Two Cases of Primary Ectopic Ovarian Pregnancy

Primary ovarian pregnancy is one of the rarest varieties of ectopic pregnancies. Patients frequently present with abdominal pain and menstrual irregularities. Intrauterine devices have evolved as probable risk factors. Preoperative diagnosis is challenging but transvaginal sonography has often been helpful. A diagnostic delay may lead to rupture, secondary implantation or operative difficulties. Therefore, awareness of this rare condition is important in reducing the associated risks. Here, we report two cases of primary ovarian pregnancies presenting with acute abdominal pain. Transabdominal ultrasonography failed to hint at ovarian pregnancy in one, while transvaginal sonography aided in the correct diagnosis of the other. Both cases were confirmed by histopathological examinations and were successfully managed by surgery

The effects of cadmium on plankton populations under different manurial treatments

Recovery of plankton populations from exposure to 1 mg/l of cadmium was studied in an outdoor bioassay using inorganic fertilizers, cow dung or poultry litter as nutrient additions. Although 99% oj the plankton populations were eliminated immediately after exposure to cadmium, both zoo- and phytoplankton densities began reappearing at a slow rate from Day 15 of treatment. Zoo plankton populations of the treated vats became numerically comparable to the control within 55 days of treatment. Poultry litter effected a quicker recovery of zooplankton populations. However, phytoplankton populations did not recover from the cadmium stress in any of the nutrient treatments even after 55 days. Dissolved cadmium was present in solution up to Day 15, while in the other treatments it persisted up to 25 days

Rotation periods and colours of 10-m scale near-Earth asteroids from CFHT target of opportunity streak photometry

The rotational properties of $\sim$10~m-scale asteroids are poorly understood with only a few measurements. Additionally, collisions or thermal recoil can spin their rotations to periods less than a few seconds obfuscating their study due to the observational cadence imposed by the long read-out times of charge-coupled device imagers. We present a method to measure the rotation periods of 10~m-scale asteroids using the target of opportunity capability of the Canada France Hawaii Telescope and its MegaCam imager by intentionally streaking their detections in single exposures when they are at their brightest. Periodic changes in brightness as small as $\sim$0.05 mag along the streak can be measured as short as a few seconds. Additionally, the streak photometry is taken in multiple g, r, and i filter exposures enabling the measurement of asteroid colours. The streak photometry method was tested on CFHT observations of three 10~m-scale asteroids, 2016 GE$_1$, 2016 CG$_{18}$, and 2016 EV$_{84}$. Our 3 targets are among the smallest known asteroids with measured rotation periods/colours having some of the shortest known rotation periods. We compare our rotation period and taxonomic results with independent data from the literature and discuss applications of the method to future small asteroid observations.Comment: Revised version, MNRAS:L, 13 pages, 10 figures, 3 table

Bimaximal Neutrino Mixing in a Zee-type Model with Badly Broken Flavor Symmetry

A Zee-type neutrino mass matrix model with a badly broken horizontal symmetry SU(3)_H is investigated. By putting a simple ansatz on the symmetry breaking effects of SU(3)_H for transition matrix elements, it is demonstrated that the model can give a nearly bimaximal neutrino mixing with the ratio $\Delta m^2_{solar}/\Delta m^2_{atm} \simeq \sqrt{2} m_e/m_{\mu}=6.7 \times 10^{-3}$, which are in excellent agreement with the observed data. In the near future, the lepton-number violating decay $Z\to \mu^\pm \tau^\mp$ will be observed.Comment: 10 pages, no figures, a comment adde

Enhanced photocatalytic and antibacterial activity of plasma-reduced silver nanoparticles

A non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma jet has been used for the green synthesis of highly dispersed colloidal silver nanoparticles. The reducing species such as hydrogen radicals and hydrated electrons are identified, and the change in the solution pH is studied during AgNP formation. The structural properties and size of the plasma-reduced silver nanoparticles are characterized via X-ray diffraction, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The size of the colloidal AgNPs is tuned by adjusting the initial concentration of AgNO3. The effect of terephthalic acid, a hydroxyl radical scavenger, on the reduction of Ag+ ion is studied. The typical catalytic activity data indicate the better performance of the plasma-reduced colloidal Ag nanoparticles than that obtained from the chemical reduction method. The antibacterial activity of the plasma-reduced Ag nanoparticles also shows a better performance than that of the chemically reduced AgNPs, highlighting the potential of the plasma reduction approach for the synthesis of metal nanoparticles, which are stable even after 30 days without a stabilizing agent. Additionally, the effects of hydroxyl scavengers (isopropyl alcohol) and Fenton's reagent (Fe2+ salt) on CV degradation are studied

A GEANT-based study of atmospheric neutrino oscillation parameters at INO

We have studied the dependence of the allowed space of the atmospheric neutrino oscillation parameters on the time of exposure for a magnetized Iron CALorimeter (ICAL) detector at the India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO). We have performed a Monte Carlo simulation for a 50 kTon ICAL detector generating events by the neutrino generator NUANCE and simulating the detector response by GEANT. A chi-square analysis for the ratio of the up-going and down-going neutrinos as a function of $L/E$ is performed and the allowed regions at 90% and 99% CL are displayed. These results are found to be better than the current experimental results of MINOS and Super-K. The possibilities of further improvement have also been discussed.Comment: 8 pages, 13 figures, a new figure added, version accepted in IJMP

Phase diagram and upper critical field of homogenously disordered epitaxial 3-dimensional NbN films

We report the evolution of superconducting properties with disorder, in 3-dimensional homogeneously disordered epitaxial NbN thin films. The effective disorder in NbN is controlled from moderately clean limit down to Anderson metal-insulator transition by changing the deposition conditions. We propose a phase diagram for NbN in temperature-disorder plane. With increasing disorder we observe that as kFl-->1 the superconducting transition temperature (Tc) and minimum conductivity (sigma_0) go to zero. The phase diagram shows that in homogeneously disordered 3-D NbN films, the metal-insulator transition and the superconductor-insulator transition occur at a single quantum critical point at kFl~1.Comment: To appear in Journal of Superconductivity and Novel Magnetism (ICSM2010 proceedings

Destruction of Superconductivity by Impurities in the Attractive Hubbard Model

We study the effect of U=0 impurities on the superconducting and thermodynamic properties of the attractive Hubbard model on a square lattice. Removal of the interaction on a critical fraction of $f_{\rm crit} \approx 0.30$ of the sites results in the destruction of off-diagonal long range order in the ground state. This critical fraction is roughly independent of filling in the range $0.75 < \rho < 1.00$, although our data suggest that $f_{\rm crit}$ might be somewhat larger below half-filling than at $\rho=1$. We also find that the two peak structure in the specific heat is present at $f$ both below and above the value which destroys long range pairing order. It is expected that the high $T$ peak associated with local pair formation should be robust, but apparently local pairing fluctuations are sufficient to generate a low temperature peak

Evaluation of Novel Imidazotetrazine Analogues Designed to Overcome Temozolomide Resistance and Glioblastoma Regrowth

The cellular responses to two new temozolomide (TMZ) analogues, DP68 and DP86, acting against glioblastoma multi- forme (GBM) cell lines and primary culture models are reported. Dose–response analysis of cultured GBM cells revealed that DP68 is more potent than DP86 and TMZ and that DP68 was effective even in cell lines resistant to TMZ. On the basis of a serial neurosphere assay, DP68 inhibits repop- ulation of these cultures at low concentrations. The efficacy of these compounds was independent of MGMT and MMR func- tions. DP68-induced interstrand DNA cross-links were dem- onstrated with H2O2-treated cells. Furthermore, DP68 induced a distinct cell–cycle arrest with accumulation of cells in S phase that is not observed for TMZ. Consistent with this biologic response, DP68 induces a strong DNA damage response, including phosphorylation of ATM, Chk1 and Chk2 kinases, KAP1, and histone variant H2AX. Suppression of FANCD2 expression or ATR expression/kinase activity enhanced anti- glioblastoma effects of DP68. Initial pharmacokinetic analysis revealed rapid elimination of these drugs from serum. Collec- tively, these data demonstrate that DP68 is a novel and potent antiglioblastoma compound that circumvents TMZ resistance, likely as a result of its independence from MGMT and mismatch repair and its capacity to cross-link strands of DN