Pre-treatment effect of myo-inositol and l-5, methyltetrahydrofolate in ovulation induction oocyte quality and pregnancy outcome in clomiphene resistance polycystic ovarian disease

Background: This study was designed to assess the treatment effect of myo-inositol and l-5, methyltetrahydrofolate in oocyte quality, pregnancy outcome in clomiphene citrate resistance PCOS cases.Methods: Authors conducted prospective open label, randomized, parallel group study in SIMS Hapur, U.P. Eligible patients full filling inclusion criteria were randomized into two groups having 25 patients in each group using myo-inositol 580mg and l-5, methyltetrahydrofolate 800mcg in treatment group and tab folic acid 400mcg in placebo group for 12 weeks. The follow-up visits are on weeks 4, 8 and 12.Results: 12 weeks later, 21 patients in treatment group restored one spontaneous menstrual cycle and 19 patients maintained the normal ovulatory activity in follow up cycle. Ovulation induction done in 18 patients with clomiphene citrate at the dose of 50mg during treatment out of which 10 conceive, as compared with only 9 women out of the 25 women (36 percent) in the placebo group ovulate (P>0.001) out of which 4 conceived. There was significant decrease in Sr. testosterone, DHEA and AMH level and estradiol level, while statically significant increase in Sr. SHBG and FSH level seen in treatment group(p<0.001).Conclusions: In the study, more number of studied patients get back to normal menstrual cyclicity, insulin-lowering activity and its intracellular role in oocyte maturation. Significant Dec seen in serum estradiol level at the day of HCG administration

Effectiveness analysis of antipsychotics in schizophrenia using psychometric scales: an observational study

Background: Schizophrenia is a commonest and one of the well known psychiatric disorders. Life expectancy of a patient with schizophrenia may be 20 to 30 years shorter than the general population. Long term antipsychotic therapy is usually required for the management of schizophrenia. It is not currently possible to predict which antipsychotic may be optimal for a given patient because there are still many debates about effectiveness and efficacy of atypical drugs over first generation antipsychotics. So, our aim is to assess the effectiveness of various antipsychotics by using various psychometric scales, which will be helpful to bring out better treatment options for schizophrenia patients.Methods: This was an observational questionnaire based study, conducted on patients of inpatient and outpatient Department of Psychiatry and Department of Pharmacology at VIMSAR, Burla, for a period of 24 months (September 2015 to August 2017). Patients of schizophrenia aged 18 years or above were subjected to clinical global impression – severity scale (CGI-S) and clinical global impression – improvement scale (CGI-I) questionnaire after taking informed consent. Then scores were calculated using non parametric test with Graph pad Prism version 6.0.Results: Out of the 90 cases, majority (60) of patients belonged to the middle (25 to 45 yrs) age group followed by 20 younger (45 yrs) patients. Both scales showed significant improvement with atypical antipsychotics as compared to first generation antipsychotics.Conclusions: Based on these findings, we can conclude that atypical antipsychotics are more effective than first generation antipsychotics. But further studies are needed to assist clinicians in making optimum treatment decisions

Silver ion conducting nanocomposite polymer electrolytes: Ion transport and battery fabrication

Ion transport characterization studies on a new Ag+ ion conducting (poly-ethylene oxide) PEO-based nanocomposite electrolytes (NCPEs): (1-x) [30PEO:70(0.75AgI:0.25AgCl)] + x SiO2, where 0&lt;x&lt;20 wt.%, have ben reported. A novel hot-press/ solvent free technique has been used for the formation of the present NCPE films. Nano-size (~ 8 nm) SiO2 particles have been dispersed as a second dispersoid in to the first phase host matrix: [30PEO:70(0.75AgI:0.25AgCl)], identified as the highest conducting polymer electrolyte composition. A conductivity enhancement of more two orders that of the pure polymer-electrolyte host could be achieved in the nano-composite polymer electrolyte composition: 95[30PEO:70(0.75AgI:0.25AgCl)] + 5SiO2 (σ ~ 6.2 × 10-5 S.cm-1) and this has been referred to as optimum conducting composition (OCC). Polymer-salt/ nano-filler complexations have been explained with the help of XRD, DSC and TGA analysis. To explain the ion transport characterization various ionic transport parameters viz. conductivity (σ), ionic mobility (μ), mobile ion concentration (n), ionic transference number (tion) etc. have been determined at room temperature and the temperature dependent conductivity measurements have also been carried out to evaluate the activation energy (Ea). A new Ag+ ion conducting solid state polymer battery have been fabricated and studied the cell parameters at room temperature

Lightweight and solution processible thin sheets of poly(o-toluidine)-carbon fiber-novolac composite for EMI shielding

An attempt has been made to generate lightweight and processible thin sheets of poly (o-toluidine)-carbon fiber (PoTCF) composite for electromagnetic interference shielding. PoTCF composite synthesized by oxidative emulsion polymerization was physically blended with different weight ratios of novolac resin to prepare a new class of composite material, which was further processed to form thin sheets (thickness of similar to 0.85 mm) by a compression moulding technique. In situ incorporation of carbon fiber into the polymer matrix leads to the formation of composites with improved mechanical, thermal, electrical and shielding properties, which were further optimized by varying the amount of novolac resin in the sheets. Structural and morphological studies were carried out by UV-vis, FTIR, XRD and SEM. PoTCF composite sheets with 50 wt% loading of novolac resin have flexural strength of 36.0 MPa and exhibit a shielding effectiveness of 24 dB in the X-band (8.2-12.4 GHz) at a critical thickness of similar to 2.11 mm, which is more than the limit required for techno-commercial applications. Therefore, indigenously fabricated polymer-based sheets would be potentially useful for making durable enclosures for electronic equipment

Salinity Ingress in Phreatic Aquifer of Coastal Maharashtra State, India

Maharashtra is a coastal state on the west coast of India where six out of thirty five districts, namely Palghar, Thane, Raigad, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg and Greater Mumbai are maritime. Being coastal area, the immediate effect of high groundwater development is sea water intrusion. Hence, an analysis was carried out to decipher the extent of salinity intrusion of the shallow coastal aquifer in the coastal Maharashtra. The study was conducted with the objective to assess the extent of contamination of groundwater in the phreatic aquifers in the tidal backwater limits and adjacent to coast and estuaries. Geochemical characteristics, extent of salinity intrusion, drinking and irrigation suitability of the groundwater of the area were also assessed. Total 162 ground water samples from coastal part of Maharashtra were subjected to chemical analysis for 15 basic parameters during the month of May 2017. In order to differentiate and confirm the sea water intrusion, various ionic ratios like Ca:Mg, Na:Cl, Cl:CO3 + HCO3, were computed. Wilcox Diagram, EC Vs Cl plots, Pipers Trilinear diagram etc were also plotted for the interpretation of the results. Groundwater in the study area is mildly alkaline with pH range of 6.9 to 9.0 and electrical conductivity range from 61 to 29370 μS/cm. In general, water quality is good and suitable for domestic and irrigation uses. Though salinity can be imparted to groundwater in many ways, in the current study area it is mainly due to sea water ingress and waste water including industrial effluents. From the analysis it is found that about 2 to 10 km area from the coast and the inland tidal backwaters are affected from salinity intrusion. Over-exploitation of groundwater, low seaward freshwater flow in rivers etc are the major reasons for sea water ingression. Regulation of groundwater development in the coastal area and adjacent to estuaries, maintaining adequate stream flow and stopping of river bed sand mining, construction of tidal regulators at suitable places and creating fresh water barrier through rainwater harvesting and groundwater recharge are essential to control further sea water intrusion in the area

Innate adaptive immune cell dynamics in tonsillar tissues during chronic SIV infection

HIV-infected patients are at higher risk of developing oral mucosal infection and Epstein–Barr virus (EBV)-associated B cell malignancies. However, the potential role of oral immunity in the pathogenesis of oral lesions is unknown. Tonsils are oral-pharyngeal mucosal-associated lymphoid tissues that play an important role in oral mucosal immunity. In this study, we investigated the changes of innate and adaptive immune cells in macaque tonsils during chronic SIV infection. We found significantly higher frequencies of classical monocytes, CD3+CD56+ (NKT-like) cells, CD3+CD4+CD8+ (DP), and CD161+ CD4 T cells in tonsils from chronic infected compared to naïve animals. On the contrary, intermediate monocytes and CD3+CD4-CD8- (DN) cells were lower in chronic SIV-infected macaques. We further confirmed a recently described small B-cell subset, NKB cells, were higher during chronic infection. Furthermore, both adaptive and innate cells showed significantly higher TNF-α and cytotoxic marker CD107a, while IL-22 production was significantly reduced in innate and adaptive immune cells in chronic SIV-infected animals. A dramatic reduction of IFN-γ production by innate immune cells might indicate enhanced susceptibility to EBV infection and potential transformation of B cells in the tonsils. In summary, our observation shows that the SIV-associated immune responses are distinct in the tonsils compared to other mucosal tissues. Our data extends our understanding of the oral innate immune system during SIV infection and could aid future studies in evaluating the role of tonsillar immune cells during HIV-associated oral mucosal infections

Nations within a nation: variations in epidemiological transition across the states of India, 1990–2016 in the Global Burden of Disease Study

18% of the world's population lives in India, and many states of India have populations similar to those of large countries. Action to effectively improve population health in India requires availability of reliable and comprehensive state-level estimates of disease burden and risk factors over time. Such comprehensive estimates have not been available so far for all major diseases and risk factors. Thus, we aimed to estimate the disease burden and risk factors in every state of India as part of the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study 2016

Analog/RF performance and effect of interface trap charges in dielectric engineered gate all around junctionless MOSFET with ZrTiO₄ as gate dielectric

869-874The present study provides the comprehensive appraisal of analog/RF performance of dielectric engineered gate all around junctionless MOSFET by the assimilation of gate material engineered along with ZrTiO4 as high-k gate dielectric. The radical reductions in impact of positive and negative interface traps have been reported, which augment the device reliability. The cylindrical geometry of the MOSFET accounts for the self heating effect in the device, which accelerates the practice of hot carrier effect and diffusion of H, conscientious for negative bias temperature instability (NBTI) effect in P-MOSFET and PBTI effect in the N-MOSFET. The proposed design has been studied by taking SiO2, and orthorhombic ZrTiO4 symmetric gate stack to improve the reliability of the device. The electrical characteristics like Id-Vg, electric field, centre potential, transconductance and frequency have been measured using the ATLAS 3D simulator. Orthorhombic ZrTiO4 with dielectric constant 45.9 shows the enhanced performance of the device. The interface trap charge concentration of 1×1011 cm-2 (positive and negative both) for ZrTiO4 have been compared with the device devoid of gate stack which provides the knowledge about the RF and analog performance of the MOSFET