Magnetically Recoverable Silica-Decorated Ferromagnetic-Nanoceria Nanocatalysts and Their Use with

Silica-decorated ferrite nanoparticles, a new kind, coated with ceric ammonium nitrate (CAN), have been prepared successfully by simple coprecipitation techniques. Powder X-ray diffraction spectroscopy (PXRD), Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), field emission-scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM), wavelength-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (WDX), energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), inductive coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) techniques were used to characterize these nanoparticles. The catalysts are further studied for catalytic activity in solvent-free conditions. Importantly, these nanoparticles have been collected from the reaction mixture using an external magnet and recycled up to minimum of 15 cycles with no substantial loss of catalytic characteristics

Magnetite-Supported Montmorillonite (K10) (Nanocat-Fe-Si-K10): An Efficient Green Catalyst for Multicomponent Synthesis of Amidoalkyl Naphthol†

Montmorillonite (K10) loaded on magnetite silica-coated nanoparticles was made using simple co-precipitation methods. The prepared nanocat-Fe-Si-K10 was analyzed using some techniques including field emission-scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), inductive coupling plasma-optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA), Fourier transmission-infrared spectra (FT-IR), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and wavelength-dispersive spectroscopy (WDX). The catalytic activity of the synthesized nanocat-Fe-Si-K10 has been examined in one-pot multicomponent transformations for the synthesis of 1-amidoalkyl 2-naphthol derivatives under solvent-free conditions. Nanocat-Fe-Si-K10 was determined to be very active, having the ability to be reused 15 times without significant loss of catalytic activity. The suggested technique has several advantages, including excellent yield, minimum reaction time, a straightforward workup, and catalyst recycling, all of which are essential green synthetic aspects

Identification of Garlic Genotypes for Resistant Sources against Purple Blotch Disease

Garlic is an herbaceous annual bulbous plant in the family Amaryllidaceae grown for its pungent and edible bulb. Among the various biotic factors hindering production and productivity, purple blotch plays a predominant role in changing the crops morpho-physiological characters, thus deteriorating the metabolic activity in turn affecting the yield considerably. Fungicides have been recommended for the control of the disease, however use of fungicides is expensive and not eco-friendly. The best approach to control the disease is by using resistant genotypes. Hence, 37 genotypes were field screened at AINRPOG (All India Network Research Project on Onion and Garlic), MARS (Main Agricultural Research Station), Dharwad against purple blotch disease under artificial epiphytotic conditions during Kharif in year 2019 to identify the resistant sources. The results revealed that twenty genotypes were found to be resistant (1-10%) and five genotypes were immune (0%) however, ten genotypes were found moderately resistant (11-20%) in reaction. The remaining two genotypes viz., HRG Local and DOGR409 were found moderately susceptible (21-40%) with a maximum grade of 3 on (0-5) scale. None of the genotypes showed susceptible or highly susceptible reactions to purple blotch. Breeders can make use of these identified resistant lines in developing high yield purple blotch disease resistant varieties

Field Screening of Garlic Genotypes for Identification of Resistant Sources against Purple Blotch Disease

Garlic (Allium sativum L.) is one of the oldest cultivated plants in the world and belongs to the family Amaryllidaceae. Purple blotch caused by Alternaria porri (Ellis) Ciferri is one such disease which causes a great deal of loss for farmers. The best method to manage purple blotch is to adopt resistant genotypes for cultivation, which is highly necessary in areas with a high incidence. In order to identify resistant sources, 37 genotypes were field screened under artificial epiphytotic conditions at AINRPOG (All India Network Research Project on Onion and Garlic), MARS (Main Agricultural Research Station), Dharwad during Rabi, 2019 and 2020. Results from two years showed that no genotype was immune to purple blotch. Among the genotypes tested, five genotypes viz., G50, Bhima Purple, DOGR426, DOGR543 and DOGR569 were resistant to infection (1-10%), 17 genotypes moderately resistant to infection (11-20%), while 4 genotypes were moderately susceptible to infection (21-40%). On a scale of 0 to 5, only one genotype (HRG Local) showed susceptible (41-75%) in reaction. Among the remaining genotypes, disease reactions differed between years. The genotypes that are resistant can be utilized by breeders to produce high yielding purple blotch resistant varieties

EMERALD: Emergency visit audit of patients treated under medical oncology in a tertiary cancer center: Logical steps to decrease the burden

Background: We are a tertiary care cancer center and have approximately 1000–1500 emergency visits by cancer patients undergoing treatment under the adult medical oncology unit each month. However, due to the lack of a systematic audit, we are unable to plan steps toward the improvement in quality of emergency services, and hence the audit was planned. Methods: All emergency visits under the adult medical oncology department in the month of July 2015 were audited. The cause of visit, the demographic details, cancer details, and chemotherapy status were obtained from the electronic medical records. The emergency visits were classified as avoidable or unavoidable. Descriptive statistics were performed. Reasons for avoidable emergency visits were sought. Results: Out of 1199 visits, 1168 visits were classifiable. Six hundred and ninety-six visits were classified as unavoidable (59.6%, 95% CI: 56.7–62.4), 386 visits were classified as probably avoidable visit (33.0%, 95% CI: 30.4–35.8) whereas the remaining 86 (7.4%, 95% CI: 6.0–9.01) were classified as absolutely avoidable. Two hundred and ninety-seven visits happened on weekends (25.6%) and 138 visits converted into an inpatient admission (11.9%). The factors associated with avoidable visits were curative intention of treatment (odds ratio - 2.49), discontinued chemotherapy status (risk ratio [RR] - 8.28), and private category file status (RR – 1.89). Conclusion: A proportion of visits to emergency services can be curtailed. Approximately one-fourth of patients are seen on weekends, and only about one-tenth of patients get admitted