Challenges and opportunities in mixed method data collection on mental health issues of health care workers during COVID-19 pandemic in India

Background: The present paper describes the key challenges and opportunities of mixed method telephonic data collection for mental health research using field notes and the experiences of the investigators in a multicenter study in ten sites of India. The study was conducted in public and private hospitals to understand the mental health status, social stigma and coping strategies of different healthcare personnel during the COVID-19 pandemic in India.Methods: Qualitative and quantitative interviews were conducted telephonically. The experiences of data collection were noted as a field notes/diary by the data collectors and principal investigators.Results: The interviewers reported challenges such as network issues, lack of transfer of visual cues and sensitive content of data. Although the telephonic interviews present various challenges in mixed method data collection, it can be used as an alternative to face-to-face data collection using available technology.Conclusions: It is important that the investigators are well trained keeping these challenges in mind so that their capacity is built to deal with these challenges and good quality data is obtained

Lack of umuDC Gene Functions in Vibrio Cholerae Cells

Attempts to identify an umuDC analog, using interspecific complementation of Escherichia coli mutants with plasmids containing a gene bank of Vibrio cholerae, were not successful. The DNA from none of the vibrio species examined including marine vibrios hybridized to E. coli umuC and umuD gene sequences. These cells arenot mutable by ultraviolet (UV) light and cannot Weigle-reactivate UV-irradiated choleraphages, suggesting that vibrios are deficient in the umuDC operon. This possibility is supported by the fact that when the plasmid pKM101 carrying the mucAB genes is introduced into V. cholerae cells, they acquire the UV-mutable phenotype and UV-irradiated choleraphages can be Weigle-reactivate

Effect of annealing treatment on magnetic texture of cold rolled ULC steel

Anisotropic behaviors of cold rolled and annealed ULC steels are evaluated by orientation imaging microscopy (OIM) and magnetic Barkhausen emission (MBE) techniques. The MBE voltage is found higher along RD than TD, indicating the presence of favorable magnetic easy axis along RD for both 50 and 80% cold rolled steels. The recovery occurred at low temperature (T 500 degree C) annealing leads to an abrupt drop of ‘k’ value for both cold rolled steels. Furthermore, the kernel average misorientation map, obtained from OIM, decreases with increasing annealing temperatures

Effect of magnetizing field on the martensitic transformations in a melt spun NiMnGa alloy

The investigation addresses the effect of magnetizing field on the magnetic properties of melt spun Ni52.84Mn19.6Ga27.56 (at%) alloy ribbons. Magnetization behaviour at different fields was observed using a superconducting quantum interference device magnetometer for heating and cooling cycles. The plots showed distinct changes in magnetization around the characteristic temperatures at austenitic start and finish (A(S), A(F)), martensitic start and finish (M-S, M-F). With increasing field A(S), M-F were unaffected. In the range of martensitic start and its finish temperature, the zero field cooled and field cooled measurements indicated magnetization drops indicating antiferromagnetic interactions, which is characteristic of the martensitic phase formation. It was shown from x-ray diffraction analysis that the low martensitic fraction in the majority austenite phase induced the splitting in the L2(1) austenitic ordering. This was further corroborated by the evidence of a few martensitic plates around grain boundaries at room temperature which is close to martensitic start temperatur

Thiomonas bhubaneswarensis sp. nov., an obligately mixotrophic, moderately thermophilic, thiosulfate-oxidizing bacterium

A novel aerobic, obligately mixotrophic, moderately thermophilic, thiosulfate-oxidizing bacterium, S10<SUP>T</SUP>, was isolated from hot-spring sediment samples collected from Atri, Bhubaneswar, India. The cells of this isolate stained Gram-negative and were strictly aerobic, non-sporulating, rod-shaped and motile with a single polar flagellum. Strain S10<SUP>T</SUP> was positive for oxidase and catalase activities. It was capable of utilizing thiosulfate under mixotrophic growth conditions. Mixotrophic growth was observed at pH 6.0-8.5 and 25-45 °C; optimum growth occurred at pH 7.5-8.0 and 30-37 °C. The major cellular fatty acids were C<SUB>12:0</SUB> 3-OH, C<SUB>16:1</SUB>ω7c, C<SUB>16:0</SUB>, C<SUB>17:0</SUB> cyclo, C<SUB>18:1</SUB>ω7c and C19:0 cyclo ω8c. The DNA G+C content of strain S10<SUP>T</SUP> was 64.8 mol%. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicated that the bacterium clustered within the radiation of the genus Thiomonas and showed 98.0% similarity with Thiomonas perometabolis ATCC 23370<SUP>T</SUP> and Thiomonas intermedia ATCC 15466<SUP>T</SUP>. However, DNA-DNA reassociation values of strain S10<SUP>T</SUP> with Thiomonas perometabolis JCM 20426<SUP>T</SUP> and Thiomonas intermedia JCM 20425<SUP>T</SUP>, its nearest phylogenetic relatives, were 46 and 39%, respectively. On the basis of phenotypic, physiological and chemotaxonomic properties, 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis and DNA-DNA reassociation studies, it is proposed that strain S10<SUP>T</SUP> represents a novel species of the genus Thiomonas, Thiomonas bhubaneswarensis sp. nov.; the type strain is S10<SUP>T</SUP> (=DSM 18181<SUP>T</SUP> =JCM 14806<SUP>T</SUP>)

Empowering the Water Oxidation Activity of the Bimetallic Metal–Organic Framework by Annexing Gold Nanoparticles over the Catalytic Surface

Electrocatalytic water splitting to an anodic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and a cathodic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is believed to be the most important application for sustainable hydrogen generation. Being a four-electron, four-proton transfer process, the OER plays the main obstacle for the same. Therefore, designing an effective electrocatalyst to minimize the activation energy barrier for the OER is a research topic of prime importance. The metal–organic framework (MOF) with a highly porous network is considered an appropriate candidate for the OER in alkaline conditions. Apart from several MOFs, the bimetallic one has an advantageous electrocatalytic performance due to the synergistic electronic interaction between two metal ions. However, most bimetallic MOFs have an obstacle to electrocatalytic application due to their low conductive nature, and therefore, they possess a barrier for charge transfer kinetics at the interface. Surface functionalization via various nanoparticles (NPs) is believed to be the most effective strategy for nullifying the conductive issue. In this work, we have designed a CoNi-based bimetallic MOF that was surface-functionalized by Au NPs (Au@CoNi-Bpy-BTC) for the OER under alkaline conditions. Au@CoNi-Bpy-BTC required an overpotential of just 330 mV, which is 56 mV lower as compared to the pristine MOF. Impedance analysis confirms an improved conductivity and charge transfer at the interface, where Au@CoNi-Bpy-BTC possesses a lower Rct value than CoNi-Bpy-BTC materials. Moreover, the Au-decorated MOF shows an 8.5 times increase in the TOF value compared to the pristine MOF. Therefore, this noble strategy toward the surface functionalization of MOFs via noble metal NPs is believed to be the most effective strategy for developing effective electrocatalysts for electrocatalytic application in energy-related fields. Overall, this report displays an exceptional correlation between the decorated NPs over the MOF surface, which can regulate the OER activity, as confirmed by experimental analysis