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We describe 101 EoE patients with dysphagia, with food impaction (EoE-FI) and without food impaction (EoE-NoFI). Compare clinical features, endoscopy, histology and 10 additional histological features (AHF), and outcomes. Clinical features, dysphagia score, and endoscopic findings were captured. Eosinophils and 10 AHF at diagnosis and follow-up were done. Two hundred seven patients were seen with EoE, 101 patients with dysphagia enrolled; Follow period was; EoE-FI, and 71 EoE-NoFI and mean ages of 10.9 and 10.4 years, respectively (p = 0.27). Clinical features, EGD, and biopsies were almost similar in both groups. EoE-FI, 1.7 years (mean), range 1/12–8 years, and EoE-NoFI, 1.1 years (1/12–7 years). Dysphagia score improved from 3 to 1.25 in EoE-FI and 1.21 to 0.71 in EoE-NoFI (p < 0.001). Composite score improved from 3.3 to 1.45 and 2.49 to 1.48 (p < 0.001) in EoE-FI and EoE-NoFI; 15/30 (EoE-FI) and 45/71(EoE-NoFI) patients had repeat EGD. Peak eosinophils in EoE-FI improved from 60 to 27 (p = 0.03), and in EoE-NoFI from 47.6 to 33 (p = 0.001). Mean eosinophils in EoE-FI improved from 42 to 27.5 (p = 0.03), and EoE-NoFI from 39.3 to 22.1(p < 0.001). Comparison of the 10 AHF at diagnosis and follow-up showed minimal numerical (%) differences, and none were significant. During follow-up, none had recurrence or occurrence of FI in both groups. There were no significant differences in the clinical features and outcomes of dysphagia in EoE-FI and EoE-NoFI groups. Endoscopy including strictures and histologic findings of eosinophils and the 10 AHF were similar in both groups at diagnosis and follow-up.

The organic materials are predominant over their pair offs based on their intense applications and vital utilities. The DABMPABTD crystal is synthesized by solution growth method under reduced pressure. The yield of 85% is obtained with crystal of yellowish color is attained, and the yield is better than the earlier cases. The crystals belong to triclinic system with the formula of C31H31N3O5S. The elemental analyses are carried out using CHNSO, theoretical method to resolve the components. The crystal is a NLO type of second order and is of 1.45 times highly efficient and proficient than the standard crystals of KDP. The hardness profile shows the reverse indentation (RISE) effect for applied enrichment in tribological endeavors. The dielectric studies carried out and shows better utility in device fabrication and the DABMPABTD crystal shows the negative photoconductivity. The computational elucidation of the present crystal shows the impact of the structural data with experimental data and the anti-diabetic (AD) nature of the titled crystal is also analyzed and reported.

The secured communication is a means to provide privacy and security for the data being transmitted. The cryptographic system has thus become a vital and inevitable platform for achieving data security in our day to day life ranging from the generation of one time passwords, session keys, signature parameters, ephemeral keys. The encryption level is entirely dependent on the unpredictability of the digital bit streams. The paper focuses on generating true random number sequences using hardware, so as to safeguard the encryption keys patterns for digital communications. These sequences are generated using purely digital components supported by an efficient VLSI architecture. The implementation of the proposed model is done using Mojo-V3, supported by Xilinx ISE software platform. The generated random sequences will further undergo some post processing operations, viz; Von-Neumann correction (VNC) and Parallel Run Length Encoding (PRLE), to eliminate the bias in bit stream and also to compensate the high power dissipation respectively.

Nonlinear optical crystalline material is the fascinating tool for the optoelectronic devices and for phase-matched equipments, frequency matching circuits and etc. Present study portrays the synthesize and utility of macro and nano scaled crystals of 2-[4-(trifluoromethyl) phenyl]-1H-benzimidazole (TFMPHB) by slow evaporation solution growth method and by milling conversion. As-prepared crystals were studied by XRD, CHNSO analysis, dielectric and tribology-mechanical, NLO, and photoconductivity. The orthorhombic phase structure with the average crystalline size of 21 nm was observed. The elemental composition of crystals was analyzed for the presence of elements. Tribological studies of macro and nano TFMPHB crystals were favorable for mechanical applications. Further, the high dielectric constant (363 K) at low frequency was suitable for microelectronic devices; NLO is analyzed with phase matching effect over particle size, and photoconductivity study also reported for the entitled crystalline specimen. The structural parameters by AFM and SEM, absorbance nature by UV spectra, and modeling data by computational methods are also reported.

2′-Chloro-4-methoxy-3-nitrobenzil (CMNB) crystals are grown by solution growth method, and organic crystalline materials are utilized due to their enhanced applications as frequency multipliers, phase matched equipments, etc. CMNB is utilized in electronic and mechanical sectors based on the filter, fluorescence (FL), tribological and also by NLO studies. The single crystal X-ray diffraction (XRD) of CMNB shows the formula as C15H10ClNO5 and the lattice parameters are a = 7.8560 A, b = 8.1005 A, c = 12.4964 A, α = 74.90°, β = 74.81°, γ = 68.59°, crystalline system is triclinic, space group as Pī. Here, the crystals are analyzed with XRD, CHNSO, fluorescence (FL), filter influx, NLO, hardness and photoconductivity nature and also for fabricated device stress analysis methods by surface interaction tool as a mechano utility in instrumental industries.

Societies interpreted their dreams in various ways. While dream interpretation has always been an essential part of medical and philosophical discourse, it was only recently that historians began to show certain interest in writing what is called the cultural history of dream interpretation. In fact, dreams, rituals, myths, social memories and consciously constructed histories all share certain similarities since they engage with the past and are expressed in a narrative form. Dream psychology, therefore, may provide a useful analytical tool for historians who are interested in mapping the mental structure of societies. This article is an attempt to unearth the patterns of dream interpretations by analysing the dream expressions found in Tamil literature up to the twelfth century ad. The social attitude towards dreams in the Sangam literature, early Tamil epics and Bhakti literatures is studied in the sociocultural context of their times. One can presume that the literary language of dreams more or less reflected the contemporary cultural beliefs and social practices.

A feeding trial was conducted in 16 transition cows (farm and field conditions) to increase the serum calcium level through feeding anionic salts and reducing the positivity of the diet. Anionic salts were supplemented based on assessing the Dietary Cationic and Anionic Difference (DCAD) value of the feed and fodders offered to the animals affected with milk fever in Kancheepuram district of Tamil Nadu. DCAD value of the ration of all experimental cows was adjusted to -15 to -10 mEq/100g dry matter by supplementation of anionic salts viz., calcium sulphide and magnesium chloride along with hydroponic fodder bajra. Anionic salts supplementation for three weeks prior to calving resulted in significant (P

In the present work, a quantum chemical approach is followed to study the molecular geometry, vibrational spectra, thermodynamic and molecular electrostatic potential of the title compound. Experimental techniques of FTIR, FT-Raman and UV–Visible were used to study the vibrational and electronic spectrum. The complete vibrational band assignment has been made on the basis of PED distribution and the values are proposed. The thermodynamic properties were calculated at different temperatures and corresponding relations between the properties and temperature were also studied. The antibacterial activity of the title compound was examined against E. coli and other gram positive and gram negative bacteria’s by micro dilution method.

It was thought for a long time that only the younger and tectonically active mountains are prone to landslides and hence more attention was given in studying them the world over. But, when the landslides have started occurring in other mountain regions of high rainfall and human interventions also, these mountains too came under the purview of landslide studies. The studies thus widened to the other mountains revealed that the various geological/terrain parameters and the degree of anthropogenic activities occur in different combinations and assign varying grades of landslide probabilities. According to it, these mountains succumb to different degrees of landslides when heavy rainfall occurs. The state of Kerala, which is 600 km long in North Northwest–South Southeast and 35 to 120 km broad in East-West directions, is one such a region of recurring landslides. It is a unique physiographic/geomorphic province with highly elevated NNW-SSE oriented Western Ghat Mountains in the east, that are rimmed by the sub parallel systems of landforms like composite slopes, marginally raised lateritic uplands and the coastal plains successively in the west with gradual descending elevation, thus providing a step like topography. The regular annual rainfall of the southwest monsoons cause devastating landslides in Kerala due to the unique geomorphic setting. So the present study was carried out to analyse the geomorphology of the region in details, which is dominantly evolved by the tectonics, to elucidate its input over the landslides. In the study, the geomorphic features were studied in detail using the (i) satellite false colour composite imagery wrapped over the digital elevation model of the terrain, (ii) shaded relief maps and (iii) the topographic cross sections drawn over the above satellite data wrapped 3D terrain model. These were accomplished using the advanced options available with geospatial technology. The study revealed that due to the high degree of deformation and the resultant development of geomorphology of the study area, the rainwater infiltrates and cause landslides in the form of rock and cliff topples, rock and cliff falls, landslides, talus and debris falls/flows.

The present investigation is focused on the macro and nanocrystals of 4-(4-chlorophenyl)-7,7-dimethyl-7,8-dihydro-4H-1-benzopyran-2,5(3H,6H)-dione (CPDMDHHBPHHD), its synthesis, and the various characterization and comparative studies performed to assess its applications. Nanocrystals were prepared by milling procedure and its evaluation and utility than macro-sized entitled crystals were thoroughly discussed. The single crystal XRD study reveals the macro-crystalline lattice parameters with the empirical formula as C17H17ClO3 and a = 11.9005 A, b = 5.7971 A, c = 22.608 A and β = 93.97°. The crystal system is monoclinic with space group P21/n. The nanoform of entitled crystals specimen are of 16 nm of size. Characterization studies for macro- and nano-scaling such as dielectric, fluorescence (FL), photoconductivity, tribological study, and nano influx for filters were performed and reported. From the present study, it could be concluded that CPDMDHHBPHHD crystals are known to be best for electronic filters, frequency doubling circuits, second harmonic generation (SHG) efficiency, and nano level influx value which is useful for opto-electronic applications.

Background: Among the current quality control assays used in islet transplantation, there is an urgent need for more appropriate assays that measure cell damage via apoptosis that are accurate and rapid. Although the Terminal Uridine Nucleotide End Labeling (TUNEL) is a popular marker for apoptosis, the protocol takes 4 hours to complete. In this regard, microwave assisted histoprocessing, which shortens the time taken for processing, holds promise. Keeping this in mind, a new TUNEL Microwave (TUNEL-MW) method, for rapid quantification of apoptosis, was designed, developed and validated. Method: Two lots of post-thaw isolated human islets cultured for 24 hours, 3 days, 5 days and 7 days i.e. 8 samples, were used for the study. Dewaxed and rehydrated tissues were processed for routine histology, stained with haematoxylin and eosin (H&E) and the conventional TUNEL was carried out as per manufacturer’s instructions. For the TUNEL-MW, kit instructions were modified and microwave-assisted histoprocessing was done. The assessment of apoptotic index (AI%) by light microscopy (LM) was carried out by a pathologist who was completely blinded to the study. Results: The new TUNEL-Microwave (TUNEL-MW) developed by us reduced processing time from 4 hours to 30 minutes (saving 3½ hours). Results were validated by univariate linear regression (r2>0.990), coefficient of variation (

A new brucinium 4-methyl-3-nitrobenzoate 0.5 hydrate (B4M3NB0.5H) NLO single crystal was harvested from saturated solution by solvent evaporation method. Crystal system and symmetric type of B4M3NB0.5H compound were analyzed by structure analysis. Linear optical parameters of title compound were discussed in detail by UV–visible analysis. Lifetime values of the molecule were quantified by fluorescence study, and it confirms the good crystalline perfection of the grown crystal. The SHG efficiency is 5.11 times superior to the KDP material. By utilizing Nd:YAG laser as an input, SLDT measurement of the crystal was done. The grown crystal has good crystalline nature which is analyzed by HRXRD study. Dielectric behavior of B4M3NB0.5H crystal was discussed in detail. With the help of theoretical approach, few of the solid-state parameters were calculated and listed. Piezoelectric charge coefficient and piezovoltage were calculated to be 4.5 p C/N and 0.0417 p V m/N, respectively. The TGA and DTA spectrum confirms that the title compound is thermally stable up to 101 °C.

Reading, Knowledge, Motivation Reading is not only one of the most important skills in language teaching, but also one of the main objectives of learning English in general. Many factors such as students’ background knowledge, motivation, interest, organization of the texts and study skills may affect reading skill. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether teaching study skills would increase students’ reading comprehension ability or not. To achieve this goal an experiment was carried out at Anna University College of Engineering, Ramanathapuram, Tamilnadu, India during the second semester of 2016-2017. The results of the study supported the argument that skills in reading depend on the precise coordination of a number of special reading skills and there is a significant relationship between the knowledge of study skills and reading comprehension.

Introduction\ud \ud Patients with cancer who develop small bowel obstruction are at high risk of malnutrition and morbidity following compromise of gastrointestinal tract continuity. This study aimed to characterise current management and outcomes following malignant small bowel obstruction.\ud \ud \ud \ud Methods\ud \ud A prospective, multicentre cohort study of patients with small bowel obstruction who presented to UK hospitals between 16th January and 13th March 2017. Patients who presented with small bowel obstruction due to primary tumours of the intestine (excluding left-sided colonic tumours) or disseminated intra-abdominal malignancy were included. Outcomes included 30-day mortality and in-hospital complications. Cox-proportional hazards models were used to generate adjusted effects estimates, which are presented as hazard ratios (HR) alongside the corresponding 95% confidence interval (95% CI). The threshold for statistical significance was set at the level of P ≤ 0.05 a-priori.\ud \ud \ud \ud Results\ud \ud 205 patients with malignant small bowel obstruction presented to emergency surgery services during the study period. Of these patients, 50 had obstruction due to right sided colon cancer, 143 due to disseminated intraabdominal malignancy, 10 had primary tumours of the small bowel and 2 patients had gastrointestinal stromal tumours. In total 100 out of 205 patients underwent a surgical intervention for obstruction. 30-day in-hospital mortality rate was 11.3% for those with primary tumours and 19.6% for those with disseminated malignancy. Severe risk of malnutrition was an independent predictor for poor mortality in this cohort (adjusted HR 16.18, 95% CI 1.86 to 140.84, p = 0.012). Patients with right-sided colon cancer had high rates of morbidity.\ud \ud \ud \ud Conclusions\ud \ud Mortality rates were high in patients with disseminated malignancy and in those with right sided colon cancer. Further research should identify optimal management strategy to reduce morbidity for these patient groups.

Spectroscopic and structural properties of hydroxyl group based structural isomers such as catechol, resorcinol and hydroquinone have been investigated by FT-IR, FT-Raman, NMR and UV-Vis analytical techniques with the help of quantum chemical calculations. The electronic structure of benzenediol isomers have been optimized with complete relaxations on the potential energy surfaces and structure of these isomers were predicted with different point group symmetries. The intra- and inter-molecular interactions have been studied by natural bond orbital (NBO) and Hirshfeld surface analysis. In addition, the frontier molecular orbital (FMO), nonlinear optical (NLO), potential energy surface (PES) scan, dimer formation, direction of the dipole moment and influences of hydrogen bonding have been analyzed to gain better insight into the benzenediol isomers.

The incorporation of Carbon in Tin Oxide (SnO2) nanocomposite (SnO2@C NCs) was synthesized successfully by hydrothermal method with sucrose and tin dichloride dihydrate (SnCl2.2H2O) as precursor materials and was sintered at different temperatures. The as prepared SnO2-Carbon nanocomposites were characterized by various techniques such as X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) along with Energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), Raman spectra, TGA and Electrochemical analyses. The controlled addition of Carbon in SnO2 to exhibit enhanced electrochemical property was also studied. It was demonstrated that the Carbon derived from sucrose assisted anode showed the high reversible capacity of about 581 mAhg-1 indicating that the possibility of further increment in Li storage property. The initial discharge capacities of the samples heat treated at 400 °C, 450 °C and 500 °C were 1424.79, 1061.71 and 531.28 mAh g-1, exhibiting an increasing trend in capacity with increasing the Carbon content. The columbic efficiency of SnO2@C NCs attains more than 95%. The electrodes show a long cycling ability and high charge and discharge capacity due to the presence of carbon.

Floods in India, which were once mostly confined to southern part of the Himalayan region, have now started spreading over to many regions of India, including the urban conglomerations and the desert tracts of Rajasthan too. The flood that occurred in Kerala during August 2018 is one such major disaster that caused huge damages to man, infrastructure and properties, estimated to the worth of 200 billion USD. Besides, they are expected to cause a chain of other hazards, and one among these is reservoir-induced seismicity (RIS). The RIS occurs in deep reservoirs with high water column. While the water column increases the total stress on the earth crust, the infiltration causes pore pressure increase which in turn decreases the effective strength of the earth crust. Such changes in the stress regime cause RIS (earthquake). The rocks of the Western Ghat Mountains of Kerala are highly deformed with folds and faults of Archean/Precambrian tectonics and have undergone morphological modifications during Pleistocene tectonics. The region is also seismically active. Further, the Western Ghats cover vast area in Kerala; almost all the dams and reservoirs are located in the highly folded, fractured, faulted and along the deep valleys of the Western Ghats. In the context of recent August 2018 flood disaster, the probability of RIS has increased. So, GIS analysis was carried out using various geosystems, seismicity, distribution of dams, zones of heavy rainfall 2018 and the flood inundation, which indicates that 50% of the reservoirs are highly prone to RIS. The RIS would have occurred during August 2018 flood itself, but for the release of water from the overflowing reservoirs. However, owing to the proneness of the region to RIS, optimal water management is necessary for the dams and reservoirs of Kerala.

Pure and Nd-doped cerium oxides (CeO₂, Ce0.075Nd0.025O and Ce0.050Nd0.050O) nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized using Aloe vera leaf extract. X-ray powder diffraction studies were confirmed that synthesized pure and Nd3+ doped CeO₂ NPs and were exhibited cubic structure. FE-SEM image exhibited pure and Nd3+ doped CeO₂ NPs have spherical structure and Nd doped CeO2 NPs small pores were formed in the surface. EDAX spectral analysis used to identify the elemental compositions. FT-IR spectra shows various functional groups and were identified for pure and Nd3+ doped CeO₂ NPs. UV-Vis spectra, absorption edges were observed at 314 nm, 324 nm and 357 nm for pure and Nd doped CeO2 NPs respectively. PL spectral analysis, small shift observed for emission of the CeO2 NPs values as compared to that of the Nd doped CeO2 NPs emission values. The antimicrobial studies were performed against a set of Gram positive (Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pneumoniae) and Gram negative (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Proteus vulgaris, Klebsiella pneumonia and Shigella dysenteriae) bacterial and fungal candida albicans strain.