Study of young stellar objects and associated filamentary structures in the inner Galaxy

Young Stellar Objects (YSOs) in the inner Galactic region $10^0 < l < 15^0$ and $-1^0 < b < 1^0$ are studied using GLIMPSE images and GLIMPSE data catalogue. A total number of 1107 Class I and 1566 Class II sources are identified in this Galactic region. With the help of GLIMPSE 5.8 $\mu$m & 8 $\mu$m images, we have identified the presence of 10 major star forming sites in the Galactic midplane, of which 8 of them are filamentary while 2 are possible clusters of Class I & II sources. The length of the identified filaments are estimated as 8'-33' ($\sim$ 9 - 56 pc). Occurrence of Hub-Filamentary System (HFS) is observed in many filamentary star forming sites. Most of the Class I sources are found to be aligned along the length of these filamentary structures, while Class II sources have a random distribution. Mass and age distribution of 425 Class I and 241 Class II sources associated with filaments & clusters are studied through their SED analysis. Most of the Class I sources detected have mass $>$ 8M$_\odot$, while Class II sources have relatively low mass regime. Class I sources have ages $\le$ 0.5 Myr, while Class II sources have ages in the range $\sim$0.1 - 3 Myr. Along with the help of high mass star forming tracers, we demonstrate that the 10 regions studied here are forming a large number of high-mass stars.Comment: 19 pages, 18 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRA

Pre-main sequence stars, emission stars and recent star formation in the Cygnus Region

The recent star formation history in the Cygnus region is studied using 5 clusters (IC 4996, NGC 6910, Berkeley 87, Biurakan 2 and Berkeley 86). The optical data from the literature are combined with the 2MASS data to identify the pre-main sequence (pre-MS) stars as stars with near IR excess. We identified 93 pre-MS stars and 9 stars with H$_\alpha$ emission spectra. The identified pre-MS stars are used to estimate the turn-on age of the clusters. The duration of star formation was estimated as the difference between the turn-on and the turn-off age. We find that, NGC 6910 and IC 4996 have been forming stars continuously for the last 6 -- 7 Myr, Berkeley 86 and Biurakan 2 for 5 Myr and Berkeley 87 for the last 2 Myr. This indicates that the Cygnus region has been actively forming stars for the last 7 Myr, depending on the location. 9 emission line stars were identified in 4 clusters, using slit-less spectra (Be 87 - 4 stars; Be 86 - 2 stars, NGC 6910 - 2 stars and IC 4996 - 1 star). The individual spectra were obtained and analysed to estimate stellar as well as disk properties. All the emission stars are in the MS, well below the turn-off, in the core hydrogen burning phase. These stars are likely to be Classical Be (CBe) stars. Thus CBe phenomenon can be found in very young MS stars which are just a few (2 -- 7) Myrs old. This is an indication that CBe phenomenon need not be an evolutionary effect.Comment: 37 pages, 20 figure

Spectroscopic study of a few Herbig Ae/Be stars in young open clusters

We present the spectroscopic study of 5 Herbig Ae/Be stars in young open clusters. These are identified from a survey of emission-line stars in young open clusters. The Herbig Ae/Be stars are found to show a linear correlation in Hα equivalent width versus reddening corrected (H−Ks) colour plot, with a clear offset from the distribution of Classical Be stars. The candidates are found to show near infrared excess which was revealed through de-reddened (J−H) versus (H−Ks) colour-colour diagram and spectral energy distribution. From optical/near-IR photometry and spectroscopy, we suggest that Bochum 6-1, IC 1590-1 and NGC 6823-1 are Herbig Be while IC 1590-2 and NGC 7380-4 are Herbig Ae candidates. Bochum 6-1 is an interesting Herbig B[e] star with a high Hα equivalent width of −206&#197;, which is the highest among the A surveyed stars. We combined the optical and near-IR photometry to estimate the duration of star formation in the clusters, Bochum 6, IC 1590, NGC 6823 and NGC 7380. We found ongoing star formation in all these clusters, with an appreciable number of pre-main sequence stars. The age of these Herbig Ae/Be stars, estimated using pre-main sequence isochrones, were found to range between 0.25−3 Myr. IC 1590 is found to be an interesting young cluster (∼ 4 Myr) with 3 emission stars, each belonging to Herbig Ae, Herbig Be and Classical Be respectively. All the four clusters studied here were found to be forming stars for the last 10 Myr

NOVEL UV SPECTROSCOPIC METHOD FOR QUANTIFICATION OF CAFFEINE IN MARKETED ENERGY DRINKS

Objective: This study is performed to quantitatively estimate caffeine in marketed energy drinks by using UV-Visible spectroscopic method. Methods: This experiment was performed on various soft drinks and energy drinks available in the local market of India to determine the caffeine concentration. The quantitative method used was simple, easy UV-Visible spectrophotometric method by using carbon dichloromethane as diluent at 274 nm. UV-Vis spectroscopy is an analytical technique that measures the amount of discrete wavelengths of UV or visible light that are absorbed by or transmitted through a sample in comparison to a reference or blank sample. Results: Among all the samples i.e. soft or energy drinks taken for this experiment sample 1 has low concentration of caffeine and the highest concentration was observed in sample 3. Conclusion: Caffeine in an energy drink provides a stimulant effect, it gives energy. At lower levels, as it’s typically used in soft drinks, it has less of a stimulant effect and is used mainly for its taste profile. However the concentration of caffeine should be within the limits specified. Excessive consumption of caffeine may lead to anxiety, caffeine dependence, increased urination, and may cause insomnia. Energy drinks can contain high levels of caffeine but are unlikely to be hazardous unless consumed with alcohol. This research is very important analytical process to safeguard the well being of people who are unaware to adverse effects of caffeine

Effect of Auxins on Shoot and Root Growth in an Endangered Medicinal Plant Guggal [Commiphora wightii (Arnott.) Bhand.]

An investigation was carried out to study the effect of IBA and NAA on vegetative propagation of&nbsp;guggal[Commiphora wightii&nbsp;(Arnott.) Bhand.] through cuttings, at Navsari Agricultural University, Navsari. The experiment consists of ten treatments: IBA, NAA and their combination, each at 2000, 4000 and 6000 mg l-1along with control, replicated thrice. Ten cuttings per each treatment and per replication were planted. Planting media used were: sand, soil and vermicompost, in 2:1:1 ratio. Cuttings were dipped for five minutes in solutions of IBA, NAA and their combinations. Cuttings treated with 4000 mg l-1&nbsp;IBA proved to be the best for shoot and root responses, viz., days taken to first sprouting (11.67 days), number of shoots per cutting (10.27), number of leaves in the longest shoot (44.07), length of longest shoot (51.69cm), diameter of the longest shoot (4.40mm), rooting percentage (61.19), number of primary roots per cutting (15.01), length of the longest primary root (26.36cm), and number of secondary roots (22.37) and length of the longest secondary root (21.40cm) per cutting. It was concluded that IBA @ 4000 mg l-1&nbsp;was most effective for obtaining maximum shoot and root growth

A Secure Image Encryption Algorithm Based on Hill Cipher System

We present a technique of image encryption based on Hill cipher system that provides better security than existing approach of Bibhudendra Acharya et al. by rendering the image content completely scrambled using multiple self-invertible keys, block shuffling and a new developed pel transformation. The Hill cipher algorithm is one of the symmetric key algorithms having several advantages in encryption. However, the inverse of the matrix used for encrypting the plain text in this algorithm may not always exist. Moreover this algorithm is susceptible to known plain text attack. Our proposed algorithm is aimed at better encryption of all types of images even ones with uniform background and makes the image encryption scheme more secure

ANTISNAKE VENOM PROPERTIES OF MEDICINAL PLANTS

Snake envenoming and consequent deaths are of common occurrence in tropical and subtropical regions. Approximately 1,25,000 deaths are witnessed every year and WHO has declared it as a neglected tropical disease in 2009. The immunotheraphy is the only treatment available, but it has side effects like serum sickness, pyrogen reactions moreover the non availability and storage problems has rendered the mankind to look in others sources to treat snake bite deaths. This has led to the investigation of naturally available antidotes or the herbal antidotes. The plants were used by humans from centuries to treat diseases which have become an ancient knowledge which are passed through the generations. Many scientific investigations have been carried out on the grounds of folk knowledge. Some of the plants include Aristolochia indica, Andrographis paniculata, Hemidesmus indicus, Vitis vinifera etc., many metabolites have also been isolated which show promising pharmacological inhibitory effect on the toxic snake venom. Further exploration and characterization of molecules would be able to provide an alternative to the existent Antisnake venom. Â

Audit of caesarean deliveries in a tertiary care hospital of northern Andhra Pradesh using modified Robson criteria

Background: Today, there is an increased trend in the incidence of caesarean section (CS) rate worldwide particularly in India, even with the lack of evidence supporting considerable maternal and perinatal benefits with higher CS rates. The main objective of our study was to find the incidence of CS rate, auditing the data on the basis of modified Robson criteria, factors responsible for the most common group, to know the changing trends of CS and finally put forth the strategies to reduce CS rate.Methods: This is a retrospective study of 472 CS cases carried out in a tertiary care hospital during the year 2016. All the cases were grouped according to the modified Robson criteria and the data was analyzed. The data were grouped into 3 different slots of 4 months each (FF = first four months; MF = middle four months and LF = last four months of the year 2016).Results: A significant increasing trend was observed in the groups of 2B and 5C where as a significant decreasing trend was noticed in 6C and 7C. The most common indications for caesarean delivery were cephalo-pelvic disproportion (CPD) (28%) and fetal distress (22%) in group 1 whereas in group 2A CPD, fetal distress and failed induction were found to be 12%, 24% and 30% respectively.Conclusions: The change in trend has been noticed in the last few months particularly in 2B and 5C groups suggesting that there is a change in the attitude of obstetricians in conducting caesarean deliveries before the onset of labour rather than performing CS after the onset of labour. Targeting 2B along with 5C would help our efforts in reducing the CS rate

Comparative study of scoring systems in ICU and emergency department in predicting mortality of critically ill

Background: Scoring systems can be used to define critically ill patients, estimate their prognosis, help in clinical decision making, and guide the allocation of resources and to estimate the quality of care.  It remains unclear whether the additional data needed to compute ICU scores improves mortality prediction for critically ill patients compared to the simpler ED scores.Methods: We have done a prospective observational study of consecutively admitted 400 critically ill patients to ICU directly from Emergency Department in Dr PSIMS and RF over a period of 2 years. Clinical and laboratory data conforming to the modified early warning score (MEWS), rapid emergency medicine score (REMS), acute physiology and chronic health evaluation (APACHE II), and simplified acute physiology score (SAPS II) were recorded for all patients. A comparison was made between ED scoring systems MEWS, REMS and ICU scoring systems APACHE II, SAPSII. The outcome was recorded in two categories: survived and non-survived with a primary end point of 30-day mortality. Discrimination was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves.Results: The ICU scores outperformed the ED scores with more area under curve values. The predicted mortality percentage of ICU based scoring systems is high compared to emergency scores (predicted mortality % of SAPS II-63%, APACHE II-33.3%, MEWS-18.5%, REMS-14.8%).Conclusions: ICU scores showed more predictive accuracy than ED scores in prognosticating the outcomes in critically ill patients. This difference is seemed more due to complexity of ICU scores