Comparison of safety and efficacy of tamsulosin, tadalafil, combinations and deflazacort in lower ureteric orifice negotiation by large size uretero- scope (8/9.8 Fr) prior to intracorporeal lithotripsy

Objective: To compare the safety and efficacy of tamsulosin, tadalafil, deflazacort and combination of tamsulosin with tadalafil in lower ureteric orifice negotiation by large size ureteroscope (8/9.8 Fr) prior to intracorporeal lithotripsy.Patients and methods: In this prospective study, 180 patients presented with ureteric stone of size 8–15 mm were randomly assigned to 5 groups: tamsulosin (group A), tadalafil (group B), deflazacort (group C), combination of tamsulosin with tadalafil (group D) and placebo (group E). After 10 days of drug therapy 168 patients were underwent ureteroscopy and findings like endoscopic configuration of ureteric orifice, need for ureteric dilatation, ureteroscope negotiation, operating time, drug related side effect and procedural complication were noted in each group.Results: All four groups (A, B, C, D) were significantly better than group E in terms of ureteric orifice appearance (wide) during endoscopy. Negotiation of ureteric orifice was easy in group A (70.59%), B (58.82%) and D (78.13%) as compare to group E (31.43%) which was statistically significant. Group A (32.35%) and D (34.38%) were statistically better with group E (62.86%) in terms of ureteral dilatation. Operative time was less in all four groups as compared to group E. All patients well tolerated the drugs with no serious side effects.Conclusion: Both tamsulosin and tamsulosin with tadalafil helps in forward propagation of large sizeureteroscope as compared to other groups with less operative time without any significant complications.So, we can conclude that tamsulosin alone can be helpful for lower ureteric orifice negotiation duringintracorporeal lithotripsy with minimal side effects.Keywords: Hematuria; Negotiation; Ureteroscop

Secure Communication over Trellis Using Fundamental Cut-set and Fundamental Circuits

AbstractTrellis representation of codes helps in analyzing and understanding the nature of the codes. Trellis has the connected graph nature where all paths from the ‘root’ vertex to ‘goal’ vertex forms the codewords. Efficient encoding and decoding algorithms are existing for communication over trellis. In the conventional communication system, Trellis is constructed for the encoded message at the sender and the algorithm such as Viterbi is used to decode the encoded message at the receiver. Any receiver with such decoding mechanism can be able to decode the message, which gives the chance for the intruder to get the message making the communication insecure. In this paper we propose a reliable and secure communication system which provides reliability by the Error Correction Techniques and Security by the graph based Cryptosystem. Using such system intruder's access to the informa- tion can be avoided and also if any errors occurred during transmission over noisy channel can be corrected. We have used Kernel codes and it's Trellis representation to demonstrate the construction of reliable and secure cryptosystem

Fluorescence resonance energy transfer from proflavin hemisulphate to rose bengal in aqueous micellar solution

896-900The fluorescence resonance energy transfer from proflavine hemisulphate to rose bengal in aqueous sodium dodecyl sulfate has been investigated at room temperature using steady-state fluorescence spectroscopy technique. The fluorescence of proflavine hemisulphate is quenched by rose bengal and the quenching is in accordance with Stern-Volmer relationship. The efficiency of energy transfer is found to depend upon concentration of rose bengal. The value of critical energy transfer distance calculated by using Foster relationship (27.2 Å) is less than 50 Å, indicating efficient energy transfer occurs in this donor-acceptor pair

Structural and photophysical aspects of perylene- doped anthracene crystalline powders prepared by microwave heating

1642-1648The microwave assisted polycrystalline luminophors of anthracene have been prepared by addition of varying amounts of perylene dopant. The crystallanity and homogeneity of mixed crystals have been examined by scanning electron microscopy. The structural parameters such as grain size, microstrain, dislocation density and stacking fault in mixed crystal growth have been estimated as a function of perylene concentration. The mixed crystalline powders are fine grained. Increase in stacking fault indicates closely packed stacked structure of perylene-doped anthracene. The fluorescence studies show quenching of monomer fluorescence of anthracene by perylene dopant. Higher concentration of perylene generates exciplex in the excited state, which is observed in the form of a broad, structureless, red shifted band. The fluorescence quenching and exciplex formation have been explained on the basis of excitation energy transfer and molecular interaction between anthracene and perylene. The fluorescence characteristics of mixed crystals are described using Stern-Volmer kinetics. The fluorescence results are correlated with structural parameters

Effect of polar dopants on structure of emission spectrum of crystalline anthracene powders

1383-1387The effect of polar dopants on the spectral properties of crystalline anthracene is studied as a function of concentration by steady state fluorescence spectroscopy. The dopant is a fluorescent 9-vinylanthracene. The incorporation of the dopant not only quenches the fluorescence but also changes the structure of emission of anthracene. The higher dopant concentration induces significant enhancement in the intensity of low energy (0←1) vibronic band at the expense of high energy (0←0) band and wavelength of maximum emissions is shifted from 427 nm to 446 nm. The characteristic monomer and excimer emission of dopant are not observed even at higher concentration in the fluorescence spectra of doped anthracene. This observation rules out the possibility of excitation energy transfer from anthracene to dopant molecule. The shift in structure of emission of anthracene has been attributed to the local electric field generated by the polar dopant which is acting across the anthracene molecule and induces the changes both in the molecular vibrational levels and in transition dipoles. This effect is similar to solid state solvation effect and favors transition to the higher vibrational level of the ground state

Gene Variants in Pro-Coagulant and Anti-Coagulant Genes Could Be Prognostic Genetic Markers of COVID-19 Susceptibility

Present study aimed to identify DNA polymorphisms (variants) which can modulate the risk of COVID-19 infection progression to severe condition. TaqMan based SNP genotyping assay was performed for 11 single nucleotide polymorhisms (SNPs) in pro-coagulant and anti-coagulant genes. A total of 33 COVID-19 patients, including dead, severe and moderately infected individuals were compared to 35 healthy controls. Both alleles in the SNP were labeled with two different fluorescent dyes (FAM and VIC) during assay formulation. DNA of study subjects were mixed with SNP assay and TaqMan master mix on 96 well PCR plate according to manufacturer’s protocol and RT-PCR was performed. Allelic discrimination assay gave clear results for presence of specific allele in each sample. Three SNPs were located in the pro-coagulant genes, another three involved in blood clot dissolution while rest five were in the genes encoding natural anti-coagulants. COVID-19 infected patients were further sub-divided into three groups, deceased (n=16), severe (n=10) and moderately infected (n=7). Results of SNP genotyping showed significant difference between COVID-19 patients and controls in two SNPs, rs6133 in Selectin-P (SELP) and rs5361 in Selectin-E (SELE) gene. Also, rs2020921 and rs8176592, in clot dissolution genes, tissue Plasminogen activator (tPA) and tissue factor pathway inhibitor (TFPI) respectively showed significant genotypic and allelic difference in patients of COVID-19 compared to healthy controls. Further three SNPs rs2227589, rs757583846 and rs121918476 in natural anti-coagulant genes anti-thrombin III (ATIII), protein C (PROC) and protein S (PROS) respectively showed statistically significant difference between the study groups. Our findings indicate that gene variants, those involved in coagulation and anti-coagulation may play a major role in determining individual susceptibility to COVID-19. Funding Information: This work was supported by Defence Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences (DIPAS), Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO), Delhi-110054. Conflict of Interests: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest or financial disclosure related to this publication. Ethical Approval: The study parameters and design was approved by the Ethical Committee of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), India. Written informed consent was obtained from all study participants before collection of their blood sample. All experimental protocols were conducted in accordance to the Strengthening of the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) guidelines