There are 486,713 routes to Rome

All roads lead to Rome

A data visualization unveiling mobility patterns at a very large scale, created with routing algorithms on existing street infrastructure from the city to continent scale.

These are 486,713 routes to Rome.

Ranveer Singh revealed about RaamLeela first actress

In the recent episode of Koffee With Karan, Ranveer Singh revealed that Deepika Padukone made a last minute entry on Ram Leela replacing Kareena Kapoor in the film! 

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What is a power factor?

Power factor (PF) is a ratio that measures how efficiently electrical power is converted into useful work output. It's calculated by dividing the useful power (kW) by the total power (kVA) consumed by an electrical system. The ideal power factor is unity, or one. 

Power factor is measured in kilowatts (kW) and kilovolt amperes (kVA). Apparent power, also known as demand, is the measure of the amount of power used to run machinery and equipment during a certain period. It's found by multiplying (kVA = V x A). 

Power factor has a value between zero and unity. There are good, bad, and poor power factors with specific ranges: 

•Good: 1.0 to 0.95

•Poor: 0.95 to 0.85

•Bad: 0.85 and below

A high power factor indicates that the power supplied to the electrical system is effectively used. A system with low power factor doesn't effectively consume the incoming electric supply and results in losses. 

A low power factor can: 

•Increase electricity costs

•Reduce electrical distribution capacity

•Cause sluggish motor performance

•Require larger wires and other equipment

•Electrical utilities will usually charge a higher cost to industrial or commercial customers where there is a low power factor. 

Force-sensing ‘smart scalpel’ helps hone doctors’ surgical skills

Researchers have developed a scalpel with built-in force-measuring sensors and coupled it with a machine-learning model that could streamline how doctors are trained to perform surgery and pave the way for automated surgical device.

If we have to go under the knife, we want the surgeon performing the surgery to be skilled with a scalpel. It requires striking a balance between using an appropriate amount of force for deliberate and controlled tissue dissection and not applying too much, which can cause damage.

While the level of force applied to the scalpel by its human operator is – obviously – important during surgery, there have been few tools capable of measuring it in real-life settings. Now, researchers at the University of Edinburgh in the UK have developed a ‘smart scalpel’ with built-in sensors to measure force.

“We are excited to develop this new system, which uses a combination of real-life sensing technology and machine learning methods to quantitatively assess surgical skill,” said Ram Ramamoorthy, the study’s corresponding author. “This system will enable the development of new systems for skill assessment and training and could one day lead to the creation of automated surgical devices that can assist surgical teams.”

The smart scalpel prototype

Rhona Crawford/University of Edinburgh

The low-cost, easy-to-replicate device consists of a scalpel connected to a sensor-loaded circuit board fitted inside its handle. The researchers designed a machine-learning model to analyze the force applied by the users. Twelve medical students and two professional surgeons tested their innovative scalpel by performing a series of 12 elliptical incisions on a multilayered skin replica made of gelatin and silicone.

Each procedure, which involved making two curved cuts to the skin, such as those used to remove moles and melanomas, was video-recorded and assessed by four expert surgeons – two neurosurgeons and two plastic surgeons – who rated the participants’ proficiency. The researchers then analyzed the relationships between the subjective expert evaluations and the objective force-based metrics data.

Results broadly matched the surgical experts’ assessment of each medical student’s ability, suggesting that this technology could simplify the process of assessing surgical skills. Some discrepancies arose, which, the researchers say, are partly because neurosurgeons and plastic surgeons use different instrument and tissue handling techniques.

The researchers say their findings open up possibilities for future studies, including using more participants for a more comprehensive analysis. Mapping objective measurements and patient outcomes would also be instructive. They say their method shows promise as a way of analyzing highly procedural tasks such as suturing.

The study was published in the journal Communications Engineering.

Amazon river hits century-low water levels; record drought disrupts lives in Brazilian rainforest

Amazon river is facing a tough situation with century low-levels of water causing a record-drought in the Brazilian rainforest. This led to stranded boats and isolated remote villages.

The Amazon River is the largest river by discharge volume and one of the longest rivers in the world. It is located in South America and flows through several countries, including Peru, Colombia, Brazil, and others.

1. Length and Drainage: The Amazon River has a total length of approximately 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles), making it the second longest river in the world after the Nile. It has a massive drainage basin that covers about 7 million square kilometers (2.7 million square miles), which is roughly 40% of South America's land area.

2. Discharge and Tributaries: The river's average discharge is the highest among all rivers worldwide. It discharges approximately 209,000 cubic meters (7,381,000 cubic feet) of water per second into the Atlantic Ocean. The Amazon River is fed by numerous tributaries, including the Negro, Madeira, Purus, and Japurá rivers, among others. Some of its tributaries are also quite large rivers in their own right.

3. Biodiversity: The Amazon Rainforest, through which the Amazon River flows, is known for its incredible biodiversity. It is one of the most diverse ecosystems on Earth, housing an estimated 16,000 species of trees and a vast array of plants, animals, and insects. The river and its surrounding rainforest provide a habitat for numerous species, including the pink river dolphin, anaconda, piranha, and various bird species.

4. Navigation and Economic Importance: The Amazon River serves as a crucial transportation route for the region. It enables the movement of goods, people, and resources across vast distances, particularly in areas with limited road infrastructure. The river is also significant for the local economy, supporting fishing, agriculture, and tourism activities.

5. Environmental Challenges: The Amazon River and its rainforest face several environmental challenges, including deforestation, illegal logging, and habitat destruction. These factors contribute to biodiversity loss and have broader implications for climate change and global carbon dioxide levels. Conservation efforts and sustainable practices are being pursued to address these challenges and protect the river's ecosystem.

The Amazon River and its surrounding rainforest are not only remarkable natural features but also play a vital role in the global ecosystem and have significant cultural and economic importance for the countries and communities that rely on them.

What is and Auto - Recloser?

Auto Recloser:

The auto recloser is a protective device that would automatically trip and reclose for a preset number of times. 

Reclosers are used for quick, temporary fault clearance, while circuit breakers permanently isolate the faulted area.

An auto-recloser is an electrical device used in power distribution systems to automatically detect and isolate faults on overhead lines. It is designed to quickly restore power after a temporary fault, such as a momentary short circuit or transient fault.

When a fault occurs on a power line, such as a tree branch coming into contact with the line, the auto-recloser detects the fault and automatically interrupts the flow of electricity. It then attempts to restore power by automatically closing the circuit again after a predetermined time delay, typically a few seconds.

If the fault is persistent or continues to occur, the auto-recloser will attempt to re-close the circuit a set number of times (usually three) before it locks out, signaling a more severe fault that requires manual intervention by utility personnel.

Auto-reclosers provide several benefits in power distribution systems. By automatically isolating and restoring power to temporary faults, they help minimize the duration of power outages and improve the reliability of electrical supply. They can also help reduce the need for manual inspections and repairs, as they can often clear transient faults without human intervention.

Overall, auto-reclosers play a crucial role in maintaining the continuity of electrical power and ensuring efficient and reliable distribution in overhead line systems.

Mild sleep restriction increases endothelial oxidative stress in female persons

Sleep restriction is associated with increased cardiovascular risk, which is more pronounced in female than male persons. We reported recently first causal evidence that mild, prolonged sleep restriction mimicking “real-life” conditions impairs endothelial function, a key step in the development and progression of cardiovascular disease, in healthy female persons. However, the underlying mechanisms are unclear. In model organisms, sleep restriction increases oxidative stress and upregulates antioxidant response via induction of the antioxidant regulator nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 (Nrf2). Here, we assessed directly endothelial cell oxidative stress and antioxidant responses in healthy female persons (n = 35) after 6 weeks of mild sleep restriction (1.5 h less than habitual sleep) using randomized crossover design. Sleep restriction markedly increased endothelial oxidative stress without upregulating antioxidant response. Using RNA-seq and a predicted protein–protein interaction database, we identified reduced expression of endothelial Defective in Cullin Neddylation-1 Domain Containing 3 (DCUN1D3), a protein that licenses Nrf2 antioxidant responses, as a mediator of impaired endothelial antioxidant response in sleep restriction. Thus, sleep restriction impairs clearance of endothelial oxidative stress that over time increases cardiovascular risk.

More than a third of US adults sleep less than recommended 7–8 h per night1,2. Insufficient sleep is associated with an increased cardiovascular risk, leading the American Heart Association to include sleep duration as the 8th metric of cardiovascular health in Life’s Essential 82,3,4. Female persons report sleep disturbances more frequently and have a more pronounced inflammatory response and cardiovascular risk associated with insufficient sleep than males2,4,5,6,7,8. We recently reported that randomly allocated mild, prolonged sleep restriction causes endothelial inflammation and dysfunction, early steps in the development of cardiovascular disease, in healthy female persons7. However, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear.

One suggested major function of healthy sleep is prevention of oxidative stress, an important contributor to endothelial inflammation and dysfunction9,10,11. Insufficient sleep, much like other cardiovascular risk factors, including cigarette smoking, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, and diabetes, generates intracellular oxidative stress11. Studies in Drosophila and rodent models have shown that sleep restriction increases oxidative stress (defined as increased generation of reactive oxygen species) and upregulates antioxidant response via induction of the antioxidant regulator nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 (Nrf2), a redox sensitive transcription factor that is kept in a latent state through its interaction with its repressor cullin-3 (Cul3)-containing ubiquitin ligase complex12,13,14. In response to increased oxidative stress, an adaptor protein Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1 (Keap1) that binds to Nrf2 and Cul3 is modified and ubiquitin ligase complex is inactivated, allowing for Nrf2 accumulation and translocation into the nucleus where it binds to the antioxidant response element (ARE) and initiates the transcription of antioxidant genes15.

Organ-specific overexpression of antioxidant genes rescues the survival of severely sleep-deprived Drosophila11 and activation of the Nrf2-ARE pathway confers protection from cardiovascular diseases16, suggesting that intact antioxidant responses are essential to counteract detrimental effects of sleep restriction. Studies of the effects of insufficient sleep on oxidative stress in model organisms employed severe, acute sleep restriction or genetic manipulations that limit models’ lifespan11,17. Such extreme, short-term sleep curtailment has limited relevance to predominant populational sleep patterns of chronic, mild sleep curtailment owing to maintaining work/life balance in modern societies2,4,11,17,18. Whether chronic, mild sleep curtailment that mimics “real-life” sleep patterns affect endothelial oxidative stress and antioxidant responses is unknown. Using a randomized crossover design, we assessed oxidative stress and antioxidant responses directly in endothelial cells (ECs) freshly harvested from healthy female participants before and after objectively monitored 6 weeks of mild sleep restriction or adequate sleep.