Valley-polarization and stable triplet exciton formation in 2D lateral heterostrcuture of hBN-kagome and graphene

Broken spatial inversion symmetry in semiconducting materials with time-reversal pair valleys can exhibit valley polarization. Based on first-principles calculations, here we propose a lateral heterostructure of kagome lattice of hBN and hexagonal graphene domains that exhibits opposite Berry curvature in inequivalent K and K' valleys. Explicit consideration of excitonic scattering processes within GW and Bethe-Salpeter equation formalism confirm insignificant intervalley coupling and consequent valley polarization ability along with 0.46 eV higher binding energy of triplet excitons. Such heterostructure with large charge carrier mobility can be exploited for advanced valleytronic and optoelectronic applications.Comment: 26 pages, 10 figure

Large Intraosseous Haemangioma of the Sacral Vertebra: The radiological imaging findings

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Structures and Properties of Al-based Al-Si-Ni Nanostructures Developed by Mechanical Alloying

An attempt was made to synthesize Al-based Al ̶ Si ̶ Ni amorphous and/or nanostructures by mechanical alloying (MA). The Al ̶ Si ̶ Ni alloys containing 14 to 25 % Si and 8 to 25 % Ni was known to generate amorphous phase by rapid solidification processing. Elemental powders of Al, Si and Ni (purity Ni ≥ 99.8%, Al ≥ 99.7%, Si ≥ 98.5%) having an average particle size <70 μm were blended to obtain nominal composition of Al75Si15Ni10, Al70Si20Ni10, Al65Si25Ni10, Al70Si15Ni15, Al65Si20Ni15, Al78Si14Ni8 and Al50Si25Ni25. Mechanical alloying was carried out in a Fritsch high energy planetary ball mill using Cr-steel grinding media at 300 r.p.m. up to 50 h. Toluene was used as the process control agent. The ball to powder weight ratio was maintained at 10:1. The microstructural characterization of the milled powder was followed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The particle size distribution of the 50 h milled samples was carried out using a nano zeta sizer (NZS). Percentage transmittance of the milled sample was evaluated using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Partial amorphous structure was obtained in Al75Si15Ni10 and Al70Si20Ni10, whereas, Al-rich solid solution was observed in Al65Si25Ni10, Al70Si15Ni15 and Al65Si20Ni15. Predominantly crystalline structure with intermetallic phases was observed in terminal compositions of Al78Si14Ni8 and Al50Si25Ni25. SEM micrographs showed that the powder morphology was changed from coarse layered structure obtained by very short period of milling to finer as the milling time increased. XRD and energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) showed the formation of a homogeneous phase for all the compositions after milling for 50 h. The crystallite size, lattice microstrain (%) and lattice parameter were analyzed from major Al-peaks of the Al-rich solid solution. The crystallite size decreased very rapidly up to 10 h of milling and then became nearly constant (15-35 nm) with further milling, whereas, lattice microstrain (%) increased gradually up to 10 h very rapidly and then became nearly constant (0.5-0.6 %) with progress of milling. The variation of crystallite size and lattice microstrain (%) of Al-rich solid solutions with milling was found to be similar whereas, variation of lattice parameter of the Al-rich solid solutions was different. The variation of lattice parameter with progress of milling possibly plays an important role in the amorphous phase formation by mechanical alloying. Keywords: Amorphous; Nanostructures; X-ray diffraction (XRD); Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), nano zeta sizer (NZS), Fourier transform infrared ray (FTIR)

Kikuchi–Fujimoto disease in an adolescent girl with discoid skin lesion and high serum ferritin - A rare case report from Odisha

Kikuchi–Fujimoto disease is a self-limiting disease which frequently appears with fever and lymphadenopathy, thus creating the&nbsp;need for differential diagnosis of persistent febrile lymphadenopathy. Although the cause of Kikuchi’s disease is unknown, some&nbsp;viral or bacterial infections or immunological conditions are attributed to it. It has occasionally been misdiagnosed as lymphoma&nbsp;or tubercular lymphadenitis; hence, clinicians should be made aware of this disease. We report a case of a 14-year-old female child&nbsp;who was presented with fever, rashes, multiple oral ulcers, and lymphadenopathy. The child was diagnosed as Kikuchi disease, on&nbsp;the basis of lymph node histopathology. There was a significant improvement of the clinical picture with oral prednisolone therapy&nbsp;for 2 weeks and tapering over the next 2 weeks

Functional Performance and Community Reintegration of Chronic Post-Stroke Survivors in Eastern India

Introduction: Stroke is the primary cause of functional dependency in daily activities leading to disability of the individual. It becomes an economic burden for the person and society. Post-stroke management in rehabilitation gives more emphasis on improving functional performance. The improvement in functional activities of post-stroke survivors makes them independent in their daily activities at home but, still an impediment exists to participate in society and reintegrating into the community. The objective of the study is to find the association of community reintegration with the functional performance of one-year post-stroke survivors in eastern India and to compare their functional independence, community reintegration, and participation in instrumental daily living activities between stroke affection side and stroke subtype of the study group. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was carried out on post-stroke survivors between 30 and 60 years of age without sex barrier. Ninety-four patients (mean age 54.38±12.06) were recruited for the study. The outcome was measured by the community integration questionnaire (CIQ), Lawton instrumental activities of daily living (LIADL), and functional independence measure (FIM). Results: Spearman rank order correlation was used and found a significant positive correlation persists between FIM to CIQ as the r=0.565 (P=0.01, 95% CI, -0.40%-0.70%) and LIADL to CIQ r=0.687 (P=0.01, 95% CI, -0.55%-0.79%) FIM to LIADL r=0.532 (P=0.01, 95% CI, -0.36%-0.67%). Mann-Whitney U test was done to compare FIM, LIADL, and CIQ between stroke affection side (right vs left) and stroke sub-type (ischemic vs haemorrhagic), and no significant difference was found. Conclusion: Functional independence, instrumental activities of daily living, and community reintegration are associated with each other. Hence, community reintegration should be incorporated into stroke rehabilitation to maintain a meaningful life as a part of society and family

Sero-prevalence of West Nile virus in urban and peri-urban poultry farms of Guwahati, India

West Nile virus (WNV) is a zoonotic, emerging mosquito-borne virus which can cause severe disease in the form of encephalitis and acute flaccid paralysis in humans. In Assam, northeast India, arboviruses seem to be re-emerging, however, WNV has been little studied. The present investigation was carried out from April, 2018 to March, 2019 to study sero-positivity of WNV in chicken in urban and peri-urban areas of Guwahati, the capital city of Assam. Four urban and four peri-urban areas of Guwahati were selected. A total of 864 chicken serum samples (72 samples per month) were screened by ELISA and further confirmed by haemagglutination inhibition (HI), which revealed that 3.13% of the chickens had been exposed to WNV, with 0.69% sero-positivity in urban areas compared to 5.56% in peri-urban. Peak sero-prevalence of WNV were reported during the month of July and August with 8.33% each with lowest sero-prevalence being recorded in November (1.39%) and no sero-positive birds from December to April. These results indicate that WNV is one of the actively circulating flaviviruses in Assam, and human febrile and encephalitic cases should be screened for the disease

Dianthracenylazatrioxa[8]circulene: synthesis, characterization and application in OLEDs

A soluble, green-blue fluorescent, pi-extended azatrioxa[8]circulene was synthesized by oxidative condensation of a 3,6-dihydroxycarbazole and 1,4-anthraquinone by using benzofuran scaffolding. This is the first circulene to incorporate anthracene within its carbon framework. Solvent-dependent fluorescence and bright green electroluminescence accompanied by excimer emission are the key optical properties of this material. The presence of sliding pi-stacked columns in the single crystal of dianthracenylazatrioxa[8]circulene is found to cause a very high electron-hopping rate, thus making this material a promising n-type organic semiconductor with an electron mobility predicted to be around 2.26 cm(2) V-1 s(-1). The best organic light-emitting diode (OLED) device based on the dianthracenylazatrioxa[8]circulene fluorescent emitter has a brightness of around 16 000 Cd m(-2) and an external quantum efficiency of 3.3 %. Quantum dot-based OLEDs were fabricated by using dianthracenylazatrioxa[8]circulene as a host matrix material.Peer reviewe

Hemodynamic rounds: Dilemma in the management of disconnected pulmonary arteries with double arterial ducts

Segmental pulmonary arterial hypertension occurs when the right and left pulmonary arteries are nonconfluent and receive blood supply from different sources. High blood pressure confined to limited lung segments may accelerate progression of pulmonary vascular resistance. Calculation of segmental vascular resistance and assessment of operability in such situations are done after integrating catheter hemodynamics, magnetic resonance imaging techniques, or perfusion scintigraphy. When an isolated pulmonary artery perfused by a restrictive ipsilateral arterial duct is associated with a large nonrestrictive contralateral arterial duct connected to the other pulmonary artery, leading to unilateral pulmonary arterial hypertension and features of high vascular resistance, it offers unique challenges to decision-making

Large carrier mobilities in octathio[8]circulene crystals: a theoretical study

The electron and hole mobilities of octathio[8]circulene (sulflower) crystal have been calculated using quantum chemical methods, with accurate determination of reorganization energies and the rate of charge transfer, the key parameters controlling the charge carriers conductance. We find this molecular crystal to be an excellent conductor with large mobilities for both the charge carriers. Moreover, the hole mobility is found to be slightly larger than the electron mobility. Such an ambipolar organic crystal with substantial carrier mobilities shows possibilities of sophisticated device fabrication in advanced electronics