Investigation of the role of thyroid hormone receptor beta in the ventromedial nucleus of the hyptholamus in the mediation of energy homeostasis

The hypothalamus is a region of the central nervous system that is important in the regulation energy homeostasis. Thyroid hormone action within the hypothalamus has been shown to influence food intake and body weight and these effects may be mediated through the nuclear transcription factor thyroid hormone receptor beta (TRβ), which is highly expressed within the ventromedial nucleus (VMN) of the hypothalamus. Recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) expressing Cre recombinase (rAAV-Cre) was synthesised. This was injected bilaterally into the VMN of adult mice which were bred for locus of crossover of phage P1 (LoxP) sites within the THRB gene TRβflox/flox) which encodes TRβ . Cre recombination in these mice introduces a frame shift, so that only truncated products are encoded. This results in TRβ knock down in the VMN. Recombinant AAV encoding green fluorescent protein (GFP) (rAAV-GFP) was injected bilaterally into the VMN of control mice. Cre mediated tissue specific knockdown of TRβ in the VMN resulted in a highly significant increase in body weight over sixty three days. The cumulative food intake over the course of the study was significantly greater in mice with TRβ knock down in the VMN compared with controls. Furthermore, mice with intra-VMN TRβ knock down mice failed to become obese when pair-fed to the food intake of control animals, but when allowed to ad libitum feed once again, gained significantly more weight and ate significantly more than controls. The importance of hyperphagia to the obese phenotype was further underscored by the level of uncoupling protein-1 mRNA in brown adipose tissue which was unaltered in intra-VMN TRβ knock down mice. This work is the first to show the essential function of TRβ in the VMN in the regulation of food intake and body weight by demonstrating that TRβ knock down in the VMN results in hyperphagia and obesity

1-(4-Ethoxy­benzo­yl)-4-(4-methoxy­phen­yl)thiosemicarbazide

The title compound, C17H19N3O3S, crystallizes with two closely similar independent mol­ecules related by a pseudotranslation of c/2. Each mol­ecule consists of three approximately planar moieties centred on the N2CS group and the two ring systems. The packing involves classical H bonds of the form Namide—H⋯S and Nhydrazine—H⋯OC, together with various weak hydrogen bonds and Nhydrazine—H⋯π inter­actions. The overall packing is three-dimensional, but layer substructures parallel to the xz plane can be readily identified. Each mol­ecule forms a topologically equivalent set of hydrogen-bond inter­actions

2-(2-Fluoro­biphenyl-4-yl)-N′-(propan-2-yl­idene)propanohydrazide

In the title compound, C18H19FN2O, the hydrazide side chain is approximately perpendicular to the central ring [dihedral angle = 76.80 (5)°]. The F atom is disordered over two positions with occupancies of 0.818 (2) and 0.182 (2). The packing consists of chains of mol­ecules parallel to the a axis, connected by a bifurcated N—H⋯(O,N) hydrogen bond and a weak Cphen­yl—H⋯O hydrogen bond. The packing is extended to a layer structure parallel to the ab plane by a weak Cphen­yl—H⋯F hydrogen bond

Numerical Modeling Baseline for high efficiency (Cu2FeSnS4) CFTS based Thin Film Kesterite Solar Cell

[EN] Cu2FeSnS4 (CFTS) is auspicious nontoxic and earth abundant semiconductor compound having kesterite symmetrical structure. It is an attractive and suitable material for the fabrication of low cost, high efficiency and sustainable thin film photovoltaic cell. ¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿ based kesterite photovoltaic cell device modeling was performed in this work. The influence of device parameters such as the thickness, acceptor and donor carrier concentration densities of absorber and electron transport layer (ETL), effect of back contact metal work function and the temperature effect on the performance of ¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿ based kesterite photovoltaic cell is analyzed by using one dimensional solar cell capacitance simulator (SCAPS) software. In this work, promising optimized results had been achieved with the conversion efficiency of 19.97%, fill factor (¿¿¿¿) 85.94 %, short-circuit current (¿¿¿¿¿¿ ) 23.37 ¿¿¿¿/¿¿¿ 2 and open circuit voltage (¿¿¿¿¿¿ ) 0.995V. The above results will give imperative baselines and feasible directions for the fabrication of higher efficiency ¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿ based photovoltaic cellThis work was supported by Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (ENE2016-77798-C4-2-R) and Generalitat valenciana (Prometeus 2014/044).Khattak, YH.; Baig, F.; Ullah, S.; Marí, B.; Ullah, H. (2018). Numerical Modeling Baseline for high efficiency (Cu2FeSnS4) CFTS based Thin Film Kesterite Solar Cell. Optik - International Journal for Light and Electron Optics. 164:547-555. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijleo.2018.03.055S54755516

Echocardiography And Multimodal Imaging Advancements In Cardiac Imaging

One of the technological sectors that has advanced and evolved the fastest in recent decades is echocardiography. As a non-invasive technique at a reasonable price, it also lends itself in the future to increasingly integrated use at the patient's bedside in any clinical approach situation, from emergencies to interventional environments, operating rooms, clinical routine, outpatient clinics, diagnostics, and monitoring of therapies. The equipment's downsizing will enable a deeper and more comprehensive integration with the clinical physical examination (clinical echocardiography), not only by cardiologists but also by the wide range of clinical specialties in medicine and surgery. This poses significant organizational and training issues to effectively incorporate multimodal imaging and ultrasound diagnostic techniques into the diagnostic and treatment paths of the various subspecialties. Additional developments in portable and miniaturized technologies are also required to achieve reliability at least on par with the highest level of equipment. This collaborative approach to multimodality imaging in cardiology may benefit from artificial intelligence

Modelling of novel-structured copper barium tin sulphide thin film solar cells

[EN] In this work, a novel structured Cu2BaSnS4 (CBTS)/ZnS/Zn(O, S) photovoltaic device is proposed. A nontoxic, earth-abundant and auspicious quaternary semiconductor compound copper barium tin sulphide (Cu2BaSnS4) is used as an absorber layer. We propose a novel Zn(O, S) buffer layer for a high-power conversion efficiency (PCE) of CBTS-based thin film photovoltaic cells. Solar cell capacitance simulator software is used for device modelling and simulations are performed under a 1.5 AM illumination spectrum. The proposed device is investigated by means of numerical modelling and optimized the parameters to maximize its efficiency. Promising optimized functional parameters had been achieved from the proposed structure with back surface field layer with a PCE of 18.18%, a fill factor of 83.45%, a short-circuit current of 16.13 mA cm¿2 and an open-circuit voltage of 1.3 V. The promising results give an imperative standard for possible manufacturing of high efficiency, eco-friendly inorganic CBTS-based photovoltaic cells.This work was supported by Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (ENE2016-77798-C4-2-R) and Generalitat valenciana (Prometeus 2014/044).Hameed, KY.; Baig, F.; Toura, H.; Marí, B.; Beg, S.; Khani, NAK. (2019). Modelling of novel-structured copper barium tin sulphide thin film solar cells. Bulletin of Materials Science. 42(5):1-8. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12034-019-1919-9S18425Ge J, Koirala P, Grice C R, Roland P J, Yu Y, Tan X et al 2017 Adv. Energy Mater. 7 1601803Khattak Y H, Mahmood T, Alam K, Sarwar T, Ullah I and Ullah H 2014 Am. J. Electr. Power Energy Syst. 3 86Steinmann V, Brandt R E and Buonassisi T 2015 Nat. Photonics 9 355Jackson P, Hariskos D, Wuerz R, Kiowski O, Bauer A, Friedlmeier T M et al 2015 Phys. Status Solidi: Rapid. Res. Lett. 9 28Shin D, Saparov B and Mitzi D B 2017 Adv. Energy Mater. 7 1602366Paper C, Le A, Universit D, Universit B, Universit M A, Marchionna S et al 2017 Eur. Photovolt. Sol. Energy Conf. 33 25Khattak Y H, Baig F, Ullah S, Marí B, Beg S and Ullah H 2018 J. Renew. Sustain. Energy 10 033501Fontané X, Izquierdo-Roca V, Saucedo E, Schorr S, Yukhymchuk V O, Valak M Y et al 2012 J. Alloys Compd. 539 190Zhang X, Bao N, Ramasamy K, Wang Y-H A, Yifeng Wang B L and Gupta A 2012 Chem. Commun. 48 4956Adewoyin A D, Olopade M A and Chendo M 2017 Optik—Int. J. Light Electron Opt. 133 122Boutebakh F Z, Zeggar M L, Attaf N and Aida M S 2017 Optik—Int. J. Light Electron Opt. 144 180Ananthakumar S, Ram Kumar J and Moorthy Babu S 2016 Optik—Int. J. Light Electron Opt. 127 10360Jianjun L, Dongxiao W, Xiuling L and Zeng Y 2018 Adv. Sci. 5 1700744Khattak Y H, Baig F, Ullah S, Marí B, Beg S and Ullah H 2018 Optik—Int. J. Light Electron Opt. 164 547Xiao Z, Meng W, Li J V. and Yan Y 2017 ACS Energy Lett. 2 29Shin D, Saparov B, Zhu T, Huhn W P, Blum V and Mitzi D B 2016 Chem. Mater. 28 477Repins I L, Romero M J, Li J V, Wei S-H, Kuciauskas D, Jiang C-S et al 2013 J. Photovoltaics 3 439Zhou H, Hsu W-C, Duan H-S, Bob B, Yang W, Song T-B et al 2013 Energy Environ. Sci. 6 2822Khattak Y H, Baig F, Toura H, Ullah S, Marí B, Beg S et al 2018 Curr. Appl. Phys. 18 633Ge J, Roland P J, Koirala P, Meng W, Young J L, Petersen R et al 2017 Chem. Mater. 29 916Ge J and Yan Y 2017 J. Mater. Chem. C 5 6406Hong F, Lin W, Meng W and Yan Y 2016 Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 18 4828Todorov T, Gunawan O and Guha S 2016 Mol. Syst. Des. Eng. 1 370Baig F, Ullah H, Khattak Y H and Mari Soucase B 2016 Int. Ren. Sus. En. Conf. 596, https://doi.org/10.1109/IRSEC.2016.7983899Lin L-Y, Qiu Y, Zhang Y and Zhang H 2016 Chinese Phys. Lett. 33 10780Platzer B C, Törndahl T, Abou-Ras D, Malmström J, Kessler J and Stolt L 2006 J. Appl. Phys. 100 044506Persson C, Platzer-Björkman C, Malmström J, Törndahl T and Edoff M 2006 Phys. Rev. Lett. 97 146403Burgelman M, Nollet P and Degrave S 2000 Thin Solid Films 361 527Khattak Y H, Baig F, Soucase B M and Beg S 2018 Mater. Focus 84 758Simya O K, Mahaboobbatcha A and Balachander K A 2015 Superlattices Microstruct. 82 248Shin D, Zhu T, Huang X, Gunawan O, Blum V and Mitzi D B 2017 Adv. Mater. 29 1Saha U and Alam M K 2018 Phys. Status Solidi: Rapid Res. Lett. 12 1Zhu T, Huhn W P, Wessler G C, Shin D, Saparov B, Mitzi D B et al 2017 Chem. Mater. 29 7868Ge J, Grice C R and Yan Y 2017 J. Mater. Chem. A 5 2920Baig F, Khattak Y H, Marí B, Beg S, Gillani S R and Ahmed A 2018 Optik—Int. J. Light Electron Opt. 170 463Khattak Y H, Baig F, Ullah S, Marí B, Beg S and Gillani S R 2018 Optik—Int. J. Light Electron Opt. 171 45

Threshold Modeling for Inflation and GDP Growth

The study has evaluated the relationship between the inflation rate and GDP growth of Pakistan using the annual data of inflation rate and GDP growth since 1972 to 2016 for Pakistan. The paper has used the different techniques like; OLS, FMOLS, TAR and dummy method threshold model, to estimate the true relationship between the concerned variables based on the previous studies those gives mixed results. The study has concluded the positive relationship between the inflation rate and economic growth of Pakistan at 5.5% to 9% threshold level of inflation and confirmed the nonlinear relationship between them. And low and double figure inflation rate are considered to have adverse effect on the economic growth of the Pakistan. So to stimulate the stable economic growth of Pakistan we need to have medium rate of inflation

Threshold Modeling for Inflation and GDP Growth

The study has evaluated the relationship between the inflation rate and GDP growth of Pakistan using the annual data of inflation rate and GDP growth since 1972 to 2016 for Pakistan. The paper has used the different techniques like; OLS, FMOLS, TAR and dummy method threshold model, to estimate the true relationship between the concerned variables based on the previous studies those gives mixed results. The study has concluded the positive relationship between the inflation rate and economic growth of Pakistan at 5.5% to 9% threshold level of inflation and confirmed the nonlinear relationship between them. And low and double figure inflation rate are considered to have adverse effect on the economic growth of the Pakistan. So to stimulate the stable economic growth of Pakistan we need to have medium rate of inflation

Cardiovascular fellow-in-training feedback on virtual and simulator-based learning experience during Covid-19 pandemic in a low to middle income country - A cross-sectional study

Background: COVID-19 pandemic has introduced us to a greater need of virtual learning platforms and has resulted in less clinical exposure for fellows-in-training. Virtual and simulator-based learning is not widely available in LMIC. It is imperative to analyze feedback of CV fellow-in-training regarding this mode of learning before large scale implementation.Methodology: This was an observational study conducted between July-August 2020. A multicentered survey was conducted. Survey questionnaire was disseminated to FIT (fellow-in-training) via Google Forms. The questionnaire contained a total of 24 questions about virtual and simulator-based learning during the pandemic.Results: A total of 68 FIT responded to the survey. The mean age was 29.9 years. There were 37% females and 63% males. Majority (75%) agreed that it was easier for them to reach for online sessions than physical sessions. 60% FIT were confident in asking questions or giving comments during the online sessions. 57.4% FIT felt it easier to go through cardiovascular imaging/illustrations via online platforms. 50% (34) were confident that if online sessions had to continue, they would have enough academic learning before they graduated from the program and 54.4% (37) wanted online sessions to continue even beyond the pandemic days. 37.5% (18 out of 48) agreed that the simulator-based teaching was helping them practice skills in times of less clinical exposure.Conclusion: COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted cardiovascular FIT learning curve because of less hands-on and lack of physical teaching sessions. LMIC have lack of robust e-learning platforms. Virtual learning is convenient for academic learning with growing acceptance amongst fellows. FIT from LMIC are less acquaint to simulator-based teaching and there is a need to invest in simulator-based cardiovascular teaching in LMIC

Morphogenetic characterization of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia infecting white stripe disease of rice (Oryza sativa L.)

Rice is a major cereal crop which ensure food security to more than half of the global population. Several biotic factors impact rice grain quality and its final production. White stripe disease, caused by pathogen Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is considered among the major limiting factor for reducing rice yields and quality. Present study was performed to understand the white stripe disease, which has been frequently misdiagnosed as bacterial leaf blight (BLB) due to similar symptoms. A survey was carried out based on accessibility and farmer participation to monitor incidence and sample collection. The survey was conducted in districts Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Sheikhupura, and Hafizabad, these districts were selected for their importance for rice cultivation in Pakistan. The total sample size was around 500 leaves distributed evenly throughout each study area. The results of study indicated presence of new pathogen of rice. These isolates were biochemically identified and confirmed by gram staining negative, 3% KOH positive, 5% salt tolerance positive, oxidase test negative, catalase test positive, starch hydrolysis test negative, nitrate reductase test positive, indole test negative, lactose test positive, maltose test positive, methyl red test negative, Voges-prokauer test negative and urea hydrolysis test negative. The pathogenicity test was confirmed that pathogen and the Sialkot isolate were the most aggressive isolate among the five isolates collected form the studied areas. The molecular characterization was accomplished by PCR and sequencing. The results of the phylogenetic study indicate that this pathogen belongs to a distinct group, as it is distantly related to Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo). This study provides important findings into a novel clade of pathogen causing white stripe disease in rice