Ground and excited states Gamow-Teller strength distributions of iron isotopes and associated capture rates for core-collapse simulations

This paper reports on the microscopic calculation of ground and excited states Gamow-Teller (GT) strength distributions, both in the electron capture and electron decay direction, for $^{54,55,56}$Fe. The associated electron and positron capture rates for these isotopes of iron are also calculated in stellar matter. These calculations were recently introduced and this paper is a follow-up which discusses in detail the GT strength distributions and stellar capture rates of key iron isotopes. The calculations are performed within the framework of the proton-neutron quasiparticle random phase approximation (pn-QRPA) theory. The pn-QRPA theory allows a microscopic \textit{state-by-state} calculation of GT strength functions and stellar capture rates which greatly increases the reliability of the results. For the first time experimental deformation of nuclei are taken into account. In the core of massive stars isotopes of iron, $^{54,55,56}$Fe, are considered to be key players in decreasing the electron-to-baryon ratio ($Y_{e}$) mainly via electron capture on these nuclide. The structure of the presupernova star is altered both by the changes in $Y_{e}$ and the entropy of the core material. Results are encouraging and are compared against measurements (where possible) and other calculations. The calculated electron capture rates are in overall good agreement with the shell model results. During the presupernova evolution of massive stars, from oxygen shell burning stages till around end of convective core silicon burning, the calculated electron capture rates on $^{54}$Fe are around three times bigger than the corresponding shell model rates. The calculated positron capture rates, however, are suppressed by two to five orders of magnitude.Comment: 18 pages, 12 figures, 10 table

Quantitative proteomics in resected renal cancer tissue for biomarker discovery and profiling

<b>Background:</b>  Proteomics-based approaches for biomarker discovery are promising strategies used in cancer research. We present state-of-art label-free quantitative proteomics method to assess proteome of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) compared with noncancer renal tissues.<p></p> <b>Methods:</b>  Fresh frozen tissue samples from eight primary RCC lesions and autologous adjacent normal renal tissues were obtained from surgically resected tumour-bearing kidneys. Proteins were extracted by complete solubilisation of tissues using filter-aided sample preparation (FASP) method. Trypsin digested proteins were analysed using quantitative label-free proteomics approach followed by data interpretation and pathways analysis.<p></p> <b>Results:</b>  A total of 1761 proteins were identified and quantified with high confidence (MASCOT ion score threshold of 35 and P-value <0.05). Of these, 596 proteins were identified as differentially expressed between cancer and noncancer tissues. Two upregulated proteins in tumour samples (adipose differentiation-related protein and Coronin 1A) were further validated by immunohistochemistry. Pathway analysis using IPA, KOBAS 2.0, DAVID functional annotation and FLink tools showed enrichment of many cancer-related biological processes and pathways such as oxidative phosphorylation, glycolysis and amino acid synthetic pathways.<p></p> <b>Conclusions:<b>  Our study identified a number of differentially expressed proteins and pathways using label-free proteomics approach in RCC compared with normal tissue samples. Two proteins validated in this study are the focus of on-going research in a large cohort of patients.<p></p&gt

Fine-Grid Calculations for Stellar Electron and Positron Capture Rates on Fe-Isotopes

The acquisition of precise and reliable nuclear data is a prerequisite to success for stellar evolution and nucleosynthesis studies. Core-collapse simulators find it challenging to generate an explosion from the collapse of the core of massive stars. It is believed that a better understanding of the microphysics of core-collapse can lead to successful results. The weak interaction processes are able to trigger the collapse and control the lepton-to-baryon ratio ($Y_{e}$) of the core material. It is suggested that the temporal variation of $Y_{e}$ within the core of a massive star has a pivotal role to play in the stellar evolution and a fine-tuning of this parameter at various stages of presupernova evolution is the key to generate an explosion. During the presupernova evolution of massive stars, isotopes of iron, mainly $^{54,55,56}$Fe, are considered to be key players in controlling $Y_{e}$ ratio via electron capture on these nuclide. Recently an improved microscopic calculation of weak interaction mediated rates for iron isotopes was introduced using the proton-neutron quasiparticle random phase approximation (pn-QRPA) theory. The pn-QRPA theory allows a microscopic \textit{state-by-state} calculation of stellar capture rates which greatly increases the reliability of calculated rates. The results were suggestive of some fine-tuning of the $Y_{e}$ ratio during various phases of stellar evolution. Here we present for the first time the fine-grid calculation of the electron and positron capture rates on $^{54,55,56}$Fe. Core-collapse simulators may find this calculation suitable for interpolation purposes and for necessary incorporation in the stellar evolution codes.Comment: 21 pages, 6 ps figures and 2 table

Role of bronchoalveolar lavage, transbronchial needle aspiration with bronchial biopsy correlation in lung tumours and immunohistochemistry wherever required

Background: Lung cancer is most frequently diagnosed major cancer in the world and the most common cause of cancer mortality worldwide. It comprises about 17% of the total new cancer cases in males and 23% of the total cancer deaths. The objectives of this study were to compare bronchial biopsy, BAL and TBNA in diagnosing lung malignancies and IHC wherever required.Methods: The study was conducted at Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences Srinagar, India in the department of Pathology. It was a prospective study over a period of 1½ years from June 2015 to December 2016. All patients clinically/ radiologically suspected of lung malignancies who presented between June 2015 to December 2016 and underwent bronchial biopsy, BAL (washings) and TBNA were included in the study. The study included only those cases where BAL, TBNA and bronchial biopsy were done simultaneously.Results: Out of a total 117 clinically suspected cases of lung cancer, tumor was found in 103 cases (103/117) by biopsy, 51 cases by BAL (51/117) and 64 cases by TBNA (64/117). The total number of false positive cases and false negative cases by BAL were 6 and 58. Sensitivity of BAL was found to be 43.69% and specificity 57.14%. The total number of false positive cases and false negative cases by TBNA were 7 and 46. Sensitivity and specificity of TBNA was found to be 55.34% and 50.0%.Conclusions: Thus, in the present study yield of diagnosis was highest with the bronchoscopic biopsies and in maximum number of cases with a sensitivity of 88.034%, and specific histologic diagnosis was made by biopsies and IHC only. Though BAL and TBNA were inferior to bronchial biopsy in diagnosing lung malignancies but these were effective for peripheral lung malignancies and when the patient was at risk of haemorrhage

Provider perspectives on sexual health services used by Bangladeshi women with mHealth digital approach : a qualitative study

Cases of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are underreported in Bangladesh. Women in general suffer from poor sexual health outcomes due to a lack of access to sexual health services. mHealth, a digital approach to STI services, is an easier and cheaper way to disseminate health information in Bangladesh. However, women have less autonomy in accessing STI services and it is important to learn if, how and/or why women use mHealth. A qualitative study was conducted with 26 medical doctors to explore their perceptions of the mHealth STI services used by Bangladeshi women. Themes were grouped under four categories: (1) provider perceptions of mHealth for sexual healthcare; (2) the health literacy of women clients; (3) cost and maintaining timeliness in providing mHealth services; (4) mHealth service accessibility. Data suggest that mHealth can play a significant role in improving the awareness and utilization of STI services in Bangladeshi women. Successful opportunities for STI service expansion using mHealth were identified, depending on the quality and type of service delivery options, awareness of challenges related to health literacy framework, cost, accessibility to information and availability of culturally competent health experts to disseminate health information. We identify the need to increase access and use of mHealth services for sexual health, as it provides an innovative platform to bridge the health communication gaps in sexual health for Bangladeshi women

Early retirement from work among employees with a diagnosis of personality disorder compared to anxiety and depressive disorders

Objective: Risk of retirement from work before statutory retirement age among employees with personality disorders is unknown.Method: We used diagnoses of awarded medical rehabilitations and hospitalisations to select two clinical cohorts from a population of 151,618 employees: participants in rehabilitation (total N=1942, 233 personality disorder, 419 anxiety disorder and 1290 depression cases) and hospitalised patients (N=1333, 354, 126 and 853, respectively). Early retirement from work was tracked through national registers during a period of 5 years. Cox proportional hazard models were used to examine the association of diagnostic groups with risk of early retirement.Results: In models adjusted for age, sex and socioeconomic position, the relative risk of early retirement for patients with personality disorders was 3.5-fold (95% CI 2.1 to 5.8) in the rehabilitation cohort and 2.3-fold (95% CI 1.6 to 3.5) in the hospital cohort compared with anxiety disorders. The corresponding hazard ratios of early retirement for personality disorders compared with depressive disorders were 1.1 (95% CI 0.8-1.5) and 1.7 (95% CI 1.4-2.1), respectively.Conclusions: Personality disorders increase the risk of early retirement at least to an equal extent as depression and more than twice that of anxiety disorders.</p

Programas educativos modulares basados en competencias

It has been established that the basic documents on the development of higher education of the Republic of Kazakhstan declared the principles of competence approach and modular learning, but in practice, their implementation is faced with certain difficulties and that it is particularly difficult to implement the competency-based approach in the absence of professional standards. In this regard, the goal was set to develop a methodology for the formation of integrated standards and implement it for a modular educational program of any specialty. The essence of this methodology consists in that the development of an integrated standard is not a single process. It is divided because at the initial stage the representatives of the education sphere determine only the expanded list of competencies, then the employers enter the process independently on them, and the faculty formulates the learning outcomes only after specification of the competences’ list. To achieve this goal, an algorithm for the development of modular educational programs has been created, methods of document analysis, retrospective analysis and questionnaires were applied, experimental work on the formation of the list of competencies was carried out. The experts who participated in assessing the competencies importance showed the high qualifications, good knowledge in the labor market and the skill to formulate the required data. On the basis of this list, the list of necessary competencies for “Computer science and software” specialty has been compiled.Se ha establecido que los documentos básicos sobre el desarrollo de la educación superior de la República de Kazajstán declaran los principios del enfoque de competencia y el aprendizaje modular, pero en la práctica su implementación enfrenta ciertas dificultades y que es particularmente difícil implementar el enfoque basado en la competencia. enfoque en ausencia de estándares profesionales. En este sentido, se estableció el objetivo de desarrollar una metodología para la formación de estándares integrados e implementarla para un programa educativo modular de cualquier especialidad. La esencia de esta metodología consiste en que el desarrollo de estándares integrados no es un proceso único. Se divide porque en la etapa inicial, los representantes de la esfera de la educación determinan solo la lista ampliada de competencias, luego los empleadores ingresan al proceso de forma independiente en ellas y el profesorado formula los resultados del aprendizaje solo después de la especificación de la lista de competencias. Para lograr este objetivo, se creó un algoritmo para el desarrollo de programas educativos modulares, se aplicaron métodos de análisis de documentos, análisis retrospectivos y cuestionarios, se realizó un trabajo experimental sobre la formación de la lista de competencias. Los expertos que participaron en la evaluación de la importancia de las competencias mostraron las altas calificaciones, buen conocimiento en el mercado laboral y la habilidad para formular los datos requeridos. Sobre la base de esta lista, se ha compilado la lista de competencias necesarias para la especialidad «Informática y software»

Confinement of fractional excitations in a triangular lattice antiferromagnet

High-resolution neutron and THz spectroscopies are used to study the magnetic excitation spectrum of Cs$_2$CoBr$_4$, a distorted-triangular-lattice antiferromagnet with nearly XY-type anisotropy. What was previously thought of as a broad excitation continuum [Phys. Rev. Lett. 129, 087201 (2022)] is shown to be a series of dispersive bound states reminiscent of "Zeeman ladders" in quasi-one-dimensional Ising systems. At wave vectors where inter-chain interactions cancel at the Mean Field level, they can indeed be interpreted as bound finite-width kinks in individual chains. Elsewhere in the Brillouin zone their true two-dimensional structure and propagation are revealed.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figure