobial efficacy of different disinfectants on contaminated toothbrushes in healthy and chronic periodontitis patients. Materials and Methods: Sixty patients were taken who were divided into two Groups A and B: Group A consisted of 30 healthy patients who were further subgrouped as Group A1 (control group), Group A2 (1% sodium hypochlorite), Group A3 (1% vinegar), and Group A4 (ultraviolet [UV] sanitizer) and Group B consisted of 30 patients with mild-to-moderate generalized chronic periodontitis who were further subgrouped as B1, B2, B3, and B4 based on the different disinfection processes. Microbial counts were assessed and compared. A paired sample t-test was used for statistical analysis, and the level of significance was set at P < 0.001. Results: All disinfectants showed a statistically significant reduction in microbial load on contaminated toothbrushes in both the groups (P < 0.001). There was no statistical difference between the efficacies of vinegar and sodium hypochlorite when compared with UV sanitizer in both the groups (P = 0.115 and P = 0.205). Conclusion: The study concluded that UV sanitizer can be used as a preferable toothbrush disinfection method.

Introduction:The study was performed to analyze the effect of Yagya therapy on pulmonary functions among healthy college students.Methods:A total of 40 male participants were randomly selected and divided into two groups, i.e., the experimental group (n = 20) and the control group (n = 20). Participant’s age was ranged between 18 and 30 years (group age mean ± standard deviation = 22.20 ± 2.14 years). The experimental group performed Yagya in two sessions (morning and evening) every day for 34 days. Each session was for 30 min. The outcome measured assessed was (i) forced vital capacity (FVC), (ii) forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1), (iii) peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR), and (iv) maximum voluntary ventilation (MVV) at baseline and post.Results:The paired sample t-test showed that there was a significant increase in FVC, FEV1, and MVV for both experimental group and control group. The magnitude of change in FEV1 and MVV was little higher in the experimental group. The PEFR showed no significant changes in both groups. Independent sample t-test also showed no significant effect in favor of any assessed variables of both groups.Conclusions:The findings of the study indicate that the practice of Yagya shows slight or almost the same effect on pulmonary functions of the experimental as well as in the control groups. Hence, we can conclude that Yagya has no such specific improvement in pulmonary functions compared to usual care. Furthermore, larger-scale and well-designed randomized controlled trials should be highly encouraged to analyze the effect.

Abstract Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes (TILs) have strong prognostic and predictive value in breast cancer, but their visual assessment is subjective. To improve reproducibility, the International Immuno-oncology Working Group recently released recommendations for the computational assessment of TILs that build on visual scoring guidelines. However, existing resources do not adequately address these recommendations due to the lack of annotation datasets that enable joint, panoptic segmentation of tissue regions and cells. Moreover, existing deep-learning methods focus entirely on either tissue segmentation or cell nuclei detection, which complicates the process of TILs assessment by necessitating the use of multiple models and reconciling inconsistent predictions. We introduce PanopTILs, a region and cell-level annotation dataset containing 814,886 nuclei from 151 patients, openly accessible at: sites.google.com/view/panoptils . Using PanopTILs we developed MuTILs, a neural network optimized for assessing TILs in accordance with clinical recommendations. MuTILs is a concept bottleneck model designed to be interpretable and to encourage sensible predictions at multiple resolutions. Using a rigorous internal-external cross-validation procedure, MuTILs achieves an AUROC of 0.93 for lymphocyte detection and a DICE coefficient of 0.81 for tumor-associated stroma segmentation. Our computational score closely matched visual scores from 2 pathologists (Spearman R = 0.58–0.61, p

Abstract Vehicle identification systems are vital components that enable many aspects of contemporary life, such as safety, trade, transit, and law enforcement. They improve community and individual well-being by increasing vehicle management, security, and transparency. These tasks entail locating and extracting license plates from images or video frames using computer vision and machine learning techniques, followed by recognizing the letters or digits on the plates. This paper proposes a new license plate detection and recognition method based on the deep learning YOLO v8 method, image processing techniques, and the OCR technique for text recognition. For this, the first step was the dataset creation, when gathering 270 images from the internet. Afterward, CVAT (Computer Vision Annotation Tool) was used to annotate the dataset, which is an open-source software platform made to make computer vision tasks easier to annotate and label images and videos. Subsequently, the newly released Yolo version, the Yolo v8, has been employed to detect the number plate area in the input image. Subsequently, after extracting the plate the k-means clustering algorithm, the thresholding techniques, and the opening morphological operation were used to enhance the image and make the characters in the license plate clearer before using OCR. The next step in this process is using the OCR technique to extract the characters. Eventually, a text file containing only the character reflecting the vehicle's country is generated. To ameliorate the efficiency of the proposed approach, several metrics were employed, namely precision, recall, F1-Score, and CLA. In addition, a comparison of the proposed method with existing techniques in the literature has been given. The suggested method obtained convincing results in both detection as well as recognition by obtaining an accuracy of 99% in detection and 98% in character recognition.

Abstract Medical image segmentation has made a significant contribution towards delivering affordable healthcare by facilitating the automatic identification of anatomical structures and other regions of interest. Although convolution neural networks have become prominent in the field of medical image segmentation, they suffer from certain limitations. In this study, we present a reliable framework for producing performant outcomes for the segmentation of pathological structures of 2D medical images. Our framework consists of a novel deep learning architecture, called deep multi-level attention dilated residual neural network (MADR-Net), designed to improve the performance of medical image segmentation. MADR-Net uses a U-Net encoder/decoder backbone in combination with multi-level residual blocks and atrous pyramid scene parsing pooling. To improve the segmentation results, channel-spatial attention blocks were added in the skip connection to capture both the global and local features and superseded the bottleneck layer with an ASPP block. Furthermore, we introduce a hybrid loss function that has an excellent convergence property and enhances the performance of the medical image segmentation task. We extensively validated the proposed MADR-Net on four typical yet challenging medical image segmentation tasks: (1) Left ventricle, left atrium, and myocardial wall segmentation from Echocardiogram images in the CAMUS dataset, (2) Skin cancer segmentation from dermoscopy images in ISIC 2017 dataset, (3) Electron microscopy in FIB-SEM dataset, and (4) Fluid attenuated inversion recovery abnormality from MR images in LGG segmentation dataset. The proposed algorithm yielded significant results when compared to state-of-the-art architectures such as U-Net, Residual U-Net, and Attention U-Net. The proposed MADR-Net consistently outperformed the classical U-Net by 5.43%, 3.43%, and 3.92% relative improvement in terms of dice coefficient, respectively, for electron microscopy, dermoscopy, and MRI. The experimental results demonstrate superior performance on single and multi-class datasets and that the proposed MADR-Net can be utilized as a baseline for the assessment of cross-dataset and segmentation tasks.

Abstract Wireless charging of Electric Vehicles (EVs) has been extensively researched in the realm of electric cars, offering a convenient method. Nonetheless, there has been a scarcity of experiments conducted on low-power electric vehicles. To establish a wireless power transfer system for an electric vehicle, optimal power and transmission efficiency necessitate arranging the coils coaxially. In wireless charging systems, coils often experience angular and lateral misalignments. In this paper, a new alignment strategy is introduced to tackle the misalignment problem between the transmitter and receiver coils in the wireless charging of Electric Vehicles (EVs). The study involves the design and analysis of a coil, considering factors such as mutual inductance and efficiency. Wireless coils with angular misalignment are modelled in Ansys Maxwell simulation software. The proposed practical EV system aims to align the coils using angular motion, effectively reducing misalignment during the parking of two-wheelers. This is achieved by tilting the transmitter coil in the desired direction. Furthermore, micro sensing coils are employed to identify misalignment and facilitate automatic alignment. Additionally, adopting a power control technique becomes essential to achieve both constant current (CC) and constant voltage (CV) modes during battery charging. Integrating CC and CV modes is crucial for efficiently charging lithium-ion batteries, ensuring prolonged lifespan and optimal capacity utilization. The developed system can improve the efficiency of the wireless charging system to 90.3% with a 24 V, 16 Ah Lithium Ion Phosphate (LiFePO4) battery at a 160 mm distance between the coils.

Introduction: Primary spinal cord tumors are rare tumors that are usually heterogeneous having variable histopathological subtypes. Rapidly, growing space-occupying lesions in the spinal canal cause severe loss of function. This study aimed to analyze all adult patients diagnosed with primary spinal cord tumors and to describe their location, symptoms, histopathological types, surgical outcome, complications, recurrence in a single institution, and prognostic factors. Materials and Methods: The study was a retrospective study of 178 patients with spinal tumor who underwent surgical intervention at the department of neurosurgery at a tertiary care institute from 2014 to 2021. Patient demographic characteristics, symptoms, radiological features, spinal level of tumor, spinal compartment, preoperative and postoperative McCormick grade, and complications were recorded, and a comparison of outcomes after surgical intervention was done. Results: In our study, 97 patients were males and the rest of the 81 patients were females. The mean age at the time of surgery was 43.5 years. The thoracic region of the spinal canal was the most involved with 67 (37.64%) cases, whereas intradural extramedullary was the most common (65.73%). Schwannoma was the most common histopathological subtype (46.06%). Total excision was achieved in 154 cases. A total of 37 patients were in Grades 4 and 5 of modified McCormick’s grade preoperatively. However, postoperatively, there were only 17 patients in this group. Two patients with cervical intramedullary tumor expired in the postoperative period. Conclusion: Early surgical intervention with sound microneurosurgical skills gives good outcomes independent of the type and location of tumor. Better outcomes are seen in extradural tumors, early surgical intervention, tumors better amenable to total resection, and in patients with better preoperative neurological status.

Background and Aims: The quality of recovery (QoR)-40 score has been used worldwide and validated in many surgical cohorts to assess global patient recovery. We aim to translate and culturally adapt the QoR-40 score into Hindi and test the validity and reliability of the translated version in patients undergoing cancer surgery. Methods: The translation of the QoR-40 questionnaire was based on the forward and backward translation methods. Patients filled out the translated version of the QoR-40 preoperatively, on the third postoperative day in the morning (POD3) and the evening. The reliability of the translated questionnaire was checked for internal consistency, test-retest reliability and split-half reliability. Construct validity was assessed with a correlation coefficient value between the total QoR-40 score, visual analogue scale (VAS) for pain and total length of hospital stay. Content validity was evaluated for feasibility and understanding. Results: The questionnaire was completed by 350 patients. The correlation coefficient r for repeatability was 0.21, the split-half test was 0.92, and Cronbach’s alpha was 0.82. The correlation between QoR-40 on POD3 with VAS score and length of stay was -0.35 and -0.67, respectively. The average time to complete the questionnaire was 3.8 minutes; 90% of the respondents found the translated questionnaire easy to understand, and 92% of the patients related the questions to their recovery. Conclusion: The Hindi translation of the QoR-40 questionnaire is a valid and reliable version of the original questionnaire in English to assess the QoR in Hindi-speaking patients after cancer surgery.

Abstract Background Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) progression is often influenced by biomechanical factors. Biomechanical interventions, such as Trunk stabilization exercise (TSE) and Mulligan joint mobilization (MWM), may offer relief from KOA symptoms and potentially slow disease progression. However, the comparative efficacy of these therapies remains uncertain. This study aimed to compare the efficacy of TSE, Mulligan joint mobilization, and isometric knee strengthening (KSE) on disability, pain severity, and aerobic exercise capacity in patients with KOA. Methodology A randomized controlled trial (RCT) with three intervention groups was conducted between September 2020 to February 2021. The study enrolled adults aged between 40 and 60 years with a confirmed KOA diagnosis recruited from the physical therapy clinic of the Sindh Institute of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Pakistan. Participants were randomly assigned to receive 24 sessions of either TSE, MWM, or KSE. The knee’s functionality was assessed using the Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS), pain on a visual analogue scale (VAS), and two objective functional tests—the 6-minute walk test (6MWT) and the 11-stair climb test (SCT). These assessments were conducted at baseline, the third week, and the sixth week. Changes in outcome measures were analyzed using a mixed-design ANOVA with Bonferroni post-hoc analysis, with statistical significance set at a p-value

Manisha Khandelwal,1 Sunita Choudhary,2 Harish,2 Ashok Kumawat,3 Kamakhya Prakash Misra,3 Yogeshwari Vyas,1 Bhavya Singh,4 Devendra Singh Rathore,4 Kanchan Soni,3 Ashima Bagaria,3 Rama Kanwar Khangarot1 1Department of Chemistry, University College of Science, Mohanlal Sukhadia University, Udaipur, Rajasthan, 313001, India; 2Department of Botany, University College of Science, Mohanlal Sukhadia University, Udaipur, Rajasthan, 313001, India; 3Department of Physics, School of Basic Sciences, Manipal University Jaipur, Jaipur, Rajasthan, 303007, India; 4Department of Environmental Sciences, Mohanlal Sukhadia University, Udaipur, Rajasthan, 313001, IndiaCorrespondence: Rama Kanwar Khangarot, Department of Chemistry, University College of Science, Mohanlal Sukhadia University, Udaipur, Rajasthan, 313001, India, Email ramakanwar@mlsu.ac.inBackground: In the current scenario, the synthesis of nanoparticles (NPs) using environmentally benign methods has gained significant attention due to their facile processes, cost-effectiveness, and eco-friendly nature.Methods: In the present study, copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO NPs) were synthesized using aqueous extract of Coelastrella terrestris algae as a reducing, stabilizing, and capping agent. The synthesized CuO NPs were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), dynamic light scattering (DLS), and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) coupled with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS).Results: XRD investigation revealed that the biosynthesized CuO NPs were nanocrystalline with high-phase purity and size in the range of 4.26 nm to 28.51 nm. FTIR spectra confirmed the existence of secondary metabolites on the surface of the synthesized CuO NPs, with characteristic Cu–O vibrations being identified around 600 cm− 1, 496 cm− 1, and 440 cm− 1. The FE-SEM images predicted that the enhancement of the algal extract amount converted the flattened rice-like structures of CuO NPs into flower petal-like structures. Furthermore, the degradation ability of biosynthesized CuO NPs was investigated against Amido black 10B (AB10B) dye. The results displayed that the optimal degradation efficacy of AB10B dye was 94.19%, obtained at 6 pH, 50 ppm concentration of dye, and 0.05 g dosage of CuO NPs in 90 min with a pseudo-first-order rate constant of 0.0296 min− 1. The CuO-1 NPs synthesized through algae exhibited notable antibacterial efficacy against S. aureus with a zone of inhibition (ZOI) of 22 mm and against P. aeruginosa with a ZOI of 17 mm.Conclusion: Based on the findings of this study, it can be concluded that utilizing Coelastrella terrestris algae for the synthesis of CuO NPs presents a promising solution for addressing environmental contamination. Keywords: green synthesis, CuO NPs, photocatalysis, antibacterial activity, wastewater treatment

Abstract Background District Residency Programme (DRP) was introduced by National Medical Commission as mandatory three-months training program for postgraduate residents. The program was for the first time implemented in April 2023 in Rajasthan. However, it ran into several teething problems, especially for residents. With a lack of any precedence, this study was planned to explore experiences and challenges of residents posted in DRP. Methods Cross-sectional study was conducted at 12 DRP sites attached to SMS Medical College, Jaipur between August-October 2023. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect information from residents who had completed DRP. Questions were scored on a five-point Likert scale. Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal-Wallis H test was used to show association. Results Only around 17% residents felt that the learning objectives of DRP were fulfilled and nearly 60% residents felt isolated from academic activities and parent department. Over half of the residents were never posted with their concerned specialty services. Around four-fifth residents felt concerned about safety at least sometimes and more than three-fourth residents were dissatisfied with basic amenities. Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests showed significant association of gender and specialisation strata with multiple outcome variables. Conclusion The study finds high degree of dissatisfaction among residents towards learning objectives, academic learning, and basic amenities during DRP. There was also a clear lack of specialty-exposure and high concerns of safety, especially for female residents. The study findings should alarm and inform policymakers and administrators to improve DRP implementation so as to better achieve laid objectives.

Titanium is widely acknowledged as a challenging metal due to its inherent characteristics. Manufacturers often encounter challenges such as tool wear, reduced tool lifecycle, and increased cutting heat when working with Ti64. This research investigates the cutting characteristics of additively manufactured (AMed) Ti64 under dry cutting, Minimum Quantity Lubrication (MQL), Cryogenic Carbon dioxide (CO2), and a hybrid approach combining MQL and CO2 conditions. Surface roughness, flank wear, temperature, chip morphology, and microhardness were analyzed to assess the impact of cooling strategies. Results indicate that the hybrid approach outperforms individual methods, showing superior surface finish and reduced tool wear. Machined Surface roughness (Ra) measurements reveal a substantial improvement in the hybrid condition, reducing Ra values by 62.44–67.02%, 35.65–41.38%, and 18.68–27.59% compared to dry, MQL, and CO2. Tool wear assessments exhibit significantly lower flank wear values in the hybrid condition, emphasizing the synergistic benefits of lubrication and cryogenic cooling. This research provides valuable insights into tailoring cooling strategies for optimal precision in machining AMed-Ti64 material, which is crucial for achieving high-quality manufacturing outcomes.

Concept of Mission Command is not new, however, dynamics of present and requirements of future battle fields have further enhanced the relevance and importance of its right adaptation and execution. With mixed results of low intensity battles and stabilizing operations as a result of Armed conflicts during last two decades or so, this paper explores aspects in addition to the debate of mere centralized and decentralized control normally linked with Mission Command concept. Previous researches have correctly identified training aspects required in a Military set up during peace time to bleed less during operations under Mission Command environment. This paper inquires whether we are ready to accept our vulnerabilities and preparing towards a directional training while keeping in view various myths as a case in point. Through results of recent conflicts and experience of officers involved in such operations, this paper identifies a gap in previous researches pertaining to importance of International Relations knowledge and aspects of Psychological domain for officers, especially during low intensity battles and stabilizing operations in the twenty first century Battlefield environment. This paper concludes by identifying that transformation of Commanders at Strategic, Operational and Tactical level coupled with threat spectrum at Strategic/ Operational level if identified correctly will have a trickle down effect for Tactical level commanders being good students of International Relations. This will increase the Morale and Motivation level of subordinates enabling them to assess Political sensitivities, understand and address the complexities involved in low intensity and stabilizing operations and value the conflict in today’s environment of continous chaos.

Abstract Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a metastatic disease and a formidable treatment challenge as it does not respond to existing therapies. Epigenetic regulators play a crucial role in the progression and metastasis by modulating the expression of anti-apoptotic, pro-apoptotic markers and related miRNAs in TNBC cells. We have investigated the anti-TNBC potential of dietary flavonoid ‘Apigenin’ and its combination with Vorinostat on MDA-MB-231 cells. At Apigenin generated ROS, inhibited cell migration, arrested the cell cycle at subG0/G1 phases, and induced apoptotic-mediated cell death. Apigenin reduced the expression of the class-I HDACs at the transcriptomic and proteomic levels. In the immunoblotting study, Apigenin has upregulated pro-apoptotic markers and downregulated anti-apoptotic proteins. Apigenin inhibited the enzymatic activity of HDAC/DNMT and increased HAT activity. Apigenin has manifested its effect on miRNA expression by upregulating the tumor-suppressor miR-200b and downregulation oncomiR-21. Combination study reduced the growth of TNBC cells synergistically by modulating the expression of epigenetic and apoptotic regulators. Molecular docking and MD simulations explored the mechanism of catalytic inhibition of HDAC1 and HDAC3 and supported the in-vitro studies. The overall studies demonstrated an anti-TNBC potential of Apigenin and may help to design an effective strategy to treat metastatic phenotype of TNBC.

Abstract Rapid placement of electric vehicle charging stations (EVCSs) is essential for the transportation industry in response to the growing electric vehicle (EV) fleet. The widespread usage of EVs is an essential strategy for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from traditional vehicles. The focus of this study is the challenge of smoothly integrating Plug-in EV Charging Stations (PEVCS) into distribution networks, especially when distributed photovoltaic (PV) systems are involved. A hybrid Genetic Algorithm and Simulated Annealing method (GA-SAA) are used in the research to strategically find the optimal locations for PEVCS in order to overcome this integration difficulty. This paper investigates PV system situations, presenting the problem as a multicriteria task with two primary objectives: reducing power losses and maintaining acceptable voltage levels. By optimizing the placement of EVCS and balancing their integration with distributed generation, this approach enhances the sustainability and reliability of distribution networks.