Fock space exploration by angle resolved transmission through quantum diffraction grating of cold atoms in an optical lattice

Light transmission or diffraction from different quantum phases of cold atoms in an optical lattice has recently come up as a useful tool to probe such ultra cold atomic systems. The periodic nature of the optical lattice potential closely resembles the structure of a diffraction grating in real space, but loaded with a strongly correlated quantum many body state which interacts with the incident electromagnetic wave, a feature that controls the nature of the light transmission or dispersion through such quantum medium. In this paper we show that as one varies the relative angle between the cavity mode and the optical lattice, the peak of the transmission spectrum through such cavity also changes reflecting the statistical distribution of the atoms in the illuminated sites. Consequently the angle resolved transmission spectrum of such quantum diffraction grating can provide a plethora of information about the Fock space structure of the many body quantum state of ultra cold atoms in such an optical cavity that can be explored in current state of the art experiments.Comment: 40 double spaced, single column pages, 40 .eps figures, accepted for publication in Physical Review

Application of ImageJ for processing Shilajit exposed PBMC images

Objective: In this study, application of ImageJ for processing Shilajit exposed PBMC images were studied. Methods: In present study experiment was designed with human PBMC treated with Shilajit in high concentration (18mg/ml).Digital images were taken after one hour exposure with Shilajit and image processing steps were implemented. Results: Acquired images from Shilajit exposed human PBMC had low contrast and substantial background noise as media was mixed with Shilajit. So images were processed by adjusting brightness and contrast, applying median filter, thresholding and watershed algorithm. Conclusion: A high concentration of shilajit (18mg/ml) was detrimental to human PBMC. ImageJ can be efficiently used to process and extract information from low resolution images. Keywords: ImageJ, Shilajit, PBM

Towards 21-cm Intensity Mapping at z=2.28z=2.28 with uGMRT using the Tapered Gridded Estimator I: Foreground Avoidance

The post-reionization $(z \le 6)$ neutral hydrogen (HI) 21-cm intensity mapping signal holds the potential to probe the large scale structures, study the expansion history and constrain various cosmological parameters. Here we apply the Tapered Gridded Estimator (TGE) to estimate $P(k_{\perp},k_{\parallel})$ the power spectrum of the $z = 2.28$ $(432.8\, {\rm MHz})$ redshifted 21-cm signal using a $24.4\,{\rm MHz}$ sub-band drawn from uGMRT Band 3 observations of European Large-Area ISO Survey-North 1 (ELAIS-N1). The TGE allows us to taper the sky response which suppresses the foreground contribution from sources in the periphery of the telescope's field of view. We apply the TGE on the measured visibility data to estimate the multi-frequency angular power spectrum (MAPS) $C_{\ell}(\Delta\nu)$ from which we determine $P(k_{\perp},k_{\parallel})$ using maximum-likelihood which naturally overcomes the issue of missing frequency channels (55 \% here). The entire methodology is validated using simulations. For the data, using the foreground avoidance technique, we obtain a $2\,\sigma$ upper limit of $\Delta^2(k) \le (133.97)^2 \, {\rm mK}^{2}$ for the 21-cm brightness temperature fluctuation at $k = 0.347 \, \textrm{Mpc}^{-1}$. This corresponds to $[\Omega_{\rm HI}b_{\rm HI}] \le 0.23$, where $\Omega_{\rm HI}$ and $b_{\rm HI}$ respectively denote the cosmic \HI mass density and the \HI bias parameter. A previous work has analyzed $8 \, {\rm MHz}$ of the same data at $z=2.19$, and reported $\Delta^{2}(k) \le (61.49)^{2} \, {\rm mK}^{2}$ and $[\Omega_{\rm HI} b_{\rm HI}] \le 0.11$ at $k=1 \, {\rm Mpc}^{-1}$. The upper limits presented here are still orders of magnitude larger than the expected signal corresponding to $\Omega_{\rm HI} \sim 10^{-3}$ and $b_{\rm HI} \sim 2$.Comment: 13 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

Towards 2121-cm intensity mapping at z=2.28z=2.28 with uGMRT using the tapered gridded estimator III: Foreground removal

Neutral hydrogen (\ion{H}{i}) $21$-cm intensity mapping (IM) is a promising probe of the large-scale structures in the Universe. However, a few orders of magnitude brighter foregrounds obscure the IM signal. Here we use the Tapered Gridded Estimator (TGE) to estimate the multi-frequency angular power spectrum (MAPS) $C_{\ell}(\Delta\nu)$ from a $24.4\,\rm{MHz}$ bandwidth uGMRT Band $3$ data at $432.8\,\rm{MHz}$. In $C_{\ell}(\Delta\nu)$ foregrounds remain correlated across the entire $\Delta\nu$ range, whereas the $21$-cm signal is localized within $\Delta\nu\le[\Delta \nu]$ (typically $0.5-1\,\rm{MHz}$). Assuming the range $\Delta\nu>[\Delta \nu]$ to have minimal $21$-cm signal, we use $C_{\ell}(\Delta\nu)$ in this range to model the foregrounds. This foreground model is extrapolated to $\Delta\nu\leq[\Delta \nu]$, and subtracted from the measured $C_{\ell}(\Delta\nu)$. The residual $[C_{\ell}(\Delta\nu)]_{\rm res}$ in the range $\Delta\nu\le[\Delta\nu]$ is used to constrain the $21$-cm signal, compensating for the signal loss from foreground subtraction. $[C_{\ell}(\Delta\nu)]_{\rm{res}}$ is found to be noise-dominated without any trace of foregrounds. Using $[C_{\ell}(\Delta\nu)]_{\rm res}$ we constrain the $21$-cm brightness temperature fluctuations $\Delta^2(k)$, and obtain the $2\sigma$ upper limit $\Delta_{\rm UL}^2(k)\leq(18.07)^2\,\rm{mK^2}$ at $k=0.247\,\rm{Mpc}^{-1}$. We further obtain the $2\sigma$ upper limit [\Omega_{\ion{H}{i}}b_{\ion{H}{i}}]_{\rm UL}\leq0.022 where \Omega_{\ion{H}{i}} and b_{\ion{H}{i}} are the comoving \ion{H}{i} density and bias parameters respectively. Although the upper limit is nearly $10$ times larger than the expected $21$-cm signal, it is $3$ times tighter over previous works using foreground avoidance on the same data.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. 16 pages (including Appendix), 8 figures (plus 8 in Appendix), 5 Table

KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICE REGARDING FOOT CARE AMONG TYPE 2 DIABETES MELLITUS PATIENTS AT A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL IN COASTAL SOUTH INDIA

Objective: The present study was designed to assess the knowledge and practice among diabetic patients in a tertiary care hospital regarding diabeticfoot care.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in government district hospital of Mangalore in the month of January 2014. A pre-designed semistructuredquestionnairewasused tocollectthe informationpertainingtotheknowledgeand practicesofthediabetic patients regardingfootcare.Thecollecteddata wereanalyzedusing Statistical PackagesforSocial Sciences version11.5.The resultsobtained wereexpressedin proportions.Results: A total of 133 subjects were assessed regarding their knowledge and practice regarding diabetic foot care. Around three-fourth (75.2%) ofparticipants had adequate knowledge. More than half (55.5%) of the subjects had adequate practice. No significant association was found betweenstudy variables such as gender, socioeconomic status, and education status with awareness regarding diabetic foot care in the present study (p>0.05).Gender, socioeconomic, and educational statuses were found to be significantly associated with diabetic foot care practices.Conclusion: The gap between knowledge and practice regarding self-care among diabetic patients can be bridged by providing continuous healtheducation by the health workers. Foot care should be promoted at all available opportunities whenever the patient comes in contact with the health system.Keywords: Mangalore, Foot care, Diabetes

Novel Microbial System Developed from Low-Level Radioactive Waste Treatment Plant for Environmental Sustenance

A packed bed bioreactor efficiently treated low-level radioactive waste for years with a retention time of 24 h using acetate as the sole carbon source. However, there was generation of dead biomass. This bioreactor biomass was used to develop a bacterial consortium, which could perform the function within 4 h while simultaneously accumulating nitrate and phosphate. The dead mass was negligible. Serial dilution technique was used to isolate the world’s first pure culture of a nitrate accumulating strain from this consortium. This isolate could simultaneously accumulate nitrate and phosphate from solution. Its ability to form biofilm helped develop a packed bed bioreactor system for waste water treatment, which could optimally remove 94.46% nitrate within 11 h in batch mode while 8 h in continuous mode from waste water starting from 275 ppm of nitrate. The conventional approach revealed the strain to be a member of genus Bacillus but showed distinct differences with the type strains. Further insilico analysis of the draft genome and the putative protein sequences using the bioinformatics tools revealed the strain to be a novel variant of genus Bacillus. The sequestered nitrate and phosphate within the cell were visualized through electron microscopy and explained the reason behind the ability of the isolate to accumulate 1.12 mg of phosphate and 1.3 gm of nitrate per gram of wet weight. Transcriptome analysis proposed the mechanism behind the accumulation of nitrate and phosphate in case of this novel bacterial isolate (MCC 0008). The strain with the sequestered nutrients work as biofertilizer for yield enhancement in case of mung bean while maintaining soil fertility post-cultivation

High monocytic MDSC signature predicts multi-drug resistance and cancer relapse in non-Hodgkin lymphoma patients treated with R-CHOP

IntroductionNon-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL) is a heterogeneous lymphoproliferative malignancy with B cell origin. Combinatorial treatment of rituximab, cyclophsphamide, hydroxydaunorubicin, oncovin, prednisone (R-CHOP) is the standard treatment regimen for NHL, yielding a complete remission (CR) rate of 40-50%. Unfortunately, considerable patients undergo relapse after CR or initial treatment, resulting in poor clinical implications. Patient’s response to chemotherapy varies widely from static disease to cancer recurrence and later is primarily associated with the development of multi-drug resistance (MDR). The immunosuppressive cells within the tumor microenvironment (TME) have become a crucial target for improving the therapy efficacy. However, a better understanding of their involvement is needed for distinctive response of NHL patients after receiving chemotherapy to design more effective front-line treatment algorithms based on reliable predictive biomarkers.MethodsPeripheral blood from 61 CD20+ NHL patients before and after chemotherapy was utilized for immunophenotyping by flow-cytometry at different phases of treatment. In-vivo and in-vitro doxorubicin (Dox) resistance models were developed with murine Dalton’s lymphoma and Jurkat/Raji cell-lines respectively and impact of responsible immune cells on generation of drug resistance was studied by RT-PCR, flow-cytometry and colorimetric assays. Gene silencing, ChIP and western blot were performed to explore the involved signaling pathways.ResultsWe observed a strong positive correlation between elevated level of CD33+CD11b+CD14+CD15- monocytic MDSCs (M-MDSC) and MDR in NHL relapse cohorts. We executed the role of M-MDSCs in fostering drug resistance phenomenon in doxorubicin-resistant cancer cells in both in-vitro, in-vivo models. Moreover, in-vitro supplementation of MDSCs in murine and human lymphoma culture augments early expression of MDR phenotypes than culture without MDSCs, correlated well with in-vitro drug efflux and tumor progression. We found that MDSC secreted cytokines IL-6, IL-10, IL-1β are the dominant factors elevating MDR expression in cancer cells, neutralization of MDSC secreted IL-6, IL-10, IL-1β reversed the MDR trait. Moreover, we identified MDSC secreted IL-6/IL-10/IL-1β induced STAT1/STAT3/NF-κβ signaling axis as a targeted cascade to promote early drug resistance in cancer cells.ConclusionOur data suggests that screening patients for high titre of M-MDSCs might be considered as a new potential biomarker and treatment modality in overcoming chemo-resistance in NHL patients