A comparative study of efficacy and safety of intramuscular carboprost and intravaginal misoprostol for cervical priming prior to first trimester surgical abortion

Background: MTP Act no 34 of 1971 has been defined as Legal termination of pregnancy before the age of viability of fetus that is 20 weeks of gestation. There is a need to find a medical agent which can help in the process of abortion by speeding it up, with minimal side effects. The objective of this study was to compare the efficacy of I.M carboprost and intravaginal Misoprostol and to evaluate the safety profile of I.M carboprost and Intravaginal Misoprostol. To compare the cervical dilatation caused by I.M carboprost and intravaginal Misoprostol and to compare the blood loss and adverse effects of I.M carboprost and Intravaginal Misoprostol.Methods: Prospective randomized experimental study including pregnant women up to 12 weeks of gestation opting for M.T.P. Study conducted on 200 patients selected from patients admitted in MGM Medical College and M.Y. Hospital, Indore and Kalyanmal Hospital, Indore during the period July 2014 to March 2015. They were randomly divided into 2 groups. Group A who received intramuscular injection of 250 mcg of caboprost or Group B,which received 400 mcg of vaginal Misoprostol 4 hours prior to suction evacuation.Results: Intravaginal misoprostol achieves better cervical dilatation compared I.M carboprost which is statistically significant. Misoprostol is associated with higher blood loss as compared to I.M carboprost which is associated with nausea/vomiting & more likelihood of loose stools and abdominal cramps which is proved statistically.Conclusions: Intravaginal misoprostol is associated with higher blood loss as compared to I.M carboprost which is significant but intravaginal misoprostol achieves more cervical dilatation and causes less adverse events than I.M carboprost which is statistically more significant and therefore intravaginal misoprostol is the drug of choice for cervical priming prior to surgical abortion in terms of both efficacy and safety

Spectroscopic reverberation mapping of Quasar PKS 0736+017: Broad-Line Region and Black-hole Mass

To understand the mass distribution and co-evolution of supermassive black holes with their host galaxy, it is crucial to measure the black hole mass of AGN. Reverberation mapping is a unique tool to estimate the black hole masses in AGN. We performed spectroscopic reverberation study using long-term monitoring data with more than 100 spectra of a radio-loud quasar PKS 0736+017 to estimate the size of the broad line region (BLR) and black hole mass. The optical spectrum shows strong H$\mathrm{\beta}$ and H$\mathrm{\gamma}$ emission lines. We generated the light curves of 5100{\AA} continuum flux ($f_{5100}$), H$\beta$, and H$\gamma$. All the light curves are found to be strongly variable with fractional variability of 69$\%$, 21$\%$, 30$\%$ for V-band, H$\beta$, and H$\gamma$ light curves, respectively. Along with the thermal contribution, non-thermal emission contributes to the estimated continuum luminosity at 5100\AA. Using different methods, e.g., CCF, {\small JAVELIN}, von-neumann, we estimated the size of the BLR, which is found to be 66.4$^{+6.0}_{-4.2}$ light days in the rest frame. The BLR size combined with the line width of H$\beta$ provides a black hole mass of 7.32$^{+0.89}_{-0.91} \times 10^{7}M_{\odot}$. The source closely follows the BLR size-luminosity relation of AGN.Comment: published in MNRAS, 13 pages, 13 figure

Influence of Needle-punching Parameters for the Preparation of Polypyrrole-coated Non-woven Composites for Heat Generation

This work deals with the preparation and characterization of electrically conductive needle-punched non-woven composites for heat generation. Electro-conductive non-woven composites were prepared through the in situ chemical polymerization of pyrrole with FeCl3 (oxidant) and p-toluene sulfonic acid (dopant). A two-stage double-bath process was adopted for the in situ chemical polymerization of pyrrole. The effect of parameters such as fibre fineness, needle-punching density and depth of needle punching on a polypyrrole add-on, and surface resistivity were studied by employing the Box-Behnken response surface design. It was observed that fibre fineness was the most influential parameter of the polypyrrole add-on. The lowest surface resistivity of the polypyrrole coated sample (200 g/m2, prepared with a punch density of 200 punch/cm2, a punching depth of 6 mm and fibre fineness of 2.78 dtex) was found to be 9.32 kΩ/□ with a polypyrrole add-on of 47.93%. This non-woven composite demonstrated good electrical conductivity and exhibited Joule’s effect of heat generation. Due to the application of a 30 V DC power supply, the surface temperature of the non-woven composite rose to 55 ºC from a room temperature of 37 ºC. Optical and electron microscopy images of the non-woven composites showed that PPy molecules formed a uniform coating on the non-woven surface. FTIR studies evidenced the coating of PPy on a polyester surface. These coated non-woven composites were highly electrically conductive and practically useful for the fabrication of heating pads for therapeutic use

Benevolent and hostile sexism among adolescents: Role of parental and peer attachment

Abstract Attachment is a persistent and strong emotional bond between two people in which one wishes for intimacy and feels more secure when the attachment image is present. This study explored the relationship of parental and peer attachment with sexism among adolescent boys. 180 adolescent boys residing in the Delhi, NCR areas aged 15 to 20 years participated in the study. The Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment Revised (IPPA-R) and Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI) measures were administered to the participants. The majority of the sample was found to have higher peer attachment than parental attachment. The results of the study found a negative relationship between parental attachment and endorsement of sexism, and a positive relationship was found between peer attachment and sexism among adolescent boys. It was also found that boys showed higher benevolent sexism as compared to hostile sexism. The study’s findings may be relevant in the current scenario because women are victimized by many violent acts continuously world wide. The findings of this study may be useful for the health care professionals to develop intervention programs for adolescents at the school level and family level so that awareness and healthy habits may be developed for gender equality and respect for women among adolescents

A Reemerging Bright Soft X-Ray State of the Changing-look Active Galactic Nucleus 1ES 1927+654:A Multiwavelength View

1ES1927+654 is a nearby active galactic nucleus (AGN) that has shown an enigmatic outburst in optical/UV followed by X-rays, exhibiting strange variability patterns at timescales of months to years. Here we report the unusual X-ray, UV, and radio variability of the source in its postflare state (2022 January–2023 May). First, we detect an increase in the soft X-ray (0.3–2 keV) flux from 2022 May to 2023 May by almost a factor of 5, which we call the bright soft state. The hard X-ray 2–10 keV flux increased by a factor of 2, while the UV flux density did not show any significant changes (≤30%) in the same period. The integrated energy pumped into the soft and hard X-rays during this period of 11 months is ∼3.57 × 10 ^50 erg and 5.9 × 10 ^49 erg, respectively. From the energetics, it is evident that whatever is producing the soft excess (SE) is pumping out more energy than either the UV or hard X-ray source. Since the energy source presumably is ultimately the accretion of matter onto the supermassive black hole, the SE-emitting region must be receiving the majority of this energy. In addition, the source does not follow the typical disk–corona relation found in AGNs, neither in the initial flare (from 2017 to 2019) nor in the current bright soft state (2022–2023). We found that the core (<1 pc) radio emission at 5 GHz gradually increased until 2022 March, but showed a dip in 2022 August. The Güdel–Benz relation ( L _radio / L _X-ray ∼ 10 ^−5 ), however, is still within the expected range for radio-quiet AGNs, and further follow-up radio observations are currently being undertaken

Designing a Data-Driven Framework for Smart and Autonomous Freight Farming

Indoor hydroponic farming has become an industry changing technology that has allowed for crop growth in areas of the world where it would never be expected before. Freight Farms’ Leafy Green Machine allows for farmers to grow crops throughout the year by controlling the climate inside the farm. However, the farm is not able to predict how the climate of the farm will change based on its current sensor readings and equipment states. To allow the farmer to see how the farm will behave in the future, machine learning algorithms can utilize these readings and states to predict the future climate readings, notifying the farmer of any harmful changes. This project seeks to build a predictive machine learning model to add further measures to the Leafy Green Machine’s self-sustaining climate

Production of solar hydrogen energy by nanostructured semiconductor photoelectrode

75-78The present paper describes the modification and solar hydrogen production studies employing a new semiconductor-septum (SC-SEP) photoelectrode ns-TiO2-In2O3 admixed/Ti based photoelectrochemical solar cell. The current-voltage characteristics of the above SC-SEP cell revealed that an enhancement in short-circuit current (ISC) up to three times (5~14.6 mAcm-2). The optimum hydrogen production rate was found to be 11.8 lh-1m-2 for 5 M H2SO4 and with a further increase in H2SO4 concentration, the hydrogen production rate was found to be invariant. In yet another part of our study instead of using new SC-SEP solar cell design, we used a new material form such as ns-TiO2-WO3. The WO3 admixed ns-TiO2 exhibited a high photo-current and photo-voltage of 15.6 mAcm-2, 960 mV, respectively. The ns-TiO2-WO3 electrode exhibited a higher hydrogen gas evolution rate of 13.8 lh-1m-2

Structural and dielectric studies of [PVA –LiAc] : TiO₂ polymer nano-composite system

70-74An attempt has been made in the present work to prepare Poly Vinyl Alcohol (PVA) based proton conducting gel electrolyte that characterizes them. Nano composite polymer electrolyte consisting of Poly Vinyl Alcohol (PVA), Lithium acetate with TiO2 filler, is synthesized by the combination of solution cast technique and sol-gel process. Electrically conducting polymer have been most widely accomplished using chemical and electrochemical processing techniques. The composite electrolyte films were characterized by different experimental techniques. The average particle sizes of composite electrolytes were in between 20-30 nm and this system is essentially ionic with maximum conductivity of polymer electrolyte 90[80PVA-20LiAc]:10TiO2 is [~4.5x10-6 S/cm] at room temperature. </sub