The use of a ternary blend is a promising strategy to enhance the power conversion efficiency of organic solar cells. However, an active layer thickness of ∼100 nm is typically required to achieve ...optimized performance in ternary blend organic solar cells. The efficiency of a thicker ternary blend film is limited by the low exciton diffusion length and charge carrier mobility of organic semiconductors, which leads to significant energy loss. In this work, we have employed a thick layer (∼300 nm) of ternary blend, featuring a donor–acceptor type diketopyrrolopyrrole (2DPP-BDT) based small molecule along with P3HT and PC71BM and established the role of Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) to improve the power conversion efficiency (PCE). A dramatic enhancement (27%) in PCE was observed for the ternary blend organic solar cell compared to the binary blend solar cell containing P3HT:PC71BM as active layer. The performance enhancement is attributed to extended light absorption by the ternary blend photoactive layer, which emphasizes the contribution of 2DPP-BDT to harvest photons in the near-IR region of the solar spectrum. FRET between P3HT and 2DPP-BDT is found to be crucial in the exciton dissociation process. Steady state and transient absorption spectroscopy unambiguously established the role of FRET to enhance the device performance. This work highlights the significance of FRET to improve the performance of ternary blend organic solar cells.
The Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) is a comprehensive guideline to systematize breast imaging reporting, and as per its recommendations, any lesion with likelihoods of malignancy ...greater than 2% is deemed as suspicious and tissue diagnosis is recommended. The aim of the study is to determine the positive predictive value (PPV) of BI-RADS categories 4a, 4b, and 4c for malignancy and association of mammographic morphological features of BI-RADS 4 subgroups with malignant outcomes. We retrospectively reviewed all the patients undergoing mammography with BI-RADS score of 4 followed by biopsy from May 2019 to April 2020. The predictive values of BI-RADS 4 subcategories and morphological features with malignancy are performed taking histopathology report as the gold standard. The PPV of BI-RADS subcategories 4a, 4b, and 4c for malignancies were 34, 89, and 97%, respectively. BI-RADS 4c patients tend to be older (50.2 ± 12.2 vs. 44.6 ± 10.3 years) with larger mass (44 ± 16 vs. 32.9 ± 16.8 mm) at presentation than 4a. Postmenopausal state (
P
= 0.03) and older age (
P
= 0.019) were significantly associated with malignancy. There is no meaningful difference observed in the predictability of BI-RADS category 4c lesions among different breast density patterns. The overall higher PPV for BI-RADS 4a and 4b reflects subjectivity in subcategory assignments of BI-RADS 4. In patients, less than 40 years with the BI-RADS 4a category on mammograms may undergo supplementary imaging with MRI which may downscale the lesion classification in turn reducing unnecessary biopsy and surgery.
Introduction: The number of patients receiving renal replacement therapy in the form of dialysis or transplant has been increasing in recent years. Increased frequency of monitoring due to complex ...therapeutic regimen and inappropriate use of drugs may lead to increased Adverse Events (AEs), hospital stay, cost of treatment as well as increased morbidity and mortality. Aim: To analyse utilisation pattern of drugs and AEs in Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) patients undergoing maintenance haemodialysis. Materials and Methods: This prospective, observational study was conducted in the Department of Pharmacology in collaboration with Department of Nephrology, SCB Medical College and Hospital, Cuttack, from 1st June to 31st December, 2015. Demographic, clinical and medicine details were collected from patients’ case sheet, matched with nursing case records and tabulated in a predesigned case study form. The data were analysed in a descriptive manner using percentage calculation and Spearman’s correlation, multiple logistic regression using trial version SPSS v24. Results: A total number of 115 cases were included in this study. Average number of drugs used, per prescription was 12.8 during the dialysis and non-dialysis days. Most frequently used drugs were antihypertensives, 25% dextrose and heparin (before dialysis and on dialysis days) were prescribed to all patients followed by haematinics in 90.43% of the patients and proton pump inhibitors were prescribed in 70.43% of the patients. Among 1472 drugs prescribed, 40.96% of the drugs were prescribed in generic name. It was observed that 72.62% of the prescribed drugs were from National List of Essential Medicine. AEs were observed with varying severity in all the patients. Frequently observed AEs as per the laboratory investigations were hyperphosphataemia, hyponatraemia, metabolic acidosis, hyperkalemia, hypoglycaemia, hypocalcaemia and hypokalemia. AEs were statistically significant with age group >45 years (p<0.001). Conclusion: This study provides an insight regarding utilisation pattern of a wide variety of drug classes in CKD patients undergoing maintenance haemodialysis in a tertiary care teaching hospital setting and suggests a possible improvement in medicine practices among patients suffering from CKD which may probably affect adherence patterns positively. Certain areas like potential drug interactions, adverse drug reactions and adherence are required to be explored further.
Different laboratory synthesized metal nanoparticles viz. Copper oxide (CuO), Zinc oxide (ZnO) and silver doped titanium dioxide (Ag‐TiO₂) were studied for their effect on hatching and survival of ...larvae and fry of Indian major carp, rohu, Labeo rohita both in direct application in tank water & coated onto tanks. Among these nanoparticles, CuO and ZnO nanoparticles exhibited highest percentage of hatching in both direct addition (78.0 ± 3.1% and 78.05 ± 4.2%, respectively) and coating onto tanks (58.6 ± 2.1% and 61.2 ± 2.7%, respectively) at 1 mg mL⁻¹ while least percentage of hatching was recorded in Ag‐TiO₂ nanoparticles irrespective of its concentration & mode of supplementation. Highest survival of L. rohita fry (50.13 ± 2.2%) was observed after 15 days post hatching in CuO coated tanks followed by ZnO coated tanks (38.6 ± 2.8%) while least was recorded in Ag‐TiO₂ coated tanks (22.53 ± 3.0%). However in control tanks coated with Poly‐Urethane base with hardener and uncoated control tanks, the survival was 42.4 ± 1.2% and 41.36 ± 1.8% respectively. Further, significantly lower microbial load of water was recorded in CuO nanoparticles coated tanks (1.5 × 10¹⁰ CFU L⁻¹) as compared to uncoated control tanks (1.1 × 10¹⁶ CFU L⁻¹) without affecting water quality parameters. On the other hand, in Ag‐TiO₂ coated tanks, significantly lower microbial load (1.0 × 10⁶ CFU L⁻¹) as compared to uncoated control tanks at 15 days post hatching was recorded. However, Ag‐TiO₂ was toxic to L. rohita larvae & fry both in direct application and coating onto tanks. Considering the beneficial effects of CuO nanoparticle application, it has the scope of being used in a more eco‐friendly way in hatchery operations.
The frequency band of 26.5-40 GHz is used for Ka-Band communication which includes wide band multimedia services, mobile information systems, SPACELAN, e-Commerce and high bandwidth internet using ...high capacity for more user demand. But communication in this high frequency is more susceptible to rain attenuation which degrades the link quality and decreases the signal to noise ratio mainly in tropical regions. In this paper we have proposed rain fade mitigation using spot beam technology. Here India is divided in to 16 spot beam locations and we have used multi beam coverage using multi port power amplifiers for the proposed technique where dynamic power allocation to the beams occurs depending upon the traffic. It will compensate the rain attenuation of one beam by sharing unused power from the other beams. The payload architecture of the 16 spot beam coverage using MPA has been designed for the proposed technique. This technique does not require any additional transmit power and does not cause any additional traffic burden.
This paper outlines the current state of Network MIMO as a viable technique for increasing the performance of wireless communication systems by cancelling the intercell interference in the near ...future. It also presents the results of a simulation environment designed to compare the BER performance capabilities of a wireless multiuser OFDM systems with and without the use of Network MIMO. Simulations confirm that Network MIMO techniques can result in significant reductions in interference. "Network MIMO" is a family of techniques where each user in a wireless system is served through all the access points within its range of influence. Taking prior information theoretic analyses of MIMO to the next level, this report quantify the spectral efficiency gains obtainable under realistic propagation and operational conditions. The results confirm that Network MIMO stands to provide a multiple fold increase in spectral efficiency by cancelling intercell interference and reducing Bit-Error-Rate under such conditions.
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