Morphological Phase Separation in Unstable Thin Films: Pattern Formation and Growth

We present results from a comprehensive numerical study of {\it morphological phase separation} (MPS) in unstable thin liquid films on a 2-dimensional substrate. We study the quantitative properties of the evolution morphology via several experimentally relevant markers, e.g., correlation function, structure factor, domain-size and defect-size probability distributions, and growth laws. Our results suggest that the late-stage morphologies exhibit dynamical scaling, and their evolution is self-similar in time. We emphasize the analogies and differences between MPS in films and segregation kinetics in unstable binary mixtures.Comment: 17 pages, 6 figures; Accepted for publication in Physical Chemistry Chemical Physic

Spinodal Phase Separation in Liquid Films with Quenched Disorder

We study spinodal phase separation in unstable thin liquid films on chemically disordered substrates via simulations of the thin-film equation. The disorder is characterized by immobile patches of varying size and Hamaker constant. The effect of disorder is pronounced in the early stages (amplification of fluctuations), remains during the intermediate stages and vanishes in the late stages (domain growth). These findings are in contrast to the well-known effects of quenched disorder in usual phase-separation processes, viz., the early stages remain undisturbed and domain growth is slowed down in the asymptotic regime. We also address the inverse problem of estimating disorder by thin-film experiments.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figure

Partial purification and characterization of exoinulinase from kluyveromyces marxianus YS-1 for preparation of high-fructose syrup

An extracellular exoinulinase( 2, 1-&nbsp;&szlig;- D fructan fructanohydrolase, EC 3.2.1.7), which catalyzes the hydrolysis of inulin into fructose and glucose, was purified 23.5-fold by ethanol precipitation, followed by Sephadex G-100 gel permeation from a cell-free extract of Kluyveromyces marxianus YS-1. The partially purified enzyme exhibited considerable activity between pH 5 to 6, with an optimum pH of 5.5, while it remained stable(100%) for 3 h at the optimum temperature of 50&ordm; c. Mn2+ and Ca2+ produced a 2A-fold and 1.2-fold enhancement in enzyme activity, whereas Hg2+ and Ag2+&nbsp; completely inhibited the inulinase. A preparation of the partially purified enzyme effectively hydrolyzed inulin, sucrose, and raffinose, yet no activity was found with starch, lactose, and maltose. The enzyme preparation was then successfully used to hydrolyze pure inulin and raw inulin from Asparagus racemosus for the preparation of a high-fructose syrup. In a batch system, the exoinulinase hydrolyzed 84.8% of the pure inulin and 86.7% of the raw Asparagus racemosus inulin, where fructose represented 43.6mg/ml and 41.3mg/ml, respectively.<br /

Kinetics of Spinodal Phase Separation in Unstable Thin Liquid Films

We study universality in the kinetics of spinodal phase separation in unstable thin liquid films, via simulations of the thin film equation. It is shown that in addition to morphology and free energy,the number density of local maxima in the film profile can also be used to identify the early, intermediate and late stages of spinodal phase separation. A universal curve between the number density of local maxima and rescaled time describes the kinetics of early stage in d = 2, 3. The Lifshitz-Slyozov exponent of -1/3 describes the kinetics of the late stage in d = 2 even in the absence of coexisting equilibrium phases.Comment: 5 figure

Amplification of Fluctuations in Unstable Systems with Disorder

We study the early-stage kinetics of thermodynamically unstable systems with quenched disorder. We show analytically that the growth of initial fluctuations is amplified by the presence of disorder. This is confirmed by numerical simulations of morphological phase separation (MPS) in thin liquid films and spinodal decomposition (SD) in binary mixtures. We also discuss the experimental implications of our results.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figure

Assessment of Implementation of Integrated Management of Neonatal and Childhood Illness in India

At the current rate of decline in infant mortality, India is unlikely to achieve the Millennium Development Goal on child survival. Integrated Management of Neonatal and Childhood Illness (IMNCI), adapted from the global Integrated Management of Childhood Illness to enhance the focus on newborns and on community health workers, is the central strategy within the National Reproductive and Child Health Programme to address high infant mortality. This paper assessed the progress of IMNCI in India, identified the programme bottlenecks, and also assessed the effect on coverage of key newborn and childcare practices. Programme data were analyzed to ascertain the implementation status; rapid programme assessment was conducted for identifying the programme bottlenecks; and results of analysis of two rounds of district-level household surveys were used for comparing the change in the coverage of child-health interventions in IMNCI and control districts. More than 200,000 community health workers and first-level healthcare providers were trained during 2005-2009 at a variable pace across 223 districts. Of the reported births (n=1,102,573), 65.5% were visited by a trained worker within 24 hours, and 63.1% were visited three times within 10 days. Poor supervision and inadequate essential supplies affected the performance of trained workers. During 2004-2008, 12 early-implementing districts had covered most key newborn and child practice indicators compared to the control districts; however, the difference was significant only for care-seeking for acute respiratory infection (net difference: 17.8%; 95% confidence interval 2.3-33.2, p<0.026). Based on the early experience of IMNCI implementation in different states of India, measures need to be taken to improve supportive supervision, availability of essential supplies, and monitoring of the programme if the strategy has to translate into improved child survival in India

Open reduction of carpometacarpal fracture dislocations: a case report

Dislocations of the carpometacarpal (CMC) joints are uncommon injuries. Up to 70% of carpometacarpal dislocations are missed or misdiagnosed. Post traumatic dislocation of carpal and CMC joint results most commonly due to high energy trauma. A 24 year old male with right hand dominant presented 5 days after in emergency room with alleged history of fall from 4 feet height on right hand with wrist in extension. On clinical examination revealed marked swelling over dorsum of right hand with wound over volar aspect of hand. There was minimal movement of fingers due to pain. There was no finger paresthesia. CRT was normal. Radiography revealed a volar dislocation of 2nd to 5th CMC joint with intra-articular fracture of base of proximal phalanx of the thumb. He was treated by open reduction and percutaneous fixation using Kirschner wires. The functional results were excellent at 6 months of follow-up

Double intra venous cannula versus single needle technique of aspiration and methylprednisolone injection in the treatment of wrist ganglion: a comparative study

Background: Ganglion is the one of the common soft tissue swellings in the hand and wrist. Treatment options available include reassurance, nonsurgical means like aspiration with or without steroid or hyaluronidase injection and surgical or arthroscopic excision. All current treatment options produce suboptimal results. This study endeavours to compare the outcome and recurrence rate and other complications after treatment of wrist ganglion by aspiration and methylprednisolone injection by double Intravenous cannula versus single needle technique.Methods: A prospective comparative clinical study was done with a total of 72 patients. 36 patients in group 1 were treated with double intravenous cannula technique and 36 patients in group 2 were treated with single needle technique. All the patients were followed up for 6 months to look for recurrence and any complication. The patient’s age, sex and various characteristics of the ganglion cyst like side, site, size, etc. were recorded.Results: In group 1, recurrence was seen in 6 patients (15.7%) while in group 2, recurrence were seen in 14 (38.8%) patients. There was statistical significant difference between the two groups with p value of 0.04. No complication was seen in both groups due to methylprednisolone injection.Conclusions: Inspired by the results we advise to use aspiration and methylprednisolone injection by double intravenous cannula technique in the treatment of wrist ganglion before any surgical intervention. It is safe, simple, cost effective method and is less invasive and less time consuming with recurrence rate comparable to surgical and arthroscopic interventions

Mass-Transport Models with Multiple-Chipping Processes

We study mass-transport models with multiple-chipping processes. The rates of these processes are dependent on the chip size and mass of the fragmenting site. In this context, we consider k-chip moves (where k = 1, 2, 3, ....); and combinations of 1-chip, 2-chip and 3-chip moves. The corresponding mean-field (MF) equations are solved to obtain the steady-state probability distributions, P (m) vs. m. We also undertake Monte Carlo (MC) simulations of these models. The MC results are in excellent agreement with the corresponding MF results, demonstrating that MF theory is exact for these models.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figures, To appear in European Physical Journal