Global multivariate point pattern models for rain type occurrence

We seek statistical methods to study the occurrence of multiple rain types observed by satellite on a global scale. The main scientific interests are to relate rainfall occurrence with various atmospheric state variables and to study the dependence between the occurrences of multiple types of rainfall (e.g. short-lived and intense versus long-lived and weak; the heights of the rain clouds are also considered). Commonly in point process model literature, the spatial domain is assumed to be a small, and thus planar domain. We consider the log-Gaussian Cox Process (LGCP) models on the surface of a sphere and take advantage of cross-covariance models for spatial processes on a global scale to model the stochastic intensity function of the LGCP models. We present analysis results for rainfall observations from the TRMM satellite and atmospheric state variables from MERRA-2 reanalysis data over the tropical Eastern and Western Pacific Ocean, as well as over the entire tropical and subtropical ocean regions. Statistical inference is done through Monte Carlo likelihood approximation for LGCP models. We employ covariance approximation to deal with massive data.

Assessment of Oral Health Literacy and Its Relationship with Oral Health Related Behaviour and Socioeconomic Status Among Students of A University in Chennai City

Health literacy is the ability of a person to understand instructions on prescription, appointment cards, health education pamphlets, doctor’s directions and consent forms. A common reason for misunderstanding health instructions may be the patient’s low health literacy skills. Therefore the present study was conducted with the aim of assessing the oral health literacy and its association with socioeconomic status and Oral health related behaviour among University students in Chennai City. A descriptive cross sectional study was conducted among 362 students of a private University in Chennai City. The subjects were selected using stratified random sampling from different faculty of studies. Oral health literacy was assessed using a validated instrument, the Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Dentistry (REALD-30). The overall mean REALD-30 score of the participants was 19.13+5.6. The mean REALD-30 scores were lowest among students in the low socioeconomic status and highest among those in high class. The Mean REALD-30 scores among participants who rinsed their mouth were higher than those who did not rinse. About 46% had oral pain or discomfort during the past one year and their mean OHL score was significantly higher than those who did not had any pain or discomfort. The present study concludes that the overall oral health literacy of the study population is moderate and it does have a relationship with socioeconomic status and oral health behaviour although the different educational categories don’t influence it. Further studies are required to establish one to one causal relationship.

Serological profiling of rabies antibodies by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and its comparative analysis with rapid fluorescent focus inhibition test in mouse model

Aim:

In this study, we have used enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) as an alternative test to replace the cumbersome rapid fluorescent focus inhibition test (RFFIT) to ascertain the immune status of immunized mice against rabies virus.

Materials and Methods:

Rabies is a devastating disease worldwide caused by rabies virus. Proper usage of pre- or post-exposure rabies vaccine can prevent the disease transmission. In this study, mice were immunized with Vero cell-adapted inactivated rabies vaccine. RFFIT was used as a test to determine the serum neutralizing titers in infected/vaccinated mice. Seroprofiling of mice sera was done in vitro by ELISA.

Results:

Twenty-one days post-immunization, both ELISA and RFFIT assays indicated similar antibody levels in mice sera that were immunized with Vero cell-adapted inactivated rabies vaccine. Both the tests were correlated, and the linearity was verified by the regression line (R²=0.979).

Conclusion:

In this study, we profiled the serological status of Vero cell-adapted inactivated rabies vaccine through ELISA in mice model that correlated well with the OIE gold standard test RFFIT.

Sequential Removal of a Large Odontoma in the Angle of the Mandible

Odontomas are the commonly occurring benign tumors of the jaw, which are odontogenic in origin. Lesion originates as the dental components are laid down in a disorganized manner, due to failure of normal morphodifferentiation. They are considered as hamartomatous developmental malformations rather than a true neoplasm. Mostly, these asymptomatic lesions are discovered as an incidental finding. Large odontomas may give rise to local disturbances, such as eruption delay of permanent teeth, asymmetric tooth eruption, malpositioning, displacement, resorption, or occasional devitalization of adjacent teeth. Odontomas may erupt into the mouth and tend to be associated with impacted teeth and other cystic lesions. The odontomas have a tendency to become symptomatic due to local infection such as sinusitis, infected adjacent tooth, and the exposure of tumor to oral environment. The aim of this paper is to elucidate the primary features and treatment of these lesions, depending on published data and individual witness.

Generation scheduling with large-scale integration of renewable energy sources using grey wolf optimization

Purpose

Generation scheduling (GS) is the most prominent and hard-hitting problem in the electrical power industry especially in an integrated power system. Countless techniques have been used so far to solve this GS problem for proper functioning of the units in the power system to dispatch the load economically to consumers at once. Therefore, this work aims to study for the best possible function of integrated power plants to obtain the most favourable solution to the GS problem.

Design/methodology/approach

An appropriate method works in a proper way and assures to give the best solution to the GS problem. The finest function of incorporated power plants should be mathematically devised as a problem and via that the aim of the GS problem to minimize the total fuel cost subject to different constraints will be achieved. In this research work, the latest meta-heuristic and swarm intelligence-based technique called grey wolf optimization (GWO) technique is used as an optimization tool that will work along with the formulated problem for correct scheduling of generating units and thus achieve the objective function.

Findings

The recommended GWO technique provides the best feasible solution which is optimal in its performance for different test cases in the GS problem of integrated power plant. It is further found that the obtained solutions using GWO method are better than the former reports of other traditional methods in terms of solution excellence. The GWO method is found to be unique in its performance and having superior computational efficiency.

Practical implications

Decision making is significant for effective operation of integrated power plants in an electrical power system. The recommended tactic implements a modern meta-heuristic procedure that is applied to diverse test systems. The method that is proposed is efficient in providing the best solutions of solving GS problems. The suggested method surpasses the early techniques by offering the most excellent feasible solutions. Thus, it is obvious that the proposed method may be the appropriate substitute to attain the optimal operation of GS problem.

Social implications

Renewable energy sources are discontinuous and infrequent in nature, and it is tough to predict them in general. Further, integrating renewable energy source-based plants with the conventional plant is extremely difficult to operate and maintain. Operation of integrated power system is full of challenges and complications. To handle those complications and challenges, the GWO algorithm is suggested for solving the GS problem and thus obtain the optimal solution in integrated power systems by considering the reserve requirement, load balance, equality and inequality constraints.

Originality/value

The proposed system should be further tested on diverse test systems to evaluate its performance in solving a GS problem and the results should be compared. Computation results reveal that the proposed GWO method is efficient in attaining best solution in GS problem. Further, its performance is effectively established by comparing the result obtained by GWO with other traditional methods.

Acceleration of Intruding Anterior Tooth by Alveolar Corticotomy

True intrusion is one of the difficult and complex goals to achieve which requires clinical judgment, skills, and experience. Intrusion requires less force level than other tooth movement, but it requires delicacy since the entire stress is concentrated in the apex of the root. Although true intrusion alone is not challenging, eliminating the adverse effect while intruding requires tedious skills of the clinician. A 17-year-old male patient with Class I malocclusion with open bite has a prominent maxillary cortical bone. He had a convex profile with an unpleasant smile. To reduce the bulkiness of cortical bone and to intrude the upper anterior, so the decision was made to perform corticotomy.

Crystallinity and lowering band gap induced visible light photocatalytic activity of TiO2/CS (Chitosan) nanocomposites

The inhibition of electrons-holes recombination and enhancement of visible light photocatalytic activity were accomplished by the synthesized TiO₂/CS nanocomposites system. In this present work, the different weight ratio of TiO₂ and chitosan (75:25, 50:50 and 25:75) nanocomposites were synthesized via two-step method. After that, the existing functional groups, size and structure of the nanocomposites system were characterized via FT-IR, TEM and XRD measurements. The band gap of the prepared materials and its excitation and emission spectra were elevated through UV-vis and PL analyses. Moreover, the MO and MB degradation capability of the synthesized TiO₂/CS nanocomposites was optimized, and the outcomes are described in detail.

Anti-inflammatory effect of ethanolic extract of spine, skin and rind of Jack fruit peel - A comparative study

The present study was conducted to identify the chemical constituents and evaluate the anti-inflammatory activity of crude ethanolic extracts of spine, skin and rind of jack fruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) peel. Polyphenol and flavonoid contents were assessed using Folin's Ciocalteu reagent and aluminium chloride methods which revealed 316, 355 and 382 mg tannic acid equivalent/g of polyphenol and 96.7, 131.6 and 164.6 mg quercetin equivalent/g of flavonoid in spine, skin and rind, respectively. Anti-inflammatory activity of all three extracts was comparable to diclofenac in vitro and in vivo studies. Skin exhibited maximum anti-inflammatory activity, rind had preferential inhibition on Cyclooxygenase-2 and spine and skin inhibited both Cyclooxygenase-1 and 2 in vitro.

Identification of Variable Traits among the Methicillin Resistant and Sensitive Coagulase Negative Staphylococci in Milk Samples from Mastitic Cows in India

Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus causing bovine mastitis has been very well investigated worldwide. However, there are only limited reports on the characterization of methicillin resistant and sensitive coagulase negative staphylococci (CoNS) across the globe. Hence, in the present study, we aim to determine the phenotypic traits based on antimicrobial susceptibility profile and genotypic characterization by verifying the presence of resistance determinants, virulence and toxin genes present in the CoNS causing clinical mastitis. We obtained 62 CoNS isolates from 167 mastitic milk samples collected from three different states of India. The 62 isolates comprises of 10 different CoNS species S. sciuri, S. haemolyticus, S. chromogenes, S. saprophyticus, S. xylosus, S. simulans, S. agnetis, S. epidermidis, S. gallinarum, and S. cohinii. Susceptibility screening against 11 antibiotics determined 45.16% isolates as multidrug resistant (resistant to more than two class of antibiotic), 46.74% resistant (one or two antibiotic class) and 8.06% isolates were pan-sensitive (sensitive to all drugs). High resistance was observed against oxacillin and cefoxitin, whereas all isolates were susceptible toward vancomycin and linezolid. Fifty three isolates were methicillin resistant and 9 isolates were sensitive as determined by oxacillin susceptibility assay. The methicillin resistance gene, mecA was found in 95.16% isolates and staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) typing predominantly revealed Type III (n = 34) and Type V (n = 18). Interestingly, 11.9% of mecA positive isolates were oxacillin susceptible and referred as oxacillin susceptible mecA positive staphylococci (OS-MRS). Additionally, genes encoding for enterotoxin, (sea, seb, seh, see) toxic shock syndrome (tsst), exfoliatin (eta, etb, etd) and virulence (pvl, Y-hlg) were also screened. Of all the genes examined, 67.74% of isolate were positive for the Y-hlg gene, followed by the sea gene in 25.8% whereas in none of the isolates the eta and the etb gene was amplified. The study also highlights the incidence of clinical isolates of CoNS, which are harboring the toxin and the virulence genes rendering them as a more potential threat. This is the first report of animal origin OS-MRS from India, which emphasizes on the inclusion of both the genetic and phenotypic test for proper characterization of CoNS and preventing resistant strain misidentification.

A novel process for the production of high-purity galactooligosaccharides (GOS) using consortium of microbes

Galactooligosaccharides (GOS) are nondigestible dietary fibers which have a beneficial effect on human health by promoting the growth of probiotic bacteria in the gut. In addition, other health benefits have been reported from oligosaccharides consumption such as stimulation of intestinal mobility, colon cancer prevention, mineral absorption as well as protection against certain pathogenic bacterial infections. The goal of this research was to develop an efficient biotransformation system using a consortium of microbes for the production of ≥85% pure GOS and reusing the cell biomass in repeated cycles of biotransformation. Production of GOS by lactose transgalactosylation using whole cells of Sporobolomyces singularis MTCC 5491 as a source of β-galactosidase and monosaccharides utilization by yeast isolate (NUTIDY007) were studied. For increasing the purity of GOS, growth and bioconversion parameters on the transgalactosylation by the whole cells were investigated. Further, continuous production of GOS was studied in a reactor with microfiltration membrane system. A maximum GOS purity of 42% was achieved using single culture of S. singularis. Under optimized conditions, single culture of S. singularis produced a maximum of 56% pure GOS. Addition of second culture to the reaction mixture for utilization of glucose significantly increased the GOS purity from 56% to ≥85%. The product consisted of tri- to penta-galactooligosaccharides. Trisaccharides were the main component of the reaction mixture. A maximum productivity of 10.9 g/L/hr was obtained under the optimum conditions.

A Framework for Efficient Routing in MANET using Index Routing Tables-based Algorithms

Conventional network routing protocols rely on predefined numerical network unique node ID or group identifier for packet delivery, independent of semantic applications. This compels incorporation of resource/service discovery approaches in the design itself, at higher layers of network, causing additional overhead. This overhead, though tolerable in high speed wired networks, significantly restricts the performance in the infrastructure-less wireless ad hoc networks expending their limited battery resources, which are already consumed due to assigning unique identifiers to the naturally anonymous and high mobile nodes. This study proposes a single routing approach which facilitates descriptive and semantically-rich identification of network’s resources/services. This fusion of the discovery processes of the resources and the path based on their similarity in a single phase significantly reduces traffic load and latency of communication considering the generality too. Further, a framework capable of exploiting application-specific semantics of messages, adaptable to diverse traffic patterns is proposed. Analytical results amply illustrate the scalability and efficacy of the proposed method.

Cellulose bearing Schiff base and carboxylic acid chelating groups: a low cost and green adsorbent for heavy metal ion removal from aqueous solution

Chemically modified cellulose bearing metal binding sites like Schiff base and carboxylic acid groups was synthesized and characterized through Fourier transform infrared and solid state ¹³C-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analysis. The chemically modified cellulose (Cell-PA) adsorbent was examined for its metal ion uptake ability for Cu(II) and Pb(II) ions from aqueous solution. Kinetic and isotherm studies were carried out under optimum conditions. Pseudo-second-order kinetics and Langmuir isotherm fit well with the experimental data. Thermodynamic studies were also performed along with adsorption regeneration performance studies. The adsorbent (Cell-PA) shows high potential for the removal of Cu(II) and Pb(II) metal ions, and it shows antibacterial activity towards selected microorganisms.

Prevalence and Characterization of Oxacillin Susceptible mecA-Positive Clinical Isolates of Staphylococcus aureus Causing Bovine Mastitis in India

Bovine mastitis caused by multidrug resistant Staphylococcus aureus is a huge problem reported worldwide, resulting in prolonged antibiotic treatment and death of livestock. The current study is focused on surveillance of antibiotic susceptibility along with genotypic and phenotypic characterization of the pathogenic S. aureus strains causing mastitis in India. One hundred and sixty seven milk samples were collected from mastitis-affected cows from different farms in India resulting in thirty nine isolated S. aureus strains. Antibiotic sensitivity profiling revealed the majority of the strains (n = 24) to be multidrug resistant and eleven strains showed reduced susceptibility to vancomycin (MICs = 2μg/ml). All strains were oxacillin sensitive, but 19 strains were positive for the mecA gene, which revealed the occurrence of oxacillin susceptible mecA positive strains (OS-MRSA) for the first time from India. Additionally, 32 strains were positive for the pvl gene, a virulence determinant; of these 17 were also OS-MRSA strains. Molecular characterization based on multilocus sequence typing (MLST), spa typing, agr typing and SCCmec classification revealed strains belonging to different groups. Moreover, strains showed spa types (t2526, t9602) and MLST sequence types, ST-72, ST-88 and ST-239 which have been earlier reported in human infections. The prevalence of OS-MRSA strains indicates the importance of including both the genetic and phenotypic tests in characterizing S. aureus strains. Increased genotypic variability with strain related to human infections and pvl positive isolates indicates a worrisome situation with the possibility of bilateral transfer.