The ecological conservation of large rivers is impossible unless immediate attention is given to protecting their small tributaries at local levels. The natural boundaries of large river basins are ...shrinking because their tributaries and streams of different orders are disappearing at an unprecedented rate. Delineation of the fixed administrative boundaries (AB) to protect the natural boundary of small rivers and their classification into appropriate threatened categories, the present study was carried out on the 54.08 km long Banki River in the Ganga River basin. The > 70% irreversible loss in the number of streams (Nu), length of streams (Lu), and drainage density (Dd) resulted in the conversion of the 6th order Banki into the 4th order river. The extreme morphometric changes result in the Banki watershed being under the "Critically Endangered" category. The drainage density ratio (DdR) and mean stream width (M
) were used to determine the width of AB (W
). The "River Red List Categories and Criteria" are being proposed to strengthen global initiatives at the local levels to protect and conserve inland water bodies and transboundary rivers.
Literature is lacking on the spectrum of symptoms of long COVID-19 (defined as symptoms persisting beyond 28 days of diagnosis) and its impact on quality of life. This single-center, cross-sectional ...study included mild COVID-19 cases as determined by a positive real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction test. Patients were contacted at least 28 days after diagnosis and were interviewed telephonically using semi-structured questionnaires for duration of symptoms, fatigue using Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) and quality of life using the World Health Organization Quality of Life: Brief Version (WHOQOL-BREF). A total of 251 COVID-19 patients were included; of which 169 (67.3%) were males. The mean age of the patients was 35.8 years (SD = 12.5). The prevalence of long COVID-19 was 28.2% (n = 71, 95% CI: 23.0–34.2). The most common symptoms involved the musculoskeletal system (12.7%), upper respiratory tract (7.6%), and fatigue among 17 (6.8%) patients. Patients with long COVID-19 had significantly higher FSS score and lower WHOQOL-BREF score compared to the patients without long COVID-19 (<28 days).
Today’s machining industries experience a variety of challenges, but achieving high quality in terms of dimensional accuracy, surface quality, and production rate is their key concern. An effort has ...been made in the current study to investigate the impact of HSM process parameters on different Surface Roughness characteristics Ra, Rq, and Rz. The trials were conducted on Ti-6Al-4V, a material that finds extensive use in the automotive, aerospace, and biomedical industries. Depth of cut, feed rate, cutting speed, and step over were taken into account as HSM inputs for the experiment. Similar to this, the output characteristics Surface roughness parameters Ra, Rq, and Rz were used. The trials were carried out using Taguchi’s standard L9 Orthogonal Array, and the optimization of multi responses was carried out using Grey analysis. The most significant influences on the parameters of surface roughness were found to be cutting speed and depth of cut. A confirmation experiment was performed using the ideal set of parameters to validate the study, and the results were found to be in good agreement with those of the experiment. According to the findings, the HSM method produced a superior surface quality.
IntroductionScreening for atrial fibrillation (AF) in the general population may help identify individuals at risk, enabling further assessment of risk factors and institution of appropriate ...treatment. Algorithms deployed on wearable technologies such as smartwatches and fitness bands may be trained to screen for such arrhythmias. However, their performance needs to be assessed for safety and accuracy prior to wide-scale implementation.Methods and analysisThis study will assess the ability of the WHOOP strap to detect AF using its WHOOP Arrhythmia Notification Feature (WARN) algorithm in an enriched cohort with a 2:1 distribution of previously diagnosed AF (persistent and paroxysmal) and healthy controls. Recruited participants will collect data for 7 days with the WHOOP wrist-strap and BioTel ePatch (electrocardiography gold-standard). Primary outcome will be participant level sensitivity and specificity of the WARN algorithm in detecting AF in analysable windows compared with the ECG gold-standard. Similar analyses will be performed on an available epoch-level basis as well as comparison of these findings in important subgroups.Ethics and disseminationThe study was approved by the ethics board at the study site. Participants will be enrolled after signing an online informed consent document. Updates will be shared via clinicaltrials.gov. The data obtained from the conclusion of this study will be presented in national and international conferences with publication in clinical research journals.Trial registration number NCT05809362.
The farmers are approaching river/reservoir beds to produce crops and vegetables during the lean periods, especially post-monsoon, winter, and summer, for their livelihood in changing climatic ...scenarios. Comparing C fractions, C stocks, and microbial indices between the terrestrial (conventional agricultural land: CAL) and riparian zones (reservoir riparian zones: RSRZ and river riparian zones: RRZ) reveals that cultivating riparian zones is environmentally stressful and climatically vulnerable to livelihood practices. The moist riverbed conditions for cultivation result in the accumulation of residual biomass and the burial of soil organic matter. The C fractions showed decreasing trends as CAL > RSRZ > RRZ. The mean TOC stock was found high in the CAL soils (45.04 Mg C ha−1) than in the RRZ (40.65 Mg C ha−1) and RSRZ soils (38.01 Mg C ha−1). The labile C fraction (KMnO4-C) varied from 2.34 to 3.29 % of TOC, and the RSRZ and RRZ soils showed 14.50 % and 40.32 % less KMnO4-C than the CAL soils. The relationship between KMnO4-C and mineralizable C (Cmin) showed high potential for organic carbon stabilization in riparian soils. The microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and basal soil respiration (BSR) values were nearly half of the CAL in the RRZ soils indicating limited carbon substrate availability to the microbial decomposition. Low mineralization quotient (qM) and high metabolic quotient (qCO2) indicated stressful microbial utilization of labile TOC in the RRZ soils. The high carbon management index (CMI) showed the potential to store and sequester TOC in riparian soils. The artificial neural networks (ANN) were used to examine the impact of soil properties on the prediction efficiency of TOC stocks in the three farming zones.
•Carbon fractions in riparian soils were less than in conventional agriculture soils.•Low qM and high qCO2 in riparian soils showed less degree of C mineralization.•The holocoenotic labile C fractions were KMnO4-C and Cmin.•NLC showed high C stock prediction irrespective of agricultural zones.
IgG4-related disease (IgG4-RD) is a chronic inflammatory disorder with prominent fibrosis. This retrospective analysis was undertaken to study the clinical, laboratory, and radiological ...characteristics of patients with extra-pancreatic IgG4-RD and their response to treatment at a tertiary care centre located in northern India.
Patient data from our centre between January 2017 and January 2021 were reviewed. Probable/definite IgG4-RD cases were included in the analysis.
A total of 14 cases were identified with a median age of 39 years (range 19-56 years). There were 10 males and 4 females. All patients presented with slowly progressive soft tissue swellings with pain/discomfort related to local mass effect. The median delay in diagnosis was 9.5 months (range 2-72 months). Cross-sectional imaging showed soft tissue masses in all cases. All contrast-enhanced studies (
= 7) showed enhancement on computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging scan. F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose-avidity was observed in 8 of 9 (88.9%) cases. Biopsies performed in 12 of these were classified as definite in 8 and possible IgG4-RD in 4 cases. Patients were treated with a median dose of 1 mg/kg/day (range 0.5-1 mg/kg/day) prednisolone. Steroids were successfully tapered in all 12 cases with 41.6% (5 of 12) being off corticosteroids at a median follow-up of 10 months (range 0-18 months). Two patients were lost to follow-up.
IgG4-related disease is a chronic illness with a wide spectrum of manifestations, in which the diagnosis is often delayed, but it shows an excellent response to treatment. Efforts must be made to increase awareness among physicians about this disease to institute appropriate treatment as early as possible.
The ongoing pandemic of COVID-19 has put an immense strain on healthcare facilities around the world. Unique challenges are being faced in the adequate management of rapidly increasing number of ...cases while ensuring adequate healthcare providers apostrophe safety. Issues related to the difficulty of examination while wearing personal protective equipment, need for objectivity in triage and testing of patients, and evidence-based management of the critically ill has resulted in reliance on longitudinal radiological assessment. There are a number of portability, disinfection and radiation exposure related problems with the use of X-rays and computerized tomography (CT). Point of care ultrasonography provides a pragmatic, safe, and repeatable approach for addressing the pertinent clinical questions that have traditionally relied on X-rays and CT scans. Here, we summarize the use ultrasound assessment can play in the triage, identification, and subsequent management of patients with COVID-19.
This collection of articles is mainly the result of an international conference organised by the Chair of Chinese Intellectual History at the Collège de France in June 2017. Entitled “India-China: ...Intersecting Universalities”, it brought together scholars from Asia, America and Europe who have been interested in one aspect or other of the cultural interactions between India and China. The diversity of the topics testifies to the lively interest raised by the intersection of two heavyweights of area and cultural studies. What makes the relationship between “China” and “India” so remarkably interesting is that one can hardly imagine two civilisational worlds as radically different from each other, which yet managed somehow to come into contact and to interact. The aim of the present volume is to look at various aspects of the cultural exchanges between India and China at different points of history. It is to try and remedy a certain indifference and mutual ignorance in our day and age that we bring forward this collective venture with the hope of offering to our readers alternative approaches to the connections between these two “giants of Asia”, other than the merely geopolitical ones that fill our media today.
Context: Mycoplasma pneumoniae (M. pneumoniae) causes up to 40% of community-acquired pneumonia in children. It is impossible to identify M. pneumoniae infection on the basis of clinical signs, ...symptoms, and radiological features. Therefore, correct etiological diagnosis strongly depends on laboratory diagnosis. Aims: This study aims to investigate the role of M. pneumonia e in pediatric lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) employing enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) and particle agglutination (PA) test. Settings and Design: Two hundred and eighty children, age 6 months to 12 years with community-acquired LRTIs were investigated for M. pneumoniae etiology. Materials and Methods: We investigated 280 children hospitalized for community-acquired LRTIs, using ELISA and PA test for detecting M. pneumoniae immunoglobulin M (IgM) and immunoglobulin G antibodies. Statistical Analysis Used: The difference of proportion between the qualitative variables was tested using the Chi-square test and Fischer exact test. P ≤ 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Kappa value was used to assess agreement between ELISA and PA test. Results: M. pneumoniae was positive in 51 (23.2%) <5 years and 33 (54.0%) children in ≥5 years of age group, and this difference was statistically significant (P < 0.001). Clinical and radiological findings in M. pneumoniae positive and negative groups were comparable. ELISA detected M. pneumoniae in 78 (27.8%) and PA test 39 (13.9%) patients; 33 (84.6%) ELISA positive and 6 (15.4%) ELISA negative. ELISA/PA test together detected M. pneumoniae infection in 84 (30%) children. Conclusions: Our data underline that M. pneumoniae plays an important role in children with community-acquired LRTIs and more particularly in children >5 years of age.
PDF
