Abstract
This study evaluates the efficacy of current satellite observing systems to detect methane point sources from typical oil and gas production (O&G) facilities using a novel very ...high-resolution methane concentration dataset generated using a microscale model. Transport and dispersion of typical methane emissions from seven well pads were simulated and the column enhancements for pseudo satellite pixel sizes of 3, 1, and 0.05 km were examined every second of the 2-h simulations (7200 realizations). The detectability of plumes increased with a pixel resolution, but two orders of magnitude change in emission rates at the surface results only in about 0.4%, 1.6%, and 47.8% enhancement in the pseudo-satellite retrieved methane column at 3, 1, and 0.05 km, respectively. Average methane emission rates estimated by employing the integrated mass enhancement (IME) method to column enhancements at 0.05 km showed an underestimation of the mean emissions by 0.2–6.4%. We show that IME derived satellite-based inversions of methane emissions work well for large persistent emission sources (e.g., super emitters), however, the method is ill-suited to resolve short-term emission fluctuations (< 20 min) in typical well site emissions due to the limitations in satellite detection limits, precision, overpass timing, and pixel resolution.
The axon initial segment (AIS) region is crucial for action potential initiation due to the presence of high-density AIS protein voltage-gated sodium channels (Nav). Nav channels comprise several ...serine residues responsible for the recruitment of Nav channels into the structure of AIS through interactions with ankyrin-G (AnkG). In this study, a series of computational experiments are performed to understand the role of AIS proteins casein kinase 2 and AnkG on Nav channel recruitment into the AIS. The computational simulation results using Virtual cell software indicate that Nav channels with all serine sites available for phosphorylation bind to AnkG with strong affinity. At the low initial concentration of AnkG and casein kinase 2, the concentration of Nav channels reduces significantly, suggesting the importance of casein kinase 2 and AnkG in the recruitment of Nav channels.
The wine business relies heavily on wine quality certification. The excellence of New Zealand Pinot noir wines is well-known worldwide. Our major goal in this research is to predict wine quality by ...generating synthetic data and construct a machine learning model based on this synthetic data and available experimental data collected from different and diverse regions across New Zealand. We utilised 18 Pinot noir wine samples with 54 different characteristics (7 physiochemical and 47 chemical features). We generated 1381 samples from 12 original samples using the SMOTE method, and six samples were preserved for model testing. The findings were compared using four distinct feature selection approaches. Important attributes (referred as essential variables) that were shown to be relevant in at least three feature selection methods were utilised to predict wine quality. Seven machine learning algorithms were trained and tested on a holdout original sample. Adaptive Boosting (AdaBoost) classifier showed 100% accuracy when trained and evaluated without feature selection, with feature selection (XGB), and with essential variables (features found important in at least three feature selection methods). In the presence of essential variables, the Random Forest (RF) classifier performance was increased.
This paper describes a quasi-operational regional air quality forecasting system for the contiguous United States (CONUS) developed at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) to support ...air quality decision-making, field campaign planning, early identification of model errors and biases, and support the atmospheric science community in their research. This system aims to complement the operational air quality forecasts produced by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), not to replace them. A publicly available information dissemination system has been established that displays various air quality products, including a near-real-time evaluation of the model forecasts. Here, we report the performance of our air quality forecasting system in simulating meteorology and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) for the first year after our system started, i.e., 1 June 2019 to 31 May 2020. Our system shows excellent skill in capturing hourly to daily variations in temperature, surface pressure, relative humidity, water vapor mixing ratios, and wind direction but shows relatively larger errors in wind speed. The model also captures the seasonal cycle of surface PM2.5 very well in different regions and for different types of sites (urban, suburban, and rural) in the CONUS with a mean bias smaller than 1 µg m−3. The skill of the air quality forecasts remains fairly stable between the first and second days of the forecasts. Our air quality forecast products are publicly available at a NCAR webpage. We invite the community to use our forecasting products for their research, as input for urban scale (<4 km), air quality forecasts, or the co-development of customized products, just to name a few applications.
Introduction. Paresis of hand has severe impact on the life of the stroke patients. Modified constrained induced movement therapy (mCIMT) can be used to treat the involved limb of the patient. It ...involves constraining of functional hand and increasing the activity of paretic hand which overcomes the “learned disuse” that develops following stroke but the constraining also creates difficulties for the patient and reduces his/her compliance to the treatment. Hence this trial aims to study the effect of mCIMT with and without interval to see if providing relaxation in between the treatment would be able to produce similar effect as mCIMT without interval protocol. Matgerial and methods. 44 patients were recruited in the study and were divided in to three groups: mCIMT without interval (n = 18), mCIMT with interval (n = 16) and control group (n = 10). Participants in three groups were examined for pain and functionality of hand through Patient rated wrist hand evaluation score and Box and Block test at pre and post intervention. The intervention was given for 6 days/week for two weeks. Therapy time was 2 hours and constrain was for 6 hours a day. Clinical trial registration number -CTRI/2019/12/022547. Results. No baseline differences were found in between the three groups. There was significant increase in box and block test score and significant decrease in PRWHE score in pre and post treatment readings for with and without interval mCIMT but non-significant changes in PRWHE score and box and block test were seen in control group. Conclusion. Both interval and without interval mCIMT was effective. Interval mCIMT was seen to be more comfortable than without interval mCIMT for the patient.
An extensive field study, RAWEX–GVAX, was carried out during a 10-month (June 2011–March 2012) campaign at ARIES, Nainital and observations on a wide range of parameters like physical and optical ...properties of aerosols, meteorological parameters and boundary layer evolution were made. This work presents results obtained from high-frequency (four launches per day), balloon-borne observations of meteorological parameters (pressure, temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and wind direction). These observations show wind speed as high as 84 m/s near the subtropical jet. It is shown that reanalysis wind speeds are in better agreement at 250 hPa (altitude of subtropical jet) than those above or below this value (100 hPa or 500 hPa). These observations also demonstrate that AIRS-derived temperature profiles are negatively biased in the lower altitude region, whereas they are positively biased near the tropopause. WRF simulated results are able to capture variations in temperature, humidity and wind speed profile reasonable well. WRF and AIRS-derived tropopause height, tropopause pressure and tropopause temperature also show agreement with radiosonde estimates.
Wine research has as its core components the disciplines of sensory analysis, viticulture, and oenology. Wine quality is an important concept for each of these disciplines, as well as for both wine ...producers and consumers. Any technique that could help producers to understand the nature of wine quality and how consumers perceive it, will help them to design even more effective marketing strategies. However, predicting a wine’s quality presents wine science modelling with a real challenge. We used sample data from Pinot noir wines from different regions of New Zealand to develop a mathematical model that can predict wine quality, and applied dimensional analysis with the Buckingham Pi theorem to determine the mathematical relationship among different chemical and physiochemical compounds. This mathematical model used perceived wine quality indices investigated by wine experts and industry professionals. Afterwards, machine learning algorithms are applied to validate the relevant sensory and chemical concepts. Judgments of wine intrinsic attributes, including overall quality, were made by wine professionals to two sets of 18 Pinot noir wines from New Zealand. This study develops a conceptual and mathematical framework to predict wine quality, and then validated these using a large dataset with machine learning approaches. It is worth noting that the predicted wine quality indices are in good agreement with the wine experts’ perceived quality ratings.
Introduction Acute appendicitis is a common surgical emergency. Clinical assessment plays a major role; however, subtle clinical features in early stages and atypical presentation makes diagnosis ...challenging. Ultrasonography (USG) of the abdomen is a usual investigation that aids in diagnosis, however, it is operator dependent. A contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CECT) of the abdomen is more accurate; however, it exposes the patient to hazardous radiation. The study aimed to combine clinical assessment and USG abdomen in the reliable diagnosis of acute appendicitis. Objectives The objective of this study was to assess the diagnostic reliability of the Modified Alvarado Score and ultrasonography of the abdomen in acute appendicitis. Material and methods All patients with right iliac fossa pain, clinically suspected of having acute appendicitis, admitted to the department of general surgery, Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS), Bhubaneswar, between January 2019 and July 2020, who gave consent were included. Clinically, Modified Alvarado Score (MAS) was calculated, after which patients were subjected to USG abdomen, where findings were noted and a sonologic score was calculated. The study group was the patients who needed appendicectomy (n=138). Operative findings were noted. Histopathological diagnosis of acute appendicitis was deemed as confirmatory in these cases and was correlated with MAS and USG scores to determine diagnostic accuracy. Results A combined clinicoradiological (MAS + USG) score of seven showed a sensitivity of 81.8% and a specificity of 100%. The specificity of score seven or above was 100%; however, the sensitivity at 81.8%. The diagnostic accuracy of the clinicoradiological was 87.5%. The negative appendicectomy rate was 4.34%, with a diagnosis of acute appendicitis being confirmed for 95.7% of patients upon histopathological examination. Conclusion The MAS and USG of the abdomen, which is an affordable and non-invasive tool, showed increased diagnostic reliability, and hence it can help reduce the use of CECT abdomen, as CECT abdomen is considered as a gold standard for confirmation or exclusion of diagnosis of acute appendicitis. Use of the combined scoring system of MAS and USG abdomen can be used as a cost-effective alternative.
In the present study, comprehensive stress testing of enalapril maleate was carried out according to ICH guideline Q1A(R2). The drug was subjected to acid (0.1N HCl), neutral and alkaline (0.1N NaOH) ...hydrolytic conditions at 80
°C, as well as to oxidative decomposition at room temperature. Photolysis was carried out in 0.1N HCl, water and 0.1N NaOH at 40
°C. Additionally, the solid drug was subjected to 50
°C for 60 days in a dri-bath, and to the combined effect of temperature and humidity, with and without light, at 40
°C/75% RH. The products formed under different stress conditions were investigated by LC and LC–MS. The LC method that could separate all degradation products formed under various stress conditions involved a C18 column and a mobile phase comprising of ACN and phosphate buffer (pH 3). The flow rate and detection wavelength were 1
ml
min
−1 and 210
nm, respectively. The developed method was found to be precise, accurate, specific and selective. It was suitably modified for LC–MS studies by replacing phosphate buffer with water, where pH was adjusted to 3.0 with formic acid. The drug showed instability in solution state (under acidic, neutral, alkaline and photolytic stress conditions), but was relatively stable in the solid-state, except formation of minor products under accelerated conditions. Primarily, maximum degradation products were formed in acid conditions, though the same were also produced variably under other stress conditions. The LC–MS
m/
z values and fragmentation patterns of two of the five products matched with enalaprilat and diketopiperazine derivative, previously known degradation products of enalapril. Also,
m/
z value of another product matched with an impurity listed in the drug monograph in European Pharmacopoeia. Rest two were hitherto unknown degradation products. The products were characterized through LC–MS fragmentation studies. Based on the results, a more complete degradation pathway for the drug could be proposed.
Introduction: Hypospadias is a very common congenital anomaly noted in children with reported incidence of 0.4-8.2% in 1000 live birth. Treatment of hypospadias is urethroplasty, but is a difficult ...procedure due to complex anatomy, nonavailability of adequate tissue for repair, prolonged postoperative course and increased incidence of complications even in experienced hands. Aim: To highlight the complications and functional outcome of various types of proximal hypospadias using standard surgical technique with intermediate vascularised flap. Materials and Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study conducted from on 31 children, between the age of 2-13 years from June 2020 to August 2020. The children had proximal hypospadias with or without chordee were operated using primary procedure Tubularised Incised Plate (TIP) and staged procedure with cover of intermediate vascularised flap. These children had peno-scrotal, proximal, mid and distal penile hypospadias with meatus placed 1.5 cm proximal from the glans tip. In all cases, an intermediate layer of vascularised flap was put to cover the neourethra. Tunica vaginalis flap was used in 27 cases and dartos flap in 4 cases. The outcomes of surgical procedure, early and late complications with follow-up results were analysed using descriptive statistics of frequency and percentage. Final functional results of the procedures and cosmesis were observed during a two-year follow-up period. Results: Out of the 31 patients, 27 patients had urethroplasty (20 staged procedures and seven TIP) with tunica vaginalis as intermediate layer. Another four patients had TIP urethroplasty with dartos as intermediate layer. Four patients of tunica vaginalis as intermediate layer had early urethrocutaneous fistula (14.8%), one patient (3.7%) required closure of fistula and another three closed spontaneously. Two patients had meatal stenosis (7.4%) and four had slight pulled up ipsilateral testis (14.8%). One patient of TIP urethroplasty with dartos as intermediate layer was reoperated for late urethrocutaneos fistula at corona glandis (25%). Conclusion: The outcome of pediatric urethroplasty was favourable with routine use of intermediate vascularised flap in proximal hypospadias repair.
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