Leflunomide has been reported as an alternative therapy in sarcoidosis. However, the published data are limited. We performed a retrospective chart review of the tolerance and effects of leflunomide ...therapy in patients with sarcoidosis. 76 patients were included. The most common reasons for initiation were progression of disease or failure of other immunomodulator therapy. Side-effects attributable to leflunomide were noted in 34% of subjects, prompting discontinuation in 17%. The lungs were a target of therapy in 33 (44%) and extrapulmonary organs were a target in 45 (59%). The mean ± sd change in forced vital capacity in the 6 months prior to leflunomide was -0.1 ± 0.3 L, and it was +0.09 ± 0.3 L in the following 6 months (p=0.01). For extrapulmonary target organ response, 51% had a good response and 32% a partial response. The median corticosteroid dose at initiation was 10 mg (interquartile range 5-20) mg at baseline, and 0 (0-10) mg at the 6-month follow-up (p<0.001). Leflunomide is a viable alternative agent for pulmonary and extrapulmonary sarcoidosis. Leflunomide appears to facilitate reduction of steroid dose and can be considered as monotherapy or as add-on therapy in cases of progressive disease.
Perovskite appears to be the most promising candidate for thin-film solar cells due to its excellent optoelectronic properties, low-cost fabrication, and high photovoltaic performance. However, ...tin-based perovskite solar cells possess few issues related to thermal instability and poor performance. A study on thermal instability will be important to know the inner mechanism of the device. To find out the cause of thermal instability, a study on the temperature coefficient of different electrical and photovoltaic parameters is necessary. In this work, the effect of temperature on electrical and photovoltaic parameters of lead-free tin-based perovskite solar cells having ITO/ETL/CH
3
NH
3
SnI
3
/HTL architecture has been studied using a SCAPS-1D simulator. The coefficients of the temperature of these parameters have been calculated. Titanium dioxide has been used as the electron transport layer and Spiro-OMeTAD as the hole transport layer. The dark current–voltage analysis shows the positive temperature coefficient of barrier height and negative temperature coefficient of ideality factor. The estimated values of absolute temperature coefficient of barrier height and ideality factor are 170 μeV per K and 0.0017 per K, respectively. The light current–voltage (J-V) analysis shows negative temperature coefficients for all photovoltaic parameters. The absolute temperature coefficient of open-circuit voltage, short-circuit current, fill factor, and power conversion efficiency is 1.6 mV per K, 9 μA/cm
2
per K, 0.031 per K, and 0.074 per K, respectively. This study reveals the temperature sensitiveness of lead-free tin-based perovskite solar cells. The decrease in the value of different device parameters will be very informative for further study to get temperature invariant performances of lead-free perovskite solar cells.
•χ(3), n2, absorption coefficients increased with increase in annealing temperature.•Increase in refractive index is due to the increase in polarizability.•Decrease in Eg is due to the amorphous to ...crystalline transition and change in density of localized states.•Average crystallite size increased and dislocation density decreased.•Increase in oscillator wavelength is due to the shift in the absorption edge.•Increase in extinction coefficient and dielectric constant with annealing.
The reduction of optical bandgap and significant increase in 3rd order non-linear susceptibility with annealing in In15Sb10S15Se60 films with annealing.
The amorphous to crystalline transformation as shown by XRD patterns and increase in crystallite sizes with annealing for the In15Sb10S15Se60 thin films. Display omitted
The current paper reports the thermal annealing induced amorphous to crystalline transformation of the quaternary In15Sb10S15Se60 thin films prepared by the thermal evaporation method on glass substrate. The prepared films were annealed at 100 °C, 150 °C, 200 °C, and 250 °C under vacuum conditions. The structural characterization was done by X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy which revealed the amorphous to crystalline transformation and the formation of different phases for the annealed films. The composition of the films was verified by Energy dispersive X-ray analysis, whereas the surface morphology pictures were taken by field emission scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscope. The changes in both linear and nonlinear optical properties of as-prepared and annealed films were studied from UV-Vis spectroscopy data and related empirical formula. The significant reduction in transmission (55–4%) and shifting of absorption edge due to annealing resulted in the decrease of optical bandgap (from 1.641 eV to 1.301 eV) and increase in linear refractive index. The 3rd order nonlinear susceptibility (9.83 ×10−15 to 2.44 ×10−11 esu) and nonlinear refractive index (4.59 ×10−13 to 6.01 ×10−10 esu) were found to be increased due to more polarization effect. The role of annealing temperatures on the variation of different parameters was elaborately explained on the basis of amorphous to crystalline transition and defect states in the localized region. Based on the observed changes in the linear and nonlinear optical parameters by thermal annealing, the In15Sb10S15Se60 thin films could be a suitable candidate for numerous photonic and optoelectronic applications.
A specific surface antigen, OmpD has been reported first time as a surface biomarker in the development of selective and sensitive immunosensor for detecting Salmonella typhimurium species. The OmpD ...surface antigen extraction was done from Salmonella typhimurium serovars, under the optimized growth conditions for its expression. Anti-OmpD antibodies were generated and used as detector probe in immunoassay format on graphene-graphene oxide (G-GO) modified screen printed carbon electrodes. The water samples were spiked with standard Salmonella typhimurium cells, and detection was done by measuring the change in impedimetric response of developed immunosensor to know the concentration of serovar Salmonella typhimurium. The developed immunosensor was able to specifically detect S. typhimurium in spiked water and juice samples with a sensitivity upto 101CFUmL−1, with high selectivity and very low cross-reactivity with other strains. This is the first report on the detection of Salmonella typhimurum species using a specific biomarker, OmpD. The developed technique could be very useful for the detection of nontyphoidal Salmonellosis and is also important from an epidemiological point of view.
•A specific surface antigen, OmpD is reported first time for detecting Salmonella typhimurium.•The OmpD extraction was done under the optimized growth conditions.•Anti-OmpD antibodies were generated, and were used as detector probe•rG-GO nanocomposites modified SPE were used for the developed immunosensor.•The immunosensor specifically detect S. typhimurium in water and juices samples upto 10CFUmL−1.
Display omitted
•The linear (n) and nonlinear refractive index (n2) increased with annealing.•The 3rd order nonlinear susceptibility (χ(3)) increased.•The optical as well as electrical conductivity ...and extinction coefficient increased.•The optical band gap reduced with annealing with an increase in disorder.•The electrical susceptibility decreased with annealing temperature.
The present study reports the linear and nonlinear optical properties of as-prepared and annealed As40Se50Te10 thin films prepared on glass substrate by thermal evaporation method. The modifications in different properties after annealing were studied by XRD, EDAX, Raman spectroscopy, FESEM and UV–Vis-NIR and XPS spectroscopy. The study reports the decrease in optical band gap due to increase in disorder while the width of the tail in the gap increased with annealing temperature. The linear refractive index, optical as well as electrical conductivity and extinction coefficient increased with annealing. The dispersion energy, oscillator energy, dielectric constant and oscillator strength increased with annealing temperature while the electrical susceptibility decreased upon annealing. The 3rd order optical susceptibility and nonlinear refractive index were found to be increased with annealing temperature. The influence of different annealing temperatures on the variation of different parameters were elaborately explained on the basis of defect states in localized region. The structure remained unchanged while the heteropolar to homopolar bond conversion was noticed from the XPS and Raman spectroscopy. The changes in both nonlinear and linear optical properties by annealing shows that annealing temperature can be used as an important tool for controlling the optical constants of As40Se50Te10 chalcogenide film which could be a suitable candidate for numerous photonic applications.
Understanding water quality is important to assess water security including the health of the society and the nation. Turbidity is one of the critical parameters to assess the quality of water in ...aquatic ecosystems. It can affect various eco-hydrological processes, directly or indirectly. The objectives of the current study were to (a) conceptualize turbidity based on the available literature through system-level thinking to synthesize the eco-hydrological processes, (b) understand the relationship between turbidity, processes and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and (c) apply the conceptual model to turbidity data obtained from the Reedy River Watershed in South Carolina, USA. The application would improve the understanding of the stakeholders in making informed decisions to manage turbidity. The developed conceptual model identified drivers of turbidity in SDGs 2, 7, 11, 13, 14 and 15 and identified impacts of turbidity in SDGs 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 13, 14 and 15. This model was applied to hysteresis and cumulative frequency analysis to identify several key watershed processes that impacted turbidity. The sites that were analyzed in general indicated negative hysteresis. On one occasion, one of the sites marked positive hysteresis. Generally, in urban areas, with a higher percentage of imperviousness, there is an exhaustion of sediment, which could be one explanation for negative hysteresis. Cumulative frequency plots indicated that larger storms caused the majority of sediment and exceeded the limit 10-15% of the time. While the steps of conceptualizing turbidity can be universally applied to all locations, the specific goals and targets identified in this analysis may vary depending on the chosen location. The processes adopted in this framework help in understanding various environmental implications of turbidity. These types of analysis will be of importance for water resources managers to obtain a comprehensive overview of sustainable watershed management, which in turn will contribute to achieving the UN SDGs.
The novelty of the work: understanding turbidity and its relationship to UN SDGs.
Groundwater plays an important role in our environment. In recent decades, groundwater-related issues within the river basin are significantly increasing in most part of the world. It is essential to ...estimate the magnitude of groundwater storage changes as well as runoff generated within the river basin. The principal objectives of the study are to quantify the water budget parameters for Baitarani River Basin of India and to analyze the season-wise trend analysis of groundwater storage by using Innovative Trend Analysis (ITA). Climatic data from eight Indian meteorological stations were used to estimate direct runoff from enhanced SCS-CN (Soil Conservation Service Curve Number) method, Potential Evapo-Transpiration (PET) was estimated by using Hargreaves method in R studio platform. The analysis showed that precipitation and surface runoff followed a non-monotonic negative (− ve) trend in winter season and monotonic positive (+ ve) trend in all other season for all stations. It was also observed that the groundwater storage is increasing in winter and post-monsoon season. In the lower catchment areas, groundwater storage was more due to flat topography and good aquifer type, where groundwater use can be enhanced. But in upper catchment areas, groundwater storage capacity is comparatively less hence rain water conservation structures could be suggested to check the surface runoff and provide options for increasing groundwater recharge. This study will be helpful to focus on regional scale planning to address the water management issues within the basin, which will be ultimately helpful for agriculture, watershed development and environmental planning.
This paper aims to study the effect of a pylon mounted cavity-based flameholder on the combustor flow characteristics. Computational analysis of two different models of flameholder configurations is ...performed. The novel cavity design 110_90 has a fore-wall ramp angle of 110 degrees and an aft-wall ramp angle of 90 degrees and this design which shows a comparatively better combustor performance is adopted and mounted with a pylon. The flow features over the high performance base cavity 110_90 is compared with the flow features obtained by adding a pylon on the upstream of the base cavity. The two cases are compared qualitatively as well as quantitatively based on the temperature distribution, pressure distribution, recirculation zones and drag experienced by the model. These compared parameters helped us to identify whether the mentioned combination is favorable and augments the flameholder performance.
PDF
