Nucleation and growth studies of crystalline carbon phases at nanoscale.

Understanding the nucleation and early stage growth of crystals from the vapor phase is important for realizing large-area single-crystal quality films, controlled synthesis of nanocrystals, and the possible discovery of new phases of materials. Carbon provides the most interesting system because all its known crystalline phases (diamond, graphite and carbon nanotubes) are technologically important materials. Hence, this dissertation is focused on studying the nucleation and growth of carbon phases synthesized from the vapor phase. Nucleation experiments were performed in a microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition (CVD) reactor, and the resulting carbon nanocrystals were analyzed primarily using electron nanodiffraction and Raman spectroscopy. These studies led to the discovery of two new crystalline phases of sp3 carbon other than diamond: face-centered and body-centered cubic carbon. Nanodiffraction results revealed possible hydrogen substitution into diamond-cubic lattices, indicating that these new phases probably act as intermediates in diamond nucleation. Nucleation experiments also led to the discovery of two new morphologies for sp2 carbon: nanocrystals of graphite and tapered, hollow 1-D structures termed here as carbon nanopipettes. A Kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) algorithm was developed to simulate the growth of individual diamond crystals from the vapor phase, starting with small clusters of carbon atoms (or seeds). Specifically, KMC simulations were used to distinguish the kinetic rules that give rise to a star-shaped decahedral morphology compared to decahedral crystals. KMC simulations revealed that slow adsorption on the {111} step-propagation sites compared to kink sites leads to star-decahedral crystals, and higher adsorption leads to decahedral crystals. Since the surfaces of the nanocrystals of graphite and nanopipettes were expected to be composed primarily of edge-plane sites, the electrochemical behavior of both these materials were investigated with compounds requiring chemisorption, specifically biologically important species. Both these materials exhibited a stable and reversible voltammetric behavior for dopamine (a neurotransmitter) similar to that of graphite edge planes. Furthermore, a simple bottom-up concept utilizing the tapered morphology of the nanopipettes was developed to assemble a nanoarray sensor for fast cyclic voltammetry. In summary, the main outcomes of this dissertation include: the discovery of new crystalline carbon phases, understanding kinetic faceting of multiply twinned diamond crystals and tapered morphologies of carbon nanotubes, and development of new electrode materials based on sp2 carbon nanocrystals for sensing biologically important analytes

Total and Edge Domination on Anti Fuzzy Line Graph

In this paper, the total dominating set, edge dominating set and domination number (TDN & EDN) for anti fuzzy line graph is computed by maxima method algorithm (MMA). This calculation is executed using strong adjacency matrix of anti fuzzy graphs and its line graph

The Influence of Georgia’s Quality Rated System on School Readiness in Preschool Children

Background: Initially launched in 2012, the Quality Rated (QR) program in Georgia is a policy tool for assessing, improving, and communicating the quality of early childhood education and care. Star level designations – zero-star, one-star, two-star, and three-star – are assigned based on a portfolio of QR standards and an onsite Environment Rating Scales observation. In the present study, we used QR data to determine if childcare quality measures (QR ratings) are linked with the readiness of children to enter kindergarten. Methods: QR data were collected from one-star, two-star, and three-star childcare learning centers (n = 16) located within Child Care Resource and Referral Regions 3 and 5 in Georgia. The Bracken School Readiness Assessment – 3rd Edition (BSRA-3) was administered to each child (n =318) eligible for inclusion. Height and weight information (n =335) was collected before assessment. Multilevel analyses were used to establish whether children in programs that score higher on QR (0 to 3 stars) show better school readiness (i.e., by BSRA-3 assessment or body mass index) than peers in programs with lower scores. Results: For the children, there were no significant differences in scores of school readiness based on the QR of childcare and learning centers. Conclusions: The results reinforce the need for continued research of the childcare QR system in Georgia to inform stakeholders in early childcare and education about ways to enhance the quality of early child care and to improve the long-term educational and health outcomes of children across the state. Future studies should examine a larger sample size, which would allow for more precise, multilevel analyses

Study on post partum intrauterine contraceptive device practices and causes for discontinuation of PPIUCD at follow up in a tertiary hospital

Background: Post partum contraception is the best evidence based intervention in prevention of pregnancy and abortion related maternal morbidity and mortality in the developing countries. The unmet need for contraception among women in the postpartum period can be effectively fulfilled by post partum insertion of IUCD, in a single visit under the Government scheme of providing free maternity services during institutional delivery. Despite optimal efforts by family planning program, very few couples are opting for spacing methods and lack of awareness has resulted in discontinuation of family planning methods particularly PPIUCD. This study is designed to study the practices of PPIUCD and causes for discontinuation at follow up in our hospital. The objectives of the study were study PPIUCD practices at Vanivilas hospital; causes for discontinuation of PPIUCD.Methods: Prospective study done at Vanivilas hospital attached to Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute from January 2014 to December 2014. Women admitted and delivered at VVH, were counselled. CuT 380A was inserted in accepters who fulfilled the Medical Eligibility Criteria and had no contraindications for PPIUCD. They were followed up till June 2016.Results: There were 2072 PPIUCD insertions in one year, out of which 1244 were post placental, 139 were in immediate postpartum and 689 were intra caesarean insertions. Fifty four (54) women discontinued PPIUCD during follow up .Main causes for removal were menstrual abnormalities (19), pain abdomen (13), wanting sterilisation procedure (12) and marital disharmony.Conclusions: PPIUCD is an effective, safe, reversible method of long term contraception with high reported expulsion and low perforation rate, compared to interval insertion. More research is needed in the field of PPIUCD to enhance awareness and acceptance in the community. Awareness and counselling the eligible couples during ante natal care can improve acceptance and compliance of PPIUCD continuation rates

COMPARATIVE STUDY OF IN SILICO AND IN VITRO ANTICANCER ACTIVITY OF TRADITIONAL INDIAN MEDICINAL PLANTS-A REVERSE PHARMACOLOGICAL APPROACH

Objective: Cancer is one of the major deaths occurring worldwide and its prophylaxis demands the daily consumption of extracts or dietary supplements of traditional medicinal plants which possess anticancer activities. This study focuses on the evaluation of the chemo preventive and antiproliferative effects of the active constituents of Indian medicinal plants such as Withaniasomnifera, Phyllanthusemblica and Zingiberofficinale by in silico and in vitro studies.Methods: In silico docking analysis is performed using Molegro Virtual Docker choosing the targets as p-glycoprotein and thymidylate synthase for the identified phytoconstituents. In vitro colorimetric cell metabolic activity assay is performed for the standardized extracts of these plants in various cell lines using the standards.Results: The phytoconstituents in the plants, Withaniasomnifera and Phyllanthusemblica revealed good binding affinity towards thymidylate synthase and p-glycoprotein respectively as compared to that of the standards.Conclusion: Phyllanthusemblica showed a maximal antiproliferative effect on breast cancer cell lines (MCF-7) when compared to the other plant extracts. Zingiber officinalis was found to inhibit HT-29 cell lines to a greater extent and Withaniasomniferum resulted in highest A549 cell death. A combination of these extracts in any dosage form could be used in the therapeutic efficacy in cancer

A Guide to in silico Identification of miRNAs and their Targets

MicroRNAs (miRNA) are non-coding RNA molecules that play a critical role in gene regulation including translational repression in animals and mRNA cleavage in plants. MicroRNAs control various cellular, metabolic and physiological processes in living organisms. In this paper, we provide an overview on the significance of miRNA, nomenclature, their biogenesis and the pipelines for prediction of miRNA and their targets. These tools are important for identification of conserved miRNAs in crops where miRNAs have not been previously discovered. The newlyidentified miRNAs and their targets play an important role in understanding regulation of growth, development and gene silencing in various life forms