Isotopomer fractionation in the UV photolysis of N_2O: 2. Further comparison of theory and experiment

Wavelength-dependent fractionation of various isotopomers in the photodissociation of N_2O is studied. The absorption cross sections are calculated by a time-independent reflection principle, related to the Prakash et al. (2005) treatment but now with an inclusion of the NN stretching coordinate and both the 2A′ and 1A″ electronic excited states. The added 1A″ state is found to have little effect on both the absorption cross section and the fractionation. The improvements include more physical details in the photodissociation of N_2O, while maintaining an advantage of a treatment in the work by Prakash et al. (2005) that was not computationally intensive. The present calculated fractionation, without a significant adjustable parameter, gives good agreement with experiments in the absorption cross section in the low-energy region, the important region for the experimentally observed isotopic fractionation

Front End Development and System Test Case Generation for Collaborative Invention Mining

System testing plays a vital role to ensure software quality assurance and software quality control. It is possible to minimize the development time by parallely executing the software development process as well as testing process. In a typical Software development methodology, almost 60% of development effort is spent in testing phase itself so as to increase the reliability of the product. The UML is a design model which can describe the dynamic behavior of a system. So, it can be considered as a tool for testing as it behaves as a simulation model. The activity diagram represents the system as a whole. Hence, it has become convenient to consider activity diagram for system testing. We have designed the front end components of the application by using Adobe Flex 3.0 technology. To design this, we have followed the business requirement documents. Here, we have considered the UML activity diagram of Collaborative Invention Mining (CIM) to generate the system test cases from it. Initially we have taken the activity diagram as input and applied an algorithm called Activity Path Traversal (APT) to generate the test paths from it. The finally we take the generated test paths as input and applied an algorithm called Test Path Traversal (TPT) to generate the system test cases from it. We have also used an tool called GraViz Editor to validate the intermediate paths generated from the first algorithm. Finally, we have compared the generated system test cases with the system test cases designed by the test team of the Industry leading to an optimized set of system test cases

EFFECT OF PRE- DRYING AND FRYING KINETICS OF SWEET POTATO (IPOMOEA BATATAS L.) CHIPS

Experiments were conducted at different drying temperature (40, 60 and 800C) and frying time (60, 120, 180, 240 and 300 Second). MINITAB statistical software was used to study the statistical analysis of independent and dependent variables in terms of ANOVA. Page’s model is showing best model with high coefficient of regression (r2) 0.9980, 0.9994 and 0.9980 than Exponential models, (r2) 0.9948, 0.9988 and 0.9950 for 20 mm thick slice at a temperature 40, 60 and 80ºC respectively. Oil content of 20 and 30 mm thick sweet potato chips were reported, 68.1 and 68.7% for fresh sample and after drying up to 5% moisture (db), oil content reduced up to 11.4 and 13.2 % respectively. Optimum quality of Sweet potato chips (Moisture content 1.25 % db, 39.1 % oil content and hardness 5.02 N) were obtained at fried temperature of 170ºC for 180 seconds and the sensory ratings were observed as Ra =5.8, Rh = 6.4, Rm = 6.1, Ro = 6.8. For colour of fried chips, moisture content and drying time have significant effect (p<0.05) and Pre-drying temperature was non-significant (p>0.05) for hardness of chips. The chips dried to lower moisture content had more hardness. Based on sensory rating chips dried at 200% db at a temperature of 60ºC and fried at 170ºC for 180 s resulted best quality of chips

Effectiveness of the flipped classroom versus the traditional teaching method in enhancing learning among undergraduate medical students

Background: The flipped classroom is a form of interactive teaching strategy in which traditional learning is reversed by delivering core content outside the classroom and moving activities into the classroom. This study aimed to determine the effectiveness and medical students’ perception of flipped classroom. Methods: This quasi-experimental study included 100 first-year medical students who were divided into four groups (A, B, C, D), with 25 students in each group.  Groups A and C received didactic lectures, while groups B and D participated in flipped classroom. Thereafter, there was a crossover for ethical purposes. All students took multiple-choice pre-tests and post-tests, and there was also a retention test two weeks after the flipped classroom sessions. Students were further divided based on their pre-test scores into two categories: the <50% and the ≥50% category. Wilcoxon and Mann-Whitney tests were used to analyse the data for statistical significance. Student perceptions were collected by Google questionnaire. Results: The result showed a significant improvement in the post-test marks for both the teaching learning methods. However, the flipped classroom groups outperformed the didactic groups, with mean post-test scores of 82.2 (10.8) and 84.2 (10.3) for the <50% and ≥50% groups, respectively, compared to 63.2 (9.4) and 72.4 (14.9) for the traditional groups, with a P <0.001. Knowledge retention was also notably better in the flipped classroom groups. The students\u27 feedback supported flipped classroom method. Conclusion: The flipped classroom boosts students’ performance and encourages active participation and higher order thinking in them. It can be adopted to make the MBBS students self-directed and lifelong learners

Sternalis Muscle: An Unexpected Finding during Mastectomy

Sternalis muscle also called rectus sternalis, rectus thoracis, or episternalis is an anomalous muscle of the anterior chest wall with unknown anatomical function. It is regularly observed in lower animal but infrequently in humans. Presence of this muscle can create confusion with tumours of the anterior chest wall during routine mammography. Although less is known about its origin and innervations, knowledge about this muscle can have many clinical implications. A case of unilateral sternalis muscle detected during mastectomy, in a female with carcinoma of the right breast, is being reported with a brief review of the literature and highlighting its clinical significance

Isotopomer fractionation in the UV photolysis of N_2O: Comparison of theory and experiment

In the photodissociation of N_2O, absorption cross sections differ with isotopic substitution, leading to a wavelength-dependent fractionation of the various isotopomers. Several models ranging from shifts by zero-point energy differences to propagation of wave packets on the excited electronic state potential energy surface have been proposed to explain the observed fractionations. We present time-independent fractionation calculations for the isotopomers 447, 448, 456, 546, and 556. Besides largely agreeing with the experimental data, these calculations have the advantage of not being computationally intensive, as well as satisfying the physical facts that the asymmetric stretch and the doubly degenerate bending vibration are the principal Franck-Condon active modes in the photodissociation. The latter is reflected in the actual dissociation and in the high rotational excitation and lack of vibrational excitation of the N_2 product. The calculations are based on a multidimensional reflection principle using an ab initio potential energy surface. The theory for the absorption cross section and isotopomer fractionation accompanying photodissociation is described. The absolute value of the theoretically calculated absorption cross section is very close (90%) to the experimentally observed value. The present computations also provide data for the slope of a three-isotope plot of the fractionation of 447/446 relative to 448/446, using the fractionations at different wavelengths. The resulting slope is compared with a perturbation theoretical expression for direct photodissociation given elsewhere

Modelling a pandemic with asymptomatic patients, impact of lockdown and herd immunity, with applications to SARS-CoV-2

The SARS-CoV-2 is a type of coronavirus that has caused the pandemic known as the Coronavirus Disease of 2019, or COVID-19. In traditional epidemiological models such as SEIR (Susceptible, Exposed, Infected, Removed), the exposed group E does not infect the susceptible group S. A distinguishing feature of COVID-19 is that, unlike with previous viral diseases, there is a distinct “asymptomatic” group A, which does not show any symptoms, but can nevertheless infect others, at the same rate as infected symptomatic patients. This situation is captured in a model known as SAIR (Susceptible, Asymptomatic, Infected, Removed), introduced in Robinson and Stillianakis (2013). The dynamical behavior of the SAIR model is quite different from that of the SEIR model. In this paper, we use Lyapunov theory to establish the global asymptotic stabililty of the SAIR model, both without and with vital dynamics. Then we develop compartmental SAIR models to cater to the migration of population across geographic regions, and once again establish global asymptotic stability. Next, we go beyond long-term asymptotic analysis and present methods for estimating the parameters in the SAIR model. We apply these estimation methods to data from several countries including India, and demonstrate that the predicted trajectories of the disease closely match actual data. We show that “herd immunity” (defined as the time when the number of infected persons is maximum) can be achieved when the total of infected, symptomatic and asymptomatic persons is as low as 25% of the population. Previous estimates are typically 50% or higher. We also conclude that “lockdown” as a way of greatly reducing inter-personal contact has been very effective in checking the progress of the disease. © 2020 The Author(s

Modelling the COVID-19 Pandemic: Asymptomatic Patients, Lockdown and Herd Immunity

The SARS-Cov-2 is a type of coronavirus that has caused the COVID-19 pandemic. In traditional epidemiological models such as SEIR (Susceptible, Exposed, Infected, Removed), the exposed group E does not infect the susceptible group S. A distinguishing feature of COVID-19 is that, unlike with previous viruses, there is a distinct "asymptomatic"group A, who do not show any symptoms, but can nevertheless infect others, at the same rate as infected patients. This situation is captured in a model known as SAIR (Susceptible, Asymptomatic, Infected, Removed), introduced in Robinson and Stilianakis (2013). The dynamical behavior of the SAIR model is quite different from that of the SEIR model. In this paper, we use Lyapunov theory to establish the global asymptotic stabiilty of the SAIR model. Next, we present methods for estimating the parameters in the SAIR model. We apply these estimation methods to data from several countries including India, and show that the predicted trajectories of the disease closely match actual data. ©2020 The Authors.This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license

Torsion of a Large Appendix Testis Misdiagnosed as Pyocele

Torsion of the appendix testis is not an uncommon cause of acute hemiscrotum. It is frequently misdiagnosed as acute epididymitis, orchitis, or torsion of testis. Though conservative management is the treatment of choice for this condition, prompt surgical intervention is warranted when testicular torsion is suspected. We report a case of torsion of a large appendix testis misdiagnosed as pyocele. Emergency exploration of it revealed a large appendix testis with torsion and early features of gangrene. After excision of the appendix testis, the wound was closed with an open drain. The patient had an uneventful and smooth postoperative recovery