Kinetics of zinc transformation in calciorthids soils of western Rajasthan, India

The present study was undertaken to investigate the kinetics of transformation process of applied and native Zn as influenced by soil moisture regime, available moisture and organic matter additions in Aridisols of western Rajasthan. The incubation experiment was conducted with exact amount of the soil samples (250 g), put in a number of small containers, made of corning glass. Three levels of moisture regimes i.e. field capacity (W0), continuous submergence (W1), alternate submergence and saturation (W2) and two levels of organic matter as starch at 0 per cent (M1) and 0.5 per cent (M2) of the soil weight; and two levels of zinc i.e. native (N) and applied (A) (Zn @ 5 mg kg-1 soil as ZnSO4.7 H2O). The soils then incubated for 30, 60 and 90 days. Destructive sampling was done after each incubation period, and then different fractions of Zn were sequentially extracted by different extracting solutions and determined with the help of atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Based on the results, it can be concluded that the transformation of Zn is largely controlled by organic matter, moisture regimes and Zn application due to considerable changes in the chemical and electrochemical properties of soil and thereby influence the transformation of zinc. Organic matter application significantly increased Zn fractions due to the retention of Zn on exchange complex owing to producing organic acid by decomposition of organic matter in soil. Further, the results showed that if such condition was maintained in the field, and it increased the availability of Zn for different crops in Aridisols

COVID-19: A Global Pandemic of 21st Century

In last of 2019, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention started monitoring the outbreak of a new corona virus, SARS-CoV-2, which causes the respiratory illness now known as COVID-19. Authorities first identified the virus in Wuhan, China. More than 82542 case of Corona virus in China at 31 March 2020. Health authorities have identified many other people with COVID-19 around the world. On 31 March 2020, the virus spread more than 750890 People in the World. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared a public health emergency relating to COVID-19. Since then, this strain has been diagnosed in several residents of world. The CDC have advised that it is likely to spread to more people. COVID-19 has affected at least 213 countries or territories or areas. The first people with COVID-19 had links to an animal and seafood market. This fact suggested that animals initially transmitted the virus to humans. However, people with a more recent diagnosis had no connections with or exposure to the market, confirming that humans can pass the virus to each other. Corona viruses will infect most people at some time during their lifetime. Corona viruses can mutate effectively, which makes them so contagious. Information on the virus is scarce at present. In the past, respiratory conditions that develop from corona viruses, such as SARS and MERS, have spread through close contacts. On 17 February 2020, the Director-General of the WHO presented at a media briefing the following updates on how often the symptoms of COVID-19.However, while some viruses are highly contagious, it is less clear how rapidly corona viruses will spread. Symptoms vary from person-to-person with COVID-19. It may produce few or no symptoms. However, it can also lead to severe illness and may be fatal. On 11 March 2020, WHO declared Novel Corona virus Disease (COVID-19) outbreak as a Pandemic. Keywords: WHO, ICMR, SARS-CoV-2, Bats, Wuhan City, Pneumonia, Respiratory Infection, Pandemi

Continual Professional Development (CPD): Improving Quality of Nursing Care in Nepal

The notion that health professionals should be accountable to people and the society they serve is not a new concept (1). Globally, health professionals are being nudged to demonstrate their commitment with continuing professional development (CPD) in order to maintain competence in light of evidence-based practice and ever changing technology in health service provision. CPD provides an important strategy to improve the knowledge and skills of health practitioners as well as the quality of service (2). The World Health Organization also stresses the need to capacity enhancement of nurses and midwives through education, training and career development in Southeast Asia (3). The member states in the Region have agreed on a Decade for Strengthening Human Resources for Health in South-East Asia, 2015–2024, and country action plans have been developed to strengthen physicians, nurses and midwives with the focus on transforming education and retention (4). This editorial highlights the importance of CPD and existing lack of such provision in the field of nursing in Nepal

Vorinostat: A Potent Agent to Prevent and Treat Laser-Induced Corneal Haze

PURPOSE—This study investigated the efficacy and safety of vorinostat, a deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor, in the treatment of laser-induced corneal haze following photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) in rabbits in vivo and transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGFβ1) -induced corneal fibrosis in vitro. METHODS—Corneal haze in rabbits was produced with −9.00 diopters (D) PRK. Fibrosis in cultured human and rabbit corneal fibroblasts was activated with TGFβ1. Vorinostat (25 μm) was topically applied once for 5 minutes on rabbit cornea immediately after PRK for in vivo studies. Vorinostat (0 to 25 μm) was given to human/rabbit corneal fibroblasts for 5 minutes or 48 hours for in vitro studies. Slit-lamp microscopy, TUNEL assay, and trypan blue were used to determined vorinostat toxicity, whereas real-time polymerase chain reaction, immunocytochemistry, and immunoblotting were used to measure its efficacy. RESULTS—Single 5-minute vorinostat (25 μm) topical application on the cornea following PRK significantly reduced corneal haze (Pin vivoscreened 4 weeks after PRK. Vorinostat reduced TGFβ1-induced fibrosis in human and rabbit corneas in vitro in a dose-dependent manner without altering cellular viability, phenotype, or proliferation. CONCLUSIONS—Vorinostat is non-cytotoxic and safe for the eye and has potential to prevent laser-induced corneal haze in patients undergoing PRK for high myopia

Assessing the need and type of continuing professional development (CPD) for nurses trained and working in Nepal

Nurses can continue to practise without any post registration training or any continuing professional development (CPD) in Nepal. The CPD in Nepal remains under-developed despite the existence of a professional regulatory body, policies on licensure and accreditation of nursing educational institutions in Nepal. This study aims to assess the status of post-registration training (CPD) among nurses in Nepal. It also explore the views of nurses and stakeholders including professional bodies such as the NNC, etc. on the need for and opportunities for post registration CPD for nurses. The study used mixed method approach. The quantitative survey of 500 nursing practitioners with minimum three years post registration experiences and 18 qualitative in-depth interviews with nursing stakeholders and member of professional bodies were conducted. The quantitative data was analysed using SPSS 23 and qualitative data was analysed using thematic approach. The quantitative finding suggests that about 50% of the respondents had never attended any training and about 60% were unaware of recognised CPD training in Nepal. However, there is some initiation of good practice in continuous nursing education (CNE) in few hospitals. The majority participant reported that lack of opportunity, lack of provision of CPD in nursing, shortage of staff, lack of notification regarding training, difficult in getting study leave, lack of employers support were key barrier in CPD in nursing practice. The lack of contemporary evidence-based practice and competency based training were highlighted in qualitative interviews. Issues around lack of authorised/ recognised body for CPD, who will provide CPD training, taking ownership and leadership in CPD were also raised. The study suggests for compulsion of licencing renewal with certain number hours of nursing practice and number of hour of CPD in renewal. Staff development policy around hands-on training relevant to current practice is reported as an important issue in CPD. The study also suggests the need for monitoring of authorising body against standards on available trainings. Consistency and quality control/management of training against set standards by professional body is necessary

Power Quality Enhancement in Sensitive Local Distribution Grid Using Interval Type-II Fuzzy Logic Controlled DSTATCOM

In the current scenario, integration of renewables, growth of non-linear industrial and commercial loads results in various power quality issues. Among commercial utilities connected to the grid, hospital-operated loads include sensitive, linear, non-linear, and unbalanced loads. These loads are diverse as well as prioritized, which also causes major power quality issues in the local distribution system. Due to its widespread divergence, it leads to harmonic injection and reactive power imbalance. Distribution Static Compensator (DSTATCOM) is proposed as a solution for harmonic mitigation, load balancing, reactive power imbalances, and neutral current compensation. The present work utilizes Interval Type-2 Fuzzy Logic Controller (IT2FLC) with Recursive Least Square (RLS) filter for generating switching pulses for IGBT switches in the DSTATCOM to improve power quality in the Local Distribution Grid. The proposed approach also shows superior performance over Type 1 fuzzy logic controller and Conventional PI controller in mitigating harmonics. For effective realization, the proposed system is simulated using MATLAB software

Migration of chemotactic bacteria in soft agar: role of gel concentration

We study the migration of chemotactic wild-type Escherichia coli populations in semisolid (soft) agar in the concentration range C = 0.15-0.5% (w/v). For C < 0.35%, expanding bacterial colonies display characteristic chemotactic rings. At C = 0.35%, however, bacteria migrate as broad circular bands rather than sharp rings. These are growth/diffusion waves arising because of suppression of chemotaxis by the agar and have not been previously reported experimentally to our knowledge. For C = 0.4-0.5%, expanding colonies do not span the depth of the agar and develop pronounced front instabilities. The migration front speed is weakly dependent on agar concentration at C < 0.25%, but decreases sharply above this value. We discuss these observations in terms of an extended Keller-Segel model for which we derived novel transport parameter expressions accounting for perturbations of the chemotactic response by collisions with the agar. The model makes it possible to fit the observed front speed decay in the range C = 0.15-0.35%, and its solutions qualitatively reproduce the observed transition from chemotactic to growth/diffusion bands. We discuss the implications of our results for the study of bacteria in porous media and for the design of improved bacteriological chemotaxis assays.Comment: 28 pages, 5 figures. Published online at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S000634951100721

Single Spin Asymmetry ANA_N in Polarized Proton-Proton Elastic Scattering at s=200\sqrt{s}=200 GeV

We report a high precision measurement of the transverse single spin asymmetry $A_N$ at the center of mass energy $\sqrt{s}=200$ GeV in elastic proton-proton scattering by the STAR experiment at RHIC. The $A_N$ was measured in the four-momentum transfer squared $t$ range $0.003 \leqslant |t| \leqslant 0.035$ \GeVcSq, the region of a significant interference between the electromagnetic and hadronic scattering amplitudes. The measured values of $A_N$ and its $t$-dependence are consistent with a vanishing hadronic spin-flip amplitude, thus providing strong constraints on the ratio of the single spin-flip to the non-flip amplitudes. Since the hadronic amplitude is dominated by the Pomeron amplitude at this $\sqrt{s}$, we conclude that this measurement addresses the question about the presence of a hadronic spin flip due to the Pomeron exchange in polarized proton-proton elastic scattering.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figure

Apolipoprotein E epsilon 4 (APOE-ε4) genotype is associated with decreased 6-month verbal memory performance after mild traumatic brain injury

Introduction: The apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 allele associates with memory impairment in neurodegenerative diseases. Its association with memory after mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is unclear. Methods: mTBI patients (Glasgow Coma Scale score 13–15, no neurosurgical intervention, extracranial Abbreviated Injury Scale score ≤1) aged ≥18 years with APOE genotyping results were extracted from the Transforming Research and Clinical Knowledge in Traumatic Brain Injury Pilot (TRACK-TBI Pilot) study. Cohorts determined by APOE-ε4(+/−) were assessed for associations with 6-month verbal memory, measured by California Verbal Learning Test, Second Edition (CVLT-II) subscales: Immediate Recall Trials 1–5 (IRT), Short-Delay Free Recall (SDFR), Short-Delay Cued Recall (SDCR), Long-Delay F