Genus Cosmarium Corda from Thrissur Kole lands, Kerala

The present investigation deals with sixty eight taxa of Cosmarium Corda collected from the Kole lands of Thrissur, Kerala. The Kole lands constitute part of Vembanad-Kol, which is declared as one of the Ramsar sites of Kerala. All the taxa are systematically described with illustrations and their distribution in India. Of these, six taxa are first time reported from India and twenty nine taxa are new additions to the algal flora of Kerala. C. geminatum Lund. var. ornatum Behre, C. indentatum Gronbl. var. ellipticum Scott & Gronbl., C. pseudoconnatum Nordst. var. constictum West, C. quadrifarium Lund., C. quadriverrucosum West & West var. undulatum Scott & Prescott and C. subturgidum (Turn.) Schmidle are the new additions to the desmid flora of India

Dual emitting carbon nanoparticles for tunable white light emission

Eco-friendly, biomass derived single component luminescent materials with dual emission bands hold immense potential in white light emitting devices (WLED). Compared to WLED fabricated from different color emitting carbon nanoparticles, self-reabsorption and degradation will be negligible in single system white light emitting materials which guarantees stability in long run. Herein, we report a facile, inexpensive and sustainable direct thermal decomposition method to synthesize carbon nanoparticles with dual emission bands. Addition of PVP could efficiently enhance the red emission band of carbon nanoparticles. The excitation dependent broad blue-green emission and excitation independent narrow red emission helps to obtain white light emitting carbon nanoparticles. Upon change in excitation wavelength from 410 nm to 370 nm, white light emissions are obtained with tunable CCT value from 2648 K to 8980 K respectively. By virtue of this tunable warm to cool white light emission, single system WLED can be designed suitable for both indoor and outdoor applications

Hospitalizations in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

Abstract Background Hospitalizations are common among patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). We investigated the impact of hospitalizations on outcomes in patients with IPF. Methods The IPF-PRO Registry is an observational US registry that enrolled patients with IPF that was diagnosed or confirmed at the enrolling center in the previous 6 months. Associations between patient characteristics and hospitalization, and between hospitalization and mortality, were analyzed using Cox regression models. Results A total of 1002 patients with IPF were enrolled into the IPF-PRO Registry. Over a median follow-up time of 23.7 months (maximum: 67.0 months), 568 patients (56.7%) had at least one hospitalization. Of these patients, 319 (56.2%) had at least one respiratory-related hospitalization and 120 (21.1%) had at least one hospitalization with ventilatory support. Younger age (HR 0.68 [95% CI 0.55, 0.84] per 5-year increase for patients < 62 years), lower BMI (0.96 [0.93, 0.98] per 1-point increase), lower FVC % predicted (0.90 [0.83, 0.97] per 10% increase), oxygen use at rest (2.85 [2.18, 3.72]) and history of pulmonary hypertension (2.02 [1.37, 2.96]) at enrollment were associated with an increased risk of respiratory-related hospitalization during follow-up. In a multivariable model, there was an eightfold increase in the risk of mortality during hospitalization or within 90 days of discharge compared with outside of this period. The risk of mortality associated with a respiratory hospitalization or a hospitalization with ventilatory support was even greater. Conclusions Data from the IPF-PRO Registry demonstrate that hospitalizations are common among patients with IPF. The risk of mortality during hospitalization or within 90 days of discharge was high, particularly among patients who were hospitalized for a respiratory cause or received ventilatory support. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT01915511. Registered 5 August 2013, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT0191551