Monitoring and control of particulate matter in indoor air: A review

The review discusses the sources and concentrations of particulate matter in different microenvironments, their effect on human health, monitoring and their possible control measures particularly in office and residential buildings. Effect of various ventilation strategies on particulate concentration in air has been discussed. The calculations suggest that if the outdoor particle concentration is not more than 5-10 times the indoor particle generation rate, ventilation could be a very effective tool to control the indoor particle concentration. For coarse particles the choice of ventilation strategy is not very crucial, but for fine particulate slow rate of ventilation is more effective

Effect of elevated CO2 and temperature on growth parameters of pea (Pisum sativum L.) crop

Global warming is predicted to have negative effect on plant growth due to the damaging effect of high temperature on plant development. The field experiment was conducted during 2014-15 to study effect of elevated CO2 and temperature on growth parameters of pea (Pisum sativum L.) crop in order to check the effect of climatechange on vegetable crops. Effect was studied under four conditions i.e. Open Top Chambers, T1: OTC - elevated CO2550±10 ppm; T2: OTC -elevated CO2 550±10 ppm and temperature 1°C; T3: OTC - ambient CO2 and temperature (reference) and T4: natural condition. Maximum plant height at 50 % flowering was recorded in T1 (84.29cm) at elevated CO2 which differed significantly with T2 (79.47cm) at elevated CO2 and temperature, T3 (73.60cm) at ambient CO2 and temperature and natural condition (70.73cm). Minimum days to 50 per cent flowering were recorded in plants growing under T2 (68.56 days). Maximum pollen viability was recorded in T1 (77.42%) followed by T3 (76.36%), T4 (74.65%) and T2 (69.97%). Internode length of plants grown under T1 was maximum (7.01cm) followed by T2 (6.68cm), T3 (6.00cm) and T4 (5.05cm). Elevated temperature and CO2 had significant effects on growth and development in vegetables. Overall, growth parameters of pea crop were affected positively by elevated CO2 whereas under interaction effect of elevated CO2 and temperature these positive effects of CO2 were offset by elevated temperature effect and hampered the growth of pea crop which interns can affect the yield and quality of crop under changing climate scenario

Neural Network Based Epileptic EEG Detection and Classification

Timely diagnosis is important for saving the life of epileptic patients. In past few years, a lot of treatment are available for epilepsy. These treatments involve use of medicines. But these are not effective in controlling frequency of seizure. There is need of removal of affected region using surgery. Electroencephalogram (EEG) is a widely used technique for monitoring the brain activity and widely popular for seizure region detection. It is used before surgery for locating affected region. This manual process using EEG graphs is time consuming and requires deep expertise. In the present paper, a model has been proposed that preserves the true nature of EEG signal in form of textual one dimensional vector. The proposed model achieves a state of art performance for Bonn University dataset giving an average sensitivity, specificity of 81% and 81.4% respectively for classification among all five classes. Also for binary classification achieving 99.9%, 99.5% score value for specificity and sensitivity instead of 2D models used by other researchers. Thus developed system will significantly help neurosurgeons in increasing their performance

Study of intrauterine fetal death cases in a tertiary care center

Background: The death of a fetus is a tragic event not only for the parents but also a great cause of stress for the caregiver. It is thus vital to identify specific probable causes of fetal death to determine the risk of recurrence, prevention or corrective action.Methods: This retrospective observational study was carried out in department of obstetrics and gynaecology, Jhalawar Medical College, Jhalawar, from July 2019 to October 2019. Intrauterine fetal death was confirmed either with ultrasound or on clinical examination. The details of complaints, obstetrics history, examination findings, mode of delivery, fetal outcomes and investigation reports were recorded.Results: A total of 114 intrauterine fetal deaths were reported amongst 2982 deliveries conducted during the study period. The incidence rate of IUFD was 38.22/1000 live births. 85.96% deliveries were unbooked. 59.64% belonged to rural population. 59.64% fetal deaths occurred in women between 20 to 25 years of age. 45.61% women were primigravida. 41.2% IUFD occurred between 26 to 31 weeks of gestation. Among the identifiable cause’s hypertensive disorders (23.68) and placental causes (19.29%) were most common.Conclusions: Unexplained causes, PIH and abruptio placentae were major causes of IUFD. Majority of fetal wastage can be prevented with universal and improved antenatal care

Onset of deformation at N=112N = 112 in Bi nuclei

The high spin states in $^{195}$Bi has been studied by $\gamma$-ray spectroscopic method using the $^{181}$Ta($^{20}$Ne, 6n) fusion evaporation reaction at 130 MeV. The $\gamma\gamma$ coincidence data were taken using an array of 8 clover HPGe detectors. The spin and parity assignments of the excited states have been made from the measured directional correlation from oriented states (DCO) ratios and integrated polarization asymmetry (IPDCO) ratios. The results show, for the first time, the evidence of a rotational like band based on a 13/2$^+$ band head in this nucleus, indicating the onset of deformation at neutron number $N = 112$ for the Bismuth isotopes. The results obtained were found to be consistent with the prediction of the total Routhian surface calculations using Woods Saxon potential. The same calculations also predict a change in shape from oblate to triaxial in $^{195}$Bi at high rotational frequency

Lomiphene citrate versus letrozole as first line ovulation induction drug in infertile anovulatory polycystic ovarian syndrome women: a prospective randomized controlled trial

Background: The present study was design to compare letrozole (5 mg) and clomiphene citrate (100 mg) as first line ovulation induction drug in infertile anovulatory polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) women.Methods: This prospective randomized clinical trial included 60 cases of PCOS with anovulatory infertility. The first group comprised of 30 patients who received 5 mg letrozole daily and the second group received 100 mg clomiphene citrate daily for 5 days starting on day 2-5 of menses. Both the groups were followed by ultrasound for follicle monitoring, ovulation and endometrial thickness. When dominant follicle reaches a diameter of more than or equal to 18mm and endometrial thickness ≥7.5 mm, human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) 5,000 IU was given intramuscularly and timed intercourse was advised. Main outcome measures were occurrence of ovulation, endometrial thickness and pregnancy rates.Results: The mean age, body mass index, and number of cases of primary and secondary infertility in both the groups showed no statistically significant difference. Multi-follicular development during induction was statistically significantly greater in the clomiphene group (1.27±1.11 versus 2.03±1.65; p=0.041). Ovulation occurred in 24 subjects (80%) in letrozole group and 18 subjects (60%) in the clomiphene group, with a statistically significant difference between the two groups (p=0.024). Pregnancy occurred in 16 subjects (53.33%) in letrozole group and 7 subjects (23.33%) in clomiphene group, which shows statistically significant difference between the two groups (p=0.048).Conclusions: Though number of developing follicles was found statistically significant with clomiphene citrate but ovulation rate and pregnancy rate were higher with letrozole group. Therefore, letrozole is a safe and better alternative for ovulation induction in patients of anovulatory PCOS, and it may be considered as a first line treatment for ovulation induction in these patients.