DFT Based LDA Study on Tailoring the Optical and Electrical Properties of SnO and In-Doped SnO

In this paper, the structural, electronic and optical properties of tin-monoxide and the impact of Indium (In) doping into tin-monoxide are computed by Local Density Approximation (LDA) under density function theory (DFT) framework. The calculated bond length of Sn-O in tin-monoxide is 2.285 angstrom and that deviates greater than 3 percent from the experimental value. The Sn-O and In-O bond lengths in In-doped tin-monoxide are calculated to be 2.3094 and 2.266 angstrom, respectively. Interestingly, the band gap of pure tin-monoxide is calculated to be 2.61 eV whereas it is significantly dropped down to 2.00 eV in the case of In doped tin-monoxide. The Total Density of State (DOS), Partial DOS and electron density are depicted for tin-monoxide and In-doped tin-monoxide films. As a consequence of In-doping static value of the refractive index and real part of the dielectric function for tin-monoxide decrease from 1.9 to 1.4 and 3.6 to 1.97, respectively. Therefore, In-doping enhances the properties of the tin-monoxide film, which may lead the material to be applied in future to develop electronic and opto-electronic devices

Nutritional composition and amino acid profile of a sub-tropical red seaweed Gelidium pusillum collected from St. Martin’s Island, Bangladesh

Nutritional fact study has prime importance to make the species edible and commercially viable to the food consumers. The proximate chemical composition and amino acid profile of Gelidium pusillum were studied to understand the nutritional status. The red seaweed Gelidium pusillum was rich in dietary fibre (24.74 ± 1.05%), lipid (2.16 ± 0.61%) and ash content (21.15 ± 0.74%). The mean protein content (11.31 ± 1.02% DW) was within the range of 10-47% for green and red seaweeds and this range was higher than Gracilaria cornea (5.47% DW), Gracilaria changgi (6.90% DW) and Eucheuma cottonii (9.76% DW). Gelidium pusillum was found to contained all the essential amino acids, which accounted for 52.08% of the total amino acids. Tyrosine (26.2 mg g-1 protein), methionine (15.8 mg g-1 protein) and Lysine (48.3 mg g-1 protein) were the limiting amino acid of Gelidium pusillum. However, the levels of other essential amino acids were above the FAO/WHO requirement pattern (EAA score ranged from 1.14 to 1.62). Aspartic and glutamic acids constituted a substantial amount of the total amino acids (24.68% of total amino acid). The result from this study suggested that Gelidium pusillum could be utilized as a healthy food item for human consumption

Proximate chemical composition of sea grapes Caulerpa racemosa (J. Agardh, 1873) collected from a sub-tropical coast

Background: Nutritional fact study has prime importance to make the species edible and commercially viable to the consumers. Proximate chemical composition and amino acid profile were investigated to understand the nutritional value and protein quality of an edible algae Caulerpa racemosa. Methods: Samples were collected randomly by hand from the intertidal zone of the sub-tropical coastal Island St. Martin’s Island from February 2013 to May 2014. Samples were preserved using standard methods for chemical analysis. Proximate composition was determined using standard methods, Kjeldahl method for protein, Soxhlet method for crude lipid, H2SO4 (0.3 N) and NaOH (0.5 N) for dietary fibre, muffle furnace method for moisture content, ion-exchange chromatography for amino acid and statistical package used for validating the data. Results: The result of the study reveals that C. racemosa contains higher amount of proteins (19.72±0.77%), crude lipid (7.65±1.19%) and fibre (11.51±1.32%) compared to other green and brown algae. The higher concentration of aspartic acid (12.7±0.2%) and glutamic acid (9.2±0.7%) were observed in C. racemosa, while histidine (2.6±0.7%), methionine (1.4±0.4%) and tyrosine (3.8±0.2%) were the limiting amino acids. Lysine (6.6±0.2%), leusine (6.9±0.6%), glycine (6.5±0.4%), arginine (6.4±0.3%), alanine (7.6±0.6%) and threonine (6.2±0.5%) were obtained at a higher percentage of total amino acids. Conclusion: This study suggests that C. racemosa could be potentially used as a nutritious and functional food item for human consumption. Further studies on this edible species should be focused on fatty acid composition, vitamins, non-starch polysaccharide constituents, trace elements and sensory perceptions in order to depict safer and versatile utilization

Paternal identity impacts embryonic development for two species of freshwater fish

Paternal, compared to maternal, contributions were believed to have only a limited influence on embryonic development and larval fitness traits in fishes. Therefore, the perspective of male influence on early life history traits has come under scrutiny. This study was conducted to determine parental effects on the rate of eyed embryos of Ide Leuciscus idus and Northern pike Esox lucius. Five sires and five dams from each species were crossed using a quantitative genetic breeding design and the resulting 25 sib groups of each species were reared to the embryonic eyed stage. We then partition variation in embryonic phenotypic performance to maternal, paternal, and parental interactions using the Restricted Maximum Likelihood (REML) model. Results showed that paternal, maternal, and the paternal × maternal interaction terms were highly significant for both species; clearly demonstrating that certain family combinations were more compatible than others. Paternal effects explained 20.24% of the total variance, which was 2-fold higher than the maternal effects (10.73%) in Ide, while paternal effects explained 18.9% of the total variance, which was 15-fold higher than the maternal effects (1.3%) in Northern pike. Together, these results indicate that male effects are of major importance during embryonic development for these species. Furthermore, this study demonstrates that genetic compatibility between sires and dams plays an important role and needs to be taken into consideration for reproduction of these and likely other economically important fish species

A review of toolkits and case definitions for detecting enteric fever outbreaks in Asian and African countries from 1965-2019

Background: This review assessed the case definitions, diagnostic criteria, antimicrobial resistance, and methods used for enteric fever outbreaks and utilization of any unified outbreak score or checklist for early identification and response in Asia and Africa from 1965-2019.Methods: We searched enteric fever outbreaks using PubMed, Google Scholar, and the Cochrane library. Studies describing a single outbreak event of enteric fever in Asia and Africa from 1965-2019 were reviewed. We excluded case reports, letter to editors, studies reporting typhoid in conjunction with other diseases, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) trip reports, the World Health Organization (WHO) bulletins report, data from mathematical modeling and simulation studies, reviews and ProMed alert. Also, non-typhoidal salmonella outbreaks were excluded.Results: A total of 5063 articles were identified using the key terms and 68 studies were selected for data extraction. Most (48, 71%) outbreaks were from Asian countries, 20 (29%) were reported from Africa. Only 15 studies reported the case definition used for case identification during an outbreak and 8 of those were from Asia. A third (20, 29%) of the studies described antibiotic resistance pattern. 43 (63%) studies contained information regarding the source of the outbreak. Outcomes (hospitalization and deaths) were reported in a quarter of studies. Only 23 (29%) of the studies reported outbreak control strategies while none reported any unified outbreak score or a checklist to identify the outbreak.Conclusion: This review highlights the variability in detection and reporting methods for enteric fever outbreaks in Asia and Africa. No standardized case definitions or laboratory methods were reported. Only a few studies reported strategies for outbreak control. There is a need for the development of a unified outbreak score or a checklist to identify and report enteric fever outbreaks globally

Burden of ileal perforations among surgical patients admitted in tertiary care hospitals of three Asian countries: Surveillance of enteric fever in Asia project (SEAP), september 2016-september 2019

Background: Typhoid fever is caused by Salmonella enterica subspecies enterica serovar Typhi (S. Typhi) and can lead to systemic illness and complications. We aimed to characterize typhoid-related ileal perforation in the context of the population-based Surveillance of Enteric Fever in Asia Project (SEAP) in Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan.Methods: Between September 2016 and September 2019, all cases of nontraumatic ileal perforation with a clinical diagnosis of typhoid were enrolled from 4 tertiary care hospitals in Karachi, 2 pediatric hospitals in Bangladesh, and 2 hospitals in Nepal. Sociodemographic data were collected from patients or their caregivers, and clinical and outcome data were retrieved from medical records. Tissue samples were collected for histopathology and blood cultures where available.Results: Of the 249 enrolled cases, 2 from Bangladesh, 5 from Nepal and 242 from Pakistan. In Pakistan, most of the cases were in the 0-15 (117/242; 48%) and 16-30 (89/242; 37%) age groups. In all countries, males were most affected: Pakistan 74.9% (180/242), Nepal 80% (4/5), and Bangladesh 100% (2/2). Blood culture was done on 76 cases; 8 (11%) were positive for S. Typhi, and all were extensively drug resistant (XDR) S. Typhi. Tissue cultures was done on 86 patients; 3 (3%) were positive for S. Typhi, and all were XDR S. Typhi, out of 86 samples tested for histopathology 4 (5%) revealed ileal perforation with necrosis. Culture or histopathology confirmed total 15 (11%) enteric fever cases with ileal perforation are similar to the clinically diagnosed cases. There were 16/242 (7%) deaths from Pakistan. Cases of ileal perforation who survived were more likely to have sought care before visiting the sentinel hospital (P = .009), visited any hospital for treatment (P = .013) compared to those who survived.Conclusions: Although surveillance differed substantially by country, one reason for the higher number of ileal perforation cases in Pakistan could be the circulation of XDR strain of S. Typhi in Karachi

Detection of typhoid carriers by duodenal fluid culture in a tertiary care hospital, Karachi: A cross-sectional study

We aimed to detect typhoid carriers by performing duodenal fluid culture in patients in a tertiary care hospital in Pakistan. A cross-sectional study was conducted during 2017 at the Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi. Patients who underwent upper gastrointestinal endoscopy were included. Participants were interviewed, and duodenal fluid samples were taken for culture to detect Salmonella typhi (S. typhi) and paratyphi. A polymerase chain reaction on 100 randomly selected sub-samples was also conducted. A total of 477 participants were enrolled. The mean age was 42.4±15.5 years. History of typhoid fever was present in 73 (15.3%) participants. Out of the 477 duodenal fluid cultures tested for various micro-organisms, 250 (52.4%) were positive. Neither S. typhi nor paratyphi were isolated. S. typhi was also not detected by PCR. To better detect S. typhi carriage in general population, future studies should target people with gall bladder diseases and screen them using culture and PCR based methods

Effectiveness of typhoid conjugate vaccine against culture-confirmed salmonella enterica serotype typhi in an extensively drug-resistant outbreak setting of Hyderabad, Pakistan: A cohort study

Background: Salmonella enterica serotype Typhi (S Typhi) is a major public health problem in low-income and middle-income countries. We aimed to investigate the effectiveness and impact of the typhoid conjugate vaccine Typbar-TCV against S Typhi among children in an outbreak setting of extensively drug-resistant (XDR) S Typhi in Pakistan.Methods: This cohort study was done from Feb 21, 2018, to Dec 31, 2019. A census survey of all households located in the Qasimabad and Latifabad subdistricts of Hyderabad, Pakistan, was done at baseline, and 174 005 households were registered in the census. The Typbar-TCV immunisation campaign was initiated at temporary vaccination centres and 207 000 children aged 6 months to 10 years were vaccinated from Feb 21, 2018, to Dec 31, 2018. Social mobilisers informed parents about the vaccination process. Vaccination records were maintained electronically and linked with the household census surveys. Active surveillance for suspected and blood-culture-confirmed S Typhi was established in hospitals, clinics, and laboratories to assess the following outcomes: cases of suspected typhoid fever, culture-confirmed S Typhi, and antimicrobial resistance. An age-stratified cohort of 1100 vaccinated children was randomly selected from the vaccination registry, tested for Vi-IgG antibodies (data not reported), and followed up fortnightly (via telephone calls or household visits) until Dec 31, 2019, for ascertainment of outcomes during the study period. 20 847 vaccinated and unvaccinated children were randomly selected from the census registry as a quality control cohort and followed up from Oct 1 to Dec 31, 2019, for ascertainment of outcomes. Vaccine effectiveness against suspected, culture-confirmed, and XDR S Typhi was calculated.Findings: 23 407 children from the census registry and surveillance system were included in the vaccine effectiveness analysis. 13 436 (57·4%) children were vaccinated, 12 214 (52·2%) were male, and 10 168 (43·4%) were aged 6-59 months. 5378 (23·0%) of 23 407 children had suspected S Typhi, among whom 775 (14·4%) had culture-confirmed S Typhi and 361 (68·6%) of 526 had XDR S Typhi. Vaccine effectiveness was 55% (95% CI 52-57) against suspected S Typhi (regardless of culture confirmation), 95% (93-96) against culture-confirmed S Typhi, and 97% (95-98) against XDR S Typhi.Interpretation: Typbar-TCV is effective in protecting children against S Typhi infection in an outbreak setting, and was able, with moderate deployment, to curtail a major XDR S Typhi outbreak in a densely populated setting. The vaccine shows efficacy against S Typhi irrespective of antimicrobial resistance.Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Peripartum Pulmonary Embolism

Pregnancy and peripartum increase the risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) by many folds. Interestingly, the VTE is more common during the pregnancy, whereas the pulmonary embolism is more frequent in postpartum period. There are various risk factors for the VTE and pulmonary embolism in these patients. The important risks are improper thromboprophylaxis, obesity, and multigravida. The clinical parameters and the d-dimer are not used for diagnosis of thromboembolism during pregnancy and in the postpartum period. The compression ultrasonography (CUSG) is commonly used for VTE diagnosis; for the pulmonary embolism diagnosis, one has to consider the radiation hazard to the fetus as well as to the mothers. Ventilation/perfusion scan is the imaging of choice for patient who has respiratory signs with normal chest radiograph. If chest X-ray is abnormal with suspicion of peripartum pulmonary embolism (PPE), the choice should be computed tomographic angiography. Heparin and its derivatives remained the anticoagulation of choice for the treatment of VTE as well as the PPE, as it is a shorter acting, easy to reverse with protamine sulfate. Proper thromboprophylaxis is the key for prevention of VTE and peripartum pulmonary embolism

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