Design of an R.F. Excited Helium Neon Visible Gas Laser and Study of the Optimal Conditions for Gas Mixtures and Pressures

Design of a continuous were helium-neon visible gas laser has been described. Brewster angle window of fused quartz and external concave mirrors of B.S.C. glass have been used in the fabrication of resonant cavity. An RF oscillator having variable frequency in the range of 20-30 MHz and an out-put power of about 50 watts served as excitation source. Different mixture ratios of He and Ne have been tried and for each ratio power output was measured versus total pressure inside the discharge tube keeping cavity length constant. The optimum power output has been obtained for 5:1 mixture at 1.4 torr for a tube of length 55 cm and internal diameter 0.5 cm. Laser action at 1.53 meu has been achieved.

Laser Sources for Underwater Applications

Blue-green lasers are finding potential use in underwater applications both civil as well as military. An attempt has been made to review the present state-of art of the blue-green lasers technology and future plans for achieving the desired goal

An overview of the predictors of symptomatic urinary tract infection among nursing students

Background: Urinary tract infection (UTI) is the most common infection experienced by humans after respiratory and gastro‑intestinal infections, and also the most common cause of nosocomial infections for patients admitted to hospitals indeed UTIs are the most frequent bacterial infection in women. Aim: The aim was to determine the prevalence of UTI and to identify factors associated with an increased risk of UTI among nursing students. Subjects and Methods: The cross‑sectional study involved 177 unmarried nursing students aged 18–30 years studying in the SRMSIMS, Nursing College Bareilly. A structured questionnaire was used, and study subjects were asked regarding the symptoms of UTI in the previous 3 months. Chi‑square test and Univariate Logistic Regression was used to analyze the data. Results: The overall prevalence of UTI was found to be 19.8% (35/177). Rural background, inadequate water intake, and unsatisfactory toilet habits were found to be strong predictors of UTI. Conclusions: There is an urgent need to sensitize the nursing students regarding the growing need of the issue so that they themselves become aware in addition to raising the awareness of other high‑risk groups.Keywords: Nursing students, Prevalence, Urinary tract infectio

Comparative study of hexane extract for volatile and non volatile components of leaves and rhizomes of Acorus calamus linn. using high performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC)

The present communication attempts to evaluate the comparative study of leaves and rhizomes of Acorus calamus Linn. (Family; Araceae) using High Performance Thin Layer Chromatography (HPTLC). Since the plant contains various volatile and non-volatile components so paper advocates the quantitative study using hexane extract. Acorus calamus Linn. is a well known medicinal plant in traditional medical systems  having various ethno-pharmacological uses. As the official source of the plant is roots and rhizomes, but here study had been done comparatively with leaves. Previously leaves of Acorus calamus were not regarded as useful part of plant, but recently there is growing interest in leaves of the said plant. The leaves are considered to possess various activities such as an insect repellent, when cut up and kept with grain storage; anti-hyperlipidemic; anti-diabetic; antipsychotic; anti-inflammatory and analgesic. As there is no detailed work reported in leaf constituents of the plant, therefore the study revealed specific quantitative HPTLC data for the plant for future standardization work. HPTLC analysis of both leaves and rhizomes showed the presence of Asarone, β- sitosterol, lupeol and Ursolic acid when matched with marker compounds

Identifikacija i karakterizacija imunodominantnih antigena oblića Toxocara vitulorum u bivola (Bubalus bubalis).

Electrophoretic analysis of perienteric fluid antigen (PeAg), uterine antigen (UtAg), body wall antigen (BWAg) and whole worm extract antigen (WWEAg) showed 26, 23, 20 and 21 polypeptides in the range of 11.5-147.3, 20.3-147.3, 19.7-139.5 and 20.3- 126.3 kDa, respectively. Among the 4 antigens, 7 polypeptides of 20.3, 43.6, 53.1, 57.4, 66.9, 111.3 and 126.3 kDa were found to be common. The Western blotting analysis of PeAg, UtAg, BWAg and WWEAg, using high titre sera from heavily infected buffalo calves, revealed 5 immunodominant polypeptides of the mol. wt. 11.5, 66.9, 74.9, 105.5 and 126.3 kDa; 4 polypeptides of the mol. wt. 66.9, 83.4, 105.5 and 111.3 kDa; 6 polypeptides of 24.1, 33.7, 43.6, 57.4, 60.3 and 76.2 kDa; and 4 polypeptides of 30.4, 53.1, 57.4 and 66.9 kDa, respectively. The 66.9 kDa antigen was found to be immunodominant in 3 of the referral antigens (PeAg, UtAg and WWEAg) while 105.5 kDa antigen was immunodominant in PeAg and UtAg and a 57.4 kDa antigen in BWAg and WWEAg. Cross reactivity of Haemonchus spp. and Paramphistomum epiclitum antigens with T. vitulorum positive sera by western blotting revealed no cross reactive polypeptide and the 66.9 kDa antigen found in the somatic antigens of T. vitulorum may be a specifi c immunodominant antigen and could be further exploited for immunodiagnosis of latent toxocarosis.Elektroforetska analiza antigena podrijetlom od perienteralne tekućine (PeAg), maternice (UtAg), te kutikule (BWAg) i somatskoga antigena (WWEAg) oblića Toxocara vitulorum pokazala je prisutnost 26 (PeAg), 23 (UtAg), 20 (BWAg) i 21 (WWEAg) polipeptida u rasponu od 11,5 do 147,3, od 20,3 do 147,3, od 19,7 do 139,5 i od 20,3 do 126,3 kDa. U četiri pretražena antigena najučestaliji su bili polipeptidi od 20,3, 43,6, 53,1, 57,4, 66,9, 111,3 i 126,3 kDa. Western blot analizom antigena podrijetlom perienteralne tekućine dokazano je pet imunodominantnih polipeptida molekularne mase 11,5, 66,9, 74,9, 105,5 i 126,3 kDa; podrijetlom od maternične tekućine četiri polipeptida molekularne mase od 66,9, 3,4, 105,5 i 111,3 kDa; podrijetlom od kutikule šest polipeptida molekularne mase od 24,1, 33,7, 43,6, 57,4, 60,3 i 76,2 kDa, dok se somatski antigen sastojao od četiri polipeptida mase od 30,4, 53,1, 57,4 i 66,9 kDa. Potvrđena je imunodominantnost antigena molekulske mase od 66,9 kDa za tri referentna antigena (PeAg, UtAg i WWEAg). Antigen od 105,5 kDa bio je imunodominantan u perienteralnoj tekućini i maternici dok je antigen od 57,4 kDa bio imunodominantan u kutikuli i iscrpku od cijeloga parazita odnosno kao somatski antigen. Treba istaknuti da antigen od 66,9 kDa nije pokazivao križnu reakciju s antigenima oblića Haemonchus spp. i Paramphistomum epiclitum što govori o njegovoj specifičnosti i mogućnosti njegova korištenja za imunodijagnostiku latentne toksokaroze

Transethnic analysis of the human leukocyte antigen region for ulcerative colitis reveals not only shared but also ethnicity-specific disease associations

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the gut. Genetic association studies have identified the highly variable human leukocyte antigen (HLA) region as the strongest susceptibility locus for IBD, and specifically DRB1*01:03 as a determining factor for ulcerative colitis (UC). However, for most of the association signal such a delineation could not be made due to tight structures of linkage disequilibrium within the HLA. The aim of this study was therefore to further characterize the HLA signal using a trans-ethnic approach. We performed a comprehensive fine mapping of single HLA alleles in UC in a cohort of 9,272 individuals with African American, East Asian, Puerto Rican, Indian and Iranian descent and 40,691 previously analyzed Caucasians, additionally analyzing whole HLA haplotypes. We computationally characterized the binding of associated HLA alleles to human self-peptides and analysed the physico-chemical properties of the HLA proteins and predicted self-peptidomes. Highlighting alleles of the HLA-DRB1*15 group and their correlated HLA-DQ-DR haplotypes, we identified consistent associations across different ethnicities but also identified population-specific signals. We observed that DRB1*01:03 is mostly present in individuals of Western European descent and hardly present in non-Caucasian individuals. We found peptides predicted to bind to risk HLA alleles to be rich in positively charged amino acids such. We conclude that the HLA plays an important role for UC susceptibility across different ethnicities. This research further implicates specific features of peptides that are predicted to bind risk and protective HLA proteins

A survey of canine tick-borne diseases in India

Background: There are few published reports on canine Babesia, Ehrlichia, Anaplasma, Hepatozoon and haemotropic Mycoplasma infections in India and most describe clinical disease in individual dogs, diagnosed by morphological observation of the microorganisms in stained blood smears. This study investigated the occurrence and distribution of canine tick-borne disease (TBD) pathogens using a combination of conventional and molecular diagnostic techniques in four cities in India. Results: On microscopy examination, only Hepatozoon gamonts were observed in twelve out of 525 (2.3%; 95% CI: 1.2, 4) blood smears. Using polymerase chain reaction (PCR), a total of 261 from 525 dogs (49.7%; 95% CI: 45.4, 54.1) in this study were infected with one or more canine tick-borne pathogen. Hepatozoon canis (30%; 95% CI: 26.0, 34.0) was the most common TBD pathogen found infecting dogs in India followed by Ehrlichia canis (20.6%; 95% CI: 17.2, 24.3), Mycoplasma haemocanis (12.2%; 95% CI: 9.5, 15.3), Anaplasma platys (6.5%; 95% CI: 4.5, 8.9), Babesia vogeli (5.5%, 95% CI: 3.7, 7.8) and Babesia gibsoni (0.2%, 95% CI: 0.01, 1.06). Concurrent infection with more than one TBD pathogen occurred in 39% of cases. Potential tick vectors, Rhipicephalus (most commonly) and/or Haemaphysalis ticks were found on 278 (53%) of dogs examined. Conclusions: At least 6 species of canine tick-borne pathogens are present in India. Hepatozoon canis was the most common pathogen and ticks belonging to the genus Rhipicephalus were encountered most frequently. Polymerase chain reaction was more sensitive in detecting circulating pathogens compared with peripheral blood smear examination. As co-infections with canine TBD pathogens were common, Indian veterinary practitioners should be cognisant that the discovery of one such pathogen raises the potential for multiple infections which may warrant different clinical management strategies

Genome-wide association studies of autoimmune vitiligo identify 23 new risk loci and highlight key pathways and regulatory variants

Vitiligo is an autoimmune disease in which depigmented skin results from the destruction of melanocytes1, with epidemiological association with other autoimmune diseases2. In previous linkage and genome-wide association studies (GWAS1 and GWAS2), we identified 27 vitiligo susceptibility loci in patients of European ancestry. We carried out a third GWAS (GWAS3) in European-ancestry subjects, with augmented GWAS1 and GWAS2 controls, genome-wide imputation, and meta-analysis of all three GWAS, followed by an independent replication. The combined analyses, with 4,680 cases and 39,586 controls, identified 23 new significantly associated loci and 7 suggestive loci. Most encode immune and apoptotic regulators, with some also associated with other autoimmune diseases, as well as several melanocyte regulators. Bioinformatic analyses indicate a predominance of causal regulatory variation, some of which corresponds to expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) at these loci. Together, the identified genes provide a framework for the genetic architecture and pathobiology of vitiligo, highlight relationships with other autoimmune diseases and melanoma, and offer potential targets for treatment