We investigate the morphology and size distribution of satellite droplets resulting from the interaction of a freely falling water droplet with a swirling airstream of different strengths by employing shadowgraphy and deep-learning-based digital in-line holography techniques. We found that the droplet exhibits vibrational, retracting bag and normal breakup phenomena for the no swirl, low and high swirl strengths for the same aerodynamic field. In the high-swirl scenario, the disintegrations of the nodes, rim and bag-film contribute to the number mean diameter, resulting in smaller satellite droplets. In contrast, in the low-swirl case, the breakup of the rim and nodes only contributes to the size distribution, resulting in larger droplets. The temporal variation of the Sauter mean diameter reveals that for a given aerodynamic force, a high swirl strength produces more surface area and surface energy than a low swirl strength. The theoretical prediction of the number-mean probability density of tiny satellite droplets under swirl conditions agrees with experimental data. However, for the low swirl, the predictions differ from the experimental results, particularly due to the presence of large satellite droplets. Our results reveal that the volume-weighted droplet size distribution exhibits two (bi-modal) and three (multi-model) peaks for low and high swirl strengths, respectively. The analytical model that takes into account various mechanisms, such as the nodes, rim and bag breakups, accurately predicts the shape and characteristic sizes of each mode for the case of high swirl strength.

Three-dimensionalities in the wake of flow past a circular cylinder executing sinusoidal rotary oscillations about its axis is studied experimentally. The results of water tunnel experiments on a rotationally oscillating cylinder for Reynolds number of 250 with varying amplitude and forcing frequency are discussed. Qualitative studies using hydrogen bubble and laser-induced fluorescence flow visualisation techniques are performed. Observation made for oscillating amplitude, $\theta _{0} = {\rm \pi}/4$ and $\theta _{0}=3{\rm \pi} /4$, and a low normalised forcing frequency, $FR$, of 0.75 and 0.5, respectively, confirmed a mode having a spanwise non-dimensional wavelength of $\sim$1.8 which is also observed for a rotating cylinder. On increasing forcing frequency this mode disappears and a new mode with a bean-shaped structure and a much smaller spanwise normalised wavelength of $\sim$0.8 appears at an $FR$ of 1 and an oscillation amplitude of ${\rm \pi} /2$. This mode remains almost stable until a forcing frequency of $FR=1.4$. At higher forcing frequency, $FR=2.75$, and oscillation amplitude of $3{\rm \pi} /4$, a mode with cellular structure and a normalised spanwise wavelength of $\sim$1.6 is identified. The cells in this mode flatten up with increasing downstream distance and are shed alternately with respect to the adjacent cell. Certain combinations of forcing parameters resulted in a forced two-dimensionality of the wake. Quantitative studies using hot-wire measurements and particle image velocimetry confirm the presence of these modes and wake characteristics. Wake mode map in the forcing frequency and amplitude plane is presented showing regions of newly discovered modes and wake lock-on boundaries.

False smut of rice is an emerging disease and caused severe damage to hybrids and inbred rice cultivars grown in Asian countries. The objective of the study was to quantify of false smut resistance and identification of donors in some of the advanced breeding lines and rice varieties developed at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, India. A total of 31 genotypes were evaluated for three years in two planting date per year under field conditions. The lines were categorized into short, medium and long durations based on days to flowering. False smut was quantified using different disease variables such as per cent infected panicle, number of false smut ball per plant and disease score. Disease variables were significantly and positively correlated to each other. The infected panicle ranged 0.0–75.4% was observed among the genotypes. Three advanced lines namely RGS-2 (short), RGM-3 (medium) and RGL-3 (long) showed the lowest ranged 0.0–4.9% of infected panicle as compared to susceptible checks (47.7–75.4%). The genotypes were divided into five groups according to a component of resistance. The third group had the lowest average values (3.3%) of infected panicle as compared to the fifth group with the highest values (36.2%) of the infected panicle. The overall trend of disease variables was higher in short duration genotypes as compared to medium and long durations. Weather factors such as rain fall, rainy days and high relative humidity during the flowering period were favourable for disease development. The genotypes with lower disease variables could be utilized in diseases resistance breeding programme.

Numerical simulation based on the discrete element method (DEM) is used to investigate the flow field generated when a cylindrical obstacle is placed in a supersonic granular stream. Robust validation of the simulation model is performed by comparing numerical results with experiments. Experiments are performed using a two-dimensional set-up generating rapid granular flow owing to gravity. DEM simulations demonstrate that a rapid gas-like stream of grains suddenly decelerates across the shock wave and finally collapses into a slow-moving heap at the cylinder. The volume fraction suddenly increases across the shock layer and remains constant thereafter. The flow physics of the shock wave and the granular heap is elucidated through fundamental fluid dynamic quantities such as the velocity, volume fraction, pressure and granular temperature. It is shown that the interaction of grains with a cylindrical obstacle results in the generation of pressure, which is responsible for sustaining static granular heaps on the cylinder. The total pressure is resolved into collisional and streaming components. A streaming pressure is generated owing to velocity fluctuations, and is found to be significant only in the shock wave region. The observations show that the rheological complexity offered by granular shock waves is a direct manifestation of the dissipative and frictional nature of granular collisions. The new insight into the granular heaps could be relevant to a variety of applications involving granular-fluid–solid interactions.

Granular flows are highly dissipative due to frictional resistance and inelasticity in collisions among grains. They are known to exhibit shock waves at velocities that are easily achieved in industrial and nature-driven flows such as avalanches and landslides. This experimental work investigates the formation of strong shock waves on triangular obstacles placed in a dry rapid granular stream in a confined two-dimensional set-up. Oblique attached shock waves are formed for mild turning angles and higher flow velocities, whereas strong bow shock waves are formed for higher turning angles and slower granular streams. A shadowgraph imaging technique elucidates interesting characteristics of the shock waves, especially in the vicinity of shock detachment. Velocity distributions in the form of scatter plots and probability distribution functions are calculated from the flow field data obtained by particle imaging velocimetry. The flow field around the granular shock wave region represents a bimodal distribution of velocities with two distinct peaks, one representing the supersonic flow within the free stream, and the other corresponding to the subsonic faction downstream of a shock wave. Connecting the two is a population that does not directly belong to either of the modes, constituting the non-equilibrium shock wave region. The effect of grain size and scaling, for fixed free-stream conditions and fixed channel width, on the shock detachment is presented. The mechanisms of the static heap formation and the shock detachment process in a confined environment are discussed.

A circularly polarized ring cylindrical dielectric resonator antenna (ring-CDRA) of wideband impedance bandwidth is presented in this article. The proposed ring CDRA consist of an inverted rectangular (tilted rectangular) shaped aperture and inverted L-shaped slotted microstrip feed line. The tilted rectangular shaped aperture and inverted L-shaped microstrip feed line generate two-hybrid mode HEM11δ and HEM12δ while ring CDRA and slotted microstrip feed line are used for the enhancement of impedance bandwidth. The proposed ring CDRA is resonating between 6.08 and 12.2 GHz with 66.95% (6120 MHz) impedance bandwidth. The axial ratio (AR) bandwidth of 6.99% (780 MHz) is obtained between 10.76 and 11.54 GHz with a minimum AR value of 0.2 dB at a frequency of 11 GHz. The proposed geometry of ring CDRA has been validated with measurement performed by VNA and anechoic chamber. The operating range of the proposed radiator is useful for different applications in X-band.

Experimental studies are conducted on a rotationally oscillating cylinder with an attached flexible filament at a Reynolds number of 150. Parametric studies are carried out to investigate the effect of cylinder forcing parameters and filament stiffness on the resultant wake structure. The diagnostics are flow visualization using the laser-induced fluorescence technique, frequency measurement using a hot film, and characterization of the velocity and vorticity field using planar particle image velocimetry. The streamwise force and power are estimated through control volume analysis, using a modified formulation, which considers the streamwise and transverse velocity fluctuations in the wake. These terms become important in a flow field where asymmetric wakes are observed. An attached filament significantly modifies the flow past a rotationally oscillating cylinder from a Bénard–Kármán vortex street to a reverse Bénard–Kármán vortex street, albeit over a certain range of Strouhal number, $St_{A} \sim 0.25\text {--}0.5$, encountered in nature in flapping flight/fish locomotion and in the flow past pitching airfoils. The transition from a Kármán vortex street to a reverse Kármán vortex street precedes the drag-to-thrust transition. The mechanism of unsteady thrust generation is discussed. Maximum thrust is generated at the instants when vortices are shed in the wake from the filament tip. At $St_{A} > 0.4$, a deflected wake associated with the shedding of an asymmetric vortex street is observed. Filament flexibility delays the formation of an asymmetric wake. Wake symmetry is governed by the time instant at which a vortex pair is shed in the wake from the filament tip.

Effectiveness of corona virus disease-19 (COVID-19) vaccines used in India is unexplored and need to be substantiated. The present case-control study was planned to elicit the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines in preventing infection and disease severity in the general population of Bihar, India. This case-control study was conducted among people aged ≥45 years during April to June 2021. The cases were the COVID-19 patients admitted or visited All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Patna, Bihar, India, and were contacted directly. The controls were the individuals tested negative for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS CoV-2) at the Virology laboratory, AIIMS-Patna and contacted telephonically for collection of relevant information. The vaccine effectiveness (VE) was calculated by using the formula (VE = 1 – odds ratio). The adjusted VE for partial and full vaccination were estimated to be 52.0% (95% confidence interval (CI) 39.0–63.0%) and 83.0% (95% CI 73.0–89.0%) respectively for preventing SARS CoV-2 infection. The sub-group analyses of the cases have shown that the length of hospital stays (LOS) (partially vaccinated: 9 days vs. unvaccinated: 12 days; P = 0.028) and the severity of the disease (fully vaccinated: 30.3% vs. partially vaccinated: 51.3% and unvaccinated: 54.1%; P = 0.035) were significantly low among vaccinated compared to unvaccinated individuals. To conclude, four out of every five fully vaccinated individuals are estimated to be protected from contracting SARS CoV-2 infection. Vaccination lowered LOS and chances of development of severe disease.

Background: Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are a major global threat to patient safety. Systematic surveillance is crucial for understanding HAI rates and antimicrobial resistance trends and to guide infection prevention and control (IPC) activities based on local epidemiology. In India, no standardized national HAI surveillance system was in place before 2017. Methods: Public and private hospitals from across 21 states in India were recruited to participate in an HAI surveillance network. Baseline assessments followed by trainings ensured that basic microbiology and IPC implementation capacity existed at all sites. Standardized surveillance protocols for central-line–associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) and catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs) were modified from the NHSN for the Indian context. IPC nurses were trained to implement surveillance protocols. Data were reported through a locally developed web portal. Standardized external data quality checks were performed to assure data quality. Results: Between May 2017 and April 2019, 109 ICUs from 37 hospitals (29 public and 8 private) enrolled in the network, of which 33 were teaching hospitals with >500 beds. The network recorded 679,109 patient days, 212,081 central-line days, and 387,092 urinary catheter days. Overall, 4,301 bloodstream infection (BSI) events and 1,402 urinary tract infection (UTI) events were reported. The network CLABSI rate was 9.4 per 1,000 central-line days and the CAUTI rate was 3.4 per 1,000 catheter days. The central-line utilization ratio was 0.31 and the urinary catheter utilization ratio was 0.57. Moreover, 3,542 (73%) of 4,742 pathogens reported from BSIs and 868 (53%) of 1,644 pathogens reported from UTIs were gram negative. Also, 1,680 (26.3%) of all 6,386 pathogens reported were Enterobacteriaceae. Of 1,486 Enterobacteriaceae with complete antibiotic susceptibility testing data reported, 832 (57%) were carbapenem resistant. Of 951 Enterobacteriaceae subjected to colistin broth microdilution testing, 62 (7%) were colistin resistant. The surveillance platform identified 2 separate hospital-level HAI outbreaks; one caused by colistin-resistant K. pneumoniae and another due to Burkholderia cepacia. Phased expansion of surveillance to additional hospitals continues. Conclusions: HAI surveillance was successfully implemented across a national network of diverse hospitals using modified NHSN protocols. Surveillance data are being used to understand HAI burden and trends at the facility and national levels, to inform public policy, and to direct efforts to implement effective hospital IPC activities. This network approach to HAI surveillance may provide lessons to other countries or contexts with limited surveillance capacity.

Funding: None

Disclosures: None

Here we present direct dates of food grains and insights into agricultural strategies adopted by Harappans from a newly excavated Indus site 4MSR (Binjor) in northwestern India. The site revealed Early and Mature Harappan phases delimited by a Transitional phase based on ceramics and archaeological artifacts. The macro-botanical remains revealed that the site was occupied by an agricultural society during the Early phase (~2900−2600 BCE), whereas diversification of the economy including more craft specialization, along with an agricultural advancement was witnessed during the Mature phase (~2500−1800 BCE). The advent of summer crops during the Transitional phase (~2600−2500 BCE) indicates climate amelioration attributed to inception of strong Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM). By the end of Mature phase, millet was recorded due to a change in climatic (relatively lower moisture) conditions or drying of the river channel, which forced the settlers to shift the cropping (agricultural) strategy in the region. Plausibly, this unavailability of water during the end of Mature phase led the settlers to abandon the site in order to migrate somewhere else. The subsistence pattern indicates continuity and change in temporal domain likely owing to changing climatic/environmental conditions, resources and knowledge gained by exchange/trade of cultures over a time period between ~2900 BCE to 1800 BCE.

Shock–shock interaction structures and a newly discovered dynamic instability in granular streams resulting from such interactions are presented. Shock waves are generated by placing two similar triangular wedges in a gravity-driven granular stream. When the shock waves interact, grains collapse near the centre region of the wedges and a slow-moving concentrated diamond-shaped streak of grains is formed that grows as the inclination of the channel is increased. The diamond streak, under certain geometric conditions, is found to become unstable and start oscillating in the direction transverse to the mainstream. When the wedges are placed too close to each other, the granular flux of the incoming stream is unable to pass through the small gap, resulting in the formation of a single bow shock enveloping both the wedges. Experiments are performed for a wide range of flow speeds, wedge angles and wedge separations to investigate the interaction zone. We discuss a possible mechanism for the formation of the central streak and the associated dynamic instability observed for specific physical parameters.

Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles are well known for biomedical applications. The particle size, morphology, surface area, and functionalization are the key parameters that affect their bioactivity properties. Inline to this, the superparamagnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles were prepared via chemical coprecipitation method with an average particle size of 6 ± 3 nm. The particles were surface-functionalized with chitosan and in-house prepared reduced graphene oxide (rGO) to obtain chitosan-coated Fe3O4 nanoparticles (C-Fe3O4) and rGO-Fe3O4 nanocomposites (G-Fe3O4), respectively. Upon functionalization, the physicochemical properties of the materials were characterized thoroughly using X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, vibrating sample magnetometer, Raman Spectroscopy, and thermal gravimetric analysis. Furthermore, they have subjected to cytotoxicity assay, agar two-fold broth dilution test, and disc diffusion assay experiments for the determination of cytotoxicity and antibacterial activities. The effect of surface functionalization on their bioactivity was investigated thoroughly. The surface functionalization with chitosan and rGO has enhanced the bioactivity of the Fe3O4 nanoparticles.

Chemically modified polymer coatings have been synthesized using a blend of soft polymeric material polydimethylsiloxane (h-PDMS) incorporated with stiff polymer epoxy resin (EP) and was cross-linked using silane compatibilizer 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES). A comparative analysis has been carried out between neat epoxy coating (N-EP) and epoxy–hydroxy-terminated polydimethylsiloxane (EP-hPD) blends to study the influence of blending ratio on various properties to cater marine applications. An increase of 144.4% in the Young’s modulus (E) and 37.5% increment in adhesion strength at 30 wt% h-PDMS content was observed as compared with N-EP. The water contact angle results demonstrated a substantial increase in contact angle from 52.3° to 90.1° at 30 wt% h-PDMS content as compared to N-EP. Taber abrasion results revealed a decrease in weight loss (mg/1000 cycles) by 24.1 and 17.7% at 10 and 30 wt% loading of h-PDMS in comparison to N-EP. The surface roughness of N-EP and 30 wt% EP-hPD blend were found to be 33.4 nm and 41.4 nm, respectively. To determine the applicability of the developed blend coatings obligatory tests such as field immersion study and chemical resistance evaluation were conducted, and optimum performance was manifested by EP-hPD blend at an EP:h-PDMS ratio of 70:30.

A four-element wide-band octagonal ring-shaped antenna is proposed for human interface device and S-band applications. The isolation structure comprises a parasitic element and a T-shaped structure. The antenna has −10 dB impedance bandwidth 63% (2.1–4.0 GHz) with miniaturized dimension of 54.98 mm × 76 mm. The multiple input multiple output (MIMO) antenna gain is 2.83 dBi at the 2.4 GHz resonant frequency. The designed MIMO has envelop correlation coefficient of 0.026 in the 2:1 VSWR band. The −10 dB total active reflection coefficient bandwidth of 1.2 GHz has been achieved in the entire frequency band, and has MEG value of ≤−3 dB. The specific absorption rate has found below the safety limit near the human head, palm and wrist.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are increasingly being used to measure developmental progress among and within countries. Achieving the health-related SDGs remains a primary concern of many developing countries. This study measured the progress in selected health-related indicators of SDGs in the states of India by social and economic groups, and predicted their likely progress by 2030. The health indicators analysed included health outcomes, nutrition, health care utilization and determinants of health. Data from the Census of India, Sample Registration System (SRS), National Family and Health Surveys (NFHSs) and National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) were used in the analysis. Annual rate of progress (ARP) and the required rate of progress (RRP) were computed for selected indicators over the period 2005–06 to 2015–16. A Composite Index of Health (CIH) was used to understand the state of health of populations. The ARP was higher than the RRP in maternal care and reduction of under-five mortality, while ARP was lower than the RRP in undernutrition and sanitation. The ARP for health-related indicators showed a mixed pattern across religion and caste groups. The ARP for medical assistance at birth and immunization was highest among Scheduled Castes and that for reduction of under-five mortality was highest among Scheduled Tribes. The CIH was lowest in Uttar Pradesh (0.26) and highest in Goa (0.81). The association between the CIH and the Human Development Index (HDI) was significant, suggesting interlinkage between health and development. Notable improvements were observed in maternal and child health and maternal health care utilization across social groups in India over the period 2005–06 to 2015–16, and if the trends continue the country can achieve the SDG target in maternal health by 2030. However, progress in nutrition and other health indicators has been slow and uneven.

The solar active region (AR) 12192 was one of the most flare productive region of solar cycle 24, which produced many X-class flares; the most energetic being an X3.1 flare on October 24, 2014 at 21:10 UT. Customarily, such events are believed to be triggered by magnetic reconnection in coronal magnetic fields. Here we use the vector magnetograms from solar photosphere, obtained from Heliospheric Magnetic Imager (HMI) to investigate the magnetic field topology prior to the X3.1 event, and ascertain the conditions that might have caused the flare. To infer the coronal magnetic field, a novel non-force-free field (NFFF) extrapolation technique of the photospheric field is used, which suitably mimics the Lorentz forces present in the photospheric plasma. We also highlight the presence of magnetic null points and quasi-separatrix layers (QSLs) in the magnetic field topology, which are preferred sites for magnetic reconnections and discuss the probable reconnection scenarios.