The Utility of Capsule Endoscopy in Patients under 50 Years of Age with Recurrent Iron Deficiency Anaemia: Is the Juice Worth the Squeeze?

Background and Aims. The role of capsule endoscopy (CE) in the <50 years of age patients with iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) remains unclear. We aim to assess its utility in this cohort. Methods. All patients referred for CE for recurrent IDA were included retrospectively. Patients were divided into Group 1 (<50 years) and Group 2 (≥50 years). Results. There were 971 patients with recurrent IDA and 28% belonged to Group 1. The mean age was 40 years in this group with a DY of 28% (). Significant diagnoses included erosions and ulcers (26%; ), small bowel (SB) angioectasia (AE) (10%; ), SB tumours (3%; ), Crohn’s disease (3%; ), SB bowel strictures (1%; ), and SB varices (1%; ). On logistic regression, the presence of diabetes () and the use of warfarin () was associated with increased DY. The DY in Group 2 was 38% which was significantly higher than in Group 1 (). While SB tumours were equally common in both groups, AE was commoner in Group 2 (). Conclusion. A significant proportion of patients <50 years are referred for CE. Although the DY is lower compared to those ≥50 years, significant pathology is found in this age group. CE is advisable in patients <50 years old with recurrent IDA and negative bidirectional endoscopies

Generalization Index: Defining a metric for the detection of smells in UML Class Diagrams in Eclipse Modeling Framework in Eclipse

In the field of Software Engineering, while designing the software design and maintaining the source code quality, a lot of good and bad practices come into being. With the continuous evolutions in the field of modeling in software development processes, Model Driven Software Development (MDSD), focuses towards the quality of software models. Unified Modeling Language (UML) is a graphical notation for expressing object-oriented designs. With its emergence as a modeling standard and being widely accepted by most software development organizations, in this research paper we focus on UML Class Diagrams. Metrics are mathematical models used for measuring. In software engineering, metrics are utilized for measuring quality aspects of software models. A manual model review is very time consuming and prone to errors, so it becomes essential to automate the tasks as effectively as possible. The Eclipse plug-in EMF Metrics supports specification and calculation of metrics wrt. specific EMF based models. A new definition technique for EMF quality assurance can be defined using Java, an OCL query or Henshin Pattern. In this paper we propose an algorithm for the calculation a new metric named Generalization Index Metric (GIX) for Java Code

UV Spectrum of 1,3-Dithiolan-2-one in Cyclohexane

1094-109

A Study of Knowledge Attitude and Practice Regarding HIV/AIDS among Adolescents

Introduction: In this world of 7.2 billion people, 1.2 billion live in India and out of these, 243 million, i.e., 20.9% of the population are adolescents, between 10 and 19 years, as per 2011. This makes India the world’s largest adolescent-living country. As per WHO, HIV is the second leading cause of death among adolescents. In Dist. Bathinda, 99,595 people were tested out of which 1339, i.e., 1.34% were found to be positive till February 2014. Hence school education has been described as a ‘social vaccine,’ and it can serve as a powerful preventive tool. In India, there is a wide gap between the inputs in the HIV/AIDS curriculum for schools and the actual education that is imparted.Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among adolescents (14 to 19 years) in three randomly chosen co-educational schools in Bathinda. Adolescents from 14 to 19 years in randomly chosen schools were included in the study. A pre-designed, pre-structured, pre-tested questionnaire was introduced to the participants by the interviewer in English and Hindi. Privacy of the schools and the participants was maintained by not mentioning their names anywhere in the study. Data was collected regarding knowledge, attitude and prevalence regarding HIV/AIDS.Results: A total of 401 adolescents were enrolled in our study out of which 282 were males and 119 females. Almost all the adolescents, i.e., 99.8% had heard about the term HIV/AIDS. 74.8% had TV and 61.6% internet as their source of information. A large number, i.e., 85.3% adolescents (87.6% male adolescents and 79.8% female adolescents) knew that sexual contact could be the mode of transmission of HIV/AIDS. A large number, i.e., 71.82% (80.14% males and 52.1% females) knew that HIV/AIDS could be prevented by using condoms. 52 adolescents had history of previous sexual exposure out of whom 48 used condoms during the last sexual contact. The association was significant between the knowledge and practice regarding the use of condom (highly significant: p<0.01).Conclusion: Thus this study reveals that still much has to be done towards imparting information about HIV/AIDS among adolescents, which could be done through many ways, like involving them in various activities at health centers as and when any IEC activities are carried out. Moreover schools and parents should also involve themselves and impart them more information regarding the disease. Mothers play an important role in providing more information to girl adolescents. Thus a collective effort is needed so as to have a bright future of these adolescents

Taxonomic studies on subgenus Pseudomegachile Friese under genus Megachile Latreille (Hymenoptera) from Sutlej basin plains (India)

Genus Megachile forms an integral part of the ecosystem as its members are important pollinators of both wild and cultivated flora. Surveying on a large scale helps in gathering a lot of information about their spatial and temporal data. This also helps in studying their biodiversity and taxonomy. Three species of solitary bees under subgenus Pseudomegachile Friese of the genus Megachile Latreille collected from Sutlej basin plains of India have been studied and described taxonomically. Megachile (Pseudomegachile) creusa (Bingham), M. (P.) ramakrishnae Cockerell and M. (P.) elfrona (Cameron) with 21 examples are described including their morphological characters, taxonomically important characters, zoogeographic records, floral associations along with genitalic and sternal plates. Since most of the areas included in the study have been surveyed first time for Megachile study, these are new records for the studied area

Genetic variability in CMS backcross generations and their maintainers in eggplant (Solanum melongena L.)

Twelve genotypes of eggplant in BC3, BC4 and BC5 generations of CMS-lines derived from Solanum ae-thiopicum × Solanum melongena cross along with their maintainers were evaluated for eighteen quantitative charac-ters at Punjab Agricultural University Ludhiana. Analysis of variance depicted significant variation (P ? 0.05) for all the characters in all generations. High PCV and GCV values were observed for fruit length, fruit girth, fruit weight, number of fruits plant-1 and yield plant-1 in all generations indicating high variability in the germplasm. High heritability coupled with high genetic advance was found for peduncle length, fruit length, fruit girth, fruit weight, number of fruits plant-1 and yield plant-1 in all generations indicating the predominance of additive gene action for these traits. Thus, selections can be made from present germplasm for the development of improved CMS inbred lines with varying fruit traits

Synthesis and studies of the coordination chemistry with catalytic applications of tripodal ligands based on nitrogen, oxygen and sulfur donors

This thesis describes the synthesis of a series of mixed N,0,S donor ligands, their co-ordination chemistry using palladium, rhodium and iridium metal precursors and their catalytic behaviour. First synthesised were a series of potential tripodal oxygen donor ligands mimicking the synthesis of meTAM but incorporating a fourth additional group that was hoped to preferentially co-ordinate to a metal centre. A variety of synthetic pathways were unsuccessfully employed to synthesise mixed donor ligands using aliphatic bidentate backbones. This work was followed by the synthesis, structure and co-ordination chemistry of novel tripodal ligands containing bis(l-methylimidazol-2-yl)methyl methane in combination with an ether or sulfide functionality. These N,N,0 and N,N,S ligands were expected to demonstrate properties intermediate of those of the Trofimenko and Klaui ligands. As expected these ligands found application in both co-ordination chemistry and organometallic chemistry, as a series of metal complexes of the N,N,0 and N,N,S hemilabile ligands were isolated and fully characterised crystal structures of Pd, Rh and Ir complexes are illustrated above. The Pd(II) complexes were found to be active catalysts in the Heck coupling of alkenes with aryl halides.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Vitamin B6 Deficiency and Galactose Induced Alterations in Morphology and Osmotic Fragility of Rat Erythrocytes

Recently, red blood cells have been investigated mainly for alterations in ion transporting capacity, membrane bound enzymes or modifications in the structure of its individual constituents in clinical and experimental urolithiasis. However, the implication of such modifications on the physical state or morphology of cells has not been investigated. Scanning electron microscopic studies performed in vitamin B6 deficient and/or galactose fed rat (established hyperoxaluric models) erythrocytes, showed the presence of large number of stomatocytes, spherocytes and other variously deformed cells as compared to discocytic cells seen in normal control group. These changes in shape were in concurrence with red cell osmotic fragility, which decreased both in vitamin B6 deficient and vitamin B6 deficient + galactose fed group (19% and 33% hemolysis at 4 g/l NaCl, respectively) while it increased in galactose control group (73% hemolysis at 4 g/l NaCl) as compared to normal control group (55 % hemolysis at 4 g/l NaCl). These morphological and physical state alterations could be correlated with red blood cells\u27 membrane cholesterol and phospholipid sub-class distribution. These findings suggest that some structural membrane changes occur due to vitamin B6 deficiency and/or galactose feeding, which may be responsible for the altered membrane functions known to be associated with pathogenesis of urolithiasis

Revisiting polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon emission in Photodissociation regions

The mid-infrared (IR) spectrum of almost all objects in the Universe is dominated by a set of strong emission features characteristic of a class of large organic molecules made of carbon and hydrogen known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). These molecules account for ~15% of the cosmic carbon and ~20% of the total IR power of the Milky Way and star-forming galaxies. They are strong absorbers of ultraviolet (UV) photons and release the absorbed energy through vibrational transitions that result in strong IR emission features. PAHs play a critical role in the evolution of the interstellar medium (ISM) as they drive much of the ISM’s heating and ionization balance. As a result, detailed knowledge of the molecular astrophysics of PAHs, including a thorough understanding of their molecular properties and their interactions with the environment in which they reside, is crucial to understand the evolution of the ISM. Although decades of experimental, theoretical, and observational work have helped gain important insights into the behaviour of PAHs in the ISM, our understanding is far from complete. In this thesis, we investigate the astrophysical behaviour of PAHs from both an observational and theoretical standpoint. Our observational study focuses on identifying the key parameters that drive the PAH behaviour in two well-known Galactic reflection nebulae, NGC 2023 and NGC 7023, using a Principal Component Analysis. We find that the amount of PAH emission, which represents the PAH abundance and excitation, and the PAH charge state are the only two parameters that drive their behaviour in both environments. In our theoretical study, we develop a model that determines the charge distribution of PAHs and uses it to compute the PAH emission spectrum in astrophysical environments. The relative strengths of the PAH emission features predicted by our model in the Orion Bar, NGC 2023, NGC 7023, the Horsehead nebula, and the diffuse ISM compare well to those obtained from observations. Furthermore, the results of our model highlight the necessity of experimentally determined electron-recombination rates of PAHs and the molecular characteristics of PAH anions, both of which are crucial in understanding PAH behaviour but for which the data is scarce to date