Charge Transfer in Light Effect Under Visible Radiation in an Ozoniser Discharge

Two fresh discharge vessels (1 and 2) of Siemen’s ozoniser type having the same height butdifferent surface-to-volume ratios have been fabricated by enclosing argon at 10 mm mercury.By immersing these in electrolytic solution and by subjecting these to a definite high 50 Hz acvoltage, the discharge count rates in dark (Cf )D and under light (Cf )L have been determinedusing a scaler held at different bias-voltages. The plot of the ratio (C1f / C2f )D and (C1f / C2f )Lof discharge counts versus pulse height (bias-voltage) shows that this ratio for a constantpotential of 3.5 kV (rms) is initially large in value, then rapidly decreases to a minimum. It is alsoobserved that more is the surface-to-volume ratio, more is the magnitude of net effect of irradiation.Further, the pulse height analysis shows that the charge carried by the pulses to the electrodes(charge transfer) decreases under illumination. A possible mechanism to explain the net effectof the discharge current ratio in the light of pulse height measurements is discussed

Some fixed point theorems on non-convex sets

[EN] In this paper, we prove that ifKis a nonempty weakly compact setin a Banach spaceX,T:K→Kis a nonexpansive map satisfyingx+Tx2∈Kfor allx∈Kand ifXis3−uniformly convex orXhas theOpial property, thenThas a fixed point in KRadhakrishnan, M.; Rajesh, S.; Agrawal, S. (2017). Some fixed point theorems on non-convex sets. Applied General Topology. 18(2):377-390. doi:10.4995/agt.2017.7452SWORD37739018

Correlation of peak expiratory flow rate and single breath count in normal adults

Background: Spirometry mandates the requirement of equipments and skilled technicians which may be difficult to acquire in resource limited situations. Thus simple alternative tests like Peak Expiratory Flow Rate (PEFR) and Single Breath Count (SBC) can be used to assess the pulmonary functioning of an individual.Methods: Hundred healthy participants of both genders between the age group of 18-50 years were recruited for this study. They were asked to perform PEFR using the Mini Wright Peak Flow Meter and SBC using a metronome. Three reading were noted and the best of three readings were used for analysis.Results: The mean age and BMI of the participants were 31.54±10.42 years and 23.88±5.14 kg/m2 respectively. The Spearman’s correlation coefficient of PEFR and SBC was 0.7048 with p<0.001 indicating a strong positive correlation.Conclusions: SBC can be used as a simple, convenient and cost-effective alternative to PEFR to assess pulmonary function in adults.

Knee osteoarthritis - a pathological basis for use of newer drug therapies

Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a disease of the whole knee joint occurring due to an interaction between inflammatory, hypoxic, and mechanical pathways. Initial management includes monotherapy with analgesics or anti‑inflammatory agents, eventually switching over to combination therapy with steroids and/or newer drugs. Cardiovascular risks associated with non‑steroidal anti‑inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) limit their long term use. Hence, novel target receptors or pathways, which remain unaffected by conventional therapy and modify disease are being increasingly looked for. Newer drugs such as glucosamine, chondroitin, methylsulfonylmethane, diacerein along with vitamins/minerals are commonly used as adjuncts to NSAIDs or as monotherapy. Because of their novel mechanisms of action and better safety profile they seem to be promising as disease modifying agents in the treatment of OA. Google, PubMed, Cochrane databases and Science Direct search was performed, and relevant articles were identified. This review focuses on the pathological targets which these drugs modify in order to bring about a symptom modifying effect

A retrospective comparative study of multiple choice questions versus short answer questions as assessment tool in evaluating the performance of the students in medical pharmacology

Background: The aim was to assess the effectiveness of multiple choice versus short answer questions (SAQs) as assessment tools for evaluating performance of 2nd MBBS students.Methods: The study was observational, retrospective study of written pen and paper type assessment that utilized a sample of 100 2nd year medical students. Study consisted of two parts; part I was multiple-choice questions (MCQs) based on endocrine system where four options were given for a question and the single best answer was to be ticked. MCQ was timed at 20 mins for 30 questions with 1 mark each. There was no negative marking. Part II was SAQ on same system where 16 SAQ were given. SAQ was timed at 60 mins for 30 marks questions. After the test students had to reply on a feedback form.Result: There was a strong correlation between the marks scored in two formats of test and there was no statistical difference between the two set of marks.Conclusion: SAQs are as effective as MCQs in assessing the performance of the students in medical pharmacology

Effect of Viscum album 30 CH on pre-diagnosed vis-a-vis diagnosed hypertensive individuals

The World Health Organization considers hypertension the most common health problem in today's growing population. Studies show that the rate of primary hypertension is about 85-95% and the rate of secondary hypertension is only 5%. However, homoeopathy is used as an alternative in such cases (i.e., HTN) but it has good clinical results in cases of HTN. Viscum album is a circulatory remedy and has been observed to lower blood pressure by acting on the circulation in many cases, but very little research has been done to prove this. This study aimed to determine whether the homoeopathic medicine Viscum album is effective in reducing blood pressure in participants with essential hypertension. Methods: This was a monocentric, Phase 2 clinical trial, single arm, single blind, and randomized, interventional study conducted in the outpatient department of Homoeopathic Hospital &amp; Post-graduate Research Centre of Bharati Vidyapeeth (Deemed to be University), Pune. A total of 40 participants (male and female) between the ages of 20 and 75 were enrolled in this study. Blood pressure was measured in the sitting position using a sphygmomanometer according to standard procedures. &nbsp;Result: The result was a decrease in blood pressure after 10-12 weeks of outpatient care. Significant reduction in blood pressure levels of hypertensive participants before and after treatment and in participants in remission. Of the 40 cases, Mean sBP before treatment is 150, in the same vein systolic blood pressure after treatment is 124.4; and Mean dBP before treatment is 94.9, where as in after treatment diastolic blood pressure is reduced with 79.2. The P-value is &lt;0.0001. Conclusion: The homoeopathic medicine Viscum album produced a significant effect on lowering blood pressure levels in participants with essential hypertension. Further studies with control groups may provide a larger source of information to demonstrate that Viscum album is effective in the treatment of essential hypertensio

Effect of physiotherapy on single breath count and breath holding time in COVID-19 patients

Background: The novel Coronavirus is known to primarily affect the respiratory system and physiotherapy treatment is integral to combat this infection. However, the assessment of pulmonary function poses a difficult challenge considering the risk of spread of infection and sanitisation of the devices used. Single breath count (SBC) and breath holding time (BHT) can be thus adopted as bedside assessment tests for pulmonary function following physiotherapy treatment.Method: In this a retrospective observational study of 51 COVID-19 patients, mean age 51.7±14.56 years, on room air, admitted in the step-down units of a tertiary care hospital. Patients received standard physiotherapy treatment, within safe hemodynamic limits. Pre and post treatment session SBC was recorded in 32 patients and BHT in 19 patients. Three reading were noted and the best of three readings were used for analysis.Results: The paired t test was used to analyse SBC and BHT. Mean pre and post SBC was 18.25±8.96 and 23.31±9.96 respectively with a mean difference of 5.06 and p<0.0001. Mean pre and post BHT were 19.37 and 23.05 seconds respectively with a mean difference of 3.68 and p<0.0001.  Statistically significant difference in the pre and post treatment session SBC and BHT was observed, indicating a positive effect of physiotherapy treatment on pulmonary function.Conclusion: Physiotherapy treatment shows significant improvement in the pulmonary function in COVID-19 patients. SBC and BHT tests can be used as assessment and prognostic tools for pulmonary function in COVID-19 patients

Tropical cyclone activity enhanced by Sahara greening and reduced dust emissions during the African Humid Period

Tropical cyclones (TCs) can have devastating socioeconomic impacts. Understanding the nature and causes of their variability is of paramount importance for society. However, historical records of TCs are too short to fully characterize such changes and paleo-sediment archives of Holocene TC activity are temporally and geographically sparse. Thus, it is of interest to apply physical modeling to understanding TC variability under different climate conditions. Here we investigate global TC activity during a warm climate state (mid-Holocene, 6,000 yBP) characterized by increased boreal summer insolation, a vegetated Sahara, and reduced dust emissions. We analyze a set of sensitivity experiments in which not only solar insolation changes are varied but also vegetation and dust concentrations. Our results show that the greening of the Sahara and reduced dust loadings lead to more favorable conditions for tropical cyclone development compared with the orbital forcing alone. In particular, the strengthening of the West African Monsoon induced by the Sahara greening triggers a change in atmospheric circulation that affects the entire tropics. Furthermore, whereas previous studies suggest lower TC activity despite stronger summer insolation and warmer sea surface temperature in the Northern Hemisphere, accounting for the Sahara greening and reduced dust concentrations leads instead to an increase of TC activity in both hemispheres, particularly over the Caribbean basin and East Coast of North America. Our study highlights the importance of regional changes in land cover and dust concentrations in affecting the potential intensity and genesis of past TCs and suggests that both factors may have appreciable influence on TC activity in a future warmer climate.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant AGS-1461517