Mid-infrared (IR) spectral region is of immense importance for astronomy, medical diagnosis, security and imaging due to the existence of the vibrational modes of many important molecules in this ...spectral range. Therefore, there is a particular interest in miniaturization and integration of IR optical components. To this end, 2D van der Waals (vdW) crystals have shown great potential owing to their ease of integration with other optoelectronic platforms and room temperature operation. Recently, 2D vdW crystals of Formula: see text-Formula: see text and Formula: see text-Formula: see text have been shown to possess the unique phenomenon of natural in-plane biaxial hyperbolicity in the mid-infrared frequency regime at room temperature. Here, we report a unique application of this in-plane hyperbolicity for designing highly efficient, lithography free and extremely subwavelength mid-IR photonic devices for polarization engineering. In particular, we show the possibility of a significant reduction in the device footprint while maintaining an enormous extinction ratio from Formula: see text-Formula: see text and Formula: see text-Formula: see text Formula: see text based mid-IR polarizers. Furthermore, we investigate the application of sub-wavelength thin films of these vdW crystals towards engineering the polarization state of incident mid-IR light via precise control of polarization rotation, ellipticity and relative phase. We explain our results using natural in-plane hyperbolic anisotropy of Formula: see text-Formula: see text and Formula: see text-Formula: see text Formula: see text via both analytical and full-wave electromagnetic simulations. This work provides a lithography free alternative for miniaturized mid-infrared photonic devices using the hyperbolic anisotropy of Formula: see text-Formula: see text and Formula: see text-Formula: see text Formula: see text.
Susceptibilities of conserved quantities, such as baryon number, strangeness and electric charge are sensitive to the onset of quantum chromodynamics phase transition, and are expected to provide ...information on the matter produced in heavy-ion collision experiments. A comprehensive study of the second order diagonal susceptibilities and cross correlations has been made within a thermal model approach of the hadron resonance gas model as well as with a hadronic transport model, ultra-relativistic quantum molecular dynamics. We perform a detailed analysis of the effect of detector acceptances and choice of particle species in the experimental measurements of the susceptibilities for heavy-ion collisions corresponding to s NN = 4 GeV to 200 GeV. The transverse momentum cutoff dependence of suitably normalised susceptibilities are proposed as useful observables to probe the properties of the medium at freezeout.
To investigate the outcome of the loading direction and implant tilting on the micromotion and displacement of immediately placed implants with finite element analysis (FEA).
Eight blocks of ...synthetic bone were created. Eight screw-type implants were inserted, four axially and four slanted, each measuring 11 mm in length and 4.5 mm in diameter. The axial implants and the tilted implants were distally inclined by 30°. The top of the abutment was subjected to 180 N vertical and mesiodistal oblique (45° angle) loads, and the displacement of the abutment was measured. The abutment displacement and micromotion were estimated, and nonlinear finite element models simulating the in vitro experiment were built. In vitro studies and FEA data on abutment displacement were compared, and the reliability of the finite element model was assessed.
Under oblique stress, abutment displacement was larger than under axial loading, and it was also greater for tilted implants than for axial implants. The consistency of the in vitro and FEA data was satisfactory. Under vertical stress, the highest micromotion values in the axial and tilted implants were extremely near.
Under mesiodistal oblique stress, tilted implants may have a smaller maximum amount of micromotion than axial implants. The loading direction had a significant impact on the highest micromotion values. The abutment displacement values were not reflected in the maximum micromotion measurements.
Recent studies indicate that dietary fibre rich wholegrain foods exhibit low starch digestibility. Hence, resistant starch (RS) content could be an important biochemical marker for slow starch ...digestibility and hence of low glycemic index (GI) and glycemic load (GL). Rice is a starch rich grain. People consuming milled rice as a staple diet and leading sedentary life are likely to develop type-II diabetes in the long run. With rise in the number of diabetics worldwide, one possible approach is to develop rice based low GI foods with high RS content rice, as these show slow starch digestibility and hence would cause only slow rise in postprandial glucose level. In addition to amylose, the linear chains of amylopectin also influence starch digestibility. Starch debranching enzyme pullulanase (PUL) action releases a mixture of linear amylose-like chains that facilitate retrogradation of starch and synthesis of type 3 RS resulting in reduced starch digestibility. Besides mechanical processing, modern technologies like CRISPR have been used to increase amylose and RS (type 5 and type 3) content in rice making it more suitable for diabetics. Phytic acid (PA) chelates Ca++ ions required by intestinal alpha amylase and hence lowers starch digestibility.
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•Resistant starch and amylose are critical indicators for low starch digestibility.•Rice contains type 3 (retrograded) and type 5 (amylose-lipid) resistant starch.•Debranching enzyme pullulanase breaks amylopectin chain to form retrograded starch.•Phytic acid synthesized from glycolytic pathway help in lowering of glycemic index.•Starch digestibility can be regulated by mechanical and molecular approaches.
The Foot-and-Mouth disease is highly contagious acute viral disease of livestock inflicting huge economic loss to the farmers. The limited knowledge regarding the pathological lesions vis-a-vis ...distribution of the FMDV in lesser explored endocrine glands and important vital organs other than the target organs of infected calves prompted us to take the present investigation to have detailed insight into the pathogenesis. The systematic necropsy of 37 dead calves (cattle-28 and buffalo-9) was conducted, and thin representative tissue pieces from the affected organs were collected in 10% neutral buffered formalin (NBF) for pathological and immunohistochemical investigations. The genomic detection and its serotyping were done by RT-PCR and multiplex-PCR, respectively. Necropsy examination in all cases showed myocardial lesions resembling 'tigroid heart appearance'. Other organ specific lesions include vesiculo-ulcerative stomatitis, edema of the lungs, petechial hemorrhages, edema of the endocrines, and gastroenteritis. Histopathological examination showed varying sizes of vesicles and ulcerations in stratified squamous epithelium of the tongue, acute necrotizing myocarditis, lymphoid depletion in lymphoid tissues, hepatitis, pancreatitis, thymic hyperplasia, thyroiditis, adrenitis, and enteritis. Positive immunolabeling for viral antigens was observed in endocrine glands, lymphoid organs, lungs, liver, kidneys, and intestine, in addition to other typical locations. The thyroid, adrenal glands, and pancreas, in addition to the tongue and heart, are the tissue of choice for sampling in the field during epidemics. Further, the viral genome and serotype A was confirmed in the affected tissues. This study provides insights into novel tissue tropism and pathogenesis in young calves naturally infected with FMDV.
To determine equivalence of modified gemcitabine and oxaliplatin compared with gemcitabine and cisplatin in unresectable gallbladder cancer (GBC). Primary end-point was overall survival (OS).
Open ...label, prospective, randomised phase III equivalence study. Inclusion criteria included histologically proven unresectable GBC, 18 years or older, adequate organ functions and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group ≤2.
108 patients were required in each arm to have an equivalence margin of ±2 months with power of 80%.
Modified gemcitabine and oxaliplatin (mGemOx)—gemcitabine 900 mg/m2, oxaliplatin 80 mg/m2, maximum 6 cycles; gemcitabine + cisplatin (CisGem)—gemcitabine 1000 mg/m2, cisplatin 25 mg/m2, maximum 8 cycles, all day 1 and 8 every 3 weeks.
Two hundred sixty subjects were recruited between February 2011 and July 2015. Two hundred forty-three patients (119, mGemOx and 124, CisGem) received at least 1 dose and analysed for safety and efficacy (modified intention to treat). Median OS was 8·5 months for whole group (95% confidence interval CI: 7·9–9·1). Median OS in mGemOx was 9 months and 8·3 months in CisGem; p = 0·057 (hazard ratio = 0·78; 95% CI = 0·60-1·02). Restricted mean OS for follow-up limited to 30 months was 11·2 months (95% CI: 9·8–12·6) in mGemOx and 10·4 months (95% CI: 9·1–11·7) in CisGem. Difference of the mean was 0·8 months with 95% CI, exceeding 2 months (−1·1 to 2·7), hence rejecting equivalence. Peripheral neuropathy, thrombocytopaenia in mGemOx and nephrotoxicity was higher with CisGem.
This trial failed to show equivalence of eight cycles of CisGem to six cycles of mGemOx. Numerically OS was better with mGemOx. Toxicities were different. The trial was not powered to answer superiority.
CTRI/2010/091/001406.
•No randomised controlled trials have compared CisGem and mGemOx in unresectable gallbladder cancer.•A phase III randomised equivalence study with 2 months of equivalence margin was conducted.•243 subjects were analysed in modified ITT analysis.•Median overall survival in mGemOx was 9 months and 8·3 months in CisGem.•Results confirmed that 8 cycles of CisGem were not equivalent to 6 cycles of mGemOx.
A BSTRACT Objective: To study the prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and its association of with microvascular complications and ventricular dysfunction in patients with type 2 ...diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 100 T2DM patients were screened randomly for detection of fatty liver in ultrasonography. Patients with fatty liver (NAFLD group, n = 36) were compared with subjects without fatty liver (non-NAFLD group, n = 64). Detailed clinical, biochemical, and imaging parameters like lipid profile, LFT, fasting plasma glucose, 2-hour post-prandial plasma glucose, HbA1C, fasting insulin, spot urinary albumin/creatinine ratio, and 2-D ECHO (M-mode) were performed. Results: The prevalence of NAFLD was found to be 36%. NAFLD group had significantly higher BMI, WHR, blood pressure, glycemic profile, and lipid parameters compared to non-NAFLD group. HOMA IR was elevated significantly in NAFLD group (3.16 ± 1.96) compared to non-NAFLD group (1.73 ± 1.59). There was significantly higher prevalence of all the diabetes-related microvascular complications and LV diastolic dysfunction in NAFLD patients with higher odds for the occurrence of neuropathy (OR = 4.74; P = 0.001), nephropathy (OR = 3.92; P = 0.003), retinopathy (OR = 5.95; P = 0.002), and LV diastolic dysfunction (OR = 1.84; P = 0.043). Conclusions: NAFLD is significantly associated with various diabetes-related microvascular complications as well as LV diastolic dysfunction in T2DM patients.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Introduction: The novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) is a contagious virus that causes respiratory infection and has shown evidence of human-to-human transmission. In this infection the immunity of the ...patient is decreased; making them susceptible to various secondary infections. This leads to increased morbidity and mortality in these patients. Aim: To estimate the profile of secondary infections in hospitalised Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) patients and analyse their antimicrobial susceptibility pattern. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted for a period of five months from June to October 2021, which included COVID-19 positive patients with secondary infection admitted in the dedicated COVID hospital, Maharaja Krishna Chandra Gajapati Medical College and Hospital (MKCG MCH), Berhampur, Odisha, India. Clinical samples like blood, urine, sputum, tissue biopsy and Bronchoalveolar Lavage (BAL) were collected aseptically from patients with COVID-19 and were processed in microbiology laboratory as per standard operating procedures. All the necessary information like demographic features (age, gender), associated co-morbidities and oxygen saturation levels of COVID-19 positive patients at the time of admission were collected and entered in a Microsoft Excel sheet for further analysis. Results of continuous variables were described by mean and range while categorical variables were described by frequency. All the generated data was analysed by Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) 16.0. Results: A total of 438 patients suspected of COVID-19 were admitted during the study period, out of which 138 patients were positive for COVID-19 by Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR). Out of 138 COVID-19 positive patients, 105 patients were willing to give samples and their samples were processed for bacterial and fungal culture and sensitivity. Total 18/105 (17.1%) samples were positive for bacterial and fungal growth. Blood Stream Infection (BSI) were seen in 14/18 (77.8%) and was predominantly associated with Staphylococcus aureus 5/14 (35.7%), followed by Enterococcus spp. 3/14 (21.4%). Out of total culture positive cases, 2/18 (11.1%) showed Urinary Tract Infection (UTI). Of the UTI cases Escherichia coli was isolated from 1/2 (50%) of cases. Out of total culture positive cases, 2/18 (11.1%) were identified having mucormycosis. All gram positive bacteria had shown maximum resistant to ampicillin and gram negative bacteria were resistant to ampicillin-sulbactam, levofloxacin, cotrimoxazole. Conclusion: In COVID-19 positive patients with secondary infection, early diagnosis and prompt treatment will lead to improved patient care and better outcome.
Background: Aggressive pancreatobiliary tumors often require oxaliplatin-based therapies, instead of standard gemcitabine-based therapy and biomarker studies at diagnosis to decide the appropriate ...therapeutic regimen. The ribonucleotide Reductase catalytic subunit M1 (RRM1) and excision repair cross-complementing gene-1 (ERCC1) are related to DNA synthesis and repair and essential in this regard. However, apart from the therapeutic benefit, their prognostic implication is controversial. Methods: In this retrospective study, paraffin-embedded tissue from 51 cases of pancreatic cancer and 29 cases of cholangiocarcinoma were evaluated for RRM1 and ERCC1 expression by immunohistochemical technique along with 18 control pancreatic and biliary tissues. The semiquantitatively H score was calculated based on stain distribution and stain intensities. Results: Both RRM1 and ERCC1 expression were high in tumor epithelium than in controls (RRM1: the difference was statistically significant in cholangiocarcinoma (P = 0.008); ERCC1: the difference was statistically significant both in pancreatic and cholangiocarcinoma (P < 0.05). However, no correlation was noted between RRM1 and ERCC1-low and high tumors with histological markers of prognosis and overall survival in these patients. Conclusions: The present study adds further evidence against the controversy that if RRM1 and ERCC1 expression in pancreatic and biliary carcinomas have any prognostic significance apart from their proven therapeutic benefits in these tumors.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
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