Misoprostol for cervical ripening at and near term - a comparative study

Objective. To compare the safety and efficacy of misoprostol with that of dinoprostone for the induction of labour at term, or near term.Design. Three hundred and ninety-six women with term pregnancies were randomised to receive either oral or vaginal misoprostol, or dinoprostone. Women who had had a previous caesarean section (CS) or those with a malpresentation or who were parity ≥ 5, were excluded. The control group received dinoprostone 1 mg inserted in the posterior fornix and repeated 6-hourly to a maximum of three doses. The study group received either oral misoprostol 20 pμ 2-hourly to a maximum of four doses (80 μg), or vaginal misoprostol 25 μg in the posterior fornix with a switch to the oral misoprostol regimen if there was no change in the Bishop's score or no palpable uterine contractions.Results. There was no significant difference in vaginal delivery rate within 24 hours between the groups (58.1% v. 58%, p = 0.633). There were no significant differences in CS rates between the groups; however, more CSs were performed for fetal distress in the misoprostol group than in the dinoprostone group (28% v. 25%). There was a significantly higher incidence of hyperstimulation in the vaginal misoprostol group (21.4%) than in the other two groups (oral misoprostol 16.5%, dinoprostone 8.9%) (p = 0.004). The incidence of meconium staining of liquor was comparable between the groups.Conclusions. In selected women, the efficacy of misoprostol for the induction of labour at term is similar to that of dinoprostone but misoprostol is associated with a higher incidence of hyperstimulation

Studies of vitamin A deficiency in children

The clinical features of 319 children with vitamin A deficiency observed in Coonoor and forty-nine children studied in Hyderabad have been discussed in detail. Estimations of the contents of vitamin A and carotene in the serum and the in vitro destruction of vitamin A by lysed red blood cells were carried out. There was a lack of association between the incidence of night blindness and other ocular signs of vitamin A deficiency. Although signs of vitamin A deficiency were always associated with a low dietary intake of carotene and vitamin A, the reverse did not always occur. The proportion of patients with vitamin A deficiency who had keratomalacia was much greater in Hyderabad than in Coonoor. Levels of vitamin A and carotene in the serum were low in all children with vitamin A deficiency. Levels of vitamin A in the serum of subjects with kwashiorkor but without clinical signs of vitamin A deficiency were also found to be significantly lower than the levels in apparently normal children. Treatment with a high protein diet without vitamin A supplementation brought about a significant increase in the levels of vitamin A in the serum in the latter. The in vitro destruction of vitamin A by lysed red blood cells of children suffering from vitamin A deficiency appeared to be higher than that of the normal controls Treatment with vitamin A lowered this abnormal in vitro destruction

Performance of ZnO-Nb2O5 core/shell and aluminium doped ZnO electron transporting layer with CdS/CdSe quantum dot-sensitized solar cells

470-477In the present investigation, solar cells have been fabricated using Cds/CdSe quantum dots sensitized ZnO photoanode for solar cell application. Photocurrent-voltage analysis and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements have been performed to investigate the electron transport and recombination of charge carriers in quantum dot-sensitized solar cells (QDSSCs) based on ZnO photoanodes. This dynamic study reveals that the CdS/CdSe sensitized aluminium (Al) doped ZnO NPs photoanode solar cell performs ultrafast electron transport and high charge collection efficiency (80 %). As a consequence, a power conversion efficiency as high as 5.32 % (JSC = 12.86 mA/cm2, VOC = 600 mV, FF = 69 %) for aluminium doped ZnO NPs/CdS/CdSe photoelectrode based QDSSC is observed under one sun AM 1.5 G illumination (100 mW cm-2). This result highlights the necessity of treating QD-sensitized solar cells from another perspective than dye sensitized solar cells, considering the fundamental differences in their behavior

First principles studies of the potential-induced lifting of the Au(100) surface reconstruction

The potential-induced surface reconstruction of Au(100) has been studied by a combination of density functional theory and thermodynamic considerations. Surface free energies of reconstructed-(5 x 1) and unreconstructed-(1 x 1) surfaces were calculated as function of an external electric field using the extended ab initio atomistic thermodynamics approach. After relating electric field and electrode potential by using capacitance measurements, we calculate lifting of the reconstruction to occur at 0.58 V in 0.01 M HClO4 and 0.27 V in 0.01 M H2SO4, being in agreement with the experimental values of 0.60 and 0.27 V (vs. SCE). Finally, the consequences of using experimental capacitance measurements for calculating surface free energies are discussed

Role of chromodomain helicase DNA-binding protein 2 in DNA damage response signaling and tumorigenesis.

The chromodomain helicase DNA-binding proteins (CHDs) are known to affect transcription through their ability to remodel chromatin and modulate histone deacetylation. In an effort to understand the functional role of the CHD2 in mammals, we have generated a Chd2 mutant mouse model. Remarkably, the Chd2 protein appears to play a critical role in the development, hematopoiesis and tumor suppression. The Chd2 heterozygous mutant mice exhibit increased extramedullary hematopoiesis and susceptibility to lymphomas. At the cellular level, Chd2 mutants are defective in hematopoietic stem cell differentiation, accumulate higher levels of the chromatin-associated DNA damage response mediator, cH2AX, and exhibit an aberrant DNA damage response after X-ray irradiation. Our data suggest a direct role for the chromatin remodeling protein in DNA damage signaling and genome stability maintenance

Uptake and movement of phosphorus (32P) in grapes

Phosphorus applied into the soil, appeared in the vine shoots within 24 hours of application, and the 6th bud of the shoot, which is generally the most fruitful region of shoots in the Anab-e-Shahi variety of grape, accumulated a high concentration of fertilizer P

Performance of ZnO-Nb2O5 core/shell and aluminium doped ZnO electron transporting layer with CdS/CdSe quantum dot-sensitized solar cells

In the present investigation, solar cells have been fabricated using Cds/CdSe quantum dots sensitized ZnO photoanode for solar cell application. Photocurrent-voltage analysis and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements have been performed to investigate the electron transport and recombination of charge carriers in quantum dot-sensitized solar cells (QDSSCs) based on ZnO photoanodes. This dynamic study reveals that the CdS/CdSe sensitized aluminium (Al) doped ZnO NPs photoanode solar cell performs ultrafast electron transport and high charge collection efficiency (80 %). As a consequence, a power conversion efficiency as high as 5.32 % (JSC = 12.86 mA/cm2, VOC = 600 mV, FF = 69 %) for aluminium doped ZnO NPs/CdS/CdSe photoelectrode based QDSSC is observed under one sun AM 1.5 G illumination (100 mW cm-2). This result highlights the necessity of treating QD-sensitized solar cells from another perspective than dye sensitized solar cells, considering the fundamental differences in their behavior

Impact Assessment of Mercury Accumulation and Biochemical and Molecular Response of Mentha arvensis

The present study was focused on examining the effect of Hg oxidative stress induced physiochemical and genetic changes in M. arvensis seedlings. The growth rate of Hg treated seedlings was decreased to 56.1% and 41.5% in roots and shoots, respectively, compared to the control. Accumulation of Hg level in both roots and shoots was increased with increasing the concentration of Hg. Superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) activities were found to be increased with increasing the Hg concentration up to 20 mg/L; however, it was decreased at 25 mg/L Hg concentration. The POX enzyme activity was positively correlated with Hg dose. The changes occurring in the random amplification of ploymorphic DNA (RAPD) profiles generated from Hg treated seedlings included variations in band intensity, disappearance of bands, and appearance of new bands compared with the control seedlings. It was concluded that DNA polymorphisms observed with RAPD profile could be used as molecular marker for the evaluation of heavy metal induced genotoxic effects in plant species. The present results strongly suggested that Mentha arvensis could be used as a potential phytoremediator plant in mercury polluted environment

Local Charge of the nu=5/2 Fractional Quantum Hall State

Electrons in two dimensions and strong magnetic fields effectively lose their kinetic energy and display exotic behavior dominated by Coulomb forces. When the ratio of electrons to magnetic flux quanta in the system is near 5/2, the unique correlated phase that emerges is predicted to be gapped with fractionally charged quasiparticles and a ground state degeneracy that grows exponentially as these quasiparticles are introduced. Interestingly, the only way to transform between the many ground states would be to braid the fractional excitations around each other, a property with applications in quantum information processing. Here we present the first observation of localized quasiparticles at nu=5/2, confined to puddles by disorder. Using a local electrometer to compare how quasiparticles at nu=5/2 and nu=7/3 charge these puddles, we are able to extract the ratio of local charges for these states. Averaged over several disorder configurations and samples, we find the ratio to be 4/3, suggesting that the local charges are e/3 at seven thirds and e/4 at five halves, in agreement with theoretical predictions. This confirmation of localized e/4 quasiparticles is necessary for proposed interferometry experiments to test statistics and computational ability of the state at nu=5/2.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures corrected titl

Influence of Growth Time on Zinc Oxide Nano Rods Prepared By Dip Coating Method

ABSTRACT: The Dip coating method was used for the preparation of ZnO nano rods and their structural, morphological, optical and photoluminescence properties were taken for study. ZnO seed layer thin films were prepared by dip coating method on well cleaned glass substrates. ZnO seed-coated glass substrates were immersed in aqueous solution of zinc nitrate and hexamethylenetetramine (HMT) at three different growth time of 3, 4 and 5 hours at low temperature of 90°C. 0.02 mol of Zinc nitrate and 0.2 mol of Hexamethylenetetramine (HMT) on 1:10 molar concentration were used for the growth of Zinc oxide nano rods. The growth time influence on the surface morphology of the films was examined. The structure of the ZnO nano rod was studied with X-ray diffraction. The surface morphology was studied with Scanning Electron Microscope. The absorption and transmittance was studied with UVVis spectrophotometer. The excitation studies were examined with photoluminescence spectroscopy. Experimental results have shown that prepared ZnO nano rods by this method have increase in c-axis orientation due to increase in growth time