Background & Aims Various vasoconstrictors are useful in the management of hepatorenal syndrome (HRS). Terlipressin is the drug of choice; however, it is expensive. In this study, we evaluated safety ...and efficacy of terlipressin and noradrenaline in the treatment of HRS. Methods Forty-six patients with HRS type 1 were managed with terlipressin (group A, N = 23) or noradrenaline (Group B, N = 23) with albumin in a randomized controlled trial at a tertiary center. Results HRS reversal could be achieved in 9 (39.1%) patients in group A and 10 (43.4%) patients in group B ( p = 0.764). Univariate analysis showed baseline Child Turcotte Pugh score (CTP), model of end stage liver disease (MELD), urine output on day 1(D1), albumin, and mean arterial pressure (MAP) were associated with response. However, on multivariate analysis only CTP score was associated with response. Fourteen patients in group A and 12 in group B died at day 15 ( p >0.05). Noradrenaline was less expensive than terlipressin ( p <0.05). No major adverse effects were seen. Conclusions The results of this randomized study suggest that noradrenaline is as safe and effective as terlipressin, but less expensive in the treatment of HRS and baseline CTP score is predictive of response.
Aerosol emissions from biomass burning are of specific interest over the globe due to their strong radiative impacts and climate implications. The present study examines the impact of paddy crop ...residue burning over northern India during the postmonsoon (October–November) season of 2012 on modification of aerosol properties, as well as the long‐range transport of smoke plumes, altitude characteristics, and affected areas via the synergy of ground‐based measurements and satellite observations. During this period, Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) images show a thick smoke/hazy aerosol layer below 2–2.5 km in the atmosphere covering nearly the whole Indo‐Gangetic Plains (IGP). The air mass trajectories originating from the biomass‐burning source region over Punjab at 500 m reveal a potential aerosol transport pathway along the Ganges valley from west to east, resulting in a strong aerosol optical depth (AOD) gradient. Sometimes, depending upon the wind direction and meteorological conditions, the plumes also influence central India, the Arabian Sea, and the Bay of Bengal, thus contributing to Asian pollution outflow. The increased number of fire counts (Terra and Aqua MODIS data) is associated with severe aerosol‐laden atmospheres (AOD500 nm > 1.0) over six IGP locations, high values of Ångström exponent (>1.2), high particulate mass 2.5 (PM2.5) concentrations (>100–150 µgm−3), and enhanced Ozone Monitoring Instrument Aerosol Index gradient (~2.5) and NO2 concentrations (~6 × 1015 mol/cm2), indicating the dominance of smoke aerosols from agricultural crop residue burning. The aerosol size distribution is shifted toward the fine‐mode fraction, also exhibiting an increase in the radius of fine aerosols due to coagulation processes in a highly turbid environment. The spectral variation of the single‐scattering albedo reveals enhanced dominance of moderately absorbing aerosols, while the aerosol properties, modification, and mixing atmospheric processes differentiate along the IGP sites depending on the distance from the aerosol source, urban influence, and local characteristics.
Key Points
Satellite and ground‐based monitoring of agriculture fires in northern India
Transport pathways, smoke plume characteristics, and affected areas
Variation of aerosol loading as a function of distance from the source
Supplementary immunization activities (SIAs) aim to interrupt measles transmission by reaching susceptible children, including children who have not received the recommended two routine doses of MCV ...before the SIA. However, both strategies may miss the same children if vaccine doses are highly correlated. How well SIAs reach children missed by routine immunization is a key metric in assessing the added value of SIAs.
Children aged 9 months to younger than 5 years were enrolled in cross-sectional household serosurveys conducted in five districts in India following the 2017–2019 measles-rubella (MR) SIA. History of measles containing vaccine (MCV) through routine services or SIA was obtained from documents and verbal recall. Receipt of a first or second MCV dose during the SIA was categorized as “added value” of the SIA in reaching un- and under-vaccinated children.
A total of 1,675 children were enrolled in these post-SIA surveys. The percentage of children receiving a 1st or 2nd dose through the SIA ranged from 12.8% in Thiruvananthapuram District to 48.6% in Dibrugarh District. Although the number of zero-dose children prior to the SIA was small in most sites, the proportion reached by the SIA ranged from 45.8% in Thiruvananthapuram District to 94.9% in Dibrugarh District. Fewer than 7% of children remained measles zero-dose after the MR SIA (range: 1.1–6.4%) compared to up to 28% before the SIA (range: 7.3–28.1%).
We demonstrated the MR SIA provided considerable added value in terms of measles vaccination coverage, although there was variability across districts due to differences in routine and SIA coverage, and which children were reached by the SIA. Metrics evaluating the added value of an SIA can help to inform the design of vaccination strategies to better reach zero-dose or undervaccinated children.
Abstract
Early and precise pregnancy diagnosis can reduce the calving interval by minimizing postpartum period. The present study explored the differential urinary metabolites between pregnant and ...non-pregnant Murrah buffaloes (
Bubalus bubalis
) during early gestation to identify potential pregnancy detection biomarkers. Urine samples were collected on day 0, 10, 18, 35 and 42 of gestation from the pregnant (
n
= 6) and on day 0, 10 and 18 post-insemination from the non-pregnant (
n
= 6) animals.
1
H-NMR-based untargeted metabolomics followed by multivariate analysis initially identified twenty-four differentially expressed metabolites, among them 3-Hydroxykynurenine, Anthranilate, Tyrosine and 5-Hydroxytryptophan depicted consistent trends and matched the selection criteria of potential biomarkers. Predictive ability of these individual biomarkers through ROC curve analyses yielded AUC values of 0.6–0.8. Subsequently, a logistic regression model was constructed using the most suitable metabolite combination to improve diagnostic accuracy. The combination of Anthranilate, 3-Hydroxykynurenine, and Tyrosine yielded the best AUC value of 0.804. Aromatic amino acid biosynthesis, Tryptophan metabolism, Phenylalanine and Tyrosine metabolism were identified as potential pathway modulations during early gestation. The identified biomarkers were either precursors or products of these metabolic pathways, thus justifying their relevance. The study facilitates precise non-invassive urinary metabolite-based pen-side early pregnancy diagnostics in buffaloes, eminently before 21 days post-insemination.
Nanotechnology has shown great promise in health care offering numerous possibilities to significantly improve diagnosis of many dreadful diseases including Tuberculosis (TB). Nanomedicine has made ...the current drug regimen more effective against diseases particularly TB with attributes like sustained release, increased half life, higher drug concentrations at target sites, reduced toxicity and lesser side effects. However because of the severity of the disease, there is a strong urge to develop better approaches with some concomitant regimens using nano-particles to diagnose, treat and manage TB patients. The current review highlights some of the evolving strategies in the field of nanomedicine particularly drug delivery offering promising alternative for the current TB regimens. The study also emphasizes upon the need to design more effective nanocarriers which are highly specific, biocompatible and biodegradable as well.
Experimental investigations on a sodium ion conducting polymer blend electrolyte system based on polyethylene oxide (PEO) and polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP), complexed with NaBr salt are presented in ...this paper. The complexed polymer blend electrolytes were obtained in the form of dimensionally stable and free-standing films by solution cast technique. Physical characterization by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) were performed to study the structural properties, their change along with ion-polymer interactions and thermal stability of the samples. The transport numbers of different mobile species were determined by means of d.c. polarization and combined a.c./d.c. techniques. Cationic transportation was found to be dominant in the films of high degree of amorphicity. Electrical properties were measured as a function of composition and temperature using complex impedance spectroscopy. The temperature dependent electrical conductivity showed Arrhenius type behavior. Activation energies were found to decrease with increasing concentration of the salt. Electrochemical cells were prepared using PEO/PVP/NaBr polymer blend electrolyte system and their discharge characteristics were studied. These studies suggested the practical realization of electrochemical cells using the present sodium ion conducting polymer blend electrolyte system.
•History of compost research regarding microbiology and disease suppressiveness.•Microbial community and key microbes in composting processes.•Methodologies (past and present) used to analyse ...microbial communities in compost.•Application of effective soil microbes for the enrichment of composts.•Potentially important role of non-culturable microbes in disease suppression.
Soil-borne plant pathogens are responsible for causing many crop plant diseases, resulting in significant economic losses. Compost application to agricultural fields is an excellent natural approach, which can be taken to fight against plant pathogens. The application of organic waste products is also an environmentally friendly alternative to chemical use, which unfortunately is the most common approach in agriculture today. This review analyses pioneering and recent compost research, and also the mechanisms and mode of action of compost microbial communities for reducing the activity of plant pathogens in agricultural crops. In addition, an approach for improving the quality of composts through the microbial communities already present in the compost is presented. Future agricultural practices will almost definitely require integrated research strategies to help combat plant diseases.
In the present work microwave cladding was explored as a new processing method for enhancement of surface properties of austenitic stainless steel (SS-316). Cladding of nickel based powder (EWAC) was ...developed using microwave radiation as the heating source. This paper explains the possible mechanism of clad formation using microwave hybrid heating with the help of a schematic model. The developed clads were characterized using field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscope (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and measurement of Vicker's microhardness. Typical X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern of the clad showed the presence of chromium carbide, nickel silicide and nickel iron phases that eventually contribute to enhancement in microhardness of the clads. Clads of approximately 1
mm thickness were developed without any visible interfacial cracking and had significantly less porosity (1.09%). Microstructure of clad transverse section revealed good metallurgical bond with SS-316 substrate by partial mutual diffusion of constituent elements. The microstructure of the clad was found dominantly cellular in nature. Chromium was observed segregated around the cell boundaries while iron and nickel were identified inside the cells. Chromium carbides (Cr
23C
6, Cr
3C
2) were formed during the processing and appeared at the cell boundaries. Vicker's microhardness study revealed that the hardness profile varies within the clad zone and the average microhardness of the developed clad was observed to be 304
±
48
H
v.
► A novel cladding technique for surface modification has been illustrated. ► Confirms capabilities of processing metallic materials using 2.45
GHz microwave. ► Developed nickel based clad through microwave heating with partial dilution. ► Cladding was carried out using home microwave system and has cell like structure. ► Microwave clad with significantly less porosity and absence of interfacial cracks.
The excessively available solar energy storage is a very useful way to bridge the energy demand and its supply gap. This thermal energy storage (TES) can be done in the form of sensible or latent ...heat energy. The energy storage in the form of latent heat energy is better than the sensible energy storage in terms of operating temperature and storage density. Organic PCMs (O-PCMs) have great potential, especially from low to medium temperature-TES applications due to their several admirable thermal and physical characteristics. An appropriate melting point/enthalpy of O-PCMs is mainly required parameters for TES applications. In this regard, development of eutectic O-PCMs (EO-PCMs) by mixing two or more PCMs customizes the melting temperature and enthalpy so that they can be made suitable for targeted TES applications. However, their low thermal conductivity and leakage issue during the phase transition significantly restrict the practices of EO-PCM. A lot of studies were carried out to solve these changes by preparing them in form stable or shape-stabilized composite form. This review paper provides an insight on the development and thermo-physical properties of eutectic (binary and ternary) EO-PCMs as well as their composites as nano-enhanced and form stable phase change materials (FSPCMs). This paper also highlights recent studies published about the enhancement of thermal conductivity of EO-PCMs and their FSPCMs developed for LHTES practices. The use of EO-PCMs and their form stable composites in various applications, and challenges faced are also discussed. Finally, it outlooks the future directions for development of eutectic organic PCMs and their applications.
Phase change materials (PCMs) utilized for thermal energy storage applications are verified to be a promising technology due to their larger benefits over other heat storage techniques. Apart from ...the advantageous thermophysical properties of PCM, the effective utilization of PCM depends on its life span. Moreover, PCMs which are utilized for different solar thermal energy storage applications are required longer thermal and chemical stability for the extended performance of a system. This review shows the in-depth details on thermal stability and reliability of different PCMs such as organic, inorganic, eutectics, and composites materials for heat storage applications. Different methods for measuring the thermophysical properties along with the classification of PCMs based on applications and temperature ranges have been discussed. This paper also covers the selection criteria and commercial viability of PCMs for different domestic and industrial applications. In addition to this, the effect of thermal cycle testing on the properties of different organic, inorganic, eutectic, and composite PCMs has been summarized. The present article can be highly useful for researchers and practice engineers in the areas related to thermal energy storage applications.
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