Search

Ab-initio calculations are performed to investigate the effect of defects on structural, electronic and optical properties of Ag8-xCuxI8 (0 ≤x ≤ 8). Initially AgI geometrically optimized and Ag atoms are replaced successively by Cu atoms. AgI is thermodynamically most stable, it exhibits low defect formation energy and fast ion conduction. The forbidden energy gap successively decreases with x. There is higher Ag+ ions formation than Cu+ ions. In the optical study, by increasing x, peaks of imaginary and real dielectric functions are shifted towards lower frequency regions, with Ag/Cu defects, there is slight shifting towards higher energy region, gradual increase in refractive index, and the reflectivity peaks are shifted towards higher energy.

Background: Clinicodemographic and laboratory parameters predicting the outcome of Stevens–Johnson syndrome (SJS)/toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) may vary among populations owing to genotypic and environmental variations. There is a scarcity of studies evaluating these parameters in Indian population. Aims: To analyze clinicodemographic and laboratory parameters predicting disease outcome in patients of SJS/TEN. Materials and Methods: Clinical records of patients admitted with a diagnosis of SJS/TEN from January 2014 to December 2018 were reviewed retrospectively with respect to data pertaining to clinicodemographic details, laboratory parameters, and disease outcome. Results: Of 51 patients included in the study, 24 (47.06%) were females. Anticonvulsants [phenytoin (19.6%), carbamazepine (13.7%), others (5.88%)] were the most commonly implicated drugs followed by NSAIDs (19.6%). The overall mortality was 21.6% [SJS (0%), SJS-TEN overlap (18.8%), and TEN (28.6%)]. The mean detached body surface area (BSA) (35.4% ± 10.4% vs. 25.7% ± 11.8%; P = 0.02) was significantly higher among patients with mortality. Blood urea nitrogen, serum HCO3− levels, and random blood sugar were significantly associated with mortality. Presence of sepsis during the disease course was associated with higher mortality (9/12 vs. 2/39; P = 0.001). Other components of SCORTEN like age and heart rate were not significantly associated with poor outcome in our study. None of our patients had associated malignancy. Conclusion: A higher detached BSA, presence of sepsis, higher blood urea nitrogen and random blood sugar, and lower serum HCO3− levels were associated with mortality. Refinement of scoring systems predicting the outcome of SJS-TEN is needed for better disease prognostication.

Second harmonic generation of a relativistic self-focusing chirped laser pulse in magnetized-plasma has been investigated. When a highly intense laser beam propagates through homogeneous plasma under the influence of transverse magnetic field, it is found that transverse current density starts oscillating with a frequency twice of the laser field. Further as we increase the value of the positive chirp parameter, efficiency of the second harmonic generation increases significantly. Cyclotron frequency associated with plasma electrons plays a crucial role in the enhancement of the second harmonic generation. The dynamics of oscillating electrons is changed due to Lorentz force which modifies the plasma wave which affects the second harmonic significantly.

Hybrid graphene and hexagonal boron nitride (C-BN) nanostructure received much research interest due to complementary electronic properties. Graphene is zero band gap semiconductor, while hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) is a wide band gap semiconductor. Here, we have studied the structural, electronic and mechanical properties of hybrid zigzag graphene atomic chain with boron nitride doped, and zigzag boron nitride atomic chain with carbon pairs doped. Covalent bonds are found between carbon atoms, partially ionic and covalent bonds between boron and nitrogen atoms. BN atomic chain with 6 carbon pairs-ZBNGR transformed into a metal, and GR with 14-carbon pairs-ZGRBN transformed into a semiconductor. In the distribution of density of states; p-orbital electrons are contributing. There is a zero band gap in ZBNGR, and indirect band gap in ZGRBN. Band gap of second hybrid is tuned and becomes metal by the application of strain and external electric field. Breaking energy is found to be higher for first hybrid during compression of a chain. These investigations make hybrid atomic chains significant in device applications.

In present study we have investigated the third harmonic generation (THG) of self-focused Hermite-cosh-Gaussian (HchG) laser beam, propagating through plasma. When intense short pulse laser propagates through plasma results ponderomotive force on electrons due to which electrons move away from the axial region, creating a low density plasma region. Due to electrostatic force, electrons gain oscillatory velocity and results density perturbation. Density oscillations at frequency 2ω1 couple with oscillatory velocity of electrons, at the fundamental frequency of incident laser result THG. Due to phase mismatch with the incident pulse, the third harmonic pulse is of smaller amplitude. Wiggler field satisfy the resonance condition by providing additional momentum to the photon of third harmonic pulse and this result increase in the normalized amplitude of third harmonic pulse. In the present study the study of beam width parameter with normalized propagation distance at optimum values of different laser parameters has been studied. We derived the coupled differential equation for the normalized amplitude, A'30/A 10, of third harmonic pulse. We analysed the efficiency of third harmonic pulse with ξ at optimum values of normalized intensity of fundamental laser.

In the present model, a detailed theoretical investigation of the nonlinear current density produced by beating of chirped pulse lasers in plasma having spatial ripple density is conducted. In our mechanism, we consider two Gaussian lasers with electric fields E → 1 and E → 2 propagating along z ^ , polarized along ŷ direction. The lasers have a linear frequency chirp and the frequency Ω1 and Ω2can be chosen as the required frequency range. A transverse nonlinear ponderomotive force is experienced by the plasma electrons due to the lasers beating in plasma. As a consequence, plasma electrons get an oscillatory velocity that paired with the density ripple to generate a stronger transient transverse nonlinear current. Our theoretical simulation unveil that by optimizing the chirp parameter a prominent change in nonlinear oscillating current is depicted.

In this paper, we develop an analytical formalism for THz generation from Laser filaments in the presence of static electric field in the magnetized collisional plasma. Two femtosecond laser pulses with different frequencies undergo filamentation in magnetized collisional plasma to have non-linear coupling in the presence of transverse static electric field. This results in balancing action of static ponderomotive force with pressure gradient force and forms transverse density ripple and non-linear ponderomotive force couple with density ripple to provide strong non-linear transverse current which results in excitation of THz Radiations at resonance. This coupling is further enhanced by electric static field.

The present work explores the study of the terahertz (THz) wave generation by the cross-focusing of two Gaussian laser beams in a bulk medium containing graphite nanoparticles (NPs). This system acts as a nonlinear medium behaving like plasma. The ripple is applied on the density of NPs to increase the conversion efficiency. Using the perturbative technique, a wave equation is derived which describes the nonlinear interaction of the laser beam with NPs. The nonlinear current at THz frequency arises due to the ponderomotive force exerted on the electrons of graphite NPs by the incident laser beams in the presence of density ripple. This nonlinearity depends on the intensities of both the beams. Hence the focusing of one beam affects the focusing of the other, resulting in the cross-focusing of the beams. Numerical results show that, the normalized amplitude of the generated THz wave gets almost double with the consideration of the phenomenon of cross-focusing. The results show the enhancement in the efficiency of generated THz wave, on application of density ripple, by satisfying the phase matching condition.

In the present manuscript, an analysis has been done on strong self-focusing of a chirped pulse laser in thermal quantum plasma under exponential plasma density transition. It is observed that the beam width parameter reduces up to great extent which in turns enhances the process of self-focusing. It is observed that in the embellishment of self-focusing of laser beam, thermal quantum plasma contributes significantly. Further, it is seen that with change in different parameters like intensity of the laser beam, chirped parameter value and plasma frequency, self-focusing is sensitive and becomes stronger at higher values of these parameters. The present work may have important applications in field of laser interaction with the quantum plasma, laser driven particle accelerators etc.

In the present manuscript, we analyse the effect of exponential plasma density ramp for relativistic self-focusing of Hermite-cosh-Gaussian laser pulse in magnetoplasma. The exponential plasma density ramp is found to be more prominent in achieving the stronger self-focusing of Hermite-cosh-Gaussian laser beam in comparison to the tangential plasma density ramp. We propose a theoretical model for propagation of Hermite-cosh-Gaussian laser pulse in magnetoplasma with exponential density ramp. The nonlinearity in the medium arises because of the relativistic motion of electrons, being responsible for relativistic self-focusing. Equation of the beam width parameter is set up by taking the expression for the dielectric function and following Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin (WKB) with paraxial ray approximations for mode indices m = 0, 1 and 2. Effect of decentered parameter is also analysed, which results in stronger self-focusing of the Hermite-cosh-Gaussian laser beam. Stronger self-focusing of laser beam is more pronounced in high density plasma with higher magnetic field.

Dermatology consultation was sought for a middle-aged man with multiple asymptomatic skin nodules all over the body. The patient was admitted with neurology inpatient services for altered sensorium and loss of vision for the last 2 days. He also suffered from hyperaesthesia and weakness of limbs for the last 2 years. On physical examination, hepatosplenomegaly was also detected along with neurological and visual abnormalities. Multiple cutaneous erythematous to skin-coloured, dome-shaped, exophytic, sessile as well as pedunculated, soft to firm asymptomatic nodules were observed on trunk, limbs and scalp (figure …

An elderly woman presented with 6 months history of skin coloured to erythematous papules in annular pattern over extremities, upper back and neck. The patient was diagnosed with granuloma annulare (GA) and started on hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) 300 mg daily. After 4 months of treatment, she developed bluish grey pigmentation within the plaques of GA with normal surrounding skin (figure 1A,B). There was no pigmentation at other body sites. Biopsy from the plaque showed necrobiotic collagen with intradermal mucin and perivascular lymphohistiocytic infiltrate accompanied by brown coarse pigment in the dermis …

Resonant second harmonic generation of a relativistic self-focusing laser in plasma with density ramp profile has been investigated. A high intense Gaussian laser beam generates resonant second harmonic beam in plasma with density ramp profile. The second harmonic undergoes periodic focusing in the plasma channel created by the fundamental wave. The normalized second harmonic amplitude varies periodically with distance and attains maximum value in the focal region. Enhancement in the second harmonic amplitude on account of relativistic self-focusing of laser based on plasma density transition is seen. Plasma density ramp plays an important role to make self-focusing stronger which leads to enhance the second harmonic generation in plasma.

Small bowel volvulus is a rare clinical entity which presents as recurrent intermittent abdominal pain after consumption of food. Although the entity is well described in the literature, diagnosis is often difficult due to its clinical presentation being similar to mesenteric ischemia. Herein we present the case of a 44-year-old male who presented to us with this condition.

Cloud computing era is the most resourceful, elastic, utilized and scalable period for internet technology to use the computing resources over the internet successfully. Cloud computing did not provide only the speed, accuracy, storage capacity and efficiency for computing but it also lead to propagate the green computing and resource utilization. In this research paper, a brief description of cloud computing, cloud services and cloud security challenges is given. Also the literature review of some researchers in the field of cloud computing is discussed. It has been finally concluded in this research paper to provide remedies to the cloud threats in the cloud environment.

Intracellular lipase producer screened from the library available in the laboratory, identified through 16S rRNA as Pseudomonas stutzeri, was studied for maximum enzyme production in shake flask. The work was intended to evaluate the effect of different physicochemical factors like carbon, nitrogen, metal ions, surfactant, inoculum, pH, temperature, agitation, and aeration on lipase production. Optimized media showed 1.62-fold increase in lipase production when compared to basal media. Scale-up of lipase in in situ bioreactor showed reduction in fermentation time in both basal and optimized media, giving 41 and 99 U/mg of lipase activity after 48 h of fermentation.

Effect of linear absorption, intensity of fundamental laser pulse and plasma frequency on beam width parameter is investigated to study the self-focusing of Hermite-Gaussian(HG) laser beam in plasma under relativistic and ponderomotive regime. Intense short pulse laser propagates through plasma imparts oscillatory velocity to electrons and non linearity arises. Using the paraxial approach we have derived the second order differential equation for beam width parameter and the equation for normalized radius of incident beam is also obtained using the critical condition. The outcome of our study reveals that light absorption and intensity of radiation enhance the self focusing of Hermite-Gaussiam laser beam. It is observed that the beam width parameter shows significant decrease for higher values of linear absorption coefficient and plasma frequency. We also observe that radius of the incident beam decreases sharply with increasing intensity of incident pulse for higher values of plasma frequency.

In the present study, we analyze the self-focusing / defocusing of an intense laser beam in the plasma under combined effect of density ramp and higher order axial electron temperature. The differential equation for beam width parameter is obtained and then solved numerically under paraxial ray approximation. The behavior of beam width parameter with propagation distance is extensively investigated for different values of optimized parameters and is strongly influenced by the higher order axial electron temperature, T p 4 . The results indicate that the electron temperature component T p 4 is not of little significance than T p 0 and T p 2 . Under the influence of plasma density ramp and higher order axial electron temperature T p 4 the defocusing is reduced and self-focusing becomes stronger, especially for large propagation distance. Furthermore, increase in the density ramp results more reduction in the laser beam spot size and hence, increase in the intensity of the laser which may be useful for various applications including laser-driven fusion.

This work reveals an exploration of self-focusing of Hermite-cosine-Gaussian laser beam in a collisionless plasma under relativistic nonlinearity. Self-focusing along with self-trapping of Hermite-cosine-Gaussian laser beam are analyzed for different values of laser intensity, plasma density, and decentered parameters. Mathematical analysis displays that these parameters play a major role in achieving the stronger and earlier self-focusing. Further, a comparative study between self-focusing of Hermite-cosine-Gaussian laser beam with and without exponential density ramp profile is introduced. Plasma density transition with exponential profile is found to be more effective in order to have stronger self-focusing. The present analysis may lead to very useful applications in the field of efficient harmonic generation, laser driven fusion etc.

Importance Surgical interventions, notably noncultured epidermal suspension (NCES), are the next line of treatment in patients with vitiligo who fail to respond to medical therapy. Noncultured epidermal suspension is usually performed in patients with vitiligo with duration of clinical stability (DS) of 12 months or longer because DS is a vital parameter in determining outcome of NCES. In this pilot study, we planned to assess the efficacy of a novel combination of noncultured epidermal cell suspension and noncultured dermal cell suspension (NCES and NDCS) in patients with vitiligo with shorter DS (3-6 months). Objective To compare the efficacy of transplantation of NCES and NDCS vs NCES alone in patients with vitiligo with DS of 3 to 6 months. Design, Setting, and Participants A single-center randomized clinical trial including 40 patients with focal, segmental, or generalized vitiligo with DS of 3 to 6 months or more than 12 months was carried out. Based on DS, 2 groups including 20 patients each were recruited (DS in group 1, 3 to 6 months; DS in group 2, more than 12 months). Each group was further randomized into 2 subgroups, A and B. Intervention Patients in subgroups 1A and 2A underwent NCES alone, whereas patients in subgroups 1B and 2B underwent NCES and NDCS. Main Outcomes and Measures Extent of repigmentation, color match, and pattern of repigmentation at 24 weeks. Results Of the 40 study participants, mean (SD) age was 24.9 (4.0) years and 24 (60%) were women; in group 1 with DS for 3 to 6 months, more than 75% repigmentation at 24 weeks was observed in all 10 patients in subgroup 1B (NCES and NDCS) compared with 3 of 10 patients in subgroup 1A (NCES) (100% vs 30%,P = .003). In group 2 (DS > 12 months), the same was observed in 6 of 10 patients in subgroup 2A and 7 of 10 patients in subgroup 2B (NCES) (60% vs 70%,P > .99). The 2 groups and subgroups did not show any significant differences with respect to color matching and pattern of repigmentation. Conclusions and Relevance Combination of NCES and NDCS resulted in excellent response in patients with vitiligo with shorter duration of clinical stability compared with NCES alone. This combination may be used early in the course of stable vitiligo without waiting for a period of 12 months or more since last clinical activity. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov identifier:NCT03013049

The resonant third-harmonic generation of a self-focusing laser in plasma with a density transition was investigated. Because of self-focusing of the fundamental laser pulse, a transverse intensity gradient was created, which generated a plasma wave at the fundamental wave frequency. Phase matching was satisfied by using a Wiggler magnetic field, which provided additional angular momentum to the third-harmonic photon to make the process resonant. An enhancement was observed in the resonant third-harmonic generation of an intense short-pulse laser in plasma embedded with a magnetic Wiggler with a density transition. A plasma density ramp played an important role in the self-focusing, enhancing the third-harmonic generation in plasma. We also examined the effect of the Wiggler magnetic field on the pulse slippage of the third-harmonic pulse in plasma. The pulse slippage was due to the group-velocity mismatch between the fundamental and third-harmonic pulses.

The present work was conducted to study haematology and to identify the major bacterial and parasitic etiologic factors responsible for gastrointestinal (GIT) affections in bovine calves by evaluation of clinical samples from Palam Valley of Himachal Pradesh (H.P.), India. Blood picture revealed a significant increase in total leukocyte count and neutrophilia was shown in differential leukocyte count from diarrhoeic cases. Out of 43 isolates from clinical cases, E.coli, Citrobacter and Salmonella were found 90.69%, 6.97% and 2.32% respectively. Disk diffusion test was used to check sensitivity of isolates from clinical samples. Cloxacillin was found most resistant drug while amoxy-sulbactum and gentamicin were most effective drugs against the E.coli isolates. In case of parasitic infestation, Out of 43 clinical cases, Eimeria spp. and Strongyloids spp. were present in 6.97% and 4.65% respectively. Also, overall incidence of enteritis was highest in winter season.

Background: Trastuzumab has been approved for the treatment of patients with HER-2 positive metastatic/locally advanced adenocarcinoma of the stomach by FDA.1 Most of gastric cancer patients present at an advanced stage in our country, all patients of gastric adenocarcinoma should be subjected to HER-2 testing at initial diagnosis. Immunohistochemistry should be the initial testing methodology and Fluorescence in-situ hybridization should be used to retest immunohistochemistry 2+ samples.Methods: We conducted this study with the aim to establish the expression profile of HER-2 and its correlation to clinicopathological characteristics in resectable cases of gastric adenocarcinoma, in patients presenting with gastric adenocarcinoma at IGMC Shimla. The study was conducted over a year from 1st July 2014 to 30th June 2015. Sample size included 40 diagnosed cases of resectable gastric adenocarcinoma. All patients with operable and resectable disease were subjected to surgery and the specimen were sent for detailed histopathological examination and immunohistochemistry . χ 2 statistical analysis was performed to assess the HER-2 positivity rate . All statistics were performed using 2-sided analysis, with a significance level of p< 0.05.Results: In our study , 7 cases (17.5%) were scored as strongly positive for HER-2 membrane staining (3+), 4 cases (10%) were moderately positive (2+) and 29 cases (72.5%) were HER-2 negative (0/1+) on IHC. The positivity rates in diffuse type (22.2%) and poorly-differentiated (25%) gastric cancer were higher than those in intestinal type (9.9%) and well-differentiated (14.3%) gastric cancer respectively.Conclusions: There is a strong association of human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 positivity with Gastric Malignancy in our country especially in poorly differentiated cancers. Targeted biological therapy with Trastuzumab hence becomes an attractive addition to the multimodality therapy usually required in the treatment of locally advanced /metastatic gastric cancers.

Background: Chronic ulcers in patients with diabetes are complex and treatment is often difficult. At the moment, negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) is widely used for the treatment of several types of wounds. Nevertheless, the clinical evidence to support the application of this dressing in chronic diabetic ulcers is scarce. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of NPWT to treat chronic diabetic ulcers. Methods: Prospective time bound comparative study. Diabetic patients aged 18 years or older with an ulcer were assigned to treatment with NPWT. Primary efficacy end point was time in reaching complete ulcer closure. A size of sample of 15 patients was used. NPWT was prepared with a polyurethane foam dressing, a Silicone catheter, a transparent adhesive drape and continuous negative pressure of 125 mm Hg. The wound was treated for cycles of 5 days and evaluated at every dressing change. Descriptive and analytical statistics were used. Results: There were 15 patients, with a mean age of 54.4 years (73.3% men). The average time to complete ulcer closure was (41.2 [8.5] days) . Conclusions: NPWT is an effective modality of treatment of chronic diabetic ulcers with early appearance of granulation tissue and faster rates of overall complete wound closure.

Purpose of Review: Gossypibomas remain a dreaded and unwanted complication of surgical practice. Despite significant interest and numerous guidelines, the number of reported cases remains sparse due to various factors, including potential legal implications. Herein, we review related data from India to ascertain if the problem is better or worse than that reported in world literature. Materials and Methods: A literature search was performed on PubMed and Google Scholar, to collect and analyze all case reports and case reviews regarding the condition in India. Results: On analysis of the results, there were 100 publications reporting a total of 126 events. The average patient age was 38.65 years. Average time to discovery was 1225.62 days. Forty-nine percent of reported cases were discovered within the 1 st year. The most common clinical features were pain (73.8%), palpable mass (47.6%), vomiting (35%), abdominal distention (26%), and fever (12.6%). Spontaneous expulsion of the gossypiboma was noted in five cases (3.96%). Transmural migration was seen in 36 cases (28.57%). Conclusions: Despite advancements in surgical approaches and preventive measures, gossypibomas continue to be a cause of significant morbidity. A safe working culture, open communication, teamwork, and an accurate sponge count remain our best defence against this often unpredictable complication of surgery.

Background: Colorectal surgery has always been a challenge for surgeons due to a large number of bacteria present in this area. Some of these bacteria may cause wound infection, anastomotic leak or frank sepsis. Mechanical bowel preparation (MBP) has been one of the many practices which aim to mitigate these complications. However, the use of MBP has been controversial for sometimes. We performed a prospective study to investigate the outcomes of colorectal surgery with or without MBP. Materials and Methods: This prospective study was conducted in the Department of Surgery, IGMC, Shimla from July 1, 2014 to June 30, 2015 included forty patients admitted in an emergency, or for elective open colorectal surgery. All patients who were scheduled to undergo primary resection and anastomosis of the colon and upper rectum were eligible for inclusion in the study. Results: Complications in the form of surgical site infection, wound hematoma, and enterocutaneous fistula were present in both groups. However the value of P = 0.204 in either group indicated that statistically, there was no difference between results of two groups. The average duration of stay in the no bowel preparation group was 13.42 days, and in the MBP group was 11.5 days. Conclusion: This study suggests that MBP is not necessarily essential for safe colorectal surgery.

In this technology-oriented world, when every phase is going green, enzymes have found tremendous applications. Thousands of enzymes have been identified and are being used commercially. However, microbial origin enzymes have gained more relevance than those from other sources. Among others, lipases are spectacular enzymes known for their unique attributes and significant industrial potential. They are one of the most important biocatalysts known for their applications in the biotechnology industry. Since these enzymes find massive applications, with the passage of time, the trend has shifted towards the identification of thermostable lipases which could be used in the industries which require harsh conditions to work in. Thermostable lipases have found applications in various areas such as in pharmaceuticals, food, and chemical industries. The following article talks about the thermophilic lipases derived from various microorganisms and their applications.

Studies have revealed that scientific approach for talent identification is of utmost importance for superior performance in sports. It is very important that every sportsman is aware of his or her standard of performance and where he or she stands in comparison to other players. Measurement will show the coach how effective his training is and how well the player has assimilated the skill taught. If tests are administered during the training process, the evaluation becomes a motivating factor for the trainees, leading to self-improvement. In kabaddi the need for a scientific approach in talent identification of players at a young age can be nurturing, in a systematic manner to bring out their potential in full and for best performance. The selected tests must be objective, reliable, valid and should be applied in correct norms.