Patching up the monopole potential

It is well known that a vector potential cannot be defined over the whole surface of a sphere around a magnetic monopole. A recent claim to the contrary is shown to have problems. It is explained however that a potential of the proposed type works if two patches are used instead of one. A general derivation of the Dirac quantization condition attempted with a single patch is corrected by introducing two patches. Further, the case of more than two patches using the original Wu-Yang type of potential is discussed in brief.Comment: 6 page

Electrical Conductivity at the Core of a Magnetar

An expression for the electrical conductivity at the core of a magnetar is derived using Boltzmann kinetic equation with the relaxation time approximation. The rates for the relevant scattering processes, e.g., electron-electron and electron-proton are evaluated in presence of strong quantizing magnetic fields using tree level diagrams. It is found that in presence of a strong quantizing magnetic field, electrical conductivity behaves like a second rank tensor. However, if the zeroth Landau levels are only occupied by the charged particles, it again behaves like a scaler of a one dimensional system.Comment: REVTEX File, 4 .eps figures (included

A Comparative Study on Physical Variables of Club and Non-Club Cricketers in Kolkata India

The purpose of the study was to compare the physical fitness components among the club and non-club cricketers. 30 (15 club & 15 non-club) cricketers were selected as subjects. The age of the subjects was 17 to 28 years. Age, Height and Weight were taken as personal data. Selected physical fitness components were measured as criterion by standard tests. The subject was taken randomly. Data were collected in the afternoon (3-4:30 p.m.) consecutively four days. Mean, Standard Deviation and independent t-test was used. Significant level was set at 0.05 levels. Club cricketers were significantly better than nonclub cricketers on Agility, Sit-ups & standing broad jump and there were insignificant difference between club and non-club cricketers on selected other physical fitness components

Kinetics of Protonation of Dye-base in Aprotic Solvents

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Cold Water Immersion: A Foe for Immediate Leg Strength Recovery Post Strenuous Activity

Recovery post sport activities of demanding nature has become a matter of great concern in present days. To add information in the knowledge bank regarding the rate and trend in lower limbs tiredness recovery due to cold water immersion (CWI) after strenuous workout present research in a highly controlled manner was conducted. Ten participants of equal caliber were selected purposively for the experiment. They ran at Target Heart Rate Zone of 80%-90% of their Maximum Heart Rate for 20 minutes, and had a session of idle CWI (20?C) post activity for 30 minutes. Isometric Leg Strength Test and Sergeant Jump Test were conducted pre activity, post activity and post CWI for availing data. Descriptive statistics, rANOVA and bonferroni post hoc test were employed using IBM SPSS-17. Level of significance choosen was 0.05. Significant decreased state of post workout readings were observed in both the cases. Further post recovery no improvement in state of lower limbs isometric strength was found, whereas decrease in explosive leg strength was evident. Thus it can be concluded that instead of being friend CWI is a foe for immediate leg strength recovery. In future more research having different and prolonged observation points can be framed to have clear idea on this issue. Keywords: Sports, Recovery, Cold Water Immersion, Isometric Leg Strength, Explosive Leg Strength

Emerging incidence of candidemia in neonatal intensive care unit and sick newborn care unit in a tertiary care hospital of Eastern India

Background: Candida blood stream infection (BSI) is an important cause of sepsis and sepsis-related mortality. Common risk factors for Candida BSI include very low birth weight, central vascular catheterization (CVC), use of broad-spectrum antibiotics, endotracheal intubation, and prolonged hospital stay. Although C. albicans accounts for Candida BSI among infants, but recent studies have detected a shift towards non-albicans Candida (NAC) species. Aims & Objectives: To isolate and identify different species of candida from blood samples. To find out the antifungal sensitivity pattern of the fungus isolated. To identify various risk factors associated with Candidemia in patient admitted in critical care unit. Methods: BACT/ALERT 3D Paediatric bottle was used for fungal blood culture. Inoculation on Blood agar and Sabourads dextrose agar (SDA) was made from the culture positive bottles. After the growth obtained from SDA, Gram staining, Germ tube test, CHROM agar Candida Medium and Sugar fermentation and biochemical Test kits (KB006 Hi Candida Identification Kit) were used for identification of various Candida Spp. Anti fungal susceptibility test was carried out by Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method. Results: Out of 84 different species of Candida, C. albicans were the highest number (32.14%), followed by 23.81% of C. tropicalis, 21.42% C. parapsilosis. Susceptibility for voriconazole, fluconazole and amphotericin B was 85.71%, 75% and 64.28%, respectively. NAC (57 isolates) were more resistant to azole group of antifungal, especially commonly used antifungal like fluconazole (45.6%). Conclusion: Candidemia is a significant problem in Pediatrics age group patients, especially in NICU and SNCU. A gradual but significant epidemiological shift to higher isolation of NCA is being noticed

Evaluation of Cell Types for Assessment of Cytogenetic Damage in Arsenic Exposed Population

Background: Cytogenetic biomarkers are essential for assessing environmental exposure, and reflect adverse human health effects such as cellular damage. Arsenic is a potential clastogen and aneugen. In general, the majority of the studies on clastogenic effects of arsenic are based on frequency of micronuclei (MN) study in peripheral lymphocytes, urothelial and oral epithelial cells. To find out the most suitable cell type, here, we compared cytogenetic damage through MN assay in (a) various populations exposed to arsenic through drinking water retrieved from literature review, as also (b) arsenic-induced Bowen's patients from our own survey. Results: For literature review, we have searched the Pubmed database for English language journal articles using the following keywords: "arsenic", "micronuclei", "drinking water", and "human" in various combinations. We have selected 13 studies consistent with our inclusion criteria that measured micronuclei in either one or more of the above-mentioned three cell types, in human samples. Compared to urothelial and buccal mucosa cells, the median effect sizes measured by the difference between people with exposed and unexposed, lymphocyte based MN counts were found to be stronger. This general pattern pooled from 10 studies was consistent with our own set of three earlier studies. MN counts were also found to be stronger for lymphocytes even in arsenicinduced Bowen's patients (cases) compared to control individuals having arsenic-induced noncancerous skin lesions. Conclusion: Overall, it can be concluded that MN in lymphocytes may be superior to other epithelial cells for studying arsenic-induced cytogenetic damage

Assessment of Airborne Fungi in Childrens Hospital Located in Kolkata India

Fungal spores contribute significant concentration in the bioaerosol of various environmental conditions which may have potential health threats. Our study was aimed at determining the presence of disseminating airborne fungi in a pediatric government hospital in Kolkata. The study was started from the post-monsoon to the middle winter (August to December 2008) in the indoor and outdoor environment of the hospital with temperature and humidity ranges of 11.2 °C-35.2 °C and 70 per cent-90 per cent, respectively. Air sampling was performed at 14 days intervals during the daytime following the gravitation settling method, and the fungal colonies were identified based on micro and macro morphological characteristics. The percentage contribution of individual fungal species from the outdoor section and indoor units (Newborn Baby Ward, Respiratory Care Unit, Step Down Ward, Thalassemia Care Unit) of the hospital environment was calculated. We observed profound aeromycofloral diversity where the outdoor environment was mostly colonised by sterile hyphae (16.43 %) along with the allergenic Aspergillus fumigatus (13.6 %) and Penicillium sp. (12.32 %). Conversely, an abundance of Cladosporium herbarum (24.7 %) and Penicillium sp. (17.85 %) followed by Aspergillus sp. (12.9 %) and sterile hyphae (14.51 %) were found in different indoor units. Our results showed the diversity of airborne mycoflora which promotes the trend to health difficulties and thus the hospital environment monitoring along with proper control measures is essential

Kitozan male molekulske mase kao nosač hidrodinamički uravnoteženog sustava za usporenu isporuku ciprofloksacin hidroklorida

Chitosan has become a focus of major interest in recent years due to its excellent biocompatibility, biodegradability and non-toxicity. Although this material has already been extensively investigated in the design of different types of drug delivery systems, it is still little explored for stomach specific drug delivery systems. The objective of the present investigation was to explore the potential of low molecular mass chitosan (LMCH) as carrier for a hydrodynamically balanced system (HBS) for sustained delivery of water soluble drug ciprofloxacin hydrochloride (CP). Various formulations were prepared by physical blending of drug and polymer(s) in varying ratios followed by encapsulation into hard gelatin capsules. All the formulations remained buoyant in 0.1mol L1 HCl (pH 1.2) throughout the experiment. Effect of addition of xanthan gum (XG) or ethyl cellulose (EC) on drug release was also investigated. Zero order drug release was obtained from the formulations containing LMCH alone or in combination with XG, and in one instance also with EC. Our results suggest that LMCH alone or in combination with XG is an excellent material for stomach specific sustained delivery of CP from hydrodynamically balanced single unit capsules.Zbog svoje biokompatibilnosti, biorazgradljivosti i netoksičnosti kitozan je vrlo interesantan istraživačima u području farmaceutske tehnologije. Najviše se upotrebljavao u dizajniranju različitih sustava za isporuku lijekova ali vrlo malo za sustave za specifičnu isporuku u želucu. Cilj ovog rada bio je ispitati mogućnost upotrebe kitozana male molekulske mase (LMCH) kao nosača u hidrodinamički balansiranom sustavu (HBS) za usporenu isporuku vodotopljivog lijeka ciprofloksacin hidroklorida (CP). Pripravljene su različite formulacije stvaranjem fizičke smjese lijeka i polimera u različitim omjerima, koje su potom kapsulirane u želatinske kapsule. Svi su pripravci za vrijeme cijelog eksperimenta ostali plutati u 0,01mol L1 HCl (pH 1,2). Ispitivan je i učinak ksantan gume (XG) ili etilceluloze (EC) na oslobađanje lijeka. Oslobađanje lijeka nultog reda postignuto je iz formulacija koje sadrže samo LMCH ili LMCH u kombinaciji sa XG i u jednom slučaju s EC. Dobiveni rezultati pokazuju da je LMCH, sam ili u kombinaciji sa XG, izvrstan materijal za sustave za specifičnu isporuku CP iz hidrodinamički balansiranih kapsula