Assess prevalence of myopia and identify associated risk factors in urban school children.
This was a cross-sectional study screening children for sub-normal vision and refractive errors in Delhi. ...Vision was tested by trained health workers using ETDRS charts. Risk factor questionnaire was filled for children with vision <6/9.5, wearing spectacles and for a subset (10%) of randomly selected children with normal vision. All children with vision <6/9.5 underwent cycloplegic refraction. The prevalence of myopia <-0.5 diopters was assessed. Association of risk factors and prevalence of myopia was analyzed for children with myopia and randomly selected non myopic children and adjusted odds ratio values for all risk factors were estimated.
A total number of 9884 children were screened with mean age of 11.6 + 2.2 years and 66.8% boys. Prevalence of myopia was 13.1% with only 320 children (24.7%) wearing appropriate spectacles. Mean myopic spherical error was -1.86 + 1.4 diopters. Prevalence of myopia was higher in private schools compared to government schools (p<0.001), in girls vs. boys (p = 0.004) and among older (> 11 years) children (p<0.001). There was a positive association of myopia with studying in private schools vs. government schools (p<0.001), positive family history (p< 0.001) and higher socio-economic status (p = 0.037). Positive association of presence of myopia was observed with children studying/reading > 5 hours per day (p < 0.001), watching television > 2 hours / day (p < 0.001) and with playing computer/video/mobile games (p < 0.001). An inverse association with outdoor activities/playing was observed with children playing > 2 hours in a day.
Myopia is a major health problem in Indian school children. It is important to identify modifiable risk factors associated with its development and try to develop cost effective intervention strategies.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Considerable research activities are underway involving microalgae species in order to treat industrial wastewater to address the waste-to-bioenergy economy. Several studies of wastewater treatment ...using microalgae have been primarily focused on removal of key nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus. Although the use of wastewater would provide nutrients and water for microalgae growth, the whole process is even more complex than the conventional microalgae cultivation on freshwater media. The former one adds several gridlocks to the system. These gridlocks are surplus organic and inorganic nutrients concentration, pH of wastewater, wastewater color, total dissolved solids (TDS), microbial contaminants, the scale of photobioreactor, batch versus continuous system, harvesting of microalgae biomass etc. The present review discusses, analyses, and summarizes key aspects involved in the treatment of wastewaters from distillery, food/snacks product processing, and dairy processing industry using microalgae along with sustainable production of its biomass. This review further evaluates the bottlenecks for individual steps involved in the process such as pretreatment of wastewater for contaminants removal, concentration tolerance/dilutions, harvesting of microalgae biomass, and outdoor scale-up. The review also describes various strategies to optimize algal biomass and lipid productivities for various wastewater and photobioreactor type. Moreover, the review emphasizes the potential of co-cultivation of microorganism such as yeast and bacteria along with microalgae in the treatment of industrial wastewater.
Display omitted
•Reviewed the treatment of agro-based industrial wastewater using microalgae•Different pretreatment strategies of wastewater have been summarized and discussed.•Evaluated the potential of wastewater treatment using co-cultivated microorganisms•Described the use of open pond and closed photobioreactor for wastewater treatment•Critically discussed the waste to bioenergy production potential of microalgae
Probiotics, prebiotics and synbiotics- a review Pandey, Kavita. R.; Naik, Suresh. R.; Vakil, Babu. V.
Journal of food science and technology,
12/2015, Letnik:
52, Številka:
12
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
The health benefits imparted by probiotics and prebiotics as well as synbiotics have been the subject of extensive research in the past few decades. These food supplements termed as functional foods ...have been demonstrated to alter, modify and reinstate the pre-existing intestinal flora. They also facilitate smooth functions of the intestinal environment. Most commonly used probiotic strains are:
Bifidobacterium, Lactobacilli, S. boulardii, B. coagulans.
Prebiotics like FOS, GOS, XOS, Inulin; fructans are the most commonly used fibers which when used together with probiotics are termed synbiotics and are able to improve the viability of the probiotics. Present review focuses on composition and roles of Probiotics, Prebiotics and Synbiotics in human health. Furthermore, additional health benefits like immune-modulation, cancer prevention, inflammatory bowel disease etc. are also discussed.
Graphical abstract
Pictorial summary of health benefits imparted by probiotics, prebiotics and synbiotics
The present review evaluates the key modules of the electronic nose, a biomimetic system, with specific examples of applications to industrial emissions monitoring and measurement. Regulations ...concerning the odor control are becoming very strict, due to ever mounting environmental pollution and its subsequent consequences and it is advantageous to employ real time measurement system. In this perspective, systems like the electronic nose are an improved substitute for assessing the complex industrial emissions over other analytical techniques (odorant concentration measurement) and olfactometry (odor concentration measurement). Compared to tools like gas chromatography, electronic nose systems are easy to develop, are non-destructive and useful for both laboratory and on field purposes. Although there has been immense development of more sensitive and selective sensor arrays and advanced data mining techniques, there have been limited reports on the application of electronic nose for the measurement of industrial emissions. The current study sheds light on the practical applicability of electronic nose for the effective industrial odor and gaseous emissions measurement. The applications categorization is based on gaseous pollutants released from the industries. Calibration and calibration transfer methodologies have been discussed to enhance the applicability of electronic nose system. Further, industrial gas grab sampling technique is reviewed. Lastly, the electronic mucosa system, which has the ability to overcome the flaws of electronic nose system, has been examined. The review ends with the concluding remarks describing the pros and cons of artificial olfaction technique for the industrial applications.
Display omitted
•The review paper deals with the applications of electronic nose for measurement of industrial odor and gaseous emissions.•Industrial gas sampling, sensor array and data analysis are discussed in view of the concerned topic.•The applications of electronic nose are categorized based on the type of industrial gases.•Calibration transfer methodologies are also discussed to implement EN for onsite applications.•Electronic mucosa system and application of EN to monitor treatment technologies is deliberated.
A spike in greenhouse gas emissions due to burning of fossil fuels and issues over energy security and its cost have obligated to identify the alternatives to petroleum fuels currently reigning ...transportation sector. Butanol, one of the substitutes, is still produced via petrochemical means but the confluence of global issues like declining oil reserves and upsurge in oil prices has compelled to identify renewable biomass resources for butanol production and commercialize the process. Biobutanol is one of the second-generation biofuels, superior to bioethanol, due to higher energy content, lower Reid vapor pressure, easy blending with gasoline at any ratio and ease in transportation. Although bioethanol, a strong competitor of biobutanol, has acquired enough attention from the transportation industry as the current commercially available liquid fuel for transportation, biobutanol possesses the potential to leapfrog various barriers and emerge as an attractive alternative biofuel. Lignocellulosic butanol production faces challenges in various frontiers such as cost of raw material, pretreatment strategies, enzymatic hydrolysis, and low butanol tolerance of the fermenting strain leading to its low yield and productivity, downstream processing of butanol, production of undesired solvents and the production cost. This review discusses these gridlocks along with the possible pertinent solutions to deal with these problems. It also sheds light on recent advancements coupled with the newer approaches for butanol production that revitalize the hopes on having a cleaner, energy-efficient commercial process.
Mitochondria, the dynamic organelles and power house of eukaryotic cells function as metabolic hubs of cells undergoing continuous cycles of fusion and fission. Recent findings have made it ...increasingly apparent that mitochondria essentially involved in energy production have evolved as principal intracellular signaling platforms regulating not only innate immunity but also inflammatory responses. Perturbations in mitochondrial dynamics, including fusion/fission, electron transport chain (ETC) architecture and cristae organization have now been actively correlated to modulate metabolic activity and immune function of innate and adaptive immune cells. Several newly identified mitochondrial proteins in mitochondrial outer membrane such as mitochondrial antiviral signaling protein (MAVS) and with mitochondrial DNA acting as danger-associated molecular pattern (DAMP) and mitochondrial ROS generated from mitochondrial sources have potentially established mitochondria as key signaling platforms in antiviral immunity in vertebrates and thereby orchestrating adaptive immune cell activations respectively. A thorough understanding of emerging and intervening role of mitochondria in toll-like receptor-mediated innate immune responses and NLRP3 inflammasome complex activation has gained lucidity in recent years that advocates the imposing functions of mitochondria in innate immunity. Fascinatingly, also how the signals stemming from the endoplasmic reticulum co-operate with the mitochondria to activate the NLRP3 inflammasome is now looked ahead as a stage to unravel as to how different mitochondrial and associated organelle stress responses co-operate to bring about inflammatory consequences. This has also opened avenues of research for revealing mitochondrial targets that could be exploited for development of novel therapeutics to treat various infectious, inflammatory, and autoimmune disorders. Thus, this review explores our current understanding of intricate interplay between mitochondria and other cellular processes like autophagy in controlling mitochondrial homeostasis and regulation of innate immunity and inflammatory responses.
State of the Art on Neural Rendering Tewari, A.; Fried, O.; Thies, J. ...
Computer graphics forum,
20/May , Letnik:
39, Številka:
2
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Efficient rendering of photo‐realistic virtual worlds is a long standing effort of computer graphics. Modern graphics techniques have succeeded in synthesizing photo‐realistic images from ...hand‐crafted scene representations. However, the automatic generation of shape, materials, lighting, and other aspects of scenes remains a challenging problem that, if solved, would make photo‐realistic computer graphics more widely accessible. Concurrently, progress in computer vision and machine learning have given rise to a new approach to image synthesis and editing, namely deep generative models. Neural rendering is a new and rapidly emerging field that combines generative machine learning techniques with physical knowledge from computer graphics, e.g., by the integration of differentiable rendering into network training. With a plethora of applications in computer graphics and vision, neural rendering is poised to become a new area in the graphics community, yet no survey of this emerging field exists. This state‐of‐the‐art report summarizes the recent trends and applications of neural rendering. We focus on approaches that combine classic computer graphics techniques with deep generative models to obtain controllable and photorealistic outputs. Starting with an overview of the underlying computer graphics and machine learning concepts, we discuss critical aspects of neural rendering approaches. Specifically, our emphasis is on the type of control, i.e., how the control is provided, which parts of the pipeline are learned, explicit vs. implicit control, generalization, and stochastic vs. deterministic synthesis. The second half of this state‐of‐the‐art report is focused on the many important use cases for the described algorithms such as novel view synthesis, semantic photo manipulation, facial and body reenactment, relighting, free‐viewpoint video, and the creation of photo‐realistic avatars for virtual and augmented reality telepresence. Finally, we conclude with a discussion of the social implications of such technology and investigate open research problems.
Background & objectives: Vitamin D plays an important role in bone metabolism, and liver is the intermediary site of vitamin D metabolism. The purpose of this study was to study the prevalence of ...vitamin D deficiency and bone health in patients with cirrhosis.
Methods: Prospectively, serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D 25(OH)D level were assessed in cirrhotics by chemiluminescence method. Endocrine Society Clinical practice guideline was used to define deficiency and insufficiency of vitamin D. Bone mineral density (BMD) was assessed using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and the World Health Organization criteria was used to define osteoporosis and osteopenia. The lowest T score at the left hip neck or lumbar spine was taken as osteoporosis or osteopenia. The Child-Turcotte-Pugh score was used to assess the severity of cirrhosis.
Results: Cirrhotics (n=350, male: 278, compensated: 210) were included. Mean serum 25(OH)D level was 8.75 ng/ml. The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency (VDD) and low-BMD (osteopenia and osteoporosis) was 89.4 and 86 per cent, respectively. VDD, insufficiency and osteoporosis was found in 86.7, 11.9 and 33.8 per cent, respectively, in patients with compensated cirrhosis; and 93.6, 3.6 and 40 per cent, respectively, in patients with decompensated cirrhosis. Body mass index of >25 kg/m2 was protective for bone health.
Interpretation & conclusions: VDD and low-BMD is prevalent in Indian patients with cirrhosis and should be looked for in patients with cirrhosis for its prevention.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Currently, growing attention is being devoted to the conversion of biomass into value-added products, such as itaconic acid (IA), which is considered as the cleanest alternative to petroleum-based ...acrylic acid. IA is an unsaturated dicarboxylic acid that is used as a building block chemical for the production of several value-added products such as poly-itaconic acid. IA and its derivatives have a wide range of potential applications in textile, paint, pharmaceutical and chemical industries. Presently, industries are producing IA on the large scale by fermentation from glucose. However, due to the primary utility of glucose as a food, it cannot meet the global demand for IA production in an economical way. The main challenge, so far, has been the production technology, which does not support cost-effective and competitive production of IA. This review discusses the various bottlenecks faced during each step of IA production, along with possible remedies to deal with these problems. Furthermore, it reviews the recent progress in fermentative IA production and sheds light on different microorganisms used, potential substrates and fermentation conditions. The review also covers market potential for IA, which indicates that IA can be produced cost-effectively from sustainable substrates, and it has the potential to replace petrochemicals in the near future.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
BFBNIB, DOBA, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Indium-doped zinc oxide (IZO) thin films have been deposited on glass (IZO/glass), ITO (IZO/ITO), and silicon (IZO/Si) substrates using sol–gel spin coating method. Glancing angle X-ray diffraction ...has been used to verify phase purity, average grain size, and microcrystalline stress of the annealed films. Effect of substrates on surface morphology is explicitly investigated using the conventional statistical techniques along with nonlinear fractal and multifractal geometrical analysis. The root-mean-square surface roughness value is the lowest in IZO/glass films and increases in IZO/ITO films and the highest in IZO/Si films. Fractal and multifractal formalism acts as a scale-independent microscopic analytical tool for surface analysis. All IZO films show fractal and multifractal behaviour. The fractal parameters such as fractal dimensions and Hurst exponents are different for films deposited on different substrates and, thus, able to characterize surface morphology precisely. Hurst exponent values of IZO films indicate that although IZO/Si films have highest vertical roughness, it has strongly correlated (highest self-similarity) surface morphology than other two films deposited on glass and ITO substrates. Inhomogeneity in scaling exponents could be better understood with the help of multifractal formalism. The difference of fractal dimensions in all IZO films deposited on glass, ITO, and Si substrates is very small (almost close to zero). Therefore, there is very little multifractality exist in those film surfaces. Width of multifractal spectrum is the largest in IZO/Si and the smallest (also similar) in IZO/ITO and IZO/glass films, indicating that multifractallity in IZO/Si film is more prominent. A quantitative information about the surface morphology has been provided by inferring multifractal parameters. Detailed fractal and multifractal formalism of surface morphology may find its importance in understanding various surface-based device fabrication and performances.
PDF
