Prevalence of hypothyroidism in type 2 diabetic adult Indian females and its correlation with age, HbA1c, BMI and duration of diabetes

Background: Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus are more prone to thyroid disorders. Hypothyroidism in them leads to an aggravation of microvascular complications. Screening for thyroid dysfunction in diabetic patients will allow early treatment of hypothyroidism. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of hypothyroidism in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and its correlation with age, HbA1c, BMI and duration of diabetes. Methods: This was a cross sectional study that was conducted at department of medicine GSVM medical college, Kanpur. 200 female patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus attending the outpatient department without any prior history of thyroid disease, chronic liver disease or acute illness were recruited for the study. Results: Our study describes 14% prevalence of hypothyroidism (subclinical hypothyroidism 13.5%) among 200 diabetic subjects. Hypothyroidism was more common in older age group maximum seen in age group 70-79 years (66.7%). Hypothyroidism was more common in subjects having diabetes for a longer duration; maximum seen in 25-30 years group (40%). No correlation was found between BMI and hypothyroidism. Conclusions: The prevalence of hypothyroidism was 14% among female patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus in this study. Overt hypothyroidism was 0.5 % and subclinical hypothyroidism was more common (13.5%) among the study subjects. Hypothyroidism was more common in older age group. and in subjects having diabetes for longer duration. No corelation was found between prevalence of hypothyroidism and body mass index (BMI)

Modeling of Soil Profile Produced by a Single Sweep Tool

Rosana G. Moreira, Editor-in-Chief; Texas A&M UniversityThis is a paper from International Commission of Agricultural Engineering (CIGR, Commission Internationale du Genie Rural) E-Journal Volume 8 (2006): Modeling of Soil Profile Produced by a Single Sweep Tool. Manuscript PM 06 008. Vol. VIII. May, 2006

Measurement of the topological surface state optical conductance in bulk-insulating Sn-doped Bi1.1_{1.1}Sb0.9_{0.9}Te2_2S single crystals

Topological surface states have been extensively observed via optics in thin films of topological insulators. However, in typical thick single crystals of these materials, bulk states are dominant and it is difficult for optics to verify the existence of topological surface states definitively. In this work, we studied the charge dynamics of the newly formulated bulk-insulating Sn-doped Bi$_{1.1}$Sb$_{0.9}$Te$_2$S crystal by using time-domain terahertz spectroscopy. This compound shows much better insulating behavior than any other bulk-insulating topological insulators reported previously. The transmission can be enhanced an amount which is 5$\%$ of the zero-field transmission by applying magnetic field to 7 T, an effect which we believe is due to the suppression of topological surface states. This suppression is essentially independent of the thicknesses of the samples, showing the two-dimensional nature of the transport. The suppression of surface states in field allows us to use the crystal slab itself as a reference sample to extract the surface conductance, mobility, charge density and scattering rate. Our measurements set the stage for the investigation of phenomena out of the semi-classical regime, such as the topological magneto-electric effect.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, submitted in Augus

Resonance-state-induced superconductivity at high Indium contents in In-doped SnTe

We report a reinvestigation of superconducting Sn$_{1-x}$In$_{x}$Te at both low and high In doping levels. Analysis of the superconductivity reveals a fundamental change as a function of \textit{x}: the system evolves from a weakly coupled to a strongly coupled superconductor with increasing indium content. Hall Effect measurements further show that the carrier density does not vary linearly with Indium content; indeed at high Indium content, the samples are overall \textit{n}-type, which is contrary to expectations of the standard picture of In$^{1+}$ replacing Sn$^{2+}$ in this material. Density functional theory calculations probing the electronic state of In in SnTe show that it does not act as a trivial hole dopant, but instead forms a distinct, partly filled In 5\textit{s} - Te 5\textit{p} hybridized state centered around E$_F$, very different from what is seen for other nominal hole dopants such as Na, Ag, and vacant Sn sites. We conclude that superconducting In-doped SnTe therefore cannot be considered as a simple hole doped semiconductor.Comment: 12 pages and 7 figure

Detection of a quasi-periodic oscillation in gamma-ray light curve of the high redshift blazar B2 1520+31

We detected a possible quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) of ~ 71 days in the 0.1 -- 300 GeV gamma-ray Fermi-LAT light curve of the high redshift flat spectrum radio quasar B2 1520+31. We identify and confirm that quasi-period by Lomb Scargle periodogram (LSP), and weighted wavelet z-transform (WWZ) analyses. Using this QPO period, and assuming it originates from accretion-disc fluctuations at the innermost stable circular orbit, we estimate the central supermassive black hole mass to range between ~ 5.4 * 10$^{9}$ M$_{\odot}$ for a non-rotating black hole and ~ 6.0 * 10$^{10}$ M$_{\odot}$ for a maximally rotating black hole. We briefly discuss other possible radio-loud active galactic nuclei emission models capable of producing a gamma-ray QPO of such a period in a blazar.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, Submitted to MNRA

Anomalous conductivity tensor in the Dirac semimetal Na_3Bi

Na3Bi is a Dirac semimetal with protected nodes that may be sensitive to the breaking of time-reversal invariance in a magnetic field B. We report experiments which reveal that both the conductivity and resistivity tensors exhibit robust anomalies in B. The resistivity $\rho_{xx}$ is B-linear up to 35 T, while the Hall angle exhibits an unusual profile approaching a step-function. The conductivities $\sigma_{xx}$ and $\sigma_{xy}$ share identical power-law dependences at large B. We propose that these significant deviations from conventional transport result from an unusual sensitivity of the transport lifetime to B. Comparison with Cd3As2 is made.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure