High Field Magneto-Conductivity Analysis of Bi2Se3 Single Crystal

We report the high field (up to 14Tesla) magneto-conductivity analysis of Bi2Se3 topological insulator grown via the self flux method. The detailed experimental investigations including crystal growth as well as the electrical, thermal and spectroscopic characterizations of the resultant Bi2Se3 single crystal are already reported by some of us. The current letter deals with high field magneto-conductivity analysis in terms of Hikami Larkin Nagaoka (HLN) model, which revealed that the electronic conduction is dominated by both surface states driven weak anti localization (WAL), as well the bulk WL (weak localization) states. Further, by applying the HLN equation we have extracted the fitting parameters i.e., phase coherence length and the pre-factor. The HLN equation exhibited values of [pre factor close to -1.0, indicating both WAL and WL contributions. On the other hand, the extracted phase coherence length is seen to decrease from 11.125 nm to 5.576 nm as the temperature is increased from 5K to 200K respectively. Summarily, the short letter discusses primarily the temperature dependent magneto-conductivity analysis of pristine Bi2Se3 single crystal by the HLN model.Comment: Letter to Editor MS: 10 pages including 3 Fig

Crystal Growth and Characterization of Bulk Sb2Te3Topological Insulator

The Sb2Te3 crystals are grown using the conventional self flux method via solid state reaction route, by melting constituent elements (Sb and Te) at high temperature (850 C), followed by slow cooling (2 C per hour).The weak anti localization (WAL) related low field (2 Tesla) magneto-conductance at low temperatures (2.5 K and 20 K) has been analysed and discussed using the Hikami- Larkin - Nagaoka (HLN) model. Summarily, the short letter reports an easy and versatile method for crystal growth of bulk Sb2Te3 topological insulator (TI) and its brief physical property characterization.Comment: 18 Pages Text + Figs: Accepted Mat. Res. Exp. (May 2018

An Investigation of Protagonists in Storybook Apps for Children

Children’s literature has historically been rife with implicit biases and underlying themes, and few scholars have investigated the impact technology has had on those elements appearing in children’s literature. In response, this study used a content analysis methodology to evaluate 38 storybook applications (apps) for containing implicit biases and underlying messages related to the narrative’s protagonists. These storybook apps were designed for young children to engage on their iPads. Overall, the study found that the storybooks apps predominantly featured protagonists who were White, middle-class, able-bodied males. The researchers first provide their rationale for the study along with their theoretical framework before describing their methodology and findings. The researchers conclude with implications for teacher educators, preservice and in-service teachers, storybook authors and app developers, and future researchers

Higgs bundles and fundamental group schemes

Relying on a notion of ``numerical effectiveness'' for Higgs bundles, we show that the category of ``numerically flat'' Higgs vector bundles on a smooth projective variety $X$ is a Tannakian category. We introduce the associated group scheme, that we call the ``Higgs fundamental group scheme of $X$,'' and show that its properties are related to a conjecture about the vanishing of the Chern classes of numerically flat Higgs vector bundles

Study of labetalol vs. methyldopa in treatment of pregnancy induced hypertension

Background: Hypertension is a common medical problem encountered during pregnancy and is associated with increased risk of adverse outcomes. Objective of this study was to compare efficacy and safety of Labetalol and Methyldopa in controlling blood pressure in patients with PIH and pre-eclampsia.Methods: A comparative, prospective observational, single centre study conducted from November 2015 to November 2017 in women with PIH at Indira Gandhi Government Medical College, Nagpur. Group A included 100 patients treated with Labetalol while Group B included 100 patients who were given Methyldopa. Response in lowering of BP was assessed over a period of 7 days.Results: Labetalol treated group of patients showed significant fall from 143.50±7.30mmHg/101.30±3.93 (sytolic/diastolic) on 1st day to 126.10±5.49 mmHg/87.40±5.62 mmHg (sytolic/diastolic) on day 7, while systolic/diastolic BP in methyldopa group on 1st day was 145.20±7.17 mmHg/101.60±4.20 mmHg which was reduced to 129.20±4.86 mmHg/90.50±3.30 mmHg on day 7. Author found that MAP in Labetalol group reduced from 115.226±4.17 mmHg to 100.17±4.43 mmHg on day 7 while in Methyldopa group had MAP on admission 115.99±4.38 mmHg and on day 7 it reduced to 103.27±2.99mmHg which is highly significant.Conclusions: Labetalol controls systolic and diastolic blood pressure more rapidly and effectively than Methyldopa. Safety profile and adverse effects of Labetalol and Methyldopa are similar to each other

A prospective study to evaluate influence of maternal, obstetric and fetal risk factors on the outcome of asphyxiated neonates born intramurally and extramurally

Background: The present study was planned to determine the influence of maternal, obstetric and fetal risk factors on the outcome of intramurally (born at a tertiary care centre) and extramurally (born at a peripheral centre, home or a private facility) born asphyxiated neonates.Methods: It was an observational clinical research with a prospective design and was conducted in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), Paediatric Neurology Clinic attached to Department of Paediatrics and Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Dr S N Medical College Jodhpur, Rajasthan. A total of 160 asphyxiated neonates (80 intramural and 80 extramural) were included in the study. A detailed antenatal and perinatal history with obstetrical interventions were recorded. The progress or deterioration in the clinical status of child was noted in hours. Outcome was evaluated in terms of survival, severest Hypoxic Ischaemic Encephalopathy (HIE) stage, time taken to reach non encephalopathic state, requirement of vasopressors and anticonvulsants, ventilator support, hemodynamic stability, time period to attain full enteral feeding, neurological examination at time of discharge and time taken for discharge.Results: Significant difference was observed in the antenatal and perinatal profile, perinatal management and resuscitation, postnatal management, morbidity, mortality and neurodevelopment outcome of extramurally delivered neonates in a peripheral health centre or at home as compared to intramurally delivered neonates in a tertiary institute.Conclusions: It is of paramount importance to have an early referral of asphyxiated neonates to a well equipped NICU using an appropriate well equipped transport unit/ chain so as to improve their outcome

5-Exo-dig, 5-exo-trig cascade radical cyclisation on sugar-furanose templates: entry to angularly fused oxa-and dioxa-triquinane skeletons

Serial radical cyclisation on sugar-furanose templates to create angularly fused oxa- and dioxa-triquinane skeletons has been described, the salient feature of this approach being to incipiently generate a tertiary radical from cyclopropylmethyl bromide with simultaneous release of allyl group and to subsequently incorporate it in the triquinane system

High Frequency Sampling of TTL Pulses on a Raspberry Pi for Diffuse Correlation Spectroscopy Applications

Diffuse Correlation Spectroscopy (DCS) is a well-established optical technique that has been used for non-invasive measurement of blood flow in tissues. Instrumentation for DCS includes a correlation device that computes the temporal intensity autocorrelation of a coherent laser source after it has undergone diffuse scattering through a turbid medium. Typically, the signal acquisition and its autocorrelation are performed by a correlation board. These boards have dedicated hardware to acquire and compute intensity autocorrelations of rapidly varying input signal and usually are quite expensive. Here we show that a Raspberry Pi minicomputer can acquire and store a rapidly varying time-signal with high fidelity. We show that this signal collected by a Raspberry Pi device can be processed numerically to yield intensity autocorrelations well suited for DCS applications. DCS measurements made using the Raspberry Pi device were compared to those acquired using a commercial hardware autocorrelation board to investigate the stability, performance, and accuracy of the data acquired in controlled experiments. This paper represents a first step toward lowering the instrumentation cost of a DCS system and may offer the potential to make DCS become more widely used in biomedical applications.Radiation Monitoring Devices, Inc

Two-fold anisotropic superconducting state in topological superconductor Sn4_4Au

Here we report the anisotropic magnetotransport properties in the superconducting state of Sn$_4$Au single crystal. Sn$_4$Au single crystal is synthesized through an easy melt growth method. Superconducting properties are evidenced by resistivity vs. temperature and DC magnetization measurements. Isothermal magnetization measurements hint toward type-II superconductivity in Sn$_4$Au. In-plane and out-of-plane resistivity measurements show anisotropic behavior of the upper critical field at temperatures below superconducting transition (T$_c$ = 2.3 K). The observed anisotropy is more elucidated in resistivity measurements performed below Tc at different tilt angles. The anisotropy parameter is found to be 1.26. The observed results show the presence two-fold anisotropic superconducting state in Sn$_4$Au single crystal, which may be induced due to the layered structure of synthesized Sn$_4$Au single crystal.Comment: 10 Pages Text + Figs: Revised Submitted: Euro. Phys. Let

Effect of ethrel spray on the ripening behaviour of mango (Mangifera indica L.) variety 'Dashehari'

An experiment was carried out to investigate the effect of post harvest spray of different concentrations (100, 200, 400, 600 and 800 ppm) of ethrel (2-chloroethyl phosphonic acid) on ripening and colour development in ‘Dashehari’ mango fruits harvested in second week of June, 2015. The treated fruits were assessed for physico-chemical parameters such as physiological loss in weight (%), firmness (Kg/cm2), TSS (°Brix), titrable acidity (%), total carotenoids (mg/100g) and peel chlorophyll (mg/100g) and observations were recorded at 2 days interval during 8 days storage at ambient temperature. Changes in total soluble solids (8.5 to 23.23° Brix), total carotenoids (0.807 to 7.12 mg/100g) and PLW (14.58%) showed increasing trends up to 8 days during storage whereas fruit firmness (8.5 to 0.68 Kg/cm2), titrable acidity (1.26 to 0.08%) and total peel chlorophyll (5.2 to 0.14 mg/100g) showed decreasing trends. At the end of the storage period for 8 days, Ethrel spray at 600 ppm induced uniform ripening with attractive yellow colour within 4 days while untreated control fruits failed to ripen uniformly and remain light green even after 8 days of storage. Ripening advances by 4 days in fruits sprayed with 600 ppm ethrel com-pared to unsprayed control fruits