Giant planets: Clues on current and past organic chemistry in the outer solar system

The giant planets of the outer solar system - Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune - were formed in the same flattened disk of gas and dust, the solar nebula, as the terrestrial planets were. Yet, the giant planets differ in some very fundamental ways from the terrestrial planets. Despite enormous differences, the giant planets are relevant to exobiology in general and the origin of life on the Earth in particular. The giant planets are described as they are today. Their basic properties and the chemistry occurring in their atmospheres is discussed. Theories of their origin are explored and aspects of these theories that may have relevance to exobiology and the origin of life on Earth are stressed

A model synthetic approach towards the furanacetal component of azadirachtin: a potent insect antifeedant

In this article, a model synthetic approach towards the furanacetal component of azadirachtin has been described from α-D-glucose. Tandem radical cyclization was the key step for the formation of the desired tricyclic system. The reaction provided a bicyclic system instead of the desired tricyclic molecule. The reason for the unsuccessful tandem cyclization was proposed to be mainly energy factors

Lightning generated sferics: diagnostics tools to study upper atmosphere

Atmospherics or sferics that originate from lightning discharges on propagating large distances in the Earth-ionosphere waveguide or in the dispersive regions of ionosphere and magnetosphere form dispersed sferics called tweeks and whistlers respectively. Tweeks are novel diagnostic tool to monitor the nighttime D-region ionosphere. In this paper the lightning sferics (tweeks) recorded at a low latitude station, Suva (18.2o S,178.3oE, geomag. lat. 22.2o S, L = 1.17)) Fiji, in the South Pacific region and Allahabad (geomag. lat. 16.490 N, L=1.09) in India, will be presented and shown how they could be used to probe the night time D-region of the ionosphere. The computed D-region electron density is then compared with the electron density profile obtained from International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) 2007 model. Typical records of whistlers observed in Fiji and in India are presented

Waves - like signatures in the D-region ionosphere generated by solar flares

The present study reports presence of periodic Wave-Like Signatures (WLS) in the D-region ionosphere detected using NWC, Australia, VLF navigational transmitter signal (19.8 kHz) observed at Allahabad, an Indian low latitude station. The observed WLS are associated with series of solar flares which includes 12 C, 3 M and 2 X class flares occurred during the month of May 2013. Significant variations are observed on NWC-VLF amplitude and phase due to different classes of flares which occurred at different solar zenith angles. The wavelet analysis of VLF amplitude on control day reveals presence of WLS with periods 40-180 minutes during day/night and night/day transition times which are probably generated due to passage of dusk and dawn solar terminator. Flare day WLS are observed with period varying 90-200 minutes and are remarkably different in their period, occurrence duration/time and amplitude depending on the class and occurrence time of flare and are more prominent during morning and evening times when D-region is in developing stage. The WLS on flare day are probably generated by solar flare induced gravity waves which may cause periodic changes in temperature, electron density, and plasma conductivity in the ionosphere. The present observations seem to shed additional light on the current understanding of gravity wave induced D-region dynamics

First-Principles Calculation of Born Effective Charges and Spontaneous Polarization of Ferroelectric Bismuth Titanate

In this study, we present the results of our first-principles calculations of the band structure, density of states and the Born effective charge tensors for the ferroelectric (ground state B1a1) and paraelectric (I4/mmm) phases of bismuth titanate. The calculations are done using the generalized gradient approximation (GGA) as well as the local density approximation (LDA) of the density functional theory. In contrast to the literature, our calculations on B1a1 structure using GGA and LDA yield smaller indirect band gaps as compared to the direct band gaps, in agreement with the experimental data. The density of states shows considerable hybridization among Ti 3d, Bi 6p and O 2p states indicating covalent nature of the bonds leading to the ferroelectric instability. The Born effective charge tensors of the constituent ions for the ground state (B1a1) and paraelectric (I4/mmm) structures were calculated using the Berry phase method. This is followed by the calculation of the spontaneous polarization for the ferroelectric B1a1 phase using the Born effective charge tensors of the individual ions. The calculated value for the spontaneous polarization of ferroelectric bismuth titanate using different Born effective charges was found to be in the range of 55+/-13 $\mu$C/cm2 in comparison to the reported experimental value of (50+/-10 $\mu$C/cm2) for single crystals. The origin of ferroelectricity is attributed to the relatively large displacements of those oxygen ions in the TiO6 octahedra that lie along the a-axis of the bismuth titanate crystal.Comment: 36 pages, 5 figure

Vulval angiomyxoma: a case report

Aggressive angiomyxoma is a rare, locally invasive mesenchymal tumor occurring usually in women of reproductive age, which carries a high risk for local relapse; hence it needs to be differentiated from other mesenchymal tumors occurring in this region. We describe a case of a 39-year-old female presenting with a large swelling on the left labia majora. Initially she presented as a small mass over left labia majora 2 years ago from which biopsy was taken which came as acute inflammatory (suppurative) lesion on histopathological report.Now she presented with a mass of 14×10 cm over left labia majora, left perineal region, protruding into the left vaginal wall as well. Clinical examination revealed mass over vulvo-perineal region with variegated appearance and soft to firm in consistency. On per vaginum examination, the mass was extending upto the level of ischiorectal fossa. FNAC of the mass was done and the cytological report came out to be fibrolipoma. In view of benign nature of huge mass, the patient was planned for excision. Gross examination of specimen showed tumour dimensions of 30 cm×14 cm× 10cm. Final histopathology revealed it to be a case of Aggressive Angiomyxoma

Drug utilization pattern of antimicrobial agents in an outpatient department of otorhinolaryngology in a tertiary care hospital: a prospective, cross-sectional study

Background: Study based on antimicrobial drug utilization pattern and focus on factors related to prescribing, administering and its associated events. The aim of this study is to assess the prescribing patterns of antimicrobials, to assess the appropriateness of prescribed antimicrobials in an ear, nose and throat (ENT) infections.Methods: A prospective observational drug utilization study was carried out in otorhinolaryngology department for a period of 4 months. Patients who attended the ENT outpatient department (OPD) with ENT infections were included in the study and patients who were not willing to participate in the study were excluded and the data were analyzed.Results: Out of 155 patients, the average number of drugs per patient was 1.2. The percentage of drugs prescribed with the generic name was 26.32%. During this study, it was found that the most commonly prescribed groups of antimicrobials were penicillins (34.87%) followed by fluroqinolones (26.32%) and nitroimidazole (25%). During the study, it was observed that 46.71% patients visited for treating ear infections, 12.5% for nasal infections and 40.79% for throat infections. The routes of administration were oral (74.23%) and topical (20.10%).Conclusions: Our study shows some rational prescription patterns like less utilization of antimicrobials in ENT infections and were according to standard treatment guideline. The results of this study will be useful in future for making standard treatment guidelines. It also promotes the rational prescription and rational use of drugs

Assessment of WRF-3DVAR Data Assimilation on Simulation of Heavy Rainfall Events Associated with Monsoon Depressions over Bay of Bengal

The present study examines the performance of the Advance Research Weather Research and Forecasting model with three-dimensional variational data assimilation (WRF-3DVAR) associated with four heavy rainfall events (HREs) in the presence of monsoon depressions (MDs) over the Bay of Bengal (BoB). We have carried out two numerical experiments, control experiment (CNTL; without data assimilation) and 3DV (assimilation of observations from Global Telecommunication system). The resultant high-resolution analysis obtained from the successful insertion of additional observations through 3DVAR assimilation technique recaptures the better convection and synoptic features associated with the MDs. The 3DV-simulated values of hydrometeors (rainwater, cloud water, and ice + snow + graupel) are found to be reasonably well captured, compared to CNTL simulation. The MDs evolution at various phases of its life span is reasonably well simulated in the 3DV compared to the CNTL experiment. The qualitative and quantitative precipitations are examined with respect to satellite-estimated rainfall data. The quantitative validation of model simulated 24-h accumulated precipitation is evaluated through the feature-based diagnostic evaluation method. Numerous statistical skill scores are evaluated by virtue of the object-oriented tool and results revealed that the simulated rainfall is remarkably improved in 3DV experiment. The study envisages that the assimilation of observations through 3DVAR have positive impact for simulation of HREs due to the presence of MDs

Assessment of safety and effectiveness of desoximetasone emollient cream 0.25% in comparison to mometasone cream 0.1% in Indian patients with eczema

Background: Topical corticosteroids have become indispensable in the treatment of eczema. The current study was conducted to assess the safety and effectiveness of Desoximetasone emollient cream 0.25% (DESO) compared to Mometasone cream 0.1% (MOM) in patients with eczema.Methods: This was a prospective, observational, open label, multicentre post marketing study at real-life scenario. Newly diagnosed, treatment naïve patients with clinical diagnosis of eczema were enrolled. All patients received either DESO or MOM for 3 weeks. Primary end point was proportion of patients developing adverse events. Secondary endpoints comprised of change in visual analog scale for perception of improvement in intensity of pruritus at day 14 and day 21 from baseline, change in eczema area and severity index (EASI) score at day 0 and day 21.Results: 45 patients in DESO group and 43 patients in MOM group completed study. DESO and MOM were well tolerated. Severity of pruritus was significantly reduced in 54.59% patients in DESO group compared to 45.60% patients in MOM group on day 14 (p=0.023). Severity of pruritus was reduced in 69.16% patients in DESO group as compared to 66.97 % patients in MOM group on day 21 (p=NS). There was a statistically significant reduction (p<0.001) in EASI score at day 21 and as compared to baseline within the study groups, but without any difference between the groups.Conclusions: Desoximetasone 0.25% emollient cream was well tolerated in the treatment of eczema with earlier reduction in pruritus as compared to Mometasone furoate 1% cream