Indian paradox : rising education, declining women’s employment

The study uses the first comprehensive Indian income data to evaluate whether the “other family income” effect explains the negative relationship between women’s education and labor force participation. In India, women’s education has a U-shaped relationship with labor force participation. This has been attributed to an income effect whereby women with more education marry into richer families that enable them to withdraw from the labor force. Results suggest that another factor at play is occupational sex segregation, which excludes moderately educated Indian women from clerical and sales jobs

A Microfluidic Sensor Based on Ferromagnetic Resonance Induced in Magnetic Bead Labels Sensors

This report details preliminary studies towards the development of a microfluidic sensor that exploits ferromagnetic resonance, excited in magnetic bead labels, for signal transduction. The device consists of a microwave circuit in which a slotline and a coplanar waveguide are integrated with a biochemically activated sensor area. The magnetic beads are immobilized in the sensor area by bio-specific reactions. A microwave signal applied to the slotline is coupled to the coplanar waveguide only in the presence of magnetic beads at the functionalized sensor area. Ferromagnetic resonance in the beads further enhances the coupling. This inductive detection technique lends itself to miniaturization, is inexpensive to fabricate and can be adapted for the detection of a wide range of molecules for which bio-specific ligands are available. Experimentally, the variation of the output signal as a function of the location of magnetic beads was studied for the proposed technique. Subsequently, a prototype device was constructed by biotinylation of the sensor area and integration with a microfluidic chip fabricated in polydimethyl siloxane (PDMS). Preliminary experiments were conducted on this prototype using streptavidin-functionalized magnetic beads as labels. It was shown that the magnetic beads, immobilized at the sensor area by streptavidin-biotin linkage, produced a distinct ferromagnetic resonance response easily discernible from the background signal.This is the authors’ post-peer review version of the final article. The final published version can be found at: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/504104/description#description.Keywords: Ferromagnetic resonance, Sensors, Microfluidics, Magnetic bead

A study on adverse drug reactions to non-ionic contrast medium in an Indian population: a 1-year experience

Background: To the best of our understanding, very few studies focusing on the adverse drug reaction (ADR) profile of non-ionic contrast medium (NICM) has been carried out until date among the Indian population. Hence, this study was planned. We sincerely believe that the knowledge gathered from this study can improve safer usage of these agents among the patients of Indian origin. The objective was to evaluate the incidence and severity of ADRs of non-ionic radio contrast media (CM) used in tertiary care hospital in Eastern India.Methods: For the duration of 1-year from July 2011 to July 2012, we prospectively recorded all the ADRs associated with the administration of NICM (iohexol and ioversol) in 3708 patients of Indian origin undergoing computed tomography scan at the hospital. The average median age, weight, dose used; types of ADRs, concomitant medication, final diagnosis, reasons for use were recorded and analyzed with appropriate statistical tools. Causality assessment was performed using Naranjo scale.Results: Eleven of 3708 patients who received either ioversol or iohexol developed ADRs (i.e. 0.3% of patients). The most common ADR was rigor. The incidences of mild, moderate and severe reactions were 55%, 36% and 9%, respectively. Average median age, weight, and dose used were 35 years, 66 kg and 70 ml, respectively. All the ADRs were early (occurred within 1 hr of CM administration). Due to logical constraints, the follow-up of these patients was not possible and hence late ADRs were not captured. The common concomitant medication used was pantoprazole (63.63% of patients). The difference in the incidence of ADRs by age distribution (Group 1 - Iohexol, Group 2 - Ioversol) and weight distribution was not statistically significant (p=0.75 and p=0.18, respectively). Causality analysis revealed that all the ADRs were possible (Score of 4). Interestingly, the incidence of reactions was noted to be higher in patients with a history of gastro intestinal disorders (45.45%).Conclusions: This pilot study reveals that adverse reactions to NICM are rare and severe reactions are less common among the patients of Indian origin. However, a larger multicentric study across the country should be carried out to understand the safety profile of these CM better among the Indian population

COVID-19 breakthrough infections in type 1 diabetes mellitus: a cross-sectional study by the COVID-19 Vaccination in Autoimmune Diseases (COVAD) Group

To investigate the frequency, profile, and severity of COVID-19 breakthrough infections (BI) in patients with type I diabetes mellitus (T1DM) compared to healthy controls (HC) after vaccination. The second COVID-19 Vaccination in Autoimmune Diseases (COVAD-2) survey is a multinational cross-sectional electronic survey which has collected data on patients suffering from various autoimmune diseases including T1DM. We performed a subgroup analysis on this cohort to investigate COVID-19 BI characteristics in patients with T1DM. Logistic regression with propensity score matching analysis was performed. A total of 9595 individuals were included in the analysis, with 100 patients having T1DM. Among the fully vaccinated cohort, 16 (16%) T1DM patients had one BI and 2 (2%) had two BIs. No morbidities or deaths were reported, except for one patient who required hospitalization with oxygen without admission to intensive care. The frequency, clinical features, and severity of BIs were not significantly different between T1DM patients and HCs after adjustment for confounding factors. Our study did not show any statistically significant differences in the frequency, symptoms, duration, or critical care requirements between T1DM and HCs after COVID-19 vaccination. Further research is needed to identify factors associated with inadequate vaccine response in patients with BIs, especially in patients with autoimmune diseases

Measurements of the transverse-momentum-dependent cross sections of J /ψ production at mid-rapidity in proton+proton collisions at s =510 and 500 GeV with the STAR detector

We present measurements of the differential cross sections of inclusive J/ψ meson production as a function of transverse momentum (pTJ/ψ) using the μ+μ- and e+e- decay channels in proton+proton collisions at center-of-mass energies of 510 and 500 GeV, respectively, recorded by the STAR detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. The measurement from the μ+μ- channel is for

Bulk properties of the system formed in Au+Au collisions at sNN =14.5 GeV at the BNL STAR detector

We report systematic measurements of bulk properties of the system created in Au+Au collisions at sNN=14.5 GeV recorded by the STAR detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The transverse momentum spectra of π±, K±, and p(p) are studied at midrapidity (|y|<0.1) for nine centrality intervals. The centrality, transverse momentum (pT), and pseudorapidity (η) dependence of inclusive charged particle elliptic flow (v2), and rapidity-odd charged particles directed flow (v1) results near midrapidity are also presented. These measurements are compared with the published results from Au+Au collisions at other energies, and from Pb+Pb collisions at sNN=2.76 TeV. The results at sNN=14.5 GeV show similar behavior as established at other energies and fit well in the energy dependence trend. These results are important as the 14.5-GeV energy fills the gap in μB, which is of the order of 100 MeV, between sNN=11.5 and 19.6 GeV. Comparisons of the data with UrQMD and AMPT models show poor agreement in general

Charge-dependent pair correlations relative to a third particle in p + Au and d + Au collisions at RHIC

Quark interactions with topological gluon configurations can induce chirality imbalance and local parity violation in quantum chromodynamics. This can lead to electric charge separation along the strong magnetic field in relativistic heavy-ion collisions – the chiral magnetic effect (CME). We report measurements by the STAR collaboration of a CME-sensitive observable in p+Au and d+Au collisions at 200 GeV, where the CME is not expected, using charge-dependent pair correlations relative to a third particle. We observe strong charge-dependent correlations similar to those measured in heavy-ion collisions. This bears important implications for the interpretation of the heavy-ion data

Measurement of inclusive J/ψ suppression in Au+Au collisions at sNN=200 GeV through the dimuon channel at STAR

J/ψ suppression has long been considered a sensitive signature of the formation of the Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP) in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. In this letter, we present the first measurement of inclusive J/ψ production at mid-rapidity through the dimuon decay channel in Au+Au collisions at sNN=200 GeV with the STAR experiment. These measurements became possible after the installation of the Muon Telescope Detector was completed in 2014. The J/ψ yields are measured in a wide transverse momentum (pT) range of 0.15 GeV/c to 12 GeV/c from central to peripheral collisions. They extend the kinematic reach of previous measurements at RHIC with improved precision. In the 0-10% most central collisions, the J/ψ yield is suppressed by a factor of approximately 3 for pT>5 GeV/c relative to that in p+p collisions scaled by the number of binary nucleon-nucleon collisions. The J/ψ nuclear modification factor displays little dependence on pT in all centrality bins. Model calculations can qualitatively describe the data, providing further evidence for the color-screening effect experienced by J/ψ mesons in the QGP