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Objectives: To assess the risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD) associated with tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) use by baseline D:A:D CKD risk score. Methods: Adult antiretroviral therapy (ART)‐naïve people living with HIV (PLWH) initiating treatment, with estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) ≥ 60 mL/min/1.73 m2, were identified in the OPERA cohort. CKD was defined as two or more consecutive eGFR < 60 mL/min/1.73 m2, > 90 days apart. Associations between TDF use, baseline D:A:D CKD risk and incident CKD were assessed with incidence rates (IRs; Poisson regression) and adjusted pooled logistic regression. The impact of pharmacoenhancers on the observed association between TDF and CKD was also evaluated. Results: Of 9802 PLWH included, 6222 initiated TDF and 3580 did not (76% and 79% low D:A:D CKD risk, respectively). Overall, 125 CKD events occurred over 24 382 person‐years of follow‐up. Within strata of D:A:D CKD risk score, IRs were similar across TDF exposure, with high baseline CKD risk associated with highest incidence. Compared with the low‐risk group without TDF, there was no statistical difference in odds of incident CKD in the low‐risk group with TDF (adjusted odds ratio = 0.55, 95% confidence interval: 0.19–1.54). Odds of incident CKD did not differ statistically significantly by pharmacoenhancer exposure, with or without TDF. Conclusions: In this large cohort of ART‐naïve PLWH, incident CKD following ART initiation was infrequent and strongly associated with baseline CKD risk. TDF‐containing regimens did not increase the odds of CKD in those with a low baseline D:A:D CKD risk, the largest group of ART‐naïve PLWH, and may remain a viable treatment option in appropriate settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bt cotton is the major cash crop of Gujarat. Scarcity of groundwater, high evaporative conditions and deficient rainfall condition compelled farmers to adopt drip irrigation with mulch. Lack of knowledge on combined impact of drip irrigation regimes and mulch on water saving and its economy constrained mass adoptability of this technique. Keeping this in view, an experiment was conducted at Junagadh for two consecutive years (2012-13 and 2013-14) to assess the combined impact of irrigation regimes (0.6, 0.8 and 1.0 ETc), mulch material (silver black plastic mulch, biodegradable plastic mulch and wheat straw mulch), and irrigation systems (drip and furrow) on yield of Bt cotton Hybrid-6. Split plot design with three treatment replications was adopted. Drip irrigation with silver black plastic mulch scheduled at 0.8 ETc yielded high morphological variables, yield attributes and WUE than other treatments accounted in the study. Drip without mulch outperformed than furrow irrigation system (4.82 kg/ha/mm). Seed cotton yield of drip with silver black plastic mulch was 2.1 folds over furrow method, 1.40 folds over drip irrigated cotton, 1.15 folds over biodegradable plastic mulch and 1.31 folds over wheat straw mulch at 0.8 ETc. The drip irrigation technique coupled with silver black plastic mulch improved the crop productivity. Highest benefit: cost ratio was 2.64 for silver black plastic mulch at 0.8 ETc. B: C ratio for wheat straw and drip irrigation without mulch were at par and furrowly (B: C ratio 1.60) grown cotton. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An enhancement in near-scission α-particle multiplicity was observed in the 12C+232Th fission reaction at a beam energy of 69 MeV in a recent experiment [Y. K. Gupta etal., Phys. Rev. C 86, 014615 (2012)]. The excess α-particle emission was attributed to α-transfer induced fission, where α-particle transfer followed by breakup of 8Be into two α particles in coincidence with fission fragments (FFs) was observed. In order to further verify this transfer-breakup source, α-particle energy spectra have been measured in coincidence with FFs in 12,13C+232Th reactions at various relative angles with respect to the beam and FF directions at a beam energy of 74.5 MeV. The α-particle multiplicity spectra were fitted using a moving source disentangling analysis. The features of multiplicity spectra clearly demonstrate the presence of transfer-breakup events in 12C+232Th fission. The contribution of α-particle multiplicity from transfer-breakup events in the 13C+232Th reaction is seen to be negligibly smaller than that of the 12C+232Th reaction. After taking into account the transfer-breakup source, the pre- and near-scission α-particle multiplicities follow the recently developed heavy-ion systematics for both reactions. These results conclusively affirm that transfer-breakup is a potential source of α-particle emission in fission reactions, induced by α-cluster projectiles such as 12C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Elastic scattering angular distribution measurements of the weakly bound 6,7Li projectiles on a 232Th target have been carried out at different bombarding energies close to the Coulomb barrier. The data have been analyzed for both systems using the optical model ecis code with phenomenological Woods-Saxon and Sao Paulo double-folding forms of the optical potentials. The energy dependence of the volume-type real and imaginary parts of the optical potentials are derived from the best fit of the experimental angular distribution data. The usual threshold anomaly has been observed for the 7Li + 232Th system, whereas there is an indication of a breakup threshold anomaly in case of the 6Li + 232Th system. Results on total reaction cross sections obtained from the optical model analysis for both systems have been interpreted to understand the role of projectile breakup on the reaction mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The excited states in the odd-A 197TI nucleus have been studied by populating them using the 197Au(a, 4n)197TI reaction at a beam energy of 48 MeV. The γ-γ coincidence data were taken using a combination of clover, low-energy photon spectrometer (LEPS), and single-crystal high-purity germanium (HPGe) detectors. Precise spin and parity assignments of the excited states have been done through polarization and directional correlation from oriented states (DCO) measurements. A new band structure has been identified and evidence for a possible intruder pi13/2 state has been found for the first time. Possible configurations of the observed bands have been discussed. The total Routhian surface calculations have been performed to study the shape of 197TI for different configurations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 241Pu(n,f) cross sections have been determined by the surrogate ratio method in the equivalent neutron energy range 11.0-16.0 MeV by using 238U(6Li,d)242Pu and 232Th(6Li,d)236U transfer reactions at Elab=39.6 and 39.0 MeV, respectively. Results have been compared with direct measurement of 241Pu(n,f) cross-section data and predictions of statistical model code empire 3.1 for different sets of values of fission barrier heights from evaluated data libraries. The present 241Pu(n, f) cross-section data are observed to be consistent with the direct measurements, suggesting the applicability of surrogate methods. However, the empire 3.1 predictions are not in complete agreement with the experimental data in the neutron energy range 2.0-20.0 MeV for any set of the fission barrier data libraries. The consistency of experimental results on 241Pu(n,f) cross section data from direct and surrogate measurements suggests the need for fission barrier heights for Pu isotopes that are different from those used in standard libraries. The fission barrier heights for various Pu isotopes have been obtained for best fit to the experimental data in the neutron energy range 2.0-20.0 MeV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fission fragment mass distribution has been measured for 28Si+197Au reaction at bombarding energies around the Coulomb barrier (Vb=126.5MeV). The experimental variance of the mass distribution shows a sudden change from monotonic decrease to a saturation at energies close to the Coulomb barrier and again a decreasing trend at sub-barrier energies. The variance of the mass distribution was also obtained from dynamical and statistical model calculations for the fission of a fully equilibrated compound nucleus. Both of the theoretical calculations show a monotonic change of the mass variance around the Coulomb barrier. The anomalous dependence of fission fragment mass width at energies around the barrier may be due to the dominance of the quasifission process as compared to compound nuclear fission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-spin states in the 188Pt nucleus have been investigated employing the 174Yb(18O,4n)188Pt reaction. The level scheme has been significantly extended with the addition of several new γ rays. The Indian National Gamma Array (INGA) spectrometer consisting of eighteen clover Ge detectors facilitated angular correlation and linear polarization measurements for spin-parity assignment of levels. The Iπ=5- semi-decoupled band has been investigated in detail, and the long-standing ambiguity regarding the correct ordering of associated γ rays is now removed with the new observation of transitions linking the even-spin levels to the odd-spin ones. A weak, ΔI=2 sequence of γ rays with alignment and moment of inertia similar to the yrast, even-spin, rotation-aligned neutron i13/2 band has been newly observed. Cranking calculations suggest that this new odd-spin sequence arises from the excitation of a valence quasineutron to the next i13/2 level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]