Raman Spectroscopy and Mapping Analysis of Low-Dimensional Nanostructured Materials and Systems

This chapter describes the use of Raman spectroscopy and mapping analysis for the characterization of low dimensional nanostructures, including 2D sheets (graphene oxide, graphene sheets, MoS2, siloxene), and one-dimensional carbyne chains. The Raman mapping analysis and their application towards understanding the molecular level interactions in these low dimensional materials, nanostructured polymer composites, and nanopaints are also discussed. The stoichiometric composition and structure of these low dimensional materials were correlated with the Raman spectral and mapping analysis. Further, Raman spectroscopy for understanding or probing the mechanism of mechanical to electrical energy harvesting properties of carbyne films via the structural transformation from cumulene to polynne networks of carbyne is demonstrated

Multivariate analysis on blackgram genotypes for bruchine (Callosobruchus maculatus F.) resistance towards selection of parental lines

Black gram (Vigna mungo (L.) Hepper) is one of the most important pulse crops in daily diets. However, black gram production and post-harvest preservation are still tedious due to the losses caused by the storage pest bruchine, Callosobruchus maculatus (F.), both quantitatively and qualitatively.   Hence, the present study involves the utilization of the multivariate analysis by effectively understanding variation among the genotypes based on their level of bruchine infestation. The multivariate studies indicated that the traits viz., the total number of adult emergence (AE), seed damage % (SD) and seed weight loss % (SWL) had more variation and with more significant correlation among them.  Also, these traits are the most influential principal component traits governing 88% of the variation among genotypes. The divergence analysis showed that the genotype TU 68 found in cluster II would have the potential to create the variation for bruchine infestation among the black gram genotypes involved in the study.  As it has scored lesser adult emergence (AE) (7 adults), seed damage % (SD) (14 %) and seed weight loss % (SWL) (17.79 %)  than the other genotypes. It shows the resistant nature of the genotype against bruchine beetles. Hence, TU 68 could be utilized in the future hybridization programme as a donor for bruchine resistance

Susceptibility baselines for the invasive mealybugs Phenacoccus manihoti and Paracoccus marginatus (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) in cassava ecosystem against selected neonicotinoid insecticides

In recent years, an invasive cassava mealybug Phenacoccus manihoti has been threatening cassava cultivation alongside another invasive papaya mealybug Paracoccus marginatus which invaded the country more than a decade ago. In order to evaluate their responses against the commonly used neonicotinoid insecticides: thiamethoxam 25 WG and imidacloprid 17.8 SL,  acute toxicity experiments to determine the susceptibility baselines in populations of two invasive mealybugs in the cassava agro-ecosystem, namely, cassava mealybug P. manihoti and papaya mealybug P. marginatus were performed upto 15 generations. A systemic uptake method was used for the bioassay. The LC50 values of thiamethoxam for F1 generation were 3.298 ppm whereas it was 1.066 ppm for F15 in cassava mealybug. The LC50 values of F1 generation were 2.014 ppm and that of F15 generation was 1.384 ppm when tested with imidacloprid. In the case of papaya mealybug, the LC50 values ranged from 6.138 ppm (F1) to 2.503 ppm (F15) for thiamethoxam and 7.457 ppm (F1) to 3.231 ppm (F15) for imidacloprid. All the susceptibility indices calculated were less than threefold. The rate of resistance development was negative in all cases showing that none of the tested populations harboured any resistance without insecticidal selection pressure. Tentative discriminating doses were fixed for both chemicals with the help of LC95 values obtained from the bioassay experiments, namely five ppm for both thiamethoxam and imidacloprid in the case of cassava mealybug and 10 ppm and 15 ppm, respectively, for thiamethoxam and imidacloprid in the case of papaya mealybug.          

Method validation and monitoring of emamectin benzoate in mature banana fruit with peel and pulp through Liquid chromatography-Mass spectrometry/ Mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS)

Emamectin benzoate has been frequently used in the banana ecosystem to combat the damage of pseudostem weevil. Therefore, the present study was conducted to validate the method, to assess harvest time residues and monitor emamectin benzoate residues in mature banana peel and pulp samples through LC-MS/MS. The validated method was used to determine emamectin benzoate residue in market banana samples. The study used Waters Alliance LC and Acquity TQD with an electrospray ionization interface in the positive ion mode. An isocratic flow of 0.1% formic acid (HCOOH) in water and 0.1% HCOOH in acetonitrile (CH3CN) was utilised for separation. CH3CN was utilised to extract emamectin benzoate residue from the samples, and a dispersive solid-phase extraction technique was used for subsequent cleanup. Linearity tests were performed with standard solutions containing 0.01 to 0.1 g mL-1, with three replicates for each concentration. For mature banana peel & pulp and mature banana pulp matrices, satisfactory recoveries of 79.85 to 95.09% and 89.20 to 100.94%, respectively and high precision relative standard deviations of 0.56 to 2.34% and 2.33 to 6.88%, respectively were obtained. For mature banana (peel and pulp, pulp alone) fruits, the lower detection and quantification limits were (0.003, 0.008), and (0.002, 0.007). The validated approach was utilised to analyse mature banana fruit samples obtained from emamectin benzoate treated fields and banana samples purchased from the local market.  Results showed satisfactory validation of parameters like linearity, the limit of detection and quantification, and recovery for determining emamectin benzoate residues in banana fruit

Nanostructured Materials for the Development of Superhydrophobic Coatings

This chapter describes the results of developing superhydrophobic coatings using porous ZnO nanostructures impregnated metal stearates and their applications. The porous ZnO nanostructures with a surface area of 9.7 m2/g and pores in the range from 200 to 400 nm have been prepared via precipitation cum calcination route. The superhydrophobic coatings comprising ZnO/metal stearate film have been deposited using a spray coating method. The developed superhydrophobic films possess a water contact angle of 161° that can be explained using the Cassie-Baxter model. The prepared films exhibited excellent floating properties and high load-bearing characteristics over a prolonged time. Additionally, the self-cleaning properties of the developed superhydrophobic films towards dust removal and self-cleaning urinary coatings are also demonstrated. This chapter collectively presented the novel applications of superhydrophobic coating in the development of biomedical coatings and applications in water surveillance and underwater robotics

Global burden of cardiovascular diseases and risk factors, 1990–2019: update from the GBD 2019 study

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), principally ischemic heart disease (IHD) and stroke, are the leading cause of global mortality and a major contributor to disability. This paper reviews the magnitude of total CVD burden, including 13 underlying causes of cardiovascular death and 9 related risk factors, using estimates from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study 2019. GBD, an ongoing multinational collaboration to provide comparable and consistent estimates of population health over time, used all available population-level data sources on incidence, prevalence, case fatality, mortality, and health risks to produce estimates for 204 countries and territories from 1990 to 2019. Prevalent cases of total CVD nearly doubled from 271 million (95% uncertainty interval [UI]: 257 to 285 million) in 1990 to 523 million (95% UI: 497 to 550 million) in 2019, and the number of CVD deaths steadily increased from 12.1 million (95% UI:11.4 to 12.6 million) in 1990, reaching 18.6 million (95% UI: 17.1 to 19.7 million) in 2019. The global trends for disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) and years of life lost also increased significantly, and years lived with disability doubled from 17.7 million (95% UI: 12.9 to 22.5 million) to 34.4 million (95% UI:24.9 to 43.6 million) over that period. The total number of DALYs due to IHD has risen steadily since 1990, reaching 182 million (95% UI: 170 to 194 million) DALYs, 9.14 million (95% UI: 8.40 to 9.74 million) deaths in the year 2019, and 197 million (95% UI: 178 to 220 million) prevalent cases of IHD in 2019. The total number of DALYs due to stroke has risen steadily since 1990, reaching 143 million (95% UI: 133 to 153 million) DALYs, 6.55 million (95% UI: 6.00 to 7.02 million) deaths in the year 2019, and 101 million (95% UI: 93.2 to 111 million) prevalent cases of stroke in 2019. Cardiovascular diseases remain the leading cause of disease burden in the world. CVD burden continues its decades-long rise for almost all countries outside high-income countries, and alarmingly, the age-standardized rate of CVD has begun to rise in some locations where it was previously declining in high-income countries. There is an urgent need to focus on implementing existing cost-effective policies and interventions if the world is to meet the targets for Sustainable Development Goal 3 and achieve a 30% reduction in premature mortality due to noncommunicable diseases

Global Burden of Cardiovascular Diseases and Risk Factors, 1990–2019: Update From the GBD 2019 Study

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), principally ischemic heart disease (IHD) and stroke, are the leading cause of global mortality and a major contributor to disability. This paper reviews the magnitude of total CVD burden, including 13 underlying causes of cardiovascular death and 9 related risk factors, using estimates from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study 2019. GBD, an ongoing multinational collaboration to provide comparable and consistent estimates of population health over time, used all available population-level data sources on incidence, prevalence, case fatality, mortality, and health risks to produce estimates for 204 countries and territories from 1990 to 2019. Prevalent cases of total CVD nearly doubled from 271 million (95% uncertainty interval [UI]: 257 to 285 million) in 1990 to 523 million (95% UI: 497 to 550 million) in 2019, and the number of CVD deaths steadily increased from 12.1 million (95% UI:11.4 to 12.6 million) in 1990, reaching 18.6 million (95% UI: 17.1 to 19.7 million) in 2019. The global trends for disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) and years of life lost also increased significantly, and years lived with disability doubled from 17.7 million (95% UI: 12.9 to 22.5 million) to 34.4 million (95% UI:24.9 to 43.6 million) over that period. The total number of DALYs due to IHD has risen steadily since 1990, reaching 182 million (95% UI: 170 to 194 million) DALYs, 9.14 million (95% UI: 8.40 to 9.74 million) deaths in the year 2019, and 197 million (95% UI: 178 to 220 million) prevalent cases of IHD in 2019. The total number of DALYs due to stroke has risen steadily since 1990, reaching 143 million (95% UI: 133 to 153 million) DALYs, 6.55 million (95% UI: 6.00 to 7.02 million) deaths in the year 2019, and 101 million (95% UI: 93.2 to 111 million) prevalent cases of stroke in 2019. Cardiovascular diseases remain the leading cause of disease burden in the world. CVD burden continues its decades-long rise for almost all countries outside high-income countries, and alarmingly, the age-standardized rate of CVD has begun to rise in some locations where it was previously declining in high-income countries. There is an urgent need to focus on implementing existing cost-effective policies and interventions if the world is to meet the targets for Sustainable Development Goal 3 and achieve a 30% reduction in premature mortality due to noncommunicable diseases

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

Degloving injuries of the hand

Avulsion of skin from the hand or fingers is an injury that has a dramatic presentation. The entire musculo-skeletal unit of the finger is intact, and the patient can often move the parts of his naked hand quite normally. The challenge for the reconstructive surgeon lies in resurfacing the hand or finger with a good quality pliable sensate skin cover while preserving the movements and function of the hand. Traditionally, skin grafting has been the standard method of reconstruction in such injuries. However, skin grafting does have many disadvantages, too. This article deals with the features of such injuries, management protocols and other reconstructive options available in the armamentarium of the hand surgeon