Electrocaloric effect of PMN-PT thin films near morphotropic phase boundary

The electrocaloric effect is calculated for PMN-PT relaxor ferroelectric thin film near morphotropic phase boundary composition. Thin film of thickness, ~240 nm, has been deposited using pulsed laser deposition technique on a highly (111) oriented platinized silicon substrate at 700°C and at 100 mtorr oxygen partial pressure. Prior to the deposition of PMN-PT, a template layer of LSCO of thickness, ~60 nm, is deposited on the platinized silicon substrate to hinder the pyrochlore phase formation. The temperature dependent P-E loops were measured at 200 Hz triangular wave operating at the virtual ground mode. Maximum reversible adiabatic temperature change, ΔT = 31 K, was calculated at 140°C for an external applied voltage of 18 V

Growth pattern of preterm and IUGR babies in an urban slum of Kolkata, west Bengal, India

The present study was carried out to analyze the growth pattern of pretermand IUGR infants from birth up to nine months of age. A longitudinal study was conducted in an urban slum of Chetla, Kolkata, India. Study population comprised of 36 low birth weight babies, out of which 13 were preterms and rest 23 were IUGR babies. Different anthropometric parameters like weight, length, head and chest circumference was measured and compared between two groups. During the entire follow up period, all the mean anthropometric parameters of the preterms lagged behind their IUGR counterparts; in contrast the growth potential of the preterms was more as revealed by their increased mean increments in terms of weight, length, head and chest circumference. Regular growth monitoring should be an essential component of care of both preterm and IUGR babies with more focused health care services for IUGR babies, so as to detect growth faltering at the earlies

The Measurement of Social Desirability and Brand Equity in Emerging Societies

This study attempted to develop the consumer-based brand equity (CBBE) measure by including social responsibility as an additional dimension in India. Five hypotheses were proposed based upon the literature review and included the following variables: brand awareness, brand association, perceived quality, brand loyalty, and social responsibility. All hypotheses were supported. This study developed a new brand equity measurement and provides empirical evidence of the multidimensionality of CBBE

Investigation of biferroic properties in La0.6Sr0.4MnO3/0.7 Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3 0.3 PbTiO3 epitaxial bilayered heterostructures

Epitaxial bilayered thin films consisting of La0.6Sr0.4MnO3 (LSMO) and 0.7 Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3 0.3 PbTiO3 (PMN-PT) layers of relatively different thicknesses were fabricated on LaNiO3 coated LaAlO3 (100) single crystal substrates by pulsed laser ablation technique. Ferroelectric and ferromagnetic characteristics of these heterostructures confirmed their biferroic nature. The magnetization and ferroelectric polarization of the bilayered heterostructures were enhanced with increasing PMN-PT layer thickness owing to the effect of lattice strain. Dielectric properties of these heterostructures studied over a wide range of temperature under different magnetic field strength suggested a possible role of elastic strain mediated magnetoelectric coupling behind the observed magneto-dielectric effect in addition to the influence of rearrangement of the interfacial charge carriers under an applied magnetic field

Upregulation of the microRNA cluster at the Dlk1-Dio3 locus in lung adenocarcinoma.

Mice in which lung epithelial cells can be induced to express an oncogenic Kras(G12D) develop lung adenocarcinomas in a manner analogous to humans. A myriad of genetic changes accompany lung adenocarcinomas, many of which are poorly understood. To get a comprehensive understanding of both the transcriptional and post-transcriptional changes that accompany lung adenocarcinomas, we took an omics approach in profiling both the coding genes and the non-coding small RNAs in an induced mouse model of lung adenocarcinoma. RNAseq transcriptome analysis of Kras(G12D) tumors from F1 hybrid mice revealed features specific to tumor samples. This includes the repression of a network of GTPase-related genes (Prkg1, Gnao1 and Rgs9) in tumor samples and an enrichment of Apobec1-mediated cytosine to uridine RNA editing. Furthermore, analysis of known single-nucleotide polymorphisms revealed not only a change in expression of Cd22 but also that its expression became allele specific in tumors. The most salient finding, however, came from small RNA sequencing of the tumor samples, which revealed that a cluster of ∼53 microRNAs and mRNAs at the Dlk1-Dio3 locus on mouse chromosome 12qF1 was markedly and consistently increased in tumors. Activation of this locus occurred specifically in sorted tumor-originating cancer cells. Interestingly, the 12qF1 RNAs were repressed in cultured Kras(G12D) tumor cells but reactivated when transplanted in vivo. These microRNAs have been implicated in stem cell pleuripotency and proteins targeted by these microRNAs are involved in key pathways in cancer as well as embryogenesis. Taken together, our results strongly imply that these microRNAs represent key targets in unraveling the mechanism of lung oncogenesis