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In the present report, influence of annealing temperature variations on the optical, morphological, and structural properties of chemically deposited nanocrystalline zinc-selenide thin films is studied employing an X-ray diffractometer, scanning electron microscope, and UV spectroscope. As-synthesized and annealed films exhibit nanocrystalline nature with cubic structure. The result shows that ZnSe thin films contain spherical particles that are composed of nanocrystals ranging from 3 to 7 nm crystallite size. The SEM studies reveal that the inter-crystalline spaces have been found to be reduced with an increase in grain size as annealing temperature increases. The EDS data reveal that the obtained thin films are rich in selenium. However, thermal annealing assisted to reduce the non-stoichiometric nature of the films by reducing selenium content that was found to be reduced with a rise in annealing temperature. The reduction in strains and dislocation density was observed after the annealing process. The band-gap energy was found to be raised from 2.56 to 2.76 eV with a rise in annealing temperature. The transmittance of more than 80% was recorded by as-synthesized and annealed films as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cu2ZnSnS4 is suitable for high-performance thin-film solar cell because of its high absorbance coefficient, presence of non-toxic elements, excellent optoelectronic properties, and a near-perfect direct band gap. The effect of thermal annealing time (1–4 h) on the optical, morphological, and structural properties of Cu2ZnSnS4 coated through a simple solution processable method has been studied in the present work. All the CZTS films are crystalline in nature with kesterite structure as shown by X-ray diffraction studies. Crystallite size, strain, and dislocation density were calculated. However, no notable changes in these parameters were obtained by varying the annealing time in the above range. Field emission scanning electron microscopy images show good quality compact films with particle size in the order of 10–15 nm. Absorption spectroscopy results show an optical band gap of 1.46 eV. Raman spectroscopy was used to check binary or ternary phases present. It shows that the impurity phase decreases and the pure Cu2ZnSnS4 phase was obtained by increasing the annealing time to 3 and 4 h. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Conventional biomarkers in thyroid cancer are not disease specific and fluctuate in advanced disease, making interpretation difficult. Circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) has been shown to be a useful biomarker in other solid tumours. This is a multimutational study of ctDNA over multiple timepoints, designed to test the hypothesis that ctDNA is a potential biomarker in patients with advanced thyroid cancer. Methods Mutational analysis of archival tumour tissue was performed using NGS with a targeted gene panel. Custom TaqMan assays were designed for plasma ctDNA testing using digital droplet polymerase chain reaction. Concentrations of detected ctDNA were correlated with the conventional biomarker concentration and axial imaging status defined by the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumours criteria. Results Tumour tissue from 51 patients was obtained, with the following histologies: 32 differentiated (differentiated thyroid cancer [DTC]), 15 medullary (medullary thyroid cancer [MTC]), three poorly differentiated and one anaplastic. NGS analysis detected variants in 42 (82%) of cases. Plasma was assayed for these patients in 190 samples, and ctDNA was detected in 67% of patients. Earlier detection of disease progression was noted in three patients with MTC. In two cases (PTC and ATC), where conventional biomarkers were not detectable, ctDNA was detected before disease progression. Changes in ctDNA concentration occurred earlier than conventional markers in response to disease progression in multiple patients with DTC receiving targeted therapies. Conclusion The majority of patients with advanced thyroid cancer had detectable ctDNA. ctDNA measurement may offer superiority over conventional markers in several scenarios: earlier detection of progression in MTC; as an alternative biomarker when conventional markers are not available; more rapid assessment of the disease status in response to targeted therapies, thereby potentially allowing prompter discontinuation of futile therapies. These early results support the hypothesis that ctDNA may be a clinically useful biomarker in thyroid cancer. Highlights • Circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) is found in majority (67%) of patients with thyroid cancer. • Detection of ctDNA appears to be reflective of disease burden. • ctDNA measurement may predict disease progression earlier than conventional biomarkers in medullary cancer. • ctDNA measurement may allow more rapid assessment of response to targeted therapies in differentiated thyroid cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Proteins are specific for the specific task associated with the cell. The metal extracting bacteria, Thiobacillus ferrooxidans and Pseudomonas fluorescens have two different mechanisms for the metal extraction. One extracts the metals by donating electrons and by doing self-oxidation and another is accumulating the metals onto its cell surface which is negatively charged. Therefore to differentiate the task of metal extraction protein profiling was done and compared. The water soluble proteins were analyzed through SDS-PAGE. There was no significant difference in the profiles of both. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We aimed to investigate the influence potassium tetra thiourea chloride (PTTC) on optical, dielectric and thermal properties of potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KDP) crystals. It was found that by addition of PTTC SHG efficiency has been enhanced. In addition, third order nonlinear properties have been studied by open and close aperture Z-scan technique. The enhanced LDT of grown crystal is found to be 2.08 GW/cm2. The dielectric response of grown crystal results lowers magnitudes. Thermal stability of grown crystal has been studied by TGA, DTA and DSC. The mechanical strength of doped crystals has been investigated by the Vickers microhardness studies and results are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Optically transparent glycine doped ammonium dihydrogen phosphate crystals have been grown from aqueous solution by slow solution evaporation method. Crystallographic data of the grown crystal has been determined using the single crystal X-ray diffraction technique. The photoexcited colour centred fluorescence emission spectrum of the grown crystal has been analysed at an emission wavelength of 254 nm in the range of 300 to 700 nm. Z-scan studies have been performed at 632·8 nm to confirm the negative third order non-linear refraction behaviour of the grown crystal. The non-linear refractive index (n2), non-linear absorption coefficient (β) and third order non-linearity susceptibility (χ3) of the grown crystal were calculated using the Z-scan data to explore the material suitability for photonic applications. Vicker's microhardness test was carried out to analyse the mechanical stability and determine the hardness parameters of the grown crystal. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In order to evaluate physiological traits related to biochemical basis of drought tolerance under moisture stress, a field experiment with ten sorghum genotypes was carried out in split plot design with three replications. Seeds were grown separately under three moisture regimes viz; moisture stress condition with irrigation applied at the time of sowing, terminal stress condition with irrigation applied at the time of sowing and panicle initiation stage and non stress condition with irrigation applied at various critical growth stages. The accumulation of proline and glycine betaine was higher under moisture stress than terminal stress and non-stress condition. Accumulation of proline and glycine betaine content was recorded at the time of 50% flowering and at dough stage to estimate the efficiency of drought tolerance. Among the genotypes under study, RSV 1237 accumulated more leaf proline, whereas, RSV 1572 accumulated more glycine betaine at 50% flowering stage and dough stage under moisture stress. Genotypes differed significantly with respect to leaf, stem, panicle and total dry matter per plant. RSV 1237 and RSV 1572 had better partitioning of dry matter into reproductive parts under moisture and terminal stress conditions. It was concluded that these genotypes could be useful in sorghum breeding for drought tolerance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional trust management schemes developed for wired and wireless ad hoc networks are not well suited for sensor networks due to their higher consumption of resources such as memory and power. In this work, we propose a new lightweight Group-based Trust Management Scheme (GTMS) for wireless sensor networks, which employs clustering. Our approach reduces the cost of trust evaluation. Also, theoretical as well as simulation results show that our scheme demands less memory, energy, and communication overheads as compared to the current state-of-the-art trust management schemes and it is more suitable for large-scale sensor networks. Furthermore, GTMS also enables us to detect and prevent malicious, selfish, and faulty nodes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The slow evaporation technique was adopted for the growth of L-tyrosine doped Thiourea (Bis) Cadmium Acetate (CTA) single crystal. The doped crystals were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, FT-IR analysis, SHG Studies, UV-vis and Vickers microhardness studies. The UV-visible absorption spectrum is found to have improved optical parameters than pure CTA. The optical study revealed that the doped CTA crystal has high transmission with low cut off wavelength of 290 nm. The optical band gap was found to be 4.14 eV. The Second harmonic generation efficiency measured using Nd-YAG laser is 3.64 times higher than pure CTA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on a call to address Dokha smoking, a new form of tobacco use. It emphasizes the preventive and promotive health care with a focus on lifestyle modification and improving quality of life. There are some elements that represent a challenge to the development, standing out among them is tobacco use in all forms, despite all the positive and progressive advancement in health care.

nEXO is a proposed experiment that will search for neutrinoless double-beta decay (0 ν β β) in 5-tonnes of liquid xenon (LXe), isotopically enriched in 136Xe. A technique called Ba-tagging is being developed as a potential future upgrade for nEXO to detect the 136Xe double-beta decay daughter isotope, 136Ba. An efficient Ba-tagging technique has the potential to boost nEXO's 0 ν β β sensitivity by essentially suppressing non-double-beta decay background events. A conceptual approach for the extraction from the detector volume, trapping, and identification of a single Ba ion from 5 tonnes of LXe is presented, along with initial results from the commissioning of one of its subsystems, a quadrupole mass filter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A green and atom-efficient one-pot protocol for the synthesis of some novel α-aminophosphonates using micron-particulate AlN/Al as a new reusable heterogeneous catalyst by the Kabachnik-Fields reaction under solvent-free conditions has been developed. The synthesized α-aminophosphonates were screened for several biological activities. They all were investigated to exhibit moderate to promising antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and cytotoxic properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background A standardised nutrition risk screening ( NRS) programme with ongoing education is recommended for the successful implementation of NRS. This project aimed to develop and implement a standardised NRS and education process across the adult bed-based services of a large metropolitan health service and to achieve a 75% NRS compliance at 12 months post-implementation. Methods A working party of Monash Health ( MH) dietitians and a nutrition technician revised an existing NRS medical record form consisting of the Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool and nutrition management guidelines. Nursing staff across six MH hospital sites were educated in the use of this revised form and there was a formalised implementation process. Support from Executive Management, nurse educators and the Nutrition Risk Committee ensured the incorporation of NRS into nursing practice. Compliance audits were conducted pre- and post-implementation. Results At 12 months post-implementation, organisation-wide NRS compliance reached 34.3%. For those wards that had pre-implementation NRS performed by nursing staff, compliance increased from 7.1% to 37.9% at 12 months ( P < 0.001). The improved NRS form is now incorporated into standard nursing practice and NRS is embedded in the organisation's 'Point of Care Audit', which is reported 6-monthly to the Nutrition Risk Committee and site Quality and Safety Committees. Conclusions NRS compliance improved at MH with strong governance support and formalised implementation; however, the overall compliance achieved appears to have been affected by the complexity and diversity of multiple healthcare sites. Ongoing education, regular auditing and establishment of NRS routines and ward practices is recommended to further improve compliance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of Ti based shape memory alloys with composition of Ti50Ni48Fe2, Ti50Ni47Fe3 and Ti50Ni45Fe5 were developed by vacuum arc melting under a purified argon atmosphere. The study was designed to evaluate in vivo cytotoxicity of the Ti-Ni-Fe shape memory alloy system. The materials were implanted in rabbits, and blood examination and histology of various vital organs (liver, heart and kidney) were performed to determine cytotoxicity of these alloy systems, if any, after 4, 8 and 12 weeks. The results showed that Ti-Ni-Fe alloy neither was cytotoxic nor has any systemic reaction on living system in any of the test performed. Implantation shows good compatibility and a potential of being used directly in in vivo system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The health effects of traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) continue to be of important public health interest. Following its well-cited 2010 critical review, the Health Effects Institute (HEI) appointed a new expert Panel to systematically evaluate the epidemiological evidence regarding the associations between long-term exposure to TRAP and selected adverse health outcomes. Health outcomes were selected based on evidence of causality for general air pollution (broader than TRAP) cited in authoritative reviews, relevance for public health and policy, and resources available. The Panel used a systematic approach to search the literature, select studies for inclusion in the review, assess study quality, summarize results, and reach conclusions about the confidence in the evidence. An extensive search was conducted of literature published between January 1980 and July 2019 on selected health outcomes. A new exposure framework was developed to determine whether a study was sufficiently specific to TRAP. In total, 353 studies were included in the review. Respiratory effects in children (118 studies) and birth outcomes (86 studies) were the most commonly studied outcomes. Fewer studies investigated cardiometabolic effects (57 studies), respiratory effects in adults (50 studies), and mortality (48 studies). The findings from the systematic review, meta-analyses, and evaluation of the quality of the studies and potential biases provided an overall high or moderate-to-high level of confidence in an association between long-term exposure to TRAP and the adverse health outcomes all-cause, circulatory, ischemic heart disease and lung cancer mortality, asthma onsetin chilldren and adults, and acute lower respiratory infections in children. The evidence was considered moderate, low or very low for the other selected outcomes. In light of the large number of people exposed to TRAP – both in and beyond the near-road environment - the Panel concluded that the overall high or moderate-to-high confidence in the evidence for an association between long-term exposure to TRAP and several adverse health outcomes indicates that exposures to TRAP remain an important public health concern and deserve greater attention from the public and from policymakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An abstract of the research paper "12 week abdominal ectopic pregnancy," by N. Sathasivam and colleagues is presented.

Introduction: It is widely acknowledged that congenital anomalies heavily contribute to infant morbidity and mortality worldwide, with an estimated 9 million infants (7% of all births) born annually having a serious congenital anomaly that result in death or lifelong disability. The objective of our study was to estimate the frequency of congenital anomalies at the Gulf Medical College Hospital and Research Center, Ajman and to estimate the proportion of births with congenital anomalies per 1,000 live births. Materials and Methods: It was a Hospital-Record based descriptive study of the 1,222 consecutive live births from December 2007 to June 2008. Results: There were 84 cases of congenital anomalies among the 1,222 live births; the rate of anomalous births was 68.7 per 1,000 live births or 6.9%. Anomalies of the genitourinary system (40.5%) were the most common, followed by musculoskeletal (28.6%) and cardiovascular (10.7%). Gastrointestinal, chromosomal and multiple system anomalies accounted for 3.6% each and miscellaneous anomalies were seen in 7.1%. Central Nervous system (2.4%) anomalies were the least. Congenital hydrocele (19.0%) was seen to have the highest frequency amongst all recorded anomalies, followed by Talipes or Clubfoot (14.3%). 9.3% of the male and 4.3% of the female population of live births had a congenital anomaly. Birth Weight (p=0.005) and Gender (p=0.001) were found to have significant association with the frequency of birth defects. Maternal Age, gravidity, parity, previous abortions, VDRL and Hepatitis B status, Gestational Diabetes, Pregnancy Induced Hypertension, gestational age, maternal and infant blood group, nationality and consanguinity showed no statistically significant association with congenital anomalies. Conclusion: The proportion of congenital anomalies found in our study is alarmingly high and emphasizes the need for more accessible nationwide screening, counseling and surveillance systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and its derivatives are known to perform various important physiological and metabolic functions in humans. In addition to dietary supplements, a number of topical formulations containing ascorbic acid and derivatives are now available that induce collagen synthesis, strengthening of skin tissues, reduction in pigmentation loss, and improved growth and health activities. It has also been used in a variety of cosmetic preparations as an antioxidant, pH adjuster, anti-aging and photoprotecting agent. Ascorbic acid is highly sensitive to air and light; and to achieve its stabilization in cosmetic preparations, it has been suggested to use ascorbic acid in microencapsulation form, in combination with other chemical moieties such as vitamin-E, by the control of pH and electrolyte concentration and use of stabilizing agents like citric, tartaric, or ferulic acids. A large number of cosmetic creams and lotions are available in the market containing the derivatives of ascorbic acid (e.g., sodium ascorbate, ascorbyl palmitate). Although these preparations are chemically stable, they lack the pharmacological activity of ascorbic acid. In the present review, it has been emphasized to consider the importance of various factors involved in the formulation of such preparations to achieve the stabilization of ascorbic acid as such, to maintain its pharmacological activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives To determine the risk factors of patients presenting with deliberate self harm (DSH) to the emergency departments (EDs) of four tertiary care hospitals of Karachi, Pakistan. To determine the outcome (admission or discharge) of patients presenting with DSH to the EDs of four tertiary care hospitals of Karachi, Pakistan. Methods Study period March 2010 to May 2010. Sample Size An equal number of cases (65) and controls (65) will be enrolled from each centre. Study site Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH), Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, Civil Hospital Karachi and Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre. Study population Inclusion criteria for cases: all patients 18 years and above presenting to the ED of respective hospitals with DSH attempt. Inclusion criteria for controls: for each case, a control will be enrolled in the study, which will be identified with the use of ED admission register and will be matched with cases for gender and age 2 years. Exclusion criteria for both cases and controls: individuals not giving informed consent, critically ill (intubated, obtunded patients, those with third degree burns and life threatening injuries). Study tool DSH-Risk Factors and self-reported questionnaire scale for anxiety and depression. Psychiatric evaluation, treatment and follow-up The information elicited from questionnaires will help reach a tentative psychiatric diagnosis. These patients will be referred to Psychiatry Consulting Clinics at AKUH. These clinics are conducted by senior psychiatry residents under the supervision of consultants. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]