Rupture of a Two-Dimensional Alkane Crystal

We have studied the breaking of a two-dimensional alkane crystal above the disordered melt using an oscillating bubble rheometer. Surface tension changes abruptly during the expansion and contraction cycle. We postulate that this is due to rupture of the 2D crystal at grain boundaries. The magnitude of the abrupt change in surface tension decreases with a decrease in the rate of change of bubble surface area with a power law exponent of 0.8. The interfacial area formed after rupture decreases with a decrease in rate. These results provide new insights in understanding defect-mediated rupture in confined geometry

MARMA CHIKITSA A NON- INVASIVE APPROACH TO DEAL WITH DIABETIC RETINOPATHY

Ayurveda represents a very effective alternative system of medicine with its effective therapies like Yoga, Mud Therapy, Ahara Chikitsa and many others. Among which Marma Chikitsa is developing and gaining importance. It is a precise art of touching an individual in exactly the right place at a critical moment in time, for the purpose of healing and bringing flawless results in a lot of disorders that are creating hindrances in healthy life of an individual. One of such lifestyle relayed disorders is diabetes mellitus which if not controlled later on leads to neuropathy, nephropathy and retinopathy. Today diabetic retinopathy has become one of the leading causes of blindness worldwide. So, attracting researchers to find out ways to control its progression and treating it well. Treatment involves laser, photocoagulation, viterectomy etc. They are effective for short time, but on the other side, having high reoccurrence rates and discomfort to an individual. Here hidden treasures of Ayurveda can be explored to help mankind. One of such hidden asset is Marma Chikitsa. Marma Chikitsa involves pressing Marma points which causes release of blockage of energy, removes excess Ama, facilitates easy flow of energy, nourishes the tissues, produces endorphins and cortisol like hormones in-turn induces calm shut off FFF response and improves blood circulation. All these activities cause better functioning of that particular area. Some of the Marma points stimulation that are related to eyes and some that helps in better metabolism like Apanga, Avarta, Sthapni, Vidhura, Kurcha, Kurchshira, Indravasti and Nabhi can play a good role in checking progression of retinopathy with pathya Ahara, healthy lifestyle, exercises and proper medication. Marma Chikitsa can be a safe, convenient, cost-effective adjuvant remedy in dealing diabetic retinopathy

Partial Crystallinity in Alkyl Side Chain Polymers Dictates Surface Freezing

We have studied the structure of a novel crystalline surface monolayer on top of a disordered melt of the same material [poly(n-alkyl acrylate)s] using grazing incidence x-ray diffraction. The grazing incidence x-ray diffraction, surface tension, and bulk latent heat results show that side chains crystallize except the nine methylene units of the alkyl side chains closest to the polymer backbone. The partial crystallinity along with a thicker surface layer, due to the additional length of the linker group, explains why the difference between the surface order-to-disorder transition temperature and bulk melting temperature increases with a decrease in the length of the alkyl side chain

Effect of Surface Freezing on Meniscus Relaxation in Side Chain Comb Polymers

We have observed a sharp slowing down of the relaxation of the liquid meniscus for polydn-alkyl acrylate) at temperatures where there are no abrupt changes in bulk viscosity or surface tension. This slowing down is due to the formation of a surface-ordered monolayer above the bulk melting temperatures. X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy measurements reveal that the surface capillary fluctuations are also significantly slower due to the formation of the ordered monolayer for film thicknesses comparable to that of the precursor films. The slowing down of the precursor film dynamics is responsible for slower meniscus relaxation below the surface ordering transition temperature

Changes in liver function tests in laparoscopic cholecystectomy versus open cholecystectomy in a tertiary care center

Background: Gallstone disease is a major health problem worldwide particularly in the adult population. The traditional open cholecystectomy (OC) has been replaced by laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC), with LC becoming the gold standard for management of gall stone disease. Elevation in the levels of liver enzymes following LC is a major cause of concern. Hence the present study determines and compares the changes in liver function tests following Laparoscopic cholecystectomy with open cholecystectomy, as well the significance of these changes is studied. Methods: A total of 100 patients with symptomatic cholelithiasis were selected in the study from October 2020 to October 2022. The cases were randomly divided into two groups, Group LC and Group OC. The blood samples were collected for Liver Function Tests (LFT)-Pre-operatively, Post-operative Day (POD)-1, POD-2 and POD-7 and enzyme alterations were studied. Results: The study demonstrated increase in levels of Serum AST, ALT, ALP in LC group on POD-1 and POD-2 with p<0.001, while the levels returned to reference values on POD-7. In OC group the increase in levels of Serum AST, ALT, ALP were observed on POD-1 only with p<0.05 and the levels returned to normal values by POD-2 of majority of patients. The changes in LFT were higher in LC group compared to OC group (where the changes were slight). Conclusions: Cholecystectomy especially laparoscopic, leads to transient significant hepatic enzyme alterations which can be attributed to CO2 pneumoperitoneum, surgical manipulations, diathermy and arterial injury. These derangements at times may be of concern to surgeons for its implication to the integrity of biliary tract

Prevalence and Factors Associated with Occupational Musculoskeletal Disorders among the Nurses of a Tertiary Care Center of Nepal

Introduction: Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are injuries or pain in the human musculoskeletal system which could lead to temporary or permanent impairments. The nature of nursing jobs makes nurses vulnerable to MSDs. This study aimed to assess the prevalence and potential risk factors associated with MSDs among nurses. Methods: In between March to June 2021, a cross-sectional study was conducted among 165 nurses using self-administered questionnaires. A standardized Nordic Questionnaire was used to measure MSDs. Pearson’s chi-square test and binary logistic regression at a 5% level of significance were performed to identify factors associated with upper extremities and spinal musculoskeletal disorders (UMSD) and lower extremities musculoskeletal disorders (LMSD). Variables associated with UMSD and LMSD in bivariate analysis were subjected to multiple logistic regression.  Results: The prevalence of UMSD and LMSD experienced by nurses was 86.1% (95% CI: 79.4%-90.9%) and 66.1% (95% CI: 58.9%-74.3%), respectively. Among several factors, working in same position for long periods (AOR: 4.16, 95% CI: 1.2-13.4), not receiving training in injury prevention programs (AOR: 3.15, 95% CI: 1.0-9.2), not enough rest breaks during the day (AOR: 4.65, 95% CI: 1.3-15.9) and moderate to higher job stress (AOR: 3.62, 95% CI: 1.2-10.8) were found to be significantly associated with UMSD. Not having enough rest breaks during the day (AOR: 2.19, 95% CI: 1.0-4.7) was significantly associated with LMSD. Conclusion: Higher prevalence of MSDs among nurses is a serious concern that threatens individual health as well as the overall healthcare system. Sensitization and capacity enhancement programs on the issue could prevent MSDs among nurses

A systematic study on material properties of water retted Sterculia and Bauhinia fiber

Lignocellulose biomass forms an important component of traditional and next generation composite materials. To obtain desired properties, the biomass needs to be chemo‒mechanically processed at different levels. The raw lignocellulose fiber obtained from Sterculia villosa (Roxb.) and Bauhinia vahlii is traditionally believed to have high water stability; and therefore used in rural areas of South Asian regions to secure objects submerged under water. In this research, we systematically studied several material properties of raw Sterculia and Bauhinia fiber samples retted for 0, 20, 30 and 55 days (n=8). Water retting resulted in significant decrease in lignin and extractives content (p0.05). Interestingly, water retting resulted in increased thermal stability in both fiber types. These findings suggested that the fiber studied have excellent water stability. The observed trend in mechanical and thermal properties could have resulted from crystallinity change and/or nominal fiber damage as supported by XRD and SEM imaging data; respectively. These findings suggested that Sterculia and Bauhinia fiber biomass could be an important component of biodegradable composite materials which are intended for high wetting and/or humid conditions

Evaluation and comparison of the constitutive expression levels of Toll-like receptors 2, 3 and 7 in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells of Tharparkar and crossbred cattle

Aim: This study was undertaken to assess the differential expression levels of toll-like receptors (TLRs) 2, 3 and 7 in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) isolated from Tharparkar and Crossbred cattle belonging to different regions of India. Materials and Methods: PBMCs were isolated from blood samples of Tharparkar cattle from Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI) farm (n=30); Suratgarh farm (n=61); Jaipur farm (n=8) and cross breed cattle from Jaipur (n=47). RNA was isolated from PBMCs and cDNA was synthesized using random hexamers. The expression profiles of TLR 2, 3 and 7 were estimated by real-time PCR and normalized to the expression of β-actin. Results: PBMCs of Tharparkar cattle from Suratgarh, exhibited a significantly higher (p<0.05) constitutive expression levels of TLR2, TLR3 and TLR7 genes as compared to Tharparkar cattle from IVRI or Jaipur as well as the crossbred cattle from Jaipur. PBMCs of crossbred cattle from Jaipur showed higher expression profiles of all the TLRs than Tharparkar cattle from Jaipur and IVRI. Conclusion: Our study indicates, expression levels of TLR2, TLR3 and TLR7 are significantly higher for Tharparkar cattle from Suratgarh than the cattle from Jaipur and IVRI and crossbred cattle from Jaipur. However, crossbred cattle from Jaipur showed higher basal expression levels of all the three TLRs than Tharparkar cattle from Jaipur and IVRI. Results also indicate that PBMCs of Tharparkar cattle show a regional variation in the expression pattern of TLRs

Production of food nanomaterials by specialized equipment

In the past decade, there has been a great interest in using nanotechnology by different industries, including food, pharmaceutical, and beauty. Nanotechnology provides many advantages to produce functional compounds which tend to be delivered for desired properties, such as protection from the environment or food matrix, controlled release, and increased bioavailability and bioaccessibility (Muhammad et al., 2019, Sedaghat Doost et al., 2019b, Sedaghat Doost et al., 2018c). There is a variety of methods to prepare food nanomaterials. Specialized equipment is frequently employed for the production of efficient nano-delivery systems, which is the focus of this chapter; the basic principle of conventional and recent techniques, as well as their advantages and disadvantages are described

The role of plant growth promoting bacteria on arsenic removal: a review of existing perspectives

Phytobial remediation is an innovative tool that uses plants and microbes to mitigate Arsenic (As) contamination of the environment. Recently, plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) that assists phytoremediation has been highly touted for both improving plant metal tolerance and promoting plant growth while achieving the goal of large-scale removal of As. This review focuses on the PGPB characteristics influencing plants and the mechanisms in which they function to overcome/lessen As-induced adversities. Several recent examples of mechanisms responsible for increasing the availability of As to plants and coping with As stresses facilitated by PGPB will be reviewed. Although drawbacks to phytoremediation have been reported, encouraging results have been developed with regular monitoring. Introducing PGPB-assisted phytoremediation of As in a field requires an assessment of the environmental effects of PGPB, especially with respect to the impacts on indigenous bacteria