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International normalized ratio (INR) measurements manage risks of bleeding and clotting sequelae in the population with left ventricular assist device (LVAD). Studies suggest that point-of-care (POC) INR does not significantly differ from plasma INR (P-INR) values in other patient populations, although this has not been validated in a multicenter LVAD study. We sought to determine whether POC-INR and P-INR values differ significantly in the LVAD population and reviewed patients with permanent LVAD implantation at seven institutions internationally. Our cohort comprised of 279 paired POC-INR and P-INR checks in patients supported on average 630 ± 598 days postimplant with predominately HeartWare, HeartMate II, and HeartMate III devices. The population averaged 57.9 years of age, and there were 86.7% male. We found no statistically significant difference between POC-INR and P-INR values. International normalized ratio accuracy correlated weakly with the time between INR measurements (p < 0.001). When the time difference was less than 4 hours, the difference between INR pairs was significantly lower than measurements greater than 8 hours (p = 0.006). There was no statistically significant difference when comparing paired INR values and time after implant to INR check (p = 0.43), age (p = 0.12), known coagulopathy (p = 0.12), bleeding history (p = 0.22), or thrombosis history (p = 0.34). This is the first large multicenter international study comparing POC-INR and P-INR measurements in patients with LVAD and found no statistically significant difference between either methods, particularly when measured within less than 4 hours of each other.

In the present paper, we have studied the better performance of zinc oxide (ZnO), gold (Au) and graphene-based SPR biosensor for the detection of pseudomonas and pseudomonas like bacteria. The performance of proposed SPR biosensor is based on theoretical analysis of the sensitivity, detection accuracy, quality parameter and electric field intensity enhancement factor (EFIEF) with angular interrogation method. In this biosensor, prism (BK-7 glass) base is coated with ZnO followed by Au, graphene and different affinity layers, water is used as sensing medium. The advantage of the present biosensor is the hybrid structure of graphene, gold and ZnO with enhanced sensitivity in which the molecular recognition sites on graphene bind strongly the pseudomonas like bacteria with the help of affinity layers. ZnO is responsible for the larger shift in resonance angle that leads a significant enhancement in the sensitivity of the present biosensor. On analyzing the results, we have found that the proposed biosensor has a greater sensitivity of 187.43 deg/RIU, detection accuracy of 2.05 deg-1 and quality parameter of 29.33 RIU-1 as compared to the other reported conventional SPR biosensor for the detection of pseudomonas like bacteria.

The true prevalence of heart failure due to wild type transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTRwt) is likely underestimated. There is a paucity of data with regard to the management of ATTRwt-related advanced heart failure and the natural history of extracardiac ATTRwt.We conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients undergoing cardiac transplant (HTx) for ATTRwt at a single institution. Comprehensive clinical data, including baseline hemodynamic and echocardiographic characteristics, and posttransplant outcomes, were obtained.Seven patients with ATTRwt underwent HTx between 2007 and 2015. All patients were male with a mean age of 66 ± 9. Patients had a reduced ejection fraction (mean, 37 ± 14%) and elevated filling pressures pre-HTx (mean pulmonary capillary wedge pressure 22 ± 7 mm Hg) before HTx. Three-year survival was 100%; 1 patient died of pancreatic cancer 45 months post-HTx (1 death per 30.8 patient-years). Oxygen consumption (Δ +6.8 ± 4.9 mL·kg·min) and 6-minute walk distances (Δ +189 ± 60 m) improved. Symptomatic gastrointestinal involvement (n = 2) and peripheral nerve involvement (n = 4) by ATTRwt developed late.This is the first report of a series of ATTRwt patients receiving HTx in which excellent outcomes are demonstrated. Although cardiac death is averted, systemic manifestations of ATTRwt may develop posttransplantation.

A theory has been evolved for obtaining anharmonic properties of oxides having face centered cubic crystal symmetry using long-range Coulomb and short-range Born-Mayer potentials starting from the nearest-neighbour distance and hardness parameter. The third order elastic constants are obtained for oxides of Cd, Co, Fe, Nb, Ni, Te, Ti and Zr at elevated temperature. The room temperature data are utilized for obtaining the first order pressure derivatives of second and third order elastic constants, the second order pressure derivatives of second order elastic constants and partial contractions of these oxides. The results are presented and discussed.

AIM The lungs-and particularly the alveolar-capillary membrane-may be sensitive to continuous flow (CF) and pulmonary pressure alterations in heart failure (HF). We aimed to investigate long-term effects of CF pumps on respiratory function. METHODS AND RESULTS We conducted a retrospective study of patients with end-stage HF at our institution. We analysed pulmonary function tests [e.g. forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1 )] and diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide (DLCO ) from before and after left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation and compared them with invasive haemodynamic studies. Of the 274 patients screened, final study analysis involved 44 patients with end-stage HF who had CF LVAD implantation between 1 February 2007 and 31 December 2015 at our institution. These patients [mean (standard deviation, SD) age, 50 (9) years; male sex, n = 33, 75%] received either the HeartMate II (Thoratec Corp.) pump (77%) or the HeartWare (HeartWare International Inc.) pump. The mean (SD) left ventricular ejection fraction was 21% (13%). At a median of 237 days post-LVAD implantation, we observed significant DLCO decrease (-23%) since pre-implantation (P

Purpose Companies are looking for certain employability attributes and personality traits while recruiting and selecting suitable candidates for their organizations and there is a mismatch in what the higher educational institutes are grooming the graduates. There is therefore a need for proactive management of career development of students. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach This research involved an exploratory study on a database of 445 students enrolled and passed out from the five batches of two years business management course from 2012 to 2016 in a business school in India, to identify the parameters which led to generating good placement package for them. The impact of independent variables of live industry projects, communication skills, academic performance, classroom attendance and co-curricular activities on the placement package was studied using stepwise regression analysis. Findings The study revealed that industry projects, co-curricular activities, communication skills and academic performance were the key enablers which helped the students become industry ready and employable. Research limitations/implications This research involved the study of effect of only four independent variables- academic performance, communication skills, participation in live industry projects and co-curricular activities on the placement package received by the students. There is a scope of extending this study by considering the effect of other variables such as educational background (graduation stream, performance in that stream, scores attained in competitive exams, etc.), family background (family income, occupation of parents and their qualification, family size, etc.), geographical background (rural, urban or semi-urban) and work experience on the final placement package received by the student. Practical implications Employability depends on a multitude of factors which can be broadly put under three categories of knowledge, skills and attitude (Khare, 2014). Universities need to work right from the first year toward developing a wider range of employability skills rather than focusing only on developing generic competencies in the students. The results of regression analysis indicate that the impact of different predictors for a good placement package vary in strength and a student needs to focus on balancing all of them in order to get a good placement. Educational institutes can replicate this study to identify the overall employability of their students. Originality/value With the increase in demand from industry for work ready graduates, there is a huge pressure on educational institutes to prepare their students for the corporate world. Such studies would help the institutes in focusing on various parameters which would ultimately assist students pursuing courses in post graduate level like business management or other master courses in getting good placements.

BACKGROUND Cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) is a major complication after heart transplantation (HT). Uric acid (UA) may play a role in CAV due to its role in stimulating T-cell-mediated immunity. Sirolimus is associated with CAV attenuation through a number of mechanisms, including immune-mediated effects. We aimed to determine whether UA is an independent predictor of CAV and whether conversion to sirolimus as primary immunosuppression modulates UA levels. METHODS We retrospectively analyzed a cohort of 224 patients who underwent HT between 2004 and 2015 and had serial coronary intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) studies. Serum UA levels were measured at baseline and last follow-up IVUS in all participants. CAV progression was assessed by measuring the change in plaque volume (ΔPV) and plaque index (ratio of plaque volume to vessel volume [ΔPI]) between last follow-up and baseline IVUS after correction for time of follow-up. RESULTS Patients with high (≥7 mg/dl) compared with low ( 0.50 mm3/mm) (hazard ratio 2.2, 95% confidence interval 1.1 to 4.6; p = 0.037). Sirolimus resulted in decreased UA levels (5.8 ± 1.4 vs 5.2 ± 1.5; p = 0.002) and patients converted to sirolimus and had low UA levels had the least CAV progression (p < 0.001). After adjustment for potential confounders, change in UA level was also an independent predictor of CAV progression. CONCLUSIONS UA is an independent predictor of CAV after HT. Sirolimus is associated with decreased UA levels and may explain one of the mechanisms by which sirolimus attenuates CAV progression.

In the present study, surface plasmon resonance (SPR) based biosensor with SF-10 glass prism/zinc oxide/gold/MoS 2 /graphene hybrid structure is reported. The angular interrogation method is used for the reflectance spectra analysis. From the spectral analysis, we study the different performance parameters like sensitivity, detection accuracy, quality parameter and electric field intensity enhancement factor (EFIEF) of the proposed SPR based biosensor. Numerical results show that the base ZnO (zinc oxide) layer which have a large real value of the dielectric constant in combination with gold, MoS 2 and graphene, is responsible for enhancing the sensing performance of the proposed SPR based biosensor. The present biosensor can attain a maximum sensitivity (101.58 deg/RIU), detection accuracy (1.81) and quality parameter (15.11 RIU -1 ) for a large dynamic range of refractive index change from 1.33 to 1.45.

AIMS Early studies from the 1990s have shown that statins improve survival and attenuate cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV). However, little contemporary data are available on the incremental benefit of statins with the current use of new-generation immunosuppressive agents and the use of coronary intravascular ultrasound for assessment of CAV. We sought to investigate the effect of early statin (ES) as compared with late statin (LS) initiation after heart transplantation (HT) on long-term CAV progression and clinical outcomes in a large contemporary HT cohort. METHODS AND RESULTS We analysed a cohort of 409 adult HT recipients. CAV progression was assessed by serial coronary intravascular ultrasound volumetric measurements of the differences between baseline and last follow-up plaque volume (PV) and plaque index (PV/vessel volume ratio). CAV progression and clinical outcomes were compared between the ES ( 2 years after HT) groups. During a median follow-up of 8.2 years, ES resulted in significantly lower change (Δ) of plaque index (+3.8% ± 1.7% vs. +8.2% ± 3.6%; P = 0.0008) and PV (+0.8 ± 0.3 vs. +1.9 ± 1.2; P = 0.045) compared with LS group. In a Cox proportional hazards regression model and after adjustment for baseline characteristics, ES was associated with a 52% decreased risk of CAV-associated events (hazard ratio 0.48, 95% confidence interval: 0.27-0.91; P = 0.025) and a 42% decreased risk of the composite endpoint of all-cause mortality and CAV-associated events (hazard ratio 0.58, 95% confidence interval: 0.38-0.91; P = 0.019). CONCLUSIONS Early initiation of statin therapy after HT results in attenuated CAV progression as well as in decreased CAV-related events and mortality.

We study a family of continued fractions arising from a graph known as $${\mathcal F}_{1,3}$$ which is isomorphic to a subgraph of the Farey graph. We call these continued fractions $${\mathcal F}_{1,3}$$ -continued fractions. In fact, certain paths from infinity to a vertex in $${\mathcal F}_{1,3}$$ correspond to finite $${\mathcal F}_{1,3}$$ -continued fractions of the vertex and vice versa. Further, we study uniqueness of the longest $${\mathcal F}_{1,3}$$ -continued fraction expansions of real numbers and show that their convergents are best approximations of the numbers by vertices of $${\mathcal F}_{1,3}$$ .

IFNG (interferon gamma)-induced autophagy plays an important role in the elimination of intracellular pathogens, such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). However, the signaling cascade that leads to the increase in autophagy flux in response to IFNG is poorly defined. Here, we demonstrate that HMOX1 (heme oxygenase 1)-generated carbon monoxide (CO) is required for the induction of autophagy and killing of Mtb residing in macrophages in response to immunomodulation by IFNG. Interestingly, IFNG exposure of macrophages induces an increase in intracellular calcium levels that is dependent on HMOX1 generated CO. Chelation of intracellular calcium inhibits IFNG-mediated autophagy and mycobacterial clearance from macrophages. Moreover, we show that IFNG-mediated increase in intracellular calcium leads to activation of the phosphatase calcineurin (PPP3), which dephosphorylates the TFEB (transcription factor EB) to induce autophagy. PPP3-mediated activation and nuclear translocation of TFEB are critical in IFNG-mediated mycobacterial trafficking and survival inside the infected macrophages. These findings establish that IFNG utilizes the PPP3-TFEB signaling axis for inducing autophagy and regulating mycobacterial growth. We believe this signaling axis could act as a therapeutic target for suppression of growth of intracellular pathogens.

Low cost, non-noble metal catalysts with a good oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity comparable to that of platinum and also having good energy storage properties are highly desirable but challenging. Several challenges are associated with the development of such materials. Herein, we demonstrate a new polycarboxyl-functionalised FeIII -based gel material, synthesised following a solvothermal method and the development of its composite (Fe3 O4 /Fe/C) by annealing at optimised temperature. The developed composite displayed excellent electrocatalytic activity for the oxygen reduction reaction with an onset potential of 0.87 V (vs. RHE) and a current density value of -5 mA cm-2 , which are comparable with commercial 20 wt % Pt/C. In addition, as one of the most desirable properties, the composite exhibits a better methanol tolerance and greater durability than Pt/C. The same material was explored as an energy storage material for supercapacitors, which showed a specific capacitance of 245 F g-1 at a current density of 1 A g-1 . It is expected that this Fe3 O4 /Fe/C composite with a disordered graphitised carbon matrix will pave a horizon for developing energy conversion and energy storage devices.

The present article deals with 2Bi2O3-B2O3 (BBO) glass whose photocatalytic activity has been enhanced by the method of wet etching using an aqueous solution of hydrofluoric acid (HF). X-ray diffraction of the samples reveals that etching with an aqueous solution of HF leads to the formation of BiF3 and BiO0.1F2.8 phases. Surface morphology obtained from scanning electron microscopy show granular and plate-like morphology on the etched glass samples. Rhodamine 6G (Rh 6G) has been used to investigate the photocatalytic activity of the as-quenched and etched glasses. Enhanced visible light-driven photocatalytic activity was observed in HF etched glass-ceramics compared to the as-quenched BBO glass. Contact angle of the as-quenched glass was 90.2°, which decreases up to 20.02° with an increase in concentration of HF in the etching solution. Enhanced photocatalytic activity and increase in the hydrophilic nature suggests the efficient treatment of water pollutants by using the prepared surface crystallized glass–ceramics.

SrO-Bi2O3-B2O3 transparent glass ceramic was fabricated via conventional melt-quenching technique. Structural analysis like X-ray diffraction, Raman and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopies were performed to confirm SBBO glass ceramic formation. As-quenched glass samples exhibited X-ray diffraction peaks corresponding to SrBi2B2O7 which were further confirmed through Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope. UV–vis transmission spectra revealed 60%–80% transparency in 500–800 nm spectral range. Absorption study revealed direct bandgap of 2.58 eV. Resazurin (Rz) ink was used as an indicator to monitor photocatalytic activity for self-cleaning purposes. Digital photographic method was performed to examine photoreduction of Rz ink. Further, the pseudo-first order kinetics was istimated for Methylene blue (MB) degradation. Nucleation of nanoparticles of SrBi2B2O7 over glass surface were found responsible for photocatalytic activity. Contact angle with water droplet for SBBO glass ceramic was 63.43°. Reduced Young’s modulus (Er) and Vickers hardness (Hv) were found 59.9 GPa and 5.01 GPa, respectively.

Introduction: Osteoporosis (OP) is a major health problem in the older population. The aim of the study was to assess the role of serum osteoprotegerin (OPG) as a diagnostic indicator of primary osteoporosis in peri- and post- menopausal women in an Indian population. Materials and Methods: After ethical approval, 90 cases (45 cases and 45 controls) of peri- and post-menopausal females above 40 years of age presenting to our outpatient department were included in the study. It was a case controlled study conducted between July 2014 to July 2015. Based on the clinical features, t-score and radiological evidence from the DEXA scan, they were equally divided into two groups (cases and controls). Serum osteoprotegerin (OPG) levels were measured amongst cases and controls. Results: The total calcium (mg/dl) level was lower among the cases and the difference was significant (p-Value=

We report here the genomic portrait of Kahar population of Uttar Pradesh, India, drawn by 20 autosomal short tandem repeat (STR) loci included in PowerPlex® 21 multiplex system from 147 unrelated individuals.The combined discrimination power (CPD) and combined exclusion power (CPE) observed a value of 1 for all the tested 20 autosomal STR loci. Locus Penta E showed the highest power of discrimination (0.976) in the studied population, whereas TPOX showed the lowest (0.851). The study presents the first global report on genetic data of Kahar population and comparison at common loci with the previously published population. The study was done with the aim of studying genetic diversity and adding to the population database.

Graphene and other 2D materials have attracted many scientific communities due to excellent performance in the area of SPR biosensor. In this paper, we propose SPR biosensors for the detection of ssDNA using hybrid structure of different 2D materials in Kretschmann configuration. Further, we compare eight different types of configurations using silver (Ag), graphene, gold (Au) and transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) in terms of various sensing performance parameters such as sensitivity (S), detection accuracy (D. A) and quality factor (Q. F). The schematic study of different configurations indicates that introduction of graphene, WS2 and MoS2 increase the sensing performances as compare to the conventional SPR biosensor. In our proposed structures, maximum sensitivity occurs for monolayer graphene, bilayer WS2 and monolayer MoS2 combination. In this case, maximum obtained sensitivity is 203 deg./RIU with detection accuracy 1.13 and quality factor 28.31 RIU-1. This analysis shows that heterostructure SPR biosensor with sandwiched graphene layer, consisting of bimetallic layers of TMDCs, enhances the sensing performance as compare to the other reported works which comprised of graphene and 2D materials. Therefore, our proposed SPR biosensor may have potential applications in medical diagnostic for biochemical detection and open a new dimension in the field of biosensing.

Numerous aerogels are available in the scientific literature, however very few of them are in the market. Silicon, polymer, and carbon-based aerogels are commercially applied in various applications as construction, transportation, coating, day-lightning, oil, and gas. For water remediation purposes, very few materials are commercially available as aerogel blankets used for oil adsorption. We present the use of aerogels as a platform to support a wide range of novel materials, such as metals, semiconductors, oxides, polymers, biopolymers, hybrids and carbon. Aerogels are porous, consisting of 90–99% air, and are assembled into nanostructured materials. The discussed topics include synthesis (sol–gel process, aging, drying [ambient pressure, freeze, supercritical]), aerogel-based materials for water treatment, water-purification applications for aerogels (oil and toxic organic pollutant cleanup, heavy metal ion removal), reactor design in a pilot-scale application, conclusions and outlook. Although the use of aerogels in point-of-use applications for water treatment is promising, there are gaps in the cost and implementation of these new materials. Improvement in manufacturing and reduction in production costs is required to enhance market availability. Hence, we emphasized reactor design for bulk synthesis purposes. This review critically discusses the scientific, technical, and common barriers to commercialization of these novel materials.

Background Small studies have reported superiority of sirolimus (SRL) over calcineurin inhibitor (CNI) in mitigating cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) after heart transplantation (HT). However, data on the long-term effect on CAV progression and clinical outcomes are lacking. Objectives The aim of this study was to test the long-term safety and efficacy of conversion from CNI to SRL as maintenance therapy on CAV progression and outcomes after HT. Methods A cohort of 402 patients who underwent HT and were either treated with CNI alone (n = 134) or converted from CNI to SRL (n = 268) as primary immunosuppression was analyzed. CAV progression was assessed using serial coronary intravascular ultrasound during treatment with CNI (n = 99) and after conversion to SRL (n = 235) in patients who underwent at least 2 intravascular ultrasound studies. Results The progression in plaque volume (2.8 ± 2.3 mm3/mm vs. 0.46 ± 1.8 mm3/mm; p 2 years) after HT. Conclusions Early conversion to SRL is associated with attenuated CAV progression and with lower long-term mortality and fewer CAV-related events compared with continued CNI use.

In the present paper, we have studied a comparison between dielectric-dielectric photonic crystal (PhC) and birefringent-dielectric PhC structure with, and without, gradation in the thickness of the layers of the proposed structure. Graded birefringent-dielectric PhC has a linear change in the thickness of the layers. With the help of the transfer matrix method, the proposed structures have been extensively investigated. It is found that photonic band gap (PBG) width and omnidirectional reflection band width has been widely enhanced, in graded birefringent-dielectric PhC structure as compared to the non-graded birefringent-dielectric PhC structure, for both TE and TM polarizations. We have also found that the gradation in the thickness of the birefringent layer is more effective, as compare the gradation in the thickness of the dielectric layer, for enhancement of reflection band width. The results obtained are quite good and thus, it may be widely used as broad band optical and omnidirectional reflector.

Methane storage in its solid hydrate form has recently come up as a rather attractive and low risk option for large scale storage of the gas owing to its mild storage conditions, high gas retention capacity and benign (non-explosive) character. However, it has its fair share of limitations with the slow rate of hydrate formation being one of the most prominent. The addition of surfactants like Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) to the hydrate forming system significantly speeds up the process of methane hydrate formation but the large amount of foam generated by these surfactants during the process of hydrate formation and dissociation stands as a major roadblock towards the scaling up of the technology. In the current work, a small amount of a silicon based surfactant has been proposed to be used as antifoam in conjunction with an anionic surfactant SDS to eliminate the foam generation while at the same time promote the kinetics of methane hydrate formation. The idea is simple, cost effective and can be a potential game-changer in the quest to develop a commercially scalable hydrate based methane storage technology.

The liberalising of Business Education in 1990 by the Indian Government has resulted in a large number of management schools offering management courses at graduate and post graduate levels. In the last five years, the number of B-school seats has grown three times. Excluding the few top B-schools like IIMs, most of the B-schools in the country are churning “unemployable” graduates. The paper uses convenience sampling to collect data from students and faculty members of different B-schools in order to find out their usage of digital technologies like Whatsapp for teaching and learning. It also explains the use of digital technology in curriculum designing. This further helps them in placing students in good profiles and better packages as they are able to share more practical real time insights with them.

In this study, the effect of zirconium addition of (BaZrxTi1−xO3) on microstructural, dielectric and photocatalytic characteristic level has structure composition x = 0–0.15 in detail. All photocatalytic experiments show that the synthesized catalysts had a high photocatalytic activity with Zr addition toward synthetic dye MO under visible light improving the photocatalytic production rate because the band gap shifts toward visible region with increase in x. The ferroelectricity of the samples was done by P–E loops, and all samples exhibited well-saturated hysteresis loops. The dielectric measurements indicate the decrease of phase transition temperature from 393 K to near room temperature which is beneficial for many dielectric applications.

In this work, ZnO nanoneedles were synthesized employing a co-precipitation method. Further, white cement composites were prepared with ZnO filler of 5%, 10% and 15% by weight ratio. With the increasing concentration of ZnO in cement matrix the synergetic effect between ZnO and white cement matrix was observed through FE-SEM and UV–visible. We studied the photocatalytic degradation of pollutant (Rhodamine 6G) using ZnO nano-needles embedded in white cement matrix under ultraviolet irradiation (UV) along with enhanced hydrophobic nature and the antimicrobial property of the cement. The pseudo-first order kinetics was found in a photocatalytic process, and degradation rate constant was enhanced up to 0.147 min −1 for ZnO modified cement which was significantly higher than the pure cement (0.037 min −1 ). Antimicrobial studies were performed using bacterial strains Escherichia.coli (JM109, Promega Gram negative), Bacillus subtilis (MTCC121, Gram-positive) and fungal strain Aspergillus niger (MTCC281) for all the composites. A significant improvement in bacterial and fungal degradation was observed in ZnO modified cement than control and pure cement in a dose-dependent manner.

We investigate a periodic system of vertically stacked InAs/GaAs quantum dots (VSQD) subjected to a two-dimensional confining harmonic potential and a magnetic field in the symmetric gauge. Given the tiny length scales, adequate lateral confinement, and strong vertical coupling involved in the experiments, the VSQD system has become known for mimicking the standard semiconducting quantum wires. An exact analytical diagnosis of the problem allows us to show the system's direct relevance to the physics of musical sounds, magnetization, magnetotransport, and the designing of the optical amplifiers. The results suggest making the most of the system for applications in single-electron devices and quantum state transfer in the quantum computation and quantum communication networks.

Thermodynamic hydrate inhibitors (THIs) are water-loving additives that in an aqueous phase preferentially interact with water and inhibit hydrate nucleation at given temperature and pressure conditions. Hydrate inhibition is one of the flow assurance challenges in oil and gas facilities, primarily for the production and transmission pipelines. In this era of a shift towards offshore production of oil and gas that is usually accompanied by large water cuts in production pipelines, the use of THIs requires a huge onboard inventory (of these additives); further, associated higher recovery costs and environmental issues has resulted in the identification and use of low dosage hydrate inhibitors (LDHIs). Thus, as the name suggests they are used in lower concentrations and do not present any space/storage problem on the offshore platforms. However, LDHI works differently, it primarily inhibits the growth and agglomeration of hydrate crystals thus ensuring flow assurance for a given period of time. Hence, an effective LDHI, may or may not delay hydrate nucleation, however, it should certainly reduce the kinetics of hydrate growth and should act as an anti-agglomerant. This work comparatively investigates the effect of three such additives on methane gas hydrate formation kinetics at very low concentrations. Sodium Dodecyl Sulphonate (SDS) is a well-studied molecule for gas hydrate formation kinetics, while SDS is a good anti-agglomerant (and has been used as anti-agglomerant in multiple gas hydrate studies), it is also a well-known hydrate promoter. In this work, additives having some similar molecular fragments to that of SDS were tested for better gas hydrate inhibition insights at molecular level. Sodium Benzene Sulphonate (SBS), Sodium Dodecyl Benzene Sulphonate (SDBS) and SDS was screened for methane gas hydrate formation experiments. A comparative kinetic study with these additives at two different concentrations (0.05 M and 0.1 M) has been presented for methane gas hydrate formation at 5 MPa (at the beginning of the experiments) and 274.15 K in n-heptane with 50% water cut, in a stirred tank isothermal reactor. The presence of a benzene ring in the molecular structure of the additive along with varying lipophilic tail and hydrophilic head on the methane gas hydrate formation kinetics are thoroughly investigated.

In this work, an optochromogenic receptor NC, (E)-2-(2-hydroxyethyl)-6-(2-(1-(6-nitro-2-oxo-2H-chromen-3-yl)ethylidene)hydrazinyl)-1H-benzo[de]isoquinoline-1,3(2H)-dione has been designed and developed from 1,8-naphthalimide and 3-acetyl-6-nitro-2H-chromen-2-one moieties which provides multidimensional options for the rapid, selective, economical and reliable monitoring of fluoride in water (i.e. naked-eye, colorimetric, fluorometric, test strip, electrochemical and smartphone based response). Pick and choose assay process can be adopted depending upon the available instruments and skill of the analyzer impacting uniqueness to the developed receptor. Colorimetric detection of F− in water is possible, which can be monitored by UV-vis spectroscopy (detection limit as low as 8.468 × 10−7 M), test strips, and perceived by the naked eye. Excellent colorimetric response can be elucidated by augmented intramolecular charge transfer process within the molecule after anionic deprotonation interactions. The receptor exhibits a "turn-off" fluorescence response towards F− due to enhanced photoinduced charge transfer (PET) process with the detection limit up to 7.413 × 10−7 M. The binding interaction between receptor NC and F− is confirmed by DFT/TD-DFT calculations, 1H NMR and 19F NMR titration. The anodic and cathodic potential become flattened and shifted in NC + F− complex in the cyclic voltammetry study. Increased number of smartphone users and its user-friendly property initiated us to develop a simple and efficient protocol based on a digital image colorimetry using smartphones of different companies for the detection and quantification of fluoride ion. The lowest limit of detection from the smartphone protocol was found to be 3.368 × 10−6 M. A comparative study was carried out to check the versatility and accuracy of F− ion concentration determined through different microanalytical techniques. Fluoride ion concentration in real life samples like toothpaste, mouthwash, and groundwater collected from various regions were analyzed and found to be in agreement with standard Ion-selective electrode method. Thus, it holds promise for being developed as a futuristic tool for the real-time water quality monitoring.

Polarimetric SAR remote sensing has shown its potential for forest structural and biophysical parameter retrieval. Multibaseline polarimetric data in interferometric mode were acquired from space-borne C-band SAR system over Dudhwa National Park, India. Potential of multibaseline SAR tomography data was tested with six scenes of SAR data for forest height retrieval. Capon spectral estimation algorithm was implemented on PolInSAR data for vertical profile generation. Vertical profile generated from capon algorithm had shown different forest height values at different locations in range direction for single azimuth bin. Maximum height value recorded from the vertical profile was 45 m and the minimum height was 5 m. The algorithm was implemented for all the locations for which field data was collected for forest height measurement. Tomography based forest height was compared with field-measured forest height for 190 locations of the study area. Coefficient of determination and root mean square error obtained from the relationship between field and modelled forest heights were 0.91 and 3.91 m respectively. This study concluded that forest height with reliable accuracy can be retrieved with space-borne PolInSAR tomography.

Polarimetric SAR interferometry (PolInSAR) based modeling approaches have been used by several researchers for forest height estimation using airborne and space-borne sensors. Temporal gaps between interferometric pairs due to repeat pass acquisition of SAR data induces volume decorrelation in the coherence values and this may cause error during inversion modelling for forest height estimation. Tandem-X CoSSC products were acquired by operating TerraSAR-X and Tandem-X both the sensors with maintained spatial baseline and zero temporal gap. The prime focus of the present study was to evaluate the performance of bistatic X-band PolInSAR pair for forest height retrieval. Two algorithms; three stage inversion (TSI) and coherence amplitude inversion (CAI) were implemented on the complex coherences obtained from PolInSAR processing. Both the inversion algorithms showed their potential for forest height retrieval through bistatic PolInSAR data. Relationship between field-measured and CAI based modelling showed correlation of 0.27 with RMSE 4.81 m. TSI based modelling showed better results in comparison to CAI based inversion with correlation 0.74 and RMSE of 3.79 m. This study investigated the potential of bistatic PolInSAR data over tropical forest area and it was found that space-borne bistatic SAR has great potential to preserve coherence values for forest height estimation.

We exploit the role of the remnant polarization to improve the electrocatalytic performance of ferroelectric perovskite. We report cost-effective, noble metal-free, ferroelectric electrocatalyst Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3 and the effect of remnant polarization on oxygen evolution reaction involved in alkaline fuel cells. The forward poling decreases the Tafel slope from 85 mv/decade to 39 mv/decade and also increases the mass activity by threefold. The effect of polarization on flat-band potential and the Schottky barrier between electrode and electrolyte contributes to enhanced electrochemical activity.

Perovskite oxides are prominent materials as the bifunctional electrocatalysts for both oxygen reduction/evolution reactions (ORR/OER) for the electrochemical energy conversion and storage using regenerative fuel cells and rechargeable metal-air batteries. In this work, a quadruple perovskite CaCu3Ti4O12 has been synthesized oxalate precursor route. X-ray diffraction pattern shows phase purity of the synthesized electrocatalyst. The synthesized CCTO electrocatalyst have crystallite size of 26 nm. Electrochemical investigations reveal that CCTO exhibit efficient catalytic activity. More interestingly, an extremely high OER activity is observed for CCTO electrocatalysts which is found superior than similar class of perovskites. Additionally, CCTO shows efficient ORR activity with an onset potential of 0.83 V which is better than that of Pt/C catalyst (≈0.94 V). These results demonstrate the significant potential of CCTO perovskite as a bifunctional electrode material for alkaline fuel cells and metal-air batteries.

A theory has been evolved for obtaining anharmonic properties of oxides having face centered cubic crystal symmetry using long-range Coulomb and short-range Born-Mayer potentials starting from the nearest-neighbour distance and hardness parameter. The second order elastic constants are obtained for oxides of Cd, Co, Fe, Nb, Ni, Te, Ti and Zr at elevated temperature. The room temperature data are utilized for obtaining the first order pressure derivatives of second order elastic constants, the second order pressure derivatives of second order elastic constants and partial contractions of these oxides. The results are presented and discussed.

The objective of the study was to provide contemporary evidence on regional variation in hospitalization outcomes in patients with heart failure (HF) in the United States. Using the National Inpatient Sample, we compared hospitalization outcomes among primary HF admissions (2013 to 2014) among the 4 Census regions of the United States. Overall, an estimated 1.9 million HF hospitalizations occurred in the United States over the study period. Mortality rate was 3%, the mean length of stay was 5.3 days, the median cost of hospitalization was US$7,248, and the rate of routine home discharge was 51%. There was a significant regional variation for all end points (p 0.001); for example, compared with other regions of the country, the risk-adjusted rate of in-hospital mortality was highest in the Northeast (3.2%) and lowest in the Midwest (2.7%); and within each region, these mortalities were higher in the rural locations (range: 3.0% to 3.8%) than in the urban locations (range: 2.7% to 3.1%). In addition, the Northeast region had the longest length of stay (mean: 5.9 days) and the lowest risk-adjusted rate of routine home discharge (42%). However, the cost of hospitalization was highest in the West (median: US$8,898) and lowest in the South (US$6,366). A similar pattern of variation was found in subgroup analysis except that the risk-adjusted rate of in-hospital mortality was highest in the West among patients65 years (1.7% vs 1.2% [lowest] in the Midwest), male gender (3.2% vs 2.8% in the Midwest), and rural location (3.8% vs 3% in the Midwest). In conclusion, HF hospitalization outcomes tend to be worse in the Northeast compared with other regions of the country. In addition, the in-hospital mortality rate was higher in rural locations than in urban locations.

Development of noble metal free catalysts for hydrogen evolution is the need of the hour for energy applications. In this regard, we designed and synthesized ternary heterojunction nanocomposites, consisting of ZnO nanoparticles anchored on MoS2-RGO nanosheets, as heterogeneous catalysts for highly efficient photocatalytic hydrogen (H2) evolution. In photocatalytic process, catalyst dispersed in electrolytic solution (S2-, SO32-) recorded an enhanced rate of H2 evolution and the optimization experiments reveals that ZnO with 4.0 wt% of MoS2-RGO nanosheets (ZMG4) showed the highest photocatalytic H2 production of 28.616 mmol h-1 gcat-1 under sunlight irradiation, which is about 56 times higher than bare ZnO and several times higher than other ternary photocatalysts. The superior catalytic activity can be attributed to in situ generation of ZnS, which leads to improved interfacial charge transfer to cocatalyst MoS2, in turn RGO where plenty of active sites available for photocatalytic reaction. The recyclability experiments of optimized photocatalyst proved its stability. In addition, the ternary nanocomposites also show its multi-functional properties for hydrogen evolution activity under electrocatalytic and photoelectrocatalytic conditions due to the high electrode-electrolyte contact area. Thus, the present work provides very useful insights in the development of inexpensive, multi-functional catalysts without noble metal loading to achieve high rate of H2 generation.

In the present study, the different components of sea level (sea surface height, halosteric height, and thermosteric height) were estimated in the Bay of Bengal during 1993–2010 (Altimeter) and 200...

Renal function improves early after left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation but later decline has been observed. We sought to determine the occurrence and evaluate possible causes for this decline. In 62 consecutive patients with HeartMateII LVAD with available calculated glomerular filtration rate (GFR, ml/min/1.73 m) 1 year after implant, GFR was assessed repeatedly and possible predictors for decline from 3 to 12 months were investigated. Post-mortem renal specimens for patients supported with an LVAD were evaluated. GFR 54.5 ± 19.5 at admission increased to 66.4 ± 22.3 preoperatively and to 79.2 ± 30.1 ~1 month after implantation. Subsequently at ~3 months GFR declined to 74.7 ± 25.4, at ~6 months to 68.8 ± 23.1, and ~1 year after implant to 63.9 ± 17.7. Glomerular filtration rate at 1 year was significantly lower (p < 0.0001, p < 0.0001, p = 0.005) than GFR 1, 3, and 6 months after implant. Early rise in GFR after surgery was not associated with late decline. Shorter bypass time (β = -0.09, p = 0.048) and higher albumin 3 months after LVAD (β = 14.4, p = 0.025) were significantly associated with less later decline in GFR. Arteriosclerosis was identified in autopsy renal specimens. In conclusion, early gains in renal function after LVAD implant are not sustained in many patients. Patient, device, and operative factors may influence long-term renal function in these patients.

Agribusiness is a fast emerging industrial sector and becomes a most important sector of Indian economy due to boosting up the economy and taking care of global opportunities of trade. Nowadays, agriculture has achieved commercial importance and status is changed from subsistence to commercial farming, import oriented to export oriented, supply driven technology to demand driven technology due to agribusiness sector. Agribusiness is a complex and comprehensive system of industry chain, which is playing a vital role in Indian economy. Generally, Agribusiness is difficult to understand due to its elusive and complex nature while understanding the concept, system, structure, and components of agribusiness is essential to understand the whole agribusiness environment. Agribusiness is made of various sectors like input sector, production sector, processing sector and marketing service sector, in which the main value-added sector concentrated on the post-production sectors. The agribusiness is greatly expanding India's agricultural development and providing a possible choice for modernization of Indian agriculture. The present article is a systematic effort to introduce the structure and subsystem of agribusiness along with the different components of agribusiness system.

Forest plays a significant role in regulating the carbon budget and mitigating climate change in long term. However, lack of spatially explicit and accurate information on carbon exchange components from diverse forest ecosystem types in India limits carbon budgeting on a regional scale. Remote-sensing-driven ecosystem models are well-established tools for estimating gross primary productivity (GPP) over large areas but they are seldom found erroneous if implemented without proper calibration of biome-specific parameters. The present study evaluates the combined use of eddy covariance (EC) data and satellite-derived variables for estimating GPP over large areas. Four remote-sensing-driven models, (i) temperature–greenness (TG) model, (ii) greenness–radiation (GR) model, (iii) light use efficiency (LUE) model, and (iv) remote-sensing-based LUE (LUERS) model, were parameterized with EC measurements and compared with 8-day Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) GPP products for a moist...

In the recent decades, nanotechnology is gaining tremendous impetus due to its capability of modulating metals into their nanosize, which drastically changes the chemical, physical, biological and optical properties of metals. In this study, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) synthesis using aqueous leaf extracts of Tagetes patula L. which act as reducing agent as well as capping agent is reported. Synthesis of AgNPs was observed at different parameters like temperature, concentration of silver nitrate, leaf extract concentration and time of reduction. The AgNPs were characterized using UV-vis spectroscopy, scanning electron microscope with energy dispersive spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy with selected area electron diffraction, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared and dynamic light scattering analysis. These analyses revealed the size of nanoparticles ranging from 15 to 30 nm as well revealed their spherical shape and cubic and hexagonal lattice structure. The lower zeta potential (−14.2mV) and the FTIR spectra indicate that the synthesized AgNPs are remarkably stable for a long period due to the capped biomolecules on the surface of nanoparticles. Furthermore, these AgNPs were found to be highly toxic against phytopathogenic fungi Colletotrichum chlorophyti by both in vitro and in vivo and might be a safer alternative to chemical fungicides.

The plugging of processing and transportation lines by gas hydrate formation is a challenging problem for safe exploitation of oil and gas. The existence of water soluble third component (like methanol and sodium chloride) in the aqueous phase influence the gas hydrate formation thermodynamically also possibly affects the kinetics of hydrate growth. Inorganic salt and organic molecule (alcohols) at high concentration in the aqueous phase have been used as thermodynamic inhibitors to effectively prevent the hydrate formation. This study utilizes molecular dynamics as well as an experimental method to investigate the mechanism of the hydrate formation and the effect of additives. The MD simulation showed that at moderate temperature and pressure, a low concentration (1 wt %) of methanol and NaCl enhances methane hydrate growth kinetics. Significant numbers of methanol molecules were observed inside the gas hydrate cages whereas Na+/Cl− ions leach out during hydrate formation.

In the present study, the effect of the biosurfactant Surfactin on methane hydrate formation kinetics was studied. Initially, several marine derived species were screened for the presence of Surfactin. The polymerase chain reaction technique was used as the preliminary screening step for Surfactin which was then followed up by a couple of different assays to provide conclusive evidence of the same. Based on these tests, the D-9 bacterial strain was identified as a producer of Surfactin. Once the presence of Surfactin had been proven, its effect on methane hydrate formation kinetics was investigated upon by carrying out hydrate formation experiments in a stirred tank reactor. The cell free supernatant containing Surfactin was itself used as the hydrate forming solution without any further processing. It was found that the presence of Surfactin in the system greatly enhances hydrate formation kinetics as compared to pure water. In fact the kinetics in presence of Surfactin also surpassed that obtained with 1 wt% SDS, the most commonly used synthetic kinetic hydrate promoter. This basic study can pave the way for more sophisticated research on the use of biosurfactants as kinetic promoters with a view on rapid methane hydrate formation kinetics for applications such as methane separation, storage and transport.

Forests sequester large quantity of carbon in their woody biomass and hence accurate estimation of forest biomass is extremely crucial. The present study aims at combining information from spaceborne LiDAR (ICESat/GLAS) and high resolution optical data to estimate forest biomass. Estimation of aboveground biomass (AGB) at ICESat/GLAS footprint level was done by integrating data from multiple sensors using two regression algorithms, viz. random forest (RF) and support vector machine (SVM). The study used forest height and canopy return ratio (rCanopy) for determination of effective size of ICESat/GLAS footprints for field data collection. The forest height was predicted with root mean square error (RMSE) of 1.35 m. The study showed that six most important parameters derived from LiDAR, and passive optical data were able to explain 78.7% (adjusted) variation in the observed AGB with an RMSE of 13.9 Mg ha–1. It was also observed that 15 most important parameters were able to explain 83% (adjusted) variation in the observed AGB. It was found that SVM regression algorithm explained 88.7% of variation in AGB with an RMSE of 13.6 Mg ha–1 on the combined datasets while RF regression algorithm explained 83.5% of variation in AGB with an RMSE of 20.57 Mg ha–1. The study demonstrated that RF regression algorithm performs equally well on datasets irrespective of the correlation of underlying variables with the predicted variable whereas SVM regression was found to perform well on those datasets which had a subset of underlying variables that are correlated with the predicted variable. The study highlighted that sensor integration approach is more accurate than single sensor approach in predicting the AGB.

Background Caregiver burden in dementia is an important area of research. Providing care for a relative can be a potent source of chronic stress and can have deleterious consequences for both the physical and emotional health of caregivers. This study aims to evaluate the burden of care in caregivers of patients with Alzheimer-type dementia and compare it with elderly psychosis; and to also study the factors that influence burden of care in Alzheimer’s dementia. Methods Thirty-two caregiver-patient dyads of Alzheimer-type dementia were compared with thirty-two caregiver-patient dyads of psychosis. Cognitive assessment, abilities to perform activities of daily living and severity of dementia was assessed in the patients. Zarit Burden Interview was used to study the caregiver burden in both groups. Results The mean burden score in dementia caregivers was high at 47.7, whereas the mean burden score for elderly psychosis caregivers was lesser at 33.6, and this difference in mean burden scores was found to be statistically significant. Spouses had the highest mean burden scores of 53.48. Caregiver burden in dementia was positively correlated with cognitive impairment and inability to carry out ADLs. Presence of psychological distress in caregivers was also an indicator for greater caregiver burden in dementia. Conclusion The study revealed that dementia carries a greater caregiver burden when compared with elderly patients with psychosis. Innovative interventions are needed to remove burden from caregiving, making it a meaningful practice integral to the Indian society.