Isomeric state and rotational band in 158Ho

The odd-odd 158Ho nucleus is studied by means of the reactions 159Tb(α, 5n)158Ho and 160Dy(p, 3n)158 Ho. The life-time of an isomeric state is measured as T 1/2 = (29 ± 3) ns. A rotational band is developed up to spin 16 -

Zinc-oxide charge trapping memory cell with ultra-thin chromium-oxide trapping layer

Cataloged from PDF version of article.A functional zinc-oxide based SONOS memory cell with ultra-thin chromium oxide trapping layer was fabricated. A 5 nm CrO2 layer is deposited between Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) steps. A threshold voltage (Vt) shift of 2.6V was achieved with a 10V programming voltage. Also for a 2V Vt shift, the memory with CrO2 layer has a low programming voltage of 7.2V. Moreover, the deep trapping levels in CrO2 layer allows for additional scaling of the tunnel oxide due to an increase in the retention time. In addition, the structure was simulated using Physics Based TCAD. The results of the simulation fit very well with the experimental results providing an understanding of the charge trapping and tunneling physics. © 2013 Author(s

Ultrasound guided transversus abdominis plane block in pediatric patients undergoing laparoscopic surgery

AbstractObjectiveTo assess safety and effectiveness of ultrasound-guided TAP block in children undergoing laparoscopic surgery for undescended testis.Subjects and methodsThis randomized controlled trial involved 108 children, 3–7years old, randomly allocated into one of two equal groups; TAP Group and Control Group. All children received general anesthesia using propofol 1.5–2.5mg/kg, atracurium 0.5mg/kg and fentanyl 2μg/kg. TAP Group received 0.5ml/kg of ropivacaine 0.375% bilaterally under ultrasound guidance and control group received regular analgesics. Quality of analgesia was assessed using Children’s Hospital Eastern Ontario Pain Scale (CHEOPS) and Objective behavioral pain score (OPS). The primary outcome measures were hemodynamic parameters and degree of pain. Secondary outcome measures were intraoperative fentanyl requirement, postoperative rescue analgesia (time and dose), complications, hospital stay and degree of satisfaction of patients and their parents.ResultsTAP block group had significantly lower intraoperative fentanyl dose (p<0.001), significantly longer time to first postoperative request of analgesic (p<0.001), lower analgesic dose during the first postoperative 24h (p<0.001) and lower pain scores along the whole 24 postoperative hours. Mean arterial pressure and heart rate were within the clinically accepted range in the two groups. Parents’ satisfaction was significantly higher (p<0.001) in the TAP block group.ConclusionTAP block under ultrasound guidance was easy, safe, reliable and effective analgesic in children undergoing laparoscopic surgery for undescended testis

Serological, hematological, Biochemical and Oxidative Markers During Foot and Mouth Disease Serotype ‘O’ Infection, Egypt

Foot and mouth disease (FMD) is an extremely grave communicable disease of livestock. It affects all wild and domestic animals with cloven hoof. It is caused by Aphtho virus (Apthous fever) or (FMDV) foot and mouth disease virus which is originated from family Picornaviridae. 30 adult female water buffaloes, 3-5 years old infected with FMD serotypes, O. These animals were located at Sharkia governorate, Egypt during the period beetwen December 2014 to March 2015. Hematological findings showed no significant change in erythrogram and reduction in total leukocytes in the early stage of FMDV infection. Moreover development of macrocytic normochromic anemia and increase in total leukocytes and lymphocytic counts was reported in the late stage of infection. A significant decrease in cholesterol , progesterone , total proteins, albumin , globulins, calcium and sodium levels in infected groups, while a significant increase in serum activities of ALT ,AST, glucose, total, direct ,indirect bilirubine, phosphorous potassium, NO. MDA, CK-MB, LDH and CTNI. Without alterations in creatinine level

Performance comparison of various probability gate assisted binary lightning search algorithm

Recently, many new nature-inspired optimization algorithms have been introduced to further enhance the computational intelligence optimization algorithms. Among them, lightning search algorithm (LSA) is a recent heuristic optimization method for resolving continuous problems. It mimics the natural phenomenon of lightning to find out the global optimal solution around the search space. In this paper, a suitable technique to formulate binary version of lightning search algorithm (BLSA) is presented. Three common probability transfer functions, namely, logistic sigmoid, tangent hyperbolic sigmoid and quantum bit rotating gate are investigated to be utilized in the original LSA. The performances of three transfer functions based BLSA is evaluated using various standard functions with different features and the results are compared with other four famous heuristic optimization techniques. The comparative study clearly reveals that tangent hyperbolic transfer function is the most suitable function that can be utilized in the binary version of LSA