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Abstract In this brief report, we present laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) evidence of deuterium (D) production in a 3:1 urethane dimethacrylate (UDMA) and triethylene glycol dimethacrylate (TEGDMA) polymer doped with resonant gold nanorods, induced by intense, 40 fs laser pulses. The in situ recorded LIBS spectra revealed that the D/(2D + H) increased to 4–8% in the polymer samples in selected events. The extent of transmutation was found to linearly increase with the laser pulse energy (intensity) between 2 and 25 mJ (up to 3 × 1017W/cm2). The observed effect is attributed only to the field enhancing effects due to excited localized surface plasmons on the gold nanoparticles.

OBJECTIVE: Enteric fever remains a leading cause of febrile illness, especially in developing countries. Due to limited resources, all investigations are not available in every health facility, but simpler investigations and clinical examinations may help in the early diagnosis of the disease. In this study, we evaluated the usefulness of eosinopenia and clinical features in predicting enteric fever in children. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted from March 2018 to March 2019. A total of 100 children with a fever of a minimum of 5 days duration and without any focus of infection were included in the study. Investigations such as hemogram with absolute eosinophil count, liver function test, Widal test, and blood culture were performed. Absolute eosinopenia was defined as the eosinophilic count of 0 μg/dl. Sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV of absolute eosinopenia and other clinical indicators were calculated. RESULTS: We analyzed data from 100 children, including 75 cases in the enteric fever group (culture/Widal positive) and 25 cases in the suspected enteric fever group. The presence of eosinopenia was statistically significant in the enteric group (p-value = 0.02). Absolute eosinopenia was seen in 52% of confirmed enteric cases, compared to 4% of the suspected enteric group (p-value = 0.001). The positive predictive values for relative bradycardia and coated tongue were 84.3% and 91.4%, respectively. Absolute eosinopenia had a specificity of 96% and PPV of 97.5%. Relative bradycardia, eosinopenia, and absolute eosinopenia were significantly more present in the culture-positive group (p-value = 0.02, 0.04, 0.02, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Absolute eosinopenia can be used as a strong predictor of the disease and can help in the early institution of appropriate therapy, especially in a resource-limited setting. Relative bradycardia, coated tongue, along with low TLC, thrombocytopenia, and eosinopenia can be used as other predictors.

Emotional intelligence (EI) has a positive correlation with the academic performance of medical students. However, why there is a positive correlation needs further exploration. We hypothesized that the capability of answering higher-order knowledge questions (HOQs) is higher in students with higher EI. Hence, we assessed the correlation between EI and the capability of medical students to answer HOQs in physiology. First-year undergraduate medical students (n = 124) from an Indian medical college were recruited as a convenient sample. EI was assessed by the Schutte Self-Report Emotional Intelligence Test (SSEIT), a 33-item self-administered validated questionnaire. A specially designed objective examination with 15 lower-order and 15 higher-order multiple-choice questions was conducted. The correlation between the examination score and the EI score was tested by Pearson's correlation coefficient. Data from 92 students (33 females and 59 males) with a mean age of 20.14±1.87 yr were analyzed. Overall, students got a percentage of 53.37±14.07 in the examination, with 24.46±9.1 in HOQs and 28.91±6.58 in lower-order knowledge questions (LOQs). They had a mean score of 109.58±46.2 in SSEIT. The correlation coefficient of SSEIT score with total marks was r ¼ 0.29 (P ¼ 0.0037), with HOQs was r ¼ 0.41 (P < 0.0001), and with LOQs was r = 0.14 (P = 0.19). Hence, there is a positive correlation between EI and the capability of medical students to answer HOQs in physiology. This study may be the foundation for further exploration of the capability of answering HOQs in other subjects.

Di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP) is one of the frequently detected phthalates in environmental samples. The effects of phthalates are extensively studied in the animals but the effects on plants are scarce. Therefore, the present study is aimed to envisage the effects of DBP on the antioxidative defense system in Hordeum vulgare L. seedlings grown under laboratory conditions for 7 d. The activities of different antioxidative enzymes were enhanced in the shoots. In the roots, the activity of guaiacol peroxidase increased and the catalase activity decreased initially but increased at higher DBP concentrations, whereas the activities of superoxide dismutase, ascorbate peroxidase, and glutathione reductase declined. Furthermore, the content of polyphenols elevated after exposure of seedlings to DBP. The possible reason for these responses of barley seedlings is the oxidative burst, i.e., enhanced production of reactive oxygen species, which were confirmed using confocal microscopy in terms of loss in plasma membrane integrity. DBP also disturbed the normal stomatal morphology of barley seedlings. The study may help to provide insights into the defense of crop plants against phthalate stress.