Gross and histopathological examination of a resected segment of ileum in a 72-year-old man with the preoperative diagnosis of small intestinal perforation peritonitis revealed the first-ever ...diagnosed case of Crohn Disease (CD) at the B P Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Dharan, Nepal. In view of the recent reports on rising incidence of CD in neighbouring Asian countries, it was decided to perform an exhaustive literature search to find out the documented prevalence of CD in Nepal. It was surprising to find only a single case of CD from Nepal, occurring in the year 1980, to be documented in English literature. Further, the index case of CD presenting with acute abdomen is of interest since only about 100 cases of CD with small intestinal perforation have been so far reported worldwide.
We have investigated the electronic and thermoelectric properties of half-Heusler alloys NiTZ (T = Sc, and Ti; Z = P, As, Sn, and Sb) having 18 valence electron. Calculations are performed by means ...of density functional theory and Boltzmann transport equation with constant relaxation time approximation, validated by NiTiSn. The chosen half-Heuslers are found to be an indirect band gap semiconductor, and the lattice thermal conductivity is comparable with the state-of-the-art thermoelectric materials. The estimated power factor for NiScP, NiScAs, and NiScSb reveals that their thermoelectric performance can be enhanced by appropriate doping rate. The value of ZT found for NiScP, NiScAs, and NiScSb are 0.46, 0.35, and 0.29, respectively at 1200 K.
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