Researchers have long been concerned about the association between depression and the prevalence of multiple chronic diseases or multimorbidity in older persons. However, the underlying pathway or ...mechanism in the multimorbidity-depression relationship is still unknown. Data were extracted from a baseline survey of the Longitudinal Ageing Survey of India (LASI) conducted during 2017-18 (N = 31,464; aged ≥ 60 years). Depression was assessed using the 10-item Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D-10). Multivariable logistic regression was used to examine the association. The Karlson-Holm-Breen (KHB) method was adopted for mediation analysis. The prevalence of depression among older adults was nearly 29% (men: 26% and women 31%). Unadjusted and adjusted estimates in binary logistic regression models suggested an association between multimorbidity and depression (UOR = 1.28; 95% CIs 1.27-1.44 and AOR = 1.12; 95% CIs 1.12-1.45). The association was particularly slightly strong in the older men. In addition, the association was mediated by functional health such as Self Rated Health (SRH) (proportion mediated: 40%), poor sleep (35.15%), IADL disability (22.65%), ADL disability (21.49%), pain (7.92%) and by behavioral health such as physical inactivity (2.28%). However, the mediating proportion was higher among older women as compared to older men. Physical inactivity was not found to be significant mediator for older women. The findings of this population-based study revealed that older people with multimorbidity are more likely to suffer depressive symptoms in older ages, suggesting the need for more chronic disease management and research. Multimorbidity and depression may be mediated by certain functional health factors, especially in older women. Further longitudinal research is needed to better understand the underlying mechanisms of this association so that future preventive initiatives may be properly guided.
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RGB-D cameras, which give an RGB image together with depths, are becoming increasingly popular for robotic perception. In this paper, we address the task of detecting commonly found objects in the ...three-dimensional (3D) point cloud of indoor scenes obtained from such cameras. Our method uses a graphical model that captures various features and contextual relations, including the local visual appearance and shape cues, object co-occurrence relationships and geometric relationships. With a large number of object classes and relations, the model’s parsimony becomes important and we address that by using multiple types of edge potentials. We train the model using a maximum-margin learning approach. In our experiments concerning a total of 52 3D scenes of homes and offices (composed from about 550 views), we get a performance of 84.06% and 73.38% in labeling office and home scenes respectively for 17 object classes each. We also present a method for a robot to search for an object using the learned model and the contextual information available from the current labelings of the scene. We applied this algorithm successfully on a mobile robot for the task of finding 12 object classes in 10 different offices and achieved a precision of 97.56% with 78.43% recall.1
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The present study aimed to examine the association of multimorbidity status with food insecurity among disadvantaged groups such as Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), and Other Backward ...Class (OBCs) in India.
The data for this study was derived from the first wave of the Longitudinal Ageing Study in India (LASI),2017-18, focusing on 46,953 individuals aged 45 years and over who belong to SCs, STs, and OBCs groups. Food insecurity was measured based on the set of five questions developed by the Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance Program (FANTA). Bivariate analysis was performed to examine the prevalence of food insecurity by multimorbidity status along with socio-demographic and health-related factors. Multivariable logistic regression analysis and interaction models were used.
The overall prevalence of multimorbidity was about 16% of the study sample. The prevalence of food insecurity was higher among people with multimorbidity compared to those without multimorbidity. Unadjusted and adjusted models suggested that people with multimorbidity were more likely to be food insecure than people without multimorbidity. While middle-aged adults with multimorbidity and men with multimorbidity had a higher risk of food insecurity.
The findings of this study suggest an association between multimorbidity and food insecurity among socially disadvantaged people in India. Middle-aged adults experiencing food insecurity tend to reduce the quality of their diet and consume a few low-cost, nutritionally deficient meals to maintain caloric intake, putting them again at risk for several negative health outcomes. Therefore, strengthening disease management could reduce food insecurity in those facing multimorbidity.
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Abstract
Background
In India, the usage of modern contraception methods among women is relatively lower in comparison to other developed economies. Even within India, there is a state-wise variation ...in family planning use that leads to unintended pregnancies. Significantly less evidence is available regarding the determinants of modern contraception use and the level of inequalities associated with this. Therefore, the present study has examined the level of inequalities in modern contraception use among currently married women in India.
Methods
This study used the fourth round of National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4) conducted in 2015-16. Our analysis has divided the uses of contraception into three modern methods of family planning such as Short-Acting Reversible Contraception (SARC), Long-Acting Reversible Contraception (LARC) and permanent contraception methods. SARC includes pills, injectable, and condoms, while LARC includes intrauterine devices, implants, and permanent contraception methods (i.e., male and female sterilization). We have employed a concentration index to examine the level of socioeconomic inequalities in utilizing modern contraception methods.
Results
Our results show that utilization of permanent methods of contraception is more among the currently married women in the higher age group (40–49) as compared to the lower age group (25–29). Women aged 25–29 years are 3.41 times (OR: 3.41; 95% CI: 3.30–3.54) more likely to use SARC methods in India. Similarly, women with 15 + years of education and rich are more likely to use the LARC methods. At the regional level, we have found that southern region states are three times more likely to use permanent methods of contraception. Our decomposition results show that women age group (40–49), women having 2–3 children and richer wealth quintiles are more contributed for the inequality in modern contraceptive use among women.
Conclusions
The use of SARC and LARC methods by women who are marginalized and of lower socioeconomic status is remarkably low. Universal free access to family planning methods among marginalized women and awareness campaigns in the rural areas could be a potential policy prescription to reduce the inequalities of contraceptive use among currently married women in India.
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In this article, the dynamic impedance of a pseudospark (PS)-driven electron beam has been analyzed for different phases of breakdown over a range of applied gap voltage (AGV). The electron beam is ...generated through a PS mechanism device, which consists of a hollow cathode, an interelectrode three-gap structure with two floating anodes, and one anode disk. The developed device has been operated in the self-breakdown mode for AGV ranging from 10 to 30 kV. The electron beam source (EBS) has been characterized and analyzed in terms of its V - I characteristics, impedance during different phases, relative impedance during breakdown under different gap voltages, gap capacitance, inductance, and resistance.
In this article, a trigger unit has been implemented to generate a high-current-density electron beam from a pseudospark (PS) discharge-based electron gun. A trigger pulse power supply unit has been ...designed and developed to provide the seed electrons from the ferroelectric cathode (FEC). The FEC has been used inside the hollow cathode cavity of a single-gap PS discharge-based electron gun. The electron gun has been operated in the self-breakdown as well as the trigger-based breakdown mode. A comparative analysis has also been performed between self-breakdown and trigger breakdown modes with the developed trigger unit's help for different applied gap voltages ranging between 0 and 16 kV. The designed trigger unit is based on a high-voltage-gain isolated dc-dc converter and a pulse-forming network. It is compact and capable of generating a negative pulse of ~-5 kV with a pulsewidth of ~500 ns. It provides better control over PS discharge to produce a high-current-density electron beam.
Abstract
The main aim of this simulation work is to assess the financial possibility analysis of 10 MW
P
grid-associated solar photovoltaic (PV) power plants in seven cities i.e. Lucknow, Agra, ...Meerut, Gorakhpur, Kanpur, Allahabad, and Varanasi of Uttar Pradesh (UP) state of India with the RETScreen Software. The presented research work demonstrates the method of selection of profitable locations for solar PV power plants according to financial viability indicators. It is found that Allahabad city is the most profitable site with values of 16,686 MWh of electricity exported to the grid (EEG), US$20,896.30/year of electricity export revenue (EER), 9.4 years of simple payback period (SPP), 7.7 years of equity payback period (EPP), 19545.9 tCO
2
/year of GHG emission reduction, US$3492.82/year of the annual life cycle savings (ALCS), 1.5 benefit-cost (B-C) ratio, US$27394.59 of net present value (NPV), 16.5% internal rate of return on equity (IRR-equity), 12.3% modified internal rate of return on equity (MIRR-equity), 5.4% internal rate of return on assets (IRR-assets), and 7% modified internal rate of return on assets (MIRR-assets). The second most profitable site is found in Gorakhpur city and Varanasi city is found the least profitable site. The other two cities, Agra and Kanpur are not found suitable because of the negative values of NPV and ALCS.
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In this article, a comparative experimental and simulations analysis has been carried out to understand the role of tapered gap region on current density and energy of pseudospark (PS)-based electron ...beam emission. These studies have been performed for 5-gap and 8-gap regions in a tapered multigap multiaperture-based PS electron beam source, keeping the same electron beam fill factor, and other geometrical parameters identical. The source has been operated in a self-breakdown mode. Around four-times increase in the beam current has been observed in the 8-gap case at the fixed applied gap potential ranging between 20 and 25 kV, whereas the tapered interelectrode gap angle has been reduced from 7.5° to 4.5°. The field penetration inside the hollow cathode cavity and tapered region have also been analyzed using simulations, and the obtained results are explained based on built-up space charge in these regions.
For high-power and compact sub-terahertz (THz) sources, a high-current electron beam is a crucial component. In this article, a miniaturized sheet-electron-beam source has been developed for ...generation of the high-current-density electron beam. It consists of a hollow cathode with a 3-mm diameter circular aperture, an anode with a 1.25 mm <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">\times0.25 </tex-math></inline-formula> mm rectangular aperture, and an interelectrode three-gap region with optimized dimension. The developed electron beam source has been operated in self-breakdown conditions for applied gap voltage ranging between 10 and 30 kV. The sheet electron beam has been successfully propagated for nearly 45 mm inside the drift space without the assistance of an external magnetic field due to the space charge neutralization effect. It has demonstrated good transmission characteristics with more than 50-A beam current and beam current loss of around 25%.
In this article, the electrical characterization of a plasma-assisted electron beam source with a sub-mm sheet aperture has been performed. The developed sheet electron beam source comprises a hollow ...cathode cavity, two floating anodes, and one ground potential anode with a sheet aperture of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">1.5\times0.3 </tex-math></inline-formula> mm. The source has been characterized under varying applied gap potential range, i.e., 10-30 kV in self-breakdown operating mode. The breakdown parameters and resultant beam parameters, such as <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">{V} - {I} </tex-math></inline-formula> characteristics, electron beam current density, duration to reach the conductive phase, and the energy transformation efficiency of the developed source, have been analyzed. The successive breakdown phenomenon has also been presented in the profile of the developed electron beam source.
