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Context: Prevalence of tuberculous pleural effusion is very high in the Asian subcontinent but very few studies have come up from this part of the world about the course of recovery of pulmonary functions after institution of anti-tubercular therapy (ATT) and thoracentesis. Aims: To study initial lung function impairment, changes over time after institution of ATT and thoracentesis and residual abnormalities left at the end of six months of treatment. Settings and Design: Randomized open level interventional study over two years in 52 patients at a tertiary level teaching hospital. Methods: The study population was divided into two equal groups, A (therapeutic thoracentesis) and B (diagnostic thoracentesis). Spirometry, chest radiograph and ultrasonography of thorax were done initially and at each follow-up visit up to six months. Statistical analysis was done (P value < 0.05 considered significant). Results: Both groups were comparable initially. After six months none in group A and five patients in group B had minimal pleural effusion. During follow up, mean percentage predicted of FEV1 and FVC increased more in A than in B and the differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05). Pleural thickening, initially absent in both groups, was found to be more in B as compared to A at subsequent follow-up visits and this was statistically significant (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Thoracentesis should be considered in addition to anti-TB treatment, especially in large effusions, in order to relieve dyspnea, avoid possibility of residual pleural thickening and risk of developing restrictive functional impairment.

Recent theoretical and experimental discoveries of two-dimensional (2D) ferromagnetic (FM) materials have sparked intense interest for their potential applications in spintronics. 2D FM materials with high spin polarization are extremely desirable for future low-dimensional spintronics. Half-metallicity plays a key role in the development of such devices. Here, we reported a new 2D nanomagnet VClI 2 using the first-principles based density functional theory calculations. VClI 2 shows an exciting half-metallic character with a wide half-metallic gap of 0.4 eV. The ground state favors ferromagnetic coupling with a Curie temperature T c of 21 K. The half-metallicity with a FM ground state is further achieved by the application of an external strain and by the combined effects of the strain and the electric field. A phase transition from a half-metallic → semiconductor → metal was further observed under different stimuli with an antiferromagnetic ground state. At E z = 7.5 V/nm and in the presence of η = 5 % strain, the calculated T c is estimated at 35 K, which shows a 67% increment than the T c observed in the unstrained condition. The fascinating and unique properties suggest that VClI 2 is a promising two-dimensional ferromagnetic half-metal, which can be useful for applications in future memory devices to enrich the 2D magnetic materials library. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CONTEXT: Prevalence of tuberculous pleural effusion is very high in the Asian subcontinent but very few studies have come up from this part of the world about the course of recovery of pulmonary functions after institution of anti-tubercular therapy (ATT) and thoracentesis. AIMS: To study initial lung function impairment, changes over time after institution of ATT and thoracentesis and residual abnormalities left at the end of six months of treatment. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: Randomized open level interventional study over two years in 52 patients at a tertiary level teaching hospital. METHODS: The study population was divided into two equal groups, A (therapeutic thoracentesis) and B (diagnostic thoracentesis). Spirometry, chest radiograph and ultrasonography of thorax were done initially and at each follow-up visit up to six months. Statistical analysis was done (P value < 0.05 considered significant). RESULTS: Both groups were comparable initially. After six months none in group A and five patients in group B had minimal pleural effusion. During follow up, mean percentage predicted of FEV1 and FVC increased more in A than in B and the differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05). Pleural thickening, initially absent in both groups, was found to be more in B as compared to A at subsequent follow-up visits and this was statistically significant (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Thoracentesis should be considered in addition to anti-TB treatment, especially in large effusions, in order to relieve dyspnea, avoid possibility of residual pleural thickening and risk of developing restrictive functional impairment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Novel antibodies have been generated by immunizing with bacterially expressed fragments of the repetitive motif of the Ki-67 gene. One such antibody, MIB1, recognizes a fixation and embedding resistant epitope on the Ki-67 protein if sections are previously microwaved in a citrate buffer. We have investigated the utility of this antibody as a marker of cell proliferation in archival material. The microwave technique is simple but requires careful monitoring since different tissues and fixatives require different irradiation times. Strong nuclear immunoreactivity was detected with all fixatives studied. Cytoplasmic staining was not identified. In a wide range of normal tissues the distribution and number of MIB1 immunoreactive cells matched that of cryostat sections stained with Ki-67. In nude mouse xenografts in which the growth fraction had been defined using a fraction of labelled mitosis method, the labelling index with MIB1 matched that previously determined for Ki-67 and correlated well with the growth fraction. Other markers of proliferation (e.g. proliferating cell nulcear antigen) have been shown to be expressed in DNA repair, thus we investigated expression of MIB1 immunoreactivity in situations of DNA repair in vivo—ultraviolet irradiated human skin. MIB1 staining correlated with semi-conservative DNA synthesis rather than excision repair DNA synthesis. Finally, the morphological and cell cycle distribution of MIB1 expression is identical to that of Ki-67. Thus, MIB1 represents a new anti-Ki-67 antibody which appears to be a robust marker of cell proliferation easily applicable to archival material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The root nodules of Melilotus alba, a leguminous fodder herb, contain a high amount of indoleacetic acid (IAA). The tryptophan pool present in the nodule might serve as a source for the IAA production. Metabolism of IAA in the nodules was evidenced by the presence of IAA-metabolizing enzymes, IAA oxidase and peroxidase. A high amount of IAA was produced by the symbiont isolated from the nodules in culture, when supplemented with tryptophan. For IAA production, the bacteria preferred the l-isomer over the dl- or d-isomer of tryptophan. The possible role of nodular IAA production on the legume- Rhizobium symbiosis is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent theoretical and experimental discoveries of two-dimensional (2D) ferromagnetic (FM) materials have sparked intense interest for their potential applications in spintronics. 2D FM materials with high spin polarization are extremely desirable for future low-dimensional spintronics. Half-metallicity plays a key role in the development of such devices. Here, we reported a new 2D nanomagnet VClI 2 using the first-principles based density functional theory calculations. VClI 2 shows an exciting half-metallic character with a wide half-metallic gap of 0.4 eV. The ground state favors ferromagnetic coupling with a Curie temperature T c of 21 K. The half-metallicity with a FM ground state is further achieved by the application of an external strain and by the combined effects of the strain and the electric field. A phase transition from a half-metallic → semiconductor → metal was further observed under different stimuli with an antiferromagnetic ground state. At E z = 7.5 V/nm and in the presence of η = 5 % strain, the calculated T c is estimated at 35 K, which shows a 67% increment than the T c observed in the unstrained condition. The fascinating and unique properties suggest that VClI 2 is a promising two-dimensional ferromagnetic half-metal, which can be useful for applications in future memory devices to enrich the 2D magnetic materials library. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The overarching goal of the FaceBots project is to support the achievement of sustainable long-term human-robot relationships through the creation of robots with face recognition and natural language capabilities, which exploit and publish online information, and especially social information available on Facebook, and which achieve two significant novelties. The underlying experimental hypothesis is that such relationships can be significantly enhanced if the human and the robot are gradually creating a pool of episodic memories that they can co-refer to (“shared memories”), and if they are both embedded in a social web of other humans and robots they mutually know (“shared friends”). We present a description of system architecture, as well as important concrete results regarding face recognition and transferability of training, with training and testing sets coming from either one or a combination of two sources: an onboard camera which can provide sequences of images, as well as facebook-derived photos. Furthermore, early interaction-related results are presented, and evaluation methodologies as well as interesting extensions are discussed.

A family consisting of a brother (11 years) and his twin sisters (13 years) with cerebrotendinous xanthomatosis is presented. The brother had bilateral achilles tendon xanthoma, low intelligence, poor memory with early cerebellar signs. The sisters had bilateral juvenile cataracts in addition to Achilles tendon xanthomas. The serum cholosterol level in all the three was within normal limits. The FNAC and histopathology of tendinous swelling showed touton giant cells and foam cells. A diagnosis of cerebro- tendinous xanthomatosis was made on the basis of Achilles tendon xanthomas, bilateral cataracts and normal serum cholesterol.