The information on halo properties contained in spectroscopic observations of late-type galaxies

Rotation curves are the key observational manifestation of the dark matter distribution around late-type galaxies. In a halo model context, the precision of constraints on halo parameters is a complex function of the properties of the measurements as well as properties of the galaxy itself. Forthcoming surveys will resolve rotation curves to varying degrees of precision, or measure their integrated effect in the HI linewidth. To ascertain the relative significance of the relevant quantities for constraining halo properties, we study the information on halo mass and concentration as quantified by the Kullback-Leibler divergence of the kinematics-informed posterior from the uninformative prior. We calculate this divergence as a function of the different types of spectroscopic observation, properties of the measurement, galaxy properties and auxiliary observational data on the baryonic components. Using the SPARC sample, we find that fits to the full rotation curve exhibit a large variation in information gain between galaxies, ranging from ~1 to ~11 bits. The variation is predominantly caused by the vast differences in the number of data points and the size of velocity uncertainties between the SPARC galaxies. We also study the relative importance of the minimum HI surface density probed and the size of velocity uncertainties on the constraining power on the inner halo slope, finding the latter to be significantly more important. We spell out the implications of these results for optimising the strategy of galaxy surveys aiming to constrain galaxies' dark matter distributions, highlighting spectroscopic precision as the most important factor

FREQUENCY OF MICROALBUMINURIA IN PATIENTS WITH DIABETIC RETINOPATHY

Background; The magnitude of damage caused by these microvascular complications of diabetes stresses the need for sensitive markers of screening for retinopathy and nephropathy. This study was done to determine the frequency of microalbuminuria in patients with diabetic retinopathy. Material and methods; A total of 300 patients’ type 2 diabetic patients with diabetic retinopathy presenting in Diabetes OPD of Nishtar Hospital, Multan were selected. After taking informed written consent, all patients underwent retinal imaging using Non Mydriatic Fundus Camera (NIDEK® Model # AFC-330). Urine sample of each patient was sent to the institute pathology laboratory for measuring albumin / creatinine ratio. Grades of retinopathy and microalbuminuria. Collected Data was entered into SPSS version 17.0 and was analyzed through its statistical package. Results; Of these 300 study cases, 179 (59.7%) were male patients while 121 (40.3%) were female patients. Mean age of our study cases was 52.10 ± 5.65 years (with minimum age was 42 years while maximum age was 60 years).                 Most of our study cases were from poor socioeconomic background i.e. 170 (56.7%) while only 13.3 % belonged to the higher socio-economic status. Majority of our study cases were having low educational level such as illiterate i.e. 60 (20%), primary education in 71 (23.7%) while only 3 % had bachelors degree or above. Mean duration of diabetes was 14.18 ± 2.73 years (with minimum duration of disease was 10 years while 19 years was maximum duration of the disease). Among these patients Grade III diabetic retinopathy was more prevalent i.e. 149 (49.7%) followed by grade IV retinopathy i.e. 100 (33.3%). Diabetes was controlled in only 81 (27%) of our study cases and obesity was present in 101 (33.7%) of our study cases. Microalbuminuria was present in 121 (40.3%) of our study cases. Conclusion; Very high frequencies of microalbuminuria were noted in patients with diabetic retinopathy in our study. Microalbuminuria was significantly associated with female gender, increasing age, socio-economic status, low educational level, disease severity, disease duration and obesity. Microalbuminuria was not associated with control of diabetes. Keywords; Microalbuminuria, Diabetic Retinopathy, Frequency

Comparative study of the modification of multi-wall carbon nanotubes by gamma irradiation and sonochemically assisted acid etching

Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been treated with gamma irradiation in air or by using dilute acids (H 2SO 4/HNO 3) combined with 20 kHz ultrasound to compare their effects. The CNT microstructure has been investigated using transmission electron microscopy which revealed that both methods effectively modified the CNTs to overcome aggregation of the nanotubes, resulting in efficient dispersion in ethanol. The nature of the surface modifications was investigated using Raman and FTIR spectroscopies. The introduction of oxygenated species at the CNT surface was detected. At longer treatment times or high ultrasound intensities, the sonochemically assisted acid treatment showed the highest degree of reaction and functionalisation. Modification of the structure with γ-radiation with doses of 100 kGy or 200 kGy also resulted in a reduction of defects, attributed to an annealing and reorganisation process. The observed effects could be correlated with the time and intensity of the ultrasound used or the dose and dose rate of the γ-radiation. Both methods offer the possibility for processes with lower environmental inpact than those that currently exist. Our results also illustrate the importance of careful control over these experimental parameters if optimum results are to be obtained. </p

Inferring dark matter halo properties for H i-selected galaxies

We set constraints on the dark matter halo mass and concentration of ∼22 000 individual galaxies visible both in H I (from the ALFALFA survey) and optical light (from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey). This is achieved by combining two Bayesian models, one for the H I line width as a function of the stellar and neutral hydrogen mass distributions in a galaxy using kinematic modelling, and the other for the galaxy’s total baryonic mass using the technique of inverse subhalo abundance matching. We hence quantify the constraining power on halo properties of spectroscopic and photometric observations, and assess their consistency. We find good agreement between the two sets of posteriors, although there is a sizeable population of low-line width galaxies that favour significantly smaller dynamical masses than expected from abundance matching (especially for cuspy halo profiles). Abundance matching provides significantly more stringent bounds on halo properties than the H I line width, even with a mass–concentration prior included, although combining the two provides a mean gain of 40 per cent for the sample when fitting an NFW profile. We also use our kinematic posteriors to construct a baryonic mass–halo mass relation, which we find to be near power law, and with a somewhat shallower slope than expected from abundance matching. Our method demonstrates the potential of combining photometric and spectroscopic observations to precisely map out the dark matter distribution at the galaxy scale using upcoming H I surveys such as the SKA

PREVALENCE OF HEPATITIS-C ANTIBODIES AMONGST NURSING STAFF WORKING IN A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL

Objective; To determine the prevalence of HCV infection amongst nursing staff working in a tertiary care hospital. Study Design; Descriptive Cross-sectional Study. Setting; Nursing staff of Nishtar Hospital Multan. Subjects and methods; One hundred fifty two senior nursing staff working  in all wards of Nishtar Hospital Multan.. Diagnosis of HCV infection was made by detection of antibodies to HCV in serum (ACON Hepatitis C Virus Rapid Test Strip, Serum). Those nurses whose test was positive by the above technique, underwent second generation Elisa testing for Hepatitis C to confirm the diagnosis (Cobas Core Anti-HCV EIA). Results; Study was conducted upon 152 nursing staffs working in different wards of Nishtar Hospital Multan, which is a tertiary care hospital. These 152 staff nurses were checked for anti-HCV and only 3 cases were positive (1.97%) and 149 negative (98.03%). Conclusion; Study shows that the prevalence of HCV infection among nursing staff is 1.97%, which is low as compared to other studies but higher in comparison to the general population of Multan (0.27%). It is recommended that emphasis should be placed on prevention &amp; a health care worker safety unit should be started in both private and public health care systems to increase the awareness. The health care workers should strictly follow appropriate preventive measures. Key Words: Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, Blood Transfusion, Health care worker

The information on halo properties contained in spectroscopic observations of late-type galaxies

Rotation curves are the key observational manifestation of the dark matter distribution around late-type galaxies. In a halo model context, the precision of constraints on halo parameters is a complex function of properties of the measurements as well as properties of the galaxy itself. Forthcoming surveys will resolve rotation curves to varying degrees of precision, or measure their integrated effect in the HI linewidth. To ascertain the relative significance of the relevant quantities for constraining halo properties, we study the information on halo mass and concentration as quantified by the Kullback–Leibler divergence of the kinematics-informed posterior from the uninformative prior. We calculate this divergence as a function of the different types of spectroscopic observation, properties of the measurement, galaxy properties, and auxiliary observational data on the baryonic components. Using the SPARC (Spitzer Photometry & Accurate Rotation Curves) sample, we find that fits to the full rotation curve exhibit a large variation in information gain between galaxies, ranging from ~1 to ~11 bits. The variation is predominantly caused by the vast differences in the number of data points and the size of velocity uncertainties between the SPARC galaxies. We also study the relative importance of the minimum HI surface density probed and the size of velocity uncertainties on the constraining power on the inner halo density slope, finding the latter to be significantly more important. We spell out the implications of these results for the optimization of galaxy surveys aiming to constrain galaxies’ dark matter distributions, highlighting the need for precise velocity measurements

Sonochemical Modification of Carbon Nanotubes for Enhanced Nanocomposite Performance

Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been treated using 20 kHz ultrasound in combination with dilute nitric and sulfuric acids at much lower concentrations than previously reported. The measurements revealed an optimum set of sonication conditions (in this case 30 min at 12 W cm−2) exists to overcome aggregation of the nanotubes and to allow efficient dispersion in ethanol or in chitosan. Transmission electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy suggested the removal of amorphous material and reduction of the CNT diameter as well as modifications to their defect structures. The surface oxidation was determined by FTIR spectroscopy. At longer times or higher ultrasound intensities, degradation such as nanotube shortening and additional defect generation in the graphitic network occurred and the benefits of using ultrasound decreased. The modified CNTs were used as fillers for chitosan films and gave a tenfold increase in tensile strength and integrity of the films. The methodology was combined with sonochemical generation of gold or iron oxide nanoparticles to produce a range of functional membranes for catalytic reductive hydrogenation or dye degradation under conditions that are more environmentally benign than those previously used. Our results further add to the usefulness of sonochemistry as a valuable tool in preparative materials chemistry but also illustrate the crucial importance of careful control over the experimental conditions if optimum results are to be obtained

Analysis of additive manufacturing technology applied to valve housings for mobile machinery

Treball desenvolupat en el marc del programa "European Project Semester".L’ European Project Semester va començar l’1 de març de 2018, amb una visita a la empresa, per la qual hem estat treballant aquests quatre mesos, els meus tres companys internacionals i jo. L’empresa és anomenada Buchholz Hydraulik i la seva funció és proveir vàlvules de control hidràulic per a sistemes hidràulics. El projecte es basa amb la factibilitat de canviar la producció actual de la empresa, producció basada amb màquines de control numèric, per a una producció additiva. L’empresa ens va donar una sèrie de requeriments, els qual havíem de complir amb aquesta nova tecnologia, les impressores 3D. A partir d’aquests requeriments el projecte recopila una àmplia recerca sobre diferents possibles proveïdors per a la empresa, amb dels quals es va obtenir un únic proveïdor a partir del “Scoring Model”. Un cop ja es va obtenir el proveïdor i per tant, la impressora i els possibles materials, es va passar a contrastar-los suggerint finalment els que millors s’adapten al requeriments. A partir d’aquí, va venir el moment d’adaptar l’actual disseny de la empresa a la producció additiva, amb la qual vam obtenir completa llibertat a la hora de dissenyar. Finalment, un anàlisis dels costos amb aquesta nova producció es presentat al final i una conclusió dels resultats obtinguts.Outgoin

Formulation and evaluation of chewable tablets of Desloratadine prepared by aqueous and non-aqueous techniques

In the modern era, chewable tablets are preferred over conventional dosage forms by pediatric, geriatric and bedridden patients due to difficulty in swallowing, lesser amount of water for swallowing medications as well as unable to tolerate the bitter taste of certain drugs. Chewable tablets of Desloratadine (DS) were formulated by aqueous and non-aqueous granulation method using water paste and Isopropyl alcohol (IPA) as a wetting agents respectively. Desloratadine is used to treat the symptoms of allergy such as sneezing, watery eyes. In the recent research, we have formulated eight trials by various concentrations of excipients. For instance; lactose, talcum, magnesium stearate, blue color, flavor, aspartame, mannitol, avicel 101 and polyvenylpyrollidine (PVP). Pre-compression and post compression parameters (thickness, hardness, friability weight variation and drug content) of the formulations were evaluated. B3 was our optimum dosage form because its Hausner’s ratio, compressibility index, bulk density, tap density, angle of repose have optimum values i.e. 1.01, 5.1%, 0.66(g/cc), 0.69(g/cc), 26.1º respectively and post-compression i.e. thickness, hardness, friability weight variation and drug content have values, 2.9mm, 3.9(kg/cm²), 0.6%, 99.5% respectively. Tablets prepared by wet granulation technique showed reasonable release profile i.e. 100% within the required time i.e. 2 hours.&nbsp; Moreover, organoleptic evaluation of all formulations were performed. Keywords: Desloratadine, chewable, magnesium stearate, aspartame, compressibility, granulation

Production and Characterization of Tailor-Made Polyhydroxyalkanoates by Bacillus cereus FC11

Abstract.-Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are non-toxic, biocompatible, piezoelectric, and biodegradable thermoplastic. This study was designed to isolate the bacterial strains from trinitrotoluene (TNT)-contaminated soil capable of giving PHAs at high yields with tailor-made compositions. The isolated bacterial strain B. cereus FC11 gave PHA yield at 76.40 wt% using 500 mL Erlenmeyer flasks each containing 200 mL synthetic medium in the presence of glucose as a sole carbon source at pH value 7.0, 30°C and 150 rpm after 48 h of incubation under submerged fermentation. Furthermore, tailor-made PHA compositions were synthesized by B. cereus FC11 by adding different co-substrates along with glucose in the medium. High performance liquid chromatography analysis revealed that the retention time of crotonic acid (by-product) obtained from digested PHA was approximately 24.97 min which was similar to the retention time of crotonic acid (by-product) obtained from the digestion of commercially available poly-3-hydroxybutyrate and poly-3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate (Sigma-Aldrich). Fourier transform infrared spectrum showed the absorption bands at 1719, 1275 and 2932 cm -1 , which were attributed to C=O, C-O stretching and C-H vibrations, respectively. The proton and carbon nuclear magnetic resonance analysis confirmed that this indigenously synthesized polymer was composed of 3-hydroxybutyrate (3-HB) and 3-hydroxyvalerate (3-HV) monomers. The number average molar mass (Mn) of copolymer was 37.98 kDa