A First Principles Calculation of Ferromagnetic EuFe4Sb12

AbstractThe filled skutterudite compounds have attracted much attention of their wide variety of strongly correlated electron behaviour. Density functional theory (DFT) based calculations of electronic and magnetic properties of the filled skutterudites EuFe4Sb12 have been performed using full-potential linearized augmented plane wave (FP-LAPW) method within the framework of the local spin density approximation (LSDA) approach. FeSb-based filled skutterudite compound exhibits variety of interesting features, since there coexist localized 4f-electrons and 3d-electrons with high density of states near Fermi level originating from Eu and Fe. The calculation performed near the Fermi level for density of states shows the compound to be suitable for effective thermoelectric application. The exchange-splitting of Eu-4f states were analysed to explain the ferromagnetic behaviour of EuFe4Sb12 with magnetic moment of 5.35μB

Changing Patterns of Ground Water Level in Fatehabad District of Haryana, India

Ground water is the world largest freshwater resource used in agriculture for irrigation. Ground water level in paddy cultivating region in Haryana is depleting very fast, threatening the future of agriculture productivity in one of the largest farming state in India. The aim of this study was to assess the trends in ground water level in the Fatehabad district of Haryana, India. Rapid increase in area under rice-cultivation, electric sets for pumping deep water and decrease in cultivation of less water requirement crops like pearl millet are the possible reasons behind rapid decline of ground water. In the present paper different factors like ground water level, area under rice cultivation, fertilizers consumption pattern and electric set were studied for the period between 2005 to 2013 in the Fatehabad district. The area under rice cultivation has increased from 31.67 to 40.36% with increased number of electric sets from 18542 to 31163 in 2005-06 to 2012-13, respectively. Area under pearl millet cultivation has also declined to 22.6 % in 2012-13 as compared to 2005-06. The district showed the second largest decline of 17.19 meters after district Mohindergarh since June 1999 to June, 2014 in Haryana. Sustainable use of water and cultivation of crops having less water requirements and drip/sprinkler irrigation are recommended to check the decline of ground water in the district. Keywords: Ground Water Depletion, Rice Cultivation, Electric Set, Fatehabad, Haryan

Assessment of knowledge, attitude and self-care activities among type-2 diabetic patients attending a tertiary care teaching hospital

Background: Poor awareness, negative attitudes and inadequate self-care practices among diabetic patients are some of the important variables influencing the progression of diabetes and its complications, which are largely preventable through education and involvement of the patient.Methods: A hospital based cross sectional study was conducted among type 2 diabetics attending diabetes clinic in tertiary care hospital. Knowledge and attitude towards making lifestyle changes were evaluated using a semi structured questionnaire. To assess the diabetes self-care activities associated with glycemic control the Diabetes Self-care Management Questionnaire consisting of four subscales ‘Glucose management’, ‘Dietary control’, ‘Physical activity’ and ‘Health Care Use’ was used.Results: A total of 61 diabetic patients consented and participated in the study of whom 56.66% were male and 43.33% female. Majority of the respondents (33.30%) were in the age group more than 60 years, 43.3 % belonged to upper middle class, 21.3 % were obese and majority had duration of disease between 5 to 10 years. Only 30 % of the total diabetic patients had achieved good glycemic control. There was a significant difference between knowledge (p <0.05) but not attitude towards self-care activities between the glycemic controlled versus the uncontrolled diabetic patients. Among self-care practices, following a controlled diet (p <0.05) and observing strict glucose management (p <0.05) were significantly associated with achieving glycemic control.Conclusions: As evidenced by the study, patients who were regularly involved in self-care practices (especially dietary control and glucose management) achieved better glycemic control. Therefore, interventions to increase diabetic patient self-care behaviour are needed to reduce poor glycemic control

A Polynomial Kernel for Diamond-Free Editing

Given a fixed graph H, the H-free editing problem asks whether we can edit at most k edges to make a graph contain no induced copy of H. We obtain a polynomial kernel for this problem when H is a diamond. The incompressibility dichotomy for H being a 3-connected graph and the classical complexity dichotomy suggest that except for H being a complete/empty graph, H-free editing problems admit polynomial kernels only for a few small graphs H. Therefore, we believe that our result is an essential step toward a complete dichotomy on the compressibility of H-free editing. Additionally, we give a cubic-vertex kernel for the diamond-free edge deletion problem, which is far simpler than the previous kernel of the same size for the problem

Development of a Polymerase Chain Reaction Assay for Detection of Burkholderia mallei, a Potent Biological Warfare Agent

Burkholderia mallei is the etiological agent of glanders, primarily a disease of equines. B. mallei is closely related to B. pseudomallei, the causative agent of melioidosis. Therefore, detection of B. mallei and its differentiation from B. pseudomallei, has always been troublesome. In present investigation, a B. mallei specific DNA sequence was identified by performing BLASTn search using ~3000 ORFs of B. mallei NCTC 10229. A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay with internal amplification control (IAC) was developed for detection of B. mallei and its differentiation from B. pseudomallei. The PCR assay could amplify a specific 224-bp fragment from all the six B. mallei strains used in the study, whereas other closely related organisms were tested negative. The detection limit of the assay was found to be 10 pg of purified DNA of B. mallei. Incorporation of IAC in the assay makes the results reliable as false negative results which may arise due to presence of PCR inhibitors, can be avoided. For validation, the assay was tested on tap water, Bengal gram and grass artificially spiked with B. mallei. The developed assay can be used as a simple and rapid tool for detection of B. mallei

Incidental gonadoblastoma in swyer syndrome: a case report with brief review of literature

Swyer syndrome is a disorder of sexual differentiation with an incidence of 1 in 80,000 population. Dysgenetic gonads have a propensity for malignant transformation particularly in the presence of Y chromosome and hence need prophylactic removal. We report a case of an adolescent girl who presented with primary amenorrhea who was identified as a case of 46 XY dysgenesis after karyotype studies. Extirpation of gonads were done laparoscopically and on histopathological assessment gonadoblastoma was detected. This case report aims to reiterate the importance of gonadectomy in patients with swyer syndrome as tumors could arise even in the absence of frank adnexal masses

A study of knowledge beliefs and attitudes regarding aids and human sexuality among medical college, engineering college and university Undergraduates of gorakhpur.

Research Problem: i) What is the level of knowledge and altitude of undergraduates about AIDS and human sexuality? ii) What arc the preferred modes of obtaining such knowledge?. Objectives: To assess the knowledge, beliefs and attitudes of undergraduate students regarding AIDS and human sexuality. Study Design: Self administered questionnaire. Setting and Participants: 1289 undergraduates from B.R.D. Medical College., M. M. M. Engineering College and University of Gorakhpur. Study Variables: Knowledge, beliefs and attitudes regarding AIDS and sexuality. Outcome Variables: Proportion of students having correct knowledge and positive attitudes. Statistical Analysis: By proportions. Result: l.evcl of knowledge about AIDS was generally high. Most of the students obtained knowledge about it through mass media. Few students had misconceptions about transmission of 1IIV infection. Knowledge about sex was obtained mainly from friends (36%) and books (31.31%). Most of the students preferred doctors (44.15%) and friends (43.66%) for asking something about sex. and not their parents (4.37%) or teachers (4.61%). 59.13% of boys and 34.49% of girls thought that students of their age had sex. Conclusion and Recommendations: The most peculiar fact in (his study is that students have no reliable means of obtaining correct information about subjects related to sex. Medical profession contributed very little in providing such knowledge. Most of them relied on their friends for such information. So. emphasis is to be given on recommending proper education material for the youth