Correlations between QPO frequencies and spectral parameters of GRS 1915+105 using AstroSat observations

In this work, we study the correlation between Quasi-periodic Oscillation (QPO) frequency and the spectral parameters during various X-ray states in the black hole binary GRS 1915+105 which matches well with the predicted relativistic dynamic frequency (i.e. the inverse of the sound crossing time) at the truncated radii. We have used broadband data of LAXPC and SXT instruments onboard AstroSat. Spectral fitting shows that the accretion rate varies from $\sim 0.1$ to $\sim 5.0 \times 10^{18}$ gm/s and the truncated radius changing from the last stable orbit of an almost maximally spinning black hole, $\sim$ 1.2 to $\sim$ 19 Gravitational radii. For this wide range, the frequencies of the C-type QPO (2 - 6 Hz) follow the trend predicted by the relativistic dynamical frequency model and interestingly, the high-frequency QPO at $\sim$ 70 Hz also follows the same trend, suggesting they originate from the innermost stable circular orbit with the same mechanism as the more commonly observed C-type QPO. While the qualitative trend is as predicted, there are quantitative deviations between the data and the theory, and the possible reasons for these deviations are discussed

Experimental violation of a Bell's inequality in time with weak measurement

The violation of J. Bell's inequality with two entangled and spatially separated quantum two- level systems (TLS) is often considered as the most prominent demonstration that nature does not obey ?local realism?. Under different but related assumptions of "macrorealism", plausible for macroscopic systems, Leggett and Garg derived a similar inequality for a single degree of freedom undergoing coherent oscillations and being measured at successive times. Such a "Bell's inequality in time", which should be violated by a quantum TLS, is tested here. In this work, the TLS is a superconducting quantum circuit whose Rabi oscillations are continuously driven while it is continuously and weakly measured. The time correlations present at the detector output agree with quantum-mechanical predictions and violate the inequality by 5 standard deviations.Comment: 26 pages including 10 figures, preprint forma

Primary gastric tuberculosis – report of 5 cases

BACKGROUND: Gastric tuberculosis is rare, and usually associated with pulmonary tuberculosis or an immunodeficient state. Here, we report five cases of gastric tuberculosis in immunocompetent patients without evidence of pulmonary involvement. CASE PRESENTATION: Three patients presented with gastric outlet obstruction that required surgery to relieve the obstruction as well as to confirm the diagnosis. The remaining two had involvement of gastroesophageal junction. All of them responded well to standard antitubercular treatment. CONCLUSION: Though gastric tuberculosis is rare, it should be considered a possibility when patients present with gastric outlet obstruction or with endoscopic evidence of diffuse chronic inflammatory activity, particularly in areas endemic for tuberculosis

An integrated computational pipeline and database to support whole-genome sequence annotation

We describe here our experience in annotating the Drosophila melanogaster genome sequence, in the course of which we developed several new open-source software tools and a database schema to support large-scale genome annotation. We have developed these into an integrated and reusable software system for whole-genome annotation. The key contributions to overall annotation quality are the marshalling of high-quality sequences for alignments and the design of a system with an adaptable and expandable flexible architecture

Epistemic and Ontic Quantum Realities

Quantum theory has provoked intense discussions about its interpretation since its pioneer days. One of the few scientists who have been continuously engaged in this development from both physical and philosophical perspectives is Carl Friedrich von Weizsaecker. The questions he posed were and are inspiring for many, including the authors of this contribution. Weizsaecker developed Bohr's view of quantum theory as a theory of knowledge. We show that such an epistemic perspective can be consistently complemented by Einstein's ontically oriented position

Apollo: a sequence annotation editor

The well-established inaccuracy of purely computational methods for annotating genome sequences necessitates an interactive tool to allow biological experts to refine these approximations by viewing and independently evaluating the data supporting each annotation. Apollo was developed to meet this need, enabling curators to inspect genome annotations closely and edit them. FlyBase biologists successfully used Apollo to annotate the Drosophila melanogaster genome and it is increasingly being used as a starting point for the development of customized annotation editing tools for other genome projects

TFOS Lifestyle: Impact of nutrition on the ocular surface: TFOS Lifestyle Workshop: Nutrition report

Nutrients, required by human bodies to perform life-sustaining functions, are obtained from the diet. They are broadly classified into macronutrients (carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins), micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) and water. All nutrients serve as a source of energy, provide structural support to the body and/or regulate the chemical processes of the body. Food and drinks also consist of non-nutrients that may be beneficial (e.g., antioxidants) or harmful (e.g., dyes or preservatives added to processed foods) to the body and the ocular surface. There is also a complex interplay between systemic disorders and an individual's nutritional status. Changes in the gut microbiome may lead to alterations at the ocular surface. Poor nutrition may exacerbate select systemic conditions. Similarly, certain systemic conditions may affect the uptake, processing and distribution of nutrients by the body. These disorders may lead to deficiencies in micro- and macro-nutrients that are important in maintaining ocular surface health. Medications used to treat these conditions may also cause ocular surface changes. The prevalence of nutrition-related chronic diseases is climbing worldwide. This report sought to review the evidence supporting the impact of nutrition on the ocular surface, either directly or as a consequence of the chronic diseases that result. To address a key question, a systematic review investigated the effects of intentional food restriction on ocular surface health; of the 25 included studies, most investigated Ramadan fasting (56%), followed by bariatric surgery (16%), anorexia nervosa (16%), but none were judged to be of high quality, with no randomized-controlled trials

Do We Practice What We Preach? A Review of Actual Clinical Practice with Regards to Preconception Care Guidelines

Objectives: To review what past studies have found with regard to existing clinical practices and approaches to providing preconception care. Methods: A literature review between 1966 and September 2005 was performed using Medline. Key words included preconception care, preconception counseling, preconception surveys, practice patterns, pregnancy outcomes, prepregnancy planning, and prepregnancy surveys. Results: There are no current national recommendations that fully address preconception care; as a result, there is wide variability in what is provided clinically under the rubric of preconception care. Conclusions: In 2005, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sponsored a national summit regarding preconception care and efforts are underway to develop a uniform set of national recommendations and guidelines for preconception care. Understanding how preconception care is presently incorporated and manifested in current medical practices should help in the development of these national guidelines. Knowing where, how, and why some specific preconception recommendations have been successfully adopted and translated into clinical practice, as well as barriers to implementation of other recommendations or guidelines, is vitally important in developing an overarching set of national guidelines. Ultimately, the success of these recommendations rests on their ability to influence and shape women's health policy

Risk of metabolic syndrome among children living in metropolitan Kuala Lumpur: A case control study

Background With the increasing prevalence of childhood obesity, the metabolic syndrome has been studied among children in many countries but not in Malaysia. Hence, this study aimed to compare metabolic risk factors between overweight/obese and normal weight children and to determine the influence of gender and ethnicity on the metabolic syndrome among school children aged 9-12 years in Kuala Lumpur and its metropolitan suburbs. Methods A case control study was conducted among 402 children, comprising 193 normal-weight and 209 overweight/obese. Weight, height, waist circumference (WC) and body composition were measured, and WHO (2007) growth reference was used to categorise children into the two weight groups. Blood pressure (BP) was taken, and blood was drawn after an overnight fast to determine fasting blood glucose (FBG) and full lipid profile, including triglycerides (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and total cholesterol (TC). International Diabetes Federation (2007) criteria for children were used to identify metabolic syndrome. Results Participants comprised 60.9% (n = 245) Malay, 30.9% (n = 124) Chinese and 8.2% (n = 33) Indian. Overweight/obese children showed significantly poorer biochemical profile, higher body fat percentage and anthropometric characteristics compared to the normal-weight group. Among the metabolic risk factors, WC ≥90th percentile was found to have the highest odds (OR = 189.0; 95%CI 70.8, 504.8), followed by HDL-C≤1.03 mmol/L (OR = 5.0; 95%CI 2.4, 11.1) and high BP (OR = 4.2; 95%CI 1.3, 18.7). Metabolic syndrome was found in 5.3% of the overweight/obese children but none of the normal-weight children (p < 0.01). Overweight/obese children had higher odds (OR = 16.3; 95%CI 2.2, 461.1) of developing the metabolic syndrome compared to normal-weight children. Binary logistic regression showed no significant association between age, gender and family history of communicable diseases with the metabolic syndrome. However, for ethnicity, Indians were found to have higher odds (OR = 5.5; 95%CI 1.5, 20.5) compared to Malays, with Chinese children (OR = 0.3; 95%CI 0.0, 2.7) having the lowest odds. Conclusions We conclude that being overweight or obese poses a greater risk of developing the metabolic syndrome among children. Indian ethnicity is at higher risk compared to their counterparts of the same age. Hence, primary intervention strategies are required to prevent this problem from escalating

Substance P induces localization of MIF/α1-inhibitor-3 complexes to umbrella cells via paracellular transit through the urothelium in the rat bladder

BACKGROUND: Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is released into the intraluminal fluid during bladder inflammation in the rat complexed to α1-inhibitor-3 (A1-I3; a rodent proteinase inhibitor in the α-macroglobulin family). The location of A1-I3 in the bladder had not been investigated. Therefore, we examined the location of A1-I3 and MIF/A1-I3 complexes in the bladder and changes due to experimental inflammation. METHODS: Anesthetized male rats had bladders removed with no treatment (intact) or were injected with Substance P (SP; s.c.; saline vehicle). After one hour intraluminal fluid was removed, bladder was excised and MIF and A1-I3 levels were determined using ELISA and/or western-blotting. MIF co-immunoprecipitation determined MIF/A1-I3 complexes in the bladder. Bladder sections were immunostained for A1-I3 and MIF/A1-I3. RESULTS: A1-I3 immunostaining was observed in interstitial spaces throughout the bladder (including submucosa) but not urothelium in intact and saline-treated rats. RT-PCR showed that the bladder does not synthesize A1-I3, therefore, A1-I3 in the interstitial space of the bladder must be plasma derived. In SP-treated rats, A1-I3 in the bladder increased and A1-I3 was observed traversing through the urothelium. Umbrella cells that do not show MIF and/or A1-I3 immunostaining in intact or saline-treated rats, showed co-localization of MIF and A1-I3 after SP-treatment. Western blotting demonstrated that in the bladder MIF formed non-covalent interactions and also binds covalently to A1-I3 to form high molecular weight MIF/A1-I3 complexes (170, 130 and 75-kDa, respectively, verified by co-immunoprecipitation). SP-induced inflammation selectively reduced 170-kDa MIF/A1-I3 in the bladder while increasing 170 and 130-kDa MIF/A1-I3 in the intraluminal fluid. CONCLUSION: A1-I3 and MIF/A1-I3 complexes are resident in bladder interstitium. During SP-induced inflammation, MIF/A1-I3 complexes are released from the bladder into the lumen. Binding of MIF/A1-I3 complexes to urothelial cells during inflammation suggests these complexes participate in the inflammatory reaction through activation of receptors for MIF and/or for A1-I3