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Introduction: The study was conducted to determine the association of Helicobactor pylori with endoscopic and histological parameters of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was undertaken. A total of 79 patients were evaluated prospectively in the endoscopic unit of a gastroenterology department for symptoms compatible with GERD. In all cases, routine endoscopy and Los Angeles grading of GERD were performed. In each subject, biopsies were taken from 3 cm above the squamocolumnar junction and from the antrum and assessed histologically. Results: Majority of the patients presented with complaints of heartburn (84.8%) and regurgitation (75.9%). Nonerosive reflux disease was present in only five patients. Endoscopically, the remaining 74 cases were graded as follows: 25 had GERD A, 10 had GERD B, 35 had features of Barrett's esophagus, and 4 had miscellaneous findings. H. pylori positivity was present in 33.3% of patients with GERD A and 4.8% of those with GERD B. Majority of the histological parameters such as elongation of lamina propria papillae, intraepithelial inflammatory infiltrate, ballooning degeneration, lack of surface maturation, and dilatation and congestion of lamina propria capillaries did not show statistically significant association with H. pylori. The overall H. pylori prevalence was found to be 26.58% (21/79). Conclusion: On endoscopy, with the increased GERD severity, H. pylori incidence decreased. H. pylori was found to have no significant association with majority of the histological parameters.

Ru/γ-Al2O3 nanocatalyst with different metal loading was synthesized by microwave irradiated sol-vothermal technique. Synthesized nanocatalyst (4-14 nm of metal particle size)was then successfully implemented for the hydrogenation of Dibenzocrown-18-crown-6 ether (DB18C6) at 9 MPa, 393 K tem-perature and 3.5 h. It was observed that the metallic small nanoclusters produced at 4 wt% metal con-centration exhibited higher catalytic activity and resulted 96.7% conversion with 100% selectivity to-wards cis-syn-cis-dicyclohexano-18-crown-6 ether (CSC DCH18C6). © 2015 by Authors, Published by BCREC Group. This is an open access article under the CC BY-SA License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)

In this study the effects of different types of wall protrusions on microfluidic mixing are studied using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. Two new protrusions, single first bracket protrusions and double opposite first bracket protrusions (DOFBPs), are conceptualized, evaluated through CFD simulations and compared to protrusions having standard geometrical shapes, e.g. rectangular protrusions, triangular protrusions and semicircular protrusions. In the range of Reynolds numbers covered in this study, the microchannel having an opposed T-junction and DOFBPs is found to provide good mixing. A hybrid approach relying on the modification of microfluidic junctions as well as wall protrusions for enhancing microfluidic mixing is also evaluated. The microchannel based on the hybrid approach of an OA 10°–20°–165° WY-junction and DOFBPs is also found to provide very good mixing for a wide range of Reynolds numbers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]