A study on scrape smear cytology in oral leukoplakia in a tertiary health care centre of southern Assam

Background: Oral cavity is susceptible to countless changes with advancing, environmental, and lifestyle related habits and factors. Oral mucosal lesions especially related to chewing and smoking of tobacco have led to the increased incidence and prevalence of potentially malignant and malignant disorders worldwide. Oral leukoplakia has been a very frequent finding in patients coming to our department and with an increasing rise of oral squamous cell carcinoma in the region, the study was conducted.Methods: Patients referred to our section from various department with white oral lesion. Scrapping smears were prepared. Stained with MGG and PAP stain. Study period: January 2019 to May 2020.Results: Total number of patients with white oral lesion were 83. Out of these 65 were male and 18 were female. Most of the patients had addiction to betel nut and leaf with tobacco and few had history of intake of bidi for several years.Conclusions: The study reveals that most of the oral leukoplakia cases is attributed to smoking, betel nut and lime intake. Exfoliative cytology of oral mucosa serves to be an easy, convenient and reproducible technique for early diagnosis of premalignant condition. Biopsy can be used as an adjunct in cases showing atypia and mixed type of keratosis

PENGARUH TOTAL ASET DAN FINANCING TO DEPOSIT RATIO (FDR) TERHADAP RETURN ON ASSET (ROA) BANK UMUM SYARIAH DI INDONESIA PERIODE 2018- 2022

This study aims to determine the effect of Total Assets and FDR on the ROA of Islamic Commercial Banks for the 2018-2022 period. This study uses a quantitative research method with the population in this study being all 15 Islamic Commercial Banks in Indonesia. The total sample is 54 which consists of the financial statements of Islamic Commercial Banks for 2018- 2022. The sample selection technique uses purposive sampling method. The data analysis technique used in this study is multiple linear regression. The classic assumption test technique consists of descriptive statistics, normality test, multicollinearity test, and heteroscedasticity test. Then the hypothesis test consists of the coefficient of determination, the T test to test partially, and the F test to test between variables together. The results of this study are that the Total Asset variable has a significant effect on Return On Assets (ROA) in Islamic Commercial Banks. Then the FDR variable states that the Financing To Deposit Ratio (FDR) has a positive and significant effect on the ROA of Islamic Commercial Banks. And the results of the simultaneous test state that the independent variables (Total Assets and FDR) simultaneously (together) affect the dependent variable where the dependent variable in this study is (Return On Assets)

Polymeric Piezoelectric Transducers for Hydrophone Applications

Conventional ceramic piezoelectric materials have been used in hydrophones for sonarapplications since 1940's. In the last few years since the discovery of polymeric piezoelectrichydrophones, the technology has matured, applications have emerged in extraordinary number ofcases such as underwater navigation, biomedical applications, biomimetics, etc. Hydrophones areused underwater at high hydrostatic pressures. In the presence of hydrostatic pressures, theanisotropic piezoelectric response of ceramic materials is such that it has poor hydrophone performancecharacteristics whereas polymeric piezoelectric materials show enough hydrostatic piezoelectriccoefficients. Moreover, piezoelectric polymers have low acoustic impedance, which is only 2-6 timethat of water, whereas in piezoelectric ceramics, it is typically 11-time greater than that of water. Aclose impedance match permits efficient transduction of acoustic signals in water and tissues. Newlydeveloped hydrostatic-mode polyvinylidene flouride (PVDF) hydrophones use a pressure-releasesystem to achieve improved sensitivity. Recently, voided PVDF materials have been used for makinghydrophones having higher sensitivity and figure of merit than unvoided PVDF materials

Efficacy and safety of intravenous paracetamol versus intravenous tramadol for labour analgesia

Background: An effective labour analgesia improves maternal and perinatal outcome and improves the course of labour. Methods: This was a prospective, randomised study done to compare effectiveness and safety of intravenous infusion of paracetamol with tramadol when used for labour analgesia. Group A (25 parturients) received paracetamol 1000 mg and group B (25 parturients) received tramadol 1mg/Kg at 4 to 6 cm cervical dilatation. Visual analogue score for pain was assessed at the baseline, 1 hour and 3 hours of drug administration and was compared between the two groups along with various maternal and fetal outcomes. Results: The difference in mean Visual Analogue Score (VAS) just before the drug administration was not statistically significant. However, at 1 hour of drug administration, mean VAS was significantly lower in the Group A (4.60) in comparison to Group B (5.82). The mean VAS at 3 hours was slightly lower in group A (6.35) in comparison to group B (6.65), though statistically there was no significant difference. Nausea, vomiting and sedation were found to be more in the tramadol group as compared to paracetamol group. The mean 1 and 5 minute apgar scores were found to be comparable in both the groups. Conclusions: So, it can be concluded from our study that intravenous paracetamol may be preferred over intravenous tramadol as it is associated with better analgesic efficacy and less maternal side effects. Although both the drugs were found to have good neonatal outcome

Spectrum of pigmented lesions of skin: a retrospective study in a tertiary health care of Southern Assam

Background: Pigmented lesions are one of the most common cause for dermatological consultation.  Most of them are benign, while a majority of them have malignant transformation and are called as melanoma. A careful histopathological interpretation by the pathologist is needed in the diagnosis and management of these lesions. Aims and objectives of the study were- 1. To study the spectrum of various pigmented skin lesions.  2.  To establish the correlation between the microscopic pathological findings of various skin lesions with the presenting clinical features.Methods: A 3-year study was conducted in the pathology department of tertiary care centre on all skin biopsy tissue which came as pigmented lesion. The entire skin biopsy is submitted for routine processing and embedded in paraffin wax. 3-5 mm thick paraffin sections of the skin biopsy are stained with H and E.Results: Out of 432 skin biopsies studied during this period, 58 cases were diagnosed as pigmented skin lesions. Of these, the biopsy tissue was inadequate in 5 cases while five cases presented with non-specific findings. Of the remaining cases, 15 were malignant and 33 were benign lesions. Only 18 of these were of melanocytic origin with 8 cases of malignant melanoma and 10 nevi. In the present study an analysis of the clinical diagnosis with the histopathological diagnosis revealed a positive correlation in 54% cases.Conclusions: A good clinical correlation and biopsy with histopathological diagnosis is necessary for the accurate diagnosis and definite treatment of patients with pigmented skin lesions

Enhancing hydrogen production from steam electrolysis in molten hydroxides via selection of non-precious metal electrodes

© 2020 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC There are still gaps in the field of reference electrode that is needed to assist electrolysis in high temperature electrolytes (e.g. molten hydroxides) for H2 gas production. This research aims to fill the gaps by preparing Ni/Ni(OH)2 reference electrode and more importantly testing its effectiveness against important performance factors including; ion conducting membrane (e.g. mullite tubes), internal electrolyte composition, working temperature and electrochemical control (e.g. potential scan rate). Then, this reference electrode was used to study the electrocatalytic activity various cheaper working electrode materials including; stainless steel (St.st), Ni, Mo and Ag in comparison with Pt by the means of chronoamperometry and voltammetry. The effect of introducing steam into electrolyte (eutectic mixture of NaOH and KOH) on the electrocatalytic activity of these working electrodes was also studied. It was observed that the potential of hydrogen evolution with different working electrodes followed an order as; Pt > Ni > St. st > Ag > Mo (positive to negative). The performance of each working electrode was confirmed through chronoamperometry for hydrogen evolution at a constant potential of −0.7 V. It was also found in cyclic voltammetry and confirmed by chronoamperometry that the introduction of steam was apparent as increasing the current density at cathodic limit for hydrogen evolution. This study could help to develop non-precious metal electrodes for the production of hydrogen fuel. In future, there will be a potential in the threshold concentration of steam for H2 gas production

Electrochemical study of different membrane materials for the fabrication of stable, reproducible and reusable reference electrode

© 2020 Fabrication of stable, reproducible and reusable reference electrodes for low energy and high-temperature steam splitting is of great interest for hydrogen fuel production without anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) emission. This study has been conducted for the detection of suitable material for the fabrication of novel reference electrode. In the present scenario, this research is designed to fabricate a novel nickel reference electrode by using operating conditions of eutectic molten hydroxide (NaOH-KOH, 49–51 mol%) at temperature 300 °C in an ion-conducting membrane of alumina and mullite tube. Afterwards, the designed nickel reference electrode has been examined for its reusability and stability by using electrochemical technique and cyclic voltammetry. Five scans of cyclic voltammetry are performed for both membrane fabricated reference electrode. A slight positive shift in oxidation peaks is observed for mullite membrane electrode (64 mV from scan 1 to 5). The stability measurements are noted by changing the scan rate between 50 and 150 mV s−1. Furthermore, the results show that the Ni/Ni(OH)2 reference electrode covered with a mullite membrane is stable and reusable at 300 °C temperature without any deterioration. The stability and reusability of prepared nickel reference electrode covered by mullite tube in the eutectic molten hydroxide were up to 9 days to carry out an electrochemical investigation, while for alumina tube reference electrode the stability and reliability were up to 3 days. The internal electrolytic material and ionic conductance can play an important role for future studies with this reference electrode along with optimisation of temperature and scan rate parameters

Maximally and minimally correlated states attainable within a closed evolving system

The amount of correlation attainable between the components of a quantum system is constrained if the system is closed. We provide some examples, largely from the field of quantum thermodynamics, where knowing the maximal possible variation in correlations is useful. The optimization problem it raises requires us to search for the maximally and minimally correlated states on a unitary orbit, with and without energy conservation. This is fully solvable for the smallest system of two qubits. For larger systems the problem is reduced to a manageable, classical optimization.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figur

Cholesterol transfer via endoplasmic reticulum contacts mediates lysosome damage repair

Lysosome integrity is essential for cell viability, and lesions in lysosome membranes are repaired by the ESCRT machinery. Here, we describe an additional mechanism for lysosome repair that is activated independently of ESCRT recruitment. Lipidomic analyses showed increases in lysosomal phosphatidylserine and cholesterol after damage. Electron microscopy demonstrated that lysosomal membrane damage is rapidly followed by the formation of contacts with the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), which depends on the ER proteins VAPA/B. The cholesterol-binding protein ORP1L was recruited to damaged lysosomes, accompanied by cholesterol accumulation by a mechanism that required VAP-ORP1L interactions. The PtdIns 4-kinase PI4K2A rapidly produced PtdIns4P on lysosomes upon damage, and knockout of PI4K2A inhibited damage-induced accumulation of ORP1L and cholesterol and led to the failure of lysosomal membrane repair. The cholesterol-PtdIns4P transporter OSBP was also recruited upon damage, and its depletion caused lysosomal accumulation of PtdIns4P and resulted in cell death. We conclude that ER contacts are activated on damaged lysosomes in parallel to ESCRTs to provide lipids for membrane repair, and that PtdIns4P generation and removal are central in this response.Peer reviewe