Study on Magnesium based Pyrotechnic Composition as a Priming Charge

A new pyrotechnic composition containing Mg/KNO3/phenolic resin has been formulated and studied in detail for its sensitivity, mechanical and thermal properties, moisture and environmental effects and performance in a closed vessel. The data generated reveal that this composition shows superior performance, better mechanical properties and less susceptibility to moisture as compared to gunpowder. In addition, performance of the composition under extreme hot (45 degree centigrade) and cold (-26 degree centigrade) environmental conditions is not affected at all. Differential thermal analyser results indicate that phenolic resin plays a vital role in reducing the ignition temperature of Mg/KNO/sub 3/ system

Characterization of Capacitive Comb-finger MEMS Accelerometers

This paper discusses various methods for testing the performance of MEMS capacitive comb-finger accelerometers manufactured by Sandia National Laboratories. The use of Capacitive MEMS devices requires complex circuits for measurement of capacitance. Sandia MEMS accelerometer\u27s capacitance changes in a very small femto-farad (fF) range. The performance of accelerometer is tested using Analog Devices AD7747 sigma-delta capacitance to digital converter. The response of a MEMS capacitive accelerometer to various tests is useful for testing and characterization and investigate it\u27s suitability for various application

A Prospective Observational Study of Spectrum of Tropical Infections in Pregnancy in a Tertiary Care Hospital in Mumbai, Maharashtra

Background and aims: Pregnancy is associated with several hormonal and mechanical changes in the body. The tropical infections that most commonly affect pregnant females are malaria, dengue, leptospirosis and typhoid. These tropical infections cause many medical complications in pregnancy by causing anemia, thrombocytopenia, bleeding and inflammatory reactions. Therefore, we conducted a study to evaluate the clinical presentation, complications and outcome of tropical infections in pregnancy. Material and methods: The present study was conducted at a tertiary care hospital in Mumbai, Maharashtra over a period of 1½ year (January 2018 to June 2019) after getting approval from Institutional Ethics Committee. In this study, 250 pregnant patients admitted in medicine ward, obstetrics and gynecology ward, and ICU with symptoms and signs of tropical infections and age more than 18 years, who gave written informed consent, were included. Results: The most common age group amongst the study population was 20 to 24 years (41.6%), followed by 25 to 29 years (40%) and 30 to 35 years (18.4%). Most of the study population had gestational age of 1 to 12 weeks (61.6%), followed by 13 to 28 weeks (31.6%) and more than 28 weeks (6.8%). Most of the study population had parity 2 (46.8%), followed by parity 1 (43.2%), parity 3 (6.8%) and parity 4 (3.2%). The most common clinical features amongst the study population was fever (62%), followed by headache (32.8%), nausea (30.8%), pain in abdomen (26.4%) and petechiae (26%). The most common infections amongst the study population were malaria (11.2%), dengue (8%), leptospirosis (6%) and enteric fever (5.2%). The most common medical complications were bleeding due to thrombocytopenia (TCP) (6.8%), followed by serositis (5.2%), ARDS (4.4%), meningitis (2.8%), subconjunctival hemorrhage (2.8%) and encephalitis (1.4%). Complicated infections were seen in 30% of the study population. Conclusion: All pregnant women must be evaluated at primary care centers properly in their antenatal visits for their parity status and any associated risk factors and diseases. By doing this, we can reduce many tropical infections, complications and maternal mortality in early stage of pregnancy

A Prospective Observational Study of Spectrum of Tropical Infections in Pregnancy in a Tertiary Care Hospital in Mumbai, Maharashtra

Background and aims: Pregnancy is associated with several hormonal and mechanical changes in the body. The tropical infections that most commonly affect pregnant females are malaria, dengue, leptospirosis and typhoid. These tropical infections cause many medical complications in pregnancy by causing anemia, thrombocytopenia, bleeding and inflammatory reactions. Therefore, we conducted a study to evaluate the clinical presentation, complications and outcome of tropical infections in pregnancy. Material and methods: The present study was conducted at a tertiary care hospital in Mumbai, Maharashtra over a period of 1½ year (January 2018 to June 2019) after getting approval from Institutional Ethics Committee. In this study, 250 pregnant patients admitted in medicine ward, obstetrics and gynecology ward, and ICU with symptoms and signs of tropical infections and age more than 18 years, who gave written informed consent, were included. Results: The most common age group amongst the study population was 20 to 24 years (41.6%), followed by 25 to 29 years (40%) and 30 to 35 years (18.4%). Most of the study population had gestational age of 1 to 12 weeks (61.6%), followed by 13 to 28 weeks (31.6%) and more than 28 weeks (6.8%). Most of the study population had parity 2 (46.8%), followed by parity 1 (43.2%), parity 3 (6.8%) and parity 4 (3.2%). The most common clinical features amongst the study population was fever (62%), followed by headache (32.8%), nausea (30.8%), pain in abdomen (26.4%) and petechiae (26%). The most common infections amongst the study population were malaria (11.2%), dengue (8%), leptospirosis (6%) and enteric fever (5.2%). The most common medical complications were bleeding due to thrombocytopenia (TCP) (6.8%), followed by serositis (5.2%), ARDS (4.4%), meningitis (2.8%), subconjunctival hemorrhage (2.8%) and encephalitis (1.4%). Complicated infections were seen in 30% of the study population. Conclusion: All pregnant women must be evaluated at primary care centers properly in their antenatal visits for their parity status and any associated risk factors and diseases. By doing this, we can reduce many tropical infections, complications and maternal mortality in early stage of pregnancy

Prognosis of operable squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus. Relationship with clinicopathologic features and DNA ploidy

Background: Reports on the influence of various prognostic factors in carcinoma of the esophagus are conflicting. The prognostic value of a set of clinicopathologic factors and DNA ploidy were examined in 74 patients with surgically resected squamous cell carcinoma of the lower and middle third of the esophagus. Methods: All patients had surgery performed in a single thoracic surgical unit at the Tata Memorial Hospital between January, 1984 and December, 1987. The clinicopathologic factors studied were (1) gross residual disease at operation; (2) morphology of the tumor; (3) depth of microscopic invasion; (4) lymph node involvement; (5) histologic grade; (6) vascular and lymphatic embolism; and (7) sex. DNA ploidy and S-phase fraction (SpF) were determined by flow cytometry on archival tissues extracted from paraffin blocks. Ploidy status could be determined successfully in all 74 tumors, whereas SpF could be assessed only in 25. Results: Of the various prognostic factors examined with the Cox stepwise regression model, residual disease (P = 0.000), depth of invasion (P = 0.047), and lymph node status (P = 0.077) were found to be correlated with overall survival. Conclusions: DNA ploidy was not related to prognosis. The overall survival of this group of patients at 36 months was 28%, and median survival was 18 months

Human Neurobrucellosis with Intracerebral Granuloma Caused by a Marine Mammal Brucella spp.

We present the first report of community-acquired human infections with marine mammal–associated Brucella spp. and describe the identification of these strains in two patients with neurobrucellosis and intracerebral granulomas. The identification of these isolates as marine mammal strains was based on omp2a sequence and amplification of the region flanking bp26

Cardiogenesis with a focus on vasculogenesis and angiogenesis

The initial intraembryonic vasculogenesis occurs in the cardiogenic mesoderm. Here, a cell population of proendocardial cells detaches from the mesoderm that subsequently generates the single endocardial tube by forming vascular plexuses. In the course of embryogenesis, the endocardium retains vasculogenic, angiogenic and haematopoietic potential. The coronary blood vessels that sustain the rapidly expanding myocardium develop in the course of the formation of the cardiac loop by vasculogenesis and angiogenesis from progenitor cells of the proepicardial serosa at the venous pole of the heart as well as from the endocardium and endothelial cells of the sinus venosus. Prospective coronary endothelial cells and progenitor cells of the coronary blood vessel walls (smooth muscle cells, perivascular cells) originate from different cell populations that are in close spatial as well as regulatory connection with each other. Vasculo‐ and angiogenesis of the coronary blood vessels are for a large part regulated by the epicardium and epicardium‐derived cells. Vasculogenic and angiogenic signalling pathways include the vascular endothelial growth factors, the angiopoietins and the fibroblast growth factors and their receptors

A strategy to discover new organizers identifies a putative heart organizer

Organizers are regions of the embryo that can both induce new fates and impart pattern on other regions. So far, surprisingly few organizers have been discovered, considering the number of patterned tissue types generated during development. This may be because their discovery has relied on transplantation and ablation experiments. Here we describe a new approach, using chick embryos, to discover organizers based on a common gene expression signature, and use it to uncover the anterior intestinal portal (AIP) endoderm as a putative heart organizer. We show that the AIP can induce cardiac identity from non-cardiac mesoderm and that it can pattern this by specifying ventricular and suppressing atrial regional identity. We also uncover some of the signals responsible. The method holds promise as a tool to discover other novel organizers acting during development

Regulation of proteinaceous effector expression in phytopathogenic fungi

Effectors are molecules used by microbial pathogens to facilitate infection via effector-triggered susceptibility or tissue necrosis in their host. Much research has been focussed on the identification and elucidating the function of fungal effectors during plant pathogenesis. By comparison, knowledge of how phytopathogenic fungi regulate the expression of effector genes has been lagging. Several recent studies have illustrated the role of various transcription factors, chromosome-based control, effector epistasis, and mobilisation of endosomes within the fungal hyphae in regulating effector expression and virulence on the host plant. Improved knowledge of effector regulation is likely to assist in improving novel crop protection strategies