Structural Stability and Level Density of Hot Rotating Doubly Magic Isotopes of Calcium

The recently reported doubly-magic nuclei 52Ca and 54Ca are discussed in comparison with the other magic isotopes of Calcium. the temperature effect is included in this study and hence the statistical approach to obtain the particle emission and level density are discussed in the context of temperature effect. We predict an increase in neutron emission for 54Ca due to the abrupt decrease in neutron separation energy around t=0.4MeV. Since the drop in the separation energy is closely associated with the structural changes in the rotating nuclei, relative increase in neutron emission probability around certain values of temperature may be construed as evidence for the shape transition. Such effects are not obtained for 40,48,52Ca isotopes. hence this statistical study reveals the higher stability of magic nature of 52Ca than 54Ca, against temperature

Aerodynamic Design Improvement for an Intercity Bus

Intercity buses travel about 250 to 350 km in a stretch and usually are of sleeper coach mode. The exterior styling, sleeper comfort and aerodynamically efficient design for reduced fuel consumption are the three essential factors for a successful operation in the competitive world. The bus body building companies prioritizes the exterior looks of the bus and ignore the aerodynamic aspect. Scientific design of sleepers for increased comfort of the passengers is seldom seen. The overall aim of this project was to redesign an intercity bus with enhanced exterior styling, reduced aerodynamic drag and increased comfort for the passengers. Principles of product design were used to analyze the styling and comfort. The benchmarked high floor bus was redesigned with low - floor for reduced aerodynamic drag. The exterior was redesigned with emphasis on improvised aerodynamic performance and appealing looks. The interior was modified to meet aspirations of the commuters. The results of the redesigned exterior body showed a reduction of about 45% in coefficient of drag and overall aerodynamic drag reduction by 60% due to combined effect of reduced coefficient of drag and frontal area

Modulation of Sn concentration in ZnO nanorod array: intensification on the conductivity and humidity sensing properties

Tin (Sn)-doped zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorod arrays (TZO) were synthesized onto aluminum-doped ZnO-coated glass substrate via a facile sonicated sol–gel immersion method for humidity sensor applications. These nanorod arrays were grown at different Sn concentrations ranging from 0.6 to 3 at.%. X-ray diffraction patterns showed that the deposited TZO arrays exhibited a wurtzite structure. The stress/strain condition of the ZnO film metamorphosed from tensile strain/compressive stress to compressive strain/tensile stress when the Sn concentrations increased. Results indicated that 1 at.% Sn doping of TZO, which has the lowest tensile stress of 0.14 GPa, generated the highest conductivity of 1.31 S cm− 1. In addition, 1 at.% Sn doping of TZO possessed superior sensitivity to a humidity of 3.36. These results revealed that the optimum performance of a humidity-sensing device can be obtained mainly by controlling the amount of extrinsic element in a ZnO film

Relative Burden of Large CNVs on a Range of Neurodevelopmental Phenotypes

While numerous studies have implicated copy number variants (CNVs) in a range of neurological phenotypes, the impact relative to disease severity has been difficult to ascertain due to small sample sizes, lack of phenotypic details, and heterogeneity in platforms used for discovery. Using a customized microarray enriched for genomic hotspots, we assayed for large CNVs among 1,227 individuals with various neurological deficits including dyslexia (376), sporadic autism (350), and intellectual disability (ID) (501), as well as 337 controls. We show that the frequency of large CNVs (>1 Mbp) is significantly greater for ID–associated phenotypes compared to autism (p = 9.58×10−11, odds ratio = 4.59), dyslexia (p = 3.81×10−18, odds ratio = 14.45), or controls (p = 2.75×10−17, odds ratio = 13.71). There is a striking difference in the frequency of rare CNVs (>50 kbp) in autism (10%, p = 2.4×10−6, odds ratio = 6) or ID (16%, p = 3.55×10−12, odds ratio = 10) compared to dyslexia (2%) with essentially no difference in large CNV burden among dyslexia patients compared to controls. Rare CNVs were more likely to arise de novo (64%) in ID when compared to autism (40%) or dyslexia (0%). We observed a significantly increased large CNV burden in individuals with ID and multiple congenital anomalies (MCA) compared to ID alone (p = 0.001, odds ratio = 2.54). Our data suggest that large CNV burden positively correlates with the severity of childhood disability: ID with MCA being most severely affected and dyslexics being indistinguishable from controls. When autism without ID was considered separately, the increase in CNV burden was modest compared to controls (p = 0.07, odds ratio = 2.33)

Infliximab versus second intravenous immunoglobulin for treatment of resistant Kawasaki disease in the USA (KIDCARE): a randomised, multicentre comparative effectiveness trial

Background Although intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) is effective therapy for Kawasaki disease, 10–20% of patients have recrudescent fever as a sign of persistent inflammation and require additional treatment. We aimed to compare infliximab with a second infusion of IVIG for treatment of resistant Kawasaki disease. Methods In this multicentre comparative effectiveness trial, patients (aged 4 weeks to 17 years) with IVIG resistant Kawasaki disease and fever at least 36 h after completion of their first IVIG infusion were recruited from 30 hospitals across the USA. Patients were randomly assigned (1:1) to second IVIG (2 g/kg over 8–12 h) or intravenous infliximab (10 mg/kg over 2 h without premedication), by using a randomly permuted block randomisation design with block size of two or four. Patients with fever 24 h to 7 days following completion of first study treatment crossed over to receive the other study treatment. The primary outcome measure was resolution of fever at 24 h after initiation of study treatment with no recurrence of fever attributed to Kawasaki disease within 7 days post-discharge. Secondary outcome measures included duration of fever from enrolment, duration of hospitalisation after randomisation, and changes in markers of inflammation and coronary artery Z score. Efficacy was analysed in participants who received treatment and had available outcome values. Safety was analysed in all randomised patients who did not withdraw consent. This clinical trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03065244. Findings Between March 1, 2017, and Aug 31, 2020, 105 patients were randomly assigned to treatment and 103 were included in the intention-to-treat population (54 in the infliximab group, 49 in the second IVIG group). Two patients randomised to infliximab did not receive allocated treatment. The primary outcome was met by 40 (77%) of 52 patients in the infliximab group and 25 (51%) of 49 patients in the second IVIG infusion group (odds ratio 0·31, 95% CI 0·13–0·73, p=0·0076). 31 patients with fever beyond 24 h received crossover treatment: nine (17%) in the infliximab group received second IVIG and 22 (45%) in second IVIG group received infliximab (p=0·0024). Three patients randomly assigned to infliximab and two to second IVIG with fever beyond 24h did not receive crossover treatment. Mean fever days from enrolment was 1·5 (SD 1·4) for the infliximab group and 2·5 (2·5) for the second IVIG group (p=0·014). Mean hospital stay was 3·2 days (2·1) for the infliximab group and 4·5 days (2·5) for the second IVIG group (p<0·001). There was no difference between treatment groups for markers of inflammation or coronary artery outcome. 24 (44%) of 54 patients in the infliximab group and 33 (67%) of 49 in the second IVIG group had at least one adverse event. A drop in haemoglobin concentration of at least 2g/dL was seen in 19 (33%) of 58 patients who received IVIG as either their first or second study treatment (three of whom required transfusion) and in three (7%) of 43 who received only infliximab (none required transfusion; p=0·0028). Haemolytic anaemia was the only serious adverse events deemed definitely or probably related to study treatment, and was reported in nine (15%) of 58 patients who received IVIG as either their first or second study treatment and none who received infliximab only. Interpretation Infliximab is a safe, well tolerated, and effective treatment for patients with IVIG resistant Kawasaki disease, and results in shorter duration of fever, reduced need for additional therapy, less severe anaemia, and shorter hospitalisation compared with second IVIG infusion

Effect of Establishment Methods and Nutrient Management Practices on Growth Characters and Yield of Rice (Oryza sativa L.)

Aim: Study was conducted to compare and to identify the best combination of rice crop establishment method and nutrient management in terms of crop growth, development and yield. Study Design: Experiment was laid out in splitplot design. Place and Duration of Study: The field experiments were conducted at the research farm of Indian Institute of Rice Research, Hyderabad, Telangana State, India during the kharifand rabiseasons of 2011-12 and 2012-13. Methodology: The treatments consisted of four establishment methods (System of rice intensification (SRI), modified drum seeder, normal drum seeder and normal transplanting) as main plot treatments and four nutrient management practices (100% recommended dosage of nitrogen (RDN) through inorganic, 75% RDN through inorganic+ 25% RDN through organic, 50% RDN through inorganic+50% RDN through organic and 100% RDN through organic) as sub plot treatments with 16 treatment combinations and three replications. The semi dwarf, high yielding Sampada variety was raised during the study period. Results: Growth parameters like plant height, leaf area index (LAI), dry matter accumulation, number of tillers per square meter were observed at 45,75,105 days after transplanting and at harvest stages. The two years experimental results and the pooled mean data revealed that SRI recorded significantly superior growth parameters at all the crop growth stages followed by modified drum seeder. In respect of subplots 50% RDN through inorganic+50% RDN through organic resulted in superior growth parameters and yield. Conclusions:The combination of SRI with nutrient management practice 50% nitrogen through urea and 50% nitrogen through vermiconpost resulted in greater growth parameters and grain yield

<span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: Mangal;mso-ansi-language:EN-GB;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language: HI" lang="EN-GB">Effect of methanolic and water extract of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Leucobryum bowringii </i>Mitt. on growth, migration and invasion of MCF 7 human breast cancer cells <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">in vitro</i></span>

602-611Inhibitory effects of methanol and water extract of L. bowringii. on the adhesion, migration, invasion and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) activities of MCF 7 human breast cancer cell line are reported. Cells were cultured with 10, 25, 50 µg/mL methanolic or water extract of L. bowringii. Culture medium containing 0.1% DMSO was used as a solvent control. Ultra structural analysis by electron microscopy revealed typical features of apoptosis. A remarkable dose-response parallelism was observed between methanolic extract with growth, migration and invasion of breast cancer cells. Fractionation of methanolic extract by RP-HPLC revealed a pool of phenolic acids. Hoechst 33342 staining assay reveals massive chromatin condensation and subsequent cleavage of structural components of nucleus. The results indicate that methanol extracts inhibit the growth of human breast cancer cells partially through the inhibition of metallo proteinases MMP-2 and MMP-9 activities. Methanolic extract has more anti-metastatic effects in cell based assay than water extract. Clinical application of L. bowringii extract as a bioactive chemopreventive compound may be helpful in limiting breast carcinoma invasion and metastasis