A retrospective interventional study for evaluation of efficacy and safety of sildenafil citrate in improving intrauterine growth restriction and oligohydramnios using ultrasound Doppler velocimetry

Background: Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) is one of the major reasons for neonatal morbidity and mortality. Oligohydramnios is a common finding in IUGR. In majority of these cases diminished utero-placental blood flow is observed. However, in spite of this understanding and identification of high-risk patients, the management options are limited. Sildenafil citrate, a phosphodiesterase type-5 inhibitor improves utero-placental perfusion.Methods: We present a retrospective interventional study involving 50 adult pregnant women diagnosed with early-onset IUGR (n=38) and oligohydramnios (n=12). Vaginal sildenafil citrate 25 mg t.i.d. was started from the day of diagnosis till delivery. Primary efficacy endpoints included changes in Doppler parameters i.e., amniotic fluid index (AFI), uterine artery (UA)- pulsatility index (PI), resistance index (RI) and systolic diastolic ratio (S/D ratio). Secondary endpoints included live birth, birth weight, Apgar score at birth, neonatal survival to hospital discharge and adverse maternal side effects.Results: There was a statistically significant improvement in UA-PI, RI and S/D ratios (p<0.0001) in all cases. In oligohydramnios cases, treatment showed a statistical significant increase in AFI score (2.86±1.33 cm). The mean birth weight on delivery was 2200 gm with good Apgar scores. No major adverse effects were reported by women using sildenafil citrate vaginally.Conclusions: Sildenafil citrate, by increasing utero-placental perfusion, improves uterine artery Doppler patterns, AFI, fetal weight and overall better neonatal survival rates by reducing neonatal morbidity and mortality. Sildenafil citrate may hold a promising treatment strategy for management of IUGR and oligohydramnios

Experimental Study On Plastic Waste As A Course Aggregate For Structural Concrete

The use of plastic is increasing day by day, although steps were taken to reduce its consumption. This creates substantial garbage every day which is much unhealthy. The suitability of recycled plastics as coarse aggregate in concrete and its advantages are discussed here. In this project, Plastic Coarse Aggregates (PCA) and steel fibers were used as replacement of Natural Coarse aggregate by different percentage of plastic aggregate for making concrete of M-25 grade, with w/c ratio 0.48. The study involves replacement of natural coarse aggregates by 0, 15 and 30 percentage of PCA. The steel fibers are used 1 to 3 percent by weight of cement. OPC-53 grade cement was used for making concrete. The waste plastic of HDPE (High density poly Ethylene) is collected from Agriculture waste, E-waste. The study also involves casting cube, beam and cylinder by using M-25 concrete with varying percentage of PCA and then testing compressive strength, flexural strength and Split tensile strength respectively. Also, from this study Optimum percentage replacement of natural aggregate by PCA was found out and that can be used in structural concrete

Science with an ngVLA: Resolving the Radio Complexity of EXor and FUor-type Systems with the ngVLA

Episodic accretion may be a common occurrence in the evolution of young pre-main sequence stars and has important implications for our understanding of star and planet formation. Many fundamental aspects of what drives the accretion physics, however, are still unknown. The ngVLA will be a key tool in understanding the nature of these events. The high spatial resolution, broad spectral coverage, and unprecedented sensitivity will allow for the detailed analysis of outburst systems. The proposed frequency range of the ngVLA allows for observations of the gas, dust, and non-thermal emission from the star and disk.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure, To be published in the ASP Monograph Series, "Science with a Next-Generation VLA", ed. E. J. Murphy (ASP, San Francisco, CA

W Doping in Ni12P5as a Platform to Enhance Overall Electrochemical Water Splitting

Bifunctional electrocatalysts for efficient hydrogen generation from water splitting must overcome both the sluggish water dissociation step of the alkaline hydrogen evolution half-reaction (HER) and the kinetic barrier of the anodic oxygen evolution half-reaction (OER). Nickel phosphides are a promising catalysts family and are known to develop a thin active layer of oxidized Ni in an alkaline medium. Here, Ni12P5 was recognized as a suitable platform for the electrochemical production of γ-NiOOH-a particularly active phase-because of its matching crystallographic structure. The incorporation of tungsten by doping produces additional surface roughness, increases the electrochemical surface area (ESCA), and reduces the energy barrier for electron-coupled water dissociation (the Volmer step for the formation of Hads). When serving as both the anode and cathode, the 15% W-Ni12P5 catalyst provides an overall water splitting current density of 10 mA cm-2 at a cell voltage of only 1.73 V with good durability, making it a promising bifunctional catalyst for practical water electrolysis. © 2021 American Chemical Society.S.G. and S.K. thank the financial support of the Kreitman Post- Doctoral fellowship at the BGU. This center of excellence was supported by The Israel Science Foundation (grant no. 1212/21)

Implementation Of Anonymous Vehicle Reporting And Communication System For Wrongly Parked Vehicle

Improper parking can cause several issues and problems, including Reduced Accessibility, Inconvenience for Other Drivers, Public Transportation Disruption, Environmental and Aesthetic Concerns, Public Perception, and Traffic Congestion. Addressing these issues typically calls for a combination of traffic management, public awareness campaigns, law enforcement, smart urban design, and community involvement to preserve the successful and safe usage of public spaces

Brg1 Is Required for Cdx2-Mediated Repression of Oct4 Expression in Mouse Blastocysts

During blastocyst formation the segregation of the inner cell mass (ICM) and trophectoderm is governed by the mutually antagonistic effects of the transcription factors Oct4 and Cdx2. Evidence indicates that suppression of Oct4 expression in the trophectoderm is mediated by Cdx2. Nonetheless, the underlying epigenetic modifiers required for Cdx2-dependent repression of Oct4 are largely unknown. Here we show that the chromatin remodeling protein Brg1 is required for Cdx2-mediated repression of Oct4 expression in mouse blastocysts. By employing a combination of RNA interference (RNAi) and gene expression analysis we found that both Brg1 Knockdown (KD) and Cdx2 KD blastocysts exhibit widespread expression of Oct4 in the trophectoderm. Interestingly, in Brg1 KD blastocysts and Cdx2 KD blastocysts, the expression of Cdx2 and Brg1 is unchanged, respectively. To address whether Brg1 cooperates with Cdx2 to repress Oct4 transcription in the developing trophectoderm, we utilized preimplantation embryos, trophoblast stem (TS) cells and Cdx2-inducible embryonic stem (ES) cells as model systems. We found that: (1) combined knockdown (KD) of Brg1 and Cdx2 levels in blastocysts resulted in increased levels of Oct4 transcripts compared to KD of Brg1 or Cdx2 alone, (2) endogenous Brg1 co-immunoprecipitated with Cdx2 in TS cell extracts, (3) in blastocysts Brg1 and Cdx2 co-localize in trophectoderm nuclei and (4) in Cdx2-induced ES cells Brg1 and Cdx2 are recruited to the Oct4 promoter. Lastly, to determine how Brg1 may induce epigenetic silencing of the Oct4 gene, we evaluated CpG methylation at the Oct4 promoter in the trophectoderm of Brg1 KD blastocysts. This analysis revealed that Brg1-dependent repression of Oct4 expression is independent of DNA methylation at the blastocyst stage. In toto, these results demonstrate that Brg1 cooperates with Cdx2 to repress Oct4 expression in the developing trophectoderm to ensure normal development

Advances in chemical and biological methods to identify microorganisms—from past to present

Fast detection and identification of microorganisms is a challenging and significant feature from industry to medicine. Standard approaches are known to be very time-consuming and labor-intensive (e.g., culture media and biochemical tests). Conversely, screening techniques demand a quick and low-cost grouping of bacterial/fungal isolates and current analysis call for broad reports of microorganisms, involving the application of molecular techniques (e.g., 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing based on polymerase chain reaction). The goal of this review is to present the past and the present methods of detection and identification of microorganisms, and to discuss their advantages and their limitations.C.F.R. would like to thank the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT–Portugal) for the C.F.R. for the project UID/EQU/00511/2019—Laboratory for Process Engineering, Environment, Biotechnology, and Energy—LEPABE funded by national funds through FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC) and N.M. for the Strategic project ref. UID/BIM/04293/2013 and “NORTE2020 - Programa Operacional Regional do Norte” (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000012)