On the accuracy of PLIF measurements in slender plumes

The purpose of this article was to assess the measurement uncertainty of the planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) method and, as much as possible, to devise corrections for predictable biases. More specifically, we considered the measurement of concentration maps in cross sections parallel to and normal to the axis of a slender plume containing Rhodamine 6G as a passive scalar tracer and transported by a turbulent shear flow. In addition to previously examined sources of error related to PLIF, we also investigated several unexplored ones. First, we demonstrated that errors would arise if the laser sheet thickness was comparable to or larger than the thickness of the instantaneous plume. We then investigated the effect of secondary fluorescence, which was attributed to absorption and re-emission of primary fluorescence by dye both within and outside the laser sheet. We found that, if uncorrected, this effect would contaminate the calibration as well as the instantaneous concentration measurements of the plume, and proposed methods for the correction of these errors and for identifying the instantaneous boundaries of the in-sheet dye regions

Genome-wide signatures of convergent evolution in echolocating mammals

Evolution is typically thought to proceed through divergence of genes, proteins, and ultimately phenotypes(1-3). However, similar traits might also evolve convergently in unrelated taxa due to similar selection pressures(4,5). Adaptive phenotypic convergence is widespread in nature, and recent results from a handful of genes have suggested that this phenomenon is powerful enough to also drive recurrent evolution at the sequence level(6-9). Where homoplasious substitutions do occur these have long been considered the result of neutral processes. However, recent studies have demonstrated that adaptive convergent sequence evolution can be detected in vertebrates using statistical methods that model parallel evolution(9,10) although the extent to which sequence convergence between genera occurs across genomes is unknown. Here we analyse genomic sequence data in mammals that have independently evolved echolocation and show for the first time that convergence is not a rare process restricted to a handful of loci but is instead widespread, continuously distributed and commonly driven by natural selection acting on a small number of sites per locus. Systematic analyses of convergent sequence evolution in 805,053 amino acids within 2,326 orthologous coding gene sequences compared across 22 mammals (including four new bat genomes) revealed signatures consistent with convergence in nearly 200 loci. Strong and significant support for convergence among bats and the dolphin was seen in numerous genes linked to hearing or deafness, consistent with an involvement in echolocation. Surprisingly we also found convergence in many genes linked to vision: the convergent signal of many sensory genes was robustly correlated with the strength of natural selection. This first attempt to detect genome-wide convergent sequence evolution across divergent taxa reveals the phenomenon to be much more pervasive than previously recognised

Assessment of Menopausal Symptoms During Perimenopause and Postmenopause in Tertiary Care Hospital

Background: Issues related to menopausal symptoms are very complicated in terms of experience, severity, and dynamics of the symptoms. Studies have shown that these symptoms vary among individuals depending on the menopausal stage, ethnicity, geographical location, and other factors. Menopause Rating Scale (MRS) is an effective tool to assess the severity of these symptoms. Aim: This study was done to compare the frequency and severity of menopausal symptoms during peri‑ and postmenopause using the MRS. Subjects and Methods: Ninety‑two perimenopausal women and 95 postmenopausal women who attended Gynecology out patient department ( OPD) for treatment of menopausal complaints were assessed using the MRS questionnaire before starting therapy. Informed consent and ethics committee clearance was obtained prior to the study. Response was recorded and statistical analysis was done using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 17.0 (SPSS Inc, Chicago, IL, USA). Result: The mean total MRS score was comparable in both the groups. The mean psychological score was significantly higher in perimenopausal group in comparison to postmenopausal group (P<0.01). The mean urogenital score was higher in postmenopausal women (P < 0.001). Conclusion: Fatigue, depression, anxiety, hot flashes, and sexual disturbances were the common symptoms that appeared first during the perimenopausal phase. As the age advanced and women progressed in the postmenopausal stage, the psychological symptoms of depression, irritability, and sleep disturbances decreased; while the urogenital symptoms, fatigue, and generalized body ache became more prominent.Keywords: Africa, menopause, menopause rating scale, perimenopause, postmenopause, severity of menopausal symptom

Toward optimal implementation of cancer prevention and control programs in public health: A study protocol on mis-implementation

Abstract Background Much of the cancer burden in the USA is preventable, through application of existing knowledge. State-level funders and public health practitioners are in ideal positions to affect programs and policies related to cancer control. Mis-implementation refers to ending effective programs and policies prematurely or continuing ineffective ones. Greater attention to mis-implementation should lead to use of effective interventions and more efficient expenditure of resources, which in the long term, will lead to more positive cancer outcomes. Methods This is a three-phase study that takes a comprehensive approach, leading to the elucidation of tactics for addressing mis-implementation. Phase 1: We assess the extent to which mis-implementation is occurring among state cancer control programs in public health. This initial phase will involve a survey of 800 practitioners representing all states. The programs represented will span the full continuum of cancer control, from primary prevention to survivorship. Phase 2: Using data from phase 1 to identify organizations in which mis-implementation is particularly high or low, the team will conduct eight comparative case studies to get a richer understanding of mis-implementation and to understand contextual differences. These case studies will highlight lessons learned about mis-implementation and identify hypothesized drivers. Phase 3: Agent-based modeling will be used to identify dynamic interactions between individual capacity, organizational capacity, use of evidence, funding, and external factors driving mis-implementation. The team will then translate and disseminate findings from phases 1 to 3 to practitioners and practice-related stakeholders to support the reduction of mis-implementation. Discussion This study is innovative and significant because it will (1) be the first to refine and further develop reliable and valid measures of mis-implementation of public health programs; (2) bring together a strong, transdisciplinary team with significant expertise in practice-based research; (3) use agent-based modeling to address cancer control implementation; and (4) use a participatory, evidence-based, stakeholder-driven approach that will identify key leverage points for addressing mis-implementation among state public health programs. This research is expected to provide replicable computational simulation models that can identify leverage points and public health system dynamics to reduce mis-implementation in cancer control and may be of interest to other health areas

Role of Antioxidants in Male Reproduction: Review

To counter oxidative stress, cells constitutively express enzymes that detoxify the reactive oxygen species and repair the damage. An antioxidant is any substance that when present at low concentrations compared to those of an oxidizable substrate significantly delays or prevents oxidation of that substrate. The antioxidant enzymes are major cell defense against acute oxygen toxicity. The functions of these antioxidant enzymes are to protect the membrane and cytosolic components against damage caused by free radicals. Glutathione peroxidase, Superoxide dismutase, glutathione-s-transferase, catalase, xanthine oxidase. Amongst a variety of antioxidants; vitamin E antioxidant use is essential because it travels through the body in molecules called lipoproteins and protect them from oxidation. For Many years, vitamin E considered as an anti-sterility factor. In the male reproductive system, vitamin C is known to protect spermatogenesis, and it plays a major role in semen integrity and fertility in men. It increases testosterone levels and prevents sperm agglutination. It is an important chain-breaking antioxidant, contributing up to 65 % of the total antioxidant capacity of seminal plasma found intracellularly and extracellularly. N-Acetyl cysteine reacts with highly oxidizing radicals such as ˙OH, ˙NO2, CO3˙‑, and also bind redox-active metal ions. Thiosl can also afford radioprotection through the donation of reducing equivalents. Keywords: Antioxidants; Male fertility; Sperm quality

Role of Antioxidants in Male Reproduction: Review

To counter oxidative stress, cells constitutively express enzymes that detoxify the reactive oxygen species and repair the damage. An antioxidant is any substance that when present at low concentrations compared to those of an oxidizable substrate significantly delays or prevents oxidation of that substrate. The antioxidant enzymes are major cell defense against acute oxygen toxicity. The functions of these antioxidant enzymes are to protect the membrane and cytosolic components against damage caused by free radicals. Glutathione peroxidase, Superoxide dismutase, glutathione-s-transferase, catalase, xanthine oxidase. Amongst a variety of antioxidants; vitamin E antioxidant use is essential because it travels through the body in molecules called lipoproteins and protect them from oxidation. For Many years, vitamin E considered as an anti-sterility factor. In the male reproductive system, vitamin C is known to protect spermatogenesis, and it plays a major role in semen integrity and fertility in men. It increases testosterone levels and prevents sperm agglutination. It is an important chain-breaking antioxidant, contributing up to 65 % of the total antioxidant capacity of seminal plasma found intracellularly and extracellularly. N-Acetyl cysteine reacts with highly oxidizing radicals such as ˙OH, ˙NO2, CO3˙‑, and also bind redox-active metal ions. Thiosl can also afford radioprotection through the donation of reducing equivalents. Keywords: Antioxidants; Male fertility; Sperm quality

Exploring the Impact of Evolutionary Computing based Feature Selection in Suicidal Ideation Detection

© 2019 IEEE. The ubiquitous availability of smartphones and the increasing popularity of social media provide a platform for users to express their feelings, including suicidal ideation. Suicide prevention by suicidal ideation detection on social media lights the path to controlling the rapidly increasing suicide rates amongst youth. This paper proposes a diverse set of features and investigates into feature selection using the Firefly algorithm to build an efficient and robust supervised approach to classifying tweets with suicidal ideation. The development of a suicidal language to create three diverse, manually annotated datasets leads to the validation of the proposed model. An in-depth result and error analysis lead to an accurate system for monitoring suicidal ideation on social media along with the discovery of optimal feature subsets and selection methods using a penalty based Firefly algorithm

Measurement of the inclusive and dijet cross-sections of b-jets in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The inclusive and dijet production cross-sections have been measured for jets containing b-hadrons (b-jets) in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements use data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 34 pb^-1. The b-jets are identified using either a lifetime-based method, where secondary decay vertices of b-hadrons in jets are reconstructed using information from the tracking detectors, or a muon-based method where the presence of a muon is used to identify semileptonic decays of b-hadrons inside jets. The inclusive b-jet cross-section is measured as a function of transverse momentum in the range 20 < pT < 400 GeV and rapidity in the range |y| < 2.1. The bbbar-dijet cross-section is measured as a function of the dijet invariant mass in the range 110 < m_jj < 760 GeV, the azimuthal angle difference between the two jets and the angular variable chi in two dijet mass regions. The results are compared with next-to-leading-order QCD predictions. Good agreement is observed between the measured cross-sections and the predictions obtained using POWHEG + Pythia. MC@NLO + Herwig shows good agreement with the measured bbbar-dijet cross-section. However, it does not reproduce the measured inclusive cross-section well, particularly for central b-jets with large transverse momenta.Comment: 10 pages plus author list (21 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final version published in European Physical Journal

Observation of associated near-side and away-side long-range correlations in √sNN=5.02 TeV proton-lead collisions with the ATLAS detector

Two-particle correlations in relative azimuthal angle (Δϕ) and pseudorapidity (Δη) are measured in √sNN=5.02  TeV p+Pb collisions using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements are performed using approximately 1  μb-1 of data as a function of transverse momentum (pT) and the transverse energy (ΣETPb) summed over 3.1<η<4.9 in the direction of the Pb beam. The correlation function, constructed from charged particles, exhibits a long-range (2<|Δη|<5) “near-side” (Δϕ∼0) correlation that grows rapidly with increasing ΣETPb. A long-range “away-side” (Δϕ∼π) correlation, obtained by subtracting the expected contributions from recoiling dijets and other sources estimated using events with small ΣETPb, is found to match the near-side correlation in magnitude, shape (in Δη and Δϕ) and ΣETPb dependence. The resultant Δϕ correlation is approximately symmetric about π/2, and is consistent with a dominant cos⁡2Δϕ modulation for all ΣETPb ranges and particle pT