Role of routine urine culture in predicting asymptomatic bacteriuria in pregnancy and the prevalence of asymptomatic bacteriuria in pregnant women - Our experience

Asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB) in pregnancy can flare into frank pyelonephritis and sepsis if untreated due to the low immunity. Apart from causing morbidity in mothers it affects the foetus by increasing the incidence of prematurity and IUGR. The present study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of ASB in the pregnant women attending Ante natal clinic and the significance of routine urine culture. : Total 310 pregnant women attending the antenatal OPD were enrolled in the study over a period of 10 months. Inclusion criteria included all pregnant women attending antenatal OPD without any urinary symptoms or history of fever. Exclusion criteria included frank UTI symptoms like fever, dysuria, increased frequency of urine, any history of intake of antibiotics, any urinary tract anomaly or renal calculi. Their midstream urine sampling was collected and subjected to both microscopy and culture sensitivity; standard microbiological method was used. The prevalence of ASB was found to be 11.29% and was maximum in second trimester (54.2%). The study revealed routine urine culture is a sensitive test to diagnose ASB. The commonest bacterium isolated was Escherichia coli (51.4% cases) and the most effective antibiotic was Nitrofurantoin. The neonatal outcomes are discussed in the text while no perinatal deaths were recorded during the period of study. No direct association of asymptomatic bacteriuria with anaemia and preeclampsia was found, but odds ratio was more than one. The study highlights that asymptomatic bacteriuria is a common occurrence in pregnant women, including urine culture as a part of routine investigation in antenatal patients can help diagnose this condition. Prompt treatment of ASB can prevent any obstetric complication arising from the flareup of asymptomatic bacteriuria in pregnancy and thus reduce maternal and foetal morbidity.

Design and Experiment Using Flexible Bumps for Piezoelectric-Driven Hydraulically Amplified Braille Dot Display

This paper describes the design of a piezoelectric-driven hydraulically amplified Braille-flexible bump device that enables the flexible formation of Braille characters. A piezoelectric vibrator is used to excite fluid resonance in a cavity, and displacement is realized by compressing the fluid, allowing Braille character dots to be formed. First, the structural design and working principle of the device, as well as the method used to drive the fluid, are explained. Expressions for the output displacement and amplification ratio of the flexible film and piezoelectric vibrator are then obtained through kinetic analysis of the system unit. Subsequently, the structural parameters that affect the output displacement and the liquid amplification are described. Finally, experimental tests of the system are explained. The results indicate that the output displacement of the contact formed by the flexible film reaches 0.214 mm, satisfying the requirements of the touch sensitivity standard for the blind, when the fluid cavity diameter measures 31 mm and the resonance frequency is 375.4 Hz. The corresponding water discharge is 8.8 mL. This study proves that constructing a Braille bump device in this way is both feasible and effective.

Spectrophotometric Determination of Phenthoate in Vegetables and Fruit Samples of Kabirdham (Chhattisgarh)

A large variety of pesticides have been used in the agriculturearea to raise the quality, extend and yield storage life of crops.However, the use of pesticides has been greater than before now a day dueto the growing rapid urbanization and population. The nonstop uses ofthese pesticides have resulted in pollution of the environment and alsocaused risk to human health. For the rapid detection of selective phenthoate pesticides, we developed a simple and highly sensitive spectrophotometric method based on azo-coupling reaction. After a simple pretreatment of phenthoatewith a diazotized solution,the resulting is rapidly undergoing azo-coupling reaction with 4-aminoazobenzene with adramatic color change only in few minutes.Finally, we successfully applied the concentration of phenthoate pesticides on vegetable, fruit, water, and soil samples. In this method, we found the absorption maxima of the orange dye compound was measuredat480nm.ThecolorsystemobeysBeer’slawinthefollowingworkingrangeof5µg to 40 µg in a final solution of 25 mL. The molar absorptivity, Sandell’s sensitivity, standard deviation, and the relative standard deviation was found to be 1.083X107L mol-1 cm-1, 0.99X10-5µg cm-2, ±0.003 and 0.89% respectively. This method is simple, sensitive, andfree from interferences of other pesticides and diverse ions. Other pesticides do not interfere with the proposed method. The method is highly reproducible and has been successfully applied for the determination of phenthoate insecticides in vegetables and fruit samples.

X-RAY CONTROL OF WELDED JOINTS ACCORDING TO GOST AND ISO SYSTEMS

The results of comparative analysis of assessing modes, parameters and means of radiographic control of welded joints of critical duty using the Russian (GOST) and international (ISO) standards are presented. Comparison was carried out by the sensitivity of control, permissible radiation energy (affecting the formation of the contrast of the radiation image), and minimum focal length (determining the sharpness of the resulting optical image). Requirements of the ISO system for the sensitivity of control are higher, than that of the State standard specification system. The sensitivity assessment in the ISO system is carried out using the wire indicator, the dimensions of which are smaller than the dimensions of the grooves of the groove sensitivity standard, regulated by GOST. However, the choice of the radiation energy in the system requirements GOST is stricter than that in the ISO system. This provides enhanced contrast of the generated radiation image. The conversion of the radiation image into an optical one using the ISO system is carried out using film systems of a high optical density. According to the ISO requirements transformation of the radiation image to the optical one is to be carried out using film systems of the certain class. And, as a result, transformation of the radiation image to the optical occurs in the field of high gradients. GOST imposes no requirement to film systems, since there is the only one class of domestic film on the market. The requirements to the minimum allowable focal length (GOST) are higher compared to the ISO system, which makes it possible to obtain better sharpness of radiographic images. Performance monitoring according to GOST also exceeds that of ISO. As a result, we can conclude that the quality welded joints should be monitored using the complete set of the accepted standards.

Allelopathic Activity of the Hydrolate and Water Decoction of Brachiaria humidicola (Rendle) Plant Parts on the Germination of Four Tropical Leguminous Species

Knowledge of allelopathic interactions between grasses and legumes can contribute for the successful establishment of mixed tropical pastures in Brazil. The purpose of this work was to evaluate the allelopathic effect of the hydrolate and water decoction of Brachiaria humidicola (Rendle) plant parts (root, shoot, and seeds) on four tropical forage legumes Stylosanthes spp. cv. Campo Grande, Macrotyloma axillare, Calopogonium mucunoides, Desmodium ovalifolium, and on lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.), this last species used as a sensitivity standard in allelopathic bioassays. The results obtained for roots and shoots showed, in the case of hydrolate, the highest inhibitory effect on germination rates of the receiving species, while seed hydrolates had a stimulating effect depending on the legume species. In contrast, water decoction extracts had the highest inhibitory effects on root and seed fraction, and the lowest on the shoot fraction. Regarding the receiving species, germination percentages of M. axillare showed higher tolerance to inhibitory effects of the aqueous extracts of B. humidicola, while D. ovalifolium showed the highest sensitivity.

Optimal Seat Suspension Design Based on Minimum “Simulated Subjective Response”

This work addresses a method for improving vertical whole body vibration isolation through optimal seat suspension design. The primary thrusts of this investigation are: (1) the development of a simple model that captures the essential dynamics of a seated human exposed to vertical vibration, (2) the selection and evaluation of several standards for assessing human sensitivity to vertical vibration, and (3) the determination of the seat suspension parameters that minimize these standards to yield optimal vibration isolation. Results show that the optimal seat and cushion damping coefficients depend very much on the selection of the vibration sensitivity standard and on the lower bound of the stiffnesses used in the constrained optimization procedure. In all cases, however, the optimal seat damping obtained here is significantly larger (by than a factor of 10) than that obtained using existing seat suspension design methods or from previous optimal suspension studies. This research also indicates that the existing means of assessing vibration in suspension design (ISO 7096) requires modification.

Introduction of a Nist Instrument Sensitivity Standard Reference Material for X-Ray Powder Diffraction

Improvements in sample preparation methods have resulted in increased accuracy in x-ray powder diffraction intensity measurements. This improvement has focused scrutiny on the instrument as a potential source of error. NIST Standard Reference Material, SRM, 1976 consists of a sintered α alumina, corundum, plate certified with respect to 12 relative intensity values from 25 to 145 degrees 2θ. Its function is to allow for standardization of powder diffraction intensity as a function of 2θ angle (instrument sensitivity). An increase in the accuracy of interlaboratory comparisons of diffraction intensity and related determinations will result. Utilization of the SRM requires the user to collect intensity data from the test instrument in a manner which conforms to that used in the certification. Graphical interpretation of the ratio of these data to those on the certificate will allow for appropriate judgment as to the condition of the test instrument. Discontinuities in the data indicate a malfunctioning or misaligned instrument. Systematic bias, introduced by design characteristics of the test instrument, manifests itself in terms of a pattern in the data other than a horizontal straight line with value of one. This bias may be removed with the calculation and application of a correction curve.