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Aldehydes are common constituents of natural and polluted atmospheres, and their gas-phase oxidation has recently been reported to yield highly oxygenated organic molecules (HOMs) that are key players in the formation of atmospheric aerosol. However, insights into the molecular-level mechanism of this oxidation reaction have been scarce. While OH initiated oxidation of small aldehydes, with two to five carbon atoms, under high-NOx conditions generally leads to fragmentation products, longer-chain aldehydes involving an initial non-aldehydic hydrogen abstraction can be a path to molecular functionalization and growth. In this work, we conduct a joint theoretical–experimental analysis of the autoxidation chain reaction of a common aldehyde, hexanal. We computationally study the initial steps of OH oxidation at the RHF-RCCSD(T)-F12a/VDZ-F12//ωB97X-D/aug-cc-pVTZ level and show that both aldehydic (on C1) and non-aldehydic (on C4) H-abstraction channels contribute to HOMs via autoxidation. The oxidation products predominantly form through the H abstraction from C1 and C4, followed by fast unimolecular 1,6 H-shifts with rate coefficients of 1.7×10-1 and 8.6×10-1 s−1, respectively. Experimental flow reactor measurements at variable reaction times show that hexanal oxidation products including HOM monomers up to C6H11O7 and accretion products C12H22O9−10 form within 3 s reaction time. Kinetic modeling simulations including atmospherically relevant precursor concentrations agree with the experimental results and the expected timescales. Finally, we estimate the hexanal HOM yields up to seven O atoms with mechanistic details through both C1 and C4 channels.

Introduction Despite the well-recognized risk poor maternal mental health poses to early child development, it is still rarely addressed in global health programming, especially in humanitarian settings where access to health and mental health infrastructures may be limited. Recognizing the critical role of maternal psychosocial wellness in addressing the health and development of children in conflict, Action contre La Faim/Action Against Hunger (ACF) developed the Baby Friendly Spaces (BFS) program. BFS is a holistic, evidenced-based psychosocial support program that aims to enhance mothers’ wellbeing, internal resources, and child caring skills in order to create a buffer against the deleterious health and developmental impacts of conflict on children. Objectives In Bangladesh, we sought to evaluate the effectiveness of a psychosocial support program for Rohingya refugee mothers and their malnourished children under two years old living in Cox’s Bazar’s camps. Methods For this study, we used a matched pair randomization, where ten BFS program sites were allocated to either continue providing services “as usual” or to an “enhanced BFS program” after re-training and providing continuous supportive supervision of the BFS staff throughout the trial period. 600 mothers and their children were enrolled in the study and attended psychosocial stimulation activities related to child care practices and care for women. Data were collected at baseline and 8-week follow-up. Primary outcomes included maternal distress and wellbeing, functioning, and coping. For implementation purpose, a survey was administered on confidence at work for all BFS staff and a fidelity observation assessment was conducted. Results Relative to “as usual” sites, mothers in enhanced implementation sites reported greater reductions in distress (B=-.30) and improvement in wellbeing (B=.58). These differences were small, but marginally significant (p=.058; p=.038) with standard estimation; There was no significant difference between the two groups for daily functioning and coping. BFS providers in “enhanced BFS program” reported higher confidence in service delivery than their colleagues (p=.01). Fidelity varied widely across different components, with some very high and some very low adherence. There tended to be better adherence to procedures in group versus individual sessions and for some specific activities across domains, for enhanced versus standard BFS. Conclusions Findings highlight the value of innovative study approaches for real-world evidence generation. Small but feasible adjustments to implementation can both improve program delivery for maximizing impact. Consequently, low-intensity psychosocial support activities holds potential for reducing distress and improving subjective well-being of conflict affected mothers. Disclosure of Interest None Declared

Understanding the applicability and uncertainties of methods for documenting recharge rates in semi-arid areas is important for assessing the successive effects of land-use changes and understanding groundwater systems. This study focuses on estimating groundwater recharge rates and understanding the impacts of land-use changes on recharge rates in a semi-arid area in southeast Australia. Two adjacent catchments were cleared ∼180 years ago following European settlement, and a eucalypt plantation forest was subsequently established ∼15 years ago in one of the catchments. Chloride mass balance analysis yields recharge rates of 0.2 to 61.6 mm yr−1 (typically up to 11.2 mm yr−1). The lower of these values probably represents recharge rates prior to land clearing, whereas the higher likely reflects recharge rates following the initial land clearing. The low pre-land-clearing recharge rates are consistent with the presence of old groundwater (residence times up to 24 700 years) and the moderate-to-low hydraulic conductivities (0.31 to 0.002 m d−1) of the aquifers. Recharge rates estimated from tritium activities and water table fluctuations reflect those following the initial land clearing. Recharge rates estimated using water table fluctuations (15 to 500 mm yr−1) are significantly higher than those estimated using tritium renewal rates (0.01 to 89 mm yr−1; typically mm yr−1) and approach the long-term average annual rainfall (∼640 mm yr−1). These recharge rates are unrealistic given the estimated evapotranspiration rates of 500 to 600 mm yr−1 and the preservation of old groundwater in the catchments. It is likely that uncertainties in the specific yield results in the water table fluctuation method significantly overestimating recharge rates, and despite the land-use changes, the present-day recharge rates are relatively modest. These results are ultimately important for assessing the impacts of land-use changes and management of groundwater resources in semi-arid regions in Australia and elsewhere.

Objective: To examine the effect of cigarette smoking (CS) status and total testosterone (TT) levels after testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) on all-cause mortality, myocardial infarction (MI), and stroke in male smokers and nonsmokers without history of MI and stroke. Participants and Methods: Data from 18,055 males with known CS status and low TT levels who received TRT at the Veterans Health Administration between December 1, 1999, and May 31, 2014, were grouped into (1) current smokers with normalized TT, (2) current smokers with nonnormalized TT, (3) nonsmokers with normalized TT, and (4) nonsmokers with nonnormalized TT. Combined effect of CS status and TT level normalization after TRT on all-cause mortality, MI, and stroke was compared using propensity score–weighted Cox proportional hazard models. Results: Normalization of serum TT levels in nonsmokers was associated with a significant decrease in all-cause mortality (hazard ratio [HR]=0.526; 95% CI, 0.477-0.581; P

BackgroundAtrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac dysrhythmia associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Several small studies have reported that low serum total testosterone (TT) levels were associated with a higher incidence of AF. In contrast, it is also reported that anabolic steroid use is associated with an increase in the risk of AF. To date, no study has explored the effect of testosterone normalization on new incidence of AF after testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) in patients with low testosterone. Methods and ResultsUsing data from the Veterans Administrations Corporate Data Warehouse, we identified a national cohort of 76 639 veterans with low TT levels and divided them into 3 groups. Group 1 had TRT resulting in normalization of TT levels (normalized TRT), group 2 had TRT without normalization of TT levels (nonnormalized TRT), and group 3 did not receive TRT (no TRT). Propensity score–weighted stabilized inverse probability of treatment weighting Cox proportional hazard methods were used for analysis of the data from these groups to determine the association between post‐TRT levels of TT and the incidence of AF. Group 1 (40 856 patients, median age 66 years) had significantly lower risk of AF than group 2 (23 939 patients, median age 65 years; hazard ratio 0.90, 95% CI 0.81–0.99, P=0.0255) and group 3 (11 853 patients, median age 67 years; hazard ratio 0.79, 95% CI 0.70–0.89, P=0.0001). There was no statistical difference between groups 2 and 3 (hazard ratio 0.89, 95% CI 0.78– 1.0009, P=0.0675) in incidence of AF. ConclusionsThese novel results suggest that normalization of TT levels after TRT is associated with a significant decrease in the incidence of AF.

Soft-computational approaches have enabled quicker and more efficient means for antenna design. In the present work, a genetic algorithm (GA) based method is reported for the design of complementary split ring resonator (CSRR) structures for antenna design. A multi-objective optimization problem is formulated to design the antenna. The cost function of the optimization problem is calculated from a surrogate model of the CSRR structure. The surrogate model is created first using an analytical model of the CSRR structure and then using an artificial neural network (ANN). A comparative study of the result shows that the ANN based surrogate model is more accurate compared to the surrogate model using an analytical model. An antenna with an integrated filter is built using a CSRR structure designed using the proposed method. The performance of the antenna is validated from simulation and measurement results.

We assessed genetic diversity in 26 rice genotypes including 21 landraces and five improved varieties grown in three different nitrogen doses, viz. 0, 40, and 60 kg/ha during kharif 2014-15, and identified superior nitrogen use efficient genotypes for lowland rice ecosystem. The presence of significant genotypic differences was registered for 12 quantitative traits of nitrogen use efficiency, grain yield, and its related traits. Mahalanobis distance-based clustering grouped the genotypes into seven clusters. The maximum contribution towards divergence was due to flag leaf area followed by physiological nitrogen use efficiency and grain yield/plant. Principal component analysis performed on the 12 quantitative traits revealed that the first four principal components accounted for 83.57% variance among the genotypes. Grain yield/plant (0.43), nitrogen utilization efficiency (0.39), and nitrogen harvest index (0.37) accounted most for principal component 1. The genotypes namely Lothabor, Betguti Sali, and Luhasali were found to be suitable for the lowland rice ecosystem.

Abstract Rapid cycle genomic selection (RC‐GS) helps to shorten the breeding cycle and reduce the costs of phenotyping, thereby increasing genetic gains in terms of both cost and time. We implemented RC‐GS on two multi‐parent yellow synthetic (MYS) populations constituted by intermating ten elite lines involved in each population, including four each of drought and waterlogging tolerant donors and two commercial lines, with proven commercial value. Cycle 1 (C1) was constituted based on phenotypic selection and intermating of the top 5% of 500 S2 families derived from each MYS population, test‐crossed and evaluated across moisture regimes. C1 was advanced to the next two cycles (C2 and C3) by intermating the top 5% selected individuals with high genomic estimated breeding values (GEBVs) for grain yield under drought and waterlogging stress. To estimate genetic gains, population bulks from each cycle were test‐crossed and evaluated across locations under different moisture regimes. Results indicated that the realised genetic gain under drought stress was 0.110 t ha−1 yr−1 and 0.135 t ha−1 yr−1, respectively, for MYS‐1 and MYS‐2. The gain was less under waterlogging stress, where MYS‐1 showed 0.038 t ha−1 yr−1 and MYS‐2 reached 0.113 t ha−1 yr−1. Genomic selection for drought and waterlogging tolerance resulted in no yield penalty under optimal moisture conditions. The genetic diversity of the two populations did not change significantly after two cycles of GS, suggesting that RC‐GS can be an effective breeding strategy to achieve high genetic gains without losing genetic diversity.

The neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), which affect the very poor, pose a major public health problem in the South-East Asia Region of the World Health Organization (WHO). Although more than a dozen NTDs affect the region, over the past five years four of them in particular - leprosy, lymphatic filariasis, visceral leishmaniasis (kala-azar) and yaws - have been targeted for elimination. These four were selected for a number of reasons. First, they affect the WHO South-East Asia Region disproportionately. For example, every year around 67% of all new leprosy cases and 60% of all new cases of visceral leishmaniasis worldwide occur in countries of the region, where as many as 850 million inhabitants are at risk of contracting lymphatic filariasis. In addition, several epidemiological, technological and historical factors that are unique to the region make each of these four diseases amenable to elimination. Safe and effective tools and interventions to achieve these targets are available and concerted efforts to scale them up, singly or in an integrated manner, are likely to lead to success. The World Health Assembly and the WHO Regional Committee, through a series of resolutions, have already expressed regional and global commitments for the elimination of these diseases as public health problems. Such action is expected to have a quick and dramatic impact on poverty reduction and to contribute to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. This paper reviews the policy rationale for disease control in the WHO South-East Asia Region, the progress made so far, the lessons learnt along the way, and the remaining challenges and opportunities.

Emerging evidence suggest that infection and persistent inflammation are key players in the pathogenesis of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD). Although it is well established that cigarette smoke (CS) promotes atherosclerotic CVD, very little is known about the potential impact of the collective effects of CS and intermittent or chronic subclinical infection on atherosclerosis. Our previous studies demonstrated that mast cell-derived histamine and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) synergistically enhance endothelial cell inflammatory response. We further noted that the synergy between histamine and LPS was due to reciprocal upregulation of histamine receptor (H1R) and Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) expression and functions. These results suggest that the combined and persistent effects of mast cell mediators and bacterial agents on the vasculature are risk factors of CVD. Our recent data demonstrated that CS extract enhances histamine- and LPS-induced expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) in endothelial cells suggesting that CS and mast cell mediators may collectively amplify inflammatory response in the vessel wall. We hypothesize that CS enhances histamine-mediated upregulation of TLR2/TLR4 signaling in the endothelium and promotes progression of atherosclerosis. This article presents our perspective on the modulatory effects of CS and nicotine on the ‘histamine-TLR-COX-2 axis’.

A 30 yrs old female with non-specific abdominal pain is presented. Ultrasound, computerised tomography abdomen were performed. A finely septated fluid collection surrounding both kidneys were found. Ultrasound guided fluid aspiration; chemical and cytological evaluation of the fluid was done. Exploration was done on the right side with the idea of removing the peri- renal cystic lymphatic collection. The entire cystic collection was removed. Patient followed up for the last two years and there is no recurrence of the cystic collection and the kidney function is preserved.