Search

In this article we, proposed a new two parameter distribution called inverted power modified Lindley distribution. The main objective is to introduce an extension to inverted modified Lindley distribution as an alternative to the inverted exponential, inverted gamma and inverted modified Lindley distributions, respectively. The proposed distribution is more flexible than the above mentioned distributions in terms of its hazard rate function. In the part of estimation of the proposed model, we first utilize the maximum likelihood (ML) estimator and parametric bootstrap confidence intervals, viz., standard bootstrap, percentile bootstrap, bias-corrected percentile (BCPB), bias-corrected accelerated bootstrap (BCAB) from the classical point of view as well the Bayesian estimation under different loss functions, squared error loss function, modified squared error loss function, and Bayes credible interval as to obtain the model parameter based on order statistics. A simulation study is carried out to check the efficiency of the classical and the Bayes estimators in terms of mean squared errors and posterior risks, respectively. Two real life data sets, have been analyzed for order statistics to demonstrate how the proposed methods may work in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The controlled synthesis of two‐dimensional nanocrystals of graphene particles instead of amorphous carbon quantum dots is highly challenging and requires tremendous efforts to optimize the reaction conditions. It has been observed that as a significant bio‐compatible zero‐dimensional material, graphene quantum dots are considered as a novel material for opto‐electronics, energy, biological and environmental applications. However, very few are known about their utilization in photocatalytic degradation of pesticides, especially organochlorine pesticides which are resistant to removal by conventional wastewater treatment methods. In this work, graphene quantum dots were produced from rice husk at relatively low temperatures, resulting in an average particle size of 3.3 nm. The high resolution transmission electron microscopy clearly showed the formation of spherical quantum dots having lattice fringes and the selected area electron diffraction pattern showed the crystallinity of the graphene quantum dots. A study of photodegradation of three highly toxic organochlorine pesticides namely, dichlorodiphenyl trichloro ethane, cypermethrin and fenvalerate were carried out using as‐synthesized graphene quantum dots from rice husk. Interestingly, all these pesticides were found to be degraded around 60 % to 70 % under visible light conditions. It confirmed that synthesized graphene quantum dots from rice husk can act as prominent photocatalyst for the degradation of pesticides and other pollutants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Warm‐season perennial grasses are the backbone of the pasture‐based livestock industry in the lower southeastern United States, and bermudagrass (Cynodon spp.) is the most widely planted forage species, covering ∼15 million ha. The genus Cynodon is native to southern Africa, and germplasm collections possess high genetic and phenotypic variability. The USDA National Plant Germplasm System maintains a collection of bermudagrass plant introductions (PIs) in Griffin, GA, and USDA‐ARS, Tifton, GA, maintains additional germplasm. Multi‐location trials were established in four states (Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and Oklahoma) to screen Cynodon germplasm for herbage accumulation (HA), nutritive value (NV), and bermudagrass stem maggot (BSM) (Atherigona reversura Villeneuve). Due to the large genotype × environment interaction for HA, we focused on selecting accessions adapted to South Georgia and Florida, and further studies were performed in Florida. Several PIs showed improved HA and NV compared with 'Tifton 85'. PI 316510, originally introduced from Ingelheim, Germany, produced high HA in Citra, FL, and Tifton, GA, with improved NV traits. In addition, PI 316510 had faster establishment and similar BSM tolerance to Tifton 85. We confirmed PI 316510 as tetraploid (2n = 4x = 36) through chromosome counts and flow cytometry, and it is genetically distinct from other commercial cultivars. PI 316510 has been publicly released under the name 'Newell', and it is vegetatively propagated. Planting material can be requested from the UF‐IFAS Forage Breeding program. Core Ideas: PI 316510 produced high herbage accumulation in Citra, FL, and Tifton, GA.PI 316510 showed improved nutritive value.PI 316510 had faster establishment and similar bermudagrass stem maggot tolerance to Tifton 85.PI 316510 has been publicly released under the name 'Newell'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: For a long older age and the presence of alarm features are regarded as indications for prompt endoscopy in patients with dyspepsia. We aimed to find out the value of alarm features in diagnosing serious organic upper gastrointestinal lesions in patients with dyspepsia. Material & methods: In this observational study clinical variables and endoscopic findings of consecutive patients with dyspepsia were recorded in a semi-structured questionnaire. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression was done stepwise to identify predictors for endoscopic findings. A simplified predictor model was built with the age and the presence of any predictor alarm feature to find out the diagnostic accuracy of this model for the significant endoscopic lesion. Results: Among 304 patients (M=134, F=170) one or more alarm features were present in 193 cases (63.5%). Significant organic lesions were found in 84(27.6%) cases. Age >45 years (OR 2.608), abdominal lump (OR 4.489) and family history of upper gastrointestinal cancer (OR 3.880) were found as independent predictors of major endoscopic findings. Using a simplified predictor model of age e" 45 years or the presence of any predictive alarm feature, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were 32.4 %, 82.5 %, 79.8% and 36.4% respectively for a significant endoscopic lesion. For upper gastrointestinal cancers, these values were 6%, 100.0%, 100.0% and 47.3% respectively. Conclusion: The predictive value of the age and the presence of alarm features alone are not optimal for significant endoscopic findings in patients with dyspepsia. A newer and more accurate predictive model is a time demand for organic UGI lesions, especially for malignancies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this manuscript, we establish a fixed point theorem for F -Suzuki contraction mapping over a non-triangular metric space and also give a discussion as remarks on the non-triangular metric structure. Moreover we introduce non-triangular metric-like space and prove a fixed point theorem for Ćirić quasi-contraction mapping therein using the property S. Examples have been cited in order to examine the validity of the underlying space and in support of our fixed point theorems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we introduce generalized cone b−random metric space and prove some random fixed point theorems for mappings satisfying various contractive type conditions. Also some stochastic fixed point theorems for integral type contractive mappings have been proved in the above framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This investigation is an attempt to obtain a highly accurate approximation of the spectrum of Sturm–Liouville problems in ℝ+ by representing the unknown solution of the model in the interpolating wavelet basis of L2(ℝ). To accomplish the goal, the domain ℝ+ has been stretched to ℝ to avoid the additional care of the elements in the basis containing boundary point 0. In addition, such transformation may judiciously be utilized to eliminate (up to quadratic) the singularity of the equation. The equation in the new variable has been subsequently transformed into a generalized matrix eigenvalue problem by approximating the new (unknown) function in an appropriate (truncated) basis comprising interpolating scale functions generated by scale functions in Daubechies family. The (interpolating wavelet‐collocation) scheme developed here has been applied to some solvable and quasi‐exactly solvable Sturm–Liouville problems in ℝ+ appearing in quantum mechanical modeling in flat and curved spaces. It is observed that the approximation of eigenfunctions in the (compact support) interpolating wavelet basis obtained by using the collocation method can be reliably used to reveal a hidden spectrum of quasi‐exactly solvable Sturm–Liouville problems in ℝ+ with high accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Safe disposal of huge quantity of fly ash is compulsory to avoid environmental problems, and contents of significant amount of plant nutrients, particularly phosphorus (P), make it a potential amendment in agriculture. A comparative assessment of P adsorption, release kinetics and enzymatic activities of weathered fly ash amended texturally different soils is yet to be explored. This article explores the influence of fly ash with or without FYM on P adsorption parameters and indices, release kinetics, P activity coefficient (PAC) and enzymatic activities in Inceptisol and Vertisol with the treatments comprising graded doses of weathered fly ash and FYM. Increased fly ash doses amplified the P adsorption in soils, which further increased with FYM application. Binding energy, adsorption maxima and P sorption index also augmented by increased doses of fly ash. Gibb's free energy of adsorption indicated that P adsorption was due to chemisorption. However, rate of P release was 6–10 times higher at initial stages and increased concentration of P through fly ash and FYM quantified higher P diffusion rate. PAC was negatively influenced by higher quantity of fly ash, but FYM positively influences PAC. Enzymatic activities decreased in Inceptisol beyond 200 t ha−1 fly ash; however, 50 t ha−1 FYM nullifies the negative impact of fly ash and increased enzymatic activities in both the soils. Increased maximum P buffering capacity, PAC, enzymatic activities and liming effects on acidic soils suggested better management options of fly ash as slow release P source in crop production along with FYM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we have analytically described the concept of enhancing the peak conversion efficiency of third- and fourth-harmonic generation in the near infrared and visible region by optical rotation quasi-phase-matching technique based on total internal reflection. The semiconductor structure under consideration is a rectangular slab of barium titanate crystal coated with a thin layer of lead fluoride. At certain bounce points, the added field effect of total-internal-reflection based optical rotation quasi-phase-matching and fractional quasi-phase-matching techniques result in improved conversion efficiency. The conversion efficiency of 4.8 and 6.7%, respective to a third-harmonic wavelength of 893.3 nm and a fourth-harmonic wavelength of 627 nm, have been observed using computer-aided simulation while considering absorption, surface roughness, and the influence of interference for the nonlinear law of reflection. The impacts of the parametric amendments have also been discussed in Sect. 3 to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the whole study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A rapid, sensitive, cost effective and reproducible first-order derivative spectrophotometric method was developed for the estimation of gefitinib in bulk and in its marketed formulation. Preliminary spectrophotometric determination of the drug was carried out in acetate buffer pH 2.8 and in 0.1 N HCl with a total of 20 parametric variations. The selected method with three parametric variations employing peak–zero (P–0) and peak–peak (P–P) techniques was assessed for stability indicating potential in force degraded solutions. The developed method was validated with respect to linearity, accuracy, precision, and robustness. Linearity was observed in the concentration range of 5–50 μg/mL with an excellent correlation coefficient (r2) of 0.999. The limits of assay detection values were found for the range from 1.69–3.75 μg/mL, and quantitation limits ranged from 5.11–12.71 μg/mL for the proposed method. The proposed method was applicable for the determination of the drug in its marketed tablet formulation, and percentage recovery was found for the range from 97.42 to 98.58%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study aimed to assess the impacts of the brick kiln on the environment around the kiln areas. The study conducted a survey based on a structured questionnaire and sampling at selected 12 brick kiln clusters in Rajshahi and Gazipur Districts of Bangladesh. The sampling analysis results were compared with the national and international standard limits. The survey results illustrated that about 69% of respondents thought that the brick kilns were the vital source of air pollution in the areas. The study revealed that the criteria air pollutants (CO, SO2, NOx, PM 2.5, PM 10, SPM) except CO exceeded the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) limits. The higher level of lead (Pb) and chromium (Cr) in the fly ash samples might have influenced the heavy metals pollution in the farm soil and surface water. About 100% of surface water samples exceeded the permissible standard limit for Pb. The noise level was found higher than the acceptable level (75 dB) of the Department of Environment, Bangladesh (DoE, BD) standard. Thus, the study observed that the brick kilns cause a threat to the environment and human health in the study areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work deals with the development of an efficient interpolating wavelet collocation scheme for obtaining highly accurate eigenstates of Sturm–Liouville problem with a view to divulge some hidden bound state spectrum of quasi-exactly solvable models in non-relativistic quantum mechanics in R . The properties of scale functions in the interpolating wavelet basis generated by scale function and wavelets of symlets in Daubechies family have been judiciously used to provide an estimate of a posteriori error in the approximation of eigen functions. The efficiency of the scheme has been examined on a variety of exactly solvable models (e.g., harmonic oscillator problem having an infinite number of bound states, Schrödinger equation with Pöschl–Teller potential having a finite number of bound states, the quantum version of Mathews–Lakshmanan oscillator with bound states decaying algebraically in the asymptotic region and some quasi-exactly solvable models) and found highly efficient. The scheme has been subsequently applied to reveal some hidden bound states of a number of quasi-exactly solvable models with polynomial and non-polynomial potentials. From the careful analysis of results of the examples exercised here, it is observed that the proposed scheme seems to be quite useful and efficient compared to other methods [e.g., double exponential sinc collocation method of Gaudreau et al. (Ann Phys 360:520–538, 2015)] available in the literature to expose highly accurate approximation of bound state energies and wave functions of quasi-exactly solvable or non-solvable non-relativistic quantum mechanical models in R . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of pedagogical intervention on early childhood education professionals' emotional availability to children with different temperament characteristics. Participants were 136 children (intervention group = 87; control group = 49) aged 1–6 years from 16 early childhood and care centres in Finland. The PedaSens intervention was a 9-month programme that included theory and video-based training for the professionals. Adult–child interaction was assessed with the Emotional Availability Scales before and after the intervention, and children's temperament was assessed with the Early Childhood Behavior Questionnaire. According to results, early childhood professionals' emotional availability increased in the intervention group, especially to children with high levels of activity and pleasure seeking and with low levels of attentional focusing. We argue that the quality of interaction in early childhood education and care can be increased by targeting professional trainings to support children with different temperament characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The commercial demand for carbon nanoparticles and graphene nanoflakes are high due to their diverse usage over the past few years. However, large scale production processes are quite laborious and time consuming relying mainly on high energy and inert atmospheric condition. Herein, the abrasion technique has been utilized to exfoliate carbon nanoparticles and graphene nanoflakes from willow charcoal stick and graphite rod, respectively. The role of sandpaper in polishing is quite immense for the isolation of nanocarbons from willow charcoal and graphite. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) confirmed the formation of carbon nanoparticles whereas, high resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM) and atomic force microscope (AFM) topography revealed the formation of few layers of graphene nanoflakes. This entire green process was economically viable for scalable preparation of nanocarbons at room temperature and completely independent of inert conditions, usage of solvents, chemicals and the problem of by‐product formation.)) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, the synthesis of graphene/ graphene oxide from graphite precursor using oxidizing agents is the most common procedure, but the direct synthesis of graphene or graphene oxide from a non‐graphitic carbonaceous material without using inert atmosphere is really a great challenge. Besides, the chemistry behind the development of graphitic structure from a non‐graphitic material during the thermal heating is still not clearly understood. In this research work, three agrowaste materials viz. rice husk, sugarcane bagasse and newspaper were selected and subjected to pyrolysis in presence of trace amount of air. The continued heating at the optimum temperature has resulted in aromatization and condensation along with the oxidation within the cellulosic structure of the agrowaste, which finally resulted in the formation of graphene oxide nanoflakes directly. The mechanism of formation of graphene oxide from these agrowaste materials was studied, which suggested that any carbonaceous waste materials can be converted to graphene oxide by optimizing the thermal heating conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gastric xanthoma, although benign lesion, sometimes resemble to neoplasm. It is more common in older age group. Histologically it contains lipid ladenhistiocytes. But it should be differentiated from malignancy. So proper attention during endoscopic examination and relevant investigations to exclude malignancy should be considered in every patients with gastric xanthoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To determine the causes of high foetal head and their relative frequencies in primigravidae presenting at term and to determine the proportion of these patients undergoing lower segment caesarean section or vaginal delivery. Design: A descriptive study. Place and duration of study: The study was carried out at Mugda Medical College Hospital from March 2017 to June 2017. Materials and Methods: A total of 50 primigravidae patients presenting at term and having a single pregnancy were randomly selected. On the basis of history, Physical examination and abdominal ultrasonography, patients having a high foetal head were recognized and their causes documented. Results: Out of 50 primigravidae, with high foetal head there was foetal malpresentation 17(34%), Cephalopelvic disproportion 13(26%), Foetal distress 12(24%). Lower segment caesarian section was the management of choice in more than half of the patients with high foetal head. Conclusions: Foetal malpresentation & Cephalopelvic disproportion were the major cause of high foetal head in this study and lower segment Caesarean section was the mode of delivery in more than half of the patients with high foetal head. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work proposes new and accurate systematic methodologies for ex situ measurements of through‐plane thermal and in‐plane electronic conductivities of catalyst layers (CLs) of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFC). The developed methods are based on measurements of different thicknesses/lengths of a CL on different substrates. Suitability of the proposed methods is confirmed through a set of microstructural properties measurements on a typical CL design to ensure the measured CLs would be representative of CLs in a real fuel cell product. Conductivity measurements of two CL designs with different compositions and microstructures confirm capability of the developed procedures to track structural changes in CLs. The present characterization platform is not limited to CLs and may be used for other composite porous materials with similar structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, two generalized contractive type mappings, namely generalized weak contraction mapping and special-type weak contraction mapping have been introduced. Existence of fixed points, coincidence points and common fixed points for these type of mappings have been shown here. Examples and counter examples have been cited in support of our theorems. Moreover, one of our fixed point theorems is applied to homotopy theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Background: Pemphigus foliaceus (PF) has both genetic and environmental susceptibility factors. Current data on human leucocyte antigen (HLA) in patients with sporadic PF are limited. Aim: To better define the distribution of HLA alleles in patients with PF in the UK. Methods: We recruited 36 patients [26 of white British (WB) descent, 10 of Indo‐Asian (IA) descent] with PF who were living in the UK and 159 ethnically matched normal controls, and analysed their class II HLA DRB1 and DQB1 allele distribution. Results: There was an increased frequency of DRB1*1404 in association with DQB1*0503 in IA patients with PF. The DRB1*04 allele group as a whole had an increased frequency (P < 0.001) in the WB patient group compared with controls. The alleles contributing to this significance were DRB1*0401 (P = 0.03) and DRB1*0404 (P < 0.01). Conclusion: This is the largest HLA association study in sporadic PF from the UK to date. There appears to be a difference in PF susceptibility alleles between WB and IA patients, highlighting the importance of racial variation in genetic susceptibility to disease development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In White populations more than 60% of clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) convert to multiple sclerosis (MS) on a long-term follow-up; several predictors for conversion have been identified. Objective: This study aimed to determine the conversion rate and the predictors of conversion from CIS to MS (McDonald 2010) among Indians. The other objective was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of the new McDonald 2017 criteria in prediction of a second clinical attack. Methods: Clinical and demographic data of CIS cohorts were collected. Baseline investigations included cerebrospinal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with contrast and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) testing for oligoclonal band (OCB). Follow-up clinical and MRI examinations were performed annually for at least 24 months. Results: Of the 82 subjects (age range 15-58 years), 36 (43.9%) converted to MS; 31/82 (37.8%) converted in 24 months. The predictors for conversion were earlier age of onset, CSF-OCB, cerebral MRI T2 lesion count, and periventricular and juxtacortical location of lesions. Twenty-two (26.83%) CIS fulfilled the McDonald MS 2017 criteria at baseline. Conclusion: In this first prospective study of CIS in India, the risk factors for conversion are similar but the conversion rate to MS is lower than that in the western nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Abdominal tuberculosis is not uncommon in daily medical practice. This study was done focusing variable presentations of abdominal tuberculosis. Material and methods: Data of consecutive patients diagnosed as abdominal tuberculosis were analyzed. Their epidemiological features, presentations, laboratory findings, and response to therapy were analysed. Result: Total 69 cases (male 43, 62.3%, and female 26, 37.7%), age ranging from 15 to 85 years (mean 36.23) were enrolled. Rural (55, 79.7%), poor (49,71%) and housewives (24, 34.8%) and people of 21-30 years age group (27, 39.1%) were more affected. Diagnosis was based on combinations of clinical, laboratory findings and therapeutic response. In this series 30 (43.5%), 23 (33.4%) and 12 (17.3%) were diagnosed as intestinal, peritoneal and disseminated tuberculosis respectively. Of them68 patients recovered with treatment. Five patients developed intestinal obstruction and one developed hepatitis and lost from follow up. Conclusion: Diagnosis of abdominal tuberculosis is by combinations of clinical findings, without gold standard method. In our series intestinal tuberculosis and peritoneal tuberculosis were common clinical types with weight loss and abdominal pain as common clinical symptoms. And outcome of Treatment of TB was excellent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Click here for the corresponding questions to this CME article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: India accounts for 20 per cent of worldwide trauma mortality. Little is known about the quality of trauma surgery in an Indian setting. The aim of this study was to estimate the overall perioperative mortality rate, and to assess the association between type of acute surgical intervention and perioperative mortality among adult patients treated for trauma in an urban Indian setting. Methods: Data were obtained from injured adult patients enrolled in four urban Indian hospitals during 2013–2015. Those who had surgery within 24 h of arrival at hospital were included in the analysis. Patients with missing data were excluded. The perioperative mortality rate was measured at 48 h and 30 days after arrival at hospital. Generalized linear mixed models were used for risk adjustment of procedure‐specific mortality. Results: Among 2986 patients who underwent trauma surgery, the overall 48‐h mortality rate was 6·0 per cent, and the 30‐day mortality rate was 23·1 per cent. The highest adjusted odds ratios (ORs) for 48‐h mortality were found for patients who underwent surgery on the peripheral vasculature (OR 4·71, 95 per cent c.i. 1·18 to 16·59; P = 0·030) and the digestive system and spleen (OR 3·77, 1·33 to 9·01; P = 0·010) compared with those who had nervous system surgery. Conclusion: In this study of surgery in an Indian trauma cohort, there was an excess of late perioperative deaths. Mortality differed significantly according to the type of surgery being undertaken. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Street dust from 29 locations, in some of the busiest parts of north and south Kolkata, was analysed for heavy metal composition. The decreasing order of average metal concentrations (mg kg) found was Mn (390) > Pb (380) > Zn (300) > As (96) > Cu (61) > Cr (40) > Co (13) > Ag (2.1). The heavy metal composition of the Kolkata dust was compared with reported data for other cities. Enrichment factors of Pb and As were high. Multivariate statistical analysis of the heavy metals and analysis of lead isotopic ratios of the dust revealed a predominant anthropogenic influence in the contamination. The range of lead isotopic ratios found in the dust was between 0.8789 and 0.8998 with a mean Pb concentration of 383 mg kg. The three Pb isotope plots of street dust, diesel and rainwater clustered linearly, while coal did not fit into this trend. The highest 207/206 lead isotopic ratio obtained was from diesel with a mean value of 0.9015, followed by the rainwater sample. The application of the binary mixing model showed that about 66.86% of lead contamination in the street dust was sourced from the atmosphere. The two components extracted by the principal component analysis explained 64.34% of the total variance. Vehicular and industrial emissions appeared to be an important contributor to the accumulation of heavy metals in the dust. The health risk assessment study of the dust indicated carcinogenic risk associated with As and Cr. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Microscopy is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Interactions of Poly [-Ethylene Oxide] [PEO of molecular weight 10] and gamma irradiation with variable doses (1-30 kGy) are studied for the thermal, crystalline and structural properties using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) technique. Two states of PEO, viz. powder (P-S-series) and methanol solution (P-L-series) are subjected to irradiation and then cast into uniform films at room temperature. DSC results have revealed steady increment of crystallinity up to 20 kGy for P-S-series which starts reducing till 30 kGy. Conversely, P-L-series shows much enhanced crystallinity retained within low irradiation regime of 7 kGy, followed by sharp declining trend till 30 kGy. DSC is employed to study the influence of gamma radiation on multiple kinetic processes in an isoconversional melting of PEO using Friedman differential analysis. This study illustrates the variation of activation with degree of conversion of melting for different doses on irradiated PEO powder and methanol solution. Gamma irradiation is found to generate newer functional groups which are also established from FTIR study. Presence of -C=O and -C=C- groups in FTIR spectra reveals the predominance of scission during air assisted irradiation. FTIR spectra also prove higher degree of cross-linking in irradiation of methanol solution. The observations of DSC and FTIR are correlated with polymer microstructures. Therefore, selective irradiation dose can effectively be utilized to tailor the properties of PEO depending upon the exposed powder or methanol solution of polymer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To find out the seroprevalence of the hepatitis B and C viruses in a young adult population along with estimation of aminotransferase levels. And so as to increase the awareness and augment preventive measures against these viral hepatitis related morbidity. Methods: A total of 2611 apparently healthy young adults were screened from January 2010 to December 2010 at a Medical Checkup center of Sylhet for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), hepatitis C virus antibody (anti HCV), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspertate aminotransferase (AST) levels. Results: Out of 2611 subjects 2536(97.1%) were male and 75(2.9%) were female with comparable mean ages (29.08 vs. 30.6 years, P .056). A total of 77(3.0%) men were HBsAg positive and only four (0.16%) men were positive for anti HCV. Women were all negative for HBsAg or anti HCV. None had co-infection with HBV and HCV. Mean ALT and AST levels of study population were 31.85 I.U./L and 26.18 I.U./L respectively and were not found to vary with age and sex. Mean ALT levels were more in in HBsAg positive cases (42.03 I.U/L vs. 31.5 I.U./L, P .000) and HCV infected cases (49 I.U./L vs. 31.51 I.U./L, P.000) than non-infected persons. Conclusion: Hepatitis B infection is of intermediate endemicity among young adults while hepatitis C virus infection is low among this group. Mean amino transferase levels were higher in asymptomatic infected persons in comparison to non-infected person. We suggest the need for revision of upper limit of normal for ALT in our population for early detection and treatment of liver diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work is our first step to get multiresolution approximation of eigenelements of Sturm-Liouville problems within bounded domain of varied nature. The formula for obtaining elements of representation of Sturm-Liouville operator involving polynomial coefficients in wavelet basis of Daubechies family have been derived in a form which can be readily used for their computations by a simple computer program. Estimates of errors for both the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions are also presented here. The proposed wavelet-Galerkin scheme based on scale functions and wavelets of Daubechies family having three or four vanishing moments of their wavelets has been applied to get approximate eigenelements of regular and singular Sturm-Liouville problems within bounded domain and compared with the exact or approximate results whenever available. From our study it appears that the proposed method is efficient and rapidly convergent in comparison to other approximation schemes based on variational method in Haar basis or finite difference methods studied by Bujurke et al. [39]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I Dear Editor, i On 2 December 2020, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) authorized the use of a modRNA - nucleoside modified messenger RNA (mRNA) COVID-19 vaccine; Pfizer-BioNTech. A Bullous Eruption following the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccination Prior to this, no mRNA vaccines had been authorized for use in humans.1 As of June 2021, 66 million COVID-19 vaccinations have been administered within the UK.2 Currently, approved vaccines for use in the UK include Pfizer-BioNTech, Oxford/AstraZeneca and Moderna variants. [Extracted from the article]

A 25 years old male attended the skin & VD outpatient department of Khulna Medical College Hospital on 16th June, 2013 with complaints of multiple asymptomatic small rounded firm, cystic nodules that are adherent to the overlying skin of scortum. The microscopic examination of the cystic nodules showed the features of steatocystoma multiplex. This disorder, although it is asymptomatic, is a cosmetic threat to the patient. Only a few cases of the patients with an autosomal dominant mutation, who had keratin 17; have been reported. We are reporting here a case of steatocystoma multiplex of scortum in a 25 years old male along with review of literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiple myeloma (MM) is incurable in virtually all patients due to the presence of innate and emergent drug-resistance. To identify potential drug resistance mechanisms in MM we used iTRAQ (isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation) mass spectrometry to compare protein expression profiles of drug-resistant (RPMI 8226-R5) and sensitive (RPMI 8226-S) isogenic cell lines. We identified selective overexpression of myristoylated alanine-rich C-kinase substrate (MARCKS) in drug-resistant R5 cells. MARCKS overexpression was also observed in several drug-resistant human myeloma cell lines (HMCLs) and in drug-resistant primary MM samples. Functionally, inhibition of MARCKS phosphorylation by enzastaurin or knockdown of the gene by RNAi significantly enhanced the sensitivity of resistant HMCLs and primary MM samples to bortezomib and to other anti-myeloma drugs, providing evidence that MARCKS can modulate drug response. Mechanistically, pMARCKS (phosphorylated form of MARCKS) was found to function as an E2F-1 cofactor to regulate SKP2 transcription. pMARCKS promoted cell-cycle progression by facilitating SKP2 expression, suppressing p27Kip1 and potentially counteracting drug-induced cell-cycle arrest by promoting Cyclin E/CDK2 activity. Importantly, MARCKS knockdown in combination with bortezomib treatment overcame bortezomib resistance, significantly inhibited tumor growth and prolonged host survival in a MM xenograft model. These data provide a rationale for therapeutic targeting of pMARCKS to improve the outcome of patients with refractory/relapsed MM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]