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This study compared neurological complications among a national sample of United States children with or without sickle cell disease (SCD) and evaluated health status, healthcare and special education utilization patterns, barriers to care, and association of SCD status and demographics/socioeconomic status (SES) on comorbidities and healthcare utilization. Data was acquired from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) Sample Child Core questionnaire 2007–2018 dataset that included 133,542 children. An affirmation from the guardian of the child determined the presence of SCD. Regression analysis was used to compare the associations between SCD and demographics/SES on neurological conditions at p < 0.05. Furthermore, adjusted odds ratios (AORs) were estimated for having various neurological conditions. Of the 133,481 children included in the NHIS, the mean age was 8.5 years (SD: 0.02) and 215 had SCD. Of the children with SCD, the sample composition included male (n = 110), and Black (n = 82%). The SCD sample had higher odds of having neuro-developmental conditions (p < 0.1). Families of Black children (55% weighted) reported household incomes < 100% of federal poverty level. Black children were more likely to experience longer wait times to see the doctor (AOR, 0.3; CI 0.1–1.1). Compared to children without SCD, those with SCD had a greater chance of seeing a medical specialist within 12 months (AOR 2.3; CI 1.5–3.7). This representative sample of US children with SCD shows higher odds of developing neurological complications, increased healthcare and special education services utilization, with Black children experiencing a disproportionate burden. This creates the urgency to address the health burden for children with SCD by implementing interventions in healthcare and increasing education assistance programs to combat neurocognitive impairments, especially among Black children.

A hollow square core PCF (HS-PCF)-based sensor is proposed in this paper for detecting three poisonous chemicals, namely sarin, soman, and tabun in the terahertz frequency range of 1–2 THz. These three analytes are considered as the harmful side agents of variant chemicals. So, an efficient detection of these poisonous chemicals with greater safety is demanded. Our designed zeonex-based PCF sensor ensures a greater sensitivity of 92.7%, core power fraction of 91.93%, a reasonable effective area of 1.65 × 105 µm2, and a numerical aperture of 0.219. Besides, negligible effective material loss and confinement loss of 6.83 × 10–3 cm−1 and 2.08 × 10–12 cm−1 are, respectively, obtained. Again, this proposed model is feasible to be fabricated using the present fabrication methodologies. Thus, we can assert that our proposed sensor can be a potential candidate for any kind of chemical sensing, more specifically in the detection of pernicious chemicals .

The COVID-19 pandemic has further aggravated the burden of mental health and presents an opportunity for public health research to focus on evidence-based interventions appropriate for populations residing in resource-constrained, post-conflict settings. Post-conflict settings have a higher service gap in mental health and fewer protective factors, such as economic and domestic security. Post-conflict settings are defined as locations where open warfare has ended but resulting challenges have remained for years. A strong emphasis on the engagement of diverse stakeholders is needed to arrive at sustainable and scalable solutions to mental health service delivery. This review discusses mental health service delivery gaps in post-conflict settings, highlights the urgency of the matter in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, and provides recommendations for service gaps from evidence-based case study exemplars with an implementation science lens using the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) as guide to improving adaptation and uptake.

An organic solar cell (OSC), competitive with traditional one (Si-based), draws attention to future renewable energy sources due to its low-cost and continually rising efficiency. The tandem or multijunction structure undoubtedly offers an efficient way to boost the performance of OSCs. This work has explored the optical modeling of different organic photoactive materials to identify the potential materials for efficient tandem structure. The performance of double, triple, and quadruple junction tandem OSCs with suitable bandgaps has been analyzed with photoactive materials. The absorption efficiency enhances considerably using the thickness optimization of each subcell in tandem structures. Current matching in all subcells, an essential factor for efficient device operation, is taken into account while optimizing tandem structures. The quadruple design can achieve better photovoltaic performance than double or triple junction devices. The efficiency predicted from our proposed quadruple structure is ~15.45%, with a short-circuit current density, $\text{J}_{\mathrm {SC}}$ of $\sim 9$ mA/cm2 and an open-circuit voltage, $\text{V}_{\mathrm {OC}}$ of ~2.64 V. These results are one of the high-performance in terms of organic photovoltaic (OPV). Therefore, the above findings indicate that OSCs are very potential for future photovoltaic applications.

Purpose The present research was designed to evaluate the toxicity of tellurium and its prevention by selenium on the pituitary gland in male Wistar rats. Methods 30 rats were used weighing 200–250 gm, and randomly divided them into five groups. Each group contained an equal number of animals. Group-1 was nominated as control group. Group-2 received an intraperitoneal dose of selenium 0.3 mg per kg body wt. Group-3 was administered with tellurium 4.15 mg per kg body wt. Group-4 was given low-dose (L) of both selenium 0.15 and tellurium 2.075, Group-5 was given High-dose (H) of both selenium 0.3 and tellurium 4.15 mg/kg body wt. orally once in a day. After 15 days of dosing, the behavioral activities- motor co-ordination rotarod and grip strength test were measured. On 16th-day animals were sacrificed and activity of LPO, GSH, caspase-3, caspase-9, GPx, GR, SOD, catalase, and AChE were performed on the pituitary gland as per standard method reported. Results Se when given together with Te, significantly protects the motor coordination up to 32.5%, and also protects the grip strength up to 75% in group 4 and 5 respectively as compared to group- 3. Se + Te treatment protects the activity of TBARS up to 48.68% and GSH is 58%. As compared to control, it protects caspase-3 up to 118% and caspase-9 up to 83%. The level of AChE was also observed to be modulated by the administration of Se in Group- 4 and 5. Se + Te protected AChE up to 28.6%. Similar findings were observed for the biochemical activities of GPx (140% protection), SOD (458%), GR (159%), and catalase (95%) activities that were protected significantly Se + Te in Group- 4 and 5. Conclusion Selenium dose-dependently protects behavioral activities. It also protects apoptosis, oxidative stress, and AChE activities in the pituitary gland.

Background: In the United States , sickle cell disease (SCD), affects about 100,000 individuals, with roughly 2,000 babies born annually with SCD. African Americans are disproportionately affected by SCD. In addition to medical conditions, psychosocial and affective comorbidities are also observed in relation to the frequency and intensity of pain crises. Evidence also suggests robust academic challenges that begin in elementary school and persist until high school. It is estimated that about 25% to 33% of children with SCD experience neurodevelopmental complications. Neurological complications lead to cognitive deficits and educational challenges. African Americans and those with low socioeconomic status are affected the most by neurological complications. Among Children with SCD, data suggest that specialized school service utilization rates are about 37%, and grade retention ranges from 28% to 40%. We used the 2007-2018 NHIS to describe additional neurocognitive impairments and health services used among Black children aged 0-17 years with SCD and place findings into context. Methods: Data was acquired from the NHIS database. The study included an unweighted sample of 133,542 children, with 68,745 male children and 64,797 female children. Questionnaires were answered by a parent/guardian on behalf of the child. We examined (1) the prevalence of neurological conditions; (2) indicators of functional status and perceived health status; (3) use of healthcare and special educational services; (4) barriers to accessing healthcare services for a national sample of children with SCD; (5) Association of the comorbidities with the utilization of care. We hypothesized that black children with SCD would have higher levels of disease-related complications and comorbidities, as well as healthcare utilization than their counterparts without SCD. We used logistic regression to compare the associations between SCD and No SCD on various neurological conditions for all races and for Black children only groups. Results: Of the 133,542 children, 215 have SCD (.16%). Among the SCD children, 51.1% are male, 170 (79.1%) are Black, 16 (7.44%) are White, 1(.47%) are American Indian, 2 (.93%) are Asian, 21 (9.77%) are other races, and 5 (2.33%) are of Multiple Races. Among all races, Black children had a higher prevalence of SCD than other races. Black children with SCD had a higher predominance of girls than did those without SCD. They were also more likely than their counterparts without SCD to have a household income < 1% of the federal poverty levels. After applying the appropriate weights to each of the demographics, Children with SCD had higher odds of having a developmental condition such as: learning disability (Adjusted odds ratio -AOR 1.5; CI: .7, 3.5: p=0.311), intellectual disability (AOR 4.2; CI: 1.3, 13.3: p=0.014), trouble hearing (AOR 2.6; CI: 1.1, 6.1: p=0.026), trouble seeing (AOR 2.3; CI: 1.0, 5.3: p=0.061) and another developmental delay (AOR .8; CI: .1, 6.2: p=0.838). We see similar results in the Black children only sample where Black children with SCD were more likely to have a learning disability (AOR 1.3; CI: .5, 3.2; p=0.590), intellectual disability (AOR 2.4; CI: .6, 10.2: p=0.236), trouble hearing (AOR 1.6; CI: .6, 4.1: p=0.310) or trouble seeing (AOR 2.3; CI: 1.0, 5.4; p=0.048). They also exhibit other developmental delays (AOR 1.9; CI: .2, 22.4: p=0.625), although not statistically significant. Conclusion: In this study sample, it is clear that children with SCD had higher odds of having a developmental condition and in addition Black children with SCD also have a comparable odd of developing neurological complications compared to children with SCD of other races. A similar pattern was identified that Black children with SCD reported increased utilization of healthcare and special education services in the past 12 months. This creates the urgency to address the health burden for Black children with SCD that has been exaggerated by barriers to accessing comprehensive health care. Studies that further assess Black children's health burden with SCD, its neurocognitive impairment and healthcare utilization is crucial. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Background: Sickle cell disease (SCD), one of the most common genetic disorders in the United States (US), affects 70,000 to 100,000 children. The burden is greatest among the African American population, where SCD impacts 1 in 365 live births. Children with SCD have been observed to have lower Health-Related Quality of life (HRQoL) due to the impact of severe disease-related complications and comorbidities, including infections, pain crises, acute chest syndrome, metabolic alterations and overt stroke. SCD and its related comorbidity and complications result in increased health care utilization, particularly emergency department use- which accounts for 80% of medical expenditure. Further, studies using US population-based data to characterize the health status and health care utilization for SCD children is lacking. With the exception of a study conducted by Boulet et al. in 2010, which examined the 1997-2005 National Health Interview Surveys (NHIS) data to describe health status and health services use among Black children aged 0-17 years with SCD. To fill this important gap, we used the 2007-2018 NHIS data to describe health status and health services use among SCD children aged 0-17 years and conducted a sub-analysis for Black children to better characterize SCD- related medical conditions affecting this population and health care utilization patterns. Methods: The study included an unweighted sample of 133,542 children, with 68,745 male children and 64,797 female children. Questionnaires were answered by a parent/guardian on behalf of the child. We examined (1) the prevalence of medical comorbidities; (2) indicators of functional status and perceived health status; (3) use of healthcare services; (4) barriers to accessing healthcare services; and (5) association of the comorbidities with the utilization of care. We hypothesized that Black children with SCD would have higher levels of disease-related complications and comorbidities, as well as healthcare utilization than their counterparts without SCD. We used logistic regression to compare the associations between 'SCD' and 'No SCD' on various medical conditions for all races and for Black children only groups. Results: Of the 133,542 children, 215 have SCD (.16%). Among the SCD children, 51.1% are male, Black: 170 (79.1%), White: 16 (7.44%), American Indian: 1(.47%), Asian 2 (.93%): other races: 21 (9.77%) and Multiple Races 5 (2.33%). Black children had a higher prevalence of SCD than other races and Black children with SCD were more likely to have a household income < 1% of the federal poverty levels compared to those without. After applying the appropriate weights to each of the demographics, children of all races with SCD had higher adjusted odds (Adjusted Odds Ratio -AOR) of having anemia (AOR 37.6; CI: 22.3, 63.3: p=0.000), respiratory allergies (AOR 2.2; CI: 1.3, 3.8; p=0.005), food/digestive allergies (AOR 2.1; CI: 1.0, 4.1: p=0.042), eczema/skin allergies (AOR 2.1; CI: 1.3, 3.6: p=0.004), and frequent severe headaches/migraines (AOR 2.2; CI: 1.1, 4.3; p=0.024). Children with SCD are also more likely to experience frequent diarrhea/colitis, although statistically non-significant. Among Black children, those with SCD had higher odds of having the following medical conditions including anemia (AOR 18.7; CI: 10.7,32.3: p=0.000), and respiratory allergies (AOR 2.4; CI: 1.3, 4.4: p=0.004) and also more likely to experience other conditions including food/digestive allergies, eczema/skin allergies, and frequent severe headaches/migraines, although statistically non-significant (p>0.5). Children of all races (26.0%) and Black children (28.8%) with SCD had at least 2 or more annual emergency room visits (p=0.000). Conclusion: Our study findings indicate that children with SCD for all races experienced significant comorbid conditions associated with disease status. Moreover, among Black children, those with SCD have increased SCD related comorbidity, worse health status, and an increased number of visits to the emergency room compared to children without SCD. This creates the urgency to address the health burden for Black children with SCD, by identifying 'beneficial' health care utilization services (non-emergency services) that improves the quality of life for SCD children. Future research should address residual gaps in information about health burden and healthcare utilization among SCD population in the US. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Organic solar cell draws attention because of its low cost and constantly increasing efficiency. Though having many advantages, low power conversion efficiency hinders organic photovoltaic cells from their commercialization. Tandem solar cells combine two or more single junction cells of complementary absorption band undoubtedly provide an effective means to uplift the efficiency organic solar cells. In this paper, we analyze the performance of three individual single junction organic solar cells. Single junction PCDTBT:PCBM cell shows an efficiency of 6.02% whereas PMDPP3T:PCBM and pBBTDPP2:PCBM shows efficiency of 5.99% and 3.15% respectively. Tandem cell consists of PMDPP3T:PCBM and PCDTBT:PCBM shows 10% efficiency with open-circuit voltage 1.48V and short circuit current density of 10.38 mA/cm2, Using pBBTDPP2:PCBM as a middle layer between them form a triple junction structure that offers an open-circuit voltage of 2.1 V, short circuit current density of 9.4 mA/cm2and power conversion efficiency of 12.25%, which means improved performance over the double junction structure.

In this paper, first-principles based density functional theory (DFT) calculation is applied for studying the electronic and optical properties of Tin (Sn) doped hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) monolayer. Two configurations were used for doping Sn atom in hBN monolayer. In the first structure, Boron atom (B) was replaced with Sn atom (sample 1) and in the second structure, Nitrogen (N) atom was replaced by Sn atom (sample 2). Formation energy calculation has been done on both samples and they are energetically favorable. It is observed that Sn atom substitution in hBN layer develops impurity states due to the valance bands pushing up at the Fermi energy (EF) level which results in a semi-metallic hBN monolayer. Some inter-band transitions caused by the impurity states initiate some anomalous trends in the optical properties of hBN monolayer. All the optical properties precisely, absorption coefficient, reflectivity, refractive index, dielectric function and loss function for Sn atom doped hBN structures were investigated using DFT. Pure hBN monolayer has insignificant absorption from 400 to 700 nm visible spectrum. When Sn atom is substituted, a significant value of absorption coefficient is attained in the visible wavelength range plus in the whole solar spectra in both samples. Relatively low static reflectivity is achieved in the visible spectrum because of Sn atom replacement in hBN monolayer. Other optical properties explicitly dielectric functions, refractive index and loss function show comparatively high-values in the visible spectrum.

The recent surge in hardware security is significant due to offshoring the proprietary Intellectual property (IP). One distinct dimension of the disruptive threat is malicious logic insertion, also known as Hardware Trojan (HT). HT subverts the normal operations of a device stealthily. The diversity in HTs activation mechanisms and their location in design brings no catch-all detection techniques. In this paper, we propose to leverage principle features of social network analysis to security analysis of Register Transfer Level (RTL) designs against HT. The approach is based on investigating design properties, and it extends the current detection techniques. In particular, we perform both node- and graph-level analysis to determine the direct and indirect interactions between nets in a design. This technique helps not only in finding vulnerable nets that can act as HT triggering signals but also their interactions to influence a particular net to act as HT payload signal. We experiment the technique on 420 combinational HT instances, and on average, we can detect both triggering and payload signals with accuracy up to 97.37%., Comment: Accepted to be Published in: Proceedings of the 2019 22nd International Conference on Computer and Information Technology (ICCIT), 18-20 December 2019, Dhaka, Bangladesh

An analytical model of the photocurrent-voltage characteristics has been utilized to analyze important properties of organic bulk-heterojunction solar cells, e.g., generation rate, electron current density, hole current density and the total photocurrent density. The generation rate of P3HT:PCBM based solar cell critically depends on the absorption coefficient. For measuring the electron and hole current density solution of carrier continuity equation is used in MATLAB. Then the effects of electron and hole current density on the performance of P3HT solar cells have been studied. The result of this paper demonstrate that current density due to electron plays a major role in photocurrent production while hole current density has a very little impact. Effect of electron and hole mobility variation are investigated separately which indicate that increasing electron mobility are extremely important than hole mobility to increase the power conversion efficiency of P3HT:PCBM blend. The dependence of electron and hole current densities as a function of the blend thickness is also analyzed.

Tandem solar cell provides an effective way to improve power conversion efficiency of organic solar cell by combining two or more organic solar cells. Each cell has different absorption maximum and width so it provides the amenities of using the photon energy more effectively. Due to the limited absorption band of organic materials, single junction organic solar cells suffer from low efficiency. Here, we demonstrate the performance of single layer devices based on the solution of carrier continuity equation in MATLAB. Polymers P3HT:PCBM, pBBTDPP2:PCBM and PCDTBT:PCBM provide power conversion efficiency of 3%, 3.15% and 6.2% respectively. Hence series connected tandem cell P3HT:PCBM as front cell and pBBTDPP2:PCBM as rear cell is designed to achieve higher efficiency where the proposed model gives the power conversion efficiency of 6%. A major back through came when the front cell is replaced by PCDTBT:PCBM solar cell in the device configuration which provides the power conversion efficiency of 8.8%, till now the maximum efficiency for organic solar cell.

Herbal medicines have been widely used all over the world since ancient times and have been recognized by physicians and patients for their better therapeutic value as they have fewer adverse effects as compared with modern medicines. Phytotherapeutics need a scientific approach to deliver the components in a sustained manner to increase patient compliance and avoid repeated administration. This can be achieved by designing novel drug delivery systems (NDDS) for herbal constituents. NDDSs not only reduce the repeated administration to overcome non-compliance, but also help to increase the therapeutic value by reducing toxicity and increasing the bioavailability. One such novel approach is nanotechnology. Nano-sized drug delivery systems of herbal drugs have a potential future for enhancing the activity and overcoming problems associated with plant medicines . Hence, integration of the nanocarriers as a NDDS in the traditional medicine system is essential to conflict more chronic diseases like asthma, diabetes, cancer, and others.