Revised cosmological parameters after BICEP 2 and BOSS

Estimation of parameters of the \lq standard\rq \,model of cosmology have dramatically improved over past few decades due to increasingly exquisite measurements made by Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) experiments. Recent data from Planck matches well with the minimal $\Lambda$CDM model. A likelihood analysis using Planck, WMAP and a selection of high resolution experiments (highL), tensor to scalar ratio $r_{0.002}$ is found to be $<0.11$ when $dn_{s}/d\ln k = 0$. Planck also imposes an upper bound on neutrino mass $\sum m_\nu<0.23\,$eV using Planck+WMAP+highL+BAO likelihood. However, recently results from BICEP 2 claims the detection of $r= 0.2^{+0.07}_{-0.05}$ from polarization spectra. Further, results from SDSS-III BOSS large scale galaxy survey constrains the total neutrino mass to $\sum m_\nu=0.36 \pm 0.10$ eV. It is important to study the consequences of these new measurements on other cosmological parameters. In this paper we assess the revised constraints on cosmological parameters in light of these two measurements that are in some tension with the constraints from Planck. Using the prior on $\sum m_\nu$ as measured by SDSS-III BOSS and BICEP 2 likelihood, we find that the model with running spectral index ($dn_{s}/d\ln k \neq 0$) leads to a value of $A_L>1$ at $3.1 \sigma$. But, the model with $dn_{s}/d\ln k =0$ makes $A_L$ consistent with $1$, at $2.1\sigma$ and also shows that $N_{\rm eff}$ is consistent with its theoretical value of $3.046$ at around $2\sigma$. Therefore, the analysis in this paper shows that the model with $dn_{s}/d\ln k =0$ gives consistency with other cosmological parameters ($N_{\rm eff}$ and $A_L$ ) when the current limits on $\sum m_\nu$ and $r_{0.05}$ are considered. However, on reducing the value of $r_{0.05}$, the model with non-zero $dn_{s}/d\ln k$ gives consistent result of $A_L =1$ [abridged].Comment: 14 pages, 10 figures. Matches the published versio

Organocatalytic Routes To Enantiomerically Pure alpha- And beta-Amino Acids

In this work, new approaches to enantiomerically pure alpha- and beta-amino acids via resolution and asymmetric synthesis were developed. First, a wide array of azlactones derived from both natural and unnatural alpha-amino acids were ring-opened with allyl alcohol under dynamic kinetic resolution (DKR) in the presence of a newly identified (thio)urea-based bifunctional organocatalyst to obtain N-acyl alpha-amino acid esters. The results are unprecedented in the chemically catalyzed DKR of azlactones in terms of optical purity of the product and substrate scope. Kinetic and NMR studies indicate the formation of a 1:1 substrate-catalyst complex prior to alcoholysis. The same bifunctional organocatalyst was then applied to the alcoholytic ring opening of oxazinones bearing aromatic as well as aliphatic substituents under kinetic resolution (KR) to afford N-acyl beta-amino acid esters. This is the first time that oxazinones were subjected to a catalytic ring opening reaction. Besides the DKR, the catalytic asymmetric hydrocyanation of imines was also revisited using chiral oxazaborolidine and oxazaborolidinium cations as the catalysts. Here a rather broad range of imines was applied. Although the resulting alpha-amino nitriles were obtained in low to moderate enantioselectivities, the catalyst afforded products with the opposite sense of stereoinduction upon protonation. This is the first successful application of neutral and cationic oxazaborolidines for the asymmetric hydrocyanation of imines

Development and degradation analysis of novel micro and nanostructured transition metal oxide (TMO) anodes for aqueous sodium ion batteries.

One of the primary motivations driving battery technology research is the need to develop cleaner and more efficient energy storage systems. The portable electronics industry has developed exponentially, especially over the last couple of decades and therefore the importance of efficient electrochemical energy storage systems cannot be overstated. Li-ion batteries have been the predominant rechargeable energy in use, however, they have their own particular drawbacks viz. flammability of the electrolyte, expensive mining of the Li metal etc. This is where the importance of Na-ion batteries lie. This research focuses on using existing transition metal oxides (TMOs) and tuning their crystal structure as well as morphology for application as anodes in the Na-ion battery systems. The three TMOs used in this thesis are copper (II) oxide (CuO), iron (III) oxide (Fe2O3) and titanium (IV) oxide (TiO2). They are chosen based on their easy availability, affordability and structural flexibility. Aqueous environment has been chosen as it tends to involve simpler and easier fabrication, lower overhead costs and reduce the complexities of glovebox based assembly techniques. Improvement of kinetics and understanding as well as improving structural stability have been the main goals of this dissertation. The analysis is performed by a two-way approach. Multiple morphologies of CuO are used to study the effect of surface area and porosity on kinetics. Similarly, the effect of doping different types of atoms in the hematite (α-Fe2O3) structure is studied in detail and the influence it has on the electrochemical performance. Finally, both the techniques are coupled to study the effects on the TiO2 anode system. It is expected that this dissertation will provide a comprehensive framework for the degradation analysis of simple TMO anodes in aqueous Na-ion battery systems, something which will add significant intellectual merit to the burgeoning field of aqueous rechargeable batteries in general

Precision Medicine in Lung Cancer Treatment

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Lung cancer remains the second most common cancer in men and women. Traditionally, chemotherapy has been the main Lung cancer is a leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide. The pivotal management for lung cancer progression is for better understanding of the molecular pathogenesis has led to rapid development in the field of targeted therapy and immunotherapy. This has led to significant improvement in survival of patients with lung cancer in initial and later stage carcinogenesis. Lung cancer has been traditionally classified by histology and immune chemistry technology. In tumors, the important role of different medicinal therapy. However, medicinal therapy with individuality gets better response than the tradition approaches. This individual medicine system termed as precision medicine, depends on the nature and prognosis of carcinogenesis in individual system of lung cancer progression. This review focuses on the application of precision medicine in lung cancer treatment and therapy

Burden of drug induced allergic reactions: a 3-year experience in a tertiary care hospital

Background: DIARs includes a wide spectrum of immunologically-mediated hypersensitivity reactions with varied mechanisms and clinical manifestations. Besides affecting a patient’s quality of life, it may also lead to increased treatment cost and length of hospitalization. The present study aims to provide an overview of drug induced allergic reactions experienced in a tertiary care set-up.Methods: A prospective observational outcome research was conducted over a 3-year period on patients encountering drug induced allergic reactions, who has been analysed for their spectrum of presentation, clinical outcomes (including severity, management and outcome of reaction), economic outcomes (including cost of treatment) and humanistic outcomes (including assessment of quality of life).Results: Drug induced allergic reactions accounts for 2.71% of total hospitalization in this study period. While majority reactions were moderate in severity grading, most were preventable. Direct cost of treating such preventable reactions were much higher along with increased indirect cost (due to prolonged hospitalization) adding to economic burden. Quality of life in patients encountering such reactions was also compromised as assessed using EQ-VAS.Conclusions: Prompt identification, consultation, cessation of culprit drug, management and patient counselling can act as strategies to minimize the burden of these reactions on society and healthcare system at large

Patterns of Alcohol Consumption among Male Adults at a Slum in Kolkata, India

Globally, alcohol-abuse is a major cause of mortality and morbidity. Consumption of alcohol has increased in India in the recent decades. It is imperative to know the patterns of alcohol consumption among different types of consumers to launch a well-planned nationwide programme for the prevention and control of this devastating social pathology. This community-based, cross-sectional study was undertaken to identify the patterns of alcohol intake among different types of alcohol consumers and to assess the clinical signs of chronic harmful alcohol-use. A predesigned, pretested, semi-structured alcohol-use disorders identification test (AUDIT) questionnaire was used for interviewing males, aged >18 years, selected by random sampling from an updated household list of a randomly-selected sector of the service area of the Urban Health Centre in Chetla, Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Written informed consents were obtained from all the respondents. Relevant clinical examination for chronic harmful alcohol-use was done according to the AUDIT clinical screening procedures. The results revealed that 65.8% (150/228) were current consumers of alcohol; 14% were alcohol-dependents; 8% were hazardous or harmful consumers, and 78% were non-hazardous non-harmful consumers. The mean age of the respondents at the initiation of drinking alcohol was 20.8+5.9 years. Eighty-six percent of dependents (n=21) took both Indian-made foreign liquor and locally-made alcoholic beverages. The proportions of alcohol consumers who drank alone among alcohol-dependents, hazardous or harmful consumers, and non-hazardous non-harmful consumers were 71.4%, 50%, and 7.7% respectively, and the difference was significant (p<0.01). Forty-one percent of the consumers drank at public places and workplaces, which may be socially harmful. About 38% of the dependents purchased alcohol from unlicensed liquor shops. Only 16% expressed concerns for their drinking habit mainly to the past illness. The proportion of the concerned respondents was higher in the hazardous and harmful drinking patterns than in the non-hazardous non-harmful drinking pattern, and the difference was significant (p<0.05). About 62% of the dependents had clinical signs of chronic alcohol consumption. The presence of a considerable proportion of alcohol-dependents, the low mean age at initiation of drinking alcohol, and the habit of drinking in public places and workplaces are the main areas that need special emphasis by intervention programmes

Estimation of Inflation parameters for Perturbed Power Law model using recent CMB measurements

Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) is an important probe for understanding the inflationary era of the Universe. We consider the Perturbed Power Law (PPL) model of inflation which is a soft deviation from Power Law (PL) inflationary model. This model captures the effect of higher order derivative of Hubble parameter during inflation, which in turn leads to a non-zero effective mass $m_{\rm eff}$ for the inflaton field. The higher order derivatives of Hubble parameter at leading order sources constant difference in the spectral index for scalar and tensor perturbation going beyond PL model of inflation. PPL model have two observable independent parameters, namely spectral index for tensor perturbation $\nu_t$ and change in spectral index for scalar perturbation $\nu_{st}$ to explain the observed features in the scalar and tensor power spectrum of perturbation. From the recent measurements of CMB power spectra by WMAP, Planck and BICEP-2 for temperature and polarization, we estimate the feasibility of PPL model with standard $\Lambda$CDM model. Although BICEP-2 claimed a detection of $r=0.2$, estimates of dust contamination provided by Planck have left open the possibility that only upper bound on $r$ will be expected in a joint analysis. As a result we consider different upper bounds on the value of $r$ and show that PPL model can explain a lower value of tensor to scalar ratio ($r<0.1$ or $r<0.01$) for a scalar spectral index of $n_s=0.96$ by having a non-zero value of effective mass of the inflaton field $\frac{m^2_{\rm eff}}{H^2}$. The analysis with WP+ Planck likelihood shows a non-zero detection of $\frac{m^2_{\rm eff}}{H^2}$ with $5.7\,\sigma$ and $8.1\,\sigma$ respectively for $r<0.1$ and $r<0.01$. Whereas, with BICEP-2 likelihood $\frac{m^2_{\rm eff}}{H^2} = -0.0237 \pm 0.0135$ which is consistent with zero.Comment: 11 Pages, 4 Figures. Matches the published versio